Pismo Day

The number one reason to get up and out while I'm at Pismo Beach is to walk along the sea shore. Today the sea is a sapphire blue, it is calm, and the tides are barely a fringe along the sandy beach. Through the years, I counted them today, twenty-five, I have been walking along Pismo beaches.

The constant roar of waves little or huge crashing on the beach wipes out all the non-important chatter. Now days I walk alone. In the beginning Bob introduced me to taking long walks sometimes fast and efficient, sometimes romantic and slow with the moonlight as our guide. I miss walking with Bob.

Today, I think about how I would like to make friends with those I pass on the beach. We probably have a lot in common. Free time, a fondness for nature and solitude. Most of those whose paths I cross exchange smiles, others look away far away to the horizon or down at their feet. We all walk along the sea's border for our own reasons.

I'm always delighted to see a young jogger, tall,tan, muscular, young, wearing dark glasses, baggy shorts, sometimes long black hair jogs with him. They always smile. The boy from Inpanema . . . I probably remind him of his mother.

Four women, girlfriends for decades sit in comfortable beach chairs. The tailgate of their SUV, their outdoor bar. A huge red kite flies above their camp. One reads an Oprah book club pick. Two wrestle another kite and give up in favor of another gin and tonic. Two are gray and sagging. I am absolutely sure of their wisdom. Another has hair the color of pink champagne. I think she either is lots of fun or twits about too much, one or the other. The fourth has dark hair and is covered from head to toe. Maybe she had voted to spend the afternoon at the mall.
We exchange smiles, too.

Today I don't feel lonely during my walk. I feel alive. In the past, I have wanted to continue my walk to shores of Antarctica. Not today, 45 minutes going and returning, I've had a good day.

On the Road Again

October 25, 2010 Bob and I hooked up the yellow Jeep to the rv and cruised over the hill into Salt Lake City. We chose the right day to leave. The unusally warm autumn days left the night before and a chilly wind threatened snow soon. So, leaving our favorite place on earth, (for Bob only in the summer) wasn't as painful. We rved at the Mountain Shadow RV Park in Draper and arrived at our 8 am appointment at Camping World to check out our jacks. With the 'all go' sign, we were on the road again by noon.

I've taken over half the driving duties. Crossing the Salt Lake basin and Nevada were good wide throughfares for me to get the hang of driving the w i d e vehicle again. I stayed in the right lane and enjoyed the view. The rv is really easy to handle and very comfortable so after a few hours I was good to go, but not in the crowded Reno traffic, yet. Bob took over in Fernley and got us through Sacramento, too. I took over after spending the night at the Stockton Delta KOA - very nice resort on the Delta, and drove to Kettleman City. It was good to practice passing and dealing with merging traffic. Of course, with every hour of practice comes more confidence.

Bob was an excellent right seat passenger. Nary a word of discouragement. Sharing the driving is a good idea, but he has to be a very good driver so that I don't become the passenger from hell that I was wary he woud be. He is thankful to have a partner. It means we will be able to go more if we want to in the future. We both like to be the pilot in command, and have worked through those 'control' issues in the past -- with the main objective to make a smooth landing. So far so good.

Seventy degree weather and clear skies greeted us in Pismo. Ahhhh, that sea air reminds us of why we love it here. We are proud of the places we have found to call 'home.'

Pismo jazz starts Fri morning. Bob is jazzed and ready to have some fun. We will get our tickets this afternoon at the Vet's Hall.
The Good Old RV
When we stopped in Battle Mountain, we noticed the slide topper was mangled and a bit of the material was flapping. We decided not to try to fool with it in the middle of nowwhere - and stayed in a motel to forget the mess. The next night in CA, closer to help, we tried the slide and the topper straightened out. Apparently, it has come loose at one end and needs to be rewound, but is working. Then, when we set up the sewer hose in Pismo the gray water valve wouldn't open. Bob has just given me the all clear that it is open now - one of the joys of rving is that it is suppose to be like home --- indoor plumbing and all, so when the sewer hookups are a headache, it becomes too much like camping and is not all that much fun - been there, done that. But now I'm a happy camper.

I'm really glad Bob is feeling better - with the rv troubleshooting as a priority and listening to some live jazz he is motivated to move. I bought him another folding cane (he left his other one at Sylvia's) so he is ready to step out.