Tribute to my brother Dick

Walter Richard Spaid 1928-2009
Tucson
My brother, Dick, died last Wednesday. He went very peacefully in his sleep. However, he had been in a semi-coma since the Sunday before. I am comforted by the knowledge that he is in peace and in heaven with his wife, parents, family & friends that have gone before him. However, there is a huge gap in my life without him. He will live forever in my heart and mind and the memories we have of him are precious to us. I am so glad we moved him down here from Alaska. One, because he was finally warm; two because we were able to spend so much more time with him. I saw him at least once a day and usually more, and we did so much as a three-some, Al, Dick and myself. He had a wonderful life and we were happy to be part of it.

Dick was born in Simla Colorado in 1928. After graduation from high school he married his sweetheart, Imy. They struggled as all young couples do, Dick finding work in Nebraska. Finally he decided to enlist in the Air Force in 1951. They already had their first child Bobby Dean by then and Imy was not in good health as she had a bad heart. In 1952 they were stationed at Luke AFB, AZ and shortly there after welcomed another son, Bruce. From Luke they were stationed several different places including Texas, Michigan and their first tour in Alaska. They all fell in love with Alaska. In 1962 the AF moved them to Edwards AFB, CA where they had a daughter, Janice Jo. Dick spent three years at Edwards before being sent to Viet Nam for over a year. After Viet Nam he was sent to Wichita Falls, TX and then back to Alaska. From Alaska the AF sent him to Davis Monthan AFB, Tucson where he retired from the Air Force and didn't waste any time going back to Alaska. He spent the next 34 years there. Imy died in 1986 and Dick stayed in Alaska where he worked for the Post Office. Dick had a major heart attack in 1981 and had struggled with a bad heart from there on. But it didn't slow him down from his love of fishing, camping, being outdoors and his gardening,and he loved spending time with family and friends. He was a lot like our father in his disposition as well...a kind and gentle soul.

His care giver here, Pat, was so wonderful to him. And Hospice was great as well. I don't know how we would have managed without them. We can't thank them enough.

His son's Bob and Bruce are here now and I am glad to have them here. They are comfort not only to each other to me as well. We have some work to do, the paper work alone is almost over whelming. But some how we will manage it, we always do.

So rest in peace Dick. You had a good, long life. I will always miss you and love you.

Why can't I get a Break?

TUCSON
Yes, Tucson! We never made it to Lancaster! I can't believe my luck!

Thursday night Al started to cough...all night long. About 3:00 a.m. I got up; got dressed, loaded the dogs in the car (not for protection, but for company) and set out to try and find ANYTHING that was open in Blythe that could possibly have some 1.)Nyquil or 2.) Cough Syrup. KNOWING, there wouldn't be a drug store open, but hoping the Albertson's was a all night/24 hour store..not at chance. After wandering the streets for a while I came up on a "stop and rob", aka, mini-mart. Yup, they had Nyquil and cough syrup, for a high price, but I wasn't quibbling at that point. Back to the hotel (both killer dogs asleep in the car) and doused Al with some Nyquil. He finally went to sleep and we both got about 3 hours of sleep. However, he was still coughing and I had a nagging feeling that this was not a cold.

I finally got up and went in search of coffee...found a Starbucks right across the street and it was like a magnet...Venti please! Came back to the room and Al was not any better, but not any worse. I finally told him we were NOT going to Lancaster. After thinking it over I didn't want to give everyone there a cold, if in fact that was what he had. But more so, I had a gut feeling (I hate those--thanks mom!)that this was not a cold, but congestive heart failure. I really hate it when I am right sometimes! But back to the story. I called our doctor in Tucson and amazingly enough, got an appointment for 3:45 p.m. I got us loaded into the car and we were hell bent for Tucson. I rolled into the medical center parking lot at 3:36 p.m. WHEW! And, as I suspected, yes, Al is in fact in congestive heart failure. Al's kidneys are also beginning to fail due to long term diabetes, therefore he is in double trouble. The doc decided that he wouldn't put Al in the hospital, but try to keep him home and try some different medicine. If that doesn't work, then he will hospitalize him, but I am trying to keep him home. Al has been on a no salt diet (ICK) for the last 10 days and is doing fairly well on it, however, I know it is hard for him. He won't exercise, says it hurts his knees to walk very far, etc. None of this looks good, does it? CRAP! The new meds, plus an increase in the lasix Al takes is making him run to the bathroom a lot more...so he is getting some exercise from his chair to the bathroom! Hopefully he is getting rid of excess fluid as well. The doctor said he had at least 20 pounds (yes, 20) of excess fluid to get rid of. If these pills work I may beg the doc for some for me (just kidding). At any rate, Al is one sick person. And yes, I am worried sick as well. He is still coughing up a storm and I can't sleep for fear he will choke, so I am sleeping with one eye open and both ears open. I think I may have gotten about 2 hours sleep last night. I tried to take a nap this afternoon but either Al would cough or the dogs would bark....there is just no sleep in this house for me.

AND I REALLY DISLIKE BLYTHE. I realized while we were there that Blythe was where we were a few years ago when we got the phone call that Jennifer was so very ill with DVT and in the hospital. That town holds no great memories for me! From now on I will drive miles out of my way to avoid that town!

So, so much for our quick get away. My brothers condition is about the same...he is hanging on for dear life. I didn't see him today...I didn't dare leave the house. I did go out and trim a tree/bush that was taking on my car every time I drove out of the driveway and watered our plants, but that is as far as I got from the house. At least our weather here has been absolutely beautiful this week...in the high 70's or low 80's all week..can't complain about weather!

So, to the Pengilley's, we are sorry we didn't make the memorial for Joe. And to Glennie, Fred, Carl, Ruby, we are sorry about missing dinner tonight. And to Billie and Dan...we will see you some year! And to everyone who has called, emailed, etc, thank you for your support...it means a lot to me!

Ever been to Blythe, CA?

Blythe,CA
Yes, that is where we are tonight. We are on our way to Lancaster, CA to attend the memorial service of a good friend who died last week. I tell you, so far this year stinks!

If you have ever been to Blythe, you know what I am talking about...and if you have never been to Blythe, don't bother! We left Tucson late this afternoon and by the time we got here I was done driving for the day.

My nephew from Alaska is got in to Tucson today and he will stay with his dad until the end. My brother seems to be doing about the same. He is eating very little and drinking very little, but he has the determination to live a bit longer, which is fine with me. The Hospice nurse told me yesterday that every time she leaves my brother she is sure she won't see him again, yet he is still with us. He continues to amaze me.

We SHOULD be in Hawaii right now. Darn, I hated to cancel that trip, but knowing me I would just be worried sick about my brother while I was there, so it is best we cancelled. BUT, all I can think of is the nice tropical breezes, hearing the surf, etc. Maybe next year........

So tomorrow it is on to Acton, CA where Billie and Dan live. We are looking forward to seeing them and other friends. Also I hope to see my youngest brother while there. We will see how it goes.

So until next blog........stay safe and happy.

I am not liking this year so far

Tucson
Okay...I am ready to skip 2009. This year has really started out bad, bad, bad. Outside of the mess in Seattle with the snow, then floods, etc. things here aren't good either.

My brother Dick is failing...but not fast. He is so very sick; renal, liver failure and congestive heart failure, plus diabetes and he has 4 leaky valves in his heart and he is 80 years old. The doctors have taken him off all his meds and he is on "comfort meds" only. He isn't eating hardly at all...oh, he will eat ice cream, with peaches some times, sometimes plain; but not very much. We haven't gotten him to eat anything of substance for a few days now. He was so sick over last weekend. I cared for him on last Saturday and he wouldn't drink or eat anything...not even ice cream. I called Hospice a couple of times and the nurse came out once, took his blood pressure and glucose readings. BP was low, so was the blood sugar. I helped him to bed around 9:30 p.m. and I checked on him every hour. At about 1:30 a.m. I went in to check on him and found him laying on the floor. He had slid out of the bottom of his bed. Of course, I was scared silly. I called Hospice and in turn 911. EMT's came out and helped get him up, nothing broken, thank goodness. So off to the ER we went and spent the night there. I learned I could sleep on those nasty plastic chairs that they have in ER....just not for very long. After 8+ hours, they basically sent him home to die. The doctor said there was absolutely nothing they could do...his BP at one point was 47/30. They did give him a litre of normal saline to hydrate him. That began his rally. The doctor said he would do this, just can't guess how long the rally will last. Knowing my brother, it could last a while...he is very determined to live. Anyway, we brought him home and he slept most of Sunday and Monday. By Tuesday he was sitting up talking, but very confused and not making much sense. His son from San Diego was here and we were both amazed at how much improved my brother was. Today, he is sitting up talking rationally and about back to where he was before all of this started. However, I have been told not to get my hopes up...it is just a matter of time.

In the mean time, I took Al to the doctor yesterday and his blood pressure was 192/121!!!!! The doctor just about flipped. Al's labs show is kidneys are also failing due to diabetes and the meds used to control them. He is only additional lasix (water pills) and potassium pills and increased his blood pressure meds. AND NO SALT AT ALL. Now, those of you who know Al, know how that went over! I have to watch him like a hawk and have started to cook without salt..(ick).. the salt substitute is icky. He can have 1 gram of salt a day...and let me tell you that isn't much. And everything has sodium in it! I have scoured the shelves at the grocery store for low sodium stuff...and haven't came up with very much. Something tells me this is going to be a real battle. I have moved all the salt/seasonings with salt into another pantry/storage closet, but I don't know if that will do the trick.

And then today we received a phone call that one of our friends from Lancaster had a heart attack and died last night. CRAP! And he was only 60! I was totally shocked!

So, can this year get better???? Can't get much worse...or can it? Probably.

On another note, we have had AL's cousin Neal and wife Bobbi here for a few days and that was a bit of a break. They have a big 5th wheel trailer like ours and they parked in our drive and they were nice to have around. They stayed in their "house" and visited with us. They are now in Deming, NM for a few weeks...and they are full time RVers so who knows where they will go next. They always have a spot here.

And our friend from Yuma, Dick and his grandson Corey and another friend were here for 5 days hunting javalina. No javalina tho...I did see two coming up our road, but that was after dark and they can't hunt them then. Smart pigs! Corey lives in Colorado and he was a nice young man...14 years old and very polite and well mannered. He can come back and visit us.

And on that note, I am going to go rest...something I haven't gotten much of lately. All my kids/friends and family are telling me to take care of myself, but sometimes it is really hard to do when you are worried about those you love. It's gotta' get better.

Out with the Old, In with the New...Happy New Year

Tucson
Well, it is not quite New Years here, it's 10:15 p.m. and I am not sure I will be awake at midnight...I am fading fast. But it is New Years in NYC, and that is the time zone I have chosen to celebrate!!!! So Happy New Year to all...welcome to 2009.

And, there aren't many places I can write this and have the doors open in the house and still enjoying 60 degrees! The last two days have been most pleasant...all it took was sending Jennifer back to Seattle for the nice weather to return!!! We did celebrate her 40th birthday on Monday...how did THAT happen??? I am to young to have a 40 year old, or a 43 year old for that matter!!!

I talked to Melanie yesterday and she said Portland was finally starting to thaw out...they had as much snow as Seattle. Very unusual!

My brother Dick finally came home from the hospital yesterday and I wish I could say he is doing well, but he is very frail and tired. Yes, I am very worried. Hospice has been called in and I must say they have been wonderful. So very helpful to him and his care giver Pat and to me, helping us understand what we need to do, and what is ahead for him and us. What a great organization! Casa de la Luz is the hospice we chose to use and so far they are fantastic! Of course we are all hoping and praying that he will get better and get back to where he was health wise, however, me being the realist that I am, I don't think we will get there. Hopefully he will be able to remain home and recieve treatment through hospice and not have to go back into the hospital. Put him in your prayers please.

Other than that, things are pretty quiet on the home front. As you can tell, we aren't very big party people...very low key tonight. However, there was a time...Randy and Judy, remember the mail box????

And on that note, Happy New Year!

I'm Dreaming of a White Day after Christmas

Tucson
This is what we woke up to this morning!!!!!




Can you believe this??? Jennifer arrived on Tuesday from a frozen Seattle looking for a little warm and sun; however, this is what she found!!! And if it had to snow, it could have done it yesterday!!!! Then we would have had a white Christmas!!!

However, our Christmas was just fine. Christmas eve is always spent with Bruce, Holly and Cortney here and we had a great evening. Yesterday was spent quietly here, friends Dick and Lano are here, and of course Jennifer and friend Bob Grabow was here. Notice anyone missing??? My brother Dick!! He decided to make life a little exciting for me last Monday night and was having some heart problems! EMT's were called and they hauled him to the hospital. We thought he would be home that night; however, his cardiologist had other idea's and wanted to keep him over night. Some Overnight...he is still in the hospital!!!! He went from ER, to regular hospital room to ICU and now back in just CCU. He is doing much better, thank you, but gave us some scary moments! Hopefully, he will be home tomorrow or Sunday.

We are enjoying our visit with youngest daughter, who, by the way, will turn 40 on Monday! How can I have a 40 year old == I am only 45...hmmm...at least that is how I feel some days; other days I feel 85!

Snow or not, today Lano, Jenn and I went shopping! Not much will keep us in today...the day of the great sale! However, I spent a whopping $18.95 on some rechargeable solar light batteries and I don't think Jenn spent much more! Nothing appealed to me. I don't need any xmas decorations, nor cards. I had bought xmas cards last year on sale; didn't remember I had them and bought more this year, THEN found the ones from last year. Oh well.

So to you in the frozen north land, don't bother coming down here... it is suppose to be 27 tomorrow night.

King Crab commits suicide at my table!!!!

Tucson


At least that is what it looked like after dinner on Saturday night! Or a king crab suicide bomber commited suicide at my dinner table!!! Yes, we enjoyed a fine dinner of king crab legs, fresh frozen directly from Alaska, courtesy of our nephew Bruce! It was a Christmas present to us, his dad, and the Sandersons, Bruce, HOlly and Cortney. And we did a fine job of eating as many crab legs as we could possible stuff down our gullet! However, we were faced with 15 POUNDS of king crab legs! Yes, we had to finally give up and leave some behind. HOWEVER, after dinner, we had a party at same said dining room table, cracking and cleaning out all the crab meat, which was then divided up and vacuum sealed and frozen so we can do this again in the near future, just not as messy. BUT BOY WERE THEY GOOD! YUM! However, getting to the crab meat does work up an appetite...and you need iron hands and fingers, those darn crabs are pokey. Yes, we were crabby tonight, but a good crabby. This kind of crabby I could do all of the time.

In other news of the Wraspir world...IT IS DAMN WINDY TODAY! I think I saw a small house blow by earlier! Our house actually shakes sometimes when a gust of wind hits it. Winds up to 60 mph were forecast and I think, for once, the weather guesser was right! And it is cold, er, well, cold for us. Cold is relative here...we aren't cold like Washington State is right now (forcast for Odessa has it down in the - 9 area!) or cold like Wisconsin or North Dakota. But for here it is C-O-L-D! And snow forecast for tomorrow above 5,000 feet; we sit at 3200 feet so we will have nice, white mountains tomorrow.

Christmas cards are done, Christmas shopping almost done, and the house is beginning to look a little like Christmas. Next projects are to get the tree up (that is a project in itself) and get the house, inside and out decorated. I threaten every year not to do this anymore, but when Christmas rolls around there is just something in me that says I need to decorate the house. And every year I say I am not going to make cookies and candies, yup, on Thursday Cortney and I are making cookies and candy. Just can't break old traditions, nor, do I think I want to.

And so it's Christmas....almost

Tucson
BRRRR....cold in the old pueblo tonight. Matter of fact, it has been cold all day! And our mountain tops have a nice dusting of snow...makes me want to break out the Christmas songs, and I guess it is time to do just that!!!!

As I sit here writing the blog, Christmas Card Address Labels are spitting out of the printer...yes, it is time once again. Only 183 cards this year..down from 198 last year and I am not sure why ... or maybe I am and I don't want to admit it!

Since my last posting we had a very nice Thanksgiving Day, thank you for asking. The crowd at the Wraspir household consisted of the Sandersons; Holly, Bruce and Cortney; some Wraspir's happened along; Gary and Jeannette and some Dashiells, Chuck and Jude were here from Texas (Chuck is Jeannette's brother) and then my brother Dick and care giver Pat were here. We had a nice gathering and lots of food. And Chuck and Judy and my traitor brother were delighted to watch the Seahawks get killed by the Cowboys! I finally turned the TV off...my house, my rules!

The last 4 days we have been in Austin, Texas where our God Daughter, Ashley Dionisio graduated from the University of Texas. Austin...what a place. We spent 99.9% of our time getting lost...even with the GPS! Our hotel wasn't the easiest to get to, even though it was right next to the freeway. Getting to it was a real challenge; especially when the freeway was I-35 and the frontage road was the same name!!!! Chuck did you do this???? Our poor Lucy (which we named our GPS) was soooo confused. She kept "recalculating" until she was about ready to explode. I thought surely the next words she would utter would be "I give up...you are lost!" However, faithful Lucy finally got us to the hotel...and that was just the first night! Needless to say, we spent a few hours going in circles, utterly lost all four days!

The graduation was great, we enjoyed seeing Willy and Nora (Ashley's parents who came in from Hawaii and were freezing the whole time...I say they need to leave Hawaii at least once a year and experience weather below 80!) We had a short but good visit with them. Ashley is engaged to a very nice young man, and his family was there as well and we enjoyed meeting them for the first time.

On Saturday Al's cousin, Dwight came in from Dallas for a short visit with us. He was on his way to Houston for a few days so we are glad he made time for us. We always enjoy seeing him and our visits seem to be few and too far in between. What a great guy!

We got home late last night...the dogs and cats were happy to see us. Cortney house sat for us and she did a great job. It seems a bit weird to me that she is old enough to stay by herself...but she is almost 18. Where has the time gone? And how did these kids grow up so fast????

Now I am in the Christmas frenzy mode. Still have gifts to buy and packages to send...arg. And the cards...ah yes, the printer is done, so it is time.

Until next post...hope all is well with you and yours..................

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO That Feels So Good!

Tucson

OH, that does feel good. You know how you feel when you scratch an itch and it feels so good? That is the way I feel right now. I just delivered to our local food bank 4 BIG boxes of food. It truly makes me thankful that we have so much and we can share with others who aren't as fortunate. AND while I was unloading my car, four other cars pulled up, one from a local real estate company who was LOADED with food and donated a large sum of money as well. Brought tears to my eyes to see people caring like that. By the timne I left, there was a line of cars about 10 deep....hopefully some families will have a wonderful holiday season now. And I plan on doing this every month...donating food to the local food bank. Maybe not as much, maybe more, who knows, but something every month.

SO that started me thinking....I am going to go pick up toys for the toy drive and donate them as well. AND I am going through my closets as we speak, getting ready to donate clothes that I don't need. Not necessarily clothes that I won't wear, but I don't need as many as I have. Al as well...all though he doesn't know it yet! :-)

So how about you? Can you donate to your local food bank? How about participating in Toys for Tots this year? Or clean out your closets and donate un-used items and clothing.

All I can say is I FEEL GOOD!

News of the week....

Tucson

Not too much going on around here this week. I took two quilting classes yesteray...must remember to only take one a day from now on! Brain isn't used to learning so much in one day! YIKES! I had a great time however, just hope I can remember at least 25% of what was taught! I have one more class scheduled for next Saturday.

GAS IS $1.94 a gallon...whoo hoo! Now, having said that, and I am glad, but WTH? I should be happy if it was back down where it belonged at $0.94 a gallon! Ouy Vey...will never see that again in my lifetime!

And speaking of life times, Mel and Jenn, who wrote on the refrigerator??? Something else I will never know in my lifetime. Guess we could blame it on the dog..if we had one then.

AND A BIG HOORAY FOR GRANDDAUGHTER LORI, SOPHMORE AT OREGON CITY HIGH SCHOOL....NOW IN THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY! Can you tell I am proud?

I have been busy scanning in a trillion (at least it seems like it) 35mm flim slides that are my oldest brother Dicks. A lifetime of history...unfortunately, I don't know who a lot of the people are or where some of the scenry is from. Oh well, he will hopefully enjoy the DVD I hope to make of these. And if I can get the DVD made, then I will tackle the gazillion slides of my mom and dads. I should (at least I hope to) know where most of those were taken and who are in the pictures....maybe. ITs been a fun project though.

Not much else going on here. The weather has been delightful...in the 70's most of the time. Last Friday Jeannette called me from her house in SE Tucson and was talking about how hard the wind was blowing...hmmm...I looked out side here and there wasn't a breath of wind. Tucson, for the most part, south of the mountains had a real wind/dust storm, but since we are NORTH of the mountains, we had nothing! Of course some days we have wind and they don't...

We are getting ready for Thanksgiving...a crowd of 12 here this year. We hope you and yours will have a wonderful Thanksgiving...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Some Old Lady

Some Old Lady has invaded my house....click to see WHO SHE IS.

Getting Old

Tucson
I am learning to grow old. Well, maybe, but not gracefully. I noticed this morning my mother's hands at the end of my wrist...only they had my dad's fingers attached. WTH? How did this happen over night? I also looked in the mirror and saw my grandmother staring back at me! When did she invade my face? And my hair....my dad's fine hair (just lots of it) and my grandmother's hair color. WHAT HAPPENED??? I am turning into my ancestors! I realize the weight thing...it just happens to some of us who like to eat and don't like to excercise 12 hours a day. But how did I get my grandmothers shape? Why didn't I get my grandfathers (who was tall and skinny as I remember...however, he probably wasn't all that tall, it was just the angle that I was looking at him from!) And my memory....I can't seem to find it anymore when I need it. I say the data bank is getting full! I see more Spaid in me this year than last, and less Emery. However, the Emery surfaces every once in a while when I least expect it. You can draw your own conclusions to that one!

And wrinkles....oh my gosh! If I lost weight, I would be nothing but one big wrinkle! Laugh lines, okay, but laugh craters???? Crows feet, okay....but their whole body I don't need!!!! And what's with the chin hair? WHY??? I used to watch my mom "pluck" chin hair...now I am!

And the eye sight, or lack there of. Even glasses don't help at times...even bi-focals! I remember when my dad went to tri-focals and all the trouble he had...I know what is in store for me! And the teeth...I still have most of mine, but for how long??? I faithfully brush, floss, etc. and see my dentist on a regular schedule...but again, for how long?

The one thing I love about growing old is the memories I have. Those are precious to me. I just hope I don't start re-living them all of the time - I would like to make new ones as well.

But then, the alternative to growing old isn't favorable either...I would rather grow old than not. Think about it!

Arizona....YES

Tucson
It has been a bit of a whirlwind since we got back to Tucson...but it only took us a few short moments to remember why we love it here. The sun, warmth, clear sky, birds, wildlife (okay, I could do with out the coyotes and snakes) and the general feeling of well being. Go to this site to see what I mean...Arizona We are getting re-acquainted with our wildlife....including the coyotes; javalina's; the birds, the Catcus Wren, the Thrasher, Cardinal, Quail and my favorite, our roadrunner, Freddie.
We named him Fast Freddie a few years ago. I just love to watch them..they are so darn funny!

We are finally about settled. The trailer is unloaded, now all we have to do is get it parked in it's spot...not as easy as one would think. You see, we live on top of a hill and we have limited room to manuver the trailer around. We park it next to the house and it does take some time and patience to get it parked. It is a chore neither of us care for!

My brother, Dick, celebrated his 80th birthday last week. His son Bob and wife Kat were here from San Diego to help him celebrate. On Friday night we all went out to El Corral, a favorite Prime Rib place for dinner. Then on Saturday night we went to Sullivan's Steak House for dinner. All I can say is WOW! We enjoyed our visit with Bob and Kat and hope they come back soon.

Then, a few days ago, I managed to turn another year older as well. I recieved a lot of cards, thanks to all of you who remembered. Al and I met Gary and Jeannette at McMahon's Steakhouse for dinner that evening. It was good as well, but not as good as Sullivans. All in all, I had a good birthday and as long as they keep coming I won't complain!

That's about all from our wonderful end of the world...we hope all is well in your world!

The world keeps getting smaller and smaller......

TUCSON, AZ

We arrived home today around 2:30 p.m. and believe you, me, home never looked so good. We pulled the trailer up in front of the front door and the unloading will begin tomorrow. We are glad to be home after an uneventful, fast trip home. I don't think we have ever made it from Odessa to here as fast as we did this trip. I looked back in our logs and we have always taken at least 7 days...this time we know we can do it in four if we have to, but I sure don't want to do it again.

We had a little surprise as we were leaving Fillmore, Utah. We were wrapping things up and getting ready to roll when this gentleman walks over and says, "Are you from Odessa?" Of course we replied we were and he says "So am I!" HUH? I said, "Odessa, WASHINGTON" and he said "yes". Then I looked at his shirt and he had on a Deutschesfest 2008 shirt on...and only one place you get those and that is ODessolet! I sure didn't recognize him, but that didn't mean anything. He starts telling us that he retired as the principal of the school last year...hmmm...this is beginning to ring some bells (and not school bells, either)...I seem to remember reading about him retiring. We continue to talk and finally Al tells him that he was raised in Irby (a very small town near Odessa) and the guy says "Do you know the Wraspir's?" To which we reply "We are the Wraspir's!" This is getting a bit creepy for me at this point. Turns out he was the band teacher and then the Principal and two of our nieces and our nephew knew him; as well as several of our other relatives and our sister-in-law worked for him. Now, is this a small world?????? Gordon Neal, aka, Flash Gordon and us wind up in the same small RV park in the middle of nowhere Utah! Small world just got smaller!

Our day yesterday after that was fairly quiet. The foliage was beautiful in around Bryce Canyon and Zion. We drove 438 miles yesterday and finally stopped in Munds Park, AZ, just south of Flagstaff. There is a KOA in Flagstaff, but we stayed there once and decided we wouldn't do that again as it is an old park and very narrow roads with tree's lining the roads. So we went to Munds Park, which the RV Park closes tomorrow for the season. It was downright cold last night again. Since Flagstaff is 6200 feet in elevation it gets cold there.

This morning we rolled out about 9:30 and stopped once for fuel and once to grab a bite to eat on the road. We just wanted to be home. The minute we turned off the main highway onto Golder Ranch Rd, Beau knew where he was and began to sing. He was home! The dogs flew out of the truck when we got home and began to explore their territory to make sure no invaders were here. The cats did the same thing. I opened the front door and had a little gecko right inside the front door, so I shooed him out before the cats had a snack. The house survived the summer nicely and both of us are glad to be here and perhaps rest a little. We at least one of us will.

My brother took me to pick up my car where it was stored and so now things are getting back to normal. Tomorrow we will start the unload process...I still haven't figured out a way to make this easier.

So until next time, we are home safe and sound and happy to stay in one place for a while.

Happy Halloween to you all....

Where in the heck is Fillmore?

Fillmore, UT
Yup...thats where we are. We are on the way south.

We got out of Odessolet around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. We had a little more to do than I had planned on. On Saturday instead of packing as I had planned, Al had other idea's. We seemed to have too many tomatoes, so we wound up canning 14 quarts of tomatoes on Saturday morning! THEN, I started to pack the trailer. Needless to say, having lost the morning, I was behind. I think I did pretty good by getting us out of there by Sunday. Al was all for waiting until Monday moring to leave, but I vetoed that right away because he would find something more to do and we wouldn't get gone until late in the day...I know him! We stopped in Hermiston, Oregon for the night. That was after discovering we didn't have headlights on the truck, nor running lights! WTH?


Monday
After leaving the RV park we headed for Pendleton, OR and hoped for a Ford dealership...no such luck. So we stopped at a Walmart so I could do some light shopping for groceries; Al checked the fuses and all seemed to be okay. So we decided to keep going (what else could we do?) as we had brake lights and turn signals and for some reason, we now had headlights on the truck. We stopped in Mountain Home, ID for the night as we were running out of daylight. Nice RV park, fairly new and easy access to the freeway.

Tuesday
We about froze last night! BRRRR. The furnace kept coming on all night and niether of us got much sleep. Al had cramps all night and was up and down all night. Needless to say I was awake. This morning I took the dogs for a long walk and found an area to let them off the leash and let them run. And run they did! We left around 9:00 a.m., and both of us ocmmented on the traffic on the freeway...lots of people heading south. The weather has been absolutely beautiful. Crisp, cold mornings, bright, brillant afternoons. And the tree's; the leaves are beautiful gold, red and orange. So far it has been a very pretty drive, well, with the exception of parts of southern Idaho and northern Utah, which are very treeless and desolet.

We are staying at our favorite KOA in Fillmore tonight. The owners are from Stanwood, WA and we try to stay here at least once a year as they really keep the park in excellent condition. Plus, it is at least a half mile from the freeway!

We are 659 miles from home...so tomorrow night we will be in Camp Verde, Az and home by early afternoon on Thursday...that is if we don't have any unforeseen trouble. Our truck and trailer are getting old and have a lot of trips on them, so we never know what will happen. I think it is time to get something new, however, Al disagree's with me. He is of the mind that we will keep these until they die...a thought I don't like.

So, until we get home, hope all is well with everyone.

We are...

THE WROAMIN' WRASPIRS, for the moment.

Last Two Days in San Francisco

San Francisco
Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh yeah...now I remember.

Wednesday.
After having our In N Out burgers at Fisherman's Wharf we meandered down through Chinatown again and then to Grace Cathedral. What a beautiful cathedral, very impressive architecture.





From there we walked past what we thought was the Flood Mansion; turned out it wasn't the Flood Mansion at all and I still don't know what this big, brown, mansion is. We stopped at The Fairmont Hotel for a coffee/drink for a rest. Our feet/back were beginning to hurt. WE then took a cab from there to Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower. Legend has it that this monument is shaped like a fire-hose nozzle. It is not, at least not by design. The tower is the gift of Lilly Hitchcock Coit, an eccentric heiress who managed to stand out in a city full of them. Lilly's particular passion was for the San Francisco Fire Department. So when the money she left in her will for the city's beautification was used to construct the art deco tower on Telegraph Hill in 1932, people made assumptions. The view from here is amazing! I felt like I could see forever. And it was a perfectly clear day as well.



After the tower we headed to North Beach area for dinner. After checking out several restaurants, including Joe DiMaggio's, (which we couldn't afford) we settled on Caffe Delucchi -- an excellent Italian Restaurant. I finally realized that we have ate at an Italian Restaurant every night but one since we have been here. And all of them have been excellent.

Thursday
Jennifer left for home early this morning. After we had breakfast, Kathy and Janet headed out for a walking tour of Victorian homes. I elected to not aggravate my back any more. I headed for Chinatown and then walked back to the hotel...which I discovered was a 2 mile walk. However, it was down hill and since the weather has been so nice I really enjoyed it. I took my time and rested and walked at a slower pace than the girls do. I know I probably hold them up when we are going somewhere together...I just can't walk as fast as they can anymore. Guess age is really starting to creep up on me...at least I feel it this week as I can't keep up with the young crustaceans anymore--and yes, I am the old crab!

This evening we ventured out to a Brazilian Steakhouse! OH MY GOODNESS! I repeat, OH MY GOODNESS! If you have never been to one; GO! They are bit on the expensive side, but when you realize what all you get, the expense evens out. You start out at the salad bar; which is huge! All kinds of different salads, coucous, my favorite taboleh, and much more. Also there is hot dishes of beans, rice, paella, potatoes, etc. Back at your table you have a round disk that on one side is red and says STOP and the other side is Green and says GO. GO! Then the feast begins. First of all, most of the meat is served by waiters handling a huge skewer of meat and a very sharp knife! First one to our table had sausages, very tasty. Next came top sirloin, then chicken hearts (yes, you read that right), then beef chunks marinated in red wine (delicious), then pork roast, chicken legs, shrimp, and finally filet mignon. All were excellent, but the filet was the best I have ever had. We litterally waddled out of the place and waddled back to our hotel! We were stuffed but happy. Very different dining experience and I thought it was excellent!

FRIDAY
Good bye San Francisco, back to the real world. We hit the airport early and Kathy and Janet caught an early flight back to Seattle. I was on a different airline so I didn't leave until 1:00 p.m. and into Seattle by 3:00 p.m. Had to change airlines, so I got my luggage and drug the whole mess to Alaska Airlines for my flight to Spokane. I got up to the gate and had over an hour to wait, so I was chatting with the lady next to me when I looked up and there stood Al's niece Penny! We were sure surprised to see each other. She had been to Seattle for a conference and was on her way home to Spokane and we were on the same, very packed flight back to Spokane.

Jerry and AL picked me up and we stopped for dinner which was no comparison to the night before! Got home to some very happy to see me dogs and cats! Now the real work starts...getting the 5th wheel ready to leave for Tucson hopefully on Sunday. More from the road.

What do Crabhats, Golden Gate, Chinatown, and Alcatraz have in common?

San Francisco

What do Crabhats, Golden Gate, Chinatown, and Alcatraz have in common? The answer my friends is not blowin' in the wind as the song goes (or maybe it is!) - the answer is three crustaceans and an old crab have landed in San Francisco. Daughter Jennifer, daughter-in-law Janet and good friend Kathy and I are terrorizing the town. And what fun we are having doing the terrorizing!

Lets start at the beginning....if I can remember it. We arrived Saturday at noon and immediately took a shuttle ride to our hotel for the first night. The ride from the airport was nothing less than absolute fear...the driver was crazy and several times I thought we weren't going to be alive to tell the story or even see the city! However, we survived the ride, dumped our bags at the hotel and started off for Fisherman's Wharf, which was a few short blocks away. But first things first, we were all starved. We found a great pub for lunch....Fiddler's Green. We couldn't make up our minds what we wanted to eat so we shared...Banger's and Mash; and Irish hamburger and Irish stew. YUM!

Now we were ready to go see what kind of trouble we could cook up at Fisherman's Wharf. We walked down the street until we got to Pier 39 which is really a tourist trap, but we are tourists, so we strolled through it. We kept loosing each other in the crowd. It was getting frustrating and we needed a way to spot each other...so we came up with an idea. We bought and wore crab hats! Yes, sober and all, the four of us wore crab hats.



Yes, we were sober! And yes, we were able to spot each other in a crowd! And yes, we did attract a little bit of attention. Strangers asked where we got the hats; took our pictures and made comment on "how cute" it was. They were probably thinking we were real idiots, but we didn't care and we were having fun. And we laughed...oh how hard can we laugh!

We had dinner at Aliotto's that night...I insisted! And boy was it ever good! WOW! And we are such party animals that we were crashed at 9:00 p.m. -- done for the day!

SUNDAY
We were up and off for our first tour. We purchased a two day tour from the "hop off-hop on" bus. Our first tour was the city loop. SF is such an interesting, diverse city. We started in Fisherman's Wharf, then through the Embarcadaro, Financial District, the Tenderloin (where we were advised to not walk alone), Union Square and Chinatown, North Beach and finally back to where we started. However, Kathy and I hopped off at Chinatown and had Dim Sum for lunch and wandered the streets there for a while; the other two went on to take the tour of the Golden Gate.




We all met up later in the afternoon as we had to change hotels. But before we did that, we had to go to Ghiradelli Square which was just down the street from our hotel for some chocolate. We had hot fudge sundaes and did a little Chocolate shopping.





I had booked our timeshare for Sun-Fri; then all of us decided we wanted to come in a day earlier, so I just booked a day at another timeshare. At any rate, we loaded our luggage up into a town car (no more shuttles for us and the cost was the same) and we took off for Inn at the Opera which is located right next to the Opera house and Civic Center. However, our driver did take us down Lombard street...the crookedest street in SF. What a street....I have always wanted to drive down it! After getting settled in the hotel we walked a few blocks to an Italian Restaurant where locals go and boy it was good. YUM again.

Up early on Monday (I thought we were on vacation?) and off to pickup our tickets for our Alcatraz tour later that day. Kathy and I took the Golden Gate tour and Jennifer and Janet took the Chinatown trip. The day before when they took the Golden Gate tour they were so cold (we are on the top of double decker open air buses) so Kathy and I prepared and wore several layers of clothing. However, we had a beautiful, sunny, warm, clear day and we were shedding layers of clothing before too long. This tour took us over the bridge; through the Presidio; Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow and Russian Hill. The Presidio is now owned by the National Parks and they are converting many of the dwellings into houses...albeit, very expensive houses. We ended our tour and met the other two for lunch at Fog City Diner. Then it was off to Alcatraz.




Very interesting tour. Having never been in a jail before (any of us) it was all very interesting and we all decided we didn't ever want to reside in one of these. Many prisoners tried to escape "the rock" and only 3 ever succeeded...however, it isn't known if they actually succeeded, or drown trying to swim the icy waters of SF Bay. Alcatraz was a prison for 29 years before it just became to expensive to use. Since everything, including water had to be transported over, the government closed it down in an attempt to cut costs. (and we all know how the government can cut costs!!) After it closed as a prison, Native Indians took it over as their own for a while before they were forced off the island. Now it is owned by the US Parks service.

After our tour there, we were back to catch a "city lights" night tour of SF. It basically took us over most of what the city tour did, except we did go by the "Painted Ladies". The Painted Ladies are a set of seven Victorian Houses in the Victorian and Edwardian styles were built in San Francisco between 1849 and 1915 and many were painted in bright colors. This is also known as "Post Card Row" as many postcards are pictures of these houses. Also the TV Show "Full House" was set here. Very pretty.



By the time we were done with this busy day we crashed. We are certainly doing a lot of walking and trying to see everything we can in the few days we are here.

Tuesday
Our day to ride cable cars! You can't come to SF and not ride cable cars! We started on the Powell Mason and rode it from end to end, then walked a few blocks to the Powell Hyde car, which takes you up "Rice-a-Roni" hill (made famous by the commercial for Rice a Roni). We stopped at the cable car museum, then on to the California Cable Car line, from end to end. Cable cars are so fascinating. Then we hopped on the street car (different from Cable car) and went out to Castro district and then on to the bus back to the Painted Ladies and Victorian House area. Finally back to the hotel....I was done for! My back was hurting, so I begged off dinner and just layed low last night. It was a fun day tho!

Today we are heading for an In N Out Burger (what? you didn't think I would let that slip by) and then to the North Beach area. The girls are out right now touring the city hall/library area. I opted to stay home and blog! More later.

Lake Chelan and Back

Odessa
What a fun weekend I had. I met up with Daughter in law Janet and granddaughter Cammie at Lake Chelan for a "girls" weekend while my house in Odessa turned into deer hunting central for the guys!

I got to Lake Chelan Friday afternoon after a trip over some back roads in Eastern Washington. I saw a lot of country I hadn't seen before! After getting settled in to the timeshare at Wapato Point we decided to go exploring. All of us have been to Lake Chelan many times, but there is always something more to see and do. AL and I had at one point in time, owned a piece of property in the little town of Manson on Lake Chelan. It was in a community that only allowed manufactured homes; they had to be new when the went on the lot and there were/are very strict guidelines on what you could put on your lot. We purchased the lot for around $15,000 and sold it in 2001 (against my better judgement) for double what we paid for it. Well, the lot with the house on it now is for sale. So I had to inquire. $499,000! OUCH! THere is still one empty lot in the development, so today I called to inquire on the price of the lot....$125,000! ARE THEY CRAZY? And it isn't even a view lot! Damn, another one lost! Oh well! SOme you lose and some you win and some are rained out!

Anyway, we went to dinner at a very nice pub in Chelan and had a great meal. Then it was back to the condo to pretty much give in for the evening.

Up Saturday and off to breakfast at a place called Blueberry Hills. WOW, is all I can say. This place started out as a fruit stand, and as they say, accidently turned into a restaurant. They only serve breakfast and lunch, but boy is it ever good. I had the best Eggs Benidict I have ever put in my mouth! After stuffing ourselves we headed for Winthrop, WA. Winthrop is a little town in the Methow Valley. It has a "western" theme to it and it just a cool little town to go poking around in. It was a beautiful drive through the Methow Valley. I stopped several times to take some pictures.

Methow River















We wandered (yes, Jennifer, wandered) through Winthrop poking our noses into some of the shops. Had to buy some candy at one...I was craving a carmel apple. Had lunch at a pizza place that was very good. Then we drove to Pearrygin Lake where Janets parents were camped. What a beautiful place that is. I will have to remember that spot to come back to next year with the 5th wheel and stay a while. We visited with her parents for a bit, then headed back to Chelan. It was getting a little cool outside by the time we got back. We decided to play Chicken Foot (a dominos game--it's addicting) and wound up grilling burgers and playing until late in the night. What a fun night tho.

Sunday dawned just as beautiful as the day before. We lazed around the condo for most of the morning and then decided to go back to Blueberry Hills for lunch. I had a cheeseburger (of course) with blueberry mayo...and it was good. After lunch we headed back into Chelan for some retail therapy. I needed some socks for my cold feet! While in town we kept hearing and seeing all these rescue vehicles going out of town on our side of the lake. Hmm...first we thought accident (the road to Manson is somewhat treacherous) but then we saw the fire trucks heading out, then the water trucks...FIRE! We headed back towards Manson looking for smoke and didn't see a bit. We drove to the very end of Manson and when we turned around we were amazed to see the big black plume of smoke from just over the hill. Hmmm...so off we went to see if we could find where the fire was. After a few attempts we gave up and decided to take a ride up to the ski resort. It was a very pretty ride, fall colors and all. And to our surprise, when we got to the ski resort, we found the fire! The ski hill was burning.


















On our way back down into town, we saw this on the lake....

We still have no idea what it was. It looked like a low hanging cloud, however, when we drove about 100 yards further down the hill it completely disappeared. Very weird! And there wasn't a cloud in the sky!





We played cards last night after having our dinner. We all finally gave up and went to bed late.

This morning I was leaving for home and Cammie was headed back to Seattle. Janet will stay at the condo and wait for Ric to arrive from Odessa where he was hunting this weekend. BTW, no deer were hurt this weekend, and only a few ducks lost their lives.

The drive home was uneventful....pretty county on a very pretty Autumn day. The weather has warmed up some, it is only suppose to get into the low 50's tonight! This week I will be busy finishing packing the 5th wheel and getting it ready to go when I get home from San Francisco. I leave on Friday for Seattle and fly to SF from there on Saturday. So until the next post, most likely from San Francisco...have a great week!

A Stitch in Time...

Odessolet

Wow...what a week! Remind me again why we are still here? Oh ya, that's right, AL wanted to deer hunt and I wanted to stay and enjoy some Fall weather. Okay, enough! We woke up to 25 degrees this morning. Had me whining about Tucson! All the animals and myself DID NOT want to get out of bed...too cold! BRRRR...time to go!

This last week has kinda' been a blur. I have been busy trying to organize and start to load the trailer...only I feel like I am in slow motion or I am slogging through water! I just can't do as much and as fast as I used to! Darn...getting old is starting to catch up with me and I don't like it one bit. Oh, I don't care about the number, I just hate this feeling of weakness I get and the sore body. My mind is still in it's 40's, however, my body says it definitely isn't!

Monday we had to take Schuster to the vet to have minor surgery. He had to have a cyst removed from his upper chest. Nothing to worry about, just a fatty tumor. I said that was the only fat on him and the vet agreed. He is in very good health otherwise. While they had him "under" they cleaned his teeth as well. While he was in the vet, (which is in Reardan, about 50 miles from here)we decided to go on in to Spokane and see our sister-in-law Gloria and take her to lunch and meet up with Gary and Jeannette as well. We had a good lunch and visit. I had to hit a couple fabric stores as I am looking for a pattern. WOW...guess it has been a while since I have bought a pattern...darn things are expensive and so is fabric. OUCH! Any way, we got back to the vet around 3:30 and picked up one very groggy dog. The vet said everything went fine, just to watch him that he didn't pull the stitches out, which none of us thought he would since they aren't in the easiest place to reach for him.

He did fine yesterday... a little loopy from the pain meds, but other wise he was fine. Then, this morning I got up and checked his stitches and couldn't find a one! All I could see was an incision, wide open and bleeding! WTH? How, he got those stitches out is beyond me! At any rate, I bandaged him up as well as I could and off to Reardan we go to get him stitched up AGAIN! When I called the vet she said I could try and super glue the incision together...HUH? Anyone that knows me knows that won't happen! The vet has super glued his incision and put a "sweater" type thing over it. She said he couldn't get that off...HA! We weren't even home and he had figured out a way to get it loose...and didn't even scratch or bite at it! So once we got home I once again took my medical tape and taped up the sweater thing so hopefully he won't get it off. He is once again a little on the loopy side and they had to give him some meds to calm him down. Now I am watching him like a hawk!

Speaking of hawks, well, not really, on the way to Reardan today I saw two wild turkeys (and not the kind in a bottle either!!) And, what I think was an Eagle. However, I don't ever remember seeing eagles over here, but it sure looked big enough to be one.

We have had cold, rainy and very windy weather the past few days. 17 more days and we will be outta' here. I heard on the weather forecast they were predicting "flurries" -- I sure hope those were leaf flurries and not that S stuff!

I am off this weekend to Lake Chelan to spend the weekend with daughter in law Janet and granddaughter Cammie while my house turns into deer hunting central. Then next week (18th) I am going to San Francisco for 6 days with the girls....can't wait for that trip.

So until next time.....we are still here.

Betty Crocker has invaded my body!

Odessa
Oh boy...I have been in this little burg too long! The Suzi Homemaker or Betty Crocker has invaded my body. All of a sudden I want to bake and cook and clean (am I nesting??) repeat! Today I baked 200 cookies...don't ask why, I just did. It started with me wanting a really good peanut butter cookie and the only way I knew how to do that was to bake some. And so it began. I used my grandmother's recipe, which always makes me laugh when I read it. Such things as "bake until done" and "a smidgen of soda" appear in the recipe. What is a smidgen of soda???? Guessing, as I always do, I use a teaspoon. Any way, when I was done with those apparently my mind wasn't done wanting to bake (I tell you, it has got to be that $%^# CPAP doing things to my brain!)I decided it is fall and every fall I bake Pumpkin cookies. SO I dug out my trusty recipe and away I went. I have gone through 5 pounds of flour today!!! Those pumpkin cookies are so good, but the recipe makes about 120 cookies! WHEW! I have a note on the recipe that says "DO NOT DOUBLE" -- apparently I did that at one time and wound up with way too many pumpkin cookies!

Now, one would think I would be doing this on a cool day, but no, it was 85 here today! The a/c is working overtime! Especially with the oven on! :-) But it was fun.

Yesterday I finished a quilt top and I am not happy with the way it turned out so I am debating tearing it apart and trying to fix it. I have put it away for a while...too frustrated with it.

The trailer is cleaned and I am starting to load it. Most of my clothes are in it (Can you tell who is ready to go??); my sewing machine stays in it as that is where I sew; and any thing else I can do with out that needs to go south with us is in the trailer. I am bugging Al to get his clothes out that he wants to take, but he is dragging his feet and I will wind up doing it. I want to have as much loaded as I can before I leave for San Francisco later this month. Oh, did I tell you? The "girls" Janet, Kathy and Jennifer and I are spending 6 days in San Francisco. I can hardly wait. I have wanted to explore San Francisco for a long time and it has been a long time since I have spent any amount of time there. The Panama Canal cruise that we took last spring stopped in San Francisco for a day and that started me wanting to go back. AL isn't crazy about big cities and prefers not to have to deal with them, so this is perfect. He will have his hunting to do and I will get to play for a few days. Just wish Bev could be with us.

Oops -- time to go, my cats are circling telling me it is a little after 5:00p.m. and their feeding time, so until next time.....