It Was a Great Year

Riverton, Utah High 36 Low 27

Wishing all of our readers a Happy New Year. We had a good first year of retirement.

I decided to do a recap of some of the years highlights, along with some of our pictures.

Right after the first of the year, we went to Quartzsite and stayed a little over 2 weeks with the Boomers. We had a really good time, but decided to try it with the Montana Owners this year. We will visit the Boomers and Escapees while in Quartzsite.

After Quartzsite we spent some time in Yuma getting stained glass for our fifth wheel windows and getting meds in Algodones.

After Yuma we went to Escapees North Ranch and went to Boot Camp. While there we got to meet Mike and Pat And although they have quit blogging, we look forward to getting together with them again. We also got to meet Al and Kelly and of course Pheebs at Congress.

After Congress, we went to Mesa and spent a little time with each of our sons. We also got to meet Jim and Sandi, Rod and Loyce, Ed and Marilynn, Jimbo, and Gordon and Juanita, along with some other bloggers.

We then came home to do taxes, and left on the trip of a lifetime....Alaska.

We spent almost a month in Alberta and the Yukon and got to see a lot of wildlife.

When we finally went into Alaska, it was on the Top of The World Highway out of Dawson City, Yukon. When we went over the road had been plowed to the Alaskan boarder and was in great shape. The Alaska part looked like it hadn't been plowed for quite a while, but if you go slow it was OK.

We then spent some time at North Pole and Fairbanks. While in Fairbanks, we dove up to the Arctic Circle, which gave us a view of some different landscapes.

We then drove down to Denali National Park and spent almost a week there. We got to see Mt McKinley not just once, but several times from quite a few different locations. We were told that only about 35% of the people that go there get to see the mountain. I might add at this time that we had mostly nice, warm weather the whole time we were in Alaska.

We spent some time in Anchorage, and I got my start fishing at Coopers Landing. We then went to Soldotna and spent a lot of time there sightseeing and fishing.

After Soldotna we went to Valdez before we headed back to the Yukon, and down through British Columbia.

We stayed in Washington for a while and got to meet some other bloggers, Dan and Patty Chance, and Nancy Kissick.








We came home for a little while, and turned around and went to the Oregon coast. We got to see a lot of the beautiful scenery in Oregon, and finally came home just before Thanksgiving.

We had nice visits with our family at Christmas, and are preparing to leave on Thursday to go to Arizona again.


We drove almost 16,000 mile this year, and it was well worth it.

I'm sorry this is so long, but thanks for visiting.

Getting Ready to Leave the Cold

Riverton, Utah High 27 Low 17

The weather here has been sunny, but cold because of all the haze. The weather men on TV have all said that the gunk in the valley is bad for your health, and the indoor air is not much better. Oh, well, we only have a few days to put up with it.

There is not too much going on. Yesterday I got an email that one of the quilt stores we go to had a closeout sale on cut fabrics. Two dollars a yard, but you had to take all of the piece, no cutting. We had to go to it, and got there about 1/2 hour before closing.Most of what was left wasn't very pretty, but they still had quite a lot of fabric that was nice. Cindy found one piece that had the Lorax on it. It will go well with some other Dr Seuss material Cindy has and will make a nice kids quilt. Even though we didn't have a lot of time, we ended up getting 30 yards. Cindy has been trying to get her stash down, but at 2 dollars a yard we couldn't turn it down.

I made reservations at some RV Parks on the way to Quartzsite. We stay one night in St George, 3 nights in Fort Havasu, and 7 nights at one of the Colorado River Adventure Parks by Earp, California.
We plan on leaving on the morning of the 2nd. These reservations will put us just right to join the Montana Owners in Quartzsite. It will be good to get out of the cold and haze, and into a little warmer weather. We have slowly been getting ready to leave, but will now have to get more serious about it.

I hope you have had nice holidays, thanks for visiting.

After Christmas Things

Riverton, Utah High 32 Low 18

Yesterday we went to Walmart to take advantage of there close out (50%) off on Christmas goodies. We got there early, or I'm sure that it all would have been gone.

One of Cindy's quilt store has an inventory reduction sale going on that gives her 35% off everything in the store. She has been wanting White and cream fabric, but no one ever seems to have it on sale. She bought quite a lot of it.

I finished one of her quilts, and she is in the process of finishing the binding. I'll put photos on when she gets through. She is still working on three or four quilts. She says I have quilted about all she has done this year, and am only 20 or so behind from other years. I don't want to overdo it and have nothing to do. LOL

We went to Camperworld today to turn in a list of our kids and to give them our membership card, so they can issue a new one. This is the RV Park system which allows us to belong to Coast to Coast, which we have used a lot. They also would let us belong to one of the other membership discount things, but I'm not sure which one. We also belong to Passport America, which we have also used some. From reading Nick Russell, he says it save a lot to belong to Recreation USA. If anyone has any advice on these type memberships, I would appreciate any advice you could give me.

This afternoon I went over to what used to be my shop to build some sheet metal covers for a couple of Cindy's planter boxes. While I was doing it, I forgot rule number one when working with sheet metal: the metal is as sharp as razor blades. Anyway I got a small cut from the metal. This and working in the cold just reinforces how glad I am in being retired.

We still think we will head south right after New Years Day, but we will have to see what the weather does.

That's about it for today, thanks for visiting.

Merry Christmas

Riverton, Utah High 34 Low 18

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

My daughters are on opposite ends of the table.

Yesterday I went to breakfast with two of my daughters, my son in law, four grandchildren and my second youngest son. It was good to see the Californian's again. My daughter and Son in Law said they were freezing, but it was good that they came to spend Christmas here instead of in their swimming pool in California. I wasn't expecting Ted, but he came also.

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My son in law Ken is closest to the photographer.








This is my son Ted. He's quite the ham. Sorry about the quality of the photo, but is the best one I got.













This morning we got woke up early by two excited children. They just had to see what Santa had left for them. Devon got a football, a new basketball, and a basketball standard to go with it. He acted happy to be able to practice at home instead of at the neighbors. Allyssia got some Eyore slipper that we got for here in Skagway when we were there. Cindy got a ruby heart neckless with matching ear-rings that she wasn't expecting. There were also lots more presents for everyone.







She was already wearing her slippers.








After that, we went to Cindy's Mom's in Orem for Christmas breakfast. There were lots more grand kids and their parents. Cindy's Mom seemed to be in good spirits today. We talked to Cindy's son in Phoenix and I talked to my son in Savannah.

My Mother in law seemed to be in good health. She soon will be 85.

We got to see two other grand-sons. The little four year old really likes to show off for the camera.

Devon with his basketball and new standard.

Here I am in my new sweater.

It was a good day being able to see everyone and visiting with all of them. This time of year should be about family and not just about the gifts.

Thanks for visiting.

Blowing Snow (the four letter word).

Riverton, Utah High 39 Low 28

Quite a bit warmer today. Warm enough that the snow was melting, so I decided to get the snow blower out to clean off the drive ways. I got most of it done, and it was still melting.

Worked on Devon's Christmas present for about 2 hours. It is supposed to have 350 pounds of sand for ballast, but has to be put in through a 2 inch hole. I got 300 pounds of it in before I gave up. I also found I had put one of the springs on wrong and had to redo it, but got it done. The other 50 pounds of sand will probably have to wait till Christmas.

After that I made a cover for a 2 X 6 I had put in one of the sofa's in the fiver to make it so I didn't feel like I was falling out of the seat. It felt like you were leaning forward when you sat down. I cut the 2 X 6 the width of the sofa, tapered the back half and then put black upholstery fabric on the part that showed. I think it looks much nicer, and feels much better to sit in.

Tomorrow I'm going to breakfast with 2 of my daughters. Cindy got recruited to watch kids, as our daughter's daycare is not open tomorrow

Sorry no pictures today, thanks for visiting.

Early Christmas

Riverton, Utah High 32 Low 21

Another snowy day. After yesterday's sun, today was a little dismal. We only got about another inch, just enough to make the roads slick.

We had planned a Christmas party today for family that couldn't be here on Christmas Day. We had 9 grand kids and their parents here. It was a pretty full house.










My son, daughter-in-law, and grand kids were here from Boise. We have a candy machine, which usually has M&M's in it. The first thing my grand son asked was why the machine didn't have any candy in it. I told him it was because with 2 small kids living here I couldn't put candy in it, but I found him and his sister some M&M's , so everything was good. He is 9 and she is 12. They have to go home on Tuesday, so it was good to see them.

We let everyone that wouldn't be here on Christmas open presents today. I even got a few presents. Cindy gave three of the kids quilts for Christmas, and they seemed to appreciate them.

Quite a house full.

Taylor, the youngest, liked his car.

The older boys played pool. I had to take the ping-pong top and my cutting boards off the pool table so they could play.

We had a lot to eat and I think everyone had a good time.

This afternoon Devon had another basketball game. They were tied up until almost to the end, but the other team ended up making 2 more goals, so they won.

While I was gone, Teesa, our oldest granddaughter, made some home made chicken soup. It was sure good.

I hope you and your's have a good Christmas Season. Thanks for visiting.

Lots of the Four Letter Word

Riverton, Utah High 36 Low 23

It snowed all day. This is the most snow we have had in the valley for quite a while. It is also the wettest. (Why are we still here? Oh yes, because of Christmas.) I would like to be where there is no snow. We went out and shoveled and snow blew about 6 inches of the white stuff off our side walks and driveway at about 3:30 this afternoon. The snow is letting up, but is supposed to continue until at least 3:00 AM.

 

I put some pictures of some of the quilts we saw yesterday. I also put some pictures of a Christmas display by one of the stores.
These quilts are some of our favorites.

Cindy wanted to go to Jo-Ann's this morning, but after driving a little way and the roads were so bad, we decided Jo-Ann's could wait a day for us.

This quilt is called Santa Pause. Cindy has this pattern, but hasn't started it yet.

This display was in Midvale by one of the quilt stores.

I mentioned a slide problem we were having a while ago. I changed out the solenoid, but the problem seemed to be getting worse. I called the dealer we bought the 5er from, and he suggested I call Lippert's technical department and see what they thought the problem could be. The tech told me that Montana put an auto reset breaker on the feed line for the solenoid and they did seem to get weaker after while. He explained that the more they tripped, the more and easier they trip. After testing what he said to test, it seemed to be the problem. I found one in Salt Lake for $5.00 and put it on. It seems to have corrected the problem. I called the tech back and told him what I found, and he said he very seldom hears when someone finds the problem. I then told him I appreciated his help

This breaker was hidden by the batteries.

As I write this post, the snow seems to have let up some, and the forecast is for sun tomorrow followed by another storm on Saturday. Enough of the four letter word already. We are hoping the family Christmas party Saturday doesn't get cancelled.

Thanks for visiting.

Slow Day

Riverton, Utah High 39 Low 28

A little bit warmer today, but really hazy. We are supposed to get in a storm which is supposed to clear out the air. I certainly hope so.

Today we went to a Christmas lunch at one of my old wholesalers. They had BBQ beef sandwiches and a frozen chocolate pie that were very good. Again it was good to see another group of my old acquaintances (read competitors).  Cindy and I had been on several cruises put on by this company, so we re-met a lot of old faces.

Afterward we went to several quilt store looking for a quilting template she needs for one of the quilts she wants to do. No one seemed to carry the one she wanted, so when I got home, I found it on the Overstock.com website. They are located in Salt Lake, so we hope to have it by Christmas.

Tonight I took Devon to the school for basketball practice and he seems to really enjoy playing basketball.

Not much else going on, thanks for visiting.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Riverton, Utah High 36 Low 19

We are high enough in elevation to get out of the haze a little, so we have a little higher temperatures than Salt Lake. The downside is with the clear sky's, it gets a lot colder at night. The upside is it's only about 2 weeks till we go somewhere warmer.

Cindy spent yesterday baking. She likes to give the loaves of coconut bread for Christmas. Sorry you're not here, so she included her recipe. It really is good, and has been sort of a Christmas tradition for years for as long as I have known her, and she says a long time before that.

I finished up the light purple quilt. I don't think the pictures show all the different rose patterns. There were 7 different ones on the various blocks and borders. This one took a while to finish.

I also finished a smaller snowman quilt, which Cindy wants to give as a Christmas gift. The back shows the snowflake pattern very well.

Today I also put together a gift for Devon. I'll wait till Christmas to take pictures of it, but there was much assembly required. I don't want to tell what it is yet in case he sees this post.

That's about all that's going on. Thanks for visiting.