Noxon, MT..a little slice of heaven here on earth!

Noxon, Montana

WHOA! I have found a new "roosting" place for summer! This place is gorgeous!

We arrived here on Wednesday a little after noon. We left Newport, WA and drove through some of the most beautiful country! I love NW Montana! We took our time and just wandered down the road. Some of the little towns are so darn cute. We stopped in Clark Fork and had lunch at "Moms" Cafe. A cute little place. When we pulled in to this RV park I told Al
"I think we are home!!" Denise and Gordon met us and helped us get set up, we are parked right next to them. Also Denise's brother is here with his motor home. And go figure, he works at Boeing and we know a lot of the same people.

We all had great steak dinner that night and sat around the campfire until way too late! I haven't done this in years--- reminded me of the times we would go to Lake Isabella in California years ago. Remember those days Ruby and Skid???

John (Denise's brother) and his girlfriend breed and show papillon dogs...how cute they are. They have six on them with them now and they are really, really cute. However, Beau and Schuster can't quite figure out just what they are!!

As I said, I have a fallen in love with this area. Yesterday Gordon and Denise took us up to their property...it is absolutely beautiful. The Clark Fork river and the Bull river run through Noxon and Al could barely contain himself...he wanted to fish so badly! We also stopped at "Toby's Bar" in Noxon...a landmark in itself. The inside was something to see. Dollar bills on the ceiling, different pictures, saying on the walls and gold dollar coins all over the bar and one wall. AMAZING. And I had to take a picture for Jennifer in there...you never know where you will find a flamingo hanging from the ceiling!

Gordon, Jo, Denise, John, Al at Toby's Bar in Noxon, Montana

Last night was spaghetti and afterwards we all sat around the campfire again. I am having a blast! We all swapped stories (lies) and finally the mosquito's and the cold drove us in.

Today was packing day. Have you ever had to pack for a 56 day trip? ARG! And throw a cruise in the middle of that. I have no idea what I have packed or if it will be right, but it will have to do. Tomorrow we will drive to Seattle for a few days stay, then fly to Alaska on July 2.

After I got done packing Gordon, Denise, Al and I drove around the area to see more of it. I am so enamoured with this area. We found some property for sale and we are thinking about it...it over looks the valley and river. I can't describe how beautiful it is.

Dinner was at "Herfords" Steak house. Very good! Friends of Gordon and Denise's joined us. Louis is a retired policeman from Chicago and his wife Chris is a retired flight attendant. We really liked them as well. I do have to tell a funny story tho...Chris had gotten up to get another pitcher of water for the table (there was 11 of us in all) and she was walking around the table filling up glasses...she was standing above me and I made the comment "I don't think I like you standing over me with a full pitcher of water"...just teasing her. Well, the next thing I know I have water running over my head! She had intended to make like she was pouring water on me, and didn't realize she was! We all had a big laugh over it...how to meet new people and impress them! They are a neat couple and we hope to see them again when we get back from Alaska. Also there were friends Mike and Louise who we had met before and really like. Great bunch of people.

Here in the RV park tonight and for the weekend are a group of Mennonite's and I have to say I am impressed with them. They care for each other and are so nice and the children are all so well behaved. Beau has had several children over playing with him. I also found him in the middle of their campsite a little later on just making himself at home! Darn dog! Schuster has received a lot of attention as well.

Motorhome....Montana style!

So until next time, watch out for pitchers of water over your head...you just may wear it!

Movin On

Newport, WA

We are on the move again. After two weeks in Odessa, we are wrollin' again.

Odessa...where the only traffic light in town is attached to the Odessa Drive In! BTW, they make awesome some shakes and hamburgers! I found it funny that the town doesn't have a traffic light, just the drive in! We enjoyed out time in Odessa, however, I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been sick for a week of it! And the last week has been COLD. Our heater went out in the 5th wheel.....and we have been scrambling for blankets. BRRRR! Gotta' get the heater fixed.

Ric and Janet came over on Friday for a short visit. We had dinner at Chiefs Bar and Grill in Odessa. Claudia and Larry joined us and we had a short, but good visit with them. When Ric and Janet were leaving Jerry's on Saturday morning the saw this..........

Yup...it's a moose! I have seen it one a few years ago around Odessa as well. One never knows what you will see over here!

We are now in Newport, Wa on our way to Noxon, Mt. Friends Gordon and Denice live in Noxon now and we are heading over to see them and leave the 5th wheel while we are in Alaska. Gordon has practically been the only person do work on our trailer, and the only one we trust to do the work, so while we are gone, Gordon it going to do some repair/maintenance on it. We are also going to leave the cats in their care while we are gone. We are looking forward to seeing them.

We stopped today for lunch in Spokane with Gary and Jeannette. Jeannette and I wandered over to Penney's after lunch --- I NEEDED a new purse...no, seriously, you can ask Jeannette!! After that we headed up through Rathdrum, ID to Newport. This is a beautiful little town...first time I have ever been here. The RV park is situated above the Priest River and the view is great. It is also in the trees and the smell of the evergreens is great. We hoped to see Al's cousin who lives here, but his wife has the flu and since I just got well, we opted to see them next time around.

On to Noxon tomorrow....hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and well.

Voiceless in Odessa; The snake that wouldn't die and THE BIG CLEAN OUT

Odessa
Friday we met Ron, Melanie and Lori in Moses Lake. While they were renting their Uhaul trailer I ran over to pick up Cammie and boyfriend Ryan at Job Corp. We all met back up and headed to Golden Corral for dinner. Then back to Odessa. We dropped the UHaul at the house and then I took them all to Jerry's house where they were staying.

Up Saturday morning...met for breakfast at the only cafe in town..Chiefs. Pretty good too. After breakfast we all (well, except for Al) went to the house to start the BIG CLEAN OUT! Seems I have been doing this a lot in the last few years...first my brothers house in Anchorage, then his house in Tucson and now our house here. We started in the kitchen, as Todd and Jerry had packed up most everything else and it was in the storage trailer. By noon we were done with the kitchen and got the furniture that was going out moved. After lunch we hit the storage trailer and got about 25% of it done before I gave up! I will work on the storage trailer this week.

It seems as if I lost my voice somewhere Saturday. Can't find it either...I have one heck of a case of laryngitis. I thought my allergies were acting up, however, it has turned into one heck of a cold!!! I think everyone likes it that I can't talk!

Saturday night we bbq'd ribs out at Jerry's. Everyone was already out at Jerry's when Cammie, Ryan and I headed out. Cammie was driving Todd's Explorer for me as I didn't feel like driving. About a mile out of town on the road was the biggest, longest snake I have ever seen. I told Cammie to run over it. She did...again and again and again. This damn rattle snake would not die! FINALLY it quit moving. Off to Jerry's we go with me doing a high five! Another snake gone. While we were in Jerry's house, Cammie was looking out the dining room window and lo and behold, there is another snake in the bushes below the window. Oh, Jerry....yup, another rattler, a baby this time. Jerry killed it and Ron and Lori skinned it! AARGG! ICK!!! I made Lori SCRUB her hands! ICK, pooey, icky!

Yesterday we all met up at Chiefs again for breakfast. Still good. After breakfast Melanie and family took off for home. Sure glad they were here...they really were a big help; plus I really enjoyed our visit. I need to see more of them.

A little later in the day Jerry and I took Cammie and Ryan back to Moses Lake, where they are going to school. We got back around 3:30 and we took Alyssia and Austin (Todd and Vicky's children) for ice cream as I had promised them I would. Todd is such a hard worker....Larry and Claudia should be really proud of him. He is really a nice man, and Vicky is a lovely woman. So glad to have them around. I hope they will enjoy our house.

So now today I am resting. And probably tomorrow as well. Gotta' find my voice somewhere as well. I don't like not being able to talk!!! Imagine that! Al is not liking it either as he can't hear and I can't talk...no communication at all!!! And I can't call the dogs either! Frustrating.

We have had a couple of thunder storms here and we are suppose to have more today. Fine with me. It hasn't been too hot the past few days either. Right now it is about 75 with a nice breeze.

There was a golf tournament here this weekend and the RV park was full. And boy did they party on Saturday night...complete with a band! They asked us to join them (so we wouldn't complain!) however, we declined. We did enjoy the music however. I bet there were plenty hangovers yesterday.

That's it from this end of the world for now. Someday I will find my voice again, but for now it's texting and email.

Take care all...................

A Cracked Rib

Odessa
Okay, when Al took his little fall in Idaho Falls last week, he said he wasn't hurt. However, since then everytime he has to move he moans and hollers that he hurts. But Mr. "I'm not Stubborn!" said he didn't need to see the doc. Even in the ER the other night the doc didn't think it was anything but muscle strain. Uh huh.

After several nights of him moaning every time he moved in bed, I had, had it. So I called the doc here yesterday morning and amazingly enough, got him in to see her yesterday afternoon. After being xrayed and seeing the doc, I know why he hurt..he has a cracked rib! Now, there really isn't anything they can do for it, except he can't do any lifting for a month (as if he does anyway!) and no strenuous exercise (HAHAHA) for a month; basically he is to do what he has been doing for the last few months, sit and watch me work. Okay, that was uncalled for, but the truth. He has is pain killers and he is a happy camper. And I finally got some sleep last night.

There is a golf tournament here this weekend and our RV park is filling up. Of course, both dogs have had to meet everyone, and Simon was here last night and he had to meet everyone as well. Talk about social animals!

I am on my way to Moses Lake in a few minutes to pick up Cammie and boyfriend who are spending the weekend up here; along with meeting up with Melanie and family as they are also spending the weekend here to help me clean out the house. The Seattle crowd can't make it this weekend, so it will be just the 6 of us. Victor also can't make it as he has finals tomorrow. Everyone had an excuse except Melanie and I think she just couldn't come up with one fast enough!!! :-)

More after the weekend of cleaning out the house...if I am still alive.

Odessa...finally!

Odessa

We arrived here about 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Didn't take long to get the trailer set up and the truck unhooked. We had a light dinner and both of us crashed!! Here is the travel log from Sunday and Monday.

BAKER CITY, OR
June 7, 2009
We arrived here last evening around 5:00 p.m.. after getting a late start out of Twin Falls. We just took our time yesterday morning and made a stop at Walmart for some supplies; so we didn’t leave Twin Falls until noon…our time. When we arrived here it was cold, cloudy and threatening rain. After getting set up I took the dogs for their exercise….ball! We were in a nice, grassy area and I looked up to see about 15 cows watching us over the fence! Schuster, of course, had to go investigate what these things that is bigger than he is.

Remember when you were a kid and you always had to visit every bathroom along the way just because? Well, I think Al has this going on with hospitals!!!!

About 9:00 p.m. Al started experiencing cramps..in his legs, hands, arms and abdomen. I gave him an extra potassium pill like the doctor had instructed me to do, hoping the cramps would go away. All they did was get worse, so at 10:30 p.m. I was out unhooking the trailer from the truck (never had to do this in the dark!!) and off we went to the local hospital Emergency Room. Al was really in severe pain by this time. Fortunately for us, the Hospital isn’t far away and we were the only ones in the ER!!! Imagine that! The nurses got him stabilized and finally around midnight the doctor comes wandering in and orders some blood tests. I am suspecting that he is low in potassium and I told the doc that, but what do I know??? Doc thinks he is low on magnesium, and wants to give him a dose to see if that will help. I asked about quinine tablets, which I was told, they can’t get as the pharmacy is closed. HUH? After the blood test results come back, yup, I was right…he is low on potassium. They give him another potassium pill and send us home (2:30 a.m.) Al is feeling somewhat better by now and by 4:00 a.m. the cramps have pretty much gone away. I will give him an extra potassium pill this morning to boost his potassium level; doc’s instructions. We finally got to sleep around 4:30 a.m. … yawn!
We are only 252 miles from Odessa, so I think we will try and make that today. At least if we have another medical emergency I will know where to go and what to do!!!!
More later…………….

Monday, June 8
Odessa
We arrived here at 5:00 p.m. The trip today was pretty uneventful, with the exception of that damn hill coming into Pendleton! 6 miles of a 6% grade…and for some reason, I always worry about that hill the entire trip and I finally relax when we are at the bottom safely. However, this trip we had worse hills and grades, but since I didn’t know about them in advance, I didn’t have to worry about them!!!!!
We found a good little restaurant in Pendleton….Roosters. Their specialty is the Chicken Noodle soup, and not being a big fan of chicken noodle soup (okay, so my mom fed me way to much of it when I was sick as a child…so I associate it with being sick)…however, this soup was outstanding. We even bought a half gallon of it and we had it for dinner tonight! Homemade noodles….it was yummy.

We are parked at the little RV park next to the golf course. We were set up and ready to relax in less than 45 minutes. However, I am still fighting with the %^&* satellite dish, so no TV tonight. Besides I am too tired to fight it tonight. Todd came over as soon as we arrived and helped me move a picnic table over to our site, then he brought over Al’s big recliner that is built up high so Al can get out of it easily and we switched chairs. Vicky and the kids came over as well. Those 2 kids are absolutely darling .. Alyssia is 6 and Austin is 4. Alyssia is so pretty and Austin is all boy!!! Cute, cute cute. Austin said to me tonight "I am living in your house!" I said, "You are?" He said "Yup, and I am staying there!!" So there!
So we are set up and will stay here for two weeks. Since Todd and Vicky are renting our house here and have moved our stuff into a storage space, I will have my work cut out for me in the next two weeks sorting through stuff and getting rid of it. Not a job I look forward to, but one that needs to be done.

Tuesday
I rested most of the day. Had a few errands to run in town, which took me twice as long as everyone stopped to say hello!!! Had lunch at the cafe and ran into a few people there, then at the Quilt Shop with Ardis a few more people came in. You know how it is in a small town! However, it kinda' felt good!

Jerry came over for dinner tonight and we figured out logistics for this weekend. Melanie and family are coming over and Cammie and boyfriend are coming from Moses Lake to help. I took a look at the storage trailer where 99% of our stuff is and decided I was not going to tackle that and let the kids help when they get here. I think Salvation Army or the Sr. Center will be very happy with me when I am done!!!

Had a nice rain this evening, didn't last too long tho. I still haven't gotten the satellite working and after a long conversation with Directv today I don't think I will try and set it up until we come back in August. We can always run over to Todds; Mandi's or Buds to watch tv. Matter of fact, Mandi will be gone for a week next week...hmmmm.

So for now, we are settled and happy to be so.

TUCSON TO IDAHO FALLS AND POINTS IN BETWEEN

Kingman, AZ
Thursday June 5, 2009

We left Tucson on Wednesday a little after noon and drove to Wickenburg, AZ that day. It was hotter than heck…some places our thermometer on the truck read 125!! Once parked in Wickenburg, at the ONLY RV park we could find, our thermometer on the trailer read 130 at 6:30 p.m!! Of course it was in the direct sun, but it had to be close to that temp! IT WAS HOT! It took the AC on the 5th wheel over 5 hours to cool down to 80 degrees! We have found hell and it is in Wickenburg!

Up the next morning early and on the wroad by 8:30 a.m. We headed towards Kingman on Hwy. 93, which we will travel until Twin Falls, ID this trip. We have never traveled this wroad and decided it would be good for a change. Let me tell you….good isn’t exactly how I would describe the wroad between Wickenburg and Kingman. Up one steep hill, then down, etc. You get the picture. However, I ran over 3 snakes…that’s 3 less snakes in the world and that is a good thing!

About 30 miles north of Wickenburg we are driving along at about 65 MPH when I hear a BANG, SHHHHUUUSSH. What was that? I slowed down, and luckily we were about 200 yards from a roadside rest area…so I pulled in. We got out and looked around the truck, trailer; under the truck, trailer; under the hood, etc. (as if looking under the hood made any sense to me…okay, the engine is still there and nothing looked obviously wrong..end of inspection!) Tires are okay, nothing leaking (my first thought was “oh hell, another transmission gone” after being on our 5th transmission) – well, things don’t go BANG, SHHHUUUSSH for nothing. We couldn’t find a thing. What to do? We decided to go ahead and see what happens. I get back out on the road and hmmm…I don’t have much power. Matter of fact, going up some of the hills I was in low gear and crawling along at 5 MPH and praying we would make it to the top of the hill!! Down the hill as fast as I can go, crawl up the next hill. This went on for over 80 miles…but Black Beauty (what we call our F350) kept going. Finally reached I-40 and we are 23 miles from Kingman, and there is a Ford dealer there. At a little after noon we crawl into the Ford dealer. I was positive Black Beauty was gasping her last breath! I was already looking at the lot to see what they had. However, the mechanic took one look as said, “You have blown a turbo boot.” Okay, what is that? It is the rubber thingy that is on a long pipe that connects the thingy to the whatchmacallit to the turbo. NOT the turbo itself, thank goodness. And yes, they have the part and we can be on the wroad in about an hour. YES!

Fortunately, there is a dirt lot next to the dealership that we can drop the trailer, which we do. In Black Beauty goes to the doctor. After they pull the pipe that has the turbo boot on it, they discover that not only did we blow the lower boot, but the upper boot is gone as well. And, of course, that part they don’t have!!!! It is on order and will be in tomorrow morning.
Now, the trailer is parked in this dirt lot, the wind is blowing a hurricane and dust is everywhere. I called Good Sam Towing Service and tell them our problem. They say “no problem, we will find you a tow to the KOA in town”…shoulda’ known it wouldn’t be that easy. All I can say, is Cortney, remember Toad River??? ARG!!! FIVE hours later, after several calls between me and Good Sam, and they claim they still haven’t found a tow truck that has a 5th wheel receiver on it to tow us (this makes no sense to me…) I am fuming mad. What good are they, I mean, the y are in the business to assist Rvers and TOW them, right? Now, remember, we have NO POWER and NO WATER. We also have no water on board in our fresh water tank (oversight on my part that I will never make again). Good Sam is saying that the only tow truck they can find that can help us, is in Las Vegas, 110 miles away and they can’t get to us for another 3 hours. That makes it 9:30 p.m. CRAP! After chewing out Good Sam (and a scathing letter will be written) we tell them to forget it. We said we would find a a tow truck and file our bill for reimbursement, but oh no, we couldn’t do that either. We finally decided to just stay here (not much choice) with no power or water and go to sleep. We had 2 gallons of bottled water, which we used to flush toilet, etc. Thank goodness it wasn’t hot, it was only 80 degrees and again, the wind blowing a gale. I think I may have gotten 4-5 hours sleep all together last night and I don’t think Al, the dogs or cats got much more.

So here we are Friday morning and the parts are in and we are waiting for them to finish the repair so we can be on the wroad again. It is 73 degrees out as I write this (10:30 a.m., Friday) and the wind is blowing strong. I wonder if the wind always blows in Kingman? The people here at the Ford dealership have been wonderful help to us. They tried to get us power, but it was just too far from their receptacle to the trailer and we kept blowing the circuit breaker. As for water, this morning they brought us 5 gallons of fresh water. I bet I drank 2 gallons of it already! They have ordered their shuttle to be at our disposal, however, there is a Golden Corral and I-Hop across the street so we have walked over there for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. Al has managed to walk over there and back, with the use of his cane. It is about a quarter of a mile over and back. He has done fairly well walking it, but he is very unsteady.

To amuse ourselves, Al has read and I have walked, walked and walked, thrown the ball for the dogs so many times even Beau isn’t interested! Now, you know how many times I have done that!!!!! I have done all the crossword puzzles I had with me and I have finished one book and started another. However, I am resting!!!!

Noon, Friday and we are off. All of the power on the south end of Kingman is out, so we can only hope we can find a gas station up the wroad that has power so we can get some fuel!!

Friday, June 05, 2009 9:15 PM, Caliente, Nevada

To continue our saga, we finally found fuel just outside of Kingman and off we go. WOW…the truck has power. The wind is blowing like crazy and unfortunately it isn’t pushing us along, we are fighting a head/side wind. Traffic is light as we head up 95 towards Vegas. We decided not to take 93 out of Kingman across Hoover Dam as the wait to cross the dam is 2 hours long. We go through Laughlin instead.

We flew through Las Vegas….I was concerned as we hit Vegas at 3:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon and I figured traffic would be awful, however, we were through Vegas and on I-15 heading north in 30 minutes.

Traveling up Hwy 93, which is called the Great Basin Highway was a surprise for us. For one thing, we figured we would see nothing but desert and more desert. Imagine our surprise to see Joshua trees alongside the wroad for the first few miles, then beautiful meadows and a wonderful, green, lush valley!!! HUH? This is Nevada, right? We are in the little town of Caliente tonight…4800 feet elevation, it was 70 degrees when we arrived…perfect! We figured this drive would be hot, so we are very happy it was 80 degrees in Vegas and cooler as we headed up 93! We are in a nice RV park, somewhat like Odessa’s RV park, lots of green and trees. Also lots of deer! One scared the heck out of Schuster tonight while we were playing ball! I don’t think he has ever seen a deer!

We have no cell service here..one place AT&T has forgotten! I have no idea when I will find a place to post this blog either. However, this has been a very pleasant drive today, very little traffic and as I said before, beautiful scenery!!

Saturday, June 6 Twin Falls, Idaho BRRRR…it’s cold! 59 degrees.

We had a very pleasant, if not wet, drive today. We left Caliente and enjoyed the scenery along Hwy 93. However, when we left Caliente, we had the discussion of should we get fuel here or not. We had ¾ of a tank of fuel and 168 miles to Ely, NV. Should be no problem! Besides diesel was expensive in that little town! So off we go. Apparently we were on the underside of the ¾ mark, as the fuel gage dropped to ½ in about 30 miles. Al is looking at the map and saying..there is nothing until ELY. Still…we should have plenty of fuel for 130 miles. Uh Huh! We kept going – again, beautiful scenery, in the middle of nowhere! By the time we made the turn onto Hwy 50/93 we were 30 miles from Ely and the “LOW FUEL” light comes on. GREAT! We are climbing over a pass at the time…so I keep going. The “Low Fuel” light stays on and we coast into Ely … we took 37.6 gallons of fuel in a 38 gallon tank! WHEW!!!!!

The rest of the day was uneventful….pretty drive to Idaho Falls, however, it has rained on us since Ely. And we have had wind the entire trip…my shoulders are sore from holding on to the wheel to fight the wind. Black Beauty is purring along just fine, happy to be well again. The dogs and I have managed to find somewhere to play ball every night, including last night during a break in the rain! Schuster has really been stretching his legs and running full tilt! He is so pretty to watch when he runs like that. Also, Al took a fall this evening trying to connect the water hose. He is okay, but it scared me! I don't have gray hair for nothing! And I keep blaming the kids for my gray hair...anyway, a couple of men in the RV park saw him fall and rushed over to help me get him up. I gotta' figure a way that I can get him up when he falls...anyone have any ideas?

June 7, 2009, Sunday Morning

After a night of pounding rain and I slept like a baby, we are getting ready to wroll. Depending on weather, we will probably go to Pendleton today and then into Odessa on Monday. Right now it is raining and windy, so it will be a slow drive today. More when I find another internet connection!

Al, Jo and pets,
THE WROAMIN’ WRASPIRS

WE ARE WROAMIN

Tucson
Last night here. I have the trailer 99.9% loaded and we are wready to wroll! FINALLY!

I had my cardio stress test yesterday and the ultra sound of the heart and all is fine. Very strong heart (I told him I had to have one....) Al and I have the same doctor and he agreed with me. He also said part of the problem is since last December when my brother got sick I haven't had any "down" time. What with Dick dying, our doctor dying and then AL getting sick and having a LONG recovery I am stressed to the max. I told him I needed a long vacation in Hawaii and if he would write a prescription for it I would go and take it off my income tax (don't panic Gary!! He wouldn't bite for it) Can't say I didn't try.

Then today I saw my GP and he gave me the green light to go. My pulmonary tests showed asthma (see, I knew it all along!!) and he prescribed an inhaler for me and wants me to see my doc in Seattle BEFORE I leave for Alaska. He also said I was stressed to the max (so, what are they really saying) and no, he wouldn't write a prescription for Hawaii either!! :-( He does want me to rest a little more...hello!!! HE knows what a position I am in. He didn't give me any idea's how to do that however!

Cortney was here tonight and helped me finish loading the trailer. Bless her heart! I have been working for two days trying to get the %^&*(^%^ satellite system to work on the 5th wheel and I finally gave up. Bob Grabow, who knows what he is doing on these systems is as puzzled as I am why it won't work. I will just have to call Directv when we arrive in Odessa. Most of the RV parks will have cable hook ups while we travel...I hope.

AL has been told NO DRIVING...don't know if he will obey it or not, we shall see. I plan on doing all of the driving...no problem. It may be a slower trip than usual, as I will take my time. I have driven the rig enough that I am very comfortable with it.

So, until we post from the wroad, we hope all is well in your world.

The Wroamin' Wraspir's are at it again!