So long from the farm

It's time to head south and leave Minnesota behind in search of warmer weather. Before we go here's some final views of the farm

Not the farm but the three Millerings and their wives. Dad, of course, is in the middle

This is the farm house where I grew up.

The "farm boy" has to have some fun

A view south from the barn. Dad and Don have 160 acres of farm land

We leave tomorrow morning for Branson..... More from there.

On the Farm

We made it! We pulled into the family farm on Friday afternoon about 3:00pm. About a day ahead of schedule because of the weather across the country. A "white knuckle" trip for a lot of the way but we made it.

We parked the trailer at Don's barnside RV park and bistro. Enough travel for a while. The RV park has all the amenities including water, electricity and sewer hookups. Brother Don has done a super job of setting it up for us.

The weather is COLD! Spring in Minnesota is somewhat different than spring in Sacramento...... say about 40 degrees different.

On Saturday we took Dad for a airplane ride as a 90th birthday present. We saw the farm from the air as well as all the local sights. What a super time.

On Sunday we celebrated great niece Rachel's 5th birthday with all the family gathered for dinner and a party. A special evening included dinner, birthday cake and presents.


























This week is a week for celebration. Dad is 90 on Wednesday and loved ones are flying in from Seattle and Houston for the event. More reports at the end of the week. So..... for now ......send long underwear.... I'm freezing back here.

On the road again .....Part two

We spent a delightful evening Tuesday with our friend Pam after a easy drive from Winnemucca. It was great to see her again and catch up on everything. Wednesday morning dawned with light rain and a forecast that looked really bleak. So.... after much hand wringing we headed east on I-80.

This is what the canyon east of Salt Lake looked like from the front window of the truck. It doesn't look too bad except the road is covered in slick slush.

Part way up the canyon I had to use 4WD and from there on it was 25MPH and keep it on the road time.

We stopped at Little America about 150 miles east of Salt Lake for fuel and this is what the front of the truck looked like. It was totally covered in ice as was the front of the trailer. After the canyon event we did another 40 miles and ovenighted last night in Sidney, Nebraska. This morning it was on the road early and we are now near Omaha.

Tomorrow morning it's off to the farm... we should arrive there in the afternoon if we have no problems.

....... More from the farm later

On the road again

We left home Monday morning .... this is what we left at home. A gorgeous spring day after a weekend storm.

A short hour later this is what we saw.

And this! What a sight! 2 feet of new snow at the top over Sunday. The road was good and we spent the night in Winnemucca, Nevada

Today it's Salt Lake. The weather for the next two days looks a little shaky so we'll make a decision tomorrow morning to head East or spend a couple of days here.

San Diego in February

Greetings from beautiful San Diego. It's about 75 degrees and sunny with a light breeze.

We're down here to see Kevin and just enjoy the sun for a while.

Not much news here but we did go to the world famous San Diego Zoo yesterday.

And.... here's some pics just to prove it.













That's me after dinner the other night.

This is a girl I met at the zoo..... don't tell my wife








































These guys do business in high places.













Having a great time doing fun stuff. Off to Minnesota at the end of next month. More from the road then.

Lighthouse time

Up the road a few miles from Ano Nuevo is Pigeon Point lighthouse. Since we have visited lighthouses from here to Canada we just had to stop in and say hello.

Do the girls look cold and wet? Yup, it was that kind of day at the beach.

Just so you don't think winter at the beach is all dreary and cold here's a view near our campground on Thursday afternoon. Sharleen and I took a long walk past the hotel on the point. The sun was out and we walked in shirt sleeves.

It looks like San Diego next month...... more from there.

Chasing the Elephant seals

It was a dark and stormy day..... sounds like a bad novel.

We hit the road again, this time to Pelican Point at Half Moon Bay on the pacific shore south of San Fransisco. It's a short three hour drive from home so it was a pretty easy and pleasant drive.

Wednesday morning six of us headed to Ano Nuevo state preserve to view the Elephant seals. The day was dreary but the company was great the the seals are amazing. The adventure started with a three quarter mile hike to a staging area

where we met our guide for the day. From there, volunteer docents take small groups on a mile and half walk over the dunes to view the Elephant seals.

Ano Nuevo is the winter home of some 1500 Elephant seals. Here they give birth to pups and mate. By the late 1800s there were less than 100 Elephant seals left in the world. They had been slaughtered for their blubber much as whales have been hunted. Today through conservation efforts there are more than 250,000 in existence.

Elephant seals litter the beach for as far as you can see. The females give birth and then nurse the pups for about a month. A pup will weigh about 30 pounds at birth and some will get as big as 400 pounds at the end of the month nursing period.The female doesn't eat during nursing and will loose up to 40% of her weight. After a month the female weans(just quits nursing) the pup and will mate in preparation for next years offspring.

The colony lives in a "Harem" society. If you're the alpha male life is good. If you aren't the big kahuna then you sit on the outside and look in as this adult male is doing. The Males littered the sand dunes and we walked up to them ( no closer than 25 feet). They are very docile and barely recognized our visit. Adult males will grow to 18 feet long and weigh as much as 5000 pounds. Pretty impressive guys!

The video below is a "first try" at adding a video clip. Not great but it gives you a different view of the beach and the residents.