The Highway Song

The Summer Series continues whereby I try to catch up on the stories ~

A few days after returning home from camping The Man and I were sitting outside, drinking coffee, when he mentioned he was planning a wilderness camping trip.

"Oh yeah, when?"
"Tuesday."

It was Sunday morning. We had just come home on Thursday. I turned to stare at him.

He saw my look and explained that he had wanted to explore some of the mountain trails before the summer crowds showed up.

I knew he was planning a trip, I noticed him studying his big red California Atlas and the GPS maps, I just didn't know it would be so soon.

He reassured me that I wouldn't need to do anything, he had it all figured out. He couldn't take much more than his gear since space and weight were limited while traveling on the motorcycle.

While The Man packed - fitting objects like a jigsaw puzzle - I finished the knitting on his Sockhead hat. I didn't wash it, wouldn't dry in time, so I wove in the ends and gave it to him. For some reason he insisted I sew on a SLO Yarns label. I was pleased but surprised. Surprised because he's not usually appreciative of my creations, possibly traumatized from the first hat I made him, known affectionately now as the "Reservoir Tip" hat, but that's another story and I digress.

May 9th, early Tuesday morning, the Suzuki V-Strom was packed and ready to go. The loaded down bike and The Man headed east for a four-day trip to the southern Sierra mountains.

I headed back into the house for another cup of coffee.

Several hours later I received a text message. It was evident why The Man had wanted a SLO Yarns label sewn onto his knitted hat. Again I was pleased and surprised. I may have laughed out loud.

B. Beenie enjoys a delicious lunch in Glennville.

Another text arrived that afternoon while he still had a cell phone signal.

B. Beenie enjoying a wilderness camp site. B. Beenie hopes it doesn't rain tonight.

A couple of days went by before I heard from B. Beenie and The Man again.

B. Beenie says to hell with wilderness camping.

I'm pretty sure The Man had a good time no matter what B. Beenie had to say.

There's a new highway song
Playing in your soul
Let it carry you away
Into this glorious day
This glorious day
This glorious day

Jimmy LaFave
7/12/55 - 5/21/17

SnapShots: July-ness

- ness (noun suffix) : state, condition, quality

Summer Baking ~
Fresh Fruit Galette (pluots, peaches, nectarines, and early apples)

Sunburst Summer Squash Bread

  
Moto-Camping Trip, No. 1 ~ 
It's a Guy Thang, 7/16 - 7/17/16

Mid-State Fair, 7/28/16 ~
Free Concert: Asleep at the Wheel

Sling Shot Ride (Sorry, Z. we're not doing that)

Zero Gravity Massage Chairs (We can do that, yeehaw)

Selfie on the Shuttle

I, I Will Be King

 1/8/47 - 1/10/16





We can be heroes, forever and ever.   David Bowie, 1977

Fairly Lucky

The California Mid-State Fair, our county fair, came to an end last Sunday after a 12-day run.

I requested to be off my usual Wednesday workday so I could experience the annual Cattle Drive. On opening day the cattle and horseback riders travel through the streets of Paso Robles to the gates of the Fairgrounds.

Last year, The Man and Z. were nearly run over and I thought that would be fun to see. Well, not the trampled upon part, just the parade of cows walking through the streets, front lawns, gardens, you know . . . wherever they want to go. Yeehaw.

Sadly, no such luck. A few days before the event we read that due to "logistical issues" there would be no annual Cattle Drive. The property for staging the cattle and horse riders had been sold (for future development) and no longer available for use. Sigh. I hope there's a Plan "B" in the works for next year.

So, anyway, last Thursday, we got to the Fair an hour before the gates officially opened at noon.

We tried to get there early for Swine Showmanship but by the time we arrived it was over as evidenced by Cora's 4-H hog, Sassy, chillin' and relaxing in her pen. We said a quick hello and goodbye to Sassy and left to check out the rest of the happenings:

The Beef Barn

  
 Decisions, decisions: Deep fried bacon wrapped pickles or Deep fried bacon wrapped jalapenos.

The very eclectic, homey, sometimes strange (but always interesting) Home Arts exhibits

Sheep relaxing in the Mutton Bustin' arena before the Wool Riders (6 years old and younger) show up.

After a late lunch of BBQ pork sandwiches we walked back to our car which was parked in the "shade" of a big oak tree, it was 103°. Time to head home.

The next evening we returned to the fair. A lot more people on a not-so-hot Friday night.

We went to see The Mavericks in concert. They were playing two free shows. We saw them two years ago, also a "free with paid admission show". Lucky us.

  

 And, hey, it was a blue moon (second full moon of the month).

Wait, there's more: the International Space Station passed right over us. The Man subscribes to Spot the Station and had received an email earlier in the day. It lets him know where and when to look in the night sky for the ISS (cough, cough, geek).

Time: Fri Jul 31 9:30 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 59 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: NE

Okay, my photo shows only a speck (um, top left of the banner, yeah, that one) but, hey, it's still cool beans. C'mon, The International Space Station. Lucky us.
 

And you know that Deep fried pickle wrapped in bacon? Never got a chance. Lucky me, there's always next year at "The Biggest Little Fair Anywhere".

A Bravo Christmas Carol

It's beginning

to look

a lot

like

Christmas.

Everywhere

you

go.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year, 2015.

Singers Zeke, Wyatt, and Maestro Duke.