Charlie Russell Chew Chew Train Ride

Tyler's Senior Night & Last Football Game

October 2015

OCT...The 1^st Dad had a Caradid Artery Ultra Sound and then we headed back to Turner.

The 2^nd Dixie had her hair highlighted and cut at Denise's

The morning of the 3^rd we rode with Doug/Fran to Lewistown. We met Bill and Jan Perrin there and we all went on the Charlie Russell Chew Chew Train. It rained some but it was 3.5 hours of alot of fun. We had a wonderful Prime Rib dinner. There was even a western hold up! After the train we had a drink at the Eagles and went back to the historic Calvert hotel. The next day we had breakfast with Perrin's and then drove to Great Falls. We loaded up furniture at Doug/Fran's condo and some at Dad's to take to Yuma. We decided to stay overnight and go back on Monday. We had drinks and dinner at 'The Pit Stop'. We had shrimp and broasted chicken that was very good!

The 5^th we drove back home....it had rained quite a bit so it was muddy.

The 7^th Dixie took Dad to the foot clinic appointment in Harlem and the 8^th we went to another of Tyler's football games. We also started motorhome packing.

9^th – Mike helped Doug & Steve put up plywood sheets for a ceiling in Doug's garage. Dixie worked inside. Lunch at Denita's. Phone call from Kat re Bailey's email. We went to another football game in Harlem.

The 11^th was our church dinner. Dixie cooked a 24 pound turkey and made dressing to serve 40. She also worked at the dinner. It was very good!

The 13th someone came from the Blaine County Appraiser's office to appraise out property for taxes. We did more packing through out the week and Dixie worked at Fran's and checked on Camilla. Doug/Fran went left with a load to Yuma on the 12th

19^th – Dixie helped the Hogeland Lutheran ladies make Lefse.

22^nd – We drove to Havre to Dad's VA doctor appointment (flu shot, pneumonia booster, med review) and do some errands. We stopped at Rad's Deli in Chinook for an early dinner pizza.

23^rd - Finished up our motorhome packing and getting the house/yard ready for our departure. Went to Tyler's Senior night at the football game in Harlem. It was a bit cold and we left at halftime.

24^th – Loaded the frig/freezer as well as last minute items in the mh. In the afternoon we took Dad to his camper in Hogeland and got him situated. He will stay there for the next 3 weeks until he fly's to Phoenix. Went to Doug's where Mike helped him finish up his garage ceiling. Dixie and Fran did some work. We had a steak/shrimp dinner with them. Dixie made a 'green tomato' pie with some of our many tomatoes. We had to pick them all (a bunch) and pull up the plants before leaving. We are talking many with us!!!!!

25^th – We got on the road at 1030am. Drove to Great Falls and did a few errands and overnighted at Dads. We did some cleaning and furniture rearranging at Dad's.

26^th – Dixie had an appt with Dr. Cameron at 740am to get a cortisone injection on her sore thumb (started hurting and triggering several weeks ago). Dr. said if it starts hurting next spring again she should have the trigger release surgery. He doesn't recommend more injections as it can rupture the tendon. Keeping my fingers crossed that it holds this time. We hit the road at 9am. We stopped in Butte for fuel and made a sandwhich. We drove 405 miles today and landed at the Pocatello Walmart around 5pm.

27^th – Todays journey took us the 510 miles to Mesquite. We overnighted in the Casablanca Casino parking lot. It was full but we were able to squeeze in.

28^th – We started the day with breakfast in the Casino and then headed to Las Vegas. It was only an 85 mile drive so we arrived around 1130. We met up with our friends Glenn and Henrietta at 'The Orleans' Casino. They had a room in the hotel and we had our happy hour there. After that we went had dinner at the TJI Friday's happy hour. We had a great time visiting and catching up.

29^th – We drove 232 miles to Riverside's Rancho Yurupa County Park. After we got set up we went to Aunt Marge's for dinner.

30^th – 31^st. We spent time with Aunt Marge! We went to the movie, 'War Room” which was very good! On the 31^st we went visit Buster & Sandy and went out to dinner with them.

September 2015

SEPT...This month started with Tyler's 18^th Birthday on the 1^st. We went to Doug & Fran's to celebrate with dinner. We had a quite Labor Day Weekend. Denita and family went to see Levi and Doug & Fran went to Great Falls. This month we painted the basement walls and floor as well as the inside cabinets in the upstairs bathroom/dressing room. Still using up old paint. We also laid some carpet remnants on the floor in the basement. I also decided it was time to work on making some jewelry to replenish stock for the two Beauty Salons – Custom Cutter in Inverness and Image-n-That in Turner.

The 11^th we all went to Harlem to watch Tyler play his first home football game. They didn't do so well but it was fun to watch him play.

The 12^th was a big day!!!!! It was the Suicide Prevention Walk in memory of Tristan Billmayer. We road the bus to Hogeland about noon and the 12 mile walk started in Hogeland at 106pm. We started off at the front but Mike left me in the dust about a ½ mile into it. He has longer legs! The had one mile makers along the way with water stations ever 4 miles. I had to get on a golf cart at mile 7 and road for just over a mile (at the same speed as the walkers). I started walking at the last water station and walked the remaining 4 miles with Denita and Darcy. By that time we were pretty sore – low back and toenails (ya the toes push up against the shoes) I talked to Mike and he was almost finished. Those last 4-5 miles were tough It was 85 degrees when we arrived at the Turner Park at 445p. Mike completed the walk in 3 hrs 20 min and I did it in 3hr 40 min. We had sloppy joes in the park and then went home for a rest before the program at 7pm. By the time we walked to the school at 7p we could hardly walk. My calves had tightened up and both of our toe's really hurt (not to self – before walking that far trim toenails as short as possible). It took several days for the body to recover and we are still not sure if Mike will loose his left big toenail. All in all it was a great accomplishment for a very worthy cause. I do believe Mike was the oldest person that completed the full 12 miles.

I took Dad to his camper on the 15^th to stay while we go to an RV Rally. We left the morning of the 16^th in the Motorhome for Great Falls in the rain! We overnighted there.

The 17^th we drove to Devil's Elbow on Hauser Lake, just out of Helena. Our last FMCA rally for the year look place the 17^th – 20^th. It was a great location and we were parked with a view of the lake. We went into Helena a couple of time for some shopping and with the group to the Grub Steak for dinner. a we drove back to Great Falls and overnighted. On Monday the 21^st we took the motorhome into Kustom City Fiberglass to have the crack near the back slide repaired. We left it with them. Dixie had bloodwork and then we both had a chiropractor appt.

On the 25^th we went to Tyler's football game in Harlem.

The 26^th we spent the day in Chinook for the Sugarbeet Festival. Dixie had a booth to sell her jewelry and Mike did the 3 mile run, coming in 2^nd or 3^rd. It was a fun day and profitable. We left a bit early so we could get back to Shay's performance in the Missoula Children's Theater program.

The 28^th we drove to Great Falls. We both had our annual Doctor appointment with Dr. Legan. We went to visit Harold afterwards. He had been in the hospital due to his defibrillator. He isn't doing real good as the dr. told him that it is no longer functioning and the next incident his heart will give out. We went to dinner at Applebees with Dad.

The 29^th, Mike had his bloodwork and Dixie had a mammogram. Later Dixie took Dad to his Stress Test Appointment. Both went well. Dixie spent some time going through stuff at Dad's and made a couple of trips to the Salvation Army to give items away. The 30^th was more cleaning at Dad's.

August 2015

AUG... I missed putting our day trip to Fort Peck in the July Blog. On July 26^th Mike,Dad and I drove to Ft Peck to attend the Theater...we met Doug and Fran there and saw the play “Best Little Whore House in Texas” It was very well done. We went to dinner with Doug/Fran and then left for home at 830p. Doug/Fran stayed over in the historic hotel as they were celebrating Fran's birthday which was the next day. It rained most of the way home so it was not a pleasant drive.

We started by celebrating Shay's 11^th Birthday on the 2^nd with Taco's at their house. Harvest started and stopped due to weather or ripeness. We went to Great Falls on the 9^th & 10^th specifically to get new cell phones and a new account. Mike graduated to his first 'smart phone' and we now have unlimited texting. It is not so much fun to get new phones due to the learning curve. We opted for the Motorola Droid Turbo due to it's great battery. So far that has worked out well. My old Samsung phone wouldn't hold a charge until noon! With the Droid we can go all day! Of course we had to do all our other errand while in Great Falls.

We made another trip back to Great Falls on the 19^th for Dad's doctor appt. It was with Dr. Williams who did his carotid surgery....Well we found out he should have been seeing a cardiologist instead. Luckily Dr. Williams was able to get him into see one that day at the GTF Clinic – Dr. Castriz. He is to come back in Sept for a Stress Test and a Carotid Ultrasound. Dad enjoyed his overnight in Great Falls – looking through his clothes and bringing some back. He also checked out the garage. We went to Borries to eat dinner and drove home the next day.

I refinished the TV stand. It was left in the house when we bought it. It turned out well – looks like an new piece of furniture. I also helped Fran us 'Green Apple' on her books shelves. Fran went to Oregon to pick up her Mom and was gone for a week. During that time I cooked a few times for while the guys were harvesting. We took dinner to the field twice. We did more outside projects.

I went to Havre with Denita on the 28^th.

July 2015

JULY...

We spent the afternoon at Denita and Steve's for the 4^th. In the evening we came back home and watched Turner's fireworks from our yard. Doug, Fran and Callie were with us.

Jason Warren came around noon on the 8^th to begin the old house demolition. It was quite interesting to watch. We had several people stop by and take in the show, including Ron & Sandy (Doyle). Sandy told us some interesting tidbits about the house. It ended up taking the better part of three days to take it down and fill the hole with dirt/rocks. We also had him put some gravel in our driveway.

We drove to Great Falls on the 10^th and overnighted. On the 11^th we got a taxi bright and early and headed to the airport. We made our flights to Denver and then Houston. Once there we picked up our car rental and drove to visit Ruthie. She is doing pretty good and is in a new facility that she likes. We had a great visit and then headed out to drive to Brandon's. We stopped for a Schlotzky's sandwich in Humble along the way. It was a 185 mile drive to Fort Polk and we arrived around 830p. We had a few issues with our car rental – the gave us a mid size instead of the full size we reserved and the gas tank was not full when we got it. It a couple of phone calls to get it all straightened out. We did get the sad news that Bob Ball past away on Sat. the 11^th. He had been sick with anal cancer since April. Mike had planned to go with Brandon while we were there to visit Bob. On Sunday the 12^th we drove with Brandon & Kat the Alexandria. We made a stop at Hobby Lobby and then had lunch. Bailey drove over from Spring and spent the rest of the week with us. We decided to extend our stay so we could attend Bob's funeral in Dayton on Sat., the 18^th.

On the 13^th we had a fun day of driving and sightseeing. We left around 11am and made our first stop to eat our packed lunch. Then we headed to St. Francisville where we toured a Haunted Plantation - The Myrtles Plantation. It was quite interesting. We then headed south and went through Baton Rouge and then west to our next stop....A Swamp tour out of Breaux Bridge. There were only 7 of us on the tour and it was pretty cool. We spent 2 hours on the water and it was especially neat as we saw the sunset and got some awesome photo's. We saw several alligators sunning themselves and numerous birds. We then headed west on I10 through Lafayette and stopped in Lake Charles at Applebee's for a late dinner. We made it back home at Midnight....it was a long drive but a very fun day with the family!

On the 14^th and 15^th we hung out...doing some shopping, going to Brandon's office and touring the post.

On the 16^th we all drove to Spring, Bailey and Nic in Bailey's car, Brandon, Kat and the dogs in theirs and Mike & I I our rental. We had dinner with at Mike & Hope's and we also stayed with them for 3 nights.

The 17^th Brandon, Bay, Nic and Mike & I went to a movie (at least it was cool inside). The movie was 'Mr. Sherlock'. That evening we met Roger & Karen, Casey's family and Corey's family at a Mexican restaurant in Pasadena for dinner. We had fun visiting and catching up and we got to meet the new baby, Jackson Graham.

The 18^th we drove to Dayton for Bob's funeral. It was a very nice service. We went to Brain and Tina's afterwards for burgers and more visiting.

The 19^th was travel day and of course the flights filled up. Our first try was at 9am and finally got on a flight around 3p. We spent a few hours in Denver and arrived in Great Falls around 10p. It was a long day but we did have 'same day service' for a change.

We did some shopping on the 20^th and headed back home.

Roland Dailing started replacing our roof on the 22^nd. It took a few days due to weather but it looks great!

On the 23^rd I took Dad to Havre to have blood work drawn and the back on the 30^th for his VA appointment. They now have a clinic in Havre with a Nurse Practitioner. In between those appointments I had a doctor appointment in Great Falls with an ENT, Dr. Baker. This was for the sinus infection that the Endodontist told me I had. He didn't think it was anything serious but thought maybe I should have a CT scan. Also to keep using the Flonase. The appointment was scheduled for the next morning. I ended up canceling it as insurance didn't pay and it cost over $800.

On the 30^th I took Dad to his yearly VA appointment, this time in Havre. His heart rate is low so they took him off some medications. I need to take him to a cardiologist in Great Falls to have it checked out.

 Mike @ Algadones

 Steve, Levi & Tyler and the 3D in Great Falls

Denita & Shay @ her Birthday Dinner

April 2015 ~

April....It's a lot of work traveling...we got upacked and the washing done. Doug and Fran we moving things around since they will be leaving the 5^th wheel here. They closed on their purchase on the 2^nd. They are now owner of a lot in the Yuma Foothills. It has a park model, casita, a storage shed and RV parking. The casita need work but it's a great place...we have been staying here since the 2^nd of March. That evening we had George/Coralee, Dan/Julie and John over for Happy Hour and snacks. Dixie worked on the deposit and charges for Medical Accounting Services.

On the 3^rd we moved the motorhome so Doug could get the 5^th wheel out. He parked it at John's neighbors house so it would be under covering. We moved back into the rv lot at Doug/Fran's place. We made a wonderful shrimp dinner with shrimp Doug & Fran got in Algadones. On the 4^th they headed north. We are now here by ourselves.

On Easter Sunday we went to Church at Gloria De Christo Lutheran Church. Dixie made a ham dinner for Easter. We had a nice relaxing day.

On the 6^th Dixie had a dentist appointment in Algadones with Dr. Eric Escobedo at 930am. The wind was blowing and it was a bit cool so we left right after the appointment. Dixie ended up having to have a crown on the upper back tooth. The prep work was done and a temporary crown was put on. So far I was impressed with this dentist (recommended by George and Doug). We go back on Wed. to have the crown out on. We cleaned the window tracks and vacuumed in the park model.

7^th – Our 25^th Wedding Anniversary!!!!! We started the day out by catching up on computer work...the blog, email's, etc. Later in the morning we went for an hour long bike ride. In the afternoon we decided to go to the movie 'Still Alice' at the Main Street Theater in old Yuma. It was a good movie but depressing – it was about a 50 yr old women that had early on set Alzheimer disease. Then we had a drink on the patio at the Pint House down the street. We had a wonderful dinner at Olive Garden and enjoyed reminiscing.

8^th – We made the trip back to Algadones to get my crown. We had lunch first at the El Parisco courtyard. It was quick and good! We walked around a bit and bought more Ibuprofen and a bottle of brandy. The visit to the dentist went well and only took 20 minutes tops. I still have the sensitivity to hot and cold but he said it could be that was for a week or two. Hopefully it's not a 'root canal' that I need. We stopped at Home Depot, Wally's World and Walmart on the way home.

9^th - We for a walk in morning and over to Doug/Fran's 5^th wheel to pick up stuff. Dixie worked some. We cut the window covering for the window in the park model and put on new weather stripping on the back door. We enjoyed the nice weather, reading on the patio. The last few days have been cooler and the nights have been wonderfully cool!

10^th - We drove the north frontage road for a mike to a hiking location. We hiked up the Gila Mountains for about an hour. There is much more ground to cover getting to the top but it was a bit hot and we are not in hiking shape right now...maybe when we come back in the fall. Dixie worked on creating a web blog for the condo sale....it turned out well and is a place to show interested people the photo's of the condo....gtfcondo.blogspot.com

John Hebbelman came for dinner around 530p. We enjoyed some corned beef, cabbage and all the trimmings.

11^th – Rode the bikes in the am and then decided to go out for a bit.

12^th – Aunt Marge's Birthday. Went to the flea market, however it was all but closed up as it was the last day for the season. We did have lunch there and bought a few things.

13^th – Made one more trip to Algadones as Dixie's jaw is real sore and the teeth are very sensitive. The appointment was at 1p but didn't get in until almost 2. He filed down a couple of teeth and but some liquid stuff on the crown to help with the sensitivity. He also prescribed a muscle relaxant for a week to help with the jaw clenching. It seems better for now. We spent the rest of the afternoon putting stuff away in the motorhome and prepping the park model for summer.

14^th – we rode the bikes for awhile in the am and them summerized the park model. From there we went to John's and Dixie gave him a haircut and Mike put some antifreeze in Doug's fifth wheel. We then drove to Julie & Dan's to see their new house and ask some question on selling our condo. Julie has sold several! She was lots of help.

15^th – We locked everything up in Yuma and headed north. Today's drive is only 85 miles to Quartzsite. We decided to overnight in front of Bob & Cheryl's house since their neighbors had just left that morning. We spent the afternoon visiting and then had dinner with them. After that we played 9 holes of card golf.

16^th – We left Bob & Cheryl's at 7am. We made a stop at Love's for a fuel topoff, coffee, and a breakfast sandwich. We drove 390 miles to Cedar City and overnighted at the Home Depot parking lot. It was next door to Walmart and they were pretty full. It worked out great. We made a Walmart run and found something for dinner. Dixie's jaw and tooth are still hurting. She called the dentist in Great Falls and left a message but didn't get a call back. The winds were high park of the day and the weather between St. George and Cedar City was drizzly.

17^th – We left just after 7am. We stopped on the other end of Cedar City at the Love's and fueled up and were on the road at 748am. We drove 465 miles to the Walmart in Idaho Falls. Dixie drove for about an hour today south of Salk Lake to give Mike a break.. After a fuel stop in Idaho Falls, we arrived in our destination around 5p. We shopped a bit at Walmart.

18^th – We hit the road around 725a. Today's drive was 350 miles to Great Falls We fueled up at the Pilot there and parked in front of Dad's around 3p. Denita, Steve, Levi & Tyler were there. We all went to dinner at the 3D. We overnighted in the motorhome.

19^th – Denita & Steve drove our Tracker home. We did some shopping and in the afternoon went to Harold Struck’s to visit. Levi stayed overnight at Dad's again. We enjoyed dinner in the house and slept in the house. Dixie worked on the buy/sale agreement and printing take one flyers for the condo sale.

20^th – Dixie went to Dr. Crane (Chiropractor) at 8am. We went to Chicago Title to talk to them about our condo sale paperwork. The 'Buy/Sale' agreement we have looks good – we are set – we just need a buyer. From there Dixie went to Dr. Cammeron about her trigger thumb. He gave her an injection (cortisone) with the hope that the injection will correct the problem, if not it will require a trigger release which can be preformed in the office at a later date. We then met Levi for lunch at Hoagieville – he then left for Missoula. We ran some more errands and then met our renter's at the condo. Mike checked out the crawl space and determined that there is no water down there..yeah! We put the sign up in the yard – the condo is officially for sale! Karen told us of a possible lead for a buyer. There is a lady that is renting 219 35^th Ave and is interested in buying a condo in this complex. We went to visit with her and leave her a flyer. Her name is Linda Graff. We are keeping our fingers crossed?

21^st – We left Dad's just after 9am. We made a stop at the Cennex station to dump our holding tanks. We were on our way at 945a. We made a couple of stops in Havre. Walmart for a few more groceries and a stop to pick up parts for Doug. We fueled up in Chinook and made a stop in Harlem for more parts for Doug. We completed our 189 mile trip arriving in Turner around 230p. We unpacked the kitchen that day and left the rest for tomorrow!

22^nd – We unpacked the remainder of the motorhome! What a job...the least favorite part about traveling. Around five we drove to Denita & Steve's to check out the kitchen remodel. It is very nice! Looks like a different kitchen. From there we went to Doug & Fran's for a Birthday dinner for Denita! We had b-b-qued steaks and everything that goes with! Dad drove his car over and I rode with him (it was a white knuckle ride for me but he did ok, but he drives tooooo fast! If there was any kind of deviation he would be in trouble with reactionary time.

The remainder of the month we worked in the yard, picking large rocks for out borders, shoveling dirt, and general yard stuff! The other big thing we did was get all our 'condo for sale postings' done...Craigs List on the 25th and Zillow on the 26th. We received quite a few calls initially.

On the 25^th Dixie helped Denita and the Jr. class ( Tyler & Brett) decorate for the prom. Dixie went to Havre with Fran on the 30^th.