./janella.com

I was feeling nostalgic yesterday afternoon.  It most likely started because I was listening to R.E.M.’s (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville, a song we played quite often when I was stationed in Iceland.

The year I spent in Iceland started very rough.  When I arrived in March, the snow had yet to begun to melt.  I remember falling down a couple of times in my dress blues, not getting used to all the ice and snow.  It was difficult to fit in with my roommate on main base as well.  Then my uncle died, without my mom or sisters telling me.

I was always afraid that my father would pass away when I was in the service - in some far off place without being able to spend some time with him.  When my uncle died - my dad’s brother - it hit me very hard.  I had just seen him the week before I left.  He had suffered a massive stroke.  He could not communicate and was being fed through a tube it his stomach.  It was difficult to see this once vital man in this condition.  And then I would picture my father in such a state, without me there to help him or be with him.

What hurt more of course was my mom not telling me he passed away.  She didn’t want me to worry, didn’t want me to come back to California for the funeral as I just left there.  She didn’t think the military would give me leave, but they would have.  I got drunk that night.  I got very drunk.

So there is that memory to deal with when I think of Iceland, but there many fond memories as well.  I won’t get into them, but I wanted to see if there was any information about Rockville, the little radar station I was at, on the Internet.  You know what there is!

I found [Ken Walsh’s] pages on pbase, specifically his page on [Rockville, Iceland].  And I also found [this page on Homestead.com] which shows Rockville as a drug rehab facility now.

Things have changed.

Today’s blog entry was typed in the Yosemite Lodge, room 4109  Aspen building in Yosemite, California.  It’s around 10:40 pm right now.

Today is my birthday.  It has been a wonderful day.  I don’t have access to the Internet here, at least not in the room, so I am typing this blog entry into Microsoft Word and will place it on the site later.  And later is now, since you are reading these words at this moment.

We arrived in Yosemite late yesterday.  We left Sunnyvale around 11:45 am, but not before Farrah and my mom sing happy birthday to me.  Farrah bought me a huge chocolate chip cookie from Mrs. Fields, candles and frosting included!  After blowing out the candles, going to Huong Lan and Starbucks, we heading off to Yosemite.

Coming in on the 120 route (West entrance) we were treated to a lot of snow and a view of valleys and waterfalls we haven’t seen before.  The trek into Yosemite was through some high altitude and winding roads.  Very high hitting 4000 feet and very winding on par with some of the hairy stuff on Highway 1.  We were trying to take the South West Entrance (which is Highway 140), but mistakenly thought 120 was the route we were thinking about.  Oh well, it worked out great.  We saw a lot of great snow and even saw two wolves on the way in!  They were on the road way, causing people to stop and stare.  Luckily no one was stupid enough to get out of their car or at least I think they weren’t.

We checked in late afternoon, getting a very nice room on the second floor.  The room has two full beds, a bathroom, balcony, and surprisingly a television.  Granted the television only receives 5-6 channels, but we weren’t expecting one at all.  We have been watching mostly the National Geographic Channel which is on a religious kick this weekend, it being Easter weekend and all.  The show we’ve been watching is called “Quest for Truth”.  We watched episodes “Quest for Noah’s Flood”, “King Soloman’s Tablet”, and the ever popular “Quest for Hogzilla”

Well, getting to today’s events. The morning started off slow for me.  Farrah woke me up saying happy birthday and trying to get me up.  She pried my eyes open by mentioning presents.    Present I got to open on my birthday were:

• Mike and Ikes

• Hersey's Miniatures (nuts and regular)

• [Superman/Batman Hardcover] - covering the Supergirl saga

• Alton Brown's "[I'm Just Here for the Food]"

• [The Batman Handbook]

When I post the photos you will be able to see that I still looked a little groggy.  Farrah let me sleep a couple more hours.

We had breakfast at the local Yosemite Lodge cafeteria, where the food is so so and the price is a little high.  Convenience has its cost.  We then took a trip to the Yosemite Village, where we scored some very good parking in the lot.  At Yosemite Village we went to the Ansel Adams Museum which we never visited.  After looking around the Village more, we decided to head back up Highway 120.  We noticed several places to stop off and take photos, but didn’t take the opportunity on our drive in.

We stopped by a river bank and took some photos (see the feet photo), and then made our way up further for a valley type shot.  We were amazed at the amount of people here this weekend as it wasn’t this crowded the last three years we came.  At least from what we remember the park is usually sparse this time of year.  Oh well, just have to deal, right?

After our Highway 120 trip, we headed back to Yosemite Village to get lunch at Degnan’s Deli.  A couple of weird things happened: (1) a dog we ran into twice at Yosemite Village earlier, we ran into on Highway 120 as he was heading out of Yosemite!; and (2) after circling the parking lot once at Yosemite Village, we ending up with the exact same parking spot we had only two hours ago!

Degnan’s Deli was a good choice as the food was good.  It was also a bad choice as the line and wait was very long.  It took about an hour to get our sandwiches.  Having a late lunch pushed our dinner plans back considerably, as we were going to have dinner in the Mountain Room Restaurant.

The Mountain Room Restaurant is here at Yosemite Lodge, walking distance from our room.  The restaurant is somewhat pricey because (1) their food is good, and (2) the view is good and well, during the daytime.  We had a great late birthday dinner.  Farrah had the Pork Roast ever so tender, and I had the Lamb Shank ever so tender as well.  Each bite almost didn’t require thought to chew or even the ability to chew itself.  The food just melted in your mouth.  We had to save room for dessert as well: bread pudding for Farrah, and two scoops of chocolate ice cream for me.  Man, how many times have I used the work “chocolate” in this entry?

Well, it is almost 11:15 pm right now, as I’m finishing up these last thoughts.  Farrah is sleeping soundly.  The room is nice and toasty, and the view from the window into the dark night is wonderfully lit by the full moon. Tomorrow we plan to see a water fall or two, hopefully around sunrise.  As for today, and actually this month as my birthday was celebrated with Rex’s on March 12th, it has been a great birthday this year.

I love you all and thank you for making my birthday this year memorable.