Day 10: 9/25/2010
Alturas, CA

I woke up later than everybody else, so I got to meet everybody at once when I finally made it out of the room. I'd already met Bungie the black lab and Trixie the Chihuahua in the darkness, but now I got a name for Mathew's dad's wife Elona (since I had subtly not asked at 3am...), and of course, finally got to meet Mathew's dad Richard. Yay! They all seemed very nice at first impression.

I figured everybody had already eaten and such, but I was in luck! Elona made us all homemade hash browns and eggs for breakfast, which was fabulous. Then we all walked down to Rainbow Lake, where Bungie went for a short swim and Trixie did her best to avoid all water. It was great watching her get across the rocky stream of water from the springs that fed the pond. Each of the ponds are stocked with a different fish, in this case rainbow trout.

When we got back, we all hung out in the yard for a while, and I met Sylvester the cat while he was lounging in the shade. Generally Sylvester has to come to you the first few times, but he didn't leave the shade when I snuck over. Yay! He also loves attention while he's eating, which is the easiest place to pet him. Very fun. And he has the most adorable meow ever, even my mom would like it because it's sooo quiet.

Laundry time at last! Some amazing leftover German Lasagna for lunch followed by more relaxing on the back porch and then Mathew took me on an ATV ride! I definitely like it over snow machines and 3 wheelers :p It was really pretty and fun and we stopped at a nice stream and wandered around. There was a cow up there! Richard's house is waaaay up in the hills above Alturas and the ranches, but the ranchers let their cows wander up in the hills most of the time I guess. I really enjoyed the ATV ride, but not detouring a fallen tree. And it was dusty! Not really enough enough to notice out there, just when we got back :p

The back to the house to get ready to head for dinner! First to town to fuel Richard and Elona's car, then to the grocery store for ice cream making supplies!!! We also picked up a movie to watch later.

After that, to "The Lodge." It's actually called the California Pines Lodge. When we arrived and searched out a table, the waitress Cindy laughed at Richard for not making reservations, but we did get a table. Lucky we didn't arrive later! Cindy knew everybody's names, but her response to me was "I don't remember -this- one!" Very funny :p

Everybody else got prime rib and I got the mixed grill, which had chicken, ribs, and steak. And the salad bar! Amazing. And then ice cream for dessert... with sprinkles!! When we got home we watched "Up in the Air," but few of us made it all the way to the end... Night night!