Truck stop breakfast, visit with Dave and a late night! Hot Sunday...A new driver in the Kay family!

As of this morning 1 more grandson
with a driver's license! That makes
3! Congrats Jacob!!

Saturday morning we left the motel at about 1000 and headed across the street to the Black Bear Diner for a late breakfast / brunch.  We walked in walked out, too many people waiting. There food is good, but not that good. Loaded into the car and drove across the way to the 49er Truck Stop.  We hadn't been in years and we were greeted warmly by the waitress. No waiting here!  Delicious omlette and country potatoes, fresh cut and loaded with bell peppers and onions. Ken's breakfast was delicious and his sausage patties were huge!  

Smoke along highway 50 

We left there stuffed for the ride home.  When we hit Polluck Pines we followed Dave's instructions and found his home easily.  We certainly could see how he and Pam fell in love with it. Sit's among huge pines and cedar trees.  A very simple looking house with a wrap around deck. We found him sitting in the garage waiting for us.  He had brought home one of the opened kegs of beer so he and Ken enjoyed a couple of beers together.  We only planned on staying an hour or so and spent a couple. 

He told us how he and Pam looked at a lot of homes until they came upon this one and fell in love with it.  They bought it from the bank and at the end of September they closed and moved in. A week later they found out she had stage 4 lung cancer.  Not two weeks later she was in the kitchen and heard a loud noise.  A huge pine tree had fallen from down the hill and crashed through their upstairs! It crushed a lot of the back deck.  They have been fighting with the insurance company since then.  A contractor patched the roof, but the whole thing needs to be replaced. 10 months later and nothing's been done! 8 months after her diagnosis Pam passed away. Dave said he really has no attachment to the house, as it's a lot of bad memories.  He's not sure what he wants to do, we told him to take his time before he decides.  He's got enough to deal with right now. He is such a wonderful guy, it's just so sad. 

Dave and Pam in front of their dream home..
You never saw them not smiling!

A few pics of the bar b q...celebrating Pam's life

Lot's of people turned out on this hot night..

A beautiful tribute her daughter did of Pam and family..

Tables and tables of food..

Our friends KC and Paul..

Little Rylee Mae..KC's daughter

Ken, Rylee and KC's oldest Kade..She loves her brother

We left there, hating to leave him alone but it was time to get home. We got home about 1700 and then at 1830 we headed next door for a bar b q with John and Karen.  Before you know it, we were having dinner and it was almost midnight!  That always seems to happen with them we get started talking and a few drinks, a fire and then it's like Oh wow!!  After eating we headed home. 

Sunday morning was a late wake up.  It's so hot at night we've been sleeping in the guest room where there is a wall air conditioner.  So nice and cool!  We had our coffee (Sunday is my day to have coffee and not tea) and enjoyed visiting with our blogging friends.  I got caught up on Night in the Country, as it ended Sunday morning. Apparently "Security" was going around at 0700 waking people up (check out was 1200) People were not happy.  "Security" also locked the porta potties at 0600 and they were hauling them away at 0700.  Not cool! 

Oh the smoke has us socked in..

Got the day going with some cleaning, Ken did stuff outside, how I don't know as the air quality is bad from all the fires and it's so hot!! 100+ every day. uhh..

I laughed about this yesterday..Just mopped the living room and
in comes Ken with his boots..white tracked everywhere..

After lunch I started looking for something for dinner.  Didn't want to use the oven and didn't want to go to the store in town, with all the traffic from Night in the Country.  I found some ground turkey that I had frozen, it was already cooked.  Pulled that out and decided on skillet enchiladas.  Added a bunch of goodies and some crushed black beans and it looked pretty good. Made me a veggie one and put them all in a big pan.  We usually have coleslaw with them too.  Well, no cabbage (and no trip to the store) I found a recipe for lettuce coleslaw.  

Skillet enchiladas..

Lettuce slaw..really yummy! 

Ken came in around 1600 and we watched a little tv.  At 1930 I heated the enchiladas on low for a few min, just to heat through and melt the cheese. Dinner was awesome!  Ken loved the lettuce slaw and the enchiladas.  Eventually we headed for bed in the guest room once again. 

Russell and family made it home from Shasta Lake through Redding which is on fire..sure you've heard of the Carr Fire..very devastating. :(  

Last time till the his next vacation that we'll see
Russell with this much hair on his face. Sheriff's
department doesn't allow it..:)

Gonna have to click on that picture of Adam and friends
They all have matching climbing shirts on..thought it
was cute 

After a night filled with dreams I woke at 0630!! So time to get going now. Not sure what's in store for the day, but there will be a quick trip to Raleys. 

Have a great day! 

Eye doctor and a bar b q in memory of a special lady

Friday morning i set the alarm for 0400.  Had our tea and coffee, visiting with blogging friends and then time to get ready.  I made egg sandwiches for the road and about 0630 we ate them.  Ken's appointment was at 0830 but we like to make sure we leave enough time for breakdowns, or flat tires etc.  

Our beautiful sunrise in Yerington..

Fires from CA are sure affecting the air quality..you should
see mountains there..

We were out of the doctor's office about 0930 with the diagnosis of glaucoma for Ken and a surgery date of 8/20.  The dr told Ken that the surgery will only take about 3 to 4 minutes. It's a laser surgery so recovery is minimal, other than a headache.  It's done late in the day in Reno so we haven't decided if we'll stay or just drive on home. Glad they're taking care of it and glad that between Medicare and his supplemental insurance we won't have to pay a dime. 

We headed down I80 towards Sacramento. At about 1230 we were trying to decide what to do for lunch and settled on a Chinese place in Rio Linda that Ken had been to when he was working for a living. They lost us when the soup of the day was only egg flower (and it's yucky) no hot and sour.  No schezwan(?) chicken or anything. I ordered chicken and veggies, Ken had the mandarin chicken (deep fried so that's a turn off). Mine tasted like they just flash cooked the chicken, no flavor until I added the hot chili oil.  The beer and wine was good, nice and cold. Oh well, it filled our tummies and off towards the hotel we went. 

The Super 8 we've been to several times and it is what it is. Check in was easy, I had booked a 2 bed room and she kept asking if that's what I want. Well it was the same price as a 1 bed room so I figured why not, the room would be bigger. She offered us a 1 bed suite for the same price so we took it. Very nice room with a wet bar and couch. 

WE spent the rest of the afternoon in the room and I tried the Uber app.  Well, I was trying to schedule the ride for 1745 but it went directly to get someone now to pick us up.  What a cluster, we cancelled one and then it sent another.  Nice to know there's so many available. But for $$ we learned our lesson.  Just wait until 5 min before you want to leave and then enter your address and where you want to go and they'll be there. A nice young man picked us up, and got us to the bar b q.  

A nice time was had, lots of food and several people got to the microphone and spoke of Pam. She was a wonderful woman and the people that showed up proved how very much she was loved.  We saw people that we haven't seen in years. We called for UBER to pick us up and then got to the hotel room just after midnight. 

Waking up late and lazy this beautiful Saturday morning. We planned on seeing Ken's mom and baby Cassidy but as always plans change.  Ken's mom has a hair appointment this am.  Last night it was decided we'll go home highway 50 and stop in and see Dave's place in Polluck Pines.  This is the place he and Pam bought before she was diagnosed with the dreaded C word. Now he's living there by himself. 

We'll head home after that.  We've got plans for a bar b q with our neighbors John and Karen tonight.  

I'll get going, we're headed to the Black Bear Diner for a late breakfast in a bit.  Have a wonderful day! 

Winnemucca and back home...

Tuesday morning we got up and going and got out of here just about 1000. We headed up through Fernley, NV after getting diesel in town.  We got to the rest area at Cosgrove and pulled over to have our salad lunch. Late but that's ok.  We got tot he New Frontier RV Park in Winnemucca just about 1430. It was HOT. Got ourselves checked in, it's a Passport America Park so only cost us $19.05 for full hook ups in a back in space. Our next visit next week is FREE because they have a promotion that if you stay 5 nights the next one is free. 

Our little town turns into a huge concert venue..The
fairgrounds are ready to welcome thousands this weekend
Huge country stars and fans will invade our town!
Night In The Country! 

This area will have lots of trailers, campers, tents and a lot of
drunks!!  haha

After getting set up we ran to Walmart to pick up a few things. Back to camp and into the air conditioning for the rest of the day/night.  We were treated to a lovely thunder and lightning show for quite awhile. Electricity went out for a bit but not surprising.  By the time we went to bed it was back on.  We slept with the a/c on all night long. 

This morning I set the alarm for 0600. I was up before that but no hurry as no coffee or tea before the blood test.  We left a little before 0800 and got diesel then to the doctor's office for the blood test. Quick two minute process and then back to camp. I made breakfast burritos for breakfast and then we worked on getting ready to head home. Since we had a/c did all the stuff for the salad for lunch on the way home. 

New Frontier RV Park.. that mountain there looks so different
than in January when it's a winter wonderland! 

Our back in site

Love the corner spot..sure covers the trailer in shade

Our little Jayco..

We got out of there close to 1030 and ended up stopping in Lovelock at the Safeway. I forgot sour cream for a spinach dip we'll be taking to the memorial potluck on Friday. We drove on for a bit and then in Fallon we filled up with diesel, as it was expensive in Winnemucca. Pulled to the back lot and had our lunch.  Drove home to a cool 99 degrees..:(  

Lovelock NV..love the trees..

I love the one story old motels..

Picnic spot in the middle of town

La Casita Mexican Restaurant..may have to try it sometime

The Lovelock Inn.. 1985 on the way back from Arkansas with
our kids and my mom and dad..they paid for us all to stay
there before we headed home to Sacramento..Ken had a killer
headache and the kids and I played in the pool. Memories..

A museum..don't you love that house!

I unloaded the trailer quickly and then put stuff away inside. Enjoying the cool a/c inside. Ken did his thing outside in the heat. 

Tomorrow will be a stay at home day and then Friday morning we'll head out early for Ken's appointment in Reno as it's at 0830.  Then down to Sacramento 
 for the night :( 

The memorial is in Rio Linda at a home.  It appear 100 people or so will be attending, so we're going to try Uber for the first time ever. Probably have to get some pointers from Russell and Lori as we've never used it before. Figure that way we don't have to deal with traffic and trying to find parking etc. 

Christina posted proofs of Seth's senior portrait for the yearbook..
Can't quite decide which one I like best..

This was 28 years ago when we were in Yellowstone.
From left..our neice Lina, Me, Russell, Diane and Jesse..
Now we were there with Russell's teenage boys!  Sorry
it's blurry I took it from a collage in the hallway..

Kids are having a blast at Lake Shasta!

Home for the last couple of days..

I love this sign that Eric and family got us for Christmas..
Grandchildren complete life's circle of love...so true :)
Daughter in law Cheryl made the flag out of old barn wood

Saturday evening Ken was next door at Joe's place visiting with him and his dad who had come into town from the bay area in CA. I was able to finally get the Yellowstone trip blog up and posted.  Thanks for all the nice comments about the trip! 

Karen from next door (the other side) texted and invited us over for a bonfire. They had a couple of friends from Reno that we had met before that were staying the night.  Ken got home and few minutes later so we took some beer and wine and headed over. We had a really nice visit with them and a great bonfire. We didn't get home until 2300.  We hadn't eaten dinner either, but I've learned my lesson, so off to bed I went. Ken munched on some leftovers. 

We met Joe, Rylee, his dad and Stacey's mom (apparently Stacey had too much fun at a gathering the night before so she was still in bed. haha) at Dini's a little after 0800 for breakfast. Delicious as always and a big Thank you to Susan for buying us breakfast. A quick stop at Raley's and then back home. 

Neither of us felt like doing much and since it was Sunday we just kind of vegged on the couch.  I even took a nap. Later in the afternoon we headed out to the front porch for some interesting weather.  We actually had some thunder and lightning. A few rain drops but not many.  Nice sitting on the front porch swing :) 

Had dinner at a normal time.  Ken had some leftover pork and I had veggie tacos. Watched a movie, but I was falling asleep. Bedtime.

Sun going down Saturday night..

John and Karen have the coolest flag and pole.  It was a downtown
street light in Tonopah so it's really tall..he's looking for
a bigger flag! 

Our flag :)

Monday morning we were up and visiting with our blogging friends at about 0630! What in the world, half the day is gone!  Guess that happens after lots of dreams all night long. It was a nice morning so I went out to the Komfort fifth wheel to put new sheets on the bed and clean it up a bit. Done before it got too hot.  Ken ran to the post office in the flatbed Dodge just to give it a run. I was in the kitchen a lot of the morning trying to get things done before it got too hot.  I made up the salad stuff for lunch and then decided on spaghetti squash with veggies and a light white sauce. Ken will have ground turkey meat with his. 

We got the Jayco hooked up to the MoneyPit (97 Ford) and we'll take that to Winnemucca for the night.  I have the twice yearly blood tests on Wednesday morning. It'll be a quick trip! We'll be back on Wednesday afternoon.  

Our youngest son, Russell and family are up at Lake Shasta with friends for the week. They're staying on a houseboat and friends have a nice boat. Looks like the week is starting out perfect! 

Russell is enjoying I'd say! 

Aaron is too..even though there's no smile :(

Daughter in law Lori (left) and her BFF Jenn
enjoyed Tim and Faith
in concert last night. She's heading to
Shasta with Jacob tomorrow. 

Time for Happy Hour! Have a good night :) 

WARNING :: A very long post with lots of pictures from our Yellowstone and Grand Teton Trip

There really are a lot of places in America with no cell service and Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are definitely on that list! With that being said, this is a really long post about our vacation. Just to be forewarned. :) 

Friday morning (the 13th) we left Pocatello with the Grand Tetons in mind.  We knew we had a drive but of course it ended up taking longer than expected. It was beautiful as we headed for Idaho Falls and then upwards to Victor, Idaho where you look down the mountains into Jackson Hole, WY.  Just gorgeous scenery.  Jackson Hole was the typical tourist town, loaded with people and vehicles parked everywhere.  Glad to get through there.

Swan Valley, Idaho

Love this

The top of the world at Victor, Idaho

Papa, Jacob, Mason, Adam, Seth and Aaron :)

Jackson Hole, WY

Traffic!

The beautiful Tetons!

Once we got into Grand Teton National Park, I bought an annual Senior Pass (Thanks Goza)..as I don't really need one since I'm always with Ken. Since we had two vehicles, I drove into the park and got the pass, which  was cheaper than 1 entry for the vehicle with Adam driving.  We headed through the park and started looking for campsites. It was after 1400.  Every single campground was full!  Coulter Bay has over 300 and they had just sold the last one when we arrived. They told us other places to check out and every one was full!  It was quite an adventure!  We were in Grants Village and it was nearing 1800.  Parked in the parking lot of the visitor center and the ranger told us he couldn't say we could stay in the parking lot over night and he couldn't say we can't.  Figured everyone was tired, hot and crabby so let's take a chance.  At 2130 the boys and I headed over to the amphitheater to hear a talk on bats.  About 2230 we all headed for bed. Ken  and Adam were already sleeping in case we had to move in the middle of the night.   Two boys in the Patriot, two in the Tundra and Adam actually slept on the little couch.

Lewis Lake

Fire damage and rebirth

Seth, Jacob, Adam, Aaron, Mason and Papa

Suspension bridge near the visitor center

Our spot for the night..

Lunch!

Here ya go Deb...Adam, Aaron, Seth, Me Jacob and Mason
Ken snapped the pic so quick I didn't know it happened..
28 years ago we were here with Russell (he was 12)
now we're at the same sign with his sons..:)

Not quite..

Beautiful..Old Faithful!

Our camp at Coulter Bay..

Adam ready for his 20.2 mile hike..

Grizzly bear..

Saturday morning (14th) We got up around 0530 and moved down the road nearer the Tetons and made some breakfast.  Long story short, we ended up with a spot at Coulter Bay around 0930. Got ourselves set up, I made some sandwiches and we headed out.  We ended up eating our "white trash lunch" in the parking lot of Old Faithful.  The geyser was going to go off around 1522 so we decided to wait.  Took a trip to the gift shop and spent some$$.  We had already visited the one in the Tetons. $$..oh well, it's vacation right?!

Back home, we got dinner ready. Ken bar b q ued some pork chops to perfection.  I made mashed potatoes and veggies and pretty much the boys wolfed it down! Ken made a fire and we had some smorfs to go with.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

oops..I missed one..Aaron, Papa, Mason Jacob and Seth

Traffic near the geysers

Adam after the hike..

Boys sitting around..

Traffic waiting to enter the Tetons!!

Saying good bye to the Tetons..Seth, Jacob, Mason, Aaron and Adam

Sunday morning (15th)we got Adam up when we got up and he ate and then packed his backpack, took the Patriot and headed to Jenny Lake.  His plan in the Tetons was to take a nice day hike. Of course we (well me , my sisters back home, along with his mom) worried about him all day.  He made it back surprisingly early (around 1900 or so) and he had taken a 20.2 mile hike.  He did encounter a bear, did what he was supposed to do and the bear took off.  No bear spray needed, but he had a canister. He said it was beautiful, but you could tell he was whipped. Adam took these next 3 pics on his walk called "Solitude"..

The rest of us loaded into the Tundra and headed up the east side of Yellowstone that we hadn't seen yet this trip.  It's a long way to anywhere in these parks, so nice to have beautiful scenery to look at.  We were hoping for a large herd of Bison, but not many to be seen.  We did see a grizzly bear enjoying his morning. Of course that always means a traffic jam, since people will pull over anywhere.

We headed for "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" which I would have to say is my favorite place in the park.  Artists Point and the trail to the upper falls were closed (darn it)..so the short trail to Upper Falls it was along with hundreds of other people. It's beautiful but it doesn't give you the view and the close up beauty that the lower falls does. So off we went.  We found a picnic place up country a bit and had our lunch. Lots of mosquitos there too. By then it was time to head back towards camp.  We came across Norris Geysers and I said let's go see those, well that was a mistake.  After crossing the highway traffic stopped!  All lined up for a parking place for the geysers..so after waiting a bit and then being able to make a u turn off we went. Down the road the same thing, people trying to get into another geyser and the road was stopped for a long way.  Felt sorry for the people who just wanted to move on! They couldn't. 

When we got back to camp, loaded up some of their dirty clothes and took their dirty bodies to the laundromat / shower business just a bit from camp. We threw their clothes in 2 machines and they proceeded to get a shower. Not bad, $13.25 for up to five people in a family or $4.25 a piece.  Believe me, they got their monies worth.  I went to the little grocery and picked up a few things..surprising I know. haha. After they were done, I got them some hand scooped ice cream and once they were finished we headed back to camp.  

Adam came back and told us about his adventure.  Some more talking and we all hit the sack.  

Monday (16th) was moving day so we got ourselves going and loaded up. We were headed for Craters of the Moon National Monument outside of Arco, Idaho. A lot of the ride was back the way we came, up the mountain to Victor, Idaho and then through Swan Valley to Idaho Falls.  Idaho Falls we stopped at Walmart  and had lunch.  After lunch I ran into Walmart and picked up some more groceries. Uhh..I know not my favorite thing to do, but with 5 teenagers it's got to be done more often. So off we went to the park. We've never had a problem there getting a site and luckily we didn't again.  We actually took 2 right next to each other so there was plenty of room for the ez up and cots. 

Near Victor, Idaho..

Arco, Idaho..each year the class paints a rock with it's year..
I'm thinking the tradition has stopped now..

Downtown Arco

Craters of the Moon..

Adam caving

Jacob coming through

While we were setting up the boys got in the Patriot (with the exception of Adam who had already set off on a hike) and explored the park. They love the underground caves of lava!  Once they came back, dinner was served and off they went again. They went to the amphitheater for the 2130 show, but came back shortly after.  The thunder had started so they cut the talk short. No rain, but a beautiful show of thunder and lightning off in the distance. Kind of cool the boys were all up on the rocks and you could hear the little kid in them with the excitement of watching the show going on around them.  They're all so grown up most of the time, I loved listening to them being so excited. 

Tuesday morning (17th) we got up and got the boys fed. I wanted to make lunch  and clean up so we told them to go ahead and we'd find them later in the park. Either that or we knew they'd be back for lunch..haha. As it was by the time we found them they were headed back to camp because it was lunchtime. We ended up eating at a picnic table near the parking lot.  That done, we all headed over to the visitor center to watch the movie they have on the park. We visited the gift shop too $$ later and back to camp. Ken bar b qued something (at this point I forget)  and we just enjoyed the evening. 

The loves of my life!Ready for lunch...

We were sitting around talking and somehow got started on Democracy?!  I forget how it got started, but talking about the Pilgrims and how they wanted to leave the rule of England.  Believe me none of this stuff interests me and didn't in school either but Listening to these kids I was really impressed with what they knew and remembered from school.  We were really impressed with Aaron (going into 8th grade) as his impression was different from the other ones. In the end Ken and I both agreed and saw where he was coming from ...you had to be there..but I think that kid needs to be a lawyer when he grows up. He'd be great at arguing his point of view on a debate team too. Interesting evening to say the least. 

Wednesday morning (18th) we got ourselves fed and loaded up. Goodbye Craters of the Moon National Monument.  All of our grandkids have now visited there along with the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. :)   Our goal was South Park outside of Elko, NV.  It's the newest State Park in Nevada. It's about 14 miles outside of Elko. Of course we made a stop at Smith's for a few more groceries :(
We found the park and found a spot overlooking the lake. The lake was too inviting so we took the trail down and the boys played for a few hours.  It was really hot so the water felt wonderful.  Back to camp and then most boys headed for the showers.  For those of you without the State Park pass it's $15.00 a night for camping. There are picnic tables, shade covers and a fire pit. There is a dump station and potable water. I'd definitely go back.  We were in the East side campground. There is a west side right on the water, but more of the party area according to the camp volunteer. 

Ken brought me a Corona Light and my hat..happy camper

Our view of the lake

Two of the boys Aaron and Mason..

Adam's happy

Papa looks happy too..

Thursday (19th) we were in go mode, I made sandwiches while it was still cool and into the frig they went.  We ate in the Big R lot in Winnemucca and then finished our trek toward home. Got here around 1630 pretty much what we expected.  Pretty lazy evening, I made tacos for dinner and then they watched some movies. 

Friday (20th) was a do laundry day so I could send the boys home with clean clothes. Adam left for home first thing after breakfast. The boys were pretty much exhausted and just hung out on their phones and played video games on the PS4 Mason had brought. They had wifi service!  haha. Papa bar b qued some burgers and I made some fries for dinner. Then a half gallon of ice cream was devoured by the 4. Some Oreo's too. Everyone called it a night fairly early.

They're happy to be home too..

Our rainbow last night

Saturday (21st).  Got some bacon going after coffees and then at 0700 got the boys up.  Ken offered to take Jacob and Aaron home to Antelope, CA and I could get some cleaning done.  Seth and Mason headed home their way to Cool, CA. Seth would have taken all the boys, but it would have been a tight fit! They all left just about 0800. I was able to get the Jayco put back together and all the bedding washed and back on every bed, but the bunkhouse. Sheets are clean, just need to be put on in the am.  

Aaron Seth Jacob and Mason..

I love these egg rings I ordered ..perfect for egg mc muffins..

What a great trip we had and I'm thinking the boys felt the same. I love the fact we were able to have all 5 one more year.  With them getting older (19, 16, 16, 13, 13) and having jobs, along with sports it's difficult. We do appreciate the parents letting them come with us for these special times. :)  Love watching the different personalities develop the closer they get to adulthood. 

I know as a kid the best times of summer were when we would head for Arkansas for 2 weeks of cousin time!  Special memories and I hope the boys will remember these times forever as I do. :)  This grandma loves those boys so much. (Papa does too)..

These are a few pics Adam sent me from their hike at Lamoille Canyon to Liberty Lake and from his hike in the Tetons..

On the way to Liberty Lake

Mountain climbing..his new passion

Seth on the Liberty Lake trail..

View from our campsite..