LUNCH WITH MOM

 I took Mom to visit with her friend Kim.

Then we went looking for the Pizza Hut in Renton to no avail.  And they won't answer their phone to tell us where they are.

So, we went to the Indian Restaurant.  Mom has never eaten Indian.  She was game for it though.

She enjoyed it.  So, did I.

MOM'S 90TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

We all gathered at Julie and Jeff's home to celebrate Mom's 90th Birthday, which was on the 13th.  Most all of the family, my cousins and their families, showed up, plus Aunt Marlys (whose birthday was yesterday) and some family friends.  It was really very nice to see everyone again.  There was lots of good conversation and catching up.

Julie did a great job on the food and there was a cupcake tree, with a special one for the birthday girl.

I brought a bunch of quilts with me.  I offered them to anyone that wanted one to take one home.  I got a lot of takers.  It was nice to see them find a home (if a little sad to see them go at the same time).   My Ribbons quilt found a friend with my cousin Steve's son Chad's youngest daughter, Emi.  She seemed quite pleased with it.

MOM'S DONE

 I made the label for Shattered this morning, then forgot to take a picture.

After lunch I picked up Mom and drove her to Valley General Hospital where she got her second shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.  She's good to go!

LUNCH WITH MOM

I haven't seen my Mom in months.  We decided to have a lunch date.

I made baked salmon, white bean and cherry tomato side dish and a tomato tart.

We had fun.

 

BOAT RIDE

This was the monthly day Mom, Julie and I spend together.  Mom wanted to go to Allyn to see her old house.  We drove slowly down the street and back, where she stopped to visit with a few of her old neighbors. Then we drove through Belfair, where we stopped for lunch, and on to Southworth to catch the ferry back to my house, where they dropped me off.  It was a beautiful day.

TO LA AND BACK - DAY SEVEN

Mom, Reba, Lucy and I left Redding heading north on I-5.  We got a great morning look at Mount Shasta, with rings of clouds around the top.

Mount Shasta from the south.

The plan was to stop and visit with a friend of Mom's in Medford, Oregon, but it turns out she was unavailable that day, but Mom had a nice chat with her on the phone. 

We pulled into Ashville, a cute little town.  We noticed the Ashville Springs Hotel, a historical site, so we stopped there for a bit.

In the lobby of Ashville Springs Hotel

There are botanical specimens on display everywhere.

There is an interesting display of birds and their eggs.

Back on the road, heading north, we stopped for a picnic lunch at Valley of the Rogue State Park.  It was such a beautiful day.  This area in southern Oregon puts on such a spectacular display of autumn colors.  We were here on the perfect day.

Enjoying her favorite beverage.

The Rogue River

I finally found a nice cache where I could drop my Travel Bug, Mona Lisa on the Road.  I'd wanted to drop it somewhere in southern California, but we never found a cache that was big enough.  This one would do perfectly. 

Goodbye, Mona, happy travels!

After a nice break at the park, it was back on the road.

Looking at everything.

Reba usually rides in a container while in the car.  This was her first time being able to see outside as the world whizzed by.  She seemed to enjoy it.

We made it all the way to Tualatin where we spent the night.

TO LA AND BACK - DAY SIX

When I asked Mom if she'd like to fly down and ride back with me, I told her we could go wherever she wanted and do whatever she wanted to do.

After much talk and discussion we decided to go to Yosemite, since it was one of the few places that she and Dad had never been to.  Darrell and I have never visited the park either, and he was a little jealous.  We worried about it as we made plans, because of the Government Shutdown, the park was closed at the beginning of October.  The Shutdown actually lasted a lot longer than I had thought it would, but it did open in plenty of time for us to be able to see it.

In the morning as we left Fresno, it was raining.  As we gained altitude the temperature was dropping and at around 4000 feet altitude the rain turned into snow.  We didn't get very far when it started coming down pretty good, covering the road. 

 As we were pondering whether we should turn around we encountered a roadblock that made the decision for us.  They said, no chains or four-wheel drive, then turn around.  Okay.

We were both very disappointed, but what can you do?

Not having any plans at this point, I told Mom about this great little area I knew about, where Darrell and I usually go, to look at birds.  She was game.  So off to Consumnes River Preserve we headed.

This was Lucy's first time at Consumnes, too.

Mom enjoyed looking at the birds and ducks

We encountered a Great Egret standing on the pathway.

It decided to not hang around for any closer looks.

After having lunch and looking at the ducks we headed north on I-5, where we made it to Redding to spend the night.

TO LA AND BACK - DAY FIVE

Today was the day Lucy and I said good bye to Darrell, who is staying to teach a class at Wm Ng School of Woodworking, and headed back home.

But first we swung by LAX to pick up my Mom, and her little dog Reba, who flew into Las Angeles to ride back with me and Lucy.

Got 'em!

We headed north, four girls on the road!

First we had to make our way out of the LA Freeway system.

We drove up to Fresno, where we spent the night.  It would be a good launching point for our trip to Yosemite the next day.