POKES AND POSTS – 5TH GRADE

You all were busy on Monday posting to the blog.  I had 65 notes to sort through, so I’m a little behind in my posts.  Playing catch-up!

As I write today, we have begun our trip home.  When I started this post, we were in southern California almost to the Arizona border.  We are staying in Williams, Arizona tonight.  Tomorrow we will travel through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.  Instead of heading due east to Oklahoma, we will cut south toward Dallas, Texas and then east to Lousiana. 

The Baby:  As usual, you all are interested in the baby.  She continues to be the #1 topic.  So this is to:  Destinee, James, Jacqueline, Myieshia, Daiyana, Makayla, Kyree, Shawn, M’smyra, Taylor, Lidia and Anonymous.  Sydney Lyn was born on Halloween, Oct 31^st.  She is so cute; of course I’m prejudice because she is my niece.  While she is still not on a great schedule, she is becoming a little more regulated with her feeding and sleeping.  She spends a little more time awake each day and just follows you with those blue eyes of hers.  Yesterday, she was laying in her port-a-crib and had become a little cranky.  When I walked over to check on her, she had rolled onto her side.  She has very strong neck muscles and loves to hold her head up to look around.  She is going to be a busy little girl!

The dogs and the cat seem to be adjusting just fine to the baby.  Every time Sydney cries or whimpers or coos, the dogs, especially Scrounge, are up and over to where she is laying.  They are like little guard dogs.  The cat is privileged, she gets to go in the bedroom where the baby sleeps and where she is often fed.  The dogs are not allowed in the bedroom.  Junior, the cat, is often found lying on the bed near the baby – both fast asleep.

The Golf Course:  to Giselle, James, Chris and Ms. McSwain.  We have been to the Pebble Beach Golf Course.  I didn’t play the course for a couple of reasons, #! – I don’t golf, #2 – it is very expensive to play, and #3 – it is hard to get on the course if you are a nobody!  The pros play here.  Now if I was a professional golfer, I would definitely play Pebble Beach. 

It is a beautiful golf course and pretty just to walk around the club house, and see the ocean.  There are a number of outstanding golf courses on the peninsula to include Spy Glass and Poppy Hills.  You could play Poppy Hills for $225! 

Earthquakes:  Hats off to Jacqueline, Makayla and Lidia.  You all obviously took a little bit of time to research something about recent earthquakes.  Lidia was right when she said there had been one in Eastern Turkey last week.  Everyone was right about the earthquake in Japan.  The United States has been very fortunate that we have not had the severe earthquakes like they have had in the Middle East and the Far East.  Earthquakes that register so high, like the 9.0, are devastating, often killing hundreds or thousands of people, and destroying property.  Count your blessings!

The Mountains:  to Chelsea, Myieshia, Giselle, Roquon, Chris, Destinee, and Chelsea.  The mountains and trees in Yosemite National Park and around Lake Tahoe are indeed beautiful.  Actually, there are beautiful mountains all across the United States.  Lake Tahoe is a beautiful lake surrounded by trees and mountains.  It is big!

El Capitan is pretty tall as far as I am concerned.  There is a path you can hike that will lead you to the top of the cliff, but it is a long trek. The day we were there, we did not hike it as we did not have a lot of time to spend there.  I did go hiking once in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho.  Those mountains were taller, anywhere between 7,000 feet and 10,000 feet.  I think I made it up to 5-6,000 feet and then came back down.  It was beautiful thought sitting up there – quiet, no sounds but our own.  The mountains echoed when you talked to them.  Even in summer, they had snow on them in spots.  Our guide made it very clear to us to stay OFF THE SNOW.  One boy did not, and he fell and broke his leg.  They had to do a mountain rescue with a helicopter to get him down.  He learned the hard way about paying attention to the adult guide. 

Someone asked about caves.  I am sure there are some caves in this mountain range. How big they are I do not know, but I am sure they would definitely be dark inside.  I’m not a cave person.  I’ll go in a cave that has been mapped and marked and well lit, like Luray Caverns in Virginia. 

The Beach and the Lighthouses:  to Anonymous, Brianca, Chris, Bryan, Roquon, Giselle, The beach at Carmel is beautiful, especially if you love the ocean.  We did not spend a great deal of time there.  Again, our time was limited so most of it was spent driving around to see as many sights as possible. 

As I said, I did not go in the Point Pinos Lighthouse.  That lighthouse has been standing since 1855.  How many years is that?  I have visited the three lighthouses on the Outer Banks.  I’ve walked up the Currituck and the Hatteras lighthouses.  It is beautiful at the top, especially the Currituck lighthouse.  You can see the Pamlico Sound and the ocean.  There is actually a walkway around the top of this lighthouse so you can go outside.  The Currituck lighthouse has a spiral staircase and you can see down through the spirals.  This actually makes some people sick to their stomach.  It didn’t bother me. 

The Pets and Animals:  to Kyree, Chris, and Daiyana.  The animals are adjusting.  The dogs miss the chance to run loose as they have a small back yard now.  They are confused about the new surroundings and often find themselves getting into trouble because they are snooping.  The cat is confused too with these new dogs in the house.  She is an instigator though, always trying to sneak up on the dogs and get them in trouble!  Guess she has decided since she lived there first that she was going to take control.  I think she will either drive the dogs crazy or one day they will all be sleeping together and won’t be scared of each other anymore.

As to bears or deer.  I have not seen any bears on this trip, neither along the roads nor the mountains.  I’m sure they are out there, just not where I have tended to be and that’s okay.  They can stay far, far away from me!   If I had seen a bear and it was close to me, I’d probably faint I’d be so scared.  Hopefully, I would have the common sense not to be close to one and would be able to get away quickly.  I would also be “shaking in my boots.”  I didn’t see any deer out in California, but I did see some deer in Arizona. 

The Fog and the Bridge:  to Giselle, Myieshia, and Destinee. The bridge is very pretty, especially when covered in fog.  Now having said that, the bridge might be pretty, but this would be a very dangerous time to be driving on the bridge if the fog is that thick.  I have been by and on the bridge when foggy, but not when the fog was as dense as the fog in the picture.  That is definitely fog and not smoke!   In the picture, the building towers that you see belong to a church I think.  Don’t think there is a castle anywhere around that area.

The Mystery House:  to M”Smyra, Chris and Destinee.  I did go in the Winchester Mystery House.  I didn’t see any ghosts, I didn’t hear any weird noises.  Frankly, the house felt like a normal house, except that it was really large.  Sorry to disappoint you, but nothing strange happened while we were in the house.

Well, we are at our hotel in Williams, AZ.  It’s about time to get in bed.  Tomorrow will be another early day and we have another long drive ahead of us.  Tomorrow, Amarillo, TX.