We spent a few more days at Lake Cachuma finishing out a really fun week there. We left on Saturday, March 26th and drove south for some good times with family and friends.
Benny & Sparky under the oak tree at Lake Cachuma
A visitor outside our RV
The burgers at “Hook’d” are so good that I needed one more before leaving the campground. Mark had the special of the day - a chicken sandwich. Yum!
Our lunchtime view of the lake
On Friday afternoon, Mark and I went to Teresa and John English’s home and from there Teresa and I went to Gainey Winery for a tasting while the guys went to Figueroa Mountain brewing for some beer tasting..
Always delicious wines at Gainey
We shared a snack plate, too.
I asked Mark to take a photo while they were beer tasting but he forgot. This was the best I could do to get a pic of Mark and John. They were working on the lawn in John’s backyard.
“Jameson” - the English’s little dog
John and Teresa were our neighbors for the first 25+ years we lived in the Santa Ynez Valley. They still live in College Estates. We took a walk around the block and I took this photo of the house we raised our kids in. Notice the tall dark tree on the right - that started out as one of those little Christmas trees in a pot many, many years ago!
We saw this cool “rainbow” in the sky near the setting sun.
Teresa set a wonderful table and we all enjoyed a scrumptious dinner including Chicken Parmesan. Thank you, Teresa and John!
On Saturday, March 26 we left the campground and headed south to Covina to stay once again with our gracious hosts (and sister and brother-in-law) Cheryl and Jack.
The mustard covers so many of the hillsides this time of year.
Yep, that’s us reflected in the back of a tanker truck.
On Sunday Cheryl hosted a most delightful Tea Party Luncheon for several of the ladies in the family.
We each got to choose one of these beautiful antique teacups to use for the day and then take home.
The tables were also set with antique dishes collected over the years from family members who are no longer with us. It was so sweet.
My mom’s pink stemware
Raggedy Ann and Andy joined us!
Spring is such a wonderful time of year for fresh fruit.
It’s extra yummy dipped in chocolate.
Centerpieces
Everyone had been instructed to wear their favorite tea party hat.
Alex posing with the dessert tower. This was made from my mother’s favorite dinnerware, “Desert Rose.” I have so many fond memories of holiday meals and family around the table eating from these plates. Jack drilled holes in the dinner, salad and dessert plates and Cheryl put them together so that each woman in our family would have a bit of Mom/Grandma/GG’s dinnerware. I know she would be so pleased.
My grand-niece Alivia and me
The Tea Party Ladies…
Cheryl, Laura, Helen, Alivia, Jennifer, Robin, Alex, Cindy, Claire, Ellie & Sandi
Alex rocking Sandi’s hat!
Pretty Claire
On Monday, March 28 Mark and I drove our little “Sparky” to Newhall to visit friends (and camping buddies), Bill and Janice Gibson. We left “Benny” at Cheryl and Jack’s and spent the night in Bill and Janice’s guest room.
We are always up for games!
Janice made a yummy dinner of oven-roasted burgers, rice and salad.
No get-together with Janice would be complete without a shared bottle of wine.
Janice introduced us to “pudgie pies.” I immediately went online and ordered a pie iron for myself. We will be making pudgie pies with the grandkids next week!
Here’s Mark with his turkey and cheese pudgie pie. They start with buttered white bread and you can fill them with anything from pizza ingredients to s’mores ingredients.
Bill and “Tuny” - short for Petunia
Janice and “Willow”
Robin, Mark, Bill & Janice on their front porch
We returned to Covina on Tuesday afternoon and played some more games with Cheryl and Jack before heading out to meet cousins, Susie and Jaime Carranza for dinner.
Playing “Five Crowns”
We met Susie and Jaime at “Legends Classic Diner” in Glendora
There were thousands of bottle caps plastered into the walls EVERYWHERE! We all tried to estimate how many there were but our attempts were futile. Notice the bottle caps in the walls near the soda machines.
The diner had such cute decor. This was one of many tiles around the walls. I especially liked this one!
Selfie time! Robin, Susie, Jaime, Jack, Cheryl & Mark
On Wednesday we left Cheryl and Jack’s home and drove south to Dan, Claire, Alex and Ellie’s home in Mission Viejo.
Ellie and I made a Rise Krispie Treat “cake” for Alex’s birthday.
Ellie and Papa hanging out
We had a little art session on Wednesday afternoon. Alex has so much talent! I should have taken a photo of Claire’s beautiful watercolor creations. She is amazing, too.
Driving with Alex and Ellie to dinner
We asked Alex to choose the restaurant for their (night before) birthday dinner. “All That Barbeque,” a Korean BBQ restaurant was their choice. So much food! What a great meal ~ we all had a lot of fun cooking our own entrees, especially Ellie.
Alex and Ellie got the biggest kick out of this short stop sign!
We returned home to light the candles and sing “Happy Birthday!”
Let’s eat!
Our grandpuppy, “Zinnia”
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Alexa Danielle’s 13th Birhtday
(Full disclosure - this photo was taken a few days earlier when they celebrated their birthday with friends.)
I picked Alex up from school on Thursday and we went out to lunch and then birthday shopping. Alex could have chosen any restaurant and yet they chose “Rubios!” The churros were tasty.
We had “breakfast for dinner” on Thursday before attending Alex’s school’s Showcase, aka Open House.
Ellie loves to cook and became an expert at flipping crepes.
Getting my Ellie to smile is always a bit of a challenge!
Alex at her school, La Paz Junior High, in front of an art display with her self portrait
Alex’s self portrait done in watercolor
Here they are with another school project.
Looks like we wore “Zinnie” out!
Dan & Alex off to work and school on Friday morning
I enjoyed taking photos of some of the cool flowers in the MiniMassie’s front yard…
On Friday morning Claire, Mark and I drove over to Irvine to visit Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Ang. We had such a nice time in their beautiful backyard chatting and enjoying iced tea and sweet treats.
Mark, Claire, Aunt Marilyn & Uncle Ang
My aunt and uncle love to remind me that I gave them a little sapling Japanese maple tree when I was a Girl Scout. I brought it to them from the Arboretum in Arcadia, CA over 50 years ago. It has really grown - so have I!
We left Dan and Claire’s home on Friday afternoon and drove to our niece and nephew’s home in California City to spend the weekend.
We met at Gloria’s Restaurant for a mucho delicioso dinner on Friday evening and then drove to Sandi and Dwayne Dempsey’s home for the evening.
On Saturday Sandi, Mark and I drove out to the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve State Park. On the way we saw some patches of poppies in the distance.
A poster in the Visitors’ Center
This was a stained glass window in the Visitors’ Center.
We asked a ranger when the peak poppy blooming period was and she said we missed it by about two weeks. There were still some very lovely flowers.
Our state flower
Mark, me and Sandi at the Poppy Preserve
Yes, as a matter of fact, it was quite windy!
There are several miles of walking trails through the poppy preserve.
Dandelions are so interesting close up.
Leaving the preserve we saw more clusters of poppies.
We finished our little adventure with a delicious lunch at The Lemon Leaf Cafe at the Antelope Valley Country Club.
Back at the house…
Sandi and Dwayne’s little dog, “Peanut” in her safe place
Mark is thoroughly enjoying Dwayne’s “ugly, man chair.” Or was that “ugly man chair?” LOL!!!
On Sunday we left California City and drove north to a Harvest Host in Hanford, CA.
Lots of pretty wildflowers along the way
We’ve stayed at several wineries with Harvest Hosts but this was our first time staying at a farm.
Love the name!
Here I am at our overnight site in the circular driveway in front of the 125 year old house.
Selfie in front of the house
We were greeted by “Luna.”
John Olivas, the owner of “Rancho Notso Grande” took us on a little tour of his farm. I rode in the back of the golf cart and held on tight.
John with one of his award winning fruit wines
I’ll admit this wasn’t the fanciest wine tasting I’d ever experienced but it was fun. The paper wine cups were just about right!
We did buy a bottle each of raspberry wine and peach wine as well as a frozen blueberry cobbler, strawberry jam and blackberry balsamic vinegar.
Selfie at the farm
There were a lot of pretty flowers on the property and I couldn’t resist taking a few pics.
Mark picked veggies for his dinner and I picked some gorgeous strawberries.
These were great with our steak dinner and so yummy on our oatmeal the next morning.
On Monday we continued north and checked into The Santa Nella RV Park for a two night stay.
Santa Nella is home to the other “Pea Soup Andersen’s” Restaurant. We decided to have dinner here on Tuesday night and compare the experience with the Buellton restaurant.
“Hap-pea” and “Pea-wee”
Mark checking out the menu
We couldn’t go home without a container of the yummy sharp cheddar cheese spread!
Our adventure will continue in the next week or so as we head to Kelly, Kyle, Andrew, Owenn & Wess’s home in Pleasant Hill to enjoy Spring Break with Kel and the boys. From there we will meet up with Dan, Claire, Alex & Ellie in Watsonville for a four night camping adventure during their Spring Break. There’s lots more fun ahead!
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