Rancheros done for another year.

Location, Cachuma Lake, CA

My 10 days working for ranchero Visitadores is done. I finished Friday morning and pulled out of the area about 10:30 AM. I drove to Cachuma Lake camp ground and into a spot in the RV Park.

After calling Clyda, I set up the RV in a nice back in spot at the extreme left of the camp ground. Usually these spots are filled by the time I get here as they are prime spots with no one behind you.

The 10 days went well with only a few minor things happening which only adds to the stories we tell about the encampment. I met lots of people as usual while inspecting credentials of all who arrive at the gate. Many are friends of long standing and some are only people who I see here every year. We have a greeting for all as they arrive and a little kidding goes a long way to make them feel welcome.

I drove to the gate where I camp on Tuesday afternoon after taking the long way around as I was really loaded with extra water and all the things I need for the next ten days. George followed me in his motor home. After a quick set up we had dinner and retired for the night.

 All set up for the next 10 days. I do most cooking outside and we also eat outside under the awning on the table with the red checkered table cloth.

Our official start day is Wednesday and we use that to get our camp set up and the telephone and radio connected. That is done by the camp communications guy. Our phone is a landline connecting us to two camps used by the Rancheros.

This is the famous Blue Gate through which all must pass and have their credentials checked. What a great view!

The radio connects us to several other people who are mobile at either camp.

We also get a trash barrel and a porta potty for use for the duration. We set up a table covered with a canopy under an oak tree. The canopy protects the phone, clipboards, etc from the weather and also keeps the oak bugs and worms off us. Most of the time we sit in chairs near the phone or stand nearby as we check credentials of arrivals. If it is warm, we move with the shade as the day goes on.

Two of us are on duty during the day with one person on duty from 8 or 9 Pm until 11 Pm when the night man comes on. The night man stays on duty until 7 AM when the rest of us get up and we begin all over again.

I am the cook so I take time to prepare meals three times a day and also time to clean up after meals. Food is supplied to us on Friday in bulk which I need to store away, refrigerate some and decide what to cook. I turn in a food list ahead of time and for the most part I receive all I ask for.

I store extra food and ice in these chests. The tarp and shade is to protect them from the sun.

After working long hours each day and cooking, I am more than ready to take it easy after 10 days.

Because I already have the trailer out, it makes a nice transition to stop here at Cachuma for a few days.

This morning we drove to Paula’s Pancake House in Solvang for breakfast and had Swedish pancakes and eggs. Swedish pancakes are thin and fluffy and cover the whole plate.

We decided to stay an extra day here as we have intermittent showers today and I didn’t feel like moving the rig in the rain.

Moving forward, slowly.

Location, At Home, CA

It looks like I am a little behind on the blog although there isn’t much happening right now.

I am putting things together for my annual foray with Ranchero Visitadores which starts for me next week. There have been some setbacks this year as my boss for the last several years passed away suddenly last October from a massive heart attack. This was very unfortunate and really threw a wrench in the works.

My first boss from years ago stepped in to help out. I thought I had a full crew but found out in February that one of my guys who worked the midnight to 8 AM shift was in a convalescent home and not expected to live.

Other arrangements were made to cover his absence and until recently that’s where things stood. A few weeks ago I called his house to see how he was doing and his wife said “Why don’t you ask him” and handed him the phone.

It is like a miracle as he is doing well and wanted to work so I made arrangements with my boss for him to work his usual midnight shift. It really relieves me of several responsibilities for which I am grateful. Miracles still do happen!

Next Monday I will go up and mow the grass where we park our RV’s. If we don’t do that we get all the foxtails in our socks and also track them into the RV’s. I also will take up the boards from my patio cover over the rear patio. It is time to replace it and Rancheros is a good place to burn the wood in our nightly camp fires.

I am adding a few recent photos taken on my morning walk. The roses are in the parkway  around the corner from our street.

I love the water beads on this ornimental grass.

This ceonothus is in a planted area near a wall. It grows wild on the mountains behind us and makes the hill look grey when all are in full bloom.

A small setback.

Location, At Home, CA

I seem to have had a small setback in my recovery. After resuming most of my normal routine (with frequent rest time) I suddenly got either an allergy attack or a bad cold. At this point I’m thinking a cold; however, I have had some of the symptoms since I was released from the hospital more than a month ago.

We have had really nice weather for the last week or so but this morning we had our usual high overcast. It burned off later but it also dropped our temperatures back to the 60’s which is more like our normal.

I cut back all the suckers from the boysenberries today. The berry vines are really full of blossoms and lots of small berries are forming. Clyda has been making jam, syrup, and curd from the berries still in our freezer from last year in preperation for this years crop.

We are getting a handful or more of asparagus every day. I do need to weed the asparagus bed tomorrow while the weeds are small.

I took a few photos in the yard today. Something to add a little color to the blog.

The lone rose in our garden.

Bouganvilla on our back fence.

A Dutch Iris in the garden with California Poppies in the background.

Getting better.

Location, At Home, CA

Last Saturday seemed to be a turning point in my recovery. I don’t have the feeling that I need to sit down and rest every few minutes since then. Oh, I do stop and rest frequently but not as often as before.

I am back to walking my full 3.3 miles every morning. I am just a little slow yet but will in time get back to my normal pace.

A month from now is my annual 10 days of security duty for Rancheros Visitadores. I have been getting things ready, checking my lists, talking to the other guys who will work, rounding up the equipment I will need, and talking to my temporary boss for this year. I may not have mentioned in this blog that my old boss (who actually wasn’t that old) dropped dead of a heart attack back in October last year. It was a real shock to get that news.

It was also unfortunate as he and I had started work on some changes to make the job more professional. That is all by the wayside now. I just hope that all goes well this year.

Clyda has been weeding the flower beds while I have been working on the small garden patch to get it weeded. We may have a small garden this year after all.

The large Chinese Elm tree in our back yard which shades most of the yard was trimmed way back in November which should give us extra light for the garden.

Getting back to normal.

Location, At Home, CA

In the past week I have managed to get the RV put back in its usual spot. I just couldn’t get it right last week when we got home. The holding tanks are emptied, refer unloaded and cleaned, carpets vacuumed, in general, it is ready to go again.

I do have a list (as usual) of things I need to take care of but none would keep us from going right now.

I work at the list then I sit down and rest. I have been doing a lot of resting. I still haven’t regained my strength back but hope it gets better as time goes on.

We have been eating a lot of asparagus. It really grows fast. We like it sautéed in butter and garlic. We have been eating it every night.

I also have winter squash which needs to be eaten before it goes bad. I could just cook all of it and put it in the freezer I guess.

Yesterday was the day to have our taxes done. We should be ok I think.

Bringing the blog up to date

Location, At Home, CA

We left Bouse, AZ on Wednesday March 16th and drove to Needles then west on I-40 to where it intersects with old route 66. We drove route 66 to Essex, Amboy, and Ludlow before we got back on I-40. Route 66 is a good road in most places, is a slower way to go with little traffic.

Once we were back on I-40 the wind was more noticeable as it was out of the west. We stopped in Newberry Springs, CA to add some fuel at $4.399 per gallon. Needless to say, $50 worth was about a quarter tank on my truck.

Our goal for the day was the rest stop at Boron. Only the east bound side has room along the tree line for RV’s so we had to go to the next over pass and return to the east bound rest stop. The wind was blowing and before long there were 6 other RV’s lined up behind and in front of us. It is a good place to spend the night. There are trains of course and a nearby crossing so you do hear the whistle.

The next morning we drove another 50 miles to Tehachapi, CA and our friends Budd and Brenda’s yard where I parked the RV. Fuel at Love’s was $4.099 per gallon. It cost $117 to fill the tank. We stayed for 4 days as the wind was blowing all day Sunday when we planned to leave. It also rained and eventually snowed.

We watched a lot of NCAA basketball (Thanks Budd) and played cards and Domino’s.

On Monday morning we awoke to this.

Fortunately, it was all slushy so started melting early. After some shoveling, we left about 10:30 AM and dropped out of the snow as soon as we entered Hwy 58 westbound. Our trip home was via Hwy 223, Arvin, Hwy 99, then on Hwy 166 west to Santa Maria, CA and south on Hwy 101. There were a few brief rain showers but the hills were covered with snow to the south while the hills to the north had wild flowers on them. Also, everything was so green. Beautiful, uneventful drive.

On Tuesday I had a Dr's appointment as a follow up to my hospital stay in Tucson, AZ. Of course, I needed more blood work so off the the lab I went to give my quart of blood (seemed like it anyway). On Wednesday I again had an appointment to get the results of the blood work. All blood work was normal so again the conclusion was that I had some sort of virus.

Missing days!

Location, Bouse, AZ


It is hard to reconcile all the missing days in this blog. Suffice it to say, they have not been fun.

On Tuesday Feb 22, I got sick. By 4 Pm I was freezing and rolled up in a blanket on the bed and shivered for a few hours. Over the next 3 days, I spent most of the time in bed, drinking little and eating less.

By Friday afternoon I was in bad shape. I decided to take a shower while Clyda was gone with friends. Bad idea! I passed out sitting on the toilet and ended up coming to with my face on the floor next to the door. I managed to get into bed and eventually get my cloths on. When Clyda came home I asked her to take me to the ER in Benson as I had no idea what was going on or what I had.

Several hours later, three IV bags of fluid drained into me and one massive Tylenol, my temperature finally came down. It had spiked at 103.7 after 2 bags of IV fluid. All other indicators were ok. Chest x-ray was normal, blood work was normal, I wasn’t coughing, didn’t have a headache, another words, a mystery.

The ER doctor decided to send me to the Tucson Medical center. So about midnight I was transported by ambulance and arrived about 1 AM. They originally thought I had the flu so put me in a private room to keep me isolated.

A doctor checked me about 2 AM and thought I might have pneumonia so started me on a broad spectrum of antibiotics intravenously. That was a mistake as I reacted badly to the antibiotics. A different Dr on Sunday thought it was a mistake also but couldn’t countermand the first Dr’s orders. An infectious disease Dr later said she thought I had a virus and none of the antibiotics would do any good so I asked to have them stopped.

By Tuesday they decided to discharge me still not having decided what was wrong. By then I couldn’t eat but was drinking.

Clyda picked me up about noon and drove me back to the RV Park in Benson. I spent the next few days eating and drinking to get my strength back. My sinuses were all dried up and I had a hard time swallowing. The swallowing got better as the days went on.

On Saturday we decided to drive towards Bouse with a possible stop in Gila Bend for the night if I couldn’t go any farther that day. As it turned out, we stopped in Gila Bend for lunch and I felt good enough to drive on to Hickey’s at Bouse.

We arrived in the afternoon and got set up and over the next few days I ate and slept and read a little. I am just trying to get my strength back. We may stay until the weekend before we head for home as the weather at home is cold and I need all the warmth I can get.