Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Page Springs, AZ
Nov 16 – 22... Happy Birthday on the 16th to granddaughter, Adriana ~ she turns 11 today! After her early morning, before school call, we drove into Camp Verde to meet with longtime friend and Dixie's airline school and Continental Airlines roommate, Carla. The two of them had a good time 'catching up' on family and friends. Wednesday brought another move day; this time only a short drive of about 22 miles. We first stopped in Cottonwood in order to have a DirecTv technician take a look at our TV issue in the motorhome. We then continued on to a park near Page Springs, AZ. We were a bit anxious to be moving to this park after we paid it a visit a couple of weeks earlier. However, it's turned out much better than we expected. Only downer is we're in a site with no sewer hook-up. Hopefully, we'll be able to make do by using the park facilities as much as possible.
On Thursday we took a hike up the road to the Fish Hatchery and also wondered in a couple of wineries. That afternoon, we drove the 12 miles to the beautiful town of Sedona, AZ. We checked out the visitors center for hiking info, drove to the Village of Oak Valley and then stopped at the Chapel of the Holly Cross. The chapel is built in the hillside with a beautiful view of the Sedona Valley. We then walked through Tlaquepaque Village, patterned after that area of Mexico (outskirts of Guadalajara). There are galleries, shops & restaurants there.
On Friday, Bjorn the DirecTV tech came out twice – first to check out our TV wiring and again to install another receiver. We walked up the hill to the Page Springs restaurant and had B-B-Que ribs while overlooking the Oak Creek & the fall colors of the trees.
Saturday and Sunday we stayed in the park. Saturday we took a walk on a trail & Mike did some caulking on the roof of the motorhome. Sunday it rained off and on all day so we stayed inside. Dixie spent the afternoon working on a scrapbook of Adriana - one of the grandkids.
Monday we drove to Cottonwood to Walmart. We had some sunshine but it was still only in the 50's.
On Thursday we took a hike up the road to the Fish Hatchery and also wondered in a couple of wineries. That afternoon, we drove the 12 miles to the beautiful town of Sedona, AZ. We checked out the visitors center for hiking info, drove to the Village of Oak Valley and then stopped at the Chapel of the Holly Cross. The chapel is built in the hillside with a beautiful view of the Sedona Valley. We then walked through Tlaquepaque Village, patterned after that area of Mexico (outskirts of Guadalajara). There are galleries, shops & restaurants there.
On Friday, Bjorn the DirecTV tech came out twice – first to check out our TV wiring and again to install another receiver. We walked up the hill to the Page Springs restaurant and had B-B-Que ribs while overlooking the Oak Creek & the fall colors of the trees.
Saturday and Sunday we stayed in the park. Saturday we took a walk on a trail & Mike did some caulking on the roof of the motorhome. Sunday it rained off and on all day so we stayed inside. Dixie spent the afternoon working on a scrapbook of Adriana - one of the grandkids.
Monday we drove to Cottonwood to Walmart. We had some sunshine but it was still only in the 50's.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Camp Verde, AZ
Nov 8 – 15 . . . On Monday we did what we've done almost every day we've been at the Camp Verde park, that is, drove into town to either MacDonalds or Starbucks to use their wifi to connect to the internet. Tuesday we took a drive around the area and made a stop in Cottonwood and had lunch at the Hog Wild restaurant. It was excellent pulled pork BBQ. We also took a drive out to the park we go to next- Page Springs. It is a very small park with lots of trees and 'small' sites ~ hope we fit & get satellite! Wednesday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE! We drove to Prescott and wondered around Costco and Best Buy. Somehow this started our search for a new cell phone. Next stop was Jerome, a small old mining town on a mountain. The road from Prescott to Jerome is famous (at least 12 miles of it is). There are “158 curves in 12 miles”! It is a winding, curvy road with a wonderful view. Once in Jerome we wondered in a few shops and then had a wonderful Birthday dinner in a restaurant called “Grapes”. The front is all windows so we had a beautiful view of the mountain and sunset. On Thursday we went back to Cottonwood and checked out the phones at the Verizon store there. Looks like the best deal is at Costco so on Saturday we went back to Prescott and purchased our “Droid X” phone. We bit the bullet and went to a Smartphone & added a 'data package' so we can get internet. It's been fun learning how to use it & seeing all the cool things it does (wonder how we lived this long without it). On Sunday we finally got access to the parks internet, however it's not great. We can get email quickly but can't get to many websites. On Sun. afternoon we made the 38 mile drive to the little town of Strawberry ~ another curvy, hilly road. A lot of the drive was in the forest. We stopped for a cool one at the Sportsman Chalet. Monday Dixie did another haircut and then it was another trip to Cottonwood. This time to replace our remote extender at Radio Shack (one of the power cords stopped working on our other set). Can't live without it as it allow us to use the remote for the bedroom TV.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
On to Camp Verde, AZ
Nov 1 – 7...Mon...We headed out around 10am with our first stop being Dead Horse Point State Park. This is where many movies were filmed (specifically, Thelma & Louise & Mission Impossible II). The view of the red cliffs, canyon and the Colorado River is phenomenal. After a couple of stops & a walk around the viewpoint we moved down the road to Canyonlands Natl Park (Island In The Sky division). Our first stop was to eat our picnic lunch and then on to the Shafer Canyon Overlook. We made the short hike to an area where you could see trails where cattle were moved to the lower canyon to provide shelter in the winter ~ later the trail was made wider to accommodate mining vehicles. Our next stop was a ½ mile hike to Mesa Arch and then another ½ mile hike to Upheaval Dome (an inverted dome a mile wide & 1500 ft deep believed to be cause by a meteor or slow moving underground salt deposits). Either way it was quite a site. Next stop was the Grand View Point Overlook. We hiked on the rim where we could see for miles! To finish off the day we wander into a few shops in Moab and then stopped at the Moab Brewery for dinner.
Tue...Left Moab around 10am and drove 145 miles to Monument Valley where we overnighted at Gouldings RV Park. We were here 5 years ago so we just hung out at the park and hiked to an arch nearby.
Wed...We were parked in a 'pull-through' space so hooking up the car was not an issue. Our destination today is Camp Verde, AZ, a drive of about 240 miles and included many steep up and down grades of 5 to 8%. Thankfully, all went well and the motorhome performed flawlessly.
Thurs...The wifi in the park is inop and management does not know when it will be fixed. Since we depend a great deal on our computer for email and billpay while on the road, we made a trip into a MacDonalds in the big city of Camp Verde where they have complimentary WIFI. This worked fine on Thursday but when we tried it again on Friday, their system was down. Starbucks here we come. While there we were able to get online and get some things done. We made a trip to Cottonwood (11miles from here) to hit the local Walmart. We've met some of our neighbors who are from Oregon, California and Canada.
Sat...Walked to a neighboring Retirement Park that had a community garage sale going. We enjoyed the walk and checking out their stuff. Of course we made our daily trip to town (this time Starbucks) for WIFI. Mike shot a few baskets on the court in the park & then we hit the tennis court where we managed to hit the ball for some exercise. We attended a spaghetti dinner at the clubhouse and then listened to the entertainment – a family group called “Hired Hands”. They played & sang country and some classic rock music for 2 hours. They were very good and played several instruments. One of the members was a young man about 18 years old who was a Black Belt in Ti Quan Do.
Sun...Nothing specific on the agenda today. I have 3 requests for haircuts for people that are leaving soon so today may be the day.
Tue...Left Moab around 10am and drove 145 miles to Monument Valley where we overnighted at Gouldings RV Park. We were here 5 years ago so we just hung out at the park and hiked to an arch nearby.
Wed...We were parked in a 'pull-through' space so hooking up the car was not an issue. Our destination today is Camp Verde, AZ, a drive of about 240 miles and included many steep up and down grades of 5 to 8%. Thankfully, all went well and the motorhome performed flawlessly.
Thurs...The wifi in the park is inop and management does not know when it will be fixed. Since we depend a great deal on our computer for email and billpay while on the road, we made a trip into a MacDonalds in the big city of Camp Verde where they have complimentary WIFI. This worked fine on Thursday but when we tried it again on Friday, their system was down. Starbucks here we come. While there we were able to get online and get some things done. We made a trip to Cottonwood (11miles from here) to hit the local Walmart. We've met some of our neighbors who are from Oregon, California and Canada.
Sat...Walked to a neighboring Retirement Park that had a community garage sale going. We enjoyed the walk and checking out their stuff. Of course we made our daily trip to town (this time Starbucks) for WIFI. Mike shot a few baskets on the court in the park & then we hit the tennis court where we managed to hit the ball for some exercise. We attended a spaghetti dinner at the clubhouse and then listened to the entertainment – a family group called “Hired Hands”. They played & sang country and some classic rock music for 2 hours. They were very good and played several instruments. One of the members was a young man about 18 years old who was a Black Belt in Ti Quan Do.
Sun...Nothing specific on the agenda today. I have 3 requests for haircuts for people that are leaving soon so today may be the day.
Monday, November 01, 2010
Heading South!
October 28-31 ~ Our Trip South! We headed out on the 28th only to get 65 miles down the road to find out that oil was 'spewing' out the back of the motorhome. The back of the motorhome and the car was covered with oil! We had to turn around and go back to GTF to the CAT place. When they worked on the oil pan in Aug, they had put too much oil in (9 quarts too much). They drained some oil and we were once again on our way at 220p. Instead of making it to Pocatello, ID, we made it 160 miles to Butte where we overnighted at Walmart. Next's days drive was to the Walmart in Springville, UT just south of Salt Lake City. Saturday we drove 200 miles to Moab, UT. Here we stayed at the OK RV Park for 3 nights. Sunday we washed the car to remove yet more oil! We drove scenic Potash Byway 279 and went on a 3 mile hike to Corona Arch & Bow Tie Arch. Corona arch is 140ft by 105ft, one of the largest in the area ~ a beautiful view. It was a great hike where we used 2 cables and climbed a short ladder. While at the arch a train carrying Potash came through the canyon ~ it was a neat site. On the way back we stopped to watch several people canyoneering (repelling the steep rocks). It seems to be the thing to do around here.
October ...We had a condo meeting on the 5th to discuss our water problems. Not much was accomplished other than to find out it was our problem. Doug, Mike & I spent the next weekend playing in the water/mud in our crawl space. We dug trenches to make the water flow to the sump pump. What a backbraking job ~ you can't stand up down there and the clay was heavy! After a full day of work we finally got rid of some of the water. We then rented a big carpet fan and let it run for a week and then used Doug's grain aerator fan for another week or so!
From there we went outside and started to determine where the water was coming from & dug some more between our condos. After a visit from the builder we determined that 90% of our problem was coming from the grassy area between the units. So on Tuesday we began another dig project. The condo association rented a 'excavator and bought the materials' and Doug, Dad, Mike & I along with the Condo Assos. Chairman began the project of putting in a catch drain and piping it to the gutter drain. To finish our 'dig project' on the 24th/25th we dug down over 4ft in the unfinished landscaped area next to our condo to find the gutter drain there to add a drain pipe. Next spring we will determine what we want to do in that area to catch water before it enters our crawl space.
Also in Oct we were busy packing up the motorhome for our trip south. Luckily the weather held out and we did not have to winterize it before we left.
Mom is feeling pretty good and actually had 4 weeks between doctor appointments. The next on is Nov 1.
September...Dixie's Uncle Don pasted away and she attended the funeral on the 7th in Baker, MT. Aunt Marge flew in from CA & cousin Debbie & Dixie road with Dad & Mom. Even thought the circumstance were sad, we had a very nice time visiting with family. A week later Danny flew back to CA and we attended a funeral for a family friend, Brent Cresswell in Havre. We made another trip to the farm for to attend the Missoula Children's Theater play that all three nephews were in.
From there we went outside and started to determine where the water was coming from & dug some more between our condos. After a visit from the builder we determined that 90% of our problem was coming from the grassy area between the units. So on Tuesday we began another dig project. The condo association rented a 'excavator and bought the materials' and Doug, Dad, Mike & I along with the Condo Assos. Chairman began the project of putting in a catch drain and piping it to the gutter drain. To finish our 'dig project' on the 24th/25th we dug down over 4ft in the unfinished landscaped area next to our condo to find the gutter drain there to add a drain pipe. Next spring we will determine what we want to do in that area to catch water before it enters our crawl space.
Also in Oct we were busy packing up the motorhome for our trip south. Luckily the weather held out and we did not have to winterize it before we left.
Mom is feeling pretty good and actually had 4 weeks between doctor appointments. The next on is Nov 1.
September...Dixie's Uncle Don pasted away and she attended the funeral on the 7th in Baker, MT. Aunt Marge flew in from CA & cousin Debbie & Dixie road with Dad & Mom. Even thought the circumstance were sad, we had a very nice time visiting with family. A week later Danny flew back to CA and we attended a funeral for a family friend, Brent Cresswell in Havre. We made another trip to the farm for to attend the Missoula Children's Theater play that all three nephews were in.
Summer 2010
The rest of August....We had a great time with Micheala and the kids. We went to the State Fair, Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, fishing and picinicing at Giant Springs, and the Water Park. Danny & Lexi came for a week on the 13th. We all went to the farm for a few days and took in some of the harvest. We took another family photo since we were all together. We had lots of rain for August which halted the harvest for a week or so. We had some motohomer work done at the CAT place in town – oil pain leak & a valve adjustment. The day after we picked it up (20th) we went camping at Holter Dam. Mom & Dad came out on Saturday to spend the day. The weather was nice and we had a nice time relaxing.
August ...We had the motorhome front end aligned and the Crossfire system put back on the tires. We attended another baseball game on the 1st.
We haven’t had very good luck with electronics lately the camera now decided not to work. I guess we will borrow the one we all got for Dad for Father’s Day for Micheala’s visit!
Micheala, Adriana and Dillon arrived on the evening of the 3rd for a 5 day visit.
July ... On the 1st we headed back to Livingston for an FMCA Big Sky Rally. While there we attended a parade, saw the local sites and visited with rally attendees. On the 2nd we drove to Chico Hot Springs and had a great dinner. We left the morning of the
4th and arrived back home in time to attend the Voyager baseball game and the big fireworks show afterward with Mom & Dad.
Mom had a CT scan on the 9th. The results were mixed. The doctor will not give her chemo for time being. Her counts are down and he will continue to monitor her. She has been much better since the chemo was stopped.
On the 11th we started our journey to North Carolina to visit Brandon, Kat, Bailey and Nicholas. Due to heavy flights we left a day early and overnighted in Denver. On the 12th we spent most of the day trying to get on a flight from Denver to Houston. Our intent was to visit most of the day with Ruthie and then visit and stay with Roger and Karen. So must for best laid plans – we didn’t arrive in Houston until 6pm so we borrowed Ruthie’s car and made a quick trip to TIRR to visit with her for an hour or so. Then we headed back north to her house to overnight. We were on our way to the aiport by 630am on the 13th.. We did manage to make it to Raleigh at 11am where Brandon and Bailey picked us up. On the 14th we loaded up the SUV and all drove to to Valle Cusis, NC, just out of Boone. They had rented a 3 story house (cabin) for a week in the mountains. It was beautiful and roomy. Kat’s parents, Mike & Hope arrived later in the day. We had a wonderful week – visiting, hiking Grandfather Mtn & other areas, fishing, browsing an old General Store, touring the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, card playing and EATING!!!! On the 21st we had to say a sad goodbye when they dropped us off at the Greensboro airport. We made all our flight on our return trip and arrived at GTF at 1130pm where Dad was waiting to give us a ride home!
Sometime in early July we discovered once again that we had water in our crawl space ~ I guess it wasn’t from watering our tomatoes. There are several condo units that have the same problem. So far we have done nothing about it ~ we are in denial until they can figure out where it is coming from and how to stop it! On the 22nd we attended a condo picnic where we all became part of the Neighborhood Watch program.
Dad burned his foot really bad while we were in NC (17th) while removing a pan of ribs from the oven. The water/grease spilled on his left foot/toes. It has been extremely painful and slow healing.
After having problems turning our computer on while during our travels we broke down and bought a new computer. We got a great deal on an Acer at Walmart. We will leave the old one at home while we go south as it works fine as long as it doesn’t get turned off!
June ... We road with Mom & Dad on the 1st to Aunt Shirley’s in Seely Lake. We went especially to attend the “cousins” party. Along the way we stopped in Lincoln to visit with family attending George Anderson’s funeral. We stayed with Shirley for 2 nights and enjoyed our visit with family. We took in the Farmers Market, Voyager Baseball games, and Alive @ 5. We played a couple of rounds of golf at Emerald Green.
Mom continues to see the Dr. every other week. Her last chemo was on the 4th. She has had side effect from it and/or other medications (disorientation & confusion).
We decided to go ahead and replace all the tires on the motorhome. Doug bought the 2 that we purchased in Utah on our way home in Apr. Also this month Doug & Mike replaced the air filter on the motorhome.
On the 29th we headed south to Gardiner for 2 nights and a visit to Yellowstone National Park. Doug and Fran followed us on their Harleys! We spend two days seeing the sites in Yellowstone. We got a great close up of a Grizzly and her 3 small clubs as well as numerous Bison, Elk, and a black bear.
May ... Planted some tomatoes, herbs and flowers. This year everything went into pots just in case the watering near the house ends up in our crawl space. Nephew Levi turned sweet 16 on the 14th. Mom is having a hard time getting around due to a gout flare up and a change in pain medication ~ we purchased a transport chair to help. We had the refrig. checked out at McCollum RV and it now seems to be operating OK.
Apr 24 – 30 ...Had a great time at the farm. We celebrated Mom’s 76th Birthday with some friends on the 24th. On the same day we enjoyed seeing Levi in his black tux with red accessories all decked out for the prom. Hard to believe he will turn 16 in a week or so! It was neat to see everyone once again.
August ...We had the motorhome front end aligned and the Crossfire system put back on the tires. We attended another baseball game on the 1st.
We haven’t had very good luck with electronics lately the camera now decided not to work. I guess we will borrow the one we all got for Dad for Father’s Day for Micheala’s visit!
Micheala, Adriana and Dillon arrived on the evening of the 3rd for a 5 day visit.
July ... On the 1st we headed back to Livingston for an FMCA Big Sky Rally. While there we attended a parade, saw the local sites and visited with rally attendees. On the 2nd we drove to Chico Hot Springs and had a great dinner. We left the morning of the
4th and arrived back home in time to attend the Voyager baseball game and the big fireworks show afterward with Mom & Dad.
Mom had a CT scan on the 9th. The results were mixed. The doctor will not give her chemo for time being. Her counts are down and he will continue to monitor her. She has been much better since the chemo was stopped.
On the 11th we started our journey to North Carolina to visit Brandon, Kat, Bailey and Nicholas. Due to heavy flights we left a day early and overnighted in Denver. On the 12th we spent most of the day trying to get on a flight from Denver to Houston. Our intent was to visit most of the day with Ruthie and then visit and stay with Roger and Karen. So must for best laid plans – we didn’t arrive in Houston until 6pm so we borrowed Ruthie’s car and made a quick trip to TIRR to visit with her for an hour or so. Then we headed back north to her house to overnight. We were on our way to the aiport by 630am on the 13th.. We did manage to make it to Raleigh at 11am where Brandon and Bailey picked us up. On the 14th we loaded up the SUV and all drove to to Valle Cusis, NC, just out of Boone. They had rented a 3 story house (cabin) for a week in the mountains. It was beautiful and roomy. Kat’s parents, Mike & Hope arrived later in the day. We had a wonderful week – visiting, hiking Grandfather Mtn & other areas, fishing, browsing an old General Store, touring the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, card playing and EATING!!!! On the 21st we had to say a sad goodbye when they dropped us off at the Greensboro airport. We made all our flight on our return trip and arrived at GTF at 1130pm where Dad was waiting to give us a ride home!
Sometime in early July we discovered once again that we had water in our crawl space ~ I guess it wasn’t from watering our tomatoes. There are several condo units that have the same problem. So far we have done nothing about it ~ we are in denial until they can figure out where it is coming from and how to stop it! On the 22nd we attended a condo picnic where we all became part of the Neighborhood Watch program.
Dad burned his foot really bad while we were in NC (17th) while removing a pan of ribs from the oven. The water/grease spilled on his left foot/toes. It has been extremely painful and slow healing.
After having problems turning our computer on while during our travels we broke down and bought a new computer. We got a great deal on an Acer at Walmart. We will leave the old one at home while we go south as it works fine as long as it doesn’t get turned off!
June ... We road with Mom & Dad on the 1st to Aunt Shirley’s in Seely Lake. We went especially to attend the “cousins” party. Along the way we stopped in Lincoln to visit with family attending George Anderson’s funeral. We stayed with Shirley for 2 nights and enjoyed our visit with family. We took in the Farmers Market, Voyager Baseball games, and Alive @ 5. We played a couple of rounds of golf at Emerald Green.
Mom continues to see the Dr. every other week. Her last chemo was on the 4th. She has had side effect from it and/or other medications (disorientation & confusion).
We decided to go ahead and replace all the tires on the motorhome. Doug bought the 2 that we purchased in Utah on our way home in Apr. Also this month Doug & Mike replaced the air filter on the motorhome.
On the 29th we headed south to Gardiner for 2 nights and a visit to Yellowstone National Park. Doug and Fran followed us on their Harleys! We spend two days seeing the sites in Yellowstone. We got a great close up of a Grizzly and her 3 small clubs as well as numerous Bison, Elk, and a black bear.
May ... Planted some tomatoes, herbs and flowers. This year everything went into pots just in case the watering near the house ends up in our crawl space. Nephew Levi turned sweet 16 on the 14th. Mom is having a hard time getting around due to a gout flare up and a change in pain medication ~ we purchased a transport chair to help. We had the refrig. checked out at McCollum RV and it now seems to be operating OK.
Apr 24 – 30 ...Had a great time at the farm. We celebrated Mom’s 76th Birthday with some friends on the 24th. On the same day we enjoyed seeing Levi in his black tux with red accessories all decked out for the prom. Hard to believe he will turn 16 in a week or so! It was neat to see everyone once again.
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