Wednesday, July 31, 2013, Verdi, NV

We were up earlier than usual, when we are traveling I like to get started by 9 or 10.  I fixed coffee and we started slowly to get things ready to travel.  My second effort hit the first snag.  I tried to retract the small awning over the door.  It was almost in and it sprang back out.  Apparently the roller is somehow disconnected and the awning won't roll up around it.  I tried to see if I could retract it in manually, no luck.  I called Coach Net and they made unsuccessful calls trying to find a mobile service to come out and either fix it or at least get it into a position that would allow us to travel.   I did find a mobile service here in Redding that advertised in the park brochure.  He agreed to come out but wouldn't accept payment from Coach Net.  I have to pay him and submit a claim.  The closest thing to an ETA that he would give me was that he would be out this morning.

The technician arrived within 45 minutes and took the awning off the frame rolled it onto the roller and wired the frame closed so it would travel.

We were on the road by 12:30.  We had a choice of routes; I-5 south to I-80 and east to Reno a distance of 280 miles or CA-44 to Susanville and then US-395 south to Reno a distance of about 219 miles.  I choose the shorter route, not wanting to backtrack all the way to Sacramento.    Off we went on CA-44, the four lane ended after a few short miles.  There was a haze in the air but we knew from the signs we were headed toward Lassen Volcanic Nation Park.  There were several road construction areas that reduced traffic to one lane.  Fortunately the waits were short.  Just before Susanville the highway became CA-36.  We had steadily climbed from under a 1000 feet to over 5000.  This kind of driving requires a different level of attention as opposed to driving on most Interstates.  Going uphill you have to pay attention to the R's and temperature.  Down hill it's brakes, engine brake and speed.

The highways we traveled today were new to us, we had never been this way before.  Susanville has some old buildings along the main street that give it an interesting character.

We intersected US-395 and continued to Bordertown and roughly south on to Reno and then west to Verdi.  Our destination for hte day was the Gold Ranch RV Resort.  We arrived at about 4:40.  We took our time getting set up.  Internet via Verizon was terribly slow or non existent.

Kathleen came over at 7 and we visited and caught up with family events until after 9 PM.

At about 10 the internet started working again and we caught up on Facebook and e-mail.

We called it a night at about 11 PM.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013, Redding, CA

We started our day as normal with coffee and computer.  I made an appointment with Quest to have another blood draw.  Gerri and Alice went to the pool and I left to go to my appointment and to look for some caches.  I forgot the order for the blood test and they didn't have a copy from last week, so I had to go back to the coach for it.

I did manage to find five caches.  In some ways urban caches are harder than others.  If you aren't familiar with the area, curved and dead end streets slow you down.  Not knowing where entrances to parks and other open areas is also a factor.  Add to that people that don't seem to check on their cache when someone else marks them as needs maintenance and you end up doing a lot of driving around with little accomplished.  I did find five today, bringing my total in Redding to thirteen and the total for this trip to nineteen.

Gerri and Alice had gone shopping and Gerri picked up our prescriptions at the CVS store.  Like I have said before, mundane every day things continue even on the road.

I got back to the park in time to clean up and visit with Keith and Alice before going to dinner.  We met our new friend Edith at the Upper Crust Pizza.  The food was good and the company lively.

Tomorrow is moving day.  Keith and Alice are heading for Russian River after a visit to a local tire shop.  We are headed for Verdi, NV for a visit with our daughter and some of the grand daughters.

Monday, July 29, 2013, Redding, CA

Up early with our coffee and computers.  Keith is working today so Gerri and Alice plan to go shopping.  I plan to do some caching.

My caching was not a stellar effort.  I found three and didn't find five.  There were several others that I didn't even look for since the owners hadn't checked on them after other cachers hadn't found them.

Bird's eye view of our campsite

Back at the park we all visited awhile before having appetizers and then supper.  Edith, a former RVer and friend of Alice and Keith's joined us and we had a great dinner and conversations.

Although it wasn't an exciting day we enjoyed friends and the milder weather.  "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24.

Sunday, July 28, 2013, Redding, CA

I was awake for several hours during the night.  When I finally got to sleep I stayed in bed quite late.  After coffee and computer catch up, we tuned into the worship service from the Oakey Blvd. Church of Christ via the internet.  There were some connection difficulties in the early parts of service.  It did stabilize just before the lesson.  Randy gave a great lesson on courage and being committed to Christ. The lesson also included the power of forgiveness and repentance.

In the early afternoon we all, us and the Kerslakes, loaded into the Jeep, destination Whiskeytown

Alice and Keith Kerslake

Whiskeytown Lake

The "Glory Hole" spillway at Whiskeytown Lake

Lake.  After wrangling with GPS's and phones, Gerri had the route locked in.  Whiskeytown Lake is a large body of water behind an earthen dam.  It is a fee area and my pass was in the motor home.  Keith bought his lifetime pass.  They used to call it the Golden Age pass, now it is called a Senior Citizen Pass.  I guess someone in the Park Service realized that life isn't ll that golden after 65.  When Gerri saw Keith's card she realized that she had bought one at Red Rock when her egg hunter friends visited in May.  This will work out well, never having to go back to the motor home for my card, Gerri will have hers.  These passes are good for entry fees and many types of federal parks and area.  They also get discounts on other services like camping.  Like I said it is an earthen dam.  Instead of an overflow ramp on the dam itself,  Whiskeytown Lake has a "Glory Hole."  We drove over the dam and went a little way before Gerri noticed that I had forgotten to put gas in the Jeep on Saturday.  The gauge read empty but the warning light had not come on.  I choose to go back to the nearest service station instead of seeing more lake and being stranded.  It was a nice drive and even though we only saw a small part of the lake it was worth the trip out from town.  Unlike many reservoirs Whiskeytown Lake doesn't have the white mark along the shoreline.  This lake is only for water storage, power and recreation, the water isn't released downstream for irrigation.

I did stop for one geocache after buying gas and heading home.

After gassing the Jeep we stopped at a road side stand and bought some peaches and cantaloupes.
We took the fruit pack to the RV Park and then left again to go to Bed Bath and Beyond.

Sundial Bridge

Sundial Bridge

Sundial Bridge

I looked up attractions on the GPS and the nearest was called Sundial Bridge.  No one had any idea what we were headed to see. Turns out that this is a 700 foot long bridge connecting the north and south units of the Turtle Bay Exploration Park and is part of Redding's Sacramento River trail system.

After seeing the bridge we did some shopping at a nearby shopping center.

Back at the park we visited some more before supper.  It was comfortable to sit outside in the shade.  We had appetizers, salmon dip  and crackers.  Keith grilled some rib eye steaks.  Gerri fixed a casserole, scalloped potatoes au gratin. Alice fixed her world famous Onion salad and some individual sized berry cobblers.

Gerri worked her egg game and I did a couple Sudoku puzzles and read some more of a book on my Kindle.  I'm am reading an interesting book by Lt. Co. Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.  I went to bed early, calling it a day at about 9:45.

Saturday, July 27, 2013, Redding, CA

I was hot again this morning.  The air conditioners started running at about 9:30.  We had our coffee.  About 10 Alice and Keith invited us to go to IHop with them for breakfast.  I know that iHop doesn't sound exciting but it tasted pretty good to all of us.

We took care of other mundane tasks.  The main one was checking our medicines and ordering refills from a nearby CVS.  Life on the road isn't all was exciting or particularly interesting.  The great part is  visiting old friends and meet new ones.  Of course we get to see and appreciate this wonderful world that God has provided to nurture and maintain us.  We are thankful that world is beautiful and we are Blessed with the health and means to enjoy this world.

The heat has been really getting to me and I took a nap after getting back to the RV park.  ate I felt pretty restless and decided to go to a store that Wendell had recommended and check on their supply of 5.7 x 28 mm  ammunition.  They had it and I bought a few boxes I also bought a box of  .45 ACP FMJ because the price was right.  Sportsman's Warehouse is like a smaller version of Cabella's or Bass World.  We stocked and pretty busy.

While out I looked for some caches and found one.It gets difficult to do caches in a city you aren't familiar with,  Winding street and not knowing the lay of the land doesn't help.  Add to those several caches that have been DNF'ed or maintenance needed noted with no indication that the owner has checked on them recently..

Around the corner form the RV park is a hamburger stand called Giant Burgers.. Alice had told us Wendell thought the food was great, Alice disagreed.   I decided to stop and get a burger to split with Gerri and decide who was right.  We decided to go with Wendell's opinion.  This burger was right up there with our favorite from Nessies Burgers in Escondito, CA.

Kieth and Alice had gone to a party at a friends house here in Redding.  They got back to the park early and we visited for awhile.  Even though it reached 108 the weather seemed more bearable.ad it wasn't unpleasnt to be out for short times.

Friday, July 26, 2013, Redding, CA

We were up having coffee pretty early.  Did I mention it is hot here?  The air conditioning units started coming on at 9 AM.  Set on 80 they all pretty much stay on until well after dark.

The heat made it easy to stay inside most of the day.  I did go out and try to find a couple of geocaches but it was hard to concentrate on the hunt with it so hot.  I did find a water dispenser to fill our container for making coffee.

At about 4 PM Keith and Alice came over.  Keith had been in Austin, TX for a business meeting and got back this afternoon.  Gerri found a steak house downtown.  The restaurant didn't take reservations so we allowed time for a wait and went there.  Jack's Grill has been in business since 1938 and I don't think much has changed.  The old manual cash registers are still use.  I don't know how old the building is but it has a metal ceiling, I didn't see any bullet holes.

The menu was mostly steaks with Scallops, Prawns and fried chicken as an afterthought.  Keith and I had steaks, Gerri had fried chicken and Alice had the scallops.  The meal was excellent and plenty of it.  All the food is made from scratch.  Even though the restaurant was small and busy, we never felt rushed to finish our meal and conversation afterwards.  We all took home left overs.  They didn't provide boxes, just the old fashion doggy bags.

After dinner we headed back to the RV park and Keith and Alice headed back to Wendell's Ranch.
After getting some tire repair Kieth and Alice are moving their 5th wheel to this RV Park and we will have more chances to visit.  They will be here until Wednesday when we leave for Verdi.

Although the heat was bad, it was a good day with good friends and good food.  We even have leftovers for later, how could it get better?

July 25, 2013, Redding, CA

I had a pretty good night's sleep.  Went to bed at 10 PM and got up at 8 AM according to my sleep monitor I was awake 28 times.  Gerri slept in too.

Coffee and computer tome took me until my appointment at Quest for a blood draw for my PT-INR.  After that I stopped at a Walgreen store and then a Walmart to pick up a few Items.  While at Walmart I got a call from Dr. Wirtz' office with the results of my blood test.  My INR was three times what it should be and I was instructed to not take my warfarin for four days, resume the 3 milligram dose and have another test next week.  We will be in Reno by then so it shouldn't be hard to find a Quest lab.

These test results probably explain my soreness and lethargy.  I hope so.  After my venture out I spent the rest of the afternoon inside, it was 109 today.  I took a short nap.  We pretty much stayed indoors the rest of the day.

We watched TV and did computer time until time to go to bed.  Tomorrow we may have a more ambitious schedule.  Keith gets home from his business trip and we plan to go to dinner.

July 24. 2013, Reddng, CA

In the future I wall avoid putting the drivers side slide out before hooking up water and sewer. After the slide is out I have to stoop under it to make the connections.  I was duck walking and on my knees a lot.  This morning when I got up my knees were stiff.

After coffee and computer we had no plans except meeting Alice at her son's ranch at 4.  The son's (Wendell) 680 acre ranch in in Igo, CA about 16 miles from the RV park.  It was very hot with no breeze so we ate inside.  Both Alice and Wendell made appetizer.  Wendell made a delicious meal Salmon and a salad, Alice provided her famous baked accordion potatoes. After supper Wendell took me for a tour of the ranch.  Along the way I did three geocaches.  This area has a lot of oak trees and rolling hills with grass.  This time of year the grass is a golden brown.  In several places there are  good view of the mountains.  We spotted a few deer but none of the other wildlife Wendell said live on or near his ranch.  He said bear and bobcats were common and an occasional lion.

After I got back from the tour we visited with Alice until about 8:00 and headed back to the RV park.

Some computer and TV time finished the day and we were in bed at 10 PM.

July 23, 2013, Redding, CA

We were up early enough to have had our coffee and check everything out on the internet and still got on the road by a little after nine.  Our route was CA-120 a short distance to I-5 and then north to Redding.

The road was smooth but the scenery wasn't remarkable.  There is a lot of flat land out here.  There does seem to be a lot of run down junkie places along the highway.

For lunch we stopped at a Travel America Plaza and bought foot long tuna subs for lunch.

We arrived at the Redding Premier RV Resort at about 2:30 having traveled 237 miles.  We were assigned site 101, a long pull through with a concrete pad for the RV.  Even though Redding is in some foothills the elevation is 675' as compared with 16' at Manteca, it is even hotter here.  I worked up quite a sweat getting everything hooked up.  It was several hours before I cooled off.  I don't know about everyone's RV but it seems the air conditioning units on ours don't come on till you are sweating and don't go off until you are chilled.  It seems to take frequent adjustment to stay comfortable.

After the sun went down I took a walk around the area of the park where we are set up, it was still hot out.  I'll will have to see the rest of the RV park later, but the section we are in had roomy sites laid out very nicely.  Even though the hook ups for our site are on the door side of the next site there are plantings that screen them from sight, so if you are outside you aren't looking at the neighbor's sewer line.

Gerri contacted our friend Alice Kerslake and they will be here Saturday after staying at their son's ranch not too far from here.  We plan on seeing them tomorrow night.

It was a good day, smooth road and easy drive.  Since we both had eaten a foot log sub in mid-afternoon, we didn't didn't bother with supper.

July 22, 2013, Manteca, CA

We were up at about seven.  I say we to include both of us, actually Gerri was up earlier.  She is in the habit of going to bed after I do and then getting up before me.  I got the coffee on and caught up on Facebook, e-mail and a couple of blogs I follow.

I took the trash out and talked to a neighbor.  There wasn't much to do to get underway.  Put somethings inside away, take in the slides and unhook the power cord.

We were under way by 9:30 but had to stop at a nearby Valero station for fuel.  The advertised price was $4.039 for cash customers.  I used a credit card and still got that price.  We were soon on CA-99 headed north.  I must say the road was a great improvement over the section of I-5 we traveled yesterday.  Only a few bumps, even the first 16 miles of construction zone were smooth surfaced.

Our destination today was a Thousand Trails/NACO park north of Modesto in Manteca, CA.  Gerri had doubts about a place called Turtle Beach Fish Camp and informed me she would not be happy if we didn't have internet.  We traveled CA-99 to CA-120 and turned west for a short way.  The road got narrower and I was having the same doubts as Gerri.  I avoided most of the low branches and managed to navigate the sometimes narrow road with no incident.  We were directed to the D section and advised to pick a spot and that no sewer connection was available.  I didn't know if that was just the D section or the entire park.  It didn't mater anyway, we are only here for the night before going on to Redding.  It was warm outside but not hot like Bakersfield.  A good thing too, the park only has 30 amp power.  We got settled pretty quickly.  I did put the leveling jacks down but Gerri didn't put down the rugs and other inside amenities.

The San Joaquin River

Today we traveled 224 miles, uneventful, over good highway on CA-99, That is the way I like it.  The Turtle Beach Fish Camp actually turned out pretty well.  I would say it is a pretty much typical TTN/NACO park.  Gravel roads and gravel sites, not a lot of traffic so dust isn't a problem.  After my walk around the park and along the levees, I need to up grade my opinion.  This park is a cut above many in the system.  The A-B and C loops have full hook ups.  There is a slough on one side of the park that leads to the San Joaquin River which runs past on the other side of the park.

The clouds showed great promise for a beautiful colored sunset,  from my vantage point the colored sunrise never materialized.  After I got back to the coach Gerri notice a fireball  lower to the horizon through the trees.

Gerri's sunset Shot

After some TV and computer time we called it a night.

July 21, 2013, Bakersfield, CA

In the early morning, 2 AM, I heard a gurgling sound.  I got up and realized I had left the water running when I dumped the sewer last night.  There was a stench in the air that smelled like burning garbage.  I got up again around 4 AM and checked out every compartment around the coach, nothing obvious.  The odor was gone when I was getting ready to roll up the hose and power cord.  The water must have held a valve in the park sewer open and the smell dissipated after a few hours.

Our goal for the day was The Bakersfield River Run RV Park.  After evaluating the fuel situation we decided to get through Los Angeles.  Our route was I-5 north.  We ran into heavy traffic near Downy.  That continued off and on to Castaic.  In a way the slow traffic was blessing.  The road was so rough it would have been worse if we had been able to do the speed limit.  I missed the turn off to the service station, so it was on toward Bakersfield via the Grapevine Hill.  Traffic was light except for some stretches of construction.  In some places there were even workmen.  The hills around Gorman were brown, they are a beautiful color in the spring with the wildflowers blooming yellow and purple.

We did turn off the interstate at the community of Grapevine, but the price for diesel was $4.79 a gallon.  We decided to go on.  I went around under the interstate but found out too late that the road ended with a southbound entrance and exit.  I checked the map and if I went south and turned around it would be quite a few miles.  I decided to unhook the Jeep and make a u-turn.

After that it was north to CA-99 to the Rosedale Highway and on to the Bakersfield River Run RV Park.  We have stayed here before it is easy off and easy on.  The park has some long pull through spots.  The site was level so I just hooked up the power and Gerri put out the slides.  It took quite awhile to cool the coach off.

We watched TV for awhile and then tuned in the worship services from Oakey Boulevard via the internet.

Gerri made Burritos for supper.  I inhaled the first one.  They were good and we have left overs.

At sundown I walked down to the Kern River which runs behind the park.  How high is the water Momma?  No feet and fallin'.  Standing on the banks of the Kern in this area at this time of the years is just like standing in the bed of the river, both are dry.  I walked around the park, I had forgotten how big it is.

Speaking of walking a few weeks ago I bought an activity tracker called Fitbit.  It is like a pedometer only it tracks sleep, stair climbing and a few other things.  All this is downloaded to a website and can be viewed in various forms.  I don't climb many stairs except getting in and out of the motor home.  There are six steps to get in.  Last week I sent an e-mail complaining that my steps up weren't being counted.  The reply was that it took ten steps up before the device registered.  When we stopped for the evening the website had registered 10 flights of stairs and a high number of walking steps.  It must have been bouncing on the rough highway through Los Angeles.

After a couple of episodes of Laredo and Have Gun Will Travel.  I called it a night.

July 20, 2013, Oceanside, CA

Bummer!  I woke up cold at about 5 AM.  I pulled up the sheet and after awhile I shut the window.  Pretty soon I new I had some kind of chills.  I took some Tylenol and NyQuil.  The next time I woke up I didn't have the chills, I stayed in bed until 11:30.  I was up for awhile but felt bad and went back to bed for several more hours.  I took some more Tylenol and started on some antibiotics.

Knowing that I was coming down with something Gerri called Todd and had them cancel coming down for the day.  Besides being sick I have missed another day of seeing the grand-kids.

I did get dressed at six, went outside to roll up everything except the power cord in anticipation of moving in the morning.  I changed my mind since our neighbors on the west were having dinner.

Our plan is to drive to Bakersfield and spend a night at the Bakersfield River Run RV Park.  We have stayed there before and it is an easy off and back on stop along  CA-99 with large pull through sites.

I had left over pizza for dinner and Gerri had left over Quesadillas.

I called it an early night, hoping that what ever plagued my morning will not return.

July 19. 2013, Oceanside, CA

We were up at about 7.  The overcast never really burned off  during the day.  Our daily routine started with coffee and computer time.  After I caught up on e-mail and Facebook I got a call from Dave Best, the SafeCo Insurance Claims Adjuster.  I had called him because the repairs at the house didn't  include replacing the bottom of the kitchen cabinet that was below the water leak.  We discussed having a contractor come out when John and Montyne are at the house in August.

This is another of the rare days this week when were aren't meeting someone for a meal.

I had asked the office where was the easiest place to get fuel and they directed me to a Chevron Station off Mission drive across from the airport.  I went out that way stopping at a couple of caches along the way.  The station isn't far off I-5 and looks easy to get into and out of, but diesel is $4.19. Places downtown are cheaper but I don't think I could get in them as easily.

For supper we had left overs.  After some TV and computer time I went to bed at 10:15.  Gerri stayed up longer.

July 18, 2013, Oceanside, CA

I got up at 6:40 and was still tired.  Gerri was asleep so instead of turning on the coffee, I went back to bed and slept until eight.  It was still a little overcast when I started the coffee.  The overcast cleared quickly.

Jane at the Acapulco Restaurant 

We just hung out at the coach until time for lunch.  Today we met Jane Knowles at the Acapulco Restaurant on the San Marcos restaurant row.  Jane lives in Escondido and we hadn't seen her for a couple of years, so there was catching up to do.  We sat outside and had a long leisurely lunch.  It was pleasant out and few people were around us so it was quiet.

Back at the coach we caught up on e-mail and Facebook. I made a couple of phone calls to our homeowners insurance company and the adjuster about the floor of the cabinet where the leak was not being replaced.  I am still waiting for a call back from the adjuster.
Later I went out to find some geocaches.  I found the first one pretty quickly.  The second one I went to was missing.  The cache was at the edge of a Ralph's parking lot, so I went in for a few items.  At the check out stand I found I didn't have my credit card.  The last place I used it was at lunch.  I called the Acapulco Restaurant and sure enough they had it.  What with traffic and an accident on CA-78 it took over two hours to get there and back to Oceanside.  I called it a day and returned to the RV park, having found only one cache.

We spent the evening watching recorded TV shows.  I did solve some Sudoku puzzles using my i-Pad.  I solved all I tried, but as I have said before they differ from what I consider easy.

I called it a night early.

July 17, 2013, Oceanside, CA

The sun was already out this morning when I got up and fixed the coffee.  We stayed around the RV park or in the coach most of the morning.  We caught up on Facebook and e-mail.

At 12 we went up to the harbor to meet meet our friends from Scottsdale, Tim and Beth Burton.  We had fish and chips at the Harbor Fish and Chips.  We met Tim and Beth on our cruise to Australia two years ago this November. and have seen them a few times since.  They used our timeshare at the Carlsbad in last week but we never got to see them.  This week they are staying at the Wyndham near the Oceanside Pier.  The restaurant was busy, the food good and plentiful.  We had a nice visit until they dropped a bombshell.  They had to cancel their cruise in October.  They would have been in the stateroom next to us on the trip from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale.  We will miss them.

"JJ"

We went back to the park and puttered around until time to meet Hollis, Gerri's brother.  Hollis and his granddaughters, Savanna and "JJ" are staying at the Wyndham for a couple of days.  We met Hollis and Malcolm, a friend of his from San Diego, at Anita's Mexican Restaurant on the Coast Hwy.  The girls had stayed at the Wyndham and had pizza.  After dinner Hollis picked them up and we met at a nearby Dairy Queen for dessert.

Savanna

Savana, Hollis and "JJ"

Back at the RV park, Gerri got on the computer.  I took a walk down to the beach.  Instead of walking back the same way, I circled the park and walked south to a railroad crossing and back along the Coast Hwy. to the RV park.  I walked quite a way, but still never made my goal of 10,000 steps

Gerri called it a night at about a quarter till 10 and I watched TV until eleven.

Another good day with friends and family.  Too much good food, we have to diet later.

July 16, 2013, Oceanside, CA

I stayed in bed until 7:30, the overcast was already clearing away when I made coffee.  My first order of business was computer catch up, Gerri was already at her admin duties.  I do have one more site to check now.  Sundays blog mentioned the pedometer.  The unit uploads to a web site, www.fitbit.com.  I also can add my weight , blood pressure, heart rate and make journal notes.  There is a friends feature so I can see what others are doing, my two friends are doing a lot more than me.

After coffee and computer I walked back down to Buccaneer Park to have another look for the cache I didn't find yesterday.  I didn't find it today either.  I did watch a heron in Loma Alta Creek while he (or she) caught a couple of small fish.  I guess I don't have to tell you I'm easily entertained.  I also checked out the menu at the Buccaneer Cafe just opposite the beach at the end of the walk from the RV park.  They have breakfast and lunch menus with a sunset dinner on Friday Saturday and Sunday.  This afternoon there was a barrista and a stand that sold a variety of coffees and teas.  The beach across the street where the Loma Alta Creek almost meets the ocean is pretty nice with a lifeguard at the designated swimming area.

We spent the afternoon around the park.  At 5 we met Bill and Arlene at Sonny's in San Clemente.  Sonny's one of our favorite restaurants in the area and well worth the 40 mile round trip.  We had a great meal and although we had seen them in March we seemed to have a lot to catch up on.

Just after dark I took another walk down to Buccaneer Park with a flashlight to have another look for the cache there.  No luck in the dark either.  This is really starting to bug me.

Another day of enjoying God's creation, good company and good food.  We will have to watch the good food part or we will need new cloths before this trip is over.

As I have  in previous blogs we had planned to arrive in Oceanside on June 30.  The plans for Oceanside and parts of the rest of this trip have been in place for a year.  I do believe in planning ahead and will continue to do so.  However, before I get caught up in lamenting that we were delayed or the plans didn't go right I need to remember the quote from Robert Burns' "To a Mouse", "The best laid schemes of mice and men go often awry."  Burns wrote those words nearly 230 years ago. An even better reminder came 1700 year's earlier in the New Testament; James 4:13-15.  Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."  My grandmas version of the last part of the last quote was, "Lord willin' and the crick don't rise."

July 15, 2013, Oceanside, CA

I was up early this morning, 7 AM.  Gerri was already up.  I fixed the coffee to start the day and caught up on Facebook and my e-mail.  The sky was overcast but the sun started peeking through by 7:30.  I cleaned up the Jeep.  During the repairs to the house I had to park the Jeep outside.  If I had known how hard the tree dripping would be to get off, I would have parked on the street.  Even using the Solution, I had to go over the Jeep twice so the windows wouldn't be streaked.

Egg hunter Gerri and June

Gerri had lunch with her Egg-hunting buddy from Oceanside, June Keil, at Fratillo's Italian Restaurant on Mission Blvd.

While she was gone I walked down to the beach to look for a cache.  I waited until a group finished their lunch and left.  Then I didn't find the cache.  On the way back to the RV park I decided to walk north on the Coast Hwy. to look at some old cars for sale.  One place had a Chevy Nova sedan delivery that really looked nice.  Another place had a 50's era Jeep station wagon but most of the front including the engine are missing and the rest of the body had a lot of rust.

When I got back to the coach, I was in trouble.  Gerri had got there before me and didn't have a key to get in.  I was in trouble because I didn't hear my phone ringing.  Since she had parked away from the motor home she didn't try the door opener on the dash of the Jeep.

It got warm during the afternoon and we spent most of the time inside.  At dinner time we couldn't use the microwave to heat up our left overs.  The microwave wasn't getting any power.  I checked the breaker box, no luck.  Later I foud where the microwave plugs in and unplugged it and then re-plugged it.  It then worked.  I found that if I delayed too long in setting the time the display goes blank, it has done this before.  Another item added to our repair list.

We watched some recorded TV programs, put in some computer time.  I loaded a Sudoku app on the i-Pad and did some of the puzzles.  I only did easy ones.  It is generally easier to do the puzzles on paper until I learned the keystrokes.  The app designer's idea of easy is different than mine, but I did solve all the puzzles I tried.  I went to bed a little after 10 and Gerri wasn't far behind.  By bedtime the air was cool and made for comfortable sleeping.

July 14, 2013, Oceanside, CA

We were up and having coffee by 7:30, surprisingly there was some sun shining through and blue sky showing.  Gerri started her admin duties for her computer group and I caught up on Facebook and e-mail.  This computer crashed in March and I had to re-install programs.At that time I didn't have my Microsoft Office disks with us.  The importance of Office is that I use Outlook for my e-mail and calendar, I also use Excel for the log of our travels and Word for many things including the drafts of this Blog.  I tried several times to install from the disk but kept getting a message that a file was missing.

The plans for the day were that Todd and Jeannette would come over after they checked out of the Carlsbad Inn, we would visit and then go see Montyne and John at the show at Mission San Luis Rey.

They got to the RV park at about 1 PM.  Because the site we are assigned to is very narrow I got a parking permit for them to use one of the spaces nearby.  Todd wasn't wearing his T-shirt that said "no I won't work on your computer" so I asked him to see if he could install word.  After some effort he concluded that my disk had somehow become corrupted.  The plan was to find the missing file and download it.

Emma trying on hats

After the failed attempt to load Office on the computer we headed for the arts and crafts show at Mission San Luis Rey.  We had to park in a dirt lot and make a $2 donation but we finally found Montyne's booth.  San Luis Rey is a few miles inland so it was warmer there and the area was pretty dusty.  Jeannette took the kids around to several of the booths.  They had silhouette portraits made and Emma bough a spider on a elastic band tied to a stick.

As the show wound down we , well mostly Todd, helped John and Montyne pack up the art, take down the booth and load everything into their trailer.

At about 6 PM we headed to Joe's Crab Shack in Oceanside for dinner.  Emma had an allergy to shell fish so her choices were limited, she and Wyatt split a grilled salmon plate.  We has full dinners with appetizers and desert.  The root beer float was really popular with the kids.  Wyatt had to bribed  with part of the root beer float to finish his salmon.

After dinner we returned to the RV park and the kids headed home to Long Beach.

Earlier while waiting for the kids to arrive at the RV park, I had walked around the park a couple of times.  I decided to do another turn around the park before bed.  It isn't a large park but there were a lot of kids on bicycles riding pretty fast in the dark.  I had to be watchful, because most of them weren't. Part of the therapy recommended is that I walk an hour a day at least three times a week.  A couple of weeks ago I bought a sort of a pedometer, it also tracks activities besides walking.  So far even with an hour of walking I haven't made the recommended 10,000 steps.  Maybe when I start walking the steps faster.

I was in bed by 10:15 and Gerri stayed up later.  Another good day visiting family.  We are truly blessed with family, friends and the ability to travel.

July 13, 2013, Paradise By The Sea RV Resort Oceanside, CA

After thirteen days delay because of Camping World’s slowness in completing the recall on the motor home, we have finally started our trip.  The delay did have some up sides.  The motor home is safe to drive.  I had time for an additional week of therapy for my knee.  We also got the floor finished and the furniture back in place.

We spent most of Thursday and Friday with final preparation to leave on Saturday.  We pulled away from the house at 9 AM.  The drive along I-15 was without problems, and easy drive at speed limits.  That stopped when we turned on to the 91 Freeway.  The traffic never stopped but we seldom got up to 35 mph.  The slowness continued on the 55 Freeway and I-5, we seldom got up to the speed limit.  We no longer travel on the 241 Toll Road.  The toll increased last year and I consider $14 excessive for the time and distance saved.

We arrived at the Paradise By The Sea RV Resort and set up by 4:30 PM.  We drove a total of 314 miles.  The site we are assigned is #39, a back in space that is supposed to be a super site with room for the RV and two vehicles.  With our slides out there is only about two inches of clearance on each side of the Jeep, motor home one side and a tree on the other.  There are several people here that we met last year, so I'll have some visiting to do during the week.

Emma and Wyatt

Gerri’s sister, Montyne, and her husband John came over at about 5:30 PM.  The have a booth at an arts and craft show in San Luis Rey.  We went to The Carlsbad Inn to meet Todd and his family for supper at Norte's.  Todd, Jeannette, Emma and Wyatt have been at the Carlsbad Inn this last week.  Another couple and their two children also joined us, making a party of 12.

Gerri, Montyne and John

After dinner we sat on the green at the Carlsbad  Inn.  While the adults visited the four kids played on the  lawn furniture.

All in all it was a great day.  We are finally on the road.  We had a good meal with family and friends.  Even though our visit with the kids will be shorter than originally planned, it was good to see them.