Category: Fun

 

We’ve been away for a while, but don’t pay the ransom–we’ve escaped! Actually, we spent the previous two weeks preparing for our trip to the northwest and the Canadian Rockies and loading our trailers. Yes, I said trailers. Readers may remember that we won an RV last fall in a local radio contest. We planned to tow Smoky (our name for the trailer) to California in March and give it to our oldest son and his family until COVID-19 shutdown derailed those plans but, we found a better one.

Shortly after canceling that trip, Collin, our son, who lives in South Carolina, called with a great idea. He and his family planned to spend three weeks in Jackson, Wyoming, beginning in late June with his wife’s family. They planned to drive instead of fly (can’t fault them) and offered to tow Smoky to Jackson and have Justin (California son) meet him there and tow Smoky back to California.

Helen and I have worked on our trip to the northwest for almost a year. Our original departure date was in late June but, after Collin made his proposal, we moved the date up by about ten days, added a few reservations, canceled others, and now had a brand new adventure that included our granddaughters. As the saying goes, “good things happen to those who wait.”

Of course, there is a plot shift to the story…

We have advertised Smoky for sale since late November. Although Smoky is a charming trailer, the floorplan only accommodated three people comfortably. We needed a trailer with bunk beds instead of one twin bed (in addition to a queen). We advertised Smoky for sale last November and had only token interest until two weeks ago when we began receiving some serious inquiries. Due to the pandemic, the public has decided that RV’s are the safest means of travel–and now in high demand. I scheduled three appointments on a Sunday afternoon to show Smoky to inquirers. The first couple that came by bought Smoky with no haggling. The person expected to arrive next called while I was closing the deal and upped the offer by a significant amount, but I turned him down. Smoky now belonged to Arnold and Tammy.

Now, we had to get everything we planned to take to Jackson Hole out of Smoky and find another RV as demand for them was increasing by the day. I won’t detail the search process, but a miracle happened, and we found a 2020 bunkhouse model at the last minute. After camping a few times, times the previous owners decided they needed something that better suited their needs and purchased a larger RV. I snapped it up quickly, brought it home, and Helen and I spent two days cleaning and loading it for the trip. Our granddaughter in California gave our new trailer the name Heidi. After prepping Heidi, we spent an additional two days doing the same for Lucy, our fifth-wheel.

Collin and family arrived last Friday, and we took off on Saturday morning on a journey that will keep us moving until late September. I have posted a rough map of our trip below. As I write this, we are at our third stop in Nebraska City, Nebraska following stops in Paducah, KY and Columbia, MO. The temperature here hovers above 90 degrees, but we’re having a ball. If all goes to plan, we will spend three days in the Badlands and Mount Rushmore on the day this post is published. 

I hope you will join us as we travel. We wish everyone a safe summer.  Stay smart, keep your distance, and we’ll get through this mess soon. Until then, we’re just Easin’ Along.

Last week, I told readers about my Covid-19 project of converting all of our slides to digital files.  I completed the project (applause here) and uncovered a few jewels among the images. I want to focus on a few of those this week. In order to post something timely, I will share some pictures of the pets that have been a part of our household through the years. My apologies for the grainy pictures–I was going for subject matter over quality.

Conveniently, last Sunday was National Pet Parents Day, something I learned by reading Terri Webster Schrandt’s blog, Second Wind Leisure Perspectives.  After converting my pet pictures, I decided to share them in Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge.  Once readers complete this week’s Easin’ Along, I encourage everyone to use this link to visit Terri’s very well-written and very entertaining website.

First, I should let everyone know that Helen and I are no longer pet parents. At the time we downsized, we had two dogs and one cat in our household that you will meet in a few paragraphs.  The dogs were primarily outside pets and had complete freedom to roam the eleven acres we owned at the time. We had not yet retired when we moved into our neighborhood, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of keeping them cooped up in a garage. We found good homes for them on a large farm where they could continue to roam at will. The cat, no longer with us, was perfectly content to watch over the new house.

I miss having a pet around, but pets are not a perfect fit for us and our RV lifestyle of moving around every few days.  Nevertheless, as soon as we change our pace and remain in destinations for more extended periods, I’m eager to “re-dog.” First, I have to convince Helen it’s a good idea.

Now…back to the pictures.

Our first pet was a Long-Haired Dachshund that we named Bruno.  We lived in Wurzburg, Germany at the time, and some friends told us about a breeder, living out in the Bavarian countryside, who raised champions of the breed.  Helen had grown up with dachshunds and wanted one badly.  We visited the breeder, and it was love at first sight. The picture above is the moment we met.

Sadly, Bruno was killed by a car about a year and a half later.  We were devastated and immediately adopted another dachshund we named Hansi.  He was not as even-tempered as Bruno and not at all good with children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our second dog was a beautiful Golden Retriever we adopted when she was about a year old. Maggie was sweet, unbelievably good with young children, and loved Helen.  Maggie gave birth to two litters.  We kept the pick of the second litter, a male named Grits.

The only picture I can find of Grits is this one. I don’t know which one he is, but he’s in there somewhere. Grits was a very handsome dog, with slightly more reddish coloring than Maggie. Both only lived to be about seven years old, and both died from pancreas failure.  I suppose it was a genetic thing.

After the Retrievers, we had a cat named Percy (no picture), who went to live with my Mom, a cat lover.

Next was a tiny teacup Poodle we named Pogo. He never weighed more than four pounds, probably because he expended so much energy barking at me…constantly.  Pogo was Helen’s dog exclusively, and he was very protective.  Pogo lived with us for fourteen very…long…years.

About the time we moved into our lake home, Buddy, one of the masons on my brick crew, told me he was feeding about fifty cats in the trailer park where he lived. I said to Buddy that if he had an orange and white one (Tennessee colors) that might grow into a big cat, I would lighten his feed load by one cat.  The next Sunday, Helen and I came home from church to find a pet crate with one orange and white cat inside. A note, taped to the container, said, “My name is Tom, and I’m yours!”

Tom, renamed Wilbur, moved in…slowly. Wilbur weighed somewhere around ten pounds, had mange and something dreadful oozing from his nose. He needed neutering. Wilbur had six toes on his front paws so, after a $400 vet bill, I instructed Wilbur to rid our newly built home of all the mice that moved in during construction. It took him one day to find the first rodent. It was my turn to fall in love.

Wilbur soon ballooned up to twenty-six pounds and became a delightful, people-loving pet. He followed me around like a love-sick puppy dog. Wilbur lived with us for seventeen years.  I cried when he crossed the rainbow bridge, and I miss him every day.

Soon after Wilbur arrived, we adopted Chuck, an Australian Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix that could run like the wind and loved exploring our property.  Chuck had a lovely disposition and would chase a ball for as long as I would throw it to him.

Almost simultaneously with Chuck’s arrival, we rescued Max, a Shih Tzu, and Bootsie, a petite Calico cat.  I was building a house in a rural area and learned from a nearby property owner that both animals recently appeared on the scene, probably abandoned. Bootsie was a skittish, sickly little thing, and did not live long.

Max was more than likely severely abused.  He would not let anyone put their hands near his face, or they would pay.  Our vet would sedate Max to shave him and we let him live with Chuck outdoors. They were constant companions and got along splendidly.  I said that Max was probably the world’s only outdoor Shih Tzu. Max was a voracious eater. I feel confident that he had faced long periods without food and, every time I placed a food bowl in front of him, I could see the gratitude in his eyes.

Thanks to Terri, I had the opportunity to spend some with our pets again, if only digitally. So glad I got to introduce them to you. I dearly miss every one of these creatures…including Pogo. 

With blurry eyes, it’s time I was Easin’ Along.

Blogging at random…

Another week holed up in the Corona (Man) Cave. It’s beginning to settle in that this is going to be the norm for a while. In many ways, I don’t mind because, as someone who harbors the personality of an introvert, I do very well when it’s just my CD player and me and a stack of discs from the “Grooveyard of Forgotten Favorites.” Occasionally, I allow Alexa in to belt out a few tunes from Amazon Music.

I have some other pursuits to occupy my time. I love to read, but my reading is more about learning than for pleasure. Occasionally, a novel will catch my eye, but I prefer biographies or historical accounts of an event or period in history. Recently, I read The Fifties by David Halberstam, a lengthy summary of an extremely prosperous time in America. I also picked up James Rosen’s The Strong Man about Watergate figure John Mitchell who went to prison then took the secrets of the scandal to his grave.

I love to pour over the few magazines that make it into my inbox.  I can read Garden and Gun from cover to cover in one or two sittings. Trailer Life, a magazine for RVers, is a must-have as far as I’m concerned. Each issue contains articles about products for equipping an RV as well as tips for maintaining one. Contributions from readers about exciting places to visit are useful for trip planning.

Lately, I have spent a significant amount of time learning about my camera and taking pictures with it. Last week’s post contained a few images from my walk through the blooming trees and flowers on one of Knoxville’s Dogwood Trails. This week, I spent time experimenting with those photographs as well as some I captured while walking through the neighborhood. I love bright colors and tried my hand at colorizing a few pictures.  Here are some before and after attempts.  What do you think?

I have enjoyed reading posts from my favorite retirement bloggers listed on the blog roll in the margin of this page. RV Sue, a legend among RV bloggers, came out of sequester to share a glimpse of her life now that she and her crew have left the road full-time. Sue decided it was time for a short road trip.  For her readers’, life almost felt normal again, if only for a brief period.

The remainder of retirement bloggers seemed to be leading the same socially-distanced life that I am, although theirs appeared much more varied…some even humorous (check out Donna’s soup story). Barb is staying busy, Suzanne and Ingrid have their cameras out and much to share with the rest of us. Nancy is carefully enjoying life in Florida, and Mary is counting the days until the boating season. Alan finds plenty to report about in Downtown Knoxville. Please check out these well-written blogs, and then I invite you to come back here and see how exciting my life has been.  For comparison, I decided to make some journal entries on my phone of my activities for several days this week. I would recommend that you keep the list handy.  It is not a cure for the Coronavirus, but it might cure insomnia.

Monday:

Joe: Mopped and vacuumed floors; nap; wrote a short story and sent it in a letter to my granddaughter; watched The Voice; red wine and dark chocolate before bed (apologies to Nutrisystem).

Helen: Cleaned bathrooms; walked with “the girls”; bought wine and lottery tickets; finished a puzzle.

Tuesday:

Joe: Visited Lucy (RV); posted a couple of pictures on Facebook; worked Daily Crossword Puzzle; watched old Perry Mason re-run.

Helen: Played pickleball; made ham and asparagus crepes; walked with “the girls”; visited with my Mom from outside the retirement home; watched NCIS.

Wednesday:

Joe: Walked at 7:30; downloaded two apps to phone; ran rug cleaner; waxed Freddie (car); went to Walmart for more rug cleaner; took pictures of neighborhood flowers; booked campground reservations in Montana (hope it happens).

Helen: Polished silverware; paid bills; online call with physician to refill a prescription; started a new puzzle.

Thursday:

Joe: Finished rug cleaning; experimented with azalea picture; made RV reservation calls; had tuna salad for lunch (back on Nutrisystem); walked 2 ½ miles (I’m paying dearly for the dark chocolate); edited blog photos; Daily Crossword puzzle; watched Moonraker (old Bond flick).

Helen: Picked up some food for her brother; played pickleball; washed, folded, and put away laundry.

I promise I won’t do this to you again…this has to be more excitement than you can stand. I would love to know how you spent your week.  I’m Easin’ Along.