Day 2 part 1 of backpacking

Okay yesterday I told you we could not get a hold of my friend Joanie. We finally looked in the phone book and found her home number. I called it and she was so excited and invited us to breakfast. As we walked out of our room we saw nothing but hot air balloons all around us. The party animals were the ballooners.

They were everywhere and so close we could hear the "fire" coming in and out. Jessie and I both agreed that though we both have always wanted to go on a hot air balloon it would be a cold day in hell considering our unreasonable fear of heights.

So off we went to go to Joanie's. She's 79 and looks exactly the same. I wanted to cry. And when i got out of the car she just gave me a big hug and told me the same. Because I'm fighting a full blown mid life crisis this made me feel so good. We had home made waffles with homemade maple syrup and we gorged ourselves. We then walked around to see all her horses, chickens, dogs and cats...yes the same old Joanie.

Here is Joanie with her son in law. She had several barns, a strawberry garden with the chickens and the scenery was absolutely lovely. She calls it Shasta View because off in the distance was Shasta Mountain. As I mentioned she is 79 and is still riding. Obviously she is still my role model.

This is Bounce. I use to ride her her great great great grandmother whose name was Honey Bee.

She was just getting over a little illness but seems to be fine now.

This is Rosie. She is a rescue welsh pony and oh so sweet. What a doll. I could not get enough of her kisses.

On top of all this excitement two of Joanie's three daughters came. These girls were my idles. We looked at all the pictures of "little Lisa" on the beach in her Miss America Bathing suit. We talked about all the mischief I would get into and they told me they could never get mad at me because I was just too cute (too bad that doesn't work now).

The other most amazing find was "the door". When I spent my summers on Middle Rance there was a door that all the "little" people got to be measured and weighed and all data was recorded on that door. Even baby horses were walked into the house to have their measurements taken. The one thing they took from that house when they moved was the door and my name was still on it. It was very emotional for me. Again these memories are the best in my life. My summers on Middle Ranch were so rich and full and I truly believe that was the one and only time I was truly at peace and truly happy. I could write a book of my summers there.

We left after a few hours of a lot of catching up and I promised I'd be back every year. It felt so good to still be remembered and loved by this family that took me in so my single mom could have a break. I will forever be in their debt and will hold them all so close and dear to my heart.

Day 1 Backpacking across the pacific northwest

I know I have been out of touch for a while but I was on the most wonderful vacation and I'm just getting back into the swing of things. I drove up to Salt Lake City to spend the night with my daughter Jess. On the day we went to her Culinary Arts School to get all the financial aid worked out and we got a tour of the place. WOW!!!! What a place. We then had a dinner with my dad's brothers (he is one of 8) and we had a great time. The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn and hit the road. We drove by the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats and then into Nevada. Nevada was mind numbing because there was nothing to see. Finally we arrive into Oregon where we drove down into North California to see a woman whom I love like a mother. When I was a child I would spend every summer on Catalina Island on a ranch in the interior called Middle Ranch. They raised Welsh Ponies plus the llama, pigs, goats, dogs, chickens and milk cows. Those were the greatest memories of my life. That's where I acquired my love of horses and all other four legged beasts. I haven't seen her since I was 15. Her name was Joanie and I always called her husband Daddy Doug. He passed a few years ago. She lives in Alturas California so that was our first pit stop. She left me her cell phone number and we left numerous messages but she doesn't really know about cell phones so I could not hook up with her so Jess and I got a hotel. We had a room that was right outside a wonderful veranda. So we decided to have a few margaritas and nachos. First of all they made their margaritas out of agave wine (?????) I asked if there was alcohol and she said yes so what the hell. However we wanted a second round but she informed us she already cashed out our check. I told her to make a new one. There was a lot of sighing but she came back with anew drink with the new bill and waited for the cash. WOW!!!! We walked back to the hotel and there were all these families with children hanging out at the table literally RIGHT outside our door. So we thought with kids and all they would shut it down early. NOPE!!! We waited a while then went out and there were even more people and now they are grilling right outside our door. I was tired and punchy so I got the giggles so it was hard to be discreet. We slept to the sound of these party animals all night. I will share with you the reason for all the hoopla tomorrow. In the meantime I have pictures to show you how close to our room they were. Alturas by the way is this little old western town that was wonderful.

This is the deck and if you will notice there is the grill

On top of the night just when Jess said it can't get any worse an old man walked out of his room in speedos and man boobs and that's when I almost fell over the deck. At that point I was done and Jessie had to put me to bed

Now you can see how close to our room the party animals were. Unbelievable. I don't think I've laughed that hard in years.

Day two will be posted tomorrow.