Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Family

Mikey Turns One

Boys and the Alphabet Train

Our youngest great grandchild, Mikey, had his first birthday yesterday. We sent him a birthday package via USPS and our granddaughter took this picture of him playing with his new toy set. It is a V-Tech Sit to Stand Alphabet Train. Here’s the detail on the educational toy:

  • Push toy is designed to grow with your child; the toy train can be used as a floor toy, a ride on that also transforms into a baby walker or a pull toy wagon they can fill with toys
  • Learning toy comes with 10 activities including a storybook, clock, gears; 13 double-sided alphabet blocks build fine motor skills and introduce letters, numbers, colors and more
  • For toddler role-play toy fun, the included Walkie-Talkie and number pad encourage role-play and introduce numbers and animals; counting toy plays more than 100 songs, melodies, sounds and phrases
  • Toy train counts the alphabet blocks when they’re dropped down the chute; kids story book teaches sing-along songs and plays melodies
  • Educational toy is intended for toddlers ages 1 to 3 years old

Anna, our eldest granddaughter and mother of the boys, sent us the above photo of Mikey and older brother Alex with the train toy. She also sent a video of Mikey putting blocks in the top of the toy and it responds by playing sounds and music. Damsel and I both got a kick out of that.

Thank God for our being able to see the kids as they grow up via electronic media.

11 Nov 2018 by Family Technobabble

Lifestyle Change – Diet in Particular

Chicken over Cauliflower Rice

Ever since Damsel retired about 20 years ago, we have enjoyed preparing delicious meals on the weekends. She runs the kitchen while I run the smoker and grill. Occasionally, I help in the kitchen (sous chef role) with meat cutting and grinding or with shredding cheese and other kitchen helper labors of love. Thus far, we have been able to prepare just about anything we see in a recipe or on the TV cooking and food channels or on internet social media.

A few weeks ago, Damsel went for her regular annual session with the family doctor. He checked her over and pronounced all the vitals to be within limits – however, he wanted her to get some routine blood work done. Her initial report was that triglycerides were a bit too high and the doctor prescribed another more specific blood test. The results from that test indicated a marginally high blood glucose level, also known as pre-diabetes.

The doctor’s advice was to change her diet to cut down on carbohydrate intake. Well, damn! just about all of our favorite foods are laden with carbs. We did some research on low-carb diets and actually found some literature on understanding the pre-diabetic condition and preparing meals with low carbohydrate counts. We also found other sites with recipes and information, one of which had the photo above of a “Garlic Butter Chicken with Parmesan Cauliflower Rice” recipe. It looks pretty good, no?

So, we’re both going on a low-carb diet. No more potatoes (and most other starchy root veggies), pasta ( 🙁 ), bread, pastries. fruit and a host of other goodies with high carbohydrate content. The only good news is that un-prepared meats of all kinds have zero carbs. Her diet will be to reduce blood sugar and mine will be to lose the 15-20 lbs that the doc has suggested.

Between a couple of low-carb cookbooks and websites like the one linked above, we should be able to prepare delicious food for our diets. In any event, we will not be denied wholesome, tasty meals just because of reduced carbs.

25 Oct 2018 by Family Food & Dining Medix Notions Retirement

Alex Turns Four

Alex Turns Four

Our eldest great grandchild, Alex, had his fourth birthday today. We sent him a birthday package via USPS and our granddaughter took these pictures of him opening his gifts. They live in Northern California.

He is at an age where he understands the concepts of birthday and who sent him presents. His mother says he really liked our presents.

The gifts were a Fire Tablet and Headphones. The interactive nature of the tablet should help him learn things as well as him playing games on it.

We have three great grandchildren now. Alex, his little brother, Mikey, and Maci, our great granddaughter whose mother is the second eldest of out three grandchildren. Maci will be two in April and Mikey celebrates his first birthday in November.

Our grandson, Jerry, just turned three in August. Jerry also got a Fire Tablet and Headphones. We were able to give Jerry his gifts in person, since his parents visited us here in Arizona in August.

19 Sep 2018 by California Family Technobabble

We’re Underway Again

Carson City

After our now completed four week mission with family in K-stan, we are finally back on the move and are camping in Carson City, NV for a couple of nights. As I mentioned before, the return trip will be at a bit of a more leisurely pace and staying for more than one night at each stop.

Our route today was a scenic one, driving over the Sierra Nevada Range from Stockton to Carson City. We started with a short trip up CA 99 to pick up CA 88 going northeastward. The scenery rapidly changed from suburban to agricultural to rolling foothills and then the mountains.

Kit Carson Pass crests at an elevation of 8574 feet MSL. Even though it is well into the spring season, there was plenty of snow on the mountains and a couple of the alpine lakes were still mostly frozen. The Carson River flowing down the east side of the pass was moving rapidly with plenty of white water from the spring thaw.

We’re going to do some souvenir shopping at the Casino across the road tomorrow and maybe bring a take-out dinner back to the RV afterwards. We are going to meander southward on the next lags of the trip and will likely be back home in a week.

01 May 2018 by California Family Retirement Wanderlust

RV Dump and Updated Status

rv-dump.jpgI may have mentioned before that we have only partial hookups here in Stockton at Damsel’s sister’s place. We have water and electricity, but no sewer hookup. I also may have mentioned that we are house guests during the days, but sleep in the RV and, of course, use the on-board bathroom at night. That necessitates a trip (or two) to an RV dump facility during our extended stay here.

Today, we broke down the camp and went down the highway to a truck stop with a dump station. We paid the fee and flushed out the black and gray tanks for the second time since we have been camped here. The place where we dumped last week was unavailable due to maintenance today, so we found another facility nearby where we took care of the dump and flush.

We have been camped here just short of three weeks and will probably be moving along the rest of our “vacation from retirement” route next week. As for the family status, the sister is healing well, still a bit sore and can perform most normal activities. Her husband is still recovering from another ailment and is receiving outside therapist and nursing help in the home. We like to think we helped them through this tough time.

Last weekend, we traveled to wine country where the grandchildren and great-grandchildren live. We had a nice visit at a restaurant local to them and got to see the little ones as well as all three of the granddaughters. Other family and friends joined us for the hour or so eat and visit.

A preview of next week might find us crossing the Sierra Nevada Range into Nevada and thence southeastward towards home with a couple of nights at each stop along the way. More on that as it unfolds.

25 Apr 2018 by California Family Wanderlust

Interim Destination Stockton

Rain and Traffic

The forecast for weather on the next leg of our journey was quite accurate; there were gusty winds in the desert from Barstow up into the mountain pass near Tehachapi. Also, as expected, there was rain along our route starting at about Modesto and continuing until we finally got to our destination. In spite of the weather, we made good time and were only slowed by traffic for the last few miles in moderate rain. Our arrival was near rush hour on a Friday, so the traffic was expected.

The family members are doing well. We are here for an open ended visit while one of the family recovers from her surgery on Wednesday. We may post more from here if time and events permit.

Click on the image to enlarge. The black diagonal item at the left is a windshield wiper which activated when Damsel took the photo.

06 Apr 2018 by California Family Wanderlust

Camping in Barstow

Barstow on Route 66We’re camping in Barstow this evening after a six-hour drive here from Arizona. Today’s excursion was uneventful as we crossed from Arizona desert, across the Colorado River and into the California desert. We went through the Arizona Outback to Parker, up through Needles and across I-40 to Barstow.

We are facing some adverse weather tomorrow, starting with high winds in the desert. It is already gusting here this evening and is forecast to continue into tomorrow. Some gusts may reach 40Mph, according to the forecast. When we get into the South San Joaquin Valley, there is a 100 percent chance of rain in the forecast. We’re hoping and praying that we will make good time and be safe as we head for our family commitment in Stockton.

After Stockton, the plan is to take our time getting back home on a route through Nevada and Arizona. Our previous format for travel days has been to stay only one night in a place. The plan this time is to stay two or more nights in a place, being sure to relax and enjoy the time like a real vacation.

05 Apr 2018 by Environment Family Wanderlust

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