6/29/10 Hello from Agency Lake, Oregon. This is the small lake just above Klamath Lake and about 25 miles north of Klamath Falls. Our friends Mike & Marilyn live here and we are parked on the side of their driveway so we have a good view of the lake. They have incredible lake views from their deck:

And here is a picture of friends at Happy Hour on their deck:

We have been here 2 days and every day we go for walks at the wildlife refuge just down the road. Besides the Wood River going through it, there are lots of wetlands which attract many types of birds, and there are green plants everywhere surrounded by a ring of mountains, some of which have snow on the top still.

And here is a small heron which we saw today sitting on a rock at the edge of the water:

Our last post was from Park Sierra, where we were waiting for my foot to heal after having toe surgery. Our last social gathering there was a celebration because Tom & Judy Tillery were back in the park for a visit, and I promised to put a picture of them in this entry. They are so cute and it is difficult to imagine that they are about to have their 50th wedding anniversary!

The evening turned cool and we had some papers we needed to burn so the group moved out to the fire pit to end the evening:

One of the fun things about being at Park Sierra this time was all the social gatherings with good friends, some of whom were also "stuck" in the park because of medical issues.
My foot was healing fine so we were able to head for the Bay Area. One day we met our old friends, Mitz Alverson & Bev Porter for a nice visit and a tasty lunch. It was great to see them and catch up on all their news. I used to play softball on the same team with them, and Mitz and I coached at different high schools and our teams used to compete against each other quite often.

Because of our long trip last year, we hadn't seen Elaine's daughter, Tarra, and her family for about a year and a half. She and her husband, Alonzo, live in one of our rental houses in Fremont. On New Year's Day a pipe broke in the bathroom wall and there was quite a bit of water damage, which they have had to repair. Because they did all the work, they were able to use the insurance money to fix everything and do some upgrades. Here is a picture of them in their new kitchen:

Alonzo's three daughters, Ari, Alia, and Analy, have all grown so much while we have been away! They have all matured a lot and we had a delightful visit with them, especially when we got to see two of them at their softball games. They all play on different teams and all are very talented athletes. It makes me want to stay around there just to "coach" them a bit, and also go to their games! Here is a picture of these darling girls:

Gordon & Laura Bornkamp were parked next to us at the Fremont Elks club so we had a happy reunion with them too. Here is a picture of them we took at Mardi Gras in New Orleans:

Besides these visits, the goal of being in the Bay Area, and then in the Sacramento area, was to inspect the rentals, which we did. Happily, most of them look great, one needs a little TLC, and one is a major disaster. But we won't have to deal with it until the current tenants vacate, so we aren't going to stress about it!
Ron & Carol Leonard were kind enough to let us stay on their Sacramento property once again and we had 2 nice Happy Hours with them. It was fairly hot while we were there and the huge oak tree hanging over their deck provided much appreciated shade:

Our last day there we were treated to a delightful lunch by our friends Roberta Firetag and Odette Kummer. They have just had their 40th anniversary, and their son, Raymond, had just gotten married, so there were lots of great pictures to share and news to catch up on.

As we drove north on highway 5, we stopped in Corning, where there are lots of olive retail places. We tried the Olive Pit because we have been trying to find the same kind of green olives we so enjoyed in Barcelona. After tasting quite a few, we bought some picholine olives. Not as good as the ones in Spain but the closest we could come. It was very hot in the central valley, and as we started to climb, near Lake Shasta, we enjoyed the cool down. We were delighted to see that Lake Shasta was completely full of water. In past years it has been really low. And Mount Shasta was heavily covered in snow and looked so majestic as we passed it:

Mount Shasta can be seen peeking over the tops of the mountains surrounding this lake, as we walk in the wetland preserve.
We took highway 97 to get here and on the way passed at least 6 deer, several alive standing on the side of the road, but most had been hit by vehicles the night before. It feels good to be "out in the wilds" again, with all this beautiful scenery surrounding us.
The plan is to stay here for several weeks while we do some cleaning and rig repairs, and enjoy visits with Mike & Marilyn and other Canadian friends, Pat & Linda Jenkins, who are going to arrive mid-July.
Before I close, I want to show you a picture of the latest jewelry creation by Marilyn. She is an expert wire wrap jewelry maker and here are her earrings and necklace which I like a lot: