Joan on the Road...of Life

We got some ammonia and made a squirt bottle of water/ammonia mix. Squirted the doves away from the slide and the batteries. Sprayed them off the satellite and the awning. No joy! Then I remembered...shiny stuff. So we got out some old CDs and tied them over the battery bank.

That was the winning weapon! They flew in there once, paced around on the ground and left.

A little while later, I'm sitting outside and a dove scurries across the patio and under the coach. Oh NO! But I followed him and he hustled to the neighbor's coach and flew up into the engine compartment. When the neighbors got home we told them our story and sure enough ...the doves had a whole new nest built in an afternoon. So gosh! The little buggers got evicted again!

Now if you are a bird lover this may dismay you. Trust me! They cannot live on our battery bank or the neighbors engine. Death would ensue. So they are better off being encouraged to go elsewhere :)

Posted by Joan at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday, while sitting outside devouring another book (that's what I've been doing for a week), I noticed a young mourning dove walking around then scurrying under the coach. Then I realized she was picking up grass and leaves, very selectively, and carrying them somewhere...under the coach. Funny, she'd pick up a leaf, shake it around, discard it and go for another one. Looking for the perfect building material :)

This morning I though I'd better check where she was building her nest. Actually I thought it was probably in the bushes right next to the coach on the driver's side. So I'm out peering around, listening and looking and when I looked under the slide here's what I found....

...the damn bird has built a nest on top of the battery bank. Oh brother!!

Jim was less than pleased with this but he climbed in under the slide so he could reach the batteries (which are strategically placed to be impossible to get at...except if you're a dove :) He scared the dove out and then removed the nest. I mean she certainly has lots of other places she could build :)

So here's the unhappy evicted couple looking around for a home.

And guess what they did. No sooner had we gone to the other side of the coach and they were collecting grass to start again. What are we going to do???

Posted by Joan at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday we drove the 330 miles from Mesa, AZ to Hemet, CA on Interstate 10. It was a lovely, uneventful drive. Here's the view as we approach Quartzsite.

These bright yellow bush/flowers were all along the roadside. They might be Brittlebush as seen in this field guide to wildflowers. I love the Internet with so much information at my fingertips. If we'd stopped to "smell the roses" I could make a positive ID. There were a couple of areas where the ground was covered with purple blooms but we flew by too fast for a shot. While not as spectacular as the Anza-Borrego wild flower display, this was a colorful addition to a usually boring drive.

We left at 9 AM and were back at our park site in Hemet by 4. We made three gas stops! Jim hates to let the gas tank get down more than 1/4 so we usually stop every 200 miles. But we reached Mesa too late on Thursday to fill up so we started out needing to find a good stop. Jim also likes to park with a full tank...just in case something happens :)

So one of the day's highlights was finding a great gas stop at the CA/AZ border on the cheaper AZ side! Next time you go through try the Texaco at Tom Wells Road, mile marker 5. Great spot for RV gas and parking for lunch. This replaces the nast stop at the Ehrenberg Flying :) My Next Exit book sure makes finding a station easier. For the record, we paid $3.51/gal. to fill up in Hemet! Yikes!

We slept in this morning and enjoyed a lazy cup of coffee. Now Jim is cleaning bugs from the windows and I'm going to be defrosting the fridge and vacuuming. Then, back to the lazy life in Hemet.

Posted by Joan at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This was a really fun weekend enjoyed by all. We decided it is a new family tradition for all those who want to join in...a weekend in March with two ball games and pizza at Organ Stop Pizza. AND followed by Bocce games at Mesa Regal in the lighted Bocce courts!

Here's our street at Mesa Regal. I always wanted to stay on the street with flags. Left side is mostly park model homes and right side is mostly RV spaces. We are down at the end on the right.

Both Saturday and Sunday we arrived at Tempe Diablo Stadium about 10 AM. This way we get close up parking AND we get close up player interaction. Lots of the players come out to practice on the side fields so fans wait in line after practice to get autographs. I heard the players take turns spending lots of time signing autographs. Lucky us...on Saturday Mike Scioscia spent 30 minutes or more signing.

And we do get up close and personal with them as they are signing. Here's Mike chatting as he signed Bryan's ball.

Bryan caught a fly ball from practice so he used that to collect autographs...maybe a dozen or more :) These boys were happy fans :)

There were 7000 plus fans in attendance. We figure each one must drop at about $100 for tickets, food and fun. What a business. Here's our view today from section 14. This is Reggie Willets getting ready to hit a perfect bunt.

I took nearly 200 pictures and after editing I'll post some on the Picasa Albums. Problem is we often don't know who's in the picture because they're not famous yet. But when they are...I got 'em!

Last night after two hours of pizza and Mighty Wurlitzer Music at Organ Stop Pizza the guys played bocce while Renee and I relaxed. Two hours and two games later...Grandpa still rules! Course if Laura was here she'd beat them all :)

Tomorrow we head back to Hemet where I think I'll practice lying by the pool in the lovely SoCal weather.

Posted by Joan at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We are taking a "vacation" in Mesa, AZ for a family baseball Spring Training weekend. Being the avid Anaheim Angels fans that we are we really look forward to this time of year. Renee, Tom, Bryan, Ryan and Zack will be joining us for two weekend games against the Rangers and the Giants.

So yesterday was travel day and it was pretty uneventful. The desert drive on I-10 was lovely. I've never seen it so green with yellow and purple flowers along the roadside most of the way. It did take us 7.5 hours to make the 330 mile drive. Oh well.

First delay was making the mistake of getting gas at the Flying J in Ehrenberg, AZ. We waited until crossing the state line hoping to get cheaper gas prices. We did at $3.13. But it took 40 minutes to complete the stop. Once you make the turn in to get gas you are commited no matter what kind of bozo is in front of you. So...we ate lunch in the gas line ;)

Next delay was hitting construction and rush hour traffic as we approached Phoenix. We lost another 45 minutes there. We also changed time zones so we finally arrived at 5:30. The guard in charge was nice enough to take us around to see available sites here at Mesa Regal so we got a good spot we thought.

We had a minor scare when we were setting up. The damn slide would not go out. You should have heard the four letter words. Fortunately, Jim knows enough about that system now so he checked everything out and found a loose connection. He fixed that and we were back in business. (Now it is secured with duct tape :) We had a good laugh over that.

During the night we felt a little bit rock and rolly then we discovered that dirt under the rear jacks had caved in so we were not on secure ground. Damn! So this morning we pulled in the slide (satellite down, rugs moved, computers off, cords out of the way, yada yada) and relocated to firmer ground. Wasn't really too bad to make the adjustment but not what we had in mind for the morning.

The weather here is absolutely beautiful. Mid 70's, sunny, light breeze. Perfect baseball weather. This afternoon we're going to visit my Aunties (Mom's sisters) who live in Scottsdale. I'm taking a gift of my soup of the week....Minestrone. It is soooo delicious. Tomorrow the kids will be here and we'll be singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Posted by Joan at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After weeks of exchanging cold/flu bugs I think we are on the mend. Appetites are up, coughing is down.

Jim is not one to pamper himself when he's feeling bad so he's been doing little projects here and there. The big news is ....THE LEAK IS FIXED! After how many years? There was a tiny crack in some molding just below the roofline. After he caulked that the leak stopped. We've had several good hard rains so we know it's OK. Yeah!

I used good old Folex cleaner to remove the water stains that had accumulated on the carpet and baseboard. It was a small area, just a few inches, but very ugly and bothersome. I kept wondering how bad the wood floor was damaged. But I think it's really all fine.

We also removed the TV from the bedroom (a real head knocker) and found a little bulletin board that just covered the hole and fit in the space available. So now I have a collage of family pictures in the bedroom. Very nice!

Last Sunday was granddaughter Hilly's 21st Birthday. Here's the Birthday Girl!

Renee and Tom set out a great birthday dinner of steak and salads. Son Jim served as steak chef and I was the mushroom "sauteer"...butter, soy sauce and worcestershire. Great meal.

Little Evan realized that this day was not all about him. He decided to sit on his Mom's lap and sing Happy Birthday to Hilly rather than sitting by the cake and helping blow out the candles. Just another step in maturity. He looked so pleased to be singing to her. Wish I'd captured a picture.

Lastly, more good news! Grandpa Harry had a checkup yesterday, looking inside the bladder, and all is well! He has moved along the recovery road and is hopeful to be driving himself around soon. Hooray! We are so happy for his good news.

Posted by Joan at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)