It's time to bid 2015 farewell and to welcome 2016! The BIG news for us is that we made the decision to come off the road. That's right, we will no longer be fulltime RVing starting February 1st. We did what we said we would "never" do again (Ha!Ha! I love saying never because in my case it means it is bound to happen!). We purchased a manufactured home in a very nice park here in Gardnerville, NV. Which is something else we said we would never do--spend another winter here in Carson City, but here we are freezing our butts off in the RV park with high temperatures in the low 30s, low temperatures in the teens, and yup, there's snow on the ground.
We put an offer on a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home that was accepted without any counter! Now we're trying to figure out what we will do with ALL that living space! Not to mention we sold or gave away just about all our furniture so now we have to go scrounging around for stuff to put in that new place. I can't wait to get all of my card making paraphernalia out of storage and into my own cubby hole again!
Enough of what's in the future, now let's look back at 2015 in our rear view mirror!
We spent last winter in Twentynine Palms having a blast with new found friends. We golfed, line danced, partied, ate, swam, and hung out. We were so busy it was hard to keep track of everything on the agenda. We also were 5 miles from Joshua Tree National Park and made a few forays into that desert wilderness.
We also went to visit our son, Michael, and his family in Ecuador for 3 weeks. Here we are at Mitad del Mundo--the Equator.
Erica (daughter-in-law), Malin (left) and Romy (right) at the animal market in Otavalo.
Michael and the girls on a suspension bridge at a hotel.
Gary and me on the same suspension bridge.
The volcano Cotapaxi in the background at the Cotapaxi National Park. We were very blessed because the clouds had covered the volcano until we were getting ready to leave. Then the clouds parted and we zipped back into the park to get a picture of this awesome volcano.
Just hangin' with the main reason we went to Ecuador--to spend time with our two darling granddaughters. So, so much fun, fun, fun. Love those girls!
After we got back from Ecuador, we were sick for a month. This was not a pretty time in the RV! I came down with tonsillitis and followed that up with some other virus going through the RV park in Twentynine Palms. Let me tell you, it was so awesome to feel like a human being again and to be able to be in contact with humans!
We started our second Workamping assignment in May at Glacier Pines RV Park in Kalispell, MT.
Here was "home sweet home" for five months.
It was the summer of "gloom and doom"! We were surrounded by wildfires on all sides although none were close enough to put us in danger. However, what we did have to deal with was an overwhelming amount of smoke, mostly from the huge fire in southeast Washington. This really put a damper on our sightseeing because a pallor of smoke hung on the horizon and everything was gray and ugly. In addition to the smoke, Gary got shingles (ouchie-wah-wah) and reinjured his back--yup, he was a mess! Plus (if all of that wasn't enough), our Workamping assignment was three times as much work as our first assignment and we really weren't interested in working that hard!
There was some good news amongst all that bad news, though, and that was the GOOD friends we made with the other couples on duty. We spent many nights drinking beer and wine around the campfire and playing dominoes! One day we rented a houseboat on Flathead Lake.
We stopped at one of the islands and had a picnic lunch. Heidi made these amazing, awesome hoagie sandwiches (she made them to "order"!). From left to right: Kay & Bill, Heidi & Mike, Colette & Joe, and Judy & Gary. If it hadn't been for these lovely, wonderful friends we're not sure if we would have stayed with the assignment. They made all the difference in the world to us.
We did do a few trips into Glacier National Park and here are a few photos taken from our last trip into the park, near the end of the summer, after a rain cleared the smoke from the skies.
On our way back to Gardnerville, we stopped at Crater Lake National Park.
We spent most of our time in the Crater Lake area exploring many of the sights there were to see, and there were many. The Rogue River runs through it but there's more water than just that to be seen! Here are a few pics from our meandering in the area.
National Creek Falls
A bridge over the Rogue River.
Pearsony Falls
Every year my seven sisters and sister-in-law get together for "Girls Week" (used to be a weekend, but that's just too darn short!). This year we rented this amazing house in Ventura less than a block from the beach. Wow, we were blessed beyond belief!
On our way to spend Thanksgiving with family at my brother's house in Atascadero, we stopped at the nation's newest national park, Pinnacles.
Our friends from Twentynine Palms were Workamping at the park.
I'm on this bridge with Pat (right).
So, that made four national parks in 2015--well below our national park visits in the last three years! In 2013 (starting in July) we hit seven national parks. In 2014 we hit eight national parks and at least three national monuments. This brings our national park grand total visits to 26 of the 47 national in the contiguous United States (excludes both Hawaii and Alaska). What other ones do we think we'll get to? We are targeting: Big Bend, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, Saguaro, and Channel Islands (hoping my brother Charlie will take us over on his boat!). That will take our total to 31! When I think about how many national parks I visited while I was working (over a 30-year period), it's sad--I visited only five national parks :(. Okay, enough on the national parks count! Let's continue our 2015 rear view mirror review.
We spent two weeks at Thanksgiving with family in Atascadero, CA at my brother's house and then headed back to Carson City. It was our intention to head to Twentynine Palms again for the winter, but as you already know, God intervened and our plans changed!
NO! We're not getting rid of the RV! We still have some traveling to do. We never had much of an opportunity to explore Arizona or New Mexico. We really want to explore Big Bend National Park in Texas. And, we'd love to visit the friends we made in Colorado and Montana. Hmmm, maybe another trip to the totally awesome Oregon coast, too! So, while the chapter on our continual meandering has ended, there are new chapters out there ready to be written and we definitely want to write them on the tablets of our hearts.
All our travels crafted cherished memories and we would do it all over again given the opportunity. Don't let too much time go by in your life without checking something off YOUR bucket list--it creates tremendous times and marvelous memories. Wishing you love, peace and joy in the new year. May the God of all hope fill your heart with hope this coming year.
Isaiah 43:18-19
"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert."
