A GRAND 4TH IT WAS! 7/4/2012

So, with one week only to enjoy our Lake of the Springs Thousand Trails Preserve we have relaxed, written, read, cleaned, walked to our hearts content, nestled in the eastern foothills of Marysville, CA.  Once again we have a bird that is territorially threatened by his reflection in our rear window of the trailer and spends his waking hours attempting to chase away his reflected enemy.

We are also kept company by several sets of quail parents and their little scampering broods, a few deer, a couple hummingbirds and gorgeous sunsets.

On Wednesday, Independence Day, we joined several hundred other campers in the parking lot below the lodge for patriotic friendship and activities galore, RV'er style!  Besides watermelon eating, shuffleboard, tye dying tee shirts, craft booths, a BBQ.....

...we were entertained by a 3 year old stunt cyclist.  This little guy accompanied by his older brothers was amazing on this little bike!

Then the parade started!  And what a parade it was!  Decorated golf carts powered by ancient Rv'ers led the colorful and noisy moving line up....

...followed by decorated kids on decorated bikes....

...followed by decorated carts full of free puppies....

...and then tons of dancing walkers!  What a site for the crowd on the hill!

Then we were given a chance to dance and visit while we listened to patriotic music blasted out by a DJ with a huge sound system as we all looked at the stands in the middle of the parking lot where the fireworks would be launched.  We waited for the dark to come.

People were sitting in their trucks, sitting on the lawn and surrounding the parking lot in our lawn chairs enjoying the wait by visiting and watching the dancing going on.

And the wait was well rewarded as the low altitude display of 30 minutes of color and light wowed us all.

We love our Thousand Trails 4ths!  Cowley Boys....do you remember the one in Washington on the water years ago with fireworks blasting from both sides of the bay and the 1812 overture blasting from the pickup nearby???

#12!!! 7/2/2012

On July 2, 2012, Jed and Kate Cowley gave birth to their first child.  This strapping young lad, weighing in at 8 pounds 7 ounces and measuring 21 1/2 inches is our 12th grandchild and is hereby dubbed Green Hornet because his dad says he has the hand movements of which only Kato would be envious. 

Here is Proud Daddy.  Only being wrapped like a burrito holds back Green Hornet's lightning fast karate trained hands from dazzling the nurses!  We were told his mother's labor and delivery was also pretty fast!

We are pretty excited about #12 and hope to see he and his parents next month!  Sorry, no pictures of mom and Green Hornet have been sent us yet!

RUSSIAN RIVER THOUSAND TRAILS 6/18-7/2/2012

In need of energy recuperation, we planned to spend a quick few days near Cloverdale, CA, just north of our kids in Santa Rosa, CA before heading east to the foothills east of Yuba City, CA.  But after the first couple days, we decided to extend it to a week.  Then when it came time to leave after a week, we decided we were perfectly happy right where we were.  So we extended another week.  So, we were here a full two weeks!
It is so peaceful here.  We spent our time by Wayne writing in his autobiography, Ann studying Church History and both of us reading to our heart's content.  Wayne is reading a 1300 page biography of Sacajawea and Ann is finishing up 2 books.  One is a Star Trek book and the other it The History of Joseph Smith, Written by His Mother.  We also went for walks, visited with fellow RV'ers, spent our evenings playing games, watched a couple movies, and had a visit from Wayne's brother, Cliff. He stopped by for an afternoon visit while he was in the area gathering research for the two golf magazines he writes for.

A closer view.

We also spent some time visiting and touring the small community of Cloverdale.  We spent one afternoon walking the streets of the little community and exploring the several shops there.  We ate lunch at a Drive-In Burger joint named Puck's and visited with a couple and a single older lady that we shared a table with.  It was a fun small community experience. No pictures that day.
We went to church in the small ward here both Sundays we were here.  Such a friendly ward.  We received 3 dinner invites.  We accepted one and had a BBQ with a group of singles that meet each Sunday afternoon to eat and read scriptures together.  We met at the beautiful home of Sister Allred.  She and her husband raised their family here and she has lived in this home over 50 years.  This is the view from the deck.

And our master BBQ'er, the Elders Quorum President.  I never did find out his name, but what a friendly happy man that just loves everybody!  Kind of a gentle Tom Spurgeon!  While here Wayne met up with a man that he had gone to High School with in Anderson, CA, David Tindall.  Neither one of us remembered each other, but we knew a lot of the same people and swapped a few shared experiences and memories.  No picture of him either.

These four were the only pictures we took the whole 2 weeks.  But, suffice it to say, we have met lots of people, made a few friends and have stayed very busy.  Tomorrow, July 2, we head to Lake of the Springs TT for about a week and then off to Brookings, Oregon for a week of camping with our son, Kevin and his family.