3 Jesters

Three days after

2010-09-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

So three days ago Carolyn, Ian and I woke up at about 7:30 in the morning to a torrential downpour. It becomes apparent that the tent that we are camping in is not as water resistant as it is suppose to be. Lightning is blasting, rain is dropping and the thunder is ROARING.

I for one am digging it, other than the dripping that is coming down on us that is, but Ian is not going for it. He says that he REALLY thinks that we should leave so reluctantly I oblige with the encouragement from my wife. Probably something about the rain inside our tent that is driving her.

So we pack most of our stuff and are blessed with a break in the heavy rain so that we can get stuff in the Suburban. The problem is that Carolyn didn't wait for the break and is now completely soaked.

We head into town to our new favorite coffee and ice cream joint Perk's/Whit's in Athens, OH. Carolyn is able to change into dry clothes and we hang out at Whit's for most of the day. Our friends Smiles and Space (and their boys) are somewhere to the northwest of us at a craft fair selling soap and stuff.

We are watching the weather reports, of course, and see that there is a major storm brewing northeast of us. Right around the area where Smiles and Space are. Weather alerts start popping up indicating more lightning and thunder and.........Tornado's. I call Space and let them know because they are in some field somewhere and I am not sure as to their ability to know about the storm. They tell me they are in a downpour as we are speaking. Well the tornado decided not to visit them and they are fine.

The next thing we know is that the storm is coming our way and we realize that our bed and some of our other things are in the tent back at the property and a much bigger storm is coming than this morning. We decide to head back and get all essentials and repack our Suburban to travel/camp ready. On our way out the emergency alarms and notices are blaring that everyone needs to take cover and get inside. So we high tail it back to the camp.

All this time I am watching the storm come in, trying to predict the direction to see if it will hit us or miss and time it. We time it right and get loaded and prepared just in time to get in the Sub to leave and watch the sky go dark. In the time that it took me to drive from our camp site to the end of the driveway (about 200 yards) it went from slightly overcast to dark, no sun out better start prayin'! ... gloomy overcast. In all my years ( I realize 41 is not real old) I have never seen the sky close that fast.

I see the wall, yes wall, of rain coming at us as I am about to get on the road and I remember that I forgot to make sure that the roof box is closed. As quickly as my short little legs can scurry I run around to check the box so that it doesn't get blown open and soak all of our stuff that is up there and get back into the sub just a little too late. I am soaked, and I mean like I jumped into a pond soaked. I couldn't have been out there more than 10 seconds and I wasn't dry anywhere except on the inside. We drive back into town because if there is a problem I want to be near help.

We hang out at the coffee shop with the wonderful people (and a basement) there and some nervous college students and enjoy the evening unscathed. Though as we are sitting we can see that the local internet is indicating that where we are sitting there is a tornado that has landed. It missed us but did come down about 3 miles away. It flipped a few mobile homes and destroyed the local highschool bleachers along with some other buildings and many houses. Unfortunately there were also injuries and at least one death. We understand that it is a rarity to have tornadoes in this part of the country, or at least in this part of Ohio. Sorry no pics this time. We were a bit busy to pull the camera out.

Thunder Mountain Nevada

2010-09-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I drove across the country with my mom sister and grandfather. I remember stopping at a strange artistic place that had burned itself into my memory. When I realize that we are going to go by there I go on a frantic search to find this mysterious place that I don't remember what it is called or where it is other than it is on I-80 somewhere in Nevada.
In my search I hear about Thunder mountain. I drive past the place and have to turn around and come back. I found it.
A lot has changed since I was there last (30 years earlier), but the ghosts and spirit is still there.
There is more info on the place than I will put in this blog but please go to http://www.thundermountainmonument.com/ to see more and t read the history of the place. It was built buy Frank Van Zant. The monument was built almost entirely of junk that was found within 50 miles of the monument. I felt that it was very fitting that a lot of the pictures has "Bailey" the hat in it. Bailey is a old warn out hat that was about to go to the garbage but decided to go on this trip about the country with us.

For now just some pics.

Out of Nevada?

2010-09-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

So we get to West Wendover Nv. and stop to get gas. As I walk into the station it suddenly gets dark and the doors are locked. I start looking around expecting some crazily dressed people to emerge and start chanting, thinking that I am about to be kidnapped and sacrificed is some bizarre ritual when I realize that the power just went out.
So we wait for a while and then decide that we will just park in the back with the trucks and crash for the night because we don't have the gas to get across the Salt Flats.
All is well in the morning other than a dead battery so we get jumped fill up and head out across the flats.
Eighty seven hours later (ok,ok, just a couple hours) we pull into Salt Lake City. Capitol #2.After a short stop there we head east and stop in Park City Utah for lunch. A nice visit with some people there who probably think we are out of our gourds and we are on our way again.

This is the part of the trip that I am not particularly fond of. We are trying to make time so that we can get to AJ's in Texas by a specific date so we blast by some really cool things. Such is life. We do try as well as we can though to enjoy and still do.

We make it into Wyoming.

And stay in Rawlins Wy. at a nice campground that has a mini golf (sort of) course. Nice place, I believe it is Western hills.

In the morning we head out again. Next stop Cheyenne Wy for capitol #3.

Across Nevada

2010-09-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, so if you follow the Bailey Hat blog you know that I am a slacker with a capitol SLACK on the blog end. We are far from heading out and are now in Ohio a little more than a month later.

Where were we last? Lets see...Oh yeh we left.

Well we headed South from Humboldt co. and decided that we needed to stop in the Sacramento area to get a new (to us) ride. That really cool Van just was not going to make it. It's tranny was only shifting in two of the four gears and the AC was out. Traveling across the plains and desert in the middle of summer without AC is not my wife's idea of a good time.

Carolyn had done some searching and found three prospects for a cross country transport. The first one payed off.
It doesn't have as much room but it gets a good 50% better fuel efficiency and the AC and windows all work. On top of that Carolyn has been bugging me about getting a Subbyurban for years.

We enjoyed a visit in Sac. area and went to Carolyns **yr. aniversary. (if you don't know then we aint telling.) Had a great time visiting Jeff and Meridith, and Toni Baloney and family.
When we originally planned we decided that we were going to try to stop at as many Capitols as possible. So we Started in California.

From there we went up to G-ma and G-pa's place to prep the new vehicle and head east.
Made a stop in Reno to visit some old friends and realized when we got there it was Hot August nights. How in the world did I not remember that?
At one point we heard a squeek noise from under the Subbyurban and realizing that there wasn't a mouse under us as we were driving I thought that we better check it out.

A new set of U-joints and rear tranny seal later we are ready to go.

I have never seen dust in one of these before.

We say goodbye to our friends Ken, Debbie, Amber, Alisha and family, Steve (who squeezed us in for the U-joints),Billy and Kim, Sandy, Alex and Ashley. For any I forgot you can yell at me later. For those who we missed, maybe we will see you on the flip side homeslice.

Making like a baby and Headin' out.

2010-07-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

Carolyn has been telling me that I need to start blogging more. I told her that I started this blog, wasn't that enough? Well I guess it wasn't. So what a better time than now.
It is Thurs morning 7:35 and we are running about an hour and a half late for our planned departure, right on time. We will be going on a "vacation" to Texas. I need to get there to start my residency to transfer to Texas A&M University. There will be more posts now that we are doing actually going somewhere.
The other day I saw an old bleached out "No Fear" bumper sticker that said "Fear is what keeps you from your potential, your suffering is self imposed." I do believe that it is something that fits for me. I have been anxious about this whole trip and move thing since we decided to do it. BIG step, many unknowns, so many reasons why not to go, then we thought "but there are so many reasons TO go." Why am I imposing all this suffering on myself and my family? It's time to have an adventure.

Cast off those lines and go face that storm, it may just be a little fog or it might be a hurricane, either way it will be a GREAT RIDE.

Until next time.

A New Chapter begins...

2010-06-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

As many of you may already know, we have decided to leave Humboldt. It has been a great three and a half years here. It has been a hard decision to decide to move on at this point. However,we did "pro's and cons" lists and the direction became clear. We're heading to Texas, on or about August 1st.

At or about that time we also plan to start another blog, so we'll keep you posted how that goes as well. Much going on... purging... packing... taking care of the details for Rich to transfer ... contemplation and planning for a web-based biz (more details soon...)

Also we have an appointment to get our computer worked on before we leave Humboldt so perhaps we'll be able to load pictures again... sadly, our computer has been rather temperamental in that area for awhile now.

Hope this note finds you and yours doing well... we'll post more soon... Yes, I really will... I know the posts here have been spotty at best, but as the title here says "A New Chapter begins..." and with it comes more postings! Yes!! Such excitement, so many new places to visit and things to do on the horizon! Fun! Fun!! I'm ready!!!

Smiles & blessings...

Carolyn

Update from Humboldt

2010-02-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

(Another post saved on the computer - January 10, 2010)

Update from Humboldt
The new semester begins, for Rich, at Humboldt State University (HSU) on January 19, 2010, marking three years since we first came to Humboldt. It has been an interesting journey.
Though his initial thought was to pursue a Bachelor’s in Oceanography, he has since figured out that another program will better suit his desire to work in the ocean, rather than just about it. His planned degree is in Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation (NRPI) with a minor in Scientific Diving.
The Diving program here at HSU is highly regarded, and Rich has enjoyed the experience of participating in the classes very much. He has even been diving at Catalina Island (a University of Southern California facility) twice over the past three semesters of HSU Diving classes.
Though his requirements for his minor are fulfilled, this semester Rich plans to complete a Rescue Diving Course and Underwater Photography. These two courses will be very valuable in his future pursuits as a Scientific Diver.
Although we have had great challenges finding long term parking for our RV, since being here – it seems that few places are willing to accommodate rigs over 10 years old – most recently we have been blessed finding a “home” in the foothills about ten miles from the University; and it is beautiful!
We are in an area called Freshwater, renting a space from a very nice couple. The property includes an adjacent building that houses a laundry room, carport and what was previously a workshop. Since we’ve been here, with the help of others, we’ve been working on converting it to a “playroom” (think family room) – It’s coming along great!
Living here in the forest, but yet only about five miles from the Bay as a crow flies, it is truly breathtaking. Waking up every morning to incredible beauty; it’s like that feeling waking up when you’re camping. We have yet to build an outdoor fire pit, but it’s in the plan.
At this point we anticipate being here in Humboldt until sometime in 2011… but, more to be revealed. Thankfully, it seems, we’ll be able to stay in this place until Rich completes school. Only wish we could have found it sooner.
This past Christmas was spent in Oroville visiting Rich’s folks, and our son AJ and his family. We had only planned to be there for a couple of days, but God had other plans… The night before we were to leave we received a call from a friend offering us a van that she no longer needed. The only catch, it was in Reno, Nevada.
Interestingly enough, though, since we were in Oroville that made the drive to Reno only about three hours, one way, whereas if we would have been in Humboldt it would have meant at least seven hours, each way. So, we likely might have passed it up.
The weather was dicey so Rich watched for a “hole” to hopefully be able to get to Reno and back without having to chain-up. He managed to get up there, get the van then got back as far as Cisco Grove (just on the west side of Donner Summit) before it became evident that the alternator was not working.
With no resources for auto supply stores he found a safe place to park the van for the night and proceeded to ride back to his parents with his nephew who had accompanied him on the trip, and was now driving the car they went up in.
He got back to Oroville and figured out that the alternator on the car that his sister had had totaled in an accident (a couple of days before Christmas) might actually be able to work on the van. So he removed the alternator, charged the battery from her car, and the battery from our Land Cruiser (that is parked for a new engine) in order to take them with him --- just in case.
The following day he left, again with his nephew (and Ian), to go up to get the van. He arrived at the parking lot where he left it, to learn that it was a popular sledding spot… which thrilled Ian but made getting in and then out, after the van was running, just a bit challenging, to say the least.
Amazingly Rich made it back with “Betty Boop” (as she has been affectionately named) with just enough battery to get to the driveway, and then coast in. LOL! Rich spent the following day taking care of mechanical issues and Ian and I tried to help with the cleaning, as the van had been sitting for about a year.
That night we took it on a drive to visit AJ and family and she’s been running great ever since. In the next week or two she’ll get a tune up and she’ll be running great. Did I mention that Betty is an Econoline Conversion van? They are the ones with the raised roof, nice captain’s seats and all the things that make it nice for traveling.
Yesterday, Rich made it official: Betty is a Diver Transport Vehicle she got a California Diver sticker on the back window. Rich is really jazzed because there will be no more tent camping on the ground for his dives; Betty has a bed in the back that sets out with the touch of a button! Yee haw!! (I told him that he should have named her "Mona…" or perhaps that’s "Moana?" … just reflecting back to the van craze of the 70’s! LOL! Too fun!!)
Next weekend we’ll travel back over to Oroville to see family and put new tires on Moana, er I mean Betty! (LOL!) Also we’ll be there to give our love and hugs to AJ and family before they leave for their move to Texas.
They are very excited about this move. It is something that AJ has wanted for a long time. It has finally all come together; he and his wife have secured jobs near Dallas that will start the first week of February.
We are very excited for them, but will miss them much. It has been hard enough to see them on any regular basis just being seven hours away by car; now we’ll be at least that far away by plane. Oh, well… We’ll save our pennies and you know where we’ll be spending next Christmas. ;-)
We will return to Humboldt in time for Rich to start school on Tuesday the 19th. It’ll be a full weekend for sure, but worth it. (Then I suspect we won’t be back to Oroville for a visit until at least Spring Break in March.)
Other than delineating the blessings we have had over the past few months, I think this is a pretty good summation of the latest with us. I will do my best to be more frequent at posts this year. I look forward to keeping in touch.
Until next time…

If the RV's a Rockin'! ... It must be an Earthquake!! LOL!!

2010-02-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

(one of the blog posts I previously wrote and saved to our computer)

Earthquake: 9 January 2010

What a way to start the New Year! Our blogging is so overdue… apologies! … So after the excitement of today’s 6.5 shaker here in Humboldt County, on the beautiful north coast of California, it seemed an appropriate time to get back in touch.

I will start with a confession: When the quake hit this afternoon, it was met at our house with much laughter. Yes, I said laughter. I feel a little guilty about this as I hear people recall how scared they were when it hit, and friends and family checking in to make sure we’re ok. Then I think back to 4:27pm… me, laughing heartily while the quake was just a rollin’!!

Perhaps I should explain? There really is a good reason. Just minutes before the quake I had gotten up to get a cup of tea and was teasing Ian about being an ornery ten year old! LOL! I told him that I was going to “get him”!

Down the hall to the living room and he went to the couch where I proceeded to tickle him and attempt to kiss him, while telling him that I loved him, and him all the while trying to block my kisses with a book. We were having a great time.

I didn’t pay much mind to the fact that after a minute or two of this both of our dogs came into the living room from the bedroom. All the while Rich was in our room sitting on our bed doing some school work on the computer.

When the shaker started it just seemed like it was just our 'horse play' that was moving our house (as most of you know we live in a motorhome…) It was soon evident that no amount of horse play could move our rig THAT much!!

Rich hollered “What are you two doing???!!” (Apparently he thought Ian was hanging from a shelf and swinging or something.) It was at about that same moment that I realized that we were having an earthquake. So I just hollered back to him “hang on Baby, we’re havin’ a shaker!”

I just couldn’t help but laugh, it all seemed so funny; and the timing so ironic. Being in a motorhome you’re on shocks, and we were a rockin’ and a rollin’! Rich said it felt like somebody, a REALLY BIG somebody (perhaps Paul Bunyan???) was outside shaking the RV. Ian said it was more like King Kong… Rich said no, it was Paul and Blue (his ox) right outside our door doing jumping jacks. LOL!!

The poor dogs, didn’t know what to do. The little one (Spike, our Pug) was sitting on the couch trembling and the big one (Sassy, our Boxer) was lying on the floor completely flat, as if glued there, and extremely quiet. Perhaps she was just praying for it to be over??

Shortly after the shaking subsided Rich and Ian hopped in the van and headed up the hill to check on our neighbors, a couple in their 70’s, to see how they fared. As it turned out the wife was home alone and quite shaken.

They had a fair amount of breakage to clean up, but overall did ok. Rich and Ian stayed there for an hour or so helping with cleanup and during that time the husband arrived home and their son and daughter also came over to help.

In their absence I decided to try to find a local radio station to listen to the updates. This proved to be a bit challenging as it seemed many stations were off the air, at least initially.

I did finally find a station in Ferndale, just south of us – nearer the epicenter than we were, and sustained more damage than I was aware of in our immediate area (I have since learned that Eureka got hit pretty hard, with utility disruption up to three days in some areas) – and enjoyed listening to the updates accompanied by songs to do with “shaking” … I didn’t realize there were so many with that theme.

The humor in the DJ's song selection reminded me of a Mary Chapin Carpenter song ("Down at the Twist and Shout") that cites having hurricane parties! Oh my!! (Only in Louisiana! LOL! Guess that's why so much of my family LOVES it there!! tee hee hee...)

I know that a good portion of the north county here was without power for many hours and lots of mess was attributed to our first quake of 2010, but truly we were blessed! I heard it on the radio and read it on many Facebook posts, and I concur, “we are so blessed, it could have been so much worse.” Amen!

Until next time…

Internet Sweet Internet... Blog Sweet Blog...

2010-02-09T06:39:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh!! It's horrible how long it has been since I've posted. I've actually written a few blogs on our computer to 'be uploaded later' but alas.... later never seems to get here! LOL! Perhaps that day has FINALLY arrived!!

As of last night we have internet at our "house"!! Woo Hoo!! I am so excited! I have felt so out of touch. I truly will post (later today) the blogs that I have written over the past few months; just for fun!! I am more excited, however to post in the future. I am still getting the hang of the "blogging thing" and posting pics, etc. but it truly is fun.

Who would have thought that 20 years after first learning how to use a computer, usually with my nose stuck in a book and trying to follow every direction and suggestion... that I would be enjoying my computer time. I remember in those days you installed programs using DOS... then went to Windows... and all the terminology -- Aaghhh...! Well, the terminology still doesn't always make sense, but with the help of my wonderful 'sorta techno geek' hubby, I muddle through... and where the Blogging is concerned it is typically with joy as I feel closer to my friends when I am writing.

Over the next month we'll be planning a short 'vacation' of sorts, while Rich is on Spring break from HSU. So I look forward to not only sharing some of the considerations as to where to go, but maybe getting some input from you all. Then after we return we will be working on our summer plans.

Summer should prove to be interesting. Rich is applying for diving internships and jobs, so who knows where we may 'summer' ... LOL! But additionally we have several graduations just around the corner; yes three all within a week of one another in two different states... thankfully the states are CA and NV and the drive is only about 4 hours or so in between... we'll get that figured out!

Some of you know that our oldest son, AJ, and his family moved to Texas last month. That was bittersweet. I know in my heart how very long AJ has wanted to move to Texas, additionally living in CA with the economy the way it is and the taxes here were just killing them financially. Although it is now about six plus hours by plane, opposed to six or so hours by car, to visit them I am truly happy for their move. (Trust me I'm looking forward to the 'road trip' to TX! Yee Haw!)

This summer, June 4th to be exact, (in the midst of the various graduations) we will celebrate the addition of two more into our family "officially" -- everything will be finalized for AJ's adoption of his 'big kids' Claire and David. We are so excited!! We are especially excited because they will be coming back to CA for a few days to finish the 'court stuff'. (And you know we'll have to do something special!!)

So as you can see our summer calendar is already filling up fast. Hopefully it will work out for our grandkids (at least Claire and David, "Jack Jack" is still a bit young to be away from home for too long...) to spend some of their summer break with us. The details are still to be figured out, but you know I'll share my excitement as we go... At the very least... we will plan to head to Texas for Christmas this year ... and so it goes... 2010 is going to be busy!! Yay!! I am SO excited!! ;-)

I guess that's enough of a start to get back into the swing of my blogging. I will add the other blogs later (just for fun...) and I will add some pics. Ian's b'day is coming up on the 20th so you know you'll be hearing more about that and seeing pics in a couple of weeks.

((Hugs)) Smiles & Blessings... Until next time...
Carolyn

PS. Yes, hubby is really turning into a "Techno Geek" ... but we'll save that for another blog post (that he can write...)

Catching up is hard to do...

2009-05-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

On May 1, we took a side trip up Hwy 101 (aka Redwood Highway) destination Brookings, OR via Crescent City. This was really for a side job for Hubby, but may as well enjoy the journey, right? So we stopped to enjoy the sounds and smell... ahhh.... and... well, let's see if the pictures load.
and then... (ooohhh... I'm getting the hang of this picture thing... Yay!)

Lucky me! Aww.... after all these years... still crazy about him! :-)

And then...

There's Ian! (He thinks we're funny!)

Before we headed out on the 19th we were had the fun of spending the weekend with Jana Smith (and boys Jake and Josh) and also managed a brief "meet-up" with Kim & Dennis Goza and friends Libby and Linda.

I have to say that leaving Humboldt this time was a bit harder this time... Our very good friends, The Welch Family, will soon be moving to Ohio. While we wish them all the love and blessings for a safe trip and getting settled in their new home, we will truly miss them and Humboldt just won't be the same without them.

(Me, Jana Smith, Space Welch, Rich, Smiles Welch)

We will look forward to, hopefully, catching up with them when they come through Sacramento on their way across to Ohio. And, OF COURSE, it will give us an incentive to go visit soon...

From here I will insert a couple of blogs that I wrote while we were traveling last week (yes, it's taken me a week to get these posted... sorry...) Along with a picture that gives an interesting perspective of traveling 101 in large vehicles. Unfortunately I was not having luck getting the camera adjusted on the really "tight spots"... but for you who have not traveled this highway before it gives you a hint... there are just areas that you take it slow and easy...

On to the blogs:

Tuesday - May 19, 2009

Headin’ out of Humboldt…

Heading south on Hwy 101, (aka the Redwood Coast Highway.) At the moment we are passing the exit to the Avenue of the Giants. It is very rare that I take the co-pilots seat in our motorhome. Typically our Ian rides “shotgun”!

We took our time leaving today. We have decided that we prefer to travel late in the day when leaving Humboldt enroute to warmer climates; as we are today. The semester ended for Humboldt State Universtiy (HSU) last week. Summer Break! I think somehow we are doing this backwards, though, most people head to where it is cooler, during summer months. We are going to where it is much warmer.

Our destination is hubby’s parents house in Oroville, CA. Some of you may know where Chico, CA, is; Oroville is about 30 miles or so south in Butte County. Tonight, our first destination is to Yuba City, CA. There we will visit our son, his wife and our three grandchildren. Yuba City is only about a 40 minute drive from Oroville, so we will be able to visit them often this summer.

So, back to my riding “shotgun” --- It’s a rather different view from here. Watching the road come at you and go away. In our RV even the largest of vehicles look rather small. I am blogging as we head down the road at 60mph to the tune of Lynard Skynard. Yee Haw! We love our life!

Despite Ian loving his typical “shotgun” position he seems to thoroughly be enjoying the opportunity to turn his “Longshot” Nerf gun (thank you Josh) into an “air guitar” to play with the band… he’s dancing around, rockin’ out as we head south.

And my hubby, well he is just cruisin’ – He drives our behemoth like it’s our minivan. I know we both look forward to the day when we do get to take our “Moby D” down the road more often. Currently 'Moby' sits for most of each semester; we travel primarily on breaks. Once Rich graduates we anticipate that he will work in a location for a few months at a time, or so, and then we will travel to some place new. (We do have plans to do a bus conversion... more on that another time.)

It is funny, we recently realized that since we have been married we live in a place for a couple of years and then we are ready for something new. The same seems to be true for our current stay in Humboldt. We recently admitted to each other that we have “itchy feet” to move on.

We know that hubby will continue at HSU for at least one more semester, but after that we are just not sure. He is starting to look at programs elsewhere to see if he wants to consider transferring. Our oldest son and family are looking at moving to Texas, perhaps as soon as the end of this summer. That is a bit of a catalyst for us to head out and maybe spend some time in Texas for a bit.

Truth be told, it is a difficult decision. We really like Humboldt and have some great friends whom we will miss when we leave. HSU has awesome Natural Resource programs available. We are not sure if we can find anything that comes close somewhere else. Perhaps we will be here for a few more years with his studies and just be content travelling during school breaks… time will tell…

I’ll sign off for now… and just enjoy the view for awhile…

Wednesday – May 20, 2009

On the Road Again…

We rolled into Robinson Rancheria, on Highway 20 near Clear Lake, at about 9:30pm and decided to finally stop for food and rest. Hubby decided he was tired, so after food we called it a night. We don’t gamble much, hubby being raised in Reno, NV, casino’s don’t have much appeal. But we are thankful for the big parking lots and for how welcoming they are to be able to stop for a rest.

The next leg of this journey will take us, we estimate about three hours, through the hills that lead to Colusa and then into Yuba City for a visit with our son and family. Our old rig can only do about 20-25mph on the hills, so it’s slow going… but hey, isn’t the journey what it’s all about?? Isn’t that what we learn by enjoying this lifestyle with our kids?? We can only hope…

Until Next time...

Modern America...

2009-05-28T13:24:00.001-07:00

Sorry so very long in between posts... again... I thank you for your forgiveness I will try to catch up. This may be a bit of a muddled post... I want to catch up on a few things since I last wrote.

First off I want to explain my reference to "Modern America" ... the pic of me with my laptop was taken by Ian on our recent trip from Humboldt County (CA) to Butte County (CA) to visit hubby's parents for a couple of months.

When I first saw this pic it reminded me of bygone years and a conversation my mom had with my brother. Now close your eyes and visualize this... oh wait, you have to have your eyes open to read this... sorry, silly me... As I was saying, try to imagine this.

First off you have to know that my brother is one of the biggest Garth Brooks fans that has ever lived. And uniquely enough he resembles Garth to the point that we once were traveling Route 66 together and a bunch of teeny-boppers got giddy when they thought they were waiting on Garth 'live and in person'... it was ok, when they found out he wasn't Garth, he was still a cute -- single -- guy!

So, back to "Modern America"... It was in the 80's (don't ask me to remember specifically the year; numbers are my brothers thing...) and my brother had managed to get one of the illusive "wrist bands" that entitled him to stand in line at ARCO Arena (Sacramento, CA) to 'maybe' get to buy tickets to Garth's upcoming concert.

So as any good little fan would do --- he camped out at ARCO the night before, then dutifully stood in line. However, Joe (my bro) wanted to insure his opportunity, and that of friends and family members, to get tix -- so he called Ticketmaster on his cell phone (or it might have been Dad's cell phone) as soon as they went on sale. [yes... he managed to buy tix via phone thanks to his trusty Visa.]

Now, today with cell phones being as prevalent as they are, that perhaps doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. But back then, some of you may remember, cell phones were about the size of a brick... LOL! Anyway, I remember the conversation when my brother called my mom (from the cell phone of course) to tell her that he got tickets to see Garth... while he was still standing in line to get tickets to Garth... and Mom's words... "Welcome to Modern America."

Enough reminiscing... thank you for indulging me...

more in a bit...

4-20 in Humboldt

2009-04-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Our posts are long overdue... and this will just be a short one... but just HAD TO!! HAD TO make a post on 4-20 in Humboldt. We sit here quitely relaxing 200 yards from the beach listening to the waves crash to the shore. Meanwhile less than five miles away hundreds of revelers partake in one of Humboldt life's "greener activities"... LOL!

Humboldt is known for being "green" in more ways than one. Today, 4-20, the influx of transient visitors to this fair county is exemplary of one form of the "green". For those who don't understand the significance of this calendar day Google "4-20" -- It will explain the origins behind this celebration of Cannabis. In short, while March and St. Patrick's Day is about the "wearin' o' the green" --- April, and 4-20, is about the "smokin' o' the green" -- Any questions??

As we sit here watching the minutes tick away on 4-20 aware that we do not have any herbal supplements of which to partake, we realize that... we must be getting old... LOL! But we are taking a moment to recognize this unique snippet in time, of which most revelers will only vaguely remember... It is quite unique also to be in Humboldt County on this particular date... If you missed it... there's always next year... :-)

It's already spring...

2009-03-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

I feel like such a slacker. I haven't posted in weeks... That is so bad. I really need to get my act together. I am still trying to figure this out, I will confess, I still don't know how to post pictures. Perhaps when my hubby returns from his latest diving adventure he will help me. After all he is the one who is so good at "painting the wall..." [Note: for you that do not know what that means, refer to my first entry...]

Ian and I spent spring break (Rich's school break from HSU -- last week)at Grandpa and Grandma's in Oroville, CA (near Chico) while Rich went with his dive class to Catalina Island. Yes, you read that right, Ian and I stayed near Chico and Rich went to dive at Catalina. Puttz! (Go ahead -- tell him I called him a puttz! Go for it! tee hee hee!)

He had a really good time; it was both exhausting and exhilarating. He had eight dives in the matter of four days. It was not two each day as you might think, ah no, what would have been the challenge in that? It was one the first day, then three the second and three the third and one the fourth and then they left to come home -- a mere 700+ mile drive, one way. No problem! (Maybe on second thought I'm glad I stayed with the in-laws; just the drive alone was exhausting the way they did it.)

Now that he is not-quite-caught-up on his rest from the last trip (we got back a week ago today, late at night...) He is leaving tomorrow morning for another dive. This one will only be a weekend dive, but they are going to Monterey, CA, which is about 400 miles (one way) from where we are. Oh did I mention that they will have a night dive upon arrival at Monterey tomorrow, yes, they had two or three of those at Catalina (I can't remember which) great fun I am sure. Not!!

Personally I think I might draw the line at diving in the dark. The water is dark and murky enough already. By the way, did I tell you that he saw sharks while diving at Catalina? Oh yes, lots of them. He told me what kind, but I'm not the one with the ocean major at HSU; guess I'll have to get the info from him again and post it later. Or better yet, perhaps he'll post about his trip(s) and post pictures. Yes, pictures, that would be good.

After all, we really don't know if those were itty bitty sharks, or kinda smallish sharks, or medium sharks, or large sharks... we just know he saw sharks... ahhh, I think it's enough to know he saw sharks, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the kind that we once had in our aquarium; and I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have wanted to be diving too close. Yes, I know that we are not on their food chain list, but just in case... after all a surfboard doesn't really look like food, does it? Enough said.

Speaking of pictures... rumor has it that there are pictures of my husband on the boat en route from Catalina Island to the mainland. To this you say, "so, what's so exciting about a boat ride?" To your question I answer, ah but these are not just any pictures... as I understand the story my husband chose to wear his favorite attire back to the mainland (that would be his Utilikilt) and it was a very windy day.

As my hubby innocently enjoyed the view from the deck of the boat, others got a view that... well... was one of the answers to the age old question "What does a Scotsman wear under his kilt?" and that answer be... "What the good Lord blessed him with." (Trust me that we do know there are many ways to answer that question, but this one applies here... tee hee hee...) I understand that cameras were a snappin' but I have not yet seen any "incriminating photos" LOL! But as this is a family blog we promise to only post PG rated kilt pics herewith.

Speaking of my desire to learn to blog. I want to thank all the FOTR's that have listed their blogs on the FOTR website (www.familiesontheroad.com) I have enjoyed viewing many of them. Most recently I was catching up with Krystal and family (http://showustheworld.blogspot.com/) and saw that she noted our blog at the bottom of hers under the Lemonade Stand "If Life Gives You Lemons...Make Lemonade" -- I'm not sure how ours fits into the category that could potentially be deserving of sporting the Lemonade stand, but that is a goal I can aspire to achieve. Thank you very much. Thanks for including us on your list, Krystal. Personally I love your blog, you inspire me much.

I wish I could share something else funny or exciting going on, but I'm drawing a blank. I'll have to make notes and share it next time. Hopefully by my next post I will have figured out how, or have hog-tied my hunny down long enough, to post pics. Perhaps once I understand how to do it I will go back and post some older pics with a bit of retrospective over the past two years.

Until next time...

A quote to ponder: "My theory is that all of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare."
-- Mike Myers

In the beginning...

2009-03-09T01:08:00.000-07:00

This was written in the last week while I was pondering how to start this Blog.

It's a blog... Hmmm... Well, it's only taken us just over two years to get this going. I really thought that we would have figured this out sooner. After all... life is an adventure and adventures are best shared. Aren't they?

So, let's back up... (I promise a digest version...)

Where did this all begin? I must admit, it is a bit of a blur at times. December, 2004, Rich had enough of working Juvenile Detention and Rehabilitation. He was going back to school... it just took some time to figure out the specifics.

At one point he considered teaching high school. Then after a visit to the website for Humboldt State University (HSU) to check out their Marine Biology program -- it quickly became clear that the focus was to follow Rich's passion: the ocean.

Although Rich started HSU with the intent of pursuing a degree in Oceanography, as time goes on it seems that Natural Resource Planning and Interpretation better fits his passion of everything to do with the ocean... including being "in it" (vs. being in a lab or office.) So the chosen minor, appropriately, Scientific Diving.

Back to the blur... somewhere around August, 2006, Rich -- with the encouragement of his counselor at Butte College (Oroville, CA) -- applied to HSU. After various contacts with the University regarding necessary documents, etc. in early November, 2006, we decided that we would travel to HSU (Arcata, CA) to take the final documents needed for Rich's application; after all -- we had never seen the area where we were considering spending several years.

After a brief visit (three days) we were definitely intrigued by Arcata and very excited about the prospect of moving there... the following Fall... we thought. Yes, the fact should be duly noted that during Rich's application process we had it in our minds that he was applying for the 2007/08 School Year, with a start date of Fall 2007. Consequently when we received his letter of acceptance three weeks later (one day before Thanksgiving) with a start date of January, 2007, we were quite startled -- elated, yet startled nontheless.

We were startled that the letter came so quickly after document submissions and additionally that it was for a start date not quite two months in the future. OH --- MY --- GOSH!!! Downsize and quick!! Thank goodness for Craigslist and Freecycle.

We had looked some at rental prospects and realized that for our needs (housing only during school semesters) renting was not practical. Not only was it tremendously expensive, most places wanted very large deposits and one year leases. Neither of which were practical for us. Oh ya, and few landlords were "dog friendly" (at the time we had two Boxers: Cupcake and Molly.)

Our conclusion, we would live in an RV... not sure exactly what, but we were confident that "more would be revealed" -- we just had to have faith. Back to 'first things first... downsize.' During this process, I must admit I was amazed at how liberating it was to get rid of "stuff" -- the "question of the day" became "how important is it?"

Truly, if we think about it, most of us have too much stuff! Comedians have done bits on the subject, and it is all true ... we have stuff... and our stuff has stuff... then we have to store our stuff and clean our stuff and insure our stuff... UGH! TOO MUCH STUFF!!

***to be continued *** Carolyn

This I wrote a couple of nights ago when I thought I was REALLY ready to post it... LOL!!

As I sit here preparing to embark upon our first Blog, the story of Noah comes to mind. Now, not the traditional Biblical version, mind you, but the way Bill Cosby told the story. [Note: those who are post Baby Boomers may have no idea what I am talking about... and perhaps when I'm done you can share this blog with your parents, and after their laughter they may say "Ah yes... I remember that bit..." and share with you the comedic humor that we found on a 33RPM album.]

The condensed version, and how it relates to the blog, is as follows: Bill Cosby relates that Noah is going along with his day, minding his own business and he hears a booming voice call his name: "NOAH!" [Noah looks around] Then he hears again, louder: "NOAH!!" Now that one got his attention... and then, as the story continues... The booming voice says "It's Me, GOD!" And Noah says: "Ri-i-i-g-g-h-h-h--t!" God proceeds to tell Noah that he wants him to build an Ark. Again Noah says: "R-r-r-i-i-i-g-g-g-h-h-h-t!" "What's an Ark??" God continues to tell Noah the dimensions... as we all know it's in 'cubits' ... Noah, again says: "R-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-i-g-g-g-h-h-h-t-t-t-t... What's a cubit??"

That snippet of the story is very much how I feel about doing a Blog... "R-r-i-i-i-g-g-h-h-h-t! What's a Blog?" And furthermore "How do you do one??" I confess, I am not my husband. You tell him to "paint the wall" and by darn, he'll paint the wall. No prepping, no taping off, no drop cloth (well, maybe a drop cloth); just give him a bucket of paint and a brush and he's on his way.

Thus the same approach is taken with our "Blog" -- I was still reading the book [Blogging for Dummies ... yes, I know, I resemble that remark ... technologically speaking... SO!! And your point?! Without people like me the 'Dummies' series would never have been such a hit ... ] and he was already setting up our blog. He typed a few sentences and said "There! It's started..." "AAAaaaaggghhhh...But, but, but... Oh never mind" I say in a totally failed voice.

Where were we? ... Oh yes, painting the wall... er, I mean, starting the Blog. Cosby; Noah; Blog; Paint; Ri-i-g-g-h-h-t-t! It's a Blog; ... I guess this is where it begins; bear with me, I'll do my best.

In the beginning... There was "The Plan" and "The Plan" was good. Wife's Plan was: Let's get an RV, travel the country and explore. We can work as we go, teach Son through the places we go and the things we do; sounds like a great Plan to me ... Apparently not to Hubby and "The Plan" went on "The Shelf" ... Wife reluctantly accepted Hubby's reluctance and "The Plan" was shelved. [Note: Shelved vs. dumped -- then ... there was "Hope" ]

Several years later...

Hubby was ready for a change. First move from one state to another; pursue different line of work and return to school. Hubby's question: "What do I want to be when I grow up [STRIKE THAT!! Pre-Nup says only allowed to get older, not grow up!] Okay, okay ..." "What do I want to do ... NEXT ...??" After seeking, the answer came: Return to school to follow the passions of your heart ... everything to do with the ocean; especially SCUBA diving. [BIG Smile!!]

Wife agrees that this is a good choice, as she trusts that Sharks are safer, at least more predictable, than Juvenile Delinquents (as in previous career choice.) Then it comes ... Wife's "Aha!" ... After Hubby gets degree "The Plan" will work. We can travel with Hubby's research. Yes! "The Plan" is good!!! [BIG Smile!]

Then it gets better, Hubby is accepted to Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA ... our new "home" [a blessing from G'pa and G'ma] is "Moby D" -- our 36' motorhome. Yay!! And so it begins...

*** to be continued *** Carolyn

I thought that one of the two, above, posts should be put into the Blog... After reading them to Rich he said that he thought I should post them in the order written. So, in a way they work together -- I hope -- to give you a picture of what brought us to this point. Not sure what I will blog about next... this is kinda fun. ... stay tuned ... Carolyn

2009-02-22T00:54:00.000-08:00

Well it is almost 1 am on Feb. 22 and we got it started.
Carolyn said "Blog" so my mind went blank.
My name is Rich, my wife is Carolyn and we have a 10 year old son named Ian.
Currently we live in a beautiful known as Arcata Ca. while I go to school at Humboldt State University.
Much more it is time for our first test.

Rich