Yes, please. My bags are almost packed. And I’m ready to go.

I think there’s a song kinda like that. Leaving on a jet plane?

We’ll be taking our RV instead. I’m not sure we’ll ever get on another airplane. Nope, not going to do it. As Diane would say,” airports are too peopley.” I’ll add that the seating is overcramped. So, until they build a bridge to Hawaii, we’ll stick to the lower 48.

So, back to San Diego …

That’s our next destination. It’s one of our favorite places and we don’t get there often so we plan to spend a month there. That should make it unnecessary for future visits, considering our age. We’re both pushing maximum age limit for driving an RV. I think Oregon DMV takes your license away when you reach 85. That’s a guess, of course. I suppose we could just do what those DUI folks do when they get their licenses revoked … we could just drive anyway. Who would know?

The trip down the length of California will take approximately 7 days. That’s because I’m only allowed to drive 2-3 hours a day which severely limits the distance we can travel. Normally we can get about 2-300 miles. I figure it’s about 1200 miles to San Diego so on the long side that’s only 4 days, but we’ll stay at some stops more than one day. Using a little 3rd grade math will reveal we’ll spend extra time at 3 stops. Or, we could actually spend 3 days at one stop just for fun.

We’ll be parked at Fiddler’s Cove on San Diego Bay.

Last week we spent a couple of days parked at the Cornelius Eagle Lodge to visit with our Winnebago friends. When not actually visiting we eat together, the ladies visit all the available thrift stores in the area, and the guys visit Harbor Freight, Bi-Mart, Feed Stores, hardware stores, and sometimes just hang out around the RVs in the shade. Sometimes we take naps. too. We all gather together for dinner each day. It’s a ‘thing’.

For that trip we took our travel trailer instead of the Bus. The RV was primed, filled with fuel, waiting at home for this next trip. When we got home it was necessary to transfer everything from the trailer to the bus which is not a minor evolution. The reason we’re switching back and forth is because we’re not quite sure which one we like best. Such a conundrum, right?

We like the trailer because it’s simple, doesn’t ever need an oil change, but needs a truck to pull which needs an oil change once in a while. The RV is very solid, has a generator, two air conditioners, a washer/dryer and two TVs, and levels itself with the push of a button, and needs a tow car in case we want to visit places with smaller parking lots. For the record, we never watch the tv in the bedroom so it’s kind of a waste. But, if the other one fails for some reason, we won’t be tv-less.

We’re working out the pros and cons of both units. We’ll make a decision after this next trip is complete. Maybe. We’ll see.

I’m stopping now.

Although I’ve been missing for only 11 days or so, I feel like it’s been a lifetime. Really. A lifetime. Having “said” that I figure it’s only fair that a lifetime is different for all living things. In my case it’s the lifetime for a the Powderpost Beetle. My extensive research on these critters revealed that their average lifespan is about two weeks which means that at least some of them check out in 11 days, or so. Considering there are 540 species of these guys suggests there is a lot of negotiating room to justify my supposition.

During those eleven days we managed to get the truck delivered to a body shop to repair damage obtained at the Good Sam Hospital parking garage, and the motorhome to the diesel guy in Deer Island for an oil change. He also fixed the problem with the dash air in the RV, a problem we’ve been working on for most of a year. I honestly don’t think it was ever working, but it works now.

Oh, and we visited with our friends when we all gathered together in Newport, Oregon. Max loves the beach. That’s the only reason we went.

Not true, of course. Diane loves the beach, too and she’s the primary reason for the trip. Seeing and visiting with our friends were a bonus. They all stayed in their RVs at South Beach State Park while we occupied a facility in town that accommodated all 12 of us for a sit-down dinner on our night to cook. It worked so well that we did it twice.

During this time one of our favorite cousins drove all the way from Arizona to have a heart attack and we can only ask ourselves “why would he do that?” I need to call him and see how he’s doing. Last I heard he had weathered the heart attack like a pro and was doing well. Still, I need to call him.

If you keep track of weather patterns you are probably aware of the heat wave cooking the west coast over the 4th. It doesn’t affect me very much because I spend most of my time inside. Oh, I take Max on a leisurely tour of the neighborhood a couple times a day, normally, but we’ve cut back on the amount of time spent outside. Diane’s afraid he’s going to cook his little toes walking on the asphalt. So far that hasn’t been an issue. Me, however, all I do is sweat profusely which helps keep me slim, for a little while.

Another event was put on at our house once we returned from the beach. Siah, our youngest Grandson, is now 3 years old. It was a rollicking good time for those the 2-300 in attendance. Of those were the members of both our children’s off springs and a couple of extras. Always fun.

Time to stop. Diane went by and strongly suggested that I visit the shower so, that’s what I’ll do because I always do whatever she tells me to do, no matter what tone of voice she uses.

Goodnight. Hope everyone had a safe 4th.

Yes, Cedric had another birthday. I believe it was his 27th. He does this every year. His birthday is actually on the 13th but we are not slaved to the belief that a party needs to be on the actual day. We do that when everyone’s schedule lines up in a suitabler manner allowing us to gather as a group. Sometimes that’s hard to do.

The party was at Top Golf in Hillsboro. Neither Diane nor I had been there before, so it was a treat. Diane didn’t play but I surprised myself by actually hitting the ball pretty good. It was fun.

Here’s the crowd. I leave it to you to discover which one is Cedric. First hint, he doesn’t have red hair.

We didn’t stay long because Max called and insisted that we get home as soon as possible because Louie was harassing him. Louie is Lydia’s cat and is temporarily living with us.

Yup. I’m a bonafide octogenarian, by golly. That happened last Monday.

On that day we went to Kelso to the UPS store so took advantage of our location to have lunch at Stuffy’s. Because we were there on the actual day, and they made me prove it, then gave me one of their famous cinnamon rolls.

It weighed 10 lbs. I left my iPad in the photo so you might get a notion of how big it was. The box is 10 inches square and 6 inches tall. We’ve been whittling on it all week but I don’t think we’ll make it go away completely. Max would like to help, of course, but Diane said “No! Dogs don’t eat pastries!”

So, he pouted for a while.

Max wasn’t impressed with 80 because that’s 560 in dog years. At least that’s what he thinks. So, 80 is no big deal and he took a nap to emphasize how unimportant 80 is.

Jeran has been working hard at Corban University in Salem for the past five years to reach this day. Last year he graduated with his Bachelors degree then turned around, got back to work for his Masters of Divinity.

Now it’s done. He’s free! All he needs to worry about now is getting a job.

We’re very proud of him. So is everyone else in his family.

A happy guy with his proud siblings, Cedric and Lydia.

Hi. Max is back, again. Just a quickie to share the news that one of my primary humans scheduled a pedicure for me as a surprise. I would rather have known about it in advance, but I guess there wasn’t enough time to let me know, or I was asleep. One of those three.

Anyway, Bryanna and her partner showed up about 30 minutes ago to whittle my toenails right about the time I had decided to take the day off and spend it napping in the back yard while getting a little color on my belly.

I’ve had my toes done many times before, so the process isn’t new to me. Usually, however, I get a ride in the truck on the way to the appointment, but Bryanna is tricky and comes to the house. So, all I got was a quick walk to the back yard where Bryanna’s partner picked me up and massaged my chest while Bryanna ground down my nails with a Dremel tool. That was new. Kinda tickles

It was so relaxing that I’m afraid I just fell asleep in his arms. It was quite nice.

I was told that I have to wait for about two months for the next visit. I’m going to get a calendar and start marking off the days.