Happy Birthday, Lauren!

WELCOME to our two new followers!   Carolyn doesn't show a blog listing, but I think she may have one.  If so, Carolyn, let me know in my comments, and I'll give you a plug. :)   My other new follower is "rain," who also does not show a blog listing.  I thank you both for becoming Followers of Me and My Dog - Welcome aboard!

Also, quick note:  One of our new followers, Texcyn, does have a brand new blog, Texcyn Life, check it out. I'm enjoying following her posts.  Clever title, too! :)

Happy 4th Birthday to my youngest granddaughter, Lauren! 

 Lauren is 3

 Lauren is 2 (and baking her own birthday cake at Grammy's)

 Lauren's 1st Birthday Party

Lauren, I hope you have a wonderful birthday today, and lots of fun at Chuck E Cheese tonight.   I'm looking forward to adding more birthday pictures to my photos!  Grammy loves you, and Katie does, too!

Well, I can honestly say I haven't met a state I didn't love.  Idaho, from what I've seen so far, is very different from California, Oregon and Washington, in it's vastness.  As I drive along Highway 95, all I can keep saying to myself is - Beautiful!  Gorgeous!  God's country, for sure!

We drove through forests, but for the most part, this is what we've seen:

Driving through farming and cattle country, this was in front of me - talk about a wide load.

The vistas went on forever.  Across vast farm and ranch lands were hills, with higher hills behind them, and then more until a huge mountain cut off the view.

 Layers and layers of hills and mountains as far as the eye can see.

 Katie was looking out the windows most of the day.

Unfortunately my camera just didn't do justice to what we were seeing, so I couldn't use the photos I took.  I'm going to get a new camera, I think.

We stopped at a rest stop on top of a mountain to have lunch and relax.  We finally had cell phone service, so I returned some calls and went on-line.  It was warm with nice breezes.   At least until a HUGE big rig with two trailers pulled in right next to me.  We were the only two vehicles in the entire parking lot, and he had to park next to me.  I had both of my windows open to get the nice breezes and cool off the warm interior of The Palms.  With that huge rig next to me, I got all his heat from the generator, or whatever was running, and he completely blocked my window from any breezes.  What a duffus.  So, since I was about done, anyway, we packed up and drove on.  

The pet area of the rest stop has this sign:

You can bet I had my eyes open while Katie was having her potty break, and we didn't linger outside.  No long walks here.

During the day we crossed over into a different time zone, and also crossed the 45th Parallel, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.   I thought both were kind of cool.

The only problem with the time zone change was I needed my computer to be on the correct time to receive a download from my library.   The e-mail they sent said I had to put the right time zone, if we were on daylight savings, and the correct time.  I thought my computer and GPS would automatically change the time since they are off satellites, but I wasn't sure.  Part of Idaho is Pacific time and part is Mountain time, and I wasn't sure where the cut off was, or if I had changed again driving south.  Also I didn't know if they are on Daylight Savings Time.  My cell phone said it was past midnight on Wednesday, and I was totally confused.  I think my loss of cell service might have also changed the date/time.

When I called my daughter I had to ask her what day and date it was.  Her daughter, Lauren, turns four on Wednesday the 21st (today), and because I was using my cell phone for info, I thought it was already Wednesday, but it was Tuesday.   I wanted to make sure I called on her birthday.

I finally googled the nearest airport and called them and asked which time zone we were in, whether they were on Daylight Savings Time, and what the time was.  Turns out I was off by an hour, and a day.  Really Weird!  But the good news is, I get an extra day this week. 

What I learned from all this is:  when I crossed into Mountain Time, I figured it would only be for a day or two, so I wasn't going to change all my clocks.  If I found a good campground, I'd do it then.  Who cares what time it is, really?  Does an hour make that much difference when I'm retired?  Well, yes it does.  For one thing, the TV programs.  At 10:00 last night, I checked all the channels, and nothing good was on, so I went to bed.  I checked the time on my cell phone and it was actually 11:00.  (The only clocks I changed were my computer and cell phone).  Also, my car radio and Garmin GPS still have the old time.  I don't know why, but I can't get my brain around it when I have the wrong time, even if I know it's an hour off.

How do you guys handle time changes?  Do you change your car clock, GPS clock, computer, watches, cell phones, and any other clocks you have around when you enter a new time zone?

I continued driving until I got to Nampa, ID, where there is a Costco, Target, Super Walmart, and every other store I can think of.  I didn't really need anything, but this Walmart allows overnight parking, so we stayed here.   I went to a far corner of the lot where no one was nearby and turned on my generator for a couple of hours and watched TV and played on my computer, then I turned everything off and drove to the corner where they ask RVers to park overnight.

Today we will continue on down the road.  I'm willing to overnight at Walmarts and Rest Areas the next few nights, but I'm hoping I'll find a nice RV campground where we can stay for a week or two.  I don't want to pay a lot, but I want electricity for TV.  I got good TV antenna reception here at Walmart, I think any good sized town will have good reception, but I don't want to run my generator that much if I don't have to.

So, now I'm going to call Lauren to wish her a Happy Birthday, then I'll make the quick, obligatory trip into Walmart for a few things, and then we'll take off again.

From Me and My Dog, have a nice Wednesday, everyone!  :)