Reno side trip

 About 70 miles south of Reno is the small town of Yerington, Nevada.  We had planned a side trip there on Wednesday to visit a high school friend that we hadn't seen for decades.  Marilyn Mott Brown was the person who pierced my ears when Heidi was 9 months old.  Yep, a needle, thread and some ice cubes were all that were needed.  I wonder if anyone does it the "old fashioned" way anymore?  Heidi will be 54 in June.  Guess that is a very long time!

The trip took almost 2 hours.  Traffic is not your friend in Reno.  Lots of construction and traffic delays happen daily.  We decided to wait until the rush hour traffic was over, so it was after 9 AM before we headed south to see Marilyn.

Which one is not like the others?  Is it the gray hair, or the shirts that set as apart?😏

Of course, I had to take a picture of the beautiful tulips in her front yard.  No trip is complete without some landscape or flower picture, at least for me.

Our short visit included lunch at the local Mexican restaurant.  It provided us with excellent food and a chance to talk some more with Marilyn.

We proceeded to head southwest and then north, making a large loop up towards Carson City.  Allen lives north of there, near Washoe Lake.

Below is a picture that Doris took through the windshield of beautiful Smith Valley with the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background.

Allen explained to us how he designed, rebuilt and repositioned his house after losing it to a wildfire started by his neighbor.  In the end there was a silver lining, and his house is perfect for him.

He posed by his favorite picture of Lake Tahoe that is in the entryway.

The view from his living room looks west towards the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The back yard included a gorgeous peach tree full of blossoms.  Looks like he'll have plenty of peaches this summer.

Per Joan's request, we made a stop at KFC on our way back to Reno.  She treated us to dinner, and it was a win-win for all of us.  No cooking and no clean up!

No trailer? No problem!

 After weeks (or maybe months) of planning, we made plans to visit cousins in Reno.  Also going along are Doris, Sandy and Jerry, Don's two sisters and brother-in-law.  We all decided to rent a 7 passenger van and drive there while we were still "young" enough and not senile!😅😅.  Between the 5 of us we should be able to figure out the directions between Google and a regular map.

We started out at 6 AM on Monday.  It was the day of the solar eclipse, so we all had our special glasses on hand.  Stopped at the infamous Area 51 in Nevada to take a look at the sun....

No aliens were seen, but then again, we were only interested in seeing the eclipse.

Thirteen and a half hours later and numerous stops for gas and potty breaks we finally coaxed our tired old bodies out of the van and into Joan's house in Reno.  Sandy and I took turns in the very last seat in the back, thankful that we left the driving to Don, Jerry and Doris.  I can attest that back seat driving is much easier. 😉

Joan's daughter Shelly and her husband Jim live just down the street from Joan.  On Tuesday they invited all of us for dinner, her brother Allen and his companion Cheri.  Also invited was Roberta Ross affectionately known to us as Birdie. She became part of our extended family after camping with us many times.  

Shelly and Doris shared some good wine in the kitchen before the meal.

The afternoon was perfect for sitting out on their porch.  Looks like Allen and Don were into some deep discussion.

The hosts: Jim and Shelly Tresley.  They had a few moments to relax before dinner.

From the left: Joan Forbes (cousin), Birdie, Cheri Love and 2nd cousin Allen.

Jerry, Allen, Don behind the pole and Jim.  We sure enjoyed the sun and windless afternoon.  The previous week it had snowed and the coming weekend there was colder weather predicted.  Talk about good timing.

The excellent dinner of pulled pork, baked potatoes, tons of toppings was topped off by the peach cobbler made by Shelly.  She even made it without butter so I could have some.  Plus non-dairy ice cream.  It was a dessert I couldn't resist.  All of us had some, even though our bellies were full.

And here we were...all wearing the same shirts.  We had not even talked to each other about bringing and wearing the same tops!  Over the years we have collected matching shirts from various places.  That way, if one of us gets lost, the other two can tell the police what to look for.  So much easier than trying to remember what they wore when they wandered off from our group.  

And then we added Joan into our group.

And last, but not least, Birdie, Shelly and Cheri posed for a picture.  For some reason, I never took one of the guys.  They aren't too keen anyway of lining up for a photo.

All of us have been camping with each other, making lots of wonderful memories.  In addition, we all have a sense of humor when it comes to sharing camping stories (of which there are many).  We are richly blessed to have such great family and extended family members.💓💓