Week 26 - Truckee, CA, 2nd week - June20-June 26, 2022

We finished out our week in Truckee.  Whitney had to work on Saturday so she left on Friday, and I went with her - two reasons -- it would have been very cramped for me in the back seat, and I'm taking Eric and Jude backpacking on Monday and needed more that one evening to reinvent and reinvigorate.

I took photos of all sides of the house so we could remember how the other side lives....in a side note, compared to other houses, this house is quite modest.

MONDAY - One of the things we were supposed to do each day was to walk the dogs for 30-60 minutes.  It was easy - cuz the dogs are old and hard - cuz the dogs are old, and stubborn, and slow, and mindless.  But it was okay - it was our payback for the house.

We went to a city park that had a really nice park and play structure.  The kids played themselves silly until they became hungry,  Warren and Dad went to the Big M and brought back lunch stuff.

Next on the agenda was a Truckee downtown walk. Truckee is like Canon Beach on steroids in the mountains in the big C.  Very cute - kept to the wild west gold rush theme, tons of pedestrians on the sidewalks - and we enjoyed the candy store.  Here is just one photo of the shops on main street.

In the evening we drove up to Donner Pass - the original one...the Interstate has chosen an easier route.  It was a beautiful drive.  Our goal was to get to Rainbow Bridge which complete the "gap" in the eastern part and western part.

Donner Lake in the distance.

Walking path to get to the good place - the scenic place.

There was a geocache here - hidden on the metal rime that covers a big vertical tunnel going down to were the east tunnel met the west tunnel....or something like that.

Whitney found her first geocache!  Good job Whitney!

TUESDAY - we went to Donner Lake which was close to us.  It is much smaller that Lake Tahoe, much more rustic and "wild"  We found a nice place by the water that was shaded by trees.

Sand castles on a stump

Whitney said the water was cold

Copeland agreed

WEDNESDAY - we headed to the "big one" the "namesake" - Lake Tahoe.  Further away, Definently much bigger and more people, and boats and such.  Parking was a bit of a challenge -luckily we got there early and got free parking and not too far from the sand.

Looks almost like the Oregon beach without the waves.  the sun structure was invaluable.

Found a geocache on the big hinges of a boat ramp.

THURSDAY - we went to Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics...no,  no,  we went to Palisade Park (in quite voice - can't say squaw).  first we too a hike and the end of a parking lot.  It was a beautiful hike - we only did half a mile - there was a lot of bouldering which was a challenge for the kids.

We turned around at a waterfall.

Just a short distance from where we parked there was a geocache hidden.  Warren found it!

V

Next stop - - the Olympic Village

Warren had two more days in Lake Tahoe.  On Friday they rode a train between Gold Hill and Virginia city.  On Saturday they visited the railroad museum in Truckee.

And the kids found flowers to give to Dad.

Dad. Warren and kids drove back to Oregon on Sunday.

Here is our souvenir from Truckee purchased at the Donner Memorial California State Park. We have named him Donner.

I was busy for two days at home.  On Saturday I finally finished painting the windows and Malcolm helped me install the.

Probably the most amazing thing was that I actually cleaned up all of the mess I'd made in the six months it took me to do the windows.  the pool table is ready for the next project which will be installing two new windows in the basement.  The ones we had installed thirty years ago are rotten - all those ear of rain from the south beating on the wood was too much.  Too bad neither Dad nor I have a clue as to how to install the windows.  Probably we'll have t ask Val Glenn to help.

On Saturday Bev and Paul moved all of their food storage and items that they'd had in the outside storage up to Louthan Acres.  Bev has a bunch of shelves in the garage that are now fully loaded.  About 7:oo she called me and asked if I could make some food for them - they were starving.  So, I made toasted cheese sandwiches, soup, grape juice, chips and ants on a log.  It was the first meal they'd eaten as a family at The Acres.

Next week I taking Eric and Jude on their birthday trips and then on Thurs/Friday, I take Ruby and Abby.  I'm taking both groups to a little hidden campsite on the Salmon River - just a bit outside Welches.

Week 25 - Truckee, California - June 13 - June 19, 2022

This week has been the start of something good!  Logan has been coming over, almost every day, to help us do something for about an hour.  At first I was startled because I wasn't expecting him - and I had him rake leaves in the front yard and then take the leaves out into the orchard.  Then he came again and he helped Ray pick up pieces of the trimmed hedge.  I was beginning to make plans!  On Tuesday I had him sweep, vacuum, and mop the basement stairs - they certainly needed cleaning.  He did a great job!!

On Wednesday I had him clean up a nasty mess of gravel, mud, and grass bits which I made when I didn't lift of the weight bucket on the tractor and dragged part of the orchard onto the concrete path by the wood window.

The next project was to clean out some drawers, vacuum, wet wipe them, and re-organize the contents.  Happily, he does a good job.

Thursday was ....maybe.... the last time I will be doing hot chocolate with the kids.  Next year Abby and Clara will be going to ACA, and after Bev moves this summer, who knows where the bus stop will be.  Honestly, I have enjoyed meeting up with the kids every morning for these hot chocolate moments.  I still remember taking Camille and Tyler up to Forsythe and catching the bus.

We were planning, on Friday, to drive to Truckee, California with Warren and family, so I was really diligent in getting last minute things done.  One thing I really wanted to get done was to cover three piles of wood.  The initial project was to get a wad of plastic out of #2 which had been the top of #7.  It was full of water and very wet and heavy.  I was able to cut pieces for the pile of logs brought up from the woods last summer and stacked behind the bike shed.  Another pile was one on Water Pipe Slope which I had gathered last summer.  And finally, I tried to organize the finished planks next to the barn and cover it. Unfortunately I still have the planks out in #2 which I moved out of the barn....ones that Malcolm had gathered while we were in Kazakhstan.   It seems like I go from one "clean up" project to another.

Friday morning, just after I did the hot chocolate with the kids, we started driving south to California.  We followed Warren the whole way stopping for lunch at a McDonalds in Klamath Falls and at a couple of gas stations.  We figure the cost for the gas was about $110.00, and the total time was twelve hours.  We arrived in Truckee just in time to unpack, eat toasted cheese sandwiches, and go to bed.

Saturday  - we made a loop drive from Truckee to Carson City, to Virginia City, to Reno and back to Truckee.  In Carson City we spent the morning at a Railroad Museum which was really interesting and fun.

We looked at lots of stuff, watched as a small locomotive was delivered to the yard by a truck, and took a train ride.

We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then had treats from a bakery.

Sunday - we headed to Donner Memorial State Park which was made to be a way to remember the Donner Party which got stuck in the mountains.  I really didn't know much about the story, but now I know lots.  Also I didn't know that Interstate 90 follows the trail that the pioneers traveled and that this pass was the best way to get into upper California.  This stone with its engraving is from one of the survivors.

Dad and Warren discovered Pinus jefferyi which is very similar to Pinus ponderosa.  The main difference is that the ponderosa has smaller cones and of a different shape.  They collected seeds.

...and they learned that the trees smell like butterscotch..... or vanilla.

Whitney, Holland and I went on a half mile nature walk.

We spent some time along the lake shore of Donner Lake.  Peaceful, warmish, beautiful.  Yeah, you could live here except for the snow in the winter.