March-2024

  MARCH-2024

01 March

After many revisions and decisions, we finally completed our 2024 itinerary.We said that we were no longer going to Texas and that we were staying in the Northwest and NV and AZ. Well, we felt that it was important to visit our 3 kids and 6 grandkids. One of the 6 lives in Oklahoma. So our route will take us to OR,WA,MT,ID,UT,WY,CO,KS,OK,TX,NMEX,AZ and back to NELLIS in JAN. This will definitely be our last long journey.

We are entering our 15th year of travel and it has afforded us many adventures, history lessons, meeting new friends,experiencing new places,connecting with family, keeping us young,enjoying the small things on our paths,the moments that took our breaths away,the memories as relived in my 1,000 plus blog entries. We have 120,000 miles on the motorhome,2 tow cars with over 300,000 miles in touring around from campgrounds,9 provinces of Canada and all the lower 48..some several times revisited.

If the day comes when we have to sell the MH, it will be more difficult than selling the home and contents.We are comfortable with this life style. Giving up the travel and going where we want is not something to which we look forward. 

05 March

Today I made friends with Paul and George and George comes by everyday for his treats and loving.

George is a very well behaved Yellow Lab and makes my day. We will meet up again in May at NAS Whidbey Island campground. I bought special,healthy treats for George..Blue Dog yogurt and apple.

06 March

Today we went with Rose Mary and Chuck to John Mull's Road Kill Barbeque for lunch. Had a nice visit and look forward til next time.Food OK..Baked beans and cobbler the best.

9 March

Today was Gail's celebration of life service at Valley Vegas Church on Sahara. We rode with Pat and Darwin and our friends, Mo and Jo drove up from AZ.Several from the  campground also attended.Richard did a very nice video tribute of their life together as well as a very moving speech that brought tears. His son and Gail's son also spoke of many happy memories. I pray that Richard can soon find peace and acceptance and start moving on.

17 March

Happy St Patrick's Day. Saw this cute cartoon. 

18 and 19 March

John had eye appointments  to recheck pressure and evaluate progress.

Dr at Wellish Vision explained the double vision and blurriness is part of the healing process and will take time. He prescribed a new eyedrop twice a day..Combigan and reduced Prednisolone to 3 times a day and eventually once a day. The Combigan seems to have improved his double vision. He was also told to blink,blink when on computer and watching TV. We return on the 9th of April,hopefully his last appt until we return in January.

19 March

Pat and Darwin organized one of their famous pot luck cookouts..as always all was good with food and conversations. Group has dwindled since with only 5 couples and some singles. Sure going to miss this when we return in January as Pat and Darwin and Bill and Lorraine will not return.

20 March

Today we went with Pat & Darwin and Lorraine & Bill to see Arthur the King movie at Aliante.A very heartwarming story based on a true story. My kind of movie and highly recommended.

We then went to Flamin Fajita for dinner..our 1st visit and very good. We ordered  Flamin Fajita for 2 with steak and shrimp. Everything is homemade and fresh. Will definitely return.

21 March

John finally got his 43" Vizio Smart TV and switched the 32" with the 23" in bedroom. We are now totallly on STARLINK for TV,WIFI ETC. Cancelled our DISH. Very pleased with the system.

23 March

Our good friends Judy and Dusty invited us along with Pat and Darwin and Bill & Lorraine over for Barbeque. Dusty is famous for his St Louis ribs. I took cole slaw, Pat her delicious potato salad and Lorraine cheesecake. The Ribs were so tender and tasty. Thank you friends for the invite. See you in January if not before we leave. Judy is making a quilt for her nephew. She has this hi-tech machine that does embroidery etc. She does much sewing and several years ago helped me with the curtains for the side windows in front.

29 March 

Son Eric and family arrived for weekend in LV and we met for lunch at BJ's.It was so nice to visit with granddaughters Parker and Kendyl, daughter-in-law Cindy and to finally meet Kendyl's beau Chase.

We are hoping to meet up again before they depart.It was so good to see them again. We are truly blessed with a wonderful family.

31 March

Met Eric and family at Bagel Cafe for lunch before their departure. Eric treated us and think everyone enjoyed their meal. Looking forward to seeing them again on our trip to Texas in September.

FEBRUARY-2024

 February-2024

We started the month with our annual Checkups at the Nellis Clinic. All went good. We also had our annual eye exams. John is scheduled for the failed glaucoma surgery in his rt eye so he had a pre surgery exam with the Glaucoma Specialist Doctor at Wellish Vision. His surgery is scheduled for 12  February.

15  February

Our dear friend, Gail, passed away this morning after a brave fight with Pancreatic Cancer. Glad we were able to spend time with her. May God bless her soul and give Richard the strength to continue on with his life. He is so lost without her and so many decisions to make. They were a fun couple who enjoyed life, outdoor activities and friends.

 Grief is like the ocean.It comes in waves,ebbing, flowing..sometimes the water is calm and sometimes it is over whelming..all we can learn to do is swim.Vicki Harrison

Her Celebration of Life is scheduled for 9 March at the church they attended ,Valley Vegas Church.

20 February

Tonight we went with Pat & Darwin, Bill & Lorraine, Donna &  Larry and Richard to Golden Phoenix Chinese Restaurant. It is so nice to be with friends again. A great restaurant with delish food, reasonably price and friendly service. This was our 2nd visit.

21 February

John had his 2nd follow-up visit and his eye is doing good. Pressure at 10. He returns 19th March.Is having problem with double vision, but that may be  due to healing process.

28 February

Campground had pancake breakfast this morning. Very good.

Grandson Cade sent me photo of eagle he took will fishing on Deschutes River. Thank you. See you in April.

Daughter Hope also sent photo of snow.

We are happy with our site.

site 97

JANUARY-2024

 January 2024

Well, a New Year has begun and we wish all our family and friends a year filled with blessings,joy,good health and dreams come true. 

04 January

Today we drove up to Goodyear,AZ to meet son Darin and husband,Kerry for lunch at Babbo's Italian restaurant. They drove up from Tucson. Nice restaurant with good food. Short visit, but so nice seeing them again. Hopefully we can meet up again when we are at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista in Oct and Nov. Want to go on another motorcycle ride with Darin. By the way,you two look fabulous..never seem to age.

After lunch John and I drove to Luke AFB to do grocery shopping at Commissary. 

06 January

Today we drove to Yuma to visit friends Denise and Phil who have a very nice RV lot in private community. The lot is spacious with a Casita they are remodeling for friends to stay. Got so involved in conversation, forgot to take photos.

We then drove to Carefree RV Resort to visit 3 couples that used to stay at Nellis. Joy and Kevin bought park model and gave us a tour. Very nice and spacious. They leave their rig in NY and drive back for the summer. Max and Caron also bought a park model and go back to their home in Pueble,CO for the summer. They sold their 5th wheel.  Bill and Lorraine park their MH on RV site for several months.

They will be going to Nellis for several months. It was nice seeing all of them.

Continue to work on our continuing journey after we depart Nelis in April. Everything is determined by our annual checkups and John's eye surgery. As soon as we finalize will  post on my blog.

09 January

Jo came home from hospital/rehab today and we able to do car and phone visit.Sorry we weren't able  to visit more, but will keep in touch via text and phone. They may come up to Nellis for visit in Feb.

10 January

After much thought even tho we were supposed to depart for Nellis on 1st, we decided to leave today.

Of course we did not get refund. Several reasons for early departure..most important was our friend,Gail, who has been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and felt a need to visit with her and Richard.

Cindy was great in accommodating us on short notice with a great spot..circle 4 #97. Thank you, friend.

Pat and Darwin invited us over for dinner. Pat is a great cook and always prepares meals from scratch.

The soup and cornbread delicious as usual.Always enjoy our visits and conversation.This is our 11th year of knowing them.

Very cold here with rain and wind due tonight. Low tomorrow predicted at 27 with high in 40's.

Once again,my honey brought us safely to our destination. I still drive the car on errands and short day hops. He dispenses with eye days on days he drives the MH.

11 January

Revising our continuing journey once again. Think this is 6th time. Will be more decisive after 

John's surgery on 12th of Nov.

13 January

Richard asked me to sit with Gail while he went to Bible Study and run some errands. Gail slept for most of the 4 hrs. Still not eating much. Heart aches for her. Richard takes such good care of her.She is in stage 3.

24 January

Met Rose Mary and Chuck for lunch at Mimi's..Nice to see them again and catch up on news. They both look great..never seem to age. Til next time.

2023 At An End

 31 December 2023

Another year come and gone. Seems older one gets, the faster it passes. I turned 82 and John 86.

We have been RV'ing for 14 years..full time 12 years. The Bounder has 118,000 and our 2nd tow car 100,000. Our 1st tow had 250,000 when it went to a junk yard in Nova Scotia in 2018. As you can see, we do alot of venturing and touring in the tow from the campgrounds. This year our journeys took us from AZ to NV,OR ID,UT back to NV and AZ. We spent May, June, July and part of Aug on the coast of Oregon and visiting family in Central OR.

During our stay on the coast reconnected with my brother, Ian whom I haven't seen since 2009.

Also, John's daughter Christine and Dave visited with us for a weekend

When we were at the Oregon Coast, John's daughter Liz and Dave visited us.

While in Heyburn,ID we met up with friends Gail and Richard in Twin Falls for lunch. We met them in 2021 at Nellis AFB campground. When we returned to Nellis in Sept and Oct, we met up again.

Our reason for coming here in Sept and Oct was for John's Glaucoma and Cataract surgeries. The cataract surgery in both eyes went good, but glaucoma in RT eye not complete as there was movement of the eye that caused a tear and required a stitch. 

We were given the OK on 13 November to travel to our next campground in Brenda,AZ.We are here at Desert Gold until the 1 February when we return to Nellis AFB. Enjoyed some beautiful sunsets.

Desert Gold and staff provided us with Thanksgiving Dinner. Very delicious with all the trimmings. They will do the same for Christmas. We are in our same spot as last year B-61. Our dear friends Mo and Jo will return to their spot after visiting family in ID.We met them at Nellis in 2021.

Shade Pro came out to replace the bedroom slideout cover.They do a great job. Had the Motorhome washed and waxed by Robert's.

December brought a craft and yard sale. Also lighted ATV and Golf Cart Christmas lighted parade.

Most residents compete for top prize in decorations for their homes and sites.I put our a few decorations inside and out.

Oscar & Friends Waiting for Santa

One of Park Homes

Jo and I went to Quartzsite and Blythe for some shopping and lunch at Garcia's. It was Taco Tuesday and fish tacos were half off. Later on Friday we went with Mo and Jo and two other couples Mike & Susan and Lyle & Barbara to Dos Amigos for fish fry night. Very good.

18 December

Today we drove back to LV for appt with Glaucoma Dr in Henderson for recheck on John's eye pressure and to discuss Glaucoma surgery in RT eye. We are staying in the Nellis AF Inn. I have been the car driver since Oct. He did drive the motorhome to AZ ,but had to stop the eye drops day before.

The drive is 225 miles mostly 2 lane until south of Searchlight. John looked over and said I was going 100MPH..sure didn't feel like it so dropped back to 80.

After checking in, we went over to visit with Pat and Darwin who will be in campground until May.

We then went to dinner at Olive Garden.

19 December

This morning before John's appt we visited with Gail and Richard. Gail has not been feeling well and is awaiting appts.

John's appt went well as his pressure is down to 14. Surgery is scheduled for 12 Feb. For dinner we went with Pat and Darwin to Chinese Buffet. Not too impressed.Oh yes, when we went to get in car for dinner noticed left rear tire flat and metal object sticking out. So Pat and Darwin drove over and we went with them. Glad this didn't happen on our drive to LV or return from doctor appt.

20 December

Darwin came over and helped John take off tire..not and easy job. They took to Big O where we had bought the two rear tires in Nov. Fortunately they were able to plug it. We extended our stay another night.Thank you Darwin for your help...saved us a lot of aggravation in not having to deal with USAA and tow company.

Bill and Lorraine drove up from Yuma to attend a family get together. So we along with Pat and Darwin met them at Chili's for lunch. They will be in campground in Jan for several months.

Pat,Darwin,Lorraine & Bill

bBill

After lunch went to base pharmacy to get prescriptions for John's eye drops and commissary for non perishable supplies.Did a major shop.

21 December

 Will stop in Parker at Safeway for perishable items. Got back around 330.Kept my speed within limits.

22 December

Our Friend, JO took a bad tumble and was Medivaced to hospital  in Parker. Not good news.Fortunately, her angel prevented her from broken bones. She is now in rehab in Yuma.God speed, Jo for complete recovery.

23 December

Christmas dinner at campground was delicious as usual.

Thanks to all who sent Holiday greetings as texts and ecards.

Family sent photos.

Hope,Shawn,Colt & Cade

Kerry and Darin

Eric,Cindy,Kendyl & Parker

Alanna,Ryan,Liz,Michael &David

Dave,Cameron,Chris & Jack

 

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01 September-14 November 2023

 01 September-14 Nov 2023

Our departure today from Rollin on Home RV park in Nephi,UT for Nellis AFB for our stay until 1 Nov took us down IH15 300 mlles. This was a nice park just off IH15 at exit 222.

Upon arrival at Nellis we were assigned Site #29. One of the best sites in our 10 years of coming here

Site 29

.

Long pull thru and steps to laundry. Purpose for coming here is so John can get his Cataract and Glaucoma surgery over at the clinic scheduled for 3 Oct.

6 September

Our friends Judy and Dusty invited us over for barbeque. We met them in 2014 when they were RV'ing during our stay at Nellis Campgroumd. They bought a home in LV and sold their MH. Dusty loves to barbeque and Judy puts on a good food spread. We enjoy their company and happy we are friends.

8 September

We met our good friends Rose Mary and Chuck whom we met in Salem and now live in LV for lunch at BJ's. Again, life long friends whom we enjoy and grateful for their friendship. Will have many more visits during our stay and when we return in February. Our next visit will be 27 September at Village Pub.

Photo is from earlier in year.

01 October,

Took some photos around the campground and housing area. One house is so totally in the spirit of Halloween with decorations. Unbelievable. Can only imagine what  Christmas decorations will be. Unfortunately, we will not be here.

3 October

John's surgery is scheduled today..both eyes. Surgery took longer than expected. Cataract and Glaucoma in Left eye went well, but Glaucoma in Right eye not as planned as he moved his eye and head and this created a serious problem..a tear and requiring a stitch so no Glaucoma surgery in RT eye only cataract.

This was a disappointment. Follow up required 5 types of eye drops for both eyes and series of appointments to check pressure in RT eye. Since pressure could not be controlled, he was referred to a Glaucoma Specialist at Wellish Vision Clinic in Henderson.

5 October

Our friends Gail and Richard whom we met in 2021 here, arrived today. We last saw them in Twin Falls when we met for lunch in August. Nice to have them so close so we can visit more often.

6 October

Our new mattress arrived and thanks to Gail and Richard for helping us get it in and on the bed.

Very Comfy

It is a Wilderness RV Montana Plush king. Can't believe after almost 15 years, we finally got rid of that old mattress. We found a service that will come out to base and recycle the old one. Well worth the $100.

17 October

Our friends Denise and Phil whom we met here in 2016 stopped for a few days enroute to Yuma for the winter. Today is Denise's birthday and they invited us to Maggiano's to celebrate. This was our first time to dine here and must say food and service excellent. Thank you for including us and we hope to see you in AZ. 

23 October

Sadly our dear friend, Carolyn, whom we met in 1990 when we moved to Salem passed away today from Pancreatic cancer. She was truly a friend forever who was always there for you. It was through her that I met forever friends, Rose Mary and Chuck, Janet and Alinda and Ernie. She and Don got us interested in Rv'ing as they had spent many years traveling before selling their Beaver Coach. She was a devoted wife,mother and grandmother always putting family first. Shall miss you dear friend.

Carolyn

Tribute

Dad & Girls

Grandkids

31 October

We had our first appointment with Glaucoma Specialist and after extensive examination,he was given a laser treatment ( he had one in 2020) to try and reduce pressure. We return for follow up on 7 Nov.

In the meantime he was prescribed acetaZOLAMIDE to reduce pressure, but after taking for several days,it did not agree with him. He became very tired, low energy, chills, loss of appetite etc. I called the doctor and he suggested that we stop medication until we see doctor again. If laser reduced pressure then he can stop taking or find another medication with less side effects.

1 November

Well we were supposed to leave today for Desert Gold in Brenda, AZ, but had to extend for 2 weeks for more appointments for John. We were moved to site 48 several sites down.

7-8 November

Two more eye appointments. Pressure still not dropping. Made appointment on 19 December with Glaucoma Specialist in Henderson. We will drive up by car from Brenda,AZ.

AF Thunderbirds were practicing today. Got some not so good photos..should have used my iPad.

10 November

Met Rose Mary and Chuck at Bagel Cafe for lunch..our last visit until we return in February.

Thanks friends for making our visits in Las Vegas enjoyable with good conversation, laughs and interesting spots for lunch. Always look forward to seeing you.

13 November

Another eye appointment with Base Doctor.Good news. Pressure in RT eye 18 down from 28 so we will be on the road tomorrow for our next stop at Desert Gold in Salome AZ until 1 Feb when we return to LV.

14 November

We said our goodby's to Gail and Richard who we will see again in January at Desert Gold. Miss you already. Had some good conversations and visits during our stay at Nellis AFB.

Our drive took us IH15 to Hwy 515 to 11 to 95 thru Searchlight to Needles to IH 40 and exit 144 and 95 south to Hwy 62 to Parker,AZ and 72 to Hwy 60. We did a lunch stop south of Searchlight at rest stop.

Arrived around 330 to friendly greeting by staff. We reserved this site last year.

Site B-61

Once again, my sweetheart after almost 15 years and 120,000 miles in MH brought us safely to our campsite.

Our friend Bill, who lost his sweet wife Terri in April stopped by with dogs Ziggy and Rebel for visit. Friends Mo and Jo will return later in month after visiting family and friends in ID,WA and CA.