Miscellaneous Stuff...

Steve and I have embarked on a Road Trip. Before fully beginning, we made very necessary stops to hug on grandchildren and to visit old friends.

Besides numerous rounds of backgammon, strolls throughout the neighborhood, crafting, and just having time together, we also went on a walk on Sonoma County's West County Regional Trail.

I will walk almost any trail if it ends in a quaint town that offers coffee and cinammon rolls. Today's found us in Forestville.

One of the things I share with both daughters-in-law is a love of thrifting. While I didn't buy this kit to make Betty Ann it was a reminder of Steve's Mom and we both loved that.
What I did buy was this vintage 1991 Conair butane curling iron! I had one for decades and when it died, the new version that was available was junk. When camping, we mostly do not have electricity so having a gas powered way to add a little curl is a special treat. So very, very cool.
Santa Rosa is home to a beloved collection of Peanuts statues, a lasting tribute to Charles M. Schulz, who lived and worked here for over 30 years. Originally part of Peanuts on Parade, a series of public art projects celebrating Schulz’s iconic characters, these larger-than-life sculptures of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Woodstock, Lucy, and more now reside at local businesses, parks, and neighborhoods across the city. One day, I planned to find them all. They bring me joy.

We ended our official First Day on the Road in Redding visiting our old Tahoe friends, Joanne and Gene (read about them here). What a start to the adventure.

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Chuck's Finale: Rafting!

For my big brother's last Tahoe Day, we headed back down the Truckee River for a fabulous float... a perfect end to this visit.


"There is nothing—absolutely nothing—
half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."
– Kenneth Grahame








"Rivers know this: there is no hurry.
We shall get there some day."
-A. A. Milne

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Lake Tahoe: Views, Coffee, & Jazz

Chuck has been here often enough that finding new things to do is somewhat challenging. Today's itinerary was a hit!

We began our leisurely morning at Cove East for a stroll to the Lake.



After lunch at home, we went for an afternoon beverage at our fave spot Paddle House. There's nothing quite like adirondack chair sitting.
Our evening's destination was Sand Harbor State Park for the season's final production on its Warren Edward Trepp Stage.
Chuck treated us to a delightful dinner, surrounded by other enthusiastic ticketholders.
We were here for A Tribute to George Benson featuring Colin Cook and Kyle Rea.
How could we resist this setting?
Or the opportunity for a sunset?
The evening invited us to "Enjoy a night of George Benson’s legendary blend of jazz and R&B as dynamic guitarist Colin Cook and powerhouse vocalist Kyle Rea ignite the stage with the Reno Jazz Orchestra’s big band classics, smooth grooves and iconic hits for a feel-good evening honoring one of music’s most influential artists. From silky ballads to funk-charged hits, expect classic Benson tunes that shimmer with lush harmonies, crisp rhythms, and memorable melodies that linger long after the last note."







Everything about this day was perfect and it ended in such a spectular way!
“And those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music.”
―Friedrich Nietzsche

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My Big Brother: Day 1

After gathering Chuck from his presence at the Tailhook Convention, we promptly headed to lunch followed by a fabulous chautauqua at the Minden Mill.

Built in 1906, the Minden Flour Milling Company in Minden, Nevada, was the largest of five flour mills in the Carson Valley. It processed 100 barrels of flour daily, operated until the 1960s, and was later transformed into the modern Minden Mill Distilling campus. What a location!
We were all thoroughly impressed by David Woodruff's Into the Jaws of Hell. Local historian David assumed the character of William Lewis Manley in a riveting chautauqua performance. In 1849, Manley was one of dozens of pioneers who stumbled, off-course, into the harsh eastern California desert while searching for a shortcut to the California goldfields. Manley recounts the dramatic and heroic tale of how stranded, forlorn and desperate men, women and children, endured unfathomable hardships in an effort to keep their families alive…and christened the chilling name upon their fateful location, Death Valley."

Riveting, indeed!
We spent the rest of the day lounging on our front porch, catching up with one another and all the neighbors who strolled by.

“Our friends are siblings we discover,
while our siblings are friends gifted to us by fate.”
 -John Joclebs Bassey

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Last Concert of Summer (For Us)

There's something sad about lasts. We experienced it last night with our final Live at Lakeview Concert.


Grass Valley's own Broken Compass Bluegrass Band could not have been a better musical finale for our participation in this concert series.


"Summer has always been good to me,
even the bittersweet end,
with the slanted yellow light."
– Paul Monette

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Backyard Archaeology: Part 2

Another history lesson was uncovered as Steve finished his trenching project. It kind of makes me want to dig up the entire yard. Hmmm.

Along with metal parts and shards of broken glass, Steve found two perfectly intact bottles. The hunt for their origins was a fun one.
Sadly, all that remains on this one is an almost completely disintegrated label with only the words, "New York" visible.
My best guess, based on the fluted design on the bottle, is that this once held catsup. What do you think?


I had no troubles identifying this Acme Beer bottle's origins.
Everything I needed to know about it was embossed on the bottom. Looking at  the logo from major glass house, Owens-Illinois (a 'l' inside a diamond over a 'O'), its history is as clear as can be. What is also prominent is the company name, Duraglas, which was used from 1940 through the mid-1950s for bottles treated to be extra strong.

To the left of the logo is the number "20", the factory plant code indicating it was made at the Owens-Illinois Glass Company plant in Oakland, California. The "47" to the right tells us that this bottle has been buried in my back yard for almost 80 years. Wow.

As for the history of the contents of the bottle, the Acme Brewing Company was formed in 1907, with Jacob P. Rettenmayer as Acme’s first brewmaster. After the end of Prohibition, the company (now called Acme Breweries) expanded from its San Francisco location to a second facility in Los Angeles. The LA brewery, located in Vernon, was built at the beginning of the company’s heyday in 1935. In the mid-forties Acme Breweries built a spectacular glass block Art Deco bottling plant in San Francisco, designed by the well-known California Architect William G. Merchant, which was the gem of modern industrial architecture. Acme dominated the California beer scene at that time with production of over a million barrels a year.

"One man's trash is another man's history lesson"! How very cool, indeed.

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