Jacqueline’s Jaunts

07 April 2025, Silver City, New Mexico We both slept well. Today was exploration day. We all jumped in our Jeeps and followed Kenny and Vicky to Pinos Altos. It’s an old mining town and is considered haunted. We were able to walk through the old museum and gift shop. What fun! Vicky talked The Buckhorn Restaurant into opening so we could walk through it. The staff was getting ready for dinner. The Opera house is next door; you can enter it from The Buckhorn. The community still uses it for plays. We would have loved to eat at The Buckhorn, but we had places to see! I posted many photos because I had a hard time deciding what not to include.  Fort Bayard was the next place. Many of the buildings are still standing, but they are in a state of disrepair. There is one street with large homes for officers, and one house is set up for tours, but is closed today. There are still six or so standing. Kenny said the town is in the process of exploring ways to restore the area. The old movie ...

31 March - 06 April  Palm Springs and Cathedral City, California This post is delayed and will be a longer one. I apologize for that. A lot happened during this week. I will try to highlight the significant events. We planned to drive from Bakersfield to 29 Palms and stay for 2 days, but that changed for us. I combined the next week's events into one post for my own ease in keeping track of them as they unfolded. I will start by quoting Barry from his diary, "Well, this day will be considered a pivot point, a transitional moment, a paradigm shift, life-altering, destiny maybe..."  We left Bakersfield about 9:15 AM and the original plan was to stop at the Cesar E. Chavez National Memorial. I called to make sure they had RV parking. Darn'it POTUS!!!!! They had a recording that stated closed today due to "operational constraints." We decided to head to Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.  The decision was to go there first, then drive the one-and-a-half hours to 29 Pa...

30 March 2025, Bakersfield, California Jeeps 10 Ken and Jan made it to Santa Nella before we left, so we could follow each other to Bakersfield. The wind was crazy; we even saw semi-trucks blown around the freeway. We stopped about half an hour from Bakersfield to get gas so we would not have to get it in the morning.  We pulled into the RV park behind K&J, so I'm unsure how they went. Beautiful weather here. We both hooked up our rigs to power, sewer and water. We got a quick tour of their new RV and headed to the restaurant for Happy Hour. The restaurant has a great happy hour and we remembered from the last time we stayed here. We both got caught up on family stuff, ate appetizers, and drank.  Back to the RVs to relax.  Copyright © 2025 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

29 March 2025, Santa Nella, California I did not fall asleep until 4:00 AM, but Barry let me sleep until about 8:30 this morning. I wish I knew why I cannot sleep. I am turning into my mother. I walked out to see birds while Barry did his thing with the RV. I saw a Turkey Vulture, hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds and about eight Rock Pigeons. We packed up after breakfast and headed down I-5.  We do not miss the road conditions in California. Not much has changed on I-5, other than more housing. We made it to Santa Nella around 2:30 PM. Uncle Richard and Aunt Laura met us at our RV park around 3:00 PM. They came from Uncle Richard's seventy-first Turlock High School reunion in Turlock, California. Aunt Laura and I took off to the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in her new car. It is only about ten minutes west of the RV park. The whole reason we camped here is to visit this cemetery. My Uncle Sam Threet, Aunt Florence and Laura’s first husband, George Heiser, are buried there....

28 March 2025, Chico Rice, Willows, California We slept in a little this morning, which felt terrific. As we got ready to leave this morning, Julie (our RV) would not start. A dead battery. We think it was the inverter used to keep my CPAP working all night. I have a new CPAP machine since our last trip and the 12-volt connection I used on my old machine does not match my new one. We didn't even think of that. Hooked up Julie to the Jeep battery and she fired right up. While she was charging, I took a walk to record bird sounds on my app. I recorded the following: House Finch, Brewer's Blackbird, European Starling, Northern Flicker, Eurasian Collard-Dove, Cedar Waxwing, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, Red-winged Blackbird, Mallard Duck. We stopped for gas and then on our way to our next HH (Harvest Host) stop, Chico Rice in Willows, California. It is a quarter-mile off I5. We arrived around 3:45 PM. After parking, we walked to the Self-Serve Kiosk and bought sushi rice, brown ...

27 March 2025, EdenVale Winery, Medford, Oregon Left home at 11:15 AM. Rain-Wind-Sideways Rain through the mountains, Grants Pass, and over to Medford. Once here, the skies cleared, sunny, 58 ° . Arrived at 3:30 PM. We are the only Harvest Host Guests tonight so we can park anywhere. We decided to park down by the barn since the area was a flat gravel road. We walked up to the tasting room, one white flight for me and a red flight for Barry. We also had a fabulous cheese and meat board. Great conversation and a new recipe for this delicious onion compote they made there. Barry was able to get the recipe and cannot wait to try it. We bought six bottles and a sangria for our trip. The new tires on the RV made a significant difference on this trip. A much smoother ride. A great evening of bird watching; Starlings, Brewer’s Blackbird, Eurasian Collared-Dove.  Copyright © 2025 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

Honey Grove is known as "The Sweetest Town in Texas." When settlers arrived, they found numerous bee hives in the county.  I never thought in a million years I would visit Texas.  Just not a state I was interested in, even though my Dad was born and lived here until he was fourteen. Last year, my friend Lisa Gorrel and I decided to plan a trip for genealogy. We discovered we had ancestors in many of the same or nearby counties.  The weather in Texas was too hot by the time we decided last year, so we decided to go in the spring of 2024. This way, we could also experience the wildflowers.  I have not written anything in quite a while, but I have not felt like writing anything until now. Last night, I had a dream about my dad. In the dream, I think he forgave me for something that happened in High School. I woke up feeling apprehensive and emotional. It was hard for me not to cry. This dream stuck with me all day.  The first place we visited was the Oakwood Cemete...