The new dress - thank you, Donna!

The other day Donna had a post offering three doll dresses she made herself.  She was cleaning out a closet, and after going through the toys and clothes she had for her grand kids who are now grown, she gave them all away to a niece who has young kids.   As she wrote in her post, "But, in my closet, pushed into a corner and forgotten, I found three doll dresses that I had sewn for the girls' 18" dolls."  She went on to offer the dresses to any Grandma commenters with granddaughters who might enjoy having one of the dresses.  All we had to do was leave a comment that we were interested in one of the dresses - so I did.

And guess what?  I won one of the dresses for my little cutie-pie granddaughter, Lauren, in Northern California.  Donna sent the dress out the next day and Lauren received it the following day.  My daughter was surprised it arrived so quickly, and Lauren loves the dress. 

Here are two photos of Donna's handmade dress - first on a bigger doll, and then on a smaller one.  I don't know what this doll's name is, but I think Lauren has names for all her dolls.

Then Lauren decided the hat didn't fit that doll very well, so the next morning she dressed Morgan in the dress and hat - yes, much better!

Thank you, Donna!  As you can see, Lauren is super happy with her new doll dress, and the dolls look beautiful in their new outfit. 

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everybody!  :)

Wordless Wednesday - Dad colors in his kids' drawings

The dad goes by the name Tatsputin - he has a high powered job by day and flies to Las Vegas (where he owns a tattoo studio - hence the ability to color within the lines) for 10 days a month.  It's while he's on the airplane that he pulls out drawings his kids gave him and fills them in with his colored pencils. Then he brings back the completed drawings to his kids when he arrives back home.

For a while he was using an electronics device to color them in - you can see the difference in the tablet and colored pencil drawings.  He's back to colored pencils and I agree - I like them better, too.

Dad's real name is Fred Giovannitti.   There are so many interesting things going on around us that we'll never know about - but it's sure nice to see some of them.

From me and Katie, have a wonderful Wordless Wednesday, everyone!   :)

1,000 days on the road today! And a Half-Million Page Views!

Today marks our 1,000th day on the road as RVing Full-Timers.

Another landmark that we passed last week was having our Total Pageviews numbers roll over to show a half-million pageviews.

I remember when I hit the Publish button back in the very beginning of this blog. It made me kind of nervous, not knowing if anyone would read my post, or if I was being silly thinking anyone would be interested in me and my desire to buy a motor home and the steps I'd be taking to get ready to live in it full time with Katie.  I remember when I first saw I had a Follower, Karyn Lee - thank you Karyn Lee for noticing us way back then and hitting the Follow button -  I couldn't believe I had a Follower!  And she didn't even know me!  I was thrilled.

That first post was published Sunday, August 8, 2010.  Three and a half years ago. Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Katie and I moved into The Palms and starting our first full month as full-time RVers.  About 10 months after my first blog post.  That's not very long, but it sure seemed like forever at the time.  And here we are 1,000 days later.

Boy, has it been great!  I've learned so much, met so many people, lived in so many places, and killed so many mice.  That part wasn't great, but on the whole, there isn't much I would have changed, and I've never doubted that this is the life for me and Katie.  At least for now.  Each year I enjoy living in The Palms more, and I'm finding every year easier than the last because I've found places I like to be and will go back to my favorite campgrounds again this summer.

As I've said many times, I'm not living a full-timing lifestyle to travel or sight-see as many - probably most - full-timers are.  I want to just live in different places without having to buy and sell a house every year or two.

And I'm so happy to have my little sidekick, Katie with me.  She's such a trouper! I wouldn't have enjoyed this journey nearly as much without her, that's for sure.  She's a great companion, my protector and notifier of incoming people and dogs, and gets me out for walks at least three times a day.  She is such a little love.

Thanks to all our Followers, and also to our readers who are "lurkers."  You've all added to our pageviews - I really appreciate your interest in our journey, your patience with my frustrations and rants, your advice when I needed it, your kind corrections when I had something wrong, and your friendship through these years on the road - in person and in print.

I love landmarks - and I can't wait to write this post again after 2,000 days on the road - and One Million Pageviews.

From Me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everybody!  :)

Back in Hot Springs :)

Katie and I are happily encamped at Hot Springs again.  We ended up in staying in San Diego two extra days and drove back to Hot Springs on Wednesday.

We enjoyed spending time with my kids and grand kids - and new grand-dog.  They were perfect hosts and very generous, and they sure fed us well.   We had a great time!  In fact, in two weeks the whole family plus puppy are coming to Hot Springs to visit me and Katie for two days.  They are bringing their tent and all their camping gear - it's going to be really fun.

I was able to get all my medical/dental/vision appointments completed, and everything is fine.  Thank goodness it's all done until 2015!

When we first got back to Hot Springs, I was able to get a HUGE camping site area that has it's own driveway off the road and is surrounded by trees and bushes.  It would be perfect for when the kids arrive, there's even a little "room" off to the side with it's own bushes surrounding it for privacy.  Perfect for a tent.  So we set up camp there on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, after being there for two days, I decided we had to move.  For one thing, the entire floor of the campsite was covered with inches of fine dust.  I couldn't walk outside The Palms without getting my feet covered and dirty.  And the way Katie walks, with her nose to the ground sniffing everything, I figured she was sniffing in way too much dust.  Also, very little Internet in that site.  I was able to post one blog post, but was having trouble leaving comments.   And then I tried to pay bills, and couldn't keep a connection long enough to pay more than one.

So yesterday morning I packed up and we drove around a little and found a site in a new area for us.

This entire LTVA camping area is pretty small compared to the other LTVAs we've visited, but I've always found a site along the main road.  Our new site is in another area we haven't explored before.  It's nearer to the front of the campground area and I think it will work fine:  it's not dusty and has great Internet and TV reception and lots of room for a tent if the kids want to be here.  So we've set up camp again and we're here to stay.  At this time of year people are still coming in, but many are starting to pack up and leave, so by the time the kids come, there may be other sites available.  

NOTE: Just got settled in another site - I seem to be chasing Internet signals.  At first the last site was really good, now it's not.  Oh, well.  It's easy for me to move and there seem to be more sites opening up all the time.  I'll keep moving until I find one that's level and nice and has good Internet.  So far, so good on this one.  It looks just like the photos above.  :)

I have a few photos that I haven't posted yet of two meals I had in San Diego. I especially want to remember the first two. My son, Tom, is the best bar-b-quer there is.  I'd put money on him any time against anyone.  I love filet mignon and whenever I visit, he always cooks some up for me.  He gets the best meat he can find, it used to be Costco but he said their quality wasn't as good as it used to be, so now he gets his meats at a local small seaside market.  He also uses a special kind of coals or chips or something that he gets near where his dad lives, I think.  Anyway, he has his own process and it sure works!   Here are the filets on the grill:

This steak was more tender and delicious than any steak I've ever had.  We also had large artichokes that he boiled until tender, then he cut them in half, seasoned them, and put them on the grill for a short time. Trish cooked up some cauliflower and mashed and seasoned it, and it was delicious - the whole dinner was super.  I took my leftover steak home and made myself two French Dip sandwiches after I left San Diego.  Yummm.

One afternoon we went to Five Guys for lunch.  I've read about Five Guys on other people's posts, but I'd never been there, and now I know why everyone likes their burgers so much.  There were really GOOD!

For anyone who hasn't been to a Five Guys yet, order the Small.  It's enough of a meal for anyone, and if you order it with everything, they put on EVERYTHING - pickles, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, lettuce and tomatoes.  It was so juicy and delicious.   They also have bins of peanuts in the shell you can scoop up and bring to your table.  My grand kids had fun with the peanuts.
 

I don't know why, but I thought Five Guys was an Italian place, that just happened to have good hamburgers.  I didn't realize it's a lot like IN-N-OUT Burgers.  I love their hamburgers, too, but I think these were a little better because of the additional grilled mushrooms. 

On our way back to Hot Springs, we passed a field of sheep, which we don't see often.  I always grab the camera when I see sheep in the distance.  Green, green fields, a flock of sheep, rows of palm trees and blue sky.  It was such a pretty scene.

From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everybody!  :)

My Grandsons are in JAIL - and the police question me! :)

When we took the San Diego Trolley, we got off at the Seaport Village stop and had lunch.  On one side of the village is the old police department, which had been sitting empty for years, deteriorating.  It was on the Historical Landmarks list, so they couldn't tear it down and of course the property was worth a fortune.  So they refurbished a small section with some jail cells and tore down the rest and built shops and restaurants and a courtyard all around that area.

We had a great lunch at The Cheesecake Factory (and split a couple of Godiva Cheesecake slices with real whipped cream - yummmmmm), then walked around a little. I wanted to see the jail section, and we found it near the courtyard.  The hallway going to the cells was lined with photos, and I took some pictures of the old photos - I thought they were pretty neat.

First, though, the two dangerous criminals being measured:

Pretty small cells for two people - see the upper and lower beds?

And here they are, the two shifty criminals inside their cell:

 

They don't look very happy, do they?  Such good actors!

And here are the old photos:

 The Fleet of Police Cars:

I guess this is how they used to take mug shots:

And the fancy firing range:

The motorcycle police:

Of course, San Diego's location and the variety of scenery and architecture, the hills, ocean, bay - such a wide variety of locations! -  make it perfect for filming TV shows and movies.  If you're interested, this link will take you to San Diego Film Commission's Trivia Page.

Between a nice family breakfast, church, and our drive to Old Town San Diego to catch the Trolley, it was a super nice, very full day.  The night before we had our overnight at Grammy's and the couch and dinette were put into service as beds.  What a mess The Palms was - but kids don't notice those things, and we all had a great time.  We watched a movie and ate jelly beans.  When we got back to their house late Sunday afternoon, Tom helped me put The Palms back in order and I said goodbye to everyone and drove to my exciting sleepover in the medical office parking lot where I met two of the area's finest.

The second night I spent in the medical offices parking lot was not quite as calm and the first.  It was last Sunday night, and I planned to finish up two appointments then "hit the road."  So Katie and I were all ready to go.

We were parked at the far corner of the parking lot - there are lots of lights and it feels very safe.  We went to bed -  and around midnight I woke up with the entire inside of The Palms lit up.  I peeked out the side window of the bunk over the cap, and saw a policeman there, talking to another policeman out of my sight near the rear of the rig.  They had two cars, one pointing to the side of The Palms, and one behind us, so we were blocked in and couldn't have "escaped" if we were bad guys.  Both cars had their bright headlights pointing at us, and their spotlights too, and both policemen were shining their flashlights back and forth across the motor home. Whew.  I climbed down, pulled on a shirt and jeans, and heard knocking on the truck's passenger door.

I pulled the curtain over that separates the living area from the cab at night and had a light shining in my face.  Long story short, he wanted my name, what I was doing there, etc.  I was ready for my appointment early the next morning and told him that, and had my appointment cards, ID, Medical card, and credit card banded together to take with me the next morning.  I showed him, but all he wanted to do was glance at my Driver's License.  I guess I matched the license photo and the info that I'm sure they ran on The Palm's license plate.  He asked if I was alone.  I guess he wanted to make sure I wasn't being held against my will.

He said, "Okay, We had a call and they were worried. We're just checking to make sure you are okay."  Then they said, Have a good night, got in their cars and drove away.  I knew that sooner or later that was going to happen and I had my story and "props" rubber-banded together and ready and it was all good. 

After my annual physical the next morning, I went to the Member Services Department and asked to speak with someone in Security.  I explained to him what happened the night before, and said it never occurred to me to ask permission, since the facility closed at night and the lot was empty.  He said they had not called, it was probably someone from the neighborhood.  It was fine if I wanted to park in their lots the night before appointments, but probably a good idea to check in with security and let them know.  Then if there's a problem, I can say I have permission.  Yes, Sir, will do!

So... that's the story of my grandsons in jail and me being questioned by the police.

From me and Katie, have a great Friday, everybody!  :)