A snaky day 5-31

Being the last day of the three day Memorial day weekend, this full RVPark emptied out pretty much by 11 a.m....amazing. Glad I didn't have to be on the road today. We took a stroll around after the major exodus.

We mostly spent the day working on computer projects. For an hour or so we were entertained by this lovely local beauty. It was pretty long, Larry guessed about 40", after watching it disappear into a small hole I decided I would be staying inside until I was sure what kind of snake it was. About the time I was moving away to look on the internet for what variety of slithering smoothness I was looking at it shot head first back out of the hole and just froze there poised for a snack to go by. Then it would back into the hole and then poke back out. Once after a bit it even popped out of a neighboring hole. After a half hour of so I happened to see it finally exit the hole and then make its way slowly zigging and zagging along on the hunt into a neaby bush. It is a Red Coachwhip snake, non-venomous.

Cliff Armas came by for a few hours to look at my Dad's memorabilia that we pulled out of storage to bring down for him to see. He is always very nice and respectful of our feelings and "stuff".

It was sunny, cooler than yesterday and breezy, but still warmer than NorCal by far!

My Day at the Games 5-29

It was quite the day. I couldn’t decide what to wear, I couldn’t decide if I should wash my hair or not…I tried different pants and two different tops…after getting all ready I decided I needed to wash my hair, so then I had to touch up my make up. I emptied out my purse of all but the necessary and had Dad’s medal in there. We left when we were ready cause Larry wanted to stop at a Walmart to check out the TV’s. We decided on one, made the purchase and hit the road. We found where we needed to be at the Fairground with no problem and was directed to our special VIP parking which was right in the middle of everything…way nice for getting water and stuff.




We arrived just after 10 and didn’t need to check in until 11:30, but we found the booth first and collected our special guest badges, and lunch tickets, which was nice. We found the Emerald Societies canopy/gathering place and then set out exploring. You could hear bagpipes everywhere of course and people in various states of plaid dress…many, many men in kilts and women too. There were vendors selling everything plaid and celtic and kilts galore…most are not made of wool anymore. I didn’t find anything the whole day that I couldn’t live without. I was hoping to find at least a scarf in my tartan, but nada…and the clan booths were kind of a disappointment…just not what I expected.

We hooked up with Cliff Armas…the LAPD officer that has spearheaded this whole resurrection of the Ian J Campbell Memorial Award at the Games and the Emerald Society Band has devoted itself to keeping my Dad’s legacy alive. Their bagpipe covers bear on them an embroidered rendition of Dad’s badge with his number and his name on an emerald green ground, very nice.

We met back at the Scottish Societies booth at the appointed time and we were escorted to the stadium where the opening and closing events were held. We were left front and center and met the Chieftain of the Games Tom Reoch, we were told what was going to happen and then we had to wait for the pipe bands to get staged. Then we were led to the little center stage in the middle of the dirt track where we stood in the wonderful hot sun for the duration. There were chairs but there was never an appropriate time to sit.

First the colors arrived (the flags, American, Canadian, Scottish and England’s) and then the Pipe Bands…There appeared to be five, but a few of the bands were combined smaller bands, which made the whole thing go a little quicker, because they marched in and around the track into place behind our little stage…four were lined up behind us and then the biggest, bestest band paraded in front and reversed and stopped in front of us, so we were surrounded. Then they played the anthems of all four countries and all I can say is WOW, immersion in the sound of drums and bagpipes…I loved it. Then the Chieftain spoke, the Emerald Society guy spoke, a lady from the British Consulate, the Chieftain spoke and then it was my turn…I could have blabbed on about something, but I just said the line they gave me….”Let the Games begin”…which of course received a cheer, but several people thanked me for keeping it short…ha ha ha!

Then we still stood through all the bands exiting one at a time, playing of course and after they exited our duties were over until closing ceremonies at the end of the day. As Larry and I were walking across the track we were almost out when we heard someone calling my name and this slender elderly man catches up to us. He introduced himself to us and told us he knew my Dad and had worked with him. He was working with him the night my Dad was killed…he made it sound like it could have gone either way, but Dad and Karl took the unmarked car duty and Bob had the marked car that fateful night. Bob was also the one that found Dad and Karl’s car where it had been abandoned. You could tell he had liked my Dad and that night affected him as it did everyone involved. I was so glad to finally speak to someone who had been there and had worked with my Dad and Larry and I both felt that Bob was only at the games to meet me. We had a nice talk and exchanged a few hugs. It being such a small world, when he found out we had lived in Chester he told us his wife had family in Chester…her sister and brother in law and Larry knew them. When I had asked Cliff if there was anyone still around at the department that knew Dad he didn’t know of any, but was very glad to hear about Bob.

The rest of the day we wandered around watching events, finding shade, watching the caber toss, watching and listening to all the various musicians practicing and competing all over the place. They had the different venues spread far enough apart that the celtic rock band didn’t compete with the harpists on down the way…so as you moved around you were constantly exposed to some kind of celtic music.

We had Scottish meat pies for lunch…very yummy and the pastry was like a large flaky biscuit with gravy, mushrooms and steak sliced thin within. The lines were always long at the Bangor booths so we didn’t try them…Bangor’s are large sausages. We passed on the Haggis, you’ll have to look that one up. We bought and shared an Irish version of a Mounds bar…very yummy and just drank a lot of water trying to stay hydrated. We walked quite a lot and with all the standing we were getting pooped by the end of the day.

Oh and the local TV station tracked me down and I did an interview…God only knows how that will turn out, with the screeching of a peacock and then the fevered mating of three birds (yes three) in the shrub above my head at one point. Scary to see what they pull out of that debacle.

At 4:45 we were back at the grandstand and as some bands were still competing closing was delayed until 5:15. So we met the two Hollywood Division Captains that arrived and then back out front and center to stand in the sun again. Then the bands marched in doing their thing again, played a couple of tunes and then a loan piper came onto the platform and played Amazing Grace and part way through all the bands joined in…it was beautiful. Then it was award presentation time and the Captain said her piece and then I had to announce the winner, but I decided to share with everyone a bit of my Dad in connection to piping so they got why I was there. I shared about how he started piping, how and where he practiced over the years which made people laugh and thanked them for keeping my Dad’s memory alive or something along those lines. I didn’t write anything and now mostly can’t remember a thing I said (though many people told me it was great) and then I announced the winner’s name.

Poor kid, he came up and received his award and then had to stand there getting picture after picture with me, the big trophy that will be on display at the Police Museum and the Captains and the Police Protective League rep. Then it was on to the rest of the awards. And then the ceremonies were closed, the flags were carried out and then the bands did their march and playing out of the stadium. Then it was more photos with the Captains and the trophy and the trophy with Larry and I; the trophy, Cliff and I and then the Emerald Society Pipe Band, the trophy and I. I needed my body double…ha ha ha!!!

By the way, the young man who was awarded the Ian J Campbell Memorial Award was Canadian, I'm not sure from which band and he was very good.

After all that we exited the fairgrounds where by then most everyone was gone and followed our directions to Cliff and Lisa’s house where they had a wonderful dinner set up in our honor and with the Emerald Society band members. It was set up in their back yard which was beautiful and the food was wonderful. After, there was coffee and desserts and then we all watched the presentation that Cliff had put together in honor of my Dad. He did a really great job with all the pieces and pictures I had shared with him and all the other info that he was able to get from the departments archives. It was really nicely done and after that he presented me with a lovely framed shadow box with a piper pictured at the top and a rubbing of my Dad’s name off of the Police Memorial in Washington DC that he had made.

We had a great time, but we were exhausted by the time we got back home. We lucked out getting the last available site here at the RV park, it is off from the congested areas, so it is quiet except for the freeway noise. We took our showers, lotioned up the raging sunburn on my arms and fell into bed. I think we were asleep as soon as we hit the sheets!

It was a wonderful day. The Emerald Societies Band is committed to keeping Ian J Campbell the officer and the man’s memory alive, which is touching and great. It was just nice to be a part of such a positive experience instead of just drumming up the tragedy every time another parole hearing comes up.

Then today I spent composing the blog, editing photos and getting everything together and posted. I did fit in a nap…it was a lovely sunny day, but with burned arms and burned hair part on my head and still tired it was an inside day for me.

Don't forget to click on the pictures and you should be able to see them bigger. I put so many in I made them small so hopefully it won't take hours for those with dial up speeds.

Fix it and shopping day & meeting new friends 5-28

This morning we took our dead TV to Best Buy where it goes to the recycler. We looked at new TV's...they are so skinny and light weight that we'll have to make alterations to the "TV" spot in the trailer. Rather than risk it bouncing around and breaking will unplug it and stow it for traveling.

The Canyon RV Park is in Featherly Park on the eastern side of Anaheim and these next two shots are from the main drag along the hiking trail to the south and near where those dead trees are is where we are parked.

As we drove into Yorba Linda we heard about a bad accident on the 91 east of our exit closer to where it meets 71 a tanker truck tried to avoid someone who cut him off and he lost control and the truck burst into flames after it hit the center divide. Well that made a huge mess of everyone's Friday three day exodus out of the city to inland areas. They closed the entire east bound lanes for about 8 hours. Helicopters were going back and forth all day, and sirens and loud speakers and made us really thankful that we moved up our arrival a day or we would have been stuck in it.

Anyway, between Best Buy and the RV parts place we were heading to in Placentia we ran across a Trader Joe's and I had Larry turn in there. It was interesting to see the difference between this one in the south and ours in the north. Its parking lot wasn't packed and it didn't have as many aisles or as much stuff, but I think that is because there are so many health food stores down here compared to up north.

We finally got a few good pictures of the Jacaranda trees that are everywhere down here and in full bloom...they are this wonderful purpley/lavender color that we have never seen on a tree before. They look like purple clouds from a distance.

We found the RV parts place and we passed the Richard M Nixon Library on the way. After we got our vent cover, on our way back home we stopped at a cute little tucked away Starbucks and then went in Henry's, a wonderful Farmer's Health Market Store...wonderful stuff and tons of great produce. If I ever wanted to live in SoCal I would have to check out this area...it is really pretty, lots of beautiful trees and flowers.

After we got back home Larry did the repair on the vent cover and then washed our filthy truck. Late this afternoon the park started filling up, I bet it was hard for a lot of people to make it here with the freeway being closed and out in front of the Park was a bottle necked mess of people waiting for the freeway to open.

Tonight Cliff and his wife Lisa picked us up and took us out to dinner so we could officially get to know each other after our months of phone and email communication. We sat outdoors at a Mexican Restaurant, with a live Mariachi Band strolling around singing. The plants and trees all around the patio were very beautiful. We had a great time and other than the traffic from the mess of the closure it was a really pleasant evening. We weren't driving so we didn't have any problems...just enjoyed the visit.

That picture of the train is The Metro which we had heard of but never seen and this lovely egret was on the hunt last evening.

Tomorrow will be a long day and I doubt I'll get anything posted. We have VIP pass for parking and tickets to the Scottish Games and I am an Honorary Chieftain for the day...maybe I'll get to bludgeon someone with my mace...oh thats right, I don't have a mace...maybe they'll let me hold one. I guess I stand somewhere looking gorgeous during the opening ceremony and then around 5 I, with a couple of other people will present the Ian J Campbell Memorial Award to some talented Piper. Then it is off to Cliff and Lisa's where they are having a dinner in my honor and so I can meet the Emerald Society's band members. Very nice, so I'll have quite a lot to fill you in on in a day or two! The weather is supposed to be in the low 80's too...woo hoo! Sun stroke here I come!

Crazy, Exciting Week 5-27

Yesterday Sharon popped over from her store around 9:15 with a coffee…how nice. She liked our space and said it didn’t smell…that’s nice to know…seriously, I don’t want my home to smell like an old, musty trailer, so it is nice that someone with a neutral nose gave us a report….that is what friends are for!

It rained off and on in the morning, but not bad and I was able to pull in the slides between rain storms. We left Chester at 9:50. We traveled 266 miles and arrived at Kit Fox RV in Patterson along I-5 at 3:19.

We went down 89 to 70 to 99 to 5. The 70 canyon was beautiful..many wild flowers and waterfalls, had a nice uneventful drive. We were entertained by the scanner south of Stockton…listening to a high speed chase…a motorcycle running from CHP doing up to 120 mph. They eventually got HER in some dead end River park.

Our RV park site is large and level and within walking distance of all foods and Starbucks, but the TV has a glitch so I don’t think we’ll walk anywhere. Larry is digging into the TV. Something has come loose on the picture tube and considering all the miles it has vibrated down the road it has done really well. We have a lamp we travel with that the light bulb comes out of every so often.

Well the official diagnosis for the TV was F’d up and is going to the electronic recycling center. Now we have to decide if we want to suspend our satellite TV service again…we watch so little TV during the summer and not buy a new TV yet. We had no internet for a few hours…the parks wifi went down…frustrating, but at least it came back up before we turned in and we could finish what we had started.

For today I set the alarm for 6 and was sleeping soundly when it went off, but jumped up and kept on going. We pulled out of the Kit Fox RV park in Patterson at 6:51. We hit some rain off and on all the way down. There was high fog up by Pyramid Lake and the lake level was full. I-5 through LA was slow going all the way through…maybe twice did we actually get up any speed. The link to 91 was like being on a roller coaster approach…we climbed way high above the other ramps and highways and it was bumpy and then back around to get onto 91, creepy.

We got to the Canyon RV park at 1:54 and had traveled 341 miles today. The RV park is treed, pretty and our site backs up to the Santa Ana river…but the freeway is noisy and Larry can’t find a satellite signal…frustrating for him…too many trees. He finally got it..had to move the dish way out, at least our site is really big and we have the space for that.

So yesterday the TV broke and today while washing off our piggy dirt covered trailer Larry discovered that our lid on the bathroom vent has become brittle…broken! Nothing a Walmart bag and duct tape couldn’t temporarily fix. Another shopping project for tomorrow…we are glad we decided to get here a day earlier than we had originally planned.

Our Last Chester Day 5-25

This week went by fast and the week wasn't long enough to see everyone we wanted to see. These first pictures are of our snowy Saturday and at least these late Spring snows don't stick around for very long...it was just so, so, so cold. It hasn't gotten to freezing the past few mornings.

I had a great time at my workshop...I had a creative breakthrough....one can be more successful if one doesn't rinse the brush out between color changes and gets different colors in the paint wells! I left my mixing palette messy too...woo hoo! Unless you paint you just don't know what I'm going on about, but thats okay...it was liberating. I enjoyed myself and didn't "fear" the brushes, paints and paper. Sunday evening we had dinner with Sharon, her two boys Austin and Tyler and Vickie came up from Genessee also. We had a great time catching up. Sharon served us some killer spaghetti and one of her beautiful salads.

On Monday I had a massage and took a little walk by a lovely creek. Larry visited his Fire Chief Friend and later we went by and bugged Lori and Steve Trotter. The boatload of tulips is theirs.

Today I had coffee with my friend Sharon again at her gift shop which is right across the little creek we are backed up to...how convenient that it was so close to us. Then I took some pictures of the trees behind us, we did laundry and had a burger at the Burger Depot and we got to visit with my friend Ann. Later I drove over to Mary's and picked up some mail and that was pretty much it. It is raining again and we hit the road tomorrow. We are hoping it won't be snowing over the summit or we'll be taking the alternate route.

We are heading for Anaheim. I was asked by the LAPES pipe band to present one of the piper awards at the Scottish Games in Orange County. The award honors my Dad's memory and his love of the bagpipes. He practiced and played every chance he got and even had them with him in Korea when he was stationed there. Also in my Dad's honor the band had special bag covers made with my Dad's name and badge number on them. I'll post pics of that later this week.

I also get to have the pleasure of being the Honorary Chieftain of the Games on Saturday. We've never been to a Scottish Games so it will be fun to see what they are all about...being of half Scottish descent I guess it is about time.

Nice stay in Reno 5-21

Yesterday started with a lovely visit and coffee with a good friend. Then we loaded our overnight stuff in the truck, turned off everything in the trailer and took off. We stopped at the new Blue Goose art gallery here in Chester our friends have opened to see it for the first time all finished. Deb was there so it was great seeing her for a bit.

The drive to Reno was nothing new. No big changes in Susanville that we could see. Everything is extremely green and there is quite a lot of snow on the tops of the mountains still. We were surprised that Honey Lake was still dry.

Here is Lou and Vickie in their room, I didn't have the camera with me when we hooked up with Charlie and Sharon.

We were going to the El Dorado for one of their show and room packages and meeting two other couples that have been life-long friends. For some strange reason we all got bumped up to Spa suites...wowee, very nice! We even had freshly cleaned carpet...we had to wait to go up to our room because it was drying. I couldn't wait for the show to be over so I could get in that huge jetted tub!!! We had a wonderful dinner at the Buffet and the show was great. We made our donations at the casino and retired to our la-ti-da room. I enjoyed the heck out of that tub...over six months since a soak...lovely. The king size bed was really comfortable and the whole room was big enough we could have parked our trailer in it with room left over!

Today we met our friends for breakfast...Larry passed on eating, he was still full from dinner and then we headed for Fallon. It was really windy in NV today and it was warmer in Fallon than Reno...the wind in Reno was blowing off the snow covered mountains. We dug into our storage for what we needed and put some stuff in there from here and off we went back here to Chester.

It was getting cloudier the closer we got and after coming out of Buffalo Chips Pizza in Westwood where Larry always has to go to get his Beefy Cheese sandwich the clouds were huge and black. As we left Westwood it started snowing...a big, SARCASTIC wahoo! It was cold, windy and snowing...not what one wants to see when residing in an aluminum box...ha ha ha, some people don't care...we don't like it at all. Not to mention we were really hoping for some nice weather...it is almost the end of May for goodness sakes! The lake looked like an ocean with the angry waves, and the snowy cold made steam rise off the road and lake. Oh well, just glad we will be moving on soon. Larry would have had us hooked up and down the road if it wasn't for my workshop...ha ha ha.