What A Year!! (A look back on 2008)

Well, it looks like we are gonna make it to 2009!! It.s been quite a year.
We took our first escape in 2008 to the Tuscon Arizona area in mid January. We spent a week in Oro Valley where the sun was shining every day! It was a bit chilly in the morning, but got into the mid 60's by mid-morning. We were told that it was about 10 degrees cooler than normal. It was about 20 degrees warmer and 100% dryer than at home.
In February we went to Las Vegas Nevada With Joyce's sister Patrice and her husband Paul (from Chicago) for a 3 day stay. We had a great time, and in my infinate wisdom, I made a $20.00 bet at a sports book for the Mariners to win the World Series (they proceeded to lose 101 games).
The month of April saw us taking the plunge on a used motorhome (2002 37' Pace Arrow) and a 2005 Chevy Cobalt tow car. We started planning our USA tour for when I retire in August.
August 1st I retired with 30 years of service credit to the Washington State Department of Transportation. August 15th found us pulling out of Keith and Sheila's in Stanwood to start our big adventure!! Our first stop in Eastern Oregon had us cooking in 107 degree heat!! We managed to make it to Florida for our Carribean Cruise departing on September 7th. Along the way we made stops in Salt Lake City Utah to visit Tom & Jandora, And Dallas Texas to visit old neighbors Craig & Wendy and their girls. Between Texas and Florida we dodged Hurricanes Gustav and Hannah. Then Hurricane Ike came along while we were at sea, and disrupted our shore excursions in Cozumel Mexico, and Grand Cayman Island. The cruise was a blast, and we met new freinds onboard (Ron and Diane from Oklahoma,& George and Karen from Tennessee).
The 15th of September we headed up to South Carolina. From there it was up to Virginia with a day spent at Arlington National Cemetary. It's hard to believe the amount of history there. While in the Carolinas we spent a day with our Seattle freinds Pat & Steph who were in North Carolina for a wedding. Very strange to meet them so far from home. When we left Virginia, we headed into Tennessee. There we spent a day with cruise freinds George & Karen. Also while in Tennessee we visited with Seattle freinds Gail & Randy who were there for a wedding.
From Tennessee we headed North up to the Chicago vicinity To spend some time with Patrice and Paul. Spent 5 days there and gained 5 pounds!! By now we are nearing the end of the first week in October. Our plan was to be home on the 15th, so we started heading West. It is begining to look and feel a lot like fall. When we got to South Dakota, the first snowfall of the year was dumping on Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas. We hung out on the Western edge of the storm for a couple extra days until it was safe to go. We still managed to make it home on the 15th of October. We put 8,000 miles on the motorhome and 4,000 more on the tow car. The trip certainely wasn't without a few mechanical issues, but it was a blast!!!
November was a quiet month with a small gathering for Thanksgiving. All of the poltical B.S. was finally over and hopefully things will settle down and get back to what we consider to be "normal". Time will tell. I wish that I could be a optimistic as a lot of folks are.
December found us off and running again with an escape to Disneyland with grandkids Monica and Chandler for 4 days. The weather was great(mid 70's), and all had a good time. Just after we got back the snow started to fall here. As of today, I still can't get away from the house without chains. There is still about a foot of snow, slush, ice, and combinations thereof on the street in front of the house.
Christmas was relaxed this year. We had lunch with my mother on Christmas eve, and Christmas day Josh & Brynn came over in the morning, as did Kristin and Matt. Josh and Brynn both had to work in the afternoon, so Joyce & I and Kristin and Matt went to a afternoon movie.
Santa didn't bring us a new motorhome, so I guess the 37 footer will have to do! (maybe he just couldn't get it here because of the snow)
Kristin turns 23 on the 31st and Sheila turns 38 on the same day.(tax exemptions) It's hard to believe I've got a 38 year old. I can't believe that I'm over 38!
We escape next month for 12 days in Hawaii. We leave on the 12th of January. That is Joyce's birthday, and she might not like me saying this, but she's over 38 too!!
I'm sure there are some things that I left out of here, and I'm also sure that there are some things that I should have left out of here.
Until next year,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ernie

P.S. Thru some unknown malfunction on my part I am unable to add captions under the pictures.
#1 Is Turkeys in South Dakota.
#2 Is Disneyland in December.
#3 Is the gates at Arlington National Cemetary.
#4 is Patrice & Paul, and Linda & Bill in Chicago.
#5 Is Ernie & Joyce on the pier in Jamaica.
#6 Is Ron & Diane (Tulsa Oklahoma)on the cruise.
#7 Is George & Karen(Smyrna Tennessee)on the cruise.
#8 Is our cruise ship at the pier in Jamaica.
#9 Is Joyce on our way to Levenworth Wa. on Ernie's birthday.
#10 is Hairold the cat under the Christmas tree.
#11 Is us, Joshua & Brynn, and Kristin & Matt at our house on Christmas day.

Twas the weekend before Christmas.................

Snow from the back deck 12-21-08

Snow from the front porch 12-21-08

Our tow car. It looked a lot better behind the motorhome.

Where did the yard go?

Barbecue on the back deck on 12-21-08

Barbecue on 12-20-08

It is officially winter, and there is no doubt about that in snowy Seattle. We got one of those strange weather phenomenas that happen every 15 years or so over the past week. Last night was the capper with about 8 more inches of snow with high winds. Temperatures are in the low 20's to mid 30's. Now they are calling for snow showers, freezing rain, or just plain rain for the rest of the week. Hopefully it melts off slowly to avoid storm drain issues. There is approximately a foot of snow on the ground here in West Seattle. It could be worse. At Keith and Sheilas (where the motorhome waits patiently) there is something in the neighborhood of 2 to 3 feet of snow. We have been fortunate enough to have maintained our power throughout this
mess. Just 10 days ago we were at Disneyland with temperatures in the mid 70's. Our weather seems like it would be more appropriate for the mid-west.
Three weeks from tomorrow we are off to Hawaii where temperatures are in the low 80's with overnight lows in the upper 60's. It will be easy to get used to. Hopefully when we come home, the last week in January will not be like the last week in December!
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas, stay warm and dry and we will up-date with a "year end" rambling next weekend. Will get some pictures posted later today.
Frozenly yours, Ernie

Back from Disneyland

Pre-flight jitters

Monica and Chandler ready for takeoff

Monica and Chabdler running the river

Kristin and Monica getting ready to put the groceries away

Just us

In front of the tree on Main Street

Two thumbs up on California Screamin

Kristin liked my hat selection

Everybody looks happy

After a trip down the river in the bright sunshine

We made it back home yesterday evening after 4 days in southern California. The weather there was nice with temperatures in the mid 70's during the day. We stayed at Worldmark Anaheim, which is a little more than a mile from the park. We went over first thing in the morning each day. We packed a lunch and stayed until about 3:00 p.m., then went back to the condo for dinner. We walked back over to the park about 6:00, and stayed until closing at 9 or 10:00 oclock. Then with all of the walking around the park, I figure we walked 7 or 8 miles a day.
I managed to come down with a cold on Thursday, and felt like crap on Friday. Other than that, we all had a good time. Grandaughter Monica survived her first airplane trip! I don't know what she was worried about before the flight, but you would have never known that she had not flown before. Grandson Chandler overcame his concern about riding roller coasters, and rode them all numerous times (except for California Screamin). Monica, Kristin and I rode California Screamin several times. The last time we were in line for about an hour. Joyce opted out of the roller coasters, but did ride her old favorite the Matterhorn. We all took several trips on the river raft ride at California Adventure and we were all soaked at one time or another. All in all we had a good time and now need to concentrate on Christmas. We will be heading up to Keith and Sheila's next Sunday for Christmas dinner.
Our weather has turned cold and there is talk about the possibility of snow over the next several days. Daytime highs are not expected to get above freezing with lows in the teens. But that doesn't look too bad compared with some of the other parts of the country.
One month from today we will be spending our first full day of our trip to the islands of Oahu and Kuwaii in Hawaii. I hope the weather is like this when we leave on that trip. It always makes the trip more enjoyable when the weather is misserable at home.
But for now it's back to reality-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--Ernie

Remember Pearl Harbor

Can't get enough of the sunsets from the deck

New door from the inside

Old door from the inside

New door from the outside

Old door from the outside

Sunset again

Well here it is Saturday already, and we're fixin to get out of here Monday morning for what should be a great 4 days in Southern California. Extended forecast is showing low to mid 70's during the day and upper 40's at night. The kids are getting excited to go, and so are we.
I finally finished the hard part of my big yard project (almost). I still have a little "fine tuning" to do on the big tree, then it's just a lot of small stuff to do.
We got our new front door installed this week. Now I need to do the painting of the outside trim, and the staining and finishing of the door and the inside trim. The good thing is that the front area is all under cover, so as long as it's not too cold outside, I can work on it whenever I get the urge. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference on our heating bill. We went with the fiberglass door. When they are finished it's hard to tell the difference from a wood door, but the maintenance is a lot less. I will post pictures when it is all finished.
The Washington Huskies finished their season today with a perfect record (0 & 12). At least their basketball team is playing well and they are fun to watch. Speaking of basketball, how about the Oklahoma City Thunder? They are now 2 & 18 and on pace to challenge for the fewest wins in a season. The curse is on!! Check it out at "cursethethunder.com".
I'll get some pictures on here shortly, and next week we will have "fun"pictures.
As they say in California, Adios*************************Ernie

Almost December

We've almost made it to December with no crazy weather. November usually brings a snow storm or a bad windstorm with it, but this year we were spared! Today was overcast, but must have been near 60 degrees. We'll take that for the rest of the winter.
Thanksgiving was a pretty quiet day here. We had Kristin and her boyfriend Matt here for dinner. We had a 13+ pound turkey with all of the usual accompaniements. I don't think it was a South Dakota turkey tho. Everything was excellent and the turkey sandwiches are great. After dinner we went to Gail and Randy's for drinks and desert. We aren't stepping on the scale for a couple of days.
I am continuing to hack away at the trees and shrubs in our yard to get more sunlight into our yard, so the moss does'nt completely take over. I should have that project completed by the end of next week.
Our Disneyland trip is now just a little over a week away. Everybody is getting excited!! I checked the long term forecast for Anaheim today, and it looks like it will be sunny and in the mid 70's. That sounds good to me.
Spoke with my cruise friend Ron, from Tulsa Oklahoma last night. I had a little fun discussing the proffesional (?) basketball team formerly known as the Seattle Sonics that now resides in Oklahoma City.(They are now 1 and 16) There is a curse on the Thunder that appears to be working! Check it out at "Cursethethunder.com . Ron just got hearing aids that seem to be helping quite a bit. He will be sending some information to me. It would be good to hear at something near normal again.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we are going to see "Plaid Tidings" at a local theater with our friends Don and Lisa.. We saw "Forever Plaid" in Las Vegas with them several years ago. It was a great show.
Until next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ernie

Friday November 21st, 2008

Damn Squirrels

Going for a walk in November (Seattle style)

About 20 feet up

Doing my part for ecology

Sunset from the back deck

Tomorrow marks the 45th anniversary of the biggest world changing event of my life. (Event doesn't seem like the correct word, but it's what came to mind. ) The day will probably come and go with little attention from the media. It's amazing to me how we seem to allow days like this to be forgotten. December 7th hardly gets any recognition anymore, and I'm sure that soon September 11th will fade too.
Just two and a half months ago Joyce and I stood at the spot where the events of 11/22/63 unfolded. We stood at the window position on the 6th floor from where the course of history was changed. Then approximately 2 months ago we stood at the gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery. I can't forget.
On a cheerier note, the weather here has been a little better than normal for this past week. We haven't seen much rain, and temperatures have been in the upper 50's. I have been getting some work done outside. I have been pruning back some of the big Maple trees, and getting rid of some of the Ivy that is taking over.
It's just a little over 3 weeks before we head to Disneyland! Everybody is getting excited. We hope that all of the fire mess that is happening in southern California, is just a memory by then.
Right now the tempeartures are still in the 80's in Anaheim!! We hope that it stays that way, but it should at least be in the 70's.
Hope all is well with everyone who is still following my ramblings.
Stay warm and dry**************************** Ernie
PS Will post some pictures later.

Mid November already

It is now mid November and the holiday season is right around the corner. We were at Keith and Sheila's this past Thursday for an early Thanksgiving dinner. The reason for the early celebration was that Keith's sister and brother in law were out for a visit from North Dakota, and Chandler and Monica would not be home on the real Thanksgiving. So we had turkey and all the trimmings a couple of weeks early. To really confuse the seasons, we gave Monica and Chandler very early Christmas gifts of a trip to Disneyland from December 8th thru the 12th. The catch is that they have to take me and Joyce with them!! Kristin will be going also to balance things out. We will be staying at a Worldmark condo in Annaheim which is right accross the street from the park. Neither of the 13 year olds have been to Disneyland, and Monica has never flown before. It should be a great trip. The kids have been checking out the Disneyland and the California Adventure web sites and are getting excited. Chandler told me yesterday that he would go on the California Screamin roller coaster with me!! I told him that there were witnesses. Can't wait.
I finally got the cover on the motorhome the other day with help from Keith and Chandler. It even looks pretty close to the pictures on the box.
Joyce and I went to Penneys today and bought a new matress set for our bed. The old set is about 25 years old, so we thought it was about time for a change. With what those things cost that may be our Christmas gift.
Our local football teams are still rolling along. All three lost again this weekend, so their combined records include 3 wins. (Seahawks 2, Cougars 1, and Huskies 0!!). Even with the misserable season the Mariners had, it's still a good time to be a Baseball fan. But the Seahawks are still only one game out of 2nd place in the anemic NFL West. With a major miracle they could still win their devision. I sure miss those 1 and 9 Sonics tho. They were a good fit!!
Enough of this blather. It's time to eat!!
Hope all are well, and I will update again next week. Is anybody still out there?
Stay dry ! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Ernie

Post election withdrawls

Chef Pat

Rack of Pork

Chicken Legs ala Pat

Yours truly, Joyce, Josh, Brynn, and Jake (A.K.A. "the granddog")

Who's been sleeping in MY chair??!!

Two days after the election, and not a campaign ad to be seen. I expect that the 2008 campaign could start up any day tho. I guess that I wouldn't mind them so much if they would just present what their position is, rather than what the other guy has been doing wrong. I must be out of touch with reallity on negative advertising because they all do it, and one of them always gets elected. It's a very odd world today. (Do I sound old?) Ron, did you hear that!?
Optimism is high on the presidential level. I just hope that he can live up to peoples expectations. On the local scene we pass every bond issue that comes along these days, so we get to look forward to an approximate 10% increase in property taxes. Whoo Hoo!!
Enough of my grumbling. I just locked in a RV Resort spot for the month of March in Arizona. We will be hanging out in the sun (80+) and taking in some Spring Training baseball. We've got 12 days in Hawaii coming up in January, and a 4 day trip to sunny Southern California in December. And who knows after that.
This past weekend we went down to visit our friends Pat & Steph in Shelton. Pat outdid himself on the barbecue by doing chicken and A Rack of Pork (Similar to a standing rib roast.) It was cooked to perfection with just a light wood smoke. The chicken was excellent also. and we got to take some home. We played a game of Apples to Apples, then drove home. On Sunday Josh and Brynn were over with our Granddog. Took him down to the beach at Alki, but couldn't get him in the water. He is supposed to be half Lab, but it's begining to look like he may be half Dalmation instead. It was a good weekend!
As I look out the window, the rain is falling, the leaves are still falling , and it's about 50 degrees.
For those of you who haven't experienced our weather, it leaves a little to be desired from November thru April. The rest of the year it's hard to beat. I went up north yesterday to do a little work on the motorhome, and was astounded by the number of RV's heading south. Maybe next year!!................... I wonder how the weather is in Jamaica right now?
George and Karen, glad to hear you guys are feeling better. I've been missing the jokes.
I'm going to try to add some random pictures to this rambling.
Until next week, Ernie

Halloween

Well here it is the 31st of October already. Weather here has turned to crap (mid 50's & rain), but that's just the way it goes. Been 3 months now of complete retirement, and so far so good. I keep hearing stories about people retire, then get so bored that they go back to work. I don't see that happening here. I can even stay awake past 9:00 p.m. and most days I get up after 7:00 a.m. We already have 3 getaways planned over the next 5 months. And when those are over we can plan more!!
The motorhome got all washed up and the fuel tank filled the other day. But it probably will not go anywhere until the first of March when we are planning on going to spring training in Arizona.
And there must be another cruise to take somewhere.
Well it's 3:30 and time for my nap.............................................Ernie

A day in Leavenworth

Do they get any better than this in New England?

This is almost like being on vacation

Note the mirror effect

That's not us in the carriage

Here we are in the Alps. We BOTH actually took a good picture at the same time!!

Guess who?

Friday October 24th was my 63rd birthday, and my gas pedal foot was getting itchy, so we went to Leavenworth for lunch and to just plain "have a nice day". For those who don't know anything about Leavenworth Washington, I will enlighten you. Leavenworth was a dying small town in the 50's. Somebody came up with the idea to transform the town into a Bavarian village. The idea worked better than anyone thought. The town is surrounded by a part of the cascade range that has become known as the American Alps. There is almost always something going on there, be it the Autumn leaf festival, Octoberfest, Christmas, or the May pole celebration in the spring. Yesterday there was no specific event, but the shops and restaurants were busy. Must have been people like us who took the drive over to see the fall colors which were spectacular.

We had a very good German lunch at King Ludwigs, followed by coffee and apple streudel.

We cruised some of the shops, then went to a local fruit stand and bought 37 pounds of apples and pears fresh off the trees. We returned home about 7:00 p.m. for desert.

Today Gail and Randy are comming over for dinner and to watch Jamie Moyer pitch game #3 of the world series. I've got ribs on the barbecue/smoker, and a quart of sauce from the Ridgewood Barbecue in Tennessee, and cold beer in the refrigerator. Ain't life great??

Ron and Diane: Have you heard from Karen & George??

Go Phillies!!!!.......................................................................................Ernie

Big Adventure in a nutshell

The homestead in Seattle

Another view

With my mother(where I got my good looks!!)

Son Josh with significant other Brynn

Daughter Sheila and son in law Keith

Grandson Skylar and freind

Granddaughter Monica

Grandson Chandler

Motorhome in its resting place a Keith and Sheila's in Stanwood

We left on our adventure on August 15th 2008, and returned on October 16th 2008. We traveled in a 2002 38 foot Pace Arrow motorhome, and towed a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. We put 7900 miles on the motorhome, and just a little over 3000 miles on the Cobalt. We traveled through 25 states plus Washington DC. In the middle of this adventure, we took another adventure on a 7 day Carribean cruise out of Miami where we made some new friends whom we will stay connected with, and hopefully cruise with again. (next year?) We also spent time with Seattle friends, the Cohn's in North Carolina and the Jones' in Tennessee. They happened to be in those areas for weddings while we were in the same vicinities. Along the way we stayed with Joyce's high school friend Jandora and her husband Tom in the Salt Lake City area and visited our old neighbors Craig and Wendy (and Maggie, Kate , & Olivia) in Dallas. We hung out with Joyce's sister and family for five days in Chicago, which is always a good time.
We started our adventure in 107 degree heat in eastern Oregon, and ended up in temperatures in the 20's with snow in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. In between we dodged Hurricanes Gustav, Hannah, and Ike, and got caught in a severe thunderstorm in Charlestown South Carolina.
We discovered that wherever you go in the U.S., there are interesting things to see with pleasent surprises everywhere. (and great people with interesting lives) Plains, Georgia is a good example.
But now it's back to reallity with Joyce back to her job, and me adjusting to retirement. I now have even more time to plan the next "big adventure". So stayed tuned, as we plan on updating the blog (weekly?) with news and pictures of our lives.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ernie,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,