Monday, April 14, 2014

April Means Tulips

IMG_2510Today’s pictures were taken at the Holland America Tulip Farm in Woodland, WA.  This is a field trip that I always enjoy each April.  We avoided the crowds on the weekend by visiting the tulips on a Monday morning. 

IMG_2505

Dave and I have both been sick with colds that lasted about ten days, but we are feeling better now. IMG_2502

After arriving home from California, we have made a few trips to the Long Beach Peninsula to visit our “cabin”.  Our neighbors are disputing the boundary between our lots, saying that their fence was not erected on the boundary line as we had previously been told.  If they are correct, and we’re not sure that they are, our lot will shrink by 14 inches from front to back.  This means that our motorhome will barely fit.  But since we can stay in the park model, that is not a huge deal.  We had planned, though, and measured (we thought) for the motorhome, with both slides extended, to fit beside the park model.

IMG_2511

Dave installed a satellite dish at the cabin and soon we will be all set with high definition TV.  It only took three or four trips down there to get it all working.  Maybe he will write a blog about the process.  The park’s internet administrator kindly installed a wifi antenna on our park model, so we are enjoying speedy internet. 

IMG_2528

There are plenty of other things that still need to be fixed, like replacing the kitchen faucet and tweaking the bathtub/shower plumbing.  We are planning on having a shed built on the lot,  and we are looking into having a small addition built onto the park model which we will use as a utility room and laundry room.  And oh yes, the microwave stopped working, so we have added replacing that to our list of projects.  IMG_2518

IMG_2521

IMG_2536

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

My Blog’s 5 Year Anniversary

When I started my blog in April, 2009, the purpose was to inform family and friends about my upcoming open-heart surgery.  I had to be convinced by my daughter-in-law, Kiersten, that anyone would be interested in reading what I wrote. 

During my time in the hospital, Dave updated the blog for me.  It’s interesting for me to re-read all those entries made during that trying time.

But here I am five years later, feeling much stronger and better because of having that surgery to replace my aortic valve with an artificial valve.  Going through a crisis of health was eye-opening for me in many ways. 

My original blog didn’t contain any pictures until the end of December, 2009, when I included a few pictures taken at an RV park that we stayed in at Yachats, Oregon.  After I discovered how much fun it was to add pictures to my blog, I began to include pictures whenever possible.

I used to blog much more often and included many various topics in my blog, including the two big no-nos, politics and religion.  The blog gradually turned into more of an RV blog after RVers started reading and commenting on my blog. 

My first blog post was written on April 17, 2009, and on that date in 2011, our first granddaughter, Sophie, was born.  So Sophie will celebrate her 3rd birthday on my blog’s 5th birthday!

Sophie, March 17, 2014IMG_2499

Anya, Tim, and Kiersten—March 17, 2014IMG_2498

Dave and Carol at Pismo Beach, CA--February, 201402-03-14 Pismo Beach