We're in Fernley, NV this week. I helped Mom drive to Shawna's, her grandaughter. We drove up through Pahrump, Tonopah and Death Valley. It's an amazing journey, kind of a walk back through time. The layers peel back to the 50's, then the 30's, and into the 1880's mining culture. Strip down the land to the bare bones, literally. There are no trees, very little vegetation. The colors of the mountains range from subtle cream to orange, rust, yellow, blue. There is nothing on them to mask the geology, the creation of the world here. As we drove along, the mountains are raw, rough and look like the land was just yanked up from the ground, the rocks run vertical from the ground straight up into the sky, too new to even be broken down by the wind and rain. Well, wind, there really isn't rain here, or water. The little mining towns have rough shacks that are falling into total disrepair. Many of the small towns are abandoned, the ones still surviving are rough and dry. I'm so impressed with the people that manage to make and a living and survive there.
Fernley is much more stable, they are heavily influenced by the mining industry but right on the interstate, so there's more work here. Shawna and Roger have a beautiful family, home and life, it's so much fun to hang out with them.
Saturday Shawna drove us to Sacramento to see Aunt Barbara, her kids Jerryne, Keith, and the other Haines cousins, Steve and Dan. It was awesome! Barbara is doing OK, we visited her Saturday afternoon, then went to Jerryne's. Keith brought his family over and we had a great visit all afternoon, then went to Black Angus for dinner. Our cousin Dan works there, so we got to see him and his brother Steve there. We had a big, noisy dinner with 4 kids and 6 adults.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Tough Week
Well, this week started out like a hurricane- I had a bad stomach flu, with all the joy that brings. Could be swine flu, who knows? Whatever it was I was running both ends for days, really Friday was the first day I felt very good.
Mom came up Monday evening, and will be here until we leave for Reno, NV. She has to get a new water pump in the motorhome, it went out on the way up here. It's the one that powers the sinks, etc, not the engine one. I stayed in the bedroom for the first several days, I didn't want to share this crap with anyone. So far they haven't seemed to catch it.
Nic has a new hobby/business, he's collecting coins and comics, planning to sell the good ones on the internet. He's really enjoying it, and is setting up whole notebooks of coins, putting all the comics in plastic sleeves, getting an inventory built up.
Now the bad news, David had a rollover accident on Thursday. Amazingly, he was wearing a seat belt and he's just fine. It was on 89A toward Sedona, a little before 8:00 am, so the traffic was very heavy, but no one was injured; there was another car involved but she was ok too. Our old white pickup didn't fare as well, the roof of the cab is crushed in, except for where David was sitting. Boy, the Lord and at least 3 guardian angels were watching over him that day! I'm so glad that my husband survived, and the other person in the crash is OK.
Last but not least, we no longer have a rooster. He was getting so mean, I couldn't go in the pen without a rake or someone else to watch my back. He had also pecked one of the hens so bad she is missing a big patch of feathers. Well, anyone that knows me very well has heard about me and roosters- I shot the last one that messed with me! Bucky was young enough that he'll make a good meal, so we butchered him yesterday. Nic and a friend, Norm, killed him for me, then Mom and I plucked and dressed him out. All in all, a pretty hectic week.
The Native Americans have a tradition of offering thanks to an animal for it's sacrifice, and honoring it giving it's life so others may live. I like that idea, so I offered thanks. Especially in this country, we take our food for granted, go to the store, buy what you need. We are so far removed from the life cycle, we rarely pick or kill our own food. I am trying to become more connected to the food that sustains me, and even though it's not much fun to butcher an animal, it does give a solid connection to what we eat. If my brother reads this, he'd just laugh at me, he and his family hunts every year, then butchers and processes everything, deer, elk, fish. Hap and Sandy have a beautiful garden, so they are very self-sustaining. We don't hunt usually, but gardening is one of my favorite activities.
Mom came up Monday evening, and will be here until we leave for Reno, NV. She has to get a new water pump in the motorhome, it went out on the way up here. It's the one that powers the sinks, etc, not the engine one. I stayed in the bedroom for the first several days, I didn't want to share this crap with anyone. So far they haven't seemed to catch it.
Nic has a new hobby/business, he's collecting coins and comics, planning to sell the good ones on the internet. He's really enjoying it, and is setting up whole notebooks of coins, putting all the comics in plastic sleeves, getting an inventory built up.
Now the bad news, David had a rollover accident on Thursday. Amazingly, he was wearing a seat belt and he's just fine. It was on 89A toward Sedona, a little before 8:00 am, so the traffic was very heavy, but no one was injured; there was another car involved but she was ok too. Our old white pickup didn't fare as well, the roof of the cab is crushed in, except for where David was sitting. Boy, the Lord and at least 3 guardian angels were watching over him that day! I'm so glad that my husband survived, and the other person in the crash is OK.
Last but not least, we no longer have a rooster. He was getting so mean, I couldn't go in the pen without a rake or someone else to watch my back. He had also pecked one of the hens so bad she is missing a big patch of feathers. Well, anyone that knows me very well has heard about me and roosters- I shot the last one that messed with me! Bucky was young enough that he'll make a good meal, so we butchered him yesterday. Nic and a friend, Norm, killed him for me, then Mom and I plucked and dressed him out. All in all, a pretty hectic week.
The Native Americans have a tradition of offering thanks to an animal for it's sacrifice, and honoring it giving it's life so others may live. I like that idea, so I offered thanks. Especially in this country, we take our food for granted, go to the store, buy what you need. We are so far removed from the life cycle, we rarely pick or kill our own food. I am trying to become more connected to the food that sustains me, and even though it's not much fun to butcher an animal, it does give a solid connection to what we eat. If my brother reads this, he'd just laugh at me, he and his family hunts every year, then butchers and processes everything, deer, elk, fish. Hap and Sandy have a beautiful garden, so they are very self-sustaining. We don't hunt usually, but gardening is one of my favorite activities.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
May's almost over
It's been a couple weeks since I caught up this blog. A very busy few weeks, in fact. I'm just about finished editing the Haines book, now it's down to moving pictures into the positions I want them, tweaking the writing a little, etc. I spoke with Bill Johnson, the son of our Aunt Mamie. It was great, she actually talked to her kids about living in Texas and some of the family experiences, so that is all in the book!
Last week David and I went to Grand Canyon West with some friends, and spent at least half an hour out on the skywalk. They won't let you take a camera, but for a $99 dollar fee there are photographers that will take all the pictures you want, of the view, your group, etc. With 6 of us, it was a great deal, we all shared the pictures and have great memories of the day. There are other photo packages, but that one worked best for us.
It's pretty remote to get there, about 45 miles of good dirt road after you leave I-40, but it was certainly worth it to us. The skywalk is incredible, and the Hualapai tribe is working on further amenities. Right now it only has a couple food stands, 1-2 cafes and a restaurant, which is a bus ride from the Skywalk. But they have several helicopters right there, and for a fee you can fly over the Grand Canyon. They also offer pontoon rides on the Colorado River, but we didn't do the extra things, at least not this trip. It took us 6 hours to get there from Cottonwood/Sedona, and we didn't spend the night, so it was a full day with just the basics.
It is certainly not as touristy as the South rim, but that will change with time. There are already tour buses coming in droves from Las Vegas, but other than the gift shop/ticket sales building, it feels pretty uncluttered. We were told Meadview is the closest town, about an hour away, and I'm not sure what accomodations they have, since we came up Route 66 instead of around from Kingman. Kingman to Grand Canyon West has more paved road, we'll take that next time.
It is an expensive day, there is the cost of the Skywalk ticket, then a separate bus ticket to get there, but it does include a $12 meal voucher. The views, spectacular! To walk out onto the skywalk with only plexiglass between you and a 2000 or so foot drop, priceless. If you don't like heights, this may not be as appealing, but wow! It was cool.
Nic, Gina and I went to Jerome to shoot wedding invitation pictures, and they turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I think it's mostly because of the great camera David gave me for Mother's Day- a Canon Power shot. Great zoom abilities, and excellent quality pictures. We also had Dakota over the next day, she is growing so fast and is such a little doll.
May has been so busy! I spent the first week in New Hampshire, the next week at the Grand Canyon for a day, recovered for a couple days then started answering the phones for David for a little while. He was answering phones, to the tune of 20-30 calls per day, then scheduling all the guys, working on books, and going out to cooler calls himself. I think he met himself at the door a few times, so I'm doing what I can to help out a little. We celebrated Gina's birthday while she was here, and Nic's on Thursday. Mom is coming up this weekend, she wants to go to Boyd's grave for Memorial Day.
Last week David and I went to Grand Canyon West with some friends, and spent at least half an hour out on the skywalk. They won't let you take a camera, but for a $99 dollar fee there are photographers that will take all the pictures you want, of the view, your group, etc. With 6 of us, it was a great deal, we all shared the pictures and have great memories of the day. There are other photo packages, but that one worked best for us.
It's pretty remote to get there, about 45 miles of good dirt road after you leave I-40, but it was certainly worth it to us. The skywalk is incredible, and the Hualapai tribe is working on further amenities. Right now it only has a couple food stands, 1-2 cafes and a restaurant, which is a bus ride from the Skywalk. But they have several helicopters right there, and for a fee you can fly over the Grand Canyon. They also offer pontoon rides on the Colorado River, but we didn't do the extra things, at least not this trip. It took us 6 hours to get there from Cottonwood/Sedona, and we didn't spend the night, so it was a full day with just the basics.
It is certainly not as touristy as the South rim, but that will change with time. There are already tour buses coming in droves from Las Vegas, but other than the gift shop/ticket sales building, it feels pretty uncluttered. We were told Meadview is the closest town, about an hour away, and I'm not sure what accomodations they have, since we came up Route 66 instead of around from Kingman. Kingman to Grand Canyon West has more paved road, we'll take that next time.
It is an expensive day, there is the cost of the Skywalk ticket, then a separate bus ticket to get there, but it does include a $12 meal voucher. The views, spectacular! To walk out onto the skywalk with only plexiglass between you and a 2000 or so foot drop, priceless. If you don't like heights, this may not be as appealing, but wow! It was cool.
Nic, Gina and I went to Jerome to shoot wedding invitation pictures, and they turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I think it's mostly because of the great camera David gave me for Mother's Day- a Canon Power shot. Great zoom abilities, and excellent quality pictures. We also had Dakota over the next day, she is growing so fast and is such a little doll.
May has been so busy! I spent the first week in New Hampshire, the next week at the Grand Canyon for a day, recovered for a couple days then started answering the phones for David for a little while. He was answering phones, to the tune of 20-30 calls per day, then scheduling all the guys, working on books, and going out to cooler calls himself. I think he met himself at the door a few times, so I'm doing what I can to help out a little. We celebrated Gina's birthday while she was here, and Nic's on Thursday. Mom is coming up this weekend, she wants to go to Boyd's grave for Memorial Day.
Monday, May 4, 2009
A day at the beach
Saturday we went to Ogunquit, Maine for the day. It is a quaint little town, although it's pretty tourist oriented, it's really beautiful. It's right on the Atlantic ocean, and has a walkway along one of the cliffs. The waves crashing on the rocky shore was mesmerizing, and there were fishing boats all up and down the coast. The day was perfect, about 67 degrees with a slight wind.
We took Roo, Heather's Yorkie, and he was in hog heaven, running around. He ran into the surf long enough to realize how cold it was! The flowers are just starting to bloom, the were puffy clouds drifting by as we walked along the cliff and down to the ocean. We saw surfers in full wetsuits hitting the waves, there was even a guy standing on a board with a paddle, hadn't seen that before. It is't the California surf, but there was enough curl to have a good, if short, ride.
We had lobster for dinner, right on the dock at a local eatery. There were 3 red tugboats floating right out the window as we ate. The tide was flowing in, speeding up the causeway at our feet. I was surprised how fast it came in, maybe that's why the pace is so much faster in the northeast...
Sunday it was cloudy and rainy, which should last the rest of the week. I'm so glad we went on the one clear day! I took Heather and Jared birthday shopping while I was here, and the lobster dinner was for their bday too, so although I leave the day before Jared's birthday, I already got it covered.
We took Roo, Heather's Yorkie, and he was in hog heaven, running around. He ran into the surf long enough to realize how cold it was! The flowers are just starting to bloom, the were puffy clouds drifting by as we walked along the cliff and down to the ocean. We saw surfers in full wetsuits hitting the waves, there was even a guy standing on a board with a paddle, hadn't seen that before. It is't the California surf, but there was enough curl to have a good, if short, ride.
We had lobster for dinner, right on the dock at a local eatery. There were 3 red tugboats floating right out the window as we ate. The tide was flowing in, speeding up the causeway at our feet. I was surprised how fast it came in, maybe that's why the pace is so much faster in the northeast...
Sunday it was cloudy and rainy, which should last the rest of the week. I'm so glad we went on the one clear day! I took Heather and Jared birthday shopping while I was here, and the lobster dinner was for their bday too, so although I leave the day before Jared's birthday, I already got it covered.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
hello from New Hampshire
I am sitting in the kids' apartment in NH, having safely navigated the airports. There is the 'strip search', of course, OK, not completely, but when you have to take off shoes, 'outer garments' which at the airport means jackets and sweaters I think... We are all in a line, like a herd, really, shuffling along, trying to listen to directions being hollered through a megaphone by a very business-like woman. Drop cell phones and electronics into a box, have ALL liquid bottles in a plastic bag, separate from your carry on luggage, it just goes on and on.
Having survived the mass transit experience, which by the way did you know that non-stop isn't always? Evidently if you don't get off the plane when it lands, they can say you're on a nonstop flight. I was on a nonstop flight which first stopped in Philadelphia, huh??? It was OK though, most of the passengers got of in Phillie, the plane loaded up again and we took off within the hour. I got to fly over Manhattan, which was really cool. The Hudson is huge, and there were hundreds of barges moving up and down the river.
So, now I'm here, and the weather is holding for another day, it looks like. We plan to go to Concord, the capital, and sightsee a little. Should find a yarn store in the area and play some. Happy Spring!
Having survived the mass transit experience, which by the way did you know that non-stop isn't always? Evidently if you don't get off the plane when it lands, they can say you're on a nonstop flight. I was on a nonstop flight which first stopped in Philadelphia, huh??? It was OK though, most of the passengers got of in Phillie, the plane loaded up again and we took off within the hour. I got to fly over Manhattan, which was really cool. The Hudson is huge, and there were hundreds of barges moving up and down the river.
So, now I'm here, and the weather is holding for another day, it looks like. We plan to go to Concord, the capital, and sightsee a little. Should find a yarn store in the area and play some. Happy Spring!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
