A WOODSY PICNIC

Jim and Maxine drove us out to their 720 acres of timberland for a picnic and some trout fishing in one of 11 ponds on their property.

DROWNING WORMS

Maxine insisted that I try my hand at fishing with her pole. Radar waits with great anticipation. He loves helping me get the fish off the hook..

RADAR FISH DETECTOR

This is Radar! He is Jim & Maxine's 2 year old Lab. What a good dog...

WOMENS CHAMPION FISHER in this pond

Maxine loves to fish. Here she is with her new rod and a spinner that the trout seem to like..

After we left Mt. Shasta, we had a nice drive up to Merlin OR.,just North on

I-5 out of Grant's Pass. We will be here about 10 days, then up to Junction City to see about upgrading our flooring. Look forward to seeing you all next time..

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, 2012

Greetings from San Benito Campground in Paicines, CA. Sorry for the BLOG delay, but some places we camp are very remote and it's impossible to pull those internet zoogies out of cyberspace. So, here is a catch up...

GOTHAM CITY, Metropolitan Area

This is the huge town of Paicines, CA. POP 204. This is the center of it all, and we are camped about 17 miles from here. Lots of agriculture here, great fresh roadside produce, lots of deer, bobcats, quail, wild pigs, hawks, eagles, condors, and Owls.

Good Friends Theresa and Patty

By lucky chance, we ran into Danny and Patty Wall, and Patty's mom Theresa at San Benito. We thought it would be fun to have a "Sounds of Nature" contest. Here, Patty is warming up for her "Sound" and Mom theresa is getting ready to duck......

KIRIGAN WINERY TASTING ROOM

There are many nice wineries in this area. Kirigan has been one of our favorites for many years. Here Diane met her new best friend, the wine tasting expert..

KIRIGAN VINEYARDS of the Central Valley

The vineyards, field of corn, broccoli, romaine, strawberries, cherries, artichokes and garlic are everywhere, and almost resemble beautifully landscaped gardens..

Fresh and Tasty Fungi

The "Royal Oaks" mushroom farm is on the edge of Morgan Hill. The variety of freshly grown, still dirty mushrooms is delightful. I grilled some huge, stuffed portobellos. Mmmmm..

1915 STUDEBAKER

To our delight, there was a car show in Hollister on the weekend of our arrival. There was hot rods, customs, restored and original antiques. There were trucks, cars, vans and motorcycles. This old Studebaker caught my eye.

Whoooo's this Wise Old Bird?

One of the local flyboys.....

San Benito fawna

Many deer at the San Benito preserve.

We took a walk with friends Glen & Grace Davis every morning, always with a sharp eye for the native residents..

Home of the American Biker

Johnny's bar and grill is in Old Town Hollister. It is ground zero for the old Brando Movie, "The Wild One". It is a favorite biker bar for those passing through, and we always try to stop at least once for a beer and a burger

San Benito Humming Pecker

WHAT'S DOWN with the BREHMS, 5 JUNE, 2012

OUR HOME FOR A WEEK

Greetings from beautiful downtown Bakersfield, "garden spot of the dust storm". We arrived here about a week ago from 3 weeks in Las Vegas. We are on our way to Morgan Hill, CA. Horse country, wine country, and mushroom farms. We were scheduled to go there tomorrow, but Diane has been a little under the weather, so we may delay until she's back on track.

BUCK OWENS CHRYSTAL PALACE, BAKERSFIELD

As some of you may know, Bakersfield is home to Buck Owens, you remember, the "Hee Haw" guy. Also home to Merle Haggard. The story goes that much of Buck Owens career took place in dirty cowboy honky tonks, and when he made it big, he wanted a classy venue for country music entertainers to perform. Hence, the Buck Owens Crystal Palace.

BAKERSFIELD BREHMS

Our temporary home is pretty nice, cement slabs, lawns, pool, spa, and all the good hook-ups, including cable TV and wifi. Bakersfield has become quite a metropolis since the 60's. Has all the stores we gypsies use, plus entertainment, and a country atmosphere just a few miles out of town. Great farmer's markets!

CEASER'S on the INSIDE looking like the OUTSIDE

Just a couple of left over pics from Vegas. Most of you probably recognize this. The Forum at Ceaser's Palace.

STROLLING THROUGH THE ART GALLERIES

She sure dresses up that stained glass, doesn't she?

CHECKIN OUT CEASERS PALACE

THE "STRIP"

Oh well, I thought it would be a nice picture...........

WHAT'S DOWN with the BREHMS 28 MAY 2012.

THOUSAND TRAILS, LAS VEGAS

We departed San Diego on 5/10 for Las Vegas to attend the 80th birthday party of good friend Andy Clarkson, and we are still here. It is sometimes difficult to find a place to camp on Memorial Day Weekend, so we dug in here. We will depart on Thursday to Bakersfield, then on to Morgan Hill.

VIEW FROM THE CAMPGROUND

Incredible as it seems, this is what we see from our campground. We are on Boulder Hwy. between Sam's Town and the Boulder Station casino's. It is way too easy to find buffet meals and machines that repeat the famous Las Vegas slogan "Game Over".

HEY BIG RED, ARE YOU POLE-ISH?

While here, we decided to see a show that looked interesting, and was affordable for "trailer Trash". We went to Planet Hollywood and saw the Beatles Show. It was very good. The musicians did not really look like the Beatles, but the music was fantastic. Before the show, we strolled around the place

DAM INSPECTORS

Ever since we left San Diego, we have had the pleasure of the company of Gene and Darlene McDonough. A couple of days ago, we went to Hoover Dam and took the tour. We have done this before, but I am always amazed at the things man is capable of. The statistics on the construction of this behemoth are difficult to comprehend.

THE DAMNED DAM SIGN

Happy Memorial Day to all the VETs that read this, and if you're not a vet, give thanks to those that served with their lives.

Memorial Day weekend has been fairly calm here. Traffic is normal (whatever in the hell that means), and the campground is no more packed than any other day.

HYDROELECTRIC GENERATORS

These hydroelectric generators were placed here in the 30's and are humongous. There are 7 on each side of the main flow of the river. 7 in Arizona and 7 in Nevada.

LOOKING DOWNRIVER FROM THE DAM

The bridge you see here was recently completed. Last time we were here, the Arizona and Nevada spans had not yet been connected to each other. You would think driving across it would be a thrill. You don't even know you are on it. The view is just road up ahead. Take care! stay in touch! and stay tuned...............

DOWN WITH the BREHMS, 30 APRIL, 2012

Old Town San Diego

MARGARITAS AND MEXICAN CUISINE

Greetings and salutations from Old Town San Diego. Our daughter invited us to spend the afternoon with her family here. We had a fun time, ate some good food and washed it down with some margaritas.

We are almost ready to take off for the summer, all the doctors appointments out of the way, with healthy results. Some upgrades and maintenance items handled on the coach and the Jeep. This was an excellent opportunity to play tourist before our departure.

MEXICAN SALAD BAR, MUCHOS NOPALES

It's been quite a while since we visited Old Town. There are new shops and restaurants, and many of the old traditional places are still there. The landscaping is different and well done. Mostly in containers and mostly cacti and succulants. Nicely displayed.

MEXICAN BUNNY HOP

I'm not sure why, whether it was Cinco de Mayo approaching, or some other celebration, but there was constant folklorico type dancing. Very colorful and entertaining.

FLOWER AMONG THE CACTI

Recognize this seniorita?

MEXICAN FOXTROT

We hope you are all having a wonderful Spring that flows into a great summer. For those of you that will be traveling, please stay in touch, maybe we can hook up somewhere. We will be in bordering states for a month or so, then probably up Oregon, Washington, then East through Idaho, Wyoming and into South Dakota by early October to renew our drivers licenses. We will start the trek back to San Diego in early October.

JOCELYN

Our Great Granddaughter, Jocelyn with a butterfly on her cheek. Free face painting booth in Old Town.

4 GENERATIONS OF BEAUTIES

Granddaughter, Jamison, daughter Donna, Great Granddaughter Jocelyn, and Diane. They went for a horse drawn wagon ride through the Old Town Plaza.

DOWN WITH THE BREHMS, 23 APRIL 2012

KEEPING THE DUST DOWN

Sorry it's been so long for an update. I have decided my two best excuses are: 1) Not much has happened here at Pio Pico, and 2) We have been busy doing all the things we do before taking off for the rest of the year. We will be hitting the backroads and super slabs in a couple of weeks.

Our biggest events have been our Great Granddaughter's 3rd birthday (that's) Jocelyn in the previous picture...............

CHOPPERS UP

watching the helicopters picking the powerline poles up from the campground, and planting them in holes up on Otay Mt. Pio Pico leased out a part of the campground for SDG&E to stage and build up the power lines. Because the choppers raise so much dust, a water truck (previous pic) wet the whole area down. Those chopper pilots are very good and precise in placing the poles and equipment.......

MUST BE THE POLISH AIR FORCE

Flying poles, get it? ha ha. This is one of the poles being transfered from the playground, dubbed "SDG&E base camp" to pre-drilled holes up on the mountain running South toward Tijuana.......

CHEVY POWERED FORD

Another exciting event is the annual Simpson's Chili Cook Off & Car Show. There were many great hot rods and customs. This year, I passed on the chili cook off sampling. Mixing that many toxic porridge recipes can create a weapon of mass destruction rivaling that of North Korea. I had the sense to go to Brody's Beer & Burger Pub after the car show instead.........

"40" Ford

I believe ever since I was 15 years old, I dreamed of having one of these babies. There were 3 of them at the show for me to drool over..

RAT ROD MAGNAFIQUE

A typical old "30's" open wheeled roadster sporting a 472 Hemi.....nice for a paper route.

Other than loosing our great friend and companion of 20 years, Rossie, these have been the biggies in San Diego area. We hope you are all doing well and are having a splendid spring. We will be leaving soon, probably North through Oregon & Washington, then East to South Dakota to renew our driver's licenses in Oct. Please stay in touch and let us know where you are.......