What's important

The two smiles are what's important. Audrey and her grandma smiling...nothing else matters. Not even peppermint ice cream with an oreo cookie crust and special dark chocolate hot fudge warmed to just the exact temperature. Close...but not quite. I had brain sludge the last couple of days (maybe because of the peppermint ice cream with an oreo cookie crust and special dark chocolate hot fudge warmed to just the exact temperature) but then I looked at this picture and the brain sludge was not revelant. Who cares about health care? The twillon kagillon budget deficit? Nebraska gets something forever? Not sure exactly what...but who cares? AZ has closed rest stops? (I don't care...but Lucy does need a piddle stop here and there.) Tiger and the ho's? His wife may only get 1/2 of his estimated worth...$300 mil? I care? We went to a RV resort today to confirm our SkyMed seminars in February and as I was taking Lucy out of the truck and placing her on the ground...a worker bee came up to tell me no dogs were allowed in the area we were parked...the check-in area. The worker bee was friendly enough and said she, personally, didn't have an issue with dogs but rules were rules. This RV "resort" has a pet area and a non-pet area where people park their RV's. She said in the non-pet area people get hostile if you even drive your vehicle through the area with the pet inside. Obviously, they need to get a life. I just have to look at Audrey and her grandma Susie smiling. That's all that's important. Maybe I should show it to Lucy, too, so she doesn't feel bad about the jerks out there who don't want her in their space. Jerks. I think it's time for some peppermint ice cream with an oreo cookie crust, etc. etc. (Certainly can't hurt.)

Grandma's little helper

Yep, I'm going to have some help cleaning house tomorrow. I can hardly wait.

A Few Memories

Click on the link below:

Alabama -http://picasaweb.google.com/psdaugherty/Alabama?feat=directlink

Audrey’s now 2-1/2.  New pictures to come in a couple of weeks.  She’s coming to visit Dec 4

Buffy was a sweetheart.  I miss her.

Lucy – 6 weeks old.  She’s not a “pink bow” dog. 

Loved Scotland

So did Tim.

Tootise – She was the best.

7 Dwarfs

Can you name the 7 Dwarfs?  My brain was on overload a couple of nights ago.  Woke up at 11:30pm with my brain going in a million directions.  I’m mentally cleaning closets, sorting clothes, what piles go to Goodwill, Salvation Army, dumpster, what to sell, what to store, where to store, need locks, need palm trees trimmed, do I get a washer/dryer for the motorhome, what do I do with the stuff where the washer/dryer would go?, I need to go to sleep, nope…still awake, Lucy has to go piddle, put clothes on to take her outside, it’s 2:00am, hope coyotes are asleep, I wonder where that plane is going at 2:00am?, back in bed, what are the 7 Dwarfs’ names?  Sleepy (wish I was), Dopey, Happy, Sneezy (been doing that since we got back to AZ), Frisky, nope, don’t think that’s right, start over again…Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, Sneezy, Bashful…ok, got 5…just two more, Wacky, Horney (that’s the porn Dwarf that got kicked out – use to be 8 of the little fellas), Grumpy – ok – so there’s Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, Grumpy.  I’m going to be grumpy tomorrow with this lack of sleep.  I’m missing one dwarf.  And, that’s the last I remember until I woke up at 5:30.  First thing I did was Google the 7 Dwarfs.  Doc.  I forgot Doc. 

Just a brief glimpse into my brain in the middle of the night.  Scarey, huh?

Before and After

Lucy a few weeks ago.














Lucy (today) after a visit to her groomer.

10,355 and Overwhelmed

That’s how many miles we put on the motorhome the last 6 months . 

Overwhelmed is the only word that’s even close to describing how it felt to walk back into the house.  Of course, opening up the garage door, seeing what’s there and realizing we have to start getting rid of stuff was only a prelude to walking back into the house.  It was definitely mixed feelings.  After living in less than 300 sq feet of space for the last 6 months the house is ENORMOUS.  For those of you who don’t know we have rented the house (furnished) starting in January and we have to remove all our personal stuff.  I immediately started taking inventory (Tim hadn’t even made it into the house yet…he was getting the water turned on).  As he walked in I looked at him and said “Is it too early to drink?”  (It was only noon.)  Lucy, however, remembered every nook and crannie of the house.  She was like a cut cat running everywhere.  Guilt.  She’s already laying guilt on us for confining her to 300 sq ft.  As for getting rid of, sorting through, giving away, shipping to kids, taking to Ebay store, I have to unload the motorhome first.  Oh my. 

Lost my Ka-thunker

Anyone who has known me for awhile knows I have been a kathunker.  I was a planner. A serious planner. I would have the seat assignments on an overseas flight 6 months in advance.  I would find the plane configuration (seat) we were flying (there’s a web site out there that has the info) and figure out where I wanted to be.  I knew the day (and time) I could select the seats.  I started calling 5 minutes before the phone center opened.  I have to admit it was a challenge with Asiana Airlines. She didn’t speak good English and I didn’t speak Korean.  However, I got the seats I wanted.

Now, I have lost my ka-thunker.  It started disappearing at times about 1-1/2 years ago (when I quit my job)…but now it’s totally gone.  My family is having a hard time accepting the loss.  They have always counted on me to ka-thunk.  They don’t know how to react when I tell them “I don’t know where we will be or when”.  My ducks which were totally in a row are now all scattered.  Hell, they’re gone.  Flew the coop.  I’m trying to reassure the family (and friends) that I’m OK.  Not to worry…Tim’s driving…not me…he’s never been a ka-thunker. 

Warm, dry and sneezing!

Yea! We're just about dried out from our 3 week venture in the south. (I10 from Daphne, AL all the way west to AZ hoping Tim would take the right exit through El Paso...didn't want to go to Juarez, Mexico.) Haven't been in AZ for 6 months and did that sign look good...real good. Of course, I started sneezing about 5 miles into AZ. Allergies. But, I can handle sneezing. Plus, the snakes here at least give you a warning with their rattle. Cotton Mouths, copperheads and water moccasins are sneaky. They don't give you any warning. And, there are no alligators in AZ that I know of. Zoos don't count.

Catching Up

Lucy's had her fill of humidity. She can't do a thing with her hair. We spent 9 days in Daphne, AL visiting with my brother and sister-in-law. Daphne is across from Mobile. As we were driving across the Bay Bridge I looked at Lucy and said "Lucy, we're not in Kansas anymore". Elevation was 37 feet. We parked in the driveway at the bro's house - worked out great.

I ate a lot of fish - especially catfish as the picture shows. Also, bought a ton of shrimp and loaded up my freezer. This is US shrimp. Not the farmed stuff from Thailand or wherever. I don't trust their farming methods. I paid 7.99/lb for super jumbo shrimp. I'm trying to figure out how my brother can ship it to me.

Spent a day with my nephew-in-law on his boat trolling the bay and took several pictures of alligators. As one might expect, they're everywhere.

We left Daphne and headed to San Antonio for a RVing Women Rally. We had rain almost all the way.



Spent the last week in San Antonio and I've had my fill of hot and humid. The park where we stayed for the rally had signs posted everywhere to watch out for water moccasins, cottonmouths, scorpians and fire ants. The temperature the first couple of days was 95 and 292% humidity. The nearest restroom had signs posted on the door of a snake and to "Beware and watch out".

We are now in Las Cruces, NM and will be in Benson, AZ tomorrow. First time back in AZ in almost 6 months. Hot and dry sounds wonderful.

It was really hard saying goodbye to my brother. He'll have to come west and bring shrimp with him. I'm just now starting to dry out!

Where are we????

If you ask Tim I've asked him that question a hundred times since we left Oklahoma City. I'm discovering I wasn't very good in geography. I'm much better in the West. I know Arizona from California.

After leaving OKC, we headed south to Dallas, hung a left and headed east. We stayed the night in Tyler, TX (across from the Tyler Rodeo Arena). From Tyler we drove East on I 20 to Vicksburg, LA - no wait - MS. We had to drive through LA - I was looking for alligators and swamp creatures and we were going to stay in West Monroe, LA but then decided to go further. I kept looking at the route we were taking to get to Daphne, AL and Tim kept changing his mind which way we wanted to go so you can see why I kept getting confused with the states of MS and LA.

Well, we pulled into Vicksburg, MS and guess what??? Dead truck battery. Some dead battery angels are messing with us. What did we do to them? I'm sure the people who answer the phone for Dodge Roadside Service say "Guess who? It's them again!" Left Vicksburg this morning and, once again, I'm driving the truck.

We are now in Slidell, LA - wait a minute - weren't we in MS? How did we get back in LA? We will be pulling into my brother's driveway in Daphne, AL tomorrow. I hope he hasn't moved...I'll never find him especially if I have to go through LA and MS again. He say's his driveway is long enough with no over-hanging tree limbs. Stay tuned...I'll let you know.

Oklahoma City

This picture was taken at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. This is the Field of Empty chairs. There are 168 chairs symbolizing a life lost, with smaller chairs representing the 19 children killed.

If you're every in OK City. This is a must see. It will evoke every emotion you have.

I just figured out how to make a collage using Picassa. I took a bunch of pictures, cropped them and used the "create a collage" feature, added background color...don't really like the color that much but can't go back and change once it's "created" and, voila! My first collage!





We met up with our friends, Tim and Crystal who once again played tour guide for us. They took us to the "stockyards" to show us some pigs - in particular a real ugly pig - but all the piggys were gone. So we went to lunch at Cattlemen's (will be featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives) and ate beef.

Cars and horses

We were at the Colorado State Fairgrounds for the Discovery Rally the last few days and there was also a "low rider" show and a rodeo going on at the same time.

I was fascinated with the low rider show. The work these young people put into these cars. The detail was unbelievable. Mirrors were a big factor to show off tires and the underneath carriage. Chrome was a factor. Lots of chrome. Sprinkle dust, rope lights. Crosses, skeletons, polish cloths. Hydraulics - stuff that makes the car bounce up and down.
I expected the the car in the second picture to rise, hover and fly. All of the cars at the show had to be cars that would start and run. We talked to one young couple who had an absolutely beautiful car. He had gutted the car, put 1800 hours in rebuilding it to show quality (can't imagine the $$ involved) and no additional insurance coverage other than basic car insurance. He drives it on the street and if it were totaled in an accident he would get whatever an insurance company would pay for an old car...in this case a '62 chevrolet. They can't afford any additional insurance.
















Then there was the rodeo. Cowboys, horses and ropes. Lucy wasn't crazy about the horses. Didn't smell like any dogs she knew. There's a link to my web album (below the cowboy picture) where you can see all the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/psdaugherty

20 Minute Shower!!!

Yea! I'm camping! I took a 20 minute shower!

If you all read a previous post, you know my idea of camping is Marriott. Well, we are at the Pueblo Marriott: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pubdt-pueblo-marriott/ for the next two nights. The motorhome is at the Caterpillar dealer here in Pueblo having maintenance work done (something to do with the diesel engine) ($$ kaching $$) and we needed a place to stay. And, guess what? Pueblo has a real, live Marriott! And, Lucy gets to camp, too! She gets her own bed. We pick the moho up Friday and head to the Pueblo fairgrounds for the Discovery Rally. But, for now, I'm living in the moment...the Marriott moment. (Can you tell it's been awhile since I've been in civilization???)

Tim and I were trying to figure out the last time we were in a Marriott. We think it was our last trip to Ireland (about 4 years ago). I really like Marriott. I like the Marriott burger. I've missed Marriott. I've missed 20 minute showers. I've missed flushing a real toliet. I think I've flushed it 20 times already...just because I can. (Hopefully, we won't get an added water bill charge!) Hark...there's a knock on the door...it's room service! Later.

Lucy & The Air Force Academy

Updating this blog is more work than I thought it would be. Actually, not work in the sense of punching a clock...more along the lines of getting the brain and creative cells working together. They don't always jive. And, when they do I don't always have good internet available. At the moment, I seem to have it all. So, I need to type fast before something fails.

We are in Monument, CO (which is about 12 miles north of Colorado Springs). Tim asked me what Monument is known for and I'm not sure it's known for anything except it is the highest elevation between Denver (40 miles to the north) and Colorado Springs. We left Gunnison, CO a few days ago driving east on US 50. I drove the truck instead of towing. We had to go over Monarch Pass (a kagillion feet high) and didn't want to take a chance of the moho overheating. We stopped in Pueblo to stretch our legs and Tim said it was one of the most scenic roads he's been on. I wouldn't know. I didn't take my eyes off the center lane. It's a curvey with no guard rails road. I haven't driven on such a road for 25+ years. Last time I did was when the kids and I drove through Rocky Mountain National Park. That trip ended with a migraine.
We went to the Air Force Academy on Thursday. Lucy had her Therapy Dog vest on hoping it would get her in the Visitor's Center. The receptionist was ready to attack (she could see us coming up the walk) until Lucy started waving to her. The ice was broken, Lucy was allowed to enter and she called her boss to come down and see the "military's smallest working dog". I'm not sure where she got that idea...maybe the "blue" Air Force vest? I wasn't going to contradict her. Lucy won everyone over and was even presented with an "Air Force" coin.

I lived in Colorado Springs in the mid-80's for a couple of years. I haven't been back for 20 years. I recognized the Air Force Academy, the bank where I worked, The Broadmoor Hotel where Lorie worked as a dishwasher in their international building, the Jr. High where Shane and I had a meeting with the principal since it appeared Shane was trying to "shake down a kid's lunch money"...Shane's side of the story was he was just fooling around and the kid was a wimp. and, after spending a tank of gas looking for it, the townhouse where we lived. Didn't recognize much else.

We have played tourist the last few days and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The weather has been great but at the moment it's raining with a few thunder claps. At least it's not snow. The aspens were just starting to change over Monarch Pass (when I could sneak a peak without fear of going over the side). We leave for Pueblo next week (working a Discovery Rally) and I get to go camping...my idea of camping. Stay tuned.

Ramblings...

It's the beginning of Labor Day weekend and we are staying at Blue Mesa in Gunnison, CO. This "resort" is part of Western Horizons and is about 12 miles west of the town of Gunnison. We have a nice site facing west (great sunsets) and no one in front of us (and, so far, pretty kid free). The downside is we have no cell phone service. We have to drive 8 miles before we get any blips. They do have good wi-fi but are limited on usage. No downloading of music, movies, etc. We are here until Sept 8 and then move onto Monument, CO.

After leaving Junction City, OR we headed to Reno with the hopes of meeting up with my niece. Unfortunately, they were off on a camping trip. We stayed at the rv park at Grand Sierra Casino and signed up for the Player's Card in the Casino. We got our $5.00 coupon to play, won $40.00 on their $5.00 which paid for dinner. We are not gamblers. It was pretty funny watching both of us trying to figure out how to play the slot machine. You've got to put your Player Card in the slot, then find the slot for the "coupon" and then play. I just kept hitting the play 1 credit button. When I hit the double jackpot and it kept adding credits I had no idea what I won. I "printed coupon" which cashed me out. We took the money and went and stood in the buffet line.

Leaving Reno we drove to Elko where we overnighted and once again had a dead battery on the truck! I think we have battery gremlins who are messing with us. Got the truck running again but decided I would drive the truck the next day instead of hooking up in order to get a good charge on it. We spent the night at the Elk's Club in Provo and the next morning left for Grand Junction CO. I'm still driving the truck since Tim has been concerned about the motorhome overheating while climbing some pretty steep grades towing a weighty truck. We're currently at 7200 feet and when we leave here we go over Monarch Pass which is 10,000+ feet.

Weather is great - mid 70's during the day - 40's at night. Lucy wants an exra blanket.

It's September already...what happened to summer?

Junction City OR

We left Albany this afternoon after the Country Coach Rally. The worst Rally we have had so far as far as sales goes. Different group of people. Oh well.

We are now in the parking - storage lot of school buses and Amazing Creations where we are having some cabinetry work done.

There is also a train track behind us. Amtrak came through about an hour ago doing 257 MPG. I do like trains; however, let's hope they don't jump the tracks.
Does this mean a whole lot of drivers show up tomorrow morning to take the kiddies to their first day of school????
If we wake up tomorrow morning with tattoos it will be their fault.
We are locked in for the night. I think I may check to see if Eugene has a Marriott.

Ate too much & Campers

I shouldn’t watch Giada (Everyday Italian). But I did. And, because of her, I had to make lasagna. I haven’t made lasagna for a year (or two or three). Christmas Eve use to be when I would make lasagna…a family tradition. I make a pretty good lasagna…sweet Italian sausage, spinach, lots of cheese and no boil noodles. Of course, I make enough for 20 people. However, I also had a sweet tooth and made cheesecake bars which didn’t look like the picture on the recipe But, tasted great since I made a blueberry compote But, I ate too much. Tim ate too much…even Lucy ate too much of her kibble. We tried to go for a walk after dinner…but have you ever seen beached whales try to walk? It’s all Giada’s fault.

This park is full of Campers. There is a difference between RVer’s and Campers. Campers are here for their yearly vacation. RVer’s may still work and be weekenders (we were for 3 years) but many are retired and may be fulltimer’s (we now are). They live in their RVs. Campers show up with 3.9 kids (one under the age of two), 2 yappy dogs (RVers have dogs…Lucy, however, is not a yappy dog), 4 bicycles (one with training wheels), tents, sleeping bags, coolers, porta cribs, strollers, bouncy thingys, squeeky toys, expandable wooden clothes hangers, grills (RVers have those) basketballs (2) and wood…lots of wood. They kids forage the area and bring back branches to add to the fire. I think they are closet pyromaniacs. They love to have a campfire going – early morning, afternoon, and always at night. They have brought every folding chair they own because everyone they know within a 50 miles radius comes to see them and they all sit around the campfire (sometimes two deep) and drink beer and wine (RVers drink beer, Jack Daniels and boxed wine – Campers bring bottles…RVers travel with boxes – better storage).

Campers have to pack up, return to civilization and the daily grind for another year before they get to do it again. RVers have to pull the slides in and decide where they want to go next. Many RVers were first campers. Not me. I skipped the camper part and went straight for RVer. My idea of camping was JW Marriott. Still is.

I know I said…

being exposed to diversity among people, different age groups, etc… rather than living in a community where all were alike was a good thing…that was BEFORE spending a week in a campground with thousands of kids, strollers, loud screaming, bouncing basketballs non-stop, squeaky toys, crying kids, kamikazee kids on training bicycles, kamikazee kids on regular bikes, obnoxious parents talking goo-goo ga-ga to their crying kids, kids fighting, did I mention those x0!x?!X squeaky toys??????? And, did I mention they were parked next to us???? On both sides of us??? And, we’re here for another week?? Get the picture??

Live Writer

The previous post (I’m Not Wired) was written off-line using Windows Live Writer.  I save as a draft, editing and/or adding pictures.  I then make the trek to the clubhouse (free wifi), open Live Writer and “publish” the post.  Pretty cool. 

Just found - Not Wired!

Note…The post below titled “Not Wired!” was written a couple of years ago using Windows Live Writer.  I saved it as a draft and never got around to publishing it.  I still use Live Writer. 

I’m using Windows Live Writer to write this post.  I’m currently not “on-line”.  This is a first for me.  We are at a ROD property south of Newport, OR and it is a Thousand Trails resort…Whaler’s Rest  Resort.  Fortunately for us, we were able to get a huge site.  Most of the sites are very narrow and shallow.  If we had been here 30 minutes later the site we’re on would have been taken by someone else.  This is the first park we’ve been in that “you go find your site and come back and let the office know which one you took”. We have very spotty Verizon cell phone service ( 1 to 0 blips) and zip on Internet.  I have to go to the clubhouse where there is Wi-Fi. 

Talk about a change in weather.  Just a couple of days ago it was 192 and rising.  Today, Tim wants the heat on.  Barely 60.  Lucy’s looking at me asking for her blankets.  I have found WalMart, Fred Meyer’s and Dutch Brothers Coffee.  Life is good. 

This picture was taken at Boardman RV Park and Marina in Boardman, OR (next to the Columbia River).  The park is run by the Parks and Recreation Dept and is very well maintained.  It is also a Good Sam park.

I have to go turn the heat on…they are both looking at me shivering.  

Early morning reading...

I took this picture a number of years ago while in Edinburgh, Scotland. I even had notecards made using the picture as the cover!

I've been doing a lot of early morning reading. Tim's still in bed and Lucy is curled up by me on the sofa. I've got my tea, window open with a slight breeze coming in. It's quiet...no diesels running yet and the sun is just beginning to rise. The book I'm reading is Wayne Dyer's Excuses Begone! Tim and I watched his PBS special a few days ago which prompted me to go out and buy the book. It's one of these books I'm glad I saw the special first because it's a thought provoking one and since it's about "thoughts" I'm afraid my thoughts would be lost on the book if I hadn't seen the special first. Follow me on that one???

Another book I read quite awhile ago - How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life by Mark Victor Hansen and Art Linkletter brings to mind our neighbors here. You'll need to hang with me here...there is a tie in coming. In one of the chapters Art Linkletter was talking about where one lives. He said, of course in his opinion, that living in one of those 55+ gated communities would suck the life out of you (my words, not his...I can't remember his...but it was similar). He said when you live with like people - same age, mind set, same activities - you don't grow...you remain stagnet maybe even regress. Your conversations have to do with "Did you hear so and so died last night? Had a stroke? Cancer? What's your (golf) Handicap? Those grandkids were in the pool when they shouldn't be...they were suppose to be out 5 minutes ago. And, so on and so on. Of course, I read the book while living in one of "those" communities. And, it was sucking the life out of me.

So, back to our current neighbors and the book tie in. They are a young family with 2 children ages 5 (boy) and 7 (girl) and 2 beagles. Did you know beagles howl? They have been parked beside us for the last 10 days. They are here from the Seattle area on vacation. When they first backed their 5th wheel in and piled out of the truck I cringed...especially the howling dogs. Campground sites are relatively small. You are close to your neighbors. If you sneeze, your neighbors will say "God Bless You". My first thought was this is going to be a long 2 weeks. How wrong I was. Tim and I have enjoyed every minute they have been here (including the howlers). First off, they are great parents. It's so nice to know there are still (young people) out there who are parenting well behaved and respectful children. Unfortunately, we have seen the opposite too many times. This vacation has really been for the kids because Mom and Dad have taken them to the pool, playground, pool, playground, playground, pool, lake, and playground and board games. It has been a hoot listening to their conversations. I couldn't even begin to tell you about the conversations we had with them. They are leaving today and we are sorry to see them go. However, it does reinforce for us we would rather live (and travel) where there is diversity and in this case, youth, rather than "sameness". You don't get the life sucked out of you. Lucy, however, didn't care for the howlers.

Ancestors

I have spent many hours in cemetaries looking for Tim's ancestors. He owes me BIG TIME for this trip to the boneyard...actually, 2 boneyards. We took a day trip to Farmington, WA where Tim's grandfather was born. His great grandfather - Jessie Quarles - settled there in 1873 as the plaque on the left reads. They travelled with the Wooddy wagon train with 2 wagons. We had stopped at this cemetary and Tim said this wasn't the place where the plaque had been erected. He didn't really know where it had be erected...just said it wasn't there. We were just in an old cemetary. Didn't even have a name. He backed up, turned the truck around and started back to the road. I told him to stop. Reluctantly he did still saying it was the wrong place. Something had caught my eye and I wanted to check it out. Welllll, it was the right place and the plaque he had been looking for.
Farmington is in the middle of a kagillion acres of wheat. I've never seen so much wheat in my life. It goes on forever. I thought there was a lot of corn in Illinois...but the wheat fields have it beat.
We were in another cemetary down a gravel road from Farmington. Tim wanted to check to see if he could find any relatives. We pulled in and he took one look at it and said "let's go...we'd be here for hours searching for tombstones and I'm not even sure they are buried here". Well, once again, I said I just going to take a walk toward the back and I would meet him at the back road.
Bingo! Found the mother-lode! He knows he owes me big time. I wonder how many more ancestors he still has to find? I don't mind traipsing through cemetaries...but Lucy's not too thrilled about it.

Welcome to McDonald's

Actually, this guy looks friendlier than the counter help at Mickey D's this morning in Bozeman, MT. All I asked was if they had a Dollar Menu. She looked at me, turned around, pointed up to the menu, turned back to me with a look that said "Are you blind?" and said "What do you want?" Once I was able to figure out where on the menu board the Dollar Menu was I made the mistake and asked: "Is the sausage biscuit on the Dollar Menu?" Wrongo bongo. Now I got the look: "Are you stupid and blind?" Needless to say, Tim did not get his sausage biscuit this morning.