November 28 - December 3, 2014 (Yuma, AZ)

Here's a recap of our last week here in Yuma.  We've done a bit of exploring other RV parks here in the Yuma area and so far, The Palms beats the other parks hands down, though you do pay for the nicer amenities.   Since we didn't find another park to our liking, we went ahead and booked another week here at The Palms.  

While we were out exploring, we went by several citrus fields that were being harvested.  

Grapefruit trees


In addition to RV parks, we checked out the Arizona Marketplace which is just down the road aways.  This is like a huge swap meet type of event that takes up approximately 7 open air buildings.  It took us two days to walk through the place, though the second day we came back we were only there less than an hour.  They have a used book booth that we wanted to check out and see if we could exchange some of our books.  Looks like they will take books in on trade, so we were happy about that since we do so much reading while we are down here. 

Last year when we were in the area we attended Stone Ridge Church, so that was our choice again this year.  We really enjoyed the service, they had a great worship band and the pastor gave a good sermon on God's relentless love for us.  We definitely will attend again for as long as we are in the area.

One day we spent just doing chores around the 5er, see you have chores even when you are traveling on the road.  =)  One of the things that we do when we are in this dry climate is to oil all the wood inside the 5er, which there is LOTS.  Rich also replaced some caulking on one of our roof seams.  All pretty boring stuff, but important to keep the 5er in good shape.

On Tuesday, the local Yuma Farmers market started in the historic downtown part of Yuma so we were excited to attend.  Wow....what a disappointment.  We expected tons of stands with all sorts of fresh veggies and citrus, well there was only one vendor with veggies/citrus and I didn't think their produce looked all that nice.  Especially since here at The Palms, a small vendor comes in on Tuesday with fresh veggies and they looked way more appealing.  Since the Farmers market was such a disappointment, we decided to visit a fruit stand we saw when we were coming into town.  On the way, we saw this cotton field.  Cotton is one crop that we are not familiar with, so we had to jump out and grab a couple of pictures.  I'm sure the locals thought we were nuts.....

I'm happy to report that we were successful at the fruit stand and came away with some nice veggies and a big papaya.  While we are here and have access to some different types of fruit and veggies, I want to try and incorporate them into our diet.  We typically don't buy papaya's and after cutting into this one, I can see for our taste buds, that eating it just sliced plain, it's just OK.  I can see we might enjoy it more combined with other fruits or dishes. 

We did make it out to Martha's Garden for one of their wonderful thick date shakes.  They are so yummy.  I know a date shake doesn't sound that tasty, but boy if you haven't tried one and you get the chance, you should. 

One day when we were driving around, we had two Harrier jets fly right over us and they were down low....boy that was something, I was a ducking my head and wondering what on earth was coming crashing down on us...good thing I wasn't the one driving.  Rich knew right away what they were as they went speeding by.  There is a big military base here in Yuma and we hear quite a few military jets fly over.  Rich loves planes so he enjoys watching them and usually knows what kind they are which is fascinating to me since they all pretty much look the same to me. 

One of the main reasons we came down to Yuma was to go across the border to Los Algadones to visit the dentist for a teeth cleaning and for some new glasses.  That was our adventure today and I'm happy to report that we had a very successful day.  We left the 5er around 7:30 p.m. for the short drive to the border.  We were parked and across the border by 8:00 a.m.  Our eye appointments weren't until 8:30 so we had a few minutes to walk around and check out some of the vendors since the office didn't even open until 8:30.  Our eye appointments went very well and we are back home this afternoon with our new glasses.   One thing that I really like is that they will let you reuse your old frames.  I had a very nice expensive pair of glasses a couple years back that I was still packing around with me, so I took those frames and had my updated lenses put in them today.  Rich did the same thing with some older frames.  So we walked away with two pair of updated glasses and one pair of updated sunglasses for about what one pair would cost us in the states. 

Then it was on to the dentist office for our teeth cleaning.  Again, very reasonable and we were both happy with the dental work. 

After our dentist appointment we had a couple of hours to pass the time while we were waiting for our new eyeglasses, so we visited some vendors.  Today's weather was not the best, it actually rained on us and the vendors had to cover up their wares. 

Notice the plastic draped over the outside of the booths

We took refuge from the rain inside this restaurant.  They have a beautiful outdoor seating area but because of the rain, people were inside.

This vendor was right outside the door of the eye doctor.


We were on a hunt for a nice piece of stained glass so visited several vendors and went back and forth before we finally settled on a piece we both liked.  Last year I bought a nice ring from a vendor and after a couple months, the weld where they sized the ring came apart, so I was looking to see if I could get it fixed for a reasonable price.  We found a vendor who had a pair of earings that I liked and asked if we bought the earings, would he fix the ring......so after haggling on the price of the earings we finally came to a deal where we both were happy.  He made a sale and I got my ring fixed and a pair of earings all for the price of $10.00. 
Then it was time to head home to let Gracie out to go potty and we both were ready, a person can only take so much of telling most of the vendors you walk by that you aren't interested. 

Because of the rain, the line at the border crossing was very small which made for a quick and easy crossing.  Last year we had to wait in line for awhile before we slowly made it past the border crossing guards.  They don't allow you to take pictures, or we would have one here of the two Federales standing there with their guns outside the crossing.  I have to say that the gentleman that passed me through was very nice and just waved me on through with a compliment on my nice smile....he must be working with one of the dentists.  =)

That's pretty much been our excitement over the last week, we of course are still doing the Walk Away the Lbs during the week, except for today.  Yesterday after our Walk Away the Lbs class I decided to try a Zumba class......hmmmm that was definitely interesting.  I don't think I have enough Latin blood in me to make some of those hip and tummy moves and I was lost on most of the dance steps.  People say that the more you do it the more you will catch on but I'm not sure it will be for me.  I'm glad I tried it though.

Until next week.....

November 24-27, 2014 (Yuma, AZ)

Monday

It was time to hit the road and head to Yuma this morning.  We got everything all packed up and were on the road by 9:15 a.m., pretty good for us.  We traveled south with a nice light north wind pushing us along which was nice.  We had a nice uneventful drive to Yuma and arrived around 12:30 p.m.  I wish I would have had my camera ready once we got into Yuma because we passed a lettuce field that was being harvested, it was really interesting to watch. 

We got setup at our site in The Palms.  Rich did a great job maneuvering around a telephone box while backing into our site.  Too bad when you are picking out a site at the office that they don't clue you in to these little obstacles.  I guess if they did, they wouldn't get the site rented out as often.  =)  We did our regular walk around the park and found it to be very empty compared to when we were here last March.  I guess a lot of their visitors must come after the holidays.

The rest of the day was pretty low key, just hanging around relaxing in the sun.

Tuesday

We got up and went to the Walk Away the Lbs class they have here.  It's nice that they start the class an hour earlier than they did at Lake Havasu.  After we were finished with the class and had our showers we headed out to the local Fry's grocery store to get our turkey and other thanksgiving dinner trimmings.  We have invited my nephew and his little boy down to share Thanksgiving with us. 

After our shopping trip, we did a little walk in the park so Gracie could get her exercise and then spent the rest of the afternoon in our lounge chairs enjoying the nice warm weather.  After dinner, I updated our blog with our adventures from Lake Havasu.  It always feels good to get that completed. 

Wednesday

Walk Away the Lbs was the first thing on our agenda today and with that out of the way it was time to start baking the traditional pumpkin pie.  Our propane oven does not cook real evenly and I have burned several items in the past so was a little leary about trying to bake the pies in it today.  Our microwave also has a combination convection and "speed cook" setting so I've been experimenting with that lately and decided to try the pies that way.  The "speed cook uses a combination of the upper and lower lamps in addition to the microwave and convection functions.  I'm happy to report that the pumpkin and the berry pies turned out.  I made a loaf of banana bread and it was a little soft in the middle but still edible.  You get very creative when trying to bake/cook in a small space.

While I was making a mess in the kitchen, Rich ran some errands and picked up a few more items from the store.  After I got my mess cleaned up, I headed to the pool for a couple hours of sun bathing and swimming.

Our nephew Taylor and Jayden were scheduled to arrive around 5 p.m. and they showed up right on time.  Wow, has little Jayden grown since last year when we saw him and he was talking up a storm.  Rich BBQ'd us some burgers for dinner and we sat around catching up on each others lives and being entertained by little Jayden, he was quite the character and so cute.....

Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! 

We woke up early because Rich needed to get the turkey in the oven.  Taylor and Jayden spent the night on our hide a bed couch and we hated to disturb them, but you know little ones, they wake up pretty early and Jayden was no exception.  So Rich was able to get the stuffing put together and the turkey stuffed and in the oven by 8:30 a.m. 

After breakfast and watching little Jayden who is into his "Power Rangers" and liked to act out different scenarios.  He also is a big spiderman fan, so between those super hero's had quite a show going on.  Little kids have so much energy, it's amazing.  Rich and I both had good visits with Taylor, he's a very responsible young father and he does really well with Jayden who was actually quite well behaved for a 3 year old.  =)  It was good to visit with Taylor (his dad, my brother, passed away last January) and see how well he's doing though he misses his dad a lot. 

Finally the turkey was ready and we were ready for our feast.  We got to eat our Thanksgiving dinner outside in the nice warm sunshine.  And was it ever a yummy feast.  Rich brines the turkey ahead of time which makes an amazingly flavorful and tender turkey and I love his stuffing, which is so delicious.  I really am blessed with an amazing husband and I'm very thankful for him and not just because he is a good cook!  =)

We really enjoyed our visit with Taylor and Jayden and are so glad they made the 2.5 hour drive to come down to Yuma to spend Thanksgiving with us.  It is nice to be able to spend the holiday with family.  

 

Taylor & Jayden

Me, Jayden & Taylor (you can tell the locals vs us winter visitors, the locals are in long sleeves and the winter visitors are in shorts and tank tops.  =)

This hug from Jayden is for you Great Grandma!

 

November 13 - 23, 2014 (Lake Havasu City, AZ)

Thursday

The forecast was for wind and yes, it was very windy today and the wind was not blowing in our favor...rats.  We left Pahrump around 10:00 am and arrived at Lake Havasu RV Resort by 2:30 pm (with a time change to Mountain time zone).  We made it safe and sound, but it was probably our worst travel day to date and needless to say our fuel economy was not good.  Oh well, I guess you have to expect sometime to encounter less than optimal travel days.

We were excited to be back at Havasu RV Resort.  We forgot how nice the resort really is.  It was also nice to see some familiar faces. 




Our pull thru site at Havasu RV (notice the flag at the top of our rv - you can see that the wind is still pretty strong)

While we were doing our traditional walk around the rv park, we walked by our neighbors from last year, Toni & Bob who invited us to stop and have a drink and catch up on news from the last year.  We had a very enjoyable visit, I'm glad we stopped. 

 

Friday

 

We were excited to be able to start our Walk Away the Lbs. exercise class that they have here at this resort.  Boy, we could sure tell that we hadn't done this sort of exercise for awhile, we were out of shape.  It's a very good cardio workout and I guess our work this summer was not so much cardio as maybe weight training.  It sure felt good to work up a good sweat.

 

Another thing we were looking forward to was visiting one of our favorite used bookstores that we've run across in our travels.  I came away with 3 book series from Dee Henderson focusing on different military branches and Rich came away with a bunch of Max Brand (western) books.  We were both very happy with our purchases.  We plan to do a lot of reading the next couple of months. 

 

Every other Friday night, the resort hosts a social hour from 5-7 where everyone brings their own drinks and an appetizer to share and they have taped music that folks can line dance too.  My friend from last year, Marie invited us to join their table.  We spent a nice couple of hours catching up.  I didn't attempt any line dances since I seem to have forgotten everything I learned last year.  Oh well, I will take a couple classes during the week we are here.

 

Saturday

 

Last year our favorite place to eat breakfast was at a little hole in the wall type cafe called:  "Uncle Kenny's".  Well we had to go and try it out again this year.  I'm happy to report that we were pleased with our meal.  Rich said the chicken fried steak was one of the best he's had. 

 

After breakfast we did some chores around the 5er and then I headed off to the pool with one of my new books.  It felt good to sunbath and I even took my first swim of the "winter".  The water was nice and I had a nice visit with Donna who I had met last year.  She and her husband bought a lot at the resort and he is building a casita on their lot.  Sounds like a lot of work but I'm sure it will be beautiful when it's complete. 

 

We had a nice BBQ for dinner.  This site is nice because it has a cement table and benches for eating meals outdoors and enjoying the beautiful sunsets.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday

 

The forecast today was for a lot of wind and again the forecasters were correct.  We had winds in the 20-25 mph range with gusts as high up to 50 mph.  You really notice the wind when you are in a 5er, especially if you have slide toppers over your slides, which we do.  Last year when we were in Lake Havasu, Rich came up with this neat idea to keep the slide toppers from flapping in the wind so much, so out his invention came and it really does help. 

 

 

After visiting our favorite church in Lake Havasu, we decided with the cooler weather and the wind that it would be nice to take in a movie.  They have very nice movie theaters here and the tickets are very reasonable.  We chose to see Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey which we enjoyed immensely.  The popcorn wasn't bad either.  =)

 

 

After our movie, the wind was still blowing but it wasn't nearly as strong as it had been so we were able to take Gracie for a walk around the park.  And then we spent a relaxing evening with our books and some tv.

 

 

Monday

 

We were back to our Walk Away the Lbs class which seemed a lot easier than the class on Friday which was a relief.  I didn't want to think I was really that out of shape.  =)  The rest of the day was pretty much spent doing some bookwork and a nice walk.  Nothing too exciting to report.

 

Tuesday

 

I started the day out with my line dancing class - it was fun to see a lot of the ladies from last year as well as some new faces.  And I am happy to report, that once our instructor started reviewing the steps of the 3 dances she taught us that day, that I was able to remember the steps.  That was a pleasant surprise. 

 

Rich did the walk away the lbs class and said it was another good workout.  So after our exercise for the day, we just ran a couple of errands and had a relaxing day around the 5er. 

 

Wednesday

 

We both went to our Walk Away the Lbs. class and because we've been doing so well with our exercises, decided to splurge on lunch out at the local In N Out burger.  If you've never eaten at an In N Out, I highly recommend you try it (though they don't have them in Oregon yet).  After lunch, we stopped at the local RV dealer for a quick little tour of some rv's.....it's always fun to look and it made us appreciate our Mobile Suites even more.  On our way home, we stopped at the state park to see if Dave and Diane were around (this is the couple we met in Pahrump) for a quick visit.  They weren't, so we just left a note. 

 

Once we got back to the 5er, I spent some time sunbathing and reading.  We took Gracie for a nice walk around the park and then stopped and toured Hugh & Linda's new 2015 Mobile Suites.  We met Hugh and Linda last year at the resort and enjoyed our visit and tour.  

 

Thursday

 

Again, the morning started with me line dancing and Rich attending Walk Away the Lbs.  After class we got a call from Dave & Diane and arranged to get together this afternoon.  So we had a quick lunch and tidied up a bit before our visitors arrived.  We had a lovely visit sitting outside in the nice warm sunshine.  It was fun getting to know them on a little deeper level than just our brief conversations at Pahrump.  They confirmed my earlier observations that they are very nice and friendly folks.  It was fun to find out that Diane likes plants and collects rocks too.  Finally it was time to say our "see you laters".   This is one couple that we hope our paths cross again.  I can't believe we let them leave without remembering to take their picture. 

 

Friday

 

Today was our last day of doing Walk Away the Lbs at this resort and we ended strong with a 4 mile workout.  The rest of the day was pretty much a repeat of previous days, relaxing by the pool with a book as well as a few chores around the 5er....well truth be told, I did the relaxing and Rich did most the chores.  We did take Gracie for her walk around the park.  She just loves meeting all the other little dogs out on her walks.

 

Saturday

 

We decided to repeat breakfast at Uncle Kenny's again and again came away satisfied and happy. It was a beautiful day, so we decided that we needed to ride the ferry across the lake just so we could get out on the water.

 

 

 

 

 We just rode the ferry over, and then jumped back on and rode back.  They have a casino that most people visit, but we weren't in to a smokey casino on such a lovely day.  Once we got back we were walking under the bridge and heard the most beautiful music being played.  I can't begin to describe how hauntingly beautiful it sounded echoing off the bridge.  We stopped and chatted with the musician for awhile and asked about his instrument as it was one we didn't recognize.  It turned out it was a Soprano Saxaphone made in 1932 and according to this gentleman there were only a few made and he was playing one of them.  The gentleman said he loves coming and playing under the bridge because the acoustics are amazing and can't be replicated even in a recording studio.  He donates any money he makes to Toys for Tots and just enjoys playing, which was very apparent. 

 

 

 

 



 After our chat with the Soprano Saxophone player, we headed back to the 5er.  We had another nice walk in the park with Gracie, stopped to visit with our friends Marie and Everett and see their new to them 5th wheel.  Then it was just another relaxing evening.

Sunday

Today is our last day here at Havasu RV Resort before we head down the road and guess what.....it was windy again.  Don't know what it is about Sunday's, but the last two have been very windy.  Oh well, it can't be all blue sky and sunshine.  =) 

We attended church at Hilltop again, and boy it was really crowded today, there must have been some extra winter "birds" attending today.  That's what the locals here call their winter visitors....birds, not snowbirds, just birds (maybe because some of the visitors come from states that don't get snow???)

After church we were back at the 5er having lunch and Marie and Everett stopped by to check out Rich's slide topper invention.  They have slide toppers on their 5er and I was telling Marie about Rich's invention because she had mentioned how aggravating the wind was on their slide toppers.  Maybe Rich ought to patent his idea......it really does work well.  Everett thought he would give it a try, we'll have to touch bases with them in a couple weeks and see what he thinks.

After our lunch and visit we took Gracie on her last walk around the park.  It really is a nice resort and if we decide we don't like Yuma which is our next destination, we may find ourselves back here.  We've had a really nice relaxing time and are glad we stopped here again.  It was good catching up with a few of the folks we met last year but it's time to hit the road again.  Our next post will be from Yuma, AZ. 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 



November 8 - 12, 2014 (Pahrump, NV)

Saturday

Today was the longest travel day yet.  We left at 9:10 a.m. and arrived at Wine Ridge RV Resort in Pahrump, NV at approximately 2:30 p.m.  It felt good to finally get to our destination though our travel day was uneventful.  It will be nice to be someplace longer than one night, we are ready for a break from the road. 

We got set up in our site with no problem.  We stayed here last year and were only two sites down from where we are now. 

The rv resort is actually quite nice and very inexpensive.  If you are traveling through southern Nevada, I definitely recommend you check out this resort.  Besides being inexpensive, they have one of the only wineries on site in the state of Nevada - Pahrump Valley Winery.  They have two very nice swimming pools and spas, two pickleball courts as well as horseshoes.  They also rent cottages.  We took a lot more pictures last year, so if you are interested in seeing more pics of the resort, check our blog around this same time in November of last year. 

I follow several rv travel blogs from folks who are full time rving and last year we got to meet one of the couples that I've been following - Steve & Dianne from Canada in this same resort.  This year another of the couples I read about, Dave & Dianne from Grants Pass, OR were staying in the rv park.  As we were walking to check out the wine tasting, we walked by their coach and Dave was outside, so we had to stop and introduce ourselves.  Very nice man, I'm looking forward to meeting his wife Dianne.  While we were visiting with Dave, we saw Del & Caroline drive by who we had met in Bordertown, NV and we had been staying at the same resorts on our way down south.  It was good to see that they were able to get a spot here at this resort.

After partaking of the wine tasting samples we headed  back to the 5er for a relaxing evening.

Sunday

We got up and had a quick breakfast and headed to visit Faith Fellowship church.  We had attended this same church last year and as we were following the directions that were on the web site, wondered why nothing really seemed familiar.  Well, there was a reason for that - as we pulled into the area that the directions sent us, there was no church to be seen.  Yikes....now what.  Rich got on the phone and put a call into the church and the pastor happened to answer and explained that they had moved locations and haven't been able to get the directions on the website updated yet.  Luckily they weren't too far away and as we headed out in the correct direction, things suddenly started looking more familiar.  Not sure how we found the church correctly last year as apparently they have been moved for quite some time.  The main thing, is we found it in time this year again and enjoyed a good message.

After church we headed back to the 5er and had a bite to eat and I headed to sunbath and read at the pool.  (one of my favorite past times).  Rich decided to run and pick up a few things at Walmart while I was sunbathing and then he took Gracie for a nice walk.  We did another wine tasting and bought a bottle of Port to sip while we play cribbage in the evening. 

Monday

We saw our first tarantula spider this morning......we were outside letting Gracie do her "business before we went to breakfast and I saw Gracie lunge toward something.  The something turned out to be this tarantula......it wasn't a real big one, but it was big enough.  Yuck, not something I'd like to find in the 5er....

They serve a free (but they accept "donations") waffle breakfast here at the rv resort, so after our tarantula sighting we headed to breakfast.  We sat with Del and Caroline and got to visit with them a little bit more.  Dave & Dianne came for breakfast also, so we went over and got to visit with them for quite a bit.  It was really fun to get to meet in person the people I've been reading about for the last couple of years.  They are really nice people and very friendly.  You meet the nicest people when traveling. 

The rest of the day was spent just relaxing, catching up on the blog, spending some more time sunbathing and reading at the pool.  A very nice relaxing day.  We don't really have much planned while we are here other than just relaxing for a couple days before we hit the road again.

Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty much repeats of our day Monday, except before the waffles on Tuesday we both went and worked out in the fitness room.  I forgot to mention that on Monday, Rich got up early and went and worked out before we went to breakfast, I was sleepy and stayed in bed for a bit longer.....We also tried out the pickleball court.  It was a lot of fun, we had no clue what we were doing but still managed to have a lot of fun hitting that ball around.  Pickleball is quite popular down here at a lot of the rv resorts and we hadn't tried it yet.  We'll definitely have to play some more and find out some actual "rules" to the game.  It's been a nice break but we are hitting the road on Thursday for Lake Havasu where we spent the majority of our winter last year.  There are some folks we met last year that we'd like to stop and say hi too before we head farther south.   Next post to come to you from Lake Havasu RV Resort.  See ya down the road.....

November 7, 2014 (Hawthorne, NV)

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but we had another beautiful travel day and we are not complaining.  Nice sunshine and little wind and not much traffic make for wonderful travel days.  We left around 10:00 and arrived around 12:30, my idea of a perfect distance to travel. 

We got to our site and leveled up and for some reason, our site wasn't real level, so we had to relevel a second time and put some blocks under the wheels.  I don't remember that we had to do that last time.  We are staying at the same park as last year, Whiskey Flats RV Park.  It's a nice park out in the middle of nowhere. 

After we got set up and while Rich went to fuel the truck up, I decided to get out our big duster and dust the 5er off.  Unfortunately we can't wash the rv in this park, so dusting is the next best thing.  The duster actually worked pretty well and it looks much cleaner.  I was so inspired that I decided that the windows needed washing also.

After our "work" was done for the day, we took Gracie for a little walk and then came back to the 5er to relax.  While we were in Bordertown yesterday, Rich talked to a couple from the Tacoma, Washington area and they are headed south also and were planning on staying at Whiskey Flats.  Well they pulled in a couple hours after us and after they got set up, Del came over for a visit.  As always the talk came around to rv's and the choices between motorhomes, fifth wheels, etc.  Del and his wife Caroline are traveling in a class a motorhome and I always love to look inside other peoples rigs to see how they have them arranged, etc.  Del offered a tour of their coach, so I quickly took him up on it.  I got to meet his wife Caroline and chat for a bit.  We shared with them details about our next stop in Pahrump and they have decided to stop there and check out the park.  This is their first time going south, so it is nice sharing info with people.  Last year we were in their same shoes and didn't have a clue where we were going or what to expect, we were the newbies.  Anyway, we had a nice visit and will see them down the road.

Again, we had a nice evening chilling in the 5er.  After dinner, we played cribbage.  While we were at mom's, we had her "reteach" us the game and are planning on playing a game at least once a day.  We need to do something to keep our brain cells working.  =)

Tomorrow we will head to Pahrump for several days.  It will be nice to be in one spot for awhile.  We are not fans of moving every day but wanted to get down to the warmer weather.  See you in Pahrump. 

November 6, 2014 (Bordertown, NV)

We had another beautiful travel day, sunshine and very little wind, to our next destination Bordertown, NV.  We left around 9:00 a.m. and arrived around 11:45.  We got set up and had our lunch.  After lunch I got to sit in the sun and spend some time reading while Rich washed the truck.  We contemplated washing the 5er, but decided to wait.  When you check in they give you free drink coupons to get you to go into the casino.  We are not big gamblers, and when we stopped here last year, stopped in and left a few dollars.  Well I guess because we didn't get enough last year, we tried it again this year.  Like I said we are not big gamblers and after about an hour, left minus $3.25.  Not bad for an hours entertainment and a couple of drinks.  I think that will do us for another year.  We are not big fans of smokey casino's and you always leave those places smelling like a dirty ashtray.

We had another relaxing evening just chilling out in the 5er, resting up for our travel day to Hawthorne, NV tomorrow. 

P.S.  we forgot to take a picture of our site here, we are out of practice with our camera.  We'll try and do better tomorrow.

November 5, 2014 (Alterus, CA)

We had a good travel day today, the weather was good and the drive was uneventful.  We left Bend around 10:00 a.m. and arrived at Alterus by 2:00 p.m.  We saw several herds of antelope and deer on our drive down.  I wasn't real quick with the camera, but did manage to get this picture.  The antelope are the small black dots in the background tucked up next to the hills.  It was quite a large herd.

We are retracing our route from last year, so we stayed at this same rv park last year and in the same site.

After we got set up and Rich went and fueled up the truck, we went for a walk around town....

Old Steam Locomotive in a park

The county courthouse built in 1914.  Look at that copper roof, very pretty

We saw more deer walking around town than Rich did hunting.....

After our walk, we just chilled out in the 5er the rest of the evening.  We hit the road tomorrow, destination is Bordertown, NV.

November 3 - 4, 2014 (Bend, OR)

Well we woke up to rain....ick.  It's no fun to pack the 5er in the rain, but what do you do except don a rain jacket and get to it.  Because we had stayed put for so long at mom's we had a lot to get accomplished which we did in record time.  We said our "see you laters" to my mom and pulled out of the driveway around 10:15 a.m.  Not bad.  We arrived in Bend around 12:30 and no rain, yahoo.  We got set up at our favorite rv park in Bend, Crown Villa, in a pull thru site. 

It was a tradition that when we lived in Bend and the kids came home for the holidays that we would share a meal at the Deschutes Brewery.  We had not been to the Deschutes Brewery in several years and they have also remodeled the place in the last couple of years, so we decided that we were due for a visit.  We jumped on our bikes and headed to the Brewery for a late lunch/early dinner.  We enjoyed our meal and the remodel of the restaurant was well done.  It should help alleviate the long wait lines they have during the holidays.

After we got back from the Brewery, we took Gracie on a long walk in a field behind the rv park.  She was so excited because she also got to play catch with her ball.  It's amazing to me that dogs can remember places also.  She definitely knew where she was.

The next day we spent the day running errands around Bend.  We pulled into the ODOT parking lot to turn around and ran into some old co-workers, so we jumped out and had a quick visit with several of them.  It's always nice to catch up on people's lives.  We also did another one of our Bend traditions, which is to hike up Pilot Butte.  It was a lovely afternoon for a walk and Gracie loved it too.

As always, we enjoyed our quick visit to Bend, we miss Bend.  Tomorrow we head down the road on our journey south.

October 1 - November 2, 2014 (Mehama, OR)

Well another month has come and gone, I can hardly believe it.  We did get a lot accomplished at my mom's this month, it's a good thing since we are heading down south in November.   Here's a list of some of the bigger items we accomplished:

Window trim touch up interior & exterior (mom got new vinyl windows in her house, hopefully she'll see a big difference in her electric bills).  It was sure nice that the contractor that installed the windows let us stain the interior trim and paint the exterior trim before he installed them.  That way we only had a to do some touch up and fill in nail holes.  The windows sure look nice.

Finish up mom's landscaping project.    We got a big truck load of compost delivered and spread.   Then we got the new plants picked up from my mom's brother's nursery and hauled 50+ plants home in the back of our pickup.  The workers at the nursery sure know how to pack in the plants without hurting them.  Once home the work began of getting them all planted but it sure looks nice.  Now we are just waiting for the sidewalk work to be completed which won't happen until after we leave, rats.  Oh well, we'll get to see the finished project when we come back. 

We had a couple large brush piles that needed burning, so once the weather changed and the woods got a good soaking, we got a couple of them burned.

Rich did get to get out hunting a few times, but never did see a deer that was legal to shoot.

I got to spend a "girls" weekend with some of my girlfriends from Bend.  The gals all came over and we spent the weekend at my mom's house.  We did lots of shopping, laughing, playing and drinking wine.  After our shopping trip we come back to mom's and do a show and tell of all our purchases, it's always fun to see what everyone comes home with.  Then we head downstairs for ping pong and pool.  This year we got an old console stereo record player to work and listened to some old records like Engelbert Humperdinck, Johnny Cash and some other old records from the 60's while we were playing our games.   It was a fun time and enjoyed by all.  I'm looking forward to the next one. 

We had a family dinner with most of my brothers and their spouses and whatever family could make it.  We have a lot of fall birthdays in our family with the majority of them in November, so we got a group birthday picture.  

bottom row, left to right - Amber, Mom, Norm
back row, left to right - Jennifer, Lisa, Melanie, Jeremy, Bryan & Mickey

 We sure enjoyed our stay at mom's and the time we got to spend with family.  I especially enjoyed the times I got to spend with our new grandson, Elijah.  I sure will miss that little guy.

Amber, me and Elijah

Well our next post will be from the road.  Until then........

September 1 - 30, 2014 (Mehama, Lincoln City, Pacific City, OR)

Wow, how can a whole month have already passed......I guess when you are retired and very busy time just flies by. 

Here is a brief recap of our last month.....

We did take a little mini vacation to the coast.  We spent 3 nights at the Logan Rd RV Park in Lincoln City.  It was a huge change going from our private rv spot at my mom's to these tight and unlevel spots at Lincoln City.

We did have amazing weather though, one day it actually reached over 90 degrees at the beach, it was incredible.  We spent the day playing on the beach with Gracie and then after dinner going for a long walk down the beach as far as we could walk to Lands End.  It was an amazing day.

Gracie chasing her ball, she gets so excited and loves to chase her ball

Our look back down the beach from Lands End

Sunset on our walk back from Lands End

Saturday the day was much cooler, so we went to lunch at Mo's for some clam chowder and then spent some time walking through the outlet mall.  Sunday was cloudy and cool also, but we had a quick breakfast and then packed up and headed down the road for Pacific City to our next stop.  While Rich was outside packing up, he ran into one of our old co-workers.  They had a nice quick visit before we left.  I think it was our shortest travel day so far, it was only a 30 minute travel day.

Our site at Pacific City was much nicer and we really enjoyed staying at the Cape Kiwanda RV Resort.  We originally were only scheduled for a 2 night stay but managed to stretch it out to 5 days. They had a big tour group that was coming in that had all the pull through sites reserved.  We kept checking back to see if they had any cancellations and weren't having any luck.  On our second night, our neighbors little dog came over for a visit and we started talking to the dogs owner and during the course of the conversation found out that she was scheduled for another two nights but was going to have to leave early.  So we quickly asked if she minded if we took her reserved spot and she was very agreeable to our request.  So the three of us headed to the office to make the arrangements and the best part was that they arranged it so we didn't have to even move our site.  

Our pull thru site at Cape Kiwanda, much nicer than at Lincoln City

When we were checking in on Sunday we were told that they were holding a jet ski competition down the beach a ways.  So after we got set up, we headed out to the beach.  We hiked up over the big sand dune and down the other side and along the beach for probably close to 2 miles.  It was a nice long walk and of course Gracie loved every minute of it.  I think all dogs must love the beach, I know Gracie sure does.  We saw a couple hang gliders by the dune and while we were walking a couple of powered parachutes flew over us.  We could hear the jet ski competition way before we could see it.  We stood around and watched for awhile, it was rather interesting.  I wonder how the judges managed to keep track of everyone?  

Running down the back side of the dune

Hang glider waiting to take off

Powered parachute flying by

Jet ski competition...brrr it looked might cold, even with wetsuits



Walking back from the jet ski competition, we still have to climb this dune



Whew, we made it to the top and once down the dune only a short walk to the rv park.  We had to stop and savor the view as it takes a lot of effort to get to the top.

 
We had a very relaxing enjoyable time, we did run into another co-worker, Nancy from ODOT and her husband and had a nice visit catching up on news from work.  We tried to climb the dune every day.  One day climbing the dune we went at it from a different angle and ended up crawling through brush and up and over trees.  Gracie and I weren't too happy about this trail, it was very scary but I'm glad to say that we survived.  We spent one day sight seeing and stopped at the Tillamook Cheese factory for cheese and ice cream.  We took a nice bike ride, I flew my kite, we did a lot of reading.  It was a wonderful time, so wonderful that we decided to stay another night even though it meant moving from one site in the rv park to another.  We enjoyed the rv park and the close proximity to the beach so we will definitely be back to this rv park. 

Ice cream at Tillamook Cheese Factory and no, I was not eating two ice cream cones, I'm holding Rich's while he took the picture

The vacation house that Rich and his family used to stay at when his kids were younger

Getting my kite ready to fly

Another view from the top of the dune

Haystack rock

Sunset with Haystack Rock

Gracie and me smiling after we reached the top of the dune via climbing up cliffs, through brush and over and under trees....we were both glad to reach the top.

Our drive home from Pacific City was uneventful until we got to my mom's road.  Boy we sure shook up the 5er going up the gravel road through all the rough washboard.  When we got to my mom's we spent a couple hours of shoveling gravel trying to level out our parking spot a bit.  It was nice to get backed in and all set up again in our nice private spot.

The last couple of weeks we have spent working on various projects around my mom's.  The biggest one is probably tearing out all of her old shrubbery in front of the house and working on a dry/wet creekbed.  In a couple of days we'll be planting the new shrubs.  We spent some time painting exterior and interior window trim as she's getting new energy efficient windows installed.  Rich painted and roofed a pump house that my brother built to go over my mom's well.  Rich has worked on fixing a leak in my mom's pond and various other honey do's.  Poor Rich, he gets a list from my mom as well as me.  He sure is a patient husband, I'm blessed! 

 


Working on wet/dry creekbed, it's almost finished.  You can see work on the new windows



Work in progress on landscaping

more work in progress, this was before I started the wet/dry creekbed

Rich painted and roofed this cute little pump house my brother built

Mom & me working on staining interior window trim

We had friends Gene & Judith out to the 5er for dinner one evening.  We had a great visit and shared some traveling stories.  We unfortunately forgot to bring the camera out.  We also attended a friends Irish/India wedding and again forgot to take pictures.  Rich was "volunteered" to cook the chicken for the wedding reception on the Traeger.   It was a lot of chicken to cook and I'm happy to report the chicken turned out wonderful. 

And then of course, there is our adorable new grandson, Elijah.  I try to spend as much time as I can with him, he is growing so fast.





So snuggly, he's so precious.

We have another busy month ahead of us, so I probably won't post again for several weeks.  We still are not sure when we are heading out and even where we are headed yet.  I guess that's the joy of being retired and mobile for the time being.  Until next time......