Christmas 2011

It has been an uneventful week here at the park. We have been preparing for Christmas and planning to go to to Val's house for Christmas over the weekend.

Brenda has been working on Val and Tony's Christmas presents last several weeks. She had been working  diligently on them until she had reached a stopping point where she had to buy more materials to complete Tony's lap blanket. She worked really hard on this all all day Thursday without completing it, and we had guests coming for the evening, so she had to stop and didn't get it didn't get done. We got up early on Friday morning as she worked for about four hours trying to get this completed. She finally finished it about noon and we left for Val's house.

After a short stop at Walmart for Christmas presents and dinner fixings, we arrived at Val's beautifully decorated home for the weekend. Val and Tony always outdo themselves during this time of the year in there decorations .
We visited all afternoon, ate dinner and prepared to go to Chris's house for his birthday celebration. Our baby brother turned 50 this year, boy, does that make us feel old. Of course, we razzed him about his age, but he took it all in stride.

Saturday was kind of a lazy day, laying around not doing too much. Although, we did do some cooking in preparation for Christmas Day. It was a team effort, as sausage balls were made for for our breakfast on Sunday. Val made an apple pie, and Michele's favorite, a pecan pie.

Christmas morning, both Brenda and I got up early only to be greeted by little Danielle, Michelle's youngest daughter. She is 11, and still believes in Santa. She was so excited. She must have looked at every package under the tree at least a dozen times. She she said she got up about 4 AM although she didn't go to bed till after midnight. Little rascal was still going strong, even when they left at about 6:00 PM.
About six o'clock am, she went and got Nana, Da, her mother and her sister up for the distribution of the presents. This year it was all about the children so very few presents were received by the adults. She and Dominique got a plethora of gifts.

Brenda was proud and anxious for Val and Tony to open the gifts that she had made for them. She did an excellent job, and Val and Tony were excited to receive these handmade gifts.

Brenda and  I went to 7:30 am mass Christmas morning, but the rest went to 4 PM mass on Christmas Eve.

About one o'clock, Chris and Linda came over with their grandchildren and a basket full of goodies. Again, the gifts were mainly for the children. Linda did, however, make some delicious treats and placed them in a Pyrex bowl for the adults.

For the Christmas meal this year, it was an Italian meal. We had lasagna, and olive salad, and the bottle of Pinot Noir that we had bought while on a wine tour in the Willamette Valley. There were pies and the fruitcake that Brenda had made for dessert. All in all a wonderful meal.

Brenda and I wish to offer a Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all who read and follow our blog.

Tata for now.

PS: This blog was dictated on Dragon, greatly received from Fred, Becky and our beautiful granddaughters.

Livingston Christmas Parade

At the Livingston State Park potluck and business meeting last month, it was suggested that we enter the Christmas Parade this year. Several people agreed to work on the float.

The Float

The park's logo

Stephan in Kayak

Stephan had experience in building a float. He offered to ramrod the project. He got together with a few volunteers and came up with the idea of Christmas in Lake Livingston State Park. All materials that were used were from the park. He had sticks piled up to look like a fire. It had a red glow to it. There were tree stumps to sit on, so that the children would ride safely . There were 7 children and 3 adults aboard, plus there was a kayak in the front which Stephan rode in. There was a tree on each side that had lights . They put blue lights under the kayak and had aluminum foil behind it so that it reminded you of water. Stephanie free handed a sign that is the parks motto, "Life's Better Outdoors". It was taped on the back of the float. They also had a wooden sign on both sides of the float that spelled out LAKE LIVINGSTON STATE PARK.

Our evening began at 4:30. I picked up Dianne (volunteer park host) and she directed me to the 1st baptist church parking lot in Livingston. Sheldon, Melissa, John (her husband ) and her girls, plus Stephan, were doing the last minute arranging on the float. Melissa, Dianne and I rode with Sheldon to the line up area and were handed a number for our entry.I am not sure how they judged the entries, but I am sure I will hear who got what awarded. We sat in line till almost 6:00 waiting for the parade to begin. There were quite a few entries.
We saw sponge bob, bugs bunny, elves, angels , boy scouts, girl scouts, volunteer fire departments, electric companies, adult daycare center, baptist church. I was able to snap quite a few pictures of the entries.

We started to move at 6:00. Melissa and Ronnie ( park interpreter) walked (or shall I say ran) on the left side and Dianne and I were on the right side of the float. We were not allowed to throw candy to anyone but we could hand it to them . Needless to say we got left in the dust many times. We ran out of candy before we even got to the courthouse. Since there was no candy left we started shouting MERRY CHRISTMAS and waving our arms. I don't know how anyone else felt but, shouting out Merry Christmas and the crowd shouting it back made me feel in the Christmas mood. As we turned off the main drag, we started singing jingle bells. We only sang one verse. Shortly after that I heard a group of percussionists playing. In honor of my daughter, Heather, I started to strut while walking. I strutted so fast I was ahead of my group and when they stopped playing I had to walk back a to my float. The guys in the adult day care center, the float ahead of us, enjoyed my strut.

By 6:30 we were at the end of the parade. I climbed into Sheldon's truck and he took everyone back to the drop off point. We were taken back to the baptist church so that we could get the car. Traffic was busy, so we stayed around and undecorated our entry a bit so that we could get it back in one piece. We were back home by 7:45. A good time was had by all.


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE,

AND PEACE TO HIS PEOPLE ON EARTH.

Park Maintenance

The projects just keep on coming.
As I stated last, the park manager is doing his best to get the shop area in some kind of order, where we know what tools we have and what we need to get to get this park in better shape for visitors.
Last week I was asked to build a work bench along one wall so that our tools could be organized on a shadow wall. That job was completed and an area above that bench was marked and painted. Our tools were located and organized so that they can be hung on the wall.
There was a peg board in that spot and it was relocated across the shop area. many of our small general items are hung on that wall and now we can see what we have and easily replaced as they are used.
I am now in the process of closing up a large window in the north wall that used to be outside. There is a room there where our cleaning supplies are kept and the window was not useful anymore.
I am also building a 24' bench and bin area for our plumbing and electrical parts. There will be many large and small bins.
I have made a deal with one of the rangers to teach me how to operate a tractor with back hoe in exchange that I teach him some basic carpentry skills. He is willing to learn and takes the initiative.  He is going to help me build that bin area.


We have a work force from the local state prison, who come 1/2 day M-F. There is a guard with them and they are very helpful in getting some of the grunt work done.
They was a large area for fire wood that was in disarray to say the least. They moved and organized multiple cords of wood and some various length logs and it looks so much better and consolidated.
There is a burn ban on in East Texas, and this wood cannot be used. The park manager wants to get out of the firewood business altogether, as all of the monies go to the general fund and not to the park.
The wood is without cost except for the labor required to get in shape to sell. He thinks it is not cost effective for the park to sell it.

Brenda works up at headquarters and will be given more responsibilities as time goes on.
She doesn't much care for the field work or working in the shop, but she likes to clean up the litter here in our loop and really enjoys working in the office.
She helps with traffic control on Friday evenings as people arrive and go into the office to pay the entrance fee.

We went into Houston last week, but saw no one as everyone was busy and we gave no notice that we were coming.  
We did get to Costco for our vitamins and other drugs. The closest Kroger is in Huntsville, so we stopped at Kroger in Spring while we were there.
We tried the HEB cola zero, but didn't much care for it so we stocked up on Big K brand. It is the Kroger store brand and is pretty good. We even like it better than Coke Zero.

We are off today and we will go over to the Escapee park to do laundry and pick up our mail.
When I get all of the parts I need, we will have a washer and dryer on the park grounds. There is a stackable  set at one of the bath houses in the pipe chase. We will be sharing the laundry facilities with the other camp hosts as they arrive next month.

There is a monthly meeting and luncheon for the park tomorrow and we are having pot luck.
Although it is our day off we think that our presence could only be helpful in our relationship with the park staff.

Ta ta for now.

1st full week

We have been here for about 10 days now and we have had a pretty full week of activities. We have done site maintenance (litter), started to try to organize the shop area, site patrol throughout the park, etc.,  a lot of different activities as needed by the staff.
This park has gone through several years of benign neglect, and is in need of some good management.
The problem of good management appears to be fixed.
The new park manager arrived just 2 months before us and has started programs to improve the park with the staff at hand.
Smiley, as he is called by his friends, has a gentle touch with the staff and volunteers and it seems that improvements are on the way.
The assistant park manager, is a go getter. He is very visible in the park and is available when things need attention. You may see him at all hours.


As opposed to Washington State Parks, all paid staff here that work in the field are called rangers.
The park manager, assistant manager and the volunteer coordinator are all law enforcement officers, the rest of the field staff are not peace officers. They maintain  the facilities much like the senior park aides do in Washington. They also have seasonal staff.
The volunteer coordinator was on vacation last week and was extremely busy during her shift on the weekend. She appears to be a go getter and is available whenever we have a question. We have not spent much time with her, but i am sure we will get to know her as time moves on.

Last weekend, in our loop, we had 35 sites reserved for 35 kindergarteners and their families. It was neat to see all of the kids outdoors and enjoying the great weather, riding their bikes and scooters, throwing balls with some of the adults and just doing what I remember kids did when I was small.
This loop has water, electric and sewer, but I saw no electronics at all during the weekend.
There were other campers as well as all sites were occupied Saturday night. There was a boy scout troop next to us and when they left their sites looked better than when they came.
During the day, the kids were doing kid things loud and boisterous, but at night you could here a pin drop.

We had an issue with the bath house in our loop, Saturday night and the problem was so severe that it had to be closed. The people here handled the situation well with little or no complaints as they were directed to other bathrooms in the park by maps and signage.

This time of year, the park gets pretty empty during the week. We are the only ones in our loop, the last 2 sites were vacated on Monday.
It is very dark out here, with the tree cover and the only lights on the bath house which is a couple of hundred yards away. We don't even close the curtains during the week. It is very private.

We are off today and tomorrow and we may go into Houston today or tomorrow. Or we may drive up to Lufkin to see what is there. We just don't know.

Ta ta for now.

Lake Livi ngston State Park

We arrived here mid afternoon on Sunday and was sent to our new home.
It is nicely paved with many trees in a 49 site loop. The camp sites are close together and we were told that this loop was designed for groups who like to camp close to each other (IE: boy scouts).
There was one camper here when we arrived, but they left Monday. Another arrived after dark on Monday night and they left mid morning on Tuesday.

Monday, the assistant park manager came around and introduced himself and gave us a tour of the park introducing all of the staff that we happened to see during the tour.
Most of the park is on the lake except our loop. We are behind a subdivision but we are secluded. There is a stable at the entrance to our loop. It is a concession and offer horseback riding for a fee through trails in the park.

We attended a 7am morning meeting with all of the rangers (all paid personnel are rangers). We were welcomed and given an assignment for the day.
Brenda and I worked for 7 hours that day and I returned the next morning and worked 7 more hours.
The park has a new manager and this park has been in need of a 'manager' for several years. He is organizing the staff and giving assignments and trying to find and identify the state owned equipment.

Our insurance company does not offer non-owner liability insurance, so neither Brenda nor I can drive any of the state owned vehicles. We can operate a golf cart or a gator, but no trucks or cars.
Our insurance company and I feel this is a silly rule, as we should be covered in any vehicle we are given permission to use, but that is a state rule and no exceptions are allowed.

Tomorrow will start our full weekend here, and if the weather is nice we should have a full park Friday and Saturday.

Ta ta for now.

Back In Houston

We arrived at my sister's house about 3 pm on Friday.
It is nice to be back here, but the humidity will take some getting used to.
We had become acclimated to Seattle weather and this will take some adjustment.

Beth arrived before we did and Val & Beth had taken off for Costco, so they were gone when we arrived. They had gone to pick up some lamb chops for dinner. They were delicious. Beth fixed them on the grill and they were cooked to perfection.\

The coach is parked in front of Val & Tony's house and I think Cleo is enjoying the stability, but misses us not being with her in the coach.

We went to church at St. Edwards and enjoyed seeing some of our old friends. We will attend next week and go to breakfast with the family before heading to our assignment in Livingston.
We have decided that we want to be all settled before we are expected to begin our duties as camp hosts. We are unsure exactly what is expected of us at this time, but I am sure that they will explain all we need to know.

Ta ya for now.

Mike & Sally

We left Las Vegas earlier than we had planned, but that didn't affect our arrival in Kingman, AZ.
Blake Ranch RV Park is a very nice park to be in the desert. The sites are level, although pea gravel. The utilities were good and the noise level was good, considering we were just off of I-40.
US 93 from LV to Phoenix is a great road. There was a lot of construction, but the road was in good shape and the traffic wasn't too bad.

Our time with Mike & Sally was wonderful. Aunt Sally, to Cleo, greeted Cleo with treats.
She just thinks Aunt Sally is the 'cats meow'.
We never left the park. I didn't even unhook the car. We just visited and played Pegs & Jokers for the 2 days we were together.
In the past when we have played Pegs & Jokers with them, Sally & Brenda beat Mike & me  unmercifully. This time was different. Mike & I beat them both days, but the games were close in most instances & it could have gone either way.

We are now in Saguaro Co-op SKP park in Benson, AZ.
We always stay here on our way east if we come down to I-10.  This is such a nice park. We have stayed here for extended time in the past.

Today is a short drive. Fewer than 175 miles to Deming, NM. A breeze, after yesterday.

Ta ta for now.

Vegas & beyond

We are now in Las Vegas. We have made just overnight stops since we left Seattle.
We are in the Sams Town RV park and just a stones throw from the casino.

Lunch was in order after we got settled, so over to the casino we went for a buffet and some light slot gambling. I quickly went through 3/4 of my gambling allowance and stopped. Brenda proceeded to win back what I had lost and we left the casino even.
Sams Town offers a free shuttle downtown and we decided to take advantage of it. We went down to Fremont Street and took in the sights as well as we both lost all of  gambling allowances. ($60)

We are leaving here in the morning and will meet Mike & Sally in Kingman, AZ.
These are our friends from Michigan whom we met while we were at Timber Ridge.
We haven't seen them in 2 years and we are looking forward to our visit. We will be there until the 17th, then just overnight in parks along our way back to Spring.

The weather here is hot. We have been in jeans and jackets for the last month, so we were forced into shorts yesterday.
I expect our cool weather is a thing of the past until maybe next month. The air conditioners are getting a good work out on the coach.

We are looking forward to our return to Texas to see family and friends.

Ta ta for now

On the road again

We left Lake Sammamish at around 9:00am. It was raining and rained almost all of the way to Hermiston, OR.
The goodbyes were a little difficult for some as Hugo doesn't like long goodbyes.

This has been a pretty full weekend. Our friends from Canada came down on Saturday and spent the day with us. We have not seen them since last year and it was good to see them.

We had not been to Snoqualmie Falls in the time that we have been in Washington, and it is only a little over 10 miles from the park. So, we decided to take Greg & Dawn to the falls. it surely was a sight to see.

We also went to the Salmon hatchery in Issaquah as we hadn't been there either. We just seem to go to the kid's house on our days off and don't take in the local sights.

The salmon are running and the hatchery is on Issaquah creek so there were lots of salmon in the creek before the fish ladder in the hatchery. A very interesting day to say the least. Greg even fixed dinner. Yum Yum, spaghetti.
We then went over to the newest Senior Park Aid's home for drinks. They live in thew park just across the parking lot from our site.

Yesterday, we celebrated Gracie's 1st birthday. there were many people there including Fred's parents & aunt Rose. Becky's friend Tiffany & her family also attended, as well as Debbie & Ben (the boy).
Gracie surely was excited about her own piece of cake. She attacked it with vigor and made remarkably little mess. This kid knows where food is supposed to go.

Big sis helping

Aunt Rose & the birthday girl

Wine tour & Last week in Washington

It is very hard to believe that we have been here almost 4 months. The time sure does fly when you are having fun.
We have enjoyed watching the granddaughters grow and change. Watching Lindsay come out of her shell and how much she enjoys school.
Gracie changes almost every week. She has become so much more active. When we first arrived, she was always being held by someone. Now she wants to be on the floor and moving, she is so mobile.
We are going to miss all of our family here.

Last weekend, we went down to Portland to visit my son, Alex, and his girlfriend, Kristen.
She is a representative of a wine distributor and has connections with many wineries.
Fortunately, they live very close to the Willamette Valley and its many vintners. She arranged that we go on a 5 winery tasting extravaganza.
The 1st one was an ATV tour of the vineyard and all of its facilities by the manager of the winery.

Tour guide and wine tasting

As we rode around the vineyard, she would stop and we would taste one of the 5 wines that she had brought. She was very good and we learned a lot about the history of the Willamette valley and especially this particular winery.
We tried a dessert wine that they loosely refer to as 'ice wine'. Ice wine is actually produced after the grapes are allowed to freeze on the vines and then harvested.
The Willamette valley rarely if ever freezes, so they harvest the grapes then freeze them and proceed to make the wine.
Almost every one of the dessert wines that we tasted were excellent and ever so smooth.
No need for a desert after a good meal with these delectables.

Willamette Valley

There were no more tours, but 4 more wineries. The main wine produced here is Pinot Noir and all of the wineries that we visited were within a short distance of each other. It was very interesting to note the differences in the wines from the different vineyards as the were almost next to each other. The tour and tastings were free to us, and a 30% discount on the wines we chose to buy. Thank you, Kristen.

Neat rows of Pinot Noir grapes

We have slowly started to get the rig ready for the road. I have put away almost everything out side as it has started to rain here almost every day.
Brenda has started rearranging cabinets so we won't have any damage to goods in the cabinets. 
As you might expect, things get stored differently when you are sitting as opposed to when you are traveling.

We are off to Becky's this morning to do our last loads of laundry and do a little grocery shopping.
This will be our last time to spend time with Fred before we depart.
Sunday, Becky is celebrating Gracie's 1st birthday. With all of her friends from school, Fred's parents and us, there will be quite a crowd there.

We are meeting some friends from Michigan, Mike and Sally Ranger in Kingman, AZ. We were hoping to get to Michigan last spring, but with the fuel prices as they were, we didn't make the trip that far east. Maybe, next spring.

Beth is going to be very busy when we pass through Phoenix and she will arrive in Spring about the same day that we will, so we will see her there. It will be good to see her again.
We will park our rig at Val's house until we we leave for Lake Livingston State Park.
We understand that Mike and Barb will be visiting Val & Tony while we are there. So we will enjoy seeing and visiting with them.
My youngest brother, Chris, lives there with his wife Linda, so all of the siblings will be together again, what a joy.


Ta ta for now.

Lindsay's quilt

Alex and P&P

Last weekend was spent at Fred and Becky's.
Alex and Kristen came up from Portland and we had a very pleasant visit. Unfortunately we forgot the camera when we left home, so no pictures.
We have not seen them since the 1st of November last year as we passed through Portland on our way south.
It was great to see them and we got caught up on all of the news. Kristen brought several bottles of wine and her selection was outstanding. I am enjoying one of her selections as I write this blog.
I picked about 3 quarts of blackberries here at the park and Alex made 2 pies. With vanilla ice cream, this was outstanding. We ate both pies in 2 days with nary a crumb left.

Lindsay was in the Evergreen State Fair parade as part of a cheer leading team. The team won 1st place overall by the judges of different groups in the parade. This was the first year for the team, so this says a lot about the coach and the kids.

Monday, Brenda and I went to the fair. There is a lot to see there and of course we found the quilting area. There were many beautiful quilts and we even designed a 2 foot square of material for a scrap quilt. This is part of the Linus organization who makes quilts for sick children.
We went to the fair as part of a show by Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow. They are the PP of the old PP&M. Mary died a few years ago and these 2 decided to carry on.
They are both in their 70's now, but their talent hasn't diminished with age. I only wish that they would keep their politics out of the show. I don't agree with their politics, but Brenda and I enjoy the music.
Paul played and sang the 'Wedding Song' that he wrote for Peter Yarrow's wedding. I was disappointed that he did not play the 12 string guitar, but the song was played and sung beautifully.
Brenda and I, as well as thousands of others, had this song played at our wedding.

We have been keeping busy here at the park and things are winding down for the summer.
The grass stops growing when there is no rain and it gets above 80 degrees, so mowing has been at  a minimum for the past 3 weeks.

Jackie & Bill from Nativity finally made it out west in their RV. They came by and visited with us on Thursday evening. It was great to see them again. They are over on the Olympic peninsula and are leaving Tuesday heading south. Their daughter flew up from California and will ride back with them down the 101 to San Francisco. She will leave them and they will drive on down to her house.
We are heading home via Las Vegas and we hope to meet up with them while we are there.

I have started planning our route back to Texas, and I have gotten as far as Phoenix.
We are planning to work in state parks in Texas this winter. We are waiting for our applications to arrive so that we can start the process.
We have been in contact with Stephen F, Austin state park, but they only have positions for Nov. & Dec. We are looking for January, too. We are also looking at Lake Livingston State Park. We have not contacted them, but will try on Tuesday.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Labor Day weekend.

Ta Ta for now.

Blackberries & Quilts

In every Washington state park that we have worked in in the last 2 years, we have found that blackberries are just prolific. This year is no exception. There are thousands of blackberry bushes throughout the park.
As you drive by cutting the grass on the trails, the BB bushes reach out and grab you. You can almost watch them grow. You must wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt, ooh, but the reward in the end.

Yum Yum

Just about ready to pick

This is along the ball field trail just at the mouth of the trail

The berries are forming and some bushes are still blooming. This is going to be a good season. I have been picking some of the ripe berries and they are so sweet. They should be really getting ripe this week and we are looking forward to cobblers and just eating these berries.
Hugo and I were out last week and we got to taste these wonderful berries.

Brenda is learning to quilt. She is taking instructions from our co-host Phyllis. Phyllis is an experienced quilter and helped Brenda make her first small quilt.

Phyllis

Look Gracie

The finished product

Brenda made it for Gracie and it is so cute, as is Gracie.

The Lady on the right is named Phyllis Manning. She is a volunteer at Lake Sammamish, just like us. If you know me well, you know that I have talked about wanting to quilt for several years now. Phyllis took me under her wing and helped me make my quilt. It took about 5 weeks to do it. I am now hooked on quilting. I know that I need to practice my cutting skills and sewing skills, but I plan on working on my skills and with Phyllis's help I will tackle other projects.
When we held it up to take a picture, we found out that the frogs looked like they were neon. It was so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed making it.  My next project will be for Lindsay. Keep your fingers crossed I can do just as well with hers.

It is hard to believe that we have been here almost 2 months. We plan to leave around the 15th of October, heading to Houston for the winter. That is, if fuel prices continue to go down.
We are researching working in Texas State parks while we are in Texas this year. We really enjoy the experience of state parks and it will help with expenses.

The VA is moving at a snails pace as I have appealed their decision to deny my claim for hearing loss. It is getting worse.
They always want more information and now have sent me back to DAV.
I asked in the letter that I sent, to schedule a hearing test at the Seattle VAMC while we are here. I explained that we are full time RVers and that we move every 3 to 4 months. They either didn't read or understand that part or have chosen to continue the way that things are done at VA's pace.
I applied for these benefits back in November of last year, and there appears to be no rush to resolve this issue on their part.

I'll get off of my soapbox now and say:

Ta ta for now

More at Lake Sammamish

We have been keeping busy here at the park. Hugo, the chief park aid and I have been doing a lot of mowing (we could mow every day and not catch up) and today we took down  2 large tree limbs.
The limbs in the trees here are pretty weak and large ones break and fall when they get wet.  Some go all the way to the ground, but some like the ones we took down and cut up were only partially down and were a hazard to fall on someone.
We cut them up into manageable pieces and took them to an area that is called the bone yard. All of the limb debris, dirt and gravel that is removed from the park is taken to that area and is recycled back into the park or left to decay and is then recycled as mulch.
                                                           (Continued on Monday)
Brenda helped in the booth with sales of the park passes. The weather was beautiful this weekend, sunny and warm (for here). She worked 4 hours and the help was appreciated. They had 3 lines open and still the traffic was backed up down the street.
She also went out last night and picked up litter and picked up a 5 gallon bucket of trash that people just threw down on the ground. There are dumpsters about 50 yards apart all through the park. Some people are just too lazy to take their litter to the dumpster.

The weather is supposed to be nice again today, so Hugo and I will do some trail work today. There is always trail work to be done as there are miles and miles of walking trails throughout the park.
The blackberry bushes are all over the park and it seems that you can watch them grow. The can take over an area very quickly and they must be trimmed back on a regular basis.

Fred is alone with Binga this week as Becky, Heather and the girls went to Houston for a family reunion of sorts, this past weekend. The whole Whitehead clan, spread all over the country, the Memphis bunch and the Houston area folks got together at Tony and Val's house.
Tony, who has been having some health issues, was unable to attend. He was in the hospital. He is supposed to come home today, we are told, but unfortunately he missed the big party Saturday night and a good portion of the people had to leave on Sunday.

I have to get ready to go out this morning so I will close for now.

Ta ta for now.

Pictures of our girls

Here are some pictures that we have taken of the girls that we have taken while we have been here.

Lindsay (2nd from left)

Lindsay and class

Becky, Fred Debbie and Grammy

Gracie & Grammy

Ta Ta for now

Holiday weekend

We have been here for 2 weeks now and have fallen into a pretty good routine.
Wayne & Phyllis, who worked with us last year, came in on the 30th of June. And they are all settled in. They will be here until the end of September, like us.
The day use fees started on Friday and we were all pleasantly surprised at how well the public has accepted the fees. It appears that they realize the need for the fees if the parks are to remain open. Yesterday, they had 3 lines open to sell the passes and still the line was backed up down the street. Brenda went down and helped sell the daily and yearly passes all 3 days of the weekend.

The chief park aid had a 4th of July celebration at his home last night. The park manager, his wife and 4 sons all came, as well as the 4 volunteers and we enjoyed a good cookout and great conversation.
 The weather has been spectacular for the last few days and is expected to be nice for a few more days.

Our hosts, Hugo & Lila

Flag cake by Park Manager's wife

We are headed to Becky and Fred's house this morning. Our weekly granddaughter fix. 
Fred is on vacation for the next 2 weeks, so it will be nice to have him around while we are there today and tomorrow.
We also will do laundry while we are there.
There was a small building next to our site that was not in good shape. It was torn down while we were gone, and there is talk of rebuilding it on the foundation that was left and putting in a washer and dryer for the hosts.
The rangers don't get in too much of a hurry about things, so I don't believe that it will be done while we are here if ever. Nice thought though.

Ta ta for now

Here In the wet NW

We arrived about 11am Monday at Lake Sammamish State Park, and it has rained 3 of the 5 days we have been here.
We were immediately greeted by Heather, the office park aid. There are 2 host sites and she told us to pick the one we wanted. We took the one we had last year. We were told that Wayne and Phyllis are coming back in July and they like the other site. It will be nice to see them again.
We got a surprise upon our arrival, the utilities have been improved. There is now 50 amp service, increased water pressure and a more permanent looking sewer connection.
After we had parked, Rick, the park mgr, Heather, the volunteer coordinator and Hugo, the chief park aid came by to say hello. We were happy to see them and they were happy that we had returned.

We finished setting up, cleaned up, then headed to Fred & Becky's house for 3 days.
We got to see and hold Gracie and admire how much she had changed since we had seen her. We went up to school to get Lindsay and spend the afternoon in the park (one of the days it didn't rain). We got reacquainted with some of Becky's friends while the kids played. Gracie sat in front of me on the picnic table and played with some toys. She is such a happy baby. They are so lucky to have had happy babies.

Becky, Brenda and Gracie were up at Lindsay's school Tuesday & Wednesday along with Becky's friends. Lindsay finished school on Wednesday and then they went to one of Becky's friends house for a gathering where the kids played and the adult women chatted.
Heather and I went to look at RV parks that were interesting and within our price range, We are looking at all options if we are forced to spend the winter here due to fuel costs.
We are also looking into the possibility of staying here at the park for the winter. We have been told that there is a possibility that that could be arranged.
We are just looking at all possibilities at this time.

Washington State has decided to put on a day use fee for state parks to start July 1st. They are following what other states have had in place for years.
To keep from closing parks, there has to some sort of revenue generated.
A day use fee was imposed a few years ago, but not enough time was given before the fee was rescinded. There was a lot of resistance to the fees and use of the parks diminished. The state legislators rescinded the fee before there was time for a leveling off, and the use of the parks returned to  normal.
It is expected that there will be resistance again and the 4th of July weekend will be rather quiet.
Fireworks are not allowed in the parks, and along with the imposition of the fee, use is expected to be minimal. We shall see.

Ta ta for now.

Almost there

We are now in Moses Lake, WA. We arrived here just before noon. This is a nice park. It is an ROD park and for a change we are not in the least desirable section of the park.

We drove from Rapid City on Friday to Reed Point, MT. We have stayed at this park in the past and it is a nice overnight park. Cheap and it has no amenities. Wifi is non existent in this park or that part of Montana. There is no cable tv and you can't get local stations unless you have an antenna that is 30 feet tall. So we watched a movie and went to bed early.
It doesn't get dark until 10 pm there, so the night shades were closed in the bedroom.

We stayed in a park that we used last year in Missoula. It is a very nice park, well landscaped and well taken care of. It is a bit pricey, but it was close to town and church, yet very quiet.
Speaking of church, we went back to the church that we went to last year, It is old and Gothic with Frescoes on all flat or curved surfaces. It is ornate and beautiful.
The song leader for the 5pm mass, had a beautiful voice and he did not need a sound system.

We will be at Lake Sammamish tomorrow and we will see the family tomorrow also.
Fred called while we were on our way here and said just go ahead and drive the extra 165 miles today. I said I didn't think so as we had driven 300 miles today already.
The last 16 miles of I-90 in MT is very rough road. We had to be very careful when we opened the cabinets as much had shifted during that stretch of road. I even slowed down to 50 miles an hour with the speed limit of 75. Nobody was driving that fast though and one person followed us all the way into Idaho.
Nothing broke and we arrived in one piece, so all is good.

Ta ta for now.

Moving on

We are in Rapid City, SD and heading for Reed Point, MT today.

The trip was fairly easy from Mitchell to here. It was a short travel day and we gained an hour as we are now in MDT.
We stopped at Wall Drugs, which is just off of the Freeway. It was easy off & easy on. We enjoyed browsing through the different shops and reminiscing about our 2009 trip.

The campground here, in Rapid City is OK, but as with Thunderbird Park in Monroe, they tend to put the ROD people in a far distant and less desirable part of the park. But, the price is right, free is good, and it was just over night.

This is going to be another long day another 350+ miles. We will leave earlier than usual as we have 15 miles with road construction just to get back to the freeway. Smooth sailing the rest of the way.

More later----

Ta ta for now.

Mitchell, SD

We arrived at R & R Campground in Mitchell around 2pm. We drove about 400 miles to just catch up with our schedule. We have Reservations at an ROD park for tomorrow night.
We had departed Des Moines  just before 8am and we fought a headwind all of the way.
It dropped our fuel mileage down about 2 mpg.

This CG is the one where Ted & Donna and we had planned to stay when we were here 2 years ago. It was full then so we stayed at Rondees which is just behind this one. Ted and I came up and checked this one out then.
This is a much nicer place as Rondees is almost empty. There is shade here and the sites look like a RV park as opposed to a parking lot. The office staff is very friendly and helpful.

We have a rather short drive today, less than 300 miles.It is mostly freeway so not too difficult. We will leave at our regular time.

More tomorrow.

Ta ta for now

A little detour

As I reported yesterday, we were to spend the night in Little Sioux, IA.
Brenda called the CG and we were told that they were flooded. After checking, I discovered that I-29 was under water in several places. The Missouri river runs along I-29 in MO and IA.
We found out about the flooding before we got to Kansas City, so we came up I-35 to Des Moines, IA  where we are now.
This detour is many miles out of our way and made for a much longer drive than we had anticipated, and will make today's drive longer just to get us back on track. We plan to be in Mitchell, SD tonight as planned.

The campground here is large and is a member park that takes Passport America. This place is not worth $40 per night if we paid 50% PA rate.
It has rained here a lot according to some of the people that we have met, and there is water standing all along the passenger side of the coach. It makes for a messy entrance into the coach.
Oh well, only one night.
This trip is wetter than last year. But, all is good.

Ta ta for now.

Our first stop- Montgomery City, MO

We had a pretty uneventful trip from Bolton to Lazy Day Campground. We drove further than I like to, 370 miles, but most was freeway.
St. Louis was a bit trying with afternoon traffic and some road construction.

This is a very nice park. The sites are level, and the whole CG is landscaped beautifully,

Rally Hall

The lady who owns the park is in love with grasses. She has all kinds, Zebra, Little Dot, Evergold and some I recognize, but can't remember their names. Also many different flowering plants.
I would recommend the place if, if you are traveling on I70 through Missouri.

The weather is cool here and cloudy this morning. It is a nice change to the weather we have been having the last few weeks.

The weather looks a little threatening this morning as we proceed to Little Sioux, IA. We are staying at the Woodlands CG. We stayed there in 2009, while we traveled with Ted & Donna. The park is not spectacular, as I remember, but it is Passport America and we are only there for 1 night.
 

Our site

Ta ta for now.

On our way

In a few hours we will be leaving Bolton for the great northwest.
It has been a short 4 1/2 months, but the yearning to see our girls and Fred is overwhelming.

Saturday, we turned the coach around and put it in Mike's driveway. We are now headed out, so we can hook up the carand just pull out.
The coach has been under trees since our arrival and the coach was filthy. I spent about 2 1/2 hours just on the roof. I did not complete the washing, but got 3/4 of it done.
It was hot and humid and I didn't have a dry stitch on me when I finished.
Brenda got the inside all spic & span. She also got most things packed away for the trip.

We had long goodbyes with family and friends yesterday. After church, we went to breakfast with the Breakfast Club, came back home to finish washing the coach and car. We then headed b
ack to church for the annual parish picnic. But this was also a goodbye to Fr. Mike. He has been transferred to Paris, TN. and is leaving the end of this month. He has been at the parish for 7 years. He and his humor will be missed by all.
We got to see and say goodbye to those who couldn't make breakfast, and Bev, Richard, Jessica, Vickie and Rena were there also to say their goodbyes.

Adam, Crissy, Rachel Brian and Austin came over last night to say their goodbyes.
We are so lucky to have such a loving Memphis family. Along with a great group of friends.

Alan, Ann and Jen will be at the nursery this morning, so we will say our goodbyes to them just before we leave.

It has been a wonderful time here and we will miss them all, but family calls.

Ta ta for now.

Time is close

We have just over 1 week before we start our journey to the Northwest.
It will be almost 8 months since we have seen the family. Gracie is almost 8 months old, now, and we have not seen her since she was 2 weeks old. We are looking forward to our extended visit.

It is hot here. We are working only 5 to 6 hours a day. Yesterday it was 100 degrees in the building at noon. It was just too hot to work. It was 118 in GH 3. The plants in there just love it and I have not seen the plants look this good in the 4 years we have been coming.
We seem to be getting the watering right, and the weeds are under control.

Our annual 'golf week' was a success. Chris, Linda, Val & Tony came up for the week. Lots of family get togethers.
My golf game didn't improve, in fact, it has gotten worse. I just couldn't drive the ball and my fairway clubs were worse than ever. I just don't play enough to keep up what little skills I had. and time has also caught up with me.
This was the only time that we played since we have been here. Just no time for all of us to get together and play.

Ann and Alan are having a pool party at their house today. We plan to attend but, won't get into the pool. Brenda and I have not been pool people for a long time. All of Mike's kids will be there as well as Vickie, Vick and Rena. This will probably be our last chance to visit with family before our scheduled departure.

We are kind of looking forward to our trip north. We will be revisiting some of the places we saw during our summer trip with Ted & Donna.
We are staying in Mitchell, SD and maybe visit the Corn Palace to see what is different this year. The Palace is decorated with corn and native greens each year and the facade is different from year to year.

We may again stop at Wall Drugs for our 'free glass of ice water'.  We were there several times during our last trip and enjoyed it immensely.

Our trip is pretty much like last year only we will not be going into ND this time. We will pick up I-90 in Sioux Falls, SD and head due west. All in all a pretty pleasant drive.

We plan to arrive in the Seattle area around June 20th and due to a volunteer camp host cancellation we will be able to go directly to our host site at Lake Sammamish. This will cut a lot of hassle out of our trip[ and help the rangers at Lake Sammamish at the same time.

Ta ta for now.

Long overdue

I know that it has been a long time since I have posted. I seem to have had writer's block. 
I will now try to catch up.

First of all, we have decided that we are going to see our family in Monroe, WA., no matter the cost of fuel.
We received a lovely and heart wrenching email from Fred, our son-in-law. He made it abundantly clear to me that not seeing our family could not be an option this or any other year. He was much more diplomatic than I have made this appear.
We have not seen Gracie since she was 2 weeks old and we have missed watching her change on a daily basis. We hope not to miss her growing up as we missed Lindsay in her early years.

We will be leaving here on June 13 and taking the northern route, much as we did last year.
We will not be going into ND this year, but picking up I90 at Sioux Falls, SD.
We were hoping to get to Michigan this year, but it is just too far East to go West. As long as the kids remain in the great northwest, we will continue to go there.

We  are volunteering at Lake Sammamish State Park again this year. It is rewarding both personally and financially, as our site is without charge while we are volunteering there. It is a pleasure to be able to help the rangers maintain the park and to interact with some of the visitors using the park.

The nursery is doing pretty well this spring. We are packing and shipping up to 90 orders per week and we are not yet shipping to all temperate regions. We will begin shipping to the northern most states later on this month.
The plants in the greenhouses look really good this year and we are only a little behind on weeding, but that is an ongoing process.

There is a Naval installation here, as many of you know. It is not nearly the facility it was when I was growing up. Back in the 80's a lot of military installations were either closed or downsized and Millington was no exception.
There is still a commissary, Navy Exchange, and a personnel club (officer and enlisted together) still on the base property.
We were invited by some of the retired military people in the 'Breakfast club' to go to the club for an Easter brunch. It was enjoyable and we enjoyed the company.

We then met at Vickie's house for a gathering of her children and their families. That was a fun time as most of these gatherings are.

Adam and Chrissy had a gathering at their house for Mother's Day.
It seems as they are starting a tradition of Mother's Day celebrations at their house.
They had flowers for all of the mothers on this side of the family.
Adam surely knows his way around a BBQ grill. He fixed hamburgers and hot dogs to perfection and according to Vickie, the steak that Alan and Ann bought for Vickie was cooked just right.

I am trying to get the rig ready for the road. Yesterday, I took everything out of the basement, cleaned the bins and rearranged the load.I also got rid of somethings that we hadn't used in months of ever. We have some things inside of the coach that will be left for others to use on our way to see the kids.
On the way here, the coach didn't handle as well as I thought it should, so I decided that the load was not balanced correctly.
I had done this with the Southwind, and improved the handling remarkably.

I had asked Brian to ask his automotive mechanic friend to come look at the dash air on the coach. I am hoping that he will find the time to come look before we depart.
We can run the generator and house air, but it will save fuel if the dash air is working properly.

Ta ta for now.

Great Show

It seems that our coming early this year has paid off, for this trade show at least.
We had a good show this year, more than doubling last year's sales.
The weather was iffy on Friday, but the traffic was robust and sales were acceptable. Most of the sales were to Master Gardeners & not too many of the public were in attendance.
Saturday the weather was spectacular, sunny skies and temps in the mid 70's. The public was much more visible and spring fever made for brisk sales. It seems, from the conversations I heard, that most of the vendors had a good weekend.

There are many activities planned for this spring. The annual BBQ 5 course meal for St. Vincent DePaul Society is next Saturday. This will be our first time going, but the meat is prepared by Gil and Richard. I think that it is some of the best BBQ that I have ever eaten.

One of our Breakfast club members is part of a Barber Shop Quartet Club and they are having a show in May. We have our tickets and are anticipating a great show. We were to go last year, but the flood interrupted our plans
Valentines day, a group of the men came and serenaded us all at our weekly Sunday breakfast. They were very good and whetted our appetite for more of that old time musical fare.

If we are still here in the middle of June, we plan on attending the Parish Picnic with the Redbirds.
The Redbirds is the AAA team of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
Bob has been trying to get us to go ever since we started coming here, but it was always in August, and we were long gone by then.
It was by request that he move it earlier in the year.

Ta ta for now.

Catching up

Well, we have been here for almost 2 months and the nursery looks great.
We have our first show here this weekend and most of the plants that were transplanted into larger containers are looking great for the shows. Some have not developed as quickly as we had hoped, but the temperatures have not been consistent and some of the warm weather grasses have not progressed as we had hoped.

Ben and Debbie, one of the Michigan couples that we met while in Bay St. Louis, came through Memphis on their way home last week. We met them on B B King's Restaurant on Beale Street on Tuesday. We spent several hours with them and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. The ribs were some of the best that I have ever eaten and we all enjoyed them immensely.
Brenda and I enjoyed playing tour guides, as both of us grew up here (Brenda was born and raised here), and we enjoyed reminiscing about our childhoods in and around downtown.
When we were in high school, if you rode public transportation, anywhere that you wanted or needed to go in town, you had to pass through downtown.
It was kind of sad seeing the closed businesses and lack of activity in the downtown area. It was such a busy and vibrant place when we were growing up.

We have been to several family functions since our return. We have been invited to dinner to Brian's home, Adam and Crissy;s home as well as functions at Alan and Ann's home and Vickie's home. Some were large functions and others were more intimate.
The Weirich side of the family love to have get together's and enjoy each others company.
Vick finally got back to his home at Ave Maria assisted living facility, and a family party was given in honor of Vick's recovery and return home.

Brenda and I have been going to the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen on Tuesdays. I have not been working at the nursery on Tuesdays and have been able to go and help out. It is a rewarding activity and we work well as a team, no matter how the team members change from week to week. This is the 5th Tuesday, so we won't go this week. Our parish goes the 1st, 3rd, & 4th Tuesdays every month.

I will try to post more often, but for those on Facebook, you can follow Brenda as she posts more often than I.

Ta ta for now.

Moving along

Things are progressing here. It seems our arrival early this year has been beneficial to Mike's business.
Along with good weather for the last 2 weeks, our arrival has helped us be far ahead of where we have been in past years. We have been transplanting into larger containers (3.5" to quart size pots), digging bamboo and potting 4 different varieties for sale at the trade shows.We will be much better prepared than in the past.
If our supplier could get us what we need when we need it, we could be much further along.
Our first show is less than a month away, and we want to get those plants growing and filling those pots.
We just hope that, with the drastic rise in fuel prices recently,  people will have some money to buy our wares.
Saturday, Mike and I did some maintenance on the nursery, replacing fans, that had burned out and just routine maintenance to keep the equipment up and running. I did do some weeding and trimming on some papyrus, that is a big seller, that we plan to take to the shows.  

Brenda has been going to the soup kitchen on Tuesdays and I joined her one week. That is an interesting operation. They have it down to an art. They never know from week to week just what will be donated to be prepared and served to the homeless.
There are between 150 to 250 lunches served to these people 7 days a week. It is a fulfilling mission.

I have had the 'crud' for the last 2 weeks, cough cold etc., but I am starting to feel better. Now Brenda appears to be getting it. I just hope we don't pass it back and forth.

The family gets together on weekends and we join them when we can. Last weekend, Brenda's best friend in high school and her husband came over for dinner. We had a pleasant time with good conversation and a lot of catching up between Brenda and Loretta.

Last night, we went to a good Mexican restaurant for a birthday celebration for one of our nephews. It was a good gathering. and we all had a good time  and the food was good tex-mex.
Next weekend is another b'day party for one of our great nephews.

Ta ta for now.

Cold

According to our outside thermometer it got down to 15 degrees this morning. Our water froze and I had to place a heater in the water compartment to thaw things out.
It is only supposed to get to 30 degrees for a high today, although it is clear.
Yesterday, we got about 1 1/2" of snow. I don't expect too much melting today.

Mike's backyard and in front of our coach

Some plants that Mike had ordered came in last week and we got them planted up in 3 1/2" containers. We also got some plants from last year cleaned up and trying to get them ready for the trade shows we plan to participate in this spring.
We also dug up several Black Bamboo and placed them in pots for sale at the shows. Also there are over 100 10"pots of black bamboo roots that were planted. They were placed in a greenhouse to force them to grow, in hopes that they will be ready for the shows. If not, we will ship them to whoever orders them.
Mike is doing accounting on his business, at home, and as it is so cold we have not been working at the nursery. 

Alan and Ann had a 'super bowl party' at their house on Sunday. Most of the immediate family came, save for Brian and Austin. Austin was not feeling well, so they stayed home. They were all rooting for Pittsburgh, but alas, they did not win. But the food was great and the company was good so I think we all had a good time.


Vick had a fall and broke his elbow and several ribs. He was in the hospital for over a week and one of the family spent the night with him. Someone was with him most of the time, and Brenda put her time in, too. She spent the night with his on Sunday night and didn't sleep too well. After she came home, she slept a good percentage of the day.

We haven't ventured too far from home since I picked Brenda up on Monday. Just too cold to go anywhere.

Ta ta for now.

Memphis

At Shady Acres we met some really nice people from Michigan.
They are retired GM employees and are wintering in South Mississippi. It is toooooo cold in the Flint area in the winter.
Every afternoon, we would gather with Ben, Deb, Ed & Jonnie & some other couples in the small rally hall and laundry. We would chat and some one or other would bring goodies and we just had a good time.
Last Friday we went out to a fish place to eat. They are only open 3pm to 9pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The food was good, but I thought it was pricey. There was plenty to eat and the service was excellent. And the company was great.
Monday, The four of them went to a casino in the area and the 2 ladies won big. We all met later and went to a pizza buffet. There was other food other than pizza, like salads and red beans and rice & gumbo. Again the food was great and there was plenty, but the prices were also good. Brenda and I ate for less than $10 as we had a BOGO coupon.
There was 12 of us and each couple had a bogo coupon, so I don't think they made much money off of us. The place was packed and had a big turnover, so that made up some.

We left for Memphis about 8:30 am on Tuesday. It was windy and it rained heavily from Jackson to Granada, where we spent the night. Frog Hollow is a nice overnight park, but too close the freeway.
It got really windy and cold, but the rain stopped.

We arrived at Mike's house before noon and got set up. It is cold here, but no precipitation, yet.
We are supposed to have some snow, sleet and freezing rain over the next few days, so we will see how things go.
I don't think it got above freezing here yesterday, but there was sun so I didn't think it was too bad.
It could be worse, we could be in Chicago or Dallas.

Mike took us out to dinner last night to Macaroni Grill,  as a welcome. Barb joined us and we had a great dinner.

Mike has ordered in several flats of grass plugs for the nursery. Some should arrive this week and some next week. We will be busy planting up these plugs over the next several days.
Mike and I work 3 days a week and 3 others, Jennifer, Alan & Ann work one day a week. They all have full time jobs elsewhere and their help is definitely appreciated.
We hope our early arrival this year produces some good results at our trade shows.

Ta ta for now.

New Orleans, Finally

Yesterday, Brenda woke with just a little pain in her back so we went to NO as planned.
When we arrived we decided that the best way to see the city in one trip was to take a tour. We had taken tours in other places and got to see places that we wouldn't have normally seen. This tour was no exception.

We parked at Jackson Brewery and caught the tour there. We saw the Garden District, where a lot of the 'money' is. We saw Archie Manning's house, Sandra Bullock's house and a few of the prominent native residents homes.
We then went to the French Quarter and drove through the Mississippi side on Decatur street.
We saw the French Market and Jackson Square. There were a lot of artists trying to sell their wares along with a host of mule drawn carriages for tours of the French Quarter.
We then went to an above ground cemetery that is maintained by the Archdiocese of NO.
We learned that the very small tombs can only hold one body at a time. The body is left in there for a year and a day (the length of time it takes for a body to decompose plus one day out of respect). The body is then removed and the bones are put in a sack and placed in the 3 foot pit below the tomb.

The casket is removed and disposed of and is ready for the next person to occupy the tomb.

We then we went to the Lower 9th ward where a whole neighborhood was under 25 feet of water during Katrina.
There was a barge left in a canal and it broke through the levee and flooded the neighborhood leading to total destruction. The reconstruction is partially done, but there is a long way to go.

Brad Pitt has taken on this neighborhood as a project and is building homes on the sites of the former residents homes. Only homeowners who had property in this neighborhood are eligible to buy the homes being constructed.

We were then dropped off at our boarding  spot and proceeded to walk around the Quarter.
It was an interesting walk to say the least. We noted many restaurants and pubs as well as gentlemen clubs that openly displayed their wares.
We know that we don't want to be there during Mardis Gras as the streets are so narrow and they are jammed during that time.

All in all a very interesting city. We plan to go back and see the WWII memorial as we have heard it is a very interesting place to visit. We are also told that it is an all day affair.

Ta ta for now.