San Diego Zoo

February 2 and 5, 2008

The San Diego Zoo is one of the nation's best zoo's. It actually is 2 separate zoos. One is in downtown San Diego and the other is about 30-40 miles north of the city.



The downtown zoo is pretty much a zoo like most would expect. It contains lots of animals and all are behind fences and in cages in as natural a setting as can be made.



The other is a natural perserve where the animals have a lot of land to roam in a setting which most resembles their natural habitat. We rode around the pereserve in a tram and viewed the animals from a far. Some had fences to divide them so they wouldn't kill and eat each other - if they were natural enemies. As you can see, many lived together as they would in the wild.


Did you ever see a lion on a station wagon before? The lion can go wherever he wants to go.......



Warhogs are pretty ugle creatures.

The most comical and enjoyable creatures to watch are the apes, monkeys and gorillas. It's eerie how human they seem. As we watched them, we wondered who was watching who. A sign said not to stare at them, as it makes them self conscience. They will behave more naturally if you don't look them in the eyes.



We spent 2 days at the zoo. It's amazing how many different species there are. There are animals here at the zoo that we never knew existed. Each one is different and unique. Seeing the country and all that is in it gives one an awareness and wonder of all of God's creatures and creation.

Outdoor Resorts Rancho Calfornia

January 25, 2008

From Arizona to California - More desert! The drive to CA was dry and arid. We drove over the mountains to San Diego and then headed north to our next RV park.


Outdoor Resorts is a chain of absolutely beautiful, upper class RV resorts and they are located across the country. Sites are privately owned.

Our friends Rita and Doug Fick live in their RV at Outdoor Resorts Rancho California. Pictured is Doug and Rita's RV Site and motorhome. They own 3 sites in the park. We met Doug and Rita in Grapevine, Texas last fall while we were at The Vineyards RV park and they invited us to stay on one of their lots here in California. It was an offer we couldn't refuse. Many of the sites are upgraded with stone and brick, landscaping, fountains, washer/dryers, stoves and ovens, grills and other amenitites.

The views are spectacular. Our site is located on the hill , over the pond, with the mountain behind us. It's another paradise.

The park has a golf course, 6 tennis courts, 5 pools, shuffle board, 2 club houses, plus..... It is located about 15 miles east of Temecula, between San Diego and LA.

Thank you Rita and Doug.

Visiting Jan and Don Ballman in Casa Grande

Jamuary 20, 2008

It's great making new friends all over the country. Jan and Don Ballman are people we met at Inks lake, Texas before we started full timing. They were park hosting at the State Park. They sold their house in Texas and decided to move to Arizona. We kept in touch with them through e-mail for a few years.

When we realized they were living close to where we were staying, we were excited to visit with them. They moved into Robson Ranch in Casa Grande. It's a community for 55 and older with all kinds of activities going on. Shown are pictures in front and in back of their house.

As you can see, yard work is alot different in the desert. It's very low maintenance, but very expensive to landscape a new home. Cactus are a premium, costing a few thousand dollars for a plant that's about 10 feet tall.

We had lunch with Jan and Don one afternoon and they allowed us to play tennis one afternoon on their club courts. The courts are sunken, which makes an echo as the ball bounces. We had never played on blue courts before. We liked it.

Don and Jan also have a motorhome and we hope they will join us, maybe in Colorado sometime.

Parachuting in Casa Grande, Arizona

January 16, 2008

NO! WE DID NOT JUMP OUT OF AN AIRPLANE!!

One afternoon, a bunch of us, including Mary and Dave Spears, decided to go see some international parachuting. Very interesting, but we are not brave enough to try it. We could have if we wanted to - for $25 a ride.

Pictured is a person who took the plunge for the first time. You can see the double parachuters. The rider is holding his legs out in front of him for the landing.

It was interesting to watch the parachuters getting ready to jump, folding their chutes, practicing their formations, taking off, landing and most of all - the excitment on their faces after a safe landing. There was one man who jumped from a plane and he had only 1 leg. He took off his "leg" (a telescoping leg which attached to his upper thigh) to jump. After he landed (on his butt), he put his leg back on and walked back.

Hiking in Casa Grande, Arizona

January 15, 2008

On to new adventures..... in Arizona.

We pulled into the Fiesta Grande RV park in Casa Grande. After a windy, dusty, dry drive through desert country, we had finally arrived. There are areas of highway where the visibility is 0%.... from all the sand blowing in the wind. Luckily, we did not have one of those black outs.

Some of our friends from Fun Valley, CO are wintering here and we looked forward to spending some time with them. Mary and Dave Spears are bicycling and hiking buddies. We met them in Colorado and have been friends for a few years.

We stayed in Arizona for 2 weeks and enjoyed many activities at the park.

Of coarse, hiking is one of our loves. We hiked up one of the "mountains" close to the RV park. We are pictured standing next to some mighty big cactii with Mary and Dave.

If you look real carefully, you can see Dave and Delton hiking down the mountain. They look like little specks on the top of the mountain. They blend in with the trees.

Other activites included biking and bridge.

On To Arizona

We are now in Casa Grande, Arizona, between Tuscon and Phoenix. It's different here in the desert. Our Arizona adventure will soon be posted!

Christmas in New Hamphire

December 25, 2007

We flew up to New Hamphire for Christmas this year. Joni's brother and his family live there and so does Joni's Mom.

We enjoyed a WHITE CHRISTMAS for the first time in a long time. It was beautiful, white and fluffy. See the picture taken from Joni's Mom's living room window.

We also spent the holidays with Rich's wife's (Adele) Dad, step Mom and niece.

It was interesting to see all the political signs everywhere. The NH primaries were in everyone's mind as was the Patriot's football game.
We enjoyed our visit and enjoyed the snow (for a few days anyway.)

Fall 2007 Coming to a Close

We loved our spot in Grapevine with our view of the lake. Friends Kathy and Skip McKie joined us for a delicious diner on a warm fall afternoon.

One of the highlights of our fall trip back home was Delton's BEARD. He grew it for our Christmas program at church. See the story on Jouney to Bethlehem.



Toni and Jeff Ast came out to Grapevine in their RV for a weekend. We ate, fished, and sat around the campfire with them. We met them during our Journey To Bethlehem program and have become good friends. (Pictured are Toni and Jeff in front of their RV)



RVers are very friendly people. We met alot of new friends in the park. Doug and Rita Fisk are 2 of those great people. We will be joining them in the San Diego area for a few weeks this winter. We are looking forward to seeing them again. (Rita and Doug are pictured in front of their motorhome)



We had an early Christmas exchange with Delton's son, Ken and his wife Shawna and daughter Shauntal. Also, Joni's son Chris joined us. After a summer flood in their home, they were finally settled in with their new renovations. What an ordeal that was. They had 4 inches of water in their house.

Journey To Bethlehem

December 5 -10, 2007

Journey to Bethlehem (JTB) is a Christmas program that our church in Grapevine, Texas presented this year. (Memorial Baptist) We wanted very much to be a part of the presentation this year and planned on being “home” long enough to do that. Rehearsals started in September and continued on to the performance in December. (Notice the "biblical" beard that Delton grew - Joni couldn't wait till it was gone!)

JTB is an actual trip taken with a Biblical family (the Gladiel family). It is an outdoor event on the grounds of our church, where you become part of the Gladiel family and go on the journey with them. We had 10 Gadiel families, which started their journeys every 6-8 minutes. Each family group contained about 25-50 family members. Following is a write up from our church website about the journey:

JTB is a FREE event...an interactive outdoor walking Christmas drama that
will put you and your family right in the middle of the real Christmas story.

Groups of 30-40 people will travel with a Jewish family who has been
ordered to return to their hometown of Bethlehem to take part in the Roman
census decreed by Caesar.

Roman soldiers on horseback will monitor your
Journey. Keep a sharp eye out for the Wise Men and their camels! Fire pits will
give you several chances to warm up, and you'll experience the bustling
marketplace in Bethlehem, too, with all of its sights and sounds. You'll finally
catch up with Mary and Joseph, just moments after the baby Jesus has been born.

We played the part of beggars, loitering at the gate to Bethlehem. As the Gadiel families arrived at Bethelehem, we approached them and begged for food for our family. We became good friends with fellow beggar, Toni Ast. Toni’s husband played the part of the angel (pictured).
We felt very blessed to have the opportunity to be part of this program and plan on doing it again next year. Pictured is our talented director, Ginny (center) with her daughter Sarah and sister.

Tennis At Linda's House

Upon returning to Texas, we looked forward to getting back on the tennis courts again. We looked forward to playing with our friends, Mary Jane and Dave Mulaski. We were disappointed to find out that Dave had injured his knee during the summer and was unable to play for a while. As it would happen, Dave suffered a massive stroke in November (see prayer requests for Dave). Please continue to pray for Mary Jane and Dave as Dave works hard to recover.

Mary Jane asked Joni if she would like to play doubles with Linda Lam (pictured in red and black) and some other friends at a backyard court at Linda’s house. Joni has known Linda Lam for many years, but had never played on her backyard court before. As you can see, it is a beautiful court with lots of trees, foliage, decks and even a pond of gold fish surrounding the court.

Well, the match was wonderful….. and so it continued and continued. Linda continued to call Joni to join her and others for doubles throughout the fall. Joni enjoyed meeting new tennis friends, Velma, Carol, Connie and Karen Nester from Trophy Club, Since were were in Linda’s backyard, we could play anytime. Linda’s husband Connor was so nice. He cleaned off the court every time we played and even provided a cooler full of water for us girls.

We played at least once a week, sometimes twice and even three times a week. It is hard to resist such a wonderful invitation. Linda and Joni became closer friends with each match and also as we called each other often to get updates on Dave’s condition from Mary Jane.

Dave and Mary Jane Need Our Prayers

Monday, November 12, 2007

Our dear, dear friends need all our prayers. Dave and Mary Jane Mulaski have been our friends for about 25 years. Dave suffered a massive stroke on Monday. Mary Jane found him at home after running some errands. He was taken to a Grapevine hospital (north of the DFW airport), where it was decided to CareFlight him to a Dallas hospital. He has not been responsive yet but we are all hoping and praying for his recovery.

Pictured are Mary Jane, Dave and us, after an Ocean Resorts tennis match in Florida. They are long time friends and RV traveling companions. Please say a prayer for healing and comfort for their family.

Lake Lewisville with the Deeters

October 12, 2007

We met Steve and Linda Deeter when we sold our pop-up trailer. Because THEY BOUGHT IT in 2002.!

What a surprise to find them at Fun Valley this summer. We were taking a walk one evening and started talking with some friendly people who were on their way to watch the square dancers in the Square Dance Barn. They looked very familiar to us and we looked familiar to them. As we learned more about each other, Linda said (with a surprised look on her face) “I think we bought your pop-up!” The clues that tipped her off were that we used to live in Trophy Club and we are full-timing.

Well, we bumped into them a few more times in Fun Valley and decided that we needed to get together when we got back to Texas. They live in Flower Mound, which is about ½ hour from Trophy Club.

Linda e-mailed us and found out we were back and asked us to join them for diner and an evening cruise on their yacht, which was docked at Lake Lewisville. It was great! See Steve in the captain's chair.

A few funny things happened that night. We set off for our cruise and about 10 minutes into the ride we came across a highway bridge which the boat usually sails under. Since the lakes were flooded this summer and were still at higher levels than normal, we couldn’t get under the bridge. We got close to the bridge before they decided if would be too close for comfort. Then, Linda and Steve discovered that they left their dog, Donnie, on the dock. Panic struck Linda as she said – “Turn around, we’ve forgot the dog!” Donnie was found 2 slips away from their slip. They think he probably tried to follow the boat as it sailed away. Anyway, he was safe. Pictured are Linda and Donnie (the dog).

Well, we decided to dine on the dock instead of on the boat. Diner was great – shish-ka-bob.

We all had a great time and plan on getting together again, both here in Texas and also on the road somewhere, sometime.