We headed to Calaveras County in California’s Gold Rush country for our Spring Break RV trip. This area—a mere hour from us—is home the World Famous Jumping Frog Jubilee!

I have to admit I’ve never attended the Jubilee, but I am a fan of Mark Twain, who spent time in this area and wrote a short story entitled "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" published by Bret Harte in The Californian in 1865. Here’s the Wikipedia link in case you’re interested.

I believe Twain also wrote a book called Roughing It about his stay in Calaveras Country. We were very cozy in the Angels Camp RV Campground. The closest we came to “roughing it” was building a fire to make s’mores. 😉

Adding to our camping fun, our granddaughters joined us for an overnight. They were so excited about the nearby pond filled with tadpoles (in training, no doubt, for this summer’s contest).

One of the best parts of our getaway was two days of reading. I finished two books: Montana Cowboy Daddy and A Villa in Sicily. Paul finished West With Giraffes—and highly recommends it. I loved Montana Cowboy Daddy, but how could I not—it’s by Jane Porter! And I found A Villa In Sicily quite charming. I just started The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, which I picked up from a BookBub recommendation. Do you follow me on BookBub? It’s a great way to know what your writer friends are reading.

I’m sad to share the news that my sister, Jeanne, passed away quite suddenly on Easter. She’d been in poor health the past few years, but the Covid isolation/restrictions were especially hard on her. She wasn’t able to get out to doctors’ appointments and the home health care she’d been receiving became problematic at best. But she was in good spirits when we spoke a few days earlier, so the call on Easter morning took us all by surprise. I’m so grateful her caregiver son, Shawn, and quick-thinking granddaughters called so I was able to tell Jeanne goodbye on the phone. She passed away peacefully knowing how much we all loved her. She was 83.

No question last week, but I do have 4 winners:

Katrina Dehart
Lynn T. Bremer
Patty Duplechin
William Harris

(Katrina, Lynn, Patty and William congrats. Please email me your pick of either a $5 Starbucks or a $5 Amazon gift card.)

Q&A

This week’s Q&A: Do you have a daily exercise routine? Yes or No?

(Two winners will be chosen by random drawing to receive either a $5 Starbucks gift card or a $5 Amazon gift card. Please reply the usual ways:
email or on my DebraSalonenAuthor Facebook page.

Stay well, my friends, and happy reading,

Deb

Next week: working on the road (not literally)