Okay folks out there in blog land, this is the new chapter in my blog. I’m using a new program called Dragon speaking naturally version 15. It’s not a perfect solution but it may go a long ways towards containing my jittery fingers. So far things are looking pretty good. I have dictated this first paragraph and only had to go back and take out the 15 about five times. But no fingers!
Now the one danger here is that someone speaking in the background could get included in my blog. That was a particular problem with version 12 that I was using before. When I went to proofread what I had just written I would discover comments from Judy included in my text. This new version is passing the test with flying colors. Judy is over next to me listening to videos particularly the one about two bartenders in a boat of our friend Henry and none of it is showing up in my blog.
We have come across three states now, Oregon Nevada and Arizona. Were halfway across New Mexico and tomorrow we are going to Hueco tanks State Park near El Paso Texas. This is a really fun state park because it has huge boulders everywhere. It’s a playground to people who do what they call bouldering. Here’s what you see when somebody is coming bouldering.
Judy hanging out under a huge rock December 2006
You see this huge mattress waddling down the pathway like SpongeBob SquarePants with a little person under it. They choose a boulder, lay their foam pad at the bottom of the climb, rosin up and free climb to the top of boulder. Of course the Sponge Bob is waiting there to catch climber in his arms if they fall. Often these boulders that they’re claiming are 12 to 20 feet high and many of them have shallow depressions in the top of which are called tanks that’s really what the name Hueco Tanks is referring to.
Historic Pictographs
The other thing we like to do is hike and take the camera and photograph the pictographs that are everywhere including on the bottom side of some boulders.
We first came to this park in December 2006 and spent a couple of days taking the long hikes in the north part of the park led by knowledgeable rangers. I got lots of good photographs that we won’t have a chance to do this trip.
I’ll end this blog on that note. I had to correct a few mistakes with my fingers but it is been pretty good.
Yesterday, (Sunday,) we changed campgrounds in the same area of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. We were needing to dump tanks and take on water. Dry camping at Las Vegas Bay National Campground wouldn’t do. We had a lakefront spot reserved at the Lake Mead RV Village with full hook-ups. The sure recipe for roughing it smoothly. Besides it was only 9 miles away. I talked Judy into driving the coach and van separately.
Fighting a demon:
Yes, I blame Ole Parkey. More specifically a common debilitating effect of Parkinson’s Disease. It is dementia, and I am having to compensate for its effects daily. The good news is it is not the same as Alzheimer’s disease. It doesn’t wipe your slate clean. I have the most problems with short term memory. It’s best described by my all too common complaint that by the time I get “Google” up and running, I can’t remember what I was going to Google. I can bring up detailed instructions on how to wire up an alternator, but I have to have them printed out and pictures to keep me on track. I recently replaced the alternator on Arcturus, our 2001 Alpine Coach. There are two signal wires, the Key signal and the DuVac wire that goes directly to the battery. Then there are the two big wires, the Positive Lead and the Ground. I had photos of the back side of the alternator, where we could feel but not see. The as-is photos were taken with the front side camera of my cell phone. The reference photos were taken with the rear camera, (The selfie side).
Be honest with me. How many of you knew that selfie pictures are mirror images by default?
I wired the alternator back-words. Here is the photo:
Using the “Selfie” camera to document and rewire the new alternator.
Notice the clue, the words are mirror image and back-words for us to read. But I read the words just fine. A cultured skill developed over the years. It comes in handy when you are trying to read the paper on your boss’s or your customer’s desk, as you try to figure out what the bottom line is.
Returning to my story, Parkey, affected my alternator project five ways.
I had to keep detailed notes of the alternator as I disassembled it so I could be sure and put it back together.
I took many photos to document each wire.
I had a wiring diagram from Western Recreation, and traced out most of the circuits.
I assembled the backside wires before turning the alternator around to it’s final position. This compensated for my lack of dexterity and my reduced ability to touch an exact spot with a finger tip.
The final brick was the mirror image error. My friend Dave, and I finally got it right and it is now working just fine.
Parkey takes me for a ride:
Yesterday’s ride had just started when my cell phone lost contact with Judy. Knowing I cannot drive and attend to the cell phone at the same time. I slid the phone out of the dash cubby-hole just far enough to call out “O.K. Google, call Judy.” I must have touched the screen for shortly the lady from WAZE announced that I was to find a place to turn around. I failed to recognize that Parkey was jerking my chain. The insistence of the spokes-person finally eroded my confidence, and I spotted a viewpoint exit that promised an easy “U” turn.
I was expecting to be directed to make a left turn just before we passed the park we had just exited from. We passed that exit and started up the hill to the park entrance. Judy was in full panic mode, 500 feet behind me, because neither of us could get a cell phone connection. I am starting to panic when WAZE directed me to turn right, which i did. I immediately regretted this for I recognized the “Private Road, No Trespassing” that we had traversed a few days ago coming south from Ely NV. We were headed for US 83 North out of town. We got both rigs turned around and I hooked the Sprinter behind the Motor-home and the map program reset.
It’s a One Way Street:
I then bowed to the inevitable. Parky has won this round. I can no longer drive. The skills are still there. I can keep up with traffic, I can negotiate the curves and stay within the lines. I can no longer handle the mental traffic of keeping track of where I am, which way is north, where should the next turn be and which direction will I turn. I am also easily distracted and easy to confuse.
Now What?
We are daily making decisions about what our rig is going to look like in the future as we set up for our new “Snow Birds” life style. After 16 years and 5 months of what I call the Wandering life style we will be looking for a much smaller rig. Arcturus, our Western Recreation, Alpine will either get traded or reside at a semi-permanent address in Washington State. The Super “B” Van, should we get one, will make the 6000 mile annual migration trip to Texas and back each year. It can also make short week long sorties to regional Bluegrass or Dixieland festivals.
Gary’s Parkinson’s Song
You’re [I]fight_- ing a battle_ you know you can-not [V7]win__
But you have to keep on fight- ing_, you can’t let your- self give [I] in__
Why God gave you_ this battle_, you may not e- ver [IV]know__
Just keep your faith in [I]Je- sus_, hang [V7] on and don’t let [I]go___+__
Par- kin- son’s an ill- ness that keeps try- ing to knock you [V7]down__
You-must come-up off the can- vas_ to fight a- no- ther [I]round__
What- ever old Par- ki Throws at you_, you have to find a [IV] way__
To dodge the punch he throws [I]to you_, then [V7]get on with your [I] day__
It started as a tremor that con- tin- ued to get [V7]worse__
Things that once came easy__, now you had to [I]force__
What hurt the worst was music_, a big part of my [IV]life__
There’s times it’s hard to play or [I]sing,__ and it [V7]cuts me like a [I]knife__
Please [I]_help us with this bat-tle_ we pray one day to [V7]win__
We will keep on fight- ing_, we won’t let our- selves give [I] in__
God would have us join_ this battle_,that one day we might [IV]find__
The mir- acle that will [I]win this fight… and leave [V7]Park-in- son’s be- [I]hind…
Tag:
Pray, [I]help us with this battle.. that one day we might [V7]find__
The miracle that will win this fight… and leave Park- in- son’s be- [I]hind…
Pray, help us with this battle.. that one day we might [IV]find__
The miracle that will [I]win this fight… and leave [V7]Park- in- son’s- be- hind…_
I am working to get the song finished with a new backing track perhaps even a new melody. Credit to Joe Maggie for the lyrics.
Our last blog was on May 15th about 3 months ago. Yes I admit it, I have been neglecting you. So here is what has happened since then.
The Migration North Begins:
On the sixth of June, we started on our northward migration with our good friends, Dave and Lynda Campbell traveling with us. The first night we made it to Camp Verde on Interstate 17 headed for Utah.
The second night we were still in Arizona and we laid over one extra day. We drove into Utah at Paige Arizona, on the shores of Lake Powell. June 5th found us in Hurricane Utah, near St. George. We stayed four days. It was a nice park; expensive, but nice. What kept us there was high winds. Each day we would check the winds and each day we would pay for an additional day.
These slot canyons are formed in mud stone
We toured some miniature canyons at the Cathedral Canyon State Park near Panaca Nevada.
This is the uniform if you wear shorts
We arrived in Ely Nevada on June 11th and booked a ride for Dave and I in the cab of Steam Locomotive, 63 of the Nevada and Northern railroad. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and we have a half done video to prove it. I am looking for a “Round-Tuit” for that project.
The next day we made the trip through Wells and Winnemucca Nevada. We continued over the Steen’s Mountain region of South Western Oregon. A road construction crew was spreading fresh oil and chip seal on a four mile stretch of highway. The Sprinter and rear of the coach were covered with black tar specks. Judy was very annoyed when she started cleaning it! We soon arrived at Dave and Lynda’s place in Bend, Oregon.
Judy and I had doctor and dentist appointments lined up for the next week, so we crossed the Cascades and arrived in St. Helens. We also have been cleaning out our storage unit that we have paid for the last sixteen years! Our goal is to clean it out by the end of September.
This is not the longest route North we have taken, but most certainly the latest start for the PNW due to the Covid pandemic. The longest was our trip to Oshkosh for the EAA fly-in, August 2011. That year we left Arizona on May 12th and arrived at my sister Holly’s place on Newman Lake on August 22 and Portland area on August 30, 2011.
We have been in the Western Washington area called the Kitsap Peninsula since July 4th. (Better recognized as the Olympic Peninsula). Visits to Judy’s sister in Sequim and our son’s family in Seabeck. A short trip back to Portland and then a sailing week on Glen’s 38 ft sailboat.
Grand Adventure 2020:
Sunset on the Hood Canal at Pleasant Harbor
This is the snubber we designed for Audrey ii’s chain anchor rode. Worked nice .
On Saturday, August 15, 2020 We joined yet another “Grand Adventure” with Glen, Barb and Bryce. Because of the pandemic, the Canada portion of the trip was canceled and we have been cruising Hood Canal, almost literally in Barb and Glen’s own back yard. We started in Brownsville where Aurey II is moored. We went North to Port Ludlow for our first day trip. Second day out we passed through the Hood Canal bridge. If you’re not aware, Hood Canal is a floating bridge, so getting a 65 foot tall sailboat through requires a little bit of finesse. The cars on the bridge got to watch us motor through. It was a busy Sunday morning, and we probably made a few enemies. If you happened to be in the traffic jam, we apologize. We dropped the hook in Seabeck Harbor, which is just a couple of miles from Barb and Glen’s home.
Audrey ii at Blake Island
The Grand Adventure continues, so we will update you on this in a few days.
It has taken a few days to get this far. Here is Audrey ii in the state park on Blake Island.
Guest Blog by Glen Dinsmore
Glen’s quote: “Sometimes I even in impress myself! I was able to schedule a nuclear submarine encounter on our second morning out. That may have been even better than the time I scheduled humpback whales on the ferry for our anniversary
Judy
and I are staying at the Elks Lodge in St. Helens Oregon. We enjoy
walking about town but that gets old after a while. As we walked by
the end of the path into the woods we remembered that we had walked
this path before. We thought we knew where it came out over on Gray
Cliffs Drive.
We plunged down the path into the thicket by a dried-up creek bed. The brush and grasses tickling our ankles because the trail was not very well kept. I started thinking back to a blog I wrote back in 2005, on October 24, (I looked it up), called, "A Walk In the Icky Woods." I am proud of that blog it's one of my classics. It got me to thinking of the difference between then and now. In 2004 to have a map with you you needed a GPS and a paper map to keep track of where you had gone. Now there are several applications for your cell phone that will present you with the latest up-to-date map and keep track of your exercise, your heart rate and give you an ETA for arrival at your destination. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the maps or the technology. For all practical purposes the icky Woods are exactly the same. There are still spiders spinning webs across the trail, there are still small creeks burbling alongside the trail. And of course if your battery goes dead you are just as lost.
Here is a Northern Flicker. He lives in the “Icky Woods”
There
is one other small difference between this blog and the 2004 blog. I
am trying out a new software program called Dragon 12. Dragon 12
takes a dictation from my microphone and turns it into text. You will
probably notice a subtle difference in the way I express myself
because I do not speak as I write.
I still must edit the text after I get it to dictated. But that is surprisingly easy compared to getting rid of all the double strikes and extraneous letters that my shaky fingers produce on the keyboard.
So yes keep up with your technology but every once in a while go for a walk in the inky woods.
Post
Script:
You
can plainly see I did not get this out on 5th of August. So how about
another story.
This
is a story about a man and his wife who were concerned that their
screen door was not tidy. The wife person complained of bugs getting
through the screen. The husband person had a Laissez Faire attitude
towards the whole project.
However,
one sunny Sunday he had a couple of extra hours and figured he could
knock off this little project in that time. The first thing to do was
to take the door off its hinges. Next he spent two hours trying to
find the little roller wheel jobbie to tuck the rubber spline into
the screen door groove. Wife person directed him right to it.
The
next task is to actually replace the fiberglass mesh. We needed a
large flat surface where we could lay the door flat. That we finally
found in the middle of the main salon. We had about 10 inches to
stand in on each side of the screen door. We were both stiff and sore
by the time we got the splines rolled into each groove. We wound up
spending the rest of the day on this project. We propped the finished
door up against the couch and went to bed.
To
fit the door to the hinges to the door requires teamwork. Our arms
simply aren’t long enough to reach and screw bolts and nuts together.
On the first attempt we discovered we were trying to bolt that screen
door to the wrong side of the hinges. An impossible task.
Each
pair of bolts interferes with this mate so they have to be done in
exact sequence. It is important to set the heights of the door on the
hinges, and we misjudged it the first time but we had it dead on the
second time.
This
wonderful couple lived happily ever after with their beautiful new
screen door. Woe be unto the person who puts a foot through the
shiny, taut, new screen.
We just spent two days in Naniamo B.C. exploring
the waterfront. Our marina, Waterfront Suites and Marina, is at the
end of a grand esplanade that skirts the waterfront from our marina
to the boat basin about a mile and a half away. In the middle is
Maffeo Sutton Park. The whole waterfront is clean attractive and
well used by the locals. There are hundreds of upscale, (read
expensive,) apartments and condos all along the waterfront.
We also took the shuttle boat to Newcastle Island
Park and hiked another 2.5 miles there. This island is just across
the channel from our marina so we got a nice picture of Abby Normal
from the island through the trees.
Barb on Newcastle Island on a Perfect Day.
We are long on time on this end of the morning. We must take ourselves back south through Dodd Narrows later today. This is a tiny slot between Vancouver Island and Mudge Island of the Gulf Islands. This is similar to our Deception Pass between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands. The tidal currents are on the order of 7 or 8 knots and reverse twice daily. The prediction table Tells us to be ready at 3:55 pm this afternoon, so we are napping and reading and writing a blog while we wait for the right time and the right tide. Remember the sailors adage, “Time and tide wait for no man.”
Abby Normal and Eye Gor
If you go to my website you will get to see several of the photos we have taken here in Naniamo.
Dodd Narrows from the South on Our Trip North
Gary, Judy and Glen Hiding from the Dragonfly in Maffeo Sutton Park
We had one more adventure on the way to
Ladysmith. Ed and Phil, my old sailing buddies, will identify with
this. We painted Abby Normal’s keel paint on a submerged rock not
two boat lengths from our slip. Apparently without further
complications. We went back to our slip and checked keel bolts and
bilges and found no evidence of damage. I got the wind knocked out of
me when I fell down the hatchway to the main cabin when the boat
literally bounced off the rock. Glen is planning at least a diver
inspection when we get back to Brownsville.
Yes, we made our date with Dodd Narrows with an
hour to spare.
