We stayed here on our way home.. (pet friendly). We left here at 7:00 a.m. and drove straight thru to Ryderwood, Wa and arrived home at 4:00 ...Great trip..

Road view of the Dunsmuir Lodge where we stayed (pet friendly)...

Our room in Dunsmuir, California ~ On our way home.

This is an increbible brewery and only wish it was not in Chico, California as that is soooooooooo far away from us.. They need to add a pub in Portland, Oregon!! From here we drove north to Dunsmuir, California again on our way home to Washington State.

Sierra Nevada PALE ALE is fabulous!

Al is really enjoying his time at Sierra Nevada Brewery and the incredible meal and beer.

Whew! This beer is phenominal.. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

This was the most incredible bread with a dipping sauce I have ever had. It is a Balsamic Vinegar reduction of (I really forgot the percentage..) but I would say 30% reduction) and a good EVOO (extra virgin Olive Oil)... I truly have to say this is by far the BEST EVER.

Both Al and I had the Fish n' Chips. Incredible meal..

Sierra Nevada Brewery has grown tremendously since we were there in 2000... This is their "Big Room" where I believe they have various entertainment and we received a special pass to get into this area to take this picture. We appreciate it and hope our small blog brings you more business... (geesh, you really don't need it). We love Sierra Nevada beer and keep up the good work.

Property of Sierra Nevada Brewery... Quite the greenhouse...

Hops belonging to Sierra Nevada Brewery.... Lookin' good!

Velma and Herbert "Rube" Tucker

Check throughout this blog to find out how the Tucker's fit into Al's life.

"Rube" Tucker's headstone from the Army ~ Below

Maude Bond ~ Sue's Grandma and an inspiring person in Al's life.

The rice fields of Colusa, California.. and those crop dusters..

In the morning, on our way to the cemetery in Colusa we caught a crop duster over the numerous rice fields.

Dear Krissie.. She was the bar manager at Granzella's and knew lots of Al's family members and was such a darling person.

When we made it back to Granzella's in Williams we stopped at the bar for a little drink.

Angie, dear Angie... She was sitting at the bar next to where Al sat and who would have known... but she knows Al's family. Her dad, Dave, even lives up in Covalo where more of Al's family lived. We will be in touch with him soon.

Take a good hard look at the horizon the dark area (just past the rolling hills we are traveling down)...You will see "THE BUTTES". This mountain range was so extremely important to Al as it meant he was getting close to/or in Colusa which was a place that was magical for him. Rube and Velma Tucker, (Sue and Tom's parents) lived there and invited him to spend time at their lovely home during summer months. This time was the very BEST for him.

This old weathered building makes me think it would be a great piece of the puzzle in a story about pioneering family traveling to and/or through California back in the 1800's. It is just a too perfect building that I had to take a picture of it and then share it with you...

Joyce is in front of the Catholic Church she helped renovate and move to this final place. She and numerous others have really spent many hours working to get this Church back 'up and running'. Please read the following article for an update on some history of this magical area of our Country.

http://www.countyofcolusa.com/history/stonyford.htm

Beautiful alter and you can see Joseph's stained glass window on right. Joyce is extremely proud of how her and everyone's hard work has made this House of God into a beautiful sanctuary again. (Below)

Joyce made this gorgeous stained glass window of Mary which is in a window across the alter from the stained glass window of Joseph. The Church members did a superior job fixing up this church after it was moved to it's present new site in Stonyford.

This is the special place where we spent the whole day with Al's cousins...
Check out the blue sky...gorgeous!

This vacant land across the street from Daryl and Joyce's house is where Joyce's sister will be building a new house and moving in. This is such a great happening for everyone.

We all took a tour of Joyce and Daryl's garden (also the chicken coup) and the roses below are some of their gorgeous roses ~ Enjoy!

Daryl was the Postmaster in Stonyford, CA and this now is a tabletop in their yard.

Picture of the old Homestead (below)

Now this was a pie! A PEAR PIE!

Excellent pie that Joyce made for us and it was as incredibly tasty as it was beautiful... A perfect pie!

WOW what a fabulous spaghetti and super salad and marvelous pie Joyce made for all of us. It was YUM-O! She is a super cook and I have a few recipes that she gave me... One from Sue's mom, Velma Bond-Tucker....called

"A to Z Bread". Sounds great.

Al's beautiful cousins, Daryl and Joyce Bond. What a terrific couple they are...could not have asked for nicer or more caring people to be Al's relatives. Joyce and I have been communicating via e-mail over the last couple of years and we finally had the opportunity to meet in person.

Daryl Bond is Al's 2nd cousin who is a really wonderful and very friendly man. (What is this with all the Bond men and the gorgeous head of hair they all seem to have? It must be in the genes!!)

Sweet, beautiful Joyce Bond. She just completed a few small feats like riding a bull, hot air ballooning and drives like Sterling Moss... (racecar driver).

She has the mind of a 30 year old and the enthusiasm of a teenager. What a super woman she is...

This is where many of Al's ancestors are buried ~ Cypress Hill Cemetery in Stonyford, Colusa County, California. How exciting for him, his 2nd cousins Sue, Tom and 3rd cousin, Christian. WOW am I ever glad we traveled to California, met up with Sue, her hubby Wes, her brother Tom, and her son Christian. Then we had the opportunity to meet more 2nd cousins, Daryl and Joyce Bond who shared all sorts of family pictures, stories and valuable information with us the next generation. Then they even fed us a delicious spaghetti meal. Can't get better than that!! Thank you so much, Joyce and Daryl.

The lone cowboy boot memorialized within the Bond plot area. No name, no description, no clue as to who this is...just some Bond's boot. Now if our name was (Doc) Holliday, (Bat) Masterson, (Wild Bill) Hickok, (Wyatt) Earp, (Samuel) Bass, (Jesse) James it would make sense but? Well, we do have a (Judge Roy) Bean and a (Kit) Carson in the family!!!!

Any comments?

Al's GGGrandfather

Al's GGGrandmother

Al's Great Grandfather Joshua Bond

Below!!

Twins Walter and Willie Bond died at 3 months and 6 months ~ Allan's grand uncles. Times were tough back in those times.

Al and Cally contemplating in the Bond area of the cemetery.

Tom, Al, Sue and Christian around Joshua Bond's grave...

Please come back to check my blog probably tomorrow as I have many more pictures to post...

Al, Sue, Tom and Joyce Bond around a family Bond grave....I love this picture.

Al's Bond family graves are through the fence straight ahead, past the pink tree to the pine tree and under the pine tree is where the Bond family is buried. Al's GGrandfather and GGGrandfather.

"Ancient" writings on the wall (from 2010)

The drive to Stonyford and Logoda was gorgeous... rolling hills and interesting rock formations.

In 2010 there are still only 250 people in Stonyford, California. Beautiful part of California yet, really way out in the hills. We were so excited to meet Al's 2nd cousin, Daryl and his wife, Joyce as they have oodles of family information to share with us .... the next generation.

Stonyford, CA is the area that Allan's family homesteaded in. Geesh it is up in the coast range in a gorgeous part of California...