March 9, 2011 – Yosemite

Life is good, thanks to modern medicine. I’ve been on Crizotinib for ten weeks now and still haven’t had any significant side effects. The drug was created at Pfizer’s research center in Groton, CT – the next town over from my hometown, Mystic. In the further small world category, my mother knows a woman from her church who worked on developing criz. Mom told her all about me and even gave her access to this blog.  Apparently, the Pfizer people are excited to have a ‘local’ connection – it’s probably not very often that the researchers see the fruits of their labor so directly. (If anyone at Pfizer is reading this… thank you!)

We continue to spend a lot of time on Mt. Tamalpias and the Marin Headlands, and I have now hiked over 100 miles this year. One of my resolutions for the year is to hike – and document — at least 10 miles a week on trails, and so far I’m on pace. Recent outings have included a ‘backwards’ Dipsea (7.5 miles from Stinson to Mill Valley, best known for the annual foot race in mid-June in the opposite direction) and two trips up to the scene of a WWII airplane crash in which eight men died. It’s a spooky, sacred place which is not particularly easy to find. The whole sad story was related in a Marin IJ story a couple of years ago.

Bill Reiss and Rob at the crash site of a U.S. Navy seaplane that killed all eight aboard on Nov. 30, 1944.

The view from "Sitting Bull" rock on Mt. Tam.

The highlight of the last two weeks – if not the year – was a four-day, three-night trip to Yosemite last weekend, courtesy of John and Jo Ann. They rented a three-bedroom house in Foresta (a tiny community inside the park about seven miles from the valley floor) and invited us along as their guests under the pretense of a delayed wedding present. Or maybe they are still feeling guilty about pawning their eccentric Bengal cat Pinjii off on us almost four years ago? Anyway, Yosemite was absolutely gorgeous in snow and with relatively few people around – words simply can’t do justice to the place, so I’ll let Leslie’s photos tell the story.

After the storm -- El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Falls flank the valley floor.

Snowshoeing in the woods around Badger Pass.

We did a 3.5 mile snowshoe hike in perfect conditions.

An avalanche at the base of Half Dome, viewed from Mirror Lake.

Avalanche detail -- this went on for well over a minute!

Jo Ann, John, Leslie and Rob enjoying front row seats for afternoon avalanche viewing at Mirror Lake.

Our cozy rental house for the weekend (at top). The surrounding landscape still bears the scars of the 1990 fire that decimated 16,000 acres in the park, including the village of Foresta.

I’m keeping busy with three sailing committees (PHRF and two at CYC), reading a lot, and watching Netflix movies. Two Friday nights ago we had the pleasure of seeing some excellent live music at Schoenberg Guitars in Tiburon — Kelly Joe Phelps and Corinne West. It’s an intimate ‘living room’ setting, just 35 seats,  and free wine and cheese is served before the show and at the intermission. KJP has long been one of my favorite blues guitarists, though this most recent reincarnation is more folk-oriented. Great stuff – check them out on YouTube.

One more exciting thing to report: Leslie applied for, and was accepted, to the three-day National Lung Cancer Partnership Advocacy Summit in Denver in early May. Only 50 people have been invited to this event, which will provide training and networking for lung cancer advocacy. We’re not sure where this may lead, but more knowledge and connections can only be good.

Life is good, thanks to modern medicine. I’ve been on Crizotinib ten weeks now and still haven’t had any significant side effects. The drug was created at Pfizer’s research center in Groton, CT – the next town over from my hometown, Mystic. In the further small world category, my mother knows a woman from her church who worked on developing criz. Mom told her all about me and even gave her access to this blog.  Apparently, the Pfizer people are excited to have a ‘local’ connection – it’s probably not very often that the researchers see the fruits of their labor so directly. (If anyone at Pfizer is reading this… thank you!)

We continue to hike a lot on Mt. Tam and the Marin Headlands, and I have now hiked over 100 miles this year. One of my resolutions for the year is to hike – and document — at least 10 miles a week on trails, and so far I’m on pace. Recent outings have included a ‘backwards’ Dipsea (7.5 miles from Stinson to Mill Valley, best known for the annual foot race in mid-June in the opposite direction) and two trips up to the scene of a WWII airplane crash in which eight men died. It’s a spooky, sacred place which is not particularly easy to find. See http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_13891918 for the whole sad story.

The highlight of the last two weeks – if not the year – was a four-day, three-night trip to Yosemite last weekend, courtesy of John and Jo Ann. They rented a three-bedroom house in Foresta (a tiny community inside the park about seven miles from the valley floor) and invited us along as their guests under the pretense of a delayed wedding present. Or maybe they are still feeling guilty about pawning their eccentric Bengal cat Pinjii off on us almost four years ago? Anyway, Yosemite was absolutely gorgeous in snow and with relatively few people around – words simply can’t do justice to the place, so I’ll let Leslie’s photos tell the story.

I’m keeping busy with three sailing committees (PHRF and two at CYC), reading a lot, and watching Netflix movies. Two Friday nights ago, we had the pleasure of seeing some excellent live music at Schoenberg Guitars in Tiburon — Kelly Joe Phelps and Corinne West. It’s an intimate ‘living room’ setting, just 35 seats,  and free wine and cheese is served before the show and at the intermission. KJP has long been one of my favorite blues guitarists, though this most recent reincarnation is more folk-oriented. Great stuff – check it out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZk_r7aud3E and others).

One more exciting thing to report: Leslie applied for, and was accepted, to the three-day National Lung Cancer Partnership Advocacy Summit in Denver in early May. Only 50 people have been invited to this event,