Subject: G & M Travels 2011 #10
Hello Everybody,
I'm writing this on July 14th but have no internet so who knows when I'll be able to send it out. We're at
Mike's brother's house and Verizon never has worked here....and before that we were in other remote
places with no internet. Oh well.
At the end of June, when I last wrote, we were on our way to a reunion with Mike's two brothers, Roger
and Maynard. Along with Maynard's son, Patrick and Roger's daughter, Jennifer. The get together was
at the old family cabin near Lake Tahoe which made it all the more special.
What can I say? We all had a great me! The brothers hadn't all been together for fifteen years and
they really enjoyed one another's company. They stayed up half the night yakking and Mike was so
excited that he even forgot to make dinner, and we had to go out for pizza! Mike never forgets to cook.
Maynard brought a bunch of family photos and we all had a ball looking through them. Superman on
the roof is, you guessed it, Mike!
Mike and I spent a few days at beautiful Lake Tahoe in a couple different locations after leaving the
cabin. We drove up the west side of the lake, and I finally got to see Emerald Cove. The last me we
were here it snowed so hard we couldn't see a thing. The road was pretty scary and I can't believe we
drove it in a blizzard!
Anyway, we hiked down to Emerald Cove and enjoyed the views and the tourist
action.
We camped at a place called Sunnyside so we could go to the restaurant there and have the famous
deep fried zucchini...they're the best. We had them three different times!
Then we drove all the way
around the lake and headed over a couple mountain passes so we could be in a position to drive Sonora
Pass from east to west. This route has been a goal of ours for years and we were determined to do it
this year.
Like everywhere you go this year, the snow is late in melting since there was a ton of it! The rivers are
major full and running super fast and all the reservoirs are full. All the mountain passes are open now,
but a couple just opened recently. The passes that run over the Sierras are all beautiful and steep. We
have no problems going uphill, but downhill is a little nerve wracking. Trying not to burn up your brakes
can be a challenge. We're happy to have a stick shift but even that is not enough to hold back the
weight of our vehicle. And the people behind us are always so thrilled when we're chugging downhill in
first gear!! See the picture where the road is so steep that it just disappears?
We stayed a couple places on Sonora Pass. Our favorite is called Eureka Valley and it's on the west side
after the steep parts end. We got a great spot right on the river. We'd been here before and this was
the coveted spot. And we had tons of firewood, so all was well. It thunder stormed both afternoons that we were there, and we got a little rain, but it cleared up in me to see the sunset sky and to enjoy a
campfire. The river was blasting through the rock canyon and looked and sounded like a waterfall.
We stayed at a lake the last night before coming here to Roger's. Mike wanted to try out his kayak with
the litttle electric motor......he's been planning this for some me and felt he had all the kinks worked out
and was READY. Unfortunately, the campground was on a hill above the lake and it was interesting to
watch him dealing with the terrain. He did it though, and the thing worked. (Yes, Dave, I have video!)
So, he was a happy camper and expects to go fishing from this rig once he springs for a license in one of
these states we're visiting.
Our plan was to head north after the reunion, but we got a wedding invitation from Oliver (Mike's
stepson) and Natalie. The wedding was on the 11th in Berkley and we for sure wanted to go so it only
made sense to come to Roger's. So we could borrow his car and his sport coat! We didn't want to drive
our camper to Oakland, and we have no sport coats on this camping trip! And also, we needed some
help with some "repairs" and Roger and his friend, Denny, were very accommodating.
You don't even
want to know what Mike did this time!! Oh well, it's fixed. LOL.
The wedding was like another reunion and very fun. Leah (Mike's stepdaughter) and her family were
there and since we didn't get down their way this year, it worked out great. We enjoyed spending some
me with Oliver, who we hadn't seen for years, and getting to know Natalie better as well. The wedding
was beautiful and they were so cute together....very happy occasion.
I got lots of pictures of Mike with
his "kids"....and he's having another grandbaby in November...a boy!
We're hanging out here for a few days.....cleaning up the rig and visiting. Then we plan to head toward
Mt. Lassen National Park and are planning on visiting brother Maynard on our way up through northern
California.
Only definite plans we have right now are to be in Boise by August 5th to spend a week at Peter and
Isabelle's house. We're going to plant sit while they go on a bike trip. Hopefully it has turned summer
up in the northern states so we can hang out for a while.
Okay - I'll send this someday.......I miss the internet!!
Aloha, Gayle (and Mike, who is not sleeping. Who is, in fact, waxing the camper!) v
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