Counting the Days.

Location, Home, CA

The weather has warmed up into the high 60’s during the day. It may get to the low 70’s tomorrow. Even the evenings have not been too bad. Very nice!

I finished the Christmas letter this week and also made a web version to email. I don’t like to send a Microsoft Word document as many people don’t have that software installed on their computers. We send some letters with Christmas cards and some folks just get the email version.

Clyda has been busy wrapping presents with the goal of getting them all to the post office on Monday. As usual, I haven’t started my shopping yet. I do have some ideas however.

I have been modifying some small LED path lights I picked up at a local hardware. I have added an on/off switch to each light. I found the lights to be handy while camping to light the entry to the RV and to mark objects such as rocks in the campground. The lights usually need to be put in the sunlight each day to charge the battery and then placed each evening. The switch allows them to be stored with out removing the battery.

The switch is really tiny but is visible above the label.

First Christmas Party of the month.

Location, Home, CA

The tree is up and decorated and most all of the other decorations are done. As usual, we have more decorations than room to display them. It is time to “weed out” some of the old stuff I think.

Last night was our first Christmas party of the month and a good time was had by all except I returned with the “white elephant” gift from the gift exchange that I took to the party. It happens almost every year. I guess I should take something nice that I want if I am going to end up with it anyway.

I have been wading through a stack of paper work that has piled up while we were gone for 10 days. Tomorrow I have multiple errands to run which will take me most of the day.

We had rain last evening and there was about .6 inch in the rain gauge this morning. It is still cold but supposed to warm up over the next few days.

Catching up.

Location, Home, CA

I am rusty. It has been so long since I posted that I am out of practice.

We did a long trip over Thanksgiving. We drove to Walnut Creek to spend the holiday with Cindy and Gary. On Wednesday night we drove into Berkeley and attended an evening of Irish music at the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse. http://www.thefreight.org. We heard 3 bands which covered traditional Irish music with the last band doing some Cajun and a little Zydeco. Great fiddle playing and a great evening out.

On Friday, the ladies left very early for some “Black Friday” shopping. The guys watched football.

On Sunday afternoon we drove into San Francisco to Clement Street which is in the Richmond district and mostly Asian with a ton of restaurants. We ate at Java Restaurant and had a very good Satay with peanut sauce and shrimp chips.

After driving along the coast we drove to San Francisco Airport and dropped Cindy and Gary off so they could catch a flight to South Africa. They are on Safari. This is Cindy’s dream trip.

On Monday morning we drove to Tehachapi and spent 3 days with Budd and Brenda. It was COLD with snow and ice on the ground. We had several good card games and tried to figure out the TV remote which wouldn’t control the sound amplifier. Never did get it fixed.

Thursday morning we drove home. Temperatures here were a little milder than Tehachapi in fact it was 79 degrees in Fillmore as we came through.

Today it was back to reality. I took the car in for an oil change as the “Change Oil” light kept coming on. It was time.

I also got the Christmas decorations down and the outside lights put up. The tree is up but not decorated. Maybe tomorrow.

Fall Trip Highlights.

Location, Home, CA

I knew it would be some time before I posted but this is ridiculous.

I did spend 4 days in Las Vegas in October. The new bridge over the Colorado River below Hoover Dam opened while we were there so we just had to pay it a visit. There is a visitor parking lot and lots of steps which eventually get you up to the bridge level. You can walk along a pedestrian walkway to the Arizona side but no further as it is blocked. Great views of the dam from this walkway.

View of the bridge from the dam.

 My son Tim had not been to Hoover dam so we took the tour. After going through security, buying our tickets ($30), getting a photo taken (didn’t buy it), and watching a movie of the dam being built, we left the secure area and walked along the top of the dam until it was time for our tour.

Once again, we went through security and joined our tour. The tours are well organized and even though I had done this twice before, this tour was different. We saw more internal things in the dam than other times. Such as, the “Stairway to Heaven” which is the thousands of steps you would need to climb if the elevators quit working.

Leaving Las Vegas, we traveled to Tecopa, CA and camped in the BLM area for 5 days. Out of this area we did 4x4 trips, traveled along the Tonopah & Tidewater rail bed, soaked in Tecopa Hot Springs, and had a date shake at China Ranch.

How the modern 4x4'er navigates.

Sunset at Tecopa BLM.

We next moved into Death Valley for 2 weeks of 4x4 trips, pictographs, petroglyphs, old mines, music, and the 61st 49’er Encampment. The 10 days Tim was there went by fast. I took him to lunch at Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay’s restaurant) in Caesar’s Palace before taking him to the airport. What a great Lunch!!!!!

We ended our trip where we began it with an overnight stop at Baker behind the Mad Greek Restaurant.

We watched the International Space Station pass over us before we went to dinner. It was visible for 4 minutes.

Packing for the desert.

Location, Home, CA

I realize I haven’t posted much lately. I have been getting ready for my annual fall desert trip. We have put together several features which I hope will satisfy everyone.

I am leaving Monday for Las Vegas with an overnight stop at Baker. A few of us will meet there before we travel on to Las Vegas. We will spend 4 days in Vegas and have a full schedule of things to do and see while there.

Besides our usual things we will visit the new MGM City Center, tour Hoover Dam and see the new bridge over the Colorado River. The bridge doesn’t officially open for traffic for a couple of weeks yet.

We will then spend a week in the desert around Tecopa, CA checking on the remains of the old Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, explore some 4x4 roads and maybe soak in the hot springs at Tecopa.

From Tecopa we will move to Death Valley for two weeks and partake in the Death Valley 49er celebration. This is an annual celebration commemorating the first pioneers to enter the valley in 1849. This celebration has been held each year since 1949. One of our members has attended every year since then. He was 10 years old and rode a wagon in the grand parade.

I should be gone about a month. The weather next week in Las Vegas is calling for rain showers. Hopefully it won’t be too bad.

Speaking of weather…. Ours has been awful. Clouds and fog which for the most part is a light drizzle which goes on all day. I had planned to wash my truck and wax it today but it just kept drizzling so I watch football instead. :)

We did get our flu shots this morning. Because we belong to an HMO we can’t get a free flu shot as people who are just on Medicare can. We had to make a $20 donation each for ours. Cheap insurance I guess. Mine stung a little and my arm is sore tonight.

Nice weather for a change.

Location, Home, CA

It is warm tonight. It beats the usual fog which shows up at this time of day.

Last Saturday we drove to Newport Beach at the invitation of friends and stayed at their Marriott Timeshare. It is a beautiful coast line. We had a great time. We drove back here on Tuesday evening after the traffic rush had passed. We still had slowdown from the airport to the top of Sepulveda Pass but made it home in 3 ½ hours. I do hate driving in all that traffic but it is the shorted way to go.

Yesterday we drove North with a car load of friends and visited another friend who just had hip surgery 3 weeks ago. She is doing really well. Clyda had made a pot of Greek Chili for lunch, another friend took bread, and another brought dessert. We ate on the patio as it was such a nice day.

Today I worked on the shelves in the wood shed. I used steel studs as the framework. It turned out well so I put all my lumber on the shelves this afternoon. Another thing I can scratch off my to-do list.

I made a new recipe for dinner tonight. It was chicken breast stuffed with stuffing and covered in a mushroom sauce. Very tasty. I am thinking about doing this for my desert trip. Also, made a corn salad with walnuts and feta cheese. It was very good.

Smog check complete.

Location, Home, CA

I meant to write an update to the blog last night but I had already turned the computer off when I remembered it.

The smog check went very well. I showed the mechanic the chart from the state website and he said “looks good to me” and completed the test. There is no real test as for a gasoline engine car. They do check to see if certain factory equipment is still install on the vehicle and the OBD (on board diagnostic) computer has any error codes in it. So, I am good to go again but flatter in the wallet. Even though they do less testing on a diesel truck, they charge more than a gasoline vehicle. Go figure.

This morning I replaced a cloth shield around both the truck batteries. The outside material had come all apart. I am not sure what this shield is for but it has insulation in it so it may be to protect the battery from excessive heat. Craig had some material which is tough and impervious to everything so he sewed up a sleeve into which we inserted insulation. This sleeve was wrapped around the battery and secured with plastic ties. Time will tell if it will with stand the engine heat.

We are off for a few days. More on that later.