January 8-22, 2022 Moving, Sickness, and Good Friends

Yikees!  It has been a while since I updated.  We have been crazy busy and sick again… 

As I last wrote on 1/7, we signed the papers for a new to us RV (pictures below).  That Saturday and Sunday, we spent boxing up as much as we could because we only had 7 hours on Monday to move everything.   All I can say is WOW..we have too much stuff.

That Monday, 10th, we showed up at the dealership and worked our butts off (it didn’t help that we woke up sick that day – more on that later.)  We left there and went back to the campground around five.  Then we moved boxes and other “stuff” outside and covered with tarps; picked up the cats from kitty daycare, picked up supper, and came back and crashed.  We were hurting..

So over the next week and a half, we slowly got everything moved in.  If it didn’t fit, it went to the Salvation Army or Goodwill or folks in the campground or the dumpster.

Also over the next week and a half, we started to learn all the systems.  We are still not there yet but we will be.  At this time, I do not have a gas oven but I do have an convection/microwave.  Since I never used a convection oven before, it has been a learning experience.

Another funny thing is that things are high – like the cabinets and the bed.  We have purchased stools to get to the top shelves in the cabinets and also to get into bed.  Too funny!

So since you are waiting, here are some pictures.  Some were taken while the RV was empty, some while it was being filled.

Looking forward:

We expect to take this chair out at home and replace it with a cabinet, similar to what we did in the Bounder.

Above the cab.  We are going to have cabinets built in here and will be looking for someone to do so.  (So if you know anyone, let us know.)

Looking back towards the bedroom:

Seating and dinette:

Sink, Fridge area:

And the outside:

The smaller RV has been an adjustment but we do like it.  It does fit better in places – LOL.  We will be driving next week so we will let you know how it goes on the road.

Now I am going to touch a little on our being sick.  We woke up moving day and felt like a ton of bricks hit us.  So to say we were hurting that week is putting it mildly.  Did we have C?  Who knows?!!  Tried calling around to get tested and the earliest was that Friday and it would take 2-4 days for results.  UNLESS we had a local doctor or wanted to wait hours in line or go to the ER.  So we decided to ride it out.  Andy battled a fever and extreme tiredness.  I had the tiredness but no fever.  We both lost our sense of taste.  We thought we lost our sense of smell until one of the cats used the littler box and the smell permeated the RV – LOL – Smell was still there.   I started to feel better on Sunday, 16th – finally got a good sleep without coughing badly.  Andy’s fever broke that Monday and he started feeling better.  I will say this..whatever we had zapped our strength and it has taken a while to build back our stamina.   So how are we now (25th)?  I am much better, mostly back to normal, but still have the cough. But on another note, I also had a sinus infection with this so the cough could be from that.  Andy is lots better and almost back to normal.  So hopefully we will stay well.  (It was an adventure – NOT!).

So how are the kitties doing with all this excitement?  Dusty, my older cat, stayed with us during the move and did pretty good the first day.  Gray and Bella were not happy with kitty daycare and were even less happy when they came back to their new home.  The first couple days, Gray howled and hid usually with Dusty.  Bella is my adaptable kitty.  By the second day she was checking out everything and just loving it.  Once we had a lot of the boxes gone, the other two came out of hiding and did their exploring.

As you can see, Gray is happy.

Bella above the cab with all the stuff:

Dusty deciding whether he wants to go there or not.  He finally did.

During this time, I also discovered delivery to Amazon lockers.  Since we needed a few things and I do a lot of Amazon shopping, it was nice to know I could get it quickly nearby. 

We did get out a few times too.  We went to the local Legion for steak night with Ann and Norlynn a few days before our move.  And we got together the day before we left.  It was great spending time with them and we will miss them as we head east.  But hopefully we will see them again.

We also got out to steak night at the local VFW two nights before we left – it was great to get out again.

We have been here since 12/2/21.  We did not expect to be but we have been blessed to be near good friends, have a nice place/park to stay and we met some great folks in the campground and at the Legion and VFW.  When we were sick, we realized that there were a few folks we could call on to help and let me tell you..that is a good feeling.  Yes, we are blessed.

So tomorrow we are off, heading east.  Stay tuned and enjoy today.

 

October 28, 2021 Flight 93 Memorial and Patriot Park

THIS IS A PICTURE INTENSIVE BLOG.

Last night it rained and as we headed to the memorial, we could see the fog lifting from the valleys:

We passed numerous farms and, of course, my favorite farms – marshmallows – LOL:

In 2013, Andy and I were at the Flight 93 National Memorial for the first time – here is the link to that blog:

http://thehitzels.blogspot.com/search/label/Flight%2093%20NM

At that time, only the visitor shelter, walkway, and Wall of Names was finished.  In 2017, my friends and I did a road trip here to see the newly opened visitor center and the trails that led thru the 40 memorial groves and the area between the visitor center and Wall of Names. 

It was emotional both times and was emotional again today.  The newest tribute is the Tower of Voices and we were so blessed with a little wind to hear them sing.

The Tower:

I made a video with my phone but all you can hear is the wind .

We made our way to the visitor center and museum.  The museum was awesome and emotional.  Sorry, no photography allowed.

The visitor center from above.  Notice the cuts in the building.  That is the flight path of the plane.

This is at the end of the balcony:

I know it may be hard to see but if you enlarge the photo and look straight above the d(in day), you will see a white line (which is the Wall of Names), beyond that is the gate and then beyond that is the boulder where the plane crashed.  (There are no words…)  I think this is the first time that I truly saw that flight path.

A view from the balcony facing the museum.

The balcony:

The Wall of Names:

It is formed from 40 individual marble panels engraved with their names.

The Ceremonial Gate:

If you enlarge the picture, you will see the boulder that marks where the plane crashed.

Here was the flight path.. Over this hill, upside down, over the wall,

Past the wall into the field beyond.

 

It was a very emotional experience.  There is a wealth of information on the Flight 93 National Memorial here:  https://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm

After leaving the park, we decided to see the countryside.  We saw a sign for Patriots Park and decided to go see it.  Oh My….

Here it is:

Awesome, isn’t it.  Each flag represents a person lost during the war on terrorism including the 13 service members killed in August at the Kabul Airport.

“The battle that raged onboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, prevented what would have been another awful tragedy on an already tragic day. In fact, the passengers onboard Flight 93 can be referred to as, “the first combatants’ in what came to be known as the “Global War on Terror”. Since that infamous day, millions of Americans have bravely served in the military and over 7000 brave men and women have lost their lives in the Nation’s efforts to eradicate terrorism. Thousands more have suffered severe and debilitating injuries. Patriot Park has been conceived as a place where our gratitude can be expressed.

The park was started by volunteers and is maintained by volunteers to honor our brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice. “

Their website and more information can be found here: https://www.patriotparkfoundation.org/index.php

What a tribute.

We continued our travels and came upon fields of the windmills – very up close and personal.

Chickens everywhere in our paths:

More marshmallow fields:

And even a cool covered bridge:

We ended our evening at the Somerset American Legion before heading home.

I will leave you with one last picture of today.

 

Enjoy today.

PS.  Sorry for some of the blurry pictures – still trying to learn my camera.

September 22, 2010 – Day of Rest and Small World

We did just what we said we were going to do today – not much.   It was nice just to hang out and putter – LOL!!! 

I did go thru the maps and campgrounds to figure out where (or what areas) we will be staying over the next week.  We need to be in Albuquerque, NM next Wednesday so I did make reservations at a campground near there for Sunday thru Wednesday morning.    So between now and then, we will be doing some traveling.

By late afternoon, we decided to take a little ride and ended up at the Legion in Topeka – very nice post.  The bartender, Vicky, moved into this area a few months ago from Niland, CA (the small town next to the Slabs) and use to bartend and cook at the legion in Bombay Beach.  She couldn’t believe meeting someone who knew where those places were.  You know, the more we travel, the more we realize how small this country really is…

Tomorrow we head west so stay tuned.

June 30 – July 1, 2009 Seward and Resurrection Bay

Our travels on Tuesday (30th) took us past the Chugach Mountains:

Turnagain Arm and the Mud Flats:

Towards the Kenai Mountains and Glaciers:

Over Moose Pass

And into Seward with a place right on the water (pictures below).  As we were setting up, we got acquainted with some of our neighbors and talked about this upcoming weekend.  On Saturday, there is a race up Marathon Mountain as well as fireworks, parade, and stuff going on all over town.  We were told that there will be an extra 25,000 people here by Friday – oh my!!!!   It should be interesting..

We found the local Legion and stopped by and had a great time.  We also found the Elks but they will not be open until Friday.  And we finished the evening with a great campfire on the beach.

Miles Traveled:

Routes Traveled:  141 Miles

Alaska:  AK-1 (Glenn Highway); AK-9 (Seward Highway)

On Wednesday (July 1), we first stopped at the visitor center to pick up some info, then checked out the laundry (I think I will wait until next week when I am closer to Anchorage), and at the hardware store for gold pans (yes we are going to try again – :-))

After lunch we walked into the touristy part of town but first a picture of our site:

How about this view (our MH is directly below the boat):

And more views along the way:

 

The mountain they will climb on Saturday:

 

Andy – The Self Appointed Harbor Master:

 

The small boat harbor:

A harbor seal (he was after lots of fish – :-))):

  More views:

 

Our bald eagle:

How about this little otter:

 

Every day so far we watch the sea otters and the harbor seals, playing and eating, and swimming all around the bay.  Last night Andy and the neighbor watched orca’s come into the bay (I missed it – fell asleep).

We booked a boat tour tomorrow to tour Resurrection Bay so stay tuned.  And, of course, a great campfire night.

I will leave you with one last picture:

Until tomorrow.