Remember in my last post I talked about being flexible? Well, that's us! As we settled into our spot here in Green Valley, AZ and began planning our trip to California, Fritz confessed that his blood pressure has been too high and he really needed to just stay put for a while. So we canceled our plans to California and extended our stay here in Green Valley til the middle of January. 

Sunset at the RV Park

The Santa Rita Mountains

Virginia in the Santa Rita Mountains

We are really enjoying our stay here; our friends have been great hosts, showing us some of the beauty of the area in Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita mountains, teaching us how to play shuffleboard and pickleball. Their energy puts me to shame! Of course, I just finally went to the doctor last Friday to get antibiotics to finally kick whatever I have in the teeth, and have been slowly feeling better and getting my strength back. However, my months of relative sedateness caused me to wrench my hip on my first efforts at pickleball. So we're scaling back; Fritz is playing ping pong in the mornings while I do water aerobics.

The area is beautiful desert, just about 20 miles south of Tucson, alive with a number of cacti and scrub trees. Recent unusual winter rains have greened everything and some cacti are blooming. I've done a poor job of remembering to take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it! This community is largely 55+ which has its pros and cons. I miss the age diversity, but it's also nice to have so many activities geared for the senior age group! The slower pace, compared to Tucson, is very welcomed but it's nice to have the big-city conveniences so near.

It is quite a bit cooler here than I expected. We're at an elevation of 3,000 ft. and have been seeing lows in the 30s at night, with highs ranging from the low 50s to the low 70s. We're also benefiting from the remnants of all the rain California has been getting. But generally, the sun is shining, and when the sun's out, Fritz is happy!

So Green Valley is where we'll be for Christmas. We'll be thinking of all our family and friends scattered throughout the world, wishing each of you the joy of the miracle of Christ's birth. May the New Year find each of you healthy and happy. Til next time....

Unfortunately, being on vacation does not necessarily equivocate to being more healthy, as the curse of my Thanksgiving-time bronchitis visited with a vengeance and brought Fritz down as well. Hence there has been little activity to report and the big news was when I could finally sleep in my own bed again instead of sitting up all night. The beast persists for both of us nearly 3 weeks later, assisted by intense (and self-imposed) schedules. Here’s a recap of the events of the past several weeks:

I don’t know why I’m always surprised to get winter weather this far south, but it seems as if winter is taunting me that ‘you can run but you can’t hide’!! Our polar vortex brought a bit of snow and extremely cold temperatures (in the teens at night). I had to sit on Fritz so he didn’t just up and start heading west! Ha!

Well, we decided that, although Grove was a beautiful spot, it was just too far away from Tracy and family. So we pulled up stakes the Monday of Thanksgiving week and headed back to Bella Vista, AR. You do have to be careful making such treks, as natural impediments abound!

It was good to be closer for the Thanksgiving holiday so Tracy and I could shop and cook more or less together. We enjoyed a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner x2! Our menu was so extensive, we decided to break it up into two meals (also, none of the adults were feeling too great so it worked well to space out the work). We had a delicious prime rib on Thanksgiving Day and the traditional turkey the following Saturday. That Tracy is one good cook and did an excellent job at her first time cooking those meats. She even put her newfound canning skills to good use and canned me some turkey broth! It was also heartening to hear the kids mention ‘family’ as that for which they were most thankful.

We left Arkansas (sad face!) on Dec. 4^th, choosing the scenic route through the Boston Mountains and Ouachita National Forest. It was a dreary, drizzly day, and the scenery was well hidden behind the low clouds. All we came away with was a very dirty motorhome and a very long day. 

It was bittersweet saying good-by to Tracy and her family; kids change so much in a short time and it’s such a blessing to see Tracy and Mike so happy! But we were bolstered by their plans to visit us next summer. 

We spent the night in a picnic area off a secondary highway and found it to be quite a pleasant site. The next morning, we located a Wal-Mart parking lot, disconnected and went to visit Virginia, an old family friend who used to babysit the rowdy Johnson bunch. Later that day, we moved to the north of Dallas/Ft. Worth to another Wal-Mart. It was here the pump relay decided to quit ~ once again ~ so we had no water until morning when Fritz could acquire a replacement.

Saturday morning was quite hectic, with Fritz off to the auto parts store, returning to replace the relay, (so blessed with a resourceful man!) then we moved to an RV park that had an RV wash on site. We scrubbed off the red clay of Oklahoma (no easy task on 36 feet of behemoth!) before squeezing into our tiny site just off a major highway. As soon as we were parked, against all good wisdom, we jumped on that major freeway and drove right through Dallas to reach Fritz’s cousin, Lucille. Construction and accidents abounded and we arrived, frazzled, about an hour later (yes, just to get from one side of Dallas to the other!). Our efforts were rewarded with a delightful lunch and visit with Lucille, who is a recent widow.

We took another route back, on which was located a Costco AND a WinCo, two of our favorite stores that don’t exist in NW Arkansas, so made quick stops at both. We returned home exhausted.

Sunday, we located a small church near where my nephew, George, lives north of Dallas. It was so good to fellowship again, as we had been too ill to go to church for several weeks! Following services, we met up with George, saw his apartment and beloved Nugget (dog) and went to lunch. While Fritz and Nugget napped in the apartment, George took me to a few stores to grab some necessities for our trip. Upon our return, we had a friendly and close game of cribbage. It was good to connect with George again!

It’s been delightful to get to see so many loved ones along our way, but it is draining, especially when we are already running low on energy. So we headed west this morning, anxious to leave the big city behind us, and will go only as far as we feel like. Fritz is napping now and the slower pace is welcomed.

Next stop Tucson, where we’ll catch up with some friends and our niece, Delann, spending about a week there. We had originally planned to spend a month, but our friends are leaving to return home for the holidays. At the same time, we found that some special people will be in California during the holidays, along with others who live there we long to see. So we’ll leave the Tucson area around the 18^th and head for the L.A. area, then down to the San Diego area before returning to Arizona around the middle of January. It’s good to be flexible! 

So, guess I’ll have more to write about in the coming weeks. Til then, may you remember the real reason for the season and avoid being caught up in the commercialism that Christmas has become. Slow down. Meditate on the meaning. Spend time with loved ones and make your days count. God bless!

There hasn't been a lot going on, hence my hiatus from the blog. However, we did decide that we would move to another RV park for our next month. Loved where we were and the people there; they treated us like family. But they closed their restrooms for the season and, with so few RV parks to choose from, decided to head to a favorite spot of ours: Grove, OK.

Good-by Elk River!

Grove is on Grand Lake O' the Cherokees, and we secured a beautiful spot right on the lake facing west. We are treated to lovely sunsets most evenings, and there are great walking areas around here.

When up to capture them, we're also treated to the glowing colors from the sunrise behind us.

Moonset at sunrise

Unfortunately, we're 90 minutes from Tracy, and that's just too far away. We get together as often as we can, but it isn't often enough, as far as I'm concerned.

Last week Tracy and I went shopping for Christmas presents for the kids. That was great fun! And Fritz and I have been snooping around, looking at houses in the event this is where the Lord leads us if our house sells. Certainly can buy a lot more real estate for less bucks than in our neck of the woods!!

The weather has been beautiful! It was 72 degrees Sunday, until Mr. Polar Vortex decided to bluster in! We barely managed to kiss 32 degrees briefly today, and the mercury is sliding back down into the low 20s. Too doggone cold for a motorhome! We're supposed to get over a week of this! It's all I can do to keep Fritz from pulling up stakes and heading to Phoenix. Now I know we can't complain compared to our friends and family in the north; we're all suffering. I keep telling myself "at least we're not having to deal with snow". But even that's not true I've discovered, for 1-3" are forecast for this weekend. That would be equivalent (for the locals) to a foot of snow anywhere in the north! They just don't know how to drive in the stuff, and haven't the equipment to remove it! Ought to be interesting.....

We're looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with Tracy and family and are talking about finding a less-than-perfect RV park that's closer to facilitate that weekend's get-togethers. It'll be our last weekend to spend with the kids. I'm already getting melancholy about leaving. 

Until next time, may you all be counting your many blessings during this season, and may thankfulness become an everyday part of your life.
 

When I last wrote, we were worrying about rising waters. Turns out we were advised to move to higher ground after the next round of thunderstorms. We would have been okay, but I slept better knowing we wouldn't be swept downriver overnight! We moved back the following day. It's astounding how much water can pour into a river in such a short time!

Normally, the water is beyond all those trees in the foreground, and there would be beach and grass where the water is. For perspective, see the tree leaning in the background on the right? Fritz was sitting on the rootball of that tree just a few days earlier.

Since Maddox has been born, there's been less of a demand for my help as Mike took two weeks off to help the family adjust. We still try to get together a couple times a week. One day, we all met at a state park that used to be an old homestead where a photographer friend of the family offered to take photos of the Lindstrom clan. They sure are a good-looking bunch of people!

Later that evening, they joined us at our campsite, where we roasted hot dogs and made s'mores over a campfire. What fun!

A cloud hanging over the family's head since Maddox's birth was the knowledge that he has a whole in his heart. He was referred to a pediatric cardiologist in Little Rock. Tracy and I made the seven-hour round trip on Wednesday. The dr. ran an ECHO cardiogram on Maddox. He was such a trooper! The result: a Praise-the-Lord 'tiny hole' that may close on its own, but even if it doesn't, it should have no impact on his lifestyle! Follow-up in one year, just to see if it has closed. We enjoyed lunch and a beautiful drive home through the Boston Mountains near Fayetteville.

With all this free time on our hands, Fritz and I decided we ought to float that river behind our motorhome, the Elk. Today was the perfect day: 83 degrees and sunny! We set out before 10 a.m. and had a most pleasant float! Because the wind was contrary, there were times we were at a standstill, but in general, the river ran at about 2 miles per hour; a perfect speed. We were on the river about 5 1/2 hours, which was about an hour longer than we would have liked, but enjoyed it immensely.

Can you spot the blue heron on the shore?

Lunch on the Elk River

After all that sun and fun, we're ready to plan our next adventure. It may be catfishing on the Elk......

Til next time......abundant blessings to you and yours!
 

After kissing a lot of toads, so to speak, from Fayetteville, AR to Pineville, MO, we finally found a decent and affordable RV park to call 'home' for the next few months. What a load it has taken off us to have that settled! Unfortunately, our park is in Pineville, a good 40-minutes from Tracy's. Still, it's a nice location, grassy and on the confluence of the Little and Big Sugar Creeks that come together to form the Elk River (a popular rafting river). We understand there's catfish in that there river, and have been eyeballing some fishing gear to see if we can catch any....

Right now, we're a little nervous about being very close to the river, as flash flood warnings have already raised the level by 2-3 feet. There's a sign on an electric pole as we enter the park that marks the flood level on April 25, 2011. Where we're now situated would have been under several feet of water. Nice that we can move our home if we have to! Folks on the other side of the river weren't that fortunate....

On to more important news: After several weeks of waiting for Tracy's contractions to get serious, she was finally scheduled to be induced on Maddox's due date, October 9th. Doctors were concerned about his size, as she was measuring at 42 1/2 weeks when he was 40 weeks! I was home with all five grandchildren that day, as Jack and Kate are on a 2-week school break. Tracy went in at 6 a.m., and Maddox Frederich Lindstrom was born at 2:01 p.m. weighing a whopping 10 lbs. 3 oz and 22" long! He has a full head of jet black hair, and is just perfect! He has mom and dad's long fingers and toes and, apparently, their height! 

I loaded up his five siblings and took them to meet their little brother. They were so excited! Of course, so was I....

Today, two days later, we stopped in to see Mike, Tracy and Maddox on an otherwise kid-free weekend, and Fritz's birthday present was to get to hold his 14th grandchild (along with getting a yummy treat Tracy made for him!)

So....it's recovery time for all of us. It's been an intense few weeks and I've been to Tracy's nearly every day, leaving Fritz a virtual widower. We can expect to achieve a little more balance as the Lindstrom/Little family adjusts to its new equipoise. Mike is home for two weeks to be the guiding force behind that adjustment. We're so grateful for him! He's the calm in the storm, much like Fritz.


Speaking of storms, our last week at the "Hilton" RV park, as I was returning from Tracy's, a tornado siren went off. I was only a mile from home, so made a dash for it. The other RVers joined us in the laundry room until the all-clear sounded. More severe weather is expected tomorrow night. There is also a sturdy restroom/shower area here, if needed. Between severe weather and the rising waters of the river behind us, I don't think we'll be able to really relax until the skies clear early next week!

Fritz LOVES the old west. He has more old west movies than Netflix and is fascinated by everything about it. So it should be no surprise that Dodge City and Coffeyville, KS were on our route to Arkansas...

Our trip from Lamar, CO to Dodge City was fairly uneventful, as I recall. We stayed in a WalMart parking lot for a few nights, and it was one of the nicer parking-lot stays we've had! We had an open field to one side and parking lot on the other. It was level and quiet and, best of all, free! After resting up from the drive the night we arrived, we headed to the Boot Hill museum. It was originally a 'potter's field', so to speak: a place to bury those of ill repute or no means for a 'proper' burial in the Fort Dodge cemetery. While all the (known) bodies have since been exhumed and moved, the museum has recreated the tombstones originally found there. Some were quite amusing; some tragic. Much of the original 'boot hill' (so named because many of the occupants were summarily dispatched to the 'hill' still wearing their boots!) was cut down many years ago and parceled off. The museum has faithfully recreated many of the original town buildings, inside and out, using some of the original parts and pieces. It was a fascinating place, and we wore out before we finished the tour.  Here's some of what we saw:

Fritz was delighted to learn more about the heroes and villains of the late 1800's plains, and fancied himself a part of the history!

After lunch and a nap, Fritz returned to go check out the Gunfighter's Wax Museum while I poked around in an antique shop.

The City of Dodge City has a colorful history, the face of which was forever changed with the advent of the railroad. The city displays an old steam engine that once plied the tracks carrying buffalo hides and meat out, and living necessities in.
 
We stopped at Coffeyville, KS the next day, and enjoyed two nights in their delightful city park. The intervening day was spent at The Defenders' Museum. A seemingly odd name, but it was here that the Dalton Gang made a daring attempt to rob two banks simultaneously, and the townspeople decided they would not succeed. A local general store handed out rifles and ammunition, and the armed locals shot it out with the Dalton Gang....and won. Rather than memorialize the 'bad guys', the museum commemorates the brave townsfolk that put a stop to the pillaging of the local farmers (there being no FDIC in those days, if the bad guys got your money, there was no replacing it!). There is a whole wall that shows a picture taken by someone shortly after the gang members were killed, laying out the bodies up against a fence. So many townsfolk came to take 'souvenirs', none of the bodies had boots or guns, and some even had pieces of their clothing cut off. After watching a TV rerun on the story of Coffeyville and looking at many artifacts, we headed back to the motorhome to rest up for the final leg of our eastward journey.

We arrived in Arkansas the next day and it's been great seeing Tracy, Mike and all the kids! Tracy is very anxious for Maddox to make his arrival! In the meantime, we're ever on alert for that 
'it's time!' call.

Unfortunately, we are having a very difficult time finding an affordable long-term RV space. The place we stayed last time has really gone downhill, another place won't return our calls, and the place we're in for the short term costs $200/WEEK! We checked out two or three other places further away today; none of them work for various reasons. Tomorrow we're headed to just over the border in Missouri to check another. 

Next time I write, I should be introducing the newest member of the family. In the meantime, know we're enjoying reconnecting with kids and grandkids and helping out however we can.

Til the next time.....

In the past week, we've gone from "Devil's Orchard" to "Garden of the gods". Now THAT's quite a trip, don't you think?

When I last wrote, we had left Craters of the Moon and spent a quiet night in a lovely RV Park in SE Idaho. We misread the map and instead of traveling along Bear Lake (which is on our 'to-do-next-time' list), we ambled out through the SW corner of Wyoming into Utah. Our route took us past Flaming Gorge reservoir, which was a disappointment in that we never could get a good look at the water, but the scenery along this windy-twisty high mountain 2-lane road was phenomenal! If I shared all the pictures I'd taken, there'd be little room left for words! Here's one though, just so you get an idea. There is even a bit of the lake in there:

It was a long day's drive, and we pulled into a pleasant rest area outside Dinosaur National Park to spend the next couple of nights. The following morning, we headed up to the visitor center and got the list of hiking trails, then drove up to the museum(?). Oh.My.Gosh!!! They had built a building using a rock face as one wall that contains HUNDREDS (thousands?) of dinosaur bones!! It was astounding!

After gaping at the enormity of the bones, we decided to hike down a short (1.5 mile) path to explore more dinosaur bones protruding from the rock. We DID see some and took pictures. It was exhilarating to get some hiking in and to explore, up close and personal, the graves of thousands of ancient creatures overtaken in a catastrophic moment in time and held hostage there for their discovery by future peoples.

On this trail, we captured sight of another mystery in the rocks. What do you see? According to the Bible, giants walked the earth, and man and dinosaur inhabited the earth at the same time. I see here evidence of that. Of course, the National Parks system, which refuses even to use the time-divider B.C. and A.D., would never acknowledge it.

The next day, we took a drive deeper into the Monument to the cabin of Josie Morris, a pioneer woman who settled far back in the canyons of the Green and Yumpa Rivers to raise cattle and build her home. She was a divorced mother of three in the late 1800's, and lived here until just before her death, at age 90, in 1964. Can you imagine that? Her cabin had dirt floors and the surroundings were idyllic. She used box canyons beyond as a natural corral for the cattle. Fritz was quite impressed with the work she had done on her home.

 We regretfully left Dinosaur for the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It had been our intention to visit Rocky Mountain National Park (at 12,000+ ft.) and Denver, but the forecast was for winter weather. So we aborted that plan and headed southwest, crossing the Continental Divide just west of Vail. Again, we opted for an 'off the beaten path" kind of highway, which turned out to be a stomach-churning climb from 6,000 to over 9,000 ft. in elevation. Again, a narrow, two-lane roadway with little shoulder and less room for error. But my goodness the sights were astounding!!! The aspens were just beginning to turn their lovely golden hue, and the high-mountain meadows that give birth to the Arkansas River were pristine! 

We arrived in Buena Vista, CO earlier than intended and ended up spending three glorious nights in one place, with water and electricity and bathrooms! (Funny how treasured the simple things become!)  Friday, we drove the car over the mountains to meet up with some friends of Fritz's from Denver.  We rendezvoused in Manitou Springs for lunch, then they took us on a tour of the "Garden of the gods". More mouth-dropping beauty!

The cool, overcast day did not dampen our spirits at being in the midst of such beauty!

The next day we decided to give ourselves a reprieve as we had been going, going, going. We drove in to Buena Vista, bought some sandwiches and drove up to an alpine lake called Cottonwood Lake. There we had a leisurely picnic.

Sunday morning, we headed east, destination Dodge City, KS. As we traveled through eastern Colorado, we were struck by its flat terrain and absence of beauty such as we had seen, as though it were the ugly sister of a beautiful girl. Yet beauty can be found even in flat lands. We're still looking, ha! We passed numerous and enormous feed lots that made me pity the poor cattle there almost as much as I pitied my nostrils breathing in the stench! Today, we fought headwinds and a heavy mist to Dodge City, where we are hunkering down until the nice weather returns tomorrow to do some exploring. WalMart parking lot, today you are a bright spot after our night in a dusty truck stop downwind from a feed lot.  Got to take the good with the bad, eh?

The next few days will be spent exploring Dodge City and making our way to our temporary home in Cave Springs, AR. There will be less to report on so my next blog may  not be for a few weeks. In the meantime, know we'll be enjoying hugs and snuggles with grandchildren, some mother/daughter time, and greater opportunities to become better acquainted with our son-in-law.

Til next time somewhere down the road.....!

The past several days have covered the spectrum from "not doing THAT again!" to "not ready to leave".....

After fueling up both diesel and propane in Bend, OR, we traveled through some of the most desolate country I've seen in central Oregon. All I could think about was those brave pioneers and the hardships they endured through this harsh country. And yet, people today call such places 'home'. Hats off to them!

We arrived in Caldwell, ID late in the day, tired and ready to call it a day. We pulled into the WalMart parking lot and set about to disconnect the car. The battery was very dead. We were puzzled by the drained battery, as usual operating procedures were followed. Since, upon restarting the car the radio was on (and wasn't when we connected the car) we determined that the radio had automatically turned on. We've had this problem before and have taken it to the shop, but unless it's happening THEN, they can't troubleshoot it. So Fritz will pull the fuse, if necessary. Lesson learned; we now check the car more frequently.

I had been smelling propane since we fueled up that morning, and while Fritz was tending to the car, I checked the propane tank. Propane was leaking out and all I could thing was KA-BOOM!! Apparently, the guy at the station overfilled it and, with the heat of the day and the higher elevations, it was exhausting the extra fuel. It smelled awful and scared me, but was not the big deal I thought it was.

A fellow-Foretravel owner Fritz had met on the forum came to see us while there, and he and Fritz had a good time swapping stories and trading problems and solutions. I'm delighted he has found this comraderie of like-minded travelers.

We finally settled in for what turned out to be a VERY noisy night. So a WalMart parking lot in a college town is a 'never do this again'!!

The next day we headed to Hagerman, ID and the first RV park we've stayed at since we left home Aug. 28th. It was an absolutely lovely, quiet park in a quaint little town next to the Snake River. We explored the Hagerman Fossil Bed Visitor Center and were disappointed to learn there was nothing to see in the fossil beds themselves. We had a delightful dinner at a local restaurant and a great night's sleep. Refreshed, we left the next morning for Craters of the Moon in SE Idaho.

We had been by here before, on our way back from the 1990 family reunion, but had spent no time exploring. This time, with a nice, $5/night campground (no hookups), we spent time in the Visitor Center and went hiking to explore the many varied landscapes of this lunar-like place. Located on the Great Rift, where some time ago the earth's crust split allowing for enormous volcanic and seismic activity, there are mounds of rock that, as one long-ago preacher observed, appeared as the devil's vomit.

Our campsite

Enormous craters dot the landscape along the Great Rift. Below are some in the distance.
(note the tree growing on the lava dome at the bottom of the crater)




                                                                               

 After hiking up a huge cinder cone (below), we found a determined tree thriving at the top. Fritz, in a moment of admiration, became a tree-hugger!    

                                      

Walking back down the cinder cone

We were amazed that, in this harsh landscape, new life exhibited an indomitable spirit while the skeletons of age-old limber pines littered the landscape, even as others persisted. All in all, it was an other-worldly experience that heightened our amazement of the diverse beauty of our planet.

This evening, we are treating ourselves to showers and laundry in Montpelier, in the SE corner of Idaho. We were welcomed by an afternoon thunderstorm with blankets of rain that soothed my sinuses after so many days in the desert. Tomorrow, we meander through four states, destination Dinosaur National Park.

Thanks for joining us! Til next time somewhere down  the road....

Google is the BEST INVENTION! Thanks to info received in a search on converting pdf to jpg, here is our route map. The northern route is our TO Arkansas, and the southern route is TO Arizona. We've already taken the side trip to Bend, OR so will bypass on our return trip. Thanks for following us!

It's always difficult to say good-by to my mom. You know she's wondering if it will be the last time. Had a great visit with her, my sister, Carol, and her family. 

We left Tuesday morning and pointed south toward Bend, OR, with Fritz fighting fierce and unpredictable head- and side-winds the whole way. We finally arrived at the Fred Meyer in Bend and found a relatively quiet corner of their parking lot. To our delight, it is right next to an irrigation canal off the Deschutes River! What a pleasant place to dry camp! 

We met up with friends, Jim and Anna from Prineville, who graciously gave us a tour of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument areas (those that were open anyway. We discovered they keep reduced hours after Labor Day, and today wasn't one they were open!). Took a hair-raising 4-mile drive up to Paulina Peak which overlooks Paulina Lake. There were also obsidian flows from long-ago volcanoes that oozed out of the surrounding mountains. Otherworldly!

Paulina Lake on the right with Three Sisters in the distance

Paulina Lake to the left, East lake behind and obsidian flows to the right

Anna and Jim at the outflow waterfalls from the lakes

After a delightful lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Bend, we bid our friends farewell, but not for long! We plan to reconnect with them in Arizona.

Next stop Boise, where we'll see more sights and meet new friends.

Well, I am unsuccessful at uploading the route map. I have to figure out how to make it a .jpg file from a pdf. If anyone can tell me how to do that, I'd appreciate it! 

Til next time further down the road.....!