Saturday, March 30, 2013

8 airports in 4 days

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

And you thought our first few months on the road was bad..

I had to fly to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to help out with some
things that I am consulting on at my (ex) job.
I left San Jose, CA at 7 am, and landed finally in Wilkes-Barre, PA at 9 pm.
Unless you fly out of San Francisco and land in Philadelphia,
it is impossible to get a direct flight.
I try as much as possible to NOT fly through Chicago..we always have issues there :-)

I had a great time in PA. It was nice to see all my employees,
and they were all jealous of my tan :-)
We had very productive meetings for the two full days at the plant.
I went to lunch and dinner with the 3 gentlemen on Wednesday..
and opted out of their 'boys club' 
to go to dinner with my step-daughter, Heather on Thursday night.


Friday I went into the office for a bit in the morning to wrap things up.
I took off and went by the house...still there :-)
The FEMA thing is still moving along..
I had to fly out of Wilkes-Barre at 12:30 yesterday afternoon.
The puddle jumper flew into some very rough skies..
which made a few rookie passengers sick :-(
I'm glad it was only a 45 minute flight!

I finally got home last night at 9 pm..and was glad to see George and my bed!

Tomorrow we are worshiping with my parents at Easter service,
and having a nice Easter dinner with them.

5 more weeks until we move on!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Leaving on a jet plane

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

This time tomorrow I will be 'flying the friendly skys' of United.
I really hoped that I would not have to fly again anywhere,
 or stay in a hotel again.

Tomorrow will be a long day - San Jose to Houston to Newark to Avoca (Wilkes-Barre, PA)
George is not coming with me, as he wouldn't have much to do and somebody has to hold down the fort :-)

This past week we've been busy with another group coming in the park.

Saturday night we dined with our friends Connie & Greg at a cool place
called Rock Bottom. Apparently it is a chain, but we'd never heard of it.
Food was pretty good, and company even better :-)

Sunday we drove down to worship and celebrate Palm Sunday.
My Mom is still getting over her cold, so we went with Dad.
We stopped by the house to say 'howdy', however.
On the way home we stopped by Wal Mart to pick up a few groceries for George.

Last night we got a knock on our door, and Denise & Keith (another workamper) 
invited us over for a bit of dessert. We had a great time talking about RV living.
They are interested in going to Phil's with us..so we planned for another trip down.

Today is spiffing up Harvey day..and packing a suitcase for the trip to PA.
It's snowing there today..yuck! 
Hope it is all melted by tomorrow night!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Slam, bam, done..

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

I finally got my root canal yesterday. Woohoo :-)


I can tell you they've come a long way in the procedure since my last one 30 years ago!
I have a crown on the offending tooth, due to a massive filling that was drilled out a few years back.
This endodontist was able to drill through the crown, do the root canal, and fill the crown back up.
It only took 1 1/2 hrs, but it still cost $1436, even without the new crown :-(
I'm just glad I can eat on that side again..

Since the dentist was in Salinas, I spent the day with my parents again.
Their church was having a traditional Seder dinner, which I had purchased a ticket for.
Yes, even a Lutheran church can celebrate the Seder!
George wasn't all that interested in going, and since I had to be down there all day anyway,
he chose to stay behind and work our half day shift.



My Mom still isn't feeling well, coughing a LOT, so she didn't go to the dinner,
so my Dad and I went by ourselves..and it was very nice!
I didn't take any pictures since I was participating in all the ritual.
We got a choice of lamb or chicken..and since lamb doesn't taste like chicken..
I opted for the chicken :-)
It was a great night!

Today is back to the grind of circling with the golf cart. We have another group coming in..
they're always a lot of fun.

George and I have been using the pool & hot tub a lot. It is always a great end to the day.

Next week I will be flying back to PA to help with due diligence for a possible sale of our company.
It will be nice to see the employees again..I hope it doesn't snow while I'm there!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

A bit of sightseeing with friends

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

George and I have been planning to spend the day with our new friends, Connie & Greg.
Last Sunday was the day, then my tooth flared up..
so we rescheduled it for today.

Greg drove, and we headed off in his truck towards Monterey.
It was a nice day, and they loved seeing the ocean.
We drove along Ocean View Boulevard and pulled over to see the sights.

Of course there were the great sea lions..


and seagulls..


and ground squirrels..


We even saw some deer grazing..




Greg & Connie really enjoyed the waves..




We then took a ride over to Monterey wharf..


and had a quick drink and clam chowder at Domenico's


There are always a lot of sea lions napping around the wharf..
despite the seagulls!



Love the cute sea otters too!


We concluded our day by ending up at Phil's Fish Market..
one of our favorite places..


We all ate some great seafood..
and listened to some bluegrass.


It was a wonderful day!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

A nice visit...and some news!

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday we had a nice visit from my Mom & Dad,
and my cousin Kalene..



Kalene lives in Morro Bay, and drove up to stay the weekend
at my parents house. All 3 drove up yesterday, and brought lunch,
from In-and-Out burger :-)
Kalene and I walked laps around the campground,
and caught up with life.
Unfortunately, they had to leave early as my Mom wasn't feeling well :-(

At 4 o'clock, we moseyed over to the clubhouse for another wine tasting..



It is always a fun time!

We got some good news yesterday as well..
We have another workamping gig!

In November, after the Carolina Clan reunion,
we will be heading down to Ocala National Forest.
Our job will be maintenance for the southern part of the park.
George and I will have a FHU site behind the Pittman Visitor Center,
which is directly across from Lake Dorr campground.

We are excited to get to explore Florida next winter,
and see all the places that everyone talks about!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Hurry up and wait

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

So I haven't had my root canal yet. 
I never thought I would be looking forward to one :-)
So I went to the endodontist on Wednesday,
who decided that I needed to be on antibiotics
for a week so that the infection inside my tooth clears up.
I will get my root canal on Wednesday, and in the meantime
I have to muddle through, being careful not to chew on that side,
drink too hot of liquids, or too cold.
Good way to lose weight :-)

We also decided that since we plan on
being on the east coast by the end of September,
it would be fun to attend our 3rd RV Dreams rally.
This one will be in North Carolina.
By that time we'll have 1 year of full timing under our belts,
and thought it would be nice to attend another rally.

In the meantime, we're enjoying the spring temps..
and finally enjoyed the heated pool and hot tub here at the resort..


Our friends Greg & Connie joined us..


Life is good!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Oh, bother

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

While I have been in one spot for a few months,
I figured it was a good time to get a few things taken care of.
You know..annual appointments and such.
I had a physical, some blood work, some poking & prodding.
Everything checked out fine except my vitamin D levels were low.
This surprised me as I not only eat lots of dark greens,
but take vitamin supplements as well as D itself.
I'm also in the sun a lot more now that I'm retired.
The doc gave me a prescription of 50,000 iu of D. Yikes!

I finally got an appointment with a dentist to check out my aching tooth.
Yup, root canal time. With no dental insurance. Another yikes :-(
She's sending me to an endodontist, as my canals have calcified.
Sounds like a nautical problem to me :-)
So tomorrow at 9:15 am PST I will be in the chair listening to dental sounds,
and the sounds of money going down the drain.

In between my haircut and pedicure, I took my mom out to lunch.
We went to a local pub called the Penny Farthing,
where my son Adam is a cook.


He was busy, so couldn't sit down with us..
but he and his girlfriend are coming up next Wednesday to 
spend the day with us..nice!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Celebrity Sighting

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

I'm not one to slobber over celebrities,
but on Saturday a big Prevost bus pulled in.
We are in an area where there are a lot of high-end RVs,
and you never know who might be driving one.

We thought he looked familiar, and a bit of digging,
we found out who it is!
For those of you who liked 70s music,
you may remember Loggins & Messina.
Jim Messina is touring in the bay area,
and had a concert last night in Oakland,
so he stayed here at Coyote.


He thanked us for helping him with an issue with his door,
and obliged us with a picture :-)

The next few days are going to be busy.
I've been having an issue with a back tooth,
so I have an appointment with a dentist tomorrow.
I have a feeling a root canal is in my future :-O
Tuesday is haircut/color/pedicure day..
and Wednesday I have a bone-density test.
All 3 appointments aren't far from my parents house,
so I'm going to pack a small bag and spend some quality time there :-)
George says he gets some quality time with Harvey...lol.

Days are getting warmer now, mid to high 70s now...yay!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Fun times

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

Plodding right along here in sunny CA :-)
Both of us are getting ready to move on.
It has been nice to be here, spending time with family 
has been the best part, 
but we are both anxious to be out of an 'RV resort' setting.

We will miss some of  the 'regulars' in the park here.
Saturday night, one of the couples invited a few of us
into the great room to share in some appetizers and wine.




Sunday we visited my Mom & Dad, went to church,
and had lunch with them afterwards at the house.

Monday we both had a veg-out day, spending time getting a few computer things done.
Tuesday was grocery day, and we took a ride into Morgan Hill to explore a bit.
George & I have been wanting to go to a local brew-pub, and so we popped into
El Toro Brewing Company to have a beer.


George actually tried a beer called Ghost Chili Golden Ale. It was made with Ghost peppers,
one of the hottest chili peppers on the Scoville scale. He didn't think it was too hot :-)

Yesterday I drove down to Salinas to get an annual checkup with my Mom's doctor.
Everything is looking good, although Dr. Joanne thought my D levels were a bit low.
She prescribed a high dose of D, and changed my thyroid meds a bit.

Last night we went along with some of our new found friends to a great pizza place..Patxis 
We had the best pizza..arugula & prosciutto..man it was heavenly :-)


As you can tell, there was a lot of laughing going on :-)

We got a call today from Ocala National Forest (well a workamper coordinator)..
wish us luck...they are doing some prescreening for some winter help!





Friday, March 1, 2013

Two months down

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

Hard to believe we've been here 2 1/2 months already.
We still have 2 months to go, and I'm sure it will go too fast!
George and I are enjoying being with family,
working in great temps & sunshine,
and making some new friends.

Another typical week here at Coyote.
George's thumb/hand is doing much better, 
with little residual soreness left.

These days are the kind of days you don't mind having an outside job..


The full moon the other night was beautiful..rising up behind us..


George had an issue with the black tank earlier in the week.
We've noticed the last few weeks we are going more than 2 weeks before needing to dump.
This is not typical for us.
He checked into it, and found that the valve is not shutting all the way,
allowing liquid to drain out continually instead of staying in the tank. :-(
He back flushed, opening and closing the valve to see if he could
dislodge anything stuck to it, but nope.
Unfortunately, the valve isn't readily accessible, as Montanas have
them sealed up under the underbelly.
A call to our best friends at Camping World was in order.
They are coming out on Thursday to check it out.
Thank God for warranties :-)

Yesterday I drove down south, to meet up with Mom and get a pedicure.
My Dad brought out a chair and the 3 of us sat outside in the sun before we left for our appointment.

George & I are getting anxious to move on toward our next assignment,
the Cedar Creek fish hatchery, in Hebo, OR.
We start there in June, and will really enjoy a summer in Oregon :-)