Wandrin Blog

Seven years ago today was retirement day. Haven't worked since. This is a wonderful country; now I am paid not to work. Even if I wanted to go back to work. I certainly could not go back the the high tech world I was in. I was obsolete and a technical dinosaur six months after I retired.

These past seven years have been great. Three months after that retirement, I took up living as trailer trash in a Denver area RV park. Once the house was sold, I hooked up Wandrin Wagon behind the Silver Slug and have been a nomadic explorer ever since. In those years, I have traveled to the "corners" on the lower 48 states and lots of places in between. People have assumed that I have seen it all in those years of exploring. Granted. I have seen a lot, but there is so much left to explore.

With a couple of lifetimes, I might be able to enjoy and explore the boundless natural world of North America. The size of Yellowstone and the exploring to be done there could take a whole summer. Perhaps some year I will be able to do that. Southwestern Colorado has always been attractive. Spending a couple of months there would allow some enjoyment of the hiking trails and back roads within the San Juans.

Alaska is a destination for many RVers. Before I retired, I had taken a three week guided camping trip through parts of that large natural world. So I am in no great rush for a return visit to donate more blood to mosquitoes. When I do consider a visit to Alaska, my concern is that I will never get there. I would have to cross parts of the United Stated that I never truly explored. Crossing the Canadian border would introduce me to Canadian provinces that I have never explored. With British Columbia on the way to Alaska, I doubt I would get there.

If only there were a bridge to Hawaii...

Subtitled "Two years on the Yangtze", the author relates his life as a teacher of English in a small town in China. The only other non-Chinese in town is another American who also teaches English at the "teacher's college". The author relates his interaction with the Chinese from the peasants to the Communist Party members. Since this small town is far away from the more urban and world integrated cities in China, his experiences are a step back in time in China.

The book is a great revelation of the common Chinese populace -- many of whom in this rural area are peasant farmers. The author places the current day experiences in a historical context of a series of Chinese "revolutionary" ideas. It is those experiences within the memory of those living as well told stories of parents and grand parents which influence the lives of these common people.

River Town provides an excellent view of the persona of the Chinese people.

For the past two days there was food and drink and lots of chatting. On Christmas Eve it was traditional Mexican with posole and tamales. On Christmas day it was traditional American with the turkey and the trimmings.

At each of these gatherings, there were Christmas gifts. The attendees were teenagers and beyond. However, the center of attention was Chilli who was celebrating her first Christmas.

These family celebrations (at different homes) were hosted by Gabe's relatives. Vanita and Gabe brought me along for "show and tell." With family from the San Diego area, Canada and Ohio, it was a full house and lots of chances to chat with new faces. In the course of all that chatting, perhaps I have some places to park when I pass through Vancouver in 2009.

This large family gathering reminded me of some of my mother's Christmas gatherings when I was child. With aunts and uncles and cousins, a large turkey (plus the side dishes and desserts) was required to feed about 25 to 30 people. However, that was in Wisconsin and usually cold and snowy outside. It was warm and toasty inside. I recall some of those events when it was suffocatingly warm.

Raised on a dairy farm with twice a day milking, the family gatherings were structured around those farm chores. On Christmas Day, a noon meal was served with all the trimmings. The table was cleared and the card games began with Christmas candies and a beer always handy. About 4:30, the tables were cleared to lay out supper for those guests who had to go home for farm chores. There was no way to be responsible for the starvation of your guests as they made that "long" (less than 15 minutes) drive home.

The weather outside is frightful -- ly warm. This afternoon's temperature of 70 degrees makes it quite nice here in San Diego. The only snow to be found here is on the yard decorations. All artificial. Sometimes a white surface implies snow.

Why does Christmas imply snow? One answer. Spin. At one time most major corporations and the advertising companies were in the the Midwest and the Northeast US. Most of the advertising companies were in New York City. Snow was the experience of those locations and naturally, it ended up in the advertising.

Snow and cold has not been my experience since I have retired. Following the sun is more my style. There may not be snow in this warm locale, but there are family traditions. Later today I will be enjoying one of those traditions. I will be joining Vanita and Gabe to enjoy Gabe's family's Christmas tamales.

Hoping you have an enjoyable Christmas day with family and friends and acquaintances.

Wishing you a Super Solstice as we observe the shortest day of the year. As each day dawns into the New Year, the days will be longer and soon the cold and snow will behind us. Some of us. Snow is visible on distant mountain tops where I am parked. That is the best place for snow.

However, for this week the Holidays are not over. So as you decorate your Christmas Tree, remember these rules:

Secure the tree firmly to a base.

String the lights.

Then hang your ornaments throughout the tree boughs.

Finally, hang the tinsel.

Merry Christmas.


Post script: After reading this blog entry, I realized that my readers in Australia have a different experience about the length of daylight. From their point of the view, the days become shorter after this December Solstice.

Personally, I found these flocked trees a little tacky. As I took some photos, I noticed one being bagged and carefully loaded into the rear of some large SUV. My vision is the mess that is produced by the flocking material and the needles from this already dead tree.



Perhaps I am a grinch, but I find the Holiday decoration fetish a bit much. On a recent visit to Home Depot and later at a Wal-Mart, the makings were available to reproduce an entire Macy's Christmas Parade with all the vinyl inflatables for sale. That was only a small portion of the possibilities in what was easily 10,000 square feet of retail space.

As I explored Balboa Park, Seaport Village and some shopping centers, there were a few photo ops which can be seen in the latest gallery.

Standing at the sink is when I noticed the ant column crossing the counter top. No bigger than a quarter inch in length they stretched a long ways going in both directions. That was the beginning of the war. Where were those little buggers coming from. There seemed to be a large concentration in the pantry. Perhaps that was nothing more than a camp to send out reinforcements. Then I found another column on the floor next to the wall heading in the direction of the "camp".

Other RVers had told stories of the ants infestations coming in via the utility hookups. I headed outside and there they were heading up the electrical cord -- into the Wandrin Wagon. Those ants were swept away and I coiled up the cord and the water hose and hung them off the ground.

Back inside, it was time... Well. It was time to clean. I had put that task off far too long. This was a good excuse to get the job done. The first line of defense was the vacuum cleaner. (Can live ants get out of the vacuum cleaner.)

About an hour later Wandrin Wagon was clean once again; ready for guests -- not ants. The cleaning took longer than usual since I emptied the pantry to make sure I had all of the ants. At least most of them.

That was yesterday. This morning I found a few ants in various places. Perhaps they were lost scouts trying to find their way back home. Their misery was ended in the vacuum cleaner. (Can they get out of there.)



Remote RV camping... means that I have not been able to get cell phone reception. That means no internet access. So I decided that a Wilson antenna might help. I ordered one and had it delivered here to the park. With the antenna almost 20 feet in the air, I went from no service to the minimum -- one bar.

Then I tried it with the air-card on the computer. The results were mixed. Most times I was unable to access the internet. Fortunately, Wi-Fi is available within the park. So I head to the club house to get on the internet. It is a good excuse to get out and about and socialize with others.


Wildlife... As I lay in bed many evenings, I can hear the distant coyotes. One night, it sounded like one was right outside my home on wheels. I sprang from my bed (sounds like a familiar phrase) to look out a window to spot the coyote. No luck. However, I have seen several during daylight hours as I drive the roads nearby.

The night time sound I really enjoy is the Great Horned Owl. Where I am parked and Without a full moon, I am unable to spot its location. It is far enough away that the sound is mellowed and a pleasant sound. If that sound were coming from just outside my rig, it would be irritating. That has happened in the past. That time I headed outside with my binoculars in hand. They don't scare easily. I was able to get a good look before he flew away into the almost black skies.

My arrival in the San Diego area was on Sunday when the traffic was light. Unfamiliar four and five lane freeways pulling a trailer is not where I prefer to drive -- even on Sunday. Give me a two lane road across Kansas any time.

Wandrin Wagon needs new shoes... The first stop in the area was in El Cajon where Wandrin Wagon had an alignment on its Mor-Ryde suspension system. That plus new (heavier duty) shocks put another dent in the savings. I try to put that expense in perspective. The individual maintenance costs on a house were much greater than my home on wheels and they happened with about the same frequency.

I still need new tires, but that expense was put off for another day. Perhaps I can put that expense into the 2008 bucket.

RV park and fires... The Thousand Trails Pio Pico Preserve was my camping choice for a couple of weeks. This park was in the path of one of the fires that crossed San Diego County. Although almost completely surrounded by fire, the park and its buildings survived intact with the exception of some charred and burned trees on the perimeter of the park. Today, the surrounding hills are charred grass with some occasional green showing after the recent rains.

Internet access.... This RV park is remote and surrounded by hills without cell towers. Therefore no cell phone reception. That means that access to the internet is also not available via the Verizon air-card. The last time without cell phone access was the summer of 2006 when I was boon docking in Idaho. At that time I still had the internet satellite dish. However, with the problems I had this past summer, that system was canceled and access to the internet is now via the air-card.

Access to the internet is available through Wi-Fi at the park club house. However, that means that the computer and I head there to access the internet. In only six years, I have gotten spoiled. My first year on the road, I was accessing the internet via (most times very slow) dial up. It worked fine. I was able to post my pictures and periodic columns. Finding a phone line was the major problem. There was no daily access to the internet and I survived.

How easy it is to get spoiled...

Bumper Sticker:

NEVER KICK A COWPIE ON A HOT DAY

Great Business Name:

DELANEY'S LOST SOCK LAUNDROMAT

Semi truck and trailer owned by the AGGRESSIVE TRUCKING COMPANY. Curious what the aggressive may be referring to.

Sign of the times:

WE SELL LOCKING GAS CAPS

Vanity plates:

SPUDBUG -- on a VW from Idaho

XXQUZME -- Okay!

VEGI JET -- assume the VW was diesel powered!

ARMYTNK -- on an original Hummer

NAAWDEE -- on a blue pickup

LANDYAT -- on an RV

And more --- XS ENRGY, DAFFYDK, GRMCRKR, WRASKAL, DADILAC, IBTYPIN,
WHOOEE, FLYNNUT, TA DAA

That is what the British accented voice on the the Garmin Navigation system says when I make a wrong turn. I can manage to have that repeated several times when I ignore the commands. Then there are those times when I should "make a U-turn". Yeah. Right. Like that is going to happen when pulling a trailer.

That "recalculating" refrain is rather frequent these days since the map that the Garmin C330 is using is over two years old and more than likely some of the data is older than that.

When not being guided to a destination, I will set the unit set to display a map of the world I pass through. Frequently I note the display shows that I am driving through undefined terrain -- not on a road that the C330 understands. The road I happen to be driving on is obviously less than two years old; the road's landscaping has to be done.

There is new map software available for the C330. However, I am not ready to part with the $70 that is wanted to update the unit. It is foolish to wait since it will be the same map a year from now for the same price. Of course that map is also out of date when it was created; at this date six months ago. There will always be new roads and housing developments.

In spite of its short comings, the GPS unit was a worth while investment. Mistakes have been made when it led me down a dead end street or the times it insisted a house number was a location several blocks in another direction. The greatest feature is the identifying of a destination on the left or right allowing time to get in the correct lane. Similarly when entering a freeway from a surface street, the directions specify to stay right or left.

An independent guy seeking directions -- and being told where to go. Is there a problem here.

Almost twenty years ago, the author and several others started the journey from the source of the Amazon high in the Andes of Peru in zero temperatures and snow covering the grounds. When they put their kayaks in the water they faced numerous class five rapids (and beyond). When they arrived at the flat and broad waters in Brazil, the temperatures, humidity and insects were the opponents of the battle to the Atlantic. Sea kayaks were the replacement for this paddling episode to the complete the journey.

This highly enjoyable book is true adventure with kayak running of rapids at 13,000 feet, fighting disease, malaria, gun toting guerrillas and drug runners, river side poverty, lack of food and more. It is vicarious adventure at its best.

A personal disappointment was the lack of an author's epilogue to tell the story of what may have happened to other participants who did not finish the journey for one reason or another. After being introduced these people and struggling with them, they left the journey to never be heard from again.

Actually, he wasn't really lost.

Cousin Chic gave me an email address for Tony -- a mate from the class of 1958 DePere High School. Over the past years, I have occasionally sent an email to Tony just to stay in touch. When I was planning to pass through Bakersfield, I sent Tony an email. He had the chance to avoid a response. He didn't. Tony and Lynn were gracious hosts and we chatted far into the evening.

Considering that almost 50 years have passed since we last chatted (other than the emails), we found we had lots in common and had a very stimulating conversation about history, family and life.