Happy Holidays! (Lake Conroe, TX)

Merry Christmas everyone!  We hope this finds you and your family healthy.  

This will be my last post.  I have been posting on this blog and our travel blog for 12 years and I feel it is time to close it down.  Most of our friends and family are in contact with us through Facebook or through emails/text messages.  We will keep traveling and exploring for many more years, but I feel a need to move away from social media. You are welcome to leave a comment below if you would like to stay in contact with me.

So a quick update before I leave:  We left Sutherlin, OR in late September after two of our cats - Dusty and Hitch had most of their teeth extracted.  Poor babies had no idea what happened to them, but they are doing quite well and still eating a lot.

Dusty did a lot of sleeping

While Hitch was back
to causing mischief

Max: I'm so glad I did not have to go to the Vet!

Since we left later than planned, we made good time heading south.  We knew a cold front was right behind us.  We were able to over the Donner's Pass two days before the pass was closed due to snow. 

We made several stops along the way:

Lake Mead near Hoover Dam

View from the front window of Lake Mead

A couple of nights in Homolovi State Park

Then, of course, no road trip is complete without a breakdown or two.  First, the motorhome needed some maintenance, so we spent an unexpected weekend in Tucumcari, NM to get some work done.  In the meantime, we spent some time on Route 66 looking at old buildings and signs.  

 We made it to Oklahoma in time to enjoy Halloween with our granddaughters and our great-grandson.  Finley is such a ball of energy that it was hard to get a photo of him standing still.  The only time I saw him sitting quietly was during his meals.  He loves to eat!

Our visit with family ended up being longer than planned when our new Jeep went into the shop due to a warning alert. The Jeep techs were not having any luck figuring out what was causing the problem.  After waiting several hours, they decided to give us a loaner and kept it for the next three days.  We managed to get our Jeep back just in time to make it to Nacogdoches, TX for our motorhome's scheduled maintenance and new awning installations.  Whew!

On The Cutting Board

A quick look at my latest quilts.  All of these are UFOs that I wanted to get done this year.  I was trying to use up my scraps for these quilts using the Disappearing 4-patch.  The first two were made for our two youngest granddaughters.  They look pretty much alike, but the girls will be able to tell which one is their quilt by the colors in the top right-hand corner.

The dog and cat appliqué design came from FatCat Patterns.  They came out so well that I might use more of her appliqué patterns on my scrappy quilts.

The Happy Hedgehog quilt is by Melly and Me.  This was my go-to project when I just wanted to work with my hands.  I took my time so it took at least two years to finish.

Another 'let's get rid of those scraps! quilt.  The Llama is another pattern from FatCat Patterns.

Finally!  A to Zzz Snowman quilt is done!  I loved embroidering all the different blocks, but I'll admit that I was worried about quilting it without ruining my embroidery work.  I used a swirl for blowing wind or moving snow.  Either way, I think that it came out rather well.  

Well, that's it.  You are all caught up on what we have done recently. 

Happy Quilting! Happy Trails!  And have a Happy New Year!

Bring On The Rain (Sutherlin, OR)

We woke up to rain last weekend.  Such a welcome sound after a dry summer.  We had plenty of beautiful days to sit outside and enjoy our new home base, but everyone was hoping for rain...lots of rain with no lightning and we got it for a couple of days!  Yes!  Now we just need about a month or two more of this gentle rain. 

We started adding a few things to our site.  I bought some half barrels after receiving plants from our neighbors.  Wasn't that sweet of them?  I had planned on waiting next year since we were getting a late start and planned to leave the area in a few months.  I have to say, it was nice to have something green among all that grey gravel.  Dan bought the long container and filled it with catnip and grass.  Of course, leave it to a cat to bypass their greens for the forbidden flowers!😺😺😺  Oh and no worries, they can nibble on Impatiens.  I just prefer they didn't.

Max approves

We spent most of this summer just enjoying our site on top of the hill, visiting the local restaurants, setting up the coach's winter maintenance, and shopping online.  Oh man!  You don't know how much I missed ordering things online.  It is hard to figure out how to get those items delivered when we are traveling.  It is so nice to have our own site number for deliveries to our door and a mailbox at the park office.

At the beginning of July, we thought we were in for a summer of record-breaking heatwaves and smoke-filled days.  

One of the smoke-filled mornings

We had our share of hot days, but for the most part, it wasn't that bad.  Most of our nights were cool enough to open windows with fans to keep the coach comfortable.  We plan to add shade to our site with an awning on the shed for next summer and maybe the following year - a gazebo.  It will be nice to have more shaded sitting areas.

We did most of our walks in the morning.  One of the leaseholders is a National Forest Ranger retiree.  He shared his talent with the park by adding a one-mile trail through the woods for walkers and mountain bike riders.  He did a wonderful job and we took full advantage on hot days to walk the tree-covered trail.  At the end of the trail, there's a grass-filled meadow surrounded by blackberry bushes.  A lot of breakfast with cereal covered with sweet blackberries.  Yum!

A view of our site from the trail.

We are almost done with our medical appointments.  We are waiting for the last vet's appointment for the cats to get their teeth cleaned before we head south.  Overall, their new Vet thought all three cats were looking great for their age.  In October, she will take bloodwork to make sure there are no hidden problems.  We did find out that Dusty is developing cataracts. 

And poor Hitch might be toothless after his teeth-cleaning.  Apparently, his gums are looking swollen, but that hasn't slowed down his constant eating.

Max doesn't need his teeth cleaned, but he is showing his age with his stiff arthritic walk, loss of weight, and now we know with this second opinion that he has a heart murmur.  I'm not looking forward to hearing about the results of his bloodwork in October.

On The Cutting Board

Getting old hasn't slowed down the cats though.  Max still helps with quilting and he still has a strong opinion that I need to take frequent kitty-cuddle breaks from my projects.

Hitch has taken his self-appointed supervisor job very seriously.  

Stop taking my picture....

and finish pinning the quilt

With the help of the cats or lack of....I managed to finish three tops and have two more that are pinned and ready to be quilted.

Monster Mash

This scrappy quilt took too many years to finish and yet I would not mind making another one since it does use up my scraps in a very colorful way.

Wonky Log Cabin

I forgot all about these finished blocks.  They must have sat in the bottom of the drawer for about 8 years(?).  It was time to get this one done.  

Fancy Sue

I have a couple of tops that I would like to add some applique designs.  I'm soaking some fabrics in clean water after washing them.  Makes for a colorful photo.

So, back to getting a few more quilts done.  

Happy Quilting!

Times Are A Changing (Sutherlin, OR)

Okay, I know I'm way behind on my monthly posts. No excuse, just feeling a wee bit lazy about writing. We are back in Sutherlin, OR.  The photos are from our Hwy 101 travels.  I added locations to each photo's captions so I can spend this time explaining the changes that have happened to us this year. 

Cape Perpetua

We had a great time traveling on Hwy 101 and I'm sorry we had to leave the Oregon coast.  I'm already missing the cooler weather and the sea breezes.  I was still wearing sweatshirts and jeans in the last week of June.  Quite a drastic change to go from 65° to 99° in a half day's drive across the pass to the I-5 valley.🌞

Great Blue Heron - Newport, OR

In the last five years, we have seen a major change in the RV world.  Since the lockdown, RV sales have doubled if not tripled making reservations a year in advance much more stressful than the past couple of years. 

B&B (Riverboat) and Newport Marina

Newport's Sea Lions' Sun-loving and Sleep-in club

The days of going where the wind blows us have come to an end, but we are not giving up completely.  We still plan to travel and live in our ForeTravel, but it will be at a slower pace with fewer miles.

Wreck of the Peter Iredale -  Fort Stevens

Some of the changes started with the Sigsbee NAS in Key West, FL.  It used to be easy for full-timers and snowbirds to get reservations.  All we had to do was show up and we had a site. It might be a dry site, but we had one with a schedule to rotate to full hookups if they were full. They have over 400 dry camping sites, but there are more people showing up every year, plus there are more active-duty families living full-time in the campground.  During our last visit, anyone that showed up without a reservation was turned away after a one-night stay.

Footbridge to one of the campgrounds
Fort Stevens

This year the Sigsbee commander made more changes.  Now, people are on the phone for hours trying to make reservations six months in advance only to be told all full hookup sites have been booked. Sigsbee also stopped the rotations this year which was something I always enjoyed. I loved checking the rotation list, anticipating our next site-to-be, moving to new sites with a different view, and meeting our new neighbors…or being happy to move away from a neighbor, and yes there were a few of them.🤔  I’m hoping that 2019 won't be our last trip to Key West.  I would really like to see it at least one more time.

Depoe Bay

We have also seen some changes with Thousand Trails having more annual sites taking prime spots and once again Dan is left scrambling to make reservations. It doesn’t help their paying members when Thousand Trails decided to offer free one-year memberships to new RV owners through local dealerships. 

Lost Creek State Park Beach

When we have reservations with Thousand Trails, we do not get an assigned site.  It is a first-come-first-served policy, so when the park is packed it can be hard to find a long enough site to accommodate our 40-ft coach and jeep.  So far, we have been lucky with our site choices.  Some were almost too short, but overall, we haven’t had to face the problem of no site available to accommodate our coach.  We try to avoid the high season for that reason.  Now it feels like the high season is almost all year long.

Ona Beach

So, times are changing and so are we.  On July 7, we became leaseholders in Timber Valley Skp Park.  This will give us a home base for those times when we are tired of fighting the traffic, weekend partying campers, and reservation offices. 

Timber Valley Skp Park, Sutherlin, OR

Granted, it is not much to look at, but it is ours to enjoy whenever we are in Oregon.  We are allowed to do some landscaping, but we will probably leave it this way for a few years so we can add the site to the rental pool while we are traveling.  In the meantime, I'm going to be dreaming about ways to add shade to our new site.

We are on top of a hill overlooking the park's community center (actually - more of the roof), and we have a great view of the surrounding hills.  Very few of the sites have this view so we feel lucky to have it.  We are also talking about getting a second home base in Benson, AZ, but not for a few more years. 

So, that is our news for now.  I'm sure there will be more changes in the future.  

 

Two more photos of four-legged neighbors.  Below, we had another neighbor with a large pig.  It was interesting to watch them take this pig for a walk.  They would lead the way and toss food down for the pig.  The pig would then squeal and do a fast waddle to the food.  I'm not sure if the pig was squealing out of delight for the food or complaining that she/he had to walk over to get it.😄

Another pet pig at Seaside!

These three were chasing each other around when I accidently interrupted their play time.  At least, they were nice enough to stop for a photo before running off into the woods.

Newhalem State Park

Hitch had developed a bad cough while we were on the coast.  By the time we got to Seaside, it was so bad he would get sick after a coughing fit.  The Vet thought he had an allergy probably caused by our mold problem and prescribed amoxicillin.  It wasn't much fun giving him the medicine.  He managed to sneeze or cough pink sticky stuff all over the floor.  I must have got enough into him because he is back to his old trouble-making self.

What?!  I didn't touch Max!

Max and Dusty also saw the Vet.  We found out that Max has a heart murmur.  Not good for a high-strung cat.  We have to peel him off the ceiling every time one of us sneezes.  Otherwise, he is in good shape for a 17-year-old.  

I am calm...I am relaxed..I am calm..

And Dusty, he is in great health for being 17 years old.

Any more decisions have to go through me first.

On The Cutting Board

The last time we were in Florence, I thought Joy of Quilting had closed because of the for sale sign sitting in front of their building on Hwy 101.  Turns out the quilt shop was selling their building with plans to move to Old Town Florence right next to Lovejoy's Tearoom.😍

I have some leftover theme fabric of birds and cats, but not enough to make a quilt.  Could I think of a better excuse?  Of course, I had to go shopping!  I found the perfect colors to blend in with the scraps.  

Sample of scraps with new fabrics

Ever since I started reading the Oxford Tearoom mysteries by H.Y. Hanna, I have wanted to try High Tea with cucumber sandwiches and scones with clotted cream and jam.  Because the tearoom was not fully staffed, I did not know that I needed a reservation.  I was able to order a scone to go with clotted cream and jam.  I sat outside and enjoyed every bite.  It was delicious!  Next time, I would like to try High Tea.

I'm still working on those bags of scraps.  I'm starting to see a difference.  Two less bags of scraps to store and yet, there is so much more to use up.  I'm tired of cutting up hexagons and squares.  It was time to try something new with fast results.

So, I found a paper foundation pattern in my EQ7 to help use up more scraps.  This one is called Wild Goose Log Cabin.  This is certainly using up the smaller scraps with a lot less measuring and cutting.

I like the way the blocks look when they are put together and it is coming together fast!  I might try the opposite for the larger pieces of scraps with white triangles.  I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty of scraps leftover to make another quilt.

I'm off to tackle those scrap bags, so Max and I will say good-bye for now.

Darn!  She's taking my picture....Again!

Happy Quilting!