Getting Ready to Head to Florida

Sister’s House -- Citrus Heights, CA

As Santa makes his rounds tonight, we have been getting prepared to our departure on Tuesday to head back to Florida.  Tire pressure system totally functional, all 10 tires (6 on motorhome, 4 on car) needed some air due to the colder weather…with Arny’s huge compressor in his garage, that was easy to do.  Started up the engine today to let it warm up a bit, added a quart of oil, a few ounces of antifreeze, and  between the motorhome and HHR, nearly a full gallon of window cleaner solution.  Emptied our waste tanks today, stored the blue tote in Arny’s shed, and filled up the fresh water tank.  Had a few things which I was able to load into the HHR, and just a few things to load on Tuesday.

Last time I saw all three of my kids together was when this picture above, which included mom and dad, was taken at the Elephant Bar and Grill in Emeryville, California in September 2015…that was nearly 28 months ago!   Well, it just so happens that all three are in Sacramento, with their mother, for Christmas.  Plans are that on Tuesday we will have breakfast together before Marcia and I take off for Florida. Mom, Dad, and my sisters Patti and Sandy plan to be there too, but unfortunately Michael’s fiancé Anna will have to work.

Tonight Mom, Dad, Patti, Charlie, Parker (the last two are her dogs), Sandy, Arny, Euleda, Marcia, Skruffy, Bubba and I all had a relaxing, easy and lite Christmas Eve dinner of Arny’s pulled pork over bread or salad, along with Marcia’s lemon shrimp.  Tomorrow all of us, along with Patti’s daughter Ashely and her boyfriend will gather again for a traditional Christmas Petit Jean Ham dinner and gift exchange.  Nothing like Christmas with family, and I love Petit Jean Hams from Arkansas!  48 hours from this post and we should find ourselves in a rest area along I-5.

Bubba’s Not Going to Florida With Us

Sister’s House – Citrus Heights, CA

We have come to my sister’s house each year since our travels started in 2012…this year we stayed here much longer than past years.  It did not take long for Skruffy and Bubba to condition themselves to early 7 am morning treat that their Uncle Arny gives them each and every day.  One time we were here and Arny and Sandy went to Hawaii on a well deserved Vacation…and I had to promise to watch the turtles, feed the squirrels and birds, and of course, give Skruffy and Bubba their morning and afternoon treats.  With Skruffy having Diabetes, her treats have been altered a bit with less than an ounce of pork which I have fried up ahead of time, and half that amount at 4 pm when Sandy gets home from work.  Although these two pictures were taken back in September when it was warm enough to have the door open at 7 am, they are still waiting at the closed door…so excited that they can’t contain themselves, just about each and every morning.Once they get their treat, they do their business, then come back into the motorhome for their breakfast…and with breakfast, skruffy gets her insulin shot.  Since the pork is just part of her breakfast, she can have more in the morning than at 4 pm.  After breakfast, Bubba is let out, and we don’t see him back in the motorhome until 6:30 or 7:00 pm, in time for dinner.

So, what does Bubba do all day if he is not in the motorhome?  He spends his time laying down in “his chair” in their living room….we recently bought a doggie bed to put in the chair, and of course, if he gets a doggie bed, Skruffy gets one too, which is at the top of our bed between our heads. 

Bubba also assists with the feeding of Euleda at lunch and dinner…he makes trips out to the garage where Arny spends much of his afternoons (even mornings during the warmer weather)….and he assists with dinner.  How does a dog assist with lunch and dinner?  By picking up anything that falls…and things fall all the time.  Skruffy can’t be inside during lunch or dinner because she can’t have those little scraps that fall on the ground.  Bubba knows it is his duty, and he does it well.

Back in Florida Bubba cannot be at the condo, which is a no pet zone.  Skruffy is a service dog, so she is exempt.  (I blogged about Skruffy being a Service Dog a few years ago.)  Bubba stays at Marcia’s brother’s house in Tarpon Springs about 7 miles from where we live.  Not saying Bubba has ever been in the condo…but we would see him just about every week, and he was still groomed by me, and we would occasionally pick him up to go to the doggie park, and he would travel with us if we went anywhere for a few days in the motorhome.

When we leave next week, the day after Christmas, we will only be gone for 3 months, because we will be back for dad’s 90th birthday.  Since we won’t be gone very long, and because Bubba loves it here at Uncle Arny’s (and Aunt Sandy…but she is at work so long every Monday through Friday), that I asked them if it was ok if Bubba stays with them.  They agreed.  I have bought two very large bags of dog food (he eats the Diabetic Dog Food that Skruffy eats), will leave 3 months of heart-worm meds, will have him groomed in the next few days, and other than feeding him (including his glucosamine chondroitin msm pill with one meal), giving his heart-worm meds once per month, providing him his treats, giving him love…and take him to the groomers in February.

Bubba does not have too many more years left in him.  He is 14 years old now, is doing well, but is showing his age.  Bubba is Arny’s buddy…if Arny does a quick stop, Bubba might hit his buttocks.  Bubba use to be a runner, running away any chance he got…now he sits at the open garage door just looking out.  We still keep an eye on him, but he won’t run away…he might just wander a bit due to his urge to sniff everything in sight.  Bubba won’t have a new home…just a temporary home that he is very accustomed too…until we return.  We KNOW he will be one happy camper while we are gone, we just hope he will be one happy camper upon our return next year! 

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Hey “SIS”, I put Christmas Stockings up on the Fireplace for you!

Even has your names on it. 

        

We really like your decorations DESPITE not having any stockings on the mantle.  

Super Moon Christmas Lights

Sister’s House -- Citrus Heights, CA

Went out to take pictures of the now finished decorated house that Arny has been working on all week…and got a real good picture, without a tripod, of the Super Moon.

And the layout of their house had the Super Moon floating right over their house!  The car to the left which is hard to see is our HHR, and the motorhome is also just to the left of the house.  The dual driveway is something which really comes in handy, that’s for sure.

  

  

The star light in the upper right corner sits over an attic window right above their family room window.  This area originally was the garage, way before Arny bought the house over 30 years ago.  The Christmas Light Globes hang along the front porch…the larger ones are very old…I had to put new lights in two of them this year, while others just needs a few lights here and there.  The smaller globes, that are Red or White or Blue, are new this year…a good addition.  Most lights are LED, but the three deer and the large globes are mini-lights.  By the front door is this very welcoming Merry Christmas banner which hangs in the garden.

   

The neighborhood is really starting to light up.  The house in the upper left is the one that mom and dad use to live in…now a young man and his wife live there, but “he” is no stranger to the neighborhood because his mother lives right next door in the house he was raised in. 

To help with the fixing of the lights Arny had me order these two gadgets from Amazon.  On the left is the Light Keeper PRO 01201 for $11.50, and on the right is the LED Keeper LED Light Set Repair Tool for $25.50.  The red ones does Mini-Lights, the yellow one does LED lights.  I did the mini-lights, and the tool is real easy to use.  Just run the tip along the plugged in light strand which is not working, and hold the top black button down…it will squeal until it hits a bad bulb. Replace that bulb and if the lights are still not working, just keep running it along the strand until you find all the bad bulbs.  There is also a bulb tester, fuse tester, and there is also the Quick Fix Trigger, which I really did not use.  Arny did the LED lights, and it works similar except that you literally put the wire into the grove at the tip, pull the trigger and it will beep if it is good, won’t beep if it is bad.  Well worth the $40, that’s for sure!