Logan's Traveling Lodge

Rain!!

2011-08-29T16:12:00.006-05:00

I never thought I would see the day when I would get excited by rain. Well that day had arrived. About a month ago we heard this strange noise. We knew the wind had picked up, but there was something else!! RAIN..

I think it was the only rain we have had this summer and then it turned out to be 1/10th of an inch. Oh well, it was refreshing while it lasted.

It was enough to make a little river down into the common area.

Sunday Doings

2011-08-29T14:43:00.010-05:00

The sun rises on another very HOT day. In fact it turns out it is the hottest day ever recorded in Texas. 112 degrees.

After church we went to lunch with some of our friends and decided to find the Anderson Mill Museum. They had advertised an open house and ice cream social. It is in a rather secluded spot above Cypress Creek.

In the early 1850's, Thomas and Lucy Anderson found a veritable paradise by the shores of Cypress Creek. In 1863 Thomas and his sons, Abe and Ed, built a mill to create gunpowder. They dug bat guano from nearby caves to make saltpeter, then mixed with sulfer and charcoal (burning mesquite trees for charcoal). They supplied the confederate army with the gunpowder.

After the war, the mill was converted to a grist mill and farmers from miles around brought their corn to be ground. Sometimes they camped near the mill while they waited their turn. When Cotton became more popular to be grown, they again converted the mill to clean the cotton of seeds etc. I think they called it a cotton gin.

In 1941 the mill was in ruins and soon to be flooded by the creation of Lake Travis when they built the Mansfield Dam . They moved the remains of the mill to the present site. A replica of the original mill was built in 1966. They also built a 2 story building which houses the current museum. The caretakers and builders of the current site are the Anderson Mill Gardeners.

Sunrise on another hot day.

You can make the pictures bigger by clicking on them. Then use the back arrow to come back to the blog.

Mill on the right and Museum building on the left.

The mill stone which is still used to grind corn into cornmeal. They do this twice a year and sell it to help in the upkeep of the mill.

The water wheel has fallen apart with age and they hope to rebuild it. The creek is currently dry, but when it is running, they bring the water in a trough over the top of the building and down onto the wheel, making it turn.

Replica of the house and the mill (below). I would have taken more pictures, but read a sign asking people not to!! The downstairs room of the museum was about the mill and the upstairs was more about the living quarters etc.

Back into the air conditioning for our ice cream and cookie treat. Also needed to cool off. This was the Garden Club meeting room. Gearld Koonce, Betty Beatty, Betty Sue Koonce and Bob in the picture. In the mirror you can see me taking the picture.

It was a fun afternoon and we are looking forward to some more adventures another day.

Peach Time in TX

2011-07-27T19:40:00.005-05:00

We are just finishing up peach time in TX. We always talked about picking peaches in the orchards at Fredericksburg, but we always left to go west before they were ripe. So this was the year. Due to the extreme heat and lack of rain, the peaches this year were smaller but richer in flavor. They also had not sprayed, so they were a little mishapened and needed lots of tlc in preparing them. Unfortunately I didn't take the camera into the orchard to get shots of the trees etc. But when we were finished here is the result.

We went to Marburger Orchards. They have at least 10 different varieties that ripen at different times. They had red globe and majestic ripening at the time we went. We picked the red globe as we thought they had the better flavor. It was hot and dusty but as you finish picking a box, the orchard workers came around on golf carts and picked up the boxes to deliver to the shed for check out. Your name and type of peach was marked on the box. That worked for us... then we took our time walking back to the shed and did a little sampling. mmmm good!!
We got a better price by taking 3 boxes so we had plenty to share and lots to slice for future cobbler and lots of freezer jam. We have been eating fresh peaches every day on our cereal or in a fruit bowl. Oh my they are good.

We have 2 drawers full of freezer jam and the one deep drawer with the slice peaches. I hope that is enough for the year.... we will look forward to next year & I think we need to involve some others in our adventure..

We are moved in!!

2011-03-16T21:57:00.008-05:00

I can't believe after so long, we are finally moved in. We have slept 4 nights in our new home now. Every day we make it a little more ours. You know all those finishing touches and putting out all those things that have been packed away for 6 years. Of course all the furniture has to be polished and the glassware washed before we can use it.

Here is the outside, all finished even the dead grass is in. Even after watering it every day for a week, it is barely showing a tinge of green. At least we don't have to worry about mowing it.
That is a live oak in the front yard.

Our two favorite realtors, Sharron and Val.That is a picture of Del Webb. This was after signing the final papers and we needed a little humour.

Then we went to the house to put the grout sealer on before moving anything in. I did the back splash in the kitchen and Bob did all the floors.

The truck ready to unload!!

The delivery men from Lowe's starting to install the washer & dryer.

The last load of boxes to come off the truck. We were blessed by our friends Mary & Bud, who helped us unload the heavy stuff. They also supplied us with 2 days of dinner. So now it is unpacking and going for more stuff still in the Montana. I can't believe what all we have in there. More later.....

Feb 25th Almost Done

2011-02-26T21:38:00.010-06:00

There she is, painted, guttered, rock trim in place, clean windows and ready for the touch up crew and the sod crew.

Here is the big pile of dead looking sod!! You can see it in the neighbor's yard, the same color brown as the dirt.
The stove and microwave are in place. Supposed to be energy savers. I like the flat top on the stove and no burner cups to clean.

The dishwasher will be a welcome addition.

Looking at the kitchen nook and the clean windows. The open door is where the washer & dryer will go.

The shower stall is complete. The only problem will be reaching a towel from the way the door opens.

Trying to get a good shot of the rug to compare color with samples chosen. I think this carpet is darker and I am not too happy with it.

Inspection, walk thru and orientation is next wed. Then they have a week to finish any touch ups before the closing on the 9th.

This was a shot to show the gutters they put in.

2/18/2011 Looking Good

2011-02-18T21:44:00.013-06:00

Such a nice feeling to come around the corner and see 524 all decked out in her new colors (bland as they are). I think the native plants will be a good accent. The stonework looks great. It is called rattlesnake. It helps to give it a little contrast. I hope we have good neighbors, because I think we could open a window and shake hands across the property line!!

The light fixture and house number are on and lit up. The garage door opener is installed.
Here is the front door light fixture. The window is in to the kitchen.

The tile backsplash is on, sinks installed, silver fixtures. Kitchen floor is tiled.

The entry way is all tiled.

Interesting light fixture in the dining room. I think I have a pewter oil lamp that will go with that.

The fan light above the living room.

Shower doors, sinks and toilet installed. The workers were finishing up the towel holders etc.

Light fixtures in the master bath.

Close up of the tile back splash. This is where the microwave will go with the electric stove underneath it.

Closing date is scheduled for March 9th, ready or not!!

Close up of some of the rock.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T16:47:00.009-06:00

Well our gift to each other was finally settling on a contract and locking in an interest rate. I am glad that is over. We went up on Sunday after church to check on things and Bob put down insecticide before they start on the flooring. The changes in the last few days were:

forms started for the sidewalk and driveway.
The stucco was drying nicely and hopefully the stone will go on this week.

Kitchen counter tops are on and the walls throughout are painted.

The grill for the air return is in place.

A little closer look at the counter top.

The a/c is in place and hooked up. The weather has improved and should be above normal temps for the next 2 weeks, so we expect some wonderful changes this week... Later....

More Progress 2/8/2011

2011-02-09T23:31:00.009-06:00

It is hard to believe that they can get any work done when it is so cold, but the texture of the stucco is done. Now it has to dry enough so it can be painted. The outside looks more defined. Hopefully the stone will be added soon.

Inside the work is coming right along. Here are the cupboards on one side of the kitchen..
And looking the other way are the rest of them.

The master bath has it's base cupboard in and the doors are on.

The shelves and brackets are up in the walk in closet.

Also in the den.

The door for the den is on also and all the wood trim.

A closet in the hallway with the shelves.

There is also another 2 closets off of this hallway to store lots of goodies. There were workers in the house today, so it wasn't easy to get around to see things. Sure wish I knew spanish!!

SNOW

2011-02-04T23:04:00.007-06:00

We have been experiencing very cold weather and yesterday they predicted winter storms for last night. Austin got more ice than snow and we got about an inch of snow. But they closed the schools and many of the offices were closed because of the weather. We have had over 70 hours of below freezing weather. Needless to say we are getting alittle tired of this, after all we are in TX. This morning I heard voices outside and was given the invitation to come take pictures of snow angels. Who could resist!!

Ben was the first to plop down in the driveway.

Here is his angel.
Of course Bobby had to be different.. face first he went. I think he just wanted to eat some snow!!

It really needed to be a little deeper, but they had fun. It did pack for some good snow balls.

The snow made our century plants a variegated variety!

We did get above freezing this afternoon, so the snow did not last. Currently we are back down to 26 and dropping. Later.....

February 3rd, House update

2011-02-03T23:10:00.007-06:00

We were pleasantly surprised today to see the stucco on the house. It was 18 degrees up in Georgetown today with a mighty wind blowing. Those poor workers that were outside were moving fast as they framed a house two doors down. We need some warmer weather to dry all of this so they can paint it. I don't know if the stonework goes on before or after they paint.

I was glad to see the garage door was on.
Inside the wall board was taped and spackled. looking good. I was concerned about the pipes freezing, but they reassured me that everything will be ok. This is looking towards the patio doors.

Out in the garage is a mighty pile of cupboards waiting to be installed. The little boxes on the right are tiles for the kitchen, entry and bathroom floors.

Behind the cupboard boxes are the inside doors in their frames. The box on the floor is the fold down ladder that goes in the ceiling in the garage.

This looks towards the front of the house. There is a pass through into the kitchen.

February 2nd Winter in Texas

2011-02-03T21:37:00.008-06:00

Winter in Texas is variable. On Monday it was 80 degrees, with doors and windows open. That night an abrupt turn around. The wind turned and came out of the north with a vengeance. We could feel it throughout the night as the 5th wheel tossed around a bit. Brett called at 6:30 am and wanted to know if we were going out, because there was a tree across the drive. Fortunately we were not and this was the scene when we looked up the drive.

It came down close to their back porch. Missed the metal shed and was a bout 5 ft from their van.
So we commandeered Fiona the Ford F350 for the job. First we put on about 3 layers of clothes. The wind was wicked and has not let up for 2 days now.

It was an old dead tree and the roots gave way to the buffetting 60 mph winds. As we have driven around the last 2 days, there are many more trees down throughout the area. In Burnet they lost metal roofs, fencing and anything that wasn't secured. Lots of trees on cars and houses.

And down the driveway it went to be dealt with on a warmer day.

The temperatures have plummeted to 18 with wind chill at 0 degrees. The next morning we had no water. Problem solved when we figured out it was the filter. Everything else had heat tape and insulation on it. Still cold today at 18 degrees. Tonight we are in a winter storm watch with freezing rain and snow expected. They are predicting temps up to 58 for Super Bowl Weekend. I know we can survive one more day. I hope those up north will survive their weeks of winter left. We have nothing to complain about.

Thursday Jan 27th, Wall Board is done

2011-01-29T00:14:00.007-06:00

Wow, what a difference. Another major step done.

The garage looks so different all enclosed. Now lets see.. cupboard on the left wall and either side of the window.. just dreaming.
Standing in the kitchen. This will be a nice place to watch the world go by. Already have invites to the knitting group and the pottery group and.....

Living room and dining room. We will be able to see beautiful sunrises from here and look out over the hill country.

The master bath looking at the shower. Lots of room..

The back patio and windows to the bedroom.

The pile of wall board scraps. Next week we hope to see the stucco and stone, and maybe the driveway and sidewalk done. Hope the weather cooperates... later...

First Inspection

2011-01-28T22:57:00.007-06:00

Arrived at 3 pm on Monday for the first inspection with the project boss. Explained to us about all the different wires and hoses. There are even special lines for termite control. He was also able to answer many of our questions and we are quite pleased at the quality of the work. The wall board is to be started tomorrow and he gave Bob permission to insulate the walls in the garage.

The house looks more complete with the windows and doors in.
Here is the garage with the stack of wall board waiting to be put on.

So our dear friend Bud came with all of his equipment. The sun is shining and off came the jackets to start the insulating. They had about 2 hours of daylight left to do it.

Bud did most of the stapling and Bob measured, cut and put in the bats of insulation.

Even the little areas over the garage door got filled. The job was finished in the 2 hours even with the cleanup and putting away of all the equipment etc. Then off we went to the city market for dinner. A job well done..

524 Has Doors and Windows

2011-01-20T16:32:00.009-06:00

I have to start out with a little detour. We went to the White Wing Golf Club for lunch. This is the preferred mode of transportation, so I think I need to pick one out.

I think this one will do. Where do you buy tickets for the lotto!!

First view of 524, all ready for the stucco and rock trim.

They sure run a lot of wires, water pipes and furnace ducts in the attic space. I would hate to be the furnace repair man.

The front door and the windows are in.

Looking at the plumbing in the kitchen area.

This is on the patio lookiing at the sliding glass door.

It looks nice with the windows in the kitchen and the garage.

One Week's Worth

2011-01-13T23:07:00.010-06:00

524 has been closed in. It has it's pretty blue wrapper on. The black in the front is where the rock will be going. Looking more and more like the house we picked. No shingles yet.

The white area in the front is covered in chicken wire for the stucco to go on. The rest of the blue will be covered like that also. The curved windows in the front are the kitchen area. We will have our small table there so we can watch the world go by out front.
The attic area above the living area is a network of ducts from the furnace (which is up there too) and from the air conditioner.

The shower in the master bath.. it has water in the base which is frozen!! I guess we aren't hooked up to the sewer yet, so they didn't drain it. it will be fun to have all that space.

The air return in the main hallway.

Our patio and the windows of the master bedroom. There are 2 sliding glass doors out onto the patio.

A view from the back corner out to the front. The neighbors are close.. hope they aren't noisy..

The garage with the white insulation board and chicken wiring.

The Next Step

2011-01-07T20:16:00.009-06:00

We had visited Salt Creek Lane 3 days ago and found the preliminary framing done. I forgot our camera, so didn't get pictures of it. So we came up today and wow, the framing is done and the roof boards are on.

This is looking at the front entryway.
This is the stone to be used for trim around the front.

Looking into the garage.

Again in the garage which shows the spot for the hot water tank and the service panel.

Looking up into the rafters. Looks like a lot of wood. Some of it is stamped "Made in Canada".

Looking back into the house from the master bedroom.

The south wall with the service panel and the connection for natural gas. This is making it feel like it is really happening. See that wonderful sunshine. It was 72 degrees today. We had lunch with Bud Moore & Mary Sallet. Mary made a quiche with smoked salmon, mushrooms and kale. Oh so good. The salad of cucumbers, sweet onion and tomatoes was excellent also. They have been giving us such great information about Sun City. I think they are great mentors to this new life style. We have such wonderful friends. I can't wait to see what next week brings. Later.....

Bobby's Birthday

2011-01-03T14:06:00.008-06:00

Bobby is now 8 after much celebrating. His first party was at school before the Christmas break since his birthday is during that break. Then after New Year's the family had a party. His big present was a new bike. His quote was " The good thing is a brand new bike that is all mine and not a hand me down".

Daddy and Bobby adjusting the new bike and putting everything together.
He also has a new bell that he can ring as he rides. The new bike helmet was from Grandma and Pop.

Getting ready to head down the hill. He rides well.

We had dinner at Chili's (his choice) and then back to the house where he opened cards and enjoyed a cupcake (minus the frosting) and some ice cream.

He enjoys a funny card from Pop.

Talk about smoke!!!

Here is one without the smoke. Happy 8th Birthday Bobby..

Happy New Year and Progress

2011-01-03T12:37:00.001-06:00

As we enter this new year and look forward to new happenings, we of course are anticipating our new home. We will try not to bore you with our repetitious pictures and try to keep it interesting.

This is the prep work for pouring the slab. All the utility lines and sewer etc will be in cement.

Another shot of the grid that they lay on the fill dumped into the framework.

The boards are off the slab and the lumber is dumped in front of 524 Salt Creek Lane.

Here is the slab with the utilities sticking up.

At the back are two piles of prefab. The first one is the walls and the second one is the trusses for the roof.

A little closer shot of the trusses.

There are red lines on the cement where the walls will be put. Notice the dump truck in the background putting fill in for the house next door. The utilities here are for the master bath.

Just a tease.. this is what it will look like when the framing is done. This is the entry way and kitchen windows. This is the house next door.. 522. Hopefully we will see the same at 524 this week. Stay tuned for more....

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T14:58:00.001-06:00

Another Christmas is about to come to an end. More memories made, eating too much of the wrong things. Trying to be mindful of carb counts for a little boy. I have to relook at the old recipes and see if I can come up with a nutrient statement. Learning new games and adapting things to make it work.

Grandma's pie pan makes a great arena for a new game. Can't spell or pronounce the name, but it is whirling discs that battle each other. Last disc up wins.

Christmas eve dinner on Great Grandma's china. Great ham along with scalloped potatoes, scalloped corn and broccoli. Yum

The Brett Logan's tree on Christmas morning.

Ripping off the wrappings on Uncle Mark's present.

Thanks Uncle Mark. Oh what fun. Bobby is also holding an animal pillow he got. Lots of electronic games under this tree also, so we know what they will be doing all afternoon.

Paula got an electric lap robe... good for today. The pink on her lap is a new t shirt.

Brett with his new t shirt. "Let me just drop everything and work on your problem."

Mitts from Canada!! Yeah, we needed them today.

Bob's new "kilt". Would you believe it is a beach towel!! He says he will wear it when he does the vacuuming. Well enough said. We are thankful for our presents and our time together. Most of all we are thankful for the reason for the season. Merry CHRISTmas to all our family, friends and blog followers. May you make Christ part of your life as you enter into this New Year.

More Progress at 524

2010-12-22T22:24:00.001-06:00

Today we went to Sun City to visit our friends, Bud & Mary Moore. After a wonderful lunch, we all went over to see our lot. Well surprise, surprise. The cement pad was poured today. It wasn't supposed to happen till next week. Our house number will be 524 and you can see it spray painted on the corner timber.

This is the garage entrance where the 524 is printed.
Then a little further over is the entry way. You can see where the corner window of the kitchen eating area will be.

At the back you can see the patio area marked off.

This is the other back corner where the master bedroom is located. What is even more exciting is the progress of the houses across the street. Their framing is almost done and last week it was just a slab. So what will we see next week? ... later.

December through the window

2010-12-20T21:59:00.000-06:00

It seems we spend a lot of time indoors during the cooler months. So we set up a viewing station for the birds that frequent the back yard. For those who own a Montana RV, there was this round turntable in the kitchen that was kind of useless. Most of us took it out and we have had it stored. Well folks, it makes a wonderful bird bath and is portable, so you can take it with you wherever you travel. The birds and squirrels love it.

We have about 4 blue jays that make regular visits.
The jay is trying to figure out how to get into the squirrel feeder.

There are 2 pair of Cardinals that visit us regularly too. They don't sit for very long, making it hard to take a picture. They are also very modest when they bathe as they hide behind the rock.

Not so with this group.. let's have a little synchronized swimming.

Mr Squirrel likes it that Bob took the jar away.. makes for easier feeding.

Two of the jays in flight and headed for the feeder.
It is a very active back yard as long as they don't know we are watching.

Christmas in Tana (5th wheel)

2010-12-17T23:18:00.000-06:00

Just to give you a little taste of what we can do in a 5th wheel. Of course we have to be stationary and not travelling during this time. We started with an evergreen swag with white lights on the moulding above the entertainment slide out. The first and second pictures show the angels and glass star ornaments that we hang on it.

This picture shows how it drapes over the moulding and how the angels hang on it.

We have several santas and snowmen which sit on top of the window valances.

Here are our stockings hanging on the mantel over the fireplace. Also 2 very small nativity sets.

Another snowman hanging from a door handle.

Here is our little tree with all the small ornaments I could find. The tree skirt is one I made in the 80's. It is a rug hand hooked.. like stained glass

Our tree top angel is someone's creation with a shell body, bead head and gauze covered wire wings.

This santa is rather unique. It is made out of driftwood from Orcas Island, WA.

A little memory of Washington. A State Ferry.

We also have some Texas bluebonnets.

This tea cup ornament reminds me of all the special tea parties we have had with special friends and relatives.

Of course the tree would not be complete without some of Bob's trains. Next year we will be able to have one (HO gauge) that will run around the tree.

Work has begun on 524

2010-12-13T23:21:00.000-06:00

Finally we see some progress. They were to break ground on the 9th and when we arrived today we found the machinery ditching for the utility lines etc.

This is looking towards the back of the house and the view we will have from the patio.

This is looking from the back to the front. There are a lot of new houses in this area in different stages of being finished. It gives us an idea of what it will be like in the near future.

This is looking from the side. We are very close to the house next door.

This is the slab next door and what ours will look like in a couple of weeks. Somehow it doesn't look very big. But it will be 3 times the size of what we are living in now.

So that is what is happening for this week. Stay tuned for next week's progress report.

New House

2010-11-07T18:57:00.001-06:00

It has been awhile since I posted before. We are now back in TX and have made a major decision. We have bought a lot in Sun City, TX (Georgetown) and will be building a new home. We looked at many resales and the new house won. We are pleased with our decision. So dear friends here is the next part of our journey.

This is our lot... exciting isn't it. We do have a view of a little bit of the hill country. This what we will see from our patio and living room.
This is the show house and what ours will look like when finished.

The floor plan.. just flip it over in your mind with the garage on the right. It is 1393 square feet. A big change from 400 that we live in right now.

The color of our cupboards.

From left to right.. carpet, floor tile and countertop and backsplash tile. The floor tile will be in the bathrooms, kitchen, entry way and the carpet in the bedrooms, living and dining room.

The carpet and floor tile together. So there is the first step. We are waiting on permits so we can get a start date and a closing date. Tentatively scheduled for a March move in. More later!

June 2, 2010 High Tea with Special Friends

2010-06-21T19:36:00.000-05:00

On our way back from Copalis we stopped for a few days in Elma. From there we were able to head out to visit people in the Olympia area. We made our way to Lacey and Lake St. Claire where our dear friends the Comers live. The sun was shining and it promised to be a wonderful day.

On the deck with Anne Comer.
Awaiting us was a beautiful High Tea. Note the cucumber slices with smoked salmon pate. Also the toast rounds with salmon pate and cucumber decor. Along with fruit, cookies etc. Please also note the english bone china tea cups. Haven't had the pleasure for awhile, as mine are all packed away.

Forget me not tea pot with lemon wedges at the side.

Here we are the four of us. Myrna, Bob, Don and Anne. We have known the Comers and their extended families for almost 55 yrs. Don and Anne were missionaries in British Columbia when I was a teenager. Don was also an accomplished mountain climber and still tells a good story with a wonderful sense of humour.

Enjoying the sunshine and being outdoors amongst the trees and flowers.

Anne has many pots on her deck with a variety of flowers. This is one of them. They looked a little water logged from all the rain we have been having.

This pot contained her pride and joy... a cat plant!!!

Brenda, daughter #3, was our server extraordinaire. She made our tea and served all the wonderful goodies. What a fun time catching up on everyone's family. We also enjoyed our first skype experience. We called Gayle (daughter #2) to wish her happy birthday. We may have to look into getting that on our computer if we keep up this travelling. Thanks again Comer's for a wonderful day.

Copalis Beach

2010-06-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

On Memorial Day Weekend we find ourselves going to Copalis Beach to camp out with friends & family. We have been doing this for approx 7 yrs. There can be anywhere from 10 to 30 of us there for the weekend. This yr. with the weather forecast (rain), illness, etc. our number was 10 (5 rigs). One friend came with his 2 kids for one night. When we arrived on Thursday, our neighbors Patti and Terry, invited us to dinner. It was yummy and then 4 others came for cake and ice cream. This was the beginning of the eating experience. As you will see, we eat well. But what can you expect with 7 cooks out of the 10 people here. When you add a very wet weekend, what else is there to do... socialize, which leads to games and eating.

The first night of potluck. All of this came out of 5 rigs.

Parmeson chicken, ham, Pork roast with peach sauce, fruit salad, asparagus, mac n cheese, rice hamburger dish, Tx white sheet cake, brownies, strawberry cream pie, cookies.

Saturday night is spagetti night. Bob & Lorraine Coleman did the sauce from scratch complete with a secret dry ingredient. Oh my..

Spagetti & meat balls, salad, pea salad, homemade garlic bread, brownies, lemon cake. I am sure there was more. Just can't remember.

This was our brief sunny period after dinner. Frank and Bob were wearing their Cubs hats. Just had to get the Cub twins with the shadow evidence in the back ground.

The Colemans, Smileys and Myrna set up Mexican Train outside. We lasted about 5 rounds and then moved inside as it was getting so cold. I think Patti was the winner on this game.

Stan, Bev, Frank and Carolyn were headed to the beach for a walk. We actually had a campfire that night. The only night it didn't rain.

Sunday found us in the clubhouse for another round of Mexican Train.

Left over spagetti, roast beef with gravy, potatoes, green salad, chicken, carrots, sausages, scalloped corn, brownies, lemon cake. I am sure I missed something. So now you know what we do well!!! EAT.... It is the friendship and the fun times that we remember the most.

Stan started us on the question "When did you first meet as a couple?" Some interesting stories came forth with much laughter. We are blessed by our friendships. This group contains friends we have known since we were teenagers, family and new friends (5 yrs). All very special in their own way.

We are now off to Elma, WA to visit friends and relatives. It is still raining... later....

Quil Ceda Elementary Outdoor Education

2010-05-29T17:18:00.000-05:00

Quilceda Elementary 4th and 5th graders move in for 2 1/2 days for outdoor education. Through the school year they have to earn points for good behavior etc and if they get 3 demerits, they can't come. They have classes on beading, canoeing, archery, outdoor games etc. Then when they come for meals, we serve the 4th graders first, then the 5th graders. There are 40 high school counselors, 40 parents and 9 teachers. The rest are kids. We served from 275 to 304 people per meal. There were drop ins each day which made the count rise for lunch. Mealtime was organized chaos!!! It was also important that we have the meals ready on time as they had a tight schedule.

This was the applecrisp going into the convection ovens for day 2 lunch. We had to plan all baking around the meal prep. Somehow we had enough pans for each day. 11 trays of cookies, 6 pans of apple crisp, 12 trays of cinnamon rolls, 5 large boneless hams (45# total), 300 hamburger patties, 40# of ground turkey, 10 flats of strawberries.... I think you get the picture.
This is Jane and Penny. Penny is in charge of the Dining Hall and ordering food. She keeps us on the straight and narrow and our budget under control. She is amazing.

A lot of our work was prep work. Jim & Bob are slicing tomatoes for the hamburgers. Every piece of fruit, tomatoes, carrots etc has to be washed and then sliced, shredded or chopped. Salads to be made and fruit portions to be sliced. Two trays for each side. 8 gal of milk per meal.

Here is Jane at the washing station for the veggies and fruits. We were blessed with excellent team mates. Everyone helped each other.

Jared and Tara were our pots & pans "dish pigs". They are also the cooks for the next group coming into camp. Here they are going over their order sheets with Penny. Their's is a specialized menu for vegetarians.

Here is a food line. It is hard to get a picture of the whole set up. This is the beverage station and the end of the line. They usually start with fruit or salad, then the main entree like hamburgers and sweet potato fries, all the condiments, cookies, watermelon and beverage.

Getting up at 4:30 am, we were blessed to see a gorgeous sunrise.

It comes up over Mt Baker and the Chuckanut mountains. God's blessing on the day.

Different jobs at the campgrounds.

2010-05-29T02:07:00.000-05:00

Our main job here at the campgrounds is to keep 40 acres of grass mowed. This is me on the little mower that I do the RV park with. We also try to use it around the cabins, as it picks up the grass so they don't track it in the different buildings.
This is Bob on the big John Deere. It is used on the bigger areas, like the playing field, trails, parking lot and other areas..

Last year I put on 150 mattress covers and this year we put on another 150. A two stage job when you are a shorty. Pull it all onto the top half and then..

... sit the mattress up and pull it down the rest of the way.

Then there are the water line leaks. This one was the result of the buses or trucks that ran over this connection. Later on we had a septic line problem causing a back up into one of the main restrooms. What a mess that was. Never a dull moment.

Another one of my duties... help put away the grocery orders for the camps. There are 2 trucks that come once a week and bring produce, breads, canned goods, freezer goods. I get to help check the list and make sure we got everything and that everything is acceptable. Penny does the walk in cooler and frozen goods. I do the pantry and cleaning products (toilet paper, towels, soap, etc)

The latest job was as cook for one of the groups. This is apple crisp for 275 people. They are ready for the oven. It is unreal the amount of food we went through. Who knows what else is around the corner. But there will always be grass to mow.

The Painter's Final Products

2010-05-29T01:21:00.000-05:00

This painting is quite detailed and is to be used for a Bainbridge Island tour event. The middle will have a map in it. She is even going to make note cards from this. Note the ferry boats, mountain and even a slug on the tap. Very detailed work.
This picture doesn't do justice to this water color. The deep hues of this flower were exquisite.

I love different types of doors, so this one caught my eye. It makes you want to open the door and see what is on the other side.

This shows a variety of the paintings done. Some very modernistic.

I love this one. I could title it the Wragge boys. (my cousin's boys). Another week at the campground comes to an end.

Beginning of the NW Water Color Society week

2010-05-20T00:32:00.000-05:00

For the next 4 days, the water color painters have taken over the campground. They set up the tables in the dining hall so there are two people to a table. They arrange their painting area and start to work on some wonderful paintings. Today they literally blew in with the wind and rain. They were greeted by a dessert buffet for their evening snack. It sure doesn't look like the camping food we usually get.
Crackers with brie cheese, another assorted cheese plate, mixed nuts, butter tarts & lemon tarts.

Veggie plate, fruit plates and chocolate dipped strawberries. They were so good.

This iris arrangement was in the center of the table. Aren't they gorgeous.

Patti is the head cook for the next 4 days and has 3 helpers. I think she does a lot of the baking ahead of time. She is a hard act to follow.

Flora, Fauna and Wild Things on Samish

2010-05-13T23:27:00.000-05:00

The continual battle for food goes on from sunup to sundown. They are so pretty when the sun reflects on their colors. The left is a rust colored rufous hummingbird. On the right is a green one.
At the bottom of the hill by the burn pile you look out to the east over the commercial oyster beds.

To the west is a view of Freestad Lake. It is a man made lake dug out by Sig Freestad so the campers could swim without waiting for the tide to come in. It is a salt water lake. Right now we have a problem with jelly fish, which unfortunately sting when disturbed.

A salmon berry blossom.

Wild honeysuckle. The humming birds love this.

Part of the trees on the bluff. This tree has the most beautiful rust colored leaves.

If you can make it out, it is a humming bird nest. It is attached to a stem of Oregon Grape. I didn't get to see the momma on the nest. Any sound and they are out of there.

Down by the grass dumping pile, I found 3 peacocks or peahens. They were not disturbed by me at all. Just gave me the once over and went on their merry way. This is very near the Blue Heron Rookery. We call it the white forest. Will have to get some pictures of them in the future and also of the bald eagles that fly over. More later....

May 13th The Grass keeps Growing

2010-05-13T22:17:00.000-05:00

This was part of our afternoon. The winds this winter blew alot of branches off the trees. They had to be picked up before we mowed.
This was the beginning of the 2nd load. Not bad for an old lady.

Then I got to drive while Bob picked up for awhile. I am starting to learn how to back this thing up !!

Then it was off to mowing... Myrna did the RV park for the 2nd time. This grass grows fast and it hasn't even rained since we arrived.

Bob got the big mower to do the fields below the RV park.

This is inside the dining hall . The dish line where the dishes are washed and sanitized. This is our dear friend Patti. She wears these wonderful hats, because she and fluorescent lights don't get along. I think the purple one is her favorite. She also does the baking for this group. Yesterday it was brownies, today cookies at lunch and apple cake for dinner. Tomorrow it will be snickerdoodles for their lunch.

This is the food line where they are dishing up salad, spaghetti and meat balls, rosemary rolls and there is that apple cake. The students help with the serving. That is the end of another long day.

May 8th on to Samish Island

2010-05-13T00:34:00.000-05:00

Well our last day on the road for awhile. The temps ranged from 51 degrees to 70. A very pleasant day. The diesel was 3.34 in Tacoma. Back on interstate 205 around Portland and onto I 5 for the rest of the trip. We came on an accident in the south bound lanes. It was a small suv towing a travel trailer. I can only assume they didn't have sway bars and it may have been too much trailer for the tow vehicle. The trailer was on it's side and the suv was upside down pointing the wrong way up the road. Both vehicles were totaled. I only hope that no one was seriously hurt. It didn't look too promising.

As we were driving along, we saw more and more scotch broom in blossom. The picture is a little out of focus as I was taking it out of the side window. It is a sure sign of spring well on its way.
I love this view. We crested over the hill and descended into the Skagit Valley. We are home. We have lived in the Skagit Valley off and on for 25 years. It has a special place in our hearts. We arrived at Samish Island and unhooked the 5th wheel after 2700 miles.

As we were setting up, we were getting dive bombed by this little critter. So first thing, the hummingbird feeder was set up. We are constantly entertained by lots of hummers. We found a nest in the woods, so I will return with the camera and hope for a good picture. Then we looked up and an eagle flew over. There are lots of blue herons in the bay and the gold finches have arrived along with the tree and barn swallows. I love those swallows as they eat lots of mosquitoes.

The trees are still in bloom here. Lots of pink dogwood. This one happens to be in the church yard.

Also lots of rhododendrons of all colors. We ended our day by having dinner with our friends Lee and Jean. It was great and Jean makes the best pies.

We surprised everyone by arriving earlier than planned. Someone had mowed our site and we were given this planter to have by our door.

Here is a close up of the sign and frog pick. The flower twirls with the wind. We were warmly welcomed by many of our friends. The days ahead will be busy, so the posts will be hit and miss. I will at least try to give you a taste of what we are doing. It is good to be working and giving back to something we dearly love. The camping program for the Community of Christ.

May 7th on to Tualitin, OR

2010-05-11T00:26:00.000-05:00

Well this wasn't our destination for today, we actually were going to stop in Eugene or Salem. But you know when you get closer to your final destination, it makes you push on a little harder. By this time we were getting road weary and ready to get to Samish and stay put for a spell.

We started out at 43 degrees and ended up the day at 70 degrees. It was beautiful.

The white line on the road can get pretty monotonous. However the scenery was becoming more beautiful. The wildflowers consisted of purple lupine, california poppy, japanese iris in yellow and purple and queen anne's lace. The trees were getting taller. Huge Douglas Fir, cedar, alder, dogwoodand some azaleas and rhododendrons.
The rivers were becoming clearer and as we wound around the mountains there were rushing streams. Lots of ups and downs at the beginning of this day. We climbed to different summits only to come down (6% ) grades and then climb again. This happened all the way to Roseburg. We arrived about 3:30 pm at the Portland RV Park. What a lovely spot. All paved roads and sites. Free cable and wifi.

Lots of rhododendrons in bloom or ready to bloom. The nature trail takes you right down by the river.

This was our site. Mostly pull throughs and long enough you can stay hooked up. We managed to stay hooked up for the whole trip.

I love these exit signs with the gentle reminders. People have forgotten these, even their spouses.
The diesel god wasn't smiling today. $3.26/gal.

May 6th on to Weed, CA

2010-05-10T01:02:00.000-05:00

We started this day with the winds returning. It was sunny however. 55 degrees. California is combination of many different environments. From the desert to the cities to the mountains and the valleys. There are many orchards of different varieties of fruit and different nuts . One area was mile after mile of rice fields. Some were flooded and others were in the process of being planted. Then there are vineyards and more dairies. Don't believe those ads about the contented cows grazing on fields of grass. Most of the dairies are like feed lots with huge herds. These cows are probably milked 3 times a day. It also produces a smell that is indescribable.
Part of the RV experience is picking a gas station in which you can manouver 53 ft of truck and fifth wheel. Also the canopy needs to be 14 ft high. So many times we stop at truck stops and fill up in the truck lanes. If you happen to stop at a Flying J, you can use the RV lanes. Sometimes you have to wait your turn. We have learned lots of tricks on how to use the truck lanes.

Just for fun, here are the prices. If you have a Flying J card, you get the cash price plus 1cent a gallon discount. Needless to say, we have had the card for several years.

Back on the road and we are treated to masses of yellow daisy looking flowers.

Here is the sighting of a logging truck. We must be getting closer to the mountains.

Lake Shasta is so beautiful. When we went south last October the lake was down many feet and lots of red dirt was showing. Now it is full and that wonderful turquoise color. This picture is just one of the many cove areas.

Up into the Siskyou mountains and we passed Castle Crag Rocks. Castle Crags is a dramatic well known feature in Northern California. It is made up of granite bodies that were carved out by the many glaciers during the Pleistocene period. The Castle Dome is a popular trail destination. There is also a state park here.

We arrived at Friendly RV Park in Weed, CA. Brett always teases us about getting high in Weed. Well we were high. About 3100 ft!! This is the view we had out our back window. Mt Shasta in all her glory. We never tire of that scene. We also saw our first dogwood in bloom and some red bud trees. The wind had died down by now and it was a cool 59 degrees.

May 5th on to Patterson, CA

2010-05-10T00:27:00.000-05:00

We left Indio on another very sunny day. The wind farms along the interstate look like they have expanded. Sorry no pictures. There are large ones, small ones, 3 blades and 2 blades. Sure hope it is making a dent in the electricity consumption. Then we started seeing more flowers. These are some of the ice plants that are along the 210 corridor. I love spring and early summer for the color that you see.
Also seen was the not so lovely LA smog. This sort of shows it. It seems like it is getting worse instead of better.

But on the brighter side are the fields of california poppies. They make this beautiful splash of orange on the hillside.

To me it looks like God did a velvet painting on the hillside. These are blue and purple lupine. To the texans they are blue bonnets. The other part of our drive today was on very rough roads. So I won't complain about all the road work going on. To me it means there are more people being employed. This was our longest day but we arrived at the Kit Fox RV Park around 4 pm. Diesel today was 3.40 and 3.26. The diesel gods were frowning.

May 4, 2010 to Indio, CA

2010-05-07T23:04:00.000-05:00

Palm trees. We are definitely in a different part of the country. It was 51 degrees when we started out. A little brisk, but we would end the day at 99.7 degrees. Thank heaven for air conditioners. It was another beautiful day and minimal wind. Even the diesel gods were looking on us kindly. $3.04. Off we go back out into the desert. We travelled down I8 to the Butterfield cutoff to hwy 85, which brings us out on the west side of Phoenix. If you have ever travelled through Phoenix on I10, you will do anything to not travel it again.

Here is the riddle for today... what is it? (answer later).

After travelling through Quartzite, we knew we were approaching California. OK quick inventory of what fruit we had aboard. All they were interested in were, oranges and firewood. They were also giving us the once over but we didn't have to pull over to be inspected. Yeah!!

There you have it, we are in California. Still some desert but more and more palm trees and other wonderful vegetation. We drove to Jefferson St in Indio to the Indian Wells RV Park. Another Passport America park. We have stayed here several times as it is well maintained and clean. They even pick up your garbage and recycle if you put it by the end of your driveway in the morning. Wish we could have stayed longer as we love this area. Besides it isn't too far to Mark's place. We also had some drop in visitors, Ron and Rose Helmick from the Montana Owner's Club. We met them at the Spring Rally. It was neat that they took the time to look us up. We will try to spend a little longer next time and hope they are in the same area too.

This is a century plant blooming near the entrance to the park. The blossoms weren't open yet, but that stem had to be 25 to 30 ft tall. When the stalk first starts out of the plant, it looks like a huge asparagus stalk. Century plants bloom only once and then they die. It is quite a display.

Answer to the riddle: We followed a truck that was filled with green chop. Bits of it were flying off and one piece of grass wrapped around the antenna. It stayed there for quite awhile.

May 3rd on to Casa Grande

2010-05-07T00:24:00.000-05:00

We woke to sunshine and no wind. It was glorious. We headed out down I10. One thing we noticed as we drove were the contrasts in the scenery. Here you can see the desert in between the mountains in the distance and the green shrubs and cactus in the foreground.
We saw this sign several times in the next few days. Glad there was no wind and we sailed right through. One thing we noticed were all the closed rest stops. Another change with the economy.

It wasn't long and we entered Arizona. The scenery stayed about the same as we rolled along. There were even more rest stops closed in AZ. Some of them appeared to have been that way for a long time.

However, the rest stop at Texas Canyon was not closed.

These were at a Flying J. You see more and more of these flowers all the way into Calif. The temps today ranged from 40 deg to 88 degrees. The diesel prices ranged from 3.04 to 3.17. Also Arizona does not recognize daylight savings, so we are on Pacific time even though we are in the mountain time zone. We tried out a new park in Casa Grande, which is a Passport America park. It is called Sunscape RV Resort. It is about 7 miles east of I10, but a very nice park and it only cost 13.50. You do have to call ahead for availability (9am to 12).

May 2nd, day two

2010-05-05T00:21:00.000-05:00

The blooming Yucca greeted us as we headed out that second day. There were beautiful white clouds in the sky.

We stopped at the welcome center as we entered New Mexico. In all the trips we have made west on I 10, this is the first time we have stopped. It is beautiful.

Just outside the welcome center is this fountain and that restful sound of the water. Nothing like water therapy on a road trip.

Of course there is the everpresent warning signs. Haven't seen any rattlesnakes and hope to never see any.

Some interesting history of this area.

I always love seeing these markers about the Butterfield Overland Mail Co. My mother was a Butterfield and way back we can find a connection to these Butterfields.

Of course the ever present cactus, which is in full bloom right now. The desert is looking her best.

As the day progressed, the wind got worse. Our mpgs kept going down.. 7.9 mpg was the bottom and the truck was gulping the diesel. Our planned stop for fuel was quickly changed. We barely made it to a little isolated fuel station. Our 36 gal tank took 37 gal. We made it to Deming and set up the Monty for the night. The wind got worse and we were rockin and rolling. We had some rain and then more wind. It finally calmed down for the night and we slept well.

Heading West

2010-05-02T20:51:00.000-05:00

Day 1, Garmin on and working..
This looks like the right highway through Austin, TX. Love the lack of traffic.

The wildflowers are still putting on a show. The bluebonnets however have finished their show.

RV park for the night. Ft. Stockton RV Park which used to be a KOA. Still a little pricey, but good distance for our first day. This flowering bush had yellow flowers with long red stamens. The birds loved it. I had fun watching as they fed on either the nectar or the bugs caught down inside. It was a long day, but good to be back on the road again.

August 2008

2009-01-01T14:22:00.000-06:00

August was another very HOT month. In spite of that we managed to get some things done. The garden is completely gone...just dried up. Water is too precious and expensive to keep watering it. We managed to keep some plants alive by using the water coming off the a/c.

Brett has been working on an old VW Bug he hauled out of a field. He also hauled out a second one that he used for parts. So the F350 got a run when they hauled what was left to the metal recyclers. At least he got some money out of it to apply towards fixing up the other bug.

Here is the load ready to go to the recyclers.

Our next big adventure was a pontoon boat ride on Lake Travis with the Austin Community of Christ. The boat goes out on the lake and then anchors so the kids can swim off the boat and the adults mainly watch the kids and eat!! We had to cut the trip short when a thunderstorm warning was given.
They slide down from the upper level and also jump off the boat. You can see what the adult activity entailed. Of course some of the adults went into the water also.

Bob got involved with the building committee for the church and the fund raising for a remodel of the main sanctuary, kitchen, restrooms and new entrance. The church has a community outreach project of feeding the homeless breakfast every Sunday morning before church. They have been doing it for 15 years. It is time to upgrade equipment etc so they can continue that ministry and make it easier on the workers. So Bob has been doing a lot of computer time and home visiting to organize the fund raising of $300,000 for the project. So every now and then he meets with the computer guru to help him on things that don't work quite right. Here is Larry (computer guru) and Bob (computer novice) hard at work. We were at Val and Sharron's having shrimp on the barbie!! It was yummy

The other big highlight of the month was a trip to Corpus Christi to participate in Gilbert (Paula's dad) and Naomi's wedding. We stay at a motel where we share a suite with the kids. Ben and Bobby love to get in the pool. We took them down with us and we got in ahead of mom and dad. So straight to the pool we went.

Bobby wasn't too sure of the pool, but he loved putting his feet in the hot tub.

Grandpa Gilbert with 2 of his grandsons before the wedding.

Naomi the bride, waiting for her entrance into the church.

Bobby at the reception.

Ben at the reception

Gilbert and Naomi

July 2008

2009-01-01T12:23:00.000-06:00

July 4th and a time of celebration. It was over 100 most of the month and no rain to speak of. Texas is in a very bad drought and water supplies get lower all the time. There is a constant burn ban. However this does not include burning on the grill.... So Brett fired up the barbie and we had a fun picnic in the house with a/c. Here is a picture of the barbecue supervisors.

Of course there is only one main chef...

Here is a close up of the burnt offerings. Chicken and brot's.

As evening came we went to Fisherman's Park by the Colorado River for fire works. Of course Pop introduced the boys to Kettle Corn. It was fun eating it out of the frisbee...

Fireworks over the Colorado was fantastic. They put on quite a show. It actually was better than setting off our own.

We had a visitor in the driveway who was trying to dig a hole in the gravel. Of course she hid her head when I tried to take a picture. It looked like this box turtle was trying to find a place for eggs?

We need to introduce you to our other friend...Inca. A chocolate lab that lives at the main house. She is Brett's dog. Grandma gets to walk her every day when they are not home. She helps me get the mail.

Our next celebration took us to Independence, MO where we shared in Nick and Merilou's 50th Wedding Anniversary.

While we were there we visited other friends like Hazel and Doyle. They took us on a tour of the new sanctuary at the Wood's Chapel Community of Christ.

Then to finish our stay in Independence we went to Verona's on Independence Square to celebrate Myrna's birthday with our friends Ken and Mary Joan.

July also brought a 2nd airconditioner for our 5th wheel. We couldn't do summer here without it. Myrna also had her 3rd surgery and that's all for this year!!! Hopefully no more ever.

June 2008

2009-01-01T10:29:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year everyone!! New Year resolution number 1 is to catch up the blog. My resolution is to get it caught up before we start a new adventure and this lodge starts travelling again. What a better way to start than to see the picture of Ben's sunflowers, so bright against the clouds and blue sky. We didn't measure but I am sure they were 6 ft high.

Maybe this one was 7 ft, we should have measured. The white pole is an extensio to the bean pole. The lima bean grew to the top of this extension also.
Bobby graduated from preschool at Montessori. An important day for him.

The best part was a party afterwards. He even wanted candles on his cupcake cake!!

Another special day was the wedding of our friends Gailyn and Evelyn. A beautiful and very meaningful service.

June was also the month of my second surgery. I received a pace maker to keep my heart beating at night at a regular rate. I also had a cardioversion to shock my heart from atrial fibrillation to normal sinus rhythm. They are still manipulating my heart rate etc with a computer and the a/f with medication. Welcome to the golden oldies!!

May 2008

2008-09-19T13:46:00.001-05:00

May was all about the garden, little league, and the end of school. It was also very warm, alot of days above 100.

Here is Ben standing in between the sunflowers he planted. Man they grow fast and they aren't through.

Here is some of the harvest and was it ever good. We are still eating pickled beets.
An overview of the garden. We also enjoyed some corn on the cob. The cobs were small but they still tasted good.
Ben and Bobby relaxing on the cement blocks.
A crape myrtle bush which has bloomed all summer.

Here are Bobby's carrots. They didn't get very big, but we had to pull them finally when the ground got so hot.
The beginnings of our memorial garden.

The last day of school and awards program.

Ben received 6 awards. For grades, perfect attendance etc.

Yesteryear in Bastrop

2008-09-19T13:02:00.001-05:00

In April, Bastrop celebrates Yester year. Like it's name, the people participating dress up in yesteryear garb. They also have lots of things for kids to do (and buy). Lots of booths with things!!! So Grandma and Pop took the boys to see what we could find.

There was a petting zoo with lots of baby animals and the boys got to feed them. Here is Bobby with a wallabee.

Ben found a Bison.
Ben also found a place to make a beaded necklace. So he did one for his Mom.
Of course we also witnessed a shoot out on the street. Boy was it loud. Bobby had his hands over his ears and kind of hid behind us.

This is one of the historic homes in Bastrop. We took a buggy ride around the downtown area to see several of the historic homes.

This is one of the wagons doing the tour. They also had people doing old time work, like the iron works making pots, horse shoes and utensils. It was a fun and warm day.

April 2008

2008-09-19T12:35:00.000-05:00

Well it is time to catch up on what we have been doing. Between doctor appts there was little league, the garden, Ben's first communion and his 8th birthday.

This is the start of our spring garden. The foreground shows squash, broccoli and then on back was beets, peas and corn off to the side. We enjoyed the harvest, but it just didn't last very long due to the hot weather and the drought.
Pop is planting carrot seeds with Bobby, Ben is looking on. Ben planted sunflowers and some bean seeds they started at school.

Here we are after Ben's first communion. A happy day for the family.

That looks like an 8 yr old grin about to dive into a cupcake.

Our Winter Home

2008-09-07T22:40:00.000-05:00

Our usual course of action is to spend the winter in Bastrop, TX and then the summer in the NW. This year we were going to go to the East coast and see some relatives in our journey through Florida and Maine. Our plans were changed after visiting the Dr. and having to deal with some medical issues. All that is behind us now and we ended up staying in Bastrop for the summer as well. We keep hearing the phrase... the weather is unusual. We broke heat records from 82 yrs ago and we hope we won't have to do this again any time soon. Now we know why we travel in the summer (up north). Anyway we thought you might like to see where we live. These pictures were taken in March, so the trees still look like winter.

This is what our place looks like from the front. There is a double car garage with a multipurpose room behind it and the garaport for the Montana on the side.

This is on the back corner of Brett & Paula's property.

This is the back end where we have room to sit in a couple of rockers!! That is a gardenia bush in the bottom left corner. When it blooms, the aroma is heavenly.

These are fire ant hills. We don't like them...

The big oak tree is in the front yard near the road. It is really gorgeous with all it's leaves.

A favorite climbing place for the boys.

This is the big house where Brett, Paula and the boys live.

Another shot of the 5th wheel.

Easter 2008

2008-06-05T19:36:00.000-05:00

Easter traditions, and one of them is the egg hunt. 40 yrs ago it was hard boiled eggs, now it is plastic eggs with treats or money inside. At least when you miss one, it doesn't rot after a week or two.

After Brett and Bob hid the eggs in the front yard... out the back door came the boys with their baskets.
The hunt was on.

Under the trees, up in the trees, in the tall grass etc. They were all found.

Ben spied another one and is on the run to get it.

Another tradition is Cascarones. They are blown eggs, dyed and filled with confetti. You smash them on someone's head for good luck. It started in Italy but has fast become popular in the south. Brett is smashing one on Bobby.

Ben is running away with confetti in his hair. Everyone got into the game till they were all gone. Then we went into the house for a wonderful dinner.

Pop and Bobby

2008-06-05T17:43:00.000-05:00

There is something about grandsons. I looked out the window and saw Bob and Bobby in the garden spot. A great discussion was going on.

Little did I know that a plan was in progress.
A train was being built.

Here is the final product. Pop is the passenger and Bobby is the engineer. That is the engine in his hand.

Bobby loves sticks. This one is a walking stick he propped up on the big tree.

More later....

Baseball and T Ball Tryouts in February

2008-04-06T21:15:00.001-05:00

The sport of choice this spring is T Ball and Baseball. Of course they have to try out first. So away we went, first to Bobby's T Ball field and then to Ben's field.

He knows how to hit that ball and can do it from either side. This is his first year and there is a big learning curve on how everything works.
Here he is in the field waiting to catch a ball.
Ben is playing coach pitch baseball. For this age group, they don't have the kids doing the pitching. The coach puts the ball in a machine that flings the ball at them. You never know where it is going to be, so keeping your eye on the ball is really important.
Here is Ben in the field. He has a pretty good throwing arm. After the tryouts they wait for a call to tell them what team they are on. Then they get their schedule. Ben seems to have 2 to 3 games a week and a practice night. Bobby has maybe one game a week plus practice. It has been a learning experience for us also. The rules are different for T Ball and Coach Pitched Baseball. Grandma and Pop are on a learning curve also.

An Adventure in Shopping in February

2008-04-06T20:41:00.000-05:00

Bobby's birthday is Dec 30th and we were not there for it. So in his birthday card was a coupon for a shopping trip with Grandma and Pop. I don't know who had more fun.

We started looking at Sears and saw this popular guitar game. He wasn't too enthused about this and we were grateful, as it is very expensive!!
Of course they have wonderful shopping carts. That is the coupon we made, well worn and slightly torn, in his hand.

When we hit Toys R Us, we had to visit the car ride. Funny thing we didn't have any quarters, but he didn't care. We must have looked at every toy in the boy's section and some of them twice. We must have had 2 or 3 in and out of the cart. But finally decided on a hot wheels car wash.

And what is a shopping trip without a stop at McDonalds. Pop and Bobby are having a very deep conversation.

Of course before we left we had to go to the playground. He is up there in the top somewhere.
Finally heading home and playing with the toy from the Happy Meal. For those from the NW, that is a Samish Island sweatshirt.

January 27, 2008 Another very special grandson

2008-01-27T22:27:00.000-06:00

What a great way to spend Sunday afternoon than to have the Grandsons come visit. Our 5 yr old grandson, Robert Daniel Nicholas Logan, full of mischief.

Coming down the driveway to Grandma and Pop's.
And right behind him is big brother Ben.
You can see the twinkle in his eye.
This is his serious side. They signed up for baseball and T ball today, so get ready for some fun shots in the future.

This is another way to spend Sunday... meditating to the sewer line!!! The line separated and when we dumped the tanks, we had running water down the hill. Please note, he is wearing vinyl gloves. Of course he has his helpers... one in a tree and one picking up sticks.
Here is the finished prep work, but he still had to shovel out more dirt to get the lines to come up etc. Not an easy fix, but doable.
Here is the other helper, daddy Brett, pulling up the one end to slip the pipe in etc.
The finished product. Testing will happen tomorrow!!!!

January 24th A very special grandson

2008-01-24T12:33:00.000-06:00

One of the pleasures of being here in Texas is going to your grandson's award ceremony. Especially when he is being honored. Our oldest grandson, Benjamin Lloyd Donaciano Logan.

This is second grade awards for perfect attendance in the last 9 weeks. There are 6 second grade classes.
Here is part of the group of perfect attendees. He is the one in the black harley t-shirt.

This is being congratulated on all A's. Are we ever proud. That is the principal shaking his hand. (check out the tie.. sponge bob square tie).

Here he is with the group of academic excellence.

January 14, 2008 near mile marker 303

2008-01-24T12:09:00.000-06:00

We headed out in good time to try and make it to Fredericksburg by late afternoon.

One of the slow downs, the border patrol inspection station. Everyone has to drive through for inspection. Which is just a quick visual. Then just after passing Sonora Bob saw rubber flying off a tire on his side.
This is the damage from the outside. What you can't see is the damage on the inside. Mangled up our galley drain handle and broke off some of the cover material.

The tire did not go flat, but the whole tread peeled off. Bob went back and picked up the tread and found a nail that had bent in between the tread and inner lining. Of course we didn't have a spare, so we had to have them bring out a tire. We had to pay for the tire, road service paid for the labor. No angel today. Needless to say we didn't reach our objective, we pulled into Junction KOA for the night. It was a nice park by the river .

This was our view out the side window.. the deer are eating at a feeder that the hunters put in the field. Lots of does and their babies.

The next day Tues, the 15th we pulled into Bastrop and set up for the next few months. We are glad to be in our winter home.

January 13 New Mexico

2008-01-24T10:59:00.000-06:00

Sunrise found us hooking up and getting ready to leave Benson in 26 degrees. We are headed to Van Horn, TX today and should arrive mid afternoon by leaving early.

This is about 7:30 a.m. as we head to the office to check out.
The view along I-10 as we travel east. I think this was in Texas Canyon.

At a rest stop in New Mexico, a typical desert planting. Everything was going well until we neared Las Cruces, NM. BAM!!!!!

The front tire on the passenger side blew after hitting some road debris.

If any of you are familiar with the area, we pulled over right near the correctional institute and the fairgrounds. As we were calling the Road Service, we heard gunshots. We had been put on hold and as we waited, we continued to hear the gunfire. We locked the doors and scrunched down a little. We observed a puff of dirt going up in the air every time we heard a shot and correctly assumed that it was target practice. It sure put my blood pressure up for awhile. Then an eighteen wheeler pulled off in front of us and this driver walked back to check on us. We told him we had already called road service and someone was on the way. He just kind of stayed around and offered to help change the tire. To make a long story short, we were glad he stayed. He was driving back to Florida after delivering a load of orange juice to Calif. He was ahead of schedule and he wanted to make sure we were ok before he left. He was an angel. He actually did most of the work when road service arrived. When I offered to give him something, he just said to pass it on to someone else. So he let me give him a hug and our gratitude.

We did make Van Horn but it was getting dark and fortunately we didn't have to unhook the truck.

Jan 6, Benson AZ

2008-01-17T22:02:00.001-06:00

On the 6th we drove to Benson, AZ.

On the way there we drove by this field of airplanes that are mothballed in the desert. You can tell it is a very cloudy day.
We stayed at the Saguaro SKP Coop. They have very nice sites. Very roomy and we were on the edge of the property, so this was the view out our window. The days were nice and the nights were cold. We were also treated to a variety of birds and a covy of quail that scurried by each day.
From the front of our site you could see the Dragoon Mountains. They are beautiful in the changing light during the day. We met our friend Vicki & Steve Reigle who are staying here. We managed to get a dinner in and a game of Mexican Train dominoes before Bob and I got sick. We picked up a gastrointestinal virus that laid us low for the rest of our time here. We found out that there were several people in the park that had the same thing.
Each lot is finished a little differently and this was our favorite casita. It gives them an extra room to spread out in and store things when they aren't there. Some of the guys have their workshop in there. There are many sights to see in this area, like Tombstone and the Chiricahua National Monument. So we will just have to come back another time.

Jan 2 The start of our trip back to Texas

2008-01-17T21:15:00.000-06:00

We left Castaic, CA and experienced the morning traffic in North LA as we headed east to Indio. We picked a short day so we could rest up for a night before heading on. We had a nice pull through in Indian Waters resort.

As we were relaxing, we observed a hot air balloon flying over. I have always loved to watch the balloons. They are having a hot air balloon festival the next weekend in Indio.
There it goes into the sunset.
The next day found us in Arizona and going through Quartzite. These are a few of the rigs boondocking in the desert. There will be thousands there through the month of January for the RV & Gem show. They have a huge flea market in town in several huge tents.
This is one of the areas nearer to town.

We spent 3 nights in Casa Grande at the Desert Shadows resort. Our friends Charlie & Nila McLeod were staying there also. So they took us to Harrah's Casino for a seafood buffet. Here is the cold bar with shrimp and king crab. There was also hot king crab, various shrimp dishes, clams etc. Also beef, ham and chicken. Nila had coupons so we got it for half price. It was great.
This was the dessert bar. There was also ice cream available. Diet? What diet?!!!

We were also given a $5 voucher to use in the machines and we played for awhile, but lost it. Nila managed to get $50 with hers. Some people are just lucky. We had a good time.

January 1, 2008 119th Rose Bowl Parade

2008-01-07T15:11:00.001-06:00

Up and at it at 4 am to catch the bus at 6 am. We were very grateful to be driven into the parade area. Talk about congestion. The sidewalks were 10 deep with people who had slept there several nights to save their place. Some had even had a campfire in the gutters of the street. We had to walk a couple of blocks to our grandstand. This parade route is about 5 miles long and I think we were at mile 4. The parade started at 8 a.m. and the first float arrived at our location at 9:15. I think we could have stayed in bed longer....

Here are the Jacobs and the Logans in the bleachers with about 3 layers of clothing. It was cold at the beginning but warmed up quickly. The bench in front of us didn't stay empty long.
Here you can see Colorado Street and some of the crowds.
I took a lot of pictures but will only show you the better ones. Don't forget to click on it if you want to see it larger to get the details.
Italian float
The rose in the middle of this float opened and closed.
The Year of the Rat
The Sweepstakes winner.. the Rain Bird float.

Check out the tail on the white peacock.

Kaiser Permanente float, Hawaiian theme. The dolphins moved up and down.
The palm trees have orchids trailing down from the fronds.

This guy must be 60 feet tall. In order to get under the overpasses they have to lower the whole body down.

This float depicted the olympics in China
The clusters at the back of the Beijing float represent fireworks.
Some of the SKP people worked on the LA Dodger float. They cut blue straw flowers to apply to the blue areas.
McDonald's float with cancer fighters and survivors on it.

The Egyptian float

The Lutheran Hour float with the manger scene.

Of course our favorite horses pulling the St. Louis float.
It depicted the Lewis & Clark journey west.

Lion's Club float
Valentine's Day
The middle tube rotated around as it travelled.

The Mexican float. Be sure to look at the man by the orange skirt. That is Raoul Rodriguez who designs most of the Fiesta floats (the prize winners) and he is carrying his blue parrot.

Special Delivery. This is one of the floats we saw in process.

City of Hope float.
New Mexico float.

This is where we ate at the Farmer's Market. We toured the area after the parade. Unfortunately most of the shops were closed.

December 31, Happy New Year

2008-01-07T14:51:00.000-06:00

The beginning of a New Year and what better way to start it, with new friends. We had a catered dinner and lots of laughs. We celebrated at 9 pm with New York as we had an early wake up the next morning (4am).

Jake Jacobs, Myrna, Don & Toni Mulert, Bob, Nancy Jacobs
Two of our HOP hosts, Jan Tenpenny and Brenda Keith
Jan & David Wilson from Livingston TX. They are members of our church and we hadn't met them before.
This is one way to get hair!!!
Happy New Year everyone and safe travels to all.

December 30, The Getty Center

2008-01-05T21:31:00.000-06:00

In 1983 the J. Paul Getty Trust purchased about 750 acres in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. The following year architect Richard Meier was chosen to design the Getty Center. He is famous for architectural Modernism and he wedded his signature style to more classical materials in order to express the Getty's roots in the past and belief in the future. The Getty Center opened to the public in Dec. 1997. We arrived there in our bus and parked in the parking garage, went up 1 level and boarded a tram. The tram takes you up the mountain, 3/4 mile at a top speed of 10mph to the center. The center is comprised of several levels and 11 buildings and numerous gardens. The gardens are modernistic in design and full of sculpture. The research institute has exhibitions, reading room and research library. One building is for the restaurant, cafe and snack bar on 3 different levels. We arrived on the arrival plaza.

The arrival plaza with a modernistic sculpture. The hill to the NW has a church on it and what looks like a convent or monastery.
There is downtown LA with smog.If it is clear you can even see the ocean from the other side of the complex.
The walkway leading down to the Central Garden.
Overlooking several levels below from one of the buildings.

At the bottom of the Central Garden, water cascades over a stepped stone wall into a reflecting pool with a maze of 400 azaleas. You can see some color developing on some of the plants.
The museum courtyard features a 120 foot linear fountain bordered on one side by a row of graceful Mexican cypress trees. The massive boulders are blue veined marble.

The current display in the buildings were Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Also displayed were paintings from Renaissance Rome by Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro. They also displayed tapestries, furniture etc from that period.

We had very little time and too much to see. One area of a building was given over to a hands on children's section. All in all a very interesting Center, but one that needs lots of time.

December 30, Bandfest

2008-01-05T20:29:00.000-06:00

Bandfest 2008 features the award-winning bands of the 2008 Rose Parade performing the field shows that made them famous. They have been doing this since 1969 in one format or another. This year they performed at the Robinson Field at PCC. There were 17 bands performing in 3 different performances. At all three the honor band played. The other bands were divided between the 3 times. We were privileged to hear the 2nd performance. As we went in we were handed a toy drum head and striker. They started by putting us through some drills of different drum patterns. I think it was to keep us busy while people were getting seated. Whatever, it was fun. I played a drum in high school and it brought back some memories.

Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band. They had to try out to get into this band and they were great. They opened all three performances.
This majorette led the honor band and she was marvelous. On the field show she was throwing 3 batons at the same time.
The bands did their performances on the field and then did a march in review. This is just a portion of the band. You can see the drum major off to the left.
These are the flag bearers.
These are the long trumpets in the honor band. All I can say is WOW! They are so precise in all their movements and the sound was out of this world. You can see the next band assembling onto the field.
Needham Broughton Hish School Band from Raleigh, North Carolina
This is their parade review.

Notice the drum covers. All the bands were sent these rose bowl drum covers to put on their drums.

Akashikita High School Green Band from Hyogo, Japan. These kids are awesome. They practice 4 hours a day when in school and 8 hours a day on weekends and vacation days. They were the smallest band, but made up for it with their huge smiles and precise drills.
Here they are in review... all waving and smiling.
Their flag bearers.

Dec 27th Equestfest

2008-01-02T23:30:00.000-06:00

On the edge of downtown Los Angeles is the Equestrian Center. People stable their horses here and are able to ride them around the perimeter as well as train them in jumping etc. The horses in the parade were stabled here and put on a program for the public Sat. before the parade. They performed drills, roping, trick riding etc. You could also tour the stables, meet the drivers and the horses. The Cowgirl Chicks from Texas performed.

The United States Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard was formed in 1967 and is the only mounted color guard in the Marine Corps. They presented the colors in a beautiful fashion.
California State Firefighter's Association present an antique fire wagon and the firefighters are dressed in period uniforms from around the world.
Well's Fargo Stage Coach
Arizona Mini Mystique is a miniature horse precision driving team. Eight drivers pulling two wheeled carts perform close order drills such as pinwheels, spins, suicide charges, and figure eight formations.

And of course the Budweiser clydesdales. Since 1933, the world famous, eight horse hitch has represented Budweiser. They stand 6 ft at the shoulders and weigh 2,000 lbs.
When this 8 horse hitch comes thundering into the ring, it makes the ground shudder.
Those beautiful white stockings are shampooed everyday. They have a team of 6 people for each horse. 3 for grooming and 3 for polishing harness. Even the dalmation standing on the wagon has brass harness on. This beautiful team is pulling the St Louis float in the parade.

Unhitched and relaxing.
Bob with one of the drivers and his friend. The main driver is from Manitoba and knew Gordon Church (Bob's great uncle). Gordon and his sons had the best Clydesdale hitch in Canada.

Olvera Street and El Pueblo De Los Angeles Historic Area

2008-01-02T21:41:00.000-06:00

These are the wonderful buses that transported us around Los Angeles and Pasadena for 3 days. We were grateful that we didn't have to do the driving. After the float decorating tour we had some time to spare before the Equestfest, so our driver took us to Olvera Street. It is where Los Angeles was established in 1781 in a pueblo. The ethnic background and heritage of the diverse groups who settled here and contributed to the city's development are evident.

Old Plaza Church (Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles) is the oldest church in the city. Completed in 1822 and it still serves an active parish.
There is a courtyard at the side of the church where parishioners gather and there are food vendors there. In the middle is this beautiful creche.
Opposite the church is the Old Plaza. It contains an ornate kiosk.
The census of 1871. If you click on it and enlarge it you may be able to read it.

There are several of these Moreton Bay fig trees around the plaza that were planted in the 1870's.
This beautiful creche is inside the kiosk in the plaza.

The fire wagon ready to go. The horses stalls are behind. The wagon sits on a circular turntable, so they can turn it around and it is ready to go.

City Hall seen from Olvera St. You may recognize it as the Daily Planet building in Superman or on Dragnet etc.
And then there is the homeless... there is someone sleeping under that cardboard.

Rose Parade Float Decorating

2007-12-29T22:21:00.000-06:00

This is the 119th Tournament of Roses. The theme for this parade is "Passport to the World's Celebrations". This post is very long with lots of pictures. It was hard to pick which ones to put in and which ones to leave out. This morning we toured two of the float building areas. One was a building which Phoenix Float builders use and the other was a huge tent, which the Fiesta Float builders use. The first pictures are of the Fiesta floats and out of the tent the prize winners usually come. The whole process begins as soon as the theme is chosen in January for the next parade. The process starts with the designers. The designs are drawn then approved by the sponser of that float. If it is approved (or they start over again), they start building the framework. They do test runs with the frame work to make sure it will fit and turn the corners, go under the overpasses etc. Everything that covers that frame has to be organic!! The white areas are coconut flakes, rice ground up and corn stalks that are white, pressed and cut out into patterns that are needed. Brown areas are kidney beans, coffee, peanut shells (ground up in coffee bean grinders), coconut husks etc. Some of the lips of animals are seaweed. If you click on the picture it will make it bigger and show more detail.

This is the Kaiser Permanente float..titled Aloha Festival. You can see the dolphins done in silver leaf, placed on one piece at a time. Then they cover in plastic so other things don't fall on it.
This is one of the spray of orchids that extend out from the outrigger canoe. They are able to put the orchids on now as they tolerate the cold weather better than the roses. The roses are put on last.

State of New Mexico "Passport to Our World and Beyond". Shows a space ship and green aliens. You can kind of make it out within the scaffolding.
This is the back side of the Rain Bird Float Titled "Preservation Celebration". It shows the ruins of an old temple. It celebrates India's rich heritage of weaving water, Earth's most precious resource, into the fabric of its cultural celebrations. It will have several water features on it that recycles from a 1500 gal tank. I am projecting that this float will be the sweepstakes winner.

"Celebrate the world through reading" by the city of Palmdale. His mortar board is covered in onion seed. the robe is made with poppy seed and black chives. The feathers in the front are corn husks that are ironed and cut in patterns, then individually laid to look like feathers. Around the eyes are pampas grass etc. Sugar pine cone petals are used on their legs.

Here are boxes of the seeds etc. They even cut ends off status flowers for different colors.
"On Track to the Future" by the City of Duarte/City of Hope. The kid riding on this float are all cancer survivors or patients.
"The Magic of Mardi Gras" by FTD. When you see orange on some of the floats, it is dehydrated carrots. One of these floats will have 100,000 roses on it.

A volunteer is showing one of the panels made with seeds and coconut. the boxes hold straw flowers.
It is hard to see, but in this area are 5 gal buckets of flowers everywhere. Some volunteers made the tubes with water and the cork on it that individual flowers will be placed in, then they are shoved into foam on the float.
More plants and flowers.

part of the mardigras float. It will have flowers all over it.
"Celebrating the Treasures of Egypt" by Cairo-Los Angeles Friendship Committee. That is King Ramses II and Queen Nofertari seated on the thrones.
The fan flower section on the egyptian float. These are inserted into green stems on the middle of the float.
"Special Delivery" sponsored by the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs. The brown flowers they are inserting are straw flowers.

"Festival of Lanterns - Illuminating the Way" sponsored by the city of Cerritos. It celebrates a diversity of cultures. These Tang Dynasty horses will be animated.
This is the front part of the Rain Bird float.
One of several tigers on the float.
This is the tail of a white peacock.

"A Celebration of Life - Dia de los Muertos" sponsored by Santa Fe Springs. This float is in two sections. It has depicted the Mexican day of the dead.

This is covered with different seads etc and individually placed on the bowl. Did you know that white glue will dry white if it is cold out? Then they have to take it apart and do it over again.
La Catrina, the female skeleton with the feathered hat.

Lion's Day with the United Nations sponsored by the Lion's club
We were on the upper level in this building and looking down on about 5 floats you can see here.

This is an Indian head dress on an indian lying down. "celebrating Our Rich Heritage" Sponsored by Farmer's insurance. When he is upright he is carrying a peace pipe.
"Happy Chinese New Year" The Year of the Rat, sponsored by the City of Alhambra.

Some of these floats are 17 ft high and some are 75 feet long.

Now we are anxious to see the finished floats.... later.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-29T21:35:00.001-06:00

We celebrated Christmas this year in No. Palm Springs with our oldest.. Mark and our grand dog, Gretchen. We don't get to see Mark very often, so this time spent together was very special.

This is their Christmas photo. They both look great!!
Since we are travelling, our tree is greenery with lights and ceramic angels. Just thought you might like to see how we decorate.

Over above Bob's desk is tinsel with multi color lights.

Gretchen did a good job of opening her own gift.

One hour later, the squeeker and stuffing is out of there....

End of the day and this is all that is left of the toy... 2 legs.
End of the day and everyone is tired.

Mark came for the weekend as he couldn't come on Christmas day. So we had Christmas dinner with the other residents of Two Springs Resort. It was different and we missed our other kids.. there is always next year.

Joshua Tree National Park

2007-12-28T22:27:00.000-06:00

Joshua Tree National Park covers 1,238 square miles. This California desert country contains striking granite formations and mountain ranges rising from flat valleys about 1,800 ft to 5,800 ft. at the mountain view points. It is a vast area and sometimes reminds you of what you think a moon scape should be. We will need to come back here to explore another time. We did manage to get a general feel for the area. There are several campgrounds, and that may be the way to take it in. However you need to be prepared to boon dock and we are not ready for that yet.

We started at the west entrance visitor's center. There is a film and information available there and well worth the stop.
Here is a grove of Joshua trees. Some are huge and bushy and others quite a solitary trunk. They had a fire through here several years back and a lot of the area is in a recovery mode.
Statuary at the visitor center. It reminded me of the bobbing bird that sat on a glass of water. Some of you will remember that from years past.
We saw several rock climbers as we drove through the area. Not sure how they do it!!

This is looking down from Keys View at 5300 ft. That wonderful cloud layer in the valley is pollution from LA. On clear days you can see all the way to the mountains in Baja.
There are 2 climbers on top of that rock pile.

Amazing how the trees live. This one fascinated me as the trunk is so twisted. The winds really blow through here.

The Joshua Tree has creamy white blooms in the spring.

Here is a thicker multi branch Joshua Tree.
This is an awesome world we live in.

Life in Coachella Valley

2007-12-20T00:07:00.000-06:00

We have spent the last 2 weeks in the Coachella Valley. It is the high desert.. humidity is low, the wind blows frequently (along with the sand), it is cool at night and gorgeous during the day.
As you come through the pass into the valley, you can see for miles on the left and right of Interstate 10 these huge windmills. They call them wind farms. They are different shapes and sizes and generate a lot of power.

At the bottom of the picture is Interstate 10 (any trucks?). You can see the same sight on the other side of the Interstate. Even on the top of the hills.
The first park we were in, The Indian Waters in Indio, there was this road runner that came every afternoon to a park model across the road. The lady would sit out on the porch and feed him. He would even hop up onto her steps looking for her if she wasn't out there. This park is right behind the Shields Date Farm. I am sure he hangs out under the date palms. Date shake anyone?

The snow has fallen in the higher elevations. You can see the snowline on the mountain to the south. It seems funny to see palm trees and snow in the same picture.
It was also a time to get together with some friends from the Montana Owner's Club. Next to Bob is Charlie and Nila who were staying in Indio before heading for Yuma. On the right is Toni and Dick. We had met them in Washington the year before at their home in the Mt Baker foothills. They were staying down in the Salton Sea area before heading to El Centro. We have met a lot of people in the Montana group as we travel and go to rallys. They are some of the best.

Sunrise in No Palm Springs. We are staying at the Two Springs Resort until after Christmas. It is a very relaxed atmosphere and we are enjoying being here. We are looking forward to having Mark with us this weekend and his dog Gretchen. We want to wish all our friends

Merry Christmas

& A Happy New Year!

December 4, The Glory of Christmas

2007-12-07T11:15:00.000-06:00

It was a glorious evening to get in the spirit of Christmas. The Glory of Christmas production, which lasts 1 1/2 hours, is not your run of the mill christmas show. It began in 1981 and is put on by volunteer cast and staff. It captures a small fragment of the time and emotions that may have been experienced that night in Bethlehem.

We were not allowed to take pictures during the performance, so the few I have were taken around that performance time. On our tour I took the pictures of the set, and when we first arrived here a performance was ending, so we were able to get the shots of the 3 magi. The afternoon performance was for the children. During the season they will give free shows to 12,000 children. Then we walked over to where the animals are kept and got the shots of the camels.

The production was really outstanding, from the opening notes to the finale. The orchestrations for the evening were performed by members of the London Symphony and Seattle Symphony orchestras. The costumes from the plain and simple villagers to the beautifully regal, colorful sparkling Magi. The Roman Centurians riding horseback down the center aisle, the Magi's camel caravan/entourage passing through twice. The bleating sheep and goats with the shepherds. The special effects from the thunder storm (complete with clouds), to the Bethlehem star, to the flying angels (sometimes 7 of them)

To the right side of the stage is a stone tower where the trumpeters played at the beginning and also King Herod and his court did their part from here. The balcony on the right and there is one on the other side was where the angels flew from(from the top of the balcony) and flew over the audience down on the main floor.
The center stage shows Bethlehem up top, on the left is the Inn and on the right is the cave where Jesus was born. Most of the action takes place in this area. You can see the raised center aisle where actors, dancers and the horses came onto the main stage.
This is the Inn and to the left are the hills where the shepherds were. They even had a bonfire. The Roman guards had lit torches.

You can see how elaborate the costumes are.

The magi rode in on these camels, the camels knelt during the presentation of the gifts. One of these decided he had knelt long enough and got up during the performance. You should have seen the people scatter. They soon had him down again.

Towards the end of the show this little shepherd boy came running down the center aisle, he wasn't very old, maybe 6 or 7. and he sang the song "What Can I Give Him". Oh my, did that bring down the house. It was all in all a magnificent performance.

As we left the performance we were greeted by this huge lit christmas tree. Their Christmas prayer is that this year you may discover the meaning of true joy. Joy in the midst of troubles, Joy in the face of disappointment. Joy in the wake of a troubled world, Then you will truly experience The Glory of Christmas. We add our prayers to theirs.

December 4th The Crystal Cathedral

2007-12-06T01:26:00.000-06:00

It was a two hour drive to Garden Grove from Menifee, through lots of traffic. Not my favorite thing to do. With excellent directions given on their website, we made it. Hard to believe that in this very busy city there is this oasis. When we are travelling and can't attend our own church, we quite often watch the "Hour of Power" from the Crystal Cathedral. It was a wonderful experience to see it up close and personal. The grounds are immaculate, the volunteers with smiles on their faces and very friendly. There is a sense of peace with a lot of activity. The original church was started in a drive in theatre. Robert Schuller and his wife Arvila started this church in the 1950's with a hope and a prayer. His message is based around the teachings of Christ, the power of positive thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

They bought an organ on their way to California and he preached from the roof of the projection/snack bar stand. Arvila played the organ. From there they came to the present property to build their first sanctuary and soon expanded to a second sanctuary. The parking lot was set up much like the drive in theatre, so people could park facing the church and could worship still in their cars if they so choose. He tells the story of seeing a green coupe in the middle of the drive in each Sunday. Before he could get down to meet them, it was always gone. One day he got a call to come visit a family and when he pulled up to the house, there was the green coupe. He found out the man had a severely disabled wife. Each Sunday he carries her to the car and drives to the drive in and there they can worship together. He gave Dr. Schuller a sizeable contribution towards his ministry. He continues that ministry today.

They have many programs going on here.. like the Tower of Hope. They have an emergency suicide hot line manned 24/7 365 days a yr. They receive 50,000 calls a year. People volunteer to work here and they work 4 hours shifts. They also have a school here.. preK to 12th grade. There is a Garden of Remembrance where people are buried or put in a mausoleum. We saw Roger Williams family room, which has a stained glass window of a grand piano.

Through out the grounds are sculptures which bring the scripures to life. They are remarkable and so life like. The expressions etc are wonderful.

The outside of the Crystal Cathedral. It holds 3,000 people. Behind it is the Carillon tower.
This is the tower of hope with the original carillon bells on the outside.
This statue is called "Coming Home, the Prodigal Son". The father's face emanates joy.
This bronze sculpture is called "Peace be Still". Christ is walking on the water.

This bronze sculpture is called "The Holy Family.. milestones and miracles"
It is so life like with the color on it. Christ is in silver so that his face reflects your face when you look into it.

Joseph looks so animated.
Even the donkey, who is biting at his robe, looks so real.

At the base of the carillon tower is a prayer chapel. It is ringed by 33 marble pillars from Greece. 33 for the years that Christ lived. In between are 12 white columns for the 12 disciples. In the very center is an acrylic block which has the upper torso of christ carved out from the inside and one hand comes up out of the top as he looks upward praying. There is a light that comes up through the sculpture. This photo does not do it justice. It is really unique. Around this sculpture are kneeling benches for those who wish to pray or benches around the outside edges.
"Joyful Jesus..I Found Him" See the expression of joy at finding the lost sheep.

A water feature with water cascading down over white steps. A statue of Job is in the background. To the left is the Remembrance Garden. You go down some steps into the garden and as you go the sound of the water feature is quieted.
"The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes" a smiling Jesus. In the background you can see the outside of the Prayer Chapel. See the columns and domed top.

"God's way to the good life- Moses and the Ten Commandments". to the left and behind is a bronze bush with flames depicting the burning bush.
This shows the carillon tower, crystal cathedral and the tower of hope with a large cross on top. All of this is lit up at night.

The beautiful bird of paradise. There are several plantings of these around.

Budweiser Clydesdales and Temecula

2007-12-06T00:17:00.000-06:00

In one of the handouts we were given by the park, they talked about the Budweiser Clydesdale Breeding Farm. It is close to the park and even though it isn't open to the public, you can see the horses in the fields. Well you know the love affair Bob has with Clydesdales, so on our way to Temecula we went to find the farm. It was an adventure to be sure as we jogged around over dirt roads (made worse by the recent rains) and finally found the fields. There was a place to pull over and we could go up to the fence. They are a curious lot and came right over to the fence. They are gorgeous animals and make the ground shake when they run.

Of course they are looking for a treat, but they settled for a pat and scratch.
Now what do you suppose that conversation is about!!!

We went back out to the freeway and headed south to Temecula. We had heard some things about the historic district. We had a hard time finding it. Bob is getting real good at doing U turns. We finally found it and it is several streets of lots of little shops. All made to look very old. Since my knee has been giving me problems, we elected to just drive around and look. Of course we had to take a photo of the Butterfield Square.

There is an archway over each entrance into the historic district.

Well I just had to share a picture of the dairy farm that is next to the RV park where we are staying. There are hundreds of holstein cows in here and we have been blessed? with the wonderful odor that emanates and permeates from their waste products... I can't imagine owning a home in one of the housing developments that surround this farm.

November 30, RAIN

2007-12-03T21:41:00.000-06:00

In the middle of the night we heard the rain start. It kept up for 24 hours and this is the road outside our rig. Now where were those instructions regarding flooding? They do have pumps here to control the lagoons from overflowing. If they don't work, they drive through the park blasting an air horn warning you to evacuate. Fortunately that didn't happen. We went out long enough to collect our mail. They really need the rain down here, so it will be an inside day today.

How do you like our new water feature? The geese really like it.

November 29, Wilderness Lakes Resort, Menifee CA

2007-12-03T21:10:00.000-06:00

We left Valencia Village about 9 am, hoping rush hour traffic had eased up. It wasn't far to I-5 and we were also looking for a gas station. Didn't find one as we eased down 5 to 210. Then headed east. You really have to watch the signs and the crazy drivers. We went almost to 215 before we found a Valero to fuel up at. 3.79/gal ouch!!! Made it onto 215 south and got to Wilderness Lakes Resort mid afternoon. However we got lost after coming off the freeway. We were following directions from their web site and couldn't find the road to turn on. So after we got to Hemet, we called for directions. Sure enough, they built a housing development and Briggs road is not there anymore. So we turned around and found our way to the resort with the new directions. Wouldn't you know it is right behind a huge holstein dairy. This resort also has a pond and several lagoons throughout the park with ducks and geese. Did we tell you that flies are a problem here?!!! The odor when the wind is from the north is one that cleans out your sinuses... reminds me of our dairy in days gone by.

The sunset out our window around 5 pm.

November 28, Moving to Valencia Village, Castaic

2007-12-03T20:43:00.000-06:00

Off down the historic El Camino Real. They have red flag warnings out today for the canyons north of LA. We didn't feel the wind until we were driving over 126 to Valencia Village. The fires they have had in Malibu and even up by Santa Clarita have been devistating. Last week when Malibu was burning they lost 45 homes.

These markers are seen all the way down Hwy 101.
Here we are at a rest stop just north of Santa Barbara.

Looking at our spot in Valencia Village. They are pull throughs arranged in a circle around a big barbecue in the middle. Those huge eucalyptus trees are also in the middle.

We heard from Mark on Sunday that he finished the race. He didn't beat his time record from before. Part of that was because he stopped to take pictures every 200 yards. He did have a wonderful time.

November 24 Montana Friends

2007-12-03T12:34:00.000-06:00

You have heard us talk about the Montana Forum that we belong to called M.O.C. (Montana Owners Club). We have attended several of their rallies and made some wonderful friends. So when the opportunity presents itself, we try to contact people when we are in their home area. The full timers we meet on the road. Today we drove over to Bakersfield to visit with Dennis & Mary Kay Hill. We were also greeted by Buddy and Bandit, their two dogs (dachsund and a dachsund/chihuahua mix). Since they are so young they welcomed us royally. We found out that Dennis and Mary Kay knew our relatives the Wilm's. Small world.

After visiting and sharing adventures etc, we went to lunch at B.J.'s where their son in law is manager. Had a wonderful lunch and we all shared a dessert called Pizzookie. It is a chocolate chip cookie formed in a small pizza pan and topped with a scoop of ice cream. The cookie is warm and oh my gosh... the picture shows it all!!!! We also met their daughter Heather, who is a manager of another restaurant in the area. A very nice couple and parents to two beautiful children.

Pizookie, one chocolate chip and the other white chocolate/macadamia nut.
We got back to their house and found this. The boys had taken my bag and annihilated everything paper in it. It doesn't show the knitting removed and the skein of wool across the room. Lets see there was kleenex, washups and a TLC bar (guess what they were after). No damage done to the knitting and everything else is replaceable. The final two pages of a book I was reading were not all found. So I can make up my own ending!!!!

Here are the culprits!! Buddy & Bandit. Don't they look guilty...

We left there about 4 and scooted up the road to the Flying J. Filled up at 3.44/gal and headed west to Paso Robles. It was clear crisp night and a huge harvest moon was in the sky. Another great ending to a wonderful day.

November 22, 2007 Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-30T21:24:00.000-06:00

We had a quiet day catching up on things. We did walk around the park and took this picture of a blooming Bradford pear tree.

Then we had pork loin, cranberry sauce, sweet potato, salad, rolls and mince pie for dinner. Lots of leftovers.

Mark (our eldest) left for Florence, Italy to run a 26 mile marathon on Sunday for Aids Los Angeles. We will be looking forward to his return and his sharing the trip, etc.

We have much to be thankful for and we are grateful for all of our family and friends.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

11/21 Headed to Paso Robles

2007-11-30T18:59:00.000-06:00

As the geese were flying overhead, we readied our rig to head to Paso Robles. We also made a Costco run and filled up with diesel at the Flying J. Our last lower price diesel I'm afraid (3.44/gal).

You can barely make out this huge flock of geese, but we could sure hear them.

The traffic was heavy on our way south but the only problem we had were the mergers. They just keep coming expecting you to slow down and let them in. This one guy came right up beside us and kept coming even though he was running out of road. He just shrugged his shoulders, like "oh well". They just don't have the concept of yielding.

We went south on I-5 and then turned west on 152. It was all good roads and took us through a variety of truck farms. In Gilroy, garlic capital, our eyes watered at the odor. They must have been processing the garlic. Further down the road they were harvesting iceberg lettuce. The fields are constantly rotated year round. As we got closer to Paso Robles there were acres of grapes again. We also had the aroma of eucalyptus every now and then.

We pulled into Paso Robles RV Ranch mid afternoon in warmer weather...or at least we thought so.

November 18 Being with family

2007-11-30T18:48:00.000-06:00

There is one thing that you miss when travelling, and that is being with family. We feel very blessed to have this time with our cousins. Today we shared in their home. They have a lovely home in Concord and beautiful flower gardens. At the entry is this huge lemon tree that is loaded with lemons. What a harvest when they are ripe. We had another great visit and shared in a very yummy meal. Tom grilled salmon on the barby and Denna added the veggies & bread. While eating our meal, in came their son Dale with wife Leslie and 2 daughters, Tori & Taylor. The energy level certainly got higher. I am sorry I didn't get a picture while they were there... They are about 5 & 7 yrs old, the same as our grandsons. It was fun just to watch the dynamics. Thank you Denna & Tom for a really great day.

Nov 16th and 17th.. touring with the cousins

2007-11-28T22:36:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Bob!!! #69...On the 16th Tom & Denna came over for a visit and to see where we were located. They have camped up in this area but not at this park. We talked family and shared pictures for about 3 hours before they scooted for home. The next day they came back and took us for a tour of the delta. They took us to places we would never have found on our own. Like the little city of Locke. It is the only rural Chinese town left in the United States. In 1915, the town was built after a fire destroyed the Chinatown in nearby Walnut Grove. Because the California Alien Land Act prohibited Chinese from owning property, the Chinese built the town on land owned by George Locke. Today, the town still looks almost as it did 50 years ago. It was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1970. The Chinese were responsible for building the levees, harvesting and working the pear orchards, and building the railroad.

Denna & Tom Borges in the memorial garden in Locke
Typical building in Locke. Business on the main level and home upstairs.
The back of the triangular monument in the garden. One side is in english and one side is in chinese. The third side is a bronze casting depicting the town and it's residents.
The bottom panel shows the main street of Locke, the next panel shows the harvesting of pears.
The next panel is building the railroad and the top panel is building the levees.
Looking down main street.

We also drove by the Grand Island Mansion (owned by Shirley Temple Black's in laws) built in 1917. It is a beautiful building and now used as rental for weddings etc. We had dinner at Rogelios in Isleton and it was a 4 country menu.. american, italian, mexican and chinese.

We drove into Rio Vista to experience Foster's Bar and Grill. When you go in the front door you see mounted heads of every animal imaginable. Dad would have loved it. There was even an elephant head. Most of it was moose, deer, bear etc. We didn't stay, just looked.

Nov. 15th, Isleton, CA and the Delta

2007-11-28T22:04:00.000-06:00

We drove from Cloverdale to Isleton today. Isleton is on an island in the delta (a group of islands between the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers). In the island area you drive on top of the levees. In the NW we call them dikes. There are little fingers of waterways everywhere you look. There is a lot of fishing done on the rivers and sloughs. Right now they are fishing for striped bass. They built the levees to keep the rivers from flooding the land and as a result the farms and businesses are below the levees (several hundred feet). It is a weird feeling pulling the Montana down a narrow two lane road on the levee and turning down hill into the RV park. We are at the Delta Shores Resort and Marina. It wasn't a bad park, but it wasn't the best. At least it is fairly quiet and has full hook ups.

The one thing we are noticing is that there are a lot flowers in bloom as we go further south. Lots of birds around here along with water fowl. We even have seen a Magnolia in bloom with dinner plate size blossoms. Usually you see those in the southeast.

We called Denna and Tom (Denna is Myrna's cousin) to let them know we were here and they are coming over tomorrow for a visit.

November 10 to 15th Santa Rosa

2007-11-26T22:23:00.000-06:00

We started off Saturday with RAIN.. and lots of it. It was an indoor day and we watched a movie, "Losing Isaiah". That was a tear jerker. Since we don't have TV to entertain us, we are finally watching some of the movies purchased a yr ago and never watched. You need down days now and then.

Sunday turned out sunny and beautiful. We went for a drive and stopped at a fruit stand. We bought apples, squash, tomatoes, watermelon and oranges. We drove through lots of vineyards and groves of eucalyptus trees. The aroma is so heavenly from those trees. That evening our movie of the day was "Narnia". We really enjoyed it.

Monday was baking day and made an apple pie from the apples. Mmmm good and the aroma was delicious. The movie of the day was "The Aviator". The Howard Hughes story. A very interesting story and rather sad.

Tuesday we drove to Santa Rosa after picking up Schaeffer's mail. We took several shots of the vineyards as we were driving in.

The leaves are turning color and falling off in the rows.
The different colored leaves provide a great contrast.

You can see the rows of grapes all the way up the hills, everywhere you look.

I love this shot.

Wednesday we went to visit Doug and Sharon Henry in Forestville. They are friends from the Montana Forum. It is always good to renew these friendships as we sometimes don't see them for a year or two. We saw pictures of their brand new twin grandson & daughter. What fun they will have. They have a very lovely home and room to park several rigs. Hmm, makings of a mini rally. It was nice out today, 75 degrees. Love that sun.

Nov. 9th at NACO - Russian River

2007-11-25T01:17:00.000-06:00

This camp ground is built on 40 acres up and down a canyon above the Russian River. It is a beautiful spot and I am not sure when they developed it. It has electric/water hook ups, no sewer. They have a honey wagon that will pump out your tanks 2 times a week for a price. We got very creative with using water. The campground showers were not bad and above the showers is a propane heater. A very welcome addition. The sites are all paved and quite level. The access roads are very narrow and curvy. Very difficult for big rigs.

We did spend some time walking around the campgrounds and down to the river. We managed to see deer at dusk and lots of stellar jays.

The river is quite low at this time. It is also a good fishing river for chinook salmon. Right now the fish are not running.
This was looking west and there is a mallard duck swimming away from us. You can kind of see him in that dark area.

This is a shot from the road above the canyon. You can see the river and the area where we took the previous shot from. The campground is above that cleared area there.

You can see the sign "TT Camping", our rig is right behind the letters CA. You can see some white showing behind the G, that is Schaeffer's rig.

November 8th Going to the Russian River

2007-11-25T01:03:00.000-06:00

We left Garberville about 10 am. The fog was finally lifting and we headed down the redwood highway. Up and down through the hills etc. Finally we started seeing vineyards, everywhere. Every hill and valley, wherever there is tillable land and where they could irrigate. On our way we received a message from Shirley. Two nights before she took Gene to the hospital with internal bleeding and a heart attack. He was transported to Santa Rosa trauma center. So after finding the campground and setting up our rig, we took off to Santa Rosa to find them. He was in ICU and Shirley came out to talk to us. Then they let us in so we could give him a hug and let him know he was not alone. He actually was looking pretty good after all he had been through. The long and short of it was, he would be in the hospital for a week. He had 7 pints of blood, the heart damage was very minor and he was able to go back to Washington on the 19th. Hopefully they will be able to travel again soon when he gets his strength back and the ok from the Dr.

The Redwoods November 6 to November 8

2007-11-22T23:54:00.000-06:00

I am not sure what word describes the redwoods. Awesome, magnificent,spectacular, old, reverent, beautiful, etc. We spent a part of 2 days driving through various groves. They also have several miles called The Avenue of the Giants.

The huge trees make a great contrast for the fall colors.
This is highway 101 going through the redwoods.

This ancient redwood has a huge burl on the side of it.

This is in the Richardson Grove. In England we would call this a one track road.

This is at 2 pm and the redwoods are so dense, you have to have your headlights on to see. The road is also very narrow. You can barely see a reflector that is on the side of a tree on the right hand side.

Nov 5th, Garberville, CA

2007-11-20T00:20:00.000-06:00

Our mail was supposed to be delivered to the RV Park and when it wasn't, we wondered if it was at the post office. We headed down there first thing in the morning. We had some books to mail to Ben, our 7 yr old grandson. He made the honor roll with all A's and this was a reward. Sure enough they had put our mail in the general delivery box and it had arrived on Friday. So back to the rig, hooked up and we were out of there by 10 a.m.

We headed south past the last of the ocean for awhile. It was up and down hills and around the corner was another beautiful picture. The rock stacks sticking up out of the water and the waves crashing on the shore.

Then we headed inland away from the ocean and found ourselves driving through the beginning of the redwoods.
The autumn colors mingled between the evergreens were very dramatic. Pictures just don't do it justice. We went through an incredible mile or so of very large redwoods. It was the Richardson Grove State Park. Coming out the other side was the Richardson Grove RV Park. It is a campground run by the Assembly of God church. It is also part of Passport America. We were in the middle of the redwoods, so no cell service and no satellite. At least they offered free wifi.

November 4th, Time to move on, but we didn't

2007-11-19T23:50:00.000-06:00

Well we were supposed to pull out and we couldn't because our mail didn't arrive. So we waved good bye to Schaeffer's knowing that we would see them again at Cloverdale/Russian River on the 8th. They were stopping in Eureka at the Elk's club and we were going on to Garberville for a few days. We spent the day cleaning and getting the rig ready to travel tomorrow.

November 3rd, Celebration Day

2007-11-19T23:06:00.000-06:00

Today we are celebrating, Shirley's 65th birthday and our 46th Wedding Anniversary (on the 4th). We started the day by driving north to Bandon and touring the Historic Bandon and all of it's little shops. They had a real variety of galleries with all kinds of art. Too bad we don't have any room to display any, but it sure is fun to look.

We came back to Port Orford and went down to the dock to have dinner. It was in a little shack of a restaurant named Griff's. They had the best food. Bob had fresh crab louie, Shirley had Ahi & prawns, Gene and I had steak and prawns. The green salad we started with had small shrimp on top. All in all an excellent meal and the price wasn't bad.

Griff's on the wharf
Enter all who dare!!
The awesome foursome.
Sunset and the end of a perfect day.