And so the fun begins......

We met up with Gary and Carolyn at the Wal Mart in Chehalis about 4 pm on Monday afternoon. I had driven on ahead so I would have time to visit Sister’s Fabric Shop in Chehalis, and it was well worth it. I have never seen so many fabrics in one place at one time. I did make a few purchases but practiced lots of restraint.

Tuesday, we went as far as Canyonville, OR and stayed at the Seven Feathers Casino - Ouseys’ recommendation and well worthwhile. For a mere $14, we had full hook-ups and use of the hotel’s swimming pool, 2 Jacuzzis and showers. It is by far one of the nicest hotel/casinos I’ve seen outside Las Vegas. We availed ourselves of all the amenities, including the $6.95 steak dinner, and didn’t drop a penny in the casino.

Wednesday took us as far as the Wal Mart in Willows, and again Gary and Carolyn knew exactly how to get around on the side of the building away from the general traffic of the parking lot. We were in an area between the building and a row of outside storage units giving us our own little “oasis”.

Thursday has us going as far as Bakersfield and Camping World. Gary has something he wants to buy, and then we will just stay put for the night. Tomorrow is Yuma!

Gary and Carolyn encountered a couple on the ferry coming from Victoria to Port Angeles whom they had met briefly once before. We have seen them every day since, and we stayed the same places the first two nights. It is a small world.

Ken discovered on the day that we were leaving that his driver’s license will expire on March 1 so he got up early on Tuesday and drove into Centralia to be the first in line. It seems there is always something unforeseen that pops up.

This is Thursday afternoon that I am writing this, and we are on I-5 with Merced to the east and Morgan Hill to the west. It has been very smoggy all day so even though there are no clouds, we can’t see the sun. We are far enough south to see them harvesting citrus fruit and to see palm trees waving in the breeze. We decided we were official Snowbirds as soon as we left the state of Washington.

Colleen finally found a decent one-way fare to Idaho for Christmas so we will meet up with her in Boise, and then she will road trip back to Arizona with us. I am looking forward to some real winter Christmas with crisp air and snow, even more importantly, time with Brian, Sheila and the boys. It should be lots of fun.



Monday, December 12, 2005

We cannot get an internet connection, even though Gary can, and he is parked right next door. We are suspecting our card because we can’t even connect on our computer when we go to Gary’s rig.

We had a bit of a challenge to find the Wal Mart in Bakersfield on Thursday, and at first glance weren’t even sure there was room for us for the night, but we did finally make it work. On Friday night we stayed at El Centro Naval Air Facility. Much to our amazement, we did not even have to register our “Canadian Nationals”. The guard at the gate said he could authorize their entry for the one night. We had to stay in the overflow lot which is no big surprise considering the location of this base, but we had access to the showers and that was most important.

After some rather harrowing driving in five lanes of traffic and up and down a pass as we drove through the San Bernadino area, we arrived at Cocopah in the early afternoon on Saturday. Much to Ouseys’ amazement, the area in front of our parking spaces has been taken from trees and cacti to bare dirt. Homeland Security is footing the bill to clear the area to help deter folks from coming across the border. But we have no one in front of us, there is the freeway in the distance, and railroad tracks with lots of trains to keep us company – sort of like home.

We had two different brake warning scenarios on the last day of travel, so we were up at six this morning to get the motor home into the Workhorse dealer, where they said they could find nothing. I really did not want to get up at that hour, especially to be told they could find nothing. Time will tell.

Now this afternoon is my first chance to really get settled since we are parked permanently for the next month. I have lights, a wreath, lighted snowflakes, and poinsettias to put up. Some of the motor homes and park models have brilliant and extensive displays of Christmas.

Tomorrow we can start checking out the activities, of which there are many.

The bad news on this trip was to learn that Gary’s brother, Dennis, has been diagnosed with brain cancer. It is anticipated that a decision will be made today as to whether he is a candidate for a Gamma Knife procedure. Gary is flying to Winnipeg tomorrow to provide some moral support for a week. Gary and Dennis’ mother, age 87, is understandably distraught, so I’m sure Gary can help to calm her. We keep the family in our prayers.

Okay, I’m going to take my little memory stick to the Ousey’s and see if I can get this posted.

Ciao