The gold rush era

Saturday we pulled into the tiny little town of Dillon in the Southeast corner of Montana for an over nite stay. Weather was sunny in the 50's with clear blue skies. The nice lady from California, who just purchased this property a year ago , was just full of all kinds of information about the area. The saying 'ya can't tell a book by it's cover", is so very true in the case of this town. Old Victorian style homes scattered here and there tells you at one time there was some important folks with serious dollars lived here at one time. Back to the owner of the RV park, she told us about a place we should go visit while we are here. Bannack State Park is certainly worth the trip, approximately 30 south of our stopping point at the RV park. Bannack, MT is called the "toughest town in the west". It was Montana's first territorial capital and had a major gold strike. So when ya say gold and tough town I'm sure you are forming the image that we did....wow!!! They even had a gallows erected in the hills to take care of all the vigilantes that frequented the area. Think I read they even hung the sheriff.....nice place. But this little place was tucked away in a canyon called Grasshopper Valley. What a view they had. I think also residents were here for the gold obviously, but had an idea that maybe Geronimo and his merry band of men would engage in some form with the residents. That never happened after the Battle of Little Big Horn.

This town has been preserved by locals and knowledgeable experts. Think that's what makes this Bannack so interesting, you see the town as it was not glitzy adornments at all.

So if you care to click on the Bannack link above and learn a bit more. But while here enjoy the photos that Mr Doodles took while we visited. We really enjoyed our few hours here and felt the ghosts of the town, because this is a true ghost town. I believe since this is a state park they are able to receive significant funds, and they just received a half a million to do repair work. Most of the standing building were open for visitors to poke around. Hard to believe how all the floors were of rough wood or linoleum still in tact a hundred and thirty some years ago.

this hotel is quite large for the town of only three thousand or so residents

can't ya just see the ladies waltzing down that staircase

must have been some fancy cooking on that stove

Yep they had a Church

one of several jails

the school house
a functional playground with it's original fencing

inside with the school desks that were in pretty good shape

this was taken thru the window of the general store and merchant shop.
Sure wish we could have gotten in there

Hope you enjoyed our journey thru the preserved ghost town of Bannack, Montana...we had a blast.

How nice of them..........

Edited to add...........we are sitting in the RV looking out the window at seven Elk grazzing in the field behind the RV park we are in tonite. They are too far away for a photo.....dang.......BUT what a site!!!

Thank you very much

to my beautiful Niece for knitting, yes knitting me a pair of wool socks!

We pulled into Idaho Falls, ID yesterday stepped out of the RV to slushy, sleety wet, white SH*T!!!

Now you are gonna wonder why I have not posted any photos of this stuff cause it couldn't make up it's mind.........knowing y'all could give a big rats A** about seeing a picture of rain...I didn't even bother. But by looking at the forecast of our impending destination of West Yellowstone, Montana you'll be seeing a photo or several.

Y'all know or maybe not Montana is called Big Sky Country..........so let's see some sunrises and sunsets............cause I could care diddly about that white stuff.

OK time to hook em up and head North...........stay tuna'd........................love ya lil bird ;)

I never would have thought

I would be subjected to spring allergies along the way of our travels. Oh my Allegra is certainly getting a workout. And I might add not living up to it's supposedly expectations.

First it was Bakersfield wow big time sneezing, even Mr Doodles. Then we were just in Salt Lake and dang if the pretty posies weren't just popping out looking all pretty and polleny, not a word I know.

So as ya know we are headed to Montana and there is still some snow on the ground. Ya know what that means don'tcha HA!!! they are gonna have their sweet ragweed and posies wait till we get there to bloom...........ahhhhhhhhh what a welcome!!!

But look on the brite side............photos could be spectacular....stay tuna'd!!!

Weather alert....

Oh lordy we could be hanging in Idaho for quite a few days. Storms a brewing north, with heavy precipitation of snow and rain.

Stay tuna'd .................cause I hear there is a Casino in Pocatello, Idaho.

Who would have thought wilderness such as this existed just a few miles on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. Well the Great Salt Lake consists of many islands, one of them we visited yesterday was Antelope Island State Park

This is the seven mile causeway leading to the Island..........very shallow lake with between 12 and 16% salt content.

After our visit to just one more Air Force Base Museum I think that makes six or seven in the last year. Sorry I just had to share that info. We found our way to the Great Salt Lake. Causeway driving on to Antelope Island, named for the Pronghorn Antelope that reside on the island. It actually should be named buffalo island cause there are a ton of them.......600 +/- and we came across a few. One of which was on the beach of the Salt Lake......quite curious because what would he be doing down on the beach??? all by himself see that little black dot in the photo...that's a lonely buffalo.

Close up of one of the many resident buffalo's....you know it's spring when there coats start to shed. I got closer than this shot and the dude just kept on munching. Guess they are really used to people taking their pictures.

My turn with a few photos

The Temple in sepia tones......the weather turned quite cloudy. Photo was taken from the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where we had lunch in the Garden Room.

Temple in the foreground with the Tabernacle in background where the world famous organ and choir reside.

On any given Saturday and especially during this beautiful spring that is going on here in Salt Lake, there are as many as eighty weddings, Mormons refer to weddings as Sealings. Yes eighty weddings.......there are fourteen rooms of various sizes for families and the wedding party. General public is not allowed in for obvious reasons, however in the museum there are some photos of the rooms and to say they are stunning is an understatement. They ask that you refrain from taking photos of the wedding party.

The flowers are just gorgeous

A view of the Temple in the reflection pond

A small glimpse

Mormon Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah
photos courtesy of Mr Doodles

a few flowers to greet you on the way to the small Chapel on grounds.

The famous Salt Lake Temple

And the ever so world famous Mormon Tabernacle Organ, 11,623 pipes to be exact. Yes this is where the Mormon Choir performs and you would not believe the acoustics.

The gardens on grounds are just abundant with color everywhere

It is a small world

Here we are sitting at the top of Bryce Canyon, elevation 9110 ft.

So Mr Doodles and I are sitting at a picnic table having a snack, I look up and a man walking by has on a sweatshirt that has Durham on the back. I wasn't sure where it was from so I jumped up and went after him. "excuse me sir what is on your shirt? He tells me it is the logo of his business in Durham, CT. Ha really we used to live there. No the guy says where? I tell him and he lives just a short distance away. He knows all the folks we know, knew where we lived, recognized Mr Doodles because the man never changes.

So we go on to tell him another strange coincidence about selling our home in Florida to a lady in Durham. He knows her and heard about her buying our house. How bizarre is this.

So the moral of this story is ya never know who you are gonna run into in this small world.

Big Rock Candy Mountain

That is the name of a song that I remember hearing as a child. Sorta a bluegrass kinda tune, banjo and the like,

Well Big Rock Candy Mountain exists in Utah I think the town is called Marysvale.

Here's the mountain..... don't see no candy, doesn't look like a lollipop, rather nondescript and a rather depressed area but when I saw the name the tune came right back in my head.

An Anniversary & a year in review

and they said this union would never last.

Well it's been a year, one whole year since Mr Doodles and I left the state of Florida. Now that's 22,000/+ miles on the odometer and many, many hours of channel 13 on the Sirius radio. For those of you that don't know that's the Elvis music station. I am shocked how good I am at tuning out Elvis. Hey I figure that since Mr Doodles is the driver he should be able to listen to what he wants, right???!!! But there have been a few times I just gotta get my NPR fix....Mr Doodles doesn't mind as long as it's not permanent. Also we are prone to listen to the NASCAR channel when races and qualifying airs.

So what have we learned this past year while traveling the highways of this beautiful country.................

• Well one thing we learned is that the USA has some fairly rotten infrastructure and most of where we drove in Canada was not a lot better. Where the heck is all our tax $$$ going.
  
• There are some great, friendly folks in the country and a couple of them might reside in Canada. We have made a lot of new friends
  
• Food...WOW food finds have been great, seems like I did quite a few food reviews during our travels and surely to do a lot more.
  
• We still have Buddy, the cat...and we are still fond of the little guy. Knowing his personality he could have been a real handful, but he wasn't and isn't even now. However, when we do climb to higher elevations we notice that is when he howls. And we are convinced that it is because his ears pop...just like Mr Doodles. Just can't get Buddy to chew some gum.
  
• I should have bought stock in Maguirs Wax and vehicle care products. Cause that truck and RV look exactly the same with the exception of a few layers of wax applied by said Mr Doodles.
• There is the odd dent here and there...nothing that couldn't be fixed. Oh except for the big one Mr Doodles afflicted on the Big A$$ truck....but his dear friend Mrs Nutz took care of that owie.
  
• Owning an RV is on the job training kinda....cause you will never be prepared for what happens next, never.
• Blogging sometimes is very hard.....are my bajillion readers all that interested? That's why I started my photo blog Imagine
  
• There are definitely some places we want to go back to visit. And we realized ya just can't go visit everyone the first year.
• A flat tire on the trailer was the only really serious mishap. And we were quite lucky when that happened. Oh yes and the ingenious method Mr Doodles changed to the spare.
• Best part was getting to spend so much time with family and friends.
  

Take a look at this post.......... there are some things ya just forget about or maybe not wanting to remember. But the fires in Florida were horrendous last year. I did the biggest happy dance when we crossed the state line.

So here it is the beginning of May and we are on the move again, headed North......read about it here if you haven't already. A bit disappointed in some ways but quite excited in other ways. Just think of all the photos we can take PLUS fresh caught fish. We are having soooooooo much fun I must pinch myself sometimes or pinch Mr Doodles once in awhile just to make sure we aren't dreaming.

A very special thank you to all who have stopped by to see what we are up to

Things happen for a reason and I'm reasoning this is gonna be good..........so as y'all are probably tired of hearing me say...........stay tuna'd!!!

A PS............we left Bryce Canyon after an evening low of 11 degrees......you shaking your head and wondering WTH are they doing....well don't cause we THINK we got it together.

Bryce Canyon

We woke to a chilly 12 degrees...........yep lil bird I have on my wool socks.....muchas gracias!!! But nothing froze in the RV so we are good to go. But I'll tell ya that cup a tea sure tasted good this morning.

I love these formations

Nope no rainbow here but check out that elevation.

Someone called this God's handiwork

How true that is...........an unbelievable vision. Wish y'all could have been there with us. Happy to have been able to take this side trip. The haze you see in the background is the wind blowing about 40-50 mph and creating the dust in the air.

He had to take a photo of my butt












.
Just wanted to make a snowball






Bryce Canyon resident Raven












No chains required

Three states in a matter of hours

Not to mention the drastic temp changes. Monday nite we went to bed with the a/c on, last nite the heat. When we woke this a.m. it was just 31 degrees and expected to rise to a whopping 66 degrees with bright, brilliant sunshine.

I must admit I do enjoy the crisp weather. Quite a difference from the heat and humidity that we endured in Florida.......BUT........you must really load up on the moisturizer. Even Mr Doodles is applying the "gunk" as he calls it, morning and night.
Found a terrific body cream that penetrates the skin instead of just sitting on top and making ya feel slimy. It's called Jergens Shea Butter Moisturizer and it's yummmmmy.

OK I went waaaaaaay of topic which should be the breathtaking Bryce Canyon National Park


I took this photo out the truck window........see that tunnel?... we drove thru several of them toward our destination. See that white stuff over on the right......yep SNOW!!!

Oh the three States would be Nevada, Arizona and Utah. We traveled Interstate 15 up to this point but when leaving to head north we will be going the more scenic roadway.

There is horseback riding thru the Canyon but not something I should be doing however if they had a donkey I could do that.

Need to go pack a lunch for our hike, check back later for some photos of the Canyon.

So about Buddy.......

our cat....I knew he wasn't feeling well. Seems he was drinking a lot more water than usual. When headed to sister's house I asked her to make an appointment with her Vet so that Buddy could get his annual shots.

When Mr Doodles and sister went to the appointment, I don't go and that is another blog for sure. Buddy was weighed and he was down four pounds, now that's a big weight loss for a fourteen pound cat. Well they suggested doing a blood test to determine if he had a hyper active thyroid, which I understand is quite common in cats and given that Buddy will be celebrating his 14th birthday July 4th we kinda knew what the results would be.

Well now here is a little side issue, Buddy the cat HATES, HATES like HELL going to the vets. When he walks in the door, well is taken thru the door in his cute little red cat carrier.......the walls literally start to shake from his low growling. And the reason I do not accompany Mr Doodles is they have to muzzle Buddy.

The blood tests were administered after muzzling the poor little fella. They gave him a bit of gas to knock him out, I was so happy about that because then there is no side effects of groggyness and stumbling like a drunk.

Well the blood tests came back positive and yes Buddy does have a hyperactive thyroid. Hopefully we caught it early and the meds given will take care of the problem. The meds he is on will be taken for a month and then a follow-up blood test. Oh swell another vet is gonna be subjected to Buddy's wrath.

I want to thank the nice people at my sisters vets office who were so kind and accommodating to our sweet Buddy. So stay tuna'd for Buddy updates!!!

Remember this

blog I did? Well it seems I am now a finalist. They requested a photo of meself. Won't know the results until mid-July BUT you'll hear it here first I promise. So stay tuna'd

A reminder

of Earth Day that is approaching.......Get involved

Wanna see something FUN!!! Go to PBE and see what we made.

Thanks to my friend Tie for the terrific suggestion.

Plans change......

Boy do they ever!!! And the major reason is because of the dopes in Washington allowing the oil producing companies to screw the general public.

In case you didn't hear Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve recently stated that "we may be nearing a recession". Then the President says and I quote "the economy is facing some challenging times". WTH - are these people living in the real world? How can you live in Washington, inside the beltway and be so arrogant and outta touch, just absolutely amazes me. Come on, didn't your momma ever tell you that honesty is the best policy. Be honest with us and tell us the real deal. Well who cares now most of the dopes in Washington are going to be gone in a few months then there will be new folks there. Please don't let them all be dopes. I have ranted on now haven't I......sorry but it just pisses me off that the country is in this horrible situation and it could have been averted.

So...............due to the high cost of diesel fuel we are NOT going to Alaska. It would be about nine/ten thousand miles round trip from where we are right now. That's not making any side trips. And why would anyone drive all that way to visit that beautiful state and try to conserve fuel.

Sooooooooooo we are headed to Big Sky Country, West Yellowstone to be exact. Can you say photo opportunity..................Oh Yeah baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh go to that website for West Yellowstone and find the web cams they have and ALL the snow still on the ground.

Mr Doodles and I will be doing what is referred to in the RV world as Workamping Our time there will be mid May to the end of September. Once we get there and get settled I will let y'all know the address. Right now we will leave here in a couple a days to spend some time with sweet seester and dear brother-in-law. Mr Doodles is gonna make sister a window seat for her new and improved and quite gorgeous office.

OK gonna go find some warm socks for Mr Doodles cause his feets get cold. But stay tuna'd cause there will be adventures along the way and tons a photos.

This is different.......

OK I found this funny little gadget on another blog I go to on a fairly regular basis. You can click on an individual photo to zoom. Al photos were taken by Mr Doodles.

We went up to see the Tehachapi Loop Mr Doodles has been here before when BIL took him up to see this engineering marvel. So before we left this area he wanted me to see it as well.I know I went oh ok, and my mind was saying it's a train on a track for heavens sake what's the big deal?!? Well it is a big deal and amazing to see, one of those ya have to see it to appreciate. And what else is there are two sets of tracks, so one train can pass another on this loop.

Now the bonus was seeing The National Chavez Center and The Cesar Chavez Memorial Garden. What a beautiful place tucked away in the canyon of the Tahachapi mountains and only a half hour from Bakersfield.

So the following is an experiment and has a sound with it.........you have my permission to turn off the sound.

OK here ya go click play and see how what ya think............and please let me know OK!!!

Make a postcard - it's easy!

A Twin...

or long lost brother or sister of our sweet but evil cat Buddy.........this could honestly be his twin. When my sister told me about this photo I LMAO. Showed it to Mr Doodles and he thought it was Buddy, because the caption would fit his personality.

another fun photo from I can has Cheezburger

But alas it's not Buddy cause he only has one gray whisker on each side.

Ya don't have to be Scottish

to enjoy going to any Scottish Highland Games & Festivals. Always good entertainment, superb food vendors and fun, fun people oh and a few good beers to be had!!! Happy to say we dined of true British fish and chips YUMMM...

Read in the paper about the Kern County Scottish Festival.......there ya go. We were fortunate enough to see the opening ceremonies as we entered the gates, by that I mean this pipe band marched in right behind us.


Mr Doodles and I have always been fond of the Black Watch Scottish Pipe Bands and have seen them in concert many times. How fortunate for us we had the opportunity to hear something new, well new to us. Introduced to a group called the Wicked Tinkers I don't think there's another band quite like the Wicked Tinkers in existence. Super-high-energy, with a huge bagpipe/drums/sometimes didgeridoo sound, they add life into traditional folk music that sometimes lacks energy and innovation. It's impossible to sit still while listening to their music.......cause these boys do not lack energy. They were certainly worth the price of admission - plus we sat thru two of their shows.

The above photo shows just three of the group.

A beautiful spring afternoon....good time had by all.

This is a lot of $$$

Headline reads............. Desert tortoises moved for tanks Hundreds of Mojave Desert tortoises are being moved to make room for more tank training at the Army's Fort Irwin. There are approximately 800 of the reptiles to be relocated from the Army land to public plots must be approved by the U S Geological Survey and other experts at a cost of (are ya ready for this??) $8.5 million.
YOWZER!!! the journalist did not write yowzer but I sure did

Now I love turtles/tortoises as much as the next person I do but lordy.................Mr Doodles was going to volunteer his Big A$$ truck and his time at a fraction of cost $10,000 per tortoise.

read the full story here

Ashamed I am........

OK I have preached before, even have a counter on my blog about plastic bag usuage <<<<<<<<<< over there on the left. I keep hearing the saying "practice what you preach" !!!

Living in an RV wow... free go where ya wanna go and all that jazz. But space is tight so one must be aware of what you buy and think about food storage. Yep you know where I'm going with this huh?!?!?!?!!! I have become dependent on this product DAMN IT!!!

I have a small fridge so using the bags make for easy storage. This is NOT an excuse, trust me I know better I just don't know what to use in place of my addiction. Notice I used the word easy...maybe I should not think about easy, but think more future repercussions.

There are forums specifically for RV'rs and lifestyle and such. Not one place do they discuss recycling...OH Lord this is sinful and I am going to make this a project to make these folks more responsible. Trust me they are aware just NOT doing their part.

OK let's not put the blame on RV'rs completely cause many, actually most RV parks DO NOT recycle. I know it's hard to believe however I think it boils down to costs. BUT why don't the cities that where the RV parks reside force them to recycle. I am telling ya this is true because we traveled some twenty thousand miles since last May and have only seen three RV parks that recycled.

So is there a group that I can join to help me get unhooked, or is there a twelve step program that can help? My sister and I have briefly discussed this but without any solutions. I am not a hypocrite just not sure where to go.............. I need direction.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! leave all comments and ideas right here in the comment area please........I'll share all ideas so...................stay tuna'd!!!

remember the Blossom Trail

well I was brazen enough to send my photos to the Fresno County Tourism office and they posted my photos on their site, wow thanks!!!

We made the trip just a couple hours up the road from where we are right now. Great time and I was quite happy with my photos. I posted about it here

But pop on over to the Blossom Trail site......my photos are there along with many other talented photo takers.

Now when we head out for our trek North we will head up that same path and hopefully we will be able to drive the Fresno County Fruit Trail

Sooooooo stay tuna'd for more photos!!!

Fine lookin furbabies

Mr Doodles and I recently attended the

Kern County Kennel Club All Breed Dog Show and Obedience Trials.

What a fun day!!!

click on the photo to enlarge

If you ever want a smile

You must, if you haven't already, go to this site Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures - I Can Has Cheezburger?

I warn you it's addictive and you will go back often...so drop what you're doing and go now cause I know you need a smile or even a good belly laugh.



There are so many photos but this one just made me laugh lots...

Woo Hoo!!!

It's now on to San Antonio

for the Final Four!!!

I find it hard to believe

that three of my four picks are still in.

Trust me I'm not the only one that didn't pick Davidson.

OK now they can do this...

it's on to Phoenix

and the Sweet 16..........

Would you do this?????

I can tell you I have and would continue..............I'm talking about haggling.

An article in the New York Times hit the wires and all of the media is picking it up and running sound bites on every TV and radio station across the country. Well understandable given the economy.

Some folks carry it a bit too far as is normal when people tend to go overboard. But I believe that bargaining for a better price on larger ticket items such as electronics and appliances is going to be around for a good while. Now going in a bargaining for a pair of pants to knock 10$ off to me is not prudent. Save your haggling skills for bigger items.

So if you are in the market for a new TV cause the FCC has deemed all has to be transmitted in digital format........go practice up on your haggling skills cause the big boy stores are now expecting you to at least try.

Wonder if I can do that when I go to the Flying J and get my diesel fuel for the BIG A** truck............NOT!!!

St Patrick's Day

My father-in-law was born in Ireland..ya can't get more Irish than that now can ya!!!

Grandpa Doodles, I'll call him, came to Canada when he was a wee-un, lost his sweet Irish brogue, but never lost his Irish spirit. Grandma Doodles was born and raised in the very same town Mr Doodles grew up in and was of English descent. A very fine sweet lady. Grandpa Doodles had a twinkle in his eye always. When I first met Grandpa Doodles I mentioned that he reminded me of a leprechaun, a character for sure. Liked his Irish whiskey.......if I was pouring he would always remind me "make it neat dear".

And he always started a meal with an Irish blessing...........one I remember he repeated often.

Grant me a sense of humor, Lord,
the saving grace to see a joke,
To win some happiness from life,
And pass it on to other folks.

Grandpa Doodles also like to tell a joke or two...this is one I remember well cause he also like his martinis, those I never poured as I could never make them dry enough.

McQuillan walked into a bar and ordered martini after martini, each time removing the olives and placing them in a jar. When the jar was filled with olives and all the drinks consumed, he started to leave.

"S'cuse me," said a customer, who was puzzled over what McQuillan had done. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing," he replied, "my wife just sent me out for a jar of olives."

Happy St Patrick's Day to all the Irish out there......and Grandpa Doodles here's to you.

At my age

I have come to realize I don't need a lot a schtuff.

I recently celebrated a birthday. So Mr Doodles, being the kind soul that he is asks me every year what would you like for your birthday? Well my answer this year was nothing really. We live in an RV and travel so needs are small. Oh I could have said a day at the spa...nah, I like to do that with sister and niece.

Well the birthday went like this, a hike in the morning, back for a shower, off to do some errands, then a lovely lunch at a favorite restaurant in town, Mexican I might add.

During lunch I mentioned to Mr D that sister and I saw a bench similar to something that he is going to build for sister. He wanted to go and see it, which we did and he sorta nixed that and said what I could make would be better..HA!!! He's right I think.

Being near Target I thought we'd pop in and take a look around and I mentioned I would like to look at the vacuums. Ours is just not good enough for our needs. Don't ever take Mr Doodles shopping OK, he has to look at every unit, read all the information and then make his decision. While he did that I was able to go thru the whole store and pick up items I wanted and came back to where I left the dear man. When he put the vacuum of his choice in the basket I said BINGO!!!

We get to the checkout and as the young cashier rings up our purchases he turns to me with a smile on his face and says "happy birthday"......sweet cashier says "my husband better never buy me a vacuum for my birthday". Darlin I say it's not a big deal after 39 years of wedded bliss and 65 happy birthdays. When we left she was hysterical with laughter.

The day ended with the dinning on a wonderful hot fudge sundae at one of the very bestest ice cream I have had the pleasure of eating. They have wonder candy too, but if you are ever in Bakersfield check out Dewars

Oddly enough they don't have a web site that includes their ice cream but this one is for the candy products

So all and all Mr Doodles done good, gotta love a man that takes ya out for a hot fudge sundae.

It has come to this???

Desperate homeowners.........

Yes I know they committed a crime and what these people have done is wrong really wrong. But what in the world is going on to drive the folks to do something of this nature. I know what is going on I just don't know why it has escalated this far.

Sounds like the 'Feds' are gonna cut interest rates again, thereby driving down the $ as well as driving UP the cost of a barrel of the all so precious oil.

This definitely needs your attention

I don't know how these families get thru the day.

If you watch this please turn on your sound.

Watch this tribute to military wives

Keep these families in your good thoughts and prayers.

Need I say more......

You say Chickens

and they say Silkies.......Oh my word when sister was visiting this past weekend we started our day at the poultry show at the fairgrounds. Don't ask why I have NO idea but it was interesting to say the least. Come to find out these creatures are treated likeany other show animal. Some of them are blowed dried and fluffed.

Here are a few of the furry creatures we viewed. I know kimmy this would not besomething that you would enjoy HA!!!!!!!!


After the Poultry Show we found our way to a few of our favorite antiquing haunts. And low and behold we discovered that there was a glass collectors show that same weekend. How lucky could we be.

I was lucky enough to receive, from sister, a beautiful piece of Heisey glass...as a birthday gift...Woo Hoo thanks again sister. We both collect Depression glass to we ooooh and ahhhh'd all day. Sister also got a couple a bargains at the collector show.

Sister also gave me the nickel tour of Bakersfield and where to go and more important where not to go. That to me is worth a LOT!!! Thanks sister it was fun.

Parade Magazine

In the Sunday paper most of you get a supplement called Parade Magazine. Often it has mostly not necessarily meaty topics. However this morning I came upon the column of Marilyn Vos Savant where she invites readers to send her questions. I am not promoting her column whatsoever. I found this quite an interesting response and a cause to make me wonder. In your opinion, what is the best barometer of a country’s morality? The esteem in which society holds its elderly.

Do we revere our elderly... I wonder... and hold seniors in this country to our highest esteem? I know other countries and cultures do but I am quite hesitant to say the US does. As a side note there is a quite elderly gentleman running for President in this years election

If the answer to that question is true I think our barometer needs a bit of adjusting or tweaking

I heard someone the other day say that the elderly are a drain of the medical system. Are you kidding me!!!

Maybe the elderly in this country should demand more respect. What happened to Gray Power?!?!?!?!!! Just remember senior citizens VOTE!!! And no I am not referring to Mr Doodles and me. So stay tuna'd there be more on that subject

Thank you Seester!!!

for telling us about the Blossom Trail Any of you that live in California, if you haven't been to that area now, right now is the time to go and visit. If you are planning a trip to California make this a stop on your travel agenda.

This is just one of many peach blossoms just bursting with color

Time to see this most awesome area would be now to some time the end of May. So get in your car and get there cause you will not believe the site you will see. Go click on that site the Blossom Trail as there is something for everyone.

In bloom were, peaches, plums, all the assorted nuts like almonds and pistachios. And grape vineyards for miles, literally miles. Must be why Sunmaid Raisins only plant is in the area.

I will be posting photos over on my photo blog

In the meantime here are just a few to wet your whistle.

The OH so beautiful snow capped mountains that borders this agricultural valley.