Greetings from Seal Beach

It has been a while since I have updated things here so I thought I might bring it up to date. We stayed in Fresno visiting with family (and waiting for repair parts for both the truck and the rig) until January 7th. I felt like a fish! You know company is like fist, after 3 days they start to smell. I was afraid Barbara was getting very sick of me. But, she is a sweetheart and never let on.
I drove down from Fresno on the 7th. All went well except for a nice man in a garbage truck pulled up next to me to let me know my spare was about to fall off. So I had to find a place to pull over so I could tighten it up.
I arrived at Seal Beach, at the Naval Weapons Station, at about 2:00 pm. Made it to Seabreeze (the name of the RV Park on base) and found my spot. I was perfectly positioned after only 3 tries (backing into position that is) I was just about completely set up when Rob arrived. He had been out on a trip.
It was a beautiful sunshinny day..
We spent the rest of the day and evening unpacking both vehicles, the big truck and the Subaru that he's been driving all around, and setting up our abode. It is very nice to be settled.
YumYum is happy as well, first to be out of the truck, and second to be back in her little house where she can wander as she pleases and feel very safe.
On the 8th we played golf at the Navy base. We walked and only played the front nine of the "Destroyer" course. It is a nice course and on abut the 7th there is a big lake with a destroyer floating it it. It is about 30 feet long. We played with a really nice man. He was very talkative, but not overly so, but we had alot of fun.
The next day Rob left on a 4 day trip. So much for being together. It was ok though. He went off to Hawaii and I was left to clean, do laundry, and really settle in, and, to study which I have neglected. I extended my test deadline to March, so now I really need to get cracking.
I also started going to the gym. There are several 24 hour workouts near by so I found one with a class schedule I liked and jumped in. I did lifting classes, dance classes, yoga and some step.
When Rob got back he went to a couple classes with me. But, I found that working out hard in the mornings makes me really sleepy the rest of the day and very difficult to read. So, we switched to working out in the later afternoons, or all day as in golfing or going for bike rides.
I finally got my Body Bugg registered and working. The bugg is a gadget and computer program through 24 Hour Fitness and Apex. You go into the online program and plug in all your personal information, i.e your sex, age, height, weight and what your goal is. You fill out a questionaire about what you like to snack on, and how active you are. As I said you tell it what your wight goal is and how many pounds a week you want to loose. Then it tells you how many calories you need to eat per day. It breaks it down to percentages of protein, fat, and carbs, but you have to record everything you eat. It makes me pay attention to what I am eating for sure. Most of the brand names of foods are there, even major restaurants meals like Applebees etc. So then it also tells you how many calories you need to burn a day. That is where the bugg comes in. You wear et around your left arm. It has a strap and then the gadget is up against your skin on the back of your tricep. It looks like you are wearing a nano pod or something. I have set mine for a goal of 10,000 steps per day, a workout activity of 1 and 1/2 hours and a target burn goal of 2450 calories per day. It is set to reach 1000 calories more than I consume. That will allow me to lose 2 lbs a week. I started this on the 10th and have lost 6 lbs. Yeah!!
Enough of that!
We have both been studying alot. Rob his airline stuff and me my personal trainer. The timing for all this studying has been really good because we had those really bad storms that almost drowned us, and there was nothing else to do but study and hold on. It did rain a ton, but the wind was what was causing me so much stress. We have awnings over all our slides and I was afraid the wind was going to tear them up. But we faired ok.
The day before the big storms Rob and I went for a bike ride. He was dying to get back to his rings in Santa Monica. We drove El Segundo, then rode our bikes along the beach path through Venice Beach (always crazy) to Santa Monika. The rings are a set of ten rings hanging apart and you (Rob) have to swing like a monkey to get from one to the next. They generally go up and back. There are always people waiting for their turn. Mostly men, but there are also several very graceful (and strong) women who do them as well. Rob usually does them 2 or 3 times then we move on (head back). Around the rings are all sorts of other very cool stuff. This time they had tight-ropes set up, there are fixed parallel bars, pull up bars, and a ropes. Often there are gals with the long strands of fabric doing their acrobatic things. It is alot of fun to watch. there is also a lawn area where groups are always practicing and teaching acrobatic lifts and cool stuff like that.
On this particular ride my back was really hurting and I made the comment to Rob that I wish I could sit up straight while riding like I do driving. He said you need a cruiser, especially down here by the beach. Later that day we stopped in at a bike shop because Rob needed a new goose neck for his bike. They had a bunch of cruisers in there and I found the perfect one. It is by Phat and it is called Aloha 3. Rob had given me a Sony e-reader for Christmas but it was having some problems so I took it back. Soooo, here is my Christmas present. We orderded the curiser. (Thus the picture under this portion of the blog). They had to order it and he said it would be ready in a week or so. Cool, no worries because it is supposed to rain. The nice man threw in the basket at no charge. The next day the storms started. The following day the nice man called and said my bike was ready to pick up but we asked him to hang on to it until the storms were over. He did
Finally on Sat the 23rd the storms stopped, the sun came out and it was gorgeous. We went to the shop, picked up the bike and went for a 25 mile beach ride on my regal new bike. I felt like a queen all sittin up straight, pedlin my bike with a big smile on my face. It was very cool.
Sunday we walked down to the beach. There was not a ship in port so we were able to walk down to our base beach. It is real nice, except for all the trash that is all over all the beaches since the storm. That part is horrible. We met a nice man who was getting ready to go scuba diving. He is going after lobster. He said there a alot of them out there along the jetty that forms the Navy harbor. Wow, that sure gave Rob something to think and druel about. We walked back to our house and watched the two play off football games.
Mon 25 Jan we took our Universal Golf Clubs (we call them our "One Club" because it is just one club with an adjustable head that goes all the way from a 2 iron down to a putter) and our putters and walked the Cruiser course on the Navy base. It was so fun. Nothing to drag around, just two clubs like walking sticks. The club comes with a small carying case that you can clip around your waist to cary extra balls in and the other small periphenalia in. It was a blast.
So, that brings us to today, Tuesday 26 Jan. It is a duty day for Rob but he hasn't been called yet. We are doing laundry and bracing for the next storm which is supposed to be a doosie with thunder and lightning and a whole lot of water. Thank goodness it is only supposed to be one day.
That's it for now. I'll write again in a week or so, or if anything really fun and exciting happens. So far it is all very fun and exciting and we are both really enjoying being full time RVers.

Sunshine in Seal Beach

Cat's new bike, if your gonna live near the beach, you have to have a beach cruiser. She took back her eReader, too many glitches. I told her to wait for Apple's new tablet, but she really liked this bike. I haven't seen her smile like this in a while.

This is down by Huntington Beach. You can't see in very well, but the waves are pretty big after the storms we have been having down here in SoCal.

This was taken on the Seal Beach pier five minuets after we picked up Cat's new bike. We then went on a 25 mile bike ride down the beach.

HAPPY, HEALTHY, NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

December 31, 2009 - 1 January 2010
Fresno, CA

Happy New year Everyone! We wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

Also, Happy Anniversary to Ernie & Barbara Dixon (my Dad & Stepmother) 43 years, to Rob & Cat 13 years, and to Whitney & Obe (my neice, Barb & Dad's grand daughter) 6 years. We were all married New Year's Eve

We are still in Fresno, visiting with family and waiting for the RV service centers to re-open so we can get fix
We did a bit of shopping today. Dad and Barb bought a new TV stand (they are using our flat screen TV). It is longer and lower and they ordered two new bar stools to match the two they have, then we made various other stops. My Dad was so happy to be out of the house. We stopped by the house and put away all our groceries and stuff and left Dad in the car. Barb and I quickly changed clothes and then we headed up to Table Mountain Casino for dinner. It is a Casino run by the American Indians. They have a really nice restaurant called Eagles Landing. We had to wait about 30 min to get in so we played the slots for a bit.
We had excellen Prime Rib and Shrim Scampi dinners. The total bill for the three of us was only $30.00. Why you ask??! Because the casino is dry! The gal came to our table and asked if she could start us off with something to drink. I said, I would love to have a margarita, salt on the rocks. She said, Oh I'm so sorry but we don't serve alcohol. Hmmm.
Our dinner was delicious, the restaurant was very nice, and we had a safe and sober drive home. We arrived home at about 7 pm. Perfect We watched a couple episodes of Monarc of the Glen and then Dad went to bed to take a nap until 11 pm
Meanwhile, Rob was on a trip. He had flown from LA down to Z town in Mexico and then back. It was a 3 hour flight down, 1 hour on the ground and 4 hour back. Upon landing he went to his abode, picked up his truck and drove up to Fresno. He arrived at 11 pm.
So, we got Dad up and the 4 of us sipped champagne, toasted each other a Happy Anniversary and then at midnight we toasted in the New Year. It is always nice to be with family on New Years.
New Years day we did the standard, watched the Pasedena Rose Parade and then the various Bowl games.
Our plan for the upcoming year is to hang out in the Seal Beach area for the next couple of months and spend some time together and help each other loose the fat and weight that we both collected along our journey over the past 3 months. We will probably isolate ourselves for the next two months and then will re-emerge and lean, mean fighting machines. Well at least, hopefully, slim and trim.
We have enjoyed visiting with family and friends these past several months and throughout the past year. So far we are really enjoying living in the RV and being able to travel to new places and to visit friends and family. We have not regretted leasing out our house at all.
We wish you all good health and happiness through out all of 2010 and plan on visiting you all throughout the year.
I have discovered that I can have this blog printed into a book with all the journals and pictures which I am excited about. Once that is completed I will see if I can erace this one and start a new with our adventures of 2010. I do not plan on detailing every day unless we travel.
Best Wishes to you all. Rob & Cat