WhooHoo Sunshine!

A sunny day today. Ina has gone to Kent to our nieces baby shower. I mowed the lawn!! Sure needed it too. We are approaching the time of year where we will have to mow about every five days or so. By late July though we will have brown grass and no longer need to mow. We do conserve water by not mowing. It's not a great environmental thing (though some think so) it is because we are dependant on a well. We have 40 lots in our development and 26 houses hooked up so far. We have been barely able to squeeze the necessary amount from our two wells to satisfy the state that we can accomodate all 40. But conservation is still a must.

Sure felt good today to throw open a couple of windows and leave the doors open and air out the house. Fresh mown grass smell is wafting in now. Must be spring.

Last Night BBRT

Finally...almost home. If you consider Oregon almost home. Which I do. Tomorrow home!!!

I miss my sweetie!! And my own bed. Couch. Deck etc etc etc. It's been a lot of fun but it's time to be home again.

San Fran

A dash through San Fransisco. We left Oceanside on Sunday and drove to Santa Barbara. Stayed at the same place we stayed in two years ago on the way to Spring Training. Had dinner at the Endless Summer Restaurant where we did two years ago. Bill had the fish and chips again. I had Dolphin (the fish kind or Mahi Mahi as it is known). Don't think I had that last time.

So we left SB and headed north. Decided to skip Big Sur and Hiway 1 as it is slower than 101. Made a dash through San Fransisco with a short stop at a Tully's to get a coffee. Got a parking spot right in front right on Van Ness. So now we are in Santa Rosa. Two days to get home. Easy. Will probably stop somewhere in Northern Oregon tomorrow and then make the dash for home and and my sweetie and kitty. In that order too.

Sorry San, we wont be stopping in Shady Cove. Yeah Yeah..I know... Maybe next year. I'm sorry I missed you at Mom's.

The weather has been great the whole trip. Except for the day we hit the dust storms and then the rain after we left the Salton Sea. Since then sun all the time. A little cooler than normal they say but okay by me. I am after all a NW kid.

Time to find a dinner. The pools up here in CA are "seasonal". Which means they dont open them until May 1st. Pshaw!

I sure am ready to be home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dust and More Dust

Drove through a couple of dust storms today. We left Indio and decided to see the Salton Sea. Which neither of us had ever seen. In Mecca on the way down had to almost stop the dust was so thick from the wind blowing it about. Stopped at the visitor center at the Salton Sea. Very interesting. A big mistake actually. Saw Pelicans and Egrets (white pelicans with black on the wings and the Egrets were tall and skinny). We did see what I think was Cattle Egrets just before we saw a gazillion cattle.

The Salton sea is very large. Takes awhile to drive around. When we headed west on Hiway 78 we ran into another set of dust storms. You could hear it rattling off the car. Dust? More like large sand grains. Car came through okay though. We stopped and took pictures of a strange bug. (See above)

As we got to the top of the pass we hit the rain. Lots of rain and lots of wind. Basically it washed the car of all the dust we got earlier. Almost a clean car as we drove into Oceanside. It is about 67° here in Oceanside. Sun is out but windy and the temp has not recovered from the rain and wind earlier in the day.

Time for the pool even if a tad cooler.

What to do? What to do?

Oh Bother. The weather is turning for the worst. We have arrived in Indio, CA for the night to scope out the weather and decide if we can head north or head to the coast for the trip home.

The weather is going to be bad Sat. nite and Sunday. Getting better by Monday or so but we will be out of the warmer climes by then. Pshaw. Pshaw.

The Best Western in Indio has a very large pool. That was the first thing we did on arrival. The pool is only 4 ft deep but that is okay. The next big decision is where to eat.

We have to find a new place again next year. I called the owner to ask if we could reserve the house for that same week next year. No. She said we were the last VRBO rental she was doing. She did not say why and I did not feel it was my business to ask. So, back to the VRBO web site to find a 5 bedroom house. We liked this house. Very nice pool and great location. Oh well.

I called Ina at home and no answer. Then I remembered Sandee and Jack were in Kent so I called Mom's. No answer. I called Ina's cell phone. No answer. Must be at Pat and Ray's or maybe David's. I could call them all I guess. But...

The Mini continues to drive great. I really like driving my Mini!!!

Fun in the sun

What can one say about being in Arizona and splashing in a very nice pool, watching baseball and eating way too much at a variety of restaurants? Wahoo? We've had a lot of sun and lots of "pool time" as my brother calls it.

Most days were getting up, swimming, showering, eating, going to games, swimming, eating and lots of laughing. Of course, since I had a sinus reaction of some kind to AZ, I needed to take some drugs. My eyes watered, my nose ran and my sinus (only the left side) hurt. I had to cancel a dinner with an old work mate and her sister on Monday due to the sinus. But by Tuesday I was okay and did not look like a one eyed squinty goof.

I think the best day came on Wednesday when I went for a drive and passed by the "Turf Soaring School". I drove by and went on to Wickenburg after trying to see Lake Pleasant just for fun but I did not want to pay $6 to see the lake. On the way back to the house I decided to see what was up at the soaring school.

Sure glad I did.

Got to see Lake Pleasant from 5000 feet. The flight was just under an hour and counts as my first sail plane lesson. Not that I did much learning. I just for the most part looked out and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Wahoooooo!!!!

I did take the stick for about two minutes but decided I did not want to be nervous and told the pilot that I would just enjoy the ride. I sure did!!

Today is cloudy and our last day and last game. Yesterday was hot. Today may be hotter but I hope the clouds keep it cooler. Under 90 is what I mean by cooler. Tomorrow my bro and I head for home. We still do not know which way we will go yet.

We have to find a new house to rent too. The owner is no longer renting after our stay. We were not the cause she assured me. So it's back to VRBO and a search for a 5 bedroom rental. Such is life.

Sunny Arizona

After a few days on the road we have arrived. Sunny Arizona is keeping up its image. Very pleasant drive from Blythe to Peoria. Arrived at the house, checked things out and took a dip in the pool. Nice end to three days.

We had nice weather the whole drive. Ate too much but sure enjoyed it all. We had stops in Canyonville, OR. Woodland, CA (Davis) and Blythe, CA (on the border with AZ). In Woodland we swam in the pool then spent the evening with our niece's family including her mom and dad. The kids were a little wound up with all the company but still cute. It was good to see Danette and tell her how much we cared and how glad we were that her treatments are over.

Tomorrow we have a game in Peoria. It is just a 15 minute drive to the Mariner's stadium. A lot closer than we have ever been.

Maybe they will win?