Our last weekend together

A year ago today was the last full day and weekend that we've spent together. On that Sunday, we went in the morning to the Kirk Rocks (Vasquez Rocks County Park) where we hiked and played cowboys near the Friday's Child Rocks. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of that last adventure; they were on Jane's camera, and I never got them downloaded onto my computer before we separated.

After hiking the rocks, we went over to the country store in Agua Dulce and enjoyed some ice cream cones. I remember that you had mint chocolate chip, your favorite!

We also picked a roadside flower that we brought back to Jane, who was sleeping in that Sunday morning. You presented it to her when we got back to the condo, and the two of you put it in a glass of water. I recall thinking about where we would take Jane for Mother's Day brunch and deciding a restaurant we found in Agua Dulce would be fun.

The rest of the day is a bit hazy in my memory, though I do recall us tossing the football around to one another that afternoon. It ended up in the neighbor's balcony, and fortunately she got it for us!

You also spent the night at the condo, with me bringing you to school Monday morning.

Recall our hike to Mormon Rocks?

One year ago today, we hiked Mormon Rocks in the San Bernardino National Forest. It was on the way to the I-15, that huge freeway that takes you from Las Vegas and down the mountains into Los Angeles (and part of the route we always took to San Diego). You might remember there was a McDonalds, near the freeway intersection with the road, that we often stopped at.

The Mormon Rocks looks a lot like Vasquez Rocks because they were made the same way. About two million years ago, everything west of those rock formations was an ocean with rivers bringing water and sediment (sand and rock) down from the mountains. As the sediment fell to the river and ocean floor, it hardened into rock. Since then, the collision of two tectonic plates has raised the land out of the water and tilted them into the weird angles we see today.

During the hike, you took along your toy rifle that we picked up at Disneyland a few weeks before and played cowboy. You were Sheriff Jack as usual, and we were out looking for Black Bart!

Here's a whole bunch of photos from our hike!

Your picture graces covers of two books!

I'm proud to say, Kieran, that your picture graces the bookshelves of many homes and bookstores across the North American continent and even overseas. As you may know, I write (as well as edit) books for a living, and inspired by our many great hikes we took before you began going to school, I wrote a couple of hiking books about our journeys. Both of those books, Hikes with Tykes: A Practical Guide to Day Hiking with Kids and Hikes with Tykes: Games and Activities, include a picture of you on the cover.

The photo on Hikes with Tykes: A Practical Guide to Day Hiking with Kids was taken in the Angeles National Forest on the Manzanita Trail, just off of State Hwy. 2. It's a neat area, the site of an old faultline. You can see wher the faultline used to ran because one side of the trail is red, the location of old clay deposits only a few tens of thousands of years old, while the the other side of the trail is white, the location of old granite that is at least 70 million years old!

The photo on Hikes with Tykes: Games and Activities was taken when you were four years old at Vasquez Rocks in Southern California. You used to call it the "Kirk Rocks" because the "Star Trek" episode in which Captain Kirk fought the Gorn was filmed there. In fact, "Gorn Rock" is behind you in the photo.

I mention this because earlier this week Seattle Backpackers Magazine ran a nice review of Hikes with Tykes: Games and Activities, and I was remined how you played such an important role in helping me create those books - mainly by giving me the experiences to write them. I've dedicated both boths to you as well!

Dad's favorite TV show - 'Star Trek'

Spent a little time talking with your Grandma today (Who can't wait to see you by the way - she took care of you every day for several months when you were a baby and your mother stayed with them.), and she read to me some "Star Trek" trivia questions that appeared in one of her magazines. I got 1 out of 2 right but dispute the veracity of the second question!

Anyway, if you don't already know, "Star Trek" is my favorite TV program. You enjoyed watching the cartoons versions of it and The Original Series (The ones with Captain Kirk) while a toddler and in preschool). For a while, you even had each of the action figures fromt he series!

I watched "Star Trek" ever since I was your age (five) and really got hooked when the cartoons came on the air - I was probably in first grade when that happened. Of course, the show was cool in that it offered all kinds of action and cool monsters and neat gadgets. But I also really liked the adventure of traveling to new and exotic locations - one of the most interesting "planets" that I always wanted to visit as a kid was filmed at Vasquez Rocks County Park - where we did lots of hiking when we lived in California!

But what I liked most about the show was its philosophy that people could get along and work together out of mutual respect for one another. The Enterprise crew were noble people who came in peace and only wanted to learn about places and cultures they encountered. They defended a civilization where people were equal, intellectual and just.

Do you still watch "Star Trek"? I would love to watch it with you (and introduce you to Grandma, too!).

Your picture, name appear in article

You've made the web once again, Kieran - this time in an article at the Brave Ski Mom blog. It includes a picture of you when we went hiking in April 2011 at Vasquez Rocks (the famous "Kirk rocks" with "Gorn Rock" behind you), and you in arms at the Vetter Mountain lookout tower in August 2009, as well the "Hikes with Tykes" book covers that you're on. The article also mentions you a few times! I've printed a copy of it for you. Can't wait for us to be together ahead so we can do some great hikes!

Some places we built some memories of

Yesterday, I saw a lot of places, probably for the last if not for a long time, where we once spent time together. The Twin Cities where you now live offer its own great sights and events, yet it was with some melancholy that these places of our past our not vanquished to memory alone.

There were the famous "Kirk Rocks," as you liked to call them, where Captain Kirk fought the famous Gorn. It's really Vasquez Rocks County Park, and we went there quite a few times (the picture at left is from April 2011), hiking the same trails Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock did, often playing our own "Star Trek" and later cowboy adventures.

Speaking of cowboys, do you remember the McDonalds in Acton that had a horse atop it? Everytime we drove past it while making up cowboy stories, we'd joke about how it was Sheriff Jack's horse, Luke, and say "Get down from there, Luke!"

And as far as McDonalds go, we stopped many times at the one in Santa Clarita next to the new Kohl's along Hwy. 14. Whenever heading into Los Angeles, it was a certain pit stop for a snack or bathroom break.

Maybe one day we'll be able to go back to all of those places again. I hope we don't have to wait so long that you will have a son of your own who we take on the trip - though I can't wait to meet my grandchild!