On The Road - Finally!

So after being sick all week, we decided we are well enough to travel (maybe only sorta well enough, but we're off anyway). Plus we have a week to make it to Texas and we don't want to have to rush. So we're on the road again!

The rain is over, but the clouds were out. What great views!

This first picture is a sign we saw right after getting on Hwy 40. It says 2,554 miles to Wilmington, North Carolina. This highway goes all the way across the country and we will be in North Carolina in June for Annie's wedding so it's a fitting first photo of this trip.

Snow in our mountains - and it looks like it's still snowing.

Cajon Pass 

Love the rocks too. 

Clouds! There were so many.

We're spending the night at the KOA Avi Resort (near Laughlin). So cheap! We walked to the casino for dinner, but still can't eat too much. It reminds us that we're not quite over this "traveler's bug" and I hope we never get it again, but it isn't gonna stop us from traveling.

Hey Mike, lots of greckles and red winged black birds here. Sorry I didn't get a picture, maybe in the morning. (Ray was expecting the whole wing to be red, so he had trouble with my name for them.)

Tomorrow we head east. I understand it's snowing in Flagstaff so I'm a bit concerned about driving through there, but I'm hoping that by the time we get there the sky and the road are clear.

Later

Owls, Petroglyphs and Family

We wanted to go to the lake one more time before our big trip. When Marcy said she not only had Easter off but the day before, we made a plan. The twins also came up for Easter so we had a nice group.

Of course, Ray and I went up days earlier and had a great time hiking around. We almost did the whole Whiskey Flat Trail again with Judy, but she couldn't fit it in (she's still working for a few more months). So we plan to do it again in the fall.

We had a great time and on the way out of the valley we passed by the owl nest one more time and were rewarded. Even though they were the last thing, I had to show them first.

See the baby looking out at the world - so cute!



Here's a close-up

On Thursday we hiked part of the Whiskey Flat Trail again - it doesn't get boring.Then on Friday Mike and Cathy showed us a new (to us) hike.

Isn't the river beautiful?

 

Saturday we took Marcy and Oscar out and about: around to see the owls and to town for some of the local flavor - lunch at Shady Lane. Plus the swap meets and Manny's.

Then on Easter day we all met on the rocks to check out the petroglyphs. I'm not sure what they mean, but they have been checked by those in the know and really are very very old.

Can you see the dotted stripes across this rock with figures in between and the figures in the dark spot on the right?

(I think this rock kinda looks like a frog.)



 Here's a close up

This is what's in a hole in that rock.



The twins in the hole.

Lots of marks on this rock

 This one looks like an alien

This one has more marks in the white part, but the sun wasn't in the right place to see them.

I'm not sure if this is one, but it kinda looks like it.  

We climbed and climbed looking for more.

Oscar crawled under this rock looking for more.

He found this one - Good job!

What a beautiful Day!

We had a great time! 

Update on March

March is over and I never got around to posting anything. Most of the month we just stayed around the house. However, the first weekend was my guild's Quilt Show, my first with this guild. I had two jobs. The first was to schedule security for the evenings so the quilts would be safe in the city center building. The second was to make door prize/raffle baskets. They were a bit of work, but everyone seemed to like the baskets I made, especially the winners. A fun time was had by all.

One of the things we did at the show was to have quilts raffled with the proceeds going to breast cancer research. And I won this cutie! I have to admit that I only had it a week, then I gave it away. I know, I know, but a couple of my daughter's friends have a vintage clothing business and it is perfect for them. Even the ladies in my guild who made it were surprised I gave it away until I explained, then they thought it was a good idea.

On the 16th my family had a get together because my cousin, Ron, was in town. He moved to Iowa years ago and was back because his wife and daughter were running the marathon that weekend. Many of us haven't seen them for almost 30 years, so it was a really nice visit and of course we were able to meet two of their three kids. Here's a picture of his family at the beach. As you can see the girls survived 26.2 miles.



Bob, Lu, Tiffany & Ron

From there we decided to go to the lake house for a few days:

First of all, Ray sold Wiley Jeep. Yes, he's very sad, but it had to be done - we need to get one that is a bit more reliable. Wiley Jeep is named for it's previous owner, Wiley, who was the father of a friend of Ray's. After Wiley passed away his wife wanted to sell his Jeep and Ray bought it. He named it Wiley, even put that name on it and it's been with us for many years. Of course, now Ray is in search of it's replacement.

After Wiley Jeep's new owner left we went to lunch and had a great visit with Mike and Cathy, then back to the house before the rain started. During the night it snowed and when we woke the sun was out so we decided to go up Sierra Highway (upriver). It doesn't snow too much there, but when it does it's beautiful.

We went as far as NcNalley's.

Not a good time for this hike.

Isn't the bridge pretty covered in white?

 Here's another pic.

 
The view upriver.

The view down river.

I couldn't pass up this photo on the way back.

I love the snow on the rail fence

When we got back to the house the snow started again.

You can't even see the mountains across the way.

Ray put out seed that morning and even when it was snowing the birds were chowing down. They were singing the whole time too - so cute!

 

Later, the sun came out again. Gotta love Kern Valley!

There is one more sad thing that Ray is doing - he and Jerry are selling the plane. With the sale of Wiley Jeep and the Piper up for sale it's been the end of an era for Ray. He was a bit sad for a while, but looking for a replacement Jeep helps.

In the last few days I've been trying to get some quilts finished up. It looks like I will have at least six with binding to stitch down on our next trip. Photos to follow.



Well, March is over and Bluebird is getting ready to leave the nest for a while. Stay tuned if you want to know "Where's Bluebird?"





Wow, Feburary is gone!

I've been meaning to get my pictures posted from Whiskey Flats Days at Kernville. It's amazing how quickly the days go by even when you're not really doing anything. This weekend is my guild's Quilt Show and I've been doing a few things for it, but somehow if I don't just really concentrate on something I don't get much done. The main thing I've accomplished this week is more work on my hexi quilt. It is a pretty big undertaking so I'm not gonna feel bad about the dust in the corner - not right now anyway.

Well, Ray's back is out today and I need to finish up a few last minute touches on the door prize baskets for the quilt show, so it seems like a good stay at home day. Plus, now I have to do the cooking - hehe.

But before I get to those baskets (see I'm getting side tracked) I wanted to post a couple of pic of the owl's nest - amazing!

Check out this cliff next to the road.



 Look closer at the crack.

 See the nest

 See the owls

This was so cool but the wind was blowing so hard that it was hard to hold the camera still. Cathy went back the next day, when the wind wasn't blowing and got a much better picture.

Isn't it great?

After these, the pictures of a small town parade aren't much so I'll spare you. Happy leap day!

San Diego, etc

A few days ago we decided to take an overnight trip to San Diego with our friends Kathy  & Jerry. On the way the guys had to check out this 'road kill' at the rest stop. Ray has been looking for a Jeep to replace Wiley Jeep at the lake, but they decided this one needed too much work.

We stopped to have a look at the campground at Carlsbad.

Beautiful isn't it? The weather was great.

The campsite is pretty big; the fifth-wheel will fit nicely.

Check out the oceanview.

We found a fun place to have lunch, Swami's, with lots of healthy stuff.

We found a room in the Point Loma area, settled in, then headed for dinner - Mexican food. It was a belated birthday celebration for Jerry. I didn't take any pictures until after dinner when we went for a walk on Shelter Island.

It was chilly, but beautiful.

The next day we drove to Julian and wandered through the town. It's an old gold mining town that is now a tourist spot. And of course our lunch had to include apple pie - yum!

Peaks like this almost always have a name - this one is Stonewall Peak. Notice the dead trees. There was a big bad fire here about five years ago and you can still see the damage.

We made it to Temecula right before 5:00 and most of the stores were closing so our shopping was curttailed. By then the traffic was in full swing so we found a place to hang out  and have dinner.

It was a fun two days and we decided that we need to go back to Temecula again when the shops are open and we can wander the town.

ETC.

Here's and update on some of the sewing I've been doing.

This first one is  a quilt top from my Tuesday quilt class and is designed by Lyn Brown. The pattern can be found here: 

http://lynbrown.com/category/logs-log-cabin-quilt-pattern/ 

It's called 'Logs' because it's made with lots of different log cabin blocks. I did mine with scraps from my stash (ala Bonnie Hunter). I think it turned out great. It's at the quilters now so I'll show more pictures when it's quilted and bound.

This one was made from a pack of Chrome, Cheddar & Purple 5" squares I bought at the Road to California Quilt Show. I found this purple on black fabric for the border. I think it works.

Next week my friendship group, Patchwork Pals, will be having a quilt retreat at the lake. I hope to get more finished, especially the Sister's Choice I started in Bonnie's class last month and a few things I want to sell at my guild's Quilt Show boutique.