Lazy Sunday Introspection

Ever since we left Myrtle Beach I've been whining complaining about the cold here in Ohio. Today was a typically nasty Ohio winter day; steady, cold rain pouring down with temperatures in the low 30s. We've been running through propane like crazy since the fifth wheel isn't set up for cold weather living and I've had to buy sweatshirts to supplement my summer-leaning wardrobe.

But today I realized that my idea of "cold" is minor compared to that of the men I saw huddled underneath a railroad bridge this morning as we drove to the pancake house for breakfast. Some of the men were standing, others were covered with blankets and pieces of cardboard, laying on a narrow stretch of wet sidewalk right next to a busy six lane roadway not far from downtown Dayton. These men don't have the choice of buying new sweatshirts for warmth, or refilling propane tanks to run the furnace or even getting into a warm truck to drive out for a hot meal, because they have nothing at all.

Thanksgiving suddenly means so much more to me this weekend.

Nothin' Doing, Doing Nothin'

It's gray and dreary here in Dayton--a good day to stay inside. I must admit, it feels very strange to Denny and I to be able to get up and not have to go anywhere or do anything. This day will be a day to cocoon and I like that.

This week I arranged to have an oxygen condenser delivered to my mother for use at night. It has taken her a couple of days to actually use it, but she admitted yesterday that she did sleep a little easier and a little longer while having it on. It's a small step, but it's a start. Her appetite is nil and because she has a problem with severe and continual diarrhea I can't get her to go out at all so it appears I'll be taking over the shopping and errand running from this point. I have to admit I'm having a hard time dealing with her obvious and rapid physical and mental decline. Thank goodness for Denny; he keeps me sane.

On a different note, Denny and I had to do some grocery shopping on Black Friday and we were surprised by the lack of traffic on the roadways and in the local stores. There appeared to be some really terrific sales out there and we did see some very large TVs going out the door, but there wasn't the craziness of past years. Maybe that's a good thing--I think we need to go back to "the reason for the season" and perhaps a slow economy will make that happen. One can but hope.

Acabado, Fertig, De finition, Rifinito, Finished

That's it, we're done. The house is cleared out, the trash has been hauled to the dump, we've loaded some things for storage at my mother's house (here we go again!)and tomorrow we'll toss the garage door opener into the house, close the door and walk away. Over one hundred years of Brauns living here on family land in western Cincinnati will come to an end tomorrow. And that's okay.

Tonight, Denny, Connie and I will go out to dinner to celebrate. Tomorrow Denny and I will hitch up the trailer and move it north to be closer to my mother's house.

Connie is thinking of traveling the eastern seaboard to visit friends and family and then perhaps spending Christmas in Las Vegas with a friend who just lost her husband. A move west might be in Connie's future--right now she just wants to veg out for a while. As do we.

In case we don't get the Internet satellite up and running for a couple of days after we move, Denny and I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We know we have a lot to be thankful for every year, but this year we are especially grateful for family and friends who have been there for us when we needed them. Consider yourselves hugged.

Happy Trails!

Ex Communicado

The first day of the estate sale is done and we are pleased with what went out the door. Tomorrow is the final day of the sale, so there will be no Lazy Sunday photos as we will be busy trying to convince people to buy cheap things they really don't need in an effort to avoid having to pack up all this crap for the Salvation Army. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for giving stuff to charity; I'm just sick of all this "stuff" already after moving, tagging, pricing and selling it over the past three days. I'd just like this whole deal do be done and over with. I still have picture of beautiful horses to upload to Webshots of the Heart Ride in Myrtle Beach, but that won't get done anytime soon either.

Denny had to change the tire that went flat in South Carolina and our water hoses are still freezing up despite heat tape and insulation. I think we're going to have to take off our outside water filters and four-way water splitters when we move north so we can having running water to the rig. Oh, the joys of living in a summer environment home in a winter environment. It's been less than a week since we left Myrtle Beach and already I long for those lazy days once again. And I miss my drinking buddy Vicki, too. It was nice this spring as well as in Myrtle Beach to step outside and see her smiling face and just chat or vent or relax together with an alcoholic beverage of the day while watching the world go by. Everyone should have a best friend like that.

Okay, I'm tired enough that I've gotten maudlin. (That word was for you, Coll). It's time to put my feet up and hope that Denny suggests dinner out someplace (please, please, please).

Cold. Busy. Cold

While these strange clouds were over Tennessee as we were returning from Myrtle Beach, we have gray, dreary skies over Ohio right now along with a few snowflakes. I am cold, cold, cold and winter hasn't even hit yet. Shudder.

Denny, Connie and I have jumped in to get the estate sale set up in two days. We are going to be pooped puppies indeed by the time Sunday evening rolls around. That's when the sale is over. After that we'll pack up the leftovers for the Salvation Army and be done with it. We have a parcel of land still to sell, but that's not a priority at this time. Then Denny and I will start to figure out what we need to do to make my mother's life comfortable and safe.

It's time for some mindless entertainment with CSI. With our feet up. And wine.

Packing Up

I was up early, hoping for a spectacular sunrise, but that was not to be. Instead, the forecast was for rain and we were under a tornado watch, which did not bode well for the Heart Association Horseback Ride on the Beach. Vicki and I wandered out to the beach at about 8AM as that was when the horses were due to leave Lakeswood to walk north past our campground and on up into Myrtle Beach proper. We saw a group of four horses already north of us and then nothing. The beach was hazy with fog and mist but still we figured we should see SOMETHING! Nope, no horses anywhere. I waited for almost an hour before the lone rider above approached me and then stopped. Since I was sitting quietly in my chair, it seems that I frightened the lady's horse. Yep,that's right, sitting quietly scared the horse. I could have been up, moving around, waving my arms and that would have been fine, but sitting there holding a camera to my face to take a picture scared him. That just tickled me. Obviously his rider was used to it, as she explained that butterflies could scare him too. She questioned whether I had seen any other riders and I told her she was the first since 8 o'clock. Since it's dark here at 5 o'clock in the evening and that's also when high tide would be back, it didn't bode well for all the riders who had not yet left the campground. The state park pier pilings can be a problem to negotiate at high tide, as well as the storm runoff channels that cut across the beach all the way up the coastline. It was another hour before any other riders came by. I think the tornado watch might have bothered them. I think that a lot of the riders will have to cut their ride short this year.

Anyway, some of the day was spent taking pictures (today's are on Webshots)and starting to put away our "briar" toys (outside decorations), patio mats, chairs, fire pits and other outside "stuff". Most of that will stay in the bins when we arrive back in Ohio because we certainly won't be sitting outside enjoying the nice weather up there because there won't be any! We'll share one last meal with Don and Vicki as they too are leaving tomorrow, although they'll be heading south while we head north.

We probably won't bother to put up the satellite dish for the Internet over the next two days of travel so there will be no Lazy Sunday post this week. Actually, it's been a very lazy three weeks and we've enjoyed every minute of it. Having Don and Vicki here with us was icing on the cake, and we all enjoyed it so much that we're thinking of coming back and doing it again next year. Sounds like a plan.

In the meantime, start thinking "spring" for us, would you?

The Annual Myrtle Beach Horse Back Beach Ride

The annual Jack Monroe Horseback Ride for the American Heart Association is held at the Lakewood Campground just south of us here at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I've been taking photos for my own enjoyment and also to post online so the riders can have a picture of themselves riding their horses on the beach. After all, it's hard to take a picture of yourself on horseback, right?

I've posted all the pictures so far on Flickr as RV Vagabond and Myrtle Beach Horse Ride. I think I just filled up that free account so any further pictures I'll load into Webshots; look for the album entitled 2008 Myrtle Beach Horse Ride.

After taking a picture of a very nice gentleman by the name of James, he in turn took a picture of me with his very handsome horse and dog.

If you love horses and ever have the chance to be in Myrtle Beach when the horse ride is scheduled, this is a must see event.

Myrtle Beach Heart Ride Horses

The horses are arriving in Myrtle Beach for the annual Heart Association Horse Ride on the Beach. I spent much of the day on the beach taking pictures for my own pleasure when one of the riders hollered "send me a copy!" Well, since I can't do that, I'm uploading all the pictures taken today on Flickr. Look for them under the RV Vagabonds name, of course, to see the various riders and lovely horses. I can only put 200 on since I have only a free account with Flicker, so tomorrow's photos may be on Webshots. I'm going to have to spread the love, I guess.

Guy who wanted a copy; here ya go.

I absolutely HAD to title this one "Save a Horse...."

A Public Service on Pop Up Ads

Vitamin Sea has an interesting and scary blog about not closing down pop up ads by clicking on the X box. Since this is the way I always close any pop ups that slip past my pop up blocker I checked out CNET's suggested method of closing down a pop up. It's simple and it's what I'll be doing from here on out.

Sunshine and Surf on a Lazy Sunday

Part of my fascination with the ocean is the creatures that live in it. This morning while eating breakfast at a restaurant located on the beach Denny and I watched dolphins swimming south along the coastline. They didn't seem to be feeding but moving steadily southward, perhaps in migration. What a gift that was first thing in the morning and it's one of the reasons we love this area so much.

Although I didn't have my camera with me for the dolphins, a flock of pelicans were feeding near the campground this week, gliding above the waves and diving deep for their dinner. I tried for a while to get the perfect shot of them diving but finally gave up and just enjoyed the dance.

The camera fought with the computer and the computer won, eating up my lone video of a diving pelican. I did manage to get one still shot of one.

Normally when walking the beach you find pieces of cooked crab shell, thrown off ships perhaps, but this guy apparently died a natural death and was washed ashore. He was pretty sizeable.

This little guy wasn't doing well when Vicki and I found him on the beach so we put him back in the surf to give him a change at survival. Interesting pattern on his shell, right?

Cats can't read.

This is the cut-through to the beach from our camp site. Vicki and I have tried to get a good sunrise through the two posts, but the sun rises too far to the north to center it for the photograph.

I'm not sure if there is less humidity here in November or if it is just chance, but this is the most cloud formation we've had at sunrise since we've arrived. Perhaps this week will be better.

And this week? We found sharks' teeth. No photos yet as I give them all to Vicki for her granddaughters.

Good News/Bad News

We've been having a good time here at the beach. We've lifted quite a few drinks with Don and Vicki at bars and restaurants, in our rigs and around the campfire. I think I'm at ten different alcoholic beverages tried over the past two weeks and Vicki's probably right there with me except on the Cabernet Savignon. We've eaten well, laughed a lot and relaxed in the sunshine, believing we had another two weeks to enjoy the sand and surf and being lazy bones.
Figuring that we had two weeks to skate, we lazed around, piddled around and in general have gotten little done but enjoy our surroundings.
Our days here seemed to stretch as endlessly as the beach along the Grand Strand, but no.
It seems we have an offer on Denny's dad's house and Connie has decided to accept it so now I must keep my promise to handle the sale of the contents of the house. We'll be returning to Ohio a week early so that I can have the sale before Thanksgiving as the closing on the house will be the day after Thanksgiving.

At least we'll still be here for the horses and the American Heart Association Beach Ride next week. This year we're staying at the campground just north of the one that's "housing" the horses so we'll have to walk a bit to see all the lovely critters down there and take pictures. Then it will be time to pack up our shorts and gird our loins for colder temperatures and the wearing of winter coats. I think it's going to be a long winter. Perhaps I can talk Mom into buying a motor home and traveling with us instead of us hanging around to keep an eye on her in Ohio. Sounds good to me!

Catching Up

I had a bit of a scare last night; Denny was violently ill, light-headed and his blood pressure was sky high so I took him to the ER. After EKGs, CAT scans of his head, a chest X-ray and blood work he was diagnosed with vertigo and sent home. Today he is better.

We are having a great time here at the beach and I'll detail more later. Tonight we're hosting the dinner and camp fire with Don and Vicki in return for the nice meal we had with them last night. The four of us are working hard to live up to the "Eat, Drink and Be Merry" creed. Someone has to do it!

It's all good right now.

Remiss in Myrtle Beach

One week of our month long stay has officially passed. I can't believe how quickly the week has gone by and we really haven't done anything. But when you are at the beach, that's not such a bad thing. We walk the beach with Don and Vicki, share meals and drinks with them and the days have passed in a blur--possibly due to the amount of alcohol involved. Heh.

Without further ado; things we've seen at Myrtle Beach this week.
Sunshine on the Atlantic Ocean. Lots of sunlight. It hasn't always been warm, but it's been sunny.

This mourning dove appears to be looking askance at something, doesn't it?

This is what the dove was watching; Miss Patches lurking on the sand dunes below. So many good smells here among the sea oats!

A Ruddy Turnstone seabird, for which I use the generic term of "skitter birds" as they skitter along the beach avoiding the surf while looking for tiny sea creatures to suck out of the sand.


White ibis wander the campground looking for whatever insect or seeds they can glean from the ground. I think they are prettier from a distance.

Just an ugly bug Patches and I discovered on our nightly walk. He's so ugly I'm not even going to try to research him online to see what he is. Shudder.

Ah, the ubiquitous "fulltimerous RVerous", frequently found hovering around campfires, usually with a beverage in hand. This is a mixed group of the silver haired and brown haired types.

We haven't had a really gorgeous sunrise or sunset set yet, but there's still time. The color is pretty though.

We Made It

See what my dear friend Vicki (and Don) bought me while in Shipshewana, IN? And did we take full advantage of the saying once Denny and I had gotten our campsite mostly set up? With Don and Vicki waiting with a full pitcher of frozen margaritas? Silly question!

It feels SO good to be back at Myrtle Beach. This was our starting point for our full time rving adventures and it was were we vacationed after buying our first motorhome. This year we're back at Pirateland Campground since they have finally reinstated a monthly fee (after November 1 unfortunately, since it's not ideal beach weather). So we feel like we're back "home" again. Having Don and Vicki here too is just icing on the cake.

There will be more later but nothing soothes the soul like the sound of surf and I'm so soothed that I feel a nap coming. It's a rough life we lead....

It's a Good Thing We Don't Have A House

Kittens-Coca Cola Box - The most popular videos are here

ARRGGHHH!!!

Three days before Denny and I are due to leave for Myrtle Beach, my mother passes out getting up from the john and falls face first into the bath tub. End result, a mad dash up I-75 from Cincinnati and an emergency call to my brother at work to get him over to her house since I have a 50 minute drive. Still, I got to the hospital as he was walking her out of the car into the emergency room.

A CAT scan shows no fractures, no internal bleeding in her head. She has a ginormous black eye that has moved from over her eyebrow to halfway down her nose. By tomorrow I'm sure it will be the entire side of her face. She refuses to put ice on it "because it hurts". Sigh.

I've decided that Denny and I will go to Myrtle Beach anyway, a rather selfish decision. We already paid for our (non-refundable)reservations and I have a brother and sister that live within ten minutes of my mother so I figure it's their turn to manage some of her care. When Denny and I return we'll all have a sit down with Mom to figure out where we go from here, but for once big sister isn't going to be here to take care of everything. I think it's going to be an eye-opening experience for my siblings.

And yes, I'll feel guilty and yes, I'll worry and fret, but I promised Denny time away from his dad's place and caring for my mom for a while and so we're going. Right now, life isn't very much fun.

Wii Have A New Toy

Wii, or rather Iii have a new toy. Yep, the Christmas Club account money will be arriving soon so when Best Buy announced a new shipment of Wiis, Denny and I were first thirteenth in line on Sunday. I wanted the Wii Fit board, figuring that perhaps I'd do a bit better with exercise if it was more like a game. I managed to get all the wires in the right place and the system was up and running by Sunday afternoon and before I knew it, I had been on the danged thing for a half hour. It IS fun and yet challenging. I've discovered my balance is lousy for one thing and that I'm easily entertained for another. Yesterday we were busy at my mother's house and with doctors' appointments so I didn't use the system. Today, I was chastised questioned by the Wii about missing a day. My mother lives in the game board--who knew?

Perhaps between the Wii Fit and some long walks on the beach in Myrtle Beach next month my mysteriously shrinking clothing will start to fit better. If nothing else, I'll be entertained during the upcoming long, freaking frigid cold winter nights in Ohio. Shudder.

Black Beauty-er

One of the first things we promised ourselves when we bought Black Beauty is that we would take her to the Stripe Shop for some graphics to make her "ours". It is what we did when we bought Kong, our white Ford F450. Even though Black Beauty came with a more stylized paint job than our first truck I wanted something different than what came off the showroom floor.


While I've always been one to use a sledgehammer when a hammer would do, this time I was a bit more discrete with the design since we had the wide silver rocker panel on the truck. So here's what I came up with this time:


We also extended the pinstriping along the top of the truck bed. Before it ended behind the cab which to me was as sudden as tripping off a curb. Now it flows and Mama is happy. So everyone is happy.
This makes me smile.

I Did It Again

I had lined up the shot: the sun shining down brightly on the dew-drenched first hole of the golf course, trees with orange, yellow, brown and green leaves in the background. I snap the shot and see "no memory card". NO MEMORY CARD IN THE CAMERA! ARRRRGGGHHHH. I had been uploading photos the night before and that's where the SD card was--still in its snug little slot in the computer.

And what did we see on the golf course yesterday? Eight wild turkeys on the tee box of the second hole, no more than fifteen feet away from us. An otter playing in one of the ponds along the fairway of one of the holes on the back nine. At least thirty photos ops of fall color, blue skies, the Whitewater River and more. Naturally. Because I had no memory card in the camera.

As we were playing golf Denny and I first discussed putting an extra memory card in the truck--not good because I'd leave the truck without it and discover I needed it when we were out on the golf course or halfway to a geocache, etc. Then we decided we could duct tape one to the bottom of the camera. Okay, we'll try that.

The idea of taping a memory card to the bottom of the camera didn't work because I occasionally use a tripod and that would make the camera uneven on the base of the tripod. Hmm, next idea, putting a hole in the card case and tying it on the camera strap. No, I could see the case catching on something and ripping off. But we're on a roll here. How about if we cut a slit in the case and put it on the strap? Denny's next idea was to put TWO slits in the case and run the strap through it so the case didn't dangle loose. I came up with the idea of making the slits by heating the end of a flat blade screwdriver and melting a slit in the case, which rounded the edges of the plastic so it wouldn't cut into the woven nylon camera strap. Voila'; the perfect solution to always having a memory card for the camera.
The SD memory card is secure in its case because it has a small latch at the bottom end of the case.

Denny ran the camera strap through the slits that he melted into the case.

Put our two minds together and we're downright dangerous. ;-)

Small Pleasures

While chatting on the phone with Vicki last night I was complaining about the fact since we haven't been traveling I haven't had the opportunity to take great photos. Silly me, sometimes one needs only look as far as the backyard.

Denny's garden is still doing well even this late in October.

Part of the tree that almost hit our trailer during the high winds brought by Hurricane Ike into our part of the world.

The only colorful tree in the woods, sad to say.

Trees encased in vines remind me of the gnarly hands of an old man.

A lovely bit of lavender color among the rocks.

Patches dreaming of being on the road again?