Merry Christmas 2018

(Christmas picture taken by Alex, while we all camped at Del Mar RV Park 

on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base!)

2018 marked our 40th anniversary! 

Our kids and grandkids surprised us with an impromptu celebration including a delicious chocolate ice cream cake shared amongst family and friends. To celebrate, we treated ourselves to a 15 day South Pacific Cruise, (ports in Papeete & Bora Bora, Tahiti, American Samoa, Western Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Brisbane & Sydney, Australia).

We met a lot of nice people on this cruise!

It was a wonderful trip! 

Also during 2018, Nicole & David celebrated 15 yrs of marriage; and Alex & Angelina celebrated 10! 

During the summer we RVed across America on I-40, visiting 11 states: Arizona, New Mexico, the panhandle of Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina & Virginia, for a total of 5500 miles! 

The south is so very beautiful, green and lush, but it also has terrible humidity (which we expected and never got used to)!

Our grandkids are growing faster than we’d like (Gigi-11½, Brody & Micah-8½, Hallee-7½, and Seth-5½), and they are all oh so busy with soccer, baseball, softball, and school.

  Wishing you and yours all the blessings of Christmas 

and a Happy 2019!

Exploring the USA

We took our first USA RV Trip with our good friends, Sue and Bill, (and our dog, Sydney, of course!). Our wonderful journey started on August 11th when we left Lake Almanor in Nor Cal.We returned home on Oct 8th, 2014.

(we drove to the top of Pike's Peak in Colorado)

We spent 8 1/2 weeks on the roads of northern America in our 40' RV, towing our jeep, on our trip of a lifetime (the first of several such trips).

Nick and I have camped our entire marriage. We started camping in a tent, before we bought a camper. After the camper, we owned 2-travel trailers (18" and 24"), 2-Class C motorhomes (22' and 28'), 1-Class A 34' motorhome, and 2-diesel pusher 40' motorhomes. We have always talked about seeing and traveling through all the states of the USA.

Last year we bought our USA map (those of you who camp have seen the USA maps on the sides of RV's). On it, we put the states' stickers for the states we traveled to in 2013 in our RV: California, of course, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.  Now our USA map has 19 states' stickers, only 29 more states to go, 30 if we take our RV to Alaska!

Here's a look at our trip by the numbers:

We traveled 17 states:  (18 states if you count driving 20 miles through Arizona!).

We visited and or/traveled to:

*** 38+ American cities/towns

*** 6 cities visited friends

*** 8 National Parks:

    Glacier National Park
    Yellowstone National Park
    Theodore Roosevelt National Park
    Badlands National Park
    Rocky Mountain National Park
    Arches National Park
    Bryce National Park
    Zion National Park

*** 26+  Points of Interest and National Historic Sites, including:
    National Bison Range, MT
    John D. Rockefeller Memorial Pkwy (the road between Yellowstone and Grand Tetons)
    Little Missouri National Grasslands, ND
    Mt Rushmore National Memorial, SD
    Custer State Park in the Black Hills, SD
    Crazy Horse Memorial, SD
    Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, SD
    "Wall Drug," SD
    Jefferson Expansion, St Louis Arch Gateway to the West, MO
    Anheuser Busch Brewery and Budweiser Tour, MO
    Branson. MPO
    Air Force Strategic Air Command and Museum, NE
    Holy Family Shrine Chapel, NE
    The Mall of America, MN
    Minnehaha Falls, MN
    Harley-Davidson Museum, WI
    Wisconsin Dells, WI
    Vesterheim - Norwegian-American Museum, IO (both Sue and I are Norwegian!)
    Covered Bridges of Madison County, IO
    United States Air Force Academy and AF Cadet Chapel, CO
    Pike's Peak, (14, 115') CO
    Garden of the Gods, CO - National Natural Landmark
    Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge, CO
    Grand Mesa outside of Grand Junction, CO
    Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, NV

*** 4 baseball parks: Minnesota Twins, Target Field; Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park;
               St Louis Cardinals, Busch Stadium; and Kansas City Royals, Kaufman Stadium

*** 33 RV parks, including 3 state park campgrounds and 2 city RV parks

*** 28 days/nights of rainstorms with thunder and lightning, like we've never seen in southern California! Everywhere, along our trip, locals told us it was the "wettest" summer in years, which we can attest!

***12 audiobooks listened to along the way

*** 2,000+ pictures taken

*** and 8,600 miles put on our RV and 1,500 miles on our jeep.

America is so much larger than we imagined, with the most amazing beauty, vastness and diversity of the terrain. We saw green rolling hills, lush foliage and forests;

many rivers, including the Missouri River, the Mississippi River, the Arkansas River and the Colorado River; waterfalls: many lakes and the very Big Sky of Montana; the wildflowers; glacier, hot mineral springs, and geysers;the brilliant blue skies over America with the clouds almost close enough to touch; the beautiful sunsets;

the sunflower fields, as well as the endless fields of sorghum and soybeans, and corn fields; Hoodoos (spires); the plains; the many mountains, including the mighty Rocky Mountains; and many different wild animals, including: American Bison, Elk, Prone Horn Antelope, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Prairie Dogs, bear, chipmunks, ground squirrels, and Mountain Goat.

We drove on two lane highways, interstates, back roads, and dirt roads; throughout National Parks; through small towns and large cities; in the middle of what seemed like nowhere, alone on an interstate and stuck in traffic (YES! there is traffic outside of California, although shocking, I know!); used 4 GPS's and a good old-fashioned Atlas, at one time, to guide us along our way, sometimes finding a "different" way to get to our destination. We drove on sunny clear days and through some torrential thunderstorms; had warm weather and some really cold weather in the fall (woke up to 27 degrees in Bryce Canyon National Park); through the plains, over the continental divide several times, and over the Rocky Mountains via the Independence Pass, 12,096 ft.

To see more of our trip check out  my flickr page !

Camping with our BFFs

We spent a wonderful week camping in Fort Bragg, a small town nestled on the beautiful rugged coastline of northern California, spending time with family and great friends! Nances and Pavones always have the best times together and this trip was no exception.

This year our daughters (Nicole and Emily) and their families joined us, as well as 5 adorable grandbabies (3 of ours and 2 of the Nances, as well as one to be born in August)! It was heartwarming to see the newest generation becoming great camping friends, as their moms before them! 

The oldest girls, Gigi, 5, and Isabelle, almost 4, even liked doing the dishes on the table benches (reminiscent of their moms, many years ago)!

We had the best campsites ever at Pomo Campground! They were so private, we hardly knew anyone else was there. We had gorgeous views of the large redwoods, pines and blooming rhododendrons surrounding us.

We relaxed, played games, visited the quiet town, and talked, a lot!  

Guys went abalone diving and were successful both days.

A delicious abalone feast was consumed by everyone, even the little ones loved it! 

Eric shows David,Brody, Gigi, Isabelle (Nicole)and Olivia (Emily and baby) an abalone in its shell.

  

We explored nearby "Glass Beach" at the north end of town, on a foggy morning,

David, Nicole, Brody, Auntie Grandma Lynn, Papa and Emily 

Rick, Lynn, Karen and Nick

 enjoyed campfires each night, roasted marshmallows and made s'mores

Beautiful weather, sunny days, crisp nights, camping, and friendship, mixed with only one afternoon/eve of some rain, a rarity for Nor Cal, made for a great week of fun!

More photos

Our Trip to Oregon

Fall Colors!

We took an RV trip up to Bend, Oregon, a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the "fall colors," we had been too early for when we were in New England in Sept.

We visited our friends, the Nances, in Redding, CA, for a few days on our way to Bend and on our way back. One night our friends the Lauries came over from Paradise,
for a birthday dinner in honor of Sue. [Nick, Karen, Rick, Lynn, Sue & Bill]

It was great seeing them and spending some long overdue time with good friends!

The weather was clear, sunny and warm while we were in northern California. Nick and Rick went fly fishing and bear hunting, while Lynn and I had our own "quilt retreat" and sewed for a couple of fun days.We were able to complete the first three blocks in the "America the Beautiful" BOM (2011 block of the month from McCalls' Quilting magazine) we are making together.

Once we arrived in Bend, however, we were surprised to discover how cold it was. Nick had to immediately change from his shorts to jeans! The air was very crisp and the sky was a gorgeous blue, which should have been our first clue of the weather to come. The first day it was 38 degrees when we got there in the early afternoon. That night the temp got to a high of 15 degrees. The next day it got into the low 40's and that night it only dropped to 20 degrees.

We stayed at a fantastic RV Resort, Crown Villa , right near the beginning of town. The sites are all 72' long, made with pavers. Each site has a storage cabinet you can use at the back of the site and the sites are extra wide, maybe 45' wide with lots of grass.

We drove around the town of Bend, a very, quaint town. The vibrant, rich yellow, rust and red leaves were everywhere we looked and so beautiful. We walked along the beautiful Deschuttes River in the Old Mill District of Bend. We had dinner one night, downtown at McMenamin's Pub and Tavern.
Nick went fly fishing and we visited a couple of cute quilt shops.

One afternoon we took a beautiful drive northwest to the cute little town of Sisters, Oregon, and visited the famous quilt shop, The Stitching Post. I really want to return (maybe next July) for their Outdoor Quilt Show that is the second Saturday in July every year (2011 was the 36th Annual Outdoor Quilt Show).

On our return to Redding we stopped and visited Nick's sister and family in Yreka, CA. We hadn't been to their Historic Victorian home in many years, and we got to see all the remodeling they have done,and more "Fall Colors" as well. It was great catching up with family.

More photos of our trip on flickr!

Apple Picking in Juilan

Last weekend we took our motorhome to KQ Ranch RV

Resort in Julian, for Apple Days, and in honor of David's birthday.

Julian is about an hour and a half from us in the local mountains.

{Grandbabies and Proud Grandparents}

Nicole, David, 3 grandkids, Dan and Jeri joined us for a fun weekend of camping at the resort. The town was hopping, or as Gigi said, "It's bumping!!" (I think her daddy taught her that saying!) Lots of tourists were walking all around the small quaint town of Julian.

The weather was warm, sunny and beautiful all weekend. Nighttime was cooler but not too cold. We took walks around the resort, rode bikes, and relaxed in camp. Mommy, Hallee and Gigi slept in the motorhome with Yaya and Papa. It's always an adventure for Gigi to sleep in the motorhome. She was so excited about sleeping on her camping mat and in her very own sleeping bag on the floor of the motorhome!

On Saturday we drove just outside of Julian to pick apples at one of the local apple orchards. Gigi really had fun picking the apples off the trees and putting them into her very own bag.

She's at a great age (4 yr)!! It is pure joy to see her excitement, written all over her cute face at doing new and fun things. After apple picking, we enjoyed lunch "downtown" Julian and yummy famous apple pie ala mode!

Gigi loved riding her bike around the resort. She has a cute way of coaxing just about anyone to go with her! She also enjoyed feeding the nearby horse a big carrot. She's like an energizer bunny----she is go go go all day long--no napping for this "big" girl!

Brody (18 mon) had the most fun just being a boy and getting as dirty as possible. He loved playing with the set of MatchBox cars that were his daddy's, right in the dirt! He go go goes too!!

But he does finally give way to resting, here coming close to sleep on dad's lap! Daddy and brody slept in their tent!

The litttlest camper, Hallee (4 months) did a lot of cooing, sleeping and eating, but she also enjoyed the outdoors. She's been camping twice already at her young age. She loves being held, but she has to be facing everyone so she can see all around her. Mom just carries her around in the Ergo or Moby and she's fine.

Here she is sitting with Papa and talking up a storm! She's too cute!

You can see more Apple Days pictures here.

Camping at Fort Bragg

Another AB Diving Trip

We spent a week on the Northern California coast, with our best friends, the Nances, in one of the most beautiful campgrounds we've ever stayed in.(L to R: Rick, Lynn, Nick, Eric)

Located just south of Fort Bragg, one of the best things about the Pomo RV Park and Campground is the fact that they have many double sites and these double sites are surrounded by tall trees and shrubs that give you lots of privacy!! Some of the many flowers were beginning to bloom and everything was so green!!

We had cool weather and even some rain, but we really still had fun as we always do when we spend time with the Nances!!

Lynn and I stayed at camp to watch Lynn's granddaughters, while Nick, Rick, Eric, Emily and Dave went abalone diving in the freezing Pacific Ocean. We were told the visibility was just about the best they'd ever seen in 25+ years of diving. Everyone got their limit,

The Ab's in their shells

The divers, abs + little ones,
L to R: Nick, Eric, Isabelle, Dave, Rick Emily and Olivia

There's nothing like fresh abalone dinner!! Luckily they dove a second day so we were able to bring some home, frozen, for the next best thing to fresh for another dinner!!

Can't wait to go again next spring!!

Check out more pictures on my flickr page>

Great Weekend in Arizona

SPRING TRAINING WEEKEND

We headed to Arizona last Thursday in our RV with Nicole, David and Gigi. Nick was able to drive, despite having had his 2nd rotator cuff surgery just a month ago! We met David's parents, Dan and Jeri there about 8:30 pm on Thursday night, at a very nice resort, Pueblo El Mirage RV and Golf Resort in El Mirage, Arizona. This resort is a lot nicer than the place we stayed at last year, with a fantastic clubhouse and recreation buildings with loads of activities, kid friendly, extended pool hours for kids (a big hit with Gigi), people friendly, a championship golf course (which Dan, Jeri and David played on Friday morning), and beautiful landscaping--lots of flowers, not just the usual cacti for a resort in the desert. It's about 20 minutes from both baseball parks we went to while we were there. We enjoyed hanging out during the days, riding bikes, going to the pool, etc.

Weather was nice, sunny,warm and breezy, in the low to mid 70's on Friday and Saturday, but quite a bit colder at night than we had expected, in the low 50's, when we were at the baseball games, where we sat on the grass in left fields both nights.

Friday night's game was at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona, spring training home of the San Diego Padres. Padres beat LA 9-4. Met up with some old friends from San Diego at the game! Fun.Saturday night's game was at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, spring training home of the LA Dodgers. Padres beat LA again, 4-1. (woohoo!!)

Sunday morning we packed up the motorhome and headed back to Camelback Ranch for a day game between the Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians. We left the game early, for the long drive home, but the Dodgers were losing 11-1 in the 7th inning.

To see all our pictures go to our flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72308330@N00/sets/72157623675318046/

MY FAVORITE THINGS

Joan has challenged all members of CG & GQC to blog about our "favourite things!" (She's a Canadian hence the spelling of "favourite"!!)

These are a few of my favorite things......

1. My sewing machine: a Pfaff Creative 7570 (To quote Joan because I couldn't have said it better myself "sewing (and quilting) is my most favorite hobby"), and a few of my sewing/quilting accessories!

2. My doggies:That's Sydney (4) resting her head on Lacy (12)

3. DARK Chocolate: Any kind of DARK chocolate will do, but I especially love Dark Chocolate with Raspberry Filling:

4. My African Violets: I get my love of African Violets from my grandma, a very wise, godly woman with a heart of gold.

5. My collections: I have always been a collector-I love collecting: Precious Moments, cats (here are just a few of my cats that I have pretty much in every room!) pictures, scrapbooks, fire memorabilia(previously written about here), you name it! My friend Susie says I have too many collectibles. Recently I have begun to believe she may be right! So now I am only collecting "fabrics!"

6. Our RV: love to go "camping-RVing" and traveling in the RV, or by air, or by sea!pictured with my hubby, Nick, our doggies and my Highlander.


"....Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things!"

February To Do Projects

Off to a Quilting Retreat

We're heading to Buellton, Central Coast, California in our RV. We'll be camping for the next few days with our great friends, Lynn and Rick. While the guys do what guys do, Lynn and I will join our friend, Nancy and others and will be quilting till the late hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Creation Station Quilt Shop's Brown Bag Retreat!

So, here's what I plan to work on while at the retreat:

1. A baby quilt for my grandson, Micah, due mid-May out of these cute fabrics:

2. And, for my niece, Amalia and her new husband Rick, a queen size quilt similar to this "Flyboy" quilt I made for my friend, Bill;
this one will be made with several shades of golden tan,
dark reds/burgandys and black.

(If time permits and I finish both tops, maybe I'll make a couple of table toppers for my bedroom nightstands.
But....I doubt it!)

We are really looking forward to meeting up with our friends Thursday night. We haven't seen them in quite a while (they live in Redding about 12 hour drive from us) ! Then bright and early Friday morning Lynn and I will head over to the retreat! Can't wait to get quilting!!

January RV Trip

QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA

Nick and I headed east to Quartzsite, Arizona for the big RV Show and the "Endless Flea Markets" last Thursday, spending the first night in Indio, CA.
We arrived in Quartzsite midday on Friday and picked our spot near some of these other RVer's. We were on the north side of Interstate 10, not far from where everything was happening. Talk about affordable--$5/night!! It's a unique camping experience if you've never been out there. You just get off Interstate 10 at one of the several exits and pretty much park anywhere you choose!!! There were RV's as far as you can see, on both sides of the freeway.

There isn't much to say about the small town, nothing really special, but from January till March every year thousands of people flock to this desert community, to see Rock and Gem Shows, Flea Markets, people watch and every kind of gadget you can imagine!! We shopped these vendors for bargains for a couple of days, finding some goodies we just couldn't live without!!

(The RV Show is in the big tent seen in the picture above, left middle)

Besides all the great bargains you can find and the interesting people you see and meet, there are some beautiful views of the sky!!
No smog in Quartzsite, but the traffic in many places in Arizona, here and in the spring training towns of Surprise, Goodyear, Peoria and the like, almost rivals the LA freeways at rush hour. These towns get thousands of visitors every year, but most of the Arizona roads can't accommodate the numbers of people who venture there for these big events!!

We left a day early(on Monday rather than Tuesday) to try to beat the rainstorms predicted for the Southwestern states. We hit some rain on our journey home but not much. The pouring rain actually started right after we returned home-which made for some difficulty in unloading the motorhome.

A favorite site of our family's, when heading to the river or Laughlin or Palm Desert to visit Nick's parents back in the day, is the windmills east of the Palm Springs area, pictured below.
The winds blow them 'round and 'round even when it rains!!

September Finishes-October TO DO's!!

My Brown Bag (quilting) Retreat was so much fun, as always!! We sewed non-stop, Friday from 8am-midnight, Saturday 9 am-12:30 am, and Sunday 8 am till the end at 3 pm, and, yet, I only finished two quilt tops!! I always think I will finish so much more, forgetting how time consuming some projects can be, for example, my "Moose Junction" (pattern by McKenna Ryan). All the animals, birds, fish, trees and mountain are machine appliqued on top, using a blanket stitch all around the raw edges. I timed myself while stitching around one of the mountain goats and it took 20 minutes to finish one!!! So this project was definitely labor intensive, but worth it.It's a favorite of Nick's, and I'm thinking of adding another border, making it a small throw for our motorhome--since it looks so great draped over our couch!

I also finished the quilt top, "Gigi's Hawaiian Quilt" for our toddler bed. I got the initial idea from a free pattern and changed it to make my own. The blocks are made with two 3 1/2" squares of different Hawaiian fabrics and two 4 patch squares. I love the way it turned it. The criss cross pattern formed by the 4 patch squares are actually a pale yellow fabric that has beachy items on it. This accent really brightens up the quilt.[I had planned on posting pictures from the retreat, however I left my camera at my friend, Lynn's house and won't be getting it back until we meet up at the Pacific International Quilt Show, Oct 15-17th in San Jose!}

I also managed to finish some other projects during September, including another Firefighter Baby Blanket...
a matching "Big Brother" Pillow case (pictured on the left below, both gifts for one of the firefighter's in my husband's dept!);
another "Big Sister" Pillow Case, for another new baby girl born to a member of the fire prevention team;

and lastly, I made a "nightgown" for my granddaughter, to match the nightgown of the little girl in her favorite book, "The Goodnight Book" (which was also one of my daughter's favorite books as a child!). (Picture will be posted once I have it!!)

My October TO DO List will be shorter than my September list was, for two reasons. First, because I was over ambitious last month, and second because I actually have less time to sew and quilt, since we are going on a cruise, leaving the last week of October.

I'm hoping to complete the following:

1) Pajama bottoms to match the pj top/nightgown (which is supposed to be the pj top-but it is longer on Gigi than I planned). The pajamas are made out of the softest fabric--100% bamboo!
2) Another Hawaiian dress for Gigi (made from Hawaiian fabric bought when we were in Kona, Hawaii a year ago (my friend Lynn will be making matching dresses for her two granddaughters as well!
3) Pin, quilt and bind "Gigi's Hawaiian Quilt" (pictured above)

4) Time permitting, pin, quilt, and bind the "Moose Junction" quilt.

And if there's more time, any other projects I've previously mentioned and haven't finished as yet!!!! Wish me luck!