While Dick was in Incline Village, he walked along Lakeshore
Boulevard for about an hour; he took these photos of one of the park areas, and
some of the homes. Just a side note: most of these “vacation” homes are vacant
most of the year.
Tuesday was another beautiful day here, albeit very warm and
windy: gusts up to 35 miles an hour. We decided to go into Carson City (capitol
of Nevada) to see the Nevada State Museum. The museum is very interesting with
the exhibits covering everything from the early statehood of Nevada, to mining,
to Native Indian artifacts. (The Paiute, Shoshone, Washoe, and Walapai Indian
tribes had inhabited Nevada for millennia before Euro-Americans arrived in the
18th century, so the artifacts were particularly interesting.)
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| The Nevada State Museum above, and grounds below. |
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| The largest Lahontan Cutthroat Trout caught in Nevada's Pyramid Lake: 41 pounds |
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| Silver Service from the USS Nevada, made of 5,000 ounces of silver mined from the deep shafts of Nevada mines. |
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| I prefer this service; not so ornate. |
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| Nevada State Gemstone: the black fire opal |
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| Stairway leading to the mining exhibit below the museum main floors. |
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| Scale model of a mining operation using the square timber supports. |
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| See caption below. Unbelievable! |
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| These artifacts date back thousands of years. |
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| This beautiful basket was on a rotating display just inside the museum doors; there was nothing indicating where it was from, or who made it. The workmanship is exquisite, and the colors are simply brilliant. |
A bit of Nevada history: Nevada became part of the
United States with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo in 1848, with Mexico. It’s
interesting that Mexico had never established any control in Nevada; American
mountain men had arrived and taken up residency in Washoe (the early name for
Nevada) as early as 1837.
There was no governmental authority, so in 1851 some
50 cattle ranchers, prospectors and others drew up the “Washoe Code” to deal
with land claims, especially important with the influx of easterners moving
west to stake their claims in the gold and silver mines, and to fulfill their
dreams of owning cattle ranches. Religious tensions peaked when local Mormons
attempted to thwart the carnal life that threatened their lives so they sent
petitions of complaint to Washington, seeking assistance from the federal
government. Federal troops were sent to Utah in 1857, and the Mormons left
Washoe, heading to Utah to reestablish their way of life. This was when the
non-Mormons took over in Washoe and launched a move for separate territorial
status.
The early 1860s saw the end of the Paiute War (Pyramid Lake
War) http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-indianwarbattles-3.html,
the great Comstock mining boom of 1859 in Virginia City, and the coming of the
Civil War. The provisional territorial government led to the creation of the
Nevada Territory by Congress in 1861. Nevada became the 26th state
on October 31, 1864, after telegraphing the Constitution of Nevada to Congress
just days before the November 8 presidential election. (That telegraph was the
largest and costliest transmission ever by telegraph.) Statehood was rushed to
help ensure 3 electoral votes for Abraham Lincoln’s reelection and add to the
Republican congressional majorities.
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| Nevada 125th anniversary quilt |
Of course, Dick also found a few “ancient” motorcycles on
display, too.
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| Circa 1924 Excelsior-Henderson DeLuxe motorcycles |
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Wednesday was a laid back, do nothing day, although we did
ride our bikes around the campground for a bit.
We left the trailer in Minden, NV drove the truck to San Jose,
California on Thursday, to see our son, Scot, and his family, but not until
after we picked up Hollee and baby Anastasia in Reno, who joined us for the
trip. We drove 300+miles from our RV park to Reno, then through the mountains
of northern Nevada, to California’s central valley, through Sacramento and on
south to San Jose and the Bay Area south of San Francisco.
Our first evening with Scot, Mary and Schuyler, we had
dinner at Poor House Bistro, for some direct from New Orleans California Cajun eats. There we met
Hollee’s sister-in-law Natalie and her significant other Mauricio. We shared
popcorn shrimp, sausage rolls, sweet potato fries, blackened chicken and
crawfish over pasta, gumbo, red beans and rice. YUM! What a fun evening! Hollee
and Anastasia went home with Natalie, to spend the weekend with them and their
side of the Cummings’ family. (As a note, Hollee Cummings married David
Cummings, adopted by another family named “Cummings”, just so there’s no
confusion…)
We ran a few errands on Friday, groceries, washing the black
truck, etc. We kicked back the rest of the day, outside on their new hardscape
patio area. What a lovely area to relax! They even installed misters around the
covered area, in case it gets too hot. That evening Scot grilled chicken, while
I made oven-fried potatoes and salad. YUM!
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| Golden Torch Cereus Summer Cactus, after flowering. We missed it by just a day. |
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| Photo taken last year, before the new hardscape patio and fencing was done. |
I need to mention that Scot and Mary have a 2 cats and 2 large dogs,
Angus (lab-mastiff mix) and Josie (boxer mix). They are so cool—but BIG! We saw only 1 of the cats during our entire stay; the other is an outside cat and stayed hidden.
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| Doofus |
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| Angus, a lab-mastiff mix |
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| Josie, a boxer mix |
Of course, no evening would be complete without a game of Pegs
and Jokers, followed by Mexican Train Dominoes. Schuyler and I each won a game
of P&J; Dick wins at dominoes. Fun times!
Saturday was beach day, at Seascape Beach in Aptos,
California. It’s located on Monterey Bay, south of San Francisco. Beautiful!
There are miles of white sand, and it’s a perfect beach for dogs of every size,
shape and breed. Angus and Josie love it there, where they can run freely—and
they did!—and romp in the water chasing balls. They wore us out, just watching
them.
Here's a link to Angus and Josie at the beach.
Afterwards we headed to Regale Winery in Los Gatos,
California. Mary and Scot are members there, so we were able to enjoy a picnic
lunch and a bottle of wine while looking over the rows and rows of grapes.
Inspired by Italian landscapes and Old-World villas, the winery provides
colorful and intimate garden vignettes with beautiful fountains, a spiral herb
garden, outdoor fireplaces, a bocce ball court, and a traditional wood-fired
oven. The winery not only produces wine, but they also produce their Estate
Olive Oil, from olive trees that line the property. Vaulted travertine
ceilings, Italian fresco paintings, Venetian plaster and ornate fireplaces
provide a welcoming atmosphere in their second floor dining room, which opens
up onto a heated, open-air terrace with breathtaking views of the coastal range
and formal gardens. We lunched on specially-made sandwiches on artisan breads,
potato salad, chips—and chocolate chip cookies. YUM!
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| Scot and Schuyler |
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| Scot and Mary |
That afternoon Mary, Schuyler and I trekked to a local salon
for pedicures and manicures. Loved it! Afterward, we stopped at the local
grocery for makings for “make your own pizza” and salad. Hollee and Anastasia
once again joined us for dinner that evening. After they left we played 2 games
of Golf (1 6-card, and 1 4-card)—I won both! Woot-woot!
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| Even puppies get their doggie ice cream dixie cup treats. |
Breakfast at Park Place in the Cypress Hotel in Cupertino
was on the docket for Sunday morning. There were 8 of us for breakfast,
including Mary, Scot, Schuyler, Dick and me, and my niece Lindsay, her husband
Aaron and their almost 3-year old daughter Eva. We stuffed ourselves with Eggs
Benedict, Huevos Rancheros, a chicken and waffle sandwich, Cupertino Scramble,
breakfast burritos, and Eva had French toast. Oh, and LOTS of coffee! YUM!
We hadn’t seen Lindsay and her family for almost 2 years, so it was wonderful to see them again. They’ve been living in Menlo Park, CA for the past couple of years. Lindsay teaches at Sacred Heart Preparatory School in Menlo Park, and after 2 years with SRI International, Aaron recently took a job with Google Headquarters in Mountain View. Eva—well, Eva attends preschool 3 days a week during the summer, but will resume full-time preschool in the fall when Lindsay goes back to work. What a cutie! She’ll be 3 in August.
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| L to R: Mary, Schuyler, Aaron, Eva, Lindsay, me and Scot |
Our drive home from breakfast took us to a local market in
San Jose, where tri-tip steak was purchased, asparagus and the makings for
strawberries on angel food cake. Guess what was for dinner! Then Mary and I
took on the Dick and Scot for 3 games of Pegs and Jokers: guys: 2, gals: 1.
Sad…
That afternoon Natalie and Hollee’s mother-in-law Linda
dropped off Hollee and Anastasia for the evening, and after dinner Dick and
Scot drove them back to Natalie’s home in Morgan Hill, California, about 25
miles away. Upon their return Mary and I coaxed the guys into more Pegs and
Jokers: gals: 2, guys: 1. Woot-woot!
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| Schuyler and Anastasia |
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| Scot and Anastasia |
Our stay with Scot and Mary came to a close much too
quickly. We packed up on Monday morning for our trip back to Nevada. But first,
we drove south to Morgan Hill to pick up Hollee and Anastasia. By the time we
were fully loaded and hit the road, it was close to 9:30. Our drive back was
uneventful, and after a quick stop for lunch in Colfax, we were back in Reno to
drop off Hollee and Anastasia by 3:30. (By the way, the roads in California are
really rough—due heavy use and lack of repair funding. Glad we didn’t have our
camper with us.)
I wanted to let you know about my mom.
In May she had a series of small stroke-like episodes that landed her in the
hospital for evaluation. After a couple of days the decision was made to move
her to Interfaith Care Center in Carlton, Minnesota, for further care,
evaluation and therapy. Since then there has been a noticeable decline in her
memory and physical abilities. We’re so thankful she’s in a facility that can
provide the 24/7 care she needs at this stage. She would not be able to live in
her home now, and with her memory like it is, she is quite content to be where
she is. If you care to drop here a line or visit, the address is 811 3rd
Street, Carlton, MN 55718. Phone:
218-384-4258. We’ll be heading to Cloquet in August to meet with Ron and Rich,
to make decisions about continued care, the house, etc.
That’s it for this week. We hope this finds you well as we
head into the 4th of July weekend. Stay well, stay safe.
Hugs,
RJ and Gail
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