Month: January 2017

Posted in Challenges

Gertrude and the Mailman

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_1462This is a very old photo, circa 1970 or before, of a Doberman Pinscher lying on top of a station wagon. My uncle’s station wagon. He was a mailman in an eastern Kentucky county in the U.S. Gertrude was his faithful companion.

You may wonder what she is doing – a dog – lying on top of a car. I always wondered how she got up there! Uncle Hassan drove very very slowly as he made his rounds on his rural mail route with Gertrude lying on top of the car. Made me shiver and tingle to think of her there! The roads in small rural counties weren’t crowded in those days. Uncle Hassan and Gertrude visited the folks at every mail stop. This is the county where my mother grew up and where my grandparents lived at this time. I knew many happy days in this place.

Uncle Hassan acquired another Doberman. A male. He named her Sue. I don’t know if you remember the old Roger Miller song called “A Boy Named Sue.” That’s where he got the name. I didn’t know Sue as well as I knew Gertrude as I had moved away from home by then.

There is much more to this story. Maybe some day I’ll share it. For now, this is the transcript of this photo.

#DiscoverWP

Posted in Blog Series

#3: Adventures in RV Travel

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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More Getting Ready and Why it’s the Middle of the Night

January 11, 2017: Whew! Today has been errand day for me. Today has been a day of working on the interior of the RV and finishing up some exterior things on the RV for my traveling companion. He had some fittings to grease underneath and installed our TV inside. We use the TV very little, mostly for news and weather, but on the occasional bad weather day, it’s nice to have. Since we are both basketball fans, we like to catch basketball games of our favorite college team. He also started putting away his tools inside in preparation for loading the RV. I think he only has a couple of very small jobs left to do on the outside of the RV. Yay!

We take the TV in and out of the RV. We use it in the house when we aren’t using the RV so it is a little bit of a job to put it back in and set it up. Most RV campgrounds where we stay have cable TV that we hook up to. All the comforts of home! Well, almost.

I have spent the day, the entire day, running errands necessary before we leave on our trip. The things you have to do are legion. You have to deal with your finances. You make sure any and all bills are being paid automatically. I use automatic bill pay. If you are going to be staying in one place long enough, you can have your mail forwarded, but it takes 2-3 weeks to make that happen. If you don’t have that kind of time in one spot, save yourself some worry (and save your credit score!) and just have everything automatically debited. Make sure you’re enrolled in online banking so you can monitor your bank statement.

You have to notify any credit cards that you’re going to use when you’re away that you are going to be traveling. Otherwise, the credit card company will think your card has been stolen and someone is using it out of state. That means they will decline it and cause you embarrassment and inconvenience. Just some tips if you’re traveling that are applicable even if you’re traveling by car.

If you take any medications, get your refills. If your insurance company is like mine, you probably can’t get much extra and you have to get refills wherever you are when you run out. A Giant Pain. At least, try to get your doctor to write your prescriptions for a three-month supply. Some pharmacies will give you what they call “vacation refills” once per year. Since I am an insulin-dependent diabetic, I have to be sure I have enough insulin as I am very careful about controlling my diabetes. I had a bit of a run-in (an understatement) with my doctor today over this, but after calling in reinforcements, we came to an understanding and, I hope, I have all the insulin I need! I live on salads, which reduces my need for insulin, but that is a bit more difficult to do when traveling.

While I was out running errands, I had miscellaneous things to do. Pick up food for the cat, treats for the dog, a new purse (or three) for me, a few shirts, a little gift for a friend I will see along the way, and the list goes on.

Now I am home and I wish I could go to bed! I promised I would tell you why it is the middle of the night, but if you have read the above paragraphs, you already know. It’s been a busy day and I have another busy day tomorrow.

More from here and “Adventures” after the day ends tomorrow…..another busy day. Right now, I wish we were packed and already on the road!

Posted in Blog Series

BLOG SERIES: Snow #3

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Lake Tahoe Blizzard of January 2017

When I was a child, living in Kentucky, sometimes we got some serious snow. As a young adult, there were a few years in the late 1970s and early 1980s where we had good amount of snow. Maybe 2-3 feet. But I have never ever seen snow like that snow in the picture above.

This is a street in Truckee, CA, high above Lake Tahoe, and this picture was taken the day after the blizzard. Notice that the snow is up to the top of the stop sign. The STOP SIGN! You can only see a couple of letters on the stop sign and that is because of drifting.

Do any of you, dear readers, live in Big Snow Country? Tell us about it and show us some pictures!

Posted in Blog Series

BLOG SERIES: Snow #2

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

The first part of the Lake Tahoe blizzard January 2016

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I don’t know where all of you live, but where I live, this is some serious snow! This picture was taken about three days ago, around January 7, 2016, in Truckee, California, high above Lake Tahoe. You’re looking at my cousin’s house and her husband, who is shoveling snow out of their driveway. Looks like a hard job, but I think the snow there is mostly powder. I’ll have to ask her!

It’s still snowing there. A blizzard warning. I couldn’t live in this kind of snow though I know it is wonderful in the summer. I guess, if you like winter sports, it’s wonderful in the winter!

More to come!

Posted in Flash Fiction

Escape

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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They were in Europe for only two weeks. The kids wanted to take a boat ride on the canals. It was the week before Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States. Every American that possibly could was escaping the country. The word was out that Putin of Russia had bought and paid for Trump. Americans were scared of what would happen after the inauguration.

The family was on its way to Australia along with many other Americans. Others were going to Canada. There was panic in the streets at home. Kelly supposed that even the vast Outback in Australia couldn’t hold all the Americans that wanted a homestead there.

Kelly smiled at Pete and tried to relax and enjoy riding on the canals. She would never forget the shining city on the hill.

 

*Photo credit to The Storyteller’s Abode

Posted in Challenges

One Liner Wednesday – Loyalty

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Some people are willing to betray years of friendship just to get a little bit of the spotlight. – Lauren Conrad

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Click here to buy this awesome book on Friendship from Amazon!

Posted in Blog Series

#2: Adventures in RV Travel

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Getting Ready for the Trip

January 10, 2016: It’s hard getting ready for a RV trip when you live in a state that has winter and the high temperatures have recently been in the 20s! Today, we caught a break. The temperatures hit 50 degrees and, except for about one day, they are supposed to be 50ish until we leave. Whew! Makes it easier.

Some days, I find myself turning round and round in a circle, not knowing what to do first. That’s been today. So, I decided to make lists. A grocery list to stock the RV refrigerator and pantry. A list of errands I have to run before I leave here in my town. A list of appointments I have before I leave. Lists of sundries, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, kitchen supplies, and ALL my computer stuff. The computer stuff is a lot of stuff.

Let’s see. Computer supplies. The big thing to remember regarding the computers is to take all the various charging devices, USB cords for both Apple and Windows-based computers, flash drives for both operating systems, the cigarette-charging based chargers, etc. You see, you can charge everything in the cigarette lighters (but not the Apple computers) and in something called an inverter. Don’t ask me what an inverter is. It allows you to use electricity much like you would in a house….that’s about all I know. As it is, there aren’t nearly as many charging outlets as I have things I have to charge (can’t forget the cell phones!). So, I suppose something or several somethings will be charging all the time while we are gone. Should be confusing.

Since I can’t buy doubles of much of this stuff without bankrupting myself – from clothes to computer stuff – it has to all be packed at the last minute. AACCKK!

While I did all of this, my traveling companion worked on the water line that goes from the RV to the water line in RV parks so we can have city water while we’re gone. It’s always something.

So that’s been today! It isn’t over yet. Tomorrow is garbage day here. I cleaned out the two freezers we have – cleaned them out until they are totally empty except what we will use in the next few days. There could be a power outage here. There often is in the winter. I don’t want a mess when I get home! Like I said, it’s always something when getting ready for a RV trip!

More from “Adventures” tomorrow!

Posted in Blog Series, Uncategorized

BLOG SERIES: Snow #1

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The beginning of the blizzard in the Lake Tahoe area.

I’m going to write a short snow blog series. After all, it is winter in most of the U.S. and the Northern Hemisphere. Even though snow is not my thing, lots of folks live in snow country and find activities that they love to participate in. I’ll have to admit that I love the Winter Olympics. I’m just glad I, personally, aren’t out in the snow!

I’m lucky enough to have a direct line to the High Sierra region of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. They are having a blizzard. That’s very fortunate for California as it will help with their drought conditions. However, the people who live in the High Sierras have to be prepared.

My cousin and her husband live near Lake Tahoe and they are being inundated with snow. She is sending me beautiful snow pictures that I want to share with you although she has to stay in until it’s safe to go out. The snow is like a sculpture. Smooth in spots. Very uneven in other spots. Beautiful to look at.

Watch this space for my Snow Series! We’ll follow the western blizzard near Lake Tahoe and go some other places as well!

The picture at the top of this post is some of the initial snow they got near Lake Tahoe.  This is my cousin’s deck. The Sierra’s are under a blizzard warning today, January 10, 2017.

Posted in Blog Series

#1: Adventures in RV Travel

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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We are getting ready to take a trip in our RV! We’re going to play snow birds this winter. We don’t every winter, but we do most winters. We have a favorite place we go in Florida (a surprise for a later post). We’ve been working on our RV for a month to get it road ready and ready to accommodate us on the inside, along with our small dog, Betsy, and our yellow cat, Tigger. Everyone travels!

Getting a RV road ready is no fun. It’s a great big job. It’s a good thing my traveling companion is a good mechanic or the cost of getting the RV in good shape would be prohibitive. All that mechanical stuff is not much fun, though. The systems are complicated. Like a truck, but more complicated. I think there are a couple of other things we have to do and the RV will be ready to roll mechanically.

 

Our RV used to be considered to be fairly large but no more. There are some really big ones out there! Ours is only between 35-40 feet and is certainly not new, but it is nice enough. We have the conveniences we need. Plenty of room for two adults and pets. Unfortunately, I can’t help drive because I’m too short to reach the pedals! It’s a standard shift which is no problem for me but when the pedals are two feet away from your feet, not even cushions behind you help!

We hired a housesitter to live at our home while we are gone. He’ll be here the day we leave, but he’ll come by before to get the key, the instructions for the alarm system, and the other information he needs. I hope he doesn’t get snowbound here!

I’ve checked the weather on the day we leave. All clear! We just recently had a snow so I was worried. It’s always a roll of the dice when you leave in January. No way can you take the chance of getting an RV out on the snow. There would be danger in that. We would have to leave either early or late if snow was predicted either here or along the way. There is a mountain we have to cross between here and there but nice weather is predicted there as well, even at the top.

I hope you enjoy this blog series. I’m going to be doing lots of things along the way and when we get to our destination. I’ll be taking many interesting side trips as well. I’ll take all of you along with me. Maybe I can bring you some Florida sunshine and some laughs! I would love to hear your travel stories!

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Posted in Blog Series

BLOG SERIES: Adventures in RV Travel

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, January 10, I am going to start a blog series here on this blog called Adventures in RV (Recreational Vehicle) Travel. I will be blogging, usually daily, about traveling in a RV. Taking a fairly long trip, in both distance and in time. It should be great fun! Sort of like keeping a diary except I’ll be sharing it with all of you.

I’m going to keep the details a secret from you so I can keep you surprised on a daily basis! I’ll blog about getting ready to travel, the trip, the stay, the fun, the not-so-fun, the hardships (and there are some), the good parts of RV travel, and – really – all of it.

You can find all the blog posts under the heading at the top of my homepage at https://rosemarycarlson.com called BLOG SERIES. I hope you enjoy the series!