Last day in Lone Pine

Yesterday was a beautiful day!  Jim, Della, Ted and I took off in the morning for breakfast at the Alabama Cafe.  We had eaten there when we were here last year and they really have good food.  I had cinnamon roll French toast that was delicious.  They actually use one of their home made cinnamon rolls cut in half to make the toast...very good!

From there we headed up Whitney Portal to show Della the view.  When we were there the day before the snow did not make it down the mountain to where they close the road but yesterday it was at our level!  In fact, Della tossed a snow ball to me!

There was quite a bit of snow on Mt. Whitney.  When we got here there wasn't a lot but on Monday night that all changed.  We were there on Monday and then again on Tuesday and there was a big difference in the amount of snow.  On Monday we couldn't even see the top of the mountain!

After we left Mt. Whitney we drove the "Movie Road".  100's of movies and shows were made in the Alabama Hills of Lone Pine.  Fatty Arbuckle in a silent movie was one of the first cowboy films to be made in the area.  Movies such as Gunga Din, Bad Day at Black Rock, Sierra Madre, Around the World in 80 Days and so many more.  There were cowboys such as Gene Autry, Tom Mix, The Lone Ranger, Hop Along Cassidy, John Wayne, Gary Cooper and more.  There were also such actors as Kirk Douglas, Spencer Tracy and Errol Flynn.  More recent movie credits include:  Tremors, Gladiator, Star Trek Generation and Iron Man.  This list of movies and actors is quite impressive!  When you drive around, there are only the rocky areas to be seen, there is nothing left of the sets.

After we left the area we went to the Movie Museum.  They have tons of posters, costumes, saddles, cars and other miscellaneous props from the movies to see.  There were a costume designer called "Nudie" who has his big convertible Cadillac on display there.  It is decked out with guns, steer horns and more!  If you check out the museum web site: http://www.lonepinefilmhistorymuseum.org it is quite interesting.  They have a listing of the movies/actors that were made here in Lone Pine.

It's a fun museum to visit!

Also while in town we visited the local hardware store.  I have never been in one that has everything imaginable as this store.  Every square inch of space is used up including the ceiling!  And the best part, the man knows exactly where everything is you need!  It is overwhelming!

Tomorrow we leave this beautiful area and head over to Death Valley to meet some friends.  We will be there from March 1st departing March 7th!  We have not had cell service in the past so may not have any postings for a week!  From there we are going over to Las Vegas for a couple of weeks so will get caught up on blogging!

Enjoying the local color..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Enjoying the view in Lone Pine

Driving from Fresno to Lone Pine I took a couple of pictures of these beautiful trees.  They were pink and white blossoms.  I posted them on Facebook and Judy Bingham let me know they are almond trees and told me they really smell good!  They were sure pretty!

We arrived in Lone Pine Saturday afternoon.  We blew in with a good tail wind!  Since diesel is so expensive, every little bit helps!  It is really pretty here.  We have the Lone Pine Mountains and Mt. Whitney on one side and a dry lake bed and mountains on the other.  There is still a little snow on the mountains.  Sounds like they may get some more this afternoon or Wednesday!   It was sunny and about 72 degrees when we arrived but Sunday morning it was 32 degrees but very sunny and pretty!

Our friends Jim and Della arrived Sunday afternoon.  After they got set up they came over and we shared some wine, dinner and a card game!  Della was the big winner!

This morning the clouds rolled in and the scene was a bit different looking!  Same view, same time, different day!

We are staying in today, weather is not cooperating.  It's a bit windy, cold and cloudy!

Enjoying the mountains..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Off to Lone Pine!

We've enjoyed our visit here in Fresno. Yesterday we had lunch with Craig. Claire's mom and dad were going to join us but Ernie had to go to a client's so they had to cancel. After lunch I got my nails done and went home to make cookies! We were having a pizza party at Craig and Claire's and thought cookies would make a good dessert! The problem is me! I have a little mixer and I was using my finger to get the butter unstuck from the tiny little blade. With my other hand I hit the on button by mistake. Fortunately it only took a chunk out of my nail and not my finger. Needless to say, we didn't have any fingernail bloody cookies and back to the nail place I went for a repair!

We brought pizza and salad from our favorite Fresno pizza place to Craig and Claire's. Stephen and Marissa came and we had a fun visit with the kids! They always make me laugh!

This morning it's pretty windy. We should have a nice tail wind over Tehachapi Mountain. We are headed to Lone Pine. Meeting our friends Jim and Della there for a pre-Death Valley party!

Pizza with family..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Visiting Craig and Claire!

Last night Craig texted me that they were heading home about 9:00 if we wanted to come see them and the progress they have made on the house! Of course we did. They are only 10 minutes from our campground. We had gotten a special 2002 bottle of Silver Oak Cabernet so decided to give it to them as a house warming gift. We had gotten it a couple of years ago for graduation from law school but they both enjoy a good red wine so were happy to give it to them.

We love what they have done with the house. We didn't take pictures since it was late, but we will! They have done a lot especially considering they both work full time and go to law school full time! They took up all of the flooring, tile and carpeting in the house and put in wood flooring with carpeting in the bedrooms. They have painted all the rooms and ceilings, walls and doors. They had the kitchen cabinets painted, granite counter tops, new sink and refrigerator. Craig has changed out most of the lighting himself. The master bath had all this pink every where and they put in a cool tile floor and painted two walls a charcoal color with a black crown moulding. Will take pictures tomorrow night!

Today we have shopped for our Death Valley trip. I can't believe I fit it all in the refrigerator and cabinet!

Seeing the kids...Ain't Life Grand!"

Fresno!

We made it to Fresno this afternoon and have great internet service.  It's going to be a quick trip here to visit the kids and get ready for our Lone Pine/Death Valley trip with friends.  Unfortunately we are on our own for dinner tonight...meaning I'm cooking!  The kids are all busy.

We may not get to see Craig and Claire's new house until Friday night because they both work all day and have school four nights a week.  We are excited to see what they have done with their new home!  Pictures will be posted!

I've been enjoying my new camera.  It has a better zoom and faster shutter speed than my old camera.  I've been playing with it but just downloaded the manual to learn more about it.  I have been taking some pictures this week:

 Jeri, Mallorie & Trent

Trent, Gina & Mallorie 

Della and the frog she kissed!

 Otay Lake

 Otay Lake

 The Dukes baseball team:  Trent on far right!

 Big Bear!

 Tehachapi Mountain (light snow)

Tehachapi

Ted and Max got stuck being my subjects when I first brought the camera home.  Max didn't care that I was taking a ton of pictures of him, but I think Ted got a bit tired of it!

Cartoon of Ted (and he's not happy about it)!

Max is big news!  Came out a little blurry!

You can put two pictures together:  Max tearing up his toy & Ted not happy about it!

Having fun with my new camera..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sunshine and baseball!

This morning was baseball. Trent's team didn't do to well but they tried hard. We had breakfast at Cafe 67 in Lakeside with Stach and Jeri. We are headed home because it got colder than 35 degrees so it shut off and wasn't warm enough to come back on before we left. Unfortunately it won't come back on by itself! I have to call the manufacturer on Monday.

Yesterday we went to the Red Door for dinner with friends Bill and Jany. It was fun catching up with them and a great dinner!

We leave here Tuesday headed to Fresno to see the kids!

Kids baseball..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Happy belated Valentines!

We had a nice Valentine's day with our friends Jeri and Stach. Lunch and casino time at Barona. Visited with their grand kids, a fun day. Ted got me a new camera. Can't wait to be able to post pictures. Just don't have enough bars down here at Pio Pico.

Running errands today..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Catch up Blog!

I'm way behind in blogging!  We are still in San Diego at Pio Pico and have a little cell/internet service.  We can text and we can do some internet stuff!  Can't open large files and everything is very slow.

Our slide seems to be fixed and we are thankful for that!  We've been visiting with friends, movies, cards and great dinners. We saw the movie the Descendants the other day and enjoyed it.  The scenery and music were really beautiful.  I didn't care for the kids in the beginning but by the end they won me over!

Yesterday we visited friends up in Rainbow.  Our friend Sally bought a house up there and we met friends David and Carol and their daughter Sophie and her friend Maddie.  David barbecued steak, ham and vegetables for us.  It was a fun visit and to see the progress Sally has made on her property. Shes got her plants and vegetables started, a couple of her horses housed, some rescued chickens and her sweet lab, Mac!  

Today we are going to hang out with Max at the campground!  It's cloudy and seems like a good day to stay home.

We will be in San Diego until the 21st and then we will be going up to Fresno for a couple of days to see how Craig and Claire's house is coming along!

Relaxing at home..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Slide issue is finally resolved!

On Thursday the parts came in for slide out. Finally at 3:00 on Friday Dave tries to bring in/out the slide! It's about 1/4" to tall. Apparently they changed the rollers after 2006! So off to Pio Pico we went for the weekend. Of course on the drive there the slide fell into place! And of course we couldn't get it out. Long story short, we came back today and they have resolved the problem while we went over to the Galley and had a nice lunch with Jeri and Stach! And even had a Mimosa!

We are heading back to Pio Pico. Park is really full so we will have to get on the crossover list. Will not have Internet or cell until we move to south side, if then!

Happy to have slide fixed.. "Ain't Life Grand!"

Pio Pico?

We hope to be at Pio Pico some time this afternoon.  They have the rollers replaced and have fixed the bottom of the slide that the rollers damaged and are working on rebuilding the box that holds storage and our bed!

Pio Pico is pretty full with snow birds and a big billiards tourney that is going on.  This means we will be on the north side without sewer until we can cross over to the south side, probably Monday or Tuesday!  We will also have little or no cell/internet service so be patient with us if we don't answer calls or emails right away.  We usually go out every day so I check my email and we both can return phone calls and texts.  Ted checks his email on the computer so may take longer!

I did the blog over my phone the last couple of times so couldn't add pictures so thought I'd add a couple now!

Della and Susan at Snooze (home of the former Corvette Diner).  Ted and Jim are in the next picture.  Very good restaurant, highly recommend it!

The very old Banyon tree in Balboa Park, over 100 years old!

Spent the afternoon strolling through Spanish Village after our delicious lunch at Snooze!

Being back in San Diego..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Having fun in San Diego!

On Sunday we went to see the play "Eternal Reach" at Horizon High School. Our friends' Jeri and Stach's son directed the play. Tony has been involved with drama since high school and has donated time to Madison High's drama dept. It was an intense play. He really got a lot out of the four kids that were in the play. They have been asked to bring the play to other venues. We are very proud of Tony and the kids!

On Monday we brought the RV to get the bed slide fixed. We are "parking lot camping" until probably Friday!

On Tuesday we met our friend Peggy for a movie and dinner. We saw the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. It is very intense, but I enjoyed it. The books were rely good.

Today we met our friends Jim and Della for lunch. We went to Snooze. I didn't know that the Corvette Diner moved to La Jolla and Snooze took its place. It is really cute and the food is really good. I had red velvet pancakes! They were delicious! After lunch we stopped by Bread and Cie and brought home dessert! Next we went over to Balboa Park and walked around Spanish Village. We looked in the shops, enjoyed the beautiful weather and walked off some of our lunch!

We left Jim and Della, fed and walked Max and then took off for Horizon High School. The basketball coach had heard Mallorie (Jeri's granddaughter) sing at her school talent show and asked her to sing the National Anthem at the start of the Varsity team basketball game! She was very nervous and had a small problem at one part, but really did a beautiful job! We were really proud of her! After she sang we watched a few minutes of the game and then we went out for Chinese food!

A beautiful young woman singing the National Anthem..."Ain't Life Grand!"