CHICO

While loading up the trailer for a four-day stay in Chico, I opened the front door to find that three of our local wild turkeys had come to call . . .

When we travel about, we like to find whimsical pieces of local art to decorate our trailer. While in Chico this weekend, we added this beach with life preservers painting . . .

The day before we left for Chico was our 42nd anniversary. Meredith, Clyde and Sofia had given us this extra nice bottle of wine. We took it with us and enjoyed it after settling in at our campsite . . .

Clyde and I typically travel with lots of books. They add considerable weight and take up a lot of space in our little trailer. This year, we've converted to Kindles. A Kindle is an electronic device that can hold up to 1,500 books. It's about the size of a paperback and connects to the internet for downloading new books wirelessly. By simply typing in the name of the book and selecting "purchase" (from Amazon.com), you can download a book from anywhere in less than 30 seconds. In less than another 30 seconds, you can transfer the same book to any other Kindle you own -- no extra charge. All books range from free to $9.99. Pretty amazing. This was our first trip using our new Kindles and what fun we're having with them.

Jo, you almost got a Kindle as a 65th birthday/thank-you-for-the-cruise gift, until we learned that you do not order from the internet and do not use a credit card for ordering. Since the Kindle is an Amazon.com product, all books have to be ordered through them and credit card is the only method of payment accepted. But, since we asked you those questions after we had already ordered you one, we kept it for ourselves and ordered a second, so some good came of it. Thanks for the Kindles!

We went to Chico on Thursday and Clyde, Meredith and Sofia came up with their trailer on Friday. While they got set up, Sofia visited us and we played dominoes . . .

Then Sof's Mummy joined us and Sofia made all the girls try out our trailer bed together . . .

Sofia has a pop-up flower and tea shop . . .

She served her Mummy tea . . .

. . . sharing a puzzle with Daddy . . .

Barbeque - yum . . .

Sofia & her Daddy take Barclay for a walk. Looks like the pooper bags got a little out of hand . . .

Saturday morning, Meredith and Clyde made a fantastic breakfast for everyone . . .

After breakfast, it's play time . . .

Cute critters, Dylan and Barclay . . .

One of the reasons we went to Chico was to explore and play in Bidwell Park . . .

Sofia meets Humpty Dumpty. Every day at lunch, I read to Sofia from her nursery rhymes book. In this particular book, the only picture of Humpty is of his feet straight up in the air as he's falling off the wall backwards. So, I've had to explain to Sof that Humpty Dumpty is an egg and that "all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again", because he "went all to pieces". Seems she has told her Mummy and Daddy this story countless times. We were all quite excited that Sofia finally got to meet Humpty and add a picture of him to her imaginings . . .

Back at the campground, Sofia couldn't wait to go swimming and didn't want to get out when it was time, even though her teeth were chattering . . .

Sierra Nevada Brewery has a lovely restaurant and great beer, so we never miss the opportunity to pay a visit if we're in the area . . .

Meredith, Clyde and Sofia had to head home on Sunday, but we had breakfast together before they headed out . . .

Papa and I got to spend a little extra time with Sofia while her Mummy and Daddy packed up their trailer for the road trip home . . .

The young Quicks' trailer just before pulling out to go home . . .

Our trailer, which we got to enjoy for one additional day . . .

What a great fun time doing what we love with people we love !