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!

Seriously! A blog post?

Seriously! It’s been how many months since I last posted?

Yeah, last July I guess. Bummer, all those good summer adventures long gone. Lets see if I can hit the high lights at least.

Clyda is doing well with her ankle replacement. She still has pain but feels it is at least stable. Pain will probably disappear over time. As he DR says when she complains, “Has it been a year yet?”

We have done a couple of trips this summer including an RV trip to Pismo Beach camping with Budd and Brenda, 4 days with Cindy and Gary in Walnut Creek as a last hurrah before summer ends, and then a flight to Bellingham, WA to celebrate our Great Nieces 4^th birthday the beginning of Oct. Nothing like a 4 year old celebrating her birthday! It was a great trip.

Tim came in the middle of Oct and spent a week here before he and I drove to Las Vegas to begin our 3 week fall trip. We visited a lot of new areas around Las Vegas some of which were on unpaved roads, the best kind really. We followed that up by going to Death Valley for our annual encampment. 

We continued our campaign of collecting Mylar balloons wherever we find them in the desert. This year we collected 47. We post the results on our Facebook page at Desert Balloon Recovery Crew and turn in the balloons themselves to the National Park Service where they plot the GPS pickup points for all balloons found within Death Valley National park.  

Clyda and I joined our friends Cindy and Gary in Walnut Creek for one night before flying to Kauai for a week at their timeshare in November. A good week but lots of wind which really didn’t hamper our activities except on the day we left when a wind and rain storm caused us to change our plans. All was well however. On arriving back at Walnut Creek we stayed and had Thanksgiving as we have had for the last 3 years at Cindy and Gary’s Son and Daughter-in-laws house. We appreciate being “part of the family.”

We leave tomorrow for a 4-day Coastal Cruise out of Los Angeles. We are joined on this trip by friends from the Elks Club. It was one of those spur of the moment decisions as in “Look at this Price, - lets do it.”

December is a busy month for us as we do another week long cruise as soon as we finish the 4-day cruise. This one is to the Mexican Riviera again with Cindy and Gary. We will remain in San Diego with them for Christmas at their daughters house.

Sorry, no photos today as I am doing this at the last minute while packing.

Who knew?

While in Houston last month I had mentioned that we did some Geo-caching in cemeteries, one of which was the Glenwood Cemetery where Howard Hughes is buried. He is in a plot along with his mother and father. The plot is well fenced but I managed to get a photo or two.

Gardening has been the continuing project for the last month. That and Clyda’s recovery from her ankle replacement. More on that later.

I am over run with vegetables from the garden. I am getting salad cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, pole beans, peas, yellow squash, zucchini, and beets. To come yet are tomatoes, and carrots. Because of the abundance, I give away as much as people will take and I give recipes with the harvest as well.

However, I have a few things I have kept for myself. For instance, I am getting pickling cucumbers so I have made open jar pickles which I then put in quart jars and keep in the refrigerator. I do the same with the beets I pickle. I will also make some pickled beans called “Dilly Beans” as soon as the bean crop increases. I have been picking peas but so has some critter as I find empty bean pods in the garden. I still get enough for us.

I also took an empty pickled beet jar and am pickling a few hard boiled eggs in the leftover beet juice. They always look so nice when you slice them.

My salad cucumbers took a hit from the dog yesterday as she was chasing a lizard among the vines. I am afraid I may need to pull up those vines. Not to fear though, my neighbor planted what was marked as 11 watermelon plants from the nursery but turned out to be cucumbers. I think he will have enough for all of us. I also get Romaine lettuce from him so I haven’t bought lettuce in some time.

I make cucumber salad with vinegar and have that with my lunch. It reminds me of my youth back on the farm when salad meant vinegar cucumbers or cucumbers in sour cream. We also had lots of cucs back on the farm. It was our main salad during the summer.

I am finding lots of new, good looking recipes on-line to use up this abundant crop.

Clyda has been doing well in her rehab but has yet to put any weight on her foot. She gets around using a knee scooter and has ventured outside to the patios. Today she even went to her knitting group for a few hours. Having had a knee replacement causes it to be painful to spend much time on that scooter however. She started out with a partial cast for 2 weeks then had a hard cast for two weeks and now just a nylon boot which she can remove for showering, etc. She finds it much better than the hard cast as it can be off for part of the day if she isn’t moving around.

Our life revolves around her rehab and the garden as you can see.

Where to begin?

After we came back from camping at Morro Bay my time was taken up by gardening and other projects around the house. I had acquired a pickup load of pallets from which motorcycles had been packaged on for shipment to the local dealer. I wanted them for campfire wood but in the process of dismantling them I found that by adding a few boards I now had sections of fencing to keep the dog out of my garden. Not very elegant but it served the purpose.

After Memorial Day we flew to Houston to attend our Grand-daughter Ivy’s high school graduation. We are very proud of this young lady as she graduated ninth in a class of 855 students. She was accepted at UC Berkeley in San Francisco as well as other schools but because of the high out of state tuition costs decided to attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall. Her major is physics.

Grandson Matthew completed his second year of college at Texas A & M where his major is Aero Space Engineering.

We had a nice 5 day visit with Tim and family, got in some Geo-caching and visited a lavender farm, a local winery, and a sausage factory. Much of the ego-caching was at cemeteries which was interesting. We also re-visited Rose Hill Cemetery on Seidel Cemetery Road in Tomball, TX. We had visited this cemetery when Matthew was very little. Walking among the headstones is like walking through the Cemetery in Dorchester, WI as many of the family names are the same. If I was dropped in either cemetery, I couldn’t tell you which one I was in.

On Tuesday June 11^th Clyda had ankle replacement surgery of her right ankle. That is the same ankle she broke in 2008. A year later when she had some of the hardware removed, the surgeon told her that “Some day you will need a replacement” because of the arthritis. This same surgeon did the replacement last Tuesday. For the surgery she was given two nerve blocks. The anesthesiologist really liked the second block and said it may last as much as 96 hours. Basically, Clyda was pain free until late yesterday (Friday) because of the blocks.

She is using a walker to hop on one leg to and from the bathroom. That is hard on the arms as all the weight is on her arms. We do have a knee stroller for her to use but our house is so small that it is not usable in the bathroom. For longer trips we have a wheel chair. I made multiple trips to the Visiting Nurses Loan Closet to pick up all these items as the reality set in of what she would be capable of doing.

She will be non-weight bearing for 4 to 6 weeks before physical therapy can begin. It will be a long summer.