Florida is Flat; On the Other Hand...

As much as I like to complain about having to walk the dogs it does get me out at least twice a day, and I get to see a lot of wonderful things. Here are just a few of the shots from this year:

Hey, Gypsy... what do you think we will see around the corner?

We see beautiful misty mornings....

And sniff snails crossing the trail.

And decorated camp sites.

We've seen mama and her twins.

And birds taking flight.

We've intimidated turtles.

We've seen the sun going down...

And we've seen the Denver skyline at night.

We generally go for a long walk in the morning, walking a few miles, and the evening walk is usually a bit shorter.

In Florida we circle in and out of the streets in our neighborhood, we traverse a few pedestrian bridges that cross small lagoons, and we walk along the Caloosahatchie River and through a lovely glade of trees. The greatest change in elevation is probably 3 feet, when I cross one of the bridges. Otherwise, the land is flat! Flat as a pancake!

When we are on the road we have the opportunity to see many new sites, smell new smells and walk new paths. Sometimes we simply walk around the campground. Other places we head out the gates to see what we can see. Recently we walked between a newly planted pecan grove and an older, established pistachio grove. We have walked around lakes and next to rivers. We've walked along highways and on mountain paths.

And now, we continue our morning and evening walks up and down the hills around our California home.

Tucker: Let's go up the hill!
Gypsy: Let's go down the hill!

I don't know about the dogs, but my legs are not used to this!

I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas (Florida...Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) Anymore

After 10 days and over 3100 miles we have arrived at our house in Point Richmond, CA. However, it may be "our" house... but the dogs have never been here before. They don't know that this is "our" house. They were very confused for a bit of time.

When we arrived in the neighborhood (recall, we moved from one house to another in December. We moved about 125 feet. The dogs were not with us when we moved, and had not been with us when we occupied the "new" house.) we pulled into the parking area of the new home. We let the dogs out... well, we opened the door to the truck. Tucker jumped out and with a certain degree of hesitation and confusion, began to head down the street to our former home. Gypsy refused to leave the truck!

Finally after three days they are beginning to settle into the house and back into the routines we established last year.

Of course,  a visit from "their" boy made everything better!

Let's Eliminate Texas

... apologies to all of my friends who live in Texas, but honestly....

If it weren't for Texas... we'd almost be there by now! (Hmmm, if we lived in Texas, we would be home by now!)

I've written about our trips through Texas, 881.5 miles of it (on I-10) before. Here are a few posts from the past:

The Texas Two-Step
Van Horn Texas
Where Cotton is King
What's Good for the Goose

We don't like to drive more than 400 or so miles a day... usually a bit less. So, Texas takes at least 3 days. On the western side of the state, along I-10, we also have to be careful about sites for camping, oh, and gas stations. There are a lot of miles with only a sparse number of campgrounds that we would choose to stay at and fuel stations sometimes are few and far between.
The trek through Texas is long, and I'd like to say it's boring, but there is a lot of diversity in those 881.5 miles: green and lush, and flat, on the eastern side, arid and dry, with hills and lots of rock and arid mountains on the western end. Amazing wild flowers in the median of the Interstate in the spring. Large cities: Houston and San Antonio on I-10 and Dallas/Fort Worth on I-20, each with too much traffic, a lot of road construction, and sudden lane changes that are challenging in a car, and terrifying in a motorhome or towing a trailer. And... the traffic is always an issue, no matter the time of day or the direction one is traveling!
Recently it was announced that MAD magazine would no longer publish new material. The magazine  is/was almost as old as I am. But, one of the most intriguing features in the magazine, one that I loved as a kid, was the fold in found on the inside back cover of the magazine.

I am so wishing that we could create a new map, and "fold in" Texas, allowing us to travel from Louisiana directly to New Mexico!

California Here I Come

We originally planed to leave our Florida home in May so we could enjoy spring in the Bay Area at our new home in Point Richmond. That didn't happen, as we were delayed by the wait for the truck windshield. Then, the Mister needed his annual blood-letting to determine if the Doctor could safely renew his prescriptions. One of his numbers came back outside of the normal range. His Doc wanted him to see a specialist... another few weeks of waiting... then the specialist wanted an MRI... another week of waiting... then the follow-up appointment... more waiting!
I decided that despite windshield woes and medical stuff going on... I was going to CA - without my guy. I hopped on a plane and enjoyed just over a week with grand kids, kids, friends and family, before returning to Florida... where all the medical results are good and we are finally ready to pack up and head back to CA!

Here's just a bit of what I did on my "vacation"...

• I visited two different ukelele meet-up jam sessions with the "other grandmother"
• I played with the kids
• I went to the zoo with the kids and the other grandmother
• I played Mahjong with my CA friends
• I pulled weeds
• I watched the Richmond fireworks on July 3 from the Red Oak Victory ship
• I played ping-pong with a group at "Rigger's Loft" - a local winery
• I enjoyed a few family dinners
• I completed a quilt on the long arm
• I watched ships go in and out of the harbor...

Here are a few pictures of my days in CA...

Nonna Holly joins in the Ukelele sing-along with a little help from Kellan

Alexis in imaginative play

Alexis in a contemplative mood

Kellan's first carousel ride at the Oakland Zoo

What a fantastic view of Oakland, SF Bay and San Francisco from the Oakland Zoo  gondola

Alexis chose the eagle on the carousel

Richmond fireworks celebrations from the Red Oak Victory Ship

Fun play in the back yard

Back yard looking east - BEFORE

Back Yard  looking West - BEFORE

Back yard looking East - AFTER weeding

Back yard looking West - AFTER Weeding

Ship coming into Richmond Harbor as viewed from the kitchen

Now it's time to pack up and put away... and get on the road for adventures as we head west.