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.

Busy November

Cousin reunion in Green Valley, AZ with my Aunt Miriam (90) attending also. We had lots of questions to ask her as she is the last one of her generation remaining


Vince and Mom Clark in Prescott when we went to get our shed/trailer


Our new leased site in Phoenix with everything 'in place' including our 'shed/trailer'


Larry using his drill press outside the trailer on one of his projects


Grandsons Shane and Alex on Thanksgiving


Granddaughters Bethany and Cerét on Thanksgiving


Our "kids" Dawn and Todd at our family Thanksgiving Dinner


Alex, Bethany, Adam (Cerét's beau), Cerét, Shane



The family for Thanksgiving minus one grandson who had to work


We started out November by going to the AZ State Fair with Vince and Dawn and spent over six hours there. We had a lot of fun, bought too many unnecessary things, ate too much "fair" food and got pretty wet as a big storm came in around 9 PM. On Election Day Vince took us to Prescott to pick up our shed/trailer to bring it back to our site in Phoenix. Dawn joined us when we arrived back in Phoenix and after we got everything settled in place we went to Applebee's to eat.

Once again my cousins had a 'Cousin Reunion' with all but one remaining cousin attending as well as our one remaining aunt/mother. We spent two days in Green Valley, AZ and had a good time reminiscing and eating.

On Nov 14 we went to the Golden Corral on 59th and Northern (along with hundreds of other vets!) for their annual 'honor Veterans day' free dinner. We stayed in line while Dawn and Vince went to WalMart to pick up a few things. Bethany also went with us and we all had a very good meal in spite of the wait. On the 19th the park had a free Thanksgiving meal for the residents and served 103 meals. The turkey was a choice of regular roasted or smoked and we chose smoked--it was fabulous! Then for Thanksgiving Day we reserved the park clubhouse for our family meal and 11 showed up (one grandson had to work all day at the hospital) We had a great time eating, catching up on events and laughing over the game "Tabu". Sunday Nov 27 Dawn (Vince was home ill) met us at Souper! Salad! in MetroCenter and then we all went looking for a new car for Bethany. We spent the entire afternoon looking,test driving, talking and finally leaving empty handed. Tuesday evening Dawn and Vince went back and ended up buying a new car for Bethany to use as long as she makes the payments and keeps it clean.

Back in sunny AZ

Snow on the Spring Mountains in Pahrump, NV taken from our campsite in Charleston Peak RV Resort



The ramp Larry fitted so he could enter the trailer easier. It is much easier on his back so he is a much happier camper now.




Larry working on a project at the Cocopah Casino with his new dentures in place.




Cocopah Casino in Somerton, AZ where we dry camped while we went to Algodones, Mexico for Larry's new dentures


After a week at Preferred RV in Pahrump, we moved down the road to Charleston Peak RV. After 100º weather for a week, we had a storm and snow on the Spring Mountains which was most welcomed. The snow didn't last long but we enjoyed it while we could see it. We made several trips to the Nugget buffet and met friends three different times. We always enjoy the Nugget and tend to eat more than needed. We went to Front Sight for a two day empty hand defensive course, learned a lot and were sore after using muscles unaccustomed to being used. We ended up buying a guide so we could review what we learned. After all, practice makes perfect.

We then headed to Cocopah Casino in Somerton, AZ so Larry could get his new dentures. The new ones look more natural (they are porcelain as opposed to plastic) and fit much better. He has had a few sore spots but is doing much better and is very grateful he doesn't have to spend half an hour anymore "preparing" his dentures with SeaBond!

We arrived at our leased lot in Phoenix last Friday and Dawn, Vince and friend, Jay came over and helped us get set up and then we all went out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes. Sat. Larry and Vince went to the gun show at the U of Phoenix stadium in Glendale.

It's supposed to be Fall!

Sunset at Cascade Meadows RV Resort in La Pine, OR


The sprinkler head we waited a month for so Larry could install the fire suppression system in the engine compartment


Foam canister in the engine compartment for the fire suppression system


Where we overnighted south of Gerlach, NV


Larry kept busy and finally was able to install the fire suppression system in the engine compartment of the motorhome that we purchased in Redmond in July. He needed another sprinkler head and we waited a month for it to arrive. Then we had to go to Bend to get the right fittings. He was able to finish the job just before we left OR which is what he wanted to do.

We traveled a different way down to Alturas, CA since we left from LaPine this year. We stopped in Silver Lake at the free OR weigh station to see how all Larry’s efforts to get the weight off the front went since we have the Yamaha in the front now. He did a great job and actually had to move the hitch down one notch, which he did when we stopped for the night.

We dry camped about 50 miles south of Gerlach, NV and 30 miles north of Nixon, NV, basically out in the middle of nowhere and in twelve hours we saw 12 vehicles but the night sky was incredible because there was no light pollution. I had forgotten just how many stars there really are and how beautiful the night sky can really be!

We arrived in Pahrump, NV Thursday morning to 100º weather and the A/C hasn’t been off yet. What a change from having the heater on every night for the last two weeks before we left OR!!

In a Rut

We have spent the entire month of August at Cascade Meadows in LaPine, OR. This is a great park and the weather has been fabulous. However, Larry overdid his projects and hurt his back so we haven't done much of anything except go to the chiropractor in LaPine many times. We have been to Bend a couple of times to get needed items and enjoyed a pizza from Costco and Blizzards from DQ. Again, since we are in Oregon where there is no sales tax, we try to "anticipate" what we will need for the next year and make our purchases here, so it seems like we are getting things in the mail, by UPS or FedEx every day!

We had our first taste of fall weather last night when the temperature dropped down to 22º but today was lovely at 71º and by this weekend back into the mid 80's. We decided to extend another two weeks here since it has been so hot in Pahrump and since Charleston Peak has been sold and we don't know if we will be able to stay there or not. We still have reservations for two weeks there Oct 6-20 (originally we had five weeks reserved) and are hopeful they will be good when we get there. Many things are changing fast in the RV world! We are grateful to have eight + wonderful years of fulltiming under our belts.

Summer in Central Oregon

Larry putting the new brake line fittings on the new axles so we could leave Merrill. It was finally summer and since Larry's thermostat doesn't work we had to make a cover for him.

The new windshield that Larry modified to fit his Yamaha

Larry standing like an "S" after moving wrong and messing up his back

Cascade Meadows RV in La Pine, OR, our new Oregon 'home'.



After several tries, we finally left Merrill for good on July 9 and traveled to Bend/Sunriver, Oregon. Larry had to put new fittings on the brakes of the new axles as the old fittings were rubbing. We had to have them next day aired to us so we could leave on the 9th. I’m so grateful he is so handy with mechanical stuff as well as many other things. We would not be able to fulltime if he weren’t so handy!

Several times we have gone out with our friends, Rosie and Forrest, who sold their home in Pahrump, NV in Jan and are now “traveling” wherever the wind takes them. It is always fun seeing friends from the early years of our traveling.

We went to The Rally in Redmond, OR and bought up to date fire extinguishers for the motorhome, trailer and an automatic one for the engine compartment. We have toyed with the idea of an automatic fire extinguisher in the engine compartment every since friends lost their motorhome to fire, that started in the engine compartment, in 15 minutes. They lost everything including their towed vehicle as it was too close to the fire to be unhooked without endangering the ‘unhooker’. Installing it will be Larry’s next project. (You know he HAS to have a “project”!)

Larry bought a universal windshield and with some adjustments, made it to fit his Yamaha motorcycle. Of course he did a great job and it looks like it was made for his bike. He took a ride up to Paulina Lake one evening and said it did a great job of stopping the bugs.

Larry moved wrong and got his back out of alignment and fortunately there is a wonderful Chiro in La Pine who has helped him very much. He is once again walking straight.

With all the uproar with Thousand Trails and ROD, we decided to buy a membership at Cascade Meadows where we are currently, so we could still have ROD. Larry has always liked this park and we have been coming here since 2004 so it seemed the logical thing to do. Even gives us an Oregon ‘connection’ since we sold the OR place! Now as members we can stay longer and have decided to stay until mid Sept. when we will head to Pahrump,NV for our next go-around at FrontSight.

Life is good and we are grateful for each day together.