Leaving California at last

We Left California on the 8th of July and headed to Laughlin Nevada for a few days,  we spend some time with Frank and Regina, stayed four nights at Harrah's and did not win any money at all.  We did have a good time anyhow, Joe and Frank played golf and we went out to eat with them.  We even went to a movie while we were there, and did a little shopping at the outlet mall.  We filled up the coach in Arizona where the fuel prices are a little lower, and headed to Boulder City for a few days.

When we arrived and got settled in the RV Park, we wanted to drive down to the lake a see if it still looked as pretty.  So we took a short drive down to Lake Mead, the water level was way down, much lower than usual.  We stopped at a small resturant up town and had dinner.  Tomorrow we will check out the new Pat Tillman Bridge that they built beside the Hoover Dam.

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We went to see the new Bridge that was built over the Colorado River below the Hoover Dam.  It was amazing to see all that it took to build this bridge, and to see how big the bridge is.  We can walk out on the bridge, I walked out a little way, then went back to the side (where I felt safe).  However Joe walked all the way from the Nevada side to the Arizona side and back again.  The wind was blowing so much out there, it felt like you would go over the side.

 

View of the bridge from the top of the dam

People walking across the bridge

View of the Dam from the bridge

Joe standing on the bridge after walking from
Nevada to Arizona and back

We stayed at the Elks Lodge in Boulder City Nevada, this is a very nice RV Park.  10 sites with full hook-up and right in the middle of town, next door to a great McDonald's.  The McDonald's had brass statues of children playing and doing yard work, it was so nice, they almost look real.

Visiting friends during recovery

I am recovering well from my surgery, and physical therapy is going well too.  I think I am doing better, and recovering faster than with my other shoulder.  Will be doing PT until the end of June and we are still hoping to leave California around the 1st part of July.  My doctor appointment is the 6th of July and we are planning to leave the next day.

We went to Harrah's Rincon with our friends Vince and Pam, stayed at Harrah's Hotel, and had a great time.  We won some and we lost some, we sure did have fun tho'.  One trip we visited 3 different casinos in the area all in the same trip, that was fun too.  We ate at the Buffet at all three of them and tried to decide which one was the best.  We always have a good time with them and they have invited us to go to the Angel's game with them a few times while we were in CA.  I couldn't so the first two times, but Joe did go with them and had fun.  The last time, I was able to go too. 

We also have been able to spend some extra time with our friends, Tim and Marcia, Ron and Bev, Kelly and Sipia, Sherman and ShaunMarie, and Tom and Sue.  In fact they are planning to have a cookout on the 2nd just before we leave, that will be fun, and so nice of them to do that so we can see everyone before we start out on our next adventure.

Our plans change again !!!

Our plans have changed again.......... 

I have to have rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder before we can leave on our trip.  I have been having problems with my shoulder for a very long time, but now it is much worse and after having an MRI and seeing the doctor, we have decided that I need to have the surgery now.

Three years ago, I had rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder, so went back to the same doctor, Dr Pratley, on April 14th. He referred me to a surgeon in Orange County. We saw him on Monday the 18th, and scheduled the surgery for Tuesday April 26th.

The physical therapy is about two and a half to three months, so we are now hoping to leave by the first part of July.  We are still planning to be attending the FMCA Rally in Madison Wisconsin in August.  I will not be writing in the blog as much for a while, but will catch as soon as I can.

Dinner and the fountain

When we arrived here in December, our plan was to leave around the beginning of March, well that did not work out, it is still bad weather up North, in fact there is snow along the Interstate 5 toward Northern California, so now we are hoping to leave in April sometime.  Like we always say," our plans are subject to change" that is our new motto now, because we are always changing our plans.  Sometimes because of repairs, or things we decide to do at the last minute, but this time it is the weather.

Joe has been playing golf at least once a week now, since we are here and he is having a great time, and his game is improving too. We are planing to go down to Oceanside to visit our friends Chuck and Cruz, and for a fundraser dinner for the Disabled Veterans. Some of our friends are getting together for dinner at Tim and Marcia's in a couple of days. That should be lots of fun, we always have a good time when we meet up with these friends. 

Tim, Ron, Sherman, Tom, Joe and Kelly

 



Scipia, Carol, Sue, Marcia, Bev and ShawnMarie



We had a great time at dinner, had steaks, baked beans, and salads, and lots of desserts.  The guys played Wii golf and the gals all sat in the dining room and talked and laughed.  The guys are all going to meet up on the following Saturday and work on Tim's fountain in the front yard.  

Hey, it look great, the guys did a good job so now they can sit down and have an ice cold beer (or 2) !!!

Friends from Canada

Our friends from Canada, Nancy and Gordon, sent us an email saying they would be in the Southern California area for a week or so.  We are so excited to see them, had a great time with them, Joe and Gord played golf several times.  They were staying at the Elks Lodge campground in Ontario CA so we went up there just about every day and spent time with them.  We always have a good time with them and we sure did enjoy their visit.

They were heading North, and they did not seem to be worried about the snow and cold weather up North.  They have family in Washington state and in Vancouver and were planning on being up there by the end of March.  We are not so brave, we are checking the weather reports every day, and trying to decide when we can leave and head up North.

We will see them again in September at the Mandalay Rally and in October at the Thor Diesel Club Rally, both in Indiana.

Super Bowl and Dolphin's Cove in Anaheim

When we are here in this area we love going to Henderson NV for Super Bowl weekend. We have friends who live there, Ed and JoAnn, they have a beautiful home in Henderson and they host a huge party.  A lot of  our friends drive from Southern California and meet up with them and more friends who live locally too.  We all spend 4 or 5 nights in the area and meet up for dinner, golf, gambling, and even breakfast and shopping a few times during the stay.  We always stay at Harrah's, and some people stay at other hotels in the area.  It is always lots of fun and on Super Bowl Sunday everyone meets up at Ed and Joann's for the party, lots of food, football and laughs. We missed this fun time last year because we stayed in Florida for the winter, so we made up for lost time this year and had lots of fun. 

Our motorhome had to have a few repairs done, so we left it at J&L Repair for the week we were gone, when we left Vegas, we went to Anaheim CA for 4 nights in our timeshare there, Dolphin's Cove.  It is about 4 or 5 blocks from Disneyland and a very nice place, we enjoyed our stay there too.  It was nice to relax and enjoy the resort, we went to a movie, and met up with our friend's Vince and Pam for lunch one day.  Joe checked out the local golf course and I did a little shopping. 

We checked out on our last day there, and went to Fontana to pick up our motorhome.  It was late when we arrived there, so we stayed ontside the shop for the night and met up with Charles and Jacob for breakfast the next morning before we went down to Thousand Trails in Menifee. 

Southern CA and our friends

We are having a great time here in SoCal. We are visiting with our friends, Joe is playing golf a lot and we have been pretty lucky to be able to stay at March ARB FamCamp and at Thousand Trails in Menifee (about 25 miles away from the base). It has been 2 years since we left here, so it is nice to be back.  We have even driven past our old house in Ontario and it looks real good.  The neighborhood looks about the same too.

Our friends Tim and Marcia invited us over to their house for Christmas, that was great. They had a lot of good food and great desserts, we had a lot of fun. It was so nice not to spend Christmas day alone in our coach, like last year.

Tim and Joe play golf almost every Monday when the weather is nice, but, we are getting a lot of rain here. One night soon after we arrived here, A group of us got together for dinner at Joe's Italian Restaurant, a favorite place near the base here. It was the two of us, Tim and Marcia, Ron and Bev, Tom and Sue, it was so good to see everyone.

We have seen Charles (Joe's son) and his boy Jacob a few times and have enjoyed being with Jacob. He is 5 years old now and we have not seen him in 3 years, so he is growing up and is so cute. We will get to see them a lot more while we are here.

We went down to our friends Chuck and Cruz in Oceanside for New Years Eve, we stayed there at their house for a couple of nights and had a lot of fun every day. We always enjoy ourselves with them. We are sure busy here, and having a great time too.