Update on connectivity

Yesterday was an exercise in frustration trying to get the iPad to work on a cell phone network. We thought it would be as simple as putting in a sim card from a cellphone company like we did when we were in Italy. But in the security conscious USA things are much more complicated. After going to four different places including Radio Shack, the Apple store and AT&T we discovered that it is not possible to get a even a prepaid card without an address in the US that connected with a major credit card. Can't be done. Even though we can use our credit card for hundreds of dollars worth of gas, food, restaurant meals etc, they won't let us buy $15 worth of data services.

 We did manage to buy what they call a throw-away cell phone with prepaid minutes, and registered it using an Arizona zip code. So we actually do have that connection. And the iPad works where there is a wifi connection so all is not lost. It was just so handy to have the iPad work while we were driving on our last trip. I also have my little laptop but it is old and so slow that it doesn't really do much for me except for organizing photos. I guess I'll just have to suffer some internet withdrawal.

Last night we stayed at a lovely RV park just south of Eugene, Oregon and this mornong we are heading over the Siskiou pass into California, if the weather holds warm enough that this rain doesn't turn to snow.

Location:On the road, Oregon I5 heading for Roseburg

I love these trees lined up along the top of the hill.

The top three photos were taken from the motorhome  The white dots in the one above are sheep.  There were thousands of them, many with frolicking lambs.

This building was on a side road behind a defunct gas station just north of Grant's Pass.  On the other side was a sign that said Welding.

Desperately seeking connectivity

Introducing Mohita

I'd like you to meet our 1978 motorhome, affectionately known as Mohita.  We've had her since 1996 and she's taken us (and our dogs) on some amazing adventures deep into the heartland of the USA (Nebraska and Yellowstone Park) and down into Michoacan in Mexico.  

She's 21 feet long and was built in the Okanagan area of BC, but has happily sat in our driveway under the tall arbutus tree for six years now.  The last big trip was when we went to Nebraska and Yellowstone Park in 2008.  So it's about time for another odyssey.

We've spent a few months spiffing her up so she's looking good for this year's trip.  All her rust spots are gone and the wheel wells are newly painted.  She's looking pretty good for her 34 years.  

We're heading down the west coast to California and then inland to Arizona and New Mexico and maybe even Texas.  

It's funny--I used to hate the orange colour and was planning to repaint the stripes on the outside but now I'm quite attached to the period look.  I've done some painting inside to brighten things up but it still resonates of the 1970s.  The creature hanging on the cupboards at the top left of the interior photo is a stuffed shark in a life jacket that we bought on our way through Palm Springs in 2008.  

 

So we're all packed and ready to go.  The bicycles are strapped on the back and the water tanks are filled, the cupboards are stocked and all that's left is one final try to get the furnace working.  But even if that's not happening we're heading south tomorrow.  I'll keep blogging on our way so you can share in our adventures over the next six or seven weeks.  

Shadow tulips

These shadows of the tulips in the pot on the kitchen counter caught my eye the other day.  I love the way the overlapping ones are so much darker.  Don't they create lovely lines and shapes?  

I really couldn't stop taking photographs.  And I ended up with about 30 images.  These are some of the nicest.  I couldn't decide which one to post.

The one below shows the entire bouquet.  The others are just pieces.

Which one do you like best?

I'm linking this to Shadow Shot Sunday, where people from all over the world post photos of shadows.  It's been going for a number of years now and there are lots of interesting images there.

The transparent house

I have a dear friend who recently moved into a glass house.  This is a light-filled space with walls of glass on three sides that allow the inside and the outside to blend.   Isn't it interesting?  I love the way the reflections of the trees outside the front show in the windows at the top and the trees in the back yard can be seen through the inside of the house.  It's so transparent. Would you like to live there?

I'm linking this to the "Looking out, Looking in" theme over at Mortal Muses.  If you hop over there you'll find some very interesting visual responses to this theme.

Disentangling

My life has many entanglements--even more than this grapevine.  And the past week has been spent trying to disentangle from most of them.  We're heading south in Mohita, our trusty old motorhome, along with the dogs and a stack of books and the camera.  The idea is to outrun the rain and the cold and spend a few weeks in a warmer, dryer climate.  Plus to explore and have fun along the way.

It sounds so simple to just jump in the motorhome and head south.  But as usual there as lots of details to take care of first.  I'm trying to get my volunteer and business responsibilities so they can be handled by others.  Then there's the house, the bills, the family, the kids, the vehicles, insurance etc., etc.  So many things to disentangle.  Sometimes I wish that I could just perch on the vines like this fat little quail I saw the other day.

I'm not complaining here.  I feel very lucky that we are physically and financially able to do this.

If things go well we'll head off on Sunday or Monday.  And I'll be posting about our trip en route.