Two Weeks Later…

La Quinta, California: Hi y'all. Did you miss me? All well here, just crazy busy after returning to La Q. And crazy hot, as well. First I will do a quick catch up and then report the facts and figures for our trip.

The morning of the day we returned home, our housekeeping crew had completely cleaned (i.e. dusted) our house and replaced all the cushions on our patio furniture. Such a nice homecoming - and the next morning they returned to clean the RV before it went back to storage. Yes, they found a few (thankfully DEAD) ants in the shower (because I had sprayed it down the night before with our giant can of RAID. (I still remember the old RAID television commercials - here is a funny link, just in case you are gardening in a lovely dress and pearls and need to spray RAID on your tomatoes.)

The 4L's arrived Friday evening and we had ourselves a grand weekend. We hadn't been together since forever. While we were away all summer, the kids headed off to sleep-away camps, day (surf and dance) camps and don't forget a month (with their parents) in Italy.

Dave bought Lucile a little lego-ish Bison puzzle in one of the National Parks we visited. It had nearly 400 miniature bricks. Lucy put it together so quickly.

But wait, there's more! Dave also found the most amazing jigsaw puzzle at Liberty Puzzles in Boulder. It is also of a bison, but is cut from wood and the pieces in no way resemble any jigsaw puzzle you have seen. They are cut in crazy shapes (animal shapes, snake shapes) and the puzzle does not have a straight edge. The puzzle is the shape of a bison. So cool!

The 20 inch wide finished puzzle has been sitting on our mahjong table all week - too pretty to remove. We are thinking of sending it off to another clever little girl.

Leo (who only received a Surf Buena Vista tee shirt, had nothing to do with puzzles while he was visiting. He fished, rode my bike(s), and the boys went golfing one day.

No idea how many fish Leo snagged (and released) in three days. But our 5'9" grandson now just snaps selfies of his fish from the lakes behind our house and sends them to us. He is also having so much fun with AI photo tricks:

Kids these days!

I cooked two nights while the family were here. First night was vegetarian - a chile relleno casserole and a roasted corn salad and we each had a cupcake to celebrate all 4L's birthdays we missed while away. The next night we ate a nice little pot of pinto beans with the bison ribs I froze from Colorado, along with a baked potato bar... and as long as we were having a Colorado theme, this was the perfect time for the peach pie prepped after visiting the Longmont Farmers market with Kris & Steve:

It was 8 peaches (blanched, peeled and sliced) tossed with a few tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 Tablespoons cornstarch, a pinch of salt and a pinch of cinnamon. Homemade crust with butter. Considering the prepared peaches were in our RV freezer for at least a month, I'm pretty happy. There may have been homemade vanilla ice cream to accompany. (I take this Bubbe business very seriously.)

We all went to the clubhouse for brunch on Sunday, sushi out Sunday, and everyone went home Monday - dang school started - and Dave and I had to get our home organized again!

The week before we left on our Epic Western RV Adventure, many finished needlepoint projects were sent off to be finished into ornaments, hanging things, framed things and pillows. Most are gifts, but a few were stitched for our house. Shocking, I know.

Do you recall I stitched the pink case while on our Mediterranean cruise last year. The pink one (of course) is for me. The giraffe is for a friends giraffe-loving daughter. These projects are the perfect size to work on while traveling. There will be more projects posted later, as they are gifted.

And now it is Rosh Hashanah and more cooking (and eating) as we prepare for the New Year and I get into my annual cleaning, closet purging, re-organizing everything phase. It's like the urge to nest (mom's know what I am talking about). Plus this year we are also changing quite a few things in our RV. We downsized our RV two years ago, now we need to downsize the stuff inside. If we didn't use it in 76 days, it is gone. Smaller ice bucket. Smaller grater. Smaller toaster. Cabinets have been organized for easier access for a short person. Only one trip to Goodwill though, as seriously, how much stuff can you have in a 25-foot C-Class?

Now our trip fact and figures: We were away 76 nights and traveled through 12 states, covering 5,150 miles. We spent $1,838 on diesel, and times have certainly changed because we averaged $81 a night for campsites.

When we first started RVing in the early 2000s, we would never make a reservation unless it was a major holiday weekend, and could pull into any random campground and pay $20-$30. Well, Dear Reader, those days are gone forever.) But I'm happy to eat my own food and sleep in my own bed - especially on a several-months journey.

The hummingbirds are happy we have given up life on the road (for a while) and the feeder is once again hanging outside the kitchen window. And the hummers are so patient, allowing a visitor each morning at their snack bar:

Until my next update, I remain, your home again correspondent.

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