And I thought I was dull before!

 Wow, it's been an entire month since I updated the blog and, honestly, it has been pretty dull.  We've had a few doctor visits but the only thing we did that was really interesting was that we went to San Diego for a quick trip to the zoo.  And I have zero photos of it!  

We really wanted to have Gus get to spend a couple days in the local kennel and going to San Diego seemed like a great opportunity.  I guess he did ok in the kennel and he was ok with us when we got him back so maybe that will work out.  We hope to travel without him once in a while so getting him comfortable in a kennel is a requirement.  So far it looks like this will work out.

San Diego is about a 5 hour drive from here so, what with our not-early start, Tuesday was mostly about getting to the city.  We did have one weird thing happen.  We got in the HOV lane when we were going along on I-215 and the GPS told us we had to get off the highway.  We did that then the GPS was telling us to get back onto the highway!  Apparently it thought the HOV lane was some other road entirely.  That's certainly never happened before.  We also weren't too taken with the signage on the highway having the Interstate being subordinate to other roads.  We had to get off the highway several times to remain on I-215.  It just seemed weird to us.

We stayed in a motel we've used before, the Old Town Inn.  It is walking distance to the Old Town area so we got to walk around there a bit and found a Mexican seafood restaurant for dinner.  It was really very nice.  We ate outside and it was quite comfortable.  Wednesday we spent at the zoo.  These days the zoo is $120 for two senior one day passes.  Hmmm, it is certainly not for the poor people.  

We had a nice lunch with a bottle of wine then promptly got lost looking for various exhibits.  It was fun though.  We'd parked our car under some solar panels that are joined up to charge electric vehicles.  It takes quite a few panels to charge a car so some of us old gas guzzlers can park in the shade too.  We'd had a late lunch so dinner just turned into snacks.  

The next day we headed back home.  We took I-15 rather than I-215 this time and it worked much better!  Then before we hit the California border we came across a lane closure to fix one lane of a two lane bridge.  Somehow that turned into a 40 minute delay!  Grrr!  We finally made it to Baker, CA where we had a late lunch at The Mad Greek.  It has been a favorite stop on the trip for years but it closed for at least a year over the Covid problem.  Anyway, it's back now.

Other that that little trip it's been quiet times here.  There is a 'monsoon' season over in Las Vegas and they have had flooding and all kinds of stuff.  We had a couple little showers but nothing special.  My wife did find a puddle outside one morning and we had to record that.

Otherwise we've had some nice sun rises but not much going on.

So that's all the news that's fit to print from this end of the world.  I hope things are good where you are.  Take care & keep washing those hands.

Travel? Me?

Well, yes!  My wife and I just returned from a quick trip to San Diego.  She was born there and really does love the city but the big draw is that Number 1 Son and his SO live just outside the city.  So we like to go down every now and then to torture them.  We spent the weekend doing just that then added on a couple days so we could do some tourist stuff.

Driving down there was absolutely the worst trip we've ever made down there.  First we got stuck in a traffic jam out in the middle of nowhere thanks to a traffic accident.  Then we got slowed down for no apparent reason at all.  Granted there are plenty of cars on those roads but usually they just kind of carry on with it.  Anyway we left here at 09:30 and didn't get there until 17:00 which was at least 2 hours later than we should have been.  We had fun with the family finding a couple new places to eat and just generally catching up.  By Monday they had to go back to work so we got out fairly early.  My wife is the travel planner and she had found us a place called the Old Town Inn.  It is within walking distance of Old Town and was quite nice.

The first day on our own we spent shopping then wandering around Old Town.  We escaped buying a small scuplture by the skin of our teeth but we both know we'll be back in town again.  If it is still calling to us we might have figured out a place for it by then.  The second day we went to the zoo.  We love to visit the zoo and it really is quite the place.  This time it was a little warm, well a lot warm, but otherwise pretty great.

There were quite a few babies born this year so we got to see some of the young animals.  Giraffes are pretty tall even when young!

There are even wild animals living at the zoo.  Wild as in not official residents!  I'm pretty sure the bunny doesn't have a keeper.

Of course the flamingos are amazing even when sleeping!  There was another one walking up and down the fence line demanding attention from the visitors.  Nope, no one had anything to feed him.

We had fun checking out the baby monkeys.  These two were having a great time playing hide-and-seek.

As I said, it was warm and everyone (and everything) was liking the shade.

Of course the zoo is really pretty large and we only got to see about half of it.  If this was the only time we could visit we would have stayed but having seen about half of the acreage we decided to  head back to the motel.  We walked over to a restaurant in Old Town and had dinner then back to the room for an early night.  The next morning we were at breakfast at 06:00 when they open it up and were out of town soon after.  This time we only had one slowdown so made it home by noon.  Much better!

Thanks for stopping by.  Take care.

I'm doing well - 1 post a month!

Hi there.  I hate to admit it but I have exactly no excuse for not blogging this year.  We've mostly been home, haven't been sick or anything, don't have a new job.  Nothing.  I guess the best I can come up with is that I'm just lazy.  And that is certainly not a new condition for me! 

January and February were really pretty nice around here; we even flirted with 70F (21C) on the odd day.  I feel for all those folks in the midwest and east where they are having such a lousy winter.  It was so nice that all the weeds started growing in our yard and I had to go after them with the Roundup.  Our daughter and her new boyfriend (40ish) have been out from Vegas a couple times.  He can't get over how quiet it is out here.  We were doing pretty good taking our daily walk but then we got a cold spell with consistant 15 mph (24 kph) breezes and that keeps us off the walk. 

No one has been doing any building in the valley for several years.  I remember 3 or 4 years back where there were 17 new construction permits issued all year for the entire county.  Now people are building again and entire neighborhoods are under construction.  There have been three new houses built in our vicinity and now someone is building one right in our neighborhood.  We walk past it every day.  Hopefully they will be able to sell it.  One new problem is that the state is requiring that the purchaser of a piece of land buy 'water rights'.  Up until now it was possible to just buy a piece of land and dig a well on it.  Now you have to pay the state quite a lot of money (I've read somewhere about $10,000) to dig that well.  Needless to say there is quite a backlash from the "Don't Tread on Me" crowd and I must say the state has been rather heavy-handed about the whole thing.  The problem is that people build places out here then pretend they are living in Georgia and think they can have trees and grass and flowers just like people who live in rainy climes.  We just don't have unlimited water.

We did take a trip down to visit parts of Southern California.  We visited Joshua Tree National Monument where we got in a little hiking.  We went down to San Diego, of course, to see Number One Son & his girlfriend of 23 years.  And on the way home we stopped in Palm Springs for a couple of days.  That was kind of interesting.  There is so much 'history of the stars' sort of thing.  I guess it would be appealing to some folks but the town is changing a lot so I'm not sure where it is going now. 

A few photos:  we'll start with hiking in Joshua Tree.  Turns out we didn't take a single photo of a Joshua Tree!  But there were plenty of boulders!

Farther on there was a cholla walk.  This was a short trail through an area where there are an abnormal concentration of cholla cactus.  Some were nearly 10 feet tall!

Driving down those backroads in California is a totally different experience from the freeways of LA.  You didn't meet many cars and the speed limit was mostly 55 mph (88kph).  We also saw several signs warning that there were no services for 80-100 miles (125-160 km). 


Next we spent time in the foothills northeast of San Diego where our son lives.  There are several wineries in the area and we visited one that had a huge sculpture garden:  the Salerno Winery.

It was quite nice and totally free.  We were somewhat put off by the fact they seemed to want to serve food rather than wine tasting so toured the garden and left.  I cannot say anything at all about their wine.  (That's a first!)

Coming back through Palm Springs was interesting.  Of course the first thing we wanted to check out was the Tramway up to Mt. San Jacinto State Park.  There are two cars on the opposite ends of a line so when one goes up the other goes down.  They move people through the place pretty efficiently and you get a timed ticket.  Ours were for 13:00.  Here's the view from the waiting area.  I didn't get a photo of it but one of the cars came down with two maintenance workers hitching a ride on top!  Clearly it's the easiest and cheapest way to get folks up there but you've gotta like heights.

The cars are round and they rotate so you get to see lots.  Once you get to the top they mostly want to sell you food or beverages.  My wife and I split a $15 beer - a large beer and good but $15? 

From the top of the tramway you can actually go hike in the state park but most of us just ohh and ahh and head back inside.  Especially when it was 16F (-9C) and spitting snow.  The view of the city is pretty spectacular.  What I found more interesting was the HUGE wind farm.  The photo shows possibly a third of it; it was massive.  While waiting to go down you can see some of the mechanical parts that make the tram go up and down.  Coming down you can see the sights again.  I spent more time looking at the actual tramway.  Here is a car that we are helping pull up by the weight of our car.

There is a recorded story while in the tram that talks about how the thing was built by having everything brought up via helicopter.  You can see one of the landing stages that is probably still in use for maintenance work.  There are a few trails as well. 

 So that was our visit to the Palm Springs Tramway. 

The other big deal that we checked out was the  Living Desert Zoo and Gardens.  The zoo is divided into two parts:  Africa and North America.  The animal exhibits were nice.  They put compatible species together in the same area quite often.

Some of the exhibits were totally child oriented but most were for children of all ages.  (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)  There was a lot of information about various desert plants as well which we, as desert residents, appreciated.  I could see where it might get kind of boring for someone from Ohio.  One thing that they don't talk a lot about is the model train exhibit.  They claim it is the largest G-size exhibit in the world.  It was spectacular.  This photo is about a huge canyon.  It made up 15-20% of the total area of the exhibit. 

That concludes our travel for the year.  So far.  By car.  Travelling by car is kind of different for us and it's got it's own challenges.  Motels can be weird.  Finding meals likewise.  Neither of us is ready to give up on the RV but this is a new interest.  We'll see what happens.

We got home and Pahrump had it's annual Balloon Fest.  It is a three day weekend thing that usually works well.  This year, unfortunately, the balloons were only in the air on the Saturday as Friday and Sunday were both too windy. 

I guess that's all the news that's fit to print from around here.  Thanks for stoping by.

Life in the fast lane - NOT!

I haven't been blogging because the hightlight of my days has been our annual fight with weeds in the yard.  Exciting stuff, huh.  We usually buy at least one new sprayer every year; they just get clogged up or stop holding pressure or whatever.  Then we go over the lawn.  This year we used about 10 gallons (38 l) of spray on the first go-round then another 5 gallons (19 l) when the tiny weeds had grown a bit.  I'm thinking there are another 2 gallons (8 l)  in my future since there are yet more of the tiny guys popping out. The weather has been quite mild so the weed population has been enjoying life. 

Otherwise we did manage a trailer trip to San Diego.  Our son and his girlfriend live there and we like to check up on them from time to time.  The trip over was uneventful.  We normally stay in the same park since we love the view of the water.  They keep raising the rates but we just have to do it.  Their wifi is almost non-existant so that is the bad news.  Still, being without the internet for a week is probably good for the soul. 

Our trailer has a picture window in the back so when we back into our space we get a great view.  Sunsets can be great.

There are always people to watch.  In this case rowing crews out practicing.

The traffic is always awful and this time we seemed to hit rush hour more than usual.  Of course driving this huge truck doesn't help any.  It also doesn't help that the city has taken roads designed for two lanes in each direction and changed them to three lanes in each direction without actually widening the street.  Those lanes are narrow!  The streets are also very poorly maintained.  I think they do a lousy job here at home but they are superstars compared to the work done in San Diego. 

We did spend a day at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  We did really enjoy the day but I have to admit to thinking it's pretty expensive.  Adult tickets are $52 and if you want to go on some of the tours the prices go up fast.  I could see a family of four dropping $500 quite easily.  At some point we got thirsty and discovered that a bottle of water is nearly $5. 

Still, it's fun to watch the animals.  These elephants had some hay in a bin up above them but there was more hay hidden in that round toy.  Only one trunk would fit at a time so the big guy was hogging it.

I also liked this shot of the giraffe drinking.  He must have been doing good because he was there for quite a while.

Of course none of us had a camera; my wife's camera battery was dead, our son doesn't own one and I left mine at home.  Grrr!  At least we got a few cellphone photos. 

So, that's my  life these days.  A little weed killing and a little animal watching - as I said, life in the fast lane.  Thanks for stopping by!

Home again...

We decided that since with had the trailer out we'd head out on a road trip.  Not a very long one, just over to San Diego to see Number One Son, Significant Other and the sights.  It was a good week.  Long enough to see stuff; short enough to still be happy in the trailer when we got back. 

What do you think the odds are that in a place where we get maybe 2" of rain a year that it would be raining when we hooked up?  Small odds for sure.  Now what are the odds that it would be raining when we unhooked a week later?  Tiny, right?  But that's what happened.  Rain around here is usually like mist in other places but we had it going on both when we hooked up on the 22nd and when we unhooked on the 1st of March.  Not only that it was really raining (by anyone's measure) when we hooked up to leave San Diego.  Jeez! 

The trip down was pretty uneventful except there was some kind of traffic slowdown on Cajon Pass so rather than worrying about keeping everything down to a reasonable speed we got to worry about getting to the park before they closed.  The GPS estimated our arrival at 15:30 when we set out but we actually made it to the part at 16:55; only 5 minutes before the office closes.  Doing 6-7 mph for the entire length of the pass makes quite a difference!  The uphill side was going fine; it was just the downhill side that had the problem.  We called the California DOT hotline but they didn't know of any problem and we didn't see one.  Who knows; it's just California traffic.  

We got one of our usual spots overlooking Mission Bay. 

It's expensive but we get that water fix whenever we look out the window.  Water, boats, ducks; what's not to like?

We managed to hit Pacific Beach a couple times.  It's fun walking along doing people watching.  We saw this one guy who was shirtless; he must kiss the mirror every time he looks in one.  Then there was the woman who had some obvious help in the bra department who also thought that 5 lb. of makeup was appropriate for the beach.  Wow, some poeple.  Happily they were the minority!  We also went to IKEA.  I know it's not to everyones taste but I like seeing different things and IKEA has it's own style.  I believe they are planning a store in Las Vegas but that's down the pike a ways.  One of the most fun things was going to the Poway Farmer's Market (son lives around there).  It was fun looking at all the stuff and we got a couple little items.  The stalls were really into organic almost anything.

Trip home was pretty much like the trip going except we were spared the slowdown.  Instead we got rain most of the way!  The forecast was for wind and snow above 4,000 feet so I was happy enough with the rain.  We got here to find an entire weeks newspapers thrown in our yard.  The delivery person apparently doesn't read the 'hold' notices.  Needless to say we aren't impressed.  The paper is my wife's thing so she is trying to figure out if she wants to cancel the subscription or if they can manage to convince her to keep them on.  We'll see.

Now that we are home; I can BBQ again so I'm off to the store looking for a likely subject.  Maybe I'll even remember to take a photo.  Thanks for stopping by.

Another week...

Well, I haven't been gone for multiple weeks anyway!  We had a nice time in San Diego.  Number One Son & his SO have bought a house and we got to help them move in .  They are pretty private, even with us, so we just got to move some of the larger pieces.  Still, it was fun.  I think they were kind of surprised that a couple old fogies like us could actually lift furniture.  I remember helping move friends back in the 1980's; we did sometimes find 'marital secrets' like sex toys & lubes.  Nothing really all that nasty, just a bit embarrassing for the couple. 

Got back home last Sunday and have been cooling it since then.  Went into Las Vegas for our usual liquor and Sam's Club run on Thursday.  Got a free lunch at Number One Daughter's house.  She is actually learning to cook!  We had a nice lunch of chicken and roasted vegies.  I think I had three helpings of the vegies!  Then we managed to find the only rude employee of Total Wine and the world's slowest checkout person but otherwise it was ok.  She even managed to use the PLU codes from my phone to get us a couple of discounts.  Coming home it was pretty windy and I was getting sleepy but we managed it.

Now we are getting the Nevada version of a rain storm; a few drops on the concrete and plenty of wind.  It's not very exciting but what can I say?  Maybe we'll get some real rain next year.  Snow, nah, it's for the East Coast and the Canadian's out there.  LOL  Do you know, we actually have to have federal flood insurance here?  Yep, another instance of our wonderful government taking care of us - or at least making us pay to take care of ourselves!  This is considered to be part of the Mohave Desert after all.  Maybe there is something kind of screwy logic there but that's for the really 'smart' people to discover.  On the other side of the coin, I will say that since I've gone onto Medicare we are saving $600 a MONTH from what we were paying for my wife's company supported health insurance policy.  Hmmm, nothing wrong with that!

Gotta go.  Thanks for stopping by & hope you have a great day.

I just don't know!

The title of this post should be either "On the Road Again" or "I've fallen off the blogging wagon and can't get up".  Because we are kind of on the road but I sure haven't been blogging!  Anyway, here's the scoop.

We put a new closet system in our master bedroom closet but first, of course, we had to paint the room.  It was a giant pain!  So then we install this closet; we like the style we chose because you mount a bar thing on the wall and hang everything off it.  This way nothing is touching the floor & you can easily vacuum under it.  So now the attached bathroom and toilet room look kind of dull.....  You can see where this is going of course.  Our house has 10 foot ceilings (> 3m) so there is lots of climbing around on ladders, even on the counters!  It's enough to make me want an ibuprofen just writing about it.  Here is proof that I actually can work!

Of course this would also be the ideal time to replace the lights in the bathroom which we have never liked.  We go into Home Depot where we have looked at the lights many times.  This time however we come to a stop in front of one and say, almost in unison, 'I kind of like that one'.  So now we have added a little electrical work to the project.  Grrr!  Among the three fixtures we replaced one was wired incorrectly and another is slightly different.  Hmmm, same manufacturer, same SKU, different light; this is just depressing.  However we pressed on; put the odd light where it is alone on the wall.  I doubt any but someone with OCD would ever notice.  The wiring was no big deal but in killing the breaker we discovered that the bathroom lights are on the same breaker with 1) the other bath room on the other side of the house, 2) the garage, 3) the outside lights and 4) both spare bedrooms.  Our neighbor insists the guy who wired the house was very good but I'm holding out for weird.  We did finally get the room put back together a week ago yesterday. 

A week ago today we pulled the trailer out of it's storage area and up to the house where we could load it.  By Sunday morning we were headed out for San Diego where Number One Son lives.  He and his SO have just bought their first house and we were overdue for a trip here anyway.  So we've been doing the sightseeing thing interspersed with seeing the house and helping them move.  Yes, that calls for more ibuprofen!  The good news is that they found a nice little house in a pretty good neighborhood. It is badly in need of new paint but otherwise quite nice.  Owning it should be a great way for them to help the local economy; at least the home fix-up part of the economy.

It hasn't been all work though; this park is way expensive but this is the view out of our rig.  We get to look at ducks here; not so many sparrows or finches.

And we've been sightseeing.  We finally got to see the mission.  The original mission is kind of off the tourist loop.  It is called Mission San Diego de Alcala.  It is no where near any other tourist attractions so just gets missed.  Too bad because it is nicely restored and quite a lovely place.  Here is the front of the church.

The mission included much more than the church but, of course, that's the point of the place.  It is hardly the original building.  The first was destroyed by an attack in 1775.  The second was destroyed by earthquakes in the early 1800's.  By the 1920's there wasn't a lot left but it's been rebuilt again and again.  In 1976 Pope Paul VI declared it a minor basilica.  This is the interior today.

Quite plain but also very nice.  I think it would be a great place to spend some time in contemplation.  Our next move is to spend some time relaxing then heading home on Sunday.  We might even visit the zoo! 

Thanks for checking in.  Have a good one.

San Diego sadness

We did have a very nice time visiting San Diego; did lots of tourist stuff, had a great parking spot, looked at water a lot since we can't do that here at home but there was one very large downside:  no dog.  We had stayed in this same park once before and taking the same walk we took last time only with no dog was pretty sad.  There is an excellent place for walking, complete with little doggie bags so you can pick up after Rover, but we had no dog.  We still have the cat and he is an annoying little sh!t but it's not the same.  Well, we'll just have to get over it.

We have an appointment to have the trailer axles lubed next Wednesday over in Las Vegas.  We are taking the trailer back to the people who sold it to us.  They want us to get there early so they can get us out the same day.  It shouldn't be too tough but who knows.  We had Camping World lube the axles on our old trailer and that was the start of a number of problems.  They didn't bother to use the right size dust caps so they came off, spread grease all over & just generally made a mess.  Of course, without grease, the bearings went south.  It was bad.  I don't think I've been back to a Camping World since.  After getting the maintenance done, we'll put the trailer away until our trip next summer.

It's funny how the human mind works; or at least how mine works!  I was reading a guy's blog and he discovered that his car is without an oil dipstick.  We've had the Toyota for three years and I don't remember ever looking under the hood so of course I had to rush out to the garage and look to see if it has a dipstick.  Sure enough; in fact it has one for the engine and one for the transmission.  I don't really care but if I hadn't gone to check, it would have bothered me until I did.  I'm so easy!  The car is coming up on 29,000 miles so I'll be taking it off to the dealer one of these days to have it serviced.  This driving to Vegas is getting habit forming.

I've been trying to figure out if I should take the truck over for an oil change.  The thing is that it was due 'by time' in January but we really haven't used it much so we are about 3,000 miles short of needing to change it 'by mileage'.  Seems kind of silly to change it but I would like that engine to keep going for a long time.  I imagine I'll split the difference and take it to get fresh oil just before our summer trip.

Well, that's all the wheeled news that's fit to print.  Have a good one! 

What a difference....

Wednesday was our last day in San Diego.  We didn't do much.  Went down to the beach, walked around a bit and had lunch.  Life in the fast lane, etc!  Here was where we were walking on Wednesday.

The day started out a little overcast but by the time we made it to the beach it was about 75F (24C) and just lovely.  The wind picked up a bit after a while but it wasn't tough to take.  We stopped along the way at a restaurant associated with a wave pool:  the Wavehouse.  It wouldn't have been my choice but it was there.  We were surprised to have a very nice meal!  I had some excellent fish tacos while my wife had some really tasty chicken wings.  Yes, just pub grub, but really nicely done!  My tacos had a really nice creama and her wings weren't slathered with sauce but were just perfectly coated.  Amazing stuff!

Thursday was spent mainly in the truck but Friday morning found us out walking again.  Scenery a bit different though.  This is our normal walk; out in the desert near our house but  definitely not developed!  That black object is our dog, running ahead to be sure the route is safe.  It's good to be home!

Friday and Saturday were spent finding out all the things that had changed during our week away.  Isn't that sad!  I'm becoming my parents!  But isn't that pretty much the way of the world?  We are taught our parents values and beliefs but then are left to apply them to a world that is, sometimes, substantially different.  In 1954 my dad was 50 years old; in a job he wasn't fond of:  supervising a bunch of independently owned 'dime stores'.  On tv, Jackie Gleason was hitting his wife Joyce so hard that she would end up on the moon.  In 1988 I was 40; we had put men on the moon (didn't find Joyce!) and pretty much decided not to try again.  We were still tired out and pissed off from our efforts at being the worlds policeman in Vietnam.  I was ending a relatively short career with AT&T and going on to an 'interesting time' working for PACCAR.  Be careful what you wish for, grasshopper! 

Have a good one!

Still around....

This park was REALLY full when we got here; like there were one or two empty spaces in the whole place.  I mentioned that we had to ask two people to move their cars so we could get into our space.  Since Sunday though it is a lot more quiet.  Here's a shot of the trailer & truck in our space.

As I said, it's a parking lot.  But it is pretty quiet and there is a nice place to walk the dog.  Speaking of dogs, every rig seems to have a couple.  The people behind us only have one but their neighbor has two, the people a space down from us have three.  Jeez. 

We have a quiet day planned for today; just going out to the beach and hanging out.  We might even get our feet wet!  This week has been a good one for walking; my wife's pedometer has registered over 10,000 steps twice.  For us that's a new record.  Not that I'm fading away or anything, no worry about that!  Tomorrow we will pack up and head for home.  Compared to most people here we have nothing with us so it won't take too long to pack up.  Most folks have at least a shade canopy and a couple of bikes outside their rig.  We enjoy staying in the trailer but it's always good to be headed home.

Have a good one!

GRRR! Google is doing an Apple

As of a couple days ago I started getting a message when I log into Blogger - "Your browser is no longer supported by Blogger.  Some parts of Blogger will not work and you may experience problems.  If you are having problems, try Google Chrome."  Grrr!  That's the reason I hate Apple, they try very hard to force you into using all their proprietary shit.  Now Google is doing the same thing!  Double Grrr!

I'm going to go on using Firefox as long as I can.  I've got a copy of Chrome but have been avoiding using it simply because I don't want to.  It's probably a perfectly good browser, maybe better than Firefox but, it's the principle of the thing.  What a bunch of jerks.

We have decided our trip up to Washington was a success based on a new criteria:  we are willing to get into the trailer again!  Sometimes we just don't look forward to another trip.  This time we are already planning a trip to San Diego and LA.  Again we are talking just a couple weeks rather than a whole month; we are thinking that is part of the difference.  We also didn't have many long days on the road.  We think that makes the trip much harder. 

I assume everyone has heard of the possible malware that is supposed to infect your computer and makes it impossible to convert DNS codes to legible names.  If you haven't heard, this hack was done quite a while ago but was caught by the FBI and foreign security services.  However, the only way they could figure out to keep people from crashing was to substitute temporary servers for the hacked ones.  Now they need to remove those temporary servers so if your computer won't talk to the internet on Monday, lucky you!  Do a search on 'DNS problem' or something and you'll find sites to help figure out if you are infected and what to do about it.

I found a book at the local Friends of the Library store about chili.  Written in 1981 it is 'The Great American Chili Book'.  The author talks about chili (the soup) as a food, then offers some recipes.  Some are interesting, one or two might even be useful.
- chili from the U.S. Army Tm 10-412 - start with 24 lb ground beef....
- chili for 600 - 25 lb dried ancho chile pods!
- mountain oyster chili - 2 lb calf testicles....
Some of the folks have strong opinions:  "This business of putting tomatoes in a dish of chili is an abomination, and anyone who would do such a thing should be forced to consume a whole fried chicken cooked in castor oil."  You can bet I'll be modifying my chili making in the near future.  Not to say I'll be stealing a recipe but making some modifications to my own. 

Gotta go.  Have a good one.

Home again

Hi there, y'all; we been gone!  Took a quick trip from here to San Diego.  It's about a 6 hour drive since we 1) tow our trailer and 2) obey California's STUPID 55 mph (88kph) speed limit for people towing.  Geez, it gripes my butt every time I think about it.  Here you have a bunch of untutored, text-messaging assholes flying along at a legal 70 mph (112 kph) and they are having to dodge a vehicle, a big cumbersome vehicle, that is doing 15 mph (24 kph) less.  Grrrr!

Had a great trip though.  We had rain here the night before we left so when we got over the mountains into California there had been run-off.  There was dried mud across the road many places and in one place we found several inches (say 15 cm, I didn't measure it!) of water flowing across the road.  We left about 09:00 on Sunday and got there by 15:30 or so.  The only bad part of the drive was around Riverside, CA where I-215 is being worked on; has been for the two years we've been using it to visit San Diego anyway!

We spent our week doing tourist stuff like Old Town and Balboa Park.  The trip was mostly to see our son & his 'girlfriend' of 16 years.  So far they have resisted marriage & I wish them success.  I know I was worried when my wife and I decided to stop 'living in sin' and make it legal.  Guess it worked out since it's been 27 years now.  You never know how people are going to react though so I can see not screwing with a good thing.  We ate together a lot & talked quite a bit.  Had good food and some that wasn't quite so good.  Happily it was all good when we ate at their house and when he ate at ours (she is a nurse and was working some weird shift).

Photos?  Nope.  Except for the flowers around the dog run at the RV park!  Here's one from my cell phone:

Came back on Sunday.  It was my wife's idea to do all our traveling on Sundays and I must say it worked out well.  We had what I would call moderate traffic all the way.  We decided to stay on I-15 going north rather than take the I-215 and that was pretty successful too; not being torn-up is much easier on the nerves and it's only about 10 miles (16 km) farther.  Even at $4.15/gallon ($1.06/l.) and using 1 gallon every 10 miles (23 l. per 100 km ), it's a no-brainer.  Traffic towards Vegas wasn't bad but there was quite a lot of it.  Traffic from Vegas back to California was nasty.  There is an Agricultural Check point on I-15 in California; they had a miles long backup at 13:00!!  When we went through the previous week at about 11:30 it was nowhere near that bad.  No idea if that is always the way it is or not but I did see a few vehicles on a road going parallel to the Interstate.  Guess if I was in a hurry I might consider getting off the Southbound highway at exit 206 and try out the other road.  No idea where I'd get back on but  it would at least be fun!

We get off I-15 at Baker, CA and drive up to Shoshone, CA then cut over to Pahrump.  On the road between Baker and Shoshone (55 miles or 88 km) I counted oncoming vehicles: 3 semi-trucks; 3 work trucks, 20 private vehicles (including motorcycles). We were passed by 7 private vehicles.  My kind of traffic!

Got used to eating three times a day in San Diego; I'm hungry.  Have a good one!

Back at the ranch!

We got home yesterday from our little trip.  We had a good time and got home safely but it wasn't exactly without event.  The trip started badly when my wife looked into the shower compartment and found that one of the faucet handles had come off.  Hmmm, a little investigation and it became obvious that the faucet was dead.  So our first stop was at a local rv dealer where we bought a new faucet. 

The stop slowed us a bit and it was somewhat windy so we decided to stop at Kingman, AZ. for the night; we had wanted to continue on to Congress, AZ.  It was early enough so we could install the faucet in the daylight.  Tried it and it seemed to work though the hose leading to the showerhead was leaking.  It was cold though, down to about 26F (-3C).  The next morning we towed the rig down to the Escapee's park in Congress, AZ.  Again we were battling the wind but the rig handles wind reasonably well and it wasn't uncomfortable, just slow.  We left the rig there and drove down to Sun City, AZ to visit family.  We had a great visit and even got an invitation to their 60th wedding party to take place next June in western Nebraska.  Hmmmm.  Well, maybe.

Back to the rig; it was supposed to be 22F (-5.5C) this time so we tried something new and left the slide in.  With the slide out it's a lot more comfortable but with it in we reduce the area that is being heated by something close to 25%.  It worked and we spent a comfortable night in Congress.  Finally it was time to head for California. 

Grrrrrr!  More wind!  Plus going through the mountains means you get odd, unexpected bursts of wind as you round a corner or go down a grade.  We went to Blythe, CA on I-10 then took CA-78 down to Brawley and El Centro, CA.  There we met I-8 and took that in to San Diego.  Not long after getting on I-8 we saw a sign saying there was a wind advisory for 'high profile' vehicles.  Well, it was only an advisory so we went anyway.  Not a very smart idea but we managed to get through it ok. 

We stopped for gas before the last jump over the mountains to S.D. and I managed to snag both rear stabilizers on the concrete; bending both.  Looks like they will have to be replaced.  Grrr.  Anyway, we managed to find San Diego and landed at a park we've visited before.  I was hoping for warm weather but, you guessed it, it was chilly and nasty! 

We were planning on having a good time though so first thing Thursday morning I decided to try our shower.  Grrr, again!  The shower head was spraying water all over; mostly out the handle.  Happily we were close to the campground showers so used them for the duration of our stay.  After all that, we did manage to do a little shopping and see our son for a while that evening. 

Next day we toured two of the museums in Balboa Park; the automotive museum and the Timkin Museum.  Don't ask why we chose those two; there was no logic involved.  LOL  (Automotive is easy but Timkin has mostly medieval paintings.)  It was still chilly but we persevered and had fun.  It's a beautiful park with amazing buildings.  We will have to visit S.D. a hundred times to visit every place we want to see!  That evening we took our son & S.O. out to dinner at Prado, in the park.   They each have a birthday in the next couple of weeks and this was their present.  We had an excellent dinner for four with appetizers, drinks, wine, and desert for $250.  Not bad for the kind of place. 

On Saturday the kids took us to the zoo.  They have season passes and get a few tickets for friends (or relatives!).  The zoo cannot be covered in a day except by some maniac runner but we had a good time walking around enjoying what we could see.  It was a great day and we had fun looking at 1) the animals, 2) the people and 3) the plants.  (You may order the attractions as you wish.)

The trip home was pretty uneventful.  Windy, of course, but not bad.  I was getting sleepy so asked my wife to drive the last 50 or 60 miles.  I don't think she has driven this truck-trailer combination before but, of course, she had no problem with it.  She's an excellent driver and I got some relaxation but discovered that the truck seat isn't very comfortable for sleeping.  I'm buying a pillow before we go anywhere again! 

Started this post on Monday but got interrupted and didn't finish.  Tuesday has been pretty quiet.  I worked in the garage trying to organize things.  We've only lived here for two years; wouldn't you think the garage would have SOME organization?  Well, ours is coming close but.... 

Have a good one!

Getting a move on....

We've got this trailer and a nice big pickup for moving it around; we decided it's time to do so!  We are off for a week in California torturing number 1 son & his significant other.  Damn, I'm so politically correct it hurts!  Anyway we are going to be wandering around and may or may not have internet access.  I may even have to drink a Starbuck's just to get an internet fix.  Oh no!

We are planning going by way of Sun City, AZ where I have some relatives.  Haven't seen them in a while and they are really nice people.  I don't want my relatives to think I'm trying to avoid them even though there is sometimes a bit of truth in the thought.  Doesn't everyone have relatives they would rather not see?  Happily these are the good kind and we are looking forward to a visit.

After Sun City we'll be headed towards Quartzsite where there should be tons of other rv'ers.  Happily we'll be on the Interstate headed west so, enjoy your quiet time in the desert folks.  We won't be bothering you; we'll just continue west to sunny San Diego.

Put some new shelves in the pantry the other day and the next day every bone I have was creaking!  This aging does have a few disadvantages.  But when I think about the alternative; well, I guess it's ok. 

Gotta go.  Have a good one!

Home again, naturally!

Well, obviously I made it through the procedure which is terribly minor on the scale of things.  Loved all the comments.  Poor Croft, no more popsicles!  Here they are recommended so our insurance covers them for us older people.  Maybe you aren't old enough!  No results yet, I get those  late Monday when I see the quack again.  And, as it happens, I gained .2 lb according to the Wii.  So I don't know what to say.  I'm more full of it than ever?  Laxatives don't help my problem?

The procedure was done at a Catholic hospital and my wife was saying about when she was a girl the Catholic hospitals were run by actual nuns; habits and all.  Here there wasn't a habit in sight.  It does me good to go some place like that to be reminded that everything done by a religious organization is not bad.  Of course reading in the paper about some nitwit who is protesting at the funerals of soldiers killed in the middle east didn't do me any good.  Apparently this asshole thinks that since the US is becoming less homophobic we are going against his religion and that's the reason these young people are being killed.  Apparently if we started stringing up gays and lesbians our troops would be unassailable.  Or something equally asinine.  Glad I got that dose of 'religion can be good' to keep me somewhat sane.

 We are going to clean the rig today and put it away in it's shelter.  It's been sitting out beside the house waiting to be cleaned and we've just been too lazy to bother.  That reminds me that I've got two, and only two, photos to share from our San Diego jaunt.  The first is of the Point Loma Lighthouse.  It was neat to visit; when it was first erected it was a day's travel to get back to San Diego.  Now, of course, it is surrounded by one of the nicer residential areas.

The second is a reminder of the military presence in San Diego.  It is a magnificent natural harbor and the Navy has made good use of it.  We saw a ship coming into the harbor as we were leaving the light house.  It was foggy; making for very poor photos of both the lighthouse and the ship but I tried!

Between Point Loma and San Diego is a Naval reservation and a huge national cemetary. I wanted to take some photos of the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery but couldn't find a good opportunity.  It is huge and very beautiful.  It would be a lovely place to while away eternity with a great view of San Diego, the bay and the airfield.  Come to find out one of my wife's ex-father-in-laws is buried there.  Ex-Navy, of course!  The cemetery is still in use.  In fact, we stopped at a Subway for lunch and at the next table were two members of an Honor Guard getting re-fueled for another funeral.  It must be an honor to participate but depressing as well. 

Have a good one!  I'm going to go take a walk.

Travel!

Finally got to go somewhere - only San Diego, CA but it's not bad.  It was a week long trip and will end tomorrow; tonight I'm writing from an rv resort in 29 Palms, CA.

The first two nights of our trip we spent in the Jojoba Hills SKP park not far outside of San Diego.  We love the organization and thought it would be nice to visit the park.  It was ok; much larger than some of the other parks and more elaborate; for example, they have a woodshop for the residents.  It is also out in the middle of nowhere; at least they have a jojoba bush there!

Went on to San Diego.  Visited our son, his significant other (wife in all but name), and the zoo.  Guess that's what we like about San Diego.  Not really, there is a lot more to see but that's all we saw this trip.  We are just getting used to the fact that we can get there in a day; even towing the trailer.  We did enjoy the zoo.  So much so that we are talking about getting season tickets.  They are $129 for a couple not living in San Diego and a daily ticket is $35 for a single person so, why not.  Two visits a year would pay for it; especially since we'd rather be there for two hours a day two days running than four hours on a single day.  That's what we did this time and it was pretty tiring.

We did a certain amount of driving in the California hills.  It was pretty but not always pleasant.  Saturday there were a lot of motorcycles out.  One heading up a pack of perhaps twenty wasn't completely on his side of the road.  If I can keep my truck in one lane I'd like to think that dipshit could keep his bike in the other!  Today we were towing the trailer on a similar road.  I pulled over six or eight times to let people pass.  There is a law saying you must but it's only common sense to let people go; they just get crazy if you don't and that's when the accidents happen.

Also today we visited the Joshua Tree National Park.  Pretty cool!  There are lots of joshua trees (of course) and larger ones than I have seen elsewhere.  There are also just amazing rock formations.  We are ready to come back some time.  It isn't the easiest place to find but it's certainly worth it for us!

Gotta go.  Tomorrow we should make it home.  It's always good to get home.  Take care, y'all!

CYNIC n. A blackguard whose faulty vision causes him to see things as they are, not as they ought to be.  Ambrose Bierce