Fun in the Snow

After the New Year's fun, on Friday the 4th we headed to the mountains! Leaving our motorhome at a friend's house in Altadena, we drove the two hours to Big Bear Lake and beautiful Lagonita Lodge. These are located in the San Bernardino mountains east of LA. There we kicked back and relaxed indoors while it snowed and snowed outdoors! No, this isn't Nebraska!

Sabrina joined us on Tuesday for the last few days. We skiied a couple of those days at Snow Summit on Big Bear Mountain. Surprisingly good snow and skiing for this part of the country.


Here's a big surprise: we may be in the movies! That's right: Jim Carrey is making a new movie, "Yes Man," which features a Nebraska home football game. The call went out for extras who had links with the Big Red, and Meg and I grabbed Sabrina and Josh and got in line! The main game background filming was done at the Oklahoma State-Nebraska game in Lincoln this past fall (we were there), and this filming on Friday the 11th was for all the crowd closeups. So, we got ready for the big game, fought the crowd in the parking lot and for much of the day yelled "Go Big Red" along with Jim. It was great fun! The movie release date is December 19, 2008. Here's a link to a Nebraska newsletter article on the filming.

Sabrina and Josh surprised us on Sunday with a mystery trip: they said simply, "come prepared to walk all day." Well, in southern California, that might mean a lot of things, but we were pretty sure our daughter wasn't taking us to the desert! Sure enough, the car pulled into Mickey World! We had a great time together, walking and trying out all the rides!
The parades within the park are fun; we saw two while there. Here's Tinkerbell in the Parade of Dreams. His Majesty, the Lion King, was there also: By the time we left we needed a wheelchair!

We have moved now to the East Shore Campground of Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas, where we stayed in 2006. It's a beautiful place, quiet and surprising for being so close to a city.
This is a tree right near us where this eagle sits day after day. What a glorious sight! Wish you were here!

Pasadena for the Holidays!

We traveled from Mesa to Sabrina's area of Southern California in two days, spending one night on the way in Joshua Tree National Park. Sunset on the mountains!

We always enjoy our times with Sabrina, "hanging out" with her good friends (who have now become our friends as well)

Eric, Kate, Meg, Rog, Sabrina, Josh and Geoff all went to Altadena and "Christmas Tree Lane" on Christmas Eve, to see the lights and just enjoy the atmosphere, aided of course on a chilly night by a prior stop at Starbucks!

On Christmas morning we were joined by Josh, one of our good friends here who could not make it all the way back to Virginia for his family's Christmas; we were happy to be "family" here together.


We managed some geocaching, too, introducing Josh, Eric and Geoff to our hobby. They helped us reach our new milestone: 700 caches found! Yeah!

Sabrina loves a party; so, she sent out invitations to thousands of her friends. We had another "wild" night as the next pictures attest!


Most of you know that Pasadena is world-famous for its Rose Parade on New Year's Day. What many do not know is that thousands stake out territory on the sidewalks and curbs the night before and camp out, sharing food and fun with friends and passers-by. So, after the excitement of our party subsided somewhat, we packed up our group and went downtown and joined theirs.
We visited with Chris and John and enjoyed their hospitality for a few hours, ringing in the New Year with thousands of new friends. We did NOT stay the night, however, opting for comfortable beds instead. But the next morning we made our way back to the parade route to enjoy the fun.These are magnificent floats which all require at least some flowers in their preparation.

The Marine band received a standing ovation!

Thanks for being our friends, for praying for us as we travel this country, and enriching our lives...

Meg and I wish for each of you God's richest blessings and a very Happy New Year in 2008!!!

Back to Work(?) in Mesa, AZ

Roger retired in August 2006 after teaching neurology for the past nine years to military physician assistant students. His former boss, Charles Brakhage, a navy captain who had worked with Roger for over five years, also retired in spring 2007. He was subsequently hired at Still University Health Science School in Mesa, AZ as the head of their PA school. He called Roger in the summer and offered him the opportunity to teach his neurology course to their students and he "jumped" at the chance. So, we planned this working stop in Mesa on our way to Sabrina's for Christmas.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and spent a few days adjusting to the new setting and time zone. Here Meg and Gypsy are adjusting.
We went hiking in the local parks and did some geocaching there.

Here we are at an Indian petrogyph in South Mountain Park, Mesa.

Last spring, on our way to Texas from Florida, we spent a night in Beaumont where we made some new RVing friends, Henry and Rita. They are a lovely couple from Switzerland who have lived in Florida for many years and began full-timing in their RV in the last year or so. We met up again in San Antonio, where we were able to show off OUR favorite city. We all went different directions since then: they to the northwest and we to the Canadian Maritimes. They traveled south through California, then settled in Phoenix for a couple of months. We've kept up with each other by email and were able to meet up for an afternoon visit and coffee in Mesa. You meet the nicest people RVing!

We delivered Carl & Marilyn to the home of her daughter Nancy and her husband Bob. We had a great special dinner with them on our arrival there.
In one of those very enjoyable surprises in life, we learned that Nancy (2nd from right above) is the secretary for Charles Brakhage! What a small world indeed!

Roger taught neurology literally from sunup to sundown Monday through Friday Dec 10-14. It was very intensive but he really enjoyed it. The PA students at Still U are an outstanding bunch, studious, inquisitive and fun, and a perfect delight to instruct. They responded beautifully to Roger's efforts, and showed their appreciation with a thank-you basket of goodies on our departure. This may be the beginning of a long-term relationship; time will tell. Oh, and yes, Roger wore his kilt the last day of class!

Right after this picture the students left for home for their mid-winter break. A quick look at the school office revealed: Christmas was in the air!

Thanksgiving and Back to the Open Road

One of the "excuses" we give to inquiries about our RV lifestyle is that our kids live in Florida, California, Kansas and Texas; what else can we do??? So, we try to "spread the holidays around" among our extended family. This year we were able to spend Thanksgiving with our Son Abey and his family in Austin. He fixed a wonderful meal for us all.
Sunny's Sister, Brother-in-law, and their children were visiting from Ethiopia and it was a pleasure to meet with them all over turkey. Mmmmm!
Here are the kids with some rock candy!
Our two grandkids, Christian and Lydia, enjoying a video in our motorhome. It's a treat to come "camp" with us, if only for an evening around a campfire.

On Sunday December 2nd, after attending the St. Andrews Scottish Ball in Austin the night before, we picked up Meg's Dad and step-Mom, Carl and Marilyn, and began our trip westward. We spent a night in Fort Stockton, Texas, the next night at Fort Bliss in El Paso, and the next night in Tucson at Davis-Monthan AFB RV camp. The following morning we met our good friends, Thom and Melba, at the Cracker Barrel enroute to Phoenix. Always such a pleasure to be with them!

Back in the Hill Country of Texas

It was good to be back where our roots are: in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. This region stretches from Austin to the west Texas plains, and includes Kerrville, Boerne, Austin and Sattler. One of its many "claims to fame" are the large number of caves and caverns in the area. We spent a night on the way at Inks Lake State Park and visited the Longhorn Caverns nearby. We really enjoy caves and visit as many of them as possible during our travels.

We've joined an RV travel organization, S.M.A.R.T. (Special Military Active and Retired Travel Club) We are from all branches of the military and share a love of travel and RVing. The local and regional organizations have rallies or "musters" frequently in various parts of the country. We made it back to Texas in time to enjoy the Southwest Regional muster in Kerrville for a few days. There was dancing by the fire at night, a golf tournament (Roger actually played!) an auction and an informative tour of the Mooney Aircraft factory in Kerrville.
John Christopher Way and his band from Austin entertained us one evening; great country music! We really enjoyed them and would encourage you to check him out if you enjoy country music at all. We don't usually but this group was fun.
Roger and Meg had lunch with Fay, a friend of Roger's from high school days. We hadn't seen each other in many years. Fun to renew friendships and to learn from each other of our separate but often similar pilgrimages in this life. We thank the Lord often for the many friends who enrich our lives!