March has 'blown out' and April has 'blown in'

Colby and Bethany at Outback

Dawn, Ellen and Krista at Outback

Krista and Colby at Outback

Colby and his cake

Skirting around the shed/trailer made from the old awning material

The fold down drill press, still in the testing stage

March 3 we moved the MH by going to Camping World in Mesa.  Since Todd lives about 5 miles away, he met us  there and we had a nice hour visit in the parking lot.

Larry returned his heart monitor after wearing it for two weeks but it showed nothing unusual.  So now he is back to square one.  He has decided to start drinking water instead of pop or Kool-aid and has been surprised just that alone has stopped his nightly bathroom visits.  He doesn’t know if it is the sugar or what is the cause but he is happy since he is getting uninterrupted sleep.

I have been making weekly visits to the chiropractor and am doing much better.  I returned to Sam’s Club for their monthly health check up and had my ears checked.  The gal who tested me was really nice and said she did not recommend hearing aids at this time but to be mindful and check every 6 months or so.

March 16 we met at Outback Steakhouse for Colby’s 25th birthday.  We had a great evening and spent three hours eating and laughing.

Larry has been busy with his ‘projects’ and getting things prepared to leave in May.  He had listed many items on Craig’s List and so far has sold three items for almost $1000  which helps the pocketbook at lot!  He put a skirt (made from our old slide out awnings) around our storage trailer (we use it as a shed), fiberglassed the cracks around the battery door and put a stainless steel reinforcement over them and extended it along the sides of the door and is still working on his drill press stand.  He is trying to make it fold down so we can take it with us but it is a trial and error thing at this point.

The weather has been warm though out March and really nice but a dust storm blew in from the south a few days ago and it has been windy ever since.  I have had to put the awnings in so they  will last as the wind really tears them up.  Fortunately we have not had the 50 mph winds that northern AZ has had.

                 

Larry working on the stainless steel reinforcement around the battery door

                                

The finished product

RAIN!

After 70 days with no rain, March 1 came in like a lion with a heavy downpour off and on all day long, starting in the early morning hours and ending late.  Because of the heavy downpour, we had no internet service since we are on satellite and it even affected our TV signal, causing it to 'stop' mid picture.

The 3rd of February we had an appointment with Mercedes Benz of Scottsdale to get the bluetooth Larry bought from Smart installed at their expense OR they would refund our money.  We had a loaner car and went to the Apple store where I had another lesson.  When we returned the bluetooth was working and has been fine since.  Larry had an appointment at the VA so he wouldn't 'fall through the cracks' and did his labs a few days before.  As a result, he has a heart monitor that he has been wearing for a little over a week now and will finish up Mar 6.  He has had a few "incidents" and hopefully they will be able to figure out what is going on.  I went to Sam's Club for their free health clinic and again found my cholesterol is still extremely high.

Larry took the BMW for its 6,000 miles 'check up' and everything looks fine.  They did mention the tires are five years old and starting to crack so that is something Larry is checking out.  I think he will wait until we get to OR since they have no sales tax and when spending big bucks, saving on the tax is a nice help.  We are planning on buying eight tires for the MH when we get to K Falls under the FMCA Michelin Advantage program which will save around a thousand dollars when you add the tax to the nice savings from FMCA.

I have done two non restaurant shops this month which means I did them alone.  They were easy and fun and I don't mind the little extra dollars.

The Smart in the trailer

The new wheel on the drill press

Larry was able to get the car in the trailer but he still has more adjusting to do before we leave in May.  He also worked on the stress cracks in the fiberglass around the battery door.  He plans to put stainless steel across the top to reinforce it.  He also worked on his drill press some more by putting another wheel on it and making it fold.

We ended February by doing something we have never done before--we went to see a new movie on opening day.  We went to the matinee showing of "Son of God".  We were a little disappointed as it was not completely true to scripture.  It was well done and it was nice seeing it on the "big" screen.  It has been a year since we last went to a movie and the last one before that was "The Passion of the Christ" in 2005 or 6.  We were in San Diego and we have not been to CA in a long, long time.

Larry repairing the fiberglass on the battery door

ALB disease

We didn't do anything for the New Year which is usual for us. On the 2^nd of January we went to Chompie's with Dawn, Vince and Bethany. Friday the 3^rd our buyer came up from Vail to take the CRZ home so we  now can drive the Smart.

 We have had it two months and have less than 300 miles on it. 

Dawn and Bethany at Sweet Tomatoes

                                        

Vince and Dawn for her birthday

                                 

Colby and Krista at Sweet Tomatoes

                   

Us at Sweet Tomatoes for Dawn's birthday

        

I baked an angel cake for Dawn's birthday and we met them on Saturday at Sweet Tomatoes. We had a fun evening with lots of laughs.

We like to move the MH fairly often when we stay in one place for any amount of time and the 7^th was our day. We planned to make a big loop around Phoenix to get 50+ miles on the coach. We had not gone too far on the 101 when two different folks signaled us we had a problem and we discovered one of our bay doors was open. Since we were in the HOV lane, we pulled as far left as possible so I could get out and shut the bay door which was sticking out on the passenger's side. Just before I could get it shut, a truck came zipping along and clipped the door, breaking his side mirror. I jumped out of the way and was not hurt but it could have been much worse! The bay door has a small ding but when it is shut, it is not noticeable. The guy in the truck wanted us to pay for his mirror so he called DPS. No tickets were issued and two hours later we were back on the road. Not the best day we've had.

The 11^th of January Larry was experiencing chest pains so we went to the VA emergency room and they ended up keeping him for the night. They gave him nitro to take if he needed it again. He took a nuclear stress test and they found nothing unusual. He has had several 'incidents' since then but they go away. His primary care doctor retired Jan 1 so he has no one to follow up with him. He talked to the nurse yesterday because he doesn't want to 'fall through the cracks' until a new PC doctor can be found for him (and lots of other veterans). I've had some abdominal pain that cannot be traced to anything as I've been to two specialists now. Since we both are experiencing symptoms with “no apparent cause” Larry is calling it ALB disease, that's “a lota birthdays” disease.

Larry has been making the Smart Car "his” by adding a new exhaust, bluetooth, armrest, cruise control and a scan gauge that shows second by second mileage, rpms, temperature,  etc.

Showing the new arm rest in the Smart, even putting yellow stripping on it!

I did only one shop this month at a new to us Mongolian Grill and we really enjoyed ourselves. The staff were one of the friendlist we have ever encountered.

Dawn and family took us out to Red Lobster's January 26 for my birthday. She baked a cake and managed to sneak it in without me even knowing, even though we entered at the same time!

the 'girls' at Red Lobster

Great picture of Larry and Dawn at Red Lobster

Colby and Krista enjoying themselves, Krista wondering what she has gotten herself into!

       

Having fun with the yummy cake, trying to put candles on it

 

 

 

Vince and Larry at Red Lobster

After four years of frustration with my PC and Larry always responding with “1-800-buy-a-Mac”, I broke down and bought a MacBook. It will take some getting used to it but I think I will like it. I've had one training session and have another one scheduled in a week. It has a lot of features that are really neat, like dictation and maps, directions and simple drag and drop that works!

Mercedes Benz is going to work on our Smart Car on Monday for free and provide us with a loaner car to get the bluetooth working that they sold us that does not have power to it. Something is wrong with the system and they need to figure out how to make it work before they sell any more systems. Guess we are the guinea pigs.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!

  

              The old TV cabinet that Larry took out

Larry finished working on the bedroom TV and it looks really awesome! I still tend to 'duck' when I walk by the end of the bed but I'm sure in time I will stop doing that. Ten years of 'ducking' is hard to break. 

The bedroom cabinets minus the doors showing all the wiring behind the TV 

                    The finished product, looks like it was made that way

 December 6 Stacy from Awnings R Us spent the afternoon replacing all our awnings and changing out our slide out awnings and new hardware. We are very happy with them and the wait was worth it.   

                     Stacy putting the last awning up

 The new slide out covers, smaller, closer to the slide.  Also they are black where the old covers were aluminum color





As soon as the awnings were installed we called Todd from McGraw's Detailing and set up an appointment for him to wash and wax the coach. It took an entire day and the coach looks like new. He also compounded the roof to stop the oxidation. It has been several years since we last had it hand waxed so it was in need of some TLC.

We both had doctor appointments, Larry to the VA for re-evaluation and I had my annual mammogram and checkup.

I did two different pizza shops and a burger shop as well as a shooting range shop. Larry likes accompanying me especially on the shooting range shops.

We had Christmas with the family at our granddaughter's house later in the afternoon so everyone could have time with the 'other' side of the family first. We had a fun time with family and didn't get back home until almost 10 PM. 

New dad, Shane, great-grandpa Larry, grandpa Todd holding Millie at our Christmas get together   

The Christmas gang, front l to r, Bethany on arm, Sarah, LaTia's mom, Larry, Ellen, Shane, Katrina, Millie's mom
Back l to r, Alex, Colby, Dawn on arm, Krista ,Colby's girlfriend, Ceret holding Millie, Todd, Caresse, LaTia's sister, Sabastian, Katrina's son, LaTia, Vince

We ended the year 2013 on a very happy note as we sold the CRZ in the afternoon of the 31^st and then went to a Marty Goetz concert in Scottsdale. It was a great way to bring in the new year.

Keepin' Busy

We had a 'Welcome Back' dinner and entertainment at the clubhouse on Sat. November 2.   On Monday November 4 we picked up our new Smart car in Chandler and stopped to see Todd and his family before heading back home. We also stopped at Camping World and bought a new water softener among other RV essentials.  I had a delivery shop that evening which was nice, getting paid to have pizza delivered!   Larry hooked up the new water softener which is twice the size of our old one and what a difference! Our old one was nine years old and the resin in it was shot and each 'recharge' lasted about one day. We have gone four weeks now and the water is still soft. 

                                                Our new Smart car

On Veterans' Day we went to Golden Corral with Dawn, Vince and Bethany so the fellows could have a free meal. The place was packed and the food was really good. They have three different 'flowing fountains' of chocolate, caramel and white chocolate now although I did not try any except the chocolate which they had before.

On the 14^th we went to Scottsdale where I did another shop and we visited the Goodwill Store since we arrived too early for the shop.   It was meant to be as we found two different plastic boxes the right size to replace old ones where the new water softener goes and they cost $1.68 together. Such a deal!

I did another mystery shop on the 18^th and on the 20^th the awning fellow came out to replace the awnings, only they didn't get replaced.   First he forgot to bring the new hardware for the slide out awnings (we are upgrading them since insurance is paying for the fabric) and then Larry discovered the color wasn't right.   We were going to go with the color he brought since we were changing all the awnings until we discovered the slide out covers were the right color and then two awnings were the wrong size so we still don't have awnings.   He is supposed to return the end of the first week in December hopefully with everything right this time.

                      Stacy from Awnings R Us working on a window awning

Larry has been busy installing a louder horn in the new car, putting wheels and a stand on his drill press so it will be easier to use and now he is installing a new TV in the bedroom. The old TV stuck out in the walkway at the end of the bed and I was always bumping my head on the darn thing.  An added bonus was we lost 45 lbs as the old TV weighed 60 lbs and the new one weighs 17 lbs plus there was the weight of the cabinet around the old TV. It is not finished yet so pictures will be next month.

 Larry installing a louder horn in the Smart.  He had to take all the front and side panels off to get to the horn.

                             The stand for the drill press which Larry welded

                                                         

                                 Getting the wheels ready for the drill press stand

The park had their Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday November 23 and we had 86 folks attend.  Our family Thanksgiving was in the clubhouse on Thanksgiving and we had a great time. It was the first time for us to see our great granddaughter, Milly. She is three months old and a really good baby. She didn't cry and she didn't sleep all afternoon, just smiled and entertained herself, the kind of baby everyone dreams of having.

                                          Enjoying our Thanksgiving feast

                             

                      The newest member of the family, Millianna, "Milly" Clark

We're Back!

Friday, Oct 4 we left Happy Jack and drove 60 miles down to the TTN Verde Valley Preserve in Cottonwood, AZ (going from 7000 ft to 3400 ft). This is our home park and one of my favorites. Saturday morning we had some excitement as someone who left put hot coals from their fire pit in the dumpster and it caught fire! Rvers are very savvy and resourceful and brought out a hose and buckets and had the fire under control long before the fire dept arrived. A few days later the park had a water main break and we had no water for three days. Good thing those two things didn't happen the same day! We were fine as we always carry water in our holding tank as we have had similar problems in the past and learned from experience to always carry water.

Larry replaced the door handle on the bathroom door with flat ring pulls after again catching his pant loop on the old handle and about tearing it off (the pant loop that is). We have a very narrow “hallway” and he had to walk sideways down it to avoid hitting the old handle so now walking down the 'hall' is easier. It is something he has talked about doing for a number of years.

The new pull ring on the bathroom door so we won't "catch" on the handle anymore.

We enjoyed our favorite Chinese buffet three times while in Cottonwood and I visited Dr. St George three times and my back is doing much better. We also enjoyed “the Hired Hands” twice as they are performing weekly now at Verde Valley. We met a couple from CA who sold their home, Dad quit his job and they are taking their four children on an extended trip across the US. Mom is home schooling the children (ages 12-8). They are two months into their “adventure” and learning a lot about Rving. It was very refreshing to see this family especially since the children were so well mannered.

                                  Our site at Verde Valley in Cottonwood, AZ

We arrived back to our leased site in Phoenix on October 25 and got set up for a long stay. Saturday evening we went to the park monthly dinner. Sunday after church we went to the State Fair with Dawn, Vince, Bethany and her friend, Makayla and met Colby and his new girlfriend, Krista. We were celebrating Bethany passing her beautician certification and Colby getting a new job. We went to the coliseum to see Jerry Lewis. It has been a long time since I've seen/heard him and I had forgotten how stuck on himself he is, much like Jim Carey of today. It was fun to see clips from his long career. He is 86 now and sat down for the whole show.

                                                At the AZ State Fair

                             Us eating fattening fair food and enjoying every minute

We have had the awning fellow come out for an estimate and the awning material has been ordered so we will soon have the awnings repaired—yeah!

I also have done a mystery shop at a new restaurant for us. It is fun to try new places and get paid to eat.  We are back in the swing of things in Phoenix.

Back in AZ

Sept. started out with more rain and the hail protector that Larry ordered  arrived and we put it on the car to try it out.

Then the rain REALLY came and it rained for four days and nights continually. I thought of Noah and how he must have felt only he had rain for ten times as many days and nights! Fortunately we did not have the flooding at Bonita Park like much of NM had and CO had. For awhile we wondered if it would stop raining long enough for us to leave as the curve at the bottom of the hill where the flash floods happened three times needed to dry out so we could make the turn. (PTL the rain stopped and the winds came and dried up the curve just before we left!)

Somehow I hurt my back and ended up going to a chiro in Ruidoso three times before we left. I am still struggling with it but it is much better. I am looking forward to visiting Dr St George (a chiro) in Cottonwood who is excellent, so I can be 100% again.

Larry had several items the camp wanted fixed before we left so he was busy 'fixing'. Since the kids are back in school, the camp had guests on the weekend only so that left us with all week to do other things.

On the 19^th of September we were finally able to take a trip to White Sands National Monument. We decided to take the car because of my back and it is a good thing we did because we ran into a dust storm and rain. On the way home we saw a beautiful rainbow very low to the ground.

The white sand looks like snow and they use a plow to clear the road when the wind blows the sand over it, just like snow. We had lunch in one of the picnic areas and walked on the interdune boardwalk to see more of the 'dunes'.

The Sunday before we left the church had a Potluck after the service to celebrate Sukkot and that gave us a good chance to say 'good-bye' to the many wonderful folks we have met over the summer.

    Our lunch stop at White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, NM

The day before we left was beautiful so we took a bike ride to see Bonito Lake (now after 19 inches of rain, running over the spillway) and again made the loop up SR 37 to US 380 to Capitan and back down SR 48. We stopped to say 'good-bye' to Claudia who had knee surgery the previous Wednesday and wasn't able to make it to church Sunday.

We left Bonita Park on Wednesday September 25 and had a nice easy trip to Grants, NM. On Thursday the 26 we took the bike to visit El Morro National Monument.

                                  El Morro National Monument, Ramah, NM

             The pool of ever present water that brought folks here

                                                  The oldest date we saw

What a wonderful historical find in the middle of the desert! There is water year round (which has been the attraction for centuries) and Inscription Rock has sayings and signatures dating back to the 1600's. We had thought about visiting the Ice Caves and Bandera Volcano but decided not to since the cost was $10 each and we would have to walk the two and a half miles to see them both. We would have run out of time and not been able to see El Morro which was a real gem and free. We were quite elated to get 61.2 mpg even with very windy conditions.

We arrived at Happy Jack, AZ around 1 PM Friday the 27 and that is where we are now. So far we have taken a bike ride each day visiting our favorite camping spots from the 80's and checking out new places. We rode to Mormon Lake which we had not seen before and only found a pond so it was quite disappointing. I know AZ has been in drought conditions for several years and it was quite evident at Mormon 'Lake' . The night time lows have been below freezing so we have left our water disconnected but the day time temperatures have been in the high 60's to low 70's, just right for afternoon rides in the area. God made Himself very evident on Monday afternoon Sept 30. We took a ride to Blue Ridge Reservoir which is down a very steep hill with no cell service.

                                   Blue Ridge Reservoir near Happy Jack, AZ

 Where we stopped when Larry had his problem.  I walked to the curve and beyond at      the top of the hill.

 As we started back up Larry had trouble breathing so stopped to rest. His heartbeat was 182 bpm, way too high. After 45 minutes of being unable to get it to slow, I started walking up the hill to try to get cell service and help. I was praying as I walked and asked God to send someone who could ride the BMW out. Almost immediately I heard a vehicle coming, the only vehicle we saw in the nine mile round trip to the reservoir, AND he owns several motorcycles and even races them!  He ended up riding the bike and we took his truck back to our campground.   My jacket fit him so he didn't get too cold since he was wearing shorts.   

                                          Our rescuer and one of his dogs

 Larry quickly took his medication (which he didn't have with him) and is doing much better although he is exhausted from his heart racing so fast for so long. Guess we will stay put for the next day at least. We are praising the Lord for His protection and provision!