Christmas 2004: Ben and Ruth had a Hawaiian vacation before Christmas; Diether and Jutta spent an extended Christmas break in Reno, where they enjoyed hikes in the desert hills, before a major snowstorm made it hard to get out of town.
November 25, 2004, Thanksgiving long weekend: Diether, Jutta, Ben, and Ruth celebrated Thnaksgiving at the house of Ruth's parents with their friends. On Friday Diether and Jutta drove to Reno, and experienced a strong snowstorm on Saturday.
October 16 &17, 2004: We took advantage of some warm weather early in the weekend for swimming in Pyramid Lake on Saturday morning(the water is getting cold). In the afternoon we went on the Reno "river walk", walking the city and tasting a variety of wines. On Sunday morning we walked in the desert in cool weather, and Diether took portrait photos of desert trees. In the afternoon we worked on project to stabilize cloth hangers in a closet stabilization, achieving a destabilization instead, missing the evening church and a dinner reservation as a consequence.
October 5 &8, 2004: New York city.
October 2 &3, 2004: We have a quiet
weekend in Cupertino with a visit to Half Moon Bay with enormous
traffic, even though the pumpkin festival takes place several
weeks later.
September 25&26, 2004: Another event in Reno, the street vibrations, attracted thousands of bikers. After swimming in nearby lakes, we watched people downtown.
September 18&19, 2004: The air show with many airplanes out of the Stead airport enticed us to spend the weekend in Reno. The cold weather prevented us from swimming at Pyramid Lake, so we hiked instead.
September 11&12, 2004: The balloon races are a reason to spend the weekend in Reno. The Sunday races have to be cancelled because of high winds.
September 4 to 6, 2004, Labor Day: A long weekend in Reno offers opportunities for hiking and swimming.
August 28&29, 2004: Jutta and Diether have another weekend in Cupertino with a drive over the hills to Santa Cruz for lunch and beach.
August 21&22, 2004: The family spends a quiet weekend in Cupertino with a lunch time excursion to Half Moon Bay with lunch at Mzza Luna and a walk on the beach.
August 14&15, 2004: Jutta and Diether enjoyed the deserts and lakes around Reno. Diether really likes to swim in the less crowded lakes.
August 7&8, 2004: Jutta and Diether
started the weekend with a visit to the farmers' market in
Saratoga, where they 
bought more than five pounds
of grapes, tomatoes, and a cake. In the afternoon friends from
Europe arrived. On Sunday they attended mass at Queen of the
Apostles in San Jose, follwed by a drive to Santa Cruz to enjoy
some walking on the wharf and the beach, interrupted by lunch.
The beach was very crowded. Ben, Ruth, and Bob came for dinner at
the house in Cupertino.
July 31 to August 2, 2004: Jutta and Diether spent a long weekend in and around Reno. On Saturday, they drove to the Rye Patch area in Pershing County, hiking in the Panther Canyon and an adjacent canyon in the Humboldt Range from mid-morning to noon, followed by a drive and swimming in the reservoir in the late afternoon. The route to first the beach was very sand. With the sand, thrown into the air by the car, it was hard to see. After a short swim in a very muddy area (Jutta actually fell in the mud.) they took a clue from a clean car, parked on the same beach, and found a less sandy road for their return. They stopped at another beach, which can be reached with any car, and swam on an almost mud-free beach. After dinner at the pizzeria, close to the Rye Patch reservoir, they introduced themselves to the owners, and then returned to Reno. On Sunday, they had a short walk in the desert, close to Reno. In the evening, they attended mass at the Newman center of UNR, follwed by dinner at home. On Monday they went swimming in Lake Tahoe. In the evening Diether returned to Cupertino.
July 24&25, 2004: On Saturday Diether and Jutta went hiking in the Rancho San Antonio park close to Cupertino. In the evening, they went to a party, organized by friends from Stanford, to celebrate and award and an upcoming wedding. On Sunday, they drove to Greenfield to check on the cabin. On the way, they stopped for lunch at Miller's to find out, that Phil was sick in a hospital in the SF Bay Area. As it was very hot at the cabin, they just checked it, and collected a few things to take to Cupertino and Reno. They returned via Carmel for a hike on the beach north of Monterey.
July 17&18, 2004: Jutta and Diether spent the weekend at the house in Cupertino with a drive to Santa Cruz.
July 10, 2004: Ben and Ruth celebrated
several birthdays with a party of friends at the Cupertino house
while Diether and Jutta had dinner at Hamasushi with Ruth's
parents.
July 3 to 5, 2004: We celebrated Independence Day in the Reno area watching pig races in Fernley and fireworks in Reno and Sparks. On the 5th, they had a leisurely picnic on Peavine Peak.
June 19 to 27, 2004: We had a one week summer vacation on the lakes of northwest Nevada. We enjoyed five different lakes and a few rivers, swimming a lot.
June 18, 2004: Jutta, Ben, Diether, her parents, and several friends came to Ruth's graduation ceremony in the morning. In the evening Jutta and Diether drove to Reno to start a week of vacation on the lakes of NW Nevada.
June 12, 2004: Visit to the car show, organized by the DeAnza auto program in the morning; the annual party in our backyard in the afternoon with many friends.
June 5 &6, 2004: Errands in Cupertino in preparation of the summer party, interrupted by relaxing on the waterfront of Santa Cruz.
May 29 -31, 2004: For the Memorial Day weekend we enjoyed the Reno area with an afternoon of swimming for Jutta in Pyramid Lake.
May 15, 2004: We spend the weekend in the Reno area with an excursion to the Humboldt Mountain area, where we visited Unionville and the Kyle hot springs.
May9, 2004: Diether and Jutta enjoyed the waterfront in Santa Cruz with a relative from Europe.
May 1&2, 2004: Diether joined Jutta in
Reno on Friday evening. On Saturday they drove to the Rye Patch
lake, formed by 
the Humboldt river. They
bought a day pass to explore the recreation area. First they
found a lonely beach to go swimming. The water was very cold, but
the lake was so inviting, that even Diether went for a short
swim. Next they drove north along the west side of the lake. On
the north side, Jutta spotted an antelope from the moving car.
Diether stopped to take a few photos. Next they drove to a beach
area on the northeast side of the reservoir, and got almost stuck
in the sand. To make sure to get out, they did not stay there,
and drove to the recreation area on the southern end of the lake,
where they had a picnic lunch next to the river. Then they
explored the mountain range to the east of the reservoir, and
returned to Reno in the evening. On Sunday they enjoyed the local
outdoors around Reno.
March 27, 2004: After many weeks, Diether and
Jutta found time again to drive to their place in Greenfield.
Except for the slightly washed out road close to the creek, and
missing liquors and coffee in the cabin, they found everything in
good shape. They did not stay overnight, and returned via Carmel
and Monterey. They interrupted the drive with a walk on the
beach, north of Monterey, and then discovered a shortcut from
highway 1 to 101, with a short stretch of a good dirt road. In 
the evening they had dinner with Ben
and Ruth at the family home in Cupertino.
March 20 to 22, 2004: Diether and Jutta took the opportunity to spend a long week-end in the Reno area, enjoying the Pyramid Lake area, the mountains between Washoe Lake and Gold Hill, the Carson river valley, and the Winnemucca valley.
March 1, 2004: Diether started a new assignment at work.
January 31 & February 1, 2004: On Saturday Jutta and Diether had lunch at the beach in Santa Cruz; on Sunday after church, they worked some chores. While Diether was continuing some of the computer work, Jutta watched the Superbowl game.
January 17 to 19, 2004: The family continued the tradition to give Ben a weekend vacation in Pismo Beach for his birthday. Ben, Ruth, Jutta and Diether enjoyed sunny winter weather at the beach.
January 10, 2004: Ben had his birthday dinner party with friends and parents at the house in Cupertino. They also marked the end of the holiday season by burning the advent reef in the Weber BBQ stove in the backyard.
January 3, 2004: After a morning walk in the sunny snow covered hills above Reno, Diether and Jutta started their return to Cupertino. Even though highway 80 was open, and chain requirements had been lifted, thanks to the aged transportation infrastructure of California, the journey took almost 9 hours. In Cupertino, they had dinner with Ben and Ruth at the Japanese restaurant Hamasushi.
January 2, 2004: To take advantage of the
sunny weather, in the morning, Jutta and Diether drove to the Red
Rock area, 
north of Reno, for a
walk in the snow.
January 1, 2004: Diether and Jutta started the New Year, watching the fireworks in Reno, and phoning Ben and Ruth in Cupertino and their parents in Germany. New Year's Day was rainy. In the afternoon, Jutta and Diether drove the Pyramid Lake highway to the vista point overlooking the lake. It was windy and cold, and they returned home after taking some photos to enjoy a tasty dinner there.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2004
(For the other parts of the family news click: (present, 2003, July-Dec 2002, Jan-Jun2002, Jul-Dec2001,Jan-Jun2001,Oct-Dec2000, Jul-Sep 2000, Jan-Jun 2000, 1999, 1998)