Friday, June 30, 2017

Five-On-Friday: June Road Trip!



June is almost gone with July just a day away! I thought I'd do a Five-On-Friday of things I saw in June to close out this month. 

I'm joining Willy Nilly Friday at Around Roanoke and the F.A.S.T.  blog for Five-On-Friday.  I hope you'll stop by too.

1.  CarPie Diem - Seize The Pie!
In May, I flew to California to spend a couple of weeks with my mom to help pack up her house for her move to a house on my brother's property. It's something she decided to do, as she's getting older, and she'll have lots of people around in her new home.

Mom and I visited the Black Bear Cafe in town a couple of times when we needed a break from packing. The Black Bear had a great selection of pies, which are made in small individual sizes. 

I got a kick out of the sign near their cash register...Seize The Pie indeed!

2.  Snow In The Sierras - Heat In The Desert.

Wild Bill drove all the way out from Texas, all alone, to pick me up in my home town, Sonoma, a little north of San Francisco.  

We made our return ride into a road trip, driving over the Sierras, past Donner Lake, and into the Lake Tahoe area. 
This was mid-June and the snow was still deep on the mountain tops!
After we passed the Tahoe area, we turned south and headed down the east side of the Sierras. Oh My...this was some beautiful country scenery!


We ended up just outside of the east side of Yosemite National Park, in an area we both had never been. That's always our road trip goal...see something we haven't seen before!
Our GPS kept telling us the smaller roads heading east were closed! It seemed we would never find a way to get out of that back woods area. Finally, we found a road open and headed towards the desert and Las Vegas, leaving all the snow behind.

3.  A Faux Pas Along The Way.

After 2 days in the snow and desert, we stopped in Albuquerque for a quick family visit. The hotel parking lot was on quite a slope, and our suitcases were in the back of the truck. 

I was rolling my suitcase at the front of the truck when I heard Wild Bill yelling some unmentionable words...$@&*%! ...S.O.B!  &@*!  

I turned to see his wheeled suitcase (the 4 wheels it has stand straight up and stay that way) with his backpack full of electronics attached on top...rolling down the hill with Wild Bill in hot pursuit, chasing it toward the busy street! 

I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard! Of course I had to take a picture. It didn't matter that he was so grumpy...I knew he'd get over it!

4. Family Time.

Here's youngest daughter, her daughter Lily, and me in the backseat of our pick-up. With his mood improved, Wild Bill (AKA Grampy when the grandkids are around) was chauffeuring us in the "Driving Miss Daisy" style as Lily had requested.
We were doing a "Lily's Day Out" while her dad was at work and little brother was at school. We three girls got our nails done while Wild Bill went to the (much needed) car wash.
Lily's nails might look mild here, but they were actually sparkly!
Here's little brother Henry at dinner, sitting by Grampy. Wild Bill is always the "fun one" when the grandkids are around and he doesn't have suitcases to chase!
I didn't get a picture of our daughter's family all together, but a few days later she text one of their trip to an Isotope's game.

5. Home Again, Home Again...At Last!

We arrived home to find our pots of flowers, and Wild Bill's beloved fig tree, had been well taken care of by our fabulous across-the-street-neighbor Melanie! 
There's nothing like having neighbors you can count on when something unexpected comes up. A special thanks to Melanie who is just one of those special people!


It's fun to go visit and help out when needed, but at the end of it all, it always feels good to be home.



Thanks for dropping by!





14 comments:

  1. Hello Sugar. I'm visiting from Five on Friday. Thank you for visiting me and leaving a comment. I've put you on my Reader list now. Glad that you could go and help your Mom so far away from where you live, but it's good she's moving to be near family. That was quite a road trip on the way back, but you went through some spectacular areas. I wonder what it's like to live in those mountains in the winter months? You had fun with your family in Albuquerque too. Back home have a good July.

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  2. That was quite the trip. The Lake Tahoe area is gorgeous ... fond memories for me. Glad that "Grumpy" saved the electronics -- I joined in the giggles -- great story and life certainly has its everyday surprises that keep us on our toes! Beautiful family and love those nails. Good neighbors are a blessing. Have a fun filled holiday!

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  3. Sounds like a good car trip, runway suitcase and all. Lovely family.

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  4. The views on your road trip were spectacular to see the snow at this time of year was amazing. I did smile at runaway suitcase and the nails were a delight.

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  5. Great family photos of your visit! The runaway suitcases was funny...hope he finally saw the humor! :-) Loved the scenery shots of your trip! And that pie sign...very cool! They misspelled "Sieze" though.

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  6. Places you talk about are so familiar to me, i would have become homesick - EXCEPT - your adventures are way fun AND funny and I'm STILL Laughing.

    "Sourdough Wars" - by Julie Smith - (mystery released 1984)
    "To you, it's just a frozen lump of dough; but to some, it's life and death ... Especially to handsome Peter Martinelli, who wants to auction off the fabled sourdough starter from his family's famous bakery. ..." Google Books

    I surely enjoyed "our visit."

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  7. ...and here I thought that you were going to keep this pie theme going, perhaps next time1

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  8. I enjoyed the scenic photography. There again, I always do. It takes less than a day to get anywhere when you live here. We don't get the mountains to look at either.

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  9. I think Keep Calm There's Pie may become my new favourite motto!

    Thanks for joining in with Five on Friday Sugar, We hope you have a wonderful week :)

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  10. Beautiful scenery - I've never been that way - must go! So good that your Mom will be looked after, but still independent. I love that! I laughed about Wild Bill's suitcase romp- those darn wheeled suitcases are so convenient, until they're not! Haha! Glad all turned out well. Love the sweet family photos - your little grands are so adorable! Hugs xo Karen

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  11. What a fun trip !
    I think it's a good move on your mum's part, having help is always best.
    Beautiful scenery, lots of laughs, family visits and pie......what could be better :)
    Hugs,
    ~Jo

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  12. Aren't we just so lucky to be scooting around visiting this summer? Your June sounds a lot like mine. You pretty girls all have a family resemblance! I'm sure you hear that. Grampy looks like he's having a great time. I love photos of people laughing! You have a sweet Albuquerque family. (I have never been to see the Isotopes) My husband's brother lives in Sonoma County. (Sebastopol) Lovely area to be from! Glad you're home safe and sound. It can be wild out there. We hit the road again in a couple of days.

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  13. Fun times!! Perfect summer trips and making memories with the girls too. So great to have your mom close to family and folks around if needed. I just had to smile at the runaway case chasing. So fun!!
    Yes, its wonderful to have great neighbors. Happy July and hope you enjoyed a great 4th too. xo

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  14. oh how i enjoyed this post! you made me laugh and laugh imagining wild bill chasing his suitcases with his colorful language haha...what a fun girl's day and the sparkly nails are so cute...weird isn't it to see snow in the summer! what beautiful scenery! i am glad you were able to go help your mom with her move...i bet she will be very happy in her new home with your brother...those pies look delicious and i too like the sign! welcome home and thank you so much for linking up with willy nilly! i sure hope i see you back soon!

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