Usually, Karma is very aware of her surroundings and can avoid poles, chairs, other dogs, etc. in her speed runs to get from a point A to point B or to get a ball. When out walking, she sometimes gets on the side of a pole or tree that is away from us and we use “this side” to get her to un-circle herself and join us on the same side of the obstacle.
But not this morning. She was sniffing/marking around one of the poles that holds up various signs in the RV park when something got her attention. Either another dog coming up on her left or her favorite camp host (provides treats when Karma finds him) just came around his rig’s corner and surprised her, because she leaped up and charged right into one of the sign poles. There was a loud “clunk” sound and she gave some attention to the left side of her skull. It all appears to be ok but she really got a good hit.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Snow - Santee, CA
Well, it’s really not snow but a lot of sleet that fell rather quickly this morning. It was very loud on the roof and you could see it on the ground around the tent and the grass areas it did accumulate a bit. Sorry, I don't have pictures but it melted too fast for me to get the snaps.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
RV Mis-Hap - Santee, CA
While we are sitting in one spot for the winter, we don’t have as much to say as when we are travelling. Santee Lakes Regional Park has 2 entrances/exits from the fenced/gated park. The front entrance is straight, wide and clear of obstacles. The front gate is manned all day and if you are going to be late you can call ahead and get the pass current code. The front exit is very curvy and has raised curbs (with edges that are designed to discourage skate boarders). The rear entrance is much more curvy with raised curbs and drop offs on the other side of the curb. T
The rear exit is relatively wide and straight. Usually the rigs (RV and tow vehicle) select the straight paths and the tow vehicles (trucks and cars) choose the curvy paths.
We mention the gate differences because in the past couple of days we have seen 2 separate rigs making serious errors in selection of the correct gate (exit or entrance) for their path. Both were 5th wheel rigs like ours, though they were a little longer than us. The first rig chose to leave by the most curvy curbed exit. Somehow they were able to get the truck up on the curb where the skateboard discouragement ripped out the truck’s oil pan spilling oil everywhere and making the truck in operable. So, in comes the tow truck to move the 5th wheel off the road way and transport the truck to the local Ford dealer for repairs.
Then last night another rig (5th wheel and truck) selected the most curvy and treacherous entrance with disastrous results. Somehow they got the right side of the rig up and over the curb. They were resting on the rear axles with the wheels hanging in the air. Again, here comes the huge tow truck and an hour later they had eased the rig off the curb and finally were crawling to their RV site. On their morning walk Ruthi and Karma found the rig and noticed that only some wrinkles on the side seem to indicate a brush with the curb. While the rear window and wall (called a cap) was cracked across the width. We are surprised that the axles weren’t severely damaged.
The rear exit is relatively wide and straight. Usually the rigs (RV and tow vehicle) select the straight paths and the tow vehicles (trucks and cars) choose the curvy paths.
We mention the gate differences because in the past couple of days we have seen 2 separate rigs making serious errors in selection of the correct gate (exit or entrance) for their path. Both were 5th wheel rigs like ours, though they were a little longer than us. The first rig chose to leave by the most curvy curbed exit. Somehow they were able to get the truck up on the curb where the skateboard discouragement ripped out the truck’s oil pan spilling oil everywhere and making the truck in operable. So, in comes the tow truck to move the 5th wheel off the road way and transport the truck to the local Ford dealer for repairs.
Then last night another rig (5th wheel and truck) selected the most curvy and treacherous entrance with disastrous results. Somehow they got the right side of the rig up and over the curb. They were resting on the rear axles with the wheels hanging in the air. Again, here comes the huge tow truck and an hour later they had eased the rig off the curb and finally were crawling to their RV site. On their morning walk Ruthi and Karma found the rig and noticed that only some wrinkles on the side seem to indicate a brush with the curb. While the rear window and wall (called a cap) was cracked across the width. We are surprised that the axles weren’t severely damaged.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
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????
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????
Friday, November 9, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
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.
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.
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