Part of our group gathering at the Boardman RV Park

 Our Tour of the Redmond Police Department

 Mike @ Crater Lake

 Retro Winnebago ~1974  ~ remodeled!!!

 

Kootenia Falls near Libby, MT

Aug. Our Trip to Oregon & FMCA Rally

August 1-19... We started the month off with more work. We decided to drive to Harlem and pick out our 26 boards for the back deck. Of course that led to staining them all. All sides got one coat. We laid them on the frame and will screw them down another day. Danny, Lexi and Dad came over and we went to Kimber's for a burger.

2^nd – we drove to Hogeland to say goodby to Danny & Lexi. Then we headed to a huge rock pile and picked out a bunch of rocks for our border. That afternoon was the staining project. Can you say exhausted???
3rd- we went to church and then put down all the rocks we picked in Hogeland. We also laid out a border for some landscaping that will happen next spring!
4^th – Today was the day for screwing down the deck boards. Mike & I tackled this project on our own. We did good – we just had to go get Doug's drill mid way thru the project. Each board needs 14 screws – we put in 7 for now just to get the job done. We will add the additional ones at a later date. We also mowed, trimmed and watered the yards so it was ready for our next trip. We had a big rainstorm late in the afternoon.
5^th – Today was spent getting ready for our trip. Dixie colored & cut Denita's hair and late in the afternoon we had visitors to tour the house....Nancy S., Ron & Sandy Thompson (it was her parents house), Marge Hickel and the Gayle Doyle. It was open house day!!! Later Doug & Fran came over for Pizza and a haircut for Doug.
6^th – We headed out just after 8am for Great Falls. Dixie had an appointment for 'nerve conduction studies' on her elbow at 1p. We made a few stops to stock up for our trip and then overnighted at Dad's condo.
7^th – Left again around 8am and headed to our destination of Haugen, Mt to meet up with our FMCA group. We stopped in Missoula to meet Levi for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. Good to see him again and check out his longboard accident injuries. We arrived at the $50,000 Silver Dollar just after 3p. The rest of our group was there already. We were surprised to get a complimentary electric hookup. We all had happy hour and then went to dinner at the restaurant.
8^th – We left around 830am and headed for our next stop of Boardman, Or. We stopped for fuel at Ritzville and lunched in our motorhomes. We arrived at the Boardman Marina RV park about 230p. It was a nice park but hard to get to our site as roads were very narrow. We happy houred at Tom & Diane's site as they had a water site. Gene & Susie arrived around 9pm. 
9^th – We all headed out around 8am for Redmond. We made a fuel stop in Madras which wasn't easy for 5 motorhomes! We pulled into the Redmond Fairgrounds just after noon. We got parked with just a small amount of confusion. We will dry camp for 8 days! We then attended a Early Security volunteer meeting at 3pm. We got our duty assignments for the next 2 days. Of course when then had our Happy Hour at Klaus & Johanna's coach. 
10^th – Our shift was from 7a-10a. We worked an area where they were to be parking motorhomes for sale. However, our area was dead. Nothing happened! The area the others were working had a bit of action but not much. That afternoon Gene & Susie went with us to Bend. We drove around the downtown area and then made a stop at Trader Joes. We went back to the coach and then drove into downtown Redmond and met up with Brenda Cooper-Cole. We worked with her at Continental from 1985-1990. She works at the Police Department so she took us on a tour. Then we had a drink at the Dawg House Grill. It was fun reminiscing. We made a stop at Fred Meyer and Lowes looking for a patio table.
11^th – Today our shift was from 1p-230p...it still was not busy in our area so it was a pretty boring volunteer shift. 
12^th – We left just after 7am to make the 119mile drive to Crater Lake. We stopped at Lowes in Bend & also fueled up there. We arrived at Crater Lake about 945a. It was a beautiful site. The pull overs are all very high up and we could view the whole lake. It is a very different lake as it was formed by a volcano – it is pretty much round. The deepest point is over 1900 ft. The weather at that time was perfectly clear. Once we arrived at the visitor's center we had a sandwich and then attended a ranger talk where we learned a lot about how the lake came to be and the volcano that created it. It was very informative. Just as we were getting ready to leave the rain started! We didn't make any other stops on the way down due to the weather. We drove back to Bend and made a Walmart and Fred Meyer stop. We found the table we liked and they had it in a box at this store so we purchased it. It was on sale and then 40% off so we got a good deal. We got back to camp just before 4p and it began raining very hard. It let up a bit so we were able to get to our volunteer dinner at 6pm. 
13^th – Wed. we attended some seminars in the morning. We went with Gene & Suzie to Sisters, Or. and walked around the shops. We also stopped at Fred Meyer in Redmond where we purchase 3 patio chairs for our table. They only had that many left – we were only going to get 2 but they made a deal so we got all three for just over $16 each – another good deal. We had a short happy hour and we all went to look at the motorhome display and look at all the new models for sale....there were over 400 of them so we made a small dent.
14^th – the full rally began. We attended seminars throughout the day. We had a happy hour with a little potluck before going to the entertainment. There were 3 choices but our group went to a band called the Young Bucks. They played 50's and 60's music. It was a bit cold but we had a good time.
15^th – Friday was more seminars and shopping at the vendor booths. We curtailed ourselves, only making 2 purchases the whole rally.....Grill Mats and vents for our black/gray water tanks....exciting! In the afternoon we attended the Northwest Area gathering where we enjoyed some Pizza and visiting. The entertainment tonight was in the grand stand. We had seats down front as the volunteers were recognized for their service. The show was William Florian who was a lead singer for the 'New Christy Mintrels in the late 70's. He was excellent. He played folk music from several 60's/70's groups as well as some of his own. He had a wonderful voice and is a great entertainer and comedian! 
16^th – Dixie attended one seminar in the morning. We walked through more motorhomes and vendors. We also went into Redmond for a quick lunch and a grocery stop. The group got together for one last happy hour and then went to the evening entertainment. Tonight is was Johnny Counterfit, a comedian and impressionist. He did 25 plus different voices/characters in concert. He had a great voice and sounded so much like the original singer. He was also a super comedian! The members of his band were also great singers/musicians.
17^th – It was time to depart...we headed out just before 8am. We drove 360 miles to an Ponderosa Falls RV park in Cheney, WA. We arrived around 4p. The park is in the trees and the sites are small and lots of tree so we didn't get satellite. 
18^th – Today was a 283 mile drive. At Coeur d'Alene we went north and connected with Hwy 2 at Sandpoint. We continued on to Bonner's Ferry and into Montana. We made a stop at Kootenai Falls. We hike to the falls and then the swinging bridge. The falls were very impressive as they are much wider and numerous than most we have seen. From there it was a great lunch stop in Libby at the 'Burger Express'. We continued on the pretty into Kalispel where we made a fuel stop at Smiths. We arrived at Sundance RV Park in Coram around 530p. This is same park we stayed at a few years back. The sites haven't gotten any bigger or easier to get in and out of but it is a nice location and it is in our membership park system which means the price is discounted!!! We didn't unhook the car so we stayed in for the night.
19^th – Left Coram at 8am and continued our journey home. We stopped at East Glacier and got a cup of coffee and a sweet treat! Next was a surprise visit at our long time friend, Merelene's Beauty shop in Inverness. We missed Roger as he was back at school in Browning. We made a stop at Walmart in Havre to restock our groceries. We completed our 308 mile day at home sweet home! We had a fun trip but were ready to be home.....more work to do!!!

 The Grandkids at Ryan Dam

 The Parents & Grandparent at Ryan Dam--- in the wind!

Skipping Rocks on the Missouri

Second Half of June & July

July 1-31... Dixie headed back home from Great Falls on Tues. the first but Doug & Fran had to stay an extra day to wait for the pickup to be repaired. 
Work continued on the house. We decided to have Bob complete the frame on the back deck and we will stain and put the top boards on ourselves! We also had Bob move the Washer/Dryer to another location in the basement....so much better as we now have room at the bottom of the stairs! The other big improvement was removing the wind monitor and extra satellite dish from the rooftop. That was a job for Danny & Jerry! Looks much better and eliminated a lot of noise when the wind blows.
3^rd – Treated ourselves to dinner at Kimbers...been working hard this week!
4^th – We all went to Denita & Steve's for dinner and fireworks!
6^th – Doug & Fran's 12^th Anniversary. We all brought food and had a wonderful bar-b-que at their place. 
9^th – Dixie & Fran went to Havre to shop for groceries and 'stuff'! They brought pizza home and we dined at our house! 
12^th – The siding and deck is complete. We painted the first coat on the deck railing and Dixie painted the house foundation. Lot's of painting for one day! Dad came over and we met Jack & Carla at Kimber's for dinner. Doug/Fran & Denita/Steve are all gone for the weekend. 
13^th – Put a second coat of paint on the deck. After church we went to Hogeland and prepared lunch at Denita's for Dad. On the way home we picked some 'rock' for our landscaping in front of the deck.
14^th – Moved the motorhome to the driveway and tried out the 30amp plug that Bob put in for us. Stocked the motorhome for our trip to Great Falls and Clinton
16^th – Drove the motorhome to Great Falls. Dad went with us. Dixie took Dad to two appointments – foot maintenance & a annual VA doctor visit. We went to Borries for dinner.
17^th – Dixie & Dad had blood work done first thing in the morning. Doug flew his plane to Great Falls to pick up Dad. We all had breakfast at Perkins then we headed for our RV Rally at Bearmouth RV park between Drummond & Clinton. We made a stop at Lowe's in Helena for house stuff. The drive over McDonald pass was a bit trying. It is quite steep and we started to heat up a bit. It was slow going but it beat the road construction near Roger's Pass. We arrived at the rally around 3p. We had a nice gathering that evening and Bill & Gloria came from Missoula.
18^th – we drove to the 39 miles to Missoula and did a little shopping and took Levi to lunch at Famous Daves. That evening was a potluck with the rally group.
19^th – we drove the 15miles to Garnet Ghost Town. The road was bit rough but it was interesting. From there we drove to Phillipsburg. We walked around and stopped at their local brewery and tested on of their brews. Once back at camp we went with the group for dinner at Eckstrom's Stage Stop. We had a great meal and conversation!
20^th – Made the 175 miles drive back to Great Falls. The trip over McDonald Pass was much better today – not as hot outside!
21^st – we prepared for our visitors. Dixie found out she had a colon infection called 'C Dif' and started 10 days of antibiotics. Not sure what caused it but it has been going on for over 3 weeks.
22nd - Micheala, Tim, Adriana & Dillon arrived from North Bend, WA around 6pm.  We put some burgers on the grill.
23rd - Dixie has her annual doctor visit.  The kids did some shopping.  Brandon, Kat, Bailey and Nic arrived around 530p.  We had Italian Beef sandwiches and visited. Bailey & Nic went with us to overnight at the motorhome.
24^th – Once the crew got ready we all went to Gibson Park and took our family picture. Kat had brought their camera and a tripod. From there we stopped at the visiting Vietnam Memorial. Then it was lunch at Montana Wheat Company. We were then off to the Malstrom Air Force Museum. That took awhile as all us non-military people had to have a background check. Next stop was the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and a walk from there to Giant Springs. By the time we got back home around 6p we were pretty tired. Luckily dinner was in the crock pot. After dinner we played a game of “Hillbilly Rummy”. A good time was had by all.
25^th – Dixie had an appointment to see a upper extremity specialist for her elbow. Dad's car wouldn't start so Brandon, Tim & Mike tried to figure out the problem but didn't have any luck. Once all were ready to go we picked up some Subway sandwiches and packed our lunch and headed to Ryan Dam. We enjoyed the falls and lunch. We decided to stop at the hiking trail near the dam so a hike along the Missouri River. An the way back we made a wrong turn and ended up stopping at the river on lower river road. The kids and some parents decided to spend some time skipping rocks!!!! Our Steak Dinner was mostly prepared and cooked by Brandon...(thank you very much). It was delicious! Then it was time for another game of Hillbilly Rummy!
26^th – It was time for the family reunion to break up. Every left around 10am. It was sad to see everyone leave but we had a wonderful memorable time together. It was a first really! We packed up the motorhome and put it in storage at Dicks RV until the next trip on Aug 7^th. Danny & Lexi flew in late last night and stayed at a hotel. Dixie picked them up in the morning and they road to Turner with us. Denita & Steve came for a fair concert so we saw them for a short time before we headed back home. We picked up some sod and left a lot of our stuff for Denita & Steve to take back on Monday. Steve also couldn't figure our the problem with Dad's car. We got to Turner about 530p. We went to the dance for Tom Fairbanks's retirement however Lexi didn't want to stay so we went back and Danny stayed. They overnighted with us much to Lexi's disappointment. She planned on going to 'Shay's house'. It's the Wii machine not Shay!!!!
27^th – We put our down. We stopped at the park for Bonnie & Donnie's 50^th Anniversary party and then went to Hogeland and prepared dinner at Denita's.
28^th - 31^st – Monday & Wed we went to baseball. Tues we went to Denita's so a shrimp dinner. More work on the house. We painted the outside soffit and the inside door frames. Thurs Denita& I went to Havre for groceries & stuff. We also stopped in at the Timber Creek Assisted Living place for a tour. It is a very nice new facility and a perfect place for Dad – just not sure he is thinking he is ready for that yet! We brought some chicken back for dinner.

Jun 16-30 2104...Work was to begin on the house on the 16^th however, it rained and some of the crew were in a car accident. Bob Graff, the contractor and 3 guys came out on the 18^th and began pulling off the old siding. Wow, the house sure looks different when it is down to the bare wood – and all kinds of different wood it is! You can see the original house from 1933. Also found that looking into the attic that you can see the original roof line, complete with shingles. Work continued throughout June. The new windows were installed, the wrap was put on a house and then the new siding started going up. During this process Mike & I stained the wood for the front deck.

The 19^th was the first day completely 'crutches free' for Dixie. It's slow moving but nice walking on 2 legs again!
On the 26^th we drove to Fort Benton for our FMCA meeting. We were unable to stay for the rally. We drove on to Great Falls and overnighted. On Friday we picked up Aunt Marge and headed for Turner. Aunt Shirley and Levi also came for the festivities. That afternoon we went to Hogeland to attend the school reunion. On the 27^th and 28^th we all attended the 100^th Anniversary for the Hogeland American Lutheran Church. We enjoyed visiting with a lot of people, including previous Pastors. Dixie especially enjoyed talking to Pastor & LaMay Nybroten. LaMay was her 4^th grade teacher! The church services & meals were wonderful.
On Sunday the 29^th we all put together dinner and enjoyed it at Doug & Frans! It was a great weekend with family and friends.
The 30^th Dixie took Marge back to Great Falls. We enjoyed brunch there and then Dixie went to a follow up doctor appointment for her knee. From there Marge was dropped off at the airport. Doug & Fran were also in Great Falls. We did some Home Depot shopping, had dinner at Boston's Pizza and overnighted at Dads.

 The Lilacs in bloom in our yard

The corner cabinet I painted

June 1-15 2015....Our house is surrounded by a variety of Lilac bushes and they are in full bloom. We are gradually getting things operational. We attended church in Turner on the Sunday and Shay's softball game on Wed. Also on Wed. Doug and Fran were over and Doug & Mike got the water softener running and tried out the icemaker which was when we found all the leaks and cracks!
On the 6^th Dixie went with Fran to Great Falls where they did some house shopping and packed more of Doug & Fran's house, readying it to be leased out July 1. Doug and Mike brought the trailer up on Sat. the 7ths and we loaded up a lot of furniture. Sunday we packed and then met Kyle and Cheryl at Mary's for dinner & drinks. On the 9ths we headed back home. Mike & I drove Fran's Thunderbird. Once arriving in Hogeland the unloading began – between rain storms!
10^th – Angie and John Hebblemen came to Hogeland. Dixie cut their hair and colored Angie's. We enjoyed dinner at Doug & Fran's. 
12^th – Dixie went to Hogeland to help the ladies paint the church foundation for the big 100^th anniversary party coming up late in the month. Painted the corner cabinet later in the afternoon. The cabinet was Mom/Dad's and is around 45 years old. It's been in storage for several years – it looks new again.
13^th – Doug came over and fixed our last known water leak in the bathroom in the basement. He also replaced the solenoid part in the Frig. Just waiting for the filter now but we do have ice.
14^th – Drove to Harlem for groceries and then went to Hogeland and went with Doug/Fran to Howard's to clear out more stuff.
15^th – Happy Father's Day! We went to church and then to Adam/Shawna Billmayers for a barb-b-cue. Dad decided at the last minute that he didn't want to go so we just saw him for a short while.

Back side of Mom's gravesite

May 11th - 31st...MOVE TIME

11^th – 14^th...We got the last load completed with Doug's smaller trailer. They took it back to Hogeland, along with the Ford. We finished up the last minute stuff and put it in the motorhome. We left around 10am on the 14^th for Turner. We stopped in Havre @ the bank and then in Chinook to visit Bill & Gloria. We parked next to the house in Turner and got the key to go check things out. We turned the breaker on for the water pressure tank and heard a loud water sound....breaker was turned off immediately. Doug & Fran brought the two trailers over and Doug checked out the water. The whole house water filter was broke, he bypassed that but we still had water leaks. Turned the water off and headed back to the motorhome.
15^th We drove to Chinook for our closing at 10am. Called Gary at Gary's Plumbing and Heating to come and check out our leaks! Came back and started unloading stuff.
16^th – Unloaded both trailers with the help of Fran and Brenda Maloney. Still no water. 
17^th - 28th – We stayed in the motorhome for a week before we had water in the house!Gary fixed the biggest water leak in the pipes going to the bathtub on Tuesday. We got a little water coming out of the kitchen sink but all faucets seem to be clogged up from no use. We have cold water from the bathtub but the sink in the bathroom is non existent. 
Doug & Mike put on the new vanity top and faucet so we know have water in the bathroom. We swapped out a microwave with Denita as the one they had at school was a bit larger then the one we had in the house.
Unknown Problems we ran into due to no heat and not winterized properly – cracks or broken...whole house water filter, bathtub lines & faucet, motor in dishwasher, refrigerator water line, filter and solenoid, RO system filters, outside water faucet cracked, toilet leaks, basement shower faucet leaks, basement bathroom water line, water softener line was clogged, sewer to street clogged...the electric baseboard heat – only one works.
Items we knew didn't work....bathroom faucet, vanity sink cracked and furnace.
We gradually got our things put away. Not an easy task being on crutches. Mike had to do a lot more than he normally would have had to do in a move! The room downstairs was full of tubs that didn't have a specific home when they were unloaded. I got everything unpacked and we know have a sitting area, a spare bedroom and an office in that large room. 
We attended a ceremony at the Hogeland Cemetery on Memrial Day. I put a large planter of lilacs and a solar light at Mom's gravesite. We had the family over for burgers the day before, thanking everyone for their help with the move!
29^th – We drove to Great Falls and did some shopping for the house. We overnighted at Dad's and did some cleaning and washing.
30^th – Dixie had a follow-up doctor appointment for her knee. It was xrayed and it appears to be healing nicely. Still needs to stay off of it for another 2 weeks and then 1 additional week using it 50%, continuing on crutches. We returned the walker to Clarks. We picked up more items from Doug/Fran's and did some more shopping and headed home.

WHAT A MONTH! Don't care to repeat it! We are very thankful for brother Doug and brother-in-law Steve for being “I can fix almost anything” guys!

The New House - BEFORE Pic

May 1-10  2014....This month didn't start out so great. There must be something about the 1^st that me knee's don't like!

1^st – the weather was beautiful so we decided to take a short bike ride in the afternoon. We only made it from D/F house to the skate park (maybe a ½ mile) when I was looking back at something...well when turning back around I saw that I was on the edge of the concrete drop off. I tried to correct and the bike through me to the concrete (should have kept going on the grass but there was a big tree there and the skate park wall). I twisted and landed on my 'left' knee and elbow/arm. My first thought when I was laying there was why couldn't it be the right knee that already hurt. I quickly realized that I was not going to be able to put any weight on that leg. Mike ended up riding one bike back to the house and getting the Tracker. He drove up on the bike trail and got me and the bike in the car. We went to see Dr. Legan and then to get xrays of the knee and elbow.

2^nd – Had an appointment with Orthopedic Dr. Luckett. Found out that the left knee has a lateral tibial fracture. Elbow has soft tissue effusion but only showed the break from the last bike accident in 2008! Yes this is my 3^rd bike accident (2006, 2008, 2014). They also xrayed my right knee and found that it is bone on bone! From there I went to have a CT scan on the right knee. Then to Clarks to rent a 'walker' as I can't put any weight on the knee for 6 weeks.
3^rd – 4^th … it was a long weekend – very difficult getting around and both knees hurt a lot. The right now takes all the weight and pressure. Doug/Fran brought Hebblemen's big trailer up on Sunday to load up some of our stuff.
5^th – Follow up Dr. appointment with Ortho. Found that the fracture view from the CT showed the same as the xray....no surgery at this time! The doc tried to aspirate the left knee but the could only get a small amount of blood out due to the clotting....boy that is painful. He gave me a 'synvisc' (chicken comb) injection in the right knee. 
From there we all went up to the storage unit and Mike, Doug and Fran loaded up the trailer. They were able to get 2/3 of our 'stuff' loaded – I watched and pointed!
After all that it was time for lunch at Luz's Mexican.  Then stops at ProBuild to check out siding/windows and Sam's and the OP. It was a very long day!
6^th –  We talked to the contractor regarding the house bid.  Doug/Fran took off with the loaded trailer. I stayed put in my chair most of the day.
7^th – 10^th...We did some errands, which is not an easy task considering Mike has to cart around my 'transport chair' to get me to and from the car. I did have Doug/Fran bring up a pair of crutches that Steve/Denita had. They actually work better than the walker but my arm hurts when I use them. Hopefully that will get better with time. It's going to be a very long 6 weeks! If it rains, Doug/Fran intend on coming up again with their trailer to finish loading out stuff! We will take the motorhome and cars to Turner on Wed.

 Happy Easter 2014

 Tyler ready for the Prom

The tile job @ Doug & Fran's

April 14 - 30 2014

14^th – It was an 82 mile drive to Lytle Creek/Mountain Lakes RV Resort. We were at this park for one night in 2005 but we didn't remember much about it. It was kinda hard to find a site that we could fit in and that didn't have tree blocking the satellite but we found a corner site (7 ) which was near the pool and one of the lakes. It is a very large park and quite nice. We decided to shorten our stay by 6 days and head home on the 22^nd.
15^th - We drove into Fontana & Rancho Cucamungo, making a last stop at Costco & Trader Joes. We also went to a very good movie, 'Draft Day'.
16^th – hung out at the park and went to the pool.
17^th – We got our mail from Fran and the bank. Dixie worked in the morning and we drove back into Fontana for groceries in the afternoon.
18^th – Dixie worked all day on Medical Accounting business and Mike on other computer stuff. Made salad's for our dinner with Buster/Sandy and Easter with Marge.
19^th – We went back to Fontana to another movie, this time “Heaven is for Real'. Excellent movie and an even better book! From there we headed to Buster Sandy's where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with them, Josh, Careece, Jorden, Abby and Sean. That evening we drove to Marge's in Riverside and overnight with her.
20^th – HAPPY EASTER 2014. We started it off attending Hope Lutheran Church in Riverside with Marge, Shelly, Lexie (Aly) and Ryan. We had a nice brunch there afterwords. Danny joined us for dinner at Marge's. We had a wonderful afternoon eating and visiting!
21^st - We decided to leave a day early due to weather – wind on Tue. and rain/snow. We got on the road around 845a. We ended up staying at the Walmart in Washington, UT just out of St. George (360miles). It was a good Walmart to stay at! We walked over to Home Depot and checked out a few house items.
22^nd – Happy Birthday to sister, Denita! We woke up earlier (5am) so we got up around 6a and were on the road at 710a. Our intent was to just go 60 miles to Parowan and sit out the predicted wind. Once we were on the road we found that the wind wasn't bad and that the forecast had changed some. We ended up driving to a Passport park (Wasache View Estates) in Ogden (Farr West City actually). We made a stop at Ikea for a quick lunch and looked around there. We arrived at the park around 230p. Today’s drive was 342miles. The wind started blowing quite bit late afternoon and it rained all night long.
23^rd – We woke up to snow in the mountains! We fueled up and were on the road at 8am.    
Dixie drove today for an hour to give Mike a break – haven't done that in a while! It was a pretty drive today with the snow in all the mountains. There was quite a bit of snow around Monida pass, thankfully none on the roads. We detoured off I15 in Dillon and went to Twin Bridges and Whitehall – wanted to bypass Butte and the mountains! We decided to drive to the Helena Walmart today and overnight there (432 miles)....yes we were only 90 miles from Great Falls but we wanted to make a Lowes stop & didn't want to get into Great Falls late in the evening. We had dinner at Bert & Ernies after are shopping.
24^th – Happy Birthday in Heaven Mom! We left Helena just after 8am and arrived in Great Falls at 10am. We unloaded the items we needed for the next 3 weeks in Great Falls and took the motorhome to storage.

25^th - 28^th – We rode out to Hogeland with Doug/Fran. We made a stop at the bank in Havre to sign out loan papers. We checked out the remodeling projects at Doug/Fran's and Denita & Steve's. We even helped Doug/Fran tile and grout their bathtub area. A first experience for us. Turned out beautiful!

On Sat. and Sun. we went to Turner to check out the house! All looks good. We found that we will need a new bath vanity top as it is cracked and the plumbing is not hooked up. We did decide to have new windows and siding put in. We will contact Doug's contractor, Bob the Builder! It rained over the weekend so it was a bit soggy checking things out.
We had to check out Tyler in his Tux as the prom was on Sat. evening! He looked awesome! We drove our car back on Monday. Doug/Fran drove back, pulling their motorcycle trailer.
29^th – 30^th...We helped Doug/Fran load up some of their furniture to take back to the farm. We checked out some items at Home Depot, furniture stores, etc. We made several phone calls, setting up service at the new house. Generally staying busy. Closing date is on for May 15^th at 10am!

 Lexi & Izzy, cofounder of Surfers Healing

Mike at Coronado Island Beach

April 1 -13 2014...Desert Pools RV

April 1-13...

1st - The wind is still blowing! We have had to put down the satellite dish every evening due to the wind. The shows that did record were intermittent due to the loss of signal. We walked a bit and did laundry in the morning. We went to the movie 'Noah' in the afternoon. Dixie's knee started hurting late morning and was hardly able to walk on it by evening. The pain is in the back of the right knee (already has had 2 surgeries on that knee & a fall on the kneecap in 2008).

2^nd – wind is still blowing and is cooler today. Knee still hurts a lot so we will spend the day inside.

3^rd – Glyn and Henrietta were over for happy hour/snacks. Doug/Fran told us that Ethel Doyle's house in Turner is for sale. I explained to Mike where it was at and we were a bit curious about it.

4^th - We asked Doug/Fran to take a picture of the outside of the Doyle house when there were in Turner.

5^th – We had lunch in Desert Hot Springs and did some grocery shopping. We went to Gyn/Henriettas for HH/Snacks.

6^th – Dixie talked to Mark Rasmussen at length getting the scoop on the house. The house had been flooded about 5 years ago and Mark & Sonny Obrecht did the repair work. He said they put in a new kitchen and all the flooring was replaced. He told us the floor plan of the house. He also gave us Carol Malloy's (daughter/executor of estate) phone number in CA.

7^th – We celebrated our 24^th wedding anniversary. We went to the movie, Capt. America at Cathedral City. Very action packed but lots of violence. Afterwords we went to dinner at an Italian Restaurant next door to the theater called Trilussa. Dixie had researched it and found good reviews. We had a wonderful dinner – Mike the Chicken Marcella and Dixie Chicken in Vodka Red Cream sauce over pasta. The bread and olive dip was wonderful. Included with the meal was biscotti and amaretto!

That evening we were able to call Carol and talk to her about the house. We found out that she already had an offer for the house and it looked like it would be selling for more than her asking price. She also thought there was going to be another offer. She wanted to get it sold this week....yiks. She gave us the name and number of the realtor in Malta. Carol also sent several photos of the house – inside and out! It looks nice. Needs some paint on the outside and some in the inside. Bathroom needs updating but the kitchen is very nice.

8^th – we had Doug/Fran get the key for the house and take a look. They gave us the thumbs up. We called the realtor, Carly Bishop at Missouri River Realty and by the end of the day we had the buy/sell agreement completed and sent back to her. We offered a $1000 over the mentioned sales price.

Dixie had a massage at Happy Feet on Dinah Shore/Bob Hope. It was awesome! We lunched at Subway and did some shopping at Costco.

9^th – we found out that if we really wanted to Doyle house we needed to up our offer. Called the realtor once again and countered with a bump of another $3000.

We had a very good breakfast with G/H at the All Star Burger place just down the road from the park.

10^th – Our house offer was accepted. I've come full circle – moving to Turner 39 years after I graduated from there! Can't believe we bought a house site unseen and did it in a weeks time! Called Independence Bank to see about a loan. We gathered info & completed the loan application online.

11^th – We made contact with Karene Faber at the bank regarding what kind of loan we can get for our purchase. We scanned all the docs she needed and emailed them to her.

We headed to Aunt Marge's in Riverside at 10am. We took her to lunch at Backsteet Restaurant, a neat outdoor deli place....very good! We went back to Marge's and had cake that Dixie made and visited. Had a great day! We got back home around 530p.

12^th – We drove to Danny's around 945a and drove with him & Lexi to San Diego. Lexi surfed in the Surfer's Healing program. It was held on Coronado Island. The person that took her out was Izzy Paskowitz, the person that co-founded the company with his wife. Lexi made it up on the board a couple of times and really enjoyed it. It was her 6^th year of participating but the first time in San Diego. She loves the water. It is a wonderful program that is specifically for Autistic children. Every child gets to go out with a surf board and an instructor and are out for approximately 30 minutes. We stopped in Temecula for lunch at In & Out on the way down and at Utopizza for dinner on the way back. The wind blew horribly in Desert Hot Springs. As we were driving back into the valley it was just brown with sand blowing. The drive from Danny's to our MH was awful. It was like driving in a bad snowstorm. We even had to bring in one of the slides once we got home.

13^th – Mike watched the Master's. Dixie caught up on computer stuff. Dixie cut Henrietta's hair and we went to their site for HH. We made one more trip to the mineral water hottub to soak Dixie's knee which still hurts!

Tomorrow we move to Mountain Lakes RV which is at 3200 ft so the weather will be cooler. The past week has been in the mid to high 90's and the frig just can't keep up. Hoping to get ride of the wind and see some cooler temps!

March in Yuma, AZ

March....It was a short night after our trip from NC. We got up about 715a and went to McDonald's for coffee/breakfast. We picked up a few groceries and went to the office to pick up our refrig/freezer items. We left the park and stopped at Fry's for fuel and were on the road just after 10am. It is 168 miles to Yuma. We overnighted in the lot that Doug/Fran are staying at as our reservation at Yuma Lakes is not until the 3^rd. We had a great rib dinner with D/F and Angie. We sat around the fire that evening. The next morning, Lowell & MaryLou stopped and we visited for a bit. Then we went for a walk. We had lunch with D/F, Dixie cut Angie's hair and then we moved the MH 15 miles to Yuma Lakes. We got set up but had some electrical problems. We ended up going to Walmart after dinner to purchase a new 50/30 amp connector. That kept the breaker from tripping but the alarm still went off on the volt meter. The park people checked it out on Tue morning but found nothing wrong – guess we will just stop using the meter for now! Tue. we went for a walk and did laundry. In the afternoon we had a windshield chip repaired on the MH. Then headed into town. We ordered Tire Skirts for the MH at Specialty Sewing Senter.

The 6^th Doug/Fran came over to use the pool and join us for dinner. On the 7^th we had out carpets cleaned by 'Roberts'. They did a good job and we also had them clean our 5x7 area rug. They did it all for $45!
The 8^th Doug/Fran and Angie came over. Dixie colored Angie and Fran's hair and the we headed to the pool.
We went to the Swap Meet with Doug/Fran on the 9^th and then met their contractor, Bob/Carol at Lutz's for an early dinner.
On the 10^th we moved back to George Wencott's lot with Doug/Fran. We maneuvered the mh in so that we were paralegal with the street. This way we could hook up to the 50amp that the park model uses. We didn't have any sewer but it was great to spend the week their with them. Thanks to George we had a free week!!!
We were Alcadones, Mexico bound on Tues., the 11^th. Doug/Fran went with us. Angie and Julie/Dan also drove down. This time we decided to go after lunch so we could skip the long lines at customs. We picked up a few medicine items & a bottle of Kahlua. Mike looked for glasses but decided not to get any. We all had drinks at the patio area and then went to listen to Pepe sing at El Gourmet. We visited with him when he was done playing at 5p and then went straight through customs with NO line! We stopped for dinner at the Pepe's II Mexican restaurant on Fortuna.
Harold Struck and his friend, Dellis came over to dinner on the 13^th. Loni didn't make it!
The evening of the 14^th was attending the twilight Air Show at the Marine Base. We went with John/Angie, Doug/Fran and Todd. It was a great show- something we have never seen. Fireworks came out of a plane, helicopter, and an ultralight. The highlight at the end was the helicopter unfurling a huge American Flag as well as fireworks...talk about 'bombs bursting in air'! After the show we all went for a late Chinese dinner. Doug & Mike went back on Saturday for the regular Air Show. They really enjoyed that as well. That evening we had a group made Spaghetti dinner at Hebblemen's. It was for the Independence Motorcycle Club – the group going on the ride up and down the CA coast.
On Sunday, the 16^th we repositioned the motorhome with the help of Doug/Fran. We didn't think we could get it out of there with just the two of us. That afternoon the whole motorcycle group came over for happy hour and to finalize their plans.
On the 17^th the group left on their trip and we moved to Pilot Knob. Enroute we stopped off to have the tire skirts installed.
We stayed busy this week relaxing, Dixie working, and doing a bit of shopping. On Sat. the 22^nd we drove into the old Yuma flea market. We decided we really didn't need to go there again – mostly Mexican stuff!
Dixie went to church at the park on the 23^rd and attended exercise class several days.
We went to the movie, 'God's Not Dead' on the 24^th. We really enjoyed it and feel that it would be a great movie for all to see (Creation versus Evolution)!
On the 26^th we drove over to Doug/Frans to drop off their cooler before the group arrived home from their trip. The check engine light came on in the Tracker. We haven't figured out the cause as of yet! The wind blew horribly that day and also quite a bit on Thurs.
On the 27^th we went to Doug/Fran's in the afternoon – Dixie did haircuts and finished up some work stuff. Later we all went for another Spaghetti dinner at John/Angie's. The whole group was there for a farewell dinner.
The 28^th was move day for all...Doug/Fran left for Lake Havasu to get Dad and start heading home. We drove the 155 miles to Desert Pools RV, arriving around noon. We will be here for 17days. We are in site 68. We had happy hour at Glynn & Henrietta's. It was fun catching up with them and hearing about Glynn's accident.
The wind started blowing on Sat. evening and hasn't quit blowing! 
Danny & Lexi came for dinner on Sunday. 
We closed the month out on Monday with a trip to Cathedral City to stock up at Trader Joe's and also a Walmart stop. 

 

Bailey & Nic



A busy February 2014

February ….Sat., the 1st - Doug and I made a quick trip to Dad's to say goodbye & a stop at the Italian place. We left for our trip to Gold Canyon around 10am. We had an uneventful 2.... mile drive to Gold Canyon. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there, Canyon Vista RV resort is a very nice park with very large sites. We had a beautiful view of the Superstition Mtns. While there we drove to north Phoenix with Doug/Fran to pick up Angie Hebblemen's motorcycle, spent a portion of a couple of days working on 'work stuff', used the exercise facility and toured the modular homes (Superstition Views) area that was attached to the park. Most of the homes had a very large deck on the rooftop. They were very nice – only downside is that you don't own the land and have to pay a pretty good monthly fee. You do get the use of very nice facilities however! We took a drive to Tortilla Flats, north and east of us. We enjoyed the scenery on the way and ended up in the touristy little town (actually a few buildings). We did enjoyed some live music while there. On the return trip we stopped at Goldfield, an old mining town. From there it was a stop at Filly's Roadhouse for a beer and App. Doug/Fran went to Yuma on Wed. and then a bike trip with friends to Mexico and back on Fri. We drove to Bill/Gloria's park (Mesa Spirit) on Wed. We had dinner with them. On Thur. we drove back into Mesa to the WinCo. Friday Bill/Gloria visited our park and we toured the modular homes again!

Sat., the 8^th we took 75 miles of back roads with the RV's to Casa Grande RV Resort. This was one of our membership parks that was sold and fixed up. It's nice but we decided we like the park in Gold Canyon better! Sat. evening we got a call from Carla telling us that Dad had fallen twice and they called the ambulance. When it was all said in done they determined nothing was really wrong, he scrapped and bruised his arm and face pretty good. He was released around 11pm. Doug and I drove to Lake Havasu to see him on Sunday. We overnighted and came back on Monday. I think Dad now realizes that he just can't drink much alcohol anymore. It affects him much more after the stoke and with the medications. He seemed to be doing much better. He continues to go to physical therapy 3 times a week.

Doug had some issues with this bike on the trip back from Mexico so he had the wheel bearing replaced while in Casa Grande. Fran and I shopped the Goodwill/Salvation Army one day and tried out a Zumba class at the park. I also attended a couple of other exercise classes. Mike used the exercise room.

Friday the 14^th we flew out of Phoenix to Houston to meet up with Brandon, Micheala and families (the first time we have all been together at once since all grandkids were born. Last gathering was 14 yrs ago). We attended a memorial service for their Mom, Claudia who passed away suddenly in January. We stayed with Mike & Hope Enriquez (Kat's parents). We had a wonderful time visiting. Roger & Karen and their families also attended to the service so we were able to visit with them as well. We even got a bunch of family pictures taken!!!!

Sunday we flew back to Phoenix. The 1230p flight was full but we made the next one. We got back to the Motorhome around 530p.

The last week of Feb...Dixie worked on Mon/Tue, we went to the gym, did laundry, shopping and packed. On Thur afternoon we packed up our frig/freezer stuff and took it to the office for storage in their coolers. Friday at 700a we put the MH in storage at the park and headed to the PHX airport. We left on a flight to Fayetteville via Washington Dulles. The flight to IAD was pretty open but the flight out of IAD filled up. We almost got left behind, there was a weight restriction and when we asked about our bags we realized the agent forgot about us. We got on at the last minute and arrived at FAY at 645p. We had a wonderful Spaghetti dinner with Brandon, Kat and Nic.

On Sat. the 22^nd we got our temp. ID for Ft. Bragg, groceries and set up for our week stay with Nic (a freshman). On Sun. Brandon and Kat left for RDU where they flew to Kansas to Ft. Leavenworth for Army training classes. Kat will be back on Sat and Brandon 3 weeks later.

Our week with Nic went very well. He is pretty much self sufficient.... he gets himself up at 530a , leaves the house at 615a and doesn't return home until 7pm - I just had dinner ready for him when he got home and helped a bit with studying for tests. Monday we did a little shopping, Tuesday Nic was sick so he stayed home from school. Wednesday & Friday we picked Nic up from school and took him to track practice – he had to take a test after school due to his sick day. Thursday we drove to Southern Pines where we walked around the historic district and had lunch at the Downtown Grill. We then drove to Pinehurst and then back home. Friday Bailey came home from college in Charlotte. The four of us went to dinner that evening at their favorite restaurant, Miyabi's.

March 1 - Nic had school on Sat. due to all the snow days they have had this year. Bailey took us to the airport at 830a, which turned out to be the start of a very long day. The afternoon flight to IAD was full so we opted for the 10am one. We arrived at IAD around 1130 and our scheduled departure flight to PHX wasn't scheduled until 530p so we knew we had a wait. However, once we arrived we found that it was delayed until 7p due to late equipment from SFO (caused from the rain in CA). We hung out in the club – we checked flights, read, checked flights, watched a TV show on the computer and checked flights some more. It was overbooked and kept fluctuating. We went to get a Subway around 6p and then headed to the gate. The delay kept growing, then we did a gate change and waited some more. Finally around 8p we got the last 2 seats and boarded. Once on board and ready to go at 845p, the Capt announced we had a maintenance problem. We finally pushed back from the gate around 915p with a 5 hours flight ahead of us – separated and in middle seats of course! We arrived in PHX at 1215a local time. It was almost 'same day air service'! We then had to wait for our bags that were checked at the gate. We lucked out and didn't have to wait for the shuttle to the parking lot – it was there when we walked out the door. We were on the road at 1am and arrived back to the motorhome at 2am. It was in storage so we just snuck in quietly and crawled into bed – 22 hrs after we got up!

 Balloon Fest

Sunset over Lake Havasu

 Angry Birds Balloon

 Mike inside a balloon

Humpty Dumpty at night 'glowing'