Second Morning at Home

May 16, 2013

9AM
I realized this morning when I awakened that each day for the last several months I've roused myself from slumber reminding myself of where I am.  This morning, first I came up with 'home in San Rafael,' then realized I haven't lived in San Rafael for 10 years!  But, I am HOME, in Roseville.  It's currently 59 degrees (15C) and will get up to about 88 this afternoon (31.1C).  This seems almost completely perfect; however, it will continue to get hotter and drier as the days move into June.

Yesterday, although the main intent was to relax, I really 'got a lot done' - laundry (US style with washer and dryer), developed an updated budget for going forward, did some iPhoto updating and a little house-cleaning.

I'm going to hang out with Kari for lunch and gabbing today; this is a real treat for me as she's so busy with her family and business www.epictri.com - I really appreciate any / all the time I can spend with her - she's one amazing lady.  This evening or tomorrow morning, I think I'll leave, in Daphne Dolphin once again, for Cottonwood (near Redding, CA - about 170 miles north of Roseville), home of Jeff (number 1 son), Alice and the 13-year old wins, Malia and Samantha.  I plan to hopefully set up a kind of 'base of operations' there.  My car is there and I'll spend lots of time and energy getting Daphne into tip-top shape for whatever the next adventure is.

I love spending time in Cottonwood, although it's much hotter there than it is here, and will plan on leaving Daphne there for rest, recuperation and storage.  It's not possible to keep Daphne here with me in Roseville; I'd have to store her away from home - at $100 / month.  At Jeff's, even though it's a 3-hour drive, I can live in Daphne while I'm there and still have my car for side trips, visits to other relatives, etc.

A little background:

In the late 80s my husband and I visited the weekend ranch of friends, Bobbi and Lou, who live in San Rafael - where we lived at the time - in Cottonwood, California.  John fell head over heels in love with their little ranch and the very next day called a realtor to start showing us properties for a 'ranch' of our own.

We bought 'the ranch' in the outskirts of Red Bluff, a lovely and comfortable house on 37 acres along the banks of the Sacramento River where it is wide, rapid and beautiful.  We 'stocked' it with a couple of horses, lots of dogs and cats, even two cows for a time and enjoyed, first, two-day weekends, then 3-day, then I finally decided to move there.  We kept the house in San Rafael for John to live in during the week and I started working for the small hospital in Red Bluff.

Soon, thereafter, members of our family - John's widowed dad, our nephew and his family, our sister-in-law and her boyfriend, etc. started relocating their families to the area.  It's situated at the very northern end of the great San Joaquin Valley of California.  And it's only minutes in any direction to wonderful lakes, mountains, recreation - Mt. Shasta and Lake Shasta (skiing, hiking, camping, boating, etc.).  It's a recreation wonderland.

Now, all these many years later, I'm a visitor - but I still love it and would contemplate relocating there if I truly decide that I want a base camp from which to foray far and wide in Daphne or another RV.  I intend to have a long conversation with my son, Jeff, about this very subject while I'm there this coming week.

Here are a couple of pictures - not too recent but fun to look at:

This photo was taken before we left on our RV adventure; it's the way the groomer intended Lacy should look.  She hasn't been bathed or clipped now for months and months - she'll visit my niece, who owns a grooming shop in Redding, next week.  I'm planning to learn how to clip her so we're not dependent on unknown groomers!  I took her to one in Sayulita, Mexico; she was almost bald at the end of that afternoon!

This is a photo I took in November 2012 of a neighbor's house - yes, those are wild turkeys - we have a huge 'flock' of wild turkeys that have been living in our neighborhood for over 25 years.  There are about 50 of them and they roost in several trees behind the houses (there's a creek and hiking trail right in the middle of Roseville).  Everybody loves seeing them, almost every day, as they make their way throughout the neighborhood.  Residents respect them and slow down or stop when they cross the streets.  They really have little fear and do let one get pretty close - it's wonderful in the Spring when they saunter throughout the area with their new chicks.