In N Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And what to our wondering eyes should appear but an In N Out Burger in the new Casa Grande shopping center, and of course we had to immediately try it out. For those of you who have never heard of nor encountered an In N Out Burger, it almost has a cult following probably because the locations are limited pretty much to California and some other parts of the southwest. Every restaurant we have visited looks EXACTLY like every other In N Out Burger restaurant.

The menu consists of a hamburger, a double hamburger, a cheeseburger, fries, soft drinks and three flavors of milk shakes. The fries are made from fresh potatoes, and if you look behind the counter, you will see an employee dutifully feeding whole peeled potatoes through the french fry cutter. All employees are fresh-faced teens who are a cut above what you would expect in a fast food establishment, and they are paid accordingly.

We will indulge another time or two while we are here, and then I will have had my fix for another year.

The weather has cooled a bit and we have had some sprinkles of rain over the past few days with the temps hovering in the high sixties. Right now I see blue sky and sunshine.

The Ouseys who have been on the desert near Quartzite for the past week are due here tomorrow so we will spend some time catching up. Carolyn and I always have to make at least one pilgrimage to IKEA and Trader Joe's, and although she doesn't know it yet, the annual quilting and craft show in Phoenix is coming up this week, so I will try to entice her to join me for that.

Have you read "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson? If not, get your hands on a copy ASAP. It is a true story of one man's efforts to build a school (schools) in Pakistan and Afghanistan. You will be amazed and completely drawn into his ongoing efforts, failures and successes. I must admit I had never heard of the man nor the book, but Brian and Sheila gave us the book for Christmas, and I am hooked!! You will see why as you read it.

We invited two couples from Wisconsin for drinks yesterday afternoon; this after the two Wisconsin guys had removed the bedroom slide from their fifth-wheel to repair a rotting floor caused by an ongoing water leak. it didn't take long for the half dozen 'geezers' to realize they weren't going to be able to remove and lower the slide, so the owner of a Bobcat came to the rescue. Slide removed, floor repaired, slide replaced and they slept in their bed last night.

One couple we knew from last year and both of the guys own barber shops within a half block of each other in Hager City, Wisconsin and have been friends for years. We now have an invitation for a place to stay on our return trip from Maryland next summer if we choose to go through Wisconsin.........which we probably will since I have always wanted to visit the Winnebago factory in Iowa.

And in another week or so, I will regale you with more heart-stopping, mind-blowing adventures from the land of sunshine. Ciao

Ahhh sunshine

We are basking in mid-seventies weather!!!! We arrived this afternoon and are parked and set up in the same site as last year. Cooper likes it back here. And on my way to the laundry room, I encountered a couple who were here last year, so of course it is like old home week.

I-5 had been closed last week due to flooding, but I closely monitored a Seattle TV station website which was giving real-time updates on weather and roads. I-5 opened to trucks at noon on Friday and regular traffic at two.....we went through Chehalis about three!! We stopped in Albany for the night to visit Dick and Harriet Light who live in the Mennonite Village with everything from single family homes to condos and apartments. It offers care from assisted living up to Alzheimer care, which is what Dick is going to be needing in the not too distant future.

Bless his heart. He had no idea who we were, and he has gotten quite thin, but when he smiled, we saw the old Dick. He was always such a swashbuckling daring-do kind of guy, that it is very heart-wrenching to see him fail. But we had a good visit with Harriet, and she treated us to dinner at a Hungarian restaurant that is to die for.

Saturday night was the Wal mart parking lot in Red Bluff, Sunday an RV park in Bakersfield, and on to the desert outside Quartzite on Monday. There was a full moon and the stars were awesome while we were there. It seemed there were fewer rigs in town and parked on the desert, but the 'main event' doesn't start until Saturday, and we passed a lot of motor homes heading that way, so I guess it is going to pick up.

All that house cleaning and laundry I did today tired me out, so I am signing off.

Ciao

Happy New Year

We "weathered" the Christmas holiday and are now waiting on the weather to head south!!

There was a window of opportunity on 12/24 to allow us to get to Colleen's for Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and to get home again on the 26th. Curt, Cinda and Linea canceled their plans to go to Spokane because of weather, so they joined us on Christmas Eve for our traditional fondue, pickled herring and Aquavit. Holidays are meant to be spent with friends and family.

Joel and Shawna were married in spite of the weather. Instead of 90 guests, there were about 45. I hurried and mailed the candy wedding favors, but alas, they were one day late, so the family has been munching on them.

Here is my favorite story about the wedding we couldn't attend:

Early in December, I booked a hotel room for two nights thinking we would be in Spokane for the wedding. It was just a Super 8 on Argonne Road, but it took pets and they were offering a two-night special. However, the setup for their website tends to pull you along, and when all is said and done, the reservation cannot be changed, canceled or refunded. Arrrgggh!!

In a moment of blinding intelligence, I called Mike and Joel and told them the room was there and paid for if someone attended the wedding and then wanted to stay over, or couldn't get back home because of the weather. So, the bride and groom stayed there the night of their wedding. Sheesh, had I known that, I would have opted for a bit higher-end place. I think Shawna's family was staying at their house, and Joel and Shawna left on 12/25 for a honeymoon cruise to Mexico, so Super 8 it was for their wedding night. I love it.

BTW, I am asking everyone to boycott Super 8 motels and all Wyndham properties due to their deceitful marketing practices. In fact, when I called the motel about it, the receptionist said they had had others complaint about the same thing.

Jeff and Bev were here for their annual post-Christmas visit, and we did the usual: sleep in, play Boggle, and eat and drink at our leisure. Bev and I also did a bit of quilting.

Our goal had been to leave here yesterday for warmer climes, but the flooding has delayed our departure. I-5 has a 20-mile stretch around Centralia/Chehalis that has been closed since Wednesday afternoon because it is flooded, and now it is due to be open to trucks later today. We couldn't go west toward Aberdeen and pick up 101 because of road closures between here and there.

But we now have no excuse for forgetting anything since we have had two extra days to take care of last minute details.

Craig and Cassie narrowly escaped a repeat of last year's flooding. The water came to within inches of the floor of the house but didn't come inside. They had some lead time so were able to move furniture up off the floor in the event of flooding. The outside yard is littered with anthing and everything that can float, but that is better than mud and water inside.

I saw the surgeon on Tuesday and got a thumbs up. In fact the fusion site shows healing that would be at the four-month time frame rather than two, so I am pleased. I have been armed with all sorts of exercises by the physical therapist to keep me on track this winter, and I am looking forward to pleasant walking weather.

The next blog should be from some other state than Washington!! Ciao