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.
 

We are in the eighth month of our first full-time year and have decided to continue this lifestyle for the foreseeable future.  The sense of community we get from RV travel is ironically so much stronger than we have in our hometown, even though we love it there as well.  A big part of that is Happy Trails in Surprise, Arizona, where we plan to spend our winter months, probably Nov. to mid April, on our own lot.  The rest of the year will be traveling, visiting friends and relatives, and making sure we've seen at least some of every state in the U.S.  We've agreed to a 2-year lease of our home in Santa Barbara and will be selling or giving away furniture and moving our best stuff into storage.  Our home base will be South Dakota, which, as many other full-time RVers have found, is very friendly to the RV lifestyle.

Part of the decision is the economy, but we're awfully lucky to have this option to help in the balancing of our assets.  Renting the house means we have supplemental income.  But we might have done it anyway because it suits us so well.  Right now we're in Benson, Arizona, with a group of 12 other couples from Happy Trails.  We'll be enjoying the sites in southeastern Arizona for 5 days and the comaraderie of friends.  Hikes, caverns, museums and historical spots, antique shopping, happy hours at 4, card games, etc.  Then we'll return to Happy Trails and the busy schedule of pickleball, golf, bridge and other card playing, potlucks, etc.  The RV travelers who read this will understand what a delight it is to have those fun times and still have the comfort of your cozy home with you.  Others might think it's nuts, but we know....

Someday we won't be able to do this.  That's the thought that all of us share.  We acknowledge it without stress; it's just a fact.  But in the meantime we're living life fully.

We spent the month of January at our daughter's home in San Diego, helping them out by providing daytime childcare so that baby Brook, age 6 months now, would be a bit older before going to childcare.  Our daughter went back to work mid December, and our son-in-law took care of the girls the rest of December.  In the meantime, he got a promotion and they decided to spend the extra on a nanny so Brook could be cared for at home and Toni could spend afternoons at home.

I wrote a message to our daughter and son-in-law, sharing some observations.  Here are some excerpts:

"As you can imagine, I've been thinking a lot about our month with you as it has drawn to a close.  Here are a few thoughts to record for posterity ( :) ).

1. Brook changed so much this month.  At the beginning, she had to work hard to grasp something, and sometimes it was accidental.  Now she reaches out purposefully.  She rolled over onto her stomach but got tired of that position quickly and couldn't roll back.  Now she can stay on her stomach for a few minutes, looking around or playing with a toy, and she can scoot backwards and sideways, and she can roll back onto her back. Today I watched her scoot a little one way and then the other, reaching out for a toy after each scoot, obviously trying to get closer.  (She didn't master it, but she will soon!)  Early in the month she was interested in toys but didn't do a lot with them.  Now she plays with them, shaking them and turning them over with great concentration, as well as putting the tags and protrusions in her mouth.  She is entertained by them and studies them. She was smiling easily before and laughing a little.  Now she recognizes people from across the room and smiles directly at them with great pleasure (what a joy that brings!).  She finds her toes and fingers, sometimes her thumb, for ready sucking pleasure.
2. As you said, my relationship with Toni "has reached a new level."  She said to me the other day that she could send me an invitation to her soccer game and we could come see her.  When I reacted with great enthusiasm and told her if she sent me something I would keep it forever and ever, she was so happy.  She's been hugging me lately and asking for me to do things like she realizes that I'll be going, and that matters to her. Remember when she said "Woo hoo!" upon see the vase after I changed it from a failed pineapple to a pink and purple vase for her room and then put little jewels on it? What fun we had picking out her flowers for that vase!  She also picked out several that she said, "These could be for my wedding."
3. Having conversations with you and Dwight after work was so comfortable and pleasurable to me.  Joking back and forth and hearing about your work and telling you about our day with the kids -- those things seem so little, but to me they're the core of our relationship, which also has grown this month.  It's not easy to have other people in your home for such a long time, and in some ways taking back your home will be a relief.  But I know we did give you something worthwhile by being here, and that makes me happy.

I'll always remember the pleasure of taking care of Brook and Toni for this month and of sharing in your lives.  We love our active retirement lifestyle, but taking a month out of that to share in your lives was not a sacrifice, it was a gift.  Thank you for that.

Mom"

Well now I'm finishing up this journal entry and preparing to leave Happy Trails again, this time for 7 months.  We'll be traveling in the northwest and Canada, including trips to both daughters' homes.  Soon we'll be enjoying Brook and Toni again, and rereading this journal reminds me of the foundation we created by spending an extended period with them.  We are so lucky to be grandparents!

The last month of the year is about to begin, and another year will soon be over.  It's awesome how full the year has been.  I finally uploaded some photos, a selection designed to illustrate a few highlights.  The year began in Palm Springs, where Larry and I first learned how to play Pickleball.  Now we play 3 - 4 days a week at Happy Trails in Surprise, Arizona.  February's highlight was flying to Orlando to share George and Chris's week at Disney World.  At age 9 and 7 1/2, they were at a great age to fully experience the wonder of Disney.  February also started our first experience at an over-55 RV resort, Palm Creek in Casa Grande, Arizona.  We loved the lifestyle so much that we're back in it now.  After returning to California, we missed Pickleball but played golf and visited family (Sister Sandy and family in Kansas City and Cara's family in San Diego).  In May/June we flew to Kauai for our every other Hawaiian vacation, joined this time by good friends Rick and Marolyn.  Part of the summer was enjoyed in Santa Barbara getting our house ready for our absence during our first year-long RV adventure.  Mid-July to mid-August was full of Colorado wonders, and September was all about Brook's birth.  Participating in the birth of my fourth and probably last grandchild was too awesome to describe!  In October we started our love-affair with Happy Trails in Surprise, Arizona, which I think will become significant for the rest of our lives.  More on that later!