Wreath Laid at Gravesite of Graeff Galebach

This past Friday Gerry and Ray Sutera, a good friend of ours, laid a fresh wreath at the gravesite of Graeff Galebach. Graeff passed away the middle of June 2009. He is buried at the Veterans Cemetery in Dixon, CA.


Gerry ordered the wreath from the Worcester Wreath Company located in Maine. This company has been providing and coordinating the laying of wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC at Christmas time. Through that project Wreaths Across America was started. Wreaths are also available for Memorial Day.

Sea to Shining Sea Bike Ride from San Francisco to Virginia Beach, VA

Gerry told me Sunday morning that there was a Patriot Guard event in downtown Sacramento for a group of disabled veterans. They are riding bicycles across the country having started in San Francisco on Saturday. They weren't due into Sacramento until about 4pm so after having lunch, we drove into Sacramento and then West Sacramento. We ended up driving into Davis since that was a water stop for the cyclists before heading into Sacramento. We didn't see any activity at the park in Davis where they were going to be stopping so we drove a ways out of town. Not seeing any of the riders, we drove back to Davis. By that time we saw a State Farm vehicle so we parked and Gerry went to go find any Patriot Guard guys who might be there. He found a couple of guys and came back to the van to get his flag.


After I joined him we learned that the riders had taken a wrong turn and would be an hour or more later than expected. A couple of people went out to try and find them. State Farm is the secondary sponsor of this ride. It is sponsored by World T.E.A.M. Here is the link for the ride if you want to check it out. www.s2ssbikeride.org. One of the support vehicles.

One of the riders coming in.

I wasn't going to add this picture then decided to do it anyway. That is the arm of Mickey, one of the Patriot Guard riders telling the rider where to go. Gerry is standing there on the left with his flag.

This is Brian Petras, the rider whom Mickey was directing, Mickey and Gerry. Brian had walked over to thank Mickey and Gerry for being there. The summer of 2009, Brian returned from Iraq with a cancerous tumor in his right foot, which resulted in having his lower leg amputated. He served in the Air Force.

This was probably the largest group of riders to come in at the same time.

Several of the riders were riding hand cycles.

This is the corner of B Street and Russell Blvd in Davis, if you are familiar with the city of Davis. Davis is very bike friendly, it is called the Bicycle Capital. UC Davis is also located in Davis and students can be seen everywhere riding their bikes.

This is Nicolette Maroulis, one of two women on the ride. I'll write more about her later.

This veteran riding the hand tricycle had a serious back injury. He has to be helped on the tricycle and strapped in before he can take off. He walks with great difficulty.

This is Nicolette arriving at Cesar Chavez park in downtown Sacramento two hours after leaving Davis. She and two other riders decided to go ahead and ride into Sacramento. The riders that arrived in Davis earlier rode into Sacramento. The rest of the riders were loaded up in the support vehicles and driven to Sacramento. Nicolette was born in Hawaii and resides now in Austin, TX. She was injured 7 years ago while serving as a K9 handler in the Navy. She spent 3 1/2 years in a wheelchair not knowing if she'd walk again. She is now able to do some walking. She is new to cycling having tried hand cycling earlier this year. She found out about this ride two months before it started and began extensive training so she could be on the team to make this cross country ride.

She got her bike at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop in Austin, TX (Lance Armstrong's bike shop) and did her training through the shop.

This is Sue, Jean and Eileen. Eileen's nephew, Chad Jukes, is a member of the team. Sue and Eileen are roommates and Jean is their neighbor. Jean went out to find Nicolette and the two riders with Nicolette to ride with them into Sacramento. They were the last riders to arrive. Jean is an avid cyclist.

Sue, Chad Jukes, Jean and Eileen. I visited with Eileen's mom and Chad's grandmother, Polly in Davis. Polly's other daughter is Chad's mother who is from Utah. Chad was injured in December 2006 in Northern Iraq when a truck he was in struck an anti-tank mine. His heelbone and femur were broken on his right leg. He had his leg amputated below the knee 3 months after his injury and fighting MRSA. Chad is an avid climber and was back climbing within 2 months of his amputation.

We visited with Nicolette for a little bit after she arrived in Sacramento. Gerry was very interested in her bike. There are a total of 20 riders with a few riders riding along as support. A couple of them are Paul Bremer who was an envoy to Iraq, May 2003 to June 2004. He was responsible for efforts in the rebuilding the country's shattered political and economic structure during the first year after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Also, Bob Magnus who is a retired Marine Corp General. He served as the 30th Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corp from September 2005 to July 2008. He is an avid runner and cyclist and looks forward to riding each year with wounded warriors and disabled veterans. There is a Marine Major riding along and another General who was not in the Sunday ride. These men are not disabled.

Robin Williams had dinner with the team in San Francisco the night before they left and then joined them on Sunday for some of the ride heading to Napa.

Check out their website. It was quite emotional watching these riders on Sunday. They will be traveling over 4000 miles and expect to dip the front wheels of their bikes in the Atlantic on July 24th in Virginia Beach, VA.

Yummy Dinner

Here's the recipe for what I fixed for dinner tonight. I forgot to take a picture of it before we dug into it. I am writing exactly as printed. I do not usually follow the exact directions to a recipe, especially when it tells you to cut something in .... inches.

Artichoke Parmesan Pasta Toss

Cook 1 package or box or your favorite pasta according to package directions; drain well and place in large bowl. Meanwhile saute 3 links Aidelis Artichoke Sausages, sliced diagonally 1/4 inch thick, in a large nonstick skillet. Add 1 (7.5 oz) jar of Raley's Marinated Quartered Artichoke Hearts, sliced in half, and 3/4 cup halved grape tomatoes; cook for a few minutes more to heat all ingredients. Add pasta, 1/2 cup Raley's Shredded Parmesan Cheese and 1/4 cup snipped fresh basil to skillet and toss well. Makes 4 servings.


The pasta I used were small tube type pasta. I threw the bag away so I can't tell you exactly, however something like rotini or rigatoni would work great. I used all 4 pieces of sausage that came in the package and did not cut them in 1/4 inch pieces. I just sliced them diagonally. This recipe came out of a magazine that Raley's puts out quarterly so that's why it says to use Raley's brands. Any brand of marinated artichoke hearts and shredded parmesan cheese will work, I'm sure. I used two bottles of artichoke hearts and did not cut them in half. Instead of Parmesan Cheese, I used a 4 blend Italian cheeses that comes in a tub. If your grocery store doesn't carry grape tomatoes then use cherry tomatoes. The only seasoning I added was some salt to the boiling water for the pasta. The liquid from the artichoke hearts was sufficient for seasonings. And I didn't add the basil, I don't like it.


Anyway, this was very easy, went together quickly and it was oh so good!! I'm looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow!! :)) Try it and let me know what you think.

Rubber Stamp Convention and Ashley's Birthday Party on Saturday

Saturday morning I went to the Rubber Stamp Convention held at the Scottish Rite Temple each year. There were 23 vendors this year, a few vendors were new to the show. I stayed for an hour. It was so crowded, the space is not very big and then to have 23 vendors with their merchandise and then add people. I don't do well with crowds and tight quarters. Another thing was that the organizers ask that strollers and rolling bags not be brought to the show. There were several ladies with huge rolling bags. I almost fell over one lady's bag. Every time I moved to get out of her way, there she was in front of me again. I only shopped at one vendor before I decided I had enough.


Later that evening we went to Ashley's birthday party. She celebrates her 18th birthday on the 27th. She is the oldest daughter of Elizabeth who is the oldest of our girls, Gerry's 1st born child. Here's Miss Ashley...she is so pretty and has a very sweet disposition. Up until 3 or 4 years ago, she seldom had much to say to me much less look at me. She has blossomed into a very sweet girl. She is taking voice lessons and had her first recital recently. I love her!! Elizabeth outdid herself again with Ashley's cake. I teased her about her hibiscus flowers on the cake. I was giving her a bad time; she just gives it back to me. :)

I loved the color scheme of her cake and napkins. I saved one to try a card with these colors. I have a nice hibiscus stamp.

Here's her card that I made for her. I posted it on my card blog too. I could have done a hibiscus card if Elizabeth had told me what the theme was for Ashley's party. When I said something to her about it, she says "yeah, yeah, yeah". I get no respect from that girl. LOL!!

Ashley will be doing something fun this weekend to further celebrate her birthday.

Today - Wednesday 5/19/10

Just a quick post before I head off to bed.


Gerry and I spent the day at Mercy General Hospital in downtown Sacramento today. No, not for either of us. A very dear friend, Tom Riddle had a triple bypass this morning. His surgery was scheduled for between 6am and 6:30 am. He actually was taken into surgery about 6:55am. Gerry and I got there a little after 9am.


Different staff people came during the course of the morning to let the family know what to expect. About 1pm the doctor came out and spoke to Nancy, Tom's wife; his mother and four of their kids that the surgery had gone well. He told them they would be able to see Tom in just a little while. It was taking quite a while and so the family had the volunteer check and see what the holdup was about. Tom's nurse came out to talk to the family and told them they were having a difficult time getting Tom settled. He had come to a lot quicker than they anticipated and he was not tolerating the breathing tube that was inserted in his mouth. He kept thrashing about, they upped his medication a little and it was not helping. After about 2 hours of more waiting, the family was finally able to go in to see him. However, they were only able to be there for a few minutes because Tom was so agitated with having the tube in his mouth. The nurse told the family that they were afraid to remove the tube too soon because he could still have some of the anesthesia in his system. If they removed the tube too soon, he would possibly not be able to breathe on his own. Finally, the nurse came out and said they were going to remove the tube and she would be back out to get them. They were able to go back in, this time he was fighting the oxygen mask and when they removed that, he calmed down and went to sleep.


Nancy went in to see him for a few minutes before we all left the hospital. By this time it was after 5pm. She said he was calmer and sleeping. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better time for them when they go down to see him. We'll go down to see him after he is able to have visitors. Right now they are restricting visits to family only.


After we left the hospital, we stopped at Arigato Sushi for some dinner then went to Whole Foods before coming home.


We are not able to pull into our carport for a couple of days. Yesterday there were workmen in the park cutting lines in the concrete at some of the side street intersections in our mobile home park. Then this morning they had machinery cutting up the concrete and pouring new concrete. Since our space is at a corner, we had to move both vans out of our carport. When we came home tonight, the intersections they worked on are all blocked off.


The one nice thing about this work is that it is very quiet out there tonight. There is so much traffic at our corner. Some people think it is the Indianapolis Speedway out there.


I am off to bed now. It has been a long day and I'm tired. I took my Nook with me today and was able to read quite a bit. :)

Monday Morning

I know I've been missing here for a few days. You know, blogging is hard trying to keep up and with 2 blogs, it is even worse. LOL!


We have another yucky Monday. Actually yesterday wasn't the greatest. It was overcast all day, the sun did peek out once in awhile. There is suppose to be some rain sometime today.


I've been busy at my craft table and with all of my Splitcoast Stamper card swaps. Plus I am hosting a swap on Splitcoast. I will be at my craft table today in between doing the laundry. Enjoy the day and hopefully I will have something interesting to share soon.

My Nook

I finally got my Nook set up and today downloaded a book. The author is Debbie Macomber, the title is "The Shop on Blossom Street". There are 5 books in this series. The cost was $5.76. I started with an inexpensive one to see how this works. It is a little confusing, at least to me, in figuring out how it works. I had to have Gerry register the device for me. It has a keyboard much like a smart phone and I kept hitting the wrong keys when I was trying to register it. Gerry told me it was because I don't type with one finger like he does. :)


I went up to Barnes & Noble today to look at the covers that are made for the Nook. Would you believe .... they don't have any in the store. I had looked at them online yesterday, I wanted to see what they looked like in real life. The sales person told me that B&N is having such a overwhelming amount of sales of the covers online that they cannot supply the stores. They are rather pricey starting at about $25 to $125 for the designer ones. So I guess I will have to order one online.


The sales person told me about a class that they are having to teach Nook buyers how to use the reader. One is this coming Saturday, I already have plans and the next one is the middle of June. I think I will register for it. It wouldn't hurt to take it.


After I figured out how to get to the book I purchased, I read the first chapter. I wouldn't be surprised if one could read a whole book in one day, if there weren't a lot of pages. This particular book has 300 pages.


I had created a list of the books I want to read on my desktop computer. So yesterday I brought it up and printed it out so I could check and see which ones are in ebook format. I started creating a wish list on B&N and so when I want to purchase another book, I can just look at my wish list and order from there. I won't have to look them all up again.


Of the authors I like to read, the selections are not that great. I have several books that I purchased that I haven't read. I need to get those read, I've run out of room to keep them. My craft room/office is overflowing between my stamp stuff, my books and everything else that seems to find its way into this room. I need to go through my Stampin Up stamp sets and see if I can get rid of some of them. Some friends of mine that are Stampin Up demos are having a huge garage sale this Saturday. It would have been nice to have been able to sell some of them at the garage sale.


Anyway, I think once I figure out how to use my Nook and am comfortable with using it, I am really going to enjoy it. I just need to get a cover for it so it doesn't get all banged up.

Mother's Day 2010

When I logged on to Facebook this morning, I found that my Denise had left a beautiful message to me on my wall. I know I brag on her a lot, however, she really is a wonderful daughter. She has such a sweet spirit! I miss her so very much and wish we didn't live so far away from each other. I'd love to see her more than I do now.


I also received messages from 3 of my 4 step-daughters. All 4 of them have become a very special part of my life. We had some rough goings in the beginning of my marriage to their father. The passing years have changed all of that and we have become very close. They are all wonderful women and have accomplished great things in their lives. Elizabeth, the oldest of the girls and the oldest of Gerry's children wrote, in part: "God knew I needed you in my life". That brought tears to my eyes.


Gerry got me a corsage of a white carnation to wear to church this morning. I took the box out of the refrigerator this morning and put it on the breakfast bar. I wanted to make sure I would remember to ask him to pin it on. When I walked back out to the kitchen, the corsage container was sitting on top of another box. It was the same size as a box of See's Candy. He came into the kitchen and I said to him "a box of candy too". He got a funny smile on his face and said something about not knowing anything about candy. After he made that comment I thought I needed to find out what was in the box. If it was candy, I wasn't going to bother until we got home. I picked up the box and it was heavy so then I had to open it. If I had really looked at the paper the box was wrapped in, I would have known right away what was in the box. Or at least where the box had probably come from.


Well, here's what I found when I unwrapped the box. It is a nook, Barnes & Nobles ebook reader. I had mentioned a week or so ago that I would like to have a Kindle by Amazon. My granddaughter has one. Then in the Sunday paper ads there was a flyer for the ereader by Sony. Well, I guess he went online and looked at them. Yesterday he went out for a ride and on the way home, he went by Barnes & Noble in Citrus Heights and got this. I haven't set it up yet, however, am anxious to do so. Earlier this evening I was looking at Denise's photo albums on her Facebook. :) I saw she had this picture in an album so I copied it. This was taken of she and Nathan when they were still in Germany. He was such a handsome baby and now is a handsome young man. I've always loved this picture.

This picture was taken today so it is the latest picture of Denise, Nathanael and Rebekah-Elizabeth.

This is the scrapbook page she created with these pictures. I think I've mentioned she is a Creative Memories consultant and does her scrapbooking with digital software that Creative Memories sells. Her pages are awesome!! What a good looking family!!

Nathan has been on leave at home for the last couple of weeks. This is the "wheels" he bought while he has been at home. I believe he reports for duty at Ft. Bragg, NC tomorrow (Monday 5/10). He'll be in the 82 Airborne. Nathan was about 18 months old or so when Stephen got stationed at Ft. Bragg after his return from Germany. Nathan was raised on post and in Fayetteville so it will be going home. :)

This picture was taken after Nathan's graduation from Airborne school.

Hope your day has been a grand one. Happy Mother's Day!!

Car Jacking in our Mobile Home Park

Gerry told me last night that on Thursday night there was a car jacking in our mobile home park.


This afternoon I saw the person who lives behind the person whose car was highjacked. Here's what I was told.


This person was in his car ready to drive out of the park. A car with three people drove up and approached him with guns drawn. They wanted money from him. He said he didn't have any with him, that he left it at home. They then wanted to drive him home to get some money and tried to get in his car. He had gotten out of the car when they approached him. He refused to get into his car with them. They then beat him and pistol whipped him, left him in the street and drove off with his car along with the car they arrived in. He went to the neighbor's house, banging on the door. The neighbor let him in when seen who it was. He was covered in blood. Law enforcement came out along with CSI personnel. He was taken to the hospital and has several stitches on the side of his head behind his ear, a huge gash down the front of his forehead, his jaw was broken on one side and other cuts and bruises. Then today he was complaining that his right leg was hurting along with his shoulder. It was about 11 pm when he went to the neighbors to get help. There may have been some shots fired although none of the neighbors heard anything. This is a senior mobile home park and most of the residents go to bed very early.


Apparently he may have known the woman that was in the car and thinks it was a set up. This occurred about 4 streets over from where our mobile is located. We are in the front of the park. I do not always feel safe here in the park, especially when I am by myself. This sort of thing does not make me feel any safer. I haven't seen anything in the paper. We don't watch the news on television so don't know if anything was reported on the news. Gerry walks down that particular street just about every night.

Patriot Guard Riders Mission at Sacramento's Airport

Yesterday there was a Patriot Guard Riders mission at the airport. Gerry asked me to go with him. They would be welcoming a soldier, Juan Carlos Hernandez, who had been injured in Afghanistan. Ryan, his buddy lives in Roseville and he was coming to visit Ryan.


Here he is coming down the escalator. That is the back of the head of his buddy. Being greeted by Ryan and Ryan's mother.

John Riley, the ride captain and another PGR greeting him.

Gerry in the dark cap standing in the flag line.

The American Red Cross was there to greet him. The black woman was the spokesperson.

Some of the people there to greet him. Gerry is on the right next to the tall man in the white shirt.

I spoke with this man and the man who played the bag pipe. This man was a WWII vet and served in the Navy. Very interesting gentleman.

After the PGR was dismissed, Gerry walked up to me and asked me if I saw the t-shirt Carlos was wearing. He couldn't believe I hadn't noticed. There was too much going on. Anyway, it was a t-shirt from Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop in Austin, TX. This is Lance Armstrong's bike shop and we visited it in June of last year when we stopped in Austin. So I took a picture of Gerry and Carlos.

I have included the email Gerry received from John Riley. It tells the story a lot better than I can write it here.

On November 26-2009 the PGR was invited to form a flag line at SMF to welcome home Ryan Bresnahan who was coming home from Afghanistan for a period of R & R.

Our contact was Tracy, Ryan's mother.

The following was part of an e-mail received from Tracy regarding a request for another welcome home:

You may remember that my son's homecoming was bittersweet in that the day he left Afghanistan he got word that his buddy, Specialist Juan Carlos Hernandez was in a Chinook that was going back and forth to the front lines (4 times) to rescue soldiers under attack. The 4th time the Taliban were just waiting for the helicopter. An rpg hit the Chinook and blew up Carlos' foot. The Chinook made a safe emergency landing at the closest base and all aboard were safe...except Carlos. Long story, short, Carlos had a final surgical amputation and recovered at the Fisher House in San Antonio, TX. Carlos was supposed to leave Afghanistan a couple of weeks after Ryan. Both young men were scheduled to be discharged from the Army in mid-January and had plans to drive across the United States visiting their buddies and family until reaching California. Carlos, a Texan, was going to live with us and the boys had plans on going to college together. Well, plans have changed! This brave young man has made an extraordinary recovery and is participating in the Wounded Warriors/Road to Recovery. Ryan had the opportunity to visit with Carlos for a few hours at Incline Village this winter during a Wounded Warriors activity. This young man feels like a son to me even though I have never met him or heard his voice. We have spoken several times online and I immediately contacted Blue Star Moms/Houston when I heard the sad news. Sending him goodies is one thing, but being able to hug him in person is another. Carlos has a 9 day leave and he is coming here to visit with his buddy Ryan Bresnahan.Carlos told me that he feels bad that he never got to "walk the walk" (the ceremony where the entire company gets welcomed back) because his trip was straight to the hospital in Texas, So as far as I'm concerned, this is his homecoming, his chance to walk the walk. I would like to request the presence of both the Blue Star Moms and Patriot Guard Riders when his flight arrives this Friday, May 7th: American Airlines #1209 , 11:20 am. As a courtesy to both Ryan and Tracy, it has been decided that the PGR will honor this request in conjunction with the Blue Star Moms and do our part to welcome Carlos "home" to Sacramento. The details of parking and staging are as follows:

DATE: FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2010

STAGING : 10:30 am Air Cargo Terminal (on street parking)

BRIEFING and TERMINAL B WALK: 10:45 am

ARRIVAL & FLAG LINE IN TERMINAL "B"

KCRA3 News had 2 camera men there to record Carlos's arrival. I've included a link to the video. Towards the end of the video there is a very quick shot of me. I'm wearing a red top. Gerry is standing there too, his flag can be seen. This was right after I took a picture of Gerry and Carlos. Carlos is a really neat guy. I think he was a bit overwhelmed with the reception. It was a bit emotional too. I got teary eyed when he came down the escalator and everyone there started clapping and whooping and hollering. Even the people walking through the terminal stopped to watch. One lady was videoing the whole thing on her phone.

http://www.kcra.com/video/index.html

Gerry's Father's Day Gift

Gerry's Father's Day gift arrived today. A friend of Denise's, Julie Edler does stained glass. Her husband, Jeremy was stationed at Ft. Rucker in Enterprise when Denise and Stephen arrived there. They along with another couple were the first families that joined Denise and Stephen in their Calvary Chapel fellowship group.


Julie created a page on Facebook called "Stained Glass by Julie". Denise sent me an invitation to become a fan. She had a picture of an eagle and I asked her if she could make just the eagle for me. Gerry loves eagles. I thought this would make a great gift for him for Father's Day. It is really difficult to get him anything. :)


So here is what she made. The eye is painted on and I asked her to do it on both sides. The tongue is red yet it is hard to see because I have a piece of black cardstock behind the eagle. We really love it! Julie does beautiful work. Check out her page on Facebook.This is a picture of what I saw on her page. This is beautiful also.

She does beautiful jewelry boxes. She made a pink ribbon heart today and it is posted on her page.

Thank you Julie!!!

Correction on my Road Trip Post

Gerry corrected me last night on my post. Isleton, which is on the Sacramento County side of the river, is where the Crawfish Festival was held. Not Rio Vista. So that would be the largest city on the Sacramento side. Another rather large town on the Sacramento side is Walnut Grove. Rio Vista is on the Yolo County side of the river.


We only got as far as Courtland on the Sacramento side. Isleton is further south.

Road Trip Through The Sacramento Delta

Yesterday Gerry and I celebrated being married for 29 years and 6 months. We first went to a small craft fair that a couple of my stamping friends were participating in along with some other ladies. It was held at a Straw Hat Pizza in Natomas. Leaving there we drove over towards the airport then took Power Line Road which runs along the east side of the airport to the Garden Highway. We then drove along the Garden Highway which is the levee road along the Sacramento River into Sacramento and stopped at the Crepe Escape on Freeport Blvd and had some lunch. Gerry had the Aloha crepes which was ham, eggs and pineapple with some kind of sauce over the crepe. Potatoes were served with it. (I didn't think to take pictures). I had a dessert crepe with apples, cinnamon, brown sugar and granola and whipped cream on the side.


Leaving there we drove down Freeport into the town of Freeport. This is where the Sacramento Delta begins. It had been several years since we had driven through here and noticed grapes being grown. We crossed over the river at Freeport to the Yolo County side of the river. This is not a very good shot of the river looking across to the Sacramento County side.

Pear Orchard. Pears have been grown in the Delta for a long time. Every year in July there is a Pear Festival in Courtland which is on the Sacramento County side of the river. Years ago we went to the Festival. People come from all over and the tiny town is overwhelmed with people and cars.

The Courtland bridge to cross over back to Sacramento County. The two ends of the bridge fold up so bigger/taller ships or boats can pass through. This is the route taken by ships going to and leaving the Port of Sacramento to go to the Pacific Ocean.

Oops, not a good picture. I mistakenly uploaded this one. It is looking across the Courtland Bridge to the Sacramento side.

A better shot. On our way back we took this bridge to get over to the Sacramento side.

This is the first of two ferries we took to cross the river. It goes from the Yolo County side to Grand Island.

It is called the J. Mack Ferry and is run and maintained by Cal Trans (State of California).

Heading back to the Yolo side.

Waiting for the ferry to get back over.

There it is.

A small boat crossing behind the ferry. There are huge sign posts on the side of the river telling boaters to not cross in front of the ferry.

There are 2 control rooms on the ferry with 1 pilot. This is the one facing Grand Island.

The ferry is pulled by a cable to go in either direction. This is why boaters cannot pass in front of a ferry proceeding across the river.

We are on the ferry going across to the other side.

More vineyards.

This is the Ryder Island ferry, much larger than the Grand Island ferry. That ramp sticking up at the end of the ferry is lowered when it gets to either side so cars can drive on or off the ferry. There were 2 Cal Trans employees on this ferry, 1 in the pilot house and 1 down on the deck.

The Rio Vista bridge. The middle portion of the bridge rises completely up for ships to pass through.

This little park area is located at the river's edge in Rio Vista.

Another view of the Rio Vista bridge.

It was here in Rio Vista where a whale made its way up the river and lingered here for several days. It was named Humphrey. Then about 3 years ago or so another whale and her calf made their way up the Sacramento River. They actually made their way up to the Port of Sacramento where they lingered for several days and then stayed here around the Rio Vista area before they were manuvered back down the river to the ocean. The mother was injured and I think the calf was too. It was quite an ordeal and people lined the river in different spots to watch the whales and the efforts to move them out of the area.

The Rio Vista City Hall located at the river's edge. Notice the sand bags next to the bench. When it is high tide there is sometimes flooding. I believe Rio Vista is the largest town on the river. For years every summer they held a Crawfish Festival. I believe that festival has been moved to another location. We went down one summer and it was awful. Thousands of people show up and there were people drunk over the place, fights breaking out, etc. We decided it was not something we wanted to do again.

Here's a monument for Humphrey the whale.

Before we left Rio Vista we stopped at the local bakery and got some water to drink and some goodies to eat later. We took the Ryder Island Ferry again back to the Yolo County side of the river. We were on Ryder Island going to Rio Vista. We were going to take the Grand Island ferry again then decided to just stay on the highway and get around where we could take the Courtland bridge.

I don't remember what bridge this was.

We crossed over the Courtland bridge to get back to the Sacramento side.

Getting back into Sacramento, we drove through Courtland, Hood and Freeport. Further down the river on the Sacramento side is the town of Locke. This is a town founded by the Chinese laborers who worked on building the levees. It is a national monument now.

After we got into Sacramento, we stopped at Oto's Market. I needed to get some rice and we got bento boxes for dinner. It was after 5pm by then and there wasn't much left of the bentos. I got a Huli Huli chicken dinner and Gerry got a Korean steak bento. We also got a small container of Ahi Poke and some extra rice. Gerry said his dinner was very good, the meat was very tender. We had our goodies we got at Rio Vista bakery for breakfast this morning.

It was a beautiful day on the Delta although it was pretty windy. And a most enjoyable day just being together!!