Happy New Year!

2010 has been a great year with a few ups and downs. Welcoming Christian to our family was a highlight, as is the prospect of a new Granddaughter in 2011. Congratulations Shannon & Chris.

Since I last blogged, we enjoyed Christmas at Desert Trails and in Pittsburgh, PA. Desert Trails had a fun holiday dance, caroling, and a luminaria night party. The people here are fantastic and we have made many great new friends. Christmas week we spent with Chris, John, John Ryan, and Annie in Pittsburgh. It was cold with pretty know on the ground. Traveling was uneventful which was lucky since a big storm blew through the east coast after we left. We even had gentle, pretty snow on Christmas morning as we opened our packages. Lots of phone calls to family back in the northwest made for a great holiday.

Tonight is the big New Years party at Desert Trails. Steak and Shrimp for dinner and champagne for midnight. Other fun surprises are planned. Should be big fun as long as we can stay awake. This is the first New Years in a long time that we haven't spent it with Doug & Diane our Brier neighbors. Feels funny to toast in a new year without them.

Winter 2011 Itinerary

Update: looks like we will be in Tucson for another month. More on that later. Depending on when we leave, we will be skipping most of our Texas stays and blasting to Florida. Texas is close enough to reschedule later in 2011.

We are getting a better idea of our itinerary for January - March 2011. Only the Florida dates are reserved so everything else is subject to change. Here is the current plan:

January:

Week 1 - Guadalupe Mountains NP & Carlsbad Caverns NP

Week 2 - Big Bend National Park

Week 3 - Texas Hill Country & Austin

Week 4 - Rio Grande Valley & Houston

February:

Week 1 - Biloxi, Mobile, Florida Panhandle

Week 2 - Tallahassee area & north atlantic coast of Florida

Week 3 - St Augustine and Ocala Florida

Week 4 - St Pete, Tampa, Naples, Everglades National Park

March:

Week 1 - Florida Keys

Week 2 - Central Florida on the way to Savannah

Week 3 - Charleston & Savannah (Trina & Sue will meet Elaine for our annual girls trip)

Week 4 - Western Carolinas, maybe Tennesee and Great Smokey Mountains NP (weather dependant)

April:

Elaine flies from Atlanta to Vancouver for the arrival of baby girl Martin!

December in Tucson

December in Tucson is a unique experience for a couple from the NW. The weather has been unseasonably warm (in the high 70s) and sunny. We love it but it is a little weird getting into the Christmas spirit. We went to the local garden for a Christmas lights, music, and treats night with our dear friends Kirsten & Cline. It was a lovely night and the lights were pretty. Sat outside at 9 pm at night to have our after event Starbucks.

LeAnne came to visit for a big birthday celebration. It was so wonderful to have her here. We had a great dinner in the coach and another at Vivaci which is a local italian restaurant. The weather cooperated and we walked the trails here at Desert Trails and also took a good long hike in the Sweetwater Preserve, adjacent to Saguaro National Park. She had to go home too soon. While we were in Phoenix to take LeAnne to the airport, we stopped for a hike and dinner with our new friends Jan & Bill.

I am still dog walking at the local animal shelter and enjoying every minute. John and I join the bike group at DT for a bike ride and lunch every Monday. Each week is full of activities here at the park and we could be busy every minute. As Kirsten says it is our "winter summer camp for adults". Life is good.

We do miss all our family and friends. Elaine has airline tickets to Portland in April to help Shannon & Chris with the new baby girl. John & Elaine will both be in Portland and Centralia in June for Sis' 50th wedding anniversary and Dad's 95th birthday. Lots to celebrate this year.

Rockhound State Park with Jean & Bill

Great time at Rockhound SP with Bill & Jean. We haven't camped together since April so lots of catching up to do. They bought a new deisel Allegro... beautiful with so much room! Got to keep John away from the RV dealers ;-)) First night was a great dinner in their new place.

The next day we spent the day in the car but it was soooo worth it. Drove to Silver City for a quick stop at a fun coffee shop. Then on to the Catwalk National Recreation Trail. What a fabulous place! Pretty canyon with a creek wandering through it and big Arizona Sycamore Trees turning color. The catwalk was used to maintain a pipeline that ran down the canyon to a mill and mine. We had a great walk on a sunny crisp day. On the way home we stopped at City of Rocks SP. Weird and interesting rock formations. A good place to come back to.

The next day started out with a fun hike at the campground with view back to our sites. Then went to Spring Canyon, just up the road to look for Ibex. The Shah of Iran gifted 27 Ibex in the 70s and they herd has grown to around 500. They had been spotted the days before but unfortunately we didn't see them. Had a nice walk instead.

On Wednesday we headed home. Thurday was a great potluck dinner with 100 people and tons of yummy food. Talked to the kids by phone. Shannon & Chris did a wonderful job of hosting their first Thanksgiving including Erik, Jenn, their Dads & Matt. I'm so proud of her and a bit sorry I wasn't there to enjoy.

Hiking, Biking, Exercizing, and Painting

Hard to believe that we have been at Desert Trails 2 1/2 weeks. One of the best parts of DT is how active we are here. We have been hiking at Madera Canyon, Brown Mountain, and met Bill & Jan at Catalina State Park.

We go biking on Mondays with the bike club which is a great way to find new bike paths. Kirsten & Cline arrived a couple days after we did and we had our first dinner at Mi Nidito (fun mexican restaurant). I had my first acrylic painting class of the season. Lake Michigan on a stormy, snowy night. Not too bad for an amatuer.

I have a new volunteer project. On Friday mornings I am a dog walker at the local shelter. I walk 5 or 6 dogs for 20 minutes a piece. They are in cages all day unless there are volunteers to walk. It is hard to walk away at the end when they look at you with their sad eyes.

Heading to Rock Hound State Park near Deming, NM to meet Bill & Jean Potabi (from Albuquerque). Staying Sunday through Wednesday. Then back to Desert Trails for Thanksgiving. Hard to spend the holiday away from the kids. But I made my reservations to fly to Portland in April when the baby is due. PS - It's a girl!!!

November 5th - Desert Trails and catching up

Back at Desert Trails on October 31st! Lots of fun catching up and watching new people come in every day. Day 1 I fell off my bike into a big ole prickly pear cactus and a big OUCH! Pat and Russ (nearby when I fell) came to my rescue, the angels. John spent hours picking spines out of my arms, legs, side, and even my ear. Had to throw away some of the clothes I had on because too many spines that I couldn't see and I sure didn't want them back in me. Our first entertainment night was a Steel Drum concert outside on a lovely evening. Fun!

Finally, I am caught up on my blog after a month of traveling and I am vowing to do a little every week from now on. Love the sunshine! And the sunsets are spectactular.

October 2010 Week 4 - N Rim, Mogollon Rim, Kathy & Bill

From Zion we tried to see the Grand Canyon from the North Rim. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. We walked to Bright Angel Point near the Visitor Center and were in a cloud the entire walk. Just had glimpses down a side canyon. Oh well, another time. We did tour the visitor center and checked out the lodge, cabins, and campgrounds. Definitely want to go back during warm weather. Between Page and Flagstaff we stopped at the Meteor Crater and Wupatki National Monument. Both were worth the stop.

Next stop Canyon Point Campground at the Mogollon Rim which is at 7500 feet and about 30 miles from Payson. Loved the Canyon Point campground and good thing it had electricity because one morning it was 28 degrees. Lovely bike rides in the almost deserted campground and great hikes along the scenic rim trail and Woods Canyon Lake. The fall colors were amazing. The aspen we golden and when the wind blew the quaking was a site to see.

On to Phoenix to see Bill & Kathy. As always we had a fabulous time with them and laughed our way through 3 days of fun. While we were there we caught up with some of the gang of friends and attended a Halloween party. Great decorations, super costumes, and lots of dancing... I think I am too old for Footloose anymore. Kathy, Bill, and I were bandits. We weren't sure what John's costume was but we think he was Dumb from Dumb and Dumber.

John & I spend an afternoon at Frank Lloyd Wright's home and institute, Taleisin West. Fascinating place. He was one of the first architects to design an 'american' facility that reflected the beauty of the desert. All the building materials came from the desert and this place was out in the middle of no where at the time it was built. Go see it if you have a chance, but take the short tour.

October 2010 Week 3 - Sand Hollow SP, St George & Zion

We had a couple days to fill and found a wonderful campground in Hurricane, UT not far from St George. Had a beautiful site overlooking the lake and the red rock formations. Rode our bikes on long stretches of empty roads around the lake and did some hiking in nearby Snow Canyon SP. Another lovely place to explore more on another trip. Nice walking tour of the historical sites in St George and toured the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum. We met Bill & Jan Hendrixson from Renton and had fun getting to know them both at Sand Hollow and again at Zion. Hope to stay in touch as we had a lot in common and they are full timers too.

From St George we made a short drive to our favorite campground, Watchman at Zion National Park. I had made reservations in February so we had a great spot. We looked up at gorgeous canyon walls from every window in the coach.

The leaves are turning beautiful colors, especially the aspen. Biking the PaRus trail every day and hiking the Watchman, Riverside, and North Peak trails. Took a day trip to Bryce to hike the Queens Garden Trail. Last year I checked out because the trail has steep drop offs, sometimes on both sides. This time we both made it the whole way and figure it is part of our fear conditioning therapy ;-) We spent time again with Jan & Bill and made plans to meet up in November at Picacho Peak.

October 2010 Week 2 - Reno, Lake Mead & Hoover Dam

Spent a couple nights in Reno on the way down since neither of us had been there in years. The downtown area a pretty sad but the big sign is still there and the rest of town is nice. Did a circle drive down to Lake Tahoe, around part of the lake and then back to Verdi by way of Truckee. What a cute old town. Then on to Beatty and Las Vegas on the way to Lake Mead and our favorite dry camping spot.

We stayed at Echo Bay with a nice view of the lake and the trees. It was in the 80s which was great after the cold weather we just left. Spent one day at Valley of Fire and hiked the white dome trail with a slot canyon. There were spots with water up to our thighs but we had a blast.

We have been to Hoover Dam before but haven't toured the Visitor Center so decided to spend an afternoon there. Beautiful day, great views, and saw the new bridge which was almost done. It opened a week later.

October 2010 Week 1 - Ashland Lassen Burney Falls

One the road again. YeeHaw! Headed to Ashland and the campground at Emigrant Lake. Beautifully kept park with nice big sites and lovely views of the lake. Took several long hikes and bike rides in Lithia Park and along the Bear Creek Greenway while we waited for Erik and Jenn. They arrived on Saturday and we had a great couple of days with them exploring the city and the area. Sunday night we had tickets to a wonderful performance of Hamlet. It was set in modern day. The lead actor was terrific and we enjoyed it.
From Ashland we headed down I-5 and Hwy 89 to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate as it was cold, foggy and rainy the three days we were there. We did get to see some of the geothermal activity and toured the visitor centers. Drove the park road and planned to hike Bumpass Hell but it was 33 degrees and so foggy you couldn't see so decided it would be another time. Definitely want to go back.

One afternoon we drove to MacArthur Burney Falls state park. Fabulous walk in the sunshine to the falls overlook and then down the trail to the bottom and the lake area. Beautiful 2 hours! The trees were yellow orange and green. A shy heron was fishing along the banks of the creek. Just terrific.

Week of September 26th- Port Townsend, Vancouver

Port Townsend was terrific. We had a great time with LeAnne & Benny especially watching Benny's sports.

We left Port Townsend after a great dinner party at Diana's with Bill & Kathy and Lonnie & Jan. Such good friends from WRQ/Attachmate days. We didn't know it at the time but Diana was REALLY sick and ended up in the hospital. Thankfully, she is getting better now.

The drive down Hoods Canal to Vancouver was beautiful. Sitting up high in the motor home is a great view and the day was sunny and clear. We stayed at Farkle Farms (affectionate name for Gary & Darcy's place) while visiting Shannon & Chris and Dad. We walked in the Alzheimers Walk for the Cure again this year and had a good time with Shannon, Chris, Kate, Gordy, Luke, Arnie, and their friends who we have walked with in years past. Got a little wet but that didn't keep us from enjoying the day.

LeAnne & Benny Fun

September in Port Townsend has been wonderful. So much time to just be with each other. Lots of cooking together, movies, concert fundraiser with dancing, and Benny's Tennis & Soccer matches. Explosion (premiere league soccer team) won all the games we watched. So far, Benny and the team have won their tennis matches too. Port Angeles and Sequim next week are going to be tough rivals. It is getting close to time to leave and it is bittersweet. I am anxious to get on the road again with sunshine but it is hard to leave LeAnne and Benny.

Retrospective (or what I missed in July)

July was such a hectic month and I didn't get all my blogging done so here are a few pictures belatedly. First is a great waterfall hike outside of Bend.

From there we headed to Memaloose State Park in the Columbia River Gorge. Barbara came to stay a couple of days and we had a fun hike. 40 plus years of friendship are irreplaceable.

See you in September Bash with the Desert Trailers

We have made such fun friends at Desert Trails RV Park in Tucson and didn't want to wait until the fall to catch up. So Kirsten Sweet and I started talking and voila! the 'See You In September Bash' was born. We invited everyone from Washington that Kirsten had email addresses. The planning started early and resulted in 18 people attending. Fabulous people, food, fire, and fun. We won't talk about the weather ;-))

Hurricane Hill Hike in Olympic Natl Park

September 9th - We had a free day so decided to take a hike in Olympic National Park. It was FOGGY and drizzly all the way to Port Angeles and even after we entered the park. We decided to keep going anyway to see the movie at the Visitor Center. Great surprise, once we were half way up the we were above the clouds with lovely weather, sun, and blue skies most of the day. Met some nice vacationers from Florida. Also met some "locals". Great hike to the top of Hurricane Hill.

Fall 2010 Itinerary

We have a sketchy itinerary for the Fall of 2010. Who knows how much it will change since we have made fewer and fewer reservations and prefer to just take it as it comes. Ain't retirement great! We would love to meet up with friends and family along the way so let us know if you can make it.

September - Port Townsend. Alzheimer's Walk in Portland on 9/26. Vancouver the last few days with family & friends.

October - Ashland with Erik & Jenn. Lassen Volcano National Park if the weather cooperates. Reno & Lake Tahoe on the way to Great Basin NP. Mid October we will be at Zion NP, then head to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon if it is still open. Stopping to see Kathy & Bill in Phoenix.

November - at Desert Trails in Tucson. Hopefully LeAnne & Benny are coming for Thanksgiving

December - Carlsbad Caverns NP in New Mexico & Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas, then on to the Hill Country and Big Bend National Park. Hope to see our new grand neice in Austin while we are in Texas. Maybe a stop in the Rio Grand Valley before heading across the gulf coast to Florida.

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Fun dinner at Arnie's in Edmonds

We had a great time at Arnie's in Edmonds last night. Beautiful day for a drive to Kingston and a walk on ferry trip to Edmonds. Walked over to Arnie's and met Rich & Twila, Holly & Dan, and Dave & Rhonda... sort of like a Kaspar Mechanical Reunion. Drank too much wine. Laughed and talked for hours.

Tonight we catch up with the Anackers in Edmonds again. On Sunday Jan and I are throwing a small wedding shower and then having a slumber party. Thinking about being gone for a year makes me relish each visit with old friends.

Chillin in PT

Great times catching up with friends & family in Seattle, Cathcart, Anacortes, and now Port Townsend. Too many good lunches, dinner and drinks. Fortunately, we fit in some walks and bike rides.

We arrived in Port Townsend on September 1 and have a fun month ahead watching Benny's tennis matches and soccer games. Staying with LeAnne this week before moving to Fort Worden. Nice long walk to the farmer's market today and a yummy BBQed taco dinner. Life is good!

The weather this year has been mostly foggy and cool. What a difference from last year with so much sun and warm weather. Still having a great time and getting out when we can.

Shannon & Chris Rehearsal Dinner

I know, I know. I am not blogging much. But we are having fun. The wedding weekend was fabulous. No pictures from the photographer yet but here are some candid shots from the rehearsal. We are now in the Seattle area doing some house projects and catching up with friends. Hope to see all our friends and family before we leave for the east coast trip.

Shannon's Wedding Shower

For great wedding pictures, check out my Facebook Page. I have been a bit schizophrenic about posting pictures. The shower and rehearsal dinner are on my blog and some of the wedding pictures are on Facebook.

Beautiful wedding shower at Fishermans Bar Park in Vancouver. Sunny warm day and lovely women. The bride to be was glowing.