Munday's the Arizona Roadrunners

Las Vegas can be a fun place to visit. John had never been on the "Strip" before so we took him down to a few of the free shows and spent several hours walking around seeing the sights. These casino/hotels are all like tiny cities and require a lot of walking but we don't mind that part of it.. It was warm too so no need for coats or sweaters. ha! Another night we all went down to the Fremont Experience in old downtown Vegas. They have a light show every hour over head that varies and although we have seen it a number of times, this time it was different as we had expected. The best part of Vegas I guess I would have to say for us at least is all the wonderful buffets in town. Went to a seafood buffet on Saturday night at the Fremont that was very good and since then have visited a few others... hard on the waistline but when it's your only big meal for the day it's not too bad and all the walking helps too.

It was so wonderful to see the family again and to spend a little time visiting... all too soon we were back on the road (brother John and us) to Las Vegas for a little R & R before starting work in Cottonwood on October 1st. It is just a temporary position to cover our campsite for 3 months but even so it's nice to have a little break from working. Alex and Katy drove the car back and we each headed back to the land of the sun .... the new bridge over Hoover Dam is not yet completed as you can see from this photo. It does appear to be completed on either end and looks good from either side until you get to the gorge. Wow! This bridge work began shortly after 9/11/2001 and here we are 7 years later and still going.... Of course how do you finish this part? Am sure they can do it but no doubt it is tough. Hey, looking at how high this monster is - I for one have NO desire to ever cross it... am sure Early will feel diffently though. The road is much straighter and if th

The setting was at the Pouquette Homestead (outdoors in a lovely pine forest). This is a very special place for Reisa and easy to see why after arriving and taking a look around. Wonderful ponderosa pine trees and a cute little homestead that has been closed up for some time but wow, beautiful setting although a little rugged. The day was perfect with no threats of thunderstorms so that was truly a blessing. The wedding was not due to begin until 5:00 pm so did a little more decorating in the morning and resting up for the evening party. The wedding was truly lovely and fun. Reisa was a beautiful bride and Roy was very handsome too and they made a lovely couple. It was so great for us to have all 3 boys together at the same time and place! A long time coming and we had a few of our grands there too. Earl III brought both Karl and Amanda so we were able to visit some with them. Afterwards the reception was held at the "Sultana" in town on Main Street. Again, this is

Our ride over from Las Vegas to Williams was different. I rode with John and Bubba while Earl was joined by Katy and Alex. A stop at a Love's travel center outside of Kingman, AZ provided fuel for 3.75 a gallon! Wow! That was GREAT news... can you imagine that being good news... we are sick.. Be that as it may, we were happy and arrived early afternoon in Williams. Our new daughter-in-law is a wonderful girl raised for generations in Williams and is surrounded by her family and friends. We have visited this place before but now we get to see it with new eyes! Her family found a great place for our rigs to park side by side just on the other side of their horse pasture, so we were close to the action... After getting set up we did go into town and over to the Homestead for the rehearsal. Afterwards, helped out some with the decorations and then over to Reisa's family's place for a magnificent supper put on her Dad! He is one great BBQ Chef! Loved it and appreciated their hos

It has been a few years since we have been in good ol' Las Vegas... only thing that seems to keep happening to this town is the building continues on and on.. this place is so spread out and so huge! Nice and warm though... daytime temps running in mid to high 90's and lows in the high 60's to low 70's. Goodness, who would think it could be so warm this late in the year! It is a dry heat though so bearable although you can surely tell the dryness by skin reaction and sinus reaction... everything dries up! ha! I don't really mind just notice each time... did manage to get out to Ethel M's for a tour of her chocolate factory. She is the mother of Mars candy bars and is well known in this area. There is a nice botanical garden there on the premises too so enjoyed seeing how that has grown over the years too. Our stay here again was only 1 night as we were to meet up with son Alex and his friend Katy. They are traveling with us from Las Vegas to Williams, AZ for

Our stay in Reno was very short (overnight only) and then we had a fairly early start (again before 8am) heading south to Las Vegas. Normally this would have taken us several days a least to make this trip but we were on a mission... to get from Washington to Arizona in less than a week for a wedding on the 20th... so here we are zipping along at about 62 south on Highway 95 heading to Las Vegas... again Early and I switching driving seats every couple hundred miles or so.. this gave us all a little break to get out and stretch our legs. This was brother John's maiden voyage with his bird Bubba and he needed the breaks as much as we did or more. ha! The weather was nice and hot so no trouble there. Funny note, Earl and I were just talking about how cars used to heat up in hot weather. Guess that's one improvement they've made over the years that has really been beneficial but probably not noticed by many... Our trip was going along just fine until we arrived in Las Vegas

The Park here at Bend is so nice. Always enjoy our stays here. The weather was warm although this park is at 4000' so cool at night. Lovely setting though... a little later than last year so no sightings of all those frogs we saw last year - ha! It's tough when it's only a 1 night stay but at least we were able to get a bit of a good walk in around the park. Back on the road again and making fair time (from Bend, Or to Reno, NV), switching off the driving so I can get used to it again and Earl gets some relief too... Actually this rig is fairly easy to drive and although large it rolls along nicely. I love the jake brake! Going down a winding hill is not nearly what it used to be in the Bounder. This brake helps your other brake and it's very cool. We traveled a different road south this time and it was much easier. Love these back roads as long as they are paved with a little bit of a shoulder! Went through town of Alturas which we have never done before. Looking a

Although the campground did not officially close until Sept 21st we began covering signs and closed off driving access to the Island and boat launch on the 14th. One of our duties was to cover signs for the winter and lock things up. It has been a very fast 4 months of living here in the National Forest. A great adventure. Making new friends and meeting new people and learning a lot about how things are run out here in the campground world. The 15th we were up early and on the road a little before 8 am and heading south towards Bend, OR. A fairly easy drive although there was detour because the bridge we chose to cross over the Columbia River was closed. The detour did not add to our time unduly though so we went from cool temps in Washington down to very hot temps in Bend! Purchased new house batteries ( 6) before continuing to the Thousand Trails camp south of Bend at Sunriver.

The water is nearly gone from the channel now and the leaves are beginning to change color. Fall is here and the nights are much cooler. Our plans are still to hit the road again on Sept 15 and head south. The boat launch has been dry a few weeks now and although we have heard from others we have a little cinnamon colored bear, we have not seen him ourselves. We have also heard from others there are a flock of wild turkeys but we have not seen them either. The lake is still dropping but not quite as much each day. Not sure how much more they will drop it since growing season should be about over but then it is warmer in Yakima then up in our neck of the woods.

It was such a nice day when Joyce and her cousin Jan came to visit for the day. We showed off our little place and then took a ride up to Salmon la Sac and Cooper Lake. Cooper Lake is a very pretty little Alpine Lake with a walk in campground - very quite and peaceful. Enjoyed their company immensely and do hope next year we can convince Joyce and Dave to come up for a few days camping with us.

This little guy was very cute but oh what a little buggar! He insists on jumping on our little table whenever we sit out for snacks... he really is cute but I don't want him climbing up my leg and he will do tha t if given the opportunity! fun little guys but I am happy to leave them behind when we leave for the winter.

After having the little boys it was their older sisters' turn to come for a few days camping. These girls are really growing but we loved having them both. They too helped with chores and ran around climbing tree s and rummaging through the meadow looking for some sort of critter. They wanted to catch a squirrel so bad and bring him home. We knew their parents would flip besides it being dangerous handling wild animals (even little squirrels) - they were too much... what a ball we all had though and we were so glad they came for the few days.

Finally after months of waiting our little grandson Micah came to visit for a few days with his cousin. We loved having the boys. They helped us with chores and played down by the lake and generally ran around and just had a good time being little boys. We roasted hot dogs and they climbed trees and rocks and played kickball and ran after each other...

One of the many project is to keep the tables in shape by either grinding out the damaged spots or replacing boards... this is a lot of work since these boards are 3" thick and long. They have to be specially treated and as you can see by this picture the boards do get worn down with time. Earl helped put a few new ones together for Wish Poosh and hopefully next year we will be able to get a few more done. A lot depends on the weather for curing the sealent.

Lake Cle Elum was created as an irrigation dam for the farmer in the Yakima Valley. It is one of 3 lakes... before this lake it was just a river. Now, and we do not know when this dam was made, however the process now is to allow the lake to "fill up" with snow melt in the spring and then gradually release the water for the farmers in the Yakima Valley. There are actually 3 lakes intended for this purpose however we have learned that Lake Kachess is not releasing water any more as more people have built docks on the lake and our guess is they are fighting the irrigation thing. Anyway, our lake filled up later than normal this year about 2 weeks due to the heavy snow pack and the high water was around July 2nd... no sooner had the lake filled (10 mile long lake) they started letting out about 2 feet a day (a lot of water considering the lake is 10 miles long)... The water fills in the channel and goes up a stream which is what is reflected in this picture. This picture wa

Had to share a picture of Nicky! She belongs to our Managers however since they live in our park at Wish Poosh we see her almost daily. No one greets you with as much enthusiasm as Nicky. Her whole body shakes when she gets excited and thinks she is going to get a cookie or a pat from Earl and Cyndy... She has been great fun ...

It is always nice to have visitors especially family and friend... We have had many this past month including sister-in-law Therese and the girls along with the newest addition to the family Hamilton! They only stayed a few hours but it was wonderful to see them as always. It hardly seems possible but last we had seen them was in Yellowstone a few years ago.