And I still catch myself starting to write 2010 on the very occasional check that I write!
It's been an interesting year, the first one that we've actually avoided being anywhere that there was snow! We were in Mesa, Arizona when the ball dropped on TV last year, going from there out into the desert for the Quartzite Desert Rat Rally X with 125 mostly Alpine coaches. From there we spent time in San Jacinto, California in order to get a follow-up ultrasound of my leg that proved the blood clot was resolved and I could 'cease and desist' with the daily coumadin.
We went to Lake Havasu for a week checking out the light houses and London Bridge, then spent a week in Salome, Arizona before heading back to the Mesa area. We moved around to a couple of area RV resorts before finally settling in for a month at Sun Life RV Resort. We were there long enough to watch a pair of baby hummingbirds grow up and leave their golf ball size nest. In late April Forry finally fulfilled his desire of returning to Meteor Crater for the first time since he was seven years old.
We explored beautiful New Mexico the first few weeks in May including a wonderful visit with my friend Tina, her daughter Delcherie and granddaughter Kaili (and enjoying Tina's fry bread) While in New Mexico we celebrated my 70th birthday and Forry surprised me with not one, but two gorgeous squash blossom turquoise necklaces!
We spent the last part of the month in Utah exploring Canyonlands and Zion National Parks, then had a visit with Daughter Dawn's in-laws in Nampa, Idaho. June was family time, starting with a visit to Sister Sherry and the mastiffs in Touchet; down the Columbia Gorge to Daughter Dawn's family in Hubbard, Oregon; then north to Mount Vernon, Washington to spend time with Daughter Mary Mae's family before heading back over the Cascades to our homeplace, Tree Heart Ranch, Ltd.
We left Auntie Violet at the ranch the first part of July and flew back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the biennial convention of Mennonite Church USA, then spent another week with our RV friends Bill and Leslie exploring that portion of Pennsylvania. The rest of July and August were spent with the obligatory dental and medical check-ups and the more pleasant task of spending time with our Menno family and Brother Pat's growing young family.
By September 7th we were on the road again, heading east through northern Idaho and Montana, then southeast through Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska. We finally found our way to Kansas for Mennonite Church USA Executive Board meetings and wonderful visits with Walt and Clara and Roger and Carmen (Menno church family who had moved back to Kansas).
Next came Missouri, Illinois and Indiana (drove on the "brickyard" -- the Indianapolis Race Track). We had HWH hydraulic hoses replaced in October in Elkhart at Stuart's Service who rank right up there in great service! We snuck up into Tecumseh, Michigan to spend a couple of nights in that state, then were on to Ohio and Kentucky. We visited the Kentucky Derby track as well as learned how to make bourbon on distillery tours. Somewhere in there I flew back to Spokane to work at the Mennonite Country Auction...
We met up with our friends Tom and Juni in Tennessee in November, visiting Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and having Juni as a tour guide at Elvis Presley's Graceland and downtown Memphis. We stayed right on banks of the Mississippi River in Arkansas, then spent a week in Tunica, Mississippi.
We parked for a week on the River Styx in Alabama, then finally made it into Florida in early December. Our friends Leslie and Bill are spending the winter at Mouse Mountain near Orlando and we made our first visits to the Disney World Resorts with them. We celebrated Christmas with my Executive Board colleague Juanita's congregation in Apopka, then had dinner with Leslie's family.
We have reservations for the next couple of weeks in the Florida Keys, but that is as far as we have plans. We do know that we eventually want to head all the way up into Maine early next summer, then return to the Pacific Northwest along the northern tier of states, picking up the ones that are not yet on our "visited" map.
It is exciting to think what this new year of 2012 will bring!
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