Catching Up

We left Brookings Oregon, on the 13th, heading for Hailey, Idaho. Our friends, Bob & Barb Williams have a home there, but are in the process of getting ready to take to the road in their new motor home.

We spent two nights on the road, the first in Bend , Oregon paying 46 dollars, the second in Caldwell, Idaho at half the price, both Good Sam’s. The least expensive was a treat, they have two large gardens that are exclusively for the overnighters. Just a few more weeks and it will wonderful as they have a great selection.

Tomatoes, green beans lettuce corn squash, just to name a few. .

The three days of travel were uneventful, a lot of the area we covered is high desert, so not much to see.

Once we arrived, our cats were so excited to see each other…ah-ha, sure. The gray and white one is Gypsy, she was the pitiful kitten that adopted Barb at Nicks rally last year. She is so pretty now. And we did not push our luck we decided that it would be best if they did not spend time in the same house, as it did not get any better.

We started the hand and foot tournament the first night and the girls won the first one, and as the games went by it was not looking good. Then the last night we stole the guys chairs and won three, yes all three, to become the top dogs. Bob and Barb were wonderful tour guides and we seen some of the country side Which was spectacular to say the least.

The guys in the “lucky chairs”.

The mountains were so different, the weather was wonderful, just a little warm for a few hours, but the nights were very cool. Hailey is only a few miles from the famous Sun Valley ski resort. Barb had worked there years ago, so on the tour of the facilities she was very knowledgeable. There was even a outdoor ice skating rink that was being used. Pictures are on the camera, and it is in the truck, but the rain is coming down, so will add some later.

Some of the wild flowers blooming along the roadside. Glad that everything is running late this year, so that we get to enjoy it.

Thank you Bob & Barb for a wonderful time. Hope that all your “stuff” finds a new home, or at least it’s way into storage, cause we are looking forward to seeing you in Goshen.

Moving on down the road. Next destination, Park Rapids, Minnesota, some time next week. Life is Good.

“Fan”atics At It Again

Yep, they have struck again.  We have solved the mystery of how this happens though.  Our RV is haunted!  We thought that being as we were on our 3rd fan and it had almost been a year we had the problem solved, however we jinxed it by talking about  it.  Not only do we not have any idea how this happened, no one else can even give us a clue.  It happens when we are on the move, but the blades are a good 8 inches above the slides when they are both in. The other 2 fans were the cheap ones they put in the RV, but this one was a Hunter Douglas and the blades were real wood, which took a lot to break, as it almost tore the fan from the ceiling before breaking.  Any ideas????

Enough of that. 

A Week With Friends

 

We have spent the week with two couple who have been friends for many years.  They decided to take a little road trip with us, and they were hoping for some place cool.  And the weather has cooperated very well.  Today was the first day that we did not wake up to fog but brilliant sunshine.  With the scenery that we have here it is easy to let the days just go by. 

Beautiful

Being as this group is all golfers we did find a course here called Salmon Run.  As there were only four able bodied among us, leaving Ed & I on the disabled list, we decided that we would still view the course with out letting golf take our minds off the beauty of our surroundings.  This course was amazing, it was craved out of the woods in the most ingenious way.  We saw a lot of wild life, plus wild flowers galore.  And the views! Oh, the views.

Bonnie, Huff, Chuck and Donna

 

I was totally jealous at not being able to play this course.  It was awesome.

 

Below is my cart mate…Ed, aka Daisy Man

We also spent a day on a 80 mile, mail boat run up the Rogue River.  Our captain was very entertaining and had some  tall tales. His day job was a pastor, bet he never had a dull sermon. He managed to do quite a few 180’s, and a heck of a lot of nose dives, with the boat, that left us all wet.  But it felt quite good as we left the seaside the air warmed up rather fast. 

The six of us are in the very back row.

Some of the sights in the harbor

The captain’s dog that went along with us.  After we got under way he just made him self welcome any place he wanted to sit, but once we stopped, and he got wet, the captain wouldn’t let him roam.  Don’t think anyone would have minded, he was a real love, his name was PUP.  By the time the ride was over he was the only one who looked the same as when we started.  Half way through we stopped for a huge chicken dinner, and by the looks of the laundry on the line, everyone worked. 

This house was a good hike up the hill of at least 3 blocks and back in 1964 the flood waters were half way up this house. 

Grapevine

Heading home, great day, great friends, it don’t get any better than that. 

Tomorrow brings us to the end of the week, and we will be heading in different directions.  Thanks for the Memories. 

Life is good.

Good Try

 

Two weeks of practice, two games and it is over.  So disappointing for the boys, but they took it well, Anthony pitched some of both games and got some good hits, so he was mostly pleased with his game.  It was great getting to see his games, been a long time, hope he doesn’t think we were a jinks.

  Pitches right handed, bats left.

Come the next day we were off and rolling,  we debated taking Anthony with us, but he was not too keen on more of a road trip.  Being he is the only one with us makes it a little less fun when his only playmates are us “old” folk.  He had a really good time when there was anyone his age around, and his Mom & Dad had some fun things on the agenda. Think he made the right decision, sure he will have more fun.

Sunflower field

Driving through the redwoods.

Jack-in-a-box   Chuck-in-a-tree

The scenery was just breathtaking. We are just over the California/Oregon border in the town of Brooking, parked in a park overlooking the ocean, which is usually fogged in till late in the morning, but once the sun breaks through….wow.  Have to run now, so will save that for another blog.  We are here for a week and then are heading to Hailey Idaho, for a visit with Barb & Bob.  See you soon, Guys, we probably could not gotten in a worse location to get from point A to point B…LOL, but where there is a will there is a way and we are willing.

One Big Wish

Happy

4th

of

July

Be careful with the fireworks!

CALIFORNIA

We went and did it, we tried to come home, (Marysville/Yuba City) and we are having a great time seeing all our friends that are still here. Of course a few have taken up full-timing in the here after. Most of them though are still playing golf and bridge, and totally amazed that we find the life we are living, so enjoyable. Coming home is a two week visit, and we are off.

We are staying here till the 5th and then heading to the Oregon coast with some friends for a week. The heat has been over 100 the last few days, and dry or not it is HOT.

Anthony has practice every day, so he is really tired by the end of the day. This year is the last year he will be able to play in this age group and it sure shows. Some of the kids are so tiny, and he is big for his age. We get to see his first game, but if they win they don’t play again for 6 days. Thankfully the forecast is a cooling trend with a delta breeze.

Another surprise was that the bing cherries and early peaches are just hitting the fruit stands here, and words can not express how wonderful they are. Nothing comes close to the unbelievable taste. Everything is running late this year due to the late rains and cool weather, the size of the cherries is amazing. There is nothing as good in my book. Love them.

I did see my doctor here and bless his heart he gave me a prescription that is holding my pain on the back burner, and I’ll settle for that, at least I can function. Getting old is not for sissies!

Wishing everyone a Happy Fourth of July, this year sure has gone by fast, guess the rest is all down hill……..but hey, life is good.

Three Parks In Three Days

We no sooner got settled in at the campground on the beach than we got word that our grandson, Anthony, had to be home by the 22nd for his All-Star baseball practice. We had known that our time would be shorter than we had planned, but did not think it would be that short. That left us very little time to do the parks we had tickets for. Our first choice was the San Diego zoo, and it was great. Anthony wanted lots of pictures, so we gave him the camera. He did well, I downloaded 385 for the day.

Getting them from some unusual angles to say the least!

Guess who is the real monkey?

The pandas were out for dinner, mother and the little one.

It was a wonderful day, the weather was absolutely wonderful, actually a little on the cool side, but with all the walking we did, we appreciated it. We took the tour bus, and they also had a hop on and off tram. The one bad thing was it did NOT stop at the exit, and we had planned our exit with a drop off there. Anthony was so lucky with his picture taking, seemed like the animals all were posing for him. The polar bears were playing in the water, the apes were right at the window, it was truly a delight full treat for Chuck and I to see him having such a great time.

The next day it was off to SeaWorld. Our photographer had a chance of heart so we had to take over the camera. The shows were great and the crowds were very light.

We went on the “shoot the rapids” ride, and it was a blast, that is until we went under a huge waterfall. We got totally drenched, and it was getting late in the day, so it had cooled down considerably. There were big hot air dryers, but being a cheapskate, we passed, they were 5 dollars for 3 minutes, like we were going to dry out in that time!

Walked over to the play area and there was this awesome climb and tumble structure, and Anthony was off. Chuck and I waited patiently, with our teeth chattering, but he was having such a good time that being the good grandparents we try to be, we waited and then waited some more. Finally, after an hour, we had to call it a day. Wonder where he possibly could find the energy to go like that.

Aaaawww, the last one. We were off later in the day, but planned ahead with a picnic lunch. The Wildlife Park is a part of the San Diego zoo, but most of the animals are not in cages. The park has tour buses that take you through the area and you get to see the animals in the wild. It is beautiful, but there was a lot of walking and Chuck and I were done in. And after the zoo and SeaWorld, Anthony was not that impressed.

Anthony had the camera back.

On the road to Marysville, California, the place we called home for 40 years. Love the way they plant the oleanders in the middle of the freeways. They grow so good there and the only water they get is from the rain and it only rains here a few months in the winter. Guess they like the exhaust fumes. What else could it be?

Off to meet friends for dinner, life is good.

Vegas to San Diego

We arrived in Vegas at about the same time as the first heat wave.  The first few days it was well into the 110’s, which makes it hard to breath, at least deeply or often.  Yes, it is a dry heat, like it makes a difference when it is that hot.  We were staying at the base, and thought we would take a trip to the pool, but it was closed for repairs.  Thankfully our son  got into Vegas and they were staying at Circus Circus, making there pools available.  Luckily the heat was short lived, only 2 days.  We did some sight seeing, very little gambling, which means we were winners. 

Display at the Bellagio, it was very different this year with giant ants, mushrooms and huge glass flowers, along with the gorgeous display of real flowers.  Then of course there is the dancing fountains, I could watch those all night.

                                   

Did take in the musical Menopause and it was hilarious, enjoyed it so, but my daughter in law forgot to drop the cookie crumbs and we like to never found our way back to the point the guys were picking us up.  Really need GPS in those places.

  With Vegas in the rear view mirror we were off.  As our grandson said, through the M.O.N, middle-of-nowhere.  We made it a short day, as our grandson was enjoying the ride so.

                                          Lunch Stop

Next Day……The Beach, the Beach

I would have to say that he really loves the water, as he has been in for literally hours, and is ready to head back. And he has found some other boys, which makes our job a whole lot easier. And his more enjoyable, I’m sure. 

We are here till Saturday, which should give me enough time to get Chucks hands to turn loose of the steering wheel, driving through L.A. does not do any thing for his comfort zone.  But he did a wonderful job, and a few years ago he would not have attempted it.  Wahoo!!!!  We have tickets for the zoo, adventure wildlife park and marine world, so all those have to be taken in yet.  Life is good but our “old” rear ends are going to be dragging…..oh, to be young again.