The Locket

Doug's dad contacted Meg recently to ask her if she had Jeanette's locket from their trip to Alaska many years ago. That seemed strange to me as he knew that Jeanette had given Doug and I the locket several years before she died after telling us the story about panning for gold on their last vacation with Grandma Brucker.  Although she didn't wear the locket often, she did have fond memories of that trip with her mother. 

I hadn't heard Carl mention the locket in years. He had alluded to me several times before we moved to Ocala that it was very valuable, but I knew that the flakes of gold were worthless. I had already asked our jeweler if it was something that I should have insured, but she told me that although it was a great keepsake of Jeanette's trip, it had no monetary value.  Maybe Carl just wanted to know if one of her grandchildren had it, but I was more afraid that he was going to ask for it back. Since Jeanette's intention was for us to keep it for her grandchildren, I had never contemplated giving it back to him.

I did take a picture of the locket today in case Carl texted us about it, but we never heard anything, so I put it back in Grandma Guard's jewelry box with other memory pieces from both sides of our families. That way if any of our children want to see their grandparents' jewelry, I will be able to share it with them.  I have learned over the years that I can't keep everything, but I can hold on to the memories of others that were "priceless" to them.

Sleepwalking Alarm

Still tired from traveling to California, Doug and I went to bed between 9:30 and 10 on the first full day that we were in The Golden State.  Sometime around 11:30 that night a loud knocking woke me from a dead sleep.  At first, I thought that it was the recurring dream that I had had about someone knocking.  Many times, in the past, I had jumped out of my bed, ran to the door and found no one there.  Thus, my first reaction upon hearing the knocking was to go back to sleep, but then I heard it again.  That's when I realized that it wasn't a dream and ran to Doug's bed.  When he wasn't there, I got worried and bolted to the door.  Doug was standing outside the door thrilled that I finally answered.  

After calming down from the excitement, Doug explained that as far as he could tell he had gotten up to go the bathroom but walked out our room door instead.  He didn't wake up until the door shut and locked.  He had tried knocking, but I didn't hear him because of my white noise machine.  He really needed to use the bathroom so he decided that the only thing he could do was go downstairs and use the one near the lounge.  He tried to be inconspicuous as there were two wedding parties in the lobby, but since he was shirtless and barefoot, he assumed that several people noticed.  I was surprised that no one said anything to him, but maybe they thought he was homeless or one of the drunk partygoers from the Butter & Egg Festival.  Doug returned to our room and had just about given up knocking to sleep on the floor outside our room when I answered.  He was definitely very happy to be back in bed.

After I got over the shock and embarrassment of the situation, I started to panic.  Doug had slept walk quite a few times during our marriage, but only in our house.  I had told him that recently he had slept walked out to the kitchen while I was still up watching television.  I am not sure that he believed me then, but he did now.  Since I didn't want him to get locked out again, and I didn't want to stay up all night worrying about him, I asked him to please sleep with a shirt on and a room key in his pocket.  He had no problem doing either.  I also turned on the bathroom light, put a row of hangers on the back of the door to act as a sleepwalking alarm, placed his suitcase in front of it and tied a bag around the door handle. Before I could finally fall asleep, I even ordered a door stop alarm that would wake anyone up if stepped on.  I am happy to report that there were no more sleepwalking incidents after that, and we both slept very well for the rest of the trip.

Hoosiers in the NFL Draft

Even though Doug and I were on vacation in California, we still made time to watch the NFL draft last week.  It started Thursday evening and became a historic first round for the IU football program as Fernando Mendoza was the #1 pick and Omar Cooper, Jr. was the 30th.  IU had not had a player taken number one since 1938, and it was the first time ever that two Hoosier football players had been drafted in the first round during the same year.  Friday night's draft was just as exciting as two more Indiana players were chosen - D'Angelo Ponds int he second round and Kaelon Black in the third.  

Doug and I were up early Saturday morning to watch the start of the last day of the draft as we were surprised that Elijah Sarratt hadn't been picked yet.  Thankfully, it wasn't long after the fourth round started when he was called by the coaching staff of the Baltimore Ravens.  Three more players were chosen on Saturday as well - Nowakowski in the 5th round, Coogan in the 6th and Aidan Fisher in the seventh round making for the best IU football draft to date.  

By Sunday night, there were six additional IU players signed as free agents and several others invited to minicamp. We don't know how much any of these Hoosiers will get to play in the NFL, but it will make for a very interesting fall.   Between the draft news and the IU football spring game last week, I am definitely ready for football season to start at Memorial Stadium.  Now if we can only find a way to get tickets to the games.  

The Craziness of Little 500

Doug and I arrived in Orlando this morning at 5:30 a.m.  Doug slept most of the two flights home.  I was pleased with the two hours that I got.  We were excited that we were able to get our bags quickly, find a Lyft to Meg's and arrive home by 7:30.  My head hit the pillow at 7:35 a.m. and I slept for almost five hours.  Doug decided to stay awake as he wanted to get back on his normal sleeping routine as quick as possible.  

I noticed that while I was sleeping that Cameron called.  I was sad that I missed his call, but glad to hear that Doug was able to talk to him.  I thought that Cameron was calling to tell us more about the shooting that happened on Kirkwood last night.  He had texted me when we got on the plane about it and told me not to worry as he was out by the stadium at the time and that his friends that were at the bars fled without injury.  I had read this morning that nine people were shot in what started as a fight between two girls, but that no one was killed.

When I finally got ahold of Cameron this afternoon, I was shocked by the story that he had to share.  It wasn't about the shooting at all.  When Cora woke up this morning, there was a man sleeping on her couch that she and her roommates did not know.  He wouldn't wake up and they weren't sure what to do about it.  After some debate they called the building manager who had to pour water on the guy to get him to even respond to them.  It took some time, but the manager finally convinced him that it wasn't his friends' apartment that he was sleeping in and soon after helped him exit the apartment much to everyone's relief.  I was very happy to hear that.

In the end, I wasn't really surprised by Cameron's Little 5 experience.  That weekend had been out of control since I was in college, so I could imagine what it was like now.  Brett, Cal and Meg all experienced similar situations during their time at Indiana and I am sure that students will in the future.  It almost seems like a rite of passage for our family and now Cameron will have his own story to share.  Thankfully, none of us have been scarred by any of those memories.

Last Day in California

Doug and I spent our last day in California going to Francis Ford Coppola's Winery, exploring downtown Healdsburg and eating lunch at the famed Russian River Brewing Company.  Jim joined us for the last two and we were so glad to have those last few moments with him before we headed back to Florida.  Coppola's Winery was extremely fun to tour.  They had a swimming pool for guests, a bocce ball court, a museum dedicated to the family's movies, a restaurant and an area to taste wine.  Doug wasn't a fan of the wines, but I loved all of the movie memorabilia.  I was surprised that over half of the museum was dedicated to his daughter Sophia.  I didn't realize how many movies that she had actually directed.

Healdsburg was my favorite small city that we visited this week.  It reminded me a lot of Holland, Michigan with an area dedicated to artwork, a rose garden and a lot of nice touristy shops.  There were also multiple spots to taste wine or eat dinner along the square.  I found the perfect towel to commemorate our time in Sonoma County.  It had so many of the places that we had visited on it including Jack London's park and even Jim's new hometown, Guerneville.  While we were there, I loved finding out that the movie Scream was partially filmed in their downtown area.  I could envision the exacts scenes in my mind as we walked through the town.

Our last stop of the day was the Russian River Brewing Company.  Since we had arrived in Northern California, everyone had recommended the restaurant.  All three of us loved the atmosphere.  It was packed with beer tasters and had an outside area for corn hole, bonfires and small children to play.  Our lunch was very good.  The guys said that the beer was a little too watery, but neither minded as they enjoyed the experience so much.  

We parted ways with Jim at 3:30 so that we could make it to Oakland in time for our evening flight.  I was very sad to say goodbye but knew that we wouldn't wait another twenty-five years to see each other in person again.  Thankfully, we text and call often which makes the distance feel a lot closer.  

Korbel & Goat Rock Beach

Jim had planned an entire day for us with he and Tim in Guerneville.  I was very excited, but nervous as well.  I had been friends with Jim for over thirty-five years but had never met any of his boyfriends or now husband.  He was the one who introduced me to Doug, so I knew I had nothing to worry about, but I was anxious, nonetheless.  Thankfully, all went well and the four of us had a fantastic day together complete with a lot of stories, laughs and a few new shared memories.

We met at Korbel this morning for a tour of the champagne company.  It was very interesting as we learned the history of the Korbel family and how they came to live in California from Bohemia.  We also found out why they were allowed to be called champagne even though they were not located in France.  We were fascinated to find out that the 1960s show "Combat" was filmed at their winery.  I had never heard of it, but Doug and I knew who Vic Morrow was from his death on the set of the 1980s Twilight Zone movie.  We ended the tour with a glass of their champagne and some fun pictures as well.

Jim chose the deli at Korbel for lunch.  It had a unique way to order, but once we figured it out, we all enjoyed lunch on the patio.  It was cooler than normal, but overall, all not too bad.  The conversation revolved around our families at first but then quickly turned to Survivor.  This week's episode had a big twist, and we all had fun giving our opinions about it.  Jim and Tim favored players opposite from Doug and I, but we did all agreed on our least favorite Survivor, Emily.  After lunch we headed to Jim and Tim's in Guerneville for dessert.  Tim made the best cookies, and we had a lot of fun meeting the rest of the family - Donut and Willow.  I don't know if the two chihuahuas enjoyed it as much as we did, but it was nice to see their beloved pets.  We also really enjoyed getting a tour of their backyard.  They had almost a dozen fruit trees and even two redwoods on their property.  It was beautiful.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Goat Rock Beach.  It was about twenty minutes from their home, and we absolutely loved exploring the shoreline.  There were pebbles everywhere as well as remnants of a few jellyfish.  A hut had been built out of driftwood, and two surfers were out in the ocean.  It was a beautiful afternoon and Goat Rock Beach was filled with beach goers. It didn't feel crowded, however, as everyone was extremely friendly and we met several new dog "friends" as well.  On our way back to Guerneville, we stopped at Duncans Mills antique shopping area.  It looked like an old mining town, and I had a great time exploring the shops especially the vinyl record store where I finally bought The Associations' Greatest Hits.  

Tim made dinner tonight.  The chicken, salad and potatoes were delicious.  They had a surprise dessert for me, and I almost cried laughing when I saw it.  Jim and I had had an inside joke about caramel apples since we were juniors in college.  One night we were at my apartment drinking wine and making the delicious treat.  I was talking with my hands and kept flinging the apple around.  Jim envisioned it flying out of my hands and sticking to his head.  We laughed about it for hours, thinking about how funny it would have been if he had shown up to class with it still stuck there.  I don't know if anyone else found it as humorous as we did, but at least Tim and Doug could appreciate our long running joke about "caramel apple head."  The apples tonight were once again delicious and were also the perfect way to end our day with Jim and Tim. I have loved every day on our trip, but this one was definitely my favorite.  

Jack London & Sterling Vineyards

Doug and I were up early and at the Jack London State Historic Park when it opened.  I wasn't sure what to expect and was afraid that I talked Doug into something that wasn't worth our time.  Thankfully, I was very wrong, and we absolutely loved our morning there.  We spent the first hour at the park hiking down to Wolf House, Jack London's home that unfortunately burned down the month before he and his wife were scheduled to move in.  The outside was still standing as the structure was built with lava rocks, but the inside was gutted.  From the architectural drawings and pictures at the site, it would have been absolutely beautiful.  

After walking around the property and visiting the Londons' graves, Doug and I hiked back up to Wolf Hall, the home that Jack London's wife built after he died as a shrine to their life together.  It had become a museum after her death, and we both learned a lot about his life from the exhibits displayed.  Our last stop was their cottage where London wrote his most famous books, White Fang and Call of the Wild.  We could see his writing room and the remnants of the vineyard they had on property.  Although I was completely exhausted from the hike up and down the trails, I was so happy that we decided to spend our morning exploring the park.

Our next stop was Mayo vineyard so that Doug could do some wine tasting.  He really enjoyed the wines, and I loved the wine sommelier.  He was funny and very knowledgeable about the area.  He told us that Jack London wasn't as revered by the locals in the early 1900s as he was now.  In fact, there were rumors that they actually burned his house down because he was so unpopular in the area.  Either way, it was a fun stop on our way to lunch at a local brewhouse. It was very nice and the food was delicious.

Our last stop of the day was Sterling Vineyards.  I had made a reservation for a wine tasting there with a seat reserved on their patio at the end of it.  The vineyard was so far up the mountain that we had to ride a gondola to it which we both loved.  There were several stations along the tour that gave us a sample of wine to try and information about different parts of the winery.  The views from the top were spectacular and we once again had a fun, knowledgeable sommelier.  I am not much of a wine connoisseur, but even I could tell that their wines were a lot better than any others that I had tried.  I spent quite a bit of time taking pictures of the views while Doug signed up for their membership which allowed us to pick out wine to be shipped to our home three times a year.  We were both excited about that as it would be the perfect "souvenir" to share with our children at the holidays.  Overall, it was a wonderful day in Sonoma.