Monday, 2/4 It is a sunny day here at the Jojoba SKP Park after a windy, rainy and nasty day yesterday. Quite a change from the weather we had on the desert! Darran, Elaine's son, drove up from San Diego to have brunch with us and he brought flowers for his Mom, since it was her birthday last week. He is looking good and it was wonderful to have several hours with him, just catching up on the happenings in his life. After he left, we just hung out in the RV and watched the Superbowl since the weather was so ugly we didn't want to go out. How nice that the game was an exciting one that wasn't decided until the last few minutes.

We arrived here from Boomerville, near Quartzsite, on Friday. We are parked in the boondocking area and have a nice view over the nearby valley and looking up at some hills. There was even snow on the top of those hills when we arrived and more fresh snow this morning! Saturday we shopped in nearby Temecula, which seems like it is growing into a huge city at an alarming rate. But here at the SKP park it is rural, quiet, and serene. Saturday night there were 16 Boomer friends helping Dick Schneider celebrate his birthday at Killarney's Irish Pub. The beer and food were good but the noise level was incredibly high so visiting with anyone not located right nearby was impossible. We were seated across from Laurie & Odel King, and near Carole Schneider, so we had very pleasant company. In fact, we will be having a tuna dinner with these same people this evening up at Dick and Carole's lot.

Most of the pictures below were taken at Boomerville, near Quartzsite, AZ. Besides shopping at the various stalls and the big tent in town, and attending social events and seminars at Boomerville, various daily tasks contributing to life on the road still had to be performed. Nancy gave Jerry a haircut on one of the windier days. Carolyn Kimpton had previously given me and Elaine haircuts (Thanks, Carolyn!) but we had her do it in our rig. Bruce and Maria, friends from our Panama trip in 2004, moved their big green bus over to park near us and joined us for Happy Hours around the campfire. Maria also joined the gals for beading sessions which were mostly held in Marilyn’s rig. Marilyn is a fantastic jewelry maker (see picture below) and also does beading. She was also the shopping expert when beads, crystals, wire or stones were needed and she coached everyone on where to buy and what to pay. I should have taken a few pictures of all the gals at work in her rig but I find that I snooze through photo ops occasionally, which is also why I don’t have a picture of the gang at the Irish Pub. I did have the camera available when our old friends, Lee & Susie Blattner brought Marv and Sylvia over for a visit on one of the sunnier days. They were heading for Phoenix the day we left for California so we won’t see them again for quite a while and we were pleased that they drove over for a visit.

Wednesday we will drive back to our lot at Park Sierra. There are taxes to do, things to finalize concerning the re-rental of our Santa Clara house, and packing to accomplish before we head for San Francisco airport on Feb. 26. We won’t arrive in Johannesburg until Feb. 28 and I’ll bet we will arrive with a serious case of jet lag! More later about our upcoming trip....

1/25/08 Another sunny day in Boomerville, which is where the Boomers gather in the desert outside of Quartzsite. Tomorrow or Sunday the rain which is hitting the west coast is due to arrive here, so we are enjoying today. There have been so many social gatherings it is hard to keep track or attend them all. Many of our RV friends are here and we are enjoying our interactions with them. This usually takes place at Happy Hour and often around the firepit in front of Mike and Marilyn's rig. Yesterday we joined Al & Donna Ellis over at the Happy Hour of the Rainbow groups. Tuesday we enjoyed a very entertaining afternoon with the RoVing Rods, who are camped on Plumosa Road. Ed Bonham and his band performed for several hours. Bob McCourt came in his kilt and played his bagpipe. Then Sharon arrived with her hammered dulcimer and joined Ed's group so they played again, after a very delicious potluck dinner. We saw many old friends we hadn't seen for years. In addition to all this, we have been going shopping occasionally in the Big Tent and today Elaine is out bead shopping with Marilyn so they will have the right stuff for some more jewelry projects. They are so creative! I must get my camera out so I can post some pictures of their jewelry.

1/12/08 Sorry about the long delay in updating this blog. Things haven't exactly been exciting and interesting for anyone except us, since we have been using our time here on the desert to try to catch up on things. And we still aren't caught up! Somehow, there just isn't enough time, even though we aren't working. Of course, as usual, we are doing our exercises daily and walking from 3 to 5 miles, so that takes a couple of hours. Then there is the social time every afternoon at Happy Hour, with Mike and Marilyn, and anyone else who shows up. In fact, now more friends have arrived: Ted Sudtell, Dee & Jim Osborne, Bob & Nancy Colbert, and Ken & Carolyn Kimpton. They are all on the picture below, taken at Happy Hour yesterday. And another friend pictured below is the little bird with yellow patches who was visiting us regularly at our previous location. The reason he kept coming was because he was using our hummingbird feeder - and you can clearly see that he is NOT a hummingbird!
Thursday evening we drove over to an RV park across Quartzsite called Rainbow Acres, where 5 rigs of RoVing Rods friends are staying. Lora and Gary Gill had us all over for a succulent spaghetti dinner and she made the meatballs with elk meat from the elk that Gary had recently shot up in Montana. They were delicious. After dinner, we all adjourned to Ed Bonham's place for a nice campfire and dessert. We also got to see the many beautiful shells that he and his wife acquired during their diving days. It was good to see RoVing Rod friends that we hadn't seen for a while: Ron & Barb Bonham, Chuck and Pebby Palumbo, and Lora and Gary Gill.
Friday found us over at Rainbow Acres again because there was a park-wide yard sale which we went to with Bob & Nancy. There were lots of good bargains and we got our walk in while searching for them. Afterwards we went to visit Lee & Susie Blattner, who were camped in Ehrenburg with the Boondockers, on our way to Blythe to buy some groceries. While we were driving over there, we got a call from the visa service we are using to get a visa for Mozambique. They said that the pictures we enclosed weren't acceptable and we had to send new ones. Great, where does one get passport photos in Blythe??!! Turns out that the first place we tried, Rite-Aid did them for $7.99. Then we went to Albertson's and they do them too - for $6.99! What a surprise after we thought we might have to drive quite a distance to get them.
The weather has been absolutely beautiful the past few days with sunny days in the low 70's. Nighttime temps get down to the low 40's, so we are glad to have an efficient propane heater. The next week will see many more Boomer friends arriving and we are looking forward to good visits with them. Opps, the football playoffs are starting so I'll close and join Ken & Mike in cheering for our favorite teams. Just think, here we are out in the desert and we have all the comforts and conveniences, such as unlimited internet and satellite TV! We love it.

12/28/07 Hello from Quartzsite. We drove here yesterday with Mike and Marilyn Harrison and are now set up on the desert where we are enjoying peace and quiet. After driving up to Phoenix on Christmas Day to be with their family, we didn't want to have to drive all the way back to Yuma to have New Year's with the Boomers at Mittrey Lake. Hopefully, most of the people there will be coming up here in a few weeks and we will get to see them then.
Christmas Eve we enjoyed a very nice dinner hosted by Elaine's cousin Tom, at El Conquistador Restaurant. Besides Elaine and I, the dinner was also attended by Penny, her sister, Aunt Marion, and quite a few of Tom's clients and neighbors. Then we had a gift exchange at Aunt Marion's. It capped off a three day visit with Aunt Marion. We were happy to have some good visiting time with her and also with Penny. The next day we drove up to Phoenix to be with Mike & Marilyn's family for Christmas Day dinner. It was quite enjoyable and we were happy to meet their relatives and friends. Unfortunately, I didn't take any good pictures to put here. We spent 2 nights camping on a street near their daughter's house and the second night the police showed up because someone in the neighborhood complained. They were nice about it and didn't push us out when we said we were leaving the next day. The next morning we drove to Beads Galore so Elaine and Marilyn could get some more supplies. It is one of the biggest places for this and they got lots of nice crystals, silver fasteners, etc. I suppose they will be making some nice jewelry pretty soon while we are camped out here.
Today we spent a little time collecting dry wood for campfires and building a nice fire pit. If you are in the area, stop by at Happy Hour for a campfire, a libation, and some conversation.

12/16/07 Today I finally got our Christmas letter written and sent and a copy of it is below, in case you didn't get one sent to you. There are now 8 rigs of friends out here at Sidewinder Road and we have been having enjoyable social times. Usually we all meet and walk together every morning at 9:30 with some of us walking 2 miles and Elaine, Nancy Hurley and I walking 4 or 5 miles. This sounds like a lot but with all the group meals we have been having, we need to walk off the calories! Then we each do our own thing during the day and we meet again at 3:30 to go for another shorter walk. Happy Hour around the campfire, if there is no wind, or in someone's rig usually follows, if there is no group dinner planned. There have been several wonderful dinners for the whole gang, 2 put on by Jerry and Nancy Hurley, 2 by Mary & Elaine, one by Nancy and Bob, and the biggest one the other night (14 people) in Gretchen and Frank Knapp's rig. Most of the people here will be moving over to Mittrey Lake on the 22nd to take part in the Boomer Christmas gathering. We will be heading for Tucson to have Christmas with Elaine's sister, aunt, and cousins. Then on Christmas Day we will join Mike & Marilyn Harrison in Phoenix at their daughter Darcy's place for another Christmas celebration. Other friends in that area might also be seeing us in the following days.
One of the best parts of camping out here on the desert are the fabulous sunsets whenever there are any clouds. I am attaching a picture below, although we have quite an array of amazing ones that we took, because as we sit through the changes, the color changes and intensity changes are incredible.
Tomorrow we will be heading back to Algodones, the nearest Mexican town, to buy some good tequila. Jerry and Nancy Hurley have exposed us to a new one, which is very good especially when you drink it straight with some limon. Try to get some Herencia del Plata tequila (in the blue box) and you will see what we mean. When we compared it to Jose Cuervo, we realized how harsh the Cuervo is compared to the Herencia. Life is too short to drink cheap tequila!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR
Dec. 2007

Once again it is the time of year when we start getting e-cards and letters from friends and family and we always say, “Where the heck has the last year gone??!!” I guess that means that we have been having a good time because that is when time really seems to fly away. Well, we love hearing from everyone and sure hope that the following missive from us will be of interest to you too.

Our year started with a new motorhome, which we acquired at the very end of 2006. It is a 2005 Seabreeze LX which is 34 feet long, and increase of 11 feet from our last one. And it has 2 slideouts, which make it even more spacious. It was offered on eBay and by driving all the way to Denton, TX to get it before the end of the year, we got a great deal. It only had 4058 miles on it and was like new. It has become our “party house” because we now have a larger rig than lots of our friends, so when the weather is windy or cold, the gang ends up in our rig. Fun. It also means we have to be really careful when we make tight turns or try to park it.

Because we were coming back from Texas, we missed the New Year’s gathering with the Boomers at Sidewinder Road near Yuma. But we did have many other happy times camping with the Boomers and the RoVing Rods (our fishing group) in Arizona through February and March and later in the year. The annual gathering at Quartzsite in January was a highlight because it is a chance to reconnect with so many of our RVing friends.

This has been an unusual year for us, as we did not spend very much time traveling outside the United States. Our only foreign trip was a trans-Atlantic cruise from Galveston, TX to Barcelona, Spain in mid-April. We have taken this cruise before, so the appeal of it was not the ports of call but just the cruising experience, which was greatly enhanced by the friends who were cruising with us. Daily Happy Hours in someone’s stateroom and gourmet dinners every night pretty much sabotaged our good intentions to stay slim and trim, but Hey, there is time for all that later, right? After arriving in Spain, we flew to Seville where Elaine’s nephew picked us up and we had a nice visit with his family at Maron Air Force Base where he was a squadron commander. It is always enjoyable to have warm weather, a different and interesting culture, and family or friends with whom to share it.

It was a good thing we weren’t lingering in Europe this year because we got an unexpected 30 day notice from our tenants in the Santa Clara house and we had to deal with that immediately upon our return. Although the house selling market is in the toilet just about everywhere, luckily for us the rental market is still strong and we had no trouble re-renting it after some painting and cleanup. Every time we fix up a place like this, we say we are getting too darn old to be working this hard but, after all is said and done, rentals are our only retirement income!

Then we had to hightail it up to Washington, as we had accepted a job at a Forest Service campground called Lake Kachess. The goal of working at all was to get one more quarter of Social Security credit for me so I could qualify for Medicare eventually, because at $7.93/hour, we weren’t exactly getting rich working at this job! Happily, we had a convivial relationship with all of our fellow workers there and the campground was in a heavily wooded area right on a big and beautiful lake, just east of Snoqualmie Pass. We managed 2 of the loops, which encompassed 50 campsites. Supposedly we were being paid for 30 hours per week, but in actuality, we probably worked 60. It wasn’t hard or nasty work but the hard part for us was just that we had to be in the same place for 3 months. In 13 years of being full time RVers, we had never stayed anywhere longer than a month before. Our on-site managers were delightful, but the area managers managed to stress out the entire staff every time they visited. That was an on-going problem, and we also had some unexpected incidents. The worst incident was when a freak wind swept across the lake and toppled more than a dozen old growth hemlock trees right in a couple of the camping loops. It was very lucky that people weren’t injured or killed, as several of these huge trees landed directly on a tent trailer, a tent, and a car, and blocked a lot of the roads needed to evacuate people. One of the best parts of being at Lake Kachess for nearly 3 months was that our family and friends knew where we were going to be for a while. There was a pretty steady stream of visitors, which we greatly enjoyed.

Eventually a few of the confrontations between our staff and the area managers got to us and we quit the job in mid-August. The RoVing Rods were fishing for salmon at Sekiu, on the Olympic Peninsula, and Elaine was itching to join them. It was wonderful to be with our friends in the group and also to be catching, smoking, and canning salmon to be enjoyed for months to come. This event was followed by the crabbing gathering at Winchester Bay, OR. Good thing it is a beautiful area to stay in and the social part of the event is so enjoyable because this year the actual crabbing and salmon fishing there was dismal. It didn’t help when 2 of our traps were stolen the very first time we put them out! The weather was fairly good this year all through the gathering. We were going to stay for another week but then rain and cold came in right after it was over. Our tenants in Roseville also surprised us with a 30 day notice, so we started heading south.

Boomer friends have a home on Agency Lake, near Klamath Falls, and we stopped to visit them. Crater Lake is only about 35 miles from their home so we all drove up there on an excursion. There was fresh snow everywhere (and not just a “dusting”), and it was beautiful to be up there, but quite a surprise as it was only Oct. 2 when we were there.

After visiting my daughter and granddaughters in the Reno area, and checking on the Roseville house, we proceeded to the Bay Area. Besides checking on the other rentals, we wanted to see Elaine’s daughter Tarra, who lives in Fremont, and my son, Thomas, who lives in San Francisco. While we were there, Tarra was fine the first day and then got sick. We returned to our lot at Park Sierra but then in a few days returned to Fremont as Tarra was so sick she had to be hospitalized. Tests showed that she had bacterial spinal meningitis, a staph infection, and an e. coli infection. They put her on massive doses of antibiotics, which continued when she was released after 9 days. Luckily, she is doing fine now because this was a very serious situation.

Once again we were able to fix up our vacant rental and get new tenants quickly. This allowed us to pack up our RV for winter and head for the Arizona deserts where we are currently camped with Boomer friends. Thanksgiving found us enjoying a delicious feast and socializing with the RoVing Rods at Mittry Lake near Yuma. For Christmas we will drive over to Tucson to be with Elaine’s sister Penny, Aunt Marion, and cousins Tom & Lucienne. Christmas Day we will drive to Phoenix to be with Mike & Marilyn Harrison and their daughter, Darcy.

As always, we are looking forward to new places to explore in the coming year. In late February we will be flying to Johannesburg, South Africa where we will pick up a 25 day safari tour ending in Capetown. After a month there, we will take another safari tour through Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia, ending at Victoria Falls in Livingstone. Then we just have to get ourselves back to the USA in mid-May. This is a trip I have wanted to do my entire life and I have high hopes for lots of animal viewing. If you are interested in reading travel reports from this trip, or in fact just checking on our whereabouts at any time, please access our blog: www.cannellane.blogspot.com.

As we travel the highways and byways in the next year, we are hoping that our paths will cross with many of you receiving this letter. Please e-mail us with your own news as we are always interested in your happenings. We are wishing you the happiest of Christmases and a wonderful year in 2008.

Love, Mary & Elaine

12/4/07 Hello from Sidewinder Road. This is a desert boondocking spot on a gravel road off Ogilby Road west of Yuma, AZ. We have been having generally sunny and warm weather with only occasion windy days. When we first arrived, our friends Ed & Jolene Northup were the only ones here.

They joined us on some walks, we had Happy Hours together, and Saturday we all went to the Arizona Marketplace flea market together. Friday, Nancy and Jerry Hurley arrived to camp with us, just in time for the big rainstorm that went through this area. We had a wine tasting Happy Hour in our rig and it was raining so hard that no one wanted to go back to their own rigs. Finally the party broke up at 8:30 and it was still pouring! The next day when we went out for our walk, the road looked like a river bottom, it was so torn up and littered with branches and debris. Our friends Bob & Nancy Colbert were supposed to come that day and we were concerned that they would get stuck on the road. But by the time they arrived, the work crews had been through here and graded the road. There are now about 4 soft spots but Bob and Nancy made it in Saturday afternoon with no problem. They are now parked next to us and we are happy to be with them again.
We have been to Algodones (the nearest Mexican town) twice; once to make a dental appointment for Elaine and the next time for the actual work. She had a chip that needed to be repaired last year in Cairo, and now it needed to be done again. It cost $42 in Cairo and $35 in Mexico - both prices far below what it would have cost in the US. The lines getting through customs to get back to the USA which were long and slow last year, are much better this year. Although, the customs guys are being tight about what you can bring back. Yesterday Nancy and Jerry met a couple that were turned back for trying to cross with 4 pairs of sunglasses!!
It seems that often Elaine and I are trying to find time to catch up on paperwork, computer stuff, RV fixup, etc. and this is our chance to do those things. Each morning we go for a walk and each afternoon there is a convivial Happy Hour but those are the only demands on our time.

One thing we were trying to find time to do was plan a trip to South Africa and now we have done that. We have booked a 25 day safari/tour from Pretoria to Capetown, starting March 2. Once in Capetown, we will stay with friends for a short while in order to find an apartment to rent until April 22. Then we leave on our second safari/tour which will be 21 days, going through Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia, and ending in Livingstone where Victoria Falls are located. After that we will have to get ourselves back to Johannesburg for the flight home. We haven't booked our airfare yet but we will be working on that soon.
Other Boomer friends will be showing up soon no doubt, because lots of people are planning to be at the Christmas/New Year’s gathering which will be held at Mittry Lake this year but which won’t start until about the 22^nd. There is a good chance that we will be driving to Tucson again for Christmas, to be with Elaine’s Aunt Marion, her son Tom and her daughter Lucienne, and Elaine’s sister, Penny. More on this next time.

11/24/07 It has been a busy time since our last post. Right after leaving Park Sierra, we spent 3 nights in San Diego, staying at the Poway Elks club. There are only 3 RV sites there and the parking was very tight, but the people are very helpful and friendly. Elaine's son, Darran, came over for dinner with his new girlfriend, Marielle. He is very happy and she is cute and likeable. He says he is serious about her, so perhaps soon there will be a big announcement. Unfortunately, right after they left, I got sick with an intestinal bug and had it for the next few days. That put a damper on our visit the next day with old friends Sally and Kathy. They had free passes for all of us so we went to the San Diego Zoo. Elaine and I had not been there since we had Tarra and Darran there when they were small and they broke out in chicken pox while we were on top of the tram. Taking the tram all around the zoo and then doing a short walk to see just a few animals really wiped me out, so it was a short day there. Kathy and Sally fixed a nice dinner and we had a great visit.
Then we drove over to Yuma, and out to Mittry Lake where the RoVing Rods were gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving. There were about 8 rigs here when we arrived on Tuesday evening. A few more came the next day and some folks drove out in their cars just for Thanksgiving day and the delicious dinner. Since everyone contributes, the dinner prep isn't too hard on anyone. Bruce and Bunny prepared a trash can turkey (see the steps in the pictures below), and Ron Bonham smoked a turkey and a ham. Stan Lindner prepared several Canada geese that he had shot up in Alberta. Surprisingly, the cooked meat tastes kind of like beef tri-tip. We made a big salad, and fixed 2 big pans of yams and some broccoli. Of course, there were many other side dishes and lots of different pies. Luckily, it was a sunny and beautiful day, with no wind, and we were happy to be outside. Ed Broz brought out his button box (or squeeze box) and entertained us before dinner. Dinner left us all stuffed, so I took a walk with Doc and Billie while Elaine rested. By now she had the same illness that I had in San Diego, but she wasn't as sick. She was even able to eat on Thanksgiving Day. There was so much food leftover that we had another group dinner the next night. This time, Ed Bonham arrived and so did the members of his "band", so they set up their equipment and performed a 2 hour concert for all of us last evening. We all sat around roaring fires and listened intently. How lucky we are to be in groups where there are such talented people!
Last summer when we were campground hosts at Lake Kachess, another camp host named Frank became our very good friend. He lives here in Yuma with his partner, Andy (see picture below). So he drove out yesterday and we had a happy reunion with him. He invited us to a breakfast today, with about 8 of his friends, after which we all went for a hike out in the foothills. Frank has gotten obsessed with geocaching and that was the goal of the hike, to find some of these sites. We were happy to just go along and have some visiting time with all of Frank's friends, whom we had met last summer too.
Another couple of guys, Fred and Marty, whom we met on a beach in Baja about 6 years ago had e-mailed us that they were going to be here at Mittry Lake for Thanksgiving. So we drove up to the canal area and there they were. We had a very nice visit with them, and were happy to see how well they are doing. They are returning to Baja in January and trying to convince us to go too!
We are trying to use part of our time here to do some research for our next international trip. I am pushing for us to go to South Africa for March, April and May, but we haven't made any definite arrangements yet. In the meantime, we will be staying down here in Arizona where we are hoping for warmth. We are hoping to go out to the Sidewinder Road area where the Boomers have gathered in past years, but no one was out there over Thanksgiving. Perhaps if we go out there, more will show up!

11/16/07 This will be our last night at Park Sierra, as we have decided to join the RoVing Rods for Thanksgiving down at Mittrey Lake near Yuma, AZ. We have had a nice time here at the park, mainly because there are such nice people here and also the weather has been great too. Some chores we always put off have been done, such as washing and waxing the car and RV, we have had some medical tests, and done a bit of reorganizing. Tomorrow we leave for San Diego, where we will get to meet Darran's new girlfriend and (hooray) return about 6 boxes worth of stuff to him, which we have been storing in our shed for years! Then, after a visit with friends Kathy and Sally, we will be off to Yuma. Hopefully, we will be able to reconnect with other friends down there as well. The plan is that we will start to do some travel research and decide on a place to go for our next international trip, and start making definite arrangements.
Today we had a very enjoyable Happy Hour here at the park and were delighted that so many great people showed up and stayed quite a while to talk. The last time we sponsored one we had to bail out at the last minute because of Tarra's illness. She is doing quite well, having finished her course of antibiotics at home.
At the end of this report, there is a picture of a red shouldered hawk which sat on a branch right in front of Ken & Carolyn's rig and didn't seem the least upset by the fact that 4 of us (and a dog) were within 10 feet! Today while we were packing the RV, an adolescent deer with small horns went running right down the path near our rig. It is great to have a lot in a place where there are still such animals roaming around.
Please contact us if you will be in the Yuma area so we can try to get together.

11/5/07 Happily, we can now report that Elaine's daughter, Tarra, is doing much better. She spent 9 days in the hospital, and will be on IV antibiotics for about another 10 days. The lab tests finally revealed that she had bacterial spinal meningitis, an e. coli infection, and a staph infection. The doctor said that if she hadn't gone in for help and waited another 24 hours, the infection would have gone into her brain and she would have had about a 5% chance of survival. They are still treating 3 other people for the same thing in the same hospital and none of them are responding nearly as well to the drugs as Tarra did. So we are feeling very lucky right now that we still have her!
We are also very glad that we have finished fixing up our rental house in Roseville and have turned it over to the new tenants. The outside was badly in need of painting, which we did, and after 4 days of painting eaves, we both have stiff necks!! The old tenants did a great job of cleanup, so all we had to do was paint the walls on the inside and touch up the trim. Now we hope the new tenants stay in there for a LONG time.
The last few days we have enjoyed some social times with old friends and family in the area, and that has been a treat. Since my brain was fuzzy from breathing paint fumes, I never thought of taking pictures, so there are none following this report. But we did have a delicious Italian dinner with Jan & Bill Vecchio on Friday, followed by a nice lunch out on Saturday with Roberta & Odette, old friends from Cool. Saturday evening we shared drinks and food with Carol & Ron Leonard, the SKP couple whose land we were parked on during our stay in Sacramento. Then we enjoyed a fabulous Asian meal on Sunday with high school friend Lois Cissell and her brother, Richard. Lois had recently been in the hospital with a slight stroke, so we were very happy to see that she is doing so well, with hardly any residual effects. Today we met my youngest brother, Jerry, and his wife, Diann at Chili's in Roseville, and had another delicious lunch. They are both looking fabulous and enjoying their retirement immensely. So you can see that if we did manage to work off a few ounces or pounds with all the hard work on the rental, we put it back on and more with all these food events!!
Currently we are driving back to Fremont, for another quick visit with Tarra. Then we have to return to Park Sierra because I have jury duty on Thursday and we have bone density tests on Friday. Our car is also in need of some repairs and we have to take care of that before heading south. Our plans are often made in jello, and are subject to change at any time, but it is looking like we will head south to Arizona for a while until we get a chance to do some travel research and make some definite plans for international destinations.

10/24/07 Again I have been negligent in updating this blog and I apologize. As usual, life has been very busy. Thanks for your patience.
We are currently at our lot at Park Sierra near Coarsegold, CA. Luckily, this is not anywhere near the fires in Southern California. Although, several weeks ago there was a fire here which came within just a few yards of some of the RV's in this park. It was fortunate that there were several other fires burning in the area so some fire fighting equipment and personnel were in the area and they put our fire out in short order. It was also a darn good thing that the volunteers in our park keep all the grass and brush cut back so that there was not a lot of fuel on the ground to enable the fire to sweep through the park.
Elaine's son, Darran, lives in San Diego and has reported that where he lives, on the beach, there is no fire danger but the sand is getting covered with soot. He is a manager for UPS and he says the drivers are returning from their routes all covered in soot, as well. Apparently not too many businesses are functioning except UPS and the hospitals. He was taking care of the cats of some friends of his who are on vacation in Cancun and when he went over there to rescue the cats from the fire, the police wouldn't let him in because the area was being evacuated. He still doesn't know if their house is destroyed or not. Other friends of ours down there are in an area that hasn't been evacuated but they are ready to go if the alarm is raised. They have already taken in their daughter-in-law whose apartment building burned on one of the first days. I'm sure there will be many sad stories for a long time to come.
The main reason that we came here at this time was to have some checkups at Kaiser and we are done with those now. We will have to leave here on Saturday, to attend the memorial service in Madera for a good friend of ours, Ray Cooper. From there we will stop in Fremont for another quick visit with Elaine's daughter, Tarra. We visited her last week but she was pretty sick most of the time we were there. This was a really a shame as Saturday was her 32nd birthday. When she was still very ill on Monday, Elaine urged her to go to the doctor and when she did, he sent her to the hospital where she has been ever since. He thought she might have spinal meningitis but they haven't confirmed that, and they have yet to determine why she is so ill and in so much pain. Hopefully, she will be starting to recover soon.
On our way back here, from Oregon, we stopped in Sparks for a visit with my daughter, Laura, who had her 35th birthday while we were there. Of course, we also got to spend a bit of time with my granddaughters, Paige (17) and Michaela (12). The next weekend, they had a swim meet in Roseville, so we got to see them again there. We were there checking out our rental house, which is due to become vacant at the end of this month. Happily, the tenants have kept it looking nice and agreed to show it to interested parties, so we have already agreed to re-rent it to another nice couple whom we have yet to meet. That will happen this coming Sunday when we are back up there to start painting the outside. Once the tenants have left and we get the inside cleaned and painted, we can turn over the keys to the new couple - by Nov. 4, we hope. Then we can start heading south for the winter.
In the Sacramento area we stayed on the property of some SKP friends of Jim and Diane FisherBaker, and they were there too, so it was a fun social time. Then, Bob and Nancy Colbert arrived, having driven all the way from Massachusetts in order to take a job in Pleasanton with John and Betsy Crawford managing a Christmas tree lot. They stayed with us for 2 nights in Sacramento and it was so great to be with them again after 2 years. They then traveled with us down to the Fremont area where we stayed at the Elks Club.
While we were in the Bay Area, we were able to visit John and Cathy Robnik, who are running a pumpkin patch in Saratoga. They have a petting zoo to take care of as well as selling LOTS of pumpkins, so they are putting in long days. It was a happy reunion with them, since we haven't seen them since last winter. The next day, Bob and Nancy, Elaine and I took BART to San Francisco so that we could have lunch with my son, Thomas, and his partner, Robert. They live in the Castro district and we found a very good Thai restaurant there. Then we all walked up a few blocks to the street that Laura and Gordon Bornkamp live on and there they were, with Diane and Jim FisherBaker, waiting to greet us on the corner. Laura and Gordon's house is old and unique and has a fabulous view over a lot of the city. Next time we go there we will no doubt take them up on their offer to stay overnight. This time, we spent the afternoon with all of them and then took the train back to Fremont. It was an absolutely beautiful day there and a fun time with old friends.
I am tacking on a few pictures so you can see what some of these people look like, in case you don't know them. Also, there have been a few questions about the last posting concerning the Nanaimo Bar recipe. The picture was of a double batch of bars. Also, custard powder is just the dry powder from a box of custard mix which you can purchase in the pudding and jello section of the supermarket. Bon appetit...

10/6/07 Thanks for your patience, blog readers - we are back with an update. Currently we are parked in front of Mike and Marilyn Harrison's house on Agency Lake, just north of Klamath Falls, OR. The past few days have been very pleasant here, due to the company - not the weather. It has been COLD. Luckily, we have an electrical hookup and can have our forced air heater on at night or it would be freezing in here. They have a lovely home and we have been enjoying good food and lots of great travel talk, since they are not only RV friends, but also world travelers too. They were on the last transAtlantic cruise with us in May.
You might be asking what we are doing here so early when we weren't scheduled to leave Winchester Bay until the 8th. Unexpectedly, we received a 30 day notice from our tenants in Roseville and we decided to head south right away to check the place out ASAP. This will help us learn what fix up will be needed at the end of the month, and also whether we can start listing it for re-rent while our tenants are still in it. That would help us get it rented again sooner because everyone who looks at it has to give their current landlord a 30 day notice too, and then we have a problem. Of course, we still wanted to see a few friends and family on our way south, thus the stop here. Tomorrow will find us on the road again, heading for Reno where we will have the instrument cluster on our RV replaced (yes, again!), and have a few days to visit my daughter and granddaughters, who live in Sparks. Then we will push on to Roseville for the rental assessment.
As we left Winchester Bay, and drove on highway 138 over the Cascades, the road ran along the upper Umpqua River and it was one of the prettiest drives we have ever taken. The trees are starting to change color, so there was red, yellow, gold and green foliage all along, with the river having some rapids and falls, and sheer cliffs and rocks periodically rising on the other side. As we neared the summit, the weather changed from mostly cloudy with occasion sunny periods, to all cloudy and rainy with occasion snow showers!! This hurried us along as we certainly didn't want to get trapped up there overnight. Mike and Marilyn weren't due back until the next day, so we stayed at the small casino near their place, called Kla-Mo-Ya. It has a large and flat parking area, perfect for RV's with the only bummer being 18 wheel trucks pull in there too and some of those idiots still leave their engines run all night. I can't understand why they do that, since fuel is so expensive these days.
Yesterday we explored their small town of Chiloquin, which took very little time, and then we hit a rummage sale. We also made a double batch of Nanaimo Bars, which are pictured below. I made them for one of the RoVing Rods potlucks and they were a big hit. So I am including the recipe at the end of this posting. It is a Canadian recipe which Mike and Marilyn love, and which Laraine, our manager at Lake Kachess, gave to us. It is quite a decadent treat, but well worth the extra calories, if you can prevent yourself from eating the entire batch!
Today Mike and Marilyn took us to a barn sale and a yard sale, and then we drove up to Crater Lake, which is only about 30 miles from their house. Being prepared for all the snow we encountered up there helped us enjoy the beautiful views across the lake. The snow still gathered on the tree branches was also quite scenic and made it feel like December instead of early October!! After a short hike around part of the lake, to take pictures, we made a dash for the cafeteria and a welcome cup of hot chocolate. Elaine and I hate cold weather and make sure that we are never in areas where snow might be present. Seeing Crater Lake in this condition was an unexpected treat, however. We didn't dally up there too long, and were happy to return to lower elevations and warmer temps.
Here is the recipe for Nanaimo Bars:
Bottom Layer
Butter or hard margarine 1/2 cup
granuated sugar 1/4 cup
cocoa 1/3 cup
Melt in top of double boiler or in heavy saucepan.
Beat a large egg and add to above, stirring to cook and thicken. Remove from heat.
Stir in the following:
graham cracker crumbs 1 and 3/4 cups
fine or medium coconut 3/4 cup
walnuts, finely chopped 1/2 cup
After stirring all of this together, press firmly into an ungreased 9x9 inch pan. Chill while you whip up the next layer.

Second Layer
butter or hard margarine (softened) 1/2 cup
milk 3 Tbsp
vanilla custard powder 2 Tbsp
powdered sugar 2 cups
Cream butter, milk, custard powder and powdered sugar together and beat until light. Spread evenly over bottom layer in pan. Chill.

Top Layer
Semisweet chocolate chips 1 or 1 and 1/3 cups
Butter or hard margarine 3 or 4 Tbsp
(The amounts are up to you but we like more chocolate on the top so we do the larger amounts)
Melt together over low heat. Cool slightly. When cool but still runny, spread over second layer. Chill in refrigerator.
Cut into small squares and enjoy!!