Thanksgiving 2014

Last year I posted my Thanksgiving blog and told the story of my Mayflower Ancestry and how I found out about it.  You can read that blog here if you wish (will open in a new window).

This year I am going to give a recap of some of our memorable moments of the first eight months of 2014…..and remember, memorable does not always mean “great moments”.  Above is Fountain Hills near McDowell Regional Park near Phoenix where we opened up our new year.

   

After getting back to Florida we visited a few places such as Hillsborough State Park, and we also enjoyed many a wonderful Florida Sunset, like this one setting over Honeymoon Island.

Of course we were getting ready for Alaska, and I put a timer up on our website 110 days before we were planning to leave.

   

Then our plans were changed as our Jayco Melbourne (top left safely in storage) turned into ashes after the storage lot fire (top right), and we got another Class C, our Dynamax Isata (bottom picture parked at a rest area on our way back to Florida from Houston where we bought it.)

On our way out to California we stopped by Fayetteville to see my son Ryan and he and I did a tour of the campus of the University of Arkansas where both he and Michael graduated.

We also stopped at Salt Lake City to see Stephanie, but not only did we see her, we brought her to California with us for my mom’s big BBQ on Saturday, May 10th.

   

   

Lots of family were there, around 60 or so. Upper left is me with two of my brothers, Roger and Bob.  Upper right are my two sisters Sandy and Patti.  Bottom left is my dad with Patti.  Bottom right is my son Michael, who lives in Oakland and attends the University of California Berkley, Stephanie, me and Marcia, who is sitting in her GoGo.

     

The BIG reason we decided to stay in California for the summer is that mom had hip surgery in early June (upper left).  But nothing keeps that lady down because she came home for two visits (upper right and bottom left) before making it home for good in less than three weeks…not bad for a 84 year old.

   

   

Over the summer we did get some work done on the new to us motorhome.  First, if you are in the Sacramento Area and have a Ford Motorhome and need work done on the motor, breaks, drive train, etc., take it to Future Ford Truck and RV Center.  They are GREAT! If you need work done on anything to do with the living portion of the RV, be sure to check out McColloch's RV Repair. Randy put on our Awning, got the parts to properly hook up our Propane Tanks, and fixed our Vacuflush Toilet.  Last year he fixed an electrical problem that we had with the Jayco.

So despite the major set-back with the RV Storage Fire, we feel very blessed and very, very Thankful.  We turned sour grapes into a pile of honey by spending the summer in California where we were able to help mom and dad, give the sisters and Arny a break, and see and spend so much time with family.  We have another Class C, and we plan to go to Alaska in 2015, Lord willing.  And this Thanksgiving Day, as we ponder our memories, think about family, and enjoy the warmth of Florida (around 70 degrees Thanksgiving Day), we are going to have BEEF instead of Turkey for the first time in many, many years.  We will still be with family in that Grand-daughter Alissa and her fiancée Chris are coming over to help us eat our dessert, Skruffy will be here with us, and I plan to take Bubba and Skruffy over to the Doggie Park too.  And, of course, there is Football....the Bears play the Lions (Marcia is a Bears Fan) and the Forty Niners are playing the Seahawks for a night game! (I am a Niners Fan)

That’s enough to put a smile on all of our faces….even bigger smiles if the Bears and the Niners pull off wins.