Today is the birthday of our youngest grandson, Zane Danger Winchester. He is now six years old, and is the pride and joy of everyone who knows him!
This picture shows Zane last October. We enjoyed a wonderful Family Reunion and part of that celebration was a visit to the firestation where our son-in-law serves as a fire fighter. Chet put on a display of all a fireman wears to a fire, took the kids on a fire engine ride, let them try out one of the fire fighter’s hoses, and all in all, everyone had a grand time. In the picture, Zane is playing with a fire hydrant eraser all the kids received at the fire station.
We are very proud of Zane and hopes he has a wonderful birthday.
For ourselves, we arrived back in the Bay Area where we hope to be until the first of May. This period of time will allow some quality visits with family and will also give us the opportunity to visit some very dear friends.
After we left Buckskin Mountain State Park, we drove on up to Pahrump, NV to visit some very special friends. We enjoyed spending a full day sitting outside visiting. That evening we all went to dinner at a local Casino. We left the following morning, loathe to move on, but knowing we had family and friends in northern California we also wanted to see. Our visit with Ginger, Jess and Denise will be some of our treasured memories.
The drive from Pahrump into California, and down to I-40 is a pleasant and interesting drive. (Our GPS kept insisting that we return to Las Vegas and down to CA-15 — a real round the farmer’s barn — but we’ve driven over this route before, and it is one we enjoy.
We crossed this part of the State in good time, and instead of stopping in Mojave, we drove on to one place where the rig refuses to pass by – Harris Ranch. We often stop (boondock) here and always enjoy one of their fine dinners. When we reached Harris Ranch parking lot we were surprised to see the place full of other RVs boondocking. We have never seen so many there at one time; perhaps it was some sort of caravan, be that as it may, we found a spot in another area of the Ranch and were happy to enjoy a light snack in their restaurant.
The following day it was only a hop, skip and a jump to the Bay Area. Our original plans were to take a few side roads (more scenic than I-5) but with the cost of diesel, we were determined to drive at 55 mph and to take the most direct route. Diesel in this part of California was $3.99 a gallon and $4.25 a gallon!!!
Driving up Interstate 5 gave us the opportunity to see and enjoy the green hills, and to view the vineyards along the highway, many of which are in bloom.
It feels quite comfortable to be back at the Alameda County Fairgrounds – our “home” while in the Bay Area. We are looking forward to visiting and catching up on what is going on with everyone.
