When you live in an RV you get used to the fact that your home is not as stable as a regular house. When someone comes in or goes outside, the RV shakes a bit. And when it’s a windy day, you know it without going outside. But a couple of days ago the RV started swaying while we were both inside, and there wasn’t any wind. It was an earthquake! According to the California Earthquake Map (earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv) it was located northwest of Bakersfield, so all we got in Riverside was a gentle shake. That is, of course, the very best way to experience an earthquake - just enough shaking to let you know what’s happening but not enough to knock anything over. I grew up in the New Madrid Fault zone but that has been pretty quiet, so this is the first time I’ve really felt an earthquake.
September 1 - where the time is going
We are still in Riverside on stand-by for the HVAC work. This is the longest we’ve stayed in one place without a part-time job, so we are finding other things to do. Fortunately we are blessed with great family here and love spending time with them.
Cousin Mike invited Randy out on a deep-sea fishing trip. Dorado were supposed to be biting like crazy, so they took 4 days to go find some. The captain of the boat is the guy who owns it - Captain Ron. There’s a movie character called Captain Ron but fortunately this guy was better than that. He summed up the trip this way: “Had a real tough day Friday with one jig strike for a Dorado. We went down 115 miles then cut in to 129 miles where we slammed them last week but no kelps or strikes. The next morning got a yellow fin jig strike and 3 on bait. Finally found a kelp that was holding and got 10 Dorado and 14 yellowtail. Four of the yellows were 17 to 20 lbs. Traveled all night to make it to the pens by first light. Had a nice bite and got 16 Bluefin. Four nice ones at 30 lbs. and the others around 15 lbs. Weather was great the whole trip."
Jack and Randy have also gone fishing up at the lake several times. Unfortunately the trout are not biting; in fact, they seem to be dying off. The staff at the lake had the water checked and then started bringing Tilapia instead of trout, but so far the Tilapia haven’t learned how to bite, either.
When we are in Riverside we attend the Central Community Church. This is the church that feeds homeless people every week and does a huge Thanksgiving dinner for the area, as well as creating and supporting an orphanage in Mexico. During August they focus on their local church family with events like Bunco night and Movie-in-the-Park night. Both events were Pot-Luck so of course Teresa made wonderful food for the gang. They also had a great Vacation Bible School. Teresa wasn’t scheduled to be part of it this year, but a few days before it started she got a call that the song-leader was not available. Since Teresa loves music, she stepped in. It turns out “song-leader” was a bit mis-leading - she was one of two people running the show! But as usual she gave it her all and did a great job. I helped where I could; the children needed to learn actions that go along with the songs, so I spent the mornings showing them what to do, and it was so much fun!
Recently Teresa and I went to see the play War Horse. I saw the movie in Florida with Clyde and Nancy and loved it. Then on the internet I saw the huge hand-spring puppets used in the play - simply amazing! It works visually and emotionally and I've never seen anything like it - it was so wonderful. I love, love, love this!
Later Teresa drove me and her mom to the Garment District in LA. It was really interesting - lots of little storefronts with hundreds of bolts of cloths. Some stores had their wares displayed outside, and the banded bolts of cloth looked like slender burka-covered ladies.
Some stores specialize in materials for Indian saris - so beautiful!
I needed a tablecloth so I bought something a little more demure than these. Afterwards we went to the nearby 5 Cent Diner. They have good food there but their claim to fame seems to be their desserts. The maple-bacon covered doughnut was really good and the root-beer creme brulee was even better.
And we've been to some birthday parties recently. Mike’s grandson turned 2 and a couple weeks later Teresa’s grandson turned 10. As always, the parties were full of good people and good food. Can't beat it!
We have learned that there really is no distance Teresa won’t drive to check out a restaurant with a good reputation. She took us to Fisherman’s Market in Grill in Banning, which was very good.
Another time it was Malabu Seafood in Malibu - 83 miles for a fried fish sandwich! But it was really good fried fish, with a lovely view of the ocean just across the road.
Randy has headed off to meet a friend and hike the Grand Canyon. I am not ready to hike that much, so this week I’ve been painting the bathroom cabinets and spray-painting the shower trim. That’s a pain because everything has to be taped-off and covered with newspaper or plastic drop-cloth. The silly thing looks like Dexter has been practicing in our house.
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