RIP

Steve Landesberg

City time

It's been very quiet here at the Maus Haus. Of course, Deb and H both have their regular things to do. Xmas day we went over to a friend's house for dinner. Yesterday Deb and I did a foray to Costco -- yowie, crowds of people and carts, sample foods everywhere. We were ferried there in a neighbor's Cadillac because he wanted to go along.

Kim (something) and Lena live around the corner in a very nice house. He's a well-off businessman and something of an artist. She's Finnish, and that's all I know about her. He owns a 1929 Flageol (I think) House Car, which is tucked in his garage, and he gave me a tour. Fun. You know, that's what it calls RVs on N.C. titles.

Kim and Lena came over for dinner last night, and we'll be going to their house for dinner this evening. Tomorrow, Tinnee is coming to dinner here; it'll be nice to see her.

The product recall company has started to come through with jobs. One I'm going to accept will take me about 50 miles out into the countryside towards Sacramento -- it's a consumer complaint pickup. I like those. I'll be leaving the city on Thurs. morning to go do this -- that's assuming the customer can make an appnt for that day (it may be Fri). So I won't come back into the city; I'll go to the fairgrounds I was at before (which is out that way) and spend New Year's there. I was going to move from the city on Sun or Mon anyhow, and I don't want the hassle for just two days.

The 2nd job (just got notice about 10 mins. ago) is a mystery shop at SF tobacco-selling locations. However, there are 92 locations on their list and they're only allowing 7 days to do them all. That's 13 sites a day, with city driving and parking on top of it. I don't think it can be done, and certainly not in my RV. I have to email the project manager and find out whether they're all actually in the city itself or scattered around the Bay area. And I need to point out that the city's going to be a hindrance to doing that many per day. So even though the money would be good, I'm not sure I'll take that project.

Have a wonderful New Year!

Yarbro visit

Moved to Quinn's street on Saturday. Her driveway isn't long enough to handle the rig, so that also meant no power to the rig, so no TV or heat or fridge. The weather has been really wet so there's lots of mud on the first step into the rig and on the rug at the kitchen. Even though Quinn has DSL, she didn't know how to connect my computer or have the phone cable to do it. So I haven't had any access since then.

Went through her back yard into her landlords' backyard and into their house on Sat. eve for a party. Half the party put on a truncated version of "Macbeth" to please one of the group, a tall, nice-looking man who has just discovered "drama!!" and has begun taking classes etc. Too bad he has absolutely no talent. After the play, we ate chili, beans, and salad, and schmoozed. Had a good time.

Sun. Quinn and I drove down to San Jose to visit Maureen, who's coping with cancer and is scheduled for tumor surgery next week. We also took her husband David out for lunch, which gives both of them a break from each other. Their marriage ceremony was the one I had to miss out on last May, so I finally got to meet him.

Mon. eve there was a gathering at Quinn's. I got to see the Lucke's, and Megan, and Christine, and meet in person a few people I know from online. I had helped Quinn with the grocery shopping and was pleased to help consume some of the wine and the hollowed-out bread with brie baked in and the pork tenderloin cooked with a port and chocolate sauce.

Tue was quiet. I expected my brother and Deb to be back on Wed but the weather turned so bad in SoCal that they stayed there until today. So I loitered around Quinn's for an extra day. Peggy Lucke came by last night just to chat, which was nice.

Fought my way into the city today, missed the proper exit, let the gps "recalculate," and wound up going over an exceedingly steep hill after having wound my way down a very steep and serpentine two blocks. Made it, however, about 15 min. after they'd gotten home. Found a pretty level place to park, though I think I'll be sleeping in the Maus Haus.

We'll be going out Xmas day to a friend's house for midday dinner. Hope all of y'all have a splendiferous weekend!

Guilty Pleasure

Just been enjoying "Dead Ringer for Love" video on youtube -- with . . . wait for it . . . Meat Loaf and Cher!

Long before he got skinny and she had work done.

Loved it.

Heading North

Fought my way through LA, I-10 west to the 405 N to the 101 N. Left the apartment at 10am and it was after noon before I saw any open land and the freeway narrowed down to two lanes. About 3pm I was in Santa Maria, just south of San Luis Obispo, and saw a "campers" sign. Followed it and found the only public RV park in town. Turns out there is parking at the Elks Lodge but didn't find that out till too late.

I'm in the Santa Maria Pines Camp. Seems there are new owners who are trying to upgrade the park and, I think, get rid of the long-term campers. Their rate is high ($35), which is full hookups but there's no cable TV and I can only pick up two English-language channels, both CBS; all the rest are Spanish. When I asked if they had wifi, she said yes, we have Tengo, and gave me the password. However, that just took me to the sign up site, so this 24-hr period is $5 (also high; most places Tengo only charges $2). So it's a $40 park (the Elks is $25 w/60 cable channels). I'm going to join the Elks when I get back to Asheville (I have a sponsor).

Anyhow, I got to do a dump/flush and I'll take a shower in the morning. And at least with CBS, I should get Letterman's show and then Craig Ferguson (yay).

I heard from my brother this morning and he and Deb are headed to Tustin tomorrow. We were going to try to meet somewhere on the road. But when I talked to him this evening and told him where I am, he said they were leaving early enough to be in LA by noon, so they'll be past Santa Maria before I'm out of bed. I'll see them when they get back.

TTFN

Ken & Caroline & Me

What a nice visit I've just had with Ken and Caroline Robinson, who have a great apartment in a co-op in the Baldwin Village/Inglewood area of LA. It's a two bedroom, 2 bath, hardwood floors, built-in oven, great balcony. It was built in the 1960s and it looks it. The master bath is pale green tiles with black tile accents; the fixtures are black, the cabinet and drawer fronts are tiled, the shower door is etched -- all very dramatic. The other bathroom has a jacuzzi tub -- it and all the tile is dusty pink. I loved it.

Anyhow, Sat. matinee at the Disney Center (designed by Gehry) was the LA Masterworks Chorale (of which Caroline is a member) offered an xmasy concert and C had a solo! Then on Sunday I went sailing with Ken and his buddy Jack, who was his best man. Jack owns a J35 racing boat, named Privateer (which has an illustrious history) and which he is converting to a cruising sailer. It's always nice being on the water. Here's some pix.
This is Ken, the 1st mate of the Privateer.
And here we are out to sea.
Adult female sea lions hogging the buoy off Santa Monica pier, while young females collect in a little fins up pod, waiting their turn.
End of the day furling, folding, and packing of the sails.
Caroline out on the balcony, amusing us both.
And this is the view north from their balcony. Way off in the center distance you can see the white blob of the Hollywood sign.

Odd Pix

This is an odd structure I saw and have no idea what it is

This is called the Wages of Greed. The pigeon pecked into and through the wrapper and is now wearing it as a necklace. Birds are coming from far and wide to marvel.

Tue 12/7

12/7 Tues 10pm

So I put the antenna down as it wasn't even picking up the wierd ethnic stations. Gave it another programming try and derned if it didn't pick up NBC. So I watched Minute to Win It and now I'm watching (sort of) Biggest Loser. Sigh.

Went to the sales spiel at 9.30 this morning. The woman was surprised that I've been full-timing so long without having a membership of some kind. I did try Passport America, which is basically just a discount at lots of parks, but there's lots of restrictions, such as the discount isn't good on weekends or in particular months,so I never actually used it.

Anyhow, membership costs about $5000 plus $350 annual dues, and does include lots of other parks. I told the lady I'd think about it.

I've done a dump/flush and put the hose away. I'll be out of here around 9am and plan to go down the road a bit and get my hair cut at Walmart. Will arrive at Ken and Caroline's around 3pm when Ken gets home from work. He says his apartment is in a cul-de-sac so I won't have to contend with traffic there. It's just getting there that's going to be the hassle.

I'll be taking I-10 all the way in and exit on Crenshaw Blvd. This is west LA where I used to live back in the early 70s, so the street names are familiar, except the one they live on, of course. I'm only about 120 miles out so it's not going to be a hard day, except for fighting my way into the maelstrom.

Dancing Ripoff

Ripoff Dancing (12/6)

As I mentioned, the only TV stations I'm picking up at Desert Pool RV Park are ethnic ones. Tonight I stumbled on a ripoff of So You Think You Can Dance, which is actually using a bit of the theme music. Now, the ethnic group is not Russian but some eastern Europe language, maybe Armenian or Ossetian or Ukrainian. The names on commercials are like Roman Budaghyan, Yeznik Kazandjian, Dr. Vartanian (all in Los Angeles area).

Anyhow, the dancing is pretty bad. All the girls are short and stocky in build. The guys are fairly stocky, too. They're all in good shape, though. Some of the dances are jazzy modern; some are russian-style folk; some are jive-like. The choreography is bad; the lifts are carefully set up and not smooth. At the moment, there's a girl in a red leotard on toe shoes doing ballet with her partner in red & black with a paunch does hip-hop floor work. Yowie.

The host has a half-beard (you know, the one that looks like he forgot to shave for 4-5 days) and he wears an ascot. The judges give a critiques and there are phone numbers to call to vote, but I haven't seen any scores from the judges.

Highly amusing, even if I can't understand a word.

Mon 12/6

12/6 Mon 6pm

Nice quiet day. Took a shower -- low pressure, no mirror, no plug for hairdryer -- just a shower. But got clean, including hair.

Constance Wray (partner Doris) stopped by and invited me over for a chat. She's on the RVW board this term. Sat around for a couple of hours and discussed many things, including membership in park such as this one. Got lots of info in readiness for hearing the park spiel tomorrow (90 min. sales pitch).

They're both ex-teachers from Kansas. We all agreed that Kansas is terrible in the winter. And they said it's pretty bad in the summer, too.

Then I came back around 1pm, had some lunch, and took a 2-hour nap.

The few TV stations that I was picking up seem to have lost the NBC feed that i watched football on yesterday, so now there's really nothing to watch.

Will get ready to leave tomorrow evening so I don't have anything to do Wed. morning except unplug the elec. Will be out of here by 10am, I'm sure, heading for LA.

Sat-Sun 12/4-5

Sat-Sun 12/4-5 8pm

So now, it's Sat about 12 or 1. I set off for Quartzsite. About 50 miles out, I called the RVW woman who'd said she was there for the winter. She lives in a deeded lot sort of place, not a regular park, but she called a few and the prices were high. So I said thanks anyhow and kept driving to the Flying J at Ehrenberg AZ / Blythe CA. They have a WEndy's inside, not a restaurant, so I would up with a half-Baja salad and a baked potato. Not too terrible. Once again, went to bed about 8pm and slept till about 7am (6am Calif. time).

I'm still traveling I-10 because there's not a lot of choice out here for crossing the desert. Route 66, for example, was subsumed by I-40 for the most part. Anyhow, I went inside to get some coffee and they had this wall of different coffees, like Sumatra and Ethiopia and French Roast, and cute little creamers with flavors like caramel and macchiato but also half & half. It was great.

So I started off for Thousand Palms CA (not too far from Palm Springs) for the Flying J there (about 120 miles). While I was gassing up, this older woman accosted me in a very genteel way and wanted to know if I was interested in a free weekend at one of the Western Horizon Resorts in return for considering buying a membership. I decided to do it, knowing full well I'm not buying anything.

Anyhow, she led me about 5 miles out of town into the desert, into an area which is pretty much all RV parks of one kind or another -- Desert Hot Springs, it's called. So I'm now cozily ensconced in a full hookup site until Wed. morning. And right off, I saw Flo Hurlburt and Cindy Williams of RVW, and they said there are several other RVW women here, nearly all of whom have done their free stays and are moving to other parks tomorrow.

It's an okay park, though it's a glorified parking lot like most of them are in snowbird and tourist areas. Fair amount of vegetation, though. There's a rec building with a pool, billiards room, card room, e-mail room (no wifi in the park so you have to haul your computer up to this room to get access), hot-tubs at three diff. temps that have water from the natural springs in the area (Cindy says the jets are pretty useless). And there's no cable tv, so if you don't have your own satellite, you don't get much. I'm watching football -- why, you ask? because all the other channels I'm pulling are in Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish, or Italian.

But it's a deal for free.

Will arrive at Ken and Caroline Robinson's midday Wednesday 12/8.

Sun 12/5

Sun 12/5 8pm pst

Started out from Eagar last Thursday at 9.30am. Good driving weather, about 58 and partly cloudy. Got to Phoenix intending to go to the Flying J at I-10 and 67th ave (on the west side). However, went the wrong way on the 202 loop and realized it when I saw I was almost to Apache Junction on the SE side.

So, got off and called Richard and Sandy to see if they were up for a visitor. Got their voicemail. Left message. Consulted map. Fought way back onto I-10 and out to the Flying J. Arrived about 5.30pm. Tired, Hungry.

Called Don Young and left message that I was on west side; got voicemail; left message. Found a message to me from Richard saying they'd love to see me. Called back and said I'd come out about 10 or 11 am tomorrow (Friday). Ate dinner in the restaurant and went to bed about 9pm; slept till 7am.

Had a little breakfast (coffee and toast) and set out back to the SE side of town. Got plugged in at Richard's, turned fridge on -- had stopped at walmart on the way and got a few staples (salad, juice, bread). Spent the day hanging with Richard as Sandy still works. I met Richard's mother, age 86 and profoundly deaf, who was an avid RV-er and envied my rig. Went inside to check it all out.

Somewhere that day, Don called and we decided to have lunch on Sat. I said I'll call you in the morning and we'll decided when and where.

That night went off with R&S to a birthday potluck for a friend. He's in some kind of motorcycle color guard outfit and the b'day group was from that outfit. Nice folk. Nearly all veterans (Richard was a career Marine Major). Pleasant evening.

Sat I called Don at 9.30am and got his voicemail. Left message that I'd be heading out at 10am for the Flying J as R&S had some biker stuff to do that morning and had to leave by 11. Didn't hear from Don. Left at 10 and headed for Flying J as I would definitely need gas by that point. Arrived at station and (1) peed and (2) called Don again and got voicemail. Sat in cab and age candy bar and drank coke for about half hour. Decided to go ahead and gas up. Had just finished and was pulling out of the lane when Don called.

Why hadn't he heard from me? He'd been home all morning. Didn't I get his message? I told him about calling and messages I'd left him, none of which he'd gotten. And now he had to, just had to, go buy dogfood and bring it home and feed his four dachshunds. And the Flying J is way west of his house, it would take 40 minutes for him to drive there. [which means, of course, that it would take me 40 min there and 40 min back to where I was].

So we agreed that the telephone gods had conspired against us. I said I'd see him next spring on my way back to NC. He said, let's all meet at Chuck's. I said, okay.

So now, it's Sat about 12 or 1. I set off for Quartzsite. About 50 miles out, I called the RVW woman who'd said she was there for the winter. She lives in a deeded lot sort of place, not a regular park, but she called a few and the prices were high. So I said thanks anyhow and kept driving to the Flying J at Ehrenberg AZ / Blythe CA. They have a WEndy's inside, not a restaurant, so I would up with a half-Baja salad and a baked potato. Not too terrible. Once again, went to bed about 8pm and slept till about 7am (6am Calif. time).

TTFN

Heading out tomorrow about 9.30 am. First, going to Don Young's in NW Phoenix. On Friday, may go to Richard & Sandy's in SE Phoenix for overnight. Then off to Quartzsite, where at least one RVW woman is staying for the winter. Will spend the weekend there.

On Monday, will begin a 2-day dawdle to Los Angeles, where I'll visit Ken and Caroline Robinson until Sunday. I wouldn't stay so long but she's giving a concert on Sat. and I'd like to go to it.

Sunday, I'll wander up towards the Bay Area, and will visit another RVW woman staying at a park in San Leandro (east Bay). If their monthly price isn't terrible, I may pay it and stay there. I need an address to put in the recall company site so I can start getting jobs in the area. At some point, maybe before, maybe after, I'll go stay in Quinn Yarbro's driveway for a few days. Probably before settling in for a month.

That'll bring me to mid-January, and where I'll go then is undecided.

Meantime, I have to idea when or if I'll have wifi, so want to wish everyone a great holiday; I'm thinking about you.

Getting Antsy

Am ready to be moving on down the road, not least because of the weather. Supposed to be fairly nice Wed & Thu (low to mid 50s, partly cloudy). I have a package on the way so need to wait for it to get here before heading out.

Will be going to Don Young's in Phoenix for an overnight. I've known him since the mid 1970s; he's Chuck's friend and used to live next door to us in Tucson. He's got 4 dachshunds so I'm glad I won't be sleeping inside.

After that, no firm plans except a general trending toward SF.

New lights all up. Stove cover rivet is fixed. Window channel missing piece has been jerry-rigged so window will open all the way. Etc etc. Maintenance done, except resealing roof because it's been too cold for it to cure; will take stuff along and do it somewhere warmer.

No idea when I'll have wifi again after I leave here, but I'll be thinking about all y'all.

T-Day Report

Yep, that's the view this morning about 7:30. It was still snowing; you just can't see it. It finally quit about 11am and most of it melted off before dark (but not all). My water hose is frozen -- well, actually, the water in it is frozen. Chuck got it loose from the pipe (the tall thing in the middle of the photo). As of right now (8:30pm), it's 6 deg.

Went up to the house (about 50 feet) about noon and took a nice hot shower. Also refilled one of my water jugs. Chuck provided a nice dinner about 3pm -- turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, giblet gravy, jellied cranberry sauce, hot croissants. All good. About 7pm we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and that filled the last of the open space in the stomach.

We topped off the evening by watching a 2-hr competition called Punkin Chunkin. There were trebuchets, ballistas, air cannons, human-powered catapults, and more. The Mythbuster guys were there. It was actually great fun. I can't remember the category, but the first-ever all-woman team won it.

A nice day. Now to keep from freezing -- the heater is working full blast and we're at 58 deg inside the rig.

Lights & Roof & Wind, oh my

Chuck got a coat of roof sealant on today before the clouds blew in with the stiff wind and the temps dropped. It'll need another 2-3 coats eventually. The winds are howling around outside right now.

UPS couldn't find this address so I had to get in touch with the seller who got in touch with UPS who got in touch with me so I could give them directions. They thought the address was the apartment complex across the street and were demanding an apt. number. We saw a UPS truck today on the street and talked to him -- he knows the apt. complex isn't the same as our address. Anyhow, the pkg of 4 fluorescents should be here tomorrow.

The window channel and the stove cover rivet still need fixing.

Chuck gave me my xmas present today as I won't be here in Dec. It's a 20-gauge shotgun. I had expressed a desire to have a 20-gauge pump someday so as to make that unmistakable sound, in hopes of deterring the bad guy and, if not, being ready to shoot. My present is not a pump model, but the cocking lever makes a special click all its own. Now I just have to figure out where to carry it. My girlish heart just swooned.

To Smoke?

I got expressions of support for not smoking, which I appreciate.

Howsomever, what I actually said was that I'm not smoking cigarettes anymore.

I switched to an electronic "cigarette" which has no tobacco, no tar, no preservatives, no butts, no ashes. The only byproduct is water vapor, and it delivers atomized nicotine/glycol. So, I still get my drug but only that with no nasty byproducts. And I'm slowly decreasing the strength, too, so I may quit totally at some point in the future. It's been 3 months now, and I don't miss tobacco at all. I think what I really like is having something to chew on and also making smoke.

Just didn't want to mislead y'all.

Vents etc

We were going to reseal the vents prior to resealing the roof. As it turned out, all three vents were busted -- the kind of busted that can't be fixed, like large cracks in the plastic lids, stripped screws, etc. So we went down the road and bought three new ones; got one installed yesterday and will do the other two today.

Got the range hood removed and, boy, does it make a wonderful difference in visual space and headroom and elbow room! Turns out, too, that the hood was an exhaust hood but it was installed without hooking up an external exhaust, so it just blew air around inside -- which is of no use whatsoever. We also took down the curtain track right by the cabover/bed -- another big difference in visual space and headroom. If anyone ever wants to put a curtain back up there (to close the bed off from the living space), they can buy a tension rod.

Now that I'm no longer smoking cigarettes, I may put the smoke detector back up.

The only things left to do (other than mentioned above) is the stove cover rivet, and the window channel.

I'm taking Chuck to lunch today at Los Dos Molinos. Next week is T Day -- hope everyone has a nice one, and I'll be thinking of you.

Restroom at Springerville

I made a special trip to photograph this building. When I came to town last Sept. I saw this building but had no idea what it was. The signs are small brown signs with the man/woman icons and an arrow -- that's it. It sits on a rise about two miles north of town, just outside the town limits. It's so close to town I have no idea what possessed them to put it here, with large spots for RV and truck parking. I like the interesting combo of Art Deco and Southwestern design.

Frustration Exercises

My online bank has set up some new "security" upgrades, without telling me, of course. So I can't log on anymore without going through a new setup, involving six(!) security questions. One choice is "what was your first job" -- that was 1961, for heaven's sake, retail clerk in a five-&-dime type store that I don't remember the name of. I managed to finally get through all that rigamarole, then there were the verified codes to my phone and my email, which I had to go get and type in.

I also did an upgrade on my operating system and am now having browser problems (it's really slow all of a sudden) and occasional error messages when I try to do something. Aaargh.

Yes yes, I suppose it's all good in the long run, but I started out at 7am and it's now 10am, so I'm tired and annoyed.

On the good side, the black tank has been 99% repaired with ABS cement; the guy suggests that I dump more frequently, just in case. I can do that, especially since he only charged me $25 because he couldn't do 100% repair.

The new fluorescent lights should arrive today, so I'll be taking out the range hood and the bad light fixture over the kitchen sink and replacing it with a 2ft fixture. And I'll have headroom over the stove.

Tomorrow I'm going to take Chuck to lunch at Los Dos Molinos and we're going to have the Mexican Pizza. Yum.

Welding Plastic

A local guy does plastic "welding" and is repairing my blackwater tank in situ. Of course, first he has to get all the previous repair stuff off (silicone, fiberglass). The weather turned nasty yesterday and finally got too cold for him to continue, so he'll be back today, when the temp. should be above 50 deg. It even spit a couple of white flakes at us, promptly whirled away by the stiff wind.

Next thing is the roof. I've found two fancy roof coatings that not only seal but insulate and am gathering info to decide which to get. One is a NASA tech offshoot and the other won an award from its trade group. None of the Toyota Yahoo group folk have used either one, though one guy is considering them, so they'll be grateful for whatever I find.

Then, the only project left is replacing lights and removing the range hood. Lights are on the way. I'm excited to get rid of the blankety-blank range hood.

Then Turkey Day. Then hit the road!

Mixed up posts

The last 3-4 posts are a little out of order. The one about taking out the black tank is the most recent. Got a little befuddled.

More updates

The awning is now fixed with a new lever that allows it to open (and stay open) and close. Both the front cabover window and the rear kitchen window have new rain gutters and have been caulked. The big thing left to do is the sealing the roof. However, that will have to wait until Chuck has recovered from his cataract surgery, to take place tomorrow morning.

The black tank is leaking again (brown icicles in the morning--ick), so it looks like a new tank is in order. Chuck knows a guy here in town who made a tank for one of his RVs -- not as "pretty" as the regular ones but about 1/4 the cost. So we'll be tracking him down.

Went to Show Low Monday for Chuck's dermatology appointment (he's got some weird rash), and had a nice lunch at a fancy Mexican restaurant. Returned the fluorescent lights I'd gotten the last time at Home Depot -- realized they weren't 12v so not suited to the RV. Went on ebay and found a set of 4 nice-looking lights for about what one 12v light sells for retail. Any I don't use, Chuck will buy from me.

Going to Show Low is always an all-day excursion. First, it's 100 miles roundtrip, a lovely drive through the piney woods. Second, lots of errands to do while there, so even though it's not very big, there's a lot of drive here, park, do business, drive there, park, do business, drive to next place, etc etc.

Wifi has been acting up the last few days. No connection till about 10pm. Odd.

Am looking forward to getting on the road about Dec 1 and heading for California, though I'm not sure yet exactly where I'll wind up, except it'll be within 150 miles of San Francisco.

TTFN

Pix etc

Put plastic on big windows today -- makes a big difference in cutting the wind. Also got myself some flannel sheets and a runner for the floor. We're already down to freezing at night but nice sunny days.

Here's a couple of recent pix.

On the way from Eagar to Mesa for the RV Women convention. Pretty dramatic.
Neighbor has 2-3 horses and a pony, and a couple of cats (the bobtail yellow male likes me). They finally got curious and came to see what we were doing -- obviously didn't hold their attention for too long.

Tank etc.

Tomorrow I'll do a dump/flush and disconnect the sewer line. Then the black tank will be taken out. Then we can do careful measuring, especially of exactly where the toilet line is and where the dump valve is.

Then! I can order a new ABS plastic tank for less than I can get the old tank repaired. The old tank is 25 years old and has gotten quite thin in places, probably from UV light damage. But I've found an online supplier that pretty much does nothing but tanks of all kinds. The plastic will be lighter, too, which is always good in an RV.

The roof will have to wait.

The weather has turned very wintry -- mid-40s day, upper teens at night. Hooray for my new flannel sheets.

Chuck's cataract surgery went very well. Operated on yesterday, follow-up visit today and the eye patch was left off. This evening he read some small print without glasses. He's thrilled. Here's a pic I took when I was here in Sept. -- he's trimmed his beard and sideburns (hooray).
TTFN

Little Projects

Several things got done today. New screen in the bathroom vent. Shoe bag screwed to the closet door. Water hose and pump wrapped in blankets and foam to prevent freezing (it's in the low 30s at night). And I have a new emergency brake cable (very reassuring).

We're working up to doing the roof vent reputtying and roof sealing.

Also, Chuck thinks he's got some coax cable around somewhere and may be able to run a line from his cable tv so I can have tv at the rig. We're also thinking about putting in some more fluorescent fixtures. If we can put one in over the kitchen sink and over the stove, we'll take out the monster range hood! Yay!

Still need to figure out how to repair the stove cover. And put new screening in the screen door. And maybe put in a new faucet in the kitchen sink, a bar-type that arches high so you can actually get a pot in the sink easily.

No hurry as I've decided to stay here through Thanksgiving. Chuck had no plans so I decided to stay. His cataract surgery is coming up soon, too.

More later.

Back to Eagar

Left Mesa about 8.30 am today, and arrived in Chuck's yard about 4.30. Of course, I stopped at the Red Onion Lounge in Overgaard to have one of their "famous" burgers. It was pretty good, and the "hand-cut" fries were okay, but the iced tea was terrible (even six sugars didn't help it).

Taking tomorrow off. Then Chuck and I will start on my "to-do" list. Oh yeah, and he'll have cataract surgery in there somewhere.

TTFN

RVW Convention 2

So far, so good. I've volunteered at the Volunteer table, signing people up. I've tooled a golf cart around and around. I've been a door guard. And I'm almost peopled out.

Lyn Rogers lent me her car today and I went off to Wal-Mart. One of my fluorescent bulbs burned out so I wanted a replacement. Two of the three supercenters listed in my GPS turned out to be Neighborhood Markets! I asked at the 2nd one WTF??? She said all the listing were wrong in the phone books and on all GPS lists, too. So I trundled off to the real supercenter, forgot to bring the bad bulb in with me, and therefore bought the wrong size replacement. By this time, my feet and knees and hips hurt bad enough I decided I'd do the return some other time.

All this walking on concrete and paved roads is killing me. And a front is moving through, with some wind. We're still going to have high 80s to low 90s till the weekend. Up in Eagar, the high is in the 50s. And Chuck is going to have cataract surgery in Nov. (one eye) and Dec. (other eye), so I'll be his driver etc, some recompense for his help to me.

We had block parties this evening. I did security from 3-5, then the block parties started about 5.30. I managed to wander up to the one on my street (they call them "lanes" here), over to the one on 5400 and the one on 5300. Lasted about a half hour, then called it a night and came home, took aspirin, and holed up.

I did treat myself to some ice cream, now waiting for me in the freezer. It'll be 90 tomorrow, I'll do security for two hours, then I'll come home and indulge. Ah.

23 Oct RVW #3

23 Oct Sat

Has a nice quiet morning. Sat out with coffee and crossword. Ate a salad lunch about 12.30. Then took myself up to the pool with a book. Swam about a bit but the heavy chlorine smell didn't make it particualrly pleasant, even though the pool is very nice.

Set up some volunteer times to woman the volunteer table for a couple of hours, to do "security" at various times at one of the ballroom doors (mostly to make sure everyone who comes in has their RVW badge on), and to drive a shuttle cart a few times. It's a good way to meet folk and get to know the area.

At 6pm we had the Solos dinner and then the annual meeting. All the officers were elected by acclamation, as all but the president were the same as this past year. The new president is a woman who's been on the national board for the past three years and who volunteered to be pres. of Solos. Hooray for people like that.

It was all over at 8pm and I was peopled out so have come home, changed into a caftan, poured a glass of tea, and turned on the tv

It'll be crazy by Tuesday and the convention officially starts on Wed.

TTFN

22 Oct RVW #2

Lyn Rogers hauled me off with her to Costco to get supplies for the Solo Chapter's meet and greet later today. I womanfully managed to sail right past the book table.

Unhooked totally and repositioned the rig up on the concrete patio instead of down on the gravel pad, which was totally unlevel, especially side to side. The patio got me level side to side but then I was about a half-bubble off front to back, so I let the rear duallies off the back end of the slab, and now I'm level all over. Hooray.

Also managed to get the cable into the right box (because it was daylight and I could see properly) so now I have about 40 channels, though I'm only interested in about half of them. Even better, HGTV is one of the channels so I get to watch Holmes on Homes.

WhenI sign up for internet on Monday, Lyn wants to pay half and get the password, so we'll both have internet for $5 for a week. Fine with me. I think a place as big as this (and as "upscale") should have free wifi.

We had the Solo meet & greet at 4pm today. About 55 women showed up, lots of new members. We had crackers & cheese and crudites. Some discussion of extra tours we could on, but I'm not doing any tours because of cost.

I will be signing up to volunteer for security and maybe for golf-cart driver. Am thinking about going swimming tomorrow mid-day and then lounging around the pool and game room and socializing.

Tomorrow evening is the Solos annual meeting with dinner.

More later.

22 Oct RVW #1

22 Oct Fri (RVW Convention #1)

Arrived at View Point RV Resort yestereve, an enormous place in Mesa. My site number is 5306, which will give some idea of how big this place is. Acres and acres. There are many park models (like small mobile homes) so snowbirds can just drive here, with or without an rv. It has its own golf course. We're scattered all over so it'll be hard to just stroll around and visit.

There's a huge building, two stories, where most of the scheduled activities will take place. And I believe there's a fabulous swimming pool. Of course, not everything about my site is fabulous -- it isn't level so I'm going to have to drag out my blocks and see what I can do (it's more than a bubble off so it's very noticeable). The electric tower is way back and up a little rise (sort of like a berm) and off to the left, so I had to buy a 30 amp power cord, double-ended, to plug in my cord and then plug to the tower. Others have had to do the same, or have backed way up just to make it reach.

The water spigot is also up on that rise but off to the right, so now there's a big black cord snaking off one way and a bright white hose snaking off the other way. Then the sewer drain is so close in and low down that it's real easy to park on top of it. The next thing to connect is the cable TV. Fortunately, my cable is long enough to reach all the way to the electric tower. So I screwed in that end and then screwed in the rig end (it was dark by then so I was doing this by feel) -- but when I programmed the remote, it didn't pick up any of the 30+ channels I should be getting. So I reprogrammed it for antenna and it picked up several network channels. I need to have some tv to watch because wifi here is not free -- it's $10 for a week so I'll sign up on Monday.

Lyn Rogers is parked three down from me and saw me right away. This is her last convention as she's hanging up her keys. She about 12 years older than I am and a very upbeat person. I met her at the 08 Charleston convention. We're both in the Solos Chapter and in the Fulltimers Chapter.

The Solos are having a meet & greet this evening so I'll be going to that. No other plans for today, other than leveling, so I'll just hang around and maybe walk a little.

Projects & Plans

Okay, the tires are done. I've also acquired an 8' piece of (really green) sewer pipe that lives under the storage rack out back -- this is to carry my sewer hoses with fittings attached. We took off the spare tire and the weird holder it was attached to. I'll try to remember to take a picture. Chuck got up on the roof and the a/c gasket seems okay. There's nothing to be done about the antenna extension that hits the a/c shroud on its way down.

Tomorrow am I'm off to Mesa to attend the RVW convention. I'll be there until 1 Nov. I'm assuming I'll have wifi but won't know until I get there.

It's cooling off up here in the mountains (63 deg today) but leaf turning has been delayed. It's about 20 deg warmer down in the Phoenix valley where Mesa is, so I haven't put the shorts away yet. And I'll be back in Eagar after the convention so that Chuck and I can do some more projects on the rig. Don't know how long I'll stay but at least two weeks.

TTFN

Ongoing Projects

Today we're going to put on the last two new tires.

Between now and Thursday morning, we're going to fix the itty bitty black tank leak with a quick and dirty repair that, Chuck says, ought to last about six months. Then I need to have a new black tank installed. Great. Another chunk of change. Let's hope there's lots of product recalls in the SF Bay area so I can pile up some dough.

We took off the spare tire (a C-load) as it no longer works for the rig. I'm donating it to Chuck for one of his many vehicles around here. The bumper had a piece of angle-iron supporting a chair rack which held the tire with many bungee cords wrapped around, most of which had frayed or busted. I was using the tire/rack as support for my sewer hose, but we're going to get a large piece of pipe to run along the bumper under the storage rack, and that will be the new place for the hose and its fittings.

Off to Mesa on Thursday morning for the RVW convention.

Livorno H.S. Reunion

I realized that I hadn't said anything at all about the reunion. Perhaps some background first. In 1957-58 I was a freshman at the army school on Camp Darby, near Livorno Italy. I also spent the summers of both 58 and 59 there, and then we came back to the States for good.

There is an organization for all those who ever attended this school, which opened in 1955 (I think) and closed in 2007 (I think). It holds all-class reunions. But there is also the Gray-Haired Teenagers subgroup for classes 1955-1965, and this is my group.

There were about 30 classmates there, many with spouses. It was held in Scottsdale at the Chaparral Suites Hotel (very nice). I parked my rig way in the back and slept in it Sat. night. I enjoyed seeing all the people and hearing familiar names, even if the faces weren't the same anymore. Some people remembered me, some didn't. Of course, most of these people have been coming to these reunions for 20 years, and this was my first one.

As usual, there were the snobs, the blowhards, the politicians, the wimps, the eternal teenagers -- in short, the standard mix. There were a few I enjoyed meeting again, and I think I'll go to the next one, which is to be on the east coast next fall, maybe even in Asheville.

We'll see how it goes.

High Country Views

The first picture is in the Tonto Natl. Forest on the way up here from Phoenix. This is the Salt River as outflow from Saguaro Lake.
When I got up around Greer, about 25 miles from Eagar, I started seeing aspen trees going gold in the sun. So yesterday Chuck and I drove back up there (8900 ft) to A-1 Lake. The light wasn't as good because of some clouds but here's two pretty pics:
We're going to start changing out the tires today. Ought to be lots of fun (sarcasm).

Safely in Eagar

And hooked up at Chuck's, electric, water, sewer, use of his bathroom, laundry, dish TV. Could be a whole lot worse. Will be here now until 21 Oct.

Took the whole day to get here from Mesa. Left out of the campground at 9:30, mostly because the power went out. Stopped twice for gas and once for lunch in the rig on a layby. It's all uphill from the Phoenix area at 1500 ft to 7000 ft at Eagar. There was a really long grade I took in 2nd gear at 20mph. Anyhow, finally got here at 4:30.

We figure to change out two tires a day, but then I'll have nice new tires in the proper load range.

More later.

Breakdown on Hwy 87

Was on my way from Scottsdale to Payson when the rig quit. Found a rainfall of transmission fluid underneath. And could also smell that faint gasoline odor. Called the ERS which sent a tow truck from Mesa. Got back to town about 7pm and boondocked in the parking lot. Finally done at 3pm and took myself to the park in Apache Junction I stayed in last week.

That asshole mechanic in Abq didn't replace the transmission gasket like he was supposed to, so that's what gave way last night. And he didn't replace the brake cable, either, just adjusted it, so now it's totally broken and will need fixing. The fuel line had just begun to work its way around the hose clamp, so that's where the smell was coming from.

And the tow truck driver took out the driveshaft to tow the rig, said it was "policy," but it cost me $50 bucks to have it reinstalled, which they don't do because of "liability."

An expensive day. Aaaargh.

All Caught Up

It's 8.30pm on Fri and the wifi has just kicked in, so I'll try to get everything done this evening. Haven't done anything today except loll around, read, sleep, etc. Will leave here about 11am tomorrow, and may not have wifi until I get to Chuck's late on Monday. Will be there until early on the 21st.

TTFN

7 Oct Thu catchup

I'm in Carefree Manor RV Resort, Apache Junction AZ, for two nights (Sat. am will be off to the reunion). Had a haircut at 9am at Margie's favorite place -- the cutter did a good job, really nice for a change after fuzzy cue balls the last two times.

Funny things noticed in the last few days--

Street names in and around Yuma are odd -- Ave 3E, Ave 8-1/2 E

Saw a billboard for the Tier Drop RV Park (near Yuma). Don't know whether they're doing a clever topographical play on words, or just can't spell.

Closer to Apache Junction, I saw the Superstition Funeral Home. Now I know that's in reference to the mountain range, but how appropriate is that name!

There was a big storm that came through the Phoenix area a day or so ago, including three tornados, so there was lots of damage. The wifi service here at the park is down, as are their phones. Hope the wifi gets going before I leave.

Took an hour to putter in an antique mall, to avoid getting to the park too early. Amazing what people think is valuable. And the books! There was one booth of all books, very obviously from a dealer, some really good stuff, properly priced, etc. But the books in the rest of the booths were mostly junk.

I did pick up four soup spoons, silver, from a basket of jumbled silverware. Managed to get the same pattern, even. My two vermeil spoons are wearing away and starting to taste funny, so I've now tossed them (it's real gold plating so I should probably sell them to a gold place, but for two spoons it's not worth it).

Misc. RIPs

Kage Baker, fantasy writer

Louise Cooper, fantasy writer

Donald M. Grant, publisher

Thomas Dietz, sf writer

David Eddings, fantasy writer

Jennifer Rardin, fantasy writer

Edwin Newman, journalist, writer on language

Oh yeah. I just found out that Keith Richards is short! I mean, he's max 5'9". I always had the idea that he was taller, but I saw a pic of him standing next to Johnny Depp and KR was shorter! I was appalled!

Okay, I'm over it.

5 Oct Tue catchup

Nothing to do all day but loll around. That storm we had last night left us with windy but much cooler air -- didn't even turn on the a/c today. Nice.

Decided to turn the rig around so I could get the sewer hose connected. The power box is one side of the site and the water and sewer is on the other side. So if I nose in (like i did at first), the power cord on the driver side goes straight to the box and the water on the offside goes straight to the spigot, but the sewer outlet is on the driver side so the hose would go under the rig, making it hard to drain it.

I turned the rig and backed in so now the water line goes under the rig, as does the power line, but the sewer line is straight. I did a dump/flush. And now I've packed up everything but the power cord.

My appointment at the dentist is at 8:50am tomorrow morning. I should be back here by 10am, unhook the power, stow the cord, and be on the road by 10:30. I've got about 250 miles to go to get to Casa Grande/Arizona City to Margie & Bob's. So I should get there in the early evening.

That's assuming the faint gasoline smell doesn't portend anything dire. I may have to stop in Yuma to have somebody look under the hood and see whether there's any dripping going on, like the fuel line. Or the fuel filter fell over against the manifold and the heat burned a hole in it (I had that happen once).

About 30 minutes ago (9pm) I heard a bang/crash out on the road. Looked out and saw two cars in a tangle. Two women and a girl child got out of one, and a young man got out of the other. No injuries. His car hit the rear of theirs but couldn't tell why. I was heading out to see if help was needed but the rv park security arrived quickly. Then cops, tow trucks, etc etc. The border is open until 10pm so traffic is edging around.

I really need a haircut -- the hair is fine until it suddenly isn't and becomes a bushy mess. I'll try to get it trimmed somewhere tomorrow.

TTFN

4 Oct Monday catchup

Naturally, things didn't go as smoothly as they could have at the dentist's. But it wasn't her fault. Really. It's a long story.

Finally got back to the rig about 2.30, not having had any lunch. So I grabbed the fastest thing I could find (cheerios) and ate that, then wolfed down an egg and some potato chips.

And it's now almost 4pm and we just had a sudden rainstorm, fast and furious. Hope it's not raining on Wed. because I'm walking back and forth over the border.

If all goes well, I'll be on the road by noon, heading for Casa Grande to spend the night at Margie & Bob's. They're the couple who was parked next to me at Springerville. They have hookups right at their place so it'll be a good stopover. Then I'll move on to an Escapees park for two nights and then up to Scottsdale for the h.s. reunion.

Don't know yet whether I'll be able to park overnight in the hotel lot. May just be very discreet -- it'll only be for Sat. night.

Casa Grande

Walked across the border this morning for my 8:50 appnt with the dentist -- she was late. But got done and walked back to the rv park about 10am. Pulled out about 10:30. Drove to the east side of Yuma, got gas and breakfast. With the engine warmed up and running, I opened the hood and stuck my head carefully down and in and around, looking for gasoline and checking smells.

Nothing. Hmmm.

Came on to Casa Grande where I'm spending the night in the yard at Margie & Bob's. That's the couple parked next to me in Springerville. They took me out to dinner at the Moose Lodge because they were all excited about the menu of chicken-fried steak.

Of course, now, I want you all to know that's just one of my all-time favorite things to eat, especially since it came with mashed potatoes covered in white gravy. And each person got a whole loaf of white bread. And chocolate cake w/frosting for dessert. Yes, indeedy, y'all.

Gah.

I may not eat again for days.

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair trimmed at 9am. Then I'll be moving on to an Escapees park in Apache Junction (I think) -- well, nearer Scottsdale, anyhow. Sat. is the reunion.

Slight cool-down

So I had the a/c on until about 9:30. I kept checking outside. There was a stiff wind blowing but it wasn't even close to being cool. Finally, it got cool enough to turn off the a/c and open the windows. The wind has died down, too. So I think I'll open the door, too, and get a nice cross-ventilation going.

Tucson was predicted to set a heat record today of over 100 and it sure felt like it. Later this week it's supposed to cool off to the high 80s, which will be a major relief to both Tucson and to Phoenix.

Am thinking about bed. It's been a long hot day.

7000 ft to 700 ft

Left Springerville Friday after Chuck aired up the tires and airbags. Went up 1000 ft to Alpine AZ and down the mountain to Safford and along I-10 to Benson. Stayed at the Escapees Co-op there. Pages of restrictions for owners (who are all white, of course, though this isn't mandatory).

Started off for Tucson (45 mi) about 8am and had breakfast at the Triple T Truckstop on the eastern edge of town about 9:30. Went over to Bookman's and trade in some books. One acquisition was a DVD entitled "Kung Fu Mahjong #2" with a lot of the same people who were in "Kung Fu Hustle," a really fun flick. Then up to the north end of town to the B&N Bookstore for a few new things.

One new book I got is an anthology edited by Charlaine Harris (Diana, pay attention now) entitled "Wolfsbane and Mistletoe." It's holiday stories with werewolves. Now, I'm now a big fan of werewolves, but just listen to the author list:

Donna Andrews, Keri Arthur, Patricia Briggs, Dana Cameron, Karen Chance, Alan Gordon, Simon R. Green, Charlaine Harris, Toni L.P. Kelner, j.A. Konrath, Nancy Pickard, Kat Richardson, Dana Stabenow, Rob Thurman, and Carrie Vaughn.

Now you know why I bought it.

Then I trundled up the frontage road to the Picacho Plaza store to see my old Bowlin boss, Chuck Steinmetz. He's the one I worked for the grand total of two weeks before they yanked me out to go to Akela Flats. He was really pleased to see me. And so was Travis, another co-worker. Chuck and I went in the office and had a good time bitching about the Bowlin management. He's about burned out dealing with them and may be gone soon.

After that I went on to Casa Grande and ate an early dinner, then wound up at Augie's Quail Trail RV Park near Gila Bend (700 ft). Really hot. Ran the a/c until it started the temp climb. By this time it was 5pm and just beginning to cool off a degree or two. Better i should sweat than the rig overheat. So I turned off the a/c and opened the window. Now that I'm hooked up, the cabin a/c is on and beginning to make a dent in my personal hotness (heh).

As you can tell, I have wifi, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of tv here. No mention of cable in the rules brochrue. That's one of the reasons I'm being long-winded -- nothing to distract me.

Off to the border tomorrow. TTFN

Tires etc

Just talked to Chuck. My new tires have been delivered to his place already. The plan now is that I'll be back here on the 11th. He has a tire machine so he can do the replacement for me. Forgot to ask if he has proper jacks, but he does stuff like all the time on friends' vehicles.

Then, after the RVW convention, I'll come back to his place and we'll do some maintenance on the rig, like the roof bracing under the a/c unit, and taking off and resealing all the roof vents, and resealing the whole roof. I'll pick up supplies in Phoenix before I come back. There's also a few small things I'd like to get done too. And I can stay on his property as he has hookups, so I'll save a lot of money.

Weather shouldn't be too bad. It'll be getting cold and may even spit some snow, but it won't be terrible and won't be anything like Kansas. So it looks like I'll be heading for CA around early December.

So I've done two small jobs for the Similac recall. And I'll get a little money, which will be nice. I decided not to do the customer retrieval for a bottle of Drano as I'd have to drive all the way to St. Johns AZ to get it and I just didn't feel like it.

This evening, Denise cooked a pot roast with potatoes and carrots, with salad, and wine. Rita and Jeff, owners of the RV park, came, too. It was sort of a going-away dinner for me. Rita brought locally made fudge for desert. Very nice of them all.

I just tried to upload a picture of them but blogger just went around in circles.

I'll be leaving here about 10am Friday, probably heading for Benson. Then off to Tucson Sat. morning to hit Bookman's to trade in some books. Probably stay in or near Eloy Sat. eve. Then off to Andrade CA south of Yuma, to an rv park about 1/2 miles from the border for Sun, Mon, & Tue nights. Walk to the border Mon. for my 9am appointment at Dr. Montoya's in Los Algodones.

Update

Was supposed to have lunch and some sightseeing with Chuck today, but he begged off. Seems yesterday he thrashed around in the woods after an elk and wore himself out (elk sniggering in the distance).

Friday I got a product recall job for the Safeway in Springerville, and today I got notice of doing the Basha Grocery in Eager. So I'll get a little money in the coffers. This is all part of that infant feeding powder that has beetles in it.

Foray to Town

Nothing particularly exciting. We started getting rain last night about 10pm, which put paid to my plan to go out at midnight to see Jupiter as close to the Earth as it'll be until 2022. And it's been spitting rain all day, sometimes heavy downpour. The Phoenix area has been inundated with lots of wind damage, too.

About 10.30 I went to town and mailed some books to Diana B. Then I went to the library in Eagar, about 2 miles, to fax an application for a part-time camp host position in Santa Rosa CA. Then to Safeway for a few groceries.

By this time, I decided I was hungry and so went off to Los Dos Molinos again. This time I had the Red Chili Beef plate with beans and rice and a buttered tortilla. Yum. It's 5pm and I'm still stuffed.

Back to the park, rehook, take a nap. Life is good.

TTFN

Barnabas

I just put these photos up on Facebook but they're so cute I decided to put them here, too. Now, Barnabas won't let me pet her but she's willing to flirt.

And when she cleans her nose, she looks like a leaf-nose bat.

Gamy Day

Chuck picked me up at 11am and we went out to his house. His friend Dennis was there, too, but spent the whole day on the enclosed back porch, watching football. Chuck and I looked at my pics as I had brought my laptop along.

Somewhere along the way, he produced some summer sausage made by his son and wife; I think it was elk. Yummy on sesame crackers. Along about 4pm he and Dennis began the preparations for dinner -- foil-wrapped taters on the grill, grilled whole onion, moose steak, elk steak, and merlot. The moose is fairly gamy but the elk is luscious -- I somehow managed to choke it all down. Heh.

Watching his dish tv, I stumbled across my favorite program, Holmes on Homes -- it was a repeat but I enjoyed it anyhow. And then, right after that, was a new reality show called America's Best Handyman (or something like that). A bunch of guys compete in constructions tasks, get judged by Mike Holmes and the guy who has the show about turning part of your house into income-producing space, and the worst guy gets let go. The one whole challenge I saw was a 30-min. 3-part test: replace a pane of window glass; shingle a doghouse roof; install a toilet. One guy broke about six panes before he managed to get one intact, and lots of putty jobs were terrible. The shingling was pretty bad--lots not straight, nailed at the tops so that the wind could just get under the edge and rip it off (which Holmes did). And the toilet -- a fairly simple job, you'd think -- but one guy installed the bolts upside down so the water ran out onto the floor; one guy didn't set the seat down on the wax ring squarely so it didn't seal; etc. Anyhow, it was lots of fun.

On the way back to my rig about 8pm, Chuck said how much he enjoyed talking to me today as there was no bullshit and I'm so straightforward and all. Well, I said, we never had any trouble talking. He said, I don't remember us having any kind of trouble. I decided not to get into my recollections of our relationship. We did have a little discussion of his eventual diagnosis of being bipolar and being prescribed anti-depressants and what a difference it had made in his temperament. Yes, I said, I do remember you flying off the handle for no reason on occasion.

All in all, a pleasant day.

Archeology & Pizza

Got myself cleaned up, then unhooked and off to town about 10.30. I had decided I wanted to visit Casa Malpais Archeology Park, which was an active dig in the 1990s and the town now has tours. I got there just in time and for the 11am tour and was the only person going. It didn't occur to me there would be climbing but it turns out there's a series of terraces up a ridge before you get to the actual living site, about a 3/4 miles hike. I made it about halfway before the knees said "you're going to regret this later."This is at the first terrace, looking out to a grove of trees where an old structure was built called Fort Redondo, though it was never a real fort.
This is up on the second terrace, where they've built a small ramada looking out over the Springerville valley. This is where I decided to turn around.

When I got back in my rig it was noon so I decided to try out Los Dos Molinos restaurant, which Chuck had said was "really spicy food." Of course, they have some spicy stuff, like the green chili and the red salsa, but there's lots to eat that's not bad at all. I had the Deluxe Mexican Pizza, a flour tortilla, crisped, with shredded beef, cheese, chopped tomato, green onion, red chili sauce. Yum. Here's a look at the restaurant, which is filled with things on the walls and hanging from the ceiling.
After lunch, I went grocery shopping for a few things, then came home, rehooked, and took and nap. Woke up from the nap and promptly took two aspirin -- the knees were right.

Champagne Brunch

So we went off to the Hon-Dah Casino, south of Show Low about 15 miles, on the Apache Reservation. Prime rib, shrimp, crab legs, made-to-order omelets, fresh cooked tortellini with 3-meat sauce, chocolate fountain with fruit arrays, bananas foster, slaws, etc etc. And tolerable champagne. I didn't have an omelet or the bananas foster. Heh.

Then off to Show Low where we both needed to do some shopping at Wally World. I stocked up on the V-8 Fusion bottles as they're over a dollar less than at Safeway. By the time we'd done all that and started back to Springerville, we decided to defer any more sightseeing in favor of getting back, unloading groceries, and taking naps.

A pleasant day. Chuck's hunting buddy Dennis decided not to come along, but I guess I'll meet him at some point as Chuck keeps talking about having me over to his place for dinner. So far so good.

Family pics

This picture of me and Harland was taken by Paul Brezny in about 1966 or so. Based on my hairstyle, I was teaching ballroom. It was a present for Mom.


This picture was taken at the British Army riding stables that we were members of. There's a corresponding picture of H, too.


This picture must have been taken around 1942, not sure where but eastern N.C. Left to right is: Harland J Harris (father), David Stonewall Orrell (great-grandfather, "Poppa"), Amelia Lindig Orrell (great-grandmother, "Nana"), Sylvia Hall Harris (mother), man I think is one of Bill MacDonald's brothers, William A. MacDonald (Evelyn's 2nd husband, "grandaddy").

Recent Pix

Me with Hazel and John


Me at the Folk Art Center

Mary-Anne at the Folk Art Center, with nice split-rail fence.

Me and the two Lindas at a Mt. Airy restaurant.

Balloon over my rig at Arbor RV Park in Albuquerque.

Rock bluff near Zuni NM

My spot at Casa Malpais RV Park, Springerville AZ

Interim Report

Life is very quiet here. I've been catching up on computer stuff, reading, doing crosswords, etc. Weather is gorgeous, but definitely cooling off.

I needed a new little space heater (old one died) so went off to town today. Found the True Value Hardware -- they had about 3 heaters to choose from. Not impressed. Left and went to the post office to send a box of books back to Diana. Asked a woman in the parking lot where else to go to find heaters and she recommended Alco Discount Store next to Safeway.

Alco had several heaters to choose from, one with just the right wattage range for $15. Hooray. Then to Safeway for some groceries and back to camp.

Chuck called yesterday to ask if I wanted to go with him and Dennis to brunch on Sunday at a casino in Show Low. Of course, I said yes. Will report.

Old Boyfriend

Well, it went as well as could be expected, though he did drive past the rig while I was sitting outside talking to Margie. Neither of us recognized the other, so he drove on past and went home and called me. I asked him what he was driving and then told him he drove past. So he came back. He only lives about 3 miles away.

We sat and chatted a bit, mostly general stuff. We didn't mention his marriage to Nita, the one he broke up with me for, though I did tell him about his daughter Cheryl visiting me after and asking me how I felt about him now. "You mean other than wanting to punch him out?" was my reply.

We drove over to his place in Eagar -- about 3 acres, and looked at his collected of vehicles, some International trucks, friends' pickups and 5th wheels. He's got a doublewide with a nice porch.

Then off to lunch at Booga Red's (no, I don't know the significance of the name). Got back to the park about 1:30 and sat around chatting some more. A few stories surfaced, including the one about me trying to kill the rooster -- he told me that Don and that rooster didn't get along either.

He's got an elk permit this year and he and a guy will be hunting each day now until they get one or the time runs out. I said I expect an elk steak.

For those who don't know, I met Chuck in Jackson Wyoming in 1972 and it was his idea to move to Tucson. We lived together for a few years and maintained the relationship until 1979. Don lived next door to us (and is the guy in the Wild West photo with me) and we've kept in touch all these years. Now that Chuck is a widower, he feels free to be in direct touch with me. We'll be in touch again for a meal or two.

So the mantra is friendly but not intimate.

Camp Cookout

About 4pm a bunch of us gathered over at the rec hall with many bowls of salads (potato, macaroni, tuna, etc etc) and meats to be grilled and many condiments and drinks. I think I ate four different kinds of meat -- ribs, chicken, burger, brat, and four different kinds of salads. I missed out on the corn on the cob but I did get home-pickled beets (and you all know how I feel about beets). And about 6pm I got peopled out and also needed digestion aids such as loose clothing, so I went back to the rig and holed up.

Earlier in the day, Margie took me to the Safeway to stock up. We drove around a little and it turns out that Eager AZ butts right up to Springerville. And who called me about 9pm? Chuck. He was all ready to come over right then but I put him off until tomorrow. This is going to be interesting. The last time I saw him was 1987. More later.

High Heat

is being warned for everywhere in Arizona -- except for where I am. Yah! Tucson and Phoenix et al are running in the 110 area; the highs here are mid 80s to upper 80s. Not bad at all.

Have had a day of rest so am planning a shower and a laundry day. Really nice to have both right here. The campground is about 1/3 to 1/2 full so it's nice and quiet. And have cable tv is nice, too -- get about 20 channels, except there's no PBS.

Both water hoses failed yesterday but the owner had an extra hose so eventually got hooked up. One camper tried to help out earlier by using channel locks to tighten the fittings, even after I told him not to tighten them so much I wouldn't be able to undo them. But, of course, he did, so I had to borrow the pliers and another person to help apply torque.

I've been happily goes through the old family photos my brother put on disk. I'm still getting used to the new iPhoto -- everything gets put into an "event" whether you want it to or not. I wound up making "event" equal a single date/day so they'll line up by the date taken. Now I have to change all the old photos from the date Orlando took the digital photo to the actual date of the photograph (like mom as a little girl circa 1929). Tedious but nice to have. Thanks, blala.

More later. Maybe some pics of the trip from Abq to here and this campground.

Blowing Off St John

Not the saint, more's the pity, but the town I had planned to stay in for Sept. Left the people a message at 8am today confirming my arrival this afternoon. Got in town about 3.30 (actually 2.30 AZ time; they don't do daylight savings). Saw a sign on the main street for the rv park, and my gps was directing me, too. Went about two blocks into a funky area with a mishmash of trailers, homes, rusted-out rvs, cars on blocks, etc. GPS said "here" but there was no sign anywhere and there was no street number (810) -- I found 840 but no 810. So I parked on the side of the road and called the number, got the voicemail and left the message that I couldn't find them and that I would wait a bit to hear from them. Waited about 30 minutes and then left a message saying "never mind, I'm heading down the road."

Which I did, 25 miles to Springerville and pulled into the first RV park I saw, Casa Malpais, which has wifi, cable tv, bathhouse, laundry, etc, and lots of big trees. I was going to pay $200 in St. Johns, including electric but no bathhouse or wifi or laundry, and will be paying $240 plus electric, so it's costing me about $100 extra. BUT it's a nice well-kept park and I'll be much happier here. And there's a store cat, too. As usual, you get what you pay for.

Hooking up my cable for tv is such a pain. May see what I can pick up over the air, but this area is pretty remote so may not get much and may have to do the cable after all. It's 3.5 hours to Phoenix from here (that's in a car at 65mph).

TTFN

Catch-up 1

The computer just got here this afternoon. I've been sitting at Arbor RV Park for the last two weeks, waiting on it. Am doing my best to get caught up quickly.

Moving to St. Johns AZ tomorrow to an RV park right in town. Plan to be there for the month of Sept., except for going to Mexico for some dental work, which will probably take 3-4 days.

More later.

Errands Etc

So I have new glasses!!! Amazing how crisp things are. And today I applied for my new passport. As soon as I get it (6 weeks), I'll go down to Mexico for some dental work. And then I get new tires for the rig. And that's the end of my necessities.

Gabi just called this morning. They got to town last night and will come by this evening to retrieve her car. Seems they had a fender-bender in St. Louis so Greg's car is going to the shop.

Any socializing I do now will mean somebody comes to get me.

Had a fine trip to Mt. Airy and Davidson. Was really good to see the Lindas and talk about our Amazon days -- which were great except for the physical demands. Then off to see Diana B. to talk books, choose books to take with me, and watching Toy Story 3. And she made me fabulous cappuccino in the morning.

Now doing laundry at Mary-Anne's. They're scurrying to get the bulk of the house done before Joe starts work at the college again. New siding is up, needs painting. New windows are in. And so forth.

The Trip Etc.

Got to the place where I was supposed to leave my rig with the mechanic. Surprise, surprise, he wasn't there. Called him; he was at hospital with wife all day; said to ask mechanic next door to put rig somewhere and he'd get to it soon. So I did and got a dissertation from the next-door mechanic guy about my mechanic's lack of work ethic -- after all, he'd come to NM in the 1960s and got in with all them hippies and druggies and bikers, but he does good work. So he grudgingly took my rig off, after I'd left a note in it for Grant (my mechanic), and I went back to the house with Greg. Left Albuquerque about 10.30 am Monday 7/26, cool and rainy.

Stopped in a funky Indian-run motel in Shamrock TX. Down to the road on Tues. to somewhere east of Amarillo. Wed. put me just east of Memphis. And Thurs. night was spent somewhere between Nashville and Knoxville. Headed out about 10am, after a big breakfast at Uncle Pete's Truck Stop, and got to Asheville about 2.30. Stopped at Pastimes and got one issue of Buffy (there were two issues but there was a missing number in between, so he kept the later one and is ordering the missing one). Then over to see Mary-Anne. John R. had called to say he wouldn't be home until 4pm so I was killing time.

John and Ken R. and I were playing cards that evening and Ken graciously offered to move up to the attic for his last few days (he leaves tomorrow) so I could go ahead and stay there instead of moving to Mary Jo's Montford house and then to Black Mtn before coming back to John and Hazel's. Made sense to me, so I did it.

Birthday was nice -- two kinds of cake and two kinds of ice cream. Amy was supposed to come but a friend's son broke his arm so she had to babysit while the kid got taken to the ER. Tonight is dinner with Mary-Anne. Tomorrow is lunch with Amy, dinner with Gillian. Thursday is fancy dinner with Blair and Mary-Anne as a b'day gift. Saturday is party at Amy's with bonfire in back yard and just hanging out. Sunday is road trip with Mary-Anne to visit Linda & Linda at their Mt. Airy campsite (they're RV friends I met in Kansas), and then on to Diana's in Davidson.

Phew. But so far nothing for next week. I may need the recuperation time.

Ken and Hazel and Johnny have all begun using electronic cigarettes, which deliver a nicotine hit but just vapor and no smell. Am giving this serious consideration. It's cheaper, too.

More later.

Ready to Go

Am 90% packed. Have to consider coming back by bus and so need closable pieces that can be checked; have come up with two (one is an Ingles frozen food tote). And I have a messenger bag and a purse to have inside with me. Oh yeah, a box of books, too.

Have done the dump/flush; cleaned out the fridge. Tomorrow at 9am will take the rig to the mechanic and bid it farewell. Back to the house, load my stuff into the car. Head out.

Will be traveling I-40 to Little Rock (about 800 miles -- halfway home). Then I plan to switch to U.S. 70, which more or less parallels the interstate but will be way more interesting.

Not much to do around here today. Most of the stuff left is clothes, which G&G have to sort and pack into the wardrobe boxes. The movers are coming on Tuesday and they'll pack the TVs and other electronics. Greg's working on his office and the tools/garage. That's it.

See some of y'all soon.

Same ol' same ol'

What can I say? Nothing exciting is going on. It's pack pack swim swim pack pack sleep sleep, and repeat.

I did go get my bus ticket yesterday, so I'm set for the return from Avl to Abq on 16 Aug. I read the fine print (naturally) and discovered that I'm responsible for transferring my luggage from bus to bus, which I have to do twice -- Knoxville and Okla. City. I'm also allowed one bag free so I'll have to pay extra for the box of books I'll be bringing back with me. And I'm allowed one bag inside (plus purse) that has to fit the overhead bin or under my seat.

Luggage-wise, I'm in a slight bind. The only thing I have is a nylon travel bag that folds up to about 6" square. That and the book box will get checked. Then I'm thinking I'll use the Ingle's insulated bag to put the computer etc in (because it zips) and then put that bag inside a bigger tote with my pillow to carry inside, plus purse (which has lots of pockets). I'll make it work.

Early Monday, taking the rig over to the mechanic to leave with him. He'll have 3 weeks to fix the transmission gasket/seal. Gabi will follow in the car. Back to the house where she'll get out, lots of hugging and good wishes, and then I'll start out for home.

See y'all soon.