This and That

After the purchase of our sailboat we spent our first available weekend picking up a few items for her and to take her out on a checkout run together.  It was a beautiful day for it.

Ryker and Kiri went along too, wearing their very own doggie life jackets.  Kiri doesn't really care for hers - maybe it isn't in the right princess colors for our spoiled little girl.  Both dogs did great though, eventually settling down on the cushions and watching the sights.

Never having sailed before, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at the thought of all of the freighter traffic that travels through the bay area.  It was right around this time that a sailboat tried to make it between a freighter and its tug.  The sailboat lost.

On our way back in we were able to assist another couple in a sailboat that had become disabled.  Strangely enough, they had also just bought their boat two weeks before (paying a bit more than we did) and it was their first time out that day too!  We towed them back to their slip and they kindly thanked us with a very nice card as well as a gift card for a meal at a steakhouse.  It was much more than was necessary, after all, who knows when we might be in need of help?

Even though the wind wasn't very cooperative on our first day out, it was a fantastic day with a great ending.

Here's to Friends, Family and Starting a New Year

 At the holidays nothing is better than spending time with family and great friends.  We were blessed to be able to do both this year -  and since the Mayan calendar ended and no one knew if our time was up it was another reason to celebrate!  Shawn came home for the holidays and we had a whirlwind week of getting a tree and getting it decorated, dinners with friends and of course Christmas.  These are the times that are cherished.

Shawn had to be back at work on January 2, so we headed back to Monterey on New Year's Eve.  We didn't go out and party it up, so we were up early enough and had the energy to take a hike up Fremont Peak with the dogs on New Year's Day.  Much better than nursing a hangover all day!

Shawn's love of the water has re-emerged with his assignments on the coast of California.  After seeing a friends' sailboat he got the itch to sail.  I have never sailed but spent plenty of time on Daddy's speedboats and love the water.  Although I didn't expect to actually buy a boat so soon we found the Corlis - a 27' Catalina that was well-loved by her previous owners, who were selling her since the father is no longer physically able to handle her due to illness.  We had her hauled out and she checked out beautifully.  We had considered keeping her name to honor the family that we bought her from, but Shawn's grandmother passed away soon after, so in her memory we will hold a ceremony and rename our little beauty "Elenore".  May she show as much spunk as her namesake.

Splittin' My Time

 

  

Since I quit working full time in early summer of this year I have tried to balance my time between Nevada and California.  It can be quite a juggling act, leaving me feeling guilty sometimes no matter which way I go.  Brandon has been great about taking on the job of taking care of the dogs while I traipse around California, and Erika has filled in occasionally even though she now lives with her boyfriend, Jordan (pictured above).  So when I am in Fallon and one of the kids invites me to take part in something I try to do it.

In September Jordan took part in a roping event in Reno with a horse he has been training, Callie.  I have never been to anything like this and it is a new "culture" exposure for me.  I really enjoyed myself!  I took a LOT of photos of this new venue, and to be honest, not a lot of them were noteworthy.  It was good practice, though, and something I would like to explore.  The "cowboy" life seems to be full of hard-working people who all know each other and greet each other as old friends.  The first photo above is of Jordan warming Callie up before their event, the event itself, and then of Erika and Callie outside the arena.  I think that this straightforward lifestyle seems to suit her and she and Jordan seem to be good to each other.

One of the opportunities I am trying to take advantage of while in California is to visit the various Spanish missions up and down the coastal areas.  During a trip back to Monterey with Shawn the transfer case on our Dodge came apart right as we got into San Juan Bautista on Hwy 88.  While waiting for the tow truck I noticed signs for a mission there.  After doing a little bit of research I decided that this would be the first one I would visit and went back a couple of days later in the Volvo while Shawn was working.  San Juan Bautista is a very cute little town, but I will have to go back again when I don't have the dogs with me.  I did get to explore the mission and surrounding grounds though.  I love the architecture and the simplicity of these old buildings.

The next weekend Shawn and I went to Carmel to see the San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo mission or simply, Carmel Mission.  This was the second mission built in California, and one of the more well-known to tourists.  This mission was almost completely destroyed when restoration was begun in 1921, and is currently undergoing more work as well.  I will hope to return after the scaffolding is gone!  For more info on this mission see:
http://www.missionscalifornia.com/keyfacts/san-carlos-borremeo-de-carmelo.html

TIme at Home

Over the summer Shawn and I divided up our time between California and Fallon.  As much as I love the ocean our place in the desert is where I feel peace.  I love the wide-openness - the light as the sun comes up over the Stillwater range or goes down to the west, especially when it is cloudy and it gives that special light to the trees behind the house.  And then the stars!  Walking out on our deck at night and looking up at the sky where no city light dims the show, while the only sound is a slight breeze rustling the leaves in the cottonwoods.  

Fallon has a fabulous arts council and we have concerts here that are extraordinary.  I am sure that people are surprised at the variety of high quality performers that come to our little town.  They also have wonderful exhibits.  One of these was a collection of antique gas pumps.  Maybe that doesn't sound like art - but some of these machines and their workings are extremely interesting.  This was one of the first times that Shawn was able to attend a show in quite a while.   

As summer drew towards its inevitable end Shawn and I had our first job as Silver State Blasting Solutions!  In September we spent a week in Oregon at the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge doing experimental field trials to determine if we could successfully build a section of river through the marsh.  It was a success!  It was FUN!  And best of all - we did it together.

Wanderings of the Summer Part 2

Shawn working in San Francisco was a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of all that the Bay area has to offer - beautiful beaches and coastline, fantastic food, historical areas and good weather.  It was also nice that it is only a 4.5 hour drive from our home in Fallon, so that we could alternate weekends with each other.  

One of the most popular paragliding areas on the West Coast is located about twenty minutes from the hotel - Mussel Rock.  Hwy 1 and the houses at the top of the cliffs are slowly falling into the water, and  there is a visible demarcation where the San Andreas fault moves right through here.  The beach was a great place to hunt for shells and sea glass while Shawn soared above me in the afternoons, and the sound of the waves brings me to one of my favorite "happy places" in my mind.

As Shawn's job at Hunter's Pointe was drawing to a close we headed to Clearlake, CA to his grandparents house to meet up with his mom, her boyfriend and his aunt and uncle for a weekend of sleeping out under the stars on the deck, skiing and hanging out by the pool.  A number of wineries are located in this area now and we took a Saturday morning and visited a few.   Our favorite by far was the Brassfield Estates Winery.  All of the wines were estate wines, and the owners have put a lot of thought into using recycled items with a lot of history behind them into the structures and grounds.  The olive trees on the grounds are 80 year old specimens that were going to be bulldozed to make way for a shopping center.  The chandelier in the main tasting room came from the old Bank of America building in San Francisco - and it goes on and on.  By far the most interesting winery we have ever visited - and the wines are amazing as well!

Wanderings of the Summer Part 1

 After I quit working full time in order to spend more time with Shawn we have been to a number of great places, spending time with great people and having a great time.  Earlier in the summer Brandon was able to go with us to Crescent City, CA to visit Shawn's brother Damian and his wife, Jennifer.  Shawn's mom met us there as well.  

At low tide one morning we all went down to gather mussels among the rocks.  Not only was there an abundance of mussels, but so many other wonderful sea creatures were hidden among the rocks!  I could have spent hours looking for them and taking pictures, but low tide only lasts so long.

Of course it isn't just what's living that can capture my attention.  I grew up near water and rocks and driftwood on the beach have always drawn me.  Shawn is so very lucky that most pieces are too large to haul back to the car and bring home...

When we got back to Damian and Jennifer's house the guys went fishing and brought back what we needed to make a delicious seafood pasta for lunch.  There was also enough to make cioppino for dinner!

 

The next day we did something that Shawn remembered from his childhood - we took a jet boat up the Rogue River.  This fun-filled adventure is designed to get everyone on board as wet as possible, and a fun time was had by all!

 

Damian and Jen have turned their home into a beautifully self-sufficient haven set among redwoods.  They have provided us with an abundance of food that they have either grown, raised, hunted or fished for themselves.  We look forward to another visit.

Next Phase

 

Today marked the beginning of a new phase in my life.  Two weeks ago I was out alone in the Toyota above locating and marking camera spots for an upcoming test at work.  Beautiful day, and, yes, lots of fun to be able to do this kind of thing and get paid for it.  Last week I was at a living dune outside of Fallon (Sand Mountain) doing more camera work on another test.  It was windy and dusty and gritty and hot, but once again, I loved it.

But now I get to move on to something that will be more fun and fulfilling, because I quit being a full time employee and will now have the opportunity to spend more time with Shawn while he is working out of town.  Since January he has been "stationed" (sorry, it's the military phraseology coming out) in San Francisco, living in a hotel and working six 10 hour days with one Saturday off per month.  Doesn't really allow for a lot of time together, so we are taking steps to make that better.

The other benefit will be that I will have more time to take photographs, spend some extra time with Erika and Brandon, exercise, work in my garden and, hopefully, finally beat the critters!

As I sit here looking out at the ending of a beautiful Nevada day, I reflect on the people that have been a part of our lives since we moved here.  They all support this next phase, and helped give me the strength to know that it will be great.  I am so excited thinking of all of the sights and places that Shawn and I will share together and of the wonderful memories that will be created from them.