Papa has a brand new ride

As many of you know Frank loves those cars of old--but for some reason the Oldsmobile--well the muscle car OLDs holds a special place in his heart. He has been looking for awhile for a project and today he finally found "IT". A 1965 442 OLDs that will hold his attention, allow him to explore his creativity, build his dream and well give him an outlet to enjoy his passion.

Jelly Belly Factory tour--Finally!

We have traversed the I-5 corridor almost every year on our way to and fro, and yet we have not been able to stop and tour the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA--well not until this year--we finally did it! We smelled the aromas--blueberry, cherry, cinnamon, root beer and my favorite popcorn, we listened to the videos, we viewed the making and creating of these little bits of explosive flavors and we ate all the samples they provide us--yummy. This is an interesting tour with great info, history and of course those wonderful samples. The company traces its history back to 1867 when their descendants created delectable sweets. But it was in 1976 that this family hit on a special candy--the Jelly Belly. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable providing us a tour of a real working factory, outlying family history and sharing her personal reflections on the factory operations. We could not believe it takes a week to bring a single Jelly Belly to shipment, and that each and every bean is stamped with the little logo Jelly Belly--yep take a look. Every flavor is explored, tasted and only delivered after it meets several tests. Then there are the many famous portraits made entirely of Jelly Bellies. We recommend this factory tour to all who find themselves within the area.

Riding the Rails in Colorado

As many of you know, Dianne loves trains--and more importantaally loves to ride a train. One of the trains she has wanted to ride is the the Durango-Silverton train--and finally the time was at hand.

What a wonderful train ride this was & we were so happy that Elinore & Dave Barry joined us on the trip. The Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad winds through spectacular & breathtaking canyons in the remote wilderness of the two-million acre San Juan National Forest. We were able to experience the adventure of traveling by a coal-fired, steam-powered locomotive on the same tracks miners, cowboys and settlers of the Old West took over a century ago. In Silverton it had been snowing just prior to our arrival, and gave us a photo opportunity of our 1st snowfall of the season. We were very happy we had reserved an indoor car-the outside viewing cars were a bit cold;)