Dragon Boat Races

Yesterday was the 11th Annual International Dragon Boat Festival held at Treasure Island here in the city. We awoke before the crack of dawn and delivered our race contestant before the sun ever rose. We then proceeded to spend the next twelve hours next to the bay under a perfect sunny day watching dragon boat races. We were there to cheer on Elijah and Lincoln High School where he and Crysta go to school. Lincoln has three teams and Elijah's team are the first year group. The other boats have been doing it longer. Traditionally Lincoln and Lowell High School are the top high school teams in California as well as the U.S. They had races to determine the seedings and in the first race they were up against the top team from Lowell and held their own. From there they went into the semi finals which determined their class. They were then in the "B" class finals. They started off very good and led throughout the entire race. It was so nerve racking hoping that another boat would not catch them and pass them at the end, but they didn't. They won the Class "B" division and won themselves gold medals. The top ranked Lincoln team won the "A" Division as well. The King and I are both very proud of him for doing this. We had no idea that he wanted to join the team. He didn't tell us until after he made the team and then he looked forward to every practice. He was always totally exhausted after each practice but really enjoyed every one of them. It was really great to see all of their hard work pay off. And all of those days that I had to take him and pick him up from practice and wait for him was worth it to see him so happy when they won. It was a good day!

Give em Hell and Get Well!

All of us here at West Coast Peavine wish UK a very speedy recovering from his ordeal yesterday. It is certainly no surprise to any of us that this happened, only that it doesn't happen more often. We are very happy to hear that it's not anything serious and that G-man is alright as well. Being over there and seeing the way they drive it's no surprise that the locals saw nothing wrong with it, that's how they are. Sorry you had to find out first hand, but are proud that you stood up for yourself. Never thought you would be the one the Day Officer had to bail out! Remember to look all 4 ways when crossing the street!

Autumn Moon Festival

This past weekend was the Autumn Moon Festival. In the Chinese culture it is very similar to Thanksgiving. The King and I took her mother up to Chinatown for the event. We first went and had Dim Sum at our regular spot there in Chinatown. After that we went and bough Moon Cakes. They are a type of cake that is usually about 3 x 3 and have different fillings in them. The King really likes the ones that have what I call dried egg yolks inside of them. I could do without those. After making our purchases we walked along the streets and checked out the hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of good stuff as well as performers doing there thing. We will probably eat Moon Cake for a few days now, trying different ones each night. It was a beautiful day here and we had a good time.

Week of Caring

Every year Chevron has their United Way campaign to raise money for non-profit organizations in and around the Bay Area. I have been on the core team of that for years but in the last few years I have been in charge of my OPCO's campaign. Each year we also have what is know as Week of Caring where people volunteer for different projects to work at. Chevron had over 2600 people that volunteered for different organizations. I worked at The Habitat For Humanity building houses for low income families, which here in the Bay Area would include me, but I digress. It was very hard work and it was a very hot day, but worthwhile in the end. Also as part of the same week, Crysta's ROTC group cleaned up the beach near the Cliff House for a few hours. She said they picked up a lot of trash except for the dead seal they found. This is me hanging inside a window. They asked who was not afraid of heights and I raised my hand. I got to work on putting up the roof. Did I mention it was hot! The smart ones were all working inside the house

Giants Game

Well I have been really bad and haven't blogged in a while, so I will do my best to catch you all up. A few weeks ago we got to go see a Giants game with some people I work with. Only this time we got to sit in the Chevron Suite. Since Chevron is a major sponsor of the Giants they have their own suite behind home plate. It is very plush with all of the food and drink that you want right there. There are sofa's and chairs inside if you want to watch on the plasma screen. But we sat outside and had a blast. If you wanted anything to eat you just called the kitchen and they brought it up to you. I think even Crysta got a little sick from all of the food she ate. The Giants won the game and we all had a really good time. I do think we are spoiled now and it will never be the same to just sit in the stands.

Happy Birthday Jeanne!

Jeanne, we hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Labor Day Camping

Well I hope you all had a great Labor Day holiday. We went with some friends of the King camping at a YMCA camp just outside of San Francisco. It was really a beautiful place in the woods. We went horseback riding which was the first time any of them had ever been on a horse. We also went canoeing which was really pretty and peaceful where they had it. The kids played a lot of basketball with the other kids that were in our group. We also made soap! All in all it was a pretty good time and the people we were with are all really nice people. I did feel like I was back in Hong Kong with 20 people all staying in the same cabin.

Happy Birthday Nate!

All of us out here on the West Coast would like to wish Nate a very Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great day and we look forward to more stories about your football team.