Back in Florida

We got back just in time to go to our Kayuba Club picnic at John U Lloyd State Beach.  We hoped to go kayak diving, but it was too windy.

See for yourself in this little video we put together.

Rally’s Over

Our last day’s seminars were all about making your own websites and blogs.  We ended by teaching about Wordpress – this was a brand new seminar for us.  I think it went pretty well.  All our seminar handouts are on our website and easily found on the tutorial page for the topic you want.  All except Wordpress, because we don’t have any tutorials on it yet.  Here’s a link to the Wordpress seminar handout.  We make these publicly available to anyone who wants to read them, but they are for personal use only.  If you want to use them for any other purpose, please send us an email OK?

It SNOWED!

What was extra cool, was how we used our Droid phones for our internet connection.  See the article I wrote on RV.net for more details.

On Friday, we had a free day and had plans to take the famous Sandia Peak Tramway – the longest tramway in the world, going up 2.7 miles to the 10,378ft top.  BUT – they were closed due to weather :-(  No, it wasn’t snowing again.  This time it was too windy.

We planned to take the Tramway ride with our friends Phil and Tracey from TechnoRV.  We met them last summer at one rally, and then again at a few more.  They set up a very classy booth to sell all sorts of cool gadgets.  This year, they’re also selling our books and DVDs … we like that!  Luckily, they know the Albuquerque area better than we do and recommended a local winery – I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship! :-)

We topped off the evening by going to dinner in ‘Old Town’ Albuquerque.  So, we got to see some sights after all!  Thanks Phil and Tracey!

A Four Seminar Day!

Had to get up at 6 am to be ready for this day!  Our first seminar was at 8 – Picasa, then 9:45 – PIcasa Advanced, 11:30 Google Earth, and finally 1:30 – Internet on the Road.

Then, we told people who wanted to by our books or DVDs that we’d be at our table from 3-5.  When we got there at a few minutes before 3, there was a line!

I know, I know, LOTS of people in this country work hard from 8-5 every day … but this is definitely not normal for us!  And, today, we’re doing it all over again = with 3 seminars: Blogger, Advanced Blogger and Make a free website with Wordpress.com.

Here’s a picture of our Picasa class:

It *is* great fun though.  This is what we live for – the appreciative audiences.  Here’s Diane and Tony who told us that we’ve become a part of their lives!  As fulltime RVers, they take a lot of pictures and use their computers a lot, they turn to our videos whenever they need help.

We also had a camera crew web-casting the seminar.  I thought that was pretty exciting until I learned that it wasn’t publicized so nobody was watching the webcast !?  I guess it was just for practice.  Maybe next time.

Albuquerque and the FMCA Rally

Facebook and my new Droid App Phone are beginning to cause problems for my blog.  You see, Facebook allows me to just post a sentence or two about where we are, what we’re doing.  To write a blog post takes a little more thought and effort.  And, the Droid allows me to make those facebook posts while I’m a passenger in a car for example, or while we’re in the plane sitting at the gate.  It is OH SO COOL, and I love it … but then I think OMG, I haven’t posted to the blog in several days!  Here’s my Facebook posts:

I’ll calm down once the honeymoon is over with my new Droid phone.  But, for now, I’m LOVING it. 

So, yes, we are in Albuquerque and we’re staying at the condo of an old friend of Jim’s – Ron Kennedy.  We have a great view of the city.  At the rally – we don’t have any seminars till Wednesday, so we’re hanging out at our special table in the Information Center by the Computer Help Desk and Wi-Fi area. 

Lighthouse

I Love Technology!

I’m sure that’s not a surprise to you, coming from a Geek.  But, I’m not talking about technology for technology’s sake.  I’m talking about how it enriches my life.

This morning, Jim and I were taking our morning walk with Odie. My cell phone was in my pocket and it started beeping.  I took a look at it and realized it was beeping to remind me of a note I entered on the calendar a while back.  The screen read, “USA Dive Club Lighthouse Tour.”  Oh Yeah … today is the day that our dive club scheduled a tour of the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse.  A historic place.  One of the dive club’s members, Ray McAllister is a lead member of the Lighthouse Preservation Committee and he narrates the boatride to the lighthouse. 

I knew this was a popular event, and we had not made any reservations – but I called the leader anyway and asked if there was still room for a few more people.  “Sure!  Come on Down”  I was told.

What a gorgeous day!  And we would never have experienced it if my cell phone hadn’t beeped this morning!

Ancient Wisdom

Horses.  They’ve been around a while.  We have a lot we can learn from them.  The weather actually cleared up and warmed up enough to have a mini-session with the horses. 

Melinda paired me with Buttercup and I could feel her calm attitude as we had our ‘heart-to-heart.’

Mom chatted a while with Rosa.  Rosa was originally adopted as a wild Mustang.

Then, we went thru the exercise she calls ‘Catch and Halter.’  Catching was easy – Buttercup was very amenable.  The halter was another story. 

What a diabolical series of ropes and knots.  I think Buttercup was laughing at me!

Finally, Melinda took pity and showed me how it worked.  She said that, when she does this exercise with corporate teams, she doesn’t help, but instead uses it as a metaphor to teach Type A executives what it’s like to not know how to do something.  This helps them in their dealings with new team members, or maybe clients.

I finally got it and then led the horse around a bit.  Melinda told me it’s not about ‘showing them you’re the boss’ it’s more about developing trust.  Believe me, it’s VERY clear who is boss when one of us is so much bigger than the other!

Cold and Windy

Well, what did I expect for March in the mountains?  But, OMG was it cold.  The temperature was around 40 and the icy wind was whipping!  The rocking chairs on the porch looked like they had ghosts sitting and rocking in them.

I think the altitude was affecting us too.  We’re at about 5,000 feet here.  We just couldn’t get enough sleep.  So we just hung out and napped on and off all day.

The big event was Taco soup for dinner.  I’d had this years ago while visiting Melinda.  Her son, Matt was the cook.  I remember thinking what a great meal that was, and one that could actually be accomplished in the RV, because it’s just a one big pot type of meal.  But, I couldn’t remember how it went together.  So, this time I took pictures along the way:

Taco Soup step one sautee onions, pepper, diced chicken etc and add to pot with beans, stewed tomatoes and chicken broth:

Then, the special part is to take some tortilla chips and crumble them in the bottom of your bowl before adding the soup:

Ladle the soup in the bowl, then top with grated cheese, diced avocados, and sour cream if you wish.  Everything that’s in a Taco but just a different configuration.  mmm mmm good

Drive around Lake Tahoe

WOW is all I can say.  The weather cooperated beautifully for a spectacular drive around Lake Tahoe yesterday.  I’ll let the pictures tell the story.  But first, here’s a map.  Melinda lives in the Washoe Valley, just south of Reno and just East of Lake Tahoe.  From her house, we drove up the Mt. Rose Highway to Incline Village on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe.  Then we followed the eastern shoreline to South Lake Tahoe and continued around – stopping at Emerald Bay and then at Kings Beach for an early dinner – then back over the Mt. Rose Highway and down to the valley.

The first view of the lake when driving the Mt Rose Highway.

 

I used to live with Melinda in a house in Incline Village, not far from where this photo was taken at Sand Harbor.

Next comes Emerald Bay. 

 

How’s this for a white beach?

Back over Mt. Rose Highway from Incline Village to Reno.

Here's the view from Slide Mountain looking down on the Washoe Valley where Melinda's house is.

Flight to Reno

Jim drove Mom and me to the airport at 6am!  We were in perfect time for our 7am flight and all was well.

We had great weather for seeing the views.  I always get a window seat when possible.  We had one change of planes in Phoenix.  Man!  That is a busy airport.

We’re not in Florida anymore!

Melinda picked us up at the airport and, after treating us to a delicious fresh lunch at a special cooking school/cafe, took us to her house/menagerie in the Washoe Valley just south of Reno.  I can see we’re going to be entertained just hanging around here.

What a view!  The last time I visited her, she lived up in the mountains and looked down on the valley.  I like this better!  At least in the winter.

That is Chewy and Yoda – her Alpacas.  I don’t have a picture of the horses yet.  Except this one:

Actually, that’s her dog, Strider.  He’s an Anatolian Shephard.

The thermometer reads about 30degrees outside, but we’re toasty warm in by the fire.  Melinda’s still in bed since we’re on different time zones, so I had to make the fire myself this morning.  Luckily she showed me last night which wall-switch turns it on!