doctor?

Are you both,  did you both go to the doctor today or make an appointment??

ric and jan

camino@ricandjan.com

2 great iPhotos

Christmas Eve 2007
DSC00257

IMG_2220.JPG HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM LAKE TAHOE

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
We are up in the Sierra Nevadas just across the border from
California for the week. I want you all east of the Mississippi to
see some beautiful mountains out "west".
We are just over 7200 feet up. Yesterday we drove about 35 miles to
Reno over Mt. Rose Summit which was 8900 feet high and coming home
last evening we came through light snow blowing across the road. We
did not get any snow lower down though. We are only about a mile
from the lake and we drove down to it this morning and this is one of
the pictures I took. It really is one of the most beautiful lakes we
have seen in the world.
We send you our very best for a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. We
will be celebrating Thanksgiving with our daughter Sharon and 4
grandchildren. I will send a picture of them later. They arrive
tonight for a few days. We have a full kitchen so we will be
cooking. We have a lovely 2 bedroom and loft time share at Incline
Village which is the north end of the lake.
We are so grateful for all our family and friends.
Hugs, Ric and Jan

Westward Ho

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hi spooky relatives and friends, 

The day we left Chattanooga, TN  we were assailed by tornadoes but we stayed just ahead of them by hours.  Had some rain in MO but that was all.  I am so grateful we were not  a day later.  But that is usually the way it goes for us. 

We arrived in LA a few days later and visited with Ric's Aunt and Uncle.  We had a most delightful visit.  One of the places very close to them is Avery Island which we visited.  The tour was very informative.  I had no idea that making pepper sauce is so closely related to making wine.  Once the Capsicum peppers are hand picked they are mashed for their juices. The seeds are planted in green houses in January and then transplanted in April.  Then in August when the pepper is just the right color of red they are harvested. Some are raised there on Avery Island and more are raised in South America. They are then mashed with a little salt.  The mash ferments in oak barrels for 3 years.  (Sounds like wine) Finally the aged mash is mixed with a special vinegar, stirred for a month and then bottled. Avery Island is an island of salt , one of five salt domes rising above the flat Louisiana Gulf Coast which is 160 ft. above sea level. After purchasing several different kinds of Tabasco Sauce we left.  It was very interesting. 

After leaving LA we went into eastern Texas and visited our Texas home for a couple of days-Livingston which is where we have our mail sent.  We woke up one morning with hard rain but that has been it for rain. From there we headed northwest  to Lake Texoma which is a Thousand Trails Preserve and one we had not visited.  It was a nice resort and one worth visiting especially if you like to fish.  Just a few miles from there was Shephard Air Force Base Recreation Area which we drove to.  Just 2 weeks earlier the RV part was opened due to the bad flooding which we heard about in OK and TX.  They were really hit hard.  We finally connected to I-40 and came on across through NM and AZ.  

On Sat. and Sun. we stayed in Williams, AZ and drove to Sedona to the Unity Church there we like to visit.  After church, we drove on down to Prescott and visited my cousin, Joan and hubby Bob.  They have a lovely home snuggled in amongst the pine trees. We had a short but good visit.  

We have had a good trip and it will be nice to be home.  We plan a few days in Lancaster, CA visiting friends and then HOME.  It will be good to be back playing the organ at church.  I just hope I haven't forgotten how.  

It has been fun being in touch with you as we have crossed the country and come back.  Our next trip will probably be in January or February to Oregon and Washington at which time I will write again.  Be sure to keep in touch with us.  We do so enjoy hearing from each of you. 

For those of you who don't know why I write this, it all started in 1999 when we took our first long trip in retirement.  I wanted to keep a journal so just started writing  a travel letter to our children, grandkids and family. It grew from there.  I write it for us so when we stop traveling,  we can read where we have been and what we did.  It has just grown.

Take care, love and hugs from us both.

ric and jan

camino@ricandjan.com

Kentucky and Tennessee

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Hi Ya'all,

We left Ohio on schedule ( no we don't have one) and made our way south on I -75 down part way through Kentucky.  We have never taken this route so it was new to us.  We saw more color in parts of Kentucky and Tennessee.  Kentucky was hilly and green with trees so that we could not see the countryside.  I saw one horse farm but I thought we would see a lot more. We spent the night south of Lexington in Brea.  Then we continued on south on I-75 to Chattanooga, TN where we arrived yesterday in time for lunch at Sticky Fingers. 

  

We had eaten in Sticky Fingers, a delicious barbecue restaurant only in the south, several years ago and we saw one as we entered the city.  So we got settled and went and had ribs for lunch.  They had a really good habenero sauce that we cannot buy in CA. Yummy.  We drove around Chattanooga and downtown to the visitor's center after lunch.  We decided we had better stay another night so we could enjoy the sights today. 

 As far as we know, we don't plan to return here.  We drove past the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) building downtown.  It was begun in 1933 by President Roosevelt.  Those of us too young to remember can look it up on the internet.  But it is still in existence and doing what it was designed to do.   

One big surprise to us both was the lack of traffic.  Very few cars on the freeway and downtown.  We are just not accustomed to such a little amount of traffic. It was the same today. 

We spent a great day here today.  This morning we did our favorite activity and went to Panera Bread and had a latte and read the paper.  We miss doing that when we travel.  After that we went to the Aquarium.  They have 2 large buildings and one houses an Ocean Journey and the other a River Journey.  We say lots of fish, otters, turtles, sharks, alligators, beautiful blue macaw, largest parrot species in the world, and butterflies as well as many other aquarium wonders.  It is not as large or complete as the one in Baltimore which is my very favorite, but it was very good and interesting. 

Along with our aquarium ticket we got an IMAX ticket and went to see Deep Sea in 3-D.  Was that ever good. All those fish and sea creatures swimming out right at us and even over us it seemed.  What a day. 

We saw a good portion of Chattanooga and it is a beautiful city. It is right on the Tennessee River and the north side of the river is very hilly and has some beautiful homes.  On the south side it is more level and it is the downtown part where we spent today.  It was fun to see and do all we did.  I have a picture of the Chattanooga Choo Choo on top of the Holiday Inn.  It's the only one we saw.  

Ya"ll take care and thanks for writing.  It will probably be a while before I write again.  If we do anything exciting I will write. 

Hugs to all, 

Mom, Dad, Grandmother and Granddaddy, Ric and Jan(ice)

ric and jan

camino@ricandjan.com

Fall in Ohio

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Hi family and friends,

Before we left New Windsor, 21 of us went out for dinner which was fun.  We had the host and hostess volunteers and the rest were volunteers from SERRV and two of those were from England.  Such fun.  It is so hard to say goodbye as they are family too. 

We are in Wilmington, OH getting ready to leave in the morning.  It has been hot and now it is cold.  The East has had record breaking weather this past week.  Last Saturday-Monday it broke records of more than 60 years for heat.  This morning it was in the 30's and now in the high 60's which is nice.  The sun is shinning and it is beautiful.  There hasn't been a lot of color so far for fall.  When we left Maryland a week ago Thursday, as we came west we saw the beginnings of color but there is less here.  It was a beautiful trip though as we came through West Virginia again on hwy 50 it was very picturesque.  We spent one night on the road and that was in Cooleville, OH just over the border from W VA.  Nice little, cool, town.  

We arrived here on Saturday morning a week ago and have had a week of down time which has been really nice.  We got things done in the motorhome which we needed to do after 3 months.

We drove into Cincinnati last Sunday and went to church and then down to Newport, KY to the movies.  It is just across the beautiful Ohio River so it was not far.  We saw Feast of Love which was a heart warning movie.

 

We visited with friends which we know from the Elks Club here and that was fun.  It is always nice to touch bases with ones along the way.  We still miss our "family" at New Windsor Conference Center. How are things?  

Today we drove into Dayton and saw the movie Michael Clayton.  No movies for months and now 2 in two week ends.  It was a good movie as I always like George Clooney.  He is so nice to look at!!

Tomorrow we will leave for Kentucky and then on to Chattanoga, TN Tues.  We will end up in LA to visit Ric's aunt.  Then we head west and towards CA.  It will be nice to get home. 

We trust this finds you in good health.  We love hearing from you.  Thanks for writing.  It keeps us from being too lonely.

Take care and hugs to you all.

Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Granddaddy, and Ric and Jan(ice)

ric and jan

camino@ricandjan.com

Adventures in Maryland and Delaware

Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007

Hi family and friends,

This is our last week in Maryland and we leave with feelings of both joy and sadness.  We look forward to going home to see our family but leave our "family" here with a heavy heart.

We spent a night a couple of weeks ago in Alexandria, VA and stayed in a hotel right on the Potomac River.  We went our for an evening walk along the river which was a really neat walkway and as we went around a bend we could see across the river to Washington DC and the Capitol and Lincoln Monument.  That was an exciting moment.  Alexandria is a neat town to visit and Ric has a first cousin and husband there with whom we had lunch. It was great to get together with them.

We decided on our last 2 days off this week we would drive over to Delaware and see some sights.  We crossed the Chesapeake Bay at Annapolis and drove up north through Delaware which we have not done before.  It is a little flatter than it is here but nonetheless, it was nice and green. Northern Delaware near Wilmington is prettier as there are more trees.

We spent the night  and  visited two mansions and gardens. The first was Winterthur which was owned by  H F duPont.  He was the third generation duPont to own it.  The gardens are many acres on hills and very natural and earthy.  It was originally purchased so that the many over 200 year old trees would not be cut down and preserved.  There are thousands of trees and bushes, shrubs , flowers and gardens. The flowers are left alone after they have bloomed to go back into the soil  and come up again next year.  There is an Enchanted Woods for children of all ages built with natural products from the land .  It is just too magnificent for words.  The family 175 room mansion now houses an extensive art collection and many other collections that duPont purchased over the years.  He had a smaller 44 home built for his family to live in.  Unreal.  His collections are like none we have ever seen before. 

We also visited Longwood Gardens which was owned by Pierre S. dupont who was the great grandson of duPont company founder.  I think both the duPonts were cousins.  He also was into the preservation of trees and the 2 estates were only about 10 miles apart.  Longwood has many fresh flower gardens as well as fountains and forest walks.  We walked at least 2 miles through many gardens and around lakes, and forests.  It is comprised of 1050 acres of which about 300 acres are open to the public.  The family home was small and very homey but had some "modern conveniences" such as a towel warmer, silver safe and others. It has a 20 room conservatory and the most impressive to me was the orchid room. There were so many varities of orchids. We saw a "dancing waters' show which was fantastic.  The flower gardens were absolutely breathtaking.  We certainly enjoyed out short stay in Delaware and would enjoy returning there, 

This has been a busy week for us at the center.  We usually have a quiet week-busy weekend- but we had 3 large groups come in and they were mostly housed in our building. So we entered with a bang and lots of work and we are leaving the same way.  We will leave here Monday morning and leave Maryland for Ohio on Thursday.  

We have had a very rewarding 2 months but it will be nice not to have to get up at 6 AM if we don't want to!!

Our best to you all and trust this finds you well and enjoying life.  We are.  Remember to drop us a note when you can.  We love hearing from you.

Love and hugs,

Mom and Dad, Grandmother and Granddaddy, Ric and Jan(ice)

ric and jan

camino@ricandjan.com

LATEST ADVENTURES IN MARYLAND

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Hi all,

Last week on our days off we spent in the Alexandria, VA area.  We spent the night at Andrews Air Force Base at a Navy Lodge.  While there we saw two United Ststes of America jets in the maintenance hagers which was exciting.  We ate at a delicious restaurant  in Alexandria,  The Fish Market,  which was recommended by my friend Jean in Lancaster, CA.  We missed a turn on the way home and ended up crossing the river into Washington DC and Constitution Ave but quickly corrected that turn and crossed back over the river into VA again.  Such adventures we have and not always on purpose but we never got lost!! 

We then made our way slowly back  to Frederick, MD for a lobster dinner and steak dinner.  I had lobster and Ric had the steak.  Each was $12.95 which only happens on Thursday so we hope to repeat this opportunity as often as possible.  My lobster was 1-1/14  pounds and was delicious.  That is a real bargain even for this area.   We only get lobster tails in CA and not the whole lobster as we do here. 

This week we stayed closer to home on our days off and only drove about 30 miles to Sugarloaf Mountain which is all of 1282 ft.  It was owned by a private family which put it in a nonprofit corporation in 1946.   It is for the public's "enjoyment and education in an appreciation of natural beauty."  It is also a designated Registered Natural Landmark because of its geological interest and striking beauty.  It is beautiful and different from our mountains in California. The funds for its upkeep is from a trust fund set up by the family who said that........."those who appreciate natural beauty will be better people, people who will treat each other better."  There are view points in several locations and many picnic tables all over  as well as trails for hiking. 

After we left there we visited nearby lily ponds where we saw hundreds of different varieties of lillies-so beautiful.  They also had a fish hatchery and most of them were koi-many were for sale between $1 and $50.  Anyway, it was a fun day.  That night we stayed in our motorhome in Thurmont. (We have an apartment where we volunteer,)

The next morning we got up and visited the Eisenhauer Farm at Gettysburg.  We were bussed out to the farm and saw the barn, house, cattle barns,  the secret service office and the fields. 

The house was interesting.    Ninety nine percent of the furniture was what they actually had when they lived there and both Ike and Mamie died there. I had forgotten that there were no wars while he was president for his 8 years in office.  Maybe as a general he saw enough war and kept us out from his own experience.

The farm is 189 acres and they paid $44,000 for it.  It is strip planted with corn as it was in their day and the corn is feed for the guernsey cattle which was a great pride of Ikes.  They also raise a little hay for the cattle.  So not much has changed since they were there.  He was the last president that was able to keep gifts that were given to a president so they had some neat things in the house.  

Since it was Thursday eve. when we left we had to go into Frederick and have lobster and steak.   Ohhhhhhhhhhh!  How delicious it was again.

Then we came back to the center and worked yesterday today and also tomorrow.  We have a group of 125 men, Reston Bible Church,   which is a mens' retreat from northern VA, who will be here until tomorrow afternoon.  They are generally young men, many tall and do they ever have healthy appetites. They are a very pleasant group and they have already booked for next year.  

That is about it from Maryland and we trust you are in good health and enjoying life.  We do like hearing from you and appreciate long and short notes.  We have three more weeks here and as usual, it is going by so fast. 

Our best to you all and we hope to hear from you soon. 

Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Granddaddy, Ric and Jan(ice)

ric and jan

camino@ricandjan.com

New Windsor, Maryland

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Hi to all,

We arrived here almost 3 weeks ago to begin our volunteer work and
work we did. We came a couple of days early and started working
immediately. We worked for 2 weeks straight with no time off until 2
days ago. The good thing is that means the conference center is busy
which is a good thing. This is the busiest we have ever been in
August. It has slowed down somewhat but we are one couple of
volunteers short plus the director retired June 30 so we are really
short handed. Ric and I are in charge of 2 buildings until Sept. 1
when another couple will arrive and take that building. We will
gladly give it over to them. We have nevertheless found it to be a
learning experience-some good and some bad experiences. The
conference center secretary has kept things going and we think they
have a jewel in her. You don't find ones like her very often. I am
not sure they appreciate her.

The weather has been mild except for a few days when it was very hot
and humid. But what can you expect in Maryland in August? We are
inside most of the time. I do paperwork, get the room keys in
envelopes, make lists, and Ric takes care of making coffee, fixing
the ice water, delivering the snacks and things like that. We also
answer the phone in the office some days and work in the dining room,
taking tickets etc. So we both are kept busy most of the time.
Sometimes we just have to be here if case one of the guests need
something.

We have a group of 80 Vietnamese-CVCF-Capital Vietnamese Christian
Fellowship here right now. They are mostly young people from all
over the east. The have a worship service each day, group activities
workshops etc. and we all eat together in the dining hall. They are a
nice group of people and so polite.

The Church of the Brethren (they own New Windsor Conference Center)
General Board, 30 plus members, were here for 3 days or so the first
week we were here and they had meetings of several different
committees. We were given an exit report and good things are
happening here and will continue. The Brethren Disaster Ministries
committee were here also for training in disaster response which was
interesting. There is so much good that begins here so it is
rewarding to be a small part of it. We will be here through the
month of September.

Ric is in San Antonio as of last night for a family reunion. He will
fly back into Baltimore on Monday and we will spend the night in
Annapolis at the Navy Lodge. We have been to the Academy before but
Annapolis is a neat place to visit. We have Monday and Tuesday off
which is nice. Then we work the rest of the week and week end.

Gas is about $2.65 a gallon, down some 25 cents since we first
arrived here July 1. It is nice to see the price dropping. I just
hope it continues for our return trip to California in Oct. and Nov.

As I have written before, the countryside in Maryland is lovely;
green even without much rain this summer, rolling hills and many
trees. The crepe myrtle is blooming now and it is beautiful.

A storm can literally blow in, rain hard, and then be gone all in an
hour. We get severe weather warnings on TV and they usually happen
but they come and go so quickly. It is not at all like in northern
California.

That is about it from here. I have enjoyed all your e-mails and
always look forward to hearing from you.

I trust this finds you in good health and enjoying life as it is
meant to be enjoyed. Take care.

Hugs and peace to you all.

Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Granddaddy, Ric and Jan(ice)

July 26, 2007
Hi all,
Forgive all the pictures-I either get one or all. I still am learning. But since Vermont is so beautiful I don't regret very much sending all these. We arrived here in Waitsfield last Friday and we leave in the morning. I know that the fall foliage will be beautiful but seeing the lush green mountains is truly beautiful My advice is to come to New England in the summer and just stay until after the fall foliage is over.
We are staying in the Mad River Valley and the river is like many we see in CA with lots of rocks and falls. It is really a pretty sight. The first picture is in the little town just a mile south of here named Warren. We just happened upon it and it was so pretty I had to take a picture.
We drove up to Stowe and visited the original Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory and
besides lots of ice cream there were lots of people. The lines were so long we did not even get any ice cream which was no real loss.
We drove a little further north and up the mountain to the von Trapp Family Lodge which is quite large as they now have timeshares built there but nevertheless it is quite picturesque. We had lunch at the Austrian Tea House and you can see the view from our table. It was a gorgeous day to out and about and sitting outside could not have been more beautiful. The von Trapp family said, "A little bit of Austria in Vermont" and it seems quite true.
We drove to Burlington a couple of times and it is a lovely town. They close off about 4 blocks of the main street as a walking street and it was fun to see. In fact, we had lunch at an outdoor cafe there too.
We also went to Montpelier and walked around there too. It is another pretty town with interesting sights.
We will be reporting in to New Windsor Monday morning for our two months of volunteering.
It will be fun to see some of our old friends again.
Our new granddaughter Sarah Esther arrived early morning July 24-all 9 pounds of her.
Mom and baby are fine, Dad has a few new gray hairs. (He had to do so much) Granddaughter Carmella is just excited and I am sure a big help to Mommy.
We trust this finds you in good health as it is sent to you, and remember us on the road the next few days.
As always, don't forget to drop us a line. That way I know you did get this. Sometimes I just have to wonder!!
Love and hugs.
Dad, Mom, Grandmother and Granddaddy, Ric and Jan(ice)

15 great iPhotos

Fwd: Traveling east

----- Forwarded message from camino@ricandjan.com -----
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 07:55:53 -0700
From: ric and jan <camino@ricandjan.com>
Reply-To: ric and jan <camino@ricandjan.com>
Subject: Traveling east
To: Janice Martinez <JaniceM916@aol.com>, camino@ricandjan.com

"Thursday, June 13, 2007

Hi all,
We left Live Oak six days ago after attending my two great nephews
graduation party. It was a great send off for us as we saw many
famiy members and friends the night before we left,
Before that we celebrated with David and Angel at a wedding reception
at our house a couple of weeks ago. Then we attended several ball
games of our two granddaughters, both excellent pitchers, while we
were still home. I miss seeing them play ball more than most
anything else while we are traveling.
We traveled to Fernley the first day which is 30 miles past Reno on
I-80. We had really nice, cool weather as it has been so far on our
trip. The next morning we left and traveled across Nevada on Hwy 5o,
the loneliest road in America. Sometimes the scenery was really
beautiful, often interesting and sometimes boring. We stopped in a
little town, Austin NV which has quite a history. It was settled in
the 1860's and was once a thriving metropolis. Now it is very small
but they have several old churches that are on the Nat'l Register of
Historic Places.
Crossing Nevada we saw several of the abandoned Pony Express Stations
or where they once were.
We continued on east to the Ely where we spent the night. It was
over 7,000 ft. elevation which meant we climbed a lot of hills.
There were many across the desert on Hwy 50
We then crossed into Utah which was also desert and dry until we
finally arrived at Delta and soon after come to I-15 which we were
only on a few miles before Hwy 50 turned east towards Colorado. We
spent that night in Green River, CO which was quite dry and warm. We
did use the A/C a few hours in the late afternoon but the night
certainly cooled off.
We went on east on 50 which was beautiful and followed along the
Colorado River for many miles which was lush and green. It had a lot
of water as they had more rain and snow this year. The rock
formations along the road were fascinating too.
Then when we came to Hwy. 24 we turned south for approximately 80
miles up over 10,200 ft.. and it was the scenic byway and it was
beautiful. We ended Monday in Salida where my good friend and
husband, Jack and Chaille Womack live and we spent 3 great days and
nights. Chaille and I taught many years together at the beginning of
my teaching career. We certainly enjoyed seeing them again and their
lovely home.
We went together to the Royal Gorge yesterday and did a lot of
climbing, walking and exciting things. I was there with my parents
about 55 years ago when all there was was the bridge and the gorge,
Now there is a zoo, aerial tram and Incline railway from the top to
the bottom of the gorge, lots of gift shops and other things. They
have a Royal Rush Skycoaster which is a bungee experience but we
could not talk Ric into going with us so we choose not to. We saw the
railway at the bottom of the gorge which travels one way and then
back. We walked across the suspension bridge (longest in the world)
and then drove back across it. That was our exercise for the day and
believe me it was a lot.
They are close to skiing, have golf there and other things. It is a
neat town and we certainly enjoyed our visit.
We left there this morning and headed for Hutchinson KS to visit our
friend Blanche Ball. I worked with both her and her husband in
Lancaster. We will arrive there tomorrow and I will have the chance
to send this.
Tonight we are in Lamar, CO at an Elks Club which has a 9 hole golf
course. It is also cool here. I saw on the internet yesterday that
it was 100 degrees in Live Oak so I am extremely grateful to be where
it is cooler.
I got news yesterday that my only living aunt had passed peacefully
away earlier in the week. Of my 20 aunts and uncles, she was the last
one so now that means my generation is next. Can't believe how that
can be. I grew up with her and her husband around and I have so many
fond memories of them and their kids-my first cousins.
That is it for now and as you can see we are enjoying our trip
immensely. We hope this finds you all well and doing the things you
want to do.
Our love and best to you all and do keep in touch.
Mom. Dad, Grandmother and Granddaddy, Ric and Jan(ice)

Sat. June 16
We arrived in Hutchinson KS at the home of Blanhe Ball yesterday
afternoon. It was good to get here for 4 days. Then we will go on
to St. Louis and then Ohio.
I am at the library hoping that I will be able to send this. Take
care one and all and we will be in touch when we can.

----- End forwarded message -----