#12-9 Pool Party at Jeff & Kirsten’s, Mark in shop, Burl Museum in Kerby–July 22 thru July 29

We arrived in the Rogue Valley to nice warm weather.  We parked at Cypress Grove RV Park the first week, then moved to Valley of the Rogue State Park.  Only one week was available at Cypress Grove.  It is a busy RV park.  But, really nice and right off the freeway between Rogue River and Central Point.  Perfect place for us.  We had lunch with Terena, our granddaughter, who worked at the Foots Creek Deli, and then went back the next night for Taco Tuesday!  She will only be working through the summer and then will be attending College in Klamath Falls.

Mexican Fiesta day at Jeff and Kirsten’s.  A nice hot day for a swim in the pool.  The gals lounged on the beach end of the swimming pool while the guys did the serving.  Most of the dishes were pre cooked, so worked out great.  Uh, I guess you can see that when it got too hot we were shaded by an umbrella.  Thanks!!
Little Tagger is waiting in the truck for Mark to finish work and take her home.  (Tagger passed away just two months after this picture was taken. RIP, you were a wonderful dog and companion!)
Hurry up, Mark and clean up the shop.  It is time to go home to Wimer and all your girls!

		Burl Gallery in Kerby, OR VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Check out this golf cart.  It’s really woodsy!  Can you imagine any golf course in the desert letting this on the course?
We had lunch with Jeff in Cave Junction at Taylor’s sausage.  A very famous meat place in the Valley.  He was on duty and got a call just as we were finishing our lunch, so he left in a hurry.  We meandered down the road toward Grants Pass, and decided to stop in the little town of Kerby and visit this Burl Gallery.  What a surprise. Lots and lots of amazing craftsmanship items, both inside the museum/gift shop and outside.  Almost everything is for sale and some are just masterpieces.  Who would have thought you could find such beauty and talent in the little town of Kerby!

#12-8 Oregon or Bust 7-3 thru 7-19-2012

We left the Coachella Valley, and 107 degree weather, on July 3 and headed to the high desert to spend the 4th of July holiday with family.  A BBQ dinner was prepared by Allie and Doug.  The ladies did the salads and desserts.  We had home made ice cream and two different kinds of desserts.  Rachel below, is holding up the flag cake and on the bottom is the Rhubarb-Strawberry surprise.  We stayed a week and enjoyed spending some time with the kids.  Rachel and Allie’s new baby is due on Aug 6th.  They are going to be surprised when it is born as they didn’t want to know whether it is going to be a boy or girl.

On our way up to Oregon we stopped at the San Luis Obispo Elks Lodge and spent two days.  This is where son-in-law, Peter went to college and he told us we needed to visit the Mission as it is one of the most beautiful.  So we took his advise and spent one morning touring the Mission and the area.

		Mission San Luis Obispo VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The grounds around the Mission are filled with flowers and there is a creek running right through the area.  We walked along the creek and took pictures of the flowers.  Enjoy.

Thursday evening is when the town closes down the main drag and sets up a large farmer’s market, complete with BBQ stands and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.  We went early and had lunch and went to a few of the spots Peter told us about.  One such “landmark” is Bubble gum alley where people have plastered both sides of the buildings with wads of chewing gum.  All different colors and sizes.  Check it out!

		Bubble gum alley, San Luis Obispo VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After leaving San Luis Obispo we headed to Napa, CA to visit the Elks Lodge there.  We have stayed there once before and really enjoyed the area.  Peter and children, Bray and Lauren came over on Saturday and spent the day with us.  Renee’ and daughter Katherine were on their way to Portland, so we missed seeing them.  Peter drove us to Calistoga and  we visited a winery and played Bocce Ball.  Peter and Frank did a wine tasting while we were there.  Below is a picture of Lauren with my “grannie” glasses on.  Peter is in the background.  Oh, by the way---the girls won the Bocce Ball game!

On to Oregon for a couple of weeks visit with our kids and grandkids in Medford area!
We will stay one week in the RV park Cypress Grove in Gold Hill, then we will move to Valley of the Rogue State park for 10 days.  This should give us time to visit kids and friends in the valley.

#12-7 April, May and June in Indio, CA 2012

Pretty much lots of family this spring.  Three months in Coachella Valley with a couple of visits, one to Lancaster, CA and one to Carlsbad, CA.

		Surprise visit to daughter Laurie’s. VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

In April, right after we arrived in Indio, we drove the car to Lancaster (leaving the RV at the Elks Lodge) and went to visit Laurie and all the family for one night.  We really surprised her as everyone in the family knew except her.  Doug brought her home and we were there to greet her and then all of us went out for Mexican food.  Eldon loves to dip his chips in salsa and eat them.  What a cutie.  He loves his uncles, Graham and Collin.  Mom, Rachel and Dad, Allie get to eat in peace while Eldon hangs out between his uncles.

Back to Indio and we attended Aubrey’s awards ceremony from Awana, which is a Christian children’s program. 

Another day with Aubrey and her mom, Nicole to see the movie “The Mirror has Two Faces.”  Just girls day out.

In May we moved the RV to Indian Wells Carefree RV resort.  We knew we were going to be there at least during the month of May as we both had Dr. appointments all month.  We met up with our friend Phyllis, and went to dinner at the Golf clubhouse where our home is.  What an incredible view, and entertainment as well as a great meal.  Nice job new Canadian owners of the golf course!

Picture of the “big” moon taken through the palm trees at the RV resort.  This is the evening that the moon was the closest to the earth.

Memorial day we spent with three of our grandchildren, Micaela, Alex and Aubrey! 

June brought graduations!  Multiple.  Ray and Nicole graduated from their Timothy Training they have been attending for the last year.

		Andrew’s HS graduation, Carlsbad, CA VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

June 14th, we attended grandson Andrew’s HS graduation in Carlsbad, CA.  We drove the RV over and parked at the Oceanside Elks Lodge and spent the weekend visiting and attending the ceremony.  It was a beautiful evening commencement with perfect weather for an outside graduation.

The next day we all went to lunch together.

Grandson Cameron and Frank.                                        Frank and son Craig.

                        Frank, Craig and grandson Andrew.         Daughter Diane, Frank and son Craig

We spent three months in the desert.  Frank had lots of tests, his eyes, his corroded arteries, his heart, his brain, and his hip.  Eyes were fine, corroded arteries same for the last five years, his heart is in good shape, his brain is still there and functioning.  His hip replacement is good, but the bursa is inflamed.  The Doctor gave him a good shot of cortisone, some anti-inflammatory medications and he is feeling a lot less pain.
While all this testing was going on, Dixie had a procedure done to lift the bladder.  Frank had to take care of her for a week.  That was all the time she allowed herself to be sick!  Only one night in the hospital, thank you Medicare!
As you can see we didn’t do much sightseeing during the spring.  Stayed close to our home.  The last Dr. visit was July 2, and we left July 3.  The weather during this time was good until the last month when it really got hot!  We had a couple of days that hit 111 degrees, but most of the time we had a nice evening breeze.  There was a swimming pool right down the street from our RV, so we did enjoy it most every day.