Moving On

The vigil with my brother was over within a few hours of my last blog on January 2nd..  Arrangements still needed to be made.  Without a spouse or children present that task fell mostly to me.  I was very thankful my children were there to help. 

The funeral was over on Tuesday.  However, that doesn’t  mean I’m able to head  to Arizona right away. The day after my brother died we had a member of my niece’s family also depart.  His service is scheduled for Friday. The plan is to hang around until then.  

The good thing is that with all the snow and ice all over the country, there hasn't been much here.  We've had a few mornings with icy roads but no snow.  I've been lucky with that for sure.  I'm certainly looking forward to getting back to warm weather and no ice though.

Terry’s aunt and uncle arrived at their snowbird location in Apache Junction.  His aunt is an avid genealogy researcher just like his mother and, of course, just like me.  Thus, she’s begging for a little time together before we head out of the Phoenix area.  She’s interested in learning more about the DNA process.  I'm giving her one day ..... written in INK on my calendar ... one day only.  So,  I'm happy to report that we’re thinking our arrival in “Q” may be around the 13th.  That’s what we’re hoping and our fingers are crossed that our plans aren’t jinxed.

Soon, I’ll be back to normal blogging --  reading and commenting – honest.


'Tis life on the road.

“When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching -- they are your family. ”   Jim Butcher

Hanging In There … Still

Has it really been six days since I last posted?  It has.  There hasn’t been much change in the last six days.  I’m still doing now what I was doing then. My brother is still hanging in there.  He is non-responsive and his time is coming close.  We had thought it was close six days ago though.

I’m still thankful for the additional bed at hospice.  Other than move in my own pictures and clothes, you could almost call this place my new apartment.  It’s actually quite cozy.  I have nothing but praise for the staff and the facility.

The only out of the ordinary adventure was New Year’s Eve. I made a quick trip to Phoenix and back. I wanted to change out my suitcase, deliver a prescription I had picked up for Terry  …. plus we hoped to move the motorhome  closer to Terry’s mom. Thus, I caught the first flight out of Portland.  Terry was waiting at the curb in Phoenix for me.  We made a trip to Casa Grande where I packed a new suitcase, dropped off Terry’s prescription and hugged Toni and Doug.  . It didn’t take long to ready the motorhome for travel.  By 1:00 all the necessary chores were done and I was on my way to the airport.  By 4:30 that afternoon I was back in Portland and things have continued the same since then.

That’s my short update even though a lot more has transpired with family issues.  Isn’t that always the case?   I’m hoping my next blog will be more about our trip to “Q” than anything else. That’s what I’m hoping. 

‘Tis a break in life on the road.

In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back.  ~Charlie Brown

At the Beginning

Talk about being out of the loop, I have definitely been out of it.  The question I asked myself was where would I start if I tried to blog about everything that has happened since the last blog.  I decided to start at the beginning and leave 99% of it out.  Since I cap my blogs at less than 1,000 words, I figure I have no choice but to leave most of it out.

I left off hoping I would be able to find an empty seat on the first Alaska flight out of town.  I was lucky because even though it was just before the Christmas holiday, there was a seat waiting for me. I thought things were good.

After that it was run, run, wrap, wrap and get ready for Christmas.  As usual the Christmas we shared with family was awesome.  It always is the best time of year.  Other than the fact we were all exhausted from the activities, we had a great time together.  Terry flew back to Arizona on Thursday.  After all Duchess was there in the motorhome waiting for his return.

That was the fun part. However, into every life there sometimes come things that aren’t so fun.  I must have ticked Mr. Murphy off at sometime because I sure seem to end up with more problems than I care to deal with. 

My brother has now been moved into hospice.  That in itself was quite an unpleasant adventure.  Getting it done and everything agreed upon sometimes is the most difficult part.  His apartment still needs to be moved out of and other arrangements worked out.  I’ve literally worn myself out with all the hours I’ve spent at working on his affairs and sitting with him.  Thus, that’s my excuse (plus feeling lousy) for not blogging or commenting on other blogs.  My brain has been fried.

I had expected to head back to Arizona before now but I'm not sure when I will be able to do that.   Hopefully, it's sooner than later.  We have plans for January that we sure hope to be able to keep.

That’s my report.  The good thing is that Justin flies in tonight.

‘Tis a break in the life on the road.

The heaviest thing to carry is a grudge.

Home For the Holidays

We moved into our first real RV park of the season on Tuesday.  I really had to think about that.  It’s true.  We hadn’t stayed at an RV park since …. since … since …  golly, I can’t remember.  We’ve done a lot of overnighting at many Elks and we’ve stayed at casinos but not a real park.  Geez .. it’s been a long time.  However, we do have plans for a couple REAL parks with swimming pools and hot tubs in our near future.  I can hardly wait for those.

Elks Parking

We pulled into the RV park in a slot in Casa Grande right next to our friends, Toni and Doug.  We were here exactly one year ago and in almost the same spot.  Duchess remembered.  She knew exactly where the dog walk was and she led the way.  It’s amazing what dogs remember.

Toni had us over for a fantastic dinner one night and the next we were off to Creative Café.  This is a little hidden treasure off the beaten path in Casa Grande.  It’s not a chain restaurant and well worth the visit.

Our planning was good because the next day we had one heck of a wind storm come through and it brought buckets of rain.  The whole park lost power and we even got to test out our new batteries with the solar.    We were actually thinking we might need those kayaks to glide down the roads but thank goodness the rain stopped before the floods were high enough.

The week has flown by.  Saturday night we had our own little Christmas party with our friends.  We pigged out on pie, told stories and talked about everyone we know.  We also talked about Duck Dynasty -- a very hot topic right now.  It was a great evening but soon came to an end as Sunday was expected to be a very early morning for us with a jaunt to the airport.  The good thing though that early morning departure didn’t turn out to be quite as early as I thought because I changed flights.  I figured there was no sense trying to get on a flight that was already oversold … there was no sense in that at all.

No matter where home really is, home is always with family over the holidays.  If we didn’t spend it with them, it wouldn’t seem right.  However, the problem with this is lots of other people feel exactly the same way.  This, of course, means flights aren’t easy. I’ve had to consider one flight only to have it fill up and lean another way.   Since Terry really has to be in Portland early on the 24th for a doctor’s appointment, we actually broke down and bought him a ticket.  Eeek!!  We don’t like doing that at all.  That meant I would be the only one left to struggle on getting from point A to point B and back again.  Oh well … Sunday is the day and I hope I don’t spend all day at the airport looking for just one empty seat  --  been there, done that.

So, now here I sit overlooking the runways.  Watching the take offs and landings has always been interesting to me.  First there was a US Airways flight, then an American, followed by a United and Southwest.  I'm just hoping that the next Alaska Airlines jet that heads down that same runway has me on board.

Tis life on the road.

Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations.  When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.

Unplanned Adventures

We all know that sometimes we get to do just what we want to do.  Then, sometimes there are things we need to do that we didn’t plan on doing.  Life steps in. It seems we’ve had a lot of unplanned adventures this year. 

The cold weather was finally leaving Arizona.  Warmer temperatures were back where they should be.  I was pretty happy about that.  Cold weather clothes were put away.  Then, I had to dig them right back out again.  I discovered Friday night I needed to make an unplanned flight back to Portland the following morning.  The coats, long pants and everything else I had to keep me warm was quickly packed in a little suitcase.

  The TSA PRECHK has made security at the airport easier  -- no coats or jackets off, shoes remain on and no unloading of liquids or laptops.

The trip north was uneventful. I took off when I hoped and landed right on schedule.   As usual, Sabrina was there at the airport in her little limo to pick me up.  It’s always good visiting with family but there were a few other good visits on this trip too.  One of my  high school buddies just happened to be on the same flight.  That was fun.  I also knew Joe Spiker would be around. He was heading back to Washington from Arizona to get ready for his fishing trip to Mexico.  We had already planned on getting together for lunch.  However, I didn’t expect to see him this early or this soon.  Here he was just ahead of me on a turn around in Washington.

Another good visit  was with four of my brother’s granddaughters.  Three had driven down from Seattle to see their grandpa.  They were just there for the day but it was nice seeing them again.

There is a huge tree farm by Woodland.  This is what one of the fields looked like as I drove by.  I had to pull off and take that picture.  It definitely looked like a winter wonderland … and not someplace I had planned on being.  I had been a little concerned about discovering ice on the road as I climbed in elevation so this didn’t help that concern at all.  The only difference is these fields were iced over because the sprinklers had probably been left running.

I was on the way to our cabin.  I  wanted to pick up a couple things plus check on the three dehumidifiers we had left running at our place and also those at Tammi’s.  When I stopped to check on Tammi’s place, I had three greeters run over asking for a handout.  I felt bad that I didn’t have a thing with me.  

I had a few things to do while in the Portland/Vancouver area.  These weren’t planned adventures but as long as I was there it was easy to take care of them.  The good thing was that my granddaughter, Sandi, offered to wrap most of my Christmas presents for me.  That was a huge help.  I don’t mind wrapping a gift or two but I certainly don’t like wrapping a bunch. 

When I left Arizona I had no idea how long I would be staying.  I hadn’t planned on staying long.   I knew I needed to get back to Arizona so I could get back to Washington for Christmas.  We also had a motorhome to move before that could happen. 

Before the motorhome was moved we had a little business around the BIG CITY to take care of.  Then, we needed to get the kayaks off the ground and get them back on top of the Jeep.  The next plan was washing the whole contraption.  Our move wasn’t to be a big one.  It was only about 35 miles but we wanted to go in clean even though we knew the dust would soon take care of that.

‘Tis life on the road.

The longest journey begins with a single step not with a turn of the ignition key.

Heading Back to Portland

Boy we’ve been busy.  We’ve been running around at shopping centers and casinos with Terry’s mom.  We’ve also been visiting lots of different restaurants.  Since she lives alone we thought it best to get her out and run her ragged so she wouldn’t just sit at home waiting for her stitches to come out.  She had gotten pretty depressed.  The problem is that we haven’t been running her ragged.  It’s been the other way around.

Then, we were back at the casino after her stitches were out.  Aargh!  Terry doesn’t care if he ever sees the inside of another casino.  He thinks standing behind someone at the slot machine and watching for four hours is just two long.  He’s done that twice now and says … NO MORE. 

There are lots of fun Christmas toys out there.

We’ve also helped his mother finish up her Christmas shopping.  We were thankful that the gift wrapping tables were set up at the mall otherwise we knew we’d be wrapping them.  The malls aren’t so bad since she only visits a few stores like Pottery Barn, Nordstrom, Coldwater Creek and Godiva Chocolates.  It’s the time that’s spent in each store.  Now if it had been Best Buy or Fry’s Electronics, we might have been more enthusiastic about the shopping.

Yesterday we made a stop at the Tempe Outlet Mall and were surprised to see the huge JC Penney’s Outlet going out of business.  That store has always been packed with lots of good priced goodies!  The items really aren’t just Penney’s items.  You find items from Kohl’s and many other stores. In addition to it being an outlet, items have been marked down and marked down and then priced at 50% less than that.  I needed a swim suit.  I bought 4 without trying them on … just in case.  Two of them turned out to be perfect and two not at all.  However, each swim suit was $2.49 each, a reduction of about 97% each. 

Friday we had our six house batteries replaced in our motorhome. We had hoped to be able to pass the two fairly new ones along to others.  However, with a $30 per battery core charge, we figured others were better off buying new ones. It’ll be interesting to see if we can tell a difference in how long the new batteries hold a charge.

We all know plans tend to get changed more often than we like.  Friday night I got a call.  My brother’s not doing so well.  So … Saturday morning I’m back on my way to Portland. I’ve certainly discovered things rarely work out as planned.


‘Tis life on the road.

Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car.

Casino Time and Airline Mergers

We decided Monday would be the day we’d take Terry’s mom out to lunch.  Well, we decided we’d ask if she wanted to go out to lunch.  We weren’t sure if she’d feel self-conscious going out.  She jumped at the chance.  She had guts and wasn’t self conscious at all.  She just told folks if they thought she looked bad, they ought to see the other fella!  In other words, she was quite a trooper.

While we were out and about she figured we could also do a little grocery shopping for her.   We did the shopping and she stayed in the vehicle.  We had discovered a few days ago that getting in and out of our Jeep was quite difficult for her.  It’s not that we had a choice of vehicle to take since hers was in the shop.   I think she would have preferred the motorhome over the Jeep.  By the time we got back to her place, she was pretty excited to see that her vehicle had been returned and was sitting in the driveway.  I’m guessing she’ll never get in our raised Jeep again.

Tuesday was casino day.  His mom LOVES casinos.  We had her vehicle to take and even though she had trouble reading the menu with the one eye, we knew she wouldn’t have any trouble making out the display on the slot machines.  She didn’t.  We spent several hours pushing the buttons on the slot machines.  It’s hard to leave a machine when you continue to win.  Well, we won a bit and lost a bit.  The only thing I can say is that I ended up walking out of that casino with a lot more money than I walked in with.  I can’t say the same about his mom but it wasn’t her  fault really.  It was mine. 

We only left the casino because we were very hungry.  We ended up at at Monti’s in downtown Tempe.    The restaurant occupies an adobe hacienda that was originally built  in 1871.  A lot of history has happened over the years in and outside of this adobe structure. There are many historical displays on the inside walls. 

In 1954 it was converted to a restaurant. It is now the largest full-service restaurant in Arizona with 14 dining rooms and 5 banquet rooms.  Ghosts have been known to visit and even paranormal investigations have been conducted here.  We didn’t see any ghosts but maybe they wait until evening to come out.   It’s a great place to eat with a lot of history in its walls.  I don’t know why we keep forgetting to stop here on our way through the area but the last time we visited was when I was pregnant with our daughter and that was many, many years ago.  However, we will most certainly put it on our “must stop” list for future visits.

Well, that was it for our Monday and Tuesday adventures.  Wednesday we plan on hitting the mall with Terry’s mom.  If we keep her busy, she doesn’t sit inside her home stressing about the removal of her bandages on Thursday.

We've also had our little calendar and map out recently.  Planning where to go and when to go there isn’t as easy as one might think.  Well, it’s not easy when you have other things you need to work around.  We’ve certainly had a lot to work around this year with no change in the near future.  Terry’s aunt and uncle will be in this area in January and February and his brother is making a trip out in January.  Then, our grandson, Justin, will be in Washington after we head back after Christmas.  Things can sure get difficult. 

In the meantime we’re still hoping to get reservations at our very favorite RV park after it re-opens again after being total rebuilt.  The original reopening was supposed to be in October.  That was changed to January.  Now it’s supposed to be mid-February.

Tuesday was a day for dancing in our motorhome.  If you were outside and noticed it rocking, it was because that’s exactly what I was doing.  I was dancing.  Why?  Well, my reason probably would not excite you.  Maybe the news even made some folks unhappy.  I was dancing because the merger between US Airways and American Airlines was finalized.  It’ll probably take a couple years for the full transition between the airlines.  After all, that’s about how long it took when American acquired Reno Air and then when they acquired TWA.  This is a little different.  This is a merger with American bringing close to 72% of the assets and US Airways about 28%.  I wouldn’t have liked it so much had it been the other way around.

Union employees will probably not be happy as one group is merged into the other.  They weren’t with Reno Air, TWA or even US Airways previously.  On top of that many management jobs will be lost as the two airlines consolidate their headquarters and airport staffs.    The Phoenix area will lose as the headquarters for an airline.  However, they will gain as a major hub for the world’s largest airline.  They went through a similar situation when America West bought US Airways several years ago.  The big difference is that the headquarters remained in Phoenix.  Some gates at major hubs will be lost which will also mean a loss of jobs in other places.

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No one else may care about this but we do because it is a positive change for us.  Our costs go way down on the routes US Airways previously served.  Many more planes and locations are also now open to us.  Yippee!  Whoppee!

‘Tis life on the road AND in the air!

It takes 8,460 bolts to assemble an automobile and one nut to scatter it all over the road.