5/23/07 Haven't had time to write anything here since returning to the USA because we have been so busy fixing up our vacant rental in Santa Clara. Hooray, we got it back, cleaned it up and re-rented it all within one week! Now we are on our way north because we have to be at our summer campground host job by tomorrow, so we can get ready to start work on Friday. Since that is the start of the Memorial Day weekend, and the campground is likely to be packed, this should be quite a "trial by fire" right off the bat.
Currently we are parked in the driveway of Lee & Susie Blattner's son's house in Vancouver, WA. We have been here 2 nights and have been enjoying visiting with Lee & Susie since they are parked here too. Troy & Janelle have allowed us to use their FAX and other infrastructure to complete some business and now we are ready to leave this morning for Lake Kachess. We should be there by mid-afternoon. Remember, we will be here all summer and are hoping that we will have lots of you people visiting us. Contact us ahead of time so we can save you a spot on our loop.
I have finally downloaded a few pictures from our trip and will put a few on this blog so you can have some idea of our activities. The first picture is of our table of friends on the cruise ship. Maddie & George, Joe & Carla, Mike & Marilyn, Elaine and I all managed to EAT our way across the Atlantic!! If we hadn't been walking 5-6 miles a day and working out in the gym on the ship, we would have been gigantic by the time the 13 day cruise ended. The second picture is Mary, Jerry & Lori (Elaine’s nephew & his wife) with Don Quixote in Seville. The next picture is Mary and Elaine with one of the 22 baby goats that we saw when we visited our friends Tom & Pat Bryant on their farm near Canyonville, OR on our way up here. They provided us with a delicious dinner and we had a great time reconnecting with them again. The last picture is of their farm, taken from the patio of their lovely home.
I would love to write more at this time, and especially tell you about a few of the incidents that happened on our trip back, but I don’t have time right now. More later.

5/10/07 We are still at Moron Air Force Base south of Seville, visiting Jerry & Lori Traughber. But we have had a few interesting experiences so I thought I would write this. Tuesday we all went in to Seville and did some exploring. We had been there last year with Lee & Susie too, and seen some of the highlights such as the Plaza de Espana. This is a very beautiful and different building which was built for the international exposition in 1929. This time we saw more buildings from that event and they were obvious because they had the country name across the front of them in tile, such as Guatemala, or Mexico. The Plaza de Toros, or bull fight ring, was near the parking garage but we only saw the outside. It is right in the middle of the old downtown part and there are buildings all around it, which surprises us because we are used to arenas where there are parking lots all around them. Elaine and I visited the cathedral and the attached Giralda Bell Tower. Not only is this the world's third largest cathedral, after St Peter's at the Vatican and St. Paul's in London, but it is so old that it was first built as a mosque when the Moors were here. It is also the world's largest Gothic cathedral. It was started in 1181. In 1218 it was changed to a cathedral. Entering the cathedral we experienced one of the only advantages of getting this old - a break in the entry fee from 7 Euros to 2. Hooray! The interior was quite ornate and had interesting and complex carved choir stalls, altars, etc. but lots of them looked like they needed to be dusted! There is a section called the Treasury, where objects made of silver, gold and other precious metals and gems are displayed. The workmanship is incredible. The attached bell tower is 98 meters tall, and climbing it is fairly easy because there are no steps, just inclined ramps and you circle around and around in a square pattern. The view of Seville from the top was fantastic and we had a beautifully clear day for taking a few pictures. We decided to leave just in time because a school group was coming up there so there was going to be hundreds of noisy kids in a small area. Jerry likes the Irish pub nearby, called Flaherty's so we had lunch there. Very good beer (Murphy's) and excellent food, plus a nice place to sit outside. After a walk through Maria Luiza Park, a huge wonderfully green area full of trees and flowers and right in the middle of the old town, we headed back to the air base.
Yesterday there was an exciting event here at the base. The Airbus A380 flew in for a few days because they are testing it here. This is one of the few places in Europe that have a big enough runway for it. The runway here is large enough that they can land the space shuttle here and every time there is a launch, this place has to be in readiness. So we went over to the flight line to see it and it is HUGE. It can hold over 500 passengers, although none were on it this time. They are now doing lots of approaches, landings, touch-downs, etc. so we are seeing it in the sky a lot. It is amazingly quiet for such a huge plane. The Spanish fighter jets that fly in and out of this base are about 10 times as loud.
Today Lori is driving us to Jerez. We will try to see some places such as the Spanish Riding School and one of the sherry bodegas for which Jerez is famous. Then she will drop us off at the airport for our flight to Madrid. The next post will be from back in the good old USA!

5/7/07 I don't know if this message will be in English or Spanish when it gets posted because I am typing it on a computer in Spain and all the text on this website is in Spanish. Hope you can read this!
As you know, we have been on a 13 day cruise between Galveston and Barcelona, which is why there have been no new updates for a while. The cruise ended yesterday morning, and we made our way to the train station in Barcelona, took a train to the airport, and flew to Seville. Elaine's nephew, Jerry Traughber, picked up there and we will be staying at their home at Maron Air Force Base until Thursday. His wife Lori, and their two children, Mitch and Maddie, have made us feel very welcome and we are enjoying our visit. The daytime temps are in the low 80's, so this is a good time to be here. Tomorrow we will go exploring in Seville.
The cruise was quite enjoyable because we were with two other RV couples: Joe & Carla Calwell, and Mike and Marilyn Harrison. Additionally, friends of Joe & Carla's, Madelyn and George, were also at our table. So every late afternoon there was a cocktail party at someone's room, then we went to the live entertainment, then had a delicious dinner. Since we had the late dinner seating, often we didn't finish until after 10 PM. Not wanting to go to bed on a full stomach, we often continued with more entertainment or dancing in one of the lounges. Most nights we were staying up until 1 or 2 AM!! The fact that we were having to advance our clocks an hour forward about every other day also affected our bedtimes. Then we wouldn't get up until 10:30 or 11 AM. This was a very unusal lifestyle for us, as we usually hit the sack by 10 PM and are up by 7 AM. So this cruise timeline was a real departure from our usual habits, to say the least. We did make a real effort to continue our walking and exercise program, which was a good thing or we would have been blimps by the end of the trip, the way we were eating...
The only ports we stopped at were Key West, Punta Delgada in the Azores, and Cadiz, Spain. We have been to all of these before so our adventures in those places were pretty low key. Luckily, we had pretty good weather the entire 2 weeks and only slightly rough seas one night.
Friday we fly back to San Francisco, Monday I have to have another surgery on the same skin cancer spot on my shoulder, and then we will be moving our RV up to Santa Clara to work on our vacant rental house there. It looks like we will have to put the pedal to the metal to get up to our camp hosting summer job in Washington state by May 25. Thank goodness Elaine's daughter, Tarra, can finish things up for us with the house and install a new renter once we have cleaned the place up.
I am happy to report that both Elaine and I are well and enjoying this vacation. Jerry, Lori, Mitch and Maddie are also doing great and hopefully, are enjoying our visit, even though they are also getting ready to be moved back to the USA in 37 days. We will be posting some pictures from this trip as soon as we get back to our own computer and download them from our camera. Adios Amigos.

4/15/07 Another lapse in updating this blog - sorry. Also, I have no new pictures to post to keep you interested - just a short update. Today was the last day of Stagecoach Days here at Park Sierra and it was a good thing it was over after breakfast because it was cold and overcast here today. The event started Thursday and it was cold and windy that day so the campfire dinner and entertainment that was supposed to have been held outside at the pole barn was moved to the clubhouse. Our friend from RoVing Rods, Ed Bonham, brought 2 friends and the three of them were the entertainers. They did a fabulous job singing and playing guitars and mandolin, and everyone loved them. Friday and Saturday Elaine and I led a morning hike and then helped out by picking up food from various places, including Costco in Fresno. We also helped with the live auction, in which our friend Ken Kimpton was the auctioneer. Over two thousand dollars were raised for the park with all the stuff that was sold! Evenings, we helped with the raffles at the dinners and desserts. Other things happening here were hayrides, craft lessons, a dutch oven cooking demo, geocaching, various tournaments, and lots of eating!! It was fun and there were over 300 people participating. About five thousand dollars was raised overall. Great job Ken & Janice Ryder!!
Good thing there were fun things happening to keep my mind off the bad things that had been occuring previously. First I shattered one of our dual pane windows in our new RV when I was mowing the weeds on our lot and a rock was thrown up by the mower. Then, my computer crashed. Five days and $150 later, I got it back. Next, we got a 30 day notice from one of our tenants in the Bay Area. Worst of all, I had my surgery for the two skin cancer spots last Tuesday and the next day the doctor sent me an e-mail saying the pathologist report indicated they hadn't gotten it all and I needed to schedule another surgery. So when we get back from our cruise and trip to Spain on May 12, we will return to Park Sierra and I will have another surgery on May 14. Then we will pack up the RV and drive to Santa Clara to work on the vacant rental. Thank goodness Elaine's daughter, Tarra, and her partner, Alonzo, live nearby and can finish things up for us because we have to drive up to Washington to start camp hosting by May 25. The cruise will be a much needed vacation for us!!
Other than all this, things are fine. We are using this week to pack and Friday we will drive to Fremont to stay overnight. Saturday we fly to Houston to stay with friends. Sunday we pick up four other friends who will be cruising with us and then we drive to Galveston to stay overnight before catching the ship on Monday. I will try to update this as internet becomes available. Bon Voyage!

4/4/07 It has been so busy here at Park Sierra that we have forgotten to update this blog! Today we went for a day hike in Yosemite with Jeanne & Rodger from the park and then had lunch at a burger place in Oakhurst. Last week we also went hiking with this couple and we went up Goat Mountain (see picture). Besides being fun, these hikes help keep us in shape, which seems like a never ending battle.
Next week the big event at this park is Stagecoach Days. Between Thursday and Sunday there will be meals, events, nature walks, entertainment, auctions, raffles, etc. all as a fundraiser for the social things that go on here. Already there are quite a few visitors here and the boondock areas are filling up fast. Our friends, Ken & Janice Ryder have done a fabulous job of planning this and getting very good people to head the main committees. We are going to be "floaters". Wherever help is needed at any time, we get called on to do it. We are already lined up to pick up food at stores, help with setting up tables, and leading a daily walk, so I'm thinking there will not be a dull moment. It should be fun.
Now for the bad news. Last Friday I went to the dermatologist and had two biopsies and got the results yesterday. Basal cell cancer in both spots. So I have to go in Tuesday for surgery. One spot is on the right side of my neck and the other spot is between my neck and shoulder, also on the right side. They will probably just remove it under local anaesthetic, and then sew me up. I am hoping I am mostly healed by the time we leave for the cruise on April 20. All those years of being a swimmer, lifeguard, coach, etc. and getting so much sun are finally catching up to me!! I know that Elaine was a very good doctor at one time, now we will get to see what kind of a nurse she is....

3/20/07 Below are a few pictures we took while visiting our Boomer friends, Carole & Dick Schneider who have a lot at Jojoba Hills SKP Park. We were there about 10 days ago and stayed for 6 days. What a great time we had with them and what a lovely park that is - you can see the beautiful and refreshing swimming pool. They also have 2 hot tubs, which we used and enjoyed nearly every day. Carole is a great cook and we shared many delicious meals with them. While we were there, Elaine's son, Darran visited us. That is him, hugging his Mom. It turned out to be nice that we were staying only 1 1/2 hours away from him because we took our BIG recliner out of our rig and drove it down to him for his new apartment. Then we went out and bought a new chair of a more appropriate size (smaller) for our rig. We did this the same day we were having a propane oven installed at the National RV Factory Service Center in Perris, CA. We are very happy to have it and are sure we will have LOTS of great meals using it.
Now we are back at Park Sierra where it is raining today but the other days have been sunny, warm and beautiful. The spring flowers are out and we are enjoying our daily walks. In a few weeks there will be an event here called Stagecoach Days and we are going to be helping with it. Our other plans are to reorganize things in our new RV and get totally packed a ready to drive up to Washington for the beginning of our camp hosting stint on May 25. We fly to Houston on April 20 for our next trans-Atlantic cruise, which ends in Barcelona on May 6. We will visit Elaine's nephew and family near Seville for a few days and then fly back for our drive up to Washington. We will be camp hosting at Lake Kachess, near exit 62 off I-90 between May 25 and Labor Day weekend. This is such a departure from our usual summer plans! Neither of us has worked for 20 years!! We hope that any of you who can will visit us there. Just call us ahead of time so we can reserve a campsite for you.

3/4/07 Sorry we haven't posted for several weeks. Not much exciting news. We have been in Laughlin, NV, first at the Avi Casino and for the past week parked behind the Ramada Express. Several sets of our friends have been with us and we enjoyed their company very much. Lee and Susie Blattner were here with us at the Ramada and other friends, John and Vi Primmer with us at the Avi. Other RV friends, John & Cathy Robnik, joined us for one day and night on their way to NASCAR work in Las Vegas. We went out with them for a microbrew at the Colorado Belle one afternoon at about 4pm. One thing led to another and by the time the evening ended at about 12:30 am, we had imbibed enough to allow ourselves the craziness of going bowling at the Riverside. We haven't been bowling for about 28 years and we paid the price with some sore muscles for the next few days. Our current plan, the next time we get together with Cathy and John, is to skip bowling and try roller-skating...
I have finally finished some paperwork and the dreaded taxes, while Elaine has managed to keep herself busy in the casinos. We paid our camping fees that way, but luckily didn't take a huge hit to the wallet except in the Sam's Club and thrift stores. The sun has been shining most days but unfortunately, the wind has been ferocious and has even kept us from doing our daily walk on a few occasions. Since we are trying to get in decent shape before our next cruise, this has been annoying! Today we are heading towards California, where we will spend some time at the Jojoba Hills SKP Park, in Southern California while waiting for our appointment at the National RV factory on March 12. This new rig we have, which we still love, didn't have a propane oven when we bought it, just a convection oven. As all you RVers know, this means we have to use a lot of electricity to bake anything, and we like to boondock all the time, so usually don't have electrical hookups. We NEED an oven - so we are paying big time to have one installed.
We have friends at Jojoba and are looking forward to some fun times with them too. More on that in the next installment.

2/17/07 We are still camping at Craggy Wash with the Boomers and RoVing Rods and having a good time. The fireworks display last night was awesome, with the best presentation being offered up tonight. Duane Peyton had his birthday yesterday, so there was a Boomer Happy Hour celebration at Sara Park before the fireworks. Lots of food and champagne (thanks, Joe & Carla) were on offer. Elaine has been our garage-sale shopping two days now with friends and has brought back some needed items for our new rig, plus some other "stuff". When we first moved in here, we had a lot of unfilled areas but I think that won't be the case for long!! The weather is sunny and getting warmer and we are enjoying it. Below are a couple of pictures from the daily walk we do here, which is usually a leisurely trek 4-5 miles on the road going up the canyon from our camping spot. Enjoy...

2/7/07 Below are a couple of pictures of the sunset we had here at Craggy Wash tonight. Awesome! Since we arrived here at Lake Havasu City, we have been shopping to buy materials for the many projects that Elaine wants to do in the next few weeks. I am working on the paperwork backup and starting on the taxes. Ugh. There are 4 other RoVing Rods rigs here with us and we are having a convivial time. Boomers will start to arrive soon too, because many people are planning to be here for the Winterblast on Feb. 15-18. The weather has been warm in the daytime and we are loving it!!

2/1/07 Below are some pictures we took here at Quartzsite where we have been camped with the Boomers for several weeks. The gathering is breaking up now, but as you can see from the pictures, there were lots of rigs here (over 175). Many of our friends were here and we had an intense social scene. We attended a great RoVing Rods potluck over on the other side of town, as well as having visits with other RVing friends in the Boondockers. Two days of long drives occurred when Elaine developed a toothache and we had to drive down to San Luis, Mexico for a root canal, and then back down again 5 days later for the follow-up dental work. This saved us lots of money as dental work is much cheaper in Mexico and crossing the border in San Luis is much easier than Algodones this year. Here at Boomerville, there were daily meetings about topics of interest, a walking group every morning, Happy Hour gatherings, potlucks, and special events such as folk singers and Geraldine contests. A good time was had by all!!
Elaine's 60th birthday occurred on Jan. 28 so we had a Happy Hour party for her and over 60 of our friends attended. You can tell we had a good time because it lasted from 4 to 9PM!! The main draw of Quartzsite at this time of year is a big RV event in a huge tent where lots of stuff is sold. We got a new tow bar and had our base plate tightened, as well as buying some smaller embellishments such as a new RV mat to place in front of our door. Good friends helped us with some modifications to the battery system we had installed in Yuma, so now we have good solar power and a way to store and access all that energy. We are loving our new rig with all the space for entertaining. It allowed us to have several dinner parties and happy hour gatherings of up to 12 people. Our friends Kathy and Sally from San Diego drove over and stayed with us in our rig for 2 nights, so they were our very first overnight guests. All went well and Elaine called it "an over 6o slumber party". Now that things are settling down, we are trying to find time to get better organized. It seems like we are constantly asking ourselves' "where did we put thus and such?" Of course, taxes and paperwork backlogs are also going to have to be attended to.
From here we will be heading north, up to Lake Havasu City, for the annual Winterblast. This is a big fireworks display over 3-4 nights put on by the Western Pyrotechnic Association, and is free. It happens Feb. 15-18. After that we probably will join the RoVing Rods for a gathering at Alamo Lake. On March 12 we have an appointment to have an oven installed and have some other updates taken care of at the National RV factory in Perris, CA. A visit to the Jojoba SKP park is also planned around that time. Then we will head back to Park Sierra to help with the Stagecoach Daze event in early April. On April 23 we are booked to take another 13 day repositioning cruise between Galveston and Barcelona. Elaine's nephew and family are still stationed in Spain so we are hoping to visit them again before flying back.
Yes, we are flying back instead of going on to Africa for the trip we wanted. I need several more quarters of Social Security credits to qualify for Medicare, so we have accepted a job for this summer! Hard to contemplate as Elaine hasn't worked for 20 years and I haven't for 18. We will be campground hosts and work the entry gate at a forest service park 62 miles from Seattle called Lake Kachess. It is at exit 62 off I-90 east of Seattle. We are hoping that many of our family and friends will be able to visit us there. It will be the first time we have stayed put for longer than a month in the last 12 years. Our duty time there is between May 25 and the end of Labor Day weekend. So come and visit!!! When we aren't working, Elaine is hoping for some fishing time and we know there are good hiking and kayaking places nearby.
For those of you who forgot, we have a cell phone and you can call us at 928-581-3624 to let us know you are coming so we can save you a spot!