23 October 2009

So many children, too little time

Well, we did get to Bobby and Katherine's in Brookings but not until 9:30pm. (so much for playing games with the kids)
Tuesday we did see the family and play games. All went well until the winds started the next evening. I couldn't believe the high winds and heavy rains. It sounded like a hurricane and kept me awake most of the night.
Thursday we drove to Redding and I spent 2 days visiting with Joy. She and I keep in touch by phone almost daily but it's so good to see her in person and show each other what we've been making.

Saturday afternoon we made it to Paradise and Sandi and Duane Talbot drove in right behind us. Paul and I visited with them, ate Chinese dinner and played hand and foot canasta. What a treat, we were having withdrawals, lol. We went to church on Sunday and barbecued some steaks for dinner. We fit in some more games and a visit before they had to head back to Santa Rose. I sure miss Sandi and really appreciate their sacrifice to be in Paradise for a visit.

I've spent marathon hours visiting with 3 of my daughters. Kimberly, Julie and Kelsey live here with 11 of my grandchildren. We have played games, eaten tasty lasagna, shopped, run errands, and visited. Tonight Paul is working on his race car trying to get it ready to race tomorrow. It's not an organized race, it's a fun race around cones up in Anderson (near Redding)

Saturday we will be celebrating Tori's birthday and watching as Michael and Hailey compete in a track and field competition similar to the Jesse Owens Track and Field events. Then it looks like we'll be heading south on Monday. Many more family to visit before we're through.

Well, it's late and I'm going to bed. I'll fill you in again in a few days or a week.

12 October 2009

Continuing Saga











Well, as you can see, I've has a little time on my hands.
I've made 3 Lotus Leaf Neck Scarves, 1 pair of leg warmers, and a gray reversible scarf. There is something good that comes out of spending 3 1/2 days in an RV repair shop, lol.
We are currently in Grants Pass Oregon having our windshield replaced. We did visit with Kristi and the kids Thursday night till Sunday morning. The kids are great and Kristi looks healthy and happy.
HOPEFULLY the glass guy will get on the ball and get us on the road today. I made plans to play games with Bobby's family tonight. The glass guy said he'd be here at 4pm and Paul said that was TOO late. We'll see what happens, so far no word and it's after 10am.

09 October 2009

I'll bet you thought we got lost!

It's been over a week since I saw the Internet, woe is me. We did escape Canada on Friday night and slept in the Tacoma Elks Lodge RV parking. On Saturday, Oct. 3rd, we made it to the Church in Centralia for conference. But on Monday, my whole itinerary went out the window.

We checked in to Brazel's RV Performance center for a few repairs. What an un- foreseen bundle of problems. The water pump wasn't bad after all, just errors in the valves. Except when they put the new one in, it kept blowing the fuses. That took 3 days. The alignment was fixed but that set up a shimmy at 40 mph because the old tires were worn badly. The next problem was the leveling jacks, they sprung a leak. They had the repair kit and fixed them BUT... one of the parts was wrong and they had to order another repair kit. (That was available in Redlands, California and was overnighted.) That whole process took 3 1/2 days.

We made it to Kristi's tonight, visited for an hour or so with her and the 3 kids. Tomorrow Paul will take the motor home to Junction city to have the satellite dish adjusted and come back to Portland while Kristi and I go shopping!!!

01 October 2009

On The Road Thur Canada

We've been on the road since Monday morning. We had a stop over in Anchorage for 2 to 3 hours before heading toward Tok. Mostly uneventful travel except for the freezing of our fresh water pump. Fortunately we brought extra bottled water to drink and flush the toilet.
We made about 450 miles Monday and the last 80 to Tok on Tuesday morning. We had a tasty breakfast at Fast Eddy's in Tok and a short nap before taking some more of the Alaska Highway.
Tuesday found us dodging many frost heaves and driving much more slowly than we'd wished. We did make it to Whitehorse before 9pm (that's Pacific time, we'd lost an hour). Good thing, we made it to Walmart in time to shop, whew! (I get withdrawals when deprived of shopping, lol!) We slept in the Walmart parking lot and hit the road for more fun miles.
Wednesday included seeing the bison herd and a flock of sheep, (both were on the road). We saw 5 Caribou crossing the road near us too. Our goal was to make 600 miles in one day to get thru the winding mountain roads. We might experience snow in the passes and we don't want to spend the night in the high elevations (our fresh water pump was still inoperable from the freezing temperatures). All the mountains have snow and they are beautiful to look at with the contrast of the dark green pines and yellow aspens at the lower elevations. Traffic is nearly non-existant, so peaceful to have the highway to ourselves.
Surprisingly there is still some bridge work going on along the road. A couple bridges were one lane with a signal for right-of-way control. This part of the highway is the most winding and also the slowest but with the most wildlife viewing. You must just drive slow and keep on the lookout because they could be right around the next corner and in your lane!
The first 2,000 miles is all about the distance and the next 2,000 miles is all about the stops. We have stops to visit friends, children & grandchildren, motor home repair, and finally doctors. Actually, one of my exciting visits will be in Las Vegas to see all my new friends at Wooly Wonders yarn shop. I have missed them and their friendship. I'm excited to see what they've been making since I left the first of May.(That's 6 months worth of knitting, it better be good, lol.)
Well, that's 3 days travel, any questions? Oh, I heard one about the weather. Well, we've had sun everyday and some clouds with a smidge of snow flurries but nothing on the road. Does that about cover everything?