I have been going to Saline Valley for the last 12 years. Last year was my first Thanksgiving there… I normally go for Christmas and New Years. There are hot springs and great people there. I usually do a lot of yummy cooking. Brought my antique three burner stove with oven out there to aid in my culinary creations.

Saline Valley is pretty hard to get to – it is very common to hear talk of “the road” (the 50 or so miles of fairly horrible dirt road that lead to the springs) and talk of the weather (a couple of years ago my friend was snowed in for a month before the park service came and rescued him and the other people stuck out there). The nearest grocery store is 3-7 hours away, depending on how you drive. But, despite how difficult it is to get there and the various weather conditions that can harsh your mellow in about 2 seconds, Saline Valley Hot Springs remains one of my favorite places to go.

So, here are some pictures. With petite commentary. Enjoy!

Okay, Winnie is so cute in her cashmere sweater, how could I not take pictures of her.

I set up some an off camera flash to see if I could pull in the mountains here.

That is Jim on the right. He is an awesome dog.

Kids being very curious about the burros.

This is Hass. A new friend this year. He is holding a bottle of homemade crab apple juice. Super solid person. He runs a farm in Canada and is traveling for the winter.

My lovely partner – Loretta.

Minnesota Bob.

This little one came to Saline for the first time when she was 5 months old. Heck yeah!

Getting ready for the Thanksgiving festivities.

Garbage Mike.

Buffalo Bob.

The picture on the left features Mr. Me with my plaid and plaid and curly mustache… and Mr. Garbage Mike sporting his penis nose. The picture on the right is of Saw Jim – very cool guy, and he can play a mean saw.

There were over 300 people for the Thanksgiving meal.   

The next day there was a huge pot of turkey soup… and veggie soup. MMmmm, sooo good.

Gordon. Another Saline Valley “Old Timer”. Often seen with a video camera in hand and parrot close by.

Bicycle Jim.

There is usually some kind of music around the camp fire at the lower springs. That is Major Tom on the right.

And the reason we make the trek out to Saline – the hot water and good company.

Oh, and the landscape.

I went to the Green’s house today to do family pictures. They live in Hillsborough – near Burlingame. We had a fun time… but maybe I should have left the merry-go-round until the end. I was feeling a little sour to the stomach for the rest of the shoot. Good fun, I wish that we would have had more time. Here are a couple of pictures. Enjoy.

Mira Betz lives just down the street from me. She is an amazing belly dancer, and a wonderful artist (and a good friend). I cruised over to her place to hang out the day before yesterday. She is in town for a couple of days in between touring. Talk about one hard working lady. Just back from Canada, Venezuela, and I can’t keep track of all the places, she is off again tomorrow for I don’t even know where. We had a chance to catch up a bit, and I took a couple of pictures of her workshop (remember the artist bit). And then today, I went over and helped her on a fun project that she is working on for a friend (the rock pictures). Anyway, if you ever have a chance to see her perform, don’t pass it up. Here are some images. Enjoy!

After 5 weddings in 3 weeks between the end of September and the beginning of October, I thought it might be nice to take a little vacation. Loretta and I went up to Vancouver to hang with my father and step-mother. We chilled at their place on the West side of the City and then drove/ ferried up to Pender Harbor where we stayed at the Painted Boat. We ended up doing a lot of hanging out and playing bananagrams (a totally fun word game). Oh, yeah, we are some serious party animals. It was a nice break from the craziness at home. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Loretta is a wild animal some times. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Hey – it’s me with a funny mustache.