Tag Archives: Writing

Day 156 – Monday – Another night in Lodi, CA.

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The village of Petaluma lives on Highway 101 about 100 miles from our current location. That’s a reasonable drive for a day on the road. I know, some of you guys don’t get off the road until you reach the final destination no matter how far it is. Right, Doug?

We used to do that all the time when we wore younger people’s clothes. I think that’s something like a refrain from a Billy Joel song.

Diane’s calculating our next step after reviewing the weather on points north. What she saw totally rules out travel on I-5 through the Siskiyou Pass, so we are going west from Lodi to Highway 101. I may have mentioned that as a possibility yesterday. Today it’s a firm decision.

It’s 1035 now and we must check out of here by 1100 so I need to go outside and unplug everything.

NOTICE: There’s a long pause here caused by the need to visit the Emergency Room.

OK. Change of plans. At this time, it is 1908 hours and it’s been a very busy day. If you can do basic math you will see that it’s been about 8.5 hours since my last entry. So, “what,” you may ask, “happened to make it a busy day?” “Well,” I could respond, “Jerrie fell down and broke his crown and bled all over the parking lot. It could have been worse, but a healthy young nurse provided the help that he got.” Yup,

Here’s what happened.

I took Max for a walk around the park, all the way around, and returned him home so I could prepare the RV for launch to our next objective. As soon as I opened the door, Diane handed me a couple of bags that required me to transport them to the local dumpster.

Being of sound mind I chose to obey to avoid damage to myself.

Max accompanied me, as usual, and we deposited the bags in the dumpster and I turned to my left as I stepped away, and apparently stubbed my toe against one of the parking barriers strategically located near the dumpster.

As a result of my foot striking the parking bumper, I tumbled forward, knowing that a painful landing was forthcoming.

The landing never happened, as far as I could tell, because my next cognitive memory was of me in the RV getting my face washed by the lovely Diane. Apparently, there was a disturbing amount of blood on the left side of my face that was caused by the landing I don’t remember. Yes, I’m missing approximately 40 minutes of time from the fall until I regained consciousness sitting on the toilet in the RV. Although I was bleeding profusely, I retained enough legitimate wherewithal to ask Diane to take a photo to commemorate this onetime event. She took two of them.

You can tell by my smile that all was not right with my face. At this point, I was unaware of the amount of damage the fall had caused. Why else would I be smiling like that?

My memory skipped a little here and my next coherent memory I was outside listening to Diane and Dianne discuss the best course of action to address this catastrophe; call an ambulance, go to the emergency room, or wait until tomorrow to see how bad it really is. A trip to the emergency room won the discussion.

Not knowing where the hospital may be, Dianne led us to the closest one around. Diane led me inside and introduced me to the intake nurse and said the magic words that gets you to the head of the line. She said, “I think he may have had a stroke that caused him to fall.”

Boom! I was in a wheelchair heading down the hall to get a CT scan. Once that was done I was strapped to a gurney and a nurse pasted electrodes all over my chest then connected wires to them randomly to initiate an EKG. I also got an automatic blood pressure cuff and an oximeter. All of this was connected to the equipment behind my head. I learned that if I took the oximeter off, it made a bunch of noise. So, I left it on.

They put an IV in my left arm and a short while later a young lady appeared to fill six tubs with my blood. She took this manually from my right arm. She was very good, and I let her know she was appreciated.

Then I laid on that gurney for the next 4 hours waiting for more info from the doctor or a nurse passing by. During that time my face took on a different look.

Later in the day I discovered a wound on the inside of my left lower lip. It, too, was caused by my fall, I’m sure.

I found this one with my tongue. I’m guess it would really hurt if I got some citrus juice on it so I’m staying away from the oranges.

Now that I’ve shared all of this, I must report that I’m feeling pretty good, all things considered. So our plans to move to Highway 101 at the coast. are back in motion. We leave tomorrow morning for Petaluma. It’s 84 miles away and is supposed to take about 2 hours.

Day 136 – Tuesday – MCAS Twenty-nine Palms, CA

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We vacated Quartzsite early this morning and headed west to California. Our next stop was the Marine Corp Air Station at Twenty-nine Palms. When we pulled out of our RV park, a left turn would take us to Parker on Highway 95 and a right turn would take us to I-10. Diane’s GPS had her turn left, and mine had me turn right so we got separated in the first 2 minutes of today’s trip. Diane thought I was going to follow her, but the RV GPS is a trucker’s Garmin that computes routes based on the size of our RV. That’s why I turned right. It was a risky move on my part and caused considerable anguish for a while.

We both stopped within a few minutes and started calling each other to find out what to do. We eventually reconnected before getting free of Quartzsite and got headed the same direction.

The road was long and mostly straight all the way to Highway 177 where we turned right and headed north to Highway 62. Had we both turned left from the Quartzsite RV Park, and driven to Parker, we would have turned left on Highway 62 and arrived at the corner of Highway 177 and Highway 62 fifteen minutes sooner.

Highway 177 was very straight also, and I could see how the road slowly climbed on the other side of the valley. It was about a 20-mile stretch, straight as an arrow. If the wind hadn’t been blowing so hard, I probably could have taken a short nap or two.

Once on Highway 62 Diane took the lead and got us to Twenty-nine Palms at 1311 (1:11 pm) and drove on base about 1331. The park is adjacent to some of the base housing and is pretty nice. We’re in space 72 next to the only dog area which is handy. Max was more than ecstatic to have grass to run on for the first time since September. His little toes have got calluses from walking on rocks and asphalt all that time. Poor little guy probably couldn’t tell how soft the grass really is because of his crusty feet.

Each parking space has a small Tuff Shed and a carport. So, we have a place to park the car our of the sun and we can empty the car and all the basement cubbies into the shed just for fun. I could also install a rack to hang clothes and use the shed as a closet.

Our supper was from Wendy’s which is on the base. Back in the Bone Yard they had Burger King. After the Wendy’s meal we learned that it has BK beaten for flavor.

I don’t know if I mentioned that Diane lost one of her favorite earrings on Luke AFB. We searched everywhere for it but it just wasn’t there. So, guess what! She found it here in California. Isn’t that amazing? She was pretty happy, as was I.

Getting the bus into its assigned parking space involved a lot of bouncing around because of the curbs we had to cross. This caused a great deal of commotion with everything that wasn’t tied down inside the coach. It was just nature’s way of shaking things up to get everything on the same level, and filling spaces that needed filling. It was very annoying but nothing broke, which is amazing. It was a very noisy process. Amongst the tosseled items were many containers of various spices that escaped from one of the overhead cupboards. Two of the small ones saved themselves from the terrifying fall by hanging on to the shelf and allowing the cupboard door to hold them in place until they could be rescued. Boy, were they lucky.

I took a few photos of the trip but none of them were interesting. Just a bunch of cars, trucks, and lots of desert. So, I looked back a couple of days and found this one of Diane sewing up Max’s favorite toy, a long green worm. She’s done this a few times. He finally wound up destroying the first one and I was happy to find an exact replacement which he adopted right away. It’s his favorite, as you can tell as he waits patiently for Diane to finish so he can commence destruction once again.

This day is done.

Day 134 – Sunday – Peoria, AZ

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This morning I turned on the new heater because it was so cold. The fake fireplace heater was already running but I was curious to see how much quicker the bus warmed up with both of them running. What I learned was that they worked well together until I turned on the coffee pot and popped the circuit. I actually found the problem quickly and fixed it. It was the circuit breakers on the inverter which is located in the outside aft starboard cubby. I reset them and went back inside just as Diane did the same thing. So, I went back out and reset them again.

Then the coffee pot wouldn’t start. I fiddled with it a bit and convinced it start like normal, then everything was OK, but I can’t deny there was just a little moment of panic when the pot wouldn’t brew and much joy when it was resurrected.

Can’t have two heaters running and make coffee at the same time. I might need to make a sign.

This morning, Diane went to the commissary, which is literally right next to the Fam Camp we’re in, so it was a short trip. While she was gone, I took Max for a long walk because he was assigned guard duty for the bus while we went to visit Julie & David in Peoria. Julie is Diane’s cousin, and she grew up in Warren, Oregon, just like Diane did. Kinda handy, right?

The drive over was nice. It was about 10 miles away and many of the roads in and around Phoenix are long and straight, so we only had to make about 6 turns to get there. You could almost take a nap between turns.

This is Julie and David.

They live in a 55+ community and it’s pretty nice. They actually have grass in the neighborhood which is a treat. Their home is beautiful and there is one entire wall of mirrors that is quite stunning.

One of my favorite features were a couple of windows. This is looking out.

This is from outside.

We had a wonderful visit and got to know David a little better. Previous visits have been short. This time we had time to actually visit and learn stuff about each other. The fun thing I learned about David is he has a very large family. Here’s proof.

His mother is in it on the left side, row 12, 26 to the right. He put his finger on her briefly so I’m really guessing about her position. She had dark hair in the photo. She doesn’t have it anymore because she’s 90. I know that’s true because we got to meet her.

Max was alone for about 4 hours and he did his best to make us feel really bad about it, but he was OK. He generally sleeps while we’re gone. He gets over our absence quicker when he’s given a treat, a good back scratching, and a long walk.

That’s it.

Day 122 – Tuesday – Happy New Year

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I’m getting that out of the way up front, because I’m old and won’t be awake when the ball drops. Here in Tucson, they have a Taco Drop. I suspect that’s downtown where we won’t be going.

A lot of fireworks have been going off for the last couple of hours and I assume it will build to an astounding climax at the stroke of midnight. Can’t wait.

Max is really distressed by all the noise which enforces our belief that he was subjected to violence in his past. I offered him a trip outside, and he refused. So, he’s inside till it’s over.

Today was a busy one for me. My one and only task was to fix the bus door so it will open easily. I’ve done this in the past and it seemed to be fairly simple and I actually remembered how to do it. Unfortunately, my experience the first time involved only the bottom strike plate but this time I had to also include the top one. This was new territory for me.

To access the area I needed to adjust required me to remove the front panel and the piece of metal that holds it in place. Seems simple enough, right? It is, and I quickly got to the proper 7/16″ nut I needed to tighten. After doing so, I checked to ensure it still seemed to work like it should.

Then I shut the door. And then it wouldn’t open.

Diane was still inside but she couldn’t open it either.

With the door closed it was extremely difficult for me to access the inside portion of the door. Thankfully, I had the driver’s window open so could Max visit with the neighbors when they come and go. I got the ladder I purchased somewhere in California, after losing it in the Valley of the Rogue RV Park when I went over an exceptionally tall speed bump, and used it to climb in the window.

Getting in was easier than I thought it would be. I attacked the door with the screwdrivers I brought with me but they didn’t help. So I had to crawl back out the window to get different tools. That was the tough part. Getting out. I fit through the window OK but getting onto the ladder was tricky and I almost fell a couple of times. With more tools in hand, I went back in. I wasn’t as easy as the first time. The neighbors were keeping an eye on me in case an ambulance was necessary. I had to get in and out a few times and wound up with new hematomas on my arms and legs, but I didn’t fall.

Finally, I found a guy on Utube who had the same problem, but his door was open. Turns out there’s another 7/16″ nut on the top striker that needed a few turns, too. Getting to it was tricky because the window frame in the door had to be loosed to access it. Once there I was able to release the top latch and get the door opened.

Diane was happy because she could now go to the commissary and get us more food. That was important. Before she got back, I was able to get both nuts tightened and the door worked like brand new. I was very happy and enjoyed reinstalling the 35 screws that were still laying around. I found most of them and got most of empty holes filled and replaced some of them in the window frame with new shiny ones that I got from Harbor Freight last week for some reason. How handy was that?

Diane showed up shortly after my happy dance and I helped her restock the shelves with new food. By this time, I was pretty sore from all the banging around I did crawling in and out of the window and I’m sure I’ll find more bruises tomorrow. But it’s done. And it works.

Now we can go to bed because we watched the ball drop in New York. That makes it officially 2025.

Christmas is over and Diane’s snowmen have been packed away .

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Day 117 – Thursday – DVR & Toenails

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This morning, I apparently, magically, fixed a DVR issue with our Dish. As you may know, we’ve been binge watching NCIS and last night watched season 9 episode 22 from 2012. At that point in the menu NCIS stopped and gave us SWAT. Up to this point all the episodes have been in sequence so it was perfect for lazy people to keep up. We needed episode 24, but it wasn’t showing on until Saturday. At 0700. That meant it needed to be recorded.

Any attempts to set the DVR to perform that duty failed because the DVR was not recognized. We knew that was only partly true because we could till watch shows that have already been recorded, but we couldn’t set new recordings. That meant today my primary objective was to make it work again.

I’d already reset the receiver a couple of times, but the results didn’t change so I got on my phone and started a chat session with Dish. I like doing the chat instead of phone calls because I can understand the written word better than the spoken word. That’s not always true, but statistically I have better results with chatting.

I got someone on the line before I gave it one more try. By the time I was all signed in I discovered that somehow the problem went away last night, and it now works perfectly. I thanked the chat person and ended the session. Then I gave the remote to Diane who promptly called up the desired date/time/show and set it to record. She did this from her seat at the dining table, a full 25 feet from the TV! That’s another win for me because until a few days ago the Dish remote barely worked from 5 feet away. Amazing what new batteries can do in situations like that.

Now that the DVR works again, Diane can add to the library of Hallmark Christmas movies that have been recorded previously. She’s a happy camper and will probably be smiling throughout the day.

Pretty much as soon as Diane got up this morning, around 0900 or so, her feet have been marinating in a solution of hot water and Epson salts. The purpose for this was to make her toenails soft enough for me to shorten then with the new wire cutter she got me. She will disagree, of course, because it came wrapped in a container that clearly marked it as a nail cutter, or trimmer. But, they look almost exactly like a small version of the wire cutters I have in my tool bag. She won’t let me use them, however, even though they are easier to hold and manipulate.

The signal for me to start working my way down to the floor to work on her toes is when the water gets cold. It got cold somewhere around 1030 or so. By then I was poised to work on the toes. First, I had to get back on my feet and dump the water in the toilet. Then I had to reassume my nail cutting position near the sofa. Before I started I remarked that I probably should have pulled the trash can a little closer and she agreed. So, I got back up, got it, then back on the floor. I suspect you’ve realized that doing Diane’s toenails is physically demanding on old bones. That’s OK. We’re saving $50 and she’s getting them trimmed exactly the way she wants them, not the way a paid whittler would do it. I suppose I could ask her to pay me but it’s really not necessary because she slips me a few dollars every once in a while, just for fun. That works. I hardly ever use real money, but it’s nice to have a cushion in my wallet in case I fall down. Again. I don’t know why I consider that a proper cushion because I never fall backwards. It’s always forward. I’d be better off wrapping my hands and arms in large pool noodles. On my knees would be good, too. Sadly, that’s the kind of things I consider as I’m falling. It’s been a while, so maybe I’ve advanced beyond that stage of my life.

I finished Diane’s toes successfully without even once making her bleed or yelp in pain. Except the one time I ventured too close to an ingrown nail. Other than that one foo-pah, I did good. She said so. I would have taken a photo but she’s very serious about keeping her toes anonymous. Even so, I’ve secretly named each one of them.

The only other things that happened today was a trip to the commissary for Diane, and a trip to Harbor Freight for me. I needed long screws for a repair project I can’t discuss and waited for Diane to return before venturing out on my own. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do that but the commissary was fresh out of long screws. So, Diane drove me to HF. Max was delighted because he loves car rides. If we let him out of the bus and gave him the choice of running willy nilly all over the park, or going for a ride in the car, he takes the car every time.

By the time we returned home it was time to cook dinner, so my screw project was deferred to another day. It might have to wait until next year. I’ll explain once I’m done and have achieved success.

I broke out the handy-dandy George Forman cooker and paninied 4 hamburger patties. Two of them were for Pat and Laurie next door. They were very thankful that we included them in our meal planning. Diane brought home a platter of good-looking patties from the commissary, and we wanted to try them. They seemed to cook up OK, but Diane and I found them lacking in smash burger flavor, so we won’t get them again. Pat and Laurie thought they were really good which made me happy even though I’m sure they were just being nice. Still, we’ll take the win.

After supper Max got a long walk then we watched a Hallmark Christmas movie and called it a day. It was getting very cold outside, so we closed all the windows before retiring. Normally we leave at least one window open a little so the bus can breathe.

A gift from Pat, our neighbor, her task while recovering from COVID. It’s very pretty.

Now, I’ll stop.

Day 106 – Sunday – SaddleBrooke

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The trip to SaddleBrooke was about the same as us driving from St. Helens to Portland. About an hour long. But getting to the destination involved having a minor altercation with either a sheriff, or state trooper. Here’s what happened.

SaddleBrooke has about 3-4 exits off Oracle Rd. That’s a long road. According to Wikipedia, it’s over 293 miles long. Today it was used for an Arizona version of Oregon’s Hood to Coast. They used the northbound side of the road (our side) to accommodate hundreds of runners of all shapes and sizes that just happened to be the most dense in front of all the exits we needed to use. We only needed one, but they covered all of them. I tried to find out what the race was about but the internet was not forthcoming with info, so I have no idea. I do know that by running on our side of the road made it difficult to make a right turn which was necessary to get to SaddleBrooke. Two cars ahead of us were allowed to make a right turn but when we tried, the policeman made a scene by yelling into my ear, so we drove ahead. I’m pretty sure he saw our Oregon plates and didn’t deem us worthy of a right turn.

A little further up the road, away from the major intersections, we turned right, driving willy nilly through the cones (didn’t hit even one of them), and we found our way to the church almost on time. I think we were about 2 minutes late.

The church is non-denominational, but it was amazingly like all the Lutheran services I attended over the years. Very familiar. It was very interesting and there must have been a couple hundred people there. Impressive.

After the service, we rode with Patty and Gene to one of the eating establishments for breakfast. The food was awesome, and we had a great time visiting. Before going to their home for more visiting, Gene drove us all over SaddleBrooke and The Reserve to see incredible views of the Catalina Mountains. It’s my understanding that there is a SaddleBrooke one, two and three and each of them have resort quality facilities for entertainment and eating. Very magnificent.

Then we went to their home where we sat and visited for a long time. It was a lot of fun. Eventually we had to leave and go rescue Max from his isolation in the RV. He wasn’t alone the whole time because our neighbors planned to take him for a walk while we were out. He was ready to get out of the bus when we got there, though, because neither Diane nor I turned the heater off. Thankfully, it wasn’t a particularly hot day, but the heater kept it toasty for Max. I immediately took him for a walk around the park which pleased him.

Now we’re all relaxed and ready to call it a day, but it’s only 1830 so I’ve got to mess around for another couple of hours. Guess I’ll watch the Seahawks/Packers game for a while.

Here are some more photos from today that might please you.

Dr. Patty and Diane, two former Warren Girls.

Gene stopped so I could get a shot of the two large Cacti that are actually Verizon antennas.

This is part of the Catalina Mountain range that resembles Abe Lincoln. He’s lying on his back, head to the left and it looks like he’s got a huge growth on his chest.

Gene didn’t comment on the growth part, and I didn’t notice it when I took the photo. Looking at it now, though, it’s pretty evident, don’t you think?

Here’s a view of a street in SaddleBrooke.

Gene’s and Patty’s license plate.

Very patriotic.

It was a good day.

Day 105 -Saturday – Football, Maybe

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Saturdays are usually my day to watch NCAA football, but Oregon had time off after winning the Big 10 conference championship game. We won’t see them again until the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Until then I just kinda watch whoever shows up on the TV.

I actually started watching the Army vs. Navy game and saw Navy score first, but let it go when a movie came on that Diane had set to record. Since our Dish receiver only has one tuner we can’t record a show and watch a different channel. Diane was out at the time, replenishing our food and I know she would not have minded if I have cancelled the recording. It didn’t seem right, though, so I just let the system change channels. I heard later that Navy went on to win that game 31-13. How about that? The only other scores that sometimes interest me is when Notre Dame gets beat.

After Diane returned, we went off base and got the car washed because we’re going to church tomorrow in Saddle Brooke. This trip is so we can visit with pattyaz and her husband geneaz. With the use of very few brain cells I think most of you can interpret those names to be Patty and Gene. Patty is Diane’s legitimate cousin and, therefore, my cousin by marriage. Patty and I were also classmates all through high school in Scappoose. Unlike me, Patty paid attention in all her classes.

Because of our lack of activity this day, I don’t have any new photos, except for this stellar sunset. I’ll leave you with that.

Kinda nice, huh?

Day 73 – Tuesday – Tombstone, Arizona

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This morning, I woke up the first time at 0400, the second time at 0530, and the third time at 0645 or so. While lying there wondering if I could make myself get up before 0900, when breakfast was over, Diane told me I should get up and eat breakfast before it’s over at 0900. That was code for “get up and go eat breakfast.” It’s good to know the code.

So, I got up and took Max for a walk, stopped by the breakfast area and got Diane a cup of coffee, THEN I went to breakfast. I knew she was thinking that and inadvertently omitted those two critical instructions. There are times when I add things to the code and make mistakes but this time I was spot on.

I went back to the breakfast area and had a bowl of oatmeal and two, two pieces of overtoasted toast, the way I like it, and I was good to go for the rest of the day.

When I was done, Diane went down to get some yogurt and then we saddled up for a trip to Tombstone. It’s only a 25-minute drive but it takes you back 100 years in time. When we got there Diane found a shaded parking spot on 4th Street, across the street from Puny John’s BBQ and just down the street from the Visitor’s center.

Tombstone is not a dog friendly town, so we didn’t get to see much together. Max was relegated to tugging on a short leash and hanging with one of us while the other visited a store. I peeked into the OK Shootout ticket venue and thought Diane should go there. She did. Max and I spent some time on a main street bench to wait.

When Diane returned, she took control of Max and released me to go visit the Visitor’s Center. In the VC I talked with Kathy, the lady behind the counter, and learned that she used to live in Hermiston, OR, and Portland, OR and knows where Scappoose and St. Helens are. Small world stuffs. Also, her daughter lives in Forest Grove, OR and might be Les and Sophie’s neighbor. I didn’t get an address to confirm, so we’ll never know for sure.

We sat on that bench for a while and watched the participants in the 1100 OK Corral shootout gather in front of the store Diane visited. Sadly, more than one of them lit up cigarettes and the wind blew it right at us. We were block away and it was still nasty. Smoke is a deal killer for us, so we decided to call an end to this a visit and headed back to Sierra Vista.

There’s a statue in Tombstone that we encountered, and Max stopped, stared at it a bit, then started barking at it. Something new for him. He stopped quickly when I asked him to, then I took him to it and introduced him. After that he was fine.

We came away with some photos, and memories of the old buildings and Kathy in the Visitor’s Center. Max just got in his throne and went to sleep.

Upon arrival in Sierra Vista, we went to 143 Street Tacos for lunch. Diane surprised me by ordering a chicken burrito. When she got it, she understood my surprise because the burrito must have weighed in at around 3-4 lbs. It was enormous. She ate 1/3 of it which made me happy. I’m sure I will have to eat the rest of it one of these days. I had a beef burrito and ate almost all of it.

Before going back to the hotel Diane dropped by Best Buy and I got her a new iPad for her birthday. Her old one stayed in Tucson this trip and it was damaged from an incident with my knee, so now she has something new to play with for the next couple of days.

After eating those burritos, we were a little conflicted about dinner. Like, were we really hungry after all that?

We finally agreed that Diane should go to Safeway and pick up something that looked pleasing to her and to just surprise me because I’ll eat pretty much anything. Anytime.

When Diane was on the way home, she called me saying, “I’ll be there in 6 minutes. Bring a cart.” What this told me is that she went shopping hungry. That’s why we needed the cart.

Here’s what she brought back:
1. A Swanson dead chicken dinner for me.
2. A piece of dead fish and mac and cheese for her.
3. A tray of vegetables for me.
4. A container of green grapes.
5. A can of mixed nuts.
6. A loaf of bread.
7. A jar of chunky peanut butter.
8. A jar of strawberry jam.
9. A container of cinnamon cake.
10. A gallon of distilled water.
11. A 12-pack of bottled water.
12. A half pound of Butter.
13. A box of popcorn.
14. A box of Rice Krispy treats.

That’s why she needed the cart to get it up to the third floor.

The dead chicken dinner was good, and Diane liked her dead fish. I nibbled on the veggies while mine cooked in the micro. Max gave me a little help with the chicken and also with the veggies. He was bugging me about the chicken, but he had chicken in his bowl that’s been there most of the day. He could have eaten it any time. Instead, he conned me into feeding him bits of chicken. When that was all gone, he continued to give me his prairie dog look, so I started feeding him vegetables. He like carrots, and broccoli. I didn’t give him a tomato, but he probably would have eaten it, too.

I finally got him to leave me alone by moving his food bowl from the bathroom to the living area and insisted that he eat it. He did, in about 3 minutes. I figured he’d be looking for dessert after all that, but he settled down and is currently sleeping. He’s such a funny little guy.

I think that’s about it for tonight.

Day 63 – Saturday – Couch Potato vs. Thrift Stores

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You all have one guess as to who did what. Tic tock tic tock tic tock.

OK, time’s up. You’re all wrong. Diane was the couch potato today. I went thrift storing.

Diane stayed home and watched all the football games I was interested in while I went shopping and made an honest attempt to purchase things I know she would like. For instance, in one store I spent a couple of hours sitting on a couch going through a large box of Christmas cards, picking out the really cute ones I knew she’d like. I also found a couple of really nice shirts for her, and a really handy little cooler. I didn’t get anything for myself.

Diane’s main goal was to watch the Oregon vs. Michigan game so she could fill me in on what happened. Unfortunately, she fell asleep before half time so missed a pretty good game. Thankfully, it was set to record so I was able to watch it after I got home.

She didn’t even wake up when I returned and that was OK. She’s having difficulty sleeping about every other night. Usually, it’s because Max sleeps crossways on the bed. That never bothers me because I generally don’t sleep well anyway. That’s why I crave naps in the daylight hours but rarely get one.

After a brief respite upon returning home, I cooked dinner. Diane suggested hamburgers, our go to meal when in doubt. They were pretty good. We even had good fries using our handy dandy little air fryer.

After dinner I took Max for his evening walk, and he got to visit with Ally for a bit. They’re great friends.

Ally belongs to Dawn, the legs on the left below. The legs on the right belong to Linda.

We whiled away the evening watching fun things on TV. Then, all the sudden, it was bedtime again.

Day 62 – Friday – Retraced Our Steps a Little

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After breakfast Diane drove us back to the Last Outpost in Old Tucson to swap the shirt I mentioned yesterday. While she bartered with the store manager, Max and I wandered around the parking lot. The last time we were here I found a crisp $5 bill just lying there on the ground. That’s almost as good as finding a heads-up penny. We didn’t find any more during our walk. We were about halfway across the parking lot when Diane came out of the store. Since we were the only ones in the parking lot, I turned Max loose and told him to go get Mom.

He took off like the wind and got to her just in time for Diane to open the car door. He didn’t hesitate about jumping in. There was no way he was going to be left behind. That, and he loves to ride in the car.

Next, we drove to Mission San Xavier to get a refrigerator magnet, something we forgot to do during our last visit. I walked around the mountain adjacent to the mission while Diane bought me a tiny saguaro cactus. We hope it grows from its tiny state to a magnificent remembrance of this area.

Max and I climbed the hill adjacent to the Mission proper. It’s not very tall but gives one a nice view of the valley in all directions. This was the best view. The mission is like a massive jewel in the wilderness.

Looking the other way, you can see the “mountain” Max and I climbed.

Diane needs to print the AAA Trip Tiks she’s working on for our return trip to civilization, so we decided to get a small printer so she can study the routes. The first likely place to get one was the Base Exchange (BX). So, that’s where we went first. They had slim pickings and didn’t have the one I thought would be best. So, we drove to Costco and found just the right one.

I’m so happy Diane likes doing that because I’m much better at traveling as a silent observer instead of all that front end stuff necessary to make the trip pleasant. She’s a stellar planner and makes the trip easy on me since I’m the bus driver. We no longer feel the need to get from Point A to Point B the quickest way possible. Now we go from Point A to Point Z and visit all the places in between. It’s much more relaxing.

After Costco, we drove home in time for supper. Max didn’t care that he’d been home alone after lunch. He spied on our neighbors and ran to them and was rewarded with treats. Those are way better than supper. Our neighbors are Patricia and Laurie, Mother and Daughter. They dressed up for Halloween.

Awesome neighbors and they love Max, too.

We watched a little Dish TV then streamed “White Collar” on Netflix, but it wasn’t buffering well. Lots of pauses at night so we discussed, again, getting our own hotspot. I know I can get one from Verizon, but I’d like to do it through AT&T since we already have service with them. Should get a break because of that. Perhaps you remember I tried doing that in California, but it didn’t work out. I’m going to try again. I’m sure you will be holding your breath waiting for the results so I’ll report back as quickly as I can.

Now, my pillow is calling to me.