2 Jan 2012 - Tournament of Roses Parade

This was another beautiful day in southern California - 80 degrees!! :-) The parade started out with a flyover by a stealth bomber - impressive! I've seen pictures, but, in person, they are amazing. Seems like something out of science fiction. The parade was all so beautiful. The bands were terrific - each of them - and strikingly costumed, though the girls' band from Japan was the most impressive. I never appreciated, watching on TV, how beautiful the horses and decorated cars are. I was disappointed none of "my" floats won any awards. :-( The City of Glendale float is the one I spent the most time on (an elephant pulling a carriage), and I thought it was gorgeous. In my unbiased opinion, the attention to detail, the little touches - like the cranberries and plumes - were definitely worth an award!! But the judges didn't agree with me. :-(

The skywriting (financed by Geico) was impressive - never seen any like it before.

My favorite floats were those by China Airlines (this is the Year of the Dragon) and Indonesia, as well as the Glendale float. :-) I'm so glad I got to do this, finally, as it's been on my bucket list for years. I wasn't disappointed. (And I have a very long bucket list).

1 Jan 2012 - New Year's Day at the Beach

Sharon and I drove to the beach today. We ate lunch at the Duke's (Hawaiian-themed) oceanside restaurant in Malibu, sitting outside in the sun (and shade). (I had the Shrimp and Crab Louis Salad, which was excellent!) What a beautiful day! The sun was shining, the Pacific ocean was smooth and blue and beautiful, there was a slight breeze. Perfect. What a marvelous way to spend New Year's Day! This is the life!

There is plenty of money in this part of California. There were four Lamborghini's parked next to Sharon's rent car in the parking lot!! Then we drove down to Manhattan Beach, and walked the Strand. Joey got to see lots of other dogs. She wanted to play with most of them, but they were too busy walking their owners. :-( We drove through Long Beach, Santa Monica, and Culver City, and are not far from Beverly Hills or Hollywood. One of the good things was that there wasn't much traffic, since it's Sunday, and a holiday. A good day for a trip to the beach...

31 Dec 2011 - Rose Palace, Days 2 & 3

My friend Sharon arrived in town today, and came with me to the float barn, where we both worked on the City of Glendale float. I've worked on all three floats that my Escapees friend Gretchen is working on - City of Glendale, Lions International, and Loyola Marymount University - but spent more time on the City of Glendale float than any other. One of the things I'm happy about, is that I've gotten to do several different kinds of jobs over the past few days: gluing pieces of corn husks, gluing lentils, wiring roses, assisting Gretchen (who is the head florist on those three floats), tooth-picking carnations, and prepping mums. When you are watching the Rose Parade on Monday, know that the parade just couldn't have happened without my help!! :-) The carriage that the elephant is pulling on the Glendale float and the white flowers underneath the lion on the LMU float, would be especially bare!

I love seeing the rows and rows of beautiful colors.



I've thoroughly enjoyed learning about the process and the various techniques. I loved watching the floats take shape over the course of the past few days. What fun this has been!


I found out this week that where I am staying in the San Fernando Valley, is only four miles from the epicenter of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Yikes! That kind of excitement I can do without while I'm here.

27 Dec 2011 - Rose Palace, Pasadena, CA

I am parked in front of my friend's house, in the San Fernando Valley. As I'm driving the Ventura Freeway, which I'm doing each day to get to Pasadena, and driving through Burbank, I can't help but think of "Laugh-In", which made these place names (and others) household words all over the nation, back in the 60s and 70s. "Laugh-In" was recorded in "beautiful downtown Burbank" and made stars of Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Henry Gibson, and others. (I'm also driving not far from Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Universal City.)

I arrived here last evening. I'd forgotten how thick the smog is here; and I'd forgotten how the smog enhances the colors of the sunsets.

Although driving the LA freeways is not my idea of fun, especially in an RV, I have to admit that the view of the city lights in the valley down below was impressive, as the freeway went through the foothills, on my way home tonight.

Today I volunteered at the Rose Palace, one of the float barns where the floats are being decorated. Loved it! I met up with a small group of Escapees here, who are also volunteering. I was amazed at the sight of the thousands and thousands of roses, other flowers, and other plants, waiting to be prepared and used [photos of a very small section of them, at the top and above]. The float barn where I am volunteering (Phoenix Decorating) is filled with twelve of the floats, with hundreds of staff and volunteers climbing around on them, glueing, pasting, and working on the floats. It's an impressive hive of activity. My first job was to help a group glue some pieces of corn shucks onto the City of Glendale float. Then I worked on gluing salmon-colored lentils to the center of a daisy that will be part of the Lions International float. Such meticulous work. I am looking forward to watching them take shape over the next few days.

10 Dec 2011 - Holidays in Mesa

This is how they do Christmas in Arizona.

I went to see the Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Gardens with my niece Heather and her kids Tatum and Brady last night. I'd been to the Desert Botanical Gardens before, but not during Christmas, not during the luminarias display. Besides the hundreds of beautiful luminarias lining all the walks (with real candles in them!), and so many lights on the trees, we had fun searching out the big bugs scattered around the grounds, in amongst the cacti [→ damselfly]. The monster-sized bugs are a temporary display. My mind had trouble fathoming just how many hours it must have taken to get all the luminarias built and lit, and all the trees decorated. They had musicians scattered around the grounds as well. We enjoyed all of them, but especially the handbell choir, and the Native America flute. Tatum and Brady got to play bells for a few songs. The Arikara/Hidatsa/Mandan flute family was from a small town in North Dakota close to where Heather was raised - small world! It's country I've come to know well in my many recent trips to North Dakota, thanks to FEMA.

And tonight I went to the Fantasy of Lights Boat Parade in Tempe. I'd been to Lake Tempe during the day, but never before at Christmastime. There were over 60 boats in the parade. The reflections of all the lights on the shore, and the lights on the bridges, were pretty before the parade ever started. Then all these boats came drifting by, all lit up, most of them playing Christmas carols full-blast on their stero systems. It was all beautiful.


Oh, yeah. They had a short fireworks display at the end of the parade. I'm afraid after seeing the fireworks display-of-all-fireworks-displays at the IPG show in West Fargo, ND, last summer, any regular fireworks display is pretty ho, hum.

7 Nov 2011 - Austin

I love Austin. I never seem to get enough time here.

It's been good to visit with friends and family in the area. Austin has some of my very favorite restaurants, and I managed to get to a few of them. The fall colors make everything even more beautiful than usual [← Colorado River]. I enjoyed taking Joey for walks around the RV park, through the woods, on the trail, as well as at some of my favorite local parks. Joey made some friends with whom she got to play tag. :-) My friend Callie and one of her neighbors and I took our dogs (all five of them!) to the dog park for a "puppy party", which was fun for all of us!

Once again, I'm taking advantage of the Austin music scene. My first weekend here I went with my friend Grace to see Tapestry Singers, the Austin Women's Chorus. I got to go to a really fine Michael Smith house concert (Bob Dylan's favorite songwriter). And Nancy and I went to hear Tommy Byrd and Kathy Street at the Arhaven house concert. I hadn't been to one of Joe and Bev's house concerts before, though I had seen Joe every time I went to the Rouse House. The Rouse House started the whole house concert thing in Austin. For years, once a month, the Rouses would clear all the furniture out of their living/dining room, move it out onto the patio, set up maybe 60 chairs, invite some of their favorite folk musicians and songwriters to come and sing, and invite some friends in, to come and listen. The "green room" would be one of the bedrooms. When the artist came out to play, the first row of seats was definitely within spitting distance (one of the performers jokingly offered towels to those in the front row), almost touching distance. Bruce and Liz asked for a reasonable donation at the door (around $10), all of which was given to the artist. Bruce would pass the hat during intermission, asking for donations to reimburse him and Liz for their minimal expenses (they offered lemonade, tea, and always a treat of some kind, maybe ice cream bars, or pie, during break). Occasionally, when they brought in a really popular artist, there would be two concerts in one weekend. There were many years when I lived here that I went regularly. I got spoiled by the opportunity to really hear the artist, in such an intimate setting, without drinkers or smokers around. And it was a concert, so no one talked over the music, everyone listened. Such a treat, compared to the usual bar or concert scene. Bruce and Liz Rouse got some of the country's best up-and-coming folksinger/songwriters, from all over the country. I knew I was always going to enjoy the performance, and often it was exceptional. For years, the Rouse House was the only house concert around. Then there were three, and now now there are many. The Rouses would give workshops on "How to Do House Concerts" and got many in the area interested in this form of entertainment. Sadly, the Rouse House is no more, since Bruce died suddenly and unexpectedly a few years back. But they were a force in the Austin music scene for many years, and their legacy lives on. I know of two couples who built homes in the past few years designed in such a way that they would accommodate house concerts (Sycamore Creek and Arhaven) and there are probably more. I only enjoy the Austin music scene when I am in town now, which is normally once or twice a year, so I am out of touch with most of what is going on here.

I see evidence of the summer heat and drought here on my walks - lots of smaller trees and bushes dead. Dry grasses everywhere. I never made it over to Bastrop, where all the fire damage is.

The weather was nice most days, though a few were too humid for me. As my friend Jim explained to me, on the days that the wind blows from the south (most days), the winds carry the Gulf moisture, and it can be so humid in Austin. Even when it's in the 70s, I am sticky and sweaty. Whereas I can walk outside comfortably when it's 80 degrees in Mesa, often it's not comfortable walking outside when it's 70 here. You start sweating immediately. I've been spoiled by those lovely winters in the Arizona desert.

All-in-all, though, another wonderful visit in Austin.

30 Oct 2011 - East Texas Piney Woods and Cypress

I have a love/hate relationship with this part of East Texas. I won’t ever forget my first sighting of bald eagles in the wild, on a remote beach on Sam Rayburn Lake – watching them tumbling and playing with each other in the air, screaming at play. I love this piney woods country, the beautiful tall trees, the constant smell of evergreens. I love Martin Dies Jr State Park. I love the cypress trees. And they have some of the best home cooking here that you will find anywhere. But – I don’t like the smell of racism and oppression that lives like a white noise in the background. I don’t like the small-minded, redneck attitudes. I don’t like the way they treat their pets and other animals. I don’t like being around the logging industry (huge lumber trucks rumbling past on the highways; huge tracts of forest just gone, or with a few scraggly trees left behind). But I was able to enjoy Martin Dies for awhile, and that was a real treat. The sun was setting over the lake as I arrived Sunday evening [photo above]. I sat with my window and door open, enjoying the warmth of the evening, the slight breeze that carried in the smell of the evergreen pines and the lake. I drunk in the night sounds of the South (cicadaes and other insects mostly). I spent Tuesday morning at Martin Dies, walking around and especially enjoying the lovely cypress trees. This time of year they are bright orange, and add so much color to the landscape. I noted the "WATCH OUT FOR ALLIGATORS" sign, but, have still not seen any alligators here. :-( I spent the rest of the day visiting with my friends Kathleen and Rex. Unfortunately, I was still tired from all the driving I’ve been doing lately, so I wasn’t the best company, I’m afraid. But I’m glad I got to visit with them and they were tolerant and understanding. I parked Carri behind their house while I was in town, and let the cats play in the woods behind the house. Joey got to play chase a little with Kathleen's dog Willie. So we all got a break from being on the road.

Before I left the area I drove over the Toledo Bend dam into Louisiana briefly, and to the campground where I stayed on the shore of Lake Sam Rayburn, and, stopped for awhile at the Cherokee Unit of Martin Dies Jr State Park - all drives down Memory Lane. I lived here for a couple months back in the winter of 2007/2008, while I was working for FEMA after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and I so enjoyed spending a couple days here again.

I don't want to forget to mention that I stopped at the Picket House in Woodville to get some of their fried chicken. Every day they offer fried chicken, and chicken and dumplings. Everyone gets biscuits and cornbread, and very good peach cobbler for dessert. And every day they have the best ever watermelon rind pickles. The sides vary from day to day - both in what's offered and in their quality. You'll probably get mashed potatoes and gravy, maybe green beans or collard greens, or cabbage or yams - all served country style. But the fried chicken is always there, and it's always the best anywhere. I couldn't leave without stopping in Woodville. :-)

I spent a couple of days in Livingston, which was a treat for me. I got to stay at the Escapees Rainbow's End RV Park, which was an excellent park; I will definitely stay again at Escapees parks as I run across them in my travels. I got to visit the Escapees National Headquarters, and got to take a peek into the mail center that has been forwarding me all my mail for the past few years. And I got to take a tour of the CARE center, which is the only one of its kind. It offers assisted living care at a very reasonable rate, for full-time RVers. It was a pleasant place, and felt more like a RV park than a nursing home, but, most important, the residents are able to be as independent as possible, and seemed happy there.