larrypat
 
  My Profile  
 
  About Me  
 
  My Photos  
 
  My Videos  
 
  My Journals  
Offline
Background
Name: Pat
Birthday: October 8
Gender: Female
Status: Married
Location:
Santa Barbara, Rapid City, and Surprise
United States
School:
U. of Redlands, San Francisco State, USC, UCSB
Work:
My husband, Larry, and I are both retired elem. school teachers/administrators
Hometown(s):
Santa Barbara, CA, and Surprise, AZ
Quote:
I'm interested in connecting with others who love the RV lifestyle. I like golf, Pickleball, books, bridge, gourd art, winetasting, and, most of all, travel
    My Comments (6)

About Me

My husband, Larry, and I are currently living and traveling fulltime in our motor home. We stay 5 months or so (Nov. - March) at Happy Trails in Surprise, Arizona. We have two daughters who have beautiful families, which bring us the joy of grandparenting. Our #1 daughter and her husband live near Boise with their two sons, age 9 and almost 10 1/2. What a fun time we have with them! #2 daughter lives in San Diego with her husband, a delightful 4-year-old daughter, and a sweet baby girl born last September. We recently discovered the fun lifestyle at Happy Trails, an over-55 RV resort. The people are SO friendly, and there is so much to do. We love it so much we decided to buy a lot of our own, so from now on we plan to spend 4 - 6 months a year there

Interests:
Golf, Pickleball, gourd art
More About Me

My Photos (19)

All My Photos

My Videos (0)

This user does not have any videos.
All My Videos

My Journals (4)

Vacation with our two grandsons

Vacation with George and Chris, May 28 - June 5, 2009

   Our two grandsons are now 10 ¼ (George Patrick) and 8 ¾ (Christopher Lawrence) so they’re a perfect age for a trip to Yellowstone National Park – young enough to not be jaded and old enough to be amazed and thrilled by natural wonders.  Maybe those qualities will last their whole lives – wouldn’t that be great!  They’re also great friends, being so close in age, so even the downtimes weren’t boring.  This week they’ve had a great time in the coach as well as on our adventures.  They didn’t even argue much, for which we were really grateful.
   We left their home in Meridian, Idaho, Thursday morning, May 28.  It was a day’s trip to Ririe, Idaho, where we had reservations at Heise Hot Springs, a great campground in a beautiful valley west of Yellowstone and the Tetons.  The real thrill was the huge pool and long, high waterslide.  We had their bikes with us too plus we spent a day in Rigby enjoying their dad’s first triathelon race at Rigby Lake on Saturday.


   On Monday, June 1, we headed for West Yellowstone and the park itself.  Right away we saw bison and elk with their babies along the Madison River, so our cameras came out immediately.  We decided to view Old Faithful on the way to our campground at Bay Bridge.  Our first task was to stop at the visitor center, where we got the boys started on their Junior Ranger activity books, and then on to the gift shop where they bought their first souvenirs.  The grand ol’ geiser shot off at 4:52 p.m., within the 10-minute timeframe around the prediction of 4:47.  It was rather cold and drizzly so there was a lot of steam, but that didn’t dampen the boys’ enthusiasm for the eruption.  After Old Faithful we drove to our campground.  The only glitch in the day was that our front slide wouldn’t go out so we were a bit cramped while inside, but we made it work.

   Our first full day took us as far north as Tower Falls by way of Canyon Village.  The boys got about 4 pages of their activity book completed, including a visitor center exhibit (fascinating display of volcanic eruptions and worldwide hotspots – 2/3 of the world’s geisers are in Yellowstone!), a Ranger talk at Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (the park was actually named for the river, which was translated from the French, not for the stone), and several wildlife viewings. In Hayden Valley we saw a grizzly who had enjoyed a meal of a calf earlier so was just hanging out in the valley.  The ranger trained her spotter on it all day so we saw him in the morning and then again at about 4:00.  We also saw bison and elk in that valley. At Grand Canyon we saw Osprey and a charge-happy elk, according to the ranger. Later on a hike near Tower Falls, the boys saw chipmunk and squirrels.  Finally, we took a self-guided walk around Mud Volcano area – our favorite was Dragon Mouth, and we ran past the stinky Dragon Cauldron.


   On Wednesday, June 3, we woke to heavy rainfall with the temperature at around 40 degrees.  We stayed cozy for awhile, but then Papa got us going because he wanted more bear viewing.  We headed back to Hayden Valley (no bear but some great elk) and spent some time in Canyon Village and Fishing Bridge for the boys to finish their Jr. Ranger activity packet.  The rain was coming down pretty hard after lunch so we headed home early. 
   On our last day, Thursday, June 4, there was even some sunshine so we made the long drive to Mammoth Hot Springs.  On the way we walked the 1½ mile loop around Norris Geyser Basin.  George was particularly interested in the difference between geysers, mudpots, and steam vents.  Shortly after that stop we had our best wildlife viewing of the week – a grizzly at Swan Lake Flat.  In Mammoth our first priority was to pick up mail (oops – it had been misdirected to another post-office), have lunch, and go to the gift shop.  George had his heart set on buying a robin that demonstrated its real chirp so we decided to do a quicker viewing of the Mammoth Geysers and then head for Canyon Village by way of Tower (the complete loop takes all day so it was a bit much).  George got his robin though.  Priorities are priorities!
   Our drive out of the park on Friday morning took us through Teton Natl. Park, but I think the boys were on overload by then despite some beautiful views of the peaks.  We met our daughter Laura in Pocatello and gave up the boys.  Then we headed back to the coach -- a total of 11 hours on the road.  We had a big surprise the next morning when we woke up to snow blanketing the ground.  We still managed to leave Yellowstone through the east entrance, even though it meant driving over Sylvan Pass in a snow storm.  What an adventure that was!  Just as well that the boys weren't with us for that part. It was a great week, but Nana and Papa were ready for some quiet time alone.
 

Added: June 7, 2009
Views: 168 | Comments: 1 | Bookmarks: 0
All My Journals
 
  Comments (4)  
RockyMountainGirl
RockyMountainGirl says:

I never do this. I never leave exactly the same message to each one of my friends but I'm going to do it today. In the last month I have heard of two friends who have experienced a TIA (commonly known as a mini-stroke). One is a man in his 40s and the other a woman in her 50s. In honor of these dear people and all the loved ones my family has lost to heart disease I am sending this same message to each of my friends.

Jcofla has a profile here on AARP that you need to see. Please, take just a few minutes to read John's journal "Breakfast in Bed" and to watch three short videos about the American Heart Association's "Go Red For Women Day". Then take another minute to tell John thank you! You can find his profile here:

http://www.aarp.org/community/jcofla
Posted: January 29, 2010 9:11AM EST
RockyMountainGirl
RockyMountainGirl says:

CHRISTmas greetings from Colorado to your home on wheels, wherever you are parked today!
Posted: December 23, 2009 9:52AM EST
RockyMountainGirl
RockyMountainGirl says:

Are you headed back to Arizona or are you already there? Hope you are enjoying the weather wherever you may be!
Posted: October 30, 2009 10:51AM EDT
Add your Comments:

  Submit