Where have we been?

Our friend, Cherie of "Tales from Technomadia" put a link up on Facebook yesterday to a USA/Canada map where you create your own map to show where you have been on your travels....if you are interested in creating your own click here.  This is what ours looks like after 21 months of travel.  

Orange - spent several days

Pink - spent a day

Green - a whole lot of time, and know it very well

Blue - spent time, and know it pretty well

We still have a bunch of those states up in the northeastern corner of the US to visit, but the time is coming in a couple of summers when we will transverse Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic and then visit those northeastern states.  You will note I highlighted Hawaii......of course we didn't take the motorhome there, but we spent our 20th wedding anniversary there, and the same for Quebec.....a few years before we started our journey we flew there to take a multi day bike tour.   Otherwise we have been to all the other states in our coach that we have highlighted.  We need to spend more time in those orange states, too!

Yesterday I published a sunset picture I had taken on our drive from Fallon to Carson City.  I hadn't seen TLE's pictures of the same sunset yet, and I wish now I had used hers.....they are both spectacular......in fact so much so that I am putting them up today.  The first one is my favorite.....click on it to make it larger and see what I mean!

I think TLE's sunset pictures from Thursday are way better than mine so I'm putting them up a day late.....the top one is just simply amazing!  The clouds look like islands floating in the sky.

Friday morning was probably the warmest morning we have had in a long time, and before the day would be over we would have our highest high temperature in a couple of months.  I puttered around outside in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt putting out the patio awning (with TLE"s help), the window awnings, and hooking up the water and sewer connections....the coach is facing north and south so both sides of the coach are getting direct sunlight at one point during the day.  We even ended up opening some of the windows  as it was getting warm inside without the aid of heaters!

Around 12:15 we headed into town to El Charro's Avitia Mexican Restaurant to meet a college friend, Terri, for lunch.  We last saw Terri on a multi day bike trip TLE and I did with her down the California Coastline to San Diego about 3 years ago.  We had a delightful 2 hour lunch answering questions about our lifestyle, as well as just talking about the nomadic lifestyle with Terri and her friend Jerry.  I've eaten at El Charro's a couple of times before, and would give them 4 stars on a 5 star scale.  Yelp gives them 3.5.....and I would probably agree, but they do have Negra Modelo on tap, which is rare, so for that they get the 4.

TLE and Terri in Dana Point on our bike ride in November of 2010

We made plans to meet up with Terri again in a couple of days before we leave, and then headed into town to the local Goodwill to make a donation of another large bag of clothing I culled out while we were at my brother's home just a few days ago.  TLE managed to find a couple of new outfits for about $10, but I found nothing I could not live without.

Then we headed back south of US HWY 395 to the local Trader Joe's.....what a delight it was to find one so close to where we are staying!  We filled our basket with food, wine and beer and headed for the checkout stand.  It seems that about every 6 months our bank's computer system decides we are not where we are supposed to be and puts a hold on our debit cards......Friday was the magic day for us again.  After TLE's and my cards were both declined I used a regular credit card to pay, knowing there was plenty of money in our account, so it was just a matter of calling them and letting them know we really were in Carson City, NV.  

In talking with our bank representative I was able to get a direct "800" number to the fraud department which will enable us, in the future, to get the holds released within a couple of minutes, instead of the usual 30 minutes of being transferred three times.  I used it and it worked just as it should.  It is always puzzling to me why we can go 6 months without a hiccup from the bank, and then suddenly in some random place the computer "wakes up" and decides something is wrong.....it could be for a small Starbuck's transaction of $8.50, or a large fuel bill of $650......it seems to have nothing to do with the amount or the location, or even the frequency of the use of the card.  Anyway, it's a small inconvenience to live this nomadic life.

After clearing up the bank issue I retrieved the BBQ from basement storage, set it up and lit it in anticipation of cooking some Cajun Spiced Salmon we bought at TJ's.  TLE prepared some sauteed mushrooms, and a wonderful salad using heirloom tomatoes, blue cheese, and spinach greens.  That was an amazing dinner, and an amazing salad!

Ironically, after dinner we watched the finale of Master Chef Junior, and marveled at what these 12 and 13 year old finalists whipped up in 90 minutes.  Nevertheless, I loved our dinner, and that salmon was delicious!

Saturday we will take the top off the 'Bird and drive into the Lake Tahoe Basin for the day....we haven't been to Lake Tahoe together for a number of years.....it is one of our favorite places on earth where we have spent a lot of time over the years of our marriage.  My parents first introduced me to Lake Tahoe back in 1954, and I have been in love ever since.  It is where we spent our honeymoon 42 years ago.

Thanks for stopping by!