The Day After!

The Red Bull Flug tag was being prepared ( Silly buggers throwing themselves off the end of the pier in non-airworthy craft!)

Anne bemoans the loss of her Gossip Partner!

California Mourns the Ross's Departure

The day after Tess and Ron departed, the sun NEVER emerged!

 

 

 

 

 We went to Long Beach instead of riding to the Canyons because the weather was so shitty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrap Up of the Ross Tour

Madame has taken over because she says she wants this done right - ahem - "Correctly!"

Heading for Virginia City

Ron showing where the Magpies carved a notch showing where they caught a fish so that next time they know where to put the rod!

Loopy Leopard Lady with her long-suffering sis



This was our "Glam Night" at the Peppermill in Reno



Wigs are us!

Hollywierd!

The swing at Hotel Americain

The Beverly Wilshire , where "Pretty Woman"   Julia Roberts went with Richard Gere

 

 

Tess with my former student, Stephen

At the airport

"Bye , Playmates!"

 



A Local Day Tour

Tuesday Ronnie and I decided to take a tour of the USS IOWA.
What a day we had!
The vessel is, in and of itself impressive.
It is 887long, 108 feet wide and carries a draft of 37 feet when fully loaded.
The 16" fifty caliber guns just give you a sense of awe when you look at them and the projectiles they fired.

 

The projectiles and propellant bags were handled and loaded individually!

 

The maximum range recorded by a 16" shell was fired by the Iowa at 26.9 miles in 1989 .

 

 

The tour is getting better, I was on board about a year ago and now they have it better organized with more people to describe what it is you are looking at.

 

 



 

 The only problem we encountered was in the bar, the service was very slow and there were not too many other customers.

 





This was one of the names applied to the Iowa, the other was the battleship of presidents.

 

 

Here is a picture of Ronald and Nancy Reagan on board in 1984.

 

Of course the president who was remembered most for his time spent on board was F.D.R.

 

He travelled on the Iowa from the east coast to the Yalta conference and during his time on board certain accommodations for his disability had to be made. For example the shower in the captains quarters was removed and replace with a bath tub. The Iowa was the only ship in the fleet to have a bathtub.

 

We followed the visit with a trip to Point Fermin to see the light house and another famous landmark!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We headed back over the Vincent Thomas bridge to Long Beach, even the bridge itself is an impressive sight. Driving over it you can see the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles spread beneath you.

 

 

 A quick look around near the Queen Mary and then back to HB for a little R&R.



Weekend Stuff

Saturday morning, I went to HB Hogs & Choppers to get the red bike back.

Here is Ronnie trying it out for size.

On Saturday afternoon we took a trip over to the Grill in Seal Beach to meet up with some of the crew who frequent.

We had a good time and met up with several people we knew.
Lot's of people asking about Barb and Leon and how they were doing.

On Saturday evening we had a get together with the some friends and neighbors to celebrate the visit of Tess and Ron.

Lots of the usual suspects were in attendance.

 

The smoking swing!

 

 

 

On Sunday we headed up to Hollywood for a quick tour.

A trip along Hollywood Blvd to see the star signs and of course a photo op.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then on to Rodeo Drive for a spot of shopping (WINDOW)

 

 

The Official Guide for the "Pretty Woman" tour.

Meantime Ronnie and I went up to the Beverly Hills Hotel and visited the famous landmark near by.

Will Rogers Memorial Park.

 

 

 

AS most of you already know, Hollywierd is not my bag.

But look what I saw!

 

 

 

 

Santa Nella

We drove down from Reno to Santa Nella today, just an easy 250 mile drive.
The views through the Truckee river valley were particularly good, wonderful down hill drive from the entrance to the Donner Pass.





Of course there was the ubiquitous road construction going on.

On we went past Sacramento and Stockton.
The size of the ships docked in Stockton is always quite a surprise.






We got to the hotel and checked in, this is the place I had intended to stay with Jeff as our last stop before we arrived home on our trip from Sturgis.
I screwed up that time and ended up in Los Banos, it may not have been such a mistake after all.

This place has certainly gone down hill since the way I remember it.
There is a giant truck stop next to the motel and their impact wrenches are pretty loud.
The guy in reception said that it would quiet down after 6:00 PM.
I hope it does or he is in for a visit from Madame.


However the British tourists headed for the pool.










Tonight I guess it is Peasoup Andersens for dinner.


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Reno

We drove up yesterday from Vegas and we got off to a really bad start.
There was a wreck on I15 north which was showing long delays. The wreck was just before the spot where we should turn off on 95.
So after some diversions we got around it but we were delayed quite a bit.
Total drive time was almost eight hours.

We got into the hotel around 5:15PM, the tourists headed straight for the pool.





Today we went up to Virginia City to visit the Bucket of Blood, great ride up there.






Ron stopped to do a little exploring on the way.






The girls had a good time shopping and just looking around the place.

Here is the crew in the Bucket of Blood.






Then back to the hotel for more of...
You guessed it time by the pool!













I had to go inside to watch a ball game, too much pool time goes to my head.

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Viva Las Vegas

We arrived at about 3:30 and checked in, well, kinda sorta checked in.
Rooms weren't ready so we drank a couple of beers and waited for a while.

Once in the rooms, we went to the pool.
You know those English people, they can't wait to get out in the sun
and swim in the pool.







But of course I don't engage in that water thing!

I have other thoughts.




Now this is a friendship band made for me by, would you believe it, a friend.
Observe the colors and pattern. Coincidence?
I don't think so.

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