Hot, big and fast

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Jim Melvin

HOT HOT HOT…

This past weekend it was blazing hot. It was 100 – 105 degrees the whole weekend with hardly any wind to cool it down. Inside my rig it got up to 95 even with a fan running most of the day. Chica and I spent almost the entire day at the picnic table under the shade of my canopy.

The fire danger is also HIGH. There was not a very big snow fall this past winter and there wasn’t much rainfall this spring. The Forest Service is not allowing any campfires is dispersed camping areas, so the only place campers can have a campfire is in campgrounds in the fire rings.

It does cool down a bit at night but it is still too warm to sleep with any covers.

Up at the crack of dawn

I was awake at 6:00am on Saturday morning (believe it or not) and decided to get up and clean all the bathrooms before anyone else woke up. Then I went back to bed and slept for about an hour before finally getting up. I’m glad I got that out of the way before the heat set in.

Lots of Hummingbirds

I picked up a hummingbird feeder at True Value when I was in town and set it up under my canopy. I got quite a few birds the first day, but was shocked when I went out to check on it yesterday. It was empty! I filled it back up and sat there watching it and I must have gotten at least 10 – 15 hummingbirds eating out of it. They were flying everywhere.. Needless to say they went through another container. These guys are really hungry! I haven’t been able to get any good pics yet so maybe next week.

Campground Full Again

Lake Harriet campground fills up every weekend so it does keep me very busy. Most of the campers leave on Sunday so I have to make sure their campfires are out. This weekend there is only one camper left over from the weekend so it will be pretty quiet around here for at least one day. This is also the last weekend before the holiday. Next weekend should be crazy with all reserved campsites full and people will probably fill the walk-in sites by Wednesday or Thursday.

Since I did not post this last week as originally planned it is now July 4^th weekend. The campground has been full four days in a row. I thought it would be a very crazy loud weekend but many of the campers are just couples with a few singles here and there. No loud noise after 10pm. It sure makes my job easier. Lots of day use people but they have to leave at 10.

Grandson Arriving

I will pickup my grandson Eric at the Portland airport Sunday afternoon and he will spend a couple of days with me. He lives in Fort Worth, TX so this should be quite different for him. I am really looking forward to showing off my backyard here in the beautiful Mt Hood National Forest. He won’t be here long but hopefully I can squeeze a lot into that short time.

More Trophy’s

They will be stocking the lake with about 333 trophy rainbow trout sometime this week. Once they do that the fisherman will be out here in droves. I get quite a few camping in the park, but a lot come out here for the day and utilize the day use area. Many of them line the shores with their motorhomes, campers, etc. It can become a real zoo once they know the lake has been stocked. Some are even fishing right where they drop the fish off. They are catching them right and left. To me that seems unfair to the fish. At least let them have a chance to swim out into the lake and then use your fishing skills to catch them. Here is a pic of the truck stocking the lake.

James, James and Maggie

A couple of weeks ago I saw two hikers with their dog cooling off in the day use area. After talking with them for a bit I found out they were father and son out for a week long hike of the area. They had been dropped off at the campgrounds but it was too late to start on their hike. I told them we had a campsite available for the night. They grabbed it and decided to start on their hike early in the morning. The father told me he had diabetes. I took down an emergency phone number just in case nobody heard from them.

A week later they were back in the campground and took the same site for several days until their friend was scheduled to pick them up. Here are the pics of both James (father and son) and Maggie. Maggie was huge but a big baby.

Dangerous Driving

Many of the roads in the area are one lane dirt or gravel forest roads. They are not dangerous roads except when people speed. On my way to Timothy Lake I spotted this car off the side of the road. They went too fast going into a curve and the car slid off the road. Luckily they were stopped by two trees or it could really have been disastrous. It is about 300 feet or more down to the river. Of course there are lots of trees to stop them before they got down that far. I got out to check to see if anyone was still in the car, but someone else had already checked and there was a note stating “no one inside”. I am sure this car will be totaled as the undercarriage was badly damaged and just towing it out would cause a lot of damage.

More to come next week.

Pics of my Summer Home

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Jim Melvin

I am still having problems with the new Photos application on my MAC so I decided to revert to the old IPhotos application. I couldn’t get the new Photos to upload the pics from my camera. Thankfully the old IPhotos has no problem.

Following are some pics of my campsite here at Lake Harriet. The first couple pics shows my view of the Oak Grove Fork of the Clacamas River. I love my backyard.

My chair where I sit every afternoon with Chica is on the right of this next pic. Not too shabby!

I have moved my rig further into the sun from this pic. My panels weren’t getting enough sun to keep the batteries charged.

This is the day use area with the lake in the background. The lake is much larger then it appears in this pic.

Chica is having a ball in the grass with the river running by.

This is Chica’s favorite spot for catching the afternoon sun.

Here is the narrow road that leads to our campground.

Lots of Fish

I am sure getting a lot of fish dinners. One camper gave me this beautiful Rainbow Trout, which I cooked up real nice. It was delicious. Another camper brought me dinner two different times and they were fried trout. Really good!

Timothy Lake

I drive up to Timothy Lake every Wednesday to take a nice long hot shower. They also have washers and dryers that I can use free. I also can use their Internet to check on email. This is the lodge and the duplex at Timothy Lake that the PGE employees can rent for a modest fee.

View of Mt Hood

After finishing up with business at Timothy Lake I took a ride across the dam and part way around the lake. From the Hoodview Day Use area there is a great view of Mt Hood. If you look close you can see a family of ducks enjoying the lake.

Found the Pacific Crest Trail

I kept going further and found the Pacific Crest Trail that stretches for 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada.

Then I crossed back over the dam and got this pic of the lake on one side and the river far down on the other side.

I hope this shows you a bit of what it looks like in my beautiful summer home. I will try to post more often now that I have the pics figured out.

Update on Lake Harriet but no pics

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Jim Melvin

I am finally settled in at Lake Harriet for the summer. I have only moved my rig 3 times in the same campsite since I have been here. I was backed in when I first got here, but I didn’t have a good view of the river. I moved much closer on my second move and had a great view of the water coming around the curve in the river. But the trees blocked the direct sunlight on my solar panels. I couldn’t really tell until the rain finally stopped. It had rained up here for over a week so there wasn’t much sun to speak of anyway.

Then when the sun started shining again I got up on the roof to see if I was getting full sun. Only one panel was in the sun due to the tree branches in the way. I then decided to move it to it’s present spot where for a few hours a day I get full sun on my panels.

When it was raining I was forced to use my generator for an hour or two to keep my batteries charged up. Even then I never did get a full charge. When I moved to the last spot I checked my fuel level and it was just a bit over ¼ full. I had filled up in Estacada on the way up here, which is 31 miles down hill from my campsite. At this rate I would be buying gas all the time to keep my batteries charged. Hopefully this new setup will work for me without having to replenish gasoline.

Chica is getting used to this area and all it’s different smells. We go for walks in the afternoon around the campground. Most people are pretty good about keeping their dogs on leashes and of course I also have to follow the rules. On an occasional day when there are no campers in the campground I will let her off leash for a minute or two. She likes to run around but always stays close by. She is starting to see new people come into the campground every day and is getting better at barking at them.

I have a great support team that gets me anything I need. They are also good at delivering firewood when I get low and water every two weeks. I have a sewer at my campsite, but getting water from a manual hand-pump would be tough. My area manager comes by once a week to check on me.

I have use of the front-load washers and dryers on Wednesday at Timothy Lake about 10 miles from here (7 miles on gravel) so I usually run up there. I can also get a nice long hot shower as well. The main reason is to get on the PGE Intranet site. I cannot access it using Wi-Fi but have to get on at one of their computers. Then I can check out all payroll information, sign-up for medical, dental and vision care and 401K. I also take my own computer to download my email and check my accounts. However my phone doesn’t work there. Plus it is always nice to talk with the camp hosts around the Timothy Lake area and see how things are going with them.

I have to go into Gresham, OR for a Walmart stop to refill my prescriptions. That means driving to Estacada, then north to Sandy and northwest to Gresham. I drove through Sandy last week and it is a fairly big town with lots of big stores. They have a Fred Meyer store there. I am used to shopping there as I shopped at one in Washington last year. Most of the time I will just take a day and drive to Estacada to take care of my weekly business. I usually spend a few hours in the Estacada library where I was able to get a library card. I can also use their Wi-Fi to also download email and check Internet stuff. I also try to get caught up on telephone calls and answering voice mail. They also have an Ace Hardware Store and a Harvest Market where I do most of my shopping. Just outside of the market is a spot where I can turn in my recyclables for credit to be used in the market. It is not a huge market, but have most everything I need and are very friendly.

It was very busy on Memorial Day weekend with all the campsites full with lots of families. This past week I only had a couple of campers, but it looks like every weekend from here on will be busy. All the reservations are full and the 4 walk-in sites usually fill up by Thursday. My day use are is usually full with a lot of families out for a picnic and lots of fisherman. Many of the people that come to this campground have been coming here since they were little kids. One guy told me was 58 and his family first brought him here when he was 7. He has returned every year since then. I get the same story from many people.

The fishing up here is fantastic. They stock it with trout almost every week and last week they stocked it with 2,000 legal trout and 125 trophy rainbow trout 16 inches or more. One of my campers had 3 trophy trout that he showed me. WOW were they beauties. I wish I had taken a pic.

While in Sandy I will pick up some fishing gear at Fred Meyer’s and get me a license and try my hand. I got a book at the library all about trout fishing and have been watching a lot of the guys fish off the shore. I can’t wait to cast my line and nab on of those trophy’s!

Sorry for no pics, but I have had problems with my Photo software and all the pics I took and uploaded are no longer there. I will have to upload them again, but unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera with me into town. So I will catch up next week.

My grandson is flying up here on July 5 and staying a couple of days. I am really looking forward to that.

I promise to write more detail next week with lots of pics. I hate not having Internet.

Home for the Summer

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Jim Melvin

Lake Harriet

I made the trip from Salem, OR to Lake Harriet where I will be camphosting for the summer. What a beautiful spot! It is located in the Mt Hood National Forest. I am parked right next to the Clackamah River. The river flows into Lake Harriet where there is a dam controlled by the Portland General Electric Company (PGE). PGE is the concessionaire for many of the campgrounds in the local area.

First couple of days very busy

My first day there was orientation at the Timothy Lake Lodge. I had to drive a bit to get there including 7 miles on a gravel road. There are many other camp hosts up here and many have been with the company for several years. It was nice meeting everyone, but I will be darned if I can remember their names. Most of the camp hosts are located around Timothy Lake.

The next day we car pooled over to another PGE site closer to Estacada where we were instructed on first aid. It was very different then the first aid I was taught many years ago. Things like snake bites and CPR.

Lake Harriet open for camping, but not open at the same time.

The campground isn’t supposed to open until May 15, but the weekend was so nice that campers started to move in earlier. Since it is not officially open we cannot charge them so they got free camping for the weekend and until the 15th.

My campground was completely full. I had been in orientation and first aid training for the two days since I have been here and no chance to clean any of the 3 pit toilets. I also didn’t have any supplies so I had to make a run up to Timothy Lodge to pick up the supplies I would need in order to clean the toilets. I couldn’t believe the entire campground was full including the Day Use area. I got all the pit toilets cleaned up and will work on the campsites this week.

My home for the summer.

I took a couple of pics of my site. It is spectacular.

I am right on the river. It is so cool.

Chica enjoying the outdoors

Chica also likes our spot except for the chilly nights when she has to do here duties. She does it very quickly and then back into her warm home. I will get some pics of her on the next post.

Back on the road

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Jim Melvin

Left Oceanside

I saw my eye doctor for the last time for a while and got my medical for my new job so now I was ready to get out of Dodge. I decided to wait until Sunday Apr 26 to leave. I will be driving up the 5 so wanted to keep traffic to a minimum (HA!!) going thru LA. It was still a rat race and only made it to Castaic where I called it quits. I was tired, the wind was blowing and it was getting late so I pulled into the Valencia Village RV Park for the night.

I got up the next day with hopes of moving on but the wind was really blowing with gusts up to 35 mph. I don’t know about you, but I hate driving in the wind, so I paid for another night. Then I realized there is a Camping World not far away. I had a rear vent cover blow off some where in my travels and was trying to replace the cover. But on a 1992 rig that is just about impossible. I couldn’t find anything on line. Many of the components used on my rig are no longer being made. I headed to Camping World to see what I could do. While there I found out they could replace my rear bathroom vent with a fantastic fan. They had one in stock so I paid for it and scheduled it to be replaced the following day. That meant I would have to stay another day at the park as they couldn’t replace it until 3:00.

Chica was a hit at Camping World

The following day I drove the rig to Camping World and checked in. I asked them if I could bring Chica into the customer waiting room. Camping World is very dog friendly so she came in with me. Immediately she was a big hit. Many of the staff came in to see here. At first she was a bit overwhelmed, but she finally got used to everyone. Sorry but I didn’t think of taking pics.

It took a bit longer then I expected as they were very busy, but finally finished and now I have a really nice rear fan. We headed back to the park and spent our last night there. By the way this is a great park if anyone wants to visit Magic Mountain. It is only a couple of miles away.

Elks Lodges

The next night we stopped at the Visalia Elks Lodge. For $10 I had a great rib dinner and met lots of nice people. Then it was on to the Lodi Elks. I was invited to their Happy Hour and met a lot of fellow RV’ers.

My next stop was the Red Bluff Elks Lodge where I only spent one night. I love the Elks Lodges since they usually have full hookups and only cost $15 – $20 per night. They all have a nice bar and many nights I get a great dinner.

HELP!!

I was going to cross into Oregon and stay at the Ashland Elks Lodge. Forget it! They only offer parking in a parking lot with very little space. I did see a red/white 24′ LD but there was no place to park. I checked Allstays (great APP for locating campgrounds) and there wasn’t much around the Ashland area so it headed north to Medford.

I found the Medford Elks Lodge and parked in front as I couldn’t see any RV’s. They had a sign on the door that said the lodge had been closed down. Not sure what that was all about but I needed a place to stay as it was getting late. I decided to keep heading north and stop at the first RV park I could find. I landed in Rogue River and the first park was full, but they suggested another park next door to them. I really landed a gem. It was $35 per night which is more then I usually like to pay, but she put me right on the Rogue River.

Didn’t want to leave

It is a really clean park with great showers. We walked right out our door and the river was only ten feet away. Chica loved looking at the Canadian geese that lived on the river.

The next morning I got up and paid for another day. I needed to relax a bit as we had been driving every day. The owner suggested going into town for breakfast and that sounded like a good idea. I had a great breakfast at the Cottage Cafe and it was really good.

Chica guards our home

Since we were right on the river we saw many Canadian geese. In the evening they would come out of the water and feed on the grass around our rig. Of course Chica had to let them know who was boss.

Salem, OR

Our last stop before my summer home was an Elks Lodge in Salem, OR. I stayed there for 2 nights to get organized before heading to the campground at Lake Harriet. I called my employer to get last minute info about the next few days and instructions on getting to the campground.

Then it was honey do stuff. I took Chica to PetSmart to get bathed and groomed and have her nails trimmed and I got a haircut. Then I did a some major shopping for groceries.

Off to the campground

Today I am heading out to my new campground at Lake Harriet. I will be passing through a small town called Estacada which will probably be where I will be doing my weekly shopping. I am not sure what kind of cell phone or Internet service I will get at Lake Harriet so here’s hoping with my booster I can get connected.

Spring Training

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Jim Melvin

Back to the Tempe Elks

Before I left Yuma I called Liam, the camp host of the Tempe Elks Lodge. He assured me that there was a spot available. This is the 2nd year I will be staying there. It is convenient for a few games and is in a location I am familiar with. Plus the fact that there is full hookups will really make it comfortable in the heat. So off we went.

It only took a few hours to get there and when I did I looked up Liam. I mentioned that I had parked last year in the space right behind his rig. However this year he said my rig would be hanging out too far and wouldn’t let me stay there. There didn’t seem to be any other space available so i started looking on my GPS for other campgrounds nearby. Then Liam came running over and said he had a space for me. The guy on the end space was moving so I was able to take his spot.

After parking I went into the lodge, enjoyed a beer and paid for 9 days at $20 per day. My son Curt will be flying in on Thursday so I will have a few days to myself to do laundry, shopping, etc.

Happy Saint Paddys Day

The Elks Lodge was having a Saint Patricks Day dinner so I planned to go to that. Of course I had to have a couple of Guiness to start off the celebration then I had a delicious corned beef and cabbage dinner. It was one of the best I have ever had or was it the Guiness talking to me. HA!

I was checking out my email on my iPhone when I realized that Barb and Chuck (my friends from my Amazon days) were in the area. I called them and low and behold they were in Mesa just a hop, skip and jump from me. So off I headed to Mesa to meet them at an Irish Pub. It was great seeing them again and we had a lot of catching up to do. Then we were going to another place they had mentioned and in the process of driving over there my car started to die on me. Fortunately we were stopped at a light and I was able to get there attention. Chuck and I pushed the car through the light and into a parking lot where I called Coach Net to get a tow back to the Elks Lodge.

Within an hour the tow truck was there and I was on my way back to the Elks with my broken down car. I knew what the problem was since I had the same problem in Fernley when I was there. ALTERNATOR!!! I had my alternator changed twice while in Fernley. The first time the alternator was defective and they replaced it again. It has only been in the car for a few months and now is bad for the third time.

I wasn’t sure what to do with the car in the morning. I looked on Yelp and low and behold there was an 5 star auto repair joint just 2 blocks away. I walked down there to see when they could get to it. They were very busy but would try to fit me in on Thursday.

So now I am without a car and my son was flying in on Thursday. I decided to call Enterprise to see about renting a car for a couple of days. I also contacted my son and told him to take a shuttle to the Elks Lodge as I wouldn’t get the car for a couple of hours. Then Gene’s Auto Worx called me and said it was the alternator and they would tune it up as well. They said it would be done in the afternoon. First I have 0 cars in the morning and now I have 2 cars in the afternoon. DUH! I called Gene’s back and asked them if they could hold the car until tomorrow after I return the rental car. What a day!

Our Annual Spring Training Get-to-gether

This is the 2nd annual spring training we have planned. We will be going to 2 baseball games and a hockey game. The first baseball game was in Glendale which is way on the other side of Phoenix about 25 miles from the Elks. We saw the Angels play the Indians at Goodyear Ball Park.

The two best players on the Angels. Mike Trout at bat and Albert Pujols in the on deck circle.

Two of the best fans during Spring Training.

The hockey game was also 25+ miles from home so we did a lot of driving on those days. We also wanted to see the new Cubs ballpark in Mesa which wasn’t as far.

Here are these same two goofy fans. HA!

CHA CHING!!!

Before we went to the first game we stopped by Arizona Casino to try our luck. I was lucky right from the start. I put $40 in a slot machine and won $90, then ran it up to $140. Then I tried my luck at a progressive machine and low and behold I hit a jackpot of $522. I couldn’t believe it. I have never been lucky before except in small amounts. I immediately cashed out and called it quits.

The ballgame was fun especially since the Angles trounced the Indians. Lots of action and in one inning the Angels had 4 triples. WOW! The hockey game was very exciting and lot of noise. It was a great time. Our last game was a Padres/Cubs game at the new ballpark in Mesa they built for the Cubs. A great park and another fun game.

We went to a Gordon Biersch Brewery where we had ate last year as well and sat on the balcony overlooking downtown Tempe. It was a great dinner and capped of our 2nd annual spring training. We are already making plans for the 3rd annual and discussed some options like different ball parks.

Back to Yuma

I was going to leave on the 24th and head to Yuma to exchange my hearing aids for a set that comes with rechargeable batteries. I don’t want the hassle of buying batteries all the time.

When I got to Yuma I had a big surprise. I pulled in the Casino parking lot right across from Chris. He had just returned from a few weeks in Mexico and we had a lot to talk about.

Later in the afternoon Debby and Kim picked us up and we went to the Elks for a great dinner and lots of catching up with what everyone was doing. It was a great time, but unfortunately didn’t get any pics.

Back to California

After picking up my hearing aid charger I made a beeline to the Oceanside Elks in Oceanside, CA I will be here for several weeks to take care of business and just plain relax by the ocean.

More to come later.

Life Since Mittry Lake

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Jim Melvin

Paradise Casino

After I left Mittry Lake I headed to the Paradise Casino. From there I drove into Los Algadones, MX to have my teeth cleaned by my dentist Dr Eva Urena. All went well and I didn’t have to have any other work done. I got out of there paying only $35. Not too shabby!

While I was over in MX I decided to have my hearing checked out. I found the place my friends from a couple of years ago got their hearing aids. They had lots of good things to say about them so went in without an appointment and they said to return for a hearing test in about an hour. I love the fact that you can go in any office without an appointment and they will get you in so fast.

My hearing test results were exactly what I have thought for some time. My hearing is going down the drain. She recommended several types of hearing aids including one that only costs $695. However she mentioned that I would probably be in there in a year or two upgrading to new hearing aids. I decided to go with the better hearing aids. I gave her half of the amount and told her I would be back in a week or two to pick them up and be fitted.

My teeth cheaper the Chica’s

The last thing I would have to do in Yuma was getting Chica’s teeth cleaned. A vet in CA told me that she had Periodontal disease and quoted me a price anywhere from $850 to $1100. YUK!!! I took the quote to the Animal Hospital of Yuma and they quoted my a price of $470 for the same procedure. However they wanted to see her first before going ahead with anything. I took her in and they said she had a mild case of Periodontal disease and needed a tooth extracted. But what she had could be cleared up with a deep cleaning which would only run about $185. What a difference.

Anyway I took her in and since I had her teeth cleaned there last year, they gave me a discount and only charged me $165. Now she is good to go for another year.

Let me see – My teeth – $35 Chica’s teeth – $165. DUH!!

Scattering of Ashes

I then returned to CA and stayed at O’Neill Park. My sister Bev had found online someone who would scatter my parents ashes in the Saddleback Mountains. How cool is that. We originally planned it for February 28, but it was raining and overcast and we had to postpone it until March 7. I got up early on the 7th and took a bunch of stuff over to a picnic site where we would be able to see the plane when it flew over scattering their ashes. Once the family showed up we were all ready to view it. She circled several times before scattering the ashes. It was really a beautiful site. I tried to get pics but they didn’t come out too good. We combined both my father’s and mother’s ashes together. It was their wishes to have their ashes scattered over Saddleback Mountain and we were so happy that we finally carried out their wishes. I will never see Saddleback Mountain again without remembering this day and the beauty of seeing their ashes float down to the trees.

We then spent the afternoon roasting hot dogs and eating a great picnic lunch. It was fun seeing everyone again.

Back in CA

I wanted to see if I could qualify for Lasic surgery on my eyes. I HATE wearing glasses and was hoping I could have the surgery so I would only need glasses for reading. I made an appointment and went in to see the eye doctor. I found out that I have cataracts and astigmatism in both eyes so the doctor suggested I have cataract surgery and he would also replace my lens to correct the astigmatism. He would do one eye at a time with a period of time between eyes. I was ready to go.

Then he stated that he would have to get an OK from my primary physician. My previous primary physician was with Kaiser Permanente who I have not see since I started full timing almost 5 years ago. I usually went to Renown Care in Reno each year and they would renew my prescriptions.

I checked on the Internet to find a Primary Care Physician in the area and I found a real gem. I was able to make an appointment on line and was notified by his office almost immediately. I went in and he checked me out but wanted to run a CT Scan of my heart and blood work as well. The CT Scan came back with a 324 result so he suggested I seen a Cardiologist as well as a Pulmonary doctor because he could hear some noise in my lungs. I went to the Cardiologist and after speaking some time with her she wanted me to take a treadmill test.

I finally got the OK from my new Primary Physician and made the appointments with the eye doctor. I had to go in and get further measurements of my eyes and scheduled the right eye to be done on the 2nd and the left eye on the 8th. There is usually a two week wait between eyes but he knew I would be headed up north for a summer job so he made an exception.

Back in Yuma

After much prodding and poking by doctors I returned to Yuma to pick up my hearing aids. That went very well but they didn’t order the charger for me as I requested so I will have to return later. I also stopped in to see Gayle and Jim at the space they are renting in Yuma while their get dental work completed. It was a really nice area and very scenic since they are so close to the mountains. Chica also enjoyed seeing Sophie and Elvis and had fun on a walk with them. I stupidly didn’t get any pics while I was there.

Heading to Phoenix

I was going to spend a few more days in Yuma, but when the temperature hit 94 and we have no hookups at the casino I decided to go where I have full hookups. More on that later.

Getting things done at Mittry Lake

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Jim Melvin

Still at Mittry Lake

Since I arrived here I have replaced my GPS, Dish Receiver and pocket camera. My camera stopped working last year but didn’t want to spend the money to replace it. It was a Nikon CoolPix and I loved the camera but it just stopped working. I had already sent it into Nikon during it’s warranty period and they were able to fix the problem, but since then it started the same problem over again and decided it was time for a new one.

I went to Best Buy where I was able to pick up a new Sony Cyber Shot. I looked at them all but decided this one had many of the features of my Nikon and would be easiest to get used to. So far I am very happy with it although the flash pics aren’t the greatest. I guess I will have to read the manual for a change. Sure Jim!

My next item was a new GPS. My old one was a reconditioned unit I had bought through WOOT several years ago and it gave me many years of instructions on how to get where I was going. Then on the way to Yuma I plugged it in and it never did come on. I picked up a new Garmin at Best Buy also and am really please with it. I looked at several different models including the TOMTOM but decided on sticking with the Garmin in the same size I had. So far I like it much better then the one I had.

Last but not least, I set my Satellite Dish up but couldn’t get the receiver box to even turn on. I contacted Dish support who determined that I might need a new receiver box. They gave me the address of a local retailer in Yuma so I headed over to them to see if they could test my box. They plugged it in and again nothing. They did have a replacement box in stock which they programmed for me and now I also have TV. Hot Dog!

Chica’s Teeth

When I was in So CA I took Chica in to get her nails clipped and saw the vet. He mentioned that she had a loose tooth and possible Periodontal disease. YUK! Poor little girl! He gave me an estimate of $800 – $1100 to get her fixed up. I thought I would go to the vet in Yuma at Foothill Animal Hospital to get a second opinion. Before I took her in I stopped by there with the estimate I received from the first vet. They literally cut that in half and said it would cost less then $500, however they wanted to see her first. Then next day I took her in and the vet examined her and determined she didn’t really have periodontal disease but she did need a good teeth cleaning. It is common among her breed that plack really builds up. I took her in to the same vet last year and they did her teeth then so early Thursday we are off to the vet. They will also bring her up to date on her shots and trim her nails again (they grow so fast).

Please Daddy, not the dentist again!

Life is good at Mittry Lake

Lots of friends, great weather, good food, and its totally FREE. What more could you ask for.

Off to Yuma

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Jim Melvin

Thanks

I would like to thank everyone for the thoughtful comments concerning my Mom. I am so lucky to have so many friends like yourselves.

Finally off to Yuma

I was finally able to pick up my rig at the Ford dealer where they fixed my steering box, upgraded my A/C and did my front brakes. Then I went back to Doheny State Beach for 2 days to get organized and purchase food. My sister Bev took me to Costco and Trader Joe’s where I really stocked up. I packed up on Friday morning to make the drive to Yuma. Glad to get out of all the traffic in So CA.

Cool driving

I am sure glad that the Ford dealer was able to fix the A/C. Since my rig is an older model they could not just add freon, but had to upgrade to the latest freon they now use in all the new vehicles. It was getting hot crossing the desert and both Chica and myself were nice and cool.

Mittry Lake

I headed straight to Mittry Lake where I met up with friends who were already there. Jim and Gayle, Debbie, Chris, Jeanne, Barbara, Suzanne and Kim were already there and Chica and I moved right in. Martin and Charlie arrived later and it was good seeing them. It sure was fun meeting up with old friends as well as some new ones as well.

Chica also met here friends Sophie and Elvis as well as Rupert and Eliot, Katie and Riley. She was really glad to see them.

Visited Stan

The next day I drove over to the Paradise Casino to visit Stan who was a fellow camp host last summer at Baker Lake. He had called and mentioned that he would only be there another day or two so decided to stop in and pay him a visit. He is going back east to Mississippi. It was good seeing him before he left.

I also need groceries so headed over to Fry’s to restock my new refrigerator.

Off on a hike

A few of us left on a hike about 9:00am to avoid the heat. It was a hike I have done many times before so knew where we were going. This is a pic of our rigs looking back from our hike.

I will take more pics of the area and Chica once I get my camera charged up.

I am glad to be back on the road and meeting up with friends.

Sad News

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Jim Melvin

I Lost My Mother

Two days after my last blog post my Mother passed away. Since then I haven’t quite felt like blogging and I apologize for not keeping you up to date. I just haven’t felt like it. She was 91 at the time and we were very lucky to have her so long. It was very fortunate I was in Southern California visiting relatives when she passed away. You will really be missed Mom.

She used to always tell us to stop and smell the roses. Her she is doing what she always loved.

A pic of her and my sister Bev at the San Juan Capistrano Mission.

We had a Memorial Service for her overlooking Dana Point Harbor. It was a really nice service.

She will be greatly missed by us all.

Quartzsite

With everything going on with my family I was not able to attend Quartzsite this year. I really missed seeing everyone and will just have to catch up next year.

Back to the Mothership

I called Vince at Lazy Daze and he was able to fit me into their busy schedule to get some much need items repaired/replaced. Vince was really great and did everything I needed done including replace the refrigerator, oven, toilet, kitchen faucet, and two new AGM house batteries, and ladder plus numerous small items that needed attention. It sure was nice to get everything taken care of.

Still in SO CA

I am not sure when I will be leaving SO CA as there are some other things that I have to attend to, but once I do I will probably head to Yuma to get my rig washed and waxed plus see my Mexican dentist to have my teeth cleaned.