Off to see the Country

Back in Cornville, Arizona

2010-10-09T11:41:00.003-06:00

The Carrie Underwood concert was great, but very loud. My ears just can't take the loud music anymore, at least with Carrie I could hear the words but the 2 groups ahead of her all I heard was music couldn't make out a single word.

We got the RV washed on Monday (10/4), boy was it dirty after sitting for 6 weeks. Dave went and filled it up and I went over to Kim's to wait for him. We got on the road at noon and headed for Laughlin Nevada. We arrived at the Tropicana Express around 5pm, setup for the night then headed in the casino. Had dinner then Dave went gambling, I couldn't find any machines that I liked so I went back to the coach. Dave came back later $40 lighter. We headed out at 7am the next morning and arrived back to our house at 11:30am. We drove through one heck of a storm and there were still many on the way. Luckily for us the rain stayed away until we got the coach all unpacked, which took about 3 hrs. Dave parked the RV at the top of the street because we weren't ready to take it to storage. That night it rained and at 4am it looked like a strobe light was going off in our house. There was so much thunder and lightning it was something else to see, no way could we sleep through that. Later in the morning we had tons of rain and even got some hail, so there was no way we were going to take the RV to the storage place, we were going to wait until the rain stopped.

Thursday morning, no more rain in site, we decided to take the RV to 1000 Trails for storage. Once there we found out the day before (Wednesday) that they had really gotten hit with hail. There were coaches damaged, cars too, the skylights in the bathrooms had been busted out and they had to close them until they could get repaired. So, it was a good thing we hadn't taken it to storage the day before.

Last night was a get together at our club house, it was a potluck, a lot of good food. We got to sit and visit with our new neighbors from across the street. They haven't moved in yet, but they are there everyday painting, fixing things up and putting new tile in, real nice folks.

Today, our new refrigerator was delivered, but it didn't fit in the hole where it was suppose to go. So, instead of returning it Dave pulled the Sheetrock from the wall and made it fit, he said he will fix the wall and we'll never know he did anything to it. The refrigerate is nice, I have so much more room now, plus, you can now see what's in it without having to bend all the way over.

Dave out now getting a new battery for the jeep, the one in it was just too old and won't stay charged anymore. Tomorrow is Geo caching, they are trying to break some kind of a record of the most caches in one day. Since tomorrow is 10/10/10 that's the day they picked to do it.

Caught up again, happy to be home, sleeping in a big bed, having a large shower, it's the little things that can make you happy, miss the kids and grandkids though.

Marcus and other news

2010-09-27T17:59:00.007-06:00

Lots to update now!! Let's see, the last I wrote I was about to hopefully have surgery, which I did. I ended up going into the hospital on September 7th at about 4pm. There was a hassle with our insurance, and we have a ppo, but they were trying to say that they needed 3 to 5 days to review the surgery that I required before approving it. Well, I didn't have 5 days the doctor here in Bakersfield was trying to tell them, it needed to be done right away. (besides Marcus was going to be due in 8 days, didn't want Kim and I in the hospital at the same time) Anyway, I got admitted, met the surgeon that night and was scheduled for 7:30am the next morning. Kim and Dave both showed up by 5:30am, no one had really slept that night and we were all nervous and wanted everything to just be over with. Ends up, while waiting in pre-op the surgeon hadn't gotten a copy of the nuclear scan, to tell him which parathyroid was bad, so we had to wait around. Kim was at the nurses station when her OB GYN walked in, in scrubs, and said "Kim you are here a week early" she then reminded him of my surgery and he walked over and talked to me. He knew of my surgeon and said I was in good hands. I finally went in, had the surgery, and everything came out well. It was 1 bad parathyroid, with a very large tumor, so it had been growing for awhile, it was removed and was non cancerous, which was great news. The cut on my throat looks like I had a tracheotomy done. The swelling is above that and you really can't see the cut at all. Saw the surgeon the following Thursday and he said the swelling will go down in a few weeks. I had surgery on Wednesday, the following Wednesday Kim had a "C" section and Marcus was born, 7lbs 15oz and 20 in. long with lots of hair. Boy is he a screamer, when he cuts loose you know it, nothing like Madison was. Madison was very quiet and you had to force her to eat and stay awake, not Marcus. He is already rolling over, stays awake and eats non stop, he sure is keeping Kim busy.

After Marcus was born that next weekend Dave and I drove to San Mateo for his 45th High School Reunion. It was OK, he knew about 10 people at the most, I think, but we had a good time. They are planning a 50th and a lot more people, that he knows, said they could make it to that one, so will see in 5 years.

I mentioned all this stuff on face book but not my blog. So Happy Birthday to Kelli and Inara (on Sept. 15th), Alex David Jr. and happy 9th anniversary Kelli and Rob .

While here in Bakersfield we have had some visitors. Linda Tibbitts stopped by on her way to Chico, and visited with us, Kim fixed dinner while she was here. Then on her way back to Utah, Linda stopped by again, and she got to meet David Jr, Jodi and Riley, plus, she got to meet Marcus for the 1st time, Linda was very excited about that. Our friend Lee and Vicki Kessler stopped on their way back to Long Beach, we had a good lunch at the restaurant in the RV park. Then last Monday Stan and Ginger Franks, RV Friends, stopped by and stayed at the RV Park for a couple days on their way back to Camarillo. They also got to meet Kim and Marcus, but didn't get to meet Danny and Madison, maybe next time. They thought Marcus was such a beautiful baby, we couldn't disagree with them, he does have the looks, but maybe I am being prejudice.(NOT)

We are staying another 2 weeks, after Marcus was born, thinking Kim would need the help. She is a natural, belly almost gone, and handling both kids like a pro. So far we got to drive her to 1 doctor appt. and to pick up Madison from school but that is it. Once her staples were out she was driving herself. Danny isn't too happy and neither are we but what are you going to do. Kim is one hard headed kid. She is taking it easy, on the driving, and that's all we can ask.

Now, Madison is a different story. A week or 2 before Marcus was born, everything was Mommy and Daddy, clinging, wouldn't let them out of her site, except for school. There was no way she would go with Dave or I, the other day she even starting crying at the pool when Danny was going off to go to the bathroom, Kim was at the coach with Marcus. She won't hug or kiss us just pushes us away, I think it really bothers Kim, the most, but we know it's just a phase she is going through. I don't know if it's the new brother being here, or just the terrible 2's but she will work through it.

Sunday we drove down to L.A. and went with David Jr, Jodi and Riley to see a new play "Leap of Faith" staring Brooke Shields and Raul Esperza . It is playing at the Ahmanson Theatre, boy, it sure is nice having a son that is the CIO and can get us in the plays at our price range, Free. It was a really great play, Brooke needs a little stronger voice, but it was really enjoyable. We were on the floor about 10 rows back from the stage, and after the play we even got to go backstage with David and see the actors. When we go out the door, the actors go out of, the fans are all waiting there wanting autographs. I asked Riley to go out 1st and scream my name when I came out so that everyone there would want my autograph, but she wouldn't go for it, darn it.

Now, this coming Wednesday, Carrie Underwood is singing at the Rabobank Arena, and we got tickets to see her. $54 a ticket, I couldn't believe it on the floor 10 rows back from the stage. We are digging out our cowboys hats, have to fit in, thank goodness we got them years ago for some other Rally we went to.

Hey, I'm finally caught up again, we leave next Monday for home. Will stop in Laughlin Monday night then be back to Cornville on Tuesday.

Health update and catch up time

2010-09-06T17:23:00.005-06:00

In case you didn't see my post on Facebook, we have finally discovered that I have hyperparathyroidism. Kim is calling the doctor's office in the morning, Tuesday, to see when I have to check in to the hospital. We believe I'll go in Tuesday and have surgery on Wednesday to take the tumor (99% are non Cancerous) out of the right side of my neck. We just all want to talk to the surgeon, because everyone has 4 parathyroids, is he just taking out the one or ones with the tumor or taking all 4. Everything is just moving so fast, I just had the scan on Thursday and they told me my doctor wouldn't get the results for 3 to 5 days. Friday, late afternoon, the doctor's assistant calls and said the doctor wants to admit me into the hospital. What, it's a holiday weekend, that's when Kim took over the phone conversation. She knows the doctor and told them to have the doctor call her back, which he did. She wanted to know the name of the surgeon, which it turns out she had never heard of him before. She checked around with her coworkers and found out that the surgeon is good and I will be taken good care of. She even told the doctor what floor to put me on and she contacted that floor and informed them that her Mom was coming in on Tuesday and they had to take care of me. Dave did some research on this disease and discovered that it is related to, in some way, to prostate cancer. Since all my brothers had prostate cancer, and girls don't have prostates, I guess that's why I got this disease. As my brother, Mike, said "Deep Throat", asshole. Anyway, will keep everyone informed on the outcome.

Recap time, I'll try and keep it short.

We got back to Bakersfield on August 18th, the kids 3rd anniversary and surprised everyone. Madison was a bit shy but it didn't take long for her to start running around and wanting Nana to chase her. On 8/22 was a tea party baby shower for Kim put on by a few of her friends. On Monday 8/23 Dave and I borrowed Kim's car and drove to our house in Arizona. We were in need of some paperwork there and it couldn't wait until we go back in October. Dave found the paperwork in 15 min. but it didn't matter because we were staying until Thursday, no matter what. When we came back on Thursday I went with Kim to pick up Madison from school then back to the RV Park for swimming. On 8/28 we all drove down to North Hollywood for another baby shower for Kim that Danny's sister and Mom threw for her.

This holiday weekend the RV Park had a special, pay for 2 nights and get the 3rd night free. They were having all kinds of activities going on so we thought it would be fun if Danny brought the trailer over and they could camp out for 3 days. Good thing they did because Dave discovered that slide on the trailer wasn't coming out all the way. We had a fun 3 days, Madison got a lot of swimming in and played with other kids and even sat outside and watched a movie the park put on. It sure turned out to be an expensive weekend for them, we walked across the street to a car dealership and they ended up buying a Cadillac Escalade ESV. It's bigger then the Ford they turned in so now they have enough room for 4 kids and strollers. It is a nice car, loaded, even has TV screens on the back of the head rests. Might have to borrow it when we go to San Francisco. jk

This morning Danny towed the trailer back to the dealership to have them fix it. Hung out at Kim's did laundry and now back home at the RV Park.

Caught up again, pretty short and sweet for a long time not posting. Kim has 9 days to go, let's hope she can hang in there.

blog? need your answers

2010-08-28T22:06:00.001-06:00

Test blog

is David Jr, Jodi, Aunt Evelynn, Aunt Wilma, Dave, & Danny getting this in your email

Catch up time before we hit Bakersfield

2010-08-15T18:52:00.005-06:00

Boy, we sure hated to leave the beautiful spot on the Priest River but after 2 1/2 weeks it was time to move on. We drove to and spent the 4th on the John Day Dam on the Columbia River. The next morning Dave and I headed out for Elkton Oregon to visit with Marty, Bob and Jackie were headed for La Pine Oregon.

Didn't get to see much of Marty, besides cooking at the restaurant, he was also catering a wine/music thing that one of the winery's was having. Saturday he ended up in the emergency room with a bad fungus on his hands. They were twice the normal size and covered in blisters, thank goodness I wasn't at the catered meal.lol After breakfast, at Marty's restaurant, Dave and I headed out for La Pine to meet up with Bob, Jackie, Bob and Sandy. (Jackie's sister and brother in law) Monday Dave and I drove into Bend and had pedicures and I also had my nails done. The guy doing my nails gave us all kinds of hints of things to see around town. They have this park there that has a river running through it and people go to the top of this river and ride their floats down. At the bottom is a bus waiting to pick them up and take them back to the top again, looked like a lot of fun. Needed more then 1 day in Bend, will have to go back next year and really check out the place.

Tuesday we all headed out, met up with Lou and Sharon, and went into the FMCA Rally. For the next 3 days we went to all kinds of different seminars, viewed new and used coaches, did RV stuff shopping and saw some good entertainment. There were actually 2 seminars that Dave and I learned a lot from. One was winkle free laundry for those that have the washer/dryer combo in your coach. Found out we have been using too much detergent and not having it full enough when we are washing. The other was Fire/Driving Safety, we didn't know you shouldn't drive with your propane on. We found out we should have a minimum of 5 fire extinguishers with us, plus things you need to hold open our escape windows in case of a fire. Best Rally I think I have ever been to. Enough rally stuff.

Dave and I left Saturday afternoon and drove through Crater Lake Nat. Park, beautiful drive but very small roads with big drop offs. Wouldn't do it again with the rig and tow vehicle. We stopped for the night at the Fairgrounds in Klamath Falls. Sunday we got to the 1000 Trails in Nicolaus California, about 20 miles, I think, from Sacramento.

Today, Monday, we headed for Marysville to meet up with a friend of Dave's who he knew when he was growing up in his later teen years. Boy, we thought my brother Marty lived at the top of a hill, this house we went to put Marty's drive to his house look like child play. Plus, what a view.

Tomorrow we head for Citrus Heights to visit with Dave's Aunt, who is going to be 92 this Thursday. Now debating if we are going to leave Wednesday or Thursday for Bakersfield. That's about it, all caught up again.

AUGUST 2, 2010 HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTY

2010-08-02T07:13:00.002-06:00

It's been almost 3 weeks since the last blog, guess it's time for an update.

Finally got back in touch with the doctor, about the blood/urine test and she said we could wait until we get to Bakersfield, to do follow up, since we will be there for a month. We got back on the road 7/13 and stopped in Omak Washington, at a Wal-Mart. On the drive 3 deer came running down the mountain side, luckily we were driving pretty slow and managed to not hit them. The next day we drove to the Elk's Lodge in Spokane, WA. and again a deer ran right in front of us and Dave managed to stop, I thought for sure we were going to hit it. Of course everything in the back of the RV was then in the front of the RV.

Bob and Jackie met up with us on the 15th. We stayed 2 more days in Spokane then headed to Gary, Alana, and Christy's house right on the Priest River. We got both RV's parked right behind their house/garage where we have a view of the lake in front of us. Late in the afternoon the guys, Gary and Bob, put Gary's boat into the water and tied it to the dock. We set up chairs and relaxed enjoying watching people in their boats tubing and water ski's. The ladies went in to start dinner and the next thing we know Gary got his truck real fast and they were pulling the boat out. One of the neighbors were going by in their boat and yelled out to Gary that his boat was sinking, he forgot to put the plug in. Once the boat was out it seemed like it drained forever. I don't know what damage it did but the guys keep working on it and it hasn't been back in the water yet. The boat is over 20 years old but doesn't have that many hours on the water. Gary was having some trouble with one of the Sea Doo's but I think they got that all fixed. The guys have also been helping Gary put up dry wall in the house that is being built. They even managed to put together a working bathroom in time for Christy's birthday party this past weekend.

One day Alana, Christy, Jackie and I left at 9:30 in the morning to go into down town Spokane, we didn't get back until 11:00 p.m. we did running around and 1 stop was at the casino where we had some play time. All of us won on the slot machine, not a lot but at least we won.

I've been trying to get out and walk around but there isn't much room on the country roads. One day I was gone for 2 1/2 hours, walked over 8 miles boy Dave was upset for me being gone so long. He doesn't like the roads around here.

Saturday and Sunday we celebrated Christy's birthday. Lots of people came by for the BBQ, steaks on Saturday, chicken and left over salads on Sunday. Late in the afternoon I went out on the Sea Doo with Dave and we managed to suck up this green grass stuff and the Sea Doo wouldn't do anything but idol so we manage to idol back to the house. They had to pull it out of the water and pull all that crap out of the prop. Later I went out again with John and it was a lot of fun. Candy and John even took Christy out on the Sea Doo, Christy loved it. Dave tried to ski and almost got up, he actually needed a different pair of ski's he was using 2 slaloms, that's all

Gary had.

Today we are headed out to either Priest Lake or Coeur d'Alene the weather is suppose to be in the 80"s again.

We all get back on the road August 4th, will really hate leaving this place but planning on coming back next year.

7/13/10 Update Time Happy Birthday Mike

2010-07-13T08:14:00.003-06:00

1st "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to my brother Mike, 62 years young.

Not a lot going on, just been hanging out in Mount Vernon, WA. This past weekend we were at the Highland Games & Celtic Festival. It was fun watching the Sheepdog competitions, they each had 4 sheep to work with and had to chase them through obstacles. Boy those dogs are well trained. We also enjoyed watching the athletic events, pipe band competition, fiddler's and just over all the whole thing. The weather was perfect both days, I got burnt to a crisp.

For the 4th of July we went to Kelli's parents house for a BBQ, right on the water, Kelli's sisters/spouses where there it was fun.

Tuesday went to the doctors for another complete blood test, not like last time when they just checked the calcium level. (the doctor in Arizona advised us to do this) They gave me papers on Hyperparathyroidism to read up on. Friday we checked out of 1000 Trails and moved to an RV Park, with full hookups, to wait to get all the results. The blood test came back Friday afternoon and they faxed the results to us and to the doctor in Arizona. I called the office in Arizona and left a message to have the doctor call me. Monday the pee test came back in the A.M. and we called the doctor again to see if she wanted anymore test done. When Dave talked to the girl in the office she had the faxed test results in hand and promised to have the doctor call us. Well that never happened, so if we don't hear anything this morning we are getting back on the road. Will just have to wait until we get back to Arizona and do follow up then. It is probably nothing more then losing 50lbs would take care of. I don't really have any of the symptoms and my bone density test showed my bones were really strong, so like I said lose weight! Just the normal Tomaselli problem.

We did take 1 day and went into Seattle, another big city with tons of traffic. It was the 1st time we had been there when the sun was out. We walked around and checked out all the street vendors and of course walked around the Market Place. We had breakfast/lunch at a Guy Fieri's triple D's, Voulas Offshore Cafe, great food.

Miss Madison turned 2 on Friday, 7/9, and had her big birthday bash on Saturday, sorry we missed both.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MISS MADISON.

Friday 6/25 through Friday 7/2

2010-07-03T10:16:00.003-06:00

6/25 Friday

We made it to 1000 Trails Mount Vernon. After setting up we took off for town to check things out and try and find a visitor center. No luck on the visitors center so went by the Elk's Lodge to check it out. People there suggested we go to Deception Pass and told us about some of the local events that would be happening.

6/26 Saturday

We went driving around and found a visitor's center got all the brochures on places to see and things to do. Saturday night we went to Skagit Raceway and watched the Sportsman Sprints, Hornets, Demo Derby and even a Bus Jump Stunt Show. Once again, some of the people there very scary to look at. We got out about 10pm and of course my headlights quit working again. Thank goodness it doesn't really get dark until after 10. Luckily we were only 10min away from our campsite.

6/27 Sunday

Called Rob and Kelli and got their voice mail. We took off for Fairhaven, small town, parked and walked around the place. Later we took off for Bellingham, thought we would try and find Rob and Kelli's house. As we were driving around nothing was looking right then it hit Dave that they lived in Ferndale not Bwllingham. Jumped on the Freeway and drove to Ferndale and Dave remembered how to get to their house. Kelli had just got done grocery shopping so we helped bring in the groceries. Then we sat and visited for a few hours, it was really nice to see them again.

6/28 Monday

Did nothing but play on the computer and read our books, needed some down time. Made a doctor's appointment and found a place to have our awning fixed.

6/29 Tuesday

Took off for Deception Pass, what a nice drive there. Once there Dave took off for the bridge and I was standing around taking pictures and watching the canoe's. When I went to the bridge I stepped up and turned and saw a big rig coming. Which normally is no big deal but to get on the bridge the big rig turned a little too close and hit the curb and missed me by a little more then a foot. Scared the crap out of me and I got off the bridge and didn't get close to walking on it again. When Dave got back we headed for Oak Harbor and Coupeville and checked out those places.

6/30 Wednesday

We left early in the morning and drove the North Cascade Highway, what a drive. Beautiful scenery and lots of water falls, got all kinds of pictures. We ended up in Winthrop, boy it was a long drive. We thought when we leave here we might stop in Winthrop and stay overnight. We found 1 RV park, we would fit in and they are booked until after 7/11 we have to be out of 1000 Trails on the 9th. they told Dave about a Walmart about 30 more miles down the road. By the time we got back to the rig we had almost drove 300 miles that day.

7/1 Thursday

We took the rig in to have the awning fixed. We had to leave it for a few hours so we drove to Sedro Woolley, WA where they were having a chainsaw carving competition. These guys do amazing work with chainsaws, you will have to see the pictures once I get them posted. They had a quick carve which went from 10:30 to noon and they all had to provide something for the auction Friday night. We stayed the whole time and couldn't believe what everyone carved. At 1pm, awning all fixed, we picked up the RV and set up camp again.

That night we met Kelli and Rob for a nice sushi dinner, it was fun.

7/2 Friday

Since 1000 trails doesn't have RV dumps at their sites we needed to do laundry. Off to the laundromat, once done we headed back to Sedro Woolley again because today they were having Craft vendors and we wanted to see the wood carvers again. Friday night we met Kelli and Rob again for dinner and planned on getting together on Saturday to go to Sedro Woolley again because now they wanted to see all the wood carvings.

OK all caught up again, I know, boring stuff.

Friday 6/18 through Wednesday 6/24

2010-06-23T19:49:00.006-06:00

Friday 6/18 Pierre SD

We left the Sioux Falls South Dakota Walmart early morning so we could miss the winds that were going to show up in the afternoon. We landed in Pierre South Dakato in another Walmart. We had lunch in the RV then headed into town because we had seen on the net that they were starting Oahe Day's that night. We found the park where some things were happening and talked to the local police, that were in the park. They said come back at 5pm and that is when the parade was starting. The major events were taking place on Saturday so we passed on the parade.

Saturday 6/19 Pierre SD & Bismarck ND

We figured the park would be crowded on Saturday for Oahe Days so we showed up at 9am. The only thing that was going on was people were practicing the "cornhole tournament toss" and some vendors were setting up their tents. Lucky for them, or us, we had just missed the 5k/10K run walk, because Dave and I would have joined in and more then likely won. :) Corn hole toss is like throwing bean bags in the a hole on a board but instead of beans the bags are filled with corn. They also had a float race at the harbor but we never found the harbor. When driving by the State Capital we saw there was something going on there so we parked and checked it out. It was their Capitol Centennial. They had entertainment, tours of the Capitol, a motorcycle and old car show. After the free lunch we headed back to the RV and got back on the road again. We ended up in Bismarck, North Dakota in another Walmart. Out of the South and into the North. We set up there then went driving around. Ended up seeing their State Capital building and nothing like South Dakota's their's was plain and boring even the Governor's mansion was boring.

Sunday 6/20 Cottonwood RV Park Glasgow Montana

We were going to go into the Walmart (Bismarck) and someone (an employee we guessed who was leaving) said they don't open until noon, we just laughed and kept walking. He yelled again that they don't open until noon and we looked around, there were cars there but no one was going in or out. So we went back to the coach and finished packing up then I drove the car over to the front door to see for myself and sure enough that Walmart is only open from 12 noon to 12 midnight, very strange. We got the car hooked up and hit the road. Since leaving Iowa we have just about been on 2 lane roads, seeing the countryside that most people don't see. When flying in a plane you look out the window and see the different colors and shapes of the land below you, well we are seeing it as we drive, very amazing to see. Driving into Montana is different from ND and SD but very much the same. Open, different colors, more cattle now, it's just every state is different. On one section of the road there were so many little animals that kept running on the road, and as far as I could tell we never got any. When we stopped for fuel Dave got to talking to someone and said they were Gofers, 1000's of them are all over. I believe I ran over a snake, not on purpose but as you are doing 65mph it is kind of hard to miss something that is right in our way. Dave managed to brake for a wild turkey, he said it would have left a dent in the RV. When we got to the RV park in Glasgow, no Walmarts, too small of town. We needed full hookup anyway, to dump, fill fresh water and do laundry. I went walking around town in the morning and when I stopped at the light I looked down and my legs were covered in black bugs. Needless to say I have bug bites everywhere. When Dave was washing the wind shield his ankles got ate alive.

Monday 6/21 Havre Montana

When we left Glasgow the weather wasn't looking that great so we were hoping to make it to the Walmart in Havre, MT before the storm hit, NOT! We had lighting all around us and the rain was coming down so hard and fast it wasn't easy to see out the window. Two lane roads and no where to pull off to so we had to keep going. It lasted maybe 10 min. but it seemed much longer. We finally made it to Havre Walmart and set-up. Luckily we got there when we did because it seemed like every RV, trailer and 5th wheel decided to do the same thing as us. That night Walmart looked like an RV Park, good thing they had closed at 9pm, this Walmart is 9am to 9pm. We toured around town, which didn't take long, and stopped off at the Elk's Lodge. Sat and talked for a little while and asked if there were any good restaurants in the town, wanted to take Dave out for dinner for Farther's day and didn't get a chance to on Sunday. They told us about 1 but it is closed on Monday and one guy mentioned that if we wanted a good steak go to Andy's Supper Club, which we did. The Steaks were hugh, they could have easily fed 4 people, but they were 28.00 each. With your dinner you got, bread sticks and crackers, relish tray, salad, spaghetti, garlic bread and baked potato, so really the price wasn't bad at all. I told Dave we will eat all the other stuff and bring the steak home and eat it for the next 2 days, which we did. That night, after turning off everything, I was walking into the bedroom, where Dave was sleeping and I hit the wall with my toe, I don't know how I didn't wake him with all my crying.

Tuesday 6/22 Columbia Falls, Montana

Still driving 2 land roads this time we were seeing Antelopes and Deer, Dave did manage to hit a bird, or I should really say the bird hit us. The GPS led us to the Walmart but the Walmart was closed. We had to pull over and try and find another one, which we did, the old one had moved. When we found it there was just no way we wanted to stay there, right in the middle of a shopping mall and the RV's that were there were only "C" classes, very small, so we decided to stay at another RV Park, Columbia Falls RV Park, which was very nice and a new place. We setup and then went shopping at Costco and just looked around town.

Wednesday 6/23 Still in Columbia Falls

You know it stays light here until 10pm, really strange, makes for a very long evening. In the morning we packed a lunch then headed out for touring around Glacier National Park. What a beautiful drive, the water falls were amazing to see. We couldn't do the entire "Going to the Sun" drive because the road is still closed because of the snow but we took it as far as we could. Dave got many pictures and will have to work on him to get them posted. After visiting the visitor center and checking out the small towns there we stopped at a picnic area and had lunch. When we got back to the coach we decided to go to the movies, so we went and saw Karate Kid. Pretty good movie, we had no complaints.

Thursday 6/24 Wenatchee, Washington

Todays drive was way too long, don't even want to get back into RVing if all we do is drive all day. Anyway, the scenery was beautiful again, and we have stopped off at Walmart, in Wenatchee, WA. There is a man here, parked, with his 2 dogs, a small 5th wheel and looks like he is staying for awhile. This Walmart must want the RVer's because they even have an outhouse in the parking lot.

6/14 - 6/17

2010-06-18T14:36:00.002-06:00

6/14

We finally got out of Adventureland RV park around noon on Monday. We were having problems with our electrical so Dave had to fix that before we could leave. On our way to Eagan, MN we saw a sign for the Spam Museum, so we went a little out of our way to stop and see it. This time on our travels we are not rushing and if we see something that catches our eye then we are going to stop and see it. We got to the Spam Museum at 4:30pm and it closed at 5 so we didn't have a lot of time to see the whole thing. We did the walk through and then purchased some Garlic spam. We got to the Wal*Mart in Eagan and set up camp. Since we got in so late, for us, we ended up eating out at a place called Old Chicago, what a great restaurant. We shared Italian Nacho's and a pizza, great food.

6/15

Tuesday we drove the RV over to Ikea, across the street from Mall of America, they had parking for RV's and trucks. We then walked the MOA for the next 3 hours. I know people say it can take a day or more to get through the whole place but Dave and I aren't shoppers so we just walked and checked everything out. Lots of rides there but a bit costly, to much for us anyway. While there we saw a Casino shop offering all kinds of things, plus, they had an RV park. We decided to stay another couple days so we headed over to the Casino.

6/16

The weather was nice so we decided to go to the Valleyfair amusement park in Shakopee, MN. Wanted to see what it was like to go to a amusement park without it raining. :) They had just about the same rides that Adventureland did plus a lot more. Some of those rides are just crazy, their water park is up and running too. I just heard that the rain is still coming down in Altoona, Iowa and now the farmers are worried about flooding, thank goodness we left there. I don't know when Adventureland will ever finishing putting in their water park.

Dave went up and brought the amusement park tickets and had gotten 2 seniors for 15.99 each. MOA was going to cost us about 85 for both of us, no thank you.

6/17

The drive from Shakopee, MN. to Sioux Falls, SD was a short drive, 4 hrs., but winds the whole time. Dave looked like he was constantly making a left turn. We got set-up in another Wal*Mart then headed out to visit the falls. They have been having so much rain, the week before, that the falls looked so dirty from all of the run off. All the lakes we kept seeing along the drives have been very full. I feel for the farmers out here in SD. too even their fields are under water.

6/9 - 6/13/10 Last Iowa Post

2010-06-14T09:06:00.002-06:00

On our day off we went to Winterset to see the house John Wayne was born in and then toured around the "Bridges" of Madison County. It started pouring rain for like 1 1/2 hours, driving back to the RV Park you couldn't see 3 car lengths in front of you. I was driving on the freeway with my flashers on, unbelievable. Work has been slow and when the rain comes it comes in buckets. It seems to pour either late at night or 1st thing in the morning. The amusement park has been closing early every night, 8pm, instead of 9 or 10 pm. Saturday, Dave gave notice that we were leaving here on Monday, today. Our electrical quit working and that was the straw that broke the camels back for Dave. With all of this rain and our awnings not up our coach is leaking, electric quit, ants in coach, physical labor for $7 an hour, this place just isn't worth it. We are heading out and going to do some site seeing now that we are out here. 1st stop is Mall of America, will keep you up dated on our travels.

Did get a call from my doctor last Friday and the calcium in my blood is high. She said I couldn't wait until next October to have it checked, so we will have to stop somewhere and sit for awhile to have this checked out. The possibilities could be a tumor in my thyroid. Will keep you undated.

June 4th - June 8th

2010-06-09T10:55:00.002-06:00

June 4th - Friday

Dave got a hair cut then had an appointment with a Chiropractor, his left shoulder blade is really bothering him. They took x-rays and want to see him 3 times a week for I don't know how long. Work was busy until around 4:30pm, that's when the school buses all left. Boy, I sure don't remember our schools taking us to amusement parks when I was in school. Marilyn came by later and asked if I wanted to work a double on Saturday, Ferris Wheel Assist, I said sure. She then tracked Dave down and he got a double shift too, working Space Shot.

June 5th - Saturday

In the a.m. I assisted on the Ferris Wheel which was fun. Work was slow though for a Saturday, the weather report said rain all day, but it didn't happen. On my p.m. shift I was still in the Underground. The rain finally hit, rather came down in buckets, about 5:30 p.m. which we then really became busy. Since we are in a covered building we don't really know what is going on in the rest of the park. They had closed down all the rides but ours, so everyone ran to us to get our of the rain plus ride a ride. 20 min. later the rain stopped and the sun came back out. The rest of the weather was fine until we closed at 10 p.m. We had started work at 9:40pm and got off at 10pm, long day but we both felt fine, won't make a habit of doing that though.

June 6th - Sunday

When we went into work we got our new job assignments which starts on Monday. Dave got days off cover, which means he goes to a different job everyday covering for the people that have that day off. I got G-Force no big deal until when I went on my break and looked at the sheet again. I had to be the operator on G-Force. For one thing I don't know how to operate the ride, and I never wanted to be an operator only an assistant. The worst thing of all was the operator has to speak into a mike, which I don't like to speak in public. Glenn trained me for the ride, Sunday night, and I let him know I wasn't happy at all. He said "Oh Jeri" you can do it, if I really don't like it come see him later and he would see what he could do.

June 7th - Monday

Started the new ride, messed up a few times when I tried to start the ride and speaking wasn't fun either. My assistant was new too, so he couldn't help me any, his name was Jerry too. Luckily it was a slow day and by the end of it I was doing pretty good. We did get some rain around 6pm but those people just won't leave the rides no matter what.

June 8th - Tuesday

In the morning we went to the Casino for the breakfast buffet, just can't beat that $3.50 price. It holds you just about all day too. Another slow day and I still had a couple mess ups on starting the ride but the people are really understanding and just said no big deal. Jerry was off so I had another new assist that hadn't worked the ride so I had to train her. Around 7pm it started raining a little, it would start, stop, start, stop. At 7:40 Dave comes over to my ride and said they are shutting everyone down. My ride was full, all of a sudden now I know why, and no white or black shirt people had told me to shut down so my ride was still going. As the ride was coming to a stop and I was talking to the people, in the mike, a maintenance man had gone in back and shut my power off, boy was I pissed. When we were walking out I let Kirby, a white shirt, know how pissed I was. He said they were short handed and just didn't make it to my ride to let me know, I said "I have a phone at my ride" just rude.

Dave's working Raging River, Dragon Roller Coaster, Inverter, Outlaw as Operator, CIA (come in anyway) they will figure out what to assign him, then on Sunday he is driving "Molly the Trolley". It goes from the Hotel and the RV Park to the amusement park.

May 29th - June 3rd

2010-06-03T18:47:00.006-06:00

5/29

Went to the Farmer's Market and Costco in the morning.

Work was busy, after all week long when it had been slow. My ride, Red Barons, had some really heavy kids and after helping a few I finally had their parents come in and lift their kids, getting to old to lift those heifers.

I had 1 girl in the front of the plane and her little brother in back. After the ride ended her brother wanted off and she wanted to stay. Since, at that time, I had enough planes to cover what kids were in line I let her stay. When I started the ride I heard this scream and crying, I thought it was on the Space Shot, then realized it was the girl so I hit the stop button. I went running over to her and so did her mom, her leg was out straight and I was asking her what was wrong. All she kept saying is I want my mom, I unlocked her seat belt and her mom took her out. I asked what was wrong, when they walked by me and her mom said she had a spider on her leg, I didn't see anything, but her mom said she is scared to death of spiders. Boy, sure made my heart skip a beat and added some more new gray hairs to my head.

Dave said his day was busy, they had the people who took the stupid pills that day. When the people were told to get off and step to the left, they just step to the right, they kept having to stop the ride, which gets very old for them. Plus, not to mention the toll it takes on your shoulders, the sky ride is very hard work.

5/30

Sunday we got our new ride assignment for the following week, Monday through Sunday. I was going to the Underground, a very dark, old mining story about Bad Bob, not a fast ride just up and down in the dark. Dave was going to the Convoy, which is a little kids ride that has 6 very small big rigs that go around the circle 4 times. Parents can sit on top of the big rig if they want, boring.

Anyway, Sunday's work day was busy again and by the end of the day, which was at 9pm a very long day, Dave had had enough, he was ready to quit. His shoulders were killing him, the arthritis was so bad and he was really hurting. I messaged his shoulders which helped, and I kept telling him tomorrow on the kids ride you will get a break.

5/31

We started our new rides, it was a pretty slow day for a 3 day weekend, very surprised. It was nice because we had time to learn our new rides. Not like it took Dave long to learn to run the kids truck ride and it didn't take me long to learn to assist on the Underground.

6/1

Talk about another slow day, on my ride we have 2 assist's and 1 operator, the ride office called our operator and said the assist's have to relieve each other for our breaks. So I'm on the operator's side, so when I leave he/she does the unloading by him/herself. When I cover for the other side they still have to cover the unloading side. Really no big deal it was very slow.

Dave, was of course very slow, he is on a little kids ride.We started work at 2pm, he was given his break at 3:30pm for 1/2 hour, and then had to work until 7pm, on a very slow day. When I walked by him, he was at the end of his break and was very unhappy. I said give it awhile, this is only the 2nd . We ended up closing 10 min. early because we had one hell of a thunder/tornado storm going through where we were.

6/2

Wednesday, another slow day, nothing to report.

6/3

Yea! our day off. In the morning we went and picked up our fixed awning's, that go over our slides, then went into the amusement park. I must say they have some different rides that we have never been on before. They were great rides too, Disney and Magic Mountain need to add them, a lot of fun.

Talked to Kim and Madison on Skype this afternoon was fun, Kim's belly is getting so big. Madison's talked to us and Toby kept jumping up to look too, to cute.

May 24th - May 28th Happy Birthday Dave

2010-05-28T19:20:00.005-06:00

May 28th, Happy 63rd Birthday Dave, I hope the rest of the year turns out better then when it started this morning. Dave must have had a allergic reaction to something he ate yesterday, and I have nothing to do with it not after 32 yrs. When he woke up this morning his tongue was 2x's it's normal size. He could hardly talk, and it kind of blocked his breathing, but he said let's wait awhile before we go to the ER. He had some coffee and just kept moving around and the swelling started going down. By the afternoon it was almost back to normal. He was able to go out to lunch, his B/Day lunch, since we had to work tonight. This poor guy, he has the weirdest things happen to him, it's just hard for me to understand because most of the stuff I've never gone through. (exp. shoulders, knees feet)

May 24th, Monday - very slow day at work, enjoy it now because once school gets out it will be hell

May25th - another slow day at work but in the A.M. I went to Walmart and had my hair cut almost as short as Dave's, it is so easy to take care of. While I was having my hair cut, I dropped Dave off at the Casino/Race Track for the Senior buffet for $3.50. The special goes on every Tuesday so I will go next week, June 1st. Of course you have to be 55 to get the 3.50 special so Pat gave me her casino card to use because I'm only 52 and don't qualify yet. After my hair cut we went by the RV Office to see if we could move because we just couldn't get our TV to connect to the satellite, which we were able to do, we moved to the site right behind us.

May 26th - another slow day even worst then the other 2 days, It's OK because I know our time is coming.

May 27th - Day off. In the morning we took our awnings, from 2 of the slides, into a shop to be re-sewn, then dropped off the DVR that wasn't working at the Fedex office.

After that we drove to Pella, Iowa, Pella is the home of Pella Windows and Doors. Kind of like when we went to Amana a couple weeks ago, Amana Appliances. Anyway, Pella is a Dutch Comminity, we did a tour through there giant Windmill, visited the bakery and meat market. It was very interesting to see, the country side was just beautiful, I love nothing more then seeing the open countryside and when you do hit a community they have no fences around their yards, love it. So green and just amazing to see, Dave had to remind me just think of this covered in white, "SNOW". When we got back we went out to dinner with friends here, Bob and Pat, had a great steak dinner.

May 28th, back to the beginning, Dave woke up with a swollen tongue.

Work was a little busier today but now it's the holiday weekend, will have to write and let you know how everything goes.

One thing I didn't mention was the physical labor these jobs are, Dave said, remember when we worked we sat at computers, this physical labor stuff we haven't done for god knows how long, very different ball game.

One Funny, when we 1st got to this RV Park they gave us a tag for our "car" which read,

"32 WK" and once we got parked and set up, we were getting ready to run to Walmart I had said to Dave is the tag in the car? He said yes, 32 weeks here, I said WHAT? I said it meant"we are in space 32 and we are Workampers" he went "oh" I said if we are here 32 weeks Kim would kill us because that's 8 months. Poor guy, my stupidness is rubbing off on him!!!

May 21st - May 23rd

2010-05-24T09:55:00.003-06:00

We started working last Friday, and lucky for us it was kind of a slow day, or at least it was for me. We went in a little early so I could go to the Red Baron ride, where I would be working, and asked the operator to show me how it worked. There are 8 planes and each plane can hold 2 kids, Jane showed me and it was pretty simple. We then checked in and started work at 1:50pm. The park was open until 6pm and we got (1) 15 minute break in that 4 hour shift. Dave's sky ride was always going, doesn't mean that anyone was riding but the ride just never stops unless the operator's stop it. My Red Baron ride I had a lot of down time, some of the teenagers, there were school buses that were full of Jr. High or High School kids, kept wanting to ride and I just kept turning them away. When kids did ride, if they wanted to they could go as many times as they wanted to or when the parents pulled them off. Before I forget, when I start my shift, on the ride, there is a check off list I have to fill out and sign, then when I get my break the person covering for me signs the time when they relieve.

Saturday was a different story, boy was it busy and that's an understatement. When I started my shift the girl told me it wasn't too busy, they came in groups then there would be nothing. So I grabbed the check off list and she asked it I wanted her to wait and I said no because I would fill it out when I had no riders, BIG MISTAKE!! It was going on 4pm and I still had not done my check off list and I was in panic mode because I knew my relief was on their way. I somehow managed to sign the sheet and put what time I started but that was it. So needless to say when I got back from my break, which I came back early, I finished filling out my sheet before my relief left. Like I said Saturday was very busy, luckily for me there was a parent on the exit side that helped me out. Some parent had lifted there kid over the exit gate and told them to run onto the ride when it stopped, the kid got close to the yellow line and the parent stopped them from going any closer. I did see him put his arm out and stop the kid and was wondering why that kid was even there. If you cross over the yellow line the planes will hit you, I'm not even suppose to walk around when the ride is going, I am suppose to watch the planes and the kids that are on them. Anyway, when the ride had stopped I started walking around and unlocking the seat belts when I saw there was a kid on the plane that wasn't wearing a seat belt, my heart stopped. That's when the guy had told me this was the kid that had come in through the exit and jumped in the plane when it stopped. I was just happy to hear it wasn't a kid I forgot to lock in.

Sunday was almost like Friday , not too busy, but this time I did have down time and would have had time to fill in the check off list but I learned my lesson.

Sunday morning, before work, Dave & I took the awnings off our 2 slides so we could see if we could get them fixed or order new ones if we have to. It was windy and cold, we were really surprised. When we left for work it was a different matter, the sun had come out and it was hot. Thank goodness I have an umbrella at my ride or I would have cooked more then I did. Dave's job is out of the sun so he is lucky there.

Forgot to mention on Saturday morning we drove to down town Des Moines and went to their Farmer's Market. They close down a bunch of streets and they had a lot of vendors, with a lot of good looking veg. and fruits.

We got our schedules and we will have Thursdays off and this following week we will still be on the same rides from 1:50pm until closing. All summer long I believe we will always be on the closing shift, at least it should be cooler in the evenings for us.

Update since leaving Branson, MO

2010-05-20T14:18:00.004-06:00

The last night in Branson we went to dinner at Landry's Seafood House. We had gone there 3 years ago on April 1st, it was our 29th wedding anniversary. I had been so sick and had such a high fever but I still thought I could make it through dinner, wrong. While sitting at the table I had a seizure of some kind and when I came too I couldn't figure out why all these people were around me. Dave ran and got the car and some man helped Dave get me out to the car and on to the ER we went. I kept telling Dave I felt fine, I mean I was really feeling great, the best I had felt for days. He didn't care we were still going to the hospital, which we sat in the waiting room it seemed like forever. When I got in the doctor said he couldn't find anything wrong and I had no fever, so I think what happened was my fever broke while sitting at the restaurant. Anyway, this time we think I even ordered the same thing I did the 1st time and let me tell you the dinner was great.

Driving from Branson to Altoona, Iowa there were so many armadillos dead on the side of the road, some even laying on their backs with their legs sticking straight up in the air. After stopping and getting some fuel, Dave jumped back on the freeway and was going to turn over the driving to me when we got clear of all the construction, when he hit the brakes a little and felt something funny. He looked at our backup camera and the car was turned kind of sideways, he turned the camera down and could see that one of our tow bars had unlocked. We had to get pulled over right away, and had to do it slowly. I could see ahead there was enough room between the on ramp and the freeway for us to fit in. We managed to get pulled over and Dave went to the back and we tried to get the arm to lock again. We used the walkie talkies and tried different things, and in the process a city policeman pulled over beside us on the on ramp. We needed him with his lights flashing on the freeway side or call State Troopers to cover us on the freeway, but he didn't do that. I kept watching in the mirror and praying that the trucks had enough time to get out of the lane so they didn't hit Dave while he had to keep getting in and out of the car. Dave ended up having to unhook the car, back up, go forward and re hook up the tow bar again. I pulled the rig forward and the tow bar locked again. Dave jumped back in the RV and we took off again, Dave watching the tow bar in the camera the whole time. It was making me a nervous wreck after about 10 miles we got off and rechecked the tow bar and everything looked fine. I took over driving after that and drove until we were almost to Altoona. We arrived in the RV park got setup and that's when we discovered our bat wings, which is the manual antenna you put up for local TV Channels, was bent. All we can figure is when we hit the winds in New Mexico or Texas, when our awning was torn so bad, it must have bent the bat wing too. We don't always put up the wings but in Iowa we wanted to see the local weather.

We start work tomorrow on the rides, I'm on the Red Barons, which is a ride for kids 54 inches and shorter and I'm all by myself no assistant. Dave is doing the Sky Ride he is an assistant, lucky him. I will be trying to update more often so I can keep you all updated on how it is working as an amusement park carnies.

One trip we did do last Sunday was visit the Amana Colonies, in all there are 7 Amana villages in a 20 mile radius.

WEATHER WARNINGS

2010-05-13T14:24:00.006-06:00

Saturday, 5/8, we arrived in Mesa Arizona in the afternoon and parked in my cousin, Jeanette's driveway. What a super large house she has and a lot of land. We visited for hours then went out to dinner, it was really nice to see her. Sunday we left about 7am and headed for Walmart in Edgewood New Mexico. Hell of a drive, the wind was blowing so hard that we had to keep the steering wheel turned to the right to keep the rig straight. When I was driving there was a dust storm, I could see ahead and when the big rig drove into it, it just disappeared. Needless to say I slowed down because I didn't know if I could see an accident through all the blowing dirt. Once I drove into it you could see just fine, better safe then sorry. While driving I passed a trailer that had flipped over, the SUV was fine but the trailer was on it's side. We discovered when we got to the Walmart the awning from one of our back slides was torn up, will have to fix it once we get to Iowa.

Monday morning we headed for a Walmart in Yukon Oklahoma and arrived in the late afternoon. While sitting in the coach watching TV all of a sudden the City sirens started going off. A tornado was on it's way, Dave started yelling at me to get out of the coach and run inside Walmart. He started pulling in our slides while I ran outside to see the tornado, which was amazing to see. Some Walmart employees were outside watching it too, I got 2 pictures, the sirens were just blaring then Walmart wanted everyone in the middle of the store so everyone ran inside. I looked around at everyone and prayed that the tornado didn't hit us, I didn't want to die with some of those scary looking people. After about 10 min. the alarms went off and we were cut loose but they warned us that we were still under a tornado watch. If you saw the news a tornado in Norman OK, 50 miles south, did a lot of damage and 5 people died I believe. Luckily the alarms never went off again that night.

Tuesday we left early in the morning, no wind or rain it was a beautiful drive all the way to Branson, MO where we are right now. While writing this blog we are under a severe thunder storm watch. Got so bad that we lost our satellite signal for our TV, plus, rain is coming down in buckets.

Tuesday night we went and saw The Texas Tenors, great show, I thnk last year they made it to Semi Finals in America's got talent.

Wednesday at 10am we went and saw Jeerk another great show. This is 5 guys from Sweden that did Rock 'n' Rhythm/Tap (think Stomp). At 2pm we went and saw The Hughes Brothers, great show again. These brother's have more then 25 kids between them and they all are in the show. They aren't done having kids either so I think they are going to need a bigger stage soon. 8pm we went and saw SIX, 6 brothers that have amazing voices, no band but you would swear there was a band there. They are dubbed "An Orchestra of Human Voices" really a fabulous show. One story they told was that at 17 their mom was told she could never have kids. However she went on to have 10, yes I said 10, all boys. They said that the other 4 brothers were normal and had real jobs.

The RV park we are staying at is right in the middle of town, so all of the touring and shows we have seen have all been in walking distant. This is great since we haven't really been able to walk any since leaving Simi Valley.

Today we just went driving around checking out the area, walked around an outside mall then came back to the rig to relax. Tomorrow we are heading out to either Kansas City, MO but if we still feel like driving we just might go all the way to Altoona, Iowa where the amusement park is.

Need to get back to posting

2010-05-07T16:52:00.002-06:00

We left Arizona early to surprise Kim and Danny. We hit the road at 3:30pm April 24th and thought we might stay in Laugnlin, wrong. When we got there it was the weekend of the River Run by Harley Davidson, 50K motorcycles there. We ended up driving to Needles and staying at the Elk's Lodge. Got going and were in Bakersfield by about 1pm. Drove over to Kim's and surprised all 3 of them. We were at the house everyday, I was Madison's playmate the whole time there. When the weather was warm we played in the backyard and the days it was cool we played together in the house, she would not let me out of her site, except when we went back to the coach at night. Kim had class on the following Thursday and Friday so I watched Madison and then on Friday night we all left to San Diego when Danny got home from work. Saturday we took Madison for her 1st visit to Sea World, boy did she love that place. We got there when it opened and didn't leave the place until 5pm. Madison took no nap and walked almost the whole time, well kind of. She loved the kids section and did get to go on some rides with Danny. Sunday morning we drove back to Bakersfield. The weather was great the whole time. We moved the RV in front of Kim's house on Monday and then hit the road to Simi Valley on Wednesday. Right now parked at the side of David's house. Tonight is El Patio with the Simi Valley friends and get on the road tomorrow morning for Mesa Arizona. I promise to start updating every few days since our new adventure starts out tomorrow. Iowa here we come.

What has been going on???

2010-04-18T18:26:00.004-06:00

Not a lot, staying busy working on computers, jigsaw puzzles, killing the weeds, playing Wii, working out, walking and watching TV. We did have friends, RV friends, come by and stay Easter weekend, we toured around Sedona and Jerome, which was a lot of fun. Easter Sunday, Judy and Marty, across the street from us, invited a few neighbors over for Easter Dinner, which was really nice. Dave and I got to meet some of the neighbors around us, late that night David Jr., Jodi and Riley arrived. So Monday we went to Sedona and did some hiking around so Jodi and David could take some great pictures. Riley and I hung around and hiked faster then the others, it was fun. Tuesday we took them up to Jerome and toured around then had lunch at the Haunted Hamburger, great place to visit, hamburgers are very good. David had to go to work on Wednesday so they left our place around 3:30pm that afternoon.

On Friday afternoon, Danielle and Chad came by, ex-neighbors from Simi, which we were very happy to see. Danielle is in the service and station in Hawaii, she got vacation time, flew into Calif. and her and her brother were during a long road trip.

Dave and I started doing this new thing, Geo Caching, which is a lot of fun, look it up on the web. Dave's phone is our Geo tracker, so that really helps us. In a nut shell, people hide things and give you the coordinates and you try and find it. The hidden thing could be big or very small, a tube drilled into a dead tree, and fake screw in a sign post, hidden under a rock you just don't know, that's what makes it fun. Hiking or driving to the coordinates are places we would have never seen otherwise.

We leave leave in 9 days for Calif. then on our way to Iowa, to become Carney's. Boy, am I stressing now!!!

Sharing a joke

2010-04-01T17:18:00.002-07:00

Dave's Aunt Wilma just sent us a joke in our 32nd Anniversary card.

Title is "A Day In Court"

An attorney was questioning a "little old lady" and asked her, How old are you? She replied, I'm eighty.

He then said, will you please tell me in your own words what happened the night of April 1st.

She said, there I was sitting in my swing on my front porch on a warm spring evening when a young man comes creeping up on my porch and sat down beside me.

Attorney asked, did you know him?

She said no but he sure was friendly.

He asked, what happened after he sat down beside you?

She said that he started rubbing her thighs.

He asked, did you tell him to stop and if not, why not?

She replied, it felt so good, nobody has done that since my Albert died 20 years ago.

Attorney asked, what happened next?

She said, then be began to rub my breasts.

He asked, did you try to stop him then and if not why not?

she said, his rubbing made me feel all alive and excited, I haven't felt that good in years, in fact by then I was feeling so spicy that I just laid down and told him, "take me young man, take me now".

Attorney asked, did he take you?

She replied, Hell no, he just yelled, "April Fools" and was running away and that's when I shot him, that little S.O.B.

Time flies when your having fun

2010-03-24T11:31:00.002-07:00

Can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last posted anything. I even forget about this blogging stuff because of Face Book and Twitter. On March 12th we headed down to Victorville to meet up with some old neighbors of ours, like from 24 yrs ago. They found us on Face Book and we found out Steve & Jill are still doing promotions of Monster Trucks, Bands, Car Racing ect. all over the states. They were having a Monster Truck show going on in Victorville, where they live, so Dave & I thought it would be a great idea to go, see the show, see Steve and Jill, plus, it was a great excuse to go and see the kids in Bakersfield too, while we were down that way. The Victorville thing turned out to be a bust. The Monster Truck show was OK, it's just it was freezing outside so we just walked back to our RV and didn't finish watching the show. We got to visit with Jill Friday night but Steve had to stay home because he had another show going on, in another State, and had to make sure nothing went wrong. Saturday Dave and I just hung around waiting for the show which didn't start till 7:30pm that night. Didn't see Steve or Jill until right before the show started. They came by the coach and gave us wrist bands so we could get in for free. We never got invited over or anything, so needless to say, don't rush to see someone you haven't seen in 24 yrs. We headed out 1st thing Sunday morning and went to Bakersfield. Kim was working at Little Feet but Madison and Danny were home. Thank goodness it hadn't been that long since we had seen Madison, she wasn't afraid at all. We parked the RV in front of the house, hooked up the electrical and stayed for 3 nights. The weather was nice, so Madison and I went into the backyard. Dave was off doing Home Depot stuff and Danny was doing a deep cleaning on their bathroom shower. While in the backyard Madison found a hole with water in it, and started doing Happy Feet, where she splashed mud on her shoes and legs. Danny got the movie camera and filmed her through the bathroom window. She then fell and now her butt was all muddy, she didn't care but Kim wasn't too happy when she got home. Kim said she wanted her to do girl things not play in mud. Monday we did the same thing in the backyard, but this time I covered the muddy spot, Madison filled and dumped Toby's water dish so many times, then she figured out if you keep dumping water in the same spot you can make new muddy holes and do the happy feet thing. Tuesday morning Danny and Dave went and got Madison a 2 slide climbing thing. She couldn't wait for G-Pa to put it together for her. After it was put together she was all over that thing, the little turd even figured out how to climb up the slides and not have to use the stairs. It also has a climbing wall but we didn't show her how to use that. With the sun beating down the slide would get hot, so Kim ran out and got a 10 by 10 easy up canopy. That worked out really great for cover, keeps the play thing in the shade and Madison too so she won't get sunburned.

We headed out Wednesday mid morning to Laughlin NV for the night. Lost $20 on the slot machines and that was my limit. Thursday got back to Cornville unloaded the RV and put it back in storage. Since we've been back we have just been hanging around, last weekend we went to a hot rod car show in Cottonwood and saw Old Time Fiddler's in Cornville, boy was that boring. Still hitting the estate/garage sales, last Friday we went to an estate sale in Sedona 6000 sq ft house, amazing to see, and was up for sale for almost 2 million dollars.

Dave has wanted cabinets for the garage so he started that project the other day. The weather is starting to warm up so I have been able to sit outside, in the lounge chair, read my book, while working on my suntan.

All caught up now.

Kim, Danny and Miss Madison's visit

2010-03-03T17:23:00.009-07:00

We had a great visit with the kids, it was a lot of fun having them here. They drove up Wednesday afternoon and Dave and I tried to stay up but no go. We both kept waking up now and then and looking at the clock. At 2:30am I told Dave we needed to call them, they should have been here by now. Dave got up and walked into the hallway and noticed the bedroom door closed. They had arrived around 1:30 and didn't call us, like they said they would, and just went straight to bed. Dave and I went in the morning at 8am to go pick up trash with our group, thinking they would sleep in, but as soon as we started Kim called me and said that I should get home and child proof my house. Dave said he would help with the trash and that I should go home and be with the kids and Madison. Dave had put some locks on the cabinets and drawers, I had picked up a lot of stuff so we thought we were pretty much child proof, but not enough for the smarty pants Miss Madison. There really wasn't much stuff I had to move, it was just the stuff I thought was high enough that she couldn't reach, but she is so darn tall, we keep forgetting that.

Madison loved the gym room I have, she was always getting on the treadmill, the bike and elliptical were too much for her. The exercise ball was another favorite for her, it had to be in the living room everyday. In the mornings we would open the shades and the hot air balloon would be out and she loved watching it. She also loved being in the backyard, the crunching of the rocks under her feet, she loved hearing it. She would even do the fast dance on the rocks. Getting bored walking around the backyard with her that's when I got the idea to put her in our wagon, she was in 7th heaven. She would ride around the back and front yards then I would take it to go get the mail with her. She would just sit and ride until the last day, she only wanted to ride for a little bit, then all she wanted to do was walk in the rocks of all the neighbors houses.

While the kids were here we drove up to Jerome and had lunch at the Haunted Burger, then let Madison play at the playground, we did a little walking around shops too. Another day we went to Sedona and did some walking around there too. Miss Madison has developed some nice temper tantums, plus, if looks could kill she can throw a few of those at you too.

Kim had brought down my Mom's jewelery bag with her, it was so weird because when we opened the compartments you could smell my mom. Dave, Kim and I all agreed on that, and after the kids left for home I went through the whole thing and matched up all the earrings. I went from owning only 4 earrings and now with all of my mom's I have like 35 now. I even remember her wearing the Christmas ones, Santa, the Snowman ect. God how I miss her.

Anyway, hated to see them leave but glad they made it home safe. We are looking at driving down to Victorville in a couple weeks to go to a car race that an old neighbor of our's is promoting and we haven't seen them in at least 20 years, so on the way back to Arizona will stop by and see Kim again. Our big trip, to remind everyone is in May, we are headed for Iowa, but before we get there we are planning on visiting, Kim, Mike, Aunt Evelynn, and Marisa. Will know more details later and let everyone know.

Posted new pics under our picture albums

Just remembered another thing, while Kim was brushing her teeth, one morning, Madison managed to empty the bottom drawer of the cabinet climbed inside then stood on the side and was asking mom if she could wash her hands, little shit!! 1st time said she had done that, that's only because of all of Kim's cabinets are child proof and our's aren't.

I'M TELLING I CAN'T HOLD IT IN ANYMORE

2010-02-22T18:08:00.007-07:00

CONGRATS TO KIM, DANNY AND MADISON, WE HAVE ANOTHER GONZALEZ ON THE WAY!!

Still hanging out in Cornville Arizona and plan on staying here until around the end of April. Know we have to be in Bakersfield on April 28th because the next 2 days we are watching Miss Madison. We are debating now about making a quick trip to Victorville, Calif. because we just got in touch with some ex-neighbors of ours, from Simi Valley, Steve and Jill Quercio, who are promoting a car race at the fairgrounds. When they lived across the street from us, in Simi, we use to help them with working the car racing stuff, sold tickets, did their flyers ect. it was great hearing from them on Facebook.

On my last blog I had mentioned about renting our house out for the summer but the rental company said it isn't worth it for 1 summer, they would make all the money we wouldn't. So I guess if anyone wants to come to Cornville during the summer just let us know and we will leave the key somewhere, MAYBE.

Yes, we are still going to Iowa for our summer job, Kim's baby is due around September 15th so I will either

1. fly back for the birth of the baby and Dave can drive back by himself

2. fly back for the birth then fly back to Iowa so I can drive back with Dave

3. after our jobs are done, Sept. 26th, drive back and see the baby when we get to Bakersfield and not be there for the birth. What do you think, they plan on having 4 kids couldn't I miss 1 birth?

We did get some shocking news the other day, the amusement park we will be working at was on fire. Judy, across the street from us and is from Iowa, sent me a link about the fire. It was contained to 3 buildings, I believe, on main street but nothing happened to the rides. Today the news from Iowa is that the park will still open as scheduled and since Dave and I are working on the rides part we still have jobs.

The weather since we have been back has been pretty good, last week I was wearing shorts all week but this week it took a turn for the worst. Rain and very cold.

My knee hasn't been doing very good lately. After the surgery I did bike riding and alot of walking but since getting back to Arizona and the treadmill being fixed I started jogging again. My knee doubled in size and Dave made me call the doctor and get back in to see him. The doctor had told us after the surgery that my knee was so tight that he had never seen one like it before. When we went in and saw him he was surprised how swollen it was and was talking about 1/2 knee replacement but 1st wanted to start with steroids. So he did a steroid shot in my knee and it's been a week now and the knee has gone down but it is still not up to par. I believe I will have to go back for a series of shots to lubricate the knee, it's 3 shots in a 2 week period, will see. Last resort is 1/2 knee replacement, the doctor did say my knees are not made for running, both are just too tight. I guess it's a good thing, I've never been told I was too tight before. :)

Kim, Danny and Madison are driving up tomorrow, Tuesday, for a visit and staying a couple days. Will see how child proof our house is. Just wish we had better weather, although it is suppose to clear up for a few days. Will write more after their visit.

Congrats to Spanky for getting a job, Congrats to Kim and Danny, let's just hope this 2010 turns out better for everyone.

Love ya enough talk for now.

Cornville Arizona, Back Home Again

2010-01-31T15:19:00.003-07:00

We had an OK time in Quartzsite this year. With the storms that hit at night it made it so Dave couldn't go do any playing around in the desert with the jeep. We were able to get our sun shade fixed while there, and just finished our interview with The Adventureland when another wind storm hit and everyone had to evacuate the tent area. We did get hired so we will be leaving for Des Moines, Iowa on May 10th, have to be there by the 16th because there is a meeting on the 17th for everyone. Last day of work is September 26th, if we stay until then it will only cost us $165.00 for parking in the RV Park the whole time. The scary thing is if we like it and want to do it every summer Kim or Madison will kill us because that would mean we would always miss Madison's b/day. We look at this as an adventure, we will get to new states we haven't been to yet and see more of the USA. We got to do it now before we get too old. At The Adventureland Dave and I will be ride operators, In May they are only open on weekends. June, July and August 7 days a week and open until 10pm, then in September it is only weekends again until September 26th which is the last day of operations.

We left Quartzsite and drove to Bakersfield on January 23rd. Went to Kim's everyday and even watched Madison a couple times. Madison got a runny nose while we were there and Kim managed to catch it, it hit Kim pretty hard but Madison's cleared up. Luckily Dave and I didn't catch it this time. We left Bakersfield on the 28th and stopped that night in Quartzsite, spent the night and hit the road at 7am back in Cornville at 11:30. Got the RV all unpacked and that afternoon we put the RV back in storage at 1000 Trails. We won't get it back out again until May when we hit the road for Bakersfield then on to Iowa.

Judy, across the street from us, is going to make us up a list of things to see and do while we are in Iowa. Judy and Marty are from there and drive back quite often, their daughter and family still live there.

We are debating now if we should rent out our house while we are gone. The rental company we use handles furnished vacation homes, still just not sure yet. Dave will talk to Tricia and see what it entails.

Posted new pictures, go under our photos, there are 3 new sets. Our trip to Mexico, Christmas and Las Vegas and Bakersfield.

Quartzsite Arizona

2010-01-20T06:35:00.003-07:00

Made it to Quartzsite, AZ yesterday. The storms that are hitting all around, California, Arizona ect. hit here in Quartzsite last night. Looking at the weather report it should be OK here during the day today but a big storm is suppose to hit again tonight.

We had fun in Tempe with Bob and Jackie, did a lot of shopping around but not buying anything. They have a monster swap meet that runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday, that alone took us 2 days to go through.

Here at Quartzsite there is a monster RV Show going on and this is where we will find out about working in Iowa this summer and hopefully get my sun shade fixed. It's actually the drivers sun shade because once it quit working Dave took the passenger sun shade and turned it around and set it up on the drivers side. It's better to have the passenger looking into the sun then the driver. Dave has been really looking forward to coming here with the jeep so he can go play out in the desert. We did a little driving around yesterday but I'm sure he will have more fun without Jackie and I in the back sit.

We decided when we leave here we are going to drive to Bakersfield, have to get my Madison fix, will stay a few days then should be home in Cornville by the end of January now. Boy, we just keep changing our plans at the drop of a hat.

That's it for now.

Catching Hell

2010-01-13T17:27:00.005-07:00

I knew I was way behind in posting, like I said in another blog this Facebook stuff is killing me on posting my blog. My brother, Mike, emailed me and asked if I was still hanging out in Cornville because I haven't posted for so long. He must not look at Facebook everyday because I am always making comments on that, especially from his daughter, my niece, Marisa. It seems like we have been so busy since we left Cornville way back in December.

OK RECAP TIME!!!!

We left in December and went to Redlands, Ca. to have the RV worked on and stayed with Mike and Trini for a night. After that we drove to Simi Valley and stayed 1 night at the side of David Jr.'s house before our cruise. David, Jodi and Riley took us to our cruise ship and we were off for a 7 day cruise to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. The weather and cruise were great, started getting a tan again but then lost it once we got back to Calif. When we got back we stayed a couple more days in Simi. We had an early xmas with the grand daughters, except Madison, and met up with our financial advisor. Got to see Brad, Diane, and Joann while we were down in Simi too which was very nice.

The Monday before xmas we went to Bakersfield. Madison was not a happy camper to see us, all she did was cry and cry. Kim finally said, "Mom just take her" which I did and within a few minutes I had her smiling. Boy, not seeing her for 3 months was way too long. That's not happening again!!!

Dave fixed xmas dinner and Danny's family came up which was really nice to see all of them again. I got to babysit a couple days while we were there and Madison has really changed, boy did she keep me busy. We then left on Dec. 29th with Bob and Jackie, who were also in Bakersfield having xmas with their son and family, in their motor home, and headed for Sam's Town, in Las Vegas, for New Year's. Jackie's sister and brother-in-law also joined us at Sam's Town. While there we went and saw Avatar in 3D Imax, what a great movie.

We all left Vegas on January 2nd, Jackie's sister went back home and Bob, Jackie, Dave and I went straight to Cornville. We got home Saturday night, Bob and Jackie stayed at the house, we just parked both RV's out front, then on Sunday they went to Crazy Horse State Park, where they stayed until today when they left for Tempe.

While Bob and Jackie were here we did site seeing just about everyday, it was a lot fun. Dave and I saw things we hadn't even seen yet, it was great.

We head out tomorrow for Tempe and will meet up with them again at the Elks Lodge and see Jackie's sister again. Then we are all going to Quartsite for the big RV Show. Should be back home in Cornville by January 26th.

By the way, I have lots of pictures to post to my blog, but since we are leaving again, I can't do it until we get back at the end of Jan. or even after we get back from Bakersfield. Boy, I just want to stay home and get back into a routine again.

Still hanging in Cornville

2009-12-06T15:14:00.002-07:00

We head out of here next Thursday morning, getting very excited. I've got my Christmas Cards done, only mailing to people who I don't have an email address for. Between the stamps and the cards the cost is getting ridicules for something that will be thrown away. Unless you are like my daughter-in-law, Jodi, who keeps them taped up all year long. :) Why, I couldn't tell you.

Like I said we head out on Thursday for Redlands, Ca. where the RV will be worked on, I think it is just a tune up on the 11th. So once we get to Redlands we will leave the RV at the Repair place and then drive to my Brother Mike's house. We will spend the night there then leave Friday morning and drive back to Redlands to pick up the RV. Then we will drive to Simi Valley to park the RV at the side of David's house for the rest of the week. We leave Saturday morning for San Pedro where we will catch our cruise ship. We are going on a 7 day cruise to the Mexico - Riviera, Puerto Vallarta, where we will go Kayaking and Snorkeling Safari, then on to Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. We get back on the 19th and will stay at David's until the 21st. The 20th we will get together with almost all of the grand daughter's, Madison won't be there. We will then head up to Bakersfield and stay there until Dec. 30th. Bob and Jackie, RV friends, will be in Bakersfield too visiting their son and family, then the 4 of us will head out to Las Vegas for New Years. We will leave on the 2nd and head back home, Bob and Jackie coming along because they want to see our new house and stay and play. Anyway, enough of the future stuff.

Went and had my stitches removed from my knee, doc said everything doing OK, riding the bike better then jogging right now. Treadmill still not fixed anyway. Dave figured out that when I ride the bike 20 miles I limp when we go walking, when I only do 15 miles I don't limp. So needless to say, I don't want to push the knee too much so 15 is fine right now.

Dave had his colonscopy and has to go back in 5 yrs. and this Monday, tomorrow, he goes back and gets the stitches removed from his neck and back then we are done with doctors until next year, we hope.

Went and saw the movie 2012, it was OK, a lot of computer work done on that thing.

Yesterday we went to the Cottonwood Christmas parade, I posted pictures so you can see what a small town parade looks like, very funny stuff.

That's it for now, Happy Holidays!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2009-11-26T11:38:00.002-07:00

Hope everyone has/had a nice Thanksgiving. Dave is going to smoke the 11lb turkey we got in the BBQ this afternoon. I'm making Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and Balsamic Vinegar, never tried it before but looks really easy to do. We will also have a salad, stuffing, red potatoes, and Dave is baking a Pumpkin Apple Pie. All of it sounds like good diet food, but who cares.

Anyway since I last updated the blog I have had my knee surgery and a colonoscopy, Dave had some cysts removed from his back and neck. It seems like either both of us or at least one of us have been to the doctors every week. Next 2 weeks are no exception either. On 12/1 I see the knee doctor again, 12/3 Dave has his colonoscopy and on 12/7 Dave has his stitches removed. We live here on the 10th so the rest of December we hopefully will be doctor free.

Dave and I went back to walking after a week of letting my knee heal, I'm back to riding the bike but am waiting until I see the doctor again before I get back to jogging on the treadmill again or using the resistance on the Elliptical.

We went and saw The Blind Side yesterday, very good movie.

That's about all that is new with us, been doing the garage sales but haven't had a lot of good luck on buys, I think we might be getting burnt out on things we need for the house. Dave finished with the table and chairs, from garage sales, and now have them out in the front yard. Will post pictures of it later. My new treadmill finally showed up and it's broken already, I should say we received it broken, so Joaquin, the repair guy, ordered the new part for it, maybe it will get fixed next week. The treadmill still works for walking or jogging it just can't elevate at all.

Boy, I'm behind in posting anything/new addition

2009-11-10T17:19:00.003-07:00

I'll start out with our New Addition to the Family, we have purchased a Jeep. They say you can't live here in Arizona without a jeep or some kind of off road vehicle. So many off roads to drive and you don't want to do it in your primary car, although, we have seen some people do it now that we can drive on the dirt and rock roads. It's a 1991 Jeep Wrangler with 137K miles on it, it's in really good shape and we can tow it with 4 wheels down on the ground. The paint was good, notice the word "was", the seats and interior are great, the best part is the price $4,700. We had planned on buying a 1981 Jeep from Mac, David Jr. and friends but after agreeing to buying it we found out we couldn't tow it with 4 wheels down, we were going to have to buy a tow dolly which we didn't want to do. Thank you guys so much for letting us back out of the deal. Although the 81 jeep was only 2K we were going to have to put another few K into it to make it really drivable so the 1991 worked out well for us. Yea, 2 vehicles again.

The paint is still good except we have been doing some off roading, climbing rocks, dirt roads ect and we now have what they call "Arizona Pin stripping"

I was hoping to have my knee surgery done by now, but no such luck. Last Monday, 11/2, I went to the surgeon's office and set up the surgery again for 11/5. I then went by the doctors office to get a note that said it was OK to have the surgery. The receptionist said she will send a note to the doctor and let me know.

The doctor called me Tuesday morning and said she wanted me to take a stress test before she would write the note. I went in Wednesday morning and did the treadmill/Xray 1 1/2 hour test, with and without Dye. Wednesday afternoon Dave and I got together with the Doctor and she told us the stress test was great, no problems with the heart or valves. I then mentioned about the new medicine that the surgeon had put me on since my kidneys had no blockage, and she didn't know a thing about it. She didn't know that I didn't have the stint put in until I told her. I had even called the doctors office the Friday after the procedure to tell the doctor about the new medicine but she was out until Tuesday and her assistant said she would run it by the doctor when she got back, if there were any problems they would call me. Since no call I figured everything was OK, no, the doctor wouldn't let me have surgery while being on the new medicine. No one had told her I had called and she hadn't seen the DVD taken of my kidney or seen the surgery report. I left my copy of the DVD for her to look at. We ended up going by the knee surgeons office and cancelled the surgery and they then said they would not reschedule again until they had a note from my doctor. Can't blame them, I had cancelled the surgery 3 times already.

Anyway, I'm on new blood pressure medicine and it has really controlled it, I'm having readings of 125/70 which is great. Tomorrow Dave and I see the doctor again and hopefully she will give me the OK to have the surgery next Monday or Thursday. Although, this coming up Monday Dave and I have consultations with the colonoscopy doctor, going to have that done next, but of course not at the same time.

That's about all that is new with us, been going to garage sales and estate sales and purchased some good cheap things, will post pictures soon. Did post new pictures of Madison the other day, remember to go under "our pictures".

The Rally is almost over

2009-10-29T14:57:00.003-07:00

Today is the last day of the Rally, it's been fun seeing people again that we haven't seen in a long time. Getting together again with Stan and Ginger from Camarillo has been fun, hadn't seen them for a long time. So far they have sold 10 new Motor Homes, which I think is pretty darn good. Of course you can get good deals on them right now. We even found one for Kim and Danny for only 89K, it is 34 ft long it has a queen bed in back and 2 bunk beds on the side, it was pretty cute for a starter up one.

Before we left for the Rally, I don't think I mentioned, we had to get 2 new front tires, $500.00 a tire, ouch! We have 4 more to replace, but hopefully not all at the same time, they still look pretty good so far but RV Tires need to be replaced every 6 yrs, or are suppose to if you want to be safe.

Still all bruised up from the procedure that was done in Phoenix, the nurse said it will be like this for a couple weeks. Don't know why now though, I have bruises down lower on my leg, will check with the doctor next week. Good thing I didn't have it done in Bakersfield because I'm not suppose to lift anything over 10 lbs for 2 weeks, and that sure wouldn't have worked out well with Miss Madison.

We will head out tomorrow morning back to Cornville, and we plan on staying put until around the 11th of December. I think if we make it until then it will have been the longest we stayed in our house.

By the way, we got gas here in Tucson for $2.07, haven't seen it that low in I don't know how long.

No Blockage to Valve in Left Kidney

2009-10-23T16:27:00.004-06:00

We are in Tucson, Arizona a couple days ahead of time for the RV Rally. They have 530 coaches showing up for this Rally, they had not expected such a turn out. It's the new company that took over part of the Monaco Coaches that had gone under like most of all the rest of the manufacturers. People showing up wanting to know what kind of service we can expect from this new company for repairs ect.

Wednesday night we left for Phoenix to spend the night in the parking lot of the John C. Lincoln Deer Valley Hospital. Thursday morning I had to check in at 7:30am for my stent procedure, which ended up not being needed, which is good. When I finally got in the operating room and they started I was just beginning to get the drugs when they stopped them. Doctor stood up and said I had no blockage, I'm like what, what is causing the high blood pressure? He said probably the family history, but my kidney's are working perfectly, which he had told me the week before that the ultra sound can be wrong at times. I just thought for sure more then 70% blockage the ultra sound couldn't be that wrong, but it was. He prescribed another medicine to take and we will go from there. Still he had started the procedure through the groin checked both kidneys and it is sore now, need to take it easy because of the plug he put in to the main artery, don't want that puppy opening up with my luck I'll bleed to death. One good thing is now I don't have to wait 30 days for the knee surgery. By the way, the little bit of drugs they gave me brought my blood pressure down to perfect levels. If the knee surgeon just gives me a little something the blood pressure would be fine and he wouldn't have to worry. :)

Got our flu shots today at Wal-mart no H1N1, shots aren't available here right now.

Test Results are back

2009-10-14T13:34:00.002-06:00

Saw the Doctor yesterday and even talked to the Surgeon about what is going on with the high blood pressure. The heart exam came out great but the Kidney one did not, it seems I have greater than 70% stenosis in the proximal and mid renal artery. In other words 70% blockage to my left Kidney valve, due from Family History. Luckily we have caught it in time before any damage is done, so more then likely next Thursday I will go to Phoenix and have a stint put in to open the valve back up. It will be an over night stay in the hospital then after that we leave for our Rally in Tucson. I asked both Doctor's what causes this and they both said "It's your Family History" nothing I can do about it. If nothing is done though it could lead to kidney damage and a stroke, and we don't want that. After that surgery I have to wait 30 days before I can have my knee surgery because of the meds I'll be on.

Anyway, on a brighter note, Dave and I got done planting 12 Sage bushes along the back fence, boy was that a lot of work. Our backyard is all rocks, plus, once you move those rocks and try and dig there are even more rocks underneath.

We have been doing the garage sales and estate sales and made some pretty good buys this past weekend, lots of fun.

Dave's got another new job, non paying, he is now the Cyber Assistant to the Secretary of the Elk's Lodge in Jerome. Now he is a Cyber Assistant and Chairman on the Architectural committee.

The lady across the street from us, very unfriendly, let's her dog run around and yesterday the dog crapped in my yard and then the dog had the nerve to come running and barking at Dave and I when we got back from our walk. I chased the dog down, the lady came running out of her house and called her dog back, I told her to clean up my yard too! This is the 2nd time this dog has attacked us so this time I wrote the HOA and they said to call the Sheriff and report it, which I did this morning. The Sheriff called me back and said they will be out this afternoon to talk to her about the leash law. If she isn't home they will write her up, will see. If she can be so unfriendly so can I.

That's it for now, heading out for Bakersfield tomorrow for a few days, will come back to Arizona on Tuesday. We need a Miss Madison fix.

Back in Cornville

2009-10-05T15:19:00.002-06:00

We finally finished cleaning out the RV and put it in storage, hopefully, no mice, snakes or anything else get in. Dave thinks he filled all the openings, will see when we get it back out of storage on the 22nd of Oct.

My car's front end has been shaking a lot so we had to take it in to get checked. With having only 1 car you either hang out at the repair place, take your bikes so you can ride home or just walk home. We choose walking home, it was almost 4 miles no biggie, just a little bit further then we walk every morning. When it was done we decided to ride our bikes down to go pick it up, never again. It was a lot more work riding the bike then walking, plus, not much of a bike lane and lots of cars use that road. The car ended up just needing an alignment and rotated the tires, thank goodness we thought it was going to be something major since the car has 120,000 miles on it.

This past Thursday we started finding the garage sales and estate sales again, Dave has found stuff to buy but I haven't yet. Friday we went to the Prescott Fair, very small, then on to Costco.

Saturday, in Cottonwood, we went to the Rhythm & Ribs fest, 4th year having it. With the price of admission you got 3 free sample tickets to try from any of the vendors. After that for a $1 the other vendors would give you a sample. They had a big stage setup for all the bands that were going to be playing. The best restaurant ribs, we thought, were Hog Wild. We have been wanting to try the place but just haven't done it yet, now we will be. Still haven't found out yet who won.

Dave is now Chairman of the Architectural Committee here. Since he missed the last meeting they voted him to become the Chairman, oh yea! (when you belong to a committee you better not miss a meeting) Plus, he will be working on the website for the Elks Lodge, so he should be keeping pretty busy. I don't think the Elks have done anything to their website since 2006 or 2007. There isn't much to do as Chairman except go to the meetings once a month, and if someone submits something they want to change on their house everyone has to look at it, if it is turned down then Dave has to write the letter.

My brother, Mike, did great through surgery and is doing good, my surgery was cancelled until November 2nd. Got to find out about this high blood pressure, am going tomorrow for a Echo Cardiogram with Doppler and a Renal Ultrasound test, will get results next week. I might also have a stress test next week if the BP is under control.

That's about it, Dave is starting to set water drips in the backyard so we can start planting things.

End of the Trip Blog / New Pics

2009-09-29T19:40:00.002-06:00

Before I forget, in my last blog I said I had posted 4 or 5 new pic albums under Jeri's Picture Albums, now I have posted new pics and video's of Madison under "Our Picture Albums". I guess my pic albums are full and Dave had purchased more space under Our Pics.

OK let's get the end of the trip blog done.

We arrived in Bakersfield on Thursday 9/17, and it took Madison only a short while to get use to us, after that she was always wanting me to pick her up. We made it a point to see her, Kim and Danny everyday, it was great. Anyway, Saturday morning Danny, Dave, Madison and I drove down to David Jr's, us, for David's 40th b/day party, Danny and Madison were going to Danny's folks. When we got to David's Madison needed to eat and take a nap so Dave and I borrowed Danny's (really Kim's) car. We drove over the 1000 Oaks to Mac's house to look at the Jeep they are selling. Dave drove around with it and then we left, we needed to talk before buying it, so we had asked Davey (Mac) to drive it to the party at David's that night. We decided to buy it for driving the back roads in Arizona but Davey showed up he had forgotten to drive it over, no big deal we would get it in the morning. David's party was a lot of fun, Pirate theme, Saturday the 19th was Pirate day??? Everyone had a good time anyway, check out the pics I posted, plus you have to see the cake Stephanie made, unbelievable, it looks just like a Pirate's treasure chest. Boy she does great work.

Sunday morning, Dave and David drove over to Davey's to get the jeep, and Danny & Madison came by to pick us up and to go out to breakfast with us. Well, the guys didn't come back, and didn't come back so we finally called. They couldn't get the jeep in reverse so they left and said they would check it out and get it fixed. It ended up being a loose bolt, the transmission was fine. They wanted to get the front end aligned(?) too, I think, I don't know Dave and the boys deal with all of that stuff. All I know is when we drive down in October for Dezira's 18th b/day party we are picking the jeep up then. We will end up towing it behind my car, not bringing the RV down for that short of trip. We will stay in Bakersfield and Simi while we are down from the 16th to the 19th.

When we got back Sunday, in the late afternoon, Kim had a nice weekend being able to sleep while all of us were gone. Danny needed to do some grocery shopping so when Kim left for work he came over to the coach and dropped Madison off, did his shopping at Smart & Final then came back and visited with us.

Monday morning was coach cleaning time, boy in a month that place sure was dirty, plus, since it was going into storage we really wanted to clean things up. In the afternoon Dave dropped me off at Kim's, after Madison's nap, so I could watch Madison and Kim could continue napping. Madison and I ran all over the house and played, when she gets really excited she has a really high pitched scream. I would cover her mouth, and tell her "no screaming" she would just smile and stay playing again. We had a good time and was really surprised that Kim never woke up once, lucky us.

Tuesday, we cleaned the basement of the coach, then an RV coach cleaning company came by and washed the whole outside of the coach and our awnings. Kim and I did some shopping in the afternoon.

Wednesday, the air conditioning people came by and put in our new bigger air conditioner. We went from a 13.5k to a 15k, what ever that means. I just know it cools the coach off a lot quicker. While that was being installed I had driven over the Kim's to hang with her and Madison until it was nap time for both. That night we all went out to dinner when Danny got off of work.

Dave and I got on the road before 6am on Thursday and were back in Cornville, AZ by 3:30pm. Long drive but we kept switching off every 2 to 3 hours. Once we got to the house we starting emptying out the coach. It was going to be going into storage at 1000 trails and we wanted everything out, hopefully we won't get any mice this time. By 5pm we drove it over to 1000 trails and decided to finish taking everything out on Friday, which we did.

Forgot to mention, on our way back to Arizona I got a call from my brother, Marty, and he just purchased a Travel Trailer, so he has joined the ranks as me, he will now be known as Trailer Trash, as our older brother, Mike, calls me. Sorry Mike, now you can tell your friends that you now have a younger brother and sister that are trailer trash, are you sure you don't want to join us?? :)

That gets me caught up from our trip, next blog is what has been going on since we got back to Cornville, boring I'm sure.

Tomorrow, 9/30, my brother,Mike, is having surgery, everything will be OK I know, but say a little prayer for him and say a BIG ONE for TRINI, his wife, she will need it while he is recovering. :)

IT'S GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO BLOG

2009-09-21T19:34:00.007-06:00

With posting every day on Facebook it is getting harder and harder to do the blog. You feel like you have said everything already, but you really haven't because not everyone is on Facebook. OK enough of that, I need to recap the Yellowstone blog.

But 1st, Happy belated birthday to Kelli Miller, Inara Tomlinson, and David Alton Jr.

Yellowstone

The 1st day we drove into the park to the 1st visitor center, just to find out all the things we need to see. The Ranger we talked to said you will see most of the animals early in the morning and at dusk. We asked it he knew anything about the RV Parks inside the park and he told us to go next door to 1 of the RV Parks and they could help us. We went there and made reservations for Sunday and Monday night at the Grant Campground. Then we drove back into the RV Park we were staying at, which was right outside of Yellowstone Park. We toured around and went to the Imax Theatre to watch a movie on Yellowstone. The next day, Saturday, we drove to Grant RV Park to check it out. On the way we stopped and took pictures of the Elk and Bison, the Bison were right next to the cars, Elk's you had to walk out a little bit. When we got to the RV Park and checked out the sites there was no way we were taking our rig to those little sites. So we ended up cancelling the Sunday and Monday night stays. The only reason we were trying to find another place to stay was because Yellowstone had closed down the road from Madison Junction to Norris Junction. To try and see all of Yellowstone we needed that road to be open and since it wasn't it was going to be very long driving days to see the whole place and to try and not drive when it is dark. As the Rangers said, the Bison are on the roads all the time and they guaranteed that if you hit one of those 2 thousand pound Bison, the Bison would walk away but you would not. They said the Bison might die later but your car was not going anywhere. We ended up making reservations at a motel, Travel Lodge, at the North Park entrance for Sunday night.

Driving to the Grant RV Park, on Saturday, we had passed "Old Faithful" and all the other Geyser's. So we backed tracked to "Old Faithful" and walked the area for 2 hours, at least. We did touring around all the way back to our RV Park we were staying at. The pictures we have posted show the Bison and the Elk we saw, Yellowstone is amazing to see, everyone has to make that trip. We left early on Sunday morning and did the touring around the sites closest to the North entrance of the park, plus that was where our motel was. We did the Mammoth Hot Springs loop, now in Mammoth Hot Springs the Elk are right there in the community. As said by one kid that lives there, the Elk are great lawn mowers but very loud. The male elk are always making howling noise. Monday after leaving the motel, another early start, so much for retirement, we drove back in the North Gate and stopped in Mammoth Hot Springs for breakfast. When we got out of the car there were 2 Bull Elk right in front of us fighting it out. If you look at the pics I posted we only managed to get them running after each other, it just all happened too fast. Monday, after breakfast, we drove the Canyon ridge of Yellowstone, ran into 1 Bison, didn't hit it thank goodness, but we saw Elk, Bison and Antelope. Yellowstone was just amazing, we actually need to go back and stay inside the park, at Fishing Bridge, which can handle something our size, for about 7 days if you really want to see everything.

When we left Yellowstone on Tuesday we stopped in Idaho Falls and saw my Aunt Ann, had a great time. We went out to lunch and visited for a couple hours, she has lost 40 lbs and what really surprised me was that she looks like my deceased Mom, just blew my mind, and when she turned around you would not have been able to tell the 2 apart. Dave even was blown away.

After lunch in Idaho Falls we drove to Wal-Mart in Taylorsville Utah and spent the night there. Wednesday we drove to St. George Utah and spent the night at the Elk's Lodge and had dinner with my Aunt Evelyn. We went in the late afternoon to Aunt Evelyn's and the talking never stopped. We all laughed so much I thought my sides were going to split. Would you ever think I would be talking with my Aunt Evelyn about Viagra, boy that's when I almost wet myself. Boy it sure is fun getting together with my Aunts, Mom's sisters, just wish I had more time with them.

After leaving St. George on Wednesday we were headed for Simi Valley, on the way we called the Simi Elk's Lodge and they were full. I was driving at the time and when I saw a sign that said "Old 58, Bakersfield" Dave was in the bathroom and I yelled that I had changed my mind and we were going to Bakersfield, I was just kidding. When he walked back up to the front I asked him if he had heard me and he said no. I repeated what I had said and he said let's go for it. We can drive down to Simi from Bakersfield on Saturday for David Jr's Birthday. So I ended up driving from Baker, Ca to Bakersfield Ca. long drive but well worth it. It was really a shorter drive then driving to Simi, I think.

We called Kim and she and Madison came by the coach later that afternoon. It took Madison a little time to get use to us again, but that's to be expected.

By the way we added 2 more states to our travel log, to be in the travel log states you have had to either sleep in the state or had sex in the state, we added Idaho and Montana, you guess what we had done to get that state, maybe both.:)

Next update will be the Bakersfield and Simi Valley visit.

Please remember I have updated the Pics

Part 1 of New Update

2009-09-14T16:29:00.004-06:00

Tuesday, 9/8, we drove to Bob & Jackie's friends house in Priest River, Idaho. What a place, right on the water. Gary is still in the process of building their house, they hope it will be done by this time next year. Right now the 3 of them, Gary, Alana and their daughter Christy are living in a 2 story garage, that Gary put together. Anyway we had a great time with them that night. As a matter of fact we just talked to Bob today and they are still there.

Wednesday Dave and I stopped in Anaconda Montana for the night. We toured around Butte, saw the Washoe Smelter Stack, where they use to process Copper/Ore. Right next door was the Fairmont Hot Springs Resorts. You pay 6 bucks and you can stay and swim all day. They have 2 Olympic size pools(1 indoor and 1 outdoor) and 2 soaking pools, also inside and out. They cool the water to between 88 and 104 degrees. The pools are natural hot springs so that's why they have to cool them. Thank goodness it wasn't a hot day, cool outside so the pools felt good but boy were you cold when you got out. The day we went the pools were at 93/94 and the soaking pools were 103/104. In Anaconda and Butte we noticed there is just about a Casino on every corner. Also in Butte we got to see "Our Lady of the Rockies". You can read about it on the web www.ourladyoftherockies.org.

Friday we arrived in Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone MT.

I'll recap that in the next blog.

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN

2009-09-08T08:10:00.003-06:00

It's that time again for another update.

Last update we were in Port Townsend, that was on 9/1, Wednesday we were at Mount Vernon Wa. at a very nice RV Park, where we stayed a few days. Thursday we took our car and got on the ferry for San Juan Islands/Friday Harbor. There were 6 of us and my car only seats 5 so guess who got to ride in the very back of the car, ME, they said it was because I was the youngest. We drove around the hole island, stopped and did site seeing, looked for whales but no luck there. Then we took the ferry over to Orcas Island. Didn't get back home until almost 9pm, very long day. Friday, we all got caught up with our laundry, just hung around. Linda and Doonie drove down from Bellingham to have an early dinner with us, it was also a surprise early birthday celebration for Linda. Saturday Lou and Sharon hit the road for Wenatchee, so now we are down to just 4 of us. Bob, Jackie, Dave and me. We also hit the road on Saturday to Okanogan, Wa. to the Fairgrounds there. It was a long driving day, just 2 lane roads, so we had to keep pulling over to let cars go by. We also made a lot of stops for site seeing and picture taking, it was a beautiful drive. Then on Sunday we hit the road again and ended up in Sandpoint Wa. staying in a Walmart parking lot. Yesterday, we drove around Canada and did site seeing, but before crossing the border I couldn't find my passport. I know I had put Dave's and my passport in my purse. The Canada border guy said as long as I had a drivers license I could come in but we were more worried about getting back into the U.S. Dave made a u-turn and we went and asked the U.S. Border guy and he said he can't stop me from coming back into the U.S. as long as I can prove I am a U.S. citizen. So we made a u-turn again and went into Canada. We toured around there and took a ferry ride, with the car across Kootenay Lake. We found this Broom Shop, which made the Brooms for the Harry Potter Movies. When coming back into the U.S. they only asked me where I was born, it was no problem getting back and when we got back to the RV there was my passport on the floor board right before you walk out the door. The problem was I hadn't zipped up my purse and the darn thing just fell out, we were just happy we found it.

Bob and Jackie have friends here in the area so we will be going and parking the RV's at their place today.

Hole in "1" / No Sugar Beet Harvest

2009-08-31T08:48:00.002-06:00

We are now in Port Townsend, Washington at the Elk's Lodge. Dave, Bob and Lou went to play golf while Jackie, Sharon and I went into town. Linda and Doonie (Linda's BF/sister-in-law) took off for the San Juan Islands, will catch up with her later in Bellingham. When the guys got back from golf, they were so excited to tell us that Dave had got a Hole in One on the 2nd tee. Bob and Lou have been golfing forever and had never had a hole in 1 and had never been present with anyone that got one either, so they were all excited. Congratulations Dave.

We had been calling about the Sugar Beet Harvest and were told that they were still working on the invites. While we were gassing up in Tillamook, they called on my phone and said they were sending out the invites. Well, we never got one, so now we will be back at the end of September instead of the end of October.

I need to recap what this last week has been. We were in Lincoln City Oregon on the 23rd and 24th then headed for Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond Oregon. What a nice State Park, we got to do so much walking, it was wonderful. Before we got there though, we stopped in Tillamook, Oregon and went through the cheese factory, you know Tillamook Cheese. They seem to be famous for their ice cream too, so we had to have ice cream and also picked up some of their cheese too. While in Hammond we took a day and went driving around New Port and Long Beach, Washington touring Light Houses, and just checking out the area. Linda took off to pick up Doonie so it was just the 6 of us touring around. Friday, the 28th, we drove to the Bremerton Washington Elks. Saturday Linda, Doonie, Dave and I took the ferry over to Seattle and walked Pikes Market and took the Under Ground Tour of the city. It had rained all night long be once morning came it didn't rain again, figures since Dave and I had our umbrellas with us. Saturday, early evening, we drove to Linda's friends house in Hansville. It's a neighbor of hers from St. George Utah, they live in St. George in the winter and Hansville in the summer. They are right on the water, beautiful spot, beautiful house and they have their own dock and boat. Larry and Linda had a fantastic dinner ready for all of us. Larry had gone out that morning and caught lots of crabs and salmon. You get that stuff that fresh boy the flavor is something else. Oh, forgot to mention, Dave and I were driving with Linda and Doonie, while flying down the road this goat, with a rope hanging from it's neck, runs into the middle of the road. The 3 of us starting yelling stop, which Linda did do, and luckily Bob and the rest of them weren't too close behind us. Linda wasn't happy with us, she said it was just a damn goat on a rope and it was better to hit it then us get hit from behind from all the other vehicles. While driving home that night, after dinner, it was dark so we had to watch out for deers and goats on ropes. :)

At least now being in Port Townsend we finally have TV again, yea!! Still haven't seen a Walmart in a week and we are out of Walmart bags for our trash, if anyone finds out we will be kicked out of the Trailer Trash Club. :)

That's it for now, will update more later.

Recap of Trip so far, plus, Happy Birthday Marisa

2009-08-23T07:37:00.003-06:00

We are in Elkton Oregon right now, arrived on Friday afternoon. Went to Marty's for dinner, what a fantastic dinner. We kind of made it a surprise 50th anniversary for Bob and Jackie, Marty made a special cake for them, it was very nice.

Linda showed up on Monday in the afternoon. we had all gotten together Monday night at Bob and Jackie's to talk about the trip. Headed out on Tuesday and stopped in Eureka, at the Moose Lodge, the Elk's Lodge was full. Stayed for 2 days and went touring around, Bob and Jackie use to live there so they were our tour master's.

Wednesday we left for Coquille, Oregon and stopped at the Elk's Lodge there. It was an all day drive, only because we made a lot of stops on the way. Our windshield wiper fell apart so we stopped at Walmart to try and get a new one. We are driving on the coast and with the fog we needed that windshield wiper. Walmart only had a 28 inch one and we needed a 32 inch one. We got it anyway, it was better then nothing, will get the right one later. Anyway, Coquille Valley Elk's Lodge camping is right in front of the golf course the Elk's own. Friday morning Dave, Bob, Lou, and Linda played golf, Jackie and I walked the course with them. Sharon, Bob's girl friend, wasn't feeling too well so she stayed in their RV. (there are 7 of us travelling together, soon to be 8, Linda's sister in law will join us on the 26th)

We left Coquille Valley on the 21st and landed in Elkton Oregon in the afternoon. We had dinner at Marty's, like I said before, and yesterday we drove into Winchester Bay and toured around and picked up Oyster's to BBQ for dinner. This morning we head out again and will end up in Lincoln City Oregon, another Elk's Lodge we hope.

Having a great time so far, will recap more of our trip later on.

Happy 36th Birthday to my niece, Marisa.

Happy 2nd Anniversary Kim and Danny/Happy b/day Uncle Renzo

2009-08-17T22:37:00.003-06:00

Just posted an update the other day but wanted to say to Kim and Danny "Happy 2nd Anniversary" and "Happy Birthday" to Uncle Renzo.

I did the 5 miles by myself today, Dave took Bob to the Dealership so Bob's car could be looked at before we leave. I did mostly walking but included some jogging which I am paying for with my knee tonight. I am going to have surgery when we get back to Arizona, I can't handle being layed up.

We are headed out tomorrow for Eureka and staying at the Elks Lodge there, plan on being at Elkton, Oregon on Friday the 21st.

There are 4 of us rigs travelling together right now, but we have been in touch with people from the Mexican Caravan we were on, and some of them are in Oregon/Washington now and want to meet up with us, so this should be interesting.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

2009-08-16T11:48:00.003-06:00

We are in Redding Calif. now, got in at 6:30pm last night. Staying at the Elk's Lodge, after setting up we headed for Bob and Jackie's house for a visit and dinner.

Recap time.

We left Arizona on Monday, 8/10, and made it to Simi Valley around 2pm. We stayed at David's until everyone got home from work. We visited with Jodi and David then had a late dinner at Macaroni Grill. Dave and I got on the road Tuesday morning and headed for Bakersfield to pick up our RV, yea it's fixed. The new bigger air conditioner hadn't come in yet so will have to get that installed when we get back in October. We parked the RV in front of the kids house for the next 3 days, and stayed in the house. One way to save money. Miss Madison wanted me to hold her every time she saw me, hold her and walk around as she points to everything. While there every morning Dave and I told their dog, Toby, walking with us, he needed the exercise. Danny told us that the week before Madison had been playing with his phone and even though it was locked Madison managed to somehow dial 911. Danny said he was sitting there then he heard "911 operator what's the emergency" Danny grabbed the phone and said it was a mistake and he was sorry, too funny.

We left Friday and headed for Sacramento but before we got going one of back tires was low on air so we had to fill it. We stayed at the Elk's Lodge in Carmichael and on Saturday visited with Dave's cousins for a little bit then went to his Aunt's house and took her to lunch. As we were getting ready to leave and head for Redding the back tire again was really low this time. We filled it with air again, hooked up the car, then we noticed the back tire on the car was low. We had to unhook the car, drive to the front of the coach and fill the car tire. We stopped a couple times on the way to Redding to check on the tires and they seemed to be OK. Dave thinks the stem on the back tires was loose and that's why our tire kept getting low, he tightened it and it seems to be holding. The car tire seems to be doing good too. I had purchased a book on tapes so listen to on our drive but the radio doesn't seem to be working now. Dave pulled the radio out and there were sunflowers seeds everywhere so we thought maybe those mice, before we killed them, had chewed through a wire but we couldn't find anything. Dave had something to test the speakers and they are working so it is the radio. Now headed for Best Buy for a new radio, this RV is slowly starting to turn into the money pit. :)

That's it for now, Linda will show up tomorrow and we will all head out (4 rigs) on Tuesday. Will be at Marty's on Friday.

I posted new pics

Recap of Grand Daughters visit

2009-08-09T22:26:00.005-06:00

It's Sunday night almost 9:30 pm and the girls and I just got back from the pool. They are now taking turns getting showers and getting ready for bed. Dave stayed back at the house to finish packing up the food and getting a shower and starting the last of the laundry. We went to Clarkdale for Mexican food for dinner. Did all the dishes and don't want to dirty the kitchen again. Dave mopped this afternoon and I vacuumed and cleaned bathrooms. When we head out tomorrow for Simi Valley we won't be back to the Arizona house for almost 3 months. I know coming back after 3 months I won't be a happy camper because of the spider webs and stuff like that, goodness, lets hope a family of scorpions don't move in while we are gone.

Last I wrote we were headed for the Grand Canyon, it was a long drive and we saw some beautiful sites, had a picnic lunch, stayed maybe 2 hours then back to the house because the girls wanted to swim. While driving they each had their own DS's (what ever that is) and both of the batteries died. Do you think either one of them brought their chargers from home in Simi? Noooooo! We had to stop in Flagstaff at the Best Buy and buy a new charger that they could use. They must have those games for the long drive back to California. Friday we all went to Slide Rock Park. The idea is you get in the ice cold water and ride the rocks down. There were lots of people and not many spots with shade for you to sit in. You just plant your butt down were ever you could which of course was sitting on rocks so it wasn't very comfortable. Dave went with the girls to the top of the slide area, I stayed and watched our stuff. They got back and Dave said it was fun but some of the slide areas weren't wide enough for him to get through so he had to get up and walk around it. The girls had fun but after a while Bryauna didn't want to do it anymore because she was getting like a rash on her legs, it was just because the rocks were rough. Riley put her shorts on and went a couple more times, we ate some lunch then headed back to the house so the girls could go swimming again at the club house. Dinner that night was a bust, they said my enchiladas were too hot, I used mild sauce, but they liked the rice and beans and salad. Dave had taken them to rent movies, they got 3, because there would be no night swimming, too burnt out because of the sun at slide park. We wanted to have them watch the movies through out the weekend, but our fault, Riley stayed up all night and watched all 3. Bryauna had gone to sleep. Needless to say we had to make Riley get up so we could go to "Out of Africa" on Saturday, we needed to be there by 11am because the shows started at 11:30am. Thank goodness the park was only 15 min. away.

Bryauna is not a late sleeper at all, every time Dave and I got back from our walk in the morning she was always up watching TV and waiting for us. She was always up between 6 and 7am, Jesica (her mom) is lucky she won't have any problems when school starts for Bryauna.

Out of Africa was a lot of fun, the Tiger Splash was great and the Bear splash was fun too. Amazing seeing the trainers in there with the animals being chased and jumping in the pools and the tiger and bears jumping in the pool after them. One time one of the trainers was in the pool trying to fix the light one of the bears had torn off, the other trainer was running and the bear was chasing him the bear saw the trainer trying to fix the light and he turned and jumped right on top of the trainer. That was scary but all the trainers ran to his rescue, no one was hurt. We stayed for about 4 or 5 hours walking around checking out the animals and even went on the bus tour where the giraffe sticks it's head in the bus trying to get the food from you. The giraffe licked Riley's and Bryauna's hands, gross!! Then back to the house so the girls could go swimming.

Sunday, today, was Montezuma Castle National Monument, boring for the girls. Now if they could have gone up to one of those caves, that would have been fun for them, needless to say we left after about 1/2 hour, if that long. The girls wanted to hang around the house so they watched TV and played while Dave and I cleaned. Around 2 we all went over to the pool to swim for a while. I must say my tan has gotten a lot darker since the girls got here, I have been trying to stay out of the sun, or not tan as much, because of the big "C". I am starting to think about these things more and more now that I am getting older. With the girls here we have been out in the sun doing things all day long, it's been fun.

PS I've posted pictures of the girls visit.

Update Time

2009-08-06T06:00:00.004-06:00

Way past due for an update.

Let's see, last Wednesday, 29th of July, we drove down to Garden Grove, Calif. to stay with my brother, Mike, and family. Marisa, Shawn, and Inara had flown in from Colorado the week before for a 12 day visit. We arrived early afternoon and had a great visit with everyone. Kim and Madison showed up on Thursday and at 1st Madison and Inara had their little differences but it didn't last long. I've posted pictures of our 3 days with family. Always a house full at Mike and Trini's, Rob, Kelli and Alex even flew down from Washington, it was really great seeing everyone again.

Kim left Friday morning because she had to work that night. Dave and I left a little after 12pm and headed for Joyce's funeral. (Dave's ex wife) The service had a pretty good crowd, Laura, David Jr.s, ex wife, officiated the service. After that Dave and I headed back to Simi Valley but made a little house hunting trip 1st before we left Long Beach. We went hunting for the very 1st house we bought together, 30 years ago. Don't know how he did it but Dave ended up remembering the street address and name, amazing. Boy, the neighborhood didn't look that great and the house was very small and needed paint badly. Once in Simi we went to David Jr.s house and waited for them to get back. That night we did Costco pizza and visited with David, Jodi, Riley, Jeff, Carolyn (Jeff's girlfriend), Bryauna, and Jayden.

We left Saturday morning and headed back to Cornville, Arizona. After an 1 hr on the road we realized we had left our computers at David's. So we turned around and headed back, Dave called David and we met 1/2 way to get the computers. THANK YOU SO MUCH David for jumping in your car and bringing the computers, your Dad owes you big time.

Yesterday, Bryauna and Riley flew into Phoenix to visit us for the next 6 days. We left the airport and took them to a Waffle House, neither had been to one before. They are just about on every corner and just cute little restaurants. Then to Costco for gas and to return a mixer. Next stop was Sedona so they could see the Red Rocks and we stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a church built into the side of the red rocks, just pretty neat to see. We then drove into Sedona and walked around the shops, stopped for ice cream and soda, very hot out 102 I believe. They wanted to go to our house after that. They both really liked the house and we hung around a little bit then on to the pool. We stayed for a couple hours then back to the house to fix dinner and at 7ish we did the phone and camera thing with Danny, Kim and Madison. The girls thought that was great, talking and seeing Madison at the same time and Madison seeing us. Around 8 it was back to the pool until 9:30pm then back home again. When I went to bed at 11 the girls were sound asleep.

Today we are headed for the Grand Canyon, another long driving day, but the last long driving day until Monday when we head back to Simi Valley.

P.S. Happy belated Anniversay to Marisa and Shawn 5 years and counting. 7/30

Baby Scropion in Closet!!!!

2009-07-27T16:23:00.002-06:00

Yesterday when I got the vacuum out of the closet I noticed something on the floor, like a odd shaped piece of wood or something, said to myself I'll pick that up later. Put the vacuum back and still didn't pick it up so this morning while getting the vacuum out again I must have knocked the thing a little closer to the door. When I pushed the closet door closed I could see the think so I bent down and started to pick it up. Then I could have sworn it moved a little I bent down closer and still couldn't tell, and I had my glasses on. So I went and got the magnifying glass and yelled for Dave. I said is this a scorpion and Dave said if you have to use a magnifying glass to tell then it's not a scorpion. I said bull you come look, he told the magnifying glass and sure enough it was a baby scorpion laying on it's back with its little legs moving, it was dieing but it was still moving. Dave stepped on it to put it out of it's misery, but where did it come from and where is mama and papa? I am really not a happy camper now, needless to say I'm getting the inside of the house sprayed again!

Last Thursday we had one heck of a Monsoon, there was so much rain, hail, and the lighting was all around us. I was talking to Kim on the phone and she couldn't believe how loud it was. Dave had to run out to the club house for a meeting and he said it was a river running down the road. It is Monsoon season here so just about every afternoon we have rain, but this was the 1st time is was right above us, very scary.

We have been doing swap meets, garage sales and estate sales this last week and have gotten some great buys. We found a dresser for the spare room, Dave needs to paint it which he is in the middle of doing right now as I write. We found a soda fountain like table set that we will put in the front yard. Dave is going to build a bridge that will take you to it so you don't have to walk through all the rocks. I got some great deals on pots for the kitchen cabinets, and a pretty basket thing for our bedroom. I'll post new pictures.

What is weird here is seeing guns being sold at the swap meets, plus seeing people with guns hanging from their sides. I guess if you walked around with a gun showing no one is going to mess with you.

I was going through picture albums, looking for stuff for David Jr. and ran across Kim's baby book, she was walking when she was 10 months old, so I guess that's where Miss Madison gets it from.

MRI Results Are In

2009-07-21T18:13:00.009-06:00

Dave and I both had appointments with the Orthopedic doctor, Dave's knees have been hurting again so he thought he would let the doctor look at his knees too. The only problem is you have to have a different appointment for each knee, the doctor will only look at one knee at a time, you know they have to make their money. Anyway, Dave picked his right knee so they took x-rays of his right knee and also they take a picture of both knees side by side. When the doctor came in he started with Dave, he took one look and said his knees are gone. He needs both whole knee replacements. (They 1/2 knee replacements now, who knew?) The doctor was amazed to hear that Dave and I walk 2 1/2 to 3 miles every morning. He said "on those knees, boy you must have a high pain tolerance" as long as they don't hurt I won't do knee surgery. When you can't stand the pain anymore then we should do surgery.

Then it was my turn for the MRI results. Well it ends up being a torn meniscus, which everyone thought, but I also have a moderate-sized Baker's cyst, which is what my mom had. A Baker's cyst is a condition in which you experience a bulge and a feeling of tightness behind your knee. The pain gets worse when you fully extend your knee or when you're active. Well, we have a problem here, I must stay active, the doctor and the therapist said to keep moving, as long as it doesn't hurt, so that's what I am going to do.

The doctor still said to go to therapy but when the pain is too much we should go in and fix the torn meniscus but that I was also a candidate for a 1/2 knee replacement. What the hell is he talking about I'm too young too even talk about knee replacement, my mind still thinks that I am in my late 20's early 30's, but my body sure isn't agreeing with my mind. Hell, in my younger days, I thought I would never live to be as old as 25, now at 51 could I live to be 70, 80, or 90, I sure don't think so, but the closer you get the more you think about it.

Last Saturday, 7/18, Joaquin showed up to fix my treadmill, well that didn't happen. The parts they had sent us, they were guessing what was wrong, were not the right parts. Now they think it is the counsel, so that is on order now. Darn, I what my treadmill back soooo much. Once the new part shows, that they are shipping us, then again we have to set up an appointment for Joaquin to show up again.

Monday night we went to the Verde Santa Fe board meeting, Dave is going to volunteer for one of the committees. It's another way to meet more people. It's funny, since this town isn't that big, we go places and see people you have seen before, which means we have to start remembering everyone's name. Simi was so big we never had that problem, and with me I have a real problem remembeing names, I just don't listen, that's my problem. People say to repeat the name and then spell it, that helps you to remember, I guess I'll try that. (but 1st I have to try and remember to listen)

The Mexican statue I had sitting on the wall, fell and broke, so I got a bigger one. When Dave was out working out in the garage the other day he heard a crash and realized the wind had knocked over my second Mexican guy. Needless to say if I get another one, which I will, I will need earth quake glue, which I'm sure we won't be able to find in Arizona, or I'm nailing that sucker down.

I mentioned earlier that Dave is working in the garage, boy, is he in 7th heaven. If it wasn't for the heat (98 to 105) he would probably be out there all day. He has so many projects going on right now they all involve the garage. Work bench, cabinets, addition to his table saw, but I have to admit he cleans up everyday so the car can be parked in the garage. In 30 years that has never happened, except maybe Oxnard, cars just were not welcome in Dave's garages.

Happy Belated Birthday to my brother, Mike

2009-07-14T19:00:00.009-06:00

61 years young, Happy Birthday, Bro. One Day Late!!

Follow up from the last blog, the farmer's market was just as strange as the last time, it was very hot still at 5pm. The band was setting up and people started setting up their seats to sit and listen to them. They were selling home grown stuff like little heads of lettuce, diff. veg. they also had wood built products, and Tye dye shirts. We stopped at one booth and the lady was spinning wool, which she had gotten from her Alpaca's. As she was talking to another couple we listened in and she said the person that was helping her was her best boy. Well, this best boy had arm pits you could braid the hair, legs were very hairy and when it turned around it was wearing a bra and had boobs. Best Boy???? It(he/she) was covered in tattoos and was wearing the pants down to the knees with the long shirt, you know the guys you see now with that if their shirts weren't long enough their ass crack would be hanging out. Dave decided that with all the girls/ladies that we saw, I now need some tattoo's if I want to fit in here. The guys aren't covered in tats but the females are, so now I need to decide on what I want and how many. (JUST KIDDING)

This weekend I cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed the house and dusted the place. Boy, now I know why I had a maid in Simi. It wasn't bad in the motor home, although I didn't do the bathroom or floors. One thing that is good, after living in the motor home for 3 years you got use to making the bed every time you got up and when you took a shower you wiped down the shower. I decided when we moved back into the house we would keep up the same routine which has really helped with shower/bathroom cleaning.

Sunday we went garage sale browsing again, we found an estate sale and got a paper shredder and file cabinet (government style 2 drawer) for 1 dollar each. Believe it or not they both work, great. Discovered if you go to an estate sale on the last day they will wheel and deal on anything.

Today was the doctor appointment for my knee. They took their own x-rays and this doctor said I do have some arthritis, he believes I have a torn meniscus, like the Bakersfield doctor said, he doesn't think I need surgery yet(and either did the Bakersfield Doctor) He believes I just need physical therapy, which I will be starting. We still are going to do an MRI, our decision, because we are leaving in a month and just want to really check things out. After leaving the doctor's he gave me a prescription for an MRI, which is scheduled for this Friday, and a prescription for physical therapy. The physical therapy place said I couldn't get in until next Monday, but they would call if they had a cancellation.

Dave and I left and went looking at the Polaris Ranger's, off roading vehicles. We drove in the Polaris Ranger 700 together around the place, what fun, then Dave drove the Kawasaki, lower grade, which was very noisy.

The Ranger had the off road stuff we would like to do, plus had a small pick up bed that we could haul stuff in. Pipe dream right now for us, maybe in the future, although they had a six passenger, used 2008, on sale for 8K. Can't really do it right now because we are going to be heading out on the road again, plus just can't afford it right now.

When we were getting ready to leave after looking at the Polaris's I got a call from the Physical Therapist, they could see me now so we went there right away. I was there about 1 1/2 hours going through my evaluation and then was sent home with exercises to do. I now am going to see my new Therapist 3 days a week, starting tomorrow. Chas believes I have a torn meniscus too but not bad enough for surgery yet, so seeing him will hopefully help me get my knee back in shape.

One quick update on Madison, Kim will follow up on her blog but Madison has another tooth coming in, thank goodness Kim isn't breast feeding, the kid is only 1 years old and has 7 teeth.

I have a jigsaw puzzle on my kitchen table now, haven't done one of those for years, boy is it fun and keeps the mind active.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS MADISON

2009-07-09T16:01:00.002-06:00

1 year old today, finally. It seems like we just had a 1st birthday party for you just a month ago, oh yea, we did. :)

We got back to Arizona yesterday afternoon and decided it was a lot cheaper driving in the car instead of the motor home. We only had to stop for gas once and it cost 40 something dollars vs. the motor home fill up which is 250. We had the car packed with everything and so far we haven't missed anything yet, but then again we have only been back 1 day.

Yavapai Fence Inc. came by this morning and started putting in the post for the new fence. They just dug the holes and cemented them in and will be back tomorrow to finish the job. Tonight at 5pm is Cottonwood's Farmers market and band, will have to go check this out. We went a few years back and strange people showed up and were dancing around, will go a see if they still do the same thing.

My right knee is not getting any better, the swelling just won't go down so I have an appointment with the surgeon next Tuesday. I've got to get this taken care of before we leave on our 3 month trip, don't want to be on the road and needing surgery, that's for sure.

Kim starts back to work tomorrow night, her baby bonding is over, Danny has one more week left. All the girls they had all week go back this afternoon. Kim had to go to CPR class all day so Danny had all the girls all day, he took them to the Wild. That's a place where there are jungle gyms and other things the kids can play on. Kim said she will give a run down on the week in her blog tomorrow.

That's it for now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON

We love you

New Photos and New Update on Mice

2009-07-06T21:13:00.002-06:00

To begin with, new photos have been posted. They are of Aimee's wedding, one of Kim's best friends, and all of our grand-daughters plus Danny and Kim's niece's, Karla and Jessica. In other words Madison's cousins. Got to give Kim and Danny credit, they took on 5 niece's plus Madison, which they have to take on! Kim thought it would be a lot of fun to have Danny and Kim's nieces, Karla, Jessica(Danny's sisters kids) Bryauna and Jayden(Jeff's daughters) and Riley(David's step daughter) up for Madison's 1st birthday. 6 girls, maybe having them for 5 days will change Kim's mind about having 4 kids, which she had mentioned in her blog. There are pictures too of all the girls swimming in the pool at the RV Park that we, Dave and I, stay at.

There are also pictures of the fruit place we went to today where we got a hay ride and you got to pick your own fruit. All the kids got to go to the petting zoo after we had lunch that Kim had made for everyone. I'm very impressed, Kim is really handling everything very well, I still hope she changes her mind about having 4 kids tho.

Let me back track, since we have gotten back to Bakersfield on 7/1. After setting up the mouse traps, the smart little thing had managed to get the cheese out and not set off the trap. We stopped and bought a couple different mouse traps. These were a little bit bigger and round, you are suppose to put peanut butter in the middle of the trap and the mouse has to climb inside to get it and that's when they are caught. The top of the trap says, set, not set, and caught, well when we got up Sunday morning the trap said "caught" and when Dave picked it up he said it was heavier then when he put it in. You can't see inside the trap you are only suppose to through the whole thing away, which we did. So, the other traps we had set we changed from cheese to peanut butter, and the next morning we had another mouse. Hopefully, we only had 2 because nothing else has been touch or seen around the coach since catching the 2nd mouse.

There is one picture of Bill and Karen, Dave had grown up with Bill and they haven't seen each other for 40 years. We met up with them in Pismo Beach and had lunch at one of my Mom and Dad's favorite places "Fat Cats". We visited with them for a few hours then headed back to Bakersfield.

I mentioned in the last blog that we had over heating problems driving down. We took the coach today to Cummins and it ends up we have a leak where the pipe & hoses connect to the radiator, so we need a new radiator, luckily we have an extended warranty, not through Monico but another company, and it is covered, thank goodness. The bad news is the new radiator won't show up until Friday, maybe, and Cummins still needs 3 to 4 days to install. We leave Bakersfield on this Wednesday for Arizona so Cummins said they will just store the RV on their lot, no problem. My biggest fear is leaving something in the RV that a week down the line we might need. Before if we had forgotten something we just went up to 1000 Trails to retrieve it, but with the RV in Bakersfield we just can't make a quick run to get something. Needless to say our car will really be packed when we drive back to Arizona.

Another problem is, which Dave reminded me of, when we come back in August to pick up the RV is when we leave for our travels for 3 months. We will be going to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, North and South Dakota. We need summer clothes and for the Dakota's we need winter clothes, remember we are doing the Sugar Beet Harvest. He didn't need to remind me of that, I am now already stressed.

Back in Bakersfield

2009-07-01T21:45:00.006-06:00

We got back to Bakersfield this afternoon, and when we got here there was 100 degree temperature awaiting us, ung!! It was getting close to 100 degrees in Cornville but it just has a different feel to it, like at night it goes down in the 70's but not here in Bakersfield. 8:30pm and it's 97 degrees now.

We went by Kim and Danny's after arriving and visited with Miss Madison and Danny, Kim was with one of her girlfriends chatting. We then went over for dinner tonight, Danny BBQ'd hamburgers, grilled zucchini and asparagus and also grilled onions, excellent dinner Danny, thank you.

Let's see, since picking up the RV from 1000 Trails, on Tuesday, and loading it up and getting on the road you just know we had to have some mishaps. If you looked through my last set of pictures, I posted. you saw the rattle snake that was near our coach, now we know what he was after, a MOUSE. Yes when loading the RV and before we got going I asked Dave where the sunflower seeds where and he said in the bottom drawer in the front on the RV right between the driver and passenger seat. As we were leaving I opened the drawer and saw sunflower seeds everywhere, or I should say it was just the outside shell. I thought maybe the seeds had spilled but Dave said "oh sh_t" we have had a mouse in here. Sure enough the little rodent had eaten through the plastic bag and after eating that many seeds he left his little turds everywhere. Once we had a fuel stop we cleaned out the drawer, trashed what was left of the seeds away and thought OK he/she are gone now.

On leaving Cornville, by 11am, we had planned for no later then noon, so 1 hour ahead of time which was great. It was rather warm when we left and we started having trouble with over heating, we have never had this problem before, we turned off the air and put the generator on to run the air conditioner and just drove in lower gears and slower. When we stopped for fuel, Dave ended up putting 2 things of coolant in so he thought maybe we have a leak and would check when we got back to Bakersfield. Good thing we got going a littler earlier because when we stopped in Needles, at the Elks, we were still in time for dinner. By the way the temperature in Needles was 114 degrees, so needless to say we sweated all night long, so not a good nights sleep.

Before I forget, we learned something new when storing the RV, besides trying to find all the places a mouse can get into and blocking them, you must also dump the black tank. We had full hook-up at 1000 Trails but no one was there to flush the toilet, run water or anything so everything just sat. Needless to say as I was driving down the road and Dave went in back to use the bathroom that just set the smell off, I guess. I'm yelling what the hell is the smell and he said it was because the tank hadn't been dumped. Another lesson learned, when we get back on the 8th we are actually going to put the RV in dry storage, so we will be dumping everything!!

After leaving Needles we stopped in Barstow to fuel up again, and when we opened that bottom drawer again to get the key for the fuel door, we had noticed our little friend was still with us. This time the little mouse had gotten the life savers out, I didn't move those because they hadn't been touched before only the sunflower seeds, I thought those were safe, wrong. This afternoon we went to Wal-mart and got mouse traps. Dave put 2 in the front drawer and put one in the bedroom bottom drawer, just in case. Then he decided to put one in the bottom drawer in the bathroom, when he opened and took out that drawer the little bastard (or bitch) had started building a nest out of the carpet he/she scraped with their nails. Dave vacuumed it out and set up a trap, tomorrow morning we will check the spots and see if we have caught our little friend.

One more thing on the coach that I believe I forgot to mention, I know it's old age I just can't remember all the mishaps that happen to us, especially when it happens on the road. The last trip to Cornville, 5/31, the driver's sun shade came down but we couldn't get it back up. We were going to be driving into the sun when leaving Needles the next morning so Dave, he is so smart but I came up with the suggestion, he turned the passengers sun shade backwards and hooked it up to the drivers side, after we took the broken one down. It looks pretty weird but works, the passengers side didn't have any protection from the sun but the drivers need is more important. Someday will have to get that fixed, Dave tried working on the shade at home but couldn't get it to work.

After seeing Miss Madison she is walking so much better but still needs help, the girl is on constant go, busy busy busy. She has 2 more teeth coming in, the ones on each side of the front teeth. Eye teeth I believe they are called, 6 teeth before 1 year of age, I think that's good, been to long for me to remember. I am taking pictures and will post them when I get a few more. Kim and Danny are doing great and the house looks really good too. They got rid of the glass top tables and have some nice new tables, plus, a new 50 inch TV. They sold the old TV and tables through Craig's List.

They go in 3's or it seems like they do

2009-06-28T18:56:00.004-06:00

Ed McMahon, expected, Farrah Fawcett, expected, Michael Jackson, what a shock!! The guy was really strange, in his later years, but to die so suddenly and take the shine off of Farrah, how rude! I heard that the BET is having some kind of awards tonight, which was already scheduled, and are really going to make a big deal out of Michael Jackson. My only question is "Michael is White now" what the hell do they care. JUST KIDDING :)

Recap of the last week in Cornville. We did the Pink Jeep Tour, what a thrill, I had no idea jeeps could climb rocks like that. I sat in the very back of the jeep and was told I had the best sit, it was very exciting. Watching those rocks and hills that the driver thought she could climb, and did, especially since she couldn't even see over the steering wheel(she was very short), was a lot of fun. I was totally amazed and surprised, it was so much fun. Actually, I wish we had done more climbing and less stopping and talking about the area, but that's what the company's do here and anywhere.

This last week we have been going to estate sales, garage sales, and store sales, We have gotten more decorations for the house at very cheap prices, which has been a lot of fun. I've posted more pictures of the house.

To go a long with our Wii games, this week, we got the Wii active which has been fun. Dave and I try and do it every afternoon, notice the word try? We compete with each other in the afternoon, which is a lot of fun. We go walking for an hour every morning, and I mean every morning. We started out going at 7am but since it is getting hotter here we are now going at 6am. Yesterday, for a change, we walked down Cornville Road, instead of the complexes neighborhood, and saw so much trash. Today we took our gloves and trash bags and walked the Cornville road again but this time we picked up trash as we went. We had people riding bikes thanking us, and a couple cars went by and put there thumbs up to us, which was nice that people acknowledged you, but they could have joined in!

It got to be 100 degrees today and we decided to take the last weed/tree out of our backyard. The other one we had I took out yesterday. My job was to cut it down and cut it up in little pieces and Dave would plant the new stuff we bought today at Home Depot. The weed/tree yesterday was very small, compared to the one today. I cut it all down but Dave's job was digging out the root, I helped a little, but it was one hell of a root. We started today's work around 1pm and finished up about 4:30pm, in between we took an hour nap. We got the new plants planted then headed for the clubhouse pool. The pool is kept at 85 degrees, so it wasn't much for cooling off, but once you got out the breeze really cooled you off.

One other thing that is in with the new house pictures, I posted, is a picture when we went back to check on our RV at 1000 Trails. As we were leaving I saw a very big snake, and Dave said it's a rattle snake, he got up close to try and take pictures. Needless to say, I will not be staying at that RV spot again.

We have 2 more days here in our house then we head back to Bakersfield, I have my hair done on 7/2, in Bakersfield, then I have to go to a wedding in the Simi area on the 3rd. Dave will have to fly out on the 3rd to go to his nephew's funeral in Paradise, Ca. Dave will fly back on the 4th to Burbank I will pick him up and drive back to Bakersfield. We will stay in Bakersfield until the 8th then back to Cornville Arizona.

Happy Birthday Shawn, a day early.

Happy Farther's Day / Some sad news

2009-06-21T21:06:00.005-06:00

New pictures have been posted.

We got back to Cornville last Monday and have stayed pretty busy. Since coming back we have had our other dresser and spare bedroom mattress arrive. No more ordering furniture, we do garage sales for now, which we did on Thursday and Friday. Dave managed to find a latter, clamps and some other things really cheap, I found a picture and a pot. You can see them in the posted pictures.
Kim, Danny, and Miss Madison gave us a Welcome Mat and Nana's Kitchen sign for house warming gifts, which you can see.
There are pictures of our dishes too, after Marisa's blog about saying how much she loves their home, I have felt the same way. It really is different starting out fresh again, you feel like a new comer. OK enough of the mush shit.
The Saturday before we got back there was a black bear walking our streets, 700lb cub, I don't think of that as a cub. They ended up killing it instead of drugging it and taking it somewhere and the city is having a fit about it. Too late now.
We drove to Phoenix today and found bar stools for our counter, plus got the stuff for the surround sound for the TV area, I'm telling you I am maxed out on shopping.
Tomorrow, Monday, we are going to do a Pink Jeep Tour Ride in Sedona for 2 hours, that is Dave's B/Day present he asked for since we have never done one. Will update on how the ride goes.

Sad news, Dave's nephew, John, died last night at 7pm, 52 yrs old, covered with cancer. John died from the same thing his Dad died from(Dave's 1/2 brother) when he was 51 yrs old.

Forgot to mention, Miss Madison is putting her tongue out to the side when she is doing things, walking crawling ect., just like Grandpa Dave does, and Danny is saying NO NO put it back in your mouth, too funny!!
Plus, you will see a broken vase in the pictues I posted, Dave did it, we are just not use to living with things that are breakable. In the motorhome everything was plastic, but we haven't done the house that way.

Great B/Day Party for Miss Madison

2009-06-14T06:39:00.003-06:00

Posted new pictures, Madison's Birthday Party turned out great, tons of people. The 2 jumpy/water slide things that Kim got was the hit of the party for the kids. We were all amazed to see that Kim had so many friends. She had a lot of her stroller stride mommy's and work employees show up, Danny had work and school people show up, it was a nice turn out. Some of the gifts were doubles and triples but Kim can just return them, Madison made out like a bandit and got some really nice stuff. The weather was perfect, around 80 so not too hot and perfect for the kids to use the water slide.
I even posted pictures of Kim and Danny using the slide before anyone got there. Madison was OK at 1st but once the place was packed she turned shy. When she was in her little hippo pool she was in 7th heaven, she played in there for a long time.
It was a long day and we were all exhausted by the end of it.
PS
Mike, the pig you painted looks great, thank you so much.

Back in Bakersfield

2009-06-11T21:20:00.004-06:00

We got back to Bakersfield yesterday afternoon. We made it over to Kim and Danny's around 2:30pm, and I must tell you Miss Madison looks like she has been really growing. We had only been gone 8 days and she has changed while we were gone. Now I understand what Trini is talking about when she sees Inara every few months and the changes that have taken place.

Before I keep going on there are a few things I forgot to mention on the last blog. The one big thing was when Dave and I stopped at a Flying J for gas for the U-Haul I was driving he had radioed to me that he couldn't get out of the RV. He was on the truck side and I was filling up on the car side. By the time I was done filling up he had started taking the door apart, again, from the inside because he couldn't get out. After he got the panels off and sliced the shit out of his hand I tried the door on the outside, it opened right up. We don't know if he had fixed it before I got there, or if I maybe could have opened it up from the outside the whole time. Doesn't matter now because it opens up now. That was basically what I had forgotten to mention. You know how I love to tell the RV mishaps.

Before I forget, I posted some pictures of the house in Cornville, not very good that's for sure will post better ones next time.
By the way, Kim's ticket for talking on her cell phone was, I believe, $128 so don't get caught talking on your cell phone in California.

Dave and I have noticed that now being back in a house you tend to walk a lot more then being in a motor home. If you forgot something in the bedroom in the RV you only, at the most, took 10 steps to get it, but being in a house the rooms are quite a bit apart. We are not having any trouble getting out 10,000 steps in. We have even started walking every morning for 1 hour trying to get to know the area.
As you will see from the terrible pictures I posted of the house it is still pretty empty. We went to Ikea the other day and got a rug, end tables for the chairs and a table for behind the love seat. The dishes we bought, the plates are too wide for the cabinets so they are in a lower cabinet, everything else is in the higher cabinets. I must say there are so many cabinets and drawers in the kitchen that there is no way I can fill them all, most at this point are empty, but just give it time. It is so much fun having a dish washer again, and it's not named "Jeri", plus the shower and the King Bed is the best. Dave and I don't beat up each other, as we some times do in the Queen in the motor home, and that's just turning over while you sleep. Dave isn't now having to go though my "Hot Flashes" with me anymore.
One thing that worried me was when we got all the gym equipment put together and I used it the next morning. I'm on the treadmill and winded only after a few minutes, then Dave reminded me about the elevation, I was thinking what the hell was wrong with me.

We are here in Bakersfield and helping Kim and Danny get ready for Madison's B/Day party. They have been working really hard on fixing up the house, the new windows look great, plus all the touch up painting Danny has been doing. Danny has been doing all the outside stuff and Kim has been doing the inside stuff, it just really looks great. Thank goodness they have the 6 weeks off for the baby bonding otherwise they could never get this much stuff done.

Cornville Arizona - We have arrived

2009-06-03T21:41:00.004-06:00

Last Saturday we drove to Simi Valley, had dinner with Brad, Diane, Joann, David Jr. and Jodi. We had a great dinner then Dave and I went back to our hotel. Staying at the same one we had booked for Kim and Danny's wedding.

Sunday, we had breakfast with David Jr., Jodi, and Riley then went and picked up the U-Haul pickup truck. We got the tool chess back from David and our wine refrig. from Brad and Diane then headed back to Bakersfield. Kim was working Sunday so while I watched Madison, Dave and Danny packed up our stuff we had stored there, well almost everything. Monday morning Dave and I went to Weatherby's to pick-up the mattress and head board, then back to Kim's to pick up the rest of the stuff we hadn't packed.

Dave and I finally got on the road about 1pm and stopped at the Elks Lodge in Needles about 5:30pm. Dave driving the RV and pulling the car, me driving the U-Haul pick-up.

We arrived at the house about noon on Tuesday and the bug spraying guy was here to spray the outside and inside of the house. We unpacked what we needed from the car and the RV then headed for 1000 Trails to setup the RV. Once done with that we stopped at the store where we bought the furniture from and set up the delivery time. We got back to the house at about 3pm and unloaded the U-Haul. We got done about 5pm, turned the truck in and went back to 1000 Trails to cook dinner. Boy, were we tired and hungry.

Today, Wednesday, we left early and went to breakfast, then to the house. At 9am sharp the delivery truck showed up with the furniture we had ordered, the Dish TV guy showed up at 9:10am, the computer guy showed up about 10am. Dave and I managed to get stuff washed and put away while all this was going on. Dave got more involved with the workers we had there and I did more of the putting stuff away, which was fine by me. The dish guy seemed to be having the most problems. At one point, after being up in the attic, he said he couldn't do what we wanted done and told Dave so. Dave went up in the attic to show him he could, well Dave was right, and the guy kept saying how sorry he was. Then in the afternoon the cable dish guy asked if he could use our bathroom, (for the second time) when he finally came out he had asked Dave and I not to go down the hallway or into our bedroom for awhile because of the smell. He did say he left the fan on and he did feel a lot better, so gross!!!

By 7pm Dave and I got to have dinner, cooked on the new grill, which was very nice. We are spending the night for the 1st time in the Cornville house. We have a list going for all the stuff we still need, god you just don't realize all the stuff you need to operate in a house again, a lot different then a Motor Home.

HAPPY 62ND BIRTHDAY DAVE!!

2009-05-28T06:21:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Dave, hope you have a great day, but once again it is going to be another hot day here, but not as hot as yesterday.
We went out last night to Shogun, Dave wanted sushi and boy did he get his fill, which is good. Kim, Danny and I have to work today so that's why we went out last night. Dave's last day working was last Tuesday, he has retired again, this time from the RV Resort, which was nice for the rent, but he wasn't to happy near the end of his working for them. Seems he had 7 bosses and neither of them talked to each other, very confusing. Anyway, that's over and done with, next job should be the sugar beets in October.

Kim has, since selling so much, got a dining room table about 1/3 the size of the last one, Danny got a new BBQ, and their 2 new lazy boy chairs showed up yesterday, so the house isn't looking so empty anymore.

This weekend Dave and I head down to Simi, visit with friends on Saturday then pickup the U-Haul truck on Sunday and pickup stuff that people have been holding for us. We then drive up to Bakersfield and empty out Kim's spare bedroom and our shed. Monday we will pickup our mattress then in the afternoon head out for Arizona, stop 1/2 way and finish the drive on Tuesday.

I've started exercising more and my knee is doing great so far, ya!

Yes Marisa, from your comment on the last blog, Madison is wanting to walk all the time now, my back can only take so much bending over and walking with her, I swear the girl is always busy busy busy. Laterly she has been waking up at 2am then 5am, Kim and Danny are getting very tired. Let's hope while they are off work for their baby bonding they can get her setup on a real schedule.

Weekly Update

2009-05-24T18:40:00.008-06:00

It was another busy week for us. The week started out with Kim and Danny's jury duty, which I already mentioned. Wednesday, Charlie and Gayle arrived at the RV Park, they are a couple we caravan with in Mexico. They had a dog named Dina and Valley and her were friends, Charlie was actually known as Uncle Chunky to all the dogs on that trip. If it was a shopping day in Mexico Charlie always stayed with the RV's and babysat the dogs, and boy he had good treats for them. They arrived late morning on Wednesday we did lunch at the RV restaurant then did dinner with Kim, Danny and Madison.

I don't believe I mentioned before that I had hurt my right knee about 6 weeks ago, right before we left to Arizona. I was lifting weights with my legs and heard/felt something happen. I then got on the treadmill and was jogging when the knee gave way. The next day I couldn't walk very well on it and Kim and Dave said ice it and take aleve. Needless to say I took it easy a couple days then would go back on the treadmill and hurt it again. It's been six weeks now and I haven't gone back on the treadmill but still walk and finally got in to see the doctor. Dave said don't be surprised if it is "the A word" arthritis, but it wasn't. The doctor said he believes I have a torn meniscus and the only way to fix it is with surgery. He said though they don't do the surgery unless you can't stand the pain anymore and since I'm not in pain right now I can go ahead and increase my exercises and see if the pain comes back. If it does, then call him and they will schedule an MRI of the knee and probably do surgery, just what we needed to hear right before we move.

My doctor's appointment was on Thursday, 5/21, at 9am so Dave went with me to help entertain Madison because it was a babysitting day. When we got back I started working with Madison again on crawling using her knees and not the army crawl. In the afternoon she did it, I was so surprised and excited. She was moving slow and she figured out that if she went back to the army crawl she could move alot faster, but we worked on it. Kim got home early Thursday and Madison was sleeping in her crib but when she woke she crawled from one side of the crib to the other, so Kim got to see that. Friday night when Danny got home I got to show him how she crawls, he was so excited to see it and thought she looked like a little frog crawling so slow. Danny gets home before Kim on Fridays.

Yesterday Dave and Danny poured cement on the rest of the patio. Kim was working, so I had to watch Madison, I did try to help as much as I could. The two of them worked really hard, it sure would have been alot easier if they had more people, but they did the best they could. Dave said Danny did alot of the work, which it should be because Danny is 34 years younger then Dave. They were both hurting after the work, we stayed long enough for Danny to take a shower before he went back to watching Madison before Kim got home, plus it was Laker Baskerball Day, which thank goodness they won. Dave and I went to the Jacuzzi so he could relax his muscles. So between the Motrin and Jacuzzi Dave felt great, Danny was still sore.

Today, Kim was working again, so Dave and I went over to the house so Danny and Dave could go shopping for BBQ's. Oh by the way, Danny and Kim sold their old BBQ on Craig's List, I guess as home owners they need everything needs to be new now. They have to have a BBQ for Miss Madison's birthday party, since they will be BBQing hot dogs and hamburgers.

I think that's it for now, this weekend, Sunday, we pick up the U-Haul truck in Simi get some stuff from David Jr. and from Brad and Diane. We are going down on Saturday will drive back up on Sunday and load the rest of our stuff. Hit the road on Monday for Arizona. Dave will drive the RV and pull the car, I'll drive the truck from U-Haul with all the stuff in it, fun fun. We decided when we come back on the 10th we will bring the RV, it's much easier and more peaceful for me.

I've posted new pictures too!

Congratulations to Kim and Danny

2009-05-18T19:19:00.004-06:00

Last Friday the house in Bakersfield closed escrow, Danny and Kim are official home owners now. Dave and I have no more ties to California, except family, but they say once you sell you can never come back because of the cost of houses, oh well. California's taxes are way too high for Dave and I anyway. Seriously tho, CONGRATULATIONS TO KIM AND DANNY.

Miss Madison is starting to walk, 10 months old and walking already, well kind of. Last Friday her and I were playing in her bedroom with a toy of her's that you can either stand at or sit and play with. It was set-up in the standing position so I sat behind her while she was playing with it. She got bored with it and managed to turn herself around to face me and I said "walk to me" and she did. It was only 4 steps but she did it, dummy me had forgotten to tell Danny when he got home from work. While Dave and I were having dinner that night I remembered and called them and told them. Kim said No Way, and I said yes just work with her and they did that night and have been doing it ever since. I swear she will be walking before she is a year old, we have also gotten her to use her knees a couple times but she still mainly crawls on her stomach (army style). It's cute, she has 2 little bruises on her knees from the crawling.

I know I mentioned before that her 2 top front teeth are coming in, well, she bit her Mom while we were at Bed,Bath and Beyond last week then she bit me on Thursday, let me tell you it really hurts. Needless to say she is getting little swats on the behind when she does it. As if she really can feel the swat through her diaper but she knows when she hurts you. She seems to understand the word biting now too.

Dave and I have been having fun shopping for household items for the AZ place. We are using our points we have earned on our visa card which adds up to about 3k, so thank goodness we don't have to use our cash for the stuff.

Today, Kim and Danny had jury duty, they got called into a court room in the afternoon and because they hadn't finished picking a jury yet they have to show up again tomorrow. When I got to THEIR house this morning I noticed the dining room table was gone. Good old Craig's list, they sold it, I said they should be getting rid of the glass tables in the living room, she said they are going tonight. The house is empty now, just about, I said I hope she keeps something for me to sit on while I babysit. Hopefully they will have new stuff by the time they have Madison's Birthday Party.

Happy Mother's Day / Coach Mishap, again!

2009-05-09T20:43:00.008-06:00

Sorry, I just couldn't seem to get a picture with Kim and Miss Madison both looking at me. There are 4 pictures I posted and this was the best. We went out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate Mother's Day. Danny has to study all weekend for his final on Monday night, then he is done with school. We figured it would be too crowded anywhere we went on Sunday so Saturday night was best.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Happy 10 month birthday to Madison too. Now speaking of Madison, she is getting so good in her body dragging (her version of crawling) and in her walker. I put her on the carpet in her room, she now knows how to lean forward, from the sitting position, and get herself on her belly. She is no longer throwing herself backwards, thank goodness because you didn't dare leave her sitting without you or a pillow behind her. The 1st thing she does is, if you aren't in the room, take off body dragging looking for you. She can make it to the door jam before I get back, unless something attracts her attention like the changing table, which is right before the door jam. Toby is always following me but when we get back all Madison wants is to get to Toby and he doesn't want anything to do with that. She gets close and Toby is gone, too funny. This dog is starting to lose weight because when Madison is in her walker she is, most of the time, going after Toby. He is getting real good at squeezing by even in the smallest places she corners him in. Toby wouldn't do anything to Mady, when she is quiet and sitting on your lap, all he wants to do is lick her feet and hands and she just smiles.

Friday morning while Madison was having her bottle I had on Rachel Ray, she had to sit up when the audience was clapping and she clapped with them, too cute. That afternoon Madison was in her walker, Toby sleeping and me doing my exercise bands and we were all in the living room. I remembered I was suppose to check something on the computer so I took off into the other room and right on my tail was Toby and Madison, as a matter of fact they almost beat me to the computer. All I thought was "Me and my Shadows", which is a joke with us because when Valley was still alive, even when Chelsea was still alive all three dogs would follow me where ever I went, I couldn't make a move without them. Here was Miss Madison right on my tail too, I just had to laugh about it.(No I'm not saying Madison is a dog, Danny! she just loves her Nana) Madison can move anywhere she wants in that walker without hitting any walls too, amazing, there was No Way Nana was getting away from her.

Oh, before I forget, Kim got a Mother's Day present from the Bakersfield Police, a ticket for talking on her cell phone, I'll let her explain that one.

OK, now the coach mishap, why is it that when we have a mishap with the BLACK or GREY TANKS it's always me that finds it? Probably because if Dave found it he wouldn't say a thing and none of us would know the difference. Last Tuesday the black tank was at 90% full so it was time to dump again, which Dave did, but I didn't know he was doing it because I was at the doggy parade which the Alfa Rally was having. Well, he had dumped the black and joined me at the doggy parade, but before leaving he started filling the black tank with clear water. Normally when he does this we put the timer on the microwave on so the alarm goes off to remind us to check how full it is getting. Anyway he hadn't done that and I didn't know he was filling anything so after we got back we both started working on the computer down loading the pictures I had just taken so the RV Park could put them on their website. We then put on a show we had recorded, no big deal, until I got up to go to the bathroom. Dave is so damn lucky I just went pee otherwise he would be dead right now, let me explain why. When I go #2 I step on the foot peddle right away while I am still sitting on the pot, I don't want to have to look at it. (Kim will get mad at me for that, she says you should look at your poop because you can tell if something is wrong with you) Being in the motor home the toilet just has a big hole so it's not like you have water running around the bowl. When I just go pee I stand up and step on the peddle, sorry I hope this isn't to graphic for everyone. Back to the story, I went in to go #1(pee) and when I stood up and faced the bowl and stepped on the peddle there was an explosion and water, pee and toilet paper flew up about a foot from the toilet seat. Now let me tell you that bathroom is small and seeing me flying back and hitting the wall trying to miss the flying stuff was just too funny, but not at the time, I was not a happy camper. I opened the door and yelled what the Hell is going on and Dave said "oh shit" and ran out the RV door. Can you imagine what would have happened to me if I had gone #2 and had that explosion, like I said earlier, Dave would be dead by now. I could have had my 1st colonoscopy and god only knows what else could have happened to me.

So I asked Dave what had happened, at first he wasn't going to tell me because he didn't want it on the blog and because he had done this once before. I can't seem to remember if I wrote about it, but I'm sure I did, I do remember the toilet exploding on him once but it was a long time ago. What he did was fill the black tank with water and when it gets full it automatically goes into the grey tank and starts filling it. If the Black and Grey fill then it goes up the pipes that go to the top of the motor home, then if it still doesn't get empty then it starts coming out the shower drain, which happened the last time, what, just a couple months ago. This time the black and grey were full and just starting to fill up to the top when I stepped on the peddle and that's why the explosion. Pee, Water, Toilet Paper flying, you just try and duck that stuff, needless to say Dave had a lot of cleaning to do.
I wonder if we will have any of this exciting stuff happening to us when we settle in Arizona, I'm sure we will. Dave and mishaps seem to walk hand in hand. Just kidding dear!!

Happy almost 10 month old Madison

2009-05-04T18:34:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we did more shopping for Madison's 1st Birthday Party stuff. Miss Madison says "Nana put this stupid hat on me and pushed me around the Party Store. It says "Happy Birthday" and thank goodness they didn't buy it for me.
This Saturday she will be 10 months old and Kim called the other day and her 2 top front teeth are coming in now. She will have 4 teeth by the time she is 10 months old, not once did she fuss when any of the teeth came in. I'm telling you she is false advertisement, I have never seen a baby so happy all the time and only fusses when it is nap time. There is no way Kim and Danny are going to be this lucky on the next one, but we won't find out for a couple of years tho, at least get Danny thru nursing school.

Quick update / New pics posted

2009-05-02T12:05:00.004-06:00

I posted some new pictures but the last two are videos of Miss Madison showing you her version of crawling. She lays on her tummy digs her toes in the carpet and pushes, she can really get going fast. She should be on her knees by the end of next week. She sure did change the two weeks we were gone. She gets around in her walker and knows exactly where she wants to go, and when she is too quiet you know she is into something. The padded flooring for her to sit on she managed with her walker to lift it up and she pulled the outside strip off and was eating it when Danny caught her. Kim said one day when she was too quiet she found Madison in the towel cupboards and was eating the towels. Danny and Kim are really going to have to get going on baby proofing that house. Madison even stands by herself at one of her playground toy things that's in the other room.
This week was Kim's 1st Stroller Stride class on Wednesday, she had a good turn out and she did really well. The other mother's there couldn't believe it was her 1st time teaching they all thought she had been doing it for awhile, she really made everyone work out.

When I babysat on Monday, while Madison was taking her morning nap, I managed to get all the bricks moved then on Tuesday Dave and I worked on putting in drainage. Thursday Dave worked on it a little more, while I babysat, it still needs some more work done on it before we pour the cement. Dave is working this weekend at the RV park, next weekend Danny has to study for his final, the weekend after that is Danny's work picnic, plus Dave works that weekend again, god knows when or how we are going to do this. May is the last month Dave will be working at the RV Park, which should pay for the rest of the time we will be here, he is fed up with the miss communication the owners have with the camp hosts, I know Rich is getting fed up too.

Back in Bakersfield / Sad News about Valentine

2009-04-26T18:41:00.004-06:00

We made it back to Bakersfield on Friday afternoon, hit a little wind on the drive but not bad at all. We stopped in Baker and had lunch at another of Guy Fieri's recommendation. The Mad Greek, good food worth stopping if you are on your way to or from Vegas.

When we got hooked up I started cleaning, boy was the place dirty. Dave took off to look to see if AK Pressure was around, they wash the RV's in the park. He was gone long enough that when he got back I was done cleaning, boy good planning Dave. :) He never found AK Pressure so called and we have an appointment for washing on Monday morning. The RV Park was just about full, another Rally going on, Alfa's and they are expecting about 120 rigs plus the 1st row, the pull-thru's, were full of RV's with trailers attached. Inside the trailers are Street Rods, big show at the Fair Grounds this weekend, 2000 street rods were suppose to be there, god knows where all the people stayed.

Saturday we went over to Kim and Danny's to start working on moving the storage sheds, I believe I mentioned before that Kim wants the 2 sheds gone and wants it all cement. When we got there Danny told me that Valley has been having accidents, bladder and bowel mishaps. It had happened a couple times before we left but was hoping it would clear up. Valley had moved back in with Kim a couple months ago because of the tumor on her leg. She could no longer get out of the RV. Anyway, in the last 2 days Valley had left a small bowel drop and Miss Madison stepped on it, can't have that because she grabs her feet and puts them in her mouth. The next day Danny got off the couch and Valley had just gotten up and there was a big puddle and of course Danny stepped in it, I just hope Danny doesn't still put his feet in his mouth. :) After hearing that I then noticed Valley get up and go to her pillow and start licking herself, there it was the puddle she left in the other room. She knows she does it and leaves right away to clean herself up. Needless to say after finishing moving 1 shed we left and took Valley with us and went straight to the vets. It was so hard because she still had so much life left in her but couldn't have her doing things like what she was doing in the house with Madison. She was also having some problems with the tumor in her nose and the tumor on her leg, I couldn't watch her suffer anymore. She was the best dog we have ever had and all day today I have been getting email's from friends who have met her and they were very sad to hear the news.

Today Dave, Danny and I got the other shed moved, so now we start on getting out the rest of the brick then get ready to pour cement. You know how it goes "What ever Kim wants, Kim gets". (from Damn Yankee's What ever Lola wants Lola gets)

Forgot to mention when we got to Kim and Danny's Miss Madison had a look like "who are these people" we were only gone 2 weeks. It didn't take her long to remember but what is going to happen once we move to Arizona, only time will tell.

Landed in St. George, Utah

2009-04-23T09:02:00.005-06:00

We had a great time in Albuquerque at "The Rally", of course purchased stuff we just couldn't live without. We also had fun going to 3 out of 4 restaurants that Guy Fieri, from Diners Drive-ins and Dives, had recommended. We left on Monday and drove to Monument Valley Tribal Park in Utah. What a great place to stay, at night the stars where out but the people around us weren't too happy because we had our generators running, we were dry camping and needed to charge up our batteries. Forgot to mention, on our way to Monument Valley we made a side trip to Four Corners, Dave had never been there. That's where you stand in the middle and you are in 4 different states at once. Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. In the morning a herd of sheep and goats went running thru the parking area being hered by 2 cattle dogs, very neat to see. We drove the car to Mexican Hat Town then went off roading to see Mexican Hat Rock. After that we drove a 17 mile dirt road thru Valley of the Gods, what great weather we had and beautiful scenery. When we got back we packed up and headed for Page, AZ. Wednesday we drove to Lake Powell and walked around on the pier and checked out the houseboats. Late yesterday we landed in St. George and got set up at the Elks Lodge. Tonight we are going to a restaurant called Cosmopolitan with Aunt Evelyn and Linda.

We will be heading back to Bakersfield 1st thing in the morning, it will be nice again to have full hook ups, plus this RV really needs to be cleaned after all this travel.

Back on the Road

2009-04-16T07:27:00.003-06:00

We are getting back on the road to New Mexico today, we were hoping to leave yesterday but the winds were blowing about 50mph and there was no way Linda or Dave wanted to drive in that. We accomplished a lot while we were here, yesterday we purchased our bedroom set, two recliners, a love seat, entertainment center and our dining room table w/chairs. We really shopped around and took pictures in different stores in Phoenix, we went there with Linda to have lunch with some friends of hers on Tuesday. When Dave and I went to the local furniture store in Cottonwood they could order all the stuff we liked plus it was a good thing I took pictures because they matched all the prices too. We got all that stuff for 4,400, I thought we would be spending around 10K but we really bargained with them, we haven't gotten the big screen TV yet or the spare bedroom stuff, we will do that when we move here.
We ended up on Monday moving from 1000 Trails to Dead Horse State Park and parked right across the street from Linda, since we are car less we wanted to make it easier on her since she is stuck with us tagging along with her.

Posted new pics some are of the furniture we purchased.

Happy Easter, Happy 9 mo b/day to Madison

2009-04-12T08:21:00.002-06:00

Here is a picture of the bed we picked out for the spare bedroom in Cornville, AZ. :). It should work for all the Granddaughters, if thier parents come too they can stay in the office.
Just kidding, but it does look like a bed Miss Madison, Bryauna, Jayden or Riley would like.

And speaking of Miss Madison isn't that a great picture of her. I'm so proud of myself for taking such a good picture.

We left Thursday around 6pm and arrived in Kingman, where we met up with Linda, around 12:20am. Dave drove 1st then Danny drove, Danny did a good job. Kim said it was the 1st time she ever saw Danny have 2 hands on the steering wheel. It was dark when he was driving and he knew driving out in the desert anything or should I say any animal that runs in front of you, hit it, don't even try to avoid it in the motor home. Thank goodness nothing ran out on the road. The only other thing was not reading the road signs, like when you are going down hills, if it's a 6% grade or whatever. I was sitting on the couch, Kim was co-pilot, and Dave was laying on the bed, and I saw the sign and asked Danny what was the percentage of the grade we were going down and he said he never saw the sign and Kim said she didn't have her glasses on so she couldn't read it. We started going faster so we knew we had to put our exhaust brake on but I couldn't remember which button it was. Danny said "Jeri, stop and think, which button is it" I couldn't get up because I had Miss Madison in my arms so I yelled for Dave. Dave got up and showed Danny which button it was and everything worked out fine. Danny asked me later if we would let him borrow the motor home now, I asked Dave and he said he would trust Danny with it. So Danny I guess that's a yes, but you are the only one that can drive it, not any of your buddies on your way to Vegas!
Back to our travels. We left Love's Gas Station in Kingman at 5:30am and arrived at Thousand Trails about 9am, Linda went on to the State Park in Cottonwood we would get together later in the day. We set up then we had to get going because we had a 10:30 appointment to inspect the rental house in Cottonwood. At 11 we had to be at the Cornville house, the one we are moving into. Kim and Danny liked the 1st house, but they really liked the Cornville house, Kim was like "Mom, this house is great, the kitchen is so big plus it has an island in the middle of it." The only thing is we have to put a fence in the backyard because it's like a 8ft drop. Kim said Madison can't go into the backyard because it's all rocks and she will put them in her mouth. After the inspections we drove to Sedona and got a rent a car and had lunch, we were all starving by then. We headed back to the coach, then Kim and Danny left for Prescott while Dave and I watched Madison. When they got back we met up with Linda for dinner around 7pm, then headed back to the coach, we were all beat but didn't get to bed until after 10pm.
Kim, Danny and Miss Madison headed home around 9am, they hit snow in Flagstaff then rain and high winds so they had an interesting drive back to Bakersfield, they made it safe and that's all we cared about. Dave and I drove to Phoenix to drop off some boxes then went to Prescott to look at new furniture for the Cornville house. I posted new pictures and in there are 2 of the couches that we looked at and liked. Today, Easter Sunday, we will have breakfast at the lodge here in 1000 Trails and then just hang out, maybe go out and see if Senator John McCain is home, since he lives in Cornville and we will be neighbors soon, maybe talk about doing BBQ's together.

Happy Easter to everyone

RV Mishap

2009-04-09T15:22:00.002-06:00

We had another mishap in the RV the other day. It was at night, Dave was napping in front of the TV and I got up and walked to the back of the RV. When I stepped into the bathroom area the floor was wet, I got out a towel cussing out our new steam mop because the water isn't suppose to leak out when it's not in use. I picked up the steamer and dumped out the rest of the water that was still in it, OK no big deal. I then did the dinner dishes and cleaned the counter, running water while cleaning the sink ect. I sit back down, watch a little TV then get up to go to the bathroom. This time the floor has a big puddle, and the rugs are wet, I think, Oh shit, I start yelling to wake Dave up, he jumps up and comes running, then I opened up the shower door. The water is coming out of the shower, well, earlier in the day we had dumped the black tank and when you do this you close the grey valve. Since we forgot to reopen the grey that is what was coming out of the shower, grey water thank god not black. It's both of our faults but mainly Dave's because he was trying to show me how to dump the tanks and he just forgot that one step, reopening the grey valve. Why show me how to dump the tanks anyway, I'm never going to do it and he knows that.

We are leaving tonight for Kingman then finish up the drive to Cottonwood tomorrow morning. This should be fun, 4 adults and Miss Madison, no way the dogs are coming they can survive a day without food.

Happy belated birthday to Marty and belated 30th Anniversary to Marty and Dayna.

Album and Blog Update

2009-04-05T18:49:00.003-06:00

I just posted new pictures on my album, Dave's door repair, Madison's 1st dog show, and some pics of her working with the RV Camp host, Grandpa. So since I finally posted new pictures I should do a quick update.
The 28th of March, Dave and I took Miss Madison on our 1st outing together, Danny was studying for school and Kim was working. We went to a Dog Show, which was pretty interesting for me but boring for Dave. I love dogs and could stayed and watch all day but after seeing a few dogs walk around and being judged Dave was, let's move on. We stayed and watched the Cattle Dogs a little bit, only because that's what Kim had and has, plus, Valley has Cattle Dog in her too.

Sunday, 3/29, David Jr. and Jodi drove up to see the Laker's game with Danny, see Madison, and also go to dinner with us to celebrate Kim's birthday and our 31st anniversary. Jodi didn't care about the Laker's game she had a great time with Madison, too bad the Laker's lost that day.
We had a great dinner together and Madison was good as normal, Thank you guys for the dinner, it was just too bad neither Kim or David could remember how many years we have been married. April 1st, 1978

That's about it for now, we leave Thursday night for Arizona.

Happy Belated B/day Kim - RV Problems

2009-03-27T12:38:00.005-07:00

Sorry Kim after us shopping all day I forgot to open up a blog and wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It was fun hanging out together, us 3 generations, Miss Madison, you and I.

Tuesday we drove down to Anaheim for Trini's Dads funeral, not fun times, but I'm glad we could share the time with the family. The traffic was terrible coming home, Kim dropped Dave and I off at the coach around 7:30pm. I went to open the door and the coach door would not open. Thank goodness I hadn't locked all the windows, Dave was able to climb thru the drivers side window. He worked on that door from the inside but it wasn't opening, I ended up climbing thru the emergency window, which is right behind the driver's seat. Dave ended up climbing thru the window a couple more times getting tools for the door. After an hour and sawing thru the door lock the damn thing finally came open. I'll post pictures when I get back to the coach, I'm at Kim's babysitting right now. Wednesday, Dave got most of the parts he needed and put the door back together, panels back on ect. you would never know he had torn the thing apart. Thank god Dave has all these tools and knows how to repair just about anything, Good Job Dear.
The door thing had happened to us in Mexico too, Dave and Bob had worked on it for hours and we thought it was fixed, not.

Yesterday was Kim's 27th b/day. Dave was working, Camphost, so Kim, Madison, and I did running around and did lots of shopping. She said she is going to have to work an xtra shift to pay for everything, I told her she better check with her babysitter 1st before she signs up for anything.

I HAVE WHEELS/ NEW PICS POSTED TOO!!

2009-03-22T19:08:00.004-07:00

It's a race to Nana, watch out Toby there isn't enough room for both of us, and Nana loves me best!!

Kim and Danny couldn't resist and purchased the walker for Miss Madison, she doesn't really realize she is walking forward, side to side or backwards, she is just trying to get to the attached toys in front of that walker. With her it's a new thing to put in her mouth. Snakes use their tongues to check out their surroundings, Madison uses her mouth, (not that I am comparing her to a snake) it's just everything Madison grabs it goes straight into the mouth. With her getting mobile now, we are going to have to keep everything clean and anything in her reach is going to have to be put away, LET THE FUN BEGIN!!! I think when I'm babysitting, now that the weather is getting warmer, I'll pick up the dog poop, put Miss Madison on the lawn in her walker, and let her run around and wear herself out. (Isn't it funny, you come into the world your put in diapers, given a walker ect. ect. then when you leave this world you are in diapers and have a walker, you guys know the joke)

Yesterday, Saturday, Brad and Diane, from Simi, came up with their RV to spend the night and visit with us. After talking, talking. talking, we decided to go to lunch, and we ended up going Anita's, a Mexican restaurant, which is close to Kim and Danny's house. After arriving there I called Kim, and she and Danny were at Baby's "R" Us, she said they would join us if they got back in time. Well, they did meet us, then we went by the house, Brad and Diane were amazed about Madison, so happy and very friendly and Diane even made the comment that Madison's eyes just sparkle, that's what I have always said. They were happy to see Valentine too, they have known Valley since the day she was given to Kim. It was great seeing Brad and Diane, it was a really fun weekend, God, you sure need those every once in a while, just to distract your mind from the economy.

I told Kim yesterday I had some things to write about her and Danny and she gets nervous when I say things like that.

WELL, I think I am being taken advantage of!!! I go over at 6am on Thursday and by 6:30am they are both gone, everything is going well. Madison is still sleeping, so I quickly make scrambled eggs for me, (Dave and I are on Adkins, so I can eat eggs) everything is great until I need to wipe something up, oh no, no paper paper towels in the holder, so I go into the garage and get a new roll of paper towels. Miss Madison wakes up and I go and get her, put her on the changing table and open the drawer, "1" diaper left, so after changing Madison I feed her 2oz of formula then let her play, I go into the garage and find more diapers and bring them into Madison's room. Now I go into the bathroom to go potty myself, and low and behold, there is only 3 sheets of toilet paper left on the roll, and the toilet paper holder to the side is empty. Again, I go into the garage and re-fill the toilet paper holder, now I'm starting to think what the "Hell".
With being on the Atkins diet you drink a lot of water, well, after my 3rd 8oz refill Kim and Danny's Sparklets bottle is empty, so I once again go into the garage and grab one of those 50lb bottles of water(at least it feels that heavy) to replace the one that is empty.
So maybe it's just me, but I think I am being taken advantage of , well, maybe just a little bit.What do you think???

Happy Saint Patty's Day

2009-03-17T20:53:00.002-07:00

Happy St. Patricks Day to everyone, or at least to who ever reads my blog anymore.

1st sad news in the family, Trini's (my sister-in-law) Dad died yesterday, very sad news but he went really fast after hearing about his cancer so very glad it wasn't a long painful experience. When it's my time I want it to go quick, I sure as hell don't want something prolonged so the kids don't have to suffer with it along with me. So very sorry, to all of Trini's family, been there and it isn't easy.

Today, we started the process of Kim and Danny becoming home owners. They are buying the Bakersfield house from us, and I know they are very nervous, happy, just a lot of mixed emotions. If everything goes as planned they should be home owners by the end of April, Kim is really nervous only because when Danny has to quit work she just wants to make sure she can make the house payment with only her income. She is so worried about forclosesure, but we told her that would never happen, we would, and am sure David and Jodi would be there to help out. They could always get renters and live in our motor home, since we won't be living in it anymore or at least for a while. :) Let the renters make the payment, they could get alot more out of renters then what their payment is going to be anyway.
Just like what Marisa and Shawn are going thru, and what everyone goes thru, it's a big step buying your 1st house. Once you buy the 1st house you will be in debt for the rest of your life, so you might as well get use to it.

That's my lastest update, more later.

I can't give any updates on Madison, waiting for Kim to blog it because I don't want to step on her toes.

Email Test

2009-03-17T16:29:00.002-07:00

Test of send blog via email. If you get this email you will be getting an email of the blog each time something new is published.

Weekly Update / Happy B/Day Tracy

2009-03-15T16:38:00.003-07:00

Happy Birthday to Kim's and my friend Tracy, 27 years old, time sure flies after High School. Kim is going to be 27 in 11 days and she said she doesn't want to celebrate anymore b/days because she is getting so old so quick.
Dave went this last week for an MRI of his thumb, he goes back to the doctors on Tuesday to get the results. We have to write more about this later. Yesterday, Saturday, Dave drove down to Simi and him and David Jr. went to see Nixon/Frost play at the Ahmanson Theatre. Dave spent the night at David's then drove home this morning. Last Monday, 3/9 was Madison's 8 month birthday, hopefully Kim will update her blog soon, she doesn't stay up to date like Marisa does.
Saturday morning I went with Kim to Stroller Strides, it's family day on Saturdays. It was fun and plus you do really get a work out. This is what Kim will be learning when she goes to San Diego for Stroller Strides school in April.
Next weekend, Brad and Diane, friends from Simi, are bringing up their RV and staying the weekend, should be fun. Diane is really looking forward to seeing Madison, she can't wait until she is a Grandma, but her daughter in law wants to get her masters 1st before having any kids. This last week here they had the Workhorse Rally with about 80 coaches. (Workhorse is the chassis maker) Dave stayed really busy with setting up tents, helping people park, I was even asked by the front desk to show how to use the gym equipment.
That's about it for now, nothing more exciting.

"UNCLE, UNCLE"

2009-03-07T17:53:00.004-07:00

If you have ever seen the movie "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" at the beginning there is a scene where her friends pin her down and want her to say "Uncle" and she says she will never say "Uncle" because she will never give up. At the end of the movie she ends up saying "Uncle, Uncle" while she is crying. (if you haven't seen it please do it is one of my favorites) Anyway, with this market just killing us, I'm saying "Uncle, Uncle". Not only is the market shrinking away our money, now Monaco, the maker of our coach, has fired almost all of it's employees and filed for Bankruptcy. I guess now we won't be going to Oregon anymore for repair work. (Sorry Marty, we won't be seeing you anytime soon)
New updates for us:

We quit bowling, the other 2 team members weren't showing up. The one had a pretty good excuse, she was 9 months pregnant (surrogate mother) but her husband kept working late on Wednesday, plus it was the most unfriendliest league we have ever seen.

The sun has been out a few times so we went back to playing pickle ball, which was fun. With all the rain we have had the markings we had made on the tennis courts were almost washed away, so Dave remarked them. I wear a pedometer and before pickle ball I go to the gym and do the treadmill for 3 miles, so by the time we are done with pickle ball at 9am I already have 14,000 steps on my meter. I told Dave they say you should get in 10,000 steps a day, so by the end of pickle ball I get to lay around on my ass the rest of the day.

We are having problems with one of our renters in Arizona, it's the house in Cornville the new one, seems she can't make the payment anymore or at least not the full payment. The market is her main income and of course we all know about market problems. She wants us to drop the rent by 150 and we said "no" we are already losing money every month on the place as it is. Her lease is up in at the end of May and we told the rental company that we will be moving into the house in July. If the lady would like to stay until the end of June we would let her do that.
Dave and I decided, right now we can't afford to travel around so we might as well get back into a house. We had always said if we sat for more then 2 weeks in one place then we were getting back into a house. This RV is big but we didn't want to live in it full time without moving around, and so far we have been in Bakersfield for almost a year. We did have a few side trips but that was about it. We are taking one more trip in April to New Mexico for a Rally with the Good Sam group, only because we had already paid for it, plus, Linda our friend in St. George is going with us. This way on the way back hopefully we will stop and see Aunt Evelynn and get Linda and Evelynn together so maybe they can hang out every once in a while.
Of course this doesn't help Kim and Danny at all, but what can we do. The only other choice is to get another renter for the Arizona house and we stay in the RV for the next three years until Danny gets thru nursing school. That's not fair to us, Dave needs a garage to tinker around in and I'm his little tinker around buddy, who else is going to find and get everything for him. :)
We will keep the RV and put it in storage in Cottonwood, just in case we should happen to lose everything we will always have a roof over our heads. :) Then once the market settles down we can start going on side trips again. We will probably get part time jobs, if we are lucky. Once we get to Arizona, maybe we can help out with the borders, ha ha.

I'm finally caught up again, been so depressed just can't seem to get in the mood for writing.

EAR PIERCING DAY!!

2009-02-22T16:28:00.001-07:00

It's a done deal now, the ears are done. Boy, did she scream and cry but I think mainly from being held so tight and not from the pain in the ear. Grandpa Gonzalez paid for it, this way everyone knows she is a girl, but I told him I've seen boys with their ears pierced too.
I've added new pictures to the blog, mostly of Miss Madison, of course, but there are some from Kernville, where we went last weekend to visit their Whiskey Flat Days festival.

Still growing those web feet here in Bakersfield, just doesn't seem like it wants to quit raining. We did manage to get maybe 2 days that we got to see the sun but that was about it. Valentine has moved in with Kim now, the fatty tumor on her back ankle is so large now that every time she tries to get out of the RV she just about falls, I'm right there that's why she doesn't fall. We will take her to the vets next week and see how much it will cost to reduce the tumor but if it costs too much then she either stays with Kim or we put her down, bummer.
That's about it for now.

Vance you will always be remembered!!!

2009-02-21T20:52:00.003-07:00

I've been a little depressed today, the economy, news that one of our renter's in Arizona is having problems, Dave not feeling well, but then the biggest thing was it is 1 year ago today that our oldest brother, Vance, died. I just wanted to say that even though we weren't that close it doesn't mean I didn't think about him a lot, just like I do my other brother's, whether they believe it or not. I just recently started an account on Face Book, and Vance has an account on Facebook, surprised the hell out of me. Would love to log on to it, but he isn't here to authorize it.

Will post some new pictures and update the blog tomorrow or Monday

New Photos Posted

2009-02-10T15:42:00.003-07:00

Just posted new pictures of Miss Madison, plus, a couple of the wedding we were just at. Haven't gone anywhere so Madison is keeping my picture taking practice up to date, kind of.
No rain today, but cold, rain is due back again tomorrow for another week. I'm growing web feet, I swear.

UPDATE TIME

2009-02-08T19:36:00.003-07:00

Just got back from Burbank yesterday morning. Dave drove down to Sunland Friday morning to have an oil change plus what ever else needed to get done on the RV, it was getting done for free so that's why he took it there. To make a long story short, the dealership that installed our tow bar made a deal with Dave to do the work instead of us taking them to small claims court for the tow bar being bent, look back in past blogs but it's really not that interesting of a story. Anyway, we had a wedding to go to Friday night in Burbank so Danny took off work early and the 4 of us drove down together. When the RV was done Dave drove it to the Elks lodge where he and I would spend the night. Danny drove to the Elks to pick up Dave then on to the wedding. When we left the reception Danny dropped us off at the Elks and then they went to his parents house to spend the night there. Saturday morning we met up at the bottom of the Grapevine where Kim, Madison and I drove off for home in the Ford. Danny joined Dave and Danny got to drive the RV back to Bakersfield, his 1st real driving lesson. (no trees around so he couldn't hit those)
We all met back at the RV Park and Danny said it was a lot of fun driving but passing the Big Rigs was nerve racking and his back was sore because of being tense.

Last week we went back to the cardiologist for the results and Dave is fine, they didn't know why he has an xtra heart beat but did say come back in 6 months for another check up.

Nothing else new, still here in lovely Bakersfield soaking up the Damn RAIN!

Back in Bakersfield

2009-01-25T06:20:00.003-07:00

We got back into Bakersfield Wednesday afternoon, I drove part of the way so I hadn't forgotten how to drive. Quartzsite was fun, wouldn't mind doing that again but need a lot more time to see all around the town, 3 days just wasn't enough. In Quartzsite the weather was in the 70's so I could walk around in shorts and tank top, we get back to Bakersfield and the weather is shit. Rainy, foggy and cold ugh!
Kim had to call and wake me up Thursday morning because Danny is back in school again so I'm back to long, sometimes very long, days babysitting. 6:15am to 7:45pm that's long for an old lady like me, ha ha. Madison is going thru some changes and she isn't always her happy self like she use to be. Kim had said she had a bad time on Wednesday with her but Thursday worked out OK for me, she starts fusing and throwing a fit and I just start laughing at her. She thinks someone else is in the house when I do that and she starts looking around to see who is laughing at her, it's too funny, but she stops fussing so whatever works. I thought I felt some bottom teeth and thought I saw white too so when Kim got home we tried to look for ourselves and yep, those 2 bottom teeth are coming in. When she went to the doctors last the doctor said she is still under weight and needs to gain more, but if that kid doesn't want to eat there is no way you can force her. (a month ago Kim accused me of feeding her too much cereal and was going to make her obese, see Nana knows best, ha!) She eats oatmeal in the morning, a whole package of vegetables at lunch and dinner and bottles in between. We maybe get, on a good day, 20 oz. of formula but most times it's like 17oz and the doctor says she should be having like 26 to 30 ounces, so we are all trying. Danny and I took her to the doctor's on Friday, she has some dry skin patches and they wanted them checked out, turns out it is eczema so they got a prescription for some lotion, no big deal but she had gained a pound.

Saturday we went and got a carpet cleaner again, forgot to mention earlier, the Friday before we left, for Quartzsite, Dave flooded the coach again. Remember when he was rinsing the black tank last time, it was on it's 3rd rinse, so when he flooded the coach it wasn't that big of deal. Well, this time I don't believe it was on the 3rd rinse and he really flooded it this time, it took days to dry and left a white film mark where it flooded to. Needless to say it was carpet cleaning time, again, then we took the machine over to Kim and Danny's to let Danny use it to clean their couch. It ended up Danny cleaning the couch, Dave steam cleaning the floors, we had purchased a floor steam cleaner at Quartzsite, I watched Madison. Kim came home from work early and we all ended up cleaning some part of the house, hadn't planned on it but that's the way it goes. Madison even managed to take a nap even with all that noise going on. Kim even said if she knew we were all going to be cleaning she would have stayed at work, she just wanted to come home and relax.
That's it for now.

Having Fun in Quartzsite, Arizona

2009-01-20T16:20:00.004-07:00

We got to Quartzsite, AZ on Saturday about 5pm. We got a late start on Saturday morning, so it was a long day. Before we left, Dave had almost forgotten that we were taking our tow bar, that broke, to the dealership in Sun Valley who had installed it. The tow bar was at Kim's so we decided to drive over there and hook up the car, with the new tow bar, plus, it was a good excuse to let Danny drive the RV. I called ahead and asked Danny it he wanted to drive it and of course he jumped on the opportunity. I drove ahead and picked him up and took him to the parking lot where Dave would be. I just dropped him off and went back to the house with Kim and Miss Madison and waited for them to show up. When they finally made it back to the house, Kim and I noticed there was a limb of a tree lodged into our slide awning, and I started pointing at it. When Danny parked and they were getting out we asked Danny about the tree he hit, and he started laughing, I'm glad he thought it was funny, just kidding. :) He said to Dave, remember when I heard that loud noise and I asked what it was, well I guess we know what it was now. Danny said as he was driving that these people on motorcycles were pointing like I was so now he knows why. He did good though, he only hit a tree and a curb, as least he wasn't like Dave the 1st time and take out the neighbor's mailbox and dent the RV.
Anyway, this RV show is great, everything you can't possibly live without. The small group we are with are a lot of fun. Walking around looking at all the booths, we have picked up so many free night stays at RV Park's all around the U.S. We even found jobs, at some of these parks, where we stay for free and work for them and get paychecks. One place is really promising, we only have to stay and work for 1 month and we will earn $4000.00. The only do this between September 25th thru mid-October, of course we have to either be in North Dakota or western Minnesota, and they are 12 hour shifts and it operates 24/7. We would be doing Sugarbeet Harvesting, no experience necessary, right now they just need sample takers and guiding trucks, and if you work Saturday it's time and 1/2 and Sunday is double time, something to think about, the way this market is we could always use the money. The other one we looked at is in Des Moines, Iowa. Here you work in an amusement park, called Adventureland, and can stay in the RV Park from April till the end of September for only $200.00. You get paid $7.00 an hour and don't work over an 8 hour day, and they want 30 hours a week from you, not too shabby, but what the hell else is there in Iowa??? Sorry but actually you could stay RV'ing full time and earn money and park for almost free, I kind of like the idea. Look, when we go to settle down in a house again, we have to buy all new furniture, appliances ect. it's going to cost a fortune, something I'm not look forward too.
Back to Quartzsite, there are motor homes, 5th wheels, trailers, tents, teardrops, A frames, vans what ever you want to live in or travel in it is here. You can tell the ones that live here, dry camping, almost all year round, there is nothing out here how do they do it? About a mile away from us, back in the desert more, there is a nudist camping group. We didn't see it, but Monaco Mama, who we met in Oregon, and her husband were driving around and accidentally came upon it, and they weren't hiding.
We head back to Bakersfield tomorrow morning, bowling tomorrow night, plus, Thursday and Friday Dave and I have to work.
Bakersfield RV Resort, where we stay, is even here advertising their RV Park, they said they had a lot of people interested, will see.
That's it for now.
Love to all

2009-01-12T16:33:00.004-07:00

Time for an update.
Well, we are still here in Bakersfield, freezing with no sunshine most of the time. I even asked Dave the other day why is everything seem to be turning green, the cement walls around the RV Park, the sidewalks, ect. and he said it is moss. It has been so cold, foggy, rainy and just overall wet all the time that moss is growing everywhere. Great, Bakersfield doesn't have the best air quality anyway, we have Valley Fever here, now I'm sure we will have something like Moss Fever a new kind of spor. With no sunshine it really is very depressing, on the really dark days you just don't have any energy, you just want to cuddle up with a blanket by a fire, oh yea, we have NO BURN days, which means you can't even light your fire place, not like we have one anyway, but Kim does.
Just the other day I was talking to my Aunt Evelynn from St. George Utah and she was even saying how bad the weather is there too. She also misses the sunny days, but as I was talking to her I was rubbing my chin and, OH NO, I think I have grown a goatee. Then I remembered since the sun hasn't been out I haven't been able to pluck the hairs off my chin in the sunlight, like I was always doing every few days. Why in the Hell hasn't Dave, Kim, Danny or Madison told me I have a goatee now???? I was wondering why Madison was always reaching for my chin, like she does Grandpa's mustache. I was telling Aunt Evelynn about my chin and we were laughing so much we both had tears in our eyes. Needless to say I asked Kim to give my lip, chin, and lower neck a wax job this Wednesday. Wouldn't you know it today, as I'm writing the sun is coming out and Kim justed called and she got called into work, so Dave and I have to run over there. Damn, I'm still in my gym clothes, haven't taken a shower yet, oh well, that's what happens to you when your on call. Besides there isn't enough time today to pluck even if I wanted to, the sun would go down by the time I finished my upper lip.
Enough of that. The only other real news I have to report is Dave got a job. He is now a Camp Host at the RV Resort we are staying at. He works Thursday and Friday and probably one weekend a month. He gets $8.00 an hour for sitting around filling propane tanks when needed and watching people come in and dump their tanks on their way home. Hey, it's mostly guys that do the propane and dumping so he makes small talk with them, and this way he isn't sitting around, with me, bored to death while I'm babysitting. He can work on the websites he manages and the park calls him when they need him. It saves us about $500 a month on rent, sounds good to me.
This Saturday, January 17th we are going to take off to Quartz side Arizona and Boone dock, I think that's what they call it. Every year they have a monster RV Show and thousands of rigs show up and dry camp, most of them. We are going to meet up with a group of RV'ers that Dave blogs with on the computer. Should be fun, I just hate dry camping. We are also talking about getting back on the road again, at least for a couple months this summer, of course after Miss Madison's 1st birthday. Haven't told Kim and Danny yet, so don't say anything.
I think that's about it now, bowling is going OK, just got to get back into the swing of things.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL - 2009 HAS TO BE BETTER

2008-12-31T12:52:00.002-07:00

For Christmas Eve we had dinner ready for Kim, Danny and Miss Madison for when they got home from Danny's sisters house. After eating we opened presents because Kim was working Christmas Day.
Christmas morning we drove down to David Jr.'s house for breakfast and to open presents for the grand kids. Miss Madison was good the whole time and we got pictures of all the grand-daughters together. After that we drove back to Bakersfield to set Madison up so she could play with her new toys, Danny could watch the Laker's game and Dave could fix dinner.
Friday the 26th, was Danny's birthday so he, Emerson and Hector left for Las Vegas, Kim had to work so we babysat.
It was also my nephew Jimmy's birthday too on the 26th so Happy Belated Birthday to both Jimmy and Danny.
Saturday, Kim was off work so we drove down to Orange County to visit with Mike, Trini and Spanky. Miss Madison was great, as always, she loved Mike's big nose, and I think he was the 1st guy to hold her and she didn't start crying. Mike and Trini kept passing her around, but her second cousin, Spanky, wouldn't even hold her, he says he doesn't hold babies. We had a great visit with them, Mike fixed up some great left overs from Christmas dinner, and I was a happy camper with the prime rib bones. The jokes were flying back and forth as usual, Mike never misses a beat. We got back on the road at 4 and were home by 6pm, we got so lucky driving down and back, there really wasn't any traffic to speak of and that's unheard of.
Sunday we went by Kim's to put up all the Christmas decorations in the garage, she had just about gotten everything put away.
Monday I had a doctor appointment, the female kind, and I also had a bone density test done, since I've been post-meno for the last 4 years. You get the results right away, and my bones are very strong, they said I have no problems so that was good to hear. They said all the walking I do is what really helps. In the afternoon Dave had a cardiologists appointment, in his check up with the regular doctor they discovered he was missing a heart beat. The cardio doc said he isn't missing a beat but he has an xtra beat, so now he has to go for a stress test and have another blood test. so will let you all know when we get the test results back. For New Years we are just staying here in the RV Park they are having Gumbo for dinner and having a band, just stay safe and sound near the coach. That's about it for now.
New Pictures are posted
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

2008-12-25T08:13:00.001-07:00

New Photos posted on Kim's blog but no update, yet

2008-12-22T21:38:00.003-07:00

Kim ended up working today and when we got over to the house Danny was posting new pics of Miss Madison. It shows a date of Nov 27th but it was really posted today, take a look see.
Kim is working Christmas and my brother is still making a Christmas dinner so now it depends on the weather. If the grapevine doesn't close down on xmas night then Dave and I just might still drive to Mike's for dinner, but the weather says rain so we will just have to wait and see.
I have to be in Bakersfield on Friday because Danny is going to Vegas for his birthday and Kim has to work, so will make the call on xmas I guess.

2008-12-21T16:06:00.002-07:00

I thought I had stuff to update on the blog, but I was wrong. It is still freezing here in Bakersfield, I know Marisa, nothing like where you are in Colorado. I do check the weather in Littleton, that's what pops up when I put in your zip code, and I'm really glad I'm not there right now. Hope your mom brought lots of warm clothes. This week we are suppose to have rain but at least the temps are saying in the 50's, lately it's been in the 30's and 40's and that's freezing to me.

Danny is out of school for a month so now on Thursdays I don't have to start babysitting until 11am instead of 6:30am, which now makes Thursday and Friday about only 9 hour days. Danny had A's and B's, but Kim will post it on her blog.

It's been so foggy, wet and cold that we haven't been able to play pickle ball for a couple weeks now, bummer. Dave and I did join a bowling league, Wednesdays at 6:15pm, 4 man teams. I started with a 153 average, Dave had a 160. I bowled pretty good last week so I know mine is going up, Dave's is going down.

Our electric heaters haven't been working in the RV so we are having to use the propane heater. It's a lot quieter then the electric heater but then we use up the propane, oh well, luckily this RV Park has propane that we can drive over to and fill up.

That's about it, very depressing holiday season this year. Kim has to work xmas, not going to my brother's for dinner, watching the spending with this damn market. God lets hope that 2009 is a much better year. For Danny and my birthday dinners, we are going to Red Robin because Danny and I get to have a FREE Hamburger, I got the coupons in my email. So if any of you want a free hamburger on your birthday just go to Red Robin and sign up.

PS: I posted a few more pictures of Madison under Jeri's photos

Happy Birthday to me

2008-12-18T22:53:00.002-07:00

51 boy am I getting old. Haven't updated for a while and it's too late tonight to do it now, so just a quick note that I will update sometime this weekend.
Dave and I did babysit Miss Madison today and took her down to Memorial Hospital, where Kim works, because Santa was showing up today.
Thank you for the notes or phone calls that I received today to wish me a happy birthday.

IT IS FREEZING HERE IN BAKERSFIELD

2008-12-06T18:07:00.006-07:00

Haven't written for awhile, what's that tell you, nothing much going on.

1st of all let me say "Happy Belated Birthday" to Trini Tomaselli, my sister-in-law, which was on December 1st. Sorry, I should have done an update then but that was the day I was going for a blood test and a mammogram and birthdays were not on my mind, sorry Trini. I'll say it now "Happy 64th B/Day"

On December 2nd our friend Linda Tibbitts, from St. George Utah, came by for a 2 day visit. She is the one we just went and saw in St. George for her husbands funeral. I give her so much credit for travelling around in her 40 foot motor home towing her vehicle by herself. She and Larry had planned on being gone for the Christmas Holidays once they purchased the house in St. George, so she didn't change any of the plans. She will be back in Bakersfield sometime in January before she heads back to St. George, she is one hell of a woman. While she was here we went over to Kim's for dinner so she could see Kim and Miss Madison again. Danny had school stuff that night so she didn't get to see him.

Linda got back on the road on Thursday, December 4th, and made it to Chico in just under 8 hours, she did very well. Oh, forgot to mention, while she was here we went to the movies. We saw "Australia" really good movie, the little boy is the hit of the show, what a doll.

I even managed to go to the dentist on Thursday, everything OK, so getting all the doctors appointments taken care of, all except one, maybe one day.

That's about it for an update, except it is freezing here in Bakersfield. What the hell is this 40 and 50 degree shit? I swear if it rains we are going to have snow, I need the sun. :)

Day after Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T21:26:00.003-07:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving, hope you did too. Just wanted to let you know I've uploaded some pictures from 11/3 to 11/20, my camera has quit working for some reason so I have no pictures from Thanksgiving, because that's when I discovered my camera quit working.
David Jr, Jodi and Riley came up to Kim's and spent the night, on their way up they, plus, tons of other traffic were escorted by the highway patrol down the grapevine because of the fog. We had a nice visit and a good dinner, mainly, cooked by Dave but David was able to assist when he got there, Jodi and I aren't allowed to cook anymore, or darn it!
Kim got home around 7:15pm then the pictures were taken by David and Jodi. Kim wants pics for Xmas and David brought some of his equipment and Madison was very good, even though we had to wake her from her sleep, I'm telling you she is false advertisement for the next one.

Today, after the gym but no time for pickle ball, was another babysitting day, we got over to Kim's about 8am. David, Jodi, Riley, and Danny all left about 8:30am. Dave cleaned up in the backyard and side yard, at Kim's, then took everything to the dump, I made turkey enchiladas for dinner, oh my god, I got to cook something and it came out pretty good. Kim might be on call tomorrow, work is a little slow for her because of the holidays, but if not Danny has a big test on Monday so I might have to watch Miss Madison for a couple hours tomorrow so he can study.
That's about it for now.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL don't look at the posting date

2008-11-26T21:50:00.005-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all, I believe it is late enough now that no one will read the blog until tomorrow, which really will be Thanksgiving day.

Last week Dave went to the doctor's, we found a new one here in Bakersfield instead of driving down to Simi for our physicals. Dave had an EKG and he is missing a heart beat, he went last Friday for some other kind of test and will get the results along with the blood work on his next appointment, which isn't till Dec. 17th, I'm sure if there were something to really worry about the doctor would call him in sooner. I went to the doctors on Tuesday, now I have to go for blood work and a mamo on Monday, Dec. 1st, on Trini's B/day. (that's my sister-in-law) Pap on 12/29 and as I was leaving the doctor's he gave me a number to call to arrange for a colonoscopy, he said that is the passage into the 50's. I told him that was dangerous for me to have to make the appointment, since we are 5 months behind in our physicals as it is. Maybe I'll call next week sometime and make an appointment??? This doctor isn't as good as the one in Simi but he will do for now, I hope.
Enough about Dave and I.

Kim and Danny have added another new addition to their family, they had added the 3rd addition, what last Oct. or Nov. after the wedding, now again another addition at the end of November, but I'll let her cover it in her blog, you just might have to wait awhile before she updates her blog. They have recently posted new videos of Miss Madison, boy is she a doll. She is getting more and more active, just a few weeks ago, when Kim 1st got these bouncy toys, she could barely lift her arms out now she is jumping and grabbing things like crazy. I'm really going to have my work cut out for me in a few months, I better start losing some weight or she is going to kill me. Although all the dancing and playing around with her, pickle ball, and the gym here in the RV Park, something has to kick in soon, let's hope.
We have had rain the last 2 days but I think it will be gone by tomorrow and start warming up again.
David Jr., Jodi, and Riley will be here for Turkey Day, so here is wishing you all a happy turkey day.

Update Time

2008-11-20T18:23:00.005-07:00

Sorry, it's been awhile since I've updated the blog, but been busy, bummed and just not in the mood.

Bummed because of the Prop. 8 thing, when Dave and I 1st got married and would talk about the voting stuff he would tell me I had no right to make a comment unless I registered to vote. I did get registered many years ago and the thing that upsets me is why do we vote for or against a proposition if the courts can turn around and change what the majority of the people voted for, no matter which way. I believe what most people fight about is the word "marriage" who the hell cares, if you want to protest just find another word instead of "marriage" that everyone will go for. If the protesters would come up with something and work on the people that fight the word "marriage", and that means talking not attacking, that's what hurts them most. The USA needs to still work on things , look we have the 1st African American as President Elect, next is the gay community, but talk don't fight please! "Can't we all get along?"

OK I feel better getting that off my chest, but I do hope it all works out in the end for everyone.

Miss Madison is punishing me for taking off a week, she hasn't been the sweet little thing like she was before we left for St. George Utah. When you have those days where she is grumpy boy am I exhausted when my duties are over. When I had to do this full time before I was 25/26 and I know it was a lot easier then, at 50 it's a little harder. Although, Danny does give me credit for being able to hold Madison in my right arm and feed her a bottle, while standing, because she is so long and getting pretty heavy, but that's probably why my shoulders are killing me. She is now sleeping in her crib all night, I believe Kim and Danny started it a week ago and she is doing good. Kim isn't doing so good because she keeps waking up to look at the monitor, it will become easier, sweety, I promise.

On the Friday after we got back, Nov. 14th, Dave went down to Simi and got to visit with Alex, a friend of ours, then went and spent the night with David Jr. Saturday they drove up to Phoenix to pick up a few things and visit with Jeff. It was just a short trip and Dave was back in Bakersfield on Sunday by 4pm. Luckily Kim fixed dinner that night for all of us because Dave was exhausted from the long drive and short visit, things you do for your kids, as we all know.

Dave and I have still managed to get in the Pickle Ball thing, when I'm not baby sitting, and he is now beating me, every once in a while, don't want his head to swell.

One thing I thought was funny, I was looking thru my blogs and last June is when Valley went to the vets and they wanted to do an MRI and we said NO WAY can't afford 2K so I said she would be put down in a couple weeks, well guess what, Valley is still with us. Dave took her to the vet the other day to have a check up and they said they still want to do an MRI to see if she has a tumor in her nose and we still said NO WAY. Love the dog to death, she turned 12 last week, but it is getting harder and harder to live with her, luckily she stays with Kim and Danny more now, Thank You for that.

That's the update for now, Christmas this year is Kids only, the stock market is killing us, plus, it should be only for kids anyway.

Kim works Thanksgiving and Christmas so this year is really going to be an eye opener for this family clan, Marisa gone, Kim working, Trini in Colorado for xmas, families move on and make new traditions, sad but true, it will all work out.

Happy 2nd Anniv of engagement to Kim and Danny

2008-11-11T18:58:00.002-07:00

Some things that the kids now a days keep track of, 2 years ago today Danny proposed to Kim and we all had an engagement dinner to celebrate. That dinner's cost was just the beginning of the wedding planning, most done by Kim. Thank goodness it's over now and they are doing just fine and the big costs are gone, now we can spoil the new Grand Baby, Miss Madison, which if we aren't careful can be just as costly. :)
Everything going fine here, went to dinner Sunday night with the kids, was on standby Monday but Kim never did get called in. Today, Tuesday, was an off day, so we played pickle ball, I walked Valley then went to the gym, and tomorrow I'm working from 11:30 to 5pm, Thursday and Friday, of course, are my normal working days. (6:30am to 7:45pm then 7:45am to 5:30pm) Madison is starting to stay awake longer and longer on some days so it should be getting more interesting trying to keep her entertained. Dave and I went the other day and marked off the tennis court, near Kim's, so we can play pickle ball and Miss Madison can watch and learn. Got to get her interested in sports, hopefully tennis, then she can make the big bucks and support us along with her parents. :)
That's it for now.

Scary Drive back to Bakersfield

2008-11-09T15:19:00.003-07:00

We left Primm Nevada at 6:30am this morning. After the long hill climb we hit a sand storm, and I mean a sand storm. Haven't checked out the paint on the coach yet, because it is raining here in Bakersfield, will check it out later. This wind was throwing us everywhere, then when we hit the junction at highway 14 it must have been blowing 80mph. We pulled over for a potty break but the wind grabbed our awning from our slide and pulled it out. This was the awning we just had fixed in St. George. A big rig had pulled off the freeway with us and he managed to pull to where the wind was coming at him. We followed and managed to pull the slide out a little bit and when we pulled it back it in the awning rolled back up to the rig. When the wind slowed down a little bit we pulled along side of the big rig and checked to see if they were OK, they said yes, that were driving with an empty load and the wind had managed to lift up the back of the rig, scary. The rest of the drive was rain and not as strong wind and we managed to make it back to the RV Park. I called Kim and said we needed to rest and would be over in a few hours, hell of a day.

Primm Nevada / Rear Ended

2008-11-08T18:39:00.004-07:00

Larry's service this morning was very nice, his step brother talked, his gay stepson (I only say that because he made it a point that he was gay and Larry didn't care, either did anyone else I think. Only his mom, Larry's second wife, who is dead now, seemed to care that he was gay.) Anyway, there were a few more people that got up and spoke then we all went to the restaurant, where Linda and Larry had bought their house and had a nice lunch. After that Dave and I decided to get back on the road and start to head back to Bakersfield. You know how traffic can be from the losers and winners leaving Vegas so we got a jump on things and are now in Primm Nevada. Tomorrows drive should only be about 4 hours. Can you believe when we were driving thru Vegas, bumper to bumper traffic, mainly stopped, and someone rear ends us. The signs say if you have an accident and there are no injuries wait before you pull over. I jumped out of the RV, because like I said the traffic wasn't moving, and it was a couple that rolled down their window and said "everything OK right?" I don't believe they could speak much English only Spanish. I looked at my car and didn't see anything and looked at their car and didn't see anything but I did take down their license plate number when they went around us, and on the back window of their car was a for sale sign. Once we got parked here in Primm Dave checked and didn't see anything either. It's bumper to bumper traffic how in the hell do you hit someone, it's beyond me. If anyone can't pay attention in something like that they shouldn't even be driving.
Bob and Jackie were going to go back to Linda's tonight, so they plan on getting back on the road Monday. Hopefully on their way back to Redding, CA they will stop by Bakersfield to say HI and visit with their son and family, they just weren't sure yet when they plan on going home. Although we forgot our jackets in the back of their car, since they drove today, so maybe they won't have any choice but to come by Bakersfield. We did tell them if they aren't coming to please give the jackets to Linda because she plans on coming by and staying a couple days in Bakersfield at the beginning of December.

Weekly Update

2008-11-08T07:00:00.002-07:00

Today is Larry's service, not looking forward to that, a lot of friends and family were suppose to be arriving the last 2 days, will see today, we haven't seen Linda since Wednesday night.
This week we have done some hanging around St. George, looking at new houses the one we really liked was 2.9 million, I tried to trade 3 houses and a motor home for it but they didn't go for it, St. George is really beautiful. Dave and I had lunch with my Aunt Evelyn, stayed and visited for a few hours, which was a lot of fun. Thursday we drove to Zion National Park with Bob and Jackie, what a great place. They had a bunch of rock climbers, crazy people, I have no desire to climb a flat faced mountain.
That's about it for the week, Dave and I head out tomorrow back to Bakersfield, I have babysitting duty on Monday.
I've posted more pictures.

Hell of a storm in St. George

2008-11-02T21:13:00.002-07:00

We had a skunk walking around the Elk's Lodge somewhere because you sure could smell it. We had one hell of a rain storm last night until early this morning, lots of rain and lighting. Late morning when we knew the rain was over we decided to bring the slides in a little bit to get all the rain water off of the awnings, but too late. The drivers side awning over the slide ripped, so Dave and Bob got the latters out and each took one end and managed to the the material awning off. Since it's Sunday in Utah nothing is open to go shopping for material to repair the awning. Will go tomorrow and either get material so Dave can sew a patch for the awning or will just get the iron on patches and fix it that way. We can see the back awning material is going to be tearing next so will repair it before it gets a chance to tear.
Around noon we went over to Linda's house, watched Nascar, football and had snacks. Later on we played cards then went into the jacuzzi. Linda and Larry picked out a really great house, too bad Larry didn't get to spend much time in it, it's a great community with lots to do so I'm sure Linda is going to be OK, anyway after dinner we came back to the coaches.

Saint George, Utah

2008-11-01T19:35:00.002-07:00

We left the RV Park at 7:30am and arrived at the Elks Lodge in St. George Utah at 2:30pm. (3:30 their time) Nice long day driving but we split up the driving so it wasn't that bad. We only stopped 3 times, once for fuel, and the next 2 for changing drivers. We had one hell of a rain storm outside of Bakersfield but after that the weather was clear. Once here in St. George we got set up, with Bob and Jackie's help, Linda showed up and we had gossip time then we went to dinner at the Elks. Not to exciting of a day, but it was long for us.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN / BEST EMPLOYERS

2008-10-31T14:48:00.005-07:00

Happy Halloween to everyone, Miss Madison has her outfit on which is a onesy that says" Baby's 1st Halloween", Kim said she has to wear it all day but Danny made me promise not to put the black bow on her head.

Dave has given up bike riding or until he either gets a 3 wheeler or a bike he can put his feet on the ground when he stops. Yes, you guessed it, he was riding over to Kim's yesterday and fell again. He went to Danny's doctors and he dislocated his thumb so now it is in a kind of cast thing. When he fell he landed on the peddles, I guess, because above his knee he has a line of holes, he doesn't know what part of the bike he landed on. Now he has both legs scabbed up because the last time he fell and still hasn't gone away was when we were in Colorado and he fell while we were out riding. (or else it's just a big scar now, not sure) I don't know what we are going to do on Thursday's now because I have to be at Kim's by 6am so he either drops me off, stays home until I get back at 8pm or takes the bus over to Kim's, we have a week to figure it out.

I mentioned that I have the best employers because I've only been back 3 weeks and they are letting me have a week off already. Dave and I are heading out to St. George Utah tomorrow for a week. I mentioned before in the blog that we had some friends, Linda and Larry, just move there and Bob, Jackie, Dave and I were going to try and visit them on the way back from the Balloon Fiesta, but no time for Dave and I because Kim was going back to work. It ends up Larry passed away 2 days after we got back to Bakersfield. Jackie and Bob are there now and visiting with Linda and keeping her company. The memorial service is on the 8th so Dave and I decided to drive to St. George and visit with Linda too before the service. We will drive back on the 9th because Kim has to work on Monday the 10th, unusual day but it happens. She will have a work class to go to on Wednesday so that week will be busy for me so maybe it is a good thing I take a week off ahead of time. Miss Madison is really easy to watch she is a very happy baby, today has been a little tough but you have to expect days like those, no big deal. I even got to show her off to the mail lady, who is dying for one of her kids to have kids. She said her husband said "their 1st two kids were false advertisement" which means the 3rd one was hell on wheels.

Miss Madison has just woken up again, I'm only getting 1/2 hour naps out of her today every 2 to 3 hours, tough day like I said, oh well.

Catch Up Time

2008-10-25T07:27:00.003-06:00

Catch up time again.

Last Saturday we drove down to Simi went by Brad and Diane's and saw the remodelling they are doing on the house, then it was lunch time at El Patio. After that we went over to David and Jodi's house where we hung out until leaving for "9 to 5" the musical. We took the subway into L.A. then went to dinner before the play. The play was good but "Wicked" much better, after the play we got to go back stage and see the props and how everything moves around on stage. The fun part was walking back out to the street, where everyone is lined up to see the actors come out and get autographs. We come walking out and they are all looking like "who are these people" too funny. The play now is headed for Broadway for a 2 year run, but what is coming out here now is "Spring Awakening" which Spanky had told us about when we were in New York and we saw it "off Broadway", good musical. Remember if you want tickets to see it, David Jr. can get tickets, probably not free but real close to the stage. For 9 to 5 we were 12 rows back from the stage, great seats.
We drove back Sunday morning because Miss Madison was getting dedicated in there church. Kim had a great dress for her, she was all smiles until Kim took her from Danny and laid her down in her arms, she liked seating up looking at everyone. She is going to be a ham in front of crowds, she had her tongue out and was all smiles, even when the pastor held her.
Monday and Tuesday we were watching Madison from 3:30 to 7pm because Kim was working for Medcor, Danny's employer, giving out flu shots, but Kim was working at the K-Mart warehouse. Kim called while Dave and I were playing pickle ball and wanted us to come over early because her new thing is shopping for bargains on Craig's List, and she had found something she wanted for Miss Madison and needed to pick it up by 2. Dave went with her to pick it up which it is a bouncy chair with all kinds of things to keep Madison entertained. Then on Tuesday she found something else and so did Dave. Our couch in the RV is covered with towels because Valley lays on it so Dave decided to sew a new cover for the couch but we can't remember what happened to our sewing machine since moving so Dave got on line and found a sewing machine to buy. So on Tuesday, at 2 Kim picked up another play thing for Madison then they went and picked up the sewing machine. When Kim left for work Dave went to Joann's and picked out some fabric to make the cover for the couch.
Wednesday, after pickle ball, Dave got started on sewing. Let me tell you the cover came out great, damn this man is talented. In his second life he is going to make a wonderful wife for someone. He loves musicals, sews, cooks, cleans, knows electrical, can build things, repair things, ect. ect.very talented, I'm really lucky.
Thursday was another all day babysitting and yesterday Kim called at 6 and said she was on "stand by" which meant I was on stand by too. She ended up getting called in at 11:30, Dave and I were just going to leave and go shopping, but had to report for duty. I don't like stand by, now I can see why she doesn't like it either, it's hard to plan anything. Kim has talked to her boss about this but she might have to transfer to another department. She is only working 3 days a week and she sure doesn't what to be on stand by on any of those days. When you are on stand by you only make like $2 an hour, that sucks.

I think that has gotten me caught up, new pictures are posted of the dedication and others.

Miss Madison / Flu Shots

2008-10-17T21:12:00.002-06:00

Today my time with Miss Madison started at 8:30am, although I was at the house about 7:20, so Danny could get ready for work, but low and behold Danny and Miss Madison were still sleeping. Danny was really awake but since Madison hadn't gotten up yet why should he? I sat in the living room and read my book until he was up changing Madison, he called me in so I could see you smiling and stretching, boy she is a happy baby, it must be the good genes she got from me. :)
Madison and I went into the living room and started playing and before Danny left he made her morning bottle. Yesterday she slept just about all day, it seemed, but today was different, no sleeping. She took 20 to 30 min. naps but that was it. When I put her in her crib at 10am for her 2 hour nap, I went in the other room and started working out. I was watching her on the monitor then the next thing I know the dogs were barking like crazy, which of course woke her up. It was a fellow student of Danny's dropping off some xtra credit work for school. Miss Madison had her little nap and wanted to go back to playing and me reading her nursery rhymes. Kim called and said if she didn't get her morning nap she will take a long one in the afternoon. (I should have asked her what time in the afternoon) Anyway, around 11:30 she fell asleep again, so I put her in her crib and set up the monitor. I'm in there working out and again at noon she woke up again, here we go back to playing and reading. When she gets a little fuzzy I give her a bottle then she is wide awake again, she really is a good baby, always smiles and can entertain herself with her moving her arms and legs, she loves doing that and talking the whole time. She's a good story telling as Great Nana Tomaselli would say, she just talks and talks.(just like great Nana)
Dave rode the bike over in the afternoon and hung out the rest of the day with us. At 2:30pm Miss Madison fell asleep again so back to her crib, which lasted almost an hour this time. I got her up changed her and just stood in the living room and rocked her in my arms and back to sleep she went. This time I didn't put her in the crib and just put her on the couch and that's where she still laid sound asleep when Dave and I left at 7pm. Danny had gotten home at 5:30pm, Dave had fixed dinner, we all talked and ate then Dave and I left at 7pm to go to Kim's work to get our Flu Shots.
It really has been fun the last 2 days, it's been 26 yrs and 3 months since I've done this and I'm sure back then it was a lot easier on the arms and back. :)

1st Real Day of Babysitting Miss Madison

2008-10-16T22:14:00.002-06:00

I say 1st real day only because Dave and I went over last night, Wednesday night, to watch Miss Madison because Kim started giving out flu shots last night. Danny was going to go somewhere for xtra credit for school but since he had a anatomy test, today, he stayed in the spare bedroom and studied until Kim got back. So even though we watched Miss Madison for 2 hours it didn't really count because Danny was in the next room. OK that's out of the way.
Oh, before I forget, Dave was helping me and going to make Miss Madison's bottle and as he was putting the water in he kept spilling. He did it again over the sink as Madison and I are watching and he spilled again, he said he couldn't see out of his glasses plus the bottle had a curve to it. Anyway, he poured again, and we both watched carefully and as he spilled again we realized the bottom of the bottle was missing. It was one of those curved bottles that both ends twist off, too funny, I'm sure you would have had to be there, but we sure got a good laugh.

Thursday:

Kim called me this morning at 5:30am, I asked her to, but of course I kept waking up every hour on the hour so I wouldn't miss my 1st day with Madison. Kim called, right when I was getting out of bed because Dave had just woke me up, the only hour on the hour I didn't wake up. The day did really go good, it was my 1st day so I have to get my own routine going. Kim called 4 times and texted once, Danny came by after school and before going to work then he called about 4 times too. 2 calls were because of Miss Madison's eye and he had called the doctor about it and called me back to let me know what the doctor had said. Her eye we just need to watch and keep putting the medicine in it that Kim and Danny already had. Dave rode the bike over to Kim's, because I took the car and the dog with me, and watched Madison sleep while I worked out a little bit. Dave had stayed at the RV to clean the carpets and couch, which turned out great, he said they were really dirty. With all the travels since we had the new carpet put in a year and a half ago I'm sure was really dirty.
Anyway, Miss Madison would eat some, play some, talk a lot, then sleep a lot, which made it for an easy time. As she gets older I know it is going to be more of a challenge, heck, it's a challenge trying to hold her in my arms anymore, she is getting bigger everyday, I can't wait until she can hold her head up by herself without moving, that way she won't look like a drunken sailor. :)
Tomorrow's a short day, 7:30am to 5:30pm unless Danny has to stay late at work.
Saturday we are driving down to Simi to go with David Jr. and Jodi to go see 9 to 5, this is the closing weekend, then on Sunday Miss Madison is being blessed here in Bakersfield. Another 2 days of long drives, I thought we were retired and suppose to take it easy??

New Pictures Posted

2008-10-13T22:45:00.005-06:00

I don't know how but I now have my own picture album, so if you look to the left and click on Jeri's picture album (I think that's what it says) you can see all the pictures I was behind in on posting. They are pictures from the beginning of July until we got back on Oct. 10th, sorry I got so far behind.

Anyway, Miss Madison showed me a welcome home Nana surprise. On Kim's blog she has been reporting how she is having a hard time going poo poo. Kim went and got prune concentrate and started giving it to her on Friday night. She gave it to her 3 times on Saturday too and she was finally able to go. Sunday night Miss Madison woke up after we were done with dinner and I was walking her around the house. She started to get a little fussy, so Kim was getting the prune juice and bottle ready. When I held Miss Madison a little bit away from me, Kim points down to the front of Madison and it is a real dark mess. We went running to the changing table and she had poop everywhere, she had so much it came out the front of her diaper. Danny was in studying so we yelled for him to come and help. Kim ran to the bath tub and started the water. Danny striped Miss Madison and gave her to Kim who was waiting in the bath tub with the water running. Kim held Madison and Danny helped rinse her off, Madison wasn't happy at 1st but then loved the warm water. Too darn funny, I wish I had gotten a picture. I start my baby sitting duties this Thursday so I told Kim "NO MORE PRUNE JUICE" I sure hope I don't get a mess like that, but I'm sure I will.

Back in Bakersfield, California-Happy Bday Dezira

2008-10-11T17:57:00.003-06:00

Got back to Bakersfield yesterday afternoon around 2:30pm and the RV Park was pretty full on the side we park on. Low and behold there is a RV Rally going on here. It's the Van Nuys Traveler's, the one's we met last year and Kim, Danny, Dave and I hung with them and had some fun. This year they have a lot more rigs here, and last night when we got back from dinner with Miss Madison and parents :) they were very quiet and we didn't see anything going on. Dave and I were pretty tired from driving from New Mexico in 2 days, anyway, so there was no way we could have joined them.
We got to Kim's about 4:30pm yesterday and were blown away to see how big Miss Madison was. She is 12lbs now and boy sure can't hold her as long as I use to in my right arm, walking around the house with her my right arm is going to look like one of Popeye's pretty soon. What a happy little angel she is, beautiful too, but Nana Alton has the touch still, when the hot flash hit Miss Madison went to sleep. While we were at dinner she slept and when dinner was over she woke up, boy, Kim has her trained right. :)
Kim did give me the scary news, her 1st day back at work, which is this Thursday, I will be baby sitting from 6:30am until Danny gets home from work. If everything goes OK for Danny at work he should be home by 8:30pm if he has to stay then Kim should be home by 9:30pm. She has to work past 7pm because of giving flu shots from 7pm to 9pm. Let's hope she doesn't cure me from baby sitting again, just kidding, I hope.
Today we went to the house about 1:30pm after cleaning our RV, it had so much dirt because of all the dry camping we have been doing. Driving thru Arizona was like being in a wind tunnel the hole time, I even helped driving both days because Dave's arms needed a break.

I have more on the end of our Rally to post, mainly so I can look back years from now and remember what had happened so if you don't read the next blog, you will miss out on some of the funny stuff.
Sorry we couldn't drive down to Simi for Dezira's 17th bday party, but way too tired.
Happy Birthday Dezira.