A Different Life II

[Lily&Me]

I have had a busy week...two concerts for the grands, orchestra and chorus, labs done yesterday, the Toyota serviced Monday and tomorrow Lily goes in for her shots.

And, yesterday, my 3 1/2 year old IPad went on the fritz, with grey bars appearing on the screen.

I talked with three different service places this morning, all of whom had different thoughts as to the cause, none of it sounding good, and none of whom could look at it for days.

Finally spoke with someone at Verizon tech support, who diagnosed a hardware issue, now intermittent rather than constant, but it would need to be sent in for repair.

I could put that off, hope for the best, and then likely have the screen just fail suddenly wherever I happened to be. Sigh.

It has given me 3 1/2 years of heavy use, been rock climbing at Chaco and otherwise all over the country, as well as to Greece.

Ended up getting a Mini 4, much to my geek son’s dismay, who felt strongly I should just get the newest IPad...which I didn’t want, it being quite a bit larger than the mini, which I like and which slips easily into a purse or bag.

I just couldn’t see heading out on the road without reliable electronics, but if anyone had predicted 20 years ago how dependent and attached I would become to a smart phone and tiny tablet, I would have said “no way”.

Way.


Next week is Christmas, then a couple of days with the grands, then minus anything unforeseen will load up the Interstate and head out. I am pining for travel.


This is a surprisingly good book, a crime mystery about a gorilla that knows sign language and witnesses the kidnapping of a baby...

Yes, it’s good, and written for adults.

https://www.amazon.com/Only-Witness-.../dp/0979876869

I haven’t finished it yet, but it definitely has my interest and is a nice break from my usual suspects.

I am about halfway through, and expect the gorilla to save the baby.

[OTRA15]

Sorry about your Mini problems. I have been using that model for many years, and love it. Among other things, it fits in the steering wheel of the van, for reading during coffee breaks and so forth. [ . . . not while driving . . . ]

With an assortment of pillows, it can also be viewed while resting on a couch or recliner, albeit fairly close to one's face. With earphones it works just fine IMO. With Netflix and Amazon Prime, plus various packages like Acorn TV, BritBox, PBS, HBO etc., the film options are extensive. Some of the BBC etc. crime shows like Shetland, Hinterland, Vera, and so forth make for almost unlimited options on the road, and their cinematography is much more appealing visually, compared to the action-packed graphics over here on this Hollywood-based side of the pond.

What a world . . .



Peter

[Lily&Me]

Hi Peter!

This is a 128 GB mini, twice the capacity of my current, which will allow me to download some movies for long trips, not really feasible to this point, so that may be nice, tho I am used to just doing without TV a lot of the time.

I have been on my IPad about 30 minutes this morning, and am down to 17% battery from fully charged, so it is definitely in its death throes.

New one arrives today.

Maggie

[Jakeo62]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

My dear niece graduated from ISU yesterday, a semester early, one step closer to being fully and successfully launched into adulthood.

She already has one job offer, and another seems likely...good for her.

I’ve enjoyed having more contact with her these past few years, and watching her thrive and blossom...what we all want for our children.

May life generally treat her well, and may she quickly find her footing and right herself when it doesn’t.


We have had a lot of rain this week, and Lily missed two days of walking because of it, confined only to chasing squirrels and rabbits around the back yard.

But, today temps are mild and no rain since Friday, so she has had a wild romp in our favorite nature preserve.

She is truly in her element in the woods, probably remembering the long and faraway gone times when she was once a free...tho starving...pup, minus a leash or even a collar.

If she could say so, I feel certain she would rather have food, water, stability and love, than total freedom, but she certainly revels in these periodic, unrestrained forages in the woods.

She runs and pounds up and down the trails, never getting too far away, sniffing and pausing to paw gently at anything that seems particularly interesting...my sweet baby.

Love following your adventures with "Grands" and Lily but a word of warning. The woods that I see Lily running in could have Coyotes and Fox. If she should come in contact with one it would be a disaster! I live in a small city (near Toledo Ohio) and in the past years they have become a problem for animal control even tho traffic is heavy and woods are not thick. I wanted to pass this on as I have read more stories then I care to about these animals attacking dogs. BE CAREFUL PLEASE!!

[Lily&Me]

Thanks for that warning, and we do have both coyotes and foxes around here, tho they tend to be notoriously shy and avoidant of humans.

They would have to not be afraid of her or me, to approach us, which would indicate something amiss with the animal, from what I understand.

We will be careful.


I appreciate endlessly that my grands are still willing to go anywhere, anytime, with their Grandma, loving adventures great and small.

As they get older, I know that is going to come to an end, but in the meantime I am loving time alone with them and we are making memories while we can.


I am awaiting HistoriCorps projects for 2019 to come out, and am hoping Bodie, CA, is on their list again, and at a time when I could be there.

The thought of seeing and working in a ghost town almost makes me giddy.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509

It would be a looooong drive out there, but I’ve also never been to Yosemite, and do have this newer rig...and, I’m not getting any younger.

If not soon, when?

Has anyone ever been to Bodie, what are roads like and is the altitude an issue?

I know Vince has been there, but would love to hear from anyone else who has been in that area recently.

I do love to plan.

Maggie

[dennis3751]

Bodie is just off US 395 which is a major highway. Tioga Pass is just north of Bodie and isually opens by June but it all depends on snow pack. It sounds like a great trip!
Dennis

[Lily&Me]

Thanks for that information.

Maggie

[The Ice Man]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Thanks for that warning, and we do have both coyotes and foxes around here, tho they tend to be notoriously shy and avoidant of humans.

They would have to not be afraid of her or me, to approach us, which would indicate something amiss with the animal, from what I understand.

Our Lily, at 30 lbs., is considerably smaller than yours, but a pack of coyotes can do a lot of damage is a fraction of a second. She survived but it wasn't fun.

[Lily&Me]

My goodness, IceMan!

That looks horrifying, and I’m sure it was.

I hope we never encounter even one, when in the woods by ourselves. We do see them occasionally at a distance.

I don’t believe this nature preserve is large enough to support a pack of anything...


The Mini 4 arrived this afternoon, and I have gotten it all set up.

Between the ailing IPad, a crisis I’ve been called in on, appointments and kid things, I feel like I have been gone, or had the phone to my ear, at least half of my waking hours this week..and as a retired person I am not accustomed to that, I am instead spoiled.


My sweet Lily is healthy and down 2lbs, they tell me, now immunized and registered with the county for another year.

We’re good to go.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I sent the grands these pictures of the Windy City at Christmas...they’re getting excited, and I’m excited.

[Lily&Me]

Wishing the happiest of the holiday season to all, however you celebrate, and may 2019 bring you at least some of what you dream of.

[Mansderm161]

You too, have a Very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and I'll see you when our paths cross! Debbie

[Lily&Me]

Ill be at Tybee and then Edisto in February and March, Debbie, so maybe we can meet up.

I’d love to see your new rig.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Note to self...

When walking in Nature Preserves, mind the established trail and don’t divert into a deer path.

Also, never set out without one’s whistle.

Lily and I had an extra long walk this morning, when what I thought was trail was deer path and we had to tromp over very uneven terrain, thru marsh and over fallen branches and trees to find our way out.

I had my phone in my pocket, so could have pulled up PocketEarth if I needed to, but my relatively poor sense of direction did actually suffice.

I’m thinking...what if I step in a hole, or twist my ankle, or fall going over or under one of these downed trees.

But, I didn’t, tho I was tired and Lily exhausted by the time we got back to the car.

She had a blast.

Maggie

[OTRA15]

A basic personal emergency locator beacon [a land-based EPIRB], and small strobe light like sailors have on their PFD's, might be advisable for long solo walks:

https://www.google.com/search?q=emer...com&gws_rd=ssl
https://www.google.com/search?q=PLB&...=airforums.com

Having these tools in the RV would also be a good idea for single travelers, in this day and age -- a personal choice about which risks to take, and which to temper. Another good tool inside the trailer would be emergency air horn, like sailors carry as a back up to the boat's emergency horn:

https://www.amazon.com/K3-Brands-USC...portable&psc=1

The air canisters are readily available.

Not liking the idea of having an accident and being out of touch with the world.

Peter

[Lily&Me]

Thank you, Peter, tho I did have the phone in my pocket.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We’ve had a busy week.

Had a lovely holiday with my son/his, and I enjoy so very much being the guest who brings sides...rather than the host.

I ended the day with a trip to a Prompt Care, for stitching closed of a self inflicted wound from the evening before.

Sparing the gory details, the injury involved the attempted removal of a stuck blade with a plier...which slipped.

I bled like a stuck pig, of course, but once staunched I hoped to close this deep and gaping wound with butterfly bandages....which would not adhere, and stay that way.

So, off to a brand new facility not far from me, where I was stitched up by a sweet nurse practitioner who had previously only done sutures on cadavers.

It is healing nicely, and next week I will remove the sutures myself with the little, sterile, suture removal kit they sent me home with.


The Interstate is in the driveway, packing has begun and the area by my front door looks like someone is readying to evacuate for a hurricane or some such horrific event. There is nothing neat and tidy about prepping to leave for a few months.

Lily is watching with great interest, wagging her tail and looking quizzically at me each time I come in from taking a load out...is it time to go, yet?


Currently in Chicago with the grands, after train-ing in yesterday morning.

They are sleeping in, Grandma has already had her second cup of coffee.

‘Twas a wet and soggy day yesterday, making getting around less than enjoyable, but we have dry and continued mild today.

The hustle and bustle and lights of the city are always a treat, and we walked last evening amongst it all to a restaurant for dinner that Doug and I frequented when we would come up here.

I like to expand on their memories of Grandpa Doug, taking them to places he and I enjoyed so that they can become part of their memory repertoire of him...also speaking the “Grandpa would say...” when the opportunities arise.

They nod their heads, and take it in.


A family gig tomorrow, then on the road Sunday if nothing arises.

I’m ready.

[Lily&Me]

Ice skating in Millenium Park on Michigan Avenue was definitely the fave activity...

People of all ages and levels of expertise were having a blast. This Grandma wisely cheered them on from the sidelines.

[Lily&Me]

We are two days gone, and just settled into a beautiful, empty but for one other state park in Arkansas til Thursday.

Left home in very cold temps, and needed heat last night but I can now have the windows open and need no jacket.

We drove this morning thru fierce rain and wind, but stayed on the road and had no mishaps. Dry and the sun out by the time we got here mid afternoon, but the fields and other low lying areas are filled with water everywhere you look.


It always looks like a bomb has gone off inside the Interstate, leaving for the winter trip...too cold for most things to go out until the day of departure, frig is packed but everything else just carried in and left in sacks to unpack the first night.

I do not like chaos, I like order , so everything was reasonably put away before down time last night, and we (meaning Lily) could move freely about.

Back in the old days, Doug would drive and I would put things away all the first day, we would then settle into our neat and tidy Interstate come evening and share a split of champagne to celebrate beginning one more trip. Sigh.

I’ll have a solo glass of something sparkling tonight. My life now.


I brought most of my yarn stash, stuffed into black nylon carry bags that can ride fairly inconspicuously, and will make lighter weight hats and scarves to leave wherever this next month or so.

Then the plan is to make double thickness potholders/hot mats from my cottons, I think, to leave at the donation centers along the Gulf as I head east.

I look to use up most of this yarn before I return home.

I am dreading seeing the hurricane damage...so awful and devastating for all those affected, so frightening that these horrific disasters could strike any of us.


I’ll organize and fine tune inside tomorrow, so that when we get into Louisiana on Thursday I can look for a repair place to fix the leak at the back of my toilet, which sprung when I turned the pump on yesterday afternoon.

Winterization fluid spewed out, so I don’t understand why it apparently froze, but I can’t fix it myself, I do not think.

I have plumbers tape, but can’t see a crack at the juncture where it is leaking. It may just be old plastic, exposed for the first time to a Midwest winter.

Sigh. Repairs are part of the privilege of travel, right?


Treated myself to lunch out today, at the Sawmill Cafe in Forrest City, AR. It sounded good from the sign I saw, and was especially promising when the parking lot had several RV’s and many pickup trucks in it when we pulled in. Doug always used pickups in the parking lot as a barometer for good eating in local places.

A huge buffet, with several meats and various casseroles, plus bountiful salad and dessert bars, for the bargain price of $10.99.

I didn’t begin to do it all justice, but had a delicious, balanced meal with dessert, so am not complaining. Nor did I cook it or clean up.


So, we are on the road, and delighted to be so.

Happy New Year!

Maggie

[Hittenstiehl]

Have a safe, beautiful adventure into the New Year.