The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

FLIGHT

Seasoned Travelers

There is something that happens after a certain number of hours on an airplane. Giddiness sets in. Melody and I aren’t exactly acting like the seasoned travelers who sit quietly in our seats and don’t disturb anyone. At the moment we have been flying for ten hours or so, and we are giggling. Uncontrollably.

The seasoned traveler who is sitting next to Melody is not amused. I don’t think he has smiled once throughout this entire flight. He does speak English, as we know, because he informed me gruffly that the button that turned on the overhead light was in the remote by my seat and not next to the light. Ok Ok. I have flown in lots of airplanes where the dang button is over my head. I am not completely stupid. Really. Except I spent the first half hour of this flight trying to operate said remote in the seat arm before I discovered that, oh, the remote unhooks and I could hold it in my lap. oh. Melody figured this out when she turned to Grumpy and saw the remote in his hand.

Then of course, I had a remote that didn’t actually work, and after trying to hit the button repeatedly to the left to WATCH THE DAMN MOVIE, I used said remote to call the flight attendant. I had paid my 2 bucks to watch “Newsroom” on HBO, but the sweet attendant said, “Can’t you watch something else? I am very busy right now.”

Now we are approaching Amsterdam and my little seat monitor says we will be there in 1 hour and 04 minutes. It has said that for some time now, and Melody’s flight tracker says we will arrive in 41 minutes. I guess she will get there before I do. There is something a bit disquieting about small computer glitches on a very big airplane that is 41K feet or so in the air, especially when NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE! Of course, acting like a seasoned traveler is a bit difficult when I have Melody grabbing my arm and looking terrified every time the plane does a dip or a drop. Somehow I never imagined she would be afraid to fly.

By the time we reached Amsterdam Melody was a bit more calm, but landing in the rain and fog on bumpy clouds didn’t do a lot for her. Amsterdam is a very nice airport, and the map on the internet and in the Skye magazine made it seem a very simple place to get around. We had almost an hour and a half to find our gate, from G to D81. Once we started following the signs however, things were a bit less clear. Add to the interest with the secret that my daughter likes a smoke now and then.

She did well, not smoking for 24 hours and two a day is about her limit, But then when her limit is reached she is READY for a cigarette. We found signs but couldn’t find the smoking area until a gentleman helped with the very nice comment, “down there in the black box”. When Melody arrived at the black box, she quickly did a turn around and said, “nnyuh uh!” The Black Box was literally that, about 8 foot square filled with several very large Middle Eastern men with very big bellies all jammed in there and smoke so thick you couldn’t see. She opened the door, took one look and backed away immediately. Great way to quit smoking!

Once again in the air on Dutch KML airlines, we flew the short distance from Amsterdam to Budapest, with most of the window view obscured by clouds until we were almost over the city. We had a lovely window seat this time and I could lean over Melody to peer out the window and the beautiful Danube River winding through the countryside below us. I think that is the moment that I first felt the excitement of the trip.

The landing was smooth, there was a gentle warm sun creating an early afternoon glow around the city, and the half hour drive from the airport to our downtown hotel was delightful. We are staying at the Maramar hotel, just a few blocks from the river and Parliament in one direction and a few blocks to city park and the Szechenyi baths in the other direction.

After settling into our room, adequate but interesting with a truly nice bath and thank goodness a balcony door that we can open, we decided to go for a walk. I knew we shouldn’t sleep, even though we were both seriously rummy from 24 hours of traveling. We wandered toward Parliament and the River, confident that we wouldn’t get too easily lost with as much time I have spent virtually walking this area on google earth.

At 5:30 we met downstairs in the Atrium to visit with our tour guide and to meet our fellow travelers. That is always an interesting time, with people coming from many different places and backgrounds, blending their personalities into some kind of cohesive group, or not. I guess we will find out as the days progress.

Lorena, our guide throughout the trip is charming, a young Argentine girl who emigrated to Germany and has led tours with Go Ahead for the last 13 years. After out get together, we all walked the few blocks to our dinner spot, the Red Pepper. We had a great meal of red beef paprikash, spicy and rich with Hungariam paprika, and spaetzle, started with some warm bread and a perfect light creamy chicken mushroom soup. The three ladies at our table opted for wine, something I read about in advance, and they were quite jealous of my large frosty glass of good beer as they sipped there 3 ounces of chardonnay.

Today we will begin to see the city in earnest, with a morning tour of both Parliament and the Castle Hill before we take off for an afternoon at the Szechenyi baths on our own. Both of us are feeling much better today after a good night’s sleep on the somewhat hard, but surprisingly comfortable bed, down comforters and all. I am still working on my somewhat limited skills at putting photos where I want them with blogsy, but hopefully I’ll get better at it as we go along. Erin suggested some alternative blogging platforms, but somehow I never managed to actually have the time to find them, download them, or learn them, so for the time being, Blogsy it is!

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Finally!

When I first thought about retiring, I knew that traveling would be one of my priorities. Years ago, traveling with my kids meant making a big bed in the back of the Volkswagen van and driving all night while they slept, completely unrestrained of course. Later it involved car camping trips and sleeping in tents and sleeping bags on the ground. We managed a trip to Disneyland once, a bit of cross country car camping as migrant workers in the 70’s, and once my life settled down a bit I did manage to take a kid or two to San Francisco for a big city visit. We lived in rural Idaho at the time, and “the city” was an exciting destination.

As years passed and I managed to grow from eking out a meager living as a waitress to actually making a real living as a soil scientist, my travel time grew as well. However, by then, my kids were all grown and in the process of eking out their own modest livings and raising their kids. We managed a few local family reunions here and there, and in 2006 when Melody got married, we shared a family cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

My big goal was to manage at least one “big” trip for each of my children. I know that some folks do the big thing with the entire family, paying airfare and hotel for offspring and their spouses and kids and extended families. I don’t think I could even manage a second mortgage for that much money, so my dreams were a bit more modest. No spouses, no kids, just me and one child at a time going to the place of their choice, almost anywhere in the world that they would choose to go. Well, Australia was out since that was just beyond affordable to me, but most other destinations were up for grabs.

Almost two years ago my oldest daughter claimed her trip and we shared a charter Legendary Blues Cruise to the southern Caribbean. Which brings me to today. My youngest daughter was the one who chose to go next and eighteen months ago I paid for this trip to Eastern Europe, and Melody and I have been planning and dreaming about it ever since. It is Melody’s first trip off the continent. It is mother/daughter time at its best, with no distractions of friends, spouses, children, responsibilities. To say we are excited is an understatement.

My first trip to Europe was with Mo, a seasoned traveler who has been to more than 36 countries. I was as giddy and excited on that trip as I expect Melody will be on this one. I have traveled with Mo on several cruises, to Thailand, to Turkey, to Malta, across the US and Canada, and as tough and smart as I think I am, I know how much I depend on Mo’s travel skills and take-charge abilities. I realize that on this trip I will be the experienced one. I won’t have Mo to fall back on…Melody will expect to be able to fall back on me. After all, I am ‘Mom”. I managed a complex life for nearly 60 years before I met Mo so I am sure I should manage just fine!

I have followed Kevin and Ruth across eastern Europe lately, marveling at their resourcefulness, their willingness to search out destinations on their own, to couch-surf and use public transportation, seeing the countries in ways that aren’t limited to the views most tourists get. I, on the other hand, have chosen the tourist route, decidedly and willingly! After traveling with Mo using Grand Circle Tours and Go Ahead Tours, I learned my old ideas about tour travel were just plain silly. It is GREAT not having to worry about all the details. It is GREAT having my luggage show up at my hotel, getting a quickie tour of the city and then having a couple of days on my own to go back to the places I want to explore more deeply. goahead trip

I decided on GoAhead Tours, mainly because they seem to cater to a younger clientele. I would have loved to do an OAT “(Overseas Adventure Travel) tour, but they are a lot more expensive and I decided against it. Go Ahead does a great job for the price, not fancy, but not cut rate either.

I could easily go to Turkey or Thailand again on my own, once I have been there, but for a first time trip to just about anywhere, I really like having the luxury of a tour. Especially with limited time available, because of course my daughter is still working, I want no hassles. I want to give my daughter the opportunity to see a different part of the world, to expand her horizons, but to do it with just a bit more safety factor than I would feel out there loose on my own.

The photos on the right and below are of the hike to Vernal Falls in Yosemite that I made with my kids back in the 70’s. Melody was 4 and as you can see, most of the hike she was on my back. Hopefully on this trip she will be the one I can lean on instead of the other way around.

Today Melody and I both woke up at 3:30 am, at 4:00 am, all packed and ready with nowhere to go. We sent each other text messages and emails, and laughed about how silly it was. We are driving north to Albany today so that we have an easy commute to Portland tomorrow for our 1:30 departure from PDX for the ten hour flight to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam we will take a short flight to Budapest, spending three days there before traveling the 150 miles to Vienna. Three days in Vienna, with another day to drive to Prague for three more days and the quick 11 day trip will be over.

My knee is functioning rather well, and the brace and trekking poles should help with cobblestone streets and lots of stairs that I expect to climb in these beautiful old world cities. The trekking poles are in checked luggage, in spite of the encouragement of the doctor and the travel agent, too many websites said they could be a problem on the airlines. I decided not to take the chance and will simply lean on my daughter if i need to!

My little girl and I are off to see the world!

Problem Solved

Tuesday afternoon in Rocky Point 75 degrees F and Sunny

Just what do you do if you live in snow country, are not a full timer, and are not especially into the half time snow birding thing either? It is a quandary, one that we have worked with repeatedly in the last few years since we started traveling in the MoHo. There have been several solutions. For the years prior to my retirement, when I worked in California from 2006 to 2010, we paid the monthly fee to store the MoHo in the gated yard in my mobile home park in the Sierra Foothills. At least we didn’t have to winterize, and the occasional frosts weren’t too much of a worry. Mo would drive the 400 miles from Rocky Point to Sonora and we would take off for lakes and deserts both near and far. I love looking back at our photos of those short little camping trips.

When I retired and moved back to Rocky Point, things got a bit more difficult. What to do? If we left the MoHo right here in her big shed we still would have to winterize against the single digit temperatures, plow some pretty deep snow to get out, and then chain up to exit the valley over whichever pass we chose to travel. In 2011 we decided to rent an RV storage in Redding, California, just a quick 3 hour drive over the mountain, and even when we left here in a blizzard and icy roads, Redding was usually sunny and open. Some of you long time readers may remember the sad result of THAT choice. $179 per month for top notch security didn’t stop the vandals from breaking into our storage bay and ransacking the MoHo.

Next plan: Winter of 2012 we decided instead to rent another enclosed $180. per month space over on the Oregon Coast. It was a nice plan, with only 4 hours to get to the MoHo, but still it felt too far away sometimes, and we did get a bit tired of having to drive north or south on winding Highway 101 to get just about anywhere. Jeremy is a good enough traveler we didn’t even have to put a cat box in the Tracker for the trips from home to coast, but still it got pretty tight in that little car with dog, cat, food, washed laundry, firewood, and whatever else we couldn’t keep in the MoHo all the time.

Another plan: Leave in October, head east and then south to Florida and come back in April when the passes open up and the roads are clear. That is a plan that could still happen one of these years, maybe even next year. But then, what to do about Christmas with the family, which I love, or winter in Rocky Point, which we both actually love as well. Just not all the time.

New plan: Buy a place somewhere over the mountain and store the MoHo there. Easy access to Interstate 5, which my trucker daughter reminds me also gets snowed in now and then, but still not that often. We have spent the last several months making an untold number of trips to Grants Pass trying to find the perfect place. Grants Pass is in Josephine County, and is blessed with a nice winter climate (zone 7 which is almost a perfect match for the Sierra Foothills), and the lowest property tax rates in the state of Oregon. Grants Pass is also just about half way between here and our favorite coastal town of Brookings which is a plus. We even looked for property in Brookings for awhile but decided that maybe living with the salty damp air could get old.

In March we found a perfect little place on a terrace in Grants Pass, with an old house on a lot just less than an acre. Newbies that we were back then, we thought of course there would be something better, but after many months and many visits to many strange properties, the little house on the little lot with the great big old oak trees won out, and at a better price than the first time we looked at it.

The reason this got to be so difficult had to do with land use laws and building regulations. We couldn’t buy an empty lot and build an RV shed without actually building a living dwelling with the associated permits. If you buy a big enough lot with an existing house you can build an RV shed. Of course, a lot with a house usually costs more than is reasonable to pay for simply an RV storage, right? So we specifically wanted an OLD house, preferably not completely falling down, but at least old enough to be cheap.

Bingo! The nearly level lot is perfect, the RV shed is in the works, the deal is closed and finished, and all that is left is the WORK! Oh My. The old house built in 1926 is basically just an extra, a space that makes the RV shed possible, but it still has some nice qualities, especially the light. It also has some interesting qualities, like a very old septic tank, a well with only a little over 2 gpm and some salt problems, and a lot of strange old broken down sheds, including something that looks like a chicken coop or maybe a rabbit hutch. For some reason, the previous owner thought that salvaged carpet made a great outdoor ground cover, and our first job was picking up the dirt encrusted, critter infested pieces of carpet for the first of what I am sure will be many dump loads.

But! The Big Problem is solved. No more exorbitant rental fees putting money into someone else’s pocket to store the MoHo. No worries about winterizing and when we want to get out of the snow in Rocky Point we will just head over the mountain the way we always have. Except of course, we can stay a day or a week or a month if we want to, sleeping in the MoHo, or in the funky little house, and enjoying all the delights of living on a terrace with a view above town and a short 3 mile jaunt to the grocery store. Somehow the funkiness of the little house is fun, especially when I know I have my beautiful, clean, comfortable Rocky Point home to return to. I can enjoy the delights of town living without giving up the dark forest nights of the mountains.

I know, I know, most folks would have Rocky Point as their summer place and “live” down in town out of the snow. We are doing just the opposite and it makes me really happy inside. For a bit of time we considered eventually selling this place and actually moving down the mountain when we got old (or older I should say). Now that decision is behind us. No moving down the hill at all. Rocky Point is home and we will continue traveling in the MoHo as long as we can manage it, which I certainly hope is at least a dozen more years.

September – a Chatty Catch-up

Being the month of my birth, I am somewhat partial to September. Here in Rocky Point, and in this part of Oregon in general, September can be the very best time of year in so many ways. The mosquito population has finally decided to disappear to wherever they go, the midges are at least confined to places you don’t want to be anyway, the skies are blue and bright, the days warm, the nights cool. Several bloggers that I read regularly have found out just how delightful this part of Oregon can be, with RV Sue hanging around just over our hill on the Rogue River, and Paul and Nina up at Diamond Lake.

Mo and I have spent some quality camping time in both those places and it’s fun to read about folks finding out just how wonderful this part of Oregon can be. Everyone seems to know the coast part, and lots of folks travel there, but fewer have found the wonders of the Cascades waterfalls, magical lakes, beautiful forests and SUNSHINE. Welcome to my world.

Once again, Mo and I planned to travel a couple of hours south to camp at our favorite Medicine Lake, and once again we were thwarted. In the midst of extra work hours for me, some other business needs for two of us, and the smoky skies from California fires, we put off our planned mid-month camping trip for another time. The month was anything but quiet however, with visiting friends, Rocky Point get-togethers, and of course, my birthday!

It started off with a visit from Jeanne, long time friend I once worked with here in the basin who has returned to her native New England for good. Everyone needs a friend like Jeanne, probably the most amazing athletic woman I have had the pleasure of knowing. Jeanne treks Nepal, climbs the second highest mountain in the word, does back country skiing down the cliffs at Crater Lake, jumps out of helicopters to ski in British Columbia back country, launches her tiny white water kayak over 23 foot waterfalls in Costa Rica. Yeah, I could go on and on. She runs and rides her bikes for hundreds of miles and travels the world. How did I get a friend like Jeanne, you might ask?

I almost didn’t. Anyone from New England knows there is a special New England persona. Anyone from California knows there is also a definite West Coast Persona. Jeanne and I were complete opposites, and on my first day of work in 2002 in Klamath Falls, I met Jeanne, who instantly disliked me. I was all gushy and open and “chattery”, and Jeanne of course, being from New England, was all reserved and “don’t touch me” and would you please just shut up!? I disliked her almost as much as she disliked me! All it took was a long day in the field to discover that even with our different ways of being in the world, we had the makings of something deeper that grew into a great, strong friendship. Of course, I can’t even come close to keeping up with her, but she has a great batch of friends who do that very well.

Jeanne came “home” to Klamath for a long visit with all of us, spending time biking, and hiking, and kayaking, and then came out to Rocky Point for a couple of days. We went kayaking on Recreation Creek, a far cry from the adrenaline pumping kinds of boating she and her friends are used to, but we still had a good time, at least Jeanne and I did. Some of the other friends thought it was great for a one time thing, but too dang boring to do again. Me, I love the slowing down part, I love seeing the birds and the wildlife and the reflections. Adrenaline is not one of my favorite things, and I will avoid it if at all possible!

In between visits and work time, I managed a bit of quilting, working on my queen sized quilt that got started from a single jelly roll of fabric my sister picked up for me because I thought it was pretty. It is kinda scary how a $39.00 jelly roll can morph into a LOT more money by the time all is said and done. I took a break from the big quilt by piecing a bright little table topper that I have yet to actually quilt because I can’t decide just how I want to do it.

Another fun project was completed when Mo and I worked together removing a bazillion staples from my ten year old dining chairs and recovered them with a gorgeous fabric I found after two years of looking for just the right thing.

The greenhouse is a bit later this year, with our tomatoes just barely ripening toward the end of the month, but we have had cute little peppers, lemon cucumbers, lots of green beans and of course lots of good lettuces and greens. I made a trip over the mountain to Medford to buy some gorgeous sweet tree ripened peaches from the local orchards and made peach jam, froze some peach pie filling and experimented with some hot pepper jellies. The Peach Habanero is good but the Pineapple Habanero is fabulous. Some of the Peach Bourbon jam didn’t set up and it is now a quite delicious Peach Bourbon Sauce, ready for waffles or ice cream on a cold winter day.

The very next week I got a call from Maryruth, saying, “Hey, are you and Mo around? I want to come up for a few days for your birthday.” What a treat! She left her husband Gerald at home to take care of everything while she drove the 6 hours north from Oroville for some very much wanted “girl time”. We usually manage this once or twice a year but this one was an unexpected surprise. We filled up three days with lots of laughter, lots of “hand and foot” (a game I can’t get Mo to play with me), and good food. Well almost good food. Sadly the Rocky Point Resort has changed hands since we were there and I would definitely suggest that folks visiting this area avoid the restaurant if at all possible. Or maybe just go in for a drink. The view is gorgeous, the place is historic and charming, it is just the food that is probably the worst I have ever actually paid for.

Maryruth was barely gone when it was time for my ‘real’ birthday. Seems as though I celebrated this one for a very long time and it wasn’t even a biggie. I still have three years to go before I think a birthday is really worth paying attention. Seventy even sounds scary to me, but I have a bit of time yet. On this minor birthday, however, I went off to town to have breakfast with my sister, visited with Melody and the jewelry store where I got a FREE bead for my Pandora bracelet, and came home for a nice bit of quilting time before Mo said, “Let’s go out to dinner at Lake of the Woods”. Whew! Birthday breakfast, and dinner on the same day? Thankfully, our dinner up at the lake was incredible, with the gorgeous view, great service and wonderful food. It may be a 15 minute drive rather than 5, but oh so worth it. Thank you, Mo!!

Then on Sunday, Melody, Kevin and grandson Xavier came out for an afternoon visit bringing even more wondrous presents. I am the lucky beneficiary of a daughter who works in a jewelry store, so I am sure the “giftie bits” she brought to me are something I never would otherwise have. Of course, everyone keeps saying no jewelry when traveling, but this pendant is definitely going on my November cruise even if I can’t wear it to Europe! The diamond hoop earrings however, are small and tasteful, and don’t scream “steal me”! I AM wearing them.

What I didn’t even know yet was that the plant and twist movement I made jumping out of bed that morning had torn my knee cartilage. In the next couple of days the pain got worse and worse until I couldn’t walk at all, even with a walking stick. Sigh. A trip to the doctor, xrays, MRI, another trip to the orthopedist all confirmed my worst fear. Torn meniscus and a long healing time. Actually it was my second worst fear. Surgery was my worst fear, and so far that one has been avoided. I can’t take pain pills or medication, so surgery isn’t a lot of fun. Anyway, I have been hobbling around on crutches, and graduated to the walking stick and even a bit of hobbling without anything this morning, so am encouraged.

Mo is dealing with yard work and house work all alone right now while I gimp around like a useless piece of moving furniture. Sigh. It is not fun feeling completely useless around here. I can’t even quilt since that requires lots of jumping up and down from the machine to the iron, so instead I got back to knitting. I even finished Deanna’s sweater and have it all wrapped up to mail. Yippee, at last!! I started it back in December of last year. Guess you could say I am not a fast knitter.

A week from Thursday my daughter Melody and I will drive to Portland to board our overnight flight to Amsterdam and then on to Budapest. I have been planning this trip and looking forward to it for soo sooo long, and am excited to see this part of Europe, but even more excited to see it through the eyes of my daughter. It will be her first overseas trip, and I remember how incredible I felt on my first such trip with Mo back in 2005. Everything was so new and exciting for me, as I am sure it will be for Melody. She is beside herself excited right now.

I sent an email to a great photographer (Mark) from Mark and Chris’s Phaeton Place, who knows a LOT about techie stuff and traveling and he kindly wrote some very detailed answers and I learned a lot about traveling with technology. Thank you Mark! I bought an iPad, and ordered the global data features for both the iPad and the iPhone, bought the photo transfer doohickey for the iPad and the camera (no usb on an iPad), and hopefully I’ll be able to carry all this stuff along with my walking sticks which will be going on the trip for sure! Once again, the Cotton Carrier I bought for the camera will likely be a lifesaver when I need both hands to manage the sticks. I will never never never measure up to Erin’s photos, but hopefully I’ll get shots that at least won’t embarrass me. I have learned so much from Erin, from Two to Travel and Two to Travel’s Phaeton Journey about blogging and photography. Thank you, Erin!

And on a final note, I just have to really thank all the blogging friends who saw my post on FaceBook about my knee and sent good wishes. It is amazing to me that people take the time to pay attention and care. So many are dealing with really difficult health issues that are about the internal operating system and mine is merely mechanical. Mechanical issues are a pain but it isn’t life threatening, so I consider myself pretty lucky. Does everyone have to get all silly when they first discover Apple’s crazy photo stuff?

Trying out Blogsy

With a new iPad and a big trip on the horizon, I thought it might be time to figure how to post from Blogsy, the app that is supposedly a reasonable way to replace LiveWriter when not using a compatible device. Gates and Jobs really hate talking the same language. So far I am not impressed, but neither am I all that impressed with my typing speed on this glass screen!

Ah well. Life does throw curves now and then. For my birthday on Saturday I had a great day, unaware that the twisted knee that I started with would morph into a torn meniscus making it nearly impossible for me to walk without crutches by the following Monday.

A much better surprise was the huge flock of young pelicans I saw on my way to town for a birthday breakfast. Or the gorgeous diamond hoop earrings my daughter brought to me on Sunday. Or the special pieces added to my heirloom dishes found by my other daughter on eBay and shipped my way.

Still, this way to post leaves a lot to be desired so for now this will have to suffice. Just practicing.

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