Flowers One And Two

Much better than any flower could possibly be, THIS was my birthday cupcake.  I celebrated a little late since the first trip to the store resulted in nothing sweet.  What the heck you might ask?  Yessiree, I had a list and I stuck to it.  A first in the history of grocery shopping.  I had every intention of picking up a big piece of cake, but completely forgot.  Not having sugar has done something to my brain.

Definitely not a show stopper, it was from Walmart of all places.  It was cheap (a good thing) and it had four in a package.  I cannot tell you how much I savored and enjoyed all three.  At least I shared ONE with Cindy.

I spent most of the day cutting out another quilt.  That was a bad idea, since the lack of sugar seems to have dulled my brain in more areas than one.  I made a bad cut, messing up the entire pattern, forcing a treasure hunt for one more piece of pink fabric.  

After the second big mistake, I hung up the blade and went outside to clear my head and play the ball game with Cooper.  That's when I noticed my flowers are blooming.  I only have about five things that show off their finery in the Spring.  Here is flower #1.  

This is flower #2.  As you know, I can never remember the names.  I'm lucky I can remember ocotillo.  Flowers seem to escape me, no matter how many times I'm told.  I'm hoping that's not because of a bad memory, but because flowers were never important in the world of horses and cattle.

I'm so proud to show you the lovely green lawn of my back yard.  I would like to give all the credit to the new yard keepers, but actually Mother Nature has done a good job of programming the sprinklers.  Rain has done it's job.  This Saturday however, it's going to be in the 90's, whereupon the lovely brown spots will reappear.  Unlike Mother Nature, I'm NOT running my sprinklers 8 hours a day just to keep it pretty.  PG&E would love that, but I'm not going there.

They say you need potassium on this diet, so another trip to the store is in store for today.  I've been feeling rather tired and with the food booth starting up on Sunday, I need more energy.  I also need to pick up some raspberry jello.  

Here's my second attempt at the dessert which escaped the bowl last week.  THIS time I blended the cream cheese with the cream BEFORE mixing it with the jello.  I also didn't let the jello set up quite as much.  It came out SO much better, except for the taste.  It's nothing like raspberry.  In fact, it's nothing like I've ever tasted before!!

Part of today will be spent doing my interpretation of a Golden Spike President, trying to make a Google Group and adding 60 email addresses.  It's going to be trial and error since I've never done that before.  I'm hoping at the end of the day I'll still have all my hair intact and I won't have yelled at the dogs or slammed any doors.  Wish me luck!!

Munchies At The Magic Kingdom

Hello boys and girls ..... it's Magic Kingdom time again!!  Although I expected to sneak in a nap before heading out, it was not to happen.  One of my girlfriends wanted to take me to lunch for my birthday.  Little did I realize (until later) that she was texting while driving.  I noted that the only day I could NOT go to lunch was Tuesday.

Yesterday, she sent me a text message and wanted to know where we should meet for lunch.  Wait, wasn't yesterday Tuesday??  So friend Cindy and I headed out for a nice chicken salad with friends.  In no time at all, it was off to the races.

We had a quick bolstering bag of popcorn and a glass of wine.  That goes together, right?  Then I spent a few minutes teaching Cindy how to count out Bingo cards.  She did an excellent job with no complaints at all.  Too bad she doesn't live here because I just might get a day off!!

I relayed the message to one of the Knights about not opening the castle drawbridge until the appointed time.  It makes some peasants angry they don't have the same chance to run to their favorite table with arms flailing.  It also gives some people the opportunity to SAVE an entire table.  That's a no-no.  Alas, the fight was on!!

Gosh ... you would think this was a crowd of adults, but as soon as the drawbridge goes down, they all become 5 year olds.

To make matters worse ... doesn't that always happen? ... the mini me infernal machine decided to play Groundhog Day and refused to load the program.  We collect about $2500 a night on that machine, but this time it just kept throwing up the same RELOADING error message ..... ALL NIGHT LONG.

We are sorry for the inconvenience, but you will have to use the ATM machine in the corner.  At least it continued to spit out cash, but at the user's expense.  Peasants were very unhappy they had to pay $2.75 for their withdrawal.  Mini me continued to play the game until I cut it off and stuffed it in the box of lost things.  

The good news was the players were so distracted by a new person counting, they didn't complain too loudly about the service fee ... for the most part anyway.  Lucky for us.  

Dinner consisted of eight Girl Scout cookies.  Since I already had popcorn, I might as well splurge on ONE cookie.  I did good.  Hmmm maybe we should make some of those munchie cookies for the peasants.  They just might be in a better mood!!  

When I learned they ran out of hot dogs, I opted for a bunless burger.  It's rather hard to eat that without dripping grease all down your front, along with chopped lettuce.  The tomato ended up on the floor.  

At the end of the night, we balanced after a payout correction and headed home, yawning all the way. Yay for nice soft beds and DARK.

Early in the morning, before all the happiness, I was able to finish up this quilt.  I had to promise Cindy she could take it to the fair in her neighborhood next year.   Their entries have been declining, so I have a much better chance of getting a ribbon.  That of course means I probably have to work the fair.

Speaking of the fair, our Merced County Fair starts next week.  The Elks lodge has the big hamburger stand next to the beer garden and of course needs Volunteers.  I start on Sunday because the Sheriff likes to feed the local 4-H and FFA kids breakfast burritos while they bring in their animals and set up their displays.  This will definitely be something to write about!! 

There is still Bingo on Tuesday and now a dinner Thursday night due to the King being out of town surveying his Kingdom ... on a road trip back East.  No one knows how to use the second mini me infernal I-Pad machine, so I'll be there to screw it up!!  I mean really, what fun would it be if everything went perfectly???

A Short Walk Through A Long List of Emails

50 Premium Wines For $5.99 plus shipping.
     Thank you for your generous offer, but it's the $235 shipping costs that I'm declining, not to mention I rarely drink.  Maybe you could send a "sample" bottle first.

Charbel Albady, Lawyer to the Stars in the United Kingdom.
     I'm sorry your client died in a terrible automobile accident.  It would be obscene to have the United States confiscate all $29 million dollars unless you give it to the survivors.  I would be happy to help with this monumental task.  Send me the account numbers and a fake I.D. immediately.  I will withdraw the entire amount and deposit it in MY account.  When the time is right, I PROMISE I will give it all back to you upon your request.

Get $15,000 Overnight
     Thank you for your kind offer, but I will soon be the ward of $29 million.

Cannabliss CBD Oil
     If this stuff does what you say, including reversing diabetes, fighting cancer, killing tumors, stopping dimentia and most importantly, eliminating weight gain (probably in my wallet area), I would be most interested.  Please send a huge sample and I'll get back to you.

Chris    My horoscope is ready and it's an odd one.
     No surprise Chris, it's been odd since I was born.  I'm sure it says I will meet Mr. Right next month, but I'm not fooled.  Mr. Right is already married!!!  Besides, you got it wrong.  It should have said I'm coming into the green stuff ... moola ... $29 million dollars.

Man Plus
     I'm sorry, didn't you read the name above??  It says NANCY ... that's a female, in case you were wondering.

Krispy Kreme  Get a $100 gift card!
     Why hello Krispy Kreme!!  Where have you been?  I'm pretty sure all your businesses within 100 miles of me have been closed down.  Although I did enjoy your offerings, I'm now on the latest and greatest Keto diet trying to loose all those lovely pounds you gave me.  Thankfully, Cannabliss has come to my rescue.  Sorry, but I will pass.

DuWayne Putnam Manager   Notification
     Sorry Mr. Putnam, but I'm not clicking on "Notification".  Bad things happen when you do that, like little green men come out and smash your computer with big hammers.  I'm sending you a NOTIFICATION in return.  Just click on the green button!!  hehehehe

THIS email I should have deleted immediately.  It has a recipe for Keto peanut butter cookies, meaning they had no sugar.  What they DID have was peanut butter, an egg, vanilla and Swerve (sugarless sugar).  This must be what the horoscope guy was talking about.

Just because I was sure they would be terrible, I dumped in some peanut butter chips, which totally negated any thought of being sugarless.

I'm here to tell you they were AWFUL.  Friend Cindy is back visiting for a couple of days, and even SHE said they were terrible.  Grainy, crumbly, dry as the sahara desert and tasted nothing like peanut butter.  Thank goodness the recipe only made ten cookies.  There's definitely no worries you will get fat eating these, because you will never EVER eat a second one after you taste the first one.

And don't forget the lovely metallic aftertaste.

Maybe I'll pawn them off on the Magic Kingdom tonight .... YEAH that's what I'll do!!!!!

   

It Followed Me Home!!

It started out as your normal overcast 60 degree day.  I was sitting at my sewing machine when I heard CRACK!!!!  Then the distance sound of rolling thunder.  It's almost June and we're having a storm?  This was the BIG ONE, or so the weather guessers said.

When I heard something hitting the glass in my sewing room window, I got up to check it out, figuring it was the neighbor kids.  YIKES!!!  What I saw was crazy!!

There was half inch hail falling from the sky, sounding like someone was dropping marbles on the floor.  Another big CRACK and the skies opened up like I've never seen here in all my years.  Did you follow me from Utah?????

More thunder, louder than I've ever heard here as huge chunks of ice fell from the sky.  I had a fleeting thought about the skylight on my rig.  There was just as much water coming down as hail.  Instantly it flooded my back yard and all my flower beds.

This is all that hail floating in about three inches of water.  After fifteen minutes, it slowed to a steady downpour.  You sneaky thing you ... you thought you would catch me unawares!!  As the rain finally quit, I let the pups outside.  They were slipping and sliding all over on the white b-b's on the ground.

Hopefully that's the last of it!!  I checked the weather guessers again, who said it's going to be 90 degrees by next Saturday.  I went back to sewing, finishing up this queen size quilt for the rig.  

It's not my favorite ... it was a mystery quilt where you get one square pattern a week.  In the end, you sew it all together to find out what it looks like.  I don't care much for the pattern, but it fits the bed perfectly!!!  The other good part is I don't care if the puppies get it dirty!  Of course if it's going to be 115 in Tucson, I probably won't be needing it.

Today I'm on to Presidential duties ... figuring out how to send an email to 50 people at once and setting up a survey on Google Groups.  If nothing else, this President thing will keep my mind going trying to wade through the how-to's.  Maybe I'll even find out how to get rid of these hiccups I've been having every couple of hours for the last two days.  

It used to be you could take a teaspoon of sugar (my mother's recipe), but that's off the table now.  Instead I've been taking as many sips of water as possible before running out of breath.  Although I'm totally water logged, it's good for the diet!!!

It's Memorial Day .... give thanks to all those who gave their lives preserving our freedom like no other country on earth.

Locating Parts and Pieces

New parts are so hard to find.  If you need an arm or a leg, that's pretty easy to locate on the internet.  When you need that chrome thingy that fell off the rear view mirror arm on your rig, it's a totally different story.  Chrome thingy does not seem to be in anyone's store.

The same thing goes for those little window drain covers.  I've lost three now, making the windows whistle if I'm going the exact right direction.

Find the part number you say?  Where's the picture in the front of the book with little arrows going to each piece with a description?  Windshield wipers I found, along with the entire mirror setup for about $645.00.  Maybe I will get out my trusty roll of pink camouflage duck tape!!

I finally found the Tiffin website, but it was a little hard to understand.  Do I look under end cap?  How about front cap?  Chassis?  There were so many categories, I didn't know where to go, so I spent about two hours clicking through every single part under every category.  

At long last ... THERE IT IS!!!  On page 38 of 45 under front cap, I found it.  Funny, there aren't a lot of OTHER parts, so this one must be something that falls off often.  I ordered it for something like $12 or $14, along with that pesky windshield washer tubing that breaks every 500 miles.  I'm putting this baby on with lots of silicone and glue.

This purchase was MUCH easier to locate, but $25 a bottle on Amazon seemed a little steep.  I kept looking until ... YIKES!!! ... there it was for $7.00 a bottle.  I ordered two on the 23rd.  It was delivered on the 24th.  Sometimes you have to give it up to Amazon.  I haven't seen hide nor hair of the second part of that order which I should have received on the 25th.  

Happy those parts were on the way, I decided to try and bake something with no flour or sugar.  That makes things like pie crust and cookies pretty challenging.  It happens I picked up a bag of almond flour one day at Costco.  I've no idea what possessed me to do that.  

Anything with cream, eggs and veggies is acceptable on this diet, so why not quiche?  After mixing up the crust, it was pretty mushy with so much melted butter involved.  That means there's no rolling it out, but pressing it in the pan.  That was an experience in itself, sort of like trying to get wet sand to stay in place on a silicone sheet.  It's not pretty, but it will be covered with loveliness.  

Bacon, mushrooms, onions, swiss cheese, eggs and cream turned into this after 60 minuets in the oven.  Who cares what the crust tastes like when you have THIS!!

How you can lose weight eating food like this, I've no idea.  Apparently portion control is a big thing, and we all know how I am with THAT strategy!!  Amazingly, even with an ice cream cheat every other day, I've lost all that weight I gained back after the Pumpkin Patch.  

I attribute it mostly to no bread, rice, noodles or potatoes for the last 6 weeks.  What about the ice cream?  Don't ask.  I don't think I will ever give it all up!!

We are in for another big one today.  These clouds from yesterday are now directly overhead, ready to dump their load.  Roads in the mountains have been closed before a drop of water or snow fell.  This is the BIG ONE Martha!!!

Now for a nice big chunk of quiche for breakfast!!

Up To My Elbows In Jello!!!

That would NOT be the kind of jello we RV'ers speak of.  Although I did spend quite a bit of time in the jiggly stuff while in Nevada trying to get back to California.  THIS jello is the lovely sugar free diet friendly kind made by lots of people every day.

Thank you to readers Dave and Patsy, it's ALL YOUR FAULT!!  The recipe was on a sticky note on the counter.  I read it three times before I went to the grocery store.  When I returned, it had somehow disappeared.  Yes I dug through the now-full-of-greasy-chicken-bones trash can, to no avail.  Surely I can remember such a simple recipe.

I made the jello .... raspberry flavor ... and stuck it in the fridge to set up.  I was sure all I had to do then was whip it together with cream cheese and cream.  Easy peasy.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The second those beaters hit that jello, it went flying in all directions.  I'm pretty sure I will never get that red stuff off the ceiling.  It was all over the front of my white shirt, leaving a nice polka dot impression.

Apparently I didn't let the cream cheese soften quite enough, because soon there were lots of white dots to match the red.  WHAT A MESS!!!  Adding the watery cream didn't help matters at all.  This picture is NOT mine.  My bowl of deliciousness doesn't look anything like this.  In fact, I chose NOT to show you a picture in case you threw up!!  How in the world do they get it to look this nice?

I finally stuck it back in the fridge after beating it to death.  I spent the next hour cleaning up the mess all over the ceiling, walls, floor and every single item sitting on the counter.  This stuff better taste good!!!

In the end, after doing a load of laundry with lots of bleach, it was rather tasty ... the perfect thing to quench my sweet tooth.  I still have quite a problem with the aftertaste of things, even if they say it is all plant based.  That minerally taste is hard to get past, unlike ice cream that leaves a wonderful taste in your mouth.

To be honest, when I went to the store, I had in mind to pick up a nice big piece of cake and sing happy birthday.  It was probably a good thing it wasn't on my list.  I didn't remember to buy it.

There was no celebration other than I was happy to get the kitchen mess cleaned up.  Instead, I spent the day working on this donation quilt for friend Shirley in Arizona.  Those red squares are a plaid material.  I will never work with plaid again as long as I live!!  I was as looney as the loons when I finished sewing those squares together.

With no cake in sight, I decided to fix a nice dinner and use REAL plates.  Yes it does resemble the jello somewhat, but it's very delicious tuscan chicken with sun dried tomatoes, spinach and cream over chicken.  I may have to make THIS one more often.  

I had the jello for dessert, keeping my eyes mostly closed to I didn't have to look at it.  Every once in awhile I got a nice chunk of cream cheese.  I think I'll look up that recipe on the web and get more detailed directions.  I don't want to be up to my elbows in jello again!!!

Help!!! My Parts Are Falling Off!!!

That's probably just because I'm old.  It's that day again when I celebrate another six months.  Never in a million years did I ever think I would be THIS old.  Never in a million years did I ever think I would be President of the Golden Spike Chapter either, so there you go!!!

Why six months?  Because I get TWO a year.  One on my Facebook day and one on the real day.  I'm not saying that word because it might make the time go faster when I'm trying to make it slow down.

I can tell I'm getting older because my parts are falling off.  There should be a clip-on piece at the bottom of this mirror arm.  It covers up all the wiring inside.  Woe was me yesterday when I was inspecting the water and snow damage to find it completely missing.

I have a feeling there won't be any replacement of this 2012 model piece of fake chrome.  I'll call Tiffin and see what I can come up with.

I did take a screwdriver around the outside and discovered many loose screws.  If I could take a screwdriver to my brain, it would help considerably!!  Inside, I discovered THREE screws on the floor.  I HATE THAT!!  I've no idea where they came from, but obviously something ELSE is going to fall off soon!!

Another discovery, I have a drawer in the dash by the passenger seat that pulls out into a computer table.  Cool, right?  It has those funny sliding rail things at the side.  Wasn't I surprised when I took off from a stop sign and the desk slammed OPEN!  

The only way I could keep it closed was to tape it shut with scotch tape.  If any one has any idea how to adjust those slide thingies so they stay closed, I would greatly appreciate the help.

I made a quick trip to the Elks Park to dump the tanks, so that lovely task has been completed.  I did another walk around to be sure nothing else was going to fall off before parking her for the next 30 days, at which time I'll be taking off again.

The rest of the day I spent finishing up this quilt for the Elks Steak At The Lake donation.  It's going to be raffled off as a fundraiser.  

In the meantime, my friend from the Sacramento area came down for a goodbye visit.  Sadly her little puppy Rusty who never leaves her side, has developed a terrible tumor.  It's so sad when we lose our "children" to something so awful.  My heart goes out to Rusty and his Mom.  

I did spend an hour or two trying to figure out what a Golden Spike President does without much success.  Apparently there is something called Google Groups that I need to set up so notices can be sent to everyone.  From there, I'll just play it by ear and hope they don't notice.  As for the plaque that goes on the back of my rig, the plastic bars to hold it in place cost $10 ... the shipping $11.   Guess there won't be any plaque on MY rig!!

There's no special plans for today.  I'll be finishing up another Donation Quilt and hoping the on-and-off rain will wash most of the crud off the rig so I don't have to.

A Day Of Rest ..... Not So Much

I thought it might be a day of rest, the first one since sometime in April.  Too bad my to-do list kept getting longer and longer every passing minute.

What's for breakfast?  Salad, since there doesn't seem to be anything else in the fridge at the moment. Groceries are number 3 on my list.  Wasn't I surprised to find that huge lettuce core in the middle.  I'm sure it weighs in at a pound or so, meaning there's enough salad for two small bowls.  I thought about calling the company, but it's not worth the hassle.  It really was pretty tasty for breakfast.

Next I spent an hour on the phone discussing my Arizona homeowners insurance, trying to get the value reduced.  They had it at $25,000 more than I paid and tacked on $90,000 for contents.  Are you kidding me?  I've got one couch, one chair, one bed and a sewing machine worth more than all of them put together, STILL not over $20,000.  

She explained the outbuildings (including the garage) and the contents are a percentage of the value, no matter what you really have.  I finally got her to lower the value to the purchase price, creating a HUGE reduction in the bill of $6.00.  Now you know why I hate dealing with all this insurance stuff.  It's a lose lose situation.

Instead, I decided I would occupy myself with replacing the stinky air filters.  A quick run to Home Depot reminded me I spent way too much on quilt fabric.  It was quite a shock to find each filter averaged $16 and I purchased SIX.  At least I will save on fuel the next three times I need to change them out.  

I feel like Spiderman perched on top of the eight foot ladder, gripping the walls with my fingers and the ladder with my toes!!  

After another salad lunch (finishing the bag) I headed off to the quilter to pick up this donation to the Elks.  It's not one of my favorite patterns, but it was quick and easy.  It will take me about three days to hand sew the binding.  Remind me to never use black.  It's VERY difficult to see where the needle is going, even in the light of day.  I've lost count of the number of bandaids I've had to use.

It seemed I was on a roll with terrible food, so why mess it up?  I've been cutting out all bread, potatoes and pasta.  Some time ago I ran across a recipe for chinese fried rice made with cauliflower.  It was pretty good, so I proceeded to try it again.  

I figured Cooper could share a little of his cooked chicken, so I threw that in with onions, peas, mushrooms and carrots, and of course the cauliflower.  It's the sauce part that went South.  I couldn't find the original recipe, so I used another.  

It turned out a soggy tasteless mess.  Unfortunately, I now have enough to feed a family of eight!!

I never did get down the list to "dump the tanks", so that will be first on today's menu.  It's been raining on and off, which suits me just fine.  That means no sprinklers on the lawn (and thus no big PGE bill), no air conditioning required and no kids playing in the swimming pool next door.

There is however, one very large, very loud peacock.  I've no idea where HE came from!!  It's okay though, he reminds me of being on the ranch back in the old days when we had a flock of pea hens as guard dogs.  Any time anyone came around, they raised a big ruckus so we knew something was afoot.

I'll be on the couch .... at least for the next hour!!

Yup ... It's Magic Kingdom Time!!

Well ..... here I am back in sunny California after that traumatic trip through the snow, only to be inundated with RAIN.  I'll take rain over snow any day!!

I got absolutely no sleep, so I celebrated the morning by cleaning the house.  I just can't figure out where all this dust and dirt comes from.  I have a huge vacuum cleaner that sucked up so much stuff I had to empty it TWICE.  The worst part is I never even touched TWO rooms!!

Two and a half hours later I crashed on the couch with the puppies.  Three o'clock would come soon enough and I would head off to the Magic Kingdom of Elks.

SURPRISE!!!  There was hugs all around from the men because I made it back and they didn't have to help the cashier.  I had a nice glass of wine to celebrate.  I should have waited because the Castle Lawyer brought some homemade limoncello for everyone to taste.

Oh my Great Aunt Mae!!!  Being a lightweight, I only got half a shot.  It was enough to bring major fire to my stomach.  My goodness that was strong!!  Mighty tasty though!!

Too bad someone opened the door early before I could really enjoy it.  There is a thing called hot ball.  You pay $1 for each one (there are two at present) and get your hand stamped.  Once a number is picked and posted, if you win Bingo with that number, you win BOTH pots.  Each one is at it's highest $1,199.  That brought in loads of peasants we don't normally see.

It also brought in a fight!  The early-in people took up the spots the regulars normally sit.  It's all about the lucky chair at the lucky table.  When you're in MY seat met up with #$%#% YOU, the fight was on!!  Now I have to explain to one of the Knights just WHY we cannot open those doors early.  I think with that metal helmet on, he's not getting the message.

It was non stop selling and counting change for two solid hours before we got a break.  There was the usual "you didn't give me the right change" to "you only gave me three cards when I paid for four".  It's difficult to be nice to the peasants when you KNOW they are trying to cheat you.  I count change out twice and double check the receipt before handing it to them.  Tempers flare when there's lots of money to be had.

Surely it's a full moon, but I can't tell due to the cloud cover.  Another shot of limoncello might have been nice, but alas, it was all gone.  The Knights smelled of lemons!!

There were 140 peasants present, who collected a total of $7,700.  Twenty two went home happy.  I spent an hour counting up all the dimes and pennies, balancing to the dollar.  Those pennies never work out right.

Today will be a day of dumping.  With all that snow, I wanted to be as heavy as possible, so I not only never dumped any tanks, I kept filling up the water tank so I would be even heavier.  Today is the day to lighten the load.

MASS EXODUS!!!

It was something like I read in the Bible.  There was blue sky and a mass exodus out of the Sparks Marina RV Park.  This is what the highway looked like the day before.  THIS is why I signed up for a few more nights.  I guess it was money well spent because it gave me peace of mind that at least they wouldn't kick me out on the street.

By the time I left at 9:00 the place was a ghost town!!  I checked the live cameras on the summit and the roads looked excellent.  Thank you all for the prayers for no snow ... it worked!!  Just look at this sky!!

Somewhere along the river ... maybe it was before ... I remembered I had not turned the inverter on.  RATS!!  I might lose those fabulous breakfast burritos in the freezer.  I remember years ago stopping at Boomtown.  I took the exit, only to be totally confused by what I saw.  

I turned right ... should have gone left.  That's when I spotted a big truck.  You can't go wrong following one of those guys.  He led me right on around to a traffic circle as he ran over curb after curb.  I was finally able to stop and turn the invertor on, as well as shut that three foot long kitchen drawer that came open.  Some day I'm going to have to learn how to adjust those babies.

With a death grip on the wheel, I finally started up the mountain.  The winds were terrible on the East side.  Just when you think you're out of it, it bangs you in the side reminding you who's boss.

I wasn't all that happy to see the rain clouds, but the road was still clear and mostly dry.

Donner Summit ..... YAY!!!  I pried my aching arthritic fingers off the wheel to give them a little rest.  Now for all those downhill miles.  I just LOVE fifth gear!!

From here on out, traffic became a bear.  I've never seen so many trucks and cars on the highway for a Monday.  It never stopped from Auburn all the way to my turnoff in beautiful sunny snowless California.

It was five hours of finger cramping driving, trying to stay out of the way of trucks and fast cars.  I tried to find a rest stop for the puppies but Nevada doesn't have any to speak of and California has all of their closed.  I just don't understand.  Are they trying to save money?????  That would be a first.

At last I backed in to my driveway and breathed a big sigh of relief.  The puppies were ecstatic to be running loose on the grass.  By the way, the lawn is fabulous due to all the rain and my sprinklers being on the entire time.

First up ... clean the house.  I put rosemary in all the a.c. filters, opened all the windows and turned on the fan, just like you all told me to.  I think it's working.  I'd like to take a couple days off, but Bingo doesn't have a cashier for tonight, so I'll head on in to the Magic Kingdom where hopefully I will be the Queen and not the floor scrubber!!

The Spoils Of Traindom ....

I decided some time ago I wasn't going to load up on souvenirs, chatchkees or anything else that takes up room and has to be moved.  Quilting stuff is exempt, as demonstrated by my packed cupboards in the rig.

When we arrived, Barbara and Tom Westerfield suggested I hit up the Chamber of Commerce immediately for this coin.  I passed.  It was later I remembered two people I thought would love a coin.  You already know what happened ... they were sold out.  RATS!!  There was a mad dash to the train depot that was also sold out.

Wasn't I surprised when Mel Roberts called while I was in Salt Lake City and said he found the guy who made the original order for the Sheriff's Department.  YES!!  Upon my return, I picked up ten of these beauties in case any one else wanted one.  They had about 980 left over.

Are they not gorgeous?  The back gives the exact time and telegraph wording, along with the dates.  I think I still have seven left if anyone wants one.  $10 each, compared to the Chamber price of $15.

That's when they hit me with the belt buckle.  The Sheriff had these belt buckles made for the celebration also.  The gold version is numbered ... only 150 in existence.  My self control went right out the window.  You can't wave a huge gold buckle in front of a cowgirl without fireworks going off.  I refuse to tell you how much THIS cost me!!

When I went to the Post Office to mail out the first two coins, I was surprised to see these stamps on the counter.  I declined until I saw them in person.  They were exquisite and I had them stamped with the date and place of Promontory Utah.  Also only $10.

On a side note, those of the Golden Spike Group who were supposed to go to the Heber Valley Railroad rally, you will be happy to hear that my contribution to the breakfast casserole brunch was a big bomb.  Do NOT buy these.  I ate one this morning and they are horrible!!!  Unfortunately for me, I have 11 more to eat.

This was my morning drive yesterday, which is why I'm still camped out in Sparks.  Later in the morning, it did clear up a bit, but I was paid for the night.  

Too bad I'm not a better gambler, I could have saved lots of money on reservations!!  The weather looked like it would finally be clear Friday, so I talked them into giving me a spot until then.  Naturally, you have to pay up front with NO refunds for leaving early.

So I lost my butt on that gamble.  It has cleared up and I should be good to leave about 11:00 this morning.  Ding ding ding ... you lose!!!   I've checked every single camera on I80 from San Francisco to Utah, along with weather radar in every single town along the way.  I'm thorough, if nothing else, mostly because I'm scared to drive this rig in the snow.

Thank you all for replying about AT&T.  At least I know it wasn't just me ... I appreciate your support, and thank you for the no-snow prayers.  It seems to have worked, even if my wallet is considerably lighter!!!!

HAPPINESS IS .........

A full tank of fuel as you head DOWNHILL to lower altitudes and NO SNOW!!  I was SO relieved.

Happiness is NOT being almost sideswiped by this idiot who forgot "things are closer than they appear" in the mirror and almost clipped me when he turned back into my lane.  Had I not swerved and slammed on the brakes, he would have hit me.

Happiness is NOT is finding your phone company turned off your cellular service because you have been roaming the entire time you were in Utah.  Why?  Because there are no AT&T towers there.  Too bad that tree wasn't a tower!!  

They decided I was using the map and weather guesser apps too much.  They turned off my entire internet service.  Nancy was not a happy camper.  Do I not have unlimited everything with my 20 year old account?

I called, to find out they turned it off at noon yesterday, only to turn it back on at midnight.  I really tried to be nice, I just wasn't very good at it because Jose (his real name) kept saying he would check on the charges I was going to get for being out of the country.  I tried to explain I was only in Utah, but he didn't get it.  Supervisor please!!

Also, NOT happiness is getting lost trying to find the quilt shop in Sparks because your phone map app won't work.  No internet.  I finally had to return to the rig (considering myself extremely lucky I found it), hooked up my MiFi and wrote down the directions.

HAPPINESS IS FINDING THE QUILT SHOP!!!!!

So here I am parked in Sparks Nevada with a four day reservation.  It's looking good for a Friday take-off.   It happens to be snowing as I type.

REAL happiness is ice cream and cake.  Instead I decided I would eat out one last time and have a great BBQ dinner.  BJ's down on Victoria Lane came to mind.  Oh my goodness it smelled SO good!!  I stood at the check-in table for five minutes while waitresses and employees passed me by.  

Finally, I ran one down and asked for a menu so I could place a to-go order.  She threw one on the table next to me.  As I perused the menu, it was made known that I was completely in their path as they bumped me a couple times walking by.  Unfortunately there was no place else to stand.  That waitress would have gotten a big tip.  I tossed the menu back on the counter and said thank you as I walked out.

I settled for KFC chicken tenders.  I only took one bite of the potatoes, which I thought was going to be cole slaw, but I drank the entire cup of Pepsi.  The heck with the diet!!!

So it's a waiting game.  My phone is back on and I'm using it like crazy.  Now I know just how addicted to convenience I am.  It doesn't tell me if I'm roaming or not, but I don't care.  I only want to get over Donner Pass with no snow.  Wish me luck!!  

In the meantime, maybe I can locate another quilt store now that I have my phone back!!!!  Ahhhh Happiness!!!