Sun. Dec. 28, 2014 - Camrillo to Carlsbad

This morning we got a tour of the new patio and garden that Roger and Michal are creating in their side and back yard

before Roger drove us all back to Chatty's parking spot at the edge of the local mountain.

Michal went with us as far as Oceanside where she hooked up with a friend for the night.

and then continued on to our home for the next four months at South Carlsbad State Beach.  We have a temporary site on the ocean side of the road until the current hosts move out after their last shift on Tuesday night.  So we had a great view of our first sunset from inside Chatty.  We made it!

Sat. Dec. 27, 2014 - Stockton to Camarillo

We stayed in a rest area at the top of I-5 just south of Tracy last night and drove to Camarillo today where we visited with Roger and Michal.  Roger cooked us a delicious comfort food meal and showed off his fix-it skills as well.

Fri. Dec. 26, 2014 - Happy Birthday Dad and goodby to Sacramento for now

Today Dad turned 84.  Mike and I packed out of Connies house where we have been staying for the ast three nights, and went to enjoy birthday party lunch with Dad and his housemates

Then we drove to Thunder Vally to pick up Chatty and drive to Stockton where we hooked up with friends from our Stockton days, Joanie and Tim Schwartz.

we had a good time at dinner getting caught up over the last 20 years

and remembering our early years when we were both raising toddlers and young kids.  

Great to see you, Joanie!

Dec. 18 - 25, 2014 - Merry Christmas

On Monday we hosted Curt for dinner in Chatty at Thunder Valley.  He got his English VISA paperwork and is very excited to be planning his trip back to England on Christmas morning.

On Christmas Eve we met up at Dad's house to visit with him befor his dinner.....

Then we went to Kelly's house to spend Christmas Eve 

at her house with her praents, Glenda and Brett and Curt and his buddy Nick 

who will be taking him to the San Francico airport tomorrow morning.

On Christmas Day we had our first meal at Dad's house with him

Then spent the rest of the day at Kelly's house for more good conversation and eating.

HoHoHo and a Merry Christmas to all!

Dec. 12 - 18, 2014 Auburn, Roseville, Sacramento area

Today we left Gold Country RV and moved back to Thunder Valley on our way to  have lunch with former work friends Laurie and Robert at Evan's Kitchen in Sacramento.

Then tonight we had an overnight visit with Laurie and Bob Broughan at their house

On the weekend we visited with Dad at his house

 and spent some time working at our local Cal Expo Courthyard by Marriott.

On Monday we went back to Auburn for business appointment 

and some work time at Courthoue Coffee in old town Auburn 

then we moved to Thousand Trails camapgroud near Lotus CA on Hwy 49 right on the American River for three nights.  On Tuesday,I went in to Auburn to attend a social event with my PEO lady friends and spend the night with Marian.

While I was gone Chatty's heater decided to quit, so we left early to take her in to our favorite local repair shop, B & B RV in Aub urn where they took good care of her while we went to Sacramento to spend the night at Connie's house, and visit with Dad the next morning.

Dec. 5 - 11, 2014 - Auburn area

We did some client work at Auburn Autohaus   Russ and Nadja, the owners,  are RV'ers themselves, so are interested in our exploits, and were happy to let us park Chatty in their parking lot for the weekend while they were not open for business.  Very convenient to our storage unit and social activities.

On Saturday night we attended a Christmas party with the leadership folks from Sierra PInes at Chris and John Boykins house.

On Monday AM we moved avross the street to the Starbucks parking lot for the day

then to Thunder Valley where we planned to stay untl the weekend.  

There was a pretty sunrise one morning......

but warnings of a "BIG" storm came and we decided to move for cover 

at Gold Country RV in Auburn for a couple nights.  There was a lot of rain, but the winds were not nearly as bad as predicted.

Thurs. Dec. 4, 2014 - XERO

Mike and I attended an all day Accelerate your Practice seminar in Sacramento sponsored by XERO -

a cloud-based accounting software that we are currently learning.  We met Pete, our account manager

and had delicious lunch, snacks and happy hour at day's end.  

- made us not too hungry for dinner, so we drove back to Thunder Valley 

and had a simple fruit smoothie for dinner, then crashed.

Tues. Dec. 2, 2014 - Goodbye to Eric and claudia

We took Eric and Claudia to the Sacramento airport this morning so they could fly out to Cancun where they will be staying for the next six months.  It was great to see them.

Mon., Dec. 1, 2014 - Dinner at Kelly's

Mike was suffering from a bad head cold, so laid low today.  He started the Jambalaya dinner at home, and I helped hi finish up the catered in dinner at Kelly's house.  But Mike did not feel up to going, so tonight it was just three Tomczaks,plus Claudia and Kelly and Glenda's son Brett for dinner ( sorry I did not get a picture of us all) at Kelly's house.

Thanksgiving Day 2014

I cooked my family dinner side dishes this morning at our parking spot at Thunder Valley

 before we met up with Connie and dad for the first Thanksgiving meal at noon at Dad's house.
He was pretty tired today due to a bad night's sleep and all the recent visitors he has had

 Then we went to Steve and Terri's house for the annual Thanksgiving family gathering

Fourteen people this year.
We were happy to see Jimmy and Monique who did not make it last year,
but sad that Curt's new wife, Sarah could not be with us,

 so here is the same picture from last year when Sarah ( and Claudia, too) first met the family......

Dinner was delicious as usual.....

thanks to our hosts Terri, the kitchen queen....

and Steve, the terrific turkey carver.

After dinner, Eric announced that he and Claudia are planning a spring 2016 wedding

 on the tropical Isla Holbox near Claudia's hometown Cancun

and we all relaxed to endure a bad performance by the 49ers on TV.

Happy thanksgiving!

Wed. Nov. 25, 2014 - The four Tomczaks together again

This morning we stayed at Walmart to get the Beef stew started for dinner tonight, then took Chatty up to Gold Country RV where we got a dump and a fill of fresh water, and a shower for ourselves.

Then we "checked in" to our home for the next few days at Thunder Valley and were happy to host Eric, Claudia and Curt for dinner and a fun card game of Hearts after dinner.  It was great to be together again  first time in a year - since last Thanksgiving.

( this picture was taken the next day at Steve and Terri's house during our Thanksgiving gathering, but the four Tomczaks were looking good the night before too!)

Tues. Nov. 25, 2014 - Home Field Walmart and Starbucks

We made it back to Sacramento before noon, and dropped in to visit with Dad for a short while before heading up to Auburn to get a massage from our favorite therapist, Jessica in the afternoon. I went first and while Mike was getting his,...

I did a quick drop in to the storage unit to offload some camping gear 

we will not be needing while we are here in town.

then I updated my blog at  our local Starbucks

Then back to Roseville to spend the night in the new Walmart 

on Hwy 80 and Sierra College Blvd. Very convenient!

Mon. Nov. 24, 2014 - Driving day

We stopped in Medford this morning for a Starbucks work session, and drove south into California where we stayed at another rest area just north of Corning.  Tonight we remembered Mom Tomczak on her birthday by cooking a delicious dinner of kielbasa with homemade saurekraut, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables - a dinner we shared with her on Dad Tomczak's birthday every year. Delicious!

Sun. Nov. 23, 2014 - Andy the Angel saves the day

Bad news from road service  this morning - they could not find a mechanic to come out not knowing what was the problem and having no access to parts.  We called the local tow truck service on our own and they sent out a capable young man who jumped us and gave some good advice, so we decided to drive out and stop 50 miles south a Florence at Les Schwab where we could get a new battery tomorrow morning.  We drove out of the campground to flat land by the day use parking lot

nearby to hook up the Jeep and shut the engine off again - I KNOW, WHAT WERE WE THINKING!!??!! You guessed it - now the engine will not start again, and we could not jump it.  While we were deciding what to do, looking at the engine with the hood up, Andy the jack of all trades ANGEL came by and insisted on looking at the engine.  Two hours later, he had cleanup up the posts and repaid a broken battery clip and we were on the way.

Off to Sacramento area and the holidays.  We had no further engine issues and made it to I-5 just south of Roseburg where we slept overnight at a nice rest area/travel center.

Sat. Nov. 22, 2014 - get-away day with no way to go

We took our time getting road ready this morning then drove in to town for a final pass at Farmer's market and lunch,  Then, back to the park to drive away but Chatty would not fire up.

We tried to jump it with the Jeep - no luck.  We called road service and they suggested we try the coach auxillary battery - this DID work, but not for long, because when the engine got turned off, it would not start again, so we made another call to road service.  By now it was 3:00 and they could not find a mechanic willing to come out this late on a Saturday so we accepted the fact we were on to Plan B, and not leaving until tomorrow at best.  So we went for a swim/exercise session and curled up with another Mel Brooks movie, Blazing Saddles and a good night's rest.

Fri. Nov. 21, 2014 - last full day

We skipped the Newport chamber lunch today because we had a lot of chores and work to do to get ready to pull out tomorrow , and we had tickets to the theater tonight........

The venue was a new building small with good seats everywhere, and we expected a good show but it was better than that - with a good set, actors and a band of tap dancers from a local dance troupe for the "puttin on the Ritz" number backed up by a live orchestra,

 

Nov. 16-20 Tour of Whaler's Rest - the at home workspace

The cold spell lasted until Wed. - a whole week.  Twice we ran out of propane in our auxiliary 5 gal tank during the night.  

Makes for a chilly morning but it was easy to get the get the spare tank going again after daylight , and the park has a propane refill tank, so it was easy to get a refill for the empty one.

The cold ( and rainy ) spell made it easy to focus on business for a few days.  The north clubhouse was a short walk downhill from our site.

It has really good internet, and a comfortable work space so easy to spend out days here

and go home for lunch, and even do some laundry next door  - very convenient!

Sat Nov. 15 2014 - too cold for beach walk

We've been having a cold snap - it started on Wednesday.  Frozen ice in the road puddles in the morning.  We had planned to go for a beach walk after our trip to farmers market today, but instead, Mike kept warm at our local coffee shop

while I went shopping at the store I've had my eye on for a month.  Fun!

Fri. Nov. 14, 2014 - Remembering Mom Dempsey

Today we went to the Newport Chamber luncheon at the Hallmark resort,

 then spent the rest of the afternnon working 

in the lobby sitting area near the windows 

with an elevated view of the ocean on a beautiful day. Great work space!

Even though we are far from other family this year, Mike and I kept the tradition of remembering loved ones on their birthday with their favorite meal.  Mike made chicken picatta with mushrooms from farmers market.  Here is a picture of mom and me in 1958.