January (2)

My Uncle Bud Imlay had passed away, so our first stop was in Ogden, UT, to park our trailer (the Condo) at my Aunt and Uncle’s Place, Terry & Nancy Imlay. We left it there on Saturday and spend the next two nights with our Daughter Sarah and her family at Dugway Proving Grounds where they live on Base. As for most of the West, this was record breaking cold. It was at least -10 every night and didn’t get up past 20 in the daytime. This was not our idea of warm-climate retirement! Sarah and the kids came back with us and spent the night in the Condo parked in Terry & Nancy’s driveway. Surprisingly, we all kept cozy and warm and went through two bottles of propane (the four days we were parked there)! The next day we attended Uncle Bud’s funeral. It was sad, but we did get to see a lot of relatives.











On January 17, we left Ogden and headed to St. George. The cold weather followed us, but warmed up a little. I actually used my internet air card and downloaded Travis’s medical dictation that I transcribe for him (my part-time job), and worked on it all the way to the RV park in St. George.
The St. George RV Park had most of the water frozen, but we squeezed in next to an RV that had water and shared their spicket. They said it was the coldest weather St. George had seen in 91 years.







We met a school chum of mine, Ruth Wynn Lunt, and her husband. They took us through Zions Park. It was beautiful, even with the unaccustomed snow and icicles. They took us on a drive around St. George. The Temple is beautiful. We were going to go through a session, but it was closed that week for cleaning.
We also got to see one of my Mom’s cousins, Joe and Ilyn Pitts. We took some old photos of our family and Joe scanned some of them. He is really into genealogy.
The last day at the park, we had to listen to a presentation from Western Horizons camping program. It is similar to the one we belong to. They were nice when we told them “no thank you” and they gave us the three nights free camping and a coupon for homemade cinnamon rolls the next morning. We are looking forward to warmer weather!











Saturday, January 20, 2007
We made to Wikieup! We did stop on the Way in Beaver Dam to see Uncle Dan and Joyce Fisher. Used to have a winter home (trailer) on our property in Wikieup, but since my Mom died in November, 2004, they would rather be closer to their grandson in Mesquite, NV, they bought a winter home there. It is really nice. We were anxious to get going, so we only stayed for a little while and went on.
Hoover Dam made us nervous, not knowing if they allowed large RV’s over it, so we took the long way around through Laughlin and Bullhead City. What a hill coming out of Bullhead City--we thought we would never reach the top! We got to Wikieup, with a balmy temperature of 45 degrees and warming. We parked the first two nights at Dazzo’s Restaurant & RV Park. The best thing about it was it has wireless internet and we only had to pay $10/night because it was a Passport America park.


That evening, we got settled and then went out to “Nettie’s Place.” It was so good to see it, especially knowing that it would be our home for the winter (and hopefully many winters to come.) We opened up the house and everything looked fine, only a few signs of mice and, of course, the usual packrat in the outhouse. Dutch Odekirk, our friend and neighbor, has been here since the last of November. We visited with him and then went back to the Condo. The next day, Sunday, we went to Church at the Wikieup Branch. It happened to be their Branch Conference. They thought we were just some of the Stake visitors until they realized who we were. They seemed excited that we will be here until the end of March. They had a potluck at the church after the conference was over. They talked us into staying, even though we hadn’t brought any food.






After church we went back out to the place and got everything turned on. Everything was fine, except, of course, no water. We even cooked a spaghetti dinner before we left to go to Terry and Monte Burches to see if we could park the Condo at their house. They said it would be fine. The road getting into the place is very rough and has to cross Sycamore Wash, which has so much sand in it this year that the Condo would probably get stuck. Our place is pretty much land-locked when it rains and water comes down Sycamore Wash. So, now our big job is to try to get water and to get the old road opened back up. Good luck! Oh, we saw two havalina (sp) pigs on the way out—the first we have ever seen.