2008 Recap

I'm finally getting a posting that will bring this up to date! Actually, I stole this off my Christmas letter, so it may be old news by now.

This was the year of ‘home maintenance’ for us! After spending so much time traveling, it was time to stay home and tackle some projects that we’ve been putting off. We finally selected a new front door and Les installed new windows on the front of half of the house. We also had the house painted and everything looks great.

I also broke down and had the sinus surgery to help cure that chronic infection that I had been fighting. I had a great Doctor, Jason Van Tassel, and he tried everything before we resorted to surgery. It's taken quite a while for me to feel like everything's normal again.

We still love our new motor home, although we haven’t gotten out in it quite as much as last year. We do plan to head out in January on an extended road trip. Les has been wanting to explore the New Mexico and Texas area and I want to venture down into Florida and some of the southern states. We expect we’ll be gone at least 4 months.

I got to spend the month of June in Redding, helping out in Lance’s office. Les drove the RV up there for me and I stayed in it, coming back home on weekends. I actually had to drive the RV across town by myself to a different park after the first week, my first solo driving of this coach! Working in the medical field is quite a departure from my own background in construction. I really enjoyed it and it was great getting to see how much Lance’s patients trust and respect him. He and Sue have done a great job building his practice. I also got to help him design the build-out for his new offices and that was so much fun.

One of my most treasured memories of the year was taking the two oldest granddaughters, Lauren & Hannah, on a 12 day trip to Thailand. We had the most amazing experience; one that none of us will ever forget. We joined an ‘all-women’ tour group and were really fortunate to have 6 fabulous and accomplished women on the tour with us. (Five of them came from Texas and I hope to get to see some of them again as we travel through there this winter).

Les is still riding his motorcycles and playing tennis 3 days a week when we’re home. Lately, he’s taken up small radio controlled airplanes and is looking at RC cars, too.

Hawaii

The whole family spent Thanksgiving together on Maui. Les & I hadn’t been back to Hawaii since 1983. We even got to have dinner one night at the same restaurant we ate at on our honeymoon. Most of the family took surfing lessons one morning! Of course, they’re all very coordinated, caught on right away and had a great time. Lance’s wife, Sue, her mom Donna and I, chose to sit out on this particular activity. It was my observation that everyone in the water actually had the Lollar bloodline!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy 2009.

Life in Fremont

Ahhh, life in Fremont. After getting back from Oregon for warranty work on the Coach, we're hanging out around here for awhile so we can do a bit of delayed maintenance. We're picking out new double-paned windows for the front of the house (the rear has all been done) and a new front door, then it's time for a new exterior paint job. We've lived here for 21 years and have only painted once. The house was dark brown when we bought it, and now we're thinking a gold color will be nice. The yard has gotten overgrown and we'll be working on that too.





One of the best things about this time of year is the first bloom on the roses. Yummy.

So, most of my blog followers will remember that back in August I had quite a run-in with a sinus infection. Well... it hasn't gone away yet. It's now called Chronic Sinusitis and I'm seeing an ENT who had me get a CT scan and told me I was full of it! He's recommending surgery and I'm opting for another serious go-round with antibiotics and steroids. We'll give that a try for a week and then see what happens. If this doesn't kick it, it'll be sinus surgery for me. Ughhh... not looking forward to that. However, if I have to do that, better sooner then later, since I've already booked my trip to Thailand in August/September with the 2 oldest granddaughters. I need to be well by then. Keep a happy thought!

Why?

After leaving Yuma, we headed a bit farther south in Arizona to the little towns of Ajo and Why, just north of the Mexico border. Ajo is a town of about 3,700 people and Why is just a dust spot along the road with an Indian Casino. It really does beg the question Why? Next time we're in that part of the country, we'll venture across the border to check out Puerto Penasco.

I know it's hard to read, but the sign says "Ajo Country Club" And this is what it looks like!

We got to spend a couple of days in Phoenix catching up with old friends. We had dinner with Dan & Linda Olmo one night. It was just like old times as we reminisced and polished off a bottle of wine. Dinner with Jeff & Reggie Vincent at the Barrio Cafe is always a highlight.

Les's annual President's weekend riding trip went off without any mishaps this year. Yeah! No broken bones to recover from. The weather was pretty nasty the first 2 days with the wind blowing about 50 mph, but then it cleared for the weekend and we had a couple of fabulous days of sunshine.

We're now in Lancaster at our 2nd Monaco Rally. We've met a couple of really neat people and are having a good time regardless of the rainy weather.

We'll be heading for home tomorrow and are getting anxious to see our kids & grandkids. Our times on the road are fun but it's also good to be home!

Snowbirds?

Can we be called snowbirds if we’re not running away from the snow? We headed south on the 11th of January, spending a couple of days in Pismo Beach catching up with all our dear friends down there. Christine & Randy hosted a dinner on Saturday for 12 of us and I ended up the weekend making biscuits and gravy in the BAM (big-ass motorhome) for that same 12 people on Sunday morning! Too much fun! How is it that the kids get older but we don't? Hmmm?

We loved seeing Karyn’s new Aussie puppy, Kaci. It brings back so many memories of our Kala.

We’re currently in Yuma and are having a really fun time with our neighbors. We’ve been invited to the Moose Lodge twice for food, cocktails and dancing. Woo-hoo! That was fun!

We spent one afternoon in Los Algodones, Mexico. Love the food across the border! It’s getting a lot more difficult to cross the border. As of tomorrow you will have to have a passport. Many of the snowbirds here cross the border for their dental, optical and pharmacy needs. Some of this group wouldn’t go when we went because the day before it was taking people over 2 hours in line to get back across the border. We solved that by staying until dark and then we were across in about 30 minutes.

I bought myself a new bike last week and I love it. It’s easy to ride and get on/off. It’s called a comfort bike! Is that a nice way of calling it an old person’s bike?

The second time I got to ride it I got a flat! Ugh!