DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE

Five years of planning is what it took for us to realize our dream of retirement. Grandchildren in the MOTORHOME for extended time. So lovely to see the dream in reality.

LIFE ON CLARET FARM

Once again, I can't believe I did no blog updates while at the farm with Christopher's family! Currently, we are on the road heading for Chicago for a week of annual medical appointments. Also hoping to touch base with good friends. These next posts will highlight some of the wonderful things that farm life allows us to experience.

The first is the quiet. Only the best sounds invade the space: Birdsong, hollow wood pecking, goat bleats, roosters crowing, hens clucking, frogs croaking, pheasant calls and children playing.

Gram Kallio is the homeschool teacher while Christelle spends the day with Amara-Lise at Children's hospital. Gram Kallio has many talents. One day, we happened on the scene to see Gram's hair salon!

 

BERM BUDDIES AND CROIX STUDY

Boys and water mix together in a variety of ways. They burn up energy with all out play - berm busting,  boogy boarding, digging holes, sand castle building and searching the tide pools for ocean treasures.

Sweet Croix-boy 

Study

CAMPGROUND AND PLAYGROUND

Two nights ago, we camped in Las Cruses, NM. I talked about it in an earlier post. These pics are the view we enjoyed, in daylight and at night.

D

When in Ojai, go to the playground. It's a great playground and a great place for 'posed' portraits. 

DAMAGE ASSESMENT

On facebook, I posted some about the recent storms. A day later, we walked the roads in the campground and were surprised by the damage. Here's a few pics. The eucalyptus trees, we learned, have very shallow roots and are vulnerable in areas where the ground is saturated.

GUSTY WINDS IN THE DESERT

Our second night we landed in Tucson, AZ. Since Tucson was a night in a truck stop, we were ready for a campsite with some utilities. When we made the reservation, the clerk warned us that these pullthrough sites were for overnighters and were very crowded. Rigs have to be staggered to let everybody get their slides out. You can see there was about 6inches clearance between slides. For one night, it was OK.

The road from Tucson to Las Crucas NM was long, straight, desert, and blowing sand. Signs along the road (I 10) warn you of decreased visibility. They suggest not stopping in the traffic lane (duh), and turning off your lights. We decided that was so other cars wouldn't see your lights and think you were a moving vehicle and end up plowing into you. We could be wrong tho. We went through 2 small dust areas. Amazing amount of sand in the air. I was driving when the winds got very gusty. Still not comfortable enough in that drivers seat to handle adverse weather. Glad Jim handles them well.

Our campground in Las Crucas is a KOA on top of a hill. The MH is headed front end first to take advantage of the unobstructed view of the city. The mountains on the other side of the valley wer invisible because of the dust in the air. Imagine breathing that stuff into your lungs. Bet they have a larger percentage of asthma and other chronic lung deseases.

The other shocker was in crossing the Rio Grande River. There is no water in it! When did that happen? How can a river that forms the boundaries between Texas and Mexico be totally dry? No wonder people can cross it to get to the US. I'd always pictured it with roaring waters.

MN OR BUST

Three weeks ago, we welcomed a new granddaughter into the family. Amara-Lise came early to this world at 30 weeks. She will reside in the NICU for at least 2 months. You can pray that her lungs would hurry up and develop so she can lose the CPAP. Otherwise she is doing well. So, that prompted an SOS call from Chris. With mom still recovering, babe in NICU, a business to run, and six children at home, they need assistance to help keep family on an even keel. This means an early departure from CA-about 6 weeks early.

Didn't want to leave before we had our dental work (3 crowns between the two of us) done. So Feb 21, we brought up the leveling jack, pulled in the slides, started up the big diesel and said goodbye to Lake Casitas. We had the hard goodbye the previous evening when after a wonderful meal at Serena's we had our last hugs from her wonderful family. We pointed the MH towards the east and followed the road to Blythe, CA for the first night. On to our second wonderful family, the Chris Hagens in MN.

How do you camp in Feb. in MN?  Not easily. When we've been at Chris' before, we had to run the generator a lot because we only have 15 amps of power-not enough to run even one of our two furnaces. So, we are adding a 50 amp box next to the existing box in the barn. We also have made arrangements for services to pump out our waste water and sewage. Another service will come and refill our propane as needed. But we will not be paying any camping fees which balances the cost. In addition, we are praying for a mild March/April!

Amazingly, the joys of being involved in the life of the CA grandchildren, meant less time for things like blogging! In these next few travel days, I'll be posting highlights of our time in CA and interesting stuff from this drive. This first one people my age will associate with the old Sinclair gas sign.