We are getting into a routine

we are settled and into a routine.  the weather is chilly at night (in the low 40's) and the mid to upper 60's during the day.  We now have an electric coffee pot that has the coffee ready when we wake up.  So we stay in bed until I hear the beep, beep, beep.  Bob does not have his hearing aids in at that point so he doesn't hear a thing. 

I get up, turn on the heat, weigh myself, and get dressed.  Then Bob does the same.  We both log onto the internet and read the news and do puzzles.  Breakfast.  Then off I go to exercise while Bob reads or naps or does his accounting stuff.. The exercise is good for me.   I have already lost two pounds.  I looked over my weight chart and realized that I put the weight on when we were trying to sell the old house.  I have stayed about the same weight since the house sold.  So now I am determined to take it off.  Not only am I losing it, but I am getting a little stronger.  It is amazing how you can feel the strength as you do daily activities. 

In the afternoon, we read, do chores, go shopping, or I walk or bike somewhere.  Bob is getting stronger and can walk a little, but not very far.  So I walk him around the park and then go off someplace on my own.  I wish he could walk with me, but he is just not strong enough yet.  Today he did a couple of chores on the rv and then had to spend about an hour resting.  The good news is that he is better enough to be doing the chores.  It is also good news that we sat and rested in the sun.  It does feel so good on your face.

In the evening, after dinner we read or play games and try to stay up until 10pm.  If we go to bed too early, we wake up too early.  So we work at it.  No television.  If it were not for the internet I would have no idea what is going on in the world.  I have read a couple of good novels.  I miss my library in Portland, but I can get some book on my Xoom.  That is nice.  the only drawback is that if the book is good, then Bob want to read it too and I don't have access to the Xoom.  but that is a small price to pay.

Our internet connection is a jet pack from Verizon.  It is a good connection, but we do not have enough to do much streaming video.  So I don't.  It is really a very simple life.  It actually does not get better than this.

We brought the rain

Yesterday was a busy day.  we got the rv washed on the outside and I cleaned it up on the inside.  In the midst of all this, Bob started complaining that he was not feeling very good.  I think he had another bout of afib and I think it was because he had worked so hard the day before.  So I made him take it real easy.  but that was hard.  There was so much that he wanted to do.  He feels guilty for not doing his share.  I get it, but he won't be able to do any of it if he doesn't allow himself to get better. 

But we had a good dinner and a good night's sleep.  It started raining during the night and everything was wet this morning.  It was wet and chilly (58 degrees was the high here).  I decided that it was time to get my exercise back on target.  So I went off to a class at LA Fitness.  I was apprehensive that something would go wrong with my multistate membership.  but no problem.  I recognized one of the others in the class.  I knew her from 2 years ago.  I also recognized the instructor.  that felt good.  What didn't feel good was how out of shape I have gotten.  I will have to work hard at this again.

After lunch Bob decided he should take a nap.  I took that opportunity to take a walk to the nearby mall.  Nice walk.   It hasn't changed much at all in the last two years. 

It is too chilly to be outside so we are sitting inside and reading and doing puzzles.  Bob says that he is feeling better today and feels like he is starting to heal again.  Yeah.  One step at a time. 

We are here.

Bob did not sleep well last night.  But we both got enough sleep to keep going.  We got up this morning, had coffee and sweet rolls or breakfast cookies and were on our way.  We got to the park at 9:30 and the office does not open until 10.  so we unhooked the car and waited.  We were both pretty apprehensive about how we were going to set up.  But it went very well.  We are all hooked up.  I got groceries.  I got the car washed.  I made arrangements for Betsy to be washed.  I made arrangements for Bob to get his blood work done.  It is amazing.  Bob is doing so good.  He could not have done what he did just a week ago.  I know that he is tired, but he is able to do it all without much pain.  Tomorrow I will take an exercise class and get back on my diet.  Yeah.

In Arizona

Wow.  we were so tired last might (because we got almost no sleep the night before) that we were in bed and sound asleep by 8 pm.  So naturally we woke up at 4 am.  That meant that even with taking our time we were on the road by 6 am.  We were planning on spending the night at a rest area outside of Needles.  We got there at 1 pm and it was full.  So we decided to go on.  The problem is that there was no place to stop for the next 140 miles.  So we made it into Arizona by dark.  That was a long day - 460 miles.  More than we usually do. 

And let me reiterate, never go camping without your mechanic.  At about noon today bob was filling the gas tank and asked me to go into the store to get the receipt.  I got out and slammed the door behind me.  I heard a funny noise but kept going.  When I got back I tried to open the door to the living area.  It won't open.  bob yelled at me that it wasn't broken then tried himself and realized that it was.  So when we get to Phoenix he will fix it. 

We are now very tired and going to bed.  Night night.

In California

Wow.  What a busy day and a half.  We took off early yesterday.  We both woke up early and there was no reason to wait.  the weather was fine, not great.  Bob was feeling great.  So we moved along at a pretty good clip.  we were worried about crossing Mt. Ashland.  when we got to Ashland it wasn't even 2 pm, and the sky was clear and the roads were dry.  So we headed over the mountain and had a very easy trip across.

The question then was where to stop.  the first rest area over the Klamath river was nice enough, but it was high and there was lots of snow.  So we headed for the one in Weed.  MISTAKE.  we got there and there was a sign that said no overnight camping.  So we headed for the Pilot gas station in Weed.  It was almost dark and Bob was getting very tired.  I explained our problem to the very nice manager there.  He asked to see our rig and then said we could park right in front of the "no overnight parking" sign as long as we were gone by 7am. So we parked there.

There was a Mexican restaurant right at the end of the parking lot so we decided to go get a hot dinner there.  We took off and walked about 25 feet and Bob said that he could not make it.  (I didn't realize that we were at an altitude of almost 4000 feet.  so Bob went back to the rv and I went and got take out.  When I got back bob did not look so good.  The cold had gotten to him as well as the altitude.  We put out our thermometer.  It was cold.  when we went to bed it was 23 degrees outside.  so we turned on the thermostat of the heater and I played with it to keep the temp around 65 degrees inside and hoped that would be good enough to keep everything from freezing. 

All would have been good except that we were parked on a hill and Bob had a hard time sleeping because he kept rolling onto his broken rib.  Not a good sleep, but we woke up and all was fine.  It was 20 degrees.  I made coffee.  We had sweet rolls for breakfast.  and we took off at 6 am, in the dark and cold.

There was ice on the highway, but very little traffic, so we moved quickly.  We stopped for a hot breakfast in Red Bluff.  We are now stopped at a rest area outside of Sacramento.  Bob was very sleepy so he is taking a nap.  when he gets up I will make lunch and then we will head off again. 

All in all this is turning into a good trip.  Bob is doing better than he or I had hoped - better every day.  Tonight we will have to decide whether to go through LA, or head east at Bakersfield.  It all depends on the winds.  Ah, the fun of traveling.

Oops. things never go quite as planned.

Yesterday as we were filling the water tank I was watching the control panel that indicated what the various levels were - water, propane, sewer.  The propane indicator was at empty.  Bob thought it was just the indicator because we had just filled the propane on our way home from the last trip.  We tried the gas stove and it worked, so it seemed that Bob was right.  But we also tried the heater.  Oops.  It did not work.  We weren't going anywhere without a working heater.  So we made an appointment and took it over to the repair shop.  They checked and said that the propane was indeed empty.  We had a bad regulator.  They replaced the regulator.  Once they put some propane in, they said that the heater worked fine.  However, they did not check part of the propane system because they did not have the proper equipment to do so.  so we picked it up and drove about 30 miles to another repair shop.  They checked the whole thing and reported no more leaks.  They filled the tank.  The heater works. 

So we did not put up the bikes yesterday or today.  That will be tomorrow's job.  the really good news is that Bob drove the RV with no trouble and was not even really tired.  He says that he will have to stop about every two hours and walk around a bit and rest, but he is fine driving. 

It also looks like the weather will be acceptable for the trip.  (Fingers crossed.) 

I took out all the dry food and all of the clothes.  Tomorrow we will put up the bikes, attach the two dolly, and take out the rest of the stuff.

Oh, and the two ladies have agreed to house sit here.  So that takes a load off my mind. 

I hope things keep going on schedule.  (fingers crossed.).

Getting ready

We are getting ready very slowly.  the weather has finally warmed up enough that we filled the water in Betsy.  I opened the refrigerator and found that I had not cleaned it good enough when we came home last time and there was a light covering of mold.  so I cleaned that and we turned it on to get ready.  Today we will put on the bike rack and put up the bikes.  I will start going through my clothes to decide what to take.  I have put on a little weight, so I will have to try things on.  There are so many things to think about and to remember, but we have done this often enough that I think I can do it without too many lists.

Yesterday we had two young ladies come by who might be interested in house sitting for us.  They seem very neat and clean and that would be a load off our minds.  They will let me know today if they want to do this.

It does look like the weather window might actually work for us.  Fingers crossed. 

Off we go again.

Well here we go again.  We did not get to go to Arizona last year because of the failure to sell the house.  and I was afraid that we would not get to go again this year because of bob's health.  He fell and broke a rib.  then he threw multiple bilateral blood clots in his lung.  So I called 911.  That was just a month ago.  He is so great.  He has substantially recovered enough that the doc says that it is okay for him to drive to Arizona. 

So now the question is the weather.  We have had frigid weather here in Portland.  The weather along I5 is not great either.  but it looks like we will have a window of opportunity this weekend.  So off we are going to go.  The Rv has no water.  We drained it because of the frigid weather.  Now we have to fill it as soon the weather warms up enough so that it won't freeze - probably on Friday.  then load the bikes, fill the food and clothes, and off we go.  Yeah.