Out For A Birthday Drive...

 

Images from the drive we took yesterday, for Joan's birthday outing.  In honor of that, I wore my birthday suit.  Yes, she made me cover it.

Before we left Murphy got some outdoor time.  I got these shots when Joan "escorted" him from Steph and Dan's yard...

 The boy is fast.  All 4 paws off the ground on that image just above.

And then, out for a drive, with the intended destination(ish) of Tortilla Flats.  It is all highway for the first hour and 15 minutes of that drive.  At Apache Junction, you turn east on Hwy 88 to take the two-lane to Tortilla Flats.  One of the first things you see is Superstition Mountain...

The road is twisty and scenic; I've ridden it on my motorcycle, but this was Joan's first time.  We shared the photo duties along the way...

Yes, there are three lakes along Hwy 88.  Not huge, but this is the desert, so any water seems special.

The first view of Tortilla Flats...

It isn't a "town" - there are essentially three buildings: a restaurant/bar, a souvenir shop, and a sundries shop.  We parked the van and walked around a bit...

I have mentioned that the van can fit into a "normal" parking spot - as you can see, it is definitely bigger than a typical car/SUV...

We had a tasty lunch at the restaurant, then drove east on Hwy 88, for as long as the road is paved (a few miles beyond Tortilla Flats).  The road does go all the way to Roosevelt Lake, but we turned around when we ran out of pavement.  Pretty scenery along the way...

Passing back through Tortilla Flats, I pulled into a turnout to get a photo of the van...

We stopped in another pullout for a lake view...

Then one last stop at another view/hiking area parking, for one more photo of the van...

Back to civilization and the highway back to our part of the Valley of the Sun.  It was a beautiful day - in the mid-90s for a high.  We enjoyed the day out in the van.  Back home, it was time to open cards and presents...

Yes, there was cake.

You Say It's Your Birthday...

 

Happy Birthday to ya!

If you said, "The Beatles, from their 1968 White Album," you get 10 bonus points.  If you said, "It's somebody's birthday today, and it's one of those that ends in a zero," you are right on.  Yes, it is my Honey's birthday today.

"What do you want to do on your special day?"

She said, "Let's go for a drive in the van.  Maybe lunch out, then something easy for supper."  So, we have a plan.  Eventually... the representative from our home builder was supposed to be here at 9:00 this morning to go over things on our list to be addressed (coming up on one year in the new house).  At 8:15, Joan got a text from them saying "it will be between 9:30 and 9:45" before she will get here.  So, we'll get out when we can.

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Old Parents...

 

Remember when you were a kid in school and there was always one kid who had parents that seemed a lot older than most of the other parents?  Or, when you were in your 40s and you heard about someone your age having a baby... and thinking, "They are going to be in their 60s by the time that kid is out of high school"?

Joan and I were young when we had Steph.  I was 7, Joan was 6.  There were times it felt like that.  We were never "the old parents" at any school gatherings.  And when Steph went off to college, we often heard, "I can't believe you two have a kid in college!"

And now, we are parents of a kid who is contemplating retirement in the next few years.

All that aside, we are now... the old parents.  Cat parents of a feline who has a lot of energy... maybe a bit of ADD.

This morning, I took Murphy out before 7:00.  A glorious morning, with our outside thermometer reading 67º.  Today is forecast to be the first day in a long time where the high temperature won't reach triple digits; and the first time after 21 days in a row where we aren't expected to break a record high temperature.  But, I digress... Murphy enjoys his outdoor time.  For some reason, he has decided that Steph and Dan's yard is more interesting than ours.  Our yards combine in an "L-shape" and we both have decent size yards.

Shortly after going out, Murphy trotted over to Steph and Dan's yard.  I dutifully followed him and steered him back to our yard; where he decided it was time to poop.  Yes, he will poop outside.  In fact, he prefers to poop outside.  TMI?  We have a container of poop bags for immediate clean-up.  We share a poop container with Steph and Dan at the far side of the house.  I walked the poop bag around, fully expecting Murphy to walk along with me.  But, no - he waited until I got back to our yard, then took off running for the "neighbor's" yard.  I followed him over there, corralled him, and steered him back to our yard.

This went on two more times (for a total of 4, for those keeping score).  Murph finds this quite amusing, as he is much faster than his older cat Dad.  Did I mention the yards are a decent size?  It's a bit of a walk every time I have to go after him and bring him back to his own yard.  Murph obviously has more stamina than his old Dad, because he could keep this up all day.

After the 4th time, I scooped him up and brought him inside.  Shortly thereafter, Joan went outside with him... and, of course, he took off running for the other yard.  After a couple times of that, Joan opened our patio door and said, "Jim, call your cat."  I can tell Murphy is in trouble when she calls him my cat.

One of us thinks it might be worthwhile to use a tazer on him.  I won't mention which of us, but I am a pretty good shot.  I don't want to hurt him, just slow him down a bit.  And I figure after getting tazed a couple dozen times, he might learn to stay in his own yard.  And it is a lot less effort to chase a tazed cat than one who is capable of running faster and jumping higher (is he wearing Keds???) than his aged human parents.

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Popular...

In the past 10 years, we have been residents in 3 different states.  Which means we have been registered to vote in each of those states.  Apparently, those who send out texts and e-mails from every candidate haven't kept up with our moves... no doubt, you have been getting all kinds of political spam from every direction, as well.  The next 4 weeks is going to be even worse - we are getting down to the wire with the upcoming elections, so every candidate, every PAC, every group that gets their hands on voter registration info is looking for a donation and my vote.  I'm tired of it.  Just tired of the non-stop barrage of pandering and the media coverage of it all.  Even YouTube is showing me political ads before I can watch a van, scooter, travel, camera, etc, etc video... and I entertain myself with YouTube videos.

If a registered voter hasn't made their mind up on candidates and issues at this point, I would not trust them to be intelligent enough to vote.  That's 3 weeks of advertising dollars being pissed away.  That should give you some idea of how a candidate expects to "compensated," when their advertising budget exceeds their compensation for holding any particular office.  No, that doesn't sound right to me, either.

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Making Music...

I got together with my music buds today.  Only the second time since we got back from our summer trip.  It was good to see everybody; well, almost everybody: our bass player Danny couldn't make it today, because he is dealing with a family medical situation.  We all missed having him there.  Mark, Ron, and I took turns playing bass.  Or, as Mark put it: "5 guitar players is more than enough."  It was still a good time making some music.

And while the boys were playing, Cindy and Joan went out for lunch and did some retail therapy.  

Light Up The Night Sky...

 

No, we're not having a rave in the backyard.

I did mention yesterday about all the plants and ornaments Joan has been arranging in the yard; some of them are lighted (solar).  It adds a festive air to the yard in the evening...

(Photos courtesy of Joan)

Close...

 

It was 72º again to start the morning.  Joan took Murphy outside while I did my morning routine: get Murph's food ready, take my pills, put out Joan's pills (mostly vitamins), take my blood pressure... yeah, maintenance kinda stuff.  Then, I joined them out on the patio.  Joan uncovered our low slung patio furniture (couch, 2 big chairs, coffee table, end tables) so we could sit comfortably.  It feels like we are getting to that time of year that we can do some outdoor living again.  Oh, it's going to get over 100º again today, but just a few degrees and only for a couple hours.

Joan made chocolate muffins (sugarfree) to take care of my morning "treat" (for the pills I need to take with food), then prepped for French toast that I will make on the griddle.  It was good to cook outside again, and to eat out there (with one of the patio umbrellas providing shade).  Nice to eat out there, again, too.

Murphy enjoyed his outdoor time, as well.

I did take this photo to show some of Joan's yard art that I mentioned in yesterday's post...

There is a lot more to the yard than this section, but this makes me smile; and I think it makes Joan happy, which is the main point.

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Since I mentioned the yard (courtyard, patio), here's a few photos taken closer to noon today:

The griddle area...

The tall table, where we ate breakfast...

The "lounge area" where we relax first thing in the morning...

By the time noon rolls around, the shade is "decorated" with the slats from the pergola overhead; morning and afternoon, the shade is solid.  The HOA requires this type of pergola, because... well, I guess they don't want an overhead shade area looking like a lean-to.

The overall patio area...

Looking directly out from the patio is our view of South Mountain; it is a relaxing place to start the day.

Plug it in...

 

If you said, "Plug it in, plug it in - from the 90s commercials for Glade Plug-Ins, you get 20 bonus points."  If you said, "A song by British electronic music duo Basement Jaxx featuring American singer JC Chasez, formerly of NSYNC, 2003," you get 50 bonus points, 'cause I've never heard of that.

This morning, Joan asked me, "If you have time, would you run over to the van and check to make sure we left the fridge open?"

"Absolutely"... any reason to go mess with the van.  

"And since you're going, would you take this 12 volt cord?"

"Yes, I will."  The TV in the van can apparently run on 12 volt (battery) or 120 volt (ac power, using the inverter).  For some reason, Roadtrek wired the TV to run off 120.  If you are boondocking and want to watch TV, you have to turn on the inverter.  If running the TV is the only reason for using the inverter, you are wasting battery power - the inverter itself (3000 watt) uses power, even if you aren't running anything... or running something minimal, like a TV.  It is more efficient to run the TV on 12 volt.

Plus, I wanted to see how everything fared with the battery disconnect I installed.

I took the scoot to the storage place.  I clicked the unlock button on the van remote and nothing happened... just like it supposed to.  I clicked on the battery disconnect, and the remote unlocked the doors.  Just like it is supposed to.

I turned on the coach batteries and there are right where we left them for voltage.  And, yes, we had left the fridge and freezer door slightly open.  That's important to keep it dry in there and keep out any food smells.  I looked around to see if I could find the 12v cord for the TV that may have come with the van... nope.   I plugged in the 12v cord that Joan sent me with - it fit the van TV, and clicking the TV on, it fired right up - just like it is supposed to.

Then, time to shut it all back down again.

 I really wanted to take it out for a drive; another time.

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Joan was busy today - it was "decorating the yard" day.  Not Halloween stuff - she put about 14 hours in between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, getting yard decor done.  14 hours in a 3 hour period?  How is that possible?  It's the heat.  Sure looks good, though.  

Putting it out there...

 

Are you over-sharing again, Jim?  Probably, but that isn't the point of this post.

Murphy got to spend time outside again first thing this morning.  The boy loves his outdoor time.  I had to "steer" him back to our yard a time or four when he went over to Steph and Dan's yard (the yards are separate, but joined; think L-shaped)... he would come tearing around the corner to our yard, making Joan laugh out loud.  She'd like a photo of that running, but I'll have to get my DSLR out to get it.  I don't chase him - the boy is way too fast for me.  But, he runs with absolute glee.  It's good to give him the space he needs for that.

And then once back inside, he likes to have a treat, then relax for a while.  That is the "putting it out there" I am referring to...

 That is a luxuriously thick furry belly.  When we first got him, his belly had been shaved for being spayed because the person doing the prep at the shelter thought he was a girl.  He came to us with a very naked, skinny belly.  He has beefed up and furred up.  May be him maturing, along with good nutrition and a lot of love.

He is a bundle of joy.  Almost all the time.  Well... 60-40... that percentage is open to a flip, depending on how rambunctious he is at any particular moment.

And, he likes to have that belly rubbed.  Which is good, 'cause it's gonna happen when you put it out there like that.  ;-)