The New Year is Rapidly Arriving

Yes, we managed to get ready for the big day Christmas (Jesus Birthday) and all the festivities that surround that even if we were only home in Auburn for a week.

We had dinner at our house for our childrens and families and there was 12 adults and 2 1/2 children. You are probably wondering how we have a half of a child but Kim our daughter is expecting this summer. Jerry is preparing to be a grandpa and has been practicing with my granddaughters baby. No we are not getting old with great grandchildren they are just having babies younger. haha We are only as old as we feel but that depends on the day.

Wish I had some pictures to share but of course our cameras are in our home in AZ. Kinda like we experience with tools. The special tools we need are either in Auburn or Chelan when we need them in AZ and then sometimes when we are in AZ the tools we need are in Auburn or Chelan WA. I think we better do a little inventoring this summer and make sets for each place. It takes a while to get organized into retirement mode. You that haven't arrived there yet will see when you do get to that stage of your life it is not all that easy to adjust. You that are retired will understand.

Thanks to family you will be able to see some pictures. One way is when you go into our blog to see what we are up to obviously you are there now if you are reading this. There is on the right hand side under our picture called LINKS my daughters link is Scott and Teresa click on that and you can see pictures of our Lefsa making party we had and I am sure she will have pictures of Christmas posted soon.

Our next event this week is Saturday the 29th we have 3 couples coming to our house to do a little wine tasting. Our 0ne neighbor went this summer to differant wineries so have some wine from where they visited and we have some wine from the Chelan wineries so it should be a good time figuring out which ones taste best. They probably will all taste the same after a few sips haha.

Guess I have rattled on long enough it is early in the morning so just had coffee so I am wide awake and Jerry is still sleeping like a baby resting up for the daily activities.

We hope all of you had a great Christmas Day and that the year 2008 is a great one for all our family and friends.

Greetings from Barb and Jerry

Christmas Wishes

We arrived in Auburn Saturday the 15th to rain and WA winter. But it is worth it to get to see the children's and celebrate Christmas with them which is a very special time of the year.

No Ark and Saw had to stay in AZ couldn't afford plane tickets for them. They didn't seem to complain to much.

Since we arrived in Auburn we have been busy preparing for the Christmas holiday, shopping, baking, making other goodies, we had to opportunity to attend our grandaughters church Christmas program very good program.

Oh yes, Saturday we are having our annual lefsa making party with the kids.

I will make dinner Christmas day not sure how many will be here as have other family to be with also.

On Saturday December 22, we are going to have a little wine tasting get together with our neighbors at our house so that will be fun.

We have been so blessed this past year and look forward to see what all happens in 2008.

Hope this finds all our family and friends well and enjoying the Christmas season we wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love Barb and Jerry

HELP! I Am Falling Behind.

Ok for any one that thinks I am behind schedule on reporting what is happening at our house you are right. I cannot believe it is only 20 days tell Christmas and I am further behind than when I was working. I always said when I retire I will have plenty of time to get all the things done that I couldn't when I was working. Wow that don't seem to be the case. But we spend more time with friends either golfing or having dinner and playing cards. We also have started working on the week ends so that cuts down three days a week.

NO this picture is not our yard decorated this is our neighbors. Ark and Saw had to go to the neighbors to enjoy some Christmas decorations. But we do have three red bows and some rope lighing on our three palm trees so we have a little bit of decorations in our yard. This pictures is just the neighbors front yard and the back yard is just as decorated. Vern spent a week getting everything put up. We assisted a little bit (very little) with the decorating of their cactus there is a trick to that project.

We will be flying to WA on December 15th for a little over two weeks. Hope the weather is better when we get there than it is now.

We experienced our first big rain fall here in AZ. between 4 and 5 inches in two days and windy also. You would think that in AZ they have only had 2 inches of rain all year that the water would not be standing around or running like a river but guess it slowly goes down into the ground. At least it settled some of the dust which is a blessing.

Well we golfed twice last week and I got a birdie I think Jerry was a bit surprised. He is going to start golfing with a mens league after the first of the year maybe he don't want to golf with me anymore that I am getting so good haha. If I could only get consistency in my golfing it would be much improved.

We wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love from Barb and Jerry

Thanksgiving Week

This picture is of our back yard which we have been working on since we had a landscaper dig out some shrubs and plant this new. Then we put together the water fall and the pots on the brick posts.

Well on Monday of this week we golfed with our next door neighbors who are from Oregon and have to go back as they are not fully retired yet. We had a great game and improved our score so that is a good thing.

Besides the daily aerobics and water volley ball we do manage to work in a few more activities such as grocery shopping and laundry and etc. but the days do fly by.

Thanksgiving day we had dinner at my sisters and of course had lots of food. She loves to keep our family tradition and fix all of the food dishes that our mother always made. We all have so much to be thankful for and had a real nice day. It was our first Thanksgiving in AZ.

Hope this finds all our family and friends well. Love Barb and Jerry

Weekly Update

Well as you can see by this picture AZ finally got some rain a whole .03 tenths of a inch. Their normal rain fall for a year is 7 inches and so far they have only got 3 inches this year. We had a dark cloudy day and thunder and lighting early am but not much rain in those clouds. But Ark and Saw thought they needed a umbrella just in case.

Well last week we golfed 9 holes on monday and 18 holes on Wednesday our scores are improving and we are having fun now that from our lessons we know what we are suppose to be doing.

We added a water fall to our back yard as you can see in the picture. We have been working on getting our back yard to look more like the southern sceen more cactus and big rocks and flower pots and etc.

Hope this finds all our family and friends well and happy.

Love from Barb and Jerry

Time Flys Nov11

Here it is November 11 and still in the low 90's or high 80's Ark and Saw as you can see are cooling off in the freezer. But of course they don't want to get completely frozen but would like some cooler temps. The news says it is a record breaking October and November for hot weather. We feel sorry for our family and friends that have started to have winter already where they live.

We have been busy going golfing. I had my best game ever on Nov 8th I have marked that on the calendar. However Jerry was frustrated with his game. Oh well we will have good days and bad days. We only have one more lesson.

We went to a Hee Haw country western music jubilee put on by talented individuals her in our Sun Bird development where we live. The individuals volunteer to do this and the proceeds go for the golf course improvements. My sister Diselle and friends Bob and Corky joined us for the evening.

Don't know what all we keep busy with but the days seem to fly by.

Hope this finds all well with our family and friends. Take care.

Love Barb and Jerry

Sunday Oct 28, From Sunny AZ

Yes, it is still warm here in the 90's but people that live here thinks it is a cold spell especially when it is around 60 or so in the mornings. I think it is refreshing I go for walks around 7am and is nice and cool. I am dressed in shorts and tee shirt and the locals are dressed in sweats. I guess they know I don't live here year around.

The past week flew by and we will have soon been in Az for 1 month. This past week we golfed 9 holes on Tuesday and 18 on Thursday and a lesson on Thursday as well. Been spending a lot of time at the driving range also.

A new mall opened up called the SanTan Village it is like the Bellevue Square mall in Washington only it is all out doors. We spent a few hours just browsing around I want to spend some more time there when it is not so hot.

Hope this finds all our family and friends doing well.

Love Barb and Jerry

What's Happening in AZ Week 3

Well look who come to help Jerry Celebrate his birthday on Wednesday Oct 17. Yes, Jerry had a birthday. Kevin come from Sun City and spent the day and we played cards and the dice game bunco. Of course Jerry thought we should let him win because it was his birthday. But Kevin and I hung in there I think he only won one rummy games and then he won the two bonco games. Kevin and I took him out for dinner. My sister and our traveling companions Bob and Corky come over for ice cream cake.

Not much else happened this week just the ususal Jerry goes to water volley ball daily for a hour and half he is getting so tan he will look funny when we go to WA in December. I go to water aerobics daily. We are finishing up our golf lessons from last year so did that on Thursday and was amased we did not forget as much as we thought we might have.

Our weather has been holding in high 80's sorry to mention that since I talked to my brother in SD and it had been raining there. Our children in Seattle tell us it is raining and wind storms there. I feel sorry for you guys but somebody has to keep the economy going down here in AZ I think they are anxious for all the snow birds to get back here as it has been pretty quiet with us all leaving in the summer.

Greetings to you all and love from Barb and Jerry.

Week Two in AZ

Well today Sunday Oct 14, was our first time barbecueing. As you can see Ark and Saw was very curious what we were fixing for dinner. They were afraid we might be cooking some of their friends so decided to check it out. They were relieved that it was Steak so went back in to watch the Seahawks on TV.

This past week flew by not sure why we were not all that busy. Jerry has been going to water volley ball each day. I been going to water areobics each day.

Saturday we had a landscaper come in and take out our Bogenveilia (sp) plants they are to messy and grow to big block the view of the golf course can't have that. We made the back yard more dessert looking. Got the fruit trees trimmed up so they look good. We have Tangerine, Grapefruit and a Orange.

Seen our traveling friends Bob and Corky one night this week. They are doing fire.

Guess that is all for now dinner should be ready soon.

Greetings to our friends and family.

Love Barb and Jerry

What's Happening in AZ

Well Ark and Saw thought it was all fun and games in AZ. They wanted to go golfing but guess what the golf course is closed for reseeding so it will not be open tell Oct 19th.

We arrived Oct 1 and our first week was very busy cleaning up the dirt from all the dirt storms they had here during their dry summer. Speaking of a dry summer it also caused some other problems in the area. Subturanial Termites a new bug to me but they have been a problem and when we arrived noticed some unusual tracks in the garage and guess what that is what they were. Several houses in our neighborhood have the same problem so the pest control has been busy treating them. Thank goodness they were not in the house. I am really finding out what different bugs they have here that we have not seen before.

Been keeping in touch with our traveling friends Bob and Corky and Frosty the cat they are doing fine and also busy like we are cleaning up after the summer.

Bye for now and hope all is well with our family and friends. Barb and Jerry

Finally Home in AZ

Ark and Saw are happy to be home at last. They are glad they did not end up in Ark. The end of our trip was on Monday Oct 1. Bob and Corky went to Apache Junction and we to Chandler. We all shared we had a good time, lots of laughing and jokeing around, ate a lot good food us gals are pretty good cooks, played cards, had some not so nice weather but we managed to bear with it. We seen a lot of pretty country and really enjoyed that. Only a couple problems but fixed them and moved on. Now it is back to cleaning and getting organized where we are now. Bob and Corky become so fond of Ark and Saw that we made them the God Parents while we were on the trip. Now we know they will be taken care of for ever.

Hope you all enjoyed reading about our adventure we sure enjoyed sharing it with each and everyone.

I will be once a week sharing what is happening while we are in AZ.

Greetings to all Barb and all.

Sunday Sept 30th. Trucking On to AZ

Well we left our wonderful camp ground from Saturday night. Corky and I do not like dry camping but we needed to stay put so we were safe.

Well Sunday no wind and on down the road we went. We headed for Sedona and tried to find a RV park that we could stay in and some were to full some only had partial hook ups and etc. Well we ended up driving through Sedona which we were trying to avoid we figued we would park and then take the Jeep up to Sedona. Well as Corky directed Bob to take this exit to go to a RV camp it ended up taking us through much road construction and right through the town of Sedona. Lots of red dust on the rigs. We finally got to a State Park in Cottonwood and had a great view and so we set up the rigs Dead Horse State Park. So we decided to go site seeing in the afternoon so we piled in the jeep and headed for the town of Jerome. There is a Train ride you can take at Rio Verdi so we decided we would do that as it is highly advertised as a great trip and Bob and Corky had done it last year and enjoyed it. Well GUESS WHAT! The only train of the day was at 1:05 we got there at 1:20. This seemed to be the story of our whole trip if you read the previous blogs we were always behind the eight ball. Well we trucked on up to the town of Jerome and what a interesting place that is all the house are build in the side of the hills. Some hang out over a cliff not anywhere I would like to live. We went through a neat museum about the mining being done years and years ago. We drove up to a look out so Ark and Saw got to get out and have their picture taken. Note the sign guess we can't read. The guys told us to stand there.

Barb and all.

Sept 29th Trip to North Rim of Grand Cannon

We started out of St George Saturday morning and headed for the North Rim of the Grand Cannon. We left the RV's in a area 41 miles from the top as it is a dead end up at the lodge. So took the Jeep and drove to the top. Very beautiful site but the wind was blowing 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts higher than that. You could hardly stand up when you went out on some of the viewing areas over the cannon. Well when we got back down to our RV's we hooked up and started down the road to find a camp site. However, the winds were so high it was difficult to drive and it is down a windy road and a gust would hit and it was hard to keep the rigs on the road. We were only 20 miles down the road when things started to happen. At one point Bob and Corky hit a gust and it started to tip their 5th wheel. We were behind about 5 miles and then a gust caught us and Jerry managed to keep it on the road and then the wind caught the cover that goes over the awning that covers the top of our slide and ripped it off and who knows where it landed. Well we stopped and called Bob and told them we were stopped and what happened. They come back and the guys managed to fasten the awning to the frame with duct tape so it wouldn't keep coming out. By gosh that duct tape is good for everything. Then we found out there was wind warnings and we should not be driving so we found a 24 hour gas station which was unusual because we were in the middle of no where. found a few cabins with a restaurant and lounge and then this Chevron station with some cabins. Well they told us there was no overnight parking but do to the wind warning we could dry camp there tell the winds died down.

Well Ark and Saw never was able to get out of the car and do any site seeing because they would have blown away.

Barb and Gang.

A Day At Bryce Cannon

Wow what a trip. It was a very long day we left at 6:30 and got back at 4:30 but it was well worth it. As you can see Ark and Saw got to go along. It was very chilly at the top only in the 30's. Lots of other tourists there also. We were all very tired from driving and you know our tow car is a small Jeep so not much room so we all were very glad to get home.

We have a lot of pictures and some need books about both Bryce and Zion cannons. Will look forward to shareing them with you all.

Another end of a day and we will be heading for the Grand Cannon tomorrow (Sat) so will be reporting more later.

Greetings to all from Barb and the gang.

Site Seeing Trip to Zion National Park

Ark and Saw are real excited today as they got to go along site seeing. Ark even got to be a ranger for a moment as we waited to drive through a mile long tunnel because it is only one way if there is vehicles bigger than cars. We went on a tour bus first through the park and then drove through the tunnel and then to a Imax Theatre for a view of the Zion Canyon. It was a awsome day. As you can see Ark and Saw was very exhausted by the time we got home they fell to sleep on the picnic table.

On the way back we stopped at a museum in the town of Virgin Utah as you see by the pictures we were being silly by this time and very tired. It was a long day but a good day.

Hi to our friends and family from Barb and the gang.

Very Stressful Day

Well as you can see in this picture Ark and Saw had a very stressful day. They are resting on the bed in the motor home. They at one point thought they were going to be fried chicken when they seen the smoke coming from the front tire.
We left Provo Utah this am and headed for St George. We were about a 100 miles from St George when the brake buddy in the jeep we tow, mal functioned for a second time and this time it blew the tire. The only thing we can determine is the bake buddy for some reason engages it self if we hit a bump and presses the brake in. One other day it happened and we discovered it at a rest stop we just happened to stop at. It didn't cause any damage the first time. We had driven over rough construction both times it happened. Well needless to say it the law in many states that you have to have one of these it is designed to stop the vehicle you are towing if it breaks away from the motor home. Well we won't be using for the rest of the trip as we are not going to go through what we did today. It totally destroyed the tire and thank the Lord we were at a exit when it happened so had a good place to change a tire. The tire place we went to can not get us a replacement tire tell Thursday.

But I wish I would have taken a picture of us sitting along the side of the road changing the tire because "WE REALLY LOOKED GOOD" and some of you know how important that was to Jerry when we were shopping for motor homes how we would look if we were sitting on the side of the road.

We are at a real nice camp site and plan a trip to Mount Zion tomorrow. We are going to stay here for 3 to 4 days it is so pretty around here and a lot to see.

Will be reporting on our trip to Zion tomorrow. Bye from Barb and all.

Starting a New Week of Travel

Monday am, we started out from Idaho Falls and headed for Salt Lake City, Utah but decided to go on to Provo Utah. Weather was a bit chilly in the am but some sun shine in afternoon. Found a nice park to stop at and will travel on tomorrow for St George Utah.

Hope all is well with our family and friends . Barb and Jerry.

Sunday Sept 23 Moving On to Montana

We head out for Anaconda Montana where Bob and Corky want to golf. Well it rained, & snowed all the way and was also windy. We arrived and viewed the golf course and went in the gift shop only to find out the golf course was closed because of a tournament and now do to weather conditions. Ate lunch and decided what to do next. Bob and Corky decided they did not want to hang around to golf the next day. (Surprise) We had heard the weather report and report was for rain and snow for the next three days. So we changed our route to not go to West Yellowstone the temps there was to be down to 21 degrees. So we decided to head south in hopes of finding some sun shine. We ended up in Idaho Falls for the night. Very chilly and wet but we are warm in our RV's.

The picture is Bob and Corky having lunch with Ark and Saw. By the way Ark and Saw was very nervous on the trip today with the snow and ice they thought they were back in the freezer in Arkansas. They will be glad to see some sunshine so they know they are still around the Foster Farm area.

Barb and the gang.

Saturday Sept 22 On The Road Again

Well we head out of Spokane/East Idaho area and head east and Stop in Kellog Idaho to site see at the old Lead, Zinc & Silver this museum was in the Former Bunker Hill Staff House huge house to much for me to want to clean ( I really mean that). The museum was of course rooms set up with displays, a Gift Shop, the Old Kitchen Items, Special Art Exdhibit, School, Metallurgy, Prospectors, Equipment, Textiles, Medical Equipment, Press, Memorial room for the staff that tried to save the workers when the miners got trapped. There was pictures of the Labor workers meeting with union members about labor issues and safety before the blew up Bunker Hill.

We thought it would be fun to go on the Gondola ride it looked like a beautiful ride but when we went to purchase tickets it was closed tell ski season. So much for that we ate lunch and moved on. Boy was Ark and Saw happy that they got to go also and I have been forgetting to mention Bob and Corky's kid is Frosty (their cat) she was happy to be on the road and not locked in the RV.

We headed on to Wallace Idaho and stopped there to visit the Northern Pacific Depot Railroad Museum. When we arrived there we were told there was trolly rides up to a mine so we decided to do that before we toured the museum. So we walked several blocks to get the tickets and guess what we were 10 minutes late for the last trolly. We now decide guess we are not to be going on any rides.

So we travel on to Missoula to park for the night. The guys just got us set up and it started raining and was very chilly.

Sorry this posting is so late but we also did not have phone service in this area we are really roughing it.

All in all we had fun. From Barb and the gang.

First Site Seeing Trip

Started out today to site see but Ark and Saw had stay home because we took the Jeep and left the RV's at the camp site. The jeep will only hold 4. We drove to the town of Sandpoint and then up to Sweitzer ski area lots of new development going on. Very pretty area. Then we headed for Coeurd'Alene ID. Checked out the lake, shops and the golf course. Ate at a restaurant that overlooked the lake. Headed back to the camp site arrived early enough the guys could wash the RV's and get ready for our journey tomorrow. Stayed tuned in and see where we end up tomorrow. Ark and Saw was glad we were back and hoping they get to go along tomorrow. Miss you all Barb

Sept 20th Left Chelan

Here we are with our friends Corky and Bob ready to head out on our trip. Left Chelan at 10:00 am ran into rain on our way to Spokane area. We arrived about 3PM to the camp site. The guys was upset because the RV's was very dirty. Ark and Saw who was riding in the Jeep could not even see out the wind shield and they were upset also. Well the evening was great we went to our friends in Spokane area for dinner and visited tell late. The temperatures was very cold so we had to drag out the heaters and add more blankets. We said we could not wait to get to AZ where it is warm. Barb and all.

On The Road

Today we packed this big rig and was surprised we still have some space available must have forgot something, time will tell I guess. We leave tomorrow (Thursday) to take it back to Chelan. Then we will come back to Auburn to wrap up a few odds and ends and will be on our way September 20th with our friends Bob and Corky.

Our Traveling Buddies

If you want to know more about Ark and Saw check out the link below.

http://www.thefosterimposters.com/

Our First Adventure

Today we are preparing to adventure out in the United States. Ark and Saw are traveling with us on the adventure. Hope you enjoy our updates of our adventures.