Another month has gone by and we can’t believe we only have three more till we leave AZ. So much has been going on that I won’t go into a lot of details, but will say we have been having lots of fun and plan on continuing to have fun. We had a nice month of clear & sunny (sometimes cold) days with rain coming only on the very last day of the month. It was so completely different than what we had last year. So far, we have been pretty dry and the rain we got hardly settled the dust.
On January 4, our daughter called and said her car had been broken into. It seemed to be quite random since a huge amount of cars on their side of town were broken into. Sadly among the things stolen were our house keys plus our burglar alarm key fob. Thank goodness our address was not with the keys and we guessed/hoped the thief had no idea to whom the keys belonged. However, not wanting to take any chances with the alarm fob being active, Ken decided to fly back to Salem for a few days and meet with ADT to deactivate the stolen fob and change the house door locks.
Once Ken was back in AZ, we got back into park life and all the activities that go with it (many dinners, coffee socials, and lots of fun activities). We also hosted our annual ‘East Side Pot Luck’ where we provided BBQed Alaskan Salmon that we caught in September. Our neighborhood has some wonderful cooks who all brought a huge array of great food & desserts. The highlight of the afternoon was a ‘While Elephant’ gift exchange where we managed to wear off some of the calories that we all ate. As always it was a great time!
Since the days were so nice, we took time to get out in the desert with the Wrangler. It’s nice going out with a group, but mostly we enjoy taking our time and going out by ourselves just to geocache. We’ve been out Jeeping several times and have found lots of caches we haven’t been to before. Oh yeah, there are many more on rougher roads to get to.
On the 29th, we went hiking in Usery Mountain Regional Park with friends. Even though some of us were physically hurting (my knee, Dirk’s back, Kathy’s foot & shoulder), our goal was to hike the most popular Wind Cave Trail. The hike is 1.6 miles (one way) up a rocky terrain with an elevation gain of 800 feet. The trail is well marked, and in most places nice walking. It is rated at 2.5 (moderately difficult), but some areas have steep stepping spots and sometimes rough rocks. Going up was no problem, but coming down was quite painful on the knees. Even with the pain, it was a beautiful hike with some great friends.
February 2, 2011
January 2, 2011
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
We hope you all were blessed with a very Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful time being home for Christmas and enjoyed seeing our grandson while he was there on leave.
Our Christmas Eve was busy with several things taking place:
First we, along with most of the Pavelek clan, were at Ken’s brother’s house sharing fun stories, warm drinks, and great food. We don’t get a chance to see this side of our family very often, so it was wonderful to get together for a couple hours and get caught up on what each family is doing.
Secondly, later that evening, we went to our daughter’s house where our immediate family had gathered. This is the time when we exchange gifts and watch the five great grandkids open presents from the family (they get special gifts from Santa on Christmas morning). Of course the greats (ages 1, 2, 4, 5, & 7) were wide-eyed and very eager to tear into their packages. We had a ball watching their excitement and listening to their happy screams each time a new prize was exposed. We also were extremely pleased to let them leave the room to enjoy their new “stuff” so we adults could be in peace while opening our gifts. It really was a great time!!
Last, but not least, we celebrated the true meaning of Christmas by going to Midnight Mass and rejoicing in the birth of our Lord. It was a beautiful and joyous service!! We were tickled pink to see our niece, Larysa and nephew, Brendan in the choir playing their instruments. Brendan plays the Trumpet and Larysa plays the French Horn. She also plays the piano, and sings. Earlier in the evening, they had given us a CD on which they had recorded several songs of them playing and singing. They did a wonderful job and we are thrilled to have it. They are two wonderfully, talented young adults!!
Christmas Day we were back at our daughters for a huge family dinner. Thankfully, the great grandkids had already opened their gifts from Santa and were happily playing with each other. We ended up with eleven adults and 5 children around two tables for dinner. Like I said earlier, it was a wonderful time spent with our family. Sadly, our two sons couldn’t join us as they both live out of state, but we were able to have some time to talk with them on the phone.
On December 27, we were once again on the road heading back to Arizona. We had been watching the mountain pass reports and knew there was going to be a lot of snow. But, we were in the Grand Cherokee and did have “Spider Spike” chains with us, so weren’t really worried. We did have packed snow part of the way, but we truly lucked out and didn’t have any problems. We made it to Susanville, CA and spent the night there. It was cold, but clear!
The next morning, we saw a report that another storm was headed our way and would be hitting California then working its way across Nevada and Arizona. Hearing that report, we decided to get across Nevada as fast as possible. We made it to Tonapah, NV about Noon and after fueling up headed for the little town of Rachel (on the Extra Terrestrial Highway). We had passed through there on our way to Oregon and cached the whole way. However, there was one group of caches we had passed on called the Alien Head. The head is comprised of 51 caches laid out in the shape of an Alien head all about .10 mile apart. It is totally meant to be walked and Ken had already done 13 of them when we came through earlier. We didn’t want to miss it, so we got close to the site and parked the Jeep. Since this area is pretty remote, and because the Jeep was packed with bunches of “stuff,” neither of us wanted to leave the Jeep alone. At 2:30, Ken left me with the Jeep and followed a well beaten path to the majority of the caches. I was close to just a few along the road and knew where he would finish, so I managed to grab some without being very far from the Jeep and met him as he was finishing up about 4:30. We still had another hour to get to Alamo where we stopped at the Windmill Ridge and had a wonderful dinner. After dinner, we made the choice to continue driving for Las Vegas and ended up staying in North Vegas at a Comfort Inn very close to Nellis AFB. We both were beat but happy the weather was still clear.
On December 29, we were on the road early and made good time to Hoover Dam. There were clouds around, but no rain or snow. However, there was wind and a lot of it. We were on the new road/bridge that spans high above Hoover Dam and the wind was horrid. Even in the Jeep we were being pushed sideways. I sure wouldn’t want to be up there in the motorhome when the wind was blowing like that. After we crossed the span and were headed down out of the canyon, we started seeing sprinkles of rain on the windshield. By the time we got to Kingman, Arizona, it was raining hard. We did experience rain/snow mix while on I-40, but got out of it on the way down in elevation toward Wickenberg. It was a white knuckle drive in the pouring rain as we got closer to Phoenix and Mesa. The drivers were just crazy, cutting in and passing in dangerous areas. Finally, we made it through the freeway system onto hwy 60 and made our way to Queen Valley arriving about 2:45 pm. What a relief to finally be back at the coach and out of that traffic.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Our Christmas Eve was busy with several things taking place:
First we, along with most of the Pavelek clan, were at Ken’s brother’s house sharing fun stories, warm drinks, and great food. We don’t get a chance to see this side of our family very often, so it was wonderful to get together for a couple hours and get caught up on what each family is doing.
Secondly, later that evening, we went to our daughter’s house where our immediate family had gathered. This is the time when we exchange gifts and watch the five great grandkids open presents from the family (they get special gifts from Santa on Christmas morning). Of course the greats (ages 1, 2, 4, 5, & 7) were wide-eyed and very eager to tear into their packages. We had a ball watching their excitement and listening to their happy screams each time a new prize was exposed. We also were extremely pleased to let them leave the room to enjoy their new “stuff” so we adults could be in peace while opening our gifts. It really was a great time!!
Last, but not least, we celebrated the true meaning of Christmas by going to Midnight Mass and rejoicing in the birth of our Lord. It was a beautiful and joyous service!! We were tickled pink to see our niece, Larysa and nephew, Brendan in the choir playing their instruments. Brendan plays the Trumpet and Larysa plays the French Horn. She also plays the piano, and sings. Earlier in the evening, they had given us a CD on which they had recorded several songs of them playing and singing. They did a wonderful job and we are thrilled to have it. They are two wonderfully, talented young adults!!
Christmas Day we were back at our daughters for a huge family dinner. Thankfully, the great grandkids had already opened their gifts from Santa and were happily playing with each other. We ended up with eleven adults and 5 children around two tables for dinner. Like I said earlier, it was a wonderful time spent with our family. Sadly, our two sons couldn’t join us as they both live out of state, but we were able to have some time to talk with them on the phone.
On December 27, we were once again on the road heading back to Arizona. We had been watching the mountain pass reports and knew there was going to be a lot of snow. But, we were in the Grand Cherokee and did have “Spider Spike” chains with us, so weren’t really worried. We did have packed snow part of the way, but we truly lucked out and didn’t have any problems. We made it to Susanville, CA and spent the night there. It was cold, but clear!
The next morning, we saw a report that another storm was headed our way and would be hitting California then working its way across Nevada and Arizona. Hearing that report, we decided to get across Nevada as fast as possible. We made it to Tonapah, NV about Noon and after fueling up headed for the little town of Rachel (on the Extra Terrestrial Highway). We had passed through there on our way to Oregon and cached the whole way. However, there was one group of caches we had passed on called the Alien Head. The head is comprised of 51 caches laid out in the shape of an Alien head all about .10 mile apart. It is totally meant to be walked and Ken had already done 13 of them when we came through earlier. We didn’t want to miss it, so we got close to the site and parked the Jeep. Since this area is pretty remote, and because the Jeep was packed with bunches of “stuff,” neither of us wanted to leave the Jeep alone. At 2:30, Ken left me with the Jeep and followed a well beaten path to the majority of the caches. I was close to just a few along the road and knew where he would finish, so I managed to grab some without being very far from the Jeep and met him as he was finishing up about 4:30. We still had another hour to get to Alamo where we stopped at the Windmill Ridge and had a wonderful dinner. After dinner, we made the choice to continue driving for Las Vegas and ended up staying in North Vegas at a Comfort Inn very close to Nellis AFB. We both were beat but happy the weather was still clear.
On December 29, we were on the road early and made good time to Hoover Dam. There were clouds around, but no rain or snow. However, there was wind and a lot of it. We were on the new road/bridge that spans high above Hoover Dam and the wind was horrid. Even in the Jeep we were being pushed sideways. I sure wouldn’t want to be up there in the motorhome when the wind was blowing like that. After we crossed the span and were headed down out of the canyon, we started seeing sprinkles of rain on the windshield. By the time we got to Kingman, Arizona, it was raining hard. We did experience rain/snow mix while on I-40, but got out of it on the way down in elevation toward Wickenberg. It was a white knuckle drive in the pouring rain as we got closer to Phoenix and Mesa. The drivers were just crazy, cutting in and passing in dangerous areas. Finally, we made it through the freeway system onto hwy 60 and made our way to Queen Valley arriving about 2:45 pm. What a relief to finally be back at the coach and out of that traffic.
The heavy rain lasted another day, but the wind continued for a couple more days. It was gusting here enough that Christmas decorations from neighboring coaches and homes were being blown all over the place. After it quit raining it turned very cold! We had three days of very cold “freezing” temps. It was cold enough at night that Ken turned the outside water off to keep it from freezing. Thankfully, we have plenty of water on board, so it wasn’t a problem. We didn’t get anything like northern Arizona got and is still getting. They had lots of snow and sub freezing temps. Flagstaff was/is soooo cold that many places have had pipes burst. This is a picture of our park's fountain mid morning as the ice is melting.
Ken & I rang in the New Year like OLD champs. First, we played cards with some friends & neighbors. After we were back home, Ken watched China’s New Year celebration then at 10 headed to bed. I stayed up till Midnight, but was in bed at 12:02 am. Yes, I did watch the ball drop, but once that was over, I was off to dream land.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
December 17, 2010
November quickly into December
Somehow November disappeared and it’s now December with one only more week till Christmas. I honestly don’t know where the time has gone, but upon looking back I see we’ve been quite busy.
We arrived in Alamo, Nevada at 3 pm on the 2nd and found a comfortable (inexpensive) place called The Alamo Inn to spend a couple nights at. After checking into our room, we decided to drive another 20 miles down hwy 93 to the junction of hwys 375 & 93, to the start of the E.T. series (E.T. 001) just see what we were in for. We stopped at a couple caches in Alamo and Ash Springs and found another 15 of the actual E.T. series before heading back to a wonderful place in Alamo called “Windmill Ridge” for a wonderful dinner (and dessert). The Windmill Ridge does have rooms for rent, but the room we had at the Alamo Inn was much cheaper and just as good.
On Dec 3, we left our room at 5:30 am & fueled up the Jeep in Ash Spring. At 6:16 am we started caching along Hwy 375. I was the driver & operator of the GPS, while Ken did the jumping in & out of Jeep to grab the caches & stamp our geo names on the log sheets. We quickly got into a rhythm and averaged 100 cache logs in 1 1/2 hours. We did stop a couple times along the side of the road for a break and gave Ken a chance to rest his legs. At 3 pm we quit the highway and drove over to where the Alien Head was laid out and Ken walked to 13 of those caches before it got dark. At 5 we quit and headed back to the Windmill Ridge Inn for another great meal. Note, we found 622 caches that day, which is now our personal best finds in one day.
After we arrived back in Queen Valley from Texas, we immediately got to work getting our site back in order for our winter stay. We spent the next 3 1/2 weeks enjoying beautiful sunny days with cool evenings and watching our neighbors arrive back for the winter. The only regular park activity going on during that time was our Monday morning coffee social, so it was nice not having to worry about attending or missing anything. We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our park residents and way too much to eat. We also took some time to do a little geocaching & Jeeping in the desert, plus we enjoyed visiting with more friends from Apache Junction.
Incredibly, November was gone, and it was December already. It seemed like we had just arrived in Queen Valley, but we had earlier made plans to go home (Salem) for Christmas, so we had to pack stuff into the Jeep and make sure the coach was once again secure for a month.
We left Queen Valley on December 2 with plans to spend a few extra days on the road to do some geocaching in an area known as area 51 along the Extra Terrestarial Highway in Nevada. This highway is really highways 375 & 6 heading west out of Ash Springs to Tonapah, and a very long 100 plus miles of nothing but open range and strange sights---dum-de-duh-duh (grin).
In June a group of cachers got together and hid 1,021 caches every 500/600 feet for over 100 miles along the two highways, plus another 51 were placed in the shape of an alien head in one huge field.
We arrived in Alamo, Nevada at 3 pm on the 2nd and found a comfortable (inexpensive) place called The Alamo Inn to spend a couple nights at. After checking into our room, we decided to drive another 20 miles down hwy 93 to the junction of hwys 375 & 93, to the start of the E.T. series (E.T. 001) just see what we were in for. We stopped at a couple caches in Alamo and Ash Springs and found another 15 of the actual E.T. series before heading back to a wonderful place in Alamo called “Windmill Ridge” for a wonderful dinner (and dessert). The Windmill Ridge does have rooms for rent, but the room we had at the Alamo Inn was much cheaper and just as good.
The morning of the 4th, we were up early and had Jeep packed & fueled before daylight. After an hour plus of driving down hwys 93 & 375, we were at the place we had quit the day before. We started caching at 7 am and finished number 1,000 just after Noon!! Originally the caches placed were 1000 in total, so we stopped at the original point of finish and had our pictures taken by some other cachers we met along the way.
We then headed on down the highway for the final 21 newer caches then drove on into Tonapah where we had a late lunch. Incredibly we completed the run, found 13 of the Alien Head, and even managed to find another 8 that weren’t even part of the “Alien” theme for a total of 1,042 finds in less than 17 hours (WOW). Since it was still early (2 pm), we continued driving and made it all the way to Susanville, CA where we spent the night
We were up and on the road (hwy 395) early Dec 5 and made our way north to Alturas, CA where we began to see snow along the roadside. We actually had snow along the road all the way to Klamath Falls, Oregon. By the time we got through K Fall and into to Chemult on highway 97, we were seeing more snow and some was building up on the road. Once on highway 58 and heading through Willamette Pass, we were really into the snow. It was gorgeous! Since there really wasn’t much traffic on the road, we had no problems getting through the pass and down & out of the snow. Of course with a Jeep, we weren't that worried!! That day was a wonderful drive and we made it to Salem (and home) by 2 pm.
Since we have been home, we have accomplished a lot. Our Christmas tree is up and decorated, and Ken even put up a few lights outside (not like in the past). Also, we have finished our Christmas shopping for the wee ones (great grandkids), and everything is wrapped and under the tree. Hooray, we have never finished this early before. We are sooooo looking forward to watching the 5 great grandkids open their presents on Christmas and of course the huge meal on Christmas Day.
I think our biggest thrill is seeing our grandson, Justin, back in Salem for Christmas. Justin is not going to be going into the Air Force Special Ops as originally planned because he injured both legs in CCT (Combat Controller Training). He has been on light duty since his injury and is now reclassified and heading off to Southern California after the first of the year for Vehicle Ops Training. Mechanics was his second choice if he couldn’t make Combat Controller, so he is excited. He will be in California for 6-8 weeks, then we don’t know where he will be going. Hopefully, close to Salem. Time will tell and all our love and prayers are with him!!!
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