2:52 pm Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Phil and I are both avid blog groupies. We have our favorites but I go a step further and explore the bloggers on the “Datastorm Users Map” http://datastormusers.com/ and of course, I also check out “Hitchitch”, http://hitchitch.com/the ultimate blog listing. The best ones are written by Rvers on the move who write every day and that was (and continues to be) my goal when I started my blog in June, 2004. Each morning, whenever possible, while having my coffee I devote an hour or more living vicariously through these blogs—especially when we are not rolling down the road ourselves. When it is not possible for us to travel, I keep my senses sharpened for the real thing by reading about our fellow rvers adventures. Time constraints thwart reading them all but that’s okay since not all write every day. However, like the innocent moths precarious curiosity about the flame—for me, the price tag of these reviews is the yearning in my belly to hear Penny’s mighty engine roar and see Shelton in our rear view mirrors!

It is evident from the lack of verbiage on my blog, when we stay in one place for very long, I soon run out of interesting sights and events to write about. In western Washington, our former home state, we have seen most of it many times and I have written about much of it during the past two summers. Hence, the extended silence on my blog as we are parked here doing mundane daily tasks. Believe me; I am saving you from a long, nap caused by boredom!

Our tentative (my word for carved in Jell-O) plans declare we are leaving Shelton the second week in August. The last scheduled medical follow-up is on the third and our great granddaughter, Carly’s eighth birthday is the fifth. In order to accommodate us, our granddaughter, Sara is going to celebrate her 20th birthday two weeks early and join Carly for her celebration so we can attend both at the same time. We will be pointing our wonderful Penny the Pace east through Washington and Idaho to Montana then south through Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico on a quest for warm weather and new adventure.

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So … until we roll again, I ask for your understanding and patience.

A note to my family: I can still be reached by phone or e-mail.

12:57 p.m. Thursday, June 14, 2007

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men . . .”

No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it. The saying is adapted from a line in “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns and holds true for Phil and Joy this summer!

Back in February, we were enjoying the sunshine in Yuma and the conversation went something like this:

Joy: "While we are in WA this year, let’s not park in one spot this summer (We nearly overstayed our welcome last year by parking for 3 and a half months in Gloria and Lester’s back yard!) How about getting all our doctor appointments and family visits finished in May and explore around Washington a bit while the weather is good?"

Phil: "Sounds good to me! There are some great campgrounds I would like to visit that are located on some good lakes where I would like to go fishing."

Joy: "Great! Let’s get on the phone and start making our appointments."
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Phil: "Works for me!"

I won’t bore you with the details but with eight medical appointments for each of us that include follow-ups into August; wonderfully abundant dinner invitations; plentiful birthdays to celebrate; fun card parties with family and friends; graduations; a class reunion and Phil’s many local fishing trips with his buddy, Les . . . our dance card is full my friends! Into the second week of August, this 2007 summer is busy, busy, busy!

Such is the life of a fulltime Rver! Flexibility is the keyword—ability to change course in the middle of the stream.

Phil mused: “I guess we’ll have to come back to WA in April next year …?"
Joy responded: "Not on your life! The weather in May is iffy at best but April showers are a given in the northwest! 2008 is a whole new year; we’ll try again!"

4:10 p.m. Friday June 8, 2007

Our six days at Belfair State Park is over and we have returned to our parking spot in Shelton behind our friend’s house. My daughter, Violet managed to squeeze us into her busy schedule four of the six days and we experienced some great family time. She and her husband own a used car lot (Fred’s Car Lot) that also has Budget Rent-a-Cars. They also sell cell phone service and metal buildings/carports. They are very busy with the business and their church so it took some maneuvering to find time to be together but we did it! The grandsons, (14, 18, & 20 years old) are all doing well and Violet is taking time to do a small amount of gardening this spring which she is really enjoying.

Joy, Violet and her husband Fred. (I forgot to smile ~~~)

Two families of Geese and their goslings came every day to feed on the smogasboard of sea life exposed when the tide went out.

A beautiful rainbow in Violet's back yard.

A Para-surfer (?) enjoying the windy day on Hood Canal.

The boy camped next door feeding bread to the ducks in our front yard. The water is Hood Canal with the tide coming in.

The Lone Ranger and Penny the Pace at Belfair State Park on one of the days we had without rain. It was a great spot and we will go back.

11:21 a.m. Thursday, May 24, 2007

I mentioned a day or so ago that Phil and Les had their own adventure the day of our mini-family reunion. Here is the whole story:

Back in April, traveling north from Yuma, AZ we were following I-5, on our route between Mojave and Pleasanton, CA. Phil and I saw this spectacle at the same time and it was upon us almost instantaneously. A “dust devil” (mini-tornado) about 20 feet tall and ten feet across at the top appeared on our front right corner roaring up out of the shoulder along the road. It was full of debris—sticks and leaves and filled with sand but we were not afraid. It was just a dust devil … harmless, right?

When it slammed into us, the force sucked us to the right and completely off the road onto the shoulder--all 50 feet and 20,000 lbs.-plus-of us! Phil held steady and quickly got us back on the road without any mishap—we thought. We were a bit shaken but none the worse for wear and continued on down the highway to the next rest stop. When Phil went outside to do his walk-around check he found the damage. The dust devil had sucked the rear corner of our awning out of the roll and it had been hanging out for all the miles since we were hit while the wind ripped the canvas to shreds.

Keep in mind that our awning was locked down and lashed very tightly against Penny’s side wall because our locking mechanism has never worked correctly. The force from the dust devil must have been tremendous since driving at 60 MPH did not allow any problems. Also, this comparatively small whirlwind, rather than pushing us—pulled us into the twister. It gave us a much better understanding of the power in those enormous windstorms generated along tornado alley in the midwest.

Phil and Lester drove Penny the Pace back to Albany this past Sunday afternoon (hence missing Dixie’s party) for installation of her new awning on Monday morning. We had ordered it while we were at McKay’s Trucking for her yearly service. I stayed in Shelton and spent the night with Gloria. We attended Dixie's party on Sunday and then on Monday had a marathon day of girl-talk. Great fun!

Here is Penny with her new awning.

Penny the Pace and her new awning.

Phil wanted to show all of you the huge trout he caught yesterday! This big guy gave him a terrific fight and was exhausted when caught. Phil left him in the net rather than take a chance on hurting him. Mr. Trout recovered nicely when put back into the lake and quickly swam away.

12:01 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, 2007

My family had a mini- reunion this past Sunday at my sister, Dixie’s house at Oyster Bay mid-way between Shelton and Olympia. Our buffet style dinner being potluck had enough delicious food to feed a small army with an abundance of leftovers going home with the younger crowd for lunches. I think we had 24 people show up but if I have miss-counted, I apologize … I just know we had a grand gathering with lots of hugs and kisses and much love flowing! As being with family and friends is my favorite thing to do in the whole world, I loved every minute of it!

Phil and Les missed all the fun … but they had some adventures of their own. More about that tomorrow

Three sisters, grinning and bearing it; doing what they hate doing more than anything in the world--getting their picture taken: Robin top left, Dixie top right and Joy.

My granddaughter, Sara and her brother, Joe at the playstation.

My precious aunties ... Elaine on the left and her sister, Beverly on the right.

Two beautiful girls -- my niece, Tammy on the left and my cousin, Shannon (Aunt Elaine's daughter) on the right.

Great niece, Sophie (on the left) and her mom, niece, Beth on the right. Two beautiful peas in a pod!

9:42 a.m. Sunday May 20, 2007

It is raining in Shelton today. Most likely, it is raining everywhere in this state today but what else is new? It threatened yesterday and even sprinkled some but during the night Mother Nature got serious and we have the familiar steady drip from the low, gray clouds today. Rain without wind doesn’t bother me too much except for the muddy shoes. Unfortunately, we never established a Japanese style household in Penny the Pace so shoes come in and bring their cruddy bottoms with them. Then again, fortunately, shoe scrapers and rugs get most of the yuck before it finds its way inside.

My great niece, Sophie celebrated her tenth birthday yesterday and her parents, Beth and Arne invited the family for dinner then cake and ice cream. Her dad took the lead by preparing the entree: angel hair pasta and cheese tortellini with the choice of red sauce or Alfredo sauce and homemade bread and rolls. while Beth prepared buffalo (yes, aka bison-they were good) and turkey meat balls and tossed a green salad from their garden with all the accompaniments. Sophie’s mom also made the delicious lemon and vanilla four layer cake and her grandpa, Walt made the homemade vanilla and raspberry ice cream we all enjoyed so it truly was a family affair.

Sophie enjoyed opening her gifts with the proper amounts of ooohs and aaaahs and “thank you’s” then went off to spend the night with her 1st cousin, 1R, Jessica in Olympia. This afternoon, the family will meet up again at my sister, Dixie’s house for a family potluck, get together … “just because” … no special reason except to get to see everyone and have a great meal and a good visit. Phil and I are especially looking forward to seeing our family from Seattle and Puyallup (my Aunt Elaine who winters in Yuma and her sister, my Aunt Beverly). They arrived back in WA from Yuma May 11th.

Sophie contemplates her cake ... while Beth checks out the final touches for dinner.