March 2008

The first part of March, I was able to attend the Palm Springs Desert Magic Quilt Show with several of my quilting friends – We had a great time and came home inspired to try some new quilt ideas.

We had a fun Mardi Gras Golf cart parade at our resort – A good time was had by all!

Several of our off-roading trips this month have taken us out into the desert and we have been able to see the desert in bloom. There has been about 4 inches of rain this winter (which is quite a bit for the desert) and this has caused a spectacular bloom of so many beautiful flowers. One of our trips this month took us up into the mountains where we were in the snow – what a contrast!

We have decided to update our motorhome. We began with a satellite dish and two new TV’s. Next, we removed one of our two couches and had a 12 foot long cabinet installed to give us more storage. We added a chair and ottoman and we are so happy with the outcome.

Brandon, Karen, Ben and Anna arrived March 29th to enjoy some of this fabulous Southern California sunshine. (Our weather has been in the 80’s all this month)
We have great plans for this week – Stay tuned and I’ll update you more in April.

February 2008

February has been a wonderful, relaxing month. Mike took his annual golf trip to Bandon, OR with Marc and Brandon. They did get some rain and wind but he always has a great time with the boys regardless of the weather. I have taken two quilt classes and continue to learn new and fun things at each one! I look forward to my Tuesday (quilt with the group day) each week!

Mike went to NHRA Drag Race with some of his buddies – They had a great time!

We continue to go Jeepin’ each Wednesday – The “off roading” bug has taken a great big bite out of Mike! The desert is starting to bloom and should be beautiful this spring.

The weather has been cold this winter (several weeks of 60 degree temperatures) but it is warming up beautifully this month (now we are having several weeks of 80 degree temps) We have been relaxing and enjoying our resort this month.

Janet's step-mother, Pat Gundle has passed away. She suffered for the past five years and has finally found peace.

January 2008

Happy New Year!

We ushered in the start to a wonderful 2008 in Borrego Springs California January 6th, we drove to Long Beach, boarded the Carnival Cruise Ship “Pride” for Mike's brother's wedding. The wedding and reception were lovely - we left to drive back to Palm Springs prior to the ships embarkation to Mexico. We took the motorhome and spent 4 days in Fountain Hills, Arizona at a beautiful County park in the desert. The Arizona desert is very beautiful. Both sunrise and sunset are spectacular.While in the Scottsdale, AZ area, Mike and his buddies went to the Barrett-Jackson Auto auction…..no one bought any cars, they just went to drool. Mike caught a picture of the great Muhammed Ali checking out the displays.

After we left the Phoeniz area, we traveled with our friends to Quartzsite, AZ where we spent 3 days taking in the whole “Quartzsite Experience” Quartzsite is a very tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Every year in January, thousands and thousands and thousands of RV’ers from all parts of the country converge out in the desert for an unbelieveably large gathering and vendor sales exhibition.

We finished off the month with Mike’s annual trip to Bandon Dunes (on the Oregon coast) golfing with Marc and Brandon and the “gang.” I’m sure they are up there having a fabulous time.

December 2007

We started our December with a day trip to the Indio Tamale Festival. Fun and yummy too! We sampled all sorts of tamales…….at the top of my list are sweet corn tamales and roasted pork with pineapple tamales. The dessert tamales were great too. My favorite in this category was carmeled apple, butterscotch and walnut! Fantastic!

Oh, Oh! Now Mike has introduced Pat and Ron to off roading…….we spend time a fair amount of time in the desert and it is beginning to grow on me - It seems the desert takes on a beauty of it’s own. In the picture above you can see the Salton Sea in the background.

Mike had arthroscopic surgery on his knee this month. The doctor called it a “significant” tear in the meniscus. He is doing great - nothing seems to slow him down a bit. We flew up to Portland for a week to spend Christmas with the kids and grandkids. Had a wonderful time. My goodness those kids wear me out…..I must be getting old. We had snow on Christmas and the day we flew back. I returned to Palm Springs with a cold but it was all worth it!

November 2007

We love our winter home here in Indio - we have warm weather and great friends here! Outdoor Resorts threw a wonderful “Welcome Home” party - a good time was had by all!
We took the motorhome to Borrego Springs (about 90 minutes south of here) where Mike went to a two day off roading driving school. He really enjoyed the class and said he learned quite a bit.
We have started our off roading trips with the gang here and have already seen several desert trails this season.
My sister Jeri, her husband Brian and their friends came to our desert area in November and we enjoyed spending an evening with them.
Mike’s sister Pat and her husband Ron have arrived and will be staying in Indio for the next few months. It will be great to have them so close.

October 2007

October has taken us to see some beautiful sites! We met up with our friends Ken and Darlene Sutton and toured through the beautiful Zion National Park, spent a day in breathtaking Bryce National Park, visited Snow Canyon in St. George Utah, drove through Kolob Canyon and headed up in the snow to Cedarbreaks National Monument at 10,500 ft. All of these locations are in southern Utah (one of the most spectacular states we have visited)
From Utah we traveled to Las Vegas where we visited with Cliff and Marcielle Scott (Sunriver friends) and took in a fabulous seafood buffet (ate way too much - you know how those buffets are) While we were there, Mike had an adventure of a lifetime. He got to drive a NASCAR at the Las Vegas Speedway. He rode (at 165-170 mph) three laps with a professional driver then after some instruction, they strapped him in a real NASCAR and he drove (by himself) 8 laps where they clocked him at 133mph. He said it was an unbelievable rush!

We are now at Outdoor Resorts in Indio (near Palm Springs) where we will spend the next several months. We are very fortunate to be quite a ways from the devastating southern California fires. The weather here is warm, beautiful, clear and dry….every day.

October has ended with Janet’s 60th birthday. Who ever thought that 60 could be so wonderful. I’m having a great time!

September 2007

We are so fortunate to have a home with wheels. What a great life! This month, we started out in Flathead Lake, Montana. What a beautiful area. Flathead Lake is the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi. We drove around the lake, took a boat ride on the lake and enjoyed a picnic on the lake shore.
From Flathead, we headed to Glacier National Park. We toured the park, took a boat ride on Lake McDonald, hiked to a beautiful waterfall, saw some big horned sheep and took in the beauty of the park. We ran into Mike and Carol Semple from ORI (where we spend the winter) - great to see familiar faces and catch up on both families summer adventures.

Next stop - Livingston, Montana. We spent a few days here visiting with Denny and Kay Struss (also friends from ORI) Livingston is in a beautiful location just north of Yellowstone. When we left Livingston, we drove south and through Yellowstone National Park - just passing through, we saw buffalo, coyote, elk and a bear.

On to Driggs, Idaho where we spent 4 nights with Chad and Jill Stettler (also from ORI - living on the road has given us so many wonderful friends) Driggs is located on the west side of the Tetons and is quiet, great summer weather and full of so many friendly people. Mike took a float trip on the Yellowstone river with Chad while Jill invited me to tag along with her weekly hiking group. We hiked up in the hills - now I know what bear scat looks like! On to 5 days in Jackson Wyoming (on the east side of the Tetons) In Jackson, we toured Teton National Park, took a float trip on the Snake river, saw numerous eagles, hundreds of buffalo, elk, a bear and a moose too! We took a gondola ride to see the beautiful Jackson Hole valley, and we hiked to a remote incredibly beautiful lake and waterfall.

In Olathe, Colorado, we met up with Denny and Kay Struss and Dave and Roberta McCleary where we all gathered to participate in a FMCA 4-Wheelers Rally. We toured an amazing car museum created by the fella who owns the Discovery Channel. The car collection is located in Gateway Colorado. We went on 4 off roading trail runs and saw some incredibly beautiful country. We even had to slowly make our way through the middle of a cattle drive - complete with real cowboys!