Lots of projects

I started off November with a visit to my primary care doctor and as a result have done not much else but visit specialists all month. I am getting lots of things taken care of though.

Larry needed to move his Man Cave trailer sideways about a foot so bought some neat 'heavy machine movers' and with the help of a hydraulic port-a-power it went very well so now he can have the awning out on his Man Cave and still open the the door on the storage trailer which he could not do before.

Machine mover under one side of the Man Cave

Port-a-power that easily moved the trailer sideways

Another project was to remove the internet dish off the top of the MH so we can have the roof coated some time in the near future. We had everything set up and decided to be on the safe side,  I should ask Vince to help us and he showed up just as I was heading his way! God is good like that!

Getting the dish off the roof of the MH

Internet dish on the ground

Another project for Larry, since we now have Netflix and it didn't work on our front ten year old 32” TV, was to replace the TV with a new, bigger 'Smart' 40” TV. Only trouble with that is it doesn't work with our old analog surround sound speakers so he has another 'project' in the works!

With the old TV out

New bracket to hold the new TV that Larry welded

New TV in and working

Phoenix received three days of much needed rain but as a result, the driveway once again was very soft so Larry parked the truck across the driveway along with several red cones, so no big vehicles like UPS or Fed-EX could drive through. We can still get our Smart between the truck and the cones so we can come and go easily.

Blocking the driveway from big trucks

We ended the month with a nice Thanksgiving meal and day with family, watching a movie and playing 'Farkle' well into the night.

Lovely Thanksgiving table ready for dinner

Return to Phoenix

We started off Oct. traveling from Fallon, NV to Beatty, NV with no problems on the road. However, once to arrived at Beatty RV Park our big slide would not extend. Then the next day when we arrived at Preferred RV in Pahrump, NV the washer would not work! We ordered a new control board for the washer and Larry put it in after we arrived in Cottonwood, AZ on the 9th. While we were in Pahrump I walked to the bank (and was very thankful I did that since I learned the B of A in Cottonwood is now closed!) two different days as well as Smith's grocery, traveled to Front Sight and we also enjoyed the Chinese Wok Buffet.

Front Sight rappelling towers

We left Pahrump a day early so we didn't have to drive so far in one day and stopped at Mohave County Fairgrounds in Kingman, AZ for the extra night. We were the only ones there so it was extremely quiet.

At Mohave County Fairgrounds in Kingman, AZ

Once in Cottonwood we visited Camp Verde and checked out Zane Gray RV for a possible visit next summer. We discovered our favorite Chinese place in Cottonwood was out of business but we found another one by the Safeway and it is almost as good. They even serve eggplant which is something I have not seen at a Chinese Buffet before. Our friend, Margaret, came to visit us from Chino Valley and told us that the forest service was having prescribed burns and Larry immediately said we needed to leave for Phoenix as he didn't want to breath any more smoke so we left 8 days early the next morning, Of course we had another problem and had water coming over the drive tire on the passenger side. Upon investigation, Larry saw the pressure relief valve was bad (after 16 years) and was leaking so we had to turn all the water off to the coach. We stopped at Loew's on the way in to get repair parts and Larry fixed it as soon as we arrived in Phoenix. Seems it is always something!

Larry again working on the washer

Control board for the washer

Pressure valve that went bad (under Larry's sink so that's why it was leaking on the tire)

Fortunately the weather in Phoenix is beautiful and Larry has been busy setting us up for the long haul since we don't plan to move anytime soon.

Somehow the time shuck up on me and I missed the 1^st! It was Larry's brother and SIL's 60^th anniversary and our 2^nd great granddaughter's 1st birthday.   Nov 2 we went to her birthday party. It was good to see everyone again and she was such a good baby and never cried once while we were there.

Heading south early

Larry had another sleep study and because he didn't get to sleep until nearly 3 AM he ended up taking two more sleeping pills and they were unable to wake him up when the study was supposed to be done. Then they would not let him drive home so he ended up taking Uber home They told him if he tried to leave on the bike before 24 hours they would call the police on him! One of the nice neighbors in the RV park took him to get the bike the next day. When he arrived home after the study he said he did feel a bit woozy so maybe they knew what they were talking about! As a result of the study and the doctor prescription he now has an oxygenator that is continuous since he needs it only at night. It has taken several tries but I think he finally has the pressure right on his C-Pap machine as well as the pressure on the oxygenator since he received an email from the doctor saying his numbers looked the best in several weeks.

Since we were planning on leaving Bend Sept 29 I began washing all the rugs, blankets and anything else I only wash a couple of times a year. We ended up extending at the Ranch for another week since the doctor wrote Larry 'a note' requesting that as we were waiting on the oxygen equipment. On Sept 22 we learned that SNOW was forecast for the Bend area on Sept 28 and 29 so we decided to leave on Friday Sept 27. We stopped at Basin Tire in Klamath Falls for two front tires and again they gave us far more than we expected for our old tires so the stop was much less painful than we thought. We stopped at Taco al Mexican in Merrill for our favorite chicken burritos and then overnighted at Tulelake-Butte Vally Fairgrounds in Tulelake, CA. We took a slightly different route south and skirted Susanville, CA. About 20-25 miles north of Reno (Doyle, CA) we were hit by a sudden white out snow storm!! The snow was packed on the windshield so Larry could not see out the left mirror­ and then we lost our GPS signal and I was concerned about our upcoming turn onto I-80 but PTL! God sent rain and washed all the snow off the windshield so we were able to see to make the turn. The wind was fierce as we drove east on I-80 and it nearly blew us off the road a couple of times. We made it safely to Fallon, NV and we spent the last three nights there (to make up for the two days early leaving).

Snow covering the mirror

Definitely what we try to avoid!

We are in Beatty, NV for the night and our big slideout will not go out.  Larry thinks it is the switch but we are thankful it is stuck in the "in" position instead of the "out" position as we could not drive with the slide fully extended.  Once we get to Pahrump tomorrow Larry can get a new switch.

Change of Plans

We were supposed to go to the coast for the rest of our stay in OR around the middle of August but the VA called Larry the week before we were to leave saying he had an appointment on Sept 18.  He tried to see if they would see him in Newport instead but they would not.  He decided he did not want to go down to basically 0 ft and then back up to nearly 4000 ft a few weeks later as that would be too hard on his body so I had to scramble to find someplace for us to go for our week out.  The nearby TTN was full as was both a park in Bend and Redmond but we ended up in Prineville at the Crook County RV Park.  It is a nice small town and we went to the local movie house that was built in 1938 to see  "Hobbs and Shaw".  We visited the Bowman Museum showing the beginning of Prineville, the first town in Oregon East of the Cascades, the home of Les Scwab Tires, a tire company in the northwest and the Wild Land Memorial Walk honoring the 14 firefighters from Prineville who lost their lives in a Co fire in 1994.

Crook County RV Park, Prineville, OR

Entrance to Crook County RV Park

Les Scwab at Bowman Museum

Train  at the Bowman Museum

Wildland Frefighters Memorial

Entrance to Memorial Walk

After our week in Prineville we are again back at Sundance Meadows for a month.  God knew we would be here so He didn't allow us to sell our deed.  PTL!  This weekend (Labor Day)  the Ranch had a Potluck dinner which we attended.  As usual, we had lots of good food and good conversation with our neighbors.

After eating at the Potluck on Labor Day

August already?

We moved to Cascade Meadows RV on July 1 during a rain storm that lasted just long enough to get us wet and ended as we pulled into our site.

On July 2 Larry had a C-Pap appt at the VA and we stopped at Costco and stocked up since it was the last time we had the car. On Sunday June 30 we stopped at Ace in La Pine and a fellow rode up on his bicycle and ended up buying the Volvo and we signed the deal on Tuesday after he got paid. It was such a God thing as he had prayed before he left on Sunday that God would lead him to a good car he could afford and Larry lowered the price on the spot to just what he could afford!   It was so cool as we thought we were going to Ace for a part, instead we sold the car.

July 9 Larry saw his primary doctor at the Bend VA. He has been waiting to get another night test to see about his oxygen level. Finally he took it July 25 but is now waiting for the results.

We moved back to the Ranch on July 15 and found a very nice site, next to the one we had last month. The lawn had already been mowed which was a blessing. We try to walk each day and I had to take a picture of the 'Montana Rest Stop' that is located on the Ranch.

I ordered a new keyless entry keypad for the MH as we have been having intermittent problems with the old one.  Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't.  It took a week to arrive and yesterday Larry finished putting it in. He found a broken wire which is probably the reason we were having problems. The new one is bigger, easier to see, requires less pressure and works!

Larry's work table

Making the hole bigger for the new keypad

All finished

Can't believe it has been three months since we left Phoenix.  Time goes by so fast.

On the move

We took the car out onto BLM land for Larry to test some new ammo he recently purchased. It was a great day and he enjoyed the time.

Larry testing new ammo on BLM land

On June 2 I found some free rhubarb after church and made rhubarb sauce. My paternal grandmother loved rhubarb and ate it nearly every day and often said that's why she lived so long (98).  They even have a Rhubarb festival in La Pine on June 15.

Our new Medicare Advantage program by Humana sent an in-home doctor to check me out. It turns out he is a Hoosier too and recently retired from St Charles Hospital in Bend and found too much time on his hands so he is now working part time doing in-home check ups. He found I have Orthostatic Hypotension, which means my blood pressure goes down when I stand up. That explains why sometimes I nearly pass out upon standing, so now I know to take extra care to stand up slowly.

We have made several trips to Bend on the motorcycle. For Father's Day we went to Olive Garden for lunch and then stopped at Home Depot (across the parking lot from Olive Garden) because Larry wanted 'something' but couldn't remember what it was. He found the new Octane Ridgid batteries on a special offer that including the grinder he wanted for free. We then went to JC Penney's for him to find a new Sunday shirt. After trying on nearly every shirt in the dept. he came away with one I had to alter because he likes to wear them 'untucked'. It looks really good and will go with either tan or black slacks.

Larry's Father's Day shirt

On June 22 we went to the annual meeting at Sundance and then skipped out early to be out of our site by 11 AM.

Sunrise at the Ranch showing the geese and goslings one month after last month's pic.  How big they've grown!

At Bend-Sunriver TTN we found a really nice site with 50 amp, satellite and very close to the restroom since there are no sewer sites there. It is only the third time we've found a 50 amp site since coming here in 2004. We can even put out our awning and the site is wide and long-nice way to end coming here! We went to a spur of the moment Bar-B-Q with our church family and had great food and good conversation. Always fun to see old friends!

Church family BBQ

George grilling the burgers at the BBQ

We've had hail twice since we've been at Bend-Sunriver but it has been small hail so no real damage. It did pack on our big awning and Larry had to get out with the broom and clear it off. It seems its always something!

Larry with the broom trying to get the hail off the awning

One pile of hail from the awning (there were many!)

Double rainbow after the hail storm

Hunen Chinese in La Pine after church June 30

We moved today to Cascade Meadows and it started pouring down rain almost as soon as we left.  I was driving the car and couldn't remember how to turn the window shield wipers faster and had to stop because I couldn't see to drive.  Of course once we arrived at our site, I figured it out!

Back in Oregon for the summer

We started out the month of May by taking Vince, Dawn and Bethany to Red Lobster for Vince's birthday since we would be gone on the actual day.  They surprised me with Mother's Day gifts which was a very nice surprise!

At Red Lobster

Vince's birthday cake at Red Lobster

My surprise Mother's Day gifts

We left Phoenix on May 6^th for Verde Valley TTN and found a wonderful site with no one in front of us, just lovely views of the hills and valleys around us. It rained several days while we were there so the first day it looked nice we headed out, first to Wendy's for 50¢ Frosty's and then to Montezuma's Castle which we had not seen before. We took the back way to Camp Verde and stopped at the Ace Hardware for some things Larry needed. There are two new RV parks being built in the area so we checked them out too. The one closest to TTN we cannot stay in as our MH is too old. It has no shade whatsoever but it does have fabulous views.

Our view at Verde Valley TTN

Montezuma's Castle near Verde Valley

Showing what it looks like inside the cliff dwellings

We left Verde Valley May 20 staying in Las Vegas TTN for the night, then onto Hawthorne, NV where we stayed at the El Capitan Casino. A nice level, large gravel parking lot for RV's and trucks with a dump station and it was right across the street from the PO where we picked up our mail. On Wed. the 22^nd where I had planned to spend the night, we arrived around 2:30 and Larry was not ready to stop saying the best part of the day was ahead of us so we went on to Riley, OR.   We had rain off and on every day we were traveling which kept the bugs off the MH!   We arrived at Sundance Meadows on Thurs. May 23 around noon and found a nice pull-thru site with a tree behind us which keeps the afternoon sun off of us. We have the same neighbors on both sides that we had last year.

View of the new snow on the mountains as we traveled in NV

We went to the Potluck Saturday evening and had a good time with lots of good food. Then Sunday morning we went to Cowboy Church at the Lodge. Two different times in a week we found the Chinese restaurant we were headed to CLOSED, first in Hawthorne and then by our mailbox in Bend so on Wednesday the 29th when we went for our mail we ended up at Chan's Chinese for lunch and ended up bringing home 3# of food!   It will be our new 'go to' Chinese place.

Before the Potluck on Saturday night May 25

Geese and 26 goslings that crossed the road on front of me as I was walking one evening.  

Countdown-- 6, 5, 4, ...

I started off the month with lunch at Cracker Barrel meeting up with a long time friend, Judy, and we had a great meal and good conversation. I then went to the dentist.

The pump on our Splendide washer decided to die so we had to call Splendide and ordered a new one. Thankfully Larry is good at repairing things and was able to put the new pump in. The hardest part was getting the washer out and back in the cramped space and took longer than he had anticipated.

Pulling the washer out

Replacing the pump with the washer on the bed

Larry decided he needed to take the bike to Go Arizona for the yearly oil change so he dropped it off and then we went to breakfast and two days later we did the reverse, going for breakfast and then picking up the bike. The traffic on the 101 seems to be getting worse every day so both days we returned via Bell Rd.

The original welder Larry had lined up didn't show up so Larry was able to find another certified welder who is the brother of one of our neighbors and he spent six hours under the MH repairing the cracks and adding additional braces that Larry had measured and cut to fit beforehand. There was more to do but Roger was really hot and tired after six hours under the MH so Larry sent him home and finished up with his new welder a couple of days later.  Then he replaced the shocks and air hoses and re-mounted the six back tires and I helped him torque the lug nuts, a total of 80, all to 475 ft lbs. We took turns and the only way I could do the torquing was to sit on the end of the seven ft. bar!

Added braces and cross weld

Brace on the back of the down tube

Certified welder, Roger, hooking up the tank

Larry torquing the lug nuts to 475  ft. lbs

Ellen trying to torque the lug nuts with an added bar (worked best when I sat on the bar!)

We both have had doctor's appt. and everything is looking good for both of us. We are getting everything ready for us to head north for the summer. Larry has re-worked the Hydro Lift to make it easier for us to load the bike on the back of the MH. Need to make things easier as we get older!

The desert is really lovely now with the Palo Verde blooming and I enjoy the views as I'm walking. Next month we should be writing from OR.

Beautiful AZ desert in bloom