We're On Our Way!

Click on Dave's blog to read the details about how our water main got fixed.  The plumber and concrete borer came on Tuesday, a day earlier than we had originally thought and  they were able to install the new pipe all in one day.  That left yesterday as the day to pack the motorhome, forward our mail, stop our utilities, etc.  The rainstorm we had in the afternoon put us in the mood to head south!

After a couple of set backs this morning, which I'm sure Dave will blog about (slides wouldn't come out, step wouldn't come in) Dave managed to fix the problems and we finally left home around 10:10, about an hour after we had planned.  The drive was rainy with just a small amount of wind, and we passed the last hour listening to one of those online Trinity Church sermons that I talked about in my last blog.

We are settled for the night at Seven Feathers Casino RV Park.  There's a new Oregon state rest area here at Exit 99, but we headed up the hill to the RV park after getting gas at the casino.  We paid $3.36 per gallon for gas which included the discount.  We had seen gas much cheaper at a Pilot station at the Rice Hill exit--$3.15 for unleaded, but we didn't need gas at that point. 

The RV park is busy, as it usually is around New Year's, but they still have plenty of sites left for those of us who arrive without reservations.  The sites are a bit high-priced here--$34 after using both the casino discount and a Good Sam discount.  We're going to head over to the casino for dinner tonight and take advantage of the $8.99 rib eye special that's not on the menu.  It's also seafood night, so no doubt the buffet will be busy, also.

The temperature is unseasonably mild (55 degrees right now) and we hope that the warm temps continue until we get through the Siskiyou Mountains tomorrow.  The plan is to head for Corning, CA with an overnight stop at Rolling Hills Casino.

Christmas Surprises

Our Christmas Eve surprise was a major leak in our water main from the meter to the house.  The leak is under some concrete, which will have to be bored out to replace the pipe.  Since it has been Christmas, nothing will be able to be fixed until at least tomorrow (Tuesday).  We were planning on leaving for Pismo Beach this week, but our trip will be delayed for at least a day or two. 

In the meantime, we've been able to use our water as needed and then Dave turns it off in-between uses and during the night.  It makes me realize that I would not make a very good pioneer!  If the problem can't be fixed this week, Dave and I are thinking about turning off the water, which we do anyway when we travel, and getting the problem taken care of when we get back home in a few months.  To all the full-timers who don't own a stick house, this is a problem that you won't ever have to deal with!

On the brighter side, before the water main pipe broke, we celebrated an early Christmas with Tim, Kiersten, and Sophie on December 23.  It's always good to see them and Sophie was delighted to be celebrating her first Christmas.  One of the traditions that we started this year was to read the nativity story to Sophie.  In this case, we used a nativity set, "What God Wants for Christmas", that I ordered from Family Life Today.  It beautifully presents the true meaning of Christmas, along with seven boxes to open, which contain the angel Gabriel, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, a shepherd, and a wise man.  The final box contains a mirror (which Sophie loved) indicating that the gift that God wants for Christmas is YOU! 

Sophie, 8 months

Since Sophie didn't have a box to play with, she decided to play with the tag.

All that activity made Sophie thirsty!

Christmas Eve Dave and I attended a new church, Trinity Church of Portland.  The church meets at the chapel at Western Seminary in Portland and the pastor is Dr. Art Azurdia.  He is on the staff at Western and is a dynamic speaker.  We enjoyed the reverent, traditional Christmas Eve service and decided to attend church there on Christmas Day, too.  What a great service.!  Art  preached about how the true meaning of Christmas is often lost in the midst of the sentimentality of the season.  The true meaning of Christmas can be summed up in eight powerful words:  Christ came into the world to save sinners.   It was a powerful message, and good powerful Christmas hymns added to that message.

We are happy that the Trinity Church sermons are podcast, so we'll be able to listen each week, even when we are in Pismo Beach.  Click on sermon archives to find out how to listen to these fine sermons by Art Azurdia. 

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christmas Lights

One of the minor irritations of the Christmas season is finding replacement bulbs for Christmas lights.  The LED lights are efficient, but expensive.  The white LED lights look like they are blue, not white.  I like the colored LED lights, but again, they are expensive.  I do like the fact that they are not hot to the touch and are safer to use.

I am starting to get used to the energy-efficient bulbs, like the ones shown on the tree in the cartoon.  It remains to be seen if they will last as long as they claim, especially since they cost so much more than the old-fashioned light bulbs.

Don't get me wrong--I am totally aware of the true meaning of Christmas, and the Reason for the Season is not about light bulbs!  But Christmas lights do brighten up the dark, short days during December and are a reminder of the Light of our lives.

Jesus - Light of the World!

John 8:12

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

 

Home Again

Now I am back from the beach and I have full-time access to the internet again.  But I find that I'm too busy to post much on my blog.  What am I doing, you ask? Well, the usual pre-Christmas stuff added to my new hobby of sewing, sewing, and more sewing.  I still have a few more Christmas gifts to make, and I won't be posting any pictures of my sewing, at least until after Christmas.  I wouldn't want to spoil the surprises, you know?

Sunset at the beach at Cape Disappointment

While we were at the beach, I bought some lovely lighthouse fabric which happened to be on sale.  I got inspired to start piecing a quilt top using the disappearing nine patch pattern.  It's going pretty well, and even better now that I bought myself a 1/4 inch presser foot.   I ordered the new presser foot from Amazon.com and paid less than $4 for it--well worth the money.

Before that I was using masking tape to mark an edge for 1/4 inch seams, and that worked very well until I had to change my bobbin thread.  To open the bobbin case, I have to remove the masking tape.  That gets a bit tedious to do over and over again.  Thus, the new 1/4 inch presser foot is greatly appreciated.

A sneak peek of a piece of the lighthouse quilt

Since Dave and I were at the beach (Cape Disappointment State Park in Ilwaco, WA) for two whole weeks, we really felt like we were residents there. I bought my Christmas stamps at the Ilwaco post office and it was great to walk right up to the counter and not have to wait in any line.

In early November, Dave and I went on a day trip to Wildwood National Recreation Area along Highway 26 East, one of the roads that lead to Mt. Hood in Oregon.  The recreation area is free for those of us with the national park senior pass.  It's a fun place to go for a walk, and this time of the year the paths were virtually empty.

The Salmon River

Moss-covered tree

Now I just need to stop sewing and get my house cleaned, put the tree up, write my Christmas cards, etc, etc.  That's the goal, anyway.  ;-)

I'm Deprived...

...of internet, that is.  Dave and I are staying at Cape Disappointment State Park for a couple of weeks and there is no cell service here, which means no internet.  Even with an antenna booster, we can't get much of a signal.  If I want to take my computer to the jetty I can sometimes get a marginal signal.

So rather than drive myself crazy trying to keep up with my blog as well as read others' blogs, I'm just going to forget about the internet for a while.  How did we ever live without it?

I brought my sewing machine along to the beach and it's working out great.  I can use in on our dinette table, except when we need to use the table for meals. ;-)  I'm still learning how to quilt and working on small projects like potholders and table runners.  The quilt store in Long Beach (Boardwalk Quilts) is very nice and has a good sale going this weekend.  All my small projects seem to require lots of fabric. ;-)

At home I have made use of youtube videos to help teach me how to quilt, put on binding, etc.  Guess what, no internet here at the park.  Did I mention that?  So I have to either remember how to do the projects or invent my own way. 

It's true that the weather has not been too great while we've been here.  Today we are in Seaside for the day, and the sun is shining.  Yay!  Despite the storms, we always have a good time at the coast and stormy weather makes for good wave watching. 

We did not have to leave the state park for Thanksgiving.  A site opened up in our loop, so we moved to that site for the rest of our stay.  The wind was strong on Thanksgiving Day, so the trip across the Astoria bridge would have not been fun in our motorhome. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Now, on to the leftovers!

Our temprary ocean at view at Seaside, where I was able to post this blog.

Upcoming Plans

First, here's a correction to my last blog.  Dave's father served in the Army Air Corp, not the navy.  Thank you to "anonymous" for pointing out my error.

Daughter-in-law Kiersten's parents are visiting this week all the way from their home in Alaska.  This is their first time they will see granddaughter, Sophie, who is now seven months old.  Our younger son, Jonathan, has to work on Thanksgiving.  Never fear, we saw Jonathan as well as Tim, Kiersten, and Sophie this weekend for an early Thanksgiving celebration.

Dave officiated his very last football game of this year on Saturday.  He had to travel to Centralia, WA for an eight-man play-off game.  Dave doesn't have a Tacoma Dome game this year, so now we are free to leave for a trip.

On Monday we will arrive at Cape Disappointment State Park in Ilwaco, WA.  We'll be there for two weeks but we have to leave during the Thanksgiving weekend because the park is full.  During that time we'll head over the bridge to Astoria, Oregon.  There's a free craft fair in Seaside on Friday that I want to attend.  Then next Sunday, it's back to the state park.  One of the reasons the state parks (not just this one) are full during Thanksgiving is because many seniors (like we do) take advantage of the off-season senior rates of $6 per night for full-hookups. 

Originally we had planned to go to Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend, but canceled that part of the trip when we learned that Jonathan was available to visit us in Vancouver on Friday.  In the meantime, Dave got assigned to the playoff game in Centralia on Saturday, and I had another chance to visit Tim, Kiersten, and Sophie even though we had just seen them last Sunday.  I never pass up a chance to see sweet little Sophie (and her parents)!

Less than a month after we get home from this trip to Cape Disappointment, Dave and I will head south for our 2 1/2 month snowbird trip to Pismo Beach, CA.  We hope to enjoy some good weather during our stay in Pismo. 

During our current trip, we'll no doubt have rain and cold weather, but we still plan to have a fine time!

Sophie is dressed for winter wonderland.  She can now sit in a grocery cart.  She's scooting around on the floor and beginning to crawl on her knees.  Thanks for the picture, Kiersten!

Freedom is Not Free

Thank you veterans, today, 11/11/11, and every day.  And a big thank you to those who are currently serving in the military.  A special thanks to my husband, Dave, for his service in the air force during the Vietnam era, and to his late father, John, who served in the navy during WWII.