First week in AZ

We have only been here a week but already we have been to dinner at two of our favorite places, played golf, played poker twice, played pinochle one night, went swimming twice, and saw the movie  "Lincoln".  Tonight we dance!  Wow!  I also visited my urologist and found that I can keep my kidney after all as the tumor was lasered off by my doc in Indy.  Must have more tests but glad that the cancer seems under control.
The weather has been beautiful!  It has been in the low 80's during the day and 50 at night and no clouds.
Spoke to Ken and Evie will have surgery Tues.
More later!

We are in Arizona!!!

We finally made it!  We aren't in Apache Junction yet but at least in the state of choice!  All is well!

Off and Running, Soon

Will the 26th ever get here???  We are leaving that day if there isn't snow on the roads!  I got a little nervous the other day when the grass in front of the condo got white with flakes falling from the sky!  Fortunately, they melted quickly and it got a little warmer.  I am so looking forward to sun and warm weather!

I am also looking at more surgery in AZ.  Apparently, I have kidney cancer and will consult with a urologist in Scottsdale to see what my options will be.  The doc here has shown me three options, going up through the bladder and trying to reach the spot in the kidney and removing that spot, or going through my back and removing the spot and be in the hospital 2-3 days with a drainage tube, or remove the entire right kidney, ureter, cut a little hole in the bladder and remove ureter from bladder.  That option is about 5-6 days in the hospital but like he said it's like donating a kidney to myself.  Lots of people live long lives with just one kidney.  We will see.

We decided to have surgery in AZ because it will be nice to recoup where the sun is shining and it is warm instead of in the cold where it is gray and snowy!!

Back Home Again!!

Sounds like a song doesn't it????  We are in Indy for about two months.  We arrived in Sept., a little earlier than we had originally planned.  We have been able to visit with friends and relatives and catch up on the news! 

I go back in the hospital Oct. 15th and hopefully the stints will be taken out at that time.  The doc here wants to look at my kidneys and be sure that they are clean.

I may not have much to share until we are back on the road.  We plan to head South after Thanksgiving and arrive in Apache Junction on the 1st of Dec.  Hopefully, we will avoid all snow!!

St. Regis, MT Campground

While traveling East we stayed at a truly unique campground in Montana!  Although this camp is not too big it has some very interesting additions.

The artist that sculpted these animals did an incredible job of using the stumps of trees that had been cut down.  I found them very interesting!

Here is another!!

 

Off and Running Again!

This is our last day in Paradise!  We are heading East and hope to arrive in Indy Sept. 24th.  We are stopping in South Dakota for a week then on to Indy!
This last week has been a little different as I had to have a kidney stone removed.  When the doc was in the kidney he also found a tumor and removed it.  He installed two stents in the tubes between the kidney and the bladder so I can pee.

Owen and Grandma on the Willamette

Sunday afternoon Owen and I went on a jet boat ride up the Willamette River from just North of our RV resort to the McKenzie River.  We then traveled on the McKenzie for a short distance then turn around and came back.  It was a two and a half hour trip and was enjoyed by all. 
The boat was a seven passenger jet boat but only two other people and the captain were on board for this trip.  We saw a bald eagle, an osprey nest with bird, several blue heron and miles of beautiful beaches.

The river is rather shallow at this time of the year.  The captain said if we fell out just stand up as the water is only 3-9 feet deep and in most places only 4 feet deep.  At one time, long ago, the river was used as transportation from Eugene to Corvallis but with the additional railroad lines the river was not used.  It is now used for quiet rides in canoes, kayaks, and inter-tubes.

The current is rather swift and Captain Mike said it was running about 5 miles an hour. 
As you can see both Owen and Grandma were having a GREAT time even when Captain Mike made "donuts" with the boat and got us all wet!

Summer in Oregon..FABULOUS!!!

Much to my delight I have been the "official driver" for my grandchildren's Summer activities.  It began early and then began to pile one on top of the other...but this week I got a break and they are just doing their regular camp and their Mother is driving them on her way to work and back.  Being the "official driver" also allowed me the opportunity to be the "official  photographer" too!

The first camp was a week long daily horseback riding camp.  Both Owen and Chiara enjoyed this week!  I would drop off Robbie at his regular Summer camp and then take the other two to horseback riding from 9-3pm. 

The folowing weekwas Karati Camp for Owen!  He really enjoys the sport and does very well.  He also was tested for his blue belt and got it!!!  He is all business when he is in class.

Then on to soccer camp!!  That was also a week long with all three kids involved. The only problem with that was that the youngest child could only camp from 9-noon and the older two until 3.  So I would go to the house at 7 when Mom left for work take kids to camp at 9 and return to camp in Corvallis at noon to pick up one child and then take him somewhere for three hours them back to the soccer field at 3.  Maybe next year he can stay all day!!!!!!!!!!!

In two weeks library camp!!!!!  Whatever that means!!!!!!!!!!!  YEAH!!!

Love this Sign

Every time we go North on 99 from Harrisburg to Albany we see this sign and it makes me smile every time!

Someone had to have a sense of humor to install this road sign!

25 Jars of Jam on the Wall

I have started my annual jam making in Oregon! So far I have 18 jars of Strawberry Jam and 7 jars of blueberry. All adult family and friends get jam for Xmas this year! I plan on picking blueberries Weds. And canning again Thurs. while my travel partner is playing bridge. So far the taste is wonderful! The jam tastes just like fresh picked berries.

Horseback Riding Lesson

Today I had the pleasure of joining my granddaughter at the stable.  I picked her up at her house and off we went!

She ride a big stallion who if very gentle and seems to respond to her voice commands pretty well.  They start out with the horse(Casey) walking around the stable and my granddaughter getting her balance.  She then  beginnings trotting around and then reversing the direction and trotting.  Once she is comfortable on the horse  she will go into a canter.  He rides real easy and she is very good with him.

They then practiced going around the barrels.  She seems to be enjoying herself... I'm not so sure about the horse!

New email address

My new email address is, nwhightsel@gmail.com. Please send me an email so I can add you to my new address book. Sorry for the problems.

I've Been Hacked!!!!

My hotmail account has been HACKED!!  I can't get in my account and now my IPAD is frozen!  I will be seeking help at the Apple store or the nearest communter store today!!  I am NOT in the UK and do not need money to get my passport back!!!!!

Of course if you want to send money send it to ME not the hacker!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Youngest Grandson's birthday

We had the youngest grandson's birthday party at ChuckECheese!!  Hopefully, it will be the last time we have a birthday party there!! Fun for the kids but painful for the adults!  Six years old!!!  WOW!

Of course his mother, the blueberry farmer, made the cake and we all enjoyed it!!  Delicious!  The cake had his favorite Pokemon character on it.

He and his brother had a great time playing the games!!  In fact I am sure they will have nightmares tonight with all the stimulation the games provide!!  The competition was ferocious!

5th grade graduation

It didn't sound like a big deal to grandma but 5th grade graduation is a BIG DEAL to the participants!!  There must have been over 200 people crammed into the gym at the school and they were all happy to see their loved one graduate.  A good time was had by all.

What a good day!

Today I spent the entire day with my grandchildren.  After baking banana bread with Chiara, we went to the movies and saw "Brave".  I think the kids enjoyed the movie and the popcorn and the candy and the drinks.  In the middle of the movie, Robbie says, "Grandma my tooth came out."  It was the first tooth he had lost and he was pretty excited.

All in all a good day!

We Made It!!

Here we are in beautiful Oregon!!  For me it is beautiful in many ways....My youngest daughter's face, my three grandchildren's faces, the mountains, the warm sunshine, the soft mist in the mornings, the lush green trees...ahh Oregon!

The trip was fun and uneventful as far as repairs were concerned.  The first night out we stayed at the fabulous Grand Canyon National Park! We stayed two nights and rode the s
huttle bus all along the Southside of the Canyon.  What a site!!  It is too big to take a picture of and get it all in focus.  I bought postcards to remind me of the colors.  The reds and yellows and browns all together and then layered one on top of the other for a mile down!!!  WOW!

We then drove to Las Vegas and met with a friend there and had a delightful dinner and conversation.  On to Death Valley and the desert surrounded by barren mountains. On and On and On we drove.  It seemed to take forever to reach Reno!! 

Then all of a sudden there was a little green here and a little green there and a tree here and a tree there and a mountain with trees and we arrived in Susanville, CA. at an interesting RV campground! The camp was in the woods with a creek running down the middle of it.  It had old motor homes staying there and they looked like they had been there for a long time.  Next to us parked a cute little "A" frame trailer that was interesting.  A young couple were staying in it and when they got ready to leave watching them take it down was fun. We are glad that all we have to do is push a few buttons.

We had dinner with the "kids" the evening we arrived and then golfed the first full day here.

OK It's Hot Enough Now!

Today it is 108 degrees in Apache Junction, AZ!!!  I realize it is a dry heat but it is still HOT!!  We are staying inside in the afternoons and reading lots of books!!  Much like what we would do if it was 20 below 0!!!!

We are learning a new game that can be played inside in the heat and outside when it is cooler.  It is called pickleball and is a little like tennis with a smaller court and smaller paddle and a wiffle ball.  Generally it is a four person game and we have meet some new ladies that are patiently teaching us.  We are not as fast on our feet as we once were!!!! 

We have also learned pinocle and have enjoyed playing with some of the ladies here at the resort then yesterday we went out to lunch with my cousin and his wife to lunch and back to their house for a game of pinocle. 

My travel partner is leaving Fri. and flying back to Indy for a week of cool weather!  She is also attending her grandson's graduation and 18th birthday party.  Should be fun.  I will stay here with the animals!!

At least here I can watch the 500 mile race on TV!!!

Superstition Mountain

We are now staying at the foot of Superstition Mountain in Apache Junction, AZ.  It is beautiful here.  The desert flowers are in bloom and it changes the look of the desert.  When we first arrived the desert was mostly sand and some shrubs and catus.  But now the colors of the flowers lend a beauty of brilliant reds, yellows, and white.

Yesterday we drove into the mountains and had lunch at an interesting place.  The restaurant walls were covered with $1.00 bills and the bar stools were saddles.  The memorabilia all around the room was fun to look at while waiting for out food. 

We drove to Tortilla Flats and then turned around and came back down the mountain on narrow roads.
As you can see the is beautiful!!

transmission fried

We fried the transmission on our tow vehicle. Not a very appetizing dish!!!  We reached Ft. Stockton, TX and tried to start the car and it wouldn't start.  We took it to the Ford store in Stockton and they told us that the transmission was fried!!  He couldn't work on it for three weeks so we towed it to Carlsbad, NM and took it to the Ford store there and they can't work on it for two weeks.  After talking to Burd Ford they said we couldn't continue towing it to Apache Junction as that is too far so we have rented a tow dolly to tow it to Apache Junction.  What a mess!!  I have no idea how we will get it on the tow dolly since it doesn't run but that is a story for later!!!  

Goodbye Southern Texas

We will be leaving the Southern Texas skies in just two days!  We are off to Carlsbad Caverns and then on to Arizona!  We have enjoyed Southern Texas and are looking forward to new horizons.  Wed. we will be in Ft. Stockton, TX and the on to NM and then Arizona here we come!  We will be in Apache Junction, AZ on the 1st of April in time for my cousin's birthday!!

Donuts anyone??

I am going to try donuts!!  I just read a fun mystery with recipes at the end of each chapter for different kinds of donuts!!  Yummy!!!  If all else fails however we found a great donut shop in McAllen, TX.  The name of the store is Shipley Donuts and the.y have been in business since 1936.  Their yeast donuts are as good as Longs.

In the meantime, I made some pretty good wheat bread for dinner tonight.

Quilting Day!

Yes I am learning to quilt!  The Texas Grammas are a great group of women that quilt blankets for babies and toddlers and cancer patients in the local hospitals and surrounding towns. They are a very talented group and make some really beautiful designs and color combinations.  They are always looking for donations of sheets, drapes, or fabric to make squares.

I am just beginning to help put the quilts together with a tie in the center of the squares. 

WOW!

WOW!  "Miss Q" has gone 10 days without a seizure!!  That's the longest she has gone without at least a little seizure in years!!  Keep your fingers crossed.

In the mean time my cousin in is a hospital in Florida with heart, kidney and liver problems. Spoke with him breifly this morning and he is feeling pretty awful but he did talk to me.

GUESS WHAT??  No rain and it's going up to 80 degrees today!!!  YEAH!  Maybe we will have a chance to see some sites and visit the wildlife reserve, Rio Grande and South Padre Island.  It is cloudy today but we plan on golfing tomorrow and maybe see some sites on Thurs. 

They have some interesting shopping opportunities here.  How about a drive in that is really a drive thru building?  You shop from your car!!  I hope to get a picture to share with you soon.

Lennox-Gasteau Syndrome help??!

Apparently, Miss Q's neurologist thinks that her new "loss of balance" is seizure related afterall.  But, alas, there is a new drug for Lennox-Gasteau Sydrome for the very first time that may help control her seizure activity.  I am trying not to be too hopeful but am so happy that someone is finally (after 44 years) looking at a drug to help her.  She has been on every drug know to help her, but nothing, not even the VNS has eliminated her seizure activity.  This new drug is Onfi and the discription of the drug and effects can be found on the internet. 

We just hope it helps!!!! 

GOOD NEWS! And elephant ears!

Great news(I think)!  Miss "Q"s tests came back normal!!  The doc says he will continue to monitor and see what happens next.  I have a call in to the nurse to see what other tests can be used to determine the cause of this "loss of balance"!

In the meantime we are enjoying the tastes of Texas!!!  I stumbled into a grocery store in Alamo, TX and lo and behold they make their own tortillas, tostata shells and what I call ELEPHANT EARS!!  Yeah! I bought a six pack of yummy sugarery, and cinnamon sweet chrispy delights!!  I can have one with breakfast coffee, afternoon pick-me-up, dinner desert!!!  They cost $2.00 for all six!!!  They also have fresh dough to fry my own tortillas!!  I see why it is so difficult for people from Mexico to diet when all this food is so good! Ahhh lifes little pleasures!

Loss of Balance

My oldest child"Q" has been suffering from a strange "loss of balance"!  She has been having seizures since she was 3 years old but this is different!  We are waiting for the results of an MRI and a "dopler" exam of her artery that was done last Monday.  It seems like a week should be long enough!

After looking up on the internet "TIA"! She may be experiencing those symptoms and if so it could lead to a stroke.  She could be a perfect candidate for a blocked artery as her father has had a heart by-pass and her mother has 3 stents in her arteries.

We just have to wait and see!   

Alamo, AGAIN!!!!

I thought that if you went to The Alamo once that would be enough!!!  OH!! But what about Alamo, TX? 
My travel companion discovered on Feb. 1st that the RV resort in Riviera only accepted two dogs and lo and behold we have three.  So a quick phone call to the site and the manager would not be in until 3 and we needed an answer before that!!  So here we were stuck without a home for a month.  So we get out the Texas campground book and start looking for places.  The TC(travel companion) found a place in the valley near Pharr, TX where we will be staying for the month of March.  We called and they had two places available for the month so we took one!  
It is very nice here with permanent homes as well as motor homes, and 5th wheels.  They even have a dog park!!
It's not only close to Pharr but next door to Pharr as all the little towns here run into the other without you even realizing you left one town for another.
So so much for the Gulf and watching the waves come in and go out and listening to the sea gulls!!  I guess TC doesn't like the ocean as well as I thought she would.... So  much for Corpus Cristy, and Riviera, maybe next time!!

At least we finally found sunshine and warm temperatures!!  We went golfing with a group from here yesterday and then took a dip in the pool!!  I LOVE the sun and warm!!!!!  TC found a bridge game for tomorrow so all is right with the World!!!  

Who Would Have Known???

We had lunch at a great "German" restaurant yesterday in San Antonio!!  Who whould have known that there is a large German settlement in of all places San Antonio, TX!!  With the Spanish and native American influence in architecture and language who would ever look for a German influence but us!!!  The restaurant was Schilo and we had wonderful split pea soup, and franks and brats, and rye bread and fabulous saurkraut!  Yummy!!!

We are having some work done on our rig tomorrow then heading South to a State park.  On the 1st of Feb. we will be in Rivera, TX on the gulf for a month.  I can't wait!!!  I just hope it is warm and sunny and the gulf is beautiful!

Texas RVing women

WOW!  What a nice bunch of women.  We had dinner with them at a restaurant in Bandera, TX that had saddles used as bar stools!  Very clever!  They have been very helpful with sharing a name of a repair shop as well as some great suggestions on where to visit in Texas while we are here.

Texas

Here we are in Texas!  We arrived in time to enjoy a great weekend with the wonderful women of RVingWomen!  They were so helpful and welcoming.  Made us feel like we belong here.

We are now in San Antonio for a week and doing a little sight-seeing. We took a tour bus to The Alamo and two missions that were built in the 1700s and are still standing!

Some of the buildings are being refurbished but they are trying to maintain the same colors and style of the times.  The buildings were designed by the Franciscan monks and used the Moors influence as a guide.   

How does 3 turn into 8??

We started to leave Gulfport, MS after a very nice visit and have a leisurely drive of about 3 hours that amazingly turned into 8 hours!!  Too much!  After no levelers, no battery, no go.....but wait I am getting ahead of myself.

We had a nice hearty breakfast of grits this morning in preparation of a drive to Louisiana.  I would have liked to see New Orleans again but my "travel companion" had just been there at a bridge tournament last year and was not interested in fighting the traffic so we opted to drive on the North side of Lake Pontchatrain instead of the Southside.  As usual she was right again---but wait I am ahead of myself again!  We prepared to leave Gulfport and pulled in the slide, unfastened the water hose, did the dump thing, and went to raise the levelers and all I got was a, "click,  click, click".  the coach battery was dead again!!  Cathy went to the office of the RV resort and asked for someone to help us with a jump on the coach battery.  A nice man from Indiana came to the rescue...and got the battery jumped so I could raise the levelers.  So off we went!!!  YEAH!! I called the leveler company to ask how the levelers could draw down the battery.  Of course it is difficult to diagnose a problem from so far away.

Next I called Nexus with the same question and they too were trying to be helpful but it is very hard from Northern IN to help us in Mississippi.  They did suggest that we had a bad cell in the battery and that if we stopped at a battery store we could have it checked so off we went in search  of a battery store on the way to LA(Louisiana).

We took I12 on the Northside of the Lake and stumbled upon Dixie RV store!  We would never have found the nice man, Wayne, in the service department if we had gone to New Orleans!  He was wonderful!!!  When the Camping World service department that is attached to Dixie RV couldn't help us because they only had 2 techs and were booked solid and not able to assist.  I went over to Wayne and asked if they were buried too and he said, "well, yes but let me see what I can do".  He went into the service garage and brought back a tester and went out to the rig with me and sure enough a cell was dead in the coach battery.  Also,, he explained that there should be two batteries in that compartment and only one was there!  He installed two batteries for us and gave us the broken one to show Nexus when we get back to Indiana.

In a couple hours we were on our way!

If you ever need service on your RV and are in LA, go see Wayne at Dixie RV!!! 

The "wilds" of Gainesville

I will try and give you a little flavor of the RV Resort we are staying in just North of Gainesville where we have been visiting my cousins from FL.  We have stayed here a couple times before this trip and have enjoyed the sounds and sights of the wildlife.

Ok Maybe not too wild but very pretty!

And cute too!

Record breaking cold!

I forgot to mention that my Indiana and Illinois cousins saved our lives coming down here!!   They provided food for the road!  We left Indy about 11:00am on the 26th and got to the Southern part of Indpls. when my "travel companion" got hungry!  Fortunately, we had fruit, sausage, cheese, candy to munch on until we could reach a place to eat lunch!! Thanks to the cousins!!!  Also, our new in-laws provided wonderful nuts and candy for the road too!!  It's nice to be surrounded by such thoughtful people.

Well we survived record breaking cold in Gainesville!!  It was colder here than had been recorded in over 100 years!!  Leave it to us to be in the middle of a cold snap!!!  I am still looking for warm weather!!  The sky is a beatiful clear blue however, and the sun is bright and feels good coming in the window.  I was afraid that we had wrecked something last night however.  When I tried to make coffee this morning the water was running very very slowly....but once it ran for a little it broke loose and is fine.

I hope to get out and take some pictures of the wildlife of Gainesville to share.  I am looking out my window at a horse, two donkeys, an emu, and two peacocks!!!

Winter is BACK!!!

Here we are in the sunny South and yes it is sunny but the temperature has changed dramatically!!  It is suppose to be in the low 20s tonight!!!  Burrrr...but that is still much better than snow and the teens like they are having in Indy.,

We got our rig fixed today!  The guys at B&E Service in Ocala, FL are wonderful.  Not only do they know what they are doing they are very thoughtful.  When we got there they asked if we were leaving the rig with them and when I said, "Well,we do have 3 little dogs and 2 cats with us and this is our only home."  No problem, just back in here and we will plug you in so you have electricity and will be with you in about 30 minutes!  In a little less that 5 hours we had the leak located and fixed, the cable fixed and a piece of material to put under the slide until we get back to Goshen to get the floor repaired. 

I am going over to my cousin's house tomorrow and help her make grits!!  It's the old family recipe.  It's an all day process but worth every minute.