Chronicles Part XI - the new Millennium (6)

We're now well in to the new millennium. There's just 3 of us in Arbor Court and Ross would be leaving his teenage years behind come September, 2003. Aberdeen College hadn't proved much of an attraction to him - nor had it done to Gary - but employment at Wm. Wilson and subsequently WeatherNews in Aberdeen would at least bring some income in for him, plus some human interaction. Logistically, however, those years were always a bit of a challenge as these employers were based in Altens - fortunately not too far away from one of my work locations in Craigshaw Drive. It was a bit more difficult when I had to be in Fraserburgh or Bridge of Don - or travelling on business.

Jo, of course, was still teaching at St. Joseph's in Queens Road but her working day was already starting to get longer. She would try to be out of the house by about 7 am, avoiding the worst of the commuting traffic to get in to her class by 8 am and start the day's preparations. She would dash home after school, prepare dinner for us then head upstairs to mark the kids' exercises and prepare for the following day, collapsing in to bed for some much-needed sleep before the whole cycle started again the following morning. The weekends weren't much better. The most spoken phrase - and least popular - was Forward Plans - probably preceded by a mild curse. How much longer she could keep this up we didn't know. Jo loved teaching, but hated the ever-increasing admin.

Probably the one time of year when Jo could really relax was on our increasingly longer summer holidays in USA. In 2003, I was fortunate to be able to go there twice - the first time in March, when I managed to persuade some of our golfing group that our winter/early spring trip should be to the west coast of America for a change. Palm Springs and Las Vegas would make for a nice two centre holiday and would be good pre-cursor to the golf season in Scotland. Our timing wasn't particularly brilliant, however, as it coincided with a bit of a cold snap, but it never stopped us from playing.

Of course, this golfing trip also gave me the opportunity to meet up with Lucy, Scott & Cade in San Francisco over the last weekend of our trip. Cade wasn't yet three years old and, of course, barely knew me. We were all sharing a hotel room - 2 double beds, Scott and Lucy in one, with me - and, surprisingly, Cade - in the other one. His choice - we were all a little surprised, but the night passed without incident. When Cade awoke in the morning, he opened his eyes and all he could see was me - help, Mummy, Daddy! Look at his eyes in this photograph - he definitely doesn't trust me!:

Lucy had driven down to SFO in her then brand new car:

We did the tourist thing of course, including the famous cable cars:

I was back across the pond again in July - this time with Jo and Kelly. Our destination then was exotic Hawaii. We flew to LA and stayed overnight at the Sheraton at the airport - a smart decision. I had originally toyed with doing the whole journey in one, but when we found out that Kauai was a further 6 hours flying with 3 hours more time difference on from LA, it was a no-brainer to stop over for one night.

We'd heard that some of the roads on Kauai - the most westerly of the main Hawaiian islands - were little more than dirt tracks, so we decided to hire an open-topped Jeep:

It was fun to drive with the warm wind whipping away at us as we drove along. The sun is very high in the sky there - I was a bit skimpy with putting sunscreen on on the first day and after less than half an hour outdoors, I was left with red marks on my shoulders, punctuated by 4 very distinct white stripes where my fingers had smeared on the lotion.

We stayed at Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club, where the weather was dry, sunny, warm - and yes, windy - but we weren't too far away from one of the wettest places on earth - Waimea Canyon National Park, where they average an incredible 460 inches (1,170 cm) of rain every year. No wonder it's known as the Garden Island.

We even managed to visit the "World's Westernmost Brewpub" at Waimea:

Of course, when in Rome .........:

It was the most subdued Hawaiian shirt we could find! The girls had a great time trying out every cocktail on the island:

Our week in Hawaii over, it was time to visit Lucy, Scott & Cade. We did the usual winery trips, boating, Ashland etc, but it's hard to beat the hot tub and a beer:

In 2003, I met up with the Lesinas on 3 separate occasions - March, July and then, at Christmas, they all came over to Scotland. Dad was still staying at home, but he was noticeably getting older - he was 82 by now and some external support would be required. He was still able to sit Cade on his knee - just - for the camera:

We did a few excursions over the Xmas holidays - firstly to Glentanar get our Christmas Tree:

Then to Glenfiddich Distillery:

Scott had to experience the uniquely British panto season:

Surely Jo wasn't bored already?

The Home of Golf was another trip - we stayed at St. Andrews Bay Hotel and walked round the castle ruins, past the R & A and posed in front of the 18th green of the Old Course:

There were meals and drinks at the Balaka, St. Andrews, Lairhillock Inn, Netherley and Marine Hotel, Stonehaven amongst others, and Scott joined me one day in Fraserburgh, where he was given the full tour:

I even got Scott out on the squash court:

We visited Kelly in her flat in Aberdeen and Cade enjoyed playing on her bed:

He was comfortable with Ross and Gary:

It was a busy holiday, but all too soon, it was time to leave and we had to say our goodbyes at Aberdeen Airport:

Lucy was pregnant with Braeden at that time, but Jo and I already knew that, unlike with Cade's birth, we wouldn't be able to be present when Braeden was born in May, 2004.

Lucy's cousin, Julie, was also pregnant in 2003 and she gave birth to twins Sam & Tom in the autumn. Another item to appear that year was my new company car - a Volvo V70:

You can tell from the sports bag on the driveway that our squash club was still going then and I was still playing - but it wouldn't be long before our troubles here manifested themselves. Golf was still a favourite, of course and our golf group's autumn overseas trip in 2003 was to the Algarve, staying at the famous Penina Hotel that had long been a dream destination for me. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed, however - there had been some rain before we got there and the hotel course was closed on the first day and was in poor order on the 2 days we did get to play it. The hotel, too, was far from the 5-star resort advertised - my room was small with only a tiny window and even the fruit served at breakfast was tinned - not what I had imagined.

I was playing in a competition at Torphins one Sunday in 2003 with my friend Syd Freeman, who was having a wonderful day. He set a course record of 62 that still stands to this day, including a wonderful 29 strokes on the front nine:

My claim to fame is signing his card - it's framed in the clubhouse!

I used to organise a bus to the annual CAMRA beer festival in Aberdeen in November. They were great fun. Occasionally, a few of us who were CAMRA members, would help out behind the bar:

That's my squash pals Peter Cook and Jas Bhagrath with me.

That's my memories of 2003. No doubt I've missed some important stuff out and for this, I apologise. E & OE.