I have TV! : )

I woke up feeling much better today - I wasn't expecting that!  But I'll take it!

Had a nice day, I went to two RV places to do some shopping, but they were both closed on Sunday, so I'll try again next week. Maybe tomorrow.

I need levelers still.  And a small cutting board.  I also don't have a T.P. holder. The bathroom is good sized, considering, but there isn't anywhere to put a T.P. holder, even a freestanding one, so I thought I'd see if they had any suggestions.  I've just been leaving the roll on the counter, and wouldn't mind continuing to do that, but I'd like to put it in a box or holder of some kind that would look nice.  I'll see what they say.

We went to Target and got a few things. They have a nice set of hangers that are pretty skinny and have narrow holder tops that fit into the slots in my closet, and they are fuzzy, so things won't slide off.  This is my closet now:

These are the new hangers:

Tomorrow I'm going to switch out the hangers and I'll show you the difference they make.

Here are a couple of ducks we saw on our afternoon walk along the lake.  I like the first one. I've never seen that kind of duck before.

 He's so pretty, and has a short neck.

 I think this is a Mallard, right?

I've been asked to post photos of the area around The Palms, so I took some pictures out the windows for you to see.

These are, of course, the actual photos, but in reality we are all pretty close together. Not all the RVs are really close, but right where I am, it's only for front-in, shorter rigs. Luckily I haven't had anyone pull in to my left yet, which gives me a feeling of lots of room, and the view out the cab windows is really nice, so depending on where I sit, I have a different view.

There are some kids here, and lots of people riding bikes around, walking their dogs, but everyone is pretty quiet. When it's dark, it's quiet.  Mornings are also quiet.  I was expecting more noise and more people congregating around their rigs, but I'm not seeing that.  Across from my kitchen window is a campground host, I guess a work camping couple. I've met a few people, but I haven't been out much except walking Katie.

 View out my kitchen window. On the right is the empty spot.

 View from the window over the couch.  

The stairs on the right lead down to the path that circles the lake.

 View out the small kitchen window - that's my neighbor with the flag.

 Another view out the couch window - the stairs and a little of the lake, and some cabins.

Looking out the cab window - in front of The Palms.

That is the path we take on our walks.

So, even though we're pretty close together, there are still nice views out each window.

Another thing I got at Target today was a converter for my TV. I have an older Magnavox TV that came with The Palms, but I wasn't getting any channels. I was going to just use my laptop for TV, but that didn't work. It took too long to stream the contents, and would stop and start, really frustrating.  Enough to make me start reading more!  So, today I broke down and got the converter.  It works fine, but I get only three channels in English. Since I'm so close to the Mexican border, I get LOTS of channels in Spanish.  I'm hoping that when I travel north I'll get more channels in English.

From Me and My Dog, I hope you had a nice Sunday, everyone!  : )

First cooked meal from the kitchen in The Palms...Magna pots review

From Monday, May 30

The spaghetti sauce I cooked at the beach was soooo good.  I was really surprised.  I threw away a lot of food from the condo, and still have food in the fridge and cupboard there, but did bring a few things to The Palms.  Here is what I found in the kitchen cupboards and fridge that was usable:

I had some little bags of angel hair pasta, and I used a half bag for the pasta.

butter
1 can of cut up tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1/3 large yellow onion
about 1/2 cup low fat sour cream
some marinated artichoke hearts
salt and pepper

I mashed the onions in my Magic Bullet and sauteed them in about 3T butter.  Then I just added the can of tomatoes, tomato paste and stirred.  It was kind of thick so I added the sour cream.  Then I looked through the fridge again and saw the marinated artichoke hearts.  I get the large jar at Costco, and transferred about 1/3 of what was left at the condo into a container and brought them with me.  I put in about 10 or so.  I think they added a little spice, too, because I only had salt and pepper.  Then I put in a little water to thin it more, put on the pan lid and left it for about 20 minutes while the noodles and bread were cooking.

Angel hair pasta drained and ready to serve

 And here we are:  first meal cooked on the stove in The Palms

See the artichoke hearts in the sauce?

In a past blog post I wrote about throw-together meals using just what's on hand, sometimes it's a success and sometimes it's in the garbage.  This one is a definite success.  And I have enough left over for another 3 or 4 meals.  I'm not sure I like spaghetti that much, but I might freeze some.

I swear, if I have sour cream and/or artichoke hearts in a recipe it's a winner (for me).

The new pans were great, cooked evenly, seemed fine, no problems.  Nothing spattered on the stove top, I don't know why, maybe I put the lid on early enough - usually I get the stove dirty when I cook something like this.  The lid fit perfectly.  They cleaned up easy, too.  I put the left overs into a container and left the pots on the stove while I ate.  Later when I went back to wash them, I was surprised at how easy it was to clean the leftover sauce from the pot.  All in all, completely happy with them. I washed and dried them, and put them back - nested together and attached the bungee cord. One thing I will say, though, is there is a small scratch inside the large pan. This time I wrapped them all in the plastic bags they came in, and brought coffee filters from home that I will put in between the pots next time I use them so they won't scratch each other.

The stove cook-top was big enough, and the burners lit easily and were easy to cook on. 

I used the oven part of my toaster oven for the bread, and it was perfect.  It's small and close, so halfway through I turned the toast over to toast both sides.  In my oven in the condo I didn't have to do that, but this was toasting it pretty fast on one side and not at all yet on the other, so I guess I'll have to watch for that to make sure both sides of things are getting baked/toasted through.

I just finished cleaning my plate while I'm typing this, and it was really good. The pots get a two thumbs up, and so do the stove and toaster/oven.

Thursday, June 2

I know there are a lot of problems with Blogger lately, I've experienced some, too.  But you know what it's doing to me  - that I haven't read anyone complaining about?  I've been reading your blogs every day, hardy missing any.  Then I'll click on one and there will be three days worth, or more.  It keeps happening, and then  I have to go back and and leave comments on old posts and work my way forward.

So, if you aren't getting many comments from me lately, that might be why.  It's not happening with everyone, but enough that I'm aware of missing some.  I was up to date with Gypsy, and all of a sudden she was in New York, and I missed half her trip, same thing with Travels with Emma and Happily Hitched - and those are just a few. Are you having problems with that, too?

Saturday, June 4

Now we're up to date.  I had bits and pieces that didn't fit anywhere, and since I've been sick all day I haven't done anything to write about.  And I don't feel like writing tonight.  This is a good day to post the older snippets.

I think I have a full blown sinus infection, if it isn't better by Monday I'll call the doctor and see if I can get something to knock it out. I slept in late, than took a long nap and now I'm going to bed again when I finish this.  Katie and I did take a couple of walks today, there is a duck in the lake with five ducklings, so cute. I'll bring my camera tomorrow and see if they are still along the edge where we've been walking.

I just had hot tea and toast for dinner.  It's all that sounded good, and all I felt like fixing.  I got some Dudley's bread at Henry's Market, and it's really good toasted.

Katie is really friendly with the kids we've met during our walks, but she is kind of leery of the dogs. I'm hoping she will get more socialized while we're here. She's very submissive.  

I hate being sick, but one of the good things about being sick on a weekend now that I'm retired is I don't feel like I'm getting cheated out of a day.  If I sleep through the next few days getting better, I still have tons of days following to do what I want.  I used to hate wasting a day off being sick. 

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get to an RV store.  I need something to better level The Palms. We're not bad, but not spot-on level.

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a great Saturday night, everyone!     : )

First morning of retirement

Today is the first day of retirement for me, at least that is what I've been thinking, but it doesn't really seem different yet. Since I always have Friday off, today is like a normal Friday off, and then I have the weekend.  I think Monday is actually my first day of retirement. But I have worked my last day.
 

 My picnic table is on this side

Anyway, here I am, no scheduled work anymore, unless I work remotely from The Palms.  I do have some things to do for Tom, but I'm a little under the weather today and will probably take it easy for a few days.

When I got home from work yesterday I was soooo tired and had a sore throat. I'm wondering if that's why I've been so tired the last few days. I attributed it to the stress of all the changes going on in my life, but now I'm thinking my body was trying to fight off some germs.  I had some toast and tea and went to bed at 6:30 last night.  I woke up at 10:30 and read blogs for a  couple of hours, then slept again until 7:30 am. I hate going to bed with a sore throat.  And waking up with one.

Katie and I took our walk around 8:30. We took our garbage over to the garbage area, and met our next door  neighbor.  A man who has a rig the same size as The Palms, he's a single man about my age traveling with two cats in a Fleetwood Jamboree.  We talked for a while and exchanged stories, he's very nice and seems to be a quiet neighbor. I wasn't sure if anyone was even there for the past two days. Then Katie and I went on with our walk. There is a pathway right below our front bumper, and we took that path around the lake a bit.

Overlooking a walking path that follows the lake edge

 The floating cabins across the lake

 Katie during our walk on Thursday evening.

 Walking this morning

The path by the water near our site

 About the only photo with her head up.

She's very interested in all the new smells.

Some sort of dove - different than the ones at my condo

We spent most of the day at the condo, doing the laundry, checking things out. My washing machine was leaking at one of the connections, so I taped it and this time it held and I was able to do a load with no leaks.  When we got there, three workmen were putting new rain gutters on the front and back of my condo. They look nice.

I was really tired and finally gave up and took a nap in my sleeping bag, which is staying at the condo for when I stay there.  I had dinner, and then we packed up the laundry and came back to The Palms.

From Me and My Dog, have a good Friday evening, everyone!  : )

I'm all moved into Santee Lakes!

I'm all moved into Santee Lakes - an official full-timer!

My first full hook-up camp site.  My first paid-for camp site.  It was surprisingly easy.  My son, Tom, helped me out and got me all hooked up. I watched carefully so I will be able to do it next time.  He's never been at a full hook-up site before, but I think men just know these things.  We dumped the grey and black tanks, so I'm ready to go.

We got The Palms all set up and then went back to work, where I finished the day and then came back here after work. 

When I got home from work, I got everything set up inside and tested out the water, electricity and added the chemicals and some water to the black tank.  The park ranger said it was better to keep the hoses closed and open them when they are getting full.  Better than leaving them open while I'm parked for the month, so that's what I'm doing.

This month will be a learning experience for me, so if I mention something I'm doing or not doing that isn't right, please feel free to comment and set me straight. 

It a nice evening, but a little breezy.  Katie and I took a walk around one side of the back of our lake when we got home.  Poor Katie is so tired. She's used to having four days a week to sleep all day, and lately she's been with me every day and wakes up every time I move.  Today she slept in her bed in the car while I was at work, and she wouldn't get up.  Right now she's again asleep in her bed.  It's going to be an adjustment for her.  Kind of like the wife who has her husband retire and all of a sudden he's underfoot every day, disturbing her routine. Katie's going to have to get used to having me around every day.

I cooked some spaghetti at the beach on Monday - and I'm having leftovers tonight.  I'm starving, so I'm going to heat it up now.  I have a post ready publish about that meal and the Magma pots review, but I haven't had a chance to post it yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  It was soooo good!

Sorry, no photos tonight. I'm going to have to remember to bring my camera on our walkabouts. There was the coolest bird at the lake edge, maybe tomorrow I'll see him again when I have my camera.

From Me and My Dog, have a great June 1, everyone!  : )

Sunset photos from Sunday, and my new folding chair

Tom and his guys fixed The Palms today, and she's as good as new, actually better than new.  He needed a strip that goes along the bottom of the coach, a trim piece, so I went down to La Mesa RV, they didn't have the exact piece so I got one that's a bit bigger, Tom thought it might work.  Unfortunately it didn't, the size was wrong, but he used something from bathtub wall installations that he had out in the shop, and it looks perfect. You'd never know it was a different material than the ones in front and in back of it.  The decals are on perfectly, too, so I'm set to go.

Tomorrow we'll go down to the RV park and get me registered for the month of June, and then back to the office.  After work I'll drive back to The Palms, and that will be my home (away from home) for the month.

I've been approved for the short sale, and an appraisal has been ordered.  The condo is actually my legal address, and I will stay there from time to time to keep an eye on things, air it out and get my mail, etc.  I'll keep my sleeping bag there and I've left some clothes, food and toiletries.  I'll be able to take nice, long showers there.  I guess since I'll have hookups I can do that in The Palms, too, but the condo has a bigger shower and a nice bathtub, which The Palms doesn't have.  I'm not ready to walk away yet and don't want to change my address until it sells.  It still feels like home, but I do hope it sells quickly.  I guess that will depend on the price the mortgage company agrees to.

I'm starting to really enjoy taking photos of the sunset.  I guess it's hard to take a bad shot of the sun setting at the beach, even more so if there are clouds in the sky. I especially liked the one with the child flying a kite. I kept trying to shoot around him, then I realized it was a pretty shot with the boy and his kite. 

Sunset at Tamarack State Beach

And then one other thing I wanted to show you is the new chair I bought when I was at Costco the other night.

It has an umbrella that you can move around 180 degrees, so you can get sun or shade any time of the day.  Lumbar support on the back with an extra wide seat.  There is a small insulated compartment on the right below the armrest that you can put ice cubes in and up to four drinks.Under the right armrest is a place to put your bottle/can/drink and a storage pocket with a headphone pass-through and a bottle opener.

But the best thing, for me, is the footrest.  It's adjustable and removable.  The chair was set up in the aisle - I don't usually try things out like this, but I sat in it and put my feet up, and it was so comfortable.  I could see myself setting it up in front of my closet in the entry hall area and relaxing while reading.  It'll be perfect for sitting outside and relaxing.

It was only $33.99 - the most comfortable folding chair I've seen.  Just in case you're looking for new chairs for summer.

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

A picture is worth a thousand words...photos of The Palms

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service, and continue to die for our freedom. Let's take a moment to remember those who have fallen, and their families, too - who have also given so much for us.

As promised yesterday, here are photos so far:

Kitchen, surprisingly like my faked picture.  : )

 I love this line-up of little bud vases, I put shells in the bottom of each one.

It fits perfectly right here, and I'll change out the flowers, sometimes fresh. 

Toaster oven and my little vase (it has a small water well with a frog to stick the stem on) and whimsical ornament my daughter gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago - I think she said it reminded her of me (?) and I love it.  I've always put her somewhere I could see her.

 THE COFFEE MAKER!  I've made lots of super good cups of coffee so far in The Palms. The best reason for getting up in the morning!  : )

I had this over-the-door hanger outside my bathroom door in the condo. I brought it to The Palms and hung it outside the bathroom door, to hang a coat or sweater or hat on.  Then I got out my hanging bud vase and picked one of the purple flowers on the side of the road.  I love the way it looks.

 The bunk.  Here's the single inflatable mattress - really comfortable. 

There's enough room at the foot for storage baskets and extra pillows.

Katie on the couch - it pulls out into the most comfortable day bed!  There's my Guide, watching over The Palms.  See the rounded storage thing behind her? That holds all my kitchen things like spatulas, can opener, beater, potato peeler, all those things that won't fit into one of the three small drawers. It's sitting on a basket that contains one of the lap quilts I made and a couple of small pillows.

And that's our new home.  It's so comfortable so far, much more than I hoped it would be.  I NEVER turn on lights during the day - it's really light and bright in here, and I only need lights when it's dark outside.

The only problem I'm having is I'm moving too fast and too wide.  I need to slow down and be more careful.  I'm constantly hitting my head, scraping my hands, bumping my shins.  My legs are a mass of large and small bruises.  Yesterday I scraped my shin in the same place I already had a large bruise.  I had to get some ice out to put on it, and today it still hurts.  I look like an old woman who is taking too much aspirin. But I'll learn.  I hope before shorts weather is here. : )

It was cool and windy all day yesterday, but it did clear up finally, and I got some nice sunset shots, which I'll show you tomorrow.  I'm really liking taking sunset shots.  You can't do much to mess them up.

It's a beautiful day here at the beach this morning.  Not a cloud in the sky right now, and only slight breezes.  I got here a little after 5 am, good thing, too, because it's 8 am, and all the parking in this area is already taken.  The forecast is around 71 degrees along the coast today.  It's going to be a super day.

For those who asked about the pots, see this post, where I explained where I got them, and for how much. I went to amazon.com and searched Magma nesting pots - 10-piece.  This is the best deal I found, more pots for the same money as elsewhere.  Maybe I'll make spaghetti tonight, and I can try out two pots and post a review tomorrow. I also have some frozen, sliced, butter/garlic bread that I want to bake in the oven. I haven't used the oven yet, and want to see how I do with that. I used the toaster/oven yesterday, and toasted some bagels.  I haven't had a toaster in years.  The bagels were perfect, I really liked the way it worked.

Katie and I are sleeping like logs on the airbed.  Super comfortable, but we usually sleep really well when using the down comforter.  I like it so much better than blankets.  It seems to  be warm in cool weather, and cool in warm weather.  The only time we don't use it is when its hot in the evening.  Then it really is too warm, but I always hate to store it away during the hot part of the summer.

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

My new nesting pots

Welcome to new follower, Judie Seeders! Thanks for following along with Me and My Dog, we're happy to have you along for the ride.  If you have or start a blog, let me know so I can following along with you, too.  :  )

We slept last night  in our usual night camp, and I woke this morning at 5:20 to the sounds of a car door closing, immediately followed by a spray of hard rain on the window by my head.  I peeked out and one of the restaurant workers was heading to work at the restaurant nearby that opens early for breakfast every day.  Katie didn't want to move, so I climbed down, left her up there in the bunk, threw on clothes and drove to the beach. I got here around 5:50.  I wasn't worried about getting one of the parking spots I like, because it was rainy, very windy, and really grey out.  Kind of a neat day to be at the beach, though, nice and snug in The Palms.  We parked and I took Katie out for a walk, came back and made coffee, and settled down on the day bed with pillows and a blanket and my Kindle.  It was really  nice, I could see the crashing waves through one window and rain clouds moving overhead out both of the large windows. 

I read for a while, really enjoying my Jack Reacher novel, and it started seeming kind of familiar to me.  I kept reading and the deeper I got into the book, the  more familiar it felt.  I finally realized that I've read it before.  I looked up the novels, and Persuader is the 7th of 16 Jack Reacher novels, and was written in 2003.  I had downloaded it a while ago when it was offered free.  I couldn't remember if I had read that one, and obviously I had, a long time ago.  So I deleted it, and will start on a new book tonight.  I was really disappointed, because that series is really good.

My son and two grandsons stopped by to visit me here at the beach after church this morning.  Tom also had with him one of his lifelong friends from our old neighborhood in San Jose. He and Todd went to grammar school and junior high together, and some high school.  They have been friends forever, and Todd was here visiting friends, one of whom was Tom.  It was so nice to see him.  His mom and I were best friends when I lived in San Jose, and it was nice hearing about what she's doing, too.

They had plans to go to lunch after church and invited me along.  I left Katie in The Palms. It's the first time she's been in The Palms by herself, and she did fine.

Tom took my car keys and the key card for the storage lot and said he'll drive it to work on Tuesday.  I'll drive down in The Palms.  Then Tom will leave me my car and take The Palms to his auto body shop and get the cargo door put on, make the necessary repairs, and apply the new decals.  It will be all set, as good as new.  I'll get the key card back from him and mail it to the owner of the storage lot, and I'll be done there. 

When I stopped by the condo on Friday, I had two packages by the front door, and one of them contained my new pots.  They are really heavy!  Very nice looking and well made.  I washed them, dried them and put them back in the largest pot and put the bungee cord around them all, and it was just as easy as the ad promised.  I haven't used them yet, but I'm sure I'll get years of good use from them.  I got the 10 piece set, 2 handles and the bungee cord are three, then there are two lids, leaving five pots, a really large one, then a big, medium and small pot, and also a large frying pan.

I already have a medium sized non-stick frying pan with a folding handle that I got for Christmas from my daughter and son-in-law, and I got a small non-stick frying pan free at Albertson's grocery store when they had a promotion.

Kristy and Matt also got me a colander/steamer that has a lid and folds flat for storage.  I have them all in the drawer under my stove along with another folding colander, and I still have room to spare.

This is 2 colanders, 3 frying pans, 3 lids, four pots and 2 handles. 

Amazing! Oh, and the baking sheet from my toaster oven.

My one big splurge.  I think they will be worth it.

The other package was a Wagan Tech Smart AC 200 USB Inverter I ordered to go into the cigarette lighter so I can charge things while I'm driving. It has two regular plugs and one for USB cords.  I haven't tried it out yet.  It will save hours on my generator, which I'm turning on when I want coffee or anything that uses an electrical wall plug like my computer and 4G unit.  I hope it works well.

Wagan Tech Smart AC 200 USB Inverter

Katie and I left the beach early today, around 5:00.  We went to Costco before they closed to get some flea meds for her.  I thought I had some, but I couldn't find the package at the condo last night, and I looked everywhere I could think of here in The Palms, but couldn't find it.  I'll treat her this evening and get rid of those fleas.

After going to Costco we came back to the beach.  We'll stay here again until 8:30 or so, then go back to our night camp.

I just took some photos of the inside of The Palms to show you what it looks like so far.  I'll upload them and post them tomorrow.

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

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! : )