Ahhhh in Genessee Valley 4-26-07

I’m writing from the depths of Genessee Valley tucked into the northern Sierra Mountains of California. It is soooo extremely quiet and peaceful here that I seem to be having a problem doing normal things, like communicating with the outside world. We have been sucked in and are loving it! No trains, no traffic and hardly any people; lots of pine trees, oak trees, fresh air and a snow-melt raging creek. Since the first of the week we have had lots of sunshine too…ahhhh.

We got here last Thursday during the rain/snow storm. It wasn’t doing much during our set up and we got backed down the driveway pretty quickly. The next day I left the Valley for a massage…ahh. Back home at Vickie’s house we had a lovely dinner where we met a couple of Vickie’s friends and had a great evening. Saturday morning I started my day in the hot tub…ahh. Later that day we got to take a tour of a large Dome Home. I’ll attach pictures of it in a separate entry to break up all the photos. Sunday it rained and tried to snow, but the rain won! It was really cold the first few days we were here with the highs in the 40’s…brrrr. Monday we hung around and visited with Vickie and I can’t really remember Monday…it was sooo long ago, so I just made all that up for Monday. Tuesday I drove about 40 minutes through the lovely spring mountains to have another massage….ahh. Larry had driven to Quincy to see a friend of his and to stop at the grocery store. Somewhere in there Larry helped Vickie backup her computer files.

Since the weather cleared up we have started each day with a walk, enjoying the lack of traffic and the fresh, crisp morning air. There are lots of deer and wild turkeys around here, noisy blue jays and huge gray squirrels. Yesterday we had a couple of phone appointments, I gave my friend Vickie a massage and then we met friends for dinner at a cute café in Greenville; I forgot to mention the hot tub after our walk…ahh. This picture shows our view from the deck, if you look hard you'll notice the creek in the center of the picture.

Today it is in the high 70’s and a stunning day. We took a couple of walks, Larry moved firewood, we read our books and worked on the computer. Tonight after dinner…hot tub under the stars…ahh!

Well, you should know by now that if there is a flower on the property I'll have a picture of it! These tulips are in bloom by the driveway, stunning standouts amongst all the green and browns of the forest!

Genessee Geodesic 4-21-07

This is a Geodesic Dome Home in Genessee owned by a friend of our friend Vickie. This first picture is from the side so you can see the details. There was a deck around the front.

Make note of the square crows nest on the top, you'll see the interior details of that from the inside. It was an interesting home. The interior living space was 2,400 square feet and two story, plus the "crows nest". It also had a full segmented basement/garage that was 1,700 square feet. It was a beautiful home. Larry and I were interested in these back in the 70's but we had never been in one. This one had wonderful workmanship throughout.

flurries in fallon 4-18-07

Not much to report on today. We had some appointments to take care of and we were done with that by noon. Our next stop, my friend Vickie’s in Genessee Valley in Plumas County California was getting snowed on so we decided to wait until tomorrow to head over there. The low here in Fallon was 35 and the high was all of 50 and big clouds floating around. The wind gusted all night and a bit this morning but finally let up. The clouds sent a few snow flurries around. We spent the rest of the day doing our usual; reading, computing, talking to each other and watching some T.V.

I tried to post a few pictures, but for some reason they wouldn't take.

Fallon, NV 4-17-07

Up early this morning and got our yoga done, we were on the road a bit after nine. It was cold and breezy. We fueled up in Tonopah and paid $3.06 for diesel; back where we didn’t get fuel it was $3.30 just a few blocks away. At these prices it pays to shop around when you get as many gallons as we do. As we headed north it got warmer, it was in the 70’s in Mina and at Walker Lake. Walker Lake was a gorgeous color today. We were slowed down a bit for several miles south of Henderson because they were painting the center lines. They had a huge line of traffic behind them before they quit and headed into town.

We got into Fallon just after one and just as we pulled into the fairgrounds the wind started kicking up with a vengeance. By the time we got into the campground the wind was gusting and blowing dirt and sand really bad. Opening the doors and getting them closed again was a pain. We hadn’t seen bad winds like this since we were in Lakewood, NM last year. Glad we weren’t driving in it. We drove about 175 miles today.

We had stuff to take care of this afternoon here in Fallon and we aren’t sure if we’ll get back on the road tomorrow or the next day.

Tonopah, NV 4-16-07

Yesterday was loading up the trailer and getting ready to hit the road day. I took my last walk in the warm sun with Starbuck’s a stop on our way home…yum. Uncle drove us around Mesquite to show us all the brand new empty unsold houses that do not seem to be affecting the new developments being planned and ground broken on; well over a hundred of them.

This morning we said our good-byes and thank-you and hit the road around 9:30. It was sunny and cool. We headed west towards Las Vegas and took the beltway around the city and strip. It made it nice not having to go through the city and it was interesting seeing all the new developments and stores. This whole north end looks very new and shiny. We hit 95 north and cruised right along. It was a pretty day overall, a little breezy and we hit rain for a few miles, but most of the storm had already headed east.

We decided to spend the night in Tonopah at the park we had stayed at the last time. If you ever come through Tonopah and are starving to death, DO NOT stop at the McDonald’s. Teenagers seem to be running it, were too busy talking to help the customers and they were not getting on cooking the food. It was 5 minutes before the kid even got the burgers out of the freezer and then after running his fingers through his hair proceeded to take the burgers and shuffle them like cards. Another teenager after dropping his headset on the floor and putting it back on his head got the buns and juggled them. After seeing all this Larry got our money back and asked the kid for the store number, which he wouldn’t give Larry, but Larry found it on the receipt and is filing a complaint. Didn’t waste our time talking to the Manager, apparently who ever claimed that title doesn’t know what they were doing. We lost our yen for a Big Mac and decided not getting food poisoning was preferable!

We got in our site at 3:15 after traveling 285 miles. It is cool and windy, but clear. We are at 6,256 feet here so it will be cold tonight. There was snow on the mountains around Las Vegas and on various mountains all along the highway north.

Flower Zone 4-14-07

Just to catch you up…the day before yesterday (Thursday) it was cloudy and it rained a little bit. We went to the show and saw “Wild Hogs”, we thought it was funny and entertaining. Yesterday (friday) was a lovely sunny, warm day…we all went to Walmart, Uncle washed their car and Larry washed our truck; in shorts, barefooted in April…woo-hoo!

Today started out a beautiful spring day, by late afternoon it clouded up and got windy. This morning I was in the flower photography zone! The light was perfect and I got so many stunning shots, look at the little fuzz on those little “mini-petunias”; the golden cactus and the Ocotillo…uumm-uumm. I might share more of the Ocotillo tomorrow.

Auntie planted flowers and seeds, Uncle did some pruning and I pulled teeny weeds from between the flagstones that edge the lawn; lovely, relaxing spring-time activities.

We are having a great time and can’t believe it is almost time to hit the road again. Uncle was very silly today and I caught him trying to “twist” the events of a couple of hours today…he forgets that I am not just a pretty face and I can’t ever let him slip a fast one on us! You’da had to be here, but it was hysterical! The highlight of our day…tee hee!

Looking at a Gulfstream 4-11-07

Yesterday we just did regular stuff that we all have to do, like laundry. Uncle was sick so we only saw him a few times all day.

Today we went and looked at a 1999 Gulfstream 36’ motorcoach with Auntie and Uncle. It had around 13,000 miles on it and was very clean. Larry and I liked it a lot…if we were wanting a motor home we would have bought it. It was the first one we have ever seen that we felt like we could full-time in. It was very open and had lots of storage. I’m not sure we would ever like all the noises and rattles a motor home makes cruising on down the road though.

After dinner we were blessed with a stunning sunset!

Cactus Flowers 4-9-07

Another glorious day! We did our power walk this morning in spite of yesterday’s dinner weighing us down. Larry went into town and fueled the truck up as the prices are going up every day. Uncle Gene mowed his golf course quality lawn and edged it. Then Larry and Uncle put a new light fixture and switch in the “throne room”; a lovely job they did. Auntie went to her line dancing class and I photographed cactus. In between all of that we all did stints on the patio.

These are but a few of the many great photos I ended up with; it was hard to choose. Ain’t Mother Nature grand?!

Lovely Easter in Mesquite 4-8-07

As I sit here typing today’s entry in the dark after a stunning sunset, I am listening to the lovely sounds of Larry’s Aunt and Uncle arguing over a “friendly” game of cribbage. They are mild mannered until you engage them in a competition, then all bets are off! Those of you that love them, know what I am talking about! I only write this because it gets Uncle Gene’s goat…tee hee! This first picture is of him back when he was a young pup! I’m gonna hear about this one…Ah the power of the computer and the written word…now he’ll know what I was smirking about!

Today I mostly caught up with people on the phone and Larry scanned more pictures, which is how I have this lovely mug of a baby Uncle!

These pictures, for those of you who are trying to picture where we are shows our trailer parked across the street, fending for itself. We are staying in this lovely little Spanish style abode in Upper Mesquite. The rest of the pictures show the backyard and patio that we are spending so many relaxing, lovely hours on with Auntie Bonnie and Uncle Gene.

Tonight we had an awesome dinner of baked ham, two kinds of potatoes, cream cheese peas, and a broccoli/red onion salad. Yum-yum! It wasn’t hot today, only the mid-80’s and a breeze was blowing; another perfect day in Moniz-world!!

Oh, before I forget, family of mine; my sister Lori and her two daughters will be at the family reunion in Roseburg this year. She has never been and is very excited about seeing everyone again, so show up if you can!

shopping in St George 4-7-07

Yesterday we enjoyed the dry air and heat here in Mesquite, Nevada. We spend a lot of time sitting on the patio visiting, snacking and playing games. Larry and I took a walk and I got a Latte at the Starbuck’s in the casino downtown and then walked back home yesterday. We went to the market for fruit and munchies and then just vegged most of the day. Larry helped Uncle Gene hang a new light fixture in their office area.

Today Larry and I took our power walk around the neighborhoods. Climbed up to the top of the neighborhood on the hill where we had nice views of the mountains to the south, dodging doggie land mines. Soooo many people DO NOT pick up after their dogs…RUDE. Spring in the desert is nice, but hot already, we have to get out early so the sun doesn’t fry us. Lots of beautiful cactus and roses in bloom in people’s yards. This is just one a few houses up from where we are. I’ve seen another one I want to get photos of, but these cacti like to bloom in the heat of the day when the light isn’t the best. I lucked out with this pink flowering one!

All four of us went to St George for some shopping and lunch. We checked out a couple of new cars, a Saturn and a Hyundai, went to Lowe’s for more supplies for Uncle’s home improvement projects and then had a lovely Mexican lunch. Then it was off to Costco and while Auntie and Uncle shopped, Larry and I grazed at all the little sample booths. Then it was back home for more relaxation and more eating!

Out in the desert there are red flowered cacti blooming, but I only seem to see them when I am zooming down the interstate! Maybe one of these days I'll get one!