Home on Sunday

We left Washington on Friday with no visiting in mind, heading straight home. We ended up with 2 long days of driving and one short. I put two story's in the CD player and drove. the time passes quickly when absorbed in a murder mystery. We arrived home on Sunday about noon. Jay and Lori invited us over for dinner, a good time catching up on happenings for the past two weeks. Virginia and I want to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and hope you have a blessed holiday season. JVP

PS. These pictures were taken in Weed on Saturday morning.

A Great week with Friends

Friday, Nov 28th,  Weed, Calif.  Turkey day is over.  Our weather in Goldendale was really cold.  It rained on Wed and was foggy for a few days.  Temp only in the 30's most days.  We slept in the house.  We had a great Thanksgiving with Scott, Doreen and the dogs.  Had fresh turkey, yams, Doreen's dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy.  I made us a pumpkin pie and green bean casserole. We watched Polar Express & Miracle on 34 Th Street while the guys tried out the new guns, John got.  We are headed home now and had a pretty good drive today.  The dogs are tired from playing with the big dogs at Scott's and glad to have their beds back.  All of Scott's dogs loved Buddy and Max's beds. They were in them through out the few days we were there.  We finished up our pie and turkey leftovers tonight on the road. We will be traveling tomorrow and be home on Sunday.   

Portland, Cold and Rainy

    Sun, Nov 23rd  Portland, Oregon   Well today is our last day before moving on.  We've had a good time visiting with the wedding party.  A lot of them came in from New Orleans, his good buddies-fireman of coarse, his parents and sister, her kids were ring bearer and junior bridesmaid.  Also his best friend and wife from New York were there.  So a lot of  people here from everywhere in US.  Sat it cleared up and was quite cool but dry.  The wedding took place in the Old Church =simple but nice.  Then we went for the reception at Oregon Science building's room.  Food, drinks, cake and DJ.  I guess the party ended around 2 but us old folks left around 10.  Today we had Lizzy & Leo for breakfast here at the motor home.  They are our good friends in LA"s kids.  We usually visit them while we are here and it was our turn to entertain.  John fixed his breakfast burritos and had a nice visit.  They are moving soon to Livermore, Ca., so will be a little closer to each other and their parents.  Tonight is our last visit with the wedding party=everybody leaves for home tomorrow, some left today.  We are meeting for dinner at a German restaurant called the Rheinlander.  We ate there with our kids and the bride, her brother and parents when the kids were just little.  Looking forward to it.  Anxious to be on the road=just a few hours down the road to Goldendale.  It has been quite cool here, only in the 50's today and windy.  

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN

Thursday, Nov 20th.  Here we are in Portland, Oregon at Janzen Beach Campground.  We did a 370 mile drive from Reno to Seven Feathers in Canyonville, Oregon yesterday.  We loved the ride through the trees  between Susanville and Shasta.  We woke last night to hear the RAIN.  We ate dinner in the casino and John beat me 2 games to 1 of Cribbage back at the motor home. We drove most of the day in rain showers, with many rainbows. As I"m writing this its raining again.  Sounds really good as us Californians don't get to hear it much.  Hope it does clear up for the wedding on Sat.  Off to meet our friends for dinner, at the Blue Moon Tavern and Bar. It is downtown Portland, I hope we can find a parking spot. JVP

On the road

We have left Southern California by way of the 15 freeway through San Bernadino because of the fires all around the LA basin, and took the 395 highway to Bishop. We had been camping with our group for our annual Thanksgiving feast at East Shore RV Park, which is located on a hill.  We had a great time of visiting since all of us haven't been together in a long while and of feasting on turkey, pumpkin and pecan pies and all the trimmings. Our entertainment  for our feast was the prop fire planes scooping in the water there at Puddingstone reservoir, scooping up the water and when they took off they were at our level of camp.  It was such a sight to see those planes working and took them about 10 minutes to drop their water and come back for more.  They did that till it got dark. 

 We are in Reno, on our way to Portland for a wedding.  The weather here is nice during the day and cold at night, in the 30's. Here are a few pic's of the campground and the planes.

Time is Short!

Today is Tuesday the 11Th of Nov. Ginny and I are off to bowling this morning. She is in a league and I bowl for the exercise. We are going camping with our group this weekend and then we will be off to the Northwest. We have a wedding in Portland, and are going to spend Thanksgiving with  our good friends in Goldendale Washington. We are so ready to be on the road. We will be gone for two weeks, not long enough but you take what you can get. We will be posting as much as we can. Here is a picture of our newest family members. One is Kourtney's (although Lori is holding him) and the other is Jamie's. they are so cute. We all love them. JP

home at last

Sept 19th   Left Reno Monday morning with an early start-before 9AM  and reached Bishop around 12"30.  Decided it was to early to stop so continued on to Lancaster, Ca  to stay at our friends house.  Parked in their driveway and hooked up to their new 30 amp breaker so we have air with we need since it is around 100 and we are not use to this heat.  Had a nice visit and caught up on out Alpenlite group news and had a relaxing evening  just hanging out and having a BBQ dinner on the patio.  Had breakfast the next morning together and got home here around 11"30.  Decided to go to work and have lunch with everybody after we parked the motor home and checked out everything around the house.  All looked like to much work so we went to lunch with kids.  Getting back into swing to work and household stuff=nicer to be on the road and not have so many responsibilities.  Been warm too.  Thanks for following along on our travels.  Will post more next month when we get back from visiting relatives in Virginia.  Love to all John & Virginia

NEVADA

WELL WE MADE IT TO LOVELOCK, NV AND NOT A LOT HERE TO CHOOSE FROM FOR CAMPGROUNDS AND NONE RATED VERY HIGH.  ENDED UP AT A MOTEL, TRAILER AND RV PARK.  NOT THE BEST OF CAMPING FACILITIES BUT WE ARE TIRED AND DON'T WANT TO DRIVE THE REST OF THE WAY INTO RENO.  I FIXED US DINNER AND WE WENT TO MCDONALD'S AND HAD AN ICE CREAM BEFORE A GAME OF CRIBBAGE AND BED.  ARRIVED IN RENO AND MY BROTHER RICHARD WAS UP AND WENT TO HOUSE SO JOHN COULD GET BUSY ON SETTING UP HIS LAP TOP AND COMPUTER FOR E=MAIL AND SUCH.  IT HAS BEEN A REALLY NICE DAY HERE.  THE AIR RACES ARE GOING ON SO AIRPORT IS FULL OF LITTLE PLANES AND HAVE SEEN SOME OLD ONES COME IN FROM THE RACES.  TOOK RICHARD OUT FOR DINNER AT the PEPPERMILL CASINO AND HAD THEIR BUFFET.  ATE OUR FILL OF CRAB AND SHRIMP AND RICHARD SAID THE OYSTERS WERE GREAT!   SUNDAY WE WENT TO CABELLA'S and then had lunch there.  We could have had elk or buffalo dogs or hamburgers but just stayed with a regular hamburger and cheese steak sandwich.  I did laundry while John finished up with the computer.  Richard went to work late afternoon and will probably be busy bringing in all the rental cars for the races.  We have enjoyed the days here-not hot at all.  It is fitting that we have come full circle as we started off here 2 months ago and end our trip here.  Tomorrow our goal is Bishop, Calif and probably have a little more heat to put up with but have to get ourselves broke in as I think it will be quite warm when we get home.   JVP

PROVO, UTAH

WE TRAVELED THROUGH COLORADO TO UTAH.  FOUND OUR CAMPGROUND IN ORAM SO WE COULD VISIT RELATIVES.  MET JOHN'S SISTER CHERYL AND HUSBAND AL AT THEIR DAUGHTER, LORI'S HOUSE.  THEY ARE BUSY BEING GRANDPARENTS AND TAKING JOHNATON TO HIS FOOTBALL PRACTICES AND GAMES, ALSO TAKING AND PICKING UP THE GIRLS (THEY HAVE THREE) FROM SCHOOL.  LORI AND ERIC ARE BUSY WITH KIDS AND FIXING UP THEIR HOUSE.  JUST HAD THEIR KITCHEN CABINETS AND COUNTERTOPS DONE.  ERIC IS MAKING A POND IN THE BACK YARD FOR SOME KOI FISH.  NEXT MORNING CHERYL WAS GETTING HER NEW CARPET IN SO WE TOOK BUDDY TO VET.  HE'S GOT A RASH ON HIS TUMMY AND JUST CAN'T STOP SCRATCHING.  WE'VE TRIED BENADRYL AND CORTISONE ON HIS TUMMY BUT JUST HASN'T HELPED.  WENT TO CHERYL'S AND SAW HER NEW KITCHEN CABINETS AND RUG.  LIKE SHE SAID IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS BUT THEY ARE GETTING CLOSE TO MOVING IN AND ARE GETTING THEIR FURNITURE LINED UP.  GUESS THEY'LL BE DOWN AROUND THE 20TH FOR DR. APPOINTMENTS AND WILL CATCH UP IN LA AGAIN.  HAD SOME SPRINKLES OF COARSE SINCE WE HAD MOTOR HOME WASHED BUT STILL LOOKS BETTER THAN IT DID.  A LOT OF THINGS TO DO HERE BUT NOT ENOUGH TIME, SO DO MORE NEXT TIME.  DECIDED TO GO TO RENO NEXT TO HELP MY BROTHER WITH HIS COMPUTER AND GET  USE TO WARMER WEATHER BEFORE WE HIT THE HOT STUFF AT HOME. We left Utah Friday morning and drove hard toward Reno, we got 460 miles to Lovelock, NV. We only had 90 miles to drive on Saturday. We are going to stay in Reno till Monday morning, then we are on our way home. Should be home late Tuesday. JVP

Grand Junction, Colorado

We decided to spend another day here as was a lot to do in the area.  Yesterday we did laundry-hopefully the last time on the road.  It was a beautiful day so we BBQ steaks, ate Colorado corn on the cob and took a drive around the area. Today we had to move to a different spot and than we had the motor home washed.  It was so dirty.  I packed us a lunch, the dogs and took off for Colorado National Monument.  It is a 27 mile loop drive of breath taking beauty.  Colorado has its own balance rock.  It was a cloudy day so pictures aren't as bright as they could be but it was just beautiful red sandstone and trees.  We thought it was better than Zion.   Than we went to the town of Palisades where they grow peaches and corn and we bought more tomatoes.  Also stopped at a few wineries.  A lot of them here are fruit wines but there were a few we liked.  Today was cool and cloudy and a few sprinkles around.  Tomorrow we head for Utah to visit relatives. JVP

Last days in Colorado

We moved our motorhome down the road about 30 minutes after having breakfast with Melanie and Doug.  Checked out another campground and think it will probably be where we are when we start out trip next year.  Very nice and a lot more room.  This is a very nice campground in Castle Rock, too. These are a couple of pictures out the front window. Has large tepee's around and several train cars they use for movies and other things when they are busy.  We drove into Steve & Holly's (our friend's daughter).  Met his parents and  had a great dinner and learned to play hearts.  Anna played the violin for us for our evening entertainment. 

She's been playing since she was 2(she's 5 now). We took the boys with us and they played with holly's puppy of 6 months, Katie, and had a ball.  We went into town and bought some great corn and peaches at a fruit market. Also found a Sam's Club and bought some more books on tape for trip home.  Had lunch at On The Border-nice to have Mexican Food once in a while.  Sun was a lazy day and went back on Holly's for Hamburgers and game of Spinners. Monday, we a woke up to clouds and mist.  Drove over the big mountains on I-70.  A beautiful drive and made it over easily.  Tonight we are in Grand Junction.  Got some laundry done and the sun is out and shorts are on, it's in the 80's now.  We have decided to stay here another day. There are some things to do, and maybe some Peaches to get from the local growers. More later. JVP

Colorado Springs

Internet is good here in Colorado Springs, so try to get this out.  Arrived here in Colorado and has been quite cool.  In the 40's at night.  We had to get out our long sleeve shirts and coats for awhile.  Yesterday John & I took the dogs and drove around the Garden of the Gods.  It is a beautiful area with red rocks and lots of green trees.  It too has a balancing rock.  It just reminded us of Arches National Park in Utah.  Went to our niece's (Bud and Betty's daughter Melanie) and had a nice visit and went out to dinner.  This is a big city with lots to do.  We looked at our itinerary for trip next year and since we start out here in Colorado Springs we will be doing a lot of the stuff we wanted to see, so we will check out other things and do something we aren't doing then.  Moved to our next campground=only a short distance away and really nice here.  Last campground was old, not much room and glad we only had to be there one night.  JVP

traveling through the rain

Today is Sept 4th.  We have left Arkansas in the rain.  The hurricane is passing through leaving rain and we want to leave before it gets really bad.  Monday the guys went fishing and caught a few little fish, also got the truck stuck in mud getting boat down into water.  We were going to the rescue but they flagged a guy down and he pulled them out.  After that Sissy & I went to Little Rock to the Clinton Library.  It was a very nice museum of his days in White House and things given to him. History of his and Hillary's growing up. Had a great Southern pot roast dinner with way to much food.  Got a chance to visit with Dorothy (she lost her husband, John's cousin this past fall) and also with Patsy and daughter(another cousin).  Wednesday was another long day of driving especially with the rain through Kansas.  Seen a lot of crops-corn, soybeans, sunflowers and one they grow a lot of but we don't know what it is.  Today we awoke to sunshine and another 300 mile day of driving to Colorado.  It is just in the 70's and a nice cool breeze.  Haven't had much internet service the last few days so haven't been able to write.  We'll be in Colorado Springs tomorrow to visit with our niece.

Little Rock, Arkansas

 Well, we have spent the last few days here in England, Ark with John's cousins. We parked the motor home in their driveway and hooked up to electricity as it is quite warm and humid here.  Floyd and Sissy took us to dinner that evening to eat catfish and fried dill pickles.  Delicious!

John, Floyd and I went for a drive out to some lakes to check out the fishing situation.  The only trouble was it was a long ride after driving all day.  The next day we went to cousin Charles and Peggy's house up by Heber Springs. It was a nice day and a lot of people out on the lake for the holiday weekend.  A tornado came through this spring very near their home and saw all the trees laying like toothpicks along side the hills as we went for BBQ lunch.  Sissy has kept us full of Southern Cooking.  Had cornbread, beans, chicken & dumplings, and pecan pie to name a few.  We are definitely going to have to get back on a diet when we get home.  We have been watching the hurricane and wondering if we were staying too long here in Arkansas. Thanks for all the calls and the concern. So far we are safe. JVP

Touring in Nashville

After our long day of checking out Nashville we went to dinner at Night Life, which is a couple doors down from our campground.  We had a good buffet dinner=I was surprised at the sweet green beans and have enjoyed the sweet tea here in the South.  The show was good and we enjoyed it.  We spent the day seeing Andrew Jackson's home called the Hermitage.  Ladies dressed in Southern dresses and hats showed us around the plantation house.  It was nice to see the furniture and rooms.  Then we went out to the gardens and grave yard.  The gardens were just beautiful and had a lot of spices that they used to cure illnesses with in olden days.  It had rained a little before we went outside.  Could have spent more time seeing the grounds but had to get back for dinner.  Today Aug 28 Th Thursday we went to breakfast at Bob Evan's.  They had things to buy just like Cracker Barrel.  Breakfast was good and something different than we'd had.  Then we went over to see the Opry Hotel.  We were surprised how big it was and expected to see just a beautiful lobby.  Well it is a huge atrium in middle of square hotel rooms.  It has a river with a boat ride around the hotel, something like the river walk in San  Antonio.  Next time we will eat there=looks like a great place to spend more time.  So glad we got to see it.  Went back and went to Camping World which is right next door to us practically and got a few things we need.  Tonight we are in West Memphis, Arkansas.  Pat & Elmon and us stayed here at the Tom Sawyer Mississippi River Park 4 years ago.  We look out our front window and see the river.  Have seen a barge go down river all ready.  We are waiting for it to cool off before thinking  about dinner.

 Buddy was somehow wrapped up in this blanket, we laughed so hard. I don't think he thought it was funny, though.  It is quite warm here and some humidity.  The park here lets you wash clothes for free so since nobody else was using the 2 machines here by us, I did a couple loads.  Pat, I can't remember but wash room has air conditioning now.  JVP

Nashville, Tn

Tues Aug 26th arrived here at 2 Rivers Campground.  It has rained here before we came and is cloudy today.  We had lunch at Canney's Fish Camp Rest.  We split a catfish lunch and watched the real catfish swim around in the pool in middle of rest.  Tried fried dill pickles for appetizer which were good but don't compare to ones in Arkansas.  That evening we went to Grand Ole Opera to see Tues evening program.  We didn't recognize any of the performers names but then don't follow Country much.  It is a real live radio broadcast so has an announcer and commercials and sponsors.  They had 8 performers do their program for 15 minutes(2 hour program). You can bring in drinks and food from concession stand and sit in padded bench seats.  We enjoyed the music and just being there.  Afterwards we went to Applebees and had appetizers(our dinner), since we were still full from  lunch.  Today we got up to cloudy skies again and no rain yet.  We went on a van tour called Tommy's.  He first took us downtown to see the stadium, state capitol building, the Batman building, Charlie Daniels Museum, Wild Horse Saloon, Coyote Ugly and the old train building which is now a national registry hotel.  It was beautiful stained glass and building.  We got to see a room which has a nice view and was $399 a night.  Tommy was quite a joker and kept us entertained and very informative about Nashville.  Next we went to some stars homes.  What big huge things and in Millions of dollars on very large property.  We drove by Tim McGraw's house and he was driving out as we came up.  He rolled down the window so we could see him and waved to us.  What great timing.  Saw Dolly Parton' s small home, Trisha Yearwood's, and many others.  Was a really nice tour. JVP