Stranded in Weed Ca. Sunsets in Quartzite

Thought i would follow our leaders post with a collage. And Dot I am not bored with sky watch Friday

This is what it looked like at Shasta Lake Yesterday before we got here to Weed Ca. We really expected a lot more.

Roads were good so we decided to stay the night here at the Motel/ Rv park as it was already 4:30 pm knowing we couldn't make it to anyplace before dark. Well not sure that was the right decision as this is what we had this morning. Along with very high winds about 3 am when we had to put the slides in.Princess having a good time in the snow, but she did look at me with a look of "are you kidding me? " You want me to do what out here?

BlackBird for the letter B

Yesterday we went to see the Castle Air Museum but it was closed . The lady said they close at 4 but it was way before that time so i guess not much business this time of yr to see all the planes there.But they did have this one out in front so took photos of it.
Check out the website for lots more information on it. Blackbir

Campfires & The Moon

One of the things we seemed to do most nights was sit by the campfire and also watching the different colors of the moon most nights An amazing site seemed to come up every night

Unwanted visitor the Coyote

A visitor this morning in our campground, These pesty things have been howling at night ever since we got here but i have never been able to see one till this morning, i guess there getting pretty brave to show up in the daylight. Warnings have been not to leave any pets on leashes outside unattended, i guess there getting pretty hungry and easy prey for unfortunate small animals around here.
Click on the photo to see better. There were two of them but i couldn't get them together.

We are leaving in the morning to head back home, does not sound very good from the weather report, snow and more snow, we heard that the Grapevine was closed due to bad weather. Not going to be going that way but from the looks of things I-5 doesn't look good so will have to keep checking with the weather reports as we head on home. Son called this morning and said that there was already 4 inhes of new snow from 9 am to 11 am and more snow coming all week long. Might take us longer to get home then 3 days.
Weather here this morning is rainy and wet with many puddles.

Sky Watch Friday

Took this photo night before last talk about a full moon.. The skies are fantastic here have gotten some really good sky watch photos

Now don't you think they look like there having a great time at Quartzite? Now this is what i end up sleeping with at night when its cold, they all want the bed.

A for Airplane

Sky Watch Friday

Just a few sites around Quartzite area .

Sunset @ Lake Havasau

Just thought i would drop a photo from the library that has Wifi connection.

1st day out

This is taken at Klamath Lake Or.
We are at Needles Ca we have been lucky to avoid all the bad weather. But now sitting here at gas station with them changing all our tires. Some of the tires had bad spots on them so better to be safe then sorry we are having them changed. Don't stop in Needles for gas its $3.99 for unleaded.
Going to try and send more photos later But have limited wifi service.

We are off

Hello everyone,
Well it is late and tonight we decided that we had better hit the road in the morning for the start of our month long vacation to Quartzite Arizona.
The weather report says that storms are coming in Thursday and Friday. We want to get over the passes before the storms hit. So have been frantically working this evening to get everything ready to go. Hopefully we will hit the road no later than 10 am .

I hope to be able to connect to Wi-Fi somewhere on our journey so will try to check in with you all, and hopefully have some great new photos to share.

Plow Works

Short clip about the history of the inventor of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works
Click on the photo to see the name . Click on the link to hear a short story about the inventor
http://www.wfyi.org/wvx/ai_1306.3.wvx

Quartz Crystal

Click on photo for larger size

A quartz crystal begins with a seed of one silicon atom and two oxygen atoms. With the right amount of heat and pressure this seed starts to grow by replicating itself in a network structure, known as a crystal lattice. Over time a piece of pure transparent quartz crystal is formed. In its natural state the crystal is angular in shape, always with six sides, tapering at the end to a point or termination. The tapered sides are known as facets or faces. One of these facets or faces will be larger than the others and is referred to as the main facet or face.

I took this photo at Peterson's Rock Garden this last summer with the grandkids.

Among the Lily Pads

Click on photo to see among the Lily pads.
Well it is time to get ready for our winter trip to Quartzite Az. Got the motor home all gased up tune of a $119.00. And oil change. still had two hundred miles before it needed it. Hard to believe we traveled almost 3,000 miles in Sept/Oct
So now i have to stock the fridge and the cupboards, but not with anything that will freeze yet, that will go in just before we leave. Which will be next friday or before, going to have to watch the weather report. Nevada is not keen on the idea of having to put chains on the motor home, which we have never done before. So far we have been lucky in not getting in much snow. We will be there a month. Looking forward to going. Sure hope its going to be warmer than last yr.

Tipis, Teepees or Tepees?

Although there are several spellings for tipi (also teepee and tepee), to the Native American of the Great Plains it meant one thing...home. In fact, tipi is the Lakota word for "living in."

The first nomadic peoples were drawn out onto the plains by the plentiful supply of the game animals. Their lifestyle was shaped by the constant movement and migration of the great herds of bison. They needed a sturdy dwelling that could stand up against the several prairie winds and yet could be dismantled at a moment’s notice to follow the drifting herds. They invented the tepee. Before the horse, the tepee was smaller than the sizes we are familiar with form historical photos. The smaller sizes can be attributed to the only available draft animal, the domestic dog. The Plains People refer to this period in the history as the “dog days”. The dog was used to carry all camp items including the tepee. The tepees used during this period was likely to be 12-14 in diameter. The dogs not only carried the cover the dragged the poles along as well.

With the coming of the horse, everything changed for tribes of the great plains. They were no longer limited to small swellings. They lodges grew in size, housing their families in more spacious quarters. Most commonly, tepees were made from the tanned hides of bison and sometimes elk. Young female cow buffalo were preferred. Their hides were not as thick as the larger bulls and older animals. The chore of building a tepee was no small task and was usually taken on by several women skilled at tanning

and constructing the dwelling. The entire structure was derived from the animal from which the skin provided the cover. Tendons were stripped for the thread. Bones were formed into the scrapers to flesh the hides and needles to sew it all together.

http://epa.gov/greatlakes/native/2001/diagram.pdf

Sky Watch Friday Sunrise

I took this on 12-13-07This last one i took this afternoon. There was an accident somewhere so there is lots of cars . Also do you see my light in the photo.I took the photo from my kitchen.

Dream Catcher

Dream Catchers

Dream catchers are one of the most fascinating traditions of Native Americans. The traditional dream catcher was intended to protect the sleeping individual from negative dreams, while letting positive dreams through. The positive dreams would slip through the hole in the center of the dream catcher, and glide down the feathers to the sleeping person below. The negative dreams would get caught up in the web, and expire when the first rays of the sun struck them.

The dream catcher has been a part of Native American culture for generations. One element of Native American dream catcher relates to the tradition of the hoop. Some Native Americans of North America held the hoop in the highest esteem, because it symbolized strength and unity. Many symbols started around the hoop, and one of these symbols is the dream catcher.

Dream Catcher Lore:

Native Americans believe that the night air is filled with dreams both good and bad. The dream catcher when hung over or near your bed swinging freely in the air, catches the dreams as they flow by. The good dreams know how to pass through the dream catcher, slipping through the outer holes and slide down the soft feathers so gently that many times the sleeper does not know that he/she is dreaming. The bad dreams not knowing the way get tangled in the dream catcher and perish with the first light of the new day.

Winter Wonder Land ABC Wed is W

La Pine Wonderland

Here is the last photo of our trip from last weekend ending at Sunriver Resort
this is the there roundabout. They just added this as i didn't know it was there, been awhile since we went that way. Well anyway i think the waterfall is all frozen over, but what a beautiful site it makes.

We decided to take a drive to our friends home in La Pine Ore
She wanted me to help her download a photo program. It is about 39 miles from Bend Oregon
It was such a nice drive to see all the snow. We have had snow, but only skiffs of it, so not sure if we will have any the way its been going. They keep saying we are getting it but nothing so far.
Would be nice to have snow for Christmas. But then it can go away.