Cali Day Three

We all slept in the house for night two, except dad, who went to sleep with the fishes in his office (he’s got two big tanks in there). Buck made another delicious breakfast of bacon, waffles, and fried eggs—we even found (unopened) real syrup hidden in the recesses of the cupboards! Brennen finally found a cup that fits his milk drinking abilities (and might need to find a longer couch the next time we visit grandpa :)

At this point, we planned our day. We decided we’d run into town, beeline to a Starbuck’s (vanilla scones and chai, yes, please!)  then take care of our growing list of little things we wanted to purchase (like a pack of gum for my purse; you can’t fly on airplanes without gum to chew!). This took us to Walmart—ehhhh, Walmart. BUT the sun came out and it wasn’t too bad of a trip. We got just about everything on our list, and a board game (Pandemic) to occupy our brains before bedtime (but not tonight, because we’re too tired :)

Grandma J and Mr. R texted they were on their way to the farmhouse, about half an hour behind us, so as soon as we hit the driveway we put ourselves to work. Buck swapped out the shower head in the bathroom and added an extender! (LoCo and C-Dawg, you’re welcome), then he used a carpet scrubbing kit to freshen up the farmhouse floor, he also fixed the ancient Kirby vacuum because he remembered fixing the SAME model (only in red) for his mom when he was Graysen’s age : )

The girls took over the kitchen and bathroom with magic erasers and Clorox wipes, while the boys attacked the Escalade with a trash bag and cleaning accoutrements. I made pizza. Costco pizzas we’d purchased ahead of time, plus salad. Grandma J and Mr. R arrived just in time to join us. We chatted for awhile, watched Jingles play in the yard (Grandma J brought her a couple of special treats) and then dad set up his hammock on the front lawn. 

Because the weather was so pleasant, we decided to check out the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area. Along the way, we could see the Sutter Buttes—the world’s smallest mountain range, but still very pretty. Dad warned us ahead of time that at the Gray Lodge, there was no actual hospitality structure painted gray. BUT there was wildlife, LOTS of wildlife! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many birds in one place. Buck loves birds, so he was thrilled. We went for a short walk to a scenic overlook, and then a two mile walk that took us the long way round the wetlands. Twice we spooked several hundred snow geese and they rose en masse, wings beating the air and voices calling frantically at an almost deafening crescendo. It was pretty awesome!

We saw vultures and cranes and egrets and sandpipers and geese and more geese and a bunny rabbit and swarms of tiny bugs and we might have seen some turtles and for sure some thorn bushes with some kind of orangeish reddish maroonish berries. You see a lot when hiking nearly three miles total! Both dad and Mr. R decided the full walk was not for them. We found them sleeping side-by-side in their respective parked cars back at the main water area, the sound of ducks quacking and geese honking had lulled them into dreamland.

So many birds in the sky!

It looked like we were surrounded by water on all sides!

Such a hunk!

Next we decided to tour dad’s church. Such a neat and surprisingly large building! Stained glass, more than 100 years old, and its own palm tree! Flowers blooming in the lawn, loads of musical instruments, three pianos—our kids were loving it. Mr. R even grabbed a drum or two and did a mini performance on stage. Dad said he was hired, and should be back the next morning at 8 for rehearsal. The dining hall was an old Army barracks, relocated to be part of the church building.

But that wasn’t the only building. Dad took us on a tour of the entire block! The house across a pretty, green lawn is supposed to be a Sears and Roebuck catalogue house. I told Dad that if he starts getting into the walls and finds numbers on the wood beams, then he would know for sure. I wrote a story about it for the newspaper, and that was one of the clues. The whole house would arrive in a kit and you put it together by number. This one was put together a long time ago, and has been used for storage for many years. There is so much potential in that house! But there is a lot of work to be done before it can be lived in again. The floors are wooden, as is the bannister. Dad is refinishing these. I think the kitchen and the bathroom will be the two greatest challenges, but it will be a neat project if they get it completely restored; so spacious and quaint!

Next to this, another small building (that smells of brand new carpet) houses near-nightly AA meetings. As we toured these buildings, dad told us of the ministry that he’s doing and that those in his church are doing. There is a lot of pain and tragedy, but such stories of God overcoming the stains of the past! Wow! One of these was the previously homeless family,  that now lives rent-free in a cute little house on the church block. We got to meet this trio Sunday morning, and got to hug and greet them as long-time friends (dad told us about their little girl’s arrival nearly four years ago). That same little girl gave us a skirt twirl in her “birthday dress” because she’s three about to be four. Adorable, and what a little testimony of God’s love.

But we weren’t done yet! A former dentist’s office complex is now dad’s church office (and guest overflow sleeping space). When we walked through the spacious building, and then saw dad’s full-to-the brim office, I pointed out that most offices kept their fish tanks in the main entryway for all to enjoy. But, I can understand why dad would like to have the fish close by while he’s working. All that color and cheerful bubbling of the pumps. Overall, we were really impressed and amazed at the extent of our tour.

And we were hungry : ) We decided to drive back to Yuba City for dinner, Mexican food, Casa Lupe (as recommended by dad). Driving with my parents is always an adventure, and that held true this time, too : ) We were heading over the railroad tracks when dad decided having his wallet tucked in his back pocket was too uncomfortable to ignore. He retrieved the wallet and tossed it into the center console.  Buck looked down, looked at dad, looked down again, and said, “I think the car just ate your wallet.”

“What?!!” said dad. Buck opened every compartment he could reach, used his phone flashlight, and nothing—the wallet was gone! A few minutes later, dad found a gravel area to pull into (Grandma J followed, wondering what we were up to now, lol : ) Soon, Buck and dad were tearing apart the Escalade. Despite all their efforts, the wallet still refused to appear. Because we were hungry, and it was a Saturday night, I suggested Buck (the licensed driver who could prove his eligibility) take the wheel, and we would work on the wallet retrieval mission when we returned to the farm and its cache of tools. This decided, we headed back onto the road. But dad wasn’t ready to give up the search. He tore off another section of the console, and started pulling out all kinds of treasures!

There was a five of hearts, several receipts, and an unopened wedding invitation (to you C! Don’t worry, you made it to the wedding, but you could have brought a guest if you wanted to : ). Apparently the Escalade had been eating items for years and nobody knew; can you imagine if Buck hadn’t seen the wallet disappear? Dad NEVER would have found it; he wouldn’t have known where to look. Nobody expects a mysterious time capsule slot to be hidden in their automobile. We were told the next day at church, by the same family that lives in the house on the church’s block, they were pretty sure they were following dad’s car on the way to Yuba City that night. They said the Escalade went from swerving all over the road to driving like a grandpa, and if they’d been cops they would have pulled that thing over : ) The only reason they didn’t think it was dad, is because he never goes out that late. They were pretty entertained to hear the full story!

After all that, we still needed to get gas. Whoa baby is gas expensive here! A full dollar more than at home. With his wallet found, dad was able to get the pump going. Buck sent his mom and her carload ahead to get us seats at the restaurant. We caught up to them later and found them waiting in the entryway. Much like our Black Hills experience, several large tables were sitting there shooting the breeze though their meals were done. We were hungry. We studied the menus, memorized our orders, and still we waited. The host was very nice, and the tortilla-making lady close enough to convince us to stay just by the sight and smell of the fresh tortillas she made appear as if by magic. We waited.

Finally, two of the tables erupted together and five minutes later our party of nine landed at a long table. Bring on the chips and salsa! Next, hot tortillas, yes! Our waiter was great. Our food, was, hooray Mexican—yummy!! Mr. R expressed his approval, as did the rest of us.

We parted ways at the door, our tired crew heading north, Grandma J and Mr. R just a few blocks away from their hotel. You’d think we were done for the evening, but . . . the girls expressed a nagging craving for ice cream throughout the day. I figured since we were going to be passing right BY an In-N-Out, we could just grab shakes there : ) Buck was stuffed, but agreed. He came back with six shakes (dad declined). By the time we got back to the farmhouse, we were all officially stuffed! Dad went to sleep at the church again, I did some laundry, and the girls figured out how to play our new Pandemic game. Another full, but good day!