Our Prius "Camper"

Whenever we tell folks that when we camp, we sleep in our Prius, they say, "What? But you're so tall! How could you do it?" Well, for one thing, the clincher that helped my husband in deciding whether or not to even purchase a Prius is to make sure that we could sleep in it. He secretly took measurements before even letting me know he was interested, so as to not get my hopes up, only to be dashed. The newer version, in 2004 fit the bill, and we test drove it around Berkeley. The salesman wondered outloud, "Why is it that all of the Berkeley people want to make sure that the car is long enough to sleep in?" 

Well, we both liked the idea, since in our former lives we had enjoyed long trips across country. Mine was in an oxidized red '69 Dodge van made in to a camper, and his was in an Austin Estate Wagon. We both like saving money on motels, and we have fond memories of waking up in the morning to birdsong and cooking breakfast outdoors. Coffee tastes best that way.

This was the beginning of the hybrid craze. and we were right with the folks wanting to do everything they could to save the planet. The idea of saving money on gas made it even a sweeter deal. The Prius was so popular though, that Toyota couldn't seem to keep up with the demand. If we had wanted a certain color, the time for it to be delivered couldn't be promised, but if we took one of the next ones that were delivered to the dealership, we could get it sooner. When they came, they were all silver. Oh well, we weren't that picky.

Our first adventure was on a trip to Lake Tahoe, just a 3-1/2 hour drive from the Bay Area. We were one of the first in line at Emerald Bay campground, since it was on a  first come, first served basis . We scored a place right near one of the restrooms,  to make life easier for nighttime bathroom needs. We put our food in a bear locker, and then went out to shop for the rest of our supplies. Unsure of the level of propane we had for our camp stove, we bought a new canister, some tall Jesus candles to light our table at night, some pre-made shish kebobs to barbeque, and of course, Peet's coffee for in the morning. Doug found a deal on some Jameson's Irish Whiskey to warm us around the fire later.

Spotting a sign for Fallen Leaf Lake on the way back from our shopping excursion to South Lake Tahoe, Doug said, "Let's go check that out! I haven't been there for years. We've got time." So we turned off of Hwy. 89 and drove past the Fallen Leaf Campground, down the road pointing to the little lake. It became a very windy road and mostly one lane, forcing us to pull way over into the grass to let cars and trucks pass by. We finally made it to the end, saw the lake and turned around to go back, when it started to rain. Really hard. 

We turned on our lights and had the windshield wipers going at full speed, as we carefully navigated the curves in the other direction. Glad to be through that and back out to 89, it started hailing! Huge, golf ball chunks of ice rained down on us, and we pulled over to the side for protection under some pine trees, afraid that our poor new car may get dented. After about a half an hour, a drizzly rain resumed, and we ventured out to our reserved campsite, wondering if we should just get a motel room.

Our campsite hadn't fared very well. We sat in the car and took in the situation. The path to the restroom was flooded, and of course the picnic table was all wet. Doug looked at the radar app we had on our phone, and saw that it looked like the storm was headed north and should stop soon. He said, "Hold on. I'll be right back", as I saw him lift up the hood on his jacket, and run to the back of the car. He was back in a jiffy, a little damp, with our two camping wine glasses, the Jameson's, some crackers, two sticks of string cheese, and a newspaper. "Let's just sit here and wait it out. I don't think it'll be that long." 

I conceded that I'd give it a try, but started to dream of a hot bath in a hotel. We sat there, having a little early happy hour, at 4 pm, and did one of our favorite pastimes together.... the crossword puzzle in the newspaper. Doug specializes in the historical clues and I get the more modern answers. He kept glancing at the MyRadar app on our phone to keep an eye on the storm and bet that it would pass by in about a half hour. I looked at the pond that had formed between us and the restroom, still thinking about that hot bath.

 In about 45 minutes, sure enough, the sun came out. Doug opened the car door saying, "Let's go out and build a campfire! I put our firewood in the bear cabinet, so it will be dry." 

Wow, I thought. He really wants to do this. I put away our snacks, and stepped out, gingerly avoiding the puddle that had formed outside my door. I got out our camp chairs, and positioned them next to the fire pit, where he was busily balling up the green sports section of the newspaper to help start the fire. He got out his axe and chipped off some pieces from the pine logs for kindling. 

I ventured off to see how the restroom fared. There was still a pretty deep puddle between us and it, but there was a hill in the middle of it, providing me with a narrow path to navigate my way there. I decided to bring one of the tall Jesus candles with me, and my flashlight, since it was starting to get dark. Setting the candle at the center of the drier path seemed like a good idea to be able to find my way back without stepping into a pool on either side. When I got to the open door, I heard something inside, and a raccoon came running out. I guess he found a nice place to be in the storm! On the way back on the lighted path, I could see the glow of our campfire, and Doug sitting next to it, happily arranging our shish kebobs on a little rack that we carry with us. "See?", he said, "Everything is perfect!"

After a satisfying dinner, sitting in our nice, dry camp chairs near the fire, and a couple of more Jameson's with water, we thought we'd better get busy on our usual chores. Water was heating on our camp stove so I could do the dishes, which I don't mind doing at all when we're camping, since it warms up my chilly hands. 

Doug is the one who tends to our sleeping arrangement. He put as much as he could of our supplies in the bearproof cabinet, and then carried over the small hassocks he bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond that we store our camping supplies in. He made the front seats of the Prius go all the way forward, and placed the boxes on the floor behind them so they filled in the foot space. Then the backs of the seats are folded down, and our foam futon mattress goes on top. As I placed the washed dishes upside down on a dishtowel to dry on the picnic table, I could see him working with the dome light illuminating the inside of the car, and my heart melted. He was arranging our sleeping bags and pillows lovingly and folding back the corners to invite us to bed. All that would be missing was a little piece of chocolate on our pillow.

He had arranged our small suitcases and backpacks on the front seats, so we did what we needed to do to get ready for bed while standing outside the car. No one else seemed to be close by in the campground, I guess they chickened out because of the rain. One more trip over to the restroom with a flashlight, and I noticed that the pond was shrinking already and that the path was a little wider. I put on my jammy bottoms and a t-shirt and filled a bottle with water for us for the night, and walked back to our little nest.  I could see it, glowing ahead of me. Doug had added a colorful throw on top of the sleeping bags, and it looked so cozy. 

As I climbed in, I noticed that he had lowered the two back windows so we wouldn't suffocate, so that was good. We snuggled under the covers and looked up at the grey ceiling, feeling very satisfied and proud of ourselves, stretching our long bodies out comfortably. "And they said it couldn't be done", he said, and turned out the dome light.

I dozed off, but about a half hour later, I thought I heard something outside. "I think I might be hearing a bear!", I whispered, jostling him awake. 

"It's okay", he said drowsily, " They can't get to us in here. Don't worry. Go back to sleep"

I tried to relax, but heard more rustling, and remembered what the ranger at the little museum over at D.L.Bliss State Park told us about how many bears there were around Tahoe. She said that they can smell things like candy and even perfume, and want to break in to get them. "Remember what the ranger said about bears?", I said, poking him once more.

"Oh honey, go to sleep please. I put all of our food in the bear-proof cupboard. We'll be fine."

After thinking a moment, I remembered the candy I always had stashed in my backpack, and the bag of Werther's that we keep in the compartment between the seats for snacks on the road. "I'm remembering the candy we have in here."

"What? You want a piece now?"

"No! Just what if the bear wants to come and get some? What will we do? He could put his big claws inside the open window and pull it out! We have to have a plan!

"A bear can't do that." I could hear sleepiness and a little annoyance in his voice.

"I'm gonna rollup my window and open the one in the front a little so at least his claws won't be so close to my face," I whispered. But when I tried that, "Oh no! It won't go up without the power on!" 

I struggled loose of my warm sleeping bag, and moved my pillow out of the way, to reach between the front seats to the dashboard. Doug opened his eyes to see my pajamaed rear end wriggling past his face as I stretched to reach the power button. "Now what are you doing?", he asked sleepily.

"I have to figure out how to reach the brake pedal with one hand, and then press the power button, right?", I said with my head under the steering wheel.

"Sweetheart, I think if you just press the power button twice it'll work the windows. I read it in the manual."

"Ooh. That's easier!" It worked, and I readjusted the windows to my satisfaction. "I know! We could also honk the horn and turn on the red hazard lights! I think bears wouldn't like to see all that commotion."

"Yes dear." I hate it when he says that. "Are you ready for bed now?"

"Not really, after all that workout, but I feel safer anyway." I couldn't envision sleeping, but snuggled back under the covers, spooning Doug, my face totally buried in his shirt, trying to get my nose warm.

And then it was morning.

Traffic Stop

This story has been brewing in my mind, and I feel enough time has passed now, that the cop that stopped me may have forgotten all about it.

The day started out with breakfast at IHOP in Palm Springs. We had our usual, sharing a vegetarian omelet, and fruit instead of pancakes. Always watching the waistline, you know. We read the paper, Doug did the Jumble, and I, part of the crossword.

Coming out to the car, everything seemed fine, until we got in. It REEKED of skunk.....not the animal, but the scent that we've been smelling more and more around here since marijuana has been legalized in  California. We looked at each other, shocked. Our Prius' windows were all rolled up, and the car had been locked. Could someone have left a burning joint under our car? We immediately opened all the windows, turned the air conditioner on full blast, and drove along Hi-way 111 trying to air it out.
We were on our way anyway, to Trader Joe's in Cathedral City, and thought that would do the trick. Almost there, we noticed that the light on the dashboard that tells you it's time to get gas, was blinking. It actually started blinking yesterday. It's pretty embarrassing to think of running out of gas in a plug-in Prius, so we drove a little past Trader Joe's, and I pulled into an Arco station. After Doug finished pumping, washing the windows, and paying, I pulled over to a driveway to exit the gas station.

Hi-way 111 is a pretty busy street, and folks drive along at quite a clip, so after waiting awhile to turn left to go shopping, I gave up and turned right, so I could make a u-turn at the next corner. I scooted across the 3 lanes, and got into the left turn lane. When I looked up, I noticed a "No U-Turn" sign. While sitting waiting for the light to change, I noticed that there was a 7/11 on the corner. Thinking fast, as I turned, I decided to do something, that some of you may have done before..... Doug may have been surprised, as I turned left in to the 7/11 parking lot, since it wasn't in the plan. As I turned in, I said out loud, "Oh, let's go to 7/11", but I was about to then say, kind of laughing, "Oh never mind! We don't need anything here", and then I was going to go out the other end of the parking lot, thus performing a U-turn.

But actually, as I made the left turn in to the 7/11 parking lot, I saw lights on a patrol car following right behind me! I thought, what I consider now, to be quickly, and skidded in to a parking spot, bumping into the cement berm in front, making quite a loud noise. I then, conspiratorially looked at Doug, and said, "You really need a Coke Zero now, right?"
I saw the officer get out of his cruiser, and as I casually got out of my Prius and closed the door, I looked back toward the officer. He was walking toward me saying, "Are you feeling alright Ma'am?"
"Yes, I am officer," I said, "What's going on?"
"Well, I think you were driving rather erratically."
"You do?"
"Yes, well, you made an illegal turn in to this driveway."
I looked past him, over his shoulder to see what was so illegal about my turn. "Hmm, well, there's a double line out there, not a double-double line, right? I think it's okay to turn in to a driveway if it's only a double yellow line", I explained, looking straight into his eyes.
"Well not at this intersection, Ma'am, it's very busy".
"Well, that shouldn't make a difference though, should it?", I asked.
"Um, uh, I had to check to make sure you were okay, as I said before."
"I'm fine, sir. Thanks."
"Okay then", he said. "Drive carefully."
He turned to get back in his police car, and to turn off the red lights that were still flashing. I walked in to the 7/11 to get the planned can of Coke Zero.
As I entered the store, I noticed that the checker's back was facing a big window and I could see our car right outside. The people in her line were all chatting together and then smiled over at me as I walked toward the soda fridge. When it was my turn at the register, I commented to the girl, "I guess everyone saw me outside with the police officer. You must not get much business coming from Hi-way 111, if people can't turn left into your driveway."
She looked at me quizzically, and said, "Oh, no. They turn in that way all the time."
"Hmm", I thought.
When I went back out to the car, Doug said, "Do you know how lucky you are?"
"That did turn out pretty well, didn't it?", I said, proud of the way I had talked to the officer.
"No", he explained, "You were lucky you got out of the car, and didn't just roll down your window! Can you imagine what would have happened if he had leaned his head down and smelled this skunk?"
Eyes wide and feeling my face turn red, I very carefully backed out of the parking space, the low front bumper on the Prius, scraping once more on the berm, reminding me to "drive safely".

Prius Confusion

We decided to beat the heat in Palm Springs and head for Idyllwild, in the San Jacinto Mountains. Eighty-two degrees sounded much better to us than one hundred and three. One night turned into two, and we had to go to a market to get a few supplies.
Doug drove there, and I opted to wait in the car in the passenger seat with the air conditioning on, checking my phone for e-mails. I was pretty involved with what I was doing, when the driver's side door flew open, and a skinny old lady jumped into the seat and pressed the Power button! (Luckily this turned off the car.)
I thought, "Wow, she really thinks I'm wasting energy by leaving the motor running, and wants to take it into her own hands!" But then, I realized that she thought that this was her car. I nudged her, and said, "Ma'am! You're in the wrong car!" and tried to shove her again. She didn't even look at me or acknowledge that I was there. I repeated myself louder, as she pressed the Power button on again, with her foot on the brake pedal, and closed the driver's door.
I said, "No! You have to get out! This ISN'T your car!" Trying to shove her to no avail, since the door was shut. I pressed the button to OFF again, and she calmly said, "Don't worry, he's not coming yet." Her long, stringy hair covered the side of her face, and she still didn't look my way. She pushed the button ON again.
Just then, a young man came running out of the store with his groceries and saw me struggling with her. He opened her door and said, "Lillian! This isn't your car!", and to me, "She has dementia. I'm so sorry." She didn't believe him and resisted his pulling her out of our car. After our car door was closed, she kept holding on to the door handle, as he tried to cajole her away.
Finally, he led her to their silver Prius, parked next to mine, and got her to get in the passenger side. I'm thinking, "Ooh! So that's why....she really thought it was her car." But by the time he reached the driver's side, she had scrambled over the console and was trying to start up that car. (I was impressed. She's pretty spry, getting over that console. I would have a hard time doing that as gracefully as she did!) So he pried her out of the front seat and got her to sit in the back, where she complained and fussed with stuff that was on the seat, including a yellow fishing pole, which she jammed up into the ceiling. He got out and removed the fishing pole, etc., to the trunk area, but she was so agitated, that he tried to appease her with some pasta salad that he had bought.
Doug had come out around then, and the man told him, "I'm sorry", but he wasn't sure why. When he got in the car, he wondered why it smelled so bad, like pee, and then our phone rang with an important call, and I couldn't explain my experience till later.
As we drove away, she had convinced him to let her sit in front with him with her salad. I worried about the lady, but especially the man, a relative or caregiver. I can't imagine what he goes through every day. I wanted to tell him though, it's not unusual for a Prius owner to mistake another car for their own. When the door doesn't open for them, they just take a better look inside and realize their mistake. We've actually done it a few times ourselves....
Thoughts keep coming into my head too. What would have happened if he didn't come out of the store? Would she have backed on out and taken me for a wild ride? I try to imagine, how I could stop her. She evidently knew how to drive a Prius, since she automatically put her foot on the brake while pushing the Power button, so that Prius had been hers before she lost control of her life. I had the key in my purse, and I wonder if I would have thought to throw my purse or the keys out the window, and then turn off the car. Any ideas?

A Different Kind of Christmas: 2014

Some of you may have read the story I wrote last year called, Getting Ready for Christmas: The Tree. The zeal and Christmas spirit shown in that tale have been harder to come by this year. After stating how much I've loved Christmas in the big old house we've lived in for 33 years, it looks as though this will be the last one here.

Wonderful things have happened to us in the last 12 months though. Happy decisions were made..... lifestyle changing ones. There was no plan to make the changes we did. One thing just led to another, each opportunity seemed right, if not daring, in some folks eyes.

Last January we fell in love with and bought a retro 1955 trailer in Palm Springs, that had been added on to each side with a long room with vaulted ceilings. We decided it looked more like a beach cottage in the desert, and have pushed that idea, adding on to the seashells that were already abundant in the yard. There is also a patio facing the big mountain, where I've installed my potter's wheel. All this for less than the price of a new car!

Many of the residents in this over 55 park are artistic, as evidenced by the decor and the different types of gardens, some lush and tropical, but mostly desert plants. We/ve even planted an orange tree and a lime tree. Tlie lime tree is the happiest, sporting some cute little blossoms. Every year there's an influx of Canadians, Washingtonians and New Yorkers.... the "snowbirds" are happy to thaw out in the warm pool. This park has also been discovered by gays, and they, along with the youngish seniors have fun together at the wine tastings, ice cream socials, and pool parties. We've decided that we'd like to spend our winters in Palm Springs, but not the summers, since the temps could rise to as high as 115 degrees! As I write this, though, in early January, the night temps have been about 34 degrees and 50 or 60 during the day. Next week, is predicted to be more to our liking, at a civilized 79.

Before we left there in April, I noticed that the dizzy spells that I had had since February were happening more often. I ended up in the ER, where it was discovered that my heart was "pausing", or as I say, "stopping" for 5-6 seconds every time I had one of those spells. When we got home to Richmond, a cryo (freezing) surgery was planned, but not right away.

Our 2004 Prius had a few dents in it, and the air conditioner died, so Doug said "Hey, let's just go check out the new Plug-in Priuses."  I was dumbfounded, but agreeable, and we ended up getting a Plug-in, and sold the 2004 to his daughter.

The new Prius, of course, had it's maiden journey two weeks later to camp at Donner Lake, where we slept in it like a tent, just as we did in our lovely 2004 Prius all over the country. It was near Lake Tahoe, my old stomping grounds. It was beautiful, and brought back a lot of memories for me. Next thing I know, we were driving on to South Lake Tahoe, where I had been a blackjack and roulette dealer in the early 70's. We contacted a real estate agent, and ended up buying a condo there, which is rent-able during the winter months when we'd rather be in Palm Springs, and helping to pay for itself.

After all that, I had my surgery in September. The cardiologist said she was "delighted" with the outcome, since, she said that she doesn't always have the instant gratification of seeing the heart beat regularly while doing the surgery. We were too. I kept feeling my pulse afterward, and my heart was beating like a champ. Thank you Lord!

About now, folks are thinking we should give retirement lessons! The final piece of the puzzle is that we realized that we should rent out our house in the East Bay Area that I have lived in for 33 years, and save the bottom two rooms and bath for us to stay in when we're home to visit with family. At first it was hard for me to take.... to MOVE...and clean out all the places I had stored and stuffed so much memorabilia! Then I had an "aha!" experience! Most people move more often than 33 years. Well, at first it seemed daunting, and I was kind of frozen when it came to letting go of Anything. From then on it became a "freeing" experience. (I just realized that I used the words "Frozen" and "Let It Go" in the same sentence.)

Back to Christmas.... I usually go shopping for the tree with someone, but Doug was in Home Depot, and I ventured out to see their trees in the parking lot. All the 7-8' Christmas trees were gone, and I had to resort to a 6-7' size. only a few were opened up, and it was cold out. I found one possibility, and then walked over to another section. When I spotted another family headed for my first tree. I was certainly at a disadvantage being by myself! I ran over and held on to my tree and looked at all sides, sort of claiming my territory. It was taller than me, (one of the criteria), and looked pretty good. Not perfect, but it would do. I could feel myself letting go of the perfection that I had always demanded.

My two kids couldn't make it from New York, a disappointment..... but all of Doug's kids and our 8 grandchildren helped bring the excitement of the season back to me. A couple of the grandkids helped put the ornaments on the tree, after I had painstakingly put on the lights. They were very good at hanging each one in it's appropriate place, the angels on top, the wise men and Jesus nearby, a section for birds, and for Santas, but as I looked for my first ornament, the little nutcracker, all we found was his head! So sad! It wasn't till the next day, that I found his body and carefully glued him back together.

We spent our Christmas Eve together, only on Dec. 20th, so everyone could come. We did the Danish dancing around the Christmas tree, opened stockings, exchanged gifts, and ate too much. It was beautiful! The next night, Doug and I invited some old friends (only 8 of us), to fondly remember past Christmases and to appreciate this last one here.

Having Christmas early was a boon for me, since I could take time to go through some things....setting some aside for a garage sale in the spring, making many trips to the recycling center and thrift shops to make donations, and giving things to friends. Thank God I have 3 places to furnish, so I can keep Some of the things that have memories, but are also useful.

One of the traditions has been to spend Christmas morning with one of my sisters and her family, so that brought back nice memories, and we got to see all of her growing family. Doug and I stayed later and sang songs with my sister on her ukelele, Doug on the piano and I on my guitar. There were lofty ideas of us starting a band....

What happens next Christmas, I can only estimate. Looking back at this last year I never would have believed all the unexpected changes in our lives. We'll just have to play it by ear. Celebrating Christmas in Palm Springs is a thought...... but that's a decision for another day.

Zion National Park: More of the Travels With Our Prius, the 13th day of our 2 week trip

For those of you who have been following my stories about my husband and I camping around the U.S. and sleeping in our 2004 Prius, I have a few more to tell you.....

We drove to Zion National Park, in Utah in early May, and stayed for 2 nights, once again sleeping in our car as a camper. The only place that was left to stay was in the group camp, called Watchman, below the peak of the same name, so we shared our campfire with others.

We are surprised that there are so many Europeans camping everywhere. That night, we had a UCSB chemical engineering graduate from Israel, doing a road trip across the US before going to work in Germany, and also another little family from Israel who have been grad students at Stanford. The woman said "It is so Israel", that they would meet someone else from Israel.

The only problem with this campground is the caterpillars. They must drop down from the cottonwood trees, since there are a lot of nest-like things in the trees. As I was reading in a camp chair in the sunshine, a furry creature came into my peripheral vision as it crawled over the top of my book on to the page. I scared Doug when I jumped up, dropping my book in the sandy soil. Then I found one on my pants leg  and then a couple on his shirt! They're so sneaky!!... and quiet! We saw four little cocoons lined up along the wood frame of the restroom with another caterpillar making plans to spin his own little "sleeping bag".

After dinner one night, our cell phone rang, with it's characteristic "Quack quack quack", startling us from our idyllic reverie in the woods back into reality. Tenants from a house we were renting out with utilities included had their power turned off! They were sitting in the dark with their new baby and found out the bill hadn't been paid. We could barely hear them over the bad connection, but the frustration was heard loud and clear. I was ashamed to think that I had organized so many other things for this trip, but this had slipped through the cracks. What else had I missed?
We told them we'd call them back and called PG&E, and promptly got put on hold, all the while watching the battery on our phone dwindling away. We turned on the car, and plugged the phone cord into the charger, (formerly known as the cigarette lighter). Someone answered finally, and said it would be restored within an hour. We relayed the message to the tenants and apologized. Hanging up, we cracked up laughing that we were conducting business while camping in the woods! What a difference a cell phone makes!

Doug proceeded to make up our bed in the Prius while I finished washing the dishes by our solar lamplight. The water I heat on the camp stove is always so welcome to my chilly fingers after the sun goes down.
We walk together up to the restrooms to get cleaned up for bed. On the way back to camp, our sweet Prius is seen through the trees, waiting for us, with the light on inside. I commented on how cozy it looked, since Doug had arranged the pillows so nicely and the covers were turned back, beckoning us to get in. After that stressful call, I was ready to relax. I went to open my passenger side door, but it wouldn't! Doug tried his, and no go....and then another and then another. Frantic, we went over what could be wrong. Both sets of keys were locked inside, but that shouldn't happen. You're not supposed to be able to lock your keys in the car. It shouldn't let you....in fact it beeps at you till you figure out to remove your purse or whatever they are in. We circled the car as if it was prey, trying each door over and over, and of course praying. It was getting cold, and we were so close to our nice warm bed. A man walked by and asked us what was up. We told him and as soon as I went to show him, all of a sudden, the door opened! The only thing we can figure is that since both of our keys were in the car , it thought it was protecting us from robbers who were trying all the doors to get at us. Thank you Prius, I guess.
After all that, nice and cozy in our bed, no caterpillars, no more phone calls, no more civilization. We just rolled down the windows a crack, listened to the sounds of the forest and folks around a nearby campfire, someone softly strumming a guitar, and slept.

The next two days we took the free shuttle around the park. We walked along the River Walk. It was about 3 miles round trip, not so difficult......but even so,we were proud of ourselves for doing it.

 Other more athletic folks were all geared up with their paraphernalia to walk into ""the Narrows" at the end of the River Walk. They walk in to the 47 degree water through the canyon walls that are closing in overhead, with walking sticks to help them keep their balance. Doug went so far as to take off his shoes and walk into the water to cool his feet. I sat on a rock and talked to a nice lady from England.

Our very favorite area was at the Weeping Wall. You have to walk pretty much up hill, about a quarter mile in, so for us, we were puffing pretty hard. Just as you break into a sweat in the 91 degree temp, the big rock wall shows itself in a sort of cave/grotto shape, seeping water. A knowledgeable sounding person said that the water coming from the stones was thousands of years old. It drips cool water on your head and shoulders welcoming you. Tiny purple Columbine flowers grow out of the damp rock. When you finally turn around, you see the valley from which you've climbed, but only the tops of the tall deciduous trees framed by the reddish mountains on either side.

We broke up camp that day, sorting through all our old camping supplies and replenishing expired things. When checking if we left any last minute things, I found our friend's Yamaka, from when he said his prayers at the spot where we read in the morning. It's my favorite souvenir.

To get out of the park, we drove toward the east gate. In 1931, they blasted a long dark tunnel, that has a few arched windows to let you peek out to the scenery. There is a different look to the sandstone on that side.... almost a melting effect. It's so astounding, that you have to stop about every few feet to get a better look and take photos. Zion was a gift to our senses.

Next we drove to Kanab, Utah, a little town known as the "Hollywood of Utah", since many old westerns were filmed here. The beautiful red and tan sandstone mountains that surround Kanab drew producers of westerns to use it as their backdrop. The Hollywood Museum in town is free, and they have well preserved buildings from movie sets. We're thinking we will rent "Outlaw Josie Wales" some time to spot the house that we were in today.

It was about then that Doug proposed that our two week retirement trip wasn't set in stone. We didn't have to go back right away, since everything was basically being taken care of at home for a while. The great beginning of our extended retirement trip began with Doug saying, "I wonder if my friend from high school is home in Colorado. Maybe we could go there and visit him!" Well, he was.....and we did.

Travels With Our Prius, Part 6: The Great Pestigo Fire of 1871 (rated PG for horror)

After spending a night in a campground in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, my husband and I were encouraged to visit the Peshtigo Fire Museum. It wasn't hard to find, since most streets have signs pointing visitors in the right direction. The Great Fire is the claim to fame for the little town that actually had to rise from the ashes of despair, since about 7/8th of the population was killed within an hour and a half on the evening of October 8th, 1871.

The people of Peshtigo want everyone to know about this tragedy. We were shocked to hear that it happened on the very same night of the Great Chicago Fire, which killed 250 people, and has the added legend of Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicking over a lantern to start it all. Peshtigo was isolated for a couple of days, without news being spread, since all forms of communication had been damaged. Within less than 2 hours, at least 1500 people had died....perhaps up to 2500 folks due to records having been destroyed.

It had been a mill town, using the technique of "slash and burn" to clear plots of land. The mills in town had piles of sawdust around them, and the town's streets were covered with even more sawdust.
There had been a drought, and many small wildfires had been starting up, and put out as fast as possible by men with buckets.  For two weeks before the big fire, a woman who lived on the outskirts of town told her children that "the sky was so smoky from the wildfires that the sun couldn't shine through". The clothes on her line looked grey and the smoke made it hart to breathe. The location of their home saved their lives so they could tell their story.

They said that at 8:30 p.m., the "heavens opened up and it rained fire". Men dropped their buckets and ran to try to save their own families. Someone said, "It was like the air was on fire!" Clad in nightgowns and caps, they "shrieked with horror as the fire engulfed their loved ones and they saw them burned alive." Some folks jumped down their wells for safety, but were boiled alive.

Hundreds of people felt that the Peshtigo river, already at a low ebb was their only chance. So many parents led their families into the water, followed even by their cattle, horses and pigs. Unfortunately, the bridge over the river became compromised by the raging fire and succumbed to the weight of carriages and horses and fell in to the river to crush those under it.

Some made it through the night and the next day, staying in the river, trying to stand securely on the mucky river bottom or holding on to horses, or whatever they could. Still, the river wasn't safe, for "swooping sparks and bits of fire dropped out of the sky burning entire bodies". Still a rushing river, some citizens died of hypothermia in the frigid water.

A nice story out of this tragedy, is that Father Pernin, of the Catholic church in town, rescued the Tabernacle, which holds the communion host (Christ's body) from the church and brought it down to the river. It was found later, floating in the reeds, untouched by fire, and not even smelling of smoke. It is on display at the Fire Museum in Peshtigo, encased in plexiglass, good as new.

There have been several theories of how this inferno enveloped so many lives so fast. The true cause is uncertain. Between drought, wildfires in the area, the fact the town was rife with sawdust, kindling for the fire. Studies by weather historians suggest there may have been meteorite falls to add to the possibilities. Other scientists say that there were several fires that occurred that day in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin that could have been caused by the impact of fragments from the Comet Biela.
When it comes down to a root cause, no external source of ignition was actually needed. On the day of the fire, a cold front moved in from the West fanning the smaller fires, starting the firestorm. It raged hotter than a crematorium, turning sand into hot glass.There were reports that the firestorm generated a tornado so powerful that it threw rail cars and houses into the air.  A wall of flame, a mile high, five miles wide, traveling at 90-100 mph, covered 1.5 million acres of forest and prairie till there was nothing left to burn.

A very welcome and heavy rain finally fell the next day, calming the fire. In the days ahead, the father of the family mentioned before who lived on the outskirts of town, came with others to pick up the dead and make rough boxes in which to bury them. As many as 5 bodies from one family shared a casket, since they were reduced to only bones.  Others weren't burned, they just suffocated from the intense hot air. Up to 350 bodies that couldn't be identified are buried in a mass grave, in the memorial cemetery outside the museum in Peshtigo.
So there. I've told about a piece of history that is little known. Sorry if it was hard to take.
God bless the souls of the people of Peshtigo.

Travels With Our Prius, Part 5: Peshtigo, WI...... The 109th Day of the Two Week Trip

Since I'm not our trip's designated navigator, I very rarely look at a map. As we drove along the northwest side of Lake Michigan, I noticed there were several signs and bumper stickers that read "UP". My husband explained that we were in Upper Michigan, and it's separated by Lake Michigan from Lower Michigan. Huh.
It wasn't long before we crossed the border into Wisconsin, and I expressed interest in stopping. It was nice enough out, with a chance of rain in the morning, according to the radar app on the iPhone, so we decided to chance it to camp for the night.
We searched for Badger Park and Campground on the web, and found it on the edge of town, along the Peshtigo River. As we pulled in, teenage boys were riding their bikes and skateboards out of the park. "Hooligans! I said." As we drove further in, though, it seemed a very nicely kept up park, even boasting a brand new, huge wooden climbing structure. It had aspects of castles and forts and bridges, a wonderful place to play make-believe. It turns out was donated and built by local woodworkers.
No one was at the gate, so we drove slowly around to find the perfect site. We passed by a group of about 10 people that looked like they were together, so I voted to go farther away from them and closer to the restrooms.
The Prius was parked in its place for the night, and we decided, as we so often do, to sit first and have a drink by the campfire. A young woman, about 27 and kind of round, with tousled blond hair, walked over to our site. She wore a loose dress that she may have had on for days.  It was a little too short, showing her bare and stocky legs.
"Hi, I'm Audrey." she announced in her childlike way. She rather bluntly asked us where our tent was, and we told her we would sleep in our car. Her questions kept coming then, and we told her about our retirement trip. She told us that we could put our money for the night in an envelope in the box and the guy would get it in the morning. Then she turned and left to go back to her campsite with the big group.
About a half hour later, Audrey came back, lugging some pieces of wood for us to burn in our campfire. Surprised, we thanked her, as we started to get out our things to make dinner. She surprised us again and said, "You could come over and have dinner with us. It's my birthday." Doug and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and said, "Why not?!" Doug said, "Should we bring something to share? Maybe some baked beans? " We had just grown to love baked beans on the East coast, and had a big can.  Audrey said "Sure.", and we gathered up our can opener, our little covered pot, a spoon to serve with and our drink mugs.
We grabbed our solar powered lantern and followed Audrey over to her site. There was a campfire raging, and plenty of extra chairs, so we didn't need to bring our own. An older woman sat near  the fire. "I'm Marnie. Glad you could come. We have plenty of food left over." and then to her grandson, "Robby! get these here folks a coupla plates!" Robby did as he was told, and I said, "We brought some baked beans to share, if you'd like some. I'll have to heat them though."
Marnie called out again to Robby. "Robby! Crank that there grill down closer to the fire so they can heat their beans. I love baked beans! Haven't had 'em for years!"
As Doug opened the can, I got our pan ready. I watched Robby turn a crank that lowered a circular grill held by three chains as it hung from a high tree branch. The grill hovered over the flames, and Doug placed our pot of beans on it. Marnie ordered us to fill our plates, since it turns out everyone else had already eaten. There were two big covered foil pans, and I dished us a little each of the chicken and the potatoes, in case they seemed to have been sitting out for too long. It turns out that my fears were unfounded, and everything was hot and tasty and we both had seconds. Doug dished out our beans and everyone tried some.
Another woman, Stella, Marnie's daughter, and her little girl Tiffy, had emerged from their tent. "I want some birthday cake!", shouted Tiffy. "Hold your horses, little girl!" cried her Mom. "I don't know if you deserve any today!" We noticed that little 7 year old Tiffy, couldn't seem to do anything right in her mom's eyes. "But my stomach hurts!" and then she coughed a few huge low coughs.
"That's another reason you shouldn't have cake!" retorted Stella.
Yet another lady hobbled out of another tent with a cane, about Marnie's age. "I gotta come out and meet these folks that have traveled so far..... and I want to hear one of those songs you've been singin' while you drive along!" We were taken aback by this statement, but then remembered when Audrey had been grilling us about our trip, she had said, "Don't you get bored, just driving along?", We told her among other things, that sometimes we would sing songs that we remembered from Sunday School and from Pentecostal churches we had gone to. Audrey must have told everyone our story.
I said, "Oh, okay." and then started singing, "We have come into this house, to call upon his name, and worship him." Everyone joined in, seemed to know the song, and by the third verse, I think there was harmony. It was wonderful there with these strangers to find a bond that you didn't know you had around the campfire on a starlit night. We sang another song, and then Tiffy said impatiently, "Now is it time for cake?"
I volunteered to light the candles and cut the cake, which was huge, neon colored, and from a bakery. They had actually already enjoyed the cake earlier, and only half was left, but we put the candles on the untouched side and sang to Audrey, who's face shone in the firelight. I had an ulterior motive to do the serving. I wanted to cut back on chances of catching little Tiffy's cough, so I sort of graciously served everyone what was once again, a surprisingly delicious dessert!
We excused ourselves after that and toddled back to our site and got the car ready for bed. It drizzled during the night, but was dry enough in the morning to have our usual Peet's coffee, cereal and fruit. We saw that Audrey was over at someone else's campsite talking to them. Later, while we were packing up our bedding and getting out clothes to change into, she appeared once again to satisfy her curiosity about how we did things. She watched Doug sit at the back of the car opening putting on his socks, and me using the top of the Prius as a vanity to get out my pills and put in my contacts.
The man in charge of the campground came over to say hello. He knew Audrey and greeted her. Stella and Tiffy passed by on their way to the bathroom. Tiffy yelled out hoarsely, "Hi Mr. Ranger!!" He said, "How are ya doin' today Tiffy?" She thought for a second, and then called out, "I woke up!!" He shook his head and said, "Well that's always a good thing!!"
John, "Mr. Ranger", told us that while we're here we should make sure we go to the Peshtigo Fire Museum. "It's really something. Most of this town burned down the same night that the Big Chicago Fire burned in 1871.....you know when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern? No one really knows about our fire. It was really awful! Lots of people died." Doug loves history, so I knew what would be next on our agenda.

Travels With Our Prius, Part 4: Out of Gas!! ....The 117th Day of Our Two Week Retirement Trip

It's a hot day in August 2013, and we find ourselves sitting in our camp chairs in the sand at the side of Interstate 80, just outside of Fernley, Nevada. We had called AAA, since we ran out of gas. Always trying to make lemonade out of lemons, my husband, Doug got out our fold-up camp chairs, put them in the shade of a nice green sign that said "Fernley next 3 exits". There we sat to wait for the tow truck, also covered by our umbrella with one broken rib, sharing sips of water from our last refillable water bottle. As I searched in my purse for something, anything.... I found a cake batter flavored Chapstick and some artificial tear eye drops. Looking up to offer these to Doug, I see him splashing water on his face and neck. "Wait! What are you doing! We have to save that! It's our last water!"
"But it feels so good when the breeze hits you.", he explained. He put the cap back on the bottle, tried some of my Chapstick, but refused the eye drops. "I know the tow truck will come soon. We'll be fine."
I, of course took notes on our situation, and took pictures.

Our 2004 Prius has been a real trooper on this, the 117th day of our two week retirement trip. It's not "her" fault. We had stopped for lunch in Winnemucca at the Griddle Restaurant, and I suppose we felt so satisfied with our nice meal, that we didn't remember that the alarm had gone off earlier that told us that we were nearly out of gas. The warning light had actually come on, and beeped, before lunch, usually signaling that we still had 30 to 50 more miles. The next sign we saw said that the junction of I-95 was 10 miles away, so we were confident that there would be a gas station there. NOT!! There were just a few old and abandoned buildings.
The next town was 36 miles away, Fernley.... in the desolate, hot, desert.
We had to believe that we could make it, since there wasn't any town for less miles in every direction. I suggested that we sing Jesus songs...songs that we've known in our lives from Sunday school, and later in our lives, to comfort us. We drove along, singing, sometimes in harmony, and occasionally petitioning St. Anthony to "please come around, a gas station is needed, and can't be found", as Helen, my mother-in-law used to chant. (St. Anthony is actually my hero, and pays lots of attention to my petitions.)
Doug suggested that we cut to 60 mph and then 50 mph, even though the speed limit was 75. I started coasting down any down-sloped hills, trying to save the gas engine on the Prius and using the electric one. If I saw an 18-wheeler gaining on us, I flashed my hazard lights a few times to give them the heads up, so they'd have time to see us going slow and change lanes. On the screen display, we could see the levels on each engine, and suddenly the dashboard lights lit up with !! and Caution symbols! We knew we were out of gas, but Doug said, "Don't let the car stop! Just let the electric engine take us as far as it can!" The electric engine gave us a little hope.
We decided to get into the emergency lane and leave the hazard blinkers on, to let all the trucks go past us at 80 mph, and to see how far the battery would take us. There was a long hill ahead. I kept my foot on the gas peddle gently, and we slowly marched up that hill, inching along, sometimes down to 8 mph. Our hearts were beating fast, and since we had turned of the air conditioner, the sweat started breaking out. We actually started chanting "I think I can, I think I can!" My legs felt so tense just to keep up the pace and not change the momentum. Every inch, the car carried us up what we thought was the final the hill, was another inch we wouldn't have to walk.... we thought!
Finally, the electric engine gave up the ghost and stopped! The car had just had it! Poor thing. It had brought us, crawling all the way up a long incline on it's battery alone!
An addition to our stories of the Prius and the iPhone, is that instead of Doug pushing the car up the hill, as he suggested...... we called AAA (luckily we had a connection!). They arranged for a tow truck to come with 3 gallons of gas. The woman on the phone first made sure we were in a safe place. Doug said, as he looked at the big trucks hurtling by, and the heat rising from the sand, "Relatively safe." She wanted to know what the number of the exit was that we were closest to. We really didn't know, so we walked together with our umbrella till we could each squint to see that it was exit 30, not exit 80, and then walked back to the car, holding hands, stepping down into sand that had sudden holes made from snakes or rodents. She told us it would be about a half hour, and that the truck was being dispatched.

When we got back near the car, Doug decided to make the best of it, and brought our camp chairs over to the shade of the highway sign.

We sat there getting excited whenever we heard a truck. Some folks waved at us as they passed, smiling at us since I suppose we looked pretty silly,with our broken umbrella and all. The AAA guy came, grinning at us as well, and proceeded to deposit the 3 gallons into our thirsty car. He told us that there wouldn't have been any gas at till the third exit, so it wouldn't have helped to coast to the next one. He waited to make sure that everything started up fine, and we were off and running again.....to the next gas station.
We patted and stroked our little car on it's dashboard and apologized. (We really did.) Our little chariot had been good and faithful for all these miles, and look how we treated it. We also thanked God for keeping us safe and giving us peace on this stretch of highway. Three more days, little car. Three more days.

Travels with Our Prius, Part 3: A Real, Vintage, Green, and Sustainable Motel, of All Things

One day, this last July, we had spent the afternoon exploring the coast of southern Maine, visiting pottery shops, eating ice cream, and drinking in the almost heady atmosphere. We had driven, at this point, about 9,000 miles from our home in California, and after a wonderful lunch of lobster and corn on the cob, I was ready to have a nice rest. My husband, Doug, could see the weariness in my eyes, and he started keeping an eye out for a motel. We often camp for the night, but he knew this wasn't the night for a battle with mosquitoes or trying to get a campfire going with too little kindling, blowing on the coals.
There is the budget though. Doug can spot a motel in his price range, about $89 tops, preferably cheaper, at a glance. We stopped at a couple along the coast, and he came out shaking his head, saying that the room smelled like smoke, or the person at the desk didn't give him a good feeling, or the rate was too high.
I kept driving north along Belfast Rd., heading more toward the Central Coast, when he said, "Stop! Turn in here!" It was the Birchwood Motel, It's sign touted that it was Certifiably Green, and Sustainable. That sounded good, but I stayed in the car while Doug went in to the lobby. He was there for a few minutes, and I was thankful to see him walking toward our Prius with a key in his hand.
I got out and we checked out the room together. (I always get to make the final decision.)
Right away, I was impressed with the nice new wood floors and the fresh, neat paint job on the walls. The bed had a nice quilt, and the little toiletries, like soap and shampoo were organic and locally made. It was a keeper. Quite unlike me, I laid down on the bed, ready for a nap. Doug pampered me by bringing in all of our bags, computer, and camping refrigerator bag that had goodies enough for our dinner.
Not one for napping long, I got up, and we sat out on the long deck that's outside all the rooms, facing Penobscot Bay. We had drinks and worked on a crossword together. Heaven!
Doug mentioned that this place was surprisingly inexpensive, for what we got, only$89, I think with a senior discount, and that there was "some sort of breakfast" in the morning. After a delightful evening of watching a movie and checking our emails on the free Wi-Fi, and a great sleep on a Maine-made mattress with organic cotton sheets, we ventured over to the lobby in the morning for our "continental" breakfast.
I opened the screen door and walked into a lovely lobby....no,.. it was like a great-room. No one was at the reclaimed wood desk, so I looked around. There was a refrigerator that I wish I had known about, whose freezer is available to refreeze your blue ice for your camping cooler. Also, different cold drinks are available to guests if they leave a dollar or so in the bowl provided.
We followed the lovely coffee aroma over to a table laden with our fantastic breakfast. Since the owners are so Green, there were several mugs made by Eric's wife, Jenny, a potter, and napkins that were perfectly torn from cotton print cloth in squares, and folded. There were scones made from the eggs and the berries from the "farmette" there on the grounds, and a bowl of fruit from the garden too. We each had two glasses of fresh orange juice a piece, and another cup of coffee.

I was giddy. This is the ideal breakfast in a "motel". No Styrofoam cups. No plastic forks...only stainless steel. No straws or stir sticks. We put our used plates into a bus tray, along with our utensils and cups for washing and reusing, and went outside to enjoy the beautiful garden that we hadn't even discovered yet!

Turns out Eric and his family had taken an old motel, (there are many of them to be found in this area..in the shape of a strip), and have made theirs Special! They're known for being green, vintage, organic, and sustainable.... ALL that GOOD STUFF!!

They have worked on it for a few years, and it is their home. Therefore they don't want to put it on anything like Hotels.com, putting it out there for just ANYONE to book in to. They are pretty picky about who comes to stay at their motel. Their family lives there. This is their home, And their farm (ette). Since their family lives here, Eric kind of interviews folks that stay with them. No one is allowed to check in late, or bring pets. Still, people are welcomed with open arms and they hope folks will come back again and again for the location and the value.

The Birchwood Motel is enchanting. Just go around back and wander by their organic garden, and cluck at the chickens by the henhouse. They'll cluck back at you. There are a couple of vintage green metal chairs where you can sit just above the pond, to perch and look down on it all. Go check it out. You'll see a bit of Penobscot Bay from there. Bet you'll want to make it your home base when you  come to the lovely Central Maine coast.
Maybe we'll see you there..... I wish.

Travels With Our Prius (part 2), AND our iPhones

Upon arriving at my friend Carol's house in West Lafayette, Indiana, Doug went out to the car to bring in a few things. I stopped my conversation with Carol to call out, "Remember to be careful! Don't forget the hummingbird!" Carol had a puzzled expression on her face. I told her that our aging Prius had a new problem. When you pull up on the back hatch, part if it wants to come off in your hand, only being held on by the wires. I have put a sticker of a hummingbird to remind us to press the button and lift gently when we see the hummingbird, and then lift the hatch from the bottom. The sticker was to remind us to not do any more harm to our poor car.
When we left on our trip after retiring from our "jobs" on April 22nd, 2013, it was to be a two week trip. We packed for 2 or 3 weeks: for our pills, (since we're over 60), and for warm weather since we were just heading south, in California.
In order to take this trip, the first thing to do was to get a new air conditioner. It stopped working last winter, and it was an expensive job. We put it off till now, when it was really needed. It had come down to: take this trip by flying to a destination and then renting a car, or buying a NEW Prius, or fixing the air conditioner. In the interest of being frugal with our limited retirement income, the latter was chosen. Our Prius had transported us through several trips, some camping and some not. We voted to extend its life. It turns out that the air conditioner hadn't died of natural causes, but with an injury (probably from a rock), and it had a huge hole..... so it wasn't it's fault.
We had our sleeping bags cleaned at a drycleaner, and bought a new 39" wide futon that fit perfectly as our bed, tossed out expired camp supplies and refurbished them.
From the beginning, my husband Doug loved the new car because it had the potential of being a camper. The year before, the '03, which I had promoted to him, didn't have that feature. But, what do you know! The 2004 had a larger capacity, to have a 6' 5" sleeping area. Since Doug is 6'3", it works out. One  just has to get over the enclosed coffin-like feeling. (Only kidding.)
My joke about us, is that in the morning, our fellow campers, seeing us stick our legs out the side and slither out of our Prius "RV", think that the Prius is giving birth!

The first leg of our journey was to Morro Bay and the big Morro Rock, a place that Doug has been attracted to for the last few years. It seemed like a good start to our retirement trip. We camped near the shore of Morro Bay, and were entertained by a lovely great blue heron that posed for us in our campsite. Excited about a new journey, we planned our two week vacation to Palm Springs, Vegas and maybe the Grand Canyon. We took a tour of Hoover Dam, but couldn't go to the Grand Canyon via the north rim since it was closed, so we continued on to Zion National Park, where we camped for only $11.00 a night on the senior pass, for four nights. We saw the sights, but were invaded by sneaky caterpillars in our campsite. They showed up in the strangest places!
Then we went on to Monument and Arches Park

This time, instead of using paper maps as in the past, we relied on our iPhones for directions. We brought an atlas that we got for free from AAA for the bigger picture, but we've found that if we want to find the directions to our next destination, we just go to the map icon on our phone. All we have to do is, put in the desired destination.... say we'd like to know the route from our current address, and we see the little blue ball that is our car on one of three possible routes that we can choose from. We usually choose number one, and then press "start" and it gives us directions in green signs like you see on the freeway.

Another thing we check on the iPhone is the weather. We found an app on the iPhone called "My Radar", that makes Doug, our "navigator extraordinaire", a meteorologist..... even MORE extraordinary! He plans our trip according to altitude, length, and climate. Thus, instead of visiting the northern rim of the Grand Canyon, which we found was closed, he had the idea to extend our trip to visit his old friend from high school, Phil, who lives in Colorado. We found that Phil and Karen were home, so we did.

That's why our two week trip was extended. We had to navigate the altitude though. Doug started to feel altitude sickness part way up the mountains, and told me we should turn around because he thought he was "blacking out". Startled, I backtracked, while he looked some things up on Google, about altitude sickness. It was said that a person suffering from altitude sickness should drink plenty of water, not alcohol, and that for a man, Viagra would help with symptoms. Doug called his friend, a medical doctor to confirm this, who said that he had prescribed that pill to many people who were climbing in the Himalayas! It was true.
Doug had one pill left, and measured out each mountain peak's altitude at it's pass via iPhone. We cautiously went forward, avoiding any high pass, with much joking going on....  Finally arriving at our friend's home in Boulder, all intact, we both had a good sleep.
We stayed with our friends, visiting, cooking and eating together, and taking the time to do laundry. I got a pedicure, Doug got to golf with his friend, and we pampered the Prius by getting it new tires.
It seems it was time to leave, but it didn't seem like it was time to go home. Doug said "I wonder if your friend Carol from high school is home in Indiana?"  She was. .....and furthermore she and her husband were happy to have us stay with them even though we had been there only six months before.

Soon after we left Colorado, the back hatch of the Prius started having it's problems. The other remedy was a piece of blue duct tape, to hold the piece on to the car. This also reminded me of my husband's daughter speaking derogatorily about his remedy of the new wooden bumper he had put on a family car....  The crowning touch, is that Doug had an idea at our campground in New Jersey and ended up drilling a hole through the car part, screwing the part on, and deleting the use of tape. It actually works pretty well, and we don't have to buy a new, expensive part. It's not quite as bad as a wooden bumper.

So far the car has gotten us over 6000 miles. We've meandered around, from Indiana, to Flint, Michigan to see Doug's family home once more, camping in Canada, and then to Niagara Falls, ..... to New Hampshire, to eat lobsters with Doug's brother-in-law, Steve, to Brooklyn to visit my kids, Jennie and Lucas, (the car got it's first ticket in Brooklyn for parking)....  to Boston to see an old friend, to Maryland to stay with other relatives....  All along, we were led by the maps on our phone, and also the Yelp app, that told us where to find a restaurant, a pedicure, or an oil change.... the Hotels.com app that found us an hotel for when it was either too hot or raining,  Reservations America app that found us a campsite, while we paid all our bills on Bank of America's online site, We even found a Catholic church to go to every Sunday on Masstimes.org!

Each time we need to find an hotel, we find a reasonably priced one on the Hotels.com mobile site. We read all the reviews of the less expensive ones, and if they say "Horrible!" or " smelly" or "noisy and dirty", we go on to the next one. Not too picky generally, (I'm usually pleased if the maid has folded the washcloths into a fan, and made the end of the toilet paper into a point). We do have some standards. It turns out that if you make your reservations from the phone app, there are many discounts. Tonight we're staying in Middletown, R.I., near Newport for $69., including breakfast and internet! We will have to camp soon, though, to keep on budget!

 All the way while driving, we've used a little contraption that my daughter gave us that plugs into the "cigarette lighter". and plays iTunes or Pandora Radio from our phones on the car's speakers. Between Indiana and New Hampshire, we listened to Beatles and Creedence Clearwater, and between New York and Connecticut we figured out there was a comedy channel on Pandora. Amazing what you can get for free!

What a different world it is...  even since we first got our Prius in 2004!  We still sleep in it. That's the good thing! We still camp in our car.... and people are still surprised....but we love it, and it's still cozy. Today it got an oil change in Connecticut. Much deserved.

The thing is, we get around in it by satellite gps now. .... not so much by the maps. They always know where we are. We could be out in the boonies, and want to know where the nearest gas station is, and we can see on the map on our phone.... our little blue dot will travel on the route and guide us to that station! The only thing is.....our GPS system doesn't have an English woman's accent. Doug is our GPS, along with the phone. Every so often, though, he has to say "recalculating".

Travels With Our Prius, Part 1

 Our first purchase as a married couple was a new 2004 silver Prius. We had no choice of color, since Toyota couldn't make them fast enough, and we had to take whatever we got. Of course it was silver. I've become obsessed with finding antenna balls in order to find our Prius in the mass of it's siblings. It only took one time of trying to open up the trunk of someone else's identical car in a parking lot to get me to add a bumper sticker and an antenna ball.
 It doesn't get pampered, or even kept very neat, and it's expected to be a workhorse, hauling things for the garden or my husband's store. Our Prius has had a couple of dents, and on our last trip, had lowfat creamer leak from our camping cooler onto the backseat rug. The next day it smelled like we were aging cheese in there. The car has been professionally cleaned, and per the internet has been treated with  baking soda and lemon. We are still getting used to the "not-new-car-smell".
I think about the days of camping in the car. The salesman who sold it to us asked, "Why do all of you Berkeley people always ask if you can sleep in it?!!"
Well, my husband and I both had times in our lives when we traveled around the country in a car or van, and had good memories of that. We wanted to repeat it. So we have.
No sooner had we got possession of our new little Prius, my husband went off to Bed Bath and Beyond while I was at work, and figured out how to make it into a camper. The two insulated boxes with removeable lids and covered with red fabric, were to store cooking utensils and canned goods, and the futon was our bed.
When the seats of the car were slid forward and the back seats were down, the red boxes fit behind the front seats in the footwell and the futons made a bed comfortable enough to fit me and my husband, who is 6' 4"! The joke I always say is, that in the morning in the campground, the folks in the tents and Winnebagos may look over to our site and think as we emerge feet-first from the side doors,that the Prius is giving birth!

We know we are attached to our car. We talk about it too much and we brag about it's mileage.When we drove it into Canada, we let everyone know that our Prius is like our pet. We reported that this was it's first trip into a foreign country, and it was our first time to drive our own car in a foreign country. When we entered Canada, we changed it to km, instead of miles. When we were in Victoria, it saw all it's "homies"....about 2/3 of the taxis are Priuses! ...It had its first three rides on ferries.....in Oregon, it had its first ride on a beach, and it didn't even get intimidated by the big 4 wheel drives!
Even now in 2012, and we've owned it for 8 years, we bore folks with stories of how we bought gas at the top of I-5 and coasted into Palm Springs with 68 miles per gallon displayed on the dashboard screen. We plan on keeping this car for quite a while and boring all of you for just that long.