Wind Assisted traveling

April 15 - We got up early and we're on the road to Las Vegas. We decided to stop for breakfast on top of a summit. It started to snow while we were eating. What a surprise! As we left the snow kept coming down and we passed some windmills on a snow covered hillside. The wind was still blowing behind us. All around us it was dark and snowing; we could see a light through the darkness and then we were under blue skies.

We set up the trailer in Las Vegas and were able to see the town. We quickly went from casino to casino looking at all the bright lights and water fountains. Enough of Vegas.

Olivia has allowed us space to share our own story.

Libby Lou

1994-2009

Our beloved companion is resting in peace. Prior to our departure Lou experienced some medical concerns. Shelly and Scott offered to keep her while we were away. On April 15 Shelly called to say that Libby was not doing well. They took her to their Vet and he told us she was very ill. As difficult as it was we didn’t want her to suffer any longer. Scott stayed with her to the end. We are so grateful to Shelly and Scott for all the love and compassion they showed in our absence.


SOME OF OUR FONDEST MEMORIES

The day we went to see Libby for the first time at a foster care home for pets she was so excited she jumped the full length of an 8FT sofa only touching down once. Terry said “Are you sure this is the one you want?” We packed up this one and a half year old black terrier mix for a new and eventful journey.

She loved the challenge of escaping, most likely the reason she ended up in a shelter. And of course she wouldn’t come when we called her so we would ask a neighbor, any neighbor to call her. She would come to them. One day I asked a new neighbor if she would go on the other side of the barricade and retrieve her. “She is a black dog and her name is Libby.” The neighbor returned with a dog. The neighbor was pleased with her accomplishment. The only problem was it was the wrong black dog. “But she came when I called Libby.” “Would you try one more time, please?”

Terry installed invisible fencing around the backyard to keep her home. While Terry was installing the wire on one side of the yard Libby dug out under the fence on the other side and she was gone within minutes.

She was a great hunter. She loved to hunt squirrels, mountain beaver, possum and mice.

On a camping trip in Montana she wanted to sleep outside at night to look for critters. With her persistence we gave in and tied her up by the trailer. She wrapped the rope around the stabilizer jacks and began to bark. Terry got up and pulled on her rope. In his frustration he clinched his teeth so hard he had to go in for dental work the next morning.

Nelda was away on a trip for two and a half weeks. Libby made the point that the trip was too long. Upon returning late one evening Nelda went straight to bed, laying her head her pillow she was shocked to discover that Libby had wet on her pillow.

When guests sat at the dinner table Libby would lie on someone’s feet. We said, “They were the chosen one.” There was also a down side. She was known to stand and bark at the guests if they stayed too late. They would ask why Libby was barking and we would have to tell them that she wanted them to go home because she wanted to go to bed.

Our fondest memory of Libby was in the morning when Terry would leave for work. She would come up to him and stand up, wrap her front legs around his legs and lay her head against him and give him a big hug.

Libby we will miss your hugs and your love of life. All of these memories will continue to keep a smile on our face and a warm place in our heart. We love you.

April 14 - We are on our way to Bakersfield, CA. The wind was pushing behind us which helped us go even faster. Poppie said it might help with the gas mileage, too. Along the way I spied fields of grapes and Gram said they would be turned into raisins - Yummers! Poppie said it was a waste of good grapes. Well we arrived at Bakersfield and set up the trailer just in time to see the sunset.

On to Yosemite

April 11-13 Well we got up early this morning and packed up and we our on way to Yosemite National Park. This is the focus of our trip, to see all these places set aside that God created. After miles of pine trees and snow and Gram looking for pine cones we finally got to our campsite. We unhooked the trailer and set it up to spend several days in the beautiful sites of Yosemite.


The next day was Easter and we decided to go to church at the Yosemite Chapel. What a beautiful morning to drive below and between these great mountains on this special of all holy days. As the minister told us this is the most important of all Christian days. What a beautiful setting on this special day. What made my day was the Easter egg hunt.


It was hard to get Poppie and Gram back into the truck because they were always taking pictures of the mountains and animals. Especially an animal we saw that really scared me was a coyote that was sooo close that I could have touched his bushy tail. But he was looking for other food not pork. Well maybe squirrels?


We took a neat hike through the woods. This is where we saw deer grazing among huge boulders. After the deer sighting we continued along the trail to Yosemite Lodge where we had lunch. Poppie and Gram were a little tired by now with all the walking so we took the shuttle back to the truck. I was really excited to ride the Yosemite shuttle. What fun!

On our last day at Yosemite we decided to take one last hike. I promised Poppie not to go too fast this time since yesterday he had trouble keeping up with me. Well the hike I took Poppie and Gram on was to Mirror Lake. It turned out to be a very nice day for a hike. As we started out Poppie said he would carry me for a while so I wouldn't get too far ahead. I thought that was very nice of him. After a while Gram and I decided to rest for a while. As you can see we found a perfect spot. I can not imagine how old these boulders are. They might even be older than Gram and Poppie. Along the way I found the perfect thing that Jackson likes to do in Poppie and Gram's backyard-climb trees.

We were all getting a little tired when we finally came upon Mirror Lake. The view we saw was worth the long , hot walk. What a wonderful sight to see the tall mountains being reflected in the lake. We spent many hours marvelling at the mirrored images. Gram took several pictures too many to show here. But as you can see Poppie had the camera for at least one shot. As it was getting dark we decided we had better head back to the truck.

On our way back to the trailer Gram took one last picture of the Red Bud trees that line the road. A sure sign that spring is here. When we got back to camp I walked over to say good bye to my new friends. This ends our stay at beautiful Yosemite. Where will I take Gram and Poppie next?

Love Olivia

Shingle Springs and Gram's classmate

April 9- We are on our way from Napa to Shingle Springs just east of Sacramento to visit with Gram's high school classmate, Karen Treanor. She says she hasn't seen Karen for 45 years. Is anyone that old? Well between Mona and me we got Poppie to the right location. They live on 10 acres of land surrounded by deer, coyotes, wild turkeys, sheep, and scrub oak. I loved the turkeys. We had a great visit, especially when I had a chance to play with Karen and Bob's grandchildren. Oh, what great fun I had playing with all their toys. We parked our trailer there and had sour dough waffles the next morning. They made us all feel so welcome. What great people they were.

April 10- The next morning found us traveling south to Sonora, CA. Again Mona and I had to help Poppie find the way. A lot of ups and downs and curves around and we were there. At the campground you can see me helping Poppie set up the trailer. We came to visit an old neighbor of Poppies, Thelma Hanson. Poppie told me that Thelma is almost 101 years old. What a wonderful lady and an active one too. Again we had a wonderful visit talking about old times.

Napa Valley

All this really happened beginning on April 6. We have been in the back country away from the internet.

We are on are way to Napa Valley where grapes become a special juice to enjoy. We left Mount Shasta behind. On our way to Napa we passed several interesting sights that I pointed out to Poppie and Gram. We pass sheep again along the highway and you can see an old barn over there. What wonderful things to see as we travel through southern California.




After a few wrong turns (I keep telling Poppie to listen to Mona our GPS guide) we finally arrived in Napa with the temperature in the low 80s. The campground was at the north end of town and perfect. Close to the vines that have those delicious grapes. Poppie and Gram quickly set up the trailer and we were off to a location I knew they would both enjoy, Mum Winery. As you can see in the pictures Poppie and Gram are happily drinking their white grape juice. They told me it was a very light, sparkling, and bubbly. I told them I would rather have an A&W Root beer. Jackson this is for you. I know you like small critters. Well a small one joined us near our table at ground level soaking up the sun just like we were. He was simply fascinating. You would have enjoyed watching him.


The next day found us sleeping in to 8 am. Poppie said the juice taste better latter in the day. Sometime after 12 pm. Well it was OK with me to have some extra sleep. As you can see it was raining as we started out. The great weather we had yesterday was gone at least for today. We drove north through the Napa Valley looking for those special places. We stopped at a few of those places before reaching a small town, Calistoga. I helped Gram find the important shops to visit in town, while Poppie tagged along.

At one of the special stops we made some people were talking about this extra special winery, The Black Chicken that made some very tasty juice. I knew I had to take Poppie and Gram to it, so they too would know how fine the juice tasted.

I easily found the winery with the help of Mona (Poppie listened to her this time). I told them to hurry down the path because it was almost closing time. As you can see the path was quite curvy. When Poppie and Gram took their first taste of the juice they weren’t disappointed. They both said, “ Yummers!” This is also my favorite saying when something tastes great. As Poppie and Gram drank the extra special juice, the server told them a story of how the winery got its name.

Back in the 40s her grandfather made this special juice for his family. Word got out to others and they wanted it for their families. Her grandpa didn’t want to get into the juice making business so he had to secretly sell the juice to them. They gave him their orders over the phone called a “Party Line”, whatever that is. Well anyway I guess everyone can listen to everyone else so he had to have a secret password for his buyers. You probably already guessed the password was “Black Chicken”. So her grandpa would take a jug of his special juice and deliver it that night. What a way to start a winery. Don’t I look fantastic next to the Black Chicken? Yes, I do.

April 8- Now onto one of my favorite wineries. This one makes me feel like queen. Take a look at the scenery toward the bay and the fountains. Poppie says they also make good grape juice here, especially the red kind. From here we went to Sonoma, we found great shops to hide from the rain. They also had a great park right in the middle of their city. We left Sonoma to go back to Napa and prepare for our next day of travel.

Our ups and downs through Oregon

We are ready to leave McMinnville. Poppie and Gram woke me up at 6:30 AM and quickly packed the trailer. I travel light so it didn't take me too long. I couldn't help admiring the new tires Poppie bought for his truck. The tires will give us a smoother ride and that will save my piggy bottom.

We left McMinnville with lots good memories. We had an enjoyable visit with Poppie's Aunt Jean and had lunch with his cousin Kathy and husband Bill. They had just become grandparents again while we there, a baby girl. Now they have seven grandchildren.

We are on the road again heading for Weed, California for the night. I needed to show Poppie the right roads to take while telling both Poppie and Gram about the wonderful sights we see along the way. My favorite were the sheep in the fields with their new lambs. I noticed they have been sheared. Imagine getting your hair cut, it's so cold at night. I tried to call Jackson on the cell phone to tell about the sheep, but he was busy. I also pointed out Mount Shasta in the distance. That's where we will be camping tonight at least close to it so we can see it from the trailer and it will be cold. Glad to have my hair (even a few should help me stay warm).

OH! This going up and down is like a roller coaster. We drive slowly up a mountain then down the other side really fast. Up and Down, Up and Down, oh I was beginning to feel sick. Thank goodness I told Poppie to turn into our campsite at Weed and we can stop all this Up and Down business.

We set the trailer up and then toured the park. I showed Gram all the secret sites only known to me. The big work machine and the railroad tracks that run right behind our campsite. Maybe a train will come by while we are still here. Wow! Won't that be exciting. Hope it doesn't wake up Poppie and Gram during the night. But this is the view they will have in the morning when they wake up.

After Gram's tour, I sat down with Poppie in front of the computer and helped him write this Blog. I made sure he had the story straight, especially all the neat stuff about me.

After all the help I gave Poppie, it was time for a potty break. On the way to the bathroom I admired Jackson's beautiful artwork that he had given us before we left on the trip. He's going to give "Pigaso" a run for his money, I am sure of that. Thank you Jackson for your wonderful art work that brightens our trailer every day. I Love You - Olivia

P.S.

We will be going to Napa tomorrow where they grow really good grapes. Poppie told me they do something very special with their grapes and we really need to go there.