Finishing Up Our Seaside Visit

Wow! I am so far behind on my blog. Now it seems like an insurmountable task to get caught up … but I am going to break it up into smaller bites and individual blog posts that will be pretty close together!

Grace and I made the trip back to Moses Lake to be with our friends and celebrate the life of LuDeen Earl. The visit was fun! On Friday we got to see our friend Heather and go swimming in her pool. I went to my old office and saw Laura and Cindy. That was fun!

The viewing and the funeral were beautiful. We were so blessed to see so many friends and family of LuDeen and enjoyed hearing their stories about her and her life. We spent the time at Pat and Lori’s house and were surrounded by them, their kids and grandkids. It was nice to spend time with them and eat some of LuDeen’s special spaghetti sauce for dinner one night! Cassidy’s daughter, Haven, calls Grace her Baby … Grace is holding her in the pictures.

The weekend went fast for us but we knew we needed to get back to Brent and the dogs! Brent kept busy doing projects and taking care of the dogs while we were gone. We only had a few more days at Seaside and those were taken up with walks downtown and on the beach, gelato, seafood and other fun touristy things. We even fit in a trip to feed my Thai food cravings at Thai Me Up! It was so good even Grace and Brent who aren’t really Thai fans loved their food!

When we leave Seaside our trip is going to focus on family for about a week before we head south to California.

Seaside Oregon … Fun

We have been here is Seaside for about a week. Seaside holds so many memories for our family and we have made even more this week.

Grace was so excited when she got here to find some friends she had made in Long Beach here as well. They played together hard for days until the other family had to leave. There has been lots of swimming, walking dogs and a few trips to Warrenton for supplies.

We even drove back to Long Beach last Saturday for a fun visit to Sandsations - a sand castle building contest and another excuse to go to Dylan’s Cottage Bakery.

Grace has started doing a little light summer school work … mostly working on her penmanship and letter writing skills. We started reading a book together … Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume. Anyone from my generation remember that book? LOL!

Grace got a cold, which she got over in like 1 day, that she passed on to me and I haven’t been so lucky. It has given me time to listen to my books, lay in my zero gravity chair and rest. All the stress of life has been reduced and now my body seems to want to be sick all the time. I need to build up my immune system. Anyone have ideas for that? 

I finished The Resistance Girl by Mandy Robotham. It was good. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to live during those WW2 times and not sure Norway would ever suit me. It sounds very pretty but very cold and harsh weather. I enjoyed the book and will read more of her books.

I also listened to an audio book called The Shut Away Sisters by Suzanne Goldring. It was set in England during WW1 and present. It was interesting and a good read. It would go back and forth between present time and WW1 time as a young woman was discovering details of her two Aunt’s lives during WW1 and discovering herself as well.

Brent seems happy in his element as caretaker encouraging me to rest and let him take care of me. He has been putting together some dressers we picked up at IKEA for Grace’s clothes, working on his invention, reorganizing the storage on the RV and PU and generally enjoying his retirement.

Sometimes when you don’t live near extended family you develop friends that become the family you choose for yourself. In Moses Lake I met Lori Earl, who has become my sis, and who introduced me to her mother in law, LuDeen Roylance Earl. LuDeen passed away July 19th and was 96 years old. I am sure there was a HUGE party on the other side of the veil as she was greeted by friends and family including her husband, who went before her in 2004, and their daughter, Tami.  LuDeen was an elect lady who loved Heavenly Father and all others around her. Her eyes would light up when you walked in the room and she would smile and invite you to sit with her. She loved to make scones for friends and family. Grace and I will drive back to Moses Lake this week for her funeral. She was such a special woman and was so loving and gracious to us.

Well … my laundry is about done … it’s time for me to go … I think I’ll take a walk on the beach! 

Wish you could all be with me! Have a GREAT day!

Fun in Seaview, WA and Long Beach, WA

We have had some really nice days and nights while we have been at the beach. The WA coast can be unpredictable, but it’s been great! Tuesday we will have been here for 3 weeks. A few misty mornings, a couple rainy days but mostly 70-75 degree days. Of course the wind has been hit and miss but mostly a light breeze.

This retirement thing takes some getting used to … I am still checking my email, responding to messages and chats … calling owners and such …but I’m down to maybe 8-10 hrs per week … at least that’s my perspective … you might hear a different number from Brent! LOL!

This week I took a trip to Seaside for some acupuncture at Healthy Hub Massage and Wellness with Dr. Coke. She was wonderful. I love acupuncture but haven’t had it for years. Then I also went to EarthLight Massage in Long Beach for a massage with Terralar. Wow! I would recommend either of these lovely practitioners with 6 out of 5 stars!

The rest of our week has been spent relaxing. I finished my audio book The Edelweiss Sisters by Kate Hewitt. I really enjoyed it. I really like historical fiction books. This one is set in Austria during WW2. It is about a family with 3 grown daughters. They even sing in a music festival that the Von Trapp Family Singers appeared in prior to Anschluss or annexation of Austria by Germany. I will definitely read/listen to  more books by this author. Do you prefer to hold an actual book/tablet and read or listen to an audio book?

I started a new book called The Resistance Girl by Mandy Robotham. It’s set in Norway during WW2. I have never read any stories from Norway and I am enjoying it.

Grace decided to get wet the other night during our walk on the beach. Here’s a fun picture of her in the setting sun! The outside temperature was about 70 degrees with no wind and the water was a balmy 54 degrees.

We did something kind of fun today. If you are from Moses Lake or have been to visit we have have a hometown pizza place there called Chico’s Pizza Parlor. It’s been there since 1958. Chico’s was a franchise that only has 3 locations left … Moses Lake,WA, Seaview, WA and Lynnwood, CA. Well since we are in Seaview we thought we’d visit it! They make their pizzas a little different than the Moses Lake ones, but they were still really tasty and it was super fun to visit.

Brent’s been trying to solve two logistics problems in our RV. He’s being an inventor … so far he has fixed the problem we were having with the bassets getting out of the pen we use to let them out of the RV to take care of their “business”. He took a trip to Home Depot and came back with parts that would keep them in as they love to wander the park … yes they are microchipped … but still we don’t want them wandering without us and their leashes. LOL! The 2nd issue we are having is keeping the refrigerator and freezer closed when turning corners in the RV. There are some after market items that can be installed, like child locks etc, but they are cumbersome when you live in it full time … so my inventor is working on a solve … this took a trip to Home Depot, Ace Hardware and I’m not sure where else but he’s having fun so that’s what’s important.

Grace has been doing her usual things … swimming, dancing around, walking Honey and her chore … picking up dog “business”.

What are you doing with your summer? 

Long Beach, WA - A Wonderful Place to Enjoy Birthdays … Grace’s 1/2 Birthday, Our Nation’s Birthday and Brent’s Birthday

We have been hanging out at the Thousand Trails Long Beach RV Resort located in Seaview, WA. We really love this campground. It has a quirky old style grouped utility system but it’s a short walk to the beach, has a nice pool and hot tub, activity center with games, laundry, and very nice staff. We have water, sewer and 50 amp power. 

The walk to the beach is clearly marked and easy to find from the beach to get back. We arrived on the 28th of June. Within a day or two the park had filled up … there were so many RVs and Tent Campers alike enjoying the park. It wasn’t overwhelming … the bathrooms stayed free for showers and clean by the staff.

We have had great clam chowder at Chowder Stop and Dylan’s Cottage Bakery, wonderful pastries from Dylan’s Cottage Bakery, Boba Lemonade from Beach Bubble Shop and steamer clams at The Depot. We have walk downtown and enjoyed the touristy things, attended church, celebrated birthdays and walked on the beach. We still have about 10 days left here so I am sure there will be much more to share. Let me give some details on a few of fun things we’ve been doing.

The fireworks … oh the fireworks! If you haven’t been to this area, you may not know you can drive out on the beach, set up and spend the day! That’s what a lot of people did all weekend. There were fireworks every night from Friday to Monday. Monday was the finale and boy was it amazing. The amount of money that went up in smoke on beach was amazing. It was beautiful and LOUD! The dogs were not thrilled with the fireworks. We did find some calming chews at Ace Hardware that actually worked well to help them calm down. I did stay in the RV with them while Brent and Grace went out to the fireworks.

Grace’s 1/2 birthday is on the 4th of July and ever since she was a little little we have celebrated it. She always dresses up in RED WHITE and BLUE. She used to think the fireworks were for her birthday … LOL! This year she got walkie talkies! Now she loves to talk on them … what did I do! A few days later it was time for Brent’s Birthday … new sunglasses and dinner out at The Depot were fun for him.

I have enjoyed my daily walks with Scarlett and Hank on the beach. The mosquitos are causing us some issues … I mean they love us all! If you know of any good products to try we would love you to comment below. Grace has made some friends … in the campground they come and go, but she loves playing at the playground walking Honey, swimming and of course her iPad.

What did you do to celebrate the 4th of July? Happy Birthday USA!

Cascade Peaks to Kelso/Longview Elks … It’s Been a Busy Couple of Days

We arrived at the Cascade Peaks campground and were promptly greeted by a grumpy woman who couldn’t find our reservation. I had the confirmation in my phone showing that I had already paid … but she made me pay again. Not the best welcome. They were having a big ABATE Motorcycle Rally on one part of the campground … but other than the music at night, loud motorcycles in the park and hearing a few gunshots … we didn’t even know they were there!

We weren’t very impressed with the park. The water pressure was all over the place … sometimes it was low pressure, sometimes it was normal, sometimes it was high … all I know is it kept slipping past our toilet valves and overflowing our toilets. Our satellite internet worked great. They have 2 pools. One was closed with a need for a heater repair and the other was open. The kids couldn’t even swim in it because the water was freezing. We asked about it and found out it has a leak so cold water continually pours into it.

The hosts of the campground were very nice. Grace enjoyed the zip line and the tree swing. I enjoyed having a place to put together puzzles in the clubhouse that also housed the laundry. Grace and I (mostly I) put 2 puzzles together while we were there. Brent is still doing work on the RV. He installed 2 Max Fans - 1 in each bathroom. Being up on that hot roof doing that work is hard on him, but he wants to get it done so he does it.

We decided to leave 2 days early and travel to Longview. Since we are members of the Elks Lodge in Moses Lake we decided to camp in the Elks Kelso/Longview Lodge’s RV Campground. Brent grew up in Longview and we really enjoy Longview. I went shopping at Fred Meyer to pick up a few things. Today Brent replaced the RV battery and found the problem with the running lights and fixed that. He is such a hard worker! Grace and I did much more fun things today while he worked in the heat wave. We went to the Kelso Catlin Rotary Spray Park. It was so nice! There was a lot of shade, a nice breeze and a bunch of kids for Grace to play and get wet with. I even started listening to a new audio book called The Edelweiss Sisters by Kate Hewitt. My favorite genre of books is historical fiction … what’s yours?

I am trying something new … intermittent fasting. I am eating between 11 am and 7 pm. I just finished my 2nd day and so far I like it a lot. So far it doesn’t feel like dieting because I can eat pretty much anything … think healthy but not restrictive … during my 8 hours of eating time. We shall see if I like it long term. Has anyone else done this? Did you like it? Did you feel better? Of course with 3 dogs, I am walking everyday several times per day. It is so good for me … when I was working sometimes I wouldn’t even get up from my desk to go to the bathroom all day! I know TMI!

We are ready to head to Long Beach tomorrow. We will be staying at the Thousand Trails/Encore Park in Seaview. We have been there before. We will be there for 21 days. I am looking forward to beach walks, riding our bikes on the bike trails, Dylan’s Cottage Bakery and much more.

Thousand Trails Crescent Bar RV Resort - Quincy, WA

We left Moses Lake on Saturday to go a whole 42 miles to the Thousand Trails Crescent Bar RV Campground. It is a very pretty location down in the canyon with the Columbia River flowing by. The Grant Co PUD has a big park down here too with hiking/biking trails. It is beautiful looking up at the canyon walls and seeing the river. There was a lot of wind in the evenings.

The Thousand Trails park was really nice. There was a clubhouse really close to our spot and Grace loved going in there and playing pool, foosball, basketball toss, play kitchen, board games and more. There were two really nice patios that one could sit on and visit. There was a nice pool and also a hot tub. Of course there are the usual amenities like laundry room, bathrooms with showers and friendly staff.

We made the decision to upgrade our Thousand Trails membership to the Adventure Package. We met Richard Anderson and his wife. If you are thinking of a Thousand Trails membership at any level or have questions he was so great to answer all my questions and was very knowledgeable. He was not a pushy salesman either! His phone number is 541.901.9002 and his email is richard_anderson@equitylifestyle.com. Please tell him you heard about him from me.

Grace and I went up into Quincy Sunday and found the Quincy Ward Meetinghouse. The members were all so kind and gracious. We were greeted by so many and we enjoyed our Sunday Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School.

Brent’s been working on the RV as we still have a few updated and modifications needed to be done. Grace has been playing with kids and the dogs. We’ve been walking them each day around the park. The dogs are getting more used to the RV life.

I had to drive back to Moses Lake both Monday and Tuesday for different things that came up. Starting tomorrow that will not be possible. I did get to have lunch Monday with my very good friend Lori. We had a nice time visiting and hoping we can catch up with each other during this adventure.

So as we sit here tonight we are ready for the next leg of our journey. We will be staying in an RPI Park called Cascade Peaks Family Campground up on White Pass for 6 nights. It’s about 170 miles southwest of here.

5th Grade Graduation … We have a Middle Schooler!

And just like that we have a middle schooler … time has flown so fast with this girl! I’m so proud of the young woman she is becoming. She is kind, loving, courteous, courageous and fun to be around! She loves to hang out with her parents and her dogs. She enjoys playing with other kids and makes friend easily. She is not shy. She is funny and has a quick wit like her father. 

She navigated Brick and Mortar school for Kindergarten thru middle of 2nd Grade and then we made the switch to WAVA virtual school. When COVID hit she didn’t even miss a beat because we were already fully engaged in virtual school. 

She is a great reader, excellent at math but really loves history!

She still has the same best friend Zoe! They met in preschool and even though Zoe moved 100 miles away they have kept in touch and love to be together. They text and FaceTime quite a bit too!

Grace we are so proud of you! We can’t wait to see what the middle school years bring for you! Stay Sweet! You are loved! You are enough! You can do hard things!

Love,

Momma and Dad