Time to Head Back to Arizona

"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be."

 

I hardly know where to begin with our activities over the last few days. It sure has been a busy time.  The shopping got done.  The wrapping of dozens and dozens of gifts was finally behind.  Now it was time to  relax and enjoy the festivities with family.

Christmas Eve was spent at Tammi’s house.  We started eating her turkey, ham and all the trimmings early.  Then, we munched the rest of the day on them.  After church services the first round of gifts began.  The gifts were fun gifts.  Well, some were pretty serious but most of all we had a lot of good laughs.

Tammi started with plastic bins to Terry, Justin and Jordan.  To Terry the bins eventually held sugar-free snacks --- unwrapped one by one.  To Justin – it was to hold “soldier’s” survival needs.  Again, a lot of fun items were unwrapped one by one.  Jordan (and boyfriend, Brendan) had two bins.  They were date night bins for two dates.  Future items they unwrapped either went towards date #1 or date #2.  One date was a dinner date and another date was a night at the movies complete with gas money, snacks, tickets and popcorn – unwrapped one by one. 

Christmas Day was at Lee and Sabrina’s so the next round of festivities moved there. And, as usual, Sabrina was very creative with her dinner menu and buffet table. We unwrapped gifts most of the day taking breaks periodically to reorganize and rest. By the time late afternoon rolled around we were all ready for a nap I’m sure. However, I’m the only one that took about a 15 minute shut-eye. It was definitely needed.

Justin had a 6:00 AM flight to catch on Wednesday. He was heading back to Norfolk. Next week he will be going to Jacksonville for search and rescue certification. After that … well, he’s off to see the world as his ship is being deployed …. somewhere.

With all the weather problems today across the nation many flights have been delayed or cancelled. That’s not a fun thing after the holidays. One flight was cancelled out of Portland – oops. Another one was cancelled into Phoenix --- oops again. Sometimes it’s difficult to get the planes from one place to another when the weather grounds either them or the crew.

However, we’ll be heading to the airport shortly. Hopefully we’ll make it out tonight. Terry has a confirmed ticket back. Me? I’m winging it as usual. Duchess is waiting back in Arizona for us. 

Next post I have a few very unique gifts to report …………..  right now it’s time to get ready to head to the airport.  As usual … my fingers and toes are crossed. 

‘Tis a wonderful life!

Wrapping and Wrestling

"A life that hasn't a definite plan is likely to become driftwood."

I left Arizona very early Thursday morning.  I consider pulling out of our RV park at 4:30 AM …. very early.  The windows had ice on them.  Thankfully it wasn’t a hard ice.  It was actually colder in the morning in Arizona than it was that morning in Washington.  However, as we descended through the clouds it was easy to see that even though it wasn’t as cold as Arizona had been, the weather was still pretty miserable.  The cloud cover was very thick and the plane jerked and jumped a tad as we plowed through it.  On the ground it was raining.  I’m going to guess that it’ll probably rain most of the time I’m here.

--- Delegating the wrapping of gifts

Ironically, Tammi was also arriving at the same time.  She was flying in from Spokane.  The timing wasn’t planned.  It just happened.  Even though Justin had originally planned to pick me up, this little stroke of luck saved him a 60 mile round trip.

Most important on my agenda for the day was to sort through the three boxes of Christmas gifts we had shipped via FedEx earlier this month.  Then, I was in charge of wrapping them.  However, I’m a strong believer in delegation.  I delegated the job.  As usual, we ran out of boxes so even though most of it has been finished, we still need to really finish it another day.

Justin came to watch cousin Sandi wrestle ---

Sandi had a wrestling meet that evening at the high school.  Wrestling is one sport that I really don’t like to watch one of my own in.  I cringe and then cringe some more.  It always looks like they’re going to get hurt but she didn’t and that was a good thing.

Friday we shopped and we shopped and we shopped. There's always last minute little gifts to even out the tree.  Then, instead of heading to south Portland and delivering groceries to my brother as a Christmas gift, I went to Winco for a gift card and then the post office.   Next, we were on our way to visit 93-year-old Aunt Jenny.  Santa was out waving at all the traffic.

We were just in time to join the Christmas Party at the memory care facility where Aunt Jenny now resides. Our timing was perfect as the group was opening gifts.  Thus, she was thrilled to have one more gift to open than all the rest of the folks there had. 

It certainly is a busy season.  Today I plan on getting this shopping behind me … just like thousands of other folks out there. First, Justin and I are going out to breakfast together.  He's been pretty busy while he's home on leave.  The day after Christmas he heads back to Norfolk.   After breakfast, I'm hoping to be off to check on our cabin.  Well, that’s after I make sure there’s no snow on the windy little roads first.  If there's time left in the day, I also want to go to the craft store for my own Christmas present to me.    I'd really like to visit the huge Fabric Outlet in Portland but time isn't on my side right now.  That will have to wait for the next trip!

UPDATE:  Not going to the cabin.  I just called and found out the main roads had been plowed but side roads had about 6 inches of slushy snow on them.  Aargh!

‘Tis life on the road.

Heading Out for the Holidays .. Maybe

"Life is a great bundle of little things."

Wednesday -

Today will be a very busy day.  Usually the day before travel it is.  When I’ve had my fill of coffee I’ll get to work getting ready for it.  Yesterday was busy too.  After a bit of running around and getting last minute items, we also had a “farewell” barbecue for IYQ at Toni’s place.  He’s pulling out this morning and heading back to his spot in California.  I guess farewell isn’t the right word since we’ll see him again in “Q” next month.  We’re already looking forward to heading that way again.  Seeing all the people and the activity they bring to that little oasis in the desert is certainly something to look forward to.

The temperature in the motorhome dipped down to 57 overnight.  Needless to say, on came the furnace and a heavy bathrobe.  I’m beginning to think Arizona just isn’t far enough south this time of year.  I wish they’d get going on that bridge from the west coast to Hawaii but am starting to think it won’t be completed in my lifetime.

This morning I’m going to print out all the non-stop flights on Alaska Airlines, Southwest and US Air from here to Portland.  Hopefully there will be one empty seat for me on one of those planes … hopefully.  If not, I might be at the airport all day long or worse yet …. Terry might have to drive back and pick me up late tomorrow night.  Just in case I’m also filling my iPad with books and movies.  I have a feeling it will be a very long day.  It’s not often I really want to be wrong.  However, this time I really want to be wrong.  Terry?  Well, he actually has a confirmed ticket on Sunday.  Let’s hope he doesn’t make it ahead of me.  After all, I have a little shopping to finish once I get up there, people to see and presents to wrap.

The good thing is I have only a couple small Christmas presents with me.  We shipped everything else so we wouldn’t have to worry about checking boxes and have them get lost …. been there, done that.

Daylight is starting to peak out.  That’s the signal to get myself dressed and sort laundry so I can get it ready and pack the few items I plan on taking.  Hopefully, my next blog will be written from the state of Washington. 

Thursday  Morning -

Our plan was to leave Casa Grande for the Phoenix airport about 4:30 AM.  That's what we did.  There was ice on the car windows and it was definitely chilly.  However, it was also a much easier day than expected.  An hour before flight time the first flight I tried to stand-by for had one empty seat.  I just knew I wouldn't get that one.  That doesn't happen unless I'm flying American.   I just knew all the employees from Southwest would rush to the gate in front of me.  Thus, just as I pulling up the internet on my iPhone to check on Alaska Airlines,  my name was called and I was given a ticket.  So much for all those books and movies I had loaded on my iPad.  I wouldn't need them this day.  Yipee!!  I have arrived now and the day is still young.
 



‘Tis life on the road.

Thanksgiving Plans -- Portland or Seattle ??

 
"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

 

My father was a big football fan.  The Dallas Cowboys was his team.  Thus, part of our day  was spent watching football, enjoying a warm fireplace and feasting.  We usually gathered around the dinner table about 2:30 to 3:00.  Some folks eat at lunch time and others much later but with all the food around it was impossible to be hungry.  With a full belly nodding off for a good long nap was also a possibility.  Ohhhh …. the memories!  However, we spend the day it’s usually a great day.

Terry’s mom is spending the day in New York City.  She’s going to the Thanksgiving Parade!  Needless to say, she was pretty excited about having the opportunity to see the parade in person and not on TV.

Terry’s plans …. he’ll be having Thanksgiving dinner with my cousin, Shelley, feasting at one of the casinos.  Most of them offer fantastic Thanksgiving buffets and that's where he'll be.

 

My plans … those were a little uncertain.  The plan was to spend Thanksgiving with the kids in Washington.  Traveling over the holidays – any holiday – is a bit difficult.  When I started out Tuesday morning I wasn't sure that I'd make it. I was thinking I might actually be making a round trip that day  --- Phoenix to Dallas to Phoenix.  Oh .. I knew I'd make it to Dallas. The challenge was getting a seat on a plane out of Dallas to Portland.  When I checked in for the flight there were only 14 open seats for the whole day and 33 people standing by for those 14 seats.  My fingers and toes were crossed as I had no desire to spend the night at the Dallas airport.

Dallas Airport --- Feels like home!

I can tell you that it was certainly a very long day.  It was very long.  The flights to Portland turned out just as I figured -- over full.  What was the option?  In Dallas I decided to take a flight to Seattle instead of Portland. At least I had a chance to get there by making the change.  Tammi and Robert offered to drive to Seattle and shuttle me back. The traffic wasn't just with people trying to get flights.  The freeways were stop and go.  The trip took them 3 1/2 hours when it should have taken 2 hours or less. 

I've always found it difficult to know what to take when changing from one climate to another.  In Arizona the weather is warm -- almost hot -- and in Washington it definitely is not.  Matter of fact they have had more than their fair share of storms lately.  Storms usually mean turbulence.  I've been on hundreds of flights but when that pilot comes on and warns passengers of a turbulent ride ahead, I always squeeze that seat belt just a little tighter and such was the case this time.

Several years ago Terry and I were flying into New Orleans right behind a thunderstorm.  Actually, we were flying extremely low to avoid it.  It seemed we were barely clearing the trees.  That was probably the roughest ride we have ever been on.  People were screaming and barf bags were coming out .... obviously, that wasn't a fun flight.  When I think of turbulent that's the one I'm reminded of.  The flight into Seattle didn't even come close.  Thank goodness!

Remember not so long ago I mentioned that we had left our little blue boy up north by accident.  What do you think the chance is that the airline would let me check it back???   I'm thinking not.  They might let a new one fly but not one that's been used -- think of fertilizer residue.

Terry went shopping Tuesday. He bought me a birthday present since my birthday’s just around the corner.

This is it!!  This is what he said was my birthday present.  Just what I've always wanted -- a little sander!  NOT

I’m going to bet  he’ll be using this plenty while I’m gone.  He’s probably going to say he was just trying it out for me.

The following was a sign at a restaurant in Quartzsite.  Notice anything wrong with the menu?


‘Tis life on the road.

Day 1 : Call Coach-Net

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“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”

We had been busy saying our goodbyes over the last few days.  Tammi’s out of town but we visited with her last weekend.  Then, Wednesday we gave hugs and said our goodbyes to Sandi and Michael.  Thursday we gave the hugs and said our goodbyes to Lee, Sabrina and Jordie.  All we had left was to actually head south.  It’s always sad to leave.  I have so many mixed emotions.  I know they have their own lives.  That’s how we raised them but we really love being a part of it.  So, we’re just taking a vacation.

The day started off okay.  We had no intentions of getting on the road early.  We had the trailer to hook up and we just dawdled a bit.  We planned to wait until Portland’s morning work traffic was history.  Then I took a step on one of those plastic lids and slid across the floor in the motorhome.  Where did I land?  My ribs connected with the corner of a wall.  OUCH!  Black and blue doesn’t become me. 

Traffic was fine and before you know it we were parked at the outlet mall’s parking lot in Woodburn …. about 70 miles south.  I can probably honestly say it’s the only in my life when we actually parked at a huge outlet mall that I never even walked in one store …. honest, I didn’t.  HONEST!

Just in case you’re curious … no, gray hair doesn’t run in our family.  Bob got it all!

The idea of parking there was just to get a good spot for the motorhome and trailer while we went around the corner with my brother (Bob) and his wife (Ginny)  to Elmer’s for an early lunch.  By the time we left the restaurant we were thankful we didn’t have any particular place we planned on being that day since we chatted for a very long time.

 

As I said thank goodness we had no plans because the next thing I knew Terry was off to the side of the road. It wasn’t actually a  blow out he had.  Blow outs blow.  Right?  This was a disintegration.  An inside rear tire just came apart.  Coach-Net was needed.  Three hours later ….. we were on our way again.  Yep, that’s right three hours!!  It took the driver 2 hours to get from his place of business to our location ….. 11.2 miles away.  Then, it took another hour to fix us up.  Coach-Net does good service. The customer service agent called around to find a tire for a fair price. The problem wasn’t getting Coach-Net out. The problem was getting the tire company in Salem on the ball.

Do you know how tired you can get sitting on the side of the road like that?  It’s exhausting.  I felt like I was the one who changed that tire.  My brother, Bob, and SIL, Ginny, just happened to be passing by on the way to the Verizon store.  We had company for those three hours.  Out came the chairs.  Thank goodness it was a beautiful day with no rain, very little wind and a beautiful blue sky.  The only thing we didn’t care for was the noisy freeway.  Terry suggested we close our eyes and think of it as waves crashing on the beach.  We did.  It didn’t work.

 

We paid the fellow $$$$ in cash for the tire.  He took the cash but was a little bewildered when I asked for a receipt for the cash he was now holding in his hand.  He said if we needed a receipt we had to follow him to his place of business.    Of course, he already had cash in hand.   With an inverter it wasn’t difficult to grab his work order, scan it and print us a copy so that he could sign the receipt for the cash that was already in his pocket. 

Finally we were on the road again.  We didn’t get far.  Our daily total was under 150 miles.  It took us eight hours to go that far.  Traveling in the dark is not our cup of tea.  Thus, we needed a place to stop.  That we did.  It’s amazing how tired we were there.  I think sitting on the side of the road and stressing is far more exhausting than driving down the road.    No blog reading and very little computer for me.  It was almost straight to the sack.  We literally crashed at 7:30.

We have an appointment to check out a little toy.  We’re not so sure we’re going to make that as planned. It seems we rarely stick to plans. The adventure today caused a hiccup but we hoped the next day would be an uneventful day.  Well, it wasn’t so much.  It started off with a peek out the window and checking out the trailer.  It seems we had a visitor overnight that decided some of the things on our trailer would be better off in his possession than in ours.  After cutting our bungees ….. he borrowed a few items.  For some reason I doubt he will have the courtesy to return them.

That was Day 1 ….. more on our trip south in our next blog.

‘Tis life on the road.

Taking a Detour !!

 

Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased.

 

We got quite a bit of much needed rain on Friday.  According to the weather report rain was supposed to be pretty consistently falling for a few days.  However, on Saturday it was only intermittent – mostly without rain.  The day called for a short stop at Powell’s Bookstore and a quick walk-thru at Portland’s Saturday Market.   The market is no where near as busy or as full with vendors as during the summer months but it was still there and people were still checking out the vendors.

The most interesting thing we saw was this dog asking us to smile.  Of course, he also had a little cup sitting next to him for tips.   Later we saw the dog still with the sign in his mouth pulling the “master” down the block in his wheelchair.  We thought this was definitely a creative way to panhandle and nothing we had ever seen.

Homecoming was on Saturday.  Jordie and her boyfriend, Brendan, are getting ready for their first stop off at Red Lobster.

Remember the baby basket gift Sabrina had made?  Well, she actually had two baby showers to go to.  This was the first one I posted the other day. 









This is the other one she made this weekend.  Quite a creative gal ….. don’t you think?

Sandi got her soccer picture back.  So,  here’s this one …….  She wasn’t happy with the sun spots but I liked the picture.






Sunday we made one more trip to the cabin.  This was to be the last one this year.  The idea was to walk through, set up the air-dryers, wash sheets and towels.  That’s what we did.  We’ll be back next  year.

Here's our pal, Sandi.  She's enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate after we finished with chores at the cabin.

We have a Kitchen that’s in our little community.  During the summer it’s popping with people and open with regular hours.  Not so after summer but it was open when we were there to do our final chores.


We had two more soccer games.  First the one for Sandi and then the one for Jordie.

Then, we had a moving job to do.

Our trailer had to be moved out of the garden area to hook it up to the motorhome.

That’s it.  It’s time to get back on the road again.  One more sleep .... as they say.  Well …. we hope to be back over the holidays.  That’s the plan as long as the weather cooperates.

** Detour Alert **   We found a little toy that we want to see.  The problem is it's not located in the places we had mapped out.  So, I've been frantically working on a detour ... arrgh!  Thank goodness plans weren't set in stone.    It'll mean we'll miss Monterrey and Carmel. It's not that we haven't been there.  We have and they'll be there next year or the year after so we can visit again.    It's on the road again. 

Rivers, Lakes and Rain

 

 

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.

 

It's raining!  It's raining!  It's pouring!  Boy, did we need this rain.  There hasn't been any good rain in this area since about the 4th of July.  Many of the rivers are as low as we’ve ever seen them.  Sandbars have been popping up where we have never seen them before.  Rain was expected on Friday and definitely long past due.

Remember the little air dryer I mentioned on my blog a couple days ago?  We ordered three of them for the cabin.  They were ordered from Amazon early Monday evening.  So, Thursday I thought I’d check the tracking to see where they were and when we could expect them.  Guess what?  They were already sitting on our son’s porch!!  Talk about super fast service.  Sometimes trying to decide what company to order from is a big decision.  I think we definitely made the right one.  Now we just need to make one more trip to the cabin and set them in place.

The other day I read one of my normal morning blogs from Rick. He talked about the spawning of salmon that they watched on one of their hikes. It was a light bulb going off.

About 2 miles east -- Spawning area by fish hatchery on the Kalama River

There are many rivers around here where salmon spawn. However, I figured most of them in the fall run had probably already done that. If Rick had posted that blog a few weeks ago, we might have been able to sit and watch too.    Several years ago my son took me to visit some spawning grounds not far from his house.  Thursday we decided to check a few spots out.  We  had to go on Thursday if we wanted sunshine.  After 3 1/2 months of dry weather, the much needed rains were expected to begin on Friday.

 Kress Lake - 2 miles north.

We weren’t out for a long drive.  There are many, many rivers and lakes in a short distance from my son’s and daughter’s homes.  They live a little over a mile from each other in a area that is gorgeous and definitely an outdoor paradise.  

2 miles west - Fisherman's Loop

1 mile west - Columbia River

Since it was a weekday there weren’t a lot of folks out.  We did see a few fishing for steelhead.  We also saw a few struggling salmon on the last leg of their journey.  The salmon turn darker and darker the longer they are in the river.   By the time they are close to their spawning grounds, they are pretty black.

 

It was a gorgeous fall day.  Fall in this part of the country isn’t the same as fall in the East as Toni recently reminded me.  The colors of changing leaves around here are inter-mixed between the evergreens.  It’s gorgeous but very different from the East coast.

1/2 mile down the road

1/2 mile -- Loading logs on large ships

And, I have to show you this.  This is a baby gift Sabrina put together.  It’s diapers and supplies using blankets and ribbons to give the impression that it’s wrapped in a cradle!  Cute. Cute.  Cute.

Halloween is just around the corner.  We were reminded of this when we saw the pumpkin displays at the mall.

Trick or Treat

Actually, Duchess was on the floor at the cabin in the picture.  I thought the pillow was cute though.  Duchess doesn't like rain.  She'd much rather be inside than outside when the rain starts falling.  It could be our fault actually.  When we brought her home from the breeder she was just a wee little puppy.  We lived in Texas then and it didn't rain a lot.  However, I do remember having an umbrella by the back door.  We used it when we took her outside to do her business.  The umbrella was for her and not for us. 

We ended Thursday with two more soccer games.

The countdown is now on until departure day.  From posting this blog we have six more sleep-overs until we head south.  Temperatures are cooling down and the rains are coming.  It's a good sign the time is close.

‘Tis life on the road.