Rick and Emily Francona: New Year's Update 2010

New Year's greetings from Rick and Emily Francona!

We wish all of you a prosperous and happy 2010 - some memories of our 2009

Port Orford

First storm of the year - lit a fire...

Winter sunrise from the deck

Sample perfect days on the Oregon coast

Killing cardboard - Emily on the top row - more of Emily shooting
Rick and neighbor Karen Hansen on the bottom row

The guys - Pasha and Nikki. Nikki also is a bookworm

Another neighbor, Melissa Weinblatt, was co-owner of the West Coast Game Park - she brought the cats home
Here we are with lion cubs and African leopard cubs

Rick continues to run in the Port Orford Lifeboat Station museum Jerry Can Races

The annual windsock launch - and a week later a freak storm started to shred it

A storm approaches

Rick's grandkids
Dominic (9), Dante (5), Bella (2), Alexa (1)

Agate Beach. Port Orford

Wave action off the Port Orford Heads

Sunrise from the solarium

Bandon "Support the Troops" rally with Airlee Owens

Fogbank approaching

Christmas at the Compass Rose
Randy and Cheryl Schmucker, Karen Hansen,
Emily and Rick, Nancy Fraser and Doug Hansen

Wave action off the Port Orford Heads

Rick on "the guy deck" - flame, meat, beer

Summer moonrise

Grey whale off the deck

The newest business in Port Orford - all legal, believe it or not....

Carmel

"The Breadman" and Nancy Fraser during a visit to Carmel - we lost the Breadman this year

Bird tour on Elkhorn Slough with
Joyce and Duane Golhofer (of Golden, Colorado)

Emily and Mike Merritt hugging a tree in Carmel

Emily learning floral design at Twigery
(owned by Mike and Cheryl Merritt)

Rick with Don Dillon in Fremont at Don's citrus nursery

A special treat - Nikki Hampton came to visit from college in Santa Barbara. Emily was a mentor to Nikki in 2005 - see photo upper right. We call her a Grace Kelly look-a-like.

WIth Duane and Joyce at Phil's famous cioppino
restaurant in Moss Landing

Rick with Chef of the Year Mary Pagan
at the Monterey Culinary Center

With the Merritts, Deb Quayle and Bert Pike
and Bert's cioppino - it rivals Phil's

With Nikki at Twigery

Paul and Cathy Peschiera, friends from Eugene, spent their anniversary with us in Carmel.

Travels

The Victoria (Canada) Classic Wooden Boat Show - more pictures

British Columbia - more Canada photos

Mount Rainier - more photos

Yosemite - more photos

Our second Thanksgiving with "the gang"
Roy and Karen Butts, Professor Walt Wright,
and hosts Beth Myers and Jim Mills

Port Townsend

(Left) Rick and Emily with Millie North at her home in
Sequim, Washington - more Olympic Peninsula photos

Rainbow on US 101 near San Francisco

Sonoma Wine Country

Emily with Mike and Cheryl Merritt at Clos du Bois Winery in Geyserville (Sonoma). Mike and Cheryl owned the Twigery in Carmel.

Rick with Sonoma-Cutrer assistant winemaker Cara Morrison

Emily and Cathy Peschiera at Iron Horse Vineyards (Sonoma)

Emily cannot pass up cherries on the road....

More Sonoma wine country photos

Arizona

Emily attended a Rotary conference in Phoenix, taking a side trip to visit friends. The left photo shows Rotary International President D.K. Lee with his wife and Emily. More photos from the trip.

New Mexico

Emily attended the National Rifle Association Women's Wilderness Escape at the NRA Whittington Center in New Mexico.

Emily firing the FN 90 personal defense automatic weapon (900 rounds/minute) - More photos of her in action!

Israel

Rick was invited on a military analyst tour of Israel to assess the Israeli military operation in Gaza. This is the Gaza-Israel border. He also traveled to the West Bank. More photos from the trip

Jerusalem - Zion Gate

Lt Col (res) Danny Grossman and Rick

Danny has the distinction of being the only officer to fly F-4's in both the USAF and IAF. Uzi is the former commander of Central Command and proponent of the controversial security barrier. Uzi was able to get me into (and out of) restricted areas of the West Bank.

(Left) Me with Jack De Lowe, my host in Raanana. Jack and his wife Helene are the parents of the late Aaron De Lowe and started the center in his memory.

Visitors

Breadman and Nancy Fraser with Judi Beard-Strubing and Rick