Golfing, the Ducks, and Rain …

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

Summer is over in St. Helens, Oregon. I know that’s true because the weatherman said so and I believe pretty much everything he tells me. Actually, he told Diane, on the evening news, and she told me and I believe everything she tells me. Not believing her isn’t an option.

When the rain started our satellite dish took a brief hit, scrambling the pixels for a bit, but straightened up quickly so I could watch the end of the game where the Oregon Ducks dismantled the Arizona Sun Devils. The game started badly for the Ducks with a fumble which was recovered by the Sun Devils who scored on their first play from scrimmage.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Ducks scored then converted for an 8-7 lead. All of this took about 90 seconds off the play clock. For the remainder of the first half the Ducks punished the Sun Devils for that first fumble by scoring 43 unanswered points.

During the second half the Ducks backed off, playing pretty much everyone on the bench. Nick Aliotti wasn’t happy, I’m sure, because the Ducks remained at 43 but the Sun Devils 2nd string scored 14 more points. Final was 43-21. Ducks are awesome. Now the only unbeaten teams in the Pac-12 conference are the Ducks and the Beavers – both Oregon teams. How about that?

Now, about the rain … during the first 15 minutes the sky dropped about 3 inches of rain in the area. Not all in one place, but over a large area, and if it was squeezed together into a smaller area I’m sure it would be at least 3 inches. I’m really not sure how they measure rainfall. I think it has something to do with an empty tuna can.

Most of the day it was nice and clear. I even went golfing with the Peal Brothers this morning. I did my normal terrible, but it was fun because I hit some incredible drives. They were straight and everything. Just like they’re supposed to be. That’s about as good as it got because I apparently can’t hit anything that isn’t setting up on one of those little tee’s. I’m told it’s illegal to use those in the fairway.

After golfing badly, I came home to work on the Blue Bago, but Diane called and invited me to a Burgerville lunch with her Mother. I never turn down a Burgerville lunch. Today I had a Pepper Bacon Cheese Burger with lemon ade. That’s a change because I normally have a chocolate milkshake which isn’t good for my fake diabetes problem.

Now, don’t think that last statement means that I take diabetes lightly. It’s just that I’ve been told I’m borderline and until a specific determination has been made it’s not a real problem I can deal with. I have a hard time dealing with intangibles.

This afternoon, after lunch, I put on some old work clothes and went out to wash the top of the Blue Bago to see what it looks like. When I started it was pretty much black all over. After I scrubbed it with Dawn and water. Turns out one of the previous owners had painted the roof with pink snow roof. Without the dirt it looks mighty festive. Also, it looks great and is nicely sealed. I don’t think it’s leaked for a long time and don’t expect it to leak now. I guess we’re going to find out.

I washed the roof today because I knew it was going to rain tonight and I have work to do underneath the bago … like reconnect all of the gas lines and find out why the system doesn’t work. Being underneath, I won’t get rained on. See, I’m thinking ahead. I won’t get rained on, but my back will probably get wet from all the water running down the road. That’s OK as long as I figure it out.

Now I must rest.

My Blue Bago

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

It’s not really just mine … it’s ours … mine and Diane’s. It’s a 1973 Winnebago D22 and this is what it looks like right now.

The blue Subaru behind it is the tow car but we can’t tow it yet because we don’t have a tow bar yet. So, it’s a chase car. I may have mentioned that before.

We bought this thing yesterday. It’s been sitting for a year behind a business in Hillsboro. I had high hopes of getting it home yesterday, but gas tank lashup I had didn’t work very well. Today Doug went with me to see what we could do with it. Everything worked just fine until the electric fuel pump froze up. We took it back to Baxter’s who refunded the purchase price because the one we bought yesterday was the only one he had. So, we went down the street a little further to Auto Zone and got another one, just like it.

To power it up Doug suggested we buy a cheap $1.99 extension cord instead of paying $6.00 for a comperable amount of wire. He cut both ends off, stripped the shielding and used both wires for the conduit. We found a hot wire peeking out of the dash that was only hot when the key was on so we were good to go after hooking up the pump to the carbuerator.

The engine started right away and ran exceedingly smooth. There are no discernable exhaust leaks. I drove it home without bolting down the engine cover in the cab so it was drafty, noisy and hot. For the fuel supply I placed a 5 gallon gas can just inside the door and just dropped the end of the fuel line in it after connecting it to the fuel pump.

Tomorrow, after golf, I’ll get a couple more pictures and post them so you can see what a traveling death trap I was driving this afternoon. I did have a fire extinguisher, but didn’t have to use it. The gas can went dry in Warren, about 4 miles from home. I really thought I could make it, but we had to pull over and make a gas run to St. Helens. Thankfully Doug was following me the entire way, keeping an eye on things for me. Without his help today that thing would still be sitting in Hillsboro. I asked him to marry me, because he’s such a good friend, but he reminded me that I’m already married. In response, I told him I was thinking of becoming a bisexual Mormon so I could have both a husband and a wife. He didn’t think it was a good idea, or that his wife would approve, so we avoided that issue the remainder of the day. It was a little awkward for a while after that.

Add to all the other things going on, I now have gout in the palm of my foot. Not really the palm, more towards the first knuckles of all my middle toes. This is going to help me with golf tomorrow because you’re supposed to put your weight on your heals when you swing the club. That will not be a problem.

Presidential Debates

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

I didn’t get to watch the debates this evening because I was participating in our local Community Meals where Diane volunteers a lot of time. Not watching them wasn’t a big deal to me because the media provides enough analysis to ensure I understand their point of view and who they think won. What I think is totally meaningless to anyone but me.

The fact that the media showcases only two political parties is, in my opinion, stark raving mad proof that they are doing their best to force Americans to believe we only have Republicans and Democrats running for office. In fact, there are nearly 40 political parties in the USA, and 175 qualified individuals have filed to run for president in 2012. Like everything else in politics, qualifying is all about money … not much at the entry level, but it’s still about money.

The individual has received contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or made expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000; or
The individual has given consent to another person to receive contributions or make expenditures on behalf of him or herself and that person has received contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or made expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000 (11 CFR 100.3(a)).

So, those who qualify with the minimum contributions/expenditures are ushered into oblivion by those who either already have millions/billions of dollars, or are buddied up with those who do. Money wins. Just like the best movies are apparently, according to the media, the ones that gross the most money on opening day. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a good movie or not … if people buy into the hype and they’ll go to see if it’s all true. Many times, after they’ve already spent their fifty bucks, they discover it was waste of time. Unfortunately, they’ve already added to the monetary success of that film.

So it is with political candidates. Ever heard of these folks:

JONATHON THE IMPALER SHARKEY,
GEORGE WASHINGTON WILLIAMS,
PRESIDENT EMPEROR CAESAR,
RUTHERFORD BERT HAYES,
HRM. CAESAR ST AUGUSTINE DE BUONAPARTE

It would be interesting if you have because none of them are well known because they have a limited support base. Plus, they have some odd names that just don’t sound real, do they? But, they are all real candidates for president.

I’m not saying I support any of these folks. I’m just saying there are more than two parties to consider in this election. But, in the end, we’ll wind up with either a Republican or a Democrat running the country.

Then there’s the electoral college. What’s that all about other than a way for each state to sidestep the popular vote, if they choose, and there’s nothing we can do about it. How about that? Why bother? Let’s just let the electoral college call the shots from the start and save all that money that’s spent on paper to print ballots that, for most of the western states, are meaningless.

We’re told to vote if we want change. OK, I vote, but the changes I see aren’t in line with the ones I’d like to see. I won’t go there, but I’m betting that the majority of folks feel the same way.

In my opinion, banks and big business control our destiny and voting for one candidate or the other won’t change it. That’s because, in my opinion, banks and big business pick the candidates.

So, if you were me, who would you vote for? Romney, who epitomizes big business, or Obama, who effectively didn’t exist until 6 years ago? Or, perhaps, “None of The Above”. I don’t think that’s a choice, but it should be.

There, I’ve said it. Doing so takes me way out of my comfort zone because I normally spout fiction, or just make stuff up. So, enjoy this moment, if you must. Tell me how wrong I am, if you wish. I won’t listen because I’m with the majority … I criticize without sharing my opinion of an alternate solution which, therefore, means I’m part of the problem. Since I don’t have a zillion bucks to get in the running, I’ll just fantasize about what I’d do if I were president. It would probably be just like it is here at home – I do whatever Diane says which means, although she didn’t run, she’s in charge.

Just like big business and bankers.

Doing Nothing in St. Helens

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

The title says it all with the exception of having to get up around 0630 to let the dogs out. Yes, I’m the one who let the dogs out. I do it every day. Now you know.

After letting them out, I let them in and fed them a nutritional breakfast of some kind of chopped up meat slathered in some questionable gravy, and they love it. I fed the cat, too.

About the cat … when we got home yesterday she was just leaving the yard to go visit the neighbors … wait! You already know all of this stuff … you want to know what happened after Diane brewed the coffee, don’t you?

Well, I poured a cup, settled down on my side of the couch and drank it, very slowly. Then I had another one and another banana. During this time Diane sat on the other couch, not wanting to sit near me since she’s been sitting near me constantly for the past 18 days, or so, and we watched a couple of the 822 TV shows that were recorded while we were gone. A significant thing happened when we were doing that. After watching a pretty boring Bones episode when we decided we didn’t care about watching it any more. So, Diane deleted all the episodes on the DVR and cancelled all future recordings. That left us only 815 shows left, a much more manageable number.

Shortly after 1000, Jennie, Lydia, and Gilligan arrived to pick up Diane for another Gilligan shopping trip. Once they left, I was on my own so I found a comfortable position, changed channels to watch the Oregon St. vs. BYU game, and just sat there until Diane and the kids returned. Then I was given a fashion show by Gilligan and Lydia of all the princess dresses Gilligan got. She loves princess dresses. We love her in them.

After the fashion show I set the Oregon/BYU game to record, Diane’s recommendation, so we could go to Wal*Mart to see about getting a router for the computer and to for sure get Panzee some more canned dog food. All we got was dog food because they didn’t have the router I wanted.

This means, of course, we’ll have to go to Portland tomorrow after church to rectify that situation. And to go look at at 1973 Winnebago D22 that might have our name on it. Hopefully not, but you never know. I’ll let you know how that goes.

After the failed shopping trip I once again parked myself on the couch and cruised between the football channels until Diane got fed up with all the yelling at which time she seized control of the remotes and switched to HGTV. That’s when we decided to eat supper. Diane ate a baked potato and steamed vegetables. I ate a can of Cambel’s Manhatten clam chowder, a bunch of crackers and a pound of cheese.

Now it’s 2100, I’m full, and Hawaii Five-0 is on. Aloha.

Naps in Nampa

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

Today was a blur of naps. Jim slept fitfully, repeatedly, in his TV chair and Diane just up and went to bed for most of the afternoon.

Me? I napped a bit in a chair, a little bit more on the couch, after Diane went to bed, and made a sincere attempt nap standing up, a skill I once had. None of them were fitful, as were Jim’s.

Donna didn’t nap at all. She went out in the morning to get her hair done because the injury to her left arm, caused when Jim placed sodas in the wrong place on the garage floor, makes it difficult for her to wash and comb her hair. The rumor is that Jim broke her arm. In truth, it was a broom. That’s all I can say because of the pending law suit.

For lunch we ate some beans that are only sold in Colorado and smuggled into Idaho for discerning residents. They are the kind that don’t have to be soaked for a couple of days before cooking – they can be cooked right away. I believe the kitchen blind was lowered the entire time they were cooking to avoid any problems with neighbors who are totally against bean smuggling.

The beans were very, very good, and they came with corn bread muffins. Jim was unhappy with them because he had difficulty getting all the muffin off the paper. Later in the day, when Maryssa showed up, she was able to peal them just fine. Steffani arrived shortly after Maryssa, interrupting all the napping going on. Steffani didn’t get a muffin because Maryssa ate all of those remaining, smothered in honey. I did not notice any problem pealing mine. Also, at my urging, Jim chopped up some onion for the beans and it was the crowning touch.

It was after the beans that Diane went to the bedroom for her nap. In her defense, she got up with a headache, and a nap was just what she needed. I had a bit of a headache, too, and we agreed that it’s probably because the weather is changing. Tomorrow will probably be out last day of sunshine until next April because the rain is coming. That’s good because that will translate into snow for the mountains which are painfully bare at this time.

Maryssa left for softball practice, in Boise, at 5:30pm with a end time at 7:00pm. That was critical to know because in lieu of supper we all decided go to a ‘U Swirl’ yogurt joint when Maryssa was done. She predicted 7:30pm but didn’t call until almost 8:00pm. We were starving.

U Swirl is a custom frozen yogurt place like non other. It has 18 different flavors, 40-50 kinds of topping, and a little bin of waffle cone remnants that might have been reclaimed from the floor from dropped cones. I know for sure that they shatter when dropped more than 3 feet. All of this for 39 cents a pound. For the seven of us it cost $30 to fill our little buckets. I had 3 different flavors, Maryssa had 8. I made the mistake of putting hot fudge on mine knowing it was going to hurt my head. I didn’t care. It just tastes so good. An added benefit, in addition to the headache, is a stomach ache. Nice. Add that to my hip ache, the ringing in my ears, dry eyes, puffy left foot, and other stuff, I’m just a mess. I’ll probably come up with diarrhea tonight.

Hopefully I’ll wake up.

Nampa, Idaho

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

We arrived in Nampa around 4:30, I think. It may have been 3:30. It’s a topic for discussion because one of us has remained on Pacific time since leaving home on September 23rd. Transiting through Arizona compounded the problem because they don’t change their clocks which I think is a stellar idea. Then we went straight north to Utah and the time changed on our phones, but not on one of our wrist watches, or in the car. It really doesn’t matter since we’ll soon be back on Pacific time, but it causes confusion for one of us having to deal with the difference, explaining time and again that it’s not really noon, for instance, but one o’clock.

Our brief visit to Hill AFB was really nice. We didn’t go by the exchange to make those unnecessary purchases I mentioned, but we did go by the gas station to fill up, and Burger King for a warm sandwich. I also got orange juice and Diane got a huge cup of really hot, really bad coffee. She asked that they put four sugars in it, but I bet they forgot. Fortunately, we have those kind of supplies for emergencies, which this was, and I poured a bunch in and it didn’t do much good. Before doing that, however, she told me to put some in my travel mug but I used hers instead because mine was moldy and didn’t smell nice. Diane had to roll down her window. In my half, I poured five (5) of those little creamers and it did no good. It was a total waste of creamers, but I drank it anyway, just because. If only we could have found a Starbucks in a timely manner. By the time they appeared on our radar it was too late because we were almost to our destination.

Our average speed for the trip, including the 2 hours I drove (yea!), was 72.8 mph with two stops – one to pee and one to reload our bladders. So we made good time.

Nothing significant happened other than the fact that we were happy to arrive safely in Idaho where drivers are more sane. I don’t think anyone from Utah followed us across the state line so think we’re going to remain safe for a while longer.

When we arrived, Jim met us at the front door in his pajamas which indicated, to me, that it was time for bed. I don’t know why he bothered with them because he generally sleeps in his TV chair wearing what ever he has on at the moment. But he did. They are festive blue ones. He wore them the entire evening, even at dinner.

Before dinner, Steffani and Maryssa arrived to visit. Maryssa was a little punch drunk from lack of sleep (homework, she said) and went to work on current homework, laying on the floor, on her stomach, eating cookies and drinking a big glass of milk. It was interesting and caused me to wonder if I could do that without spilling it all over myself. I don’t think I my neck would bend back far enough to get anything in my mouth. But that’s to be expected, I suppose, since I’m way beyond 16, unlike her.

Bob arrived from his dentist shortly thereafter, then we all sat down for a pot roast dinner. It was awesome. The only problem was when Jim put a glass of water in front of my plate right where I was about to point, and I didn’t see it. I’m sure he’s the one who did it because I have no memory of picking it up before. I could’ve, I suppose, but I will always wonder. The result was that I hit it dead center and dumped all but about 1.5 swallows all over the table. Thankfully Donna had a table cloth on the table which soaked up most of it but an auxiliary towel was required to mop up the remainder. Quick action on everyones part kept it out of Steffani’s lap. Diane, of course, was mortified, as well she should have been, but everyone else seemed to take it well.

Spilling the water kinda ended the meal, so we ate cake, then everyone participated in completing Maryssa’s homework. It was a good exercise for all of us. It was all about medical terms. None of my answers were used.

After visiting for a short time Jim fell asleep in his chair and all the sudden it was time for bed. So that’s where I am at the moment. Diane sequestered herself in another bedroom and locked the door so I perceived that I was to use the other one. Which I’m doing.

Tomorrow, Jim wants to get up at some outlandish hour and do “stuff” so that’s what we’ll do. Now I must sleep.

Day 6 – San Diego

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

Today was pretty routine. Some might say it was boring, even. But me? Boring or not, I cherish every day that I wake up on the green side of the grass. Know what I mean?

We got up late. Too late for our continental breakfast, again. We’ve been here two days and missed both time. Tomorrow, being a weekend, it will be open until 10 am, an hour later, so we might be able to make it down before it closes. I’m sure they serve delicious, very hearty fare. The most important part, however, is the coffee. Ummmmmm.

Our beautiful daughter, Jennifer, gets migraine headaches whenever she smells chocolate, of coffee. That is just so unfair. Two of the most important food groups, and she cannot partake of them. Makes me wonder what I ever did so wrong to inflict such a terrible thing on her.

I suffer from migraines, too, but love walking down the coffee aisle in any grocery store. It’s such a wonderful aroma that I fear I’ll embarrass Diane and start drooling or something. I know, she’s used to the drooling, but the smell of coffee makes it way worse. That’s about all I ever consume for breakfast … coffee. I eat bananas, too, and douse my coffee with hazlenut creamer, so it’s not just coffee. But it’s mostly coffee.

For 27 years I roamed the passageways of naval ships, and various shore facilities, clutching a crusty coffee cup in my hand, filling it every time I passed a coffee pot. I only drank it black, and I drank it right up until taps, or lights out at 10pm. Sometimes later than that. It never bothered me. The more bitter, the better. It wasn’t about the taste back then, it was just a need to carry around a coffee cup and an empty coffee cup isn’t normal. That cup never got washed, either. That was a rule because it supposedly ruined the flavor. I never believed that, of course, because, as I said previously, it wasn’t about the flavor. It’s a wonder I didn’t catch something really, really bad. Maybe I did and it just hasn’t manifested, yet. Maybe I’ll wake up and have it tomorrow because it lays dormant for 25 years before it strikes.

What ruined me and Diane for coffee was the first pleasure cruise we ever took. Cruise ship coffee is really strong, and tasty. We loved it so much that we promptly tossed out the Folgers when we got home, bought a coffee grinder, and enrolled in the Gavalia coffee of the week program. For a nominal fee they send us boxes filled with little bags of whole bean coffee from various parts of the world. All of them are good. I’d be perfectly happy with just one kind, all the time, since I now use creamer, all the time, but the variety is great for Diane. All she uses is sugar. I mistakenly took a sip of hers once and about gagged, then acquired a taste for it. I drank it that way for years. Then I went to Starbucks. It was the thing to do every Thursday morning toward the end of my civilian career. Instead of plain old coffee at an exorbitant price, I decided to have a Venti White Chocolate Mocha, no whip at an even MORE exorbitant price. I was hooked. Simply sugared coffee left me wanting. I needed more. I needed something that I could roll around in my mouth and feel the creamy substance absorb into my tongue, and the inner walls of my cheeks. Just like the VWCMNW.

After sampling a lot of different creamer flavors, I settled on hazelnut. I’m so stuck on that stuff that I just can’t drink coffee without it any more. We travel with it, even. It’s an addiction, I think. Not a terribly bad on, but an addiction, just the same.

I’m sorry … I didn’t mean to turn this into a confessionalistic episode, but there you have it. It’s done and there’s no turning back. Maybe I should add a picture. Haven’t taken many, and don’t have an recent ones, so I’ll just give you one of Breezie having a cat nap and call this good.

Day 4 – Naval Base San Diego, California

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

It’s 1047 and we’re about eleventy-two miles into our final leg.

We both slept better last night, mainly because I remained more vertical than horizontal which help me not snore so much. Diane likes that part.

We both woke up before 0730 this morning, and slowly worked up to beginning this last day on the road. The to our room shut behind us at 0910, and we had everything loaded and rolling out of the parking lot by 0915. Then there was the requisite stop at the base gas station for a refill. We stopped there yesterday but non of the pumps were working, so we went to the exchange and commissary instead. This time they worked just fine and I was able to coax a tank of $4.09 a gallon gas into our tank. I think it took a little over 19 gallons. From there we went back to the Starbucks, which is part of the Exchange complex, for our morning brew. Diane’s is caramel machiatto, mine is white chocolate mocha. The biggest they have. While I was getting our drinks, Diane bought me a T-shirt. She wasn’t pleased with the ones I brought because they all have neckties printed on them.

On the way out the main gate I took pictures of the airplanes on display to share with you.

Apprehension builds as we travel south, knowing we must enter Los Angeles early this afternoon. The only upside is it’s mid day, not during rush hour. Still, we know it’s going to be a slow, arduous, dangerous transit from the Grapevine through the city. It will be exciting, but we will make it okay.

I’ve been playing with my phone to see how siri works. Pretty soon she’ll have me trained so ask questions in the proper manner so whe won’t have to quiz me. It’s a pretty handy feature. My iPad even has it. How cool is that. And, just a bit ago, Diane had me use her phone to call her Mom, Jean, to see how things are going today. That’s a morning regular, once we get on the road … call Mom … just for fun, I tried to invoke siri on Diane’s phone, but she’s only got an iPhone 4, not a 4S like mine, so she doesn’t have siri. She does, however, have Voice Control, that pops up when you hold down the conrtrol button long enough, and I just told it to “dial Jean”. After a short pause she asked me which one, as there are a few Jean’s in the contacts list. I clarified, and she dialed Mom right up. Jean, by the way, is still doing okay, for which we’re thankful.

It’s 1309 – do you know where your children are?

We just crested the summit of Tejon Pass at the top of the Grapevine leading into LA. It’s 4144 feet high. I know that for sure because there was a sign. It was the same sign we’ve seen on the dozen or so times we’ve climbed that hill. Apparently it hasn’t sunk any.

About an hour ago, we took a small detour, allowing siri to lead us into Bakersfield for lunch at the closest iHop restaurant it could find. It was a really good choice,, getting away from the freeway for food. Cheaper, too, although it cost us a little extra time. We both had their Two x Two x Two … that’s 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, and two pancakes. Diane got her eggs and bacon cooked twice, just the way she likes it, and mine were both over easy. I put my eggs between my pancackes so the yolks wouldn’t run all over my plate. Tasty.

The road at the top of the Grapevine is terrible … lumpy bumpy holey. Caused, no doubt, by the billions of trucks that drive transit the area every 2-3 days. We’ve seen at least a million and a half. There is construction going on with signs it will be finished in 2015. So, it’s improving, and appears to be finished on the southern side, both directions. Four lanes of new asphalt allowing everyone, except us, to go 100 mph, or more.

It’ 1330 and LA is 50 miles away. We’re almost to the final downhill side because trucks are pulling into the brake check area. Every time we come this direction I tell Diane the story of my trip down this hill in my 1964 el Camino in 1966. I was just cruising along, keeping up with traffic, when I crested the hill. Going around the first corner I look ahead to see brake lights about 1/4 mile ahead, so touched the brakes and not a lot happened. So I pushed harder, and felt a bit of slowing, but not enough. I started down shifting my 4-speed to help slow down, but the vehicles ahead were gaining on me with frightening speed. Finally, I just shifted to neutral and locked up all the wheels, pushing on the brake as hard as I could. I put flat spots on all four of those tires before the car came to a stop about 5 feet from the car in front of me. It was a miracle that the car slid straight for about 300 feet, never leaving my lane. The end result was that it appeared I did exactly what I had planned to do all along … scare the crap out of everyone around me without causing any damage. Pretty amazing.

******* M U C H ***** L A T E R *******

We made it to the Navy Lodge in San Diego shortly before 5pm, and, Diane drove the entire way. I offered to help, numerous times, but she always declined stating she was just fine. Now it’s a quarter to 10pm, we’ve eaten supper, and are learning how to hunt down killers from a TV program. It’s one we watch a lot, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name. Not really surprising. I just asked Diane and learned it’s “Criminal Minds”. Duh! That’s just added proof that I can’t get along in this world without Diane.

Day 2 – Beale AFB, California

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

We slept extraordinarily well last night, even though I failed (I failed) to pack the cord for my CPAP machine which caused concern for both of us. Me, because snoring gives me a sore throat, and Diane because she was fearful she’d have to keep kick-starting me all night long. Neither happened, so maybe it’s OK for me to start breathing fresh air at night once again.

It was interesting that our motel room was 111. Eleven is a number that shows up in our lives repeatedly, so we see it as a good omen.

At the motel, we ate a bit of breakfast, filled our coffee cups in the lobby, and took off. We crested the Siskyou Summit at 9:44 am, and crossed the border into California at 9:48. It’s now 9:54 and we’re coasting in to the border control station at Hornbrook so we can tell the guards that we are not trying to sneak non-California fruits into their state. That’s important to them.

Whew! We made it past the crossing guard station … she was a hottie in shorts.

At the moment, we’re grinding along behind an RV who, in turn, is grinding along behind a semi-truck because the lanes are restricted. They’re working on 2 miles of the downhill side and we’re going uphill. Dang.

During this pause, some of the quaint little place names we’ve passed ate flitting through my little head. One, in particular, reminds me of an old trucker song we used to hear all the time. It’s Wolf Creek Pass which is a little north of Grants Pass. Another favorite is Jump Off Joe Creek, near the bitty town of Wolf Creek, is a name that causes me to envision all kinds of goings on to cause a group of concerned people to christen the place with such a descriptor. Do you think his name was really Joe? Do you think he really jumped, or was he pushed? Or, was this a place where Sam was actually on Joe and the snap of a nearby twig startled them, causing Sam to nervously jump and Joe compounded the visual effect by pushing Sam up and away. Bill, an innocent bystander, the twig breaker, having followed Joe and Sam to this secluded location because of concerns he had for the sanctity of heterosexual activity, witnessed the event and, since not a lot happened in that area of the woods, rushed willy-nilly to the nearest saloon to report that he had just seen Sam Jump Off Joe down by the Creek. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

It’s now 10:12 am and we’re cruising by exit 753 which is next to Mt. Shasta. The mountain is virtually naked … just a few spots of snow and ice are scattered sparsely around it’s tippy top.

I’m still think about Sam and Joe, and wonder if they were forced to flee Wolf Creek for warmer climes near San Francisco where they struck on the idea of starting a commune where they could spread the joy they found with each other to those seeking satisfaction in a similar manner. My search of the internet hasn’t revealed any concrete evidence to support this theory, but I think I’ve seen vague references about an obscure little rod and gun club that was opened in 1898 near the corner of Haight & Ashbury.

This, of course, is unfounded discourse,
making me wonder why
someone of my gender would
seek solace in another guy.

OK. That was a lame attempt at a bit of poetry and a disclaimer that what I’m sharing is pure figments. Still, there’s evidence throughout history that this kind of activity has been going on for pretty much ever. I’ve always thought it was one of God’s way to keep the population in check. One might wonder what the world would be like today if everyone had remained staunchly heterosexual throughout history. Just think about all that extra begetting that would have been going on. I suspect there’s a formula somewhere that could compute the difference in population density between the two different lifestyles.

Any guesses?

It’s 10:55 and we’re almost to Shasta Lake. First stop of this leg is Redding for gas and Gas (lunch).

Now I must pause and navigate before I get into trouble. Again.

Hey there … it’s 1:23 pm and we just left the Win River Casino in Redding where we had a very nice lunch. And we didn’t gamble even though we each received $5 on our Players cards so we could get the lunch special at a discount. We figure we made $18 with the free money and discounted lunch. That works.

It especially works because the gas tank lady was telling Diane it’s time to fill up so we stopped at the first station after leaving the freeway. I know, dumb thing to do, but we both thought the safe thing to do was fill up sooner than latter. As you may have guessed, we paid $4.30 a gallon instead of $4.00 had we waited a little bit.

It’s 90 degrees here. And mostly brown. Not pretty like home.

It’s 7:13pm, now. We’ve had a Subway supper and are ensconced in our Visiting Airmen barracks room on Beale AFB. We arrived about 4:00pm. It would have been about 3:30, but Diane let me drive for the last couple of hours and didn’t navigate me very well. The difference was that, instead of going around the right side of the base, to the main gate, I took a left at a sign that read Beale AFB, with a very distinct arrow pointing to the left. The Wazer program didn’t seem to object, except for a distinctive “BEEP”, so I thought everything was just fine. But, we had to drive all the way around the runway to a back gate.

Beale AFB is about the size of Vermont and is covered, mainly, with dried up fields that appear to have been cut and bailed. Very tidy. As we made our way across many miles to the correct side of the base, we watched high altitude spy planes landing. They look like gliders and are the modern day version of the U-2 Gary Powers was flying when he was shot down over Russia in 1960. At that time, the U-2 was running under CIA control. Perhaps they still are. I do not know. But, they are super quiet, and glide along slow as a bird.

Now, about our our barracks room … it’s really nice, actually, something I would expect for the Air Force. They always get the best housing while the Navy always got the best ships. That’s seems fair.

Our room is one of four access from a common area that is about the size of a large hotel room with a living room and a full kitchen. That’s where I’m currently sitting, watching the Seattle/Green Bay game, as I type. Two of the other rooms are occupied … one by a male sergeant, and the other by a female Lt. Colonel. The sleeping rooms are large, with their own TVs, with Dish Satellite. We can’t find anything wrong with the place and, it would be dumb to do so, because the room only cost us $34. Nice. There really is a benefit for spending half your life in the military.

Tomorrow I’ll keep another diary, whether or not you want me to, and finish it up from the Navy Lodge at Lemoore Naval Air Station. That’s going to cost more than tonight, I’m sure.

Day 1 – Medford, Oregon

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

We left St. Helens at 2:00 pm and walked into our room at the Rodeway Inn about 7:45 pm. Normally it’s a 5 hour drive with no stops and we stopped 3 times so we made really good time. Average speed was over 60 mph. It would have been much faster but Diane allowed me to drive 150 miles of the trip. She goes 69, I don’t. On the downside, for me, is that she got better gas mileage than I did because she only drove downhill. Almost all my driving was uphill, all the time. Really. All the time.

As we raced down I-5, which we’ve done many, many times over the years, we shared nostalgic memories as we passed, or stopped at the various rest areas along the way. We’ve been to all of them, from Portland to San Diego. We’re only in Medford so we’ve hit almost all of the rest areas on this interstate because there aren’t many of them in California. Their version of a rest area is a strip mall along side the freeway … not just a place to get out, stretch your legs, and take a leak … oops. Sorry. I didn’t mean to let that blurt out. But it did.

Our room at the Rodeway Inn cost a whopping $59 and we agree that it’s better than some $100 rooms in the past. The furniture is a little worn, but the rooms are clean and tidy. Perfect for an over night stop. And, we get a continental breakfast in the morning. Excellent!

For dinner we motored about 1/2 a mile away to the Burger King we passed and got Whoppers, with lemonade instead of soda. Good, huh? For dessert we each ate two rice krispy treats.

Oh yes! More good news on the medical front … brother Jack is doing excellent after his surgery. He didn’t say that, exactly, but I can tell by the tone of his texts that things are looking up for him. We’re both very happy about that. You all should be, too, but, since it’s a personal choice, it isn’t mandatory.

Now I’m tired so that’s it for now.