Another Year Has Flown By!

The years seem to go much faster as we get older!  When we were kids time went so slowly waiting for birthdays, vacations, special events, Christmas, etc.  These days they all seem to run together and before we can catch our breath another year has been marked off the calendar.  

2014 has been a good year for us.  We spent Jan and Feb here in Santee, March traveling to Pensacola, April visiting with Andy and family with a short visit by Cheri and Grant, and then we headed home the first of May using up two weeks on the road.  Almost half the year gone already!  From then til mid-November, when we left again for here, we spent our time, energy, and money having a tree removed, a new driveway poured (thanks to the tree that got cut down), and some landscaping done in the front and back of the house. The last of it was completed just a few days before we left.  We kept busy making Christmas gifts - Roger in his woodshop, me in my chair with the yarn and embroidery thread.  We went to the gym, I had book club and lunches with friends, and I enrolled in some senior learning groups at the university.  We spent two weeks in Las Vegas before coming here and, since we have been here, we haven't really done anything worth writing about but the time has gone quickly.  All of the family who had surgery this month are recovering nicely and Roger, Maggie and I have been in good health.  We still have two loved ones who are having some major health issues   and we hope that the New Year brings healing and recovery to both of them.  Our thoughts are with them every day.  

The big storm that has hit the west and southwest brought lots of hard rain to Santee and very cold temperatures.  It's unusual for it to freeze at night, but it has been doing so and will be for a couple more nights. This hardly-insulated-with-lots-of-single-paned-windows tin can we call an RV is hard to keep heated.  We have a furnace and a space heater but can't run both at the same time.  So when one of us is in the shower with the space heater in the bathroom, the other is curled up in a recliner wrapped in an afghan.  Maggie didn't like the cold much this morning and stayed under her afghan for a very long time!  

I've mentioned dealing with small spaces - here's an example - our bedroom.   In the bedroom, the bed is on a "slider" which extends about 18 inches from the side of the RV.  The headboard area is in that slider, so it is much lower than the ceiling of the RV - by a foot or so.   Now, the RV came with a small RV sized mattress which we immediately got rid of and replaced with a normal mattress.  In addition, we have added a two inch memory foam topper.  The frame that the bed sits on is about knee high as there is storage under the bed.  So, start adding up the height of the bed - if I tiptoe around my side, it comes right to butt level.  So, picture how much room between the mattress and the top of the slider!  We maybe have two feet of space for our heads.  It's a lot  like sleeping in a bunk bed.  Roger says it's like being in a bunk aboard ship and when it rains it's like being under the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.  Anyway, there's not a lot of room and we bump our heads constantly getting in and out, but when it rains......   well, it sounds as if the rain is right there on top of you!  The rain last night was so loud that I thought a couple of times that we were having hail!  

This  is my side of the bed.  Notice the distance between the bed and the mirrored (oh, joy) closet.  I can't walk straight to the head of the bed.  I have to go in sideways on tippy toes - facing the mirror so my backside has room over the edge of the bed to get through.  The good thing about the mirrors being so close - they are always cold and when I wake up with my feet burning up, I just plant them on the mirror to coofl off.  No getting up and finding a cold tile floor like at home!   On Roger's side of the bed there is just enough room to put some plastic stackable drawers for "stuff."  He has a bit more room than I do, but making the bed is still a real challenge.  

With the slider out we have a couple of feet or so at the end of the bed to the dresser and access to a closet with shelves.  When the slider is pulled in for travel the bed touches the dresser.  This closet is configured to have a washer/dryer combo but we opted for shelving for clothing because there is no way the closet would hold our clothes.  When I get up and come around the corner next to Maggie's bed, I again, have to scootch by because there isn't enough space to walk.

Our solution for hats and shoes.  The shoes are hidden behind the door, which is nice.  Again, no room in the closet where we have put shelving on one side for linens and the other side holds outerwear, a vacuum, and a collapsible dolly for hauling the laundry basket to the laundry room.  (The laundry basket resides in the shower when the shower isn't in use.)  

OK, here's what I was talking about - the headroom is almost non existent.  We like to read for a while in bed before turning out the lights.  It is impossible to sit up - we are at a 45 degree angle.  Note the beige strip across the edge of the molding over the bed. That is a rubber bumper  made to put on the edge of tables when kids are learning to walk.  We weren't in this RV but a few nights when Rog sat up without thinking and took a deep chunk of skin about the size of a half dollar out of the top of his head from the sharp edge that is on it.  The bumpers help soften the blow when he bonks his melon now.  

You have to be adaptable and things need to always be put away or the place is cluttered, but, hey, it's works and it's home for the winter.  Rog loves San Diego and if we didn't have the RV we couldn't spend the winter here - home/condo prices in this area are sky high so that wouldn't be an option.  The RV works and inspite of the "smallness" of the living space, we really enjoy the life style.

We wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2015!     

Happy Christmas!

Whatever is beautiful.  Whatever is meaningful. 

Whatever brings you happiness.  

May it be yours this holiday season! 

Christmas Eve we connected with the Colorado and Reno families via video chat.  Unfortunately the Florida family has no computer but this morning we got photos via email of the gang when they finished opening their presents.  Late today we chatted by phone with my sister in northern California and did a video chat with Roger's sister in Michigan.  It was nice touching bases with our loved ones and made the holiday very nice - it makes it almost like being there!  Thank goodness for technology!

We spent this afternoon at a movie  - a kind of tradition for us.  We started doing it when the kids were teenagers and we would go see the latest James Bond release or some other similar movie.  As the kids have moved out Roger and I not always spent Christmas afternoon at a matinee- mostly because there just aren't that many movies out there that are of interest - but we do go when we can find something of interest.  We were lucky today that a film we did want to see was playing fairly close by.   We saw "The Imitation Game."    We both think it is an excellent film with an outstanding performance by Benedict Cumberpatch as Alan Turing.  

There really hasn't been much happening of late.  Maggie is our entertainment most days.  

We gave her a bowl with some remnants of tuna salad yesterday at lunch time.   The bowl doesn't have a rubber bottom like her regular dish so she ended up chasing it all over the floor as each lick pushed it further away from her -  until she figured out that she could hold it down with one foot while she cleaned up the leftovers!

  The Dog's Life is never an easy one!

When we sit outside and she gets bored,  she decides she needs to go inside and retrieve her ball.  She climbs the stairs and then stand there until someone notices and opens it.  We then wait while she retrievs her ball and comes running back out.  We are her servants!  

Then, she rolls the ball to us and if we don't immediately pick it up and throw it she stares at it as if it's going to move on its own.  She will stare a ball down for about two minutes - never taking her eyes off it.  She then starts looking up at us and then back down at the ball (not moving her head or changing her stance) until we humans slowly figure out what she wants and then we tap our hand on our chair.  Then she runs and grabs the ball and brings it to us, depositing it in our chair for us to throw.  She will play this game ad nauseum.  She definitely has a one track mind when it comes to chasing the ball.  

She is often quite willful and when she decides she is done with her walk and ready to turn around and go home she plops her little butt down and goes no further.  

After a little coaxing, which didn't work yesterday afternoon, she turned around facing the way she wanted to go and looked back at me with those big brown eyes defying me to go further.  The only thing that then got her moving again was "OK, Maggie, let's go home."  She hopped up and with all of her energy pranced home with an "I won, again" expression on her face.  

Cookie Day!

We took off early (for us) yesterday and braved the freeways to Long Beach to spend the day with Stephanie and Pierce.  It was a little over two hours of freeway driving and we did encounter some traffic slowdowns in spots.  The stressful part is just that there is so much traffic!  Six lanes each way with a steady stream of cars and trucks. This is on a Saturday, mind you.   It is just mind boggling!  What would "traffic time" look like?  

We got to the kids' place about 11:30am and visited for a few minutes before we walked to downtown and found a place for lunch.  We couldn't believe the number and variety of restaurants in the downtown area.  We went to Pierce's favorite place and had a nice table outside.  That was critical because we had Maggie with us.  We knew it would be a long day and couldn't leave her at the RV.  It worked out well - Roger and I had a bench to sit on and we put Maggs between us.   She sat there and was very well behaved so was rewarded with some fish from Roger's fish and chips lunch.  Then it was back to the apartment for cookie baking and decorating!  Steph and Pierce have a kitten named Olive who, unfortunately, had to be banished to protect her from Maggie whose DNA would tell her to attack the cat - NOT something we wanted to have happen. Olive was put in a large closet that had glass paned doors.  If you look carefully at the picture below, you can see Olive staring down Maggie.

Roger and Pierce playing in the dough!

Maggie and Steph cutting out cookies

More and more cookies coming!

Oven Duty.

Maggie and Olive having a staring contest
through the closet door.  We were there
about an hour or so before Maggs spotted
Olive who had been banished to the closet/
dressing area of the studio apartment.
Once she discovered Olive she went a
bit crazy and started barking at her.
Poor little thing didn't know what to
think.  After we calmed Maggie down
the two of them spent quite a bit of time
just checking each other out -
 though the glass.

The finished product.

 We had a great time!  We figured out we have been making cookies with Steph for about 20 years now!  She and Pierce will be taking some to Reno to share with Tony, Mike and Erica.  They are both very excited that they have a week off from school and jobs and will visit family in Reno and Tehachapi over the holidays.  

They had gifts for us - perfect ones!  A book of fine woodworking patterns for Roger and a book of 500 crochet stitches for me.  They said they weren't hinting at anything, though!  

         

When Roger Took Maggie Out During the Rain Recess Last Night!

It started raining again right after dark and rained all night - sometimes pretty heavily.  Today was fluffy clouds and some blue skies.  We caught a break because we expected it to rain all day today again.  It was nice!   No other news.

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

I put up the Christmas Tree and my Snowman yesterday.  I'm working on the LAST present, and we are looking forward to Cookie Day on Saturday with Steph and Pierce.  

After a few days of mostly sunshine and temps in the 60s during the afternoon, this afternoon it started raining again.  Supposed to do it for the rest of today, tonight, and tomorrow.  We are set, though - we went to the library and picked up some movies to entertain us, we have our books and our audio books, as well.  I've always got a game of "Words With Friends" going. (BTW, I can beat the computer most times, but rarely win when I  play my "friends.") This morning we were able to get out for our exercise before the rain started, which is good because we probably won't be able to tomorrow.   

This is what Roger and Maggie do all day to entertain each other when they are stuck inside.  Roger gets tired of the game quickly but the Maggs could go on forever.  

Roger has not been able to walk with Maggie and me most days - he's having pain in his hips.  Not sure whether it's sciatica, but probably is.  He's been "down" because he can't get out and go with us and because he's having to cut back on his food due to lack of exercise.  (That's the real bummer!)  If we were at home he would be on the stationary bike and not the treadmill when we go to the gym.  Yesterday we went to the local thrift shops looking for a bicycle for him.  We figured if we found one cheap enough he can use it for four months and then when we leave we can just donate it back to them!  No hauling it around with us and he doesn't ride a bike at home, so a win-win!  He found one - good price and in working order!  It's well worn, but just needed a little clean up, some duct tape on the seat, and some WD-40 on the chain.  He got  to take his first ride on it  this morning and said it felt good.  No hip pain today.  

Of course, since I last wrote we've had to make another grocery run.  It seems as if we are always going out for food.  Small fridge and small pantry - can only pack so much stuff in.  It does cut down on the Costco runs, that's for sure.  One of these days I'm going to do an essay for you on living in a small space.  It can be  pretty funny sometimes when it isn't frustrating.   

The two patients who had surgery last week are doing well, so that is a relief.  Our granddaughter had her ear "de-beaded" (as her mother called it).  Seems they took Miss Kinsey in for a routine health check and inquired about her hearing because she seemed not to always hear them.  The doc discovered a small red bead of some sort imbedded in wax in one of her ears.  It's out as of yesterday and Andy says the kid has no excuses now when they tell her she needs to do something!!  Our next patient will have her surgery on Thursday so we are still in "concerned" mode for a few more days.  

The rain just stopped for who knows how long, so it's time to get Maggs outside while we can without getting drenched.  

We Are Wet But Not Soggy!

The Pineapple Express has devastated much of California in the last two days, but we have been very lucky.  It's been raining since 5am but there has been no wind to speak of.  We are at the high end of the RV park and, although we haven't wandered far from home, it looks as if there's not been much flooding or damage.  There are low spots with some standing water but nothing horrible.  We are grateful that here in Santee it is nothing like that storm we were in while in Pensacola last April.  

Our biggest issue has been Maggie - she hates the rain.  She sees us put on our raincoats and reach for her harness and she runs away and tries to hide!  The first trip out this morning she dove under the RV when we stepped outside.  Had to yank her little butt out into the rain and down the street to some grass.  She peed quickly and then turned and hightailed it towards the RV.  Later trips out weren't quite so dramatic as the rain had slowed down.  She is such a weird dog.  All she wanted to do today was play ball.  Geez, she never gives up.  Rog will play for a while, then tell her "one more time," throw the ball and she then climbs on him wagging her tail and begging him not to stop.  Of course she is so cute doing it, Rog throws it for a while more.  

Last October the vet said she was four pounds overweight so we have been feeding her less and low-cal food.  She was losing a little bit before we got here but with the long walks she has suddenly dropped a full pound!  We are having to give her a little more - she shouldn't lose it so fast.  You can really tell looking at her - she looks longer.  We see more of the doxie in her!  

She's helping me write this tonight because Roger told her "no ball."  She and the ball are in my lap.  

We've had good news yesterday and today.  Two family members had some pretty major surgery in the last two days but they both did well.  It's been a nervous few days.  Another surgery for a person very special to us is scheduled next week.  December seems to be the month for it this year.  In addition to the above,  our granddaughter in Florida was found to have a red bead in her ear.   No one knows how it got there and it was found on her 3 yr checkup.   Her mother reports that , "Kinsey will be de-beaded on Tuesday."  

I know it's been four days since we've posted anything, but there hasn't been anything newsworthy.  We did go out for lunch and a little shopping yesterday knowing we would be homebound today.  We stopped at the library and got a movie for tonight.  The rain is supposed to end tomorrow morning so hopefully we will be back outside tomorrow afternoon.  

We've Got the Sweetest Neighbor!

Sierra is a 14 year old Golden Retriever.  She is about the sweetest thing you ever met.  What's really weird is that yesterday Maggie met her - on neutral ground - and did not go into her usual behavior around large dogs.  There were no curled up lips, no snapping, no aggressiveness at all.  She didn't want to play with Sierra, but she tolerated the butt sniffing and was on high alert.  So strange!  Then Tom, Sierra's owner, wanted to see the inside of our rig to compare to his Montana, so he came in and Sierra followed right behind him.  Maggie just watched.  No protecting our house or us.  Sierra wandered around, slopped water all over the kitchen as she emptied Maggie's bowl, and just acted as if she belonged here.  Maggie had no issues with her.  Weird. 

Yesterday we stuck around the park.  The weekdays are bad enough with crazy traffic in downtown Santee so we didn't even want to attempt to do any shopping on a weekend.   Then, on our walk down to the day use area we discovered it was Santee Lakes' Christmas Extravaganza with pony rides, carnival rides, games, etc. for the kids.  The traffic in and out was insane so we just hung out at home.  I finished one more gift, worked for a little while on genealogy stuff and Roger and I made some candy.  (Oh, it is good!  Dark chocolate covered dried berries and pistachios.)   Recipe to follow at end of posting if you are interested in trying it yourself.   

Since it is a 3 mile round trip to the office to pick up mail, we've decided to only go on Mon, Wed, and Fri.  It's not like we get that much and what we do get is not critical enough that one day matters.  We have been told that Maggie can't go in the day use area so she and Roger have been waiting for me at the last campsite.  I asked today about the dog as we keep seeing other dogs between the campground and the office.  I was advised that we could bring her all the way to the office if we stayed on one side of the lake that was open to the public for dogs to be walked to the pet walk.  So that's going to make it nicer - we can all go down there together.  

We did go into town today and the traffic and the parking lots were a bit crazy, but when we got into a store, there really didn't seem to be that many people.  We were even second in line at a Costco checkout counter - amazing.  We got the Pensacola gifts and the Christmas cards sent out, so we are doing OK.  I've two more gifts to finish and then I'm done for the year!  

We had a gorgeous day and an even better sunset this evening!  

Looking for Healthy Dessert Recipes? Why Not Try These Delicious Chocolate, Fruit, & Nut Clusters?

Posted By Kate Sherwood On December 2, 2014 @ 5:00 am In Healthy Recipes 


Chocolate, Fruit, & Nut Clusters
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooling time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
9 oz. dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa), chopped 2 cups roasted pistachios, unsalted
1 cup dried cherries, unsweetened
1 cup diced dried apricots
1 cup golden raisins
Directions:
• In a small pot, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Remove from the heat. Put the chocolate in a large, heat-resistant bowl. Put the bowl on top of the pot, and stir until the chocolate has melted.
• Mix the pistachios, cherries, apricots, and raisins into the chocolate, then spread into a 10′′ x 3′′ rectangle on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.
• Allow to set at room temperature (about 30 minutes), then cut into 1′′ squares.
Yields 30 pieces.
Nutrition Information:
Per piece—
Calories: 140
Total fat: 8 g Saturated fat: 3 g Sodium: 0 mg Carbohydrates: 16 g Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 3 g
Added sugar: 1⁄2 tsp. 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like........

Happy Campers

We put up our little canopy this morning so we have some shade over the picnic table.  We enjoy eating lunches outside when it's nice and our little patio room makes it so we can.  


I got the Pensacola Family presents wrapped today - now to find a box to put them in and then brave the post office lines.  I sent Colorado kids theirs before we left home as they promised to not peek if I did.  I left some at home for Mike and gang and the few things I didn't finish before we left I'll send with Steph and Pierce when they go to Reno.  The pressure is still on, though, to finish up.

Our friend David has put out more decorations!  Eileen is ready to kill him but he just keeps at it.  He's on an end site  with even more room than we have  (Our row has three sites.  We have one and they have one with one in between.)  He has covered most all of it with those blow up decorations.  Our in-between neighbor, Tom, told him today that he was "running out of real estate."   I told David that I wanted to add a wreath to the ladder on back of the RV but Roger wanted to know where I was going to store it when the holidays were over, so I gave up on the idea.  

The extent of our outside decorations 

prior to the wreath addition on the 

back of the RV.

David came through - gave me one of four that he had lined up to put up on his RV and said he'd take it back when we were finished!  So, now we have a wreath on the back as well as the one by the door.  That's it for us!!  Nothing very exciting.

As I seem to do most trips, I managed not to pack the correct weight outerwear.  I have  heavy sweatshirts and a raincoat, but no lightweight jacket/windbreaker/whatever.  I sure needed one the last few days, so yesterday I bought one that will stay in the RV with the above mentioned items so next year I don't have to buy another one.  I have a ton at home.   Today it was 76 degrees.  Oh, well.  I'll be ready for the cool , rainy days projected next week.  

Yesterday we took a long walk around the park with the Maggie and then went in search of those small memory cards for my camera.  No one carries them. Who in their right mind wants such a small one?  I got some really strange looks and shakes of the head from clerks in the stores.   Had to order one on-line.  We encountered massive traffic in the parking lots of all the stores - and it was only Friday.  We opted not to leave the RV park today or tomorrow.  Just too many people and it's only going to get worse as the month progresses.  

Washing machines and dryers now take ATM cards!!  The plus side:  Convenient.  No more saving up or buying quarters to do our laundry.  The down side:  you find out how much it really costs when you check your bank on-line.   When you are just plugging quarters in the machines you tend to lose track of how much you are spending and that the cost has gone up since last year, but when the numbers show up in black and white, it is a shock to the system.  $15 for four loads of laundry.  Yikes!!!!  

Another quiet day planned for tomorrow.  Will check back in probably on Monday unless tomorrow turns into an adventure of some sort.  

Yay! We Got Outside Today!!!

Our "front yard" after last night's rain.
A bit soggy and half the bark is down the street.

If you watched the weather on the news the last couple of days, you will have noted that Southern California has had some much needed rain!   Two nights and two days worth!  The heavy rains came during the night so we were able to get Maggie out during the day between the raindrops but not for long periods of time!  After four days of no walks we were all so very happy to be able to get outside today!  Of course, I took the camera because there are always interesting things to see around the RV Park.  

My cold is diminishing and I'm starting to feel better.  Probably the enforced rest the last two days helped a lot. 

We put up a couple Christmas decorations on the outside - nowhere near the amount of some of our neighbors, but enough to feel festive.  Maybe next week I'll put up our little tree inside.  We have made plans with Stephanie for a Cookie Day and tomorrow I hope to put Pensacola presents in the mail.  It's beginning to feel like Christmas.

Here are some photos taken on our walk today:

Quack, Quack, Quack!!!

Watching for his fish.

Fishing was good for this Osprey this morning.
Note the size of the one he's holding onto.

Nice wreath on the back of their deck!

They also have a side deck with glass
sliding doors leading out to it.

Complete with Christmas Tree and
Santa's boot!

Rog  thinks he should have a rig like this to haul our RV!

The Final Leg of the Trip

Well, here we are after our first full day in Santee.  We are rested after a good night's sleep and a day of doing not much.  Neither of us could believe just how exhausted we were last night.  The cold meds are helping me and just being here knowing he doesn't have to pack up and leave any time soon is helping Roger.

The hotel idea was a good idea for a couple of reasons:  1) long hot showers not having to worry about saving hot water for someone else, 2) warmth and no wind howling, and 3) separate beds so we wouldn't disturb each other.  I got a lot of reading done and Roger watched a lot of football.  

The hotel wasn't a good idea for a couple of reasons: 1) it was a bit shabby and the carpet was dirty, 2) noisy neighbors at times, 3) not our own bed.   Neither of us slept well and we woke up almost as tired as when we went to bed.  Roger's hips hurt from the mattress being too firm and I had spilled a glass of water on my PJs and bed and had to sleep on a small dry spot after putting my clothes on.  

We were up and on the road by 0730.  We had showered the night before, so just got up, had a cup of tea/coffee, got dressed (I was halfway there already) and hauled our stuff and Maggie out to the RV.  Traffic was still heavy with California plates, but cars were traveling at the speed limit or higher - no more 10 mph stuff.  

The route from Las Vegas area south to San Bernadino takes you through some of the ugliest parts of the Mojave Desert.  We aren't big fans of the Mojave - especially this time of year when it's so dull and brown.  Green creosote bushes helped break the monotony of the scenery, but mostly it looked as if we had landed on the moon.  The small towns along the way look so derelict and there was lots of trash along the roadside.  Ugly and Boring!  We did discover one of the reasons for the previous day's back up of traffic.  It seems there are three full lanes on I-15 out of Las Vegas to the California border.  Then it drops to two.  So, major merge point that slowed things down.  Some areas were under construction but it wasn't awful.  Lots of up and down mountains that probably had things slowed down because of slow moving trucks, probably contributed to the problem as well. 

Knowing that once we hit San Bernadino it would be non-stop into Santee - there's just no reasonable place to pull over for fuel or food when you are pulling a rig, so when we got to Victorville where I-15 meets US395 South, we stopped for a break.  It was a little stressful.  First Roger pulled into a service station after some major maneuvering and we heard an awful scraping noise.  We thought we had hit the overhang with the air conditioner.  The guy came out and waved us on - they didn't have diesel.  Across the street were diesel pumps, but the canopy over them had only an 11 foot clearance.  No go there, either.  Still trying to turn the whole rig around and get back on the street, we heard some other weird noises with the truck and/or RV.  Geez, what the heck was that?  We finally found a place to pull off where Roger could do a walk around and see exactly what was happening - fortunately he found nothing.  When we got back on the highway all seemed well.  We finally found a Pilot truck stop where we could get in and out fairly easily and fuel up.  We then pulled across the street in a truck pull out area to destress and have some lunch.  By that time we were both pretty wired.  

We dropped from about 4000 feet in elevation into San Bernadino - a 12 mile, 6% grade.  That's always a fun part of the drive but we knew what to expect so it wasn't awful.  Traffic was starting to pick up, but there wasn't the issues we've had before going through that area into Riverside and then on to Santee.  

We pulled into the park about 2:30, giving us two hours to get set up before dark.  We knew we had to do it all and not leave anything until today because the weather forecast was for heavy rain today.  By the time we got finished we were so exhausted.  Scrambled eggs and toast for dinner was the easiest thing to make.  We then sat in our chairs staring glazed eyed at the TV until 9 when we went to bed.  Both of us slept well for the first time in several nights.  

We were greeted warmly by acquaintances from previous years as we were setting up, which made us feel good.  We met a new guy who is next to us and seems very nice.  Already we are seeing familiar faces around the park.  Right behind us is "Razor Man."  We've seen him every year for the five years we have been here, but never lived so close to him.  He has a habit of going for his walks dressed only in shorts while shaving with his electric razor as he makes his laps.  We named him the first year we were here.  Dan, the guy from Denmark, is across the street again.  His wife Lisa isn't here yet, but will be soon - he hopes.  David and Eileen, the Christmas decorators from last year, are here and two sites over - and all decorated already.  He's the guy who is in the wheelchair from major wounds received in Vietnam.  

The weather followed the forecast and we've had rain off and on all day.  Fortunately there are little holidays between rain cells and we were able get Maggie out to do her business.  We don't know if she is remembering being here or just excited by all the smells, but she went a little crazy on our first walk about.  The coyotes' wailing last night had her on full alert and we weren't sure we were going to get her to calm down enough to go to bed, but she finally gave up trying to climb on the bed and curled up in hers.  She and the other Maggie have already renewed their friendship and were chasing each other around the RV yesterday like two little kids.  

So, we are "home" now for four months and I'm sure we will have stories to tell and photos to share.  We did go to the office today and make our reservations for next year so we could secure our spot.  After we made a trip to town for lunch, cold meds for me, and a visit to the ATM, Roger sat outside under the awning watching the rain this afternoon and looked quite happy and content. I spent this afternoon catching up on month end/ beginning checkbook stuff.  By tomorrow it'll be like we never left here last March.  

We are set up in our winter home

We made it in this afternoon around 2:30 and got settled in by dark. We are both exhausted so no story of today's adventures this evening.  Will write tomorrow. Just wanted to let you know we are safe and sound in Santee. 

We Are Not In Santee.....

I just turned the iPad on to do this entry and apparently last night's post did not publish until just now.  Sorry.  So, go back and read the previous post before you read this one.

We are in Jean, NV - 30 miles south of Las Vegas tonight.  Jean has two gas statiions, one casino/hotel and a state prison.  Nothing else.  We are comfortable in the casino/hotel for the night and will continue our journey tomorrow.  We are fine, the RV is fine, the truck is fine.   No worries.

As mentioned in previous post we did not take into consideration the possiblility of traffic between LV and Santee until we thought about it yesterday.  Well, traffic wasn't/isn't horrendous - it is mind boggling.  We left Nellis, which is north of LV, at 0830.  At 0930 we were about 20 miles south  of LV when the traffic became bumber to bumper and 10 miles an hour.  Three lanes!  Stop and go.  Only tail lights in our vew through the windshield.  The truck wasn't happy, Roger wasn't happy, I'm feeling crummy and Maggie can't figure out why we are poking along and she can't get out.  At 1030 we reached an exit for Jean.  Off to the right is a Shell station with traffic backed up to I-15.  Across from it is a graded pull out for big rigs.  We pulled off to take a break and decide what to do.

We ate our lunch in the RV.  It was cold and windy outside.  We could see the highway, all the cars trying to merge back on and we just decided we wouldn't make Santee before dark and we really didn't want to sit in the traffic.   We called them and told them we would be in tomorrow.  Our first thought was just to dry camp, but we have a minimal amount of water in the fresh water tank - just enough to flush the toilet when we make a pit stop.  Rog hasn't sanitized it yet this year, either.  We don't carry a generator and we knew it was going to be quite cold during the night and we have no idea how long our batteries would last with the furnace fan running and us using lights in the evening.  

Across the interstate from where we were is the Gold Strike Casino and Hotel.  Aha - warm room, showers, TV, etc.  We pulled into the parking lot next to some semi trucks.  Rog asked one guy if he knew how long and far the traffic mess was.  He had heard it was all the way to Barstow which is 125 miles.    So, we checked into a room about 1100.  Since it is a casino, the room is bare minimum and well used.  No fridge or micro and the tv is not very sharp because they want you downstairs and not in your room!  But, hey, we are ok with that.  We spent the afternoon dozing, reading, watching football, doing crosswords and taking the Maggs out for pee breaks.  We went out to the RV and made dinner -  spaghetti and green beans - and packed up our over night stuff.  At about 5pm we took a walk around the parking lots with Maggie and the traffic on the interstate was still at a snail's pace and the line to get out of the parking lot and onto the on ramp was probably a 20 minute wait.  As I said, the whole thing is just mind boggling.   

All these people from LA and San Diego went to LV for Thanksgiving?  Maybe some went to Grandma's house but I'm guessing that 95% didn't - just a long weekend in Vegas.  So, that brings up a question Roger has - surely these people have done this before on long holiday weekends.  Surely they know about the issue of returning home and having to go to work the next day.  If they have done this before, why, for goodness sakes would they opt to do it again?  You would think they would have learned their lesson.   We, being newbies at this, have no excuse but ignorance.  You can bet next year we won't be trying it again - we learned our lesson!

Maggie freaks out on elevators!!  We are on the 3rd floor.  She doesn't like the stairs either as they are cement with no risers and she can see between the treads.  She was a little spooked out by the whole thing.  We brought her bed in, but she wants to be on the big bed next to us.  Sounds from the next room and the hall have her on alert.  She has relaxed somewhat as the afternoon has progressed to evening, but every time a door slams her eyes fly open.  

Hopefully we will get some sleep tonight - last night wasn't one of our best sleeping nights.  My stuffy nose and full bladder made for an up and down night and every time it woke Roger up.  So, being tired today to start helped make our decision to call it a day at 1030.  I found some NyQuil in the gift shop, we got two beds, and we will be warm so we should have a better night and be ready to start again early tomorrow.  

I'm on the iPad, so have trouble figuring out to caption photos so here they are: 1) the line of traffic as far as the eye can see, 2) the line from the interstate to the gas station, 3) Maggs not getting far from Roger, 4) Maggs not getting far from me, and 5) Maggs able to relax and not be on top of us.  

On the Move Tomorrow

Our two weeks in Las Vegas is up!  It went by fast despite the fact we didn't do anything here except that one day to the Valley of Fire. 

We did spend a dull and boring day yesterday hiding in the RV Park not knowing how awful Black Friday is here and not really wanting to go out and find out.  Today I had to get out for a while and I needed a couple things from Target (our clif bars mostly).  We found a nice sandwich shop and split a sub sandwich. Then it was home and doing prep work for getting on the road.  While I sat in the laundry room, Roger put away all the outside stuff leaving only water and power hooked up.  We plan an early getaway tomorrow as it is about a five and a half hour drive through the greater LA area.

I made our reservations for Santee Lakes  for tomorrow as it is Sunday and since we have to drive all the way through Las Vegas, then once we hit Riverside, it is five lane freeway with lots of traffic.  So, Sunday is a good day, right? Normally, yes.   Well, it never occurred to me when I made the reservations that tomorrow is the last day of a four day weekend and the Las Vegas to Southern California traffic just may be horrendous.  That's another reason for leaving early - in case we get jammed up somewhere.  Sunset is about 4:30 and we don't want to have to set up in the dark. 

I have a cold!  This is newsworthy because I never get colds.  Well, almost never.  I had one two years ago when our granddaughters came for the holidays with runny noses.  Before that it had been six years and I caught one on a cruise.  So, what the heck happened?  Rog thinks I probably picked it up at the dessert extravaganza the other day, either from the food or someone there, but who knows. Maybe that's why yesterday was such a blah day for me.   It's so weird, is all.  Not used to feeling "under the weather."

An Absolutely Do Nothing Day

Walks with Maggie under clear blue skies and time spent planning our departure on Sunday was the most we could muster today.  

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone1

We are most thankful for all of you in our lives.  We hope you had a good day with lots of good food!

We ended up making a veggie pie for dinner - lots of root vegetables, and some green beans and peas thrown in to get our greens in for the day!  It turned out OK - some of the veggies were a bit crunchy, but overall not a bad way to get your vegetables down!!!  We had our left over chocolate pie for our mid-afternoon snack, so no dessert tonight.  

No sun to speak of today, but when I took Maggs out after dinner there was a gorgeous sunset southwest of us with the crescent moon shining brightly a little further east.  Very nice ending to a pretty blaah day weather-wise.

It was a quiet day for us - seemed even more quiet than usual.  We made a couple of trips with Maggie around the RV park, Roger sat outside with his iPod most of the afternoon, and I finished a Christmas present I've been working on while listening to my audio book.   

We stopped at the doggie park to let Maggie run and we encountered two tiny chihuahuas.  We have seen them before and Maggie has run and played with them in the past.  They are so small it's hard to believe they are dogs.  The male is active and full of energy while the female just kind of hangs around.  Roger found himself a chair to sit and watch the dogs play and Maggie tried to get the little ones interested in a game of tag.  Then the male got pushy and Maggie turned tail and ran and jumped in Roger's lap and wouldn't get down.  What a wuss.  The little guy was about the size of her head, but had her totally buffaloed.  It was so funny to watch, especially knowing that she intimidates larger dogs and not only stands her ground with them during an encounter, but usually initiates the bad behaviour.    I asked her if she was ready to go home and she jumped down from Roger's lap and ran to the gate looking back at me as if to say, "Hurry, let me out, he's coming after me."  We were laughing so hard.  She was being a total scaredy-cat

Again,  Happy Thanksgiving!  

A Dessert Extravaganza

This afternoon we indulged.   Yes, we did!  Desserts were lined up on the serving counter at the "Pavillion."   Cakes, cookies, pie, ice cream, donuts, brownies, and a few things I didn't recognize.  There was pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies, several pumpkin pies.  We were impressed that one lady listed the ingredients of her cookies and put a sign next to it for those people that have food allergies. I'm going to have to remember that.  I talked with her and she said she started doing it after she landed in the hospital after getting a piece of pie that had ground nuts in the pie crust.  Scary.  

The crowd was pretty good sized.  The sign up sheet didn't have all that many people listed on Monday when I signed up.  More couples came than signed up and I only saw one young family who showed up with no contribution.  We met folks from all over including two guys from Alaska who are here for the winter.  Lots of retired Air Force pilots in the group.  Some newly retired (and others who probably retired after WWII.)   There were some pretty old geezers there!  Some were new to the lifestyle, some were full timers, but mostly the crowd consisted of "snowbirds."  We actually participated in conversations instead of going and grabbing food and leaving.  Rog forgot his hearing aids but managed OK - he just let the old dude across from him at the table rattle on and on while he ate and nodded at the appropriate times.  

I made a chocolate pie but only three pieces were taken, so we brought the rest home.  I had intended on baking a pumpkin pie tomorrow for us but now I think it will wait.  We don't need to have it in the house!  

We plan a quiet day tomorrow - not any different from any other day for us - especially now that pumpking pie is not on the menu! 

A Couple of "duh" moments

Maggie is the queen of the couch but also likes to sit in our laps when we have an afghan over us.  Last night, she was on Roger's lap, he had to get up to use the facilities, and when he came back Maggs had taken over his chair.  He was relegated to the couch for the evening!  

I sometimes feel like we live the Seinfeld series - a story about nothing.  Well, that's the last few days in a nutshell.  I'm always willing to write something - I do love to prattle on - but I'm not sure anyone else cares, so sometimes I just don't put anything down. So, some random items for tonight.   Sorry, Pam.  I'll try and do better :-)  

Today is, as is the 25th of November every year, a day of contemplation on age.  Our three children and three of our four grandchildren, as well as Roger and I,  have birthdays in October and November.  The last of them was today - our youngest son, Andy's day.  I never (well, almost never) really feel my age until our "baby"  has his birthday.  I can't possibly be old enough to have children in their forties and a grandchild in her 20s.  Where has the time gone?  

When we travel in the RV the parks we stay in are filled with vehicles from all over the country!  It's fun to check out the license plates and see where people are from.  When we go shopping we are always on the lookout for Nevada plates.  When we travel our mindset is we aren't home, right?   Herein lies the "duh" moment.  Yesterday at the commissary (never go the few days before a holiday that involves massive amounts of food) Roger saw a car backing out and noted it was a Nevada plate.  I mentioned that there sure were a lot of them in the parking lot........    Where are we?   Las Vegas.  Duh.

Roger's been having an issue with his blood pressure for the last few months and, although, it is now stabilized, we have drastically reduced our salt intake.  What this means for me is that I'm having to learn to cook and not fall back on processed foods as I have been doing more and more over the years.  So, in my quest to become somewhat proficient in the kitchen and make sure we get enough protein, not too much salt or calories, enough fruits and vegetables and go easy on the tiny seeds found in multigrain stuff, I've had to resort to finding recipes and actually following them.  This is hard for me.  Tonight I made a new quinoa dish that called for pistachios, orange slices, and pomegranate seeds.  Sounded as if it would be good - and easy.  It worked for both criteria.  We've never had pomegranates before.  I've read wonderful things about the benefits of indulging in the fruit and that the little seeds are plump and juicy and will keep you healthy.  Well, they also have little seeds in the "seeds".....Duh, who would have thought?   Oh, well, Rog ate around the seeds. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the RV sites here are large and fairly private from the neighbors.  We like that - we aren't on display.   It also means none of the neighbors are visible to us so we can't see what is going on and who is doing crazy things.  It's a bit boring.  Roger sits out in his chair listening to his audio book, soaking up the sun and watches nothing.   This park is particularly dull.  The place is pretty full and has a mixture of motor homes and 5th wheels.   Most are of average size and affordability but there are a few of the very expensive ones.  There is one site that has a Prevost (the kind you see on TV that the stars and rich people have) and it has a trailer behind it almost the size of our RV that hauls their little car and motorcycles.  A few sites down from the Prevost is a pop-up pull-behind trailer.  An equal opportunity RV park!  Most of the folks that a we have seen are geezers like us, but there are a few active duty folks here with kids and the only time we hear any noise other than the airplanes and the speed demons down at the speedway is when the kids get home from school and ride their bikes around the circle we live in.  Our neighbor on the patio side has come over and visited with Roger and told him his life story as an Air Force pilot (he retired as a colonel so we really don't have much in common but he likes to talk non stop - Rog just sat there and politely listened. )  Now when Rog sees his feet coming down the stairs of his RV, he hurries into the house and hides!!  We see a few people walking their dogs and occasionally we glimpse someone taking their trash out, but other than that there seems to be little to no activity here.  We have been trying to figure out what these folks do all winter.  

Speaking of chairs - since we have been here Roger has had the seat of the two camping chairs we have give out on him as he was sitting in them - watching nothing.  Fortunately, there were no injuries in either incident.  The "recliners" are still packed in the back of the truck buried under some heavy stuff and won't come out until we reach Santee.  So, today our entertainment was going to Wal-Mart and buying two new chairs for outside.  

Tomorrow afternoon we're going to a dessert pot luck at the park clubhouse.   We figure we will get all our dessert tasting and calories tomorrow afternoon instead of Thursday.  Heck, what's a few calories!  Our Thanksgiving plans are the usual - just the two of us enjoying vegetable pasties (a Cornish dish usually made with pork and beef but vegetarian in our case) and a pumpkin pie.  Let's hope my little toaster oven is up to the task! 

Well, let's see. . . .  guess that's all I can come up with tonight.  

A Day of Chores

That's all we did today - as we planned. Couldn't find any excuses to talk ourselves out of cleaning house and doing laundry.  Hopefully we'll come up with something to do that's more exciting for tomorrow. 

My Camera is Like My Brain

I brought my good camera with me that has a view finder since I have trouble seeing what I'm taking pictures of using those screens on the new ones and on my phone.  When I got it out yesterday to check the batteries before we left for our hike, I discovered it had no memory card in it.  I put the one from my little point and shoot in it and all I got was a message "Unable to Read Memory Card"   Hmmm.   So, yesterday I used the small camera and my phone for those pictures we took.  Today we went to the base exchange and bought a 16GB memory card (the smallest I could find).  Figured that ought to cover me for a long time!  Well, I put it in and got that same message.  I tried everything - reformatting, cursing, and getting my  neck muscles all in a knot trying to figure out what to do.   I gave up and put it back in it's package.  After a half-hour walk with Maggie to decompress I started doing some "Google" searching for the camera model and compatible discs.  Well, it seems that my camera is old enough (like my brain) that it will only hold so much memory, and it will only work with a 2GB memory card.  I was feeling a kinship with it after I found that out - just so much data one can expect to retain in one's old age - be it camera or brain!!  

About the same time as I was wrestling with that problem I tried to help Roger by  deleting stuff from his old iPod.  It's old enough that it hasn't been able to upgrade the operating system for the last four times an update has been available.  His battery life is dwindling faster all the time  (I mean the iPod's) and I thought, being fairly proficient with Apple products, I could remove apps, do some cleaning up of the memory and help him get more battery life.  He only wants to use it to listen to his audiobooks and music, so I went crazy deleting everything in sight!  It wanted to upgrade his Audible app, so I did.  He came in from working on replacing the door handle and turned the iPod on - oops.  No Audible.  Just kept crashing.   That's about the time I took the walk.  While I was gone, he took the app off the iPod and reloaded it through the iTunes store.  It works now, thank goodness!  So much for knowing what I am doing. 

As much as I walk most days, I was so surprised today to wake up with sore calf muscles from the hike in the deep sand yesterday!  Wow, it was more of a workout than I thought.  Roger says he felt some discomfort, too.  Maggie was a bit lazier today than usual so we must have tired her out as well.  I had to dump more red sand out of my shoes this morning for our walk.  Not sure where it had been hiding as I dumped a ton before we headed home.  I made the mistake of wearing a pair of hikers yesterday that have a mesh top (my feet get hot).  Yeah, well, that didn't work all that well in deep fine, silty, sand.  

We are about five miles down the road from the Las Vegas Speedway.  It's  huge and apparently one of the major NASCAR tracks in the country.   Well, last night and today it was quite obvious it was open for business.  Those cars racing around and around and around that track are almost as noisy as the airplanes from the base (which we expect living on an Air Force base). 

Tomorrow we will be here one week.  It has gone pretty fast.  We will celebrate by dusting, vacuuming and doing laundry!  It is supposed to be cooler and very windy, so it will be a good day to stay at home and get it done.  

Maggie the Mountain Goat

We took a drive out to the Valley of Fire State Park  today for a picnic and a hike.  It's about an hour northeast from where we are staying.  Miss Maggie thought she could climb the rocks like a mountain goat.  She certainly did have a good time on our hike.

The scenery was phenomenal and we ate lunch in a picnic area surrounded by red sandstone mountains.  At the Atlatl Rock area there were petroglyphs we could view at the top of a very long staircase built to reach them.  We then drove further into the park, stopping at the visitor center, and then further to Mouse Trap Canyon for a hike.  It was a bit like hiking in sand dunes on the beach only redder!  It wasn't a long trail - about 3/4 of a mile round trip -  but it was a workout because of the soft sand in the the canyon.  I've chosen a few of the many pictures we took to upload to the journal to share with you.  I'm hoping to put the rest in a "cloud" somewhere so that if you want to see them you can.  I'll let you know the website when/if I get it set up.  Roger took some really incredible shots (as usual) and I did get a few good ones as well.   The weather was perfect for hiking in the desert - sunshine and mid 60s.  We had a fun day!

Atlatl Rock with stairs leading to rock art

Prehistoric rock art

Can't describe the beauty.

  

Do you think maybe they get
wind here?  This is the Ranger's office
roof being held down by the chains.  

Plants pop up at the barest  places.

Rog getting ready to capture the petroglyphs
high up on the wall.  You can see them if you look closely.

Rawhide!!!  Where are the beeves?  

Back lighting for effect.

Off into the wilds of the desert!

Canyon walls.

A lone prehistoric warrior.