Little Brother is officially OLD!

Happy 50th Birthday to you, Jerry!

For the next minute, would you please give my little brother Jerry a moment of silence...before you grin from ear to ear. He was already getting the AARP mail...now comes the geezer jokes...and the adult diaper coupons. So we had to make it official...a party to celebrate his "coming of age".  He tried to get sympathy for nearly cutting off his finger with the lawn mower earlier in the week. Yeah...right...like that's going to happen...not in this family! Due to this, he came up with a rather unique way of telling us all we were # 1 in his eyes.

With brother Jim and mom...We had a great time at the party....

Jerry and Kathy had the party at their home (it sure is beautiful) and with their kids, Riley and Mikayla, we helped them get ready. It appeared the mowing would be fine for awhile. Karen helped Mikayla plant flowers, Kathy finished painting, Riley and I worked on some of the other chores and Jerry played the supervisor. We admired all of the work we did and then it was time to play! There were a lot of friends and family at the party...the weather was perfect. Some of us fished for bass and perch or at least pretended, while others sat and talked. The trampoline got lots of use from the kids...most of the adults stayed far away for health reasons.

Here's Riley fishing for bass in their pond

Karen and Jim provided all the cooking for everyone

Mikayla and friend in the paddle boat

Just when you would think that we had enough fun for the weekend, I should also mention we had two trail rides with the horses. We traveled throughout the area around Jerry and Kathy's home...they are close to some public land.

Dad (on Bud), brother Jeff (on Colonel) and Jim (on Spirit)

Jeff

Now, there's a smart horse!

Jerry (on Jericho)

Kathy (with Sadie)

Mikayla (with Kitty)

Jim and Sue

I'm on the best horse...the smart one

Snow Canyon...no snow...and more desert fun?

Before I begin, my apologies to all of our readers...when I set up the parameters for our blog, I had failed to notice that it did not allow comments to be made without being a registered follower. It's been fixed (I think) so comment away everybody!

Dad and Mom Brown (Les and Sandy) drove us around to many of the local scenic areas of Mesquite, NV. One place we saw, Snow Canyon, has always been a place we wanted to visit. I had visions of trees, fast running streams and lofty peaks with mountain goats and soaring eagles. Ok...maybe not the eagles, but hopefully the remnants of recent snows. The canyon is actually named after the Snow family...early pioneers of the area. The canyon was flooded with lava years ago and some of the areas where the lava flowed over the sandstone hills and into the canyon are still visible. There are walking trails, a camping and picnic area, etc. to see.

Snow Canyon...sandstone hills with lava flows in the valley

 

Karen and her dad, Les...on the edge.

The next day, Les and I visited the local pioneer museum. Almost all of the items in the museum had been donated by descendants of the local pioneers...there were butter churns, treddle sewing machines, countless photos, farm tools, books, and even an old telephone switchboard.

We've seen different "animal" signs on our travels, but burro signs are pretty rare

A small town grocery/gas station and our "rescue"

This gas station has a great story to go with it...we were traveling in N. California towards Alturas and were in need of gas...almost into our "danger zone" of 1/4 tank and, at the rate the truck burns fuel, we weren't sure if it would make the last 40 miles without sweating bullets. Luckily, we spotted this station. And No Waiting! The minivan in the pic showed up just as we did. The pump was one of the old style...no credit card reader...so I headed towards the store to prepay. The fella that got out of the minivan said that he would go in and turn on the pump!     hmmmm...okay...?   So I start thinking that maybe the customers must have to really selfserve here in this town. Anyway, Karen went in to use the restroom and visit with the folks while I pumped. What we found out was astounding. It seems the fella and his wife (the owners) had just driven in to town to turn on the pumps for some friends that were arriving later for gas. The store had been closed for almost 3 weeks! The Lord sure does work in wonderous ways!

Sadly, they also told us that they are selling the business. In fact, we were to be their last actual customers. The next day, July 1st, they were being required to "dip" (measure) their fuel tanks and pay the State of California a 17 cent per gallon state-wide fuel tax increase. When they retired from ranching, the owners said they wanted to start the station to provide fuel for the area since it was a such long way to the next one. Due to the tax increase and being unable to hire help to run the station, they couldn't justify keeping it open any longer. Ironically, there are a lot of folks around their area that are unemployed, including some that recently quit working for them. Evidently, the unemployment insurance program that was recently expanded and extended made it more lucrative to stay on unemployment than to get a job. What was news to us is that a person can actually quit their job and still get an unemployment check.
What a wonderful legacy we are leaving for the next generation...Don't work, the government will just take care of you!      I wonder what will happen when the tax revenue stops coming in due to businesses closing up...

Thanks again, Lord (and the station owners) for being there for us! And, please help us to regain our national sanity.

DESERTYOSEMITEVEGAS

This blog covers a lot of ground in a short time...somewhat in the same manner that we drove it in...fast and furious with little regard to enjoyable take-your-time sightseeing.

We stopped along the desert highway to allow the truck to cool off from a climb up a long, steep grade. This particular area was covered in a forest of joshua trees. These are not my favorite type of tree; they are spikey with no apparent commercial value (can't make boards out of 'em). As an interesting side note: the trees are only fertilized by a certain type of moth...no moth, and there won't be any more joshua trees. See...it's fun to be "smartened up" like me...huh?

This is a section of California after it was logged. The nasty loggers never replanted, so terrible erosion from the excessive rainfall caused by the global warming gives the hills a rounded appearance....

Ok...so I fibbed...but this is how my mind tends to wander and my imagination takes over after miles and miles and miles and miles of such views.

I'm still trying to imagine a great storyline that would work with the name of this road. Was it named after an old miner from Elbonia? How about the name of planet of the aliens kept in the Area 51 cold storage? I'll bet Gary Larson (The Far Side) would have a few ideas.

This group of photos is of an area of Yosemite Natl. Park...We started into the hills headed towards the Western entrance...with over 3/4 tank of gas. By time we got to this point near El Capitan and the other major attractions, we were down to about 1/4. The one station listed on the park map was closed. So we enjoyed the surroundings here while letting the brakes cool down on the truck after going down 8 miles of steep canyon road (I had forgotten to increase the trailer brake power on the controller...oops)

This was one of the many beautiful waterfalls!

Imagine our joy at discovering the "entrepreneurial spirit" was alive and well, just outside the park exit. Fortunately, we weren't quite sucking fumes yet, so we passed this place up and made the next town 20 miles down-road.

Our next adventure took us up through some really nice hill country on roads that, probably, have never seen a 5th wheel. The switchbacks were sure sharp! How sharp, you ask? One of them was so sharp that we were able to push the trailer around the corner with the front of the truck. And, of course the hills tested our brakes and engine cooling, again. We spent the night in our 1st fee-paid campsite at Lake Isabella. No pictures. No time. We left the next morning, after our bike ride, for Las Vegas.

Just past Barstow, the outside temperature made it up to 107...we didn't notice anyone along the roadside trying to fry eggs, though.

Karen's talking to her mother, while I'm taking pictures, bored out of my mind and not watching the road....the road was straight and no ditch...what could happen?

Nothing!

Just more flat desert to run into!

THEN CAME VEGAS, BABY

We visited the town for the evening, just hanging out and enjoying the sites...I'm not a gambler, but enjoy watching Karen try her luck. The next day we went back...there were an unbelievable amount of people...I thought there was supposed to be a recession going on! We stayed inside the casinos due to the ongoing heatwave outside. As usual, we met some really neat people. We met Craig and Melinda Hopson from Alabama (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1065779560#!/group.php?gid=162027073290) in a gourmet chocolate shop and spent time talking about each other's adventures. Unfortunately, he's fighting cancer...they are in our prayers for his recovery.

Anyway, we had no more time to "dally" in Vegas...we were off to Mesquite.

More California 'ol timers'

Now, we all know that the West isn't old compared to the East coast, but some of these towns still date back to the mid-1800's. Many of the original buildings are still there. When Karen and I left the Placerville area, we headed over to Meadow Vista. Sorry, no pics, but it was old...take our word for it.

We were going to meet my new "boss" and his wife..."Stretch" and Lisa. You're asking..."what's this about a new boss? I thought you retired!" Well, through my previous coworker, Steve, we were told of a person who had a portable air traffic control business that may be looking for help on forest fires this summer. So we decided to look into it as a fun way to spend time doing "real ATC" like it used to be before over-regulated government intervention (FAA).

Anyway, they took us for some sight seeing trips around the local area.

These two places are in Auburn, CA...the upper is the old fire station and the lower, I believe is the county courthouse

The next pics are of our trip up to Truckee, CA--------------------------------------

That's Karen between Stretch and Lisa

The old gas station has been restored to its original luster, although you can't buy gas there for any price...it's just for looks. The town reminded us a lot of Red Lodge, Montana...very touristy!

On the way back down from Truckee, we stopped at this historic wayside. This is one of the main valleys the pioneers brought their wagons through over the pass near Truckee. It's the one the Donner party probably wanted to use in 1846.  You remember that story, don't you? Lost settlers in the Sierra Mts...took a route overland that caused a lot longer time to make the trip. Stuck on top in an early, heavy snow...ran out of food after a couple of months...except.......umm. Out of 87 originals, 48 survived to finish the trip.

These pics below are of another town...Dutch Flat
Lisa and her mother, Joan, attend the Methodist Church there.

The Post Office above, the hotel in the middle and the IOOF meeting hall on bottom (it's for sale, if you're interested)

So, what is IOOF, you ask?  Independant Order of Odd Fellows. I didn't know what that was all about, so I looked it up in Wikipedia. Since I'm a full-service blogger, I'll make the link available for your enjoyment.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOOF

Did I mention all of the great meals and conversation we had at their home? WOW! Stretch even entertained us with some fantastic "blues" on his guitars and his studio equipment. It seems to be our destiny to keep meeting really wonderful people!

Now, if we could get some forest fires going, I would be able to talk to some helicopters with Stretch...Just kidding! Don't go lighting any on my account.

So, anyway, that's all of the "old timer" buildings I have for now. 

Gold Country, CA

Placerville, CA and a visit with Aunt Louise and Uncle Merlin became the next stop on our summer adventure. This area is noted for the start of the California gold rush back in 1849....remember the "49ers" from your U.S. history class? Placerville was one of the towns that sprang up and was, at that time, one of the largest in California.

A view of the downtown area of Placerville, complete with belltower

The store had something for everyone!

The Placerville Hardware Store is the oldest store of its kind still in continuous operation west of the Mississippi. We even found a drip coffee maker that we've been looking for. They even had reading glasses!

 

Since we are "old folks" we had to try on several strengths

I was the only one to get a good pair, and so was able to see well enough to take a group photo of the rest of the party.

We all went for a ride around the local area, having a nice lunch and then stopped at a produce stand on Apple Hill. We picked up a lot of treats, including some of the best apple cider I've had in a long time.

We had such a nice visit and the help that Merlin provided...running me back and forth into town to get numerous RV parts for the trailer, was sure great!

Later in the week, Karen and I traveled to Coloma. This is the location of the initial gold discovery that set the whole nation ablaze with excitement. There are still some of the actual buildings dating to that time, as well as replicas and a museum.

Karen is showing how the old miners got their hernias

Here's a "California Stamp Mill" for use in the post office making really big stamps...OK, I lied...it was actually used to crush the gold-bearing rock into manageable sizes for further processing.

This is a section of tree that was salvaged, bearing the names of early miners that were buried

This display has some original artifacts, as well as a narrative of the period that I thought you might find interesting. Just "click" on the photo to enlarge it enough to read it.

The original Sutter's lumber mill was lost in a flood, and this exact replica was built and relocated about 100 yards downstream and on higher ground. The original mill was built to make lumber for the fort being built in present-day Sacramento. Water from the river was diverted under the mill to turn the large waterwheel, which turned the gearing to run the saw to cut lumber out of the logs. A gold nugget was discovered by accident when the mill foreman was inspecting the tailrace area depicted in the photo's foreground.

I'm standing on a log suspended over the original mill's tailrace area....the area has been picked clean, as I didn't see any gold. Karen is sitting on the same log next to the monument.

This pic is looking into one of the actual cabins used by the original mill builders that were present when the gold was discovered. Obviously, it's been cleaned up a bit, since I doubt they were this tidy...being menfolk and such.