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Friday, May 16, 2025:  After breakfast at the Egghead restaurant, we drove to Mendocino, just a short 8 miles south of Fort Bragg. There are lots of cute shops, restaurants and bakeries. It is an exclusive area on a small peninsula into the Pacific  Ocean.  From what I can see, their only business is tourism. I picked out a birthday gift for a granddaughter and later found a used clarinet for a grandson. Click the photos for more views.






Thursday, May 15, 2025: My day began with laundry at Lucy's Laundromat. After laundry Abby and I went to the Pomo Bluffs Park to see the views.  After our hike, Gwen and I visited the Noyo Fish Market for lunch. Gwen had Clam  Chowder, I had Fish and Chips. Click the photos for more views.






Wednesday, May 14, 2025: Driving from Petaluma to Fort Bragg, California. Fort Bragg is in a remote area along the northern California coast. The road to get her is a narrow two lane road with many switchbacks. Perfect for a bicycle or motorcycle ride. Not so great when pulling a travel trailer. But the drive is worth the trouble. We passed through Boonville and stopped at the General Store. I found an apple scone, Gwen found a chocolate Cookie.  We have reservations at the Harbor RV Park. Our space is only 100 yards from the cliff overlooking the harbor entrance. We drove to Old Town and found a farmer's market. The number of bakery booths outnumbers the farmer booths. Click the photos for more views.






Tuesday, May 13, 2025: My morning began with a trip to Mike's Bike shop. My front tire was not holding air, I suspected it needed sealant, so far I believe I was right. Next, I show Gwen where son Ben and the kids like to come to Windsor for a few days of swimming.  We drove on to Healdsburg Plaza to walk the streets looking at unique shops and the central plaza. On the return to Petaluma we stopped at Costco for gas where we saved 40 cents per gallon. Click the photos for more views.  Abby got to walk the Healdsburg Plaza with us.






Monday, May 12, 2025: This was a wet and windy day so Gwen decided she wanted to visit thrift stores. We actually found four to visit. I liked the Hippy Thrifty store pictured in the center. It was the least well organized  but the most unique items. My son Joe still owns a turn table and this store had thousands of vinyl records. The Alphabet Thrift was the best organized and cleanest. It's the photo on the right. Tomorrow the plan is to visit Healdsburg nearby. Gwen found some $5 ear rings, I found a shirt at the Old Navy Outlet store.





Sunday, May 11, 2025: This ws a hard driving day. We took an Apple Navigation short cut  which turned out to be an awful road. The navigation continued into heavy traffic just to get from central California ovre to the coast north of  San Francisco. Petaluma is on Highway 101 north of the bay area.  Our goal was the Elks RV park in Petaluma.  We arrived about 1:30 but were exhausted from the traffic and strong winds.  We had time to take a quick drive through historic downtown and found an area we hope to explore.





Saturday, May 10, 2025: Merced has a very nice Elks RV Park in the rural area west of Merced. That made for a very quiet night. I unhitched to visit Costco for gas. Much of Merced was also getting gas which made for a long wait time. This was another hot day so we sat much of the afternoon in the grass under a large shade tree. Abby had a chance to enjoy grass again.  Click on the left photo for another view.




Friday, May 9, 2025:  Our time at the Needles Elks Park was not comfortable due to the noise of the I-40 traffic and trains, both only 1/4 mile distant. The heat was also a problem since our AC makes so much noise it would be impossible to sleep under it.

Today was another travel day from Needles to Tehachapi, California.  We like the Mountain Valley RV Park in the foothills next to a Sailplane airport.  This will be much more quiet than what we experienced last night. It has been nine years since our last visit to this park.  We have nice shade trees here and the House Finches are always singing.  The temperature was very comfortable making it easy to sit and relax in the shade.






Thursday, May 8, 2025: This was a travel day from Cottonwood, Arizona to Needles, California. Needles can get hot this time of year since it is only 496 foot elevation and right on the Colorado River. It was 95 degrees when we arrived at the Needles Elks Lodge RV Park. It's a very nice park with full hookups. On the drive to Needles we passed several small towns which market Route 66 as a tourist attraction. There are many places you can exit Interstate 40 to drive sections of Route 66 which still exist. When we checked into the Elks lodge we learned they were serving a make-your-own-burger dinner tonight. We joined them because we were too tired and hot to fix something to eat.  Click the photos for more views.



Wednesday, May 7, 2025: This is the view from our Dead Horse Ranch State Park campsite at 3 pm. The last two days has been pretty steady rain but nothing today so far.  At 5 pm, however, that changed to a downpour. No doubt all the desert plants are loving this rain. Here is a short video showing the action at 5 pm. 





Tuesday, May 6, 2025: Gwen, Abby and I drove 20 miles to Sedona, Arizona just to see the red mountains surrounding the town. It has been raining all day, welcome for this dry desert but not great for photographs of the red cliffs around Sedona. WE drove toward the cliffs and found ourselves in a residential area of beautiful homes. The town is built in this mountainous area so the elevation varies but average elevation is 4,600 feet.  For that reason it does not experience   the excessive heat which hits Phoenix. I once lived in the California side of the Lake Tahoe basin, a tourist area. Tourism during certain months was very annoying. Tourism in Sedona never stops so living here could be frustrating. Click both photos for more views.






Monday, May 5, 2025: Gwen and I took Abby for a hike to find the Verde River. We were surprised to see as much water since all of southern Arizona has had little rain fall in the last 6 months. We were also surprised to see evidence that the river can be much higher. The beavers are active however we did not see a beaver dam nor a beaver house in the river.  Click all the photos for more views.





Sunday, May 4, 2025: Abby and I took a short drive to Jerome, Arizona while Gwen stayed home to do some artwork of her own. Jerome is an old mining town built on the side of a very steep mountain. It is now a popular tourist attraction as you will see in the video I will share. Abby and I enjoyed the views but did not stop to walk the town. Click these photos for more views. Here is the video I took while driving the city.






Saturday, May 3, 2025: Gwen and I walked Main Street of Cottonwood during a Harley Davidson Rally. We learned there are many nice gift/tourist shops in Cottonwood. Click on the photos to see some of what we saw.




Friday, May 2, 2025: We visited Cottonwood this morning where we discovered a quality art fair. This was all very nice art, mostly painting, photographs and jewelry, all high quality. Abby found and enjoyed the grass.

From Cottonwood, we drove to Clarksdale, the home of the Verde Canyon Railroad. The 1 pm train was getting ready to leave on a 4 hour excursion. It was fully booked. We though we might return in the winter months next fall. The train left the station just as a thunderstorm arrived so no one chanced the open air cars. Click the photo for another view. Here is a short video of the art fair and train departing.




Thursday, May 1, 2025:  We drove as far as Chandler, Arizona where we met Joe for breakfast at Cracker Barrel . After an enjoyable visiting time we drove further north to the Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood. This is our second time here. We were here 19 years ago with our first fifth wheel.  We are in spac 54. This is a very nice park with wide and long spaces and a good distance from other campers. This site has electricity and water making it very comfortable. We are expecting some cold weather beginning Sunday so the power and water will be helpful.  Click both photos for more views.




Wednesday, April 20, 2025:  While cleaning the carport I found this little guy just behind the water faucet. I say little because I estimate it was not longer than 2 feet. You can get a better idea of its size by clicking the photo on the left. It shows me dropping it into a 5 gallon bucket. I am always careful not to squeeze the grabber too hard, I don't want to injure this little guy.   It was pretty lethargic, perhaps because it had recently eaten which you can see the bulge in its abdomen. Click the photo on the right to get a better view of the bulge in the abdomen. I took it far into the wash and let it go near a shady bush and rodent ground hole. Both photos on the right are after I turned it loose. It looked at me, acted defensive then felt safe enough to turn and disappear into the rodent hole. This is my fourth Diamondback to relocate away from our house.



Tuesday, April 29, 2025:  We went to a favorite restaurant, The Barnyard,  for a last meal of the season together. Clockwise around the table starting with Mary on the left, then me, Dale, Daryl comes next, then Gary and Jeanne and finally, Gwen. Daryl and Mary are moving to Mesa, leaving tomorrow. Gary and Jeanne are staying until the end of May. Gwen and I are leaving on Thursday.  We all have mixed feelings about leaving since it is so enjoyable here. It was perfect weather for sitting outside on the Barnyard patio.




Saturday, April 26, 2025:  This morning I was working in the carport and began to hear a strange bird song. I turned on my bird identifier APP which did not work. I followed the sound of the song and found the "bird" sitting in the branches of our tree out back.  It was pretty high in the branches and I began to wonder how it got there. Soon I notified our neighbor and Gwen then both went out back to get a closer look. They found momma and another kitten, this one was gray and in a lower branch. Low enough so Gwen tried to pick it up learning that it hissed at her.  I took photos and posted a notice on the "Neighbor's" APP I keep on my phone.  That APP is a place to notify those living nearby of neighborhood happenings.  I immediately got replies with advice and two offers to "help". In the meantime, I had taken a bowl of water and bowl of dog kibble (I have no cat food) placed under the tree. It is unfortunate we are leaving soon because I would like to keep them around to be sure we don't have a rodent problem. I'll talk to our neighbor about it. Click both photos for more views.  Oh! The brown triangular house under the Calico kitten is a bat house I hung.




Friday, April 25, 2025: Rincon Country East Summer Buddies are having a picnic at the Aqua Caliente (Hot Water) County Park today at noon. We have never been to the park so wanted to visit with the Buddies.  We learned there is a nice size lake which was warm at one time due to a hot spring, hence the name.  The park property was given to the county several years ago. This was a private ranch at one time with an adobe house. Since first established the subsequent owners added onto the one room adobe house to make it into a really nice ranch house. We enjoyed the paths, shade and took a tour of the ranch house.  Click both photos for more views.



Wednesday, April 23, 2025: After our morning Summer Buddies meeting Gwen and I drove to the Amazon Bin Store for dollar day.  Click the left photo to see what the bins looked like today.  While searching the bins I found the package at the left. All I could read was "Ear-Care".  The box had no lid so was in a sealed plastic bag. I decided to take the chance and pay $1 (Wednesday is dollar day) for the package. Gwen found a package with two decks of UNO cards, a package of stickers and a notebook. So our total investment was $4. After arriving home I opened the mysterious Ear-Care package.  What I found was the "bebird kit", photo at the right. Be sure to click that photo to see the whole kit. It is a tiny video camera you put into your ears to search for wax and other foreign items. The kit includes tips to drag the wax from inside the ears. I found quite a bit of wax in my right ear and much less in the left ear. The kit also has attachments to look inside the nose and throat. Amazon sells it for $49. I am very pleased with my $1 investment.




Tuesday, April 22, 2025: This was a busy day. I donated some clothes to a thrift store, deposited cash to our bank then visited Costco. My main reason for the Costco visit was to have the tips changed on my new hearing aids. But of course I found many food items we just had to have. After Costco, I drove to the Tucson East Elks Club. After 17 years of Elks Membership in Susanville, California (that's a long story) I transferred my membership to the Tucson East Club. We use the Elks Membership to camp at the clubs as we travel. We already have reservations as we drive up the California coast on our way to Oregon.

I learned this Rincon Country East will allow us to park in an RV space for two weeks at no charge unless we connect to power. That gives us water and sewer for cleaning. I set out our solar panels which keep the batteries charged. The refrigerator is on propane and I run one ceiling fan to keep the inside cooler. This will be our summer home beginning May 1. Our first stop beginning May 1 is the Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona.



Sunday, April 20, 2025: There are only a few people left in the park but nearly 100 showed up for the Sunday Easter Luncheon. One of the park residents catered a chicken and ham casserole with coleslaw plus a dessert. We had lunch with our friends Gary and Jeanne. We enjoyed the meal and company. 






Saturday, April 19, 2025: Gwen and I participated in a resistance rally objecting to the actions of our current administration. It has always been my belief that government should be making life better for the citizens of their country. Government helps educate, protect from foreign aggression,  rescue from natural disaster, regulate and provide food and water when needed and maintain the rule of law. Our current administration is doing none of that, in fact doing the opposite.  I found a quote from Ben Franklin stating government should not be "despotic".  I had to look up the meaning of that word. I describes our current administration perfectly. "Abusing power, tyrannical, a cruel and oppressive ruler, using power unfairly, unjustly, harmfully and cruelly, caring little for the welfare of the people." I estimate 2,000 at this rally. Click all three photos for more views.




Thursday, April 17, 2025: Yesterday I bought a TV stand at the Amazon Bin Store for $1. I opened the box today and found all the parts except the base. Apparently the base was glass filling the box with 1,000 pieces of broken glass. All other part were fine. I had a piece of plywood on hand so I made my own base. It would actually look OK if I had routered the edge and painted it black. But I have the TV outside to watch while I ride Zwift on my bicycle.  I didn't feel I needed to do the extra work to make the base look nice. Now the top of my workbench is clear of everything and ready for me to work. Click both photos for more views.




Wednesday: April 16, 2025: On the spur of the moment I chose to visit an Amazon Bin Store. I have never visited a store like this. On Thursday, the store is closed for "cleaning" and installing new selections. Friday the store opens and the price of everything is $15 each, Saturday $11, Sunday $8, Monday $5, Tuesday $3 and Wednesday $1. The photos show what the interior of the store looks like on a Wednesday. I browsed a small fraction of the tables for about 30 minutes. I found an unopened box of ear plugs, a broken box of a TV stand and a furnace filter. My thinking was ear plugs for Gwen (she wears them to sleep), a TV stand to get the tiny TV off my outside workbench and the furnace filter for our HVAC system. My total investment was $3. When I got home I looked up the ear plugs, $17, then the TV stand, $40. I think Gwen and I will go again on Friday just to see the store after "cleaning". We have nothing in mind that we need just curiosity. Click the photos for more views.




Tuesday, April 15, 2025: A few days ago I added a storage shed to our carport. I wanted the shelves, which I had on hand, to be inside the shed but they were slightly too wide. Today I brought the shelves out of the shed, took them apart and cut 1.5" off the width. I reassemble the unit and installed it back into the shed. The photo on the right shows a close up of the shelf unit clearing the hinges. Before I reduced the width the hinges would be covered and not allow the door to close easily. Click both photos for more views.



Monday, April 14, 2025: Gwen and I invited Gary and Jeanne to go with us to another movie at The Loft. This time we saw "The Ballad of Wallis Island". It was a slow moving script which gave the viewer the time to understand and become sympathetic with the characters. I could identify with a couple of the characters.  For example, the awkward musical fan who didn't understand what to say or how to say it. And the musician which was surprised to learn his past musical partner didn't feel the same as did concerning their relationship. The story was about a musician finding a new identity after breaking from his past success which included his past musical partner.  If they ever though alike, they didn't now.





Sunday, April 13, 2025: Our wonderful neighbors, Daryl and Mary have moved to Mesa, Arizona, a 2 hour drive from Tucson.  We drove there today to see their new home and to take a tour of the Mesa Marketplace.  The Marketplace is four half mile long buildings with sales booths on both sides of the building. In general, the items are unusual and/or priced well.  This reminded us of the Yuma Arizona Marketplace we visited many years ago.  The Mesa Marketplace is probably four times the size of the one in Yuma. Still, all the same products. The parking lot was full but the inside did not seem that crowded. Did we buy anything? Nope, we have no place to put anything else in our little travel trailer or park model. We ended up at BJs restaurant for lunch which we all enjoyed. Click the last photo to see Daryl and Mary deciding on their lunch.  Click on the other two photos for more views.




Saturday, April 12, 2025: Our park has a "Walk Around Sale" once each month. Today was the day to walk the park looking for treasures. I found this painting for one dollar and knew right where I wanted to hang it. This painting is 2 feet square.  The door blackout curtain is on the left and the window shade is on the right.






Wednesday,  April 9, 2025: Lots happening today. I first went to the last Wednesday morning Park meeting hosted by the Activity office. They will be closing next Tuesday. The Summer Buddies with take over the Wednesday morning meetings. See the photo by clicking on the far left photo. Next, I helped paint Gwen's craft room. Note the new desk with multiple drawers given to her by our neighbors, Mary and Daryl.  Lastly, my vertical storage cabinet arrived so I spent the rest of the afternoon assembling it. I don't have it organized yet but this little shed will help to keep our carport clear of clutter. Click all the photos to see today's projects.




Monday, April 7, 2025: Gwen and I went to The Loft theater again to watch a new movie, "The Friend". It is a movie for people who love dogs otherwise I think you would find it long, boring and not understandable.  This dog happened to be a Great Dane which is not a popular breed so also made the movie more interesting. I owned a Great Dane many many years ago and found it to be a lovely dog except they do not live to be very old. It was refreshing to see this kind of movie where the only tension came when Naomi was threatened with eviction because her building had a no-dog policy.







Sunday, April 6, 2025: My friend Gary and I rode our bikes to Cyclovia (30 miles round trip). It is a family event where three miles of Treat Bike Blvd is blocked off of vehicles so bikes, skaters, and walkers could enjoy the activities along the Blvd. There were a hundred booths to choose from plus activities, games and music groups for entertainment. It was enjoyable to see the families riding bikes and enjoying the day. The weather was perfect, no wind and mid-70s. Every street crossing was controlled keeping the participants safe. One of the fun things I tried was to load my bike onto the bike rack on a transit bus. I'm thinking of taking the bus to the far northwest part of Tucson then riding back. I learned bus fair in Tucson is free. Click on all photos for more views. I also made a video of our day.



Saturday, April 5, 2025:  March Madness is coming to an end. The two final four games happening today. Florida is moving to the final game. Auburn was in front by 8 points in the first half but just couldn't keep up in the second half. In the second game, Duke took control early but Houston made an incredible come back to win by 3 points. The NCAA final game with be Florida vs Houston.






Friday, April 4, 2025: I have reached season two of the "Cruising the Cuts" British documentary. The narrowboats cruise the English canal dug 300 years ago. The boats are only 6 feet 10 inches wide hence the very narrow locks at left.  I know this is as close as I will every get to England, the main reason I'm watch this documentary. It is RVing on water.




Thursday, April 3, 2025:  I called Arizona Propane only two days ago to remove their huge propane tank. They surprised us by arriving this morning. We use very little propane now because the gas furnace was removed last fall. We have only two appliances using propane, the cook stove and clothes dryer. Neither seem to use much propane. I have two portable propane tanks. The smallest tank is 4 gallons, the largest is 9 gallons (the maximum weight I can move). I believe we can easily make due with those two tanks.  I have a plug for the propane line when we leave for the summer months. Click both photos to see more views.




Wednesday, April 2, 2025: I made waffles today. That's why I'm getting the look from Abby. She wants me to share with her.

 
   Tuesday, April 1, 2025: I have gotten hooked on what my friend, Glen, calls a "SNOOZE". It is a documentary created by David Johns titled, "Cruising the Cuts". David quit his job, liquidated all his property then bought a "narrowboat".  A narrowboat is 6'10" wide and David's is 56 feet long. They are used to cruise the 2000 miles of canals in England.  He cruises at 3 mph over canals, thru long tunnels (some as long as 3 kilometers) and under the many bridges. It is basically an RV on water. A cruising day may be no more than 7 miles but at 3 mph is 3.5 hours of cruising plus delays to pass through locks and tunnels. I find the show interesting because it is as close to England as I will ever get so it's like I'm on the cruise with David. Glen says it boring. Click both photos for more views.
 
 
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