BABY GIRL!

We have a new great grand-daughter. Her name is Meila Alizeah Lopez (pronounced meelah) and she was born at 1:10 am this morning (6/22). She weighed 6 lbs & 7 ozs and was 18 1/2 inches long (tiny). The parents, Jessica and Luis, are doing well. Jess is tired and glad to have that part behind her!

This is Meila shortly after the nurse wrapped her up.

As for us, we are still in the midst of working on Nomi's will. The attorney has already started the probate process on her house and property (tiny lot and dilapidated/squallid house). Hopefully, the paper work will be done by the time we return from our camping trip. Then we will clean out the house and put the property on the market. All the furnishings will be in storage until we can deal with them.

We are leaving for Prineville in the morning and will be gone for two weeks.....most of that time we will be totally out of touch with the real world (no Cell Phones, TV, or Internet). There may be some infrequent times when we leave the canyon and go into town and will have phone service then. However, at the high cost of gas/diesel, we won't be doing much running around. This is going to be a very relaxed 4th of July for us (yea)

Hope you all have a very safe and healthy 4th of July!!!

Home

We are home in Salem, and it is cold, gray, and wet!! What a difference from the warm/hot days we had in Laughlin and Reno. While in Yuba City, we had everything from sun to rain, but not the cold we are feeling here at home. The Portland weather station said we almost tied the record for a low temperature on this date….plus there is supposed to be snow in the mountains this weekend (yikes).

Never-the-less, we are home and coping with dealing with the death of our friend. She was cremated before we arrived home, but we were able to be present when her ashes were “placed” in the crypt beside her husband Mike. Nomi lost her son in 1999 and had kept some of his ashes in an urn. Her wishes were to have his ashes spread over her grandfather’s grave after she died. Today, in the cold rain, we drove to Oakville (near Corvallis) and visited the cemetery where Nomi’s grandfather is buried. There we took her son’s ashes and spread them over her grandfather’s grave, thereby fulfilling her wish. It is a sad, but yet happy time to see them all together again.

We have finished cleaning out Nomi’s room at the assisted living facility and will finish dealing with her house when we get back in July from our camping trip. We leave on the 23rd and will be gone till July 7. Because we are going to be “dry” camping most of that time, we decided to replace all 6 of our batteries. Two were still ok, but two were really bad and would not hold up to the rigors of dry camping. Once we get back in July and sometime before we head back to Arizona in October, we have to replace all 8 tires (ouch). The tires are like new with only 29,000 miles on them, but the manufacturers say tires over 7 years old are not reliable and could blow at any time (but then again, they may not, but who wants to take that chance??).

Once we take off for the camping trip, I will NOT have cell phone or Internet service. We camp in a canyon along the Crooked River and there is no reception of any kind out there. We don't spend everyday along the river and do manage to drive into town (Prineville) sometimes for groceries and other needed stuff. While in town, I do get cell phone service. I won't have the computer with me at those times, but I do get Internet on my phone, so I do hope to keep my mail at a manageable level (grin).

Here are a couple shots of how we camp.

This is Rod enjoying a "cool" dip and smoke. Rod, I am sorry, but I just had to show this!! LOL

More later!