12-7-08 Celebrating Jadyn & Nevaeh's B-day

Hello again,
Since Kristina was away overseas, we waited until she came home before celebrating Jadyn's 4th and Nevaeh's 3rd B-day. So we celebrated both b-days on December 7th. They both had a great time and loved their gifts, consisting of books, backpacks, dolls, dress-up clothes, a punch ball, boots, bath toys and more. Check out the pictures below.

12-4 to 12-23, 2008 Benson, AZ

Happy Holidays everyone,
While we were staying at Valley Vista RV Park in Benson, AZ, we visited with friends and family in Tucson. I had so much fun decorating our new home for Christmas. Even though there was a lot of wind and some cool temperatures, I'm glad we weren't on the Oregon Coast while they were having those winter storms! Hope you all stayed warm this season. Enjoy the photos with more to come, so keep checking back!

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!
We had a wonderful time in Tucson filled with good food and good company! Just look at all the smiling faces below!

11-15-08 visiting with grandkids Jadyn & Nevaeh

Hello again,
We made it to Tucson! Actually we were staying in a casita at St. David WHR RV Resort while our home and truck were being worked on. During that time, we were able to visit with our grandkids and had a blast (as you can see from the pictures below). We played at McDonalds and then had piggy back races at Papa's house! Whew...those kids sure have tons of energy! There will be more from Tucson, so keep posted. In the meantime, have fun with the slideshows!

11-6 to 11-9, 2008 Ridgecrest, CA

It's about time we visited with Ma! We took her to lunch to celebrate her belated birthday and had a great time visiting. Sorry we didn't have much time, but needed to be in Tucson to take care of our truck and home. Glad we were able to help her out with some herbs to get her healthy. Love you, Ma!

10-25 to 11-5, 2008 Redding, CA

Hi everyone,
I know, I know, it's been a while and I'm sorry to keep you waiting. We've been very busy visiting with family lately so I'll have to backtrack a little to get you caught up:

We were sad to say goodbye to the Oregon coast, but we knew we had to move on. Our next stop was Redding, CA were we stayed at the Bear Mountain RV Park so we could visit with our grandson, Sebastian. We toured Turtle Bay, where they had a fabulous display on geckos! Sebastian showed us how smart he was by naming the animals we would see along the way and demonstrating the various gadgets (as you can see from the photos below). Then came Halloween where he was appropriately dressed as a monkey and he loved acting out the part! Then we celebrated his birthday along with his cousin. Lana made a wonderful bee cake and Sebastian opened tons of cool presents, especially the books that grandpa and grandma gave him (tee hee). We enjoyed visiting with Jake, Lana and Sebastian, but had to move on to visit with Brad's mom. Enjoy the photos (click on the picture and you'll be taken to the website where you can see the photos displayed in a slideshow format).

10-22 to 10-25, 2008 Brookings, OR

We decided to stop about halfway before visiting with family at the last stop along the Oregon coast (we can't get enough of it!) in Brookings, OR. We stayed at Harris Beach State park, right on the beach. We hated to leave, so we stayed for 3 days! Enjoy the pictures.

10-8 to 10-22, 2008 Newport, OR

Hello,
Here is a look at our favorite place so far...the Oregon coast! We stayed at a place called Whaler's Rest RV Resort. We absolutely loved it here and was very sad to leave. While we were here, we visited with Stacey's cousins as well as Brad's son. We loved every aspec, from the lighthouses, to the beaches, to the quaint little village nestled near the harbor. Although our time was brief this summer, we look forward to a much longer stay next summer as we REALLY enjoyed it here. Enjoy the pictures.

9-26 to 10-8, 2008 Ocean Shores, WA

More on the WA beaches,
We are now at the Western Horizon Resorts, Ocean Shores RV Resort in Ocean Shores, WA. We stayed here for 2 weeks of rain, waves and beautiful greenery at the park. It's so peaceful and secluded here. I am actually wearing sweatshirts (something that I didn't get a chance to do much of in AZ)! Next we visit with family in Oregon. Keep watching for more updates! Enjoy the pictures.

9-19 to 9-26, 2008 Ocean Mist RV park

How is everyone?
Us, we are doing great on the coast of Washington. We stayed right on the beach (well, there was a short access trail to actually get to the water, but it was worth it) at Ocean Mist RV park in Ocean City, WA. We strolled out on the beaches and even drove the truck onto the beach as well (although Stacey freaked when the sand got a little soft so we didn't do that too much). The pictures speak for themselves! Especially the sunset!

NOTE: the landmarks let you know how to get back to the RV park after strolling the beach and are made of trash that finds its way onto the beach.

9-5 to 9-19, 2008 Tall Chief RV Fall City, WA

Hi all, with a special shout out to all my peeps at F-Dub!
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Tall Chief RV Resort in Fall City, WA. We even made a couple of friends, as you can see from the photos (it helps when you can bribe them with nuts!) Rocky (yes, we named them also) even came into our house to get fed (notice Brad's feet, that's how close Rocky came to us).

Of course, we also did more geocaching (I probalby won't be putting many pictures up as that ruins the mystery for others who wish to look for the caches). We are having soooooo much fun with it! If you love mysteries, solving puzzles/riddles, and sharing with others, I highly recommend geocaching! Enjoy the photos.

9-4-08 Geocaching in Kettle Falls, WA

Hello,
During the week of 8-29 to 9-5, we stayed at the Panorama RV Park in Kettle Falls, WA. The weather was nice and cool, especially compared to Tucson, AZ (hot enough for you down there at Flowing Wells?). While we were here, we checked out the local shops and discovered a hole in the wall metaphysical book store and music shop located in the basement of the old apple mill, commonly known as Kettle Falls Market (there's a picture of the front in the slideshow). If you are ever in this area, it's a must see! Tell the owner of Mystic River, Scott, that you learned about his shop from our blog! He'll get a kick out of it! We also made some great friends out of our neighbors in the park. You'll see some in the pictures below.

This one's for you, Greg! We can't thank you enough!

We did it, we bought a Garmin and went geocaching for the first time and it was amazing! We took some friends with us and had a wonderful time trudging through the forests to find hidden treasure. We found 2 out of 3 caches...not bad for our first time. We went to a couple places within 3 miles of our rv park, Meyer's Dam and St. Paul's Mission. We saw and learned some things we never would have if not for geocaching sending us to these places. Check out the pictures below.

8-15 to 8-29, 2008 Soap Lake, WA

I will post this now, even though we haven't left the park yet, just to give you an idea about where we are now. We are staying at Soap Lake RV Park in Soap Lake, WA. Soap Lake is a mineral lake where people come to "mud" themselves with the healing power of the mineral rich mud at the heart of the lake. Our RV park is located at the very North tip of the lake, as you can see in the picture. From here we drove to Moses Lake to visit with friends and shop as well as driving to Richland, WA to visit with Nell and the new grandbaby, Tyler, isn't he the cutest!! We also saw the laser light show on (yes, ON) the Grand Coulee Dam. It was beautiful and informative!

If we take any more interesting photos while we are here, we will update this blog to include those pictures. Enjoy the photos.

8-12-08 Selkirk Loop into Canada & eagle watching cruise

Hi again,
I know it's been a while, so I'll catch everyone up. We drove into Canada while we were staying in Newport, WA. It was called the Selkirk Loop. We even had to ride a ferry to cross Kootenay Lake in Canada. After the drive, we went on an eagle watching dinner cruise on Pend Oreille Lake in Sandpoint, ID. We saw a couple of eagles in the trees on Eagle Island (imagine that) and had the most wonderful dinner aboard the Shawnodese (yes, the same boat as before). Enjoy the pictures.

8-9 to 8-11, 2008 Old American Kampground

Our first stop in Washington was just over the Idaho border in Newport, WA. At the Old Amerikan Kampground. They have their very own party barge and we went on a cruise up the Pend Oreille river (one of only a couple of rivers that flow North). On the river we saw blue heron, osprey, eagles and some other birds that start with a "c" (at least that's what the others in the boat were talking about), like the one that's sitting on the log. We also drove to Sandpoint, Cour D'Alene, and Bonners Ferry while we were there. Enjoy the pictures.

8-7-08 Our 10th Anniversary

For our 10th anniversary, we went on a history cruise around Pend Oreille (pond-or-ray) lake in Sandpoint, ID on board the shawnodese. We learned a lot and had a blast. We saw both osprey and bald eagles. While we traveled around the lake, we saw some amazing houses as you can see from the pictures below.

After that, we went to see the latest Mummy movie and had a plaque designed for our anniversary. We couldn't have asked for a better day! "I love you," said the butterfly to the moth! Enjoy the pictures.

7-31 to 8-4, 2008 Noxon, MT

Located central to all the beautiful spots in Montana, we stayed at the Cabinet Gorge RV park in Noxon, MT. From here, we visited: Noxon, Trout Creek, Thompson Falls, Libby, Bull Lake, Troy, Yaak and even went into Idaho to see Clark Fork, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry. Stacey's favorite highway in all the places she's seen is Hwy 56 where Bull Lake is located. So far Brad loves the road to Yaak but can't deny that Hwy 56 is a close second! It's sooooo green here with water everywhere. That's amazing to us, considering we came from Tucson, AZ! Enjoy the pictures.

7-28 to 30, 2008 Flathead Lake

Bigfork, Montana is located on the North end of Flathead lake. We stayed at the Outback Montana RV park in Bigfork. The park was beautiful and very peaceful as you can tell by the photos. While we were there, we drove all the way around Flathead lake, the largest fresh water lake in the West (about 27 miles long and 15 miles wide). For reference, Polson, MT is located on the South end of Flathead lake.

We also drove to Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Hungry Horse and Coram, MT. We are going to leave Glacier National Park for another trip. Each town has a charm of it's own and we have enjoyed them immensely. The water is beautiful, crisp and clear but a little too chilly for us to go swimming! I wish you all could taste these mouthwatering cherries being sold in small stands all along Flathead Lake, but you can enjoy the photos.

7-25 thru 27, 2008 Darby, MT

Hi all,
Here we are in Montana. Our first stop is Darby, where we stayed at the Travellers Rest Cabins and RV. As you can see from the pictures it is very green and tons of water everywhere! We have seen the usual deer and even a moose on our way to Missoula. The Bitterroot Valley is georgeous! The weather is perfect, we wear sweatshirts in the morning and t-shirts in the afternoon (that's for our Tucson friends)! tomorrow, we leave for Flathead Lake. Enjoy the pictures.

7-25-08 Craters of the Moon in Idaho

Our travels brought us right past the Crates of the Moon in Idaho. The landscape was beautiful, like nothing I have ever seen before! There are lava beds produced at different times to create various lava landscapes! Some are smooth, some are sharp, some are pitch black and others grey and covers many miles in Idaho. Some of the pictures were taken from a moving vehicle with the windows rolled up, so they are not too sharp, but I hope you enjoy them anyway. There was an RV park (as you can see from the pictures) but we did not stay there, we were too close to Montana to stop now! This is a must see on any tourists travels! Enjoy the pictures.

7-22-08 St. George, Utah

Hi everyone,
On our way to Montana, we stopped at a Western Horizon Resort in St. George, UT. Here are some of the pictures we took of the resort. We enjoyed our stay, but are anxious to get to Montana.

7-16-08 to 7-20-08 Camp Verde, Az

Hi all,
this is our Western Horizons home park in Camp Verde, AZ. We love it here. While we were here, we visited Sedona and Flagstaff. Last time we were here was during our spring break in March, so you will see a picture from that time frame in amongst the current ones (no need to see the same things twice just to get a picture)! The reason there is a picture of the casino is because just after a couple of games, Stacey won $120 and was able to keep it (because she didn't play any more games)! Brad was a hit during Karaoke at the park on Saturday night. Now we are on our way to Montana. Enjoy the pictures.

7-13-08 Albuquerque, NM

On the way back to Tucson from Colorado, we stopped at the Enchanted Trails RV park in Alququerque, NM. The best part was checking out the old tear drop trailers and cars that pulled them so long ago. They were beautiful! Enjoy the pictures.

7-8-08 thru 7-10-08 While In Colorado

We traveled to Colorado for a national conference in Broomfield. The weather was much cooler and rained a bit, but it was a wonderful change from Tucson! Parked at the Prospect RV park in Wheat Ridge, we saw bunnies aplenty and geese and ducks enjoyed the pond right behind our spot. While we were there, we were able to take some time to sight see and visited Georgetown, Colorado. Below are some pictures from our visit. For more pictures, you can also visit the website: www.aeopa.org and check out the photos to find more pictures from the 2008 NAEOP Conference. Enjoy the pictures.

7-8-08 Banjo Billy's Bus Tour of Celestial Seasonings and Boulder, Colorado

On the Fourth of July we stopped by Tucson to pick up a very dear friend, Susan to take her to the NAEOP national conference in Broomfield, Colorado. We signed up for a tour on Banjo Billy's bus to take us to visit Celestial Seasonings as well as a ghost story and history tour of Boulder, Colorado. There were two buses to take 42 of us on the tour. As you can see from the pictures, the buses were amazing! It was the best tour we had ever been on. Our driver, and owner, John was very knowledgible and funny; we learned a lot, but laughed more! If you are ever in Boulder, this tour is a MUST! Check out more by clicking on the following link for Banjo Billy's Bus Tour.

While we were in Boulder, we had a chance to eat lunch at a place called Crepe a la Carte. They had wonderful sandwiches made out of crepes, not to mention the wonderful dessert crepes! This has been a very memorable trip and we're glad we could share it with you. Enjoy the pictures!

6-25-08 Bisbee, Arizona

Seeing as how we were down in Southern Arizona, one of our stops had to be Bisbee, Arizona. It's amazing how the buildings are throughout the hills of this old mining town! If you ever get a chance to eat at the Copper Queen Hotel, make sure to save room for their amazing bread pudding with cinnamon crumb topping, it's to die for! Enjoy the photos.

6-23 thru 26-08 St. David RV Resort

During our two week stay in St. David, Arizona, we thought we would share our experiences at the resort with you. Enjoy the photos.

6-22-08 Tombstone, Arizona

We arrived in St. David, Arizona on June 20th. We enjoy feeding the ducks and geese that wander the park and love the two ponds. on the 22nd we drove to Sierra Vista to do the laundry and had to stop by Tombstone for old times sake. Enjoy the photos.

June 14-20, 2008 The first day of the rest of our lives

Without looking back, we headed out of Tucson, Arizona on June 14, 2008. Our first destination was Silver City, New Mexico to visit interesting sites in the area. The first stop was the Gila Cliff Dwellings in the Mimbres Valley. Along the tour, we were allowed into the 3rd room to view the dwellings from the inside. Next, we went to the Catwalk in Glenwood where we walked for 1.1 miles along and above the river. Some of the way was very hard going, but we made it to the top. Then we went to see the mining ghost town of Mogollon, it was like going back into the past! We also drove close to, but not into due to africanized bees, the City of Rocks. If you are ever in the area, these stops are well worth the visit! Enjoy the photos.