Day Six: Lessons Learned

That picture is actually from the drive here to Colusa the day before, but the 102 temperature posted in the rear-view mirror will give you an idea of what it's like here. And no, Jaki does not have a terminator-like chip in the middle of her forehead. It's just the angle I was shooting at.

Yesterday was a great day to do what we did - not much. We sat in the shade, went for an occasional dip in the pool and had a beer or two in the afternoon. Then in the evening we abandoned all pretense of being on diets and had fantastic ribs, baked stuffed potatoes, slices of the sweetest tomatoes I have ever eaten (grown, of course, on site) and fresh sourdough. Dessert was a warm peach cobbler Jaki made, with vanilla ice cream. I don't usually eat desserts. I did last night.

The good news is that LK and I have been able to repay our extremely generous hosts with some knowledge they did not have before.

First, we taught them that one of the surest tests of whether someone has had too much to drink is to say "Kennedy". (OK, we had to spell it for them at the time.) For some reason, after a certain point in the evening, it starts sounding like it lost its middle consonants -- "Keh-eh-ee". Throughout the various evenings we were able to put our theory to the test, and I now believe that long after we have flown the coop there will be nights in Colusa where people sitting around will be valiantly trying to say Kennedy.

And secondly, we explained to them that Jaki's last name - Roady - is actually a phrase in Australia, although I would guess it's spelled roadie. It means nightcap, as in "one for the road". So when the night is winding down, someone inevitably will ask "Roadie anyone?" Robert immediately seized on the phrase. I won't tell you where it went from there.

I got some education of my own yesterday. Robert brought me to the Toy Box and showed me how to use an electric saw. He tells me it's safer than a chain saw, but you can still cut your toes off. LK came out to the room and stood there scowling. It's probably another tool I will never use.

Picking up a rental car in Sacramento this morning, and on the road to Reno.