Tacoma, WA

Hello Tacoma!

So here we are in Tacoma, all settled in our RV park.  Too bad I can't say we're settled in the RV itself yet.  Converting this from a bachelor rig to a couple's rig is taking some work.  I've been going through each storage area (at Larry's invitation and with his full blessing) from bedroom to living room and deciding what is valuable enough to store, what should be tossed, what needs to be shipped home and which space makes the most sense for the keeper stuff.  I'm glad to have a little time off to do that.

Before starting that project though, we took a couple "vacation days" before Larry started work on Monday.  Saturday we went to Vancouver, BC.  We had fond memories of the historic Gas Town area and wanted to go back.  We were sorely disappointed.  The street vendors were gone and the homeless had moved in.  The alleys stunk, the place was generally dirty and that greatly distracted from the architecture, shops and restaurants.  We left there and went to a wharf type area that was an improvement so the day ended on a positive note.  Overall there wasn't enough appeal to keep up overnight so we headed home - only 3 hours away.

Sunday, we decided to see what we could find in the way of a beach.  We went to Alki Beach which isn't far from Pike's Place as a crow flies, and really not far by car, but you can't see one place from the other.  The beach was almost as much gravel and rock as sand and the surf was full of pieces of seaweed which collected on the sand at high tide and swirled around our feet when we walked on the edge of the surf.  It was nice to get our feet wet and get well grounded in the wet earth.  If you want to sit through this nearly two minute YouTube video (that I found online) it's a very good synopsis of Alki Beach, including all the things people do here. It could have been filmed the day we were there except the sky was gray.  In fact, a thunderstorm rumbled through and that's when we headed to Pike Place.

This may be my 4th or 5th visit to Pike Place.  The stores are starting to become very familiar.  The flower section has Sweet Peas and I took a great big whiff!  Ah... they smell so very good.  I miss them as they are so near and dear to my heart from my childhood.  They grow well in cool climates and not at all in the SE.

Speaking of cool climates... that doesn't describe Tacoma/Seattle this week.  It's only 88 degrees today but for the NW (and for Sweet Peas) that's hot!  With the nice weather comes a great view of Mt. Rainer which dominates the horizon to the Southeast.  It's huge!!!   I took this photo from the car on the way back from Vancouver.

Tacoma streets, in some places, remind me of San Francisco with steep streets, big buildings, and lots of concrete.  There is no free parking anyway to be found downtown.  We'll have to pay for a monthly parking pass just to be able to park while working.  Larry was told there are a lot of car break-ins downtown.  That means we're going to have to find a place to stash all our adjuster gear for working in the field (ropes, harness, shoes, tools, etc).  Oh boy.  I'm not sure there is that much storage in this rig.

We do expect that I'll be employed soon though we're still waiting for an invitation.  No problem as I still have plenty to do.

From CA to Tacoma

The trip to Tacoma continues from Santa Cruz, to Santa Rosa, through the Redwoods, North through OR.,to arrive in Tacoma later today.

After leaving Santa Cruz on Saturday night, we were clever and spent the night just short of San Francisco and then drove through 19th Ave and over the Golden Gate bridge early Sunday morning when there was very little traffic.  It makes a difference when your vehicle is 8 1/2 ft wide!   As is typical, SF was foggy and cool.

We spent a few days in Santa Rosa visiting friends and family.  Larry happily played handball/racquetball (both maybe - he does both).  We left Santa Rosa Tuesday evening and headed North on 101.

Seeing the Redwoods is always a joy.  We took a couple hours in Cresent City to drive Howland Hill Rd in the Redwoods National Forest (in the Rav4, not the motorhome.)
 Look at the size of this tree next to our car; and the ones next to the pick-up truck in front of us in the photo below.

Yesterday, we left the rig in Eugene and drove East to visit Larry's brother in central OR.  Larry saw him about a year and a half ago but it's been many, many years since I've seen him.  He and his wife are thriving and it was so good to see them, however briefly.

Today we're in the Portland area.  First stop... Carmax.  You see, the Rav4 has developed a serious oil consumption problem.  Even though it's been towed the majority of the way across the US, Larry has put over 4K miles on it since he purchased it about 3 weeks ago.  In the last few hundred miles it has used 4 quarts of oil.  The mechanics at Carmax are looking at it now.

Santa Cruz

The last few days have been a whirlwind.  Last Wednesday, my assignment in Atlanta came to an end.  They walked me out about 2:30PM.  I drove straight home and unloaded my car, loaded what I needed in Larry's car and we headed for Dallas.  We took turns driving all night and arrived about 8:00 Thursday morning and the motorhome needed to be checked out of the RV space by Noon.  We left about 11:00 and drove from Dallas to a couple hours shy of El Paso.  The next day, Friday, we got as far as Tahachapi, CA.  After driving through 111 degrees of desert landscape, it was nice to sleep in 70 degree weather.
Saturday, we arrived in Salinas about 8:00 and left the rig at Walmart and took the car to Santa Cruz where we spent a good part of the day at the Boardwalk and ocean.

One of the things that strikes me during our travels is how the architecture changes.  These are some little cottages near the Boardwalk that are so indicative of the area, not so much in size but it style and color.

In El Paso, we could see a hillside full of Adobe style homes (from the interstate) that, to me, was reminiscent of ancient cliff dwelling tribes.  I didn't think a photo would do it justice but I wish now that I had tried to get a photo.

Since then I've taken other photos from the picture window called our windshield.  I'll post more.

PS This post is rather delayed because Blogspot doesn't work so well from an iPad.  It behaves much better on a laptop and access to wifi on my laptop is limited during travels.

Time For A Change II

Larry made it to Chattanooga.  At least that's what my "Find My Friends" app says.  That's what he says too.  I choose to believe it. :-)  I'm being a little silly about it because I haven't seen him yet.   It's hard to believe he's only two hours away instead of 12 hours.

He has a few, very full days there and then plans to leave Tuesday for Dallas to pick up the motorhome and then make a cross country trip to Tacoma, WA.  

At least, that was the plan until about 4 hours ago.  That's when I learned that my last work day in Atlanta is Wednesday.  So, he's going to wait to leave and I'm going to rush home after they cut me loose on Wednesday, drop off my gear and then we will both take off together very shortly after I get home; like 30 minutes later.  We will bee-line it for Dallas, taking turns driving so we can get to the rig in time to get it out of its current RV space before the noon deadline.   It'll be close!  

I get to go home this Sunday so I can prep anything that needs prepping to make Wednesday easier.

I hate the idea of leaving the kids and grandkids, especially when I have no idea how long we'll be gone.  It can make me cry if I think about it more than a few minutes.  I'm going to miss my friends and the Master Gardeners too.  But, I have to say I am looking forward to living with my husband again after being apart for so long.  I don't have a job offer in Tacoma yet but we kind of, sort of, expect it to come.  We will see.

It looks like there is a lot to see and do in the NW so there should be some interesting posts in the future.  His work schedule is going to be 12 days on, 2 days off.  We can do a lot in two days.

Time For A Change

So it hasn't been that long since I posted about our new careers and where we are working.  Did I mention that things can changed with no warning?  It happened, though not with no warning.  I think it was Wednesday, maybe Thursday, that Larry learned he was being transferred.  Today was his last day in Dallas.  He will have three weeks off before reporting for work in Tacoma, WA.  There is no indication of how long that job will last.  It could be many months... again.  Who knows.  This is will be an office position again, doing pretty much what he's been doing for the last 8 months.

Part of those 3 weeks off will be spent driving the motorhome from Dallas to Tacoma.  He will come home first but not for long.

I'm still working in Atlanta getting those claims from the winter storms wrapped up.  Our headcount is going down and yet, I'm still there.  I think it's that rare NY adjuster's license that is keeping me employed.  I come home for one day visits on Sunday.  That means I'll get to see Larry next Sunday before he takes off again.

Tacoma is the home of Dale Chihuly, the famous glass artist.  There is a real mountain for a back-drop... nothing like Signal Mountain or Lookout Mountain.  In fact, nothing like anything you'll see East of the Rockies.  I think, after looking at desert for more than half a year, he might like looking at green trees, blue water, white mountains and colorful glass sculptures.

http://www.movoto.com/blog/opinions/photos-of-tacoma/

2012 Rav4

A year and a half ago, when we we still dreaming of being claims adjusters, we figured we needed a pick-up in order to be prepared to work.  So, we found a small, bottom-of-the-line model that could be towed wheels down behind an RV, even though we didn't have an RV at the time.  We ended up with a Nissan.  Larry was never really happy with it's turning radius and lack of agility in a crowded parking lot.  I was never crazy about the crank windows, lack of cruise control and other creature comforts.  Besides, we couldn't fit the grandkids in it with their carseats either.  But, we knew when we bought it we could upgrade if this claims adjusting thing actually worked out.  

Now that Larry has been driving the pick-up in Dallas for months and months he finally got fed up with it.  He did his homework and went back to Toyota for their high ratings.  He traded for a Toyota Rav 4 this week and plans to put a ladder rack on.  He choose a 2012 because that's the last year they made it with a side-swing door, which is important for not interfering with a ladder on top.  It can't be towed wheels down but it can be towed with a dolly.  He's already taken care of that so he's all set.

Now that he's all situated, it's my turn for a new car.  I've been stuck with the Corolla while Larry has had the truck... and the Corolla is, or was, Larry's car when we bought it.  He is very happy with it but I've never been crazy about.  It fits him way better than it fits me.   I can't remember the last time I got to pick out a car I want.  Now that I have the chance I can't figure out what I want.

It's a good thing I can take my time to figure this out because this is hard!  I told Larry that I need 3 cars.  First would be a sports car.  I don't care if it's powerful, as long as it is fun to drive.  Then, I need a "grandma" car that's roomy, quiet, and plush with all the tech toys like hands free talking (on the phone), a back-up camera, and other fun stuff.  You know, like the little old lady in the Cadillac type car. Finally, I need my cowgirl/gardener vehicle.., like a truck!  (Oops, we used to have one of those.)  If I could find a plush, quiet, roomy truck that hugged the road like a sports car, gets 30 mgh on the highway and comes in orange then I'd be in luck!  This may take a while.

It's a good thing he moved the rig

Here is our RV, parked in the RV park in TX that got flooded.  It's a good thing Larry moved it when he did.  He drove by the next evening to see if he could take the rig back but he couldn't even get close to the RV park.  He said the nearby "creek", which is less than a mile from his RV park, usually has barely enough water to float a canoe.  That sign you see in the photo below is about 12' high so you know that water is way over it's banks.   He said the other two major RV parks in the Dallas area flooded before his park did.  A week later, the road to his RV park is still closed. Fortunately he found another RV park with an open spot... the last one.

Texas Flooding

Larry's RV Park, where he is staying near Dallas, is in danger of flooding.  In fact, he heard that this morning some people had to be rescued due to high water on the other side of the park, and it's not that big of a park.  He got word while he was at work this morning and they let him come home long enough to secure his stuff and move the RV to higher ground. He will be roughing it in a Walmart parking lot for a day or two, until the threat is passed.  

In the meantime, I've been talking to quite a few Texans with various sorts of storm damage like blown off shingles, trees down, leaks in their homes, and flooding.  It makes me appreciate when things go well, like having some warning to move the RV before it floats down the swollen creek... And knowing Larry won't float away with it during the night.

A New Chapter

Our blog has been dormant for a long time.  This is a tell-tale sign that life had become repetitive.  There wasn't much newsworthy going on and then I got out of the habit of posting altogether.  Facebook probably had something to do with this too.  It's time to change resurrect the blog.  Why?  Because life is not repetitive anymore.

Almost two years ago, I was told my job of 4 years was being moved to Rochester, NY.  They kept me on for nearly two years when I finally said "Enough".  In the meantime, I prepared for another career along with Larry who also needed a change.  (That's another whole story.)

We are both now independent adjusters working primarily in the catastrophic claims adjusting world.
We began with getting licensed and then studying for and passing several certification courses.   Larry started in June of last year with a deployment to Minnesota for several weeks.  He came home for a couple weeks and then headed for Michigan.  After that he came home for a couple weeks and then answered a call for a deployment in Dallas.  That was in October and he's still there today.  He's technically working in a non-catastrophic environment with no known end in sight.

After I left my job at the end of January, I waited only 3 weeks before getting a call to work the winter storms as an in-office adjuster in Atlanta.  I'm still here.

Right now, Larry and I both work 60 hours a week.  Being only two hours from home allows me to run home on Sundays.  Larry made a quick visit home a few weeks ago but that was his first visit since October.

More posts to come!

According to the weather channel, Rochester, NY is the 3rd snowiest city in the US with an average of 100.5" of snow a year.   Erie, PA #2 and Syracuse, NY #1.  Who wants to live here?
Rochester #3 Snowiest City

Wabbits and Wigglers

So call us crazy.  Sometimes I think we are.  We're busy people with enough interests to keep us going for quite some time.  We don't really need another hobby.  But, here we are with 8 Silver Fox rabbits.

This one is Creme (short for Ice Cream Bunny).  She's a mature doe who has already had a litter or two and was named before we got her.  She looks a little bit brown in this photo but she's really gray or "Blue" as they're called in the world of rabbits.  She should be having a litter in about a week.

Silver Fox Rabbits are domestic rabbits, bred right here in the USA around the time of World War II.  They were bred for both meat and fur and they have wonderful dispositions.  They nearly went extinct since both meat and fur went out of fashion.  They're making a comeback now as people take an interest in being more self-sufficient and more in control of what they're eating.  Rabbits produce a lot of meat very efficiently.  These "large" rabbits command a pretty good price too so we hope to sell some of them to other people who want to also raise rabbits.  Thus, we feed ourselves and help save a wonderful breed at the same time.

This little girl is almost 4 months old and is developing good "Silvering" on her Black coat.  She'll be a breeder (as will all 8 of our herd), at least until we determine which ones are good mothers and carry traits we want to continue.  Seven of the 8 rabbits I got are unrelated so we have a lot of genetic diversity.

Right now, Black is the only color recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA).  Blue used to be a recognized color but they became so rare the ARBA dropped them.  The Blues are now 2/3 of the way to being recognized again.  Even though 7 out of my 8 rabbits are Black, several of them carry the genes for Blue as well as for Chocolate which (I believe) is a color that has never been recognized.  The brown ones are sure pretty though.

Larry built (in his not-so-spare time) a very nice cage set-up.  We have 12 cages (4 for overflow when we have lots of babies growing up) in all.  There are two racks with 6 cages each, two across and three high. Under each cage is a slanted "floor" that moves waste into a rain gutter and into buckets.  It's fairly easy to maintain.  Each cage is large for their needs but we don't mind.  We originally planned on getting a different larger breed (Giant Chinchilla) but then I found the Silver Fox and was sold.  By then, we already had the cages on order.  Adult weight is about 10 to 12 pounds.  My 3 month old bunnies weigh 5.5 to 6 pounds and are still growing quickly.

Here, Cora is brushing Alexis (her ID tattoo is L6 and Alexis is the closest name I could think of that sort of resembled that).  While most of my herd is not yet totally tame they can all be caught, carried and petted.  Cora is gentle, as are the bunnies.  I won't say that Silver Fox rabbits don't bite but they are not prone to biting and I've not been bitten yet.  The adult pregnant doe is the most likely one to do so and she hasn't tried yet.  The worst she has done is kick with her front feet and then only occasionally.  She can be petted if approached from the side.  I think she's probably extra grumpy right now so I'm giving her some grace.

When I got my 8 bunnies, Laura got 3 of her own.  She is trying extra hard to raise hers a little more naturally.  Ben made a bunny "tractor" - a home that sits on the ground where then bunny can eat grass and weeds and dig a little too (much to Laura's concern).  They've had a wild bunny come visit quite often and has gotten to the point where he hangs around while they're feeding or working on the yard.  This morning he actually jumped into an empty hutch that had a door hanging open.  Silly bunny.

I LUV TN

You already know we love TN.  But now we all know that Georgians too love TN!  Isn't this great!

Larry saw this plate on a car while driving around town. 

Wildflower Walk

Jack in the Pulpit

What a wonderful Spring day for a walk in the woods.  I went with other gardeners, who are fans of native plants, to the Hiwassee River Gorge.  One of our members leads the group and fills our brains with more information than you can imagine.  I won't try to explain the day.  Instead, I'm going to let the photos tell the story.  (Maybe, just maybe, you can double click on the photos to make them bigger.)  Enjoy.

 

Yellow Trillium

MayApple

White Trillium

Sensitive Ferm

Fire Pink

Yellow Trillium with Woodland Phlox

Wild Geramium

Zebra Swallowtail
PawPaw is their only host plant

Trillium catesbaei

Crested Iris

Dog Hobble

Bellwort
(see the little yellow flowers?)

Okay - this one is weird.
These are galls, caused by insects.

Abi & Cora - it's been a while

As you would expect, Abi and Cora are growing and growing.  It's been a while since I've posted some photos so today is the day; not because of any special event but only because it's fun.

Abi is a great big sister, meaning... she's really good at being a big sister.  Cora is getting big enough that the two girls occasionally play together which pleases their Mom very much.

In the next photo, Abi and visit Rock City once again.  Abi is on the steps of "Fat Man Squeeze" but she has no trouble getting through this small gap in the rocks (unlike her Grandparents who have to walk sideways through part of it (we're not to the skinny part yet in the photo).

Finally, here's a nice fun shot of Grandpa (or Crappa as Abi learned to say and Laura loves to perpetuate).   I made the photo larger so you can see the mischievous look on Abi's face.

We sure have a lot of fun with them.  Abi, like me, loves to be outside and I'm getting her started on some gardening.  Last fall we planted some Crocus and Tulips in a Little Tykes toddler bed that I put in the garden.  Someday I need to post some before and after photos of our yard(s).  I hate to when they're still a work in progress but I guess I might as well admit that they'll never really be done.

Short Vacation - Helen, GA

While foliage at home is still mostly green, the colors in the mountains of North-East Georgia are at their peak.   I never get tired of Autumn colors.

Helen, GA is about 3 hours from home, with most of the driving on two-lane state highways.  

The cute building on the left is a Huddle House.  Usually, they look like the photo below.   We actually gave it a chance because it looked so cute, and also because it was the only restaurant open for breakfast.

The rest of town (all 3 blocks of it) looked equally cute.  For those of you who know Solvang, the Danish town in CA, this looked the same, only a half to a third the size.

We happened to book this visit during Oktoberfest (yes, I spelled that correctly) which means we went to the community hall to listen to oompah music and eat our choice of 5 different wursts.  I can say this... Oompah music is happy music.  We lasted about an hour; that was all the happiness we could handle.

Window shopping took all of half a day.  We were nearly through when I said something like, "I haven't seen a single Cuckoo Clock".    

Moments later, we walked into a store full of them. 

As long as I can remember I have loved clocks and especially clock shops.    This time I learned something about Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks.  Two pine cones operate a clock and a Cuckcoo bird.  Three pine cones means it also has other movements - like dancers or something.  Small cones must be "wound" daily and larger cones can go a week between.  

I remember my Grandpa Wells having a Cuckoo Clock in his house.  To my knowledge we only visited once but we spent the night and I remember the Cuckoo bird announcing the time during the night.  That should have been a negative but, instead, I have fond memories of it.

Before we left the shop, Larry convinced me to buy a small one.  They were on sale and probably the most reasonable we've ever seen.  So, now I have a Cuckoo Clock announcing the time in my house.  The good part is though that I can turn off the Cuckoo bird when we're ready for him to be quiet.

The rest of our short vacation was spent driving to nearby places and seeing great scenery along the way.  The Chattahoochee River runs through Helen.  I suspect this is the same river.

A trip to Ketner's Mill Country Arts Fair

Ketner's Mill is near a little town called Whitwell (pronounced something like "whut wool") in the Sequatchie Valley.  The valley itself is a beautiful place; only 3 to 5 miles wide but 150 miles long.  We visited Ketner's Mill Country Arts Fair with our friends Gary & Debbie.  What a beautiful day for it.  

While traveling along the backroads we interrupted a small pig and a kitten playing.  We stopped to watch and the pig came to our car with the kitten right behind.   Cute.  I wanted to open the car door to take a better photo but I suspect the pig would have jumped right in, he was that friendly. 

  As you might guess, it's history is that of a mill, sitting on the banks of the Sequatchie River.  It's only active now-a-days during the fair but the mill was busy grinding corn.  Debbie purchased several bags of ground corn meal.

There were lots of artisan there, some quite unique.  A working blacksmith, a soap maker with a large batch of soap cooking in the booth, a broom maker who used interesting broom handles including a tennis racket, a shotgun, the neck of a guitar and many different kinds of sticks collected in the woods.   

There was a man tatting who was quite entertaining to listen to and watch.   He explained each knot as he used the small shuttles in his hands with the strings wrapped around his fingers.  He made it look easy and difficult at the same time.  

We saw sugar cane being crushed and squeezed in an all-in-one gear & press device powered by a horse walking  in circles.  (I should have taken a picture.)  The extracted juice poured into a bucket which was then transferred to a cooker.  Then, much like making Maple Syrup, they cooked it down to Sorghum Molasses which they sold at the fair.  I bought some of that and some Sourwood Honey from another vendor.

We saw art of all kinds: stained glass, ornaments, candles, paintings, photographs, soap, rod iron, wood-working, and more.  My fun purchase for the day was some whimsical yard art: a giant worm for my garden!  He may move around when you're not looking so keep your eyes out for him.  :-)

Chattanooga Zoo

Wow, did we ever have fun today!  I discovered, first thing this morning, that today was free admission to the Chattanooga Zoo.  I told Laura and she said Abi would love go.  I volunteered to take Cora too and off we went.   Cora slept the whole time but I liked having her with us anyway.  At least it gave Laura a nice break.   Her Grandpa joined us after Abi and I had been there for over an hour so he got to be in on some of the fun too.

Abi wasn't so sure about seeing some of the scarier animals.  She was especially concerned about seeing, or rather, not seeing a Tiger.  But we did manage to see a Snow Leopard along with various monkeys, birds - exotic and not so exotic, a Bobcat, a Coyote, Red Pandas (she said, "those aren't Pandas"), a camel, goats, and other animals who's names I can't even remember.

All that was fun, but the real fun began with the jump house!  Oh my, how she loved the jump house.   The lines were short most of the time we so she managed to jump 4 different times.  She would laugh and jump and laugh some more.  She held her own with the big kids just fine.  A couple times she got bumped off her feet when a big kid bumped into her and she would just laugh some more.  What fun! 

The bounce house isn't always at the Zoo.  Today was a special event for the community, including a chili cook-off, lots of booths, displays for the firemen, an emergency helicopter, and other things like that.  

What is always at the zoo is a Merry-Go-Round.  This one is special.   A local artisan is responsible for it's existence.  I don't know the whole story but it's my understanding that he either personally made or was involved in the making of all the animals on the carousel.  He has a school not far away where he teaches people to carve these wonderful creations.

Odd enough, there were no seat belts.  I was quietly amazed.  We're not in California anymore.