Getting Ready for Spring/Summer Travels

Roger here....   Tequila and Bandido are not aware of it yet, but their lives are about to become more interesting (at least from a human perspective).  It is almost March.  In seven weeks we will be leaving our comfortable life at Retama Village and hitting the road.  


Lots to do before then.  Lots to do.  From my perspective as a concrete-sequential guy with an overwhelming desire to organize, the first step is to make lists --- several lists --- bulleted lists, that I can put check marks by as each task is completed.  (Oh, the satisfaction.)


Let's see....


  -  Get the motor home serviced
  -  Finalize the itinerary
  -  Change the oil in the Toyota
  -  Move things from the motor home to the coach
     house
  -  Move things from the coach house to the motor
      home
  -  Change the anode rod in the water heater
  -  Install a battery fill device to make that task
     much easier
  -  Make an appointment to have a dentist check 
      my teeth (in Mexico)
  -  Arrange for my prescriptions to be delivered on
     the road
  -  Take the dogs to the vet for their shots
  -  Purchase a National Park Pass.  (A great deal
      when you reach the age of 62.  That will be
      very soon for me.)
  -  Buy new hiking shoes.  (We plan to do lots of
      hiking)..........


New hiking shoes.....   Let's look at that last item.  It is a task that has already been completed, and what a pleasant surprise it was.  We went to  Academy Sports and Outdoors, a Texas sporting goods chain similar to Dick's Sporting Goods.  Dianne was the person who really needed new hiking shoes.  Hers were totally worn out.  Even though mine still have a little wear in them, I decided to look around while Dianne shopped.  Shoe shopping for me is almost always an irritation. My feet are so very small that I seldom find anything that fits me in stock.  I certainly don't get to choose.  If they are close to fitting, I buy them.  I may not get another chance for years.  

Imagine my surprise finding a variety of hiking shoes in my size.  I get to choose?  I should have expected this.  I have mentioned before that the local Hispanic people are not usually very tall.  In fact, they are mostly my size.  This evidently transfers to shoe size, as well.  Dianne found her shoes, and I ended up buying a comfortable pair of Merrells.  I then splurged by getting a pair of walking sandals.  (You know... the shoes that have toes and heels, but also lots of holes.)  The sandals are so comfortable that I wear them almost all the time.


Dianne is not a concrete sequential.  She occasionally makes lists, but nothing that compare to mine.  She will, on those occasions when I get on her nerves, suggest that I make some lists.  She knows it will get me out of her hair.  She thinks I don't know what she is doing.  Shhhhhhh, don't tell her that I do.  


Nonetheless, list or no list, she has also been busy getting ready for our departure.  She had a scare a couple of weeks ago, when her recipe software failed.  After two miserable days, she figured out how to retrieve her 2600 lost recipes (some from as far back as the 1970s), and transfer them to a new software program.  It was quite a relief to her, and to me.  (I don't like seeing her when she is miserable.)

Her current project involves reorganizing the recipes and adding new ones.  For the past two weeks, she has been glued to her computer, madly entering all kinds of information regarding the cooking of food.  (She gloats that this is the perfect activity for her while I watch Purdue basketball games.)  She wants to get it all done before we leave.  I find it ironic that during this time, she has not actually prepared any food.  (I know I will get hate mail for that comment :-).  I asked her a few times when she might be finished with this project.  Her last reply was, "probably around 2040."  The further irony here is that by 2040 she will be 90 years old, and those who love her will not let her get close to a hot oven.  All that work for naught!

Another of Dianne's preparatory projects involves scanning the computer for useful travelin' products.  The other day, while reading a friend's blog (Gin and Syl), she discovered a product that when applied to the front of a motor home, makes the cleanup of dead bugs a snap.  Dianne ordered it immediately.  I am hopeful.  We'll see.  (Thanks, Gin and Syl, for posting about it!  Since we removed the Diamond Shield from the front of our motor home last winter, we are trying to be very careful about the paint finish on the front end.  This should really help! -- D.)


In a completely unrelated item, our motion-activated wildlife camera has been busy capturing images of the night-time activity in our back yard.


What do you think these could be?  The first two could be a rapidly moving coyote.  The next several are a puzzle (raccoon, opposum, rat, something else?)  We are pretty sure that the last one is a jack rabbit, and that the two prior to the jack rabbit are of the same bobcat. (You can just make out the bobbed tail on one of the pictures.)

Coyote??

Running Coyote?

Mystery Animal

Mystery Animal Again

Mystery Animal - Still Can't Figure it out!

Bobcat??!!!!

Another Shot of the Bobcat??!!!

Jumping Jackrabbit

It is fun trying to figure these out.  Let us know if you have opinions.


The pet picture of the day shows Bandido and Tequila (best buds) resting in their favorite spot on the couch.  Tequila just finished licking Bandido's ears :-)  TMI?