Finishing Out My Cajun Adventure, Cajun Style

Sadly, I'm winding down my stay at Betty's RV Park in Abbeville.  I'll be heading out next Wednesday to begin the westward journey back to California.  I'm going to take my time and enjoy the trip.  First, I think I'm going to head down the gulf coast of Texas to take in some new to me scenery before I hitch back on to I-10 and environs for most of the trip.  There are certainly lots of things I didn't catch on my westward jaunt when I returned to the US from Mexico last April and May.

This sojourn in Louisiana has been a wonderful introduction to Cajun Country, culture, language, food, and music.  Last night we had a L-O-N-G Happy Hour with a visit from two good ole' boys and some really good Cajun music.

Friday evening, Toogie Bergeron and his friend, Lane, serenaded and played for us for about two hours in our not-so-large Happy Hour room.  They played lots of Cajun specialties and also some great Country and Western.  Several couples danced, sharing about 10 square feet of space.  Toogie said, "The more you dance, the better we play!"

Saturday . . .
It's still cold, just a little warmer today - about 41 degrees now at 11am.  I'm lounging around in my flannel pajamas, enjoying another good book, some computer tonic and a nice slow entry into the day.  The RV park is loaded to the gunnels - 17 sites occupied.  Serious Mardi Gras celebrators are making their way here for the yearly festivities that go on from January 6th until the beginning of Lent.
This year the actual Mardi Gras will be on March 6th but the decorations are going up all over and even Wal-mart has all their bling for sale.  I bought lots of hats, necklaces, masks, etc. and am making "care packages" for my grandchildren - lots of them!

Sunday Morning . . .
Yesterday afternoon, Louisiana Marvin and I took Petunia and headed to Eunice, LA to meet our "Betty's Friends," Jay and Vicki, Jim, and Wayne and Sharon for dinner at Ruby's Restaurant. 

A lovely and large restaurant / night club with patio dining when it's warm enough

Lots of decorations up for Mardi Gras

Jim (Louisiana), Wayne and Sharon (Iowa)

Vicki and Jay (Washington)
After a great American / Cajun steak dinner we walked a short half block to a really old-style theater / auditorium for more Cajun music . . .

The message says, "Sorry, there was an error processing your video."
Well, friends, I'm working on it!  I've taken some great videos the last few days and just can't figure out why I can't get them into my blog . . . any suggestions would be appreciated.  I've some from my Sony Cyber Shot and some from my iPhone and they appear to be uploading but will not play.
I'll keep at it so maybe some Cajun music will come your way shortly!

Pondering Some Wonders of the World

As I recollect why I started this writing this blog in the first place, it was to create a venue for conversation with my kids and grandkids about my mental pondering and travel activities that I thought might be of interest to them.  And, to be completely honest, I thought I'd finally found a way for me to enjoy journaling (and, I have).  On a minute-by-minute basis my brain wanders through fields of flowers and brambles; I’d like to share some of those expeditions in writing.  Alas, I am not a poet or a lyricist and I don’t often stick with one train of thought for very long.  But, some of the pondering in my head is in alignment with that of others; to make note is to invite conversation.

I’ve started keeping some of that pondering in written form, for whomever cares to hitch a ride with me on this magic carpet.  No two will share all the same  topics of interest; that's okay; they can come along for the ride or wait for another voyage opportunity.

Phases of the Moon 

From time to time during this North American RV adventure I step outside Floribunda in the evening and notice / photograph the moon in whatever phase is present at the time.  It's made me think about “Phases of the Moon” in general.  Remember, I’m an Internet-surfing-junkie; this particular pondering took a couple of sprightly clicks and there’s more information than I can possibly cover in one lifetime.  

Click on the image to enlarge.

Looks complicated, doesn't it?  It’s really not . . .

With the Earth at the center of the diagram, notice the moon’s 8 key stages as it orbits around our planet.   Remember that the moon orbits the Earth and the Earth orbits the Sun.  Notice the sunlight coming from the right side of the diagram; an important detail to keep in mind is that exactly one half of the moon is illuminated by the sun at all times.  The various phases of the moon, as we see them, are dependent on the effect of the shadow the Earth casts on the moon at any particular time.  In reality, the shadowed portion of the moon, during its revolution around Earth, like the new moon, is not visible to us.  (It’s outlined for diagramming purposes only).

The dotted line in the diagram is a representation of our line of sight from here on Earth.  Voyagers in space would have a different perspective during their  travels.

For understanding the waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent phases, you have to mentally stand on your head to imagine the line of sight; and, when you do you’ll notice that the illuminated portion is to your left – just as you see it in the image.

Phases of the Moon and Some Definitions:

Crescent:  refers to phases where the moon is LESS than half illuminated

Gibbous:  refers to phases where the moon is MORE than half illuminated

Waxing:  essentially means GROWING or expanding in illumination

Waning:  means SHRINKING or decreasing in illumination

New moon:  occurs when the moon is located directly between the Earth and the Sun.  The sun is illuminating the backside of the moon and we can’t  see it from Earth. 

Full moon:  again the moon, Sun and Earth are in approximate alignment but the side of the moon that the Sun’s illuminating is facing the Earth and we see it brightly and clearly.  It’s the maximum illumination of the moon we can appreciate.

First quarter and third quarter moons:  frequently referred to as half moons, occur when the moon is at a right angle (90 degrees) with respect to the Earth and the Sun.  At these phases we’re seeing exactly half of the moon, while the second half is in shadow.

Once you understand those four key moon phases, the phases between should be fairly easy to visualize, as the illuminated portion gradually transitions between them.

Thus you can simply combine the two words to create the phase name, as follows:

After a new moon, the sunlit portion is increasing, but less than half, so it is waxing crescent. After the first quarter, the sunlit portion is still increasing, but now it is more than half, so it is waxing gibbous. After the full moon (maximum illumination), the light continually decreases. So the waning gibbous phase occurs next. Following the third quarter is the waning crescent, which wanes until the light is completely gone -- a new moon.

Here are the phases of the moon as depicted by Oreo Cookies!

To be continued . . . Have I lost you?

Lots of information for this post from MoonConnection, Wikipedia, Planets for Kids. 

Back in Louisiana - Tuesday Morning Ramblings

I've been remiss about posting for the last week, due to my visit to California.

I passed my driver's written and vision exams and will shortly have a current photo on my new license - we'll probably never see the auburn hair again in this lifetime!  Oh well, that's as it is and should be!

I was originally scheduled to be in CA from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday.  Tuesday American Airlines called to say that the Lafayette Airport would be closed Wednesday and Thursday due to ice storms, so I rescheduled for a flight on Friday morning.

Then my daughter, Kari, started working on me about what I need to do for this bum right knee I've developed after a million years of jogging.  So, I emailed my internist [Kaiser Permanente docs must answer all patient emails within 24 hours - if my doc is on vacation another doc has to answer the email - I love it]; she emailed back that evening that she'd made an appointment for me with my orthopedic surgeon for Friday morning.  So, once again, with the help of my son-in-law, we changed my return flight from Friday to Saturday.

Friday morning I saw my Orthopod (surgery jargon) and actually made all the arrangements for a total knee replacement to be done on April 21st in Sacramento.  Another great thing about Kasier membership:  everything can be arranged through one source so all my pre-op appointments, tests, physical therapy, etc. are scheduled as well as all my post-op care.  The only little crimp in the plan was that he wanted me to have an MRI on Saturday and I said I didn't want to change my flight again (American Airlines had not given me any change charges so I didn't want to press my luck).  So, I'll need to be in Sacramento on March 31st for the MRI, which will be sent to Belgium to the manufacturer of the components.  The components for my knee will be custom made dependent on the MRI.  Pretty interesting, huh?

Although this is putting a sizable detour in my travel plans, we decided that it's the best part of valor to go ahead and bite the bullet now while I'm in good health - take no medications, etc.  The Orthopod says I probably shouldn't plan on hitting the road again for about 4 months "or so," during which time I'll be diligent about the recovery process.  He says I may not feel like jogging again but should be able to do as much walking, hiking, bike riding, swimming, etc. as I want.

I'm going to park Floribunda at my son's house in Cottonwood, CA and move into my daughter's house in El Dorado Hills; where they're going to turn David's office back into a bedroom - located on the ground floor with its own bathroom.  I'll probably stay there for at least a couple of months; then may head to my son's house and either stay in the house with the family - or move back into Floribunda to live - without traveling.

Once my daughter had made the generous offer to be my private nurse in her house, I warmed up to the whole idea.  I still have NO DESIRE to move back into my own house - and have told the renters that so they don't worry about having to move out.  Maybe I'll even start making RV-buying notes about exactly what I'd like for living and traveling if it's to become my full-time life.  Hmmm.

I got back to Betty's in Abbeville on Saturday and was thrilled to be back in my own little home on wheels with Eleanor and Lacy.  So many people here at Betty's helped out while I was gone and I owe them a debt of gratitude.  Lacy stayed with Ruth and Wendell (Tennessee) and Eleanor was nicely taken care of in Floribunda by Christy and Clay (Colorado/Oklahoma).  Marvin took good care of my rig - the ice storm presented freezing problems, etc.  And, he even moved her and set her up in a new site for me.  I'd known that, because I've extended my stay here, I'd need to make room for a big rig that was to head in on Saturday.  Thanks to all for all your help.

Yesterday, I celebrated my 71st BD - treated to breakfast and gifts and Happy Birthday at happy hour and lots of phone calls and cards and email greetings from family and friends.  I'm one lucky 'girl!'

And, I thought a lot about my mom and dad - I was born on their 9th anniversary so yesterday would have been their 80th!!!!!!!!!  

I love you, Mom and Dad.

Today, it's raining - Louisiana style - warm and wet.  I'm very content to stay inside and enjoy the beginning of my 72nd year . . .

Getting the Family Fix

I arrived at the Sacramento International Airport Sunday - late evening  - and was so happy when I found that Kari was there to meet me.  I hadn't seen any of my family since I left on my North American adventure last summer.  I'm sad that I'm not able to see my son Jeff's family on this trip; they live about 170 miles from my daughter's house and it's hard to get away during the week.
Kari, David and the four youngest of their six kids live in El Dorado Hills; which is a beautiful part of California.

El Dorado Hills with Folsom Lake in background

Serrano - residential area where Kari lives

For those unfamiliar with this large portion of California's geography, let me describe the area a little.  As all know California is a very long state; the Central Valley is a large, flat valley (that does include some foothill areas like EDH) that dominates the central portion of the state - it's 40-60 miles wide and stretches almost 500 miles from the north-northwest to the south-southeast, inland and running parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast.  It covers about 23,000 square miles and is roughly comparable in size to the state of West Virginia and is a little less than 14% of California's total land area.  It is home to some of the most productive agricultural land in the world.

El Dorado Hills, as the name implies, is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, along Highway 50 E - heading towards Lake Tahoe and the Nevada State line, about an hour and a half distant.

Lake Tahoe - a wonderful place to visit - Winter or Summer

I am staying in Holland's bedroom; she's granddaughter #3 and is recently returned from Germany where she passed her first university semester at an international Bible College.  She has stories galore about her experiences both in school and doing the tourist thing all around Europe.

Department of Motor Vehicles -

Monday Morning

Since the purpose of this trip was to renew my California Driver's License, which had to be done IN PERSON, I wanted to get to DMV with time to spare in case there might be any glitches that would need to be corrected before returning to Abbeville, Louisiana on Wednesday; where Lacy and Eleanor are being cared for by wonderfully generous friends at Betty's RV Park.

I'd checked online and found a practice driver's written test and also a 'cheat sheet' for reviewing some obscure and some not-so-obscure driving laws.  I'd been notified that I was to take the written and vision tests, pay the renewal fee and have a newID photo taken.  'Bye-bye' to the current ID photo taken when I still had auburn-colored hair!

My son-in-law, David, suggested that I drive to Placerville, about 15 miles east off 50 because it would probably be less time-consuming.  Wrong!  It was Monday morning, so I waited in line for about 10 minutes just to get to the START window; then I was asked to be seated until my number was called.  One hour later it was finally my turn.  I confess I was a little nervous about the vision test, making the assumption that they're out to get little old ladies!

A nice service assistant gave me a vision test and said I'd done "perfectly."  I'm not sure if he was kidding, but I did PASS.  Yeah!  One test down.  A couple of my blog followers had suggested that I be careful with the written test and I do remember that it can be a little tricky.  I completed it and turned it in to the lady at the correct window.  Yippee!  I'd only missed one question - PASSED.  So, now it was just the photo and thumb print and that took only a couple of minutes and I was good to go.

With that out of the way I was ready to spend the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday with Kari's family . . . one active family, to say the least.  Both David and Kari work full-time, the 14-year-old triplets (Avery, Tate and Spencer - one boy with five sisters!) and newly returned world traveler, Holland, all have a very full plate of interests and activities.  It's a challenge to keep up with their individual and collective schedules.  I actually shared with Kari that I need to write everything down, just to know what, where, when, why, how and why everything gets done that involves my participation.  I will say that it's so much easier now that I don't have my own career agenda in the mix.  I can be flexible - I'm so enjoying just being around what I consider to be a very healthy and active family - Kari's.

Post Script Thursday Morning

I'm behind on posting but will catch up within the next few days.  Giving good thoughts to those of you who are trying to manage in bad winter weather.

California, Here I Come . . .

Ray Charles: California, Here I Come

I'm up and readying for my quick jaunt to Sacramento, California this afternoon.  Marvin finished up all my  shelving projects for me yesterday.  Oh, by the way, yesterday morning we had a low of 24F.  By about noon, it was well up into the 60s.  And, the low this morning was about 44F.  Go figure!

California State Flag

I spent time last night and will again today - getting things back into cabinets, cupboards and wardrobe closets.  I'm labeling all the storage containers as I go so it won't be so difficult to find things when I need them.  Yesterday, I finally found the outdoor temperature gauge that records on a gauge over my dinette.  I had to locate it (in the LP gas compartment!) so I could replace the batteries.  In the meantime, as I've been searching for the darn thing for weeks, I bought another; so now I have two separate gauges monitoring the outside temp from two different locations on the rig exterior!!!  Maybe I'm practicing for a new career - weather-woman MP!

Lacy has two couples ready to take her!  She's a popular lady!  I'd asked my next-door neighbors a couple of days ago and they accepted.  Then, last evening at happy hour another couple, who've just lost their dog a few weeks ago, asked if they could keep her in their RV.  I'll have to get her keep figured out with the two couples.  It's nice that she's well-behaved and popular.

This is El Dorado Hills, about 15 miles East of Sacramento off I-50, where
I'll be staying with my daughter's family

My house (rented) is in Roseville about 7 miles East of Sacramento off I-80

I probably won't see the GG Bridge on this trip.  This photo was taken from the
Marin County side of the bridge

Eleanor will be staying here in the rig - she climbed in last July and hasn't been outside since!  She's a rescue kitty and knows a good home when she sees it!  So a neighbor will come in to feed her and do litter box duty.

Hope all have a nice relaxing / exciting Sunday!

Crazy Cold Weather

It’s just been crazy weather with very little warning.  Yesterday it was in the 60s during the morning.  In the afternoon it got a little breezy with a slight chill in the air.  By seven or so in the evening it was dropping down into the 30s and this morning when I woke up it was 28F.   As if that wasn’t bad enough, the high today was 29F and it’s expected to be even colder tonight.  Brrrrr.

So this morning I bundled up in two sweat shirts over my pajamas to take Lacy on her walk; after opening the door, I remember putting my foot on Floribunda’s top step and the next thing I knew both feet were above my head and I bounced down the entry steps on my back and landed by clunking the back of my head on the frozen gravel next to the RV.  I let out a little screech but nobody heard me, so I lay there for a few seconds to make sure I was still alive and in Louisiana; then I picked myself up and took Lacy for a very short walk.

Upon returning inside warm Floribunda, I checked to determine what the physical damage was:  bruised and scraped back, several scratches and scrapes here and there and three broken to the quick fingernails.  As the day has progressed I’ve become pretty sore – kind of like I actually played in the 49er – Seahawks game the other day!  All I can say about it now is that I’m thankful; it could have been so much worse.  I’m a California girl; it never dawned on me to look for ice on my motor home steps.  It’s almost a half-inch thick so you can bet I’m now heading in and out holding on to the handrails!

The other semi-negative happening today was that I made a reservation to fly home to California this coming Sunday in order to get to the Department of Motor Vehicles on Monday to renew my driver’s license.  I knew when I left in July that my license would expire on my birthday in February.  What I didn’t know was that the renewal notice was going to require that I renew it in person!  It's that time when I have to prove that I'm still in control of my mental status, that my eyesight has not deteriorated, that I still understand California law regarding driving a private vehicle.  Oh, yes, and they want a current photo.  There goes the auburn hair color!  

I gave a few minutes of thought to the possibility of just letting the license lapse, but soon realized that’s not an option for me.  I’d not be comfortable driving around the country with an expired license.  I did call my auto insurance agent and she informed me that I could have a big problem if it were to have lapsed when I could be in an accident.  Yikes!  I don’t want even the slightest possibility of that happening!  So, off I go from Lafayette, LA to Sacramento, CA on Sunday; then I’ll return to LA on Wednesday night.  My generous neighbors, Kristi and Clay, have agreed to watch Lacy and Eleanor during my absence.  They have a beautifully groomed and happy dog and two very relaxed and satisfied cats in their motor home – I know they’ll take good care of my ‘girls.’

I first checked out flights from New Orleans to Sacramento - $850 without tax.  Then I tried Baton Rouge to Sacramento - $730 without tax.  At last I tried Lafayette to Sacramento - $548 complete.  Go figure!  The Lafayette airport is only about 20 miles from here; it won't be a big problem getting there on time. 

Tonight I'm snug in Floribunda with Lacy and Eleanor.  The ice is becoming thicker and the icicles longer.  Tomorrow, I'll decide what to take on my trip . . . not much because I don't even have anything larger than a purse to pack!  That makes decision-making so much easier!

Happy Weekend all!

A New Computer Desk

 I love the early morning hours.  After so many years of getting up early to head to the gym before going to work, I learned years ago that it's not the sleeping in that I crave, it's the waking early and NOT having to head out for exercise or work!  I love to have a nice mug of coffee and either read a book or jump on my laptop to check blogs, read emails, or just surf . . .

Reminds me a little of Lincoln!
This morning was one of those days; I finished reading Tracy Chevalier's "The Last Runaway," a novel about a young Quaker woman in Ohio, circa 1850, who is drawn into the clandestine activities  of the Underground Railroad, helping runaway slaves escape to freedom.

I did have a need to get a little cooking done as I'd invited Marvin, my handyman angel, for dinner today.  I bought some Black Angus rib eye steaks yesterday and wanted to make a nice dinner to try to thank Marvin for all his great work on my RV.  This morning I made béarnaise sauce, a sweet potato dish and balsamic vinaigrette.  All of this in my PJs!

As I was merrily working away there came a knock on the door.  Marvin was wanting to work on yet another project, building a small fold-down-from the -bedroom-wall desk.  He said we needed to  purchase some components at Stine's in Abbeville.  While I made myself presentable, Marvin did a little more reorganization of the exterior storage areas.  He's a master at getting the most out of every square inch of space.  When it's finally complete I intend to go around and make a list of each storage area's contents so I can find things in a month or so after I've forgotten where in the heck I put something!

While we were in Stine's buying screws, etc., we decided that, rather than using one of the left-over shelves for the desktop, we'd head to Wal-Mart to see if they had an appropriate cutting board we could use.  Yes, they did, for $17.  I bought it and we headed home to tackle the job.  Floribunda is not a big motor home as you can see here - work space is limited.

That's Marvin with electric screw driver on his chest, flashlight behind his head!

 Here's my MacBook Pro and Jetpack on their new desk.

Marvin's still not satisfied with the entire results and wants to do some refining tomorrow.  He's quite a perfectionist about his projects and I'm appreciative of his expertise.

Both Marvin and I enjoy eating dinner earlier rather than later so after the craft time, Marvin went to his trailer, probably for a well-deserved nap.  I put the finishing touches on the dinner and we ate at 4:30.  

The above photos were taken with my iPhone because I ran out of memory space on my camera's memory card; so I purchased a 32 Gig memory card a few days ago, went out to the car and took it out of the package to insert in my camera.  It flipped out of my hand and dropped down between the seats in Petunia.  I tried to reach down to pick it up with two fingers but couldn't quite grasp it; so I got out of the car and went to the passenger side to look under the seat.  The memory card was nowhere to be found.  I've spent the last three days going over the car floor with a fine-toothed comb. I cannot find the darn thing!  $36 for no pictures - yet!

Dinner menu - no photos:
Quickly sauteed rib eye steaks
Béarnaise sauce
Smashed sweet potatoes
Buttered zucchini
Pear, avocado, cranberry, mescaline salad with candied walnuts and garlic balsamic dressing

Marvin and I are both 'watching our waists' so no dessert!