1/1/20

Happy New Year!


Hey there, Everybody! Happy New Year! I didn't expect to be away from the blog for so long, but sometimes it works out that way. So I have lots to show and tell. Let's just back up to the day we left home, shall we?

It was wet and dark. Lots of RVers with similar predilections to us call themselves "Snowbirds." We don't get a lot of snow in our area, and so when it snows, it's more delightful than disturbing. Instead, we get a winter that looks just like the one you see below. Lots of dark, wet, and muddy days.


And because of that, we call ourselves "Rainbirds." Yeah...like the sprinkler. So anyway...off we went. You know on these driving days, I amuse myself taking pictures of barns. We've seen a lot of barns the past few days, and so I'll share some of the best ones with you in this post.




We stopped for lunch at a rest area. It gave all of us a chance to use the facilities and to get some food. Sadie was stealth, looking at what was going on outside from the safety of one of the side tables.


Smitty was more bold, checking things out from his window seat.


And then we were back on the road. This is pretty much how our drive looked the first day.


We spent our first night in a new-to-us state park. We were planning to have breakfast with a dear friend from high school the next day.


The kitties couldn't wait to get out on the catio. Sadie asked me to wait so that she could purrsition herself to take advantage of Smitty's tail. She's always wanted to see how she'd look if nature had endowed her a little more generously.


I had some time the next morning to finish the embroidery on the first Snowflake.


Before taking off from the state park, I snapped this picture of Smitty. He likes to go down the road in a small space beside Mike's side of the bed. We keep some raggedy towels there for mopping up wet floors, and Smitty thinks this is a perfect spot for the road. What you can't see in this image is that Sadie is tucked in behind him.


It was too bad it was raining so much because we had a nice quiet spot with a view of the Rogue River. It was just a short distance to walk over there, and I'm told there's a trail along the river. This is a place we'll want to come back to again when the weather is better.


And then we had a really nice breakfast with my friend Becky and her husband. I'd never met her husband, and so it was wonderful catching up. We graduated from high school the same year in 1972. Becky visited our home in the early 90's, but we hadn't seen one another since then.


And Becky offered to take a picture of Mike and me before we got back on the road heading south once again.
 

I took this next picture to show you that we had no problems getting over the Siskiyou summit, which was our one worry with respect to road conditions. There was snow on the sides of the road, but the road itself was just wet pavement. No problems at all.


As we crested the summit, it was as if we were heading into the light. It got brighter and brighter, and we discussed donning our sunglasses.


When we crossed over...YAHOO! Blue skies and sunshine. That's what I'm talkin' about!


And it wasn't long before we crossed the state line into California. Bye-bye, Oregon!


Hellllllooooooo, California! Land of my birth. And Mike's too.


Shortly down the road, we had to go through the agricultural inspection station. As we'd pondered our first day on the road just before leaving home, it suddenly occurred to me that we were going to lose all our produce. I was able to find a chart showing what was "subject to inspection," and what was "prohibited." On the prohibited list was any citrus, and I had a whole unopened bag of clementines, several limes, a lemon, and an orange. Gah! I texted my neighbor, and she took the citrus off our hands. As for the rest, there was a lot of it, and I could only hope for the best.


As it turns out, they were only interested in the fruit, and the only thing I had left was apples. When I fessed up to the apples, he simply waved us on through. Thank you, Sir, and Happy New Year!

And then it was more hours of driving and more barns.


I love passing by this next thing...they are tanker-style trucks for sale. Why they are painted in so many colors, I have no idea. Sometime I'd love to stop along the road here and take a better picture because I'm sure there's a quilt here.


We'd despaired of seeing Mt. Shasta because we were in and out of the fog. We kept looking ahead, trying to see it, when Mike looked out his left window. Holy sh*t...it was right there!


We stopped overnight at a casino where we could stay for free. In the morning we awakened to trucks all around us...and I mean really...all around us in all directions. I was able to get under way sewing the pearls on the snowflake.


These are tiny 2mm Swarovski pearls, and that's a tiny thin beading needle laying there beside them. They are a little tedious to work with.


I've been using a single strand of monofilament thread to sew them on. As I'm writing this, there are 12 to go, and then I'll be finished. The dark circles you see around them will disappear once I rinse the Sticky Fabri-Solvy out of the piece and trim it up.

It was a pretty sunrise before we took off yesterday morning.


We travel south on Interstate 5, which happens to parallel the Pacific Flyway. We saw lots of birds of prey, including a couple of bald eagles. Off to the side of the road, we saw thousands of geese. If you look in the image below, stretching across the middle of the image, that band of white is geese who've come in for a landing.


The skies were full of them.


When we reached our final spot for the next four nights (three now), we were greeted by this Attack Cat. This cat appears unhappy to see us, and s/he means business.


And here's where things get funky. We're moving into the whining and complaining part of this post.


We checked in, and all was well, but something happened as I was getting out of the truck at our spot. I had the distinct impression I'd just inhaled some kind of powdery stuff, although it was invisible. It was the same sort of feeling you get when you choke on a drink, and I started coughing, and coughing, and coughing. Holy moly...I coughed all night along and into the morning. I have mild asthma, and I had an inhaler along, but I use my inhaler so infrequently, and never for an attack this severe and prolonged. It really didn't have a lot of poop left, or a lot of quantity, and so I had to call my doctor back home to request a refill on the inhaler. I spoke with the doctor on call...it's New Year's Day, don't forget...and he phoned in several prescriptions, including a couple of steroidal medications to try to shut down the inflammatory process I have going on.

We had to drive an hour to the nearest 24-hour pharmacy. Along the way, I wheezed past a few more barn photos. It took my mind off my inability to breathe temporarily, at least.




I took hits off the two different inhalers and also swallowed an oral steroid, and I'm feeling quite a bit better as I write this. I think I will survive this episode, but my chest still feels tight.

Tomorrow we're meeting up with yet another friend from high school. You might remember my friend Judy who came up to visit during the solar eclipse in 2017.


Judy is a very smart person, and a career entomologist. She's also a "birder," and she's going to take us to a couple of the local national wildlife refuges. At one, we'll see some kind of elk, and at the other, we should be able to see the flight of the sandhill cranes. I've only ever seen it in videos, and it is impressive. It should be a fun day.

So that brings you up to date. As for my sewing projects, it's time to set a goal for January's


Hopefully, I'll get in a day of sewing here and there. My January goal is to quilt and bind the Pumpkin Pie quilt I started a couple of years ago. It's a small project, and so it should be do-able.



So there you go...we're all caught up. I'll continue to blog as I have the time. Tomorrow should be a full day, and so I don't know if I'll post tomorrow, but I'll probably be back the next day for sure. Until then...stay safe and healthy, and let's finished lots of quilts in 2020.

24 comments:

Vicki W said...

I don't know if this will be of any help to you but I discovered that drinking a lot of water helps my asthma attacks when my meds aren't close by.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I hope you get better quickly.

dq said...

Barbara, I love the photos of all the barns on your "rainbird" trip! I love barns too!

That little embroidered snowflake is making my mouth water. It is so so so beautiful especially with the beads.

Your One Monthly Goal is also amazing. Get 'er done!

Julierose said...

Oh how scarey to get a sudden attack like that one!! Happy to hear you are feeling better...I love the pearls on your snowflake--it is looking beautiful..
Lovely barn pictures...hope the rest of your journey is wonderful....
Hapy New Year..hugs, Julierose

Vroomans' Quilts said...

You know I always love the shared barns. I am allergic to ground spores that are released during heavy rains and get the same reaction. I hope things improve as you go more south.

Tilly said...

Hope you feel better now, take care. Love the pictures of your journey, and the snowflake embroidery looks great.
Happy new year!

Lyndsey said...

Hope your breathing improves and do keep well hydrated as it really does help. The barns are so cute and I'm feeling a painting coming on from one of your photos.

SJSM said...

I feel for you on the asthma attack. It is so uncomfortable and scary to go through that. Reading your blog replies I learned that hydration may help, too. I will try that if I am in the same predicament. Love your rainy exit and sunshine moment. Do get some pictures of the cranes. Have happy and safe travels!

Linda said...

I hope you are breathing better now! I had a tight chest last summer with pneumonia, and it's no fun. I enjoy pictures of your kitties and love that they are so comfortable traveling. I'm using your blog as my tutorial for the Snowflakes embroidery. :) Yours looks wonderful so far. Does Sticky Fabri-Solvy wash out easily?

piecefulwendy said...

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your breathing issues. Not fun at all. Now I know why you were up in the night! I hope you do get to see the sandhills - they are quite spectacular (and noisy). Enjoy your adventure - hope you are feeling better soon!

Ioleen said...

Loved reading this post. Sadie’s tail is amazing 😉. My son has asthma and when he was little discovered that if you gargle water as well as drinking it really helps. Hope your feeling better.

Beth said...

Oh, Barbara--I'm sorry about the asthma attack. The feeling of not being able to breathe easily must be dreadful. We have three asthmatic cats in our household and so I'm very familiar with inhalers, although the cats require a special contraption to use them, including a little face mask. I always wish I could explain what is happening. By now they seem to understand that the inhaler brings relief, which in part tells me how awful the asthma sensation must be, if even our crabbiest cat will tolerate having a mask put over her face every night, then something blown into her face (must be somewhat like the dreaded "hissing"), just to keep the everyday symptoms under control.

The picture of Sadie's tail is magnificent. I wish she could enjoy the photo as much as I did.

Lee Young said...

Always love your travel posts, especially the barns, and being very familiar with that stretch of I-5, I too love those brightly colored trucks. A couple years ago, my son & I were traveling north, he was driving and we found ourselves in stop and go traffic [summer repairs] right at that spot, yep, out came my camera/phone and I got some nicer pictures than I'd ever gotten before.
Hope your inhaler/steroids do the job quickly. Safe travels, and have fun. Oh and Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Always love seeing your travel photos!
Glad you are feeling better...I have occasional asthmatic episodes and the tight chest along with difficulty breathing is really scary, as you know, having just experienced these symptoms. So glad you were able to get medications for relief.
Chin scratches for Smitty and Sadie!!
Have fun, and safe travels...I will be following along via your blog posts!!

Sandra B
scb304@juno.com

Claire said...

Sandhill Cranes--hope you saw a lot. I used to make an annual trip to Jasper Pulaski in Indiana to watch them come in by the thousands to socialize before roosting for the night in their migration.

CA Bobbie said...

The snowflake is absolutely SPECTACULAR ! Wowee. I also got a kick out of the tail for Sadie. Here's hoping no more asthma attacks...was surprised by the comment about the ground spores. You couldn't even guess that would happen.
Safe journey and much good health in this new year.

Janis P said...

Thanks for taking me along on your vacation again! About the asthma, have you had your serum vitamin D level checked recently? There have been tons of research linking low levels to asthma. After we started her on 1000 vit D/day, my friends little daughter never had another attack. Apparently the sunlight doesn't do enough anymore. Be safe, feel well, and thanks again. I love your blog.

gpc said...

Asthma must be so scary. My only experience was one episode of anaphylaxis, and not being able to breathe is definitely no picnic. I hope you are all better now, and that you don't let your meds get that low again. Loved the photo your friend took -- you are such a cute couple! (and Happy New Year.)

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

This post is so interesting to me. When my grandson moved west he first stayed in Oregon and the rains drove him south. He says he’ll move back but all the future plans he mentions all involve California. I look forward to reading more about your trip. The beaded snowflake is beautiful.
Xx, Carol

Brown Family said...

I know how miserable lan asthma attach can make you feel.I have not had a bad one in a while. but I keep an inhaler with me at all times! Glad you got out of the rain and into bright sunshine and beautiful country.

Kate said...

Sorry about the trouble at the end of your trip. Getting sick on the road on a holiday isn't fun. Hope you are feeling much better now and are able to enjoy your home away from home.

kc said...

Lots of pretty barns. Love the shot of coming over the rise to the light, and then, wow, what a beautiful mountain!

Your snowflake is gorgeous, and those pearly blue beads are stunning, just the perfect accent!

Sorry about your asthma attack, they are awfully scary when out of control. Not to mention, well, you know.

Patty said...

Happy New Year! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and good luck with your project.

Danette said...

Sorry for your asthma attack. My cat has asthma and we really have to watch some things with her because it seems that the attacks are brought on by stress. I would love to take her with us in our motorhome, but that has always been our issue - that she might have an asthma attack. Hope all is well, now!