I hated to leave the beauty of the mountains this morning, but it was time to head on to Winnemucca, Nevada. The trip was long and made longer by road work. We did notice the highways improved significantly when we left the California State line and crossed over into Nevada.

Yaaaay!!! Finally a park with WiFi that works. There is nothing sadder than a husband who is having web withdrawals or speaking for myself, a wife who can’t post on her blog.

So here we are at the High Desert RV Park and relaxing before fixing dinner. Actually, I just made a tomato salad for tomorrow’s lunch and had a glass of wine.

This place is a far cry from the beauty of Truckee, but it does have free shuttle service to the Casinos. However, we have already opted to not go to the Casinos. Shucks, we are tiiiired after the drive. One of the things that I have learned is that traveling every day is not worth it. So the next time out we will plan two days at each stop. We will be back at this park however, after LaGrande and probably will check out those casinos then.

The RV Park is a mixture of overnighters and long-timers. It has a swimming pool and two fenced in doggie runs. Lucky, LuAnn, and Sammi think that this is the cat’s meow and are enjoying the chance to run free in a fenced enclosure. There is a bench there for the humans to rest while watching the dogs. Bob and I appreciate this a lot. I snapped this photo of Bob and the puppies at the doggie park. I wish more parks had this run-free type enclosure for pets.

Tomorrow we will head up to Caldwell, Idaho. This will be our longest day on the road. From there to LaGrande, where we will spend a few days with Dawn and Jade, is a mere walk in the park.

We made it to Truckee and the most beautiful RV Park tucked in among the tall pines.

The trip which was to be about three hours turned out to be more like four and a half with road construction delays and traffic near Sacramento. . . not to mention the slow pace across the marshlands. Anyway, we are here and have half-ass-ed WiFi. It comes and goes which is better than Santa Rosa where it never worked.

It seems hours and hours since we left Santa Rosa heading toward Truckee. We left around ten o’clock this morning. The trip which was to be about three hours turned out to be more like five with road construction, a tortoise crawl across the marshlands, followed by more road construction delays just outside of Truckee.

We were tired and hungry. The dogs were restless in their crates, but nothing seems to phase the parrots. They simply talked and made noises and enjoyed the unbelievably slow ride.

All of our travel irritability melted away the moment we drove through Truckee and found our Coachland RV Park. It is a beautiful park tucked in among the tall pines. Coachland is a rather large park with many non-mobile units that are here year around. Like our other parks, it has the friendliest people and as always everyone wants to see the parrots and pet the dogs.

Lunch was at 3:30 so by the time evening arrived a decision to skip dinner and just have smoothies was made. So at this point, we have had our drinks and walked the puppies. Tweetie is calling out “Beddy Bye” and Bob is busy with his computer. Suddenly, I am so tired that I think I will put down the bed and call it a day. Tomorrow we leave for Winnemucca, Nevada although I wish we could stay at this lovely place for a week or two

I wrote this for Sally’s retirement, but there were so many wonderful accolades and speeches already, that I decided to tell a story about an incident at school instead. So not to let writing go unread, I am posting this in Sally’s honor because an excellent teacher like her, deserves the recognition of a posting.

The first time I met Sally it was at a Desert Area Teachers Association meeting. Sally stood up to speak and as I listened, I thought, “Okay, just another young teacher who thinks she has all the right ideas.” Well, I was middle-aged at the time and had been around teaching for enough years to be a little jaded. What I discovered as time went on was that indeed she did have the right ideas, both where the Teachers Organization was concerned and evenly more importantly when teaching itself was involved.

I remember our times in the School Improvement Program (SIP) and what a dynamic drive she was particularly for turning large SIP plans into smaller, more easily followed ones. Once again, she was able to see the entire idea clearly, while I struggled writing out every little minute detail.

Over the years, our teaching paths crossed and we attended conferences and meetings at the same time, but it was not until the late 80’s that we actually taught together. Those were our Las Flores years where Sally was more than willing to run off to Carls Jr with me for a lunch away from our fourth grade classes. And those were some the classes! Both Sally and I were jumping through educational hoops, working with challenging classes, and a rather competitive faculty. Our friendship really strengthened at that time and I felt blessed to have a colleague who viewed the whole picture with humor and understanding. The two of us spent a lot of time commiserating and maybe even plotting a little faculty revenge - just for the fun of it.

When Gateway Elementary, a new school in our district, was built, both Sally and I transferred. What a joyful and exciting time. I don’t really remember meetings every being fun, but those planning meetings for Gateway remain so in my mind. The opportunity to be part of a great team working to shape a new educational program was a highlight for all who were part of that first faculty and staff. Sally was definitely a driving force and a leader in this effort.

Sally was always willing to share her ideas. She was an excellent sounding board for all of us and always willing to listen and to help solve a problem whether it be a student, a fellow teacher, or a parrot who chewed the rubber off the map cabinet. (Josephine was the culprit.)

It was a sad day when our valley lost Jerry and Sally to Northern California, but distance cannot keep friends apart, and I treasure the visits we have had with them.
Sally is a major commenter on my blogs I love the support she gives my writing and it encourages me to continue posting.

The dedication and creativity with which Sally has graced the educational system will be greatly missed. However, retirement will be the beginning of a new and exciting adventure which I hope will include a weblog of her own. If Sally becomes a blogger, I know I will be there, reading and commenting.

Our two days at Santa Rosa have met our expectation for a great time with old friends. Our stop over here on the way to Oregon was a planned one. My good friend and fellow teacher, Sally was retiring from a Bay Area school district and some of the former R/C teachers were meeting to cheer her on to her new life of leisure.

On Saturday night there was a retirement party in Windsor about 12 miles north of our campground. It was at the home of Tom and Donna, both of whom had taught in Sierra Sands with me before moving north. This morning, we turned the Smartcar south and headed 15 miles to Petaluma to Bill and Stefanie (another former colleague’s home) for brunch. I have never been much for reunions, but this group of teachers makes me realize why so many people love them. Getting back together is always a little walk back into another time and place. One that will always be remembered fondly.

As always, there were Roasts and Toasts and lots of reminiscing about classrooms, philosophies, the things that worked and the things that didn’t. We are now far enough removed from those that didn’t to be able to laugh about them. And laughter was definitely a major part of both events.

While we were off partying, the dogs were resting in their crates in the RV and the birds were tucked away in their cages. They were none the worse when we came home last night after about five hours and have already forgiven us for our three hour disappearance this morning. As always, they are thrilled with traveling and enjoying long walks.

Tomorrow, we leave for Truckee. We should be on the road about 2 hours. I took time this afternoon to do laundry and straighten the RV a little.

We call LuAnn our little alarm clock and for good reason. She started her morning whine on the dot at six o’clock this morning. It was a beautiful cool time of the day, but obvious that summer has arrived and that the temperature would soon be rising to the 90′a. I walked the dogs and Bob fixed coffee. Breakfast for the meangerie and for us followed.

Tweetie made the mistake of climbing to the side of her cage nearest the edge of the overhead bunk. Her weight caused the cage to fall first onto the puppies crates which were one on top of the other, and then to the floor. This thank goodness made for two small topples rather than one big ka -boom and she is none the worse for wear. We now know to secure the cages to the mattress bars with short stabalizing wires. Outside of Tweetie’s cage falling from the cab-over aree the morning was carefree and relaxed.

However because of our early revely, we were packed and ready to hit the road by nine. The road trip to Santa Rosa was a little less relaxing than the one to Santa Nella. There was a lot more traffic and more changing of freeways, as well as, a toll fee to pay.

We were struck by the kindness of two different young drivers. The first one who slowed way down in the fast lane (very little traffic at the time) so that as we passed him he could gesture that one of our bays on the motorhome had opened. We were able to pull over and fix it at the next off ramp. The second incident involved a car load of young men who graciously motioned for us to pull in front of then when Bob and I, not use to fasttrack, found ourselves in the wrong lane to pay at the toll booth. In both of these cases, caring about others was prime. If I could thank them I would, but I will remember to play the kindness forward.

We arrived around 1:00 PM which was about an hour later than we had anticipated. I fixed lunch and then Bob took a nap while I started writing for the blog. We were without WiFi at Santa Nella and when we arrived here at the Santa Rosa RV Park, we were told that the connection to WiFi was down, but they were working on it.

The weather cooled down nicely around 5 PM so I walked the dogs while Bob put Tweetie and Josephine’s cages outside on the picnic table. The birds are conversation magnets. By the time I got back with the dogs, a young boy was already there conversing with Bob about African Greys. From then on, there was a steady stream of visitors. . . all interesting and fun to talk to, so it made for a pleasant evening.

In between visitors, I managed to microwave some tomato herb soup. We drank it from coffee mugs and along with cheese slices and rye-krisp, it made an easy and filling supper.

Bob brought the birds in while the dogs and I headed to the doggie area for a brief outing and then back to the RV for a good night’s sleep.