Back again dudes....and dude'ess
I'm going to tell you a story of 1960 and 1961 in California and then we will move to Arizona, but first - wait there's more.....
I ate my first McDonalds in Los Angeles in 1961 (don't look this up..lol) I might be wrong but I remember it being a burger bar and certainly not the mega enterprise it is now - don't forget though this is many many years ago. I ate a quarter pounder with cheese and guess what I had today - a quarter pounder with cheese, fries and a diet coke....still tastes the same and I enjoy every single one I have ever eaten...they are kewl!!!!! I also ate McDonalds pancakes and syrup yesterday I'm going to be a big fat pig very soon, but I don't care....well yes I do actually, but I'm working it all off typing like the wind and moving my lips to the beat of my typing....I learnt to type by music wearing a bib...but I digress -
California is the most wonderful place - I will wax lyrical at this point - it is many countries wrapped into one - golden California though is the best way to describe it. The golden grass has a colour all its own it is muted but bright and Oh so lovely. It makes for a beautiful look and is a backdrop for a great State.
I think though there are some wonderful things that should be mentioned places that defy explanation. Donner Pass - now I was there when it was snowing and it was 4 feet of snow in the morning it was white, pristine and cold but refreshing and it was my first taste of snow. I have had many snowy experiences but this was my first and I went bezerk....totally bezerk!!!!!!!!!! lolololol
It was crisp and white and sounded like thunder when I walked and ran thruogh it....didn't know that the ground underneath was different heights but who cares at 9 years old...I just adored it. For those who do not know Donner Pass was the only Pass that those going to California (out West) were able to take their wagons over the Sierra Nevada...it is a very special place....
My mother's friends had driven us there and because of the snow we were unable to leave until the plough had been through. As it was a very very little place then (don't know about now) it took hours and hours so I just went blue and got very wet and didn't end up with a chill because I didn't stop....running, jumping, doing angels (before they were cool) and generally had a ball. We were staying in a motel...now let me tell you about American motels....
They all look the same, have the same signs (different names) but all the signs are noisy and crackle. This is a fact, no matter where you are in the U.S.A. the motel signs crackle, they burp and carry on something wicked....lol Also adding in here they used to smell the same, slightly tobaccoish with a slight smell of sweat..ewww I can remember all the motel rooms I have been in with the same bad wooden headboards and the fluffy counterpanes...not a good look, prefer now something along the lines of Hiltons...only
The motels themselves (and I have seen lots of movies with them featured since I was in my last American one) don't seem to have changed that much. They are maybe two storied - in my day they were only one story - and Holiday Inns were double storied...but they were the same no matter where we went.
This little journey covered the wonderful Lake Tahoe and Reno and Donner Pass plus I will tell you about staying in the old hotel at Yosmite Valley....what a place awe inspiring peaks and a long green valley
In my minds eye the hotel was enormous with huge rooms and windows to die for....the dining room was capable of seating I'm sure 500 people and it was totally full. There was a huge fireplace on one side made of stone (boulders I learn't 30 years later when I did interior designing (how posh is that not really though by today's standards) and the decor was certainly Native American with overtones of Spanish and French...but it worked - when you are nine it doesn't matter it just looked f...ing good, huge and big with lots of brown and yellow and red, also leather furniture in the lobby, big and bold stuff from memory
We of course weren't told about the special effect that happened when it got dark as our friends wanted us to see for ourselves the awesome and spectacular event.....those of you who have seen what I am about the explain know how wonderous and astonishing it actually is......
Going for a coffee and a flex of the fingers....brb
An enormous fire is built on the top of an excruciatingly tall bulbous rock formation and this fire is tended all day to get it to the stage when it is blazing and they push it over the edge....well I can remember the goosebumps I got when I saw everyone stand up and look out the windows towards the spectacular fall of embers and fire and I imagine as it was so far away bloody big logs which were all blazing, but by the time they hit the valley (which is a considerable distance down) they I think are just ash....this spectacular event is every night and I heard from the friend of a friend who has recently been there that it still is performed....wow nice to think that there are some things that havn't changed over time.....thank God....!!!!!
This friend of a friend did also say that they stayed in a motel and that there were lots of buildings but when I was there I can only remember a camping site and the hotel...must have been eons ago that I was there - yeah rite!!!! I'm turning 60 soon and I can't believe it I'm still feeling about 12 years old, especially when I am typing in here and remembering the gorgeous times I had. Yosmite Valley is a stop for EVERYONE - IT IS AWESOME - if you ever get the opportunity to go there stay in the hotel (if it still exists) must Google it - I will do that after this blog if written - and drive along the Truckie River and - hang on - might be another river - might have that wrong...anyhoo - we did go for a walk the next morning but were told to keep to the road and not go off it....Now my mother is a hiker (sorri was) no longer on the planet, she is keeping me company like she does every night here on the computer but she is in a lovely wooden box and is ashes...now how creepy is that peeps?
Not creepy at all for me...she was my best friend and will be always. Must put her ashes in the golden and floral urn (Chinese ginger jar) that I purchased years ago...just can't seem to do that part....lol I opened a business a few years ago and took her out of my bedroom draw and she has been out ever since.....I put flowers and bows on her box and she joined in the party....I'm if nothing else happy to include everyone in my events and outings....lol p.s. she was in the kitchen on top of the microwave and nobody knew who/what she was....thank goodness - I'm known as eccentric but I understand that might have been a little insane....hehe
I digress.....having a ciggy and a coffee and now going to gulp down a small bottle of diet coke, need the eenees....caffeine, nicotine etc....to keep going......want to do a significant blog tonight.....
Well that was a little redundant...I had the coffee then the ciggy and of course still have the Whooping Cough so coughed my guts up and now feel like I have had a total workout, but that's a good thing...lololol
Driving in California was kewl except that mum ended up screaming all the time and gasping furiously whilst Fred or Fran was driving as she was in the passenger seat in the Yanky car but it was a driving seat for her here in N.Z. this is awful I remember having to tell her on a number of occasions - yelling, I am good at that, move over we are on the wrong side of the road.....hehehe this I still remember when I go down a one way street.....yet again I digress!!!
Lake Tahoe was beautiful dark green and all the fir trees were lovely right down to the sides of the lake and you have to see this for yourselves green trees to the edge of a lake - just thought of Johnny Depp in Secret Window...don't know why but he lived in an area I think close to a lake and it reminded me of it.....Lake Tahoe that is....
Now for an exciting different area in California the Sequoia Park - home of the Redwood Trees.... (sp might be wrong) but at the pace I type I dont' give a damn...these trees are magnificent and reminded me of our Kauri Trees here in New Zealand, they are as old and huge...I mean HUGE, they can take a car through the middle and I've walked on top of one and walked underneath them and walked on the wonderful spongy ground around them with the needles and they smell good.....what is this tonight with me about smell......mmmmmm I know the black cat is still around and when I went out to do the shopping tonight at 10.30 p.m. he came in and sprayed....ewwww yucky little F...k..r???? My townhouse smelt like a sewer he has to go....and I mean Go Go GO GO GO....why hasn't that happened? Will check it out later today.....
I remembered I didn't finish about the Yosmite walk....now we didn't know that bears lived in this forest...lol and when we were about 500 yards from the entrance to the hotel a bear popped up about 50 feet away and our friends high tailed it back toward the hotel...now my mum (totally fearless) decided that a closer look would be a good idea, well thanks to another bear appearing and making a large growl sound she changed her mind and walked briskly back to our friends who were hovering behind a car...good idea I thought....and I still do, bears and I don't mix...will tell you the story of the pies soon.....
I'm actually tired and had enough of my day its now 1.30 a.m. and I'm going to bed....nite all
Wish you every single one of you a fantastic day today wherever you are in the world and I wish for no more killing or deaths its got to stop.....enough of world politics
Goodnight from me and its goodnight from him
.....
I'm going to tell you a story of 1960 and 1961 in California and then we will move to Arizona, but first - wait there's more.....
I ate my first McDonalds in Los Angeles in 1961 (don't look this up..lol) I might be wrong but I remember it being a burger bar and certainly not the mega enterprise it is now - don't forget though this is many many years ago. I ate a quarter pounder with cheese and guess what I had today - a quarter pounder with cheese, fries and a diet coke....still tastes the same and I enjoy every single one I have ever eaten...they are kewl!!!!! I also ate McDonalds pancakes and syrup yesterday I'm going to be a big fat pig very soon, but I don't care....well yes I do actually, but I'm working it all off typing like the wind and moving my lips to the beat of my typing....I learnt to type by music wearing a bib...but I digress -
California is the most wonderful place - I will wax lyrical at this point - it is many countries wrapped into one - golden California though is the best way to describe it. The golden grass has a colour all its own it is muted but bright and Oh so lovely. It makes for a beautiful look and is a backdrop for a great State.
I think though there are some wonderful things that should be mentioned places that defy explanation. Donner Pass - now I was there when it was snowing and it was 4 feet of snow in the morning it was white, pristine and cold but refreshing and it was my first taste of snow. I have had many snowy experiences but this was my first and I went bezerk....totally bezerk!!!!!!!!!! lolololol
It was crisp and white and sounded like thunder when I walked and ran thruogh it....didn't know that the ground underneath was different heights but who cares at 9 years old...I just adored it. For those who do not know Donner Pass was the only Pass that those going to California (out West) were able to take their wagons over the Sierra Nevada...it is a very special place....
My mother's friends had driven us there and because of the snow we were unable to leave until the plough had been through. As it was a very very little place then (don't know about now) it took hours and hours so I just went blue and got very wet and didn't end up with a chill because I didn't stop....running, jumping, doing angels (before they were cool) and generally had a ball. We were staying in a motel...now let me tell you about American motels....
They all look the same, have the same signs (different names) but all the signs are noisy and crackle. This is a fact, no matter where you are in the U.S.A. the motel signs crackle, they burp and carry on something wicked....lol Also adding in here they used to smell the same, slightly tobaccoish with a slight smell of sweat..ewww I can remember all the motel rooms I have been in with the same bad wooden headboards and the fluffy counterpanes...not a good look, prefer now something along the lines of Hiltons...only
The motels themselves (and I have seen lots of movies with them featured since I was in my last American one) don't seem to have changed that much. They are maybe two storied - in my day they were only one story - and Holiday Inns were double storied...but they were the same no matter where we went.
This little journey covered the wonderful Lake Tahoe and Reno and Donner Pass plus I will tell you about staying in the old hotel at Yosmite Valley....what a place awe inspiring peaks and a long green valley
In my minds eye the hotel was enormous with huge rooms and windows to die for....the dining room was capable of seating I'm sure 500 people and it was totally full. There was a huge fireplace on one side made of stone (boulders I learn't 30 years later when I did interior designing (how posh is that not really though by today's standards) and the decor was certainly Native American with overtones of Spanish and French...but it worked - when you are nine it doesn't matter it just looked f...ing good, huge and big with lots of brown and yellow and red, also leather furniture in the lobby, big and bold stuff from memory
We of course weren't told about the special effect that happened when it got dark as our friends wanted us to see for ourselves the awesome and spectacular event.....those of you who have seen what I am about the explain know how wonderous and astonishing it actually is......
Going for a coffee and a flex of the fingers....brb
An enormous fire is built on the top of an excruciatingly tall bulbous rock formation and this fire is tended all day to get it to the stage when it is blazing and they push it over the edge....well I can remember the goosebumps I got when I saw everyone stand up and look out the windows towards the spectacular fall of embers and fire and I imagine as it was so far away bloody big logs which were all blazing, but by the time they hit the valley (which is a considerable distance down) they I think are just ash....this spectacular event is every night and I heard from the friend of a friend who has recently been there that it still is performed....wow nice to think that there are some things that havn't changed over time.....thank God....!!!!!
This friend of a friend did also say that they stayed in a motel and that there were lots of buildings but when I was there I can only remember a camping site and the hotel...must have been eons ago that I was there - yeah rite!!!! I'm turning 60 soon and I can't believe it I'm still feeling about 12 years old, especially when I am typing in here and remembering the gorgeous times I had. Yosmite Valley is a stop for EVERYONE - IT IS AWESOME - if you ever get the opportunity to go there stay in the hotel (if it still exists) must Google it - I will do that after this blog if written - and drive along the Truckie River and - hang on - might be another river - might have that wrong...anyhoo - we did go for a walk the next morning but were told to keep to the road and not go off it....Now my mother is a hiker (sorri was) no longer on the planet, she is keeping me company like she does every night here on the computer but she is in a lovely wooden box and is ashes...now how creepy is that peeps?
Not creepy at all for me...she was my best friend and will be always. Must put her ashes in the golden and floral urn (Chinese ginger jar) that I purchased years ago...just can't seem to do that part....lol I opened a business a few years ago and took her out of my bedroom draw and she has been out ever since.....I put flowers and bows on her box and she joined in the party....I'm if nothing else happy to include everyone in my events and outings....lol p.s. she was in the kitchen on top of the microwave and nobody knew who/what she was....thank goodness - I'm known as eccentric but I understand that might have been a little insane....hehe
I digress.....having a ciggy and a coffee and now going to gulp down a small bottle of diet coke, need the eenees....caffeine, nicotine etc....to keep going......want to do a significant blog tonight.....
Well that was a little redundant...I had the coffee then the ciggy and of course still have the Whooping Cough so coughed my guts up and now feel like I have had a total workout, but that's a good thing...lololol
Driving in California was kewl except that mum ended up screaming all the time and gasping furiously whilst Fred or Fran was driving as she was in the passenger seat in the Yanky car but it was a driving seat for her here in N.Z. this is awful I remember having to tell her on a number of occasions - yelling, I am good at that, move over we are on the wrong side of the road.....hehehe this I still remember when I go down a one way street.....yet again I digress!!!
Lake Tahoe was beautiful dark green and all the fir trees were lovely right down to the sides of the lake and you have to see this for yourselves green trees to the edge of a lake - just thought of Johnny Depp in Secret Window...don't know why but he lived in an area I think close to a lake and it reminded me of it.....Lake Tahoe that is....
Now for an exciting different area in California the Sequoia Park - home of the Redwood Trees.... (sp might be wrong) but at the pace I type I dont' give a damn...these trees are magnificent and reminded me of our Kauri Trees here in New Zealand, they are as old and huge...I mean HUGE, they can take a car through the middle and I've walked on top of one and walked underneath them and walked on the wonderful spongy ground around them with the needles and they smell good.....what is this tonight with me about smell......mmmmmm I know the black cat is still around and when I went out to do the shopping tonight at 10.30 p.m. he came in and sprayed....ewwww yucky little F...k..r???? My townhouse smelt like a sewer he has to go....and I mean Go Go GO GO GO....why hasn't that happened? Will check it out later today.....
I remembered I didn't finish about the Yosmite walk....now we didn't know that bears lived in this forest...lol and when we were about 500 yards from the entrance to the hotel a bear popped up about 50 feet away and our friends high tailed it back toward the hotel...now my mum (totally fearless) decided that a closer look would be a good idea, well thanks to another bear appearing and making a large growl sound she changed her mind and walked briskly back to our friends who were hovering behind a car...good idea I thought....and I still do, bears and I don't mix...will tell you the story of the pies soon.....
I'm actually tired and had enough of my day its now 1.30 a.m. and I'm going to bed....nite all
Wish you every single one of you a fantastic day today wherever you are in the world and I wish for no more killing or deaths its got to stop.....enough of world politics
Goodnight from me and its goodnight from him
.....
