4th of July

We shot north from Vegas to Sparks NV to spend the 4th with our niece, her fiance and kids. His Hawaiian family was there for dinner and we had a wonderful time meeting them all and enjoying the traditional foods they brought.  And, no, they had nothing w/ Spam in it. Naturally, I had to have a little fun with that and the ladies all took it in good stride.  Tap the photos to see them all.

Bozo does the red, white and blue

The flag cake

Lani led the other kids in decorating the cake as a flag.  50 blueberries for the stars, raspberries and strawberries for the red stripes.

Packaging leftovers

Brandon, Tasmine & Cathy cleaning up after the feast and ensuring that Brandon's family take some of the leftovers home.  

Family shot

For the official record you gotta have one.  Tasmine, Micah, Lelani and Brandon.  The Nevada contingent.

Tasmine, my niece, now lives in Sparks with her fiance and son.  Her daughter is spending the summer with her mom.  It's quite a change from her home in Virginia.  Just about as hot during the day, but drier and the nights cool down out here where they really don't back east.  

Brandon's Hawaiian mom and aunts came with traditional foods.  Slow roasted pulled pork, chicken and rice noodles, Hawaiian macaroni salad and poke.  Brandon's uncle Ray made some fresh at the house and Brandon had several cartons that he gets locally from San Francisco.  Great food and times with his family and his nieces.  It was a great way to spend the 4th.  Kind of shows how that Sun City bigot and his ilk completely miss the mark about folks.  Limiting contact and friendships with other peoples cultures make you a smaller person.

We're now in Klamath Falls, OR for a couple days.  Gives us a chance to do a little laundry and go back to Crater Lake for a day before heading on to Portlandia to see a friend and then Richland, WA for a quick trip to Sleeping Dog Winery in Benton City and Cultura in Zillah for our spring releases.  We should have enough time to swing by Destiny Ridge and hit the Alexandria & Nicole winery for a quick tasting at the vineyard tasting room.  

Entering California

Just crossed the Oregon line

The welcome sign was no larger than a speed limit sign and at speed we were unable to get that shot.

Real trees

For the first time in weeks we see full size pines again.  These are wild trees in mountainous terrain, not the farm variety in Louisiana.

We feel like we're getting close to finishing.  We drove through familiar forests, they look like the east side of the Cascades.  Northeastern CA is really different from the more familiar areas in the Napa and Sonoma valleys.  It's cowboy country.  Made me think of old series, The Big Valley, these basins should be where, if it wasn't, it should have been produced.  

We are staying at the Maverick Motel in downtown Klamath Falls.  A real deal for travelers that we found a few years ago when we needed a place near Crater Lake since you need reservations at least a year in advance to stay at the lake lodge.  Clean, inexpensive and nearby restaurants.  Tonight we'll eat at the Basin Martini Bar rather than the brewpub next door.  

Maybe I'll have something tomorrow from the park, maybe not.  I figure you can't complain because you get this gratis.

Ciao for now.