Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #4 –  The Next Legs – Desert Hot Springs and Long Beach

 

Sunday, Jan 12^th, 2020……  This morning was check out day. We watched most all of the rigs (some are staying another night here) take off and head out. Except for us and Roots and Moores, the rest of our group made their way out before 10:30am or so. We were only going about 25 miles – over to Desert Hot Springs and Catalina Spa. Before we left camp, Lydia’s sister, Frances and her grandson, Raymond, came by to spend the day. The Roots and Moores and us caravanned over. Raymond got his first ride in a motorhome!

We all got checked in and parked and set our rigs up. Then Raymond and I headed over to the spa and pool. It was terrific! Nice and refreshing. We spent an hour and a half there and came back so they could head off home. We decided to go over to The Capri Restaurant for dinner. We all chose Italian and enjoyed our meals. Once we got back in camp, we settled in and visited until bedtime.    

 

Monday, Jan 13^th, 2020……  No plans today. I did have to go back to Indio and return Lydia’s wheelchair, but that was later today. We hung around the rig and I walked Rylee a few times. Rick went with me later and we got to In and Out Mobility. I left the chair in the car and went in. I asked if they sold the rentals, should we choose to buy and they said they would and also would apply the $50 rental towards the $200 purchase. I said, “Write it up!”   So, we now own a wheelchair. I was going to go purchase one anyway and this one is a better quality than I have looked at. Later, we met our friends, Mike and Laura (who live in 29 Palms) at El Matador, for dinner. They came by and visited with us and Mike and Cheri. We watched the college championship game and also visited with everyone. It was a short drive but we were both ready for bed a little later!

Tuesday, Jan 14^th, 2020……  This morning we hung around the campground again after we said our goodbyes to Rick and Janie and Mike and Cheri. They were going home and we had to time it to be in Long Beach after 2:00pm which was check-in at Golden Shore Rv Resort. This park is really close to the aquarium and the Queen Mary. It’s really nice and they gave us a beautiful level manicured parking spot. It just needed a little more room for the car! We had arranged to meet up with Bud and Linda Carpenter at Famous Dave’s for dinner. It’s now called Q’s Steakhouse but everything is still the same. We had a nice meal (I overate!) and then they followed us back to the coach so we could visit a bit. Lydia was doing ok but was ready for bed a little later after they left.

Wednesday, Jan 15^th, 2020…… This morning was special for me. I got up around 6:30am and got dressed and got the car ready for Rylee. She and I took off and headed over to our old neighborhood. My goal was to walk her in our little park, down the street from our old house. I found Dori and her pit bull Wally and we had a great time catching up. Merilyn came out with her yellow lab Sunny and I ended up letting butthead off leash and they all had a great time playing. I walked down our street and saw our old house (didn’t stop to see anyone) and then went back to the car and drove around a bit before coming back to the motorhome. It was neat to see everything again. Some still the same but some things have really changed – like the shopping center at Douglas Park. That is the old McDonnell Douglas/Boeing Long Beach location. It was just starting to develop but now is full of shops and industrial buildings. Amazing!  Later, Ken and Sandie came by the park and we all went out to The Park Pantry for lunch. We had talked about Bubba Gumps but this was much better (and cheaper!).  It was nice to see them again. Later, we met the kids at Gladstone’s for dinner. Since we had a nice lunch, we each got a bowl of chowder and shared the scallops dinner. I liked everything but Lydia could not eat the quinoa.  Afterward, they came back to the rig and we visited for a while. Once they left, I walked Rylee again and later we headed off to bed.    

Thursday, Jan 16^th, 2020…… Today was Lydia’s day!  She got up and got ready for her luncheon with her ‘lunch ladies’ from work. These ladies have been doing lunches once a week for many years now, but those are always on Mondays and we couldn’t be here in time to make that one. Sooo..., they decided to do another one for Lydia’s Luncheon. I drove her to the Olive Garden in Cypress and ‘handed’ her off to the girls and then went back home. On the way, I stopped by Dillion RV and got a door latch to replace one that broke earlier on the trip. I came back to the rig and got that installed and then called and made reservations for the next two days when we leave to head home. We aren’t taking the 99 this time. We will travel up I5 the whole way. So, I had searched for rv parks that matched the distance/miles we need to make each day. I chose Santa Nella RV Park (280 mi.) and Durango RV Resort (230 mi.) in Red Bluff. We had seen this last park after leaving Redding and we wanted to try it. That will make the last leg home 380 mi. so we’ll see if that will be a wise choice. Checking the weather app, I see there is currently rain and fog on Siskiyou Summit. But the forecast looks pretty good for Sunday when we hit that area.  After getting that all done, I rested for a while and watched tv until I got the text to go back to pick her up. I spent some time with the ladies before we left. They were sure glad to see Lydia and said she was looking good but they were all also worried about her foot. Lydia promised to post her results when we get back and all of that is done. On the way home, the tried to hook up with either Brian or Jeff to see if either was home since it was on our way and we could stop by for a few minutes.  But both of them were out working today. We are still hoping to make their wedding in Palm Springs in March but that will now be pending her labs and diagnosis.

Later, the kids came by with tacos from Pancho’s. We always have liked going there and it’s on the way here so, duuhh! That gave Lydia a chance to stay in and keep her foot up so that worked out.  Once we said our goodbyes and hugs all around, they left, and we relaxed and watched tv until bedtime.     

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #3 – The FMCA Rally Week

 

Note:  This is a week load of posts and may be a long read because the fairgrounds does not have WiFi and I just stacked up the days into one blog.

Tuesday, Jan 7^th, 2020…… I was up and going by 6:00am this morning. All of this to travel less than a ½ mile to the fairgrounds!  I got the tanks dumped and Lydia’s tea going. Maryanne was coming down to drive the Honda but called and said she needed to stay in the rig with her husband who gets nervous. So, I asked Jennifer. They aren’t towing and she is available and said she could help us out.  All of the rigs have an order to line up in. We tried to get everyone in order by number as we left camp but there were a few lagging behind. No worries – the staging area was big enough for us to adjust and let everyone get in line. The wagonmaster got us all going and we drove in and, although it took some doing, we all got parked and plugged in and hooked up. We have to be careful here because they do not have sewers hookups. We plan to eat out a lot and conserve the water used for dishes – which is actually more than when taking a shower if you can believe that!  We all sat around and then each of us ventured up to the registration area and picked up our packets. We are mostly first timers to an FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) rally so all of us will be going to the first-timer’s orientation tomorrow, when the rally actually begins. We have heard that they will have around 650-700 rvs here this week. FMCA just recently allowed non-motorized rvs in the assoc. so there are a few 5^th wheels and trailers here now. But all told, even with the new members, the numbers are down from last year. Still a ton of people milling around and enjoying the week! We decided to go to Farmer Boys for an easy dinner. We both chose their cobb salad and we split an order of onion rings. Pretty good! Once we were done there, we went to Costco with Rick & Janie. Mike and Cheri went to Walmart. Together, we were tasked with getting all the stuff for two in-camp BBQs - hamburgers on Wednesday and Hot Dogs on Friday. We will total everything and divide by 12 rigs. Easy and simple. After getting back and resting and watching tv, it was time to call it a night.      

 

Wednesday, Jan 8^th, 2020…… Happy Birthday Sis!   Slept great last night! We had two blips in our power – once late last night and once more this morning. It means we have to wait each time for the Directv boxes to reboot but we were the lucky ones. There was an issue with feed from the generator and some of the electrical wasn’t operational until mid-morning. The maintenance folks were quick to get on the problem and even though they disconnected everyone a few times, they managed to finally get it resolved. I walked down to the coffee and donuts area and also managed to make Lydia tea between outages. So, that meant an early lunch.  We ate leftover steak burritos. We also called to sing happy birthday to my sister. She and Jody and Janice were eating breakfast at Kevin’s! They had their day planned and she told us about it. We left them to eat and at 11:30am, Lydia and Rylee kicked back in the rig and I made my way to the orientation, which was followed by a tour of duty at our recruitment table, given to us to use as a new chapter. Turns out we had plenty of help so most of us stood out in front of our table and talked with those interested. There are only a couple of chapters in SoCal and those are huge, so we offer something more casual and less structured than the big clubs (2 of our 12 here this week are guests). Maybe we’ll get some interest… The Club could use some new blood!  I also found Lon Cross. Lon is the Western Director for FMCA and is running this whole rally!  He is also married to a former Camping Squares member Chris Neely (at the time) who we have known for years before they dropped out of the Club. I asked him to ask Chris if she still remembered us because that was probably 20 years ago. After everything closed down, we headed back to the group and started our bbq. Gary drafted me to help him with the burgers. He and I and Jack got the burgers on and off the grill and fed the group. Later, we hung around the area until it got dark and Lydia got cold. She went in and settled in with her feet up and I headed over with some of the Club to play bingo. They did this very well. You get two packets of game cards with six per game and 11 games total for $5.00. Then you can also buy a bonus game for $1.00. The eleven games averaged around $140.00 each game (split if there were multiple winners) and the bonus game was for $500.00. Out of our group of 11, only Rick won. He hit a four corners game and split with two others. I think he got $46.00. I came back with everyone and walked Rylee before coming in calling it a night.

      

         

Thursday, Jan 9^th, 2020……   Today the seminars start. I think there were around 30 going on today. I haven’t found anything yet that I MUST go to so I spent most of the time in the vendor buildings that have just about anything you need or don’t need for your rv. I also took some time to head off to Walmart market to pick up some more water and beer and cookies for when Raymond and Frances come visit us at Catalina Spas on Sunday. Lydia has been mostly hanging around the rig. It’s chilly until the sun comes up and is warm enough so that she can go out and get some sun and visit. We decided to go to Sloane’s for dinner tonight and then we want to go to the opening ceremonies and the evening entertainment. As a new chapter, we are getting a mention and a flag at the opening. Turns out it’s a banner and will be presented on Friday night. The Neon Circus, a Brooks and Dunn tribute band, performed tonight. They were just ok. We kept waiting for the energy level to pick up but it didn’t until the last couple of songs. Lydia was having a good time even though she was very uncomfortable.

Friday, Jan 10^th, 2020……  Happy Birthday Sandie!  Last night was tough for Lydia even though she was in her wheelchair and that made it convenient at the ceremonies. But I guess the rest of the evening wore her out. She has only taken the prescription hydrocodone only two times since we left home so she was hanging in there until last night. She had throbbing pain and was in tears. She took a oxycodone and it took an hour before everything calmed down and she was able to sleep. Today she has the lady’s luncheon and she wants to go but we’ll see….

I walked and fed Rylee and then walked down and got coffee (for me) and donuts for us for breakfast and then I tracked down the guys out in the fairgrounds that were washing rvs and go on their schedule. The price was fair ($3 per ft.). They would be able to get to me this afternoon. So that meant I could get Lydia up to the building for the luncheon. I did that and got her in line with the girls and headed back home. The washers showed up and had lunch before they started on my coach. Of course I offered them a little liquid refreshment beforehand. I hope that helped because they did a wonderful job on the coach. Even the roof!  After picking Lydia back up, we all sat out around the party area and relaxed until dinnertime. Nobody had any plans in concrete so I thought we would check out the food concessions in the fairgrounds. The rally folks had brought in two – one with bbq and the other Mexican food. We chose Mexican. I went down and got a couple of tacos for Lydia and a carne asada burrito for me. I think I will go back there tomorrow and get a chorizo burrito for breakfast!  We settled back in and watched tv until it was time to head off to the evening entertainment. Lydia chose to pass and stay home and rest her foot. I took my camp chair and sat in the back with other Club members. The chairs in that hall are extremely uncomfortable for longer periods so it was worth taking it tonight! The entertainment was comedian Dick Hardwick who was very very funny. After the show, I came back in and checked on Lydia who was in bed but awake and watching tv. We sat up and talked a bit about tomorrow’s plans and then I watched tv for a while before calling it a night. It’s super quiet and not any lights shining down onto the rig so it makes for good sleeping.

Saturday, Jan 11^th, 2020…… Last day of the Rally.  This morning I got up and got showered and dressed and then took Rylee for our walk and went down by the Mexican Food concession and got my chorizo burrito. When I brought it back, Lydia was interested in their bacon and egg breakfast burrito so I went back and got hers. By then it was close to a seminar I wanted to attend, so I headed off to that. I checked in on the drawing winners for the week, but we didn’t win. I took in a seminar about estate planning. Being in Oregon is different when setting up a living trust so I was able to pick up some good info.  We have a goal - now that we are up in Oregon - to get going on that this year!

Lydia stayed in the rig most of the day and kept her foot up. It looks swollen but she says she is doing ok. Tonight, we will have another bbq here in camp. This time we are doing hot dogs. The last night’s entertainment is the Alley Cats (acapella doo wop). Lydia probably will not go. We have seen them before and they are very exciting. I will take my chair again since that was way more comfortable than sitting on those puny chairs.

I took a bunch of photos around and in the buildings and just wanted to post a few here at the end.      

          

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #2 – On the Road Again!

 

Saturday, Jan 4^th, 2020…… We got up and got rolling around 8:30am. The drive from Redding to Fresno was no biggie. Just the rough roads on the 99. Don’t miss that! We wanted to go to Riverland Rv Resort just south of town. But when we did some calculating, we decided to drive ahead to Bakersfield and stay there. It takes 109 miles off of tomorrow’s trip. Yes, it was a long day today but I was good to go. The water pump is working again. I’m not sure what I did so if it happens again, I going to still be stumped The Honda is still dead when we pull into camp. I changed the fuse for tomorrow but I’m thinking that the plug-in to the car has a bad connection to the hot wire that charges the car. No power – no charge! I will have two days in Indio to work on it. Once we checked into Bakersfield RV Resort, we got everything set up and working and fed Rylee and walked over to the campground’s restaurant and had a nice dinner. Once we got back and I had Rylee out for a nice long walk, it was time to come back in and relax until bedtime.

 

Sunday, Jan 5^th, 2020…… I showered last night so we could get an early start. The next campground (Indian Waters) does not allow check-ins before 1:00pm but that will not be an issue. Even though we are leaving early, I anticipate the usual Sunday traffic going through LA area.

After we got up and going, I went out and tried to start the Honda. It needs to run so you can go through the gears before towing. No luck. My jumper cables are in a storage area in the back of the car and the back hatch was locked!  I had to borrow jumper cables from a neighbor. But we got it started and we got out of camp at 8:30am and headed up and over the grapevine (no issues – just slow climbing).  It turned out to be a lot lighter traffic day. We got into Indio and into Indian Waters RV Resort. They gave us a back-in so I had to unhook at the office. But I asked the parking crew for a jump and they got me started. Our friend Mike was there and drove the car to our site while I parked the rig. We have 5 rigs in camp today. The remaining 7 will be in tomorrow. On Tuesday, we will all caravan over to the fairgrounds so we can all be parked together for the rally. It was nice to see everyone again. We spent time visiting and getting caught up. Later, Gary and Lorna, Rick and Janie, and us went out to Islands for dinner. We had a nice meal. Once we got back to camp, we settled in and had a good night’s sleep. It will be nice not to have to break camp and drive.   

         

Monday, Jan 6^th, 2020……   We slept in a later than normal and I got up and got showered and got going for the day. Nothing much to do today. I made us bacon and eggs and Lydia relaxed in her chair and then got up and got her shower. It went ok but she needed to get her foot back up pretty quickly. The rest of our coaches showed up later in the day and got parked and later we all had a short meeting to discuss plans for caravanning to the rally tomorrow morning. The arrival time is now 8:00am (from 10:00am) so we have to now get up and going earlier than expected. No worries for us. I needed to clean up my battery terminals and I got that completed today. Maybe we will be good now. I won’t know until we break camp at the fairgrounds next Sunday. Janie and I went out and did a little shopping. I bought myself a new pillow for my bed. Thanks for the Bed Bath and Beyond coupons Janie! While we were out, we also stopped and rented Lydia a wheelchair for the week. It was only $50.00 and we can use it all the way up til we leave Catalina Spas next Monday. It will make going to seminars and luncheons and dinners (and to the spa later) easier for her. I made us steak burritos and after I cleaned up, I showered and picked up most everything in the rig so I won’t have too much to do tomorrow morning. We watched tv until bedtime.    

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #1 – New Year’s Day and Then We’re Heading Out!

 

Wednesday, Jan 1^st, 2020…… Happy New Year! We slept in a bit and when we finally got up and going, and the dogs walked, I made egg sandwiches for breakfast and we had coffee/tea and relaxed and watched the Rose Parade. Sis went home to shower and check on her house and run some errands before coming back here for the day. Lydia is still relaxing and keeping her foot elevated. She can only go so far before it swells up and gets even more painful.  But she only has to rest today. I think everything is in order. She will have to get her makeup and personal stuff together to go out there tomorrow or Friday morning. The plan today was to have an easy dinner. Nothing is easier than going to pick up pizza! We called it in and then sis and I went to go pick it up. We each made salads from their salad bar. I think I got enough for us!  This time we thought the pizza was a little too spicy. Not sure whether there is a spicy sausage choice or not but we definitely felt it later that night! We spent the rest of the evening catching up on some of our taped shows before calling it a night.

Thursday, Jan 2^nd, 2020…… Last day here! I was asked by my neighbor, Lou, to feed his cats. He has taken his dogs over to his daughter in Albany but has been feeding the neighborhood cats out of his garage for some time now. He will be home on Sunday but I told him I could go feed them on Thursday and Friday before we leave. I took Rylee out and we diverted to Lou’s house and I got the first day taken care of. Then it was home to have breakfast and give Rylee a bath. I just took her into the shower with me and we made pretty quick work of the task. I took my shower after getting her out and toweled off. Hopefully, she will stay clean on the trip! I loaded up the last of the food from both the fridge and the freezer. Sis came over and they got Lydia’s hair care stuff and last-minute clothes thrown in the basket and we took them out and got them put in the mh. I still need to load my laptop and Rylee’s beds in the mh.  All that I need to do tomorrow is pull the coach out and hook up the Honda and we can get going.

Since we didn’t want the pizza for dinner, I took off and got us burgers and fries for a quick meal. We went to bed early but I couldn’t fall asleep – typical for me the night before we take the mh out.   

         

Friday, Jan 3^rd, 2020……  On the road today!  I slept ok, once I fell asleep. Lydia said she was ok last night. Still has a lot of pain right when she stretches her ankle and gets up to go to the bathroom. But she’s ready to travel. I got showered and ready and took Rylee out and stopped and did the last cat-feeding. Then I went out and got us breakfast since everything is in the rig! The plan was to leave about 9:00am or so. We had a 350-mile-trip down to Redding CA for our first stop. I did have to stop and get some more fuel in the rig and did that in Oakland OR. We made it over Siskiyou Summit with no issues and pretty good weather and got into our first rv park (JGW just south of Redding) about 4:00pm.  My biggest issue was that the Honda battery was dead again. I had to jump it. I have an inline fuse around the battery that has to be working in order for the mh to charge the car. It looks good so I’m stumped! Another issue was the water pump in the mh.  We have water when we are hooked up in an rv park but for some reason the water pump in the coach isn’t getting any power. I’m thinking that the guy who did the fridge way back in 2018 turned off the pump in order to reinstall the unit. I just have to find out where that is. Could be a fuse too. We fixed fish sandwiches for dinner then turned up the heater and relaxed and watched tv before calling it a night. Rylee is doing ok. She’s anxious to get out of the coach whenever we stop but that is normal for her to want to go explore! Tomorrow we head 330 miles to just south of Fresno.  

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #121 – Getting Ready for the Trip & a Quiet New Years Eve

 

Sunday, Dec 29^th, 2019…… It was a good night for Lydia. She slept well. She has been taking only Tylenol now for the past couple of days. I slept well too. After we woke up, we hung out in bed for a bit and played with Rylee. Then I got up and showered and took her out. That was about 8:00am.  No rain but it’s coming later. Temp was 45º when I got back to the house. Not bad for December! I went out and got us breakfast/coffee/tea and after I ate, I went out and connected water to the coach and filled the fresh water tank. Then I came back in and got some of my clothes for the trip and brought those out. Oh Oh – a problem!  I left the water on too long and it overflowed!  I had a layer of water on the garage floor under and around the coach!  I had to move the motorhome out in order to sweep it all out. Once that was done, I went back to work on my clothes and checked things to see what we need to add and take out and/or exchange. We have all of the usual things in there already (band-aids, Tylenol, antihistamine, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. etc.) but some of it was outdated and needed to be replaced. I also had a drawer full of bottled water and Gatorade. We found both the water and Gatorade was two years old so we dumped everything. I came back in and spent some time watching football and logging in my 2020 bill spreadsheet.  I have each item listed with a running total to see what we spent for that item for the year. So, for 2019, I was pleasantly surprised that the utilities continued to be so low. I only have one ongoing payment (the motorhome). Lydia has one credit card. I think we will be getting money out from Bobby (our finance guy) next year to pay it down. We also would like to start on another project in 2020 – the back porch, but we’ll see.

Like I said, Lydia had a good night. She felt really good today but didn’t do too much. I got her meds out and she built up her box for the next two weeks. We still have to carry her plastic bin with everything but we have a spot in the rig for that anyway. I have mine ready to go as well. Tomorrow morning she goes in for scheduled labs and while we’re out, we may go on to shop for this week’s groceries plus some non-perishables for the mh.       

         

Monday, Dec 30^th, 2019…… We both got up early this morning. While I took Rylee out and walked her, Lydia got up and got going. She can only have blood drawn 12 hours after her last meds. That was 9:00pm last night. So, we didn’t need to be at the hospital before 9:00am. We headed out and got the lab work done then went to Appletree for breakfast. Then it was over to Walmart for some groceries. Those all went into the rig. We rested up a bit, then I went out and checked out the water heater. I had turned it on electric this morning and the water was nice and hot. Then I switched over to diesel and it worked fine. The weather on the way down will be in the 40s at night so we also will need to run the heater(s). We hadn’t run any of these since we got here so I needed to make sure it all works. Everything checks out. UPS stopped by with her scooter!  I got it all assembled and she said she will be ok with it. Later, I took Lydia over to get her nails done and then went over to my sisters to help her put her Christmas decorations away. She came by later to drop off eggs and talk about New Year’s Eve and Day. We didn’t have lunch so we ate an early dinner and then watched tv until bedtime.     

Tuesday, Dec 31^st, 2019…… Not much planned for today. Football and loading some more items into the rig. Rick and Janie are getting Lydia’s old laptop so I loaded that up in the mh. I also had to choose some of Rylee’s many toys to throw in as well. She followed me all the way, “Why are you taking them out of my house?” We will take both her beds – one in the rig and one in the car when we travel with her. Before all of that, I made us scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. Lydia got showered and dressed and spent most of the morning getting her clothes sorted out. I loaded up some stuff for the freezer and some for the pantry that we won’t need before then. We always have a last-minute laundry basket of stuff from the fridge (butter, milk, etc.) to load in so I got that ready to load up on Friday morning.

Sis came over for the day and night. Her neighborhood gets a little crazy on New Year’s Eve and Quincy gets really nervous. There will be a lot of noise going on there. In fact, our local Walmart has had a pretty big display rack of fireworks out for sale for some time now! I’m betting folks have stocked up. We don’t have the houses here so that helps.  Of course, here we will probably have the folks on the property behind us shooting their guns again this year! They have a wide-open area (away from us) that they shoot out into. When we first moved here and experienced that, we were nervous until we saw where their shots were going. Hey they are OreGUNions!  One good thing about today is that we are supposed to get some pretty steady rain later in the evening. Maybe that will help keep ‘em inside!

Ok, later in the day now - we are relaxing and watching tv. Lydia and Penny have planned out dinner for today and tomorrow. I don’t know what it is but I bet I’ll be cooking both days!

Turns out we had enchiladas, which came from a frozen package. Penny stopped and got refried beans and rice from Tony’s and we heated that up. It was all pretty good. And easy!

We ate and relaxed and I watched the ball drop in New York. We didn’t stay up but we toasted and celebrated early!  Happy New Year to you all. May 2020 bring us all good health, happiness, and peace.  

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #120 – Taking Down Christmas & More Trip Planning

 

Thursday, Dec 26^th, 2019…… It turned out to be a busy day for me. I started out with getting Rylee walked and tea going for Lydia.  Then I headed over to my sisters and we left to head to Albany. We stopped at Rogers and had breakfast before hitting Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart looking for on sale Christmas items. I found three more Carole Towne houses for my collection. They were marked down 75% so I went nuts!  Couldn’t pass that up and that was the reason for my trip today!  Home Depot was a bust but we found other items we couldn’t pass up at Walmart. I also got my 2020 OR fishing license while there. Once we were done and back, I stayed at Penny’s house and we put up the last string of outdoor patio lights and wrapped up that project. Once I got home, I fixed Lydia a turkey sandwich and then started bringing in boxes for the Christmas stuff. I started on that and Sis came by to help. We got everything off the tree and all of the Christmas Village stuff boxed back up. I still have the tree to take down and box up plus outside lights to get down and put away. I also have the stars in the windows to store away plus all of the boxes to get back on the shelves in the shop garage. Lydia heard back today from the folks doing the ultrasound biopsy. They set it up for Jan. 20^th, the day after we return from Calif. That made the Jan. 2^nd ortho appointment unnecessary. That one got rescheduled later in the month. So, we are still on track to make the SoCal trip! Yaay! I worked on laundry for the rest of the afternoon and threw pot pies in the oven for an easy dinner. Lydia made herself a salad. We watched tv until bedtime.           

         

Friday, Dec 27^th, 2019…… Tough night for Lydia last night. She was up several times and ended up taking a hydrocodone to lessen the pain so she could sleep. She’s been really trying hard not to overmedicate. For the most part, her days are only Tylenol. She only uses the hydro or oxy at night when and if she needs it.

The weather here has been pretty good for the past week or so. No rain until last night. And it was out of the area when I got up this morning. It’s still chilly though. I know it’s winter down south too but I sure hope we get some warm sunny days while we are there! After breakfast, I started in on the rest of the laundry and while that was going, I worked on the Christmas decorations. I got the tree down and boxed and put out on the back porch. The other boxes followed that.  Then I went out to the front porch and started out there. My sister came over and together we got everything down and boxed and out to the garage and up on the shelves. I take pictures of the racks before I take the boxes down so I can make sure everything goes back easily. It worked well. We moved out the tractors and while they were outside, I hosed all of the grass and debris off of them before we put them back. Shoulda done that sooner!  Then, we came in and rested. I forgot to mention the new ladder display I had built for the Christmas village. That is still in place in the house. I will break it down tomorrow and it will be stored, probably up in the loft area in the front entryway.  Sis brought Q over and left her so she could go run errands. I settled in and watched more bowl games today. Later, I heated up ham, sweet potatoes (Lydia), scalloped potatoes (me), and green beans and we had a nice meal. We settled in and watched our shows (and football) until calling it a night.  

Saturday, Dec 28^th, 2019…… Cold again today. I was out and had Rylee walked early. I headed off to get coffee/tea/breakfast. Sis came by so she could help me with the ladder display. I took it all apart and she handed it to me and I put it up in the entryway loft area, where it is out of sight. Lydia had planned on going out to the rv and taking inventory of things before making a list for the trip. But, she felt nauseous while in the shower so I had her stay in the house and rest for the day. I vacuumed where the tree and ladder display were and I was done for the day. I spent some time reviewing the trip plan for next week. We leave next Friday. I needed to make one more reservation for the LA/Orange County area on the return part of the trip. We settled on Long Beach, primarily for the location to the kids. I have a reservation (made online) in their system at Golden Shores RV but still need to call on Monday and finish it with them in person. I watched the two semi-final bowl games plus a few others before turning over to my taped shows. Lydia spent most of the day watching a few of her programs she had taped in our bedroom. That is the receiver we will be taking with us for the bedroom tv in the rig. There is already one in the rig for the front area. We choose not to have the Directv genie system. While it allows viewing on any receiver in the house, you cannot remove it from the room. We both tape most of our shows on either her living room receiver, or my office receiver. But Lydia can tape shows on any of our four other receivers in the house/shop. On this trip, she wants to take our bedroom unit because she has shows on that one to catch up on while we are out. Since I was watching tv most of the afternoon, I forgot to get something out for dinner. So, I went out and got her a taco salad from Taco Bell and I went over to Stick a Pork in It to get a couple of their stuffed potato balls. Unfortunately, he didn’t make any for today’s menu so I ended up across the street at Jack in the Box and got a burger. I tried their egg rolls for the first time and found them to be very tasty! We settled in and watched tv until calling it a night.          

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #119 –  Getting the Scooter Ordered and Then Enjoying A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Monday, Dec 23^rd, 2019…… This morning, after walking Rylee, I had one chore to do – go check on the progress of Lydia’s knee scooter!  I drove over to the medical supply company and asked them where we were on it. She looked it up and confirmed what I thought – it was not approved by our insurance. She would submit it again but she said I could pay up front and then get reimbursed later – maybe! I asked her how much it would cost and she said $120.00. I was going to spend that on one online so I said ok. BUT – when she looked it up she found that the entire request that had gone through the system and been denied – was for a WALKER! Duuuhh!  No wonder it was denied. She called the warehouse and they could have a knee scooter delivered by 11:00am but the same thing applied – she would turn it in again and we could hope it would be approved – but, if I wanted it now, I would have to pay the price upfront. This time it was almost $300.00. I pretty much stormed out of there before saying something I shouldn’t. I did tell her to be sure not to send us anything for a customer review! I went home and we ordered one from Walmart.com which was $120.00 and with an extra sheepskin pad, and will be delivered before year-end. We also got refills from her doctor for pain meds which we would need in hand for the upcoming trip.

We decided to get out the lasagna from the freezer and get it eaten before we left. It was just ok. Neither of us was very hungry so we ate lightly on it. We finished up the evening watching our programs before calling it a night.    

         

Tuesday, Dec 24^th, 2019…… Today’s agenda was set for us. My sister was coming over for Christmas eve and will spend the night. She made a couple of trips with gifts and food. We are having salad, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, and rolls tonight. I got the eggs boiled and cut and the filling in and refrigerated. Sis and I cut up the green beans and got them going. She put the small white meat turkey in the crockpot and we waited for all of that to cook. We had to move the turkey to the toaster oven to finish browning. But it was worth the wait! Yummy!

Tomorrow we will have ham and sweet potatoes with the leftover beans, eggs, and rolls. We have two different pies for dessert. 

Wednesday, Dec 25^th, 2019…… MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!  We slept in a bit longer this morning. I got Rylee out and walked but she was really wanting to go play and run with the Q dog. She found her runway and I had to wipe her down. When we all got back in the house, we settled in and opened our gifts.  

I made mine and Lydia’s breakfast (we ate light) and my sister went home to visit with her neighbors a bit. She ate a quick breakfast and took a shower while there. When she got back, we facetimed with both Jeff and Krista and the grandkids and also with Randy and Maryanne. Sis did the same with Tim and Tamara. They all had a nice Christmas. Later, Sis and I got everything ready for dinner. Lydia came in once or twice and checked the progress and added her own touches where needed. It was a really good meal and we were stuffed! After that, we settled in and rested for the afternoon. Into the evening, my sister left to go home with Q and get into her jammies and rest.  later, into the evening, we snacked a bit and then watched tv and then called it a night.