Photos from yesterday...

I got my camera battery charged this morning, and wanted to show you the photos I took  yesterday.  The first three are photos of trees in front of my condo that I've always liked.  They are all in bloom now.  I don't know what they are, except the last one, a Bottle Brush tree:

Beach shots:

Tamarack State Beach in Carlsbad, CA

Katie taking a walk, looking beautiful in her Princess dress.  : )

I watched this guy for a while.  He kept getting wiped out, but kept trying.

These beach shots were taken at the same time, but I used my camera's "sunset" setting, and it gave them a different coloring. 

 

The waves were really pretty in the sunset.

The sun setting.

This was so pretty with the waves crashing by the rocks.

And then the camera battery died...  : (

Little Katie this morning, she's so tired.

Katie had a hot spot on her back yesterday, she kept scratching, and she's not usually a scratcher. When I checked, there was a really red area, so I put some salve on it, and put her Princess dress on her so she couldn't reach the spot.  She didn't try to scratch the area again.  Princess dresses aren't only very attractive, they have medicinal purposes, too.  : )

It's changing between sunny and overcast so far today, and I just started hearing the wind blow outside. Kind of cozy in The Palms, though.  I think I'll sign off and read my Kindle for a while.  I haven't read it in a long time, but have been charging it so it would be ready.  I've started on "Persuader," a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child.  I've love the Jack Reacher series, and have read them all.  I downloaded this one to my Kindle quite a while ago.

That's all for now - have a great Saturday, from Me and Katie! : )

I'm back at the beach and pretty organized

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

I woke up at 6 this morning, jumped out of bed, put Katie in the car and drove to the RV storage lot. We traded the car for The Palms, stopped and filled the tank and drove back to the condo.  I put most of what was left into bags and boxes, got a bunch of my food from the cupboard and fridge, loaded them on the floor of The Palms, and we drove to the beach.  We got here around 8:30 and there weren't a lot of parking places left on the street by the ocean, but we snagged one.

It's just beautiful here today.  I'm so sorry  for all of you who are braving terrible weather, I wish you could have a week of days like today at the beach in Carlsbad, North San Diego County.

I've worked all day!!!  I put things away, rearranged them, changed them again, and then put them in a new place.  Lots of you have gone through that, I'm sure.  I put the food I brought in the little refrigerator and freezer, and was really surprised that it all fit, and I still have room left over.  I didn't bring a lot, but pretty much what I'll need for a few days.

I think I'm here to stay.  I brought the twin size inflatable mattress, too, and the bedding for it.  That's the last thing I did, was make up the bed. I have a nice mattress cover that was from my queen mattress, and I put it around the twin, pulled on the fitted twin sheet, and threw my  down comforter/duvet on top.  It's going to be very snugly tonight! 

I'm pretty organized.  All my clothes fit, but I have a few coats at the condo still.  I guess they will fit, but they'll squish the other clothes, so I'll probably be thinning out the clothes in the next few months.   Or not.

The Palms is beginning to feel like home.  : )

I have everything packed away now for traveling back to our night time parking lot in Lake San Marcos.  I feel safe there, it's where we parked last time during the Estate Sale.

I have my fridge and washer/dryer on Craigs List, and have had some calls.  Two people who wanted to see the washer, one last night and one other who called today, flaked out on me. Luckily I called the woman from today, so I didn't leave my good parking spot here to go meet her.  I have two people interested in the fridge tomorrow, I told them both to call me an hour before our meeting time (7:00) so I know they will be there, otherwise I won't be there.  I can't believe people make an appointment for a specific time and don't show. Don't call, and don't answer their phone.

Katie and I took two long walks along the sea wall - once early afternoon when I finally stopped for a break.  It felt so good to walk with her by the ocean.  Then later when the sun was setting we took off in the other direction for another long walk.  This is the first time Katie has walked in sand, but it didn't seem to phase her.  She is a good little girl and goes potty in the sand around the palm trees that are in the sidewalk.  That's all there is for her, except for the concrete, because she isn't allowed on the beach.  But she seemed to know that was the spot she should use.

It's 8:30 now, and I'm wearing down, so I'm going to close things down and drive to our night camp.  My camera battery died, so I'll charge it tomorrow and upload a few pictures from today.

Three more days of work!

From Me and Katie, have a great rest of the evening, everyone!  : )

A new plan - I may be on the road soon

Five more days of work.  

I've given all my work away, e-mailed my forms and flyers, charts and spreadsheets, templates and contact list, my information file, everything.  Thinned out my Outlook folders, went through my desk drawer files, it's pretty much done.  Tom wanted my jobs given away early to the other two employees so I'd be there if they had any questions, but I doubt they will.  Our Office Manger has been there for nine years, and our bookkeeper for six years.  They pretty much know what's up.

For the rest of this week and next week I'm going to learn how to do and practice the research job that Tom needs help with when I'm retired.  We had a meeting yesterday about it, and I have a lot of information to play around with and see what I come up with.  It's something I can do as I want after I leave, I can put in a lot of time, or a little time.  The more time I put in, the more money I can earn, so it's up to me. 

I have the new cargo door and the decals we need to repair The Palms.  Next Tuesday I'm going to drive The Palms to work, and Tom's auto shop guys are going to do the repairs.  He will drive me home, and then on Wednesday he'll help me get both vehicles to the RV park after work, and I will have both The Palms and my car available to me at the RV park. 

I'm driving back to Vacaville to visit my daughter's family over the 4th of July and stay with the grandkids during the week while Kristy and Matt are at work.  They have different schedules, Kristy's is according to her patient appointments and Matt is with the Home Depot and has varying schedules, so I'll have time to spend with them, too.  This might be the last time in a while I'll be in their area to visit.

I'm thinking that I won't be on any special time schedule, and if I drive up in my car as I originally planned, it's going to cost me $125 in gas to get there.  And I will be paying for my Santee Lakes campsite for the week I'll be in Vacaville since I have a monthly rate and don't want to lose the campsite. Then I have to drive all the way back - another $125.  A total of $416.   If it costs me $265 to get there in The Palms (assuming an average of $4.25/gal of gas, less if it keeps going down) I think I'll be ahead of the game to do that and then just keep going north after our visit.

I'd have anywhere from 1 to 4 days to drive there, and wouldn't have to hurry.  If I stay in rest stops or Walmarts at night, I'd save some money.  Then Katie and I can sleep in The Palms at Kristy's and have all our things with us.   

Why not just bite the bullet, check out of Santee Lakes on July 1, and drive The Palms to Vacaville and get started on my "road trip?"  I'd have a month to figure out the motor home systems, get her all set up and comfortable for us. 

I'd like to drive to Placerville and see my old girlfriends, and have a visit.  I could keep traveling north and go through Oregon and Washington, two states I'd love to spend some time in. It will be summer and warm, a good time to be traveling north, and not the best time to be in Arizona, another state I want to see (and think about having solar panels installed while I'm there).  The more I think about it, the more sense that makes. I could make my way back down through Montana, Idaho, Nevada and end up in Arizona as the weather is cooling down. When I get there, I want to stay for a while in one of the free desert camping spots that I've read about where everyone congregates, and then travel around a little and see more of the state.

I'll have to think about selling my car sooner if I do that.  Probably through Carfax - I've done that before and felt they offered me a fair amount.  

I think it's a good plan, and it doesn't make sense to pay six months to camp at a campground and just sit there if I'm not working.  It made sense before I was laid off, but not now.   I feel like I'm easing into this, and the changes to my original plans are coming slowly and making it easier for me.  Whew!

Okay then.  It's our new plan... I called the RV park this morning and cancelled the last five months of my reservation and they put my deposit for those months on to the June rent, so I'm all set.

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

My cactus is in bloom!

I have a big cactus, a prickly pear, on the side of my condo under my bedroom window.  I seldom see it, because it's hidden out of the way, and I forget it's there.  I think this year is the first time I've seen it in bloom, so I had to take some photos to remember it. 

 Single Flower

 This one has 10 flowers on it!

Prickly Pear Cactus

I like the way it has different colored flowers on the same pad.  Some of the petals have faded, or maybe it was the rain.  Still really pretty and fresh looking, though.

I Googled Prickly Pear Cactus to see if that's the one I have, and it is.  It says it's the Texas State Plant.

"The prickly pear cactus was designated the official plant symbol of Texas in 1995. Found in the deserts of the American southwest, the fruits of most prickly pear cacti are edible, and have been a source of food to native Americans for thousands of years. Cacti in general (and the fruits in particular) are still staple foods for some residents of Mexico and Latin America and the prickly pear cactus is raised commercially. The fruit is sold under the name 'Tuna'; the branches or pads are eaten as a vegetable, called 'nopalito' or 'nopales.' "

I guess the little round parts that the blooms are on must be the fruit part.  Our HOA's gardener, Jacinto, cuts off the end pieces of mine and another prickly pear across the lawn and brings them home for his wife to cook.  I had never heard of cooking cactus until he told me about it. 

I also have some pretty snapdragons blooming now.  And bird of paradise, lavender, lantana, poinsettia, and others.  We always have lots of flowers around here. During my estate sale people asked if they could buy my iris bulbs, some of which were in bloom.  They are beautiful when they all bloom at once, but they are in the ground, and I thought they should stay for the new owner. 

 Snapdragon in the front garden

My son, Tom, loaned me a folding table, and it's sooooo much easier to use my laptop at the table.  And that's about it for today.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Tuesday evening, everyone! : )

Just another day in an empty house...but I have Internet!

Nothing going on today.  I had big plans of getting The Palms and bringing her over to the beach for the weekend, and stealth camping at night.  But Friday got busy, Saturday I slept in too late, and today I'm too lazy.  That pretty much took care of the 3-day weekend!

I have another week in the condo before I move to The Palms.

A follower asked how Katie is doing with all this.  It's hard to tell. She's been sleeping at work, in the car, and on the floor in the dining room or guest bedroom since all this started. At least she is still at home, and has her back yard.  I think she's kind of unsure, but as long as she's with me, she's okay.  And usually the rest of the time she is sleeping.  We both seem to be sleeping a lot lately.  I think the stress is tiring us out, although I don't feel stressed. I'm not depressed, but I'm sure sleeping a lot.  That will change when I'm in The Palms and more comfortable, I hope, and have everything I need to be busy again.  : )

I went to Verizon yesterday to swap out my battery in my 4G, I think that was the problem.  So far it's working pretty well.  So now I'm going to try to watch a little TV.  I still have a bunch of  TV shows to catch up on.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Sunday evening, everyone! : )