Merry Christmas, 2018

Merry Christmas, 2018

We start this Christmas Blog/Letter and end with incidents that make us glad we have Good Sam Roadside Assist insurance.  Read on to find out why.   As always, click on pictures to see them better and click on links to read more about the places we visited and things we saw.

December, 2017 ~ We continued to enjoy the Friendly Neighbors Senior Center ~ our volunteering for the Senior Center earned us a "Volunteer of the Year" plaque along with our good friends, Win and Sue Green.

After spending Christmas with Dennis and his family, we left as planned two days after Christmas.  The picture is of Dennis holding a bottle of wine with a picture of a jack-o-lope.  There is a story behind Dennis and the jack-o-lope that many of you know.

We visited brother, Paul, and his family in Boise and then began the rest of the 1300 mile trip.  Before arriving on the campsite in southern California, we replaced two tires ~ one in the middle of nowhere with the help of Good Sam and one on the trailer as we pulled into the camp site (who knows how long that tire had been missing).



January and February, 2018 ~ These two months were great fun, as always.  Company this year were:  Win and Sue  (Moscow) and daughter, Kelli (Seattle), Ray Stroud (Spokane), Suzy & Robert (Apache Junction. AZ) , brother Ray and Judi (Seattle), cousin Judy and Larry (Alliance NE).  New people added to the campsite were J.R. (Oklahoma), and Aimee and Craig (Oregon).  Regulars at the campsite are from North Dakota, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California.  Our entertainment consisted of trips to the markets, happy hour promptly at 4 p.m., camp fires at night, atv riding, card playing in our cargo trailer, watching sunsets, and trips to Mexico.  Picture shows a T-shirt seen at the market.


This picture is of Vern, John, and Scott the day after a trip to Mexico.  After several pitchers of margaritas, each of them bought a hat from one of the vendors.  It was a great afternoon, but some of our bunch never got to see the sunset that night.  Another trip to Mexico caused Tony to have to pour a full bottle of Teachers Whiskey down the toilet at the border crossing.  Everyone is only allowed to bring one bottle per month across the border.  Tony got caught!!

March ~ We drove through snow to get home in time for great grandchild, Landon's, first birthday.  Picture shows one of the things we met on the snowy road.  We made the decision to sell the cargo trailer and ATV...put it on Craig's List and had a call in one minute.  New owner picked both up the next morning.





Granddaughter, Caily, is now driving, picture shows how happy she is with this milestone.  She will be a junior this fall.



April ~ We hosted Easter brunch for all of Dennis and Jeanna's family (Caily, Cody, Cally, Casey, Lindsay and Landon).  Bill and Janet also came down from Cheney.  Cally had moved back to Moscow from Spokane but now is living in the Seattle area (attending Renton Tech for Nursing).  Casey has begun on-line courses to become a coach and history teacher.  Lindsay works in Pullman at Schweitzer Engineering.


May ~ We left in early May for a road trip with brother Bill and Janet.  Our first stop was at the $50,000 Silver $ Bar in Montana.  As you can see they are now up to $73,361 silver dollars in May.

One of our next stops was in Billings, Montana.  This photo is significant....as to what is to come later in the year...Tony and Bill holding up a transmission.

We spent a day at Devil's Tower (with a little geocaching along the way).  Our main purpose of the trip was to see Uncle Bob in South Dakota.  Near and around Rapid City, we saw Mount Rushmore, Reptile Gardens, Chapel in the Hills and...




...went to an Escape Room (picture shows Sharon, Bill and Janet trying to figure out the clues).  One more thing off our Bucket List.







The next thing OFF our Bucket List is going to a rat farm (owned by Terry, my cousin Don's son in Rapid).








We left the "hills" area after visiting all the relatives and headed for Alliance for dinner with cousin Janice and Archie, and just in time for Friday "wine therapy" with cousin Judy.  Early Saturday morning, Tony complained of chest pains.  I drove him 15 miles to the hospital and from there he was flown to Rapid City.  I drove the motor home the 155 miles and beat Tony to the hospital.  After spending a week there, Tony had enough stents (3) to allow us to travel home.  Picture shows the two small motor homes in the hospital parking lot (our homes for nearly a week).

We planned to stay in hospital parking lots on the way home, but Tony was doing so well that we continued to appreciate the Wal-mart parking lots.  In Billings, Bill and Janet took us out for a "WDC" meal (Walking Dead Club) at the Montana Ale Works.  For Tony...fish, chips, beer, and whiskey, of course!!

Two fun restroom signs we saw on our travels.












We took a side trip to Helena, Montana, so Bill and Janet could see the Cathedral of St. Helena and the Great Carousel before heading home.

Grandchildren ~ Cally, Kierra, Caily
Cody, Phillip, Casey

June ~ We did a lot of entertaining during June for our senior friends, camping friends from North Dakota, and family (Ken, Kierra, Phillip, Karla and Mae from Seattle, Hayley, Tyler and Henry from Boise, and Audrey and Linda from Lewiston).  One activity we did when all the family was here was bowling...at 75 and 77, we didn't do too bad.

The picture of the grandchildren is only missing Abby who is in Manila and Tony's two, Abe and Lily, who are living in Spain, plus our one grand dog,Ted, living in the London area.

Audrey, Tony, Linda

Hayley, Henry, Tyler

Ken

Phillip

Tony did have to go to the ER one night with his heart again, but now has nitro pills that last for 24 hours that seem to work.  I got to scratch another thing off the bucket list ~ attending a County Commissioners meeting to tell them about the Senior Center in hopes of getting additional needed money for next year.

We made the trip to LaGrande Oregon for our yearly camper rally ~ again it was a great turnout and fun to see all our friends that we spend three months with in the California desert and Yuma area.  We traveled down in a caravan with Bill and Janet, and Mark and Cyndi.

We stopped at the Dayton, Washington Historic Depot on the way back with Bill and Janet.  If you look at the website you will notice a conductor in the bottom left of the picture.  This is a picture of the clipboard he is holding.  I found this amazing. 

July ~ This month was spent entertaining more company (Dan & Jeanne from California, brother Jim and Kathie from Wyoming and brother Bill and Janet).  One more thing off our bucket list was a 4th of July day trip with Jim and Teresa to the Great Western Red Cedar in Elk River, Idaho.  And another bucket list item ~ watching "seniors" play horseshoes with Win and Sue.  I spent a lot of evenings watching grandson Cody play baseball.  When Jim and Kathie were here we got a lot of tree trimming done (thank you Jim, Bill, and Casey).  We continue to do our weekly routine of going to DWilly's on Monday for lunch, to the Senior Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays for lunch, and on Thursday morning we meet Win and Sue at Winco to pickup "day-old" groceries to distribute to the Senior Center, followed by coffee for the four of us (at one of our homes).

August ~ For the last four months I have been interviewing every senior at the Senior Center and taking their picture.  The book is now finished and this picture board hangs at the meal site every Tuesday and Thursday.  Many seniors get a kick out of watching Tony eat with a knife and a fork (particularly when they serve sandwiches).








This picture shows our local friends, with Tony entertaining them with Sally's piano.  We spend a lot of time with these four (trying new restaurants, working puzzles, evening happy hours, and meeting at DWilly's).  Pictured are Bill, Sally, Sue, and Win with Tony at the piano.

 Our Senior Center Treasurer has many T-shirts that we enjoy.  Remember when Bill Gates supposedly said this in 1981!!

Tony had another stent done in Coeur d'Alene this month.  Our mini motor home has saved the day again (overnight stays at Bill and Janet's, and then again in the hospital parking lot).  We thought this would be the end of heart issues, but keep reading.

 One of my favorite pictures to date of great-grandson, Landon, at 17 months.

Janet, Sharon, and Bill

September ~ Managed to see a few of grand daughter, Caily's, volleyball games.  I continue to do the books for Dennis and Jeanna.  As soon as I had finished August books, Bill and Janet met us in Moscow and we took off in our small motor homes for another road trip to attend Uncle Bob's memorial service in Alliance.  Our first stop was a couple of overnights with brother Paul and his family in Boise.  Next (another bucket list item) ~ put pennies on the Penny Wall, Mountain Home, Idaho.  See the WDC in the center of the picture above my head (still the "Walking Dead Club").  We drove on for another stop at Malad Springs and Gorge. 

On to Wyoming on Interstate 80...a Roadside America.Com stop at Porter's Liquor and Fireworks Store (see picture).






We spent a few days with brother Jim and Kathie and their extended family of daughter Brit, Mark, and grandson Maddux.  On a one day outing we visited the Oregon Trail Ruts and Register Cliff.  At the cliffs were hundreds of bird nests as seen in the picture.






Another day we tried our luck at geocaching, but ended up at a bar (pictured Jim, Kathie, Sharon & Tony).  Jim gave us a lawn mower which he put in our small shower for the trip home.  Casey had to help us get it out!!



We arrived, again, in Alliance in time for Friday "wine therapy" with cousin Judy.  This time sister-in-laws Janet and Judi joined us.  Uncle Bob's (pictured) memorial service was on Saturday, September 15th at the cemetery with a reception at the Mason Lodge, and dinner later at cousin Janice and Archie's.







October ~  I finally figured out why we don't have time to work once we retire ~ we are too busy making doctor appointments, going to appointments, ordering and picking up medication, and filling pill boxes.  This month brought a colonoscopy for Sharon, rotator cuff surgery for Dennis and Tony ~ three more stents (to replace the ones done in Rapid City).  We did continue to have fun at DWilly's, the senior dinners, and with our friends.  Only out of town company was Win's brother and wife from Colorado, Cary and Susan.  Their idea of fun includes a champagne brunch lasting six hours at our home along with Bloody Mary's.

November ~ We think health issues are all taken care of now!!!  Finally!!  This month was spent watching Cody's basketball games, going to Casey's birthday bash (we're too old for those kind of parties), and then Thanksgiving at Dennis and Jeanna's.  Ken, Kierra, and Cally came from Seattle and Bill and Janet from Cheney.

December ~ We left on our winter trip early this year.  First we had an overnight stop at Paul's and dinner with his family.  Then, we got 220 miles from Flagstaff, Arizona when our motor home transmission failed.  Remember, you saw Tony and Bill lifting a transmission.  Well, Bill was not here to help when our transmission failed in Arizona.  We had to be towed back north 100 miles to Kanab, Utah....and here we sit for one week so far.  We think they will get the transmission early next week from Wisconsin and then we can continue on to Tucson.  While waiting comfortably in our motor home, we have taken a few side trips including Zions National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.  We are meeting friends, Mark and Cyndi in Tucson, and then we will go on to Yuma with them.  Christmas we will spend with brother Dick and Cindy, their two kids, Michael and Kelly (who we haven't seen for many years), and Mark and Cyndi.

We hope you enjoyed this Christmas blog as much as we enjoyed putting it together.  We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  I hope 2019 is better for us and for all of you.  :-)