Heating Up On The Road

We left home Tuesday morning with temperatures in the 50's. Thursday evening we arrived in Wickenberg Arizona with temperatures in the mid 90's, and projected to be around 104 today. This is how it will be for the next 10 days or so.
We headed east from Seattle, then dropped down through Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, then into Arizona. We crossed the new bridge at Hoover dam, but couldn't appreciate the enormity of that project. The bridge barriers are tall, so unless you stop and walk out onto the bridge, you don't have a view.
This morning we will be headed East through Phoenix and Tucson, and on into New Mexico. We should finish the day somewhere near the Texas border. From there it will be about 600 - 700 miles to Austin, and unless we get crazy, that will get us there on Sunday afternoon.
Fuel prices continue to drop as we head south with the price of diesel more than 50 cents a gallon less than at home. With this round trip projected to use about 300 gallons of fuel, it starts to make a significant difference. We'll update again from Austin Texas. Ernie

Mr. & Mrs.

Notice the police tape on the car.

Jake the Ringbearer waiting patiently for his part in the ceremony.

Cutting the cake. The wedding topper was a boy and girl hiker and a dog that looks like Jake.

Josh and Brynn were married on Sunday May 22, 2011. It was a lovely wedding in a beautiful setting. The ceremony almost came off without a glitch except for a few minor stumbles: someone had forgotten to unbutton the bride's train on her dress which resulted in a delay of her walking down the aisle and the guests and groom wondering if she changed her mind...and...the chaplain forgot to tell the bride and groom to kiss at the end of the ceremony.

Flower girl "Ella" (bride's niece) was too cute strewing rose petals down the aisle. Ringbearer "Jake" (Josh & Brynn's dog) carried the rings down the aisle attached to his specially made long tie and white collar. Brynn's 2 sisters and Kristin were bridesmaids. Josh's groomsmen were 2 friends of his and his cousin Anthony from Chicago.

While my sister and family were here from Chicago they managed to get in a fair amount of activities. They love the Pike Place Market and went there twice, to the Space Needle, we had dinner at Ivar's on the waterfront, walked all of Lincoln Park. The day after the wedding we all had breakfast with the newlyweds at the Easy Street Cafe in West Seattle.

Tuesday morning Josh and Brynn were here at 6:30 a.m. and we took them to the airport as they were heading for a 5 day honeymoon in Hawaii. Later in the day we took Patrice and family to the airport as they were going back to Chicago.

So that's a very brief outline of our last week and a half. It was crazy busy with activity and it was a lot of fun, so this week we've been decompressing. - Joyce

9 Days and Counting

The sun came out the day we took Ron and Diane to the ............... ..................

Pat Cohn at the wheel!! The keys WERE NOT in the ignition!

Passing by " The Trees Of Mystery" in Northern California

Stumped by the giant redwoods.

Grandog Jake showing off his new traction devices.

Snoqualmie Falls with blue sky.

Ron and Diane at the Mariner's Team Store.

10 days from now it will all be over and Josh & Brynn Fowler will be getting ready to head off to Hawaii on their honeymoon. But until then the beat goes on.
Ron and Diane made it back from their Alaska cruise on Tuesday, and made it safely back to Tulsa very late Tuesday night. They had warmer weather in Alaska then they did in in the Seattle visit portion of their trip. We still haven't seen 70 degrees, and it's the middle of May!
Next Wednesday Kristin gets home from South Carolina. Then Thursday night Patrice, Paul, Anthony, and Cassie arrive from Chicago. We have rented a 7 passenger van for a few days to get around. We're hoping that the weather improves a little ( or a lot ).
The motorhome is still at the shop awaiting parts to complete the warranty repairs. I did stop by the shop earlier this week to pick up the camera accessories, and I can now add some trip pictures. We are planning to make a Texas run the first part of June. Kristin is flying down to Austin on the 29th of May, and we volunteered to bring her "stuff" down. And, we thought that we may be able to find some summer like weather along the way.
I played the back nine at West Seattle Golf Course on Wednesday. It is much more challenging then the courses I saw in Arizona. It's a good thing that I had lots of golf balls, as I left a few in the woods! We're going to try to find an easier course near by. Or we may just go to the other side of the mountains where the sun may be shining.
Stay Dry, Ernie

The Calm Before The Storm

All is quiet now with only 17 days until Josh and Brynn's wedding. I'm thinking that things may get a little hectic as the big day grows near.
Our friends from Tulsa ( Ron & Diane ) left us yesterday and are now cruising toward Alaska. We had lots of fun, and were a little busy trying to take in the highlights of the area in 4 days. We managed to visit the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the Waterfront including brunch at Ivars, We Rode the Ducks, saw the Fremont Troll, visited Snoqualmie Falls, Took the Safeco Field Tour, Saw a Mariners Game, and Ron and I squeezed in a morning visit to the Snoqualmie Casino! We also took a driving tour of the city. and walked Lincoln Park. Ron and Diane are probably happy to get away on the cruise ship to relax for a few days. They will be docking on Tuesday, and hopefully will have about an hour to tell us about the cruise before heading to the airport to return home. They had never been to the Pacific Northwest, or Alaska before.
The Motorhome is at the dealership getting the issues resolved that were discovered on it's maiden voyage to Arizona. It will probably be there for another week or two awaiting parts. Then we may be heading off on a short ( 3 week ) road trip to Texas to deliver Kristin's "stuff", as she is going to be living in Austin for at least the next year with 2 other young ladies.
So for a little while things will be quiet here. Two weeks from today Patrice & Paul, and Anthony and his girlfriend Cassie will be here for a 5 day stay for the wedding. So for now, I will be enjoying a little solitude. And if the weather would improve a little, maybe a little golf can get squeezed in!! Ernie

Home, But Not Alone

We left Apache Junction on Saturday the 16th with temperatures forecast for the mid 90's. We arrived home on Thursday the 21st with temperatures in the low 50's! Saturday was fairly nice with the daytime high hitting the mid 60's. So far, this was the warmest day of the year. Today was so cold when I was up on the roof cleaning the roof drains that it felt like I should be putting up the Christmas lights. The forecast does have the temperatures back in the low 60's over the weekend just in time for our company (Ron & Diane) from Tulsa.
We had a good trip back home. We stopped in Cotati, Ca. to visit with relatives there for a day. From there we went to Crescent City and stayed overnight on the edge of Redwood National Park. Then it was on up into Oregon where we spent the night just south of Tillamook. From there it was about a 5 - 6 hour drive home.
On Friday the motorhome went back to the dealership to get the issues that we discovered repaired under warranty. We have no idea how long they will need to get everything fixed, but we're not going anywhere for a while.
On Saturday we went up to Keith and Sheilas to visit, and pick up Hairold T. Cat.
Hairold got back into his regular routine as soon as he got out of the cat carrier. He's about a pound or so up from his normal weight, as he spent his entire visit indoors. After his 6 week outdoor adventure last year he probably thought inside was a better idea!
The house seems to have survived without us quite well. Another day or two and all should be back to normal. We're looking forward to our company, and just hope that the weather cooperates. We will have indoor and outdoor options on our to do list.
Apparently we left the camera accessories in the motorhome, so we can't download picture for the blog. When we pick the coach up from the dealer, we'll get some pictures up. Ernie

Cooling Down

That's All Folks

The "Welcome to Apache Junction" sign with the setting sun

The Hitching Post (Literally) just outside of Apache Junction city limits

One Last Shot of the Superstions at Sunset

Crossing the Oakland Bay Bridge

Peacocks or "Here We Go Again"

Here we are in Petaluma California (40 miles N of San Fransisco) on the 105th anniversary of the San Fransisco earthquake. There is a definite chill in the air, with a little moisture on the ground, and fog in the air. We will be here for 2 nights to visit with my cousin Bob and cousin-in-law (?) Mabel who live in Cotati.

The trip here was an interesting one as it took us through the high desert of California to the Pacific coast. We left Apache Junction Saturday morning with the temperatures predicted to reach the mid 90's. We spent the night in Lancaster California where I believe it was in the upper 90's. We arrived in Petaluma about 4:30 Sunday afternoon to partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid 60's. It may be time to put the shorts back in the closet.

I had a South Dakota flashback this morning when I opened the curtains to find 3 Peacocks/Peahens walking around outside the coach. I'll be keeping a sharp eye out to see if they bring more of their kind tomorrow! At least there's no snow on the ground.

Tomorrow we will be heading north up the coast on 101. With a little luck the weather will be good as it's a beautiful drive. We will probably roll in on Thursday, but we could get in late in the evening on Wednesday. So, this will be the last post until we get home.

Stay dry, Ernie

Golf, BBQ, and Cactus

Sunset

Dinner for 12

It looks like the sky was air brushed into the picture

Sizing up the putt on her first time out

The Golfer

Joyce has been out on the golf course twice since the last blog. The crowds are thinning out now, and you can walk on without a tee time and not have people breathing down your neck. I believe that she's doing better than she thought she would. We just need to keep it up when we get home.

Monday we had a BBQ and had a total of 12 people here (including us). Several of the people we hung out with most were leaving later in the week, so we had one last get together. We had ribs and chicken, and now we will be working on the leftovers for a while.

Wednesday I got almost everything squared away in the storage compartments for our departure on Saturday. We will be going to the Bay Area, so will probably make it to the Bakersfield vicinity on Saturday. From there we will head up to Santa Rosa for 2 nights, then head north on hwy 101. We will most likely make it home on Thursday.

That's all for now, and the next update will be from somewhere on the road. Ernie