S-S-S-N-N-N-O-O-O-W-W-W!!!!!

Dec. 28
HUH? SNOW??? In Tuscon? Yup...it is snowing right now! And it's cold! BRRRR However, at our elevation (3,100 ft) the snow isn't sticking, but at 500 feet higher it is...which is the ridge across the valley from us. We have had snow off and on all last night and today, and it started with thunder, lightning, snow??!! Yesterday our high was 75 degrees, dew point at 9% and humidity at 6%....and today we have 43 degrees, rain and snow. Welcome to Tucson in the winter!! WE are really enjoying the rain/snow .. and we have stayed in most of the day -- didn't want to get in the snow plow's way! :-) haha....I bet there isn't a snow plow in this town!

We had a nice Christmas...Jennifer, Dick and Lano were here. The weather was perfect on Christmas day, 70 degrees and sunny. On the Saturday before Lano, Jennifer and I went to Mesa to the "Swap Meet"....> to do some last minute shopping. As we were heading towards Mesa from Tucson we saw what looked like smoke towards Mesa. But, no, not smoke but good old fashion FOG! HUH??? FOG??? In Phoenix??? Does NOT compute. And it was c-c-c-o-o-o-l-l-l-d-d-d! 43 degrees while walking around the swap meet...we made it through 2 aisles, then gave up, we were too cold! Whooses...yup...that's us!

Jennifer left for home on Tuesday; Dick and Lano left Wednesday. I now have two very pouty dogs. They had so much fun playing with Buddy (Dick and Lano's dog) and Dick spent most of his time while here throwing the B-a-l-l for them; and if he wasn't Jennifer was. So, needless to say, they are now looking at me to play with them ALL OF THE TIME! Right now Beau has his head on my lap and Schuster is next to me looking at me with his sad eyes...ob brother! There will be no B-a-l-l playing outside today!

Al is fighting pneumonia again. HE has been feeling rotten for about a week, but didn't want to go to the doctor. Finally I made an appointment and took him yesterday. Doctor said it is a very light case of pneumonia, we caught it in time, however, Al is to rest and do nothing for 10 days to two weeks. The doctor hasn't prescibed an antibiotic yet for him as he wants to see the results of the chest xray that was done yesterday and because Al is on so many medications, he wants to wait to prescribe the antibiotic. More fun to be had!

Dec. 29 HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIFER....



I didn't post this yesterday..I tried to get a photo of the snow on the mountains behind us....however, you see what I got!















There was no snow today, however, it was still cold. And the cloud layer hadn't changed much...still backed up against the mountains. We are suppose to be on a warming trend starting tomorrow...we will see.

As the year ends and I reflect on the year, all of the good times, bad times and times in between -- and decided it has been a good year for us. My health has been fairly good, AL's has been just okay. We have lost family members this year; Al's brother and two of my aunts; and we have gained no new babies this year. However, next year that will change...I know of one on the way right now but I have been sworn to keep quiet for a while (do you have any idea how hard that is for me???) Let's just say I won't be the true gramma, but darn if I won't spoil that baby anyway...if I can get the real gramma out of the way for 30 seconds or more! Congratulations to you-know-who-you are!

We pray for peace in 2007; happiness and good health for all; and for all of you to live life to the fullest....this isn't a dress rehearsal, this is the only shot you get at life, give it your all!

PROSIT NEUJAHR! HAUOLI MAKAHIKI HOU!! MASAGANANG BAYUNG BANUA! FELIZ ANO -NUEVO! GELUKKIG NIEUWJAAR! KIORTAME PIVDLUARITIO! KENOURIOS CHRONOS!

NO MATTER WHAT LANGUAGE...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

It's beginning to look like Christmas......finally

Dec, 19 Tucson



Juanito helps decorate the house!





It's finally beginning to look like Christmas around our house! The cards are mailed, and we are getting a lot of cards from friends and family, and we really enjoy that. Last Sunday we (we, as in, Cortney and I...Al disappeared) got the tree up and some lights on the outside of the house up. Cortney was my Santa's helper this year or I still would be struggling with the tree.
Now, you have to
understand that a few years ago we decided to go with a "fake" tree that was prelit...no more hassle with lights on the tree! Uh huh! It took the three of us (with a couple of cats and dogs thrown in to "help") to get that $%^&*() tree lit! You have to make sure all the "connections" are "connected" to the proper "connection"! I needed an electrical engineer to help put this thing up! FINALLY, I walked away and AL and Cortney got it together. Had I stayed around the tree would have been in little tiny pieces...I have no patience for that kind of nonsense! You see, my theory is, you plug it in and turn it on and it lights up! PERIOD! No hassle, no struggle!

Jennifer comes in on Thursday; friends from Yuma come in on Friday, so by Saturday our house will be full. Bruce, HOlly and Cortney will be here Christmas eve; and Christmas day will just be the five of us. A nice, small dinner of prime rib is planned. I haven't made the peanut butter fudge yet, nor the chocolate fudge; however, that activity is planned for Friday so Jennifer can help!!!

Our weather has turned a bit cool. Matter of fact, it tried to rain on us today and yesterday we got an actual drop or two of rain on the windshield of the car!! Now, I know, you people in the Pacific NW don't understand this at all, but rain around here is exciting! We also had some high winds on Saturday...I thought we were gonna' get blown off this hill top that we live on! Of course, we had nothing to compare to what Seattle had last week. WOW...I had to check and see if the State of Washington was still on the map...went on Google Earth to make sure!

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful 2007.

And the wheels on the train go round and round

We are home from LA...had a good trip. Here are the last few days of our lives.....

Wed Dec 6
After a very fitfull night of sleep in our hotel in Long Beach (lots of noise, a couple of what sounded like gun shots and I was done sleeping) we headed to Jo’s cousin Linda’s in Newport Beach for a visit. Linda took us to a nice restaurant (I can not remember the name!!) for lunch in Balboa. We were right on the water and besides having wonderful food the view was great as well. All to soon it was time for us to head back to Palmdale. We fought our way through LA traffic all the way up to Palmdale, it took us almost 3 hours! UGH!

Good friend Glennie Wilburn and Billie and Dan met us for dinner in Palmdale at Fresco II. We have ate there before and it has never disappointed us. We had a short, but great visit with Glennie. She is such a neat person and we always enjoy her company.

Thurs Dec 7 PEARL HARBOR DAY

After lazing around the house most of the morning, we wroamed around Lancaster for a while…going by our old house, which looks great. I still miss that house! If we were to ever build a house (which, by the way, won’t ever happen…too much work and stress) we would build it like this house. We still have the plans for it tucked away.

This evening we went with Billie and Dan to the LA County Sheriff, Altadena Station, Christmas party. We really had a great time meeting Billie’s (SGT GRAHEK) co-workers and we even got out on the dance floor for a couple of dances! Neither of us knew if we could dance anymore and we found out we could!

Fri Dec 8

Melanie (Jo’s oldest daughter) called today…she has really had one heck of a week…you know the kind, if it could go wrong, it did go wrong. She started out the week having problems at work, then found out her car insurance had been cancelled due to a mistake by the insurance company. She was involved in a car accident a couple of years ago (rear ended while she was at a stop sign) and has been waiting forever for her settlement. Her lawyer has been dragging his feet, despite her attempts to push him along. I would have changed lawyers, but she was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Well, as it turns out, he is now among the missing….just up and left. So new she gets to start with a new attorney. Fortunately, her new attorney is in the same firm and knows of the case. What a mess. I just hope she gets her settlement soon….tooooo much has happened to this family in the past year. They need a break!

After battling LA traffic one more time, we are currently (2:30 PM) sitting on Amtrak waiting to depart for Tucson. It is warm today and of course, I am dressed for cold…this trip I was completely off in my clothing. When we left Tucson it was cold and my brain was locked on cold, so I brought warm clothes….when we arrived in LA it was warm and I really could have used some cooler clothes.

Dec 9
This train actually had round wheels. I am convinced the train on the way to LA had square wheels it was such a rough wride, however, this trip was very smooth and we were on time in Tucson at 2:30 a.m. Home by 3:30 a.m.; go to bed immediately, get up at 9:30 a.m. and head for Gila Bend to pickup dogs. We met our Yuma friends there and were greeted by two very happy to see us dogs!

Dec 10
Had a great time with friends Jude and Roger Hubbell today. They took us to see a local production of Cabaret, then dinner at their house. What a great day for us!

Dec.11
It was "get the Christmas cards done" day! I am really behind this year! Maybe I should just wait until next year to do cards? NOT...I love sending and getting xmas cards. So from 10:00 a.m to 10:00 p.m. I did cards. Now, I made most of my cards, so it took a bit longer, but all 195 cards are signed, sealed and ready to mail tomorrow. WHEW!

Dec. 12
CARDS ARE IN THE MAIL! It really is hard to imagine it is xmas...the weather is beautiful! Spent the day doing our xmas shopping for grand children, etc. DONE! Hey, I am really getting a handle on this! EXCEPT, our house is not decorated...it could be July if you looked at our house.

Dec. 13
Still not decorated....not a xmas decoration one at the house yet. We are having our carpets cleaned on Friday...so Saturday I will start decorating inside. Outside? Well, maybe no lights this year.

WRIDIN' THE WRAILS WEST

We are once again on the wroad...this time on Amtrak to Southern California. We had a voucher from Amtrak that expired on Dec. 8, so we decided to take a trip. You know, that is so unlike us...NOT! We left Tucson at 0-dark-30 (1:30 a.m.) on the Sunset Limited heading west. Now, Amtrak surprised us...it is usually late by an hour or more (which, for Amtrak is on time) however, this time it was only 17 minutes late. Good thing we didn't count on it being late by an hour or more! We had a sleeper roomette (big enough for 2 seats, which convert to one bed and a bunk, which, by the way, it is a little tough for me to sandwich myself into! And the "roomette" is very small...)and we did manage a little sleep on our way to Los Angeles. The rails between Tucson and LA are in pretty bad shape, so we more or less, "bounced" our way west! We arrived at Union Station in LA only an hour late. Now, this is amazing for Amtrak; they don't own the rails and have to pull on to a siding to let most of the freights pass! Union Station is an place to see. It has been renovated and it is in beautiful condition...just like it was when trains were the only way to travel! We picked up our rental car and headed north to Acton to see Billie and Dan.

After arriving at Billie and Dan's we were so tired from the trip, we were in bed by 7:30 p.m. I think that is the first time in years we have been in bed that early...and we slept a full 12 hours! WOW...I can't remember the last time we did that. Guess our bodies were telling us something!

Saturday we all went into Lancaster and had lunch, then came back home and Billie and Dan fixed a wonderful turkey dinner. Boy, that was really good. YUM! Dan brined the turkey before he baked it and it was super good. Billie made the rest of the wonderful dinner....green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots....all the yummy stuff. And carrot cake for dessert. We were stuffed!

Sunday Al and I headed to Glendora to visit my brother Johnny for a couple of days. We took Hwy 2 "over the top", which means we drove the Angeles Crest Highway over the San Gabriel mountains instead of "going around" which means down Hwy 14, around the mountains and then back on the other side of the mountains (still with me?) on 210 Freeway to Glendora. It was a pretty drive and a beautiful day. When I was a kid growing up in this area, going over Angeles Crest was the ONLY way to go to Lancaster without packing an overnight bag!!! I learned to drive in the mountains on this wroad as well! After a stop at "The Hat" for a great pastrami sandwich,(if you like pastrami sandwiches, this is must stop if you are in the LA area) we arrived at Johnnys in time to watch a little football before we went out to dinner. My 2 nephews, Steven and Michael and my niece Taryn joined us for dinner. It is so fun to know these kids as adults now....I just want to know when they grew up and how they did this without my permission! All three are good, responsible adults and we are very proud of them.

Monday was my day to visit aunts and cousins. Well, I tried to at least. I got to have a wonderful visit with my cousin Patty and my Aunt Nell. It was so nice to be able to sit down and just visit and rehash old times. I can remember my parents doing this and I used to think "I will never do that!" ... well, all I can say is never say never...I really enjoy this! Does this mean I am getting old? Probably, but I had a wonderful time anyway. I wanted to see my Aunt Mae, however, she had a doctor appointment that day, so I couldn't.

It was strange not going to see my Aunt Martha and my Aunt Millie....that was always a big reason for coming to LA..to see them. Since they both have died in the last 5 months, it was a strange feeling for me -- I realized how much I miss them.

We had dinner with my brother and family. Julie fixed her wonderful eye of round (Cuban style) and her fablous cuban black beans and rice...needless to say, we stuffed oursevles once again! We waddled back to the hotel last night, both groaning and saying "we won't eat for another day or two we are sooooo full"...WRONG.

Side note here, there are horrible brush fires burning in the area. One near Ventura that is threatening 3000 homes and one near Fontana that we can smell the smoke. And it is very, very windy...good ole Santa Ana winds. I remember all of this from when I was a child....it scared me then and it scares me now.

Tuesday was really a fun day for me. My brother and I decided we wanted to go haunt a cemetary. Now, not just any cemetary, but Rose Hills in Whittier. We wanted to go visit our grandparents, aunts, uncles and my brother's brother-in-law. So that is waht we did...but it really turned into a "treasure hunt" for us. First of all, Rose Hills is HUGE -- matter of fact, it is the single largest memorial park in the world, over 1,500 acres. This was like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. I had a very vague idea of where our grandparents were buried, but that was it. After a visit to the administation office, where a very nice lady looked up all of the sites and gave us directions as to where to find our loved ones, and also told us if we had any trouble locating the grave sites we could call Security for assistance, we set off, armed with the directions and both my brother and I saying, this shouldn't be hard! HA! As we found out at the very first stop...it was a bit harder than we anticipated. We finally found the first grave, after a very long search. The next one was as difficult as the first. We were in the right "garden" but could NOT locate our Uncle. After a call to his daughter, we finally found him. Now, both my brother and I thought this adventure would only take us a couple of hours....we had just used 2 hours looking for 2 graves...at this rate we were going to be there the rest of the day and night (not something we wanted to do!) Plus it was about 80 degrees outside and we were walking up and down hills and rows and rows of graves. The next two were easier to find, so with this building our confidence a bit, we decided to take a break and go find something to eat. Al, in the mean time, is just waiting for us to find the grave and then on to the next one, he would get out and walk and try to help us, but he was as lost as we were. He was so patient with us. After lunch we went in search of the remaining loved ones. We found one of our uncles right off! HEY, we are getting pretty good at this. Now for the last 3 graves, our grandparents and our aunt that died before I was born. We found them with minimal effort....and it was only 1:30 p.m. We both were glad we did this, it had been on our "to do" list for many years.

We left my brothers and headed to Long Beach for the evening to have dinner some good Boeing friends. It was so good to visit with Eva & Bill and Donna. And Donna brought her grand daughter Natalie along...I was shocked! The last time we her saw was 7 years ago...it sure doesn't take children to grow up! Natalie is 13 and is turning into a very pretty young lady. We had a great visit, it is always so much fun to see these people. I wish we all could see each other more frequently, but I am also very thankful for the time we do get to spend with them. Eva, Bill and Donna just never change, they are still the wonderful people we have known over the years.

Bill and Eva Davey








Donna Bearden and grand daughter Natalie






Stay tuned for more of our adventures when we "wride the wrails" home on Friday.

Happy Day, Sad Day

Happy day, sad day....that is what yesterday was. It was a mixture of joy and sadness. Why, you ask? Well here goes....

Thanksgiving, a time to be thankful and to be with family and friends and that is what we did. Family: our Tucson family; Bruce, Holly and Cortney were here. Friends: Good friends Dick and Lano where here. We had a good dinner, Lano and I prepared it and had a good time doing it. When we are together we always have a good time, laughing, goofing off, doing silly things and we did that with the dinner as well. I have been putting on a Thanksgiving dinner for over 40 years....you would think I would have it down "pat" by now, but I always have to have an "oops" or two while preparing or cooking it. It just makes it more fun! On Wednesday, while making the cranberry jello salad (which is one of my favorites) I put the water on to boil an promptly dumped the jello into it to "boil" with the water...obviously my head wasn't with me! However, I learned that it is okay to add jello to the water before it boil and "bring it to a boil"...it still gels...making me think that jello must be "idiot proof"! The rest of the dinner went off well...Holly and Corntey were helping with the last minute touches and with clean up. If I didn't have to do the clean up after the dinner I would do turkey dinners all of the time! I have always hated to do dishes and that hasn't changed...what a boring job!

And the sad.....my Aunt Martha, my Auntie M, died yesterday. She was 81 years old and the last of my mother's siblings...that generation is gone now. Auntie M was always one of my favorites. When I was young she was my idol...I wanted to be just like her. As she aged, she was still my idol...she always had fun, no matter what she was doing. She bought my wedding dress when I married Al; she did all sorts of wonderful things for me through out my life. When my mom died, Auntie M was the one that got me through that bad time in life; became my surrogate Mom, gave me advise (sometimes whether I wanted it or not) and generally was the one I went to when I needed a little "motherly love". She is the one I helped move to Colorado Springs last year so she could be near her daughter and grand daughter and great grandchildren. I am so glad I could help make that happen. She has been ill for several years (sometimes, somewhat of a hypochondriac) but aging did take its toll on her, as it does everyone. I tried to see her every six months when she was living in California, or more if I could. I called her almost every week while she was in California and generally kept in touch as much as I could. Yes, I am sad she is gone. However, part of me is very happy she is gone....she is finally with her brothers and sisters, mom and dad, husband Ted and all the animals that have gone before her. SHe was a real animal lover...however she was allergic to dogs and cats and as badly as she would want one, she was always allergic to them. We would take our various dogs to visit her over the years...it always made her happy. I know I get my great love for dogs and cats and all animals in general from her (minus snakes, and that she and I agreed on...ICK....snakes are icky!) So one more gone, leaving me with a tremedous amount of wonderful memories. I will shed a few tears over her from time to time; but remember her with loving, fun memories. God Bless Auntie M...you are not in Kansas anymore! Her grand daughter did a wonderful thing on Wednesday and I will be forever greatful to HIllary for this...she called to tell me that Auntie M was doing bad and that she was failing fast. She was with Auntie M at the time and I got to tell Auntie M goodbye and that I loved her...may she rest in peace forever.

One Million and Counting!!!

Yes, Tucson has reached the one million population mark as of last Sunday. Glad they didn't do the count during snow bird season...it would have been one million permanent residents and one million additional residents that come here and don't know how to drive! But I degress! I didn't realize Tucson was that large! Of course it is spread out over many, many miles. And when AL is on a hunt for something from a grocery store, you could, concievably, cover all those miles (right Cammie?) The forecast is that by 2040 the city will be 2 million...I don't plan to be around to see that one!

We are getting settled in, but it is tough. I don't want to do anything but go sit outside on the deck and enjoy the sun shine and the 80 degree weather. And look at the beautiful mountains and listen to the gazillion of cars that use Lago del Oro as the main road to Saddlebrooke. I know, quit complaining!!!! I could be doing the back stroke in Seattle! NOT!

THanksgiving will be here before we know it and I am not ready....we will have Dick and Lano here, plus the Sanderson's, so it will be a nice, small gathering. AL is already trying to figure out how he wants to prepare the turkey and I can see an arguement coming...because I am going to prepare it in the traditional way! No smoking, brining, frying, etc....just a good, old fashing turkey! Speaking of which, we were treated to an early Thanksgiving dinner, which was wonderful. Cortney cooked it for us last Sunday and she did an excellent job! She is a wonderful cook. YuMMMMMMM

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH HEAT

Tucson
After a long, cold, trip we arrived home yesterday around 4:00 p.m. Home was a site for sore eyes....it was really good to be home. The animals exploded out of the trailer/truck and spent a few hours making sure nothing had invaded their territory! Cats came in a couple of times "fluffed" up...so something has obviously been here this summer! And we did have a visit from our Javalina's last night about 9:30 p.m.....Beau was definitely up on point and so was Schuster, however, not like Beau. BEAU HATES JAVALINA'S.

We finally got out of Odessa around 5:00 p.m. last Tuesday....a very cold Odessa to be honest. We traveled all of 40 miles to Moses Lake to spend the night there at Sun Country with Gordon and Denise and Charlie and Johnny. WHen we arrived we discovered our kitchen slide on the trailer had decided it was tired and didn't want to work any longer. Not a great way to start a trip! However, Gordon and LeRoy had it fixed by noon the next morning and we were on our way. It was a whopping 9 degrees on Tuesday night ... brrr! We drove to Baker City Oregon on Wednesday. It was a great 17 degrees there! Wow...heat wave! On down the wroad we went on Thursday with the HERD of snowbirds going south. We stopped for the night in Declo, IDaho, ya, I know, where is that? It is just south of Twin Falls and it was actually above freezing! Nice RV park right on the Snake River. The next morning I was walking the dogs when I looked over towards the river and lo' and hehold, here comes a BIG bob cat! He was stalking us! I think he thought he was having poodles from breakfast. Very soon the dogs and I were back in the trailer! The dogs never even got a scent of him/her. I have had my fair share of wild animals this year!
That night found us in Fillmore, Utah at the KOA. This is a nice park and we stopped there on our way north last May. The owners remembered us (acutally, they remembered the dogs) and the dogs love this park. There is a huge field for them to run in. That is, after I made sure there were no critters stalking us! Saturday night found us in Flagstaff, Arizona....almost home. Again, it was cold that night, but not freezing. We stopped in another KOA, not so nice this time. It is an old park and has very narrow roads and not very big sites.

Yesterday we stopped in Phoenix at the Arizona Casino for my birthday brunch. Boy, was that ever good. Not as good as Ivar's in Seattle, but it runs a close second. I drove from there home and then I let Al have the pleasure of parking the 5th wheel. For those of you who have never seen where we live here, we live up on a hill, which is accessed by private road, dirt. Last monsoon took out part of our road and we just had it repaired last week. And where we park the trailer is next to the house and not a lot of room to 1) turn trailer around up here, 20 said trailer. Al did a wonderful job getting it turned around and parked. We unloaded just want we needed to and then went to Jude and Roger Hubbells for a wonderful dinner. We were so glad to see them...they have been good friends for many, many years.

The house did fine over the summer, with the exeption of the wroad being washed out and having a hot water heater go out on us last week. Thank goodness for Bruce, he replaced the hot water heater for us. This has really been a "water" year for us...Odessa pipes freeze; trailer sprouts water leak; road gets washed out and then the hot water heater goes...hope that is the end of it.

Speaking of water....Seattle is really getting the rain. I think they are starting to build arks and installing snorkels on vehicles. WOW!

We are enjoying our 80 degree weather, and it is beautiful this time of year here. OF course, to me, it is always beautiful...now if I could only convince Al.

So until next blog...hope all is well with all of you!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Odessa, WA
It is currently 16 degrees on our back deck....and the target for tonight is 13! YES --13 degrees. We are so outta' here! Our poor animals are frozen, as we are. Even Al said it was cold today and it has to be dog gone cold for him to say that!

We are hoping to head south tomorrow. Our target is to get outta' here shortly after 1:00 PM after the water is shut off and we drain the house. We may only make it to Moses Lake, but at least we are heading south. We are going straight to Tucson this time....no side trips. We are trying to get ahead of a storm that is suppose to roll in and provide a lot of that frozen white stuff that is called ss.ss..nn..oo..ww.

More as we roll along.

This and That, and It is cold!

BRRRRRRRRRRR -- IT IS TIME TO MAKE LIKE A DUCK AND HEAD SOUTH! We have been to Seattle and back and I have to tell you....it is cold here in Odessolet (as one of my granddaughters calls it). Right now it is a whopping 40 degrees outside and about the same inside! Heater isn't keeping up very well tonight. And if I put on any more clothes I won't be able to move.

Al had his last Seattle doctor appointment today and the doctor gave him the okay to drive again, with a few limitations. He doesn't want him driving in real congested area's and prefers that he limits his driving on long drives to 4 hours at a time (which isn't a problem with a bladder like mine...we stop every two at least!) AL is feeling much, much better as well....and his new medicene seems to be really helping. Thank goodness.

So with that good news...we are hoping to be outta' here by the end of the month.

The trailer came home Sunday (thank you Sun Country) and is road ready, so now I have my work cut out for me...get the rest of the "stuff" in it. As I look at this pile of "Stuff" we seem to move every 3 months or so I wonder just what I could cut out. I could cut out the "bill" box, but that wouldn't be very practical....I could cut out the dog toys, but that would be less practical. I could cut out our clothes, however that could get expensive in the long run. I have decided to leave more clothes here however...especially the warm ones. However, I will take enough to get me to a warmer climate...like Arizona. I do remember that is does get cold in Tucson in January/February however, so I will be like a good Girl Scout and "be prepared".

News that really isn't news and other nonsense!

I ask you, why are gas prices so friggin' high in Washington State? Headlines in the Spokane newspaper a few days ago was "Spokane gas prices highest in state"....and it goes on to say that gas is higher in Washington than in any other state. Friday gas was $2.71 here in Odessa. Now, you might say, "well, you are in a small town." Not relevant. In Davenport (another small town) it was $2.59 same day. In Spokane it was $2.66. Today it was $2.59 in Odessa. I don't understand. I see in todays news that gas prices are actually under $2 in some areas of the country. St Louis being one of them...and Kansas City and Springfield, Missouri. Why can Missouri lower prices and we can't? Can we say gauge? And just why is gas so high in the first place? I know, some of you will say it is because of foreign oil...but what about the oil we have stored? Is that to be used for an emergency? Again, why? I remember my mom and dad complaining when gas went up over $.30 a gallon! Okay, I just really age dated myself! It doesn't seem to long ago whey we were complaining when it went up over $1. We would drive around and look to see if we could find gas under a dollar...that made sense--NOT! Okay...off the soap box!

It is getting cold here....it was 30 last night. We had both cats in bed with us last night, cuddled up so close we couldn't move. Of course, neither of us made them move. They are like little, portable, furry, heaters. The high tomorrow is suppose to be 48---me thinks it is time to get out of here and head to Tucson. Of course, I thought that 2 month ago. I still don't know if Al is going elk hunting, so our departure date for Tucson is still up in the air. The 5th wheel is in for maintenance and as soon as we get it home I will finish getting it packed and be ready to go just in case he decides not to hunt. We do have a doctor's appointment in Seattle on the 25th, and any time after that is time to leave as far as I am concerned. Not that I have ran out of things that need to be done around here, I just don't want anything to do with them right now...I want to go get warm.

Last weekend was opening of deer hunting season here. All the hunting gang from Seattle, minus one, came over. Frank has been down with pneumonia, so he had to miss deer hunting...which, I am sure, upset him. I left town as I do every year so the boys can have the house. I went to Spokane and spent the weekend with Al's cousin and my best friend. We had a great time...Jeannette and I went into Couer d'Alene and poked around the shops there. She and Gary spoiled me this weekend...and I loved it. And, just for the info, 3 deer were taken this weekend. Jesse & Rowland Brasch and Jim Jardine each got deer. And I almost got one on the way home...a nice big buck jumped out and ran across the road right in front of me!

I talked with my 81 year old aunt tonight. Oh boy, that was fun. All I heard from her is that she is dying (well, aren't we all?) that she hates where she is living (she is the one I moved to Colorado last year...it's taken me a year to get up enough gumption to call her!) She hates Colorado, it's cold (they had snow today), she hates her nursing home, blah, blah, blah. If I get that way will someone shoot me? She has always been a complainer, but she has it down to a fine science now! I think it will another year before I call again. Oh, and of course, it is my fault she is where she is. Makes no difference she asked to move there and my cousins and I made it happen. ARRGG.

Well, until I find something else to complain about....er....talk about, (do I sound like my aunt??) I will close this for now.

Irises, Irises and More IRISES!

Now, as most anyone who knows me, knows I love the Iris flower. And I point them out everywhere we go. I have seen them in every country we have traveled to with the exception of Saudi Arabia! I have Iris pictures, plates, etc. all over my house in Odessa. And six years ago I planted 60 Iris tubers all around the outside of the house. Just 60, which have all produced beautiful flowers, purple, salmon, black, yellow, champagne and purple, white and purple, etc. Now, to grow iris sucessfully, apparently you are suppose to dig them up every 3 years or so and "split" them and re plant. NO ONE TOLD ME THIS when I planted mine. WHAT??? It requires addition time and work after the initial planting???? AARRGGG! But, but, I'm retired! I have no time for this nonsense!

Well, after feeling "guilty" for the last year because my poor iris were being "crowded" I decided this year would be the year I would dig them up, split them and transplant them. Little did I know what I was getting into, besides one hell of a lot of work!!!! First of all, these things reproduce like rabbits! After digging them all up, which was a chore in itself and took nearly a week of dig some, rest, dig some, rest, repeat for better than 6 days I finally had them all out of the ground. Al and our son Jerry were really a big help here as I discovered my "digging" talents were lacking...in other words, I must have missed that class in school. Then I looked at all the iris...holy smoke! As Jerry put it "do you really need all of these?" Uh...no! I had over 200 tubers that we staring at me and that was before I split them! I could have Al dig up our extra corner lot and I could plant all of these iris and go into business as an iris farm....not damn likely! Everywhere I looked there were iris...I even dreamed about them.


Well, as of 20 minutes ago, I am officially done with iris! I have split and replanted 120 tubers, which left me with about 500 left over! I have decided I won't battle weeds in my flower beds again, so I planted tubers, then layed black landscaping material over it, being very careful to cut holes where my iris are to come up and then I have spread 22 bags of bark over the entire mess. And while doing this all I could think of "I bet my brother Johnny would tell me I am not doing this correctly" since he was in his past life a landscaper. Oh well....
My back, knees, hips and generally any other place on my body is screaming at me "you stupid old lady, you are too damn old to do this kind of work and not expect us to hurt!" and hurt they do. I hurt in places I didn't know I had! BUT IT IS DONE...at least for another 3-4 years...then I think I will find some young kid and hire him to do this!

Now, what to do with all the tubers I have left over????? I have given so many away that when people in town see me coming they go hide...it's like somebody trying to give away zuchinni...after a point no one wants it. I have even mailed iris to my cousin in Colorado...that's how desperate I am! If you get a box in the mail from me, better not open it unless you want iris! Wonder if they would grow in Arizona??? NO, I am not crazy enough to have two houses full of iris...besides they take more work than advertised!

We have had beautiful fall weather here in Odessa. The days have been warm and sunny and the nights cold and crisp. About 50% of the leaves have fallen off our trees and I love the crunch as I walk on the fallen leaves....and no, I haven't raked them up yet and probably won't -- I will just pray for a good stiff wind to blow them away. The apples are in season and we have a few fresh goldens, reds, gala's and johngolds...just waiting for an apple pie or crisp.

Spinach? Lettuce? Carrot Juice? I think I will eat chocolate

Since the recent out break of E.Coli in Spinach, lettuce and carrot juice, I have came to the decision that chocolate is the only "vegetable/fruit" that is safe to eat/drink! FINALLY! The world has come around to my way of thinking! I will have a chocolate salad, drink chocolate milk and be a happy camper!

Why is it that all of a sudden e.coli is showing up more often? Is it that our farmers/agriculture producers are taking short cuts? Hmmmm...back to the chocolate theory!

AND, I want to know why gas is all of a sudden dropping in price? Did we find a new oil supply? OR, more likely, were we being "gouged" all along....of course we were! Of course if you live in eastern Washington you won't notice gas prices dropping, we are still being bilked for all they can get! Gas was $2.45 in Seattle and $2.79 in Ephrata on the same day. WHY????

My fingers aren't working today!

Darn old age! Darn arthritis! DARN! I am not having a fun day! It is cold today and my fingers absolutely do not want to work! Matter-of-fact my whole body is rebelling today! Tired of working around the house, tired of being sore. But the way I was raised you work first and play second and darn, I can NOT get past that!

And I am sick at heart about all the school shootings, and what has become of our country. And the question always comes to mind,WHY? WHY shoot innocent children? WHAT GOOD DOES THAT DO? Have we become such an uncaring society that we don't care who we kill? Who we hurt? If you have a problem, SOLVE IT! Don't take it out on others! Off the soap box now.

Oh well, this too will pass.

Why is it when you have so much to do, you do nothing? It must be because you are just over whelmed by the volume of "stuff" you need/want to do. I am in that position now. We are currently in Odessa and I need to do so much around the house; i.e., wash windows (inside and out) before we leave for Tucson (now, you ask WHY??), dig up and seperate Iris bulbs and replant for next spring, clean out all closets (again, WHY???) and generally clean the entire house. THEN, clean the 5th wheel and get it ready to go (we plan on leaving early November) and LOAD the 5th wheel. Yes, I feel like I move every 3-4 months. And in the mean time, I am busy doing the daily grind stuff. IS THIS WHAT RETIREMENT IS ABOUT??? NO! I want to sit and read a book, go play golf (however, I left my clubs in Tucson)or just be lazy! I don't want to go to anymore doctor appointments in Seattle, I want to go to Seattle to play with my family and friends. I guess I am just bummed because I have so much to do and no energy to do it! Oh well, this too will pass.

We are enjoying a lovely Indian Summer here. Temps have been in the high 70's and sunny and bright. Perfect Fall days. And cool, crisp nights. Perfect sleeping weather. The leaves are beginning to drop and I am just ignoring them...let the wind blow them away! If only the wind blows in the right direction. Oh well, this too will pass. Then we will have the COLD days and nights and I will be more than ready to hit the road and get to Tucson (as if I am not already ready!)

Speaking of roads and Tucson, our road leading up to our house has once again been washed out by the monsoon rains. Now I have to call the man that built our road and have him once more come out and fix it. There doesn't seem to be a permanent fix to this problem -- so we just build the cost of repair into our yearly budget. For living where we do in Tucson it is worth it. Oh well, this too will pass.

Our recent trip to Seattle for doctor appointments for Al yeilded tests, tests and more tests. We hopefully will have answers on our next visit, Oct. 5. He is tired of going to doctor appointments and having tests done...now we want answers. He says age is the factor for his forgetfulness/confusion and I can only hope he is right. If it isn't, we will deal with it....this too will pass. Other than that, his health is stable, which I guess is what we want to hear at this point in time.

As for my health, as the doctor put it a few years ago "you are as healthy as a horse with bad knee's." WAIT! Don't they shoot horses with bad knees???? I am still fighting the bad knees and sore back, but the back problems are directly related with unloading the camper and getting it ready to sell. This too will pass. I just want to know how we got so much JUNK in there! IT is ready to go now and we will be taking it to SUN COUNTRY RV in Moses Lake to put on the lot to sell. Hopefully, it will sell better than the 5th wheel did last year. We are both glad to be back in the 5th wheel.


So until next time, this too will pass.

Our Amazing trip to Seattle and back!

Odessa, WA Sept 13, 2006
Happy Birthday Jeannette! (I know, you are only 40!)

After sitting still in Odessa for a little over 10 days, we headed for Seattle on Sept. 5 for doctor/dentist appointments and our anniversary party.

We have our 5th wheel back, so for a couple of days I was really busy getting it loaded with the necessary supplies (dishes, silverware, cooking utensils, linens,etc.) Of course, it was 100 degrees both days I was loading and It was really smokey from all of the fires! I was unloading the camper, washing all the dishes, linens, etc, then loading them into the 5th wheel. It is so nice to have it home and have all the room it provides. Both cats and dogs explored it thoroughly when we brought it home...making sure nothing had been in it they didn't approve of! Finally, it is somewhat loaded with what we would need for the week in Seattle. However, before we leave, we hooked up the water to fill the water tank a bit....well, water came pouring out of the hot water heater....here we go again!

On Sept 5th we hooked up and headed first to Moses Lake where Sun Country RV (Thanks again Denise and Gordon) solve our hot water heater problem. Off to Seattle we go. The weather is ranging in Eastern Washington from 109 to 100...very warm and very smokey. Up Vantage hill we go, with the a/c turned off of course, so the truck won't overheat. Finally arrived in Bellevue at rush hour....of course. Up I405 we start...wait, what was THAT noise? Sounds like the transmission is slipping. NOT AGAIN! NO...this transmission (transmission #4) is only a little over a year old! We keep going and the transmission keeps slipping...we were hoping to make it to Everett where we were going to be parked at Lakeside RV for the week. Well, we didn't make it. We were in the middle lane, just a little north of Kirkland, when all of a sudden SMOKE...everywhere, coming from our truck! Now, remember this is rush hour in Seattle and heaven forbid if anyone would let you move over a lane so you could actually get off the freeway and on to the shoulder. Finally, Al just moved over, with the transmission gasping its final breath! I am calling 911...FIRE! We get over to the side, I jump out, pulling the dogs out, and anything in the truck that I wanted out on to the side of the road...smoking still pouring out of the truck. ULP! Now, remember we have the 5th wheel attached. Where is the Fire Department? Of course it had only been a couple of minutes since I called. And when I called 911 the answer was "King County 911, please hold"....HOLD??? Excuse me, but we are belching smoke and they tell me to hold????? However, they got on the line asap. Finally the Fire trucks show (3 of them) but the fire had ran out of fuel and was out! THen here comes State Troopers and Incident Response Team. They were all great, but what we really needed then was two tow trucks please! I called Good Sam Emergency Roadside Service, which we have paid for for the last 7 years and have never used (The truck episode in BC we couldn't get through to Good Sam). They call a tow truck and in about 30 minutes, here comes a flat bed truck and for the 2nd time in 3 months, I watch the truck being loaded on to a flat bed and AL and the truck are carted off! Of course we had created a huge traffic back up....even got reported on TV -- "Truck fire on northbound I-405, pulling a 5th wheel trailer!" Always didn't want to be on TV, especially this way!

Here I sit on the side of I-405, cars whizzing by (by this time the traffic tie up we caused was clear) and the trailer, dogs and I waiting for the tow truck to come back and get us. Finally after an hour, the tow truck came back with Al and towed us to our RV park. Now, this flat bed is probably 25 feet long, then the 5th wheel hitch is behind that, then our 35 foot 5th wheel...we were stretched out quite a ways---upwards of 60 feet. We get to the RV park at 8:00 p.m....of course the office is closed, but they had left our site number and directions to the site. It was a bit confusing, but we finally found our site and how the tow truck driver got the trailer in I will never know. I was there and was betting he couldn't get it in the site, but after several attempts we were finally parked! Whew! What a day!

Wednesday we had several doctor appointments and my cousin Ted and his wife Shirley from Colorado arrive to stay with us for a few days. We went to Jennifer's for dinner that night.

Thursday was the marathon doctor appointments..we finally finished at 4:00 p.m. Then we went to Ivar's Acre of Clams on the Seattle waterfront for dinner and it was wonderful. We were celebrating Ted and SHirley's 43rd wedding anniversary that night.

Friday, our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We took it easy in the morning, finally no doctor appointments! Had lunch at PF Changs and then became slugs in the afternoon and rested. Jo was looking longingly at the laundromat, but refrained from doing any laundry!!! We met Jennifer, Billie and Dan (who are here from California) Mike and Bev (from St. Louis) and the four of us at Palisade for dinner for our anniversary. Actually, we celebrated our anniversary, Billie and Dan's 9th anniversary and Ted and Shirleys! Palisade is on the water in Seattle and the view is across the water to Seattle; which is breath-taking! The food was exquisite, the service impeccable, and the evening was a true delight.

Saturday dawned rainy as only it can be in Seattle! Friends Jack and Sue Waddick arrived from Tucson for the big party that night. We had met Billie, Dan and Jennifer for breakfast, so we skipped lunch. Our 25th Wedding Anniversary party was put on by Jennifer, Billie and Dan, Mike and Bev, andSherrie, What a great job they all did. Kristine Wraspir, Lisa McCleary Scott Wraspir and Janet and Ric Wraspir helped as well. The party was held at the Issaquah Elk's club and we had a wonderful turn out and a great time. Al's cousin, Dwight Uhrich from Dallas surprised us by flying in for the party. What a neat surprise! All of our children were there except Melanie and Ron and Jerry and Ardis...and they were missed. A lot of long time friends were there, as well as family. We truly enjoyed our 25th Wedding Anniversary Party. And we laughed because we had a very small wedding, and NONE of the people who were at the wedding, except Jennifer, were at this party!

Sunday....up and at 'em! We met Jack and Sue, Jennifer, Billie and Dan, Sherrie, Ted and Shirley at Ivar's Acre of Clams for brunch. What a brunch! It was huge and had more food than any one could possibly eat! They had prime rib, crab, clams (of course), all kinds of sea food, salads, and breakfast items, plus desserts! WOW! We stuffed our selves. Dinner that night was left overs from the party at Jennifer's, which included all of the above people, plus friends Rowland and Kathy.

Monday, back to doctor appointments and still no truck! Promised today, but of course, not done yet.

Tuesday, finally a truck. We hooked up and headed east to Odessa. Since Al has been banned from driving for a few weeks until all of his medical test results are back, Jo drove the truck and trailer (even through miserable traffic in Seattle!); Shirley drove their car and Al rode with her and Ted drove my explorer back. It was warm all day, however, not as smokey as when we left.

We had a wonderful week in Seattle, despite the truck problem. We now are on transmission #5 in this truck. Seems as if Ford would get it right one of these times. The good part is the transmission that went out was a brand new one, so was still under warranty. The only thing we had to pay for was the installation of a new coolant collector. I am not sure this transmission, which is another new one, will last any longer than the last one, and it is under warranty as well...someday Ford will get tired of replacing transmissions in this truck!

As I sit here in Odessa, it is cool, only 65 degrees today and the wind is blowing in a storm. It seems like overnight it has cooled down (it was 80 yesterday) and now it is beginning to feel like and look like Fall. Some of our tree's are losing leaves already....which means hunting season is close and then we can leave for Tucson...I can hardly wait!

We have to go back to Seattle on Sunday for more doctor appointments for AL on Monday...of course we couldn't get them all done in one week! This weekend is Deutchesfest here in our small town of Odessa. This town will go from a population of just over 900 to approximately 20,000 people for the weekend. ALready RV's have filled up the RV park and are parked on the football field; by Saturday the town will be full of RV's parked where ever they can find room and we will be hearing the German music from town for the entire weekend as people from all over come to enjoy our German heritage here. It's a fun weekend and we enjoy it. As usual, we will hold our annual garage sale as well. FUN!

Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy...keep in touch!

UN-Wroamin' Wraspirs
Al, Jo, Beau, Simon, Schuster, Jose and Juanito
http://wroamin.blogspot.com/

Home again, Home again

Aug 21 Monday Lac La Hache, BC



After a nice night in the motel, we hit the road again, refreshed and rested and both of us enjoyed a wonderful shower. That was after I sat in the whirlpool last night until I was wrinkled like a prune! Ohhhh that was nice.



BC is so pretty and we really do enjoy this drive. And the closer we get to home, the more we enjoy things! We are in the Frazier River Valley and it is absolutely beautiful. Everything is so green and fertile; hay crop is baled in most places and other crops are just now being harvested. There are a lot of high end horse ranches up here as well. I think Lori would enjoy seeing some of these! Cortney, do you remember this area?



We are stopped for the night at Fir Crest RV and Resort on Lake Lac La Hache. What a beautiful place. We think we would like to come back next year for a week just here…possibly Gary and Jeannette would like to join us and/or Dick and Lano and/or Denise and Gordon and/or……………? It is so pretty, we could back our RV’s right up to the lake, they have great RV spots. The lake has great fishing in June and we could also rent a boat. I am bringing back info on it. Start saving your pennies and we could make this a great trip. There is a lot to see from here as well.



The weather was almost perfect today! Sunny, a few high clouds, and 85 degrees. We drove with the windows down most of the day just enjoying the fresh, warm air. Both dogs had their heads out for a while as well, sniffing and enjoying getting wind blown.



Ahhhhhhhhhhhh in the distance I hear a train! We must be in an RV park! We have noticed that a lot of RV Parks are close to railroad tracks. That’s okay, just getting us ready for Odessa!



We saw a couple of very funny signs today. One sign said “Prairie Dog Farm and Meat” – that had me scratching my head and saying “HUH?” Do you think? NAH! Well, I guess maybe if ----nah! Never heard of Prairie dog meat! About 50 miles down the road there was a sign that read “West End Trial Rides” -- okay, what the heck does that mean? I am sure it should have read “trail” however it did make me giggle….brought back memories of a trip through Arkansas with Donna Bearden….Ride-a-Pest! Then I just broke out in loud laughter. That is one thing I will NEVER forget Donna and I still laugh at.



We are about 400 miles from home. I have a feeling once Al gets going tomorrow we won’t stop until Odessa! Which is fine with me. We have been in this camper for 10 days now…about 10 too many. Needless to say, once we get home, I am unloading this sucker, cleaning it and hanging a “For Sale” sign on it! I want my 5th wheel back! This camper would be fine if it was just the two of us, however, with the big dogs, 2 cats and us there isn’t room to sneeze. We have done pretty good in it, and it would be great for very short trips, but never a long one again in it. We need our space…even the dogs are getting grumpy and the cats are yowling they need space. So, adios camper! Sun Country, get the 5th wheel ready…



Critter count: 1 lonely deer



Aug 22 Oliver, BC



Ah… I can almost smell it…home! We are about 200 miles from home and I can’t remember a time I was so anxious to get home. Living in this tin house for 12 days and in our tin house in Alaska for 45+ days makes be ready for ROOM! And I am not alone, Al and all the animals agree…we need to stretch our legs.



We left this morning in glorious sunshine….and wound up in a smoky mess. It is really smoky here from the fires in Winthrop and Omak WA. We have just heard about 2 new fires just started in Omak, so it really makes it smoky here. The sun has that weird red glow, the smoke red glow.



It has been warm all day and we are loving it. We drove with the windows down most of the day. We decided to take the highway through Kelowna, BC instead of going over the high pass outside of Merritt BC. BIG MISTAKE! We have never seen traffic like we encountered in Kelowna! Seattle is a piece of cake compared to the mess we were in…and Tucson during snowbird season is a nothing compared to this. We sat dead still for over 30 minutes, just waiting to get through one traffic light. The bridge over the lake is narrow and down to two lanes….needless to say it takes FOREVER to get across the bridge and that backs up traffic for over 10 miles! AARRGG! We will know better to take the high pass and bypass this nightmare if we ever do this again.



We are at another wonderful RV park…Desert Gem. We have stayed here before and it is so well kept up and clean. We really do enjoy this park. It has a good restaurant with in walking distance for us as well.



Tomorrow home….



Aug. 23, Wednesday ODESSA!



FINALLY --- cats are out stretching their legs and OFF THEIR LEASHES after being tethered to them for 9 long weeks. Dogs are busy marking their territory and checking out all of the different smells that have been made in the last few months. And we are HOME. We arrived home around 5:00 p.m. after a long border crossing, a stop for fresh fruit and veggies (peaches are in season and so, so good) and a stop at the grocery store for milk, etc. The border crossing was very interesting this time. Not only were they checking each and every vehicle closely, (opening trunks, all doors, looking under them, etc.) all RV’s were pulled over for additional inspections. The US Customs agents were very thorough and professional and nice to work with. Of course, I have a soft spot for our Customs Agents having worked with them for the last 20 years, starting in Saudi Arabia. However, they did confiscate Al’s bologna! Al had found this Ukrainian Garlic Bologna Ring that he really liked. We made a special stop at 100 Mile House, BC for it, buying 3 rings and throwing them in the freezer. We were very careful about produce we were bringing back to the US, but didn’t give the bologna a second thought! Well….the bologna contained Canadian Beef, which you can not bring back to the US (Mad cow disease) and even though the bologna only contained less that 2% Canadian beef, we had to give it up. Now instead of having mad cow disease, I have a mad husband!



Odessa has never looked so good…we were more than ready to be home and out of the camper. Know anybody looking to buy a camper? Send them our way, such a deal we will make them!



We have fires all around us; the biggest of course is the Tri-Pod fire near Winthrop, which we get the smoke from; as well as the fires in Omak, which we could see driving through and now fire near Colfax that seems to be out of control as well, along with the multitude of fires burning around Spokane. We drove through smoke from Oliver, BC until we got to Wilbur, WA, at which time the smoke cleared. However, as I write this (10:00 p.m.) we have smoke and I truly don’t know from which fire. When we were having lunch in Tonasket a fire crew came in for lunch. There were 20 of them and they had just completed 14 days on the Tripod fire and were on their way home for 2 days before returning to the fire lines. The fire boss said it is bad everywhere. It is very, very dry here---we could have used some of that Alaska rain we had last 9 weeks! I spoke to my brother in Alaska tonight and he said it was still raining, mudslides and flooding everywhere! And we thought it was just because we were there it was raining! :-) Guess not!



Jerry and Ardis stopped by tonight we barbequed a tri-tip and had a short visit with them. It is so good to have them near by.



So now we are going to start the long process of unloading, sorting and getting ready to load the 5th wheel….this never seems to end! At least I am finally home and can take my time. However, I did manage to fall out of the camper this afternoon -- landing on my back and left hip. Needless to say, I am a bit scraped up and bruised, but I don't think I broke anything....just hurts like heck.



We traveled a total of 8,422 miles while gone (including trips to and from Kenai River to Anchorage, Homer, etc.); total travel miles to and from Odessa to Kenai River was 5,203; and we used 610.6 gallons of diesel for travel to and from only, at an average cost of $3.56 per gallon…you do the math, I don’t want to!



We had a good trip, caught lots of fish and will do it again probably, however, NOT in a camper and probably will not drive it again, but fly next year. So thus ends our Alaska 2006 trip.



Aug. 24.....Just a note...we are doing the unloading routine, albeit, I am alittle slow today as I am pretty sore. Guess I wasn't made for falling...I don't bounce well. Okay Suzi, you can stop laughing now! At least I don't have any black eyes....just a very black and blue hip, back and leg!



Very smoky here today....and only 80 degrees, but that is okay, I am finally in a pair of shorts...haven't had shorts on since June 9!



Until next time...we finally are

UNWROAMIN' Wraspirs!

Aug 7 through 20..Alaska and heading south

Aug 7, Monday
Today dawned sunny, bright and fairly warm after the morning chill broke.

We left the river early this morning to take Jerry back to Anchorage airport. We stopped for breakfast at Gwin’s in Coopers Landing – this has rapidly become one of our favorite stops. The food is always good and the service cheerful and quick. Plus they make some of the best pancakes I have ever had!

We were sad to see Jerry leave….we wish he would have been able to stay a few more days, but we are glad for the time we had with him.

We met my brother for lunch, did a quick Costco run and the over to his house for the night. We are getting really good at backing that camper into his backyard! I bet he will be glad to see us head south. We picked his raspberries for him…well, I say we, but actually Al did most of the picking, I just ate them! Dick has loads of berries this year, I just hope they all ripen before frost. We froze some of them to take home with us…so we can enjoy them in the middle of the winter.

Aug.8 Tuesday
Back to the river today. It was another beautiful day. WOW – two in a row! We stopped at the wildlife preserve in Girdwood/Portage this afternoon on our way home. Saw moose, elk, caribou, musk ox, grizzly and brown bear, eagle, etc. I hate to see them penned up though.

The trip back to the river was uneventful, just beautiful weather and it was actually almost 80 degrees. I sat outside most of the evening just enjoying our view and the weather.

Aug. 9, Wed
Today I got to do my most favorite thing (not)…yup., you guessed it, laundry. Actually, the Laundromat I use in Sterling is very clean, well managed and there is an attendant there all of the time. Usually it is the owner who is there and we always have a good chat about the area. We missed a huge fire on Monday night..the old Sterling cannery burned. The fire department is labeling it as a suspicious fire….I guess the gossip is that the owner may have had the fire set. It has been a vacant building for a couple of years; after the cannery shut down it was used as a prefab builder for log homes..so there was plenty of sawdust for fuel for the fire. I am willing to bet this is the most excitement this community has seen for a long time!

It is cold, rainy and ugly again today. I guess it was too much to ask for 3 days of nice weather! We are ready to go home and hope we get some good weather. We are a little apprehensive of what we are going to find as far as gas prices go. After all of the nonsense of BP shutting down the pipe line, it is projected gas will be $5 a gallon in Canada. Great! It is interesting to hear what everyone around here has to say about the shut down….but the consensus is that BP has known for years there was a problem and didn’t do anything about it until now, when it can boost prices and gouge the consumer even more.

Aug 10 Thursday
We woke up to rain this morning…so what else is new? As much rain as this area has gotten this summer, it is a wonder anything could burn! Mold or rust yes, but burn?

We are packing today – my most unfavorite thing to do and I do it at least 3 times a year. I have the camper almost packed and Al is working on the trailer…I swear keeping that trailer neat and clean is almost impossible! And having to do it in the rain is not pleasant! We hope to leave here Saturday for Anchorage. The plan is we will spend the night there and then head to Valdez for a couple of days before heading south.

Locals are predicting an early winter here…snow by September…I want to be out of here soon.

Today another terrorist attack was foiled in London Heathrow airport….what has happened to our world? I don’t know why this has me so upset, but it does. Now we can’t carry on a airplane anything liquid or gel … which doesn’t bother me, I am one of the flying public that thinks you should only be able to carry on purses, laptops and ipods…not luggage. Not only do we have to remove our shoes during security checkpoint, now we can’t carry on a bottle of water. How sad this has become…and I am angry that our government can’t get this under control. WHY????? TSA asks you for your driver’s license, but how do they know it is real? It is so easy to get a fake ID so how do they know it is real????? We are at war and we should be ready to accept the inconvenience when flying….I personally don’t mind the extra security. Nuff said.


Aug 12 Soggy Friday
OKAY---so enough of the rain! I feel like a duck---web feet and all! It has rained constantly and hard since 8:30 last night…it is now noon and hasn’t let up AT ALL! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF RAIN AND COLD…I AM READY TO GO HOME! We are supposed to be loading the trailer today. Almost everything is packed with the exception of things we need for today and tonight. However, neither of us have any desire to go out and get the trailer hooked up and get soaked in the process. Loading won’t take long, if the rain would just quit for a few minutes! Even the cats and dogs don’t want to go out, which is unusual as Jose (aka Houdini) has been trying to get out on his own without the benefit of a leash, for the last 2 months! I think we are all fed up with wet, cold and gray! One good thing about rain here is while it is raining the mosquitos go into hiding…however, the minute it stops raining they come out in combat squadrons ready to attack!

Jennifer and Beverly are in New York City together for a few days and I sure do wish I was with them. They are having a great time sightseeing and shopping, however, I am not sure I could keep up with those two anymore! Poor Stephen will be exhausted when those two leave!

A little later in the day…….
I went into town to have a leak in the camper fixed…it seems to leak on my side of the bed and I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping in a lake. While they were working on the camper I downloaded my email only to find out my sister was in the hospital. Apparently she had heart attack like symptoms and our family with the history of heart problems we tend to take the symptoms seriously! After several tests that have came back negative and the doctors can find nothing wrong with her heart she is being released to go home tomorrow. Same thing happened to me a couple of years ago…so who knows what is going on! All I know is she is okay and nothing appeared on the tests….whew!

Beau is doing great. I have his meds cut down to one a day and he seems to be doing fine with it. I will take him to our vet when we reach Odessa and I will also call our vet in Tucson as well. He is very interested in playing ball again and is active as ever…and on the look out for moose! Schuster is still playing “mother hen” however.

It is now 8:30 p.m. and we had a about a 45 minute break from rain this afternoon and we got the trailer loaded so tomorrow all we have to do is the last minute things and hook up the trailer, plus I will have the cleaning task before we leave. Our nephew is going to winterize the trailer for us this year as my brother may want to use it for a few days later this month.

It is still raining like mad out and has most of the day. Locals are getting their boats ready…..and this rain can only remind me of the “Galoshes Please” story of a few years ago…quit laughing Nancy, Eva, Donna and Ted! I am so ready for sun and warm!

Aug. 12 Saturday
We woke up to rain, nothing new. However it was more of a "Seattle Mist" so we finished our last minute loading, got the trailer out of it's "storage" and finally got off from the river about noon. It rained all the way to Coopers Landing and then it was just cloudy into Anchorage.

Elmendorf AFB is having it's air show this weekend and my brother lives fairly close to base, so we were able to stand in his driveway and see the Thunderbirds pass over. It still fascinates us to watch them.

My nephew and my niece came over for dinner tonight and we said so long to them until next summer. We will leave in the morning for Valdez for a couple of days, then get serious about heading home. We would like to be home by the 25th or so.

It is raining again as I type this...and it is about 10:30 p.m. and it is getting dark outside already. When the days start getting shorter up here you can really notice it....there is still a lot of daylight hours, getting light about 4:00 a.m. but last month at this time it wasn't even getting dark....at all.

So we are "On the Road Again" tomorrow.......


Aug 13, Sunday Glenallen, AK
We made it this far today after leaving Anchorage around noon. We just took our time this morning and visited with Dick a little longer.

It was an uneventful trip to Glenallen over the Glenn Highway. The Matanuska glacier was spectacular as always…stopped and took a couple of pictures, but it was cold and rainy (so what else is new?) so we kept on moving. We got into the “Boardwalk” RV Park (Cortney, you will remember this one) and got set up, cooked dinner. Then I took the dogs for a long walk, came back and tried to get on the wifi system at the RV park, but it was down .

Aug. 14 Monday Valdez, AK

Woke up this morning to rain, as usual. This has been a soggy trip! We finally headed towards Valdez taking our time going down Hwy 4. Very pretty trip, following along the Alaska Pipeline. Saw two glaciers, the Worthington and Mile glaciers….and some beautiful water falls, two in particular were Bridal Veil Falls (wonder how many Bridal Veil falls there are in the world???) and Horsetail Falls. Drove through Keystone Canyon, which is very dramatic with the high vertical rock sides on both sides of the road. And Ted and Shirley, we found another “hill” that rivals the hill down to Skagway! Not quite as steep, but scary none the less. And yes, we have to climb out of here when we leave!

Arrived to something new….FOG! And of course, rain, rain and more rain! I know there are suppose to be beautiful mountains on 3 sides of this town, however, you couldn’t prove it by me as you can’t see anything!!! We are supposedly parked right next to Prince Williams Sound, but again, I can’t see it!

After getting set up we walked to town, which is about 2 long blocks away. There is a Safeway here, and not much else as far as stores go. A lot of gift shops and a few restaurants. We had lunch at Alaska Halibut Hut, and the halibut was good, but not great. Then we went to the museum, which had a lot on the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 and the Good Friday Earthquake in 1964 where this town was wiped out. The original town site of Valdez is 4 miles from where the town is now. Again, the entire town was moved to safer ground. There is a shop in town that shows a video on the earthquake and I sat through part of it. Al came back to the camper, I walked around town in the rain/fog just to see what was here. I sure wish we could see the mountains around us.

We scheduled a boat trip on Prince William Sound tomorrow. I can only hope the weather will be a little better.

Aug 15 Valdez
Rain, rain, more rain….72 hours of straight rain, no stop. Valdez is a warm water port so it is known for its boats, fishing and harbor…however; local boat builders are busy converting their shops into ark building! Good heavens, does the rain ever stop?

We went ahead and went on the shorter of the two cruises on Prince William Sound, even though it rained all of the time and we didn’t get to see the mountains. However we did see lots and lots of bald eagles perched in tree’s trying to stay dry (HA); Stellar Sea Lions; and three Orca’s that put on a wonderful show, We had a family, a big male (papa), a cow (mama) and a calf (baby) but no Goldilocks! The Orca’s stayed with the boat for over an hour. We also saw a lot of beautiful waterfalls (go figure!) however, on some because of the overcast we couldn’t see the top of them. We cruised around plenty of ice bergs as well…but couldn’t see Columbia glacier due to the rain/fog! We did see Shoup glacier on the way back to port but this glacier is way back in and we couldn’t get very close. We did hear a lot about the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and saw where it happened and what they have done to prevent another oil spill of that magnitude.

After we got back and took the dogs for a walk, we walked 2 blocks to town and had lunch at Ku Fung a pretty good Chinese Restaurant. And yes, it is still raining.

Aug. 16 Wed. Tok, Alaska

We left Valdez in the pouring rain, and it managed to rain on us most of the day. Up over Thompson Pass, back into Glenallen. We stopped for lunch in Glenallen and met a couple from Puyallup who were traveling in a camper just like us. They were pretty much ready to be home and out of the camper as well. We could only agree. We have noticed the leaves are starting to change colors on a lot of the trees and there is definitely a nip in the air of Autumn. Even the weather forecasters (guessers) say Autumn is on the way.

From Glenallen we took the Tok Cutoff.,..same road that had been destroyed by an earthquake a few years ago. On our way to Alaska a couple of months ago it was really bad with lots of construction and frost heaves. Well, some of it has improved…we had about 8 miles of new paved highway; 50 miles of old highway with all the frost heaves, etc; 20 miles of old road that had been patched and the patched portions were great, the other was horrible and 45 miles of gravel road under construction. It took us longer to travel the 45 miles than it took us to travel the previous 80 miles. The road from hell! Lots of delays, waiting for oncoming traffic on one lane roads, etc.

We arrived in Tok to a very strange site…sun! Yes, we had sun for a while this afternoon…long enough for us to get settled in our RV park and for me to take the dogs on a much needed walk and ball session.

Beau has had a little of a relapse, however I put him back on his full dose of Prednisone and he seems to be better today. I just hate keeping him on the Prednisone for any length of time. But he played ball as he always has tonight.

We will be heading into Canada tomorrow so our cell will be on, but I won’t be answering it. If you need to reach us in an emergency call Jennifer and she knows how to reach us. If not, we will catch up with you when we reach Odessa. We will be checking email however, so don’t stop emailing us! Aug 17 Thurs Haines Junction, YT
We left Tok around 10:00 this morning heading east and south….officially on the way home. The campground in Tok was very nice and the showers and restrooms were extremely clean.

The road between Tok and Haines Junction isn’t any better than it was last June. Frost heaves and lots of pot holes, patches, etc. The truck, camper and trailer didn’t fair any better going this way either. The trailer looks like someone picked it up and turned it upside down! When opening anything in the camper you watched for falling/flying objects…everything is scrambled!

We lost an hour today, so we didn’t get into the campground until 6:00 p.m. We are at the Kluane RV park and it is a nice park. Fortunately, we are parked right next to the office and laundry so I took advantage and did a couple loads of laundry. I think I am addicted to Laundromats! At any rate, we have great wifi service here and it’s free. Last night there was a charge for wifi…first time we have encountered that.

I took the dogs for a long walk this evening and didn’t have any trouble with mosquitos (I think they have had their fill of me!) however, I did encounter some nasty little black flies that take huge hunks out of you and hurt like crazy when they bite. Now I have a new enemy to battle! Whoopee!

SUN! We had sun all day and no rain! We did have some clouds, but the sun did our hearts good. I didn’t say it was warm however. Still have on long sleeves, jeans, socks and shoes! For those who know me well, know I hate socks and closed toed shoes…however they are a necessity here.

Critter count: 1 live squirrel, 1 squished squirrel and 1 bear

Aug 18 Friday, Watson Lake, YT

After leaving this morning we drove in beautiful sunshine most of the day. Roads were much better today. Stopped in Whitehorse for a quick trip to Walmart and had lunch at Pizza Hut. I drove for a while, then we stopped at Johnson Creek for a break and Al drove from there on as we had to cross a bridge that I definitely didn't like; it’s high and being worked on so very narrow. ULP…not my cup of tea.

Arrived in Watson Lake around 6:00 p.m. and I took the dogs for a walk and got a gazillion mosquito bites -- here we go again. Sunny, but cool and there is a definite hint of fall in the air.

Critter count: 1 moose and 2 squirrel

Aug 19 Sat. Ft. Nelson

We managed to make it to Ft. Nelson in one shot today…no delay’s in Toad River. Matter-of-fact we breezed right past Toad River, waving as we went by.

This part of the trip is always so pretty…and scary. We have Summit Pass to go over, very narrow, no guard rails, and lots of switchback curves. And the added hazard of Stone Sheep and Caribou on the road way. And they didn’t disappoint us…we saw over 30 Stone Sheep and one lonely Caribou, which I might add, is the ONLY Caribou we have seen this trip.

It is moose hunting season and we have decided the moose have packed their bags and have moved further into the woods, or have gone to Vegas, one of the two! We were talking to one of the highway construction crew today (as we sat and waited for “our turn” to go) and he said he hasn’t seen a moose in over a week…right after hunting season opened.

Roads are much better this stretch, however, lots of road construction and delays. But less frost heaves and pot holes as big as Texas. And the mosquitos are back in full force. I slept with one last night and have several bites today. Just as I was recovering from all the previous bites.

No television tonight…last night we were watching KHQ out of Spokane in Watson Lake. This RV park has no television, and the wifi is poor at best. I finally gave up trying to get on line. However, as I say that, we have really been fortunate to find wifi just about everywhere…and in places least expected!

Weather is beautiful today. Warm, sunny, bright with a few clouds……SUN!

Critter count: 30 Stone Sheep, 1 lonely caribou and plenty of mosquitos

Aug. 20, Sunday, Chetwynd, BC

Originally we had planned on going as far as Dawson Creek today…however, on our way from Ft. Nelson to Dawson Creek, we noticed this highway 29---cut off to Chetwynd and by passing Dawson Creek. It actually cuts off quite a few miles/kilometers as well. We said “why not?” So when we reached Ft. St. John we made a quick right turn on Hwy 29 and found ourselves on a beautiful drive. Very slow as the road is narrow and curvy, but oh, so, gorgeous! This highway took us right down along the Peace River and into Peace River valley. The leaves are starting to turn a bright yellow and beside the green fir and the beautiful river, it was a wonderful drive. We made a quick stop in Hudson Hope for fuel (it was actually cheaper here than anywhere else we have been!) Crossed the river and on to Moberly Lake and into Chetwynd. The road was actually very good, most of it recently paved, so it was a pleasure to travel on a smooth road. And the weather was glorious....and it was actually 83 degrees...off with the socks and long sleeves! yea!

We made a decision today to stay in a motel tonight and stretch our legs. We are staying in a new Days Inn and they gave us a suite for the price of a regular room! I have no idea why, they asked if we would like a complimentary upgrade and we jumped on it. I think we must have looked pretty bedraggled! The cats are staying in the camper tonight, much to their dismay, but the dogs are in our suite with us. And suite it is….complete with living room, kitchen (full), king size bed and a whirlpool tub that I am going to take advantage of very soon. We are watching the Seahawks smack the Colts and I am convinced Autumn is here – at least in northern BC!

Our plans are to be home by Thursday or before. If all goes well, tomorrow we should be south of Prince George, probably Clinton for the night and then Osoyoos the next night. We are so ready to be home for a few weeks. Even the animals want to get out and play and not be tethered to leashes!

I’m off to the whirlpool tub…………………………

Critter count: 8 deer

Alaska July 31 to Aug 6

From our daily log.............

July 31, Mon

We really didn’t do a whole lot today. We went with Dick to Sears so he could buy a new refrigerator. His in the house is probably 30 years old, and still works, however, his garage fridge went out, so now he is moving the house fridge to the garage and new one into the house. We also went out to the BX just to look at what they have. The BX’s sure aren’t like what they were when I was allowed access to them. This one at Elmendorf is really a super big store carrying just about anything you could want.



It was cloudy and cool today……and rainy, of course!



Aug. 1 Tue



Jerry arrived this evening. Al and Dick went to pick him up and I stayed home and cooked dinner. Most of the day I spent doing laundry at Dick’s house this time. I swear I do laundry about every other day! I know I don’t, but it feels that way!

It’s nice to have Jerry here, however, I sure wish Ardis could have gotten the time off to come along. Maybe next time. Jerry is having a hard time with the lack of darkness….and we hardly notice it anymore! I guess we have acclimated to our surroundings.



Aug.2 Wed

Back to the river today. It rained most of the way here and is still raining off and on.



The sockeye (red’s) salmon are finally running strong in the Kenai, so the state has opened up fishing again on the river, limit 3. In 5 casts I had hooked 3 fish! The fish are really running strong….and the department of Fish and Game say this is an unusually strong run, however, about 3 weeks late. Most fishermen that come up to fish for reds come up July 15 for a week…usually when the fish are running the strongest. This year, for what ever reason, the fish hung around in Cook’s Inlet longer than usual…but they are here now! All of us limited out in less than an hour. What fun! Jerry is really having a good time fishing.



Aug. 3, Thursday

Jerry and Al spent most of the day fishing. I went into town and downloaded email and did a little cleaning around the trailer. We had wonderful bbq’d salmon for dinner tonight…just the way I like it..out of the river and on to the bbq. YUM!



Weather is still ugly.,..raining, cold, cloudy ick.





Aug. 4 Friday

Al and Jerry took off to go halibut fishing out of Ninilchik today.. Al called when they got there…too windy and the launch was closed. Darn…and Kevin (Buttchaser captain) didn’t call us. A needless trip to Ninilchik! I can see why it was closed…it’s windy, cold, cloudy and raining hard here.



After they got back from their “ride” they both went down to the river and caught their limit. After a while, I went down and caught my limit as well. I caught one red that really put up a fight and boy was it fun to bring him in! There for a while I didn’t know who was going to win…him or me!



Jerry spent part of the day watching our bald eagle…I call him ours as he is always sitting up on top of a dead tree next to our trailer making his noise…which I can’t even describe what it sounds like. And I know he would really like to feast on our cats given the chance!



Aug. 5 Sat

Today we went to Seward to take the Wildlife Cruise on Resurrection Bay. This is the same cruise we did with my brother, sister, sister-in-law, Cammie and Cortney a month ago. We really enjoyed it today as well…and it was clear and sunny most of the day! Not warm, however! Jerry really had a good time -- on the way down to Seward we saw a black bear cross the road. On the cruise we saw a black bear on shore, plenty of bald eagles and Puffins. But no whale this time, which was disappointing.



After the cruise we walked around Seward for a bit, then headed home, stopping at Gwin’s in Cooper’s Landing for dinner. Great place to eat!



Aug. 6 Sun

Well, our freezer is full of salmon and halibut…..Jerry will be taking part of it home. He has succeeded in catching his limit every day. Again they were suppose to go out on the “Buttchaser” for halibut today, They were scheduled to depart the launch at 6:00 a.m. in Ninilchik, which is about an hour and half drive. They left at 4:00 a.m.; around 5:30 a.,m. Keven, boat captain called and said the wind was up and he wasn’t going out. I called Al told him. They decided to go on down to the launch since they were just turning on the road to the launch when I called. Apparently, Kevin just didn’t want to go out, as everyone else was going out. They tried to get on another charter, but they were all full. We think next year we will go back to going out of Homer on halibut charters…they seem to never cancel due to weather. At any rate, Al and Jerry decided to drive on down to Homer to see if they could possibly get on a late leaving charter out of there…but there weren’t any available. Jerry won’t get to experience halibut fishing this year…he will have to come back next year.

. They did see several Bullwinkles (moose) on the trip to and from Homer, just no Rocky…..Rocky lives in our fish camp and is busy annoying our cats!



It is sunny today, but cool -- just like a perfect autumn day…but wait, isn’t it still August? I don’t feel like I have had a summer this year. I still need my quota of warm weather and sun.



Jerry and Al are napping right now (2:00 p.m.) and are planning on going down to the river later to fish. I, on the other hand, am on my way to the laundramat….my favorite hang out as of late.



On another note, Beau is doing much better…almost back to his old self. He is still on a huge dose of prednisone, and has had some side effects from it, but he is doing better. I have dropped his dose of prednisone down as the doctor prescribed, so hopefully he will have less of the side effects. Schuster is still being a mother hen with him and won’t let him out of his sight for very long! It is driving Beau crazy! J



Daylight hours are getting shorter! It gets DARK around 1:00 a.m. and doesn’t get light until around 3:30 a.m. I actually saw some stars this morning when I let Beau out at 2:30 a.m. something I haven’t seen in 2 months! The locals are already groaning about the upcoming dark age (winter) and I can’t say I blame them. I sure wouldn’t like the long hours of darkness during the winter…heck, I don’t do well with the hours of darkness we get in the winter in Tucson!

A bear, fish, moose and mosquito tale

July 12 Wednesday Sterling
We left Anchorage about noon after a quick stop at Costco for dog food. Got back to the river around 4:00 after making a couple of stops along the way. We purchased a TV Antenna and had it installed this evening…we now are back in the modern world with a TV! We get fairly good reception on the major networks and nothing on any others, which is fine. The man who did the installation is from Macedonia, but has been in Alaska for 30 years (and yes, he is a citizen of the U.S.) and we enjoyed talking to him. He has lived in this area all of the 30 years and was telling us about the great changes around here in the last 30 years. Fun to talk to.

The weather has finally turned warm and sunny and we are enjoying the 70+ degree temps. And yes, that is warm for this part of the world.

July 13 Thursday
After spending most of the day doing small chores around the trailer, we took off for Ninilchik this afternoon as we are halibut fishing again tomorrow. We are parked back on the beach at Deep Creek State Recreation Area. It’s really windy and the tide is very high this evening. We are going out early tomorrow, so it’s off to bed for all of us before 9:00 p.m.

July 14, Friday
Up early at 3:30 a.m. (yawn…there isn’t much that I will get up for this early in the morning) we were at the boat launch by 5:00 a.m. Ninilchik is a tractor launch, where the boats are put in the water with a tractor. Why aren’t the tractors running this morning? Hmmmm…why aren’t there more boats here? Where is the ButtChaser (our boat)? NO ONE IS GOING OUT! The wind is still blowing, but not as bad as last night, however, the surf is pretty rough. All launches are closed and NO boats are going out as there is a storm moving through Cooks Inlet and the seas are 6-10 feet waves…uh, no thanks, I don’t want to be out in that. We didn’t want to star in our version of “The Perfect Storm!” So we head back to the camper, load up and are back to the trailer by 7:00 a.m. By 7:05 a.m. we are all in bed sound asleep! So much for fishing today. And by the way, the reds still aren’t running in the Kenai, so we don’t have any fish here either.

Finally about 10:30 a.m. we get up for the second time today. Cortney and I decided to go do laundry (it has been 4 days since we saw a Laundromat…we are having with drawals!) And we needed to do some supply shopping, so into Seldotna we go. First of all we discover that the Laundromat there has a waiting line just to get in. Yup, all the fisherpeople are here. At this time of year, every year, thousands of people come to the Kenai to fish. We do our shopping at Fred Meyers, which is a battle since the store has all the aforementioned fisherpeople in it since the fish aren’t running! Finally we finished and found our favorite Laundromat in Sterling is empty…we did the chore and got home around 5:00 p.m. Bruce came down for a dinner of bbq’d ribs. He also tells us of a bear being spotted just up river from the campground. So we have decided the cats and dogs won’t go out on the leash for a few days.

As I sit and write this, I am looking out the window at the trees gently blowing in the breeze and the beautiful blue-green of the river below us. What a great place to be.

Sterling, AK July 15, 2006

This episode of our travels was going to be called "A Fish Tale" until early this morning when we had an interesting experience, with a bear.

Around 7:30 this morning we were aroused from a nice sleep with both dogs barking and growling....all three of us were telling the dogs to "HUSH" and they refused to be quiet. I asked Cortney (who sleeps on a futon in the living room) what the dogs were barking at. I thought it was the owners son or someone walking around outside and I couldn't understand why the dogs wouldn't stop barking, or why both cats were suddenly fluffed up and very scared. Cortney replies, very matter -of-fact to my question with "oh, its a bear in our garbage can". Wait, did you say BEAR???? BEAR!!! I came out of bed in a flash and went to look out the window and sure enough a grizzly bear was eating our garbage. I stood there and watched him in a pure stupor. I couldn't move! I was scared frozen! And remember, we are in a 33 foot camp trailer....with one swipe the bear could be in here with us. I was racking my brain as to what to do? I couldn't remember ever receiving any training on what to do if you encounter a bear in your garbage can right outside your trailer. He was close enough I could have reached out and touched him (I am assuming it was a him--I didn't check!) About this time I heard a growl, and it wasn't from our dogs, who we had finally succeeded in getting them to quiet down. THE BEAR WAS GROWLING AT ME! GULP!.. What to do? I know, I will call my nephew who has a trailer 4 spots from ours....he will know what to do. I wake up Bruce and he says "HUH??? Who is this?" -- Not funny! Finally I get through to him what is happening. Pretty soon the doctor who has a trailer next to Bruce and Bruce's friend Jamie come driving up in this old beat up pickup...they sit outside our trailer and rev the engine..the bear looks up from eating, looks around as if to say "don't bother me, I am eating" and goes back to pawing through our garbage. Obviously, that isn't going to work, and remember us? We are the ones stuck inside this tin can of a trailer. I have already tried my cousin Ted's method of scaring off wild animals, I have yelled "shoo- shoo" a couple of times from inside the trailer and the bear didn't even have the decency to acknowledge I had even said anything! I can see the headlines now "3 people held hostage in a tin can of a trailer by grizzly!" HELP! Finally, Jamie gets out of the truck and throws a couple of rocks at the bear....to which the bear looks around and goes back to eating. Ya, that worked! Finally Jamie and Doc get the bear's attention with a few more well placed rocks and the bear wanders out to the road..for a minute...but the temptation of tantalizing garbage for breakfast is too much for the bear, so back he comes. He decides this time to attack our barbeque....which in doing so the propane tank hits him on the head and he goes back to eating our garbage..much safer! HELP! HELP! Again comes our rescuers with their rocks...oh wait, there is another bear (bear #2) They are chasing the wrong bear.....our bear (as he is now known) is still eating...they chased away the wrong bear! HELP! HELP! HELP! Jamie comes around the corner of our truck (which is parked in front of our trailer) and sees our bear. Bear #2 has retreated into the woods. Finally, Jamie hits our bear with enough rocks that he trots off to the woods, for a minute. But, back he comes to eat more. After a couple more attempts, Jamie (My HERO) chases the bear off to the woods. Then Jamie shouts to me "Pick up the garbage or bear will return" and he walks off! WAIT...you want me to come out THERE and pick up the garbage????? NOT VERY LIKELY SINCE THERE IS A BEAR OUT THERE! We spend the next few minutes on bear watch (seemed like hours) and finally Doc comes back and I bravely go out and Doc and I pickup the garbage and stuff what is remaining of it into the back of his truck and he takes it to the other side of the campground (where I have now decided that is where we will put our garbage all of the time). And where is our camera's in all of this? In the truck! And I wasn't about to go get them. So I used my trusty cell phone to take pictures.....I can only hope I can get the pictures off the phone and on to my computer!

So now we are on bear alert! I finally got brave and took the dogs out to go potty....but we went the opposite direction of the woods! And everyone in the park has been down here to see where the bear WAS! Now, what's up with that? There is nothing to see but bear tracks! And the jokes have started..."oh, having bear claws for breakfast?" etc. HAHAHA--not funny! I need to take the dogs out, but I am sure the bears are lurking near by in the woods, just waiting to come back to see if there is anymore garbage (there isn't) for a mid-day snack. Everyone has assured me that the bears have probably moved on..wait? PROBABLY? Nope, not good enough for me! So for now the dogs have their legs crossed and I am not going out.


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July 15 Sunday
No more bears…thank heavens! Today dawned bright and sunny…but you notice I didn’t say warm! It got all the way to 70 today…will I ever be warm again?

Dick and Janice drove down for the day. We had a good visit…we bbq’d chicken and I made a macaroni salad. Had a fun day.

July 16 Monday
No fish running in the river yet…and the weather is crummy. Cold, overcast and I think someone stole the sun! We basically hung around and watched movies….not too much to do.

July 17 Tuesday
We were suppose to go out halibut fishing today, however, the charter was cancelled due to high waves and heavy winds on the inlet. So we drove into Soldotna so Al and I could get hair cuts – it was either that or dog tags! WOOF ! Had lunch in Soldotna and wandered through Fred Meyers with everyone else in the world. The parking lot at Fred Meyers was so packed we had a hard time finding a parking spot.

July 18 Wed
Cortney and I decided the heck with it, we were going to try our hand at fishing. We hadn’t come all this way to not fish! So Al rigged up a couple of poles and off we went. We had no idea what we were doing, so we just watched the others out on the bank and did what they did. Cortney hooked one, but we couldn’t get it landed. Finally after two hours we were cold, tired and disappointed …no fish.

July 19, Thursday
Laundry day today! Cortney likes this job just about as much as I do! Al went with us to town and we had Chinese food for lunch, then back to the Laundromat. We managed to get the laundry done in less than two hours this time!

Still cloudy, cold and rain off and on. Feels like Seattle on an ugly fall day! Where is the heat and sun? Oh yeah, everywhere else but here. Terrible storms in St. Louis and the rest of the country is baking…..except here!

July 20 Friday
We were suppose to halibut fish again today and we got blown off again by high seas and wind. I am beginning to wonder if we will ever get to halibut fish. So Cortney and I went back down to the river. Al, who has done nothing but talk about fishing for the last year seems to have no interest in fishing! That is worrying me. He says he just doesn’t want to fish, but he has gone up and down the 141 steps it takes to get to the river. So that isn’t the problem.

Cortney hooked 3 today, but didn’t land any. One of the doctors (Doc) took pity on us today and taught us how to fish for reds. We pretty much had it down, he just refined our technique! I have fished this river for 6 years and still haven’t landed a red. A bit frustrating.

Ray, the owner of Fish on Inn is very ill and not expected to live. We are concerned about what is going to happen to our spot here when he dies. His children are to take over, but the only one that has any interest in it isn’t who any of us want running it. He has a substance abuse problem (nice way to say he drinks until he is drunk) and we are all afraid he will let it go downhill. We can already see signs of things not being kept up like they were before. And since Al is showing no interest in fishing, we are wondering if we should cut our losses and sell this place. I love it up here tho…much more than I thought I would. I love just sitting watching the trees, river and the eagles fly over. It is truly beautiful up here and I love the peace and quiet.

July 22, Sat
Cabin fever struck today. Cortney and I went fishing for a while, but nothing was happening and my shoulder hurts to much to do much fishing. After we got back to the trailer we all climbed in the truck to do some sightseeing. Now, mind you, we have driven up and down the highway between here (Sterling) and Soldotna for the last month…but haven’t really stopped to check out any of the side roads. We wound up going up to Niskiki today. Not much there, but a pretty drive, however it would have been prettier if it wasn’t so cold and rainy. ARRRGGGG…give me some heat and sun! It was 106 in Odessa today and 104 in Tucson…..

July 23, 2006 Sun
FISH…finally! The reds are finally beginning to run in the river. Bruce brought up his limit for us today. Of course the limit went to 1 today! GRRRR the day they really start to run! What’s wrong with this picture? Anyway, the minute Bruce brought up his fish, Cortney was chomping at the bit to go fishing. As soon as we finished up breakfast dishes, on went the boots and off we went. The dock was crowded, but we found a spot and started to fish. After about 50 casts, my shoulder gave up. I reeled in and watched Cortney fish. She hooked 3 right off the bat, but couldn’t get them landed. After about an hour she finally caught her first red. She was so excited I was afraid she would fall in the river! Jamie helped us net it, get it off the hook and helped Cortney clean it. A nice 6 pound red. Bruce and Holly will have a great salmon dinner!

Weather is still horrible. A true Alaskan summer….I could do without it! It reached a whopping 63 today! I am frozen. We did see a peek of the sun this morning for about 2 minutes…and it left for the day. So I know it is out there somewhere….just not here.

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July 24 Mon
FISH…lots of fish. Not as many as in past years….but the reds are finally running. The counts are way down, and the state is closing red fishing on the Kenai as of midnight tonight. Of course, just as we are finally getting some fish in. Cortney and I went down this morning and beat the water to a froth, but didn’t get our fish. Had lots on the hook and off again, but didn’t get one landed. We finally came back to the trailer and I nursed a very sore shoulder and elbow. Later in the day, we went back down to the river with our neighbor and Cortney caught her fish….so one more in the freezer. Finally, I caught my first red! What a thrill! Now I know why everyone spends hours fishing for them! WHOOHOO! Of course, I caught my first fish about 3 hours before the state shut off the fishing on the Kenai. Oh well, the Kasilof and Russian river are still open.

Weather still cold, gray, cloudy and rain. ICK!

July 25, Tuesday
Halibut fishing today. Finally! Of course, my rotten luck has stuck with me and I got sick before we went out from a bad breakfast at McDonalds and I wound up staying in the camper watching it rain all day while Cortney and Al went halibut fishing. AND I LOVE HALIBUT FISHING! WHAAA! They brought back their limits, but they were very cold and wet when they got back as it has rained all day. But Cortney was happy, she caught her halibuts. She will be taking home some nice fish.

We drove home from Ninilchik in the pouring down rain. This weather sucks! I need sun!

July 26, Wed
SUN!!! FINALLY!!! We woke up to a nice, sunny day. Not exactly warm, in the mid 60’s, but sun. We spent the morning doing some cleaning around the trailer and doing some chores. Bruce and his nephew Zach got here about noon and they invited Cortney to go fishing for trout, kings or what ever they could catch out of the boat. So she went with them and Al and I went into town to dump the old futon mattress at Salvation Army and to get some parts we need to make some repairs to the trailer.

After we got back we did some more work, then Cortney came back and said they had caught 2 trout and Bruce had invited her for dinner and then they were going back out for more fish. She is really hooked! Don’t know where she is going to fish in Arizona!

I took the dogs for a walk after dinner and guess what we ran into. A mama moose and 2 babies! I usually walk the dogs up to the road, let them off the leash and let them run for a while. As I was getting ready to leave the park I looked up to see mama moose….uh…without having cousin Ted here to protect me from mama moose, I decided it would be wise to go back to the trailer. Especially after Beau got a look at mama and let out a WOOF! Mama did the “look”, lowered her ears and hackles came up…..we went back to the trailer as a pretty good pace! I got the dogs in the trailer, but I couldn’t stand it…I had to go see where mama and babies where. Sure enough, they were just off the road leading into the park. I stopped and chatted with the couple who have the first trailer and we moose watched for a while. Babies seem to be yearlings, and usually this is about the time mama is trying to break away from babies. These two seem to be sticking pretty close! If nothing else, we have seen plenty of wild life here…how exciting. It would have real exciting if mama had gone after Beau, however, we have already done that and don’t want to repeat it. What are the words cousin Ted? Oh ya, “HEE YAW” with a wave of arms! Got it!

July 27 Thursday

More sun! Whoo hoo! In fact it was an absolute beautiful day.

Cortney went fishing most of the day with my nephew Bruce and his nephew Zach. She out-fished them! She caught a 23 inch trout! Of course, you can’t keep any over 18 inches, but she had a blast catching them. She also caught more than they did! She has really turned out to be a real fisherperson!

Of course, I did the thing I do best today….laundry! UGH! I am on a first name basis with the owner of the Laundromat in Sterling!

July 28, Friday
We are in Anchorage tonight. We drove in today…which, by the way, was another beautiful day. The drive is so beautiful, but it is extra pretty when the sun shines. I can’t begin to describe the beauty of Alaska. The mountains are so pristine and the water in the rivers is what I would call in “icy” blue. Just breath-taking!

We are at my brothers tonight. We went to Sea Galley for dinner tonight so Cortney could have her promised crab legs. We promised her crab legs months ago, so we did that tonight. I ordered oysters, which I love, but these were horrible. I am having one heck of bad luck eating meals out!

We have a sick dog….our Beau dog is very sick. After dinner Cortney and I took him to the emergency vet. He hasn’t ate or drank for two days and is very lethargic. And he doesn’t want to play BALL…so we know he is very sick. The vet did an exam and ran some tests. Beau has Masticatory Muscle Myositis….translates into the muscles in his head and jaw have atrophied and he is unable to open his mouth without a great deal of pain. This condition is not cureable, however, it is treatable and he will be able to live a long, productive life with the aid of prednisone. Right now he is on a massive dose of prednisone and an antibiotic, since he is running a fever as well. A couple of years ago he had a horrible eye infection and our vet suspected he had Masticatory Muscle Myositis. She sent a blood sample to have tested for the disease, and the results were negative. However, she cautioned us then that as he got older it may present itself again, which it has. The vet here was wonderful and took his time to explain everything to me. Of course I was scared to death…my poor baby dog! We are having to feed him through a feeding syringe tonight, which he wants none of. And the antibiotic is a huge pill…how I am suppose to get this down him is beyond me! Needless to say, he will be in bed with us tonight so I can monitor how he is doing.

July 29, Sat
We did the “farmers market” thing today. We went to the South Anchorage Farmers Market which is truly a farmers market. Got some great veggies! Then Al wanted to go to the “Farmers Market” downtown – which is more of a craft fair than anything else. But, I really enjoyed it. I don’t know if any of you have ever read the comic strip “Tundra”….I LOVE IT…it reminds me a lot of FarSide by Gary Larson, which is my absolute favorite. Anyway, Chad Carpenter, the creator of Tundra was there and I got an autographed book. I have already read and laughed my way through the book once. And cousin Ted, he is as funny in person as the comic strip is! Visit: http://www.tundracomics.com/index.html for a great laugh.

The weather has turned cloudy again this afternoon and rain is forecast for the next ? days. Whoopee…

Beau is doing a bit better today. He drank some water and ate a little and his a little more active. Getting pills down him is still a struggle tho!

July 30, 2006 Sun
Up early to take Cortney to the airport…we are now Cortney-less. Sure is quiet around here. The dogs and cats are POUTING! They miss her.

It has rained almost all day. A constant rain, good for the yards, miserable for me! And the camper has developed a leak in the front right corner, so I spend a lot of time mopping up water….Denise and Gordon take note….a repair coming your way when we get home.

Beau is doing much better today – he is so smart tho. He KNOWS when I get his pills out and he goes and hides! I have to find him, then convince him to take his pills…I have hidden them in a bite of hot dog…he eats the hot dog and spits out the pill; in cheese which he does the same thing. We tried peanut butter and just butter and to no avail. Tonight I am trying a piece of ham….

Schuster has been so funny during this whole thing…he watches over Beau like a mother hen. Today he has not left Beau’s side and I think he is getting on Beau’s nerves! Beau growled at him this afternoon as if to say….”leave me alone”!

We are going to stay in Anchorage until at least Wednesday morning. Jerry (Al’s son) is flying in on Tuesday for a week stay with us. We are really looking forward to having him here. OF course, we are going to do the halibut fishing routine again, and hope to get him out on one of the rivers that are still open for red salmon fishing. And my nephew is going to take him out silver salmon fishing as well.