In 2013, my nephew Lorenz gave me a homemade book of some of the travels that we had been on together.

One of my goals during my unemployment was to get back to Oregon for a visit. And if I was going to get everything I could out of Oregon, that meant a trip to the coast.

The next day, we decided to take it easy, make a nice dinner at home, and invite friends over. We started with a look at the grill. I knew we could do much better, so Mom and I went to Home Depot and we got ourselves a new charcoal grill. And of course, there's no sense in throw the same old briquettes on a charcoal grill, so we got a starter chimney and some real wood charcoal. Man, what a difference it all makes in the flavor.

...and it's a really great movie. Maybe it's just because I'm so bogged down with Oz's recovery or bogged down by the mugginess of NYC right now, but I immediately thought "I want to move to California and raise kids". I've had moments in my life where those two thoughts came and went pretty quickly - usually separately. But this was the first time in my life that the idea of having kids actually felt like a good idea. I could see it all and play it out roughly in my head and it felt...doable. It felt right. It resonated with me.

I hadn't been to Hawaii in about 10 years. The last time I was there, I was staying in an old coffee shack on the Rosenworld Compound. I have very fond memories of the trip. I did not have fond memories of the never-ending flights home and the resulting jet lag. So I hadn't particularly rushed to go back.

Sis and I got a chance to visit Uncle Scott (from my father's side) and his wife, Grace, while we were there. This is only the second time I've seen him in the past ten years.

It's day 2 of our Great American Road Trip to Mount Rushmore. We have hit the heart of the trip with its alluring roadside attractions. Would we stop at Wall Drug for free ice water?

For most of the rest of the week, we stayed at Aunt Beth's & Uncle Charlie's. Uncle Charlie has spent most of his life working at John Deere. Hence, there is a LOT of John Deere paraphernalia around the house. Charlie took Lorenz on a ride on a "gator". For you city folk, it's a four-wheeled utility vehicle made by (whom else) John Deere. Here's more information: http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/GC/category/GC_UV.html. Lorenz went NUTS getting to ride in this. Just about the only two words that he said crystal clear the whole weekend were "marshmallow" and "gator".

Every year, the Reich family spends the second to the last week in a villa on top of St John in the Virgin Islands. I have been lucky enough to be invited have spent four years now vacationing in the Carribean.

On the way out to Lovey's, Scott drove us by the Sutter County cemetery and pointed out that our birth father and grandparents are buried there. After lunch, both Sis and I wanted to drive back and see Keith Sr's grave. I had never seen it and Sis had only been when she was very young.