We be headin' south - finally! Nov 8, 2005

Odessa, WA Nov. 7, 2005

FINALLY -- it is way past time to head south! Tomorrow we begin or annual migration south..to Tucson ultimately. We are way late this year as AL wanted to hunt this year. Elk hunting was cut a little short due to the heavy snow in the mountains, however, he had a good time. We have just about everything packed and ready to go. Packing this year was a little more challenging than it has been in the past. We usually travel in our 35 foot 5th wheel, but it is for sale in Moses Lake and we decided to leave it there over the winter and travel south in our 12 foot cab over camper! Now remember, to make things more interesting, we also have two very large poodle's and 2 cats that travel with us...plus Al and I in the camper....we will see how this works, or not! We are also pulling a cargo trailer with us to get all of our needed "stuff" to Tucson! Somehow we got all of this in the 5th wheel, and now we need a cargo trailer to haul it?

Our first scheduled stop is Seattle, tomorrow. That is if we can get there from here! I-90 is closed on Snoqualmie Pass due to a rock slide, which means we will have to go over Hwy 2; a narrow, two lane road. That should lengthen the trip somewhat! We will spend a couple of nights in Seattle; Al has a full day of doctor appointments on the 9th and we want to see the kids one more time before we leave. We are also meeting some good friends for dinner one night at a great Persian Restaurant in Redmond.

Our next stop will be Medford, OR to see Jo's sister and brother-in-law and niece and family. We plan on spending a day or so there. Then it is on to Lake Havasu, AZ to visit with Billie and Dan and see our friends Carl and Ruby Skidmore. Speaking of Billie and Dan, we want to brag a little here....Billie just was promoted to Lieutenant on the LA County Sheriff's Department. We now call her "LT Daughter"! She has really worked and studied hard for this promotion and we are very proud of her accomplishment. Okay, so I got off track a little here....our next stop after seeing them will be an overnight in Yuma to visit friends, and then into Tucson. We should be home by the 20th, or sooner.

Since our last travel log, we have been doing some traveling here and there. Jo had her 40th high school reunion in California in September. She enjoyed seeing some old friends and was amazed how good everyone looked....but she couldn't figure out how they got so old! :-) Of course, she hasn't gotten any older --HAHAHA! Seriously, she really enjoyed seeing her old school mates but was sad to see how many are no longer with us. Also on this trip we took in a wonderful concert by the Eagles at Staples Center. We have always wanted to see the Eagles in Concert and it was well worth it. They performed for 3 hours! We just proved the old folks can rock out -- just not for very long!

On this same trip, we moved Jo's Aunt from her apartment in California to Colorado Springs, CO so she is near her daughter, granddaughter and great-grand babies. She is in a nice assisted living arrangement not far from where her family lives and we feel much better knowing she is close to family that can take care of her. Jo's brother Johnny and her cousins Linda and Patty helped accomplish this move...which was no small feat! In 3 days we basically packed and moved her belongings. We gave most of her furniture away, and UPS shipped the rest. Thank you again Jack (Patty's husband) for your help.

As I sit and write this journal, I am looking out the window and it is truly WINTER here. There are NO LEAVES on the trees and it is cold, (34) gray and looks like snow. All we want to do is get out of here before that frozen white stuff starts to fall. Hope we make it! We will miss our friends and family here, but we are really looking forward to seeing our friends and family in Arizona! So, here we go....or here we come, which ever way you want to look at it. We are off! The Wroamin' Wraspirs are at it again!

We hope this finds you all happy and healthy and living life the way you want! Please drop us a line and let us know how you are doing and how you like our new way of sending out our travel journals.

Take care.....
"On the wroad again, just can't wait to get on the wroad again........."

THE WROAMIN' WRASPIRS
AL, JO, BEAU, SCHUSTER, JOSE AND JUANITO