Week 881 - Back to the Mountain - 07-02-2023

Back to the Mountain

After spending a couple weeks with Emily, Chad and our Grandkids, it was time to head south to Melissa and Marios.

This was our path to Bradley, just north of Paso Robles. Then Pete's sister Donnalee called; she's heading from Ridgecrest to Red Bluff, California.

So we adjusted our path to lay over one night at the Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, California.

And Donnalee adjusted her path to cross ours and we met at the Carmichael, California Elks Lodge. This is one of the reasons we never have a fixed schedule.

We spent two days with Pete's big sister. Good fellowship, good table games and five games of pickleball. Thank you Donnalee for being flexible.

Arriving at Mario and Melissa's mountain home, we saw tremendous changes. A bigger tree at the house. Mario has planted another 100 trees! The "pop up" cover, a sofa, picnic table, wine barrel and landscaping blocks.

A new massive pergola covers the deck we built last year. We added steps this year. Hundreds of border blocks enclose the bark mulch.

Shade sails cover the vegetable garden boxes. Another area of bark and trees, all on drip.

1) This is the pergola we erected by the MotherShip last year. The wind had another idea and tore it down. 2) We re-purposed the remains into an outdoor shower.

Mandy basked in the joy of not having to be on a leash. We were treated to Casino Night at Villa San Juliette Winery in San Miguel. Starter chips are free. All you have to do is win about $6,000 in chips to win a prize.

Sometimes Melissa and Mario are busy and cannot entertain us with projects or cards. So without TV we got creative. "Dennis, you asked how we stay busy when we camp. This is one option."

Pete changed the oil in the quad and fixed the faulty key switch. Soon to be arriving would be Tom and Cole to power wash the interior of the well. They are driving a two-wheel water truck and we didn't know if they could make the hill. Pete ran the quad up to check it out. Then the Jeep, no problem. Then MM's two-wheel drive truck. It went right up, no tire spinning.

So we knew Tom and Cole could get up the hill. What no one knew is they would lose their brakes on the way down. Cole jumped out to save his life. Tom skillfully came crashing down the hill and was able to come to rest right behind the MotherShip. Thank you Lord for their safety and for protecting our house.

We did some moving. We hand carried the cabana to its new home. The lion cage took the place of the cabana.

1) The chicken coop was dragged by the quad into the shade from 2) it's old spot in the sun.

Ellen sanded and stained the rocking chairs from Colorado and the wine barrel chairs under the shade tree.

The back deck now needs steps for quick access to the chicken coop. A few 2x6 planks will do the job.

Aaah, that's nice. As Melissa says "After two years we've turned this into a fixer-upper."

"Fixer-Upper?". As our son Travis would say "We're not for sure!"

Last year we had the huge RV pad, but no hookups. Now there are two full hookups, 50 amps, water and sewer. Room for our friends to visit! In the summer 100 degree heat, our awning provides cover. Or you can sun yourself on the hammock.

This area, like our home in Atascadero, will have a 30 to 40 degree drop from day to night. The sunny days will be cooled as the night fog rolls in from the ocean.

This is the view out the front window of the MotherShip.

That's all for now, but with the 4th of July coming we offer two of our favorite archive travelogues.

Flags Across America and Proud to be an American

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! Psalm 33:12

With love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy

Photos from June 2023