One of the things at some point that we would like to be able to do, in short bursts at least is to live off the grid. We aren't the types of folks to do it for long periods of time, but we do like the idea of being able to do it on occasion. For instance we plan on going to Quartzsite this January for 4 or 5 days. Well, one of the problems with being off the grid like that for a few days is no power. Now, we do have a generator, but runnig the generator is a little noisy.
One of the things we would like to do is maybe get solar for the Motorhome at some point. Solar panels are a little spendy, but we found a website about a guy living off the grid. On his website he talks about making his own solar panels. If this sounds like something you might like to do and potentially save your self a lot of money, check out his website!
How To Make A Solar Panel
Happy camping! Eric and Carol
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Christmas 2012
Our 2012 Christmas was another wonderful one. As was indicated in the previous post, we started our Christmas weekend with a gathering at Calvin and Joyce's for Joyce's 65th birthday on Saturday the 22nd of December. Sunday was fairly uneventful, which was nice since we had to go to work for at least part of the day on Monday, Christmas eve.
On Christmas eve, we traveled up to Pioneer in Amador county to Sandy and Bill Ealy's home. Some number of years ago, we decided that we would limit our family Christmas gifts to basically a 'White elephant' sort of affair. We were also lucky in that we got to have a special addition to our family gathering. Whitney Connor is in town for a while visiting us. She is thinking of relocating from southern California In the picture below, she is the young lady on the right hand side of the picture.
Here is Whitney with her Grand parents, Sandy and Bill! Such a wonderful family!
Everyone had a great time at Sandy and Bills. Even though the gift exchange was for white elephant gifts, there were some great gifts. One of the funnier gifts in this was that someone in the family who had bought the game shown in the picture below with Brandon, was originally bought from Billy, Loretta and Brandon at their family yard sale!
We are always so happy when we get the young adults of the family to join the older family members for these gatherings. As you know, we are always glad to have our dogs to join us for everything we do. So, in the picture below, we have Russ, Katie, Brandon and Whitney as well as Russ and Katie's dog Mac and our dog Charlie! We love the holidays!
After we got done opening the white elephant gifts at Sandy and Bills, we headed home to Rancho Cordova, 'cause Christmas morning, was just around the corner. After a little migration of gifts from the bedroom to the front of the motorhome, we were ready for Christmas morning and opening gifts with Katie and Russ. As you can see, we had a lot of gifts to be opened. We also did pretty well on the Christmas cards that we exchanged with friends and family this year.
We had a great get together with the kids and they loved all of the gifts we got them. Though we don't have a picture of it, the best gift of all was a coffee mug that Katie and Russ made for Carol.
The dogs as I indicated are always part of our family events. Sometimes, we subject them however to things that maybe they don't appreciate so much!
.
Happy camping! Eric and Carol
On Christmas eve, we traveled up to Pioneer in Amador county to Sandy and Bill Ealy's home. Some number of years ago, we decided that we would limit our family Christmas gifts to basically a 'White elephant' sort of affair. We were also lucky in that we got to have a special addition to our family gathering. Whitney Connor is in town for a while visiting us. She is thinking of relocating from southern California In the picture below, she is the young lady on the right hand side of the picture.
Here is Whitney with her Grand parents, Sandy and Bill! Such a wonderful family!
Everyone had a great time at Sandy and Bills. Even though the gift exchange was for white elephant gifts, there were some great gifts. One of the funnier gifts in this was that someone in the family who had bought the game shown in the picture below with Brandon, was originally bought from Billy, Loretta and Brandon at their family yard sale!
We are always so happy when we get the young adults of the family to join the older family members for these gatherings. As you know, we are always glad to have our dogs to join us for everything we do. So, in the picture below, we have Russ, Katie, Brandon and Whitney as well as Russ and Katie's dog Mac and our dog Charlie! We love the holidays!
After we got done opening the white elephant gifts at Sandy and Bills, we headed home to Rancho Cordova, 'cause Christmas morning, was just around the corner. After a little migration of gifts from the bedroom to the front of the motorhome, we were ready for Christmas morning and opening gifts with Katie and Russ. As you can see, we had a lot of gifts to be opened. We also did pretty well on the Christmas cards that we exchanged with friends and family this year.
We had a great get together with the kids and they loved all of the gifts we got them. Though we don't have a picture of it, the best gift of all was a coffee mug that Katie and Russ made for Carol.
The dogs as I indicated are always part of our family events. Sometimes, we subject them however to things that maybe they don't appreciate so much!
Happy camping! Eric and Carol
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Joyce Waite's birthday
This is where we start to hit a fevered pitch during the holiday season. First we have Joyce Waite's birthday followed by Christmas Eve and then Christmas day.
In order to celebrate Joyce's Birthday, we all congregated at Calvin and Joyce's home in Sutter creek, about an hour and a half from Sacramento, in the Amador county foot hills. This year there was a wonderful turn out for Joyce's birthday. Joyce's daughter La Tisha, as well as La Tisha's two daughters Haily and Tori came up for the celebration from their home in Manteca.
Sandy Ealy and her husband Bill came down from high up in Amador county to visit with the family. They also brought along their Grand daughter Whitney, who is in the Sacramento area for a while for a visit. Bill, Loretta and Brandon came down from their home in Pioneer too also join in on the celebration.
Last, but not least, Calvin's son Kevin and Kevin's wife Raina, and their two sons Devon and Shane also made the trek up from the bay area for the visit which un-doubtedly will include the opening of some Christmas presents.
Joyce loves to cook and bake, and as a twist, Joyce prepared the vast majority of the food which was all wonderful. We love this time of year 'cause there is so much good food. The only problem is, all those calories go to our waist lines. Oh well, as you know, that's what New Years is for, all of those 'I'll eat better' starting with new years resolutions.
Stay tuned, 'cause tomorrow is Christmas eve, where we will travel up to Bill and Sandy's for Christmas eve and then Christmas day, we will head to Bill and Loretta's.
Happy Camping! - Eric and Carol -
In order to celebrate Joyce's Birthday, we all congregated at Calvin and Joyce's home in Sutter creek, about an hour and a half from Sacramento, in the Amador county foot hills. This year there was a wonderful turn out for Joyce's birthday. Joyce's daughter La Tisha, as well as La Tisha's two daughters Haily and Tori came up for the celebration from their home in Manteca.
Sandy Ealy and her husband Bill came down from high up in Amador county to visit with the family. They also brought along their Grand daughter Whitney, who is in the Sacramento area for a while for a visit. Bill, Loretta and Brandon came down from their home in Pioneer too also join in on the celebration.
Last, but not least, Calvin's son Kevin and Kevin's wife Raina, and their two sons Devon and Shane also made the trek up from the bay area for the visit which un-doubtedly will include the opening of some Christmas presents.
Joyce loves to cook and bake, and as a twist, Joyce prepared the vast majority of the food which was all wonderful. We love this time of year 'cause there is so much good food. The only problem is, all those calories go to our waist lines. Oh well, as you know, that's what New Years is for, all of those 'I'll eat better' starting with new years resolutions.
Stay tuned, 'cause tomorrow is Christmas eve, where we will travel up to Bill and Sandy's for Christmas eve and then Christmas day, we will head to Bill and Loretta's.
Happy Camping! - Eric and Carol -
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Getting ready for Christmas
Hi there everyone,
Well, as usual, we are keeping very busy with various stuff around Rancho Cordova these days. The last couple of weekends, I've been struggling to replace the brakes on the front of the Accord, but without much luck. The big problem has been breaking loose the nuts on the the brake shoes. If I had a proper service bay so I could get the right angle on things, I could torque on the wrench and break them free. But, no such luck here in a Mobile home park. So, Carol spotted a Living social deal for front brakes of $49. That is a whole lot better than the $168, I was quoted by another shop in the area. Even if they completely foul it up, at least they will be loosening the nuts on the breaks so that I can change them out again in the future! Stay tuned, we will see what happens!
On December 8th, we celebrated Katie's birthday with her and Russell at our local Olive Garden restaurant. As always, the food was yummy and the service was great! We are so very proud of both Katie and Russ, we just wish we had the money to do everything for the kids that we want too. But, then they wouldn't be learning to take care of them selves as well as they are! After dinner together, Katie and Russ went to Black Hawk casino to play some of Katie's free birthday play. They were 'WINNERS'! They won over $1,000 on one machine. This winning allowed them to do some much needed shopping for clothes and camping equipment! Yea kids!
We've decorated our little site at the RV park and we're not the only ones! A number of our neighbors have decorated in preparation for the holiday. With the exception of our Christmas cards, which we place high in the living room, the rest of our Christmas decorations, mostly the tree, reside in the bedroom so that the dogs can't 'remodel' it while we are off to work each day. :-)
Speaking of remodeling, check out the video we have of Charlie remodeling the motorhome while we were gone to work one day. Obviously, he still has a little separation anxiety when we go off to work.
One time when Katie was by one afternoon, she helped us out by taking our 'Family photo' that we used on this years Christmas card!
On Friday the 14th, we went out with some friends to check out some nicely decorated homes in the Rocklin area, which is north east of Sacramento. There are probably 20 homes in that neighborhood that were decorated so nicely. About the only homes that were not decorated, were the ones that are for sale and empty.
Our Christmas Holiday is shaping up to be a busy one, so we're not sure when we'll get the blog updated again. But we hope that your holiday season is a wonderful one!
Happy Holidays! Eric and Carol
Well, as usual, we are keeping very busy with various stuff around Rancho Cordova these days. The last couple of weekends, I've been struggling to replace the brakes on the front of the Accord, but without much luck. The big problem has been breaking loose the nuts on the the brake shoes. If I had a proper service bay so I could get the right angle on things, I could torque on the wrench and break them free. But, no such luck here in a Mobile home park. So, Carol spotted a Living social deal for front brakes of $49. That is a whole lot better than the $168, I was quoted by another shop in the area. Even if they completely foul it up, at least they will be loosening the nuts on the breaks so that I can change them out again in the future! Stay tuned, we will see what happens!
On December 8th, we celebrated Katie's birthday with her and Russell at our local Olive Garden restaurant. As always, the food was yummy and the service was great! We are so very proud of both Katie and Russ, we just wish we had the money to do everything for the kids that we want too. But, then they wouldn't be learning to take care of them selves as well as they are! After dinner together, Katie and Russ went to Black Hawk casino to play some of Katie's free birthday play. They were 'WINNERS'! They won over $1,000 on one machine. This winning allowed them to do some much needed shopping for clothes and camping equipment! Yea kids!
We've decorated our little site at the RV park and we're not the only ones! A number of our neighbors have decorated in preparation for the holiday. With the exception of our Christmas cards, which we place high in the living room, the rest of our Christmas decorations, mostly the tree, reside in the bedroom so that the dogs can't 'remodel' it while we are off to work each day. :-)
Speaking of remodeling, check out the video we have of Charlie remodeling the motorhome while we were gone to work one day. Obviously, he still has a little separation anxiety when we go off to work.
One time when Katie was by one afternoon, she helped us out by taking our 'Family photo' that we used on this years Christmas card!
On Friday the 14th, we went out with some friends to check out some nicely decorated homes in the Rocklin area, which is north east of Sacramento. There are probably 20 homes in that neighborhood that were decorated so nicely. About the only homes that were not decorated, were the ones that are for sale and empty.
Our Christmas Holiday is shaping up to be a busy one, so we're not sure when we'll get the blog updated again. But we hope that your holiday season is a wonderful one!
Happy Holidays! Eric and Carol
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Thanksgiving Red Bluff 2012
Well, our thanksgiving weekend was one to be truly thankful for! It all started with Wednesday morning where Eric was able to get a early start off to work. This, combined with 4 hours of CTO that Eric had earned by going off to work on an early Saturday morning, allowed Eric to return home on Wednesday by around 1:15 in the afternoon. When Eric did get home, Carol had the motorhome all buttoned up and ready to head to Red Bluff. As Carol and Eric headed up to Red Bluff, they stopped at Granzellas in the town of Willams to pick up some sour dough bread. It should be pointed out that this is Charlies first time venturing out in the motorhome. We wonder what he thinks of the idea that the house he now lives in travels to new and interesting places. Charlie was probably a little nervous about this experience, so he sought comfort from Lily by sleeping by her side as we set out on our trip.
Once Eric and Carol arrived in Red Bluff, Eric’s sister Karen had a delicious dinner of Pasta, Chicken vegetables ready to eat. All that was needed was the Sour dough bread! After a delicious dinner at Karen and Mikes rig, we sat and did some catching up, including reviewing Mike and Karens latest coffee table book which was a result of their trip to Austrailia. You too can check out their Austrailian adventure by going to www.return2oz2012.blogspot.com.
On Thursday, we continued to do some catching up on stuff and enjoying the wonderfully warm weather that this Thanksgiving holiday was offering this weekend. Though it only got up into the high sixties temperature wise, there wasn’t much wind and the heat from the sun on ones self, felt wonderful.
Happy hour on Thanksgiving day consisted of the family favorite of Clam dip which Karen prepared. Yummy! For dinner on Thanksgiving day, everyone reposed to Carol and Eric’s motorhome for what turned out to be a wonderful Ham dinner, complete with Augrautin potatos as well as a green bean casrole which Eric and Karen’s mom frequently made on the holiday season. Dinner was toped of with a selection of a couple of peach pies as well as a seasonal favorite of Pumpkin Pie.
It is also seeming to be a tradition where a trip to Red Bluff wouldn’t be complete without some sort of ‘Field Repair’ of our RV. This time, it was a repair of the dash which has started to break down due to Rosie and now Charlie jumping up on the dash to keep an eye on things outside the front wind shield. Eric doesn’t set out to make trips to Red Bluff to be ones where ‘Field repairs’ take place, but sometimes it just turns out that way. The last time we all got together, Eric solicited Mikes help in repairing vinyl that Rosie had chewed up when they first got her. This time, though there wasn’t room for two to work on this project, Eric and Carol found the Crack on the dash forming. And, with Carol returning to work next week, Eric felt like he needed to get started on doing this repair sooner rather than later. So, on ‘Black Friday’ our group made a trip to Camping World to partake in our version of ‘Black Friday’ shoping! Carol and Eric picked up a couple of ‘Christmas’ items. A ‘Camp fire in a can’ and a tow hitch cover are both items that Carol has wanted for some time. So, since we had a 10 percent off coupon for Camping World and the ‘Camp fire in a can’ was at the lowest price that we had seen in a while, we decided to pick one up as well as a hitch cover!
After we were done at Camping world, we made a stop by Home Depot to pick up a few supplies so that Eric could repair the dash of the motorhome. After picking up some L braces, Silicone and Foam tape, we then went and got some lunch at a local diner where Eric and Carol shared a Veggie Mushroom burger and chocolate milk shake! They haven’t shared one of these in a very long time!
Once we all returned to camp, Eric started working on the dash repairs while Mike washed their motorhome and Karen and Carol solved all of the problems of the world! Eric’s dash repair consisted mainly of using some existing 2X4’s and duct tape that Eric had with the addition of the L braces to hold things in place and foam padding to fill the gaps of the brace. The clear silicone was used to fill the crack of the dash. For dinner, on ‘Black Friday’ we ate left overs from Thanksgiving dinner. The food was just as good the second night, if not better than the first night!
After dinner on Friday night, we went outside to try sitting by a ‘Camp fire in a can’ and see how it worked. It ended up working great! We are so glad that we have added ‘Camp fire in a can’ to our RV’ing equipment. Now, we can lighten our load a little bit by taking the firewood and the larger fire pit out of the motorhome.
This is probably the last road trip until we head off to Quartzsite in Arizona in January. But, never fear, we will continue to update the Blog on a regular basis as we proceed through the Holiday season.
Happy Camping! – Eric and Carol -
Once Eric and Carol arrived in Red Bluff, Eric’s sister Karen had a delicious dinner of Pasta, Chicken vegetables ready to eat. All that was needed was the Sour dough bread! After a delicious dinner at Karen and Mikes rig, we sat and did some catching up, including reviewing Mike and Karens latest coffee table book which was a result of their trip to Austrailia. You too can check out their Austrailian adventure by going to www.return2oz2012.blogspot.com.
On Thursday, we continued to do some catching up on stuff and enjoying the wonderfully warm weather that this Thanksgiving holiday was offering this weekend. Though it only got up into the high sixties temperature wise, there wasn’t much wind and the heat from the sun on ones self, felt wonderful.
Happy hour on Thanksgiving day consisted of the family favorite of Clam dip which Karen prepared. Yummy! For dinner on Thanksgiving day, everyone reposed to Carol and Eric’s motorhome for what turned out to be a wonderful Ham dinner, complete with Augrautin potatos as well as a green bean casrole which Eric and Karen’s mom frequently made on the holiday season. Dinner was toped of with a selection of a couple of peach pies as well as a seasonal favorite of Pumpkin Pie.
It is also seeming to be a tradition where a trip to Red Bluff wouldn’t be complete without some sort of ‘Field Repair’ of our RV. This time, it was a repair of the dash which has started to break down due to Rosie and now Charlie jumping up on the dash to keep an eye on things outside the front wind shield. Eric doesn’t set out to make trips to Red Bluff to be ones where ‘Field repairs’ take place, but sometimes it just turns out that way. The last time we all got together, Eric solicited Mikes help in repairing vinyl that Rosie had chewed up when they first got her. This time, though there wasn’t room for two to work on this project, Eric and Carol found the Crack on the dash forming. And, with Carol returning to work next week, Eric felt like he needed to get started on doing this repair sooner rather than later. So, on ‘Black Friday’ our group made a trip to Camping World to partake in our version of ‘Black Friday’ shoping! Carol and Eric picked up a couple of ‘Christmas’ items. A ‘Camp fire in a can’ and a tow hitch cover are both items that Carol has wanted for some time. So, since we had a 10 percent off coupon for Camping World and the ‘Camp fire in a can’ was at the lowest price that we had seen in a while, we decided to pick one up as well as a hitch cover!
After we were done at Camping world, we made a stop by Home Depot to pick up a few supplies so that Eric could repair the dash of the motorhome. After picking up some L braces, Silicone and Foam tape, we then went and got some lunch at a local diner where Eric and Carol shared a Veggie Mushroom burger and chocolate milk shake! They haven’t shared one of these in a very long time!
Once we all returned to camp, Eric started working on the dash repairs while Mike washed their motorhome and Karen and Carol solved all of the problems of the world! Eric’s dash repair consisted mainly of using some existing 2X4’s and duct tape that Eric had with the addition of the L braces to hold things in place and foam padding to fill the gaps of the brace. The clear silicone was used to fill the crack of the dash. For dinner, on ‘Black Friday’ we ate left overs from Thanksgiving dinner. The food was just as good the second night, if not better than the first night!
After dinner on Friday night, we went outside to try sitting by a ‘Camp fire in a can’ and see how it worked. It ended up working great! We are so glad that we have added ‘Camp fire in a can’ to our RV’ing equipment. Now, we can lighten our load a little bit by taking the firewood and the larger fire pit out of the motorhome.
This is probably the last road trip until we head off to Quartzsite in Arizona in January. But, never fear, we will continue to update the Blog on a regular basis as we proceed through the Holiday season.
Happy Camping! – Eric and Carol -
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Double Trouble
This last weekend, Katie and Russ brought Mac, our grand dog by to meet Charlie. Ever since we met Charlie, we commented how much Charlie and Mac are alike. Asside from Charlie maybe being a little older.... Well, you'll have to judge for your self!
Happy Camping! Eric and Carol Anderson
Happy Camping! Eric and Carol Anderson
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Veterans day
Carol and I once more made the short journey to the Mather Field VA hospital which is just across US50 from our home. At this VA hospital they conducted the 7th annual Veterans day celebration. We were both so thankful to be able to attend this wonderful event. Last year when we went to this event, there was a storm that came through. None the less with tents with covers on three sides of each tent, the event went on. This year, the weather was beautiful. Frankly, it was a glorious day. There were veterans there that served as far back as World War II. Every branch of the military was represented at this event. The sad part of the event that there wasn't a better turn out of 'non-veterans'. Carol and I found this sad. None the less, we were so proud that we were able to attend this event
There was a fly over of C-130 at the beginning of the event. All through the event, the 59th Army band performed a wonderful number of arrangements.
There was a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem was sung by a trio of young ladies from the Cordova High School Choir.
There was a speech given by Daryl Steinberg the President protem of the California State Senate.
Also, the mayor of Rancho Cordova gave a wonderful speech.
The keynote speech was given by a Jonathan Cullifer, a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and a recipient of the Purple heart. Jonathan talked about his service in both the Marine corps and the US Army. He also spoke of his battles with PTSD and how the fine staff at the VA hospital helped to talk him back from 'The edge' of taking his own life. We are so glad we had the opportunity to hear him speak about the challenges he has faced and it was clear about the bravery he has faced his challenges with.
Carol and I celebrate our veterans and current service personel everyday of our lives, but it is events like this where we really realize just how lucky we are to live in this great nation, and just how thankful we are to have the brave men and women that serve in our US Armed forces.
As you can see, our dogs are proud and thankful too!
Happy Camping! Eric and Carol Anderson
There was a fly over of C-130 at the beginning of the event. All through the event, the 59th Army band performed a wonderful number of arrangements.
There was a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem was sung by a trio of young ladies from the Cordova High School Choir.
There was a speech given by Daryl Steinberg the President protem of the California State Senate.
Also, the mayor of Rancho Cordova gave a wonderful speech.
The keynote speech was given by a Jonathan Cullifer, a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and a recipient of the Purple heart. Jonathan talked about his service in both the Marine corps and the US Army. He also spoke of his battles with PTSD and how the fine staff at the VA hospital helped to talk him back from 'The edge' of taking his own life. We are so glad we had the opportunity to hear him speak about the challenges he has faced and it was clear about the bravery he has faced his challenges with.
Carol and I celebrate our veterans and current service personel everyday of our lives, but it is events like this where we really realize just how lucky we are to live in this great nation, and just how thankful we are to have the brave men and women that serve in our US Armed forces.
As you can see, our dogs are proud and thankful too!
Happy Camping! Eric and Carol Anderson
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