Friends And Fresno

Years ago, in our early days as fulltime RVers, we met a very nice couple named Rick and Laurie Phillips at the Escapees Rainbows End RV park in Livingston, Texas. We struck up an immediate friendship, and crossed paths a couple of times in our travels. Over time, we lost contact, but we knew that Rick and Laurie had settled down on a lot here at the Park of the Sierras. So when we arrived last week, I asked the folks in the office about them, and was told that yes, they still live here, but that they were out of the park for a few days.

Yesterday morning, before we were out of bed, Rick and Laurie came by, and left a note on our door. They thought we were leaving, and they wanted to say that they were sorry they had missed us. In the meantime, we had decided to extend our stay here until after the Memorial Day weekend.

We had plans to drive down to Fresno with Greg and Jan to pick up some things at Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart, so after Greg and I went down to the office about 11:30 a.m. to tell them we would be staying, I did some work on the computer for a couple of hours, and then we drove down the hill to Fresno.

After stocking up on paper, blank CDs, and CD covers at Sam’s Club, and a quick stop at World Market and Bed, Bath & Beyond for the ladies, we stopped for an early dinner at a Chinese buffet that was pretty good, although the ambience left a bit to be desired. With our tummies full, we made a final stop at Wal-Mart before heading home.

Now, I have a lot of shortcomings and faults, but I blame Greg and Miss Terry for my latest one. I don’t drink coffee, and I’ve always looked down my nose at people who waste money at Starbucks on those fancy drinks. I mean, come on, $5 for a cup of coffee loaded with sugar and a frothy top? Give me a break! Greg and Jan are Starbucks fans, but what the heck, nobody’s perfect, right?

But a couple of weeks ago, on our trip to Los Angeles, we stopped at a convenience store somewhere, and Greg and Terry got cappuccinos. Back on the road, I said I should have gotten a soda to drink too, and Terry offered me a sip of her drink. Oh what the heck, when in LaLa Land, do what the LaLa Landers do. What a mistake! One sip and I was hooked! Now I can’t get enough of the darned things! I won’t go to a Starbucks (or if I do, I darned sure won’t admit it!), but I can’t pass a convenience store without wanting to stop. Do you have any idea how many calories are in one of those darned things? I may have to take up jogging to cope with my cappuccino habit!

So, after a stop for my requisite daily cappuccino, we got back to the campground, and once we had the stuff we purchased in Fresno put away, Terry and I drove over to Rick and Laurie’s site to say hello. They were really surprised to see us, having thought we had already left. We had a very nice visit, and it was great to see our old friends again. We look forward to getting together with them again while we’re here.

I reported in yesterday’s blog that I had uploaded my new mystery novel, Big Lake, to Amazon’s Kindle program. By noon or so, they had it in the system and it was available for purchase. I made posts to Facebook and Twitter, and it wasn’t long before folks were responding, telling me that they had purchased a copy. By the end of the first day, 26 copies had sold. You can buy the book at the introductory price of just 99 cents, or download a free sample to your Kindle at this link to the book on Amazon. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can read it on your iPad or smart phone with the free Kindle Reader app. So far, the feedback I have been getting has been very good, and a couple of people have already left Customer Reviews on Amazon. That really helps sell books, and I appreciate everybody’s support very much.

We’re off playing tourist again today, with a trip down to Sequoia National Park. This is another first for us, and we’re looking forward to the trip. Miss Terry will have her trusty camera at hand, so expect some good pictures in tomorrow’s blog!

Thought For The Day – I would rather regret the things I have done, than the ones I didn’t do.

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