Fishing in AZ

Gear

Amanda and Drew were going to go camping in AZ this weekend but then the weather turned bad.  So they decided to go fishing instead.  In the middle of the week, they sent me these pics of them getting ready.

Bait and weights (and a random soccer ball)

Testing out the gear

Then on Saturday they made the trek to Rose Lake.  The road is closed for the winter so they had to hike two miles.  They each caught two fish!

Scooby went with them and enjoyed the hike.  He was watching the fish and jumped in after one and went for a little swim.  But then he got cold and had to snuggle up in the backpack!  I am so proud he is so rugged!

Such a fun adventure!

Wrestlmania

Grace woke up to these shenanigans!  The dogs decided it was time to wrestle on Grace's bed while she was asleep in it!

TNDC - On the Road - Bass Pro Shop

Dinner at the picnic tables behind the store

We have been waiting a long time for the opening of the Bass Pro Shop and it has finally happened!  The Grand Opening was on a Wednesday so we planned a TNDC field trip on the day after the opening.  We all me outside near the boats, hung out on the boats and had snacks and ate burritos.  There also may have been a few beers involved while lounging on the pontoon boat!   At one point we were on the pontoon boat and a woman came up and said we looked like we "knew what we were doing"!  We had to admit we were experts at eating snacks and hanging out on a pontoon boat!  Then we offered her some chips that she happily tried!  At another point, three Bass Pro employees were wandering around watching us....and then we heard one of them say "it's ok, they are just having a family dinner"!

Once we all ate, we went inside and checked it all out.  At one point a couple of us went into the bowling alley to check it out....much to our surprise (NOT!) we found the rest of our party in the bar!

Oh Marty and his statues!

The ceiling in the bar/bowling alley

Its no Pontoon Mama!

This is the pontoon boat where we had snacks and beers!

Mikey was a surprise guest - home from college!

Tina sure got around with this fishbowl drink!

Some Halloween Pics

Uncle Richard

Hottie and a Redneck

Kyle and Mari - there are no words!

Happy 25th Anniversary

We celebrated our 25th anniversary with a dinner out during the week, flowers from Brian and Diana, a new ring and a trip to East Brothers Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast.

Dining room

The East Brothers Lighthouse in in the San Pablo Bay right by the San Rafael bridge.  The lighthouse was originally built in 1873.  It fell into disrepair in the 1960's and 70's. And by 1979 had to be almost completely rebuilt.  One of the ways to raise money for upkeep is to have a bed and breakfast.

The lighthouse keepers are a married couple whose job is to run the B&B and keep up the island.  The wife, Stephanie, cooked us delicious appetizers, dinner and breakfast.  The husband, Bryan, gave us information on the island, drove the boat and did a demo of the old foghorns.

Climbing the stairs to the light house

Looking down from the lighthouse, the white dome is the cistern for rain water

Lighthouse

There were boats going by all day and night

The whole island

Richmond -San Rafael bridge with the SF skyline in the background

Our room - the SF Room

Our room

The foghorn

The foghorn sounded all day and all nite about every 30 seconds.  You didn't even hear it during the day but at nite with was distracting if you were awake.  And if you were awake it was hard to fall asleep!

Dinner menu

The small building was built as a school house for the keepers children, and behind it is the water tower

The water for the island is all rain water that is caught from the grounds.  They gather 15000 gallons of water for inch of water it rains.  Then they filter the water and use it for all water needed for the island.

Our bathroom

The boat used to get to the island

This is a giant engine that is used to run the old foghorns.

Bryan the lighthouse keeper did a demo of the old foghorns.  He started the engine above and waited for the pressure to build to 40 and then blew the horns.  They were the loudest sound I had ever heard.  You could feel it in your heart!

This is the boat house on the island.

This is a giant ship being pushed by a tugboat

An old light from a light house at Yerba Buena light house.

Appetizers were served when we arrived.

The other rooms in the lighthouse were rented by a really nice family celebrating a 70th birthday.  We enjoyed chatting with them at dinner and breakfast.

Our bathroom

East Brothers Lighthouse

Hiking Mug

I got these mugs for the gals that went on the backpacking trip.  We can all drink tea and think of each other and the fun we had.  The back says "Bad Ass Ladies Tour 2015" and "Where the Rubber Meets the Dirt".

Deaf Church

Grace has to go to a deaf event for her sign language class and chose to go to deaf church today.  And since Jack is here, he went too!

Pokemon Regional Tourney

Every year at this time, Jackson plays in the Regional Pokemon Tourney in SJ.  We love it because its cool to check out and it's his birthday weekend so we get to see him on his birthday.

Camouflage!

Action shot of Jack playing a game!

This is all Jack's gear for the games - he has a customer mat.