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Welcome to Our Photo Gallery & Travelblog
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After a long, rainy winter on the West Coast, Tom and I flew to Michigan in late February to get our new Ford 550 truck that we special ordered to have enough power to pull our RV. Then we drove to Kansas to get our RV, our home on wheels. It was cold and we were quite miserable trying to get the final touches done on the RV, learning how to live in it, then trying to drive it, all in sub-freezing cold and icy wind. See travelogue, "Flying to Michigan, Driving Back Home." Tom got a horrible cough as we headed southwest so I had lots of opportunities to learn to drive and park our “Rig.” Our drive through the Southwest was warm and interesting. I want to return to the Painted Desert and spend much more time in AZ and NM. We drove back to Brookings to move out of the rental house and into the RV. We moved the cats and the belongings we had room for into the RV and put the rest in our storage unit. We finally hit the road in May 2004 as legal residents of Oregon called “Continuous Travelers.” The cats were alone for way too long. Even though we had a great cat-sitter, Sadie became more depressed and evil living under the bed hissing and spitting at anyone who tried to coach her out from under there. After a thorough and expensive medical exam, we learned that she was a very healthy cat physically, just “behaviorally disturbed.” Figures that I would get a cat like that. Jokingly, I asked the Vet if she had “kitty Prozac,” and surprisingly, she did! So, we treated Sadie with some meds for a few weeks, gave her lots of petting, and spent lots of time with her in her new “cave.” Her mental health and behavior have improved dramatically. Harry is quite adaptable as long as he can get outside to hunt at dark. We allow this even now if we think it’s safe enough, meaning that we haven’t seen or heard about any local coyotes, bobcats, foxes, or owls. All of the parks have rules that pets must be on leashes, but quality of life matters more than the quantity of time we have in this life. So, we ignore that rule for Harry. He has “special needs” and great survival skills. Both cats have accepted a harness, and if that’s what it takes to get outside, Harry will tolerate a leash. Most of the time, Sadie sits where you put her down until she decides to come back in. If she feels safe, she might venture out in the morning and at dark to use the outside litter box. Both have accepted their multi-level cat-condo as a safe place that contains all of their necessities: carpet to scratch, a window for observing the world go by, sleeping decks, food and water, and a litter box below. Each level has a removable door with a wire-mesh window in it. We use this as their carrier when we’re towing and as their cage at night to keep Harry from scratching on the doors to get outside. This cat-condo has perhaps saved his life at night. After all, we humans need to get our catnaps, too! In May, we headed to Three Sisters and Bend, Oregon. The weather was still quite cold there, so we went back to the Coast and spent a few weeks in the Florence-Yachats area. This is where Sadie took off for a few days and nights. After she returned and we left the area, we received several calls from folks who had found her! Guess there are lots of Sadie’s running around. We then spent several weeks in northern Idaho where the weather was very hot and Tom’s computer got fried. Of course, he had to replace it immediately. We both really liked McCall and Hope, Idaho. We also loved the Big Timber area of Montana. We will return to both states for lengthy stays to explore and take many photographs. We returned to Kansas for some repairs on the RV. We visited Tom’s daughter Lisa and her husband Chris in Iowa. Then we visited friends and family on the East Coast. I had a great time visiting my friend Barbara Campbell and her family in PA and some former colleagues in MD. We enjoyed having dinner with Jim and Peg at their home in Columbia and I am always happy to get together with my gal pals in Howard County. Rhonda, Susan, Melanie, Kerrigan, Janet, and Geoff even ventured out to the park to see our new “home.” In September, I attended my 35th High School Reunion. How did we get so old so fast? Many classmates are retired, some have grandchildren, and a few even have toddlers! This was a pleasureable but sobering event. In October, I had the challenging and fun opportunity to be “Mommy’s Helper” when my niece Leanne gave birth to Peyton Thomas. Tyler Jean Jane, TJ, is now 4 years old and Kendall Rose, Rosie, will be 2 years old in January. They are my sister Cookie’s grandchildren. It’s very sad that she’s not here to enjoy them. She passed away Christmas Eve, 1999. I enjoyed taking photos of them in their daily routine and created a Snapbook of them just being "kids." After this, we went to visit Tom's parents and brother Bob and his wife, Michelle, in Morgantown, VA. We had two opportunities to visit with Tom' college pal, Julie, and her husband, Mickey. We were camped in the woods so we were withouth Internet for a few weeks, but we visited the Internet Cafe in Morgantown frequently and our Wi-Fi connection worked well there. We ventured on to southwest VA to visit my parents to find my mother in the hospital. We had a tough few weeks getting her through emergency surgery and back home. Of course, she had a much tougher time than we did! We spent Thanksgiving at my sister Candy's farm in Shenandoah, VA. A family Snapbook was made and shared. At Christmas, I spent some time with TJ, Rosie, and Peyton and made another Snapbook of them in their home. These three kids are going to keep Leanne and Mike very busy! We had planned to head to Florida right after Thanksgiving, but my mother's health was our priority, so we stayed nearby. Cold weather came and froze our water pipes. We learned to use a hair dryer to thaw out the pipes and Tom wrapped the pipes with insulation. Tom stayed in the RV with the cats in Natural Bridge, VA, then the Harrisonburg KOA while I commuted from "home" to "home." When my mother's health allowed, we hit the road again heading to the Gulf Shores. We came too close to a boulder on a curvy mountain road in NC and damaged the right side of the RV. When we got to Atlanta, my mother needed a second surgery so I flew back to VA. Tom stayed in Stone Mountain, GA, with the cats. When I returned to Stone Mountain, we experienced an ice storm and a celebrity in the park before we headed south to Gulf Shores, AL. Our unscheduled stay in Atlanta gave us an opportunity to have the RV's boo-boo repaired and two opportunities to visit with my friend, Frances Bottoms, whom I met when I was teaching in Frankfurt, Germany. |
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