Taking Off for the Weekend!

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

Tahoe here we come!!!

San Francisco always seems to take its toll on Allen and the guys (and me, for sure).

This time around is especially difficult because even though the weather is nicer than it’s ever been while we were here, work is almost at a stand still. There’s some kind of lead paint issue that another company was called in to deal with, which in turn is holding up work on our end. Add this to the already existent fact that the city seems to drag its feet on everything Sutro-related.

borrowed from Wikipedia

Not staying really busy makes for long days (and short pay checks). No good for anyone. So I guess they all came to some sort of decision at work that they would take a long weekend. Just for reference, this is pretty much unheard of. When they are busy, they work ten hour days, six and sometimes seven days a week. So that’s what they are used to. So am I for the most part, but I love “weather days” (rain, snow, wind, etc. that make working on a 1,500ft broadcast tower too dangerous).

“hanging out”…

Allen’s view looking down!

Taking a break up top

Anyhow, one guy flew home for a high school reunion and another booked a cruise to Mexico. We were looking at Santa Cruz first, then heard that it’s not as cool as Monterey. So I went motel shopping. Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zip. No rooms available, and the rates for even a Super 8 or a Days Inn were $400/night!!! Yikes! (By the way, we were looking last night, wanting to leave today, that’s just how our last minute lives are lived.)

getting the heck out of the city

the old Bay Bridge

So then we almost gave up. But then we looked at Tahoe. We found a room in a casino resort in South Lake Tahoe for less than Monterey, AND we are staying two nights! It’s going to be like a mini-vacay! We haven’t stayed in a motel in way over a decade, let alone a fancy “resort” (ever)! I’m super excited.

Charlie is going to stay with our neighbors and her buddy Samantha so she will have fun too.

Charlie and Samantha relaxing

They thought i had food

Charlie and Samantha’s mom

I’m also going to bring a little of my brother’s ashes with me. He’s never been to Nevada, so it’ll be a first for both of us.

Off we go!

DIY Pillow Covers!

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

I thought I would take full advantage of this super foggy, windy, kinda rainy, gloomy day here at Candlestick RV Park and work on an indoor project. I bought a beginner’s sewing machine a few months ago and I haven’t gotten to use it a whole lot yet. I didn’t want anything too complicated. I’ve never used a sewing machine before. I did some research and decided on the Janome portable one in “purple thunder”! It was about $60 from Amazon. I’ve been trying little things here and there. I’ve made a pair of Allen’s ripped jeans into shorts… I’ve also made a couple of onesie’s into outfits for Charlie… Just by hemming them a little here and there… I got these at the Flea Market in Dayton, Ohio.

The Bengals one is 0-3months and fits a lot better than the cheetah print which is 6-9months

She was NOT happy that i woke her up to try them on…

For a while now, I’ve been wanting to cover up these hideous (IMHO) throw pillows that Allen has had forever. They are brown and dark blue and just have no personality. Yesterday I took a trip to Walmart (yes, a trip, out here in San Francisco) and I picked up some fabric. I had asked Allen what color he thought would look good and of course his answer was brown or dark blue. No chance. So I got some pretty teal stuff. I kind of followed this picture I found on Pinterest. They are envelope pillow covers. Super easy. I’m not a master seamstress by far! But I’m liking the sewing machine!

Here is my super simple drawing of how i did the cover…

Overall, I think they look great and add a pop of color!

The gold pillows I found at a thrift store in Cincinnati for 69cents each!

Before I got the sewing machine, I still wanted to make Charlie some clothes… So these are a couple of little things I made for her. She’s such a good sport!

fur coat and booties! She would only wear two at a time, no way was she wearing 4!

She didn’t mind this sweater. She got her arms stuck in the knitted holes while napping one day and that was pretty funny!

she absolutely hated the snood part!

Charlie’s 2nd Birthday Party!

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

It was very successful! She turned 2 on Friday and we threw a little BBQ shindig on Saturday at our house, parked at Candlestick RV Park here in San Francisco. All the guys from work came over, along with our neighbors and their dog. I think everyone had a blast! We had really good weather so we got super lucky on that front!

The guys from work, and me

Charlie digging a hole

I got a Selfie Stick when I was at the airport, so we had some fun with that! We cooked burgers and Mets and brats and shrimp kabobs and a bacon wrapped pork loin, with baked beans and potato salad and ice cream cake. Those boys can eat!

the tower crew

I definitely needed to have some fun. I’ve had kind of a rough week, mostly bad dreams and nightmares. I did some Googling on bad dreams and grief and apparently this is normal. Not fun. But normal. So I guess I’ll just take it as it is and hope for the best.
Charlie had fun also. I bought a squirt gun (for her birthday-what a crappy present!) and used that for the first time yesterday whenever she got nuts and started barking like a little maniac. I think it’s working!

Charlie this morning… Exhausted pup.

Oh Charlie…

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

I think my puppy is depressed. Allen says she is just used to being by herself all day since I’ve been gone and it’ll probably take her a couple of days to get back to normal. But she doesn’t really pay attention to me. She will go on walks, but then when we come back home, she just sleeps in bed. Lazy little thing.

Yesterday we spread my brothers ashes in San Francisco Bay. Charlie came with us. I read online that it helps to let flowers go too so that you can kind of follow them out. So we did that. Allen suggested next time that we spread them in water (is it called spreading? Scattering?) maybe we should put a little inside the rose, in between the petals and float it out. I think that’s a good idea.

After that we went to the grocery store and even though we left here less than a year ago, I forgot just how much more expensive everything is! Goodness… So I need to rethink how I’m going to cook dinner to try and make it cheaper while still being healthy and delicious. That’s going to take some brainstorming, and googling….

At least we have a lime tree, lemon tree, and a loquat tree here in the campground, not even 50ft from our front door! I’m making chili today, so those won’t come in handy. Unless we have some rum and cokes, then the lines would be perfect!

Here are some pictures I snapped this morning to show more of just how tight everything is in the campground… You can see some more here.

Back to Reality

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

So I arrived in San Francisco Saturday evening. Allen picked me up from the airport and we went to get some food and a couple beers at Red Robin. Then we went home to CHARLIE! She was SO excited to see me! (She even peed a little…) Gosh, I missed her like crazy! I woke up pretty early this morning, I’m still on Eastern Time really… So I showered and got dressed and made some coffee then I took Charlie for a walk. I made a grocery list and printed some coupons… Charlie and Allen are both sleeping. In bed. Still. Lazy bums…

The campground (Candlestick RV Park) is SO crowded compared to last time we were here… All the little patches of grass are now just dried, dead, brown patches of dirt. All the flowers that were so pretty are now just thorny sticks with a couple blooms here and there. Candlestick Stadium is gone so the view is completely different. We have an end spot this time, so we look out at trees instead of the side of another camper, which is nice. It almost tricks you into forgetting you are in a black top parking lot. Almost. Not really.

Marcus, Allen’s coworker, moves in today right behind us. I think we should go buy some of those swimming noodles and put them on the bumper, because we will probably be touching. It’s that tight out here. I’m not exaggerating.

Taste of Dallas

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

We went to the Taste on Saturday. I was surprised that it wasn’t bigger actually. (The Taste of Cincinnati was bigger) But we had some good food. Allen and I met up with Cletis, a guy he works with. I love Cletis. We parked by he tower so therefore got in free. Sshhh…

We had alligator on a stick, a brisket sandwich, shrimp and crab on a stick, ribs, and chicken. Yum!

On our way home we stopped by Randy’s Farmers Market. We picked up some tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, onions and plums. We found some local honey too. I’ve heard that if you eat local honey it’s supposed to help with allergies. I hope it works! We also got some bbq sauce and some chips and salsa. The salsa is no joke-SO spicy! And we like hot and spicy, but this is off the charts!

When we got back we went to the pool to hang out. Allen has been teaching me how to swim and I think I’m getting the hang of it. I mean, I can doggy paddle and survive but I’ve never been able to swim on top of the water. He was a lifeguard and taught swim lessons when he was younger and he’s been pretty patient with me.

Towards the end of the day I went and got Charlie and brought her up to the pool. She’s done a lot of swimming in the last week! The other night she was running around with a pup named Tater and she ran INTO the pond and swam back out! She’s a brave little thing!

View from Above

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

Allen has an awesome job. Few people get this view from their “office” every day…

The Cotton Bowl

Downtown Dallas

Fair Park

A drop zone type of ride at Fair Park

I think these tents are for “Taste of Dallas” this weekend

a platform on the tower

Meanwhile, I’ve been reading and relaxing by the pool…

“The Street Lawyer” by John Grisham

the pool

Charlie thinks it’s too hot for anything.

Doggy Paddlin’

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

Charlie can swim! She was so cute! I think she loved it. Allen thinks she was just surviving. But her little tail was wagging all day long and she seemed like a happy puppy.

We had a great time with Karen and Bob and their friend Kathy yesterday. It was a much needed relaxing Saturday. Allen doesn’t get many of those!

This morning we took the truck and camper to the truck wash next door to Abe’s RV Park. The guys at the 5 Star Travel Plaza did an awesome job. It’s a new truck wash, just opened in March, so it wasn’t crazy busy like most of them are. It was $45 for the camper and truck. I don’t think that was bad at all.

One thing Allen noticed was that since we had the DEF Sytem removed, we are going to have to watch the front of the camper and keep it clean because now the exhaust pipe blows a little black smoke.

Now we are on our way to Dallas for a couple of weeks…

OKC? OK!

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

We made it Thursday night and checked into Abe’s RV Park off I-35.

Spot Y-17

Friday We got the tires balanced and rotated and a nail removed from one of them then had the oil changed. Here’s the truck next to a nice corvette…

I also won another small victory!

Allen didn’t want to get a map. I did. Look what we have! Isn’t he such a sweetie! I decided to only mark the states where we’ve stayed the night with THIS camper, not the old one too. So we are starting fresh.

After all our errands we hung out for a while until Karen and Bob were done working. It was then Friday night drinking time! Finally! We met up at Old Chicago’s for pizza and drinks and made plans to swim at their house on Saturday. Finally I get to find out if little Charlie knows how to swim! Update to come! I think we are going to try and hit this neighborhood garage sale I saw a sign for yesterday first…

Stop in Sparta

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Rachel Gillen

We left Frontier Campground at around 10:30am on Wednesday and headed down the road to our friends Brandi’s and Tommy’s place in Sparta, KY. It’s only about an hour and a half drive. We got there and set up in their yard (they have about 7 acres total).

We let Charlie run around with Paisley (some kind of herd dog), and Storm (the wolf, yes, a real full blooded wolf who acts like a puppy), and Milo (the cat and Charlie’s arch nemesis).

Once she discovered the chickens and pigs, she terrorized them for a while.

Then we grilled some hot dogs and metts followed by a nice, refreshing nap. Brandi got home from work around 4 and we went to the neighborhood bar/liquor store for a game of pool. Once Tommy got home from work we went to the Sunset Grill on the Ohio River and had dinner with them and Brandi’s two little girls. We always have a good time with them, and so does little Charlie!

Brandi got these two framed Budweiser pictures for Allen also. We will probably have to wait until we get our Texas Ranch or Florida Beach Shack to actually hang them though… I’ll post pictures when we stop..

We were back on the road this morning a little before 7am.

We just stopped at the last Missouri rest stop on I-44, which is about 100 miles from the Oklahoma state line. But it was a cute little stop. They had a “Route 66” walkway.