Made it to California - so much warmer!

We started our official trip heading south on Jan. 16, stopped in Estacada and made the campground on our friend's property official.  The campground now has a name as you will see on the sign that we had made for our friends.

From there we went back to our favorite MotorHome service shop in Eugene and had a couple more enhancements made on the motorhome and got new tires on the motorhome.  We got new drapes for the front of our motorhome and also a cell phone booster since many of the places we stay do not have strong cell signals, including our leased site in Chehalis.  I hope that it about it for enhancements.

So we left Eugene on Saturday, Jan. 25th and travelled to Yreka, CA.  We got parked around 2:30 in the afternoon and so enjoyed the sunshine - almost 70.  Of course it did get down to 18 degrees at night, but we all enjoyed the sun after the drive.

We did decide to take the trailer with all the toys, so Craig pulls it behind the motorhome and I am driving the Explorer behind him.  For our first two days of traveling, it worked well.  We keep the two way radios charged so we can talk throughout the trip.  I love the feature on the Explorer where I can set the gap on how far behind I want to travel and set the cruise at about 62 mph, and then the Explorer stays behind him at his exact speed - he doesn't usually get much above 60.  Then, all if have to do is steer.

We arrived at a Thousand Trails park on Sunday, Jan. 26th called Lake Minden and we'll stay here about 9 days.  We are north of Sacramento and south of Yuba City.  The weather has been getting up to about 70 during the day and only 40ish at night - much better.  Yesterday was cleaning day, but it was so nice to get the flip flops out again!!  We look forward to seeing the sites around here and getting the kayaks out on the lake here in the park.  It's amazing that with the Thousand Trails system, we have only paid for 4 nights of camping since August 1st.  All the rest of the nights we have stayed in Thousand Trails or with family and friends.  Of course we do pay for our membership but so far that is paying off well.

We are surrounded by 49rs so it should be quite interesting to go to the lodge's Super Bowl game on Sunday and route for our Seahawks.  I kind of think they'll be routing for the Broncos?!  Go Seahawks!!

Status on Lexie after her Platelet shot - she is doing so much better.  Hardly any limp at all but she is still on restricted movement but we are pleased with the results so far.  Kyna is doing well and will turn 11 tomorrow.


Off today to start seeing the sites around the area.

Happy New Year

We had a great Christmas and celebrated the New Year with friends who joined us in the Chehalis campground.  We are now getting ready to head to warmer weather.  This includes doing doctor appointments for us and "the girls", getting around and seeing friends and family, Craig is getting the enclosed trailer ready to travel and we are stocking up on all supplies needed in the motorhome to include warm weather clothes.

Lexie had her Platelet shot yesterday into her elbow.  She was one sore dog coming out of the procedure, but seems to be doing good.  Of course to prepare her for the shot and process they have to shave her and she looks a little funny with the shaved spots on her legs.  Most of the other areas we can do a "comb over" and those spots are hard to detect.  The other areas were just finally growing back.  We won't know if this procedure works to relieve pain for at least 2-3 weeks so we are keeping our fingers crossed.





Besides our friends that were here the week of News Year, we have not had any human visitors in our entire loop since prior to Christmas.  Of course we do enjoy the daily visit by the group of deer that come by the site in early evening - sometimes we also see them on their morning walk.

We will head to Oregon on Jan. 16, stop in Estacada to see friends and our nephew and family and then head to Eugene for a few days to get a few more updates done to the motorhome and then we'll be heading to California.  Not sure our exact plans but thinking we'll head to Monterrey, then to Santa Barbara, then on to an area south east of LA.  From there we'll go into Arizona, then Las Vegas to see our niece's family and then onto Utah.  Depending upon time we may see a few more sites before we head back to Chehalis to arrive around end of May.  As we finalize and travel, we'll keep the blog updated.  We are really looking forward to traveling and sharing the sites and areas we visit with everyone.  We are of course also looking forward to the warmer weather.

Can't wait for the Seahawk playoff game over the Saints on Saturday - Go Seahawks!!!

Merry Christmas Greetings

We had a great Thanksgiving, celebrating Craig's Mother's 80th Birthday with the entire family.  Mom and I have the same birthdate, so we celebrated on Thanksgiving Day with the immediate family and then had a great party in Portland on Saturday evening.

After Thanksgiving, Craig and I headed to Oregon and with our two friends from Estacada we headed to Walla Walla for our yearly wine tasting at the Holiday Barrel Tasting.  This year "the girls" went with us and enjoyed being included - but of course no wine for them!!  We were both a little concerned leaving the motorhome by itself in Estacada due to the very cold, cold weather.  Everything was fine when we got back, except it took about 45 minutes to thaw out some water lines. Again, another learning when living in a 40 foot metal box in the cold - Craig keeps asking me why we are still in the Northwest and not down South in the warmer weather.

We then headed to Eugene to get some enhancements made to the motorhome and of course it always seems like there is something for them to check out for us.  We knew this would probably be one of our bigger expenses, but so far everything has been working well.  Eugene was even colder with more snow so we were very happy when we were able to "thaw out".  During that timeframe, we were able to get some Christmas shopping done, see friends and participate in a retiree monthly get together in Salem.







We came back to Chehalis on Tuesday, December 17th in time for appointments to include Kyna's ophthalmologist and Lexie's surgeon follow-up.  Everything checked out on both of them and we are awaiting to hear from the surgeon the most recent x-rays results to determine if we are going to proceed with a new technique where they process the platelets in her blood and then shoot the processed blood back into the joint that seems to be giving her the "limping symptoms".

 For those that know we (really Craig) has a holiday tradition of making Chex Mix every year, I want you to know that we are still working on that.  Waiting for it to warm up a little so we can make the Chex Mix on the outside grill which is a convection oven  - we'll see how that turns out and whether it is good or not we'll need to share as we bought lots of stuff to go into it.

We both wish you all a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year.

In Chehalis preparing for Thanksgiving

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've updated this blog.  I meant to keep it updated monthly, but when there isn't anything real news worthy, it's hard to come up with things to write that would be interesting.

So, we've spent the last month in Chehalis for a couple of weeks, back to Yelm and then just returned to Chehalis again last night.  Over the last month, we spent Halloween here in Chehalis at the leased campsite, had our good friends here the weekend before Halloween and participated in the trick or treating event in the campground.  We had about 40ish trick or treaters, handing out candy from around our campfire.  We didn't hand out that much candy while in our home.

We then went to the Veteran's Memorial Museum in Chehalis.  We've been meaning to stop and see what they had, but when the four of us got there, we were quite surprised how extensive it was.  We spent about 2-3 hours there and would definitely encourage others to attend.


We spent the last 3 weeks capturing a wild cat from our campsite, getting it neutered, and then helping the recovery process.  We kept him in the motor home a couple of days prior to having his surgery to see how wild he really was, and then we kept it for a week and 1/2 after the surgery for the healing process.  Craig released him today.

  

We've fixed a couple of meals on the new pellet barbque while at the campsite.  We decided to try a turkey and it turned out wonderful - very flavorful and juicy.  Probably the best we have ever done to include those we've cooked in the oven.  Of course as you can tell, Craig's new hobby, didn't stay just Craig's for very long.  I'm the one researching the brine or rubbing process, how to prepare and then what needs to be put on the meat once it's on the grill to help the grilling process.  We fixed stuffing at the same time on the grill.

We also enjoyed the visit from my Nephew and his family.  Since there was six of them, they rented a cabin in the campground for the night.  We did dinner together and the kids enjoyed running in the field behind our spot prior to it getting dark.  We then went to the cabin for bedtime and they almost had room for all four kids - one had to (or begged to) sleep in the closet.  The next morning they want onto celebrate their summer birthdays after all working together to earn a night at Great Wolf Lodge.

We've also enjoyed dinner with those we've worked with and have had lots more time connecting with friends and family.  Looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with Craig's parents and both of his brothers and wives will be their to celebrate their Mother's birthday.  We are all helping to fix the dinner.  All of us haven't been together for a holiday in many, many years.

We are continuing to keep Lexie as still as possible, luckily she's an older dog and it hasn't been too difficult, as we've had her on new medication over the last month.  She's on two different pain pills and an anti-inflammatory med. Unfortunately she really hasn't improved considering all the medication so we are reaching back out to the specialist again to see what's next.

Craig and I wish all of you a very wonderful Thanksgiving Day and hope that you can keep the Thanksgiving spirit all year long!!!

Back in Yelm

We returned back in Yelm on October 7.  Mom and Dad were getting a new propane tank and stove installed so we came to help out with the coordination.  We also had a few appointments to do in Tacoma and Puyallup so it makes it quite convenient to drive back and forth from Yelm rather than Chehalis.  We plan on being here into next week, with no definite plans but taking it day by day.












You would think there would not be any yardwork to do living in an RV.  Not true.  Our leased campsite gets plenty of falling leaves so we need to continue to keep the site cleaned up by blowing off the leaves.  While here at Mom and Dad's, we have been helping trim bushes/trees which I enjoy - the weather has been great and of course I do enjoy being outside.

Lexie did not improve from the steroid shot, so we took her back in a couple of times to the specialty vets and this time they had her looked over by a neurologist.  They did an MRI of her neck, shoulder and leg.  At first they thought she had a slow growing tumor, but the radiologist ruled that out, or at least for now.  So, the surgery doctor got a second opinion from another radiologist and they would like to do another MRI next week, taking it at different angles.  In the meantime, she is taking it all in stride and we just keep her in pain pills and as quiet as possible.  I think it's harder on us watching her limp than it probably is on her.

The week of October 7th, I enjoyed going into the office in DuPont and Tacoma.  First visit since I retired.  It was great to see everyone that I had a chance to visit with.  The Tacoma office and views are wonderful.  It was great catching up on all the people movements and new announcements.

Nothing else new.  We are getting the time to visit friends and family more than we did while working. We hope to start planning our trip agenda soon for when we head south in mid-January, but first we have to get Lexie taken care of.

Seahawks - 6 and 1 - Great Season!!!!!  We did enjoy attending the last home game against the Titans - not a wonderful game to watch - but great outcome!!!!

Back in Chehalis

We left Yelm and came back to our leased campsite in Chehalis.  We needed to get a few things out of our storage unit in Chehalis - warmer clothes, Seahawk jerseys and sweatshirts, fall decorations, etc.  We also thought if we were in camp, we could keep Lexie very contained so she could hopefully get better - she's doing OK, but still limping.

We went down to Salem last week for a funeral - my first boss at State Farm in Sept. 1974.  It was great to see everyone there, some I had not seen since moving to Puyallup in 1998.  We then bought Craig a "new toy" and visited a dear friend.

We had one good weather day since being here and we spent that day setting up Craig's new Barbecue.    He would like to start smoking and cooking meats with this new pellet stove, and this unit can also serve as a convection oven since our's in the coach can be a little small - baking cakes, pizza, cookies, etc.  I'm sure I'll be learning to make meat rubs and sauces for "his" new hobby:)

We had quite a wind storm yesterday with lots of rain - didn't seem to mind too much since it was a great day for football - Seahawks are now 4 and 0 - with the fantastic win in Houston.  Can't wait to go to our game in Seattle against the Titans.  We had to use the generator last night as we lost power a couple of times, but the generator gives us everything we need; lights, heat and TV.

We are looking forward to mid-January when we plan on heading for warmer and dryer weather.

Garage Sale in Yelm

So we arrived in Yelm on September 4th.  We had a couple of appointments throughout the week and  the next week, but all four of us started sorting, pricing and arranging garage sale items.  We got everything marked by Wednesday and then had a full day on Thursday getting everything arranged in the garage and the driveway for Craig's parents garage sale.  Wow, what a long day and so much to arrange.  The garage sale started on Sept. 13 and over the two days we sold lots and lots and lots.

We have spent the last week cleaning up, hauling off all the donations, recycling, etc.  Everything looks great.  

For those of you who knew what our Mt. Rainier view looked like, this is our view at Mom and Dad's out our motorhome windshield - a little different view than at our Puyallup home, but we enjoyed it all the same.

We've also been doing a couple of appointments - wouldn't you know once we don't have dental insurance that I would break a crown - oh well - I got that all taken care of over the last couple of weeks.

Also, Lexie has been having some limping problems over the last few months and so we took her into a new vet that is closer to Chehalis and got a second opinion and new drugs.  He immediately referred us to a Tacoma specialty doctor and so we spent about 12 hours in Tacoma on Wednesday having her checked out, Xrays, ultrasound, etc. and they gave her a steroid shot in the shoulder.  We'll take her back at three weeks and again at eight weeks to make sure the shot is working and that she won't need surgery.  They said her injury was like a rotator cuff issue on a human along with some bursitis.  She is doing better and now we need to keep her very confined for the next 2-3 months so that the tendons can heal.

It's so great to have the time to do all of these things - Craig and I just looked at each other and said how strange it was that we could both just sit around and run errands all day on Wednesday when we only expected to do a consultations in the morning.   But now that our schedule is so flexible it worked out well.  But, as the nights are getting cooler, we can't believe that summer is already gone and autumn is here - the time goes by just as fast if not faster than when we were both working.