Finally....

....I'm back. As I looked at the date of my last entry I couldn't believe how long it has been! I hope you will all hang with me and I promise to do better. Having returned to our 'home town' it seems we just got busy and then with all the coming and going I kept putting this off. So. With that said, here we are!

 We came home from Arizona a couple weeks early because Luke was having surgery. As soon as he was up and about we whisked him away and headed to Colorado. We spent three weeks there visiting with David and Sarah and little Jax who had just turned two.

While we were there Mandy flew out to see her little mister and we all went camping.

We had a wonderful visit. As usual it was way too soon and we needed to be heading home.

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We stopped and spent the night in Elko, NV with my brother Don...probably one of the highlights for Luke was getting to drive Uncle Don's tractor. He was in hog heaven! Uncle Don scored some major points with this little man.

We got home in June and then began looking forward to our annual Fourth of July Celebration with Laura and her family. 

Yes, they are three of the most precious, beautiful girls ever. Inside and out. It's hard to believe the twins are in their last year of high school and Abbey is just going into high school.

Our annual 'swimming' photo! Me with my two beautiful girls.

Amanda...always ready for the camera!

Chris and Laura...Chris had his weight-loss surgery in February and is doing awesome. We are so proud of him and he looks great!

We capped off the day by going to the fair grounds and watching fireworks!

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After the 4th we headed to Oceanside to spend some time with Darren and his family.  Our first stop though was Idyllwild, CA. What a wonderful place this was to camp.  Of course Luke was always right there, eager to help Papa with whatever task was at hand!

We relaxed for a few days and Mike taught Luke to fish. Luke was thrilled!

It was a beautiful place and we will definitely be returning at a future date.

I'm not sure Webster is ever going to adjust to this traveling from place to place. About the time he thinks we are settled again we throw him a curve!
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Once we arrived in Oceanside we got settled at Lake O'Neill on Camp Pendleton, and then proceeded to go non-stop for several days. It was a great time for Luke and his cousins Dj & Jared to spend time together. Mike and I were so blessed to have a lot of time with Holly. Darren worked during the week but she had just resigned her commission in June and was not yet working.

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When we left Oceanside after our visit with Dare and his family we planned on 10 days in Yosemite.
We stayed at a park about 5 miles from the north west entrance. We spent the first couple days kind of low keyed waiting for Mandy to show up, spend the weekend, head home with Luke, and then Mike and I were going to have the week just exploring Yosemite on our own. Oh, the best laid plans......

We had a beautiful camp spot....

El Capitan....spectacular....

We had one day with Mandy at the park, and then......

....a wildfire closed the entrance. Ugh. Without driving 2 1/2 hours to the other entrance we were shut out. Mandy stayed until Monday and then headed home. Mike and I were not able to go back in for the rest of the week. We did a lot of sight seeing in the surrounding area and promised ourselves we would return.

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

Our last night, I was able to capture this sunset. A lot of the area was burned from a wildfire a year ago. This was the sun through a burned out area.

Now we get to August....Luke is in school and Mike and I are on the road again.
Our first stop is Alturas to visit my brother. Then we will head over to Eureka, and then on up into Oregon. I promise my postings will not be so few and far between.

Again, please click on the photos to see them full sized, and thank you for stopping by!

Continuing On....

   I finished my update last week by saying that we had visited a dentist in Los Algodones and weren't too happy all the way around, and then we made appointments with another dentist.
   When we arrived here at Sani-Dental last Tuesday morning we registered, and then waited a bit.

After about a thirty minute wait we were told we first needed to go down the street and get some panoramic x-rays. So the little gal that was mopping the floor set her mop aside, grabbed our papers and took us a couple blocks away to get our teeth x-rayed. 

I snapped her pic while we were walking...Lol! I wanted to catalog the events of the day! After having our x-rays completed we headed back. The guy that ran the little outdoor restaurant next door grabbed our x-rays and took us back. Again, I had my iPhone ready for pics!

   On a side note, while we were waiting to have our x-rays taken a guy sitting next to Mike struck up a conversation. I busied myself looking the other way. I didn't feel it was appropriate to take a pic this time but as he was raving about what an excellent place Sani-Dental is and what great dentist's they have I glanced and looked to see that half of his teeth were missing! NOT good advertisement. In their defense though...I am sure it was his lack of dental hygiene or possible gum disease that was the culprit.

So we went back and were told that 'in a few minutes' we would be called in, so we asked if we could run next door to grab a bite since we overheard someone talking about the great fish taco's! Well we had a pretty good lunch...and while we were, eating a street vendor and his daughter came in and tried (and succeeded) in selling us some bracelets they were making. We waited while they made them and then headed back to the dentist.

They were super nice people though they spoke almost no English. I wanted to pay the full $5.00 each but Mike said no, they want us to dicker. Really??? I mean they really would have complained if we paid full price??? So we wound up paying $4.00 for 2.

Once back inside we were told it would be a few minutes before we saw the dentist.  

It's after three and here we wait.

We finally realized after four o'clock and we still had not been seen that this was going to be a no go. They told us that some day's the dentist will work until ten o'clock. I did go in and have the technician start the impressions in my mouth but after what felt like I was choking to death I sprang up out of the chair and started pulling the stuff out of my mouth. The technician spoke zero English. Zip nada. He laid me back, got the rest of the stuff out and started coating the inside of my mouth with some sort of numbing agent. Now I REALLY felt panicked and was sure I was choking. I swished and spit and he put alcohol on a piece of gauze for me to breathe! Him and I along with his male assistant were trying to communicate what the problem was and we did NOT communicate well. The assistant imitated snoring to try to let me know that when I was laid back my throat was closed like it is when you snore. (He could not think of the word. Thankfully I could so charade's didn't last long). Really?

So to make a long story short after much mis-communication I said, I am out of here and I left. Mike was also put on hold that afternoon and the following morning after getting there bright and early and he said let's go somewhere else. 

We made new appointments with Dr. Eva Urena who we got a personal recommendation about, at a different office. In fact as I type this Mike just called me...he is in Los Algodones, had his root canal done today and was super impressed with the facility and the dentist. We both go again to Los Algodones next week to get our work completed. When we made our appointments we were once again filled with hope that we might possibly get this dental work done and at a reasonable price.

 This is the new place that we will be going to and the place Mike went to today! He said it really is a first class operation!

While I took this pic I was sitting at a wonderful coffee bar right out front sipping a iced latte! This area is gated so the vendor's cannot come in and harass the public. Let me say too that the vendor's can be annoying because you cannot go anywhere without them trying to sell you something. When we were waiting in line for two hours on Tuesday to get back across the border and were bombarded by many many people trying to sell us 'stuff' I got a new look at what it must be like to walk in their shoes. There were women my age, young men my son's ages, young women with little tiny kids the same ages as my daughter's...grandmother's with little one's strapped on their backs, all trying to make a living. It was very, very humbling. They had no control over where they were born, we had no control over where we were born. Looking at them I understand more now why they try to come to this country no matter what the cost to have a better life. Sadly many of the people in line with us treated them with total disdain and talked to them like they were less than human. You know those men have pride! You know they don't like it that they have to make a living by begging! You know they look at us American's and wish they had our life! Sad. Very sad indeed. I hope and pray that it changed me for the better. Okay I'll get off my band wagon!! :O)

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After we got home we had plans to head up to Scottsdale to take in a S.F. Giant's spring training day. We went yesterday and it was a wonderful day! The weather could not have been better and I was in great company!!

                               

The first thing Mike did was send me to the Dugout Store to buy a hat...otherwise I was looking at a serious sunburn by the time we left. Thank's babe!

Then we settled down to watch the Giant's receive a good butt whoopin' from the San Diego Padres! The Scottsdale Stadium is beautiful...located right downtown Scottsdale. I know where I want to sit next time we come:

Here! Just lounging on a blanket!

 We did leave before the game was entirely over because it got so hot...who knew it was winter!

Then we headed to the RnR Restaurant for a quick dinner before heading back to Florence. Our meal was delicious!

Definitely a place we would go back to.

On the way home just to cap the day off I looked off to the west and this is what I saw:

Of course I had Mike pull over and I grabbed my camera out. It was a great way to end the day!

As always, be sure to click the pictures to see them full-sized. Until next time...Blessings to you and your family.

4 Months Under Our Belt...

   It's hard to believe that we already have four months under our belts here at Desert Gardens RV, and in just about 6 weeks we will be with family once again! Our first experience with workamping has been amazing! What a wonderful place to spend the winter!
   The highlight for us during the month of February was the chance to take care of and spend time with our precious little grandson Jaxon for several days while his mom and dad took their long delayed and much anticipated honey-moon. They have been married 5 years as of February 14th so they booked a cruise to Mexico and dropped the little man off with us here in Arizona on their way. What a delight he was, and everyone that had a chance to meet him here at the park fell in love with him!

 He kept us on our toes and was so full of life!

 Such a happy, happy little mister....

 To say he loves his Papa is an understatement, and Papa loves his little Jax!

He got to meet Jeff and Stella, and with the golf cart it was love at first sight. We could have put him out on that thing in the morning and gone back in the afternoon and he would have still been there. He LOVED it!

 By the time it was bathtime or dinner time that little fellow was pooped! He was a great little sleeper and such a little love.

Yep, it was such a privilege to have Jax for more than a week. We are looking forward to the time this summer when we get to go out to Colorado and spend some more time with him and his mom and daddy!

During the time Jax was here we took a drive down to Tucson to the Arizona Desert Museum.  It did not take us long to realize that a two year old was not the least bit interested in a museum! What are we, newbie's??? We were there about four hours and I snapped a few photos and then we left with the definite intention of coming back again before we head home. It was really an awesome place!

 There are trails throughout the Desert Museum where wild life can be seen as well as every plant that is found in the desert.

 Flowers were just beginning to bloom....

 Cactus Wren

 Great Horned Owl

 ...and what a beauty he was!

 Loved the skunks...

 Grey Fox

 Ferruginous Hawk

 What a beautiful bird!

 

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As the month of February was winding down we took a short trip to the town of Yuma...I have always had a special place in my heart for Yuma because our son David was stationed there while in the Marine Corp. One of the most amazing places that I discovered while visiting him there was the West Wetland Park which is also home to the Ed Pastor Hummingbird Garden. I have such a love for these little creatures and absolutely love photographing them. Whenever we are in Yuma I spend as much time as I possibly can visiting the garden. This trip I was only there for a couple hours but managed to snap a few shots. Be sure to click on the photos for a larger view!

While I felt so fortunate to indulge in a bit of photography we really went down to Yuma to make a trip across the border to Los Algodones to see a dentist and get some work done our teeth. We no longer have dental insurance and Mike knew for sure that he needed a root canal and a crown since he recently had a crown break. Well we definitely got a bit of an education on how the system works down there. Bottom line, we did not go with the original dentist we made appointments with and have re-scheduled to return in two weeks. We did not like how disorganized the first place was and they really didn't seem to know what they were doing. After spending an entire day in the waiting room 'waiting', a two hour wait in line to get back through customs and across the border, and then returning the following morning to only find ourselves waiting some more, we decided to move on and go to someone that we have heard personal recommendations about. So we will be back and then I will be back here to report on how it went! By then March will be half over and we will be that much closer to heading home to Plumas Lake for a bit!