Hello from Redding

Hi Everybody,

It's been a long break since I last posted; believe me, I've been thinking about all my virtual friends out there.  From the blogs I follow, I know there's a lot going on all over the place.  We, here in California, have returned to one of our hated and frightening "draught years."  I think almost every part of the state has been affected by forest fires.  I was talking to my daughter on the phone the other night and I could hear the in the background, "There's smoke coming in the house!"  They're in El Dorado Hills just off of I-50 about an hour and a half from South Shore Tahoe. 
 King Fire Arsonist Arrested

Here in Redding, I've moved my RV into a lovely RV Park, Green Acres, that I didn't even know existed until a couple of weeks ago.  I've not headed back out onto the open road because I've made some exciting travel plans for this Fall and Winter - without Floribunda and Petunia.  More about that in a future post.

I've been thinking about perhaps changing the focus of my blog during this time when I'm not out exploring this beautiful Country.  My original intention, when I began posting a couple of years ago, was to blog for my grandchildren about the adventures and experiences of their Mimi.  Well, suffice it to say, I'm not sure any of the eight looked at the blog more than once or twice.  The two older girls, Quinn and Addison, did sporadically - but they're so busy with their own lives, careers, fiancees, etc. that they don't have time or inclination to read Mimi's blog.  So, I've a bee in my bonnet to perhaps weave into the blog some short stories that have been whirling around in my head for years - mostly autobiographical tales - with the ulterior motive to have them down for posterity; so that my grandkids can read my tales, maybe when they're grandparents!  

I haven't been just vegetating while here; I'm very actively pursuing the healthy and active lifestyle I wanted when I retired and moved into Floribunda.  But, first I had to get the knee surgery over and recovered from - in order to be capable of enjoying all the adventures available.  I moved Florabunda and my family (Lacy and Eleanor) to my son's home in Cottonwood (about 25 miles south of Redding) and stayed there for about a month.  Then, my sister-in-law, Barbara, in Redding, asked me to care for her house and cat while they headed to the Coast in their RV for about 6 weeks.  So, I stayed in their house, but missed Floribunda, so moved her up into the RV hookup they have in their side yard.  After they returned, I moved to this lovely Green Acres RV park, only about a mile from them.  It's a real find:  beautiful and level cement pad and patio at each site, each is surrounded by green grass (a rarity in this parched environment) and shade trees.  I paid for a month and have decided to stay at least another, maybe more.  I'll take some pix to do some advertising for them; however, I don't want too, too many people to discover it, for obvious reasons.  There are about 25 sites, all full hookups, free cable TV and the best WiFi I've had in any park so far.  It's a hop, skip and a jump from downtown Redding and convenient to so many wonderful attractions:  Mt. Shasta, Lake Shasta, Whiskeytown Lake National Recreation Area (free with Senior Pass), Mt. Lassen National Park, Trinity Alps - the list goes on.

Before my sis-in-law left on vacation, she took me to the Shasta Family YMCA in Redding and introduced me to her gym buddies.  I've made such wonderful friends and have looked forward to getting to the gym almost every single day.  My knee recovery has been a dream I'm happy to report; there is absolutely no pain and I'm really getting back into shape after a long, long absence from exercise and physical activity in my life.  Those of my followers I've met personally over the last few years know that I was pretty incapacitated.  The doc says I may have to have the other knee done, someday.  I guarantee I'll not put it off, as I did with this knee.  I have been very conscientious about the recovery and I think I deserve, and am having, a positive experience for the whole thing.

I ride the exercise bike up to an hour a day and walk at a brisk pace on the treadmill, too.  I've started adding some weight training to try to get some of the muscle mass back that I lost with all that pain and inactivity.  I also swim a few times a week (indoor and outdoor pools at the Y) and have made the BEST friends.  

Every single day, as I awake, I'm thankful for being retired, having my health and my wonderful family - I'm loving life.