A Cabin in Sonora!

 We enjoyed seeing Carlene & Larry - I have known her for such a long time! 

 So fun - these friendships go WAY back!








So fun to get caught up with one another again!  It has been almost 6 months since we came through Modesto when we returned from our trip.

 Paul & Luba let us know they just bought a "cabin" in the woods to enjoy on weekends!  So Nick & I went up to a well known area...(where Nick use to live) - Sonora - and we enjoyed seeing the house and surroundings!

 The house is in a community that includes 2 lakes and a horse stable and even a golf course! 

We loved their new home and so' enjoyed sharing with them this new vacation house!

Luba is a wonderful cook and we were blessed with a scrumptious bountiful dinner...oh Luba & Paul!

 A very different wild flower in the woods! 

 So pretty to have a lake to go fishing at and to swim and enjoy the privacy of a community park!

 We will also being visiting my step-dad Jim and his daughter Denise in the Bay Area!  

That will be a real blessing too!  

Back in Modesto visiting friends!

We departed out of Yosemite and headed on to Modesto where we use to live 15 years ago before moving to Bend Oregon.  The drive would be about 3 hours from Yosemite National Park.  We decided to take a rest and have some lunch before driving onward to Modesto.  So we came to a Rest Stop along the highway and as we parked to motor home we became surrounded by motor cycles!

It was going to be Memorial Day Weekend in the US -
Memorial Day A very special holiday in America when we remember the soldiers who have served our country.  Remembering those who died and those who are wounded!

In Washington DC there is a "Wall" with all the names of the men & women who have lost their lives.  There is also a traveling Wall that is driven through the country going from city to city.   "The Traveling Wall"

We were surrounded by motor cycles and more continued to come...and they were here in this Rest Stop waiting for this traveling trailer to arrive and they would be "escorting" it to Manteca where this "Memorial Wall" would be displayed for the Memorial Day Weekend.

It was so impressive seeing all these people coming from many different towns to support this!

We arrived at our friends house in Modesto - Paul & Luba who we have known for many years!  They are a Russian family that immigrated to the US from Ukraine with their 3 children.  Paul & Luba live on a big property so we are able to park our motor home in their backyard.  They are very gracious and so' generous!  We always feel blessed to be with them!

Paul is a machinist  tradesmen...and learned this in Ukraine.   He has worked very hard in this country and worked for Gallo wine here in Modesto for many years and then started to work for himself.

He gave us a tour of his shop...and we were amazed at all his equipment and what detailed work they do!  Especially the gigantic one he had recently purchased and was now doing jobs for the airline companies too!  He loads in up in the evening and the whole computerized equipment does it throughout the night!  Amazing technology!  We stood in awe of what it all could do!

Here is Paul and his brother Ilya

From a block of aluminum to one side of it getting cut to the other side being cute - all automatically programmed!

This is still in the process of being made...this is for a cannery company that holds the cans as it goes through the assembly line at the factory!

Finished!

Quite a machine!

The Shops Name....Prema Precision

So this amazing apparatus has 5 column's and those columns have to be made first to hold the part that is being made!

The booth door opens...and in goes one column with the parts on it...and from there...the 100 drills inside automatically goes to work one by one putting these parts into shape....

Each of these tools are numbered..you see?....and one by one the machines grabs the one tool....out of the slot and does what it needs to do to all the columns! 

Here is one part...for a Boeing airline - a part of the seat clasp...

Can you imagine being the programmer for this??????

This is Paul & Luba with their family back when I met in Modesto!

   The finished product!

 **********************

 Great picture of Nick & Marijka...a dear friend of the family!

Marijka was part of the "Dutch Ladies Tea Group" that met monthly when my Mom was still well!  Mom loved it!   

A Day visiting Yosemite National Park

As we headed north from Bakersfield to Modesto,

we decided to go to Yosemite!  We were about 1.5 hours from it while driving on Hwy 99 - so we did!  It was beautiful to see again....for both Nick & I, it had been quite a few years ago that we had visited this park.  We were both still living in Modesto at that time - and that has been more then 14 years ago!

We arrived to the town of Oakhurst which is the south entrance to Yosemite by way of Fresno.  We decided to find a RV park in this town and then unhitch the car and go for the day into Yosemite another 90 minutes further past Oakhurst.                                  

The weather was lovely...we were so fortunate, even though we had heard there would be some  rainfall on the local news!  Not so!

Wawona Lodge

 Ahwahnee Lodge is always such a pleasure to go to! 

 Dogwood Tree - blossoms coming out are just so impressive!




 The Lobby is as it was years ago when I came here with my parents! So warm and welcoming!  A beautiful lounge room and dining area...and always fun to nose around in the gift shop!

Pristine views of the Madera River...it is a gorgeous day!

 Spring Time...lots of new growth sprouting!

 The "Half Dome" what a beautiful rock - split in half!





 Yosemite Falls is gorgeous!  It has two levels the upper falls and the lower falls.

 Years ago I took my boys to Yosemite Park and they took a picture just like this holding up the rock....so Mom just had to do it again....ha...MORE Years later!

           
                

                    Special Memories! 

See Jas!

 The deer and use to the visitors taking pictures of them...they didn't even look up!

They encourage people to use the free bus system that runs through out the park - but it is still allowed to drive your car into the park.

We enjoyed our day in Yosemite National Park!  It was relaxing and easy to get around.  Again, we did not pay an entry fee..nice!  That senior/Golden Age card has surely been a treat visiting all these National parks the last few weeks!

Time to head back to Oakhurst...we drove way down into the canyon and now it was time to go back up and out again!

The park ranges from 2000 feet (648m) to 13,114 (3,997m)