RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!!!

Weather Report from Red Bluff, CA: It was 50 degrees with a thick cloud cover when I got up. Getting out of bed before daylight is something I rarely do anymore. Usually when I get up early to write the blog even though it is early, the dark time is done. But today it was just getting light an hour and a half later. It has been pouring down rain for two days and as predicted, our Penny the Pace sprung another leak. We went outside in the dark last night and Phil climbed the ladder so he could dump the water off the awning over the slide out. Looking around with a flashlight he believes he found the place where the water is coming in so fixing that when we dry out went on the “to do” list. Back inside, everything came out of the upper cabinets inside the slide and he aimed the electric heater and fan inside to dry them out. Fortunately, it will most likely not a major problem since we caught it early.

What have I been doing since I got up? Drinking coffee and enjoying a wonderful web album (slide show) received from my cousin in Tennessee. A definite bright spot for my day! She and her husband, Brownie along with two of her grown children, their spouses and three of her grandchildren spent several days at the Coffee County Fair and the pictures are sweet and special. Thanks for sharing Sharon!

This past Sunday was an exceptional family day. In the afternoon we visited my cousin, Mel and his wife Yvonne and their two adorable children then had dinner with Mel’s mother, Colleen when she got off work. Colleen’s grandfather, John Martin COX (b: 1870) and my great grandmother, Mary Matilda COX Criswell Alger (b: 1854) were brother and sister—two of twelve children born to Virginia and James H. COX. I have corresponded with this branch of my family over the years but this was my first face to face meeting. Mel’s sister, Karleen stopped by with her oldest boy, Damian and Phil and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all my cousins in person.

Monday was our travel day and we left Klamath Falls, Oregon and drove south to Red Bluff, California. We have been parked at the Red Bluff Elks all week. They have several electric, water hookups and some dry camping spaces as well. A donation of $12 per day is expected—up from the $10 we paid two years ago. A bargain regardless! We will empty our tanks at the dump station provided before we leave tomorrow for Pleasanton.

The next day was fairly uneventful. We found the local Wal*Mart, I renewed one of my prescriptions and we picked up a few non-perishables items we needed as it is not a Supercenter. The next day we took a drive south to Chico and Oroville. I bought a book I was looking for at Barnes and Nobel in Chico and we drove around until we found Oroville Dam in Oroville. I wanted to see it after learning from my cousin, Sherry that her dad, my Uncle Harry had helped build it back in the early 60s. Very impressive

While driving through Oroville we spotted a tiny teardrop trailer with “Vacations in a Can” painted on the back. We snapped a couple pictures because it was so cute. At the dam observation parking area guess who pulled in? We introduced ourselves to Joe and Leslie Kosareff and discovered they were the builders of this adorable RV and after getting a tour told them I would give them a free plug on my blog. The next day we drove to Lassen Volcanic National Park. An interesting 30 mile drive from the west entrance to the south entrance took us to over 10,000 ft., past some geothermal activity, and past a remarkable abundance of exceptional fir, pine, redwood and cedar trees. After a lifetime in the northwest, trees are not my favorite sightseeing spectacle but even I had to admit, these trees were beautiful. Oh yeah, we saw a lot of rocks too … and I’ll tell you it was enough rocks to hold me for awhile! When we got back to town, we ate our “Linner” at the Riverside Grill. This is my favorite restaurant in Red Bluff. Located right on the Sacramento River, we sat at a table on the deck. As usual, the food was delicious and while we ate, we watched a fisherman determinedly cast his line into the slow flowing water and actually catch a small fish. Our waiter wasn’t surprised and said there are lots of fish in the river.

Due to the rain, we stayed home on Friday except for going to dinner at the Elk’s Lodge just across the parking lot. The high cost was a surprise for a less than spectacular roast beef buffet but we paid the $15 per person without complaint. Our logic being that the money may in fact help to keep the lodge alive which will benefit us in the long term. Their survival guarantees we can continue to use this RV parking as needed at a very low cost. We called for an update on our much loved Aunt Elaine and the news is frustrating. Her daughter, Shannon told us that they have started the radiation to reduce the size of the lung tumor in the hope it will relieve some (but probably not all) of her discomfort. Maybe then, they can decrease the amount of powerful pain medication so as to positively affect the quality of her time left with us. We feel so helpless and are distraught, angry, frustrated, sad, and depressed that this has happened to our dear Auntie. Since she stopped smoking around 30 years ago, it just doesn’t seem reasonable that she has to suffer from this devastating cancer!

The rain kept us home again on Saturday as sightseeing is no fun looking through flip-flopping windshield wipers and we helped our food cost average by opening canned chili for dinner. I called my amazing niece, Tammy and learned that her dad, my sister, Dixie’s husband Paul’s eye surgery on Friday was apparently very successful. Get well soon, Paul!