Football and Friends ... New Year's Day!!

Although I tried to sleep in yesterday, the dogs as usual, had other ideas.  I lounged around in my pjs as long as possible before getting up and cleaning the rig.  That bowl of dog food that fell off the shelf and went under the slide made a big mess, but the floors are now spotless and the dogs got a morning snack.

I took the puppies for a couple of walks between football games.  With scores of 38-3, the games weren't all that interesting.  Just outside my door I ran into this guy making a New Year's morning flight.  In fact, there were two balloons.

They landed right across the parking lot.  Applebees was apparently out for some early morning advertisement.  By the way, bring your wool socks, because the warm Southern California nights have been 30 degrees and below EVERY night.  Days are up to 58-60 ... very tolerable, but NOT warm.  An umbrella is also a good idea, as they are expecting rain on Wednesday and Thursday!!

A few rigs came in here and there and the parking crew set up street signs, but for the most part, it was just a lazy day.  

I watched the Rose Parade from beginning to end, mostly to check out the floats that came from the barn I worked in ... and the horses of course!!

Remember last year when I landed in the ER just before driving to Pasadena?  I had the chance to work in one of the float barns glueing everything from flowers to vegetables on these monsters, covering every square inch.  It was great fun, freezing cold and I probably cut myself ten times, but I'd do it again in a flash.  If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll hook you up with Gretchen!!

I didn't have to wait long for a nice sunset.  The sun goes behind the mountains about 4:30 pm, making for some nice contrails in the sky.

Just as I was meandering over to the Kurt and Betty Simon's rig around 5:00, we even got a little color.  They are here early too, since Kurt is the new Treasurer for WMHA and is shadowing the current gal, trying to learn everything the position requires, which turns out is a lot more work than he originally thought.

We had a small happy hour that lasted about 2-1/2 hours as we traded stories and talked about Portland, Auburn and China!!

It was a quiet night with only a few trains, but I spent a large part of it going over every second of my escape plan should there be a fire in my rig.  I have no idea where that came from, but it kept me occupied for a couple of hours before falling into a fitful sleep.  Oh well ... there's always another night .... hopefully!!!

Betty and I are heading out this morning to the College of the Desert Street Fair that we missed last year.  There's nothing like shopping to get your blood moving!!  After that, it's time to get organized, as the Golden Spike group will start arriving at the Walmart parking lot tomorrow.

It's getting close to RALLY TIME!!!!