Back Home

May 19th, the morning after the class reunion, Dorothy and I left Redlands and headed east for Arizona. We stopped in Golden Valley to pick up Dorothy's sister Gin and her husband David Payton. They rode with us back to Oklahoma and stayed with us for a week and while they were here we attended the family reunion for the Dunaway, Whitely, and Coleman families. (Dunaway is Dorothy's maiden name).

Gin and Dave's grandson Davey and his family.

 

Dave and Gin at this restaurant in Adrian, TX. for

hamburgers. It sits at the midpoint of Highway 66 between

Chicago and Los Angeles.

 

 

 

Severe weather began to break out ahead of us in Oklahoma so we began to slow down and stopped often to keep the storms ahead of us. The weather was moving east and so were we.  The streets were still wet in Oklahoma City as we rolled through and the Moore tornado had already done its damage.

 

 

 Trees stripped of their limbs and houses severely damaged were easily

seen from I-40 as we drove through Shawnee



 

 

 

50th High School Reunion

No, there's no typographical error in the title of this post.  I actually survived life on this planet long enough to attend my 50th (half a century) high school reunion. We had a great time and enjoyed making connections, old and new.

This is the view from the Castaway restaurant overlooking

 San Bernardino.

 

 

Pat Emery

 

 

 

 

Terri and Tony Marchesano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heading South

On that Friday we left Live Oak for San Bernardino and the reunion.

 

At the hotel we met Pat Emery. We have known

her for years through Classmates.com but met her

for the first time on this trip. We all went out to dinner

on Friday night. In this photo we have just finished

breakfast at the hotel.

 

Saturday we met our niece Cindy and her husband Isaac at The

Hat restaurant.

 

 

Taco Night at Aunt Atha's

My Aunt Atha is famous for her tacos. So a visit would be incomplete without keeping up the tradition.

Aunt Atha  doesn't cook much any more so Nancy

graciously took on the responsibility.

 

 

William devours his taco which he loaded with hot sauce.

 

Dorothy, Kristin, and Chris

 

My fourth taco

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Back on the Road Trip

I got busy on my trip and neglected to post to the blog each day. Now I'm trying organize my thoughts and give a chronological narrative of our activities, so here goes.

We went to the Jelly Belly factory with my Aunt Atha,  her daughter

Nancy, son in law Chris and their daughter Kristin and grandson William.

Here, Aunt Atha, Nancy, and Dorothy walk toward the factory.

 

Here is Aunt Atha's dog Jo Jo

 

 

She lives near the Sutter Buttes, ancient eroded lava domes

left over from volcanic activity.

This is the view from her front yard.

 

We visited the old town section of Sacramento. Nancy, Aunt Atha,

Dorothy, Chris, and William.

 

 

Sonya and Kristin at Fanny Ann's Saloon where we ate lunch.

 

Chris waits patiently for lunch to be served.

 

The highlight of the day for me was a visit to the railroad museum.

William poses before an enormous steam locomotive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Onward and Northward

This is our hotel in Barstow.  I like building with

ornate colonnades.

 

 

California farmland goes on forever.

 

Our favorite place for hamburgers when we

are in Oklahoma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cities We Drove Through

Amarillo by mornin'
Up from San Antone
Everything that I've got
Is just what I've got on.
When that sun is high
In the Texas sky
I'll be bucking at the county fair
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo I'll be there     (George Strait)

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Standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona 
It's such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord
In a flatbed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me.    (Eagles)

-------------

You don't know me
but you don't like me.
You say you care less how I feel.
How many of you who sit and judge me
ever walked the streets of Bakersfield         (Dwight Yoakam)

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Just about a year ago
I set out on the road
Seekin' my fame and fortune
Lookin for a pot of gold
Things got bad things got worse
And I guess you know the tune.
Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again.     (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Potholes on America's Road

Today we traveled from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Barstow, California. The online map I used predicted that the trip would take 9 hrs but it took closer to 11.  We made one diversion stopping near Grants, New Mexico at the Sky City casino. We wasted a 20 dollar bill each. I like to play the slots but it doesn't take long to apply the brakes when dollars leave my wallet.

 

This leg of the trip was especially tiring for me because of the condition of the highways. Although

crews were repairing various stretches I thought the suspension on my car was going to sustain serious damage from the rough pavement. Is it the economy that is keeping the states from repairing their infrastructure? This may be my last road trip. Not only am I getting too old to enjoy it

but America's highways are not fit to drive on.

 

 

 

Road Trip

We are on our way to my Aunt in Live Oak, California.  On the way home we will attend my 50th high school reunion. 

We saw this sign advertising a restaurant. I don't think I want

to be counted among the customers who are so obese they break

the chairs.

We made it to Albuquerque early in the afternoon..

We had some excellent Mexican food here. Not what we are

used to. Instead of the meal being acccompanied by rice and

refried beans we were served beans covered with cheese and baked

to form a crust and very little cubed fried potatoes.

There was a Mariachi band whose members wore Hawaiian shirts

and played songs like "Folsom Prison Blues".  It was wonderful.

Quote of the Day

A fight to the finish is what finishes a marriage.  That's because over the course of married life, people supply their spouses with precisely what's required to finish them off.  The question is not who can win, because anyone can win if they're willing to go far enough--if they're willing to win at the cost  of love and respect.  The question is who can resist the temptation of winning.  If your marriage is healthy, you are fighting to restore the balance of power.  You are fighting to find out what's worth fighting for...and you will find out that what you are fighting for is the marriage itself.  What matters most to a marriage is forgiveness, and forgiveness doesn't come for free. You have to fight for it.

--Tom Junod, quoted in The Week

Okie Girl

She wears her yellow Crocs

and hat from Panama

 

She does her cowgirl pose

and then shouts, "Yeehaw!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gardening

The few potatoes that have grown in our garden are now being eaten by Colorado Potato Beetles. Not to be discouraged we went to town today and bought pepper, tomato, and herb plants and all the seeds we will need for the garden.  It's a gamble.  If it pays off we'll eat good this summer.

Dorothy and Gracen plant herbs in our big pot.

 

 

Gracen does some digging of her own.

 

 

 

 

End of the Squirrel Wars

I think we have caught and relocated all the squirrels.  We still had the trap on the roof just in case a straggler happened by.  This morning a Cardinal was in the trap. The nuts we used as bait proved to be just too tempting for him.

I steady the ladder while Marley climbs up

and retrieves the trap.

 

I removed the door and the Cardinal flies away.

 

Squirrel Wars

Dorothy and I have seen the tide turn in our war against the squirrels.  Today we caught two squirrels in Hav-a-Hart traps.  We transported them six miles away to Squirrel Haven.

If I was a squirrel I wouldn't mind an all expenses paid trip to such

surroundings as these. Imagine the freedom to frolic tree to tree, or to lounge

around polishing your nuts all day if you feel so inclined.

 

Mr. Squirrel kept calm during the trip. I couldn't help but think

that he was memorizing the landmarks along the way with the

intention of finding his way back to my house. I hope six miles was enough.