Going Home

There was one more place that I had 

to visit before we headed back home.

I'd been wanting to go to 

Loleta Cheese Factory

to check out the different variety of cheeses.

I was also interested to see if it tasted

any different than store bought cheese.

I know you think I'm crazy because

who in the world wants to spend part

of their vacation time touring a cheese factory.

What can I say?

View from hotel.

It was an awesome sunny day

(to bad we couldn't stay longer to enjoy it).

The cheese factory was only about

two miles from our hotel and was tiny.

Can you see the guy creepin' in the upstairs window?

The factory had zillions of cheeses,

that I of course didn't get pictures of.

I was too fascinated with their garden.

It was so cute and colorful!

They used old bottles to decorate.

I believe there were succulents planted

with the tree but I don't exactly remember.

There were so many bright spring colors.

You know me, and you know I love me some flowers -

especially bright ones!

They took little corners of the garden and made 

several different types of mini gardens.

I'm sure there is a term for that,

but I'm lame and don't care enough to look it up.

After we spent all our extra time in the garden,

we went inside and spent way too much money on cheeses

 (my favorite was the Havarti herb and spice)

I have to give a shout out to their cashier.

She was the friendliest most helpful cashier

that I have seen in a long time.

Yeah Loleta Cheese Factory!

So after I emptied my wallet we headed home.

I already miss the ocean and all the little farms.

I think I need to go back.

SOON!

Fern Canyon & Eureka

Well....
this is my second time writing this blog.
I had the entire thing typed out last night,
hit the backspace button, accidentally deleted everything,
and then blogger automatically saved.
I was so ticked - I slammed the computer
shut and went to bed!

So, I'm giving it another shot today.
Let's hope it goes a little better.

When I left off last week,
we had arrived at our hotel, had a wonderful
dinner and went to bed.

The next day we decided to get some outside
time.  We ended up visiting Fern Canyon.
It was an hours drive from where
we were staying.

I was a little scared about the hike
because I wasn't sure what to expect.
I was totally relieved when we arrived
and saw this sign.

 

The hike to the canyon was incredibly easy.

It was totally flat and not far

from the parking lot.

 

Once we arrived to the opening of the canyon,

we had two options:

1)  Climb over fallen trees/branches to get

where you needed to go.

2)  Walk through the creek and take a direct path.

 

Todd chose the first option, I chose the second

(thank god for Teva's!).

The hike in was less than a mile.

It was cool and peaceful and a beautiful day.

 

The ferns grew up the sides of the

canyon on either side.

And there was water trickling down the walls

of the canyon in some spots.

 

The hike ended rather abruptly at the end

of the canyon.  Several trees had fallen

and partially blocked the path.

Of course this didn't stop Todd from exploring,

but I waited for him while he hiked up and

around the corner.

 

After we reached the end of the canyon

we decided to hike around a little more.

There was supposed to be a waterfall,

so we set out try and find it.

 

We were unsuccessful, but later found out

that we were within .1 miles of it.

 

After we were finished at Fern Canyon,

we decided to head to the ocean.

 

We ended up at Wedding Rock in Patrick's Point.

 

It was a quick little visit but we had a good time.

 

It also started to get a little overcast so we decided

to call it a day and went to get some food.

 

Todd and I were watching Diners, Drive Ins and Dives,

and saw a little place named Brick and Fire.

So while in Eureka we decided to give it a try.

 

It was located in a residential area,

and it didn't look like much from the outside.

 

The inside was tiny,

but the inside had great character.

And the menu had some interesting options.

 

Todd and I chose the wild mushroom cobbler

as an appetizer.

Why you ask?

Because that is what Guy Fieri had featured.

 

It was fantastic!

 

For dinner, Todd ordered a Caesar Salad with fried egg.

 

 

I ordered gourmet mac-n-cheese.

 

The food was very good,

and we were so stuffed that we took

our desert with us back to the hotel.

 

It was such a great day.

We did a little bit of exercise,

and a lot of eating.

 

We were coming to the end of our minication ,

but we weren't quite finished and ready to go home.

We had one more thing we wanted to do -

and knowing us, you know it had to have

something to do with food.

Minication to the Coast

On Easter Sunday, Todd and I

headed over to the coast.

We took our time on the drive

and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We arrived to Bear River Indian Casino

at around 7 PM.

 

We were impressed with the room and the view.

We paid a couple dollars extra to get the ocean view.

When I booked the hotel, I envisioned opening

the window in the morning and

listening to the waves crash.

There was one problem with that plan,

the hotel was a mile or two from the ocean.

 

 

After Todd and I got settled in,

we decided to have some Easter dinner.

The hotel was offering a buffet,

so we decided to take advantage of it.

 

I didn't manage to get a picture of the delicious

food, but I did manage to remember to take

a picture of the strawberry daiquiri.

It was so YUMMMY!

 

Todd let me take a picture,

but not without being a little stinker

and doing a grumpy face.

 

I took a selfie just because

I thought it was funny that Todd and I matched.

And we didn't even plan it that way.

 

After dinner we headed back up

to the room, watched a little TV,

and fell fast asleep.

 

And so ends the first day of our minication.

Easter With the Kids

Sorry for the late post,

but I'm having technical difficulty.

If you can believe it, it's not the computer this time.

Our camera is acting up and I'm having

difficulty loading pictures from the phone's camera.

Granted, I'm no technical genius,

so I'm sure some of the problem can be

attributed to user error.

 

All the pictures off our nice camera

look to have been erased.

We're not sure if the camera shorted out,

or if there is a malfunction with the

computer within the camera -

but whatever the case may be,

they're all gone.

So my friends,

you get to see the only remaining terrible

pictures from Easter and our trip to the coast.

 

I had Friday off, so I spent 7 hours

cooking and prepping the food

because we were celebrating at the

kids apartment on Saturday, and I knew there wouldn't

be enough time or room if I were to cook

Easter dinner there.

 

Todd and I made deviled eggs, ham, mashed potatoes,

green beans, salad and homemade strawberry jam

for the celebration.

For desert we had angel food cake with

strawberries, bananas and whipped cream.

The food seemed to be a hit, because there

was not much left.

 

Todd prepared the ham.

We had to reheat the potatoes in the oven,

so they look a little yucky here,

but rest assure they tasted fine.

I didn't get many pictures of the meal

but there was lots of food,

trust me.

 

 

After we ate dinner, we did what we do best,

goof around.

 

A group selfie picture.

 

My entire purpose in life is to embarrass my children.

Austin enjoyed dessert.

 

There was not a lot of activity going on.

We mostly sat around and visited with

each other and watched tv.

It was so nice to hang out with

the kids and hear what they have been up to.

 

Todd and I couldn't be happier being able

to spend time with our kiddos.

They are awesome and

did a great job

hosting Easter.

 

 

 

We're Back

We just for back from our mini-vacation.

I'm dead tired today, but will be back

tomorrow with some details and pics.

 

Until then -

B

 

 

Happy Easter Weekend

Via

 

Have a fantastic Easter weekend.

Todd and I will be enjoying time with family.

I am actually cooking Easter dinner,

so it should make for an interesting evening.

 

Those who know me well,

know that I do NOT like cooking

(love baking - hate cooking).

Why?

Because I'm terrible at it,

and I have absolutely no patience.

Knowing this about myself,

I started prepping dinner today.

I actually spent 6 hours today

chopping & cooking.

 

Hopefully everything will turn out well.

Of course I will be back next week

to update you on the goings on.

 

Stay safe and enjoy your holiday.

 

XO

B

 

 

Easter Gift

Is there a special someone in your life

that is hard to buy for?

A person who has everything?

Well, with Easter right around the corner,

I found the perfect gift for that oh-so-hard 

to buy for person.

 

Wait for it.........

Via

 

That's right -

it's a bacon egg.

 

This particular egg happens to be filled with

sausage and black pudding, but I imagine you

could fill it with real eggs and sausage,

or anything you like really.

 

So what do you think?

Would you be willing to try it?

I volunteer (raises both hands enthusiastically!)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Chris Evans as Captain America - AWWW YAAA!

 

The hubs and I saw Captain America:  Winter Soldier this weekend.

Let me just say -

it was amazing.

The fight scenes had me on the edge of my seat -

I can't believe people can actually move like that.

The ending had a twist that I wasn't expecting,

and I love that!

The entire movie was just right up my alley.

 

Don't you just love it when you spend

good money on a movie and you end up enjoying it?

It doesn't happen very often for me.

 

Have you seen any good movies lately?

Any suggestions?

 

 

Friday - Aw Yeah!

Via

 

I had to post this because I'm still

doing dumb Weight Watchers,

and it is the weekend before Easter.

 

I don't have any fabulous weekend plans.

In fact I probably won't do jack.

 

Here's hoping you don't have jack to do also.

(Does that sentence have a dangling participle?)

XO

B

 

Birthdays

When the kids were visiting for Spring Break,

the family decided to get together to celebrate some birthdays.

Austin and Bret were the birthday boys.

 

It's so special when we can get together as a family.

Everyone is so busy with their own lives

that it doesn't happen very often these days.

 

Dennis hosted the party, and Anne cooked.

I made the Pistachio dessert, and Austin

had this as his cake.

Anne made Bret Strawberry Pie.

Anne is a great cook,

but as usual...I blew it and didn't get pictures of the food.

I can't help it if I'm too busy eating!

After the cake and presents,

Dennis shared some photos of his time in Vietnam.

As you can tell, everyone was enthralled with the photos.

 

We all had a great time as usual.

Thanks again, Anne and Dennis, for letting us invade your space.

Getting Our Garden Going

Todd and I didn't exactly relax this weekend.

With the beautiful weather, it was much too

nice to stay inside and sleep.

We ended up going to Eisley's Nursery...

one of my favorite places.

We picked up fruits/veggies for our little garden.

We got a filled up a flat with all our goodies.

The boxes had to be prepped,

and we had to decide where things were

going to be planted.

First we had to empty the dirt out of

the boxes and "till it".

And I use the term "till"  loosely.

I actually dumped the dirt in the barrel,

and then took a tool and broke it apart.

Todd arranged the plants in an order, that we hope,

will allow the plants to thrive.

We got a few tomato plants

(Black Krim, Yellow Pear and Early Girl are some we picked up).

I bought green, yellow, red, and purple bell peppers,

along with peperoncinis.

We also picked up some crook neck yellow squash,

zucchini, cucumbers and sweet peas.

So there are some repeat plants,

but we decided to try out a few new ones as well.

Anyways, while I played with dirt,

Todd prepared the boxes.

 

We worked our little fingers to the bone

for about 3 hours.

Sindy tried to help,

 

but she found supervising much more appealing.

 

 

After everyone's hard work,

this was the final result.

We decided to line the boxes up differently

this time, making it easier to access both sides.

Last year we had total access to the font

of the boxes, but couldn't get to the

back of them because they were placed

up against the rock wall.

 

We got our hands dirty,

and our backs hurt after lifting all

the boxes up and moving them around,

but it will totally be worth the little bit

of hassle once we taste the

fresh fruits and veggies.