Ave of the Giants with Joyce

On Memorial Day we drove down to Ave of the Giants to find some sun and warn weather! As usual there were some fabulous Redwood Trees and Alex got to take the top off the jeep!

Kinetic Race

Alex's mom came to visit for a few days over Memorial Day weekend! Every year Humboldt has a Kinetic Sculpture Race- it's a 3 day bicycle sculpture race. We got a big canoe from morale and went out on the bay to see the water portion of the race on Sunday!

Later that afternoon we had a BBQ for my Birthday with a bunch of friends! Of course I didn't get around to taking any pictures- So you'll just have to believe me!

Paddling the Bay

Swimming is a fantastic rehab exercise for Ned's recovery! So we have been trying to take the boats out as much as possible!
Ned's knee is slowly healing. He has added some more muscle but is not back to using it fully all the time. We're hoping we won't need another trip out to the ortho for him!

We WON!

We won our soccer game this past weekend! Here is Alex in the air.... he scored 2 of our 3 goals!

San Francisco

The other weekend I drove down to meet Charlotte in San Fran for the weekend! We had a great time bopping around the city!

We walked across the Golden Gate bridge! It took a really looong time!Our hotel is the white building on the left... it was right outside of Chinatown- great location!

off-roading!

We finally got the jeep dirty! We met some friends out at FernBridge to let the pups run around on the riverbank. To get down to the riverbank we had to dive through some MUD!

Boogie all night long!

The other weekend the Navy League threw a ball to honor the Coast Guard! They had it at the Carson Mansion/Ingomar Club! There was good food, good friends, good music and a great location!

Dangerous waters: Coast Guardsman drowns in Trinity River

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_12216933
Sean Garmire/The Times-Standard

Posted: 04/24/2009 01:26:34 AM PDT

A 27-year-old Coast Guardsman was pronounced dead Wednesday afternoon after drowning in the Trinity River during what Coast Guard officials reported was an off-duty swimming accident.

A McKinleyville resident and recent father, Seaman James A. Salac traveled to Kimtu Beach along the Trinity River near Willow Creek with three of his friends, two of whom are Coast Guard employees, said Coast Guard Group Humboldt Bay spokesman Lt. Russ Merrick.

Deputy Coroner Roy Horton, who interviewed the three witnesses Thursday, learned Salac had attempted to swim across the river, but was likely overcome by the cold and the current.

The witnesses told Horton it was around 80 degrees in Willow Creek when they arrived, and the group all waded into the river. But upon discovering the water was cold and the current was moving swiftly, they decided to get out.

”It was hot and they all got in the water,” Horton said. “They were splashing around, but decided it was too cold.”

A large rock across the river from Kimtu Beach provides a popular sunning area where swimmers often jump into the Trinity River during the hot summer months. Horton said Salac was familiar with the swimming area, and in an effort to get to the rock, he walked upstream and began swimming across, intending for the current to pull him downstream as he crossed.

As Salac swam, he entered the middle of the channel and was quickly pulled under water.

”He wentunder, then came up again and made a sound,” Horton said. “Then he went down again and that was it.”

At 4:53 p.m., just after Salac disappeared in the current, his friends called 911, alerting authorities to the emergency. A Coast Guard helicopter was quickly deployed and arrived on scene, while Humboldt County Sheriff's Office deputies responded on the ground.

Salac was located downstream at Big Rock, nearly a half-mile away, Horton said. According to Merrick, Salac was pulled from the water just over 40 minutes after the 911 call was made.

Salac was flown to St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, where he was later pronounced dead.

Alcohol is not considered a factor in Salac's death, Horton said. A toxicology report is pending.

According to Merrick, Salac is survived by his wife, Jaena Salac, and his 6-month-old daughter Jaeda. His wife was visiting family in the Philippines with their daughter when she received the news Wednesday night.

Merrick said the Coast Guard is sending a local employee and friend of Salac's to escort his family back to Humboldt County.

According to Merrick, Salac was a Coast Guard cook, but as a graduate of Coast Guard training, he was a proficient swimmer and underwent water survival training courses.

”He was physically fit and in shape,” Merrick said. “What he was dealing with yesterday -- swift, cold water -- there are so many other forces that came into play.”

Tom Haltom, spokesman for the California Water Sciences Center, said the Trinity River was around 56 degrees on Wednesday. The water, he said, was flowing at around 4,500 cubic feet per second -- more than four times the rate of flow from August through November of 2008.

Horton said when swimming in water as cold as the Trinity River's, a swimmer can become hypothermic “in a matter of a few minutes.”

A memorial fund for the Salac family has been set up by the Coast Guard. For more information, contact Merrick at 839-6114.

Has it really been 2 years already!?!

No Jeff... we don't beat our dogs!

It's Hanna's turn to be the patient!
We had been watching the neighbor pups all last week and everything was going fine. Our dogs are not best friends with Pup and Modoc... but they get along just fine. Sunday was our last day with them- and I think Hanna had had enough! All 4 of them were out back wanting to come inside with us- and I think there just wasn't enough room at the door for all of them to look in! All we heard was bark, bark yelp... and by the time we got outside it was already finished. At first it didn't look so bad- but it was pretty deep and separated the layers of skin. Our one neighbor was a vet tech and she said that its a prime spot for an abscess to set in... as well as the chance for internal damage if it went in too deep. We opted not to bring her in on a Sunday, but wait till Monday morning.

Sure enough she needed stitches and a drain put in to prevent infection! It looks so much worse now that she's shaved and has this tubing coming out! Poor girl!We go in for Ned's surgeon recheck on Saturday and we're hoping he gives us the green light for more exercise! So that as soon as Hanna is healed up we can get back to normal activity!

This better be the end of our vet visits for a while... a looong while!