back to my little home on wheels

My last few days in Phoenix flew by.  I spent hours getting all the Pathfinder Club honor patches relocated, arranged and sewn on to both Karl and my sashes, then finished sewing insignia on to Karl's new uniform jacket. Supper out with friend, Joann, on Monday.  Birthday celebration with Mom, Dad, and sisters on Tuesday at George and Son Asian Cuisine.  Wednesday I started scanning some old photos and got carried away winding up with several hours' worth of scanning. Kelly Sue and I did late lunch salads at my favorite place...Fresh Mint.  Then is was good-byes all around.  The last one was my sweet sister, Susan, as she dropped me off at the airport.

3 "Herber Girls"

Flight totally uneventful...just the way I like it.  Karl waiting for me at the end of the jet way...what's not to like?!  Since we were in Grand Junction, we grabbed a quick geocache, then headed south for home.  Lots of catching up to do, even though we talked nearly everyday on the phone.  Pretty sleepy by the time we made it into Delta.

Oh, my.  Karl met me with a new "ride"!  A little blue 15 year old Chevy pickup held together with a little rust and wire...Karl's pickup is having trouble and the shop gave him this little job as a loaner.  It is a real experience riding in it, rattle and shake, but the engine is in top shape and what can I say, it's free.  Hopefully, our pickup will be ready on Friday.

The long hair has been becoming a problem.  I don't believe I am losing any more than I have in the past, but now it is all falling out in 400 sq. feet rather than 2,000 sq. feet and we keep running into it everywhere in the RV.  Time for it to go. So out to the stylist first thing this morning and chopped it got!  I had researched hair donation last month and found one that will take graying hair, so will complete the donation form and get my old pony tail sent off to Children With Hair Loss.

Selfie

Camp Meeting

I had an absolutely wonderful week of camp meeting at Prescott.  I missed Kelly Sue, dreadfully.  We started doing AZ camp meetings together in 1983 with only a few years missed in all the time since.  At first I felt rather purposeless because the last 19 years have been so jam packed with programing for the 7-9 year olds and this year I had no deadlines or places I had to be since I wasn't working with kids this year.

But, as the week progressed I just kicked back and enjoyed the R&R.  I was up early each morning, took in meetings at all the available time slots, got in a 30 minute walk and participated in daily water aerobics.  I even managed to read several books, and slept like a log every night.  The weather cooperated and it stayed cool until Thursday.  Even then, we had a cool cross breeze to sleep in and needed double covers by morning.

Susan and I were the last of the Phoenix bound family to pull out this morning.  We took Cody (who is working up at camp all summer) out to breakfast buffet at the Golden Corral on our way out of town.  The late morning heat as we arrived in the valley was a wake up call...vacation time is over!

Anniversary

June 15, 1975 dawned a little overcast in northern Minnesota.  Karl and his mother were finishing up the white satin covering for the facing kneeling bench and Bible stand Karl had built, my dad decided the 2 acre lawn needed mowing, my mom discovered what she thought was a good supply of nuts was not as advertised and someone needed to run out and find something, a lot of something, more to augment it. Later in the afternoon, the clouds started to leak, but just as we arrived at the church the sun started shining through the drops and finally dried them up completely.

A lot of living in a lot of different places has happened since that first day as husband and wife.  It has been a crazy adventure. 

June 15, 1975

1976

2010

2002

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graduation Day

Congratulations, Grad!  We are proud of you!

 

 Mom and Dad, Kelly Sue and Cody flew to Washington on Friday.  Kelly Sue sent a text message yesterday; apparently the trip was quite the adventure.  They taxied to the end of the runway twice and came back for maintenance.  The wound up on three different planes before getting out of the airport! Flying on a small aircraft, they had to go up and down steps and walk across tarmac to embark and disembark.  That was a real trip with the old folks and a cripple (Cody still  in recuperation phase after knee surgery). But they made it and this is the photo she sent yesterday via text message proving they made it to Walla Walla University.

Fathers' Day

Happy Fathers' Day, Dad!

Leo Herber c.1950

Dad and me 1958

1971

1990

2010

ready for Camp Meeting to start

Enjoying the cool breezes in Prescott, AZ. Made the rounds this morning checking out all the children's classrooms.  It is a tradition I usually share with Kelly Sue.  Things just are not the same without her here.  Mom, Dad, Kelly Sue and Cody should have arrived in Walla Walla by now.  We do miss them.

Cody has been up here living in the cabin this past week while working as camp staff.  When he left, he gave me a call to relay status of cabin.  As he put it, the walls have become a hotel.  Behind the bedroom paneling is a bird family. The momma enters and exits through a hole in the outside siding,  It is quiet at night but before dawn momma starts the feeding process and there is a great deal of cheeping each time she brings the next installment of the feeding that continues through the day. Susan watched long enough that she is fairly certain it is a mountain bluebird.  Cody said there was nocturnal scurrying in several places.  Well, I waited for it last night, but it was quiet until nearly 11:00.  When I figured out where it was coming from I went over and pounded on the paneling.  Totally planning to repeat the process several times, I was shocked when nothing more was heard all night! Birds nesting in the walls is one thing but probable rodents is a whole different story!

Staying hooked up, but having fun

Hit the ground running when I arrived in Phoenix.  Susan was there to pick me up Sky Harbor, so I got a little catching up and visiting done on the ride home.  A pile of mail and calling for appointments. Waited 4 hours for tree trimmer to come take care of the backyard palms that were wrecking ruin on the swimming pool with the blossom fall out.  The pool people had been in 4 times last week, trying to keep it from totally turning.  The water was a bit green, but they had done a pretty good job.  Trimmer not showing, I had to get on with other things, so headed out on errands.  Then I ran by to pick up Susan and we went out to visit the folks.  I took back some books we had borrowed, and picked up two quilts they had taken to be machine quilted for me.  It was great to be with the folks.  They fly out on Friday with Kelly Sue and Cody to attend Ryan's graduation.

The tree trimmers finally connected at 7:00 Wednesday morning.  So glad to get that completed.  After paying the trimmer, it was more errands, some much needed shopping but mostly, it was about getting Ryan's family culinary heritage scrapbook printed and into a binder.  It took a lot longer than we thought, but, Kelly Sue and I got it done.  I hope Ryan likes his custom made graduation/congrats on new job gift.

After accomplishing that project, Kelly Sue and I did a little pampering by going to lunch then to have a pedicure.  That was the fun part of the day.

Today I was out shortly after 7:00a.m. and down to get the car's new paint job buffed at the body shop.  The paint needed to season, harden or something, so we picked up the car and parked it in the garage hours before we moved to Colorado last month.  After that there were only 2 major things left on my to-do list.  I think I've done pretty good with what looked like a monster list. 

I'm preparing to pack the car now.  I am in the beginning stages of the last thing on my list....binding the quilts.  Will have to finish after camp meeting. Susan and I are traveling up together, so that will make more visiting time. Yay!

Binding cut and ready to sew

kj headed south

Bag is packed (only a quarter full but will need it on the way back).  Need to get computer stuck in so will dash off a quick note before I shut down. 

Flying out of Grand Junction at noon and getting into Phoenix just 15 minutes later, plus the 1 hour time change.  Have a list an arm long of stuff that needs doing, so will be very busy for the two days I am in the valley before heading up to Prescott and more temperate temperatures, for Camp Meeting (9 days).

I'll have a day or two to see Kelly Sue, before she heads north for Ryan's graduation from Walla Walla University in Washington.  My folks are going as well, but will return and be up at camp meeting for the last half.

This will be my first year in 20 that I have not been Kelly Sue's side kick with the 7-9 year old kids' programing.  Not sure I'll remember how to act meeting with the adults. :)

However, I will have the retreat at Camp Yavapines with sister, Susan; and brother and sister-in-law, George and Trish. Am looking forward to the visiting.

of barbershop, canyons, and caching

Full, fun weekend for two.  We finally got around to checking out the Chinese restaurant we kept meaning to try out when we lived here 7 years ago.  It is worth going again, which we plan to do soon.

We took in the area Barbershop Chorus and Quartets annual concert.  I don't remember going to any concert at which I smiled and laughed more.  The guys are from both Delta and Montrose Counties and except for 3 or 4, are all retirement age plus (I'm fairly certain a few were crowding 80.) They were a hoot. Listening to Barbershop harmony just makes me smile, anyway. They had the Sweet Adalines as guest to do several numbers, and a pro quartet of guys in their twenties finish out the program with a 40 minute segment.  Loved it all!

Dominguez Canyon overlook

Sight seeing at elevations under 9,000 ft. is finished until after the first frost.  The bugs nearly drove us nuts.  I have so many itching bug bits on my neck, throat and scalp; I'm not wanting a repeat.

When I return from Arizona at the end of the month, we will head to the San Juan mountains on the weekends.  I love alpine tundra; primitive roads and off road trails are about the only way to see it.  By the first of July most of the snow should be gone on most of the passes.

A gorgeous day on the Western Slope of Colorado

Today we met one of the local geocachers who Karl has communicated with online.  He had put up a new set of geocaches a couple weeks ago, and no one had gone out to find them yet, so when Karl consulted him, per telephone, on what would be a special geocache to discover for our 500th find he said to come out to Orchard City Park.  He wanted to meet us and would love for us to be the first to find his brand new six stage multi-cache.  So that is what we did for our 500th.  He walked it with us to observe how close he had figured his coordinates comparing to our GPS and see how much difficulty or ease we might have in finding each stage.  A really nice guy in his late 70's, he and Karl have made tentative plans to cache together while I'm gone to Arizona over the next couple weeks.  When Karl suggested it to him, he perked up.  He does not own a high clearance vehicle and has been wanting to catch a few interesting ones that he just hasn't been able to get to in the area.

Just found our 500th geocache

Delta: City of Murals

This morning we slept in a little after our big day and rather late night.

Our RV park has a couple little cabins and we had secured one for Debbi and Steve.  Staying in there is really just glorified camping, but they are good sports and went with the flow.

As we were cleaning up from our late breakfast who should surprise us with a visit but Karl's Uncle Myron and Aunt Karen from Grand Junction.  They were out for a Sunday drive; headed up to Grand Mesa to check out how far spring had advance up there and decided to stop by our place on the way.  What a great surprise.  Steven has known Myron since he was a little kid and they were all members of the same church in Longmont, CO.  In fact, Debbi and Steven had stop by to see Myron and his late wife, Gloria, on their honeymoon, but it has been decades since they have last seen each other.

As you drive into Delta Colorado a sign announces that it is"the city of murals" so we set out to discover a few after Myron and Karen resumed their Sunday drive.  Started with a portion of some special funding for urban renewal in 1986, the mural project continues today.  We have discovered at least two that have been added since we lived here in 2006-7.

Schwinn/Lake jaunting

We have just had a marvelous weekend.

Our respective parents attended Union College together, so we were not strangers when we entered high school at Maplewood Academy the fall of 1968, but it was then Debbi and I really became friends... lots of memories in the past 46 years and we made a few more this weekend.

On Sabbath afternoon the four of us bounced around the dirt roads of Escalante Canyon checking out remains of historic homesteading and a variety of natural wonders...besides talking, laughing and just enjoying each others company.  With all the sharp-eyed observers (especially Steven) we were lucky enough to see more than just birds and bunnies... a big horned sheep, bear cub, pronged horn antelope, deer.

Debbi  at Walker homestead

Steven models use of Captain Smiths alcove bed carved in rock wall... get a load of those red tennis shoes...what a hoot!

Cabin's solid rock wall from the outside

The road wasn't all that bad- a little bumpy, occasional narrowness on side of canyon, and deeply rutted in a few places where a vehicle or two plowed through when it was wet and soft. 

Debbi and Steven on high rock ledge 100+ feet above "pot holes" carved into the sandstone by water below

Day not complete without a cache or two or more!

Indian Paintbrush more plentiful in canyon than any place visited this month

"We were right down there..."

A man well satisfied with his day