Bend 18-2

We went to the Farmers Market on Saturday, along with visiting friends Ron and Holly from Portland.  Bought some nice produce, ate gelato, listened to a group of kids playing marimbas, very pleasant sound.

Later we walked along the river, lots of floaters, had lunch at one of the numerous Mill District eateries.

Ron and Holly bought a Retro RV trailer here, will return in 3 weeks to pick it up and get it outfitted.  Trish and I will help them get everything set up and checked out.

Bend 18-1

The 16-court pickleball complex in Bend.

This is the 3rd year we've stayed in Bend, OR for several weeks.  My prior posts from here said it all so I won't bore you with repetition except to say Bend has everything that matters to us.

One of our neighbors, a colony of yellow bellied marmots.

Minnesota

I just returned from our annual family reunion in the Twin Cities, and a visit with my northernmost relatives in Aitkin.  My brother Gerry and his wife Linda have a lovely home on a large lake a few miles out of town.  Their lake isn't nearly as large as Mille Lacs Lake though, can't see all the way across that one.  It's about 20 miles south of  Aitkin.  The pix above and below were taken at Mille Lacs, in the town of Garrison.

One of the things I love about visiting my brother is hearing the mournful cries of the loons, brings back memories of my early years in MN.

About 40 people attend the reunion each year, an annual event that started 25 years ago.  We usually play pickleball but not this year, rain in the AM, then 90 degrees and high humidity.  Some of the gang pictured below.

This purple cow was hanging out in the Redmond/Bend, OR airport near the luggage carousel.  Now, I can no longer say I've never seen a purple cow.  If you don't recognize the saying, google it.  It's from a popular little poem written many decades ago.

Auburn/Lincoln/Loomis, CA

We're in a campground in Auburn, close to Lincoln where Trish's brother Doug and wife Jan live, in a Sun City/Del Webb community.  They moved here about a year ago from Sacramento. 

Our luncheon venue used to be the High Hand fruit packing facility.  

Now, it's the High Hand nursery/restaurant/art venue with a huge variety of plants, blown glass ornaments, metal sculptures, planting pots and so on.  

The pictures speak for themselves.

Fantastic place!  

The food and IPA were darn good, too.

South Lake Tahoe

This is my 3rd visit to SLT.  April, 1968, was the first one, an overnight stop on my way to Minnesota from Tacoma, WA, via Tijuana.  The long way home.  I had 30 days leave before going to Panama for Jungle Warfare School, then to Vietnam.  Figured I should see some of the country, might not have another chance.  2nd visit was about 30 years ago to do some downhill.

These 3 pix were taken at the Emerald Bay viewpoint.

The castle is about 2 miles away, pix taken at 10x zoom.  It's located close to shore and to the left of the island pictured above.

We visited Tallac Historical Site after Emerald Bay. Tallac was touted as The Grandest Resort in the World 100 years ago.  Only the wealthy and elite here, thank you very much.  If you needed to ask how much it cost, forget it.  Dozens of vintage buildings on 40 acres bordering Lake Tahoe, now a major tourist attraction, the buildings nicely maintained and furnished with period stuff.  The main lodge is pictured below.

This is one of several buildings that housed the worker bees: gardener, maid, cook, butler, etc.  The higher up you were in the pecking order, the larger your quarters.  The butler had the largest room which wasn't all that large, nor should it have been, given his checkered past.  True, it was never proven, but he was and still is, the prime suspect in the heinous murder - did it in the study with a candlestick.

Hope Valley, CA

Hope Valley, population 210, is a narrow valley with steep walls, carved out by the west fork of the Carson River.  Ponderosa pine trees, aspens, huge boulders and clear, tumbling waters grace our campsite at the Hope Valley Resort.  Gorgeous!

West Fork of the Carson River.  Trish says the boulders in these parts should be taken for granite.

We went in to South Lake Tahoe yesterday to play pickleball (me) and ride bike (she).  Lovely day for it.  Heading back there today for sightseeing and lunch.

Bristlecone Pine N M

Giant redwoods can live to be 2000+ years old.  Impressive.  However, some bristlecone pines have been around for 4700 years and are the oldest trees on earth by a considerable margin.

The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is in the White Mountains, east of Big Pine, CA.  Death Valley is just over the hill, and a big hill it is, over 10K altitude.  We visited the area while camped in Bishop, CA.  The visitor center was supposed to open at 10 AM but was still closed at 10:20 so we bagged it and headed back down the long, winding road to our campground in Bishop.

This viewpoint is at about 9000' altitude on the road to the bristlecones, fantastic panorama of the Sierra Nevada Mts.  Trish is taking a picture of Artie for her therapy dog travelogue.

Adrift

Adrift

Acrylic on Canvas

8' x 10"

Yeah, I know: it's kinda weird.