After the initial clean up

The park management company required that the yard be cleaned up before we could get final approval for residency. We discovered 2 hibiscus plants that had been smothered by the junipers. We discovered this brick planter underneath the overgrown succulents.

It took us 1 and a half weeks to get this done. We still had boxes stashed in the sun room and second bedroom to sort through. There was loads of costume jewelery, lotion, body wash, makeup, and miss. duplicated items.

As can bee seen, there are still items in the hutch and kitchen, but these look like interesting or useful items.

Interesting wet bar with wine rack, but it has to go. Maybe to be replaced by a single level counter which would be a nice baking center and buffet counter.

The problem here is how to get rid of the bed.

The closet is nice and the mirrored doors with be nice when it comes time to check my attire before leaving the house.

The master bath is roomy with lots of cabinet space. Do we paint the existing, or install new?

The main bath has a full size shower which was one of the selling points for us. No having to step over the edge of the tub.

Of course, we went through a box of vinyl gloves in this phase.

The paint colors have been selected, and the paint purchased. Now we can get started on covering up the vast amount of wood panelling.

#82 When we took possession

The front of the house was obscured by overgrown juniper shrubs and bougainvillea. The place had been empty for 6 months which accounts for the dry lawn surrounding the spruce tree. At least the tree is established and is doing well. Portion of the back yard - sun room on the right

Living room from the front door

Living room looking toward the front door. It seemed like the resident gave up on packing up her belongings and left a lot of stuff behind.

Dining room viewed from living room. Again, the cabinet was full of stuff.

Kitchen as seen from dining room. There was food in the ref. and cupboards. Dirty dished in the sink and dog food stashed in the dishwasher.

Second bedroom

Main bath: the pile beyond the fan is adult diapers - and more were left in the shower.

The master bedroom and bath. The closet was half full of clothing.

The cabinets were full of stuff

Quite a collection of colognes, many still in unopened packaging, and more stuff inside the cabinet. For some reason we did not get pics of the inside of the sun room which was full of stuff including two bookcases of books.

The place was full of dust, dog hair and spider webs. However, there was a vacuum left behind that came in useful once we purchased the required filter.

The Fixer-upper

We have purchased a larger mobile home in a park very near where we now live. Twice the space and more yard for a vegetable garden. But . . . . it needs loads of work. Well, our modus operndi is "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" (referring to dwellings of course), and we're at it again.

Just when we thought we had moved into our last house we find another. However, it is a great feeling to see what our hard work can create.

Stay tuned for the photos of progress . . . . . . .

July 30: Home

The air is cool as we leave St. George. We hit a snag at the on ramp to the I-15, it is closed for road work and there are detour signs. Either the last detour sign is not well marked or we don't see the arrow. We end up on the other side of the I-15 and stop at a gas station for information. Dan is definitely not adverse to asking for directions. We find the temporary on ramp for the south bound traffic and are on our way.

The trip takes 9 hours, but the air stays cool, the traffic is light and the route we take has good roads. We take the 58 west from the I-15 to Mojave, then Ave. D to the I-5 near Gorman and head south to the 126 west to Ventura. Linda sleeps most of this time so the trip doesn't seem like 9 hours to her. Dan is so excited to get back home that he doesn't feel tired. At the last rest stop before home he has a huge smile on his face.

We get home earlier than planned so we can spend a little time with one of our daughters and her girls since they are "vacationing" at our place this week. They have been doing the "back to school shopping" and enjoying the nice beach climate. They live inland where it gets very hot in the summer.

It is good to be home, but as we unpack the trailer and start to put things away we have a little trouble remembering just where everything goes. It is like being in someone else's home. We have been gone two and a half months so there is a pile of mail to go through as well as unpacking. It will take a few days to get everything done and a few weeks to get the dirt from the road off the van and trailer. The fun is over and it is time to get to work.

We had a marvelous trip, really enjoying the places we visited and seeing so much of our country. The Bear was a great companion. He had a few boring days, but otherwise had a good time. He is glad to be home and is getting rested up.

Our country is a marvelous playground with many wonderful and helpful people. There are an incredible number of interesting things to see and do. Everyone wants to know if we will do it again. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We will keep you posted if we plan another adventure.

July 28 & 29: St. George, Utah

On the I-15 from Provo to St. George we see fields of alfafa and even some with corn. Here is a piece of farming equipment waiting to go to work.

We watch the temperature rise as we get closer to St. George. When we arrive it is 105, but dry. We will spend a couple of days with the Arnolds.

We visit the Huff's this afternoon and are impressed with the progress on their home remodel project. They have done an excellent job. We also look at the latest electric guitar Gary has built. He used three different patterned rose woods and the result is beautiful.

The Bear really enjoys the visit here in St. George. The Arnolds have a couple of bears for him to hang out with. On Wed. morning the bears enjoy tea in the back yard while it is still cool enough to be out side. The Bear and Dan take naps to prepare for the last leg of the trip while the rest of us go to a movie.

We all go out for dinner and have root beer floats and cookies later in the evening.

The temperature outside is 106 today and we decide to make the trek across the desert during the night. We get everything ready to leave, Dan goes to bed early for a few hours of sleep before we hit the road. The original plan was to make this part of the trip in two days, but Dan feels that he is up to driving the distance in one night.

Linda has to stay up and visit with her brother & sister, take advantage of every minute she has to spend with them. Dan awakes at midnight and we are on the road by 12:10 am.

July 27: Provo, Utah

On the road leaving Wyoming we see more mountains on the horizon. This is a welcome sight for us after two months of flat land. When one lives with mountains every day they become part of the comfort of home.

The last rest stop in Wyoming. The I-80 is along the Mormon Trail to Utah.

More wind power at use. We have seen many locations where these wind turbines are being used. Of course these locations have a record of daily wind. However, we have noticed that when the winds are very Strong the turbines are disabled in order to avoid damage.

Here we are in Utah. We're getting very close to home now. Some how I deleted the Welcome to Utah sign my mistake so you'll just have to take our word for our location at this point. We are in the mountains now and the colors and formations have changed. The soil is red here just past the state line. We realize that we will see a wider variation in the land scape in the next few days than we have seen for the past two months.

We are at the Visitor Center in Utah and the Bear is impressed by this view. The weather is cooler and the sky is clear this morning. Judging by the pattern of the past couple of weeks we expect the storm clouds to start moving in this afternoon.

Wow! Look at the size of the sage brush! We hope the Bear doesn't pick up any ticks.

We are entering Utah Valley and plan to spend the night in Provo.

We are camped between the Provo River and a canal on the west side of town. It is quit warm today, but every spot is shaded by trees. We use the air conditioner for a little while to cool the trailer off for better comfort. The storm does move in and we have rain again.

July 28: The Provo River next to the RV park.

The canal if full of ducks this morning. They seem to be just getting their day started. Some of the duck on the bank are chasing others and one smaller duck looks like it is actually attacking another. These critters can be pretty aggressive with each other.

We hook up the trailer and hit the road again.

July 26: Rock Springs, WY

On our way to Rock Springs we pass by the town of Sinclair. This is what we see; the Sinclair oil refinery with a small community to the west of it.

We are now seeing hills and mountains. This one with the rocks at the top is interesting. Talk about going from one extreme to another. We left the high humidity and green landscape and are now in a desert climate and higher altitude. It is so dry that we are downing water constantly.

We are at the KOA in Rock Springs. It has gotten windy and after we get the trailer set up the force of the wind gets stronger and, as can be seen in this photo, has blown in the storm clouds. The sky is soon a blanket of clouds and the wind is causing the trailer to rock. If any rain did fall over us it dried up before hitting the ground. We spend the rest of the day inside. The winds die down by night fall. Tomorrow the chore will be to get out on the road before the winds pick up again.