Family

After a day with showers and a little housework, we wandered over to my brother's in the late afternoon. We found Brother Pat putting new drip irrigation in along the front flowerbeds. Sounds like he and Cindy had spent most of the day planting and doing yard work.

Barbecued steak and asparagus from their garden, quinoa salad and green beans with Gruyere cheese, what a feast we had! It's always good to spend time with Pat and Cindy, catching up on kids and grandkids.

After dinner, we settled in to watch a very good Mariners game. Even had a chance to see Nephew Nick for a bit. It was a very nice day!

Rain

It was a cloudy dreary morning and a bit chilly. It looked and felt like rain, then this afternoon it broke loose. It rained hard for about fifteen minutes, then it was over. It came down so hard, I thought it was hail on the roof at first.

I was glad we had gone out earlier to hook up the sewer and drain the tanks. We had also pulled out the front generator slide and took a look at the front lights. We know that one of the headlights is burned out, but weren't quite sure what it would take to replace it. After checking and making sure all the rest of the lights were working, we decided replacing the light was not a do it yourself task.

The Mariners played the Royals tonight with Felix Hernandez pitching. He's at a point in his career where he is breaking all kinds of franchise records. Seth Smith hit his 100th home run tonight which turned out to be the difference in the game which the Mariners won 1-0.

Another Trip to Town

The way I talk about it, you'd think that "town" was a long way off. It's more psychological than anything. You exit the RV park, take a short jaunt up the road onto the freeway, go over the overpass and you are there.

I was up very early (fiveish) as my arm fell asleep and was painful enough to wake me up. I got up to work it off and watched our neighbors, construction workers, leave for work. Then I crawled back in bed with Forry and slept for a few more hours.

We went back into Teddy Bear Car Care to get the air filter they had ordered yesterday. The tech recognized us from yesterday and was out and had it installed before Forry managed to get into the office to pay for it. That's good customer service!

Since we were in town, we went over to the Outfitter Store to look for some folding three-legged stools to sit on when we're hooking up water and sewer etc. they had what we wanted and even had a new shirt - with a pocket - for Forry. From there we went on over to Safeway to pick up some fresh fruit and frozen stuff.

I picked up fried chicken, jojos and broccoli salad at the deli, so we had n easy supper. They had some strawberries from California that actually tasted and smelled like strawberries, so we had dessert as well.

An Oil Change and Dinner Out

I was doing laundry this morning when Forry decided this would be a good day to get the oil changed in Toad II. I told him that if he would wait until the washer was done, I'd go into town with him. So that's what we did.

Forry likes a place called Teddy Bear Car Care for oil changes as they carry the Schaeffer Oil that he likes (you may remember our search for Schaeffer oil in Phoenix.). There was no one waiting in line for an oil change, so we got right in. They had a new oil filter for the Suzuki, but couldn't find a new air filter anywhere in town. They checked with us, then went ahead and ordered one that will arrive tomorrow morning. While we were there, we had the Toad, which was very dirty from the road grime picked up while being towed here, washed and vacuumed.

After a stop at the post office to drop off Son Sean's very late birthday card and the first half property taxes, we headed back to the RV park. We weren't there very long when we got a text from our friend Katherine saying they were in town and finished with their errands, so they could meet earlier for dinner than the 6:30 we had planned.

We met up with Kay and Dennis at Micheal's On The Lake for a great dinner and even better company. There is something special about spending time with folks you have known for years. Catching up with family news for lives that have intertwined for a generation or more is a treat.

We got back home in time to watch the latter part of the Mariners Rangers game - and the Mariners were winning!

A Weekend With My Sister

I think one of the reasons I like spending time at Sister Sherry's is the lack of contact with the outside world. There is no cell phone coverage down along the Touchet River. Sherry has wireless through the REA, but you have to be in the house to make connection.  So from where we park Auntie Violet at the other side of the farmyard down by the shop, the wifi doesn't reach.

I don't know which of Sherry's critters I enjoy watching more: there are the peacocks, strutting around like they own the world, fanning their tails and screeching their alarm calls; there are the chickens like the little black hen who is hiding a nest somewhere in the shrubs near the RV along with her pretty rooster escort; or the herd of miniature horses eagerly awaiting their evening ration of hay; or the large rescued draft horses grazing across the hillside. Aw, it's easy to decide. It has to be the Sherry's shadows, the three mastiffs.

If you want to know where Sherry is, whether she's in the shop, the green house, or back at the house, all you have to do is look for the dogs. The two females, Corin and Lady Bug never venture far. But Keiko is always torn. He'd love to follow me or come and play , but he can't stand to stray very far from his human.

We took our time getting organized this morning, then drove the 93 miles to Pier 4 RV Resort in Moses Lake where we had reservations through ROD (Resorts of Distinction). They tried to give us a back-in site, saying there were no pull-thrus available (I got the impression they had only certain sites for ROD). But when we got to the assigned site, I discovered that both of the handles on the water spigot were broken off. I called the office to see what they wanted us to do. The ladies from the office came to check it out and decided they needed to move us to a longer pull-thru.

So we are settled in Site 206 and life is good.

Finally - Washington!

About eleven o'clock this morning, we finally did it! It was so nice to see the Welcome to Washington sign. It's taken us a while, but we are finally back in our home state. It was overcast and a bit windy when we left Wild Horse RV Park and headed towards Milton-Freewater. From there it was over the border into Washington. For some reason, the GPS decided that instead of skirting the town, we should go right through Walla Walla. Since there is quite a bit of construction, it asn't the easiest drive.

But soon we were through town heading for the Farm and Sister Sherry's. I gave her a call from Touchet and she had the gates open, waiting for us. We got parked and hooked up. Forry was able to help with the electric, so it went fast.

Sherry went back to the house and let the dogs out. Soon Keiko, Corin and Lady Bug came running up to say Hello! Keiko has filled out and is taller, longer and wider than the last time we saw him six or seven months ago. He is an absolutely gorgeous fawn colored mastiff. Corin is apricot and Lady Bug is a brindle, so Sherry has the full complement of mastiff colors.

We sat outside, enjoying the sunshine and the birds and the strutting peacocks and chatted. Then it was time for potato salad with the first of the Walla Walla sweet onions and fresh asparagus. Afterwards Sherry and I went out to do chores visiting the chickens, miniature horses, the llamas and the miniature burros.

Forry had put up the satellite antenna, so we'll spend the evening watching the Mariners game.

And Another State

Since we drained the tanks when we got home last night, we just had to put everything away this morning and we were ready to go. We had further to go today, so we ended up not getting into Wild Horse RV Park until a little after three.

Leaving Idaho, we followed I-84 into eastern Oregon. We drove alongside the Snake River for a bit, surprised that it wasn't flowing fuller. There were many herds of cattle - mostly black - along the way. Lots of mommies and babies. We passed a few dairies, lots of horses and a flock of sheep. As we headed into the mountains, we even spotted a small group of elk grazing along the road.

In contrast to the Snake, the Grand Ronde River was flowing full and fast. We could see snow on the distant mountains, but the road in the portion of the Blues we drove through was bare. It threatened rain all day, but we only had about a half hour of showers. Just enough to get rid of some of the bugs on the windshield.

We have stayed at Wild Horse RV Park many times. It is part of a casino, hotel, golf course, museum complex run by the Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla Tribes. It is just a few miles outside of Pendleton, perched on the edge of the farms. It's in a lovely spot with green grass, flowers and trees. We briefly considered taking the shuttle over to the casino for dinner, but it seemed like it took too much energy. It rained hard for about an hour, maybe enough to wash some of the road grime off. I stuck some frozen Mac 'n Cheese in the oven and we settled in to watch the Mariners game on TV.

Dinner With the In-Laws

Well, with Daughter Dawn's in-laws anyway! Janny and Jerry drove in from Parma to have dinner with us tonight. It was so good to see them! Janny told someone at work today that they were going out to dinner with their son's in-laws and the lady gave her a funny look and said, "Why?"

I guess we are very fortunate. We like and enjoy both of our daughter's husband's parents. We would no way drive through Idaho without stopping to visit! It was good to catch up with all the kids and their families. One thing about it, we commiserated with each other about how old the kids were getting and how old that made us...

It was hot again today, I read one sign that said it was 93 degrees. We got showers this morning, then watched the Mariners beat Cleveland to take the series. After the game, we found an Albertson store and got groceries. It was hot enough bringing them in that we turned on the A/C and took a nap before we got ready to go meet Janny and Jerry.

We drained the tanks when we got back to the RV park, then we were going to watch TV. We watched Grey's Anatomy and that was it. I can no longer stand to watch Scandal as it's gotten so violent and we quit watching How to Get Away With Murder last season for the same reason. Oh well, time to curl up with my iPad and read...

On to Meridian

The Pacific Northwest seems to be having an unseasonably warm Spring. It was HOT here in Idaho today!

Knowing we did not have a long drive today, we got a leisurely start this morning. Anderson Park is a  lovely spot with all of the green grass and flowering shrubs and trees. (Can you tell we've spent too much time in the desert?!) We sat drinking our coffee and watching all of the bird life.

We finally headed on down I-84 north through the Treasure Valley, heading for the Boise/Meridian KOA. We went by acres and acres of pastureland, irrigated fields and dairies. We saw another band of twenty or so pronghorns in a draw. Most of the drive is still at over 3000 feet, but it is definitely Spring.

We pulled into the KOA a little after one o'clock. There had only been back-in sites available when we made our reservation, but the front desk clerk told Forry it was was his lucky day. A pull-thru site was now available. We are in Site 3, not too far from the front gate. 

The Mariners won their game with Cleveland 3-2 this afternoon. That was a good thing. We Skyped with Granddaughter Havela this evening - and watched Great Granddaughter Kahlyn come scooting across the living room floor to "talk" on the computer. She really moves fast! And we got all kinds of smiles!

And Now, Idaho!

Forry was feeling well-rested this morning, so we decided to keep going. We looked at the distance to Boise and decided we didn't want to drive that far in one day. We looked at RV parks along the way and found one that sounded nice and had good reviews in Eden, just outside of Twin Falls, Idaho. Anderson Camp is just off the freeway (I-84) with a Sinclair Station. It also has a small cafe with half a dozen tables that serves hamburgers and pizza.

We were assigned a long pull-thru site at the far end of the park. Most of the sites are grass and there are many flowering trees. It's a very pretty place and very green. The crew was setting sprinklers to water the lawn. When she moved one, it sprinkled Auntie Violet. The gal was extremely apologetic, saying she'd be right back with a towel to wipe the coach down. Forry assured her it was just fine, her sprinkler was nothing compared to the road grime we have picked up along the way!

The Mariners are in Cleveland today, so we were able to watch the game this afternoon. But darn, they lost 2-3!

I walked over to the office after the game and ordered us a sausage, mushroom and onion pizza. They made it up while I waited and I carried the very hot pie back to the motor coach. It was good - and I didn't have to cook!

Almost Out of Utah

We are at what used to be the Lottie Dell Campground in Snowville, Utah. We have stopped here for several years, spending a night or two on our way north. We have chatted a few times with the old man who owned it. A collector of antique tractors, the old guy has had a rough time. An unscrupulous auctioneer managed to cheat him out of his tractor collection and didn't sell the campground which was supposed be the deal...

There are now new owners. I wondered when we called to see if the campground was open and instead of the old gentleman, got a very professional recording about rates and reservations. The system here has always been an honor system. You put your cash or check and registration in an envelope and put it through a slot in the wall. There have always been multiple dusty notes and thank you letters posted on the walls. The first thing I noticed went I went in the office was that these were all gone and the walls were very clean and tidy.

Later we met one of the new owners when she brought out my phone I had left in the office. (I took it out to get Auntie Violet's license plate number for the registration form and evidently left it....) She said they had purchased the campground last Fall.

We will decide in the morning whether we will go on to Boise in the morning or spend another rest day here. Forry is tired tonight, so we'll wait and see how he feels tomorrow.

North to Provo

We got a good start this morning. Things went smoothly except for the cold left from last night's windstorm. By the time I had finished unhooking the power cord and the water, my back was screaming. My kidneys don't like the cold! Luckily, by then Forry had gotten the jacks up and came out and finished putting the hose away for me.

In the past, we have gone west on I-70, then north on I-15 to Provo. But, this time we decided to take Hwy 191 from Green River north to Price, then take Hwy 6 over Soldier Summit and catch I-15 at Spaniish Fork into Provo. What a spectacular trip! The road is fairly nice two lane road, with some four lane areas and several passing lanes.

The highway follows the Price River a good share of the way and climbs to over 7000 feet. Much of the rock is grey or tan instead of the reds and oranges you see further south, but is equally beautiful. The layers of sedimentation in the sandstone vary from white or cream to the black of coal.

There is either more moisture in this part of Utah or Spring is further along as the grass is greening up. We saw a few herds of cattle, a couple of flocks of sheep and some horses. I also spotted a band of pronghorns, 20 or 25 of them, in a draw that went by so fast Forry didn't see them...

We pulled into the Springville/Provo KOA just as the Mariners game was finishing up. Unfortunately, this time it was the Yankees turn to win. But the sun was out and it was a nice warm afternoon as we set up and settled in.

We spent a bit of time on the phone with Son Sean this afternoon as he was celebrating his 54th birthday. Now, that really brings home how old we are getting!

Rest Day

After a long day of driving yesterday, we definitely needed a rest day. Neither one of us even went outside today!

It was a cold overcast day. It looked all day like it was going to rain any moment, but never did.  But the wind blew! We had some pretty nasty gusts towards evening that rocked Auntie Violet. It was a good day to be inside and watch the Mariners beat the Yankees again.

Three State Day

It was one of those days when everything worked and everything went right. There aren't too many of them, but they sure are nice. We had everything put away, slides in, jacks up and water and electric disconnected by ten o'clock. Since the utilities were in the back of the site, Toad II was parked in front of the RV. I had to drive it around to the back so that Forry could drive Auntie Violet forward enough to hook up the Toad.

We drove on Highway 491 through Shiprock and on up to the New Mexico border. You could tell we were in a different state because all of a sudden the road improved dramatically. 491 is a two lane road most of the way, but it has got multiple extra "passing" lanes so that traffic doesn't pile up. In some of the hillier country, it almost got funny. We barely got to the top of a hill and back to the normal lane when there would be another hill and another "passing" lane and we would have to move back over to the right.

As we cut across the corner of Colorado, 491 took us across the border into scenic Utah. I posted several pictures of some of the red, red wind and water sculpted rock on Facebook (I wish I could figure out how to put the pictures I take with my iPad on my blog when I'm writing it on the iPad...). We finally caught up with the rain that had been threatening all day. We noticed that the rain deepened the red color of the rock, making for a gorgeous drive.

In Utah, Highway 491 comes to Highway 191 which goes north through Moab. By the numbers of young people and families on the streets of that tourist town, it must be Spring Break for many of them. We continued a few miles further north and a bit west to the KOA in Green Valley where we had previously stayed. We got set up just in time to watch the Mariners beat the New York Yankees. Sweet!

Fry Bread!

My friend Tina offered to show me how she makes her fry bread. She invited us over to her house this morning to have Navajo Tacos for lunch. The idea was that I would help her make the fry bread that is the base for the tacos.

Tina and two of her daughters and her granddaughter live in a trailer park on the other side of Bloomfield. We stopped by the local Farmers Market store to pick up some lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. When we got to Tina's we started right in. She started out with three cups of flour in a bowl, then mixed in a handful of baking powder (about a tablespoon and a half). She mixed in a couple of cups of hot water; started as a soupy dough; then kept mixing in the rest of the flour in a bowl, making a stiff dough. She let that rest about twenty minutes.

Tina filled a skillet about half full of canola oil, heating it until it was quite hot. She pinched off a 2 inch or so ball of dough, rounded it into a ball, then patted it flat. She patted it between her hands until she had a thin circle about ten inches across and then put it into the hot oil. She used a meat fork to turn it when the first side was browned. Once it was done, she set it on edge in a bowl lined with paper towels.

Tina had a pan of browned ground beef and a pot of beans made. With those, chopped lettuce, tomatoes and onions, salsa and cheese all heaped on top of the fry bread, we had our Navajo Tacos!
Tina fried up the rest of the dough after we left and sent them home with us to stock my freezer.

We actually came home and took a nap. Then we had fry bread with cinnamon and sugar for supper.

Friends

I played telephone and text tag with my friend Tina off and on today as we tried to set up where and when we were going to meet for dinner. We finally got organized enough to plan for a Mexican dinner at Los Hermanos.

Tina met us at Auntie Violet a little after six with her Granddaughter Kaili. We hadn't seen them for quite some time and Kaili has really gotten tall. She's quite the bookworm and I've always tried to find books that I think she'll like. I found a copy of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle that I thought she might enjoy. I'm not sure when I first discovered L'Engle's books, but I was in the fourth or fifth grade. Kaili must have finished the first chapter before we finished dinner!

We followed Tina and Kaili over to the restaurant where Tina and I split an order  of chili relenos. Tina's daughter (and Kaili's Mom) Delcherie joined us when she got off of work. It was a fun evening!

Mom and Pop RV Park

We only went 128 miles today, but they were literally rough miles. Highway 491 out of Gallup is one rough bumpy road. In the midst of it, there were 22 miles of road construction. Most of it shifted southbound traffic into one of the northbound lanes. They are pretty far along on the project as we could look over at lovely pavement almost ready to use. It looked like all they needed is to add shoulders and do some painting. There was a whole lot miles of highway on the other side of the construction that still needs work.

Most of the highway goes through the Navajo Nation reservation. Spring has not come to this part of the country yet. Most of it is pretty brown. We saw a few cows, quite a few horses and a couple of bands of sheep. Most of the houses seem very plain, without yards or plantings of any kind. Many had hogans alongside - we even saw a new one under construction.

We arrived in Farmington in the early afternoon. We had drained tanks this morning before we left Gallup, so I only hooked up water and electricity. The Mom and Pop RV Park is quite small, I think there are only 33 sites. There is a very elaborate model train setup beside the office. The lady in the office said they had bought the park last July from an 84 year old man who had created the train setup. The office was also full of various lead figures and models he had made.

If you saw some of my pictures on Facebook, you probably noticed all of black clouds. We had a few drops of rain right after we arrived. There were still many clouds around when the sun set and the prediction is for rain during the night.

On to Gallup

We woke up to a beautiful clear, but cold morning. It didn't take long to get breakfast; get everything we'd gotten out the past two days put away; slides in and jacks up. We checked the lights and watched the wheels on the Toad properly roll. Unlike yesterday morning, everything worked just like it was supposed to.

The Meteor Crater RV Park has a small souvenir store and gas pumps. We decided to go ahead and get dieseled up so that we would not have to make another stop. And besides, diesel was $2.09 a gallon versus the $3.19 we paid the other day. I paid with a credit card at the pump and filled up. I didn't get a receipt, so went inside to get one. When I asked for the receipt, the clerk printed it, then looked at me and asked if we hadn't stayed in the RV park last night. I said we had, then he said they gave a five cent per gallon discount to their guests. He proceeded to give me the refund in cash! 

I cannot say enough good about these folks that run Meteor Crater RV Park. Between the free night and the fuel discount, they were sure nice to us!

Our journey today took us through the last of Arizona and into the brilliant colors and scenery of New Mexico. Gallup is only about sixteen miles from the border. We had stayed here at USA RV Park three years ago. When I called to make a reservation, we were still in their books, so it was quick. We got everything hooked up and I even washed a load of laundry this afternoon.

WIND!

Boy, am I glad we decided to spend a second night here. While it was grey and overcast. - and chilly - it was relatively calm when we got up. But then the wind came up and big, black thunderheads started rolling across the sky. We got a few sprinkles of rain, but the big storm clouds passed us by. We had reports of flooding and power outages back in the Phoenix area. What we got was the wind! I'm sure glad we weren't out on the road in those big gusts.

We spent a relatively quiet day, but what a change from our winter sojourn. We were wearing long pants, sweaters and socks. So much for shorts and sandals!

I made a pear tart for breakfast and fixed porkchops with Brussels sprouts and apples in the oven for supper. In between, we watched the Mariners game. Not too happy about the way the season is going so far...
I had to tape the PBR from Little Rock as it was on the same time as the baseball game. It was tough to see JB Mauney get hurt when his bull tried to climb out of the chute and squashed him against the back of the chute. Sounds like he's got an injured hip pointer. Today's winners were definitely the bulls, but we were pleased that Ryan Dirteater rode his bull and won.

We had been thinking about heading over to Albuquerque to visit friends, but we were looking at both the calendar and the map and decided we are sort of running short of time to detour that far east. We think we'll go ahead and head to Gallup, New Mexico and then take 481 north to Farmington.

Lots of Miles

We are settled in at Meteor Crater RV Park near Winslow, Arizona for the next couple of nights. I'm watching the Mariners game while Forry is snoring in his recliner.

Our usual practice after we have everything ready to go is for me to stand in front of the RV while Forry uses the turn signals; then I walk around to the back of the rig and check that the rear turn signal lights and the brake lights are also working. Next I walk a bit to the side, standing where Forry can see me in his side mirrors, and wave him forward so that I can see that the wheels on Toad II are turning freely and following nicely. Well, this morning they weren't! I waved Forry down and we went through the whole procedure of preparing the Toad to be towed. And once more it didn't work. We never did figure out what we were doing wrong, but it took four attempts before everything finally worked correctly.

We headed out for Highway 17, going all the way through Phoenix and its suburbs. It takes over an hour just  to drive through. Makes you realize just how sprawled out an urban area it is. It's a huge altitude gain as you head north. I think we were up over 5000 feet by the time we turned onto I40 at Flagstaff. We made a couple of rest area stops on the way and bought some expensive diesel ($3.09) at a Shell station.

We pulled into the Meteor Crater RV Park a little after 4:30 and had a pleasant surprise. The lady at the desk told us since this was our fifth visit to their park,  tonight would be free! What a lovely way to treat your guests!

We Move - A Little Ways

It rained hard during the night - for about two hours. I know, as I didn't sleep well, kept waking up intermittently. By six AM, I gave up and started putting stuff away. We were supposed to be at Gene's RV Shop for a 10 AM appointment, but we made such good time, we were there by 9:30. And they were running behind, so we didn't even get into the shop until after eleven!

Mike not only had two new hoses made, but he power washed the very oily radiator where hydraulic oil had been dripping. He thought it would only be about an hour's task, but it was after five pm when we finally paid the bill and left. By then it was way too late to leave for Meteor Crater which we had hoped to be our first stop. I tried to call a few of the many RV parks in the Mesa area, but since it was after five, all the offices were closed. I finally talked to a small park owner who said he had no pull-throughs, but he knew that Val Villa across the road from him did and that they had a full-time gate guard that could assign us a site.

So we headed about six miles down the road and pulled into a nice wide space. Many sites as well as Park Models are empty and we noticed For Sale signs on many of the Park Models. Eagle View had been half empty as well when we left - the exodus of the snowbirds is well underway!

HOT!

It got up to 98 degrees today according to the news. I certainly believe it! It was the hottest day so far this year. I turned the A/C on early and it still barely kept the rig cool.

The Mariners played at noon today for the third game of their series with the Texas Rangers.  With a few home runs and a ninth inning rally, they won 9-5. Sweet!

Mike, from Gene's RV Repair, came about five pm (he'd had a busy day!) to check out the oil leak that was keeping the bedroom slide from retracting. He was able to make a temporary fix so that we can pull it in and then take it into their shop for a more permanent fix. While he was here, he put the new chassis batteries in for us. (It was sure nice to hear the engine turn over so nicely when he finished!) We'll find out tomorrow whether they can take us in the shop on Friday or if it'll be Monday...

Errand Day

Toad II is a bit low on oil, but for the first time, we didn't bring any extra Schaeffer Oil with us (we did bring some for the Diesel engine in the RV...). We've checked a couple of places and made some phone calls without success. We talked with the techs at Schaeffer today and they suggested we just buy a quality name brand synthetic oil and add it.  We ended up going to O'Reilly Auto Parts at the recommendation of the local Chevron dealer who doesn't carry any synthetic oil. While we were there, we bought two new batteries from them as well.

From there it was off to the Post Office to mail some bill payments and to resend the shirts I had messed up the address on. Hopefully, this time I've gotten it right and my little great-nephews and niece will get their goodies.

Next stop was at the local Scottrade office in Mesa. We needed to make some adjustment to our accounts and I needed to find out how much I was going to have to take out for my Required Withdrawal from my IRA this year. 70 and a half seemed so far off when I set the IRA up, but it certainly arrived fast (and several years ago, at that!).

We headed back home and made a stop at the Citrus Ranch on Gilson Road. I've been wanting to stop by all winter, but it seems like the GPS never returned us home that way. It's kind of a shacky place with priced bags of various citrus piled on tables with an "Honor Cashbox." Next to the shack was a pasture with four Angus cows. They were grazing on oranges which were spread all over their pasture in long rows. I've seen cattle fed left over turnips and carrots, but never oranges!

We got home just in time to watch the Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 10-2! So much better than last night's game!

A Clean Auntie Violet

The boys from ANS Detailing were here a few minutes before eight this morning. Andrew sounded a whole lot better than he had when I talked to him on Friday. He and his crew had had a rough week with lots of work. He said they were exhausted. But after a weekend's rest, they were raring to go.

You cannot believe the amount of dirt that rolled off of the roof. We had had the rigs washed and waxed when we arrived last fall, so just had them washed today. Such a difference it made!

I had been fussing about the screen on the exhaust fan in the kitchen needing to be cleaned. Forry was using the step stool to undo the clips holding it up, but couldn't keep his balance. So I ended climbing up and managed to undo it. Because it's in the kitchen, it was greasy fuzz and dust. I ended up using a brush along with the cleaner to get it clean. The blades of the fan were just as grimy. I found the easiest thing to use was some of the Clorox wipes. There were so dirty it took almost a wipe sheet per blade! The only trouble with doing something like the fan, is it makes the area around it need cleaning. Maybe another day.

Today was Opening Day for the Mariners down in Texas. Unfortunately, Felix didn't have his best outing and they lost 2-3, in spite of first inning home runs by Cano and Seager. It was fun to "chat" with Havela and Ben during the game - we may make a Mariner fan out of him yet! Or maybe we'll have to start watching some Cubs games with them...

A Quiet Sunday

It didn't start as a quiet day. Forry woke up from a strange dream a little after five this morning wondering if we "had gotten gas yet?" He got out of bed, walked up to the living room, looked out the window, then came back to bed and went to sleep...!

I made a peach tart for breakfast, but that was about the extent of my labors. We spent the day watching the 15/15 Bucking Batle, the Gospel Music Awards, the PBR from Sioux Falls, South Dakota and now the Country Music Awards. It made for a pretty mellow day.

Forry tried to start the RV in order to further charge the batteries without success. Looks like we will be shopping for batteries tomorrow.

Returned Mail

As I was putting stuff away yesterday, I ran into the receipt from the Post Office for the Mariner gear I had sent to our great granddaughter and the great nieces and nephews. Just for fun, I used the tracking numbers on the receipt and followed each package to their destinations. To my surprise, I discovered that one of the packages had been returned to the Eagle View office just yesterday!

When I checked addresses with Niece Becky, I discovered I had used a post office box number they hadn't used for several years! The only thing I can think is that when Scott fixed my laptop, he used a Carbonite backup that still had the old address. Guess we'll have to make another trip to the post office.

Both Sister Sherry and Daughter MM called and were concerned about what I had written about hitting my head yesterday. I had to assure them that I was fine and no, I didn't need stitches! Forry was feeling a bit better today, but he is still a bit achey and tired. He did walk over to the office with me to reclaim my package.

I had to chuckle today when I noticed the site we moved out of yesterday was still unoccupied. We'll keep an eye on it and see how long until it's filled...

Tough Day...

Well, I guess it's a good thing we decided we would stay on here another week. We certainly would not have put on a lot of miles today. Forry has been complaining a lot about pain in his legs and one of them seems to want to give out on him every once in a while. He used a chair while we were bringing in the sewer, electric and water hoses, but it still wore him out. We got the slides in with most of the stuff put away.

Then when it was time to pull up the jacks and start the engine, we had nothing! I pulled the car around and put the jumper cables on, but still nothing. Just no juice! One of the maintenance guys came along with his pickup and added his jumpers to the mix. After a l-o-n-g twenty minutes or so, we finally had enough juice to start the engine. The maintenance guy hung around, picked up the jack pads and brought them over to the new site and put them in place. He even took over my planned task of hosing down the old site to tidy it up for me. All with a big smile!

Forry was exhausted when we got to the new site and slept in his recliner all the rest of the afternoon. I wasn't too active myself as I had managed to hit my head on the corner of the slide while I was hooking things up. Fortunately, I was wearing my usual bandanna headband (to keep the sweat out of my eyes) as head wounds bleed so darn much. I would have been a bloody mess without it.

Granddaughter Havela and Ben moved today as well. The lease on their little house in the country was up and they have been unable to find another place they can afford, so have moved into Ben's parents' basement. The one nice thing about it is that his folks have good wifi service, so we were able to Skype with them this evening. It is so fun to see how active little Great Grandaughter Kahlyn has gotten. She was having a great time chattering and climbing all over her Mama and the couch.