Starting the summer in UT

We started the month celebrating our son’s 50th birthday with a party at the clubhouse in the park. We had a great time! All the family was able to come except one grandson who had school and a test that he aced which was great also.

Us chowing down at Todd's 50th birthday party

Birthday boy and his cake.

Grandma admiring granddaughter Cerét's new engagement ring. We had a sudden thunder and lightning storm where the temperature dropped from 95º to 70 º in just a few minutes which was a welcomed relief from the heat. We then celebrated our son-in law’s birthday by going to Red Lobster. Oh, how I love their cheese biscuits! We had a very nice waitress who gave us some to take home which was super nice. (Larry gave her an extra tip.)

Vince's birthday celebration at Red Lobster

Bethany and Colby at Red Lobster

Larry, Vince and Dawn at Red Lobster. Larry has been trying to get an appointment with the VA for chiropractic for three months and finally was able to get one. Then the chiropractor wanted to see him twice more before we left AZ and we were able to get in by cancellations, the last appt. on Friday morning before we left! We stayed in AZ much longer than we normally would because our granddaughter, Bethany graduated from HS on May 24 and we left May 25. The whole family was together again for the graduation and afterwards we all went to TGI Fridays for eats and cake. The graduation was outside on the football field but the weather wasn’t too bad as it was not 100º and there was a breeze which helped a lot!

Proud Mom, Dawn, Bethany the graduate, and brother, Colby right after the ceremony

Cerét, Vince, Dawn, Bethany, Colby, Dad Bob, and Shane

Bethany at TGI Fridays after graduation

Todd and LaTia at TGI Fridays

Alex and Shane at TGI Fridays

The yummy brownie/cookie cake Cerét made for her cousin's graduation. Friday after the VA appt. we went as far as Cordes Junction and spent two nights there since the winds were really bad on Saturday. We drove the car to Prescott to say good-bye to Larry’s Mom on Saturday.

Larry and his Mom in Prescott just before we left AZ. We changed our plans at basically the last minute and took a workamper job at a Motel and RV Park in Hatch, UT for the summer. Hatch is between Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. It is a town of 133 people with the nearest grocery, bank, hardware store etc 15 miles away and the nearest WalMart 85 miles away! We work three and a half days a week and have three and a half days off. Our first day on the job was a lulu as all but one of the motel rooms was sold and we have to clean them. I have a new appreciation for motel/hotel maids!! There are only eight rooms and 17 RV sites which doesn’t sound like a lot until you go to change the sheets on 11 beds and clean 11 bathrooms! There is a gas station/convenience store connected with the Motel/RV Park and Larry is working in the gas station from 5-10 PM the days we work. One thing that really surprises me is 75% of the folks I’ve checked in are from Europe! Denmark, Austria, Germany, France that I remember.

Our view to the east with the old RV that draws lots of attention at the RV park where we are working

The five standard rooms of the motel (the other three rooms are suites)

Our site with the gas station where Larry works in the background. I’m hopeful we will get to see some parts of UT we have not seen before in our days off throughout the summer and have some cool pictures to post next time.

April very busy for Us

We started April off with a run to the VA for Larry's hearing test. He is getting a new hearing aid as the old one is seven years old and there is new technology and he needs a new one as his hearing has become worse. He will not get the new hearing aid until the middle of May as that was the next appt. he could get! We enjoyed the monthly breakfast at the clubhouse and checked out the new Winco food store that opened in Phoenix. We are familiar with Winco as we have been to the one in Springfield, OR several times over the years when we spent so much time at Camp Monaco. They do have good prices and had some really nice opening "specials" that we took advantage of. One of Larry's friends stopped by and brought us a peanut butter pie, something I had never heard of but it was good and tasted like a Reese's cup with graham cracker crust. Larry has been diligently working on the trailer, putting in a false floor so he can use it when the car is out as well as re-doing the ramp that was slick when it rains and extremely shiny when the sun hit it almost to the point it blinded you. He cut the extensions flaps to reduce weight, roughed up the aluminum so he could paint it black and then put anti skid tape where the car drives in. The anti skid tape is yellow and black (what else?) but we know the yellow will turn color quickly once the car goes in. Anyway it looks nice now!

The new false floor in the trailer so Larry can utilize it better when the car is removed.

Larry roughing up the aluminum prior to painting it.

The ramp all painted and the anti skid tape applied. Looks good now but wait until we use it! Our long time SS teacher went home to be with Jesus after a brief illness and we went to the Memorial Service where we saw many friends we hadn't seen in a long time. It really was nice seeing so many folks and catching up on their "doin's". It is so comforting to know we will see him again when it is our turn to 'go home'. While Larry was busy working on the trailer I got ambitious and Aerospace 303 UV protected the roof of the motorhome. It is something that has needed to be done for a long time and is supposed to be done every six months. We do it about every three years! Since the motorhome is meant to be used and moved every few weeks, we went to Apache Junction for one night and stopped at Camping World in Mesa both going and coming and bought a telescoping fire escape ladder for the bedroom. We tried it out while we were in AJ and it worked like a champ! Now to just get ourselves out the window faster! That will take some serious practice!

Our site in Apache Junction for an overnight

New clean out port in the black tank. When we returned from AJ, Larry dumped the black tank and cleaned it out good and then put a inspection port clean out in the end of the tank. He was able to see what he suspected was the problem, the evacuation pipe is about 1/2" higher than the tank bottom so 'stuff' accumulates right at the exit and doesn't allow everything to evacuate. He also repaired the water flusher so hopefully, now we know for sure what the problem is, we won't have any more issues but if we do, it will be fairly easy to fix now we have the clean out port. Last but not least, our internet went off on Sat. night around 9PM. It turns out the company we were with was taken over by another company and somehow the new company had our email address wrong so we received none of the three emails sent to us telling us of the change! All is well again with a phone call to the new company on Monday morning. Ah, the challenges of fulltiming!!

Lots going on during March

Where we parked at the Yuma County Fairgrounds for the Gypsy Journal Rally in Yuma, AZ


The 'Cactus Queen' contest at the Gypsy Journal Rally in Yuma. What a hoot!


This cracked me up as we came into the campground!


The campground at Pilot Knob, CA where we stayed after the Gypsy Journal Rally in Yuma


We never knew this is why the campground is called Pilot Knob Amazing the things you learn when you go exploring!


Someone put a lot of work into this. We found it while exploring outside Pilot Knob


Us on the Yamaha outside the Bard church


Us at the Bard Community Center in Bard, CA


Street dancer in Algodones, Mexico


Colby, the birthday boy


Vince and Dawn at Colby's birthday party


Colby and Bethany after she came home from work (she didn't attend the party at Spinnato's)


The new washer/dryer combo. The new one has several nice features the nine year old one did not have.


The old washer/dryer combo


The platform Larry made to pull the washer/dryer combo out of the bedroom


Jeanne and Ellen after our lunch together. We hadn't seen each other in 48 years!


A hot air balloon over our place in Phoenix


We started March out by going to Yuma, AZ to the Gypsy Journal Rally at the Yuma County Fairgrounds. It was the first GJR we have attended and enjoyed ourselves very much. They have many seminars and a good amount of vendors for a small Rally. The best part of the rally was we changed our insurance and saved $700 a year! We then went to Pilot Knob in Winterhaven, CA so we could go back to Algodones for Larry's teeth. We usually don't go to CA but we left the trailer in Phoenix and took the Yamaha for our transportation instead. It worked out really well and we averaged 8.25 mpg on the MH for the trip (a little over 400 miles). We rode the motorcycle 18 miles to church to see friends from OR who do the worship service in Bard, CA and had a great service, ride and then ate at the Q (buffet at the casino about a mile from the campground) since there really wasn't much of a choice. It was a bit more than we like to pay for lunch but the food was really good.

Larry had his teeth re-lined and bought two pair of glasses and I had my teeth cleaned when we went to Algodones. We enjoyed fish tacos at Johnnie's in Algodones where we usually eat when we are there. The price went up 25¢ each but that's the first price increase in four years so we can't complain too much.

When we returned to Phoenix, the washer/dryer combo started 'acting up' and since Camping World had them on sale we bought a new one. It was a real ordeal to get the old one out and the new one in. We had to take the doors off the refrigerator as well as all the doors and drawers down the hall. The only problem was the new w/d didn't fix the problem! Further investigation revealed a power issue with the coach and after diligent research, Larry tracked it down to two issues, one a loose connection. Since there was nothing wrong with the old washer/dryer combo we quickly sold it on Craig's List to try to re-coop some of our 'outgo'. The new washer/dryer washes bigger loads and drys the loads much faster than the old one so there are some pluses to the big expense.

Our second grandson, Colby turned 23 and we had a family dinner party for him at Spinnato's Pizza followed by cake and ice cream at Dawn and Vince's.

Larry had a problem with his Mac computer and we took it in to the Apple Store in Arrowhead. It is fixed now with a new logic board which, PTL, didn't cost us anything since he purchased Apple Care when he purchased the computer two years ago.

We had lunch with my growing up next door neighbor and her husband on March 30. It was the first time we had seen each other in 48 years and we had a great time reminiscing.

That night we went to a Seder put on by our Messianic Fellowship with Dawn and Vince and had a great time, met some great people, laughed a lot, ate too much, sang too much and didn't dance.

Time is just flying by!

The neighbor's tree that Larry cut down. This picture was taken this past summer before we arrived.

First picture I took of the "tree project".


Very little left of the tree after a week of working. Note the termite hole in the middle of the stump.


Jay in the battery bay unhooking the cables on the old batteries.


Putting the last new battery onto the battery tray. (There are five of them)

Keith Longbotham,(in the middle) the evening entertainment for our free BBQ at the park.


Us at the free BBQ at Sunrise Heights Feb 22, 2012


The new ramp to the bike rack since the MH is higher off the ground than the trailer. Larry did a great job of fabricating it as usual!


I can't believe it is the third month of the new year already! Larry started out the month doing a good deed for our 80 year old neighbor lady. She had a big tree that shed all kinds of stuff and extended over three other neighbor's yards including ours, so he offered to cut it down for her. It took a week and help from a couple of friends and our son-in-law to finally get the job done. Hauling off all the limbs etc was very time consuming and Vince ended up taking the larger logs for his backyard fire pit. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures before he started or during the process, only the last day. He found the tree was hollow with termites and one large limb had rubbed a hole in the neighbor's new roof.

The month's next big project was replacing our nine year old house batteries. We borrowed an engine crane and had help from Jay, Larry's friend. It took all day but we are so glad that project is done and we are good to go for another nine years!

The park had a free BBQ for the residents and free entertainment. The entertainer was Keith Longbotham from Nashville and he, along with two others, had a very good and funny act. He said he was not a comedian as they tell dirty jokes. He is a humorist and all his jokes were clean and funny. It was a fun evening.

Larry had his eye exam at the VA and now we will go to Algodones to get his new prescription filled as well as the 'free' pair of glasses from the VA.

After several tries, Larry decided he could build a new ramp on the bike rack for the MH that ended up being cheaper and just what he wanted. We will put it to use this coming Sunday when we head to Yuma for the Gypsy Journal Rally.

Busy January

Vince and Dawn at her birthday party at Valle Luna in Phoenix


Dawn and son, Colby at Valle Luna


Proud parents, Ellen and Larry at daughter Dawn's birthday party at Valle Luna


Friend Rachel, Granddaughter Bethany, and Grandma


Birthday girl, Dawn at Valle Luna


Entrance to Cummins Rocky Mountain Avondale, AZ


Us at Cummins Rocky Mountain Avondale, AZ


Ellen and Mom Clark for her 89th birthday in Prescott


Larry and Dawn in Prescott


Vince, Mom Clark and Larry in Prescott, AZ


Ellen, Dawn, Larry at Red Lobster for Ellen's birthday


Ellen blowing out her '627' candles. Can you figure out how old she is?!


Bike rack on the back of the MH getting ready for a trip with just the MH and bike as our transportation


We started the month off with taking Dawn and Vince out to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes after church for her birthday and then on her actual birthday we met at Valle Luna along with grandkids Colby and Bethany. I baked a cake and the servers brought it out and sang to her which was a lot of fun.

We had a nice breakfast at the park the second Saturday of January and are meeting more neighbors. We like to move the MH about once a month and so we went to Cummins Rocky Mountain in Avondale to have the pan gasket replaced. The problem started four years ago when we had a problem in El Paso with a repair and since both Cummins dealers are "sister" companies, El Paso paid for Avondale to fix the mistake. PTL! We stayed at their facility and they provided us with both lunch and then dinner when the repair didn't get finished until 7:30 PM. We stayed the second night and stopped at Home Depot on the way home to pick up a 10 ft pipe which wouldn't fit in the car. We put it in through the window and it worked out fine. It seemed strange to be in 'just' the MH without the trailer and car but since we were going just for the night (so we thought) it was more economical. We were very pleased with Cummins Rocky Mountain, LLC in Avondale as everyone was super nice and went out of their way to answer all our questions.

The 21st of Jan. Vince and Dawn took us to Prescott to celebrate Larry's Mom's 89th birthday. I again baked a cake, we took KFC in and had a very nice visit.

For Ellen's birthday, Dawn and Vince took us out for dinner to Red Lobster's in Paradise Valley. They bought a Blizzard Cake which they took to the restaurant and everyone sang. It was a fun evening and we had leftovers including those wonderful cheese biscuits! Yum!

Sat Jan 28th we went to a friend's 65th birthday party along with 150 other people. What a shindig! They had a disc jockey (we actually danced one slow dance, Larry's suggestion!) and Larry won tickets to the Renaissance Festival near Apache Junction that runs weekends from Feb 11 thru April 1, 2012.

Larry finished the bike rack for the back of the MH for our March trip to Yuma when we will take the bike but not the trailer to the Gypsy Journal Rally.

Happy New Year 2012!

The tables for our family Christmas dinner before everyone arrived


Enjoying the family feast


After dinner relaxing, Angelo (Vince's brother), Cerét, Aaron (friend), Vince, Bethany. Colby, Shane


The family at the Christmas Party in the clubhouse

The five grandkids, Colby, Bethany, Shane, Cerét, Alex and Adam acting silly at the family Christmas party


Happy New Year!

We had a very busy December with several parties starting Dec 2 with Ellen attending the "Angel Party" in Sun City that a fellow cancer survivor has hosted for the last 16 years. She and one other gal were the only ones I knew out of the 80 or so that attended but I had a great time sharing Jesus with several 'new friends'.

Larry's annual VA checkup checked out good including his ultrasound. That is always encouraging.

We met with friends from AK we haven't seen in several years at Carlos O'Briens Mexican Restaurant along with several of their other friends. They have been in Phoenix several times before visiting but this is the first time they were here and so were we!

We went to an annual Christmas Pageant with Vince and Dawn and first went to dinner at Chompie's and liked the food so well we went back several days later.

We discovered the exhaust pipe on the motorhome was broken loose and that was the source of the diesel smell in the bedroom when we were traveling we have been smelling for several months now. Larry fixed it with new flex pipe and we took a run for the night to Casa Grande with just the motorhome (no trailer or car) and the smell is gone. PTL. We visited with friends at the RV park in Casa Grande parking just two sites away.

We had two Christmas dinners, the first with the park that was totally provided by the park a week before Christmas and then we had the family plus two for Christmas at the clubhouse. We had a grand time and enjoyed lots of good food.