Sycamore Tree – Santee, CA

Here it is Fall in Southern California. Our current location has a very large California Sycamore tree with “huge” leaves. It really only takes a few to cover our site and rig. Really the leaves are huge! Here are some pictures with a sample leaf next to a measuring tool that is 15 inches long. While this particular leaf is large it is not an exception. There are larger and smaller leaves falling from our tree.

The bark is sort of spotted white, black, and grey. It took us a while to correctly identify the tree mostly because of the maple-tree-shaped leaf.

There is another tree with much much smaller leaves that create a kind of carpet of yellow under the tree’s canopy. Lucky for us we have a large rake we carry for just these types of ground cover in our sites across America. It gets us out doing something physical besides walking the dog.

Clark Kent is a Blogger – Santee, CA

Aren’t we all – this entry case in point? While we get a lot of our information and current affairs data from the internet, we still like the look and feel of the newspaper. As we travel across America, we buy the local papers each morning. Sometimes the paper is truly local with little or no national or world news included. And, sometimes we are able to get bigger city (in the neighborhood) publication (i.e., LA Times, Chicago Tribune or Sun Times, Sacramento Bee, San Luis Obispo Tribune, Reno Gazette-Journal, etc. etc. etc.) and always can find the New York Times everywhere.

When we first tried the San Diego Union-Tribune, it was mostly small ads, little information outside San Diego, few comics (really isn’t this most important), and no NYT crosswords (especially Sunday’s). We even commented to others that we were very disappointed in the Union-Tribune. With newspapers failing across America we were surprised that the U-T, as it is locally referred to, was in fact getting better.

We noticed 2 years ago that the paper was covering the nation and international news more. Now, they have added more comics (yea) and publish the NYT crosswords Monday through Sunday. The ads have increased so much that the Thanksgiving edition for Black Friday was thicker than the NYT and much harder to find around the RV Park, local bodegas and grocery stores. Usually, Ruthi walks Karma to the farthest paper dispenser on their morning walk but there weren’t any papers in either of the dispensers. So, we had to go to 3 places outside the RV park to find a copy.

We don’t know what happened to the U-T to improve in an age of declining hard copy news. If even Clark Kent becomes a blogger can the demise of all papers be far behind????

Wild Life - Santee, CA

We haven’t seen the egrets, herons, or our own Red Tail Hawk in the stream behind our rig yet but it is early. We are near the east side of the park. The coyotes were out in mass last night. They were very noisy early in the evening and it went on for a long time. Must have been a birthday party ‘cause they really were yipping it up. With the week-end crowds, we are pretty sure the coyotes were on the west side of the park in the scrub land outside the park fence but they sounded much closer.

In all of our travels through coyote territory, Karma has only once wondered about them. It was early on when we were outside LA in the summer of 2008. The county park we were in was pretty much in the coyotes’ living room. They were active each and every night we were there. Anyway, one night Karma insisted that she needed to go out. So, both of us took flash lights and walked within 10 feet of the RV. She did a LOT of sniffing but no pee/poop. We didn’t stay out long as the coyotes are not very afraid of the humans, or pet dogs, that are taking up space on their land.

Back "home" - Santee, CA

This is our 4th fall/winter here in Santee Lakes Regional Park. We stayed for a month in 2008 as we started our first tour, in 2009/10 for 5 months, in 2010/11 for 5 months, and now in 2012/13 for 6 months. Last winter (2011/12) we were on the Gulf coast of Texas. The Texas coast is much cheaper for RV parks, food and gas but it wasn’t really for us atmosphere-wise.

It is fun to return to a known location. We already have a long list of places to see, run Karma, eat, shop, etc. etc. etc. So, it does kind of feel like “home”. No, that doesn’t mean we are settling down here – just resting for our 2013 adventure. We have been on the road for 4+ years and are thinking about “what next” but still moving.

We love how we have customized and optimized our little space (300 sq ft living + 25 sq ft storage). One thing we want to do while settled in for awhile is a good cleaning and general review of what we have kept for the last 4 years. The thinking is, if we haven’t used it in all this time, do we really need it.

Camping World - Valencia, CA

Whew - after 3 days hanging out in their waiting room or at a local Starbucks that’s down the street, it’s nice to be done with all the items on our long list of annual checks/repairs/improvements. Moving forward, we have decided to do repairs and improvements when we leave FOR our tours and do the annual checks/repairs AFTER the tour. That way we can spread the waiting time out over 2 times in the year (Spring and Fall). This will probably up the costs a bit but the agony of being without our home during the day, day after day, wait will be worth it.

Karma and the Dunes - Oceano, CA

As we pack up to leave the Central Coast, Karma got her last run on the Dunes. She has gone out almost every day we have been here (94). Ruthi has worked with Karma on her recall (returning when called). This has never been a good behavior for Karma. The only sure way to get her to “come” was to have her tennis ball in one hand and a treat (really just a piece of her regular kibble) in the other. For the last week, Ruthi has let Karma off leash and running free on the Dunes. Again this is still a fairly well controlled environment, but Karma came back every time and even once did an abrupt u-turn on Ruthi’s whistle. So, progress is being made.

More RV Park neighbors - Oceano, CA

On the front side of our rig, lives a family of 4 (Mom, Dad, girl 14yo and boy 13yo). The father has just gotten off disability and also works at the Solar Farm in Lompoc. Their rig is a 39’ 6” trailer (regulations say that 40’ or longer is a mobile home; less is a trailer). With a couple of slide outs their space comes out to about 400 sq ft. That’s 100 sq ft more than we have. They do use the outside picnic table for the kids to do their homework on and occasionally dinner.
With both of our histories of teaching junior/senior high students, we have a good sensitivity to the challenges of living with teenagers anywhere let alone within a 400 sq ft space. The kids like Karma and enjoy walking her after they get home from school and finish their homework. They are chatty and interesting young people, seem very respectful of the parents. It could be that they are just entering their teenage years and the storms will come later.

Besides the 4 of them, they have 2 cats who have discovered the perfect way to irritate Karma. While she seems able to deal with cats in other people’s houses, she doesn’t have any patience for cats (rabbits, squirrels, or armadillos for that matter) who are outside our rig - it’s her ‘hall-monitor role’. Anyway, back to these clever cats. One at a time, they will push back the curtain and sun themselves so that Karma can see them through the side window of her crate. They first make sure they have her attention – identified by loud shrill barking (Karma’s, that is, not the cats) – then proceed to clean each paw, side, ear, eye, etc, etc, etc.

We are working very hard with Karma to assure her that she can growl or “woof” to let us know a cat is again in the window but no horribly painful (to us) barking. By the time we leave, we hope to have made some progress on that behavior.

RV Park Neighbors - Oceano, CA

While this park is not tightly pack as some, the rigs are close to each other. We have interesting neighbors on both sides. On our back side lives a young couple here because their newborn was in the local hospital due to poor treatment at a doctor’s office in their hometown. So, they are only here for a couple of weeks. The dad, like a lot of park residents, works at the huge Solar Farm being constructed in the Lompoc area.

The reason I mention this young couple is because of an offensive tattoo the young man has on his upper arm. It appears that he might be trying to remove it as it looks like it has been rubbed out with a dark smudge. He has Iron Crosses on his chest surrounding his nipples – OK Ruthi noticed because he goes by the rear of our rig to get to the park public bathrooms. But one evening after the baby was back at the trailer, we both were talking with the husband and wife (or boy/girl friends – we aren’t sure) and adoring the baby when Ruthi saw the Swastika on his upper arm. Again, it looked like he is trying to “erase” the tat.

Honestly with all of our travels across America in various neighborhoods with no idea of the people who live there, this is the first time we have felt in danger for ourselves. It was clear that during our discussion with the young couple that he didn’t get that we were a lesbian couple. His questions indicated that he just wasn’t thinking about us as a couple. They were friendly and did nothing more overt to threaten us than have that particular tattoo.

Boots’ Eye Infection Recovery - Oceano, CA

Finally, Boots can move on. The infection is completely healed, not repaired but healed. Boots has had her lower left eye lid corrected to prevent the “rolling in” and irritation of the eye ball. She will need to get a new prescription check and possibly new lens for the left. While vision is expected to improve it will never be corrected to 20:20 in the left.

It has been a hard 5 months for Boots to have limited vision, pain, discomfort and needing only time to heal. Both of the ophthalmologists (regular cornea exams and plastic surgeon for the repair) were very good and provided good health care.

Tail Light Out – Oceano, CA

Someone pointed out to us that our right rear taillight was burned out. So, we made an appointment to have that fixed and scheduled an oil change too. So, we dropped the truck off for a half-day at the local Ford dealer. Well, 4 hours later, they called to tell us that there had been a slight accident. While pulling our truck into the bay to work on it, they hit the wall and damaged the passenger side of the truck bed.

They said they would need the rest of the week to do the body work and would provide us with a rental until the truck was fixed. We were not very angry about it – a small car meant we could go to the city (San Luis Obispo) and have no problem finding parking. I think they were surprised by our calm response. Also, we are staying here in Oceano until the end of October so we weren’t negatively impacted by the schedule.

So, we got a Mazda and were off. We have found renting cars a fun way to check out the different manufacturers/models. The only thing we liked about this Mazda was the emergency brake mechanism. You push down to engage the emergency brake and then you push down again to disengage – very clever and easy to work. Otherwise the model was very poorly designed – mirrors didn’t really show enough to be helpful backing up, the seats did not lower so you hit your head upon entering the car and have to stretch out to reach the ground when exiting, gas mileage was worse than the truck’s (12 MPG), etc.

Nature’s Pumice – Oceano, CA

Walking Karma at least twice a day on the dunes has really smoothed out Ruthi’s feet. The sand is so deep and soft that she rarely wears her flip flops out on the dunes. The very fine particles have rubbed her calluses off. What a much easier remedy than sitting in the shower/tub rubbing away.

Finally Relief - Oceano, CA

Boots is finally moving out of her siege of pain and discomfort. Since her cataract surgery in early May, she has been bearing her headaches, eye infection, lack of clear vision, etc. etc. etc. She still isn’t driving but she does have a new eye glass prescription and has finally been able to walk out to see the Dunes with Ruthi and Karma. Over 3 months of recovery has really taken the toll on her and Ruthi.

Coastal Confusion - Pismo Beach, CA

The incident about to be described has happened twice in the past week. We have never had this happen before. Really amazing that in our combined 130+ years this hasn’t happened before let alone twice in a week. Boots is still dealing with the infection from the cataract surgery in early May. She is having follow-up appointments here and is scheduling surgery to correct the entropion of the left lower lid that seems to have results from the infection solution.

So, Boots has second appointments with each of these ophthalmologists. Their staff doesn’t seem to call the day before to remind patients of appointments. But we have the ultra anal-retentive (Ruthi), so there is little chance we’d miss an appointment. Especially, now that Ruthi has no one else to herd but Boots and Karma. When Boots walked up to the check-in desk (at each location), she was informed that she didn’t have an appointment. The check-in clerk asked if she had a card confirming the appointment. In the first incidence, Boots did have a card with the date/time of the appointment. At the second occurrence, she did not have a card. Luckily, at both places Boots ended up having the appointments but we have learned is to get cards every time we set up a follow-up appointment.

Movie Theater Visit After Aurora, CO Shooting - Oceano, CA

We go to the movies a lot. Between the two of us, we have a broad spread of interests and usually see just about every film we can. Though we do draw the line at most overly violent, overly sophomoric or vampire genre. Following the massacre in the Aurora theater, our visits have been impacted. We still go but have moved our seat choices depending upon where the Exit door is, what might be useful to hide behind, etc, etc, etc.

We have noticed that the theater does send in the ushers to walk through the theater just as the movie starts and at least once during the showing. We are wondering how many others are impacted by this invasion of our everyday lives by another’s act of senseless violence against a crowd of unknowns.

Haircuts – Oceano, CA

One of the challenges while being from “nowhere” and “everywhere” is getting your hair cut by a capable stylist. Boots has thick curly grey/white hair. She has been cutting her own hair very nicely for decades. Ruthi, on the other hand, has brown (only a few grey hairs – eat your heart out!) baby-fine thin hair. She has tried to emulate Boots and using an outside window, as a mirror, cut her own hair. That has been less than successful and usually requires a quick run to any hair dresser for “repair”.

Finding someone to fulfill this need is tricky. First, not everyone knows how to cut baby-fine hair. Then not every hair dresser/stylist is any more competent than Ruthi. So, she has decided to just bite the bullet and try any “Super Cuts” type of establishment and live with the results. Honestly, it can’t be much worse than her chopping at the few hairs she has. Going to a high-end salon is not any guarantee either, just higher prices for the hack job, no pun intended.

So, imagine our surprise that here in the 5 Cities area (Grover Beach to be exact), there is a stylist that immediately understood the hair was baby-fine. He cut Ruthi’s hair beautifully. So, that means we need to come back here often to ensure Ruthi has a attractive coiffure. Because we all know how important looks are to Ruthi!

The Dunes – Oceano, CA

We have been to this RV park twice before (in April ’10 & ‘11) on our way to Reno, NV docs and Boots’ son/family. This is the first time we have been here during season. Previously, there were lots of open sites. Now, there are only occasional open sites between the various class As, Bs, Cs, trailers, 5th wheels and tents.

Since we were mostly here as a rest stop we didn’t really check out the adjacent dunes. There aren't any motorized vehicles allowed on the beach so it is quiet. Karma and Ruthi have ventured out to the park area already this trip. The dunes go for about a rolling ½ to ¾ mile to the beach. You can’t see the beach until you crest the second dune. The sand is fine powder and it is slow slogging through - so, they haven’t gone far. Karma encourages Ruthi’s exercise by pooping as far away as Ruthi can throw the ball. You’d think Ruthi would catch on and only do short throws until the pooping event is complete.

Most people leave there flip flops and shoes at the edge of the sand in order to progress better across the dunes. Early and late in the day that works well. But between 10am and 5pm the sand is way too hot to walk bare footed across.
There are over 200 sites and probably 100+ dogs around Karma’s size in the park. We have met only 2 or 3 little dogs (Yorkie, Pug, etc.). the rest are mostly lab mixed with a couple of German shepherds and a Doberman. While the dogs must be leashed in the park, as soon as you get past the open fench entrance to the park you can take them off leash. Karma is not good at recall unless we have a ball. So, letting her run is always an adventure. When Karma senses that Ruthi is all thrown out, she will seek out another human to throw the ball. We have a hundred foot rope lead that we attach to her collar, so we can at least finally corral her if need be.

Anyway, Karma is in heaven here – dogs, beach, ball what more could she want.

Chest Pains – Truckee, CA

Barely out of Reno, Boots was experiencing chest pains and clamminess. We decided that we needed to stop at the local Truckee hospital and have it checked out. First things first – she had an EKG and blood work done. Ruthi, meanwhile, (knowing that nothing medical is quick) was looking around this very touristy town for a place to park the RV (45+ feet) while she and Karma went to the ER to check on Boots. Tricky, tricky, tricky. Ruthi found a place in front of the CHP (California Highway Patrol) and went into their office to check if it was ok. Then Ruthi and Karma walked back to the ER. No, Karma was not allowed in the hospital, but Ruthi tied her to an empty newspaper dispenser in the shade.

Test results said Boots hadn’t had a heart attack and was not having one right now. But they wanted to keep her a little while and continue the blood/EKG tests. So, back to the RV for Ruthi and Karma to find a park for a night (or 2) as close as possible to the hospital. Using RV Park Reviews’ web site, Ruthi found Coachland RV Park about 4 miles north of the hospital. Then Ruthi drove to the park, unhooked the 5th wheel, walked Karma and then went back to the hospital with a bag of all those things Boots needed to spend the night at the hospital.

Boots was having more blood tests and another EKG. Since these tests were indicative of no heart attack, the cardiologist was looking to get us back on the road. He decided that if Boots passed a stress test (ever done one – whew very hard/tiring) she could leave the hospital. SHE PASSED and was discharged at 8:30pm with a RX for Nitro.

So, back to the RV park and a night’s sleep before getting back on the road.

Heat Wave – Reno, NV

Yep, we are still here. The cornea specialist is predicting that we can leave for the central coast of California near the end of the month. The temperatures will be much cooler there.

We have always had less than the needed response from our air conditioner. Even with annual checks and re-assurances from various technicians, the cooling effect wouldn’t last all day nor be low enough to really relieve us from whatever heat was out there. Sometimes it was so bad that we sat outside in the shade to at least get some breezes to cool us.

Knowing that we were in for hot temperatures in July in Reno, we called our Reno RV repair woman. She said that she doesn’t do AC but did have some questions and suggestions. Our thermostat comes with some switches for the fan “high/low” and “auto/constant” along with the temperature adjustment. We would sometimes change the fan speed but had never changed the fan to “constant” – thinking “auto” would work best. She explained that by running the fan constant, the AC wouldn’t freeze up. Air would be constantly flowing over the coils even when the AC was no longer pumping.

What a miracle worker she is. We are now able to keep the inside temperatures at least 20 if not 25 degrees below the scorching outside 90s and even today in the 100s. We could have used this approach a lot of times in our travels over the last 4 years – Simi Valley, CA; Broadus, MT; Rapid City, SD; Marseilles, IL; etc. etc. etc.

Rights of Passage – Reno, NV

We are back in Reno for the month of July. Boots is seeing the doc weekly instead of multiple times each week. Her light sensitivity is not as extreme as before. So, she is able to enjoy a bit more normal existence. Still hard to read, watch TV, work on computer, etc. but at least not as painful.

We were looking for the best deal on audio books for her and remembered how when we were in high school/college there were constant offers from record and book clubs. You could get 3, 4, 6 records for joining and only had to be a member for a year! Or, 3 or 4 books for the same period. Well, you’d think that as successful as that was (didn’t you do at least one of them, if not both???) the internet would have something like that today. If it does, we didn’t find it.

Geeks – Reno, NV

Boots’ cornea specialist doesn’t really have strong people skills. He is a true geek / scientist. He is looking at the infection and measuring it each time Boots sits in the chair. He let Ruthi look over his shoulder and even into the microscope. While the doc and Ruthi are geeking out about the infection, the bright light is still shining painfully into Boots’ eye.

Each visit indicates the infection has shrunk with the use of the special drug that the doc had created especially for Boots. As the abrasion (another name for a cornea infection) decreases in number the frequency of the application of the drops per day. That alone has allowed Boots time just heal / rest between doses.

4 Years - Reno, NV

Today’s the anniversary of the beginning of our RV adventure. We have been on the road for 4 years. We still have 7 states to touch (North Dakota, Indiana, Delaware, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas). They will have to wait. With our medical issues this summer, our slow easy summer on the central coast of California was shorten a great deal. So, when we finally get to our winter digs in Santee (San Diego area) and plan next year’s adventure it may be a repeat of the coast.

We have had some very interesting times while having the adventure of our lifetime. We've seen so much and met many others on the same trail. We even met some people a couple of times at different camp grounds. The first time it happened in Spring 2009 in South Carolina, we were shocked – small world and all. But now it’s just old hat!!

Would we do it again? You bet! Will we continue? Again you bet! But we are going to slow down our summer tours – cover less ground more thoroughly. As we travel we may begin to look at the new places as possible “settling down” places. Not, that we are ready yet but this summer has shown us that complex medical circumstances require open-ended time limits for solutions.

We will be looking at the annual weather conditions with average high/low temperatures. Perfect for us is between 60-80 degrees. We know we’ll have to compromise a little on that. Cool nights/early mornings are ok but we are hoping for nicely warm days – no long pants required and only occasionally AC.

Other considerations are public transportation, movie theaters, in/near large city, etc. So, we’ll see how it all plays out as we continue RVing across America.

3-Tim Day – Reno, NV

We haven’t added much to the blog lately cause we have been in and out of Reno for Boots’ eye. Finally yesterday-Monday (after seeing them the previous Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) they referred us to another ophthalmologist whose specialty is corneas. This new doc was able to fit us in the next day (today at 9:30am).
It is a 2 hour drive into Reno from Quincy, so to quote Ruthi, “we were up before the crack of dawn” to get ready to drive in. We packed the truck, put the dog in the back seat and then the truck wouldn’t start. We called our Ford Roadside Assistance to find out that we are no longer covered under the warranty. We knew we were out of warranty on the truck but didn’t get the connection to the Roadside Assistance.

Lucky for us, a few weeks ago we had signed up for Good Sam Roadside Assistance. They were very helpful and got a tow truck to us in 45 minutes. We still do not understand why they couldn’t have sent a truck from within Quincy but oh well. So, Tim-#1 shows up and off we go to Reno. We had called the doctor’s office about the delay. They were a bit unbelieving but said to call them when we got to Reno. Since they had squeeze us in they had less patience that might be expected of the medical field.

Our ride into Reno was full of political discussions. While we seemed to be in opposition to Tim-#1 (the tow truck driver) on most topics we did find common ground. You figure in 90 minutes there would have to be bloodshed but we agreed that it’s time for a woman president and that Hillary is a great option, Romney’s business background isn’t sufficient for the presidency, and there should always be a separation of church and state. Points we disagreed on were Romney’s religion is an issue, President Obama is a Muslim, and the Affordable Health Care bill requires governmental “death panels”. Though on that last point, we did get him to agree to research the “advanced directives” so that he could understand the impact better. Besides explaining the language in the bill, we talked about our own directives and how they might be used. Interesting, huh???

When we got to Ford, we worked with Tim-#2 to get the truck admitted for analysis and repair. He told us that they really like to do “cold starts” on diesels to ensure everything is in working order. So, we rented a car to get us around Reno, to new doctor, and back to Quincy. We have to come back to Reno Thursday night anyway because Boots has an early Friday morning appointment at another doctor. She is just falling apart as Ruthi watches. So, Tim-#2 is fine with the arrangement to keep truck until we return and agrees to call us with the prognosis and charges as soon as he knows. No political discussion here.

It’s now about noon and both Ford and the doctor’s offices are closed for lunch. We wait it out and then call the ophthalmologist and try again to get into see him today. They suggest we come to the office and sit in the waiting room until they can get us in – really fun!!! While the clinic wasn’t able to fix Boots’ eye issue they were fun and friendly to us as customers. This new office was less than friendly, we sat in the waiting room for maybe 30 minutes before Boots saw the doctor.

Tim-#3, the doctor examined Boots’ eye pretty much ignoring Ruthi. Well, trying not to be rude but wanting to be included, Ruthi asked questions. Tim-#3 commented on how large the problem on the cornea was (11.6 sq mm). Ruthi commented that that seemed to be pretty large. Tim-#3 asked Ruthi if she wanted to see. Of course she did. He allowed her to view it and even watch as he took a biopsy. So, he didn’t put us together as a couple but he did begin to look at both of us in his discussions of treatment and next steps. Before we left we had a better interface with the office staff and now feel like patients of theirs not just extras, so to speak. We also found out that Tim-#3 is really Tom not Tim, opps!

Small World - Reno, NV

Today, while we were sitting at the dermatologists waiting to go back for our annual inspection. Having been sun-free, so to speak, for all those years we now need to check for damage caused by our “Sun Belt” existence. Anyway, back to the story. Boots got up to turn in her paper work and a gentleman got up from where he was sitting and sat down on the couch by Ruthi. He introduced himself as one of her former clients from Alaska. Luckily, Ruthi did remember him and even liked him. He told her of a few more Alaskan that they had worked with were also living in Reno. He and his wife spend half of the year in Mexico and the other half in Reno. The world really is very small!!!!

Bundt Cake – Reno, NV

Today we had to drive into Reno again for some more appointments. Well, when we got up at 6am (what is wrong with this picture of retirement) there was some snow visible on the mountains around Quincy. But the roads were clear – just a bit wet. The temperatures hovered between 38 and 41 on our way into Reno. There’s a section of CA 70 that is at 5,000 feet with a wide expanse of high dessert - from 3,500 ft in Quincy through this dessert to 4,400 ft in Reno. It is surrounded by mountain peaks - today the range of mountains had a coating of snow evenly distributed. Kinda looked like we were driving inside a Bundt Cake with powdered sugar frosting.

2 Movies - Reno, NV

It has been almost forever since we were able to go to 2 movies in one day! Well, since Karma loves her new day care and we had to get up early for an eye appointment for Boots. So, we saw “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and “Men In Black III”.

“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” – is really great for the more mature audience. We saw it with a practically filled theater with only senior ticket holders. The only thing missing was a big Ballywood dance number at the end. Unless there was one after the the credits – we had to hurry to the bathroom so may have missed it!

“Men In Black III” – Very good, really like the first 2 movies, lots of weird aliens and Josh Brolin does a great young K. You might want to see MIB I again before seeing III. There was too much gap between the movies to remember some of the details.

Weather - Reno, NV

We woke to a little rain and cooler temperatures. As the day progressed, we got snow and sleet. Enough to cover the pavement and slow down traffic a little. Locals shared that it is not unusual for Reno’s Memorial Day weather to get cold enough for snow. Kind of a surprise but bearable had we worn long pants and maybe socks. We were running around town in flip-flops and shorts! We just didn’t believe it would get that cold!

Family – Reno, NV

Well, the kids (grand-daughter-Kashmere, boyfriend-Sonny, their 15 MO baby boy-Gaven) flew back to Alaska today. Boots’ son-John and his family (wife-Melody, 7 YO boy-Bodhi and 3 YO girl-Tara) were also here in Reno for this past week-end. We are exhausted!!! I know the kids (big and small) all had a lot more energy than us. Being retired means being in no rush to see everything TODAY!

Luckily, the kids all stayed in the hotel associated with our RV Park. The Grand Sierra Resort has a lot to activities to entertain the families - bowling alley (50 lanes), arcade, movie theater, besides the casino for the older kid in us all.

We loved getting to know Gaven and he us. He’s just a little dynamo of energy and exploration. We had baby-proofed the RV – Or so we thought. He is almost like a monkey with prehensile feet/toes. He wants to climb everything in sight and see what’s on the other side or top or just because it’s there!!! At the same time he is gentle and loves his stuffed bear and easily provides kisses and hugs all around.

We had all three of them for a while on Friday night and Gaven just stared at Bodhi for the longest time. He was intrigued by this bigger version of himself. He wasn’t very interested in Tara except for the chair she was sitting in. She was barely able to keep possession.
One of the RV slide-outs has a small ledge that runs down the middle of the living room area. While Gaven has walking, tiptoeing, and running down pretty good – his visit here really introduced him to steps – sometimes with abrupt tumbles. By the end of his visit, all of the adults could relax a bit and he was up and down the ledge over and over again – whew!

Bodhi and Tara spent most of their time in the hotel pool. Bodhi can now swim pretty well. He was doing some diving, somersaulting, etc. in the water with the help of a snorkel mask until a 5 YO boy came to our side of the pool and started doing similar activities with no mask nor holding his nose at all. It was interesting to watch the “real” effect of peer pressure. Within minutes of the second boy’s arrival, Bodhi gave up the mask and started doing his underwater activities without that added aid.

Tara is the more serious of the two and takes a while to get into a teasing mode. Ruthi complimented her on the very pretty pull-over she was wearing after swimming. It was a design in various shades of “pink” that Ruthi insisted was “green”. Tara was appalled that anyone would call it “green”! 3YO is a very serious age. Tara finally got the joke but was having no patience with Ruthi.

Karma ended up having to share space with Gaven and John’s dog-Sunny. Talk about confusion of names!!! The dogs had met before so staying together inside the air-conditioned RV while everyone went to dinner was better than taking a chance on the vehicle interiors with outside temperatures in the high eighty’s. Sunny is submissive to Karma but did want to take over her crate when all of the kids were roaming the small small living room floor.

Karma’s Day Care - Reno, NV

Karma has gone to the same day care in Reno since we first stopped here in 2009. Each time we returned and pulled into the parking lot, she would begin her squelling/kealling because she was so excited to be back. Her favorite care giver no longer works at this particular day care and recently Karma has refused to get out of the truck to go into the facility. So, we are trying another local day care that is just across the street from the RV park. So far, she is excited to go there.

Karma & Chickens – Quincy, CA

Since we are going to be in Reno for a month before we go to Boots’ son/his family in Quincy, CA, we decided to drive up there for the day today. It’s a pretty drive of about 90 miles up into the high Sierra Mountains. They have a nice fenced yard for Karma to chase her ball in. There are also their dog (Sunny - beagle and German short hair mix), a neighbor’s dog (June Bug – Heinz 57 variety), 3 cats (Marley, Po, and Tigress) and now 7 chickens (none seem to be named) that all roam the space in harmony.

The adults wondered how Karma would react to the new comers – chickens. She had previously played keep the ball away from Sunny and attempted to introduce herself to the cats – unsuccessfully, we might add. She has been exposed to birds of various ilks in the campgrounds, dog parks and rest stops along the way. Mostly, she ignores them – having figured out that she can’t fly and they seem to do that whenever she would get anywhere close to them. Sometimes, she just leaps in their direction (always on the leash, so the birds are safe) and they take off.

Back to the chickens, who were everywhere Karma wanted to chase the ball. She barely registered that they were pecking in her vicinity. As long as she could chase her ball, that’s all she wanted to do. The chickens also ignored her. So, peace reigned until we lost her ball behind the chick enclosures and there was absolutely no way to get that ball back. Karma wanted to crawl over the chicken wire roof of the enclosure or go through the blackberry thorns to get to the other side and the ball.

We never travel with only one ball. In fact, we buy them by the dozen from WalMart. Now all we had to do was get dirt and dog smells on a ball for her to give up on the search for an unreachable ball and continue the chase with a "new" ball.

Karma’s Travelling Anxiety – Winnemucca, NV

Karma is not having as much fun on our travel days as we are. She is doing a lot of pacing/panting and rarely lying down to rest between potty stops (every 60-90 minutes). We learned on our trip out of Alaska back in 2008, that Ginger capsules for her tummy were helpful and Benadryl seemed to help her nap during the trip.

Now we have a “Thunder Shirt”. It’s a snug fitting cloth that goes around her middle and is secured at her chest (below) collar position. They are supposedly ”magic” for anxieties like thunder, travelling, etc. etc. etc. Since she isn’t much of a foo foo dog (even though she is half poodle) it is taking time for her to get used to the “shirt”. Today was the first time she really wanted it on. That could be because she is treated well – cheese!

We are also trying an anti-anxiety drug (2mg Alprazolam). We are working on the timing of the drug because when she comes off the drug she has been a little more frantic than is typical for her at the end of our day of travel. Today we gave her the medication about 3 hours before we shirted her and took off. This time she was a bit frantic while we were preparing to leave (you know - slides in, electric pulled and stored, etc.). Now that we are in camp (about 8 or 9 hours after getting the pill), she is her normal self. We would like to get away from the medication and use just the shirt but we aren’t sure it works by itself with her. Some more driving days will tell.

Weather Report - Provo, UT

We got a lot of rain during the night. Much of the tree right next to the rig sent little branches down on the roof. We woke up to FRESH snow on the mountain peaks around the greater Salt Lake City area. From hot, dry, windy Moab to cool, wet, still windy SLC.

It seems when we are in hot areas, there are no trees in RV parks to hold off some of the sun. Then when we are in cooler places, there are all sorts of trees to keep the sun from warming the rig. Ah, the life of the homeless travelling America.

Dead Horse Point State Park – North West of Moab, UT

Being close to the headwaters of the Colorado River, this area reflects a smaller canyon with the same vastness and beauty of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We drove about 25 miles off the main highway across mostly flat high desert mesas to get to the “edge”. The viewing turn offs and platforms provided enough acrophobia impetus for Ruthi to pretty much watch the bottom of the truck cab floor.

Cameras – Moab, UT

We have smart phones which continue to outsmart us at every turn. While we no longer want to turn them in for our old phones (like we did at first), we still need to learn how to operate a few of the functions. For example, the camera worked well as a still for the old RVs we posted in a previous blog entry. When we tried to do a panorama of the Moab formations with the video we ran into many technical challenges besides trying to do this in the full sun of the desert.

What we ended up with was a fine narration of the walk to and from the scenic view of the formations. So, if you really want to see Boots’ feet tromping along the pathway, let us know and we’ll post it. :) :) :)

Arches National Park – North East of Moab, UT

From Arches National Park handout “THE STORY GEOLOGISTS TELL . . . The park lies atop an underground salt bed that is responsible for the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths of this mecca for sightseers. Thousands of feet thick in places, this salt bed was deposited across the Colorado Plateau 300 million years ago when a sea flowed in the region and eventually evaporated. Over millions of years, residue form floods, winds, and the oceans that came and went blanketed the salt bed. The debris was compressed as rock at one time possibly a mile thick. . .”

We are only a month into the season so traffic was easy up and down the road into/up to Arches National Park with only a few (less than a dozen) bicycles making the climb. They have labeled a number of rock formations like the “Balanced Rock” (don’t know if it’s fair but it is indeed balanced). We were able to identify a number of our own – Sphinx look alike, turtle head coming out of it’s shell, some male body parts that have had heavy doses of Viagra, a Walrus head, a group of monkeys doing the “hear no eveil see no evil, speak no evil” routine, one particular close copy of the Easter Island God statutes, and a hang down dog face to name a few.

There was a Garden of Eden Viewpoint that we stopped for. If this reflects Eden, I can see why they ate the apple. And, further on down the road there was the Devils Garden Trailhead. The views were as magnificent going up as going down. There were sections that looked like city streets amoung all the sky scrapers. We talked with a lot of foreign tourists mostly from Germany and Japan

Noisy Neighbors – Moab, UT

For some reason, we always seem to get the site next to the RV Park partiers. This is probably the 5th or 6th time it’s happened. Starting at 4pm, they begin to gather (right outside our living/bedroom slides) with their chairs, dogs, and drinks in hand. They are very happy, loud people and totally crash our nap time. Lucky for us, that they are much more mature than us and break up around 7pm for their bedtime.

Rocks - Maob, UT

The roads from Albuquerque to Moab (via the SouthWest corner of Colorado) had some of the most beautiful geological formations, colors and shapes. As we neared Shiprock, NM, we saw out on the desert what could have been the masts for a very large ship as we got closer and our perspective changed it looked more like a cathedral than a ship. There is a church rock nearer here that was also magnificent!

The formations are really amazing to look at. Similar the scenery along Route 395 in California. We think these roads (US64, US491, US191) are in competition with the Redwood Forest Trail (Highway 101 in Northern California and southern Oregon) for the most beautiful scenry we have traversed in our 4 years on the road.

Here in the valley surrounding Moab are snow covered mountain peaks. This is a really beautiful place. We wondered why the beautiful places are in the middle of nowhere (Moab, Alaska, etc.). Probably cause otherwise, we’d develop them into ugliness.

Historic / Vintage RVs – Albuquerque, NM

Here are some pictures of the old RVs they have on display at the RV Park (Enchanted Trails). None of them are pulled anywhere now but the park does rent out a few of them for guests to the park.

Snow?? - Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe for the day temperatures dropped 15 degrees and elevation rose by 2,000 ft. We got some snow flakes – in April in Santa Fe!!! Had great tour of the city. Ruthi is beginning to think Albuquerque could be the city except for the average winter temperatures. Also, we are having some breathing challenges at this elevation and the wind has wrecked havoc on Ruthi’s contacts.

Tim’s Place - Abuquerque, NM

Today, we needed to do some annual medical testing (blood work and mammograms) so that the results would be at our doctors in Reno when we go thru there in May. So, we fasted the night before thinking we’d do the lab first then find a breakfast place before going for the scans. We like to eat locally. That’s half the benefit of seeing America – eating regional foods. While waiting for the blood to be drawn, we used our smart phones to seek out a nearby restaurant. There’s a local NM restaurant called Wecks but we passed on that. Tim’s Place sounded even more local so we headed there.

We were warmly greeted and seated. Our waiter took our beverages order. Then a young man (mid-20’s we guessed) came over and introduced himself as Tim and welcomed us to HIS place. He saw the band-aid on my arm and asked about it. After I told him I has just had a blood test, he told me about a time he had been hospitalized and had had an IV in his arm. This might seem out of place or strange but Tim is a highly functional and capable restaurateur who also has Downs Syndrome. To learn more about this amazing young man – check out his web page - http://timsplaceabq.com/

Tornado Update - Albuquerque, NM

Ruthi's sister has suggested that when we are in our truck secured with seatbelts and air bags we should also have on helmets. She thought motorcycle helmets would work best but we have decided on using our bike helmets. Now we just need to get one for Karma.

"Westward Ho" - Albuquerque, NM

Travelling these last few days had us thinking about the “Westward Ho” pioneers and the desolate conditions they drove their wagons and families West. Without even concerning the water issue – though there were more opportunities/options back then before civilization came this way – women walking behind or alongside the wagons must have suffered sun stroke. Can you imagine – they had on long sleeve floor length dresses over petticoats (also long) and snug full body underwear. If that wasn’t enough then they had on thick hose/stockings inside highheel/hightop shoes.

The wind, sun and/or rain was beating down on them day after day and the landscape didn’t seem to change much from scrub high dessert to rocking high dessert. The bravery or desperation of these families drove them to new lives out here in the South West. Then there were the outraged original residents of this country (Indians) that were less than pleased to see another wagon train headed towards them.

For us being exhausted, dirty, with grit in our eyes seems simple in comparison. We pulled into a campground hooked up to clean cool water and electricity turned on the air conditioner, took showers, and crashed for a couple of hours before hitting the local cuisine options for dinner. Well there was one problem, the winds are driving grit into Ruthi’s contacted eyes making it very difficult for her to see. We ended up buying another pair of sunglasses with a wrap-around feature that seem to help.

Tornado Warning – Pecos, TX

Around Pecos, TX and up to the New Mexico border, West Texas flattens to the prairie for as far as the eye can see. This lends itself to big thunderstorms and the occasional tornado. With our new “smart” phones we are able to track the radar and severe weather warnings from The Weather Channel. Once we were settled into our spot last night, we did note a few clouds in the North East moving South East. So it looked like we were on the outer Western edge of the system.

As the evening progressed, the storm clouds were closing in on our location (out near the airport in Pecos). The severe weather warning now began to talk about tornados and the camp host knocked on our door. He wanted to make sure we were aware of the warning about tornados and that the toilet rooms would be used as the emergency shelter for the RV park residents. We mentioned that we had Karma, he said he didn’t think that it would be possible to bring her. He was worried about his cat as well.

We brought the slides (living room and bedroom) in to better stabilize our rig; which was still connected to the truck (which also helped in stabilization), as this was only an overnight. So, we debated and decided that the 3 of us would hunker down in the bedroom and wait it out. So, we are on the bed talking and enjoying the rain, occasional thunder, rare lightening and very little wind. Then the Pecos’ siren went off to warn all citizens of the possibility of tornados. So, now we are a little more worried about the situation. Karma listened to the siren for a while and then stretches out and falls a sleep. (As an aside, in the past 4 years of our travels thunder, lightening, strong rain pelting the rig have not seemed to faze her.)

The siren went on for about 15 minutes. There was little wind during that time. So, we were past the tornado warning from NOAA and the Weather Channel. Then the rain began – torrential downpours on and off for the next 4 hours. But we all were able to sleep through it. Whew!!!!

After some more consideration today, we think that next time we will hunker down in the truck. With our seat belts and harness restraint for Karma, we at least could be contained and the air bags might deploy further cushioning us if we were air borne like those semi trailers in Dallas last week. And, we could watch the weather happening around us!!!

Wild Flowers – Texas

We keep forgetting to mention the really colorful and varied wild flowers that were blooming in April/May across Texas. They are really nice to see as we speed by and when we walk Karma. She’s particular upon which color she will pee.

Tra RV Park - Pecos, TX

We had heard that this was the worst SKP Park; even so “worst SKP” is many steps above some of the other WORST RV Parks out there. We arrived before the afternoon office hours and had some challenges figuring out where to pull-thru for the night. Neighbors to the 2 open spots offered strange directions as to how we should park our 2 slider. We did it their way but are still confused as to the whole point. We and they tried in vain to explain to each other the why of the parking directions. We are still mystified. It’s sort of like jigsaw puzzles in fitting the rigs all together.

High Desert - West Texas

We have spent the past 2 days in the high desert and rolling hills of West Texas. Ruthi loves it and would stop right here except for the lack of city lights or town main streets for that matter. We are truly in the middle of nowhere. We had spotty cell phone coverage and didn’t even see many cattle or ranchers on the range. But it is pretty green with rolling landscapes – like the old western movies.

Armadillo – Schertz, TX

Karma was quietly sitting in her kennel, when all of a sudden she goes into her “danger” “danger” “a small animal is out without a leash” mode. Ruthi went to remove Karma from her perch and investigate. Lo and behold an armadillo was out running across one of the RV sites. Sort of hopping like a bunny but no puffy tail and a bit of a hard shell. We checked at the office and they validated that the park is full of them and they do heavy damage to the vegetation around the front gazebo.

Karma and more wild life – Schertz, TX

As we have learned in many RV Parks, dogs must be leashed but not cats, or other varmints (rabbits, squirrels, etc.). When Karma was out for her walk she identified an errant black cat. Ruthi likes to think that Karma is superstitious and didn’t want the cat to cross our path. Boots thinks Karma just doesn’t like cats off leash. If Karma has to be tethered to a human, than the cats do too.

Anyway, Karma went berserk trying to get to the cat and inform it of the rules. Good thing she was attached to Ruthi. Getting between Karma and the cat is a challenge but turning back the way they came is always a good idea.

Onion Peels - Schertz, TX

Karma will huff/puff and face something she wants us to attend to. When she had diarrhea while we were in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in the middle of the night, she would stand facing the outside door and huff/puff until Boots hear her (Ruthi does not hear much when she is asleep-morning, noon, or night). Boots woke Ruthi and out the three of them would go. Sure enough it was just in time for poor Karma. Other times, she will stand in front of the bedroom door and huff/puff again getting our attention because we left it open and if we don’t come quick she will get on the bed and dig holes into the linens (we now only buy cheap cheap cheap sheets).

So be patient, this is leading to something. The other day Boots was chopping up veggies to make one of her really great soups. An onion peeling (dry pinky orange stuff) must have fallen to the floor; all of a sudden Karma is chewing something. At the “Drop It” command, she provides us with a small very wet piece of onion skin. She gets a treat and the peel gets discarded. A few minutes later Karma is again chewing on something – repeat command-treat sequence. Then after another few minutes, Karma is standing in front of her crate huffing/puffing.

Ruthi goes to investigate and there in the back of Karma’s crate is the rest of the onion peel that she must have scored off the floor under the cutting board where Boots was busy chopping. Karma figured after 2 tries it wasn’t going down to her tummy anyway so just show them where it was and get a treat without getting onion breath! Now, if she’d only learn not to go into “crazy” mode whenever she sees a cat, rabbit or squirrel.

River Walk - San Antonio, TX

We finally got to downtown. First it was the weather (rain and thunder storms), then the traffic (I35 is a mjor feeder to the city form the NorthWest), and then Boots had a siege of headaches. Downtown San Antonio has a vibrant and active downtown area. I guess being the 6th largest city in the USA helps (3rd largest in Texas) helps. We remembered how desolate the downtown of Corpus Christi looked when we went there. Corpus Christi isn’t as large as San Antonio and it seems to have a financial center focus with a lot of banks headquartered in their downtown.

There were a lot of tourists in San Antonio as it is Spring break somewhere almost all of March and April we have figured out as southerners these last 4 years. The Riverwalk is the main attraction with history, shopping and of course good Mexican food. There are boats with a guide pointing out the history and architecture around the river walk and San Antonio. It was really interesting and an easy way to see a lot without the walking. We ate a local restaurant right on the river edge and had very good Mexican dishes for a modest price.

When Texas was a Republic before it became a state as a result it was able to keep the status of the Lone Star Flag as equal to the national Stars and Stripes. That was a condition of attaining statehood. We had always wondered why the Texas flag didn’t fly below the USA flag in the RV parks, etc. So, you do learn something everyday!

RV PArk Rules - Schertz, TX

Just to recap the enforcement of rules here in this particular park. Ruthi was walking Karma around our section of the park. Karma prefers grass to pavement or gravel so she usually stops on the side of the road on the grassy edge to pee or poop. We always have bags (newspaper sleeves or Martha Stewart's bio-degradable blues). Ruthi was standing with bag at the ready waiting for Karma to complete her figure eight pattern and finally pick the exactly right spot to poop; when one of the RV Park trucks stopped and seh was chastised for being on someone else's space (outside their fence near the roadway, no less).

So, it seems that the pages and pages of rules seem to only apply to the short-term RV residents. The long term RVs, mobile homes, and park models don’t to seem to need to be compliant. Dogs are tied out with no supervision at a number of sites. One site even has 4+ dogs penned outside all day and night. Needless to say there is a lot of unrestraint barking both day and night. and, associated poop from other dogs all over the park.

OK, sorry but it is really frustrating to obey rules that are so irregularly enforced.

Smart Phones - Schertz, TX

OK, so after using a ‘free’ no frills phone for the past 2 years, we decided to go with “Smart” phones. We each got a Droid Razr Maxx from Verizon with a great "Leap Year" on-line deal. The biggest advantage for us with our movable rig and laptops that need internet connectivity (how else can we shop and buy games??), was the “HotSpot” feature that allows the phone to be our computer’s modem to the internet. So, when we are in parks without WiFi or those that charge for the WiFi service we can use our phones. We used to have what are called “Air Cards” which served the same function but required additional phone lines. So, we were able to eliminate 2 of our phone lines off our bill.

These phones are indeed “Smart”. Verizon provides classes (introduction and advanced), on-line videos, phone videos, and great technical support to get us up to speed. After a few days, we no longer hated the fact that the phone indeed was smarted than us. When we finished the introduction class, we felt that we were as smart as the phone. So by the end of the month we can probably say – “We are smarter than a “Smart” phone!”.

FYI, the only negative is that the phone is wider/longer than our old phones but thinner. This makes for a tight fit in some of our pockets. But we are not going back to carrying purses or back packs. So, we will endure!

TRAFFIC - San Antonio, TX

The park we are in is situated just off Interstate 35, the main highway out of San Antonio to Austin (Texas’ capital) and beyond. Again, Texas has the frontage roads going South on one side and North on the other just like the highway. The traffic is amazing. No matter what time of our day 10am to 6pm, the roads are full moving along but at times very slowly. San Antonio is the 2nd largest city in Texas, behind Houston, and 7th largest in the whole USA. Prior to our visit here we did not know that.

After the 2 months in Aransas Pass, a small town on the windy and cold Gulf, it’s nice to be back nearer a city but we weren’t ready for the traffic. While Boots does spend a lot of time finding our parks along the way, we usually leave the area nuances and discoveries to when we arrive. We think how bad could it be? But alas, we have been profoundly disappointed at times but then remembered none of this is permanent. We have a moveable house/rig and will be going to a new place soon. That’s the pleasure and reality of RVing across America.

“Texas RV Camping at its Best” - Schertz, TX

Or, at least that’s what the brochure says. We had to provide pictures of our rig before making reservations because it is more than 10 years old (1998). We weren’t surprised by the request as we were already aware of parks wanting to keep a nice look in their park. When we arrived, there are number of forms to complete and initial, along with pages and pages of rules.

This is a very large park (300+ sites) with park models, mobile homes, RVs of all types and ages - so much for the rigs looking good. As for all the rules, again like in too many parks we visit there seems to be no enforcement - young children (under 12) with dogs on leashes being pulled up/down the roadways and older children playing on the equipment in the dog runs, etc, etc, etc. So, far we have made 3 requests for a picnic table with promises of tomorrow to no avail.

The one bright spot is the large dog run which contains a number of pieces of agility equipment (dog walk, A-frame, weave poles, tunnel and teeter-totter). Karma is having fun remembering some of her training on the equipment and chasing the ball around the space provided. It has been a little rainy (remember Texas is trying really hard to make up for the drought of the last few years) so the park is sometimes a bit too muddy but we have an outside shower mechanism to wash off our feet when we return.

Wild Life & Karma –Aransas Pass, TX

When Karma and Ruthi went out this morning for Karma’s duties, they were greeted by a small multi-colored butterfly. It was flitting so fast and being hounded by Karma that Ruthi didn’t get a close enough look to be able to search Wikipedia for the exact name. Lucky for it, Karma was unable to catch it.

Usually, Karma’s evening walk happens while there is still some light after sunset. Tonight we were late getting her dinner ready and Ruthi needed to carry a flashlight to ensure all poop was collected. On the way back to the rig Karma got excited and started leaping into a grassy area between RV paved slots. Ruthi didn’t see anything and brought Karma back to the pathway. All of a sudden, Karma dove for the underside of a storage trailer in the next RV’s space. Ruthi stopped and bent down to shine the flash light under the trailer. And, there was a large frog/toad ready to get away from Karma. As it hopped out Ruthi noticed that it had a kinda flat turtle-like back that was green and black. It was as large as the palm of her hand.

Big Tree - Lamar, TX

We drove up to the Goose Island State Park in Lamar, TX. Lamar is just north of the Rockport/Fulton area. We have seen many, many Southern Live Oak trees here in Texas. According to Wikipedia, the southern live oak, is a normally evergreen oak tree native to the southeastern United States. That would explain why so many of the RV Parks have the word “Oak” in the name (i.e., Southern Oaks, Ancient Oaks, Enchanted Oaks, Coastal Oaks, Hidden Oaks, Taylor Oaks, to name a few). There are huge yards filled with these oak trees. The oak is tall and has broad open canopies that intertwine with each other to create a beautiful open park beneath.

Within Goose Island State Park there is a “Big Tree”. Really, that’s what the signs say to direct us to the fenced area of the “Big Tree”. It happens to be Southern Live Oak that is supposedly over 1,000 years old. Unlike the redwoods of the west coast, this tree does not have one main trunk towering up into the sky getting wider and wider as the tree ages. The “Big Tree” has a very large base but branches out within a few feet from the ground and continues to spread itself out and up into the sky – what looked like 50 or more feet. To sustain this tree, a number of human additions have been included. A couple of lower branches have supports keeping them in position and some upper branches are wired together to maintain the canopy. This is the perfect type of tree for tree houses – lower enough to prevent high falls and with branches spreading out parallel to the ground, it would provide a good foundation for the structure.

As we were returning to the truck, we heard some very loud “whoops” and another tourist confirmed that there were whooping cranes down the road in a farmers pond. We followed his directions and came upon many other tourists and about 15 whooping cranes. According to local paper, whooping cranes are coming through on their migration north. So we might be able to see many more before we leave for San Antonio.

Human Dignity - Aransas Pass, TX

Ruthi needed to go to the local Emergency Room yesterday. It turned out to be nothing at all serious but we wanted to be sure and check it out. Anyway, the purpose of this post is to discuss the lack of dignity we had to face. First off, we were a bit nervous / scared because on the way to the ER we didn’t know the verdict would be “no problem”. But we needed to discuss and determine how we would present ourselves so that if it did turn out SERIOUS, Boots would be able to visit and be included in any health discussions / decisions. Sure we have the appropriate paperwork (in our safe) that gives each of us medical power of attorney for the other. But this is NOW, RIGHT NOW in TEXAS of all places.

Should we be truthful and say we are partners or lie and say we are sisters??? This isn’t about marriage because neither Boots nor Ruthi are interested in that institution for themselves but it is about human dignity. It is less than prideful to have to lie to ensure access for your partner of over 27 years. You know back in Oregon when Boots had to go to the ER and eventually be hospitalized the question of relationship never entered our minds. We were truthful and treated with dignity. But in Texas we couldn’t be sure. So, Ruthi lied and said that Sandra H OBrien (Boots’ legal name) was her sister. Never mind that they don’t look alike or even more don’t talk alike – Ruthi is a Yankee and Boots is a Southern Belle.

Most of the time Ruthi and Boots play with the people they run into that wonder about their “husband”. Like when Ruthi was emptying the black water (read sewerage here for non-RVers), a couple (man and woman) came by and told her that was her husband’s job. Ruthi’s laughing reply was she didn’t have a “husband” but a “wife”. That couple didn’t come by again. Or, if they did, they never talked to us.

Then the time we needed to get the truck towed out of the RV park to Ford. Since the truck was park nose in, it was necessary to push it out into the lane so that the tow operator could get the truck onto his rig. He asked Boots if her “husband” could come out and help push. Again, the reply was she didn’t have a “husband” but a “wife”. The tow operator said ok, can she help push, too?

Remember, not everyone can let us have simple human dignity because we live differently than them. Marriage is a whole other civil right discussion, we just want to be able to tell the truth with dignity.

Heavy Equipment Feats – Aransas Pass, TX

A while back Ruthi received an email (and forwarded it on) with an attached video that demonstrated how a piece of heavy equipment can exit a dump truck without a ramp. Well, last night (just past sunset) as she was walking Karma, Ruthi saw the same feat accomplished by a larger piece of similar equipment (backhoe loader) getting down off a RAILROAD CAR - not a flat bed but a full-sized RR car. The top edge of the RR car was at least 12 feet above the tracks. It took the equipment operator less than 10 minutes to safely get the backhoe loader down off the RR car and parked. AMAZING to watch!

Steps to Beach - Corpus Christi, TX

Boots and Ruthi had driven past the beach in downtown Corpus Christi but hadn’t stopped to let Karma explore before Bill and Blanche came south. Having driven by, they had wondered where the beach access paths were. There are back-to-back benches that face the street and beach but access steps were nowhere to be seen.

In search of more shells, we parked on the side of the street and went in search of a pathway to the beach. Guess what? The benches facing the sea were at the top of a wall with stairs the full length of the beach, going down to the sand.

Bill / Blanche Visit - Aransas Pass, TX

Ruthi’s brother and sister-in-law (Bill and Blanche) came to South Texas looking for a RV Park to move their trailer for winter digs. Their hopes are to summer in Northern Illinois and winter in a much warmer climate. We had had fairly warm sunny weather up until their arrival. Then it got cold and rainy. As soon as they left, we’d like to say it got better but it didn’t it’s still rainy and cool.

The four of us toured a number of local sites and ate at the best area restaurants. On the ferry across to Port Aransas we saw a pair of dolphins in the bay. And, with a few cold windy walks on the beach we found a lot of seashells with which Blanche can do crafts. Unlike in Hawaii, the shells were not broken into parts. The colors, sizes, and shapes were very varied.

Life Jacket – Rockport, TX

One day while Boots was driving back to Aransas Pass from Rockport, she was third in a ‘clump’ of 4 vehicles. The vehicles were clumped because the front driver was a ‘looky-loo’ (or maybe just a lost tourist) who speeded up and slowed down at the most annoying times. As one of the drivers hoping for chance to pass, Boots noticed the car in front of her suddenly swerved to miss a life jacket on the highway. Boots figured she’d have no trouble clearing the thing so, rather than swerve, she straddled it and drove on. Later, back at the RV Park, she was putting the groceries away when Carole (RV Park owner) noticed something under the truck – the life jacket! Apparently because of the truck behind her, Boots didn’t see that the truck indeed had not cleared it and had completely forgotten about it.

So now, everyone is looking for the body and being a little more respectful around Boots in the RV park.

Bugs and Critters – Aransas Pass, TX

We know we talk about these a lot but what else is there to see when walking the dog 3 or 4 times a day? Here in this park, there are holes all over the gravel and silty bare ground The diameter varies from the size of a #2 pencil to a broom handle. The holes are not grouped in any fashion. They appear to have been dug ‘cause there is loose dirt around the opening. Karma doesn’t seem at all interested in what might have made them. She did once pee on one of the holes but it didn’t seem purposeful more accidentally aimed there.

Ruthi finally asked the park owner if she knew what made the holes. Ruthi was hoping it wasn’t snakes as Boots is terrified of them (snakes for Boots and spiders for Ruthi). Anyway, the holes are made by sand crabs. They are small steel gray fiddler crabs – Ruthi saw one the other day. The park owner said that during heavy rains the crabs will all congregate on the concrete porch in front of the office.
She also said that Wolf Spiders (poor Ruthi) will build web inside the opening to catch their prey. Supposedly Wolf spiders don’t hurt humans – but that doesn’t help Ruthi. Here’s a link to some pictures of them (https://www.google.com/search?q=wolf+spiders&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-SearchBox&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Y3QlT6mNMpKDsgKw8aGMAg&ved=0CEMQsAQ&biw=1093&bih=438).

Wild Something – Ingleside, TX

We were touring the countryside around Aransas Pass and Ingleside looking at the other RV parks, houses, parks, canals, and bay shoreline. We came to the end of a roadway. Lucky for us in our long bed truck (22 feet but who’s counting), there was a big circle for us to slowly turn around and head back out. As we were maneuvering the truck, a “pig” or something like a black hairy animal came out of the brush and then seeing us turned back into the grasses. Karma’s response was “grr”, “aha”, “grr”. She ended up just looking at this new animal-to her. So, the three of us are wondering what this pig-like animal might be. Looked like a young wild boar without the razor sharp tusks to Ruthi. Boots went to the internet to confirm what it wasn’t – Tapir, Javelin, Vietnamese Pot Billy Pig. But we haven’t come to agreement on what it might have been. The RV Park owner said it was probably a feral pig which are very common here in South Texas.

Weather – Anywhere USA

We seem to talk about the weather a lot but remember we are retired!!!! Anyway, the weather (as those of you following these egotistical rants will remember) has been very variable – hot for a couple of days then cold for a few days and repeat. Well, here on the Gulf coast near Corpus Christie, weather and associated changes occur in minutes. We got ready to drive around and see what’s really here. When we left the RV, the temperatures were high 70’s (77 to be exact). We start driving inland and within minutes the temperature starts dropping. By the time we got back to the RV (less than 2 hours) the temperatures were in the LOW 60’s (like really 61 degrees).

NYT Crossword Puzzle – Aransas Pass, TX

Corpus Christi Paper Caller-Times has the NYT Crossword puzzles – Boots is especially thrilled to have the Sunday version. She is very good and usually finishes them in an afternoon. While Ruthi is working the Mondays well but only occasionally can do the Tuesdays! So, do you wonder who wins the word arguments????

Bridge from Point Comfort to Port Lavaca, TX

We crossed from Point Comfort to Port Lavaca on a long bridge. Temperatures outside truck dropped 8 degrees from 75 to 68 just crossing the water from 1 town to the other. Once we were back on land the temperatures returned to 75. This happened again between Lamar and Fulton over Copano Bay. Hmm, maybe we aren’t going far enough South!!!!

Birds on drive to Aransas Pass, TX

As we drove from Dickinson to Aransas Pass this morning on Texas Route 35, we saw 2 hawks fighting it out over some road kill on the side of the road! Lots of flapping of wings and thrusting towards each other and backing up!

Street Signs – Houston suburbs of Texas

Within the towns in this area, street signs have the city name on the right quarter or upper corner. I.e., Cursive “W” for Webster, “T” with flag badge for Texas City, etc. Since the RV Park is on the very North East corner of Dickinson, TX, it is very helpful as we exit the park to know we are in Texas City moving toward Kemah. If you think about the suburbs around other large cities, this little “accent” truly helps the visitors navigate around the look-a-like towns that flair out from the city centers.

Birds - Dickinson, TX

There are 2 ponds within the RV Park. We see a lot of ducks and one particular white bird (with some pink feathers similar to Flamingos coloring). Checking the internet, we discovered the white bird is a Roseate Spoonbill. This morning as we were driving out of the park past one of the ponds, the ducks were settled in a semicircle on the banks of the pond. The spoonbill was at the edge of the pond facing the seated ducks as if she was conducting a morning status meeting before they went about their day gathering food.