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S p r i n g / S u m
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Return to "Fall -
Winter 2023 - 2024"
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| Thursday, August 29,
2024: Gwen, Abby and I took a break on this hot day by
driving to the new Ford's Pond Park. This park was built
with donations and mostly volunteer labor. It has a nice
playground for kids and a paved one mile walk around the
pond. We found a table with a cover for shade. It was
too hot for a walk today! |
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Tuesday, August 27, 2024:
The big complaint in Eugene was the pealing clear coat
on the front cap. I scraped and sanded the clear coat.
Than I added primer to prepare for a final glossy coat
to be added once the wind subsides. My friend, Wendell
loaned me the ladder. |
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Wednesday - Monday,
August 21- 26, 2024: Gwen and I took our little Camp
Lite onto a camping trip to Wasmyrtle Campground on the
Oregon Coast. It is only an hour and half drive for
cooler weather plus views of the the ocean, the Sitcoos
River, plus hiking trails. Our Friends Glen and Klee
joined us on Friday. This was our first real camping
trip with the Camp Lite fully loaded. We also visited
with our friends Gary and Jeanne in Florence only a few
mile up the road. Click on all photos for more views. |
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Sunday, August 18,
2024: I have moved the motorhome from stoarge to
our lot. It is going to the consignment dealer in Eugene
tomorrow. I needed to do some final preparation before
we move it. |
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Saturday, August 17,
2024: One of the big Blackberry Festival
attractions is the car show. There must be 300
vintage cares in Central Park. This draws a large crowd
along with the craft booths and food trucks.
This afternoon we had a rare thunderstorm. It probably
dampened the Festival. Here is a video of what
Abby and I saw.
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| Friday, August 16, 2024:
Each year Sutherlin Oregon hosts the Blackberry Festival
in Central Park. This morning we participated on
day one with breakfast at the senior center. It is a
fund raising event for the senior center. I also bought
$% worth of raffle tickets but none were winners. |
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Tuesday, August 13, 2024: I refer to this as our $267
trash bag, here is the story: It starts by forgetting Abby's
Heartgard in Tucson. Heartgard is a once per month treat to
made sure she does not get heart-worms. The heart-worm
parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes. I took her camping a
few weeks ago and of course there were plenty of mosquitoes.
I decided not to take the chance so made an appointment with
the vet. Saturday she had an episode of something bothering
her right ear. Another reason to see the vet. So our vet did
a blood test to check for heart-worms (negative) and I got
two Heartgard treats to get us back to the Tucson supply. He
also checked her ears saying both canals are clear but the
right ear seems to have an external yeast infection. We got
medication for that. All this took no longer than 20 minutes
with the total bill coming to $267. We got the "free" tote
bag which we now use as a garbage bag. I refer to it as our
$267 garbage bag. |
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Sunday, August 11, 2024: A couple months ago I spotted
this single burner stove at our local BiMart store. It was
inexpensive and advertised a very hot flame which turns out
to be true. I used it for the first time tonight. The idea
is to keep the heat of cooking outside of the RV. RVs are
like big ovens, apply a little sun and they heat up! Hence
the ceiling exhaust fans. Another positive about this stove,
it is very light weight. |
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| Wednesday, August 7, 2024: Of course if I'm going to be
living outside more the first thing I should do is to set up
a coffee bar under the gazebo. That's my backpack stove
which does nothing but heat water. That's what I need for
coffee. It is much faster than a regular stove and can be
used inside or outside. Next to the stove is my orange,
metal, insulated cup I purchased at the Atom Coffee Shop in
Glide, Oregon. Behind the cup is my French Press. I let the
coffee sit in the French Press no less than 4 minutes. To
the left of the press is the water pot which locks on top of
the stove. The only thing missing is my creamer which is
kept in the trailer refrigerator. It would be nice to have a
small refrigerator here in the gazebo. |
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Tuesday, August 6, 2024: Our motorhome is moved to storage waiting
for us to deliver it to the RV Corral in Eugene for consignment.
Meanwhile we have moved our little trailer onto the pad area where
we have power, water, sewer and WiFi. The deck I built for the
motorhome needs to have shorter legs to fit this little trailer.
That's what I did this morning. It is far more comfortable walking
in/out on the deck than on the tiny stairs. The same was true of the
motorhome. The line you see in the right hand photo about 1/4 from
the top is Abby's overhead cable so she has access to our entire
lot. We will be doing a lot of living outside under our gazebo where
we have plenty of space for meals and the gazebo is where I'm
writing this report. |
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Sunday, August 4, 2024:Working
all day getting the motorhome ready to move. But we had time to
watch much of the Olympics. The USA had three runners qualify to be
in the race. We did learn a race lesson. The orange shoe of the
Jamaican runner came across the line first but the head of a US
runner won gold. It was explained that the torso wins the race, not
the foot. |
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Saturday, August 3, 2024: Gwen and I spent our day
cleaning the motorhome and continuing to move stuff out.
Tomorrow will likely be our last day in the motorhome
because I have an early morning appointment for an oil
change for the motorhome on Monday. We will likely take it
to the consignment lot on Tuesday.
Today was a big Olympics day with many track and field
events. It turns out, the fastest woman in the world is from
Jamaica. |
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Thursday, August 1, 2024: When we bought the Highlander the radio
worked well for the first two weeks then hardly worked at all. Pro
Car Stereo in Roseburg decided the radio should be replaced so that
happened today. This radio came with new features which we are still
learning to use. Everything seems to be working as it should. AM/FM,
Satellite radio, Spotify, CarPlay, backup camera, and steering wheel
controls. |
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Saturday, July 27, 2024: I had multiple reasons to be in
Roseburg today. One of those reasons was to visit the Pro
Car Stereo Shop to learn if they could fix our car
radio. It seems to connect perfectly but we get no
audio. Navigation works, music shows it is playing but no
audio. It has been at least thirty years since the
last time I visited a Taco Bell. This one was next to the
stereo shop and I was hungry so I thought I'd give it a try.
I paid about $10 for lunch, the same price I would pay for a
vegetable burrito from the truck parked in Sutherlin. There
was no comparison to the quality of the truck burrito! It
will be another thirty years before I return. Oh, the radio
must be replaced next week. |
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| Monday, July 22, 2024: A couple weeks ago I did
something I don't normally do. I called an RV repair person
when I normally do nearly all repairs myself. This repair is
for the motorhome. One of our three air conditioning units
needed repair and our toilet needed repair. I know nothing
about air conditioners and just too lazy to tackle the
toilet problem. After ordering parts, Tanner finished both
repairs today. I would guess he gets much of his income from
this park. He is here often. |
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Sunday, July 21, 2024: We ordered custom seat covers for the front
seats in the Highlander. They arrived so I have begun installation.
It is a tight fit making the installation time consuming. We did not
like the leather seats, we prefer fabric. These feel much
better and they look good too. |
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Wednesday, July 10, 2024: I had to drive to my old home
town of Grants Pass, Oregon to find a shop who could install
the trailer electrical connection. Zach is the installer and
knew how to make it work. While I sat in the air conditioned
waiting room, Zach had to work in the open garage and it was
100 degrees. The Highlander is ready to pull a travel
trailer. Click the photos for another view. |
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Tuesday, July 9, 2024: I was up early to beat the heat. This was my
second try to clear the plastic lenses over the headlights. I had
already used some polishing compound and a sponge ball borrowed from
Glen to try to clear them. However, the result was
disappointing. I decided to try
something different. This treatment has a three step process
and claims to be a lifetime result. It worked. The plastic
lenses are no longer fogged with age but clear, looking new again. |
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Monday, July 8, 2024: Today was a busy day for me. First a
visit to my dermatologist which went by very quickly. Then
to the grocery store and a delivery to my friend Erik's.
Next, to Costco where my friend Glen is the audiologist and
it was my turn for my annual hearing checkup. Glen fine
tuned my hearing aids and encouraged me to purchase new
since mine were 5 generations out-of-date. Once the aid
adjustment was done I accompanied Glen to his favorite
coffee hut. He bought me a blended drink which really
tasted good on this hot day. I may be his only client who
gets a free coffee after a hearing adjustment. |
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Saturday and Sunday, July 6 - 7, 2024:I'm camping with
friends these two days. My friends are here to do an organized
gravel ride on Sunday. I am here to pick up Gwen after she has been
visiting her daughter in Klamath Falls. This was also Abby's first
camping trip and she enjoyed her time. We are in the middle of a
heat wave in western Oregon. On my drive into the mountains the
car's outside thermometer measured 113 degrees. Click the photo to
see my friends riding off early Sunday morning. |
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Friday, July 5, 2024: The matching side molding arrived today. It
didn't take me long to read the instructions and get them mounted. I
did this in the early evening after the high daily temperatures had
subsided a bit. This morning I got to try my tiny battery saver.
The car battery was depleted enough it would not start the car. I
don't know the reason. I drove to Les Schwab asking them to test
then replace the battery. I don't know the history of this battery
and don't want to take chances since we are taking a road trip next
week.Click on both photos for more views. |
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| Thursday, July 4, 2024: Gwen is off visiting her daughter
for a few more day so I have decided to fix a pasta salad.
It looks good but I have no Italian dressing. Since this is
Independence Day I will shop for the dressing tomorrow. I
will add green beans and Italian Dressing tomorrow. It will
be great. |
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Wednesday, July 3, 2024: I had added pin stripes to the
Forester, now it's time for Highlander pin stripes. They
aren't expensive and relatively easy to install. Having said
that, the driver's side went on easily. The passenger side,
however, was in the sun so it took tow failures with success
on the third try. The sun affected the adhesive making it
impossible to make adjustments. I had to remove and discard
the tape twice before I got it right. I still have much left
over. |
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Tuesday, July 2, 2024: This is a dash camera mounted on
the inside of the back window facing behind the car. It was
mounted in the Forester but I removed it before trading it.
I also had one facing forward but left it because I was not
sure it was working properly. I was going to replace this
one but checked the SD card and it was still taking very
good, clear videos of the action behind us. So I have
remounted it in the Highlander. It wasn't expensive and two
years old so I will get this same brand for the front since
it takes such good video. |
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| Sunday, June 30, 2024: Remember
this? I refurbished it from a piece of junk to a
usable trailer. I used it to haul 1,900
lbs to Tucson last fall then bright is back with more
stuff that would not fit into the Forester. I sold it today
for what I had into it, basically twice what I paid for it
as junk. I could not see using it very often and having to
store and protect it was not worth the effort. |
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Saturday, June 29, 2024: We traded our black Forester
(which does not do well in the Arizona sun) for a used
Toyota Highlander. No more manual shift Forester! We are
enjoying Tucson enough we wish to make that our new home
base so we have put the motorhome for sale. But we are not
done with RV travel. Our plan is to go back to the
beginning, buy a small travel trailer which can be towed by
the Highlander. It has a 5000 lb rating. Our thought is to
go back to summer travel away from the Tucson heat. We have
not decided to leave our lot at Timber Valley. |
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Thursday, June 27, 2024: We have listed our motorhome for sale
today. We've owned it nearly 5 years and enjoyed our time. We have a
lot invested and it seems our life is changing now that we own a
park model in Tucson. We enjoy it very much. It is time to
downsize. The motorhome is for sale. We aren't done traveling so we
will get a smaller RV. Traveling during the summer to avoid
the Tucson heat will be our future for a few more years. It will be
that way until we don't mind staying inside all summer. |
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Wednesday, June 26, 2024: This photo of my two sons, and
daughter plus all my
grandchildren was taken a couple weeks ago as we passed through
Reno, Nevada
on the way north. My children showed me a mountain bike park near my
daughter's
house. My son, Ben, taking the photo, loaned me his mountain bike so
I could
ride with the kids. |
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Tuesday, June 11, 2024: We are leaving Tucson for the
summer months beginning tomorrow morning. So we took
ourselves to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. This
is a Molcajete with fish, Crab legs, Calamari, Octopus and
Shrimp. It arrives in a very hot cast iron bowl so boiling
when it arrives. The cast iron holds the heat so the meal is
kept hot for a long time. Here is a short
video of our meal. |
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Sunday, June 9, 2024: This could be a scam, if so, it got me! I
followed YouTube instructions to make aluminum balls
containing shredded bar soap, tooth paste and baking soda to add
fragrance and cleanliness to the toilet bowl. Click these three
photos for another view. |
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Friday, June 7, 2024: This morning, Gwen and I were
treated to a town tour by our friend, Warren. Warren
specifically wanted to show us Amy's Donuts which is located
on the other side of Tucson. He is very impressed with the
decor and selection. However, before Amy's he showed us
Joe's Pancake House only two miles from home. We learned
Joe's morning breakfast special is only $5 or $6, so very
affordable compared to other Tucson restaurants. At Amy's,
Warren picked up a donut with bacon bits while I got an
Apple Fritter. Click the photos for more views. |
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Thursday, June 6, 2024: I organized a small group from
Rincon Country East to visit the First Watch Cafe this early
morning. I asked the manager, Umberto, to tell us what makes
First Watch special. He welcomed us and did a good job
introducing the restaurant. Everyone enjoyed their meal and
the conversation. I think we made some new friends. |
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024: So what indoor project do you do during a
"Heat Advisory"? I chose to assemble this Lego project. Fortunately
the box age range was 14 and up so I fit the criteria. I've not done
a Lego project before. This would have been easier with better
instructions but with a powerful magnifying glass and a bright desk
lamp I was able to barely make out the parts illustrated in the
instruction. I thought I would begin a theme of coffee shops and
cafes. I admire the guy who designed this kit. When I was 12 my
favorite toy was an Erector Set. Perhaps I'll look for one. I think
I like nuts/bolts better than tiny Lego pieces. Click on all three
photos to see more views. |
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| Sunday, June 2, 2024: Professional cycling season has
begun again. This race is in France so it's as close to
France as we will ever get. Mads Pedersen took this first
round race along with a huge group in the peloton. They all
got the same time. Click the photo to see Mads. |
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Thursday, May 30, 2024: I brought home a small wading pool
for the backyard. I'm hoping the Javelina will get their
water here rather than the birdbath. Then, stop tipping over
the birdbath. During the night they tipped over the birdbath
again but a lot of water was missing from the pool too. I
don't see any evidence that the pool is leaking. This pool
should make it easier for the rabbits to get water also. Why
the bricks? If a small critter gets into the pool they won't
be able to get back over the slick walls. The bricks give
them a place to exit before drowning. It also makes it easy
for me to see the water level and how much it has reduced
overnight. |
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Wednesday, May 29, 2024: We have seen birds of all kinds at our
birdbath. We have also seen rabbits standing on their hind legs to
reach the birdbath. Tonight we spotted two Javelina (Piccary)
drinking from our birdbath. When the larger of the two was finished
it intentionally tipped it over. We are thinking of how to add a
second water source. |
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| Monday,
May 27, 2024: Memorial Day in the clubhouse. Both Gwen and I helped
with the preparation. Gwen baked cookies and I grilled onions. We
both had lots of help. We served potato salad made by Mary Anne, a
bratwurst cooked by Donna, sour kraut warmed by Richard plus lots of
clean up help. Click the photo to see our Memorial Day luncheon. Click
here to see all our helpers. |
| Sunday, May 26, 2024: I have finally finished the Airport
Music Box project. The wood pieces are cut from 3 ply
plywood with a laser cutter. They are very accurate but
because they are very small, extremely fragile. Many of the
parts are duplicated to have extra pieces in the case
breakage but I still needed to glue broken pieces. The whole
unit, when finished, is still very fragile so not really
intended for use, just display. Here is a short
video of the music box working. |
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Tuesday, May 21, 2024: This project is almost complete. Only two
more biplanes and the project is complete. This first biplane took
an hour to assemble, I hope the others go faster. |
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Monday, May 20, 2024: I DID ride today in nearly 90 degree
weather. Fortunately the clouds gave me some relief. After
returning I resumed work on my current indoor project. This
will eventually be a rotating airplane music box. |
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Sunday, May 19, 2024: Our next door neighbors, Daryl
and Mary treated us to a meal at a special restaurant
downtown, The Monica. Neither of us have been there
previously and it was a very pleasant experience. They did
this because we never complained about the 4 months of
construction on their house we endured. We have enjoyed
having these as our neighbors. We look out for each other
and hope we end up doing much together. Click on both photos
for more views. |
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Saturday, May 18, 2024: Gwen and I enjoyed a Summer
Buddies potluck then a trivia night. I believe we had about
25 people and the potluck and all stayed for trivia. It was
good food and good visiting. There were 26 trivia questions
mostly dealing with the month of "May" or at least with
"may" in the answer. Gwen and I got 14 right out of 26 which
qualified us for one of the dollar store prizes at the left.
Gwen chose a decorated mug. |
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Monday, May 13, 2024: Today is the day I chose to lead a
tour of two bakeries in Tucson. The first is Houlden's Rise
Above, a unique vegan bakery we we had an introduction and
education from Michael, the owner of the bakery. I don't
believe any in our tour knew of this bakery and I also
believe they were blown away from all the information
Michael provided. Everyone placed an order after the
introduction. Here is their
menu for today.
Our second bakery was Beyond Bread where we ordered
breakfast. Some in our group had been here before but I'm
not sure they enjoyed it as much as we did today. Click both
photos for more views. |
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Sunday, May 12, 2024: Today is Mother's Day and the men were in
charge of creating a celebration and meal for the mothers in the
park. I assisted today. You can see there are very few Summer
Buddies who have stayed through May and possibly fewer staying
through the summer months. So far the temperatures have been very
pleasant. Even the mid-90s do not feel like they do in Oregon
because of the lower humidity. Our menu today was shrimp, pretzel
finger sandwiches, regular finger sandwiches, fruit cup, vegetable
tray, cheese-cracker tray and desert. There was no cooking involved
with any of the items. Everything was enjoyed by all and many took
items home for later in the day. |
| Saturday, May 11, 2024: I found these blooms directly
behind our house. |
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Wednesday, May 8, 2024: My morning began with attending
the "Summer Buddies" meeting to promote the bakery tour
happening on Monday. We have 17 signed up which will make a
nice tour group.
When I got back I decided to fill the birdbath. I noticed
movement in an Aloe Vera plant about 20 feet away. I first
thought it was a lizard since we have been seeing many of
those. On closer inspection, it was obviously another
Diamondback Rattlesnake. It was on the other side of our
perimeter fence but far too close and we walk in that
location often. I took my snake grabber and bucket and
quickly had this one in the bucket. It was smaller than the last one
by a couple feet.
We have at least a dozen Quail chicks running around in the
same area which may have attracted our Rattler.
This time, instead of walking the snake into the nearby
desert we drove it ten miles away into a nice desert area I
hope it enjoys. Here is a short video
of the release and of the chicks it was chasing. |
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| Sunday, May 5, 2024: I once lived in the Tahoe Basin for a
total of 13 years. It was a wonderful place to live and I
never found a day I didn't like. It was unusual to have a
major snow storm in May but it happens. While we sit in
Tucson where it is nearly 90 degrees today, Interstate 80
over Donner Summit is closed due to a spring snow storm.
Although the storm causes terrible traffic problems it will
help to keep the California reservoirs full this summer. |
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Saturday, May 4, 2024: We are both feeling well enough to drive into
the Saguaro National Park East specifically looking for blooming
Saguaro. There really aren't many but lots have buds so probably a
better show in a week or two. Click on the photos for more views. |
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Friday, May 3, 2024: Still recovering from bronchitis but
feeling good enough to add lettering to our trike. The trike
is used to haul garbage to the dumpster bins about a quarter
mile away. I always take Abby with me, hence the
"Abby-Mobile". The trike has worked out really well for
garbage, mail runs, and project runs to ceramics or the
woodshop. |
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| Monday, April 29, 2024: I have volunteered to lead a
group of Summer Buddies to some bakeries in Tucson. I have
already sampled this bakery so I also went looking for a
French bakery. Houlden's is open only on a Monday during a
weekday. I soon learned that the others are closed on
Monday. It is important to me, because of their reputation,
to visit Houlden's. I talked with Michael, one of the
owners, and arranged a private meeting time for our group
where he will explain what makes his bakery different and so
popular. After talking with the Summer Buddies President we
decided to limit the group to 20. Hopefully that will get
people signing up early. Our trip will be Monday, May 13. |
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Sunday, April 28, 2024: Today was our first block party right next
door in front of our neighbor's house. There was lots of good food
and lots of help to set up and take down what was needed. We were
lucky to have little wind unlike the last two days. We were also
lucky to have temperatures in the high 70s/low 80s. Some of these
neighbors we hardly ever see because they don't join in many
activities where we participate. But the block party had lots of
good food which brought everyone out. |
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Saturday, April 27, 2024: Since we are season pass holders
our tickets to the University of Arizona Wildcats Spring
Football game were only $5 per seat. This is a game where
offense (in blue) plays against defense. For the first half
it was flag football. But the second half saw some real
tackling. Here is a short
video of the action. |
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Wednesday, April 24, 2024: I attended the "Summer Buddies"
morning meeting where I volunteered to organize a tour of a
selection of the many bakeries in this town. Once I got home I
decided to take a quick look at a couple which I have never visited.
I chose the Locale first, the photo on the left. It is more of an
Italian Restaurant than a bakery so it won't be on my tour list. My
neighbor, Daryl recommended the Ghina French Bakery, on the right.
It is at least 30 minutes away but has a good selection of bread,
cookies, pies and pastry. For that reason it may be on my tour list
but I found it to be very expensive. Fortunately there is a Webpage
which has already done the work for me. I'm looking forward to
visiting all then selecting four or five for the tour. |
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Sunday, April 21, 2024: Last year we learned of the largest Farmer's
Market in Tucson at the Rillito Park. It's only 12 miles by bicycle
but 17 miles by car. This was our first visit to the fair this year.
It was very busy and I hope the shoppers were buying lots of stuff.
We bought nothing except a pound of coffee for me. The photos above
show a variety of vendors. Plus I made a short video of
an entertainer. Click the photos for more views. |
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Friday, April 19, 2024: With the arrival of hot weather I
am finally having time to work on the projects I've been
saving for indoor, air conditioned work. This little robot
toy seemed like a good start since they claim an eight year
old can do it. Click on the left photo to see the sheets of
plastic pieces which must be separated and bagged. It took
me about 3 hours. I can't believe an 8 year old could do
this. Following instructions, I carefully assembled the main
body at the right. All robots are built around this little
cube. Time for a nap! |
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| Wednesday, April 17, 2024: Today was the first Wednesday
morning meeting after the Activity office closed. The season
is over. Now it is the "Summer Buddies" in charge of the
activities and Wednesday morning meeting. Volunteers bring
in the treats. During the season the treats are always
donuts provided by a Tucson business. That business then
gets a display table during the meeting to describe their
product or service. It has been an RV Dealer several times,
Medical services several times, Dental services and our
resort several times. I went this morning wondering what
they would have to say since I knew of no activities coming
up. I was actually surprised with several of the planned
activities and actually signed up for one and volunteered to
help with a second. There is always a 50/50 raffle at the
Wednesday meeting usually benefiting one of the resort
clubs. In today's raffle, I won twice ($10) after buying $5
worth of tickets. Click the photo to see my choice of the
treats. |
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Tuesday, April 16, 2024: Normally our Palo Verde
tree is just green branches with tiny leaves occasionally.
I've never seen one in bloom but here it is. Right behind
our unit. |
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Saturday, April 13, 2024: About a month ago I got a Facebook message
advertising the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (TSO). I've seen the
advertising before but this one really caught my eye because they
were to play the Gustav Holst Suite, The Planets. I have
been a fan of The Planets since my college days. I learned the
tickets were advertised at only $14, $28 for two. Actually, after
adding taxes, ticket fees and parking, the event cost $50. I have
listened to the Suite probably a hundred times at no cost so I had
to decide if I wanted to pay the $50 to hear it again. I decided the
venue (Linda Ronstadt Music Hall) and the ability to SEE the music
as well as HEAR it would be worth the $50. I remember going to a
concert when I lived at Lake Tahoe, California where the orchestra
played Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. I listened to the music multiple
times before the concert so I could recognize the themes as I
listened to and watched the music. I did the same with this concert.
I listened to The Planets multiple times, watched YouTube videos of
other orchestras and read what Wikipedia had to say about the Suite.
Finally, I took binoculars so I could see which instruments were
developing the themes which I knew so well. |
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Monday, April 8, 2024: The big news today was the viewing
of the solar eclipse from our park observatory. We used the
Stellina telescope with solar filters for the observation.
Click the left photo to see the group which had gathered
just outside the observatory to watch the eclipse. The
Stellina object are viewed on the phone of each individual
logged into the Stellina. That makes it easy to take photos
and view the image for yourself. Tucson was not in the path
for full eclipse, we got about 70% coverage. Click the right
photo to see what we saw at the maximum coverage which
occurred at 11:19 am. |
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Sunday, April 7, 2024: I spent nearly the entire day, planning
then arranging our family room/bedroom. It is the largest room
in our park model so much be a multi-purpose room. After that
project I decided to take Abby on a hike into the Pantano Wash right
out our back door. A strong hiker to go for miles. Abby and I went
for 1.5 miles which was plenty for both of us. Click these three
photos for more view. Behind the center photo is a view across the
wash. Look for the furthest Palm Tree to the left of the photo,
that's our Palm Tree. |
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Saturday, April 6, 2024: Our photo club chose to visit Patagonia, a
tiny village south of Tucson nearly to the Mexican border. It is at
4055 foot elevation and claims to be cooler that Tucson during the
summer months. The photo club wanted to visit the Hummingbird
sanctuary owned by the Tucson Audubon Society. This turned out to be
a popular location especially since it is a weekend day. We were
able to see many Humming birds but they were so busy very difficult
to get any good photos of them. We did walk a scenic trail with Abby
to a view point. Our leader, Warren, showed us a unique cafe with
some lovely bakery items and we caught the owner of the "Four Little
Birds" delivering Sourdough bread so we bought a loaf. There were
several gift shops along Main Street which we had to visit but
purchased nothing. The hour drive to Patagonia was very scenic,
especially this time of year. Click all three photos for more views.
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| Monday, April 1, 2024: This is April Fools day so nature
has played a trick on us in Tucson. She brought rain all
day. Fortunately I had prepared for such a day with a couple
of covered projects. The first is LED lighting on the deck.
I chose blue lights tonight but there are an infinite number
of colors I could choose from. The lights can be controlled
by Blue Tooth and I have programmed an internal timer to
turn them on at 7 pm then off at 11 pm. I might choose green
tomorrow. They can also be programmed to multi-color
patterns. The second project is a Galaxy Projector which
projects stars and a galaxy pattern onto the ceiling. Here
is a short video of what that looks like. |
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Friday, March 29, 2024: We finally get a view of Mt Lemmon
after several days of weather. It seems strange that Mt
Lemmon would get more snow this time of year but there it
is. We are expecting more rain on Sunday and Monday so maybe
even more snow for the mountains. |
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| Thursday, March 28, 2024: Abby is sharing her fur with our
bird friends for their nests. I just refilled the basket.
Notice how the fur is sticking our of the basket? I didn't
do that. |
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Wednesday, March 27, 2024: We often get an unusual bird at
the Hummingbird feeder. This is a male Gila Woodpecker who
visits the feeder quite often. I'm not sure it comes for the
sweet liquid or just an easy source of water. Look of the
length of that tongue. This is a beautiful bird and we are
glad to have him around. Click this photo for another view.
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Monday, March 25, 2024: We get bird visitors everyday.
Mostly Quail but occasionally the Gila Woodpecker and in
this case the female Cardinal. The male Cardinal is not far
behind.
We had some very special visitors today. My friend Erik and
his Son, Andrew from Roseburg, Oregon visited for a short
time while on their drive from Roseburg to Albuquerque, New
Mexico. They took an hour out of their whirlwind trip to
stop and see how we are living now. Andrew is graduating
from high school this year with a 4.0 GPA plus the first
place trombone player in all of Oregon. He has been accepted
into four universities, Reno, Nevada; University of Nevada,
Las Vegas; Arizona State University and University of New
Mexico. He and his dad are touring each of the four
universities in five days before flying home from
Albuquerque. Of course, I suggested the University of
Arizona, Wildcats but it is too late this year to apply.
Andrew is interested in nuclear science which may not be
offered here. I feel very special that they took the time to
stop. |
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Saturday, March 23, 2024:Our one concert per month took us
to see "Short Notice", Hits from the Brits. They
played 26 tunes (they announced the number at the beginning
of the concert) and gave a bit of history with each tune.
The history made the music more interesting. The park
supported the group well. We heard tunes from The Beatles,
Rolling Stones, Kinks, Elton John, Queen, Fleetwood Mac and
more. |
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Friday, March 22, 2024: I drove to the west side of Tucson
this afternoon to watch my friend, Wes, attempt to qualify
for the level 1 Certification in model rockets. Wes spent
this last week building his rocket and getting it ready for
the launch. His rocket shot 1300 feet then deployed the
parachute for a soft landing. Unfortunately it landed in a
tree. It came against a large branch which knocked a hole
into the body. The rocket must land unharmed for
certification. Here is a short
video of Wes' launch. After a repair, Wes will try
again. |
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| Thursday, March 21, 2024: Our last view from our own
observatory here at Rincon Country East was of the Andromeda
Galaxy. It is our closest galaxy to the Milky Way. It is 2.5
million light years distant. It is a spiral galaxy like the
Milky Way growing closer to us. It will collide with the
Milky Way in a couple billion years. This photo came
directly from my phone as observed
from our telescope. |
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Wednesday, March 20, 2024: Welcome to the first day of
spring at Rincon Country East Resort in Tucson, Arizona. We have
been here nearly six months and aren't tired of it yet. These last
few days have been filled with fair-weather cumulus clouds which
has provided tonight's sunset. In another two weeks most of the
RVs you see will be headed to their home states and the park will
be much less crowded. Although we haven't been bothered by the
number of visitors since we are on the only cul-de-sac in the
resort. Click on this photo to view a visitor we invite to our
back yard every day.
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