TEAMWORK; Coalinga-CA to Anderson-CA

April 8th: We left Coalinga-CA this morning, heading for Redding-CA; where we'll 🛌 another night along the route, before we make Ocean Park-WA. We'll be a day late, but that's okay 😉

JGW RV Park, Redding-CA from Almond Tree Oasis RV Park, Coalinga-CA  5 hr 26 min (351.6 mi) via I-5 N

Holland is driving straight freeway all the way to the PNW. Leaving Coalinga, all we could see for miles and miles was orchards on both sides of the blacktop.

Orchards, bee boxes, tumbled tumbleweeds, & vineyards: as far as the eye could see.

Until we reached Sacramento-CA; then the drone of wheels on freeway roadway lulled me to 💤 periodically. I hadn't slept much the night before, so it was a wonder I hadn't been sleeping since we left Coalinga.

Sacramento-CA Water Tower.

Water tower uproar reflects Sacramento’s changing identity:  (https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article146038264.html)

I woke up as Holland was turning into a Maverick Fuel Station in Orland-CA, to feed Betsy some fossil fuel … and my funny bone was tickled 😂🤣 when I saw what had been custom painted to the hood of a jeep next to us:

Midlife Crisis humor ;-)

The weather was wonderful & it 'held' thru the evening in Redding, too.

We reached our destination in Redding-CA an hour later. We did not unhook … we just slid the slide-outs out, set up as minimally as possible - and relaxed for an hour or so.

Then Holland made supper in the instant pot … he insisted, saying, "You were whistling in your sleep all night long the other night (referring to my asthma-mucus clogged lungs; no attack, just lung struggle); just relax. I'll do the cooking." ❤️

I let him - but, I insisted on doing the dishes, afterwards. And, he let me 😘

Around 8 PM, I turned in early, hoping to wake up bright-eyed & bushy-tailed 😊

TRUMP: $998 A DAY FINE & LOSS OF USA PROPERTIES FOR MIGRANTS REFUSING TO VACATE

YES!!! 👏👏👏

Migrant workers are here to work THROUGH THE SEASON … then return back to their home below the CA-MX border: if they want to remain in America, then they NEED TO BECOME CITIZENS OF AMERICA through the right channels.

NO MORE free rides.

NO MORE anchor baby ties.

NO MORE illegal ownership of American property.

America IS FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS. Becoming an American Citizen is a process … a NECESSARY process. Crossing the border and immediately dropping a baby DOES NOT EQUAL CITIZENSHIP for the ILLEGAL adults.

And for all those children and grandchildren of illegals - GET YOU PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS LEGAL! If you are 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, & 45 … THAT IS HOW LONG these people you "love" have BEEN CRIMINALS OPENLY BREAKING AMERICAN LAWS. If you truly loved them, you would have MADE SURE they hoofed it to the nearest Immigration Center AND BECAME AMERICAN CITIZENS. And, if you willingly and knowingly aided and abetted them in their illegal status … YOU CAN GO BACK WTH THEM, because you are also engaging in CRIMINAL activity.

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Summary

* Trump turns to rarely used 1996 law to fine and potentially seize migrant assets

* Administration calls on migrants to "self deport and leave the country now"

* Memo obtained by Reuters says implementing fines would require system overhaul

WASHINGTON, April 8 - The Trump administration plans to fine migrants under deportation orders up to $998 a day if they fail to leave the United States and to seize their property if they do not pay, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

The fines stem from a 1996 law, opens new tab that was enforced for the first time in 2018, during President Donald Trump's first term in office. The Trump administration plans to apply the penalties retroactively for up to five years, which could result in fines of more than $1 million, a senior Trump official said, requesting anonymity to discuss non-public plans.

The Trump administration is also considering seizing the property of immigrants who do not pay the fines, according to government emails reviewed by Reuters.

In response to questions from Reuters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that immigrants in the U.S. illegally should use a mobile app formerly known as CBP One - rebranded as CBP Home under Trump - to "self deport and leave the country now."

"If they don’t, they will face the consequences," McLaughlin said. "This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order."

DHS warned, of the fines in a March 31 social media post.

Emails reviewed by Reuters show the White House has pressed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to handle the issue of penalties, property seizures for migrants who don't pay, and the sale of their assets.

The Department of Justice’s civil asset forfeiture division could be another option for the seizures, one email said.

President Donald Trump kicked off a sweeping immigration crackdown after taking office in January, testing the bounds of U.S. law to increase arrests and deportations. The planned fines target the roughly 1.4 million migrants who have been ordered removed by an immigration judge.

WHITE HOUSE PRESSURE

Trump invoked the 1996 law during his first term to levy fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars against nine migrants seeking sanctuary in churches. The administration withdrew the penalties, but then proceeded with smaller fines of about $60,000 per person against at least four of the migrants, according to court records.

President Joe Biden stopped issuing the fines and rescinded, related policies when he took office in 2021.

Scott Shuchart, a top ICE policy official under Biden, said migrants and their supporters could challenge the fines in court but that the threat alone could have a chilling effect.

"Their point isn't really to enforce the law, it's to project fear in communities," he said.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The proposed asset seizures against the migrants who fail to comply with final deportation orders could impact U.S. citizens or permanent residents in their households.

The immigration advocacy group FWD.us estimates that some 10 million migrants with no legal status or temporary protections are living with U.S. citizens or permanent residents in what are known as "mixed status households."

The steep fines could hit lower-income immigrants. An analysis of 2019 Census data by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute found, opens new tab 26% of households with unauthorized immigrants had incomes below the federal poverty line.

Trump has said people with final deportation orders should be a priority for removal although many have families, jobs, and established ties in the U

The White House National Security Council and Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy, have been pressing CBP to administer the fines and handle seizures, a CBP official wrote in a March 31 email reviewed by Reuters.

But a CBP memo a day later, also reviewed by Reuters, argued for ICE to take on the task instead. The memo said that CBP's systems do not currently support this type of immigration fine and that upgrading it could lead to significant costs and implementation delays.

The memo anticipated CBP would need at least 1,000 new paralegal specialists, up from the current staffing of 313.

The start date for the fines remained unclear. DHS did not comment on Miller's involvement or the technical aspects of implementing the penalties.

Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Mary Milliken and Suzanne Goldenberg  https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-plans-fine-migrants-998-day-failing-leave-after-deportation-order-2025-04-08/

A DAY OF BIRD SONG; Coalinga-CA

We didn't pack up and leave this morning as planned, because Holland had been sick all night long: don't know what could have set that off, but there was no way he could have hooked Independence up to Betsy and aimed them down the highway.

So, we decided to stay another night.

We also discussed the possibility of coming back down here, at some point. It's a nice place to enjoy a vaca hiatus 🌞

Around 1 PM, or so, we thought we'd go for a short drive and check out the landscape (in case we do meander down here, again). Coalinga-CA is an agriculture area - and birds are everywhere 😊; filling the daylight hours with 🎶 … and even taking to the streets 😉

Downtown Coalinga-CA from the Almond Tree Oasis RV Park-CA; 14 min (11.3 mi) via I-5BL

Raven seen in Coalinga-CA, this morning; an insurance company mascot.

Almond tree orchards are everywhere - hence the name, 'Almond Tree Oasis RV Park', where we are currently.

Coalinga-CA is quite a bit larger than we had thought - it's roughly the same in scope, and size, as Centralia-WA. If we do come down here again, we will not have to drive to Hanford-CA to grocery shop, as there are several good sized markets in Coalinga … as well as fast food places, gas stations, medical facilities, ect. The place really did remind both of us of Centralia-WA

It was a nice, sunny, countryside 30-minute loop drive into [downtown] and back 😁

When we got back, I checked FB & my Blog: there were no messages on FB - but I did have traffic on my Blog … and I noticed that one of my own designs had been featured in the past week's postings:

MOD Tall Grass & Beach Daisies Kitchen Towel Set was featured on one of the Blog Hops I share with ;-)

And following a link that was in my newsfeed, I was gratified to note that {"approximately 50 nations have already reached out to the White House to try to make some kind of deal, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday. Tariffs are scheduled to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday" …}.

Tariff results; they are working for American interests.

Americans have waited a loooong time to get our Nation back out of the world's greedy grasp, funded and encouraged by the demon rat party trafficking their anti-American agendas out of DC congressional seats: thankfully that dastardly nonsense is ending 👏🙏

And the hypocritical, godless, violence-inciting obamanites are continuing their ridiculous "hate trump-bad man" mantras and "destroy tesla!" violence - tone-deaf and realistically blind to what Americans WANT and DEMANDED with the landslide Trump WIN for president in the fall of 2024.

The obama worshipping demonrats in DC vociferously welcomed barak hussein obama as messiah (a title obama himself has NEVER denounced or decried) following his 8-year political coup, resulting in the embracing of every evil thought, action, and spoken word - that finally ended with his useful tool, dementia poster boy slo-jo biden's 2021 basement coup; funded and supported by the obamanites.

Because the obamanites are fueled with blatant hatred, evil intent at and on every level of humanity, and trying to outdistance themselves from the guilt that weighs heavily on what little gray matter they still have … they have lost their humor and cannot understand President Trump's wit when he uses their own nonsense against them.

Trump does not want to be king - but, he is not above getting a laugh out of the lunatic lefties who go into melt-down-mode when it comes to anything he does: basically at this point, to irritate the hell out of them 😂🤣

It was a sarcastic JOKE - but, of course the obamanites that literally crowned obama, have no sense of humor - and they will accept no king other than their kenyan man-god, barak hussein obama - to whom they have pledged life-long obedience, obligation, and servitude.

They all went miraculously after him, his wife, his children - spewing the most vile accusations, and insinuations, as well as rifling his wife's underwear drawer, shouting that she should be raped - and his son kidnapped and murdered. These people are truly lunatics. And none of them should hold seats of power in any American position. Their souls belong to obama - and their actions favor terrorism 🤬

On a lighter note, despite the way the day started - it has been a low-key day that started & ended with bird song 👂

7 PM bird song serenade ;-)

STUFF; Coalinga-CA

The TRUTH is, that all of the “STUFF” here on earth we work SO hard to buy and accumulate, does NOT mean a thing.

At the end of the day...people will be cleaning out our "STUFF", going thru our "STUFF", figuring out what to do with all of our "STUFF"... this "STUFF" we've accumulated in our life.

The only thing of VALUE that remains are the MEMORIES and what we deposit into others.

Mark Chesnutt - "Live a Little" song: 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb9Uq7W1094)

"You've got to give a little, take a little

Sit a spell, learn to whittle

Live a little now and then

Unwind, take your time, leave your cares all behind

And see what's around the bend

This life ain't coming 'round again

So give a little, take a little 

Live a little now and then …

In a hurry-late for work-Rush and worry

but what's it worth

You might earn a rich man's pay

But it won't buy you one more day

You've got to give a little, take a little

Sit a spell, learn to whittle

Live a little now and then

Unwind, take your time, leave your cares all behind

And see what's around the bend

This life ain't coming 'round again

So give a little, take a little

Live a little now and then:

Busy making your weight in gold

But you can't take it when you go

Don't care how high you build your stack

They don't make a hearse with a luggage rack

You've got to give a little, take a little

Sit a spell, learn to whittle

Live a little now and then

This life ain't coming 'round again;

So lean back, chew the fat

Take a day just to peddle

Live a little now and then"

May we all learn to spend less time accumulating "STUFF" and spend way more time making MEMORIES.

Living our Dream as Road Gypsies; Spring 2023

DENNIS THE MENACE DIED~2025

Jay North, ‘Dennis the Menace’ Star, Dies at 73: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jay-north-dead-dennis-the-menace-1236182969/

R.I.P. Dennis 🙁 - you were a menace, that's for sure … but you were a lovable little imp.

Dennis was the epitome of everything that embraces boyhood.

I still, to this day, chuckle at the sight of a mischievous little boy's antics, and think, "those poor parents; they have a Dennis the menace on their hands." 😉

Dennis was not a brat - but he was troublesome 😂🤣 to his parents and neighbor, due to his curiosities and the actions that followed his piqued interests.

I'm glad I never had a boy child, because I am SURE in my wildest nightmares, that IF I had had a boy child, he would have been the exact mimic of Dennis the Menace ❤️

BEACH HOUSE KITCHEN TOWEL SET; Quartzsite-AZ

MOD Beach House Kitchen Towel Set, finished.

Preparing for our upcoming beachy vagabond life, I knew I wanted beach themed kitchen towel sets ... so, when I saw this cotton yarn skein named 'Beach House', I bought it and designed a simple towel with an edged hemline using a pattern I haven't used in the past.

It fit: and the set came together very well 😁

This pattern may look difficult, but it is really pretty simple & easy to work.

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Materials: Cotton Yarn in White (1 skein), Blue (maybe an ounce), & Beach House variegated (1 skein); #10-1/2 knitting needles; #J/10 crochet hook; 1 Cable Needle; 1 Tapestry Needle; 1 medium resin button

Cable Needle

Terms used:

g st = knit every row

st. st. = stockinette stitch (1 K row = RS - 1 P row = WS)

k = knit

p = purl

sp = space

EO = end off yarn

CO = cast on stitches

EA = each

inc = increase 1 st (make 2 sts in same st)

dec = decrease 1 st (work 2 sts together)

sc = single crochet

dc = double crochet

sl st = slip stitch

rpt = repeat

tog = together

With White, CO 73 sts & work 4 rows in g. st.

Row 1: K 7 - *sl 1 st purlwise, k 4, sl st 1 purlwise, K 1* twice; k 31 middle sts; *k 1, sl 1 st purlwise, k 4, sl 1 st purlwise* twice: end with k 7.

Row 2: Purl, and slip the sl sts of previous row.

Row 3: K 7 - *put sl st onto a cable needle & hold in front of work, k2, k st from cable needle - put next 2 sts onto the cable needle & hold in back of work, k 1, k 2 from cable needle, k 1* twice; knit 31 middle sts; *k 1, put sl st on a cable needle & hold in front of work, k 2, k st from cable needle - put next 2 sts onto the cable needle & hold in back of work, k 1, k 2 from cable needle, k 1* twice: end with k 6.

Row 4: Purl across row.

Rows 5 thru 9: Repeat rows 1 -4; drop White and attach Blue.

Rows 10 thru 13: Repeat rows 1 - 4; drop Blue and attach White.

Row 14 thru 21: Repeat rows 1 - 4; drop White and attach Beach House variegated.

Rows 22 thru 61: Work these rows in st. st.; DO NOT CUT YARN.

Row 62: Continuing with variegated yarn, decrease across row as follows: P 2 – P 3 tog across row to last 2 sts: end P 2 sts.

Change from knitting needles to crochet hook and work in sc as follows: dec 1 st EA end until 8 sts remain; EO Beach House and attach Blue.

Alternately work 1 row sc & 1 row dc, for 13 rows.

Sl st x3 sc; ch 6 and sl st in same sp; sl st to end. Turn.

Dc x12 in chain loop; EO.

Add a decorative loop edging of your choice (or leave plain).

Sew button in place and weave in loose ends.

MOD GARTER ST SQUARE DISHRAG:

MOD Matching Dishrag.

Cast on 2 stitches.

Row 1: Knit 1-Inc 1 st in next st.

Row 2: Knit 1-Inc-knit across the row.

Row 3: Knit 2-Inc-knit across row.

Row 4: Repeat Row 3 until you have 50 stitches on the needle.

Row 5: Knit 1, Knit 2 together, knit to the end of the row. Repeat Row 5 until you have 3 stitches left on the needle; K 3 sts tog - EO off and weave in loose ends.

SAYING YES TO NEW ADVENTURES; Coalinga-CA

Today we spent time with Holland's uncle George, & cousin Brenda: we wanted to especially make time for George because he's in his mid-90's, and we aren't sure when we'll be back again for a visit, once we leave CA.

We had a good visit with uncle George ❤️ - and met his wife; she wasn't there last time we visited him.

Then, we drove about 10 miles down the road to visit with Brenda, who is George's daughter.

Laton-CA from Coalinga-CA; 55 min (49.7 mi) via Mount Whitney Ave, CA-145 S and I-5BL

I like Brenda, and her husband Jeff - they are fun people to be around. I like people that have joy in their hearts and make laughter an easy thing … we laughed a lot this afternoon, and the hours flew by too fast; they are good people and I will miss them when we go north tomorrow 😔

On our way back to Independence, we had a good view of the Sierra Mountain Range, from the freeway: we are thankful we do not have to cross them tomorrow:

The Sierra Mountains got a record busting snowfall recently; glad we are not going that way, this trip northward …

On our way to the RV Park, Holland stopped to fill Betsy's tank with diesel - on my into the minute mart, I smelled the heady scent of roses hanging in the air; glancing around I saw these two large rose bushes with bright red roses. So, I stopped to smell the roses on the way back to Betsy 😊

Heady scent of red roses in full bloom; Coalinga-WA

Luke Combs - 'Forever After All, Love You Anyway' lyrics:  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBaNuWi9FiM) 

When we got back to Independence, we unpacked the tasty Au jus sandwich supper that Brenda had sent home with us. SO GOOD 😁 😘 

Brenda sent us home with ready-made Au jus sandwich supper ;-)

Then, I went online to post a slipper pattern, and saw that my recent afghan pattern had been highlighted on the other side of the world - in Israel 👍

MOD Afghan was highlighted on Jewish Mom Craft School Sunday Blog Hop ;-)

Later, doing dish cleanup, I reflected on the changes coming into our life this year. We don't know exactly what we will be doing after we leave here, tomorrow, but we know that Yuma-AZ will not be part of things, as we had hoped.

We don't know what will be happening - or really where Independence will be parked a few days from now … but, Elohim does; and we can trust Him, and His purposes for us, in the next chapter of our road gypsy adventuring 😉