Dad Goes Home and Cait Graduates

And just like that, it was time for Bruce to drive Dad home to California.

Teddy: "Bye, Angel. Nice meeting you. They keep telling me you're a dog, but I'm still not sure."
Angel: "Yeah, well, thanks for not eating me. I'm ready to go home. Where's the truck?"

Bye, Dad! Thanks for coming up to visit and see this beautiful part of the country. We'll all miss you!

And then they left...

Going

Going

Gone!

And then I was alone. Better start on all those chores that Bruce usually does. No more laying around eating bon bons!

Bruce and Dad spent the night in Redmond, Oregon and ate supper at the Black Bear Diner. Bruce had the Tri Tip plate and Dad had...the Bigfoot Chicken Fried Steak!

The next morning, a rainbow paved their way south on the road to California.

While Dad was up here, I made new "sails" for a bird thingamajig that he had in his front yard. As you can see, the old sails were worn and faded from the sun.

Peggy and I came up with a pattern for new sails.

Dad took the new sails home and installed them on the thingamajig.
If you look closely, you can see the sails at the far end of the flowerbed.

The flowers had grown quite a bit in the five weeks Dad had been away. The deck looked beautiful!

Caitlin was graduating from UC Davis the next day, and had an extra ticket. Guess who got to go?

He even got a haircut for the occasion!

Awwww, Grandpa and Caitlin at her college graduation. They both looked great! I bet Dad was remembering the little six year old girl who would only wear pink dresses.

Here's Cait with her friend, Jennifer, getting ready for the ceremony.

And here she is walking across the stage to get her diploma. She's the one to the right of Mr. Red Robe.

After the ceremony, Bruce and Dad went to Cait's house to celebrate at her graduation party. There was delicious Indian food, which Dad had no problem devouring.

And a scrumptious cake for dessert.

Everyone had a wonderful time celebrating Cait's grand accomplishment. Graduating with high honors, with a double major, in just three years!

Dad hung out, looking pretty snazzy.

The next day, Bruce went to see his friend. Ricky. They hadn't seen each other in years, and a visit was long overdue!

They yukked it up for a couple of hours, and then Bruce stopped by for a quick visit with our dear friend, Doris, and her doggie, Jerry.

Jerry looks crazy!

That night, Bruce and Dad had supper with our family friends from waaaaaaaaay back. I'm talking back to the '60s!

L to R: Dad, Terry, Mary, Gail, Lucy and Arlene

The next morning, Bruce got up at the crack of dawn and headed north. It took him two days to get home to me, Teddy, and all the kitties and other critters.

We are so grateful he got Dad and Angel home safe and sound, Caitlin graduated and is off to a bright future, and Bruce got home safely to us.

Thus ends Dad's Idaho Adventure!