Merry Christmas!

It has been awhile been posts. Not sure where the time went, but we have had a great relaxing time doing not much of anything! We had computer problems - crashed it again and had to rebuild it. Then Ralph decided that he was going to learn Linux so we could use it on the internet as it is much safer. He succeeded and we have learned how to use it now. Some things we still have to do on Windows, but most of our internet time is now on Linux. I have been wanting a mini-notebook computer but did not want to have to worry about all the security "stuff", so when he got Linux working I found a good deal on just what I wanted. Of course, that created another whole set of issues starting with a new air card so we could use a router and both computers online at the same time. From there, my computer did not have a cd drive, so we needed to find one of those at a reasonable price. We ordered one online and it took them over a week to tell us it was unavailable. Found one online and also at Circuit City, so off to Circuit City and they price matched - $20 off their price! Then it was a several day process with many people helping in chat rooms to get my computer operating on wireless with Linux, but it is now done and I love it! Our very old computer was pressed into service to experiment with Linux and of course Ralph had lots of help!We are spending Christmas in Indio CA. Cookie is very happy with all of her very special friends here. She is in love with a white toy poodle named Brutus - the world revolves around Brutus! She knows where he lives and all walks must go to Brutus's house! She met Brutus in Pahrump and he will be in the next park with us also. She will be a very lonely puppy after that! Chloe, a black toy poodle is also a playmate here. A beautiful gray standard named Sidnee is her other special friend. They take walks and play together. Sidnee lives with another beautiful black standard named Bridi and a cat Muffin. Cookie likes all of them and noses and licks with them, but Sidnee is her special friend. Of course Cookie meets all the dogs and we get to meet all the owners and visit! We all seemed to be doing the same park rotation this fall, so we have all had lots of time together. We wish all of you the very Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years.

We Are Alive and Well!!

It's been a while since our last posting - just not much to report. We had a great time in Pahrump and so many friends seemed to be there at the same time. We sure enjoyed seeing and visiting with Jim and Lorna, Rick and Pam, Jerry and Laura, Ray and Sue, Phil and Gayle and Mike and Carol. Then we were off to Las Vegas and again met up with Ray and Sue for lunch. Jerry and Laura were also in Las Vegas, but an appointment that took more time than they had planned kept them from meeting us for lunch. It was a relaxing time there - great weather and good food at the casino buffets. Now we are in the Palm Springs area moving between parks. Again the weather is wonderful - just so sunny and warm and we love it!!

PS So many people and we forgot someone we met up with in Las Vegas. We enjoyed lunch and seeing Howard and Sue's new home with a fabulous view of Lake Meade!

Sunny and Hot

We had a beautiful drive from Oregon through the mountains and fall colors to the desert landscape of Nevada. Pahrump is sunny and hot, but we are really glad to be back where it is dry. It did rain very hard last night, probably a years worth of rain for here! By this morning you could not tell it had rained - perfectly dry. We have a beautiful view of the mountains from our motorhome and those desert sunsets are spectacular. This area continues to grow with a brand new Home Depot that just opened the end of Sept. In driving around though, there are a lot of homes for sale, so the economy must be affecting things here also. We drove through the Escapees Park once again and still like it and the area. Our name may come up on their waiting list in a few years - it does seem to move slowly when you are the one waiting!

Sunny Eastern Oregon

After a great visit with Ralph's cousins Tom and Linda, we moved south out of the rain! We stopped at a place we had visited in 2002 and said at the time, if someone with a vision and money bought the park, it had great potential. That is exactly what happened to Lost Lake Resort. It is now a beautiful place with lots of amenities. They are selling RV and park model lots and own much more property to develop. For us, being under the trees with no sun and lots of pine needles was a deal breaker. Add to that the price of the lots and the monthly fees and we would not be interested - just wanted to see what they had done! We are now in LaPine OR at Cascade Meadows. This is another park that could be very nice if someone just cleaned up all the junk, fixed up the buildings and put some gravel in the sites. However, it is a good place to just relax as it is virtually empty - just a few full timers heading south. It is high desert and is 30 at night and 80 in the afternoons, with a breeze and lots of sunshine!

What's Happening

We are enjoying our stay at Thunderbird Leisuretime RV Park in Monroe WA. The weather has been beautiful, sunny and 70's. Tom and Linda, Ralph's cousins are parked next to us and we get to see them after work and on the weekends - they will retire in two years and can then travel more. We went to see our youngest daughter Karen and her husband David at their new home. They are busy personalizing the house, getting the yard into shape and fixing all those pesky problems. It is a beautiful home, with a wonderful outside area. It will give them room for their growing family. They are expecting their first child, a girl, Jan. 13. We told her we would post her picture here for all to see how "big" she is now. And of course we have to post a picture of both of them!

Finally About Our Boat Trip

The pictures above are from Sucia Island State Marine Park, our first stop. This is a huge island with many bays for the boats. Many yacht clubs raised money to buy this private island in 1960 and it was given to the state of Washington for a park. Ralph was at the dedication. It is accessible only by private boat. There are docks available in one of the bays, which is where we anchor so getting to shore is much easier. This island was a limestone quarry and so has many left over roads for hiking as well as many trails. The only animals are otter and mice - the mice left the ships that came for the limestone and have multiplied over the years! There are many kinds of birds including bald eagles and a rapidly growing flock of Canadian geese - the eagles cannot keep up! We ended up staying here for a month - it is our favorite place!

Next stop for an overnight was Jones Island, another marine park known for its tame deer that like to raid the campsites. It is a small island, but has gorgeous views of the San Juan Islands. This deer had already gotten several other containers off the picnic table and had opened them. This container proved to be difficult and no amount of hoof pounding seemed to work.




Our final stop was at Garrison Bay on San Juan Island. This is the British camp from the Pig War of 1859. Tension was mounting over a boundary dispute between the US and Britain and ultimately the ownership of San Juan Island. A crisis came when an American settler killed a British pig. British forces grew at this location, while further south on San Juan Island the Americans had their camp. However, the leaders advised that they would not involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig. A token force from each nation occupied the island for the next 12 years until a final treaty was signed and the boundary line was through Haro Strait and San Juan Island became an American possession. This will be long remembered as a military confrontation in which the only casualty was a pig. It is the only place in the US that a British flag is flown.

Two years ago when we were here we met fellow boaters Bonnie and Montee. They were here again this year, so we all hiked up Mt. Young to see the beautiful view of the Canadian Gulf Islands.












From here, we took our dingy over to Roche Harbor which had its start with the lime industry. John McMillin discovered the richest and largest deposit of lime in the northwest here and bought the property and claim in 1884. Starting in 1886, he began to build the town with the Hotel de Haro which still stands today and is operated as a hotel. The town was sold in 1956 to Reuben Tarte and Roche Harbor became a popular resort for boaters and vacationers. We have watched it grow over the years with many new docks, shops and condos. John McMillin built The Mausoleum near the resort ( within walking distance) to leave to posterity a memorial to the dreams and aspirations of the the things his generation believed in. The table represents the family table around which all the family would symbolically gather in the hereafter. There is a chair for all the sons and daughters of John and his wife, Louelle. The chairs are also the crypts for their ashes. The broken column represents the broken column of life and signifies the unfinished state of man's work when the string of life is broken.




Cookie learned all about boating and seemed to enjoy most of it. Here she is in "her" kayak, one of the activities she enjoyed the most. Of course, one of us had to paddle her around the bays so she could see everything.


It was a great, relaxing 7 weeks and for the most part good weather. We love the water and especially enjoy walking and seeing the beautiful scenery. We will leave you with one of the many gorgeous sunsets we enjoyed from our boat.

Boat Trip

We are back after 7 weeks and as soon as we have a fast internet connection, we will post about where we visited with pictures. Our connection is just to slow to do pictures! Cookie turned into a boat nut. She loved watching all of the activity and always was excited when we would take her in the kayak and paddle around the harbors! We are enjoying the liquid sunshine of Washington - we both will have our web-feet back real quick. Sure is not the usual August weather here. The lot we had rented in Casa Grande at Sunscape was sold, so we are now redoing our travel schedule for Jan. - Feb.