The Adventures Continue

Tahoe Trip with Steve & Venessa began early Saturday morning. We headed to Death Valley, entering from Baker with it's giant temperature gauge. Stopping at Badwater, the lowest point in the u.s. just as we were setting up to take a group photo with the camera on automatic a French tourist walks in front of the camera, stops and looks at it. How funny would that photo have been, yet she walked away before it snapped. Note in the photos all the salt. Leaving the Devil's Golfcourse we drove to the Artist Pallette, a series of hills with the most beautiful soil colors. Ranges of reds, pinks, golds and lots of tectonic activity. All this salt made us hungry so we headed over to Furnace creek and enjoyed lunch with a roadrunner.

Off on a 27 mile off road trip which took us past Tea Kettle junction, where we hang a tea kettle. Our final destination at the end of the 27 miles is Race Track. Race track is known for trails which are left by moving rocks, no really concrete evidence for how they move just speculation. Vennessa discovered a petrified mushroom on her potty break while Fausto and Steve were photographing the sun setting while the moon was rising behind them. Leaving Death Valley and heading to Big Pine.

What does Steve like to tell everyone who drives? Never get below a half tank of gas. Well needless to say we went below half a tank in the dark and no other cars being seen for 3 hours. the last 40 miles getting into Big Pine is windy roads, and we coasted thru many of them arriving just as the gas station in Big Pine is closing with 2 gallons left in the tank. Question is...who was going to walk in the dark and try to find a phone, no reception on any of our cells. Luckily we didn't need to walk, the powers above coasted us to victory.

Good night's rest, breakfast in Bishop then into Mammoth.

First stop in Mammoth McDonald's, one Vennessa hadn't been to yet. These rocks are known as Devil's Postpile and are located on the back side of Mammoth. Mono Lake was our stopping point for a quick lunch which we enjoyed with the chirping of birds and rustle of leaves. Tahoe here we come.

Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe viewed it from the roads surrounding it, the different shades of blues are stunning. A real treasure. For our anniversary we rented a boat, Fausto put on his captain's hat and the 4 of us headed over to Emerald Bay to see the island up close. Cruised around for an hour then headed back to our hotel to rest up. Dinner out to celebrate with friends, Thank You guys for sharing our day with us.

Virginia City first stop was in a saloon where we quenched our thirst with bloody marys. Old town where proprietors dress in period clothing. Now we head over to Sparks where we stop into the largest sporting store ever. Fausto rode a Ferris Wheel for the first time and was spoked when Toni leaned over to look for Steve & Vennessa. In the store was as close to wildlife as we had gotten, they look pretty real don't they?

Tequilla Helps the Healing Process

What is there to do when you can't work or drive? Invite your friends all together for a Tequilla Tasting. Steve & Vennessa were gracious and held the festivities at their house, ulterior motive, they needed to clean out their freezer. Everyone brought a bottle of Tequilla and without knowing who was bringing what we had no duplicates. First to be tasted was Casa Noble's white, rating was a scale of 1-5, 1 being lowest. This white was our only white and it rated a 3.

Jeff though our white tequilla affeciato gave it a higher score. Two Fingers ($13.00) brought to the group by the parents to be rated a -3, hope they pick diapers better than Tequilla. Next we moved onto Hussong's reposado, someone said it had a frosting smell, I think it was our

science teacher, overall it rated a 4.

Steve must have been feeling sorry for us, or maybe it was he had already drank too much cheap stuff because he pulled out a bottle of 1942, ($82.00) which everyone liked and rated a 5.

We began with a bottle from Casa Noble and ended with a resposado bottle from them, much smoother and had a hint of vanilla. Very Yummy, in fact I think I'll give it to Fausto to pour on his pancakes this weekend. That should help him forget his temporary disability and get him running around the hallways.

All in all a good evening, a strange meal to go with our Tequillas, from hash brown potatoes

to wontons and skewers of beef served with macaroni salad and ceasar salad. A few more friends joined us, 2 Patti(y)'s, Ira, Craig and Brandon. Everyone was smiling by the time we all left, and everyone had a designated driver so no worries. Next time we all get together we are going to be making sushi, I guess we'll have to do Sake tasting then.

Sometimes life gives you detours, Fausto is on one now and learning that slowing down isn't all that bad. And we have all learned to be a little more patient during the recovery period.

A toast to everyone, may our friendships continue to be filled with laughter.

New Cast and other equipment

An adventure getting to the first doctor appointment. Fausto was greeted outside the hospital by a volunteer who gave him a ride in a wheelchair. After having the original cast removed this gnarly scar is what was hiding underneath.






Everything is looking good, and a new cast gets applied. For the end result he selects Green, I think he wants to blend in with the plants. Went out today and rented him a wheelchair that he will be able to roll on his own. This way he can go to work and again tell us all how to sell, sell, sell.

Really I've missed having him be able to fix me a Martini in the evening, so now with the wheelchair he's able to get back in the kitchen. Maybe a Martini or 2 tonight!

Cheers to continued healing.

Unstable Post + 10' Ladder = Oh F---

What do you get when you combine the following ingredients;

10' ladder leaning against an unstable 12' post on unlevel ground

add one crazy Mexican 8' up on the ladder wearing shoes that roll when you walk

The post starts to give away, the ladder is going down so what's the crazy Mexican to do?

Jump off, good choice. Bad choice was in the shoes he was wearing that day. They rolled when they needed not to, thus his ankle rolled one way while his foot rolled the other, OUCH!

We all know my crazy Mexican loves to take photos of all kinds so once I was

assured he was alright besides having a deformed ankle I went to get his camera. About the same time the paramedics came and began working on him. Photo one shows the foot pointing south

when it should be pointing east.

Note the fracture kit the paramedics brought with them, oh this turned out to be more than just a fracture. As you see in picture #3 Fausto is beginning to smile, he's just been given a shot of morphine. You know he asked for Dilaudid but the paramedic told him she doesn't carry a pharmacy with her.

Let's just say it could have been a lot worse and I'm thankful it wasn't. So far the patient has been a good patient, this is now day 4 post-op and he is getting around a little more each day with his walker. I'm trying to come up with a good name for what will be his buddy for the next couple of weeks, then he can move on to crutches. No driving for 12 weeks, who is going to go crazy first him or me? Maybe we can start a pool.

Update Jef and Kristi's New Home

Toni and I met Jeff and Kristi at the soon to be new Mr. and Mrs. Tague Residence. It was Wednesday about 1:00 pm, Toni and I got there early so we took a drive around the neighborhood and yes Toni approved. To describe it Jeff and Kristi will be living on a hill, but we call it Rattle Snake Mountain. The condos are the first development as you work your way into the rest of the homes, the pool and community room are the first things you see as you drive into the development. Jeff and Kristi's place are at the far north east area with views of the Lagunas and Lakeside Valley. Well Mid-May is the target move in date. I added some new pictures so you could see the progress as well as some old ones I hope you enjoy.