On the 1st, took Kathy's Jeep to Rockhouse Canyon, caravaning upwash with Steve and Fred, who also were in a Jeep.

We hiked up-canyon from about 1 mile below Hidden Springs and worked our way to the base of Dawn. We headed up the western-most ridge. Steve and Fred made it to the top, but Jef turned back about 1500' from the summit. Jef took a detour on way back, hitting pictographs and Jef's linked cache #11, at which time the sun set. He hiked back the last 4.5 miles or so in the dark alone, including climbing down the 20' dry waterfall in pitch black. Although Jef started down early, Steve and Fred passed him while he was detouring to the pictographs, and had been waiting 15 minutes when he arrived.

Shortly after going down the very rough road, Jef hit a boulder head-on with the right front tire, while avoiding another. He noticed something was wrong, but kept going, trying to get past the worst of the road. After about 2 more miles, something was very wrong, so he pulled over and found the tire off the hub and wrapped around the axle. Steve and Fred helped to swap out the tire with the spare, and we had no more problems. Jef bought Fred and Steve dinner at Jilbertos before they took off over the mountain.

On the 2nd, Jef and Kathy went hiking with Grace and Linda in Surprise Canyon, travelling a total of about 1 miles. Jef and Kathy hiked home from there, first hiking up to high point (elev. 1141'), then dropping down (up and down, hitting a few more high points) to have lunch at Kendall's (elev. 622'). After peaking out at 985', we dropped down to about 600' before going back home (elev. 675'). Our total trip was 5.4 miles with 1100' in total ascent/descent.

On the 3rd, started back at the grind at work.

On the 7th, completed design of new kind of round robin tournament. Missed hike with tennis group. Did draw for 50 player mixed doubles tournament.

On the 8th, played in tournament, doing slightly above average. Missed the potluck.

On the 9th, the earliest daylight savings time took effect. Jef was eliminated with weak partner, losing the the new 15 year old with a strong partner, 9-1. Kathy beat me at ping pong again: 21-13, 21-19. Town was abuzz with tourists to view the wildflower display.

On the 10th, Kathy was too ill to go to work, so had to cancel all appointments that day.

On the 12th, with more evening light, Kathy, Holley and Jef walked 3.5 miles around neighborhood in the last hour of daylight.

On the 13th, drove Holley to school, and stopped to take a few pix along Henderson Canyon Road. Flowers are going full blast now.

On the 14th, drove to SD, won at tennis with partner Craig against Hank and Sid: 6-4, 6-4. Lost 13 at poker.

On the 15th, helped Kathy at Mobley's, installing a couple of doors. Holley had a party with about 4 visitors that night. We used up the rest of the firewood over this weekend, as there was some rain this day, and snow in the mountains.

On the 16th, replaced 5 exterior doorknobs at Norm's. Hiked 3 miles, 800' vertical in Glorietta loop. Felt a few drops of rain. Nice sunset. Went to dinner at Assagio's with Kathy.

On the 17th, got some unexpected revenue in a severe revenue drought to buoy the business. Later that night, went with Kathy over to the Rickards for a St. Pat's dinner. Shirley also dropped by.

on the 18th, Holley performed in her most significant concert thus far in "Borrego Sings". Kathy and Jef were too busy with work to attend, however.

On the 20th, Jef took a few pix while over in Indianhead doing some work at Norm's. This is a huge year for Desert Dandelions.

On the 21st, Jef drove to Cuyamaca area to drop off taxes and meet with Bob. Then drove to SD and shopped. Later that night, after returning home, Jef and Kathy went out for dinner at Crazy Coyote. We ate outside, and Kathy showed Jef the "Pool room", where you could look at pool from underwater!

On the 22nd, Jef helped Kathy with Progress Reports. Then went over to Sewanee and did some work, including installing (properly) the new Spa cover, and did some landscaping. Stacey came later this night and we all had a great dinner in (belated) honor of her birthday!

On the 23rd, after a lazy day, Jef, Holley, Stacey, and Kathy went hiking in Glorietta. We had to deal with the A-hole who blocked the road with steel posts, but got around them. We failed to complete the hike as planned, but still had a nice 2 hour hike. Later that nite, we had a great steak dinner and Stacey had her belated birthday cake.

On the 26th, Holley screwed around with her camera at skool:

On the 27th, attended the tennis clinic, and watched the exhibition where Wimbledon champion won playing with another female tennis pro against 2 male tennis pros handily. Later that day, attended the bon-voyage party for the Rickards, before heading out for a 6 month visit to Ireland.

We heard the bad news this day that cousin Joanne's husband, Rich, passed away. We determined to make the trip to his memorial ceremony on the next weekend.

On the 28th, started playing in the Granger tournament in 2nd division. Won with partner Jonah 6-3 against Barry and Bob H. Won with partner Doug 5-4 against Jonah and David F.

On the 29th, played 3 more times in tournament: 6-3, 6-3, 4-5.

On the 30th, completed the tennis tournament, winning 5-4, 7-2. Wound up 2nd and got a trophy for that. Late in the day, we went on an awesome 2 mile hike in the lower foothills, rising 660' from the Hellhole trailhead and looping back down Surprise Canyon. The flowers were spectacular!

On the 31st, back to work.

On the 1st, after failing to resolve revenue crisis at work, drove to SD and caught up on shopping. Lost at tennis in Tierrasanta with partner Craig against Hank and Sid: 5-7, 2-5 (stopped due to timer light problem). Won 8 at poker at Craig's. Had a "Whopper" there, and it was good.

On Groundhog's day, started cleaning up garage and Kathy's new car.

On the 3rd, the wind was HOWLING! Went to my house and recovered my new spa cover, which had blown off! House held up okay, tho. Brought over a new batch of firewood to be cut up.

On the 4th, the remnants of the storm left another dusting of the surrounding mountains with snow.

On the 5th, cleaned up debris blown into Norm's pool.

On the 8th, drove to San Diego. On the way, saw a car totaled after failing to negotiate curve near Banner. Also noticed overflow lake at Cuyamaca was as big as the permanent lake and there was still a fair amount of snow in some areas. Did some quick shopping in San Diego, picking up Kathy's Xmas present (her re-done ring at the Golden Seashell). San Diego was packed for the first time in a long while, and fortuneately made it to tennis only 7 minutes late due to experimenting with surface streets. Craig and Hank were half an hour late because they took the freeway! Was leading 4-2 in set with Sid when they showed up. Sid and I won against Hank and Craig 6-2, 6-3, 7-5. Was big winner at poker - winning 25!

On the 9th, did some work at Norm's -- mostly contouring and cleaning entire length of driveway (about 1/4 mile). Went to TP party at Schuesslers, with about 15 in attendance. Kathy brought browneys and ice cream.

On the 10th, went on a little hike up Glorietta Canyon with Grace and Linda. Total was about 2 miles and 500' vertical. We stopped by idol and Linda left some feathers from Rio, and Grace scattered some ashes of her mom, Alice nearby.

On the 11th, started a killer work week.

On the 14th, it turned chilly, and snow came down below 2000'. Temperatures in the valley dropped down to 40°F by late afternoon! Julian was closed, and so we took Rebecca out to dinner at Carmelitas and gave her a room to stay at our house, until the roads were again open the next day.

On the 15th, did the draw with Joanne, causing a lot of ruffled feathers with 59 players.

On the 16th, won only 1 of 3 matches in tournament with partner Pete.

On the 17th, watched some of the finals at tennis, then went on a hike up Palm Canyon with Grace, Jim, Linda, and Kathy. After that we had about 11 visitors for a happy hour at Weststar: Cohens, Laughlins, Rickards, Quimbys, Will and Jane, and Frances.

On the 18th, took day off from work. Found out 4 houses were recently burglarized in the valley, including John and Susan's! Also 2 in Kathy's neighborhood.

On the 19th, did another long day at BPT.

On the 20th, drove Kathy to SD to visit doctor, and did some "Mall shopping". Kathy got Jef a new robe for VT day. They bought a new sheet set, and got various other items. This turned out to be another rainy day -- especially in San Diego. We returned to Borrego and stopped at the Rickards who were having an "Eclipse Party". Unfortuneately, clouds obscured the moon when we were there. We had some food and wine, picked up Holley, and finally got home.

On the 21st, resumed killer days at BPT. Possibly may have re-connected with the major revenue stream that was suspended 3 weeks prior.

On the 22nd, after work drove to SD and did some shopping. While winning 44 at poker (big winner), Holley went to the 7th and 8th Grader Dance.

On the 23rd, took it easy. Took Kathy and Holley to Assagio's at the airport.

On the 24th, did a 3 mile hike up Henderson Canyon with Kathy, Holley, Rickards, Laughlins. Did weed control at home. Charged battery in mom's truck which was down to 3V. Uploaded stuff to websites and did the tennis club newsletter email.

On the 1st, took it easy most of the day, recovering from NY eve festivities. Cut more firewood, and did some work at Norm's.

On the 3rd, checked out house: found hot tub leaks, roof was blowing off, but photographed mom's memorial candle on the 1st anniversary of her fatal stroke, during a great sunrise, which she would have appreciated. Later that day, participated in the tennis clinic featuring Luke Jensen, who won the doubles championship at the French Open in 1993. He put a new grip on my racquet! Luke is the only person ever who was able to serve over 130 mph both right and left handed! We saw a great doubles match where Luke teamed up with a tennis teaching pro, Kenny. They beat Jaroslav and Mike in an amazing match: 6-2, 7-6. During the clinic my foot started hurting, and I could hardly walk by the end.

On the 4th, my foot was much better, but Kathy had actually dropped me out prior night, so I worked all day. Kathy, Holley and Jef had dinner at Carlees that night.

That night, worked on updating various websites, most notably mom's, as it was the 1st anniversary of her death:

On the morning of the 5th there was some rain, but weather was actually not as bad as expected. The remnants of the big storm that dumped 10' of snow in sierras had toned down quite a bit before reaching Borrego. Cut a bunch of firewood this day.

On the 6th, after threatening all day, the rain finally came, and we got soaked that night. Holley set up train set in her room along with a little town (Kathy had originally put it around the xmas tree).

On the 7th, we almost had fog in Borrego with very low clouds hugging the mountain.

On the 10th, brought over some big pieces of firewood for Norm and Sandy's fireplace.

On the 11th, did draw for mixed doubles tournament with Joanne. We had 58 players.

On the 12th, lost both matches in high middle division with partner Barbara A: 5-8, 6-8. Then took over for Don W in same division with partner Monica R., winning 8-0.

On the 13th, won all 3 matches with Monica, never allowing more than 3 games per set, to win the high middle division. Weather was perfect for entire weekend. Later that day, we took down the Christmas tree. Jef cut some more firewood.

On the 14th, Kathy continued trying to get her Xmas present, Sweetpea, to breed with Cuddles.

On the 16th, took Kathy to doctor in SD. Carmens had moved so we ate at airport. Stocked up on supplies as this was first opportunity this year.

On the 18th, won at tennis with partner Craig: 7-5, 7-5, 0-2. Then halted when driving the Ford out of the tennis club (in SD), when I noticed tire was flat. Sid stayed to help me with replacing the flat with the spare. We found the jack did not go high enough. Using the manual, we got some missinformation, and wound up having the car partially slip off the jack. Continueing, we got jack up almost high enough, but failed. Then, as we were going to put spare under car in case jack didn't hold, it shifted, jack tilted over, and car stopped coming down after axle hit ground. After unsuccessfully finding blocks at tennis club, Sid went home and got some 4x4s and 6x6s. We finally got car up and spare tire installed -- after about an hour and a half. Lost 20 at poker.

On the 19th, installed a grab bar, and then did some work at Sewanee house -- found roof had partially blown off again and hot tub is continuously leaking.

On the 20th, cut more wood, replaced a flourescent light fixture, installed a smoke detector, watched Chargers lose -- missing out on Super Bowl again. Went to TP party with Holley and Kathy. Kathy brought an apple dessert.

On the 25th, skipped going to SD, when Sid called in sick. At the very end of the day, cut and installed about 7 pieces of grapestake to fill in pieces in Norm's veranda blown out by the wind. Lather that night, took Kathy out for an awesome dinner at the Krazy Coyote.

On the 26th, completed last load for dumpster. Gathered some firewood and took down 6' of grapestake wall behind small shed. After pizza delivery from Calicos, we attended Muriel Anderson concert. She was accompanied by Tom Bresh, and the two put on an excellent performance, with Tom providing the comic relief. Tom was telling us he is the son of the late Merle Travis, author of "Another day older and deeper in debt...".

On the 27th, we woke to find significant rain had and was falling. Grace first cancelled the TP hike, and then reinstated it, when Jef noticed the weather had become perfect. The 2 hiked up Tubb Wash on a 3 mile hike.

Kathy was glad when January was over on the 31st. It was fairly cold. We also had a glitch in the business where the revenue stream hit a huge snag. Holley was sick with a 48 hour flu on the 30th, but returned to school by the end of the week.