My New Kindle Paperwhite E-Reader Arrived Yesterday…

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

---

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Bow, Washington. I’ll depart here July 23rd..

 

 

I’ve been an avid reader as well as an avid traveler all my life.

 

Did you know I invented this question…?

Why is a good book and an RV much alike?

Answer: Because both can take you to wonderful places. A good book takes you there mentally and an RV takes you there physically!

 

With a conservative estimate, I believe I’ve read in excess of 5,000 books. Because of the size and weight, I do not do hard covers, only paperbacks.

 

As the years have progressed, I’m finding it harder to find interesting (to me) authors and genres.

 

Hence, since it was $40 regular price on Amazon Prime Day and the fact that it makes many thousands of new E-books available to me, I decided to make the purchase.

 

E-Readers have been around awhile. I never rush into purchases. I want to make sure they are not just a fad!  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the link, in case you are interested…

https://www.amazon.com/Paperwhite-High-Resolution-Display-International-Version/dp/B00QJDU3KY/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1532002339&sr=8-8&keywords=kindlepaperwhite

 

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTO.

Forecast for today is mostly cloudy and 68 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

 

 

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

 

 

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

 

 

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

 

 

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

 

 

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

 

 

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2018

DOWNSIZING

I’m an admitted collectiholic, but there is no 12 step program for one such as me. It may be from having depression era parents who were savers and never threw anything out that had a hint of future usefulness. It is a philosophy that suits me, and spills over into everything I do.

If I have two of something, it begins to look like a collection and I end up with 15 t-pots, or 5,000 magazines. (You think I’m kidding.)

The problem comes when you run out of room. I have a wall of shelves in by office. Every picture album, every vacation scrapbook, albums of the features I had published, souvenirs, nick-knacks. Then over the albums, I place wall hangings because there is no room left on the walls to hang anything. I have 15 pieces, paintings and artifacts of some type hanging on the wall of my office.

No matter how narrow a wall might be, it has something on it, like these beaded rings from my trip to Africa.

If there is a wall, it is filled from floor to ceiling. And, I love and enjoy my treasures. And for many years, with growing children, I resorted to easier to store items made of paper. Just yesterday, while assembling  several different stamp collections to go to the thrift store, I found  notes that made me laugh:

HANZOFF!  Or I’ll sic my dirty P.E. clothes on you-they walk under their own power.

and:  Mary kenny hitted me   sally and kris wont play with me.

Silly stuff.

And, I’ve kept my mother’s name collection. She would sit with her cup of coffee in the morning and read the paper. Her rule was to only collect names of people whose last name was an adjective, verb or noun. Like Earl Silver, Rita House, Cathleen Clinker, Susanne Doubled. It had to be spelled correctly.  Then she expanded it to humorous name juxtapositions like: Mrs. Rum divorced her husband and assumed her maiden name, of Selma Sober. Warren Nipple married Carla Breast. Jean Sucker married Roscoe Candybar.  Dr. Michael Fox is an animal psychologist. I put it out for the thrift store, but took it back. Who would want something like that? She has a couple thousand names in her book. I finally decided nobody would want it and I loved her beautiful writing and took it back. See?  Downsizing is tough for some of us.

My entire brick wall has pictures of birds on it.

My son Doug built me five floor to ceiling cases to hold my magazine collection. I had to take a pick-up load of magazines to the dump. I’ve had guests who remove and examine every magazine.

I have plenty offers of help. People who say, I’ll help you. If you haven’t used it in a year, its time to get rid of it. OMIGOD. I shudder and quake at the thought. But, I know it is freeing and that my kids have warned me, “we are just gonna toss this stuff.”

It is painful and conversely freeing to get rid of  “stuff”. Jim estimates 5 years. I’m hoping for two.

It is something I have to do and can enjoy my stuff one last time before it gets tossed

 

 

How Are An RV And A Good Book Much Alike?

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Thunderbird RV Resort in Monroe, Washington. I’ll depart from here tomorrow.

Mary is dealing with her over-flowing to-do list plate which can only be handled by herself. The construction of Mary’s rental continues along…slowly. She now is hoping to rejoin me by early September.  😦

Today’s subject…How are an RV and a good book much alike?

The answer: Both of them can take you to wonderful places!

The RV takes you there physically and a good book takes you there mentally!

Here’s how this story begins…

Ten days ago I stopped at Goodwill looking for used books. Because of their larger size and weight, I generally do not buy hardbacks unless they are unique and yesterday I found one. It’s 934, 8.5×11 pages, 2 1/8 inches thick and weighs in at a whopping 7.5 pounds!

I’m a Civil War history buff and have been to many of the battlefields back on the east coast. Here’s the cover indicating that it has nearly 4,000 images…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

Here’s what the typical inside pages look like…

 

 

The last 10 days has been a fantastic trip! I’ve traveled hundreds of miles with this book that was ten years in preparation. Really great factual information and photos. I’ve read many books about the Civil War, but this book really added to my knowledge base. I highly recommend it to you!

To read about this book, click this link…http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1260442.Civil_War_Album

I’m in my 20th years of full-time RVing and retirement. Traveling and reading are two items that bring me much enjoyment. I’d be willing to bet in that time I’ve averaged 2-3 books a week and have been taken on many great mental trips. Photography, museums, walking, visiting with my many good friends, meeting new and interesting people, great music and food are some of the other things I enjoy. Living in 65-75 degree temperatures mostly year-round is a primary enjoyment!

William Cowper, English poet (1731-1800), in The Task (1785)–‘The Timepiece’ (Book II, lines 606-7) is credited with the saying “VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE”!, And he didn’t even own an RV!

As I travel, I have many people say to me…”I really envy the way you live”. In return I say…

“You can do it also…there are only three easy steps…

1) Sell everything you own…

2) Buy an RV…

3) Hit the road!

and then they usually begin telling me, why in their case, they can’t do it.

I’m really glad my life if full of spice. What a lucky guy I am!

Try it…you’ll like it!  🙂

I’m going to continue my blog postings about Civil War places that I read about in this book and I have visited until I’ve covered them all!

I’ve started a new book. The Good War by Studs Turkel covers the period from 1937 to 1946, transiting from the Great Depression to the end of World War II. The author assembled dozens of people who, in their own, words describe their life experiences during this period. Being born in 1940, I’m finding it to be another interesting read and mental trip.

How do I manage to read so much? Simple…with the exception of 100+ on-board movies…I watch ZERO television. There’s nothing on TV worth my time…plus if I never see/hear another commercial the rest of my life…that will be just fine with me! 🙂

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS AND STORY.

Yesterday was a cloudy/sunny and 76 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy/sunny and 76 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2015

National Steinbeck Center #1 – Salinas, California

The motorhome is parked at Moose Lodge #876 in Del Rey Oaks near Monterey, California.

Mary continues to be occupied with personal business. I am now not expecting to see her again until I arrive at her home in Murphys, California about the third week in April. It’s just the way things are and we just have to deal with it.

I’m now in what I’m calling my “pacing mode”. Last October I had cataract surgery at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto, California. My surgeon wants me back in mid-April for a six-month post-operative eye examination. Palo Alto is only about 87 miles from my current location. So, in the meantime, I’ll “pace” my forward direction travels hoping stay in 65-75 degree temperatures all the while. My appointment is now set for April 21st.

Last Thursday while on my way to Del Rey Oaks I passed by Salinas, California. It’s the birthplace home of author John Steinbeck and the home of the National Steinbeck Center.

Anyone considering themselves a serious reader should have read at least one of Steinbeck’s books. I’ve read five…Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row, Travels with Charley and one of my all-time favorites (and movie) The Grapes of Wrath where Steinbeck vividly reminds us that the “good old days” were not so good for a lot of folks.

I took a lot of photos there and since I prefer to tell my traveling stories with photos (remember a picture is worth a thousand words), I’ve decided to spread this story into five installments. Today is installment #1.

The first five images are murals on a building wall facing the Steinbeck Center…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

A visit begins by watching two twelve-minute movies about Steinbeck and the Salinas Valley…

More tomorrow…

Here’s a Wikipedia link about the center…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Steinbeck_Center

Here’s the center’s website link…http://www.steinbeck.org/pages/about-the-center

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Yesterday was cloudy/sunny and 62 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy/sunny and 68 degrees.

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrvzqm8-IKGdA

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2015

MOVING EVERYDAY.

Jim drove a long stretch that brought us to Springfield, Oregon. The weather was beautiful, and warm.  We set up in a barren Moose Club parking lot. After lunch, Jim took a long nap after partying with the Eagles the previous night until 9:00. We’re boring after 7:00 p.m. Didn’t do anything but read and I finished a really gripping book, Stones From The River, by Ursula Heigi.

I was rummaging through some pictures this morning and remembered seeing this spinner. It is a triple. Up close it is just a flat burgundy color but when all three parts flash in the wind, it becomes a thing of beauty.

They are kind of magical the way they reveal hidden colors and constantly move. I have no real needs in my life other than enough to eat and a steady supply of books, but if I ran into one of these, I’d buy it. It is called the Hummingbird.

The middle section spins a single…

…to a double heart, over and over again.  The bottom heart has hearts.

Kind of silly, but I stared at it and took pictures until I caught the movement at its best display.

The camper told me he bought a motor for it so it spins constantly. He too is mesmerized by the spinner. He bought it from a guy in the park who made them. The guy  has since moved on. Dang.

I’m cooking Mexican rice tonight, it is an earthy food, simmering in the pot. It sustains whole countries as their basic food. So here then look at rice through the eyes of poet Mary Oliver:

I don’t want you just to sit at the table.

I don’t want you just to eat, and be content.

I want you to walk into the fields where the water is shining, and the rice has risen.

I want you to stand far from the white tablecloth.

I want you to fill your hands with mud like a blessing.

 

We move to Rogue River State Park today as we push relentlessly for home.

AN ENTERTAINING DAY IN PORT TOWNSEND.

My cousin, Bob Moore lives in Port Townsend and he wanted us to meet him at the town fountain, and then have lunch. We knew that PT has a walking or driving map of the hillside homes, old victorians from the 1800’s, above the port, but the real action is “down town”. Nice old Victorians have been preserved on Water Street as well.

They reflect the former grandeur and economic importance of Port Townsend.

My favorite was this old brick clam cannery, 1885. I briefly met the owner, but his place wasn’t quite open yet.

But to really get a feel for the city, its friendliness, its artistic bent, its present character is to notice things like this little park made from junk.

Anything that floats in is welcome here. The bike “antenna” has Christmas lights on it. Jim spotted an old bread delivery truck turned into a residence right at the pier’s edge of the park, with a manikin head on top of it. He turned one just like it into a camper in his younger days. After we met Bob,he told us that some folks in town want to clean it up and get rid of it. But, people like the funky place. We ran into Bob before our appointed time for lunch.

 

When you live near water, there is much ado about boats and water sports and water traffic. Jim liked the new pier and took a lot of boat pictures.

And I liked the old pier and took a lot of boat pictures.

The ferry chugs regularly between PT across Puget Sound, part of the Straits of Juan De Fuca to several different islands in this island mottled area. You really need a map to appreciate the jagged coast line of hundreds of islands both big and small.

.

I stepped into this small boat builders place.

I passed by a bed and breakfast where this woman entertains passers-by every day in good weather. I also saw a thin woman in her 90’s in levi shorts, exercising her dog. She didn’t want her picture taken. Realize that I’m dressed in four layers and it is about 10:00 a.m. and she is in shorts.

I made it to the marina on the Point Hudson end of town. PT’s other marina is on the opposite end of town.

This one is the prettiest.

No craft too small.

Before we met Bob at the Fountain, we saw him on the street after getting his hair cut. He said, I made a trip to our book store, you must read this book and he handed me a copy of “Boys In The Boat” by Daniel James Brown. We didn’t know that this weekend, after we leave, Port Townsend is hosting  a big boat festival with tall ships, wooden boats and the author of the book will be in town to sign autographs. Bob was talking excitedly, in glowing terms, about this book when he came to visit us at Dave’s and Melissa’s camp. Then he led us into a thrift shop that had a poster of the town fountain and asked me to take a picture that imitated the poster. Here it is.

 

I was more interested in this tiny little electric car parked in front of the restaurant.

What a great little town car. Its a Gem, see the plug? We couldn’t decide if the projector is a camera or a hood ornament?

Bob is a tourist in his own town because he’s just moved here and is spending his first summer in PT while his significant other lives in their house in Nevada City, CA. with two years to go before she retires. We just happened to run into Mari, a 70 year old woman who unlocked this warehouse of long boats. We got a great education about them. A famous boatmaker, named Pocock built rowing shells of red cedar, one of which won the 1936 Olympics with a team from local communities like Sequim. A replica of that boat is in this warehouse, and, the “Boys In The Boat” is the story of one member of that Olympic Team. I can’t wait to read it just from the cover introduction. The replica is the same boat, just three years younger.

Some of these racing shells are 60-65 feet long. Others measure anywhere from single seat rowers to nine seat shells, eight rowers and the coxswain. She told us that in competitions you can’t fly a boat to the East Coast, so they have a boat permanently there. She rows with the women’s team, “Tough As Nails.”  She invited Bob to learn to row with the men’s team. Mari has been rowing for ten years and had never done it before.

She said they don’t race the heavier wooden boats anymore, but they are so comfortable and stable, these boats go out every day. She practices every morning at, depending on sunrise, 6:00 or 6:30. They go at it most of the winter. When they are shut out by bad weather, they have practice rowing machines. Pretty amazing. Talk about dedication. The new fiber glass boats are faster and long boats are required to break into three pieces so they can be trucked around to various places for competition. For competition they all must weigh the same. Like horseracing, the “girls in the boat” who weigh less have an advantage. There are over 30 boats in this warehouse.

Chugach baidarkas are also built here. This one is 17 feet long and sells for $1800. They are made with a solid frame and varnished fabric. Light weight skimming with one to three people is their advantage. This whole pier area was fascinating and I’ll have to finish tomorrow.