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!