My first scuba dive
Ross Cooper’s blog
The non-adventures of Ross, Sally & Boo
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Went to Portland
I went to PDX last weekend to see peoples. I went shopping all day on Friday with my friend Lisa. We found the coolest store on N Dekum and N Interstate called Alex Sandra's. It is women's vintage clothes. I got two really cool dresses. You need to check it out. The owner is a blast. We had so much fun trying on stuff. 
On Friday night I met up with a bunch of folks for Happy Hour at Kell's and enjoyed yummy martinis. Saturday eve I went to the movies with Ronnie and the kids. We saw Land of the Lost. It was alright...very Will Farrel.
Sunday the neighbor had a soup night so that I could catch up with all the old neighbors. It was good to see and talk to everyone. They can not believe I actually like the hot weather here. Whatever.
On Monday, I met my newest niece, she is 8 months old and this is the first time I met her. She is such a happy baby. And so cute
Of course I had to go to Voodoo Doughnuts. I even brought one home for Ross. It was a maple bar with bacon, in case you are wondering. It was nice to see everyone and hang out, but I am happy to be home in the heat again.
Beatles Revolution
4th of July in Vegas!
Lee comes to visit
First, on Satrday night we had to head over to Trader Vics for some appetizers and drinks. Then on Sunday, Lee's friend-in-Phoenix Yvonne had suggested meeting up at South Mountain Farm for breakfast one morning, which we did willingly because we know how good the food is there! Then Sunday night we ended up at our current favorite burger place, Stax. Monday we went to the Eggery for breakfast, it seems really old school but they do great healthy food there, and then finally as the piece de resistance, we tried the Bada Boom Pasta Room but it was closed, which was lucky really as we ended up at the Italian Grotto, which was awesome. Lee grew up in new York, and loves his italian food, and the Italian Grotto passed all of his tests for good authentic east coast italian food!
Finally, not a lot of people know this, but rocker Alice Cooper lives in Phoenix - mainly I suspect because of his incongruous love of golf! Anyway he also owns a bar here called "Alice Cooperstown" and we had to go. it's a cross between a sports bar and the Hard Rock cafe. Alice wasn't there when we dropped by, but hung on the wall were guitars belonging to Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. I worshipped at the altar for a long time...
Dad And June Visit
Anyway, it was great to see them. I have not seen them in over a year. Time flies when life happens. They got into town about 7:30pm Friday night and hung out all weekend. We hit a couple of the usual eating spots, Farm at South Mountain and Stax, but mostly we hung out by the pool and watched June swim. The water is still too cold for Ross and I to swim, we did get in up to our belly buttons though. Dad jumped in on Sunday, we heard the scream and we were inside!
On Friday night we called Jeff to sing to him. He got married in a small ceremony on the front porch of Ronnie and Heather's house. Sam surprised Jeff by being there. We sang "This is your wedding song, It isn't very long" that's it, nice and short. I did not feel so bad I could not make it since I was with Dad.
It was great to just hang out and relax by the pool reading a book while dad was inside watching golf with the volume blared. I think Dad and June had a good time too. I hope so, and I hope they can make it back soon.
Otter Attack!
I recently sold my Folbot kayak on craigslist. Funnily enough I sold it to a girl (Dee) who lives in Portland, OR of all the places :-) Over the couple of weeks it took to sort out the details of getting the kayak to her, we chatted over email about Portland and scooters and all kinds of stuff really. I guess it's the modern equivalent of having a pen-pal, all thanks to email and Craigslist. Anyway, Dee sent me a great couple of photos from a recent kayaking trip she did in the Bay area, which I thought you'll all enjoy, and she's let me share them with you. Check out this sea otter that they ran into out on the ocean, he actually climbed up onto her kayak and hung out with them for an hour!
Uncle Colin
My uncle Colin died recently (3/13) at the age of 74, and while Sally & I were in Portland, the rest of my family back in England was attending his funeral. My mom sent me a great email about it, and she's allowed me to share some extracts with you. Wouldn't we all want to be remembered like this...
The place was absolutely crowded with family and friends of Colins. Men he worked with at British Rail (he was there from age 15 to 65 except for 2 yrs National Service.) Men he played football with, played Cricket with, played golf with, played darts with, played bowls with. All the seats were full up & people were standing 3 deep in all the aisles and at the back of the Crem! I didn't think you could say a funeral was lovely, but this one was. It was a beautiful service, as we walked in they were playing "Unforgetable " by Nat King Cole. Georgies daughter Sharon read a Eulogy of Colins life, being born in India, playing for Southampton "Saints" football team for a short while & Hampshire, British Rail & Pirellis and playing Cricket for his local team at Durley. The Vicar was great and picked up on India and that the English had brought the Railway to India, and the fact that Colin played for the Saints etc. It really was a lovely service ... Every time we spoke to someone and asked who they were, they would say "Oh I worked with Colin" or "I played football with Colin" or "I played Cricket with Colin" or "I played golf withColin" etc etc. He was SO popular, the whole town knew him.
Amanda visit
Anyway Amanda arrived safely friday morning so we took her out to the South Mountain Farm for breakfast and a walk around, and then out to Kierland Commons for a bit of shopping, people watching, but mostly a drink & a slice of unbelievably delicious cake at Tommy Bahamas hawaiian restaurant. After a couple of hours at home to unwind, we headed to our favorite gourmet burger joint, Stax :-)
Saturday we hung out at home for the morning before Amanda headed off to meet up with some friends in Peoria to watch a spring training Baseball game. She came home a few hours later dehydrated and obviously mentally insane as she decided to go jump in the pool to cool off. We tried explaining that although it was 88º outside, the pool was still freezing but there was no deterring her. Still when you just came from a cold (44º) and rainy Portland, I guess our pool wasn't so bad after all, and she actually looked like she was enjoying it despite the goosebumps - brrrr!
After that we headed out first to Ariba for some great mexican food, and then on to Trader Vics to meet up with Amanda's friends from law school Eva & Che. Trader Vics is such a cool place to hang out and people watch, and we stayed there for hours swapping funny stories. Eva & Che were great, I hope we get to see them again sometime soon.
Sunday, Amanda was heading off to meet Eva again for a day at Camelback Spa, which as you can see from the picture below looks pretty relaxing. Hope you had a great day there, and a fun trip, and hope Jim gets better soon!
Red Hot Robot
