Christmas Over.............

On the Barry Goldwater Bombing Range......there a lot of
these old mines scatterred around. Larry and Wayne are
checking it out while JJ climbs the hill for a cache. Kinda
rough out here and Wayne is looking for the "road".

......and we chowed down with Char and Robert and family. Good company, good food and Char sent me home with a very large doggie bag. I'll have a couple of more Christmas dinners later this week. I didn't take any pictures..........check Becky's Blog, maybe she did. Weather was sunny, warm, no breeze and we had dinner outdoors...........how many of you Northern Folks can say that. I think it made it to 72 deg. on Christmas Day!

Well, Sunday got here and what is there to do the day after Christmas...........why go geocaching of course. We loaded up the RZR and Rhino and were all set to go and were waiting for tbly. She had dinner with us yesterday and she's never late.............well we called her and found she was sick..........musta over stuffed herself with turkey and stuffings! Made a call to another friend and he said "sure" he'd go with us. So about 0930 we headed out for the bombing range. Long day, we got home about 1630 and 88 miles later. Another super day on the range, gentle breeze and sunshine!

We met a few other cachers on the range and they know how to cache...........they bring along their picnic lunch! Even though I'm sure we looked hungry they didn't offer to share. Met some "poachers" who drove over from the San Diego area to go caching. We know them from previous meetings and events and they were "eating" and enjoying themselves also..........again we left them still hungry. All in all a nice day, I think we picked up about 45 or so caches.

Got home, washed off about 3 pounds of dust/dirt and then B and I went out for dinner. We stopped at a Chinese Restaurant...........first time we've been there this year and it was pretty good. They have a daily buffet; however, it never seems to change. Good for one or two visits when we are down here and that's about it.

Nothing more going on, maybe check out a few stores tomorrow to see if they have any left over bargins. Later. W&B

Here We Sit.........Battling Rain, Wind, Cold.............

......you think you all up North have got it bad, why we didn't get out of the 60s today and last time I checked we had .05 inch of precipitation!! And the WIND.........unbelievable, some gust up to 15 mph today!! YUP, we got it bad.

Made our daily run to the Doc's Office and the B's nurse turned the dressing chores over to me. I had my handy dandy Leatherman Tool out in case I needed it; but, Suzie (the nurse) thought I should just use a Q-tip to take care of the job. Guess she was right. Anyway, we don't need to go back for another week. Still waiting for results of comparsion tests........they got the slides from Chico; but, no results yet so don't know if further treatment will be needed.

Tonight we met Larry & Audrey and JJ and Char for dinner at the Outback. They have a gift card deal going on right now.........buy $100.00 worth of gift cards and they give you a "free" $20.00 card. Such a deal, I bought $200.00 worth and of course I'm not giving them away. So we got $40.00 worth of steaks to consume sometime between 1 Jan and 10 Feb. We'll use them up no problem. Tonight we even got a deal on New York steaks, buy the $20 one for $16.........such a deal. Normally, I'm not into New York cuts but this one was pretty good.

We're all invited to Char and JJ's for Christmas dinner so we'll be sharing their family again for Christmas. It's nice to have "family" scattered up and down the West Coast!

After dinner B and I went to the casino since it was just a couple of miles away. Bad move, the other day I won $66.00............today I gave $60 back to them. So it goes; or should I say, "easy come easy go".

Some old guy called me on the Suzuki yesterday and today he stopped by to look at it. He drove it and came back and said he had $3500 in his pocket. I told him I'd advertise it and see what kinda offers I got. He said OK, you still got my number. It might be worth more than I thought down here 'cause you just don't find them. They're a nice tow car behind you M/H.

Well, gonna sleep in tomorrow..........no need to get up and head for the Docs office.

Later. W&B

Should Have Went Caching Today...........

instead of spending $$$s. We looked at this Jeep Liberty yesterday and stopped by again today. It's an "Old" one, 2003 model with 63,000 miles. Bigger motor, tow package and I'm sure it will haul the big trailer and Rhino w/o any problems. Anyway, I made an offer, got tired of them mulling it over and started to leave. Of course the manager chased me out the door. I finally agreed to $250.00 over my offer and the next thing I knew........we had a Jeep Liberty. The manager looked my Suzuki over and offered me $3,000 for it........he wanted it for himself. I told him no that I'd advertise it first. Then we are filling out paper work and the dude who does the paperwork offered me $3,250 for it. It's gotta be worth more than that so I'll wait and see. There must be a pretty good market down here for small 4x4s.

We spent too much time goofing off today, hit two casinos, saw B's nurse, bought a car, had Chinese for lunch and now Becky is crashing on the couch. She's doing better day by day..........I think we just did too much today for her..........she doesn't know when to slow down so I'll have to keep a better watch on her.

That's about it for today. W&B

Got Out To Dinner Tonight................

as "B" was feeling better. Still had to stop by the Doc's office this afternoon to have her incision irrigated and a new dressing applied. Looking better; but, we still need to go back tomorrow for more of the same. After visiting the nurse we decided to get a casino "fix" and on the way we stopped at JJ's office to shoot the breeze. He suggested going to the Outback for dinner and Becky said "OK"..........me, well I'm always ready for an Outback steak.

We went to the casino and I lost the rest of my weekly allowance..........then home in just enough time to turn around and head for the Outback. Nice dinner with JJ and Char and the evening was gone before we knew it. On the 17th, 18th and 19th a "Christmas Light" parade is going on. People with golf carts, ATV, dune buggys, Side x Sides, etc. decorate their rigs and parade around the area. Tonight they were in the Foothills and we managed to catch a glimpse of them as we were looking at decorated houses. We got stuck in traffic so missed the parade. Maybe we can find them tomorrow. There's a street about 4 or 5 blocks away where the home owners go all out with Christmas decorations. We'll have to tour it again when the light parade isn't causing congestion. Decorations are neat and the street has a Night Before Christmas Theme.

Don't know what's going on this weekend, weather is supposed to be back in the 70s and I'll probably go geocaching on Sunday with Larry and JJ. Becky is telling me to "Get the Hell out of Here!" so guess I'll probably go.

About it for now. W&B

Cold, Wet, Windy.....Miserable Weather.......

today. We won't even make it into the 70s................BUMMER!! Temp right now is 58 degrees and might make it to 65 before day is over. Two days of this and we should creep back to the 70s by Saturday. Makes you feel sorry for us doesn't it?

Well, "B" was doing OK until she noticed a "red" area around her belly incision, we went in to the Doc's office yesterday and she has an infection in the incision. So he cleaned it out, left it open for drainage and started her on antibiotics. Gotta go back for the next few days to have it checked and the dressing changed. Don't know what we'll do on Saturday.......guess "Dr. Wayne" will have to assume the duties. Hopefully it will have stopped draining by then and all I'll have to do is keep the dressing changed. A little inconvenient; but, guess these things can happen.

First time "B" has been out for any length of time so we picked up some grub and then made a trip to the casino so we could get our "fix". Bad move, I lost my weekly allowance; and, since she wasn't carrying any money with her I had to back her $10.00 loss too.

That's about it for us at this time. W&B

Time Seems To Be Move Slowly........

at least that what Becky thinks. She's getting impatient (big surprise) and wants everything healed up "now". Surprise, surprise........it takes a little bit of time........which is something she realizes; but, bitches about anyway.

Still "street walking" when the urge occurs and she also spends time walking the length of the M/H........and that's only about 40 feet roundtrip so it takes a bit to accumulate mileage.

Have had friends stop by yesterday and today..........and today Ron and Kay brought COOKIES!! I know B won't be scoffing up that many so I'll have to give her a hand.

We're still having a heat spell (into the 80s for record temps) and maybe a bit of a cool down for the weekend. Even turned the A/C on yesterday afternoon in the bedroom........not much ventilation there. The engineers should have engineered an exhaust fan for the bedroom; but, they didn't.

Well, not much going on so "B" told me to "get out" and I think I might take her up on that. Need to get to the grocery store for a few things and the casino isn't too far out of the way.

Later. W&B

Sunday...........

and I'm slowly being worked to "skin and bones" as the drill sergeant keeps barking orders to me...........no rest for the weary. I even skipped the geocacher breakfast this morning so I could wait on her hand and foot if she woke up.............she didn't wake up until after the breakfast was long over! She's milking the situation to the MAX!

Actually, she's being a very good patient and complaining is being kept to a minimum..........although there could be some improvement in this regard. Weather has been great and she was doing some "streetwalking" the other day and it took me half a block to catch up with her..........of course I don't move very fast. All in all she's recovering quite well, although she thinks she should be feeling better faster. Got a Doc appointment about mid week and she should moving pretty well by then.

Well, that's about it for right now...........I'm going back to watching FOX news; been doing a lot of that lately.

W

Becky Out Of Hospital Today................

.......some of you may know and some of you may not know, she entered hospital on Monday after undergoing numerous tests since we've arrived in Yuma. She underwent surgery to remove a portion of the small intestine and the surgeon reports that "everything" was removed. That was the good news; but, we're still waiting for further tests to be conducted to see if additional treatment will be necessary. For now, everything is fine and I picked her up from the hospital about 1500................since then she's been giving me orders like a drill sargeant, talking on the telephone, playing on the computer and doing her breathing exercises on her little machine................with the exception of the little breathing gadget, everything about back to "normal".

I kinda thought she might be released today so this morning I drug my butt to the laundry and took care of the domestic chores..............naturally, I didn't get "all" the dirty clothes........apparently she has hiding places I'm not aware of...........I thought that the dirty clothes hamper was the place for dirty clothes. As I found out, it wasn't. Anyway I got most of the stuff done.

As you can see from the pics...........she "gained" about 18 pounds (gained ??? I don't understand that) and wasted no time in getting back to her routine. She'll be "cheating" Solitaire on the computer before the evening is over!

That's about it for now. W

Sunday.........Another Caching Day.............

and after a nice breakfast at the Golf Course, Larry, Wayne, JJ and myself took off for narrow ridge trails, rocks, snakes and nice scenery. Gave up the desert today and headed toward an area north of Wellton, AZ..............an area we hadn't visited since last December. Quite a few new caches had been placed and we wanted to clean some of them up.

Lousy start........we had a DNF on the first one.........a cache in the middel of a Salt Cedar Tree, should have taken a picture of the area, we finally gave up on that one and headed for rocky trails. Nice area; but, rough, I think we made loop of about 12 miles and it took about 6 hours to do that. Had to go slow.........or at least Larry and I tried to; but following JJ on narrow trails, on top of a ridge at 40+ mph, gets one all puckered up on occasion. Fortunately, we all survived..

Didn't get a picture of JJ's "find" on one of the caches..........Larry and I had found this one last year so were just watching when we saw JJ do a vertical 36" leap............all he could say was "SNAKE!". It was just an itty bitty one and I guess it took off in the opposite direction and was gone before JJ's feet touched ground again. Good for a laugh at the time and an occasional chuckle when we thought about it.

We must have got home about 1600 and after using up all the hot water my tired old bones feel like they'll hold up for another day. I keep telling myself that this is "Fun".

Nothing going on this week except getting my nose "rotor rooted" and that's about it until next time. W&B

OK, Turkey Day Here and Gone, Black Friday Done...................

so nothing left to look forward to except Christmas.

We're in a raging "cold spell" right now, it only got into the high 60s and couldn't break the 70 degree barrier................what ever are we going to do, if this insane weather continues I might have to go look for a sweater or jacket!!

Had a great Turkey Day at JJ and Char's with their family. Great food and company and to top it off I even came home with a "doggy bag"...........just finished up my second turkey day dinner and still have enough left for one more turkey dinner tomorrow. Doesn't get much better.

Well, we skipped the insane shopping today and instead of venturing out at midnight or 3 or 5 in the morning we finally made a few stops about 1100 this morning. I did buy some $9.00 Wrangler Jeans at Wally World, shopped a bit for a new lap top; but, came up empty on anything else. By the time we hit the stores things had really calmed down; but, the store clerks looked like they had been up since midnight..........maybe some of them actually were.

With shopping done we stopped at the casino and I played and played and finally quit exactly even. Good thing 'cause I need the money. Made one more stop at Sam's Club for a hot dog and coke and then headed home. End of day.

Tomorrow.........probably more of the same. Hope everyone is staying warm. W&B

Just Enjoying the Warm Weather...........

......while it lasts (which should be the remainder of the winter!!)

Sunday Larry, JJ, Wayne and I took another 94 mile Rhino/RZR trip into the desert to hunt down and plant some geocaches. Left about 0800 and didn't get back until after 1500..........this is starting to resemble W.O.R.K.!! Took a few pictures of the desert a couple of miles from Mexico and here they are. Surprise, surprise..........there's still a lot of "green" in the desert and we haven't had any rain since we arrived a month ago. Won't complain about that.

Still haven't settled into much of a routine, except get up, play, eat and sleep. Still got a couple of doctor appointments to get taken care of.........will it ever end?? In my "younger" day I used to manage to stick my nose in areas where it didn't belong......consequently I've had my nose splattered across my face a few times and I ended up with a deviated septum. Finally went in to see a EN&T doctor and he's going to "rotor root" out my nose and correct the problem. Should be able to breathe a little bit better after than. Got until Dec 2 to change my mind; but, I may as well get it done now before hussein really messes things up with his obamacare crap.

We're invited to JJ & Char's for Turkey Day and I'm assured that Char will have plenty of gravy for me so will be there with knife and fork in hand and huge appetite. Becky in Hawaii last year and missed the feast; but, we'll both be there with JJ's family and a few geocaching friends this year. Wouldn't miss out on this as last year's feast was outstanding!

Washed up the Rhino today..........it had about 3 inches of dust on it from yesterday's desert run. Also was way down on oil from the 90+ mile trip. Maybe it's time to start shopping around for some new wheels? The RZR doesn't really fit me; but, watching JJ & Larry barrel through the rough trails with super suspension certainly looks inviting. Also when he passes me and I'm doing 52 mph makes a new ride look all that more inviting. Maybe Santa will be kind this year.

That's about it from down South.........all you people in Northern areas..........just try to stay warm for the next few months. W&B

Got "OLDER" today................

so after "Breakfast In Bed" I spent the rest of the day loafing. Almost had to turn on the A/C today; but, found it was nice and cool in the shade so spent the afternoon in the lounge chair snoozing. I thought I would be awakened to the smell of a ribeye smoldering on the grill...................this just turned out to be wishful thinking.

Got phone calls, emails, etc. from well wishers so it was a nice BD. Check B's Blog as we went out to dinner with friends Saturday night. Theresa's BD is on the 16th so we celebrated both days.

I was going down to the Golden Corral this evening for a "free" dinner..........they were giving meals to veterans today instead of on Vet's Day. The freebies didn't start until 1700 so I thought it over and decided to pass............there's always a line for the first hour after 1700 since this is "discount" time for all the Old Folks..........with a freebie I figured we'd probably have to arrive at 1600 and stand in line so we ended up passing on the freebie.

Maybe Becky will take me out tomorrow for a belated ribeye or prime rib dinner???

Gonna be warm rest of the week and maybe cool down a bit for the weekend. Still t-shirt weather though. Pity the poor folks up North.

Later. W&B

Guess I Better Try and Catch Up................

since last post................gee, nothing must not have happened 'cause I don't remember doing anything since Nov 4.......... ??

Well, we've done a bit of geocaching, grabbing a cache or two here and there when the Nuvi dings as we drive by one. Even took the Rhino out the other day and picked up a few located off road. Went to a breakfast with other geocachers who get together at the golf course restaurant. Probably close to 30 showed up last Sunday. This coming Sunday is the monthly breakfast at the Holiday Inn and it looks like 90+ have signed up for that one.

We've still managed to keep my "Red Brothers" happy at the Paradise Casino.........actually I've been staying about even, win a little and lose a little. Doing a little shopping along the way and we visited the Swap Meet on Sunday..........picked up a couple of recliner chairs for the patio and the weather has cooled down so not making much use of them. They're good for snoozing though when the weather is warm. Becky has been browsing the Good Will stores and now has a stack of book that will keep her occupied for quite awhile. I found an old suitcase to use for my geocaching junk as the other one was developing holes in it.

Today is Vet's Day so we just got back from Applebees when I cashed in on my "Free" Vets Day lunch. I had a 7 oz. sirloin and it was pretty good.............at least the price was right. Last year they even gave me a free Pepsi; but, got charged today. Becky had soup and a sandwich and I would have gotten off pretty cheaply except that the Bar Maid was amply endowed (we were sitting at the bar) so I had to donate a gratuity worthy of the view. Money well spent!

Been trying to get our "A Team" (geocaching pals) together for dinner this week; but, things keep coming up and now it finally looks like we'll have dinner at the Outback on Saturday evening. My BD coming up and "tbly" has one on Tuesday so we'll celebrate both on Saturday evening.

Well, that's about it for the last week or so. Weather has cooled down at night but still very pleasant days so can't complain about anything. Later. W&B

Got My Patio Completed Today.............

while we were downtown..........got home and there it was! You can see that I had "No Help" in digging out the tables, bar b que, chairs, etc. etc. etc..................

We weren't home when the guys did the work..........."B" had a Dr. appointment and got some new meds for her skin "spots" and then we were sitting in the casino when they tried to call. Missed the call; but, I called them when we got home and it only took about 20 minutes for them to get here to be paid.

Looks good, they did a good job and told me that the bricks need to settle for about a week on the damp sand and it's possible that a brick or two might crack............if so he said call him and he'd come over and fix it. Since Home Depot gave us an excess number of bricks I got an extra row "free"..........well sorta free since I gave the guys a little extra when I paid up. It's gonna beat the heck out of stumbling on the gravel or on the mat I laid down last year. Well worth the bucks we paid for it. Later. W&B

Still Trying to Get Set Up................

.........when we arrived I started looking for someone to build a "patio" next to the M/H. I found a couple of guys; but, they've been kinda slow. Well, they are doing the work after their "regular" jobs so guess I can't complain. I bought 150 1'x1' blocks from Home Depot and got a 10% discount.......that paid for the sales tax. The guys picked them up and delivered them yesterday and today they staked out my patio area and brought a load of sand. Hopefully, they'll get back tomorrow and start placing the blocks. Home Depot loaded a pallet of the blocks and I think I got 160 instead of the 150 I ordered......or maybe a few more. Maybe they gave me some extras because of breakage........or else it was easier to load a pallet then to count out 150 and load them by hand. I won't complain. Think a 10 foot x 15 foot patio should do nicely. Anyway, I haven't dug out the barbque, chairs, tables, etc. until they get done.

It's been HOT the last couple of days.........we left this afternoon and when we go back the temp inside the M/H was 99 degrees. Took a long time for it to cool down with the A/C running. Outside in the shade it wasn't too bad..........but don't have anything set up out there yet.

Becky and I did a little caching yesterday around the immediate area.....I think we found about 10 and there's about 600 plus that we haven't found............and probably never will. It keeps the old folks busy around here. Out first S.W.A.G (Southwest Arizona Geocachers) breakfast is coming up on Sunday the 14th. Looks like we'll have a pretty good turn out.

Don't know what we'll be doing day to day.........stopped at the casino today and I was $16.00 ahead for awhile............then I lost it and all of my weekly allowance too. Tomorrow is Old Folks day at one of the casinos; but, we don't much like that casino so will probably pass on it.

Getting late so will check the tube for anything interesting........if nothing will call it a night. Can't go to bed too early..........if I do then I wake up about 0600 and can't get back to sleep. Bummer!

W&B

Halloween Arrives...............

and Larry, Robert, Theresa and I go caching on the Barry Goldwater Bombing Range. Becky "volunteered" to stay home and do the domestic stuff.

It was a nice, sunny, no wind day so we spent about 8 hours finding and placing some geocaches. I think we found about 45 and placed 12. You gotta be pretty nasty to place a cache in the middle of an Ocotillo..........but it looks like JJ did just that. These things are pretty nasty and their thorns will rip you up.

We got home when it was getting close to 1600........tired dirty and hungry. JJ's RZR and my Rhino were our trusty steeds; but, there is no way to avoid the dust that we kick up. We took turns "leading" so all of us were encased in dust/dirt when we got home. We put a little over 90 miles on our trip today. Will probably sleep good tonight!

No trick or treaters for us as this is an area with mostly "Old Folks"...........a besides we didn't turn on the porch light. Well football game is nearly over so will watch the last 12 minutes. Later. W&B

Halloween Fast Approaching................

and I still haven't figured out "what am I gonna be"!!

Maybe I'll just say to hell with Halloween and go to bed early..........same as the last 25 or so Halloweens.

Still trying to get settled in a little bit at a time. I hauled some extra tires for the Rhino, tool boxes, bicycle and a bunch of other stuff since I had much more room on the bigger trailer. Also bought a bunch of cables and locks since we don't have a storage shed. Then we got here and I left everything chained down on the trailer. Last year I just kinda piled it in front of the M/H and we had no problems. Been hearing about copper wire being stolen from vacant lots so I was getting a little concerned about leaving stuff out. So..........been browsing Craig's List and finally found a small enclosed trailer for sale. Guy wanted $750 so we went and looked at it. It's kinda small about 4' x 7' inside; but, it looked like it would hold everything. I made an offer for it and after some brief haggling I bought it for $650. Got it home and all my excess goodies fit in it nicely. Got some friends who live here year around or else have stick houses that they live in while here so maybe I can store the trailer with one of them when it comes time to head back North. Anyway it solves the storage and security problem while we're here. It probably wouldn't be too hard to sell; but, I'd like to keep it around.

Found some 14 inch wheels on Craig's list also with a bolt pattern that will fit the Rhino. He only wants $75 for them so guess I'll go to the tire shop tomorrow and see what I can come up with for on/off road tires that will work better for the Rhino on paved streets. The Rhino gets a little squirrely on pavement at 55+ mph.

Made our rounds to casinos, two of them, so have one more to contribute to and then we can try and stay away from them..........they're not like at home where the casino is only about 10 minutes away.

We need to make a "drug" run to Mexico before those "damn winter visitors" get here so need to do that soon. We got a friend in Corning who gives us money to pick him up some tummy pills for him...........saves him a bundle as we get a year's supply pretty cheaply.

Weather has been really good, usually when we come home after our travels in the afternoon we run the A/C for an hour or so and that takes care of the heat. Actually, Becky thinks we don't need the A/C at all; but, I do.

Both of us had Dr. appointments on Tuesday...........just made contact with the Doc to let him know we're back in case we need him.........and I got my flu shot while there. I still have to see the local Rheumatologist; but, no hurry with that.

Well, tomorrow is Friday so guess we'll see if the clam chower at a Greek restaurant we go to is still good.

Later. W&B

Monday ...................

The Original Can of Beans was on display, the owner brought it over from Phoenix. You have to be a cacher to have knowledge of the OCB. Becky observing JJ cooking the buffalo burgers, JJ and Char, our hosts/hostess. This was the line waiting to gobble down the buffalo burgers.

the day after JJ's Pot Luck Event. It was well attended and Buffalo Burgers were yummy! Here's a few pictures of the attendees.

This morning I headed to the glass shop to have the window replaced in the Suzuki and they only took about 35 minutes to fix it. My next stop was heading toward down town to see if I could do something about getting internet up to speed. I finally decided to sign up for Beam Speed and after messing with the modem and finally calling the Beam Speed office I got it running. Compared to the Sprint air card we're now living in the fast lane again. Won't be able to get Becky off the computer now. So we're now paying Sprint $60 bucks a month and Beam Speed $50 for the internet.........oh well you can't take it with you.

Still haven't unloaded the trailer or get the patio area set up. I'm going to talk to Jorge tomorrow afternoon and see how much he'll charge me to build a patio area outside the motor home with some 1x1 foot bricks. Property owner has no objections so I'll probably get it done. It will sure make the patio area a lot easier getting around.

Kinda warm this afternoon.........and we're supposed to be in a "cool down" period. Oh well, sure beats rain and cold! Later..........w&b

Made It To Yuma.............

about 1140 this morning. Problems with hooking up to electricity; but, finally got that resolved so have my MTV and a very, very sloooooow internet. Guess it'll have to do for now. We're using Sprint air card and it works fine everywhere..........except YUMA. I called Sprint and they were supposed to have 3G equipment installed and working by now; or, so they said last March. Latest word now is it's supposed to be working by end of year. I won't hold my breath!!

Made a speed run to the Marine Corps Base to get our Bombing Range passes, stopped by glass shop and they'll fix my window on Monday for $155.00. Guess that's not too bad, I certainly expected it would cost more than that. Some guy came to see if we wanted M/H washed, I asked him what kinda "deal" I could get, he said he'd wash car for "free", wanted $190.00 for wash and wax, that included waxing roof. Told him to forget it 'cause I had it done for $165 in March. He told me I was a cheap skate and left. Now I'll probably have to keep everything under lock and key.

Going to Bombing Range tomorrow with JJ and Larry..........told Becky she could stay home and "clean up" the joint. Looks like it'll take the rest of the week to get things squared away. I asked the guy who came to get my electricity going if he knew of anyone willing to lay some 1 x 1 blocks to make a patio in front of the M/H. He said he did and I gave him my phone number. Wanted to do this last year but never got around to it. Land lady has no objections so will go for it. Might have to get a shed of sorts also to store my extra stuff. Electrician said there was a lot of vandalism going on around the area. Jobless rate is about 26% according to an article I read so the midnight thieves might be pretty active this year.

All for now..........just wanted to let those interested know that we made it to Yuma. W&B

In Barstow California..........

at the Marine Corps Logistics Base. Arrived here a couple of hours ago for an overnight, then to the West Side of Lake Havasu to visit their casino tomorrow. Finally, arrive "home" in Yuma sometime on Friday.

Guess my last entry was Friday when we were in Vancouver, WA. We left Vancouver on Sunday, arrived Corning and then spent Monday getting M/H and trailer ready to leave again. Left Corning on Tuesday, spent night at Harris Ranch and then arrived Barstow. Weather been great and we just missed the monsoon at Barstow. Lots of standing water alongside the road and "flooded" signs still on the roadway that hadn't been removed yet. Could have used a good downpour to wash off the M/H..........but not to be.

Had a great trip to Washington........except for Saturday night. Got ready to leave on Sunday morning, we were staying at a Best Western Motel, and found the driver's side window had been smashed in the Suzuki. A smash and dash and the thieves took my $99.00 Nuvi GPS off the dash. They'll never make it as thieves............they left two Garmin GPSrs on the console, value about $300 each, left two Canon cameras in the back area, value about $400 each, a peanut butter jar full of quarters under the seat with about $70 in it and miscellaneous items we had purchased in Vancouver. I spent about $100 for goodies at Home Depot and another $75 or so at the Outdoor Wholesale place. The idiots could have really made a nice haul; but, smashed my window and all they took was the Nuvi. Will get window replaced when we get to Yuma.

Drove to Dug's house, cleaned up the broken glass, found a piece of plexi-glass at Lowe's and Dug cut it to fit, taped it up with some super-duper duct tape (at $10 a roll it should be good) and away we went. The duct tape and plexi glass are still holding up quite well..........a little wind noise; but, that doesn't bother me as Becky is following me in the Suzuki while I'm driving the M/H and pulling the trailer.

That about catchs you up on our activities for the last 5 days.

W&B

Birthday Dinners Today................

Doug and Cassidy were supposed to figure out a place for dinner........for the last two days they couldn't agree on anyplace.......so about a hour before dinner they finally agreed on P. J. Changs, a Chinese Restaurant in downtown Portland. Personally, I was ready for a steak; but, not to be. As it turned out the Chinese joint was pretty good and we didn't even have any leftovers to bring home. After that Cassidy needed a cupcake "fix" for dessert so we stopped at a strictly cupcake joint they had found previously. I asked for my senior discount and the cupcake dude said it "was in there" with total bill. I told him his gratuity was in there also as I pocketed my change!

Party day tomorrow and then we head back to Corning early on Sunday morning. Pack up the M/H and leave again for Arizona about Monday or Tuesday...........depends on how long it takes to get the M/H ready to roll.

W&B

In Vancouver, WA for A Few Days...............

......left Corning about 0600 and arrived Vancouver shortly after 1400.........even had a stop at Seven Feathers Casino and I had made enough money to fill the gas tank...........that is until I decided to double my wagers to make a "killing" and ended up losing my twenty bucks! So it goes.

We got to Vancouver early enough to take care of a few chores on our "to do" list and have a few more to do the next couple of days; but, shouldn't have any problem getting stuff done.

Tonight we headed for the bowling alley as Dug's work place was having a bowling night to raise money for charity. They had a pretty good turnout and the company furnished pizza for everyone. We should have snuck in on the "freebies"; but, felt a little guilty so "B" and I grabbed a bite at the snack bar. Bowling alley snack bars are always good for a nasty dose of "grease" so we enjoyed gobbling bowling alley food and watching the "would be" bowlers. Cassidy and Tami were also recuited to bowl and Trace busied himself with the arcade machines.

Long day so we headed for the barn. We're staying at a motel since we left the M/H in Corning and they even have a complimentary breakfast if we get up early enough tomorrow.

Leave here on Sunday, head for Corning and then we should be on the road for our annual trek to Arizona next week.

W&B

It's Really Tuff To Be OLD................

as our tired old bodies told us this morning! Yesterday both B and I went on a "clean up" spree..........we just had the carpet and furniture cleaned on Thursday so Becky went nutso on squaring out all the corners. I couldn't stand to watch her cleaning things up so I went outside to hide. While there I decided it was time to clean out the gutters before the rains arrived. Good idea; but, I should have found some high school kid to do it for me! For longer than I care to think about it was up the ladder, clean out a few feet of the gutter, then down the ladder, move the ladder, then back up the ladder, etc. etc. It took quite a while. I was hesitant to climb on the roof and clean the gutters.........thinking that if I sat down up there I probably would have problems getting back up again. Anyway the knee held up with my up and down trips; but, boy was I ever SORE this morning. Becky was the same way from scrubbing the floor on hands and knees. Then I pruned up the tree limbs overhanging the patio and cleaned them up. Started to weed eat around the fence; but, gave up on that.

Only bright spot of the day was our afternoon run to the casino........I invested $20 and cashed in a slip for $242.40. That almost made me even from the last week or so!

Now time to get M/H ready for a little speed run up North. Shouldn't take much though and we'll be ready to hit the road for a week or so. Then back home and load up for our annual run for warmer weather in the South.

That's it for now. There's a geocaching event in Redding on Sunday to celebrate 10-10-10 and we might drive up for that; but, not sure if we'll go at this time.

More later. W&B

Been A Bit Busy..........

the last few days. Check Becky's Blog...............we got back from Woodland on Sunday and later in the afternoon Becky's sister and hubby arrived from Medford where they had been visiting Scott's sister. Well, we headed for the casino (where else) where Sue and Scott treated to a fantastic dinner at the casino steak house. We hadn't eaten there for a loooong time so it was a great treat. A bit of gambling and we all headed for the barn. It was a long day.

Monday Rhonda took the day off from work so drove up to spend the day with Mama and Auntie. I had a Doctor appointment in Chico so they spent the day browsing the Corning area. We had Mexican food at Montes that evening after Rhonda headed back South.

Early on Tuesday Scott and Sue decided to hit the road so they left without breakfast heading back to Branson, Mo. We were up so B and I had a buffet breakfast at the casino.

Later Tuesday our friends from Yuma stopped by for an overnight at the casino rv park. Phyliss and Wayne sprang for our dinner..........at the buffet of course. Haven't checked the scales; but, I've probably put on a few pounds the last few days. Phyliss had her right knee replaced up in the Seattle area about 3 weeks after I had mine done so we compared notes over dinner. Poor lady hurt her right ankle a few days ago so she was having some difficulty getting around. Bummer.........just when your knee is coming along great you hurt your ankle!! She's tuff though so I'm sure she'll be back to climbing the rocks and mountains when we get back to Yuma in November.

Today is nice and cool so been doing a few things to get M/H ready for a speed run to Washington before we head South. Even mowed the "weeds" today.

Tomorrow we have someone coming to clean the carpet and furniture so will be around all day tomorrow. Weekend is open; but, don't know what we'll be doing................nothing probably.

That's it for us. W&B

Sitting At The Fairgrounds in Woodland..............

and will head up the road to Corning tomorrow sometime..........probably after biscuits and gravy at Don's Diner. No company for tomorrow as Steve, Rhonda and Bryce will be heading for somewhere again for Bryce's baseball game. It a fur piece and they'll have to leave about 0700..........that's too early for us. Jace will be spending the day with friends so it looks me and Grandma will eat before we leave.

Got here Friday afternoon, get set up and Rhonda picked up Becky and they went home to get things ready for the family birthday party for Jace. I showed up around 1800 and the rest of the group started arriving shortly thereafter. Had a feast of bar b que chicken and fixins and pie and ice cream instead of a cake. There must have been around 25 or more for the party. Becky took pictures so check her blog for pics of the festivities.

Today Grandma and Jace spent the day doing whatever they wanted to do. They had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack in Sacramento, visited mall and I'm not sure what else they did. They finally picked me up at the M/H about 1500 and Jace was too pooped to pop. Ran a couple of errands and then to Steve and Rhonda for ribeye dinner!!!

I spent the afternoon watching football until the #@$&ing dome started acting up and I lost my tv reception. Took a while to get it going and then I was only able to pick up one satellite. Bummer! At least I still carry my portable dish so it looks like I'll have to go back to using that if the dome keeps acting up. Too difficult to find someone who works on the dome and I finally found a guy in Portland who got me running in June. It's nice when it works properly.

Should get home around noonish tomorrow and then Becky's sister and hubby should be arriving from Medford. They have been in Medford visiting Scott's brother.

After that our geocaching buds from Yuma will be passing through on Tuesday. It'll give us excuses to pig out at the buffet and then to try and "break the bank". Fat Chance.

All for now. W&B

Still Having Temps Near Triple Digits.............

so we've been sticking close to home with the A/C rattling away. Went to Old Folks breakfast this morning.........our "half-price" breakfast cost me $32.00!! However, I did get a "free" coke before we left the slot machines.

Guess we're heading to Woodland sometime tomorrow for Jace's family BD party on Friday night and then he and Grandma will spend Saturday doing (???) while I kick back with football. Becky got a call from her sister, they were in Medford and were supposed to drive down to Corning today; but, not sure now as her hubby suffering from ear pain. Guess he went up into the mountains around Medford and the altitude got to his ears. Bummer.........can't get back to the Midwest without encountering some more altitude. Maybe they can join us in Woodland.

Got the A/C running in M/H so will load it up with a couple days of food for out trip. I let the A/C run all day yesterday to see how it would do in near triple digit temps..........not that great as it cooled down to 82 and wouldn't go any lower. Temps should be down in Yuma when we get there in November so reckon we won't smother if remnants of summer heat are still around.

That's about it for this neck of the woods. W&B

Heat Returning With Start of New Week.........

with triple digits for a couple of days. Bummer.........oh well, guess it doesn't bother one too much if one does nothing. Unfortunately I decided it was time to get the Rhino ready for Arizona. Still had paddles on it so changed them, cleaned air filter and changed oil. Doesn't sound like much to do; but, I was sweating like a whore on payday night before I got done. No Yamaha shop close so I made a run to Napa and they fixed me up with an oil filter..........it should be equivalent to a Yamaha filter as it cost me $12.00! Some gorilla must have changed the oil last time as I had to use a 1/2 inch rachet to remove the oil plug. Anyway got things done and then I paid the "price" last night with leg cramps............to much up and down and crawling under the Rhino I guess. Anyway, the old knee itself held up well...........the rest of my body is now eroding away.

Still got a big list of things to do so reckon I'd better pace myself to get the remaining things done.

Looks like we head to Woodland on Friday for Jace's BD party Friday night and then he and Grandma will spend the day doing something on Saturday. Probably back home on Sunday.

Tag flew in on Sunday evening and they spent the night in Woodland. They were heading back to Redding yesterday afternoon so they called us from the Casino. We went out.........imagine that........played the slots and Tag won two free buffet dinners. The dinners have gone down hill so we opted not to join them for the buffet. Instead we came on home.

Well, gotta check my "list" before it gets to hot outside. Later. W&B

BOUGHT AN '86 CORVETTE..........

that I found on Craig's List this morning. I was browsing about 1030 this morning and this Corvette popped up at 0945. Price...............$4,900.00. That sounded pretty good so we hoped in the car and headed for Chico this afternoon. Also stopped on the way to check out an 86 Honda 150 Motor Scooter. Guy wanted too much for the scooter and was pretty firm on his price and declined my offer. The scooter would have been great around town and in Yuma. It was not to be.

Checked out the Corvette next. Becky sworn up and down that it would increase her bra size if we bought it.........and I was also sure it that it might increase the size of other body parts if I were driving it! Sorta like the boost one gets from riding a Harley!

In the end common sense kicked in and we left Chico in the Suzuki. I lied about buying it; but, it still there for sale. This big problem with the Corvette is that it would probably not become a Classic..........too many made and the demand is not that great for this particular coupe; or, so ses a website devoted to Corvettes.

We then went to the Casino where I had a $20.00 "free" coke.

End of day. It was still fun.............we'd be "styling" tooling down the road in the Vette; but, sometimes we get wiser as we get "older". Oh, another bad point, I put a bump on my noggin climbing out of the damn thing!

Later. W&B

Been A Slow Week..........

with not much going on except giving my hard earned cash to my red brothers at the casino and feasting on buffet food.................neither of which is needed.

Went in for my 6 week check with the ortho doc yesterday and he said keep doing what you've been doing and see you in six months. He seemed quite pleased with his own work! Told him I probably would not be around when six months are up so he said make an appointment for one year. Talked to him about getting left knee fixed and he said give us a call about 6-8 weeks before you want it done and we'll set it up. He wiggled my wobbly left knee and since he already has xrays of it he agreed that it needed replacement also. Will see how right one comes along the coming months; but, it already is becoming my "better" knee. Just gotta work on regaining strength in the leg.

Our Hawaii friend, Louise, dropped in yesterday from Redding. She's visiting her daughter so drove down for a 2-3 days visit. Her grandson's football team is playing Corning tonight so Louise, Becky and Mary headed for the ball game while I opted to stay home. Doug plays on the Jr. Varsity team so don't know if they'll stay for the varsity game or not. Anyway, I'll try to view some of the new TV programs tonight while they enjoy the game.

Becky sold her car the other day..........all it does is sit in the garage...........now we already miss having it if needed! I saw a Honda motor scooter on Craig's List and called the dude today............he want's too much money for it; but, it would a nice little run about for Corning and Yuma. Think I'll give him a few more days and call to see if it's sold yet. If not I'll make him an offer.

Well 1900 approaches so will check in with what's new on the tube. Later. W&B

Sunday Morning............

and just had my share of "biscuits and gravy" at the diner. Two days in a row!

We got to Woodland shortly after noon on Friday, got set up at the Fair Grounds and made a Costco run. Friday night dinner at Steve and Rhonda with Steve grilling up some tri-tip and Rhonda making up the fixins. Scrumptous!!

Saturday morning we call a call from Louise, they were in town visiting Old Auntie and on their way to Redding via Rolling Hills Casino. Becky gave them directions to Don's Diner and we met them for breakfast. Nice visit and they headed North and we tried to find Jace's car wash. The Leadership program that Jace is in at school was having a car wash so we finally found that, had the Suzy cleaned up and then headed back to the Fair Grounds. The Chili Cook-Off was starting at 1100 and had intended to take that in with Steve and Bryce; but, that didn't happen. Becky was suffering withdrawals so we headed to the Cache Creek Casino instead. I managed to lose a few bucks and Becky won about what I lost.............better than a stick in the eye!

Saturday night back to the Pearson's for spaghetti and meatballs and were joined by Ron and Diane and some miscellaneous twerps. Finally got back home late late; but, dinner worth it!

After breakfast this morning Becky and Rhonda went "shopping"..............guess Becky needs to buy some more stuff for her next garage sale. So, I'm just kicking back waiting for football to start on the tube and when they get done shopping we'll probably head back North.

Weather has been great and even had a few sprinkles this morning............keeps the temp. down.

Good weekend..............our first in the M/H since I had knee fixed............it's getting better!

Later. W&B

Did Some Geocaching Yesterday........

after seeing that it wasn't going to get too HOT............We finally found about 15 caches that we could pretty well drive to and didn't require much walking. I'm avoiding climbing up and down ditches and through the woods............when we found those types I just sent Becky after them. Good system that works for me.

Might load up the M/H today and venture down to Woodland tomorrow for a couple of days. Come back on Sunday. Not written in stone yet; but, we're both ready to get away from the stick house for a couple of days. Called the Woodland Fair Grounds and they have plenty of vacancies this weekend at their RV park so no problem finding somewhere to park.

I just received "directions" to download some Woodland caches so it looks like we'll be going.

Well, since I follow "directions" explicitly I guess I'd better do so. Later. W&B

Quite Weekend After Yard Sale.........

on Saturday........got rid of a few more items Saturday morning and then boxed up what was left and put it in the driveway with a big "Free" sign. Went to lunch and everything was gone when we got back!!

Yesterday we had an OF who has a construction company come and take out the tree in front of the house. Now we got room to park the M/H, open the slides and it makes it easy to get in and out without worrying about hitting the tree. Took him about an hour and a half with it and it was all done. He even used a back hoe to dig out the roots and then smoothed out the ground. Looks like we might have to throw some grass seed down............only problem is, if you plant grass and then water it you also have to mow it!

Went to old folks day for breakfast and then played the slots for about an hour..........I managed to leave $4.90 ahead.........enough to pay for 1/2 our breakfast.

Been nice lately.......mid 80s. Might have to go looking for some geo caches to see if the old knee holds up. Never went back to physical therapy as the Doc said I didn't need any more unless I wanted to continue. Actually, I should have made some more appointments just so I could use their gym equipment.

Don't know what's in store for the rest of the week..........just kick back and enjoy the cooler temperatures I guess. W&B

Friday........Junk Sale Day.........

Saw my Doc yesterday, swelling and fluid on knee gone, so he was happy. Admonished me for the umpteenth time to "don't over do it"! Said healing was more important. No more outpatient physical therapy........just work on some of the exercises to strengthen leg muscles. See him again on the 23rd.

Got up "early" today for Becky's garage sale. I pulled the trailer around from the side of the house and it just barely fit in the garage so we loaded it up with junk yesterday. Had a few tables set up and the early birds were picking things over before we even had things completely set up. I guess we actually got started around 0800...........by noon a whole bunch of junk was gone; but, some stuff still left over. Guess we'll just roll the trailer back out tomorrow morning and put up a sign that ses "make offer.....nothing refused".

I think she managed to sell a little over $200.00 worth of stuff.............believe me, it takes a lot of goodies at 25 and 50 cents and a dollar each to reach that amount. I think we got $15.00 for the most expensive item............a brand new converter box that you have to have for the old style television/antenna set ups. I got a coupon for the item way back when and I think I paid $5 or $10 for the box with my coupon. The rest of the stuff was almost a give away...........but it's now gone!

Went out for lunch, stopped at casino and I made a contribution today after getting ahead yesterday............easy come easy go.

Later. W&B

A Cold Spell Just Set In..............

.....it might not even get into the 80s today! And a slim chance of some moisture.

Been hauling out junk the last day or so for big garage sale and still got a ways to go. I don't think people will buy this stuff; but, you never know. I guess if you mark a big pile of plastic ware and cookware with a sign that ses "25 cents each..........your choice" some fish will swim by. I made up a sign that reads "25 cents each or 6 for $1.00"...............guaranteed to reduce the pile of stuff.............or so we hope. Anything we have left over we'll just put a big "free" sign on it.

Gonna see the Doc again on Thursday. Knee fluid is almost gone so maybe he'll get me back to physical therapy. Been doing a little walking..........all the way from the parking lot to the casino; but, he said to take it easy so that's what I've been doing. Only thing hurting is my wallet.

Nothing else going on.........just killing time. W&B

In Honor Of Labor Day..............

..there's no work going on around here today; or yesterday, or tomorrow for that matter.

Actually "B" has been doing some things to get ready for her yard sale........stacking stuff here and there. I managed to find a few goodies to add to the pile. So far the weather is supposed to be in the 80s for her sale days so guess that won't keep people home next weekend.

Becky met one of her old buds the other day and got a tip on a decent Chinese Food restaurant in Red Bluff. We used to go to one in Corning; but, after it changed hands, we gave it a couple of trys and then marked it off our list. Food went downhill.

Anyway we stopped briefly at the casino yesterday (imagine that) and I got most of my money back from our last few trips so we headed to Red Bluff. The Lucky something or other was the name of the joint and the food was pretty good..........or maybe it was because we haven't had Chinese for some time. Anyway, we'll be back when the craving for Chinese hits.

Gonna kick back for the rest of Labor Day and do nothing. Later. W&B

Saturday Rolled Around..........

and things have cooled down a bit..........had some high 90s there for a few days so stuck close to the A/C...........although casino trips didn't suffer too much.........just my wallet did that.

Looks like getting back on my arthritis meds has helped out the old knee..........still got some fluid; but, overall a 100% better than it was. Gotta go see the Doc again on the 9th and maybe I can get back to some physical therapy after that visit. Hopefully, the last appointment with him will be on the 23rd of September; however, not holding my breath on that one. Hoping he'll turn me loose to do "whatever" at that time. Getting antsy and ready to try and do some traveling.........somewhere!! Gotta check with "B" as I think some of her buds may be in the area Sep/Oct.

Not much else going on here. Later. W&B

Made It To A New Month.........

.......but just barely. Saw my Ortho Doc yesterday and he said my knee motion was doing great; however, concerned about the fluid on my knee. I haven't been taking my arthritis meds since the operation and he started me back on them and said to see him in 10 days. If I still have excessive fluid on my knee he'd probably have to drain it then. Suspended my physical therapy for the 10 days and he said we just need to wait and see how things go. Told me to don't "over do" it............whatever the hell that means???? Anyway, will just continue walking; but, not too much.

Cooled down for a few days and it's going to heat up again for a couple of days and then cool slightly for the holiday weekend. We've got no plans for Labor Day.

The casino left me battered and bruised on our last trip, so fortunately, with the start of a new month I can replenish my gambling allowance and get my money back.

Becky getting ready for a yard sale to get rid of some stuff and we'll probably do that the weekend after labor day if the weather cooperates. I'm so poor and broke that I don't even have anything to try and sell..........maybe I'll put a sign on the Rhino and see if some fish swims by.

Got an appointment with VA Doc this afternoon in Chico so will get my prescriptions renewed and maybe we can stop in at Costco. Other than that not much going on here. Later. W&B

Saturday and It Really Cooled Down Today............

.....it may have gotten to the mid 70s; but, not sure about that. It was cool enough that I mowed the "weeds" today..........took a little while but I got her done!

Been having a lot of fluid on my knee the past couple of days so have been trying to take it a little easier. Called Doc's office, naturally they weren't in...........nurse said used cold packs and keep the knee elevated...........fat chance. Anyway I'll see them on Tuesday and see if it needs to be drained......or is this normal.........or ????

Olive Festival in town this weekend and we went over to Woodson Park and looked around, bought some raffle tickets and left. Stopped at our favorite casino and got whupped today. Tried a new Mexican joint for lunch and it wasn't too bad; but, they surely need to wash their windows. If I don't get salmonella, or something else, we might try it again. The price was right.

Time moves on. Later. W&B

Better Day Today..............

temp in low 90s and I got my money back from the casino!

Had Old Folks breakfast and then I went to physical therapy..........damn guy tried to kill me! Still gotta lot of work to do on getting my leg straight. He used "heat" today and then did some exercises. Said next week we'd probably start using some of the machines in the gym. Scheduled 3 sessions for next week, although, he said I could probably get by with two a week. I told him if they paid for three I may as well try to get my money's worth.

Big Olive Festival in town this weekend so may try to partake of some of the festivities..........they got bed races, parade, pancake breakfast and I can't remember what else they do. If it isn't too hot it might be a good way to spend some time.

Pearson's coming up this Sunday so the Twerps can look at my scar and then they'll head for Chico and take the Twerps sightseeing and ???.

Later. W&B

YUK!!!...............................

temperature on the patio reached 107.6 today (I never checked it again after I saw that) and the casino got into my knickers.

End of day. W

Saw The Doc Today............

or I should say I saw his PA who assists in surgery. Kinda interesting, while waiting to be seen, I also needed xrays taken before I saw the Doc, there were these "Old" People stacking up for xrays. They were arriving in wheelchairs, walkers and only one other old guy was hobbling around with his cane. They were all wearing the little compression socks or else they had the tell tale steri-strips still attached to their knees, same as me. Looked like they were all arriving for their 2 week return visit. When I saw them I finally realized that my recovery is doing pretty good since I threw away my cane last week.

Doc said I was doing great, just advised me not to "over do" it and end up going backwards. Got another appointment in a month and he filled out a form for me to continue with out-patient physical therapy in Corning. The PT office is about a mile down the road and Becky ses I could "walk" to my appointments. Don't think so.

Asked about "driving" and told them I had already been driving yesterday. He ses whenever I feel confortable I should be OK to drive. I feel safer with my driving then I do as a passenger.

That's about it........will check in with PT tomorrow and see what they suggest......other than that all I gotta do is walk and continue with exercises. He said recovery is slow and would probably take 6 months or more to get back to "normal"..........what ever the hell that is. I'm able to walk further now then I've been able to do in the last nine months.

That's about it............gotta make a casino run since it's also "Old Folks" day and I don't smell anything cooking on the stove. Later. W

Saw Physical Therapest Today...........

and she kicked me out of the program! Told me there was no need for her to stop by anymore since I'm supposedly ahead of her schedule.........she told me today that her goal was to have me walking without a cane by Wednesday of this week..........I threw the cane away about a week ago. She told me to continue with exercises, work on getting leg straight and keep walking. Asked her about further out-patient therapy and she said to talk to my Doctor..........however, she was sending him a report today and she would recommend that out-patient therapy probably not needed. Will have to see what he ses tomorrow.

I drove down to the post office today and then out to the casino later this afternoon. No problems. The casino was beating me up pretty good and finally hit a bonus on a machine and it put me $10.15 ahead. I quit.

Getting HOT, up to about 98 today and the next couple of days are forecast for 104s. That really sucks! Oh well, A/C working great and if we venture out it will be in the morning.

All for now. W

Made It Through Sunday...........

and I'm starting to get antsy. Gonna see Doc on Tuesday and maybe then he'll give me the OK to get out and about..........right now I'm supposed to be sticking close to home since I have a physical therapest coming to the house...........of course that hasn't stopped me from making a daily casino run the last 4 or 5 days. Only thing that stops the casino runs is a depleated wallet, although I did manage to leave with some of their money the last couple of trips so I'll be alright for a couple of more runs.

PT ses I'm coming along nicely and that I'm ahead of "normal" recovery schedules. She'll be here tomorrow and Wednesday and then maybe after I see the Doc she'll be able to make up a schedule for me to go out for physical therapy. There's an office about 3/4 mile down the road so if I can get set up with them I'll be in good shape. Not sure what to expect in next phase of PT.

Weather has cooled down the last few days..........we haven't even gotten to 90 for several days so that makes things kinda nice.

That's it for now. W

Thursday............

........thought I'd publish pics of the Washington Morris' new puppy, Pedro. Tami sent me some photos of the little "White Rat", actually he's another miniture Schnauzer, that they obtained about a week ago. Can't remember Ollie being that small; but, guess he was.

Therapest was here yesterday and added some more exercises to my growing list. I told her that was a full time job just trying to do them all three times a day and she responded with "that's your job!" I told her I was retired!! Well, will work on them; but, I'm sure they all are not going to get done every day.

Walked around the block a couple of times yesterday and think maybe I should have limited my trip to one instead of two. Live and learn..........I paid the price trying to sleep last night.

We headed to the casino yesterday afternoon and when we arrived we discovered it was another Wallet Night, shortly after 1600 and the old folks were already lined up to get their "free" wallet. Played the slots for a little while, was $10.00 ahead and we decided to leave before the real crowd arrived. I think Becky even quit a couple of bucks ahead.

That's about it for now, weather has calmed down a bit and not as warm has it has been. W&B

Monday Evening........

and it's starting to cool down a bit, still 84 outside; but, will probably open up the doors and get some fresh air in the house when temps equalize.

My physical therapist showed up about 1300, watched me do some leg exercises, added a couple more for me to do, measured my range of motion, asked if I had any questions and when I said "nope"........she left. I think she spent about 15 minutes here and Medicare gets charged $244.00 for the visit. No wonder the government is going broke!

With the addition of some new exercises my knee has really been bugging me........I finally checked my little log book and found that I hadn't had any "drugs" for almost 7 hours. I promptly took care of that little problem. Generally try to pop a pill or two every 4-5 hours and guess I snoozed right through my schedule.

Been watching Fox News on and off all day and looks like hussein stepped on the end of his crank again! They've really been beating him up in the news today........I love it.

Well tomorrow is Old Folks day at the casino so guess I'll see if Becky is willing to drive me out for biscuits and gravy...........not to mention getting our gambling fix.

Later. W&B

Saturday Morning.........

..........first three pics taken August 9th at Enloe in Chico.

Fourth picture taken today, August 14th, about 1130...........Becky was going into withdrawals from not visiting the casino for several days........so despite my protests........she hauled me kicking and screaming that "I don't wanna go" to the casino. I threw away my walker, crutches and cane so I could make the trip just to please her!

Didn't stay too long; but, I managed to leave with $13.00 more than I arrived with plus I had a "free" coke.

Maybe I'll let her take me back in the near future. w

Friday the Thirteenth.............

so guess I'll sit home all day today. Becky out to pick up the mail and stop for some "shopping" so I told her I'd be ready to go to the casino this afternoon. Beginning to go into withdrawals. She reminded me that I couldn't doing any "chasing around", therapest said I could only go to church and treatment appointments or else Medicare could cut me off for home visits. Since I "religiously" attend casino ceremonies I figure casino runs should be OK.

Doing OK, except still having trouble getting to and staying asleep..........can't find a comfortable position for my knee; but, it'll get better. Should have whined for some "stronger meds" when I left hospital. Oh well, no pain no gain.

Getting warmer; but, no triple digits quite yet, maybe this weekend or Monday, it depends on which weather forecaster I watch.

Well, guess I'll continue to do leg exercises and see how things go.

Later, if anything happens. W

Got Home Today About 1600...........

Had my knee operation on Monday. Doc stopped by today, looked at my knee and seemed amazed by his own work! Yeah, really, he checked it out and said "that really looks good!". Told me he had planned on sending me home on Thursday; but, said I could leave the hospital today if I wanted to. Food has been crummy so I told him I'd check out today.

Got a list of "things to do" a mile long from the Doc and from physical therapy. There is no way in hell that anyone could do everything on the "list" every day! At least I don't think so!

So, he wrote a script for pain pills and anti-biotics, gave me a walker and Becky picked me up. Tomorrow some home care physical therapest will give me a call and we can set up a schedule for PT. Beats the hell out of driving to Chico.

Will see how things go...........supposed to reach triple digits this weekend.........bummer.

That's what's been happening the last few days. Later. W

Got Home Yesterday Afternoon............

and we were greeted to mid 90s temperatures. Highway 299 from Redding to the coast is a neat highway..........if you were driving a car........or possibly taking the curves in a motorcycle. In M/H just gotta go a little slower........some OF in a car in front of me was riding his brakes all the way down some of the grades and I probably heated mine up just staying behind him. I finally had to pass him.........he probably thought I was a little crazy.

Nothing but doctor appointments since we got home, I had to go to the VA in Reddings early this morning, then to Chico to see my surgeon tomorrow and then back to Redding for a hearing test on Friday. The only good thing about going to Redding is the VA pays me mileage. I collected $39.80 today so can't complain.

Today was "Free Wallet" day at the Casino.........they started about 1800 and there was a crowd of people today..........I told Becky that it looked like we wouldn't be among the first 500 people (this only give 500 wallets away, first come first served). I was right, they ran out when we were within about 60-70 people from the give away point. At least they picked up our notification cards and said they would add $5.00 of free play to our cards. Still very crowded so we headed home.

In for the night, I don't have to be in Chico tomorrow until 1430 so can sleep in. Really had to make an effort to get up in time to leave at 0700 this morning so I napped this afternoon. Now won't be able to sleep tonight.

Later. W&B

Still In Arcata...............

We slept in and when we got up Fergie started breakfast for us..........blueberry pancakes made with fresh blueberries he just picked this morning from his back yard, sausage and bacon and maple syrup. Doesn't get much better!

During and after breakfast we shot the breeze about the old home town, Falls City, NE. Tried to figure out who was still alive and what they were doing. Since I've never been back to a reunion I didn't know much about the people I went to high school with. Fergie attend our 50th three years ago so he knew a lot more about who's where and what. Did some catching up and then we headed for Eureka. Fergie belongs to a Railroad Club down there so we wanted to see the railroad set up that they have. Man it was fabulous. Becky took a bunch of pictures so she'll probably post some of them on her blog. I took a few pics and here's a description of them. The detail and hard work these old farts put in their models is amazing. I guess they've been working on this setup for over 30 years.

Fourth picture is a "hobo camp", and then they have some people "mooning" near a water tower, and even an airport. Last but not least is Santa sking down the mountain. We probably spent an hour there and could have stayed much longer just trying to see everything.

Time moves on so we headed to another casino for a late lunch. Spent a couple of hours there and I managed to leave $5.00 ahead. It was cheap entertainment.

Looks like we'll be leaving tomorrow, my phone went dead and when I charged it up I found two messages from the VA that I had missed. Got an appointment scheduled for Wednesday and another scheduled for Friday so we gotta get out of here. Later. W&B

Spent The Day Around Arcata.............

Published these in reverse order; but, no one knows. Top pics were taken at Trinidad, a little burg North of Arcata. This is Fergie and myself.........I'm the younger looking one in the red shirt. Nice view of the beach from here. On our way home we found a virtual cache that was titled the Largest Totem Pole, or something like that. It was a big sucker and if you double click on the photo you should be able to read the sign.

We wanted to show Fergie a little about geocaching today so I downloaded a few caches and we went looking for them. Didn't find too many, 6 or 7 I think, but he got an idea of what geocaching entails. First one was about .2 mile from his house. Eventually he and Becky found it. These bottom pics were taken at Trinidad of the inlet below. Lottsa neat rock formations.

There was a little casino at Trinidad so we stopped there for lunch.........senior lunch of $3.25. Not bad, actually very good for the price. Also we signed up for membership cards and Becky and I both drew a card from a pile that gave us some money play on our cards.......we both came up with $25.00 and Fergie drew one for $10. I played my $25.00 and actually was ahead $29 and some some change.............."was ahead" is the key words here. I lost it back to them. Just before we left I invested some of my own money and actually came out a winner! We quit after that and slowly headed back to Arcata geocaching on the way. Nice day and the weather was great, a little overcast; but, overall very nice.

Don't know what tomorrow will bring. Fergie is really into "trains" as a hobby and we might go down to his club house tomorrow and check out what he does in some of his spare time. He seems to be busier now then when he was teaching school. Unfortunately unable to meet his wife as she off doing her things at Glacier Nat'l Park. Maybe next time. Think we'll probably leave on Tuesday sometime. Later. W&B

Made It To Arcata...........

shortly after 1600 today. Found my friend's house, set up the M/H, shot the crap with "Fergie" Ferguson and then we headed to the local casino for dinner. B and I tried out their Buffalo Burgers, can't remember what they called them, and they were pretty decent...........however, don't try the clam chowder at the Blue Lake Casino. Fergie had some chicken with an exotic name and it was kinda dried out.........at least the grub filled our tummies.

We played the slots for a couple of hours and this evening they had drawings every half hour from 1900 to 2100.........our names were never called. Imagine that.

I think I broke about even and Becky gave them a few dollars........at least we were able to play for awhile before they took all our money.

Nice and cool when we arrived..........and downright COLD when we left the casino. Don't know what tomorrow will bring, Fergie has his routine on Sunday morning so we told him to continue and wrap on the door when he got home. We can get up anywhere from 0700 to 0900.

Nothing planned for tomorrow so I downloaded some local geocaches, he's kinda interested in learning about caching so we'll give him a little sample tomorrow and then he'll probably give us a cooks tour of Arcata. Getting late........maybe we'll have some pics to post tomorrow.

W&B

Heading for Arcata California..........

in an hour or so. Originally planned to make Woodland trip; but, decided that 63 degree weather is probably better than mid 90s.

A friend I bummed around with in High School is retired and living in Arcata.......guess now is the time to make it to the coast. Been looking at the highway to the coast.........hilly, steep, two lane and I've talked to others who made the trip........they say it's looonng but quite scenic. We'll just take it easy and hope to get there around 1700 or so.

That's it for today........maybe I'll even break out the camera since we've not been to Arcata before. "Frog" ses they have several casinos in the area too. Hope they are kinder than our own has been. W&B

Had Pre-Op Appointment Today............

EKG, more xrays and info gathering. They'll let me know if I'm too old and worn out to continue; otherwise, August 9 is surgery day. They had the nerve to tell me that I had to be at the hospital at 0530............0530!!! The damn sun isn't even up at that time........at least I don't think it is.

Gotta see rheumatologist tomorrow.....will this crap ever end. Just a follow up, the doc changed one of my meds and wanted to see how I'm doing. I haven't noticed any difference either good or bad with the med change.

Weather hasn't been too bad this week, at least it hasn't reached triple digits. Casino beat both of us up today so maybe we outta stay away for a while. Other than Dr. appointments and casino runs we haven't been doing too much lately. This will be the last weekend we might have a chance to leave the area for awhile so we kinda mulled over driving down to Woodland; but, no decision made on that. I do need a biscuit and gravy fix at Don's Diner so that might be a reason to travel South. Time will tell.

Later. W&B

Not So Hot Today.............

I think it made it to the mid 90s so washed up the Rhino and put it away. Not much else going on; but, did make it to the casino later in the afternoon........it cost me $16.00 for a hour or so of entertainment. I think Becky came out a little bit ahead..........she didn't offer to buy lunch though.

Sunday we headed for Woodland and got there about 1000. Shortly thereafter "B", Rhonda and the twerps headed for Davis and "shopping". That didn't sound too interesting to me so I hung around the A/C and napped until after noon. I hadn't contributed to my Red Brothers at Cache Creek Casino for some time so I drove out there to try my luck. Getting beat up pretty badly until I found a "lucky" slot machine. It got me well and I finally left with $35.00 of their money. Had lunch and then back to my MTV and A/C. Jace had a guitar practice session in Davis and the troops finally got home about 1800. We left for Corning shortly thereafter.

Weather should be in the mid 90s the rest of the week..........beats the heck out of the 103 we recorded a few days ago!

That's about it for the last couple of days..........old folks day tomorrow so maybe we'll head to the casino for 1/2 price breakfast. That's about the best deal they have when it comes to food.

Later. W&B

Friday............

It's HOT today and it hasn't even reached triple digits!

Not much doing today, put Rhino away, gotta wash it tomorrow if I get up before the heat starts, put trailer away and washed the M/H (I took it to the truck wash), went to Chico for some meds and even skipped stopping to make a contribution at the casino.

A/C going so we're in for the rest of the evening. W&B

Made It To Corning..........

about 1500 this afternoon...............it was HOT; however, neighbor said today was much "cooler" than it has been. It's still hanging in there around 82 outside and it's 2215. Should have cooled down by now.

Got most of the stuff unloaded from the M/H and we went to the casino for dinner since it was old folks day. Over ate as usual at the buffet and it was half-way decent this evening; or, I was just hungry since we hadn't eaten since breakfast.

That's about it.......just letting those interested know that we made it home OK. W&B

Sitting At Seven Feathers Casino............

pulled in here about 1530, gassed up and pulled into their parking lot for the evening. Had a late lunch/early dinner, contributed to my Red Brothers (I think Becky said she won $1.40) and MTV and internet working so hope it cools down quickly when the sun drops below the horizon. Called Valley of the Rogue SP and they had a couple of pull thru spots available; but, they were first come first served and we're still a hour plus away so guess we'll just hang out here.

Got my NEW Honda generator running so will give it a workout. Oh did you catch that.......I said NEW generator. Had the old Honda strapped down on the trailer and attached with a big old 1/2 inch or so cable. I thought it was pretty secure. Anyway, was hitching up the trailer this morning and about 10 minutes later I thought something was "missing"............sure 'nuff, some *$%^&%% had cut the cable, I presume they cut the cable although they took it too, and stole the generator. I also had two gas cans chained down with a smaller cable and they cut that cable and took the two gas cans also. All this while we slept!!

Called Camping World and told them to get a new generator serviced and I would pick it up on my way through. Now I got a new generator.

This has been an expensive trip! Might have to go back into the casino and see if I can recover my monies..........or maybe not.

Should get underway fairly early tomorrow and hope to arrive in Corning in early afternoon.

Later. W&B

Left Paradise Point This Morning............

and are parked in front of Dug's house for the night. Will hook up the trailer/Rhino in the morning sometime and head South..........well, maybe we won't leave until early afternoon. No hurry as we'll probably only drive a couple of hundred miles and either stay at the 7 Feathers Casino or else drive a bit further to the Valley of the Rogue SP near Grant's Pass.

Weather still great in low 70s...........sure hate to head back to high 90s and even triple digit temps.

Went out the farm last night and the kids were working with their cows that they will show at the Clark County Fair. All they were doing were trying to the get the cows/calfs to walk with them with a halter.............some did OK; but, quite a few of the animals were "winning" their tugs of war with the kids. I think there are about 8 or 9 kids in their 4H group. Lots of work to do before fair time in August. Check out Becky's Blog for pics of the cow wranglers. http://havebagdotravel.blogspot.com/

Yesterday Larry and Audrey drove over since we are leaving on Wednesday and we had a nice lunch at Red Robin. Today I had M/H oil changed, secured the Rhino on the trailer and then just kicked back for the rest of the day. Don't want to over do it. Later. W&B

Sunday at Paradise Point...........

The kids gave me an Omaha Steak gift certificate for Father's Day. Ordered the steaks last week and they arrived on Thursday..........so today we cooked a bunch of them up. Everyone had a steak except Trace...........dumb kid.........he had some chicken tenders instead. Mark and Erin showed up also so we had a nice little get together. The kids brought their metal detector with them so they busied themselves with hunting for treasures while I was burning steaks. They didn't find too much..........a few pieces of metal and a few pennies; but, they were all happy with their finds. Ollie was along too and managed to "mark" his territory.

The Omaha steaks were pretty good although they weren't too thick so they cooked up rather rapidly and I managed to over cook mine. Fortunately, we have a few left so I'll be able to practice some more. When I ordered them and went to the check out a window would pop up and say "based on your order, you are eligible for...................", so I ordered some more and then another window would pop and state...."you are now eligible for........". I finally quit and then they added some "free hamburgers and frankfurters". They need to cut their steaks a little bit thicker..............I guess you could order them that way (?). Anyway, I think everyone enjoyed them.

Didcha hear about the shooting in a Washington State Park on Saturday? Well, our friends are camp hosts at the Sammamish State Park so we got a little more info about the shooting then appeared in the news flashes. I think I might be ready to "move on"; but, they said it provided a little excitement yesterday and some stuff still going on today. They like the area and think that they'll go back next year also.

Well, everyone gone so will post this and kick back for the rest of the evening. Think we'll be pulling up roots on Tuesday and drive into Dug's to spend the night and then we'll head South on Wednesday sometime. Gotta get oil changed in the M/H and maybe I'll try to wash it up a bit then.............or maybe not.

Later. W&B

Went To Clyde's Tonight For Dinner...............

and while Dug and Trace were "slowly" waiting for the food to arrive someone was out in the parking lot playing "tag" with Dug's car (or is Tami's car??).

Prime rib was pretty good and meal went over pretty well until we made our exit.........Cass and Trace were kicking a license plate around and none of us figured it out until Cassidy picked the plate up and we then saw it was Dug's license plate. Victim of the old "hit and run" in the parking lot. Someone was out watering some plants around the entrance; but, of course he saw "nothing". Looked around for security cameras..............there ain't none. Guess he'll have to see what his insurance company ses; but, I think it'll be a short and sweet "you're screwed".

Earlier today "B" and I went shopping, had ice cream and called it a day until supper time. That was about it. Later. W&B

OK, Got Set Up At Paradise Point...........

this afternoon............damn internet is acting up; but, still working. I placed my portable dish in the SAME spot I had it before (marks in the grass were still there) and I couldn't find the satellite! Spent over 45 minutes messing with it and getting more PO'd as time passed. Finally, I moved the dish about 2 feet and the signal pops up. Those damn tree branches can't grow that fast..........can they. Anyway I now have my MTV, and an intermittent internet signal, so guess that'll have to do for now.

Think we're in for the rest of the day. Kinda warmed up today; but, fortunately we're tucked back into the trees so with the fan going it's tolerable.

Later. W&B