Renegades arrive in Sacramento

"A" 's team, The San Diego Renegades. earned a berth to the Nationals at the highest level in Softball. The ASA (A) Nationals in Sacramento. It was a 500 mile road trip that the girls and I drove On Sunday morning 7/29/07. After stopping by Merced to see my extended family ( see previous post) we made it to Sacramento. The first day was registration for the girls ( "S" likes hanging out with the big girls):
















That night we stuffed gift bags for the first team we would face. We made gift buckets for them that would give them a taste of San Diego ( our home town) ( the first team we faced, as luck would have it, came from San DIego as well):



















There was a parade of teams for opening ceremonies, and a riual of pin trading:






















The girls got a team picture looked something like this:


















and the other version looked like this:




























The girls won there two pool games, "A" got to play in one of them. She hit the ball to left field for an out, and she struck out her second time up. She played right field, and did not see anything hit to her.












Amber got a chance to play in one of the pool games. Here is her hit




















Amber stole 2nd:




















She scored from 2nd!:



















We had time to visit the state capital in the Afternoon:
















As well as Old Sacramento. There was a lot of old vintage buildings, and railroads, and boats moored along the river. it was very nice:








On the way home, we visit Muir woods:

Driving to Sacramento

We left Sunday Morning at 5:30am. the plan was to get through LA before 8:00am.
We stopped in Merced to see my Aunt Estelle, and her son Eric, and his wife Shannon.
"T" was up From Azusa. "D" was out with friends.

Here is a picture of Estelle and I:

All Stars ends!

Well the end of one season has been met. "S" was in All Stars through most of June and July. They were an inexperienced team who had a lot of growing to do. "S" did very well for being a 1st year 10 she even hung with most of the 2nd year 10's. She played a lot of 2nd base, and even short stop, and outfield.
She needs a rest, it was a very tough season with several games every weekend, and practices twice a week. She will take a break for a while, and maybe play some travelball starting in September.
"A" is drawing to the end of her travelball team the Renegades. We travel to Sacramento for the Nationals, and that will bring her season to a close. Her team has a very good chance at winning it all. We are very excited with the opportunity to play at the nationals. I plan on taking a lot of pictures. We will keep you updated.

14u tournament

'A' had a tournament this weekend, and her 12u team played in the 14u division.
They won 2 of 3 on Saturday, and went 1w and 1L on Sunday.
The win was exciting, considering the other team jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning the Renegades went 3 up, and 3 down in the first 3 innings and found themselves down 5-0. The girls finally got the timimng down of the pitcher ( who was slower then they were used to (46mph) they scored 3 runs, then 2 more. to tie the game up the last inning the opposing team did not score any runs, and The Renegades put 2 girls on base, and Asley hit a walk off hume run over the centerfield fence to win the game 8-5. It was very exciting to see them come back for a five run defecit to score a runs, and the win against a good 14u team ( Mystic)
Here are some pictures of the girls:

'K'














'M'















'A'

finished The streetbike

After lots of hours sanding and preping the tank and bodywork for the gs500, I finally laid down the clearcoat on top of the basecoat.put the bodywork on, took a few pictures, and took it for a ride.
It did not run well, so I took the carbs apart yet again, and found some debris in the bowls that glogges the fuel jets.
They have been cleaned, and the bike runs better now.
I think it looks pretty good.

Fire and evacuation California living

We had a little excitment last night. I was working in the garage, when I heard the helicopters, and sirens. I stepped out to here the police helicopter telling us to grab a few valuebles, and evacuate. I grabbed the dirtbike, the computer, and our personal files. I eventualy went back for the wife. :)
We went to a friends house, and watched the action unfold on TV. From his rooftop, we also watched the aireal show of tanker planes, helicopters (news, fire dept. and police) over our still standing house. "S", "K" and I were able to go back after an hour. "A" was with friends.
In a flash you have to decide what is important, and what you really need. We grabbed a change of clothes, and the dog. I do have some pictures to share of what we saw, and what us, and the nieghbor grabbed.

View from the back yard













What was important to the nieghbor
















We pulled back in after the evacuation, the nieghbor had pulled the BMW in front of our driveway, but you can see what I grabbed














Smoke still visible when we returned

fire footage video

I went out to Barona with my 13yr old daughter who has never raced. It was a Fathers day race, and they were doing a special Fathers day relay race where you had to share a bike.

She didn't want to go out and ride in the practice sessions for the regular racers, it was a bit intimedating. So after all the races were done, they allowed the father and son/daughter teams to get a few laps in on the bike that they are not used to. she did 2 laps of practice, and I did one on her cr80.They sent the 65cc class out to do their 4 laps. The fathers did the first lap, and handed the bike off to the jr. rider. it was a hoot watching the dads on the 65cc. some of them were clearing the finish line table top, and a double.
Then it was time for the 80-85cc class I did the 1st and 3rd laps without incident. she stalled it once, and we had a great time. The will give plaques to everyone who participated.

I also competed in the 40+ beginner class and got 1st out of 4.
1st moto:I stalled at the gate and couldn't get it started until my group was in the second turn , and finished 2nd.
2nd moto: better start, and finished 1st.
Yahoo.

team Ratz:













daughter at the bottom of the hill (turn two)













Dad over the finish line jump













daughter over the finish line:














What a great fathers day I was able to bond with my daughters, and they had a good day. My oldest was able to overcome her fears of the track, and traffic.

Memorial Day

Our 10u girls went to a tournament in Clairemont, and went 1win, and 2Loses in pool play, to advance to bracket play. They played the number 1 seed ( Lakeside) in the 1st round, and was winning 1 - 0 until the last inning. Lakeside came back to win 2-1 on a last minute play to advance, and eliminate our 10u team. We learned a lot about stratagies of other teams, and what we need to work on.
"S" had some great catches, and made some good plays. She hit the ball when she was up to bat, but it was always to someone for an out. "We'll get em next time kid."

"S" and I also went riding to the mountains by Lake Morena about an hour outside of San Diego. The weather was perfect 71 degrees, and we found our way to some difficult trails, I wanted to check them out before letting Sydney ride on them, but every time I turned around, she was keeping right up with me. Here are some pictures. The only time I could stop and take pictures, is when the trail was mellow enough that I could pull over. Most the trails were so rocky and windy that these pictures don't do it justice.








Notice Lake Morena in the background. Also you can see what fire has done to the landscape










Looking up at S from half way down. This rock was huge, a couple hundred feet long, and wide, The picture doesn't capture how stepp it was, but it was tricky, and fun.














This picture is about half way down the rock, looking down to our little trail. Negotiating the slopping rock was a new expieriance for the both of us, and S handled it well.

Started working on the streetbike

I got tired of seeing all the rust and corrosion on my streetbike ( Suzuki GS500).
So I removed everything down to the frame. Took the frame and wheels to get powder coated. The frame and wheels will be semigloss black, and gloss black.
I had to strip off the paint on the tank, and the plastic bodywork. It took a lot of sanding. I also Took the shock apart, and sanded, and painted the shock body, and spring.
I will keep the blog updated with progress reports, but here is some pictures for those of you who are having anticipation anxiety:
The before picture












The shock before,














The shock after,















Now, the tank partialy done,















And completely stripped:

Visit to Ohio

K left for Ohio. Brandon is Graduating after 7 years of High school.... just kidding.
He graduated on time, and is probably going to Lake Erie College.
K is meeting her parents who flew out on the same flight.
The girls and I are managing just fine. S and I will be attending a Softball tournament all weekend. A will go to the movies, and a birthday party. Then we will try to get her some rest.

!!!!!!We're going to Nattionals!!!!!!!

We had two good weekends in a row for 'A's travel team " San Diego Renegades"

This weekend they had a tournament in Tucson that was a National Qualifier. You had to win it all, but if you did, you get to go to the nationals in Sacramento, CA. The girls went 7 - 0 to win it all. They defeated the "OC WildCats, ( who beat TNL, to advance)They played so well.
I believe there was only two errors the whole weekend. The Renegades outscored their opponents 44 - 4, on Sunday.
'A' got to bat only a couple of times( struck out, and grounded out), and did some base running. I think she played the outfield once or twice.

Qualifying this early in the year means less tournaments, and travel that we would had to do. It will cut our cost of trying to qualify this year considerable.
Congratulations to the Team, Coaches, and Parents. We are very proud of you.

From the Renegades website"San Diego Renegades 12U (Margulies) Qualify For 2007 USA-ASA Junior Olympic Nationals: The San Diego Renegades 12U (Margulies) are Champions of the Region 13 National Qualifier Tournament, held in Tucson, Arizona on May 5-6. The championship gives the Renegades a berth to the USA-ASA Junior Olympic 12U National Tournament in Roseville, CA from July 29-August 5, 2007. The Renegades won the Region 13 Qualifier Championship playing in a tournament field of 24 teams from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The Renegades finished with a perfect record of 7-0 and outscored their opponents 71-7. Congratulations Renegades! -- On To Nationals!"

last weekend in April

Pretty boring weekend.
I pulled my truck in, and replaced the front brake calipers, with rebuilds. Brake fluid everywhere. It wasn't too bad, I drove it to work today, and it actually stopped.
We watched the SDSU girls play softball against Colorado State. SDSU won. Those girls are bad asses. Throwing 67-70mph from 40ft. There is not much time to react. I would say you have to plan on swinging at everything, and stopping if it is not a good pitch. Instead of the opposite ( waiting to see if it is a good pitch before you start your swing).
Amber was in a tournament in Palm Springs for her 12u travel softball team. They went undefeated, and took 1st place.
It is starting to heat up out here. it was 94deg out where Amber was playing. It was about 80 in San Diego.

I just got a used laptop this weekend, and I am trying to set it up wirelessly at the house. So I bought a wireless router, and experimented yesterday. After 2 hrs., and lots of help from the neighbors kid ( 27 yr. old kid) I found out that the wireless card in the computer is faulty. Yeah! another purchase needed. I need to by a new wireless card for the laptop. You see how important this is now, right?

We are moving into the picks for Allstars. Sydney will make it on one of two teams.... probably the better team.
Amber is in travel ball, and is not elligable for Allstars. I think she is a little sad about that, but she is excited about being on a team that could go to nationals.
Talk to you all soon

Birthday for "S"

"S" turned 10 over the weekend. She had a sleep over for her friends. They went to the movies, and made cup holders, had hamburgers, and stayed up late.
"S" got a few nice gifts, some clothes, Gift cards, A Coach wallet, and a Bat-Bag, ( backpack style)