I just liked this picture of Ron looking for non-existant agates on Agate Beach on the OR coast.

 Okay - so...we left Leadville and headed BACK TO NORTH RANCH (our winter roost):

Returning “home,” we had the drive from hell in pouring rain and driving winds down I-5 from Oregon to San Jose, CA where we parked at the Elks Club and where we were able to reconnect with our old friend Demguize (a.k.a. Paul) in San Francisco and have our traditional Dim Sum lunch.  He knows where the BEST view of the city is but I can’t tell you or else.  And no trip to the area would be complete without my spending a few days with Willie, my Bead Mom, and watching her enthralled by a slot machine at a casino.  From there, we continued down to San Clemente beach where my childhood friend, Debbie, visited for an overnight.  Nothing like old friends, huh?  Then on to North Ranch with an overnight, en route,  by the side of the highway in Quartzsite, AZ.

WINTER 2010-2011AT NORTH RANCH UPDATE:

Of course, we did some hiking near North Ranch with a special hike to see crested saguaros

which are usually quite rare…like, one in 1,000 saguaros or something.  This area had four of them!  Right after Christmas, we took our house to Pasadena and worked on the HGTV float for the Tournament of Roses Parade.  What an amazing experience.  If Ron never sees another crushed walnut shell in his life, he’ll be happy…he spent most of his time crawling into tight spaces and gluing them in until the last day when he rioted and switched to decorating a pine tree (a real one) with fancy orchids.  I was assigned to detail work…one-petal-at-a-time type work.  We’re thinking of going back this year since it was so much fun.  However, we will NOT spend the night on Colorado Blvd. to ensure that we get a front row view of the parade. That was miserable! 

From there, we visited our transplanted NY friend, Dee and her husband, Charlie, in Indian Wells. We parked at the nearby Elks Club but dined with them every night…we LOVE it when Dee cooks!  Then, on to two nights by the Salton Sea (seven times saltier than the oceans)

and finally visited The Slabs…”interesting” place… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City From there, we actually stayed at a campground in Yuma with some beading friends who introduced us to Algodones, Mexico.  They’d spent a lot of time crossing the border into Algodones for dental work.  In fact, walking around the small “business district” there, we saw almost nothing but dentists, pharmacists, and eyeglasses shops…and a lot of cheap souvenirs and hawkers who “will make you a good deal!” 

Soon after that trip, I was off to Tucson for the annual Gem Show(s) with my crazy, fun friend Melody who had a booth at one of the shows again.  Naturally, I shopped, took a polymer clay class, ran into my old bosses from 3 Beads & A Button in Cupertino on a shuttle bus (!), and picked up some treasures for Bead Week.  Once again, we had over 100 participants for Bead Week which ran so smoothly thanks to a LOT of help from a lot of people.   Oh, and this year, for La Fiesta, we learned how to play Beanbag Baseball and we learned how to lose gracefully.  (Our umpire was blind, of course!)

SPRING 2011:

Right after Bead Week, Ron and I took off for Minneapolis, MN with a side trip to Bloomfield, CT to see my Aunt Louise and to arrange to have our collection of artwork, which had been stored at her house, shipped to the condo.  Then, we spent five weeks getting the condo in livable shape which was an amazing undertaking since we had absolutely nothing there except a half roll of toilet paper and a plastic cup.  Our friend, Katie, became our decorating advisor…she does wonders with bookshelves and picture hanging.  We’re not finished yet but we went ahead an invited all of our remaining MN friends over for an open house.  It was so good to see everyone looking so well.  The pièce de résistance of the condo is, of course, the view.  It’s awesome! 

So, the “urban cabin” is now ready for use and is available to any of you who might be passing through Minneapolis and need a place to stay.  

Okay, time to take a break again.  I have to edit more photos and figure out where we went next.