Travels of Rob and Cat: THE RANCH AND ELSEWHERE

I had our entire journey of 2016 to 2018 published into 10 hard bound books and I love them. I decided to keep it up and so, I am going to go back and try to recap 2018 Month by month. So, here goes.

JANUARY- 2018
Bella and I finally arrived back in Aguanga on January 6th. It was good to be back on our lot at the Ranch.

On this same day Rob was on a trip and had a lay-over in San Jose. He was able to get together with is sister Sarah, her hubby Noel, and their son Liam.

It's always nice when he can get together with family and friends on layovers.

We decided that since the Teton is reaching it's 10 year mark and it has been out of the park for the entire time we have been traveling that we would get it painted. The paint on it was looking really bad.

Alaska Airlines painted one of their airplanes to honor those who serve. It looks really nice.

Rob completed his annual training with Alaska Airlines. So he gets to continue flying and his favorite destination is Hawaii, specifically, Maui.

And when he gets to go there with an amazing crew they go on amazing adventures......

Meanwhile; Mom is going to turn 90 years old this year in July. I have been asking her what she wanted for or to do for her birthday. She has been living alone since my step-father passed away in 2007. She totaled her car a couple years ago and has had to depend on others to get her around. Her vision is failing and she promised me some time ago that when she no longer felt safe or comfortable living by herself she would let me know. Well, she decided that for her birthday she wanted to live with us. We have been looking around at places that the three of us might live.

While Mom was here I had to have my car serviced after its long adventure. Lexus in Escondido is an amazing place. They have a hair and nail salon, a boutique, a golf simulator, a wonderful restaurant called Vintana. They also have an awesome outdoor dining patio where you can sit around a fire table while enjoying your food and yummy wine.

Naturally Mom and I had to take part.

We sold our home in Tahoe before going on our awesome adventure. Now we need to reestablish our Nevada residency. Rob has found a place in Pahrump, Nevada. It is about 60 miles south east of Las Vegas. It is a smaller community and far less expensive. It has a nice golf course, so Rob went to check it out.

Nice golf course, nice club house, with patio dining and a nice bar & grill.

In fact, he found a house and put an offer in. I haven't seen it, but that's ok, I trust him.

It has a view of the mountains from the back yard.

FEBRUARY

We got our Teton back with its Fresh new paint. It looks so pretty.

Of course now we get to move back into it which means taking everything out of the Seville which we have been living and traveling in for the past two years. Where do we put it all???!

Where ever we can of course!

Where on earth did we get all this crap?

Well, after only a day and a half we got it all sorted out and either moved in or thrown away. Rob was so overwhelmed I had to send him out golfing.

Nicely back to normal!

One day while we were looking at places to live Mom mentioned that she was sad that we would be leaving the Ranch. Hmmmm! So, we asked her how she felt about living in the Seville on her own lot here at the Ranch and we all liked the idea.

So, I have been going to Fresno for a week at a time and helping her sort through all her belongings. And trying to get her to decide what she wants in the Seville, what she wants to get rid of and what she wants stored.

I drove the Seville up to Fresno to have Mom move directly into it. Move her clothes, her favorite dishes, her cosmetics, keep sakes, etc. I parked the Rig in front of her house and left it hooked to the truck as I was unsure of what the rules were about having an RV on the street in town.

Things are a bit vague, because it seems like I would have needed a vehicle to get around in while the truck was hooked up, but who knows. I know that we had Mom stay with Barbara once we started moving stuff out of her house, so maybe I had Barbara's car for a day or two.

What I do know is that Rob came up and we did unhook the truck. We met Barbara and Mom for dinner and on the way back to Mom's we got hit in the truck. Ka Bam!

We had the police come and do a report, had it towed and somehow got a loaner. The really good thing is that no one was hurt.

The bad thing was, how are we going to get Mom's RV down to the Ranch.

Well, we arranged for Skip, the nice man who hauled our Teton to LAX for us and then picked it up from LAX and drove it to Hemet for its paint job and then picked it up from Hemet and drove it to the Ranch and placed it on our lot agreed to drive up to Fresno, pick up the RV and drive it to the Ranch. What a great guy.

Rob got a U-haul truck and loaded all the stuff that Mom wanted to hang on to and headed off to Pahrump. Oh, by the way, the escrow closed on the house, so we had a place to put her stuff.

Rob arranged for a couple guys to meet him and help him unload and move everything into the house, but by the time they finally arrived he had most of it done.

He drove the U-haul to Las Vegas and turned it in. Then he gat an Uber to the Airport and flew back to LA.

MARCH

Mom and I drove down to Aguanga and got her all settled on her new lot. We put up fencing so that Bella could go and hang out with her. We even got her a cool scooter so she could drive herself down to the market, the cafe, and the small club house. She had a little bit of independence back.

For my birthday Rob, Bella and I went to Del Mar. We stayed a couple nights, played golf had a nice dinner and took Bella for nice walks. I love this garden at the entrance to the dog beach at Del Mar.

APRIL

I miss all the amazing lighthouses we saw around the nation on our travels. So, I decided to order one and put it in our yard. Of course I had to completely redo our landscaping. I had to dig out all the old plants. One in particular, the Agave cactus I dug and dug and dug and then couldn't lift the dumb thing. Thank goodness for Phil. He came over and helped me haul it out of the ground and to the street.

I smoothed everything over and put weed mat down. We had someone come and do the wiring for us. Rob helped me with the weed mat and

low and behold, we have the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from Dare County, North Carolina.

The windows light up at night and the beacon goes around just like a regular lighthouse. It's awesome.

We went up to Fresno and had a nice visit with Barbara and Art. I think it was for Mom's last eye appointment with Kaiser before transferring everything down to Kaiser in So Cal.

We also got new stairs for the Teton. We had really nice stairs, but Mom needed them on her lot so we had our awesome friend Bill Scott build us new ones.

It makes a huge difference to have them or not. Much safer with.

MAY

Yippee!! Rob and I got to go back to Hawaii. We didn't get to go to Kauai this time, instead we went to Oahu. The weather was not great, but it was still great to be there. We played golf at Turtle Bay,

Went on a pretty tough hike with some awesome views.

It was pretty tough;

but it was worth it.

We also went to the Hale Koa, which is the Military hotel in Waikiki. It is lovely.

June

Katy and Jimmy came out to So Cal. Jimmy had a match. Sarah also came down. She Rob and I rented a little air B & B. We went to Rancho Palos Verdes - Portuguese Bend for a hike by the water.

Back in April we bought a third RV. We live in our Teton and with Mom living in the Seville we still needed something for Rob at the Airport for when he has an early morning departure or when he gets in late and doesn't want to do the 2 hour drive back to the Ranch in the wee hours. As it turns out, our good friends John and Judi Pontsler needed to sell their 30' Titanium 5th wheel. So we bought it. It is small, but it has solar and is perfect for a crash pad.

Well for Rob's birthday we took it out and went up to Frazier Park.
It is in Kern County at 4,639 feet up on the Teton Pass. The camp ground was nice and woodsy

And we had a nice spot.

We went there for an organized land navigation exercise. It was a tough one. Especially hiking around up and down the hills.

All to find these little markers:

But the views were quite amazing

And afterward we were rewarded with a nice group dinner and a toasty fire.

It was a fun weekend.

JULY

I figured it was time that I go and visit our house in Pahrump. Remember, Rob bought it in February, he took some of Mom's furniture there in March and I figured it was about time I check it out. So, Mom, Rob, Bella and I drove out there.

The drive from Aguanga was pretty. 5 hours. The landscape in the area is amazingly beautiful.

The house was nice. It was a bit larger than we needed and it had a complicated floor plan with a formal living room and small family room. The back yard was small and it was fenced in with a brick wall. That was very difficult for me.

We went for a walk and found a house for sale that was a block away and had a view of the golf course, with a wrought iron fence. We called the realtor and they let us in to see it. We loved it. We asked if we could put a contingency offer in with us selling our house. We asked the realtor to work both houses. She said ok and they accepted our offer with 90 days to sell our house.

Amazingly we got a full price offer on our house. Not only was it full price, but it was 30 thousand more than what we paid for it. It was meant to be. The only bad part was that the buyer wanted our "Brand New" washer, dryer, and refrigerator and the new house had none of those items so we will have to buy them again.

AUGUST

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch I did a bit of sewing. I purchased a heavy duty sewing machine that can sew canvas, and can even be used to make sail boat sails.

I re-upolstered our patio set, which turned out quite nice if I must say so myself.

And I used it to redo peoples golf cart seats, make covers for their seats, and make covers for their carts.

Also in August we had pebble-tech added to our lot. What a huge difference that made. In appearance, feel, and cleanliness.

SEPTEMBER

Rob, Bella and I took a boat ride out to Catalina Island. I had never been there before. I grew up with my step-siblings who spend summers with their Dad in Huntington, Laguna, and Catalina. I saw pictures, but had never been there.

So, we took back packs, our bikes and Bella's basket and went over on the ferry.

We went on a Hum-V tour of the Island. It was pretty awesome.

It was a little scary at times as well. Pretty steep bouncy roads.

But the wild life and the beaches were very cool.

It was also very cool visiting the famous Airport In The Sky

And we visited the Rapture Rehab Center

It was nice to get back to town.

The next day we went on a very cool bike ride through town and saw more special sites.

It was a fun couple day get away.

Later in the month Rob played golf at Torrey Pines with Jack and his buddies.

And he ended the month playing golf in Pahrump on our Mountain Falls Golf Course.

OCTOBER

Our house closed escrow. Actually the one we sold closed before the one we were buying, but the sellers allowed us to move our stuff and even paint before it actually closed.

Every morning when we first get up Bella and I walk down the street to the little park. The view of Mt Charleston is often quite lovely.

We had to get new furnishings as we sold everything when we sold Tahoe. But, it is coming together.

Bella especially loves to lay on the back of the couch and watch people walk by. Unfortunately she often scares the bejesus out of me by letting out a huge bark. Then she goes running out to find out what is really going on with those passers by.

NOVEMBER

November was fun, and busy.

Mom and I have a favorite Mexican Restaurant in Temecula called Guadalajara. One of the reasons we like it so much is because our friend Martha works there and she makes the best Margaritas in town.

Rob, Bella and I had a quick trip to New York where we walked through Central Park and saw the play Chicago!

We had a Fall crafts fair at the Ranch and I sold $350. worth of golf ball marker bracelets and anklets that I made.

Rob, Mom and I had a lovely, elegant dinner at the local winery in Pahrump

Expensive, but yummy

And we hired a young contractor (actually he passed all his exams and got his license while he was doing our work) to transform an indented wall in our living room into a wonder full Southwestern entertainment center. He also added some shelves to another wall in our living room. It was amazing watching him, because he did all the work off of a picture that I sent to his cell phone. No plans, no instructions, no measurements.

Here are the shelves formed on the other wall.

DECEMBER

He couldn't get the stonework in that he needed to complete the project, but he finished it as best he could. He installed our TV, our electronics and our fire place and I was able to decorate it for Christmas.

We had a cookie exchange at the Ranch with a Gingerbread House building contest. It was a lot of fun

Bella got mad at me one day and decided to hold her grudge by hiding behind the pillows all day.

Sadly, we lost some very good friends this year.

Steve Sperry had a massive, sudden heart attack and died. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of him.

Rob Steinau; a sweet, funny man lost his battle with Cancer.

And our good friend, Bill Scott, who built two sets of stairs for us, worked on my sewing machines, and brought smiles to our lips lost his battle with cancer as well.