We are still in Oregon

Under normal conditions we would be somewhere never Reno by now.  Not this year.  The stars have not aligned yet.  It would seem that they do not want us on the road just yet.  Several roadblocks have been put up to delay us,

1.  R has had trouble with her knee rehabilitation.  The surgery went well.  The bones and area are healing nicely.  The tendons, not so much.  They have been very resistant to change.  R has been working very hard at home and at physical therapy to get them to stretch.  At the 6 week check-up the doctor listened to her, checked her and said, "You have too much scar tissue (adhesions).  We are going to have to force the knee, "  I grimaced.  R did too.  Yesterday at a day surgery center, R was given another nerve block and the Dr. manually bent her knee to 100-120 degrees.  (He showed me a cell photo.)   Bottom line; she back on the chaise, back on meds for pain, waiting for the CPM (Constant Passive Motion) to arrive this afternoon, starting the healing process again.

2.  The trailer is not ready.  A while back after looking at many new trailers, we decided to keep our current home on wheels.  It has everything we need and feels like home.  But we thought it was time to replace the carpeting and vinyl.  Replacement is a much bigger chore ( think installation cost) in an RV than in a home.  (Think tight spaces, slides)  I checked with the carpet place and am hoping that he will finish it before New Years.  It will be therapeutic to reload our furniture and personal items back into our second home.   It will be great to get them out of the garage!

3.  The truck is ready, sort of.  Once in a while, the starter makes a noise when starting the truck.  I have it a the shop but , of course, it has not demonstrated this noise there.  So do I just replace the starter?  

Changes

The view out my kitchen window is changing.  The view is to the east.  I look cross my neighbor's backyard to pasture and tall firs a half mile away,  But that view is changing.  That former vacant farm land is becoming residential.  The land on the east side of Teakwood Street is now growing houses.  Ten are already occupied.  As I write this another two-story giant is being put up in my view.  The trees in the distance are being hidden.  Progress is not without its costs.

Snow Report (Update)

It's still here.  Sort of.  Major streets and sunny locations are pretty much clear.  Protected areas, the north side of buildings, shaded intersections, some sidewalks still are white or icy.  The side yard outside my window as I type this is still totally snow covered which I really enjoy.  Walking with the boys during the snowfall and the next morning was winter wonderful.  The scene 24 hours later was quite a bit different.
    R has been watching many ( too many) Christmas movies that she has recorded so she can skip through the voluminous number of commercials.  Besides being totally predicable, ( girls goes home to visit and meets old boyfriend, they fall in love, she gives up a big promotion in the city to live in the small town and everything is great.  Anyway, I have been exposed to many of these cinematic marvels that started right after Thanksgiving.  There are several similar items.  Snow in different amounts depending on locale.  (An exception with the movie, "Christmas on the Bayou")  Next time you tune into one of these, check out the snow.  It's always perfect.   In my neighborhood on the day after the snow was covered with footprints, debris, tire tracks, etc.  Sidewalks were shoveled haphazardly, some done, some ignored,  Walking on them this morning even with the temperature at 26 was dangerous.  The footing was bumpy at best.  Some areas were clear, but most were frozen rough snow and ice.  I spent most of the walk looking down, trying not to fall.  I was happy to get off the sidewalk and find a unpaved trail to take the boys on.  I think they were too.  A change of weather will take care of this problem.  I think the change will come Sunday or Monday.  I will miss the snow.

Weather

It's winter  We have been reminded of it the last week.  We had days in the 30's and several nights below freezing.  Wednesday evening R and I braved the wind and cold with friends to attend a play at the local high school.  "Miracle at 34th Street".  It was great.  I have enjoyed all of the movie versions of the story and hoped the play would be alright.  It was more than that.  The students did a terrific job.  It was great fun.
That night was the precursor of the weather to come.  Weather people on TV were doing their usual dance hyping up the storm, so when all the schools in the area decided to close for Thursday I "poo-Pooed" it, especially when Thursday morning was calm and dry and maybe even a bit of sun..  However, I was wrong.  By noon the clouds were thick, the wind had come up and the sprinkles had started. Only the sprinkles were flakes.  I had an outside chore that afternoon and as I worked the flakes continued and increased until the ground was covered with a white sheet.  By late afternoon the pretty white was changed when the flakes turned to raindrops.  The raindrops increased until most of the white was gone.  It was fun while it lasted.