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| 2000 Monaco Knight 36Z |
A couple of notes to help make sense of these mad ramblings:
Steve writes the log so think of "I" and Steve as synonymous
Nobody reads this, not even Marnie, so I don't get any feedback - ever
The text and pictures line up nicely on my computer at my resolution only because it would be a little more work to create a seperate table per picture. If it bothers you email me and complain.
| 2009 December - Concord, CA. 3 Dec. It's 33 degrees this morning! Steve hurts more when it is cold so we hope it is not this cold all Winter. 6 Dec. We ran out of propane in both cylinders! We are not sure how this happened as we keep one valve closed so that we know when one is empty to call and have it swapped out. They either delivered an empty cylinder last time or we had a leak that we never smelled. They responded very quickly and we were back on gas heat the next day. 7 Dec. Steve had his psych. evaluation for the neurostimulation approval process. It would be nice to get this all taken care of before the end of the year since our deductible is met but we doubt it is possible. 8 Dec. 27 degrees F this morning! Steve didn't think it would freeze here. It is supposed to be cold and stormy all week but it is sunny right now. Today Steve is off to the Neurologist to review the thoracic MRI. The Neurologist recommends holding off on the implant until they try increasing the drug dosages and/or acupuncture. Sounds like a discussion with the pain management doc. is in order. 10 Dec. Marnie is visiting our friend to support her in her graduation from Nursing School! Congratulations Kate! 13 Dec. Sometime, early this morning, Caleb arrived in the States from Iraq! Long have we prayed for his safety. Welcome home and thanks for serving! 14 Dec. Marnie made it back okay last night, exhausted. This month our Friends and Family Page went through a major overhaul to make it more personal and to fix some links. I created a subpage dedicated in the loving memory of my maternal Grandparents. Check it out and tell me what you think. It is still under some construction as I ask family members to share stories about them. I would like to do the same for my paternal Grandparents and then immediate family if there are no objections. I also added my dad's books to the Stuff For Sale page if you are interested. 15 & 16 Dec. Some of you know that we have a Datenight every Wednesday. Sometimes it is just time spent together, sometimes dinner out or a movie in or out. So, this month we watched Christmas movies and animations plus some contemporary movies:
18 Dec. Here is a picture for those of you that complain about my typing! 25 Dec. Merry Christmas everyone!!! Marnie made a great leg of lamb with macaroni & cheese. We spent a quiet day at home with good food, good wine and great company! 26 Dec. Another visit to Napa with friends. We met Shelly and we had fun, as usual. We visited and took the tour of the Rutherford Hill Winery caves, Roger has his own vineyard so he gave an interesting tour from maybe a different perspective. The tour is $20 but includes a generous tasting. We also stopped at Hagafen, ZD and Peju 30 Dec. Oh great, Steve has a head cold or the flu or something. 31 Dec. Have a Happy New Year! |
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2009 November - Concord, CA.
2 Nov. Brrrr. It has been below 50F here at night! It isn't even getting above 80F during the day!!! If it stays this cold the leaves will start changing. I wonder what the weather is like in Flagstaff... That is our RV on the left in the picture. 3 Nov. Steve saw the pain management doctor again. He strongly recommends the neurostimulation therapy and had us talk to the Medtronic rep. There is a trial unit so we decided to try it and see if it gives some relief. It will take months to get approval (years if the government takes over health care) plus they have to do a psych. evaluation prior to installation. I don't expect to have an update on this until next year. We aren't having any luck getting the attorney to give us a Social Security update and we are getting concerned. I think I need this approval before the end of the year for tax purposes. 8 Nov. We went up to Sonoma, picked up some wine at Cline and had lunch at Jaccuzi out on the patio. If it gets much cooler we might not be able to do those outdoor picnics until next year. 11 Nov. Steve finally got in to see the Neurologist. What a zoo!! The people in the waiting room were extreme sociopaths. The doctor had his preadolecent kid in the room with us. The things you discuss with you doc are often things a child should probably not hear. Anyway, he confirmed RSD and wants a thoracic MRI before I try the neurostimulation. Once the electrodes are installed they can no longer do an MRI on me. There is still no cure for arachnoiditis but he said there was room to try other things with pain management. 13 Nov. We dropped Marnie's Jeep off at the mechanic last month because it developed the infamous "death wobble" and was no longer safe at highway speeds. A month later, today we picked it back up as they couldn't figure out the cause. On a Jeep it can be anything loose or out of balance or alignment. We are not sure what to do now. 26 Nov. Niether of us made it to the grocery store so we didn't make a big dinner. We had fish, wine and played games all day. 27 Nov. We spent Black Friday getting a Thoracic MRI (Steve of course). There were no lines to speak of. |
| 2009 October - Concord, CA. A few moments of excitement. I usually don't listen to the local cretins (kids) but while I was busy updating my stock spreadsheet Saturday, they were just outside our space, yapping nonsense with an occasional "snake" thrown in. I know there are snakes about because I see the shed skin. I couldn't tell what kind this one was (too small) but I did ask the kid to try not to hurt it with the stick. One of the local, responsible adults had the insight to tell them that some snakes are poisonous but went on to mislead them that, "garter snakes don't bite." Marnie made it back okay despite one flight being cancelled (go figure). Her dad was able to go on the trip and they had a great time. The weekend of the 10th Marnie had a wedding to attend so one of my friends and I visited SF for Fleet Week. We scored a table on the water for lunch that turned out to overlook the end of the "Parade of Ships" and the mooring for four of the ships. It took two bottles of wine to make it through the process but you can see the pictures from my phone below. The bar, Pier 23, looks like a dive from the outside but the food was great, especially the fried oysters! The wine was pretty good too! With the assistance of the long rest and break in walking we went down to Pier 39 and watched the Marines fly an airshow. The original marines (sea lions) were out in force, and reeked! The Blue Angels made a brief appearance but basically had to cancel due to the fog. Fog? In SF? I don't know how they failed to forecast that! There was nothing else to do, we had a loooong wine tasting at Waddle Creek and met a nice couple(?) that talked the server into giving us some of the premium tastings for free. At this point we have two bottles in us, each! We sat down for a while and listened to the street band play surf music. Once we could, again, walk, we made our way toward Cioppino's but wound up at Hooter's. Don't jump to conclusions, my friend is an FLU fan and had to catch the end of the game. We filled up on wings and fries and, you guessed it, yours truly had a little more wine. FLU won. We picked up the F-Line(?) back to the BART. What a miserable ride. The driver was funny though, "Look, see? I have no steering wheel. I have to wait for the train in front of me." Meanwhile the persons sitting next to us are singing a made up song that consists of the lyrics, "Alcoholism." We made it home okay and I really like good public transportation! I couldn't imagine driving into SF and having a good time. I sprayed the grill with Simple Green and pushed it out into the rain. I can't help but notice that the hose provides more pressure, more cleaning power than rain. I bet I wind up hosing it off. They are calling for gusts of 45MPH, that is like half the speed of Doney Park. I saw a pain management doctor this month. Marnie and I were both pleasantly suprized that he was the first doctor we've seen that actually knew what was going on with my spine and why my leg is so cold, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). He changed my medication dosages and they are doing a nerve block on the 22nd. He also said I was a perfect candidate for Medtronic Neurostimulation Therapy. We watched the video but I want to give the new meds and nerve block a chance before I have them sticking electrodes into my spine. Oct.22 The nerve block was quick and painless. The pain in my leg and foot went to almost zero in post-op and it was no longer cold to the touch. When we got home my leg was red and hot to the touch. It could just be a reaction to being without the pain that I had for over a year. It could also be that because the foot is mostly numb that my brain doesn't regulate temperature in that leg. Marnie wanted to call the doctor but I wasn't worried about spontaneous human combustion or anything. The next day it was cold again. I still get pins and needles if something touches my toes but I don't have the constant sensation now and my leg just itches (2 days post nerve block). Of course the rest of me still hurts like heck but I expected that. I never used to believe in spontaneous human combustion until I watched a show on the subject a few years ago. The witness they interviewed said (I must paraphrase here): "She was just sitting there, drinking a bottle of whiskey and having a cigarette, and poof." All that was left were her ankles. Now, I can see how that could happen. A dessicated old woman rehydrated with whiskey, with a source of ignition, is just asking for it. Now I am a believer. Oct.25 After 3 or 4 days, Sunday, my leg and foot were back to the constant pain and pins & needles like before the nerve block. From what I have read on the subject the nerve block is used as more of a diagnostic than a treatment. The doctor and I will have a lot to talk about on my visit next month. Oct.31 I took some pictures of my antique coins for the Stuff For Sale page but I am no photographer. I will have to have Marnie take the pictures. I added a new chapter in the financial book I am working on about how easy it is to buy gold or coins and how hard it is to sell them. With coins I will need to find a collector to get what they are worth. Gold has a whole other set of issues with ownership and I won't own the stuff except as paper. Here are those Fleet Day pictures I promised: |
Marnie & Dad |
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| I could swear I got a picture of this one but it wasn't on my phone when I got home. I had to download one instead: USS Green Bay | This one looked like it was going to crash into the pier: CGC Boutwell | These ships pretty much moored at our table so we had a great view. | One of these is 703, HMCS Edmonton along side 705 & 710. I think this represents 1/4 of the Canadian Navy. |
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2009 September - Concord, CA.
Steve had another MRI and the doctor only confirmed the Arachnoiditis diagnosis and recommended pain management. He offered a shot but, no thanks, that is not a good solution for the chronic pain. Still nothing from Social Security. This is why I think government health care is a bad idea, it takes them years to make a decision. I think our health care system needs reform but government health care is a bad option. I hope they come to a solution somewhere between the two extremes. Obviously insurance-run health care is not working. My cholesterol is back up because the insurance company refused to cover the medication that was actually working. That is just wrong, it should be up to my doctor(s). The top two pictures were taken Sep. 5th from the urban trail. Our rig is dead center in the top picture. On the original resolution you can see my HF antenna rising up past the trees (not the palm, the one behind it). I have to reduce the resolution so the page will load in a timely manner. In the next picture we are in front of the mobile home next to the palm. I think you can just make out our airconditioners and maybe the bottom half of my HF antenna (PVC pipe). It is a gorgeous day, 62 degrees F. at 8:30 AM. I think it is Labor Day? Anyway, Marnie gets a day off (but still had to work Saturday) so we went to a party Saturday evening and spent Sunday at the Scottish Games and a brief visit to Rios Lovell winery (to wash down all the Scotch of course)... We tried to find our name in one of the Clans. They pulled out an old battered book and tried to find it but I have never had any luck and I wonder if our name isn't really Scottish. Anyway, tongue-in-cheek I asked my friend, "Don't we have the internet now?" (I since looked it up, English, Dorset.) The whole thing seemed just like the Renaissance Faire to me but they get really offended if you say so. Our personal webpages have been moved to http://www.snmdurbin.us/" because the Earthlink address was too hard to remember. The FulltimeRV pages and personal pages link back and forth (when I have all the links working again...) If you find a broken link please let me know. Our friends are selling the Terra Firma. Take a look at the pictures and let anyone know that might be interested. We've sailed on her and had a great time. This is a very nice boat! If you have ever dreamed of getting rid of everything and sailing the world, that is what this boat was designed for. This is your chance! And this gave me an idea. I used to have a page for liquidating stuff before we moved into the RV. I have a couple things to sell and friends with things to sell so there is a new page Stuff For Sale. I will add "stuff" to it periodically and announce additions here (weblog). We spent Steve's birthday running errands in Oakland (yuk) and then lunch in Tiburon. It was a full weekend. Marnie snuck into the Yacht club and hung up a flyer for Terra Firma without being arrested. We had to go have some wine after that! Sunday we had lunch in Rockridge. At the end of the month Marnie had her hike in the Grand Canyon. She didn't give herself enough time to visit friends so don't feel bad that you didn't get a chance to see her. If you were one of the lucky few that did see her, count your blessings. Steve had his final? appointment with the local Orthopaedic Surgeon and there is nothing he can do due to the arachnoiditis and scar tissue. He recommended pain management and a Neurologist. |
| 2009 August - Concord, CA. I keep the black water dump closed and gray open most of the time. A day before I dump I close the gray to collect water to flush the hose after I dump the black. So there was a 1-in-7 chance that the valves were closed when the park had a sewer disaster that plugged the downstream lines! We still had to put up with raw sewage running to the street for a night but if they clean up the mess it will be considered a disaster avoided. If the valves had been open the sewage from all the upstream mobil homes would have filled our tank and come up through the shower!!! I haven't mentioned it yet but Marnie has been doing Crossfit. If you haven't seen her in a while you would be amazed! The workout varies enough that you are entertained as well as motivated. Check out their website and you might even see a picture of Marnie in her daily routine. The offer we made on a house last week was not accepted in favor of another offer. we will keep looking and saving every penny we can. We went down to Sausalito and had a nice lunch at Paradise Bay. We had a table right on the water so we lingered for a Scotch and Keylime pie. The food was great, beer was good and the weather was perfect! The company was priceless!! This last weekend we spent a fantastic day in Sonoma visiting Cline and Ravenswood. Ravenswood is hard to find so it is not crowded. They don't wave the tasting fee, $15 when you buy something but the wines are great though a little pricey. There is a small BBQ place in the main square and we both had the Blue Cheeseburger. Yum! We did a repeat trip the last weekend of the month with one of our friends. |
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2009 July - Concord, CA. We LOVE the new Pledge Fabric Sweeper! Those of you who have met Guinness know that he makes enough hair to create another cat daily! I don't know how he does it but it drives us nuts. We used to go through a lint roller each week. Don't worry, we aren't affiliates trying to sell anything. As a matter of fact, we are not affiliates of anything any more because Commission Junction deactivated the account again due to lack of transactions. Not enough folks that visit our pages buy anything through any of the links. That's okay because the intent of our pages has nothing to do with trying to make any money. It just seemed like if we mentioned someones product then we might as well get something for it. We'll go back to doing it for free if we like a product. Their loss... no, wait... oh well. We spent the weekend of the 4th doing a hiking trail that was easy enough. Steve can only walk a few hundred hards at the most. The Weekend of the 10th we had a 24 hour vigilence at the Relay for Life fund raiser for Cancer awareness. It was a good time. We got to test out our camping gear that we haven't used since we started living in the RV. There was great live music and the only complaints I heard were "hot" and "tired". I think the midnight shift had a benefit on temperature. It actually rained in the evening and that cooled everything off and helped tame the dust. We had to go to Richmond to meet with the Disability Attorney on the 18th and so Steve got the bright idea to take the opportunity to go see the State Park at Crab Cove and the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda. Steve got the further stroke of brilliance to walk from the park to the ship. Dee, dee-dee. It was only a mile walk according to the map. I figured we could do it in three efforts if we stopped and rested and maybe found lunch. Once we got to the Marina there were no park benches or bathrooms and certainly no restaurants! We made up our mind to call a cab to get back before we were half way to the ship. The Hornet is on its way to becoming nothing but rust but I was very moved to be there. I can't describe it, it was quite a nostalgic feeling. Thank you to all that served! We didn't get to ride the main elevator but, SWEET MOTHER OF JESUS I have never seen anything like that. 146,000 pounds of steel moved from the flight deck to the hanger deck (where we were) in seconds! Nothing, and I mean NOTHING could have prepared someone for the move, especially when the description of the operation says it takes ten minutes (nine in an emergency). Their little joke I guess. The antenna arrays were a HAM radio fanatics dream come true. I saw a lot of antennas on the vehicles in the parking lot too. I would dearly have loved to see the equipment areas but my disability would not allow it. We both highly recommend visiting one of these great vessels before they are all gone. Some dear friends of ours came to the area and we had a short dinner with them. For datenight on the 22nd we finally saw Harry Potter. I am always disappointed when they cut an important part or alter something that is key to the character of the characters. I don't want to give away the movie here so I won't say any more. We had fun, dinner and a movie. Marnie is a great date!!! On the 25th we jumped on the BART and went to Rockridge for lunch at Cactus Taqueria, they make an awesome crispy taco! There is an Italian market, deli, wine store and butcher shop that is just awesome. We sprung for a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (I know that's a French wine from the Italian market...) that we will save for an occasion with friends. Believe it or not, we have a wine cellar in the RV. I hate big cities, too many people, but there are some great things about the Bay Area. Jumping on a train and being in San Fran. in under an hour is pretty cool. Indeed, on the 29th we popped downtown to Little Italy for datenight with some friends. We put an offer in on a house in the area so wish us luck! We will get an answer early next month. Speaking of hiking trails, the entire East Bay Community is crossed by trails and it is only a few yards from our RV site to start out on the network. Here are a few pictures. |
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| Concord Trail System | Canal. It was a creek Once... | Creek. The Canal Crosses the Creek... | Duks |
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2009 June - Concord, CA. The Doctor prescribed antibiotics and cough medicines to deal with a sinus infection. I also got an infection from an in-grown toenail on my paralyzed foot. I never felt it so I didn't know about it until too late. Hopefully the antibiotics will take care of both infections. We went and looked at a couple of houses that I found online. One of them looked like it had potential but no room for the RV. For it to make financial sense for us to buy a primary residence we will have to be able to park the RV on the property, at least temporarily. I guess the next step is to seek pre-approval for a loan and try to save up a down payment. Another problem with the area is the property tax. Even if someone gave us a house for FREE it would cost $500 a month in taxes. California is a collective stupid and deserves to go bankrupt. We still haven't made up our mind if this is the right time and the right thing to do. Buying a primary residence before picking up some more rentals seems backwards to me but several factors come into play, not the least of which is the ease of getting a loan on a residence compared to "commercial" property. I remain unconvinced that the properties in the East Bay area are a "good deal" yet. Our Fridge bit the dust. Thank God I have a battery operated "beer fridge" that I keep in my jeep so I was able to save most of our food. The new fridge will cost a fortune plus having someone come to the rig to replace it. That on top of paying the first half of a replacement roof on one of our properties and our financial situation is reaching critical mass! I know, you have a hard time feeling sorry for landlords because we are all evil villains. The truth is, it is very hard to make any money as a landlord but most folks don't want to believe that. When it rains it pours as they say. We also had a fridge bite the dust in our single family rental. Unbelievable. I asked Marnie what gypsie she kicked in the nuts and to quit doing that. We went to a couple of wineries in the Livermore area. Rios-Lovell is our new favorite for the area. We were served by Leo and enjoyed every wine and port we tasted. That doesn't happen as often as you might think. Marnie had a business trip towards the end of the month. It is tuff for Steve to go it alone but we realize that we will have to put up with it until Marnie can retire. It is not that I am helpless but it is very hard for me to do some things including getting into our basement. Marnie does a lot around here! We both were overdue for an eye checkup, and, we both failed! Despite my Lasik a few years ago, we both need glasses again. Caleb called from Iraq to wish me a Happy Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all you dads that read this! He is still doing okay but is suffering from some back problems. He has another six months to go in Iraq (I think) but none of us know what will happen with Iran and N. Korea. Marnie made it back safe and sound from her trip. Steve now has a facebook page. Didn't really want one but I was looking for some friends and their facebook page came up on the search. The only way to send a message was to open an account... there ya go. I hope it doesn't become a nightmare. When I first got Skype I kept getting solicitations from prostitutes until I found the option to only accept messages from my contacts. I did get a hold of my friends. |
| 2009 May - Concord, CA.. Once again the Media has proven itself the largest terrorist organization on the planet. This time it is the "Swine Flu". Let's see, the latest scares (terror) before that was; Ebola, SARS, Mad Cow, West Nile, Avian Flu, Flesh Eating Bacteria, Mersa, Dengue and Hanta Virus... They have people so scared they are wearing masks again. Together, ALL of these diseases have killed less than 1,500 people world wide. Take comfort that the death toll of all of these diseases in the US was probably less than 20. That is twenty. Two-zero. Don't take my word for it. Now they get some license to scare us from diseases like; HIV/Aids, The Black Death, Small Pox, The Spanish Flu and Malaria that really do, or have, killed millions. If you hear about one of these reaching pandemic proportions go ahead and wear a mask. AIDS is already there but you need to where something besides a mask. Okay, enough about that but I had to say something. Keep it real (in perspective). The picture is from a few years ago but I like it. Marnie's birthday is this month! We started the month with a Lord of the Rings marathon at a friends house. It was really fun and there was, of course, wine. For Marnie's big day we went shopping and out to dinner. That weekend some of her family and friends came to the area so we got to visit and have lunch and dinner. We had an nice lunch and met up with another friend to enjoy Giardelli's and more wine at Waddle Creek. We then walked along Fisherman's Wharf to Cioppino's for an excellent seafood feast! The cab ride back to the hotel was an adventure and we were all sure the wheels left the ground several times. The driver also ran a few red lights! By the time we made it back home we were exhausted. The long weekend was spent on several seperate events; Day 1 was spent with a disability attorney. Day two was a Star Wars-a-thon where we watched the latest, episodes I-III and then went to a dinner party. Monday we continued the Wars-a-thon with our friend and watched IV-VI. The last week of the month finds Steve with a low-grade fever that won't go away. How ironic. |
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2009 April - Concord, CA. Happy tax season! Okay, not so much. Our CPA called and said we owe an unexpected amount in taxes. Marnie was bummed out for a few days over that news. We were supposed to be in a larger RV space by now so we started looking around the area for alternatives. Eagles Landing is a nice little park and they have a space coming available. We took a look at it and it is a nice park and a nice spot but no shade. They actually do background checks which is a good thing. We decided that if the park we are in continues to yank us around we would move but if they gave us the promised spot we would stay. We went and visited Lafayette Reservoir but we were not impressed. You have to pay to park and it is really a pond. Not worth getting out to look at. The first weekend of the month one of Marnie's friends took us to some of the seaside communities North of San Francisco, Sausalito and Tiburon, and treated us to some wine tasting and lunch at Scoma's. It was a great time but once again Steve over did it and had to rest a few days. On the 7th we were able to move to the new spot. It did not go smoothly. But we are here and it is a larger spot that fits our awning and both jeeps so maybe we won't be so miserable. We like our outdoor living space! Crikey! We actually found this when we first moved to the park. There was a heap of trash left by the previous tenant and there was a pair of these li'l beauties. AC7HA and I were able to talk for quite a while on 40M a couple of times. This band seems to fade a lot late morning and AC7HA likes to sleep in so we were limited to an hour or so. The last weekend of the month we attended a small house-warming party for a friend of ours. Still no joy on Social Security. The appeal was filed under the wrong SSN (typo) and so their office is working on re-opening the case (there was a 60 day time limit 90 days ago). We met Monk and Clint at the park. |
| 2009 March - Concord, CA.. Not much happening in the first half of the month but the 14th brings Marnie's friend from Flagstaff to visit. A group of us went up to Sonoma/Napa and visited Cline and Jacuzzi. These two are my favorite wineries so far for both atmosphere and the wine. Cline wines are excellent and the place and servers created a very relaxed atmosphere. Jacuzzi has a beautiful tasting area and we had the lunch we brought with us with some of our favorite wines from the tasting room. These are pictures of Jacuzzi. Harry, our server for the tasting, had quite a flair for story telling. He explained to a group of tourists that if you rub the belly of the statue you live long and prosper (or some such thing, we don't remember exactly). I won't go into detail here of what all people were doing to that statue, but here is a tip, wash you hands if you touch it... They were pretty much like this the whole time. We met Fred and Darnell at the park. |
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Here are a few pictures from their adventures:
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| Here is a better shot of those sea lions at Pier 39 | Yosemite... |
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| She was lucky enough to be born and raised in this home in Yosemite |
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2009 February - Concord, CA. I threw a very short "long wire" up into the tree behind us. It is short because it broke when I tried to pull it out of the tree in Flagstaff. Since I still haven't had any income since last November, the thought of purchasing anything, including a spool of wire, doesn't appeal to me right now! I was still able to talk to Hawaii, New Mexico and my friend AC7HA in Arizona this first weekend! Speaking of income, Social Security gave me my first rejection letter. How is it that someone who is partially paralyzed can't qualify for disability but they have a problem with people getting on it that don't need it? Besides, it's my money! It has been raining every few days but we both love the rain so it is great. Okay, look at this picture... then look at the first picture for January... see what I mean? The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) litterally passes by just across the street. I don't mind the trains and because they are electric they are quiet. Napa is only about thirty minutes North of us so we popped up there on Saturday and stopped at one of the winerys, this is Clos du Val. We also had a nice, but expensive lunch in Yountville. 
On the 21st we rode the BART to San Franciso and visied Pier 39. It was wierd the number of sea lions hanging out with the shoppers. We had fish & chips (of course) and tour'd the Aquarium of the Bay. Steve did a little too much so we know to make it a shorter trip next time. 
I have met several of Marnie's co-workers and her roommate. I can see why she likes it here so much and speaks so highly of everybody! So far we have met Eric at the park. |
| 2009 Jan. - Flagstaff, AZ/ Oakland, CA. Happy New Year! More snow. I think I got about six inches of new snow but some of my friends reported as much as twelve! Some of you know that January brings our aniversary and this year is our tenth! Marnie sprung for a resort visit in Phoenix and we had a wonderful time seeing each other in this difficult time of being seperated. Shown here is dinner at Alto's our first night. Marnie spotted a restaurant that she went to in Atlanta called Fogo de Chão. Boy, if you like meat this is the place to eat! They bring skewers of wonderful spiced meats of the best cuts to your table and it is ALL YOU CAN EAT (plus some!!!) Breakfast at SWB and the smoked salmon sounded good. I hadn't had bagles & loks since I was in Skokie. I didn't expect this much food! 18 Jan. I hit the road out of Flagstaff. We were there for ten months so, with my disability, it took two days to pack and make ready for launch. The roads are terrible and we had a few items break. The DVD carousels (strapped down tightly) lept off the desk and onto the floor. Right in front of kitty. He screamed and hissed and jumped up onto my lap. Legs through the steering wheel! I had to fight him and the road at the next exit so I could get a handle on the situation. Guinness went into hiding of course. Normally he is in a pet carrier for his own safety but once we were on the freeway I though it was safe to let him out. Wrong. When we finally stopped at Golden Shores, AZ I think Guinness knew we were stopping. He came out of hiding and jumped on the back of my seat. There is nothing quite like having a 20lb furball hit the back of your head when you are driving! Tomorrow he goes back in the carrier. It is a little known fact that Golden Shores is really on Mars. They hadn't mentioned that on the website nor the loud dirtbikes all day long! Still, the price is right, free, and if you are into sand hobbies it looks fun and it was quiet at night once the 40mph winds died down. The first Martini on Mars, NASA has nothing on me! The sunset was nice. Shown is my temporary CB antenna. I only used it once to tell a trucker he left his blinker on. 19 Jan. My intent was to stay at Afton where the Mohave River flows briefly above ground. The exit for I15 N wasn't marked, at all, so we missed it. Rather than turning around we went on to 58 and the original plan to stop in Bakersfield for the night. I didn't like the look of any of the parks and so we just kept going. And going, and going and found ourselves at our next stop, San Luis RV Resort. I drove at least a few hours further than I could safely drive. I could swear the website showed water. Alas, there was none to be found within five miles or so. The park looked pretty seedy and I found out that the original owners had to foreclose on it recently. They are in the process of cleaning it up and it looks like it has potential with the right management. Tonight Guinness and I are within two hours of Marnie!!! 20 Jan., I called the park and they said they had a space open for us. Two hours later we pulled in next to the office. They don't have a space that will fit our rig! This after a month of telephone calls and repeatedly telling them to hold a spot for us and that we are 36' long. Not competent. But, they have us at their mercy so best not to irritate them by throttling the manager. Oh, and I am not tired and cranky after my trip at all either. We'll call him "Bill" for the sake of argument, Bill, says that we can stay in County Fairgrounds for two weeks while we wait for a space. I was pretty upset at this point. (Yes, Bill still lives but has no idea the narrowness of his escape.) Bill finds us one space available and, no kidding, the back of the rig is five inches from a retaining wall and the front is hanging in the street. Congrats to Steve for pulling this off without a copilot! Okay, there was Guinness but I couldn't tell if he was saying, "Mmmmmeonument Avenue", or "mmmmmmore wine...." Those are Marnie's clothes and she is going to be m-m-mad! |
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