John & Linda's Travel "Adventure"

Jaxson Comes for Another Visit

2011-11-23T23:16:00.000-08:00

I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that our DIL Suzanne fell in her kindergarten classroom and broke her small finger. That made it had to take care of William Jaxson, so we offered to help her by taking him back to the Village with us for a few days. That’s the good news! We had a ball.

We took him for a long walk along the creek, played with him with his new toy, the alphabet train, and oh, we did take him to Disneyland so see all of the Holiday decorations!

His favorite TV show is Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse. Well, in California Adventure they have a live show with puppets that brings the clubhouse to life.

We were a little concerned that he might not feel comfortable inside the theater. When the doors opened there were no chairs or benches. The floor was carpeted and everybody sat on the floor. Kind of tough for an old man like me. Then it got real dark and few kids started crying. But as the show started Jaxson was fascinated.

After the show we went over to Disneyland to see the lights. Our timing was not great because everyone was lining up for a parade. We fought our way down Main Street, and then onto It’s a Small World.

They have a huge Christmas Tree (not a Holiday Tree) where the giant pumpkin was last month. So we had to have a picture!

Those annual passes are really working out well. And we’re getting a lot of exercise with all of the walking!

The MOHO Moves, and So Does Matt & Suzanne

2011-11-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

Matt & Suzanne are moving to a new house. It’s closer to both of their work, and the house is almost as large as their previous house. For those of you who don’t know, they short sale their house, which was a very good move. We took the MoHo to Wilderness Lakes, which is not one of favorite campgrounds. They have some canals there that attract ducks & geese. Very pretty animals, but they poop anywhere they want, usually by the campers.

Of course there were a few problems. The moving company was supposed to be there between 8 & 10. They showed up about 1:00pm. Linda & I got up at 6:00am (I know, hard to believe) to pick up Jaxson and go to the new house to meet the cable & internet installer. He was supposed to be there between 8 & 5. A long time to not be late, but Matt wanted to make sure he had internet access. He showed up about 3:00 pm. Oh well.

Of course the movers brought to small of a truck. They really packed it in tight, but there was still stuff left over. Matt & I spent Sunday, in the rain, loading our cars and ferrying it over to the new house. The good news is we got everything moved by late Sunday afternoon. And we got to spend some fun time with Jaxson. He’s growing up so fast. He doesn’t walk much, he runs everywhere now!

On Monday we headed back to the Village, tired but happy that we could help Matt & Suzanne, and spend time with our Grandson.

Landscape Update & Garden Center News

2011-10-29T20:31:00.001-07:00

Look at this-A blog two days in a row. I wanted to share some changes here in the Village. If you read one of our posts last year about the landscaping in front of our condo-click on this link for a reminder http://jchuber.blogspot.com/2010/11/landscaping-update.html, I thought I would show you how the plants are maturing.

Here’s the front of the condo with the roses in bloom.

On the side yard we have added a lime tree and some additional plants to fill in the slope area. The water tends to run off the slope when the sprinklers run, so it’s hard to get anything to grow.

The big news is that our friends Bob & Ronnie have share their garden plot in the garden center with us for the Winter. The Village has two areas for community gardens, but there’s a waiting list to be assigned one. We’ve been on the list for two years, but we still don’t have a space. Here’s a view of the garden center where we’re growing some Winter veggies.

Here’s our planting area. We’re planting strawberries, lettuce, spinach, peas, carrots, and beets.

We’re having a lot of fun planting. As long as we’ve been married, we both have enjoyed working in the garden. Especially Linda. And this gives us space to play. I’ll let you know in the Spring how everything grew, and if you live close we’ll share some of the bounty.

I’m Starting the Blog Updates Again

2011-10-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

I know it’s been a long time since the last update, but I thought I would try writing again. When we got home from our trip to the Northwest, I was kind of blogged out. And not much of interest happens in Laguna Woods Village. But we do keep very busy. So I think I’ll try boring all of the readers with our humdrum everyday life. I’ll try to liven it up with photos, rumors and commentary on all those subjects I’m such an expert on! I don’t know what, but I’m sure something will come up. I don’t know if I’ll blog everyday, but I’m committed to at least twice a week until the end of the year.

Just to add some of what’s been happening, most of the great things during the summer concerned our Grandson, William Jaxson. He turned 1 in October and we had a big party at an OC Regional Park.

It was a very fun party, with BBQ hamburgers & hot dogs, with all of the trimmings. The theme was Mickey’s 1st birthday. It was a lot of fun with good friends and family.

Jaxson was spoiled as required for a 1st birthday with lots of balloons, presents, food and fun. He had a lot of help with presents from all of his cousins.

If you want to see all of the photos from the party, check out the album by clicking on this link.

https://picasaweb.google.com/109735798411810657853/JaxsonS1stBirthday#

If you want any prints from the party, email me and I’ll print them out and mail them to you.

Later in the month Linda and I had a special treat of watching Jaxson for a weekend while Matt & Suzanne started packing. They sold their house so they’re moving into a rental house in the first part of November. It’s so much fun having our little grandson visit us in the village. On Saturday we stayed around the condo playing with his toys. On Sunday we visited Disneyland using the annual passes we got back in July. The park was decked out for Halloween. We didn’t know it, but there was a special event for the Children's Hospital in Orange County, so the park was very crowed. But we did have fun, and didn’t feel stressed to see everything in one day because we knew we could come back. Here’s a picture of Jaxson with Donald.

As you tell, Jaxson wasn’t quite sure about it. We rode the Casey Jr. train in Fantasyland.

And as we were leaving the park we got a group shot at the big pumpkin.

Here’s a link to all of the pictures.

https://picasaweb.google.com/109735798411810657853/Disneyland10162011#

We’ve been keeping busy. I taught a beginners class on Windows 7, Linda has been taking 2 classes on beading, I’ve been working in the PC workshop and Photo Lab every week, Linda has been taking an Aqua Fitness class 3 times a week, and we just starting gardening in the garden center. More on these activities later, and I’ll be doing some flashback posts to the highlights of the summer-fall. We hope you enjoy the posts & photos.

A Long Hard Driving Day

2011-06-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

We left Eureka with a goal of making it South of San Francisco. Looking at our options, we thought the Thousand Trails Preserve at Morgan Hill would be a good overnight stop.

The road started out really good with 4 lane divided highway that we were on the previous day. But when we got to the Richardson Grove area it turned into a narrow 2 lane road with tight curves all the way down to Leggett. They didn’t want to cut down any of the old Redwoods, which is a good thing, but it did make for some slow driving.

After that it got better as we made the slough through Sonoma Wine Country, Santa Rosa, and Marin County. We were careful because we didn’t want to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and get dumped into downtown San Francisco, so we took the east side freeway, I-580 past San Quentin and over the Richmond Bridge.

We rejoined the 101 south of San Jose, and an hour later we were pulling into Morgan Hill after about 8 hours on the road. And did I mention that there’s no rest stops on this whole drive, so stopping is difficult. This is a typical TTN preserve, meant for camping, not overnight stops. All the sights were gravel and in trees. The park was pretty full and we had a little trouble finding a site. They’re all 30amp sites with no sewer, which was fine because we were just going to be there overnight. The layout is a little different from most campgrounds in that the utilities for 2 sites are in the middle, so one rig pulls in facing one way, and another rig pulls in the opposite way.

Tomorrow will be a short drive to Santa Maria where we’ll spend 2 nights preparing ourselves for the final drive through Los Angeles.

The Tallest, But Not the Oldest or Largest

2011-06-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

We’re talking about the coastal redwoods in our blog title today. We drove south heading for the Avenue of the Giants. But we wanted to make a couple of stops first.

Our first stop was the big city of Loleta, with a population of about 500 souls. The reason we wanted to stop was the Loleta Cheese factory. As most of you know, or can tell by looking at me, I love cheese and this factory makes over 30 varieties.

They had samples of everything. We ended up buying some sharp cheddar, jack with garden vegetables, and a very creamy fontina. It was a very good stop.

Around the corner from the cheese factory was the Loleta Bakery. I had to stop there to check out the cinnamon rolls. They were really good, and we also bought a loaf of sourdough bread, which we enjoyed over the next few days.

Our next stop was Ferndale, CA. It’s a Victorian village in the middle of farms. The whole city is a National Historic Site. Here’s some pictures of the downtown area.

It had some great shops and galleys along the downtown area.

Finally we made to the Avenue of the Giants. It’s the home of the Coastal Redwoods, which are a different species from the Sequoias near Yosemite. The costal redwoods are the tallest trees, and the sequoias are the largest trees. And by the way, the oldest trees are the bristlecone pines, also in California.

We followed the twisty, curvy road in and out of the forest along the Eel River. The highlight was the Founder’s Grove in the Rockefeller Forest.

It is absolutey awe inspiring to be among these old, graceful trees that were here before Jesus was born. It really brings a sense of joy and wellbeing to us just to be here hiking among the trees.

We went to the Humboldt Visitor’s Center to learn more about the forest and how they were saved from logging. A highlight was the MotorHome that was constructed from a single redwood log.

It was a great day in the Humboldt County and the Redwoods.

Welcome Back to California

2011-06-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

We left Coos Bay and started South. Some of the area we had covered the day before, but after Port Orford we were breaking new ground. US 101 in Central & Southern California is a good road, but up here in Southern Oregon and extreme Northern California it has some very tight turns and narrow roads.

We saw some beautiful coves near Brookings, OR.

We crossed over into California near Crescent City where the US got hit by the Japanese Tsunami. We didn’t see any remaining damage in the harbor. We knew we were back in CA when we started seeing the roadside attractions such as Paul Bunyan.

And then more narrow curvy roads.

When I’m driving the MoHo I always believe those 30 MPH signs, and slow way down.

We ended up staying at in Eureka, CA, at the Shoreline RV park. It was OK, but not one we will probably go back to. It was right off 101 so there was a little road noise, and the sites were pretty narrow.

Tomorrow we’re going to tour some of the Redwood Parks. More interesting posts then.

Southern Oregon Coast

2011-06-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

The next day of our stay at the Mill Casino we decided to head South to explore the coast. Our first stop was Bandon, an historic downtown and a world famous golf course, Bandon Dunes. There are four different courses here, with summer green fees at $225 a round if you’re staying at the resort, or $275 for the public. Here’s a photo from the website.

It’s quite a complex for being miles away from any major city. The closest airport is in Coos Bay, unless you have a private plane to land at the resort. I guess it’s really nice to be rich & famous.

One of the highlights of the area are the cranberry bogs. Most people don’t realize that Oregon grows cranberries, and Bandon is the center of the production. In fact they have a cranberry festival, and the 65th annual festival is Sept. 9-11. The bogs we saw didn’t really show any growth yet. 5% of the total U.S. production of cranberries come from the Bandon area. And one of the stores in the downtown area was a candy store, Cranberry Sweets & More. They used jellied fruit to create unique candy. It’s available by mail order if you’re interested.

We continued further down the coast. Our next stop was the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. It dates back to 1870.

The view from the top of the lighthouse was great.

As you tell from the photos, the good weather didn’t stay very long. But we didn’t let it stop us from exploring. Here’s the stairs going up to the light.

Next we stopped in Port Orford. We were looking for a nice restaurant for lunch. We almost gave up when we saw a vista point parking area, and parked the car. Looking behind us we saw a new café, Redfish. It’s located next to Battle Rock, the site of a battle between the first settlers and the local band of Indians.

The food was fantastic. I had the seafood chowder, which included anything that was fresh that day. It was the best chowder I’ve ever had. Linda had the oven roasted turkey breast on walnut cranberry bread with oven roasted fingerling potatoes that were fantastic. The restaurant was located next to the Hawthorne Gallery. Sadly it was closed that day, but I was able to get a picture of one of it’s wooden sculptures.

We headed back to the MoHo, enjoying the reverse drive. We’ve found that you see things differently if you drive back along the same route from the opposite direction.

Next we’ll head to California on our way back south.

Day Turns Into Night

2011-06-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

We left the rally after a lot of hugs & handshakes. We had a wonderful time and met a lot of great people. We hope we can attend the next rally in September at 7 Feathers RV Resort. You can read our review of the RV park here.

We had an appointment with Coach Glass to have our windshield replaced. We anticipated spending most of the day in Eugene as the glass has to set for four hours before the MoHo could be moved to prevent future leaks. So we went over to Valley River Center to do some sales tax free shopping. We used to shop here when we lived in Albany. While we were there I received a phone call from the installers. It seems when we had the windshield when we first got the coach, they used silicon to stop some leaks. That is a no-no, as it affects the gasket that the windshield sits in. That meant that the gasket has to be replaced for another $500, and the MoHo couldn’t be moved for 24 hours. Luckily, we were able to stay in the coach overnight where the work was being done, and we even had power so that we didn’t have to run the generator.

We left the next afternoon and we didn’t have plans on where to stay. We knew we wanted to visit the coast so we headed to Florence, which is directly west of Eugene. When we got there, we checked out the local casino, Three Rivers.

It used to be in a tent, and now it’s a first rate facility. As you can see the weather improved as we drove to the coast, so we decided to go further south. Our good friend Maggie gave us a certificate for a free night at the Mill Casino in Coos Bay so we stopped there for two nights. They have a vacant area in their parking lot for boondocking, and a nice RV park overlooking the bay. We had a bay view site, here’s the scene from our new front windshield.

After dinner I decided to head towards the coast to try to photograph a nice sunset. I got some nice pictures, but the sunset wasn’t that great. First I stopped in Charleston where all the boats moored near the ocean.

The area doesn’t look to prosperous, the restaurant is closed along with the tackle shop. I don’t know if it’s because of the recession, or poor fishing conditions.

Here’s a few of the photos I took at some of the state parks right on the ocean.

And there’s a lighthouse there where there’s no public access. This is as close as I could get to it.

It was fun exploring a new to me area of the Oregon Coast. Every area is beautiful.

Monaco Northwest Rally Day 5

2011-06-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

As usual our day started with a nice breakfast from the RV resort. After the meal, the different teams met to discuss their future rally plans. There are 5 different teams, and each team rotates the Spring & Fall rallies. They come up with different locations, themes, and rally masters. This rally was put on by Team C with Dave & Cheryl Anderson on the right, and Ron & Dona Davis on the left as rally masters.

After the team meetings the official business meeting started. Here’s the President, Allan Kainu, calling the meeting to order.

There was a special presentation from the FMCA Northwest VP for the 25th anniversary of the forming of the Monaco Northwest Chapter.

All of the teams made their individual reports, the treasurer made her report, and motions were made and passed. A special couple, Ben & Donna Barker were honored for all of their volunteer work.

After the business meeting, everyone had free time to do different things. We went back into Junction City to restock the bar, and we stopped by a RV refurbishing center looking at floors and perhaps a new leather couch. But we left without purchasing anything.

The dinner the last night was Prime Rib & grilled chicken. And we brought some special wine for the Louie Martini Cabernet Sauvignon, and Frei Brothers Chardonnay, both award winning wines. The meal was terrific, and the wine disappeared. As you can tell, when we’re with our RV friends, we eat very well, and we drink very well.

Well, that’s the end of our two rallies in Oregon. We had a great time with great friends.

Tomorrow we’ll travel the 12 miles to Eugene to get the MoHo’s windshield replaced, and then head towards home via the coast route.

Monaco Northwest Rally Day 4

2011-06-09T23:04:00.000-07:00

The day started as usual with the continental breakfast. It is more about seeing everyone and planning for the day. Today we are carpooling to the Monaco RV Headquarters for a tour, followed by a tour of a new facility, Oregon Motorcoach Center. We decided to drive and invited Bob & Maggie to join us.

Our tour of Monaco was very enlightening. As with most plant tours, we couldn’t take any pictures. But we saw a lot of diesel coaches on the assembly line, but they were all on the lower end of the product line, including the new Vesta.

It has an art deco look and gets 15 miles per gallon, but it’s not suitable for longer journeys. They are only building Signatures, Dynasty, and Camelot to order, either from a consumer or a dealer. They’re building about 8 diesel units a week. Plus they’re building some towables at the Coberg plant. All of the other products are being built in Indiana. Almost all of the coaches we saw were being built with the Navistar engines, but they still have a lot of Cummins engines in stock for the higher end coaches. The company has about 2000 employees compared to 6000 back in 2009. But much better than the 50 employees they had during the bankruptcy. We left the tour with a limited positive feel, but we’re not buying any stock.

After a nice lunch at Red Robin, we made our way to the Oregon Motorcoach Center. This company was started by some prior Country Coach employees, including former owner Bob Lee. They started out as a renovation facility, but service needs soon overshadowed that business plan. All of the coaches we saw being worked on were Country Coaches. The services we saw included a complete slideout rebuild, engine fixes, window fixes, and other issues. They have a designer on staff to create new interiors including floors, cabinets, and electronics. The work we saw was first class, but we suspect it would be very expensive.

After we got back to the RV Resort, we had to get some additional supplies for the bar. It’s funny how at one rally people drink a lot of whisky, and at the next rally the beverage of choice is scotch & gin. You just never know. We had plenty of white zinfandel left, but we had to buy more Merlot.

The theme of the dinner was Italian, with 4 cheese ravioli, and 7 layer lasagna. There is always to much food, even thought the group is filled with hearty eaters. Tonight there was 1 pan of lasagna left, and we were able to donate it to a shelter.

It was an interesting day, especially for the gearheads in the group, and I think everyone enjoyed both of the tours. Oh, and we found a great mobile carpet cleaner/leather cleaner and conditioner that did some magic in our coach, and about 10 other rally attendees.

Monaco Northwest Rally Day 3

2011-06-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

The day started with a continental breakfast provided by the resort. Then 12 of the men, including me, carpooled out to Diamond Woods Golf Course to play a best ball tournament. This was a first for me as I haven’t played golf for the last 3 years, and I’ve only hit balls on the driving range since my hip replacement surgery.

I didn’t take my camera out, so these pictures come from the website.

There was 3 foursomes, and luckily the course wasn’t to busy, as we fell behind looking for our lost golf balls. I didn’t drive to well, but I made a couple of chip shots and putts to help the team. And when I was done I could still walk well.

The ladies went out shopping while we were gone (shocking). There’s a new Cabelas in the Gateway Mall, but I don’t think they spent much time there.

We all made it back in time for the Social Hour (Happy Hour) and a delicious BBQ catered dinner from a local restaurant Bambinos.

There is also some show coaches from Guaranty RV. This is always dangerous as the newer motorhomes have that new coach smell, and some new features our MoHo doesn’t have.

Monaco Northwest Rally Day 2

2011-06-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

This is the official early arrival day for the rally. As you can tell from the last posting, we have so much fun at these rallies that we all come as early as possible. Linda and some of the other ladies acted as greeters and passed out a goodie bag for every coach.

Here’s Linda getting a puppy fix. That’s Bear on the left, and Teacup on the right.

We have a total 33 Monaco motorhomes coming in today. And there was a lot of conversations and hugs going on. The last rally was in September of 2010 in Idaho, so there was a lot of to catch up on.

Linda & I volunteered to be bartenders during the rally (there’s a shock, talk about typecasting). On Monday night there was a social hour at 4:30, followed by a baked potato buffet at 6:00.

Ron was the MC and kept everything and everyone going in the right direction. Here’s some of the pictures from the evening. Click on it for a larger view.

To see all of the pictures from the rally click on this link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/MonacoNorthwestSpring2011#

Monaco Northwest Rally Day 1

2011-06-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning we journeyed our way down to Harrisburg, OR, a whopping 38 miles. I think that’s the shortest move we’ve ever made in the MoHo. The rally is being held at the River Bend RV Resort. It’s a nice resort right on the Willamette River, and has very nice meeting rooms that we’ll be using during the week.

On Sunday night the early arrivals met at Rodeo Steak House & Grill in Junction City. It was a surprise 70th birthday party for Ron Davis, and boy was he surprised.

These photos are not the best because I took them with my I-Phone. The food was good, but the company was better.

After our meals, they brought in a large cake with 70 candles burning. We thought the fire department was on alert.

Ron was able to blow out all of the candles with a second and third effort and some help from his friends. It was a great start for what will be a fun week.

FMCA Northwest Rally

2011-06-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning we got up at 4:00 am (I know, it’s hard to believe) and got ready to leave at 6:00am. We had to meet some other RVers at the Wilsonville Rest Area at 8:30 am to caravan to the Linn County Fairgrounds where the rally was being held. It’s located in Albany where we used to live, and we’re looking forward to revisiting the area.

We needed to be there by 10:00 because we had volunteered to be on the Security Team for the rally. And they needed us to provide security while the vendors setup their booths. Linda & I were manning some outside doors as the skies darkened, and a lot of hail came down. It was very loud on the metal roof, but no damage was done.

We are boondocking at the fairgrounds and parked very close together. But we’re next to our friends, so it’ll be fun.

We don’t have any connections, so we use the our batteries for power, and recharge them with the generator, and we use our water tank (110 gallons) for drinking and showers. We usually can comfortably last about a week this way.

One day we visited the Carousel Museum in the historic downtown Albany where they’re creating new figures for a Carousel they will be building in Albany.

We then took a short drive up Salem, Oregon’s capital. They have created a riverside park with a restored carousel and many other attractions.

I saw this baby and immediately thought of our grandson, Jaxson. He just turned 8 months old and we miss him.

At the rally we attended seminars on the RV lifestyle, shopped all of the vendors, and ate way to much. We had a great time! Our next stop will be another rally. More good times!

The Cabin on the Lake

2011-05-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

Allan & Sharri live on Lake Mayfield with a wonderful view of the lake from their deck.

I tried to make the sky a little bluer, but you can tell it was typical Northwest weather, cool and overcast. The good news is it didn’t rain.

We were able to back the MoHo into Allan & Sharri’s driveway, with Bob & Maggie’s motorhome in the next driveway. The Kainu’s were the perfect hosts, and we had a great dinner of BBQ steaks.

Their kids Brian & Amy, along with granddaughter Madison, were visiting for the weekend and we got to enjoy their company.

The cabin is really nice. It started out as a simple A-Frame, but over the years Allan has added more rooms on and remodeled all of the living areas to make it a beautiful home that they live in year round. And did I mention the beautiful lake view?

Here’s a picture of their kitchen that Allan did a great job of remodeling.

Of course Allan had a lot of help from their son Brian. He’s a little camera shy.

On Monday we washed the Motorhome from all of the rain encrusted dirt we have picked up here in the Northwest. Brian washed while I dried. We also went for a drive around the area and learned about the lake. We had another great dinner, this time it was Betty’s chicken, a special recipe that Sharri created. It was delicious, but Sharri wouldn’t share the recipe. I guess we’ll just have to make a return trip up here to have it again.

Here’s the whole group.

From left to right: John & Linda, Maggie & Bob, and Sharri & Allen. Tomorrow we get up at 4:00 AM (are you kidding me) to caravan to the FMCA Northwest rally in our old home town of Albany.

A Wine Tasting & Traveling Day

2011-05-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

On Friday Bob & Maggie invited some of their friends over to their house for a wine tasting and heavy appetizers. The ladies were in charge of the food, and Bob & I the wine.

We decided on two flights red wine. One would be a comparison of four different vintages of Zinfandel, and the other flight would be four different red wines, identifying the varietals.

Linda & Maggie did their magic and presented a bountiful feast. This is one of my favorite types of meals, small plates or tapas. There was a range of various cheeses, meats, and specialties.

The first flight, the Zinfandel, included a 1993, a 1994, a 1999, and a 2006 vintage. The idea was to prove that aging wine in the bottle makes the wine better. We found that the oldest wines were over the hill. This was due to bad corks or improper storage. The 1999 was good, but the best wine was the 2006. It was a wine from Renwood Winery of Amador County in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel had the normal brambleberry flavors with hints of cedar. A great example of California Zinfandel for those new to the varietal.

The second flight of wines featured Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon, Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Hills Merlot, Hedges CMS Red Wine, and Eola Hills Pinot Noir. The challenge was to define the varietal. Now I admit, this was very tricky because I threw in a red wine blend that contained Cabernet & Merlot. Only one person got all of the wines right. Almost everyone picked the Pinot, but really got mixed up on the other three. It made for some interesting conversations, and much debate. I’m going to remember this tasting and try it with some of our other friends (be prepared Donna). This was a special night and it was really great meeting Bob & Maggie’s interesting friends.

On Saturday we stayed around the MoHo doing chores and laundry. We’ll be boondocking for the next week so we wanted to be prepared. On Sunday we caravanned with Bob & Maggie down to our friends Allan & Sharri Kainu’s home to spend some time with them. More about that in the next post.

Two Days, Two Visits with Friends

2011-05-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we were invited to Bob & Maggie’s house to spend the day exploring the Bellingham area. Their house is in Sudden Valley, a suburb of Bellingham built next to Lake Whatcom. It’s heavily forested and next to a golf course.

They have beautiful hand carved wood plaque in their entry way.

The first place we went to was Fairhaven, and early part of the city that retains historical charm. There are many unique shops and restaurants.

After walking through the shops and buying a few thing, we left to go to lunch at the Harborside Bistro in the Hotel Bellwether. It had great views of the harbor and yacht basin, and the food was first class.

After lunch we went to Bob & Maggie’s unique storage unit. They own this unit, like a condo, and it’s big enough to store their motorhome and cars, plus a lot of other things.

Yes, that’s a Rolls Royce! And we’re going for a ride around town,

Grey Poupon anyone! Do you remember the commercials?

The ladies look pretty good in there. We toured all of the area North including Birch Bay and the Semiahmoo Resort, where the Rolls fit right in.

It was tough to park the Rolls back in the storage unit, and go back to riding in Bob’s Mercedes. Tough duty.

On Thursday we went south of our campground to Burlington to visit another of our RVing friends, Joe & Phyllis Beebe. They live in a beautiful house high on a hill overlooking the foothills and the cascade mountain range.

As you can tell, the weather has not been cooperating during our visit up here in Washington. It’s been pretty much the same every day, but we haven’t let it affect our enthusiasm. Here’ Joe & Phyllis’s living room and kitchen.

Joe actually built that table and his media center. And he designed his whole house over two years on a computer. On one side of the house is a two car garage and on the other side is the motorhome storage.

We had a great lunch at Lorenzo’s Mexican Restaurant. The owner live two houses down from where the Beebe’s live. I had the crab enchiladas and they were very good, the best I’ve had outside of California.

After some more conversation, we left Burlington and headed back to Fairhaven. Linda had spotted a bead store she wanted to explore, and I saw a bookstore I wanted to explore. So, a new book for me, and some additional beads for Linda to make into beautiful creations.

We’re really enjoying this trip.

Settling in at Mt. Vernon

2011-05-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Monday we did the normal things everyone has to do. We cleaned the coach, and Linda caught up on the wash. I went grocery shopping at a very nice store, Haggen.

At 4:00 pm we met Bob & Maggie Lawlor, our friends that live near here in Sudden Valley. That’s a suburb of Bellingham, WA. We met the Skagit Casino which is located right by our campground. We joined the player’s club, which gave us $5 in free slot play and 25% off of meals. They have a nice restaurant called The Five Onions Grill. Bob & I had the prime rib special at $14, Linda had an Asian noodle dish, & Maggie Seafood Trio special. Everything but Linda’s was very good. After dinner we all used our free play. My time was very short, as I played video poker and lost. But Bob & Maggie won BIG, and Linda won. It was a great night with great conversations, and a cash prize!

On Tuesday I got to go somewhere I’ve been wanting to go for a long time, the Boeing Plant tour in Everett, WA. There’s no photography allowed in the plant, so I took these pictures off of the website.

The building is the largest in the world by cubit volume.

That’s a 787 next to the building. The camera compresses some of the size. Our first stop on the tour was the 747 assembly area. There was 8 different planes in various stages of being built. It takes about 13 months to complete a 747 from start to finish.

The next area built 777 and the new 787 Dreamliner. It only takes 3 weeks to build a 777, and the new 787 comes in sections and only takes 3 days to assemble. Here’s the plane they use to transport the sections of the plane.

That use to be a regular 747! It must be fun to fly.

After our tour we were ready for some lunch. After our good experience at the Skagit Casino yesterday, we thought we try the Tulalip Resort & Casino we had passed on our way to Boeing. It’s really fancy.

We ate in the Cedar’s Café, which is in the hotel and away from the smoke. With our player’s club card we got a 10% discount. Linda had a great cheeseburger with Tillamook cheese. I had steamed clams that were very fresh, steamed with herbs and garlic. Needless to say it was lunch & dinner.

The casino was very large, but we didn’t try any games. We’re just not into gambling. But it was very beautiful. This is from the website.

On our way back, we took a drive down the Chuckanut Rd., a designated scenic drive. The road started out in Burlington, rolling through farm country until it met the bay.

We passed a beautiful little creek that was next to a farm that raised mussels for restaurants.

The road ended up in Fairhaven, near Bellingham. At the very end Linda saw a house that was unbelievable.

It was right on the water, and had a guest house, a 6 car garage, and views of the water from every room.

It was a full day, but we enjoyed every minute of it.

Moving Day

2011-05-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

It’s always with a little regret whenever we leave Oregon. We’ve really enjoyed our time here, and the campground and area was very lush and beautiful. And our visit with friends was very special.

Our first stop today was at a Pilot truck stop to take on some diesel. I didn’t say fill our tank because we only got $400 worth and it left us a little short of full. Oregon has some odd rules about using truck stops so we had to pay for our fuel first since we didn’t have a PUC permit. But it was mostly full.

Our next stop was a rest stop near Fife, WA, about 130 miles over the border into Washington. You’re probably wondering about why I would mention a rest stop. Well we stopped to meet some great friends of ours from Turlock, Matt & Sarah. Sarah grew up across the street from us with her sister Jessica. Sarah went on to Biola University to get her BS in Nursing before coming back to Turlock to work and marry Matt. Sarah decided to continue her education to become a Nurse Practitioner after Matt received his teaching degree. They moved to Washington to fulfill their dreams and now, after 3 years of hard work, Sarah graduates next Friday! These are great young people who set goals for themselves, work hard to achieve their goals, and help others whenever they can. We had lunch at the Olive Garden, but the food was secondary to the conversations.

We then continued on to Mt. Vernon and the Thousand Trails campground. As with most Northwest area campgrounds, we’re surrounded by trees, which we love. But that also means our Direct TV can’t see the satellite. But we were expecting that, so our son Matt gave us some DVDs to watch. Besides, when you’re in such beautiful country, who needs TV. We plan on being here until next Sunday when we’ll head south to meet with Allan & Sharri before the FMCA Northwest rally in Albany.

Special Days

2011-05-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

On Friday we got to spend some time with old friends. Linda had lunch with Darlene & Jackie, friends from when we lived in Tigard, OR, in the early 90’s. She really enjoyed herself, sharing pictures back and forth and sharing life stories. These women have a unique tradition. Every Christmas Jackie & Darlene sent small presents to Linda, and every Valentine’s day Linda sends them presents. It’s been going on for 16 years now, and I know Linda really looks forward to the remembrances from her friends in Oregon.

I had lunch with an old work colleague of mine at a new restaurant to me, the Oswego Grill. We talked about friends and families. It’s hard to believe that one of his sons is starting High School next year. It seemed like only yesterday we were working together in Portland building shelf sets for Safeway and he was dating his lovely wife Kris. Time does fly.

After lunch we cruised around some of our old neighborhoods, and then headed to Canby to meet with our friends Dave & Cheryl Anderson, and Ron & Ethel Sunnarborg. We had happy hour in Dave & Cheryl’s beautiful backyard overlooking the Molalla River. Then we went to dinner at the Canby Pub & Grill. It was our kind of restaurant, locally owned with good American food. I had the coconut shrimp, while Linda had the Chicken with lingonberry sauce, a Northwest specialty.

Saturday we started the day at the Salem Saturday Market. It had about 300 booths by the state capital, with a wide assortment of crafts, food, flowers, and plants. There was a lot of people shopping, many with their dogs. It was a lot of the fun, and Linda found a unique crocheted necklace with beads. After that we went over to Costco to fill up with gas at $3.78 a gallon full service. That’s right, in Oregon you’re not allowed to pump your own gas. It’s a nice perk when it’s cold and raining!

Then we went back to Silverton to explore the small city. It’s been rated as one of the best small cities to live in, and it was very nice. Linda even saw a house she liked. It was built in 1901.

Click here for more details.

Silverton is also famous for the Murals painted around the town. Here’s one of local hero Don Petitt.

We both enjoyed this Pet Parade one outside of a vet’s office.

And then there’s the story of Bobbie the dog, who made 3000 mile journey to get home to Silverton.

Click here for the complete story. That finishes up our stay in Silverton. We really enjoyed meeting with our old friends in the area. The park we stayed at, the Silver Spur, had nice gravel pull thru sites with full hookups. With Passport America, it was only $15 a night, and the hosts were very nice. We would stay here again if we’re in the area. Tomorrow we leave for a Thousand Trails park, Mt. Vernon, WA.

Silver Falls State Park

2011-05-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to visit one of finest state parks in the U.S., Silver Falls. It was created during the depression by the CCC. Here’s the lodge that was built:

We had lunch at the small café in the lodge, enjoying the craftsmanship and style.

After lunch we went on hike to the South Falls. There are 9 different falls in the park. South Falls is the highest and most visited. Here’s a view from the overlook:

One of the unique features of the falls is that you can walk behind the falls.

We then hiked down to the bridge across the stream, and cross over to the other side. The trail then climbs back up the canyon. Linda took a picture of me on the bridge, and I took one of her back up behind the falls.

The hike back up the canyon was a lot tougher than coming down. I had to stop a few times to gather my strength. Linda beat me up the trail. I need to exercise more! If you want to see more photos, visit our Picasa albums at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/home?hl=en&tab=wq

After freshening up at the MoHo, we headed to our old hometown of Albany to have dinner with our good friends, Paul & Kathy Ross. We had dinner at McGrath’s Fish House. We made sure they had chicken and ribs for Paul & Linda who don’t enjoy fish. I had the fresh Alaskan razor clams and they were delicious! We all showed pictures, Paul & Kathy showed wedding pictures of their son Andy and his new bride Cassie, and we showed them (guess what??) Jaxson’s latest photos. We took a tour of Corvallis to see all of the changes, and we couldn’t stop talking. It was great.

Silverton, OR

2011-05-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

We left the Seven Feathers RV Resort after an enjoyable stay, and continued heading North on I-5. Today we didn’t get stuck in any parking lots, so we arrived a the Silver Spur RV Park in the afternoon. It’s not as nice as Seven Feathers, but it works for us. It’s another Passport America park which allows us half-price camping. It’s a good location East of Salem, North of Albany, and South of Portland. We’re planning on staying here a few days and visiting friends and old haunts in the area.

On Wednesday we drove NW of the park to Woodburn, OR, where there’s a huge outlet mall. One of the advantages of Oregon is that there’s no sales tax, so we receive a 8.75% reduction on everything we buy here compared to California! After exploring the stores and buying one shirt, we headed up to the Tigard area for linner. Linner is a combination of a late lunch and an early dinner.

There a fairly new Whole Foods store in the Bridgeport shopping area. Whole Foods is a market, health store and restaurant all rolled into one. About 1/3 of the store is prepared foods. I saw what I wanted right away, hazelnut encrusted salmon. I added a little salad from the huge salad bar and I was set. Linda had a harder time deciding, but got the chicken marsala and some salad. We paid for our food, about $14, and then went outside and ate on the patio. Did I mention that the rain disappeared and it is sunny and in the mid 60s? Spring has finally come to OR.

Bridgeport Village is a new to us shopping area right across from Whole Foods. It’s setup as a small town with pedestrian streets and upscale shops. Above some of the shops are professional offices such as dentists & doctors. It creates a very attractive area. Click on the link to find some of the shops and pictures of the village.

From there we headed back to the rv park. We stopped in Mt. Angel, which is near Silverton. It’s famous for it’s Oktoberfest, and it Abbey which is over a century old. In town I found a nice old railroad station.

Very appropriate for the history of the station, part of it contains a model railroad from the local club.

The town also has a building with a Glockenspiel which performs 4 times a day and contains a restaurant and office. Mt. Angel was founded by Swiss immigrates, not German, but it celebrates both heritages.

Tomorrow we’ll continue to explore the area and meet up with some of our old friends.

An RV Resort with the Highest Rating: 10-10-10

2011-05-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

We left Weed, CA, about 9:30am. It was tough getting everything buttoned up because of the occasional snow flake. Yes, it was 34 degrees. But we wanted to get over the summit ASAP. We ran into some rain, but the road was clear. The snow level was low, thought.

We did make one stop in Yreka, the last town in CA. There’s a lot of problems in CA, but the price of booze isn’t one of them. Both OR & WA have state controlled liquor stores with an average markup of 115%. So we stopped at the Liquor Barn in Yreka for some last minute purchases. It was easy off the I-5 and easy back on.

It was not so with a visit to Harry & David’s Country Store in Medford, OR. I remembered it was out on Hwy. 99 away from the city. But when we followed the signs to the new store, it was in a strip mall. I made a bad decision to enter the parking lot, because it was pretty empty. Bad decision. We got stuck in a tight spot near a planter and we had to unhook the car (major pain) to get pass the spot. And then the store was a disappointment. Oh well, another live and learn experience.

By now you’re probably wondering what the 10-10-10 means. We stayed at our first Trailer Life campground with a perfect score, the Seven Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville, OR. And it deserved the ratings.

It has 191 sites, most of them pull thru with grass and nice landscaping in between. The amities include an indoor pool, fitness center, party room, horseshoes, fire pits with free wood, playground, a large dog run, and a nice creek running through the property.

The RV park is part of the Seven Feathers Casino complex which includes a hotel, restaurants, and a major service station. It’s all very nice. We’re very glad we stayed there and we plan on returning to visit some of the wineries in the area. It was cold and rainy while we were there, but we still loved it. If you want to see more pictures, check out our Picasa web albums here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/WeedCASevenFeathersRVResort#

Tomorrow we’re off to the Portland area.

On The Road Again

2011-05-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

We’re finally back on the road in our Motorhome. We started with a Grandson fix. We stayed at Wilderness Lakes in Menifee, close to Suzanne’s and Matt’s house. Here’s some of the latest photos:

Needless to say, we’re going to miss the little guy.

After our short visit we headed North on Hwy 99 to Turlock, our old home town. We boondocked in our good friends, Bob & Kathy Whitehead, yard next to their red barn. Bob is well know as “Red Barn Bob” of geocaching fame. In fact while we there Bob & I went out geocaching and found 9 out of 10 caches. If you’re interested in what geocaching is, click on the link: geocaching.com.

We had many special meals, had great conversations, and just had a great time with our friends. It was so great to see everyone. It has been way to long since we saw them. We even go a chance to play Skip-Bo, and as usual Bob won with a lot of help from Rosemarie.

We continued North on Sunday through some rain, but luckily no wind. Our goal was Weed, CA, and we arrived there about 4:30. We found a nice RV park using our Passport America membership. That gave us half off the normal price. It’s called Friendly RV Park, and it was off I-5, but far enough so there was no road noise. We got a pull through site so that we didn’t need to unhook the car. It’s right at the base of Mt. Shasta, but we couldn’t see it for the clouds and rain.

It rained most of the night, and it got down to 38 degrees, but cleared up in the morning and we could see the mountain:

As you can tell, it’s very cold and the snow level is very low. We hope we don’t have any problems going over the Siskiyou Mountains.

Today we should make it into Oregon, where we lived for 13 years. We’re really looking forward to it, even thought it’s rainy and cold.

Farewell to Our Best Friend

2011-02-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

We’re sorry to tell all of our friends that we have lost our best friend, companion, “best child”, and “fur kid”, Pearl.

She was 16 years old when we lost her, which is very old for a large dog. We rescued her when she was 6, so we had 10 great years together.

She was originally a breeding dog, and kept in a small area for her first few years. She never had a chance to learn about how to be a dog, but we didn’t care. Her next owners lived in a condo and kept her in a bedroom and let her outside on a deck. Not good for an active retriever. Then the owner had kids, and Pearl was to much trouble. A coworker told me about her, and I asked her to bring her by to meet Linda. It was love at first sight, and Pearl had a real home for the first time.

She didn’t do a lot of doggie things. She didn’t chase a ball, or play tug-a-war with a towel. She didn’t like water, which was rare for a pure bred Lab. But she loved us, and we loved her just the way she was.

She loved her time in Turlock, where Linda would take her for long walks through the alleys so she didn’t have to be on a leash. The only time she barked was when she wanted to come into the house from outside. She stood at the back door and gave out 1 deep “woof”. And we would let her in. After all, she was the queen.

When we sold the house and moved into the MoHo, Pearl adapted really well to life on the road. She enjoyed meeting new people, and smelling all of the different scents as we moved around the U.S.

She loved meeting other dogs and other friends.

This last year we have stayed at our condo in Laguna Woods just to make Pearl’s last days as comfortable as possible. Even with the ramp, she had trouble getting into and out of the MoHo. And it was worth it to get another 10 months with our Pearl.

Now it doesn’t seem the same. We both have moments when we think our Pearl is still with us. And we think of all of the great times we shared together. We are so thank full for the great 10 years together. And our hearts have a permanent hole in them.

Jeni’s Special Birthday

2011-02-21T23:33:00.000-08:00

Our daughter, Jeni, has not been able to celebrate her birthday with the family for four years because she’s been on the East Coast pursuing her PhD. Now that she’s in AZ, it’s easier for everyone to get together. And this year is one of those birthdays that ends with a 0, so her Mom wanted it to be extra special.
The day start with all of the ladies meeting at the Glen Ivy Spa in Corona. This is a 10 acre facility with hot springs and many pools.

Here is a group shot before everyone went off to their appointments.

The ladies spent the whole day there being treated as the Princesses they are. Meanwhile, I was home shopping and cooking the birthday dinner, with my homemade sour cream chicken enchiladas as the star. We all me at Linda’s sister, Donna’s, house for dinner, games and presents.

Two of Jeni’s good friends from her time in Thousand Oaks came all the way to the spa day and dinner.

Even thought it was Jeni’s birthday, the kids still got a lot of attention.

And a good time was had by everyone, especially the birthday girl!

Iris & Violet Come for a Visit

2011-02-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

This was a busy week for us. I still had my class to teach, and Linda started with her income tax appointments. She is scheduled all day on Wednesdays. It’s almost like a real job, except that she doesn’t get paid! Some of her older clients can be really cranky. I guess no one likes to pay taxes.

On Friday we watched Iris & Violet of Rik & Valerie. We always love spending time with these energetic young ladies. Linda and the girls spent some time with GG (Great Grandma Lois) and then came out to the condo. I made some spaghetti for dinner, which everyone enjoyed. Linda did some crafts with the girls, and then they turned in for the night. After a healthy breakfast, we went to visit the horses. There a stables here in Laguna Woods, and we’ve taken Iris to visit the horses before. She always enjoys them, but in the past she has been a little scared of them, and wouldn’t pet them or get to close. Well, they are awful big! But this time she went right up to them and wasn’t frightened at all. And Violet enjoyed them also.

There was classes going on and we were able to watch them in the arena. There was also a horse getting a bath that the kids enjoyed watching. We had a really great time, but we had to drop the girls off at their house so that they could go to a party.

On Saturday night we went to a performance of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber”. It starred Bill Hutton, who was the original Joseph on Broadway and starred for 749 performances, and Dale Kristien who played Christine Daae in the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and in Los Angeles. In fact, when we first saw Phantom in L.A., she was the star. They were both very good with a wide selection of songs with a great pianist providing the music. It was a great night with many standing ovations.

We had a quiet Valentine’s day with a special dinner cooked by ME, that turned out very well. Sometimes it’s just good to stay home and enjoy each other, rather than to go out with the crowds. It sounds like I’m getting old doesn’t it.

That’s it for now, more news next week.

William Jaxson is Four Months Old

2011-02-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

That’s hard to believe! It seems like only yesterday that we were at the hospital welcoming the “little dude”. He’s now 241/2 inches tall, and weights in at 15lb,1oz.

Jaxson came down with the Croup, which causes a lot coughing and trouble breathing. So Linda volunteered to babysit him last week. I missed her, but Jaxson comes first.

Can you read the bib? It says I Love Grandpa! What can I say….

Here’s some pictures:

And he’s rolling over from his back to the front.

He likes to look at himself in the mirror. Is that a bad sign?

On Wednesday I picked up Linda in Hemet and we met our good friends Bob & Maggie Lawlor, and Dave & Cheryl Anderson. They are from the Northwest and we usually spend time together each Winter. But we’re in Laguna Woods for the Winter this year. They drove over the hill from Indio where they were staying at Indian Waters. We really miss spending time with our friends, but we love Jaxson and Pearl. We’ll be back on the road sometime, but we’re enjoying ourselves this Winter too for different reasons.

To see all of the pictures I took of our 4 month old Jaxson, click on this link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/JaxsonAt4Months#

That’s it this week. Tune in next week for another update.

Not Much Happening, But We’re Busy

2011-01-28T14:56:00.000-08:00

Linda is back to her beading club and her Thursday morning classes, in which she learning a lot and getting projects done. Next month she will be taking a new class on Tuesday morning in Newport where she hopes to learn some advanced techniques.

And she’s doing taxes again this year! After a 4 year vacation, she has volunteered with AARP to help senior citizens in the area file their taxes. She’s been classes to brush up on what’s new, and then she had to take a test to be certified, which she passed with flying colors. Her first appointments start on February 9, and she’ll be working every Wednesday until April 18. Yes, that’s the correct date for the deadline for filing taxes this year.

I’ve got a couple of classes of my beginning Windows 7 class under my belt. After the first 15 minutes of the first class I knew I had to slow way down and start with the basics. The class is a real mixture of beginning computer users and people with new computers moving from Windows XP to 7. Some of them are bored, while others are lost. Luckily I have 4 good assistants to roam the room and give individual help. I helped present a program for the PC club on backing up your data from your computer, and it was well received. It feels good to be back participating in group functions, but it’s taking a lot of time. We haven’t even been to the beach this year.

We did add a new bike rack to the carport. This was important because we want to add some additional storage out there for our tools and garden equipment. These small condos don’t have a lot of storage room.

We also got the new drapes in the living room and wood blinds in the kitchen. This finishes off the kitchen nicely as they blend with the cabinets. The drapes are textured sheers that add a nice airy feel to the room, with a decorative rod.

That’s about it from “the Village”. Let us know what you’ve been doing so far this year.

First Post of the New Year

2011-01-17T21:35:00.000-08:00

And January is almost over. We’ve been busy, but for the most part really boring stuff. I’ll try to give you some of the highlights to bring you up to date with the Huber’s and Pearl.

Yes Pearl is still with us. Some days are better than other, but we don’t think she’s in a lot of pain. So we’re continuing to baby her here in Laguna Woods, where she has no steps and nice green grass.

We spent New Years Eve day with Matt, Suzanne, and William Jaxson. He’s growing so fast. Here’s a picture from the day.

Jeni was still visiting from AZ, so she got into the action. That evening we went to Temecula to celebrate our niece Katie’s 30th birthday. I can’t remember when I was thirty it was so long ago.

Jeni headed back to AZ, and we settled into a new routine in the Village. I’m still working at the computer workshop and the Photography lab, but I’ve also added teaching a basic Windows 7 class for 5 weeks. Linda is still beading twice a week, but she has also volunteered to do income taxes under the AARP umbrella for senior citizens here in the village.

We both celebrated our birthdays during January, and on the weekend Jeni came over to be with us. Matt, William Jaxson, and Jeni surprised us on Friday, 1/15, here at our place. The birthday present they shared with us was a special professional photo of Pearl, alone and with us. She came to our condo with lights, backgrounds and cameras and took a lot of pictures. We’re anxious to see how they came out.

On Saturday we all headed to San Diego to go to the Zoo. Linda and I are very fond of zoos, and we hadn’t been to the San Diego Zoo in 30 years. Here we are getting ready to tour around.

This is the first big outing for us with William Jaxson and we had a ball. And he was the best behave 3 month old in the entire zoo.

They have a lot of new exhibits which was very exciting. Here’s the Panda’s:

The new Polar Bear exhibit:

Here are some good shots of the lions:

And the Koalas. This was just before the zoo closed, so the lighting isn’t that good, but they’re so cute:

Here’s the last picture of the day:

If you want to look at all of the pictures, they’re on our Picasa Web albums. Click on the links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/NewYearSEveWithJaxson#

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/SanDiegoZoo#

And all of our pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/home?hl=en&tab=wq

So now you know what’s been going on. I promise to post at least once a week to keep you up to date.

A Visit with Jaxson

2010-11-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

After getting back from AZ, Linda was in need of William fix, Luckily, Suzanne had a Doctor’s appointment (everything was great) and she wanted Linda to babysit if possible. The question was how was Linda going to get out there, or would John be left behind without a car. Linda saw a Pechanga bus go by on the highway, and she wondered if the bus serviced Orange County. She called, and guess what? It picks up everyday at Laguna Woods at 7:45 AM, and returns at 5:30 PM. You know us old people like to contribute to the economy! So she arranged for a one way trip to Pechanga, met Matt and took his car(our truck) to Suzanne & William’s home. Then Suzanne took her car into Temecula for the appointment, and picked up Matt after work. How about that for quick thinking on Linda’s part. Then I went out to see Jaxson on Saturday just so he wouldn’t forget me (how could he).

Linda had a great time with William. And she had a nice visit with Suzanne, and spent some so-so time with Matt. William always gets the most attention, as he deserves.

For more pictures of William Jaxson click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/JaxsonAtTheEndOfNovember#

Landscaping Update

2010-11-18T22:51:00.000-08:00

If you remember last June I wrote in a post titled “Under the Weather” I talked about some of the landscaping change we’re making around the condo. Well we’re finally making progress.

The roses are planted.

We did some transplanting and added a Meyer Lemon tree to the slope on the side of the house.

It already has some blooms on it. We should have lemons by next spring. Perfect timing. We moved some plants to create a pathway to the water facet.

There was a beautiful evergreen plant that produced blue flowers. We still don’t know the official name of the plant. However, every time it started to bloom, the gardeners would trim it back. So moving it so it will spill down the slope will allow the flower to bloom completely. It’s just behind the hanging plants.

So now I all need is some pavers to the get cleanly to the facet, and build a trellis to the left of the roses behind the Heavenly Bamboo. A good post holiday project. I’ll keep you informed of our progress.

Laguna Sunsets

2010-11-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

Linda went off to AZ to help Jeni out, (and to get away from me), leaving Pearl and me to fend for ourselves. I had a few commitments including working in the PC Workshop, the Camera Lab, assisting in a Windows 7 class, and attending a volunteer dinner and taking pictures. I also got the car serviced and bought new tires. Linda now thinks she should go away more often!

The weather was cool and unsettled all week, and on Saturday afternoon we had a break in the weather, but an interesting cloud layer. I thought that it could create a pretty sunset, so I fed Pearl and headed for Laguna Beach, and Heilser Park in particular. The park is just north of downtown Laguna Beach and includes a promenade on the bluff above the beach, and stairways down to the beach. There are many rocky areas and tide pools to explore and picnic areas for groups and families.

Here’s the view when I got there.

It seems that many photographers had the same idea.

And the kids were playing in the surf.

And of course there was a beautiful sunset.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I know I enjoyed taking them.

Little Hummers

2010-11-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

We’ve put a couple of hummingbird feeders here at our condo. We had a regular bird feeder up for a while, but they asked us to take it down for a while to keep the rodents away.

For more information on hummingbird, see this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird

When we put our first feeder up, we had a dominate male that chased all the other birds away. So we got a larger feeder so that he wouldn’t be able to dominate anymore. Well, we got a lot of hummers! At times there’s 12 different birds trying to feed at the same time. Here’s our first feeder:

And our second larger feeder:

Now we’re having to fill the feeders twice a day! We’re always looking for a sale on sugar, and having to boil syrup every night. But we enjoy watching their antics and we can hear them buzzing trying to get to the feeders.

I haven’t had much success getting good photos of the hummers. They fly to fast and can be out of focus quickly. Here’s the best ones I’ve taken so far:

I can’t seem to get the bird to pop out of the background. I’ll keep trying, it gives me a good assignment.

Come visit us and enjoy our flying circus!

A Horse Show-Sort Of

2010-10-31T22:49:00.000-07:00

On Sat. the stables here at Laguna Woods Village scheduled a horse show. It was going to have precision riding, and drill teams on horseback. We thought that our nieces, Iris & Violet would enjoy the show. The only problem was that started at 9:00am. So Linda solved the problem by having a sleepover at our house. We picked up the girls around 6:00pm and headed back to our humble abode. After dinner, and a movie the girls had a bubble bath and settled down for the night.

While we were sleeping we had a surprise. It rained! I thought it never rained in California, at least in October. I remember many drippy Halloweens when the kids were young and we lived in Oregon. Somehow I was always the one accompanying the kids while Linda stayed home and handed out the candy. It really wasn’t so bad because some of the neighbors handed out adult treats (brandy) to help us wet parents survive.

After an early breakfast we made it over to the stables by 8:45. The only problem was that the show was cancelled because of the muddy conditions that could have injured the horses. The best laid plans. . . .

We did visit some of the horses that were being groomed by their owners. Rusty seemed to really like Linda!

Since the horse show was off, we decided to visit a local park. Luckily we brought some towels to wipe down the play equipment. I think the girls had more fun at the park than they would have had a the horse show.

Later in the afternoon we dropped them off at their Grandmother’s, Linda’s sister Donna. We had a great time with the girls and we hope they enjoyed it too.

Iris’ 4th Birthday

2010-10-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

First off, here’s a recent photo of William Jaxson:

We can never have enough pictures.

Our niece Iris turned 4 this month:

We decided to take her out on Friday to celebrate. We had lunch at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor. For those of you old enough to remember, Farrell’s was a favorite place when our kids were growing up. It started in Portland, OR, and eventually grew to 130 locations across the US. But Marriott bought out the chain from the original owners and slowly the restaurants started closing. By 1990 there was only a couple left. In 2009 a new company bought the concept and started a new Farrell’s with the first one opening here in Mission Viejo. It’s exactly like the old parlors, but the prices have gone up considerably. But the fun is still there. We shared a pretty good lunch of a Patty Melt and a Toasted Cheese sandwich. Then with much fanfare, they brought Iris her Birthday sundae. It was a little to much noise for Iris, but when things calmed down, we managed to eat it.

After lunch we went back to Laguna Woods Village to visit the horses at the stables. This is the only adult community that I know of that has stables for the residents to have horses, but maintains some for the residents to ride. Last time Iris was a little nervous around the big horses, but this time she actually petted some.

After the visit to the stables, we went to the local Pumpkin Patch at the Laguna Hills Mall. They had it set up really nice with rides, and a lot of, well, pumpkins. These must be good money makers. We were there on a Friday and it was really busy. And families were really spending the money. We started on the pony ride, which was just like the one I use to ride when I was 5 in Crestline when we were on vacation.

After that it was a ride on the train, some individual rides, and we checked out the pumpkins.

After all of the activities, we went back to the condo where Linda & Iris worked on a bracelet together.

It was a fun day and we sure enjoyed our time with Iris. On the way back to her parents she fell asleep in the car, the same way our kids used to after a fun day. It brought back a lot of precious memories for us, and we’re looking forward to spending time like this with Jaxson.

After the weekend, Linda went out to spend some time with Suzanne & Jaxson while I stayed home with Pearl. I can see a lot of days coming like that in the future. First I was replaced with Pearl, and now it’s Jaxson.

It’s Been a Busy Week

2010-10-10T22:15:00.001-07:00

Here’s a new picture of William.

If you look close you can see the train on his PJs. I wonder where he got that??

On Wednesday, Linda, her Mom Lois, and her Sister Donna when to the hospital to meet William. Oh, and they also visited Suzanne and Matt. He’s doing very well, even thought he lost a little weight. I wish I could lose some, but I guess I’m to old. Or maybe I eat too much.

On Thursday William dragged his parents home. He’s just like his Grandpa, he can’t stand staying in a hospital very long. Linda and I checked with Direct Buy and the nursery furniture was delivered to their Anaheim Hills store that morning. We jumped in the truck and picked up the crib, dresser, and bookcase and ran them out to Hemet to surprise the kids. Of course it was rush hour through the Santa Ana Canyon on the worst freeway in L.A., the 91. It took us 21/2 hours to get out to Hemet. Of course we didn’t need to deliver the furniture that quickly, but it gave us an excuse to visit William.

After dinner Matt and I hauled it upstairs. It gave me a good chance to test my hip, and it passed with flying colors. I can do just about anything now. The furniture looked great in the nursery, and now Matt can put together the crib to finish up. I’ll take some pictures when everything is complete.

We had a scare when we got home. Pearl had a very bad night with a lot of diarrhea. On Friday she hardly got out of bed. We were thinking the worst, but then she started feeling better and hopefully she will continue to stronger. We know we have a terrible decision to make in the near future, but we want to wait as long as possible.

That brings you up to date through Friday. I’ll try to blog more often as interesting things happen.

The Newest Addition to the Family

2010-10-06T21:17:00.001-07:00

After what seems to have been a long time, really only 9 months, Linda & I are proud to announce the newest addition to our family, William Jackson Huber. He’s the son of Matthew & Suzanne, and he entered the world at a whooping 9lb. 7oz.

The labor started on Sunday night, and by Monday evening it had not progressed as planned. The Doctor decided that the solution was to implement a C-Section to bring the baby into the world. And after a quick procedure, young William was born.

And here’s the proud Father with his son.

And here’s the exhausted Mother.

She put in a long night and day, but the reward was worth it! Here’s the new Grandmother with William.

And here’s Grandpa, looking a little unsure of himself. Notice how calm he looks in his Grandpa arms!

And how about Aunt Jeni!

Do you think she happy! It’s a very exciting time and we’re enjoy every minute of it.

If you want to see all of the pictures the posted up on the Picasa site at the following URL:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/LittleDude?authkey=Gv1sRgCJeh4o-74qbHfQ#

Linda & I want to thank everyone of the great comments that have been emailed to us.

Community Center & PC Lab

2010-08-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

Every Tuesday morning I volunteer as a supervisor at the PC lab in the community center. The community center is one of the newest buildings in Laguna Woods. It replaced the old administration building. It has three floors that house different functions.

The first floor consists of the administration for the village residents. This is where you can get permits, gate passes, and, if you have a problem, property services. There’s also many meeting rooms. The second floor is mostly devoted to PCM, the management company that maintains all of the property, and more meeting rooms.

The third floor has many educational and recreational facilities. This is where the PC lab is located. There’s also a work area in the lab where residents can bring their computers and printers to have them fixed by volunteers. There’s also a MAC lab for those residents who prefer an Apple system. There’s also a PC classroom with 30 PCs setup in a classroom style, with a projector. The PC Club puts on 6 different series of classes during the year. The next session starts next week. Linda is going to take a class on Digital Scrapbooking, and I’m assisting in a class on Windows 7.

Also on this floor is a complete workout facility that complements on the main one in Clubhouse 1.

There’s also an indoor ping pong facility. I didn’t understand the need, but there’s no wind indoors so it makes sense. It gets a lot of use.

They even have a ball machine for practice.

Also in this building is the studios for Channel 6, the inside the village station that has news, the trading post program, and meetings of the different boards. The trading post allows residents to sell things to other residents and it’s very popular.

So that’s one of the “clubhouses” here in the village. I’ll post other descriptions of the 7 other clubhouse in the future. As the classes are starting, we’re starting to get busy. It’s always good to keep the brain active.

An Outdoor Concert

2010-08-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday started with an appointment with a draperies consultant to discuss new drapes for the big living room window and the sliding glass door. We saw some interesting material and the consultant measured everything. We decided to meet at her shop next week to review the prices and make a final decision. We’ve had two other people out for suggestions and the prices were very different, so it’ll be interesting to see what this one is.

Thursday afternoon there was an outdoor concert at Clubhouse 2. We got there around 4:30 to get some dinner. They had a catered dinner of hot dogs or roasted chicken. We had the chicken with potato salad that was really good. We brought our own beverages (a nice Zinfandel).

The actual concert started at 6:00. The band was Doc Anello and the Swing Machine. I’m sure you’ve heard of them, and probably have one of their CDs. HUH. Anyway it was a good group and they played music from the 40s, 50s, & 60s. The leader, Doc, sang, and they also had a female vocalist, Madeline Vergari. It turns out that they play regularity at Disneyland for dancing.

There was a small dance floor that was well used. And the dancing even spread into the walkways. Clubhouse 2 is a nice setting for the concert as there’s a large patio with tables, and a large grass area for setting up chairs. We ate on the patio, and then when the music started we moved to lawn chairs so we could enjoy the music without getting blasted. We even danced a few times, and my hip didn’t bother me a bit.

There’s one more concert this summer on September 3, so call us if you would like to go. It was a lot of fun.

Partially Finished & The Start of the Week

2010-08-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to finish the remodeling here at the village. The kitchen was just about done, but we needed pendent lights over the bar and hardware for the drawers and doors. We looked and looked at a lot of different lighting stores, and finally decided on some fixtures from Kitcher. The first shipment was damaged, but we finally got our order. We also decided on the hardware from The Great Indoors.

Monday, Ted our contractor came over to install everything. We’re very pleased with the results. We were having a problem with our dishwasher. The dishes weren’t getting clean. We contacted our local repair people and they discovered that the dishwasher was hooked up to the cold water line. Ted fixed that and now we have clean dishes again. It’s amazing how the small things can affect how appliances work.

While Ted & I were working on the kitchen, Linda had her biweekly beading club meeting. This month they’re making a necklace, and I’m anxious to see how it comes out. She’s feeling much better and is starting to get her energy back

Tuesday I spend in the PC lab as a supervisor. It’s fun helping people solve problems, and teaching them some new programs. I’ve forgotten how satisfying volunteering can be since we left Olympic National Park. I’ll give you a more complete description of the computer facilities here at the village in the future.

Wednesday I got a call from the head of the Photo Lab asking me to sub for the afternoon supervisor. I was glad to fill in at the lab. I helped a couple of the more experienced photographers in the club work in the studio with the lighting. It was fun to learn new techniques. Here’s a picture they took of me during the session. That’s about it for this entry. Next time I’ll talk about the outdoor concert scheduled for tomorrow.

Linda’s Getting Better & I Go On a Field Trip

2010-08-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

Linda is slowly getting better, but she’s still not well enough for any activities. It’s better to take it slow and easy until she gets her energy back.

I decided to assign myself a photo project. I had visited the Laguna Beach visitor center while I was at the library, and picked up some brochures & maps. As anyone who has known me for a while realizes that this is pretty normal for me. I can’t seem to drive past a visitor center. I knew there was a lot of beautiful beaches here, but because of all of the development they’re hard to find. One beach that was rated high was Crescent beach, north of the town. So with some clouds in the sky promising an interesting sunset, I took off for some sunset beach photos.

I drove past the beach by mistake and ended up at Crystal Cove. The $15 entrance fee caused me to turn around and head south again. I know California is hurting financially, but that seemed like a lot for an hour on the beach. As I got back into town after all of the gated communities I started to take side streets towards the beach. I found a pathway down to Crescent Beach, and it was beautiful as promised. At one end was a point going out with palm trees. And at the other end was another point. I saw people standing on the point towards the north and I thought that would be a good place for a sunset picture. I had to hurry because the sun was setting fast. I finally found this little park in a residential area. There was a nice area of grass and some beautiful plantings. I was surprised there was still an iris blooming. At the end of the point there were nice views south towards Laguna Beach. And north towards the sunset. Next to those palm trees was a beautiful house with all windows. It had a 180 degree view of the ocean and the rocks down below. It was fun to watch the sun make it’s progress towards Hawaii.

I wonder if those people in that house really appreciate what they have in their living room every night. It’s really beautiful, but I still like waterfalls and the mountains better than the beach. And it’s more affordable.

Quiet Times & A Lot of Reading

2010-08-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Linda is still under the weather with a very bad chest cold. Her coughing has got so persistent that I met her sister Donna to get some cough medicine with codeine. We met at Direct Buy, which is a catalog showroom for members. Donna is a member, and she helped out Matt & Suzanne by ordering some baby furniture. They saved about 50% on the entire order. Baby furniture has sure changed since we had kids. Now it all converts to larger beds as the child grows, so it makes sense to order good stuff that will last a long time. They are very happy with their choices.

Since we’re staying in one place this summer, we have renewed our interests in reading, and using the local libraries. We started this in WA when we camp hosted in Olympic National Park. You can read that blog entry by clicking here. We also use it in AZ when we stay at Happy Trails. Here is Laguna Woods Village, we have access to the entire Orange County Library system to look for books, place them on hold, and have them shipped to the local branch. It works well, but its a little slow, and can take up to 3 weeks to get a particular book.

While we were in AZ I started reading police procedurals set in York, England. The author is Peter Turnbull. The nice thing about series books is that you really get to know the lead characters, kind of like a TV series. Now I’m reading a series of English Village mystery books set the Dales area of England. The author of these books is Peter Robinson. I seem to be stuck on Peters. He started writing in the middle ‘80s and you can see his progress as a writer over the period of time. What’s interesting is that he emigrated to Canada before he started writing.

Both of these authors write interesting books that give you real insight to English life in the small villages and towns. I highly recommend them for a great summer read.

More later with a report on Linda’s health and our exciting life.

Under the Weather

2010-07-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Linda’s been not feeling well since Wed. with a chest cold and a lot of coughing. This has really disrupted her sleep. I bought some MucinexDM, but I think they spend all of their money on advertising instead of good medicine because it didn’t seem to help much. And it cost $44 at Costco for 44 tablets.

So I’ve been spending time taking care of her. I did go over to the Photo Lab to be supervisor on Thursday afternoon. They have a DigiLab consisting of 5 Windows desktops and 1 Macintosh desktop with the latest photo software including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Adobe Lightroom, Picasa, Photomatrix, and other lesser known software. And they have Epson photo printers, including one that prints from a paper roll for panoramas. By working as a supervisor I get to try everything out and learn new software, and print some great photos. They also have a classroom, a mounting room, and a small studio. Next week I’ll try to take some pictures.

Linda’s green thumb is still in evidence. Here’s some updated photos of the area around our condo.This is our herb pot. Linda put a sign above it offering herbs to our neighbors. We’re overwhelmed by the basil, like some people get overwhelmed by zucchini. By Oct. it will all be mint, as it’s starting to take over the pot. We have only one strawberry thought.

We bought 3 tree roses to go against the wall. We have Brandy, Cherish, and Sunsprite. I’m going to build a trellis for the area on the left of the wall. We don’t know what we’ll plant there thought. I think Linda wants to wait until the trellis is built-she knows me well.

That’s it for right now. I told you it was going to get boring. Hopefully Linda will begin to feel better. Keep her in your prayers.

Grandparents Day at the Village

2010-07-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today is the annual Grandparents Day here at Laguna Woods Village. And Linda jumped in with both feet. Of course we’ll have to wait until next year to bring our own Grandboy, but we have 3 nieces and 1 nephew. Iris & Violet spent the night with us on Tuesday night, then Katie brought Chase & Ardyn in the morning. Then Linda & her sister Donna took the kids to Clubhouse 2 to have some fun.

We didn’t know what to expect as a lot of the things they presented were aimed at older children, including a water slide and a dunk tank. But there was enough things to keep the kids, ranging in age from 3 to 6 months, busy. There’s not a lot of pictures because I didn’t go, this was a sister’s event.

After it was over, Linda took everyone to the stables to visit the horses. Then they came back to the house. Katie had a long drive home so she left with her 2 tired children. Hopefully they slept all the way home. Iris & Violet played in the sprinklers and then had an early dinner of John’s Famous Spaghetti. I think that was the highlight of the day.

Donna took Iris & Violet back to her house to spend the night. And Linda went to bed early. It was a long night and day with the girls, and she needs to build up her endurance if she’s going to have one of her own.

Here I Go Again

2010-07-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s been a long time since I updated the blog, so I thought I would try to find something interesting to write about while we’re here at Laguna Woods. My many fans are missing the posts (all two of them).

My hip is like a brand new hip. The pain is completely gone, and the Doctor said I can do just about anything I want to do except for yoga, which could cause a dislocation. As many of you know the chances of me taking up yoga are slim. He doesn’t want to see me for 4 months, which we thought was a good sign.

One of the things I want to try is playing golf again. I don’t have any clubs right now, so I’ve been perusing Craig’s List to fine a used set that will work for me. I went to Golfsmith, and they had a section for old geezers like me, so I noted the brands and I’ve been using that as a guide. Who would of thought I would reach this point so fast that I’m looking at the senior’s section. Oh, well, such is reality. I don’t turn down senior discounts either. They have a 27 hole regulation golf course here at the village, plus a 9 hole par 3 course. The green fees are $8 a round plus $10 for a cart. It motivates me to get out there! When I play my first round I’ll take some pictures for the blog.

We drove out to Temecula to attend with Matt & Suzanne the 3-D ultrasound of our new grandboy. It amazing what they can do with technology now. Here’s a couple of the pictures.We both thought that he looked like Matt and had Suzanne’s nose. But who knows. We’ll find out when the baby is born at the end of September, or when he turns 18. It was a very neat experience and we’re glad that Matt & Suzanne opted for this.

It’s Been Five Weeks Today

2010-06-14T22:29:00.001-07:00

It’s been five weeks today since my surgery, and I’m feeling really good. In fact, I’ve retired the cane! Today I rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes, going about 6 miles. And I walked an additional 2 miles back to the condo. I wonder how I’ll feel tomorrow.

This last week we’ve done a few things. I’ll start with the important things, Linda got her hair cut and styled and I got a haircut. Linda looks better than me, but then again she always does. We also had to take Pearl in the Vet, as she’s not doing real well. It turned out she had a urinary infection. So we go some antibiotics and some additional pain pills for her hips. It seems we’re all going to the Doctor for some reason. On Wednesday evening we went to the Spring Fling dinner for the RV club in the village. They’re a great group, but we wish we could go on a rally with them. The timing is always wrong. Now they’re not going anywhere until the fall.

On Thursday Linda went out to Hemet to help Suzanne close down her room at the end of the school year. There’s always a lot of cleaning up and putting stuff away for the Summer, and Linda was happy to help. And she didn’t have to put up with me all day, a real dividend.

I’m volunteering in the camera digital lab as a supervisor a couple of times a month. It’s fun to play with all of the neat computers and printers, and I might be able to help some of the other members. And I might start printing some of my photos for our walls.

Linda is getting active in the beading club, and we’re starting to attend some of the committee meetings to find out how the village operates. I went to a broadband meeting today that manages the cable TV network and the Internet access. The big issue today was that they turned off two of the Spanish stations because of a change in the fee structures. They not only wanted fees, but also wanted it retroactive 18 months, which would be over $200,000. A lot of the residents were unhappy, but when they heard about the fees they calmed down a lot. The cable system is included in the HOA fees, so the channel lineup is always a difficult decision and no matter what is decided, someone is going to be unhappy.

So that’s all the news lately from the Hubers. I have been to inactive lately with the surgery, so I’m planning to step it up a bit with more hiking, and maybe some swimming. They have 5 pools here that are real nice. I’m only afraid that someone will make a mistake and think a whale has invaded the pool.

Linda’s Green Thumb

2010-06-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

Here in Laguna Woods Village all of the maintenance is provided by the HOA, including all of the common areas. It doesn’t leave much space for gardening, but Linda’s found a few areas to get her hands dirty. Here’s a little planter box.

And here’s a little area by our patio. If we add plants to the area we have to maintain them. We planted some marigolds for a border, but they’re almost gone as the bunny rabbits seem to really enjoy them.

The have garden plots that we can lease, but there’s a long waiting list and we don’t seem to be moving up fast. It’s amazing how many people enjoy gardening.

As for my new hip, it’s healing really well. I’m driving the car again, running errands, and starting to ride the stationary bike for my PT. Everyday I try to do little more, but I don’t want to rush it and face a setback. Slow and steady, that’s my game.

A-OK

2010-05-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

I went to the Doctors yesterday for a follow up to the surgery. It’s been 2 1/2 weeks and I can’t believe how well I’m feeling. I even drove all the way to Santa Monica and back. It felt good to be getting back to normal.

They took an X-Ray, and I saw my new hip for the first time. It was very interesting. Here’s an example I found in Wikipedia. As you can see, the bottom slides inside the femur, which surprised me. My incision is longer than a standard hip replacement because they had to remove the previous plate and screws.

It’s healing very nicely. The only precautions I have to be aware of is the chance of a dislocation. So I have to careful not to cross my right leg over my left. He cleared me for hiking, bicycling, and swimming. I didn’t ask him about golf, because I didn’t want to put any pressure on it yet with the twisting. I know I can play golf(or try to play) in the future.

So that’s the good news. I have to be careful not to overdo things right now, but I’m feeling better than I’ve felt in months. I don’t have another appointment for 7 weeks. Like I said, everything is A-OK.

Tiffany’s Grad Party

2010-05-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

Remember a few posts back that our niece Tiffany graduated from Dental Hygienist School. I wasn’t able to go to the actual event, but the party was a week later, and I was able to limp around and celebrate with the family.

Here’s the happy Grad with her Mother Donna, and Iris.

A lot of her friends from school attended, along with the family. Even Jeni was able to come over from AZ.And Matt and Suzanne were there along with our Grandboy. Katie and Arylen enjoyed the day

We had to leave a little early because of my surgery, but it was a real joy to celebrate the big accomplishment and be with family and friends.

Jeni Comes for a Visit

2010-05-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Jeni came over from Chandler, AZ, for a long weekend. Her main reason for coming was a very special event. California State University, Northridge, where Jeni got her Master’s Degree and taught classes, invited her to give the commencement address for the graduating class in Education. It was a thrill for our new Dr. Jeni, and the address was very well received. She even got to wear all of her Doctor’s regalia.

On Friday she came to visit the invalid and bring some sunshine into his dull life. It was great to see her, because I had missed the trip Linda took over to AZ due to preparations for my hip surgery. We had a great visit, talked about the ongoing remodel here at the condo, visited a furniture store and a lighting store, and had a great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which is turning into Linda’s favorite restaurant.

We then packed up Jeni’s little bug with her new barbeque. We found a Weber Q on Craig’s list, and Linda did her magic by cleaning it like new and painting the lid with special high heat paint. Now she can grill all those vegetables like Bobby Flay.

It really raised my spirits to spend time with my little “pumpkin”. I guess it’s my turn now to go over to HOT AZ to visit her.

Out & About, and the Torture Ends

2010-05-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

I finally got out of the house on Wednesday. Linda drove of course. Hopefully I’ll be able to drive after my Doctor’s Appointment in one week.

We stopped by the MoHo to pickup some stuff we needed that we hadn’t transferred to the condo. The longer we’re here, the more stuff that’s in the condo and not in the MoHo. Linda did bring back some sheets and towels that she had taken out to wash. Oh, the most important item we picked up was my cane, left over from the last surgery. I didn’t get to go into the MoHo, but it nice to see her.

Next stop was the El Toro branch of the library. I actually got out of the car and walked in to pick up some new books, and we returned some of the books I checked out before the surgery. The cane worked well, but I could tell it’s been a while since I’ve done a lot of walking.

The next stop was PetsMart, where we got more food for Pearl. As she’s gotten older, her digestive system doesn’t work as well. So we switched her food to a more easily digested mixture of dry and canned food mixed with some low sodium chicken broth. She seems to like it. But only time will tell if it’s better for her.

Our last stop was at Ralph’s Grocery Store. They have those electric carts that people in my situation can use. I got pretty good at driving the aisles and getting everything we needed for the next few days. And it was easy on my hip.

Oh, and the torture?? Thursday was the last day of the twice daily shots in the stomach! Linda got really good at giving me the shots, but they still weren’t my favorite medications. At long last they’re done. Now if only I could get rid of the compression stockings…..

One Week Later

2010-05-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

It’s been a week and I haven’t left the condo since I got home from the hospital. That’s got to change! I don’t want my new hip to freeze up from lack of use.

Things have been pretty quiet. I’ve enjoyed a few phone calls and emails-Thanks for that. I’ve watched a few movies and a lot of baseball games, especially the Dodgers. They’ve done really well since my surgery, so it’s been fun to watch them sweep Arizona and San Diego(Sorry Ken & Donna). And I finished another mystery, The End of Road by Sue Henry. It’s a cozy kind of mystery, set in Homer Alaska. I learned a lot about Alaska, and enjoyed the book. Just the kind of book I needed, calm and analytical. We’re planning on a trip to Alaska in 2012, so I plan on reading up all I can on the area.

Saturday Linda attended our niece Tiffany’s graduation from the Cerritos College Dental Hygienist School. She looks pretty happy about it! That’s her Mother, Donna, with her. Donna is Linda’s sister.Linda’s Mom is on the left, and of course that’s Linda with Tiff on the right. Linda took most of the pictures since I couldn’t be there, and she did a great job. If you want to see all of the pictures, click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/TifSGraduation#

My big announcement today is I retired the walker and I’m just using a cane. There’s still a lot of pain, especially just above the knee, but when I put weight on the leg, it doesn’t hurt very much. We’re still trying to get the insurance cleared for Home Health Care and more Physical Therapy. Until then I’ve been doing my exercises. Now I’m going to go outside and walk more to build up some endurance. But I’m going to take it easy and not push real hard. We don’t want any relapses.

It’s a Grandboy

2010-05-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

I don’t think that’s a word, but I couldn’t resist. Matt and Suzanne went to the Doctor last week for a checkup and the ultrasound showed they are having a boy! Among the family I think only Lois and I guessed it was going to be a boy.

The other good news is the the Mother and baby are doing fine. The due date is the end of September, close to our wedding anniversary. Both Linda & I are really excited. Are you ready for a picture?I think it’s really hard to see but the Doctor said there was no doubt. So we’re gearing up to help Matt & Suzanne get ready for the big day. After my hip heals.

Stay tuned for more information when it becomes available.

1st Day at Home

2010-05-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

I awoke this morning in my own bed, which was really nice! Of course I had gotten up 3 times during the right to use the facilities, disturbing Linda each time. But I digress…..

One of the items they sent me home with I didn’t mention was a twice a day shot requiem. Some of you know how much I hate needles, and I tried my best to get them to change the prescription, but shots it was. Not only shots, but given to the stomach. Now I have a lot of room in that area, so that wasn’t a problem! The shots were a blood thinner that works much better than any other in that you don’t have to monitor it with blood tests. But shots? The nurse thought I should do it myself, and I did the first one. But poor Linda has been stuck doing the others. Luckily, its only for 2 weeks, but it’s going to seem a long 2 weeks.

The first thing I looked forward to was a nice warm shower. I had to settle for Linda doing a hand wash and hair shampoo, which was great. I have oily skin so when I miss my showers my hair gets sticky and I don’t smell to good. So that was a good start to the day.

About 10:00 a man delivered a VascuTherm 2 cold air machine made by Thermotek. This machine generates a constant 43 degree flow of cold over the incision area. I’m supposed to do a half hour on, half hour off, luckily not at night. It’s really a cold 43 degrees.

Most of the day we just relaxed. Linda had a chance to catch up on her sleep, and I even took a nap. There’s not a whole lot that I can do, so I read a lot and watched some TV. I did catch up on my emails and blog reading on the computer. It was a bad day on TV because the Dodgers had the day off. I finished my first book, “Treasure Trove” by Peter Turnbull. I’ve read most of his books over the last 2 years. He write British police procedurals set in York, England. It’s a series staring DCI Hennessey and DS Yellich. All are well written, and they give you insight into life in Northern England. I’ve picked them up at the library, so if you want a good British mystery, check them out.

So that was day 1. I did my exercises, used the cold machine, got my shots, had pizza for dinner, and gave a thank you prayer for getting through the surgery and having a wonderful wife, family, and friends.

Home Again, Home Again

2010-05-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

We spent a nice Mother’s Day with Linda’s Mom, Lois, and Matt & Suzanne, expecting parents. We meant at the Irvine Spectrum where there is a Cheesecake Factory. It was very crowded, but it moved fast and just gave us more time to talk. The food and service was very good, especially considering it was Mother’s Day.

After a four hour visit we all said goodbye, except that Lois came home with us. She was nice to volunteer as our dog sitter while I’m in the hospital. She has a golden retriever that Pearl really loves, so it was a perfect solution. About 7:00pm we left the village heading towards Santa Monica. Since the surgery is scheduled for 7:00am, we had to be at the hospital at 5:00am to check in and get the pre surgery prep work. Since it’s an hour and a half to Santa Monica, we decided to stay close by. Even then we still had to get up at 4:00am. I thought I was supposed to be retired!

We made it to the hospital on time. They’re doing some construction so the only parking option was valet. Darn. Even though we had been interviewed by the hospital, we still had more forms to fill out and sign. Then I was whisked back to pre-opt, where I had to put on the embarrassing hospital gown, give some blood for a test, and have an I-V installed. Everything went well except the I-V, where the nurse struggled to find a good vein. Then Linda came back to join me. I know I’m the one getting surgery, but I think it’s just as hard on the loved ones waiting for news.

The surgery went well. The ball was in worst condition that the x-rays showed. He told Linda that it had completely collapsed and there was just pieces floating in the socket. No wonder I’ve been limping hurting so much. The Doctor removed the old hardware and added the hardware. Then I guess I was rolled down to post-op. I don’t remember a thing. I woke up groggy in my room. It was a very nice room that I didn’t have to share with anyone, and it even had a flat screen TV. I really didn’t pay much attention to anything because I was sore, crabby, depressed and any other adjectives you want to add. I felt sorry for Linda, but I was pretty miserable.

She left for home about 8:00pm, a very long day for her. I drifted in and out of sleep while they checked on me every hour. When you have work done on your legs, they always worry about blood clots so I have to wear these white support stockings. I don’t know how you women put up with panty hose all those years! And I had to have a Cather inserted during the surgery. If you don’t know what a Catheter is, you’re better off not knowing. Let’s just say it’s very uncomfortable.

Tuesday I started feeling a lot better. I think getting rid of all of the leftover anesthesia helps clear the head. But then at 9:00am the physical therapist showed up. Didn’t he know that I had surgery the day before? So soon I was trying to lift my leg, and doing some minimal exercises. As he left, he said he was coming back in the afternoon to start me walking. Is this guy nuts! I floated back to sleep and then I was woken up by more tests, then lunch. Like I was really hungry. After lunch, here comes Dick, the physical therapist, is back and he does get me out of bed and walking with a walker. It was completely different than the last surgery on my hip. This time, instead of keeping weight off my leg, I was supposed to put weight on it. It surprised my that I did well, and he promised to come the next day for more training. Another fitful night of sleep, then more PT. I felt so much better and the PT went so well, I decided to come home a day early. Oh, and the catheter was removed. Painful but a relief at the same time. A last visit by Dick for PT to learn how to handle curbs, the I-V removed, and then the long drive home.

Of course this whole episode would have been much tougher if it wasn’t for the support of my wonderful wife, Linda. She had everything arranged at home from me, plus putting up with my crabbiness makes her a very special person. I’m really blessed by her and the rest of our family and friends.

Finally a Surgery Date-May 10

2010-05-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Not much exciting has been happening with us as we waded through all of the hassles of preparing for my hip surgery.

First we had to get approval from the Department of Labor because it’s covered under workman’s comprehensive. The original case worker was based in Seattle because that’s where the injury occurred. But he’s gone, and the person that replaced him thought that it should go to the SD office. When I explained to her that we are currently in SoCal, she wanted to transfer the case to the San Francisco office which would have delayed things. I finally convinced her to keep the claim because we’re a moving target and who knows where we’ll be next.

Because of the second surgery, it had to be approved by a different manager, so we had to wait for that. Finally everything is approved. We had our choice of dates as long as it was on a Monday. The closest openings were for 7:00am on 5-10, or 10:30am on 5-17. We have to be at the hospital 2 hours before the surgery. Even though it means we have to be there at 5:00am, I opted for the closer appointment. I want to get it over with and start the recovery process so we can enjoy a least part of the summer.

I had to get a physical before the surgery to make sure my heart was beating and a chest x-ray. Everything went well, so we’re ready to go on Monday.

The surgery will be at St. John’s hospital in Santa Monica. So we’re going to get a hotel room for Sunday night so we don’t have a long drive on Monday morning.

Hopefully this will be the final act in a long running play. I have confidence in the Doctor, and I’m going to push myself for a successful recovery. Stay tuned.

We Split Up

2010-04-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

But only for the day. Linda and her sister Donna picked up Chase and took him to the San Diego Zoo. I had a luncheon appointment with my second cousin, Judy, to deliver the hands.

You’re probably thinking “what hands”. The Bauman family has a tradition that dates back to 1883 of wax hands on the wedding cake for members of the family.

Judy’s daughter is getting married in May in Rhode Island and she wanted the hands for the celebration. So the tradition continues! Is that neat or what. We had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and we had a pleasant hour catching up with family news. When I was growing up I was lucky to be close to a lot of my cousins, and the families would get together for any holiday.

Meanwhile, the sisters were having a great time with Chase at the Zoo.

There’s a lot more pictures at this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/ChaseAtTheSanDiegoZoo#

So we’re having a good time here in SoCal while we wait for a surgery date.

Life at Laguna Woods Village

2010-04-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

We’re starting to settle in here at Gezerville. Linda has done a great job of cleaning everything from the dust and finding places for the stuff we took out of the MoHo. She’s cleaned the patio and worked on the potted plants. She’s also rejoined the beading club and completed her first project on Monday. She sure makes pretty jewelry.

I’ve been pretty limited in what I can do because of my hip, which makes me frustrated and grumpy. I have attended a couple of seminars in the Photo Lab on mounting & matting photos. They have a dedicated room with all of the tools you need to do a professional job. They also have high end computers with all of the photo software and wide format professional printers. I’m looking forward to using some of the printers in the near future.

It is a little strange living in a gated community with older adults. We were driving into the village earlier this week when we saw a woman walking her bird. We had to stop and get a picture!

It’s amazing what you can find here. Anyway, we hope you’re having a fun week, and enjoying everyday.

The Hip Doctor

2010-04-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we made the trip to Santa Monica to see my Orthopedic Doctor. My hip has gotten worst the last couple of months when it should be continuing to get better. We were both very concerned.

After the X-Rays were taken (I wear sweats with no metal so I don’t have to put on a hospital gown) the Doctor came in to see us. He took one look at the film and said you’ve got a problem.

To review where the hip was injured, the break is between the femur and the knob that fits into the pelvis. It’s a small thin connection area, and to heal the break the Doctor in Port Angeles put in a plate and some screws. It was very slow healing, but on the last visit the Doctor determined that it was fully healed.

This time he said that the break was fine, but the knob that fits into the socket of the hip bone had died, and now the knob had collapsed. That’s what caused the increase in pain and the limping. The only solution is a total hip replacement.

So it’s back to the hospital for me. We don’t know when as the insurance (workman’s comp) has to approve the surgery. Hopefully it will be in the next 2 to 4 weeks. It’s not that painful so there’s no big rush. When I get a date and more information I’ll post it here in the blog.

So that’s our latest adventure. It just goes to show that everything in our lives is not fun and games. The Doctor said that the recovery is very fast, and I’ll be able to do anything I want after a short time. Including golf, hiking, and geocaching. So I really have something to look forward to.

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

We are in our condo in Laguna Woods Village for awhile. This gives us a opportunity to spend more time with our families, which we love to do.

On Easter Sunday we met at Linda’s Moms house for an Easter Egg hunt-for the Grandkids, not us. Donna & Tiffany kind of hid the eggs in the back yard. Then Iris, Violet, and Chase went at it.

Iris had the most success with Chase not far behind. But everyone got their fair share and more!

After the hunt and some gift opening, Valerie & Rick left to visit Rick’s family, and Katie left to visit her family. Mom, Donna, Tiffany and us left to go to Lucille’s BBQ Restaurant to meet Matt & Suzanne to celebrate the rest of the day. We had a great meal and a lot of conversation, especially about Matt & Suzanne’s new addition to their family coming on 9-27!

We had a great family day. If you want to see more of the pictures check our Picasa Album at the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/Easter2010#

Our Winter Adventures End

2010-04-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning we loaded up the MoHo for the last time on this trip, and headed into the dreaded Los Angeles freeways. We left about 9:00am, with one last toot of the air horn as a goodbye to our friends Bob & Maggie. They’re staying at Indian Waters until Easter, and then start heading North to their home in Bellingham, WA. We wish them a very safe journey.

We timed it well to make it through the Santa Ana Canyon on Hwy. 91, down the 55 to I-5 and then South to Laguna Woods. We called ahead for permission to park on the street by our condo to unload and take everything out of MoHo. We discovered stuff we haven’t seen for years!

A big disappointment was our entrance into the condo. We contracted for a new floor and finishing off the kitchen ceiling and lights while we gone. The work was done, and it was just as we had requested. But the problem was that it was a mess. There was dust everywhere from the drywall and flooring installation. That really put a damper on our homecoming.

Wednesday was a big day for us, as we finally moved MoHo into it’s permanent storage spot here in Laguna Woods, space 446. We’ve been waiting for a year for a spot to open up that will hold our 40’ motorhome. The nice part is that the rental is only $160 a year, versus $170 a month we were paying at El Toro. Big savings. It was a good fit and we currently have no one parked next to us so that we can work on the MoHo with plenty of space.

We spent the rest of the week cleaning up the mess left by our contractors, catching up on laundry, shopping and settling in. We went down and visited Linda’s Mom on Thursday to install her new computer and printer. Both are working just fine, but it’ll take a while to get use to the new screens. It’s a big jump from Windows XP to Windows 7. Linda’s a great trainer, and she’ll have her Mom up to speed in no time.

So we’re back at the beach. We don’t know how long we’ll stay here or when we’ll start traveling again because of unknown factors. As we get things settled, we’ll plan our travels for the Summer. Stay tuned for updates.

Signature Motorhome Resort

2010-03-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

On Monday we met with our friends at Ron & Dona Davis’s lot in the Signature Motorhome Resort. This is the finest RV Resort that Linda & I have ever visited.There is a 9 hole executive golf course with lakes and canals. All of the lots have views of the mountains or canals, and have grass surrounding them. One of the Davis’s friends has an electric boat and took all of us on a tour of the resort. The view of the lots from the canal gives you a different perspective. Many of the lots have extensive improvements. The only limitation is that you can’t add a room, only a small shed. Here’s some of the fancier remodels. There’s also some beautiful waterfalls and bridges. Back at the Davis lot, Ron was putting the finishing touches on some smoked ribs done on his Traeger Grill. It’s a special grill that uses hardwood pellets for fuel. Ron had smoked the ribs about 6 hours so they were very tender and delicious. It was a wonderful finale to a great Winter with our friends from the Northwest. Tomorrow we’re heading back to Laguna Woods Village, and the rest of the group are starting to pack up to head up the beautiful Oregon & Washington.

For more pictures of the resort and our friends, check out our Picasa Album at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/RonDonaSIndioHome#

Back to CA, & Ardyn’s Baptism

2010-03-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

Our time is AZ this Winter has come to an end. It’s been a great time spent with friends and enjoying nice resorts. But all good things must come to an end.

We left on Saturday to head to Indio, CA, to stay at the nicest Western Horizons park, Indian Waters. We wanted to attend our Michael & Katie’s new daughter’s baptism on Sunday. But we couldn’t bring our MoHo back to Laguna Woods Village until Tuesday. Indio is a good stopping point which allows us to attend the baptism and visit our friends staying in Indio. A perfect solution.

We made good time going from Camp Verde, AZ, down I-17 to Loop 101, then a straight shot down I-10 to Indio, about 370 miles. We arrived at the resort about 3:00pm, and we got lucky with a 50 amp site with grass around it. Sometimes arriving on Saturday limits the good sites. The weather was a balmy 80 degrees, warmer than we’ve been all Winter in AZ. It’s been a cool year there.

Sunday morning we got going early to drive to Murrieta for the 10:30 service. It was about a 1 1/2 hour drive, and with light traffic we made good time. Everybody was there and the service was a real celebration for Palm Sunday. Oh, and also for the Baptism! Ardyn really took to the ceremony, not crying once.

After church we all headed over to Michael & Katie’s new house for lunch. Everyone had to take turns holding Ardyn.

After a delicious lunch we all gathered in the front yard for group pictures. Here’s one of all the young kids and parents. And here’s one of both sides of Michael & Katie’s family. If you want to see more pictures, check our Picasa web album at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/ArdynSBaptism#

Oak Creek Canyon & Sedona, AZ

2010-03-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

We wanted to visit Sedona before we left, and in my infinite wisdom decided to go North on I-17 to 89-A and go down Oak Creek Canyon. It was a nice sunny day, but as we drove North we started to see snow on the side of the road. And the temperature outside was a warm 42 degrees. I guess we’re a little early this year.

We made it to the 89-A junction and started down from about 7000 ft. attitude down to 3500 ft. at Sedona following Oak Creek. It wasn’t as pretty as it could have been because all of the oak trees haven’t leafed out yet. But the Ponderosa Pines were a stark contrast. And with all of the snow the creek was flowing very fast.

It’s hard to believe that that creek created this beautiful canyon and all of the red rock serrations. It was a twisty road but it had beautiful views, and the closer we got to Sedona the more red rocks we saw.The town of Sedona is mostly art galleries, tourist shops, restaurants, and new age shops. But they’re still interesting to browse. We had a forgettable lunch at Orchards Inn. You would think a restaurant with that name would serve fresh foods and salads, not burgers and mexican food.

All of the rock outcroppings have names, and the one I liked was Snoopy. You can see Snoopy lying on top of his doghouse in the center of the picture. Can’t you??

We enjoyed our time in the canyon and plan to come back here later in the year to enjoy the oak trees in full bloom. There’s some great hiking trails along the creek when my hip gets better.

We did get one great picture of the four of us. We’ve really enjoyed out time with Bob & Maggie and we’re going to miss them when they head back home to Washington.

Out of Africa-In Arizona

2010-03-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

Since we enjoy zoos and animal parks (except for Sea World-ask Linda about details) we decided to visit the local attraction, Out of Africa Wildlife Park.

Bob & Maggie drove, and as we entered we know it was going to be a different experience. It was built on two different levels, the African Plains, and the upper level where all of the predators were displayed. We took a bus ride around the lower level to view the different animals. There were a lot of different antelopes.

And we got to feed the Giraffes.Linda even got a sloppy kiss, but I wasn’t able to get a picture, darn.

After the bus ride we took a tram to the upper level, where we got to see the big cats.

It was hard to get good pictures because of all of the chain link fences. But then again, we didn’t want to face any of the cats without the fence.

There was a show in the afternoon call Tiger Splash. They had a large swimming pool, and the trainers interacted with the tigers in the pool and on the grass around the pool. It was amazing that the tigers would try the same actions on the trainers and not harm them, but on balls and inflatable toys they were very aggressive with all of the teeth bared. If you look closely you can see the trainers legs under the tiger.

At the end of the day, they had a special event, the Predator Feed. They had a truck with a trailer behind it that contained food. They only feed the cats 3 times a week, and they hadn’t been fed since Sunday, so they were hungry. They threw large turkeys, chickens, and some beef ribs to the different animals. And they were very hungry. It was a little gross. It was amazing that many of the animals in the same enclosures didn’t try to fight over the food. I guess they knew that everyone would get their share.

It was a very enjoyable day observing the animals in the warm AZ sunshine. We were glad we went. If you want to see more pictures, click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/OutOfAfrica#

Jerome, AZ

2010-03-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

We practiced what we preach by going to Jerome on Monday, rather than a crowded weekend day. It was my turn to drive so we picked up Bob & Maggie and went up the hill. The campground is at 3300’, and Jerome is at 5500’.

Jerome is part ghost town, part art colony, and part tourist trap. It was founded in 1876 based on the copper that was discovered. By the 1920’s, the population was about 15,000, making it the fourth largest town in Arizona. The mines continued until 1953, when the price of copper plunged and the mines were closed. The population dropped to 50 hardy souls trying to keep the town intact. By the mid 60’s some artists moved in and the new era of Jerome was born. Today the town has about 450 citizens, and many shops, galleries, and restaurants. It a great place to visit and explore the past and the present.

Jerome is perched on the side of Cleopatra Hill. In fact over the years, some of the buildings including the jail have slipped down a street. There’s a couple of iconic buildings. One building was the hotel used by the miners that’s now a private residence. Lot of room for friends. The other house is the Douglas Mansion, now an Arizona State Park. We’re were sorry that it was closed for renovations. Another good reason to visit the area. We got hungry walking around and got real lucky when we found Grapes restaurant. The sign motivated me. Wine Burgers. Linda had the special, a homemade meatball sandwich, and I had a flight of wine tasting and a roast beef sandwich with a wedge blue cheese salad. Needless to say there was no dinner tonight.

Montezuma Castle & Montezuma Well

2010-03-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Bob & Maggie picked us up to explore the area. We first went to Montezuma Castle, just outside of Camp Verde. It is a five-story, 20 room dwelling built high above Beaver Creek in a recess or cave in the mountain. It was built by the same Sinagua Indians who built the Tuaigoot. There was valley at the base of the cliff that the Indians farmed using the reliable water source of the year round Beaver Creek. Here’s a model of how the rooms might have looked when it was occupied. These Indians disappeared at the same time as the Indians that occupied Tuzigoot and other locations in the Verde Valley. And no one understands why.

As we were hiking the path around the area we saw a beautiful red tail hawk.

Our next site on the agenda was Montezuma Well. You might wonder where the name Montezuma fits in. Well, when the first Spanish explorers discovered these ruins, they thought they were built by the Aztec Indians of Mexico, so they named them after their chief Montezuma, and the name stuck.

Montezuma Well is a lake filled by a spring that delivers 1.5 million gallons of 74 degree water everyday. It’s located in a collapsed limestone underground cavern. You walk up a hill in the middle of the desert with lots of cactus around and then “boom” its there. There was signs of Indians living here also. After a lot of hiking and reading about these sites, we were ready for lunch. We decided to try the Castle Cliff Casino which was nearby. It’s unusual in that it has a large area for families with video games and a bowling alley. We ate at The Gallery which was the 24 hour restaurant. Linda had the NY Steak Sandwich, while I had the special, an Asian Salmon Salad. The salad was very good, no foo-foo lettuce, but Linda’s steak was a little tough and grizzly.

So that was our educational day. If you want to see all 120 pictures of the 2 days, click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/MontezumaNationalMonument#

Getting to Know the Camp Verde Area

2010-03-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Today is our first day in a new to us area, so we did what we normally do, driving the different areas and checking out the visitor information centers. I picked up brochures and maps at the Camp Verde Chamber of Commerce. As we were leaving Camp Verde, we decided to get an ice cream cone at the DQ. While we were in the drive thru a car parked in front of us, and out popped Jeni. She was visiting the area with friends. We were both shocked that we met each other spontaneously. We had a nice visit and met her friends. Then we drove to Cottonwood, where we found some grocery stores. One of the first thing you need to know is where the food is to replenish the frig. Then we drove to the next town which is Clarksdale.

On the way we discovered the Tuzigoot National Monument. We never did learn how to pronounce it. Here’s a view of the ruins. The village was built on the top of ridge by the Sinagua Indians and was populated by about 50 people.

The village was occupied from about 1125 to 1400. And then there is the great mystery-where did everyone go. There was ample water from the Verde River, and there were other settlements about every 2 miles along the river. We’ll see the other monuments on another day.

Clarkdale is the former home of a major copper mine. It started out as a company town where all of the houses and stores were owned by the mine. Today it’s main claim to fame is the Verde Valley Railroad which offers tourist trains rides along the river.

From Clarkdale we drove up the hill to Jerome, which was so crowded we decided to come back on Monday.

So now we know our way around a little bit, and we have some ideas of what we want to see during our stay here. We finished the day with a nice Happy Hour with Bob & Maggie at our site. We have a nice site in the A loop which is at the bottom of the campground, about 3 miles from the entrance. We & Pearl like the grass area next to the site, but at 10 MPH in the campground it does take a while to get to the front gate.

Monaco Pre-Rally, Tucson, AZ

2010-03-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

I know, what’s a pre-rally? In motorhome life there are 2 big rally's a year in the Spring and the Fall. The organization who runs these rally’s is the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA). A lot of specialized clubs, like Monaco International, holds a rally the week before the big FMCA. This year the FMCA Spring rally is in Albuquerque, NM. The closest large site for a pre-rally is at Beaudry RV in Tucson, AZ. That’s why we’re in Tucson.

The rally starts on Monday afternoon, so we’re enjoying our first visit to the Tucson area. After visiting the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum on Saturday, we went out to dinner with our good friends Ron & Dona Davis and Joe & Phyllis Beebe. Originally we wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant, but we couldn’t get a reservation, so we decided on Italian. Mama Louisa’s has been a Tucson favorite since 1956, with good old fashion southern Italian cuisine. I had Pork Parmigiana with tortellini alfredo. Linda had Chicken Marsala. Both were excellent and the breadsticks were to die for. We left there with doggy bags and full stomachs.

Since we couldn’t have Mexican food Saturday night, we decided to meet for lunch at the El Carro Cafe in historic old Tucson. It was opened in 1922 and is still at the same location. Again the food was great, although the service was very slow. Linda had the Dos Tacos Supremas with shredded dry beef and chicken. I had two handmade tamales, one red beef and one chicken tomatillo. Both were very tasty, especially the chicken.

Some of the highlights of the rally were special times with our Monaco friends, an interesting seminar explaining the future of Monaco since Navistar purchased the company, Linda was chosen to be on the Audit committee and attended a beading class where she created a beautiful bracelet. And I gave my second wine seminar in two weeks to about 85 attendees. Everyone seemed to enjoy the seminar and tasting. They had great questions and good comments and emails.

The rally ended Friday morning and we moved the MoHo to the Thousand Trails campground in the Verde Valley. It’s in Northern Arizona close to the Sedona area. We’ll be here a week visiting all of the historic sites and cities. More on that later.

Arizona-Sonora Museum

2010-03-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is someplace that we have wanted to visit since we started coming to Arizona for the Winters. We had heard many good comments from friends about this museum, and it didn’t disappoint.

We decided to go on Saturday, which breaks the retiree’s rule. You know what that is? Never go to an attraction on a weekend when you can go during the less crowded weekday. But Jeni was able to join us so that made it worthwhile for us to brave the crowds. And there were crowds. It was a beautiful 75 degree day with no winds. So everyone decided to go to the museum.

It’s a very large park, which spread the crowd out. We got there around lunchtime, so we went to the cafe which was very nice with a lot of different choices from salads to Mexican food. Then we rushed to the Raptor Free Flight Demonstration. This is a free flight of Harris’ Hawks that fly over the spectators just about their heads. First one is brought out, then it’s joined by an additional hawk, then a third, and finally the fourth, which is a female. It’s unusual that the female is about at third larger than the males. I took a lot of pictures, and here’s some examples.

It was a great show. Don’t miss it if you go to the museum.

The museum covers all of the areas of the Arizona areas including a Desert Loop, Desert Grasslands, Mountain Woodlands, a Riparian Corridor, plus a walk in aviary and a hummingbird enclosure.

It included many animal exhibits including Big Horn Sheep, Mexican Wolves, Black Bears, Mountain Lions, and Linda’s favorite snakes. One of our favorites was the Hummingbird Aviary. There was a special art exhibit featuring, are you ready, Canines! They didn’t allow picture inside of the exhibit, but I was able to take some pictures of the outside sculptures.

This one was our favorite. What was amazing was there was one picture of a yellow lab laying on quilt on a bed that we have in storage. It shows what good taste we have!

We had a great day and closed down the place. The only one not happy was Pearl because her dinner was a little late.

To visit the website of the museum, click here: http://desertmuseum.org/

If you want to see all of the pictures I took that day,about 175 pictures, please click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/ArizonaSonoraMuseum#

The End of the Rally and Another Travel Day

2010-03-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

First let me post a couple of pictures of the Harrier jets that I promised in the last post.

That’s a load of armament on the bottom of the plane. I’m glad they’re on our side! It’s amazing that they come in for a landing and just stop in midair and slowly descend like a helicopter. Here’s a bad picture of one landing.If you want more information on the Harrier, click on the following list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrier_jet

The weather has been great all week except for a little wind on Tuesday. It’s been a fun rally, with some good seminars and interesting people. We took some time to wander around Yuma and even do a little geocaching. There was one called “ATM” that was a old ATM machine with a combination lock. We tried & tried and couldn’t get it open. I guess this means another trip to Yuma sometime in the future.

Our Wine Seminar was on Thursday afternoon at 3:00. Since it was the last day of the rally, we weren’t expecting a large crowd, but about 65 people showed up. Linda did a great job of hosting the tasting portion, and the presentation was well received with a lot of good questions. It was a lot of fun to be back presenting again, so we’ll continue to do it when the opportunity is available. In fact next week we’ll be doing it all over again at the Monaco rally in Tucson. You know what they say, practice makes perfect.

Our travel day on Friday dawned clear with no wind. We didn’t know what to do! It was a smooth uneventful drive to Tucson where we’re at Beaudry RV parked in a nice spot waiting for the next week’s rally. We decided to come straight here as some of our friends from the Northwest will be coming in Saturday. We’re really looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Yuma, AZ

2010-03-09T12:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday night before we were leaving Casa Grande, we had a delightful dinner with Bob & Maggie. We have been traveling together for the last 3 months and we had some great times together.

Sunday morning we packed everything up and headed to the Gypsy Journal Rally in Yuma, AZ. We have subscribed to the journal for about 8 years and enjoy reading it. And we read Nick’s Blog almost everyday. And he’s a down to earth fulltimer who always writes something interesting.

As we left Casa Grande, guess what happened? Yep, it started to rain. It seems that every time we travel lately we have bad weather. It not only was raining but the wind was blowing hard. I had to really pay attention because a sudden gust against the side of the MoHo can push you sideways. When we arrived we had to wait in a staging area while some other RV were late in leaving because of the weather.

When we finally got in, through a very narrow gate, we found something we really liked. Real grass for our dog Pearl. She was very happy, even with the rain. We’re right across the street from the Marine Air Station. It’s home to some Harrier jets and F-5s. It’s like an alarm clock, but we think of them as the Sound of Freedom! They’re really not that bad because they don’t fly late at night. We did get a beautiful sunset tonight.We’ll be here until the rally ends on Friday. Thursday afternoon I’m giving my Wine talk, so we’ll see how it goes. It should be a fun week.

Goodbye Surprise, Hello Casa Grande

2010-03-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

On Saturday night, Linda & Maggie hosted the annual Monaco dinner at Happy Trails. We had about 75 people at the dinner in the Chuckwagon. The choices were pot roast or chicken cordon blu. Both were delicious. We all had a good time.

Before the dinner, we spent most of the day packing everything back into MoHo and the Pilot. It’s amazing how spread out you get when you have a shed and large patio with cabinets. Plus, we had to take down the window screens, wheel covers, dump the tanks-well, lets just say there was a lot of details. Linda takes care of the inside, and I try to tackle everything on the outside and in the coach bins. The reason for all of the activity is that we’re leaving in the morning for Mountain Shadows RV Resort in Casa Grande.

Naturally, Sunday dawned dark and cloudy. At least the rain waited until we pulled out about 10:30 for the short drive down to Casa Grande, which is located halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. The traffic was light because it was Sunday morning and with the rain, nobody was in a hurry. We arrived and settled into our site. It’s not one of our favorite parks, in fact we parked next to a drainage pond that has water in it for the rain. But there was less gravel there which was good for Pearl’s feet.

On Wednesday night we went to a choral concert staring one of our good friends Phyllis Beebe. The concert was great and she sang beautifully. They spend their winters in Palm Creek RV Resort, one of the top resorts in country. See this blog post to see their lot:

http://jchuber.blogspot.com/2010/01/road-trip.html

The week went by pretty quickly with Linda doing two beading classes, some geocaching, happy hours, and dinner with our friends. Tomorrow we’re heading West on I-8 towards CA. No, we’re not heading to L.A., but we’re going Yuma, a city we’ve never visited before.

Farewell to Happy Trails

2010-02-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

It’s hard to believe that our 3 month stay at Happy Trails is coming to a close. Time just seems to fly when we’re hear with our friends in the Phoenix area.

We did have one last outing with Ron & Ethyl, Don & Max, and Bob & Maggie. We headed out towards Apache Junction to travel the Apache Trail Scenic Drive. This heads back into the Superstition Mountains to dams that were built in the early 1900s. Our goal was to have lunch in Tortilla Flats. And we achieved our goal!

Tortilla Flats was a stagecoach stop back in the early 1900s. There was a restaurant, livery stable, inn, and saloon.The town has a population of 6. And a Post Office. No wonder our stamps keep going up in price. There’s an indoor and outdoor restaurant, a gift shop, and a small museum. Here’s our travelers coming out of the gift shop.This is a Thursday, but the town was jammed. There was very few parking places and we had to wait an hour to eat lunch. There has been a lot of rain this year, as you can tell by the overflowing river here in town.On our way back to Surprise, we stopped in the ghost town of Goldfield. It was made up of gift shops, restaurants, and western attractions such as horseback riding. It’s at the base of the Superstition Mountains. We really enjoyed our day with a good lunch and good friends. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to Happy Trails