Up Close and Personal at the Zoo

Today was our behind-the-scenes San Diego Zoo tour that started at the flamingo pool. It was a great experience and we will, hopefully, get to do it every year, bit schedule at different times during the day as the itinerary changes with the time of the tour.  It is a bit pricey but well worth it.  We took the noon tour today and got to feed giraffes, okapis, and tried to feed the hippos - they weren't very at accommodating - but at least we got an up close and personal look!   

Between us we took 135 photos.  Don't panic, I'm  only uploading a few for this entry!!

We met our guide/educator, Brooke, at noon and as it turned out we were the only ones signed up for that tour. It was a scheduled  for two hours, but because we were the only ones on it and our tour guide didn't have another tour after us, we ended up getting an extra half hour of her time.  Brooke kept telling us we needed to go buy a lottery ticket as we lucked out with the size of the tour and with some of the animal sightings!  

The day was clear but cool - high 60s.  Roger wore a short sleeved t-shirt as it was much warmer in Santee before we left!  Once we got to San Diego, though, the temps dropped to an "uncomfortable" level  when in the shade so he ended up buying a long sleeved shirt and now has one with a gorilla on the back!!   

We were able to go to the front of the panda line and view them from a special area while we talked with the panda "guru." There are two pandas - mom and her cub.  It's the first time we have visited that exhibit because there is always such a long line and the bears are usually asleep.  Today the 18-month old cub was wide awake and entertaining everyone.   Did you know that panda poo is pure bamboo and that the zoo collects it and makes paper which you can buy?  Another tidbit of panda info: all the pandas in the world's zoos are on loan from China.  The first pair that was given to President Nixon back in the 70s were the only ones that the U.S. ever owned but their offspring belonged to China.  Apparently they rotate pandas to help with the breeding program as pandas don't procreate well in zoos.  

The hippos were fast asleep when we arrived and so we went behind the exhibit to their "bedrooms" and the keeper's area. No amount of coaxing or lettuce would get them to budge for us. Then, all of a sudden, the female decided to get up, but she went out into the pool instead of coming our way.  Brooke was able to get up on a walkway over the pool and toss the head of lettuce to her with allowed us to get pictures of that big mouth waiting for a treat.  

There was a newborn (six weeks old) giraffe who still has no name and is being referred to as "Baby."  She is so cute!  She doesn't get solid food yet, so we didn't get to feed her, but her aunts were all hungry for a treat and went through a head of romaine pretty quickly!   They are so fun to watch up close but we were warned not to get too close to the fence.  Their tongues are amazingly long and can reach a long way! I had a hat on with a purple flower on the side and Brooke thought it best I stay away from the fence or my hat might be mistaken for some sort of snack.  A tidbit of info: they only have seven giant sized vertebrae in their neck - the same number as humans have. 

Okapi's are from the giraffe family and have the same head structure as well as an extremely long purple/black tongue! They slobber a lot, too, when they are eating.  They seemed so gentle and we were allowed to pet them as well as feed them.

Obviously we couldn't feed the lions, grizzly bears, and elephants but we did get a good view of them and Roger captured some good photos (sorry about the fence, but we liked having it there!).

It was a very fun day!!

A Quiet Saturday Afternoon

Rog and Maggie are napping and I'm working on getting over a major pout.  Maybe that's why they decided it was a good time to zone out!!!  I tried "drowning my sorrows" with chocolate but that kept me from snoozing, too.  

My pout:  that sweater I've been working on since October is finally finished! Yay! It is much too small!  Bummer!  The front has a section on it where the pattern is all weird and very noticeable. Double Bummer! Looks like an evening of unraveling and making some nice balls of yarn while I watch TV tonight. Hopefully I'll think of something I can actually make with the pretty yarn.  I will occupy myself with starting on next year's Christmas presents and you can be sure no one will be getting a sweater!!

Since I started knitting about seven years ago I have yet to make any piece of wearable clothing for myself that worked. Roger got a sweater and a vest that he wears (but not so much in public), but I just can't seem to get the hang of making something for myself.  I use the pattern for size large, but I think both my crochet and knitting stitches are too tight.  I know my crochet work is tighter than anyone else's that I know, but thought the knitting was OK.  Apparently not.  So, I'm in pout mode today.

I did finish the hemming of the sunshade curtains for the "patio," though, and they look pretty good despite all the assistance from my little helper!!!  

I've been busy this week loading an update to my Family Tree software and transferring files.  The WIFI here is slow enough that I thought if I did it mid-afternoon on a weekday I might get a reasonable download speed.  Not exactly.  The file was big enough that I went over my bandwidth limit and ended up with dial up speed.  It took over an hour to download the update! But, that is done, the database is transferred and I found a new relative while trolling the Ancestry site!  Progress.  

The weather has continued to be awesome for us.  We are so used to it being rainy and/or foggy here in January but because of the drought we have had no moisture since the 19th of December and the temps have been above normal.   That's not good for the ecosystem even though we are enjoying it.  No rain is in the immediate forecast either. It is getting pretty critical in southern California.  Warm Santa Ana winds and dry vegetation make for an awful possibility of wildfire and water is becoming rationed in some areas, so I guess we won't complain if and when it does rain. 

The coyotes have been very quiet the last few nights and Maggie is sleeping with her head out from under her afghan at night.  Two nights now of uninterrupted sleep.  We feel weird.  

We had our weekly Friday lunch out at a Vietnamese Pho restaurant.  Great vegetable soup!!  The price is right fiscally as well as calorically!!  We then followed it with a frozen yogurt treat so I guess we ended up indulging anyway!!  


Spanish lessons are going slowly!! It's hard!! 

Next week we celebrate our 46th anniversary!!  Wow!  Just trying to wrap our minds around that one.  We can't possibly be that old, can we????

We are going to the San Diego Zoo one day next week and hope to take a "backstage" tour as our anniversary treat.  The neighbors will check on Maggs and take her out for us so we don't have to worry about staying too long. I hope we will be able to bring home some excellent photos to share.  In the meantime, you will have to do with dog and bird pics which I'm sure you are starting to dread (at least tire of)!! 

Male Wood Duck

Here's a few from our walks this week:

Osprey

  

Immature Black Crowned Night Heron

Doggie Tales

I've had a request - more stories and pictures of Maggie.  I am happy to be able to supply both!  

Maggie and the Boogey-dogs (aka coyotes).   

Last night, well this morning at 4:30am or so, the wild critters decided to come closer than we have heard them in the past.  At least it sounded that way to Maggie and to us.  The howling  was was loud and sounded as if the whole pack (there are 5) was parked in our new patio area. Maggie was on full alert - she woke Roger up (not me for a change) and paced and paced. Roger finally got up with her and sat with her in his lap for over half an hour while she shivered in her boots but had her ears up listening.  She finally calmed down and Rog got to come back to bed.  Maggie climbed in hers and buried her head under her afghan.  "If I can't see the boogey-dogs, they can't see me."   Hopefully it will be a quieter night tonight.

The Bridge Not Taken. 

  

It's a holiday weekend and the place is packed.  We would guess that week days the park is about 80% filled.  On a normal weekend, maybe 95%.  On long holiday weekends they do a whopping business at about 99 to 100% occupancy.  What it means to us is that the place is filled with kids on bikes, skates, roller blades, scooters, etc., running and screaming everywhere and wanting to pet the dog.  In addition the dog population increases exponentially making our usual route a bit stressful.   Our normal walk down to the office is through the campgrounds on the east side of three of the seven the lakes.  Roger likes to look at the RVs and we enjoy people watching as we make our way through the campgrounds.  On Saturdays we forego our long walk to avoid the increase in population and to take a break from our routine.  Yesterday and today we took an alternate route along the west side of the lake where there are no camp sites and we only meet walkers and some dogs.  We have to cross a metal bridge on this route and Maggie has decided she won't walk on it.  She sits down; I tug; she shrugs out of her harness; and she just refuses to move.   So, Roger has to carry her over the bridge.  It's crazy, but if we don't go that way we add quite a bit to the walk.  She is one willful, and spoiled, dog!

This alternate route along the back side of the lakes is along a dirt "road" with little vegetation and shade.  Today's view was of three different kinds of egrets all lined up along the lake looking for breakfast. There were about ten of them along the water's edge paying no heed to passers by - including Maggie. 

This route seems longer than our normal, although I can't see how it could be.  We all get more tired as we get closer to "home."  Maggie will find some cool grass and just plop her little self down with her back legs splayed like frogs' legs. When she is cooled off she hops up and moves on, but sometimes getting her up and moving again is a challenge. This morning I enjoyed the rest break, too! 

We have two propane tanks that supply our fuel for heat and cooking.  They are quite heavy when empty and very heavy when full.  Roger has to take them out of their compartments, lift the empty into the back of the truck, go get the tank filled, then reverse the process.  Lately he suffers with back strain afterward.  Cold nights determine how fast we go through a tank, but we probably fill one every 10 days or so.  We have discovered that a propane vendor fills tanks on site on Mondays - all you have to do is sign up at the office.  It's a few dollars more, but worth it!  Well, today we needed a refill so Roger left the door to the compartment open, taped payment inside, and we went off to the grocery store.  The guy came while we were gone, filled the tank, closed the door, and put our change in our door latch.  Now, what does this have to do with Maggie?  Well, recently I mentioned that she was getting very good about being left alone - no signs of separation anxiety?  Well, apparently she doesn't like someone messing around her house when no one is home.  We came home to find the dining room table (near the door where they guy put our change) was cleared off (placemats, salt/pepper/napkins/lamp).  Then we noticed that the hallway window, also overlooking the front door area, had the window blinds all crooked, but fortunately not broken.  Not sure what to do to prevent that kind of behavior as I am sure she was just protecting her house.  

The Maggster asking to play
her favorite game!

Had enough Maggie for the day?  I have, so will close for now and hope something happens in the next few days to write about!  Stay tuned.

 

Free Advice

🔥Don't put eggs in a pan of water and then go outside and knit or do anything for who knows how long!!   The water will boil out, the eggs will burst, the pan will burn and the house will reek.  I was lucky I had to come inside to use the bathroom or we might not have had a place to sleep tonight!  Scary!!!  

Working on Projects This Last Week

Here are the photos from the Animal Park trip I promised.  I'm a bit late getting them posted but haven't had anything worthwhile to write about so had forgotten to upload them from Steph's text message to post them.  We are quite the group, no?  

This has been a busy week although we haven't done any tourist stuff or gone anywhere exciting.  We got the new satellite dish settled in and working only to discover we had forgotten that we don't watch TV at home as it is aired, but we record our programs so we can zap through the commercials and watch them later in the evening while something else is recording.  Oh dear, the new receiver didn't have recording capabilities.   We watched TV for two nights and went crazy! How much time is wasted every evening sitting and waiting through muted commercials? Way too much!!! Rog found a solution - for a one time fee to Dish and an attached hard drive we could record our shows.  Yay!  But, 1) added expense, and 2) you can't watch anything else while it is recording! Oh, well, such is life. Better than commercials or no TV and worth the effort and expense to come close to a good viewing experience.  It took a couple of hours of Roger's time and effort to get everything set up once we found the external hard drive that would work with the system.  Now we have to plan our evenings around recording and watching.  I can tell it won't be long before we have more to watch than time available when we are not recording.

Our biggest project this week was making a "patio" with shade. Our site is wide open and has direct sun on the door side all day. This is good when it is cold because it warms up the RV - no so much when it is above 75 when it heats up the RV!  We like to sit outside for lunch and Roger sits outside as much as he can and listens to his audio books or just putters around.  I have to cover up to sit in the sun and then it's too hot, so I find myself inside a lot.  (Although it does give us space and time away from each other!!) To find shade we had to go sit under the overhang in the front of the RV or over on the sewer side.  Neither spot is optimal as one site allows for bonking of the head if you forget you are under there, and, the other is a view that isn't very pleasant all the while intruding on our next door neighbor's space.

So,  we opted for a portable canopy for shade and an additional rug to enlarge our footprint.  As you can see, this still left us with afternoon sun since it is low in the sky this time of year and with limited shade.  The table was shaded at lunch time, but by late afternoon no shade under the canopy. 

Yesterday we went to Home Depot and bought some sun screening that they use in plant nurseries.  We bought a roll and I made curtains for the two most sunny sides of the canopy!  It's been so nice having a place to sit when we come back from our walk and to sit at the picnic table for lunches!! As the days get longer maybe we will be able to have dinner out there, too.  I don't feel so out in the open when I sit out there now and have some feeling of privacy.  I'm a lot more comfortable.   This just might work out!!!

We think we have the credit card issue squared away and Target has given us a year of free credit reports and fraud protection through Experian.  I think we will be luckier than most who got caught up in the debacle.    

We had a recall on the truck and that turned out to be a non problem but used up most of an afternoon.  Our recalled part didn't need to be replaced so we lucked out there. 

I've been saving my allowance since the new iPhones came out in Sept.  I soooo wanted one!   I finally found a vendor who had a 32GB gold one in stock!!! I've been having fun playing with it. iPhone to iPhone made for a very smooth transition and I am having a blast with Siri!!!  Now I need to sell my old one and recoup some of the cost.  

We are spending a bit of time outside with the other Maggie and her people (the shrine people).  He is an inspiration.  Wounded in Vietnam at 20 - only survivor in a mortar attack. He's 65 now. Spinal cord injury and lots of his insides are missing.  He's had cancers related to Agent Orange and is in pretty poor shape with infections all the time because he has no spleen.  He whips around in his wheel chair and is outgoing, sociable, and just enjoys every day.  He talks of their plans for traveling in the next five years and is so upbeat. It makes us and our everyday whining about our ache "de jour" seem pitiful!  I'm not sure I would have his attitude with his issues.  In addition, she is incredible as well and seems to just go with the flow.  They make one re-evaluate a lot of things!! 

We enjoy your comments and are glad to get them - it means someone is still checking up on us even though the postings have been so far apart.   Thanks for keeping tabs on us.  

We've had some minor adventures the last few days.

Rog has a new toy!  The ads said "on sale, easy set up, portable, pay as you go," etc., and after thinking about it for a month (or more) Roger finally decided to buy himself a "tailgater" satellite dish.  The RV is wired for cable/satellite so what could be difficult?  Our cable signal is really poor here at the park (and always has been anywhere we've been) and the over-the-air antenna channels are limited and mostly Spanish speaking so that helped in the decision making process.  The equipment arrived two days ago and as of this afternoon is working and working well!!!  The day it arrived we opened a Dish account, plugged in the receiver and the dish per the instructions, turned on the receiver and.......nothing.  Well, that's not entirely true - there was a large, in your face message that said the antenna couldn't find the satellites (odd since there is nothing but clear sky in all directions.)  So, Roger went out and moved that cute little thing around - 3 times.  Still, nothing.  He then climbed up on the roof and set it up there.  Still nothing.  I got on the computer and did a "live chat" with the tech service folks.  After an hour of trying all kinds of things we were instructed to do, the tech mentioned that the receiver box has to be plugged directly into the antenna dish - it can't go through the cable system in the RV. After much thinking, Rog came to the conclusion that because the electrical power for the dish antenna comes "up" on the coax cable from the receiver box, and that the coach's cabling system has a small amplifier in it, the satellite signal would never reach the TV. Nice! We walked around the park and checked out others.  Sure enough, they had their dish on top of the RV with the cable running in through a window.  Tacky!!! 

The first night that is what we did - cable coming in the window, across the desk area to the receiver.  Worked quite well!  Not a solution, though.  After lying awake for hours trying to figure this out, Roger decided that the cable in the RV just had a loose connection somewhere and if he could find it and tighten it then find a way to bypass the amplifier, voila!!  He spent most of the afternoon yesterday searching for all the connections, tightening the ones he found, and still we got no signal. There are probably more connections that are unreachable but he would have to dismantle a lot of the RV and hope he could follow the line. Those connectors probably have been shaken loose while on the road.  At this point he decided, reluctantly, that he was going to have to drill a hole in the side of his new RV and install a "through-the-wall" coax connecter avoiding all of the integral cable in the coach - an easier solution than trying to follow all the wiring, tighten connections, and then find a way to bypass the amplifier.

Of course all of his drill bits are in Sparks and the batteries for the drill are dead.  A trip to Lowe's and the Home Depot for the right sized drill bits, some battery charging time and this afternoon he braved it!  The whole system now works like it is supposed to!! We are in business!  We only pay for service the months we are traveling and it's about half the cost of what we pay at home for Direct TV.  Despite my original lack of enthusiasm for the purchase I am happy that he bought it and he is happy because he won't have to listen to me whine because I'm missing Masterpiece or Rachel Maddow or NCIS and he can get his sports, science and movie channels!!!  Once again, Mr. Fix-it saves the day!!! 

Our other adventure this week was discovering we were one of the Target hacker's victims.  We got a call late Monday night from our credit union fraud folks.  Someone in Georgia was using our number.  Fortunately the system caught it right away and we only have one $75 charge to dispute.  We got the new cards via FedEx yesterday and I have been updating all my "auto pay" accounts.  It's been a minor inconvenience and certainly could have been worse if not for the security system checks the credit union has.  The lady told me that the $75 charge was suspicious because we had charged something in Santee, CA at an RV parts place and an hour later someone was using that number in Georgia at a Kroger store!  We should be all set now as we only used that one card at Target.

The back of the RV faces directly into the sun most of the day and when it is warm the RV heats up significantly, e.g., it's 72 outside but 85 inside during the early afternoon.  This week we had a custom-made sunscreen put on the back window - one of those that reflects the rays, that you can see out of but not into, and helps keep the temps down inside.  It has helped a great deal already and by the end of the week, when it is supposed to be in the 80s, we hope that it will help limit the amount of air conditioner time we have to have.  

Some familiar faces have reappeared here in January.  We've spotted Zinc Man out riding his bike and The Twins walk daily. They are a couple who appear to be older than we are who look like Mutt and Jeff in size but they wear identical clothing - hats, coats, pants, shoes, etc.  We've seen them now for a few years.  The Yahoos behind us, the Danish couple, the Shoe People, and the Shrine People are all still here in their respective sites.  

We get rabbits, raccoons and coyotes at night.  The rabbits and raccoons leave us little presents and the coyotes leave fur balls and feathers.   Maggie has decided that the droppings are good to eat!  She went out yesterday and it was like watching a vacuum cleaner - she just Hoovered up a bunch of droppings before we could stop her.  Her other favorite thing when outside is to crunch the acorns from the tree behind us.  Well, she and I paid for her indiscretions at 4:30 this morning.  She decided to bring them up and deposit the remains on the throw rug at the end of the bed!  She was feeling pretty bad so she and I cuddled on the coach until she stopped shaking and fell asleep again. Roger awoke and sent us both back to our respective beds! 

I've got the back, front and one sleeve of my sweater completed.  One more sleeve and then I can put it together and hope it fits!  The last two books I checked out of the library are going back - one I've read (or seen a movie) and the other was just plain boring.  Life is too short to waste reading boring books!!   

I've been matched with a player on "Words With Friends" who is supposedly my speed and we have been playing this week.  It's sort of weird playing a game with someone you don't know.  At the same time I continue two games at one time with Rachel!!! Between the knitting and Words I keep busy during the commercials in the evening!!

I've downloaded an app called Duolingo - a free app to learn a language.  I'm trying Spanish.  It's been two weeks and I am still on the basics, of course, but the lessons are not quite as boring as when I took a class years ago.  The app lets me go back and "practice weak skills," so I've been going over and over the same thing but lose fewer points each time.  Maybe someday I'll be able to get past Lesson 2!  The app does nag me when I don't practice so I can't forget to do it.

No excitement anticipated in the near future so I don't know if  I'll have anything to journal, but who knows!!   Stay tuned.   

What a Perfect Day!

The weather was great (mid 70s and sunshine) and we spent yesterday with our granddaughter, Stephanie and her boyfriend, Pierce.  It couldn't have been nicer - well, except for my pinky toes working up blisters from being rubbed by my new walking shoes, but that was the only glitch in the day.  Roger and I just enjoyed hanging out with them.

We met the kids at the San Diego Safari Zoo Park (formerly known as The Wild Animal Park) for an outing.   They drove over from Long Beach and we met them at the Park. Today is Pierce's birthday so we treated the kids to a day at the zoo and ourselves a day with the kids. (Are they kids when they turn 21?  Heck yeah, they'll always be to us!)   Roger packed a great picnic lunch for us, we had some special cupcakes (from the store near the library) to celebrate the birthday, and just had fun being together.  They brought us our Christmas presents - a tea mug for me and hat for Roger from Steph's school (Cal State - Long Beach) and we gave them our old toaster oven.  Pretty fair trade, wouldn't you say?

Stephanie actually touched a goat in the little kids' petting zoo - she is not fond of "critters." Pierce and Roger were talked into going into the bat exhibit! (Pop will do most anything for his girl!)  We rode the tram around the park then went to see the lions and elephants before Roger and I had to leave. We had to get back home to let Maggie out. Steph and Pierce stayed another couple hours and explored further before they headed back home.  I think a good time was had by all! 

We got home to a dog who needed to get out and was happy to see us after 5 hours!  That's the longest we've left her in the RV.  No damage, though.  I think she is finally over her separation anxiety when we leave because she has her beds and toys and smells here.  Thank Goodness!!  

I'm waiting on photos from Steph to include here but will go ahead and post without them.  When she sends hers I'll do another entry.  I think there is a good one of the four of us in her batch.  We enlisted the help of a stranger to make it happen so haven't a clue as to how they turned out.   

Nothing else to say - it was a super time.

Wrong end of the goat, Pierce!

Just hanging out with the bats. 

The Flamingo Lagoon

The African Savannah