Ooh boy, it has been a long while since I last wrote.  My annual membership dues for this site arrived and I was extremely tempted to let it expire.  Spent a fair amount of time debating this with myself and I.  The end result…we will do it for one more year, then re-evaluate it at that time.

I was still hanging in the desert when I last wrote, whether I was at Quartzsite or not, in Yuma or not or near Why.  Got my new eyeglasses in Yuma, but not across the border as initially planned. Prices across the border were climbing on eyeglasses since Trump became President..so it was suggested I just get them in Yuma, so I did.  It was a delight to get to know Yuma once again..its been a few years since I had been there. Alas, I was only there long enough to do the glasses before I headed back to Why. After I left Yuma, I stopped in at the SunPro shop and got my cover for my windshield.  Love it, but realize I need to upgrade or simply replace my curtain in the cab, as one still need to turn off the outdoors at night. Smiling at that.  You see, the SunPro is a sunscreen/protector that covers the entire windshield outside and side windows and the windshield wipers. I can see thru it all day, but no one can see in from outside, except at night.  Surprising to me, is that it adds an element of insulation as well.

In Why…having friends around one sure can escape with friends around… but no weaving got done, again. Ah but a little light bulb went off – find an old RV, gut it, and make it into a weaving studio. I actually looked at a couple of rigs, even looked at bigger sites to fit both my RV and studio on same place.  Before I could take this further the weather turned hot. This is February – what is it about February that the darn deserts start doing their rapid heating?  Can I make it thru a week or two of this heat?  As that is what it did last year, then cooled off once again. Not seemingly with my old boys, but going north was out of the question. Hmmmm…  And I only got to see the beginning of an outstanding desert flowering…darn hot weather.

So I left Why and headed for appointment to get my RV serviced at the Sanderson Ford – they do my major service and any recalls, etc. annually. It was cooler here then in Why, so I stuck around a bit…had the honor of staying with a fellow Lazy Daze friend at her abode. Thanks Lisa!!! The above pictures are of a few of the outside of her house, including the chicken coop.  There is one image of Tucker sitting on my loom, not sure how it snuck into this collage. And the last item…drumroll….is an antique spinning wheel. What a delightful visit!

The weather going north was atrocious… there was no easy route and let me tell you I was studying the routes, the weather along those routes, reading about bridges out, landslides, snow, wind, etc., etc.   So why don’t I just sit on it and not go north? I had to be in Tacoma on March 17th for another non-VA physical examination for my claim. They in fact, wanted me there in 2 days, but I managed to push it back for a 8 days.  Problem with this, it takes me a week to do this route when I’m pushing it and that’s in good weather.

So I said my goodbyes the same day I finished with the Ford place. Dry camped at North Ranch Escapees park and headed on north at first light.  I had planned to stop in Barstow or Tehachapi if the weather held. Got to Tehachapi – no place to park – anywhere. I was wasting sunlight and time and finally said to hell with it and went onto Bakersfield. I pushed thru rush hour and got to I-5 and a truck stop and parked it – a very long day. I crashed – didn’t even make it into bed, just fell asleep on my dinette bench with cats wrapped around me.  Got up and first light, again left and headed up I-5.  Had planned to stop near Coalinga…was in wrong lane and could not exit.  So kept going.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous!!!  But seeing all the fields flooded, was a keen reminder all was by no means a-ok yet.  Kept on trucking’ and got north of Stockton and cut across on Highway 12 to go thru the California River Delta to reach I-80 in route to I-505 to go around Sacramento. Once reconnected to I-5, stopped at rest area and parked it for the night.  It rained all night, but in the morning the sun was once again out.

This time, I was only going to go as far as Redding, then take a break. But I got there – the sun was shining…everything was so flooded…I just kept going. And going. And going. No energized bunny here, but the forecast was lousy, but the sun was shining, so I kept going.  The narrow window of opportunity of getting thru the mountain passes pushed me onward.  The brilliant sun was still shining, but dark clouds were showing themselves. I seriously can’t believe I made it to Sutherlin, but I did and I crashed at Timber Valley SKP for 2 nights to regroup.  Dumped tanks, refilled water and did laundry. And slept.  It rained the entire time I was at Timber Valley, but I did not care. The morning I left…the clouds lifted and I was greeted by sunshine once again. The forecast for that day was periods of rain. Rain I can deal with, but it was sun that I had until I got north of Portland.  Wind driven rain pelted me north of Olympia, but I was so close I just kept going.  Pulled into Evergreen on Sunday and realized I had just done a marathon trip even with stopping for 2 nights in the midst of it. Whew!

The exam went pretty smoothly, keep discovering things about my body…they all ask different questions and examine you differently – end result, I learn new things about what my body is doing or not doing.  Such as I did not realize I can’t turn my body to the right. Say what? You know standing and turning your upper body to the left then to the right – I can do left, but not right.  Now to sit back and wait for the results.

The trip north prompted lots of critical thinking.  The idea of putting a studio down in the desert is just omitted. Realization, the chance of me staying for more than a few months in the desert due to the heat rules it out.  If I have to be parked, it will be in WA.  So I am in the process of getting contractors bids to extend my shed 100 sq ft. I’m allowed up to 200 sq ft total. More on that later.

I’m not traveling to Alaska this summer. I have several short trips over the summer in the Pacific Northwest.  So stay tuned for the next posting.