July 6, Day 28, Sunday - Last Day in California

It's time to head home already. We had a very nice day visiting with some family before we hit the road. Our grandson and his family drove about 100 miles to visit one more time. A special treat for us. Eric, Nicole, Triton, and Tiana Cox.  Was sure good to see them.  They are cuties!

 

One of Lon's cousins and his wife, Mike and Denise Olivera,  also stopped by to say goodbye. They brought us a wonderful  "care package" to take with us on our trip home.  A very sweet thing to do for us. We have enjoyed seeing them again this trip.

 

For dinner we had to have Round Table Pizza - a favorite of ours. Nothing like Round Table pizza!!! Chicken and Garlic Gourmet .   YUM!

 

 

Laundry is done, bags are packed almost, everything is ready  to load in the car in the morning. We plan to stop by Lisa's house in Chico to see her for a few minutes, get the car washed, and head to Almanor to see my sister, Jackie for a few minutes and then on to Reno and hopefully Elko by tomorrow evening. We have decided to go back on Interstate 80/70. Will decide if we are going to go down to Oklahoma City and go in on 40 or continue on 70 to St. Louis, etc. A few days before we have to make that decision. Hate to leave here but will be good to get home. Just hoping the weather holds until we get to Tennessee!! Stay tuned for more updates......... .......:-)

July 5, Day 27, Saturday

What  fun day we had today. We drove up to the westside foothills to visit Lon's cousin, Mavis and her husband Glen. The hills are a golden brown. Even the star thistle is kind of dry. But it's pretty with the oak trees, cattle resting under them to avoid the heat. Almost all of the small creeks are dry. The valley has a haze of smoke hanging over it. Several wild fires are burning. Below is a picture of the hay bales as they are in California. In the background you can barely see Mt. Lassen. No snow visible on it. It's the bump on the mountain rim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mavis fixed a nice lunch for us. I'm glad I didn't eat breakfast before we left home. After our visit, we drove around the countryside a bit looking at ranches that had belonged to Lon's family in the past. We also stopped at the Paskenta Cemetery to take pictures of a few grave markers. It was 101 deg so we didn't stay out of the car for long.

We came back to Corning to stop at the Olive Pit store and shop at Safeway briefly. A stop at the casino in Corning to gamble a little and have a light dinner. Then home to sister Dee's.

Lon didn't get a nap in today so he was tired by the time we got home.  So he is in bed and I'm going there just as soon as this finished and uploaded. One more full day here before we start our trek home. Lon said this am it is "sweet and sour" - meaning bitter sweet LOL!! It will be good to get home but is difficult to leave family and friends and familiar areas.

Nite all. 

 

July 4, day 26, Friday Happy 4th of July!!

Another beautiful day....hot and dry! We had a wonderful lunch today. Natalie (Lon's daughter) and her mom came for lunch. We had crab louies made with fresh crabs from Ft. Bragg. We bought them the morning that we left there. They had been caught the day before. Getting towards the end of the season. It was so good!!! Haven't had fresh crab since we left California. We also had a beautiful fruit (melon)  salad. They actually had good melon flavor.

 

Lon's sister, Dee; Natalie's mom, Sue; Lon's mother, Velma. Natalie was hiding!  We had a nice visit.  Then Lon took a nice long nap. Everyone has gone to bed so I will too soon. Can hear fireworks going off in the neighborhood.
Hope everyone had a special 4th of July. We did. Time is running short before we have to leave. Trying to decide which route to take home. The elevation in Wyoming didn't agree with Lon too well. But there is elevation no matter which route we take to get across the divide. It looks like there might be a lot of construction on I40. Oh well, we will get it figured out before Monday - Departure Day. 

July 3, Day 25, Thursday

This am I went to Chico to do some genealogy research and to get some groceries and take pictures. I didn't find out what I was looking for. Unfortunately the people that know the answers to my questions have all passed on. Wish I had asked my questions a long time ago.  I did visit the cemetery where my parents are buried. Today is their wedding anniversay.
Here is a picture of the high school that my kids attended a "few" years ago.

Back to Orland.  Had a good dinner of spareribs.  Going to need to go on a diet when we get home. Only a few more days left before we have to head for Tennessee. Not really looking forward to the long drive home. Hope we don't run into any wild fires.  With the holiday weekend coming up, there will probably be more fires.  Already several going.  Everything is so dry it's inevitable. More tomorrow after our crab lunch!! Nite all.

July 2, Day 24, Wednesday

Time to hit the road again. Of course, it's a beautiful day. No fog this am. Blue skies. Makes it hard to want to leave. We have enjoyed being here so much. It's so relaxing. Have seen LOTS of tourists, many from foreign countries. This must be a destination for many Europeans, back packers, hikers, bicyclists, etc. Lots of outdoorsy people. We enjoyed some time at McKerriker State Park yesterday. Here is a photo:

 

The tide was coming in and the kids (and big people) were having a wonderful time playing! We left the motel about 11am and drove down the coast towards Mendicino. Lon has carved and painted at least 2 pictures of the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. He had never seen it so we went looking for it.  After a couple of wild goose chases we finally found it. It looks much smaller in person than we expected. We had taken a picture off of the internet for him to do the carving. Here is a picture of the real deal and his leather picture.

 

 

Then we headed for the hot valley. Didn't take long to reach 90 degrees. In 30 miles we were over the mountain and headed for the heat. Also the smoke......there was a wild fire not too far from where we were. Didn't actually see the fire but sure could see the smoke. I was visible throughout the whole valley. Couldn't see the mountains on the east side - the Sierras and the Cascades.   We arrived at Dee's house about 5pm.  A good trip - a lot of traffic headed for the coast and cool weather for the long weekend. We bought freshly caught salmon before leaving Ft. Bragg so we had baked salmon for dinner. The best I have ever tasted. It was so mild but flavorful. Wish we had gotten more. We also bought 5 Dungeness crabs to have for lunch on the 4th. It's pretty much the end of the crab season so we were lucky to get some nice crabs.

July 1, Day 23 Tuesday

It's overcast in Fort Bragg. Lon is tired so is resting while I go and shop at the quilt store and mini mall. When I finished, he was ready to drive around a bit. We visited his cousin, Sue. Surprised her. Had an early dinner at the Wharf again. Had halibut tonight. Was very good. Enjoyed watching the fishing boats come in from their day of fishing.

It's so peaceful listening to the ocean. It's chilly - low 60's. 50's at night. Needed a jacket. Tomorrow won't need one in the valley tho.

June 30, Day 22, Monday

We have made it to the west coast. As far west as you can go. We left Woodland this am and drove through the Capay Valley to Hwy 20 to head for  Ft. Bragg. We saw more beautiful country. Lots of orchards - many almond orchards, walnuts, olives, prunes; lots of vineyards, big sunflower fields, some lavender, safflower, and lots of star thistle!! After we got on 20 we found many areas that have recently in the past cpl years burned. Sad to see.  The vegetation is quite dry and it wouldn't take much to start a fire again. There are many Cal Fire buildings with trucks standing by. We saw a herd of buffalo that was interesting. Clear Lake was beautiful. It's very big. was like glass on much of it but not many boats on it. Not sure why. Looked perfect for skiing. It was 100 when we left the valley, got up to 106 at a couple of points until we came to Willits. It's 33 miles from Ft. Bragg, but a mountain range divides it. We drove through redwood trees and other evergreens on a winding road. Took an hour to go those 33 miles and when we reached Ft. Bragg it was 60 degrees. It was warm in the sun but as soon as the sun went down, it was down right chillly. Wanted to have the window of the motel open so we could hear the ocean but it's too cold. We had a great dinner at the Wharf tonight under the bridge in Noyo Harbor.  Will post pictures tomorrow. It's getting late and I'm tired and ready to sleep. Need to transfer pictures from phone and camera to computer before I can post them.
It's been a good day seeing and remembering the times we have visited here.  First time was 22 years ago. Same motel...........It's always good to be at Ft. Bragg.  And they have a quilt store here!! 
Nite all. <3

June 28 and 29, Day 20 and 21, Saturday and Sunday

Saturday morning we left sister Dee's home and drove down the westside of the Sacramento Valley.  It was clear and beautiful. The landscape is a golden brown and very dry. But also beautiful in it's own way. The rolling hills look like velvet. These hills are Lon's old stomping grounds. We drove by the cemetery where all of his Luce family is buried. Then on past his old homeplace.

We stopped in Elk Creek where he went to school and lived part of the time. We had lunch at the Elkhorn Restaurant - and old hang out for him and his friends. We met his sister Dee, his mom, his cousin Juanita and her husband, and some old school mates. Was a super lunch and a wonderful time for Lon to catch up on the "gossip" of the small town of Elk Creek. He had 7 in his graduating class!!

 

 

The above picture is Lon's mother amused watching his cousin Juanita try to control her club sandwich!! They were very large - and good. :-)
We left Elk Creek after visiting for awhile and drove down the road to another small town for a short visit with his cousin Bud. They grew up together and who knows what trouble they got into!!
We drove more country roads to get back to the valley and to my sister's home where we had dinner with her and family.

 

Jack rotisseried ?sp a fresh ham. It was very good. Jackie's home and yard are always so beautiful. We finally got to Woodland about 9pm to check in to the motel - Shadow Inn Best Western for 2 nights.
This morning (Sunday) we slept in. It was dark in the room and quiet and the bed was comfortable.  We got up and went shopping and then to Jackie's for some much needed visting and another wonderful dinner. We sewed, and did computer/picture stuff while Lon watched baseball and napped. When he got up and sat in the recliner their dog, Carley, had to get in his lap!!  She's such a great dog.

 

I have taken a lot of pictures of the area that I could share, but I don't want to overload this.

 



We came back to the motel full as ticks, and tired. Ready to hit the sack. In fact, Lon is sleeping already.  What a good day it was!! Tomorrow it's supposed to be 108 here so we are headed for the coast - Ft. Bragg. Will be there 2 days. It's in the low 60's so hope we have warm enough clothes! Might have to go shopping again :-) The car is going to be even more loaded when we head home than when we started out.  More later. Take care.

Late addition June 27

Happy birthday to son in law Brandon and our grandson Salem AKA Bubba !!! Hated to miss their birthdays. Also, happy birthday to Brandon's mom tomorrow.. Ready to call it a day. 

June 26 & 27, Day 18 and 19, Thursday and Friday

Thursday was a busy day. We left Orland  to  go to Chico about 1130. Lon needed a haircut so he went to his old barber that he used to see before we moved to TN 12 years ago. They had a nice visit.

We had lunch at a favorite restaurant from the past - Italian Cottage. Lon had a pastrami & cheese. I had a meatball sandwich. Just a good as we remembered. Still have sawdust on the floor.
We had made plans to visit with my brother and his family. Was good to see them. Sit on their back patio, view their beautiful yard, have a cool drink and visit.

The car needed a bath badly. Had bugs on there from Wyoming and Utah, etc. it looked so pretty when they finished.
We had intended to go back to Orland but were able to connect with some old friends and ended up having dinner at another favorite restaurant, La Hacienda. They have the BEST dressing for their salads. It's a "secret recipe" but they do sell it now. Was afraid it wouldn't be good by the time we get back to TN so refrained from buying some!!

 

We had left Lon's mom to fend for herself so got back to Orland just in time for her to go to bed. She is pretty independent for 95!! Was a good day.
Today, Friday, we are sitting in the lounge at Chuck Patterson Toyota in Chico having the car serviced - 5000 mile check up. It had about 150 miles on it when we bought it in April on Good Friday! We got a card for a free car wash at the place we used yesterday!! May need to use it before we leave for home. :-)
We drove to Lake Oroville and Oroville Dam. Took pictures of the low water!!

 

Then we drove to Durham where I grew up. Took lots of pictures of old familiar sites. Many places were not there any more. And many places were hard to recognize because of the trees getting so big. The high school where I went is gone - replaced by a new building. Also the elementary school (was Grammar School when I went there). Here is a picture of the remains of my old Grammar School. 

 

A good day.  Lon came home and took a nap!  Now getting ready to fix dinner - pork chops!