Finally Underway.

But First.

I would like to introduce the newest member of the family.

This is Raymond our first great-child.  Ain’t he cute? He is our grandson Johnathen’s boy.

Getting Going.

We left Santa Rosa around 8:30 Saturday morning.
Our destination is Coarsegold, California where my niece and her family lives. The plan is to spend Saturday evening and Sunday with Connie and Bruce and will head south on Monday

The Trip.

We headed east on Highway 12  to I-80, then to I-5, where we headed south.
We had Connie and Bruce’s address in the GPS and were following the instructions. At the Madera turn off, the GPS told us to head east on highway 145 . In Madera the GPS put us on a back road (400). This road is a narrow winding road that goes past Hensley Lake. The road is not even on the AAA map. We followed this narrow winding road all the way and the GPS did eventually get us to Connie and Bruce’s Around 1:30.

At Connie and Bruce’s.

Connie and Bruce have about 5 acres and a Very nice house. All the land is usable. They have a nice big barn. In the past this was a horse ranch.

This is their fenced in patio and pool area.

We spent the afternoon visiting with Connie, Bruce and their 11 year old granddaughter, Lila, A delightful child.

Connie and Lila.

For supper Connie cooked up some brats and made a real good potato soup. Yumm. After supper we visited until bed time.

Okay, we made it to Coarsegold safe and sound.

Sunday.

The First Jeep Ride.

Around noon on Sunday, Connie’s sun-in-law Gibson came by and we visited for  while then decided to take a jeep ride. This will be the first of the season.

Just before we left this big Hawk landed on a power pole about 20 feet away. I took it as a good omen for the days ride.

We took a lot of roads that I don’t remember. Here we are we heading for the town of Coarsegold where we gassed up the jeeps.

From there we drove along the west side of Bass Lake.

The lake is pretty low right now.

Fall Colors.

After passing Bass Lake we continued on pavement for a while longer but we were enjoying the Fall colors.

This is Gibson our guide being very attentive and making sure us old folks are ok. Nice kid.

As it turns out that big rock on the left is our destination.
I think it is called Shuteye Peak.

Finally on the Dirt.

We stopped here to air down the tires.

The trail was a bit dusty but other than that it was a good trail.

There were a few stretches of pavement here and there. It looks like the road might have been paved at one time but never maintained.

This bit takes you along these interesting rocks.

This is  nice ride through the beautiful Sierra Mountains and the trail gets more interesting as we go along.

This is a neat spot.

Here we are approaching our destination.

Almost there.

Here we are at a saddle near the top. This is where we stopped.

On the right side there is this really cool rock feature.

On the left is a pile of rocks that people use for rock climbing practice.

Between them is this view.

Heading Down the Mountain.

We decided to head home from here. So we turned around and  headed down the mountain.

We drove past what, in Spring time must be a nice waterfall. It looks like it would be fun to drive up it.

A little farther we crossed a bridge over this pretty little creek with some small waterfalls.

Back at C&B’s.

We got back to Connie and Bruce’s around 4:00.
I reattached the tow bar to the jeep and pumped up the tires.

We visited for a while and then had supper.  Connie made some Green enchiladas my favorite and they were excellent. Connie is a real good cook.

After supper we visited some more until bed time.

We had a real nice visit with Connie and Bruce.
Thank you so much for your hospitality and the great food.

That was our visit with Connie and Bruce. The next stop is supposed to be in Daggett, CA where we plan to spend Monday night.