Yuma, Arizona

We have found that we love spending winter time in Yuma, AZ. It is a small enough town to not be overwhelmed with crowds, except with snowbirds, but large enough to have all the amenities of a big town. We have some good friends that live here for the winter from Penn. We go out with them on their ATV's which is soooo much fun.
They even let us stay with them for the time that the motorhome was waiting for it's new rearend to be installed and the KIA's engine needed to be replaced. We were loving called their house husband and wife. Duane was able to help Bob fix things around the house and other honeydo's. We are now back in CA and Bob and Marlene are back in Penn until next winter.



Motorhome was here at the repair shop for over 3 weeks
Marlene & Bob with Duane in background
Marlene & Jo looking for gold
D & J on ATV
Bob is 6' standing next to this cactus

Laundry

Last year when we were in Lake Havasu City, I went across the street from the RV park to the laundromat. It was a small setup with only 6 washers and dryers. Well I did the laundry and then took it all back to the motorhome to fold it. All was done but I was missing one of my black socks. Anyone who does laundry knows how the washers love to eat socks. I went back to the laundromat but no sock. Fast forward to 2009 and I am back at the same laundromat doing laundry. I wash and dry the clothes like normal and take it all back to the motorhome to fold. I now have an extra black sock left over. This is not a match to the missing one, but a totally different type. I figure the washer was sorry for eating my sock from a year ago and gave up one of its own. Remember to beware of strange washers.

Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year to all our family and friends. We are currently in Lake Havasu City, AZ.

We did make it home in October and time flew by. Duane and I looked for a job to no avail. I did get hired by Mervyn's for their final weeks before closing down. With no work we played some instead. We went to Disneyland with Shannon, Karen and the boys the day after Halloween to see the decorations and for Brandon's 6th birthday, which is on 11-5. Two weeks later Duane and I went again to Disneyland by ourselves. We did all the "Mountain" roller-coaster rides and other "grown-up" stuff. Two weeks later we went to Disneyland again with Russell and Brenda Peterson who came in from Nevada City, CA. We also went to Knott's Berry Farms Craft days. They had a special rate for seniors. Five dollars to get in, but no rides included.

During this time we parked the motorhome in front of Karen's for a few days and then put the rig into service for the gray water tank leak that was supposed to have been fixed back in February. They had it for a week. We picked it up and moved in front of the Albee's home for a week. Then it was back into a different service to have the body repaired that happened back in February when the parts driver backed into it. We got it back just in time for Thanksgiving and went back in front of Karen's.
We went to Shannon's to have Thanksgiving dinner. After Thanksgiving the motorhome was once again back in service for a vibration. They replaced the parking brake drum, but still had the vibration. They next balanced the driveline and tires to no avail. We went ahead and picked it back up on Friday 12-26 so that we would be able to come to Lake Havasu for the New Year. We were without the rig for the whole month of December. But don't feel bad. The first week we were at Karen's and the second week we had friends whose parents were not able to use their week in a timeshare condo in Capistrano Beach. It was across the street from the beach and was wonderful. The sunsets were beautiful. The last night we were there we had the Albee's and O'Brien's down for a night of dinner and Uno Attack. We went back to Karen's for a week and then the O'Briens offered us to stay in their home while they were away to Logan, Ut for the holidays. Then it was off to Lake Havasu.

In between all this fun we did get lots of other stuff done. We got our dental work done, including cleaning, fillings and new crowns. I also needed gum surgery to clean out an infection above the root of a tooth. Duane had several doctor appointments to get ready for his hernia surgery. At his appointment with the surgeon he was told that he had two hernias, one on each side. He also needed to see his cardiologist to get clearance for the surgery. He got the green light and was told that he could go off the coumidin forever not just for the surgery. Yeah!!!
Wednesday 12-17 we were at the surgical center at 6am for the surgery. All went well and we were back to Karen's by noon. That evening at about 8pm Duane and I were watching TV and talking when he said that he didn't feel so good. I asked him if it was something I needed to be concerned about. He looked at me funny, so I asked him his name and he had a blank look on his face. Karen called 911 and off to the hospital Duane went. It was determined that Duane had had a stroke. He was in the hospital for 2 days and had a slew of tests done. The MRI showed that he had 3 small strokes. He was very blessed because only his speech was affected. The doctors have said that he will make a complete recovery and he will need to be on coumidin the rest of his life.

All this time Karen had been working on getting her daycare license. When we got there in Oct. she had turned in all her paperwork and only need one class and then the inspection of her home to be licensed. So we thought!!!!!!!!! They came out for the inspection and because of the neighbor's pool, the chainlink fence on the lower slope needed to be childproofed. Duane and I attached corrugated plastic to the links and then the wait was on for a re inspection. Karen was originally told that she could email pictures in of the fixed fence and she would be licensed. Oh no!! The inspection finally happened but we were told that the cactus on the slope and all my rose bushes needed to come out. The kids might poke themselves. So out it all came with the help of Bob Tripp. Duane was recovering from his surgery. To help not hold up Karen getting her license because we were there Duane and I went and got our fingerprints done. Mine went through in a week but we are still waiting on Duane's. He passed the FBI but Homeland Security is holding him up. I didn't know he was a terrorist????????. It was now 12-31-08 and still no license after 3 months because of Duane. Karen contacted her caseworker to see want needed to be done to push this through. Duane had to write a note, and fax it to the caseworker from Havasu. We aren't even around there anymore. Karen called at 4pm on 12-31 to say she is finally licensed. YEAH!!!!!! Boy was that alot of work.

The New Year is off to a quiet start but who knows what is in store...........

Going South

We have been heading south for awhile. We left Washington Sept.19 and headed to Salem, Oregon to visit Dan and Glenda. We stayed for 3 days and then started south once again. It took us 2 days to get out of Oregon and then another day in northern CA before we reached our destination of Oregon House, CA. This is north east of Sacramento by Marysville. We stayed for 8 days here seeing the sights and visiting with some friends from our Sydney cruise, Russell and Brenda Petersen. We moved on to Gardnerville, NV to visit and stay with Bob and Carole Tripp. We were here for 5 days. While we were here I found out that my father was moving to Idaho for awhile so plans got changed and off to St. George we went, via Las Vegas. Bob and Carole are traveling with us now, so they stayed in Las Vegas and Duane and I went up to see Dad and family. From there we kept going south and we are now in Yuma, AZ. We needed to go to Mexico to get drugs for Duane. Medicare only covers about 6 months worth and its cheaper in Mexico to get the rest of the years worth. Tomorrow we head out once again. We will be in Palm Springs for 2 days and then Lake Elsinore for 2 days. We will be arriving in Mission Viejo on Friday Oct. 24. our final destination for awhile.

I wanted to get an update out so this is a quick update. Watch for photos and more details in another blog.

Adna - Property update

I uploaded the pictures to the blog site a week ago but the reception at our campground was so poor and slow that I'm just now getting back to it. We are now at Bob and Carole Tripp's house. I'll update all that later, back to the pictures.

This is our property in Adna, Washington (Chehalis address). The picture showing Duane weed whacking was taken before I went to CA. He went on and got so much more done while I was gone. He had 3/4 of the property mowed by the time I got back, but when I did, I took over the mowing and he dug out small and not so small tree stumps. Our goal was to get it all mowed and weed killer sprayed around the fence line before we left for the winter. We finished with a day to spare.

It was really alot of fun working on the property. We had a few problems with the lawnmower but they turned out to be pretty minor. Both belts ended up needing to be replaced. Of course we didn't do them at the same time, that would have been to easy.

The property now has access to the road. Or the road has access to the property. Either way the driveway is in. The permit we got from the county is officially for a road approach not a driveway, but it looks like a driveway to me. It goes for about 150' onto the the property so there is plenty of room to park the motor home.

Duane weed whacking

Before being mowed, and the big pile of debris waiting to be burned.

Mowed and unmowed sections

Joanne mowing. Picture isn't fuzzy, that's the dust and grass blowing around.

Duane showing me how to use the mower.

Joanne getting the hang of mowing.

Ditch drain pipe under our new driveway.

The road approach to the new driveway.

The motor home on the property the last few days we were in Washington.

Duane changing the belts on the lawnmower.

Julia's 8th Birthday

I missed Julia's actual birthday while I was in California, so we celebrated it a few days late. Duane and I went up to Sarah's for a few days leaving the motorhome at the Chehalis campground. The birthday celebration was fun. Julia choose to go to Denny's for her birthday dinner. As the pictures show she got a new bicycle, art supplies and Richard built for her the bunkbed/art center setup. It is totally cool. We brought Julia back with us to the motorhome for the weekend. She had been looking forward to another time with us for awhile.

Pictures

I have such a cute family that this blog is for all the pictures that weren't used in the previous blog. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

Time Flies By

The first part of August found me going down to California, and I stayed for 5 weeks. Poor Duane, left all alone. While in CA, I was not idle. Besides helping Karen out, I found time to go to an Angels game with Shannon and Brandon, take Brandon to Knotts Berry Farm, and all of us went to Disneyland courtesy of Shannon. I also was able to go to lunch with friends. The boys did keep me busy with walks, going to the park and McDonalds to play. I was able to still be there for Brandon's first day of Kindergarten. I did need to get back to Duane, so back to Washington on Sept. 6. The 5 weeks flew by for me but not so much for Duane

Karen and Brandon
In class, time for us to leave
In line to go into class

Brandon all ready to go, first day of Kindergarten

Shannon, Karen, Brandon and Shane waiting in line for the ride "Toy Mania" in California Adventure
Brandon at Knotts Berry Farm
Shannon and Brandon at an Angels game
Brandon and Shane moved the toys from the shelves in a bookcase to pretend that the bookcase were bunkbeds.

Forks in the Road

We were traveling down the road of life, going around curves, up and down some hills when we came to a fork in the road.

The first one to come to a fork in the road of life was Karen. This happened on Aug 4. Karen and Rob are getting a divorce. Things are not going smoothly for Karen. Rob is being a major jerk. He sure was a wolf in sheep's clothing all these years.

I flew down to CA to help her and the boys on Aug. 5 and left Duane all the chores to do alone in Washington. Duane has been getting the property ready for the driveway to be put in. This entails weed whacking along the fence line, removing some fence and mowing the field. After getting the riding mower to work after a year of sitting, and many hours of riding around in large circles, he has gotten about half the field mowed. He says it looks great but I haven't seen it and when I get back it will be time to start all over again. It has been raining for the last 5 days so the rest of the mowing is waiting. The driveway is at this moment being put in. To bad I brought the camera with me, so no pictures.

Duane and I have also come to our own fork in the road, because family comes first. What does the future hold for us now????? Time will tell......!!!!!!!!

Bev and Mike's Visit

Bev and Mike arrived at Portland Airport Thursday night July 17, so down we went to pick up our new guests to our motorhome. Saturday down to Portland to visit Dan in the hospital. Afterwards Mike and Bev rented a car and went on down to Eugene, OR to visit Mike's son. Monday down to Portland to visit Dan in the Hospital and bring Mike and Bev back with us. We stopped and visited Mount St. Helens on our way back to the motorhome. Mount St. Helens was both very interesting and fascinating It was even a clear day. The next day was moving day. We needed to move from the Chehalis campground to another one about 20 miles away in Silver Creek. Bev and Mike got to experience what this entailed. After getting settled we headed out to the other side of Mount St. Helens to view the damage on that side but to no avail. It was closed. So a u-turn was made and off to Mount Rainier we went. This was not a clear day but a more typical Washington day. We never did see the top of Mount Rainier for all the clouds. There was snow still on the ground in places. Bev and Mike having just coming in from St. George with 100+ temp, weren't quite ready for this weather. Wednesday morning up at 3am to get Mike down to Portland Airport. He had an appointment in St. George so he had to leave a day early. Thursday we only had to get up at 4:30am to get Bev down to Portland Airport. We had a wonderful time with Bev and Mike. It was like we were on vacation also. We hadn't been sightseeing for awhile. We also had a good time playing on the Wii and Uno Attack.


Mike and Bev at Mount Rainier visitor center. Yes it's July

Tree snapped by the force of the Mount St. Helens eruption

Mount St. Helens

Bev and Mike with Mount St. Helens in the background

Way to go Dan !!!

As most of you know my brother Dan had surgery on April 9, to replace a heart valve. During surgery he had a mild stroke. He was working hard to recover from open heart surgery and the stroke when he found himself with decreasing energy instead of the hoped for increase. A few tests and doctor visits later it was found that the new valve was leaking. A new surgeon performed the repair and also repaired another valve discovered during surgery to be of some concern. Dan should be good to go for a long, long time now. You can see in the picture taken 5 days after surgery how well he looks. Way to go Dan!!!


Dan and Glenda at Providence Hospital in Portland,OR
This is the Monday after his second surgery on 7-16-08.

Sarah and Julia

On Friday, July 11 Duane and I went to Sarah's to pick Julia up to come down and stay with us in the motorhome. We had a good time doing crafts, mini golf, swimming and playing Wii. Julia was like a duck to water when it came to playing all the different games on the Wii. She bowled a 130 on her first try. Sarah came down on Wednesday to join us. Richard had to work. Sarah found that she loved the Wii also. Sarah and Julia went back home late Friday night after smores and a last game of Wii.






Sarah brought her tent and Julia was looking forward to "camping out"

A little "mini" golf as Julia calls it.

Sarah and Julia in the pool at the Thousand Trails Chehalis Campground. It wasn't as hot as Sarah would have liked but Julia loved it and never wants to get out.

Julia with her "friend" Isabella

Thousand Trails Campground, Chehalis, WA

OK, OK!!!!! Karen has been after me to keep up our blog. So here goes.....
We are now in Chehalis, WA. This is where we have our 3 acres of land, which is actually in a place called Adna, WA. Adna is about 5 miles west of Chehalis and is not very big. They have a Post Office. That's it. And it is very small at that. They do have a grade school, secondary school and a high school. But that is it. Anyway, we love the location of our property. It is sort of at the end of a big cul-de-sac. The road basically goes to our place and then winds back on itself about 3 miles further. Forms a giant loop. But because of that, we don't get much traffic, only the people that live out that way.
As I was saying, we are in a Thousand Trails Campground in Chehalis. It is a beautiful campground. It is like being in a BIG PARK. Lots and lots of trees, green areas, etc. In fact, there are so many trees, that it is almost impossible to get satellite TV. (I know, poor babies, can't get satellite TV while we are camping)
The weather has been quite warm (for here). The temps have been in the low to mid
80's. It is plenty warm for us.
As I had said in the last blog, Jo's brother Dan and his wife Glenda had come over to see us when we were in Seaside, OR and they had such a good time that they came up to see us in Chehalis. We arrived here Tuesday morning and they arrived Tuesday afternoon. We had a great time again. We showed them around our little town of Chehalis and our property out in Adna. Then we played lots of Uno Attack and bowling on the Wii. They left on Thursday evening, so they could be home before it got dark which is about 9:30 to 10:00 pm. A little side note, the day after Dan and Glenda left, Jo was in the bathroom getting ready to take a shower. I should tell you that we keep our exercise ball in shower. Well anyway, Jo started to take the ball out of the shower and saw a large black object under the ball. She rolled the ball back and there was a giant black tarantula spider under the ball. She came flying out to me and shrieked that there was a giant spider in the tub. So I went to see and sure enough, there was a giant spider. Well, on closer inspection, we discovered that it was a rubber spider. When we called her brother, he said, oh, did you find our pet spider??? BROTHERS!!!! Speaking of Dan, for those of you who don't know, he had heart surgery in April to replace a heart valve. During the surgery, he had a stroke which has left his left arm and hand somewhat paralyzed. Well, he went in for some tests last week and they discovered that his new valve is leaking. So he is going in tomorrow (Wed) for more surgery to have the new valve replaced. Our prayers are with him and his family.
Last Friday, Jo and I went up to Seattle to visit with Sarah and to pick up our granddaughter Julia. We brought her back on Friday and have been having a wonderful time entertaining her this week. We've mostly been going to the pool and playing on the Wii. What's embarrassing, is that she is only 7 and is getting better than Jo and I on the Wii. Sarah is going to come down tomorrow and stay with us until Saturday. Jo's sister from St. George, UT is coming into Portland on Thursday, and she and her husband will also be staying with us for about a week. We are going to have a motorhome filled with guests.
We went into the county offices and applied for a permit to put in a driveway last week. It seems that that is the first thing we need to do. We also talked to several people about putting in a well and a septic system. Actually we got names of people who do that sort work, we have not actually talked to the people who are going to do it. I'm not sure how much we will get done this time around because we seem to be having company alot. Which is a lot more fun.