Onward!

Another August Sunset in Idaho

August was a mixed month as far as things go. The 1st would have been Abbey's 5th birthday, so the beginning of the month was sad for us. We spent some extra time remembering her and the joy she brought us. As the month progressed, we had some additional concrete work done on our lot at Stoneridge. Next season we won't have any major stuff to do...just some landscaping (at least that's the plan - stay tuned and we'll see how it unfolds).

I worked diligently with my new golf clubs. I had a goal to break 100 before we left. My last game was 100...doh! As close as you can get to breaking it without getting there. On the positive side, I think that 20 strokes lower than the start of the season was a pretty good accomplishment. I'll get-er done next year for sure. Donna pretty well wrapped up the two photo albums she put together for Todd & Jenna. This was a HUGE undertaking, organizing 30+ years of pictures. Her advice to those thinking about doing this is simply: do it as a high school graduation gift - you'll have a lot to do, but not as much as if you put it off until the kids are in their mid-30's! I have to commend her on completing this, it took a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of dusting off cobwebs to remember what happened, where, and when. Remember, virtually all of these pictures were taken before the age of digital cameras, where you get a time and date stamp on every picture!

There were several activities that took place during August. An "Omelette in a Bag" breakfast was held. Simply put, you place your omelette ingredients in a plastic bag, add a couple of scoops of beaten eggs, seal it up, and drop it in boiling water for 10 minutes...you get a perfectly cooked omelette! Add some cheese, salsa, and other goodies, and WOW! Mimosas and/or Bloody Mary's accompanied the food. This was a great social event, and got all the owners together. Thanks to Gordon, Sandi, Jim, and Ginger for putting this together.

Omelette in a bag

Fixins

There was also a "Divot Party" organized by one of the owners. Imagine 30 or so golf carts, each with 2 people, charging over the course, filling divots like crazy. It was hot, but fun, and the golf shop sprung for pizza afterwards. Good job Pat for this one!

The last major social event for us was the "1st Annual Bogie Lane Potluck". All of the owners on our street, plus a few invitees and crashers, got together at Bruce and Adair's for hamburgers, snacks (including my famous salsa), and dessert. This was the start of a great tradition we all agreed.

Bogie Laners

Nice company!

Sampling Rod's gringo and macho salsas

Donna's buddy Yogi (who just turned 14!)

All summer we watched as the swimming pool was being built at our clubhouse. Finally, a few days before we were scheduled to leave, the water was in, and so were we!! What started out as a few brave souls in the pool turned into a pool party by day's end.

Donna was the 2nd person in the new pool!

Goodbyes are tough, but we made the rounds saying farewell for the season to all of our new friends. Seeya next season!!

We had some very exciting events planned for August. We obtained permission from Country Coach to park our rig at their facility in Junction City for a week or so. First off, we had business in California!! Donna and I needed a "grandkids fix", so we headed south to San Jose in the Jeep. It was great to see Bea and Livey again (Jenna and Josh too!). We stayed at their home, so we got a good dose of grandkids. It's amazing how much energy 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 year olds have! On Saturday we went to the Ringling Brothers Circus in San Jose. Things have really changed since the last time we went to the circus! There were still clowns, elephants, lions, and tigers, but the presentation is getting more like Cirque du Soleil. It was lots of fun seeing the wonder in the grandkids eyes. We are amazed at the grandkids' communication skills. They now talk in sentences, not just single words. Time moves on!! (Check out http://www.jjbofamily.blogspot.com/ to follow their adventures).

Grandkid Fix!

Elephants!

A secondary, but very important part of our visit to California, was to visit a Yorkie breeder in Livermore. We were so lucky to meet Georgina several years ago. It was she who had a young Yorkie turned in to her as a rescue. It was she who named her Abbey - the same name that we had planned to name her. We called her after Abbey passed, and she consoled us and told us that time would help heal our pain. We decided that if we were to have another dog, we would adopt from her. She told us she had a female that we could adopt if we felt we were a match. This pup would be old enough for her to release in early October. Our visit was to meet this pup and see how we interacted with each other. There are two pups in the litter, a male and a female. The male was very outgoing, the female a bit reserved. After sitting with the mother and the 2 pups for a while, the female warmed up to us...and we connected - instant love! We spent a long time with the pup. We told Georgina we would like to adopt her. My next post will reveal MUCH more about our upcoming addition!

Baby Yorkie

It was time to head north again, back to our motorhome, and another new adventure. We were to attend our first Country Coach Rally, in Albany, Oregon. This was a 5-day event, dry-camping on the fairgrounds. Dry-camping means no electricity, no water, and no sewer. We actually had to use all of the motorhome functions, including the generator. They really are self-contained. There were seminars to attend, new motorhomes to look at, vendor booths, and people to meet! The breakfasts and dinners were catered affairs, along with a social hour. We met lots of new friends. It was so much fun, we decided to sign up for the spring event at Jekyll Island in Georgia in March of 2009. If you've been reading the blog for a while, you might remember we were there last March. We were originally only going to go as far east as Texas this winter...plans change! One of the most interesting things for Donna at this rally was her driving lesson. Yes, she drove a 45' Magna coach (and the instructor said she did great!)! Now I've got a backup driver - yeah!!

After the rally we headed south to Myrtle Creek, OR for a few days. While down there, we took a drive down to Grants Pass and saw Leroy and Carol. It was great seeing them again - we'll be meeting up with them later this winter in Arizona.

Now we are up at "Camp Country Coach" for our 1 year service. It's hard to believe, but we picked up the new coach last September! They anticipate we'll be here until September 15.