Christmas Greetings from Tony & Sharon

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

To all of you we were able to spend time with this year.....it was great. To all of you we were unable to see, we hope 2010 will make this possible. Of course, everyone of you are welcome to visit us in Moscow, Idaho....make a special trip or just stop by.

We posted a YouTube video of our Christmas room.....because we have a Christmas room and wish all of you could be here to enjoy it this Christmas season....and because Tony got an early Christmas present ~ a Sony camcorder!! You wouldn't believe the fun we had doing this. Tony's new camcorder has face recognition. When he first started filming, he had to start over because he was laughing so much when the camera zeroed in on the smiling faces of the chair covers (all six of these were made by sister-in-law Cindy Phillip). Another item in the room is the plaque "The Singleton's Christmas Room", a gift fron friends, Joyce & Jon. The fireplace you see is actually a TV set with a video running. Tony built the case around the TV to look like a real fireplace. The nativity set is a gift from my Grandmother Kelly (over 45 years old). Many of the items in the room are gifts from friends and relatives. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh1BbQW16XI is the YouTube web address. Click on the bottom right for HD viewing.

This is our Christmas letter for 2009, written by Tony.

Hi you guys and a Merry 2009 Christmas,

We’re here again in front of the computer trying hard to remember all the things we’ve done this past year and why we did them. The first three months we spent in Arizona as before, this got us away from the harsh Idaho winter and into the far warmer conditions near the Mexican border. Boon docking or dry camping, as its known, out in the desert for half of that time is rather nice especially with our own car and ATV and friends to go on long rides and adventures with. Having said that we had to be towed across the desert because our ATV broke down with serious transmission failure thus meaning a complete strip down when we get back home. But by the beginning of April it began to get too hot so back up North we came.

Sadly this year we made two long trips to Nebraska for two funerals of Sharon’s aunts Despite the sombre occasions it was really good to get to see some of her friends and relatives out there – her mother and all her three uncles and aunts are in their late 80’s and early 90’s and have been married 65 years or more.

I finally finished making an oak pedestal desk for our office, a project started last year in an attempt to hide away all the cables of the computer and printer. Then Sharon wanted something similar to match it but not quite so lavish – she now has an oak "skirt" round her desk which seems to fit the bill.

There was so much rain and snow here during the winter our back lawn was flooded when we came home. This coupled with the risk of our motor home sinking into the mire prompted us to get a friend to excavate a large area about 15 inches deep and fill it with aggregate so we could have a reliable place to park it. Then we opened up the workshop to create enough space for a medium sized centre lathe for me to "play on".

Sharon made preparations for family gatherings on Easter Sunday, Mothers’ Day and of course the 4th of July. On one of these events there were 28 people trying to sit round our 12-seater dining table. She continues to paint pictures, blog, crochet, and cross stitch. She convinced me to make her rails to hang on one of our hallway walls so her paintings could be displayed. The grandchildren are here often ~ which keeps her young.

When time permits we still love to go camping to our favourite Meadow Creek spot. I’m afraid swinging an axe to split our quota of winter logs is getting just a touch too difficult so we had to give in this year and buy some from one of our camping friends. I then made a mechanical log splitter.

We spent a really nice week with my cousin Linda and Mike up in Glacier National Park, Montana. Not to see the glaciers, they’ve all gone, but to see how they totally reshaped some of the mountains up there. On the way we visited a pottery shop, a coffee bean factory and a drive round a black bear park. Later in the year we drove out into the wilds of Idaho to a little place called Dixie from where we took a lengthy ATV ride down some 4000 feet to a remote area beside a swift river where they actually had a small sandy beach. People really lived down there and their only access was by small plane or ATV across a narrow bridge.

A week over Thanksgiving at Sharon’s brother’s homes in Riverton WY and Green River WY was a lot of fun and we were fortunate with the weather. We have a Christmas party planned here at home and one more small trip planned to Leavenworth WA for the Christmas lighting festivities with friends the week before Christmas. We look forward to visits from UK relatives next year after our return from being "snowbirds" in Arizona & California.

Retirement is still good to us but we’re all getting older so drink the good wine first!

Happy Christmas from Tony &
Merry Christmas from Sharon

2009 Spring & Summer

We have been unusually busy this year after returning home from our three months in Arizona and California and are headed out for another camping trip at Meadowcreek tomorrow.


Yesterday's trip....to the Silverwood Theme Park and Boulder Beach Waterpark with Jeanna and the grandkids, Caily & Cody. I survived (Tony didn't go on this day outing). It was Caily's 7th birthday....one neither one of us will ever forget. This picture was on the "Tremors" with Caily (a wooden roller coaster dropping over a hundred feet at 65 mph into a pitch dark underground tunnel in the first 30 seconds). Other rides we did were the Timber Terror, Panic Plunge, Ferris Wheel, Tilt-A-Whirl, and Paratrooper. At the water park we took in the Rumble Falls, winding through the lazy river on inner tubes, and the Polliwog Park (everyone gets wet here).
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Because our ATV "packed up" while we were in the California desert, that was the first job for Tony upon our return. After discovering 12 teeth missing on a cog on the ATV, he ordered the part, took everything apart, and we now have a very good running ATV. We took a day off and went ATVing with Penny & Arnie to check it out. First picture shows how the ATV looked torn completely apart.


Tony finished the desk he has been working on for nearly a year....it looks great in our office, but makes my desk look a little outdated.








The next job was a place to park the motorhome. With all the trouble getting the motorhome and trailer out of the drive with all the snow last winter, we decided to take a portion of the back yard beside the garage and make it into a parking pad for the motorhome.


Family events at our home were an Easter Brunch, Mother’s Day dinner, and the 4th of July week-end. Brother’s and their families (Ray, Bill, Jim, and Paul) as well as Mom & Bob and my son’s and their families (Dennis & Ken) were all a part of the festivities. Not all at the same time, but anywhere from 20 to 28 at each event. One picture we had taken at Hayley’s birthday party were the almost all grown up foursome (Cally & Casey ~ Dennis' two oldest; and Hayley & Geoffrey ~ Paul’s two) who used to spend a lot of time together in their younger years.

Our next endeavor was to put a recently purchased metal lathe into Tony’s extended workshop. Tony extended his workshop to include the back part of the garage to give him an "L" shaped workshop (6’ x 10’ ~ an extra 60 square feet of space). The metal lathe arrived with the delivery man wheeling it up to the garage and immediately leaving. With the ATV winch, Tony and I managed to get it into place. At this time, Tony said the bench was too high, so we had to reverse the process ~ raise up the lathe (1000 pounds) ~ move it over on another bench ~ lower the bench about six inches ~ and then get the lathe back into place.

We have done some camping up at Meadow Creek with friends this summer. We started out by getting a few logs with the help of Butch & Mary. Then Butch & Mary brought us a full pickup load. Next, we opted to buy a pickup load of logs from Mike Hash. We hope we have enough logs, which means we hope the winter will not be as severe as it has been for the past two winters.

A trip to Glacier in the motorhome with Linda (Tony's cousin) & Mike and their dog "Buddy" was an experience. Buddy was left in the back of Tony’s car once. As I was walking back to the car, I heard the alarm go off. Linda was already at the car, trying to open the door to get Buddy off of the front seat before Tony saw the dog in the front seat. Our first night before arriving at Glacier was spent in Lakeside, Montana at the Edgewater RV Park before heading to our final destination ~ the Glacier Meadow RV Park. Picture (from left to right) is of Tony, Sharon, Linda, Mike, and Buddy in the foreground.

And....a picture of Buddy in the car.

If you've ever seen Bear Spray - Beware. Tony's son, Neil from London, sent Tony some Bear Spray for Christmas. Because Tony had told his sons about his concern for running into bears in the woods, Neil decided to send him many things for Christmas relating to bears (Chicago cubs apron for grilling, bear bells that only work when you take them out of their bag, Chicago cubs socks, etc.) The Bear Spray is something Tony decided to check out on this trip. Evidently he thought it was a noise maker and shot it off in the motorhome while Linda and I were also in the motorhome. It took about two seconds for the odor to reach our noses and mouths. All three of us scrambled to get out the one motorhome door....and we were coughing for a very long time. We're not sure yet that it would deter a bear, but inside an enclosed space it will certainly get everyone out of the motorhome in a big hurry.

We took a tourist trip to Whitefish, Montana for a day to visit a coffee bean factory, a museum (picture is Linda and I having fun), and a pottery mill . The pottery mill was unusual in that it has an Anagama kiln that can hold approximately 1500 pots and takes about 24 hours to load

One ride around we found a broken bike in front of a cabin ~ name of the cabin was, of course, "The Broken Spoke Cabin". The same day we stopped at the Belton Chalet for a look around.

Animals in the wild, included goats on the side hills, which were a major attraction for tourists.

We saw what seemed like millions of birch trees around the area.

A trip through a bear park ~ Mike wanted us to not tell that it was a paid attraction. Their advertisement was "great bear adventure, your car is your cage".

The next month we took a trip to Dixie, Idaho (a very small town in the middle of Idaho known as the Idaho wilderness) with Linda & Mike and Butch & Mary. We rode ATVs a lot during the five days. Riding down to the Salmon River was quite an experience (more info available here).

The animals we saw consisted of the snake, cow in the road, and deer.

Our wagon train campsite was set up close to the road and close to all the trails we wanted to ride.

Geocaching, of course, was on the agenda at one spot (Tony and Mary shown here).

This a picture of one of the old mining shacks we found off the beaten track.

First picture is the sign before we began our descent down to the Salmon River. Bear grass was in full bloom...a plant that only grows at an elevation of above 4000 feet.

First picture is the view before we descended the long trail down to the Salmon River. Next picture is the bridge we used to cross the Salmon River. Just enough room for ATVs but not cars or trucks.

Grasshoppers were everywhere on the trip down to the "River of no Return" (even snapped a picture of one on Tony's shoulder before he realized it was there).

A fire from a couple of years ago......what a lot of burned "lodgepole pines"

We came upon what must be a hunter's camp....complete with skull left behind.

The "Code of the West" sign just shows how lucrative this area used to be.

An unusual site was a tree that must have been a favorite with the local woodpeckers.

On one of our ATV rides, Linda was trying to get a call out on her cell phone. Someone had told her ways it might work for her on a high mountain.....so here she is trying. It didn't work.

Our latest motorhome trip was to Nebraska and South Dakota for my Aunt Zetta’s funeral. The motorhome came in handy for an evening in the motel parking lot. Ended up with Ray & Judi, Dick, Bill, Jim, and cousin Dean and wife Becky spending several hours there the night before the funeral.

After the funeral we spent a few hours with friend Pam before going on to Alliance to cousin Judy & Larry’s ranch. We go there once a year for the steak meal and this time a little "Texas Hold ‘Em". Of course, Tony took the picture because he wasn’t in the game. I was able to scan a lot of pictures from Uncles Jean & Maxine and Bob. Bob treated us to his Daisy Mae’s repertoire of tricks. You can see a video of Daisy Mae running through her tricks on YouTube here. Dinner with Janice & Archie and a short visit with Cheryl & Todd rounded out our 12 day trip.

On our way home from South Dakota, we were in among all the motorcycles making their way to and from the yearly Sturgis rally.

And....that brings us up to the middle of August. Who knows what will be next!!

2009 March

This will be our last installment for the 2009 "snow bunny" adventure to Arizona and California.

We thank all of the people listed below for a great time this year. We thoroughly enjoyed the campfires, cookouts, conversations, tourist treks, game and card playing, ATVing, and birthday parties.

Arnie & Penny
Butch & Mary
Dan & Jeanne
Gary & Sandy
Gary & Sharon
Jack & Jerri
James & Wanda
John & Greta
John & Peggy
Ken & Virginia
Larry & Roillena
Larry & Sherri
Mike & Linda
Randy & Bonnie
Randy & Nancy

We had planned to go to Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming on our way home, but have decided to make that trip later in the year since we saw everyone in February for Bernadine's Memorial Service.

These are pictures of a couple of vehicles we have spotted in parking lots in Yuma. As it got hotter in the desert, we started going to Yuma more often - air conditioned Walmarts and Sam's Clubs are wonderful in over 90 degree weather.










This is a picture of Tony, with a borrowed hat from Arnie. Arnie sewed a hair piece into one of his hats, just for fun. OK, so maybe sometimes, we don't have enough to do in the desert so we have to find something to do for fun.

We went to Mexico for dinner with Dan & Jeanne. They drove their car into Algodones.....it took longer to drive out than it would have taken to walk out.....and people do not like it when someone lets a car in the line - everyone honks....for some reason they prefer that you go to the end of the line and wait your turn. This is a picture of one street filled with dentists, ready and waiting to give you a deal on extraction, cleaning, plates, caps, etc. Whatever you need, they will take care of it for at least half the price if not more than it would cost in the U.S.

Sharon's birthday occurred during this month in the desert. Thanks to the Quechan Indians....the birthday lasted for several days. Everyone at the camp celebrated with snacks, drinks, and fireside conversation. One gift was a hat with a musical button on it - which played "God Bless America". Instructions were - "when the British give you flack, just play the music". Sharon almost wore out the music box. Later in the week Dan & Jeanne and Tony and Sharon went to the Quechan Casino (new this year). The casino was nice enough to let Sharon go away with $125.00 profit.

Exercising has become a necessity for at least one of us. We have been riding bikes a lot...one day we road down to the Interstate and back - a total of ten miles.

We took a day trip to the Imperial Dam Date Farm http://www.nvo.com/imperialdate/door/, the Imperial Dam and Martinez Lake. Pictures show an unusual tree, a tree

with a ladder up to it at a very high spot (this is how these trees are trimmed), and a grove of date trees already harvested with machinery sitting in the grove.

Next picture is of a very picturesque place across from Martinez Lake.

There was a car show and an air show while we were in the Yuma area. We drove around Yuma and saw a lot of the old cars cruising around. During the air show we went to both the Racetrack Vendors and the Yuma Vendors and watched the air show at the same time. This year we joined Sam's Club because we needed to buy new batteries for the motorhome.....eight years must be the limit for batteries the way we use them.

Another day trip was to Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately we were too late to see much of the wildlife. All the Sandhills Cranes had left just a few days before. Family and friends in Nebraska should have seen them by now. We will have to go back next year at an earlier time in the year. http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/CibolaNWR/. However we did get this picture of cactus in bloom.

Our ATV rides were always fun and eventful....through geocaching we found where kids had made bowls to ride their ATVs in and around. It was great fun. Then we went on to ride on the sand dunes for a little while but not very long. It was a little scary....not knowing what was over the next sand peak....or what wasn't there.

This picture shows where some people are living in the desert. Many of their belongs were inside the cylinders. It appeared that one person was living in the little shed.

One ride led us to hike up a hill to see what was there....see the computer picture....it was placed on top of a hill and used for target practice....much to our amazement, the monitor glass was over a quarter inch thick.

These two pictures are from our last ride before we had to be towed back to camp (some serious repairs needed in the transmission before summertime - actually our resident funny guy, Dan, said we weren't towed back, we were pushing Arnie's ATV with a rope). Pictures are of unusual formations of sand, and some sort of lizard (not sure what the proper name would be).

This picture shows more of the desert in bloom....yellow flowers lining each side of the road for miles.

Loading up and heading north from California desert to Quartzsite for a few days before we started home on Wednesday, March 25; and arrived home on Friday, March 27. It was a great trip. We hope we are able to go again next winter.

Thanks to everyone for all the fun we had this year. Thanks to everyone who reads and enjoys our blog. Thank you all for the emails and phone calls along the way. Staying in touch is great!!