AT LAST--MY NEW QUILT IS FINISHED

You can tell that I love bold colors. Donna and I spent many hours on this quilt. In the picture below I pulled up the edge of the quilt so that you can see the reverse side. The quilt looks so much nicer using this material instead of muslin.

Other than getting through Thanksgiving and other things that go along with this season, everything is going well. I did go to a nice dinner party that my home teachers invited me to. There were just people they home teach. It was a nice gathering.

David will be back from Alaska tomorrow. We will be going over to Debbie's for Christmas Eve. My car once again will have to cross the water and go on the freeway. David is a good driver so I trust we will be fine.

QUILTING RETREAT AND MORE

This is the new quilt top I made at the quilting retreat with Donna's help. The quilt will probably not be done until after the first of the year. We have to have space to set up the quilting frame. It will give us something to do after the holidays are over. David is here now and except for a couple of trips back to Alaska, he will be here until the middle of January. Thanksgiving will be wall to wall people. It will be fun. I like living this way much better than being in an Assisted Living Center. My sister, Elsie, loves living in her Assisted Living center in Lake Stevens. Those places are made for people like her.
Now on to other happenings. We were coming back from the Quilting Retreat on Sunday, Nov.6th. I had decided we could use my new car to go to the retreat. It was dark when we were getting back and we heard a rock hit the car. It did not really sound that bad but the next morning there was a large crack in the windshield. I just bought the car in July so that was upsetting. We got the glass replaced at the Auto glass place here in Sequim. I only had a $50. deductable on my insurance. This is only the second new car I ever bought. My other new car was the Kia Rio. It was only a little over two months old when it had a mishap. In November we had a bad wind storm that year and half our roof blew off the house. I always parked the car in the garage but I had to park it in the carport because we needed the driveway to the garage for the big dumpster to put all the shingles, etc in. We had a very icy New Year's eve that year and during the night someone took out part of our chain-link fence and part of the fence fell on the side of the car. It left a huge scratch that had to be fixed. Body work is so expensive but the insurance covered most of it. Then after we moved to Merrill Gardens my Kia was parked in their parking garage and a lady backed into it. Not a lot of damage but it did have to have body work again. All the eight years I drove the Kia I did not even get one ding in my windshield though.
Donna and Laif bought an auxilary heat pump for the downstairs. The installers came yesterday. One person put the unit in and the other was the electrician who had to do all the wiring. Yesterday was a miserable, cold day. It poured rain from time to time making it worse. Anyway, the guys were supposed to be here at 8am and were not able to get here until about 10:30. When Donna ordered the unit they said it would take 3 hours to install it but it ended up taking almost 6 hours. They had problems with wiring for one. The guy who was installing the unit had to leave for awhile because he had an appointment at 1pm. The truck he had was a large and tall truck. He drove it down the driveway so he wouldn't have to carry the units so far. When he was going back up the driveway he took out some of the the trim from the house that hangs over which was a pretty good size piece. I think I saw two big pieces on top of the garbage can. Donna said he was just about a quarter of an inch from taking out the gutter. Of course, they are going to fix it. He says it will look just like new when it is done. I hope so. Donna and Laif were not too happy about it. David missed all the excitement. I was going to go with him to see one of his friends in Port Haddock but I didn't want to go because the weather was so miserable so I just let him use my car.
The happy ending to yesterday is that everything is working great and it is so comfortable downstairs I can hardly believe it. This auxilary heat pump is supposed to take very little electricity. Last winter I just wore sweaters and used my electric throw to keep my legs and feet warm. I'm not even wearing a sweater now.
I think I will even be able to raise the dough for Cinnamon rolls downstairs, which I found out people are expecting me to make for Thanksgiving.

QUILTING RETREAT

Donna and I are leaving for the Quilting Retreat Friday. My arm is still bothering me quite a bit but I am still excited about going. David is down from Ketchikan and is staying with Debbie and Kent. We will be picking him up Sunday on our way back from the Retreat. I have been doing some reading on "Distal biceps tendon rupture". I am doing my best to exercise my arm. Turning my arm so that my palm is upward is painful right now. As far as I can tell from reading I will never have full strength in my arm. I wasn't planning on signing up for Tennis anyway so I guess everything will work out. I have a bruise right over my bicep area. I did not hit my arm on anything. My muscle is bruised on the inside but shows on my arm.

We are going to drive my car to the Retreat. I guess I should use it some. It is 218 miles to the Retreat. The Retreat is at the Best Western Parkersville Inn is in Washougal, WA. It is on the Washington side of the Columbia River aways from Vancouver, WA.

BOTTOM PICTURE--ME IN A SLING

I got my new desk and my new recliner Thursday. Today I decided I wanted my floor lamp by my new recliner so I managed to get myself into trouble. The outlet is behind the desk and I was having trouble plugging it in and I stretched my left arm so far trying to plug the lamp in that I heard a snap in my arm and immediately had terrible pain when I tried to move my arm. Donna took me to the emergency room of the hospital in Port Angeles. I have a Distal biceps tendon rupture. I need to wear this sling for a few days. My arm hurts anytime I move it. I did get pain pills. My arm will heal on its on and as soon as possible I will have to work on my range of motion but I am supposed to rest it for 2or 3days. Fortunately it was my left arm.

I don't really like the lamp that I have by the chair and will be getting a better looking one later. I think I will let someone help me plug it in.

Our quilting retreat is next weekend and also David is coming in from Ketchikan next week too so my arm better get better soon.

CABINETS AND COUNTERTOPS

Today I have a complete kitchen! Beautiful kitchen cabinets and a gorgeous countertop. We looked at so many colors of Corian it made my head spin. Finally we all decided on this color and it turned out so great. The burners on my stove are a gray which goes just perfect with the countertop.

I AM STILL AROUND

I will take more pictures after the cabinets are put in and the countertops are in. I have lots of things to do yet.

Dust

and

dust

and

dust




and put all my little things back in order.

I know I have not written on my blog since our trip. So much has been going on. We just got back from our trip and Donna and Laif decided to go ahead and get the sheetrocking and painting done downstairs. What a job to get ready for it. All the furniture and all the stuff I have been accumulating had to be moved. Laif did a great job on figuring out where everything would go. The worker was going to start the day after Labor Day. Dan and Heidi decided to come to visit over the Labor Day weekend. At that point we could still get to the beds. They stayed Sunday and Sunday night. We had a real nice visit. I was so happy to have them visit.

Finally all the work is done and Friday night I finally got to sleep downstairs again. Saturday Donna and Laif moved my furniture back in. Laif is putting up the kitchen cabinets. They look so nice. I was moving one of my small cabinets back into the bathroom and I dropped it on my left toe. It is all bruised and swollen. I haven't been able to wear my shoes yet. It seems to be better today. I have too much to do so whether it hurts or not I am going to have to get busy and straighten things up down here.

THIS IS IT-OUR LAST DAY

We have had such a nice time here in Atlanta with Diane. I am anxious to get home but I will miss Diane too. These last two days especially have been tiring. When you are talking temperatures 95 to 98 it is hard to walk anywhere. I have held up amazingly well for all the things we have done here.
This morning Donna and I took the Marta. We had to take two trains. The trains come every few minutes so it is not a problem.
We met Diane for lunch in the State Building. There is a large cafeteria with several restaurants. After lunch Diane took us up to see her office. She is on the 19th floor. What a wonderful view of the city you get. You can see the Capitol close up.
We took the Marta back to the apts. and both of us were almost to the collapsing point. After a short nap we revived pretty much.
Today I said goodbye to the little Kia Blueberry. I have a new car waiting for me at home. I almost forgot what it looks like. We have been gone for two weeks.
Now I have to get everything packed up. We will be leaving around 8am to get on the Marta. We just walk out the front door of Diane's apts. and cross the street to get on the Marta. I hope I can manage to drag my suitcase. Maybe someone feel sorry for me and help. Donna will have her hands full. Diane can't help because she has to leave on an earlier train because she has a meeting in the morning. The Marta takes us right into the airport. It is the last stop. Once we are there we will be fine as we are going to have our bags checked.
The happiest part of all-----WE WERE ABLE TO UPGRADE TO FIRST CLASS.
When we get to Sea-Tac Airport we will be going right to Sequim on The Rocket transit which will take us right to our door. Our neighbors, Marge and George will have dinner ready for us.

A NICE SUNDAY

Pictures from the Coca-Cola Museum. We met the Coca-Cola bear. Diane and I having our picture taken with the Coca-Cola bear yesterday.

We went to the Atlanta Ward with Diane. We met a few people. Everyone was friendly. Diane taught the Relief Society lesson.

After Church we had lunch and then went to the Historical Museum. We spent a long time there and still did not see everything. I spent most of my time going through the Civil War displays and watching the short films.

We didn't see a lot more. It got up to 96 degrees today and Diane's apt. felt the best. Diane had bought a bookcase and Donna helped her put it together.

Tomorrow will be our last day as we are leaving early Tuesday morning to catch our plane back home.

SHOPPING AT THE MALL

CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia We walked around in the CNN Building for a while yesterday. We did not take the tour. The buildings are really fascinating.
Today we were going to go to the Zoo but in 95 degree weather it wasn't going to happen so we went to a Mall instead. We went to the Perimeter Mall. It is a large Mall too. We also went to Target and I got my hair cut at "Great Clips". You notice we just went to air conditioned "Sites".
We drove past the Atlanta Temple today. There was a distribution center there so we all bought a new temple dress. I don't get to the temple much anymore but I will be ready if I ever get a chance.
We are going to Church tomorrow. Diane is going to be giving the Relief Society Lesson.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF SUMMER

Today while Diane was at work Donna and I went to the Aquarium. It is the largest Aquarium in the world. We spent a long time there. It is a fascinating place. I bought an umbrella stroller
to use as a walker. I would never have been able to walk as long as I did without it. By afternoon Donna and I were getting hot and tired. We had left the Aquarium and we planned to meet Diane at the "World of Coca-Cola"'. I asked Donna what she thought it would cost for three people to go back to the apartment by Taxi. Donna said get me an aid-car and there will only be two for the Taxi. After we took the tour through the "World of Coca-Cola" we did take a taxi to the Marta station. Donna and I really don't do well in 90 degree temperature.
The "World of Coca-Cola was very interesting to see. We saw a short film and had a tour then we were on our own. Everyone got a souvenir bottle of Coca-Cola when they left.
I think tomorrow we might go to the Zoo. I will see if I can manage that.

STILL IN ATLANTA

After Diane got home from work we went to Target and then the Lenox Mall. The Mall has four stories. It is a huge mall and had a Marriott hotel attached. We ate at the California Pizza. I was really tired when we got back. As I said before I love the heat but this heat in Atlanta gets to me.

Today Donna and I are going to the Aquarium. Diane has been there. It is supposed to be a really large one. We are meeting Diane after work and going to the "World of Coke"

HERE WE ARE IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA

We made it into Atlanta about 11pm.last night. As we approached the city there were six freeways. We were looking up at these tall buildings all lit up. I felt like a small cartoon character in a special effects movie. The apartment building that Diane lives in is very nice. It is huge. There are four separate buildings in this complex all very large. Our GPS guided us to one on the back side but thanks to the world of cell phones Diane guided us in. It is very difficult to find something in the dark when you have never been there.
As I said, the apartment building is very nice and very secure. You can't even get into the building without a key or the parking garage either.
I guess because I am the mother and probably because I am old I got special treatment. Diane gave me her bed. Diane bought two single air mattresses for her and Donna. Diane's "bed" is actually a queen-size air mattress and is almost the height of a regular bed. I was so impressed. It is extremely comfortable. I slept so good on it.
Diane's apt. is a one bedroom and very roomy. It has a large bedroom and front room and a very nice kitchen and bath. The bathtub is a garden tub which was a little bit of a challenge for me but I managed.
We met Diane for lunch. Donna and I took the Marta. As we were standing by the ticket machine trying to figure out what to do a nice policeman came to help us and even took us to the right place to wait for the train. Either Atlanta is the safest city in the nation or the most dangerous. There are policemen everywhere. You cannot walk a block without seeing a policeman. Everyone is so friendly here. We had to ask questions of a couple of people. We did meet up with Diane and had lunch at "Waffle House".
I love the hot Summer days but the heat here in Atlanta is almost too much. Donna and I were going to go shopping when Diane went back to work but we went home and took naps. We had already walked quite a bit. We decided to wait until Diane got home.
Diane is home now so I guess we will go shopping. Right now the temperature is 91 degrees but according to weather site it feels like 95.

GETTING CLOSER TO ATLANTA

Laura and Almanzo's Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansville, Missouri We finally got to the Rocky Ridge Farm. We thought we would just be there a short time and then be on our way to Paducah, Tennessee but we ended up staying there 3 hours. We had so much to see and also one of the ladies guides you through the house and the Rock house which Rose had built for more modern living for them. Laura and Almanzo lived in the Rock house for 9 years then moved back into Rocky Ridge. Both houses are on the same property. I loved the Rocky Ridge home best but Donna liked the Rock house best. There were so many things to see. Pa's original fiddle is there. Someone there plays it on regular basis. We had just learned in Church awhile back how a fiddle has to be played or it will "die". I cannot describe how beautiful the property is. Almanzo built buildings, made furniture. The house was built mostly from rocks and wood on the property.
We are staying in a hotel tonight in Poplar Bluff and will be in Paducah tomorrow and probably quite aways beyond. ATLANTA HERE WE COME.

WORKING OUR WAY TO ATLANTA

Yesterday we did not go to the same place as we planned. It rained all the way from St. Joseph to Branson (about 120 miles). we did not go to Springfield. We went to Branson instead. We went to the Fantasic Caves which is a ride through cave. At first I wasn't going to go but Donna talked me into it. I am so glad. It was such an awesome sight. The guide told us so much about the history of the caves. After that we booked a room in Branson and then we went to the live play "Sheperd of the Hills" which has been performing there for 51 years. It was great. It did not follow the story the same as the John Wayne movie. It was probably closer to how the author wrote it. I enjoyed it very much. It was 81 degrees when we got into Branson. The play lasted until after ten and it was still very warm outside. There was a funny incident during the play. The actor was saying something about how he could not believe an uneducated girl from the hills would not go with him, and a lady in the audience called out to him. He started laughing and forgot his lines, it took him a while to get back into character. He said he did not think this was an interactive play, all the time trying to remember where he was. It was fun. He said "I can't remember my next line". Anyway, the show finally went on, and it was great. Donna talked to a couple of the actors, and they said that they were some of the "new ones", as they had only been in the play for 10 and 12 years, and some of them have been in the play for 30 or more years.

KANSAS AND MISSOURI

Great Platte River Road Monument and Museum. We spent a long time here this morning.

This is the part of the river where the different pioneers took off to the West. This is where the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail and the California trail converged. The museum had some of the Mormon history as well. There was so much to see. The displays started with the mountain men and the pioneers and right up to the cars. This is also along the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln Highway was the first highway across the continental United States.

On facebook I said we were in Hiawatha, Missouri. That was wrong. We were in Hiawatha, Kansas. We did not go very far into Kansas and would have not gone into Kansas at all if we had not had trouble trying to get across the river. We were able to access a bridge from Hiawatha and crossed the river and then we were in Missouri. Even the big trucks were using this detour. We are spending the night in St. Joseph, Missouri. The reason we had trouble crossing is that many things were damaged from the bad flooding they had this last Spring. Even now we saw where some water was over the roads. Some of the bridges were closed for repairs.

Tomorrow we will probably go into Springfield, Missouri and probably be able to see the Wilder Farm in Mansfield, Missouri.

We are having a great time. This is a trip of a lifetime for me.

GOOD MORNING FROM SUNNY NEBRASKA

The pictures above are of the restored cabins I took when we went to Fort Bridger. Cabins like these in the 30's and 40's were where people stayed when traveling. These cabins are on the Lincoln Highway.

These are just like the cabins that my mother, dad, my sister and I stayed in when moving from Helena, Montana to Washington. You can see there is a little opening right next to each cabin for you to park your car. We had a new 1932 Chevrolet. The cars were not very wide then so the opening was not large, just enough room to park the car and get out. In the bottom picture you can see the "bathroom facilities". There was no water in the cabin. You had to go to an outside water faucet to get water. My mother was thrilled at one of the cabins we stayed at because the water faucet was right outside the door.
Yesterday I drove most of the day. Donna had not slept well the night before. We were in Wyoming and climbed to very high elevations. Donna is still having headaches from her Concussion and then the high elevations made her Asthma worse. We stopped at a Reststop up in the mountains because she was having trouble with her breathing and she needed to use her Asthma machine. Someone at the reststop told Donna they had to call an aid car for someone who was having trouble breathing.

I guess my lungs must be pretty good. I am so very fortunate to be in good health. My only "problem" is old age. I am so glad I can get around as well as I do. I am really enjoying this trip. I will have lots of good memories.

Anyway, we are through the mountains so Donna should do OK the rest of the way except for the heat. At least we have an air conditioned car which my parents did not have.

I can hardly believe that I have been doing all this freeway driving. The speed limit most of the way is 75. There are so many trucks I have to keep passing and a lot of the time I am close to 80 or above. You have to keep your speed up because everyone goes so fast. So this also a new experience for me and Donna says I am doing really well. I feel I am too and for me who would rather have someone else drive I am really enjoying it.

WE ARE IN NEBRASKA

One more post tonight. This is the house on the Bill Cody ranch in North Platte. We couldn't go through it as they are working on the flood damage. This not the house he lived in but the house he used for entertaining. It is very large. Bill Cody made a lot of money from his Wild West Shows.
The other site we saw was the original Pony Express station in Gothenburg, Nebraska. It is the original building but was moved to the site where we saw it. Each rider rode 10 hours at a time and then had to change riders and horses in two minutes all along the way.
Tonight we are staying in a Comfort Inn in Kearney, Nebraska. Kearney is pronounced Karney. Tomorrow we push on to Lincoln, Nebraska and then onto Kansas City, Missouri and maybe further--we'll see.

HEADING FOR CHEYENNE THIS MORNING

We reached the Continental Divide yesterday. We will be passing over it one more time. We are headed for Cheyenne this morning and then go as far as we can toward Lincoln, Nebraska, For two women alone we are doing good. The little Kia has been doing well too. The temperature has stayed good even up the high hills. In the picture if it looks like we are in the middle of nowhere--we are.

ON OUR WAY TO CHEYENNE, WYOMING

Fort Bridger in Wyoming. We left the hotel in Unitah, Utah and we thought possibly we would make it to Cheyenne, Wyoming. We made a few stops and by the time we got into Laramie it was 6:30pm so we just decided to spend the night here. We are in a Quality Inn. I drove about half the day. Through the mountains and through construction. When there was no construction the speed limit was 75. I even got the Kia up over 80 a few times. There are miles and miles of Sagebrush. We finally got to Little America. It was like an Oasis in the desert. We ate lunch there. There is a hotel there. Also green lawn and trees and picnic area. We went to Fort Bridger and spent a little time there and stopped at a couple of more Fort sites.
I wanted to tell you about the square cows I saw. I had been seeing cows out in the fields and one evening when it was getting dusk I saw these black "cows" spread out over the field. I said to Donna there are some more cows. She said those are pretty square cows. What I saw was actually bales of hay so now when we see bales of hay Donna says there are some more square cows.

WINDY MORNING

Shoshone Falls near Twin Lakes, Idaho. It is called the Niagara Falls of the West. The wind is blowing so hard this morning. We are going to have to go across the mountains this morning. Hope my baby car doesn't blow us too bad. Sorry--I said my car. It is Diane's car which we are trying to get to Atlanta in one piece.
Yesterday we went to Jennie's so we could see Jennie, Mike, Erik (who is staying there until Sunday)and the babies and Donna had not seen the house yet. Jennie made us a really nice dinner.
We stayed at a Best Western last night. At 11pm we had to change rooms because a little kid was running back and forth over our heads in the room above. We did get a good night's sleep after we got settled in.

WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO ATLANTA, GEORGIA

We left yesterday Wed. morning August 10th from Renton, WA and even with several stops we made it to Boise, Idaho. We are at a Best Western Inn. I woke up about 5:30 Mountain time and am working on my PC in the dark waiting for Donna to wake up. I have not taken many pictures yet. I left my camera in the car last night so will have to put pictures on next time.
We will probably go into Salt Lake today because Donna wants to see Jennie and the babies and their house. I am not sure how far we will get today but will keep you posted.
So far we are doing good considering that I am 83 and that Donna is recovering from a concussion from having a 10 lb. door closure fall on her head from the last hotel she stayed at.

ALL THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING SO FAR

We spent August 6th and 7th at Jennie and Mike house in Farmington (near Salt Lake). Jennie's beautiful kitchen. The whole house is very big and very impressive.

A tender moment with Kent and Debbie and their newest granddaughter, Addie.

The nice garden that Mike's parents have put in. Everything seems to grow so well in this area.

While we were visiting with Jennie and Mike, Donna and Laif were in eastern Washington and Idaho visiting with their grandchildren. They had gone to Silverwood and also had been celebrating Donna's birthday. As they were leaving the hotel Donna went out the door and the magnetic door opener fell and hit her on the head. The workman had been working on the door and it wasn't fastened down and it fell on Donna's head. She had to go to the ER. She has a Concussion. She had a cat scan and has no bleeding inside but she was in a lot of pain and she still has been having headaches. The part that hit her head they figured weighed about 10 lbs. It is a miracle that it wasn't worse or had hit one of the little ones. The hotel will be paying for the medical and I hope they will do more for her.
Of course this would happen right before our road trip. I was afraid we would not be able to do our trip but Donna says she will be fine. I may be doing more driving than I figured on.

We just got home from Renton this morning and are getting things ready to put in the Kia. We will be going back to Renton tomorrow evening and then take off on our road trip Wednesday morning, the 10th.

I will definitely keep an eye on Donna. I was doing some reading about concussions. The headaches can last for three weeks or more and some people get disoriented. Donna is a strong person and I know we will be watched over by our guardian angels so I know everything will be OK.



We will keep you posted as we travel along. Donna hasn't seen Addie yet so we will be meeting up with Jennie in Ogden and probably have lunch together. We will be spending the night in Ogden.

Above is a picture of Steven and Janet's children that we watched while Janet was at Cub Scout Day camp with David. We were in Portland on July 31 st and August 1st.

SUMMER IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, AT LAST

I just wanted to do a short post. We have a busy Summer planned. Donna and I went to Portland on July 31st so that we could watch Janet and Steven's children while Janet was at Cub day camp with David. We left on the 2nd to go to Renton (where I am now). Yesterday Donna and I just ran around and did a little shopping. Early this morning Donna and Laif flew to Spokane to spend time with Michael, Rachel and their children. They will be going to Silverwood for one day. Saturday morning is my flight to Salt Lake for the blessing of Jennie's new baby, Addie. I will be back on Sunday. Donna will be picking me up Monday morning and we will have to get the Kia all packed and be ready in a day and a half to start our road trip to Atlanta.

I am going to keep a diary along the way and take pictures. I will post on my blog along the way too. I know we will find lots of hot weather.

GETTING READY FOR TWO TRIPS

We are trying to get things ready for two separate trips, but yesterday Donna wanted us to drop everything and go to Carrie Blake Park. It was such a beautiful day. Donna fixed us a nice picnic lunch. We just sat and enjoyed our lunch and watched all the ducks.
After we ate, we took a short walk in the park. You can't walk all the trails right now because the park is under construction for Soccer fields.

I think we have things pretty much organized for our trips. We got the paperwork done on the Kia so now the Kia is officially Diane's.

Actually I am going to be making three trips. Sunday, the 31st, Donna and I will be all packed to drive to Portland. We will eat lunch after Church and head to Portland. We are going to take care of the girls and Christopher while Janet goes with David to the Cub day camp. We will be heading for Debbie's on the second of August. Donna and I will be at Debbie's until the 4th, then Donna and Laif will head to Silverwood. I will be going to Salt Lake with Debbie, Kent and Erik on the 6th for Addie's blessing. Kent and I will come back to Renton on the 7th . Erik is staying in Salt Lake for a few days and Debbie has to fly out for work. Then on the 8th Donna will be picking me up and we will be heading back to Sequim. In the evening of the 9th we will be heading over to Renton again after Donna's meetings. This time we will have the Kia and we will be leaving Renton for our road trip to Atlanta on the morning of the 10th. Hopefully, we will be in Atlanta on the 19th or 20th. We will be flying back on the 23rd.

This is going to be a lot of traveling for me. I am looking forward to it and I hope I can keep my energy up.

Donna has still been having a lot of pain in her thumb so yesterday after our picnic lunch she went to the doctor for a Cortizone shot. She has to keep her hands working. We will have lots of driving. We have a couple sites picked out that we want to see on the way. We will probably see a few more things. Donna got some maps from AAA that shows different sites along the way.

Wish us luck on our big adventure.

SEEING THE USA IN MY KIA RIO

No-These are not pictures of my Kia Rio. These are pictures of my brand new Toyota Corolla.

I can hear all of you sighing and saying "why does she need a new car". Well, I just wanted a new car. Yesterday after we went visiting teaching we took my car to Port Angeles so my car could get some exercise. I said to Donna why don't we just look at new cars. I didn't really intend to buy anything. I just wanted to look. This is the first car I looked at. I took it for a test drive. It is so quiet and rides so nice and the seats are so comfortable. We looked at some Nissans and some Fords and some Volkswagons and some Hondas but in the end I came back to this one.

Then I still couldn't decide about buying a car because I was afraid it might cause hard feelings no matter whether I gave the Kia to someone in the family or sold it. Donna who always thinks I should spend money said Diane needs a car more than anyone else right now. I called and asked Diane IF I bought a new car would she like my Kia Rio and she said she would.

So--I bought the car and drove it home and Donna drove my Kia. This sounds quite simple so far,right, but since Diane lives in Atlanta we were going to have to get the Kia to her so it was no longer simple.

We are finally working on our road trip to Atlanta in my Kia. I know that it is a long way and especially in my little Kia. Donna told me yesterday that she has always wanted to do a road trip and this will be the ultimate road trip. We plan on a week to get to Atlanta. We are going to stop along the way if we see something interesting. We are going to Mansville, Missouri for sure to see the Rocky Ridge farm that Laura and Almanzo built and lived there until they passed away. Many of the original possessions are in the house including Pa's fiddle.

We will have a weekend with Diane and also Monday so that we can get my car transferred to her.

We will fly from Atlanta on Tuesday, August 23rd and will arrive at Sea-Tac at 1 pm. Then we will be taking the Rocket shuttle from Sea-Tac at 3pm and it will take us right to our door in Sequim. I don't know just when we will actually get home because there will be other passengers on the bus to drop off.

I am going to the baby blessing for Jennie's new baby on August 6th in Salt Lake. It seems like a lot of traveling in a short time. We already spent a week in Cancun. Baby blessings are special and I am looking forward to going.

Donna and I were up until one am this morning working on details for our trip. I am going to bed now and get some sleep.

SUN IN CANCUN

I have been waiting to get some Summer pictures in Sequim. I will just use one of my Cancun pictures to remind me that the sun is still out there somewhere. This is a picture of our last full day in Cancun. For lunch we were just being lazy. We didn't go to the dining room. We just sat by the pool enjoying the sun and ordered lunch brought to us. By the pool they keep coming around taking drink and food orders.

I know I have not posted anything since our trip so I thought I better put a few words on. We got back from our trip on June 30th and July lst Steven, Janet and their children came to spend the fourth of July. They left on the 5th. It was so nice to visit with them.

Things are somewhat back to normal, whatever that means. There is always something going on here. Donna had to make a couple of trips to a specialist about her thumb. She now has a special made guard for her to keep her thumb in the right position. She has Degenerative Arthritis in her right thumb. Donna also got sick after we got back from Cancun so had to go to the doctor for antibiotics. She was actually starting to get sick before we left. That girl has more problems. She is much better now.

Friday was the start of the Lavender Festival. I went with Donna Friday morning to the park where she had to make announcements at the park. (Not on the radio). I walked around and looked at some of the booths. It was very nice Friday morning but by afternoon it was starting to rain. It rained on Saturday and even rained some today after Church.

Probably the most exciting thing that has happened was that the Ross store here finally opened. We went to the soft opening Friday evening. The grand opening was Saturday. I am really glad we went on Friday. Of course, I found some things I really "needed".

Of course, the most exciting thing of all is that Jennie had her baby girl. She now has two beautiful daughters. I am going down with Debbie, Kent, and Erik on August 6th for the blessing.

EL REY RUINS IN CANCUN

This is a picture of me with my taxi driver, Alfonso. He was so nice. We had him the day before when he drove us around to see some of the city. Alfonso works out of the hotel so I asked for him to take us to the Ruins. At the ruins, they let him in free to walk around with me. A picture of an Iguana. There are hundreds of them. They are very tame. They are fed by the museum keepers but if I had known we could have brought food for them too.

Another picture of the ruins. I walked quite a bit of the field. The grass is easy to walk on and besides Alfonso helped me everywhere.

Picture of the ruins. It was such a neat experience to walk here. It was just like you could feel how it was like for the ancient people who lived here. It is so close to the water I am sure they did a lot of fishing and also since the climate is warm all year around I am sure they grew crops.

Donna climbed clear to the top of the bigger wall here. She was having a little trouble coming down but Alfonso went right up to help her. Donna is at the top in the white top and blue pants.

Below is an article I got off the internet about the El Rey Ruins.

One of the most breath-taking sites in Cancun is within walking distance of most of the popular hotels. Amidst Cancun's bustling hotel zone are the ruins of of El Rey. Remains of an ancient civilization that used to be where the hotels now stand. Because they are so close to the hotels, it is almost unthinkable to leave Cancun without visiting these ruins. The most startling thing you will find when you get to this "Little Escape" from modern culture is the literally hundreds of Iguanas sunbathing among the stones. This is their Island paradise in the sea of traffic and tourism that is the Cancun hotel zone. Unfortunately, when the hotels were built, these Lizards lost their natural habitat. The El Rey Ruins became their new home. The Park workers feed the Iguanas, so they are quite tame. El Rey is extremely small. There are no large Pyramids to be found and explored here. However, there are large platforms and also round columns that Archeologists believe once held up large roofs.

SUNSHINE-Beautiful Sunshine

Today has been absolutely wonderful. It must be in the eighties but there is a nice breeze. We went out on the deck chairs this morning. You have to go out early to get a the best deck chairs. We had breakfast and I have been in the deck chair most of the day except for lunch. Donna went swimming and had a massage on the beach. Her neck had a kink in it from sleeping wrong, she thinks.

Yesterday was a very stormy day. If you think it rains in Seattle you should see it here. The wind blows so hard and the rain just comes down in sheets. We did take a taxi yesterday before it started raining so hard. We just paid the driver to take us around for two hours so we could see some of the city. We did go by the small tombs but didn't get out. Everything was pretty wet and muddy. Tomorrow we might get the taxi and just go out to the small tombs.

Yesterday we decided to eat at the little cafe down on the beach. It was between storms. We thought it was clearing up but we were wrong. We just started eating and the sky opened up. The waiter had to move our table back and then the water started covering the floor. We had both come down in our tennis shoes (big mistake) so we took off our shoes. The waitress gave us an umbrella and Donna kept our shoes under the umbrella and guarded them with her life. If our shoes had gotten wet, they would mold before they ever got dry. It was a long way back to the hotel and I was not covered very much with the umbrella. I was soaked clear through. My clothes were dripping. I was not uncomfortable because the rain was so warm. Donna saved our shoes and that was what was important.

Dinner was in the convention room last night. It was a cowboy theme and there was a nice show after dinner.

Tonight we go to the fancy dining room. You have to make reservations. Our dinner time is 7pm. Everyone says the food is great. We have to wear dresses or nice slacks. Donna and I are wearing dresses and our nice sandals. Again we have to go outside to get to this restaurant, but you eat inside. I hope the weather holds because if we get caught in a storm we will look like drowned rats.

I can hardly believe tomorrow will be our last full day. We have to leave Thursday morning. Even with the storms this has been a great vacation. This is a real tropical paradise. It is warm all year around. The water is so blue and I will always remember how the sand feels. It is like walking in talcum powder.

What to do when it is raining

I decided to stay in the room and read my Kindle, and Donna thought that she would like to go check out the gym.`


She started down the stairs...
and kept going - 67 stairs in all!
After 20 minutes on the treadmill, it was back up all 67 steps, across the entry to the hotel, back across the lobby, and finally to the elevators to our room. I think the stairs would have been a good enough workout.