Life in the desert

We are now into day 6 of our journey, and haven't managed to do much yet as neither one of us is feeling great. Joyce is getting better, and I just don't have a lot of energy. Yesterday was my day to be on the telephone for extended periods. Our washer/dryer combination was not pumping the water out when Joyce went to use it Tuesday night. That took quite a bit of conversation with the service department which is in Clacamas Oregon. There is somebody coming out to change the pump this afternoon. Then we got our 4G upgrade from Verizon yesterday. I was on the phone with them for so long that the battery went dead in the cell phone! Fortunately we were at the final stage of the installation process when the phone died. It seems to be working pretty good but not quite the "lightning speed" the guy on the phone kept talking about. I was on the phone so long with him that my ear hurt. I didn't understand half of what he said. Between his accent and the computer lingo, I was about ready to throw myself under a bus. But it's all installed and now we are even higher tech than we were before! This afternoon we are going for an outing to Best Buy to buy a hand held rechargeable vacuum. Whoopdeedoo!! That will be our adventure for the day. The washing machine guy is supposed to be her around 3:30, so we need to be back by then.
Weather is still very nice. It's around 70 degrees but it's been a little windy. It beats 40 and raining.
Until the next chapter,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ernie

The Torch Is (Being) Passed

Joyce is continuing to improve but now I am beginning to come down with something. Yesterday we got out to get some lunch, go to the Post Office, Bank, and last but certainly not least, Target! I took a nap in the car during the Target visit. We were out for about 3 hours, but the Target visit is testimony to Joyce's road to recovery. I just hope that I get a milder version.
Still haven't completed the wash job on the motor home. I have one side left to do. I plan on getting on that first thing this morning, as the sunny side is what is left. The water here has so much calcium in it that you have to dry the washed area immediately, or it looks like crap. I need to get that done soon in case I have the same crud as Joyce has had for the past week.
The park is having a Beer and Pizza event this afternoon with a local Beach Boys tribute band. We are planning on attending. Another sign of Joyce's recovery. I'll be keeping an eye on her to make sure that she doesn't over do it with the beer! Ernie

Roughing it RV style

We've been here for 48 hours now and are beginning to get squared away. Got the car washed yesterday, and started the wash on the motorhome today. Managed to get to the driving range today and hit a bucket of balls. Some go left, some go right, and a few go straight. Should be interesting when I get out on the course.
Joyce is still feeling poorly, but is showing signs of improvement. Tomorrow she should be out and about some. She needs to get some sun. Windy today, but still about 70 degrees. The wind should be gone by tomorrow, and the long term forecast is still calling for low 70's and sunny.
We'll probably get out some a little later this week to explore a little and get some pictures posted on the blog. Ernie

Settled in at Apache Junction

Got here at 5:30 p.m. which is 6:30 Arizona time. So once again I got to back in to our space and hook up in the dark. Joyce did a good job of directing.
Joyce is still feeling like crap. Sounds like somebody passed the cold bug around at the last ladies get together. I had a similar one about 2 months ago that was hard to get rid of.
No pictures taken yet, so none to post (yet). Will work at getting something done in that respect next week. Went to Wal Mart tonight, and while there are always some interesting folks there, I didn't see any that were picture material. We'll work on that!
The weather forecast for the next 5 days is low 70's and not a cloud in the sky. It's time to break out the shorts. Ernie

Oranges right off the tree

Pulled into the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield California about 3:30 this afternoon. Mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 60's. I just picked about 15 pounds of oranges in about 10 minutes. Wish I would have brought the juicer and the vodka! Joyce has managed to come down with a cold, and as I write this (5:00 P.M.),and she is sound asleep. We've got over a hundred channels on the TV here. Won't have time to watch them all! Tomorrow at this time we should be in Apache Junction. We had a short run today of about 300 miles. Tomorrow we have a little over 400. We'll catch up again there, Ernie

In Lodi Again X2

Here we are for the 3rd year in a row at Flag City RV Park in Lodi California. Pulled in just before 5 o'clock. Weather is mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 60's. Getting real close to shorts and sandals weather!
Tomorrow we are off to the Orange Grove RV Park just east of Bakersfield. We stayed there last year also. The park is in an orange grove, and you can pick as many oranges as you want. We made off with about 15 pounds last year, and they were excellent.
From there it will be into Apache Junction Arizona on Friday. Still hoping to make it to Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale over the weekend. We shall see. So now it's off to bed so we can make another early escape tomorrow.
Ernie

A word or two from the road

We made it out of town about 8:00 this morning. It took about a half hour to get to I-5, but once on the freeway there was no stopping us. Fueled up before Vancouver so we won't have to fuel up in Oregon. For those that are unaware, you can't pump your own fuel in Oregon. Last year I pulled into a station where there were already 5 or 6 cars at the pumps with 1 attendant. It took almost an hour to get out of there! I shouldn't need to fuel up until somewhere near Sacramento. We are staying just south of Roseburg tonight. We pulled in about 3:30 this afternoon. We took a walk around, then came back and fixed some dinner. I managed to program the televisions so we get all of the available channels, and we also figured out how to use the microwave. We're getting pretty high tech!!
Tomorrow I hope to pull out by 8:00, and make it to Lodi California. It's about a 400 mile run, so with a lunch stop and a fuel stop, I would hope to roll into Lodi about 4:00 in the afternoon. All went well today. We're able to cruise easily at 60 - 65 mph. 400 miles takes us about 8 hours with a couple of stops. That's enough for 1 day. The new Motorhome is much more comfortable and is much easier to drive than the old one. One negative is that we don't have as much interior space when the slides are in. This is not a complaint, just an observation.
Until next time, Ernie

On The Road Again (almost)

10 days from now we will be somewhere in Oregon with a little bit of luck. Hairold T. Cat will be vacationing at Keith and Sheila's in our absence. Hopefully he has better sense than last year! We've been working on getting ready to go. We have some of our stuff in the motorhome, and I've been going over the operator manual so we don't have any surprises (I hope). We should be pulling in to Apache Junction the evening of the 20th. I am hoping to make it to the Barrett Jackson car auction in Scottsdale on Saturday the 22nd. I've watched it on TV, but seeing it live will be exciting for me.
The day before we leave is Grandaughter Monica's 16th birthday. So we will be there for the day, then bring the Motorhome back down here Sunday evening for a quick escape on Monday morning.
When we return around the 20th of April, we will have about a week to get squared away before Ron & Diane (Oklahoma friends) get here to spend a few days before cruising to Alaska. We're all looking forward to the visit, and I'm sure that they're looking forward to the cruise. Then in May, the big event for the year takes place on the 22nd, when Josh (son) and Brynn (future daughter in law) get married! And on the 28th of May, our nephew Anthony is graduating from college in Chicago, which we are planning to attend. Somewhere in all of that I need to be able to work on my new pastime of golf. Then to top it all off, in the late summer or early fall we will either be embarking on a"around the country" motorhome trip, or a trip to Europe (not by motorhome). So there you have it. We've got plenty to think about. Ernie