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We’ve been busy here in Bear Creek, for sure.

Our Boston Terrier puppy, Baby, has been keeping us on our toes. She has had some vomiting issues to go along with the normal pee and poo “accidents” around the house. We’ve taken her to our great vet, Dr. Black, a couple of times just to make sure Baby wasn’t suffering from any major problem. Anyway, as we move well into our second week with the little darling, she seems to be doing better…fewer vomiting incidents. And, the 11 week-old dog has already mastered the doggie door and seems to be getting the idea that poo belongs outdoors.  We’re confident that her house training will be totally completed before we go on our road trip at the end of May.

Here’s Baby in her crib:

Here she is in Jay Jay’s bed (something he hates!):

Here she is with Momma Charlie:

Speaking of The Boss, her work on 2016 taxes is now under full steam. She has about five dozen tax clients that will have to be serviced before April 15th. Of course, that is in addition to her bookkeeping clients. So, she and I have instituted an “early morning” protocol wherein we both get up at (usually) 4 a.m. and do a couple of hours of bookkeeping work before the dogs get up and the phone begins to ring. Lots of fun.

However, on the positive side, this work allows us to live a pretty high life. So, “Count your blessings!” definitely applies to us.

We recently got our motor home back from Temecula Valley RV, where it had been residing since December. We decided way back then to bite the bullet and replace all of the 11 year-old flooring (tile and carpet). The new flooring is predominantly wood composite, with new beige colored carpet in those areas that demand it (slide areas). We also remodeled the living room TV cabinet and replaced the TV with a new 40 inch HD flat screen.

The only problem that we currently have with the motor home is that it is stored out in Moreno Valley, which is a long drive (in heavy traffic) from Murrieta.  We had to park it there after our 2016 road trip because none of the local RV storage properties had any 40′ spaces. Last week, my son Tim and I moved the rig out to the Moreno Valley site and, with an hour’s labor, put the cover over the vehicle. It was a chore which I wouldn’t want to do very often. Of course, Charlie is not happy that the rig is stored that far away, because she can’t get into it and stock it with trip goods. So, she started pestering me about moving it, and I tried once again to find a local RV storage property with space for us. Presto! Our old place, Storage, Etc. in Murrieta now has a couple of spaces. So, next week, Tim and I are going to move and re-cover The Beast. I can hardly wait.

 

 

As some of our good RVer friends the Quinns say, “Go large or go home!”

Charlie and I have been talking about adding another dog to our “pack” for about a year. The idea was to get a puppy (“a baby for Booger”) who can hang with our dogs, learn the rules of the road, keep Booger and JayJay “young” as they age, and serve as a replacement when the sad day comes when one of the older dogs is no longer with us.

Call us idiots, but we figure, “in for a dime, in for a dollar!”; i.e. how much more trouble can it be to take care of three dogs when you’ve already got two? One problem, though: Our HOA only allows two dogs per household. But, I’ve yet to see any Dog Limit Police searching houses in Bear Creek, and I personally know of one lady (the one who heads the Boston Buddies rescue organization) who has seven dogs at her estate home. So, WTF…

Grandson Craig and I made a 300-mile trip on Saturday to check out a litter of puppies in Merced, California.  The breeder had three left, but one was promised to a couple who was coming over later that day. Craig and I got to pick between a male and female 10 week-old Boston Terrier puppies. Most Bostons are black and white (like Booger and JayJay), some are “Reds” (brownish red and white), some are “Brindle” (brownish color with black swirls and white), and very few others are what they call “Blues”, in which the dark colors on the dog are a bluish gray. The Merced litter consisted of five Blues. We saw the proud Mom, and she was a Blue.

Both the male and female were cool looking, but the female was the most animated. And, besides, Charlie said to take a female if we had a choice. So, we picked the girl, whose temporary name was “Ramona”.

What a sweetheart she is! She endured the 6-1/2 hour drive back to Murrieta without peeing, pooing, or vomiting while sitting in Craig’s lap. Didn’t whine or cry, despite the fact that she was being taken from her Mommy…forever.

Needless to say, Charlie fell in love as soon as she saw her, and a name was agreed upon ASAP: “Baby”, because she will be the baby that Booger never had.

Of course, Booger and JayJay were very interested in this interloper, and spent the evening sniffing and snorting while checking out Baby’s gear and orifices. It soon became evident (predictable!) that JayJay wasn’t over the moon about his new sister, probably figuring that the pie would now be divided into THREE parts. Booger, on the other hand, was very taken by her new sister/daughter, and it didn’t take too long (24 hours) before they were hanging out together and playing.

Baby had an eventful 48 hours. She had a few “accidents” around the house and in her bed, so Charlie and I were kept busy wiping and cleaning and washing. But, that’s all part of the deal.

What’s been very interesting is how quickly Baby and Booger have picked up playing with toys, particularly balls. Booger seems to really enjoy having someone who will mix it up with her. Baby is feisty and persistent. The two of them are going to have many good times together, although Baby’s energy level is so strong that occasionally Booger avoids her by seeking high ground.

And, Jay Jay is beginning to warm to Baby. In the beginning, he would distance himself from her, but after a few days he is now hanging out with her, and even lets her sniff and munch on him, even though he growls (in the same way that he does when he plays with Booger).

Baby has found her forever home!

 

 

In a week’s time we will have a new President, and I can’t remember being this apprehensive about our country since that night in October, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Americans went to bed not knowing if we’d wake up at all.

Donald Trump has no governmental or foreign policy experience, he seems to be filling out his Cabinet with scary ideologues, and he continues to publicly demonstrate his narcissism and immature behavior. Add to that his strange behavior towards Russia, and his reluctance to admit that his family business will present him with obvious conflicts of interest, and we have…a dangerous guy ready to occupy the Oval Office.

The Republican Party seems uncomfortably aware that it’s nominal “leader” is a bag of worms, and a week doesn’t go by when many party members have to disavow some quote or policy initiative put forth by the President-elect. One wonders how far down the toilet GOP leaders will allow Mr. Trump to take them before they pull the plug.

I’d say that the odds that the Republican-dominated Congress impeaches their own President within his four-year term are probably better than 50-50.

It is a shame that Americans have allowed this travesty to occur. Over 90 million citizens who could have voted for President in 2016 didn’t bother to cast a ballot. Although Mr. Trump won the Electoral College vote, he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by almost 3 million votes. So, he begins his presidency with the support of only about 25 percent of the electorate…not much of a mandate.

For the sake of our country, I hope that there is a lot more to Donald Trump, in a positive way, than meets the eye. Otherwise, many future generations of Americans could end up paying the price…for our collective lapse in judgment.

The fun and games of the holiday season are now over. Unfortunately, this means that Charlie’s 2017 tax season has begun. So, in addition to all of her company’s regular obligations, she will (in her spare time) do tax work for about four dozen individuals and small businesses. Yipes!

Our youngest son, Jonathan, has come down from frigid Whitefish, Montana to help Charlie get their clients ready for tax work, most of which will be done by CPA’s. It’s nice to see Jon, and it’s an opportunity for the brothers to hang out, shoot the bull, and watch some NFL playoff football. Jon’s team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are in the playoffs, while Tim’s and Jeff’s favorite team, the Los Angeles Rams, are, as usual, at home watching the playoffs on TV.

Jonathan is the guy in the back, Jeff is front center, and the big hulking guy on the left is Tim. He’s on a diet. And, he’s also helping Charlie Manning Bookkeeping keep on top of things during the tax season.

The past week or so have been pretty tough on my Mom (Bobbie) and our “Manning” family. Mom’s been diagnosed with early dementia and Alzheimer’s, and she recently got the news that her car driving days are over. Needless to say, she’s devastated (what Californian wouldn’t be?), and is lashing out at loved ones in anger, because they are the nearest thing she can lash at. We know that she still loves us, even though it is really tough to take a dressing-down from your Mother. We’re all trying to weather this and hope that she will eventually accept the verdict and move on with her life. After all, she’s only 89.

Here she is in happier times, with my sister Claudia. What a difference a year makes!

My Mom still resides in her Vista home, where she’s been for the past thirty years. Her doctors advise against her “living alone”, so, for the time being, we children are taking turns dropping by to take her out to lunch, movies, and such, while an in-home supportive service lady drops by regularly to check on her. It’s unknown how long this kind of makeshift arrangement can last. The biggest problem is that all four of us kids live at least an hour from Mom’s house. We could lend her more support if she lived closer, that’s for sure.

I’ve spent the past week or so looking into the idea of an “assisted living facility” that Mom could move into when the time comes for more observation and supervision of her daily activities. At the current time, she suffers from short-term memory loss, but can still take care of her house, make her own meals, bathe and dress herself, and get about without a cane, wheelchair, etc. Other than being confused about things that might have happened yesterday, she is still pretty sharp for an 89 year-old lady.

Of the several ALF’s that I’ve visited, I am most impressed by one in Temecula “Wine Country”. It’s very nice, has lots of activities, and doesn’t have the look or feel of a nursing or “old folks” home. Rather, it is more like a cruise ship that isn’t moving.

I drove down to Mom’s yesterday to see how she’s doing. Amazingly, she looked good, seemed happy, and appears to be “over” the disappointment of having her driver’s licensed pulled by the DMV. In fact, she’s ready to get rid of the car “so I can save money on insurance and DMV tags”! My sister Claudia turned her onto a local $3 senior dial-a-ride service, and my Mom is already planning to use it to go to her favorite local spots. I took her to lunch at Chili’s and we talked quite a bit. She seemed pretty lucid, and she seems happy, for the moment. So, I didn’t bring up the ALF idea. As I told her, if she’s happy, her kids will be happy.

I’ve been in the Bear Creek practice bowling league ever since we returned from vacation. I haven’t been doing to well, bowling one time per week in this “social” league. So, I decided a few weeks ago to step up the effort: I joined a second league, a “scratch” league, which is very competitive. Immediately, my scores started improving, averaging between 190 and 200. But, my form was still very rusty, uncomfortable, and off-balance. So, this morning I took a bowling lesson from the local pro, Jim Murtishaw. Jim has taught me before; in fact, he’s the only instructor I’ve ever had. This morning he tweaked my delivery a bit, and I immediately began rolling some good balls. I’m encouraged, and will probably take another lesson in a few weeks, to see if the lessons have stuck. I think I should be able to average 210 if I bear down, and perhaps there’s hope for another 300, even though I’m a decrepit 69 year-old. We’ll see.

 

We conducted our annual “after Christmas” shopping spree this week, by taking the Amtrak train to Santa Barbara for four nights. It’s Charlie’s chance to buy the things that she really wants, and to relax, just a bit, before the dreaded “tax season” begins.

We love Santa Barbara, as do a lot of Californians. Nice climate, beautiful mountains, the ocean, and red tile roofs.

Lots of bars, restaurants, shops, and college kids roaming up and down State Street. Some poster, tee shirt and head shops, too.

We rode up from Oceanside on Dec. 28th in the Business Class car. Very relaxing. Had a chance to re-read one of my favorite books: The God Delusion, while Charlie read a book on her Kindle.

When we got to Santa Barbara in the afternoon, we had a drink and some nachos at “Baja Sharkeez”, did some minor shopping, and then went to the movies.

We saw “La La Land”, which is a musical. Normally, I’m pretty put off by musicals, but this one was good. The cinematography and set design was exceptional, especially in the opening scenes, when there was an ad-hoc dance party atop a freeway flyover in downtown Los Angeles. Pretty cool. I suspect that this film will do well at Golden Globes and the Oscars.

The next day we did some serious shopping on State Street. It is the main commercial street in Santa Barbara and runs essentially from the Pacific Ocean uphill about three-quarters of a mile toward the coastal mountains. The lower end of the street is populated with bars and dives of all stripes, and is very popular with the local college kids. Did I mention that there were a lot of bars?

There’s one hotel on State Street, the Hotel Santa Barbara, and that’s where we always stay. It’s 90-years old and located right at the corner where the bars and dives neighborhood turns into the upscale retail area.

From the hotel, it is a couple of blocks uphill to Macys, Nordstroms, and the like. Uphill of that on State Street you come to some higher up stores like Saks and such. There’s some street art, too.

 

The four-lane boulevard is nicely-landscaped with trees and lights, and is a very cool place just to walk and people-watch. Many of the buildings were built in the 30’s and 40’s.

We donated $5.00 to the local art museum so that Charlie could use their toilet. The art was so-so. I liked this one.

Santa Barbara is very dog-friendly, so you will run into many people strolling with their dog. There are college-age bums lounging about, as well, mixed-in with the yuppies that are actually contributing something to the economy. It’s all good, everyone is friendly.

If you are not familiar with California, you might not know that the really rich and famous people don’t live in Hollywood, or San Diego, or San Francisco, but…in the Santa Barbara area. The creme de la creme, the upper crust, the folks who have pretentious mansions with large estates looking out onto the beautiful Pacific Ocean. We’re talking the Oprah’s, the Bill Gates’, Ellen and Portia, and…all the old money. (Santa Barbara is where the elite conduct the week-long Los Rancheros Vistadores horse “ride” every year. It is the most exclusive equestrian group in the United States, for sure, including 150 multi-millionaires and famous folks. Getting to participate in this event is like being asked to become a member of Augusta National Golf Club. Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Ronald Reagan, etc., are alumni. A good friend of mine, the guy who taught me how to ride, and who stabled my quarterhorse “Louie” in La Cresta, is a current member. Although he is very rich, the freak way that he got in was that one of the “camps” needed a good horseman, and Ed Metzler was maybe the best in Southern California at the time.)

But, I digress…

Anyway, the gobs of money up here…means that the women’s clothing at some of the finer second-hand/consignment shops is excellent. Lots of Gucci, Versace, etc. I always take Charlie to several of these shops, among which “Renaissance” is the best. If you need a mink coat that has only been worn once, this is your place. (Charlie didn’t buy one.)

We saw all of the shops in our several days here. The only thing limiting us was our two suitcases that we brought on the train; we’d have to pack everything back into them, right? I’m no dummy. Yeah, it costs a few bucks to come up on the train, but you save so much by not being able to fill your car with purchases.

On our final day in town (Dec. 31st), it rained a bit, so we enjoyed it by getting a pedicure…

having a nice lunch at Joe’s Bar…

which featured the “upside down Christmas tree” (the way Christians originally used such trees to celebrate Christmas, by the way)…

and, relaxing in our hotel reading a bit.

That night, New Year’s Eve, we had a nice dinner at “Cadiz”, which specializes in tapas and Spanish dishes.

We shared the Scallops and Meatball tapas…

and I enjoyed my Ribeye steak…

All in all, a very good meal!

We rode back to Oceanside on New Year’s Day and, on the way home, stopped in Temecula at Claudia’s house to visit and take everyone (including Ted and my Mom) out to dinner. We all ate well!

What a nice holiday weekend!

 

Today is a rarity here in Southern California…it’s raining! Actually, we’ve had showers for a couple of days now. Maybe Global Warming is a hoax after all?

Charlie and I have been using these rainy days to get a lot of errands done. Today we visited Dr. Vu, a plastic surgeon, who checked Charlie out stem to stern, on the lookout for large lipomas. He found nine of them that were annoying enough to Charlie to warrant surgical excision. She’s been living with these fatty tumors for many years, and some are quite painful, especially when JayJay or myself happens to poke one of them. Dr. Vu will now send his report to our medical insurance group and, hopefully, they will authorize him to do some slicin’ and dicin’.

Charlie and I are unlike in many, many ways, but it is probably most pronounced with our health histories. I’m lucky to have inherited pretty good genes (my Mom is 89 this year, and I believe that my grandmother lived that long, as well), and have had very few health issues other than accidents. Charlie, on the other hand, has a medical chart that must be several feet tall. Bad genes and bad luck have plagued her for almost all of her life. So, when one of us has to fill out her medical history at a new doctor’s office, it can take some time. To help out, Charlie carries in her purse itemized lists of surgeries that she’s endured and current medicines that she’s been prescribed.

The biggest problem that she will have in receiving authorization for the seemingly routine excision of these subcutaneous tumors is…from the anesthesiologist. Most of them are reluctant to put Charlie “under”, thinking that she may not come out of it. She’s a heart patient, she’s taking many sophisticated drugs, and she has a history of pulmonary emboli. She will have to temporarily go off of her blood clotting medicine for this surgery. Been there, done that, most recently for a colonoscopy. Anyway, it’s routine for us, but scary for her doctors. Hopefully, we can get approval, get this thing safely done, a be rid of those pesky lumps.

We had dinner last night at our friend Jason Friedman’s house. He’s a very good friend of Charlie (they met in LeTip, a business networking group) and he’s my hiking buddy (we did Mt. Whitney awhile back). Jason has a large, beautiful home in Menifee that he shares with his Husky dog, Ashka. Unfortunately, he has no one else to share his life with. He’s had bad luck with women, and is snakebit, to some extent. Charlie and I feel so bad for him, for the loneliness that he’s experiencing. He’s  “desperately seeking Susan”, or anyone else, for that matter, but just can’t find that perfect match.

Maybe that’s his problem…being too picky. Sometimes opposites attract. Take Charlie and I, for example. We’ve been married for 42 years, have been through good times and bad, and we find a way to make the partnership work, despite the fact that we are very different people. In every situation that arises, our Yin/Yang team has two ways of looking at the problem, usually with my brain and Charlie’s heart. Sometimes my way prevails, sometime hers, and sometimes we compromise to reach a solution that satisfies both of us. There’s a synergy at work in our marriage, something that is lacking in many others that I see. I honestly feel sorry for them, when one party dominates the other.

Jason is a very driven guy. His motor seems to always be going 100 mph; lots of nervous energy. He’s immersed in work, doing Iron Man training, helping out at Alcoholics Anonymous, going to church, working on his house, etc. It’s like his life is a burning fuse, where he’s trying to cram as much into it before the bomb goes off. He could be a very dominating, stubborn guy…who knows? How a woman would fit into this frantic existence, I don’t know. Personally, I think he needs someone to curl up on a couch with, someone with a sense of humor, someone to walk (not run) with, a person whom he can trust. I hope he can find one; I did.

We have a big family get-together scheduled for Christmas Eve. We anticipate 16 bodies, including sons Jeff’ and Tim’s families (with some friends) and my sister Claudia and her squeeze, Ted. We’ll have a lot of food, do a White Elephant gift exchange, and gorge ourselves on pasta, Mexican food, chicken wings, and desserts. Charlie has had a very good year, business wise, so she’s bought oodles of presents for the kids and grandkids. There should be many smiles all around.

 

 

It’s the time of the year when Charlie and I put on the holiday feed bag. My size 32 pants are beginning to feel pretty tight.

In the past week we’ve thrown a few dinners and have attended some, as well. We’ve got another tomorrow, then another on Thursday, Christmas Eve at our house on Saturday, then Christmas day at my sister’s on Sunday. By then I’ll be ready to explode! A few days after Christmas we’ll be heading up to Santa Barbara for a short vacation…of shopping, eating, and drinking. Weight Watchers, here I come!! I think another long hike up a tall mountain is in order.

Yesterday I bowled in the Bear Creek League. Nowadays, I’m only bowling one day a week and am having a tough time rolling a 200 game. My league average is under 175 now, as compared to over 200 two years ago. I used to go the the bowling alley wondering if I would throw another 300 game; now, I anticipate rolling a 150 game, or two!  Perhaps more practice and commitment is needed. I hate mediocre bowling.

Same with golf. I played today for the first time in a month. I hit a few good shots, but, overall, my game was pretty ragged. At least the company was good: Gary, my best friend; and two other friends, Maz and Fran. And, because the latter two work at the Murrieta Driving Range, we got a $35 rate (normally $85) at Temecula Creek GC. We had a good time, too, partially because we don’t keep score. We’re just trying to hit a few good shots, tell some jokes and stories, and give each other a hard time. Golf should be fun.

Maz (who is 80) and Fran (who is in mid-70’s) have worked at the driving range for quite awhile, going back to the time when youngster Rickie Fowler was taking golf lessons there. Rickie is now a world famous golfer, and visits the range from time to time. He was there this week, and, according to the guys, drank beer out of the Ryder Cup trophy with some of the driving range guys. His caddie/old high school buddy, Joe Skovron, and his dad were on the course today, a couple of holes ahead of us. Can you imagine…being Rickie Fowler’s caddie on the PGA tour? What a blast that must be!

Charlie has several doctor’s appointments this week. Tomorrow, she will be seeing a plastic surgeon to see if he can remove some of her many lipomas. They are subcutaneous fat deposits that she has on her arms and legs. The are naturally-occurring and benign, but can be painful when they occur over a nerve. We are hoping that the surgeon will agree to excise several of them now, and then maybe another bunch of them later in the year. Charlie could probably keep the guy busy for five years! Hopefully, our insurance will cover this elective surgery.

We got new neighbors this week. His name is Carl and hers is Kerrie, and they’ve moved into the house next door to the Pace’s. Carl is a urologist, so we now have three doctors living in our cul-de-sac (Dr. Herz is a retired neurosurgeon and Dr. Wakabayashi is a retired thoracic surgeon). “Is there a doctor in the house?”…yes, there is! (And, a nurse, too. Charlie used to be a LVN.) If there are any neighborhood medical emergencies, we’ve got it covered.

On Christmas day I will be retrieving my Mom from her house in Vista (about an hour’s drive south) and taking her to the family celebration at my sister Claudia’s home in Temecula. My Mom will be 89 this year, and still drives her own car. But, we don’t want her on the road competing with all of the holiday traffic on Interstate 5. And, she can’t see well enough to drive at night. So, I will drive her to/from the festivities so she can concentrate on the decorations, the food, and the gift-giving (which she really likes!). This year, for the first time in many years, we will be spending Christmas day with my Mom, Claudia and Kellie (my other sister), and my brother, Terry. Health issues considered, I don’t know how many more of these events we will have together. So, I’m looking forward to Sunday.

So are the dogs. We have some toys in the dogs Christmas stockings (hanging from the fireplace mantel). Booger knows they’re in there; she can smell them. Christmas can’t come soon enough for her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie and I fondly call our 40′ 2005 Monaco Windsor motorhome “The Beast”.  We love traveling in it, and it’s quite comfy for the four of us (including the dogs!).  Compared to most RV’s, it pretty luxurious.

It’s not without issues, of course, as it is now 11 years old and counting. Like your home, or any piece of equipment, parts of it wear out, get damaged, or just stop working (from old age!).  Everything has a shelf life, I guess, and The Beast is constantly undergoing renovations.

We’ve been repairing, replacing, and updating parts of The Beast for a couple of years now. The batteries, the slider canvas, the tires, some ceiling fans, the toilet, etc… the list goes on. It costs money to live this lifestyle, and, luckily for us, Charlie is bringing in some pretty good money right now and feels like the rig is a good place to use it. So, we continue…

This season we are changing out all of the flooring. The original ceramic floor tiles have yellowed and several are cracked. And, the carpet is about what one would expect after a decade of abuse. So, at considerable expense, we are re-doing the floors with hard surface wood-like laminate and re-carpeting most of the previously carpeted areas with some Mohawk medium pile material.

We are also upgrading our audiovisual system with a new 40′ HDTV, an upgraded surround sound receiver, and an external Bluetooth music system (for outdoor patio users) that our guests can use with their Pandora phone app.  And, we will now have Dish satellite TV reception in both the bedroom and in the living room. Yeah!

Last year, we bought some very nice artificial grass in Las Vegas to use under the patio. We really liked it, and so did the dogs! We’re going to get another section this coming year.

Luckily, some of this expense can be “written off” against Charlie’s business. It is our home, and her mobile office, for half of the year, complete with her computer, dual monitors, printer, WiFi hotspot, and business phone.

It would be nice if she didn’t have so much work during our road trip, but she’s still enjoying her business, and I help her out with a number of the clients. I can only hike and walk the dogs so much; plenty of extra time on my hands.

When we’re on the road, I try to get Charlie out of the rig as much as I can, and we have at least one “date night” per week when we go out to dinner. And, we both enjoy our afternoon alcoholic beverage break under the patio with the doggies.

It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to do it.

 

The holiday season is upon us.  The dogs are happy.

But, planning season is also underway.  Charlie and I intend to hit the road again in the motorhome beginning in late May.  We are going to do an abbreviated road trip this year, in terms of mileage, because we will not be swinging up into Montana, like we have for the past two years.  In 2016, we traveled as far east as the Black Hills of South Dakota; in 2017, Moab, Utah will be our easternmost stop, with most of our 5-month trip taking place in California.

Unless something comes up to change our plans (note: something usually does!), our itinerary will look like this:

Las Vegas, May 29-June 1

Grand Canyon, June 2-9

Hurricane (Zion), June 10-19

Moab, June 20-29

Park City, June 30-July 3

Winnemucca, July 4

Reno, July 5-7

South Lake Tahoe, July 8-11

Truckee, July 12-15

Napa, July 16-29

Santa Cruz, July 30-Aug 8

Carmel, Aug 9-15

Santa Barbara, Aug 16-22

Oceanside, Aug 23-Nov 4

I’m looking forward to some more good hiking this year.

Hopefully, some of our friends can join us on the journey.  Please check out the itinerary and meet us on the road!

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

I recently completed my annual trip to Oregon to help the Wood Mountain Christmas Tree organization ship natural trees and tree products to fundraising groups in California and Arizona. My good friends Randy and Denise Wood own the Wood Mtn business, and they are good friends of both Charlie and I.  Basically, Wood Mtn works with charities who pre-sell the Christmas trees and/or “greens” (wreaths, swags, and garland) to their donors, allowing the charitable group (usually a school booster group) to make some money, and for the donor to acquire a super-fresh, high-quality Christmas tree or decoration in the process.

A lot of people are involved in bringing these products to market.  The tree grower, Angel Guerrero, leases many plots of land in Oregon where he raises several types of trees: Douglas Fir, Grand Fir, Noble Fir, and Nordman Fir. The trees grow about 1 foot per year, with most trees sold in the 5-6′ through 8-9′ heights, although Wood Mtn does ship some larger trees to a few customers.  Angel’s crews harvest the trees, load them into trucks, bring them to the shipping lot, and then stack them by type and size.

The trees then have to be tagged with Wood Mtn tags, which are color-codes by type and height.

Then, the trees need to be loaded into the 53′ trailers.  Angel’s workers use elevators to get them into the trailers, and other workers pack them tight in the trailer compartment.  This goes on for three days, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., until all 23 semi tractor-trailer loads are complete.

Angel has several crews of Hispanic laborers who do the heavy lifting.  The workers are small in stature, but wiry and strong, and have a cheerful attitude while doing this very hard labor.  I’m sure most of them are illegals, but…they are doing some extremely exhausting labor that very few Caucasian men would put up with for very long.

The Wood Mtn crew consisted of Randy Wood, our jefe, myself, Randy’s son Kyle Wood, and another fellow named James Tardy.  The four of us have worked together for several years.  Randy’s brother Joe Wood also joined us this year.  To be truthful, the week-long trip is a male-bonding experience, a frat party without the music, dames, and booze.  We enjoy each others’ company, the camaraderie, the food, and the goofing off.  This year, James entertained us with the drone(s) that he purchased and attempted to fly (in the motel room!).  He and Kyle eventually got pretty good at piloting the thing out at the tree assembly lot.

This is Randy Wood and the grower, Angel Guerrero.

Here’s a photo of our crew (minus Joe) plus one of Angel’s laborers.

Our crew’s job is to make sure that the 13,000 trees that are being loaded are properly tagged and are of good quality, and that each “drop” within the trailer load is properly marked and the contents of the drop are correct in number and type of tree and in the number of greens (wreaths, swags, garlands) that were ordered.  Each drop is separated by a sign designating the charity/booster group that will be offloading the trailer down in California and Arizona.

My primary job is to make sure that Kyle, James and Joe have all the tools they need to process each truck load, and to make sure that each of the 23 truck drivers has his proper instructions and documentation before he leaves the assembly lot.  My secondary job is to assist Randy by running errands, helping Wood Mtn resolve “brushfires” as they occur, and providing support to Kyle, James and Joe, who do the actual counting of products being loaded onto the trailers.

I was helping Kyle retrieve a piece of equipment on Wednesday when I cut my left thumb (with my pocket knife) while trying to remove a thick zip tie.  Actually, the knife blade was ceramic, not metal, and it broke due to the thickness of the zip tie…jerking over into my thumb and slicing it pretty deep.  I had to go to the local Urgent Care to be patched up.

Anyway, I survived, and was back at the lot in a few hours to help finish to day’s work.  In the end, Wood Mtn shipped 23 truckloads of product, consisting of 13,000 trees, 10,000 wreaths, several thousand swags, and several miles of garland.  Our customers in California and Arizona would have these products in their homes within 48 hours!

Another aspect of the Wood Mtn operation is “Trees for Troops”.  Again, it is a fundraising vehicle for schools, primarily, wherein the end product, a 5-6′ Douglas Fir tree is provided to active service military family free of charge.  Fed Ex works with Wood Mtn to ship the trees to military bases around the U.S.  This year, Wood Mtn was the largest “Trees for Troops” provider in the Nation, with 3,200 trees shipped.

The weather stayed pretty decent all week (for Oregon, in Winter!), so  at least our crew (and Angel’s laborers) didn’t have to suffer in the cold, rain, and snow like in previous years.  We even had time to fly a drone!

It was a nice week.  Randy and I drove up to Oregon (1,034 miles) and back in his nice Silverado pick-up truck.  We had a great time shooting the bull, telling old stories, and debating politics.  I’m looking forward to doing it again next year!

Fast forward one week:

Charlie and I had dinner with the Woods (Denise and Randy last night). I asked Randy how things settled out after we came home.

One of the King’s Trucking semis was extremely late arriving in So Cal. It was, in fact, the load for Murrieta Valley High School, our local school where several of our grandchildren have gone to school. After many hours of waiting around for the truck, the leader of the booster group was extremely pissed off and threatened Wood Mtn with lawsuits, bad publicity, etc. She demanded a full refund plus the profit that the charity would have made. Of course, the late shipment was not Wood Mtn’s mistake, but a decision was made to cut the group a check and try to smooth things over. At about that time, the missing truck reported in and announced that it would be at the school in a few hours. Randy went down there with check in hand, but hoped that things could be worked out with the irate booster group leader.

The truck arrived, backed in, and Randy had a glimmer of hope that the situation was going to be resolved peacefully. That all changed, dramatically, when the doors of the trailer were opened…to reveal a truckload of Chinese ramen noodles!

Needless to say, the irate lady remained irate, Randy was flabbergasted, and the Wood Mtn organization looked like it was being run by the Keystone Cops. The check and apologies from Wood Mtn were provided to Murrieta Valley High School.

There had been a massive screw up by King’s Trucking, and Randy said that the manly truck driver broke down and cried. Evidently, truck trailers were switched at the company lot, from the guy who had picked up the load to the guy who would drive the thousand miles down to So Cal. Someone wasn’t paying attention.

This seemed to be the theme of King’s Trucking in 2016. Almost all of their trucks were either somewhat late or massively late arriving at their designated locations in California and Arizona. The whole Wood Mtn operation was hobbled and its reputation tarnished because of something not really under its control. That’s life, I guess. But, Randy will make them pay, big time.