Wednesday, April 19, 2006

4/19/06 Sorry this update is so long in coming. We have been preparing for our upcoming trip. We are now packed and are doing all the last minute things necessary to leave our RV here at Park Sierra for two plus months. There have been many last minute social interactions with friends, and last weekend, a very pleasant visit in Fremont with our kids and grandkids. Elaine's daughter, Tarra, was having minor surgery on Thursday, and we promised to be there for her. She came through it OK and will be feeling fit as a fiddle very soon. That Friday, Mary's daughter, Laura, and her 2 daughters drove down from Sparks, NV so we could see them before our trip. On Saturday, Mary's son, Thomas, and his partner, Robert, took BART over from San Francisco so they could join all of us for a pleasant family reunion and dinner. The only one missing was Elaine's son, Darran, who was in London visiting a friend he made on his recent trip to Thailand.
Sunday we stopped in Modesto and stayed overnight at Ron & Barb Bonham's place. These are RoVing Rod friends who always entertain us in style and send us packing loaded up with walnuts, frozen salmon, and other goodies. This time we got to pay them back, in kind, by taking them to Chili's, for dinner. It was good to have some time with them.
Upon our return to Park Sierra, we started getting serious about packing. We also had a delicious and fun dinner Monday at Alan & Carol Rodely's, and last night with Willie Haynes and Doug Madison. Luckily, we are finally having sunny and dry weather so it is easier to get things done here, such as servicing our batteries, which Elaine did today. I am catching up on computer work and paperwork now that I have had all my files retrieved from my dead Compaq and installed into my new Tosihiba. This is the computer I acquired from Elaine when mine died. So we are up and running again and looking forward to hearing from all of you via e-mail.
Friday we close this RV down and drive back to Fremont to stay at Tarra's overnight. Saturday morning, rather early, she will drive us to the San Jose airport where we will catch our plane to Houston. There we will rent a car and drive to Galveston for several days of exploration before getting on our cruise ship on Monday. Then it will be 12 days of fun, fun, fun while we sail to Lisbon, Portugal. Internet access is rather expensive from the ship so my next update will either be from Lisbon, or earlier, if we can find an internet place at one of the ports where the ship docks on the way.

Elaine's daughter, Tarra, and her partner, Alonzo. Posted by Picasa

Mary's daughter, Laura, with her daughters Paige and Michaela. Posted by Picasa

Mary's son Thomas (on right) and his partner, Robert. Posted by Picasa

Our kids, their partners, and our granddaughters. Posted by Picasa

Friday, April 07, 2006

4/7/06 Sorry about the big lapse in updating this blog. I have had a major blow - my computer monitor went black and a guy in Coarsegold has had it ever since, trying to assess the problem and see if it is repairable, and at what cost, of course. In the meantime, I am using Elaine's Toshiba and this one doesn't have the right program on it to post pictures, so no pictures this time. I will have to see what I can do about that today.
There has been so much to do, here at Park Sierra, to clean up after the big snow storm we had in mid-March, and we have been helping with this. Mostly we join the guys on the tree limb cleanup - they cut branches with chain saws and we drag them to the road and feed them into the chipper. We keep hoping that all this activity will help get us off the weight loss plateau that we are on but so far the only thing that is happening is that we are in great physical shape and we are making new friends on the crew. We are also on the Site Improvement Committee and have dug the mud out from under three sheds so far. This is a LOT of work. On the days we can manage it, we are also working on preparations for our upcoming trip. Unfortunately, a lot of our documents and information are in the dead computer, so we are REALLY hoping that a repair occurs soon. I was also smack in the middle of doing our taxes. That problem can be addressed by filing an extension, and we can finish doing the math when we get back from Casablanca in June.
Of course, this being an Escapees park, there have been lots of social activities usually involving food. (No wonder we aren't dropping pounds...) There were also several Boomer couples here visiting, so we had a mini gathering at the inexpensive yet delicious buffet over at the Chuckchansi Casino which is just 1 1/2 miles from our park.
The biggest factor affecting things since our return has been the weather. There has been so much rain lately that we probably should be developing gills. The creek which runs through our park has been flowing copiously and it is lucky that it is at the bottom of the park where it doesn't affect any lots when it overflows its banks. Looking on the bright side, the rainy days give us a chance to recover from all the physical exertions on the dry days, and we also get some computer and paperwork done.
Darran was here to see us about 10 days ago, having returned from Thailand. He has now left for London to visit a girl he met on the Thailand trip. On the 12th we will be heading for Fremont to be with Elaine's daughter, Tarra, when she has surgery on the 13th. Thomas and Robert will be coming over from San Francisco to see us on that Saturday, and Laura and the granddaughters will come down from Reno, so it will be a mini-family reunion.
Wishing you all a very Happy Easter.