Grants Pass, OR

 

Finally got both houses paint and listed. Hope they sell soon. This has not been a pleasant experience so we are looking forward to having it completely over with.

We celebrated our 38th anniversary by going to see "Arlo Guthrie and Family" at a small intimate theater. The Rogue Theater is a historic landmark in Grants Pass. The show was excellent. April 28th

This park has really cool wood sculptures.

 

Death Valley, CA

 

 

We heard Death Valley is beautiful so went to check it out and found it breathtaking. We only stayed a few days but we would love to return. There is just so much to see. Click on the stamp to see our photos. Mar. 14th - 16th

We took a tour of the Death Valley Ranch, or Scotty's Castle as it is more commonly known.  It was and is an engineer's dream home, a wealthy matron's vacation home and a man-of-mystery's hideout and getaway. Walter Scott, Death Valley Scotty, convinced everyone that he had built the castle with money from his rich secret mines in the area. Albert Mussey Johnson actually built the house as a vacation getaway for himself and his wife Bessie.  The tour was really interesting.  Click on the castle to see more pictures. Mar.17th

We visited the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. It is just incredible. These unusual sandstone formations are weathered by the eroding forces of wind and water. Mar. 13th - 14th

Seven Sisters

 

Beehive

 

Headed up to Laughlin to find more sunshine and some friends. Found Bob & Carol, Ken & Donna, and Val & Fred. Enjoyed visiting with them. They have had an interesting winter to share. Some were warmer than others. Mar. 6th - 12th

Fred, Val, Bob and I headed to Oatman, AZ for the day. It is on Route 66. It is an old gold mining town that is pretty much a tourist attraction now. The donkeys are wild and enjoy eating carrots. Mar. 12th

 

 

We had lunch at a really cool restaurant. People have been putting dollar bills on the walls for a very long time. The first one was in 1931. Some were 3 deep.

 

We are at the Mayflower Park on the Colorado River. It is just beautiful here and warm. Mar. 4th - 6th

 

Connected with my cousin Marlene and Steve. Walked around the old part of Yuma one day and and headed to Algodones, Mexico the next. Just wanted to see the sites. At the RV park we ended up parking next to some friends we met in Perula last year, Bob and Carol. Enjoyed visiting and hope to connect with all of them on down the road. Feb. 28th - Mar. 3rd

 

We are traveling to Yuma. Stopped at an RV park in Boerne, TX and woke up to sleet and snow so we decided to stay another night and let it pass. Unhooked our pickup and headed to Luckenbach, Tx to see "Waylon and Willie and the boys....." only found a funky tourist attraction. Oh well. Feb. 23rd

We stopped at Sister Creek Vineyards. This is an original cotton gin converted to a winery. Good wine.

 

We did a swamp tour on the West Pearl River with the Honey Island Swamp Tours. The day was sunny and fairly warm. The water was 4 feet higher than usual. Didn't see a lot of animals but enjoyed the ride very much. Feb. 20th

These houses are used for fishing only. They have no land access.

We crossed over Lake Pontchartrain on the Causeway to downtown New Orleans. This is the longest bridge in the world, 24 miles long. We had to go to Bourbon Street. What an experience this is. One of a kind for sure. It was a fun day. Feb. 19th

After downtown New Orleans we headed over the Mississippi River to Algiers. Bob worked with a couple of guys that we stopped and said hello to. What a sweet family. Twin boys that are just adorable. Feb. 19th

We are staying at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, LA. It is on Lake Pontchartrain. This park received a lot of damage during Katrina but is being built back nicely. We have seen red birds, a wild boar, and deer.

These beautiful trees are just something else. The photo does not capture it completely. Feb. 18th

This moss is Spanish Moss. It does not take anything from the tree but often the spot that it grows on dies.

 

We spent the day at Clearwater, FL. It is located on the Pinellas Peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico on the west and Tampa Bay on the east. The sand is different than any we have seen before. It is pure white and extremely fine like the kind you find in an hour glass. Just beautiful. Feb. 14th

 

Bob and some friends went snorkeling for lobster. They only found one about 6-8 inches so they didn't keep it. Feb. 9th

This is the original boat used in Humphrey Bogart's "African Queen".

This is a school of fish in the water near the "African Queen"

One of the exciting things about Key West is all the treasure at the bottom of the ocean. Mel Fisher discovered one and has an awesome museum in Key West. It was fun to go through and see all the amazing riches he discovered. Check out his website: http://www.melfisher.com/ Feb. 3rd

Didn't take any pictures inside the museum. These statues were next door. That is suppose to be Hemingway. There is a lot of about Hemingway in the Keys. He spent a lot of time fishing and drinking here. Maybe even writing?

We did not spot any alligators or snakes on the trail........ Feb. 3rd

These small deer are called Key Deer and are actually a white-tail deer. They are protected. We went to the National Key Deer Refuge on our way to Key West.

There are manatees that swim just off shore. This one had a cub with her. Sometimes they come in to the dock. Hope to see that before we leave. Jan. 28th

Bob and Jo-Z decided to take a dip and cool off. The water is fairly shallow in front of our place. Jan. 23rd

We went to Key West and met up with Dave and Mary Jane. Key West is the last key in the chain. We had an awesome lunch and walked around town. This is the southern most point in the US. Jan. 20th

On Jana's birthday we went to the Everglades National Park. It was really a fun day. We are going back for an airboat ride before we leave. Click on the gator photo to see birds and alligators. Jan. 19th.

One of the things we did not expect to see here in the Keys is the dead fish floating because of the cold water. It is in the Atlantic as well as the Gulf. Big and little fish. The shoreline was covered with them. They are mostly gone now. The water is much warmer.

The park we are staying in is called "Riptide". It is a funky little park that is just perfect. This is the Florida Bay which is part of the Gulf of Mexico. They catch shrimp off this dock. Jan. 15th

 

 

 

 

We took a walk on the beach. It was just beautiful but extremely cold. It is great to be in the sunshine again though. Jan. 12th

We went to "Daytona Speedway" to see what it is about. There are no races before the end of the month but it was pretty impressive to see empty. It would have been cool to see a race but oh well! Jan. 11th

We left South Padre Island and headed east. We are traveling up the Texas coast line. We will be in Louisiana tonight. Happy New Year to you all and hope the new year is all you want it to be. Dec. 31st

 

South Padre Island, TX

 

George and Teresa took a group of us out on a boat ride to view South Padre Island and Port Isabel from the water. The sun peeked out every now and then and made it even better. Dec. 21st

We met up with Jerry and Terri, (Bob worked with Jerry in Idaho), who winter here on the Island. They stay in a condo that is on a canal that runs inland. These beautiful birds where just waiting to be photographed.

They invited us over last Sunday to meet some fun folks, had a delicious breakfast and watched the implosion of the Ocean Towers. It was amazing to see this huge building go from standing to a pile of rubble in just seconds. Dec. 13th

It is still very gray but the rain has stopped for now. Looking forward to the sunshine again. Dec.12th

 

Shrimp Boat

We are at South Padre Island. It is gray, rainy and windy. We have been just ahead of the cold weather happening in the west. It has caught up with us so we are staying here for a month and just letting it pass. This is really an awesome place to be with a lot to see and do. Dec. 10th

 

 

Rodeo, NM

 

We spent a couple of days at Rusty's RV Resort in Rodeo, NM. It was a really nice place and the mountains around us were just beautiful. Dec. 5th and 6th

 

 

Tombstone and Bisbee, AZ

 

There are cowboys on every corner. They perform a historical reenactment gunfight every day on main street. We did not stay for that though.

"Big Nose Kate's Saloon"

 

Quartzsite, AZ

 

 

We left the fog, rain and gray days of Oregon at last. Left Nov. 25th for parts unknown.

Mt. Shasta

The queens of gecko reunite. We were walking through the Blue Water Resort and Casino in Parker, AZ and who do we spot but Ken. We spent some really fun times last year in Perula with these folks. Ken, Donna, Fred, and Val are traveling with two other couples this year. They may go into Mexico but not sure how far. We are all looking for the sunshine. Had a good visit with them.

 

 

Because we are not at home during Thanksgiving and Christmas, we take a weekend towards the end of October and celebrate all the holidays at once. As it turned out this year we had two flu's going on. Bob had a really bad stomach flu and Terren had a high temperature and the chills. Jana and Matt were on their way but changed their reservations to Dec. to come up and decorate the tree with Bree and family. We missed them but I think that was the best thing considering everyone was pretty limp all weekend. We managed to have a good time in spite of the flu! Oct. 23rd-25th

Ara the carver!