The news here is fascinating to me. Watching Chicago news for my whole life I am used to certain things, and here in the Valley of the Sun, they have different expectations. The latest news is centered around the weather person promising we will get down to the 80s soon. It is with apology she announces another day with a high in the 90s. She seems to not know how some parts of the country are struggling in the 40s and 50s and would welcome the 90s. Today is supposed to be the last day in the 90s, and yet, it is another beautiful day, which I would feel guilty complaining about.

I feel alone often, but not really lonely. I feel a definite difference in the two. I have friends I can talk to, my kids and all the people here at the resort who are more than willing to spend time chatting, mostly when I am in a hurry to get things done. But I feel alone a lot. I go to the gym where I purposely shut the other people out, and try to concentrate on getting fit. I am getting stronger, but not really losing any weight for the past month. I am sure it has to do with my extra evening munching while doing my school projects.

I took the scooter last weekend and went to the closest casino (where I left with a little more than I came with) but gambling is a solo event, where I even go alone when I am with people. I had joined a couple of meet up groups but they didn’t really workout for me, as they had back in Chicago where I met some great gals.

Today is my birthday. This is not the first birthday I have spent away from Chicago, but this one seems different. I am not sure what I want to do, but maybe the fact that my day has been exactly like every other day, can be interpreted to be I am living a pretty great life, or I am uninspired to find something better to do.  Thinking about how I want to spend the day, all I could come up with was the food I wanted to indulge in.

When I was a kid, my grandpa had a birthday and when I wished him happy birthday he answered, “It’s just another day, no reason to make a fuss.” and as a kid, I could’t understand how he could think that. I really liked presents and getting to pick my dinner back then. Now, I just want my kids to call me, and send me a card which makes me feel appreciated. I have received a couple of gifts already, which are very nice and thoughtful, however, the son who called me first thing this morning to ask for my help with an email, and did not wish me a happy birthday, kind of made me laugh. He just wasn’t thinking, and I am OK with that, because he calls me all the time, and always answers my texts and stupid emails I send him, so he gets a pass on this one.

My plans have changed throughout the week, and evolved into taking a scooter ride, having ice cream, and pizza and wings. I am not sure what else I will decide to do, but I am kind of sorry I got all of my work done, so I could do whatever I wanted today, since I don’t know what I want to do. Having nobody to do things with, makes it harder to have fun. I was laying in bed, thinking about my birthday this morning, and I was thinking about my favorite birthday; It was the year I turned 19, because I had wanted to see the play “The Odd Couple” and Chuck gave me tickets for my birthday. I had never been to a live play, and I loved it. We went out to eat afterwards and stayed out til 4am. Later that same date, he asked me, unofficially, to marry him. It was a great birthday.

It is this yearly celebration where most people think about their next 30 years, and vow to make their lives better. I know I need to eat better, be kinder and try to give back, more. I will work on being more positive and forgiving myself for my past, and moving forward, embracing whatever the future holds. I know I will be in a different place the next birthday I celebrate, if I am so lucky to do so, so I should enjoy my next trip around the sun, and be grateful for all the blessings I have.

While I am working at “the resort”, I am not making a lot of money. I am making just enough to pay all of my bills, (cell, insurance, etc) but with just a little left over for food each month. Since I love doing the work here, and I am able to take online classes to earn my Masters degree at the same time, this is a great place for me to be.

In order to make the most of my time here, I am trying hard to not use any savings, so this means I need to figure out how to eat healthy, for as little as possible. Because I cannot do anything halfway, this has become my second hobby. It is not easy to eat healthy, in a frugal way, in these days and times, when everyone is offering $1 menu items at fast food places. At the expense of my health, I could easily never make another meal and spend less money most weeks, by eating these cheap, easy meals all day.

I have had this argument many times over the past few years, and the usual response is about making soups, stews and other cost cutting meals, out of fresh ingredients. This always was something I did, just because I liked homemade soup every now and again, but when you spend $15 in veggies and meat, and then spend a lot of time making this soup, it is more costly than buying the top brand soup in the can on sale, and then you can get different types.

I have found 3 keys to assist me in meeting my budget: Market, Coupons and Meat. Here in the desert, I have found the one thing, I have not seen anywhere else in the country: the cheapest fruits and vegetables. There is a small market, and it is an enclosed store, not a farmer’s market, where I can get a basket of fruits and vegetables for less than $15-$20! I have never seen such low prices, in my life. Everytime I go, I expect someone to come and tell me there has been a mistake and I owe 3x the price on the register. This has really helped make my healthy eating possible. But this alone would not be enough to help me make my budget.

Second, in my battle to keep my money in the bank, has been working the coupon edge. Now, I will never be one of those Super Couponers, for various reasons, the number one reason being I do not own a printer! But here, there are more coupons in the newspaper each week than I have seen anywhere else. This week on the front of the newspaper was a coupon good for a free sandwich at a local shop! I am amazed at the 3-4 coupon flyers in each Sunday paper, and if they do not offer $1 coupon, the stores double the less than $1 coupons to $1, so almost any coupon ends up getting you $1 off the product! And, not only do they give you the coupons, the stores build their sales around the coupons, and even advertise this, by printing “savings with the coupon found in today’s paper” right on their ads! So while I am watching Sunday football, I try to match the sales with the coupons and this is key, for ONLY the products I will buy anyway. I struggle to keep this part of the deal, because sometimes the deals are good, but if I am not going to buy it normally, only spending $2 for a $5 product is a deal, but that’s $2 I did not need to spend. Now, this is the part that works for me; I can go to a few stores, which are all within 5 miles of my resort, and get the best deals, because I pay so little for gas in the scooter, and for me, it is fun to drive to these places to get a few items. This would not work if I was going to work downtown for 40 hours a week, but then I would have a bigger paycheck so the neeed would not be there, I guess. Sometimes I happen upon deals, such as the Green Giant vegetables which are the microwavable bag kind with seasonings, and they were $1.50, with a $1 off coupon on the bag itself in the frezzer section. I bought 3 of them, only because of room issues, otherwise, I would have bought a dozen! If I go back there soon, I will check and see if there are more.

I paid 50% off this price with the sticker the lady at the register took off.

My third weapon against the high price for eating healthy, is in the meat. Since I go to the various stores to get a few coupon/sale items, I have found they all have wonderful meat items which will get marked down because the date it must be sold by (not used by) is coming up. With your store card (yes, you MUST have one of these to save money), you can get a discount, and then a further reduction, making high quality meat, as cheap as ground beef. I n addition to buying this reduced meat, I have also started cooking in larger quantities and freezing, so I can have a varied menu, and when I cannot find a great deal, or don’t leave the RV for a few days, I pull out the frozen food, made with quality ingredients and enjoy my frugal meal.

This last part was a result of reading a blog, where a mom makes meals for four, all at once, in four hours, all for $95, and there were 46 meals in her freezer!! So, on my last trip to the store I saw 2 packs of meat which were great deals and I had to try it out myself. I bought a whole chicken which was marked down and then 50% off that final price making it less than $3. I cooked up the whole thing, in the crockpot (how easy is that?) had some for dinner, gave the dogs some, and then sauteed up some onions and peppers and bagged up and froze 5 servings to use for fajitas, tacos, or whatever I want later. The dogs also had more from the bones this morning, and I bottled and froze the pure chicken stock to use for future recipes.

I also bought the ribs I am making today, which were half off the price shown (they remove the 50% off price tag at the register), making them quite the deal, and hopefully a tasty 2-3 meals for myself. The portion control part, also helps save money, because if you watch portions, you will eat less, and that will save money.

So, with all of this saving, I am happy to report I have enough shampoo and toothpaste for the next year, due to coupons, and redemption gift cards. I have stocked up on some non food items we all need to have, and I am spending about $50/week on actual groceries. The first few weeks I did some stocking up, so the prices were higher, but now it has settled some, and I think I may be getting the hang of this. I am hoping to get my total cost below $30/week. This may take more work, but I am thinking I can do it with a little effort.

Today I am heading to the fruit and veggie market, last time I spent $16 and it all lasted me one full week!

 

Wrigley enjoying the scooter

The scooter has been one of the best gifts ever. I love it. No matter what, I enjoy getting on it and going. The scooter is now basically my only mode of transportation, since I do not take the RV out. The RV is now my home, and the scooter, my wheels.

I had a conversation before I left Chicago, and was told it was illegal to use earbuds while riding the scooter in several states. Since this was what I always did, I was upset to hear this, from a reputable source. I decided I would plead ignorance if caught, until I could solve the issue. As I traveled around the country, I took my scooter out and rode it, along the ocean, rivers, and scenic drives, all with my ipod playing in my ear, rebel that I am!

As I sat across the intersection from a policeman a few weeks ago, I got worried he would pull me over, so I decided it was time to stop pushing my luck and fix the scooter-music issue. I went home and found my pair of very good speakers which I knew would be heard while I am zooming down the street at 50 mph with the wind blowing. The problems with these speakers were not only were they white, which clash with the scooter, (but can be fixed with spray paint) but they are battery powered, so I can envision getting ready to go, and the batteries being dead. I tried it out, using velcro to hold them to the scooter at the front of the footboard, so I could hear. I also got out my remote controller and attached it, so I could easily change the volume as needed. This worked, kind of.

I got stares as I sat at intersections and then noticed nobody else on motorcycles had music playing. I also noticed the volume had to be changed a lot, which made me vervous, since I think two hands for scooter driving is most important. I had looked at the helmets with speakers inside, but not only are they big and bulky, they are expensive.

I went into the local Walmart, and they had a small pair of black speakers which did not use batteries, and were on sale for $5, yay! I bought them, attached them to the scooter and took off. At the highest level of volume, and going 30 mph, I could not hear the music. well this was not going to work. I noticed the effort to put the speakers out and then away, (since they are not waterproof), for short jaunts did not seem worth it, so I looked into a professional radio. This type of radio would cost money to install, and would have automatic volume control. It was quite costly, but music is my thing, so I was trying to rationalize it as I looked at my options. While I was doing some research, I found a site which showed which states required what, for motorcycles.

I checked it several times, and found although some states restrict earbuds, some restrict them to one ear only, but both Illinois and Arizona have no such restrictions! I can ride my scooter with my music in my ears any time I like, with no worries! Take away from this: Always check the facts!

I am glad I did not spend a lot of money on this project, I hope to find some use for the $5 speakers; maybe I will put them up to use in my newly remodeled trailer which I will tell you about tomorrow.

I also bought some touch up paint for the scooter, to help with some of the dings it got while I was gone. They are not too bad, but I wanted to fill them in and make it look as good as possible. The scooter is quite a champ, starting up after a few turns when it was left for over four months amidst the sand storms and sun. Then a week ago, the monsoon piled on water to the floorboard before I could move it to higher ground, where it stuttered, but started up. We hit the 2000 mile mark just a couple days ago. I still get excited when I go to the gas station once a week and fill it up for $3.50 or so!

The best part of the scooter around here has been the reactions, not from young people, but people older than myself who want to get one for themselves! The guy yesterday who stopped me, told me he could no longer drive a car and wanted to know if he needs a driver license to drive the scooter, is not what I mean! I deterred him by telling him he not only needs a driver’s license but a special motorcycle license. But the others who have asked have been older ladies who think it looks like fun, and they are so right. I enjoy telling them how much fun I have just going to the store. Everyone at the fruit and veggie store always stare as I get so much stuff put in my scooter trunk. And the bungie cords I always carry get plenty of use. I have yet to leave something behind, I always find a way!

I have found the one big drawback to riding a scooter in this area: the sensored intersections. I have spent countless minutes, waiting for a light to change, when there is nobody else around, and yet, because the sensors do not pick up my scooter, they do not change the lights. I end up turning right (on red) and doing a u-turn and coming back and turning right again. I have never seen this before, but around here, I pray for a car to be behind me at these intersections, and I have also altered the way I go on the weekends, because there are so few cars, the lights never change! This is a small aggravation for all the fun the scooter brings. I smile inside every time I get on it and ride away.

Taking care of business. That was Elvis’ saying and I am better at it in some areas than I am in others.

I have some things which need to be taken care of, but I also have a lot of things I WANT to do. It seems that the want list always gets priority for me. This also means I tend to be a procrastinator. Why do anything you have to do today, if you can do it tomorrow?

I have been working hard on losing the weight I have which is making me unhealthy, and even more important, I have been working hard at fueling my body properly. This is no small task, since the world is full of food which is like poison for the body.

I went to the fruit and vegetable store, which was a great find here. It has everything you could want, including nuts and oats and other healthy foods, and it was priced so reasonably, I was in heaven. I bought more than I could fit in the scooter’s spacious seat compartment, and the total was just a few cents over the $20 mark with tax!

I got oats, nuts, prunes, lots of salad ingredients, pineapple, mango, asparagus, and granola. This was four bags of food, and all of it was healthy and good to eat.

Since I won’t be staying in the area, I only used a free week pass for the local chain gym, which was an amazing place to visit. It made my own chain gym look small and unimpressive. However, location is everything, and my gym has awesome locations, making it convenient for me. I drove the 12 miles to my own gym Sunday and as I rode the scooter past a small group of businesses, I saw a sign for Crossfit. I have been wanting to try out a Crossfit gym, but have not been able to find one. Once I returned, I emailed the owner and set up my free session to see if it is something I would like to do more often.

The free session was Monday at 9am. It was different from gyms I have been to, for sure. The gym had no machines except for the rowers. Everything was weights, bars and other basic equipment. I was in the newbie group, and we were told we’d be doing an easy first timers workout which consisted of warming up with 400 meters on the rowing machine, 10 deep knee bends and some arm warmups with PVC piping. Then we were told our workout would be 3 sets of : 400 meters running, 21 kettlebell swings and 12 jumping pullups. I thought we were supposed to be timed, but did not see the timer, so I did not really push for time. I found out once I completed the 3 sets that the timer had been running. I thought maybe new people were not timed. Now I wish I had been able to push for a good time. I even waited for the other newbie to finish her pullups so we could run together. The pullups were definitely a challenge for me, even jumping from the box and the swinging motion we were told would make it easier, did not make it easy. It was quite a challenge. Anyway, once we were done, people chatted, some tried to do some of the other stations there, like climbing a rope, or rings, I asked about the wall balls, and asked to try them out. It was here I discovered I was not going deep enough in my squats. I did ten as deep as the trainer wanted me to do, and I am feeling it today! My rear end was an inch from the ground, which was very deep for me! I am surprised my bad knee is not hurting, but I am glad it is not.

I was sweating when I finished my third set, but I did not feel like I worked out. I felt like I did a fun little extra, so I came home and did a complete Biggest Loser 50 minute workout so I felt like I had indeed worked out! Overall, I can see the attraction of Crossfit for those already in shape. However, someone like me needs to run miles and put in more time to continue to lose weight. Once I am in decent shape and stronger, I would consider Crossfit as a way to push myself, and to get in a workout in less time than I now need.

The fact that there were 2 alumni from the Biggest Loser TV show working out there, shows how popular the Crossfit workouts are for people trying to get more fit in less time. The one guy, John, was the winner from last season, and apparently is a regular there. He brought Sione, one of the cousins from an earlier season there. They were looking pretty good, for past contestants and were lifting heavy weights, from what I saw through my swinging kettlebells. They stood around talking about their experiences on the show, after everyone had completed their workouts. They were basically comparing notes, and talking about working out.

I am sure the people who are in great shape, and practice their pullups, pushups and weightlifting, get a great workout from Crossfit, but I am just not there yet. I really believe I enjoy my workouts more, and actually look forward to going to the gym now…Jonathan used to tell me that and I laughed at him, because I never thought I would be here. I never thought finding a place to workout would be so important to me, and spending more time in the gym would actually make me happy.

The results I am experiencing are helping me want to do more. I had a 4 pound loss the week I spent at the really cool gym. I used the pool, the sauna, hot tub, basketball court, and all of the equipment to get the most out of my workouts there. I am hoping this week will be half as good. I have eaten well, and I am trying to get in good workouts, but I really enjoyed the big gym the most, and I know I spent more time there, because I enjoyed it. The 15 mile Bataan memorial march is coming up soon, and I am hoping to be able to finish the very difficult march which has tough terrain over 15.1 miles. I have never walked that far in my life, so for me it will be a major challenge. Sunday I ran 4 miles without stopping which is the longest I have ever ran in my life. I would never have thought I could do that, so I will try my best to finish the tough march, and keep adding to my list of things I never thought I could do.

1 real pullup is on that list, thanks to my 3 sets of jumping pullups I feel closer than I did before. The trainer, who has been leading fitness classes for years, told us how she could not do the pullups when she started at Crossfit, and her boss told her she needed to be able to do them; it took her 6 months to be able to do ten.

I will continue to take care of business, and I will get there.

　

There are not enough words to describe the past few days. It was, as it should be, a whirlwind of activity, which was so much fun it made me sad to think this was the last son turning 21, and what other excuse could I use to go back and see Garth again?

This was the 3rd trip to Las Vegas for my 3rd son’s 21st birthday, and this time it was the whole family getting together to celebrate the youngest sibling’s day turning the official age of adulthood. This was the excuse we used, and we’re sticking to this story, but it seems like I don’t need much of an excuse to try and get all four of my children together. Of course I enjoy spending time with each one, alone, in pairs, or however I can, but having them all together sends some super endorphins traveling through my body. This time, it enabled me to go for about 3 days on a total of 12 hours of sleep, but now, as I am typing this, I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open.

I had a tough time getting to Las Vegas myself. I started out the morning battling tumbleweeds which were blowing in my lane and causing me to try to dodge them. This is not a good plan in a large vehicle, pulling a trailer, traveling at 55mph. I was finally thinking I had dodged that bullet, when I noticed the white stuff on the ground, followed by blowing large flakes, which took me a minute to recognize as snowflakes! Then it was coming down, blowing and making the street slick. Now I was really concerned. I slowed down, along with the others who recognized the danger involved in black ice and snow which was sticking on my windshield. I finally thought to turn on the defrost, which had been resting for about ten months! Once I finally saw the end of the snow coming, the skies turned blue and the ground was back to brown, just in time for me to notice there was an accident ahead. Two lanes were shut down and as I drove by I saw the one semi truck had rear ended the other, and it looked serious. My experience listening to scanners told me this was probably a fatal accident, and it made me sad, but thankful as I drove past that I had managed to make it through all of this safely. I was very happy to pull into the RV park with time to spare.

The young adults arrived one at a time, for our trip. Their dad was also in attendence, although nursing a recently diagnosed double whammy of an injury, which sidelined him from a day of fun, he still got to be there for one dinner where we were all together. On Sam’s birthday, he and I went to Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar”, and then had the incredible homemade ice cream at the stand right next door to Toby’s place. The man told us this was the only stand in the USA to sell this all natural ice cream which starts as milk and the natural ingredient you choose, but eventually, after a lot of mixing and hitting in a frozen pan, it becomes a very yummy ice cream! The guy running the stand gave Sam some extras for his birthday and we left with full tummys! Once Chuck arrived, we hung out and it was not much longer before Sarah and Joel were in town and we all wandered the strip, playing some games. We got to bed at a somewhat decent hour that night, since we knew we had big plans for the rest of the visit.

The next morning, we heard that Jonathan had made it in, and was at the hotel with the others. Chuck stayed in the RV with me, utilizing the extra bed which Jonathan had slept in for several months. It was nice in the morning when I heard him taking Wrigley for a walk, since I was tired, and Wrigley does not seem to care about that! We hit a buffet for lunch and then some casino action, before David finally arrived. Chuck was hurting and bowed out of his place to go see Elton John, and rather than lose the ticket, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity for Elton to redeem himself from the concert I had been to many years ago, where he was upset with the acoustics and proceeded to throw a fit on stage and cut the concert short because of this. He said he would make it up to the sudience that night, and I guess he did do that for me.

My fued with the ticket people who had told me my order did not go through, and never sent me a confirmation, finally came to an end when the nice girl at the counter for Blue Man Group cancelled the extra order and gave me the later seating. I told her how the ticket people had told me the order had not gone through, then when I ordered a second set, they decided the original order, did in fact go through, but then refused to refund my ticket fees, citing there are no refunds or exchanges. I tried to explain I would not have purchased the second set of tickets if they had not told me the order had not gone through, but I was told if I did not receive the email confirmation, it was “my fault!” This fued went on for two weeks, and I even wrote an email explaining everything, including sending a copy of the email I had sent asking why I did not get a confirmation email, and they said they would let me know, but I never heard back from them! Luckily, the girl at the counter of the Blue Man Group was awesome and she gave terrific customer service!

This meant Jonathan, Sarah and Joel would see Elton John with me, then I would leave as soon as it ended and head to Blue Man Group with David and Sam. I was pleasantly surprised at Elton John’s performance. He told cute antecdotes and played with enthusiasm. It was a fun concert. My only problem was with the fact that many of the hits, he tried to change, mostly by making them faster, and I prefer the songs to sound exactly like they were recorded. I am fine with little adjustments, but I could hardly recognize “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”, with the fast upbeat tempo it was sung at. I like it slower and sad, just like the message. Elton made only one costume change, but the price of admission included seeing a grown 68 year old man don sparkly red shoes, and that is exactly how it should be!

Elton covered most all of his hits, with one glaring exception: I could not believe he would give a performance and leave out “Daniel”. He explained the title of the show, “The Million Dollar Piano” by displaying the way the piano recognizes the beginning of his songs and shows an appropriate picture on the side of the piano. It is a very cool feature, and he started to play “Daniel” and a plane was taking off in the video being displayed. I got excited, thinking he was going to play the entire song, but instead he stopped after just one line, and then showed another song’s video…and I hoped he would return to the song of his I love the most, but he never did.

As he was finishing his last song I dashed off to beat the crowd out of the theater to get to the Blue Man Group show in time. Despite the heavy crowds dawdling on the sidewalks, I made it, and was given my poncho, which indicated we might get something on us. We were in the last row of the poncho section, which gave us hope for staying dry. I had seen Blue Man Group in Chicago and was anxious to see what new acts might be added, and what kind of additions a Las Vegas show would require.

I felt like I was watching a rerun. There was absolutely no changes to any part of the show. Even the audience participant members looked eerily similar to the ones I had seen before. It made me wonder if they were plants, not real audience members selected randomly. I enjoyed watching the blue painted men throw marshmallows at each other, catching a large number of them in the one man’s mouth, which would not be old if I had seen it several times. Other than that, I saw absolutely nothing new in the show, which was a disappointment.

After the show, we were going to go eat, but the slots were calling, so we played several games, then headed to another casino to play table games. At about 6am we determined we should go home, but around 8am we actually took a picture together, and finally I headed back to the RV. Just a few hours later, I was being called by those who had slept a few hours. I don’t know how I managed, but I was ready to go, and I headed back out again!

We all kidded about the oxygen infused casinos giving us energy, but if that is the case, I need to figure out how to get the RV infused as well!. Maybe it was the excitement of being in Vegas, thankfully, I was not tired, yet. I was staying in the RV park, in a spot all the way in the back. It felt like walking a mile to get to the RV, so I took out the scooter and used it whenever it was just me. The scooter is so useful; I am so glad I have it. I took it down to the place the kids were staying at, and we had a quick bite and continued to visit the casinos playing various games.

I had purchased tickets for a comedy club for all of us to attend together. We went out to dinner, and then headed to the upstairs of a bar, in a small, cozy setup. I will be honest: I was worried this would be a big flop…the only saving grace being the open bar included in the price of the ticket. I was hoping there would be a couple of laughs and it would at least, be considered mildly entertaining. The first comedian did not look old enough to be in a bar, much less be talking about the topics he chose. But, if I thought he was a bit off color, the woman was even more so. She had an annoying laugh, which made me worry that I would get a lot of flak for choosing this show. With only a few nights in Las Vegas, it was important not to waste our time, and I was certain this point would be made as we left the show.

The final act apeared, and we were now on our 4th or 5th or even 6th drink, but redardless, this guy was my hero. He was funny, and had a way of making all of us find his humor amusing. He was truly a comedian and had us all laughing heartily. Before we knew it, he was finished and everyone agreed he was very funny and everyone enjoyed the comedy club visit. Now I was happy. Sarah, Joel and Jonathan all liked Elton John. I was concerned that Sarah may not, but she really seemed to like the performance. Then, everyone was happy with the comedy club, so I had done well! To celebrate, we all went out again, and I got in at 7am, in time for Chuck to head to the airport. He was leaving early, to help us out, since Sam left out of Moline and wanted to stay to see Garth, his car had to get back, so Chuck flew into Moline and drove Sam’s car back to Chicago.

This elaborate plan ensured the boys and I could see Garth. Back in Ocotber, when I asked Sam what he wanted to do in Las Vegas, he answered that if Garth was playing, he wanted to see him. This was before the schedule had been posted, so I promised him if Garth was there, we’d go. This meant that I had to be ready to buy the tickets the minute they went on sale. I was delighted to discover Garth was playing this weekend, but surprised at the cost of the tickets. Garth has been very vocal about keeping his concert prices down, and I knew he had been in a dispute with Steve Wynn over the prices of tickets for these shows. They compromised, but the prices were still very high for a Garth show. Not that it would keep me from attending; I would have sold a prized possession to buy the tickets, and it was a plus to get tickets in a decent location.

Saturday was the day of the Garth show, and I was determined I would not be sitting there, almost falling asleep during the concert. I was up with Chuck leaving, and then with Wrigley wanting attention, so I was awake when my phone rang. David called and said he was going to go to the Wynn and would like to take me for a nice lunch. I was so excited, and decided we should get the tickets while we are there, and despite only a few, very interrupted hours of sleep, I managed to get dressed up and be at the Wynn in just an hour.

We looked at our options and chose a restaurant which faced a waterfall and golf course. I ordered eggs versaille, which were absolutely amazing. David had a chicken dish which was my second choice, and it looked incredible as well. We both enjoyed our lunch, and once we finished we joined up with the others who were already out and about. We headed to a preappointed place where Sarah knew of a study, which paid for your opinion on beer. For the five twenty-somethings, this was a great idea, but I cannot stomach beer, so I knew I could not partake in this study. Once I told the young man who was taking information this, he quickly told me there was a study for me to do as well. So while they tasted beer and gave their opinion, I was telling the young man how I felt about a couple of plastic containers I was shown. Due to the confidentiality agreement I signed, I will not give details on what the study was about, but let’s just say, I did not get to taste anything!

After this, I knew I needed to take a nap. When we were in Vegas for Jonathan’s 21st birthday, David and Jonathan stayed out all night and the following night we went to a fantastic Keith Urban concert and the two of them were struggling to keep their eyes open. I know that feeling and I did not want that to happen to me at the Garth show. I headed back to the RV to let Wrigley out, and try to nap. I stress the word try, because he was not interested in letting me nap. He wanted to go for a walk, play with a toy, or just lick my face. He was determined to wake me minutes after I fell into that deep sleep I was longing for. In the past 3 days I probably had a total of 12 hours of sleep and I am just not used to that! I forfeited dinner for more sleep, and then got ready and rode my scooter to the Wynn where Garth would be entertaining this evening.

Find out how the Garth concert was, and what else we did, for Sam’s 21st birthday in the next post.

This post will be continued, due to length and lack of sleep today, as well…

As the year comes to an end, everyone makes their best and worst lists. I have been compiling my top moments of the year, and will share them with you for New Year’s. However, today, I wanted to share with you my top worst traveling moments of the year:

10. Policeman knocking on my door, because the TJ Maxx thought the RV was “suspicious”, parked in the lot they share with my gym. The policeman then asked why, if I had Illinois license plates, would I come all the way to PA to go to their gym….I had to explain to him how National chains work!

9. The police showed up because they had been called to investigate “illegal dumping”, however, all they found was I had used my spray to wash off Wrigley’s paws. This was the same town as #10, and the only police activity I encountered all year!

8. The fire I started while making a whole chicken on the grill. I forgot to put the legs out on the little BBQ and the table went up in flames.

7.  When the tilting scooter carrier which I paid a good amount of money for, stopped working, and I had to use a hammer to try to get it to open.

6. Trying to navigate the New Jersey roads to get to Atlantic City- a 3 hour trip took close to 8 hours due to the roads saying “passenger cars only” and all the low viaducts.

5. Wrigley getting “lost” outside an RV place on the East Coast. He was found, and returned, though I still think someone took him…

4. Hearing the guys outside my window try to open the door on both the RV and the trailer in the parking lot at Harrah’s in Atlantic City

3. Getting the RV stuck in the mud in a campground and having to get pulled out with a tractor.

2. Opening the slide and under the fridge the entire floor came up. (the bill for this repair made it climb to number two)

and the # 1 worst traveling moment for me this year was when I just started traveling with the trailer, went down a road in New Jersey and saw the 12′ 3″ sign on the viaduct. Cars were parked on both sides and I could not get the RV turned around. It was raining, and cars were honking.

All of these events have been chronicled in detail in my blogs throughout the year. You can go back and read about them if you like. If you have read some, or most of my blogs, tell me if you agree with my list.

Grocery shopping is one of those tasks which I put off as long as possible. I had stocked up before I got here last week, and though I have a lot of those items still available, I was in need of some necessities, so after I went to the gym, I was heading to the local grocery store.

It seems out west, many of the stores have Starbucks. In this small town of Santa Paula, the only Starbucks resides in the Vonn’s. I found this out when I took the certificate in for my free coffee.  After buying 16 cups, they will give you the next one free, and I always savor the one I did not have to purchase! So when I decided I would go grocery shopping I chose to get my coffee there too.

Grocery shopping for one is a challenge. I will admit, I still think I am buying for six at times. Cooking is like that too. After years of trying to make enough, I am now trying to not make too much! The more challenging part of this trip is buying even more nutritious food than I have been eating…and I was eating OK , so stepping it up a notch, will require more effort.

Since I have been staying in one place, I have not been eating out at all, which helps my eating plan a lot. I have found the best time for me to go shopping is right after I have worked out. Not only do I feel good, but I also feel healthy, so when I shop I do not want to buy everything. In addition to shopping after I worked out, I also have the scooter, which means every item must be needed, because I do not have room to put frivolous purchases.

On this day, my mission was to buy fruits and vegetables, oatmeal, and cereal. I had hoped to buy my favorite new cereal, Chocolate Cheerios. However, my latest plan to omit unnecessary sugar, and the inflated price of this after dinner treat, made my choice to buy the shredded wheat seem like a good idea; it was on sale. I even vowed to eat some of it for breakfast. I stopped on my way in, to buy my coffee, and I put it in the special holder on the grocery cart and set off to buy nutritious food. I am used to sitting down and enjoying my coffee, while working on my computer, which is what I have done at most all of the Starbucks I have stopped at throughout the country. Taking my coffee and walking with it was something new for me. Oh, and despite my saying otherwise, I enjoy the music in the Starbucks. Over the course of my trip I have heard every imaginable genre, and I like it. I like my routine, and this Starbucks does not support it, so I will try it their way, and drink my coffee as I shop.

I started my shopping in the fruits and veggies area, where I found some sale items. I did buy one of those large trays of cutup fruit because it is easier, takes up less room, and was on sale. My almond milk, which lasts a long time, tastes good, and has fewer calories than regular milk, was on sale, so I had to get another half gallon. Oatmeal, rice cakes and some frozen treats were all thrown into the cart, and then I bought some salmon, which was on sale, and of course turkey. I was having a good time, getting all good foods, while sipping my coffee. Life was grand.

At the checkout I had to get one of the special customer Cards for the store to get all my sale prices. This is the biggest joke there is. I hate that they take your information, and track your purchases. They can do this because we, as their customers, hand it all over, in return for their special prices. It should be illegal, but instead, every store around the country has adopted this process, and it has become accepted. I gave them my information to save $24 on a $50 grocery bill on this visit alone. Small price to pay…or is it? I have accumulated a dozen cards from various places I have shopped across the country, which I may never visit again, just to get the deals.

When I left the store, I tossed my empty drink cup into the garbage…perfect timing! Then, I looked at the groceries and sized them up in my head, as I walked toward the scooter. Under the seat of the scooter, there is more room than you would think, but I had brought a gallon to fill up with water and I had my bag from the gym with the clothes I had changed out of, as well. When I left in the morning, it was cool out.  I wore my heavier coat, so I would not get cold as I zoomed 45 mph down the winding road to get into town. It is such a great road with no stops, but if it is chilly, the wind does get to you, so wearing a warm coat is necessary. Now, however, it had warmed up considerably, and my hoodie was more than warm enough, even on the scooter…

I filled up the water gallon, which costs .30. The water is important, because the tap water tastes awful and even with two filters on it, I do not trust it to be clean enough. There are Glacier water stations everywhere, so others must agree with me on this. The .05 deposit on each water bottle makes it a better deal to fill the 1 gallon and 2 gallon containers I have and reuse them. Greener too, I guess.

After filling the water, I looked at the items I had and tried to fit them into the space under the seat, but they would not all fit. And finally, for one of the few times in my life, I had been prepared. Last week one day, I took out the bungee cords and put two of them under the seat, for just such an occasion. Today was the day. I took out my bag I had for the gym, which is a string backpack, and I put the gallon of water in it, and strapped it to my back. I put the coat on the seat and secured it to the luggage rack. On the rack I secured the bag with cereal, rice cakes and two boxes of approved frozen treats. They were secured by the two bungee cords. All the fruits, veggies, oatmeal, meats and almond milk all fit under the seat.

As I drove down the Main Street, I imagined people saw me all loaded up and saw the Illinois License plates and assumed I had ridden all the way from the Land of Lincoln to California!! I smiled at this idea as I listened to my ipod play songs I have chosen on the beautiful ride back up into the mountains. I think this was a pretty fun trip to the grocery store after all.

 

 

 

I have come to the part in the journey where I need to take care of the things that I set out to do.

I made several decisions. The first one was to sell my house in Oak Lawn. Not because I never want to go back there, but because it is hard to keep up, while I am not there, and I do not see myself gaining money by renting. The truth is: I probably lost money this past year on it.

Another decision came when I chose to work on the two big items on my bucket list: Live somewhere else and write a book. In order to experience the journey the rest of the year, I did very little writing, meaning if I want to get a book finished, I need the time to do the writing.

Living somewhere else was the hard part. I have only known Chicagoland my entire life. In fact, until I moved to Oak Lawn I had lived in the city limits my entire life, except for a few months before I got married. I was even born in the city, I was told.  As much as I love Chicago, I want to know what it is like to live somewhere else, for a while.

I saw an ad for a person to be in charge of activities at a KOA campground in Santa Paula California, which is in Ventura County. The job consists of helping set up and run activities for kids and families who are visiting the park. This is something I am familiar with, since I ran youth bowling leagues, birthday parties and taught Vacation Bible School, which meant I pretty much did the same thing. I am considered a workamper, which is a person, or couple who works for their RV spot.

I was looking at listings for a while and some of them wanted a single person to work 40 hours a week, doing a lot of hard work in addition to the front desk. I knew I could do the front desk, but it was not what I wanted, and I did not want to have to work all the time, or it would defeat the purpose of my staying there, which is to workout, and write, daily. This particular place was appealing to me because it is owned by people who are expanding, and want to improve the park and it’s offerings. I like that. It is already one of the coolest campgrounds I have stayed at. I was amazed as I walked the grounds, looking at the huge place, with pretty lots, big Tee Pees guests can stay in, and a zipline and rock wall, which is now under my direction! I even took a run down the zipline, which is something I never thought I would do!

The best surprise came when we discussed amenities. For me, I will get all my hookups, internet, LP gas and laundry paid for each week, for working 16 hours, taking kids on hikes, setting up movie nights, and helping run the activities. Best of all, I am asked to help come up with ideas as well. Anyone who knows me, knows my forte is ideas. I am loaded with lots of ideas, so having someone appreciate my creativity is a good deal for me.

The little town is just a few miles up the road, easily accessible by scooter. The road to get there seems to be made for a scooter, since it is pretty, winding, and maxes out at 45mph. Most of the trip is about 35mph, and it is a fun ride to the new gym I have secured on a month to month basis. I am starting to feel comfortable there, after only a week, so that seems like a good sign.

Since Saturdays are an 8 hour day, I only have to get in 8 hours throughout the week doing various tasks which all seem kind of fun, for now. Since I will not be moving around, my only real job each day, (besides making sure Wrigley gets his walks, food and play) is to write and workout. This location also means I will get to visit LA and see various shows, as well as try to get a walk on part. Only an hour away, and free time to go, will hopefully play to my favor.

The park is relatively quiet this time of year, with limited activities planned and few guests. I have become rather comfortable here already, recklessly setting things about the RV, because knowing we will not be moving soon, things do not need to be put away constantly. This is the first time in ten months I can leave a bowl with fruit on the table. Wrigley may mess with it, but since I won’t be moving right away, I will know it was him and not the rolling earthquake causing the mayhem.

The only drawback has been my phone. In the campground, I have spotty service, with little or no reception, and some texting. In town I have great service, so if I know I need to make a call, I have to go there, to have definite service. Having good internet makes it easier, because I can be reached by email, or Facebook most of the time. I also do not have any local TV channels, so I rely on the good internet service to let me watch the shows I like to see, the following day.

The lemon orchard next to me is filled with plump ripe lemons. This area is known as the citrus capital of the country, so I went and asked the owner if I could buy a few of his lemons. Graciously, he let me pick as many as I liked. The water here has an odd taste, and I was told it has high nickel levels, so I bought a second filter for the incoming water, and I am filling up my gallon jug daily at the machine next to the gym. It costs .30/gallon for fresh water, which seems like a great deal.

I cut up some lemon and made a big container of lemon water to sip on. I took a glass outside and sat on my big comfy blue outdoor chair, with my table next to it, setting on the big rug I bought. Wrigley was on his lead which I rigged up between the trailer and the tree, so he has a lot of room to roam, and I enjoyed a warmer early December than I have ever experienced. I looked over the orchard at the mountains, and I could see I was not in the flat state of Illinois, and much like Dorothy who realized she was not in Kansas, it was apparent I was not in Chicago anymore.

 

Hainesport Township, New Jersey

“Driving down the road in an RV is like taking your house through a rolling earthquake” said the voice on the other end of the phone. She seemed to understand the problems I was having and she empathized. It seems like one issue after another has cropped up, yet I roll on.

Camping with the new trailer in tow

The most recent issue finds me with a working slideout, but one which has a twisted rubber sealer on it. I don’t know exactly what it is called, or how this happened, but I do know I should not see light under my refrigerator, and upon further investigation, I should not see the twisted rubber from the outside, coming off. I showed it to a repairman at an RV shop and he assured me it needed to be fixed, but told me they could not get it in the shop until Monday morning. This would mean our trip to New York would be postponed.

We spent the past few days staying in various areas, including Atlantic City and a Campground in New Jersey. Gambling in Atlantic City was good to me, and we were quite active at the campground; playing horseshoes, mini golf and canoeing. I spent some time in the pool and we took a bike ride. We have been working out almost daily. I try to make sure we are close to a gym when we plan our itinerary.

I was dead set against having a trailer behind me. I did not want to worry about turning around, or backing up. I also liked having a shorter RV, which enabled me to get any spot in a campground. However, after my tilting scooter carrier quit working properly, I knew I needed to do something. I feel I need a vehicle to get to places once I am parked.  I had experienced first hand how a different kind of carrier worked and did not like it either, so now my options were whittled down to towing a car, or a trailer. Paying insurance and upkeep on a car does not appeal to me, the scooter is all I need. At first I thought I’d get the smallest open trailer I could, and just put the scooter on it. After discussing my options with a few people it became clear that a trailer of any size will still make backing up a challenge, so why get a tiny one, when a bigger one could help store things easily, and keep the scooter under a roof.

I saw a place on the way to the RV shop where I was planning to get my oil changed. I was due to get both the generator and truck chassis oil changed, so I got an appointment and that’s where I was headed when I saw the dealer. It was a big place and they had so many models to look at. I looked through so many trailers and finally ended up buying one which somewhat matches my RV. They added a tire chock, in the right place for my scooter, and the D-rings for the tie downs as well. The scooter fits nice in there, and once I can get rid of the tilting scooter carrier which is inside now, I will have pretty significant storage space. I had a very comfy chair I bought, but could not fit into any of my bins, so when I go back through the Midwest, I will add it to my rolling garage.  

Once the trailer was hooked up and we were ready to go I realized my backup camera would not change it’s focus. It was set on the back of the RV, but I know it can move. Despite all my prodding and pleading it did not move one bit. It is still sitting there looking at the front of the new trailer, and leaving me to guess what is happening at the back end. Not good.

So far I have had to plan a lot more where I will go, since making a quick three point turn will no longer happen for me, but when I rode my scooter and drove it up into the trailer easily, it seems to make it a good tradeoff so far.  I tried to practice backing up in a lot, but without the backup camera it is difficult to see the trailer behind me. The trailer is more narrow than the RV and without the camera, I am at a great disadvantage. Backing up, I feel like I am flying blind, so now getting the backup camera fixed, or the user fixed, whatever may be the issue, has now become a priority.

I went to the store and bought various hardware and bungee cords to tie down the contents of my rolling garage. I can only hope once the camera is fixed, I will find this new addition to be a good choice.

As the rain starts to fall outside the RV in New Jersey, I am glad my scooter is dry inside its new home.

I do not like it when things do not work as they should. Especially not after I thought they were great and told others how wonderful they are, only to discover they are not so great after all. I looked high and low for a carrier for the scooter. Chuck and I checked out all the options, and when I finally saw the tilt-a-rack carrier, I was so excited because it was exactly what I wanted. I needed something which would enable me to put the scooter on and off on my own. The scooter is heavy, but with the tilting mechanism, I was able to mount it on the carrier. I bought the carrier and we tried it out at home, and off I went. I only take the scooter off when I need it, or when I will be somewhere for some time. I decided this was better than pulling a trailer for the scooter, or purchasing a very expensive hydraulic lift which would be mounted on the back of the RV. The carrier has carried the scooter over 10,000 miles so far, safely. However, I have not taken it off as much as I would like, because of the difficulty involved. Also, I have had help on several occasions putting the scooter back on, because doing it myself was not as easy as I had hoped. The last time I took it off, I had to use a hammer, since the mechanism would not budge. Jonathan is very strong, and he could not move it either. Once we finally got it off, I hated the thought of putting it back on again, because I knew it would be difficult. It was harder than I thought it would be; almost impossible. Now I have to take back all the good things I had said about the tilting carrier, because it only worked well for about four months. Despite my spraying it with various cans which were supposed to make it easier, it still will not budge, and so now I have to find another way to carry the scooter. The most obvious thought is to get another carrier, but if this one does not work in just a few months, I am thinking of going in another direction. I have looked into the hydraulic lift, but still not really excited about spending all that money for a scooter. I was in the Harley shop the other day and looking at big motorcycles made me think about getting one of those. That would be worth it! But I love my scooter, so I am leaning towards an enclosed trailer which I could use for additional storage. I would want a smaller enclosed one, which I could disconnect easily if I get in a tight spot and need to get out. Looking at my upcoming schedule, I will be traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast and back. If someone wanted to do some advertising, my trailer would be the perfect place for an ad. I am sure it could be wrapped for a small fee. It would get National exposure for a good price. Please pass this information on if you know anyone who may want to advertise on the trailer. I will be leaving Provincetown, MA July 25th, 2011, so we have a little time to get it all together. I appreciate any help.