2003 - Grand Teton National Park

Nick went with us. He was going to visit some cousins but that fell thru so we figured he'd enjoy a little glacier work. We flew in Saturday and met Sammy Sam at the airport. We got a campsite and then they dumped me off at the Ranger station to bivy for the backcountry permits. Sunday, I woke up first in line and got the sites we wanted- 2 days at Meadows and 2 days at Lower Saddle.

Sunday we sorted and packed and then headed to town. Continental managed to tear the shoulder straps off my pack rendering it useless so it was time for a new pack. Lucky for me Teton Mountaineering is well stocked in the latest packs from Arcterx. They had a nice pack with a dinosaur logo just for me. We met my friends Bob and Heidi at the Mangy Moose for some dinner and dessert and a few last minute plans. The next morning we met at the Lupine Meadow trailhead 6700 feet.

My pack was HUGE! I put it on in the parking lot and my legs were wobbly. I was thinking I sure wish I had trained for this. We had 2 ropes (180' x 11mm), 4 harnesses, a small rack, 6 ice screws, 4 helmets, 4 sets of crampons and 4 ice axes plus tent, bags, pads, food for 5 days, 6 shit bags, stove, fuel and the guide book. Nick had a day pack, he carried his clothes and bag, Deneen had a 3000 cubic inch pack and carried her gear plus the crampons, ice screws and some ice axes. Sam and I split the rest. I went for volume and Sam went for weight.

Kev, Nick & Sam with their BIG packs

We hiked in 5 and half miles to Meadows at 9400 feet. It took awhile but we all arrived with no permanent damage. Went to bed early and woke up at 5 for an attempt on the Middle Teton Glacier. We hiked up to 10800 ft to the start of the glacier. Somehow we crossed signals and Deneen and I were waiting for Sam and Nick at the Glacier while they waited for us at the snow field. We finally found them around 8:30 and we're climbing on the glacier by 9. We worked up the glacier crossing 2 minor crevices and belayed the second one to arrive at the moat before the main couloir.

Kev, Sam & Nick starting up the Middle Teton glacier

We lowered Deneen and Nick back down below the crevice. Sam and I continued into the couloir. The couloir was 30 -50 degree ice with a nice layer of rockfall. I led the first pitch and placed 5 ice screws in classic single axe pied a la dinosaur style and set the belay in nice protected alcove. Sam followed nicely with a mix of piolet traction and pied marche or some shit like that. We ran out of time so Sam wrapped and I downclimbed and pulled the gear. I was pretty jazzed for my first ice lead. I had been reading Chouinard and Mountaineering all summer to get this old style ice climbing down and it worked great. The top pitch was around 11600'. We down climbed the glacier to below the top crevice and then I pulled my crampons and glissaded to the base of the glacier, Deneen and Nick had already done their seated glissades to the base and Sam in Rainier Style walked the whole thing down.

Kev pointing to the couloir (photo taken from the Grand)

We stashed all the gear we would need for climbing around 11000 feet and carried the alpine stuff back to the camp. Bob and Heidi met us there, they climbed the SW Couloir to the top of the Middle. The marmots had eaten a hole thru their tent to polish off the last of the desserts; they also ate a good chunk of the foam pad and left plenty of calling cards all over the inside of the tent. Bob was ready for marmot stew but we had a big dinner of freeze-dried lasagna and we were off to bed. The next morning Bob and Heidi headed down and we packed up and moved camp to Lower Saddle 11600 ft. We left all the alpine stuff and extra clothes at 9400 and picked up the climbing gear at 11000 ft. There's a cliff band to negotiate at 11300 and then the last 100 feet seem to take for ever. There's a ranger hut and the Exum hut at the saddle. We set up camp, ate some dinner and then I hiked up to find the approach. I was thinking Nick and I would attempt Owen Spalding but I didn't want Nick to belay. The crowd coming down the peak gave us the beta on Upper Exum so I wanted to check it out.

I hiked to the Eye of the Needle description and figured it out. It's kinda a dumb way to go but maybe it makes the clients think they are getting their money's worth. From there I headed over the ridge and up Wall Street. The move off Wall Street and on to the start of the climb is legendary. The big ledge ends and there's a 6 foot gap that needs to be hand traversed to another ledge on the ridge. Glen Exum climbed the wall and leaped over the gap in 1930 in a pair of football cleats! I climbed across it in my boots and it's probably 5.6, the problem was downclimbing it, it took me a couple of tries before I committed. It's a 2000 foot fall if you hose it up.

The Grand at sunset from the Lower Saddle

The next morning we got started around 6 am. The guides had left at 4 am so it was relatively quiet. We planned to all climb the Upper Exum. We arrived at the Wall Street around 8 am with one party in front, one soloer passing us and another party of kids from CO behind us. The plan was for me and Sam to switch leads then Deneen and Nick would simul climb with me or Sam basically soloing (still roped but loose) and spotting Nick. Nick had rock shoes and the rest of us had mountain boots, Sam's had hobnails in them. Sam lead the gap and I led the first pitch which is a lot like Snake Dike, golden nobs, 5.4 and not much pro. The climb is about 1500 feet with 3 good roped pitches and the rest wandering in and around towers on the ridge. I think we made the summit around 1 pm.

Nick and Sam on Exum Ridge.

The team on the summit - Deneen, Kev, Sam & Nick

It was a great day but the afternoon thunder showers were coming so we headed down. We did 2 raps, one short that could be downclimbed and one 120 foot free rappel. I lowered Nick on both raps. From here you're on Upper Saddle at 13000 ft with a great view looking down the North Face. It's an awesome view of 6000 feet looking down into Cascade Canyon. We hiked and downclimbed all the way back to camp with the last 30 minutes in a light rain. We all climbed in the tent and then the skies opened up. I had slept outside all week in good weather but it wasn't going to happen tonight. We got a short break at sunset to cook dinner and then back to the tent for a squishy night.

Friday we packed up and hiked down to the Meadows to retrieve the remaining gear. My pack was pretty big but I decided to glissade the glacier in style instead of plodding thru the talus. Nick thought this was a great idea as well. It was kinda interesting that no one else from the 60 climbers a day had come up with this idea. The glacier was pretty steep where I traversed in but I could kick steps OK. Nick headed in much lower and I told him to kick steps to the middle of the glacier so he would be clear of the rocks in the runout. He made it most of the way before he slipped or meant to slide back down into the rocks. He bumped into the rocks feet first going slow and was fine but I was thinking it was pretty risky. I kept going until I was sure I was clear of all the big rocks. I didn't have an ice axe or even a dagger rock but the ice had a thin layer of slush on top and I figured I'd be OK. I was turning around to face down hill for my glissade when my feet slipped out from under me. Instantly, I was flying down hill on my butt and pack I tried digging in my heals but they kept bouncing around, I thought about spinning over on my face and trying to arrest on my toes but I thought I was better off seeing were I was going. I was bouncing around a lot and my hands were hurting so I pulled them up off the snow and concentrated on the avoiding the medium size rock down in front of me. I could see I was going to hit it and wanted to make sure I would land both feet on it and push off. I did and kinda glanced by it unscathed. After that it was just a runout and soon came to a stop. I had this brief idea of trying to spring to my feet at the end of the slide to make it look like I was in control but I was shaking to bad and really was just happy to be alive after fucking up. I stopped and stood up. Nothing appeared to be broke but my head was buzzing. A bunch of people were yelling at me from the ridge, apparently they were concerned about my water bottles strewn across the glacier and felt it needed my immediate attention. I was more concerned on whether or not I really had crapped my pants. I regained my composure, waved to Deneen and gathered up the water bottles. Nick came out to congratulate me on a spectacular slide. I brushed off the snow and we slid and walked down the snow field.

Kev & Nick walking out on the snow field

A really long time later we emerged at the parking lot and headed out for ice cream.

Kev and Nick near the end of the trail.

A good day

Kev had a good day today. He got up and out of bed and into his chair. He did a bit of reading, even more eating and is back on his meds.

Tomorrow's post is another blast from the past - our 2003 trip to Grand Tetons NP. Kelden was in WA visiting her friend Sarah, but Nick (age 11 at the time) came with us.

The Revival

For the past few days Kev has done little but sleep. It’s been a struggle to get him to eat or drink anything and I had to sneak his meds into a few bites of ice cream he had yesterday. I tried to convince him that we should contact MDA (considering he had met 4 of the criteria I was told to monitor) but he did not agree. However tonight he wakes up at about 8pm, eats two plates of pasta, a couple slices of pumpkin bread, a liter of water, a protein drink, a bowl of ice cream and watches a movie with us…

Kev's back home

Kev came back home yesterday evening. His blood levels looked good after 2 units of red blood cells, in addition to calcium and phosphates boosts. Not sure he passed the “no altered mental status” criteria :), but he wanted to go home and his Dr was agreeable. I have a list of symptoms to watch out for and a new prescription for antibiotics to add to all his other meds. He is still pretty tired, so mostly he’s getting a lot of rest, but he is much more comfortable at home.

quick update

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers. The chest x-rays came back clean – no pneumonia. Kev didn’t get moved into a room until Friday evening, so we spent a very uncomfortable Thursday night in the “holding area” of the ER. His white blood cell count was very high and considering the other symptoms the Drs. were convinced he had an infection – likely sepsis (blood infection). Now, after two days on the broad-spectrum antibiotics his white count is normal and the Dr has said he can likely go home tomorrow as long as there is no evidence of fever or "altered mental status". Red blood cell counts have continued to decrease so they’ll do a transfusion later today.

in the ER again

Last night was difficult for Kev. He couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position – too hot, too cold, wanted to lay on the right side, then the left, everything agitated him. He had taken three anti-anxiety pills and still couldn’t calm down. At about 2am I gave him a sleeping pill which worked great; he fell promptly asleep, but it may have created a “perfect storm” of relaxing meds - he slept all day (& is still sleeping!). His home-health nurse came by today to take his blood and didn’t like his cough, thought his blood pressure was borderline low, heart rate borderline high and had signs of dehydration. So she thought it best for us to go in get an evaluation from MD Anderson. The Drs & I debated whether to admit him or not, but in the end decided it was probably best. They started him on fluids, antibiotics and a breathing treatment to help with the loose cough. Blood work shows lots of off-nominal highs & lows; chest x-rays are still awaiting readings. The hospital is totally full so we are waiting in the ER for a room to become available…

2002 Dolomite Climbing Trip

Deneen had a business trip to Italy at the end of June so we decided to stretch it into our yearly climbing trip. I shipped the kids off to my folks and flew out to meet her for a week and a half of climbing and exploring NE Italy. I caught up with Deneen in Torino and we checked out the old square, Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello before jumping on a train to Bolzano the next morning. We had a little layover in Verona so we strolled around the little medieval town and took in the old castle and churches before continuing on to Bolzano that night.

Bolzano is kind of the gateway into the Dolomites and we would spend the next week climbing along the road between Bolzano and Cortino d'Ampezzo. This is the south Tirol district and most people speak German first and Italian second. Bolzano reminds me of a 18th century version of Boulder, CO. Just stick an old cathedral on Pearl Street and you get the idea - a pretty little town full of outdoorsy stores surrounded by mountains. We picked up a rental car the next morning headed out of town. After three tries we gave up going the way we wanted and found an alternate way out through the rolling hills. Obviously, driving in Italy was going to be a challenge. We figured out most of the signs but there was a couple that stumped us for the whole trip. We headed into the mountains and quickly learned that 'tornato' meant hairpin turns. Deneen wasn't looking forward to this part especially when the sign would say 17 or 24 or my favorite, 31 Tornato, at the base of the pass. Mix in a bunch of motorcycles, bicycles and tour buses and then take away the guard rails on what are really one way roads with two way traffic and the fun really starts.

We were planning on driving about 100 km to Cortina and then use Cortina as a base camp to drive from but it became obvious that hotels were everywhere and we pulled over to check out the rock at Sella Pass after about 40 km. It was about 6pm but the sun stays out almost til 9 so we grabbed the rope and headed up for a 15 minute walk to the first Sella Tower. It was four pitches of arete climbing up to IV+ (5.6?) and we got up it pretty quick.

Sella Tower: Kev on sumit

The rock is limestone with great holds but the crux was really polished, almost like marble, from the thousands who have climbed this classic since it was put up in 1928. We figured out the descent, got to the car and headed down the pass to Canazei and found a B&B just about dark. The next day we got up and headed east to Falzarego Pass but got hung up waiting on a bike race and finally arrived at the pass around 1 pm. We hiked in about an hour to the base of the arête on Hexenstein. The weather was iffy so we checked out WW1 trenches and bunkers on the pass. Apparently, this had all been part of Austria, and Italy failed to take it during the war but ended up getting it after the war as part of the treaty settlement. The passes in this area were covered in old caves and trenches and via ferrata (cable resupply routes) and it's a fun place to explore. The weather looked OK so we headed up the South Rib, IV+ and 6 pitches up the skyline edge to the summit with the final pitch a handcrack.

Passo Falzarego Hexenstein and church

We had the route to ourselves just like the day before. I think the bike race limited the climbers today. We topped out and met a couple who had come up the via ferrata route. We headed down and straight to a nearby Refugio for some dinner and a bed. What a way to go climbing.

Hexenstein: Deneen on Via Ferrato

The next morning we continued down the pass a little way to Falzarego Tower. The parking lot was full of army vehicles so we figured something might be up. We hiked about an hour in and over shot the climb, ending up about half way up the route instead of at the base. After a lot scrambling we found the start and the Italian Army. There must have been 100 soldiers strung out all over the place. But luckily there was only one party in front of us on our route. It was a couple of guys from the Czech Republic. They bypassed the traditional start of the route (the crux) so I figured they'd be slow but we never saw them again so we ended up climbing by ourselves again. The guide book kept warning us about the crowds but we were doing great, 3 for 3 on classic arête routes. It was a little cool, 50's to 60's, and the weather didn't look great but I couldn't complain, I guess the crowd shows up in August. Anyways, this was again IV+ and about 7 pitches. It starts out face climbing but quickly gets you out to the arête for 4 pitches right on the edge, belays were always entertaining watching the army swarm all over the cliffs to our right. We topped out and I was calling for a rest day. Deneen figured she could climb 10 days straight but I was getting a little frazzled. The routes are all run out, I was getting about 4 pieces per pitch (a piece every thirty feet), granted the routes were easy. My rack consisted of 2 friends, a couple of nuts and 8 slings. Most pitches, I just clipped the fixed stuff (old manky pins in horizontal cracks) or slung horns as I found them, bringing more gear wouldn't have made any difference because there wasn't much natural pro. Belays were usually bomber single pieces like the eyebolts on the Third Flatiron. So we headed for Cortina.

Cortina's a ski town with a touch of old history. We found a nice hotel within walking distance of the main square and settled in for some R&R. We found the local department store and had a fun time shopping, they had everything you could imagine, but in typical 'nothing is the same as the US’, you had to pay for what you want on the floor that it came from. This place had six floors, and my credit card got a work out. We couldn't sit still for a whole day so we drove up to the National Park and checked out Tre Cime. It was kind of a crappy day but the rain held back long enough for us to walk all the way around the massif. Cime Grande and Cime Piccolisimo looked pretty good but the aid roofs on Cime Ovest were awesome. As we headed back to the parking lot, we had to run the gauntlet through the local cows. Deneen was convinced we were going to get gored by the bull until I pointed out "his" udders.

Tre Cime: Deneen & cows

The next day we drove up to Cinque Torre (5 towers).

Cinque Torre

We took the chairlift to save an hour of walking uphill and the chairlift drops you off 5 minutes from the base of the route. We climbed Via Miriam V+ (5.8ish), 5 pitches. The route starts up a dihedral (crux) and then skirts a big roof on a 30 foot hand traverse.

Cinque Torre: Kev leading pitch 1 Via Miriam

The exposure was great on the hand traverse and was well protected. The following pitch (V) was up another dihedral and it was long, I reached the belay with one carabiner left on my rack. We topped out and then got cut off on the descent near some people behind us who didn't summit. The descent was down a rockfall gully so we had to wait for these guys to clear the gully before heading down. This was pretty annoying but we were patient and eventually got down to the base just as the rain started and the chairlift closed down for the day. It was a long slog back to the car in the rain and I fell in the mud on a particularly steep part to boot. The rain let up just as we got to the car so we tossed all the wet shit in the back and motored over to Canazei to dry out.

The last climb of the trip was the fabled Vajolet Towers and we were definitely saving the best for last.

Vajolet Towers

The approach is a little circuitous. We drove to the little town of Pera, found the bus up to Refugio Gardeccia. From there you hike about an hour up to Refugio Vajolet and dump your packs on a little cable car. From there it's a hike/class II scramble up to Refugio Alberto in the saddle below the climb. The best part is the cable car carries the gear up the hill for you. We got to the hut around 3pm and they would serve dinner til 8 so we took off to climb the Stabler Tower in the middle of the three towers (IV+, 4 pitches).The route was pretty fun and the crux was fun turning a little roof but the crack was wet and cold. The views were fantastic and the belays all comfy. We skipped the summit and rapped off after 3 pitches to catch dinner. Another great meal of Italian and German cooking with a WeisBier to wash it down rounded out the night. Deneen was beat and the hut was kind of cold so she disappeared under a mound of blankets for the night. I got a nice long hot shower up here in the middle of nowhere but it cost 5 bucks and then hit the hay.

The next morning was cold and cloudy so we took our time hanging around the hut waiting for the weather to clear. We were close to 9000 feet and there was still snow in spots. Around 10, the weather started to break a little so we headed back up the rock to climb Delagokante on the first tower (IV+, 4 pitches).

Vajolet: Deneen above Rifugio Alberto

I dropped the camera roping up and the top popped off so that's the end of the pictures. The tower is right on the pass so the first pitch begins by stepping out onto the arête and 500 feet of exposure. From there it's 4 pitches to the top and all of them are right on the edge. The second pitch is very exposed – a sharp, vertical knife-edge, studded with holds. The climbing is fun, holds show up right when you need them and the belays were ledges. The clouds would come in and swirl around us and then break for great views and a little time for the sun to warm us up before the clouds would come back in. We topped out in the fog and then 6 raps got us back down. We packed up our gear and tossed our packs on the little cable car and then headed down out of the mountains. We spent that night in Bolzano, the next morning we dropped off the car and took the first train to Venice.

Venice was wall to wall tourists, but we had a great time. We found a place near the Rialto Bridge with a view of a canal, dumped our gear at the station and bought a one day pass for the water bus and explored the city. We checked out the Basilica and the Doge's Palace in Piazzo San Marco, took the water bus across to the church at San Giorgio and rode the elevator to the top of the bell tower. We had dinner and wine over looking a canal while a thunderstorm raged over head and rode the water bus home during a break in the rain. The trip was coming to an end so a train to Milan and our last night in Italy was spent out on the town by the Duomo and the Galleria in the old part of Milan. The next morning we got up early and jumped on a bus to the airport. The only problem was we forgot some checked luggage at the train station (oops!) stored earlier on the trip. It looked desperate at getting back to pick up the luggage and still catching the flight plus the kids were being dropped off at our house so we had to split up. Since Deneen's tickets were in the left luggage, she got the short end of the stick. We loaded her up with cash put her in a taxi and she raced off to the city. I checked in and struggled through an hour of security. When some guy sat down in Deneen's seat on the plane, I knew she wasn't going to make it.

As it turns out Deneen did get back to the airport with a half hour to spare but they had already closed the ticket counter and bumped her to the following day. This was kind of a crappy ending to a really fun trip. 30 pitches and six climbs, no crowds, no waiting and we finished everything we started plus we got to catch Venice as well.

simple times

A quick update. Looks like this week should be quiet *fingers x’d* – we have no appts at MDA scheduled. And even the blood work Kev needs on Thursday can be done at home from our home-care nurse who comes weekly. After all the activity of the last couple months, it’s a welcomed relief.

For you out-of-town folks, we had about 5 minutes of excitement this morning when our first potential tropical storm of the season was identified – Dolly. But it looks likes it’s been turning south and will have little if any effect on our area.

Kev has been in very good spirits recently – no anxiety problems and no nightmares. And no need for his anti-anxiety meds. He does seem to like to reminisce about old trips, although he is having some memory issues. Lucky for us Kev always enjoyed writing trip reports. Some of you may have already seen these in their original email format, but starting tomorrow I’ll post some of his “best of” TRs.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by or called. Kev really enjoys these visits – talking about old times or even just the latest happenings at work. And thanks to everyone who is covering my tasks at work, permitting me to take all this time off to care for him. And thanks for all the delicious treats and dinners that have been delivered! You guys are great!!

A New Course

We went back up to MDA today to sign consents and start Kev’s new treatment – a combo of Dasatinib and valproic acid (Depakote). Dasatinib is an approved Leukemia chemo and Depakote is a common anti-seizure medication. The study investigates the use of the chemo with high doses of Depakote. There is preliminary evidence that the Depakote enhances the effectiveness of the chemo drugs. (Luckily the insurance company agreed to cover costs - $7000/month!) Kev has taken Depakote before (for its anti-consultant properties) back when he was having seizures. The protocol is very simple – both drugs are oral meds he can self administer. He needs to get blood checks weekly, but we can do them locally at St. John’s. Once a month he needs to go into MDA for an evaluation and every 8 weeks he goes in for scanning. If everything goes well we will not need to travel back to MDA for another 4 weeks!

The anxiety problems seem to be all in the past. He now has Ativan to use as needed and he claims it works great – makes him feel very relaxed and peaceful.

Kev’s folks came out to stay with us for the past week, which allowed me a few days off to watch the kids in their big sailing regatta of the summer. It was really nice to get out and spend some time in the “normal” world. Although it was somewhat bittersweet – usually I’d be on the water with Kev. He always enjoyed watching them sail and overanalyzing their tactical decisions. But I took a bunch of photos and the kids shared the stories each night. Here are a couple of my favorite pics:

Nick hiking out

Kelden relaxing between races

and more changes...

ANG1005 study is still on hold. Brain MRI shows increased growth from previous scan 20 days ago:
tumor within inferior right frontal lobe increased from 1.1 x 1.3 x 1.2 cm to now measure 1.6 x 1.3 x 1.4 cm.
tumor at right frontal vertex has increased from 1.0 x 0.5 x 0.7 cm to now measure 1.1 x 1.0 x 0.8 cm.
the tumor within the right parietal lobe has begun to bleed since the last scan and a large hematoma (4.6 x 3.0 x4.9 cm) obscures the original tumor.
a small (0.48 cm) tumor is noted within the cerebellar vermis at the vertex.

The recommendation is to start treatment with a combination of Dasatinib and Valproic acid. They are both administered orally and are not experimental so there will be far fewer "observations" involved. However because they are not experimental we will have to pay for them and it is uncertain whether the insurance company will cover. So tomorrow we go back to meet with the insurance coordinator and get this all figured out. MDA is great for fighting with insurance companies.

Anxiety issues are well under control with a new perscription of Ativan.

more changes..

On Wednesday we went in for a weekly blood check and a simple exam with the Researcher just to make sure everything is doing fine. We had a hint that something might be up when the day before we were told that we would also meet with the Director.
Blood work and exam went just fine, but the Director informed us that the ANG1005 trial Kev is participating in has been put on hold - indefinitely. Apparently the cloudy phenomenon is still problematic. It’s not the appearance, but the fact that the chemicals are precipitating out of solution that has the pharmaceutical company, MDA and FDA concerned about its effectiveness. This type of formulation problem is usually quickly resolved, and everyone expected the original plan of increasing the dilution to 1 liter to fix it, so when that and other attempts failed, the hold was implemented while the investigation continues. So the new short term course of action is to repeat brain and spine MRIs (Thurs & Fri) and meet with the Director again on Monday.

Brain MRI went fine, but Kev had a bit of an anxiety attack on the table for the spine MRI and it was aborted. (I think the meeting for Monday will stand.) Kev has also been having nightmares recently so I’ll call his Palliative Care Drs this weekend and see what they can offer up.

LIVESTRONG Challenge - Oct 25-26 2008

This year we’ve combined forces with a few colleagues from work and created a NASA team – NASA spRockets. We are looking for teammates! Anyone can join. Options are 5k run/walk, 10, 45, 65 and 90 mile bike rides. The route last year was great fun – lots of ups & downs & curves. Sign up at our team page or check out the team blog for all the important links.

Can't make the event? Consider supporting one of our enthusiastic team members!

The 4th was a BLAST!!

Thanks to everyone who helped make the party so much fun. Food was plentiful. Live music was awsome courtesy of Ray's Garage Band. Fireworks show was spectacular. The pictures tell it best:

We are having a 4th of July party!

We would like to extend an open invitation to all our dear friends who have been sending positive energy, saying prayers, bringing over meals and especially those who contributed to the build of Kev’s ramp. We have a great view of the Kemah fireworks from our backyard which will go off about 9:30. We will also have fireworks we’ll start shooting off around 9:00 and we’re told Carter & Paul’s band will start playing around 7:00. Dinner will start about 6:00. We’ll have a bunch of sausages and hot dogs to BBQ. Bring a side dish to share and your own lawn chair. (You’re welcome to bring fireworks also if desired.) The kids can fish, play in the bay and climb trees and Laura is going to bring a small “bounce house” for the little kids. Hope everyone can make it!
Location: Our House.
If there are any problems with parking, there is plenty of public parking at Miramar Park and Meador Park on Hammer and Meyer. Maybe we should we have the teenage kids run a valet service? :-)

Kev went in for blood work this afternoon and an exam and all his numbers are close enough to normal to pass. They seemed a bit surprised that he is not having any significant side effects. We go back next week for more blood tests and then if everything is OK, the following week is another treatment.

SILVER SNOOPY!!!

Monday was an amazing day for Kev! The guys from work surprised him with a great award. The Astronauts have a special award – The Silver Snoopy – given personally to those “individuals for outstanding efforts that contribute to the success of human space flight missions”. It’s one of the highest and most prestigious honors sponsored by the Office of Space Flight. Kev was nominated for his work with the P6 4B Solar Array Wing repair during the STS-120/10A mission last Oct (see earlier blog entry). The award was presented (at our house) by the STS-120 EVA-4 crew that actually installed the repair. Scott Parazynski and Doug Wheelock (via telephone from Star City, Russia). Management from both NASA and Boeing and a few dozen of his colleagues were present.

The Certificate:

The Lapel Pin:
Scott presenting to Kevin:

Scott & the family - Nick, Kevin & Deneen

(Kelden is Boulder, CO visiting the CU campus):
As an added surprise, the Flight Director, Derek Hassman, and Scott presented Kevin with a piece of Scott's spacesuit (the red stripe from his leg) he wore during the EVA:

Kev was very honored for the award and was especially thankful for the opportunity to speak with Scott and hear his perspective on the EVA repair. In addition, Scott is also an avid mountaneer, so he and Kev exchanged a few climbing stories. (Scott recently returned from an Everest summit attempt).

[Interesting history on the Silver Snoopy.]

I have some more pics and a video of the presentation that I should have linked-up later this week - check back for updates.