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!

Count Down to Christmas

It won't be long now until it's Christmas Day and you can just feel the stress in the air. I did manage to get up a tree and some decorations so it feels pretty festive around here. Korin and I are both fighting some kind of illness. I think mine is residual sinus infection from September and I think hers is from getting run down with all the Christmas hub-bub. You know, too much to do and not enough time.

Kyle & Korin will be getting their new apartment this weekend and will be doing the movin' thing. Mixed emotions here. It's been fun to have them around every day to find out how their day went, but I think we're all needing our own space. I'll miss them and we've even gotten kind of attached to their cats!

MacGyver ~ King of the Jungle

Gracie ~ definitely the Princess!

Home Again

We've been home a little over a week now, and are still trying to get caught up and settle back in. It's always amazing to us how much there is to do when we've been gone that long.

Kyle and Korin had these very cute costumes of Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo for a Halloween party on Saturday night. Another of their friends was Shaggy.

Happy Halloween!

Cutting Horses

We had a great visit with my cousin, Skeet, in Visalia. Her joy for life is contagious! I hope I can be as spry when I approach my 80th birthday.

Skeet hooked us up with a place to park our coach overnight at her friend & neighbor, Jim Putnam's, horse ranch. When we got up this morning there were a number of people arriving with their horse trailers and we were invited to watch them work their cutting horses!

If you've never seen a cutting horse in action, you've missed some amazing animals at work.

Jim even has a horse pool in the middle of the stables! There are 2 chutes with ramps at the end that slope down into the water.















Check out the video...

There was also a pomegranate tree on the ranch that was so loaded that the branches were touching the ground. I've got a bag full to take home! Yum!

Viva Las Vegas

Las Vegas was so much fun! We’re not big gamblers, but we do love the great dining and entertainment.

On our first night in town we got last minute tickets to the show at the Wynn called Le Rêve. It was a great show in the Cirque du Soleil style, using water and aerial acrobatics. (It was produced by Franco Dragone who also produced various Cirque productions, including Mystére, one of my all-time favorites, and the Celine Dion production at Caesar’s.)

Day two was a bit laid back. We spent some time at the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay and then had dinner at Sushi Roku at Caesar’s Forum Shops.

On day three, Les broke down and paid to have the RV washed. It had gotten really dirty and was making him crazy, but RV parks won’t let you wash your own coach in their parks. (Mobile RV wash people bring their own water and pressure washers, then give a kick-back to the resort.)

We had yummy pre-show appetizers at Stack at the Mirage and then saw the Danny Gans show. It was a good show and he is very talented, but we were too far back to really be able to enjoy the show (at one point I thought Les was going to fall asleep). My favorite joke was from his impersonation of Jeff Foxworthy: “If your wife says she’s ‘game’ and you shoot her, you might be a redneck.”

Our standard for a ‘good’ show is if we would pay to see it again. We would definitely pay to see Le Rêve again, but would pass on a second go at the Danny Gans show.

This morning we chose the Wynn for our traditional Eggs Benedict breakfast before leaving Las Vegas.

Tonight we’re boon docking in Mojave. Tomorrow Visalia.