Graduation, Birthday and Recitals

On Tuesday we enjoyed the evening at Ashleigh's pre-school graduation! In August she will begin Kindergarten. A few of us were talking about this...this will be her first of MANY graduations! Next year it will be her kindergarten graduation, then 6th grade graduation, middle school graduation, high school graduation and finally college graduation! Whew! When did we start having "all" these graduations?

Yesterday was Ashleigh's 5th birthday! We enjoyed spending the day with her. She wanted to go to "Dixie Cafe". We ended up going as a very early dinner since she had dance recital pictures at 6:00. The waitress brought her ice cream but didn't "sing" to her. Ashleigh looked at me and said "they didn't sing". I explained to her that there was no one else in the restaurant (no other servers and only "us") so we sang to her instead! That seemed to suffice! Then it was "home" to open presents, hair and make-up for pictures, back "home" to have birthday cake and get the "real" happy birthday singing! It isn't everyday that you turn FIVE, but I think this one was a hit! Next weekend (since this one is Memorial Day weekend) is her "kid's birthday party" so her celebration keeps on going! :-)

Tea and computers DON'T mix!

Had to purchase a new computer today. Our "old" laptop wasn't even a year old yet! Of course when you buy a new computer you have to "upgrade" and spend more than the last time! This has turned out to be an expensive lesson and I also get to say "I told you so" 'cause it wasn't ME that spilled the "full to the very tippy top" hot tea all over the computer! I was also very GLAD that we have dark carpet so it didn't ruin the carpet as well! Hmmm, do you think he'll listen the next time I tell him he shouldn't have food or beverages by the computer? I'm still waiting to see if the computer guru can save the pictures and documents I had on our hard drive and if by some slight chance the computer does dry out and work...it will become Don's and this one will be off limits! :-) Still working on installing the programs, etc. the old one had on it. I'm also considering an external hard drive so that I don't have to worry if some computer guru can save my irreplaceable pictures the next time something like this happens! Should have taken a picture of the laptop on it's side with tea still dripping out of it!

Did someone say "windy"?

We spent the week in Hutchinson, KS at a Monaco Wannagos rally. The Wannagos are a small chapter vs. the VERY large chapter of Monaco International. The rally was attended by less than 100 coaches vs. 400-800 at a Monaco (Intl. or “Come Home”) rally! It was a lot of fun, but very tiring as well! Breakfast is served between 7-9 and then they had various activities scheduled on different days. We had a “happy hour” each day, catered dinner, and various entertainment. Let’s see…we had a “Red Hat” luncheon, line dancing instructions, crafts, etc. One night they had a Bunko game, another we all got on a bus and drove to Wichita for a “chuck wagon” supper. Not only did we have a great dinner, but a “Cowboy” band as well. Another night, Carl Acuff Jr., had a show for us and last night we had a DJ and dancing. The best part about this smaller rally is I felt that I met a lot more people, had more personal conversations and got to know more about those that I did meet. I guess maybe at the larger rallies we tend to “hang out” with those that we know and rarely get a chance for more one on one with people. There were also Monaco techs there and the parts truck as well. One of the reasons we love our Monaco motorhomes is that Monaco takes very good care of their customers. Techs will repair two items on your coach, if your coach is out of warranty labor is free and parts are discounted. It’s nice that you can be at something fun and have problems taken care of! We don’t like to have problems, but with all the workings on a motorhome plus the affects of rolling down a highway (it’s like a perpetual earthquake), you have to expect things will happen!

So what were our thoughts on Kansas? Well, we started out with rain, then wind; had a tornado “watch” one or two nights, more rain for several nights, wind, more wind and finally a day or so of “warmer” temperatures! I think there were two days that we might have sat out and enjoyed the warmth, but that’s about it! On our way to Hutchinson we stayed in St. John, KS and took a day trip to Dodge City to see the Boot Hill Cemetery and Museum. It was neat to see, but it wasn’t open 100% as their season starts in June! One of the original reasons that *I* wanted to go to Dodge City was a brochure that we had picked up…it talked about a steakhouse in Dodge City. Our first stop was the “welcome center”. When we asked about the restaurant we were told it was no longer open! Oh man! They told us about two others that they thought were good. After the museum we headed for an early dinner. We decided on Casey’s Cowtown. When we first pulled up, there was only one other car in the parking lot. I went inside to even see if they were open! By the time we left…it was packed! I have to add that I had one of the very best filet mignons that I’ve ever had! It was scrumptious!

One day while at Hutchinson we took a quick trip to Yoder, KS. A “neighbor” at the rally brought me a “thank you” gift for letting her use my satellite internet. She brought me a candle that smelled so good. When I asked her where she got it, she told me “Yoder”. Jerri & Lloyd Wood, and Don and I headed for Yoder the next afternoon! Yoder is basically an Amish town. In fact, as we were driving down one of the streets, we encountered a horse and buggy going the other direction! Although we didn’t go into any of the Amish stores, we did go into several of the “touristy” stores. I found my candle and also went into a candle store where they make all kinds of yummy scents. They will also custom fill your containers! We decided to go into a local restaurant for lunch. It was packed and for good reason! All the sandwiches were made with home-made fresh bread! It was great! The prices were also unbelievable! Our lunch (for 2) with drinks was only $8.00! Heck, if we had eaten at McDonald’s it would have been that much! They also had several Amish servers there as well.

Jerri & Lloyd had “invited” us to attend the rally with them. We met them at the service center in Harrisburg, OR in February and had a lot of fun with them then. Our week in Kansas was no different. They both kept me in stitches! Don and Lloyd just really hit it off well, as did Jerri and I so it’s fun to spend time with them! We’ll see them again when we are in Wyoming in late June and most likely when we hit the service center again in October! They are both from Kansas (originally) but now have a home in So. California. Jerri was a great source for information and provided a lot of “fuel” for Don! I had mentioned to Don that I would like a pair of cowboy boots so he and Lloyd set off in search of some for Mother’s Day. The pair he actually came up with was too big since they didn’t have my correct size, but returning them was “no problem”. Jerri and I set off for Salina, KS where she knew of a large western wear store. I ended up with some really neat boots called “Star Baby’s! They are too cool! I have to admit though; I had to take them off last night before the dancing began! They need to be worn for a while!

Today our rally came to an end and it was time to say our goodbyes. The end of the rallies and our gatherings with friends is always sad, but we always look forward to seeing them again on down the road. We each head off in different directions, each one with a different reason for going that way. We headed south and east towards Arkansas where we will spend a few weeks. Our granddaughter, Ashleigh will be graduating from pre-school, turning 5, and having a dance recital all in the next few weeks! We made it as far as Seminole, OK today and should reach Cabot, AR sometime tomorrow!

A letter to my granddaughter...

Haleigh, six years ago you went to heaven. At times it seems like it was only days ago and at others it seems like a lifetime ago. There have been many days when I wonder what you would have been like if you had lived, if you had of been born healthy, if you hadn’t left this earth. And I can only imagine. You were the total opposite of your little sister, Ashleigh. You looked exactly like your Daddy. You had lots of dark, beautiful hair. You weren’t fair skinned like your mom! You would have had the most beautiful tan. You had beautiful eyelashes and eyebrows!

You never had the chance to see the room that your Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Great-Grandma put so much time and effort into. Ironically, it was themed “Precious Moments”. Great-Grandma made a comforter, bed skirt, curtains, diaper holder, etc. while I painted pictures of Precious Moments characters. Little did we know when your Mommy decided on that for your room that we really would only have precious moments. To this day I have a hard time looking at the figurines that they sell. The last one I bought was for your Mommy, after you went to heaven. I think it’s called “Heaven’s Gate”.

It doesn’t seem fair. To you, your mom, to us…your family. You never had a chance to do so many things. So many things that we take for granted. You never had the chance to run and play. Have a birthday party, experience Christmas Day, school, so many, many things. We never got to hear you laugh, giggle, watch your first steps, see your first loose tooth. For your birthday each year I send your mom roses. One for each year. Pink…baby pink. For me I buy balloons, put some “Forget-Me-Not” seeds inside and release them. One for each year. I always attach a little note for you. For your going to heaven date we donate money to the American Heart Association. For both of those dates I light a candle. Why do I do those things? To acknowledge your life, your existence, your importance in our life and to let you and your mommy know just how much I loved you. I never, ever want to forget you.

So many people have a hard time knowing what to say when someone loses a loved one. I think it’s even harder when it’s a child. I can’t stand when they say “it was for the best”. Best for whom? Or, well, she was only here for a few days…it’s not like you had years with her. Do you love your child/grandchild any less because you only had them for days instead of years? Just means we don’t have as many memories or pictures! I want people to know that you are my granddaughter, even though you are no longer here. Alive or not…you are still my grandchild, still your mother’s daughter, still your sister’s big sister.

Haleigh, while I miss you, I am so glad that you are no longer hooked up to all those machines. No longer struggling for every breath that you take. I’m glad that you are running and playing in heaven although I would so much rather see you doing those things here on earth. I hope you can smell the roses. Watch for the balloons drifting slowly up to heaven for you. If by chance they don’t make it, look down for those “Forget-Me-Not” flowers that are blooming here and there.

I love you and miss you!

Love,

Grandma

Our Next Adventure

One thing you may have noticed if you check our blog very often is that I’m not very good about keeping it updated! It tends to go in spurts! Make sure you check the “titles” because sometimes I like to sneak something in there…it’s a great feature that I can change the date/time!

So we’re on to a new adventure! Don and I left Southern California a week ago. Originally we had planned to head east via I-40, going through Arizona, New Mexico, etc. heading towards Hutchinson, Kansas…our destination this trip! One of the great benefits of this lifestyle is changing plans in the spur of the moment, or heading down a different road than the one that you had originally planned! Anyhow, Don happened to read me a post on his MCOA (Monaco Coach Owners Association) online forum. A MCOA friend of ours was taking a beading class in Las Vegas. Don asked me if I would like to go to it! What a crazy question! With a few phone calls, we were set and headed north instead of east! Once we got into our park in Las Vegas, Don noticed a fluid all over the back of the motorhome. A quick call to Monaco and we were somewhat set for service (at least on their dime)! So that meant instead of taking off from Vegas on Sunday as planned…it would be another day or two! Once another of our MCOA friends (Maribel & Bob Clerc) found out that there were two MCOA couples (ourselves and Glenda & Ray Roe) at Arizona Charlie’s in Vegas…they changed their plans and moved just a block from us! ( It made for some good times and we all had fun! Glenda & I went to our class on Saturday and ended up making a beautiful Victorian necklace. Glenda finished hers that night and next morning…me, well I finally finished mine today while we were driving down the road! Ray & Don worked on making a modification on the motorhome while we were playing. It was a great bargain…Ray loves chocolate chip cookies. Guess what they had on Sunday morning? ( We had a great steak dinner at Sam’s Town with everyone on Saturday night. Since we hadn’t eaten nearly enough, we decided to go to the Sunday brunch at Arizona Charlie’s, then Glenda, Maribel and I spent a few hours in the casino. Can’t say that we made a lot of $$, but we did have fun playing on a Rapid Roulette game! Rapid Roulette is an actual roulette wheel but you place your bets on a computerized screen. It was a little hectic because you have to place your bet(s) quickly. We learned just before we quit how to correct mistakes, that would have made it so much easier! Oh well…we had a lot of fun. I can be easily entertained!

Monday morning Don took the motorhome down to Freightliner where it was determined that an air conditioner hose had come off. Ended up being a little more complicated and they couldn’t get the fan to turn once they were done. It was the end of the day so they asked Don to come back on Tuesday morning. I spent the day running errands and such and when I was done, the Roe’s, Clerc’s and myself went to the new Wynn Casino and then onto Caesar’s Palace. We thought we were going to get an ice cream at Planet Hollywood, but with the “immigration walkout” on May 1…we were out of luck! Since I don’t want to “get started” on my views of THAT subject, I’ll just go on from there! Decided that it was probably our last night together, so we opted to go to the buffet at Sam’s. First we all stopped at the Clerc’s for an “attitude adjustment”! The guys headed home after dinner and the girls…well; we decided to repeat the night before!

Tuesday, Don headed back to Freightliner and I went searching for a couple of stores! Finally found the last one (Trader Joe’s) just as Don was finished (turned out to be a broken electrical connection). At last…we were once again on our way! We made it to an Elk’s lodge in Richfield, UT. No hook-ups, but a place to park for the night. There was a fifth-wheel parked there when we pulled in, but it was only the two of us for the rest of the night. Wednesday morning we pulled out fairly early. We made one of those “last minute” decisions and decided to get off the major highway (I70) and turned onto Hwy. 50. Actually, one of our deciding factors was a bridge we saw on the map that was over 1,000 feet above the river! Well….we’re going to have to go back to see the bridge. It was the Royal Gorge in Colorado and you can no longer take vehicles (especially big RV’s) over it! Since there was really no place to park alongside the highway and unhook the car, we decided that would have to be our “next” trip! We made it to a RV park in Gunnison, CO. *I* decided that *we* needed to take Tess for a walk since she had been cooped up in the motorhome for the last few days. There was this nice big field next to us (can you see where this is going to?) so we let her loose! She runs like a gazelle at times, or a rabbit or something…not sure you would call it dog! Anyhow, she’s running and running and have a great time until…she found something! Not sure if it was a bag of fish guts, bait or what but man, she rolled, and rolled and then rolled some more in it! We kept calling her to come back, but it was as if she didn’t even hear us. I don’t remember how we finally got her back (I think she was chasing something after her romp with the fish guts and then lost whatever it was). Once we got her back on her leash…she ended up getting a bath! Let me tell you, that water out of the hose was COLD! In Vegas we had been experiencing temps in the high 80’s to low 90’s! Not so in Gunnison! The night before the guy told us it had gotten to around 32 degrees! It was about 58 degrees as Tess was getting her bath!

Thursday a.m. we headed out once again. Today was “bridge” day! Well, once we got to the Royal Gorge and discovered it wasn’t actually a bridge we would be driving on we kept heading east! We thought we had gotten up in altitude in Gunnison at 7,500’, but on our drive we went over Monarch Pass…at 11,000’! Saw lots of snow in the distance and as we got higher it was on all sides of us. It was weird seeing so much snow in May, but guess its pretty common at the higher elevations! We finally stopped in Lamar, CO at the Elks Lodge there. They were so friendly. The bartender invited me in to play BINGO that night and invited Don back in for a drink. Had dinner and went back to “visit”. While I didn’t have any “luck” with BINGO I found myself sitting across from an older woman who lives in Kansas. In talking to her, I found out she lived in Syracuse, KS. Earlier in the day Don’s dad had told me that his dad was born in Syracuse and there was some other family from there. Small world…this woman knew of the Eyre family! I could have chosen any other table to sit at, but I picked this one! I think we both had a good time.

This morning we once again got up and headed out. Our travel plans for this trip were to drive slowly and enjoy some sights, but since we had the delay in Las Vegas, it wasn’t to be! Finally arrived in St. John, KS where we will stay until Sunday when we move to the Kansas State Fair Grounds in Hutchinson. We will be attending a Monaco rally where we are meeting up with a few of our Monaco friends. It should be a lot of fun! The park here in St. John’s is nice enough…not many frills, but we have full-hook-ups with 50 amp electric so we are able to run everything and anything I want (and even some I don’t want)! There are only the camp hosts and us, so it’s certainly not crowded! ( I think we are going to drive back into Dodge City in the morning and see some of the sights. The weather today has been cold and drizzly with some light showers this evening. We’re toasty warm inside and aren’t planning on going anywhere for another day so let it rain!