New Furniture

  Since we bought this RV three years ago we have had issues with the recliners in the living room.  We don't like the fabric, for one thing, and they really aren't all that comfy.  They need to be pulled out into the living room space to function as recliner/rockers and that leaves lots of wasted space behind them.  Every night we have to slide one back into that space so the heater register isn't covered.  We have tried a variety of tables and lamps to go between them, and again, unless the chairs are pulled way out, tables don't fit and we are always knocking them over.  We have researched new smaller chairs and sofas but size and cost issues have to be surmounted - mostly cost.  You can see in this picture taken earlier in the season, how far out in front of the desk area my chair has to come and how much space is behind it.  That box has my yarn and it's convenient there, but it's still pretty much wasted space behind the chairs.  

  While Maggie and I were out for a quick spin around the top half of the park this morning (Saturday is our day off from our long walks), we spotted a sofa with a "for sale" sign sitting outside a high-end motor home.  It's leather and a good color  and was very reasonable in price.  I went home and got Roger to get out his trusty measuring tool and we went back to check it out.  We knew it would fit length-wise, but the depth is an issue as the sliders have to come in front of it when on the road.  Rog measured 33 and 3/8 inches of available space.  The sofa he measured at 33 inches.  Oooh, so close.  We talked with the woman who was selling it and it's a good brand, good leather, etc.  They are taking it out to put in a desk and chair so they can run their business from the RV and go full-time.  Anyway, we said we would be back after re-measuring our space.  

  We took a lunch break, discussed it, and our only real drawback was what to do with the recliners - could we get them out  the small doorway?  How would we lift them as they are heavy, and how the heck would we get the sofa moved to our site (the bed of the truck has the hitch in it) and in the RV?  We decided that the pros (more space, another seat, and another sleeping area for grandkids) won out over the work involved to make it happen, so we pooled our cash on hand, came up with the asking price,  and headed back over to talk some more with the sellers.  

  First, though, we had to get the chairs out.  They are much too heavy even for the two of us to lift.  Roger had this brilliant idea - we turned them on their sides, slid them to the door, angled them out, and let gravity do it's thing with Rog guiding them down the stairs!  They are now residing temporarily under the canopy on our patio.  Now, the real challenge - getting the sofa to our site and then getting it in the door.  Well, did we luck out.  The thing came apart into three parts, the guy selling it helped Roger load the main frame on the back of the truck and then helped him carry it inside.  Yay!  



  Then Rog got to put it together again with a little help from his friend who kept kissing his ear!   

The place looks larger now - we have an extra two feet of space in the living area, I can pull out the desk chair without hitting a chair, and, when you only have 342 square feet of living space, every inch counts!

We tried pulling in the slider with the sofa where it is.  There was not the 3/8 of an inch to spare as we anticipated.  At first the sofa stopped the slider. I panicked. What now?  We can't take it back and how will be get those chairs back in and sell the sofa?   Rog calmed me down and we pushed it harder up against the wall, removed the cushions, slid the sofa all the way to the right side and then the slider came in.  It rubs against it, but it comes in.  Whew!  So, when we move the RV there will still be a little bit of reconfiguring, but it won't be nearly as much effort as in the past.  We just squeaked by on that one - our lucky day.   

  As always when we decide to change something, get a bargain, etc., it is never the end of it. There's always more and it always costs money!  Now we will be on the hunt for a couple of small footstools (which we will have to find somewhere to put when we close up for travel), but we think this just might be a better configuration that what we had.  Right now I'm feeling it isn't quite so cozy, but I'll get used to it.  Roger is going to build a couple of VERY small (8-10 inch wide) tables to go on the sides when we get home that will hold our drinks and what have you.  It's a bit of a change for us and that's always a challenge as we are so set in our ways!  

  The couple we bought the sofa from is from Michigan so, of course, we struck up a conversation based on that.  They are here visiting their daughter who is married to a Marine helicopter pilot.  Somehow the conversation got on to genealogy and it turns out she is a member of the DAR and has volunteered to help me figure out what I need to get for documentation.  One of Roger's ancestors is a Revolutionary War patriot (as they call them) and I think there are two on my side of the family - one from each parent's line.  So, next week she's going to sit down with me and my laptop and look at what I've got and what I need.  It's kind of exciting and will get me focused again on the work I keep putting off doing. 

I have been working on a rug for the bathroom.  The floor area in there is a weird shape.  We have looked for rugs in the store and because of the shape and size we haven't found anything that fits.  We have two small rugs that I crocheted for the last RV and that are falling apart.  I got some cotton yarn of a variegated color that I hope won't show the dirt like the old white ones, and now am on my 5th attempt at a rug.  Wrong size, wrong shape, couldn't follow the patterns I found, all this leading to frustration, but I have decided I'm going to win this battle. It's hexagonal and I'll let you know when it's done :-)    

After our Tuesday trip to San Diego for lunch we haven't done a whole lot this week.  We've been out for ice cream once, to the library, done laundry, and been to the base for a haircut for me and some groceries.  Not a whole lot of activity but it keeps us occupied.  Our brother-in-law had back surgery late last week and is recovering this week in a medical rehab place so we've been on the phone a lot keeping up with him. He's hoping to go home on Monday. There's good news on the loved one in Reno - no chemo!!  Rog's back is behaving for the most part and Maggie and I are doing great!  Weather forecast for the next ten days is outstanding, so we are looking forward to some nice warm days after a cool and rainy week. 

So, why do they call these guys Ring Necked Ducks?
The ring is around the bill.  So confusing.
They are beautiful and we probably have a hundred here
this year.  In the past we've only seen one or two.  

A Beautiful Day for Lunch Downtown

The view from our table.

Another view of the Bay

As I mentioned Sunday, today is our anniversary.  We decided to go downtown San Diego to a touristy area called Seaport Village for a nice lunch out.  We ate in a nice seafood place overlooking the bay and then wandered around the Village.  We watched people, which is always fun.  There was a Princess cruise ship docked so  there were lots of cruisers wandering the shops to keep us entertained. We enjoyed the beautiful day along the waterfront and stopped for a gourmet cupcake for dessert before heading back home.  

Our neighbor, Eileen took Maggie out for a walk and then sat with her on our "patio" and read a book while the two Maggies dozed in the sun.  So, everyone got a treat today!  Eileen just loves the Maggster and always says she enjoys playing with her so she had fun, too. 

All in all, a very nice day!

Bird of Paradise

Taking a bath in the  pond

The flag store was quite colorful

A Mouse in the House and Other Maggie Tales

One evening earlier this week while we were watching TV Roger spotted a "critter" scurrying across the floor into the kitchen area.   He was sure it was a gigantic spider and being a bit of an arachnaphobe it really freaked him out.  We searched and searched but didn't find anything.   An hour or so later he saw it again, only this time it was near my chair.  We turned the chair over; we checked all the corners; we got out the flashlight and looked everywhere,  but found nothing.  I had not seen anything but we figured that the "critter" was traveling in the air ducts and going in and out of the registers on the floor.  Roger went out to the Walgreens and bought a can of Raid.  When he returned he took off all the registers and I vaccumed them out (wow, was there a lot of dirt and dog hair), afterwhich, we liberally sprayed the Raid into the ducts.  Satisfied that he had chased it away, Roger was able to get to sleep - which we thought would not be a happening thing.

Wednesday night Maggie was sprawled out in the middle of the living room floor when all of a sudden she jumped up and went running into the kitchen.  She had her nose in one corner where the kitchen slideout meets the wall.  She would not leave it alone.  Roger, being the brave soul that he is and still thinking it was a spider from another world, went outside and crawled under the slide out with his flashlight.  There was a little field mouse about an inch long sitting on one of the cross beams under there just looking at him. Roger was quite OK with that - it wasn't a spider!   In the meantime, Maggie is checking every corner and crevice in the place.  She didn't relax the whole evening and it was tough getting her to bed that night.  

The next day we went to Lowe's and got some rodent repellant which we placed outside on the underside of the RV near the slider openings for the kitchen and living room.  That smell drove Maggie wild for a while, but then she decided that she heard something in the cold air return ductwork.  The registers are in the risers of the stairs leading to the bedroom.  She spent the evening on alert with her nose in the register and she would not move.   Friday morning, Roger took off the registers and cleaned out those areas and let Maggie stick her head in the ducts to check things out.  Tonight is the first evening she has not stationed herself in front of the stairs on high alert.  She is currently sprawled out on her back in her day bed on the couch. 

But, during the daylight hours when we are sitting outside (the weather has been phenomenal this week and in the 80s during the day) she has decided that she needs to check out the area around the tires under the tire covers.  She "worries" over it whenever she is out there and Rog had to take the covers off to show her that there was nothing under there before she tore them up.  He hoped there was nothing there and was very cautious taking them off.  

Our little terrier is doing her job - watching for rodents!!!  

Maggie has a treat ball - its a rubber thing that we put treats in the shape of a disc inside for her to work on.  It is supposed to keep her entertained for hours but she usually manages to get the treat out in about an hour.  Her latest  thing is to bring me the empty treat ball and look sad until I fill it again.  We can't keep it filled - for one thing it's too expensive and for another she doesn't need the calories.  Yes, we have her on a restricted calorie intake and she has lost two pounds since we have been here. The vet will be very happy when she goes in for her check up in April.  She is looking slim and trim.  

We are supposed to have her leashed or tied up or penned when she is outside but we don't as a rule.  She stays right on our little patio area or sleeps under the RV - when she isn't hunting little mousies.   She doesn't go after people or dogs when they walk by and doesn't bother anyone.  Yesterday she spotted a cat crossing the street.  She tore after it and chased it down the road.  I grabbed the leash and started after her not knowing where she was going to end up.  She must have lost the cat because, as I got a ways down the road, I spotted her trotting home looking so proud of herself.

We (mostly Roger) are still the computer gurus for our neighbor and it's paying off in desserts.  First it was a slice of apple pie fresh out of the oven and today it was a baby bundt cake.  Wonder how long this will last?  It's a pretty good gig but I can see the weight gain coming!  

We have a storm coming in tomororrow and the low pressure arrived today giving me a headache for most of the day.  I had a nice nap this afternoon and woke up feeling better.  Tonight is my night for TV - Masterpiece - so it's a quiet time here this evening.  

On Tuesday we will have our 47th anniversary.   Talk about your time flying by.  It is so hard to believe it has been so long since we started hanging out together.  

We've  been here two months this week and have two to go before we head home.  I had such plans for getting geneology stuff done and crochet projects and books read.  I also planned on starting in on a family history.  I'd better get cracking because I am seriously behind!   I need a schedule!

I Wasn't Kidding About the Pig.

Maggie and I met Watson this morning.  He has his own dog- a 14 yr old Doxie- so he wasn't the least bothered by Maggie sniffing him.  At one point she got too close to his snout as he found a tasty treat on the ground and he let the Maggs know to steer clear of his food. Otherwise he was fine with her.  

Credit Cards, a pig, and a visit from family

It's been another rather mundane week.  

We are still working on getting the credit card issues straight.  We have one set of new credit union cards, another set is "in the mail" and we were able to find out the new account number so we could pay the bill.  I've got all the auto pays changed so I think we may be making some progress. Let's hope the other set of cards shows up in Tuesday's mail or we get to start all over.  We are certainly not looking forward to that.  

On our walk every day, Maggie and I encounter dogs of all shapes, sizes, breeds, and temperaments being walked by their person or persons.  We also encounter cats being walked on a leash, but a lot less frequently. There is a guy who walks with his parrot on his shoulder but we haven't seen him of late.  This week it was a pig.  Yep, a pig.  I'm told it is called a "teacup" pig.  It is maybe 25 pounds and about the height of Maggie and is definitely a pig.  We did have to do a double take when we saw it, for sure.  Not often we run into something other than cats and dogs.  Maggie never really got close enough to have any kind of reaction as she was busy with her nose to the ground following scents.  

Roger got to play with a new Samsung tablet the last couple of days.  Our neighbor bought one and asked for some help getting it ready for use .  Roger agreed and put on some apps that he wanted and got his email straightened out.  He uses his phone right now to play games and email but wanted something bigger.  Rog says he's glad he got the chance to play with it because it helped him realize he didn't really need/want one - too much "work" getting it ready.   He's recently bought himself a new camera that he is busy trying to learn.  Hopefully soon we will share some fantastic photos of something with you!    

Yesterday, late in the day,  Steph and Pierce came down from Long Beach to visit.  They stayed the night and then headed home after lunch today.  Pierce had to be at work this evening or I think they might have stayed longer.  We really enjoyed having them and catching up on their lives.  We managed a FaceTime with Roger's sister and her husband in Michigan which was fun.  They've not met Pierce and haven't seen Steph in three years.  It was a lot of laughs.  Mostly it seems so strange to talk and visit with your grandchildren who relate as adults.  They are super people and we share a lot of interests, believe it or not.  We caught up on family news from their Christmas trip to Reno and they shared with us their plans for the future.  Mostly it's to get Stephanie graduated (this coming May), spend a year getting her teaching certifications and student teaching, and then see where her job opportunities take them.  She is so dedicated and focused on what she wants to do and seems so grown up.  I know when I was 23, I had no ambition other than to survive being a new mother.  She's quite a kid!  

The coyotes have returned.  Up until now we haven't heard them, but last night it seemed as if there was a whole pack just outside the RV.  Maggie was on alert and the kids said they kept peeking outside to see if they could see them as they thought they were right under the window.  

Maybe next week will have something akin to an adventure and some photos.  Have no idea what yet, but maybe a trip down to Balboa Park for the day.  They are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Worlds Exposition that it was built for and are having some special events.  Stay tuned......

A Wacky Week

It's Sunday already.   Amazing.  Another "Downton Abbey" tonight.  The first day or so after an episode it seems like forever before the next one and now it's here!  It's a rainy day today after a week or two of  weather extremes.  Around the holidays it was cold and wet and we were into hats and coats for walking the dog.  Then last weekend it warmed up and we had three days in the 80s before the temps dropped again to what is normal winter weather here.  The big thing is that it is no longer freezing at night and our furnace isn't running constantly.   Southern California really needs this rain and last night and today it has been pretty steady but light.  Hopefully it won't cause any flooding in the burn areas and will soak in instead of running off.  The next week is supposed to be nice again and dry.  

It's been a wacky week just figuring stuff out.  We haven't done anything of note, really, but keeping up with the post office issues and the credit card debacle has been entertaining to say the least.  We got a box of mail on Tuesday - mail that our neighbor had pulled out of the postal box for us.  It was mostly solicitations for money, some Christmas cards, even one piece that had a forwarding sticker on it, but no credit cards.  We did get a terse email from someone in the Sparks post office that said they will be forwarding our email and that they were sorry for any inconvenience.  We haven't yet seen any forwarded mail since that note on Monday.  

The nice thing the box brought were the Christmas cards.  A few friends  I haven't heard from in ages sent cards, so I immediately wrote some emails to acknowlege the cards and catch them up on our life.  (Apparently they don't read the blog.  Bummer.)  In an exchange of emails I've now caught up with their lives and added a player to "Words With Friends."  It's been very nice hearing from them and I hope I can keep up a decent correspondence with them.  I've still got one more person to connect with to complete my end of things.

I did find patches for my flannel shirt!  Yay!  It's still in commission!  I couldn't bear the thought of losing it.  In the meantime I've discovered why my elbow went through one sleeve and not the other.  It's the way I sit when knitting or crocheting - with my right elbow balanced on the arm of the chair.  I'm going to have to start checking my other shirts for worn spots on the right sleeves.

After a hoop-jumping-for-security-reasons session with the credit union A  (the one that shipped the cards we never got), we've convinced them to send new cards directly to us.  In the meantime I still can't pay credit union B because I have no idea what the account number is.  Supposedly we should get new cards and that info this coming week.  I'm not holding my breath.  We are probably going to have to do what we did with credit union A and sign our lives away showing we are legit and they can send us the cards here - but that would mean canceling the ones in the mail and changing account numbers again.  I  have a feeling this saga will continue for a while.  

Stephanie and Pierce are coming to visit next weekend!  They will come Saturday after Steph gets off work, spend the night, and then go home on Sunday in time for Pierce to go to work.  We are very much looking forward to the visit.  They are quite enjoyable to be around.  

Another family member will be having major surgery this month and a loved one who had surgery last month now will start chemo.  We had all hoped she wouldn't have to but, unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case.  Roger's sciatica is easing up and he has been able to walk one loop around the top half of the park with me and Maggie.  I drop them off at the RV and then I go on for another lap.  Progress on that front is a good thing.  

We dog-sat last night for a couple of hours and that got kinda crazy.  First, just to confuse things, the dog's name is Maggie.  She is a puggle and is about 30 pounds to our Maggs' 20.  She is rambunctious and wants to play.  She's also vey vocal which we are not used to.  After they did their Tazmanian Devil routine running from one end of the RV to the other for about 10 minutes - Maggie chasing Maggs - they pretty much settled down.  At one point Maggs got up on the couch and just turned her back to Maggie probably thinking that if she ignoredher she would go away.  Poor Maggie, though, spent most of her time here sitting at the door looking for her owners. David and Eileen had a very long evening planned and didn't want to leave her in their RV for the entire time, so after we had her for a while, We took her out to pee, and then took her home.    She Was ready   to go - she did her business and then headed straight for her place.   We often talk about getting a second dog to keep Maggs company.  No, don't think that's gonna happen.  

Rog couldn't stand being cooped up any more today so he put on his raincoat over a sweater, got his iPod and is sitting outside under the shade canopy listening to his audio book and watching the rain!  I'm doing this and trying to come up with an idea for dinner wishing I had put something in the crock pot this morning.  

Our African/Asian Safari

With a cloudless sky and very warm temperatures (80s) today, we ventured to the African Savannah and the Asian Steppes deep inside the San Diego Zoo Safari Park outside of Escondido, California.  It was a lot of fun and well worth the cost.  

We climbed aboard our safari truck and settled in along with a family of three from Columbia, South America; a young man from Saudi Arabia with his girlfriend from the UK; a family of four from Alberta, Canada; and a family of four (Grandfather, dad, and kids) from Salt Lake City, Utah.  All the children were well behaved, fortunately, and I believe everyone had a good time. The young lady of about 10 from Utah hugged her grandfather at the end of the tour and told him thank you and how much she liked it. One doesn't see that often.  


 Our tour guides, Lee and Adam were very knowledgeable and friendly.  We drove around inside the exhibits of the giraffes, rhinos, deer, sheep, cape buffalo, and various and assorted other species.  We went from Africa to Asia and back again all in two hours.   We got up close and personal with the animals while in the confines of our truck.  The giraffes and rhinos were close enough to touch, but we were instructed several times that touching was a no-no.  We took over 50 photos today trying to get a good one and these are the ones we picked that we thought were the best of the lot.

We encountered these southern white rhinos first as we entered the African Savannah.  There was a herd of six females.  The male was being held in a pen because it was one of the lady rhino's first day here having just arrived from the Albuquerque Zoo.  The keeper who talked with us said she was adjusting quite well.

They really have the most
 beautiful eyelashes!

There are quite a few giraffes in the park but only a few approached the truck for food. We had to try several times in several spots to get the well behaved ones to come and feed.  We spent some time with Leroy - a ten month old who was quite pushy and didn't allow the others to get close.  Lee kept trying to shoo him away but in the end we had to go find another group for feeding and photo ops.  The
reaction of the kids on the tour ran the gamut from "Oh, gross" to "Wow, this is so fun!"  The long tongues and the slobber 
took them by surprise.

Rog was not happy about having giraffe drool all
over his arm!  She knew food was coming.  We had
to remove our hats for fear the giraffes would think
they were lunch!   

This Cape Buffalo was really enjoying his mud bath.  

This little Thompson's gazelle was born yesterday and already following mom all over the park.

This family of one horned rhinos from Asia was truly enjoying the beautiful day.









We had a good time and hated to leave but we had to get home to let our little brown dog out of the RV.  She was very happy to see us! 

We Went on a Quest Today

What would you guess the availabilty of a flannel shirt in Southern California in January would be?  

See a problem?  It never entered my mind it would be and we went off in search of one today.  

About 20 years ago (and 50 pounds heavier) I splurged and bought myself two flannel overshirts from Lands End.  I brought one with me and left the other at home.  Last week I put my right elbow through the sleeve.  Bummer.  Those of you that are women and who have reached a certain age realize that a shirt of that weight is important.  Sweatshirts, fleece and sweaters are too warm and long sleeved tees are not quite warm enough for the evenings.  A lightweight flannel shirt is the perfect answer - at least it has been for me over the years.  I can't wear them out in public as they are quite worn and way too big now,  but they are like security blankets in the cool evenings in the house or RV.  

I'm not really ready to spend the money at Lands End or LLBean right now, so thought I'd pick one up on a sale rack somewhere.   It seemed reasonable to me that stores carried them for Christmas gifts and by now they would be on clearance.  As most flannel shirts are plaid, I figured I'd end up with a plaid of some sort but that's OK because the ones I have are.  I found one at Sears - the ugliest pink/purple plaid (and I like pink and purple) with a flower pattern collar, button placket, and cuffs. It was painful to look at.   Then, I thought - men's wear - men wear flannel shirts in the winter.  That didn't work out either.  The only ones they had were red/black and fleece lined.  Nope.  

We treked to the other end of the mall to the Wal-Mart but that was a bust.  No stores in between the two carried anything like that - we are talking mall and young folks.  I'm looking for old lady clothes.  

I ended up back at Sears and did find a man's cordoroy shirt that was the right weight.  As I sit here and the RV is cooling off after a nice warm day, my shoulders and arms are happy.   Now, that I am thinking of it, though, maybe LLBean or Lands End is having a sale.  I'll quit now and check!  

I guess if push comes to shove I could make a patch for my elbow and save my shirt from the rag heap.  Hmmm.....  

The Last Few Days

We had a quiet New Years' Eve - early to bed for us.  We had no loud noises in the park at midnight - at least that we heard.   There is some advantage to losing your hearing!

New  Years' Day was quiet as well.  The sun came out and warmed us up a bit, but if you watched the Rose Parade  you heard about the chilly Southern California weather.  It has been below freezing at night which is a big deal here as it doesn't happen that often - one of the reasons we winter here.  Except for the day of the big storm I reported last time, the sun has been out every day and allows Roger a chance to sit in his chair and listen to his audio book or to read.  He's bundled up, but in the sun.  I would rather just stay inside.  We are able to open the door and some windows for part of the day, so it's almost like being outside.  

I got my printer working and have printed out some crochet and knitting patterns and intend to do some geneology work here soon.  I need to do it about mid day because of the data streaming on the WIFI here.  I can only be logged on so long and it slows down to dial up speed.  I also need to make the time to do it - seems like I'm always busy doing something or going to the store or walking but I'm really doing nothing significant.  The days go pretty darn fast considering I'm doing basically nothing.

We do have a special outing planned for Monday.  Our Christmas and anniversary present to ourselves is an African Caravan Safari at the San DIego Zoo Safari Park (still the Wild Animal Park to me).  It's a two hour behind the scenes tour and a ride out onto the savannah to get up close and personal with the animals.  I'm hoping for some great photos.  That is happening on Monday.  The weather is supposed to be great and the kids should all be back in school!  

Yesterday and today I'm battling the post office and our two credit unions.   I was expecting new cards from one of our credit unions, as the old ones expired.  Didn't get them.  I called to inquire and they said they mailed them mid November.  They should have been forwarded.  Had my neighbor go check our post office box.  It was FULL.  Christmas cards mailed in December, magazines, etc.  Things we should have gotten.  In the meantime we are getting mail forwarded to here, too, just not very much.  So, I've sent off nasty emails to the post office in Sparks and the Change of Address folks on line- like that will do any good but it made me feel better to vent.  Still don't know if the credit cards were in there - my neighbor is mailing all our stuff to us tomorrow.  In the meantime I noticed that our other credit union credit card (the one we use for everything) had a different last four digits when I went on line to check stuff.  I emailed them and asked why - oh, there was a data breach of some sort and they are sending new cards to everyone.  Did they tell us?  No, because supposedly the ones we have are good through January.  In the meantime the new ones are being sent to the post office box.  Who knows if they will ever show up.  This afternoon, I got an email from the first credit union saying that the payment I sent to the second one the end of December didn't go through because they couldn't find the right account number to post it to.  What a mess!!!  I'm surprised I don't have a headache.

Stay tuned......