All About Bill - Not Really

Day 5

Today was the trip to Mono Lake.:-))))))  This destination was on my bucket list of life.  Most people wouldn't think twice about it but I just had to see it and we were so close (well, kind of).

Being at Twain Harte already all we had to do was leave early and continue up Hwy 108.  The Sonora Pass (9,000 ft) was open so it would be clear driving up and over.  The high Sierra country is gorgeous so the drive was not boring.  At times a bit hairy with the narrow roads, tight curves, and the bicyclists on a road without any shoulder space to share.  The views out the window were breathtaking.  Not many spots to pull over so Bill was getting to do most of the looking.

We did come to one scenic pull-out and could look back at the way we had came.  Notice the appearance of the granite.

This allowed us a chance to get out of the car and stretch our backs and walk along the short trail.  This road was very lightly traveled so we had the place pretty much to ourselves.  

Then it was back into the car and up and over the pass.  The road down had in spots a 10 - 25% downgrade (with narrow lanes, curves, and the darn bicyclists still with us).  When we finally got to a flat area near the end we pulled over to give the breaks a chance to cool.

From here we headed south on Hwy 399 and were in the high desert (elevation of 7,000 ft.)  But we were getting closer to our goal of Mono Lake.  After another long up-hill pull we topped a rise and there before us was Mono Lake.

Even I was starting to have second thoughts of "why were we here"?  It looked awfully uninteresting, barren, dry, hot....   We followed the highway down and turned into the Mono Lake Visitor's Center.  Then with new information and an explanation of what we were seeing, it took on a whole new light.

"Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area.  Mono is the westernmost basin of the Basin and Range province, which stretches across western North America between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada."  

The Ranger said we needed to go down to the south part of the lake where the Tufas were.  I was all set to get back into the car for the trip home then it hit me that we have come all this way, it was something I've always wanted to see for a long, long time and what was another 15 minutes of drive time.

Tufa where the lake has evaporated.

"The tufa tower formations show what nature can do with a few basic elements.  The strange spires and knobs are formed when freshwater springs containing calcium bubble up through the carbonate-rich lake water.  The combining of these waters forms calcium carbonate, the whitish limestone deposit that forms the basis of the tufa formations.  Tufa is found in many alkaline lakes throughout the world."

Enjoy the rest of the pictures:

A nice couple from Rhode Island took this.

 

I can't believe I only downloaded so few of these pictures!  Luck you.

Then it was back in the car for a very long drive home.  We came back through Yosemite Park going over the Tioga Pass at 9,945 ft.  Only a few stops were made along the way....too bad as the country was just so awesome.

This is looking back the way we came.

That is Bill going for a better photo!

Out here the gas was $4.99 a gallon (sure glad we didn't have to fill up).  All in all it was a wonderful day. It took us 8.5 hours from door to door.  Was it worth it?  Darn tooten!

Happy to be sitting at home!

All About Bill - Not Today

Day 4 - still in CA

Today was our down day.  After a leisurely, slow start to the day we drove into Twain Hart to do some shopping.  We were told that we needed to go the Variety Store - this store carries EVERYTHING - from clothes, to kitchen ware, to a good selection of fabric, yarn, art supplies, drugstore items, you name it they have it.  Then it was to the grocery store next door to pick up some of the basics.  

After we did that we had the whole afternoon ahead of us so we decided to drive into the old town of Sonora to see what it had in the way of interest.  

I feel in love with their yarn shop and the two ladies who were there.  An awesome array of yarn...they should charge people just for going in and feeling it!  I did come out without any as my guilt of unfinished projects hung over me.

Second favorite store was the kitchen ware store.  We came out with some pretty fun kitchen items.  Can't wait to get them home and see if they work as well as we think they will.

Favorite window design....

Happy traveling !

All About Bill - and Then Some

Day 3 found us leaving Chico and heading to Twain Harte and making good time until... Manteca!  Bill pipes up with "that is where my emails from Pro Bass come from, there is a Pro Bass store there".  For those of you who don't fish, hunt, boat, hike, etc. this is the sportsman's store to die for.  The last time Bill had been in one was in NC when Joe took him.

So, of course, we had to make a stop!

Bill going in empty-handed!

Bill getting closer to the front door!

And then that was where I lost him.  (Only joking!) This could be a free advertisement for the store even though there really isn't much difference between Pro Bass and Cabela's.  They carry all the same stuff (you know what I mean) but with different name brands.

Bill is somewhere in here!

And two hours later, he re-emerges with a big smile and a basket of 'stuff'.  To be honest, some of the stuff was for my new boat so I cannot give him much of a bad time.    

But doesn't he look happy?

 

Then it was back in the car and another two hours on the road.

Thank you Wes and Lisa with letting use your vacation house.....you have done a wonderful job on the remodel. I can't believe I don't have pictures of it for this blog.

 

Happy Travels.

All About Bill - Well Almost!

Day 2 of California


We left Arcata with the fog beginning to break up and it didn't take long for the sun to fill the sky.  Following Hwy 299 to Redding was more of the same: high mountains, a river to follow (this time the Trinity River), small towns to drive through, windy roads, and gorgeous views.  We live in a wonderful land.

Looking down at the Trinity River.

Along the way we stopped in Weaverville to see what the town had to offer since it is one of the 'old' gold rush towns.  

As usual we fell into a wonderful little local art gallery.  My first thought on the following pictures was that they were made from chicken wire until Bill looked closer and said that each wrap in the wire was done individually.  Makes these even more impressive.

Bill's favorite

There were a lot more....

As we continued to stroll through town we came to a yard that had the famous....

Ladies of the front yard !

A trip wouldn't be complete without coming across pink flamingos somewhere along the way.  (Inside family joke!)

The best part and the part we don't have any pictures from was meeting up with Mikey in Chico.  Papa called him when we arrived after his last class of the day.  After getting his address programed into the GPS we drove over to pick him up and take him out to dinner.  It was so good to see him again.

After dinner he gave us a walking tour of the Chico campus and what we could see (after dark) of it, it looks like a beautiful campus.  Mikey was a delightful guide and enlightened us with tons of information about the buildings (awesome architect) and grounds.  We can't wait to come back and see it in the daylight.

Since it was getting late and he still had homework to do, we left him at his dorm and headed back to the Best Western.

Today we are on our way to Twain Harte for a few days (more like four) before heading back OR.

Happy traveling!

All About Bill!

Hello from California!

These next blogs are all about Bill!  

This month has a lot of high points but the biggest one is Bill's 80th birthday.  

On September 18th he celebrated his big 8 - 0 and we loaded the car and headed to CA so he could celebrate it with his sons and all of his grandchildren who will be able to show up.  More about that in later blogs.

We all hope we look this good at 80!

The first day of the trip found us heading down I-5 out of OR and into CA.  We left I-5 in CA at the Hearst Rest Area and continued on Hwy 199 which follows the Klamath River.  This route was chosen for two reasons...1) all of it was new scenery for me, and 2) it took Bill past some of his old fishing haunts many, many years ago.  It turned into a long, slow drive but Bill helped us pass the time with all his old fishing stories.

A slow spot of the Klamath

Of course, the drive would have gone a lot faster if we weren't continually stopping to admire the river and points of interest along the way.  Happy Camp was one of those points of interest...

You just never know who you will run into along the road.

And the art didn't stop with the big guy above.  The fish were really good if you could look pass where they were painted.

An old gas station.

The Post Office.

 ...and a rock!

We had to just tear ourselves away from all this culture and continue on the way if we were going to make it to Arcata for the night.

The next stop along the way was Soames Bar where Ishe Pishe falls was/were.  Bill fishing story at this stop was fishing across the river from some bears that were after the same salmon he was and the big salmon he came back with.  We didn't exactly find the falls as the flood and the years gone by had taken out the old bridge that was his landmark.  We did follow the lady's instruction (at the general store at Soames Bar) about a trail that lead to the falls.  We did find the trail but even for us it was too steep to get all the way down.  Although we were able to get a glimpse of the falls through the trees.

It was getting onto late afternoon and we still had miles to go before Arcata so this was pretty much our last stop on the way.

Family story:  Why is it the older you get the more often the stories start with many, many years ago.

Many, many years ago (see I told you so!) Monica and I made a road trip and we ended up in Arcata for the night.  We came across this wonderfully great Italian resturant that was in the basement of a building on the town square.

Not knowing if it was still there from 25 years ago we inquired at the lodging where we were staying and was surprised to find out it was.

So we drove into town and the food was as great as I remember it.  

Happy birthday to Bill !

Nature's Work of Art

Nature can be pretty awesome until you get stung by it.

Bill took the boat down to the lower lot this afternoon and to do some mowing.  He came back up and told me there was this work of art that I just had to come see and 'don't forget to bring your camera'.

The following are pictures of what was there and then the research on the internet to verify what exactly we were looking out.

 Isn't it the most amazing thing you have ever seen?

Back side.....

...and the top.

It is really gorgeous.  Our first thoughts were that it was a paper wasp nest but this belongs to the baldface hornets.  The hornets can be very aggressive so Bill came away very lucky when he mowed under the tree and wasn't stung.  His one comment was, "There sure were a lot of wasps".  This was before he noticed it.  There is a second nest higher in the tree which is smaller than this one.

The following is from the internet:

Baldfaced Hornets

"Hornets are a social wasp related to the yellowjackets and paper wasps. These all live in colonies similar to those of honey bees and ants. The hornet colony is contained inside the nest constructed of paper-like material made from chewed wood fibers mixed with saliva. The nest is composed of 3 or 4 tiers of combs within a thick, multilayered outer shell. A single opening at the bottom allows the hornets to fly in and out.

Baldfaced hornets are large, black insects about 7/8 of an inch long with white to cream-colored markings on the front of the head and at the end of the abdomen. Like all wasps, bees and ants, hornets have a complete life cycle of four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The larva is a legless grub reared within cells in the nest. Hornets are beneficial predators that feed on other insects, particularly filth flies and blow flies.

A colony of social wasps (hornets, yellowjackets and paper wasps) lasts only 1 year. Each nest is built from scratch each year and the previous year's nest can not be reused. Queens are the only members of the colony able to survive the winter. In April or May, each queen selects a suitable location, constructs a small nest and begins raising sterile daughter offspring. These workers take over the duties of enlarging and maintaining the nest, foraging for food and caring for the offspring while the queen functions only to produce more eggs.

At first colony growth is slow, but growth increases rapidly by mid-summer as successive broods of workers emerge. Peak worker population is 100 to 400 hornets by the end of the summer. In the fall, males and new queens are produced. These leave the nest, mate and the fertilized queens hibernate. The remainder of the workers, the old queen and the males die of old age or freezing temperatures."

Since it is only us and our neighbors who have access to this area we are toying with the idea of leaving the nest and see what happens to it in the winter.  

A day shouldn't go by that you don't take the time to learn something new. 

"12 feet of Happiness" or "If You Live in OR, You May As Well Be a Redneck"

This craziness started a while ago (how long?  Ages ago!)  

Bill, as we all know, is a BASS fisherman with a big fancy BASS boat that will only touch water that is connected to boat ramps with docks attached.  The big fancy BASS boat has been to a number of lakes that do have fish (BASS) in them which only he has the skill to catch.  When I go with him, the first hour is fun fishing, the second hour you will find me reading a book until Bill yells, "Fish on!" then down goes the book and up comes the pole.  The rest of the day follows this cycle.

Working at ODOT I followed all the salmon and steelhead fishing stories from the guys with interest and the trout stories from Chris.  Salmon and steelhead are caught in the river.... no boat ramps, no docks! During the last month I let it be known that I was looking for an aluminum fishing boat, 14 - 16 ft. in length with a 10 HP motor.  

Jeanette was the first one who came up with one and I was too slow to follow it up.  Never realizing how hard these boats are to find used I missed out on that deal.  So when Jacob called this morning to tell me he had found one at a garage sale, we didn't waste any time.  Besides we were going to town today anyway.

These are really redneck Oregonian boats.... ugly to look at and no redeeming qualities. It is a type of boat "that I wouldn't be caught dead in".

So...this is what we found!

 Isn't it the most sorry looking thing you have ever seen?

But did I get a deal on it.... won't tell you what it was going for but I got it for $100 less!  The guy (age 83) swears it doesn't leak and the motor worked two years ago (mmmm).  

The other exciting part is that I (who have never trailed anything in my life) drove it home - all of 10 miles.  

 Bill's BASS boat does look better on a trailer but this one just screams FUN, FUN, FUN.

It did come with some pretty nifty spare goodies.

 Don't ask and I won't be forced to make up a story.

Maybe this really means that the motor doesn't work.

Can't wait to get back from CA and try this out.  First trip is down to Twin Forks or Twin Rivers or whatever it is called for some small mouth bass fishing that are guranteed to be catchable.  But I'm still bringing a book with me.

You are probably wondering where is my picture?  My smile was too wide to fit in a picture.

Happy Fishing!