Portland to Quartzsite and Christmas Quilt

"Why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways?

Our last night was spent at Tammi’s house.  Her place meant that we’d have about 30 miles less to travel on our way south back to Quartzsite.  At 6:15 it was still dark when we finally pulled out.  I say finally because we had a lot of “stuff” to take back.  Our car was loaded and I certainly do mean loaded.  Traffic was light but we were very thankful for that because it was also very foggy.  The fog stuck with us almost all the way to the California border.  We had our moments without the fog but they were very few moments.

Oregon fog

By the time we climbed up and over the summit of the Siskiyou mountains, the skies had cleared and the fog disappeared.  We actually got to see some blue skies.  We also got to see a little ice and a little snow.   Well, the snow was very sparse and in patches on the side.  The ice was in the middle of the road with tracks on each side of it.  In other words, it was a perfect winter day to travel through the mountains.

Our original destination for the night was Stockton, California.  However, we didn’t stop there.  We trudged on to exit 407 and spent the night at the Santa Nella / Los Banos exit.  This was the same place we had stayed on our way south in the motorhome.  Only then, it wasn’t the first night on the trip.  It was the second night.  We traveled 710 miles on Monday.  Obviously, we were a tad bit tired.

During the drive I tried to think just how many times I had made this drive through California from Washington state.  All I can tell you is in order to count the trips through this state, it would take more than my fingers and toes and more than Terry’s too.  Uncle Sam moved my dad from Texas to Washington during WWII.  Thus, we made numerous trips to visit his family over the years.  Terry’s family lives in Arizona so we made many more trips down to see them.  Next, Disneyland sits in Los Angeles and we’ve visited there a few times too.  The road hasn’t remained the same and some of those trips were before I-5 came about.  When we first made the trip it was one lane of traffic going in each direction.  Now that was a long time ago.  It has definitely improved.

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 Blue skies & Mt. Shasta

Speaking of roads  --  when we made the trip in the motorhome in October, I posted about the bumpy parts on the I-5.  When it’s bumpy, it’s really bumpy.  When it’s smooth, it’s really smooth.   It wasn’t long after that I read another blog mentioning how smooth it was.  Needless to say, I was pretty tuned into the roads on this trip.  Was it smooth or was it bumpy?  Part of that depends on what lane you traveled in. 

Obviously, you can’t judge the northbound lanes from the southbound lanes but we were both going south.   I-5 is certainly much better than it was in previous years.  It has miles and miles of beautiful newly paved roads.  However, it still has some mighty bumpy parts too.  The area around Stockton certainly needs a lot of work. We just bounced through that big town.   Many sections underneath the overpasses have not been repaired and parts in central California have been missed too.  In some places the chop was so bad that even the trucks were riding in the left hand lane to avoid it.  You could say we were both right.  It is smooth and it isn’t but it is definitely better than it used to be.  We hit the worst part of it just south of exit 307.  Maybe even that will be finished the next time we travel through.

Buggy windshield view. Even trucks opted to drive in the left hand lane to avoid the bumping.  Notice how foggy it was in this part of California too.

We know many RV’ers heading to Arizona for the winter prefer to cross over at Tehachapi instead of the Grapevine   Tehachapi seems to go on forever and have steeper climbs in our opinion.  It’s a preference. Perhaps, they are similar or perhaps it’s because we’ve done the Grapevine more but that’s the mountain pass we prefer to go over in Southern California.  However, without a doubt, the Grapevine has a lot more traffic.  That road also needs a lot of work.  The main work they need is in painting the lines.  As you head to the LA area heading south, you can tell that the lanes have been moved around a bit.  Some of the old paint remains.  At times it’s hard to tell where the lanes really are supposed to be.  However, if you just stick on the truck bypass, it’ll keep you in the lanes you need to be in as you get closer to the 210 exit and avoid the confusion of lanes.

This was a short day of driving compared to the day before.  It was only about 515 miles.  When we went through this area on our way north for the holidays we had scheduled four stops for Christmas shopping.  One was at Winco – dog treats for Duchess.  The second was at the Cabazon Outlets for a quick visit to the Brighton outlet and the Crabtree and Evelyn Outlet.  After that we headed directly for the Ghirardelli outlet.  This time we had no malls and no shopping to do.  We were heading for “Q”..

Were we tired?  You bet we were but the car still needed to be unloaded on arrival and we had four loads of wash  to do and put away.  Duchess was beat.  All she wanted to do was go to sleep and that she did.

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Before we left for the holidays, I mentioned I had all these sewing projects to do and my machine had been in the shop for 3 weeks.  As it turned out, I only got to finish one.  This is the one I finished.  It was a lap quilt for Lee and Sabrina because Justin wouldn’t be with us.  This was for them and I still have the one for Tammi to do.

Picture of Justin scanned and printed  on washable fabric for quilt.	Due to embroidery problems with machine, I had to keep buying more and more fabric to finish but this is it.

‘Tis life on the road.

Family Time at Christmas

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. 

Christmas and Christmas Eve are always busy days. Christmas was busier yet when the kids were little.  I remember celebrating with my folks on Christmas Eve and then staying up late putting toys together and wrapping presents.  Then, it was getting up early because I had dinner to start.  I loved to have everyone over to our place even though it was a lot more work.  By afternoon I had been ready to drop and most times I tried to sneak I a little nap.  It’s amazing how much a quick nap can rejuvenate you enough.

Yes, Sandi has blue hair!!  Believe me it is not in our genes.

This Christmas was a very busy day too.  The part that was different is that everyone else did the work.   It was a wonderful day.  We had tons of food to eat and eat we did.  From good for you snacks to sweets to fruit and vegetables to the most delicious ham ever.  We ate it all.

Check out the Christmas penguins and edible Christmas veggie tree Sabrina made.

We had tons of presents.  It was a tree that was magic.  It seemed once the tree emptied of gifts more gifts magically appeared.  After gifts and food came games.  Part of the group played Munchkin and part of the group played Spades.  Part of the group also took a quick nap and then played a few more games.  Part of the group also played WOW.

We had an amazing time.  Before we knew it, Christmas was over and on Monday it was time to head back to where we had left the motorhome ---- in "Q" approximately 1,246 miles away.

‘Tis life on the road.

Homesick at Christmas

Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home

The packages have been shopped for.  They have been wrapped and carefully placed under the tree. Now we wait for the magic day to arrive and then we get back to life as we know it.



It has been a very full two weeks for us.  I want to repeat that.  It has been a very full two weeks for us.

First of all we made the 1246 mile trip to spend the holidays with our kids and their families.  Next, we foolishly agreed to spend two nights at one house and two nights at the next for a total of 12 nights.  In other words we were packing up and moving every two days.  If we ever do this again, we’ll think twice before we decide to move this often. 

At Lee’s house we just carry our bags out the door and load the car.  At Tammi’s house it’s not quite that easy.  There are 44 steps, three flights, just to get to her front door.  We weren’t done once we reached that door.  We had another flight of 16 steps to the upstairs bedroom.  Ask me if we got a workout.  Ask Duchess her opinion about all those steps.

We did an awful lot in those two weeks.  We have had an absolutely amazing time with family and enjoyed every minute of it.  Well, except for the packing, moving and climbing steps, we had an amazing time.  We visited my 93 year-old aunt and dropped a package off at my brother’s.  Terry is still on check-ups every three months and had that appointment slid in during our time in the Portland area.   We were thrilled to hear that he is still cancer free!!

Peeking through the ICE  !!  

Over all the weather wasn’t bad.  We had a little rain and a lot of fog.  Matter of fact, one morning we even had to scrape ice off the windows.  That we weren’t prepared for as we do not carry ice scrapers with us.

Christmas Eve Eve Jordie and I hit the mall.  She had a few more gifts to buy and I needed a haircut.  We were surprised that the mall wasn’t packed but it was early and we weren’t there long.

The next day was back to Tammi’s and 44 more steps up and then the additional 16 steps or so up to the loft.  It’s amazing how much easier the steps get the more you crawl up them.

Christmas Eve starts party number one.  Church services are on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Usually there are so many people attending Christmas services that a few extra time slots were added.  The first was at 3:00.  That was the time we chose to go.  It’s a family affair.  From there it was back to Tammi’s house …. our last move of this trip until we head south.   

As departure time gets closer we also watch the predictions change from sunny to cloudy to rainy to snowy.  Are we prepared?  Well, again there is a window .  The window is on Monday and according to the trusty weatherman, the passes are clear with no rain, no snow and no wind but just on Monday.  So, Monday it is. After the packages are opened, we’ll start our travels back to “Q”.  Our little Honda 2000 generator is packed and ready for it’s workout at “Q”. Are we prepared for travel?  We are even though we really don’t know what to be prepared for.

For Christmas Eve …. we even tried to catch a glimpse of the man in the red suit streaking through the skies in a sleigh being transported from house to house by his team of reindeer.

In the morning …. we hit the road but for today it is family day. We have presents to open and we’re happy that we’ll be around those we love the most.  Well, except for Justin.  The Navy gets him this year. 

‘Tis life on the road … a wonderful life.

Bethlehem -- Two Thousand Years Later

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air

In the year 2000, Terry and I took a little cruise. The cruise started in Cyprus with visits to Israel and Egypt.  We figured this was the safest and easiest way to visit those two countries.  Our goal was really to go to Bethlehem and we wanted to do it that year.  We felt the year was significant. After all, it was 2000 years after the birth of Christ.  We had always wanted to visit Israel and Egypt.  What better time to do it than then?  It was also a time when the whole area was also celebrating.  I’m so glad we did it because I would not be comfortable going back today.

History most certainly comes alive as you travel   I remember my first trip across country to Boston. I was overwhelmed as I visited places we had only read about in the history books. Boston was an old city compared to cities on the west coast.  Our first trip to Europe was no different. We were swallowed up with feelings as we saw places our ancestors lived hundreds of years before. However, there was nothing more emotional or spectacular as visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem and especially on the 2000th anniversary of the most important  and most celebrated birth on earth.

	This photo is of the exterior of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.   Souvenir shops lined the streets and small hand carved manger scenes were for sale everywhere marking the event 2000 years earlier.  It was a special time to be visiting.
	Lines formed inside the church with the Greek Orthodox overseeing the lines of people.  There is a very strict dress code when visiting religious places. Most of these dress codes refer to the attire of women.  If not dressed appropriately, robes were available for women to cover themselves.  We were also amazed at how many men had to be told to take off their baseball caps inside the church. Don’t men know that when inside caps come off?
	As our long line moved forward, we approached the place of the birth.  There were several steps down and only a few visitors allowed at a time. Many historical religious sites are full of paraphernalia. We had seen this before. To us it makes a place gaudy. To others it adds to their religious belief. There were many adornments or religious artifacts from the local area around the nativity but not as many as we had seen at the Cave of the Apocalpyse.
	On the Greek Isle of Patmos is the cave where the book of Revelations was written.  This cave was filled with so much paraphernalia  it made it difficult to move through the cave and view it.  The religious artifacts cluttered the interior.  We always compared the clutter of other places to this cave which by far gets the prize for the most.
	At the Nativity the star marked the place it is believed  the birth occurred on that first Christmas day.  Just as gifts were brought to Bethlehem by three wise men, people from many different religions and all over the world celebrate Christmas by giving gifts. It is the reason for the season.

This was a very emotional trip and it continued from Bethlehem as we moved on to our next stop which was walking along the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem – a different holiday marks this event.  It was definitely a trip to remember and especially at Christmas time.. 

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The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other and that’s where we will be spending our day.  Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.

May you and yours enjoy the celebration of Christmas and your time together. 

Merry Christmas.

‘Tis a wonderful life on the road….

Panhandling At Christmas

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.

 

Why is it at Christmas time -- and mainly at Christmas --  people always think of helping others?  However, some people need help all year.   Why is it at Christmas time the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other organizations visit rest homes to sing and visit but not other times of the year.  That last question was one a worker asked me many years ago as I went with my Brownie and Cub Scout troops on a Christmas Caroling outing to a rest home.. 

Other changes occur this time of year.  You see it on the street corners. Even some of the panhandlers change their signs to capture the sympathy of drivers.  We have seen a few asking for money for Christmas gifts for their children.  Did we donate?  We did. Should we have? Probably not.

The other day as we took the ramp off the freeway there was another couple asking for more help.  The woman was in a wheelchair and very definitely handicapped.  The man standing by her was the individual collecting the funds.  Did we donate?  We did. Should we have?  Probably not.

 

Everyone knows that some of the panhandlers are probably very needy.  In the same breathe everyone knows that some of the panhandlers aren’t.  Panhandling is their job.  It is what they choose to do.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tell the difference?  I recently read a blog with instructions on how to panhandle.  On the blog was a clip from a segment on TV about Freeloading.  According to this most panhandlers are freeloaders.  Contributing to panhandling encourages it.  Most panhandlers aren’t needy.  Most have just chosen this as their lifestyle.  The article is interesting and the video clip is too.

I also read about one lady who made a sign indicating she had four children and needed Christmas money because their house burned down.  That sign brought her close to $100 an hour panhandling. We saw a couple kids along with their mother on a corner today.  They were holding a sign indicating they were a family of 7 and were homeless.   Fact or Fiction?

If you drive by the Love’s Station in Quartzsite you will see a van parked at the corner.  The sign on the van says gas money is needed.   We are guessing his gas money sign catches many passer-bys because he’s at the edge of the freeway …. but he’s there every day.  How much gas money is he trying to collect?   Is he trying to get someplace for the holidays?

It’s not just Christmas.  What about the ads on TV asking for contributions to help abused animals or injured warriors?  Don't most of the funds collected go to keep the folks doing the advertising working and only smidgens go where you intend it to go?  Isn’t it better to contribute to local organizations including your local human society and food banks? 

Some signs ask for work, food or money but offer a job and you will probably be refused. Offer food and it may be thrown back at you.  It’s nice to help others when you can.  However, maybe the dollars we give do more good when given to organizations helping the hungry and homeless instead of handing it directly to the people on the street. 

It doesn’t stop there.  At Christmas time many families are put on a list by well-meaning organizations for others to adopt for Christmas. The idea is they give you the name of a needy family.  You shop for that family and drop the gifts back to the organization to deliver.  You really aren’t supposed to deliver them to the family yourself.  

Several years ago the department I was working in adopted one of these families.  It was a rather large family and our group went way overboard  to provide a spectacular Christmas for each member of that family plus items for a special Christmas dinner. After our shopping we chose to deliver the gifts to the family instead dropping them off at the referral organization.  The organization that referred us allowed us to do that because they were very busy and it was so close to Christmas.  The family lived in a housing development in the center of Dallas.  What we expected is not what we found. We wondered just how many lists they were on.  Their toys, clothing, furniture, stereos, TVs and computers even out-paced some of us.  This family had just about everything even before we arrived.  It was the last year we adopted a family.  Our intentions were good but we felt we had been duped. 

We know there are children who get so little in the way of Christmas gifts .  We know people are going hungry.    What is the answer or is there one?   Sabrina spent her last day off working in a community outreach program aka soup kitchen. Several hundred people were served food and gifts were given to children.  She said many of these people come back each year and the lines just get longer.   The difference is these folks are being provided warm food.

Sabrina is a pastor’s assistant at her church.  She said it is amazing how many calls she gets on a daily basis from people asking for help.  Her church provides meals for some, gifts for others and help for even more but donations to them aren’t given without checking out the situation first.  There are some who contact the church wanting only cash.  They don’t want work.  They don’t want food. 

Christmas is definitely the time of year people reach out to help others more than at other times.  Wouldn’t it be nice to know that the ones you help really are the ones who are actually in need?  Some towns have gotten involved in trying to move panhandlers off the street by providing special meters for donations.  Panhandlers come out in droves at Christmas time because people tend to be more in the giving spirit.  However, my guess is the panhandlers on the street aren’t being helped in the way you think you are helping them.

Merry Christmas …..   

Timely Christmas Gifts

Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

 

After all that Christmas shopping it comes time to mail those packages.  Actually, that’s not always as easy as you might think especially if you’re going to the post office.  We’ve been in those lines.  Some are very, very long just before the holidays.

It’s not just the standing in line.  There’s the preparation for shipping.  First, you need to figure out the size of the shipping box, padding and tape.  You also need to be timely.  Mail services have cut off dates if you need that package to arrive before Christmas.

The good thing about it this year is we didn’t have so much to mail.  Sometimes we were frequent customers of FedEx.  Sometimes we would check packages with us on an airplane.   We’d just put them in a box and figure the packages would arrive the same time we did.  However, after my experience last year flying back from the holidays and checking luggage, I doubt I will ever count on a package making it when I do.  If it does, I’ll be happy.  If it doesn’t, I certainly know the process and will start replacing items faster than I did last December.  Remember I rarely, rarely check anything …. this time Southwest took my suitcase but never returned it.

Sunday we were ready to send our packages via Santa Claus Express.  With only a few days before Christmas, we weren’t about to send them via ground mail.  Besides we wouldn’t want to.  This way they’ll get there a few days early to allow for little flukes in transportation but not too early.  One box was going to Florida for Justin and the other box was going to Arizona for Terry’s folks.  FedEx normally isn’t open on Sundays but it  was this Sunday and we beat the crowd.  They were at the door and coming in as we left.  Packages will fly out on Monday and be delivered on Wednesday – we hope.  At least that’s the plan.  It’s the 2-day plan.

After staying two nights at Tammi’s we moved to Lee’s house Sunday.  We also checked out a couple decorated homes with Christmas lights.  We used to set aside a night each Christmas when the kids were little to ride through areas with lots of Christmas lights.  A very popular area in Portland is Peacock Lane.  It was popular then and still is popular today.  Every house on that street is decorated to a “T”.  The lines of vehicles viewing are long and slow.  It’s a spectacular show of homes decorated for the holidays.

‘Tis just life on the road.

A Special Christmas Tree

The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect! 

All of our RV’ing friends know about stuff.  We really learned more about it right after retirement when the desire to travel or get on the road became important.  Years of accumulated stuff had to make way for new stuff.  Gone were the huge pieces of furniture and items that cluttered the cabinets and closets.  In came the RV toys or necessities such as internet aircards, GPS units and other stuff designed to make RV adventures easier.

Important stuff was packed up and shipped to the kids or boxed and put away in a storage shed to be sorted on another day.  However, there are some items that were definitely worth keeping.  Many pictures were scanned and other memories stored to sort on another day.

This tree is one of those memories of Christmas past that was passed on to our daughter. This little Christmas tree (and it is little) dates back to about 1971 or so. It belonged to my folks.  We shared many happy Christmas festivities with family gathered around this tree.  Santa has visited many times and placed hundreds of gifts under it over the years.  After my folks, we used it for a few years until it was snatched by Tammi.  The stand of the tree is the bottom of an old piano bench. Yes, it definitely has been a part of many happy memories. 

This one definitely has memories.  Along with the tree, Tammi’s main decorations are ornament pictures of memories past.  There is at least one ornament for every special person in her life.

Yes … this is a special tree.  This will also be a special Christmas since it is the first that we have shared with most of us together since 2003.  Our only regret – that Justin isn’t here to join us.  Then, it would be complete! 

‘Tis a wonderful life … sharing Christmas with family.  Christmas is the day that holds all time together.