December 2014

 Whew!  “2014” is coming to a close - then  ….. on to “2015”

A chocolate making class was a great way to start off this holiday month!

A lot of fun – but we all had to sample!  Of course!

We had a tree decorating party which was so much fun…. Then a few days later,
we had a “Spark of Love” Christmas Party.  Look at all these toys! 
The fire department was over joyed with all the gifts!

Our December “Topless” Cruise – (Don’t worry- it’s a convertible group!)
went down to Borrego Springs.  This is an old rusty sculpture of a stage coach. 
It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time!

The holidays are here and we want to be “home” with the kids and grandkids.  A short flight to Portland OR and we are plunged into the Christmas spirit!

But first……..

What a nasty time to have wisdom teeth pulled…..  but never fear. 
Camryn was great by Christmas day!

Many times, I’ve said, “If I lived in our motor home,
where would I put my Christmas tree?”
Well here you go……

Two trees……..A beautiful tree at Marc and Maria’s house

And another gorgeous tree at Brandon and Karen’s house!

I’m a lucky lady!  What a wonderful Christmas!

A beautiful Christmas Eve service at church in Vancouver, Washington.

Back in Indio…….Bonnie’s birthday!  Dinner with the best of friends!

We have had a wonderful 2014 and are so very thankful for our health, our great children and grandchildren and the ability to live this wonderful life.

We wish the very best to you for 2015.

November 2014

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is coming quickly.

It’s time to finish up the shopping!

but first……let’s re-cap November.

We borrowed Kim Hansen’s convertible for the November “Topless” cruise to Idylwild up in the mountains.  We had a fun day with over 35 convertibles.  We love these trips!

In the short time we have been here our newly potted
geraniums have gone crazy.
They are beautiful!

Well… We finally did it!  No more borrowing convertibles. 
We bought this Mustang and I LOVE IT!

Just a few days after buying our new “Pony”, we took it to Lake Havasu for Thanksgiving.  Runs like a top!  We are so happy – I AM SO HAPPY!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Pat and Rollie (Mike’s sister & her husband)

This is ths entrance to the “village” under the London Bridge
in Lake Havasu

While in Lake Havasu, we went to their Christmas Lighting event.
First over 50 people braved the 56 degree water and swam across the channel under the London Bridge.  The winner from the swimming event, pulled the switch to light the Christmas lights.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  It really put me in the Christmas mood!

Saturday, we went to the races in Havasu.  It was a beautiful day and
we really enjoyed the time with Pat and Rollie

While we were in Lake Havasu, Pat and Rollie bought a Mustang almost like ours.
Now we are twins  (almost)  I think Pat is as happy with hers as I am with ours!

Now Thanksgiving is officially over……..

Best Wishes for a wonderful Christmas season. 

October 2014

We’re here in Indio!  Hooray!!!!

The sun is shining EVERY day and the birds are singing!

I love it here!

 

Mike’s sister Sheri and her husband John stopped in Indio at the end of their “Route 66” retirement trip.  We had a great time with them!

John has a 1957 Thunderbird – totally restored – that they drove on their trip.  We met them in Barstow California…..John and Mike finished the journey to Santa Monica in the
T-Bird while Sheri and I drove back to Indio to rest up.

Mike snapped this shot of the very first McDonalds ever……. In San Bernadino.

While John and Sheri were here, we took a trip to “Salvation Mountain”  This is a hay bale man made mountain that has been totally painted with left over paint from “wherever” and made into a landmark of sorts.  Very colorful and interesting.

Salvation Mountain is at the entrance to “Slab City”  During WWII the troops would train just outside the town of Niland. (near the Salton Sea)  The military poured slabs of concrete where the troops could set up their tents……all that is left are the slabs.  Now many RV’ers camp at Slab City.  This picture is of one of the more creative campers.  It is for the alternative lifestyle type folks who want to kind of “drop out” from the norm.

Mike is getting the Jeep ready for his winter “Off Roading”

I love Diet Mountain Dew!!!!  But unfortunately because of all the caffeine I can’t have any after about noon…….  Our ORI neighbors, the Hansons, live in Minnesota and guess what?…. In Minnesota, they sell CAFFEINE FREE Diet Mountain Dew.  Love it – This year they brought me several cases!

Our ORI Octoberfest was a great success.  Beer, Brauts and all the fixens. 
We had a great turn out too!

Mike really liked my “beer serving frauline” outfit…. I wonder why?

We topped off October with my birthday! 
Had a great day and we hope the start to a terrific year!

September 2014

Labor Day we brought the motorhome back to Sunriver from Kahneeta where we had spent a great holiday weekend with Brandon, Karen, Ben and Anna
and their friends the Evers.

After spending a week getting the motorhome ready and closing up the Sunriver lot, we finally headed to Sherwood.  Marc and Maria (who were supposed to go to Cabo San Lucas – but the impending hurricane made them change their plans) took off for Maui to celebrate their 20^th wedding anniversary.

Camryn is in High School this year – so grown up!  And plays soccer for Sherwood High School.  Her soccer games were great to watch…… reminded us of the old days when her dad played soccer.

Through Facebook, I reconnected with some friends from many, many years ago.  Ron and Jeri Sosinski were great friends of ours eons ago!  Ron and Mike worked in the same office while in the Marine Corps and years later, Jeri babysit Marc when we lived in Simi Valley California.  We had a wonderful visit.

Colby broke his toe a short time before, so he was unable to play football
but we did go to his games and practices just the same.

During our Sherwood stay, Mike went to an Oregon State Football game with his buddy Perry.  Oregon State 28 vs San Diego State 7.  Go Beavs!

Marc and Maria returned well rested and after a fun week with the kids, we took off to head south for the winter.

First stop….Canyonville¸OR to get new tires on our home.

We spent a few nights in Canyonville so decided to check out the
Wildlife Safari in Winston.

We drove through the park and the animals were right there.  Amazing! 
We saw so many exotic (and sometimes scary) critters.

Moving south … and crossing Shasta Lake.  The water is incredibly low. 
California is experiencing a drought and the lake has been drained to
provide the farmers with water.

After 6 days on the road.. we have arrived in Indio.  Very few people are here. 
We are getting settled.  It’s great to be “home.”

August 2014

August has been a real travel month….. It all started with a much anticipated trip to Cabo San Lucas with Marc, Maria, Camryn and Colby.

The view from Villa la Estancia is incredible! 
The rocks in the center of the picture are “Lands End”
the tip of Baja.

The weather was beautiful  (hot and humid but really nice.)

We had dinner on the beach twice and ate at the resort the rest of the time….  FABULOUS!

Am I getting shorter?

Camryn is growing up so very fast. 

We had so much fun with the kids!

We took a cab trip to “Pedregal”  a very expensive part of Cabo….On the hill between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez…….  Then we drove to the “real” Cabo.  This picture is the real cabo where the Mexican people live.  The streets are clean but the houses are very basic…..  many without windows and doors.

On our trip home….Mike and I were talking about how much we loved Mexico.  We decided it would be fun to go back to Cabo and surprise Pat and Rollie on their honeymoon trip.

They had planned on traveling with three other couples…..  Why not 4? 
So we did!!!  We spent a week back in Sunriver…..Then we flew back to Cabo for our surprise.

The newly weds.......

This time we stayed in San Jose del Cabo (another town about 30 miles west of Cabo San Lucas.)  This is a beautiful cathedral located in the center of town.

We just walked into town… it was that close.

We met a fella working for the Mexican Government in the Turtle protection program.  He showed us baby turtles that had just been born. He protected the turtles from the birds in the days they were developing and being born.  He was going to release them into the ocean later that night.

We spent A LOT of time in the swimming pool.  Our second trip to Cabo was even HOTTER… with quite a bit of humidity!

This is Larry and Betty Hofer, Chuck and Eva Fox (Mike’s brother) Mike and I, Pat and Rollie (Mike’s sister) and Tom and Vanessa Campbell.

We had a great week….. and the surprise was worth the entire trip!

Back in Sunriver…..  Ben and Anna came over for a week to visit.  We took the kayaks out for a float down the Deschutes.  The kids LOVED it!

We rode the chairlift up Mt Batchelor, hiked at Sparks Lake
and got a milkshake at Elk Lake!

We ended our week by meeting Brandon and Karen (Ben and Anna’s parents) at Kahneta Resort on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.  

By this picture, you can tell,  we weren’t the only people at Kahneta……
Nice weather brought out lots of folks!

What an incredible month!

July 2014

                                  What a busy month…….and so much fun!

July started with a visit from Brandon, Karen, Ben and Anna.  While Brandon was working, Karen, the kids and I visited the Lava Cast Forest.

We all took in a Bend Elks Baseball game…Anna and I with Vanessa sitting behind us.

The fish hatchery at Fall River was beautiful.

We had a picnic lunch at La Pine State Park.  Brandon, Karen, Ben,
Anna, Linda (Karen’s mom) and of course Lucky.

We went to the Fourth of July “Pet Parade” in Bend.  So many different kinds of pets……  and of course hundreds of dogs!    We had a wonderful fourth BBQ at the house rented by Brandon, Karen and Karen’s family.

Rob and Serena (Pat’s son and daughter-in-law) came up for the Fourth of July.  While they were here, we took a tour of several of the Bend breweries.

Mike removed the mirrors in the kitchen of our motorhome and replaced them with a faux tile.  I love the tile!!  Mike is an incredible handyman!

Kayaking on Sparks Lake with Pat, Rollie, John and Sheri, Mike and I….
on a fantastic day.

We spent one beautiful day visiting lakes along the Cascade Lakes Highway. 
This is my favorite lake…….Cultus Lake.  

We stopped at the Mount Bachelor ski area and rode a chair lift up
to the top.  The view was incredible!

Kayaking again….. This time, we floated down the Deschutes.
Pat, Rollie, John, Sheri, Chuck and Eva with Mike and I……

The whole family!

Cycle Pub!  We rented one of the large “bicycles”

and pedaled through downtown Bend…..drinking beer the entire way. 
So much fun.  It was a hot day and we worked hard!

Pat, Rollie, John, Sheri, Chuck, Eva, Tom, Vanessa with Mike and I…..
and of course our sober driver, Russ!

In our spare time, Sheri and I took some time to catch up on our quilting – outside!

The Cascade Cycling Classic spent one of their days in downtown Bend riding a criterium.  The riders were amazing. Such strength……..Oh to be young again  J

One last day kayaking…… John, Sheri, Mike and I paddled all over
Hosmer Lake.  Had a great day!

Mike’s good buddy, Neil Peterson, came to Bend on his way south. 
Unfortunately it rained the entire time Neil was here, but we survived.

This was at Elk Lake.  We also went to a wonderful dinner party at
Bill and Jan Lee’s home.

We end this month on our way to Cabo San Lucas for a week of pure enjoyment.
Stay tuned for August pic’s.