May 2015

May found us in Moab Utah at an FMCA Jeep Rally.

This picture was taken on Klondike Bluffs Trail Run.It is part of an old mining site.

This picture was taken from my favorite run…. Hidden Canyon.

I never tire of the beauty in Utah.

 

 Mike was part of a skit at the rally.  It was hilarious!

This picture was taken on Long Canyon (another outstanding run)

This was taken from Kane Creek….. the storm coming in made this beautiful.

The rock formations in Moab don’t even look real  (but they are)

After 11 days, we headed west…….stopped in Wells Nevada and found this gorgeous owl in the tree at the RV park.

Next stop…..Reno NV….  Great to see my nephew Brett. He is doing well and loving his job at the Harley Davidson Dealership.  So good to see him!

Still heading west – Spent a week in the Sacramento area.  Got to spend a fun afternoon with Mike’s brother, Chuck and his wife Eva.  We went to the local casino 

and had an awesome crab dinner! 

While in Sacramento – Mike and two of his buddies, navigated the Rubicon Trail (a difficult, famous Jeep trail- near Lake Tahoe).  Sharon O’Connor and I set out shopping, going to the movies and eating out!  At the mall, we saw Dr. Oz.  He was promoting healthy diet and exercise.

After the Rubicon trail expedition, we headed north toward Sunriver, OR.  

This picture is of Shasta Lake.  California is suffering an extreme drought 

and the lake was very low as we expected.

One day after arriving in Sunriver, we spent three days in Redmond with Marc and Maria.  We were able to see 5 of Colby’s baseball games.Great weather……lots of fun.  It was an awesome Memorial Day weekend.

April 2015

Mike started April with a two night camping/jeeping trip on the Mojave Road….
from Barstow California to Needles.  Seven Jeeps in total.  He had a great time!

We had a wonderful visit from our friend LeAnn Biggerstaff. 
LeAnn has been having health problems this winter but she is now on the mend. 
It was so good to see her smiling. 

We were so excited to have a visit from Camryn (our 15 year old granddaughter)

She is so grown up…… traveled by herself.

We spent two days in Disneyland….and we were the
happiest people in the happiest place on earth!

Such a great time with Camryn!

Camryn loves Disneyland…… and we had so much fun there
(even though all the walking almost did my knee in)

Camryn got a hug from Pluto!

On the way home from Disneyland, we went past a wildfire in the mountains…
California is very dry this year!  Traffic was terrible!

The next day we went driving.  Top down and Camryn is ready to drive.
She did a fantastic job….like I said “so grown up”

What a beautiful cactus bloom at ORI….. almost as big as a dinner plate.

Always sad…… It’s time to leave our winter home site.

First stop….St. George Utah.  Beautiful red rock country. 
We will be here for two nights.

Dinner with our dear friends…Denny and Kay Struss. 
We miss Denny and Kay and is was great seeing them.

And Denny’s ribs were out of this world!

Next we moved on to a Jeep rally in Moab Utah.  Utah is so beautiful.

We will be in Moab attending a Jeep rally for 10 days in May.

March 2015

Spring is here and I love it!

For the past several years, in March, Outdoor Resorts has it’s “Sunshine Invitational”  During this time, the resort holds several fund raising events to help fund the Coachella Valley Cancer Society.  This year, we raised $60,000. 
There are so many generous folks here.

Our ORI “Topless Cruiser Club”  had it’s first overnighter.  We had over 20
convertibles and we all went to San Diego for a really fun couple of days.   
We stayed a a great hotel.  Several of us went to a brewery for lunch.

Old Town in San Diego was colorful and very busy. 

We toured the USS Midway, docked in the San Diego harbor. 

What an interesting tour.  So much history and so much to learn. 

Mike went out with a few of the Jeepers on an overnight camping trip in the desert.  When they woke up in the morning, one of the fellas found this guy in his ball cap.  Glad he looked before putting it on his head.

The weekly Jeep trips show us the beauty in the desert.

We took the motorhome over to Phoenix for a week of

Spring Training Baseball games. 
We enjoyed the week with 3 other couples and had a wonderful time.

Spring Training Baseball.  Mike is a Dodger fan and I am an Oakland A’s Fan….
We are ready for a great week!

We saw 6 games at 5 different stadiums.  We had such great seats and we saw some amazing players….all getting ready for the 2015 season.

We saw the Kansas City Royals, The San Francisco Giants, the LA Dodgers, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Oakland A’s, the Milwaukee Brewers, The Chicago Cubs, the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago White Sox’s.

One last “Topless Cruiser” trip.  We took a day trip up into the mountains toward Big Bear.  The weather in the valley has been hovering around 100 and a convertible ride to the mountains where the temperature was around 69 degrees was a welcome relief.  The mountains just a few miles north of Beaumont, CA are beautiful.

February 2015

We spent the first few days of February in Las Vegas.  This picture is of the Fremont Experience…….a screen over the closed street (made into a walking area)  We drove to Pat and Rollie’s, spent the night, then drove with them to Las Vegas for 4 days – 3 nights over Mike’s 68^th birthday……watched the disappointing Super Bowl and gambled!  Had a great time!

Mike went to the King of the Hammers off roading race in Johnson Valley.

Tony Pelligrino was Mike’s favorite racer…… He got 9^th. 
Mike had a great time.

The desert is beautiful….. and the sky is incredible. 
We have had a very warm winter.  I love it!

Some of the gals from “Thread Therapy” drove together to the
Hemet Quilt Show.  This was my favorite quilt. 
Oh – to have that kind of talent!

We went on two “Topless Cruises” during February
and really enjoyed them!
We are loving our new (to us) Mustang!

We had a great visit with Nancy Ardeel Brown, a Hilhi classmate and her friend Rog.  It was so great to see Nancy…..it felt we had visited just yesterday when it has been about 50 years!  We really enjoyed Nancy’s friend….he has many hobbies that are right up Mike’s alley!

My knee has been bothering me for several months and discovered on an MRI that I have a torn meniscus.  Feb 16^th was my arthroscopic repair/removal surgery.  Don’t I look beautiful…..ready for surgery? 
Actually just eager to get it fixed and get on with the winter.

We had a Mardi Gras parade.  Golf carts all decorated. 

We finished up February with a great concert at our resort. 
What a fun evening!

My knee is improving every day.  Still not pain free….but getting there!

January 2015

We have had a busy and really fun January.

The high desert has snow in the winter and it is beautiful.

The desert is growing on me.  I see beauty everywhere!

We were so happy to see our friends Bob and Paula on their visit to Indio.

I miss them so much.  I wish I could have spent more time with them but
unfortunately I got that nasty cold going around.

On our January “Topless Cruise”  (That’s topless as in convertibles)
we went down to the Salton Sea and had a wonderful lunch at “The Fountain of Youth”
RV park.  I tried to get some of that fountain of youth stuff….but alas it didn’t work.

While down in the area, we visited Salvation Mountain near the entrance to Slab City.

Some of our friends had never been to Slab city so we drove in a ways.  Couldn’t go too far because we were in our convertibles and the roads are too bad for them.  Slab City is an old military installation from WWII where the government put in slabs on which to pitch their tents.  The area has been abandoned for many years and now RV’ers have taken over and park their RV’s on the old slabs.  They have no hookups, no electricity.  It is a place where folks go to “drop out”.  What an interesting place. 

We were lucky to spend 4 days in Phoenix and attend Anna’s gymnastics event there.  There were 1000 gymnasts there.  Thin little muscular gals everywhere!

Look at that beautiful smile!

The meet was at the Arizona Grand…. A huge beautiful resort.  Here Anna and a couple of her friends were in front of the entrance fountain.

It was wonderful watching Anna perform!  She is amazing!

I went to the “Road to California”  southern California quilt show. 
It is getting bigger every day.  It’s huge!  We went on the first day to
avoid the crowds…… it was sooooo crowded!

So much fun!

This was my favorite quilt.  This is made from thousands and thousands of tiny pieces of fabric…..  so much detail.  All that and it only got a red ribbon! 
I would have given it “Best of Show” for sure!

Mike traveled up to the Oregon coast for his annual golf trip with the fellas.

Once again they had beautiful weather.  Who would think that in January on the Oregon coast it would be so nice!  He had a great time!

The “Desert Rats” our local off road group had a fantastic event.  It was an off road rally.  We were given vague directions and timed stop times at various locations.  We left a staggered times.  It was so much fun!  I think it was my favorite day jeeping!....ever!

Beautiful slot canyon!

At one of our last stops we hooked up with our friends the O’Connors.

Great day with great friends and great views of the desert!

Such a fun month!