Fall trip done.

 I just realized that it has been 4 months since I last posted.

So, what is happening here on the West coast? Not much. It is either locked down or burned up this summer. Poor old California has had a lot of bad luck lately.

We were not in any of the fire areas. We have had smoke from the earlier fires North of us but that dissipated after a few days.

We on the other hand have not been doing much. We limit our socializing to a few friends. I still do wood at the Elks every Saturday with masks and social distancing. We occasionally go to the Elks on Monday night for hamburgers, etc also with friends. We just limit our interaction with people as much as possible.

We did go camping in October for 5 days. Just up the coast North of us with a few friends. I had taken the RV in to have the MorRyde pin box hitch rebuilt. It is 12 years old and was showing sun damage on some rubber and plastic parts. It took some time to find the right rebuild kit and do the work. The truck has been serviced so we are good to go for this fall.

The garden has been cleaned out. I roasted the last of the Anaheim Chili's. I used some for chili rellanos and the rest go in the freezer for use later. I had pulled the jalapeno pepper plant after making “poppers”. Those last “poppers” had a real kick to them.

The tomatoes are done. I had a bumper crop of Romas. So many in fact that I took 4 lug boxes to the food bank over a few weeks time.

Then there are the gourds. I have slowed down the watering to those hoping they will stop growing. I keep the new growth cut back as anything putting on gourds now won’t finish this fall. I have all the gourds tied up in t-shirts to take the weight off the stems as each one is soooo heavy. I planted what was supposed to be Birdhouse shaped gourds but only one of those is on the vines. Lots of large pear shaped ones however. Once the stems turn brown I will cut them loose and hang them in the garage rafters where it is warmer so they can dry out.

I just came back from my annual fall trip to the desert. This year Tim was with me again. He spent over a week here before we left. We traveled up the East side of the Sierra’s to Ridgecrest and Bishop, CA then on to Mina and Tonopah, NV spending 2 days in each place. We visited museums, poked around in old mining towns, looked for petroglyphs, and drove 4-wheel drive roads. We visited a memorial for an X-15 crash site near Randsburg, CA and found a 1995 plane wreck in Death Valley. The plane was trying to deliver Christmas trees to Furnace Creek when it crashed 60 feet short of clearing a ridge. The wreck wasn’t found for 6 months until it was discovered by 2 technicians going to a nearby microwave site.

We hiked and drove back roads in Death Valley National Park and collected mylar balloons as part of the DBRC (Desert Balloon Recovery Crew. Look for us on Facebook). This year we set an all time record of 78 balloons collected in 3 weeks.

Another great fall trip.

What we have been doing lately.

Much of my time lately has been spent in the garden. As with any garden, when the produce is ready, it must be picked and dealt with. And as usual, I have too much at one time. I have made 4 pints of beets, 8 or 9 jars of pickles, 4 pints of “dilly beans,” picked countless green beans and peas, plus zucchini and yellow squash. I have a very good yellow squash recipe that we all like so have made that several times. None of the produce in jars is “canned” so I just keep it in the refrigerator. In fact, we have so much in our refrigerator that I have moved it out to the RV refrigerator.

Nice Romaine heads and green beans

"Dilly Beans"

Pickles and beets.

Recently I picked lots of Anaheim chili’s, roasted them on the BBQ and then made Chili Relleno’s. They were really good! I have a pan of them in the freezer to use later this week. I used a recipe from an old camping friend. He and I had made these in Death Valley years ago so I do them in his memory.

Anaheim chili's in the back and green peppers.

Chili Rellenos

The extra Anaheim Chili’s I roast and cut up for salsa. I just add a little onion and some chopped tomatoes and garlic salt.

Speaking of tomatoes, my Roma’s are getting ripe but they don’t have the filled out shape of a true Roma. They have more of a pear shape. Our problem is a lack of heat for real good tomatoes. Too many foggy mornings here on the coast.

One thing that is really growing are the Bird House Gourds I planted. They have taken over a whole area of the garden. We built trellis's so the gourds can hang down and maintain the true bird house gourd shape.

Lots of blossoms

Gourds hanging

Today I cut off all of the old Boysenberry canes from this years crop and tied up the new canes which will have next years crop. That job requires long pants and a long sleeved shirt as the canes have thorns. I have a real system so it goes fairly quickly.

A few weeks ago I decided that it was time to replace our house roof. This was to be a major effort as it was a double roof with the original wood shingles covered with fiberglass shingles. Also, there was no sheeting on the roof so that added to the cost as the whole roof had to be covered with CDX half inch plywood first. We also had the old skylight in our entryway removed and replaced with a Solar Tube. We added a Solar Tube in the hall bath as well. Now it looks like the light in the hall bath is always on as it is so bright in there.

While this was being done a plumber replumbed our master bath shower as this had never been done when the house was plumbed overhead years ago. I figured it was only a mater of time before that leaked somewhere under ground.

The roofer had to replace many of our starter boards on the roof overhang as they were dry rotted or termite damaged. After the roofers were done a drywall guy finished off the entry ceiling around the new solar tube. Then the painter came and primed and painted all the starter boards and the entry ceiling. I am glad to have it all done.

The flag plaza in front of the house is done and planted and Craig is working around the mailbox. I had put broken cement going up to the driveway but never did the cementing in part so he is working on that. He also sand blasted and clear finished the wooden base for the mailbox.

Next week I will pick lemons from our tree. Periodically I do this so the tree keeps producing. I give them to the local food bank. We still have plenty for our own use. 

Here is whats happening at our house.

I am trying out the new BLOGGER from Google. I have heard other people say they don't like it but I want to see how good or bad it is. Actually it doesn't matter if I like it or not as the old Blogger is going away.

I finally completed the puzzle from hell. This is probably the hardest puzzle I have every attempted but I must say, when it was done I felt a real accomplishment. It also was one of the best constructed  puzzles I have every worked with. Each piece was precise and the material it was made from was excellent.

I have spent a lot of time in the garden. Everything is really growing. I just hope everything produces. So far I have been picking lettuce most everyday. My red leaf lettuce is about to bolt I think. To bad, as it is really good. I have picked a few zucchini and I see a small yellow squash on one plant. Cucumbers have small ones on also. looking forward to cucumber sandwiches soon.

Lettuce and peppers on left in raised bed, tomatoes in wicking tubs and zucchini in front.

Cucumbers on right, pole beans by tall trellis with peas on left by shorter trellis. Gourds back by the fence.

We are still working on the flagpole project, well I should say on the flagpole plaza as the flagpole is done and in use every day. The other day we bought some patio chairs and a round table to put in front of the house. Yesterday we looked for patio pavers to put the chairs on as the remainder of the ground will have a low ground cover. We found some pavers we really liked but they were $27.50 each for a 16 inch square. Ah...I don't think so. Guess we will go with grey cement pavers instead at $2.50 each. I made cardboard templates this morning so I could see what placement works. looks like I need 16 pavers. That's about $40 vs $440. I think we will go for the cheap ones.

I have been working on some family history lately. I have a lot of information scattered in various places both on my computer and in paper files. I just need to get it all organized. 

As for the Pandemic and social distancing....things have started to open up slowly. I have been splitting wood at the Elks club both on Thursday's and Saturday's. There are only a few of us working so keeping some distance is not a problem. Also. we are outdoors.

Friday we also went to the Elks to meet with a few friends for drinks and food. Only a handful of people there but it is a beginning. Tuesday should be our first Elks meeting. Again that isn't a problem as few people show up for an actual meeting. 

All of this is while wearing masks of course.

Our churches still arn't open but when they can meet the state mandated requirements they can open but are limited to 100 people. So far I have been attending Sunday mass live streaming from St Patrick's Cathedral in New York at 7:15 AM. It works for me.

And life goes on.

My time for the last few weeks has been spent in the garden, working on the “forever puzzle” and getting a flagpole base ready in front of the house.

As far as the garden goes, I planted peas and pole beans this week from sets I started a few weeks ago. This week the “birdhouse” gourd sets will go in the ground. I don’t know if it will be warm enough here for them to mature but will see. The seeds came from a friend and all that I started germinated.

Craig had a friend give him a tomato plant which I put in a 5 gallon wicking tub. It is an heirloom “Black Krim” tomato. I hope it puts out fruit. The inside is black when ripe.

I haven’t had as much luck with my “pickle” cucumber seeds from last year although 3 of the 4 did sprout. I may start a few more seeds to prolong the season.

I also started a few different lettuce seeds of which about half sprouted. That will extend the season for lettuce.

In the raised garden bed I started beets, cilantro, and dill. All of those are sprouted.

Yesterday I bought a few marigold plants to put around the garden to deter pests. I wish they deterred gophers as well. So far I have caught 2 in the trap. They can really do some damage. My raised bed has hardware cloth under it so I am not too worried about gophers getting into it.

Lettuce ready to pick this week.

Tomatoes starting to blossom.

Zucchini really growing fast.

The flagpole project is ongoing as I need to pick up some bags of cement for the base. The flagpole was a”freebie” from a friend. It is an aluminum pole about 20 feet tall and comes in sections. We decided to put it in the flower bed in front of the house as it is the only visible place the flag would be seen from the street.

The puzzle actually has some progress this week. It is down to the really hard stuff now as most of it is black pieces. One at a time!

Still practicing “social distancing”.

Actually we have stayed at home for the most part, with a few exceptions. I did make a trip to Home Depot and a couple of trips to Costco in the last few weeks. Both trips were made with masks on. Today, Clyda and I went out for vegetable plants for the garden. I got most of what I wanted but could use a few more Anaheim Chili plants. I may find some later.

I had picked up a bunch of motorcycle pallets from a local shop. These are really heavy frames which I cut up for campfire wood. It took both Craig and I to load them on my pickup. Some of the frames make nice garden fences so I built several to complete the fence around my garden patch. These actually are temporary fence pieces to keep Craig’s dog Sky out until the plants become big enough that she won’t bother them. Without the fence her curiosity lets her tramp all over my beds. I also have enough wood for a couple of years of campfires. All of these pallets used twist nails which I pulled using a variety of tools. It is a lot of work but it can be done with patience and muscle.

I am still working on my 1000 piece puzzle which is slowwwwly taking shape. When I opened the box there was a note inside which said “You have bought a seriously hard puzzle-and we’re so thankful you did. We think you will love it”. Well, I don’t know about loving it but it surly is a challenge. This has been more than a month to get it to this point. Perseverance!

I have been getting the garden ready to plant and that included making 3 “wicking tubs” for my tomatoes. Google it to see more. Craig and I cut 2 plastic barrels in half to make the tubs. The barrels had been stored behind our garden shed for years. Originally they were to be used to store rain water for watering potted plants. We used things we had on hand to do the tubs. Things like 5 inch drain pipe in the bottom and weed cloth to keep dirt out of the drain pipes. Really, Google it!

A few weeks ago I planted seeds of those plants I want in my garden. Most have sprouted and will be ready to plant in a week or so. I actually used seeds left over from last year and so far almost all have sprouted.

The Angel Trumpet Plant on our side patio is in full bloom again. It has a very sweet smell every evening.

I will cut this short and get it posted.

Twenty three days and counting.

That is how long we have been confined to our house so far. We started this shortly after we returned from our winter trip. Other than dropping off some things to friends, we have not been away from the house. Oh, Craig did take Clyda for a short drive several days ago but that has been it. We both do walk each day but I see very few people out and those that are practice “Social distancing” so not a problem there.

Craig has only made two trips to the grocery store in that time period. We get vegetables from a local farm garden near us. Drop a $ or 2 in a jar at the unattended stand and take what you need. We have gotten carrots, lettuce, beets, cabbage and celery so far.

Back in early February while we were on our winter trip, I sent Craig a list of food supplies I thought we might need in case of a Pandemic. The one thing I forgot was cleaning supplies. We have some, but not the amount we might need for the long haul. We can improvise if needed. So we are good for some time to come with the basics such as beans and rice!

So, what is everyone doing to pass the time? Playing board games? Learning a new language? Putting puzzles together? Reading? Playing solitaire on your iPad? All good things to do I guess.

I have been working on family history at the request of a niece who knew nothing of her family history. I hadn’t touched my family history files in almost 2 years so as you can imagine the bits of paper, computer searches, etc, were piled up everywhere. I first spent several days organizing the paperwork files then tackled the computer files especially the photos. While making a copy of my master photo file I discovered there were over 60,000 photos on my hard drive not all of which were in any type of recognizable order. After days of work there are still some remaining that need to be filed in the correct folders but it is a start.

Of course I am spending way too much time on the computer but it goes with the territory when tracing down family lineages.

Both Clyda and I have been in the yard pulling weeds, getting the garden bed ready to plant and trimming bushes as needed. There is no hurry as it needs to warm up a little more before I plant anything.

California poppies in my garden bed. As they go to seed, I will pull them out and plant veggies.

I also have a 1000 piece puzzle to work on which may take me years to complete. It took a day and a half to finish just the border. It is all succulents which are purple and black. It sits in my computer room and occasionally I find a piece that fits. My goal is to put 2 pieces together and eventually put those 2 with another 2 that match. I know of no other way to finish this monster. A friend of Clyda’s had completed a 4000 piece puzzle recently which took up her whole dining room table. I didn’t know they even made one that big.

Both Clyda and I read a lot. Both paperbacks and on our iPads. I subscribe to Amazon’s “Kindle Unlimited” app. They gave me 3 months of free books for 99 cents and then extended it free for another month. Nice deal!

So, have you made your masks yet? There are lots of videos on-line of the “how to do it” kind. I tried making them from t-shirts with marginal success but did find that the easiest and quickest was to use the blue Shop Towels. These are “no sew” masks. I happened to have just a few towels left so I made Clyda and I each one in a few minutes time yesterday. The thing I like about them is there is a paper clip which is used to shape the nose piece. Most masks don’t adequately cover the nose and leave a gap between the nose and the mask which fogs up your glasses of you are wearing any. Also, the shop towels are heavier (made from pressed cellulose) and allow for some stretch in the material. These shop towel masks are 54% effective compared to standard surgical masks which are 39% effective. Just Google “shop towel masks” for more information.

Time for an update I think.

We left for Quartzsite, Arizona on Jan 15^th with a stop at the Needles Elks Club overnight. There we met our friend Jeff and traveled to our Plamosa Road campsite the next day. Joining us were Larry and Molly and Nobby and Deanna. This year saw many more winter visitors than we can recall seeing for some time. Camping was at a premium on Plamosa Road.

Sunset at Plamosa Road

After ten days at Plamosa Road, we moved to Bouse and John and Connie’s home site for 2 days where Connie made homemade cinnamon rolls for all the neighbors. You haven’t lived until you had Connie’s rolls.

Parked at John and Connie's (our rv in the middle)

We then move on to Picacho Peak State Park South of Casa Grande for 4 days where we camped with friends who had spent a week in Yuma after camping on Plamosa Road. While there we visited Biosphere 2 near Oracle, AZ. Quit an experience. Biosphere 2 is funded by the Bass Family from Texas and has been there for some years. After the tour we had a very nice lunch at the Ore House in Oracle.

Biosphere 2

Jim at the Ore House

From Picacho Peak we traveled to Usery Mountain Park Northeast of Mesa, Arizona. We had camped here last year and once again enjoyed our time here with Jim and Michelle. One night we had pizza at Organ Stop Pizza, Home of the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ. What a hoot! Pizza and organ music!

Organ  at Organ Stop Pizza

We also did a day trip to Tortilla Flats Northeast of Mesa where we had lunch at Superstition Saloon.

Next up was the Running of the Gourds at Pinal County Fairgrounds at Eleven Mile Corner East of Casa Grande. This is a 4 day Gourd Festival which I think we have attended the last three years. Michelle is the gourder while Jim, Clyda and I just camp and enjoy the surroundings.

Michelle and the gourd she is working on

Jim and Michelle headed for home while Clyda and I moved to the Casa Grande Elks club where we visited Clyda’s cousin.

I made reservations at Green Valley Resort South of Tucson for 5 days. We haven’t spent time at a winter resort in some time so this was a treat. While here we visited with old friends who moved from Washington to Quail Creek, a retirement community. They love it there. While Carol and Clyda toured the new models, Tom and I toured the nearby Asarco Copper Mine. What a huge operation. The very large and deep (1400 feet) pit, the computer controlled processing plant and the large tailing piles were very impressive. We also visited Madera Canyon which is a popular trail head and bird watching area. The day we visited there was still snow on the ground in places at the 4900 foot elevation.

From Madera Canyon we drove down Highway 19 to Tubac which is an artists community. We have been here before for the art festival. We just missed it this year. After a lunch of tacos we strolled around town stopping in the small shops. It is a nice place to poke into all the small shops.

Clyda checking out the pottery

We moved on to Sierra Vista to visit our niece Dawn, her husband Mat and daughters Samantha and Abrigail for the next week. We stayed at Quail Ridge RV Park North of Sierra Vista which was about 15 miles away but perfect for our needs. Each day we traveled to Dawn’s house for the day, where we entertained the girls, and occasionally cooking dinner for all of us.

Sunset at Sierra Vista

We also drove to Bisbee, AZ one day as we had not been there in several years. Overall, we were impressed with the area and surprised at how large the population of Sierra Vista is.

We drove back to Bouse and again stayed at John and Connie’s for 4 days. Connie made Indian tacos for lunch for the whole gang with plenty of extras for everyone to take home.

We had planned to leave for home on Sunday with a stop in Parker at the Blue Water Casino for their Sunday Brunch with several friends. There was a 45 minute wait for seating so Clyda and I decided to leave as we had a long way to travel. However, the truck had other ideas. The brake controller was showing a small voltage which wasn’t good. After crossing the river, I stopped to check things out and found that the trailer brakes were on so disconnected the trailer so the brakes weren’t dragging. The truck brake lights were on and not going off no matter what I did so we turned around and went back to the Blue Water Casino and parked in a dirt lot. I finally disconnected the truck batteries to keep the brake lights from draining the batteries.

Because it was Sunday, I waited until Monday to take the truck to Parker Ford. They did not have a service opening until Wednesday so I rented a car. Our friends from Oregon, Dick and Barbara were camping up the river from Parker so they picked us up and we toured all the RV parks on the California side of the Colorado River, the Parker Dam, and then went to their RV for snacks and dinner. A great day!

Clyda and Barbara at Parker Dam

Later that evening I got an email from Parker Ford saying they had diagnosed the problem as a bad brake switch. By Tuesday noon the truck was repaired so we turned in the rental car, picked up the truck, hooked up the trailer and headed West. Well we tried to head West but the wind was blowing so we only made it to the Needles Elks Club. No use fighting a 35 MPH headwind. The next morning the wind had died so we drove all the way to Bakersfield for an extended stay with Budd and Brenda.

We had a great time, setting puzzles, playing a variety of board games, and traveling to Tehachipi to visit Don and Tori and seeing their new house and large RV garage.

Eventually we came home on Monday March 9^th.

We traveled 2864 miles and were gone 55 days. We had a really good time and saw lots of our friends who we only see in the winter in Arizona.

A Happy New Years blog

You may have noticed no Christmas cards from the Goleta Seidel’s this year. We have been busy traveling since mid November and Christmas cards were not on our to-do list at that time. So, how about a New Years letter instead?

Our friends Cindy and Gary invited us to go to Kauai in mid November for a week. Who can pass that kind of invite up! Here are some photos.

On of the infamous Kauai Chickens who roam the island

We also stayed in Walnut Creek after we returned from Kauai for Thanksgiving. I think that makes 3 years in a row for us to do that.

In early December we did a 4 day cruise on Royal Princess with Tim and DeeDee. What fun for just 4 days.

Royal Princess from Catalina Island

Royal Princess in Ensenada, MX

Clyda and DeeDee having Bellini's at the Bellini Bar

We came home on a Monday and on Friday Gary and Cindy picked us up and we drove to Del Mar for one night before boarding Holland America’s Oosterdam for a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. We had great weather for the whole trip with temperatures in the high 70’s during our shore excursions.

Oosterdam in Puerto Vallarta

Street scene in Puerto Vallarta

Restaurant on the Malecon, Puerto Vallarta. Good food and Margaritas

Entrance to Cathedral, Mazatlan

Cabo San Lucas harbor

Ship Christmas tree

We returned to Del Mar and stayed there for Christmas with Cindy and Gary’s family. We spent part of the time in the Del Mar Hilton which was nice.

Decorated palm trees in Del Mar

We came home the day after Christmas in all the traffic caused by the closure of all the highways going North out of Los Angeles because of snow and ice. All traffic was routed along the coastal route, highway 101. It took us 10 hours to make the trip. Talk about slow crawling traffic. The last 40 miles took us 4 hours.

We were home for New Years but will be leaving shortly for our annual winter desert trip.

Happy New Years to all!