Life here is different

Fallon is situated in the high desert of Nevada at about 4000 ft.

Life here is quit a bit removed from what I'm used to in the city.

They have all the modern comforts here, but the landscape and weather are very different from our familiar Southern California. The air is dry and right now also very hot; no sea breeze here.

Most of the roads are dead strait and go on for miles.

On my morning walk

The funny thing is that most people live in valleys; by that they mean huge expanses of land bordered by some mountains.

On my walk last night

People here are very friendly and wave when you pass.

It is fascinating to me to imagine what the first European settlers thought when they hit this country for the first time.

We're spending the day walking, sitting with mom and Patricia planning and booking our next steps.

AirBnB, a great way to travel

As you can see from my previous entry, we are back at the beck-and-call of Gavin; school breaks are way too short, and I think teachers need more vacation time.

Patricia and I had a great time visiting with Mom, Barbara, George and Jessica's family in Fallon Nevada.  Leaving there, we went on to Grass Valley to visit Patricia's cousin Cathy all too briefly and then over to the Pacific Coast to drive down Hwy 101 and parts of Hwy 1.
We stayed at several AirBnBs (airbnb.com), the first one in Templeton, which calls itself the Dancing Deer Farm. It's a great place to stay and is especially set up to accommodate retreats and seminars.

We stayed for two nights and then went on to Santa Ynez and rested for the night at Becky and Dana's place. The property was just behind Mom and Dad's old place where they had lived for 25 years. Becky has two horses, some chickens and two cats.

We left Santa Ynez and took a leisurely and short drive to Ojai where we boarded with Suzanne and her two-year old daughter Savanna. We particularly liked what Suzanne had done with her front yard. Being very sustainability minded, she took out her lawn and planted her garden.  That leaves the back yard totally free for Savanna to play and saves on water.

Now we are back in Vista, CA where we have stayed now and then for the last few months.

As you can see, we are having the time of our lives, and yes, we do like to stay in nice places.

One week off

Gavin gave us a week off, so we decided to visit Mom in Fallon Nevada.

What do you mean a week off?

Anyhow, our first stop is, as usual, at Ray's Den in Independence, CA.
I love the sun caressing the mountains first thing in the morning with the air still cool and fresh.

First thing in the morning, if you get up early.

This is just the best.

From here, we drove to Bishop the Eric Schat's Bakery in Bishop to get some bread and then on to Fallon to see Mom.

Country Fashion

First comes the work, feeding Barbara's horses, then the fashion show.

The Gaucho look.

On the fence.

This is my Country Girl. I think she would pass any time.

We have made it

After spending the last hours in the US with Mom before Barbara drove us to Reno, from where we left at 3PM and spend the next 25 or so hours on the road and in the air, so to speak.

Patricia & Mom still working

I did help Barbara harvest some of here grapes  before leaving

Slightly tired but very happy we made it to the other side of the pond and arrived in the early morning hours in OZ.

View of Sydney from the Manly Ferry.

The weather is just about the same as it was when we left CA, so I put my shorts and flip flops on again. This time we tried out to find our own way from the airport and it worked just fine, first we went by train to the harbor, then by ferry to Manly and from there we took a bus to Narrabeen.
Now the last thing before resting I write this, as promised to some of you the readers.
This is it for today.

The first leg

Ok we are sitting here at Gate G93 and outside waiting in the setting sun is the New Zealand Airline plain sitting waiting for us to board.

Our plain is waiting

And Patricia never stops working

The last few days we spend in Fallon NV where we celebrated moms 95th birthday, we had a great party, lots to eat and plenty of loughs. Ethel is in great shape.

Mom is happy to just sit and observe and take it easy,
while Patricia is getting ready for future tasks

On our way up here we visited friends north of Sacramento, stayed there and celebrated Patricia's cousin's birthday. There was also time for Patricia to show me her University in Stockton.