Feeling poorly and feeling better

Over the last couple weeks, we have been staying fairly close to home, as rain storms have come and gone. It has been a wet and dreary winter of 2016 and 2017. Neither Carol or I voted for our newly inaugurated president and so far are less than impressed. Though we share some of his concerns about our country, we are concerned just how well equipped he is to keep our country safe in this large complex world of ours. But, we will continue to make a difference where we can, and hope for the best.

Eric was down sick with a pretty bad cold on the weekend of Martin Luther kings Birthday. He ran a fever for a few days that reach up to 102 degrees, but fortunately, only had to take one day off from work on top of the three day weekend, to get back on his feet. Carol did a great job of taking care of Eric, and additional 24 care was provided by the dedicated dogs, Charlie and Rosie.

On the weekend of the 21st, Carol went up to her brother Billy's in Pioneer California to help Billy's wife Loretta give Billy some respite as their sons care taker so he could go see a sportsman's show. You see, Billy and Loretta have a son named Brandon who is in his 30s and has muscular dystrophy. It has been a long slow battle for Brandon, Billy and Loretta. In 2016, Brandon had a cardiac event and is now mostly bed ridden and full time on a respirator. Billy retired a few years ago, but Loretta continues to work. Since Billy is retired, he fills the role as full time care taker of Brandon. It's hard for the family, but Billy and Loretta have stepped up to the plate as much as possible.  Unfortunately, Billy can't get out of the house much, so Loretta asked Carol if she would come up and help her care for Brandon, so that Billy could go out with his brothers to the sportsman show. Carol was glad to do it, and Billy really enjoyed being able to get out of the house for a bit.

While Carol was up in Pioneer, I went to Sacramento's Southside park to join ten's of thousands in support of the 'Women's Rights' march, that took place all across the county, the day after Donald Trumps inauguration.

Rosie is 8 years old, and Charlie is 7. Both are in the prime of their lives. Rosie has had some knee problems, but we've tried our best through surgery and PT to keep her healthy and happy. Charlie is the eternal puppy and even to this day, still hops up on the dining room table. He we have made it clear to him that this is not acceptable, but he sometimes just can't help him self.

We are getting ready to complete the blind upgrade in the motorhome, but we are trying to do it in such a way that we don't incur an additional balance on the credit cards. So, we every month or so, we buy a blind or two. This month we bought the blinds for the Bedroom. Eric will be completing the install the first weekend in February. In the mean time, we spent $6.00 at Ross and bought a cloth shoe rack. This has helped us to clean up the floor of the closet and will keep the shoes from getting scratched by other shoes.

We are surprised it took us 6 years to get around to this simple little up grade!

The second weekend of February, we will be taking the rig out to Redding to hook up for Eric's Sister Karen and brother-in-law Mike for Eric's birthday. We will probably post another update by then at the very latest!

Safe travels!

Our setup

Hi there everyone,

Here is a video that I recently put together on our setup at the Aspen Grove RV and Mobile Home park in Rancho Cordova California, just east of Sacramento. We have been full timing since 2010 and at this particular location since 2011. This video gives you a good idea of a set up that gives us maximum comfort and flexibility as far as going out to see this beautiful country of ours!

Safe travels!

Eric and Carol Anderson

Getting a wet start to 2017

For as far back as many Californian's can remember, many of us can't remember a year that we were not in a Drought. Though we have had 'Wet' years, there is nothing in recent memory as wet as this winter has been. This year, in early January, we had a day where we got over 2.25 inches of rain. Also, during the month of January, some Sierra ski resorts have reported 11 FEET of snow, during the month.

Being that we both still have full time jobs that take us to our Brick and Mortar employers every day, it is critical to get Charlie and Rosie out for their morning walks to not only get them some exercise and a way to have a break in the boredom, but also to encourage them to go potty. Thankfully, also early in January, PetSmart had a clearance on doggie outer wear which included rain coats! We picked up two rain coats, one for Charlie and one for Rosie. Though we would have loved to gotten Rosie a pink one, she is a big girl and there were no extra large ones to be found online or anywhere in the Sacramento area. These are great coats because they keep the majority of the dog dry but they also have reflective tape sewn into the coat so that even in the dark, an approaching car can see us out for our walk.

Though we love the RV and Mobile home park that we live in, as with anything, there is no such thing as a perfect situation. For instance, we love the fact that the RV park is on well water. We love it of course, until the well pump dies. And this week, on top of the inconvenience of all the water that has come, the well pump decided to die and the system was down for 3 days. Fortunately, we try to always keep a full fresh water tank when we are home, just in case of such inconveniences. We both have our 'Navy' showers down to a science as well as being conservative in general about our water usage. After three days, the well pump was replaced and then we only needed to use bottled water a couple more days until the tests came back indicating the water from the well was safe to drink.

All in all, things are going really well at our site during this rainy season, and we hope it is for you as well.

Safe Travels!

And the year of 2016 wraps up.

The year of 2016 was such a un-pleasant emotional ride. Though the year had many high points, anger and fear that this year fostered was so hard to deal with. Thankfully, the last few days of 2016 were the high note that we needed our year to end with.  On Wednesday the 28^th of December, Carol and I took a road trip to visit family in Ashland Oregon. On the trip, we passed the Sutter Buttes, Castle Crags, Black Butte and Mount Shasta. We also passed a truck being towed up the highway that had seen better days.

We had family members that came from as far as Long Beach California and New Brighton Connecticut. We stayed at the Glenyan RV Park in the south eastern part of Ashland Oregon. We had the first slightly unnerving experience where a guy knocked on our door of the motorhome and wanted some extra strength Tylenol or Hydrocodone. This is the first time this has ever happened to us, and even after talking to Karen and Mike, who have traveled far more than we had, they too have only had one event like this which was a little unnerving.

The weather was damp and cold, the pond near the office was frozen in places which allowed the ducks to ‘Walk on water’ in some places. Fortunately, our Allegro Bus is well insulated and we had topped off with propane before going north for the visit, so all of us, including the dogs, were very comfortable.

Our visit was cut far too short due to the threat of an approaching snow storm, but during the short time that we were there, we managed to get together for some great food and even better conversation.

Our trip to Oregon and home was equally uneventful. The fireworks and blaring horns were a bit much for Rosie as we rang in 2017, but she seems to be recovering nicely as New Years Day proceeds.

Here is to hoping that 2017 gets better as the year moves on!

And the Christmas holiday begins!

Our Christmas holiday started with a trip up to Pioneer California to spend time with Carol’s family. Our destination was Billy and Loretta’s home where they have a fairly large lot of property. We arrived Friday night during a rain storm that caused us to make some ruts in the drive way. Being up in the foot hills, the property had a slope that we compensated for as best as we could.

On Christmas eve, we drove further up the hill to have dinner at Bill and Sandy Ealy’s where there is always plenty of food to be had. As always we enjoyed the gift exchange where there was plenty of competition for some of the many sought after gifts.

On Christmas day, we had a nice visit with some of Loretta’s family members and had a wonderful Christmas day dinner.

On Monday, we were headed home and were relieved to be able to have the motorhome level again, get some laundry done and put on more propane before we headed to Ashland Oregon for the New years festivities.  

Safe Travels all!