October - November - December 2016

Aunt Marge & Dixie

DECEMBER – This month was busy as usual. On the 9^th we drove to Danny's to help him go through Darshelle's things. We stopped in Indio and met Henrietta for lunch at In & Out. We arrived at Dannys around 3p. We went across the street for dinner at the Mexican place. On the 10^th we started bright and early in Darshelle's apartment opening boxes, sorting out what to keep & give away. It was all quite overwhelming as there were many, many boxes that had never been opened after their move in July. Also it was packed with furniture. We thought we would get it done in a day but we just made a dent. We decided to stay another day and keep going. By Monday morning we had the SUV full and at least 40 give away boxes ready to be picked up. There is still more to do but we got through all of it! Danny will work on getting rid of the furniture. On Monday we stopped and had lunch with Sandy at Cal Baptist U. Then we went to Aunt Marge's where we overnighted. She had a meeting at her house so Mike & I went to out to dinner. On the 13^th we headed back to Yuma once again – with a stop at Henrietta's for Brunch. I made Christmas snacks/cookie that week. We mailed a box to Brandon & family on the 17^th and Dad on the 19^th. Doug/Fran were in Phoenix for a couple of days when they took Bonnie to the airport. Danny and Lexi were to arrive for Christmas on the 23^rd but they ended up not coming. On Christmas Eve we attended church and then came back to some delicious Seafood Chowder that Doug/Fran made. On Christmas day we all decided to go on a hike to the 'flag' which it on top of the Gila Mountains. We drove as far as we could in the desert and began our hike. We walked 1.25 miles to the Jester Trail trailhead. From there we headed up the mountain. Well we made it almost to the flag. The last 100 feet was pure rock uphill and by this time we were getting pooped and we still had to get back down and cook Christmas dinner. By the time we got back to Doug's pickup it was 4.25 hrs and 6.5 miles later! It was a great hike with wonderful views. On the way home we stopped at George and Coralee's for a beer and conversation. We ended the day with our Cornish Hens on the grill with stuffing and brussel sprouts and pecan pie! A wonderful day!

On the 27^th Dixie had a facial and chemical peel at the NiSpa! It was a first and wonderful experience!

We had a very small rock chip repair done and ordered a license plate holder that Doug put on the SUV.

Mark & Danielle, friends from Nova Scotia that are in Indio came for a visit on the 29^th. We all went to Algadones on the 30^th and then to Lutz's for lunch/dinner. We enjoyed evening around the fireplace visiting. They left on the 31^st. We stayed in for New Years Eve. We grilled some steaks and watched a movie! No we didn't see the new year in!

North Rim of Grand Canyon

Andy & Linda

Carlsbad Sunset

NOVEMBER – We headed out this morning with a stop at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This was a first on this road of us. It was pretty quit as the lodge had just closed the day before. We hiked out to a point and had a spectacular view. We felt the scenery at the North Rim was just a good as the south and some of it even better. We had our packed lunch and then continued on the trip. After the detour we continued on to Page, AZ where we stayed at the Best Western Lake View. We had a nice view room with a view of Lake Powell. We drove around a bit and saw more of the lake. We enjoyed some BBQ at a local Texas place. On the 2^nd we headed a bit further south. Today's stop was in Dewey, AZ, just out of Prescott. We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Andy and Linda Younger, high school friends of Mikes. They had a very nice place in a park. We enjoyed dinner out and then overnighted with them. Dixie got a bit sick overnight and in the morning. We went to a neat organic restaurant in Prescott with them before leaving around 11am. We continued on to Quartzsite where we stayed overnight with Bob & Cheryl. Dixie cut Cheryl and Linda's hair and we had a nice happy hour with Jim/Linda and Bob/Cheryl. Cheryl cooked dinner and we visited. Early on the 4^th we headed for our final destination of Yuma Foothills. We stopped at Doug/Fran's and unloaded our stuff and then drove to Algadones for Mike's dental appt to fix the crown that had come off. They prepped him for a new one and we were headed back to unpack. We managed to stuff all our stuff into Doug/Fran's park model. On the 5^th Dixie did 4 haircuts! The DirecTV installer came and got us set up so we are in business! On the 7^th we headed back to Mexico to get Mike's crown put on. It didn't fit right so they had to make a new one so that means one more trip to Mexico! We had munch at El Gourmet with Doug/Fran and then we drove to Carlsbad, CA where we stayed with Aunt Marge at her Tamarack Resort Condo. We spent 3 nights with her and had a great time. Lexi and Ryan visited the first day. We did a bit of shopping and walked on the beach. On Thurs. the 10^th we celebrated Mike's Birthday with a drive up Highway 1. We ended up at Danny's in El Segundo. We went to Manhattan Beach to the Fish Bar for dinner. We overnighted with Danny for 2 nights. On the 11^th we drove Danny's convertible around...Hollywood where we walked around, up to Griffith Park & the Observatory (too crowded to even park there). We then drove Mulholland Dr and stopped at the Hollywood Bowl overlook...beautiful scenery. We had dinner on the that night at Britts BBQ with Danny. We left on the 12^th and headed to Indio. We stopped at the COD Street Fair to shop a bit and then headed to Henrietta's at the Happy Wanderer RV park. We had dinner & overnighted with her. Dixie cut here hair the next morning and then we left for Yuma. We drove the east side of the Salton Sea and made a stop at “Salvation Mountain” and “Slab City”. We had heard a lot about this place but had never stopped. It was an interesting site.

Fran's sister, Bonnie is staying in the Casita for awhile. On the 16^th Fran, Bonnie and I went shopping. On the 17^th we drove Doug & Fran to the Mesa airport so they could fly back to Montana for a Dr. appt and other stuff! They drove the convertible down and arrived on the 28^th. We went to John and Angie's for Thanksgiving. On Black Friday we went to look at SUV's at the Sears Parking lot (we looked at some a few days earlier at another dealership). Well, we found a very nice 2013 Lincoln MKX (White Platinum Pearl) with only 19,000 miles. Well before that day was over it belonged to us!!!! We decided to sell our Ford outright. Dixie made up a sign and Mike cleaned it up and the next Wed. the 30^th we put it on a lot on Foothills Blvd for $20 for a week. The next morning we started receiving phone calls (5 throughout the day). The first guy that called met us that afternoon for a test drive and the 2^nd couple were there as well. Both drove it and the first one that called bought it for our asking price of $4595. We did a few issues as in AZ a car with a 'salvaged title' has to be inspected before if can be registered. After several phone calls to MT and AZ DMV and $50 we got it straightened out. The sad news this month was Darshelle, Lexi's Mom. She ended up in the hospital on the 14^th where she found out she had a large tumor in her colon and also in the lung. Both were felt to be cancerous. She passed away on the evening of the 23^rd. It's going to be very hard on Lexi.

Mike & Micheala

Adriana & Dillon

Dad & Dixie

OCTOBER – Another trip to Great Falls on the 3^rd! We stopped in Havre to pick up Dad about 845a. Once in Great Falls we left Dad at the condo and we ran some errands. We brought lunch back and then we headed to our appts with Dr. Legan at 130p & 215p. All good there! We went back to pickup Dad and headed to his 330p appt with Dr. Santin. We had to wait there a bit but got his stitches out. All looks good, the upper eyelid droops quite a bit but hopefully that will get better with time. We all had dinner at Murphy's in Havre and then we took Dad back home. We got home just after nine after driving in the rain all day. We had our first freeze and snowfall on Tue the 4^th. It hung around til Friday then warmed up to the high 50's on Sunday. We put a lot of our outside stuff away as more cold and snow is arriving Sunday night. We planted our Blue Spruce tree on Sunday on the one nice day. Hope it survives the winter weather coming! On the 10^th we woke up to snow once again. It continued snowing throughout the day with 5 inches by noon. On the 14^th we went to Havre an took Dad to an appt with Dr. Boes. We attended Shay's Basketball game that evening. On the 21^st. We fly out of Great Falls to SEA. We rented a car and stayed with Micheala and Tim until late Sunday and flew back to GTF. We overnighted in Great Falls and headed back home on the 24^th. Due to the incoming weather we decided to leave a day early, heading south. On the 29^th we visited Dad in Havre and then went to Shay's basketball game. From there we drove to Great Falls and overnighted. Sunday the 30^th we drove to Butte. We stayed with Shelly and Jim. Tyler and Jody came to visit. We had a wonderful afternoon visiting and a great dinner with them. Just before 7a on the 31^st we headed south. We drove over 700 miles to Hurricane, UT where we overnighted. We had a nice Chinese dinner just down the street from the Travelodge.

Sunset in Turner

 Mountain Meadows RV Park - Hungrey Horse

Libby Dam

 Danny& Lexi

Harvest

Beartooth Highway

SEPTEMBER 2016

SEPTEMBER – On the 7th we headed out in the motorhome for our last rally of the season. The first stop was Havre for Dixie to see the Chiropractor. It was a first visit to Dr. Adams and it went very well. Then a stop at Dad's and on our way. We hit rain at Browning and drove in it to our stop in Hungry Horse. It was raining a lot when we checked into Mountain Meadows RV Park. It was a wet hookup! On the 8th we headed to Libby with a couple of stops in Kalispell. First at Pierce RV and then Costco & Walmart. Mike hopped to get a quick check up on the hearing aids but they weren't able to do it. We made an appt for Sunday morning. We arrived in Libby around 2pm. We all went to dinner that evening. We had a fun rally once again. We didn't tow the car so we went with Dave & Sharon Miller to the Libby Dam on Fri. and that afternoon into town to the local brewery. We conducted our last Big Sky FMCA meeting on Friday. Kathie & Andy came from BC. It went well except for Mike, Susie & I all sitting down on the picnic table bench at the same time – causing the table to tip backwards. Mike is feeling the effects in a side/back muscle that he pulled while trying to keep us from completely tipping over! Saturday we went with Dave/Sharon to the Nordic Festival parade and walked around. We had lunch with them afterwards. We left Sunday morning before breakfast to make the 10am Hearing Appt at Costco. All went well and we also purchased a nice Blue Spruce Tree for our yard. On our drive back we hit rain once again and had it most of the drive to Havre. We stopped to see Dad and bought groceries. We decided to overnight at Walmart in Havre so we could go to the movie “Sully” and also pick up a part for Dad on Monday morning. On the 14th we went down to the bar to have a drink to celebrate Steve's Birthday. We also got a call from Timbercreek advising that Dad's eye was looking bad. I made an appt with Dr. Obie for Fri. Dixie worked at the school on the 15th. The 16th we took Dad to Dr. Obie and found out that his left bottom eyelid is inverting inward causing abrasion to the cornea. He said it would not correct itself and that he needed to see someone to have it surgically corrected. In the meantime we must tape it open. From there it was a VA appt at 11am. Dad came home with us so I can put in an additional antibiotic drop and tape the eyelid.....easier said than done! On the 19th Dixie drove to Chinook to to get her mouth night guard. Afterwards she went to Hebbelman's to cut John & Angie's hair. Dr. Obie called and advised that he was able to get Dad an appt on Thur with Dr. Santin, a plastic surgeon in Great Falls. On the 22nds we drove to Great Falls for a 3pm appt. We overnighted at the condo. We went in early the next morning to get our bloodwork done for appt next week. The 24th was the Tristan Billmayer Suiside Prevention Walk. It started at 9am at the Catholic Church. We made the 7.5 mile walk to Turner. The weather cooperated and it was just the right length. Much better than last years 13 miles. There was a great story about it on the KRTV news. Afterwards we had an excellent Brisket dinner in the old Gym and then listen to a speaker. The 26th I drove Dad to Great Falls and overnighted. Dad's surgery was the next day. It was a long day but it all went well. I also had my Mammogram that morning. Doug & Fran were in Great Falls as well. We overnighted on Tue and I drove Dad back to Havre on Wed. Our new living room furniture was delivered on Tue......Mike got it all set up! Another fun filled month!!!

AUGUST 2016

AUGUST – We took an Uber car to the Sheraton hotel in Springfield, MA. We walked around town and had lunch and then walked (1.8 miles) to the Exposition center for our meeting with our NW Area FMCA group. Kathie gave us a run down on what would be discussed at the meeting. Afterwards we went to the RV of a couple and had a glass of wine and they gave us a ride back to the hotel. Dinner that evening was at the hotel. The next day, the 2nd we again walked to the 'Big E' (in the rain, with a stop at McDonald's for a quick breakfast). Today was a pre-meeting going over what would happen at the Governing Board meeting on Wed. They provided a box lunch afterwards. From there we took an Uber to the Basketball Hall of Fame. We toured that for a few hours and walked backed to our hotel. We rested a bit and then walked around town some more. We walked through the Dr. Suess park and then stopped at a local bar for a local microbrew. Dinner was appetizers at the hotel. On the 3rd we walked back to the Big E for the Governing Board Meeting (this time in the fog & another stop at McDonald's). The meeting was over by 1pm. We walked back to the hotel and chilled. We took an Uber back to the fairgrounds where we met our NW area group for dinner at Storrowtown Tavern. It was a neat 18th century setting. Mike had Yankee Pot Roast and Dixie had lobster casserole. The NW Area FMCA paid $50 towards our meal! It was fun visiting with the group. Another couple from WA gave us a ride back to our hotel. We got an Uber car early on the 4th back to the Hartford airport for our 8 something flight back home. We made a connection in Denver where we met up with Danny. We arrived in Billings around 1p. Of course the new rollerboard bag has to be checked and it got scratched up! We headed to Costco as Mike had an appt to have his hearing tested for hearing aids. He will test drive some next week when we return. We headed out of Billings shortly after three. We had dinner at the Turner bar and Danny overnighted with us. On the 5th Denita/Steve picked up Dad and brought him to out. We had dinner at Dougs/Frans and he came home with us. On the 6th we had a wonderful Brisket dinner at Denita's. Danny stayed until Sunday, the 7th and drove Dad's convertible back to CA. He is buying it. On the 10th we took Dad back to Havre. The 11th found us driving to Billings once again, this time in Dad's Motorhome for a FMCA rally in Joliet. It was a long, slow drive on the hilly road to Billings. Never realized how many up's and down's there are. We were a bit lat for Mike's appt at Costco hearing but all was well. He got fitted for 24 hr trial hearing aids. We stopped for fuel and then headed for Joliet. We dry camped at Will/Shirley Ketterling's place. We had a wonderful rally with lots of wonderful food provided. On Friday we drove back to Billings to return the hearing aids and do a bit of shopping. On Sat. we drove the Beartooth highway to the top and turned around. When back in Red Lodge we walked through the festival and had beer at the local brewery. On the 14th we headed back home. On Sat. we found out that Buster was in the hospital with heart problems. On early Monday morning we found out he had passed away. On the 21st we headed back to Billings to catch a flight to California for Buster's service. Mike had an appt at the Costco Hearing center first to get fitted for his Hearing Aids. It went quick and we were able to get on our 130 flight to Denver. We arrived in Los Angles later in the afternoon where Danny & Lexi picked us up. He lives just a mile or so from the airport. We walked to a local bar/restaurant and had a great dinner. We overnighted with Danny and in the morning walked the mile down to El Segundo beach. Then we took the convertible and drove to Aunt Marge's. We stopped in Corona and had lunch with Roger & Karen and Sandy. We then went to Sandy's apartment to visit. We had dinner with Aunt Marge and stayed overnight with her for two nights. Tue. we met Roger & Sandy for Breakfast. We visited with Marge in the afternoon and then we all went to the Spaghetti Factory for an early dinner. We drove on to Corona for Buster's Viewing at the Pierce Brothers Crestlawn funeral home. On the 24th we drove back to the memorial park to attend Buster's graveside service at 10am. It was a wonderful celebration of his life and what he meant to so many people. Afterwards we went to their church, Grace Fellowship for a wonderful lunch and fellowship. Our nephew, Casey from Texas flew in so it was great to see him. We also were able to visit with Charity, Andrew & family and Carece & family. We took a different route back to Danny's & drove the coastal road for a bit. We walked back to The 'Tyler Surfboard' store we saw on our walk on Monday to buy Tyler a Birthday present. Danny, Lexi and us walked to the 'famous Mexican restaurant' for dinner. It's not quite as good as in the past! On Thursday really early we got an Uber car to LAX to catch our flight back to DEN/BIL. We arrived in Billing around 1245p. On the 30th Mike had an eye appt with Dr. Obie in Havre. The 31st we went to Chinook to the dentist. We had our teeth cleaned and Dixie had an impression made for a new mouth guard. Oh and in between all that we took dinner to the field for harvest a few times! WHAT A BUSY MONTH!

 Brandon's Change of Command

Just missing Bailey