Pacific Northwest Vacation

Kevin and I had a great trip to the Pacific Northwest. We started in Seattle, then proceeded to San Juan Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Woodinville (vineyards), Mt. Ranier, and Tacoma. It was a great trip. This picture is of me eating edamame at Mariners baseball park in Seattle ... where they also serve sushi (remember that one of their top players is Ichiro Suzuki, and the sushi is called an "Ichi-roll"!). Anyway, if you want to see more pictures, proceed to: www.picasaweb.com/kkessler and Kevin was kind enough to label the pictures so you will get an idea of our trip.

The Paris Connection Camp at Burning Man

Mark and I flew to LA to meet with Kim and Rich. We rented an RV and drove to Nevada for Burning Man. Our camp name was "The Paris Connection." The collage shows a few highlights:

Mark and Rich beaching their hair
Dust
Our camp
Dust
The Center of Attention Chair
Dust
The whiteout
LOTS of Dust
The headdress
Dust
The Temple
Amazing
...

This trip was the most challenging thing I've ever done and the most rewarding thing I've ever done. The sense of community made the biggest impression on me. Thank you to Kim for getting a couple of old folks (and Rich) to the Burn. It is an experience I will never forget.

Grandma's status

Hi, all! These blog posts are much easier to write when it's all good, fun news. But, as you probably all know, Grandma is in the hospital -- Holy Cross. She woke up early Monday morning having trouble breathing, and by Monday afternoon they had inserted a tube in her left side so that her lung could re-inflate. She's still in critical care, but I thought she looked stronger Tuesday evening. She can have calls, but she does admit that she is weak and it's difficult to talk, so I'll try to post again when she's feeling more up to it. We're really happy that she has the graduated care facility at Riderwood, called Rennaissance Gardens, to return to when they release her from the hospital. It's a great place to get stronger so that she can go back to independent living.

And, Nate, I loved your news piece ... it was great to see your smiling face!

Love
Janine