September 24, 2020

Last post I mentioned that we are doing stuff we enjoy doing.  I got bit by the musical bug after many years.  I pulled out my mountain dulcimer that I had not played in over 10 years & have started practicing some old songs.  Also, before Marie passed away she gave me a Hohner Marine Band harmonica that she had tried to learn to play.  While we were at Sunscape Resort in Casa Grande I tried to learn but did not get very far.  Now I have watched a few youtube videos & am starting to pick it up.  I still play my native American flutes as well.

My newest hobby is to build electronic kits.  I purchased a Hakko soldering station and tips & tools.  So far I have assembled a digital clock, an oscilliscope, and my latest is a low power 30 meter ham radio. To my surprise the radio works, it is morse code only so in January of 2021 I am signed up to take an eight week code class from CWOps Club.  The goal is to get our code speed up to 20 wpm.  My speed now is 5-8 wpm.  The class meets twice per week online with homework every day to prepare for the next class.  Should be fun.  In the mean time I am trying to start recognizing the code characters by listening to my new ICOM IC7300, the QCX+ 30 meter radio & doing some code practice online.

Barbara has been busy knitting items for the great granddaughters.  She has planted several plants & small trees on our lot that keep her busy.  A former tenant had put in a small patio in the back & Barb expanded on the pavers & has a nice 2 seat swing setup.  She purchased 2 glider chairs for the porch that we assembled. They look very nice.  

Take care & be safe (mainly from the government & the "experts").

September 14, 2020

Well it has been quite a trip since my last post.  It is now 2020 & 8 years since I last put a post on this blog.  We have settled at Verde Valley Thousand Trails Park.  Some of the events that happened in our lives since 2012 have been:  Barb's Mom Marie past away peacefully with both Barb & her brother Ron by her side.  Our great Benji also is no longer with us. 3 of our grand daughters got married. 

We spent 5 winters at Sunscape RV Coop in Casa Grande & met many nice folks in the park & at the senior center in town where we met once a week to do art work.  At the art group I did watercolor painting & Barb did Acrylic painting & drawing.  They are a great bunch of talented people doing many different kinds of art mediums.

During that time we spent our summers traveling.  We went back to Montana to see Mike & Karen and Simone & Sean.  From there we went across North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Upper Penninsula Michigan, where we saw the Sault Saint Marie Locks, then down to Ohio & over to New York.  We went to Niagra Falls & had a great tour with Greyline.

From there we dropped down to Pennsylvania to see our niece Ronica & her family.  Then it was back across Ohio & Indiana where we went to Elkhart to have some repairs done to our Big Country at the factory where is was built for us.  Very good customer service & all repairs were covered even though our warranty had expired.

Then we went on to East St Louis to see the Cahokia Mounds, they were built by the Indians several hundred years before any European came to the area.  We went to Nebraska and visited Valpariso where Barb's Dad grew up & went through elementary & high school.  We visited Boys Town & learned about its founding & operation & the wonderful work they are doing with orphan & homeless young people today.

We traveled across Kansas to the panhandle of Oklahoma, Barb had read a book about the Dust Bowl years in that area so it had special meaning to her.  We stopped at Santa Fe & did the tourist thing.  That trip ended back a Verde Valley TT then after a month or so we went back to Sunscape for the winter.

Jan 2019 we decided we had seen the majority of the things that were on our list & decided to end our travels.  After considering where we had been in our travels & what our needs would be we decided to make Cottonwood, AZ our permanent home.  We have our fifth wheel to live in & if we need a house or apartment in the future they are available.

We have an annual site here & when our neighbors left their site next to us we bought their covered porch & moved it to our lot.  We purchased an 8x8 storage shed that I have my radio equipment set up in so I am playing with amateur radio.

Barb has been busy with growing plants & flowers & she has several bird feeders & 2 water baths for the birds.  We get quite a collection of birds.  Some are year around residents & some are migrants that we see twice a year.  She is also doing quite a bit of knitting.

We were active at the Rec Center with water aerobics & at the library with Tai Chi until the panic over the Chinese Flu shut everything down.

Last Sept 2019 our granddaughter Nicole had her first baby, Remington, she will be a year old in a few days.  Our first great grandchild.  Our granddaughter Simone is going to have her first child in October.  Also a girl who is named is Elizabeth.  Our second great grandchild.

Well Happy Trails to you whoever you are & where ever you are.