South to Arizona

Dawn Found us walking out of the Starbucks in Auburn having got my first cup of Joe for the day. We breezed through Sacramento Stockton. Spring in California is always beautiful with Greenhills and all of the almond and various fruit trees budding out here are a couple examples.





What looks like a nice beautiful day is about to turn into a real fun experience as we drive south. The grapevine and to hatch a P Rd. southbound over the south end of San Joaquin Valley are closed due to snow.

We will stop in Buttonwillow just west of Bakersfield and eat at our favorite restaurant Salvadoran restaurant Tito's Pupuseria, and wait to see if the mountain passes open up.
We hope that By middle of the day, When the temperature rises to about 40°, that the roads will be passable we can get over the hill down into the Mojave and out in the eastern part of Southern California before dark.



- blessings from the road

Location:I-5 N,Patterson,United States

Running trains in Olympia

With only a short time before we return to the desert I had a chance to fly to northwest to see some old buddies and run trains.
My friend, Jim Younkins, held an all day session on his basement empire with about 15 guys. We ran trains til late in the evening.
I has flown into Portland Friday and got a ride up with Phil and tony. We had a great time.
Now on my way home and we will begin preparation for our next journey. Here are some iPhone shots and a brief movie.

- blessings from the road

It's Ccccccooooolllldddd out there

He said, snugly enscounced near the wood stove inside his little cabin in the woods.  Actually, I caught a little chest cold while in Scottsdale with my family (and the 2 year old petri dish, Zana) and then fell off my bicycle so am all bruised up.  And those are my lame excuses.  Pretty lame as am I.

2013 does begin with promise though.  I bought a printer to actually try printing some photos. Will see.  Mostly for fun around here. Just arrived and am still setting it up.

We have been laying low,  working on projects such as re-arranging office, planning our spring trips, and watching the football playoffs.


My life long team, the Seahawks were compelling until they tripped up yesterday in Atlanta
so now I am on the Niner's bandwagon.  Shamelessly on the bandwagon.

Am contemplating a blog design change for this year so you may see something new here.

If you get this far, check out my model railroad blog for another perspective.

Well, back to the fire.

Mr & Mrs Bufflehead visit the Duck Pond at Ananda Village

Spent some time Friday and Saturday photographing our little buddies the Buffleheads.  They are about 6 inches long and are constantly diving into the depths of the pond seeking out food on the bottom. From the road you only see this white speck,  So I got out the big lens combo and when I zoom in with my big lens at 700mm the crop it down you get some good pix. 

 Thought you might enjoy. (click on pix to enlarge then right arrow to scroll through, then escape to back out of photos if you want).  Have fun. I did.

Enjoying a quiet moment before the Goose invasion

searching for next dive spot

Raise up to dive

Dive  this whole motion in less than a second

Just came up from dive

Got an itch?  scratch it

Home for New Year.

Happy New Year All

As we did last year, we put our RV, CharLi in covered storage in Tempe, AZ last Friday and drove home.  Takes a day and a half of easy boring driving and we were ready to get back to the barn.  So it was west of I-10 to 210 to I-5 and north on I-5 to I-80 at Sack of Tomatoes then east and north east.  Stopping for the usual shopping and filling up the larder for home and we arrived by 3 PM Saturday December 29.

Happy New Year Morning in our back yard

So here we are in this beautiful cold, frosty forest again, we call home.  Both of us under the weather a little from exposure to a 2 year old petri dish we love and adore named Zana who is my great niece, and thankful the first few days are relaxed. The typical mid winter dry spell is upon us, with sunny skies warming the temps up to a balmy 48-50 during the day.  Wood fire in fireplace burning non-stop this time of year.

Backyard frost

So we settle into a "routine" if there is such a thing.  I am back at the office weekdays and Sraddha working on various projects around house and community.  Arizona still vivid in some ways, dreamlike in others.  And CharLi awaits re-awakening in Arizona for our our return in March.