"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood... And sorry I could not travel both. I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference." --Robert Frost

Friday, January 27, 2017

Sunny but Soggy

Placerville, CA
Storm Valley Ranch



Happy Friday!  It's a beautiful sunny day, but it's still very soggy here.  We've had a few days of sun and the next storm doesn't come in until Wednesday.  So there is a slight chance we will get out then.  But the water is still spilling from the dam, so who knows?!  We'll test the pasture out with the quad and if it doesn't sink, we'll try the truck.

Since we've been here a few extra weeks we've been able to see the kids and friends more.  One Friday we took a 3 hour drive into San Jose (the south of the Bay Area) to visit our oldest, Ryan, and meet his new girlfriend over breakfast.  Diana is very sweet and we enjoyed meeting her.  Ryan ordered us all Bloody Mary's.  They came with a beer.  Different.


Ryan and Diana
 
Steve, me and Brian (trying to be serious).

 
We stayed at Brian's and he was a good sport about joining us for some geocaching.

 
We weren't able to find the one at the park, but these snails were sticking all over a wall in an interesting pattern. 



 
Brian found this cache on his own.  It was hidden in a fake rock.

Another great moment, we had just found our 2000th geocache!

 
Steve went to a Portuguese Crab Feed that evening with Brian and I went out with some friends. Chris and I saw the movie Founders about Ray Croc of McDonalds.  Very interesting and we both liked it.  Turns out he wasn't a very nice guy.  Then I stayed up late to meet another friend, Debbie, that couldn't make the movie and we met at 11pm at a bar with a bowling alley and restaurant... in the local Bass Pro Shop!  And it was a great bar!  Open until midnight.  Who knew?


Then it was off to San Francisco Sunday (north part of the Bay Area) after visiting with my Uncle Danny.  We had a great breakfast before meeting our second oldest, Shane, at his new apartment in San Francisco.  I forgot to get a picture but we had a great time.  My uncle is thinking of moving to Laughlin in Nevada.  Looks like we'll have another place to winter as there'll be an RV pad for us!

 
The view of Alcatraz in the distance from the 8th floor of Shane's apartment.  Not bad!

Some wings and drinks while watching some football inside while it stormed outside.  Then the 3 hour drive back to Placerville.  It was a very busy weekend but a lot of fun.

 
Since we had a break in the rain I did a little hiking with my friend Tina once back home.

 
There was still water flowing everywhere.  Streams, waterfalls and lots of mud from landslides.

  
The mud came down the hillside and covered the trail.  Lucky for us they had just fixed it.

Someone got creative and decorated this large boulder to look like a snake.
 
It was a great hike but soon the elevation climbed and the mud and snow were something we didn't want to hike through.  So back we went.  It was a nice 5 mile hike.

 The hillsides of vines are still dormant.  This is a great wine region.

I removed the name to protect the victim innocent!
 
In the meantime, positive thoughts for a dry week so that we can get going!
 
 

18 comments:

  1. Sounds like you are enjoying the extra time with your family and friends. Hope you get out safely soon.

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  2. Looks like your making lemonade. Good for you guys!!

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    1. But I don't really like lemonade. Limoncello, yes!

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  3. Looks like lots of fun in the Bay Area! Can't believe all that water - I'm thinking it's time for a really thick plywood road :-)))) Love the big rock snake.

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    1. My brother will be doing some tractor work and graveling the drive in (about 200+ feet). We will contribute to part of the road too.

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  4. Your extra days in town gave you lots time to see family and friends:) Sure hope it dries out this week for you!! Shane sure has an awesome view! Lucky guy:)

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    1. Yes, we've enjoyed the extra F&F time, but are really anxious to get back on the road!

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  5. It has been a great dry week and I sure hope your test with the quad and truck turn out positive. I'm sure your kiddos are glad to have some extra Mom and Dad time too :-)

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    1. It has definitely been great to spend more time with my folks, but 1/2 of the kids live 3 hours away so we haven't seen them all that much more. But yes, it has been nice. Just really ready to move along!

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  6. Hope you guys get out soon! Bloody Mary's in Wisconsin always come with a beer chaser, we thought it was weird when we started running into places that did not include it.

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    1. Well you guys get your moneys worth up there!

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  7. Sounds like you are making the best of everything!! Hope you get paroled soon!!

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    1. Ug. It's been nice with the week and a half of sun, but its supposed to rain on and off for the next several days and then it's going to get tough!

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  8. Never seen Bloody Mary's with onion rings attached or with a beer chaser. Depending on far you had to go to get out the plywood road could wotk. You just have to move a little bit, then move the plywood forward and repeat and repeat and...

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    1. I've never heard of the beer chaser either, but according to Jim & Barb it's more of an East Coast thing. The onion rings were good though. We'd need over 200 feet of plywood, so that's not going to happen! My brother is going to gravel it to where he is going to put his 5er and we'll pay to gravel it to where we park. But won't happen until the fall.

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  9. It's great how this lifestyle seems to make all planned and unplanned situations work out just the way they are supposed to. Glad you are enjoying family and friend time. Hope you get on the road soon. There are so many mountains still out there to climb!!!

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    Replies
    1. I am SO wanting to climb some mountains!! Getting a bit of hitch itch now!

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