Today's "excitement" was a trip to In and Out Burger for lunch. It is an interesting fast food chain restaurant. They prove that you don't need variety on your menu. When you go to In and Out Burger you get a hamburger, fries and a soft drink, they have nothing else on the menu. Every time we have stopped at one it has been very busy.
Yesterday Drew and I finished phase I of his roof stiffening. We have the new beams and the jacks in place. The screw jacks are "snugged up" and over a period of time, as the roof members "relax", he will keep adjusting the jacks to keep a constant pressure on the beams. Eventually he will add a couple of permanent posts to replace the jacks.
The appliance repair guy was supposed to come this afternoon, to fix Drew's oven. He has been promising to get it fixed for over a month. He is doing the repair work under Drew's home warranty policy. Now he says he will be out tomorrow, we will see. If we weren't here Drew would have to take off work and wait for the guy. He is not a happy camper about this guys performance but he can't get the home warranty people to send someone else out.
We had planned on going to Alta, CA on Wed. We have talked to the people there about volunteering at Camp Alta. John, the camp director, called today to tell us that it was snowing and that by tomorrow night they are forecast to have a foot of new snow. We decided to postpone our trip up there.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Feb 26th - Drew's Roof
Yesterday we worked on stiffening the roof, in one area, of Drew's home. We hauled 5-2x6x10' and 2-2x4x8' plus saw horses and other tools up into the attic. At the peak the roof is high enough that you can easily stand upright. The roof pitch is about an 8:12.
We spliced pairs of the 2x6's, because we needed them to be a little over 18' long, and have them in place. Today we will use the 2x6's as a base to do some jacking at a couple of locations. Once we get load transferred from an existing room member into the new 2x6's we will install permanent posts at two locations. After that is complete there are two 2x4 rafters that have sagged over the years and they also need to be stiffened. We/he will need to get 4-2x6x14' into the attic to do that job. I think he may wait to do that at a later date.
It got COLD here last night, 38 degrees on our thermometer. The weather service reported the official low was 41. Today's high is only supposed to be 47 and then it is supposed to be in the mid 50's until Friday when the highs get back into the 60's again. Drew mentioned that it finally turned to winter here.
The offer we made on the house in Centertown, MO (near our granddaughter's home) was rejected. The counter offer made it clear that, at least at this point, the people who own the home think it is worth far more than we do. After some research it appears that they paid $182,500 for the place in June of 2009. At that time the asking price was $194,900. The current owners are going to take a beating, especially considering that realty fees will cost them around $12,000, the only question is how badly.
We spliced pairs of the 2x6's, because we needed them to be a little over 18' long, and have them in place. Today we will use the 2x6's as a base to do some jacking at a couple of locations. Once we get load transferred from an existing room member into the new 2x6's we will install permanent posts at two locations. After that is complete there are two 2x4 rafters that have sagged over the years and they also need to be stiffened. We/he will need to get 4-2x6x14' into the attic to do that job. I think he may wait to do that at a later date.
It got COLD here last night, 38 degrees on our thermometer. The weather service reported the official low was 41. Today's high is only supposed to be 47 and then it is supposed to be in the mid 50's until Friday when the highs get back into the 60's again. Drew mentioned that it finally turned to winter here.
The offer we made on the house in Centertown, MO (near our granddaughter's home) was rejected. The counter offer made it clear that, at least at this point, the people who own the home think it is worth far more than we do. After some research it appears that they paid $182,500 for the place in June of 2009. At that time the asking price was $194,900. The current owners are going to take a beating, especially considering that realty fees will cost them around $12,000, the only question is how badly.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Feb 24th - A Slow Day
I didn't do much today. Kathy went down and helped with the food give away at the little church down the block.
This morning we went to the Farmer's Market in downtown Oakland, maybe 35 blocks from here. It is interesting if you do nothing more than just people watch. Today's bonus was that the musician in the center of the Market (they have always had a musical group of some type) was good. In my humble, tone deaf, classic country and western loving, opinion. He played mostly blues.
In addition to liking the music I was amazed at his coordination. At times he was playing the guitar, a harmonica, and a tambourine on each of his feet, simultaneously. When he started tapping his feet, the tambourines, to different beats, while playing the other instruments I was just in awe.
It even got better when a couple stopped with a child. The little boy stood still but was focused on watching the musician. When the musician would finish a song the little boy would bend one knee a few times, like he wanted more music. When the guy saw this he did a bunch of children's songs (like the "wheels on the bus").
A different standard of living - A few weeks ago I mentioned that the guy who owns the property next door had hired someone to come in, remove the trash, and "peel off" the top layer of soil, along with all the grass and weeds. It was just bare dirt. Now it looks like this.
The biggest piece is a cooler. Most of the smaller pieces are just trash. There are even a couple of toilet plungers. The people on the other side of the board fence on the right seem to think that this is their personal dump. The fence is at least 8' tall and they just throw trash over the top.
Across the street from Drew's is a community center. At his end of the center there is a ball field. For the past several days men have been working over there. I'm not sure what they are doing, maybe improving the ball field. It didn't appear to be all that rough. They have stripped off all the sod and hauled in many semi-dump truck loads of black dirt. They have worked the dirt they stripped off to the point where it was full of small clumps of sod. I though their method of screening, while labor intensive, was interesting.
They has a section of chain link fence on a frame. They use the bucket on the BobCat to hold up one end of the fence section while the guy with the backhoe dumps dirt on it. The clumps of sod roll to the bottom and the dirt falls through. It isn't all that fast and considering that you have a BobCat a backhoe and a 3rd guy standing around to occasionally shake the screen, the cost per yard isn't cheap.
The weather was great again today. I bet many of you are getting tired of hearing that but it has been a warm winter, even for here. Today's high was 70 and last nights low was 52. Next weeks highs are supposed to be in the 50's, and it is supposed to rain a couple of days. I think that is more normal "winter" weather out here.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
This morning we went to the Farmer's Market in downtown Oakland, maybe 35 blocks from here. It is interesting if you do nothing more than just people watch. Today's bonus was that the musician in the center of the Market (they have always had a musical group of some type) was good. In my humble, tone deaf, classic country and western loving, opinion. He played mostly blues.
In addition to liking the music I was amazed at his coordination. At times he was playing the guitar, a harmonica, and a tambourine on each of his feet, simultaneously. When he started tapping his feet, the tambourines, to different beats, while playing the other instruments I was just in awe.
It even got better when a couple stopped with a child. The little boy stood still but was focused on watching the musician. When the musician would finish a song the little boy would bend one knee a few times, like he wanted more music. When the guy saw this he did a bunch of children's songs (like the "wheels on the bus").
A different standard of living - A few weeks ago I mentioned that the guy who owns the property next door had hired someone to come in, remove the trash, and "peel off" the top layer of soil, along with all the grass and weeds. It was just bare dirt. Now it looks like this.
Across the street from Drew's is a community center. At his end of the center there is a ball field. For the past several days men have been working over there. I'm not sure what they are doing, maybe improving the ball field. It didn't appear to be all that rough. They have stripped off all the sod and hauled in many semi-dump truck loads of black dirt. They have worked the dirt they stripped off to the point where it was full of small clumps of sod. I though their method of screening, while labor intensive, was interesting.
The weather was great again today. I bet many of you are getting tired of hearing that but it has been a warm winter, even for here. Today's high was 70 and last nights low was 52. Next weeks highs are supposed to be in the 50's, and it is supposed to rain a couple of days. I think that is more normal "winter" weather out here.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Feb 22nd - Nice Day in Oakland
It was a beautiful day here. The high was near 70.
Not much exciting happening. I did some minor repairs to the RV and some yard work while Kathy continued washing woodwork and cleaning blinds, as well as doing our laundry.
Good night and may God bless you and yours.
Not much exciting happening. I did some minor repairs to the RV and some yard work while Kathy continued washing woodwork and cleaning blinds, as well as doing our laundry.
Good night and may God bless you and yours.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Feb 21st - Back in Oakland
We arrived back in Oakland around 9:30 PM PDT. We left Indy around 3:30 PM EDT. We arrived at the Indy airport around 2:00 PM and left the Oakland airport around 10:00 PM, 11 hours. Our layover at Midway airport, in Chicago, was over 3 hours. Midway is a pretty nice airport. We each had a sandwich there, at a place called Pot Bellies, and split a salad. It was the best airport food I think I have ever had. On top of that it was reasonably priced, especially for an airport. I think someone with brain damage layed out the new Indy airport the way you have to ride up and down escalators to get from place to place.
We had rented a car while in Indy. We (mostly Kathy) put nearly 1,600 miles on it while we were there. The difference in the cost of gas between it and my pickup almost paid the total rental fee. In case you think we don't pay enough taxes. The actual charge for renting the car was quite reasonable, less than $100/week. Then there was Indiana's 7% sales tax, a CFC(customer facilitation charge, another fee for the airport) charge of $4/day (for us this was equivalent to a 29% tax), and airport tax of 11.1%, Marion county excise tax of 4%, and a state excise tax of 4%. Bottom line, to rent a car for a week at the Indianapolis airport we paid the rental company less than $100 and the we paid the damn government agencies over $53 for the privilege of the government letting us rent a car. And Obama wants more of my money!
Drew picked us up at the airport here in Oakland. We will soon be in bed.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
We had rented a car while in Indy. We (mostly Kathy) put nearly 1,600 miles on it while we were there. The difference in the cost of gas between it and my pickup almost paid the total rental fee. In case you think we don't pay enough taxes. The actual charge for renting the car was quite reasonable, less than $100/week. Then there was Indiana's 7% sales tax, a CFC(customer facilitation charge, another fee for the airport) charge of $4/day (for us this was equivalent to a 29% tax), and airport tax of 11.1%, Marion county excise tax of 4%, and a state excise tax of 4%. Bottom line, to rent a car for a week at the Indianapolis airport we paid the rental company less than $100 and the we paid the damn government agencies over $53 for the privilege of the government letting us rent a car. And Obama wants more of my money!
Drew picked us up at the airport here in Oakland. We will soon be in bed.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Feb 19th - More Househunting & Back to Indy
We looked at this 23 year old house this morning. We will probably make an offer on it. We are waiting to get some additional information from our realtor, but we would be surprised to find something that would keep us from making an offer. The basement is unfinished.
It is on a hilly, 5 acre, wooded site. There is a small pond on the property but I'm not sure why anyone spent the money for the dam to end up with such a small pond.
The highway is Rte 50. The property is about 10 miles west of Jefferson City. It takes 12-15 minutes to drive from Kelsey & Andy's, in Russellville, to this place. It is not the normal way they would go to get to Jefferson City but going this way would not take a lot longer.
If you want to see photos of the inside you can look at them at:
http://www.trulia.com/property/3075862467-503-Shady-Acres-Road-Centertown-MO-65023
We arrived back at Doug & Anthony's at 7 PM, went out to eat and are now back at their place. I think Kathy is already in bed, and I'm not far from it.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
The highway is Rte 50. The property is about 10 miles west of Jefferson City. It takes 12-15 minutes to drive from Kelsey & Andy's, in Russellville, to this place. It is not the normal way they would go to get to Jefferson City but going this way would not take a lot longer.
If you want to see photos of the inside you can look at them at:
http://www.trulia.com/property/3075862467-503-Shady-Acres-Road-Centertown-MO-65023
We arrived back at Doug & Anthony's at 7 PM, went out to eat and are now back at their place. I think Kathy is already in bed, and I'm not far from it.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Feb 18th - Missouri House Hunting
Today we looked at at least 5 houses. We are looking another one in the morning before heading back to Indy. We didn't like any of them well enough to make an offer.
After getting back to Andy & Kelsey's we decided that if we were going to make an offer on one of them it would be an older ranch, with a full basement. It would need a lot of cosmetic work, a kitchen remodel and more. It has been empty for 4 years. The lady who lived in it for the 7 years prior to it being empty is the one who still owns it. The price was $119k. We would not have offered more than $100k. One interesting feature was that the garage floor was a structural slab with a workshop area below the garage. All four walls of the workshop were poured walls, as were the remainder of the walkout basement walls. It would have made quite a substantial storm shelter.
It was a passive solar home. Behind the windows on this wall is a 2' air space area and then an interior 8" thick brick wall. The wall has multiple arched doorways in it. The sun shines through these windows and heats up the brick wall during the summer. I assume the sun is high enough during the summer so that it doesn't hit these windows.
This is the back yard.
This was the high efficiency heat pump at one of the other places we looked at. It was running and the house was warm. Temps were in the high 40's. Someone had written "Hi" in the ice crystals and the word was still there.
This afternoon Andy gave me a ride in the quickest car I have ever ridden in. He bought an older Civic that has a turbo. He says that he has no doubt that it will currently run in the eleven's. Current boost is limited to only 8 psi. His plans are to install a different fuel pump and increase the boost. He estimates that it currently is about 300 hp, in a 2500# vehicle. He said the bottom end of the engine is supposed to be good for 500 hp. He currently limits rpm's to only 9,500. I admit that it feels funny when he makes the first/second shift and the front tires break loose and the car slips sideways. It has limited slip and has Mickey Thompon radial street radials. The street radial are for use on the street and strip. They are a very soft compound. He only ran it up to 85 a couple of times during the ride. The vibration is rather pronounced since the motor mounts are solid but even with a minimal exhaust system the noise wasn't bad.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
After getting back to Andy & Kelsey's we decided that if we were going to make an offer on one of them it would be an older ranch, with a full basement. It would need a lot of cosmetic work, a kitchen remodel and more. It has been empty for 4 years. The lady who lived in it for the 7 years prior to it being empty is the one who still owns it. The price was $119k. We would not have offered more than $100k. One interesting feature was that the garage floor was a structural slab with a workshop area below the garage. All four walls of the workshop were poured walls, as were the remainder of the walkout basement walls. It would have made quite a substantial storm shelter.
It was a passive solar home. Behind the windows on this wall is a 2' air space area and then an interior 8" thick brick wall. The wall has multiple arched doorways in it. The sun shines through these windows and heats up the brick wall during the summer. I assume the sun is high enough during the summer so that it doesn't hit these windows.
This is the back yard.
This was the high efficiency heat pump at one of the other places we looked at. It was running and the house was warm. Temps were in the high 40's. Someone had written "Hi" in the ice crystals and the word was still there.
This afternoon Andy gave me a ride in the quickest car I have ever ridden in. He bought an older Civic that has a turbo. He says that he has no doubt that it will currently run in the eleven's. Current boost is limited to only 8 psi. His plans are to install a different fuel pump and increase the boost. He estimates that it currently is about 300 hp, in a 2500# vehicle. He said the bottom end of the engine is supposed to be good for 500 hp. He currently limits rpm's to only 9,500. I admit that it feels funny when he makes the first/second shift and the front tires break loose and the car slips sideways. It has limited slip and has Mickey Thompon radial street radials. The street radial are for use on the street and strip. They are a very soft compound. He only ran it up to 85 a couple of times during the ride. The vibration is rather pronounced since the motor mounts are solid but even with a minimal exhaust system the noise wasn't bad.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Feb 16th - Coldwater
Doug, Kathy & I made a trip to my Mom's, near Coldwater, MI, today. David, my brother, came down to Mom's and we also got to spend some time with him.
On the way back to Indy we stopped at Auntie V's, Kathy's niece's restaurant in Angola, IN. We had dinner with Kathy sister's Nancy & Cindy and Cindy's husband Ed.
The roads were good, weatherwise, both ways. We had a good time but I'm tired and it is good to be back at Doug & Anthony's.
On the way back to Indy we stopped at Auntie V's, Kathy's niece's restaurant in Angola, IN. We had dinner with Kathy sister's Nancy & Cindy and Cindy's husband Ed.
The roads were good, weatherwise, both ways. We had a good time but I'm tired and it is good to be back at Doug & Anthony's.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Feb 14th - In Indy
Yesterday's flights to Indy were rather routine. Some area were a little "bumpy" but nothing extraordinary. Getting up around 4 AM to make our 6:20 flight was a little extraordinary <grin>. We are spoiled by sleeping in late on a regular basis.
Kathy had a Doctors appointment this morning, up in the Carmel area (45-60 minutes from Doug & Anthony's). She then went to Sam's and was going to come back here before her afternoon appointment. Since she hasn't showed she must have went directly to the afternoon appt.
Doug & Anthony are at the salon (I think). I didn't get up until after they had left.
I made emailed Drew a material list of things we will need to stiffen his roof when I get back to Oakland. Nothing major, just a "soft spot" where roof modifications have been made during an old alteration.
I just warmed up a pork chop I had left over after last nights dinner at La Parada, the little Mexican restaurant near Doug & Anthony's.
Good afternoon to all and may God bless you and yours.
Kathy had a Doctors appointment this morning, up in the Carmel area (45-60 minutes from Doug & Anthony's). She then went to Sam's and was going to come back here before her afternoon appointment. Since she hasn't showed she must have went directly to the afternoon appt.
Doug & Anthony are at the salon (I think). I didn't get up until after they had left.
I made emailed Drew a material list of things we will need to stiffen his roof when I get back to Oakland. Nothing major, just a "soft spot" where roof modifications have been made during an old alteration.
I just warmed up a pork chop I had left over after last nights dinner at La Parada, the little Mexican restaurant near Doug & Anthony's.
Good afternoon to all and may God bless you and yours.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Feb 12th - More Painting
Today was more house washing and painting. Drew washed the gable area on the front of the house and then started painting trim, working from the back of the house towards the front. Kathy and I painted a couple of interior walls.
Drew worked until twilight but didn't manage to get anything done on the front. Actually it was still to wet to paint even if he had time. It rained while we were eating supper. Hopefully it came straight down so that it didn't damage any of the fresh paint.
The big roast cooked all night long. Kathy carved it up this morning. We had beef/gravy sandwiches, mashed potatoes, and corn (homemade corn cut off the cob) for lunch. It is impossible to get anything nearly as good at any restaurant.
Drew worked until twilight but didn't manage to get anything done on the front. Actually it was still to wet to paint even if he had time. It rained while we were eating supper. Hopefully it came straight down so that it didn't damage any of the fresh paint.
The big roast cooked all night long. Kathy carved it up this morning. We had beef/gravy sandwiches, mashed potatoes, and corn (homemade corn cut off the cob) for lunch. It is impossible to get anything nearly as good at any restaurant.
We leave for the airport at 4:45 AM. Our flight leaves at 6:20. I'm not sure what time we are supposed to land in Indy.
Good night to all. May God bless you and yours.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Feb 11th - Saturday
This morning we went to a nursery and looked around. Drew didn't find anything he really wanted, but looking at all the plants/trees was interesting. After that we went to the "Cash and Carry" grocery store. I guess you would call it a restaurant supply store. It was quite interesting. Kathy had been there with Doug when he was out here.
Below is a photo of the walk in meat cooler. I think there was also a walk in dairy cooler and a walk in fruit and vegetable cooler.
I just had a taste of the roast in the photo below, but it is still cooking. It was good. 21# of beef marked down to $30.
Tabasco sauce by the gallon. I was also quite impressed when I saw a stack of 5 gallon buckets of soy sauce.
Once we got home we had macaroni soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Kathy made the macaroni soup and Drew made the grilled cheese sandwiches. He made an assortment. Plain grilled cheese, grilled cheese with tuna and grilled swiss cheese with tuna. I tried them all and they were all good.
In the afternoon Kathy, Drew and I removed the fabric from the living room slide topper. Then I washed the slide roof and lubricated the slide seals. After things dried out we installed the new fabric.
The old fabric was almost gone on the ends.
The new looks great.
Kathy also did more painting in the front and Drew mowed the lawn. They are in the house now looking at different sample colors he had painted on the wall. They are trying to determine which one/s he wants.
It was supposed to rain today or otherwise we would have done more exterior painting. We still have areas to touch up and trim.
I am so blessed. Thank you Jesus.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Below is a photo of the walk in meat cooler. I think there was also a walk in dairy cooler and a walk in fruit and vegetable cooler.
I just had a taste of the roast in the photo below, but it is still cooking. It was good. 21# of beef marked down to $30.
Tabasco sauce by the gallon. I was also quite impressed when I saw a stack of 5 gallon buckets of soy sauce.
Once we got home we had macaroni soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Kathy made the macaroni soup and Drew made the grilled cheese sandwiches. He made an assortment. Plain grilled cheese, grilled cheese with tuna and grilled swiss cheese with tuna. I tried them all and they were all good.
In the afternoon Kathy, Drew and I removed the fabric from the living room slide topper. Then I washed the slide roof and lubricated the slide seals. After things dried out we installed the new fabric.
The old fabric was almost gone on the ends.
Kathy also did more painting in the front and Drew mowed the lawn. They are in the house now looking at different sample colors he had painted on the wall. They are trying to determine which one/s he wants.
It was supposed to rain today or otherwise we would have done more exterior painting. We still have areas to touch up and trim.
I am so blessed. Thank you Jesus.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Feb 9th - Kathy's Sunset Photo
Kathy had not given me a copy of this photo when I posted earlier. She took it this evening before I took the other sunset photos. This was taken earlier than the ones I took. I think this is Bolinas Lagoon.
She took this with her cell phone!
Feb 9th - Sebastopol
Today we drove up to Sebastopol, CA to check out Mt. Gilead Bible Camp. It is about 70 miles north of here, less than 10 miles from the ocean (but it make take over a half hour to get there). I've corresponded with them using email and talked to one of their people on the phone. They would like us to come up and volunteer there. Frank, the guy I talked to on the phone, suggested we come up and look the place over.
The drive up was nothing special. We pulled off to get gas in Novato, CA. At the Shell station near the exit regular was $4.199/gallon. We drove a little over a block past it and found a Safeway station. By using Kathy's Safeway grocery card we were able to fill up for $3.599/gallon. The place was packed! As one person pulled out another drove up and "parallel parked" at the empty pump. Right after I took the photo someone parked in front of the U-Haul truck.
The last 5 miles to the camp was a relatively narrow winding road. That part was OK but there were a lot of places where it appeared that the branches were low enough that they might hit to top of our motorhome. The camp regularly has volunteers come up with 5th wheel units but most of them are not 13' tall, like our motorhome. (Actually it is 13' to the top of the satellite dish, and 12'-7" to the top of the air conditioning units.)
Frank and Sue, his wife, have a home east of Oakland. They have been volunteers at the camp for 10 years. For the past 5 years they have not moved their 5th wheel off the camp. They are full time volunteers, the go to their "sticks and bricks" home every 3rd or 4th weekend. I should have taken some photos while at the camp, but they would not have done the place justice. When we parked at the admin bldg and got out of the car we were surrounded by huge coastal redwoods. They were typically 4' or larger in diameter and had to be nearly 100' tall. It was just awesome. The tallest coastal redwood on record is 379' tall. 178 of the trees have been measured to be over 350' tall. The current "largest" coastal redwood on record is 26' in diameter and 320' tall.
The downside is that because of the dense foilage the sun doesn't hit the ground during the winter months. Most of the ground was damp, as though it had sprinkled rain during the morning, even though it had not rained. Frank told us that the temperature in the camp was typically 10-12 degrees colder than it was in Sebastopol, which was less than 10 miles from the camp.
There are currently 3 MMAP (Mobile Missionary Assistance Program) couples on site. They are renovating one of the dormitories, a job that will probably not be completed for months. They leave the last weekend in February. We had a chance to meet them and visit with them for awhile. One couple is from Washington, another from Oregon and the 3rd was from South Dakota.
I think the work part of volunteering at Mt. Gilead would be fine. Getting there, with the low branches, might be a problem. Also, cell phone service is almost non-existent and they only have WiFi available in a building quite a ways, still within walking distance, from the campground area. We drove back to town on a different route and it was far less suitable. We would not go up there until Feb 27th or 28th so we have time to give it some thought before calling Frank and giving him our decision.
On our way back home we drove over towards the coast and came back on highway 1. We saw a different side of California. Lots of very hilly pasture areas with quite a few cattle, including dairy cattle, prior to getting to the coast. We pulled off the highway just south of Stinson Beach and took the following photos. The dots in the center of the photo are two adults and two children playing at the edge of the water. Up top there ws no railing of any kind. One step over the weeds in this photo and you would drop hundreds of feet, you might bounce a few times on the way down, but you wouldn't stop until you were at the beach level. There were some fools, we think they were French, who stopped with two kids. One of the kids was a teen and the other was a pre-teen. The parents let both of the kids walk right up and stand on the weeds.
The sun set while we were there. It went down so quickly.
It has already set in the photo below.
This photo shows the road we where it went around the next "bluff". I was glad we (Kathy) drove this route but, even though there are a few places where I would like to see again, I would never drive, or ride, this route again. This is a photo of one of the really good areas. We went mile after mile after mile with no guard rail and drops of up to 500', with only a couple of feet of shoulder. There were so many sharp curves that the typical speed limit was 15-20 mph. To make matters worse the last half hour was in the dark.
We arrived back home around 7 PM. I forgot to mention that we did stop at a discount bread store and a large roadside fruit market during our travels. All in all it was another enjoyable day.
Good night and may God bless you and yours.
The drive up was nothing special. We pulled off to get gas in Novato, CA. At the Shell station near the exit regular was $4.199/gallon. We drove a little over a block past it and found a Safeway station. By using Kathy's Safeway grocery card we were able to fill up for $3.599/gallon. The place was packed! As one person pulled out another drove up and "parallel parked" at the empty pump. Right after I took the photo someone parked in front of the U-Haul truck.
The last 5 miles to the camp was a relatively narrow winding road. That part was OK but there were a lot of places where it appeared that the branches were low enough that they might hit to top of our motorhome. The camp regularly has volunteers come up with 5th wheel units but most of them are not 13' tall, like our motorhome. (Actually it is 13' to the top of the satellite dish, and 12'-7" to the top of the air conditioning units.)
Frank and Sue, his wife, have a home east of Oakland. They have been volunteers at the camp for 10 years. For the past 5 years they have not moved their 5th wheel off the camp. They are full time volunteers, the go to their "sticks and bricks" home every 3rd or 4th weekend. I should have taken some photos while at the camp, but they would not have done the place justice. When we parked at the admin bldg and got out of the car we were surrounded by huge coastal redwoods. They were typically 4' or larger in diameter and had to be nearly 100' tall. It was just awesome. The tallest coastal redwood on record is 379' tall. 178 of the trees have been measured to be over 350' tall. The current "largest" coastal redwood on record is 26' in diameter and 320' tall.
The downside is that because of the dense foilage the sun doesn't hit the ground during the winter months. Most of the ground was damp, as though it had sprinkled rain during the morning, even though it had not rained. Frank told us that the temperature in the camp was typically 10-12 degrees colder than it was in Sebastopol, which was less than 10 miles from the camp.
There are currently 3 MMAP (Mobile Missionary Assistance Program) couples on site. They are renovating one of the dormitories, a job that will probably not be completed for months. They leave the last weekend in February. We had a chance to meet them and visit with them for awhile. One couple is from Washington, another from Oregon and the 3rd was from South Dakota.
I think the work part of volunteering at Mt. Gilead would be fine. Getting there, with the low branches, might be a problem. Also, cell phone service is almost non-existent and they only have WiFi available in a building quite a ways, still within walking distance, from the campground area. We drove back to town on a different route and it was far less suitable. We would not go up there until Feb 27th or 28th so we have time to give it some thought before calling Frank and giving him our decision.
On our way back home we drove over towards the coast and came back on highway 1. We saw a different side of California. Lots of very hilly pasture areas with quite a few cattle, including dairy cattle, prior to getting to the coast. We pulled off the highway just south of Stinson Beach and took the following photos. The dots in the center of the photo are two adults and two children playing at the edge of the water. Up top there ws no railing of any kind. One step over the weeds in this photo and you would drop hundreds of feet, you might bounce a few times on the way down, but you wouldn't stop until you were at the beach level. There were some fools, we think they were French, who stopped with two kids. One of the kids was a teen and the other was a pre-teen. The parents let both of the kids walk right up and stand on the weeds.
The sun set while we were there. It went down so quickly.
It has already set in the photo below.
This photo shows the road we where it went around the next "bluff". I was glad we (Kathy) drove this route but, even though there are a few places where I would like to see again, I would never drive, or ride, this route again. This is a photo of one of the really good areas. We went mile after mile after mile with no guard rail and drops of up to 500', with only a couple of feet of shoulder. There were so many sharp curves that the typical speed limit was 15-20 mph. To make matters worse the last half hour was in the dark.
We arrived back home around 7 PM. I forgot to mention that we did stop at a discount bread store and a large roadside fruit market during our travels. All in all it was another enjoyable day.
Good night and may God bless you and yours.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Feb 8th - Santa Cruz
Today we took a day trip along the coast down to Santa Cruz, around 200 miles total. We had a great day!
It was foggy in Oakland this morning but as we started crossing the Bay Bridge the fog lifted.
It then got thicker. As we got closer to San Francisco the fog became more of a ground fog. I missed getting a photo of the SF high rises sticking up out of the fog.
We stopped in Pacifica, CA and spent a over an hour walking around, along the beach. The photo after the next one is taken from near the top of the bluff in the background. There were warnings about the heavy surf. Waves were 13-16 feet high. It was awesome.
More surf.
We were parked back at the other end of this beach. I walked along the beach and then climbed this hill, it is a long ways down to the level of the beach. The view was great.
We poked around looking for a place to have lunch in Half Moon Bay. We found Barbara's Fishtrap down next to the waterfront. This photo was taken out the window next to our table. The glass must have cause the blue tint. I had fish and chips and Kathy had a seafood platter. The food was GREAT!
The outside of Barbara's Fishtrap.
We stopped between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz and walked around some more. Check out the surf behind me.
We drove though the downtown area of Santa Cruz but didn't stop to walk around. We took a different route back north and stopped along the coast in Santa Cruz. We spent over an hour walking up and down the sidewalk next to the coast, again. In one area there were 30-50 surfers out. Many were so far out that they just looked like dots until they got up on their boards to ride a wave.
We arrived back home a little after 6 PM. Drew got home a few minutes before us. Kathy warmed up some goulash for supper and he came over to eat with us, and visit for awhile.
Thank you God for a such a great day.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
It was foggy in Oakland this morning but as we started crossing the Bay Bridge the fog lifted.
This is the same spot. The rock outcropping behind me is separated from where I am standing. To far to step over but someone a little daring could probably just from one to the other. After Kathy walked out next to me we looked over at the far rock and there were at least 50 baby seagulls walking around on it. They walked down the far side to where we could no longer see them. It must be a rookery.
We arrived back home a little after 6 PM. Drew got home a few minutes before us. Kathy warmed up some goulash for supper and he came over to eat with us, and visit for awhile.
Thank you God for a such a great day.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Feb 6th - Wall Washing
Weather was nice again today, we are enjoying it but some of you folks are probably tired of hearing about daily highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's. Rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Tonight's low is supposed to be 51.
This morning we went to the IKEA that is a couple of miles from here. We had lunch at IKEA and then left and went to the Berkley Bowl, it is the grocery store that has a phenomenal amount of fresh fruit and vegetables.
When we got home I took a nice nap. Kathy took a short one and then washed windows on the "conservatory." I finished washing the last section on the front of the house.
I found out that we missed yesterdays (Sunday's) excitement. About five blocks from here there was a pitched gun battle around 3 PM. 7 people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. None of the injuries were life threatening. The people shot were not cooperating with the police. These people must be terrible shots.
I'm guessing that in the 3 weeks that we have been here I have read about at least 6 people being killed. I don't know if the problem is gang or drug related, or maybe both. The area around here doesn't seem to be all that dangerous.
Goodnight and may God bless you and yours.
This morning we went to the IKEA that is a couple of miles from here. We had lunch at IKEA and then left and went to the Berkley Bowl, it is the grocery store that has a phenomenal amount of fresh fruit and vegetables.
When we got home I took a nice nap. Kathy took a short one and then washed windows on the "conservatory." I finished washing the last section on the front of the house.
I found out that we missed yesterdays (Sunday's) excitement. About five blocks from here there was a pitched gun battle around 3 PM. 7 people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. None of the injuries were life threatening. The people shot were not cooperating with the police. These people must be terrible shots.
I'm guessing that in the 3 weeks that we have been here I have read about at least 6 people being killed. I don't know if the problem is gang or drug related, or maybe both. The area around here doesn't seem to be all that dangerous.
Goodnight and may God bless you and yours.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Feb 5th - Mo' Washing & Painting
Today we spent the day doing more house washing and painting, plus Drew mowed the lawn and I torched some weeds.
I'm almost finished with the house washing, maybe another half hour tomorrow. We got a lot of trim painted today, but still have a lot to go. It is good to see the progress.
The day was another nice day. The high was in the mid 60's again, and it was sunny again. Tomorrow nights low is supposed to be 51 degrees.
Not really much to pass along tonight.
Good night to all. May God bless you and yours.
I'm almost finished with the house washing, maybe another half hour tomorrow. We got a lot of trim painted today, but still have a lot to go. It is good to see the progress.
The day was another nice day. The high was in the mid 60's again, and it was sunny again. Tomorrow nights low is supposed to be 51 degrees.
Not really much to pass along tonight.
Good night to all. May God bless you and yours.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Feb 3rd & 4th - Painting
Yesterday we went to the Farmers Market in Oakland in the AM and did more priming in the PM. Today we covered the RV with plastic again, repaired the plastic on the windows and doors of the house and Drew sprayed the back and side of the house. Kathy put the finish coats on the area around the front porch. The part of the front of the house under the gable end has not yet been washed or primed yet, nor has the side of the house that is on the lot line.
Tomorrow we start painting the trim. I'm not sure about when/if we attack that area with the gable roof. For one thing we don't have a ladder that is long enough to reach the peak. The aluminum extension ladder, which we lovingly call "the skinny man's ladder" is maxed out for us big boys just reaching the eaves.
It is 7 PM here I see Drew on his way over. We are all showered and ready to go out to eat. We are all pooped.
Good night. May God bless you and yours.
Tomorrow we start painting the trim. I'm not sure about when/if we attack that area with the gable roof. For one thing we don't have a ladder that is long enough to reach the peak. The aluminum extension ladder, which we lovingly call "the skinny man's ladder" is maxed out for us big boys just reaching the eaves.
It is 7 PM here I see Drew on his way over. We are all showered and ready to go out to eat. We are all pooped.
Good night. May God bless you and yours.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Feb 3rd AM - Botanical Garden Yesterday
Yesterday we went to the University of California Botanical Gardens in Berkeley.
http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/
Drew wanted us to see what type of native plants they had for sale that would draw honey bees and/or butterflies. When we paid to park I put in a couple of dollars, for 2 hours, thinking we would be out by that time. It was a great place to walk around, worthy of a trip back when we can spend more time there. We went to the section where they sell plants and Kathy bought a couple of them. We put them in the car and then started walking around. There are pathways across the hillsides and you walk, and walk, and walk and..... There are so many interesting plants that the walk is enjoyable. I'm sure we didn't even see half of it when I checked my watch and saw that we only had 15 minutes before the time on the meter ran out.
The entrance from the parking lot.
The great gardener getting ready for work.
These daffodils were pretty even though they were pretty simple compared to a lot of the other things we saw.
One of the views from inside. Right
View from inside - Left - That is Kathy on down the path. You can see path winding up and down the hillside in the background.
A view to the northwest. We could see one of the bridges from San Francisco crossing over behind the point of land.
It was a good day.
One low note was that when I was messing about in the back yard I noticed that the top section of Drew's new shoring post (he bought it for us to shore the deck while we changed out the bad posts) was missing. When he came over for supper I asked if he had taken it inside. He had not. Apparently someone came inside his fenced yard and stole just the top section and a shovel that was outside. He called it his "ghetto tax". It will cost him close to $100 to replace what was stolen, and probably sold for a couple of dollars for scrap.
I talked to Frank W. at Mt. Gilead Bible Camp in Sebastopol, CA last evening. They are excited about the prospect of us coming up there to volunteer. We need to make a day trip up there and check things out. It is only a little over an hours drive, in the car, from Drews.
Hope all of you have a great day. Have to go, we are headed off to the farmer's market.
May God bless you and yours.
http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/
Drew wanted us to see what type of native plants they had for sale that would draw honey bees and/or butterflies. When we paid to park I put in a couple of dollars, for 2 hours, thinking we would be out by that time. It was a great place to walk around, worthy of a trip back when we can spend more time there. We went to the section where they sell plants and Kathy bought a couple of them. We put them in the car and then started walking around. There are pathways across the hillsides and you walk, and walk, and walk and..... There are so many interesting plants that the walk is enjoyable. I'm sure we didn't even see half of it when I checked my watch and saw that we only had 15 minutes before the time on the meter ran out.
The entrance from the parking lot.
It was a good day.
One low note was that when I was messing about in the back yard I noticed that the top section of Drew's new shoring post (he bought it for us to shore the deck while we changed out the bad posts) was missing. When he came over for supper I asked if he had taken it inside. He had not. Apparently someone came inside his fenced yard and stole just the top section and a shovel that was outside. He called it his "ghetto tax". It will cost him close to $100 to replace what was stolen, and probably sold for a couple of dollars for scrap.
I talked to Frank W. at Mt. Gilead Bible Camp in Sebastopol, CA last evening. They are excited about the prospect of us coming up there to volunteer. We need to make a day trip up there and check things out. It is only a little over an hours drive, in the car, from Drews.
Hope all of you have a great day. Have to go, we are headed off to the farmer's market.
May God bless you and yours.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Feb 2nd AM - Yesterdays Events
Not much exciting yesterday. The day was mostly sunny but seemed a little cooler, probably high 50's. Not that cool because when we went out to eat last night I wore a short sleeve shirt and we walked up and down several blocks of Emeryville. I was cool but not chilled.
I had ordered 8 replacement, 18" fluorescent tubes for the RV, less than $2/each, online. We ahve 6 - 2 bulb fixtures that use them. I replaced the 2 bulbs that had quit working and 4 more that had significant discoloration at one, or both, ends. Still have a couple for spares. Now I have to find a hazardous waste disposal place to get rid of the old bulbs.
I took final measurements on the RV slide out cover and placed an online inquiry for an estimate. I got the estimate back, $165, which seems reasonable. Camping World quoted me about the same price but I think the other place has a better material. I am waiting for a response to a clarification question I asked. I will place the order as soon I get the response.
I went up in Drew's attic and checked out the cause of the sag in an area of his roof. The front of the house is an addition that was added a LONG time ago. The lumber is rough sawn full section (a 2x4 is actually 2"x4") lumber. The original roof was a full hip roof. When the addition was installed the triangular roof section that made up the front of the roof was removed and the builders appear to have done a poor job of temporarily shoring the old construction prior to finishing the installation of the new. Also, the original rafters are 2x4's and a couple of them, in the same area, have quite a bow in them. I have some ideas about how to build a truss in place to stiffen the area. By doing some jacking while installing the truss members we should be able to get rid of some of the sag. Actually it is a little more complex because there are four places where some remedial work (jacking/stiffening) needs to be done. The truss will be the most complex. Also, while I said we, I doubt that I will be here to help do more than start the process. The jacking needs to be done over a period of time to allow the existing structure to "absorb" the movement. It probably would be a good idea to spread the work out evenly over at least an entire year, maybe two years.
We had another camp, Mt. Gilead Bible Camp, respond to my inquiries about coming to volunteer. http://www.mtgilead.org/ In reply to their interest I sent them some background check information they requested. I will call them today as a follow up. The camp is in Sebastopol, CA. It is about 70 miles north of Drews. The camp looks like it is located less than 10 miles from the ocean. We probably need to drive up there, meet the people and check out the camp. Drew said that there is a lot of interesting stuff in that area. They have some volunteers, RV'ers, working there now but they are leaving towards the end of Feb. That would fit well with our schedule.
Kathy did more cleaning and painting yesterday. She unrolled the "bamboo" shades in the conservatory and brushed them clean. She said that when she took a shower yesterday afternoon she leaned against the shower stall and dirt that rinsed off her ran down the side of the stall.
We picked Drew up when he got off the bus last night, his bus stop is about 4 blocks from his house, and went to the Elephant Bar for supper. It was an interesting, somewhat upscale, place. The menu offered a wide variety. I ordered a blackened tuna item and was disappointed because it was so bland. No one in the north seems to know how to make blackened fish. It is supposed to be Cajun and spicy hot. It wasn't bad, just not what I expected. The "noodles" in Kathy's dish were overcooked, but she managed to eat all of it. After diner we strolled around the area. When we got back home we had already "buttoned up" for the night when we had a knock on the door. Drew came over and wanted to go through some photo files, of old slides we had taken when the boys were young, to get an idea of when and where they were taken. It was an enjoyable evening.
Today we going to the San Francisco Botanical Garden. It should be a marvelous day to walk around and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. It is sunny and the high is supposed to be 65.
Have a great day and may God bless you and yours.
I had ordered 8 replacement, 18" fluorescent tubes for the RV, less than $2/each, online. We ahve 6 - 2 bulb fixtures that use them. I replaced the 2 bulbs that had quit working and 4 more that had significant discoloration at one, or both, ends. Still have a couple for spares. Now I have to find a hazardous waste disposal place to get rid of the old bulbs.
I took final measurements on the RV slide out cover and placed an online inquiry for an estimate. I got the estimate back, $165, which seems reasonable. Camping World quoted me about the same price but I think the other place has a better material. I am waiting for a response to a clarification question I asked. I will place the order as soon I get the response.
I went up in Drew's attic and checked out the cause of the sag in an area of his roof. The front of the house is an addition that was added a LONG time ago. The lumber is rough sawn full section (a 2x4 is actually 2"x4") lumber. The original roof was a full hip roof. When the addition was installed the triangular roof section that made up the front of the roof was removed and the builders appear to have done a poor job of temporarily shoring the old construction prior to finishing the installation of the new. Also, the original rafters are 2x4's and a couple of them, in the same area, have quite a bow in them. I have some ideas about how to build a truss in place to stiffen the area. By doing some jacking while installing the truss members we should be able to get rid of some of the sag. Actually it is a little more complex because there are four places where some remedial work (jacking/stiffening) needs to be done. The truss will be the most complex. Also, while I said we, I doubt that I will be here to help do more than start the process. The jacking needs to be done over a period of time to allow the existing structure to "absorb" the movement. It probably would be a good idea to spread the work out evenly over at least an entire year, maybe two years.
We had another camp, Mt. Gilead Bible Camp, respond to my inquiries about coming to volunteer. http://www.mtgilead.org/ In reply to their interest I sent them some background check information they requested. I will call them today as a follow up. The camp is in Sebastopol, CA. It is about 70 miles north of Drews. The camp looks like it is located less than 10 miles from the ocean. We probably need to drive up there, meet the people and check out the camp. Drew said that there is a lot of interesting stuff in that area. They have some volunteers, RV'ers, working there now but they are leaving towards the end of Feb. That would fit well with our schedule.
Kathy did more cleaning and painting yesterday. She unrolled the "bamboo" shades in the conservatory and brushed them clean. She said that when she took a shower yesterday afternoon she leaned against the shower stall and dirt that rinsed off her ran down the side of the stall.
We picked Drew up when he got off the bus last night, his bus stop is about 4 blocks from his house, and went to the Elephant Bar for supper. It was an interesting, somewhat upscale, place. The menu offered a wide variety. I ordered a blackened tuna item and was disappointed because it was so bland. No one in the north seems to know how to make blackened fish. It is supposed to be Cajun and spicy hot. It wasn't bad, just not what I expected. The "noodles" in Kathy's dish were overcooked, but she managed to eat all of it. After diner we strolled around the area. When we got back home we had already "buttoned up" for the night when we had a knock on the door. Drew came over and wanted to go through some photo files, of old slides we had taken when the boys were young, to get an idea of when and where they were taken. It was an enjoyable evening.
Today we going to the San Francisco Botanical Garden. It should be a marvelous day to walk around and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. It is sunny and the high is supposed to be 65.
Have a great day and may God bless you and yours.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Jan 31st - End of the Month
It is hard to believe that this is the last day of January.
Today Kathy did some scraping and wall washing on the inside wall of the "conservatory." I looked at the slide topper on the RV in more detail and am now reasonably sure that I/we can change the deteriorated fabric. Now I need to see if I can find a better price for the fabric than the one I got from Camping World.
There is a sagging place in Drew's roof. We previously took a quick look in the attic and could see where some modifications had been made. Today I did some measuring to locate walls and tomorrow I plan on going into the attic again to get some ideas on how we can jack the sag out of the roof and then reinforce it.
This morning I talked to a couple of guys from Camp Alta, in Alta, CA; about the possibility of us volunteering there after we leave Drews. They currently don't have any full hook-ups for RV's, although they have water and electricity. They invited us to come up and spend the night there to see if we thought we might have a fit with them. The elevation of the camp is about 4,000'. During our discussions they told me that they haven't had a lot of snow this year but last March they had over 4' of snow TWICE! Their average annual snowfall is over 20 FEET! The low temperatures aren't that bad but they sure get a LOT of snow.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
Today Kathy did some scraping and wall washing on the inside wall of the "conservatory." I looked at the slide topper on the RV in more detail and am now reasonably sure that I/we can change the deteriorated fabric. Now I need to see if I can find a better price for the fabric than the one I got from Camping World.
There is a sagging place in Drew's roof. We previously took a quick look in the attic and could see where some modifications had been made. Today I did some measuring to locate walls and tomorrow I plan on going into the attic again to get some ideas on how we can jack the sag out of the roof and then reinforce it.
This morning I talked to a couple of guys from Camp Alta, in Alta, CA; about the possibility of us volunteering there after we leave Drews. They currently don't have any full hook-ups for RV's, although they have water and electricity. They invited us to come up and spend the night there to see if we thought we might have a fit with them. The elevation of the camp is about 4,000'. During our discussions they told me that they haven't had a lot of snow this year but last March they had over 4' of snow TWICE! Their average annual snowfall is over 20 FEET! The low temperatures aren't that bad but they sure get a LOT of snow.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
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