After four months in Yuma, and another four weeks to and in Skokie, it is time to head home! It will be very sad to part with mom/dad after being with them for the past 15 months, but we are looking forward to seeing them again in the fall for our Barcelona cruise.

Our route home has us taking our time to see several national parks on the way. Our plan has us visiting Arches National Park, followed by Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park – and then Yosemite National Park before heading up to Mukilteo. Our itinerary is as follows:

May 2, 2021

A gorgeous morning for the next chapter of our travels: sunny with a few clouds and 70 degrees by our 8:00 am departure. Today’s route was through an abundance of farms through Illinois and Iowa so the scenery was a little repetitive. A mid-morning rest stop for something to eat provided a break in the driving. We arrived at Cabela’s in La Vista, Nebraska, about 4:00 pm where it was 88 degrees. We relaxed for a while, had a dinner of grilled turkey and Swiss sandwiches with chips, and then walked around for a little bit to stretch our legs. We shared the truck/RV parking behind Cabela’s with three other trucks and it worked out well. Overnight we experienced an intense thunderstorm (at least by Western Washington standards). There was torrential rain, hail, high winds, and nearly nonstop lightening and thunder. All the while we were snug in our bed on the RV and enjoyed hearing the storm around us, although it did interrupt our sleep for a short time. It had the side-benefit of knocking some dust off the RV and car.

May 3, 2021
An overcast, cooler start to the day when we hit the road at 7:00 am. It was another day of farms but later, still in Nebraska, there were some cattle ranches. We stopped later in the morning at a rest stop for something to eat. While still in Nebraska we crossed into the Mountain Time Zone gaining an hour. A little while later we entered Colorado where the views varied from expanses of rolling hills with only short vegetation growing on them to farmland, and cattle ranches. About an hour or so before getting to our destination it started to rain steadily. We arrived at Emerald RV Park in Ft. Morgan, Colorado, about 2:00 (47 degrees) and the rain stopped! This park is really just an overpriced gravel parking spot with hookups. Kind of an ugly park. We look out at a big empty lot with a worn down house on it. The area did not have a good assortment of RV parks or places to boondock so it had to do.

May 4, 2021
We started an hour earlier than planned start – as “someone” forgot to set “her” alarm for the new time zone. After a pretty pink sunrise we were on the road before 6:00 am. The front window of the tow car had a thick layer of frost and there was patchy fog throughout the beginning of our drive. Once we drove through Denver we entered the Rocky Mountains which gave us a very scenic drive for all of our morning.  Our elevation was constantly up and down, peaking at 11,000 feet above sea level. In many areas we were at or above the snow level giving us beautiful snow blanketed scenery but the road was clear, dry, and gave us no problems except for some road construction reduced speeds. One area we encountered was all snow covered pine trees which was gorgeous. Pat caught a glimpse of several elk in this area. We drove through several ski resort areas where a few ski lifts were still running (but with very few passengers). We went through an area called Greenwood Canyon which had steep, layered walls of different colored rock which were cut over 3 million years ago by the Colorado River which ran alongside the highway on our drive.

The whole drive afforded us new spectacular views at every turn. Late morning we stopped at a rest area in Rifle, CO, again along the Colorado River, to have a nosh. We were surprised with a phone call from Mom, Dad, and Adam who were following our progress and saw that we stopped for a break. It was good to talk to them. We miss them very much! Once we entered Utah there were vast expanses of flat, shrub-dotted desert with mountains in the background. We pulled into Willows Springs Trail Dispersed Camping for our 3 night stay.

This is a free camping area with people in all kinds of RV’s, trucks, tents, vans, and cars parking all over the desert. The road in was very bumpy but got better, and about a half mile in we parked the RV in a spot that was mostly level. We are surrounded by incredible views including unique rock formations, green striped mountains, a long stretch of cliffs, wide open desert, and a range of snow-capped mountains. It’s VERY dusty, more so because we’re right by the road. Laurie peeked outside at 2:30 in the morning and said there were a lot of stars but some were obscured by clouds.

May 5 2021

We woke up to find we had about half a dozen new neighbors since we went to bed last night. Most were just sleeping in their cars or in tents. We didn’t hear a sound overnight. It was a beautiful sunny day in the high 70’s. We headed to Arches National Park just after 7:30 am and arrived before 8:00 am since it’s only a few miles away. Since Delicate Arch is the most iconic site in the park and it gets very busy, we decided to go there first.

We tried a short hike to a viewpoint but the arch was a mile away and left us wanting a better view. With some reluctance on Pat’s part, we decided to do the difficult rated 3 mile round trip hike to the arch. It’s rated difficult because the trail climbs almost 500 feet up a steep slickrock slope, has no shade, and has a 200 yard long narrow rock ledge that hugs the mountainside as you get near the arch. With patience, encouragement, and prodding by Laurie to keep Pat going, we made it to Delicate Arch. What a spectacular sight! It was as majestic as it’s pictures, especially as it was backed by the snowcapped La Sal Mountains. In all the hike took us about 2 ½ hours round trip. Having accomplished our main objective, we drove the road through the park stopping at various viewpoints including other arches and rock formations.

It is an amazing park with our 5 hours there well spent. Back at the RV we rested, rehydrated, napped, had dinner, and caught up on some computer stuff.

May 6, 2021
We had an extremely early start to our day as we stood outside stargazing at 1:00 am! Through a slight haze we saw a gorgeous sky heavily blanketed with stars in all directions, possible because there’s very little light pollution out here in the desert. We were back in bed by 1:15 am.

After starting our day for the second time, we headed out at 7:30 to Dead Horse Point State Park about ½ hour away. Our senior pass doesn’t work at state parks so it was $20 to enter. The main feature of this park is the awesome canyon and rock formations created by the Colorado River meandering through the bottom of the canyon, and Mother Nature in general. It was amazing to see all the exposed layers of history going back over 275 million years! We scrambled (rather than hiked) over varying layers of slickrock to get to better viewpoints. By 10:30 we had seen the canyon from the many viewpoints and were done with the park, but it was still so early.

On the way in we had seen signs and a turnoff for Canyonlands National Park and decided to go there since our senior pass got us in for free. The area we went to was called “Island in the Sky”. We drove along a high mesa (the “island”) with expansive canyons on 3 sides. The western canyon was formed by the Green River and the eastern canyon by the Colorado River.

The rivers join up in the canyons to the south. The best sight in the park for us was the iconic Mesa Arch which we did the ½ mile hike to. Pictures don’t do it justice. The arch forms a horizontal elongated window to 3 rock formations in the canyon behind it and the snowy La Sal Mountains in the distance. Everyone was taking turns taking pictures of each other here. This area made our 2 ½ hour stop at Canyonlands worth it. Back at our RV a lot of campers had cleared out so we took the opportunity to relocate the RV so we could make an early departure out a level exit to the gravel road without worrying about being blocked in by new campers who might come in overnight. Then it was time to rest, have an early dinner, catch up on some computer stuff while the generator was on for a little while, and just hang out until bedtime.

May 7, 2021
Laurie said it was a beautiful, reddish sunrise (Pat missed it by a few minutes). We wandered around the area to take pictures of the RV from different viewpoints. There also was a colorful hot air balloon which we saw take off and slowly rise up above the surrounding mountains. After a quick nosh for breakfast, we were on the road about 8:00 am. The start of today’s travel included more incredible mountains, rock formations, and canyons. It got a little greener as we went west and we started to see farms and cattle ranches, with the snowcapped Rockies in the far distance. We arrived at Cedar City KOA Journey about 1:15 and got settled into our back-in site with full hookups. It looks like a nice, clean park, although our view out the front window is of the park’s maintenance building (when we booked this was the very last site available for our size rig so we couldn’t be choosy). It was about 80 degrees today but with a strong wind making it pleasant, and blowing lots of small, round seeds around with every gust. We relaxed, enjoyed long hot showers, spent time on computers, ate dinner, and relaxed some more watching TV.

May 8, 2021
Another early start – then off to Bryce Canyon National Park, roughly 1 ½ hours away. We took a scenic route there through some mountains where the higher elevations still had pockets of snow and the temperature was 34 degrees. There were wonderful rock formations and colorful cliffs along the drive. We were stopping to take pictures before we even made it into the park. The park was a pleasant 50-60 degrees (good hiking weather), but there was a cold wind at times. Bryce Canyon is home to the largest collection of hoodoos (irregularly-eroded rock spires) in the world. The first part of our morning we spent at Bryce Amphitheater which is an enormous canyon filled with red, orange, and white hoodoos of various sizes and surrounded by tall cliffs. We hiked along the rim from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point (which was about a mile away), as well as stopped at Bryce Point which gave us views of a different part of the canyon. All amazing!

Next we drove the Scenic Southern Drive which is about 18 miles and has numerous viewpoints along the way. We stopped at Natural Bridge which is a huge orange hued arch that frames the beautiful distant scenery in it’s window, and also at Black Birch Canyon which was a lookout with more hoodoos and unique formations. The end of the road had 2 viewpoints close together, Rainbow Point (highest point in park at 9,115 feet) and Yovimpa Point, both having more spectacular views out over the canyon.

After we left the paid park area there was one more stop called Fairyland Point which was just as it’s name implies. It was a magical looking area of colorful hoodoo spires, each formation uniquely different from the next. We made the long drive back to the RV where it was in the mid-60’s and we did some planning for the next couple of days, called to wish Mom a Happy Mother’s Day a day early, ate pan grilled burgers for dinner, and spent time on our computers. A lot of time was spent driving today but it was absolutely worth it!

May 9, 2021
An early start: departing the RV just after 6:00 am, we made the long drive to Zion National Park arriving about 7:15.

The park was busy already. You need shuttle tickets to ride the shuttle buses along the Zion Canyon Scenic Road and we managed to snag a couple the night before for a 7:00-8:00 am departure from the visitor’s center. We hopped right on a shuttle about 7:45 and took it to the farthest point, Temple of Sinawava, arriving about 8:00 am. From this point we did the 2.2 mile Riverside Walk hike that follows the Virgin River.

The walk goes through a deep canyon with towering, sheer, vertical walls. There was greenery along the river, and at different points you could see distant mountains/cliffs with varying colors continuously changing due to the position of the sun over the canyon. At the end of the Riverwalk a second, more strenuous hike began called The Narrows Hike which is 9.4 miles round trip and is actually hiking through the river itself! A large percentage of the people doing the Riverwalk were continuing on in special clothing, shoes, and wooden walking sticks. This was not for us! Hopping on the shuttle we took it to another shuttle stop called Big Bend. From there we could look waaaay up to the top of a cliff where daredevils were walking along the rim to the top of Angels Landing, a 1,488-foot tall rock formation. The hike is steep with long drop-offs, but there are chains bolted into the cliff to provide secure handholds on the final stretch. It’s 5 miles round trip and gains almost 1,500 feet in elevation! Over the last 20 years 13 people having died on this hike. Another pass by us. We spoke with a park ranger at this location about endangered California Condors. He told us about the birds in the area and had a telescope set up through which we saw a juvenile Condor sitting high up on the cliff wall waiting for it’s parents to return. Next up was a shuttle stop where we did a very long hike.

The beginning was the Kayenta Trail which was a lot of up and down over rocks as well as up and down stairs. This trail hooked up to the Lower Emerald Pool Trail which took us down many stairs, between huge boulders, and across a small bridge into a grotto-like area with water dripping down the cliff sides from up high and ending up in a pretty green pool. The hike out was easier and ended at the next shuttle stop from where we started. Not really sure how far we hiked but it was a workout! A shuttle brought us back to the visitor’s center for Pat’s magnet shopping and Laurie stamping in his National Park Passport. It was time for a rest while we drove the extremely scenic Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, making numerous switchbacks on our way up the canyon with jaw-dropping views in every direction, and then through a 1.1 mile tunnel. After exiting the tunnel and seeing the long line of vehicles, including RV’s, waiting to go through the tunnel in the return direction, we ended up just continuing on the highway to the east entrance of the park which made our trip to the RV longer but at least it was very scenic. A lot of traffic was headed into the park as we were leaving about 1:30. With all our park visits we learned that it really pays to arrive very early ahead of the crowds. Mother’s Day dinner was mostaccioli from the freezer which Pat had made back in Illinois. A relaxing evening followed including phone calls with all 3 kids. We’re greatly looking forward to seeing them when we return home Sunday.

May 10, 2021
Left the RV park at 11:00 am after a relaxing morning as it’s a relatively short drive to our next stop (Walmart) and we don’t want to arrive too early. Today’s travels took us from Utah through the NW corner of Arizona, through southern Nevada, and into California. There was beautiful scenery along the way including green dotted mountains, rugged rocky mountains, and open desert areas. Some we drove through and others were in the distance. We arrived at Walmart in Barstow, CA, which has a huge gravel lot at the back of its regular parking lot. Although there were signs posted stating “No Trucks” and “No Overnight Parking” the lot had quite a few trucks and RV’s spend the night. We spoke with the store manager, and she indicated that we could stay overnight in their parking lot. Considering the comings and goings of trucks, and a busy railroad nearby, it was a pretty quiet night. Before we settled in for the evening we ventured into Walmart wearing masks and sanitizing our shopping cart to buy a few items we needed, including ice cream. Somehow the ice cream keeps evaporating from the RV freezer!

May 11, 2021
We left Walmart before 7:00 am. The drive was scenic at first but then we came into California civilization. A rest stop providied a spot for sandwiches along the way. We arrived at High Sierra RV Resort in Oakhurst, CA, about 1:00 and quickly hooked up and settled in. The park looks okay and is less than a half hour from the southern entrance of Yosemite. After the last of the leftover mostaccioli we relaxed and watched some TV.

May 12, 2021
Today was day one at Yosemite National Park and we focused on the Yosemite Valley floor. We left about 7:00 AM, arrived at the southern park entrance about 7:30, and finally arrived in the area of the visitor’s center around 8:30. Along the way we stopped at a viewpoint called Tunnel View, because you get an eyeful of jaw dropping views as you come out of a tunnel. The expansive view included El Capitan (a vertical 3,000 foot granite monolith popular with climbers), Horsetail Falls (couldn’t really see), Cloud Rest, Half Dome (5,000 foot tall rock formation that has a sheer face with 3 other rounded sides), Sentinel Rock, Cathedral Rocks, and Bridalveil Fall (one of the most prominent waterfalls in the Yosemite Valley). As we traveled through the park these iconic sights were often visible from different perspectives. The park is heavily forested so there was lots of greenery in addition to the rocky mountains and formations. Our main hike was from the visitor’s center area to Lower Yosemite Falls, mostly under towering trees.

Yosemite Falls is one of the tallest waterfalls in North America with a 2,425 cumulative drop. We “hiked to the hike” from our parking spot so we’re not really sure how far we hiked altogether. From a distance Yosemite Upper and Lower Falls are visible but as you get closer you just see the powerful lower falls pounding into boulders scattered at it’s base. We were close enough to feel a cool mist in the air. Returning from the lower falls there was another short hike to a viewpoint that let us see both the lower and upper falls with a gurgling stream flowing by. A very peaceful spot where naturalist John Muir once had a cabin.

Next up we completed Cook’s Meadow Loop Trail which was a level paved loop around the meadow but it provided outstanding views of the west wall of the valley including Yosemite Falls and El Capitan, and Half Dome to the north.

A short offshoot trail took us to a bridge over the Merced River and gave us several more impressive views. Our last stop was on our drive out of the park along the Merced River which was a stunning view of Bridalveil Fall, as well as several other of the previously mentioned sights in Yosemite Valley. Also on the way out we visited the Tunnel View viewpoint again to see how the lighting had changed since early morning. Then it was time to head back to the RV, eat hamburgers for dinner, talk to M&D&A, plan for day two in Yosemite tomorrow, and rest.

May 13, 2021
Day two at Yosemite we devoted to the Glacier Point area. A long, winding road led us up through the trees to over 7,200 feet with two viewpoints – Washburn Point and Glacier Point. From Glacier Point we had an exhilarating view 3,214 feet down into the valley below which we visited yesterday. Between the two points we had commanding views of Yosemite Valley, Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and Yosemite’s High Sierra country.

The panoramic views looked wonderful in the early morning sun, but probably would be even better later in the day. There was an interesting geology exhibit that told about the formation of the area. Our final stop of the morning was a viewpoint on the way out that gave an expansive view of a forested valley which, unfortunately, had experienced some fire damage. We saw areas of fire damage throughout the park, but also saw a lot of workers cleaning up some of the forested areas. The only hike today was the short 1/2 mile roundtrip hike to the Glacier Point Viewpoint. Other hikes in the area were too long, had too much of an elevation gain, or were hard to get to because the shuttle wasn’t operating in the park due to Covid. We were back in the RV about noon where we relaxed (getting real good at that), did stuff on our computers, made chili for dinner, and relaxed some more.

May 14, 2021
Our final leg to home began today. We didn’t leave until about 9:00 since we only plan on a 5 ½ hour drive today. We arrived about 2:30 at the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning, CA, which has a huge truck parking lot. After a brief rest we went to check out the casino. Masks were required there. Sadly, their wonderful buffet no longer exists due to Covid, with no plans to bring it back. The casino was full of people. The facility had a lot of construction going on in and out so business must be good. We returned to the RV, had chili leftovers for dinner, and Pat read while Laurie did Sudoku.

May 15, 2021
Today we were on our way by 6:30 am. Early morning it was cloudy and we had occasional sprinkles – the first rain of any sort since Nebraska. The drive took us through lush, forest covered mountains which was so different from our dusty, rocky mountain and formation studded drive a few days ago. Lake Shasta had the lowest water level we’ve seen in our travels with a huge ring of the formerly submerged land ringing the shore. Mount Shasta had it’s summit in the clouds with snow filled areas streaking down from it. Farther north in California we were back in sunshine with a few clouds around. Since we left so early this morning we got to Seven Feathers Casino way ahead of schedule. We decided to continue driving so we’d have a shorter day tomorrow. We even killed some time at two rest stops on the way so we wouldn’t get to our overnight site too early. One of the rest stops, French Prairie Rest Area, was huge with loads of pull-through spots and overnight parking up to 12 hours. We spent the night in the Camping World parking lot in Wilsonville, OR, where they allow overnight parking (once you check in and get a sign to put in your RV’s window so the police don’t kick you out in the middle of the night). We spent the evening packing up what we could so first thing in the morning we could load up the car.

May 16, 2021
With the car loaded up with everything but the food in the fridge/freezer, we drove off by 7:00 am. Traffic was pretty good and before we knew it we were at the storage unit by 11:00 am. After the RV was settled in it’s “garage” we headed home. How wonderful to see Daniel and Nicole’s smiling faces after almost 6 months! They looked great as did the house, inside and out. They were very good housekeepers while we were away. It will take a while to get totally unpacked and used to our non-traveling life again, but we are extremely happy to be home!

Overall, it was an amazing journey that started back in December of 2019 when we headed south with Nicole joining us for a while. Late January 2020 we met Bette-Karen and Bill to pick up Mom and Dad and bring them back to Yuma with us where they stayed in their own Airbnb a couple miles from our RV site. On the way home to Mukilteo we spent a week having fun in Las Vegas, us in our RV and M&D at Harrah’s. Covid was just getting started then and by the time we reached home in early March it had started to spread, and concern was rapidly rising. M&D were supposed to stay 2 weeks then fly to Skokie but it became unsafe to fly, especially for people their age. They pushed out their stay a month, then another month, and another . . . Come fall they really didn’t want to spend the winter in Illinois so we decided they’d spend the winter with us in Yuma in their own place. We left Mukilteo in the RV early in December 2020 spending four months in Yuma, which culminated with all four of us getting the Covid vaccine. Since it still wasn’t safe to fly we drove M&D back to Skokie in the RV (including a visit to the Petrified Forest National Park on the way) arriving in Skokie on April 12th. The next 2 ½ weeks were spent getting them settled back home as well as doing some major house-cleaning and “decluttering” of their house. Our mission accomplished we started the return two-week trek home driving south again to avoid any possible mountain snow. We did a combination of boondocking and staying in RV parks while we visited five national and one state park along the way. May 16, 2021, we happily returned home, ready to start planning our next adventure!

While we have not been to Skokie for over seven years (at Michelle & Nathan’s wedding), the impact is even greater for Mom/Dad. When they left Skokie in November 2019 little did they know that they would not be back for 17 months! Their original plan took them to Las Vegas for a week, then visiting with Bette-Karen & Bill in Tucson before we picked them up at the end of January 2020 to spend a month in Yuma before heading back to Mukilteo (with a short stopover in Las Vegas).  The plan was to spend a couple weeks in Mukilteo with us before flying back home to Skokie in March. However, that is when Covid hit, making it unsafe to fly.  They pushed their flights out a month, then another, and another… always hoping things would be better in another month. However, things did not get better and we decided to drive back to Yuma the following winter. Now, after four months and with all of us fully vaccinated, it is finally time to head to Skokie!

Our itinerary is as follows:

We will spend an extra day at our first stop near Flagstaff to visit The Petrified Forest National Park as well as the Painted Desert.

April 7, 2021
After last minute preparations and loading up Mom and Dad, we hit the road just after 7:00. Along our drive we encountered varied desert landscapes with mountains mostly as a backdrop (and driving through some for a little while).  There were some green irrigated fields but mostly it was rocky with different kinds of cacti including lots of saguaro. We stopped at the Sunset Point Rest Area in between Phoenix and Flagstaff to have a nosh consisting of broccoli quiche and poppyseed muffins about 11:15. There was a scenic viewpoint overlooking a valley backed by mountains that was very pretty and allowed us to stretch our legs a little bit. Approaching Flagstaff we were at an elevation of about 6,000-7,000 feet and the temperature dropped to 72 degrees – wonderful after the 90+ degree days in Yuma! On the horizon we could see a snowcapped peak called Humphrey’s Peak at 12,637 feet. It’s the highest of a group of dormant volcanic peaks known as the San Francisco Peaks. We arrived at OK RV Park in Holbrook, AZ, right on schedule at 3:00. Laurie hooked up electric and water (since the water pump was having intermittent issues) and we settled in. Dinner was slow cooker BBQ beef, potato salad, and coleslaw. After dinner we walked over by the RV park office where they had a display of petrified logs that were beautiful to look at and gave us a taste of what was to come the next day. In the evening Dad had a speaker phone call about possible fraudulent use of one of his credit cards. Throughout the call we could hear a rooster crowing in the background! It turns out the customer service rep was in the Philippines where it was morning and he had at least one rooster helper. The last thing we heard before Dad hung up was one last loud rooster crow. It was quite comical! We then watched some CNN and turned in early after a long day.

April 8, 2021
We got an early start about 8:30ish and headed to the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert about half an hour away. It was a gorgeous day with a few clouds around and the temperature got up to 75 degrees in the park, but it was very windy. Mom and Dad bought Laurie a Lifetime America the Beautiful National Park Pass for a birthday present which we made use of entering the park. They added a Park Passport later to keep track of the parks we visit as well as stamps for today’s parks. The park is basically a 28 mile drive which we did south to north, stopping at various points of interest. The first area was the Petrified Forest. We stopped at the visitor’s center to gather information, then briefly checked out the area behind the center which had a hike and an abundance of petrified wood which we briefly examined before heading on. Petrified wood is amazing to look at with it’s varied, often brilliant, colors making each piece unique. We got most our exercise for the day at our first stop, the Crystal Forest, which is a ¾ mile loop hike with many petrified logs glimmering with quartz crystals along the way. Mom and Dad were real troopers throughout the hike despite several inclines and strong winds.

Blue Mesa was another spectacular area with layered weathered outcrops in shades of white, gray, and bluish gray. Another stop was Newspaper Rock which was a short walk to an observation area with telescopes where we could look down on several huge rocks with 650 Puebloan petroglyphs, some as old as 2,000 years! The entire drive we saw amazing expansive views but the area that stood out was the Painted Desert at the north end of the park. The road in the area had many stops with unbelievable lookouts to observe vast areas of colorful, layered rock formations, with red being the predominant color. At the Kachina Point outlook we talked with a park volunteer (named Jerry Treanor) who gave us information about the park as well as told us about his life as a volunteer. He was very friendly and interesting, and suggested that we visit the Cowboy Dinner Tree when we visit Crater Lake in Oregon. This only scratches at the surface of what we experienced at the park today! Happy, tired, and out of adjectives to describe all that we saw, we returned to the RV to rest, chat, watch CNN, and have a repeat dinner of yesterday.

April 9, 2021
We were on the road by 7:00 on a pleasant, sunny, 70ish day. Our travels today took us east through 2 time changes, from Arizona through New Mexico and into northern Texas. Again there were many different, “multi-adjective” worthy landscapes to observe along our drive. With the two times changes we arrived at Oasis RV Resort in Amarillo at 6:00 after stopping to gas up at Love’s just up the street. It’s a very neat, clean park with almost all 75’ pull-thru’s. Mom’s spaghetti and garlic bread started a relaxing evening.

April 10, 2021
Happy Birthday Laurie! Once again we hit the road just after 7:00. The sun was just a glow on the horizon but it progressed into a bright, sunny morning. The Texas Panhandle that we drove through in the morning consisted of lots of flat fields as far as the eye could see. Some were planted. Some were not. Some had cattle, others had massive wind turbines. Some had a combination. Mid-morning we entered Oklahoma. The drive wasn’t very exiting – lots of trees in-between areas of civilization. The sky slowly filled with puffy clouds as the day went on and the temperature got up to 64 degrees. We arrived at the KOA Journey RV Park in Joplin, MO, about 3:00 and settled in for the rest of the day. It was a nice “rustic” park with gravel sites and roads, lots of trees just starting to green up, a large fishing pond (supposedly stocked with catfish and perch), and a smaller duck and turtle pond. Laurie got calls and emails from family members to wish him a Happy Birthday. Mom had made a meatloaf before the trip to which we added mashed potatoes and corn for a delicious dinner. After dinner we sat and chatted until bedtime about 9:00.

April 11, 2021
We kept up our streak and again managed to get started just after 7:00 on this sunny morning. Today’s drive was through Missouri and into Illinois ending up in the Springfield area. Missouri was very green with lots of cattle along the way, as well as numerous billboards advertising various attractions from caverns to a huge candy store. Passing the St. Louis Gateway Arch was very cool. When the sun hit it right it was shiny to the point of looking like it was lit up. Upon entering Illinois the landscape quickly turned into miles and miles of farms. Some already appeared to have plants growing.  We arrived at the Double J Campground in Chatham, IL (just before Springfield) at 2:45. This is another park that has a lot of trees and gravel sites and roads. There were some puddles around as rain had gone through prior to our arrival and the temperature was only 57 degrees. We relaxed and enjoyed the quiet and stillness of the non-moving RV until a dinner of leftovers – spaghetti, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, and garlic bread.

April 12, 2021
A cold but sunny start to the day. Since we had a shorter drive today we didn’t leave until after 10:00. Our drive took us mainly past more farms putting us at Sycamore RV Resort about 1:45. With a little help from a park worker Laurie managed to back the RV into a tight spot in-between trees where we look east out over a small lake. We set up the RV, packed up all of Mom and Dad’s stuff (as well as Mom and Dad), and drove a little over an hour to arrive in Skokie. This was the first time they were home in over 16 months! Everything seems fine inside and out. The car even started after Dad hooked up the battery. Bette-Karen had done some work around the house including having a new toilet put in since the original one was leaking, and stocking up the fridge and freezer with a ton of homemade and store bought food. They spent some time getting settled in then we had a Lou Malnati’s pizza and salad delivered for dinner. About 7:00 we departed by taking side roads home – first including going by our first house in Hoffman Estates which we moved out of about 31 years old. It looked pretty much the same! After our return to the RV we both had odds and ends to do before turning in after another long day.

April 13, 2021
We left the RV about 9:30 for the 1 hour and 10 minute drive to Skokie. After a delicious brunch of bagels, lox, grapes, hard boiled eggs, and scones (courtesy of Bette-Karen) it was time to get to work trying to clean some stuff out of Mom and Dad’s house. Laurie and Dad worked on the rec room while Pat and Mom worked on the small bedroom. A lot of progress was made but there’s still a long way to go. Dinner was leftover pizza and salad along with shrimp and cocktail sauce. We called it a day just after 6:00 to get some rest to tackle the house emptying project some more tomorrow. On the drive back to the RV we dropped off 3 large bags of clothes at Goodwill so some stuff physically made its way out of the house. It was a fun, productive, tiring day.

April 14, 2021
After fortifying ourselves with another delicious brunch the cleaning continued. In the afternoon Bette-Karen came by so we took a break and spent the rest of the day visiting and catching up. We dined together on spaghetti (provided by Bette-Karen) and continued to visit after dinner. On our drive home we dropped off several more bags at Goodwill.

April 15, 2021
We ate breakfast on the RV this morning before making the drive to Skokie. Dad had a 10:00 eye doctor appointment in Costco and ordered new glasses while Mom and Pat shopped filling up a shopping cart. After a rest we kept up the cleaning progress finishing up the rec room, Bette-Karen’s room, and the boys’ room. It feels and looks good to have completed those areas. Costco provided dinner – a yummy street taco kit. Once again we dropped off more bags at Goodwill.

April 16, 2021
We left the RV about 6:00 am. Mom had an 8:00 dermatology appointment in Glenview, and both M&D had lab appointments. Mom has a small but painful skin lesion on the back of one hand which the doctor numbed and scraped off for a biopsy. Once the numbness wore off it was very painful for her but at least she’s on the road to knowing what it is and getting it taken care of. The cleaning continued with the Laurie and Dad tackling the foyer closet, and Pat and Mom the linen closet. More bags for Goodwill!

April 17-18, 2021
Beautiful sunrise looking out the front window at the lake view with geese and ducks gliding by. We accomplished more cleaning over the weekend making progress and now have more work behind us than remains. A guy Jerome recommended (Umberto) came by to give an estimate of carting away a lot of stuff from our cleaning endeavors. Mom served a yummy Greek chicken and potato dinner each night.

April 19, 2021
This morning we drove in to Skokie to pick up M&D to take them to doctor’s appointments in Glenview. All was well with both of them. Yeah! Afterwards we went to pay Mark a visit. He looked great and it was wonderful to chat with him – catching up and reminiscing. He has two cats named Lola and Jade who were very shy. After our visit we swung by Pequods’s Pizza in Morton Grove to pick up a frozen sausage pizza. (It ended up being just okay. Lou Malnati’s is better.) We took a leisurely drive back to the RV staying off the highways so we could see how our old stomping grounds had changed. We drove through Glenmoor, our old neighborhood in Algonquin to see the house where we lived in the 90’s. Things pretty much looked the same except the landscaping had grown. They never did build the road that was supposed to run past the back of our lot and it’s now a beautiful green space. Today was a “non-cleaning” day.

April 20, 2021
A very cold start to the day with the temperature near freezing. When we left the RV we could see tiny specs of snow in the air if we looked close. Arriving in Skokie we spent time visiting with M&D before we all headed to the First American Bank to take care of some business. This included updating their safety deposit box as well as having their will and health directive documents signed and witnessed. Back at the house we visited some more before deciding to get an estimate from 1-800-GotJunk to compare with Jerome’s guy. After finding out the high estimate price from Jerome compared with “Got Junk”, and some negotiating by Laurie, it was decided to go with Got Junk and they could do the job right away. About 3 hours later everything was cleared out of various rooms and it looked wonderful! Mom made a nice salmon dinner before we hit the road a little later than usual to head back to the RV. A very productive day!

April 21, 2021
Another cold start with the temperature in the mid to upper 30’s. We had another productive day at M&D’s finishing up the rec room and kitchen, still leaving some time for visiting and enjoying a delicious, hodge-podge dinner together. We got to meet M&D’s neighbor Amanda who was very nice. During the afternoon we actually had some off and on snow flurries! We got back to the RV a little bit earlier than usual and spent time finding an RV park near Bryce/Zion for our return road trip.

April 22, 2021
Not quite as cold this morning and it got warmer as the sun rose higher in the sky. We are getting closer to the end of our cleaning project as we finished up M&D’s utility room and upstairs bathroom. Laurie also put in a new front doorbell and checked out their router. Dinner tonight was Portillo’s hot dogs along with Caesar’s salad and fries. It had been a very long time since we had a Chicago hot dog and it was wonderful! Before settling into the RV for the night we went for a short walk along the lake. There wasn’t much to see with no signs of life in the water near the shore. The sun was slipping behind the trees and it started to cool off fast so we headed in. Just about the time we were thinking of turning in, Robin made contact and asked if we wanted to Skype. We couldn’t turn down a chance to see Robin and Sijia and, of course, Evie! It was great to see them and Evie was adorable as usual. We can’t wait to see them in less than a month, especially since we will all be fully vaccinated.

April 23, 2021
A beautiful reddish sunrise this morning. After catching up on some things and relaxing a bit, we once again headed to Skokie. We didn’t do too much work today but at least accomplished a little bit. Mom made some yummy chili served over pasta which really hit the spot. It’s been a long time since we had Mexican food. After chatting for a little while we headed out as we had a grocery order to pick up at Walmart in Niles. Returning to the RV we repeated our morning of tending to a few things and relaxing.

April 24, 2021
A repeat of yesterday without the grocery pick up.

April 25, 2021
Happy Birthday Dad! It was a fun day of celebrating with Dad, Mom, Bette-Karen, Bill, and Jerome. So great to see everyone after so many years. Of course the day included an abundance of food. After appetizers of cheese and crackers we moved onto the main meal: Jerome’s sushi tray, Mom’s salad, Bill’s grilled sausage and veggies, and Pat’s mostaccioli – all accompanied by red wine. We had two rich,  yummy desserts. Bette-Karen made a triple layered chocolate and pumpkin cheesecake covered in ganache, and Pat made a layered brownie/PB/Cool Whip/Reese’s dessert. There was a lot of good conversation along with the food.

April 26, 2021
The sunrise was very pretty again this morning: a colorful, cloud streaked sky over the wind-rippled, goose-dotted lake, and the greening up tree line on the far shore in between. We had another cleaning push at M&D’s with Dad and Laurie tackling the downstairs bathroom while Mom and Pat did Mom’s bedroom closet. The main area that remains in M&D’s bedroom/dresser but the closets appear done. There’s always fine-tuning that can be done. Laurie also replaced some closet light fixtures that had stopped working. We had leftovers from yesterday’s celebration which delicious once again.

April 27, 20021
A warm, partly sunny day with the temperature at 65 degrees by 9:00 am and mid 80’s by the afternoon. Today we stayed at the RV to get some things done and get organized for our return trip on Sunday. Some of Laurie’s chores included replacing the malfunctioning water pump as well as the outside faucet and sprayer. Pat cleaned the RV inside, did research/organizing for the trip, and caught up on some other odds and ends. We had the windows open today and got to hear a variety of birds tweeting as we did our work, with occasional geese honking. This was the first day since the end of January 2020 that we didn’t see Mom and Dad! It was bound to happen. Dinner was the other half of the Pequod’s Pizza we had in the freezer. In the evening we watched the movie “Blood Simple” which was an odd Coen Brothers movie which was okay.

April 28, 2021
Today was a laid back day. Laurie did a little work on M&D’s bedroom TV setup, but the rest of the afternoon we just hung out. M&D brought in some ribs from Portillo’s along with fries, onion rings, and Mom made a salad. A simple day.

April 29, 2021
Actual rain! We haven’t seen anything more than a few scattered drops since sometime during the early part of our stay in Yuma. It sounds nice on the RV roof, especially with the plunk of extra heavy raindrops that accumulate on the tree branches over the RV before descending onto the roof.  It was another day of fine-tuning some of our prior cleaning. Leftover ribs, salad, and Mom’s potatoes made a delicious dinner. On the way home we picked up a last pre-trip Walmart order which should get us home as far as food goes except maybe for bread, milk, and, of course, ice cream.

April 30, 2021
An early start today as Mom had a 9:40 dermatologist appointment in Glenview to finish up the treatment for the back of her hand. Back at M&D’s we mostly sat around and visited with a little more cleaning up. Pat brought some frozen beans she had made in Yuma and made Sephardic rice and a salad to go with it. Part of today’s cleaning was going through documents, etc. that Dad had for shredding. It was a lot, about 18 pounds worth, so we brought it to FedEx for shredding on the way home. M&D are still working on their bedroom but make some progress each day but otherwise our work there is done.

May 1, 2021
A beautiful start to a very windy day. We went by Grease Monkey to get an oil change on the car in Sycamore before starting our drive. Along the beginning of our drive we go through lots of farmland where the farmers were busy getting their fields ready for planting. Some of the fields already were green with some crop we couldn’t identify. Arriving in Skokie we awaited the arrival of Adam who was taking a Lyft ride from Midway Airport. Before he made his entrance Bette-Karen and Bill came in. Once we were all together we had a wonderful visit followed up with Lou Malnati’s pizza and salad for dinner. The conversation continued after dinner before we said our goodbyes to Bette-Karen and Bill who were leaving. After a little more time spent with Adam it was time to head out. It was so nice that we were able to at least spend a few hours with him. Then the really hard part came – saying goodbye to M&D after 15 months together. ☹ It was a fun, memorable adventure together that we’ll think of often. It came about the way it did because of Covid 19, so something good came out of the virus for us. We love you Mom and Dad and would do it all over in a heartbeat! But, on to the next part of our journey . . .

It’s been a long time since we’ve ventured anywhere outside the house, as we’ve been locked down due to Covid-19 (aka Coronavirus). We’ve been hunkered down with Mom/Dad since returning from Yuma nine months ago. We are all anxious to get out and start doing things again! This year we are aiming to get an early start. We will combine Thanksgiving with Hanukkah (“Thanksgivukkah”?) with Robin, Sijia and Evie, and start heading south the following week. Mom/Dad will be joining us on our travels, and will be staying in a Park Model at the same RV resort (“Sun Vista RV Resort”) just a short distance from our reserved RV spot. The current agenda is as follows:

We are aiming to meet up with Adam in Hemet (about 1-1/2 hour drive from San Diego), before heading on to Yuma where we plan to stay through the end of February. In March, we are currently planning to drive back to Chicago so Mom/Dad can vist their home which they have not been to since Nov 2019 due to the coronavirus. We understand that there are several pharmaceutical companies with a Covid-19 vaccine that they are expecting to bring to the market shortly. We hope the vaccine is effective, safe and available soon!

We’re off on another adventure with 2 unique differences from past trips. First, we are at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic so we will have to be extremely careful in all that we do, and there will be many things we won’t be able to do (due primarily to safety restrictions). Second, Mom and Dad are joining us on this trip to Yuma. If you read the blog from last winter’s trip you know they spent several weeks with us in Yuma, a week in Las Vegas, and then made the return trip home in the RV with us. The plan was a 2 week visit in Mukilteo – then a return trip to Skokie but then Covid-19 exploded in numbers making it unsafe for them to fly. As the virus progressively got worse Mom and Dad’s visit kept getting pushed out again and again until now. Since it’s still not safe to fly we all decided to venture to Yuma together to enjoy better weather and a change of scenery while riding out the winter and pandemic. We’ll reevaluate the situation and availability of a vaccine as the winter goes on. Our current reservations in Yuma are through the end of February, at which time we may stay longer awaiting a vaccine, we may drive M&D to Skokie in the RV, we may put them on a plane if things miraculously improve and they are vaccinated, or they could come back to Mukilteo with us. But, our goal is to get them vaacinated before leaving them in Skokie. We’ll see!

December 2, 2020 – Wednesday
After a sad goodbye to Daniel and Nicole we left the house about 7:00 am. We hooked up the tow car, settled into the RV, and left the storage facility just before 8:00 am. After a couple pockets of traffic on 405 we had smooth sailing for the balance of today’s trip. It was a very sunny day but as we drove south we encountered some on and off fog which was beautiful at times flowing around the trees and mountains. It had been a frosty morning and the melting frost on the bare trees sparkled in the sometimes intense sunshine. After traveling south of Portland we stopped at a rest area for a light lunch and coffee. An uneventful afternoon drive brought us to Seven Feathers RV Resort. With their Players Club Card the price for a stay was only $9.99! Unfortunately, our cards had expired which required Laurie to make a quick trip to the casino to renew them (very cautiously). Covid-19 precautions included having his temperature taken before he got on the shuttle, an infrared scan at the casino, another temperature taking on the return shuttle, and, of course, wearing a mask. It saved us about $50! We had a Costco “meal-in-a-bag” heated up in a frying pan with rosemary bread on the side, then relaxed for the evening watching TV before turning in early after a long day.

December 3, 2020 – Thursday
After a cozy night in the RV we were all up very early, fortified ourselves with coffee and biscochos, then departed just after 6:30. After getting gas at the Seven Feathers Truck Stop we were on our way a little after 7:00. We had another good traffic and weather day with just some spots of fog to contend with early. Late morning we stopped at a rest area for brunch then continued south, arriving at Flag City RV Park in Lodi, CA, and 68 degrees, about 3:15. We had a pleasant walk around the perimeter of the park before settling in for the evening. It’s a very clean park with a lot of fifth wheels in the back-in sites that mostly appeared to be residents. There were plenty of pull throughs for overnighters like us. We ate leftovers from yesterday along with a salad. Our evening was a combination of TV and conversation

December 4, 2020 – Friday
Another early start hitting the road just before 7:00 after coffee and biscochos. Our streak of sunny weather continues. The start of today’s travels was uneventful. A rest area provided us with stopping place for a quick lunch. As we journeyed farther south we encountered more and more of California’s infamous traffic. Being a Friday it appears traffic starts getting heavy before 2:00. Our 3:30ish arrival time turned into a 5:00ish arrival time (after dark!) at Golden Village Palms in Hemet. A 10 hour day on the road! Then came the fun of getting settled into our spot – in the dark. We had a pull through reserved so we didn’t have to disconnect the tow car. Their map showed us in the 4th spot from the end, right next to the pickleball courts. Instead of counting the spots as we went we aimed for the spot next to the courts which  turned out to be 5th spot which was not on the map and it wasn’t a pull through! Since we can’t back up with a connected tow car we had to disconnect, back out, and pull into the proper spot. Finally settled in, we enjoyed a pasta with leftover lasagna sauce and rosemary bread dinner, some TV, and an early turn in.

December 5, 2020 – Saturday
We’re staying here in Golden Village Palms to have a visit with Adam who is making the 1-1/2  hour drive up from San Diego to spend the day with us. Due to Covid-19 we will be outside the whole time, with masks on and socially distanced. Thankfully a chilly, but sunny, 43 degree morning quickly turned into a warm, sunny, 73 degree day. We had about 6-1/2 hours of good conversation and a sandwich lunch. It was so wonderful to see Adam again, and he was looking healthy, handsome, and in shape due to watching what he eats and taking up biking. The time went by fast and he was soon on his way again. After sitting all day, the four of decided to go for a walk to stretch our legs before getting cozy for the night. Due to a 2:00 lunch no one was hungry for dinner. When we made reservations it was with a 15% off Black Friday deal that included a gift bag which they dropped off shortly before it got dark and we closed up for the night. The bag included red wine, munchies, antibacterial wipes, and a couple of face masks. We spent the evening watching some TV and chatting.

December 6, 2020 – Sunday
We had an 8:00 departure for the last leg of our trip to Yuma. We had to reconnect the tow car and disconnect electric, water, and cable. This was the first time we hooked up water, plus we made it the whole trip south without hooking up the sewer hoses due to conserving water (no showers!). It made life a lot easier and our arrivals and departures much quicker. It was another sunny, California day as we made the 3 hour drive to Yuma, just over the border from CA, arriving at Sun Vista RV Resort shortly before noon. The park is on an “indoor” lockdown which means everything inside is closed for the time being due to the virus. The outdoor pool, shuffleboard, pickleball, mini golf, etc. remain open. We parked the RV in our spot (479) facing east with a distant mountain view and started setting up until Mom and Dad’s park model (553) keys were delivered. After checking it out we moved all their stuff from the RV to their new home for the next 3 months and left them to settle in while we did the same at the RV. Late afternoon we brought a frozen pizza and leftover pasta over for dinner. It was a long, tiring day so we chatted for a little bit then returned home to take long-awaited showers(!!) and turn in.

December 7- 13 , 2020
The past few days were spent settling in and establishing a routine. We spend our mornings and early afternoons doing our own thing, then join up with Mom and Dad late afternoon to visit and have dinner together. Sometimes we eat at the RV and sometimes at their cottage. Some of the items we’ve accomplished have been washing the RV, outdoor window shades, some RV screens, and the car. Laurie also waxed the RV, and Pat cleaned some blinds. We did a large Walmart pickup for our initial stock up, and next week we’ll finish stocking up with a trip to Costco. The daytime temperature tends to be around 70 with mixed sun and clouds. Very pleasant. One night it unexpectedly rained for a short time. Of course this was the night after we had just washed the RV! There are a few hummingbirds zipping around our RV like tiny rockets on a regular basis. So fast and cute when they hover in place or land on a tree branch momentarily. Nicole and Daniel surprised us by organizing Hanukkah candle lighting online. It was wonderful to celebrate together and to see the kids!

December 14-20, 2020
We’ve had a string of glorious sunny and warm days and we like to try to sit outside for a little while each afternoon. The warmth of the sun is very soothing and relaxing. Taking advantage of the weather we’ve visited out on our patio with M&D before grilling some yummy dinners. Nicole and Daniel’s nightly Hanukkah celebrations continued every night. On the last night they had Robin and Evie join which we all thoroughly enjoyed. We could just endlessly watch Evie – she’s so adorable and every single thing she does is entertaining. We went to Costco for a stock-up run which is in El Centro, CA (about 1 hour 10 minutes west and a different time zone)! It was a somewhat scenic drive, about ½ hour over the border into CA where there are huge rolling sand dunes. There were RV’s parked here and there across the expanse with their trailers carrying ATV’s to play in the sand. We did another Walmart run but it was much smaller than last week. In the evening when we part ways with M&D, we’ve started watching “The Walking Dead” series. After watching a couple episodes we go to bed – usually watching a little TV or read before falling asleep.

December 21-27, 2020
It’s been a typical week with mostly sunny, pleasant weather. We did have one cloudy, cool day as well as one short burst of rain early one evening. There were a couple of gorgeous sunrises with the mountains in the background that we viewed out the front window of our RV. We continue to alternate having dinners here or at M&D’s, including some delicious grilled meals here preceded by a happy hour on the patio soaking up the late afternoon sun and enjoying each other’s company and conversation. Finally everything came together to spend an afternoon playing shuffleboard together. There wasn’t anyone else on the courts but we had our masks handy. Laurie sanitized everything with alcohol sanitizer and wipes – cues, discs, the wax container, and even the marker for keeping score. We played “Guys” vs “Dolls” and had a lot of fun while getting in a little exercise. (The “Dolls” won both games!) On Christmas Eve Sun Vista had a parade of decorated golf carts and bicycles that drove around the park which was kind of cute. During the week there also were the usual items such as RV maintenance, cleaning, a Walmart pickup, watching The Walking Dead in the evening, etc.

December 28, 2020 – January 3, 2021
One of the hummingbirds zipping around has made itself a daily visitor to the lemon tree just outside our door. Throughout the day it comes and goes, landing on the leafless end of a branch or hovering in place. When the sun hits it later in the afternoon we can see it’s back is a very dark shade of green and it has shimmery reddish color on the front of it’s neck.

M&D got a surprise video phone call from Syd, Yvonne, and Ann in Sydney, Australia while we were at their cottage for dinner. Everyone looked great and they had a long, lively conversation. We hope to visit them in Spring 2022. It’s been sunny, a little bit cooler (low-mid 60’s), but often windy. This kept us off the shuffleboard courts as the tiny wax beads we shake on the courts blows off when it’s too windy and then the discs don’t slide. The RV tends to block the blowing wind on the patio/southside so we still can enjoy relaxing in the sun. New Year’s Eve was like any other day except we watched a movie, “3:10 to Yuma”, which we had seen a long time ago but was well worth seeing again. Of course we celebrated Mom’s birthday on the 1^st. After the wind let up some in the afternoon we were able to get in a shuffleboard game. The “Guys” won this one. This was followed by happy hour in the sunshine on our patio, a shrimp scampi-pasta-asparagus dinner, and watching the movie “Jojo Rabbit” which was very good. We wrapped up the day by having a caramel pecan birthday cheesecake and presenting Mom with her annual calendars.

January 4-17, 2021
Yes, this entry covers 2 weeks! That should give you an idea of how routine our lives are here in Yuma. The important date during this time was Pat’s 63rd birthday. Laurie made breakfast sandwiches to start the day, and Mom made her wonderful chicken dish and also had a chocolate cake with candles to end the day. In between we enjoyed talking to all the kids and getting some Yuma sun. We did get in a couple days of shuffleboard but a lot of the afternoons have been a little too too windy to play. We have ridden our bikes around the park, gone for walks, picked up Walmart grocery orders, sat in the sun on the patio (where the RV blocks the wind), and continued to watch “The Walking Dead” in the evenings. The last few days were very sunny, the temperature reached into the 80’s, and we had some spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Our priority these days is to try to get M&D covid vaccines. Yuma has moved into the phase that covers adults over age 75 but the first week all the times were filled and now they are waiting for more vaccines, which is supposed to happen this week. Tuesday we will be calling at the given time to try to set up appointments. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and keep on trying!

January 18-24, 2021
The big event this week was getting Dad in to get his first Moderna vaccine shot through the Yuma County Public Health Service. Due to the massive number of people trying to get appointments coupled with the poor appointment system, we weren’t able to get Mom an appontment this time, so now we wait for more vaccines to arrive in Yuma so we can get mom’s scheduled. We check online multiple times a day for Yuma vaccine news. Then we’ll have to get appointments for the second shots but online it looks like they give priority to people requesting their second dose. The process for actually getting the vaccine shot, though, was very efficient: We waited in the car for about 10 minutes in a staging area as directed by the National Guard, since we arrived about 30 minutes early. They then moved us to the main parking area and gave us a pager. When the pager goes off, that is dad’s signal to go in the building for his shot. We waited about five minutes before the pager went off, then dad was in the building for about five minutes to get the vaccine. Afterwards, we waited in the car for 15 minutes as instructed to ensure there were no adverse reactions. Overall, it was a very smooth and efficient process. This was the first time M&D were out of the RV park since we arrived back on December 6^th!0

This week also saw a bit of rain, wind, and cooler temperatures (high of 64 degrees!) but at least the worst of it seemed to be overnight and early morning. We did get in some shuffleboard, bike riding,  and some relaxing time in the sun on the patio. Our evenings continue to be shared with zombies as we moved onto Season 6 of “The Walking Dead”.

January 25-31, 2021
This week started out with something different – a stormy Monday! We had a torrential downpour for while with some hail mixed in, then off and on showers. It was very windy all day with some occasional big gusts. There was some sun mixed in and we even had a rainbow which was especially pretty with a waving palm tree in the foreground. The temperature has cooled a bit as well, but 60ish is still better than Mukilteo or Skokie!

We were able to get Mom in for her first Moderna vaccine through the Yuma Regional Medical Center! It took Laurie over 120 redials to get through and about 20 minutes on hold! The vaccine clinic was held at the Yuma Civic Center and again was very efficient with Mom getting her shot exactly at her 9:30 appointment time. In this case, the process was to wait in the car until the scheduled time. At that time, Laurie went in with Mom where they were checked in, provided the shot, then waited in a holding area for 15 minutes before being released. Again – very smooth and efficient! We now rest for 3 weeks or so before we try to line up the second shot appointments for both M&D which need to be within 4-6 weeks of the first ones.

February 1-7, 2021
The weather has warmed up again and we even hit 80 degrees! The days are mostly sunny with some clouds later in the day that provide some glorious sunsets. Weirdly, a very light, very brief shower occasionally passes through (mainly at night) despite the precipitation forecast being only 1-2% chance of rain. We played a couple games of shuffleboard one afternoon with the “Guys” and “Dolls” each winning one game.

February 8-14, 2021
It was back to the lower 70’s this week with more clouds and several very windy days. A couple bike rides and watching much of Trump’s second impeachment trial were the highlights of a slow week.

February 15-21, 2021 
The week started out a little cooler (60-70’s) and windy, but ended warmer (in the 80s) and calmer. Same routine: bike rides, walks, alternating where we have dinner, relaxing in the sun, and pre-dinner visits with M&D on the patio. Our evenings are still shared with “The Walking Dead”.

February 22-28, 2021
A beautiful start to the week with weather in the 80s and sun. Laurie took a bike ride out of the RV park to explore the surrounding area. We’re starting to plan our trip home at the end of March beginning with the Yuma to Skokie leg to get M&D settled back in their place. Mid-week we had some extremely windy weather that started overnight and lasted until late the next afternoon. It even rocked the RV a bit. The temperature dropped to the upper 60’s but it was a sunny, cloudless sky. On Thursday we took Dad to get his second Moderna dose through the Yuma County Public Health Department which went smoothly. By Friday we were back in the mid-70’s which made for a nice bike ride to the residential neighborhood south of the RV park.

March 1-7, 2021
A great start to the week with Mom getting her second Moderna shot through Yuma Regional Medical Center. It’s a relief to have both Mom and Dad fully vaccinated! Yuma has dropped the vaccination age to 55+ so we will see if we can get an appointment in the next week or so, otherwise it will have to wait a while. We made another trip to Costco in El Centro to stock up on a few things. It was a nice, sunny day with a variety of scenery along the way ranging from vast sand dunes to scruffy desert to expansive green fields of produce – so the hour or so drive went by quickly. We took a bike ride next door to The Palms RV Resort to look around. It’s a newer, more upscale park with casitas, villas, and fancier RV’s rather than the older park models in Sun Vista. Their amenities are pretty similar to Sun Vista but it just looks nicer. Of course it’s a lot more expensive to stay there, though! We’ve had several 80+ days in a row and even turned on the front AC in the RV one afternoon which worked well.

March 8-21, 2021
Another two-week entry (that should tell you how routine it’s been). The one major event was the two of us getting our first dose of the Pfizer covid vaccine on March 15^th. We had slight injection-site soreness and Pat felt tired for a couple days (more so than usual!) We are staying until April 7^th to accommodate getting our second doses on April 5^th and 6^th before we head to Skokie. About the only other happenings were some more windy weather, several very hot days, and Laurie giving Dad a haircut. We’ve been planning for Passover which starts at sundown on the 27^th when the 4 of us here will do a Zoom seder with home. Also, we continue to plan our return journey. The general timeline is figured out but we need to finalize where we’ll spend our stops between Illinois and Mukilteo.

March 22-April 6, 2021
Week one – not much was going on. We did have a little outing with M&D to UPS and FedEx to drop packages off. We spent some time getting organized for Passover. The four of us here in Yuma had a wonderful Zoom Seder with Daniel and Nicole at home, and Robin, Sijia, and Evie at their place. Laurie led a nice service and we had a few minutes afterwards to visit. It was so good to see all the smiling faces of our family! Week two we continued to observe Passover, not eating grains and eating matzah. We also had a streak of very hot days, 90+ degrees. Some days there was a good breeze so it didn’t seem so bad. Other days we turned on the air conditioning in the afternoon.

G&G moved into another park model on April 1^st for our last week here. (We extended our stay by a week due to us getting our 2^nd Pfizer vaccines on the 4^th and 5^th.) The park director, Cody, will be staying at their old place as part of his employment package and apparently they wanted to get it ready for him to move into so G&G had to move out. However, it appears that one of their neighbors spoke with G&G while they were moving in, and he knows the RV park owner and told them about G&G having to move for their last week. The park owners stopped by and apologized to them and told them they should not have had to move. Since G&G had already moved everything and unpacked they decided to stay (the main downside is no washer and dryer). The owners said they would “make it right” and sure enough the next day Cody stopped by with a check to reimburse them for the rent they had paid for the extra week plus an extra $100.00! He was apologetic and G&G were vry pleased with the outcome.

Pat got her second Pfizer vaccine on the 5^th and Laurie got his on the 6^th. We had slightly sore arms but no other side effects. Our last couple of days here were spent getting ready to hit the road on the 7^th. Pat did some cleaning, meal preparation, and laundry. Laurie did some cleaning/organizing, got the water softener ready for storage, washed the outside window coverings, cleaned up the grill and table, drained the tanks, filled up the water tank, packed up bikes and patio chairs, and a million other items.

Now – on to Skokie!

August 4-10, 2019 – Quileute Oceanside Resort, LaPush, WA
We are off to the Pacific Ocean for an RV adventure with Daniel and Nicole along for the fun!

Sunday – A sunny, pleasant day for our trip to Quileute which was smooth with just a few traffic delays. It took about 5 to 5 ½ hours total including stopping for gas in Fife. Our site faces west and we have a spectacular panoramic view of the ocean, several sea stacks, two tiny islands, and some forest covered high ground to the south, with the Quileute River draining into the ocean to our north. We can leave the RV and have our feet in the Pacific Ocean in about 90 seconds! It was 85 degrees about 10 miles out but a wonderful 68 degrees and breezy when we arrived. We hooked up, unpacked, and settled in before relaxing in the RV. Laurie and Daniel grilled some delicious hot dogs (everything grilled tastes better!) which we had with macaroni and cheese and pickles. We started our evening with a quick walk to the beach which is strewn with a lot of driftwood, some of it HUGE! Laurie and Daniel skipped some stones in between waves but we soon headed in because it was chilly and windy. Then it was movie time – Spectre (James Bond). It was a long, action packed movie which we enjoyed with a milkshake and cookie break in the middle (Nicole had made some sumptuous chocolate chip cookies before we left home). All in all a very nice day.

Monday – Today was cool (63 degrees) and cloudy the entire day. The sun was supposed to come out in the afternoon but never made it. Had a very loud practice tsunami alarm and announcement at noon. We spent our day inside where it was warm and cozy, each doing their own thing varying from reading, computer time, writing, organizing recipes, etc… Dinner was ravioli, bread, and salad. A walk after dinner helped us stretch our legs after being inside all day. This evening’s movie was Captain Marvel – a fun, action-packed movie. Once again we had a milkshake and cookie intermission.

Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty much a repeat of Monday, except no tsunami practice alarm:

• Tuesday: Grilled chicken, zucchini, and pasta for dinner with The Accountant being the evening’s movie
• Wednesday: Chili for dinner and watched an episode of The Expanse TV series.

Thursday – Today started out cooler and foggy. Heavy condensation left everything wet and dripping. Surprisingly, the sun made a mostly hazy appearance for a couple hours which just happened to be when we went for a walk on the beach! Some fog was still around the surrounding islands, sea stacks, and tree tops with the sun out so it was very scenic. Then the fog rolled in again for a while, heavier than before, then departed turning the afternoon and evening nice. We grilled hamburgers and had fries and pickles with them. It was a pleasant evening even though there were still clouds overhead so we had a campfire and made yummy s’mores! There was an area clear of clouds over the water out towards the horizon so we saw a pretty sunset. When the fire died down around 9:45 we headed inside smelling very smoky!

Friday – We woke up to sunshine for a change, although there’s still clouds around. We went to the Hoh Rainforest today which is little over an hour drive from us, mostly east, on the west side of the Olympic Mountains. It was about 73 degrees inland, humid, and cloudy – which really didn’t matter since we were mostly under trees. The area is very lush and green as it gets about 12 feet (yes, FEET) of rain per year. A lot of the trees are enormous, in height and girth. Moss drapes many of the trees and plants, and the ground is often a deep carpet of ferns. We saw a couple squirrels, a few birds, and many slugs. Supposedly there have been bear sightings since there were signs with warnings. We hiked 2 trails for a total of 2 miles, about a 100 foot elevation gain on each, so mostly relaxing. We saw the Hoh River which is a pretty milky, slate blue from the sediments in glacial runoff, as well as several clear, gurgling creeks. One trail was mostly quiet and we often had it to ourselves. The shorter hike, however, was very busy and there were lots of kids. It was good to get some exercise, especially in such a beautiful area. We relaxed until our dinner of homemade spinach pizza that we brought from home. This evening we watched Now You See Me 2 and finished up the ice cream (somebody had to do it!) in milkshakes along with Nicole’s cookies.

Saturday – Sad to depart as it was a such nice morning. Walked over to get a last look at the beach where about a dozen surf-boarders were trying to catch some of the short-lived waves. We departed just before 10:00 and arrived at the storage unit about 2:45, stopping for gas on the way. There was some rain early on which was good to wash the saltiness of the ocean air off the RV, but it was sunny and 70-ish back in Mukilteo. We unpacked then Nicole and Pat went to pick up the cats at the boarding place. They were extremely happy to see Nicole, meowing loudly. It took a little time but everyone, cats included, settled back in and were glad to be home.