Home Sweet Home

Home never looked as good as it did after this trip.  Gary insisted on pushing himself to get home by last night, so he is extra tired today.  But we did make it to church and our usual after church breakfast outing with our wonderful friends.

I wasn't able to blog our last night on the road near Medford. Their wifi was down.  So here are the last two days, nutshell version.

After driving through every kind of weather except thunder and lightning, we arrived in N. Salem at Gary's favorite RV Park, Hee Hee Ilahee.  The next morning we met for a late breakfast with college friends Paul and Doreen.

I don't remember if we mentioned we also met with college friends Norm and Barb on the way up to Mom's.  Both visits were wonderful--got caught up on lots of news.

When we got to S. Salem we saw the Silver Thaw that Doreen and Paul had warned us about.  It is beautiful, but deadly for the trees and those who live under them.  It happens when ice quickly builds up on twigs and branches and the weight of the ice causes the limbs to break off and come crashing down.

We always have our last gas fillup in Medford at the Costco.  These interesting plants were blooming when we were there. Do any of you know what they are?

The Fall colors were in full display as we drove thru the Siskyous and past Yreka.  The dark green evergreens were the perfect background for the vivid colored leaves.

We saw snow on Mt. Shasta, which made us feel better about the drought until we saw Lake Shasta.  It was the lowest we've ever seen.  Very sad.

Thanks to great neighbors, our pool looked good and our yard was still alive, as were the houseplants.  We are very happy to be back.

On Our Way

Gary decided he felt good enough to drive the RV, so we left Mom's this morning about 11 a.m. and ended up in Salem, OR tonight.

It was really cold as we left Mom's--note the ice on the puddle.  Her pond/fountain was frozen solid.

As we drove thru Seattle, the sun was shining, the Cascades were showing, but no snow was visible.  I noticed that Rosie made it into my Seattle skyline photo attempt--check out the mirror.

The Space Needle brings back memories of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle.  We always need to say goodbye as we pass by.

As we headed south, it got colder and colder.  By Olympia it was overcast. By Vancouver it was an ice storm--sleet instead of snow.  By Portland we saw snow on cars and on the roadside.  Elsie was so cold, she required a blanket. I forgot her red sweater.  She hugged the heater whenever it came on.

We got to Salem where it is cold--about 32 degrees. It was raining when I took the dogs for their walk, but it has stopped raining and is just plain cold.  We're loving it!

So far Gary says he feels fine--unless he coughs or sneezes.

Brrrrr!

It was 38 degrees when I came home from Costco just before 5 p.m. tonight.  It is supposed to be down to 28 degrees in the morning.  Brrrr.

Fun day today--Arissa and Nick brought their kids and Gary's brother Alan and his wife, Karen, to Mom's to visit.

First order of business was a visit to the goats.  The dogs are getting more and more curious about them. This is the closest they've ever been to the goats.

Then little Alan and Abby serenaded us--Alan pretended to play the organ while Abby sang "Let It Go" like she did with Britta last Monday.

Karen and Mom had a good visit.

Alan enjoyed a very cozy dog time with Rosie snuggled up to him and Elsie leaning on his leg.  It reminded us of their Dad with our first dog, Daisy.  He loved to pet her and talk to her.

Alan and Abby are hoping to get their own dog soon, so they enjoyed special Rosie and Elsie time.

After they left I had a problem with yarn barf.









It took me over an hour, but I got it fixed!

Another Day at Grandma's

Mom had a skin dr. appt today.  Had to have a biopsy on her face.  Hopefully it will be nothing, but at 100, you never know. She is lucky she has made it this far without any skin cancers.  

Her friend Grace came to visit.  Kim also dropped by.  

Gary is getting a cold, but otherwise feels better.  Time will tell when we will be leaving.

Good dog, Bad dog

Rosie has been pretty good until tonight.  An old friend called and I was in "no dog territory", the living room, talking on the phone. Elsie came running in and stood right in front of me acting frantic.

Elsie NEVER ventures into "no dog territory",  unlike Rosie, who has been testing the limits since we got here.  I got up to check and there was Rosie, on top of the kitchen table with her face in the salad bowl, scarfing down the leftovers.  She had already eaten all the butter in the butter dish.  Thank goodness we had finished dinner.  All the chairs were pushed in, but she was able to squeeze past the armchair at the end.  Sheesh!

My nephew, Stephen, came over after the SeaHawks game for a visit.  He doesn't eat desserts, but loves shortbread so I made him a batch.  That is what he ate for dinner.  ; )








Gary sneezed really hard two days ago and had a rough time after that.  He is feeling better today.  He tried sleeping in a bed one night and is back to the recliner--much more comfortable for him.  He plans to leave here on Thursday--we'll see how that goes.  I won't let him try driving anything until Wednesday, the two week date.  Time will tell. I'll keep you posted.

What? No Rain?

Disappointed that we didn't see rain today.  Just some boring sun like we get at home.

Gary feels better every day.  Today he was bored enough that he wanted to go for a ride with me while I did errands.  He was able to test going over manhole covers (caused lots of pain last time he rode with me on the way home from the hospital) and speedbumps.  He passed those tests comfortably.  His biggest problem now is coughing and sneezing.

As we zigzagged around Edmonds, we found the train blocking our way. Gary suggested we head down to the waterfront where we saw the Edmonds/Kingston ferry on its way to Kingston.  It was a very long train with coal as well as other items loaded on it.

The dogs were doing the "goat watch" from inside today.  They figure Mom put in those low windows just for them.

Bill and Joann came over for dinner tonight. They are so much fun!  We had Chinese food, so I only had to make salad and dessert--and Gary peeled the apples for Apple Crisp.  Linda Z. gave Mom 100 apples for her birthday, so apple desserts are in order for a while.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

And I am loving every minute of this gorgeous rain and the soothing dark days.  I wish I could take it home with us. We sure need it.

Elsie is not a fan of the rain.  She stays under cover, even when she is doing the "goat watch" she thinks is required of her. This is our short haired, fast-to-dry dog.

Rosie LOVES the rain. As soon as she sees it raining she wants to be out in it.  Her ears stayed so wet for so long from running thru the grass and bushes that we got them trimmed. She still looks cute, but dries off much sooner.  She is very good--when I say "you are wet" she stops and lets me drape a rag towel over her and dry her feet.  Good dog.

Gary is doing better every day.  It has now been one week since his hard landing.  One week to go before he is supposed to do anything.  He is totally off pain pills, not even Tylenol the last two days.  He hasn't needed my help to get up all day (knock on wood) and was able to get dressed on his own except for his socks.  Very good progress. We may get home before Mom comes for Thanksgiving.

Britta left today.  The house is slowly getting back to normal, except that WE are still here.  Mom is going thru party and company withdrawal.  Britta put all the photos on a DVD and Costco developed them today.  Now the fun of seeing everybody again begins.

Update on Gary

Gary is doing better everyday. Coughing is still painful and when he had his first sneeze today he thought he was going to die.  But he hasn't had any pain meds for two days. Not even Tylenol today.  He looks better, too.  Since he went off the pain meds his balance is a lot better. He still uses Mom's adjustable cane whenever he gets up, but he is able to get up by himself a lot of the time.  Progress is being made.  He enjoyed getting out of the house for dinner tonight for Mom's actual birthday.

Mom and Britta always enjoy being together.

We all had a great time.

And I actually enjoyed putting gas in Mom's van when I saw the prices today.  Only $2.72 a gallon!
Whoo hoo!

A Hundred Years of Helen

What an amazing weekend.  Mom's 100th celebration ended up being 3 parties, two at her house with the distant relatives and one at the Nile Country Club.  It was so much fun.  By the end, Britta and I were exhausted and Mom was so energized she was happy to keep going and going just like the Energizer Bunny.

This first photo shows that Gary really did make it to the party.  He discovered wearing clothes other than warmups are quite uncomfortable, but he was able to enjoy a bit of visiting with various friends and relatives.  When I saw this photo, it shocked me how short I am in my family.

My brother, sister and I with Mom -- singing the birthday song before she blew out the candles.

Britta created a 10 minute slide show of Mom's life.  This photo shows part of the crowd.  We ended up with 101 people there to help Mom celebrate.

Andy, the accordion player is really, really good.  Mom wanted Britta to sing, so the two of them worked out a few songs.  It was so cute to watch Andy watching Britta sing--looked like a proud grandpa--he told her "you'd have thought we'd rehearsed".  He was pleasantly surprised and you could tell the whole room loved it, especially Grandma.

We weren't done when the party was over.  We had invited the out of town relatives over for dinner at 6 p.m. Sunday.  We rushed home, got Mom and Gary resting after changing into comfortable clothes, and got dinner ready.  This time Britta showed the 2 hour history of Grandma's life as people ate.  There's a lot of history in 100 years and Mom's life was quite varied and interesting.  Britta did a really good job on it.

I almost forgot to mention that we also had a pre-party party Sat. night. It was just a pizza party so those who had to leave early to get over the mountains could visit. Did I mention by Sunday night my feet were not just done, they were over-done?

But the fun didn't end there--on Monday two of the Peterson cousins came to Mom's with one pre-schooler and Grandma (our sister-in-law).  Britta and Abby had a ball singing while Britta played Mom's organ.

Then we had the mandatory visit to the goats.  Abby had apple slices in her bag and they sure look interested.

It has been a super celebration.  Tomorrow, Nov. 4 is Mom's actual birthday. We intend to be up early to watch the Today Show.  My brother sent Mom's photo in to Willard Scott--we'll see if she makes the cut.