Christmas & New Years Eve Flyers

here are my flyers I have been working on this week for our Moose Lodge. so cute!

Links to the actual size see below.

http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/moose2284/moosechristmasparty2011.pdf

http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/moose2284/newyearsmoose.pdf

Extended Weekend, Lee’s Visit

Arrived home and Lee was here visiting Ev from Alameda. Later in the afternoon we went out for dinner to Robinson’s Rancheria.. Dinner was awful! YUCKY! Gambling was ok.. We had fun other than our lousy dinner. Lee won $150 or so.. He bought dinner.. When we got home we watched some TV shared some stories, etc.. Lee needed me to do some computer work for him, so I Sunday morning I got started in getting his labels and address book updated for him. He is President/Secretary/Treasurer for his Union’s annual luncheons 3 times a year. Guess everyone is too old to help..
Tonight I am cooking tri tip.. Costco with Baked Potato/summer salad/artichokes and garlic bread. That garlic bread has been spread a long way this weekend!! LOL
We invited our new friend Jimmie up for dinner too! She is a kick! and she is a very talented artist. She paints beautiful paintings! Very special lady.
Jimmie was thrilled when I called her to come up for dinner.. It’s nice to have a full table for dinner. We all visited for awhile before dinner, had a couple of appetizers some interesting conversation and then dinner..

Dinner with the Swesey’s VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After dinner we retired to the Living room and watched “Dancing with the Stars”..

Fun weekend with Sheri

I hadn’t seen my good friend Sheri in sometime..?? Probably July of 2010.. Of course talked with her many times on the phone.. I drove down to Sac on Friday. Arrived at Sheri' & John’s about 1pm.. Sheri helped me unload the car.. After that we hopped in her car to do a little shopping.. Filet minion for dinner Friday night and ribs for dinner on Saturday night.. not to mention we needed the ingredients/glasses for Martini’s!! wooo hooo! Seemed like it took us sometime to find the Martin Glasses! Ross didn’t have a thing and finally found them at Target.. Of course Target’s price was about 3 times as much as Ross.. Oh well.. Got back to Sheri’s, I started getting dinner ready. I was cooking for her this weekend and we were going to have a good time.. My time to spoil her!!  
We had asparagus/baked potatoes/garlic bread/sautéed mushrooms and Filet Minions. We picked out 4 really nice steaks at Costco.. Costco is the BEST! While in the midst of getting dinner ready, we got our Martini’s mixed and enjoyed them immensely!!  

When it came time to put the steaks on the barby, the barby was old and tired.. poor thing! It took about 45 minutes to cook our steaks to medium rare… I was grateful the steaks came out good.
Sheri and I did lots of talking and catching up.. We were like school girls sitting on the bed giggling and telling funny stories. It was nearly 1pm when we finally got to bed!
We were up not so bright and early on Saturday morning. A little rough around the edges… However I did get going and got breakfast going. We had mushroom/jack cheese omelets with garlic toast. uuummm…. then got our showers, dressed and out the door we went for a day of shopping..First we went to Lowes to buy a new barby!!! A must!! Bought the barb-q (it was all put together, thank God!) Dropped it off at Sheri’s and back out shopping we went! We found the new store Hobby Lobby in Roseville.. GREAT store! So much stuff!! Then did some shopping at Kohls and back home we came.
Dinner tonight was barb-q ribs..uummm.. with Rosemary Potatoes/asparagus/more garlic bread.. Dinner was delic!!! We had a couple of martinis while cooking dinner.. woo hoo! We were on a role.. We had such a fun time! John was pretty interested in his TV programs.. We visited here and there. He is always so gracious about Sheri and I visiting.. Thanks John..
I love my Sheri! I hope I got to spoil you enough!
Sunday morning I was up bright and early and ready to go by 8am.. However I needed to stop by Costco, well Costco doesn’t open till 10am.. Sheri fixed me bacon and eggs and then I was off..

Sheri’s VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Ernie & Shirley’s 2nd Annual Halloween Party 10/29/2011

 

Ernie & Shirley hosted their 2nd annual Halloween Bash! Music by John Zimmerman. E & S were the perfects Host & Hostess! Hor d’uerves galore! Great turn out and great costumes. Prizes for the BEST costume! Raffle prizes! We won the birdhouse Ernie made! It is a HOTEL for birds! LOL.. This is our second birdhouse from Ernie & Shirley! Thank you so much! They even had “favors” this year all of us.. They really have out done themselves this year!

 

Vasheresse Halloween Party VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Ernie & Shirley’s home is tastefully decorated with so may different gooling figures. Lights, spider webs, a grave yard, too many things to mention or remember!! Great Party!

Halloween at the Moose 2011

Great times were had by all at the Moose Lodge 2284 on Friday evening. The Animal Coalition held their 3rd annual Halloween Party at the Moose here in Clearlake Oaks. Donation of $20 covered food and dancing. The lodge was full of exciting characters! The majority of the patrons that evening were in the spirit and the costumes were fun and interesting. We all had a great time!

Halloween at the Moose 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Weekend of Fun

 

Got home From the North Bay about noon. Went down to the garden and picked what pumpkins and cucumbers were left in the garden. Took the pumpkins, cucumbers, peppers down to the Moose.  The pumpkins were for that evenings event, Founder Day.
Came home caught a few winks and then Ev and I went back down to the Moose for the evenings events.

Founders Day Moose Lodge VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We met a couple in Fall River Mills while we were camping at Hat Creek. To our surprise Glorianne & Stan called earlier in the week and said they were coming to Clearlake to camp. We took it upon ourselves keep them busy while they were here!! We invited them to the Moose for the dinner for which they graciously accepted and joined us there. We introduced them around to people we knew. They sat with us at dinner and enjoyed the festivities of the evening. Glorianne told us her birthday was the next evening (Sunday) for which we had invited them up for dinner. Well if you know me, you know we had to have a party! Invited Laura & Lee as well as Rob & Gayle. Everyone pretty much arrived around 5pm. Everyone enjoyed the view, which is gorgeous as you know. I had gotten everything prepared before everyone arrived so I could enjoy my company. Had a few Hors d’ouevres, some cocktails… Enjoyed a colorful sunset before sitting down to dinner.

Our menu consisted of marinated Tri tip, twice baked potatoes, steamed artichoke, tomato/onion/cucumber with Italian dressing with a bit of salt and pepper. Dessert with candles/a serenade to Glorianne of Happy Birthday and a homemade apple/pear with hot dam pie!

Glorianne Birthday Celebration VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

First Teaching Experience In 10 Years!

 

I am thrilled with the way my class at the Deer Park Independent living home went! My class consisted of 6 students. I successfully taught 4 to get their email accounts going!! YIPEEE.. I did loose a couple due to the fact that we only had 2 computers. I did break it down to 2 groups of 2. I had one on looker that had already gotten her email account and one that just lost interest. The evaluation sheets that I handed out were positive. I did learn a few things from my experience with this first class in 10 years. One, that I need my graphics LARGER in size that I have on my handouts. Two, really need them to have their own computers, such as a lap top or private lesson.. Three, hopefully they are familiar with the mouse.  Mouse functions are critical in using the computer.
I drove down to the North Bay on Wednesday and set up lunch with a friend of mine from High School, Helen. We met at Sweet River in Coddingtown. We had a nice visit catching up on old times as well as each others busy lives. It’s always nice to see someone from the past and keep in touch. Helen is fun and a very talented lady. She is a beautiful seamstress, quilter, etc.. Anything to do with sewing she can do it with ease.

My daughter Lindsy was able to get half a day off on Thursday, so we met at Coldwater Creek in Santa Rosa for lunch and a bit of shopping. We had a fun day shopping for the those great deals!!
I spent all three night with her and her family. Each evening we would gather together and share the events of the day. We would have a cocktail and then dinner. I always love being with all of them! Colin cracks me up everytime! He is just so funny!
In the morning before meeting Lindsy I was able to walk around downtown Petaluma and get some shots of the downtown area..

Downtown Petaluma VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The day of my class my sister Kim who is the activities director for the facility I did the teaching at drove me down. Kim was gracious showing me around the facility as well as introducing me to some of the residents and staff. Everyone was so great.

After the class was over Kim and I met Chris for lunch at Finnegan's in downtown Novato. Great hamburger, it was fresh instead of frozen. Great company what more could you ask for?!

After lunch Kim and I went to Northgate to do some shopping. She had some great “Kohls” cash to use!
We also visited Macy’s where I used to work many moons ago, looking for a familiar face at the cosmetic counters.. no one I knew.. I was sad.. I proceeded upstairs to use the restroom. I ran into one of my favorite people PAM GATTI!! Finally a familiar face! I said “Hello Miss Pammy!!” and she looked at me??? Then she recognized me!! We embraced each other and them proceeded to walk and talk and catch up a little before I had to leave. We needed to leave before the traffic. We shared a few stories and caught up a little, found out we are both on FB.. imagine that one? LOL.. That is great!

We got on the freeway and as we got closer to Petaluma there was lots of traffic.. yuck hate traffic. We made it to my sister’s from Northgate to Petaluma in about 50 minutes. Oh well. Kim and I had a couple of drinks talking about the event of the day.. Then she and I decided she should come to Lindsy & Chris and spend the night and have dinner with us.
We all sat around the table that night talking and having fun till about 10pm and then lights out.. It was a wonderful visit! I dropped Kim off at home before heading home on Saturday.

Computer Tutor

Check out my new Venture..
Click on the link below to view my curriculum>>
http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/computertutor/index.pdf 
 

Video Clip Mt. Burney

The following is a movie clip that Ev & I did of our ride from Mt. Burney.
The filming is very amateur however you will get the general idea..

WISDOM

Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed. Wayne Dyer

Our Friends at Hat Creek

We had a great time with our friends and new friends we made while on this wonderful adventure!
Our trip was planned for a couple of months. Some friends couldn’t make it, however they were with us in mind and spirit.. <<good one don’t you think? I am sorry they couldn’t make it, cause we really had a fun fun time!
Our friends Jerry, Sandy and doggie Benji… We also had Tony, Natasha and doggies??thinking?? awww?? Bella, Gus, Potter and Casey.. We were all together till Monday when Tony & Tash had to go, due to the rain and they were in a tent! DANG it! It isn’t suppose to rain while you are camping!
Then on Tuesday Jerry and Sandy had to leave as well.
We met new friends on Tuesday who had come in and parked right across from us!! Our new friends Paul & Bobbie and their doggie Bailey.. They are from Sunnyvale.
In the evenings Paul & Bobbie would join us around the camp fire and we would exchange stories of our adventures during the day as well as sharing stories of family and friends.. Just getting to know one another.. It was GRAND!

Our Camp

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Friends and our Puppies <>                                                                         <> VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

This is a great way to end the day!!

Top of the World! Mt Burney Lookout

We were out early this morning fishing, got our limit and planned a nice ride across the Hwy from our camp. Don’t remember the name of the road and had no idea where we were going to be that day. Until we started riding and on the sign was a named spot of “Mt Burner Lookout”. It was a 25 mile ride. The roads we would be riding on with the quads were all dirt and very well maintained! Better than most paved roads in CA… :) 
Seemed like we road for hours and we did. The scenery was serene, quiet the fragrant pines (smelled like Christmas) were so soothing.  We drove for miles and miles stopping on occasion to enjoy our surroundings. On the last leg of our journey up to Mt Burney Lookout, the road got steep and many switch backs as we climbed nearly 8,000 feet. As we were climbing we saw lots and lots of lava rock, I mean whole mountains of it! It amazed me to my wonder how this road was ever carved up to the top of this mountain. Apparently this dirt/rock road was carved back in the early 1930’s. Literally the road is over lava fields! Of course there were many places that the tall pines/forest lined each side of the road. When we did finally make it to the top and reached the ranger lookout station, we met Kim the ranger on duty that day. Her job was to over look this 360 degree forest area. You can see all the way to Mt. Shasta and as far as Mt Lassen! And then everything in between.. The whole valley was truly an awesome site. We could also see the Trinity Alps in the distance. However it was a bit hazy.. But we did get the general idea. We didn’t stay along time up on Mt Burney.. It was a bit cold and windy up there. How exciting it was to just see this incredible site! Felt like we were in an airplane.. Spectacular!! :)

Ride to Mt Burney, plus Fabulous Views of the Valley VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Does a “Bear” shit in the Woods?

Having a GREAT adventure at Hat Creek, CA

We are having a such a wonderful time here at Hat Creek, here in Northeastern CA! Our objective is fishing, outdoors, friends and quad riding. However we did have some “rain”.. Can you imagine” “Rain” while you are camping? It is horrible! WET, MUDDY, COLD, YUCKY all the way around! Rain is ok when you are at home and can  look out the window at it! We are just happy it only lasted about 12 hours total..
Seems like Hat Creek (Hereford Ranch Campground) doesn’t have many people/campers here.. It is a nice campground with all the amenities.. and it is clean and green!
We have had some “fellow campers” while here.. Tony & Natasha and their 4 dogs.. Jerry & Sandy Edgington with Benji (their dog) and of course us..

Hat Creek Camping VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Monday we took a ride by the Pit River up to Fall River Mills and went through Museum there.. Very interesting… We met Stan & Glorianne.. They run the Museum there. Glorianne has written many book about the Indians and History of this area.. Great people Stan & Glorianne.

Pit River/Fall River Mills VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We took a ride to McCloud River/Res.. today.. about 60 miles north of us here at Hat Creek.. Great road that Hwy 89 north.. pretty much better than I-5 north! We enjoyed the scenery very much.. WE took the day checking out the McCloud area.. I am sure it will take much longer than a few hours to explore the area.. However I do believe we will have to come back and explore it much more.. Looks like a nice secret someone has been keeping!

McCloud Area VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Fishing has been pretty good while here. We have been trying to go out every morning. Some morning are earlier than others.. Seems as though if we get there early we get more fish, later we still get fish, however it varies on the amount of fish caught. Earlier is better/faster, later there are fish. Maybe not as many or as many in a shorter amount of time.?? uummm…
Most of our group have left us.. Tony & Tasha  left us early on Monday, due to the rain.. Jerry and Sandy left us on Tuesday morn.. Jerry had a DR’s appointment on Wednesday..

We are making the best of it however.. We went fishing this morning (Wednesday 10/12) didn’t do the best?? Caught only 2 between Ev and I.. oh well.. Rushed back to camp and got the fish cleaned.. ate breakfast.. made lunch, loaded the quads and off we went for a day’s ride.. 50 miles back behind us here at the Hereford Ranch..

Hat Creek Rim Ride 10/12/2011

 

While it seems as though I got all our photos loaded here to the blog about our trip to Hat Creek, seems as though I forgot our ride at Hat Creek Rim with the quads and the dogs. Our ride was beautiful that day as well. The weather was sooooo perfect! We packed a lunch and packed up the dogs too! They always love a good quad ride. Usually their ride consists of about 15 to 30 minutes. This day they were lucky and we road all day, about 50 miles. As the day wore on I could tell they were getting antsy..
However they weathered the day as real troopers! Kaylee standing in front of Ev with her nose pointing straight ahead standing firming in front of him, slipping from time to time.. Thank God Ev was there to catch her! She loves the wind in her face!
Ripley my little munchkin and his crippled little leg was perched in a “front” pack I was wearing. His nose pointed in the air too smelling all the great smells! On ocassion had to do some “adjusting” cause he would tend to slide over to the right a bit. All in all it was a wonderful day for them both! as well as us!~ We too love the fresh air in our faces!
We rode south on the rim and beautiful views of the Hat Creek Valley below. Picturesque shots of Mt Lassen! Forests of trees as we road along the gravel roads. In all honesty I do believe that those gravel roads are in much better shape than most CA highways! At least they didn’t have “pot holes”..
We would follow signs to different lakes/reservoirs and it seemed we were too late in the year to find water in them. However I found it quite ironic when we were looking for “Government Lake” and it was completely “dried” up.. Imagine that?? Coincidence?

We covered a lot of ground that day. We even found someone had cut some firewood, just the right size we needed for our fire later that evening, so we packed up the quads and tied it all on with bungees..
We ate lunch at the top of the rim where the hang glider pilots glide off.. Gorgeous views of the valley and Mt Shasta.. Great day!

Ride on Hat Creek Rim VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

New Camera Panasonic Lumix 16x full HD

After last weekend my total camera failure had to purchase a new on at Costco. Seems as though I got a good deal? Who knows these days?
However, I am happy with the pictures so far..
We are planning our trip for Hat Creek on the 7th of October and wanted to be sure I have a camera that is functioning well.. Good idea huh? I took some shots off the deck the other evening of the sunset. The sunset wasn’t a great as some we get here, so you will have to judge for yourself.

Sunset at Clearlake 10/1/2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Friday & Saturday were tough days for me. I have a tooth that is giving me so many problems. I do believe that I will have to have a root canal. YUCK! However I will only have to suffer a few hours and instead of a few days or weeks! I made a trip to the emergency room on Saturday.. Felt so much better when I left the hospital. It is amazing what a little bit of “toradol”, “antibiotic” and Benadryl will do for ya! Also some prescriptions for future pain and inflammation. Much better I am sure.. This week root canal.. Lord, that will be at least a $1000, have no insurance for dental.. Dental is such a “RIP”!
BTW if dentists weren’t such “shysters” our medical would probably cover it.

Here are a couple of photos of a beautiful Gerbera Daisy that is growing in a barrel on our deck..

Pleasanton, CA.. Fun with George & Carol

George & Carol are the host/hostess with the MOST “ESS”!!

August 2011

Fun weekend with C & G travel VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We were so blessed to have made such great new friends.
When we arrived that late Thursday afternoon, Carol & George had dinner in the making. While we sat out on the beautiful patio listening to the soothing waterfall sipping hand made margaritas! George squeezed the limes! No mix for this guy! Our Host & Hostess were very gracious the whole weekend! I was the caddy while they all played golf on Friday. Saturday they chauffeured us to the fabulous farmers market! Where we bought some luscious fruits and veggies! From there we all went to play Bocce Ball! It was so fun! Sunday George chauffeured us once again to San Francisco and all around! Took us to a most delectable dim sum restaurant on Geary/22nd “Ton Kiang”.. From there, there were no boundaries! Off we went Presidio and over look of the Golden Gate Bridge. Over to China Town, Cruised “Bridge to “Bridge” as we munched on fresh baked sour dough bread. George then surprised us all and took us to the Mark Hopkins Hotel where we proceeded to go to the “Top of the Mark”, where we indulged in a couple of martinis.. The view could have been better. The fog was a key problem in seeing too much of anything. We had such a fun packed weekend! Thanks you two!

Swesey Adventures April thru June 2011

Be sure to check out the link to
this truly phenomenal adventure!

**Swesey Adventures April through June 2011<<click here**
Follow our travel!
http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/2011/swesey_adventure_2011/index.html

Here are couple of other link that might interest you..
One is all my Christmas Newsletters for the past 12 years.. You can see how Ev and I lives have progressed. Exciting stories of family and friends.
MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY NEW YEAR
NEWSLETTER 2010/2011
http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/2010/christmasnewsletter_2010/index.html

Another GREAT place you might like to visit is my recipe page!! Some great and easy recipes!!
Recipes
http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/recipes/index.html

Ocean Cove for Ab feed! September 22-25 2011

Another great get together at the coast for one heck of an great time! All thanks to Mike & Mary Ann Mohoff! We get to see some of the same friendly faces as well as some new ones! Its always so fun to be with you all!! Our weather this year was over all pretty good! However the rain Sunday morning was not as bad as last year! Rain in California? What is that all about? <<laughing
My camera totally died after Saturday morning. However I did get a few shots in. No photos after Saturday morning, so I didn’t’ get any of the abalone feed that we had more than 30 people! And I got no photos of the wonderful dinner! I didn’t get any of Charles & Craig nor Tracy or Lyndon.. DANG!
It was uncertain if were going to even get abalone this year, due to the “red tide”. The Sonoma Coast was effected tremendously killing off more than 30 percent of the population. Other counties didn’t get hit as hard. There is talk that the Sonoma Coast may get shut down for Abalone for as long as 10 years! Pretty sad. In spite of the scare that we may not get the abalone everyone still came out to enjoy the festivities, all that GREAT food!! YUMMY!!

 

Ocean Cove with the 151 Dive Club/Mike & Mary Ann Mohoff VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL