Prime Time at The Farm – September 29 – October 3, 2014

Our Prime Time Group at The Farm (Dont’ forget to click on the photo if you want a larger picture)

The photo above is the Prime Time Ensemble at The Farm. Note some differences…no beach in the background and spouses are there. As you can imagine, this was a fun, creative, amenable, and food/beverage-loving group.   It was sort of like many different flower petals coalescing into a beautiful blossom. We all arrived and departed a various times on different days, but a good time was had by all.  Diana and Jack, and son Jim are the most gracious hosts at an amazing home. Those who were not able to attend were missed very much and we all hope they will be able to join us at the next get-together.

Several arrived on Monday, the 29^th and we all had dinner at JT’s, a local Basque restaurant. Wow! This was my first time at this renown establishment and it was an experience. If you didn’t get enough to eat, it was your own fault. There were several courses served family style and then your entree arrived, just as you thought you couldn’t eat another bite.  We topped that off with ice cream for dessert. Very tasty! A photo of the Monday night crew follows.

Awaiting the scrumptious food at JTs.

Dot, Bill, Lynda, Evert, Shoo and Alan arrived on Tuesday, making our group complete. Tours of the farm and Diana’s shop were given so that everyone would be on the same page when we were talking about things happening there. There was even a tour of my house because no one beyond Diana and Jack had seen it since the big move from Cerritos.

Honk if you love berries at the Jacobs Family Berry Farm

Evert, Jack and Steve in the berry patch (that’s not the technical name of it, but I don’t know if it should be a field or what. At least I know it’s not an orchard or grove.)

These are the BEST berries I have ever tasted, bar none. YUM!!!

As we do at Pajaro, we chatted, snacked, imbibed in some wine and other spirits, chatted some more, walked, ate great meals. Steve Brock even cooked pancakes for breakfast one morning! The men all pitched to help prepare food, clean up and pour wine. It was a very cohesive, amiable group that created a lot of fun.

Jack and Diana like to take group shots of visitors to the Farm and, of course, we all complied with that wish. I think that Jack felt it was like herding cats to get us all organized, but we eventually got some good pictures. The opening shot is of the entire group and then we have one of the OHS coeds. We felt like celebrities with all the cameras clicking. We tried to get a shot of just the guys, but they were busy taking pictures and messing around. I tried to get a shot of all the guys taking photos and took about 10 shots. But in every photo but one, Steve was trying to get his phone set just right.

The Gals

The Guys

Genoa tourists waving at cute guys!

We took a field trip to Genoa, Nevada’s oldest settlement, to take a nice walk and check out the shops, particularly the oldest thirst parlor in Nevada. Actually, we just looked in the parlor and took a hike to Walley’s Hot Springs and Resort. I had been told that it was only a mile from Genoa, but it turned out to be our total trek amounted to a bit more than 3 miles! Needless to say, some of our party became parched and we had to take a break at Walley’s for thirst quenching and nourishment. Then a few folks found the ice cream portion of the Genoa General Store. No one went hungry (as usual at our gatherings).

Lynda prepared pizza for us that was delightful and delicious. We all enjoyed her biscotti as well. Two more YUMS!

While Lynda’s  pizza crust was being prepared, most of us went to try our hand at bocce ball. There was spirited competition, but I don’t think a clear-cut champion was determined. We’ll have to reconvene again to determine that.

I like this picture of Alan throwing the ball…a la Michael Jordan with his tongue sticking out 🙂

Our party began to break up with the departure of Trish and Steve that night, then with Sherry, Howard, Shoo and Alan the next morning.

The remaining seven decided to go on a jaunt to Blue Lakes that is off of Hwy. 88 in California. Such a beautiful place! We enjoyed a great picnic until the camp host kicked us out for picnicking in an area that was not for day use. There were no other campers but rules are rules, I guess. It was nice, though, that he didn’t disturb us until we had finished eating. So we left and found another area right next to one of the Blue Lakes.

Man and dog… Lucy loves Jack!

And then there were five. Lynda and Evert had to leave us after we frolicked at the lakes and the rest of us headed on back to the Farm, but not before a little side trip to Markleeville,, CA, population 210 and Alpine county seat. Markleeville is very small but it sports a shop that serves tasty ice cream cones. We definitely checked them out.

All good things must come to an end and so our gathering did that Friday. Diana had to go to work at the shop; Jim was in the Bay Area; Jack had things to do; Bill and Dot had to fly home and I took them to the Reno airport and eventually got back to my little black cat, BC. (who told me quite vehemently that she was lonely!) What a great time! It was fun being with a larger group that meshed so well.