Friday, January 13, 2023

Big News This Week!

First, I have to apologize to all the schoolteachers out there. Apparently, I left several of them convulsing and choking on their morning coffee after they saw the use of the word 'funner' in a sentence. At least this was the reaction of my schoolteacher neighbor, Carmen, when she read it this past weekend. Sorry schoolteachers, I will try to do more better in the future. 

One piece of big news I totally spaced out last week.  Our son Forrest and his wife Somer sold their home, closed, moved out and are officially homeless (again)! It is bittersweet as they had a beautiful home nestled in a Klamath Falls valley. For the last 4+ years they made a lot of memories and put a lot of work into that house. Both Forrest and Somer have quit their jobs so now are officially among the ranks of the homeless and unemployed. 

What are they going to do? They are hitting the road of course! They moved into their 2020 Momentum and are headed west where Somer took a 12-week stint at a hospital in Grants Pass. Forrest will continue to homeschool Lily as they have been for the past couple years. From there who knows, the world is at their hands! 

They've got their place very comfortable and homey, right on the Rogue River. Parts of us envy them and parts of us are glad we fulltimed several years ago rather than starting now. We just hope they will come visit us at some point!
Speaking of neighbor Carmen, she and her husband Jim, came over last weekend where we watched a couple of football games while grinding up his venison for burger.  Would you believe I forgot to take one picture?!?! But now.... (cue the dramatic music) ....they have enough meat to survive the harsh conditions of the South Dakota winter. 

The other big news is that we are ready to roll! We spent the week packing the camper and getting it ready for our next adventure. My job is to get everything on the outside of the camper ready; propane, grill, lights, air bags, carrier rack, extra DEF, making sure all the fluids in the truck are good to go. Barb handles the inside; clothes, food, dog stuff. Either she has a lot more to do than me or I am really good as she has been pretty much constantly busy working on the inside throughout the week, while my tasks I took care of in a day. I am going to go with that she has a lot more to do than me. 

So, we leave Saturday (tomorrow morning). First stop Scheel's in Loveland Colorado. We plan on heading south into New Mexico. Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Gila and Chiricahua National Forests...then into Arizona; Tucson, Organ Pipe, Yuma and Quartzsite.  Most stops are for a day or two while others are a week or longer. 

We plan on seeing the sights, do some hiking and catch up with a few RV/blogger friends. If any of you know of any "must see" or "must hike" or "must eat at" places along our route, please let us know.  We have been in touch with a couple of people, but others we do not know how to get a hold of other than comments on each other's blogs. So, you are on our travel route and want to get together, send us a note in our comments with your contact information and hopefully the timing works out. Don't worry, we will not post the comment with your information to the world. 

You may have noticed all that lumber in the middle of the garage. Well, I picked up my order from the local sawmill for an upcoming project. The 8x8's were just cut this week and need to dry for a couple of months so they will be ready late spring/early summer!

The girls are pacing the house following Barb around, wondering what's going on. They know something is up but are not quite sure what yet. 

That's it for this week, the next post will be from the road!

45 comments:

  1. I look forward to your adventures! Safe travels! Take care!

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    1. Thanks Marie, this trip is in the opposite direction of where we went last summer!

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  2. Safe travels and good luck with the weather. Vern in Boise

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    1. Thanks Vern. Right now it is warmer here than many places we are going!

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  3. Good luck on their adventures...and on yours!! I will be happy to travel along with you. ;)

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    1. We certainly are excited for Forrest and his family, it will be an adventure they will remember the rest of their lives. Hope you enjoy riding along with us as we had to the sunny southwest!

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  4. Good luck to Forest, Summer, and Lily as they start an exciting new chapter in their lives. You mean funner isn’t a word? Glad you will do more better in your efforts! Safe travels.

    Deb

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    1. Apparently not. Who knew there was no such word! Hope it works out that we can meet up!

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  5. Two people and two dogs in a camper. Barb has the patience of a Saint. You better get an extra key made so you don't get locked out. Hope to meet up down the road. Love that last picture ... my two dogs wouldn't be caught dead "touching" (when I had two dogs).

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    1. Ha! I am way ahead of you. I already had an extra key fob on the outside "just in case"!

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  6. Congrats to Forrest and Somer! Looking forward to your visit…safe travels!

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    1. See you in a couple weeks, we'll bring some beers for a tasting! We will also be stopping by a Total Wine if you want to put in an order.

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  7. I hope your son and family have set up a blog to document all their travels. Hoping AZ dries out a little before you get here. Be safe and have fun.

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    1. I don't think they will do a blog but we will update everyone with their travels every once in a while.

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  8. It’s Gay…wahoo! Safe travels!

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  9. We will be in Quartsite Jan 20 through Feb 12th. Truck camper rally. If your there during that time we would love to catch up!

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    1. Definitely, that timing should work! I'll hit you up on messenger when we get there.

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  10. In Santa Fe Try Tia Sophia's-- Downtown on San Francisco St( open only for breakfast & Lunch!) Best Sopapillas, Green Chile Stew and Posole in the world! Theres an open air City parking lot on Water Street you can get your rig in.
    Have a great trip!

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    1. I don't know what two of those items are but we are up for a challenge!

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  11. I looked at the "weather" and Jim, it is going to be cold a few of those nights until you get further south. Barb is packing your clothes. You haven't been "mean" or "rude" to you lately, have you? If so, she might just forget to include your long-johns, sweat shirts and long pants. Just a bit of advice there.... Have a GREAT trip.

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    1. Oh oh. I'm screwed. I knew I should have packed my own stuff!

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  12. Looking forward to seeing you in Tucson!! If you haven't hiked in Chirauchua National Monument yet, that is well worth a stop. Specifically, there's a nice 4.5 mile loop hike - The Grottos, Echo Park and back up the Hailstone trail

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    1. Looking forward to it! We'll check out that hike, we are looking forward to hitting some trails.

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  13. Yay you're on the road! Have a wonderful trip seeing all the sites! We're planning on leaving sometime soon, just not sure where we're going yet! LOL. I'm sure we'll be down that way passing through. Would love to meet you both in person if it worked out!

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    1. Let us know, it would be great to meet up for a cocktail or two!

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  14. Oh, what fun! Wishing you both great travels and lots of awesome experiences :) xx

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    1. Thanks! We are really looking forward to getting away for a few weeks.

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  15. Can't wait to hear of your upcoming adventures! Safe travels!

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  16. How wonderful to get on the road at a young age! We'd love to meet you when you're in the Tucson area. We also have 50 amp/water hookups with great views if you want to visit Tombstone. We're not far from Gay and Joe too :-) Santa Fe: Sugarman's Chocolate shop in Madrid on Turquoise Hwy (weekends only I think), Cafe Castro for the best Stuffed sopapillas anywhere, and Harry's Roadhouse are favorite eateries. the Rattlesnake Museum in ABQ is great if you like snakes :-) The drive up Mt Lemmon from Tucson is amazing with some nice trails. Organ Pipe is beautiful with two loop drives that have hiking trails with pretty views - stop at the VC and pick up the jr ranger guide that tells you where the crested Saquaros and Organ Pipes are.

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    1. We'll touch base a day or two before we get in that area.
      You are the second person that has mentioned the sopapillas, we'll definitely have to check those out!

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    2. They're usually served plain with honey either with or post-meal BUT finding them stuffed with meat or chili is more challenging and are my mostest favorist food :-)

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  17. Wow, exciting stuff in the offing, hope you'll blog about it all. By the time you get back home you will have regained your enthusiasm for those home projects you are planning. Glad that you will be able to meet up with fellow bloggers in Q. Safe travels.

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    1. We have the enthusiasm, we just need some warm weather. Most everything we have left is outside. Why, oh why didn't we build down south!

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  18. Always love Tucson this time of year... so much sunshine and blue skies for daaaaayyss!!! Sounds like a great trip. And congrats to Forrest and Somer for taking the leap. No time like the present! Safe travels to all!

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    1. This is their second stint on the road. They did it several years ago before landing in Oregon. Who knows where the wind will take them this time!

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  19. How fun! And you son is going to try tbe RV life too. If you ever head as far east as our old mountains do get in touch! There's always room for visitors here.

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    1. Our daughter lives out that way in South -Central PA so we get out there once in a while!

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  20. The Rogue River....beautiful area. Sopapillas...delicious. If you are on I-8 on your way to Yuma....when you get to Wellton...look to the north and wave. I'm sure I'll "feel" your wave. Safe travels!
    Back to the Rogue River. I'm hoping to spend some time there this summer.

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    1. We will wave Elva! Forrest is going to try and fish the Rogue sometime in the next few weeks.

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  21. Judging from the list of areas you are going to visit on this trip, there won't be enough time to see everything there is to see, I think. However, just go with the flow and according to the weather. Have fun!

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    1. No, we do not tend to let moss grow under our wheels when we are on the road. So many places to go, so many things to see!

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  22. i will try to do more better in the future too...hehehe!! it's nice that you have such a nice big garage to get the rig ready!! barb's prep is definitely way harder than yours, you may want to thank her when your tooth brush is in the camper!!

    have the best time ever and please keep in touch with us!!

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    1. Thanks Debbie, we are having a great time. And she did remember my toothbrush!

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