Happy 18th Birthday Mason! Congratulations Jacob! Aaron has his knee surgery, Heading out tomorrow :)

 Saturday morning we left here about 0640 and headed for Cool, CA. I'd made easy breakfast burritos for the road. The drive was good as we headed to I80 which is our least favorite but with Wilson Canyon closed that was the best choice. 

We got there around 1030 and the party started at 1100. A nice turnout and all 3 of our sons along with daughter in laws were there. That doesn't happen too often so it's always nice when we can see them all together. 

It was a nice day, a little cool but you didn't mind being outside LOL. Eric barbecued some good hotdogs and there was nacho stuff inside along with macaroni salad and cupcakes. 

One of Mason friend's mom made a bunch of cupcakes for Mason's Birthday.

Mason and friends! All great kids. The only girl, Maddie is going to the 
Naval Academy next fall. Congrats to her! 

Our oldest son, Bryan and wife Cheryl

Eric, Aaron, Tom, Russell, Allissa, Lori 

The kid who brought these said he went over the speed bumps too fast and 
they flew all over his vehicle. HaHa. Some were pretty messed up, but they sure
tasted good! 

All his friends drove those older vehicle pick up trucks, and cars. Rural living
at its finest. 

It was a great party, we left around 1400 so we could be home near dark. Quick trip, but well worth it for Mason's 18th birthday. 

Today is his REAL 18th Birthday! Happy Birthday Mason!🎂

We had some awesome news. Grandson Jacob (who is in Italy) just separated and then reenlisted for 6 more years on the same day.  He's only been in 3 but they offered him a pretty amazing incentive for doing this now. $$$. Guess they really need good air traffic controllers. In reality it only adds about another 3 years to his time. Come September he'll be stateside! Congratulations Jacob, we are so proud of you!! 😀💗

Honorable Discharge..

Reenlisted with a nice deposit to his bank account💙 

Sunday was Champagne Sunday so we really took it easy in the am. haha. Later in the day it was snowing, pretty because it really didn't stick. Ken made a fire in the outdoor kitchen so we just enjoyed watching the snow, while we kept warm. 

Grandson Aaron, had his ACL and Meniscus surgery yesterday and is doing as well as can be expected. He's been waiting at least 4 months for this surgery if not longer. Now the long healing begins. 

Monday was pick up prescriptions in Gardnerville, but because of the road being closed it took us nearly 2 hours to get there, where normally it and hour and 15 min.  Walmart was visited once again and then because we won't be home for awhile we let Ken get his fish taco fix at Sharkey's. 

By the time we got home there it was too late to get things in the trailer to have a get on the road day for today. So we're running a day behind but should be able to leave first thing in the morning. 😁

We are headed to Yuma and the Howling at the Moon event. . We plan on getting there sometime Saturday as the event is Sunday and Monday. Been following it on Facebook for the last 2 years ever since Elva told me about it. Looks like fun so we'll find out! Someone called it a Senior Citizen Woodstock LOL.😂😂  After that we'll do some visiting in the area depending on where friends are at that time. We're hoping to meet up with Jim and Barb there on Sunday. 

Time for a last Happy Hour for awhile with Karen and the furry kids! Have a great evening! 

A new sign, trying to get to Gardnerville, Rock delivery

About 38 1/2 years ago, when my sister Wendy got married the reception was in
my parents back yard. My daddy, who was good ole Arkansas boy did a toast
and said this to my mom! Surprised the heck out of us, but oh we loved it 💖Every 
time I hear or see this saying I think of them. I had to have this when we 
stopped at Karen's store this week. 💖

Mom and Daddy at Linda's wedding 40 years ago 💖

Wendy's wedding..38 years ago💖

 Not a whole lot going on this week except trying to get ready to take a trip next week. Now it's pushed to a Tuesday leave date. 

Monday we headed for Reno and Cabela's to pick up the new gun. That process only took about 15 minutes and we were out the door. As long as we're in Reno, must swing by Total Wine and pick up our order. Not that we needed it, it's for the trip. Everything went directly into the Mansion. 

Of course a trip to Walmart, then we treated ourselves to linner at Red's 395 Cafe. It's little more expensive than Betsy's but oh so worth it. After that we headed home. 

The cutest place, great service and food!

Tuesday we thought we'd head for the gun range and let Ken shoot his new gun. It's only a mile and half from us or so. There were two people there already so let's head for the BLM which is just down the road. Ken didn't fire too many as he's low on that ammo. Shot enough to know he's happy with this little gun :) 

Our view from where we were shooting 😀

We called in an order for our prescriptions to make sure we don't run out on vacation. Luckily even though some were early, they were able to fill them. So Thursday we decided to take a trip to Gardnerville, via the back way since 208 is closed due to the rock slide in Wilson Canyon. WE thought we knew what road to take, but ended up not where we were supposed to be. :(( It was getting later in the day, so we came home. 

I was able to post on FB and found someone who told me how to get there. We actually  were near the turn off, and missed it.  Monday we'll head to Gardnerville and get our drugs. Hence the Tuesday leave date. 

 Tomorrow we're headed over to Cool, CA to celebrate grandson Mason's 18th birthday. It'll be a one day turnaround as they're expecting snow over the summit on Sunday. We don't mind driving in the snow, it's the idiots who don't know how to drive and end up getting the highway closed! 

Stole these from FB..Seth and Holly went snowboarding
last weekend💙

Looks like a good time was had by all 💙

Ken's a happy homeowner today. He got 24 ton of 3/4 rock delivered. Last time we bought it during the time we were building the outdoor kitchen it was $1100.00 today it was $544.00, more along the lines of what we've paid before. 

Looks like John's got a fire going next door, so over we head for Happy Hour. 🍺🍷🐶 Have a great evening! 

Nevada background check not so easy anymore, Back to Reno on Monday, Aaron and friends, Cold!

Our grandson Aaron with his girlfriend Kenna 💙

Kenna, Aaron, Brandon and Elaine..gorgeous couples aren't they?!

 Friday morning after reading blogs and enjoying our coffee Ken checked his emails and there was one from Cabela's telling him his new gun was in. Want to go to Cabela's today? Sure. 

The high school was holding a dance called Aurora..kids 
didn't want to go but they wanted to get dressed up and
go to a nice dinner 💗

How do they grow up so quickly. This is our youngest grandson
he'll be 18 in March! 💗

Aaron and Brandon. 

We took our time getting ready and headed out around 0930 or so. It's close to 2 hours to get there. 

Headed to the gun counter and talked with Darren. He got the gun out and all was good. Then he said "Hopefully you can pick up your gun later today" What?! When ever we've bought a gun before it's the background check which took about 15 minutes and we were out the door. 

Well, thanks to our ex Governor Sisolak the 35 people who worked backgrounds were cut down to about 20 in 2020. Then they were transferred over to unemployment office to work on unemployment claims that were brought on due to Covid. After awhile he let most of them go and now there's maybe 3 people to do backgrounds daily for all of Nevada! They used to let the stores run 20 names at a time, but now it's only 10. Needless to say the wait time is horrendous! We were told stories of how they'd wait 2 hours or more just to get connected and then hung up on. The process starts over again! Frustrating. Darren did not charge us for the background check because I had retired from the Sheriff's Department, so that was nice! 

I did find a pair of jeans that I bought before we left the store. 

We left Cabela's and headed to Ross so I could look at some clothes. Came out of the store with nothing. Not like i'm hard to please, just wanted some t shirts and jeans..LOL. Simple. Not to be for me though. 

It was nearing 1330 so we drove the 1/2 hour to Betsy's Big Kitchen for linner.  Basically, we were killing time in case they told us we could pick up the gun. By the time we were done, we headed back to Cabela's thinking as it was going to be close to 1600 maybe it'd be ready. Nope. I did buy a 2nd pair of jeans in a different color though. Then we headed home. Around 1650 they called and said we could pick it up. Told them we'd be there Monday.  No way are we going to Cabela's or Reno on a weekend! 😁😂😱

Happy hour at Karen's after coming home. No need for dinner as we were stuffed! 

Saturday morning I spent making some low carb treats to go with our morning coffees. New recipes and they turned out awesome if I do say so myself. 😀

Another cold day as we woke up to 9 degrees with a high of 34. Not sure if it ever got that high or not. John made it home for Saturday evening and Sunday. Spent a couple of hours over there catching up with him.  

At 1300 I got a text showing the fire...haha. Out I went for 
awhile. I know, crazy. It was actually nice in the sun 😁

Sunday morning dawned very cold! Made Ken a toasted tomato and grilled cheese sandwich since it was Champagne Sunday today! 🥂We enjoyed in the house with a nice fire going and watched a movie. A nice slow morning until Ken went to help John with installing some chimney pipe in his new garage area. 

Part of our Christmas gift from Russell and Lori was different coffees from 
Black Rifle Coffee Company. Veteran owned. Coffee is a dark roast, delicious,
robust flavor and not bitter at all! Thank you Russ and Lori 😁

Right now it's 34 with a feels like temp of 25. So where is my hubby? He's in the outdoor kitchen making a fire so we can have Happy Hour out there! 😋

I'll get this posted so I can join him out there! 🍺🍷 Have a great evening!

Watching the icicles grow rather than shrink! LOL.  

A very nice weekend, Ken loves his new barbecue tool, Thank you Jacob and Allissa! Happy Birthdays!

 Wednesday afternoon, just sitting inside the house after a busy morning of cleaning and what not. Sitting in front of the fireplace to get a blog posted. Ken has been outside doing things, he brought the Can AM home from John and Karen's, Nellie came home too this afternoon. Just can't keep that man inside! 😁

Love this view out my kitchen window! 💗

We awoke to sunny, clear skies with chilly temps in the low 20's. Right now at 1517 it's 33 feels like 29, so yeah it's warmed up a lot today LOL, and it's overcast skies. I swear this is the coldest, snowiest winter we've had in the almost 10 years we've been here! Not complaining, but brrrr it's cold. 

Saturday, out of the blue Ken suggested we go to town and visit the Wagon Wheel in town. It's a local bar with food (especially pizza)  that I've never been to in the almost 10 years we've been here. Ken had been a few times when our neighbor Joe lived here. Who am I to argue LOL. Maggie, the owner is a doll! She greeted the both of us with a hug! Yep, I like her! Cute little hole in the wall, quite a menu list and reasonable priced food. Friendly people too. We didn't eat as we'd had a late lunch. Didn't stay long, but I could definitely see going back. In the evening we headed next door to continue Happy Hour 😊🍷🍺

Just a cute little place, 2 pool tables too! 

Sunday morning we had our breakfast and then Ken suggested going for a drive, again who am I to argue?! We headed towards Dayton, NV and the oldest bar there, The Dayton Taphouse. We've been there once before a few years ago. Very friendly owner, lots of beers, wine and food. Again, we didn't eat as we had a late breakfast. We'll be back for that purpose next time. 

Inside the Dayton Taphouse 

Love the rock fireplace..gas operated now. Marilyn Monroe used to 
love it here in the day. 

A few movies were filmed here. This is one of them..

A nice eating area in the rear and inside the bar too. 

The front of the bar

Looking across at the Union Hotel. Supposedly very haunted, 
but it's a residence now. I'd love to stay there if it was still
open! 

After that we headed up to Virginia City which we love, and not too far away from Dayton. We went to a bar that we heard about. The Corner Bar. Very nice, I love all these old buildings! Again, a very nice bartender and certainly can't complain about the quality of the drink! LOL. 

On the road to VC

Inside the Corner Bar

Then to our favorite place, The Shaft. Again, the bartender Doug was very friendly. Snacks on the bar, just very down home!Then it was time to head home! It was a great day, but we're both glad we don't do it very often. This way it's just a nice treat! 

We've been home the rest of the week. Trying to decide when we want to head out for a little vacation. Ken ordered a new gun yesterday online, so we've got to wait for it to come in to Cabela's. He's been wanting this one, but with Covid you couldn't find any anywhere! Hopefully it comes in quickly. 

Happy Birthday to 3 lovely ladies! 💖🎂 Daughter in law Cheryl had a birthday on the 13th and tomorrow is Daughter in law Christina's and my sister Wendy! 

Yesterday afternoon Ken started a fire out in the kitchen. It's been awhile since we've done that.  He planned on barbecuing some hamburgers while I made zucchini fries in the oven. Well, the fireplace does pretty well, but it sure took awhile to heat up our little area. He went and got our larger propane fire pit then we were nice and toasty! 💗 🔥 

We had a nice evening together out there. The burgers were delicious too! 

Ken loves this basket to start the burgers and then takes them out after 
cooking a bit :) 

This is a once piece tool that has everything for barbecuing. Even a wine opener!
Jacob and Allissa gave it to Ken for Christmas and he loves it! Has a brush that
snaps off for easy cleaning. Thank you Jacob and Allissa! 

Comes apart and goes back together easily! It's going in the Mansion for our trip. 

Two fireplaces needed, but oh so toasty! 

Have a great night, it's Happy Hour! Guess we'll see if it's inside or outside. I'm guessing inside as today the cold seems really cold! ⛄🏔