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. 

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

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

Our kids, their partners, and our granddaughters. 

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.

3/19/06 Hello from Park Sierra. We returned to our lot here last Saturday night and had quite a surprise when we arrived. There was LOTS of SNOW here! All day long on our drive from Las Vegas, we had been expecting snow in the Tehachapi Mountains but were pleasantly surprised that there wasn't much there, and none on the road. Then, when we arrived at Park Sierra just after dark, we found the snow accumulation to be quite sizeable. The next day we walked around to take some pictures and realized that there was quite a bit of damage from the heavy and wet snow - many trees had limbs that had broken off or even entire trees had fallen down. Luckily, there wasn't much damage to RV's or cars. A few people had their car covers smashed, and one lady lost her golf cart to a direct hit, but other than that, the biggest problem was that limbs were down everywhere. A work crew got out quickly and cut up the trees that had fallen across roads and fed them into the chipper. That took 2 days of hard work. Then they started to clear limbs that had fallen on lots and driveways. Elaine and I spent two full days helping out on this crew and it was a lot of work. We were glad that it rained Friday and prevented working outside because we needed a rest! Probably this work will take the better part of a month or two because there are trees and/or limbs down on nearly every lot, and there are 254 lots in the park.
As usual at this time of year, we are working on our taxes and cleaning up our paperwork. We are also trying to get ready for our upcoming trip. This has caused us to drive into Fresno twice already, to buy things we need, such as a new ultracompact camera, travel books, etc. There have also been several social events which we have enjoyed. There was a Happy Hour for the park with good munchies, and a chance for us to catch up on some of the doings of our friends here. Friday night we drove into Oakhurst with 7 friends and enjoyed a corned beef and cabbage dinner at the Elks Club to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. There was also a dinner here at the park, but they served hamburgers!
The rain and cold continues, with clearing skies scheduled for Wednesday and we hope that will be the end of the cold, wet weather for this year.

Park Sierra sign and snow. 

Smashed car cover at Park Sierra 

Broken trees at Park Sierra 

Broken tree at Park Sierra 

Broken trees on a shed at Park Sierra 

Elaine & Fallen Tree 

3/9/06
Hello from Las Vegas. We arrived here yesterday and have several days of shopping planned during the expected cold, windy, and rainy weather due to be here for the next 3-4 days. There is even the possibility of snow here over the weekend!! We want to buy a small computer and ultra-compact camera to take along on our upcoming travels. There are also some good bookstores here and this is often where we do travel research. Last night we had dinner with Shirley Willes Seward and her husband, Mel. She and I were classmates from grades 4-12, and we have had nice visits with them the past few times we have visited this area. Shirley graciously treated us to a delicious rib dinner, celebrating the fact that she just registered for her first social security check. Congrats to you, Shirley and it is hard to believe that we are at this stage of life, isn’t it?!

Usually our RV friends want to know where we stayed, so I will elaborate. We were able to get the last spot in the Roadrunner RV Park on Boulder Highway, near Sam’s Town, largely because we have a small rig. It is $11 a night, plus tax. Two guys we talked to in Laughlin had stayed in the parking lot at the Rio last week and had no problems with security, but we wanted to stay in the Henderson area. In poking around Camping World in Henderson yesterday, we noticed that it is posted “No overnight parking” but there were obviously rigs parked there for overnighting. Behind Camping World there is good street parking and even a fairly large parking lot not associated with any business, and not right in a residential area, but near one.

Our last camping spot was Davis Camp County Park near Bullhead City and right across the bridge from Laughlin. This was quite a nice place as we were able to park right on the shore of the Colorado River, just down from Davis Dam. Our friends, Lee & Susie Blattner were there with some of their relatives and friends, and we joined them for several days. Of course, there was a delicious potluck and good socialization. Elaine and I wanted to put our kayaks in and go down the river to the Avi Casino, where there was a good pullout spot, but the two days we were there were too windy. One afternoon we drove out to Grapevine Canyon, off Christmas Tree Pass Rd., where there were lots of pictographs on the rocks, and huge impressive rock formations, as well as a small creek and waterfall. This was quite surprising as there hasn’t been rain in this area for over 150 days. California has been getting it all!

Elaine’s son, Darran, has just returned from the college graduation trip we gave him to Thailand. He was there for about a month, had a very nice Intrepid group to travel with, and had a fantastic time. He also met a girl he seems interested in. She is an Aussie girl who has been living and working in the London area for a few years. He has already booked a flight for London in April!

Since we are talking about our kids, here is a quick update on the others. Elaine’s daughter, Tarra, is currently on a Mexico trip with Alonzo, and when she gets back in a few days, she will be starting a new job with a construction company, working with the permit process. My son, Thomas, quit his job in the office of San Francisco’s largest landscape architect about a month ago, and is becoming a Swedish massage therapist. My daughter, Laura, continues to do well in Reno, and was recently in Las Vegas where my 2 granddaughters competed very successfully in the Nevada State swimming championships. How thankful we are that all our kids are happy, responsible, self-supporting adults!

Our Camping Spot On The Colorado River at Camp Davis County Park. 

Casino View from Davis Camp County Park. 

Elaine, Lee & Susie in Grapevine Canyon. 

Pictograph in Grapevine Canyon. 

Rock Formation in Grapevine Canyon 

4/26/06

Blog Update

4/26/06 Sorry, no picture of the London Bridge will appear on this blog. I never was in town again during the daytime to take the picture. Perhaps next year... The pictures I am posting today are some of the ones I tried to take at the fireworks event at Sara Park in Lake Havasu City. I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures and also the fact that they can’t even begin to communicate to you the awesome quality of this experience. But we had a demand from an avid viewer of this blog for an update and some pictures, so see below.

The Western Pyrotechnic Association puts on this 4 day event each year in February in Lake Havasu City and it has been remarkable both years we attended it. Usually there are fireworks being shot off as soon as they might be visible in the darkening sky, with organized arrangements and displays, often to music, starting at 8 each evening. For over an hour each night, the fireworks that are being detonated are as awesome as the grand finale at most 4^th of July fireworks events. This year, on Sunday night, there was a presentation by the LaRosa Family from Italy. This family has been in the business for 3 generations and they presented the most awesome display which was impeccably choreographed to Andrea Bocelli singing one of his operatic blockbuster hits. Additionally, some of their fireworks were very different from the American ones and quite impressive.

Besides the fun of going to the fireworks displays each evening, it was enjoyable being at another event with the Boomers. About 20 rigs of Boomers and RoVing Rods stayed near us in Craggy Wash, on the north end of Lake Havasu City. We had Happy Hour gatherings each day and also set up a big Happy Hour and Tailgate Party at Sara Park on Saturday, with the Boomers staying right there in the parking lot. As usual, the food was delicious and we enjoyed meeting new people and catching up on gabbing with old friends. After the fireworks event was over and the number of rigs left at Craggy Wash had been depleted by half, Chuck & Betty Goehring supplied enough fish for a big fish taco potluck. More great food and more good socializing.

The biggest downer about our time in Craggy Wash was that we had a total of 6 mice as uninvited guests! Each night we would hear them, I would get up and set up the glue traps, and we would catch them. We have already heard that after we left, our nearest neighbors, Chuck & Betty, took over as the proprietors of the mouse hotel.

Now we are camped with our friends Vi & John Primmer, and Lee & Susie Blattner at the Avi Casino, which is an Indian Casino not far from Laughlin, NV. We have been enjoying cheap buffets and breakfasts but still managing to stick to the South Beach diet for the most part. We are still walking at least 4 miles a day, doing crunches and lifting small weights. So far I have lost 12 pounds and Elaine has lost 18. Probably Susie will be outdoing us on the weight loss front because she is currently down and out with the flu. Sure hope she feels better soon, and we REALLY hope we don’t get it!!

The last big news is that we have been using John and Vi’s internet access to make some exciting travel plans. You already have read on this blog that we will be taking another cruise between Galveston and Lisbon leaving April 24 and arriving May 6. After 5 days in Lisbon, we are going to poke around Portugal for 12 days with Lee & Susie in a rental car. On May 27, after we visit Elaine’s nephew in Spain for a few days, Elaine and I will be picking up a 15 day Morocco trip with a UK company called Imaginative Traveller. They are a company a lot like Intrepid, the travel company we have used in the past in China, Vietnam and Central Europe. Then we will fly back to the USA on June 11 and spend about 2 months in the RV, probably going up to British Columbia. On Aug. 28 we use the second half of our air ticket and fly to Istanbul where we will have until Sept. 3 to explore on our own. Then we start a 31 day tour, again with Imaginative Traveller, that goes through Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and ends in Cairo on Oct. 3. On Oct. 8 we start a 15 day Egypt trip that includes a week on a 4 star river boat on the Nile, stopping along the way to visit various sites. It ends on Oct. 22 and we will have a week until the ship leaves from Venice to return to Galveston, taking 18 days and hitting some very interesting ports. Now I am working on nailing down all the little details for all these trips.

Don’t know how long we will be staying in this area, but with rainy cold weather still happening in California, we aren’t inclined to hurry our return to Park Sierra. That will be our staging area for trip preparation and packing, and also where we will leave our RV while we are in Europe.