Sam's home

The first night the three of us spent together in our home, we shared dinner together on the patio. Cam and I had turkey burgers with grilled onions, mushrooms and A-1. Sam opted for a ham sandwich. Shortly after dinner, I crashed. The next day, since Sam and I had been on a big adventure, rather than doing something big, we were planning to lay low. Cam wanted to show Sam some of the cool playgrounds in our area we'd seen while he was gone. However, California was in the middle of a huge heat wave. After being in SC, I had been looking forward to coming home to moderate temps but the high that first day home was supposed to be in the 90s.

We went to the closest playground where even at 9:30 am, I was already whining about being hot. The only shade was around the tire swing. I sat. Sam and Cam made good use of the available space. We decided to go to another playground which had lots of equipment we thought Sam would like. He did enjoy it. I enjoyed laying in the shade.

The week started slowly but momentum has been building. Cam went to work and I spent time looking for work nearly everyday. Sam and I also found time to read together. We are enjoying a book called, Lionboy, now.

Wednesday, we met Cam in nearby Mill Valley for dinner and a quick trip to say hello and goodnight to the ocean. He wrote a nice blog entry about that night. Check it out (if you haven't already).

Thursday, Sam and I decided to take a break from job hunting and went on a hike sponsored by the Sierra Club. Besides us, there was only one other person on the hike under 40. At first, I wasn't sure how much we would have in common with the people we saw sitting on the bench at the designated meeting area. I almost convinced Sam to just skip it and do a hike on our own but he encouraged me to be social and I am glad we did. We met some wonderful people.

Richard, our guide is a very interesting chap. He came to California from England 40 years ago. I also talked with Mary from Ireland, Crystal from Germany, Nora who is training to be a nurse, a math professor from Tulane who was displaced from New Orleans by the hurricane, Holly who hadn't been on a hike in years, etc. We hiked along the side of Muir Woods to the back of it and then into it and out the front. The weather was glorious and the walk was exhilarating.

Sam was the life of the party. He said he enjoyed listening to people talk. He ran ahead acting as our scout and went back to check on people who had fallen behind. People kept commenting that he is a wonderful person and remarkable child. I couldn't agree more. We hope to go on more of these hikes. Sam wrote an entry about the hike on his blog. If you read it, leave a comment. He was saying that maybe he shouldn't have a blog because he didn't have any comments on his (granted he only had an opening page). I know he hasn't written much yet but I'd like to encourage him. Blogging seems like a good way to work on his writing skills while getting him to share adventures with family and friends. His web address is www.samengle.blogspot.com.

Yesterday, Cam took us for a hike on our neighbor, Ring Mountain. He wrote about it already on his blog. Please read his entry. It is lovely. Last night, as I was tucking him in, Sam said it was the first time he'd climbed a mountain and that maybe he should write about it in his blog. I hope he will. Stay tuned.