Nesting

We had a great summer.   Probably one of the best ever.  However, it is good to be back on our lot here in Indio.  Lucy started waving her paws as we pulled up.  I immediately started nesting.  Covers came off the table, chairs, golf cart, then I realized Tim was waiting for me to guide him back in.  Just kidding.   

Nesting is a good thing.  I'm still nesting...however, I did take time to go to Trader Joe's. 

Lone Pine, CA

Spending a couple of days in Lone Pine, CA.  Lone Pine is half way between Reno and Indio on Hwy 395.  Lone Pine has quite a history.  Manzanar Relocation Camp is north of the town.  The camp confined more than 10,000 Japanese Americans from 1942-1945.  We went through the exhibit when we came through in May.  http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/manz/index.html

The Alabama Hills are located to the west of Hwy 395 and driving through Lone Pine you can't see them.  They're named after a Confederate warship.  Apparently prospectors mining in the area during the Civil War were sympathetic to the South and they were the ones who provided the name and it stuck. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bishop/scenic_byways/alabamas.html . The area is also famous for filming such films as Gunga Din, How The West Was Won, Hop-a-Long Cassidy, Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid, etc... http://www.lonepinefilmhistorymuseum.org/.

And then there's the LA Aqueduct.  Amazing to know LA owns most of the land here. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Water_Wars

There's so much more to see and do in the area but we're ready to head south.  We left Hart Ranch and 39 degree weather.  Indio will be 100 tomorrow...but it's a dry heat.  Here's a link to the latest pictures from Lone Pine:  I think there probably is a "shorter" link but I haven't figured it out. https://picasaweb.google.com/115861928939426156753/AlabamaHillsAndCowboyFilmMuseum?authkey=Gv1sRgCOj6opaln4Gs9QE#

 I also can't figure out how to remove Sidney, NE from Weatherbug on my Droid.

Lake Tahoe with my brother



Look who's the teacher now!

 
We had a super day at Lake Tahoe.  Weather was perfect.  Loaded up the family (two cars) and made a day of kayaking and picnicing.  Brother was hilarious.  He wanted to head for the wakes left by the speed boats.  He wanted to ride those wakes.  He doesn't get out much. Here's a link to the web album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115861928939426156753/LakeTahoe?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_6sv-2gLibBg#

                                                    

Long drive

Rapid City to Reno is a long drive.  Not much to see driving west on I80...except trucks and trains.  I80 is not a scenic drive but it's the fastest route when you've got to be somewhere by a certain date.  Yesterday's fiasco was trying to get fuel at Pilot west of Elko, NV.  The car pumps DID NOT have diesel.  Diesel was only available at the truck pumps and, unfortunately, the truck pumps nozzles don't work for us.  The nozzle is too big.  By the time we had pulled in, jockey'd for position,  dodge trucks, realized no diesel at the pumps, etc., etc. we determined we had to go across the street to a Texaco where every pump had diesel and there was no traffic to contend with.  Of course, the price probably had something to do with it...$4.21/gal vs Pilot at $3.99.  Wasn't much we could do but pay the price...we needed fuel. 

I won't have any internet for the next few days. My service provider has to replace my router...has to do with roaming and the service is suspended until I get the new one. 

We have a short (40 mile) drive today to Reno.  Lucy gets to meet my niece's two dogs.  Should be interesting.  She's not fond of other dogs. 

Observations from the road

Sorry it's a bad picture, but I took it at 6:30 this morning while we were leaving the campground. It's a truck, pulling a truck pulling a little camper. They were leaving the same time we were. Wonder what's the story? There's also a motorized scooter/wheelchair thingy in the bed of the first truck.

Our first night on the road was in Nebraska, last night was Wyoming, tonight is Utah and tomorrow night will be Nevada. We have had rain/wind almost all the way. Realllly nasty wind last night in Rawlins. At the moment, in North Salt Lake City, we have puffy clouds and sunshine. I80 was packed with traffic...mostly trucks...going both ways. Also, I've never seen so many trains. Again, going both ways. Some trains were coal cars and they were passing each other. One going East, one West. Why didn't they just leave the coal where it was in the first place? Seems to me they were needless trips. Wait. Maybe it's part of the new jobs plan. Sorry. Couldn't resist.

My niece (who we're visiting in Reno) decided at the last minute NOT to take her two kids to the air show yesterday. I'm not sure why she changed her mind...I'm just grateful she did.

On the road again...

It's raining, wind's blowing, it's 39 degrees and my hands are freezing.  Hooked up the truck and heading to warmer weather.  We have had the best summer here in the Black Hills.  We had a family reunion blending Minnesota and Korea for a week.  We renamed one of the roads in Custer State Park - barf road - in honor of Audrey who like her mother can't do back seats in a car.  There was Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Reptile World (I stayed home) and Bear Country.  We also went to the Badlands stopping by a city (?) for sale - Scenic, SD - which has now been sold.  Visited Wall Drug.  (Not impressed.)  Been to Sturgis, bought shirts, drove through Buffalo Chip, Spearfish and the fish hatchery, Belle Fourche (center of the nation), kayak'd (and wouldn't now be a proud SeaEagle Paddleski owner if wasn't for Tim and Crystal - http://www.inflatableboats4less.com/  showing me the ropes...I mean paddles,  picnic'd, drank wine, and more wine, saw the B1 bomber and the museum at Ellsworth AFB.  Been on roads that I have no clue how to get back to.  Bought REAL tomatoes at a weekly farmer's market.  Spent many days driving in and around Custer State Park.  Love that park.  But, now it's time to leave. We'll miss the Black Hills.  It's such a beautiful place...in the summer.  We don't do cold.  Time to head west.  Lucy's buried in the covers.  She says she's not coming out until it gets warmer.

I thought it would fit...

As Tim would say...you can't counsel dumb. Not sure what this guy was thinking. Height and width of these one lane tunnels are posted well in advance. This is one of the tunnels on the way to Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. He finally got through but crunched the top left of his cab over in the process. The crowd in front of him had exited their cars and were shaking their head in disbelief as he drove by.

We took the kayak out for one last spin around Center Lake in Custer State Park. Tim stayed on shore taking pictures of Lucy and I enjoying our time on the lake. There are no pictures however to post. Discovered after we got home that the memory card wasn't in the camera!! Oh well, at least I had my camera to take the stupid driver's picture.

Black Hills National Cemetery

We stopped at the Black Hills National Cemetery today - http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/blackhills.asp. It was a last minute decision to take the exit to the Cemetery. We had passed it a number of times (right off Interstate 90 just east of Sturgis) and this time I wanted to stop. Just inside the entrance were 2 fire trucks from Sturgis. A few people were milling around and we determined there was a burial about to take place. We continued to drive through the Cemetery just reading some of the names on the headstones and which war they were in. Tim has had me in a lot of cemeteries looking up his descendents but this time it was my idea. Two names on headstones caught my eye: Last name on one was Low Dog and the other was Kills in Water. Can’t say I remember their first names…their last names were eye catchers.

Minutes after we left the Cemetery and were back on Interstate 90 heading back to Rapid City we passed a motorcycle, fire truck, car, truck procession that was a couple of miles long going west. We put 2 and 2 together and realized they were heading to the Cemetery. The two fire trucks already at the Cemetery made it pretty easy to figure out. I just did some google searching and the service being held at the Cemetery is for a 21 year old National Guardsman from Sioux Falls who died in a non-combat accident (he was working on a bridge project) in Afghanistan. The procession I mentioned earlier initiated in Sioux Falls with others joining in along the way.

Labor Day, Kids, Kids and more Kids

Obviously, here at Hart Ranch in South Dakota, Labor Day weekend is the last hurrah for weekend warriors and their kids.  The place has been over taken with kids (and bicycles).  The speed limit for vehicles is 10 mph but it would be safer to walk anywhere. (Kids have no fear or shame when they ride out in front of you.) There are grills going, games being played, bicycle races, razor (scooters) races, strollers loaded with kids and dogs, tents up, tents blown down from a nasty wind storm, one little girl sitting in a big, tonka toy type truck, being pulled by her brother on his bike on a long rope weaving all over the road.  Picnic tables are pushed together with Moms and Grandmas getting the food ready.  There are games of hide and seek with lots of shrieks and laughter.  Occasionally, there's a baby crying.  The couple parked next to us had several car loads of family show up yesterday.  Young, old, teenagers and a new baby.  Lots of oohs and aahs.  The watermelon was bought out after the chicken and corn had been devoured.  Grandpa had what looked like a hacksaw to cut into the melon.  It took him awhile but everyone eventually got their slice of watermelon.

Today, Monday, they'll start packing up to head home.  Tomorrow all will once again be quiet.   Too quiet.  I like hearing the laughter of little kids.  Lucy, however, will be glad to see a couple of dogs leave.

Wore myself out.

Spent almost 3 hours redesigning the blog.  Don't have any energy left to post anything. 

Not sure…

Not sure I want to blog any more.  Obviously, it hasn’t been high on my list the last few months.  Few usually means more than two less than four.  I guess it’s been three months…give or take a month.  Not sure why I lost my desire to write.  It’s not like I don’t have something to say.  I definitely have opinions about stuff.  I get fed up with the news.  Everything is a “Fox News Alert”.  I get fed up with politicians…they all lie.  Who cares what Lindsey Lohan is up to now?  God, what a shallow world we live in.  I’ve become cynical over the last few years.  I guess I need to just learn to tune it all out. 

One thing hard to tune out is the wind.  We have had so much wind the last few weeks.  I thought Chicago was the windy city.  We were suppose to leave today for the Northwest but with high wind warnings for today we decided to stay put.  We are heading to La Pine, Or where I just found out they have flood warnings!!  And, the temperature last night was 26!  Next will be locusts.  I’ve got to figure out how to get floaties on the motorhome.  Which brings me to another topic we were discussing a few nights ago with fellow rv’ers.  What do friends and family call your motorhome?  We had a few chuckles on what others call our motorhomes.  Campers or trailers is the most common.  I usually refer to ours as the “rig” or “moho”.  We’re not a bus and “coach” seems too ritzy.  (However, sometime coach does slip out usually after we’ve been referred to as a camper.)

I think I had about a total of four people who read this blog.  Will be interesting to see if anyone notices that I added a post.  Don’t blame them for not checking or commenting on a new post.  I know I get turned off when there’s nothing new on the blogs I follow.  Maybe the difficulty I’ve had with blogging is who is it for?  Me or them?  Not sure.

Who are these people?

Lucy and I went for a walk around the park last night.  The park was pretty empty when we got here on New Year’s Eve.  They’ve been coming in like flys the last couple of days.  Where did they come from?

Tim has always accused me of being a voyeuer..don’t think I spelled that right but you know what I mean.  I like to walk at night because I can look in the windows and see what’s going on.  That’s what I did last night.  There are RVs of all type.  We have Class A’s…gas (engine’s in the front); diesel (engine’s in the back); there’s Class C’s, B’s, B+, 5th wheels, trailers and a few I don’t recognize.  I see some people who are making dinner, watching TV, on the computer, by themselves, talking on the phone, reading or just puttering.  I wonder who they are, where did they come from, are they snowbirds just here for the winter or are they fulltimers?  Retired?  Recovering from health issues?  Dealing with health issues and not letting it stop them from travelling?  Is this their last hurrah?  Will we see any of them at our booth at the FMCA Rally next week?  Where will they go from here?  What are their stories?  Are they famous?  In disguise? 

We finished our walk and headed back to our motorhome where the blinds are down and drapes pulled…buttoned down tighter than a drum.  I know there’s people like me out there.  I don’t want them watching while I dance the fandango! 

Another year bites the dust...

I don't like looking back so this won't be a rehash of 2010.  Those of you who know us know what 2010 was like...those of you who don't, you didn't miss anything I want to replay.  I try to stay in the moment.  Most are good...no, great moments.  Some suck.  We are blessed with great kids, grandkids and friends and, of course, one special dog...Lucy.  Tim and I both think she's a compliation of our previous dogs, Tootsie and Buffy.  She's a Yorkie, like Buffy.  Buffy was a 5lb princess type of Yorkie.  She wore a pink bow in her hair.  Lucy pulls plow.  No bows for her.  She's a 12 pound, bring it on, pulls no punches (just plows), I'm not wearing that $28.00 sweater - I'll just stand here and hold it (piddle) until it's back in the 70's, type of Yorkie.  She has the personality of Tootsie.  Tootsie was the sweetist dog we ever had.  Lucy has her heart.  She loves everybody.  As far as she's concerned, everyone is on the planet to pet her.  She manages to get us to do exactly what she wants us to do when she wants it.  She stares into your eyes.  She can communicate with you with those eyes. 

We're in Indio, CA for the next few months.  New Year's Eve was quiet except for the machine gun being fired at Midnight.  Did I say we were in CA?  My New Year's resolution is to take my vitamins on a daily basis (maybe I'll do it this year) and to be the human Lucy expects me to be.