See ya later

I probably won't be posting until I get to my first overnight stop on Monday, and that is providing the weather gods are smiling on me!

I'm meeting my son & his family for bluegrass brunch, and if I remember to take some pictures I'll try to post them later today. Then they are coming back here with me and he will pack my car; my daughter and her family may join us this afternoon. Where, oh where will I seat them all? I need to buy some folding chairs but there really isn't much place to store them.

Tomorrow my daughter is having dinner at 4pm, and I will probably do a last load of laundry in the morning so I can leave an empty laundry basket. I wanted to run the steam cleaner over the floors, but that involves a lot of furniture moving, plus trying to get the mounds of dog hair that hide under everything prior to running the steamer. I think I'll finally be able to relax when I'm driving 400+ mile days and settling in at a motel every night.

I'm hoping I-80 will have clear roads from here to Reno, and especially up around the Donner Summit. I don't think they get snow up there unless we have rain down in the valley, and we've had a couple of clear days. I don't have chains and don't intend to buy any as I don't partake in winter sports. If the roads are snowy you have to have them or they won't let you through. I could run into those situations from here to the eastern side of Wyoming, so I might as well not worry about it.

It's amazing the grand feeling you get just before striking out on a long trip, and especially a driving rather than flying trip. No jet lag for me!

Driving in mountains; printer back in service

Since I'd like to drive through the Cumberland Gap this trip, I decided to take a look at the Mountain Directory East. The Gap itself is no doubt well graded and easy to drive, but some of the roads I will take to get there are another story. Although I don't think I will drive KY-160, the Directory reports "2 miles or more of 12%, both sides of hill". WOW, is all I can say! Such a big deal is usually made of grades that are 6-8%, and I can't even imagine a 12% grade, unless maybe it would be like some of the hills in San Francisco, which I drove back in the 1980's. It is scary when you reach the top and see only sky until your car begins to tilt downward, and then you see an unbelievable drop that you have to follow through with if you don't want to hang suspended at the top. It gives you a rush, that's for sure!

I'm taking Mountain Directory East with me this time. I'd love to have the power of the diesel, but wouldn't want the width of an F-350 with duallies.

As I mentioned, I have been experiencing problems with my two printers - the monochrome laserjet (my favorite), and the all in one color inkjet (which I've never found satisfactory). I recently installed new toner in the laserjet, but then began to get a message that there was a problem with the drum. The printer is cheap enough that it would be a waste to spend money on a new drum, so it sat idle for a while.

I went to Walmart this morning to see if a transitions coating could be added to my glasses - it can't - and then looked for black printer ink for the color inkjet. The printer tells me I need to replace the black ink cartridge, while the guide showing ink levels indicates a black cartridge that is 3/4 full. Walmart had nothing for me, so I drove to Staples, and then to Costco, and found nothing.

I came back home and decided to remove the drum and maybe shake it a time or two to see if it would work. It shouldn't need replacement this soon anyway. So I opened the back of the printer and found a jammed paper, which I removed, and the printer worked fine after the jam was gone.

As far as my glasses go, I have 60 days to return them and get replacement lenses, for which I would just pay the difference. Since I got an extra discount of $35, I wonder if I would pay the difference between transitions and the original price of my lenses, or the difference between transitions and the price I actually paid. The optometrist told me I can go to any Walmart Vision Center and make the change. I don't care much at all for the Walmart near where I will be in NY, although their Vision Center is ok. I may just stay with what I have and quit trying to change things. There is a reason why I chose the lenses I have rather than something else, so I shouldn't second guess myself.

I took some pictures of my kitchen last night to send to my oldest son. The overhead light makes most of them have a yellow cast, but the first picture is more accureate as to color. I should have turned off the overhead light and retaken the pictures, but I was too tired for that.







Yesterday I bought a few things for my trip at the grocery, including two 1-gal bottles of spring water. The bottles have a plastic strap on top making it very easy to pick up and carry them. I don't like to push a cart to my car and then have to bring it back, so I carry my purchases to the car if possible. I picked up the lightweight grocery bag in my left hand, and the two bottles of water in my right. By last night I could barely move my right arm, and even went to sleep with the heating pad on it. This morning it still hurts, and I'm faced with a choice of toughing it out or taking an ibuprofen, which really irritates my stomach. So far I'm just bearing the pain. I hope it goes away before I have to start carrying things into motel rooms!

New glasses

I am wearing my new glasses and I think I'm really going to like them. It takes some getting used to as I am not accustomed to wearing glasses for anything but reading. I notice, however, that objects in the distance have a great deal more clarity with the glasses than without. It is also nice to be able to read, and then to walk into another room without having to constantly remove and replace the glasses.

I no longer needed glasses for anything other than close-up reading for about the past 4 years, and I know if I get used to these it won't be long before I am wearing them all the time. I hate the thought of it, but . . . I sure wish I had gone ahead and gotten the transition lenses that get darker in the sunlight. I don't suppose they can add a coating after the lenses have been cut.

I had asked Donald to print my emergency info since my printer says it is out of black ink, although the ink chart shows the black cartridge to be 3/4 full. I had to download a printer driver from the internet in order for it to even communicate why it wouldn't print. The printer will be the next item to go to Goodwill, while I keep searching for a decent printer that just prints. The printer I have seems to have more buttons and choices for faxing than anything else. A printer should at least be able to print. But what does a low-tech person like me know.


I am accomplishing a little at a time, although I don't see how I can be ready to leave before daylight on Monday. I tried to set up the tent just for practice and to make sure I have all the poles, but there is no place outside, on the driveway or otherwise, that has enough room. I am sure it will all come back to me, as it is a pretty easy tent to raise, except for the height of it which makes me have to stretch to secure the poles at the top. I'm hoping that I can spend a couple of days at Cumberland Gap National Park on my way back, so I'm taking the tent and a sleeping bag. I don't want to have to cook, but I think there are some small towns in the vicinity where I can have meals. Morning coffee 1st thing is what I would miss, but I'll have to see how the packing goes. If I can get one of my kids to pack, they have the organizational skills to neatly fit everything into the car. I can do ok with it, but I love to watch them do it - they are so superior and they know it! It's like a game to them: "What, Mom, is that ALL you have to pack???"

Leaving soon?

I decided today to possibly leave early Monday morning, maybe before daylight, and get a start on the traffic. I am not sure yet whether to go I-80 or US 50E - I'd much rather drive on 50 but the roads could be bad the closer I get to Lake Tahoe. And then there is always the crazy traffic around sll the condos & resorts. My aim is to arrive in Milwaukee on Friday, and spend the weekend there with family.

I was just taking my time with all I have to do before departure, so now I need to hustle! I vacuumed the car this afternoon, but forgot to do the cargo area and it probably needs it the most, so I'll have to drag my small portable vacuum out again, maybe tomorrow.

I also started to pack, and I think I'm taking too many clothes, but I can't decide what to leave out. It's one thing when you are going on a 2-week vacation, but I'll be away for way longer than that.

I doubt that I will do any more scanning before I leave, but I might.

Good things happening

Nothing like winning a lottery, or even anything most folks would think twice about, but good things are happening to me. Following on yesterday's electric bill of $13+ for March, I picked up two refills at Costco this morning. My blood pressure med usually costs me about $.84 for a 90 days supply, but this morning it was a whopping $.12. That is for 45 pills that I cut in half, which makes a 90 day supply. The other prescription was in the neighborhood of $54 last month, but I can't find my receipt for it. Today's refill was under $23. Every little bit counts when you are embarking on a long trip.

I also took my Highlander for an oil change, which was 1000 miles before a change was due, but I want everything to be OK before I leave.

I would like to post some more TDY pictures, if you can stand it.

The first picture is from a trip to Jacksonville, FL in Dec. 1985, and was taken on a little side trip to St. Augustine and the Fountain of Youth. I could just see the years fade away!


The next few pictures are from a trip to Wilmington, NC in June 1987, with a side trip to Cape Fear.


I don't know enough about ships to tell you what this is, but I think it is named the USS North Carolina or something similar. The woman in the picture is one of the team members.


And here I am:


In January 1988 I attended a class at Ft. Lee, Virginia, and this was my "classroom".


I managed to get in a side trip to Colonial Williamsburg, and spent some time in the stocks, and then another day to Washington, DC.



Tomorrow or the next day I might continue with Ireland, or a TDY trip to the Northeast, and Boston, Cape Cod, Vermont, etc. Or not.

Misc. travels

I decided to take a break from Ireland, and go back to some of my TDY trips when I worked for the Corps of Engineers. I've already posted entries on my trip to Japan and Korea, but want to try to go through some of the trips in order that I took them. I can only go by the dates printed on the back of the photographs themselves, but I do recall that Omaha, NE was my first TDY, in July 1985. TDY is a military acronym that stands for "temporary duty", or "business trip" in civilian-speak.

Our business was conducted at one of the COE offices in downtown Omaha, but over our first weekend there we visited Offut AFB, which was a SAC base back then. I don't know if it is even still in existence, with all the base closures over the past couple of decades.



I found this item at the Museum on base, and painted on it are the words "Thermonuclear bomb". I got chills just looking at it.


The highlight of all my career with the COE came right here as we were leaving the base. Over to our left was an immense field, and we saw in the distance an odd looking aircraft coming down the long runway. We stopped the car and I got out to take a picture. It came up to the fence alongside the road, slowly turned around, and then took off in the direction it came from. Yes, it was the space shuttle "Challenger".



The disaster occurred in January 1986, so the Challenger had about 6 months left to live.

My next trip was to Baltimore in October 1985, and the only picture I can find is one of the Inner Harbor:


I visited the Baltimore office several times but didn't take many pictures. One weekend I walked with another team member from the Inner Harbor over to Ft. McHenry. This photo doesn't do justice to the flag, which is probably one of the largest I've ever seen.




I spent two weeks at Ft. Worth in May 1986. On the weekend I visited Southfork (the Ewing ranch) and the Ft. Worth Livestock Exchange.



One of the last evenings in Fort Worth was spent browsing Shepler's, and I found a prairie skirt and cowgirl boots with my name on them - fortunately I turned around and walked out before I made a complete fool of myself!

Back in the here and now, I just got my statement of rent for April which I need to go to the office and pay. Included are charges for all utilities, and in the past month my electric usage was 156 kwh, at $13.26. Not bad, as I have really been trying to remember to unplug the microwave and other phantom electric users unless I need to use them.

I am thrilled to know I'm not the only person in the world who could lose her glasses when they are hanging from her neck! I enjoyed the comments and shared experiences.

A short break

I visited my daughter and her family today, so I took a short break from scanning Ireland pictures. I watched her slideshow of pictures from the recent wedding of my niece in Orlando, plus many photos from the visits to Disney, Epcot, and all the related Disney parks in that area. I visited Epcot Center back in the 1980's, but it was different then, and didn't have all the disney figures spilling over from the Magic Kingdom. I enjoyed watching the pictures and the happiness on my granddaughters' faces.

Yesterday Steve put the new light fixture up, and I love it. It's so nice to have light in the kitchen at a flick of a switch, but the ceiling will have to be touched up with paint. Because of the the location of the fan's electrical connections on the side, it was set in a different spot than the light fixture that has the electrical connections in the center.


Now the dishwasher is working but I need to replace the lower rack soon. I considered replacing the disposal that doesn't work, but decided to just remove it completely. I bought the pipes and such to do a better job on the under-the-sink plumbing, and Steve will do that soon.

I wonder if someone can tell me what these flowers are. They grow wild and close up overnight, looking in the morning like kumquats, all folded tightly! I usually don't think to take the camera in the morning.


Jeannie had emptied my large suitcase so I brought it home with me today. I have some of my summer clothes ready to pack, and will get started soon. She still has a smaller suitcase, and I'll probably put clothes in it that I will need to access along the way. Last year I figured out it worked best to transfer the clothes I would need the following day over to a smaller backpack, and not have to deal with taking a suitcase into the motel. I always try to get a room at a motel with individual entrances right off each room. It is so much easier than having to make several trips through a parking lot, into a side door or the lobby, and down the hall to the room.

I'm having fun going through old pictures and I won't even have the opportunity to touch the surface of the thousands of photographs I have. Maybe I'll scan a few more this evening.

One last story, on myself. You might remember the problems I've had with keeping track of my reading glssses, and that one of my sons gave me a chain to hold them around my neck. Well this morning I couldn't find my glasses before I left for Jeannie's house, and I searched every room, some of them twice. I eventually found the glasses - hanging on the chain around my neck!