Heading Home, after Breakfast with my Children and Others

Near Harris Ranch, Coalinga, CA

Had breakfast at a Mimi’s Restaurant in Sacramento with my children (Michael, Stephanie and Ryan), and invited their mother Shelley who was also in town (she too has remarried but he stayed back in Arkansas to work and take care of their kids, at least the two or three still living at home), and my sister’s Patti and Sandy, and of course, Mom, Dad and Marcia.  They put us in a back area which is not used until they are busy, and it was quiet, and we all enjoyed talking and visiting and eating. 

ALWAYS good to see the kids, which we do each year…but rarely together.  With Michael (far left and the oldest) living in Sacramento now, the others came to town for Christmas.  Ryan (in the middle and the youngest) drove out from Kansas City, visiting a number of National and State Parks along the way, including the Grand Canyon, Zion and Yosemite, just to name a few.  Stephanie (my only girl and the middle child) flew in from Salt Lake City.  Shelley (their mother and my first wife), flew in from Little Rock on Christmas day.  So NICE to see them together again…it has been a long time…Ryan’s graduation from the University of Arkansas, since my kids and first wife and I had been together. 

After we ate, I got this group shot of the kids with their Grandma and Grandpa.  From left to right, Stephanie, Ryan, Michael, Dorothy and Al.  Dad turns 90 next year, and it's also their 70 wedding anniversary too! Don’t know if all the kids will make the birthday and/or the anniversary…just so happy we got together over the Christmas time this year, and wish Anna (Michael's Fiance) didn't have to work so that she could have joined us!

Around 1:00 pm we were headed out from Sandy and Arny’s house.  First stop, Lodi’s Flying J for gas and especially for propane.  Had some horrific traffic in various areas…looks like a bunch of folks are headed somewhere the day after Christmas.  As we got past Tracy, but before we got to Andersons Soup Restaurant (great Pea Soup at Andersons, although we did not stop this time), there is the California Aqueduct Vista Point that overlooks the San Joaquin Valley to the east, and the coastal range mountains to the west.  Nearing sunset, I just had to stop at this vista…mistake which ended up good.  The mistake, only way to turn around, due to two large semi’s in the circle, was to unhook the car.  The good…well, the view was awesome.  Above is a panoramic of the east, to south, to west.

To the east (above) you can see the inversion layer over the valley.  It looks like mountain in the horizon, under that layer of pink…but it was really smog mix with a small bit of fog. 

To the west was the last of the sun…what a wonderful sunset it was.

It had been a long time since we caught a sunset, and even the motorhome seemed to enjoy it. 

Should have taken a picture of Bubba as I entered the house to say goodbye to the folks, who came over to my sister’s after breakfast, and Arny’s mother Euleda, AFTER I had backed the motorhome out of the backyard, and hooked up the car.  Bubba was right there looking at the empty RV pad…he saw me, turned around and headed for his chair.  He is going to LOVE staying at Sandy and Arny’s, no doubt about it.

Tonight we are staying in a large dirt lot, partially filled with trucks and few RVs, near the Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant near Coalinga, CA…200 miles down, 2,800 miles to go.  Tomorrow, perhaps we will make Kingman Arizona, 425 miles away.  

Birthday Girl, back in the HOT Valley

We enjoyed a couple of days up in Truckee, and headed down to the valley mid-morning, and arrived at 1:00 sharp.  The dogs were over joyed to be back in “Arny Land”, and when Sandy got home from work a little before 4, well, they let her know that they missed her too.

Today is Marcia’s birthday.  Mom had chicken and rice, and Sandy brought a shrimp, scallop, clam sauce linguini dish that Arny made the day before.  Marcia did not want to a “big thing” for her birthday, and I plan to take her out for some Greek food in the next few days.

It was 85 when we arrived, and by 4 pm it was hitting 90.  Now that is not nearly as hot as some of the temps we encountered over the summer, and some of the temps we missed when we escaped up to the Washington coast back in August…but it was the hottest temps we had encountered for a few weeks now.  And at nightfall in Utah and up in Truckee it immediately seems to get to 70 and then it falls quickly from there.  It was 36 degrees this morning when we awoke.  It is past 9 pm right now and still in the mid to low 70’s.  Can’t complain about those temps, but sure is warmer than what we have been used to over the past few weeks.  At least the triple digit temps are over…or at least we hope they are over.

 

There are a few ‘minor’ items that I need to take care of, which I will share in my next post in a few days.  Overall, we have been very happy with the performance of the motorhome over the past few months.  I think all motorhome and RV owners know that there is “always something” that needs to be done….just how it is.

There’s No Place Like Home

The only thing in common Dorothy (of Wizard of Oz) and Dorothy (better known as “mom”) have in common is that both of them know that “There’s No Place Like Home”.  After getting mom breakfast, and later lunch, I returned a few hours later to find this scene.  Yep, there is no place like home.

Even the yapping of both dogs in their backyard, letting the neighboring dogs know they were visiting Grandma, did not seem to wake either of them.

  

   

After her nap I told mom it was time to get up and go outside for a short walk….just can’t sit around sleeping all day now can we?  She loves her garden…after living in a Independent Living situation as they did back in the Kansas City area, and then in an Apartment here in Citrus Heights for nearly two years, it is nice to have flowers and plants and a place outside she can call her own.

Marcia got mom the three swans, which in time will have plants in them, as a welcome home present.  They fit so nicely right behind the bench, and will look super once we get plants in them.  

   

   

The nearly 150 plants that I added to her garden have really helped to fill in the front area. She is so happy, and can’t wait until she can walk better so that she could get a better look at them all.  The Marigolds are starting to fill in real nice, and from I can tell, I have only lost one so far, and it might spring back in the next week if I am lucky.

Sister Sandy stayed the night over there Friday, but it went so well, they said they would be fine tonight alone.  After all, we are only a phone call away, and can be over there in a minute or so if an emergency situation developed.  Hard to believe that an 84 year old could have such major surgery and be home so quickly…..no pain, getting stronger each day, and with the physical therapy and home nursing monitoring her situation starting on Monday, things are only going to get better and better.

Mom Home-Visit for Father’s Day

Today we kidnapped mom from the Skilled Nursing Facility and brought her home for Father’s Day.  She was OVERJOYED to be able to get out into the sunshine, fresh air, and among family members.  (Ok, we really did not kidnap her….they allowed her to come home for up to 4 hours.)

Of course, if we are eating together, then it must be another barbeque, and Arny did up some more of his delicious ribs.  That’s sister Patty over talking to him, and Bubba is doing what Bubba does best, watching and following Arny’s every move.  

Mom had a call from my oldest brother Jim and his wife Carol from Texas.

  

Upper left is Marcia, sisters Patty, Sandy and Donna.  Upper right is Donna, Patty’s daughter Ashley, Sandy, and Patty.  Bottom is Arny, Dad, Ashley between her grandparents, and the star of the day…mom.  Yes, it was Father’s Day, but the best gift for all us Fathers was having mom home for Father’s Day Dinner and a relaxing day.

  

Sandy and Patty got back from their week trip down south and over to Las Vegas…Sandy had some funny stories about the trip, one of those “you have to be there as she told the story” type of things.  She laughed so hard she couldn’t even talk at times…. brought back memories of our childhood when she would do the same....of course, having four brothers egging her on didn't help one bit back then.  I heard from each of my kids and I only wish mom could have had all her kids together…perhaps another day soon. 
It was a WONDERFUL Father’s Day for all....hope you all had a good day too.

A Weak Week

Has it really been a week already since my last post?  YUP, it has.  And to think, it was just a few days ago I emailed Mary-Pat, writer of Butterflies and Heart Songs blog asking her if she was ok because she had not posted for a week or more.  The difference, of course, is that she travels alone, and she is currently on the road…..so I got a bit worried.  Ask my mom, it is just my nature to worry about stuff like that.  As a young child my questions would be, “Are we going to be late?”, “Are you sure we are going the right way?”, “Where are we going to stay at?”, and, of course, the ever famous questions while our VW Bus is at a red light near the corner of Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco around 1967, “Are those hippies over there?”  Of course the list can go on and on and on….  Then Lynn, who write the "Life with Lynnie" blog posted on our blog a remark about not seeing anything for awhile.  I thought, hey, can't a guy have a few days off....and then I looked and say it had been 8 days.  Well, here you go...

Before I talk about the “Weak Week”, how about explaining the picture above first.  That is a WONDERFUL dog park in Tarpon Springs, not far from the sponge docks (which is currently our blog header picture).  The dog park opened less than a year ago, includes two very large fenced in areas, one for small dogs and one for large dogs.  It is around a ten minute drive from the condo, and it is on the way to where Bubba stays.

      

As you can see, the dogs love it…except there is just one slight problem….that is NOT Bubba in the picture above with Skruffy.  Bubba was still over at Mike’s house….this was a four month old Cocker that is a splitting image of Bubba, although slightly smaller for now….just give it another month and it will be Bubba’s size…another month or two and it will be bigger than Bubba. 

As new dogs arrive, there is always the ritual of the “sniff”.  In the far back, other side of the fence, you can see the Bubba look-a-like coming toward the gate.

You can see what a nice park it is for the furry kids.  This was taken on Tuesday, just after a heavy rain that we had on Sunday/Monday.  What a great day to get out…and since Skruffy was stuck inside most of Sunday and all day Monday, well I felt she deserved a quick run over to the park.  Marcia was a good girl, she stayed glued to her computer while we were gone….

….although the washer was running when we got back, and I can sware it was off when we left!
Speaking of “washer”, it has been acting up ever since we moved to the condo, and probably even when we got back from our 2012 trip.  It just was not rinsing right, and some items, dark shirts and pants especially, were coming out blotchy.  Then last Thursday, the dryer just would not turn on…nothing at all except a slight tone and quick flash of lights when it was plugged back into the electrical outlet.  Monday the appliance repair guy came by.  Now I have fixed many a washer and dryer before, but these are Fisher Paykel brand….the dryer being a top loader.  They are made in Australia, and I just did not feel comfortable about opening them up, and Marcia did not feel comfortable about that either.  The bottom line is that the dryer had a loose circuit board…so when you pushed the “on” button, it would not engage the electrical switch.  That was an easy fix.  The washer we (repair guy and I) thought was going to be a control board….which run about $175 just for the board.  The repair guy went out to his van and he was out there for a long time….and then comes in talking on his phone.  He did not feel good about the diagnostics, and called Fisher and Paykel in Australia to talk to a tech person there.  Bottom line, it is such a sophisticated washer that it can be programed to have a deep cycle rinse, which we wanted, or a light spray rinse, which is needed in areas where water is scarce.  So he showed me how to program it, and we are good to go now.

Now don’t get me wrong, it was not a “bad week” or even a “hard week”….it was just a “weak week”.  Did not get as much done as I wanted, didn’t do anything outside of the dog park visit to take pictures of, just not a strong week.  Of course, when my parents see the title of Weak Week, their first thoughts are going to be, “That boy just did not know how to spell the proper “week” to represent a part of a month again.”  Yep, this “X-Librarian” flunked spelling. Never one to read fiction books very much, heck, mom would say I hardly read at all.  But I would devour the Readers Digest when it arrived, and I did enjoy some good non-fiction books, especially if they were about the “Old West” or “World War II”.  And if it was about the American Civil War, well, that was typically a real winner.

But this past week we enjoyed some quiet time, thought about looking at the taxes (and that is as far as it got), had a guy come over to give us an estimate on doing our enclosed patio with real glass (still awaiting the bid figures, but it cannot be done before we left since they are scheduling jobs for May as of now), learned a lot about the washer and dryer…and next time I might just tackle it myself, went to church on Sunday where Marcia’s Granddaughter Alisa dropped in for church and we all went to dinner and came back to the condo for a visit (she actually took the picture of Marcia with my camera), attended church Wednesday night, and had dinner with Marcia’s cousins Polly and Goldie (actually her first husbands cousins).  Polly actually owns a condo here too, lives in Chicago most of the year but gets away from the cold for January-March each year, and Goldie lives here in Florida, but comes over and stays with Polly when Polly is in town.  Well, I guess I “could have” taken some more pictures….but to do that, you have to pick up the darn camera and push a button or two.     And just in case anyone was wondering…no, it was not us that won the Mega Millions Lottery, to win, you have to play, which we don’t do with that lottery (and rarely with others).

I would be remiss if I did not mention RVillage, the new website for RV’ers who want to keep in touch with other people who love to travel in an RV.  I am not a fan of Facebook, but I do like RVillage and feel that it will be a great asset as a fellow traveler.  It is still in beta form, which means all the bugs are not worked out, and they are very open to suggestions on how to make it better.  I know some have worried about putting out there the parks they are currently staying in…but it looks like there will be some privacy options available soon which will deal with those concerns.

  

And finally, every year for the past few years I play a NCAA bracket game with my kids.  This year I have Florida taking it all…and this year we each have a different winner.  Not sure how it will turn out, since the games are just beginning today, but at last check, my daughter Stephanie was leading the “boys” (dad is one of the boys), so I am sure she is on cloud nine, even if it is just for a day.  Oh, and why Florida?  Well, Alisa is from Florida, and of course, my heart is with Arkansas who just missed out of the tournament this year.  On Sunday Alisa showed me a picture she took while at a sports store recently….it was a trash can…with the Arkansas Hog on it.  She said, “I just had to take a picture because it seemed so appropriate.”  So now it is my turn for revenge…I am betting that my picking Florida will jinx them out of the tournament….. not today, because they did win today, but perhaps in the higher rounds when the pressure is really on.