On Sunday the 4th of August, we got together with Katie and Russell to celebrate his up coming 26th birthday! We are so lucky to have Russell as part of our family, we always welcome any opportunity we can to get together with him (and Katie of course) and enjoy their company. We also like to see our Grand dogs, so any opportunity that we have to spend time with their entire clan, we jump at the opportunity.
When Katie and Russ first arrived, Charlie, Rosie, Mack and Sambo mixed it up a little bit. Sambo, who is quite the water dog even at times took over command of the 'doggie pool'. With Lilly's frail health, we tried to keep her out of the wrestling that was going on. And of course, everyone is welcome when it comes time for biscuits to be handed out!
After the dogs had kind of blown off some steam, they started relaxing and we got to visiting. We enjoyed a very nice bar-b-que of steak and chicken with all of the trimmings such as salad, baked potato and the likes! Once the dinner was done, it was time to have Russell open his gift and to enjoy some birthday cake.
We sure miss having the kids as close to us as they once use to be, but we are so glad when we are able to get together with them when ever it is possible.
Happy 26th Birthday Russell, we think the world of you!
For some time now, we had been looking forward to a trip to San Francisco. We haven't been for years and we had been on a roll recently of getting out every month in the motorhome. So, we were really looking forward to a trip to the bay area. Thinking this time of year, would be a good time for a trip to the coast.For some time now, we had been looking forward to a trip to San Francisco. We haven't been for years and we had been on a roll recently of getting out every month in the motorhome. So, we were really looking forward to a trip to the bay area. Thinking this time of year, would be a good time for a trip to the coast.
Unfortunately, Lilly's health has not been the best the last few weeks. So, with her delicate health and the fact that the frequent recent trips to the vet had kind of tapped the checking account, we thought it was best to forego the trip. As part of the trip, we were trying to hook up with Eric's nephew mark for a long over due visit. We had needed to cancel on him once before, and we didn't want to do this again. So, after we consulted Bing Maps and finding that a ride to San Francisco would only take 1 hour and 45 minutes, we thought we would make a day trip out of it to San Francisco. And what a wonderful trip we had. Eric made a quick trip to the Shelter on Friday morning to check on the dogs in the Chako rescue program. Once he was home, we were able to give each of the dogs a peanut butter laden Kong and head to San Fran. Being that it was mid day, on a Friday, the trip wasn't much more than the expected amount of time. It didn't matter much if we traveled via 80 the entire way or if we went via Marin county, so we opted for the approach from the north which would take us through the Golden Gate Bridge! :-)
Unfortunately, Lilly's health has not been the best the last few weeks. So, with her delicate health and the fact that the frequent recent trips to the vet had kind of tapped the checking account, we thought it was best to forego the trip. As part of the trip, we were trying to hook up with Eric's nephew mark for a long over due visit. We had needed to cancel on him once before, and we didn't want to do this again. So, after we consulted Bing Maps and finding that a ride to San Francisco would only take 1 hour and 45 minutes, we thought we would make a day trip out of it to San Francisco. And what a wonderful trip we had. Eric made a quick trip to the Shelter on Friday morning to check on the dogs in the Chako rescue program. Once he was home, we were able to give each of the dogs a peanut butter laden Kong and head to San Fran. Being that it was mid day, on a Friday, the trip wasn't much more than the expected amount of time. It didn't matter much if we traveled via 80 the entire way or if we went via Marin county, so we opted for the approach from the north which would take us through the Golden Gate Bridge! :-)
Once we got to the San Francisco side, we went down to Fort Point, a fort built prior to the Civil war in order to protect the San Francisco bay. This fort is an amazing trip back in time in that it stands pretty much the way it did, back in it's pre-civil war era. There are many fascinating displays to check out. Including the various canons as well as the canon balls, firing ports and even the powder room! It was all very cool! Fort Point is right near the Chrissie field area as well as the San Francisco National cemetery. Many of the buildings in the Chrissie field and presidio areas sit pretty much as they stood back when the military populated this area. Many of the old officers quarters have been upgraded and re-purposed into commercial operations for small businesses. Quite the 'Peace Dividend'!
After we left the presidio area, we went and drove around down town San Francisco, saw a cable car and also checked out Lombard street. There isn't much that makes us nervous about places to take the motorhome, but Lombard street is one place we have no desire to try out our driving prowess, even if we had brought the moho.
After we finished our brief exploration of San Francisco, we head over to Marq and Stephanie's to hook up with them for dinner. Marq and Stephanie live in a nice house that is tucked away in among condominiums in the down town area. We had a wonderful visit with these two, to our surprise, they treated us to dinner at a Patxi's which serves up some mean Pizza. After a wonderful visit with Marq and Stephanie, it was time to head home for the night.
We left San Francisco with an intent to visit there again. There is so much to see and enjoy in that wonderful city and with Living in Sacramento, we're an our closer than we use to be when we lived in Amador county.
On June 22nd, we once again ventured up to Amador County to join the family to celebrate Brandon Waites 29th birthday. Brandon, who faces the challenges of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy every day, is proving what a fighter he is. Rarely does someone dealing with this disease live to their 29th birthday, but Brando' is still going strong. And any chance we get to help Brandon celebrate this fact, we are all in!
The weather was perfect this weekend and as such, we had a good turn out of family and friends to help Brandon celebrate yet another mile stone. We started out by enjoying the pleasant temperatures outside.
As you can see, all of us consider our dogs part of our family!
Sandy and Bill Ealy went to a great little music store in Jackson where the owner was able to come up with an idea of how to attach a cow bell to Brandon's wheel chair. Brandon you see, is a huge Oakland A's fan and loves how the other A's fans ring cow bells. So, as you can see, Sandy and Bill got him a setup so that he could enjoy this activity as well.
On the weekend of July 19th, 20th and 21st, we traveled to the Jackson Rancheria RV park in Amador county. This RV park is just a mile or two from where we use to live in Pine Grove, part of Amador County. The initial intention of the trip was to join Mike and Theresa Nigro and their Good Sam RV club for a weekend outing. Then, the idea was spawned to add to the gathering by celebrating Calvin Waite Jr.'s birthday. So, on Friday, we moved the motorhome up to the Jackson Rancheria RV park for a couple days.
We love this park, because it is high on a bluff that overlooks a large portion of the Rancheria property, but with the exception of the occasional casino bus going by, you wouldn't know that we are any where near a gambling establishment. Once we were settled in on Friday, we decided to go check out the casino. It had been a couple years since we had been to the Casino because it has undergone a great deal of renovation the last few years and we wanted to see what the end result turned out to be. Well, the end result is a beautiful establishment that seems 'Brighter' than the initial version of the casino by virtue that they used more whites and other lighter colors. It didn't take long for us to go through our small gambling allowance and then return to the Camp ground.
Friday night, we joined the Good Sam club for dinner and had a wonderful gathering with Mike, Teresa and the rest.
On Saturday, the family was to roll in. We were looking forward to the gathering, but we were not overly optimistic that we would get to see Calvin and Joyce. You see, just a week earlier, Joyce had undergone a procedure to remove her gal-bladder. Though in the long run, things all seemed to turn out ok, because Joyce was recovering, Calvin couldn't come join us.
None the less, we had a large family gathering at the park. Unfortunately, the gathering didn't last all that long because the weather was so blasted hot. Though we did our best to keep everyone in the shade, when it is 104 degrees in the shade, it is just plain old HOT! None the less, we were glad to see Sandy and Bill, Billy and Loretta and Brandon, Brandee and Kevin and of course Mike and Teresa!
Though there isn't really any shade provided by the small trees at the rv park, the air conditioners on the Motorhome were up to the task of keeping the inside of the rig cool.
We so enjoy coming to the Rancheria RV park. It is green and rustic, but very comfortable. There is even a dog park where we can take Rosie to chase the ball for a while.
