Random Memories

This post will continuously be updated as the memories materialize in my head

There are so many...  I'd never want to lose them.
Imprints in my mind...  flashbacks forever logged.

My earliest memories:
hiking behind grandma's house with my brother & dad; visiting the ranger station; fishing with grandpa off the dam; swimming lessons; homemade tortillas; shucking corn; Tonka trucks and mud pies; cleaning grandma's house; the Monkees; Grandma praying her rosary; Grandma washing my hair with rainwater; my brother pooping in the tub--with me in it; hiking the Minarets with Mom, Dad & my brother; catching fire flies in a bottle; soda in a bottle; walks to the market; Mikey the "junk man"; the smell of Dad's pipe; peeing in a Foldger's coffee can in the back of the Ram Charger, so grandpa wouldn't have to stop on our trips to El Paso & Amarillo; thunderstorms in Indiana; Amish country; Deer Forest in Michigan; the crick; Nana's house burning down; grandma rubbing my feet and playing "this little piggie" (in Spanish, of course) on my toes; chocolate & toast; fall 'tunas' (cactus apples); collecting pine nuts as a family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc.); swimming in the river;  parties at the scout house; Dad as Smokey Bear;  the awful smell, shocking sounds, and paralyzing fright of being in a real haunted house; playing with the Oija board; matchbox cars in the dirt; Dynomite club; eating in the train at the McDonald's in Saugus;  Magic Mountain; flying in an airplane for the first time; Aunt Esther dying; fishing off the docks in Ventura; weekends at the beach; day hikes with dad; traveling in the 5th wheel; drives along PCH; blinding rains in Oregon; Olympia, Washington; ghost towns; roller skating everywhere; babysitting for Dr. Nelson; clam digging in Pismo; Santa's Village; learning to snow ski; ice skating for the first time; picking lupins; building a fort; hunting for leprechauns; watching snow fall for the first time; grunion hunting; snipe hunting; playing in tide pools; Virginia Lakes campground; Silver Lake; grandpa catching a seagull while casting; my bro casting his hook into my hair; my other bro falling off a log into the river; that same bro falling through a window--twice; grandpa's cured olives and tunas; Gaviota; getting caught on the train trestle and running for dear life as the Amtrak just missed our asses; Dad returning home from work smelling of sage; pulling his boots off at the end of the day; playing in his truck; memorizing the scanner codes and beeps; California BB gun team; being the only girl on the team; being called Annie Okley;  National championships in Joplin, Mo; staying in the dorms at Mo. Southern State U.; the Ozarks; Markku from Finland; Boy Scout Jubilee at Disneyland; the meteor shower at the beaver ponds; Bishop's Mule Days; Tahoe; June Lake; riding the gondola at Mammoth; the mansion; my first kiss; star gazing with dad

School Memories:
gram crackers and milk; finger painting with jello; "I See Sam"; walking from Grandma's to school; smoking grandma's cigarettes in the orchard next to Piru school; bloody mary; the log at Piru school;  snowball dances; being 5th grade snow princess;  cheering for the Piru Indians; being a Raider's cheerleader; practice kissing with and on my girlfriends; Summer School; Catechism; Fr. Ravlic; being confirmed by then Arch Bishop Roger Mahoney; Youth Day & Congress; walking from Saticoy to Piru (20 miles) in one day; 6th grade Hobby Show; 6th grade graduation; Summer Academic Institute at UCSB; breakdancing contests at lunch time; yearbook staff; making out with my H.S. sweetheart in the photo lab; prom; being paid and getting out of class to be an extra in the filming of "Iron Eagle"; watching the filming of "The Dukes of Hazard" after school; Flashes in the rain at S.P.; scorekeeping for the softball and girls basketball team; writing my own sick notes; the smoking area at school; the Backwards Dance; the cheer queers; typing class; career day; Magic Mountain annual passes every year; weekends at Magic Mountain; Magic Mountain concerts; cruising Saviors, Main Street, & San Fernando Blvd.; working at Margaret's Cocina; float building; pep rallies; SADD; blood alley; Grad Nite Live; the Radiotron; Chemical Reaction; Electronic Wizards; Prince; L.L. Cool J; Hip Hop; neon socks; parachute pants; mini skirts; Santa Grams; donut runs for Mr. A; the pool hall; suicide sodas; Homecoming parades; 10th grade pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal paid for by tamale sales; dining in a Portuguese castle; St. Therese of the Flowers novena; losing air conditioning over the Atlantic on the flight to Portugal and the entire airplane praying the rosary as we stripped down to our slips, boxers & underwear while surviving on rationed out ice chips; decorating the 'Malaysian' float for the Rose Parade; New Year's Eves at Disneyland; participating in "Hands Across America"

Travel & Adventure Memories:
Fitting 6 women with shopping bags into a cab in Tiajuana, Mexico;  the awe of viewing the Grand Canyon for the first time; watching campers scramble as a baby bear ran through our Yosemite campground; feeling the misty spray of Niagra Falls on my skin; crossing the bridge from Detroit into Canada; whale watching off the Channel Islands; snorkeling in a volcano; traveling solo across the country on an Amtrak train; watching the "Showtime" Era Lakers play; watching the Boston Celtics play; watching the Dodgers beat the Cards from a 'Luxury Suite' @ Dodger Stadium; attending a post season Laker game; driving through a California Redwood tree; flying over the Atlantic; flying over the Pacific; flying over the North Pole; spending a day alone in Paris; navigating the Paris Metro by myself; the views from the Eiffel Tower; the Arch de Triumph; touring the Louvre; shopping in Florence, Italy; Versailles Castle; the Leaning Tower of Pisa; gondola ride through the canals of Venice; water taxi ride on the Grand Canal; the pigeons at St. Marks Square; being kissed (and pinched) by a handsome waiter in Rome; tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain; visiting the Pope's summer home; the bus ride through the Swiss Alps; the taste of real swiss chocolate; Lake Lucerne; kissing the Blarney Stone; having lunch in a 300 plus year old Irish pub (c. 1640); the BEST turkey and dressing sandwich in Ireland; driving in Ireland; driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road in rain and sleet conditions in Ireland; the Cliffs of Moher; picking up a hitch-hiker in Ireland; Christmas shopping in Ireland; dining in a Portuguese castle; listening to Sister Lucia sing in a portuguese convent; Fatima; heavily armed security guards at Lisbon airport; weekend cruise to Catalina and Baja; Mexican Riviera cruise; Millenium New Year's in Vegas;  watching the implosion of the Hacienda Hotel live; being in Vegas when Tyson bit Holyfield's ear; being in Vegas when 2Pac was shot; being in Vegas for the De La Hoya/Vargas fight; being treated like royalty for the opening of Belagio Hotel in Vegas (pres. suite; champaign delivered); staying at the Ritz Carlton, San Francisco (same 5 Star treatment); Alcatraz Island; navigating the streets of San Francisco; crossing the Golden Gate Bridge; Cirque du Soleil's Mystere & Oh; winning Vegas jackpots; winning a trip to Hawaii; Mardi Gras in New Orleans; getting a Zulu coconut from the Zulu parade @ Mardi Gras; the captain of the steam boat at Disneyland inviting me to 'pilot' the boat; New Year's at Disneyland; horseback riding at Virginia Lakes; Zodiac tour along the Na Pali Coast; riding in a boat through an aqua cavern (Na Pali Coast); swimming with sea turtles; spinner dolphins playing alongside our catamaran as we sailed to Lanai; lounging in a hammock between 2 palm trees with a mai tai in hand on a beach in Lanai; driving the road to Hana--all the way around; slack key concert in Hanalei, Kauai; staying in a mansion with a secluded beach in Kauai; watching the sunrise at Mt. Haleakala; New Year's in Kauai