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Borrego Springs, CA

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Ordinary days

Not every day of life on the road produces exciting adventures.  Sometimes the ordinary chores catch up with you, and you have to take some time to get things back in order.  That’s just what I’ve done the last couple of days.  I got the oil change on the car taken care of on Monday.  Then on Tuesday, I had an appointment to get an eye exam.  I planned to do my grocery shopping afterwards while I was in Nags Head.  So much for plans.  The doc dilated my pupils which took care of the rest of the day.  I was lucky to drive back to the rig with that goofball sunshade behind my glasses without incident.  No way I was going to try to stagger around the grocery store.

They told me my eyes would be back to normal in four hours.  Not so.  It took a full nine hours of staying inside.  I ended up vacuuming and cleaning the rig at 10:00 at night.  I must admit that is not unusual for me.  I seem to get the urge to do cleaning chores late at night.

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This morning I was off to replenish my water supply and take the garbage to the dumpster.  The water from the hook-ups here is good for doing dishes and brushing your teeth, but drinking and cooking water has to be picked up five miles away.  I struggle a little with the 40 lb. bottle.

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I took the back refuge roads over to the maintenance area, but didn’t see any bears this morning.  The field of sunflowers has begun to bloom however.  I find it fascinating the way these blooms follow the sun’s journey across the sky each day.

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After I finished the grocery shopping, I headed back to the rig and picked up reading this book.  Donna Cave sent it to me a while back while I was camping near the Great Smoky Mountains.  It turns out this lady was a classmate in high school of McGyver’s.  It’s pretty much the journal of the decision of a 51 year old woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.  I’m about half way through the book, and am in awe of what this woman accomplished on this 2,155 mile hike that took her six months.  I’m taking my time reading this book so I can absorb and think about the discoveries she made along the way.  When I finish, I’d certainly be willing to send this book forward to anyone who might be interested.  Just let me know.

Surprisingly, the humidity and temperature were low enough tonight to enjoy sitting outside for the evening.  A nice cool breeze made it that much more pleasant. 

69  Pea Island & Alligator River NWRs  201211

And Emma was thrilled to have her friend Precious come over to play.  Those two make quite the pair.  So ends a couple of ordinary days.  It’s back to the Gateway VC for me tomorrow, but I’m hoping to have a more exciting assignment for next week.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

26 comments:

  1. I know, cleaning chores get in the way, as careful as i might be, i still produce dirt, disgusting, eh?

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  2. Don't you just hate it when cleaning gets in the way of life :)
    I'm impressed that you can manage those 40# bottles. I'm not sure I could!

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  3. Sometimes I have way too many ordinary days. How do you lift that bottle of water? There is no way I could lug it anywhere.

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  4. Is reading this book going to inspire you to hike the Appalachian Trail too????

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  5. So with those dilated eyes you found every speck of dust in your rig?

    I've decided hiking the Appalachian trail is too much work so I'm going to do it driving my motorhome... ;c)

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  6. I think boaters and Rver's appreciate the importance and value of clean drinking water so much more than the average person. And we learn to live without wasting to much of it, as well:)

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  7. The Appalachian Trail is a wonderful hike no matter how many or how few miles you go.

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  8. I'm with you my eyes take hours to recover from being dilated. A frineds daughter, Jaala, is currently hiking the Applalachian Trail with a couple of others. They started in April 1 in Amicalola Falls, GA. and are now in Manchester, VT. only 538.1 miles to go.

    Check them out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HikingfortheStars or their web site http://learningtogether.org/hikingforthestars

    They are doing it to raise money for "Learning Together" Who serve children who are typically developing, children with autism, down syndrome, mental health behaviors, and other developmental disabilities.

    Love photos of the field of flowers!.

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  9. Don't hurt yourself with that jug of water. I know there's no way I'd be able to lift it.

    Sitting outside when the temps are mild is the best! And I could watch animals play with each other for hours.

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  10. Some times we gotta do what we gotta do.

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  11. I'm impressed that you could wrangle that jug of water. That stuff is heavy! And most any jugs are awkward at best.
    Once upon a time, we rented a houseboat on the Trent Severn Waterway system with another couple, and at one point we had to get more fresh water. Getting it wasn't the issue, as much as lugging it back to the boat. Oy!
    We were missing a few things on that trip, one of which was a small two wheeled dolly, which I've since used on many occasions.
    A week on a houseboat was hoot, by the way, and we've talked about doing it again some day.
    Enjoy your day.

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  12. I'd love to read that book. Reading about what other women have accomplished has given me some confidence to do things I would never have done before, like take up hiking!

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  13. We, too, buy our drinking water. We haven't found any water kiosks anywhere here... not even at Wal-Mart... so we've been buying 1 gallon jugs of drinking water. A little more expensive (84 cents) but they're available and a lot easier to manage. I think you can buy a pump for those 5 gallon water bottles... might be handy to have.

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  14. I will check with Merikay on reading the book after her or I can just get it from the library. I just finished reading Wild..from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed....not bad...especially since she did it solo before gps etc. My husband wants us to hike the Arizona Trail...I'm thinking no...ha!

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  15. Judy, I'm so glad you are enjoying the book..it was almost life altering for me...It gave me strength to feel that I could do things I thought I couldn't...I will find a photo we have of Jean from Den's 50 year class reunion and post it soon...

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  16. We had a great evening for sitting out yesterday. Doesn't happen often in summer down here in SE Arizona, especially in monsoon season. But there was a splendid two and a half hour gentle steady rainfall in the morning, so the entire day was cool, and the evening storm clouds made for a gorgeous sky. Maybe more of the same today, we'll wait and see!

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  17. Sounds like a great day especially the relaxing and slowly reading a book. We buy water when on the road but luckily here at home our tap water is really, really good.

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  18. I would love to to read that book, I think I'll look it up on my Kindle. After reading that one you should read Bill Bryson's "A Walk int he Woods". He sounds like a wimp compared to this lady but he is really funny. When I was younger that hike sounded like a real adventure now I"m pretty sure I couldn't handle it. We haven't been anywhere yet that we couldn't drink the water, but it is filtered about 3 times before we drink it. I'm sure the day is coming when we find it though.

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  19. Your header with the caption cracks me up every time I open your blog!!! :)

    I love days with absolutely nothing to do. They are my favorites.

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  20. I would REALLY love to hike the Appalachian Trail...I'm going to read that book...I will never forget the 80 something year young woman that was biking across the country. We met up with her on the Lake Champlain bike trail. We were huffing and puffing along at the time. She looked fantastic! Wearing the total bike hip outfit...wow...

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  21. I have the exact picnic table cloth. I think probably 95% of campers do.
    Dilate my eyes and I am done for the day!

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  22. I'm glad you're enjoying that book. Hiking the AT is as much mental as it is physical. I so much admire the people who can meet that kind of challenge.

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  23. Judy I am going to look for that book on Amazon.com I am sure there will be many others wanting to read it and you only have one book :) Sounds very interesting to me!
    I also like to clean or oraganize at night, but its just been recently that I have been able to get back to doing that once in a while. I like to do things in the daytime that I LIKE to do, LOL.

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  24. Love the pictures of Emma having a good time.

    I would love to read that book. I dreamed for years of doing a long through hike in a wild area. A few years ago I had a collection of all the books written by AT through hikers up to that point. They were all so inspiring.

    I haven't gotten one id on my giant worm today and you may be my last chance. Looks like a tomato hornworm but oh what a mouth. Yuck!

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  25. Judy, I have gotten the 3 gallon water bottles, much easier to carry and lift, or you could use what you have and only put 3 gallons in them and get the extra jug for what you might need. Just a thought. Love to watch birds bathing.

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  26. The book sounds interesting. Love the photos of Emma & Precious playing! Don't think I could carry that big bottle of water though..I'd have to have a dolly of some sort.

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