Tales from the teardrop: Learning how to type in a bumpy truck

This started much earlier and a fair bit longer, too but going over a bumpy road some where west of Barstow I went up in the air and came down on something that deleted my note. The iPad has no "undo" button so, frustrated I put it away until after lunch. I should find a "word" type app somewhere that let's me save work. I believe Blogger must use Flash so I can't type directly into my blog. There is no such thing as failure. 

Big road trip in a tiny trailer

My beloved and I will be on the road for 14 days, yet again, in our teardrop trailer. We've done 11 days with our little doggie, in the desert, so what a few extra days. Maybe grounds for divorce. We've had a forty year run so far so I suspect not but, stay tuned.

Ever since Ken Burns made his wonderful documentary about the National Parks I've been jonesin' to get on the road and see a few for myself. This trip is a start to accomplish my goal starting with no less that five parks on the travel route.

Bryce Canyon
Canyonland
Arches
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Petrified Forest

We might see a few extras, if we have time, but we have a very tight schedule. We are also throwing in a NSRA car show in Pueblo, CO just to make sure we don't get bored.

Some might be wondering what about Buddy-dog? Well, he's ace a vacation from us, friends are stay at home with him. He's getting a bit long in the tooth for a long trip and there are too many places that are not dog-friendly. Don't worry about him he'll be spoiled by some of his favorite people.

Since I forgot to order my connector for the iPad, that would have enabled me to download pix, there will be no photos until we return but I will try to post from the road with wonderfully descriptive paragraphs making my readers feel as if they we actually there. Hope you're not afraid of heights.

Salute to Veterans

With Memorial day coming soon, my darling companion is honoring his Veteran father today by wearing his WWII flight jacket. This days is special as it would have been his 94th birthday.

Dan is standing in front of a photo taken by his father of another plane in his squadron while stationed in England.

The Veterans in our family are:

Charles De Bono, Army Air Corp

D. Eugene Eley, Navy

Daniel De Bono, Air Force

Norman Whitla, Air Force

Thanks to all Veterans who have served our country.

Why do you care?

Can anyone tell me just why it would make any difference if the Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan is gay. Please, I'm serious.

Here's my moment

This is a fun project. The NYTimes put together a chance to create a Global Mosaic with a project called, A Moment in May. Sunday, May 2 at 15:00 GMT everyone was to take a picture. They even had a link to a converter to tell when that was no matter where you were. West Coast was easy, 8:00 a.m. I know of four people in five different areas--Hong Kong, Egypt, Seattle, and Gunnison, Colorado that took a picture at the same moment.

So, here is my official 8:00 a.m. (15:00hrs GMT) photo.

These other two are a few minutes before.

Everyone has until May 7 to submit the photos and I'm sure it will be sometime after that before we see the results.

I've bought seed futures

The green chilies from my garden last year were disappointing, very weak, but I learned chilies don't like a lot of water. I grew them amongst my herbs and the herbs were lush and wonderful while the chilies flavorless. Sadly, that is about the only space I have for them.

This year, I've enlisted the help of a neighbor with more gardening space and a penchant for my salsa. I also went to the source and invested in seeds from New Mexico. A few years back my sister brought back the best dried ground green chilies I've ever had and now I'm giving the University of New Mexico a chance.

They have lovely names such as Sandia, Big Jim, and Barker Hot. I've also ordered an Ancho Mulato because the flavor of the Ancho interests me. Being new to this I went to the Internet for ideas to germinate my new friends. I chose two ways, soaking the seeds and planting in soil and placing the seeds on a wet paper towel in a plastic bag. Set in a sunny location in my kitchen the bag acted like a mini-greenhouse. Those were the first to sprout and now I've moved them into tiny peat pots to grow a few leaves before I hand them off to my neighbor to plant.

The seeds soaked and planted seem to be doing better as to producing tiny green leaves. I can only imagine lovely green chilies attached to those plant, well, when they get stronger. For now, I am treating them like the infants they are. They get special food and time outdoors in the sunshine, if it's warm enough. I also whisper words of encouragement to their future outcome. Grow Baby, grow!

Yuma, YPG and life in the desert: part three

My sister and brother-out-law scouted a few things to visit before we came and all made for a fun day. A trip through the desert to a silver mining ghost town was made even nicer with blooming wildflowers along the way. That and the air conditioning on the dusty road. The weather was just beautiful and my sister offered to sit with our doggy outside in a sheltered picnic area so we could tour the ghost town. We'd packed our lunch for later and when done poking around the town enjoyed a pleasant picnic.

The Castle Dome Ghost town was an odd collection of weathered original buildings brought together to make appear as a town. The collection of items found in these building was worth the trip. Old everyday items become museum pieces after they've been in the elements and walking through this town gave you quite a good idea of life of a miner in this harsh climate. It wasn't even hot, only in the low 80s, and it seemed unbearable. I can only imaging trying to exist in 125 degree days. The perfect thing about this museum was the ability to handle everything. Paging through a cookbook in one of the houses was charming.

It might be unnecessary to say they lived simply but there was a completeness about what was left behind. The buildings housed a variety of different business opportunities; a bar or three, a mercantile, where you could buy almost everything from dynamite to dresses, hotel, and a few eating establishments, there was even a church and a dressmaker. An information plaque made it known that women had more than one job in this mining town.

On one of our drives we did come upon quite a site; military training for paratroopers. Nothing like young men falling from the sky to brighten your day. Past there was a dingy little town that supports a small lake on the Colorado. Calling it a lake is generous since I think I could swim the length. Oddly, not far from the lake were about seven beautiful mansions. Some on the water but most not. These huge houses and compounds were not old at all, most likely built in the last few years, but it strikes you as out of place to find them here. You are literally miles from anything else and Yuma, more than an hour away down a filling jarring dirt road, where you'd likely have any civilization such as a doctor, would be the closest town. I so wanted to knock on the door and ask them what made them decide this was the place to plunk down a mil or two on a house.

Yuma, YPG and life in the desert: part two

Yuma, the closest city, was 45 minutes away and worth the drive if only to see the Territorial Prison Museum and the Quartermaster Depot. Bonus was a fantastic Mexican restaurant called Mi Rancho. So tiny but so authentic I could hardly wait for our next meal. We had lunch then dinner a few days later. Why are these fantastic restaurants so out of the way?

The boring part of Yuma is you need to drive there to do laundry or buy food. There is a small convenience store about ten minutes from the campground at the Yuma Proving Grounds base. Gas, ice, and a few necessities can be purchased there but anything serious needs to be picked up in Yuma. Their paramedics respond to local emergencies around the YPG base which eased my fear for my sister and her husband. Not that anything is wrong with either one of them but a bumpy 45 minute ride to Yuma with a broken arm would be unbearable.

The good part of Yuma was the prison museum and the park that once was the Quartermaster's Depot. If you thought life was difficult in 1863 in the southwest corner of the US it was even worse if you were a prisoner. Finding a need for a more secure place to keep felons, rapists, bank robbers, and murderers they built this fine prison. What was amazing to me was prisoners did escape from this fortress; but to what? Yuma was a tiny spot on the map, far from an other city, and the rest of the area was a harsh desert devoid of anything except snakes, coyotes, and a few natives. Your only hope to survive was the Colorado and Gila river but even that was wrought with danger. Yuma was built as a depot to move goods from California to all the other godforsaken outposts in the California/Nevada/Arizona territories and needed a steamboat to make the crossing. The Colorado, before us Californios sucked it dry, was a formidable river to cross.

The park that now surrounds what's left of the Quartermaster's Depot is quite lovely. A green expanse of a lawn is a welcome site from the rocks and sand of the desert and sitting on the edge of the river afforded us with a lovely breeze. The Depot was the hub of excitement of it's time and, though the commanding officer's wife was less than happy with her situation, it must have been better than other posts. Her writings complained bitterly of the smell and heat but I'm assuming it had something to do with the Victorian modesty of wearing those hideously hot clothes and high button shoes. And the fact that bathing was not a daily ritual as it is today.

The city of Yuma, growing outwardly from the Depot, is very logical, if not boring, in it's street planning. The streets going east and west are numbered as well as the avenues going north and south starting with Main Street. I'm only assuming some tired little man with a pince nez and a heavy wool coat over a waistcoat came up with that idea for lack of the imagination to create names for the newly burgeoning township of Yuma. It is logical but might cause a bit of confusion to an outsider. Always remember to ask if it's fifth street or avenue.

Yuma also is a huge agricultural area irrigated by the tail-end of the Colorado River and is said to keep most of the US in lettuce. I can attest to the fact they are trying. We drove through lots of fields before getting the Yuma proper.

Part three; coming soon.

Baseball season; it can't come soon enough

There are times when I just can't stand people in general. No one person, just the idiots who seem to make it on the six o'clock news for some ridiculous reason, or cut me off trying to get one stupid car length ahead or, are just plain rude; rude on purpose. To combat this ugly mood I was in I decided to be over patient and kind to folks.

While in a department store a woman nearly knocked me over trying to get her cart in front of me and instead of causing a scene I smiled and commented her choice of Easter decorations. Not my choice but then I hardly decorate for Christmas. "Gee, what a cute rabbit," I said. Her response took way too long and included an inventory of everything she was planning to purchase. Did you know you can actually bite your tongue enough to draw blood? Strike One

My next stop was the market and though I had a small amount in my cart I let the woman behind me, carrying just a few items, go ahead. She was wearing a Dodger jacket and being a fan myself I thought I'd have a little conversation; not my usual thing to do in a market but I was trying. "I bet you'll be glad when the season starts," I said brightly. She frowned at me told me her husband buys crap like this in hopes I go to a game with him but I don't because I hate baseball. Strike Two.

People who know me are well aware I have no trouble with the F-bomb; it just rolls off my tongue but since all the kafuffle over some people in our government using it I thought I'd amend my ways. Now, when forced to swear, I'll be saying things like "What the Joe Biden?"
"Oh, Joe Biden, I broke a nail." or, my favorite, "Get the Joe Biden out of my way. Home Run.

Yuma, YPG and life in the desert: part one

Editors note: I would, and maybe still will in the future, have some photos to share but my PhotoShop went away when I installed Snow Leopard the wonderful new operating system for my Mac. I'm not all that upset because I did need to upgrade but I oh so hate to loose my PhotoShop. This version is only about ten years old and it took me a few minutes to convince the tech support fellow that, at one time, Adobe did have a version 7.0. You can view some photos my sister has already posted on her blog, Tombstone Tumbleweed.

Update: I did find a program to handle my pix but not completely thrilled. Time will tell.

It takes a special type of person to live in the desert and for seven days we tried. I would have loved it more if it were not for the wind but, sadly, that is a fact of life there. If we had our larger trailer, rather than the tiny teardrop, the wind would not have been such a factor. We did make the best of it and had a good time.

I'm sure it's the solitude that draws most to camp for months on end in the southwestern Arizona desert that and the challenge of getting by. We test ourselves in a variety of ways and making your place in a desolate area is a big test of your fortitude and ingenuity. I see it as a way to mark your progress and make sure you still can compete. When you live in a big city with big city problems such as traffic on Fridays, if you make it home, you can say with a sigh, I can survive.

The flowers blooming in the desert would be worth the trip. Every day more and more cactus sprouted new colors. The trip home showed even more wondrous colors than the trip seven days earlier. Stars are also wonderful but with light pollution from Yuma and a waxing half moon the only Milky Way we saw was at the convenience store. Sure we could see some of the brighter stars but I was looking forward to the big show. I'm still looking for a dark area to watch the next meteor shower.

Nights are particularly silent save the yip of the way-to-close coyotes. A few different nights they all got together for a sing-fest-potluck and shared their excitement with the whole area. As for other life, we never saw but heard others tell of a 4 foot rattlesnake. I was very careful to poke anything before I picked it up. A more harmless creatures are found running wild around the area; donkeys. These shaggy guys have quite the comical look with elongated ears and fairly large teeth and a kick that can send you sprawling or into a coma. We did finally get to see a group of seven gnawing on a scrubby little bush.

Part Two; coming soon.

Get yourself to the Getty Center

You better hurry, the maze is almost in full bloom and it looks spectacular. What are you waiting for?

Is February really a short month?

Not a leap year so only 28 days to this month might be the reason I've been so busy. Maybe I should be grateful I've got stuff to do to keep me busy but out of the past month I've had something on my calendar almost every day. Oh, there was that one Sunday and a few days around the beginning of the month but for the large part I was a busy retiree.

Shouldn't complain since most all were things I wanted to do. Lots of time with the Princess and one day with the lil guy, a Bat Mitzvah, working at the Getty Center and helping my trainee docent get her wings. She did get her first tour this week. Amazing to her but I knew all along she could do it. There were many opportunities to meet with friends and family and also serious stuff like taxes and doctor appointments.

Don't forget all that time watching the Olympics. I think I'll be glad to see them go though I never did figure that Biathlon. You cross-country ski for a while, stop, shoot at a target, then off to ski some more. Why shoot at a target? Makes as much sense if you ski, stop and knit a hat, ski, stop and make a pie. And the Skeleton, they did not get enough adrenalin sliding down a twisty course on their back so someone decided to go face down head first. Really? Eighty miles an hour? Who dreams this stuff up?

Now with only a few short days left to February I'm still cramming in activities. Today, it's off to LA County Museum of Art for the member's preview of a new painting exhibit, American Stories. I've been looking forward to this almost as much at seeing the Renoir exhibit that opened last week. I don't think we'll have time to see that but will return before it closes in May. So much going on at LACMA right now.

Now that just leaves me with the last weekend of the month and Saturday might just be a good day to watch more of the Olympics, as rain is in the forecast, but Sunday, ah, Sunday should be the jewel. I've heard the Farmer's Market in Atwater Village, an area near Glendale, has a BBQ food vendor that is fantastic. He started selling at Farmer's Markets to finance he BBQ competitions and Big Mista has been written up in the LA Times as a hidden treasure. I must try the Pig Candy.

That would be the end to February but there are a few other things I need to get to. Will somebody hand me that Month Stretcher?

Some waits are worth it

Waiting. Water to boil? Takes forever when you're in a hurry, doesn't it? Babies to be born? Might happen too quick if you are on your way to the hospital is rush hour traffic. Waiting for test results? The time drags like trying to move your kids away from the TV.

Today is the day. To refresh your memory, my darling companion was diagnosed with bladder cancer in February 2008. The tumor was removed but not forgotten. For the first year he was tested every three months. Then every four months, now the Doctor feels good enough to test only twice this year. Today is the first test of 2010.

There is always a certain stress involved with a medical procedure but when it comes back negative there is real reason to celebrate. All that worry up until then is shelved for the next time period and as the negative results pile up you become a little more sure of your world staying the same.

We are lucky to live in a time where treating cancer can work, somethings. Two of my close friends have escaped that nasty old cancer, a few are still dealing with it and with my husband it's now a six month reprieve. Oh, his test; cancer free. Yes, celebration day!

New screen-saver

If I were working this would be my new screen-saver. "Bleah to you all!"

This is my sister's new kitty, Bogie. He looks like a hell-raiser, doesn't he?

Million-dollar view for $25 a night

After a few days at Rincon it's back to reality and a mountain of laundry. So nice to wake up to this view each morning.


High tide did bring the breakers a bit closer than we were hoping but we avoided getting wet. Other, not so lucky.

With little side-trips to Ventura and Santa Barbara we kept quite busy but there was always time for a card game or three.

Little jewels

It's only been recently that I've discovered the fantastic outdoor opportunities we have here in Southern California, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Not that we haven't hiked in the hills around Simi but the organization and extra programs the SMMC provides. Yesterday we explored parts of Franklin Canyon.

Franklin Canyon sits between the valley, right off Coldwater Canyon, and Beverly Hills. Since it was looking like a lovely morning we headed off to start our New Year's promise of getting more exercise.

It was listed as an easy two-hour docent led walk around the lake pointing out areas used in filming movies and commercials. The docent was very good. She had a notebook full of photos of the productions for all the stops she made and could give a quick description of the movie or TV episode that had been filmed there; and a lot had been filmed there. We also learned of the former owners, the Doheney Family. This was their "backyard" and it must have been a lovely ranch complete with guest quarters for friends.

From the classic Clark Gable movie, It Happened One Night; 1937 all the way through to the TV drama, NCIS, this small wooded area had been the backdrop for hundred of movies and commercial. Our docent had little anecdotes for each stop she made and she was quite funny and we were surprised when we ended back at the Nature Center and our two hours were up.

We will go back to Franklin Canyon for another hike but next we want to explore other areas here. There is an astronomer led moonless night hike in January that sounds great.

Let's all be more like the pig

So many are glad 2009 is over. I can't say it's been a great year but it did have some positives. Of course, with anything, there were bad times. Today I'm thinking of the good ones.

My beloved has had another Cancer-free year. My friends are healthy with a few beating Cancer, a few not so lucky. Lil bird's husband is unemployed but I have hope for great things plus I promised to teach him to cook while he's off work. We had a great Christmas. My darling sister and husband lost their long-time friend, Buddy-Cat but after the pain the memories become all that much brighter. Now, they're making an acquaintance with a new guy, Mr Bogart. She swears he'll grow into his ears. We are planning to travel more this year and I didn't brake any bones in 2009.

We live a simple life so life is good for us. I hope you can look toward the future and see the bright spots coming. Remember: Pigs can't look behind them to see the past.

Christmas Guest Chef

After assisting our guest chef in the kitchen it's all I can do to post a link to the food blog. Visit Peanut Butter Etouffee for a special treat.

"They" are wrong

Sixty is not the new forty; Sixty is the new fifty-nine. Happy Birthday to me.

Yes, I know many of my friends are confused. I am celebrating my birthday on the anniversary of my birth this year, why? Because I'm sixty. I'm neither upset nor depressed, hey, it's a number, but I am happy to be closer to Social Security. Plus, I get to ride the bus for half fare. Tender mercies.

Let the Christmas season begin

Heading off to Seattle this Wednesday for a visit with a friend. She's very excited and has all sorts of plans for us. We were hoping to get there for her 30th anniversary with her company but couldn't work out the details. We'll celebrate that milestone anyway. I'm hoping the weather will cooperate and not rain, but hey, it's Seattle. That's the reason we are not driving, unsure of the weather in the northern part of California this time of year. Could be icy.

It's difficult to believe December 1st is here and soon we'll be heading for the desert to have our Christmas celebration. I'm planning a few things here before we go but really low-key this year. I know more folks than ever out of work but I have hope for a bright 2010.

Speaking of December 1, it's a day of worldwide AIDS remembrance; A Day Without Art. If you are visiting the Getty Center today, check their page for a parking coupon and what they'll be doing.

Twenty-ten will be the year my beloved and I travel more, I've rearranged my Getty Docent responsibilities, and bought him a little dash navigator so hopefully I'll be sending some posts from the road. Not sure what I'll do about that yet, though, so many options for communications these days. I'll start by making a Wish List of places we'd like to visit. Camping in different places will be at the top of mine.