February 2019

We started the month with Mike’s 72^nd birthday….. the days are whizzing by !

February is a great month for birthdays….  Mike, Mike’s sister, Sheri, Our granddaughter, Camryn, our grandson Colby and just a few days into March, our son, Marc.

It’s cold in southern California….but the days are clear and beautiful.

We went to an Elvis Impersonator show at Heritage Palms..

This guy was phenomenal. 

Excellent show!!

A great day for a girls luncheon at PGA West.

A great visit from Nancy Brown and her friend, Roger.
Nancy  is a very special high school friend

We had a 24 hour rain….. It rained buckets, but after the rain, we took a
drive out to painted canyon.  It was so beautiful.  Doesn’t this look like a painting?

The rain in the valley brings snow in the nearby mountains.

BEAUTIFUL !!!!

In the midst of the super cold weather, we went on a Topless Overnighter Trip to Barstow. 
It was really cold but dry and lots of fun…….

In Barstow we visited the Railroad Museum….. and also the Calico Mine.

The Calico Mine was a small western town… very authentic.  

Also in Barstow…. Near the entrance to Fort Irwin, we visited
the Painted Rocks.  Many years ago, a soldier climbed to the top rock
on this rock pile and painted his unit’s insignia.  Over the following years,
different unit’s painted their insignias…… and today there are hundreds.

It is incredible…..

February ends with gorgeous weather….  80 degrees and clear skies.
We can’t complain when looking at the rest of the country.

Mike & Janet "On the Road" January 2019

We started the month with a party for Chris Crawford, a wonderful guy that was always happy.

He said that when his time came, he didn''t want to have a funeral but rather a party for 

all of his friends.  So a party we had!  Chris, we will miss you.

Friends came from out of town......  Sharon and John came from Sacramento

and Denny and Kay came from St. George Utah.  Others from all over.

The Coachella Valley Quilt Guild meets once a month and I wouldn't 

miss it.  They always have a guest speaker and they are good.

January's speaker was an expert in Hawaiian quilting.

Her work is beautiful, and her hand quilting is exquisite.

Marc came down to Indio for his annual golf trip with his buddies. 

They stayed in a beautiful home down in PGA West and had a great time.

We took a trip to Phoenix (but I didn't take any pictures - shame on me)

In Phoenix we met up with Brandon, Karen, Ben and Anna at Anna's Gymnastic Event.

We had a wonderful time with the kids!

Then from Phoenix we traveled south to Tucson where we met up with

John and Bonnie and stayed at their new home in Oro Valley.  They have a beautiful place

and were such good hosts.  We had a great time.

While the weather across the country is so very cold.... bone chilling cold....

the weather in Indio is fantastic.

It's terrific here.

December 2018

2018 draws to a close…..

The girls out for a luncheon.  This was so fun, we will have to do more of these.

As Christmas gets closer, we drove north to spend the holiday with

our kids and grandkids in Oregon.

Our road of choice is Hwy 395….. it is so beautiful.

Sunriver in Central Oregon just south of Bend was dry when we arrived.
The first night we were blanketed with snow.

Holidays are the best with the kids.

One day we drove up to Mt. Bachelor.

The kids skied for the day.  Grandpa and I

stayed in the lodge….. much warmer.

A beautiful day on the mountain.

Skiers have made beautiful markings in the snow.

We spent another day driving (till the road closed) up to
Paulina Lake (southeast of Sunriver)

The kids and grandkids snow shoed up to the Paulina Lake lodge.

Grandpa went with me in a snow cat….  Fun ride.

At the lodge, we all met up with the Bigej family for a great lunch.

A really fun day – I loved it!

The Pauline Lake area was snowed in…..

Incredibly beautiful.

The Fox crew at Paulina Lake….. So cold!

After a fantastic week, we headed south back to Indio.

Back along the east side of the Sierra Madres.

Now I notice, I didn’t get pictures of the kids beautiful Christmas trees.  

Both families had gorgeous trees. 

We thank them for a wonderful Christmas time.

Their homes in Sunriver are incredible.

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends.

What a great 2018.

November 2018

 What a great November….our Mexico adventure

Following an 11 ½ hour bus ride from Puerto Vallarta to Mazatlan (ugh!)

We had three wonderful weeks in Mazatlan….

“Dia de Los Muertos” (Day of the Dead)
was very interesting

Mazatlan has so many beautiful sites.

The weather was perfect….  A few very humid days

but wonderful the rest of the time.

A tour into the mountains took us to a quaint little town

We had a great lunch – they even had
chickens wandering around

the restaurant.

A great looking little fella hanging out at the pool

The beach was amazing!

I wasn’t sure about Mazatlan at first……

But in retrospect   I LOVED IT!

This picture looks to me like paradise.

It is the north end of Mazatlan’s

13 mile long Malecon.

We walked about 10 miles of the Malecon over two days.

The colorful row houses – so cheerful

At our resort, we released 480 baby turtles into the ocean

A great experience!

After 2 weeks at one resort, we moved down the street

To another resort. 

Beautiful pool area but not nearly as nice resort.

We took the city bus to different parts
of the city every other day.

We enjoy exploring!

Our last day in town, we discovered

La Machada.

A beautiful old town square.
Very relaxing

The buildings around La Machada were so gorgeous.

Back at ORI, we took a “Topless Run”
to the Mission Inn in Riverside.

Their “Festival of Lights” was fantastic!

An amazing month!!

October 2018

Whew, a busy month….

It’s getting cold so we left Oregon and headed south.

We spent several days in St. George with friends.

The weather was gorgeous and we always love

seeing our friends.

South of St. George and Las Vegas, we crossed the bridge over Hoover Dam.

We really couldn’t see anything….. just had to keep moving.

We stopped in Lake Havasu City to visit with Chuck and Eva.

They took us to some of their wonderful friends for a party.

It’s hard to see in this picture, but while sitting out by their pool,

A very strange weather event came up.  The sky turned very

dark and we could see the darkness moving toward us.

When it arrived, it was DUST!

It passed over us and was gone.  Strange

We arrived in Indio, got our lot all set up and the next week,

Alice (our neighbor) and I went to the Coachella Valley Quilt Guild meeting. 

Beautiful quilts on display and a very interesting guest speaker.

ORI was brown when we arrived…..

Brown golf course, no flowers…. Just brown.

Within a week, the golf course was bright green

And the flowers have all been planted.

It’s like they knew we were coming  😊

Today is Brandon’s 44^th birthday!

Where has the time gone?

What a great guy and his wonderful family.

Karen’s birthday is in two days…

Best wishes to both of you  ❤

September 2018

September – I love the fall….

Labor Day weekend, we went up to Mt. Hood RV with

Brandon, Karen, Ben, Anna and Karen’s mom, Linda.

We started the weekend with a great visit with old high school

friends, Don and Vickie Becker. 

What fun to catch up with old friends.

We spent one day up at the fun center – the kids had a blast.

Another day, we hiked up to Mirror lake.

The view was gorgeous

(even if I thought the hike was going to kill me!)

We saw some amazing women athletes at the

“Booties in Action” competition

in Sherwood

Our dear friend, Ron Herinckx, had a wonderful

80^th birthday party.  So glad we were in town to

attend..  Also was able to catch up with

John and Sheri before their big cruise to Alaska!

Fun visiting with old high school buddies, Joe and Lynn.

Joe was the best man at our wedding seems like just a few years ago.  

We headed down to La Pine (Just south of Bend) where

Mike was part of a “boys golf weekend”

Our son Brandon, their buddy Adam, our son Marc and their cousin Matt

were part of the group. 

They had so much fun!

Next we headed to St. George Utah – one of our favorite places.

While there, we took a fall colors viewing off roading trip

up into the mountains.

We met this fella on a mule on the road.

We also saw sheep grazing in the wild

The fall colors were spectacular.

So much beauty around every corner.

We kept going higher and higher.  At one point, we were up at 11,300 feet.

Cedar Breaks National Monument was incredible.

A spectacular day in the Jeep.

Some of our special St. George friends.

Denny and Kay Struss

Kim and Shelly Pollock.

We had a great time while in St. George.