Friday, February 7, 2025

I Crushed It!!!

 WOW!!  What a way to wake up in the morning!!  The second I realized my entire house was pink inside, I knew exactly what was going on outside.  It was a 360 degree cloudy sunrise, since the forecast was calling for rain.  


Mr. Cooper and I were on the road by 7:00.  Truly, we didn't get all that far since he's become a senior citizen.  Still, he loves to smell the smells.  He's such a good boy, he rarely ever barks at anyone or anything.  I think that's unusual for poodles.  He's not running loose, you just can't see the thin leash.

Ok, I admit the reason we don't go very far is that I don't want to carry him home when he gets tired.  He would go forever if I let him, but then I would have to hitch us a ride back to the house.


I brought a couple of puzzles back from Quartzsite, and I had a brilliant idea.  I could use this game table to set them up.  I walked right up to it, grabbed the top and magically, it turned like it's supposed to.  Unfold the top and there you have it.  Trouble is, this 1,000 piece puzzle is a little too big.  AND I need a chair, since leaning over isn't good for old creaky folks like me.


That's when I had another brilliant idea.  My back entry was stacked four foot high with Amazon boxes.  Don't they ever use SMALL boxes?  Good grief ... I could sleep in three of them.  Previously, I used a box cutter, cut them into pieces and stuffed them in the blue bin.

This time I got smart.  I went outside and tossed ten of them into the rain.  Two hours later I went out to find them completely soaked.  I then went into SPIDER KILLING mode.  I CRUSHED IT!!  I stomped the heck out of them, which was easy peasy since they had soaked up so much water.  I folded them up and stuffed all of them in the bin.  How easy was THAT?

There was this one left, so I dropped it in the full-of-water flower bed.  I'll wad it up into a 6" square this morning.  As you can see, there are even a couple left over.  A water hose should fix those up since the rain stopped.


I tried to sneak in a nap, but it was not to be.  Off I headed to the lodge, having found out just in time that this was a tuxedo night.  I was surprised to find our treasurer (the King) had a hand the size of a basketball.  Apparently he had some kind of surgery ... which meant he could not count money or use the charge machine.  

So here I sit with the cash box, selling dinner tickets.  It's okay ... we traded jobs.  He had to stand at the counter and COLLECT the dinner tickets.  Hey, I like this!  I'm hoping his hand is tied up for a couple months!  I got to meet lots of people and I didn't have to stand for two hours!!


I didn't plan on dinner, but my two best bingo friends split theirs with me.  Since the steaks are the size of dinner plates, there was plenty to go around.  


That added to my napless yawning which occurred every three minutes during the entire meeting.  We had yet another initiation of folks joining, which meant a L O N G one.  For our small town, we have an amazing 1600 members and just added 23 more.  

I got back home to the squeals of Mr. Cooper, who meets me at the door every time.  I am always greeted with a tiny black nose pushing the shade out of the way so he can see.  He makes me smile every time.  

It might have been nice if I crashed on the couch, but NOOOO ... I was wide awake.  How could that be?  It took another 90 minutes before I finally hit the hay.  

No worries, but I'll have to catch up today, because tomorrow there's another event I have to attend.  And then ..... AND THEN ..... IT'S SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!!!  Bring on the snacks!!!!


Thursday, February 6, 2025

Dead or Alive!!

 I woke up this morning, WAY earlier than required ... to the lovely rumbling of the heater.  You see, the intake is on the ceiling right outside my bedroom door.  It's loud ... and a two way gotcha.  If I leave the door open, I wake up to the noise.  If I leave the door closed, I freeze.  Earplugs you say?  I've never found a pair that really works!  C'est la vie!  Funny, it doesn't seem to bother Cooper at all.  He was snoring away!!

No worries ... I have no commitments until 4:00 pm.  I've got all day to nap.

Yesterday was a lesson in near death.  Yessiree ... here is Mr. Roomba skimming around the floors.  He scared me to death when I heard the racket in the living room.  I guess I forgot I set him to hit the ground running at 8:00 three days a week.  It's probably better that way because there won't be so much dirt to de-bag at the end.


I paid no attention until I glanced over to see him NOT in his bed.  Uh oh ... and I don't HEAR him either.  I went on the hunt.  Sure enough, I found him halfway under a chair .... STUCK.  What?  You didn't holler at me this time?  It actually took some work to get it out.  He didn't move.  He just sat there.  I hit a button or two, hoping to resuscitate him.  Is he dead or alive?  I did CPR for ten minutes.  NOTHING.  He's dead dead dead!!

He was SO dead that when I carried him back to his home base, he never said a word ... just flashed a red light, signaling he was a goner!!  Mr. Roomba is in ICU at the moment and I don't know if he will survive.

I performed surgery, replacing the little brushy thing, gave him a new filter and cleaned out all the dirt I could find.  Surgery was a success, but I still don't know if he will survive.  I'll let you know tomorrow.


I thought to head outside for a long walk, but didn't want to take a chance of getting sick again.  One more day won't hurt me!  That means today I really have to get my buns off the couch.  

I washed several rugs and hung them out to dry in the fleeting sun.  They ended up in the dryer.  Why is it when you try to dry rugs, you find half a cup of teeny tiny pieces of rubber in the bottom?  Ugh ... another mess to clean up.

In between, I worked on this quilt again.  Good grief ... these tiny pieces are killing me!!  I can hear Cindy laughing!!  The instructions are definitely hard to understand, meaning I cut the wrong sizes twice.  Maybe this is a good pattern, since it is requiring me to scrounge through all my boxes to find replacement material for the pieces that I messed up.  Luckily I'm not COMPLETELY frustrated YET!


Lunch was terrible.  I had this leftover broccoli and carrots I thought I would add to it, smothering the entire thing with cheese.  Big mistake ... BIG.  I finally ate the broccoli off the top (it was quite tasty), threw the carrots away and ate the rest.  I'm luck I'm not a finicky person, or I would starve.


In the afternoon I watched a bit of the news,  I literally jumped off the couch when I heard Trump say he was going to investigate the bullet train in California.  SO much of our tax money, including YOUR tax money from Federal Funds, has gone into this thing for the last eight or nine years, to STILL not have it anywhere near finished.  

Original cost estimate .. $35 billion I think.  Right now, the amount spent is over $100 billion, and they say they need ANOTHER $100 billion to finish it.  They haven't even laid ANY rails, even though they say they have.  Those rails laid are to run the construction equipment not, NOT high speed rails.  At this point, though it was supposed to go from San Francisco to Los Angeles, it only goes from Merced to Bakersfield, and there are only overpasses.  Me thinks Mr. Newsom is in deep doodoo with the upcoming investigation  wondering where all that money has gone.  

Well that was fun .... 


There was more sewing, more organizing trying to put away stuff I took out of the rig (and it still isn't done) while I baked a load of peanut butter cookies.  I was so busy, I forgot to take a picture, but I DID remember to eat THREE of them!!  Bad Nancy.

Dinner was easy.  I grabbed one of those frozen turkey pot pies I made while back and stuck it in the oven.  No biscuits were hurt in this endeavor, mostly because I didn't have any.  WOW ... was it ever tasty!  These little casserole dishes are very heavy iron, but I may have to pack a few in the rig to use for casserole dishes.  


In the meantime, though it's black and hard to see, my new tiny air fryer arrived.  It's about 8" square, so I'm sure I can find room for it in the rig.  This will make easy work of cooking stuff while I travel.  I can reheat pizza, cook chicken, French fries, hopefully much faster and easier than the microwave.  I'll test it out today!


As for now, there's little paws tapping me on the leg, which means OUTSIDE Mom!!  It's going to be another rest day before I head out to the Elks Lodge for a steak dinner.  Honestly, I think I'll pass on the food this time.  It's going to be a long meeting, and I don't know whether to raise the ire of many people or bury my head in the sand.  It may be time to step away from all the craziness that arises sooner or later when involved in a club.  No worries though ... BINGO will always be on my plate!!!


Wednesday, February 5, 2025

The Wonderful Land Of BINGO

 I won't say the name of that song ... you know, the one that's been running around in my head for the last 30 hours?  It starts with a B and ends with an O.  Oh yes ... here we are again ... it's BINGO time!


I don't know about you, but THIS quilt block picture looks blurry to me.  Probably because it's so dang SMALL!!!  I started out the morning making a couple of squares for this quilt.  The top one ... easy peasy, even though it is small.  The second one below that?  Oh my Great Grandmothers Aching Back!!!  These little squares are 1/2 an inch!    

I got two of them done, but don't look too close.  I don't think any of those little squares are actually square!!  It's probably a good thing the whole quilt is so small, because I don't think I would ever finish a BIG one!!

Still, it kept me occupied until it was time to hit the streets.  I got three phone calls of problems before I was even out the back door.  No, there was no rain whatsoever all morning long.  Apparently the huge storm missed us, just throwing around a bit of wind.


First call ... half the Bingo crew is sick or hurt and we are going to be VERY short handed.  We'll manage.  I don't really need a helper and we'll move folks around.  Oh, and by the way, the King is out of town.

Second call ... the sound system isn't working.  Okay, that's a big one.  There was lots of screaming and yelling because it quit Saturday night when they were having a big auction.  First off, they sold WAY too many tickets, people were WAY too loud, and they had WAY too many auctions/raffles going on.  The text message exchange was epic.  

Okay ... is anyone working on it?  No one knew.  Relax ... we never used to have a sound system, so we'll live if that one doesn't work.  I arrived to find the guy WAS fixing it as I stared at this monster.    That began the lesson in amps and all things NOISE.  Good grief ... I didn't sign up for this one.


Two of us signed on to the system through the internet to use the controllers while I frantically made notes in my phone at the same time.  Well that was fun, but at least we got the thing working for the time being.  The Bingo Caller was a happy camper that he didn't have to SCREAM out the numbers to the peasants chanting KILL HIM!!!

That's when my Lady in Waiting came in sick as a dog.  Oh no OH NO ... you have to go HOME!  She coughed out a response.  NOOOOO ... I love you girl, but you have to go home!!!  That of course left us even MORE short handed as I proceeded to do the work of two!!  

I saw fire in the peasants eyes.  Thankfully one of the ladies from the "other side" came to help.  She didn't know what any of the papers were, but she spread them out so I could at least see what was there.  We went a little slower, but we got it done with 126 folks on this night.


I kept my eyes on my escape route just in case.  These stairs have always been a problem for me.  They lead right to an exit door where one night it was left open.  Two big burly rough looking guys came down them behind me one night and I thought we were being robbed.  No kidding ... BIG scare.  From that night on, no one can come in that door, but I can escape in a hurry if I need to!!


I received lots of "I'm glad your back" messages from everyone, which was very nice to hear.  Really, they are just glad they didn't have to wait in line an hour.  The line went fast, as did the night with only a few complaints.

In December we gave out Christmas tickets worth $10 each towards Bingo in January, which was explained many times.  We had three ladies bring in those tickets last night.  It's February.  They weren't happy I wouldn't take them.  Nancy was a bad girl and told them to come back and ask the King when he returned.  Nothing like putting it off on someone else!  

Then there was the lady who came in with her phone screaming that she wanted her $100 back.  She SAID she tried to charge $100 on her Venmo account, but was told we didn't use Venmo, which is correct.  She pushed her phone in my face several times saying LOOK IT WENT THROUGH.  You took my money out and I want it back!!  

No, we don't play those games here.  If we don't have a Venmo account (which we don't) then the charge never went through.  When WAS this I asked innocently.  LAST MONTH she stated!!  Ummmm that would be an even bigger NO.  It just amazes me every time the things they come up with to con us out of money or bingo cards. 

She got nothing.  Come back during the week and go to the office.  I'll warn the Bookkeeper ahead of time, but I'm sure we will never see her again.

And so ended another lovely "normal" night at the Magic Kingdom of Bingo.  Always full of excitement and crazy people!!!




Tuesday, February 4, 2025

The Last Day of Rest

 Here we are in lovely SUNNY California, only the sun forgot to show its shining face.  It's looked like this since I got here five days ago.  It can't be that long, can it?  Gosh, it seems like yesterday.  

I'm healing up nicely, rarely coughing and not sneezing since Roomba ran around the house not once, but THREE times.  I even dusted ... sort of.  Dusting is one of those things I do only after I can read the writing I scribble on the table.  

Last night was supposed to be the first day of the storm of the century.  We actually even got a warning NOT to be afraid.  Are you kidding me?  So far there's a little breeze, which should ramp up to 35 mph this morning, but not a single drop of water.  Maybe the storm needs a watch.  


It does seem to be hitting the Sacramento area and dumping snow in the mountains.  At least the fairy shrimp will live.  Never heard of them?  A national disaster that has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars because nothing could be built on hundreds of acres since it would kill the fairy shrimp that live in the puddles of water from the rain.  But then there was no rain and they died anyway.  Well actually they went underground and now can come back up because it's raining.  No kidding ... true story. 

As for the other little fish California was trying to save by keeping water OUT of California because tiny fish are more important than people ... well I guess they are goners since the government was forced by the President to let the water go into canals and reservoirs instead of the ocean.  No, I haven't seen the water running yet, but hopefully the farmers will finally be able to grow crops again.

Onward ... my kid loves being in the BIG house where he can play the ball game most of the day and snuggle up with Mom at night.  He's such a GOOD BOY!!


I finally felt good enough to hit the sewing room.  I did more organizing of fabric, whereupon I found this kit I bought somewhere.  I won't mention where, but this store ... they have caused me more trouble than they are worth.  I won't be going back.  The pattern calls for fat quarters ... 18" x 20" of fabric.  I measured these 18 pieces of fabric, to find they are all cut to 11"x18".  That's a LOT less!  They also package these kits so you can't open them or look at the directions.  

I think they skinnied up on the fabric so they could make more kits with the same yardage and charge the same amount.  I wouldn't care if they gave you cutting directions ... but there are none.  I have already had to dig through my own stash to find extra pieces ... and I'm only this far done.  How irritating!


To make it worse, these are 6" squares, not 12", so teeny tiny describes it perfectly.  Cindy will be laughing at me because I'm sewing 1" squares together!!!  I didn't sign up for THAT!!

For lunch, I decided to use up the last of the spinach and a can of mandarin oranges ... the same salad I made in Quartzsite.  I can't believe how good this is ... and filling to boot.  So of course I ate too much, but in my defense, the spinach was "fluffy"!!  


Yup ... this being sick stuff has made me a vegetarian.  I ate the rest of the salad along with the second half of sweet potato for dinner.  Maybe I'll steal some of Cooper's chicken today.

That's it ... I spent many an hour resting on the couch and thinking about all the ways I can get out of doing Elks work this week.  I think I can use the "I'm sick" excuse for at least the next ten days.  After all, they've done without me for the last 45.  

So here's the pictures of the table the fabric was sitting on.  I have many gorgeous pieces-of-art tables, and I think this one came from Jan Mains.  Maybe she will verify that for me.  They are very old, but still in excellent shape.


It's a game table.  You turn the top around, then open it up.  With only two hands, I wasn't able to get it to turn sideways, so I just snapped a picture and folded it back up.  Generally they were made in 1850-60 of mahogany.  Gorgeous, yes?  


And so my day ended less dramatically than expected because the storm seems to be passing us by.  Four days of rain the forecast says, but I'm not holding my breath.  

In the meantime, I'm getting out my armor and girding my loins for the peasant onslaught tonight.  Not really ......... they will all be so happy not to wait in line for two hours that they will all be smiling!!!  It's time for BINGO!!!




Monday, February 3, 2025

My Roomba Dance

 Good Morning California.  What's left of it anyway, after all the fires.  They say the governor signed an order let the water out, fill reservoirs and clean up the forest floor.  Nothing like closing the barn door after the horses are out.  He's afraid he won't get that Federal Funding.  And yet ANOTHER recall has been started, but it's really too late.  This is his last term ... but he just might get voted out early.  And THAT is California News.

In other news on the Homefront, I'm doing VERY well.  Maybe I coughed ten times yesterday with three sneezes, one because I shook out a rug on the patio when the wind was blowing the wrong way!!  I think I'm on the mend.  Mr. Cooper and I stuck very close to the couch, which he appreciated muchly.  He does love snuggling next to his Mom.


We made a couple of forays out to the rig to get dirty laundry and bird seed.  Somehow I seem to have lost an entire bag that I was SURE was in the cupboard.  I was wrong.  On the way, I discovered several roses blooming on my dead looking bushes.  It's way too early in the season for this to be happening.  Maybe the groundhog was wrong?


Thinking that all my sneezing might be the 1/4" thick layer of dirt and dust bunnies on the floor,  I tried hooking the Roomba up to my internet.  Maybe that would help it think better.  It talked me through the program ... no kidding ... it talks to you ... before telling me it needed a factory reset.  

That seemed to be the medicine it needed, because it started working perfectly, and after about four hours, had mapped the entire house.  There's a little glitch in the map where it knocked over the doggie gate and got stuck under a chair, but otherwise it did very well.  I danced a little Roomba Rumba around the living room!!  No more pushing that heavy vacuum.

It's now programmed to come on three days a week.  We shall see if it works.  Oh ... and it told me it needed a new brush thingy that sweeps stuff into its stomach.  As for the table leg request, I'll post that picture tomorrow.


Lunch was another fire sale soup from the discount store ... I double checked the date on this one.  It's from Pacific Soup Company, the one that has the tomato that I love.  You can definitely skip this one however.  It's carrot/cumin flavor and tasteless!  I even added cooked carrots and some broccoli to speed my recovery.  It didn't help.  It's WAY too watery for my taste.  Even the parmesan cheese didn't help.  


I finally felt good enough to unbag all that fabric and pile it up.  There four quilts here, along with extra white, because almost every quilt has white in it for the background.  There's going to be lots of sewing going on when I feel better ... but not now.  All this coughing and sneezing has made me feel like I did 100 pushups.  My ribs protest!


 That's it .... that's all I did.  Rest up was the word of the day.  Feeling 85 percent better by evening, I decided that sweet potato I bought would be quite tasty.  Why, I have no idea, because I never buy sweet potatoes.  

Cut in half, I ran it under water, seasoned it well and turned it upside down on a big pat of butter in the pan.  It lounged in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.  WOW!  It tasted so sweet and delicious, that's all I had for dinner.  Hopefully this crud is NOT turning me into a vegetarian!!!


I wandered out later in the evening to make sure THIS kid was all tucked in and everything working that should be.  There's not enough sun to keep the batteries up with just solar, so she shall remain plugged in for the next week.  There's still lots of stuff to be removed, but I'm procrastinating.  Maybe tomorrow.


I'll be on the couch once again!!


Sunday, February 2, 2025

Two Steps Back, One Step Forward

 Well hello there!!!  Yup I'm still hanging out, mean as ever.  Two steps back and one step forward.  I forgot my lack of nose airway due to a grammar school broken nose ... twice.  Laying down when I'm sick is not good.

Yesterday and last night, I propped myself up like I was sitting in a chair ... and the majority of that congestion disappeared.  By the way, I have not had a fever this entire time.  Zero.  In fact, my temp runs about 96.8 ... and my oxygen level is 98-99, so no problem there.  Maybe it's a MAN COLD ... you know how terrible THOSE can be!!

OR it could just be allergies acquired since I got old, from the overcast skies and wetness all around.  There's mold growing everywhere outside on the sidewalks and in the grass.  I can even smell it.  Who knows ... but the good news is I'm feeling a little better today.  Of course none of this has killed my appetite either!


Not really wanting chili for the next three days, I placed an order with Walmart.  Oowee their prices have gone up lately.  Let's talk about counting those eggs.

Sometime in early November everyone panicked about Bird Flu.  I've got lots of experience with that since I raised exotic birds for many years.  Bird flu was a thing that killed my birds.  Yes according to Davis University Animal Center that I worked with at the time, it could be spread to humans, but would not kill you unless you were old and very sick already.  Just like the regular flu.

In their panic about bird flu, the previous government ordered the killing of 17.5 million egg laying hens in November and December.  That was half the population of egg layers, but someone forgot about that egg part.  Now just go to the store and buy eggs ... if you can find them.  The last time I bought these they were $4.50.  Today, $12.50.  See what panic and the government can do to you?  I'm not the least bit worried about getting bird flu, but those decisions can surely be costly.  


Enough of that ... let's get to the more important stuff.  Feeling a tiny bit better and not sneezing quite so much, I unloaded stuff from the van.  This was the first to come out.  The Roomba.  It did not come with instructions and I cannot find a model number.  

I plugged it in to charge, then an hour later, hit the button.  Of course I had no idea WHICH button would send it off to clean the floors.  It went around in a tiny two foot circle for two minutes, parked itself and ran the cleaning thing three times.  I tried again, with no results.  

After three tries, it finally took off across the floor and cleaned about 30 square feet.  Anyone have one that can give me instructions on how to get it to work?  I tried downloading the app, but they wanted me to pay for it.  I declined.  In the meantime, I took my other one apart and found a big piece of plastic blocking its airway.  Maybe it will work a little better now.


Next up, I crashed on the couch for a few hours, having no motivation whatsoever.  I'm sure it's because I'm a little sicky.  Hopefully that will change soon.  

Finally, I got out the door (because Cooper wanted out) and walked the mile to the rig.  Not really, but that's how I felt.  I unloaded all of the fabric.  How did all this stuff fit in that small rig?  I SWEAR I'm not buying ANY MORE FABRIC!!  I'll take it all out later and show it off.  There's some nice stuff there.  I hate to say it, but it's a good thing Bonnies at Arizona Marketplace is going out of business.  My bank account smiled about that.


That's it ... that's all I got today.  This morning I can breathe, I'm not sneezing and rarely coughing.  One or two more days of rest and I'll be ready for BINGO!!!!!  At least there won't be any more late night phone calls when I'm there!!



Saturday, February 1, 2025

No Egg Counting!!


 So here we are at Orange Grove RV Park.  It was a nice quiet night.  I woke up feeling pretty darned good.  How could that be?  It's a miracle!  I bet it was the peach pie!!  No chest congestion and very little coughing.  I am on the mend and looking forward to getting home and unpacking all that fabric!!


EXCEPT:  Things didn't go according to plan.  I purchased these at Coyote Fresh, thinking I would need some snacks while driving.  I grabbed one, but had a little difficulty getting it open.  Somehow I missed the word CRUNCHY altogether.

By the time I got it out, I discovered there were TWO hard as a rock pieces, much of which crumbled to the floor.  I tried to take a bite, and feel exceedingly lucky that I still have my two front teeth.  


That's when I discovered it.  Take a gander at the date on the box.  Are you kidding me?  June 2024 and it's still on the shelf?  Definitely TRASH worthy!!  


And so I made the 3 hour drive home on an empty stomach.  Here's the thing I love most about the van.  I can go slow, I can go fast.  I can creep along in the right hand lane letting all the trucks pass me since they are all going at LEAST 65 mph (remember there are no CHP in California any more) ... or I can scream along at 75 and only the CARS pass me.

Suddenly, I sneezed.  And sneezed again ... all the way home.  What IS this?


Getting stuck in that construction zone slowed us all down a might, but at long last, I pulled into the driveway.  I was greeted with big drops of WET on my windshield.  It was a lovely 47 degrees.  YIKES!!  I forgot it was still winter around here.


Mr. Cooper, who is usually afraid to enter the house after a trip, played racehorse around the grassy back yard and screamed through the door as I barely had it open.  The ball game ensued.  Boy was he happy to be in a BIG house.  No little buddy, I really have to get stuff out of the rig.

Having felt so good the entire way, I was once again proclaiming the benefits of Peach Pie!!  It was the PIE that made me feel so good.  And then I sneezed yet again  ... and again.


What the heck?  I'm over being sick ... maybe it's all the dust in the house.  Every sneeze made me run for the Kleenex box.  Maybe, just MAYBE, I counted my eggs and chickens too soon.


I cleaned out the fridge and freezer, looking forward to my dinner of an Ugly Steak and some scalloped potatoes.  I double checked the pull date on this one.  


Remember ... even when SICK, I taste test these so you don't have to.  Do NOT buy these.  I repeat in capital letters DO NOT BUY THESE!  They didn't look bad sitting there cooling off while I called Mr. Chance to find out how he barbecues those ugly steaks.  They come out perfect every time.  Low heat, high heat?  HELP!!


On high he said, maybe 5 minutes per side.  He was right!!  The steak came out absolutely perfect!!  I was so proud.  Until I grabbed a forkful of those potatoes.  I know my taste buds are a little off, but these were terrible with a capital T.  Even with the crispy onions craft teacher Jess suggested I layer on top.  The onions were quite tasty.  The potatoes AWFUL!


And this is probably why.  Just look at the ingredients in these things!!  Trust me ... just buy a russet potato, slice it thin in a pan, add onions, cheese and cream, then bake for 45 minutes or until done.


And THEN ... the sneezing began in earnest.  What the heck?  I sneezed every few minutes all night long.  I don't know what I'm allergic to ... or maybe it's this cold/flu thing? ... but every time I made a beeline for the Kleenex box.  My eyes were leaking down my face and I wasn't even crying, though I sure felt like it.  

I was exhausted, so I went to bed very early.  I sneezed all night long, with my head throbbing like I got hit with a baseball bat.  So far this morning, I'm coughing and STILL sneezing, but at least since getting up, my head is a little better.  I've no idea what this is, but believe me, I won't be egg counting again any time soon.  

I should drag out my vacuum, but instead, I'll hook up the Roomba and see how he runs.  In the meantime, I'll be crashed on the couch!!!  Day five in case anyone is counting.  I am ... I'M COUNTING the days this crud lasts!!




Friday, January 31, 2025

The Road Less Taken

Morning                early              coughing                 Yeah, half           voice              doesn't work                often.  That's pretty much what I sound like!  There is always the long morning coughing session that is quite debilitating!!  My ribs feel like when I got bucked off my colt and hit that fence made of 2x8 boards to keep the bulls in.  But I will survive!!  Actually, I'm coughing a little less this morning, so ... progress!


Mr. Cooper and I wandered the RV park in Indio, watering trees and saying hello.  I was surprised that hardly any rig on this side of the park was actually occupied.  Even the next door MANKAVE was empty.  It worked out perfectly however, since he provided all the shade I needed to stay cool.


I tried to get that GOOD MORNING feeling by sipping on my special fake coffee.   Nothing.  I got nothing.  It just didn't taste good.  Could be that coffee can that has a 2023 date on the bottom.  

I tried breakfast, but that didn't work either.  Might as well get on the road.

Once again, I took the road less taken.  Past Palm Springs is Highway 62, heading off into the desert mountains towards Yucca Valley.  The weather report of no wind was a complete sham.  I didn't pay too much attention though, since I was trying to figure out if I would make Barstow before running out of fuel.  

I get 20-23 mph, but when that gauge gets down to 1/8 tank, I get nervous.  


All of a sudden I saw tons of flashing red and blue lights.  YIKES!  I expected a HUGE accident, mostly because this is about where I almost got smashed last year.  Or was it the year before.  


That CHP guy above yelled at that car ahead of me to get CLEAR OFF THE PAVEMENT.  Okay ... it's a wide load, but not THAT wide.  Once behind us, we sped up, only to slow down once again.


This is the King of the Hammer 4 x 4 race, the hardest in the world. They were stationed just off highway 247.  It was fun to see all the race cars turning onto the dirt road heading to Hammertown, where they all park.  This race runs over 100 miles in total.


Finally full of fuel to the tune of $4.99 a gallon, I pulled into a rest area to let Cooper out.  This one is pretty fancy, with separate parking spaces and picnic tables.  More coughing ensued, and now I'm getting tired.  

KA-BOOM!!!  Woohoo!  That woke me up!  I imagine it was one of the pilots training in this area, but that sonic boom was a BIG one.  Haven't heard that since I was on the ranch.  We were within a few miles of the military base, and it was a daily happening back then.


Soon I was heading through Tehachapi Pass, glad that it was a bright sunny day in spite of the snow on the mountains.


Just for kicks, after about 13 years of passing this place outside of Bakersfield, I finally decided to stop in.  It is Murray Farms, a nice place to stop for food, jams and even gas.  That's gas for your rig.  Due to construction, there was no way to get a decent photo.  


I saw a big sign that said PIE.  How could I turn that down.  They probably had ten different kinds sitting on the table, and I grabbed the Peach Pie without hesitation.  I'm sure it will make my cold (or whatever this is) SO MUCH BETTER!  There were also racks of homemade jams and jellies, along with lots of candy.


I was right.  OMG ... FRESH homemade peach pie.  What could be better?  Maybe the blackberry, or the apple, or the strawberry, or maybe even the CHERRY!


Wasn't I surprised when just down the road I pulled in to my next stop.  It was like a ghost town!  There are usually folks staying here year round.  You all know this one ... I stop here for the oranges.  


I parked ... dumped my tanks ... and hooked up the electric just in time to crash.  It was a long five hours, coughing most of the time.  


Lucky for me, it's a New Day .... the last day of January.  My how times flies!  The good news is that I'm not coughing as much this morning, and I actually have some semblance of a voice.  AND I don't feel like I walked all the way from Quartzsite!!  Will wonders never cease!

In a few hours, I'll be home sweet home.  I can't wait to actually cook something ... like the scalloped potatoes I've been craving!  Let the lists of "camping" food and supplies begin.   I think I need a new pad of sticky notes!!  Maybe TWO!