2010 - Eastward Travel!

When we got close to Bullhead City we stopped and got all the fixins' for Dad (and Keith's) favorite dinner.  Meatloaf.  I don't know that I do anything special to it - just empty the fridge into some hamburger - bake it - and put it on the table.  But they like it ~ so we got the stuff.  We got almost there and Dad called.  I figured he was just looking for an ETA - but that wasn't it.  Uncle Jim has taken a turn and Dad needed to get there.  I convinced him to just hang out and wait for the 10 minutes it would take for us to arrive.  And he did.  During that 10 minutes he packed, changed clothes, had his jacket on, and suitcase in the car - ready to go!

Unfortunately, there was no flight to North Bend, OR that night.  Eventually, he calmed down enough to take off his jacket and sit down while I tried to simultaneously find a decent flight online and fix dinner.  Finally got him booked out of Vegas on the first flight into San Fransisco - and then on up to North Bend.  Due to the circle jerk that is called an airport board up there - the Portland connections with Alaska (which were great by the way) are no longer available.  So Dad sat in the LV airport waiting for the SFO weather to clear so that the plane he was supposed to be on at 7 or so AM could take off at 10:30.  and guess what... he missed his connection to North Bend.  Another circle jerk... Sounded so much like the flight I had out of North Bend in April.  So - Dad left Bullhead at 4 am so he can be there in time, sat in the airport for an extra 3+ hours, made it to SFO and sat there for another 4 or 5 hours, to get to arrive in North Bend (and someone was waiting to take him to Powers to Uncle Jim) at 8:30!  The whole time worrying himself to a frazzle because he was afraid that the man he'd known as a brother for over 50 years would be gone before he could get there.  In the end - If Dad had left Bullhead - driving - stopped and spent the night somewhere - and continued on - he would have arrived in Powers before the flight arrived in North Bend.  AND he would've had his car, AND he wouldn't have had to spend an enormous amount for a return trip - that ended up just like the one out!!  The morning flight couldn't take off due to weather - so they canceled it - caught the next one and missed their connections (Evelyn came back with him) and arrived back in LV about 10 hours late - with Leona sitting there waiting to pick them up.  Boy - I'm sure glad I wasn't a fly roaming around inside of Dad's head while either of those trips were happening!

But back to the story, Dad made it in time.  He was there for several days before I received the text message from Linda saying Uncle Jim had gone on to heaven.  I am glad that Dad made it - glad that Uncle Jim is out of his pain - and content with the fact that he lived a good long life and was ready to go.  Rest in Peace Uncle Jim!

So - since Dad wasn't around, we left Bullhead ~ with our little Chaito sooo glad to be going with us - I opened the pick-up door and he loaded up - no problem!



Oh, and I forgot to tell you, on the way between Reno and Bullhead - we stopped at AREA 51 - it isn't anything but a little water stop and we bought t-shirts - but we STOPPED!! LOL

 See Chaito settled right in to his designated pose!!

 This is just a sample of the "hills" between Bullhead City and Kingman.  If you look closely enough there is the top portion of the highway threaded thru and between the little peak on the right and side of the top... and a great view from the top too - just like driving straight into the sky!

 At Kingman, we stopped, got milkshakes and headed towards Flagstaff where we planned to stopfor the night.

 Williams was a very interesting looking place, and oddly enough, it looked vaguely familiar... you know why - because we've been through here before!!  I had to look it up on the map to try and figure it out!  I knew I'd never been through Kingman - so I was just kind of - hey ... deja vu or what! LOL  AND it is a very, very kool lookin' town too!

 And we did try to stop at Geronimo - it is a ghost town - 1 major building -  if it is any more than that - it was well hidden - we did see a souvenir shop with a couple of tepee's sitting next to it - but - we didn't stop.

 Really neat rock formations along I40 between Geronimo and

 the Hard Rock Casino at one of the many, many Arizona reservations.  We checked into stopping at one - but none of them allowed a dog.  Geez, not much into 'senior' tourists - we all travel with our new-found babies - and these places were out in the middle of NO WHERE... or if not . . they weren't where any amenities could be found! LOL

 Some of what I call awesome scenery.  Not awesome in the same awesome as the what Mike, Brett, and Sharen get pictures of - I surely enjoy my drives :-]

 An truly barren rest area !

A working oil field LOL - 

we stopped for the night at Flagstaff.  Had a nice meal, planned our travel for tomorrow, kicked back and watched tv for the evening.  Tomorrow is another day and some more miles!

Just outside of Flagstaff is a true amazement.  It is where a meteor hit the earth some who-know's how many eon's ago.  We (as in I) followed the sign off of  I40 - up and down the rolling high desert scenery for some 10 -15 miles off in the opposite (not quite but...) direction - to find a fenced off area that hosted some rv's - a few cars - a strong breeze - and a truly helpful guide at the top of the stairs leading to the entrance to the Meteor Crater - I read the signs - they had tours, a theater-in-the-round playing a documentary of the Meteor Crater - all inclusive - for the paltry fee of $15 per person.  Best part was, since the wind was so strong ~ the tours were all closed - and no - there was no alternative rate since we couldn't actually go see the Crater (due to the wind).  So we thanked them and left to drive on some more!! LOL  There was a car that came in behind us - as we were walking back down the steps - they went up and paid 30 bucks to go watch a movie all about the Meteor Crater.  Well, I learned as much as the movie would've taught me online - and did it at my own pace too!

Enough for now....

2010 -Bullhead to San Diego

So we left YARINGTON!  Yay!!  And with the bright blue skies, the sunshine, and the warmth things soon looked and felt a lot better.  Here are some of the sights we passed between the big "Y" and Bullhead City!  We finally got off of the 'ye olde 395' and onto the US 95 - which - if you (and I) remember - we should have been on to start with! LOL

A beautiful lake nestled on the East slope of the Sierra's.  Walker Lake - it is a huge lake - just kind of out in the middle of the desert!   It is pretty - not Oregon trees pretty - but still another wonder of our USA!  It is reputed to be great fishing and it was just surprising to go-around-a-hill and come upon this huge lake! :-)

After Walker Lake came the huge Army Base at Hawthorne.  Like - just sitting in the middle of the desert we started seeing 'bumps in the sand' - then they became a pattern - and then Keith let me in on the secret - they were huts - for one reason or another- covered with sand.    And in the middle of Hawthorne - we have a signal light and a sharp right turn.  Just a little funny to go along with a really long drive!

A close up (sort of) of Hawthorne, NV.  Quiet, dusty, sunny, and really nice and warm!

And then we come to Mina, NV.  We stopped here to get something cold to drink - 

there was a pickup there - but nobody was home.  I couldn't resist a photo - after being in places that have such strict codes for EVERYTHING - seeing a metal building with a storefront on it - and being open (but not right now) for business was special.  There was a trailer out back - maybe it was their lunchtime.  Here are some other photos of the little old town that were taken by others (I hope they don't mind the link).  Really quite interesting (to dummies like me) when I start looking for the background of the places that absolutely reek of our American History!

Then came the sleepy little town of Santa Fe, NV - When looking into it's history - I found out that it is a gold mining town - to this day!  Who'd a thunk it!

And then to Beatty!!!  Nestled in the middle of gold mining country and known as the "Gateway to Death Valley", Beatty is one of the larger towns that we traveled thru - this in the only good photo that I came up with.  Amazingly - Beatty has an airport - and just outside there was the Beatty "house of ill-repute" - which of course - I guess - is legal - but - knowing my wonderful mother in law - it was a hoot!!!  Beatty has quite a history!

Getting closer!

 And we made it!

Chaito was so glad for a new lap to sit on!!  Dad gracefully agreed to dogsit his grand-doggy while we went to San Diego.  Looks like he and Chaito will be just fine!!

And we spent the next two nights at The Riverside - spending the whole day on Saturday at Dad's rearranging the 'load' in the pickup and getting ready to take off for San Diego on Sunday.  I think I ended up with his whole shed full of "stuff"! LOL

And we are headed to Jackson's in San Diego!!!  Onward HO!

 Where the rocky desert changed to sandy dunes.  It is right along I8.  I saw the exact spot!!

 

Keith helped Jackson trim the "TREE" in the backyard.  It was quite the task ~ they got out the 'chain-saw and everything'!  It looked great when they got finished.  In San Diego they pick up the 'green recycles' every other week - just in the green can or tied in bundles.  Really quite handy. :-)

 Here is some of what they cut - Jackson tied the rest of the stuff up.  And I filled a couple cans with the cuttings from the front yard.  There was sure a bunch for no more ground than he has. The "Birds" out front and the bougainvillea looked real good after we got done!

 We cleaned up Jacksons patio and back yard too.  We were so thankful to him for having us and letting us stay for so long.  Keith and I got both got several teeth worked on which required different trips down to see Dr. Ruth.  We have so met so many wonderful people in our travel down our path!  Dra. Ruth extracted 4 teeth and did my impressions and all the stuff she had to do with very little of the 'stress' of a visit to the Dentist's up here in the States.  And I've been to both!  LOL 

 And all to soon our visit was over and there we were - headed back to Bullhead City to pick up Chaito.

Mom's, Mountains, Snow . . .

We spent a very nice, relaxing couple of days at Mom's.  Keith pretty much rested up to get ready for the LONG road ahead! hahaa!!

Again, no photos.  I don't know what is happening - I just forget if the camera isn't hanging around my neck!!  But, we went running around Anderson a bit, got Dairy Queen Blizzards (hehee), Mom made Carnitas con Chili - and it was great - It has been years (since they visited in Myrtle Point) since I've had it. We watched tv, plotted our next moves according to the weather patterns and incoming storms (with almost hysterical laughter),  Teri and I stayed up way, way to late chatting!  and in all - had a great visit.  Not really a lot of exciting things to post but everyone is doing well, they have wonderful plans for Christmas, and even more fun things planned to do for New Year's.

We got up early to get on the road to drop the dog by Bullhead City.  Dad has agreed to dog-sit his grandpuppy... lol!!  So we are heading down and over that way before going down to San Diego for our dental work and to do some maintenance on the Condo.

We decided to go over the mountains to Reno.  The weather report said clear all the way across - at least until tomorrow....

When we started out the roads were clear, the sun was shining and all the snow was really pretty!

It started snowing here.  And it snowed and snowed and snowed.  The roads stayed really nice - it was actually a pretty nice drive!

And it snowed harder! LOL

I was never really concerned - it was a beautiful drive throughout the mountains.  Scenery that I hadn't been through before!

 BUT during the entire drive I was keenly aware that I was one step ahead of a BIG storm.  The radio broadcasts were full of information about all the passes that were closed, all the road closures going on, and the one they kept repeating was the 395 to Lake Tahoe was closed. 

And then we started descending towards Reno.

When we got to Reno it was starting to get dark.  Keith hadn't made any arrangements for a place to stay - so I pulled into a Denny's and called S'te so that she could get online and find a place that would take Dad's grandpuppy.  She gave us the number to several that said "Pets Welcome" but when Keith called them - 'oh yeah - they area welcome - we will put him in a crate next to another dog that is in a crate and you can come down and walk him anytime.'  Now do you think that would make Chaito think that he'd been stuck back into another shelter? ? ? 

So we didn't stay in Reno.  We got back on the Interstate that we'd just gotten off of and Tom (my hero) said to stay on it - Keith said to take the 395.  So, since I have to live with Keith - and I can shut Tom off (which I did because he kept telling me that we went the wrong way) _- I took the 395 to Carson City.  Now after Carson City - where do you suppose that highway goes?  Yup... anyhow, while on the 395, at rush hour, in the dark, the storm starts catching up.  It rained, and it rained, and then it POURED..  (Remember I'm from the rainy state AND I've been known to drive thru the Florida deluges - so when I say RAINED - I mean RAINED!!)  Where the 395 ended we stopped.  It was in the industrial section of somewhere or nowhere - I'm still not sure.  But we did follow Keith's direction... LOL

So, I turned TOM back on - plugged in Bullhead City - well, we ended up going North on the 50  for about a 100 years to the 95.  Well, unbeknown to us there are TWO Hwy 95's.  So we saw the 95 and turned South.  Another 100 years later - somewhere about midnight or so,  we made it to Yerington where there was a Motel.  Keith had to go to the Casino to rent a room.  It was cold, it was ugly, it was late, I was in a nasty mood, and I went to bed - in my clothes, coat, and socks.  I expected Reno - I got Yerington! 

Things HAVE to look better tomorrow!

In fact even the scenery around Yerington is blurry!! Hahaha~!

Reconnect

I GOT TO MEET NICK AGAIN!   I know it is a little odd (maybe a lot odd) that as I get older; I want to reconnect with those who are part of my own history. And those of you who don't like it or don't care - don't read.

So anyway, via Gerald's death notices and his friends fond (and some not so fond, but we aren't going there) memories an old school friend of Whitey's called.  And another found my on Facebook; and thru their friend lists - I got a few more calls and more to smile over.  I found out that two of Gerald's favorite friends were able to visit him during his very last couple of days.  In the 'kites' that were passed on with his effects, I know that he was very, very excited over this visit!  Thank you Allen and Karen from the bottom to the top of my heart for making the trip over there!  He wrote telling me of the visit - the note was still in his boxes that came later.  It absolutely made his week.  In my heart, I feel that that final visit calmed his soul enough to pass.   AND - it was thru these calls - after he passed - that I FOUND NICK!

I was so excited - there are those that tried to pee on my parade - but I found him.  I hope those with poor attitudes just stay away from him - he had a hard way to go anyhow.  I am not excusing Gerald.  He was worse than a poor father; he was not a father.  He didn't know how to be a father.  He was written off and ignored by his own father from the time Mom brought him to Oregon clear to his death.  Of course, why would Jack Dean Smith make it any different for Gerald.  He already wrote off 2 other sons earlier in his life.  Yes, Gerald had 2 older brothers.  I don't think that Jack ever paid a dime of support for ANY of his sons and I know he barley acknowledged them.  I remember when our Mother passed, I contacted Jack, and he flat said "so what".  He didn't even ask about Gerald.  (I was so amazed that I was speechless, if you can even imagine that!)  So, in effect, that is what Gerald knew. When the Mom takes the child; that's it; you are done.  But that made it really bad for Nick.  But...

I found him.  I called him.  His wife Tasha called me back.  Nick has 4 children, a job that he has worked at for several years, he is close enough that I can even get by there again!  Tasha seemed to be a really sweet person.  She told me all about the kids!

So, after we left Bremerton, we spent the next night at 7 Feathers in Canyonville, OR.  We were on our way out of the parking lot, headed for Mom's (my stepmom) in Anderson, when Tasha called me again.  Unfortunately Nick was at work so our little visit would be very short.  So, Tasha met us at the Interstate and we followed her (and baby Ethan and their oldest, Candice) over to where Nick works.  He took his break and came out.  I got a couple of hugs, their address, a little bit of history, found out that Arlene is doing well, and I got a couple of hugs (did I say that already? hahaa).  Since Nick was on break - it was a very short visit - but Tasha and the kids went to Mexican lunch with us.  What sweet kids - I got to sit and hold Ethan to my heart's content.  I LOVED it!!

Way to soon Tasha needed to go meet the school bus, she invited us to their home and to meet the other kids but...

It is winter, their is snow on the passes, the prediction is for more snow, so, we felt the need to get over them during the daylight.

But I met them, the ice is broken and I certainly hope to see more of them.

My one regret is...I was so excited - I didn't get any pictures... but Ethan looks so much like Nick and Nick's great-grandma Haven Smith!

So, on to Mom's we go!!

Here is a couple that Keith took.  Medford, Or, and the Siskiyou Mountains between Oregon and California!

When is the last time you saw a Woolworth's sign?

 

I5 over the Siskiyou's

Snow wasn't bad - but it turned out we were just in front of the storm!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving in Bremerton with Rod, S'te, and the grandkids

On our way up we got word that there was no power at the kids' house.  We knew when we started out that it had been off for a day - but who knew that it would still be out!  We kept up hourly communication as we drove North and by the time we got to Tacoma and there was still no power ~ Even Mak's battery to his feeding pump had exhausted it's back-up ~  they had used the outside grill for cooking ~ and S'te announced that it was colder in the house than outside ~ and she'd found out that lines were down in a hard-to-access-area and no one was even giving a guess as to when the power might be restored.... Keith started calling around Bremerton for a warm place to stay!  Finally, after many calls, he found 3 rooms (the last they had) at the Marriot in downtown.  Frantic, we reserved all 3.  They were King Suites - but hey - they were warm and would have a hot breakfast!!  But.. no doggy ... he'd have to stay in the van.  So he called the Elmores - told them to 'pack up' and meet us there.  They brought blankets, clothes, food (for the microwave), and we all got there just about the same time!  Cold and in great spirits and looking forward to cuddling up, getting warm, and watching some tv (back to electricity!), we all headed up to our rooms.  What a mix up!  The first room we opened had not yet been cleaned, there was still items in the fridge, bed was unmade, and towels on the floor.  So, we checked out the next one on our list, it was good - so the kids all piled in while we headed back downstairs.  At the desk, they apologized profusely (things were quite busy and confusing with the widespread power outage!), and housekeeping headed straight up to do the room.  Then we tried the key for the last one (it was next door to the one being cleaned), and someone asked (rather historically)  "can I help you?"!  SOMEONE WAS ALREADY IN IT!  So we headed BACK downstairs - and while waiting our turn - we decided that 2 rooms would probably be enough (at over $150/per room, it was a good decision!) and the man at the desk that had been all over the county looking for a warm place to stay got a nice room - down the hall from us.  We headed out for food (for me) and the little place around the corner was close to out of everything!  We got our choices and headed back to the nice warm room.  There was ice all over the roads and sidewalks.  It was COLD!  I am sure glad that Keith was able to secure those rooms.  It was heavenly!  Cavelle and Tetee shared our space while Brayana and Destini got the sofa-bed.  S'te and Rod got the boys and Ladaria. ';-)  BTW - sleeping with Teters is a challenge, hehee!! 
S'te found that the power was restored early Wednesday morning - so after our hot breakfast - we headed down to the parking garage.  Chaito was so glad to see us - he ran back and forth between our pickup and their van.  Where there was people - he stayed!!  He ended up riding with his good friend, Naner, and we headed for the house.  What a way to start a trip!

So here are some photos of Thanksgiving!

Makkiah helps with the Deviled Eggs

Jaleel starts the process for his project!

Brayana thinking about her fruit salad

Busy in one of the kitchens!

Destini working on some clean-up

 We had a fun time with the dinner. Mak, Tetee, and I made bread in the breadmaker.  Mak also did his specialty, Deviled Eggs.  Destini got up early and helped with the turkey and dressing that she roasted, getting it into the oven in plenty of time (and it turned out awesome too), Ladaria made her green bean casserole, Brayana, Destini, and Jaleel (with a bit of help from Tetee and Mak) made a huge fruit salad!, AND  Rod did a smaller turkey in his oil-less deepfryer.  New neighbors and family friends joined in and we had a great dinner and a wonderful time!

The little kids corraled by Ladaria and listening to a story!

And then it was over.  Another memorable Thanksgiving!

2010 Part 2 Time to wander back to the East!

The beginning our our semi-annual trek started on a rather wet note this year.  I spent many hours agonizing over what I wanted to take with us, our route, the amount of time necessary to get everything possible done that we wanted to do.  I got all of the 'gift packs' done for family members - jams, jellies, tuna, pears, peaches, and whatever else we 'did up' this summer that we can IN NO WAY ever consume.  Besides I love the complements that sometimes come along with the giving of the 'gift packs'.  So along came the final day before the day we are to depart.  It was the WETTEST day yet of the fall of 2010!  Only partially depicted below in how wet it was.  Tim even had to cover the sidewalk he had started to try to save at least some of it!  

So this is the day we absolutely had to pack up the pickup - departure is tomorrow and we can't procrastinate any more!  So we ran the boxes, and totes, and suitcases, and bags of all the miscellaneous 'STUFF' that I collected along the way out, found over the summer, and just have to take with us for distribution along the way!  I really must hand it to Keith.  As I ran things out to the garage and stacked them; he just looked.  Somewhat unhappily, but he just looked at it.  He asked several times if I was done yet - but it seemed that I always seemed to find something else.  But...

I finally got done, we got the pick-up loaded, we decided that we needed to be up for a departure time of no-later-than-6 am as I wanted desperately to stop by the North Star Coffee Shop in Portland that Rusty Brown was displaying his carvings in. And they close at 2 pm... so we really needed to get out of Eastside early!  So we put ourselves to bed early - so we'd be fresh for our rise and shine!

I woke up to an already lightening sky, so I knew we had slept in.  An unusual thing for us to do for some really strange reason.  So I hurried andgot coffee going - and opened the curtains to.... SNOW!!  I was amazed.  Totally slack jawed, open mouthed amazed!  It rarely snows on the south coast ~ but on the DAY we are supposed to leave~~ SNOW!!  It was beautiful tho'.  Sallie and Clint came over to see us off and Tim came out and said farewell so we had a grand send off!  We finished off the last little bit to load. . filled the coffee cups up, rinsed and dried and mopped ourselves out the front door with Chaito ~ and ~ wa-la ~ the pickup won't start.  The battery is deader than a doornail!  Thank goodness for friends like Clint because as soon as I called and interrupted his breakfast - he came right over and got us up and on our way!  Friends are true blessings!!  SO this is what downtown coos bay looked like as we rolled thru a little after 10 am (I forgot to reset the time stamp).   The drive on up Hwy 101 was a sight to see! I'm sure glad that I don't have issues driving in the snow!

Hwy 101 between Coos Bay and Florence

Keith and Chaito at the gas station in Florence.

a Florence Oregon style dog sled! On 101 right in front of Safeway

The Tunnel on Hwy 126 (?) between Florence and I-5

More beautiful than a painting!

It was sure a beautiful drive.  There was almost no traffic on the road so we made excellent time getting to S'te's.  We were there before dark and greeted wildly by the little ones.  Once they get to be tweens - it seems like they are more reserved in their welcomes.  I sure miss having ALL the kids run to hug me every time I visited (even when it was every day!)  Brayana, Destini, and Jaleel hauled the majority of the heavy boxes of home-canned goodies into the house while Mak, Tetee, and Cavelle helped me get the cab emptied of all the other 'stuff' that I seem to collect on every trip.

I was soooo glad to see my babies again.  It seems like they grow a foot (I think the older ones actually do) between visits - and I was there in July!

So we are going to have an absolutely wonderful few days visiting and cooking and having a great time!!!!!!