It was a sunny, warm weather, perfect for drinking refreshing beer while enjoying live, original music day.  We loved the setting, the audience and the Ludwig Lager.  Among the friends there were Dan Pearson, who helped set up the gig, Tom Arnold, our sailing buddy from last year and Jay and Olivia, who we met through Reno and Seattle connections.  Broken Horn Brewery is a great place to have a beer with friends.

Thanks to Kelly Martin, Paul Hefner and Carol Baum for conspiring to make this wonderful community celebration. We filled our bellies with a feast featuring ribs and tri-tips with Kelly's famous BBQ sauce then enjoyed Andy's Concert, including a special performance of the song "Ahwahnee Wind," inspired by Kelly, John Muir, Yosemite National Park, and our time there in 2018.  It was delightful to hang out in this old Western mining town with our dear friends and their community. 

We returned to Grass Valley for a house concert after hooking up with Carl and Ann for a visit last year.  Concert day was a hot Sunday afternoon on the veranda with a crowd of neighbors, friends and family who all brought food to share.  Music, community and good food feed the soul.  Thanks to Scott Davis who traveled from Ukiah, and joined Andy for a tune and jam after the show. 
​On Monday a rutted, rocky,  4wheel-drive, climb in Carl's truck brought us to Blue Lake.  A hike and a short, cold swim and we arrived at the perfect picnic and afternoon hang out spot.  We love the Grass Valley area, it's wonderful people and beautiful places!  Thanks for sharing with us Ann and Carl!

We traveled on the loneliest highway, route 50, stopping at Great Basin National Park for a night along the way to our destination, Reno NV.  Through my sister and her husband who live there, Reno has become a favorite city of ours.  Ann and Davyd Pelsue hosted our very first house concert 9 years ago.
Ann and David also introduced us to our concert hosts this year, Ann and Tom Carpenter.  Ann and Tom's yard was artistically landscaped.  A raised patio to capture the mountain view--also made the perfect raised stage.  The setting couldn't have been more lovely.  The evening was cool but guests wrapped up and cuddled up in stubborn protest of the cold.  All were rewarded with a great show and the introduction of Andy's new song "A Pebble Tossed."  Later Andy and I were treated to a tour of the Tucker Snow Cats in the workshop. 
From Reno on the way to Idaho we stopped at Sheldon National wildlife refuge in the high desert of NV.  There we enjoyed rain storms that painted the sky in vivid colors.  The warm spring pool and continually running showers, at 85 degrees provided a cool break from the desert heat.  

We had a great time in Western Colorado visiting old friends, making new friends, seeing the sites, making music and good times.  First we found Jan Moran in Delores, CO where she hooked us up with a lovely and free campsite at Boggy Draw, toured us through Mesa Verde and hosted dinner with friends including Jeff Tunick.  In Hotchkiss we hooked up with Mary Ganchoff, former roomate, Ashland resident and Northland grad.  We were delighted to meet her husband Dave Whitemire, hear of all of their adventures and eat Alaskan Black Bass for the first time, YUM!  In Paonia we had our first concert of the tour.  It was a lovely night in Alicia Michelsen's yard where a small and enthusiastic crowd was satisfied with a especially great show.  Thanks to you all!  We love the western slope.  Thanks you all for a great time!