Perfect weather and not so perfect golf!

Our son Daniel came to visit for a long weekend on the 12th of November. We golfed twice and sucked, except I got a birdie for the first time. The sad thing was out of 2 days I didn't par once. Oh well, it was still fun . As you can see the morning was cool at 50 degrees at 7am. My parents golfed with us and as usual, my step-dad, Jack, was awesome. At age 78 he has a 9 handicap. Even his bad shots look good to me! We also went shopping and ate out at Rock Bottom which is micro-brewery/sports bar/restaurant. The food was incredibly good and the prices very reasonable. So that's it for now. Love you all and miss you, Vicki

After all the work is done.

Well, we are finally getting close to being done with our yard. We still are going to get a block wall put up on the side and back, enclosing our back yard. The problem has been getting the permit. At the permit office no one knew where our property line was-even with an as built. So we had a surveyor come out today and now they can get started. I feel like I've been living at Home Depot lately. I did all the bubblers for the front and back plants. Also, I've been painting the brick around the plants in the front. They were a very faded red and I used oil based stain and they really stand out now. You know what they say-no rest for the wicked-that's me.

On Friday, Ed's son, Daniel, is coming from Alaska for a long weekend. We got him a ticket for my son's wedding (which isn't happening this weekend) and he wanted to come down and visit. So we got a couple of golf games planned and the rest just goofing around. Ed had to rearrange his work schedule for the weekend so he will work Monday and Tuesday.

And to top it off, we have to go to Bullhead City tomorrow to clean up the place because the man who takes care of it has relatives who are going to rent it for the winter-yea! So that's it for now. Be sure to check out the bottom pictures too. Hugs and Kisses, Vicki

After....

This is what the front of our home looks like now. My last post shows the before shots. Hopefully, the plants will grow and it will really look nice then.

Before and During

We've been very busy since I got back from Utah. We decided to get some work done on the outside of the house before the government taxes all our retirement. The first set is the front of the house and we are going to make a courtyard out of that area with a little wall around it and cement and rocks inside. Eventually some plants too. The next set is part of our back yard. We are getting brick red pavers put in and scalloped edges for plants. We did this on the other side ourselves and are having a company do all this work. Also, in the works, is a block wall around the side and back yard. In this picture right above was filled with rocks which we removed and are saving for around the edges of the two courtyards. That took 3 long days. And we had to take the rocks from the front and spread them around the front yard. Then on top of that, our best friends, Gordon and Cheryl came to visit from Anchorage. Ed and I did major house cleaning since it was very dusty from being not used too much this last summer. Well, that's it. When we get done there will be after pictures to go with these. Love you all and miss you, Vicki & Ed

Update on Cinda

Well, there's a happy ending to my story below. Cinda's Mom and her daughter came yesterday to get the RV and Cinda. The mom can't do anything but Cinda doesn't care and is back to being a happy doggie. They are going to take the motorhome to Salt Lake City and stay by the hospital. The father may be there for up to 2 months. So that's it. Love and Kisses, Vicki

Cinda

If this little dog looks scared, it's because she is. Her owners were staying at our KOA this last week and went for a motorcycle ride. After several hours the Sheriff called and said they were in an accident. They were both in the hospital and the woman was worried about her dog. So one of our friends here got in through an open window on the RV, found a set of keys, and I started taking care of little Cinda. I found her name on her dog tags.

Her 'parents' are in bad shape. They weren't wearing helmets. The man had bleeding in his brain and other unknown injuries. They flew him to Salt Lake City and he is still critical. The woman is at Cedar City hospital with a broken shoulder, several broken ribs and 7 staples in her head. These folks are from Florida and not married. Her daughter flew in to Cedar City a couple of days ago and the man's son is flying in to Utah today. The daughter was going to get the dog and RV on Sunday, but now the man flying in wants it.

Now about the dog. Cinda was very scared, but now she's starting to be a fun, friendly dog. Whenever we go for a walk, she has to go by the RV first, she knows the way. She cries then, I pick her up and take her to the dog walk area. No, this doesn't make me want another dog. It's like having a baby-no thanks. Whoever gets the RV gets little Cinda, she is part of the package. So now we'll just wait and see what happens. That's it for now, Love, Vicki

Finally Finished!

Well, I did it! All the camp sites have freshly painted picnic tables on them. That's about 60 tables. It took all summer because there were several steps to doing them. First, Ed or Bob (the owner) had to sand the tables with a grinder to get off all the old paint. That was back breaking hard work. Thank God I wasn't strong enough to hold the grinder! After that I flipped the tables upside down and tightened all the bolts with compressor ratchet. Then while they were upside down I painted the legs black with a rustoleum type paint. Next step was to use the air compressor to blow all the sawdust off of them. Now I can finally put primer on the tables and then the paint, which was a pretty blue or purple. I did between 8 to 10 tables at a time and now it's done! Yea! They make the campground look so fresh and clean. I'm really glad that I got to contribute to making it a better place for people to come and have fun. That's all for now, Vicki

Little Ray's first fishing trip with Dad

I had to do this blog, even though I wasn't there. My grandson went on his first fishing trip with his Dad on the Kenai River last weekend. All little Ray could say is "let's go fishing" he didn't want to stop. So as you can see, I am a proud Gramma and wish I could have been there. Bye for now, Love, Vicki

Wild Flowers at the Panguitch KOA

Well, it took almost all summer, but we have beautiful wild flowers finally. The first of June, I cleaned out all the weeds and grass out of the flower beds and planted wild flower seeds. It's taken 2 months of almost daily watering, but it was worth it. We have several flower beds with gorgeous flowers now. Of course in a couple of weeks it will be freezing at night so that will be it. Then I'll cut them back and next year they'll come back bigger and better than ever. I love outdoor work and really enjoyed doing this. I'm so glad I got this opportunity to be in Utah this summer. It's been fun and I like feeling useful. So that's it for now. Bye to all, Love, Vicki

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

One of our goals in retirement is to visit every National Park. I don't know if that will happen, but we've seen several so far. The Great Basin N.P. is the newest park in the U.S. The great basin itself is a 220,000 square mile area where all the water doesn't run outside the basin. No river or stream connects to another and heads to an ocean or body of water. The main attraction in the park is the Lehman Caves. They were discovered in the late 1800's. Mr. Lehman used a candle to traverse the cave. The ranger, who was our guide, had a candle and showed us what it would be like. We saw 2 feet in front of us. In the early 1900's it was an attraction that was used for weddings, parties, boy scout camp outs, and dances. With all the stalactites and stalagmites in the caves if people could break them off they took them, which is a shame. At least they are very hard, like rock, and it's not easy to do.

The other part of the Great Basin N.P. is 10,000 feet up. It has a grove of bristle cone pines that are between 1500 and 3500 years old. Their needles can be 40-50 years old. Also there was 2 alpine lakes and the only glacier in Nevada. The glacier was 8 miles back on a trail, so we bypassed that one, but we did go on a 6 mile round trip hike to see the grove and the lakes. Did you know that Nevada is the third most mountainous state behind Alaska and California?

We camped by tent in Ely, NV and the weather was perfect. It was a wonderful trip and I'm looking forward to seeing more of our great country. If anyone still reads this, know that I still miss my friends and the beauty of Alaska. Bye for now, Vicki & Ed

Happy Birthday America!

I love a small town during a holiday! July 4th was no exception. Everyone had their flags out in their yards and was anticipating some good times. Panguitch starts out with a pancake breakfast put on by the Lions Club, next a parade and games for kids, then a rodeo followed by some great fireworks. We could see them from our campground. I hope everyone took a minute to think about the original July 4th and how much (especially now) our freedom means.

Saturday Night Balloon Glow

It was packed on Main Street for the balloon glow. There's 1500 people in Panguitch, and I bet everyone of them plus a couple of thousand more were there. It's a fun time with all the shops open and booths scattered around with goodies for sale. The balloons didn't stay inflated for too long because a wind started to come up and the street is pretty narrow when there's a giant balloon in the middle of it. I'm so glad I am here this summer, I've really enjoyed the escape from the Arizona heat, and all the great things we've done so far. That's it for now, Hugs & kisses, Vicki & Ed

PANGUITCH 2010 BALLOON/MOTORCYCLE RALLY

p
You would think that after being here 3 summers that the Balloon Rally would get boring-no way! This year was the best. One morning when the balloons went up, they flew over our KOA campground, and one even landed behind the tent area. Everyone is always so excited and it's a very fun time. On Saturday night, the balloon glow was packed with people. The balloons didn't stay up long because the wind started coming up, but it was still fun to walk around and watch them get blown up and then taken down.

BOB GOES UP IN A BALLOON

Bob, the owner of our KOA, got to ride in a balloon at the rally. The KOA has been sponsoring this event for years and so this ride was overdue. The picture of the KOA campground shows our 5th wheel. We are the big white one closest to the house.

The Rest of the Burr Trail

This is our 3rd summer here in Utah, and just when I think we've seen everything, we find more incredible scenery. Along with all the other amazing natural geological wonders, this is a must see for any sight-seer here. There was 43 miles of dirt road so we brought the car this go around, and it took along time because of spots of washboard, but it was worth it.
I'm hibernating today because we have had very high winds and it's my day off so I don't have to go out in it. I'm reading a good book and of course there's always the computer! I'm sure there are going to be more great pics on the horizon. Bye for now, Love, Vicki & Ed

ADD ON PICTURES FROM BURR TRAIL. UTAH

Scenic Hwy 12-the Burr Trail in Utah

This time around, Ed road the motorcycle up from SunCity West, Az so we went for a ride with the other workkampers that are here in Panguitch with us. They are from Florida and have a awesome Honda Goldwing and a $250,000 class A motorhome. They're really nice and work hard like us, so it's a pleasure to know them.

Well, we went for a ride today. We took Scenic Route 12 up to Boulder and then on the Burr Trail, which is a scenic byway. It only goes back for about 20 miles then it turns into a dirt road which is where we turned around. The scenery is incredible. There are shear red cliffs that you drive through for quite awhile and we took a bunch of pictures. The temperature was in the high 80's and we had a wonderful time. We had a picnic lunch at Calf Creek state park which is a treed area with a sparkling creek running through it. A few years ago we camped here and there is a good trail to go on that goes to a water fall.

Tomorrow Ed goes back to Arizona for 4 days and then he'll bring the car back with groceries. So far, this commuting is working out real good. At least, I'm not down in Phoenix where it's been around 110 degrees! That's all for now. Take care and I'll blog again soon. Love, Vicki and Ed

Another Summer in Panguitch

The weatherman didn't get the message that it's summertime in Panguitch, Utah. I've been here for almost 4 weeks now and only got to wear shorts once, and that was when we were going to Cedar City. Every night has been close to freezing or below and we have had some days when the wind has been incredible. Yesterday the wind gusts got above 50 miles an hour. One of our guests that came in yesterday had his awning ripped off his trailer on the drive up. It's Saturday morning now though, and it looks to be a beautiful weekend. It's clear and calm. The past few years up here on Memorial Day have been rainy or snowy and cold, so this will be a great change. I'm planning a walk into town today since I don't work until 3pm. So that's it for now. I'll blog soon, Love, Vicki

MELANIE AT WILDLIFE WORLD ZOO

We got lucky last week and had Ed's daughter, Melanie, for a few days. She and her Mom flew down from Anchorage for a girl's retreat at Sedona along with an Aunt and great Aunt. We hadn't seen Melanie since we retired 3 years ago. I still can't believe it's been that long because time does go by so fast. Well, anyway, we went for rides in the golf car and worked on puzzles and ate alot of good food. It worked out so well that I think we'll be able to have her come down in the future.

On the home front, tomorrow, we are leaving for Utah. I'll be staying there and working at the KOA campground that we stayed at for 2 summers. Ed will be coming up every couple of weeks and helping out too. We have the motorcycle there and there will be some fun rides coming up. We love the beauty of southern Utah and are looking forward to seeing it again. I'll be coming back in October so will miss all the hot weather here-yea!!!

Well, that's it for now. Be expecting some beautiful scenic pictures because I know me and I love taking them. I still think about everyone in Alaska and in case someone reads this, I'm covered.
Bye for now, Love, Vicki & Ed

KEEPING BUSY

Well, we've had a lot going on lately. A couple of weeks ago we went to Bullhead City and spent
3 days working on our mobile home there. We think we have someone to rent it, so we wanted
to get it all ready to go. One thing Ed had wanted to do for along time was cut this giant eucalyptus tree down. He's been afraid a strong wind would break of a big limb and it would do
major damage to our neighbor. As you can see it's in a very narrow space. It took Ed and Ric
(who takes care of the place) 2 days to do it. Ric did all the cutting and Ed did the ladder and
rope holding. I spent the 3 days deep cleaning. It looks really nice and I think the woman
will be happy there.

Also, right now we are in Panguitch, Utah. We brought our 5th wheel trailer here for the summer; and guess what? I am going to be here from May till October helping out. My job in
SunCity West is almost no hours so I get to get out of the heat this summer. Ed is going to be
coming up often too. So that's it for now, I'll try to be better about my blogs-I promise! I miss everyone who still reads this. Bye for now, Love, Vicki & Ed

Camping at Quartzite

Well, we've been busy lately. a few weeks ago we took our RV to Quartzite, AZ. It's a huge gathering place for RV's from around the country in the month of January. They have a big rock show and flea market there that attracts thousands of RVs. You can camp out in the desert for free and everyone does so. We had a great time and brought our motorcycle too. One day we took a 300 mile ride to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park. It was the first time we tested our solar panel and it worked great. And of course we had to have a campfire in the evenings, that's part of the fun.

On the homefront, Ed had a surgical procedure done 2 weeks ago and has been out of work until tomorrow. And as some of you might have heard Sam's Clubs all over the country laid off all of their demo associates, which means me.They laid off over 10,000 people and are going with a contract company like Costco has. I put in a application with that company so we'll see what happens.

So that's it for now. I'll keep you posted on what's happening. Bye, Love, Vicki & Ed

IT NEVER RAINS IN ARIZONA

Everyone has probably heard of the rain storms we got this week and is still raining.
Well, over 4 inches of rain might not be a big deal for some, but this is more than half of our
yearly average, so it was pretty impressive. These pictures are of the golf course
where Ed works. The pictures are of Trail Ridge's driving range (or should I say diving
range). I love the ducks swimming around. It doesn't take them long to find a new lake.
As every Arizonan would say-we needed the rain! It has been a draught here for several
years now and this will help fill the lakes and rivers, especially the ones associated with
the Colorado River, where we get a large portion of our water. That's all the excitement
for now. Love Vicki & Ed

Happy New Year from Arizona!

In SunCity West, Christmas is still a fun time for alot of the seniors here. They go all out and decorate their houses, just like they have been all their lives. On Christmas Eve, everyone gets in their cars and golf cars (like us) and drives around to see the lights. They also have lumanaries on the sidewalks in front of some houses. Those are white paper bags with sand and a candle inside. It's pretty neat, some streets have them all the way up and down.

We opened our presents on Christmas morning. Since Ed and I are working part time jobs, we each used our 'own' money and shopped for the other. I got Ed a Wii console with some games. Ed was super surprised and loves it. I also got him a golf shag bag. That holds a bunch of balls to practice with on the putting and chipping green. I received a new Schwinn bike. My other one was probably 15 years old and was not fun to ride anymore. It was a struggle. This one is awesome-now I need to get busy and ride! I also got a Ninja Blender. I demoed it and fell in love with the blender, so Ed surprised me with it.

I hope everyone's Holiday was full of love and happiness. Bye for now, Love, Vicki and Ed