Merry Christmas

I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas. Right now it's quiet here, but Marcy & Oscar are on their way from his parents house. They spent the night there because yesterday was Oscar & Cesar's birthday so they celebrate Christmas Eve into Christmas day. We talked to Julie and the girls earlier and are going to call my dad later after Marcy is here so she can wish him Merry Christmas too. And Mike, Ray's brother, will be here this evening after he gets off work. We've invited a few others, but I don't think they will make it.

We've had quiet holidays these days, with both of my in-laws gone now and the grandkids across the country. Of course Christmas will never be the same without my mom. You would think I'd be used to it by now, it's been 15 years, but I still miss her the most this time of the year.

Merry Christmas to all and great hope for the New Year!

Computer Issues and Christmas

Well, I'm on my laptop today because I had to take the big computer to the Geek Squad to have them take out a rogue security thing that took over the whole thing and now wants me to buy their program to help remove lots and lots of viruses, trojans, and worms that are not really there. Just that stupid security thing blocking my way. So the geeks are gonna get rid of it (for a price) and I should get it back next week sometime.

Meanwhile, I have to get some things done today so that tomorrow I will have time to clean the house. I've invited a few people over - a sort of open house. So we could have 3 or 10, I'm not sure. But I've sorta put off big cleaning while playing a bit so tomorrow is it.

You know - "If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done!"

We are hoping to make it to the valley in the next week or so, but the rain has caused lots of slides and the canyon road is closed. So the weather will be the guide for that.

Over and out.

It's Raining It's Pouring

It's been raining for days and that's not normal for So Cal.

Here's a picture of the bridge in Kernville near our vacation house. Normally there's a large space between the bridge and the water. Luckily we don't have to cross it to get to our place.

We had to move our walking (we've been working on losing our extra pounds) indoors to the gym, but I'm liking it. It makes my workout more intense and I sweat a lot more which makes me know that I'm getting more for the time involved. And with the treadmill it tells me how many calories I burn which is kinda fun. Plus we might as well take advantage of the gym membership that we've been paying for all these years.

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I'm hoping to post more in 2011. In addition to our travels, I would like to post more of my quilting accomplishments and a few other things. I know there is a problem if someone wants to comment. Some are not able to do so and that needs to be figured out. So, I'll be working on it or I may need to change to another blog location.

More later!

Almost time for the Family Reunion

I'm looking forward to seeing my family (Mom's side) in just 14 days!

Catching Up

It's been awhile. We've been doing stuff around the house. Ray has the garage looking great - it all started with a new standing tool box. He has it ready to do some guy stuff, but I'm not sure what he will do.
I, on the other hand, have gotten one of the rooms that I use in shape. We cleared it out and painted and got new carpet installed. Then put in a large shelf unit and I moved stuff back in. Tomorrow we will set up the quilt frame and soon the guy from the sewing machine shop will come and get the machine set-up on it and put the new Qbot on and get it ready for me to do the quilting on my projects. I can't wait. I have had that frame and machine for a few years now and can't seem to get it to work properly. This guy, Joe, said that he would set it up and make sure it was working before he left. I will be forever grateful!

We are planning a trip to Utah. It has been shortened a bit from our original idea, but it should be great fun. Then later we'll go to Florida to see the kids. That's about it for 2010 travel. Next year we will probably take short trips because I got involved with my quilt guild and will stay closer to home.

However, another cruise is always a good idea!

Playing & Fire report

Julie and family came last week. Keith only stayed a few days, but Julie and the girls are staying for a while before Skyler starts school and they won't be able to visit so often.
It's been fun having the girls here; they are getting so big. Skyler wants to do everything all day long and Shea is so talkative. They are both so very smart you know.

We are hoping to go to the lake next week, but there is a fire close to the house that started yesterday and is still going strong. I understand that the valley is full of smoke and I'm not sure we want to take them up there to breath it. I guess time will tell.

Reunion Week

Sometimes it's a pain to live where I do. When I left town last week I ended up sitting on the freeway - yes sitting, with the engine off - for over 30 minutes. Then crawled for another 30-40 minutes. It was because of a jack-knifed big rig and a spilled load of lemons that blocked all lanes. When I finally passed the spot they were scooping the lemons up and the big rig was gone.

We had a great time at the reunion. I love to see the family, even if it is only once a year. The resort we go to is so familiar now, after 20 years, that it is like home. And the people who run the place know us by name and are always happy to see us.

We had lunch with friends on the way home and then decided to go to the lake for a couple of days. However, it was so humid that it was pretty tough to take with just a swamp cooler. Soooo, we decided to pack it up and leave.

Then on the way home we got in a traffic jam that was caused by a big truck that blocked 3 lanes. We crawled along for over an hour.

Don't you just love living in the city?

Family Reunions

Well, I can't believe that my family planned their reunion the same weekend as Ray's family reunion.

His reunion has been the same weekend for at least 20 years now and that is where we are going. But it makes me sad that my family reunion was planned on a day that I can't go, but what can I do. They knew someone wouldn't be able to go and that someone is me.

As it is, Julie is not able to go to either reunion and she is doubly sad. But it is her sister-in-law's 30th birthday and she is Keith's sister so Amber's birthday wins out.

Marcy can't make the his reunion because of work, but because my family's reunion is closer to home she will be able to go to it.


It's been a long few years for his family reunion. Every year it seems that there is another family member that has passed away. This year it was Brenda. We are missing Davy, Tommy, Quanah, Maude and now Brenda. It's sad.

It looks like our family will be spread out this weekend. Too bad we can't be together.

Lovin' the Retired Life

I must say that I love the retired life. I can find more things to do with all my time.

Sometimes we just sit and watch TV: It helps to have the new DVR that records stuff then you can watch it back and fast forward through all the commercials.

Sometimes we take a trip: We've been to Washington, Alaska, Florida and Costa Rica. Next is the Sacramento Delta, then Washington again, then in the fall Utah.

Sometimes I sew: See my latest project above. And I have been catching up on some of my unfinished quilts plus starting some new ones. Also I'm taking a quilting class for older adults. I know, I know, but it's free and fun.

Sometimes we take a Harley ride: We checked out the newly remodeled Griffith Observatory and a couple of local resturants. And are planning more trips. One thing I want to see is the Pilgrim, a tall ship at Dana Point, that is a kind of floating history lesson. Also, I have never been to the Gene Autry Museum. There are so many things around here that are not far from home that would be a good Harley ride.

Sometimes we say "tomorrow": With so much to do, and so much free time, it's hard to feel time pressures. Oh well.

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I will try to keep up better.

Later,

Getting Things in Order

We've been home a while but there is so much to do; it's almost like moving. Everything from the kitchen, livingroom and bathroom was in the garage or bedrooms. Putting things back is a slow process because as I move things in I am also deciding if I should keep everything. We have a lot of years of stuff to deal with.

We are getting used to no carpet. I love the wood(look) flooring, but at some point we will probably get an area rug for the livingroom. The openness of the whole main area is great; it's like we have a new house. And the kitchen is wonderful too - I've been cooking all the time now and loving it. Also, having a seperate laundry room is so nice.

There's still so much so do plus I'm working on getting some sewing done too. I guess I won't get bored.

We have a few small trips planned, but mostly we will be home for a while in our almost 'new' home.

Heading Home

It's been a while so here's an update:

We had fun at the Daytona Speedway Experience, but we didn't get to take the tram tour out on the speedway because of lightening. Then we went back to Orlando during a storm. We were headed south-west while the tornadoes were headed north-east so they missed us. Then we picked up the up the fifth-wheel and headed home. After giving the grandbabies another hug.

We drove to Tallahassee the first day and it rained the whole way and by the time we got to the planned KOA it was a big mud puddle. We had already decided to just go home since we had to take I-10 home instead of I-40. We had planned to be gone another month but the weather hasn't been good so we are just making a bee-line home.

Many of the RV & KOA places say they have wifi (wireless internet), but at most it isn't powerful enough to actually get online. Today I have a really good connection so I'm trying to catch up.

Two nights ago in Columbus, TX we didn't have wifi or TV, but we had a beautiful sunset and I got some great pictures. Last night at Junction, TX we had weak connections that left when the storm set in. Luckly we had the DVD set for the mini-series Band of Brothers, so we watched a couple of episodes of that - at full volume to hear it over the rain.

Today we made it to Van Horn, TX which is east of El Paso. The sun finally came out about the time we got here and we're very happy to be out of the rain! It looks like there will be a good sunset here so my camera is at the ready.

We should be home this weekend and I'm really anxious to get there. Jerry and crew have been working the whole time we've been gone and although I've seen a few pictures, I can't wait to see it in person!

The Florida Keys & up the Coast

We had a great time in the keys, even though SPRING BREAK has already started!!! (I can't believe it - we went to Disneyland once not realizing it was Spring Break.)
Not to mention that a cruise ship was in Key West too! It was kinda crowded!
At a stop light two spring break girls riding a double bicycle ran into our stopped truck - and that was at 3pm.

Anyway, we had a wonderful evening at Islamadora. A great dinner fish in an outside patio with a view of the sunset.
I know the Brown Pelican was on the endangered list (now it's off), but in the Keys there are lots of them. And I really believe they like to pose for me to take their picture.
At Key West we had a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" at Margaritaville. It's described in the song of the same name. Except we didn't put Heinz 57 sauce on it.
We also toured the Mel Fisher Museum to see the booty he collected from the sunken ship he found. It's a great story but I recommend the movie, not the museum.

Moving up the coast to Daytona. Tomorrow we check out the Speedway Experience. We tried to go to the Daytona Beach today, but with it being Spring Break that was a mistake!

The Keys

We've had a great week here with Julie, Keith & girls. I miss them very much but am glad that they have a nice life here.

Tomorrow we are going to store the 5th-wheel for a few days & go down to the keys. The weather will be good and even when it rains it is supposed to be warm.

Still in Florida

Fun day with family yestrday. Messed around - playing at the park, checking out the local area, a little shopping and dinner out.

Today is a lazy day, just hanging out with Julie and girls. Keith is back at work.

Monday Ray and I head for the Keys.

Disney Fun

Yesterday, Disney's Animal Kingdom.
It's sorta like Disneyland and a zoo in combined. We all had a great time and it was even kinda warm for a while there! Keith's dad, Chris, works for Disney so he took us.
There is this huge fake tree in the center that has all kinds of animals carved in the trunk. I loved it and couldn't stop taking pictures. Yes, I am taking pictures, LOTS!

Later we did pizza & Survivor back at Julie & Keith's. But before that, from their 3rd floor apt, we watched the shuttle take off. Very Cool! Especially for Ray and I because we are children of the space era.

Today there is talk of the guys golfing & girls shopping, but who knows what will happen. It's Keith's last day off so we should do something fun.

Moss Park

We had a fun day at Moss Park celebrating Shea's birthday. She loved it and all her presents too, but she also found a log and a pine cone that she thought were special. She carried them around most of the day. So cute!
A fun day was had by all. Even though two sandhill cranes decided to crash the party. They were looking for food. Of course, Skyler loves to chase birds, something she got from her mom. Julie & Marcy loved to chase birds when they were little, but in California there are usually just seagulls and pigeons. I had to tell Skyler not to chase birds that are bigger than she is; so her daddy chased them away from our lunch.

Then back to watch the HBO movie Temple Grandin with Clare Danes - it's a great movie that I highly recommend.

Shea's Party Day

Yesterday Julie and I had a girls day. We went shopping - she got a gift card for her birthday - then had our nails done. It's something we do, but our regular nail place is in California.

Today there is a birthday party for Shea. Her birthday is Saturday, she will be 2.
She's getting so big and she is talking quite a bit. Skyler is in school now so we plan our day after 11:30 when she gets out. Grandma and Papa are loving being here with them.

I'm hoping that the wind will let up so we can have a fun party at Moss Park today. Julie and Keith made her a Strawberry cake and we will have lunch and cake on Strawberry Shortcake plates. Shea's gonna love it!

Julie's Birthday

After spending Friday night at a campground next to the Swanee River, we finally made it to Orlando Saturday. We've been playing with Julie, Keith & the girls so we've been kinda busy.
Today is Julie's Birthday. So we all went to the Kennedy Space Center for the tour. Then we all went to dinner with Keith's sister, his mom and her boy friend. A fun time was had by all!

In Florida

I told the lady at the KOA we're going to Florida. Ray corrected me that we are IN Florida. It's been a long week.
Our first night is Florida was our coldest so far. We thought we were gonna have to disconnect the water hose so it wouldn't freeze, but the weather report changed by the time we went to bed.
One thing has changed - we wanted to drive to Alaska, but this 5th-wheel isn't gonna make it. Not insulated enough.

The Big Easy

New Orleans yesterday. We had an early dinner at a nice place & did some shopping. Then we just drove around to check out the place. The whole area here has really bad streets; we bounced all over the place - not fun! It'a a good thing we parked the trailer at the KOA.
It's pretty cold here this morning, something we're not used to. We need to re-think out idea of going to Alaska. This 5th-wheel just isn't insulated enough for a trip like that.
Moving on - today we are going to check out a bar-b-que place in Mississippi that we saw on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives for lunch. We should make it just inside Florida today & hopefully warmer weather.
We plan to stay in Orlando for about a week. We're looking forward to staying in one place for a while.

Trying to out run the snow

We had a great day at San Antonio yesterday. We checked out the Alamo. I didn't read any of the history of the place because I did research for a report at college so I felt that I already knew about the place. I was still glad to be able to see it in person. Then we took a boat ride on the river under San Antonio, also known as the River Walk. It wasreally interesting to see what the city made when they were trying to figure out a way to stop the river from flooding the city. It was a big project, but it's very interesting.

This morning we woke up and got out of San Antonio ASAP because it was supposed to snow in the afternoon. We drove for 7 hours stopping very little mostly because it was really cold. We are now in Lafayette, LA were they are saying it might snow tonight, but just a little bit.

Tomorrow we check out New Orleans.

Texas

We're in Junction, Texas spending the night at the KOA. Driving across this part of Texas is a long and tiring process.
We had fun the few days we were in Arizona. We went to Tombstone and then lunched with and old friend and his wife - the guy that got the medal of valor with Ray. They live and work in Tucson now.

It's supposed to start raining at about midnight tonight. I hope it doesn't rain on us tomorrow because we are on our way to San Antonio and we want to visit the Alamo, River Walk and a few other things.
We're having fun and still looking forward to getting to Florida and seeing the grand babies.
More later.

New Trip

The time has come for a new trip.
This time we are going to Florida to visit the grandkids and then play a bit more on that side of the country - if the weather lets us.
Also while we are gone the work crew will finish our new kitchen and when we get home it will be done. I'm glad to be leaving while the house is such a mess, but a bit anxious to get back to a new house (well kinda).

New Kitchen

Well, tomorrow starts the work on our new kitchen. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and excited at the same time.
Meanwhile, we will get away for a few days at the lake.
Sounds like a good idea to me!

New Year New Trip

Sorry haven't been blogging - but then we haven't done much traveling.

However, last week we did go for a few days to Palm Springs with our friends Kathy & Jerry. Here is a picture of the mountains near us that was taken from the 57 Fwy looking north. I think the cloud sorta makes it look like a volcano.

We had a fun relaxing trip. We hadn't been in the 5th-wheel for several months so Ray & Jerry work out some little issues before we go for a long trip. We walked around the RV place, even played minature golf on their little course, and played table games or talked in the evening. On Saturday we walked around Palm Springs and had a nice dinner. On the way home we stopped by Hadley's and picked up some nuts and dried fruits and stuff like that. I love that place.

Soon we will be headed to Florida to celebrate Julie's birthday!