Just Modern Day Gypsies: GOOD-BYE 2011---WELCOME 2012

I know you all think I am a witch and now this proves it!
I hope you enjoy our fall through pictures...sorry it has taken so long!!

Dusty and Dylan on the ship used in the Black Pearl Caribbean Pirate movie and many others

No Dylan is not real gold coins..wishful thinking

We do enjoy the Delta

Our friends Judy & Sue came to visit and we went to Locke an old Chinese town that we use to take the kids too for Chinese dinner when they were little..remember Larry?? LOL

Judy

The restaurant we use to eat in, wasn't quit this nice in 1985

Sue, Judy and Dusty at our home for the winter Sugar Barge, Bethel Island, CA

You never know what you will find in the river....and when a man came into the office that afternoon and asked me if I had seen a red Honda...I started laughing and said your kidding right and he said no have you seen it and I had Dusty come and show him this picture and he says how did it get there....Hey man it's an island and your car isn't a boat!

Tina, Leslie and I on a Girl's night out

Bunco night with the girls, Shirleen and Barbara

Chandra..cute...

Bodega Bay Area

Lighthouse at Pt. Reyes National Seashore

Dusty and I at the Lighthouse

Can you believe this is the same day and only a few miles from the Lighthouse?!

Love the water!!

Tina's house, having a baby shower for one of the doctors she worked with

When this year began who knew of all the things that would happened to all of us this year!! Dusty and I started it out in Kinard, SC working for Gary and Marcia at Magnolia RV park and having fun travelling some of the eastern states. We had a beautiful Christmas in Charleston, SC, spent time in Ashville, NC went to Georgia and loved Savannah. But our weeks spent in Florida were the best....what a trip that was and we loved every minute of it. Then there were some family emergencies and life got a little rough, they smoothed back out and we had a great summer at Indian Springs Campground with new and old friends and family. Then we ventured on to WA state and visited states we had never been too and visited Dusty's family along the way. Our family got together for my parent's 50th Anniversary and then Dusty and I came to CA. Now as soon as we got to the first campground in Redding things started going bad fast and that is why this blog is so out of date, but since it is a new year will try to get back on regularly, no promises though!!

That's one bad ankle!!

Bikes bought, stolen, found, stolen and now ours again!!

The dock at Delta Shores, when we started it in 1985 it was Delta Isle

You know he was going to find a beer!!!

Home for the winter

Dusty and I took two days at a little Inn and enjoyed the Pacific Ocean

What a world this is and how lucky to be alive!

Reminded us of the Cliff's of Moore in Ireland

From sunny to foggy all in a matter of minutes..that is the Pacific ocean

We had just sat up at the campground and I was going to get online when there was a crash in the window and I grabbed my head! Thank goodness it was very warm and we had the window closed and air conditioner on, or that rock would have gone into my skull, our window continued to shatter for over an hour. They thought they could replace it the next day but after two days no luck on window and I had to get Dylan to Sacramento, so he and I were getting ready to go and Dusty stepped off the motor-home steps into a hole they had there and twisted his ankle bad. Now he couldn't drive but thought well waiting for window, no biggie. They got him dinner and after another day it was decided a window was going to have to be made. By this time Dylan and I are in Sacramento. We had our new bikes on back of car and since everyone rides bikes downtown, theft is a known thing when it comes to bikes, so Tina and I cabled them under the steps of her house. Yep...stolen bikes...long story short and it will make for a good story around the campfire this summer......we end up finding them for sale 3 days later on Craig's list and with no help from police we got some friends of Tina's and set up our own sting and got our bikes back!!!

On our way to the Lighthouse look how the trees have grown in the wind

Blow me timbers...this is where the saying must have come from

Ahh the ocean and sun (for a little while)

With bikes now back on the car we ventured off to our new home for the winter, Sugar Barge RV and Marina. We love the park and all our new friends and I know that after working in the office there I will be able to work any RV office. But the troubles still abound. The owner's dad is a kidney transplant recipient and has been very ill, Tina fell and broke her left foot badly two weeks before Thanksgiving and we (I mostly) had been driving back and forth from the park to her house which is an hour and half away to help her and Dylan out. So that brings us to Christmas. Tina decided on having a different Christmas this year because she wanted a fake tree but we couldn't find the one we wanted at a reasonable price so we ended up getting a Lighted Palm tree and had a Tropical Christmas. We turned the heat up and wore Hawaiian or summer clothes and had ham and pineapple upside down cake. We had a relaxing day til I got a phone call from my sister and has soon as she asked me if I had company and when I said "No" and she asked me who was there with me..I just asked "Who?" It was my mom. I had talked to both my parents on Wednesday and neither of them sounded good, but I had been more worried about my dad who has lung Cancer and it has grown 25 per cent and he can't quit coughing. but my mother we knew was at end stage liver disease and she had gone from going to see Christmas Lights with my great-nephews to going into a deep sleep. Dusty and I waited til morning to see how she was and make decisions, after talking to the Hospice nurse she said hours to days and we went immediately back to the RV park and got ready to leave on Tuesday to drive to WA. But when the phone rang at 6:30 am I knew we wouldn't make it and my mom was gone.
She went peacefully at home holding my dad's hand and that is how I would want to go. We got to WA late Wednesday afternoon and went to dad's and then we had the service on Friday. I hadn't slept much that night and I could hear the rain and wind just howling, a horrible storm and I thought "No what a terrible day to lay mom to rest", but the rain stopped the wind died down and and even though it was so cold we were able to say good-bye to mom and as we all finished the Lord's prayer at the grave site the sun came out and shone brightly for a moment and we all remarked how wonderful and then I knew my mom was with my brother.
Yesterday my dad unfortunately spent most of the day at the Urgent Care and Jan has an appointment for him on Tuesday. He is suppose to start Chemo again on the 11th but we will have to wait to see how his health is. So I plan on being here til after that. Last evening we had a wonderful opportunity though to end the year on a more positive note as Greg Howell my niece's boyfriend opened his home to us and had us for New Year's Eve dinner. There was Dusty, myself, our son Larry, our daughter Sarah, my sister Jan and brother-in-law David, my nephew Paul and his son Gavin, Patti and Paul, Benjamin and Evan friends of the family Jen and her two boys Conner and Logan and Greg and his two children Maddie and Logan. So our family was minus a few but we couldn't remember the last time we had started the New Year together and even tho it was the end of one year and passing of a dear loved one, we were still getting together to celebrate the beginning of a New year together. Who knows where our travels will take us in the following 12 months but I hope to take you along as we continue on our way!!

In November we rented a house with my niece Jennifer and her boyfriend Greg...What a blast

what a relaxing place

The Wino Group...Dusty, me, Jen & Greg

A man and his castle

Ahh..Love Birds..you even dress alike....

Cute butt Greg...what laughs we had at your expense..sorry..no not really LOL

I'll buy this vineyard

What a place..

Another pair of Love Birds...

We had our own car and driver, Joe

Engagement picture?????????

Finally found my size of wine bottle!!

Whoops look like loving wine runs in the family!!

So much fun...thanks guys

No it doesn't always sunshine in California...Sonoma area of CA

This why we had a car and driver...wine the breakfast of champions...

Dusty having his fruit of the day it just looks like coffee

You think we would go anywhere and not have a campfire and party???

Our first work camper get together

Our neighbor, friend and fellow worker Bruce

See Bruce had the "fake fire" we showed him how to have a "real fire" unfortunately the grass still hasn't grown back in and that was October

No I don't have a drink in my hand...

Picture out of order but I am getting tired, our little home in Geyersville, CA

I hope you are enjoying some our pictures from the fall...see we still continued to have good times no matter what, after all as we saw this week and as I've said many times before..."MY life changes with a phone call!"