Merikay's Dream Has Six Wheels

WORD VERIFICATION

2012-02-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

Blogger has done it again! Can they make things any more unfriendly?

When I first started blogging I both used and didn't use the word verification feature on my comment form.

Because I myself dislike having to type in the scrambled letters, I turned it "off," and have not had it "on" for most of a year. At least I think it is "off." Please tell me if it isn't!

Occasionally I will get a strange comment, and simply delete it. I also get several comments in the spam file from time to time. They usually are spam, but I have the ability to look them over and publish them if they are not.
I accept comments from "anonymous" because my family members comment, but are not followers.

I only moderate comments on posts that are over two weeks old. I catch a spam with this from time to time as well.

I often leave comments just to let people know I am reading their posts. Most of the time they are just friendly "right on!" messages.

If you have the word verification feature "on" for your comments, I will continue to read your posts, but I am seriously considering not leaving any more comments on your posts. It was hard enough when I had to descramble one word, but now that blogger is asking for two it might be too much trouble unless I feel my comment is very important.

This will be particularly true when I'm reading on the iPad instead of my laptop. The screen size leaves something to be desired when trying to decipher the scrambles words.

Condor flew over our house!

2012-02-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

picture from web

We are pretty sure we saw a California Condor fly over our house yesterday!

It was amazing.

Craig had stepped out onto the deck, late in the afternoon, and called for me to come look at the bird circling above. Because it had a white head he thought it might be an eagle. But we don't have eagles here.

As it glided high above on it's second pass, we both guessed it was a California Condor! When we were at the Pinnacles National Monument we learned that occasionally a Condor will "take a day trip" and fly as far as San Francisco.

We think that is what this guy was up to!

I have sent an email to the Condor Watch site with the details, and hope they will confirm the sighting.

Some of the big birds have radio transmitters that allow them to be tracked.

He was to high for us to see his tags.

We were very sure he was no ordinary turkey vulture. We see them all of the time. They like to snack on the road kill on the nearby freeway. A turkey vulture flying over might be notice, but not commented on.

I do like our mountain location! We don't need to travel to see wildlife.

Bad Dream

2012-02-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

Margie Anne, a delightful New Zealand Blogger, wrote about a reoccurring bad dream she had last night, and what it might mean. Her dream was about being in danger and asking for, and accepting help. Something to ponder.

I had a bad dream just before waking this morning, and I can't forget it. I don't think I have ever had a variation on it before. I do remember a lot of my dreams, but they are rarely scary.

In this dream, I was looking at used cars to buy as a towed. I went for a test drive, by myself, in an old, gray, dusty, junker. I missed a turn and went into a ditch. Suddenly the car started sinking. At first I laughed at myself because I was not hurt, and I thought how embarrassed I was going to be calling a tow truck.

But the car kept sinking and I realized I could not get out and I was going to be buried alive in black muck. The window was open but I didn't fit thru and couldn't open the door. I knew I was going to die and no one would be able to get there in time to help or save me.

Then I woke up.

I wonder what it meant.

Bad Words

2012-02-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

Blah Blah Blah Fat,

Blah Blah Blah, Calories,

Blah Blah Diet,

Blah Blah Blah Exercise!

When I was 16 my weight and my IQ were about the same. I was skinny, and smart.

I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience over the years.

Do you think that is why I weigh so much more? I have a fat brain.

I have dusted off the treadmill and dug out the lower calorie cookbooks.

The only other option I have is to just shoot myself, and hope for reincarnation!

But with my luck I would come back as a whale

or an elephant.

Best to just work with what I've got this go round.

Life is so hard.

Sorting and Planning

2012-02-04T17:35:00.000-08:00

I spent most of Thursday morning taking all of my fake furs off the shelves in my studio and from the upper hall where I have kept the "extras." As I did this I culled out lots of smaller pieces and clusters of odd scraps. I filled at least two large bags for the trash, and emptied and squashed a half dozen boxes.

Some of what I culled out was too good to throw away. I filled three large trash bags with fur and fabric, tied them closed and labeled them "Flea Market or Donation." I put these in the back of the storage closet in the studio. I will probably forget what is there, but this is the first step in getting rid of it. I did a lot of that last year. I put things into bags or boxes in the garage and then six months later donated or tossed them. It works for me.

Friday morning I faced a huge pile of furs covering my work benches and the couch and chair in the family room.
I made a list of the animals I might want to make "on the road."
As I put the furs back onto the shelves, I sorted it so that only furs for those went on the front shelves.

The rest went into bags and are stored on the back shelves. I made a little key chart of the back furs. I need to keep all of these materials because until I actually go "on the road" I will continue offering a much wider variety of animals on my web page.

I consider this a first step in understanding what I might need to pack along if I take the Animal Head Biz with me. I can still cut this down some and fit it into a large car top carrier.

Thursday afternoon I started planning our summer trip up to Crater Lake. I really enjoy planning. I've been reading about places we might stop at and looking at maps and directions. I would like to take a week getting there, spend a week there, and take a week coming back.

Maybe we won't come back! Maybe we will keep going and have a longer trip. It will all depends on how much we get done on the house and on what our fall trip is looking like. (I'm figuring on six weeks in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona!)

Craig has had a productive week. In addition to shopping for and ordering the new shower enclosure for the middle bathroom, he reworked the drywall on one of the walls in the bedroom we sleep in.

It is an interior wall that was an exterior wall before the garage was added. The two windows, already removed in this picture, looked into the garage. The built in air-conditioner unit has not been used for many years. All are gone, and it is now a smooth wall.

There is other drywall around the house that has to be finished and textured before it is painted. We will do it all at once, so for now this wall is just patched.

Today he cleaned up the mess from the drywall and we will be able to sleep in our own bed again tonight. We've been sleeping in a regular double bed in the guest room, cosy, but a tight fit!

Earlier in the week he fixed the broken tile edge in the front hall. I have wanted it fixed for 20+ years! It took about an hour's actual work. But it's done now.

He also did a little repair on the Alfa. A drawer had broken on our trip and need some TLC and a few screws!

I wonder what will be accomplished next week?

Two steps forward, one step back

2012-02-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

I thought we had made some decisions yesterday, but when morning came we felt we didn't have enough information, so after the guy from the shower enclosure place came to look at the job we decided to spend the rest of the day looking at more tile and such.

I'm not sure what we will do, but now we have some numbers to compare when we get his bid via fax tomorrow morning.

This would be so much more "fun" if we were doing it for ourselves.

Two steps forward, one step back. But at least it's in the right direction!

46 years!

2012-01-31T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today was our 46th wedding anniversary. We didn't do anything special, other than sharing a bottle of champagne that we bought for New Years and never opened.

It was a good day, however. I've been on edge for the last couple of weeks because I found a small lump in my breast. (I had breast cancer a few years ago and went thru surgery and radiation treatments.)
I had to change doctors and medical groups when I turned 65 last November. Today I went to see a new Oncologist. From the time I discovered it and now, the lump went thru several changes that led me to believe it was a cyst. The doc agreed with this and we are going to just "keep an eye on it" for a month or so. I have a return appointment, but also the reassurance that I can be seen at any time if I feel I need it.

All of this has really "lightened" my mood. I kept telling myself not to be upset about it, but until I discussed it with the doctor I couldn't help worrying.

Also on a positive note, we picked out a cultured marble shower enclosure with a glass door, and the tile for the middle bathroom. The installer is coming tomorrow to look at the job. A big step forward! This bathroom has been torn up and non- functional for over ten years. Craig has been working on it now and then for the last two, but so many other things got in the way.

We aslo talked a little about a summer trip. In the next few days I am going to look into reserving an RV spot at Crater Lake in Oregon for a couple of weeks. Since there don't seem to be many "in the park" sites, and it is best in the high summer, it might be a good idea to try getting a reservation sooner rather than later.

Tomorrow will be another good day! I don't have cancer again!

Why I don't want to leave "stuff" in the RV.

2012-01-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

Although the Alfa is parked at home, the trek up to her pad and the job of packing and unpacking her for a trip is not trivial, but I don't want to start buying duplicate items for house and RV. If we never planned on selling the house and living in the Alfa full time for a couple of years, I would. However I feel that to double up on stuff would be moving in a defeatist direction.

If I need it in the Alfa, I probably need it in the house. I have left one of our vacuum cleaners up there, but that is because I have three! And I have bought several things specifically for her that stay there as well. I've also left towels, some cooking equipment, and wine glasses. We have so many in the house we don't need them.

I finished the three animals that were on order, and I have to pack them tomorrow. After that, if the day is dry I want to go up to the Alfa and do some dusting. The weather has been cold and rainy since we returned and I haven't done a good post trip clean.

Craig continues working on repairs.

I'm starting to look into a short trip for the end of February. Have to give the Alfa her exercise so she stays in good diesel health.

Thats all for tonight.

Sleep well.

Welcome

2012-01-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Seems like a couple of new followers have signed on to read my posts. I hope what I write is interesting, if not amusing.

Welcome to Joe and Betty, Bob and Jo, Peter and Peggy. I look forward to reading about your RV adventures, and other thoughts!

I've been having a bit of "blog block" lately. I've written and deleted several posts because they just didn't seem interesting, nor complete.

Craig has started working on the house this week.

The number and size of jobs needing to be done is overwhelming to me.

As I look at all the painting I did last year, I see places that need to be touched up again. I know there are things I could be doing, but I don't want to have to do things twice.

Our "new" roof is almost two years old, and the "new" dishwasher and double oven we put in are going on three.

I haven't done much since the day I "gave up" last May. Hopefully, now that he is home, I can be of help to Craig.

I also feel overwhelmed by all of the "things" we have. When we got back from our trip and I brought all of the stuff we had taken along back into the house, it seemed I was returning it to overstuffed cupboards and closets. I don't want any of it!

Someday ...

Art Work and Parking

2012-01-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

First off welcome Jackie, my latest follower. Seems like a gal after my own heart, wants to travel but has a art/craft that involves lots of materials! WE will figure it out!

I'm feeling pretty good today. I was able to put in a solid morning of work on several animal head sculptures. I had an order for a Polar Bear before Christmas that I promised for February shipment, and got orders for a Moose and a Deer while we were gone. January is often a slow month, so these were an unexpected bonus.

Thoughts about our trip continued:

I'm learning that each couple, or individual, has to find their own way of doing things. Some say there are "pink" jobs and "blue" jobs, or if solo "all" jobs. But as I read about other couples, I have learned that some men do most of the cooking, and some women do most of the driving. There is no "only" way.

It seems for most couples, the man is the driver and the woman is the ground crew giving directions. If you have followed my blog for a while, you know we have an unusually difficult home parking situation, and although we did manage to get the Alfa parked four times before Christmas it was not without mishap, nor great strain on our relationship.

So this time we tried reversing our roles. Craig drove down the short but curvy part of our road, and got the Alfa backed into the first 37 feet or so of the driveway. It took a couple of tries, but he did it. However, but the time we got it that far I was getting frazzled. So we stopped, and changed places. It turns out Craig is much better at giving directions, and I am much better at taking them. The result was we got her parked and were not upset with each other.

Still not an easy job, but a neighbor who had watched us before happened to be walking his dogs on the road and declared we were getting to be "experts!"

Last fall one of our friends, who is a retired Navy pilot, told us that in parking a large plane a pilot must do only what the ground crew signals him to do. He must not try to drive the plane himself. That's what I did and it worked.

I don't mind this role reversal, but Craig can keep doing the dumping and power connections!

Who does what in your rig?

Sick in an RV

2012-01-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

I think I will be reflecting on our first "longer" trip by writing a series of posts rather than try to digest it all in one piece. Much of what I have been thinking about writing is what I want to remember. Some is written for others who are sharing this adventure vicariously, and some is just blather.

We left the rally grounds early Sunday, but not without catching the “bug” that was going around. I became very sick about 9:00 PM. I won’t go into the details, but it was much like what we called the “24 hour flu” when I was a kid! Maybe I don’t have the resilience that I had back then, but this sure took me down. I was over the worst of it by morning, but rode lying down on the couch to our appointment at Alfateers so they could service our generator and install the new fuel filter that we ordered last week.

By Monday morning I was again able to eat and except for being weak and sore I was O.K. The secretary at Alfateers said that at least 100 people had fallen ill at the rally. I bet that was just the number reported into the first aid station, and that there were at least 100 more like me that did not. She also told me that a few weeks ago she was at a family gathering in the area and 10 of the 60 people got sick. One went to the hospital and was told there is a new strain of flu going around, and her doctor called it the Riverside County Flu.   So maybe it wasn’t “food born.” The good thing was that it ran its worst course in about 12 hours. Plus a couple of days of mild discomfort.

What I learned:

1. Getting sick in an RV is no worse than getting sick at home.   Sick is sick.
2. The bathroom is closer in an RV than in any house!
3. In a class A, the couch is also a bed.
4. An air freshener would have been good to have, but running all fans full force for awhile can make the sick room smell better. In general Craig and I both dislike artificial sprays or deodorants. But it might be a good idea to try a few to find one that is tolerable for this type of emergency.
5. Carry a small bottle of bleach for clean up.
6. Use the sanitizing hand wipes! Just having them is not enough.
7. Pepto-bismol does nothing other than make things more colorful.

And last:
All members of the team should be comfortable driving.

When we left Alfateers Service center on Monday morning Craig was just starting to feel a bit queasy. Since we had dry camped for six nights we were out of water and needed to dump. We had to get to our next full hook up location, two hours away, as quickly as possible.

Craig started to drive because although I was better, I still felt weak and tired. After about an hour he had to pull off at an exit, set the brake, put it in park, and leave the driver's seat for a dash to the back. Because I had been taking turns as the driver, I was able to take over and maneuver through an unknown, semi-busy city area and get us safely back onto the freeway, and on to Santa Barbara.

I would not have wanted this to have been my first time driving! If I hadn't been able to take the wheel, we would have been stranded on a busy exit of the L.A. freeway system! Not good.

So my message to all of you "partners" is share the driving. Make a point of driving part of every trip. You don't have to start with backing up or winding country roads, but you should be comfortable with all of those different controls, especially on the diesels. Because I drove into the park for the pre-rally, the subject of women driving came up. Several women told me that either they were afraid to drive, or that their husbands wouldn't let them drive.

Ladies, most of us have had babies!
We CAN drive large RVs.

Besides it's fun...

Home safe and somewhat sound

2012-01-17T20:31:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note. We got back mid afternoon Tuesday. All is well (except for us) we both got sick. I will compose some updates in a day or two.

Caravan to FMCA Rally

2012-01-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

We were up "bright eyed and bushy tailed" Tuesday morning so that we could be part of an Alfa caravan to the FMCA Rally in Indio.

26 Alfas all in a row were a neat sight! We managed to stay somewhat together on the drive to Indio, but a few stop lights and other vehicles did disrupt the line.

When we arrived we all parked together.

The Alfa owners are a friendly group. We've had a happy hour and camp fire every evening.

We went to several seminars today, and will attend more in the next two days. Some of the information is new to us, but much seems to be much like live infomercials. It is really amazing how many products there are for RVs.

We did like "Mac the fire guy", and bought several small fire extinguishers. We also took a look at our escape window when we got back to the coach this afternoon. It's not much larger than the regular window right next to it.

I'm glad we came at this phase of our RV adventure, but I don't think we will be returning on a yearly basis.

I'm really not sure why 1500 motor homes have gathered here on this dirt lot.

All of the people we have met have been very nice. I feel we have learned much from the other Alfa owners, and hope that we can pass the spirit of helpfulness along as we travel on our own.

We went to a large gathering tonight, and heard that several of the officers are quite sick. We wonder if it was something they all ate, and are glad that except for some snacks with the Alfa owners, and a breakfast burrito this morning from one of the vendors, we have been eating our own food.

Hope it isn't a flu outbreak. There are so many really old looking people here.

I must remember to wash my hands frequently, and not drink the water!

Sunrise

2012-01-11T19:17:00.000-08:00

I saw the sunrise yesterday. I rarely see one at our house because I'm seldom up early enough, and because we live on a west-facing slope.

The sunrise looked very much like the sunsets here. Very pink. I wonder if it is because there's a lot of dust in the air.

We've been up early every morning on this trip. Perhaps this is because at the house our bedroom is very dark and quiet, whereas in the Alfa the bedroom is quite light, and we are more aware of the noises around us. Our bed is very comfortable, and I have been sleeping soundly. At the house we tend to stay up much later, reading in front of the fire. On this trip, the new TV Craig put in the bedroom has been a draw, and we've been watching movies in bed. Actually we have been getting so sleepy after a movie is halfway thru that we have made each of the last two movies last two nights! Craig bought several BlueRay DVDs for me for Christmas.

At the house we do not have a TV in the bedroom.

Another morning difference is that at the house, Craig goes to the mailbox in the morning and brings in the newspaper while I make coffee. We read the paper in bed, and then Craig will usually stay in bed for a while. In the Alfa, there is no newspaper. Craig has been getting up long before I wake up, going up front to read the news on the computer. When I wake up, I've been ready to find out what's happening outside, so I get up and dress.

I do hope this early rising will continue after we get back to the house. It would promote getting things done!

I discovered a good thing about the iPad today. I can compose a blog on it. The other day it said it didn't support "compose", but now it does. I will still take a look at this on my laptop before I publish so that I can check spelling, but now I can blog when Craig is on the laptop. (I did that and now I will post it from the laptop.)

Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, CA

2012-01-09T20:06:00.000-08:00

The Alfa SeeYa's pre-rally has been held at the Emerald Desert RV Resort in Palm Desert, CA.

My biggest complaint is the terrible WiFi connection. I have tried several times to upload a few pictures with this post and have been frustrated! I will wait until Craig gets back and use the WiFi through his Android phone. It seems to work very well.

Other than that, we've had a great time and have savored the luxury of the event and location, knowing it is probably a bit pricey for our on going budget. But it sure has been a nice way to get to know some of the other Alfa owners!

Not cooking has been a real pleasure! The rally included a very nice catered dinner the first night, a pot luck on the third, and the resort had catered dinners on the second and forth! There was even a wine tasting before one of them. On Saturday we had a resort sponsored poolside breakfast with Mimosas. The other three mornings the rally provided coffee and pastries.

Our spot is level and spacious compared to the KOA in Pomona.

I drove in on Friday, and after taking a look at it, said that if I couldn't park here, I would never be able to park anywhere! I backed it right in easy as pie. Several of the ladies who saw me cheered me on!

(From Craig: I'm surprised by how unequal the RV driving is in this group. Merikay's attitude and outlook seem greatly improved when she gets to drive the rig. I'm considering letting her do all the driving, for maximum improvement :-)

On Sunday I set up my little table on the "patio" and worked on a bear. It was a little breezy, but with careful handling of the paper pattern pieces I was able to work without any problems. The Alfa has electrical outlets right on her side for me to plug into. I might consider a tent someday but this worked. I really didn't have to work, but I wanted to see if I could.

Craig went on the rally's golf event today, and I joined in a water aerobics class in the slightly heated pool. It was about 85 degrees. Plenty warm but not too warm to exercise. What a pleasure!

I could really get to love this kind of life! No wonder Rick loves the Palm Springs area! Knowing we would be quite busy and wouldn't have a car, I didn't contact him. Maybe next year Rick! We will be back.

Tomorrow will be a very early morning. We are lining up with 25 other Alfas to caravan over to the Indio FMCA rally together at 7:00 A.M. Although we have been up very early every morning, I still will feel more comfortable if we set an alarm.

Good night all!

Rose Parade Float Pictures

2012-01-08T07:29:00.000-08:00

Craig took some nice photos of the floats in the Rose Parade with his "Big Dog" camera (Nikon D3).

Instead of trying to import them into my Blog post, we've put them on a page on my web site.

It seems better to show them there than here.

Click on Rose Parade or copy and paste the URL:
http://www.animalhead.com/roseParade2012/
to see them.

NEW PRODUCT!

2012-01-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

I am going to design a whole new line of animals: little DOGS! We have come to the conclusion that having a little dog is almost mandatory to being an RVer.

Yes cats too!

And maybe Goldens...

Probably not as "trophy head." Who would want to hang the head of their little dog? But something. For years I have said no, I don't do dogs. But maybe it's time to give it a thought.

Shelties? Poodles? Dachshunds? Westies? Chihuahuas?So many kinds.

I did get an order for a deer head yesterday. Not from an RVer, just from my web site. I sent the customer an email saying I wouldn't be able to ship it until February and it was OK. $$ in the diesel fuel fund.

Float building, RV Repairs

2012-01-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

On Saturday and Sunday we took our grandsons to see the floats being built for the Rose Parade.

Before I write about it, I want to write a a bit more about Alfateers Service Center. The most important information I want to get out there is that they service brands other than Alfa. So if you need service on any brand of class A diesel, and you are near Southern California, give them a call! They are a great group, and they have several overnight spots. We feel they did an excellent job and were quite reasonably priced.

We had new seals put on both slides, some trim repairs, and had them go over the entire rig checking it out. We are happy to say that everything is good! They took it over to Freightliner for us, and we still need a new fuel filter (it was out of stock). One was ordered for us and we will stop back there after the Indio Rally. We'll also have Alfateers service the generator diesel.

Float Building

All surfaces of the float must be covered with organic material. I'm not sure there's a rule for the percentage that must be fresh flowers; they also use seeds, leaves, beans and bark. Stuff can be dried, chopped, and even put through a blender to create a powder that can be glued to the surface.

Can you imagine glueing individual split peas or lentils onto a float? Cranberries are a little bigger. They also use coffee and chocolate.

We waited in long lines full of fun people. Most of the building locations had a high overlook walkway. We did not get down onto the floor, but were able to ask questions of guides stationed every few feet.

Craig and our two Grandsons.

Too much to blog about

2012-01-05T03:39:00.000-08:00

It is now 2:41 A.M. I am awake and at the table in the Alfa. I am never awake at this hour at home. There I have disciplined myself to stay in bed if I wake up. Oh, I do get up for a few minutes for a drink of water and a visit to the bathroom, but I don't "do" anything like read or look at the computer.

The last few days have been going by so fast, that except for a quick read of a few blogs, I have had very little time or energy,] for the computer.

Pictures? Give Craig a digital camera and he will shoot a couple hundred shots in a day. Who has time to process or even look thru that many images? I haven't had time to look at the few I have taken.

Is all of this bad? No. Living is so much better than sitting around the house dreaming!

Someday, after we get back home, I will have time to review the picture folders.

But not tonight!

Yesterday morning we left the KOA and drove 20 miles to the Alfa repair shop called Alfateers. When Alfa went under, the employees formed this repair center company and specialize in fixing Alfas.

We had a very long list of work that we want done. We decided not to trust what La Mesa told us about maintenance, and are having everything checked out here. We also are having the seals on the slide replaced, and some EternaBond applied to the top edge of the slide to prevent further leakage. We know the bill will be steep, but we want things done right!

So far they have solved two problems, the electrical and the tank sensors, by simply finding loose wires. We had a problem filling the fresh water tank, and they found a kinked hose in the line.

As at many RV service centers, we have been able to park overnight with a 50 amp hookup. This week there are five rigs with their owners staying in them. We all gather at a picnic area while our Alfas are taken back into the work areas. At the end of the day they are brought back out and reparked and connected up for us.

The other couples have been quite friendly. Tonight we had a bit of a party celebrating that we would all be moving on tomorrow. One couple had driven cross country from South Carolina just to bring their rig to Alfateers. They are having extensive remodeling done and a full body paint job on the outside. They will fly back home and leave the Alfa here for several months. I asked why they came all this way, and couldn't they have gotten the work done on the East coast somewhere. Their answer was that they wanted it all done right and this was "the place!"

Yesterday we took the rental car and went to the Getty Museum. Another of my long list of places I have always wanted to see! The art was amazing of course, but the building and garden design was also a feast of fantastic views.

Banner on the wall

Patio at the Getty

Our repairs should be done tomorrow, and they will be giving her a wash and cleaning the carpets as a bonus free service. (Nothing is really free, but it won't be a line item on the bill!)

We have a good feeling about this place and the people who work here!

Yawn! No editing ... just publish and go back to bed!

Going Great

2012-01-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

We are now parked in Pasadena, a block away from our parade seats. We went out for pizza with our daughter etc. She has just dropped us off back here.

Everything is going well.

I hope to be able to post some pictures in the next few days, but we are seeing and doing so much that the experience takes precedence!

Tomorrow should be unbelievable. The floats are so beautiful that they make me want to cry!

Our grandson just got glasses. His mother brought them with her tonight. I am looking forward to his reaction tomorrow when he can see so much better than before.

It is wonderful that his first day of improved vision should be this "eye candy" day!

One of the floats we saw being built today

A Dream Coming True

2011-12-31T19:40:00.000-08:00

Even though we had a few trials and tribulations getting here, I find I am spending New Years Eve just as I had hoped and dreamed to for a long time.

In an RV... With a retired husband ... and our two grandsons, on a trip to an event I have wanted to go to for many, many year, The Rose Parade.

Priceless.

Happy New Years Everyone!

Catch up.

2011-12-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

The last four days have been pretty busy for me, and although I have had time to read a few blogs, I have not written anything.

Our drive to San Diego was very nice. The weather and the road were great and there was very light traffic in L.A. We easily made the trip in a one day drive, eating sandwiches as we traveled rather than stopping at restaurants along the way.

We "aced" getting out of the driveway, turning around and getting up and out of our road. Unfortunately we had a minor mishap on 3/4 mile of the mountain road that gets us out and onto the freeway. There is one very tight turn that has a rocky dirt wall on the passenger side. We encountered a pick-up driven by a local worker coming the other way. We both stopped, and looked at each other. He backed up a little, and Craig tried pulling to the right a bit. I had my head out and told him he was too close, but I think it was too late. The truck pulled around us, and as we went forward the bottom edge of the Alfa scraped along the toe of the wall. Just a big scuff, but that is also where the connector for the outside grill WAS located. It got ripped off. It will get fixed next week.

I have to admit I was pretty angry because I had told Craig he was too close, and he didn't listen to me. When we got to the first stop, I took over driving for a while and felt a lot better.

I have been a bit "out of sorts" about a number of things. But that is nothing new. I feel I've been "on edge" for a long time. It seems if I say white, Craig wants black. And yet, each new morning all is well again.

One thing that has put me on edge here is we are having some problems with the electrical system on the Alfa. We are parked, without using much of anything in the rig and it loses most of the battery reserve in 24 hours. He runs the generator for several hours, brining the indicator lights back to full charge, and then the next day it is back down. We are going to have that looked at next week.

I would write more, but the family just got back from a scout meeting and I have to go ...

Speaking of Food and Stuff

2011-12-21T19:16:00.000-08:00

Jessica wrote about planning on eating more healthy meals in the future today.

For us, food has been a really interesting hodgepodge this month. At the house, we have two refrigerators, with two good size freezers. I only use the garage refrigerator for holidays, but the freezer is usually pretty full. Same for the freezer in the kitchen.

Craig does most of our food shopping on the way home from work. Most of the time he shops every day. Whenever he stops at Trader Joe's he comes home with numerous frozen items. Same for when he visits the interesting Asian grocery, Berkeley Bowl, or Costco. I too have a liking for Costco size bags of chicken tenders and such.

I do try to keep things turning over, but sometimes that's hard.

Just before Thanksgiving I declared a moratorium on buying new things for the freezers. On the first of December I declared we were going to try to use up as much as possible before we leave for Christmas. And we have.

Tomorrow I will be moving the few things left into the garage freezer, plus moving anything from the kitchen refrigerator that I want to keep, and turning off the kitchen fridge.

We will not be taking any refrigerated foods along on our trip because we will not be turning on the fridge in the Alfa for a week. We will be parking it at our daughters home, and I really can't see running the fridge on propane or batteries all of that time if it isn't necessary. We plan on shopping in San Diego, on the morning of the 30th., before we drive to L.A. with our grandsons.

Today I packed more things into the Alfa. I'm looking at this trip as more of a trial for what we might need when we are full timers that our weekend trips have been. As I evaluate things in my kitchen, I find that there is so much I will not need.

I'm trying to create a "master list"on my laptop. EVERYTHING I could possibly pack is going on it. As I load for a trip, more and more is added.
Many are things I might not want to take on a short trip, but if they are on the list I can check them off after I have decided I don't need them.
As things are finding permanent places in the Alfa, I am putting that next to the item on the list, so I can put them there again in the future.
Eventually the list will be an "index" of where everything might be located. I say "might", because I'm a realist and know that just because something has a place it doesn't mean it will be in that place when I'm looking for it. It seems I am always the one who has to find things. One thing I have noticed about myself recently is that my memory for where I have put things is getting much worse. I hope it's just stress, and not age! I put a couple of things away today that I know if I don't note their locations I might never find them again!

We have so many places and so many tools around our house that neither Craig nor I have been good at putting things away. In fact most tools don't really have a specific place. Craig is constantly asking "where is my xxx?" and I am constantly either going to get it, or saying I don't know, or asking him where was the last place he used it."
Recently I have been jokingly saying "You must have left it in Topeka." Reminding us both that when we are on the road we will have to pick up our tools and put them away or they will be left behind! I actually think Craig is starting to put more things away than in the past.

Do you have a system?

Jello

2011-12-19T18:29:00.000-08:00

I like plans.
I like long range plans, and short range plans.
I do not mind if a plan gets changed, as long as there IS a plan!

As we get closer to our winter trip the plans have changed.

We are now going to leave on Friday instead of Saturday. If we need to overnight, we will still get to San Diego by Christmas Eve.

We are going to drive down on Hy. 101, a more meandering state highway with better scenery and more opportunities to stop, instead of I5, a straight and somewhat boring Interstate down the center of the state.

Taking 101 adds a few miles, and will take a little longer, but it will probably be more interesting.

The biggest change is that we have decided not to take the car. We are not set up to tow yet, and we had planned on one of us driving the Alfa and one the Prius. But that's no fun! Without the car we can more comfortably trade off on driving the Alfa. I want my time behind the wheel too.

Looking at our itinerary we decided we really only need a car for few days out of the four weeks we will be gone. So we are just going to rent one in L.A. We have a couple of days after the parade and before the rally to do things in L.A. It would be pretty hard to find parking for a 36' Motorhome! We shouldn't need one at the rallys themselves. We will be with other Alfa people, and hopefully if we need to get to a store or something we can get a ride with someone else.

I plan on being pretty well prepared as far as groceries go, and I can't think of anything else we will need a car for.

We may take our time coming home, but we will just have to manage without side trips this time.

The next few days will be very busy for me. I'm going to start packing The Big White Thing tomorrow!

Count down to Christmas

2011-12-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

Busy, busy!

In years past I would not still be working on my art work at this point in December, but with the economy the way it is, I can't say "no" to an order.

I just finished and shipped a buffalo to Canada, and still have a unicorn to get done in the next few days. It is not a Christmas order. It is for a December 28th birthday, so it should get to Texas on time if I can ship it on Monday.

I did have to say "no" to one order this week. A former customer wanted to get her husband a polar bear for Christmas, but I told her it was too late. We settled on a February delivery because he has a birthday then. I gave her a nice discount.

It's a good thing I've had a little business this season. We have been going kinda crazy with buying things. In addition to all the Christmas gifts, we have been buying necessities, and not-so-necessities for the Alfa. Things like the 50 foot air hose to fill the tires from the onboard compressor, and the new air filter Craig will be installing this weekend. Little things like the telescoping brush to wash the roof someday, and the fiberglass renewing kit to use after. Also the surge protector and the driving lessons, both necessary in my eye.

We did splurge on one not-so-necessary item: a new flat-screen TV for the bedroom. We don't have a satellite service yet, but we should be able to pick up some stations with the antenna in the LA area. This was something Craig wanted to do from the day we bought the Alfa. I thought the old one was OK.

Craig was given a nice gift at the Christmas party today. Special recognition was given to a number of people for the work they did on projects this year, and Craig was one of them. He was given an iPad. He says I can have it because he doesn't feel his fingers are nimble enough, but I think we will both use it a bit. I played with it some this evening, and at first touch, I have to say I like my laptop a lot better. It took me a while to get used to the track pad, but now it is very comfortable.

But I will give the iPad a fair trial period. People seem to really like them.

I was very excited to see the traffic on the maps. I was looking at the L.A. area at about the time of night we will be going thru there next week.

We have also been talking about getting a smart phone. Verizon is promoting all their 4G phones that if you buy one by the end of the month you would get double the bandwidth for the life of the phone. It really seems like a great deal. A decision to make in the next few days.

It would be a forward looking purchase. We don't need it here at the house, but it would be necessary once we were on the road. Craig is talking about getting rid of the two land lines we have. But then I would have to get a "wedge" that would attach to the phone so I could continue to process credit card orders for my art sales. Right now I have a transaction processor that is attached to the house phone line. Not very portable!

So the decision is not whether to get a smart phone or not. It is whether to get it now or wait until we are actually free of the house.

The double bandwidth is very tempting!

Oh, and before I forget, Welcome Russ. My 100th follower. It just occurred to me, I'm being followed by a Duck!

GO RV Warranty is OK

2011-12-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

So, everything is resolved. (Except I don't have cards yet, but they should come.) According to the warranty processing center, our contract is now "active" instead of "pending."

I must say that Jason and Paul of GO RV were accessable and responsive. It took a few days, but my problem was resolved.

Hopefully, if I ever need it, the warranty will be as good as Judy's was this year! I know she has had to push them, but she did get good coverage. But, I do not have the same company :(

I am editing my first post on this subject because Google picked it up and It was on the first page when I Googled GO RV Warranty. Since they did resolve the problem I don't think it is fair to leave a negative post out there.

I think it's going to be OK, Warrantee update

2011-12-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

I think it's going to be OK. I spoke with both Jason and Paul Simpson this morning and they seem to have an explanation of what went wrong and are correcting the problem.

The explanation was that they sent in a copy of our signed contract application to the actual insurance company, instead of the original. The original is required. We are in the system, we have a contract number, but our application was considered incomplete. Paul is seeing to it that the original is being overnighted to them.

I will know for sure by Thursday or Friday.

I'm not really counting on an Extended Warranty to pay for itself, but I didn't want to be scammed from the start.

We shall see.

Rick's comment sure did shake me up, but when I read the actual complaint on RVforum it seemed to me like someone trying to get a pre-existing problem fixed.
The complainer said he had asked if radiators were covered, knowing that possibly something was wrong with his. If he had asked if a preexisting problem with his radiator would be covered, he might have gotten a different answer. When it wasn't covered after ten days of having the policy he felt there was misrepresentation etc. There are always two sides to any story.

GoRV does not get "rave" reviews anywhere. But other than the guy mentioned above, the main complaint seems to be something about a claim that if you do not use your policy you get a refund. It seems that when people applied for said refund they never got it. Thus the claims of lying and fraud. I never heard that promise from the beginning. I have heard similar things about some health insurance plans and have quickly considered them a rip off.

When my situation is fully resolved, I want to poke into that further.

I knew that we had a contract on file with the Warrantee Company, but that something was missing from GoRV. I hope it is as they say, and just a mistake.

I hope they were just sloppy, not crooks!

I will keep you posted!

Very Upset with Go RV Warranty

2011-12-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

Below is a post I made to my blog in December of 2011. I think it is only fair to report that this was corrected quickly by Jason and Paul at GO RV.

They were accessible and responsive. The problem was due to an error, not maleficence.

In late August I spent considerable time comparing extended warranty companies and base on the experience and recommendation of at least one other blogger I choose to purchase a policy thru GoRV Warranty and worked with a fellow named Jason.

Jason seemed very helpful and had a very smooth voice. It was easy to give him my business, and as you all know that means several thousand dollars.

We did all the paperwork and set it back and were told it would take several weeks to get a card and welcome information. I waited. After more than six weeks I called the warranty company and was told that yes, we were in the system, but they had not received the copies of our signed contracts from GoRV Warranty.

I called Jason. It took him a week to get new copies of the contracts for me to sign. A week after I had mailed them back I again emailed him to see if they had arrived, and the next day I got an email saying that he had confirmation that their processing department had received them. Since Thanksgiving was coming, he advised me it might be several weeks until I go my card , etc.

A month has passed. Nothing. I called the Warranty processing center, ended up with a supervisor, and again was told they had not received anything from GoRv. They are a third party "claims processor."

GRRR!

I again have a call into Jason. My call to him from the West Coast was in the afternoon, so I guess he has gone home already. I hope he calls me back first thing. This definitely needs to be resolved.

I didn't realize he was just a salesman, and GoRV Warranty was just a sales agency. I hope this can get straightened out.

An Odd Week

2011-12-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

This post is a total ramble.

This has been an Odd week. Oddly busy! Oddly creative!

Monday I was busy unpacking the stuff we took on our short weekend trip for the driving lesson, and working on the cow.

Tuesday the new washer was delivered and I had to catch up on the wash and ship the cow.

Wednesday I went to the dentist for a little problem, and found out my little problem was an abscess on an old root canal and crowned tooth. I had lost too much bone to save it.

Thursday I had the tooth pulled and the prep and placement of a temporary bridge. I will get the permanent bridge in February. Many $$$ :~(

The really odd thing is that I have no pain. Seems the placement of the temporary bridge has kept the hole from the extraction from getting any air or from bleeding. I have a great dentist. He cut the tooth in half so it would come out easier.

Today I worked on a buffalo sculpture and at the same time did some experiments with a new way of making the moose antlers. I am very excited because I think I have finally solved a big problem that has been dogging me for years.

A major break thru that will make the antlers lighter and stronger than before. It makes the prospect of making and selling moose when we are on the road possible!

I tried a new application for a very old material. Something I thought of in a "light bulb" moment in the middle of the night!

Very exciting.

Maybe when the dentist pulled my tooth he unblocked a creative force.

The hard part is I won't really be able to follow up with it until the end of January. Too many other things to do!
Unless I take the experiments along.
Maybe I will.
Where better to see if something will work on the road, than on the road!

Yes.

For my Golden Friends

2011-12-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

The Golden Retriever Grinch

My daughter sent this to me this morning.

Happy Holidays.

From Craig

2011-12-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

Since Merikay and I are both alumni of the U of Wisconson, we're pleased to see that the Badgers won the first-ever Big Ten championship game and will meet the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl while we're in Pasadena.

Duck hunting is very popular in Wisconsin around this time of year.

One more Christmas Order

2011-12-06T19:43:00.000-08:00

This has been a pretty busy month for me. I've had several animal head orders to work on. I shipped the mandrill this morning and a large cow this afternoon. I thought I was done for Christmas, but when the email was checked one more time I discovered an order for a large buffalo. It will be going to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

If I get any more Christmas orders I will let the customer know I can't deliver by Christmas and give them the option of canceling. But, It seems that every year I get one or two orders from people who find my web site while browsing for Christmas gifts, and then end up ordering an animal head for themselves. They usually don't mind waiting until January.

This year has been very slow, so maybe I won't get any more work. Since we will be RVing most of January, that's OK by me! I'm not ready to try to take work along with me yet.

I've been doing all of my own Christmas shopping online. It is so much easier that facing the mall.

Since we won't be here, I'm not putting up any decorations. I haven't for several years. I like to see the lights on other people's houses and on the town trees however.

RV Driving School a long post

2011-12-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

I promised I would do a post about our experience and opinions of the two-day private lessons we took from Dick Reed's RV Driving School.

Except for some short test drives, neither Craig nor I have had any experience driving a Class A motorhome, nor a bus nor trucks other than my Safari Van. We have rented two 25' Class C's, one in New Zealand and one on the West Coast, and watched the Lazy Days videos several times.

We were both "able" to drive the Alfa, but were not confident in our own skills nor each other's. I know I was a "white knuckle" passenger, and I don't think Craig was very relaxed when I was behind the wheel.

We took two day, 12-hour, two-person lessons in our own rig. The instructor, Frank Piccolo, came to our RV park at 9 AM Saturday morning. After a short conversation to determine our experience and what we felt we needed the most help with, he worked with us to properly aim the mirrors and check our tire pressure. (Although we knew we should have done it before the trip, Craig hadn't and all of our tires were seriously under-inflated.)

Frank showed us where the connection is on our coach to use the built in compressor. It seems all we might need is a long hose!

At this point we drove to the local Les Schwab Tire store to get the tires properly inflated. Frank knows the guys there and all it cost us was a tip to the mechanic.

At the same time the mechanic crawled under the rig and found the DOT number. Our tires are from March '06: almost five years old. They both said (and this is the same as our RV inspector) that the tires look good and should hold up for some time yet.

On our second day, we checked the tires when they were cold in the morning and again after driving for a while. For newbies, this was good. It's not a fun thing, but very important.

After the tires were taken care of, he took us to a deserted industrial area where we took turns driving and making left and right turns, backing up and driving in general. Much of this was so he could evaluate our skill levels.

I was a bit timid, and sometimes went a little fast. Craig just plain drove too fast. We both made so-so turns but weren't too bad. As we repeated these several times Frank corrected us and we did better.

At this point he also showed us what to do if our air brakes failed. For example if we hit a road hazard and tore a brake line while on the highway.

Next he had me drive quite a few miles on a winding two-lane mountain road. He helped me learn to stay in my lane, not panic when approaching an oncoming car, and not drive off onto the shoulder. I kept hearing "keep to you left, to your left..." He instructed me on not riding the brakes, not going too fast, making nice turns, and always looking ahead and to be aware of road hazards, deer, cars coming out of driveways, etc.

His message was "you're big, stay in your lane, slow down, cars are more maneuverable than you are." I'm still not sure what to do if I come face to face with another big RV going around a tight blind curve!

Then Craig took a turn at the same.

We stopped for a fast food lunch, and then went to a gas station for fuel. Even this was a lesson in how to watch for canopies and posts. He also told us that it was best to get fuel at busy truck stops or stations that had a good turnover in diesel fuel. Even if an out of the way station has a slightly lower price, the fuel might be "old." Go where the truckers go! The extra pennies per gallon are well worth it in performance and prevention of problems.

From Craig: on the way home we stopped at a non-truck-stop station that had the lowest price for diesel in the Bay Area. Everyone's advice is based on their experience. Frank was an owner-operator trucker for many years before he retired to be a driving instructor, so naturally he recommends truck stops. The station we stopped at was quite busy.

Next we went to a large deserted parking area and practice backing up into coned off spaces, each taking several passes.

We ended the day with freeway driving and going up and down "grades". He emphasized staying in our own lane, watching for merging traffic, going on and off ramps, changing lanes, and keeping a reasonable distance from cars and trucks that were ahead of us.

We started day two with a safety check of our lights and more maintenance checks. We discovered we need a new air filter and new windshield wipers. (La Mesa was supposed to do that, but it seems they didn't.) He also showed us how to check the oil filled wheel bearings. I don't understand exactly what that is all about, but Craig says he does.

Although he is not a mechanic, Frank was a big rig driver for many years and seemed to know what we should be checking on. More information than we got from the dealer!

We repeated most of the same exercises that we had been through on Saturday with Craig driving the windy road that I had driven. In the parking exercises we changed the cones to be different types of parking spaces and environments.

We also did a "panic stop." On a deserted street, Craig drove quite fast and then slammed on the brakes. It was a good thing I was prepared, because the chair I was in went sliding and tipped over. This let us see just how long it took to stop. Frank said we had good brakes.

We decided to end our Sunday lesson early so we could get back home before dark. The ride home was really rather nice. We each drove some, and I was more comfortable because I had more confidence in Craig's driving. I hope he had the same for mine.

We both need a lot more practice, need to slow down, and need to stay to the left!

Unfortunately the lessons really didn't help with backing into our driveway. It is still very hard and just on the edge of what is possible! But we got safely parked once again.

Overall I would recommend driving lessons for any new motorhome owners that aren't experienced driving similar vehicles. If it prevents one accident it is money well spent!

From Craig: after the first day I would have said "if I wanted another person to tell me to drive slower, bigamy might be more fun." But the second day we did more technical and practice-oriented things, and overall I would say that it was worth the money for both of us.

Almost an "Oops"

2011-12-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

Our latest adventure, going up to Auburn, CA for driving lessons, has started out well. We got out of the driveway and up our road with no problems at all! Good job Craig!

Traffic out of the Bay Area was not too bad, and after about 75 miles Craig pulled off so I could do the second 75.

We were moving nicely until we got to Sacramento during the evening rush hour. It was a bit scary, but I did OK and except for missing the entrance to the RV park, we got here just fine.

We found our spot, pulled in and got all set up.

The almost "oops"? We walked around outside after dinner and noticed we had missed sliding out our big slide into a pedestal by less than an inch!

Lesson: Make sure the slides have enough room to extend.

We were lucky. No damage and I'm sure we will always look in the future.

From Craig: our new Surge Guard 40240 is conducting the AC from the site we're in, and is displaying the voltage and amperage on each of the two power lines on its little message display. Having been in the business of testing electronic things for years, I would hate to devise a test for whether it's protecting us from anything though!

Learning From Others

2011-11-29T15:51:00.000-08:00

I've been reading blogs, mostly RV blogs, for over two years. Even though the dream of buying a rig was "Written in Smoke" whenever I read something I thought might be useful I copied it and put it into my "RV Tips" folder.

Now I have reason to go back and reread some of those! It is because I have learned from others that I write about the things I learn as a new RV owner.

One not so fun, but necessary topics that has come up from time to time is the care of the black tank. As far as I'm concerned it's Craig job to take care of outside connections, but when we noticed the monitors for the holding tanks were not reading empty after dumping, I recalled what several other people had done to clear up any possible blockage.

We know that the Alfa was unused from at least June to September from some intake service records, but who know how long it was dry parked before that. So there is a good possibility that our use has dislodged something in the black tank.

In my tips file I had two recommendations. Adding a solution of water, Calgon, and Pinesol, or water, Calgon and Liquid Detergent. I choose the second because I had the detergent. I poured that in and have been taking gallons of water from the house to get the tank at least half full before our next drive.

But over the weekend when checking the dumping compartment for another reason, I notice a big yellow sign that said "San-T-Flush" I went to my owners manual and YES, it is a built in "power wash" for the black tank. It has a short length of black hose attached to connect to the city water, but I bought an additional 15' garden hose. I think between The San-T-Flush and the Calgon we should be well on the way to an "empty" readout on the monitor. If not I will do another treatment to slosh around on the way to San Diego.

But at least I won't have to carry gallons of water up the hill again. I know I could have used the onboard fresh water, but I wanted to know how many gallons I was putting in.

Ah, the little things! Understanding and caring for your plumbing is important.

We are having a very beautiful week here in California. The sun will be shining all week and all of the trees that are going to turn colors are in their fullest glory right now.

A bit later than the East Coast.

We are also feeling lucky about the dry sunny weather predicted for this upcoming weekend when we drive up to Auburn for our RV Driving lessons.

I'm excited!

Welcome 99

2011-11-28T20:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome Tanya, Follower 99.
I hope you find my ramblings interesting from time to time.

Surge Protector Installed

2011-11-27T18:31:00.000-08:00

We decided on a hard wired Surge Guard rather than a portable one. It is now installed. Hopefully it will work!

Black Friday Purchase

2011-11-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

I can't help but thinking that this is one of the "time wasting" blogs Sue was referring to in her bog post today.

On Wednesday Morning, for no apparent reason (no rain storm or high wind) we lost all power here at the house. That in itself is not all that unusual. But it also seemed we had a power "surge" as well. Our electronics are pretty well protected by individual power strips that include surge protectors, but not all of the appliances.

We think it was this that took out our somewhat old washing machine.

The repairman came today, and determined that the board on the control panel was fried, and possibly a secondary one as well. The cost of replacing them was way more than a replacement machine, so I didn't get it fixed.

Craig shooed me out the door this afternoon to go by another washer. I was determined to just get a very basic one, without all the belles and whistles. It only needs to last for a year or so! I don't do delicate or heavy loads.

I was delighted to find the shopping center was not still crowded. I did have to look for a parking place, but not for long. I checked out Sears and although they had one that was on "Black Friday" sale, I didn't like the $80 delivery and disposal fee.

Lowe's also had a sale, as did Home Depot. Neither of them have delivery charges. I ended up buying at Home Depot.

Best price. A simple machine with a one year warranty.

It won't be delivered until December 6th., so I will have to go to a Laundromat at least once, possibly twice. I really don't mind.

So I've done my bit for the economy and to boost the sales numbers for this weekend.

I just hope the dryer will hold up for another year. It's just as old as the washer was!

The Missing One

2011-11-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

The dinner is over and the dishes are done. We will have desert soon.

As happy as I am to have my daughter and her family here, I miss my son.

He works in retail and it has always been impossible for him to join us for Thanksgiving. Has to be at work bright and early on Black Friday!

Two years ago he flew in, had an early Thanksgiving dinner and was supposed to fly back home on Thursday evening. I don't exactly remember what happened, but his flight was changed to an earlier time and he missed it.

He ended up having to fly bak Friday morning and missed work.

Anyway, the family is not complete.

We missed you Brother, Son, Uncle!

But at least we know he is safe, as opposed to someone who has a young man or woman in Afghanistan. I think of them too.

And to all my blog friends ... Happy Thanksgiving!

Extra bed!

2011-11-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here in my kitchen waiting for my daughter and her family to arrive from San Diego.

A cold front is coming thru, but a nice fire is laid and ready to light.

The maple trees are heavy with bright gold leaves that are fluttering down in large numbers.

We are changing the sleeping arrangements a bit this year.

Our daughter and her husband will be in our room, the two grandsons will sleep in one of the guest rooms and the Au Pair will be in the other.

Craig and I will be in the Alfa.

Our house just got one room bigger!

The feasting will begin tonight with homemade pizza.

Shadows

2011-11-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

For 22 years I have enjoyed little light and shadow shows around my house. The best are in the late autumn months when the sun rides low and the leaves are thinning out on the Maples to the West of the windows.

This fall I started recording a few seconds here and there, and have put together a three minute video. By capturing the light on video I am able to put it onto a DVD that I can take with me.

I share it here. Play time is 3:09 minutes:

Conflict

2011-11-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Craig brought up the idea of taking a two day, 12 hours, private RV driving course. He had read an article about it and thought it would be a good idea for us.
Some of the things covered are:

Pre-trip Inspection

Proper adjustment of mirrors

Effective use of mirrors

How to test your air brakes

Safe braking

Backing straight

Backing on a curve

Backing into campsites

How to allow for tail swing out

Turning radius

How to make sharp turns

Campground maneuvering

How to drive in a city

How to drive on freeways

Freeway on and off ramps

Proper lane changing

Staying in your lane

How to properly go up hills
Safe braking down hills

When to use engine/exhaust brakes

Defensive driving

And more...

All done, hands on in our rig on two days, six hours each day.

There is an excellent article about the course on RVers online that gives a lot of detail. Actually it was this article that Craig read on day at work, and sent the URL to me to consider.

We have both watched the videos from Lazy Days several times, and do not find it difficult to drive the Alfa, but also feel there is a lot we can learn.

We have booked the lessons in Auburn, December 3rd and 4th.

Auburn is the last town before you start going up into the Sierra's. We know we are pushing our luck on the weather. But we have driven thru there many times on our way to Tahoe to go skiing and we have not seen any snow on the ground.

What we might run into is cold, rainy or windy weather. We hope not, but if we do we will just have to learn under not so nice conditions. It will make driving in good conditions even easier.

The timing couldn't be better for us. Actually if it had been the first week of November it would have been better, but as it is it is just weeks before we take our big trip down to San Diego and to Pasadena for the Rose Parade.

We expect some real driving challenges then. One of the things I don't look forward to is the long pull up over the Grapevine, a rise over a mountain summit, and then coming back down. I think I remember it as having a 6% grade for several miles! The lessons should help prepare one of us for that! One of us will be driving the Alfa, and one of us will be driving the Prius.

We will also be challenged with driving on city streets to the parade in Pasadena, and parking the Alfa in a parking lot with other rigs. Since no slides will be allowed, I have a feeling the spots will be a bit tight.

So what is the conflict?

The drive from here to Auburn is 160 miles. Four hours, five if you count the time to get out of our road. Maybe more if we run into rush hour or weekend traffic.

We had planned on having Craig check in at work for a few hours on that Friday, and then come home so we can take off a little after noon. That gives me time to get all the necessary stuff carted up to The Big White Box.
Thats what we've done the first two trips and it has worked quite well.

But today one of the bosses talked to Craig about being sure he comes to the company Christmas party. Since he is retiring just a few weeks later, Craig figures they might be planning a little going away toast or something.

The party is on the afternoon of the Friday Dec 2nd.
Just when we want to be driving.

We've been talking about it this evening, trying to decide what to do. Change our dates? A week later and we would really be risking winter weather.

Skip the party? I think Craig really wants to go. You only retire once.

The party is going to be held at a winery in the hills above Los Gatos. We have looked at Google Earth to see road to the place and the parking. It looks like we could drive The Big White Thing to the party. Only about a mile and a half of residential and mountain road. Nothing can be worse that our road.

I am going to go drive it tomorrow. If it looks like a "go" we will take the Alfa to the party, I will not imbibe, and can drive up to Auburn. We can stay for the lunch, and then take off.

If it doesn't look like it will work, we will come up with another plan.

Actually, as we talked about it tonight, it seems like fun. We could show off the Alfa to all his soon to be former co-workers. He's been telling them he wants to fix up the house and "drive off into the sunrise." Since the sunset is just down the hill.

Busy days ahead

2011-11-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

The rest of the year is going to be very busy for me.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that means I had better get busy getting the house cleaned up a bit.

We have an RV adventure of sorts planned for the first weekend of December. I'll write more about it when things have been finalized.

Then it will be time for the dreaded Christmas shopping. I want to find gifts for people that they will love and appreciate. To me there is nothing worse than just buying something because you feel you have to.

But what to get? I have no idea.

I got a sculpture order today. For a Mandrill , one of my favorite creatures to make. It is from a repeat customer, and she wants it as soon as possible. That means I start it tomorrow.

I really don't know how people have time to have real jobs!

Pnnacles National Monument: The Movie

2011-11-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

I'm learning to use our video camera.

I am also learning to use iMovie at weekly "personal projects" sessions at the Apple store.

On our hike at the Pinnacles I shot a lot of video, and I am learning to edit and keep them short.

I am making a DVD with shorts for each of our adventures. This is the second one. I did most of the editing on the Sunday of the trip when it was raining. It was a very pleasant place to work on it.

I know some of you can't watch videos, because you are on the road, but by posting here I can share them with my family.

The video is just under three minutes.

Not My Largest Elephant

2011-11-11T22:39:00.000-08:00

Several of you commented on the size of the elephant sculpture I am just completing. When I built the first of any animal, I made it what I felt was the "right" size. Not the real size. Then if it was a popular animal I added other sizes. Some I do in only one size, some in small, medium and large. For each animal I do, I create and keep a master sculpture so if someone orders one from a picture on my web site, they get one that is very much like the one in the picture.

For the elephants, the one in my previous post is a Large. But he is not the largest elephant I have ever done. I once did one I called my Huge elephant!

Several years ago a client contacted me and wanted a "life size" elephant head. I did a little research and told him just how big that would be, and after some discussion and room measurements, I agreed to do an elephant that was about four feet wide from ear to ear.
Definitely not life size.
He wanted it to hang it in his Palm Springs, Florida townhouse dining room. He never sent me a picture of the room, but he did say he was very pleased with it.

It took me about six weeks to make, and most of the work was done outside.

Shipping The elephant from California to Florida was a challenge. His ears and tusks were made so they could be boxed separately and installed by the client. He went in two boxes. But they were still too large for FedEx or UPS. He ended up going by Greyhound Bus. You can send fairly large boxes that way, but someone has to pick them up at the station. I used to ship moose that way until I developed a way to make the antlers removable.

I still have the master sculpture for the elephant hanging in the garage. Over the years I have had two serious inquiries about making another. One client ended up ordering a set of four other African animals for the space, and the other balked at the "pay in full before I start, no refund" condition I put on the job. I don't do that for any others, but I didn't want to get stuck with it if the client changed her mind.

And then there was the whole Zebu ... But that's another story.

I was not exaggerating!

2011-11-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

My life has been zooming by at high speed lately. So fast that I actually lost track of the days this week!

This will often happen to me when Monday is a holiday. Well, this week, we drove home from the Pinnacles and Monday was an unpacking and getting resettled day, so it felt like a weekend day. When I was making a date to meet fellow bloggers Russ and Donna I thought it was Tuesday when it was actually Wednesday!

Have you ever done that? I'm not loosing my mind, but sometimes I check the day and date on the top of the computer screen or newspaper because I'm not sure what day it really is!

I had a short but delightful visit with Russ and Donna. I wish I had more time, but because we went camping last weekend, I had to keep working so the elephant and warthog will be ready for shipping as promised.

Donna has written a very nice post today about our visit. Craig thinks I was exaggerate the difficulty of parking here.

This is their description of our road and driveway:

And what a road that is!! It has more curves than Kim Kardasian, and more twists than a John Grishom mystery. Not only is it curvy and twisty, it is skinnier than a than a marriage manual written by your maiden aunt Mildred. On one side is a steep drop-off and on the other is mountain side with a deep ditch running alongside. We were terrified driving our little Fit up there! NO WAY would we ever drive a motor home on that road.

So, I was not crazy in being worried. Craig is doing a great job getting it in and out, but it will always be hard and I will always fret the night before.

I'm stealing this picture that Donna took of me and the Elephant I'm currently working on. It's hard to take pictures of yourself, and it shows the scale of my work.

Most of my pieces are a little smaller, but this is an Elephant after all!

**************************************************

I want to thank all of you who left great comments on my post about surge protectors. We have ordered one that will be hardwired into the Alfa. I feel a bit like we have tempted the wrath of the RV Gods by having dared to go out a couple of times without one!

But Craig says to remember the Alfa is almost six years old and has not been damaged. I have a feeling that the only power the Alfa has slurped has been in high end resorts and not at sometimes iffy rustic parks. Why? Because she feels so very "unused." Just a feeling.

Do you get more reliable power in expensive private resorts?

More about the hike, and campground

2011-11-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

After reading my post about our hike, Craig said he objected to my comment that he didn't stop for rests.

I admit I was wrong. He did stop numerous times and offered me the best rocks to sit on!

But, I spent more time watching where my feet were going than appreciating the view. I have a hard time walking and looking at the same time. I don't want to trip or twist an ankle.

Next time, more stops to just look around.

In answer to Merri. We did carry water. Even though it was cool, and I wasn't really thirsty, I took a water break. I had water along for Craig, but he says he doesn't like to drink when hiking. If he needed it, it was available.

I have had the experience of drinking too much water in hot weather and having the feeling that it just sat in my stomach, and made me feel sick. That's not good either.

The eight miles was round trip.

**************************************************
Now that I have read Karen's post about the power problems they had today, I guess we were lucky we didn't damage our rig with the "iffy" power we had at the Pinnacles campground.

When I looked at available campsites on line, the campground listed 30 amp power. When we got there and parked, Craig saw that there was a 50 amp outlet. The camp store was already closed, so we weren't able to ask about it.

He plugged in.

All seemed OK for awhile, then the power went out.

We tried the 30 amp plug and it didn't work either.

One of the other RVers plugged a light into the 20 amp and it didn't work, so we tried it on the 20 amp in the post for the next site. It worked, we moved, and plugged into the 30 amp outlet.

Saturday morning we asked the ranger whether it was OK to plug into the 50 amp service, and he said it was. So Craig switched it to the 50 amp service. Everything seemed OK all day Saturday, but Sunday morning the power was out again.

We flagged down the campground lady as she rode by in her golf cart and she checked the breaker box (which was right across the road from us) and threw the breaker, restoring power.

Craig said he thought they only had 30 amp breakers in the box.

When I say everything seemed to work OK, I am wondering. I do not know much about how power variations effect small appliances. I used the slow cooker on Sunday, and my corned beef, although cooked, did not get as tender as I expected it to.

Were we experiencing "brown out" conditions? Would lower power effect the slow cooker?

We do not have a surge protector (yet). Until I read Karen's post, I didn't know they existed.

So much to learn. So many things to buy!

But I do have a little set aside for repairs and future tires. Maybe a surge protector would be a good investment. If our rig can use 50 amp or 30 amp, should we buy and carry both sizes?

Craig thinks that a Class A diesel pusher should include its own surge protection. Do you agree?
Advice about surge protection will be appreciated!

The Hike

2011-11-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

Nine years ago, on September 11, we went to the Pinnacles National Monument with our son and his girlfriend to get away from all media for the day.

It was close to 100* that day and I suffered minor hallucinations as part of heat-stroke. We were trying to hike the highest and hardest part of the park. Overheated, I sat down in the center of the trail and told the others to go on ahead and send a helicopter for me "tomorrow". I can clearly remember saying that and thinking it was a perfectly reasonable idea!

Our son went on to a Ranger Station, and Craig helped me back down to a lower parking area. I did recovered on my own, but the ranger sent a rescue squad to check me out. Fortunately, I didn't need to be taken to the hospital.

On this trip to the park, the weather was much cooler and once again Craig wanted to try for the High Peaks Trail. I told him I didn't think I could do it, but he had it in his head that that is what he wanted to do.

Keep in mind, Craig does not exercise. Craig does not believe in carrying or drinking water. Craig rarely stops to rest. Craig is generally pushes me to do things all at once, that sane people work up to gradually.

Sometimes I try. But I have learned to say "no" when I reach my limit.

To get to the High Peaks trailhead from our campground we first had to hike the 3.5 mile Bench trail.

Much of this was easy since it was thru oak meadowland

and along a dry creek.

Only about a mile of it was harder, as we started to climb up the side of the mountain.

There was a Nature Center at the trailhead area.

Craig waited outside, while I went in to talk to a Ranger about our options. Looking at the maps I learned the High Peaks trail was a loop of seven miles of very hard climbs.

The Ranger suggested "Keep the car keys and let him go up by himself if he was so inclined!"

This is a view of a very level section of the trail.
It was a steady, rocky incline.

She suggested an alternative 1.7 mile "strenuous" climb that continued on to the High Peaks trail. She said that we would still have some great vistas, and could come back the same way to the Center.

Craig agreed to this.

"Strenuous" was a good description of the trail. At about a half mile my knee began to twinge and I felt like I was getting a blister on one toe.

Seeing I was slowing down, Craig asked if I wanted to turn back, and of course I did.

I kept thinking about the four miles we would have to go to get back to camp.

Sometimes going downhill is harder than going up.

The first mile and a half back were a bit hard because the trail was very rocky and we had to be careful not to trip.

Once on the flat, the trail was mostly sand, which is not easy to walk in either.

A very welcome sight!

By the time we were close to the campground again I was feeling much better, and it was Craig who asked: "Aren't we there yet?"

The total hike was eight miles.

Truth be told, I haven't been working out on the treadmill for a while. This has motivated me to try to loose some of the excess pounds I carry!

We talked about going back in Spring. The wildflower bloom is said to be beautiful. They also have a bus then, that goes from the campground to the Nature Center. If we start there, maybe I can do it.

If not, I can always turn back.

Pinnacles National Monument (a three day post)

2011-11-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

Pinnacles Trip

Friday:

Getting The Big White Thing out of the driveway and turned around went very well. Perhaps we are beginning to communicate. Having the stump removed helped a lot too!

We were mystified by a loud noise that we thought was coming from the refrigerator, but were relieved to discover it was coming from the radio via the speaker just above the refrigerator!

I drove about 50 miles, including some curvy, hilly, two-lane highway. I got the hang of frequently checking the bottom of the convex mirrors to see the white lines on the road. It felt like I was driving half in the oncoming lane, but I really wasn’t!

We got all set up and were just getting ready to eat when the power failed. It was dark by then. We went over and asked another camper if they had power. Three guys came to consult on our problem and it was decided the power post had gone bad. One of the guys told us the same had happened last year.

They helped us move to the next spot over. In the dark.

After they left, Craig had to re-level and put the slides back out. Just as we were finishing, we notice another class A pulling in and we wondered if we were in their space. We weren’t. We helped them find their spot and guided them into it with our flashlight, passing the helpfulness on.

Our Brie, fruit and wine was a bit late, but ever so wonderful! If you’re in Trader Joe country, try their French Brie.

*****************************************************************

Saturday:

When I opened the front screen, I was greeted by the sight of a flock of turkeys! Driving in we saw a coyote and later a bunny hopped past the side window. Of course there were seveal deer that wandered thru the campground as well.

After breakfast we went on a five-hour, eight-mile hike. Craig has reminded me of my goal to hike in National Parks. A National Monument is good too.

The weather has held. Cool, but not really cold. No rain.

We were ready for bed before eight o’clock. Craig made tea early, and we were tucked in by nine.

*****************************************************************

Sunday:

It rained very hard during the night. We learned the propane furnace does a very good job of warming the coach. The alternative electric heat pump is very loud and not as effective. There are lots of words about closing some of the vents to make the heating more effective.

The morning was dry. We decided to wait until later in the day to take a walk, so I went to a Ranger talk about condors and Craig found the 49er game on the radio.

By 11:00 it started raining again, and we watched the other campers packing up and pulling out. We sat at the table, I writing this, and Craig listening to the game.

I saw a condor flying high above the peak, circling as it caught a thermal draft. Thanks to the ranger, I knew it was a condor and not a vulture because of the way it glided in flight.

Being in the almost empty campground, in the rain, playing with iMovie felt odd. We planned on going home Monday morning, and didn’t want to drive and park in the rain.

******************************************************************

Monday:

Pack up and departure went very smoothly. The only fuss was by the Toms of the turkey flock. When we started the engine, all four of them fanned their big tails and rounded up the hens!

The 92 mile return trip was a good drive. Getting The Big White Thing back into her place was much easier than the last time. The gloves and headphones helped, although Craig said he couldn’t hear me half of the time. But at least we didn’t get angry with each other this time.

Unfortunately there are a couple of large scratches from a tree branch on the back of the Alfa. The only damage we have done to her has been on home ground!

Craig went to work in the afternoon while packed all of our stuff back down to the house. I also vacuumed and washed the Alfa's floor, and gave everything else a quick dust and polish. My goal is to keep her as nice as when we bought her.

Back Home

2011-11-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

Back home safe and sound.

Tired

Happy

Had a very nice weekend.

Will post details later.

I Wonder

2011-11-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I wonder whether the weather will be wonderful!

I'm pretty sure it won't be.

After almost five months with only one little rain storm, our weather is about to change. Of course it is the weekend we want to camp, but that's really OK.

A cold storm front is moving thru, but it looks like the worst of it will be to the north. So far, only a "chance of showers" is predicted for the weekend days in the Pinnacles National Monument area. But it is going to be quite cold!

I guess we will get to test our heating systems. I think we have both electric and propane. And I had better dig up some warm clothes for both of us.

But, it's really just about going somewhere and from what I read on other blogs, it's often all about the food!

We will not have a car along, so we will have to take everything we need from the start. I've planned the meals to be easy, but all things we like.

The following pictures are all from Google Images.

Friday night we will have a meal that goes back to our skiing days. Whenever we had a motel room with a kitchenette we would stay in and have baked Brie with fruit, a baguette, and wine instead of going to a restaurant. They were some of the best nights.

Breakfast Saturday will be Ham Cheese and Apple Panini made with English Muffins.

If it's not raining we will hike them off!

Dinner Saturday will be my favorite Amylu Sweet Caramelized Onion Chicken burgers from Costco and Garlic Fries from Trader Joe's.

Yum!

Sunday breakfast will be light and tasty. I'll bake a batch of Trader Joe's Mini Croissants.

They are frozen and you just put them out to proof over night and bake in the morning. So good and fresh. A nice glass of OJ and some brewed coffee will warm us up.

I'm planning on cooking a nice Corned Beef dinner in the slow cooker on Sunday. That way I'll have leftovers for dinner when we get home on Monday and I won't have to cook. The ribs I made last time worked out great. The insert from the slow cooker fits nicely in the refrigerator.

I am curious to see if the cabbage stinks up the Alfa.

Monday morning breakfast will be our usual weekend fare. Something hearty to see us thru getting home and back into the driveway. Eggs over easy, toast or muffins, and a chicken sausage.

I'll probably pack a few cans of good soup and some salad fixings if we want a lunch. But usually if we eat breakfast we skip lunch. A couple of yogurts and some extra fruit for snacks would be good, and Craig will probably want something salty so I'd better pack chips and Cheetos as well.

We usually get more veggies in our meals than this lineup provides, but I'm trying to keep things easy.

So if the weather's not great, the food will be!

One more day.

"We don't quit agree" Continued

2011-10-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday I started writing a post entitled "We don't quite agree" when Craig looked over my shoulder and said "We should talk about this..." So, I deleted the content but somehow the title got published.

It drew some amusing comments which I didn't discover until tonight. We really weren't having an argument or anything, we just didn't have the same ideas.

The "what" we don't quite agree on is how far we should go for a weekend trip.

Although I do enjoy walking up the back drive to just visit the Alfa, and sleep in her from time to time, I want to get more experience helping Craig park her and also learn to drive her myself.

I've read that it's good to drive an RV at least once a month to keep the engine and tires "happy." So I want to scheduale a couple of short trips between now and our longer Christmas adventure.

Craig agrees with all of that.
But we differ on suitable distances and destinations.

Craig suggested Crater Lake, Oregon, But it's 489 miles away, and closed for the winter.

His next suggestion was Death Valley. It's 515 miles in the other direction.

No dear, these are not weekend drives.

We have driven that far in a day, but even then it was not just for a weekend, and it was not in a motor home.

I'm thinking no more than 100 miles.

Less would be even better.

We tossed around a few other destinations and finally settled on Pinnacles National Monument. It's about 90 miles away.

We went there on 9/11 in 2002. We wanted to go somewhere peaceful and away from all news broadcasts, not wanting to be deluged with "one year later" media coverage. The trails were very interesting, but unfortunately it was about 100* that day, and I suffered a case if heat exhaustion while hiking up the mountain. I hope I will do better this time. Maybe we will take an easier trail!

The temperatures are sure to be cool, if not cold! We might even have a bit of stormy weather. But if we do we can just hunker down and be cozy.

So our next adventure is planned for this upcoming weekend. Reservations have been made. We will leave on Friday and come home on Monday.

It looks like we will have a very nice spot. It is rated for a 37' RV, and is quite near the visitors center and the shuttle bus stop. It only has a 30amp hookup with no water or sewer, But I think we will be just fine without.

There is a potable water spigot near our spot, I have been told it tastes terrible, so we have decided to fill our fresh water tank at home before we leave.

Since bringing the motorhome down to the front drive is part of turning it around to get out, we will fill the water from the house. I will have to go and buy an extra white hose so we can reach the gravity fill, but that's OK, it's something we can use later if we want to flush our tanks.

Now to plan what clothes to take and what we will be eating ...

And before I forget... Welcome new followers Allen and Lolita, I look forward to getting to know you thru your blog and comments.

We don't quite agree

2011-10-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Tea Time in Merikay’s Woods

2011-10-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Craig and I have an evening tradition. At 8:30 PM he makes us each a cup of tea. He gets Sleepy Time and I get Sleepy Time Extra. Sometimes we will have cookies too.

I have been an evening tea drinker fro a long time. It has only been recently (about the last year or so) that he has joined me and has taken over the task of preparing it for us both.

Since I do 99% of the cooking and dish washing, I rather enjoy this small bit of pampering I get each night.

Last night we had our tea up in The Big White Thing.

We went up right after the Stanford game finished, (no good radio, TV or WIFI up there.) So it was a little late.

It’s so cozy up there. We slept there last night too.

Haven’t done that for a couple of weeks.

The weather has been quite mild all week and we didn’t need to run the furnace at all. I kept thinking about all of you who have had an early season snow storm.

Gotta love California!

If the Government is Buying Elephants ...

2011-10-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

I got a call from Craig this afternoon.
He said "If the government is buying Elephants ... it must be a sign of a Republican takeover."

He can check our primary email from anywhere and was able to see and read an incoming order for a Large Elephant placed by someone in Washington DC with a .gov email address.

I cannot tell you who the order was from, but I can tell you it was not from Barack Obama!

They also ordered a Warthog.

My animal sales have been very slow this fall.

Heck, slow is not the word, nonexistent is more like it. I had a very good summer, but this is my first order in six weeks.

If I considered myself a "real" business, I would have to close up shop. A few years ago I would be booked solid with Christmas orders by now.

Maybe it is part of a job stimulus package.

My job.

This is a repeat customer. Last year they bought a Tiger and a Rhino.

Actually, I don't think it is "the government." I think my customer is someone who lives in DC and works for the government, hence the .gov email.

But selling an elephant to the Obama administration makes a fun story.

And it's good to have some work to do.

It makes me feel loved.

Comments

2011-10-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I comment a lot.
Sometimes I don't.

But I usually read all of the blogs that I follow.

Except when I don't!

Friends and Family

2011-10-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Life is Good!

Especially when you can spend a nice weekend meeting new friends and visiting with family.

Chores around the house got away from us Saturday morning such that we were late arriving at Laurie and George's wedding. Craig didn't realize how long it would take to get from our house to Salinas, and then we ran into some unexpected slow traffic.

Actually we were so late that we missed the ceremony completely, but we did get to meet Laurie and George, enjoy a piece of cake and punch, and wish them well in their new life.

We have invited them over for dinner on Thursday, so we will have a chance to get to know them a bit.

Funny how everything seems to happen all at the same time! I knew my brother, from Wisconsin, and his wife were planning on visiting our area on a trip thru California this fall, but I didn't know when they would be here.

They have a very nice 32' class A National RV, and were taking the long way from Wisconsin to their winter home in Arizona. It turned out they found a campground about ten miles from our house, and after the wedding we connected with them and had a nice evening together.

I haven't seen him for a couple of years. We talk on the phone once in a while, but it's been several years since I've been back to Wisconsin.

On Sunday morning they came here for coffee and to see the Alfa.

Then we all went down to a Sports Bar in town to watch the Packer Game, then back to their camp to have a little cookout.

It was so good to see him. And to hear his "big brother" tease about my toy RV and white spotter gloves. Although I let my family know I had a blog, I didn't think they read it very often because none have signed up as followers nor ever left a comment. It turns out that both my brothers and my kids DO read my posts! He finds it amusing.

The weekend ended to soon and we had to say good by for now. They are off to Yosemite in the morning.

Life IS Good.

Turn Left, NO your other Left!

2011-10-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not ashamed to admit there is something slightly ~~wrong~~ different about my brain. I know I'm dyslexic, I can't spell, and I am left handed. My mind mixes up letters, sometimes reading "saw" as "was" and seeing a "6" as a "9". But hey, I'm an artist!

Sometimes I have to concentrate and feel which hand I use to write, before I can be sure which is Left and Right. It is almost as if it is a new discovery each time, instead of something I know.

My family has often laughed at me when we are going somewhere and I am the driver. If I'm told to turn Left, I might turn Right, and they tell me "No Mom, your other Left!

Or if I'm in the passenger seat and giving directions, I am better to just point which way to turn rather than to say "turn left" or "turn right."

I have always just bluffed my way thru life with this. I understand maps, but following them can be a challenge. The only time I have experienced driving with a GPS lady giving me directions was in a driving rainstorm and she totally confused me. I would have been better off on my own.

Given that, I was quite unsure of myself about helping Craig back into the driveway. I was also quite sure, that based on past experience, he didn't trust my giving directions either.

I'm not going to go into details, but it did not go well!

We got her parked, but a neighbor walking down the road stopped to see if we were in trouble! By that time we had just gotten thru the worst, and Craig was in the clear to just go straight back. But I'm sure the whole mountain heard us getting to that point.

Sound travels miles across the hills!

One of our problems was that we had not agreed on what the hand signals meant, nor what or how to communicate. I kept telling Craig which direction the back end needed to go, and he kept telling me that was useless, because all he could do was steer the front end. He kept asking which way he should turn the wheels, and I could not tell him.

I need to say I had asked him for some practice time in a parking lot before we tried this on our own, but he didn't think it was necessary. So this mess was his fault too.

We might have done OK in a big open place, but the tight curve of the driveway bordered by a soft soil drop off on one side, and an RV denting stump on the other requires skill, cooperation, and patience.

We got it in, but we were very upset with each other.

I am determined that we can, and will do better!

People learn things in different ways. Some can transfer knowledge easily from one situation to another. I cannot. I can drive a car and I can it back up. (All right I did back into Craig's car some weeks back) But, until yesterday I could not have told you which way to turn the steering wheel to make the back of the car go left or right unless I was sitting in the drivers seat and doing it.

I say "until yesterday," because now I know!

My toy RV came in the mail yesterday. Using it has a learning aid will help me be a great RV parking guide!

I realized that to give Craig the information he wanted, I had to think in terms of which way to turn the wheel, and not just which way I wanted the back end of the RV to go.

I needed to learn to think in terms of clockwise, and counter clockwise.

I took a pair of white cotton photography gloves and marked both sides with words, a big letter, and arrows. If I put them on the correct hands, my mind and eyes won't get confused.

I marked all of the corners of the toy RV, and used tape to make little direction arrows.
I then went out to my van and moved the van in each of the directions I had marked.
Back end to the right, back end to the left, etc. At each point I noticed which way I was turning the wheel.
I got out and looked at the front wheels to see which way they were turning. I noted all of it on the toy RV top.

Now I know that to move right you turn the wheel clockwise, and to move to the left you turn the wheel counter clockwise. Not "earth shattering" information, but for someone who has my kind of mind, a real challenge,

I have also written this on my kitchen white board. I will see it often like a big flash card.

I think the headsets will also help a lot because I will know if Craig is understanding me or not.

He will have to learn to trust me, and to go slowly.

Patience and cooperation.

I asked Craig if we could just drive the RV to the entrance of the driveway after the stump is removed, and practice backing it back in, but he said it would not be good for the engine to idle it that much. I had read something about not running the engine on idle for more than ten minutes in reference to starting it up at least once a month. So I guess we won't be able to try all of this until the next time we go on a trip.

Meanwhile we both can play with the RV toy. I can practice giving it backing up directions,
and Craig can rearrange the furniture.

(It has a working slide too!)

Note: funny what you learn about people reading blogs! Craig likes colorful PJs. I call these his clown PJs. He picked out the fabric and I sewed them for him.

Moss Landing

2011-10-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

On our first day at Moss Landing we took a long walk along the dunes that separate the slough from the beach.

The path was roped off to keep people, dogs, and horses off the dunes because they are in a state of restoration.

Below is a 1 minute video of the highlights of the walk. The plants were interesting, The sunshine was perfect, and the weather was perfect. After walking along the back of the dunes we cut across to the beach. The waves were wonderful, and at one point we stopped to rest on a large driftwood log. As we looked out to sea we saw the fins of a very large pod of dolphin. There must have been a hundred of them!

At this point I'm learning to cut video down to just a taste. I will soon be learning to add words and music.
What I want to do is create very short videos like this for my blog, but also do a longer version for ourselves.

On the second day we took a guided boat ride in the Elkhorn Slough. The video below gives you a taste of what we saw. It is only a minute and a half, but this time I experimented with using the still photos taken with my Canon Point and Shoot, titles and background music.

if you click on YouTube you can see a larger version

Once there you can expand to full screen by clicking on the

arrows in the lower right corner, give it a try

There is so much to learn in using the new camera and in using iMovie and iTunes. But it sure is a lot less trouble than editing the old 8mm with white gloves!

I'm not sure if this is my thing yet or not.

New Name

2011-10-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

I just don't feel like processing pictures today so the images from Moss Landing will just have to wait.

Somehow, when we arrived in Moss Landing we missed the very obvious entrance to the KOA. We went a little way past it and turned around, then we drove past it a second time.

(We were later told by Levonne that she and the manager watched us drive by.)

We stopped down the street from it, and I went into the Post Office to ask directions. Two nice ladies were getting their mail and walked out with me to point out the KOA which was all of a half block away.

They looked at the Alfa and asked: "Is that your Big White Thing?"

When I reboarded the Alfa I told Craig what they had called it and he decided that would be its new name.

"The Big White Thing"

I will probably still call it The Alfa.

Other bits:
We have ordered walkie-talkie head sets to use when getting in or out of our yard, or backing into park spots.

I called and requested an estimate from a stump grinding company to remove the stump which will widen the upper drive a bit.

I ordered a $10 toy Class A RV that I can play with to help me understand how to give better backing up directions.

We will do better next time!

Back to the House

2011-10-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

My heart will be up in the Alfa, so here is now just "the house."

We made it home with no problem. La Mesa had put 1/2 tank of fuel in for us to start and so we filled it up on the way home. First time for everything! No propane was needed. But it was good practice to pull into a station for the first time. I had scoped it out in advance.

The drive was smooth even if Craig would not hear my words of wisdom about 55 MPH being the right speed.

He feels he has to keep up with traffic. I feel they can pass us. Oh Well. When I'm in the driver seat, I will drive at a speed I'm comfortable with.

If you have a Class A, what speed do you try to maintain on the highway?

Backing into the upper drive was as hard if not harder than the first time. I think we have to get head phones or something so we can communicate better.

A little more road work is also needed, as in cutting out the side of that stump and a bit of the hillside.

But we are back in one piece. Still married. Still friends.

The good thing is everything seemed to work on the Alfa. We made a few mistakes, we forgot a few things, but we have made it thru our maiden voyage, and are looking forward to trips to come.

Now that we have gotten out once, I can be content to wait until the trip at Christmas. We might go on another weekend in November, but basically I'd be OK with waiting until we can go for more than a day or two. And that won't be until after Craig retires at the end of the year. But we might just go sleep up there any night!

I'll post Moss Landing pictures during the week!

So Where Do We Sign Up?

2011-10-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

If today is an example of a laid back day on the road, I say: "where do we sign up!"

After a very comfortable night sleep (I was totally exhausted both mentally and physically) we walked over to a local restrauant with our friends Levonne and John for breakfast.

Their dog Gingee was sad she couldn't come in, but found a way to see her Mom and Dad. (Levonne was NOT happy she found her way onto a table.)

On the way back to our rigs we sighted our first otter.
They are everywhere!

Tomorrow we are going on a guided boat tour that will focus on the otters.

John and Levonne had their own things to do, so Craig and I decided to look into renting some Kayaks. I wasn't enthusiastic because we really didn't have what I considered the right clothes, and it would have been a long walk to the rental place. (I have never been kayaking.)

So we settled on a nice long walk in the dunes and along the beach.

I also shot some video, but I don't have my YouTube password along, so I will post a bit of it later in the week.

I was excited to see some dolphins out in the ocean. I have lived in California for a long time and have never seen them!

One last picture:

These are the two little dings we put in the lower edge of the Alfa. If we get home and have this be the worst, I'll be happy.

It has been a nice first day.

Like I said:
"Where do we sign up!"

Right now our dinner is cooking in the slow cooker, Craig is watching a baseball game, and I am blogging. Sweet!

First Drive OUT

2011-10-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it out of our drive and out of our road, but it was not easy and it was not "pretty!"

As Craig eased the Alfa out of it's parking place everything seemed good:

But, as he came around the curve where the evil tree had been, he got too close to its root and got a bit hung up.

Unfortunately this dented the lower edge along the bottom of the driver's side. Not too bad. But dented.

We got out of the upper drive and went down to the lower drive to turn around.

Unfortunately, Craig started the turn into the driveway a bit too soon and came very very close to the jagged stone wall:

Stop! Look out!

But after a few careful moves he was in the clear:

He straightened it out and was able to do a clean back out:

Not a lot of extra room, but we did it!

Then he was able to turn it around and we were headed up the road. I did get out once more to watch the side as we edged past a tight curve along a rocky wall, but otherwise we were quite OK.

The next 1/2 mile were a little scary. As we approached the worse of the tight, blind curves, I suggested Craig blow the horn before edging around it. That was good because there was car coming the other way.

Next we had to merge onto the freeway in rush our traffic, but that went OK.

The next 44 miles were smooth. A bit stop and go, but no problems.

We had a small problem actually finding the KOA. Passed the entrance twice! But once we found it and a couple of guys helped us park we got settled in OK.

We did have one more minor mishap. A box of Kleenex was in the way of the slide edge and bent the trim a little. I'm way too tired to be upset about it.

Taking along a precooked meal was a good idea. The white bean chili tasted pretty good!

We even got the oven lit and baked a par-baked bread from Trader Joe's!

After dinner we went for a night walk.

The only bad thing about the Moss Landing KOA so far is that the water smells like rotten eggs! Glad I brought a big bottle of water for coffee tomorrow!

So, a few dings, a few problems, but so far so good!

We did it!

Arrived

2011-10-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Arrived, drinking wine

eating dinner,

willpost later.

Waiting

2011-10-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

2:00 PM Friday.

Waiting.

Alfa is all packed.

I'm ready to go.

Craig has not come home from work yet.
I thought he'd be here by now.

He checked the tire pressure last night, and we watched the how to back into an RV park spot video this morning.

We reread our manuals during the week.

I'm ready.

I'm waiting.

Preparations.

2011-10-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

When Craig and I were in our 40's and 50's we were skiers. We would drive up to Tahoe from our home in the Santa Cruz Mountains, several times each winter for a weekend. We would also take one or two week long ski trips either at Tahoe or at several other locations around the country.

I had packing for such jaunts down pat. We would watch the weather reports and make the decision to go by Wednesday. Then I would book a motel room and arrange for kennel space of the dogs and cat. I had everything organized and knew just what to take. Week long trips always took a little more planning because there was cooking to do.

I expect the same will be true once we have taken a couple of trips in the Alfa. But for now I keep thinking of what not to take.

I'm a planner at heart. Because we won't have a car along I feel I need to plan our meals ahead of time.

I'm making a "white bean chicken chili" for dinner tonight so that I will have leftovers that we can just rewarm and have with a salad for Friday's dinner. I'm taking the Slow cooker so I can make a pot of root beer ribs on Saturday. I've got the breakfasts covered to, and we almost never eat lunch.

I did go out a buy a couple of folding chairs today. I had just washed some old nonfolding plastic yard chairs and put them in one of the bays since we didn't have any folding ones. I mentioned that to Craig this morning and he told me to go buy some. It seems to me that there are so many kinds, each person should pick out what they are comfortable with, but Craig said to just go buy what I wanted and get one for him to match.

I don't like to sit in the canvas chairs that fold up to nothing. I've tried several, some really expensive ones and was not comfortable. I do like the Camping World rocker, and maybe someday I will get one, but for now I found two very nice folding chairs for half price at Kmart. $19.99 each. So now were all set to sit!

I also scoped out the gas station with the lowest price for diesel (only because it was on the way to Kmart) and looked at which way we will need to enter the station that has the propane fill for RVs. They are not the same. The Valero station has diesel for $3.99, but no propane. The 76 station a few blocks away has the propane, but it's price for diesel is $4.15

Everything costs more in California. I was looking at an online site that shows fuel prices around the country and see it is much lower else were! $3.97 is the lowest I can find here and that station is at least ten miles out of our way. We'd use a couple of gallons to save a few cents.

So friends. Keep your fingers crossed for us Friday afternoon as we turn the Alfa around and drive up our somewhat steep and curving road. We can do this!

Can't Sleep

2011-10-12T00:48:00.000-07:00

It's 12:36 AM, and I am wide awake. My mind is full of thoughts and ideas. I've been to bed, but couldn't sleep.

What to pack for a two day jaunt? Will it be cold at the Ocean. Warm clothes? Summer wear? Both?

What to plan for food? I don't want to eat out, even though I know there is a wonderful restaurant there, because I want to try out the stove, and the oven, and the convection/microwave.

Two breakfasts, two dinners. I think I'll make something simple on Friday night and something in the slow cooker for Saturday. But what? Food is always our top priority around here.

I'll have to see what cookware I have that fits into that tiny oven. I might have to go to Sur La Table to buy that little baking sheet I saw last week. Maybe I should just stick with the throw away foil tray I have. All I want to make in the oven is some half baked bread, or some garlic bread if I decide on Spaghetti for Friday.

Better go up and measure the oven first.

Do I stop the newspaper for just Saturday? I think not.

I always do the full weeks wash on Sunday. Maybe I should do a couple of loads tomorrow so I won't be behind.

Craig is up too. He said he is thinking about driving the Alfa, and thinking about getting it turned around and up the road.

He just went back to bed.

So exciting.

I'd better go back to bed now too.

They Came! They came!

2011-10-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Yes! The county came and trimmed the trees.

YEAH!

Music to my ears.

The deer at the end were a few locals seen along the road as I went home.

I have booked a space at the Moss Landing KOA for Friday and Saturday nights. It is nearby and my friend Levonne and her husband are there.

It Doesn't Take Much ...

2011-10-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

To make me happy.

I've been checking the Alfa very careful every day and I haven't found any new mouse signs. The traps and bait remain untouched.

Happy Happy,
but I am not letting down my guard.

With mice in mind, I have been thinking about being extra clean and careful with food and snacks in the Alfa. (I am not known for being a great housekeeper, but this is a new challenge and I want to do it right.)

One appliance I have been concerned about is the toaster. We make toast several times a week, and I will be keeping the toaster in the kitchen cupboard.

In the house I keep it on the counter and I notice that there are often crumbs around it. I have always just wiped them up as part of the cleaning the kitchen.

Then I had an idea. Put a tray under the toaster to catch the crumbs. I could wipe it out after each use, keeping the counter and cupboard crumb free.

But to find the perfect tray?

"Flash of genius..." The lid of one of those cheep plastic shoeboxes makes a perfect tray. I'm going to use it in the house so I will develop the habit of wiping it out after each toaster use.

I had a second wonderful discovery this afternoon.
I went to the World Market store looking for a narrow basket. I found an inexpensive basket, AND I found a set of two 8" pizza stones.

My medium size pizza stone does not fit into the RV oven, but If set these on the bias they will both fit into the oven at once, or since I have a double shelf for the convection microwave could use them both in it.

We really like to make homemade pizza. I have a number of great recipes including one with caramelized onions with walnuts and balsamic vinegar, and one with only feta cheese and dill weed.

Pizza is always better when made on a stone and now I will be able to do it in the Alfa. Now I have to find a miniature pizza peel!

Something that did not make me happy. On Friday the guys from the county were seen on Hutchinson Road. They came, they looked, they did not trim any trees, they left. Craig called the supervisor this morning and couldn't get thru again.

ERRG!

Who Else am I Missing

2011-10-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

I know some bloggers just stop posting for one reason or another.

There are some who post just about every day and I'm used to seeing their posts pop up on my reading list. If I don't see them for a couple of days I might wonder, but figure they just were busy or in a place where the internet isn't very good.

If someone decides to stop posting, they don't "owe" anyone any explanation, but it is nice when someone does write something to let their followers know they are taking a break.

I hadn't seen a new post from Me and My Dog for a while, but didn't think much of it. Gypsy did, and mentioned it in her post, so I checked and the most recent post I had by Barbra was 5 weeks ago.

Now I'm wondering about who else I'm missing. How would I know if someone was still posting if it doesn't show up. Need I click on each of the 100 or so blogs on my list?

Who do I complain to?

Good News, Bad News, Good News

2011-10-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

Good news: There was no mouse activity lat night. Traps undisturbed. Bait untouched. No black bits anywhere.

Bad News: We had our first good rain Monday night. We had the slides closed. Since it was going to rain again last night, Craig wanted to sleep up in the Alfa. When we went up and put out the slides we discovered the rug was wet behind the pilot seat and about three feet along the edge of the slide. There were no wet spots on the ceiling. There is a little wet on one of the walls were the water seems to be wicking up from the floor wall joint.

It rained very heavy last night. The wet area did not get bigger or wetter, so we think it only leaked when the slide was closed.

Good News: I've gotten one good answer from BearII on the RV Dreamers forum as to how we can fix it. Seems his Alfa fiver had the same problem.

Good News: The furnace works in the Alfa.

Good News: The County says it will trim the trees on Hutchinson Road. When? Maybe next week! I'll keep my fingers crossed on both the trees and the leak.

Sleeping in the Alfa during a rainstorm was quite interesting to say the least. There was very little wind, no thunder, but we got over an inch of downpour.

I told Craig a tree might fall on us in the night, and then our daughter or son would have to update my blog with "Merikay dies in Alfa and she never got out of the driveway!"

War News

2011-10-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

Several friends have sent me the URL to Howards trial of a product called Mouse Free that he is testing . It is sprayed onto the underside of the RV. It should be interesting to read about his evaluation after a month of having the fiver parked on a ranch lot while he and Linda are gone.

It did not look very easy to apply. He also mentioned that he had sealed any entry cracks and holes he could find with steel wool. So if he has no mice when they come back he really won't know if it was his steel wool work or the Mouse Free. (if he had wanted to do a real test he would not have put the steel wool in, but his main concern is to discourage the mice from getting in any way he can!)

I wonder how long it would be effective and how often you would need to reapply it.

So I've done some reading on The Mouse Free web site and found their warranty. "The product is guaranteed only if applied by an authorized dealer" (estimated cost is $10 per foot which would come to $360 for our rig.) And it must be reapplied by a dealer within 12 months to keep the warranty in effect.

There are a number of exclusions in the warranty and can be read here. Including not applicable if you park within 48" of an overhanging tree or leave a door open. (for how long?)

You can apply it yourself, for what looks like about $130 plus shipping. That's for one gallon and a sprayer. They also have a free shipping and free sprayer deal with two gallons for $199.

For now I'm going to stay on a very vigorous bait and trap program.

At this point the RV is very clean.
No food is in it, and there is no water.

I am not dealing with a BIG infestation. Only a few droppings were spotted, and one mouse was quickly caught.

Yesterday I added six traps in the RV and bays, and bait under it.

I also put three blocks of bait, each on a white paper in two of the largest bays.

This morning I checked them, and the three blocks in the bays were GONE! The traps were undisturbed. I got down and checked the blocks I had put on plastic lids and slid under the rig. From what I could see, none of them looked disturbed.

I replaced the three in the bays and anchored them with string. We shall see if they are disturbed tonight. Sometimes it takes a second feeding.

The good thing is it rained last night, for the first time in months, and the information on the bait package said that after eating it, the rodents will seek water.

The only water is outside. I hope that is where they will go to die!

We shall see.

So thanks for the advice.

For my followers who are not into RVs this may all seem a bit disgusting. Mice are not talked about in "polite" society, but they are a fact of life in the RV world.

Close to nature and all of that.

Bait

2011-10-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

The mouse war goes on:

No more mice have been caught and no other droppings have been sighted.

I am reluctant to put mouse bait inside the coach because I didn't want a mouse to die in some hidden place and smell. I bought some baits that were called All Weather blocks, put them onto plastic container lids and slid them under the RV. I also put three into the bays. Since the bays are empty, I put a sheet of white poster board down under the bait. That way I will be able to see if anyone visits the bait without having to pull it out and examine it. It is much easier to see any droppings on the white than on the dark gray flooring.

When it comes to traps, I favor the black TOMCAT snap traps. There are a couple of cheeper versions that I have bought that have fallen apart. Unfortunately, today was not my day, because both Home Depot and the Rural Supply were out of them.

I really don't like the Victor wood traps. I have never caught anything with one, and they are hard to set. I also do not like the traps where the mouse is supposed to crawl in and not be able to get out again.

The only problem I've had with TOMCATS is that sometimes the rodent will only get a leg caught and either be still alive when I check the trap, or drag the whole thing away. I finally have gotten smart about that and tie the trap to something with a string!

Because I didn't want to come home without any traps, I bought six sticky traps. I have never tried them before, but I figure they will tell me if there is any action. However, since they are one use traps, they are less cost effective than the TomCats.

I put five of them into the bays and one behind the toilet.

I have a TOMCAT baited with peanut butter up front where I caught the one mouse.

I've had a couple of people tell me about Fresh Cab, and about a spray repellent that is advertised. We shall see. My objective is to trap or kill them before they have time to destroy anything or start a family. The Rural Supply said they would have more TOMCATS in, in a few days.

I'd love to get a cat, but it really would do no good. The RV is quite far from the house and a cat that I was keeping as a pet would probably be an indoor cat, eating gourmet food and sleeping on my bed at night!

So thats were I am today. From what I hear from other RVers it is a never ending war. (Caught two in the garage this morning. - mice, not RVers!)

Update: I just ordered a half dozen TOMCATS and some of the FRESH CAB from AMAZON.

I'm ashamed of myself

2011-10-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Given the problems and trials some of my blog friends have had in the last month or so, I' ashamed of myself that I got upset about that stupid mouse.

Erik is dealing with mold in his RV.
Sherly is standing by her Dad as he faces end stage cancer.
Laurie and George lost his house to a flood.
Judy has been stuck in parking lots waiting for repairs for three weeks.

And others have overcome health and rig problems with good attitudes.

Our world is in deep do-do, and many good people are loosing their jobs, their homes, and their hope.

And I'm upset about a mouse.

I'm ashamed. I'll try to do better.

I will take the advice of my friends and get some bait and more traps, but I will also thank the forces that be for all the good things that have happened to me in recent months.

I'm sorry.