Christmas 1999

The start of 1999 was both emotional and exciting. January 5 marked the first anniversary of losing Sue's dad. Her mom, Fran, was visiting for the holidays and they had a Mass said in his memory. We all miss him very much.

Just a few days later, Sue's life changed dramatically. The motto is "better site at the speed of light". And it's true. Within a short 5 minutes, Sue went from being extremely nearsighted to seeing clearly through her eyes only - no glasses, no contact lenses. Corrective lenses are history for her. It was nothing short of a miracle. The most incredible, freeing, and astonishing experience you can imagine. If you depend on glasses, just imagine waking up for the first time in 35 plus years, starting to reach for your glasses, and then realizing you don't need them because you can see!

In the spring we had some fun getaways. We got up to Napa for a friend's wedding. And at the same time a branch of Sue's family was in Berkeley for a college graduation so we got to be part of a mini family reunion there.

1999 was a year of great vacations and a couple of firsts for Steve. In June, he had a great experience bicycling close to 500 miles through California on the "Sierra to the Sea" bicycle tour. And a few days after he returned, he made his first trip overseas.

The Sloan's had a full-scale family reunion this summer in Spokane while Sue and Steve were away, but the boys were all there and they had a great time.

July 17 marked our 5-year wedding anniversary. When we were first married, we set a goal to go to Italy for our 5th anniversary. We stuck to our plan and took a wonderful 3 week trip to Italy from late June into July.

We loved every minute of it. It was hard to leave each place we visited and move on to the next. We could easily have spent a month at each location.

We started on the Riviera in a charming little town called Santa Margherita. That's where we were situated for the first 4 days. The coastline is spectacular. The Mediterranean was wonderful - we swam in it 2 or 3 times - the water was beautiful and a perfect temperature. We visited the neighboring towns of Rapallo and Portofino. Rapallo happened to have a big festival going on. They are so wild - they were still shooting off fireworks at 1:30 am. Families, small children, young people, old people, everyone is out and enjoying life - it's so wonderful. Portifino was stunning and a bit more upscale yet medieval at the same time. They happened to have a party going on that ended in fireworks that were shot up from a medieval castle - amazing. Then there is Cinque Terre - probably our favorite stretch of the Riviera coast. Cinque Terre translates to 5 coasts. They are 5 small villages nestled into the cliffs - breathtakingly beautiful. We spent the better part of one day hiking between the first 2 towns (Monterosso and Vernazza) - it was a quite a hike, lots of climbing, steps built into the cliffs in a lot of spots, endless private vineyards and views. It was very hot but great exercise and a very memorable experience. When we finally reached Vernazza, the first thing we did was jump in the water. Then we took the train between 2 other villages and walked between the last 2 (Manarolo and Riomaggiore) - this was about 1/2 hour walk on 'Via di Amore' (lover's lane) which was a beautiful, flat path along the cliffs where we ended up at sunset. We liked it there so much that we returned the next day to Monterosso and spent a more leisurely day there, mostly at the beach.

Next we took the train to Florence. Our train experiences were great - Sue really enjoyed trying to talk the little Italian she knew to the Italians. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Florence, of course, was wonderful. We stayed in a great location. We walked and walked all over the city. We saw all the main attractions, of course. We went to the Accademia to see David, shopped on the Ponte Vechio, listened to romantic music late in the evening at the Ufizzi, to name a few. What we especially enjoyed was getting away from the main attractions and heavy tourist areas - like on the last day we found a really neat, smaller market where the prices dropped dramatically. Throughout the trip we often shopped at the markets and bought wonderful breads, cheeses, produce, and salami that we would have out on a piazza somewhere for lunch.

Then we rented our little car - we love the cars in Europe - and went to Tuscany. We stayed in Volterra 2 nights which is one of the probably lesser-known villages that was very charming, with some ruins, and a great walking path that looked onto the Tuscan hills. It's right near San Gimignano. We loved San Gimignano and Sienna. Sienna reminded us of a smaller scale sort of Florence. We love the huge piazza there.

Then we spent 3 days situated in Vagliagli, which is smack in the center of Chianti. It's a tiny, tiny village - we had dinner there 1 night and spent hours at this little restaurant and talked with the owner who's dog was lying by the bar as he worked. It felt like we were dining in his home. The villa we stayed at was on a working vineyard and winery - that was really neat and the location was very scenic. We went on day trips to all the Chianti towns and many others in the southern part of Tuscany. It was one hilltop village after another, mostly all walled villages. We thoroughly enjoyed the places we visited and the beautiful drives through the Tuscan countryside. One very small village was built around a natural hot spring, the village center surrounds a pool of water. There are places to soak your feet and places to swim in the beautiful water, and it doesn't smell of sulfur. Of course, we did our share of wine tasting and brought back a small sampling of some of our favorite discoveries.

Next we took the train to Venice. We loved our location - in Dorsoduro - which is over the Accademia bridge about a 10 minute walk to St. Marks Square. A great part of where we stayed was that it has an outdoor terrace right on the canal that hotel guests have access to any time of day in addition to having your breakfast there. It was such a pleasure to start the day there and enjoy it at any time. Of course we took a gondola ride through the canals one night - it was a lot of fun. We were fascinated by the way of life, how there are no cars in Venice and everyone gets around by boat or on foot. We took water taxis a lot (vaporetti) - it was such a blast. And as Sue once put it while we were there "an endless feast for the eyes". Steve absolutely fell in love with it. He got an early morning wake up call each day so he could go out to take photos in the early morning light when the city was quiet and mostly empty. It was romantic and wonderful.

After Venice, we spent one day in Verona. There's something about that city that really grabbed us. It's such a charming place to visit.

And finally, we stayed in Riva del Garda for 2 nites. That's at the head/northern tip of Lake Garda - a beautiful spot nestled into the Alps. Technically they are the Dolomites. We spent our 5th anniversary there and gave ourselves a day of R&R. Of course, we had a wonderful dinner at a lovely restaurant and tried our first bottle of Barolo - a great Italian red we highly recommend. The further north you go on the lake, the more scenic it gets. We had a very nice few days there and then took the hydrofoil boat clear down to the southern tip of the lake, which took several hours, on the day we had to leave for Milan. If you have never been, you must go. We loved the way of life, the siestas, the food, the people, the wine, the ancient beauty. The Italians really know how to live and how to enjoy life.

We have about 25 rolls of slides that Steve shot in Italy. In the late summer, we had 2 parties at our house that featured slide shows. One party was full of bicyclists, the other IBMers. We showed slides of Steve's bicycle trip and the Italy trip in our backyard "Cinema Paradiso" style. It was a lot of fun.

Ken has had a great year. He is growing rapidly. He is now about the same height as Sue (5'6"). He is in the middle year of middle school (7th grade) and venturing into new social situations like attending school dances. Ken is on the honor roll, we are very proud of him. In a matter of weeks he will officially be a teenager. Ken advanced to Concert band this year. He still plays the Alto Saxaphone and he's sounding better all the time. He marched in 2 local parades and gave 4 performances for the school's winter concert. Their band won first place in one parade for being the best band of all the competing middle schools, and they took home several other first, second, and third place prizes. He's getting pretty comfortable in the role of performer. We like to call him "Kenny S". Of course, we can't forget our cat Tupper. She still is the queen and ruler of the household. Ken and Sue fuss over her daily. Steve acts like he can take her or leave her, but then we catch him spoiling her and contributing to her bad habits. She's a sweetie. Steve and Jeff are doing well too. Steve landed a new job that keeps him hopping and Jeff got a promotion at his. They still have apartments nearby with roommates. Ken loves it when he gets to visit them for sleepovers on the weekends.

500 Miles (almost)
By Steve

June 27, 1999, Sunday morning, 9am

This time yesterday I was in Stinson Beach preparing to make the ascent on Mount Tamm. We finished the ride yesterday afternoon. We rode almost 500 miles in a week. I learned a lot about cycling and about myself on the trip. Things I learned include: zip up your jersey when you pass through a swarm of bees and how to reduce saddle sores. I made some new friends. On one day I rode up the steepest hill I'd ever ridden (Sweetwater Grade) and then climbed a steeper one about an hour later (The frog pond ascent, both near the Russian River.)

Sometimes I rode by myself. On those days I rode leisurely and took pictures. I shot about 7 rolls of film and got some great shots. But, carrying a Nikon with a zoom lens was a lot of weight to drag around! Other days I rode with the band. "The band" was a group of riders that played kazoos, blew whistles and sang. The band was made up of several racers and triatheletes most of whom are far stronger riders than I.

My bike, (a Bianchi Cyclocross bike, which I have set up as an all rounder) was very reliable. It is heavy for a road bike. With it I was hard pressed to keep up with the band, most of whom rode titanium and carbon fiber racing bikes. But, with its wider tires, lower gears, mud clearance and treaded tires my bike took on everything, including mud, without so much as a single flat! It is a very stable ride, but it has a high bottom bracket which makes it corner slower than a racing bike.

A year ago I had to walk my bike up Hicks, a local hill. This year I rode up hills way harder than that. I almost gave up on one hill, then I reminded myself, the toughest hills are those in your mind. Then, I finished climbing that hill. I never walked my bike. I feel real good about that and am now setting my sights on next year. I found some real holes in my training. I had trained for hard rides by riding some 104-mile rides up steep grades. But, I always gave myself recovery time after those rides. I should have gone on several shorter rides with no recovery days between. Also, I need to cross train more. I carry about 10-15 pounds I need to either lose or turn into working muscle. So, for next year I intend to swim more, work weights and watch my food intake more. Next year I don't want to have to struggle so much to keep up with the band.

The ride was a great experience. I will never forget it. I have never asked my body to do anything like this and never thought my body could. Each day the ride had several options. I never took the short/flat options. Often the band made up their own rides (like Sweetwater.) The band always took the longer/steeper routes, which were usually the prettiest!

The weather was great, which made for great pictures! Temperatures varied from 41 degrees to over 100. I am glad I am suited to heat, but I struggled with the cold.

We visited Railfare in Sacramento and ran into some of my train buddies who were dressed in overalls and were surprised to see me in cycling garb.

114 cyclists started the ride. Four of the riders were seriously injured. Two riders on a tandem collided with an oncoming cyclist on the American River bike trail (which resulted in one broken ankle and a broken pelvis.) A third cyclist was hit by a car (hit and run, which resulted in a broken ankle.) A fourth was injured in a fall on our descent down Sweetwater Grade (around 12 percent with switchbacks, she got a broken collar bone.) Probably another 6 were injured, but not seriously enough to warrant hospitalization (just road rash.)

So now we are preparing for the relaxing phase of the vacation, our trip to Italy, arrivederci!