Detour to Payson 11/7/08

We got to Palm Springs on Tuesday, November 4, and then headed to Payson, AZ, for special weekend. We left the Condo at the Park and just drove to Payson in the Hippo. Ryan's son, Wesley, turned 8 on October 11. He was very patient and agreed to wait a month later to get baptized so we could be there. It was a great day to see Ryan baptize him and then then confirm him a member of the Church, with a circle of both Grandpas and Uncle Travis in a circle around him. It was also a special weekend because Ryan was sustained as his ward's Elder's Quorum President. He had the same circle standing around him as the Stake President set him apart for his calling. We are very proud of both Wesley and Ryan.

On Saturday morning, Terry visited "Dr. Howard" and had a growth taken off of his head and one off of his back. The one on his head ended up being skin cancer. Josh came with us to hold Grampa Howie's hand and then was brave enough to let Dad take some little skin tags off of his lip. They both got rewards of some candy corn! It sure is handy to have a doctor in the family.

Spencer had saved his money and (with a little help from Mom and Dad) bought himself a new bike. It was a cool color and he looked great on it!

On Saturday after Wesley's baptism, we went to Ryan and Lori's and had a wonderful dinner of soups and homemade rolls. Lori really outdid herself, and then she fed us another great meal the next day after Church when she fixed baked spaghetti and banana pudding cake. She got lots of compliments from all. Lori's parents were also there for the special weekend. They stayed at Ryan's and we stayed at Travis'.

The guys are in their normal position while the women of the family slaved in the kitchen! Here is Terry, Ryan with Chaz, and Lori's Dad, Richie.

We had a table full of grandkids--Chaz, Wesley, Nathan, Riley, Spencer, Nicholas, and Josh.

We had a really good time. We even got to go to a football game where Ryan was working as the Sports Trainer. His team has a perfect record and they played their first State Tournament game, which they won 71 to 0! I am sure it must have something to the good job Ryan is doing as the Sports Trainer!

Every night we were there, we got back to Travis and Shannon's about bedtime and each night our bed was made and ready for us. The last night, there was even a treat on my pillow. Thanks, kids, for a great weekend!

Soledad Canyon, Palmdale CA 10/28-11/4

Soledad Canyon Resort is one of the largest of the Thousand Trails parks, but there are quite a few sites that need some work on them. Some don't even have working electricity. But, we didn't have any trouble finding a site. There is a MetroLink passenger train that goes right next to the park all day. A freight train also uses the same track. We didn't mind the noise, even though we were parked close to the tracks. We were able to get cell phone service and also Internet service, so we were happy!

We had kind of an exciting spot. Our neighbors had come over the first day we were there and invited us to Bible study on Thursday. Well, Thursday afternoon, they called 911 because he thought he was having a heart attack. They took him away in the ambulance, but he came home later that evening. (Dad said that was kind of a hard way to get out of going to Bible study.) Then that night, we were sitting in the Condo and heard someone yelling for help. We ran out and found a lady a couple of trailers down from us who was lying on the ground and had had a seizure. We stayed there with her until the ambulance came for her. She was a diabetic and they thought maybe her new medicine was not agreeing with her. She was conscious and in not too bad of shape, but we didn't see her again. Their motorhome was gone in a couple of days. I guess we better get used to ambulances coming into places where there are so many old people! (Glad we aren't old!)

We were close to the clubhouse where we played pinochle one night. The rules were kind of different from what we were used to playing, but most of the people were patient with us. But, there were a couple that kind of snarled when we did something wrong, like shuffle the cards backwards! We decided that some people just take their pinochle too seriously!

It seems like there is always something that Terry needs to service or fix on either the Condo or the hippo (truck). I am sure glad he is handy at fixing things! It would be very expensive to always have to pay someone to do it.

One day I even caught him with a broom in his hands! I told him he looked pretty good, but he was glad no one else in the park saw him--especially none of the other men!

Terry decided it was only fair for him to take a picture of me at one of my favorite past times--sitting with my feet up. At least my hands are busy. I knit a lot of dishrags. They come in handy to give away to new friends and special people we meet in our travels.

We were at Soledad Canyon over Halloween. They had their party the week before, so there wasn't much going on. I carved this pumpkin and set a bowel of candy out. But, even though there were a few kids in the park, we had no trick-or-treaters!

Terry took this picture of me to tattle to the kids. Several of them went together on our Christmas gift this year. They gave them to us when we left Emmett in October, with the instructions that they were not supposed to be opened until Christmas. Well, the weather was so nice and we were sitting outside so much, that Terry said he was going to open his present because it would be so cold in December in Payson that we wouldn't even be able to use them. Well, he convinced me, and I opened mine, and then he wouldn't open his!!! So, sorry kids, but I am sure enjoying my new chair. Dad won't even sit in it and keeps giving me a bad time!

This is the only picture I got of the MetroLink train going by. We ended up riding it on it with three other couples to a tour of Hollywood. We had a tour guide from the park named Jack. He was really a good guide and we all had a great time.

This is the skyline of Los Angeles. Each night it would show this shot on the news when they started talking about the weather. I think one of their weather meters must be on top of one of those skyscrapers or something.

After we got off of the MetroLink in LA, we went to Union Station to ride the subway to Hollywood. It was really cool. It reminded me of the the show, Ghost, when he has a fight with the other ghost on the subway.

This is on the subway. The guy on the left is our guide, Jack. Three of our people are sitting in the second seat on the left. Dad and I are in the very back and you can't see us.

We stopped at the Hollywood and Vine stop. Each stop kind of has a theme. At this one, the whole ceiling was covered with empty movie reels and there were "film strips" painted on the walls. There was a "stage" where you went up the stairs.

There were also a couple of old movie camera/projectors on display. Here is Terry and Jack looking at one of them.

Well, here we are, at the corner of Hollywood and Vine streets. This is where the "Walk of the Stars" begins. It is on both sides of the street and goes on for many blocks.

I think I took over 100 pictures of different stars. There are so many! Here are just a few.

James Stewart was one of the first ones I took. Then I had to take a picture of Eddie Fisher. When I moved to Emmett when I was still in High School, we came from the LA area and I used to tell people that Eddie Fisher was my uncle. My maiden name is Fisher. Then I had to take a picture of John Howard's because I am sure that he must be related to our family!

Here is the "Hollywood" sign on the hill. I am not sure of the name of the place we were when I took this, but it is in the next picture.

Apparently, this yellow couch is the "casting couch" where people would come and try out for parts in movies. It is now in this outdoor plaza on a balcony where you can see the "Hollywood" sign on the mountain. You can sit on it and take your picure. These two couples were with our group. They agreed to be filmed for a commercial for Barnes and Noble. I think it was for an Internet commercial, but it was kind of a fun thing for them to get to do. They asked us to be in it, but we said, "No, thanks." It's a good thing because they asked them all about which authors they liked and what some of the books were they had read recently. I wouldn't have had very good answers.

We went to Gromin's (I know I am spelling this wrong) Chinese Theater where all of the hand and foot prints were. Most of them were covered up with red carpet because they where getting ready for a movie premier that night for VIP's to see the movie "CHE." I have never heard of the movie!

So, we didn't have too many choices of pictures of hand and foot prints, but I did find Shirley MacLaine's!

We got tired and were waiting for our tour guide to come back, so we went into the lobby of a hotel. I can't remember the name of it, but Jack told us that was where Dr. Phil's guest stayed when they came to be on his show. We hung around for a while, hoping we would run into a movie star or someone, but it didn't happen

The last place we went was to the Kodak Theater. This is where the Academy Awards are held. This is our whole group. All three of these couples are really nice. They invited us to their "happy hour" a couple of days later and we went over to their RV and had snacks and "drinks."

(Just ice water for us, but in fancy wine glasses!)

These were some really pretty flowers that were by the entrance to the train station. They are called "Bird of Paradise."

The night we got home from our Hollywood tour, these little raccoons were there to welcome us back to the park!

Rancho Oso, Santa Barbara CA 10/21-10/28

We got to Rancho Oso on October 21. It is about 15 miles from Santa Barbara, which is right on the ocean. It is located at the point where the boarder of California turns. There is a place called the Point of Conception. It has something to do with the weather because the weathermen are always talking about it. I was hoping to walk on the beach at least one more time, but we didn't. I wanted to see if the water was as cold as it was along the Oregon coast. Maybe next time! Rancho Oso was a working ranch back in the mid 1800's. Some of the original buildings are still in the park. The word "Oso" means "bear" in Spanish, but the park doesn't carry that as a theme. It still has a lot of the ranch feel to it.

We had been told about last 5 miles going into the park. The road is very narrow and if you meet another vehicle coming or going, usually one of you has to pull over and stop to let the other one get by. There are three corners where there are mirrors to let you know if there is someone coming. Terry had gout in his foot while we were at Ranch Oso. The day before we were due to leave, he got gout in his knee. He didn't think he would be able to drive the next day and he told me I would have to drive out! It wouldn't have been too bad, but we were on the cliff side of the road going out. I am sure that only through the power of prayer (more Terry's than mine) that his knee was better the next morning!

The ranch boards a lot of horses for people. This is a picture of only a few of them.

They also offer horse rides to members and to the public. The park is so big that they have a lot of nice horse trails.
There are some little cabins they rent out to the public (and to members at a discount). They only have a double bed, a set of bunk beds, and a cupboard with a small refrigerator in them. They each have a barbecue outside and they share nice restrooms and showers. They were full on the weekends. Lots of people come and bring their horses or ride the horses they board at the park.

There are also these cool covered wagons. The only thing in them are six army-type cots. There are two sets of five wagons circled around a common fire pit. I think it would be a fun experience to stay in them. There is a Chuck Wagon nearby that offers breakfast and lunch to anyone staying in the Park. The covered wagons were pretty busy during the weekend, also.

The RV sites at Rancho Oso are on seven levels, with 12-15 sites on a level. It was a little different, but it worked well. There are also a lot of rental trailers and cabins.

We got a really nice spot on the bottom level, with a tree in our front yard. We were close to the activity centers, pools, miniature golf, horseshoes, tennis court, and all of the other activities. It was really good because we were close to the adult lodge where there was Internet service. My Internet card didn't work so I had to go back and forth to the lodge to download and send my transcription to our son, Travis. We couldn't get cell service, either. There was a point about a mile up the mountain that they called Verizon Point. That was the closest place we could get cell service on our phone. So, we would either walk or drive up there to make phone calls.

There were deer that came into camp each morning and evening. They were really small deer. This doe and her yearling fawns were always there. It was fun to watch the fawns play in the meadow. They would never get too close.

Most of the Thousand Trail parks have a "country store." They usually carry many of the basics that RVers need, and souvenirs of the park. I should start a collection of t-shirts from all of our parks. Maybe that will be a project for next year.

One day we decided to go swimming. I took the camera and told Terry that there would be no pictures of us in our swimming suits. Well, Terry got in the pool before I got a chance to take a picture. Soooo, here is Terry in the pool. I wonder if there is some way I can put a password on the camera so if he ever gets ahold of it he won't be able to make it work!

Rancho Oso has two really nice pools and a big hottub. We used them several times. The big pool was not heated so we didn't ever get in it. But, the other heated pool and the hot tub were really nice.

This is one of the original ranch buildings. They now call it the Stone Lodge. They hold a lot of activities in it and this is where they have all of the meals they serve. We played ping-pong one day and played candy bar bingo. Neither of us won at bingo, but they felt sorry for us and gave us both a candy bar anyway! We had dinner there one night, with our neighbors, and had a really good tri-tip steak meal.

Most of the parks have a church service on Sunday. Usually they are held in an activity center. Rancho Oso has a seperate little church building. We don't go to the park service very often. We usually go to the LDS Church in the area.

That is what we did the Sunday we were at Rancho Oso. We went to Church in Santa Barbara. As we headed down the mountain, we thought we were above the clouds, but it turned out to be fog and we drove right down into it. We couldn't see very far in front of our car. Thank goodness we had out GPS to find the Church. This is what it looked like at 8:00 am. On our way home at 12:30 pm, we could see part of the city at this same spot, but we still couldn't see the ocean.

One day we went on a wagon ride pulled by a pickup truck (I was expecting horses). They took us all around the park and told us the history of Rancho Oso. It was really interesting.

We ended up at their livestock barn where they had chickens, pigs, goats, horses, and cattle.

We saw the biggest pig we have ever seen. They said he weighed over 1,000 pounds. There were actually two of them. Their names were Teeny and Tiny. They had been raised at the park and really enjoyed being petted.

They also had a "tame" wild pig. Even though it had also been raised at the park, they suggested that no one pet it but the employees!

There were a couple of goats in with the pigs. From the time this one was little, it loved to play and "butt." The gal just pushed against the goat's head and she would rear up and want to play.

When we came into the park, they told us that the tarantulas were on the move. Sure enough, the night before we left, this critter came crawling up the little hill towards our front door. I tried to get Terry to pick it up and hold it so you could see how big it was, but he wouldn't. It was almost as big as our hand. I would have held it, but I had to take the pictures!

We had met Dale and Don at San Bonita and had played cards with them. They ended up following us to Rancho Oso. When they got there, there was an empty spot right next to us so they parked there. We really enjoyed getting to know them better, playing cards, visiting, and sharing some meals. Hopefully, we will run into them again sometime during our travels.