Good Books and Great TV and A Little Bit Of Painting

I am generally a "home body" whether we are on the road or at our sticks and bricks home.  And if you have read many of my posts, you know that I am basically a couch potato.  I like the idea of hiking, and I like the idea of swimming, and I like the idea of walking hither and yon, but I rarely do it.  And yes, this makes me wonder if I will ever fit in with full time RVers, because from the blogs I read, you are a busy and physically active group.  Perhaps it is because those of you going and doing actually have something to blog about.  I, on the other hand, blog about couch potato activities, recipes and general musings, especially when we are not on the road.....which we are not now, not that I'm whining.  Okay, maybe I'm whining just a wee little bit.

When I find an author I enjoy, I tend to binge read all their books.  Then I get frustrated when I get caught up to the last (most recent) book.  I'm always on the look out for new authors and new series.  I prefer the mystery genre, and I love books that are set in cities with which I am familiar.  Books set in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Louisiana, California, Alabama, Hawaii and Florida, top my list as those are the areas I have visited.  I can picture in my mind the settings and surroundings that are described.  I've been catching up on some J A Jance books I had missed over the years.  I love all of her series, including Detective Beaumont, Ali Reynolds and Joanna Brady.  I did a binge reading marathon of books by Chelsea Cain, which take place in the Portland, Oregon area.  I'm so glad I discovered her.  I've always enjoyed John Grisham, and it appears that I have missed quite a few of his newer books.  That is where I am finding myself now.

On to TV......Well, Sons of Anarchy has aired its last episode.  I loved those characters.  I know those characters.  I was not enamored of the last season.  However, because it was so wonderfully written by Kurt Sutter and his team, what happened was exactly what should have happened.  I just did not want to say good-bye.

I have to ask though, what the heck is up with the "winter season finale" - at least I think that was the term they were using.  Apparently it is now common to develop an arc, insert a cliffhanger, and make you wait through the month of December to see what happens.  It's not the end of the season, but instead a 4-5 week waiting period.  And some shows only introduced a few episodes before they inserted the winter season cliffhanger.  Can't wait for How To Get Away With Murder to return.  I'm also waiting for new episodes of Scorpion, Madam Secretary and Stalker.  This will be the last season for Parenthood.  I've enjoyed this show in the past, but so far, I'm bored.  I will watch until the last episode, but I have to wonder if the writers have changed or if they just ran out of story line and are trying to wrap things up.  The Mentalist is in its last season as well.  And it is the same thing with the few episodes I've watched this season.  I've got my fingers crossed for the return of Justified, also in its final season.  I love the characters and the way they have been written.

Two shows I have enjoyed in the past, The Bridge and The Divide, I hear have not been renewed.

I hope they don't mess with The Blacklist and The Following!

When I'm not reading or watching TV, or doing the mundane things such as housework, laundry, dishes or cooking, I have been painting.  Here are a few of my recent projects.

What is up this week?  Cleaning off my desk is on the list.  It is usually in a state of organized chaos. Recently it has crossed the line into just plain chaos.  I'm not sure what else, but I'm sure it will include reading, watching TV and painting.  I love retirement!

Last Days At Wilderness Lakes TT Park; On To River Breeze In Ehrenburg, AZ

Our last days at Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes in Menifee, California were quiet.  Our major outing was into Temecula to have lunch with some dear friends.  We arrived at 11:30am at Mimi's Cafe and we didn't leave until 3:30pm!  I think we stayed through a shift change, and we are pretty lucky they did not ask us to leave.  We hadn't seen these friends in about 5 years and it was hard to say goodbye.  It was only as we were leaving that I remembered to get Kim to take a picture of me with my good friends Evie and Karen.

The food was excellent, by the way.  I had the Corned Beef Hash Eggs Benedict.  I was so focused on my food that I didn't pay attention to what everyone else ordered.  Just before we left, we decided a share a dessert sampler - brownies a la mode, bread pudding, and apple crisp.  I think I had larger shares that everyone else, and you will not hear an apology from me for being a pig.  A burp, perhaps, but no apology!

The other highlight of the day was finding diesel fuel at the Circle K in Menifee for $3.89 a gallon!

After last night's unimpressive viewing of The Wolf Of Wall Street, we decided to watch American Hustle. I gotta say, I was not very impressive.  I think for Sunday night we will stick with The Amazing Race and The Mentalist.

We were up this morning and on the road at 9:45am - Kim is still puzzled how I managed to be 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  This rarely happens.  Perhaps it was magic!

Our drive to the River Breeze RV Park in Ehrenburg, AZ was an easy 176 miles.  The only "excitement" was a crazy dust/sand storm as we drove through the Palm Springs area.

It went from this:

to this is quite a hurry.

Once we started climbing up to the Chiriaco Summit, the wind let up.  The ride down into Arizona was easy, if not boring from a visual standpoint.

We pulled in to the River Breeze RV Park.  The office was closed by our site information was written on the white board outside the office.  I had reserved a specific spot down by the river and that's what we got.

With the weather in the high 70s/low 80s, we strolled down to the river for a few pictures.

Tomorrow we plan to drive up the Arizona side to Lake Havasu City, and then back down the California side, to check out the various campgrounds.  Kim's aunt and uncle had camped at the Lake Havasu State Park and it looked fabulous.