Theatre Work

Another play, another theater work day for our family! 

Jarod put Stace in charge of creating a banister for this staircase.

Meanwhile, I was removing old trim from these pieces of wood so they could be repainted and reused.

Not too shabby. 
 

I did my part from home, too, setting up a day to take promotional photos and interview Jarod and one of the actors, to create a press release for the local newspaper. I also am handling social media for the booster club we formed.

It was nice to see my work in print again, even without a byline.

Garden Joy

Time for a spring garden bragging post! This year, we have an amazing lettuce crop. Anyone want salad??

We're trying strawberries again, despite it not going great in the past.

An overall view - lavender looking lush on the right, then potato plants, green (spring) onions, carrots, lettuce, a new baby grape vine, and then our new stone fruit trees. One is covered in tiny fruit, so hopefully we'll be eating well in a couple of months.

We have blueberries in the back, and tomato plants in front. 
 

EVERYTHING is blooming! I've never seen our yard look so nice. 

Family, Friends and Felines

JT and Callie and Jonah stopped by for dinner on their way home from a road trip, and Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty made their famous pizza for us all. While that was happening, JT helped Cora with lines for her next play, And Then There Were None.

Later, we had a lovely evening with a fire in the fire pit. 

On Saturday, Uncle Bill helped Stace change the brakes on the Vibe. It's always great spending time with them!

A few days later was Easter, and Mel, Nick and Ellie met us at church. We then went into the church coffeehouse for a drink before heading home to get ready for our meal.

I should have taken a photo of our beautiful lamb! Aunt Patty cooked it perfectly on the barbecue and it was amazing. And this time, Stace's yorkshires were divine. 
 

These guys! Waiting for their third set of grandparents to give them love and treats...

Hey, you're kinda too big to be a lap cat!

Local Hikes

Look at those poppies in Quigley Canyon! 

Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty were with us before and after our Death Valley trip, so on one of the days we took them to Quigley since it's so gorgeous right now.

After our walk, we went to nearby Trophy coffee shop, on the campus of The Master's University.

Then we drove through Newhall home, and stopped to see the bison. They were SO close to the fence! Stace needed a boost to get a better look...?

Later in the week, Stace and I took a little hike in Elsmere Canyon. So awesome seeing water in all of our streambeds!

 And grass on the hills... We took this pic to show Cora what looks to be a cave in the hill in the background. I know she'd love to figure out a way to explore it!

Zabriskie Point and Snowy Sierras

We decided to pack up and check out Tuesday morning, as we were unsure if the power would be restored in the town we were in. 

So, we then changed plans, and went to Zabriskie Point for a little walk and some photos, instead of a longer trip to Ubehebe Crater we'd considered.

This was another place with such intriguing scenery.

 

Set up shot, but looks cool.

We said goodbye to Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty and began our drive home. We took the slightly longer way, due west to Lone Pine, because I wanted to see the snowy Sierra Nevada after the walloping it got this year.

It was gorgeous! And, Lone Pine gave us a chance to gas up and get food, whereas the more direct route home is pretty desolate the whole way.

So, a three-day trip, full of interesting sights and memories created.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

We returned to our motel Monday night to a power outage, caused by the high winds knocking out a power pole. So, dinner was weird and we were grateful we'd packed an emergency solar lighting kit. We went to bed early, and therefore woke up early Tuesday.

Stace and I decided to head straight to the sand dunes, minutes away, to catch sunrise. It was beautiful!

 

This is Stace, channeling his inner R2D2, around the same spot from the Star Wars films.

And, we returned later in the day with the family, and Stace had other acting ideas on the dune.

After our sunrise trip, we drove back to Furnace Creek, about 20 minutes away, because we figured they still had power and we'd be able to buy coffee. We got drinks for ourselves and Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty, who were very appreciative.

Death Valley: Natural Bridge

After Badwater Basin, we made a stop at Natural Bridge, a short hike full of more interesting landscapes.

This is Aunt Patty at the bottom of a dry waterfall, carved out after so many years of erosion.

Violet begged to make a rock stack - of course she could! Second photo is hers - pretty creative and artsy, framed by the natural bridge.

 

Uncle Bill joined Cora  (on the right side, two-thirds of the way up) in a precarious climb to view the top of the bridge.

Cora is waving here - you can see the perspective on how big the natural bridge is.

We made one more stop on the way back, a multi-hued nine-mile driving loop called Artists Palette. Unfortunately, sine dusk had fallen, the colors weren't as brilliant as we'd seen in photos, but it was still pretty.

Badwater

 My parents and Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty joined us for our the Rhyolite trip, and we then stopped for lunch in Nevada before heading back to Death Valley highlights. We stopped at the visitors center in Furnace Creek, and then drove to Badwater, the lowest point in the United States at 282 feet below sea level.

Cora and Grandma took a long walk into the salt flats of Badwater Basin, where Grandma got this cool photo of Cora on the salt. 

Vi and I didn't venture as far, but we still found chunks of salt to investigate. 

So strange! One of those interesting phenomena worth checking out at least once!

The rectangle speck two-thirds of the way up the mountain is the sign demarcating Sea Level.

The long, salty walk back to the car.