About Me

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I am retired and like to travel by motor home across the United States and Canada. In the winter I hope to spend more time with my WIN (Wandering Individual Network) friends in the California and Arizona desert. I know my trip reports are having too many details, but I am writing them for myself, if anybody else enjoys them, that is fine too.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Convair Tooling Group Christmas Luncheon 2011

12-29-11
Yesterday we went to the Hometown Buffet in Santee for the Convair Tooling Christmas luncheon.
The turnout was not as good as in the past years.
A lot of people were out of town for visiting relatives. We had a good time though.







Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Eureka Christmas 2011

12-19-11
We left Carlsbad at 5:00 AM and arrived in Sunnyvale at 12:30 PM.
The drive through Los Angeles was not too bad. We encountered two spots where we could have walked faster. One of the slow areas was because of an accident.
We are going to Eureka by car this Christmas.
After moving our luggage from the car to the motel we took a nap.
Then we went to Los Altos to pick up Doreen’s sister in law and brother in law and we went to a restaurant for dinner.
George and Vera are in their nineties now and do not drive anymore. It is always nice to see them.











12-20-11
Actually we tried to sleep a little longer today, but we were awake at 4:30 AM and decided to take off.
We stopped in Petaluma and had breakfast in a family restaurant.
They had just opened their doors and it was very cold inside. Doreen tried to warm up with several cups of coffee.
From the restaurant we drove to Guerneville, a small town near Santa Rosa, and visited Betty, a former neighbor at Camino Hills.
She lives now with her daughter. Her daughter has two houses on the same lot and Betty lives in one of them with a live in caregiver.
Betty was very happy to see us.
After a short visit we headed back to highway 101 and arrived in Eureka at about 3:00PM.
So far the weather has been very good, no rain in sight, which is unusual up here.











12-21-11
When I got up I had to scrape the ice off the windshield of the car. I had not done this for a long time.
In the morning we did some babysitting. We took care of Nicolette and Jacob and had fun doing it. We also did some shopping.
In the evening we had dinner with Claudia and her family.

12-22-11
We spent again some time with Nicolette and Jacob, while Claudia and Scott went shopping.
At 11:15 AM we took the kids to the movie theatre and saw Alvin and the chipmunks; not my kind of movie but it was fun for children.
In the evening Doreen and I walked in the inside mall. We had a lot of company.














12-23-11
After some grocery shopping and going to the bank we went to Claudia. While the kids played in the neighborhood Doreen and Claudia went to Costco. I watched TV and did some computer work.
In the afternoon we went to Arcata to the Chinese Buffet. The kids love to pick their own food.
There was no ice on the car this morning. It has warmed up a bit. During the day we wear only sweat shirts, no jackets. The weather could not be better for this time of the year.
Scott is looking at jobs, but the people do not want him to start before Christmas. By then it will be raining.

12-24-11
Scott told us a story about their cat and how the kids got angry at him. They have several big pine trees on their property.
A squirrel lived in one of the trees. Every time the cat came near the tree the squirrel would throw pine cones at it.
It was very funny and one day Scott wanted to show a visitor this little show. He let the cat out and the cat ran to the tree and went up several feet and caught the squirrel and killed it while Nicolette and Jacob were watching. They got angry at the cat and Scott.
Doreen and I went to Ferndale, the Victorian town, today. Doreen likes to go through the shops and I walk around the neighborhood.


















12-25-11
The weather changed. This was a wet Christmas day. Since we stayed indoors most of the day it did not matter.
We had a very good meal at Claudia’s and Scott’s house. All the grandparents were there.
The kids received a lot of presents including the iPad they wanted.















12-26-11
We are on our way home. Up to the San Francisco area we encountered fog. It did not rain though.
From highway 101 we took I-580 east to Interstate 5. The first few hours the traffic was very slow.
We had forgotten that today was a holiday for a lot of people because Christmas fell on a Sunday.
Instead of going 70 MPH, the speed limit, we crawled along at 30 MPH at some places.
When we reached Coalinga we had enough and went to a motel.
At Denny’s we had dinner. I got my Christmas turkey dinner and Doreen had a chicken salad.

12-27-11
We left Coalinga at 5:30 AM and made good time. Even through Los Angeles it was not too bad. Of course using the commuter lanes helped.
This was a wonderful Christmas, celebrating it with family and having good weather.
It rained only one day.
Tomorrow we have our last Christmas luncheon.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Dave and Cathy's Christmas Party 2011

12-18-11
Another party with more food.
Dave and Cathy, who organize the breakfast at the clubhouse, invited the cooks and helpers and their spouses for dinner.
There was a lot of good food and everybody enjoyed it.




Thursday, December 15, 2011

Convair Engineering Liaison Christmas Party 2011

12-15-11
Doreen’s Ladies group had their Christmas Luncheon at the Cheese Cake Factory, at the Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego.
I went with her and while she enjoyed lunch with her group I wandered around the shopping center and had lunch at a Japanese fast food restaurant.
When Doreen was done with her luncheon we drove to Old Town State Park for the Annual Convair Liaison Engineering Christmas Party.
Since we were early we played tourists and did some sightseeing.


















At 3:30 PM we went to the Rockin Baja Lobster restaurant where the group gathered in the bar.
It was a good turnout and I had fun talking to some of my old work mates.






Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Convair Alumni Christmas Dinner Dance 2011

12-13-11
We have rain in Southern California. Yesterday one inch came down. Today it rained only a little bit.
Today we went to the Convair Alumni Dinner Dance at the Bahia Resort on Mission Bay.
I wore one of my suits for the occasion. After getting dressed I was standing around waiting for Doreen to get ready.
I moved the car out of the garage and Doreen got in the car. The first thing she said: “You look awful”.
The trousers I wore did not match the jacket. I thought that was easy to fix and went back to the house to find the correct jacket for the pants. There was no fitting jacket. The trousers did not belong to a suit.
I had to take the shoes and pants off and put on the correct trousers. Then I had to find a narrow belt. The normal, wide belt did not go through the loops.
Doreen was waiting in the car all that time. I did not say much. It is not easy to admit stupidity.
We had a good time though at the dinner dance. We danced twice. Doreen has to be careful with her back. Chappy and Dotty had arranged for the tickets and were sitting on the same table. Helen, one of our table companion is 89 years old and is thinking about quitting down hill skiing.
She says she has a balance problem.
The food was very good, so was the dessert.
I forgot my regular camera and had to use the camera I keep under the driver seat in the car. The flash on that camera is weak and the pictures I took are not that good. It was one of those days.




Saturday, December 10, 2011

Christmas at the Clubhouse 2011

12-10-11
Today we had breakfast at the clubhouse. The men are the cooks. I cooked the pancakes, french toast and potatoes.
We cook eggs any style our customers prefer. There is also fruit,bacon, sausages and coffee. Today we also had cake and eggnog.
Cathy decorated the tables beautifully.
A lot of people showed up.