Finally checked in on my blog................took me 20 minutes to find, then another 20 minutes trying to figure out the changes made and how to post, etc. etc etc.

To hell with it, too many changes for old brain.  I quit.  This will be my last post.

"Send Gas Money" is DONE, FINI, KAPUT...........

If anyone wants to know what we're doing..............send email.   w43

Time Seems To Be Moving Quite Slowly................

as it seems to be the SOS every day.........get up, exercise knee, eat, exercise knee, eat and eat some  more with an eye on the tube between sessions. 


At lease we had a bit of a break yesterday as the Seattle "Rainbirds + TBD" were in the area for a couple of days.  Norm and Gerri, called and stopped by so we had a nice day with them.  Kinda warm; but, we managed to find a few caches, had lunch and revisited old caching days in Yuma.  Think they are pointed Northward today with a few stops on the way.  We might be in their area later on in July so hopefully we'll have some time to make a little detour in the Seattle area and say "Hi". 

Finished up with my In Home PT.............the Doc is sending me to outpatient therapy for 3 or 4 more weeks with three sessions per week.  Don't have any appointments set up yet; but, should get started next week. 

Just a note to let everyone know that we're still breathing and moving...........allbeit slowly.  Later.  W&B

MaMa's Day About Over.......................

so we'll just kick back for the rest of the day.  The Pearson Troops drove up from Woodland to take MaMa/Grandma out for breakfast.  We had to visit 3 different eateries before we found one without a loooonnnng line.  Finally ended up at the Iron Skillet (truck stop) and it was busy busy also; but, at least we immediately found a table.  Breakfast was pretty good and "B" and I may have to add it to our list for  breakfast stops.  After breakfast we came home and Steve and I watched the Twerps argue, wrestle and play tricks on each other while Rhonda and Becky spent some bonding time.  They headed back to Woodland in the early afternoon as they had more stops for the day. 
  We watched the temp rise and finally decided to go back to the casino because all Mothers had $15.00 worth of slot play on their players cards.  "B", I think, left there with about $25.00 of their money and I broke even so it wasn't a bad trip.  Damn place was still crowded in mid afternoon. 
  Well, we're back home now and I got the A/C set for 78 so will ice down the knee and nap in front of the tube.  Later.  W& B

Still Just Hanging In There............

doing knee exercises and letting "B" wait on me  hand and foot.  Nice if I can continue to milk it.  Probably won't last much longer as I had to fix my own breakfast this morning!!  Would have traveled out to "Old Folks" breakfast but knee was giving me some problems today. 

  My own fault as I probably overdid it yesterday.  Called VA in Redding to inquire about an eye exam........the guy said there was a 1500 cancellation if I could make it.  Told him I would so away we go.  An hour drive up there, about another hour for appointment/exam and then another hour drive home.  I had $34.67 travel pay burning a hole in my pocket so we stopped at our Chinese Food Joint in Red Bluff for an early dinner..........another hour away from the safety of Becky's recliner (she's been letting me use it) and by the time we got home I was in dire need of some rest. 

  Woke up this morning not moving too well as I did all the new exercises yesterday that the therapest added.  That didn't help much either.  Anyway, just kicking back and not doing much of anything today. 

  Had lawn care guy come in yesterday, he cleaned out the gutters, mowed the grass/weeds, edged the sidewalk and used weedeater all around the fence and house.  We were heading for Redding before he was done so I asked him "how much".  "20" he ses!!  I said, well you did the gutters also............he said, well "25" then.   I paid him $40.00 and he was happier then a possum eating crap out of a wire brush.  Think I'll keep him around. 

  Popped another pain pill so I think I hear the slots calling to me.........won $134.00 on last visit so feel obligated to give them a chance to recover.  Later.  W&B

Made It To Saturday....................

and still hobbling around with my walker.........a little shaky to throw it away and just try using a cane.  I guess I'll get there eventually.  Saw the Old Doc on Thursday and said it looks "pretty good"; but, noticed some discoloration around the incision so he started me on antibiotics.  Cautioned against trying to get too active and said just work on getting the swelling down and then we can go to work on exercises.  My therapest stopped by on Friday and added a couple of more exercises.....also agreed to that I shouldn't try to do too much just yet.  So here I sit in the recliner eating bon bons and drinking Pepsi. 
  No one has told me that I needed to stick close to home, the therapest I had with the right knee insisted that I not venture out of the house for a minimum of two weeks.  So, we went out to breakfast this morning and then Becky was in a nervous wreck and had to visit the casino before she went into withdrawals.  I reluctantly agree to go along (since I wasn't driving) and managed to give my Red Brothers my weekly allowance..................I'll be back since the casino placed $50 in slot credit on my playing card for the month of May.  Didn't use it today.  I think Becky got $25 and spent most of that. 
  Weather doing great.........high 70s; but, supposed to warm up later in the week.  No need for the A/C yet.  Well, that's about all that's happening with us...........the May Madness is going on in Corning this weekend (old car show) and "B" probably forget about it as she just headed to the grocery store and Main Street is blocked off.  Maybe she'll see some of her old buds down town and spend a little time down there catching up on the local news.  All for now.  W&B

Probably Outta Discontinue This Blog................

since I've not been keeping it up.  Haven't posted for so long that when I logged on my Blog Account everything had been changed so much so that I was lost for about an hour trying to figure out what Google had done to "make everything better"................OR so they say.
  Anyway I had my left knee surgery on April 25th, came home from the hospital on Saturday the 28th and here I sit watching it "heal".  Surgery a lot more involved this time around and recovery gonna take longer than I had anticipated.  At this point in  time, on my right knee, I had already thrown away the walker.............no such luck this time and the walker will probably be my best friend for awhile.  Gonna see the Doc tomorrow for xrays and have him check it out. 
  Weather being very cooperative lately.  I made the mistake of dumping fertilizer and weed killer on the lawn before surgery and now the damn crab grass is growing like weeds.  Looking for someone to take care of the mowing chores without costing an arm and a leg.  Some guy is supposed to contact us.  "B" ses she "don't do lawns".  I'd kick her butt if I had two good legs to stand on.  So it goes. 
  More later if anything happens around here.  W&B

Finally Made It Home...........

last Saturday............boy, have we been freezing our butts off!

Stopped in Las Vegas for a couple of days and met Washington Morris' who were there on Spring Break. Gambled a little, ate a lot, took in one show at the Excalibur, visited the Pawn Stars pawn shop, Becky bought a silver coin of the "Old Man", I bought some t-shirts for the Twerps and that was about it. Too damn much walking for me to get around too much. Finally departed after losing a total of $40.00.............coulda been a lot worse!

Stopped in Woodland for a couple of days, ate and ate some more, took in a Twerp's baseball game and on Saturday we drove down to Davis to look at a Honda Fit. Bought 2007 Fit........went home, discovered that it could NOT be towed behind M/H. Called dealer..........they said they would take it back because they "thought" it could be towed 4 down..........and I thought the same thing. Turns out the 2007 wasn't approved for flat towing. Took it back..........now have 2012 Honda Fit..........it can be towed. Now too broke to go anywhere or do anything.

Still have knee surgery scheduled for April 25 with time to chicken out. Still freezing our butts off but this weekend forcast for highs in the 72 range. We'll be driving back down to Woodland for Bryce's BD on Sunday. Might just make a day trip or possible drive M/H down on Saturday. No decision on that yet.

That's it for us..........all up to date.............did I mention we were freezing our butts off! W&B

Last Day of March and.................

we're outta Yuma, heading for Corning. Only got as far as Bullhead City and we stopped at the Avi Casino for the night. Just had dinner, gambled............then gambled some more. "B" must have lost 'cause she isn't counting her monies in her "gambling fund". When she wins she always counts it and makes sure I know how much gambling money she has for the next trip. I paid for dinner, gambled, lost at Keno; but, still have money left over from the slots, after paying for dinner, to spring for breakfast and try my luck again.

We're only going to Las Vegas tomorrow for two days and that's only about 135 or so miles so we can get a late start. Doug, Tami and the Twerps are flying down for spring break so we'll spend a day and a half with them before heading North on Tuesday. Since I didn't win the big Mega Bucks I guess I gotta get lucky in Vegas to pay for RV repairs I had done today. I discovered the bit of sippage in the cubby hole from the Black Water...............yeah it had to be that side. I tightened up the clamps and when I checked this morning it was still seeping.............not a pretty sight. I called some Old Dude up and he said he was "on a job"............I told I didn't care what it cost, I needed it fixed 'cause I was leaving "today". He said, $100 for the service call and $100 per hour. I told him "just fix it" Well, the rubber connection had cracked so tightening up the clamps didn't help. Well, $206 later we were on the road..............the replacement part cost $6.00. So, gotta get lucky in Las Vegas...............gambling that is.

Kinda cooled down in BHC so guess we'll kick back and watch the tube for awhile. Good WiFi connection at RV Park so "B" is happy and my satellite dish is working.......at least on half the channels.

KOA at Circus Circus tomorrow. W&B

Just Trying To Stay Cool...............

as temps approach 90. It's time to GO. Think we have another play day on Sunday and then it's time to pack up all the junk and head back to rain storms. Still checking on weather between Reno and Sacramento; but, doesn't look like we wanna try that route. Hate to get to Reno and find that "chains required" getting over the mountain.

Got a friend leaving on Sunday for Las Vegas and then he'll travel through Nevada to get to Portland. Maybe he can give me a better idea of what the Reno/Sacramento roads will be like.

In the meantime we'll probably make a commissary list and stock up on goodies that are way cheaper down here and won't take up too much space.

Damn battery on the RZR went belly up.........one month after warranty expired.............isn't that the way it always goes? Might take a little run down the Bombing Range to see if we can find some more cactus blooming and give "B" some more photo ops. Other than that we'll continue to kick back for the next 8 or 9 days. W&B

Yeah, Yeah........I Know........

.....ain't posted nuttin for a loong time. That's cause nutting has been happening, no earthquakes, no snow storms, no lightening strikes, no flash floods, no nothing except we're in a "heat wave" that appears to have no end in sight. Gonna be 82-84 degrees for the rest of the month and then it starts to get warmer. Just checked at home and it's raining..........and gonna be raining for the rest of the month. What's a poor soul to do???

Well, the first weekend of the month I had two "old" friends visit Yuma...........went to high school with both of them and one I hadn't seen since 1958 when we graduated from Boot Camp together. Saw the other one about a year ago as he lives on the California coast. Boy do they look "OLD"...........unlike me. We had a good time reliving high school days in Falls City, Nebraska. Becky just sat and took it all in.........I think she was taking notes at first and then realized that we were all little "angels" when we were in high school so there was no "dirt" to reflect back on. Took them on a mini tour of Yuma and then on Sunday we took a 110 mile roundtrip into the desert. Loooonnng day but they found the desert interesting...........flowers are starting to bloom and we even found a few cactus with nice blooms starting. All in all a pretty good day............we headed South as far as we could drive on the Barry Goldwater Bombing Range as we wanted to get a look at "The Fence". Unfortunately we couldn't drive to it as we had done in the past..........found a nice road with a big sign that read "For Official Use Only" and I chickened out from driving any further. Big fine awaits those who tread where they shouldn't so we passed on Da Fence. One guy lives in Texas and if gas prices drop back down to 1955 levels (17 cents a gallon) we might head back that way. In the meantime I won't hold my breath.

Still looking to get out of here the end of the month so I outta get started on throwing things away and packing things up. Can't do it all in a day. I got my little enclosed trailer to load up with things we don't have to haul back with us and a friend gave me a parking spot at his house. They are winter visitors also; but, instead of RVing it they have a place down here..........so will park at his place and fill the trailer up with goodies I got laying around..........we kinda look like the "Grapes of Wrath" with stuff I haul back and forth.

Haven't decided on a route home yet..........I'd kinda like to travel North in Nevada to Reno; but, crossing over the mountains from Reno to Sacramento in early April can be tricky. Most of the time chains are required to be carried with you even if you don't have to use them. In the end we'll probably go the Southern route to Bakersfield and then North on I-5. That eliminates Las Vegas which is probably a good thing.

Will check the local movies to see if anything is interesting...........that'll give us a couple of hours out of this heat wave. Later.....probably much later. W&B

Wow! Still In A Heat Wave................

.....as we both kicked back and did NOTHING today. Never even started the car to go anyplace. In the morning I hauled my chair over to the neighbor's shady spot (he left for 10 days & not back yet) under his awning and watched the world go by. Sun moved to overhead and no shade anyplace so moved back to the M/H. It started to get HOT so I hung in there until a shady spot returned on the side of our M/H. Breeze blowing so spent most of the afternoon in my lounge chair dozing away. Snoozed, drank Pepsi and don't know what Becky was doing. I finally wandered back to the M/H and she's sitting reading. I checked the thermostat and it was 91 degrees in the coach and Becky is completely unaware of how HOT it was.............she thought it was "just right". Go figure.

Went back to my lounge chair for the rest of the afternoon. Some friends (fellow cachers) stopped by to crack the combination on my latest geocache........I took pity on them and gave them a hand. So far no one has been able to open the lock without help. I even give them the combination............all they have to do is try a couple hundred, or more, combinations to open the lock. Then, when they do, they find another combination lock on the inside. Some people don't even attempt it. I call the cache "Revenge".

Got a couple of high school class mates arriving early Saturday morning for a "mini reunion" over the weekend. Should be fun...........haven't seen one of them since 1957 when we joined the Navy together. This weekend is "Midnight At The Oasis"..........Yuma's answer to Reno's Hot August Nights. There'll be a bunch of activities and many, many old Classic cars in town. Always enjoyable to go check them out again.

That's all folks.........hope the heat wave doesn't hang around for too much longer. W&B

OK, OK.....So I Haven't Posted Anything...............

for longer than I can remember. Been bizzeeeee..........well sorta. Our big event is over, seems everyone had a good time and we're back to "kicking back" for awhile.

Check Becky's Blog for news and pics. I was too busy to even take any pictures............if you can believe that I'll tell you some more lies later.

Starting to heat up in the desert Southwest............over 80 today and will remain that way for the next few days.......maybe even weeks! We did laundry today and I turned on the A/C when we got home to put stuff away.

Starting to think about heading North the end of March.......we'll probably leave on April Fools Day as our rent for the lot is up on that day. Will take a few days to get home, have to be there before April 9. I got a doctor appointment with the knee Doc on the 9th and if all goes well I'll have the left knee fixed on April 25. Hopefully things will go as well as the right knee fix and we should be good to hit the road the later part of June..............if gas doesn't go over $5.00 a gallon by then. Oh well, if it does we'll just cut down on the food............wouldn't hurt either of us to starve for awhile.

Well, nothing going on here.........just wanted to let everyone know we're still alive and kicking. Later. W&B

Same Old Stuff....Different Day..........

.....been battling a "heat wave" the last few days and it may continue. Lucky we've had a breeze to go along with the heat so it's tolerable. We've continued our laid back ways, geocaching ever now and then, a couple of excursions into the desert, winning a little and losing a little at the old casino, eating out and sleeping.

Went back and saw the eye doctor again.......different doc, this time I saw the Big Cheese. Went through the eye exam and he said that cataracts ARE causing my right eye vision problem. Got another appointment on Tuesday for more info and probably set up an appointment for surgery. He said my left eye is going to get to that point too. Depends on the time frame so might consider getting both done if we have time before we leave toward the end of March. Never saw so many OLD PEOPLE in one place then when I walked in the door of his office. Couldn't even find a chair to sit down so I asked how long the wait would be. Was told 45 minutes behind. Yeah, Right! Nearly 3 hours later I was the last one to leave the office. With that many suckers........I mean patients, I gotta assume that he's pretty good at the cataract surgery. Will see.

Our breakfast coming up this Sunday and then the Big Event a week later so looks like the next two weekends are outlined for us. I'll probably be handling the 50/50 raffle again.............which is great 'cause I figure there'll be a dollar for the raffle, a dollar for me, etc. etc etc. Should spice up my gambling fund.

Time flying by this year...........we'll be heading back North before we know it. Also gotta make a decision on my left knee within the next week as I need to give my knee Doc about 2 months lead time. Decisions, decisions.

All you folks in the cooler climates........just hang in there it'll be warm weather and sunshine before you know it! W&B

Survived Weekend......................

as we went to breakfast at the local choke and puke and then off to the hinterlands for some geocaching with JJ, Larry, B and myself. Nice day so we drove the RZRs. Things were going pretty good until we got into stickers, thorns, palm frones and a bunch of other stuff that will leave you bleeding. Some caches we didn't find; but, would have to be a real masochist to go back and look again............not worth the effort.

Weather really getting nice, supposed to be in the mid 70s the rest of the week. Will be perfect if the wind doesn't start blowing.

Got a doctor appointment tomorrow to get an infusion. Been taking an injection for the past 24 months for osteoporosis.............lot of improvement in bone density; but, still need a little assist so the Doc recommending an annual infusion of some kind of stuff. Guess they place it directly in the vein and it should take about 20 minutes or so. At least it's only once a year. Get that done tomorrow and then take the RZR into the shop for its 50 hour/1000 mile maintenance check up. Some minor things to check out and should be good for another 1000 miles.

Nothing planned the rest of the week, just playing it by ear. Before we know it our Yuma Geocaching Event will be rolling around on Feb 18.............lots of stuff to do before then so things will be picking up before we know it. We got our 101 caches planted, submitted and reviewed so they'll be good to go when event time rolls around.

Took in a movie on Saturday.........I can't even tell you the name of it........another hour and a half that I'll never recover. Must have been a decent movie as I don't think I went to sleep and Becky said I even "laughed" a couple of times so figure it was "OK". Made a couple of casino runs, lost on Saturday and recoved about half of my losses today. My Red Brothers still owe me.

Stay warm. W&B

Quick Update................

since we haven't been doing much except sleeping and eating........SOS, just a different day.

Sunday a group of us went out and placed 101 geocaches for the upcoming February event. Gotta go back since we placed a couple of them too close together. How did that happen you ask.........well we were in three different vehicles in wide open desert and our paths crossed since we weren't in visual contact all the time. Not a big problem to move two of them. Other than a doctor appointment and a couple of runs to the casino not much more going on here. A "heat wave" coming in and we should be in the lower 80s for the next few days. Might even have to crank up the old A/C if this trend continues!

When to an IPhone class held by Sprint last night...............picked up some info but left early since I didn't want to go into overload on my poor brain. Downloaded some info specific to my IPhone so believe that will help my plodding along with it. So far think the extra $99 is worth the upgrade.

Our friends, Frank and Suzannah, got into Yuma a day or so ago so we're going out to visit them this afternoon.........as a matter of fact we'll be leaving shortly so will wrap this up. Stay warm if you're in that part of the country. W&B

Not Much Happening Lately..............

just eat, sleep, win some lose some at casino, picking up a geocache now and then and generally kicking back. Going out in the desert again tomorrow; but, don't know if it will be a RZR day or not. Depends on the wind.............it was really blowing today and we had a haze towards the west all day today. Looked like the wind was really kicking up over Californy way in the sand dunes. Lottsa dust blowing around here today too.

Got a nasty surprise today..........been paying for "insurance" on my phone. Tried to get a new one and was told by insurance company that I had to pay $100 deductible. Asked them what the hell have I been paying insurance for? Tuff nuggies they said..........still $100 for a replacement phone..........the same as the one I had and I would probably get a refurbished phone. I said screw that and went down to the Sprint office............a hundred dollars later I now have an Iphone (without any insurance). I guess if you use the insurance in the first few months it would be worth it. Live and learn.

Anyway I gotta go through a new learning curve with Iphone. I need a kid to teach me!!

Well, that's it, just letting everyone know that we're still alive. W&B

A Short Update...............

Check "B"s Blog for some pictures she took while we were browsing around the Barry Goldwater Range. Had our Sunday Breakfast and went caching after. Nice turn out for the breakfast and we managed to collect a good bankroll to be used for our February Yuma Event.

Desert starting to "green up" after rains and even though it was kinda cool and windy we enjoyed getting the RZRs out to tear up the desert trails. Not gotta get out and wash the poor RZR up.........pretty dusty out there when you're following a maniac driver.

Yesterday we turned in monies collected, lost $14.00 at the casino, visited some friends in another RV Park, took a "shortcut" home through the desert and bounced the Jeep all over the road. Last time we took this cow path we were in the RZR and could motor along at 35-40 mph..........in the Jeep we were chugging along at 15-25. Quite a difference in the suspension.

Still a bit of a breeze today; but, nice and sunny so it outta be another great day in the Southwest. Still shirt sleeve weather for the info of all your Northerners. Later. W&B

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

but the weather has been great! "B" got a wild hair and cleaned up the M/H on Monday...........I felt bad about watching her so I left...............no, I didn't really. Instead I spified up the inside of the Jeep. Had the M/H washed and waxed on Tuesday...........you can't beat the price to have it done in Yuma. Should be good until we leave than all I gotta do is have it washed again to get the dust off.

We did go see a movie......Mission Impossible on Wednesday and took two doggie bags for our extra popcorn. Thursday was "do laundry" day and in between we managed to find a cache here and there. Out to breakfast kinda early this morning and dropped by the Mad Chef in Yuma's Old Town and then some caching on the West Side. Ended up meeting Robert & Char and Larry & Audrey for dinner at the newly reopened Fun Factory. Food was OK; but, the service was lacking. We might give them another try.

Don't know what's in store for tomorrow...........the old casino has been whipping my butt; but, Becky has picked up some extra change on our last two visits. I figure she did OK when we get in the car and it takes 20 minutes or so to count and recount her monies. ..............big breakfast on Sunday with the Yuma Caching Group and then probably to the Bombing Range afterward. Later....W&B

Started the New Year With ..............

a Geocaching run to the mountains about 75 miles N of the home abode. Becky, Larry, Robert and I spent most of the days trudging around the desert. We came upon this huge pile of "snow" and "B" snapped a few pics. Didn't think you'd ever see snow in this part of Arizona; but, hey, it is January and we were high in the mountains. Here's a link to the Kofa Mine area where we visited and will give some more info to anyone interested in where we spent part of our day. We didn't hike into the mine area itself. The cache we found was located at the cemetary.

http://www.apcrp.org/KOFA/KOFA_CEM._MASTdoc.htm

Nice day with friends; but, my knee paid the price and about 0100 I bounded out of bed with leg cramps. All in all, a small price to pay for a "fun in the sun" day. Think it reached about 75 on New Years Day.

Sticking close to home today and might feel up to more geocaching tomorrow...........people put out about 40 new ones for the beginning of 2012.

Hope everyone is enjoying a great start to 2012..........we are. W&B