Salt Lake City

Is not my favorite place to hang out.... but it could be worse... yesterday we went out to the salt flats and over to Nevada for lunch and to grab a cache... we headed back to Salt Lake City and were on our way up to the copper mine... in fact.. we were at the gate... shut off the motor home to pay the guy... and then it would not run.. it started.. but did not even want to move out of the way of the gate.. Dave was able to move it just barley out of the way... and that was it... it just had to sit for an hour to cool down... totally frustrated the guys at the gate... they did not like us just sitting there... brought back our money and took our ticket.. no way they were letting us up the hill... it was another 4 miles straight up.... which we knew better than to even try.... when we changed the fuel filter the other day in Buhl.. in the parking lot of the auto parts store...we had hoped that was the problem and that it was all fixed... but... today we are sitting at the ford dealership ( will be getting a rental car soon) and the motor home is getting a new fuel pump... which is inside the gas tank.. which is a lot of work and a lot of money... will hopefully be back on the road tonight and only out $1,500 we did not plan on spending.

I do have to give credit to the ford dealership, Larry H Miller, for being totally awesome... they were about 3 days out on service schedule but were able to make some calls and move things around and get us in today... and they even had the pump we need... so this whole thing could have been a lot worse, knock on wood since it is not done yet. Dave is off picking up the rental car...and then I am hoping we are able to head up to the mine and then get some lunch and hopefully be back on the road by dinner time.

We know that owning a motor home.. and an older one.. that each year we have to put some money into fixing it up... every year we pick something big and something to prettifiy it... this year we did new tires for it.. and made cool arm rests and a console station for the chargers and drink holders and stuff (still hoping to do a blog post about all that since it turned out awesome and is working great) last year was brakes and we redid the benches at the table... next year we were thinking about redoing one whole wall of the motor home.. taking it off like we did the roof a few years ago and redoing the whole thing... but now that we have had this nice little suprise that might just wait another year and we can get away with calling the fuel pump next years project.

Off in the rental car to check out the copper mine and hopefully find a few caches for Utah... because as soon as we get this fixed... we are out of here and headed to Colorada and hopefully some trees and a bit cooler weather. Thinking since the four corners is under construction and we are tired of hot.. that we will skip the lower part and stay to the mountains a bit more.. we can do mesa verde and the four corners some other time.

~Michelle

We have been taking photos.. there are some on the flickr site... since being on the computer while we are driving is limited ny my tummy I am putting pictures there when I get a few minutes and some on facebook and twitpic.... once we make camp somewhere for a few days I will be able to do a few more.

Too Hot

Third day of vacation... and it is too hot... other than that we are having a great time. Yesterday we did some geocaching in Oregon... that was fun... not a lot different than Washington yet..just hotter and you think twice before putting your hands into piles of rocks....hoping to make it all the way home without having any visits with snakes.

We did pull over in a big empty lot for a cache right off of the freeway...and while we were there we watched a big storm moving across the sky... there was lightning and thunder and huge rain drops... went from what felt like 110 to about 85 degrees.... spent some time playing in the rain. Hiked up a 1/4 mile hill for a cache... it was hot... but great lookout and some neat looking grasses.

We made it to Boise last night and camped in the walmart. It is nice to be able to pull in at any time... most nights we drive until 1 or so... we can go in and use the rest room and stretch our legs a bit.. and they have A/C and are nice and cool....then in the morning we can pick up whatever we might need and head out.

Today we are heading to Salt Lake City... taking a scenic highway and hoping to see some waterfalls and if we are really lucky we will find an awesome place to swim for awhile and maybe have a bbq. Then we will spend tonight in another walmart.. tomorrow we do the copper mine and the salt flats... then well... this is the sort of vacation that we just do not know that far in advance... who knows... we may decide at dinner tonight to head back to the Oregon coast.

I am posting some photos on flickr... but at this point all my time on the computer is while we are driving and I am learning I am not very good at this.. if I am not careful my tummy gets a bit upset... I am hoping when we set up camp for a few days I will be able to get a few more photos uploaded. We are taking lots... having fun with the new camera.

now we are in Bliss Idaho and stopping to visit the restroom/stretch legs a bit and grab a cache... I will check in again soon :)

~Michelle

It Has Started

Vacation that is... we are under way and already can feel the stress just melting away. The last few weeks... months.. have been so busy and crazy... I am looking forward to some relaxing fun time with no worries.

We are about 2 hours from home.. getting ready to head over the mountains on I-90 into eastern Washington... tonight we will camp in a rest stop or a walmart.. that is one thing I love about the motorhome... just being able to pull over anywhere and camp for the night. I am sitting here typing this as we drive into North Bend.... learning where everything is on the lap top and playing with the new mapping and gps programs we have on it. We have not had time to do any geocaching at all in the last few weeks and I am really looking forward to finding some tomorrow... a couple in Washington and Oregon and Idaho I think... I am not really sure as the route is not the thing I am in charge of.... My job was getting everything cleaned and loaded... and biggest most important job will be food. Then we get home I will be in charge of cleaning and unloading... pretty much I have it easy.

Off I go.... kids have thier music plugged into their ears and I think Dave and I will put on some good music and enjoy the next couple of hours. I look forward to being able to log in while we are driving and share our vacation with you... I have made a skype account too and looking into some other ideas on ways to share this trip. I will keep you updated and if you have any ideas please let me know. There will be photos on my flickr site and videos on my youtube too :)

~Michelle and family

Passing of a Loved One

My grandma passed away this week and I have just gotten back from her service. On the way there and way back I was doing some thinking and talking to the kids about her and some of our memories of her. She was a very old grandma who had shared a wonderful long life with all of us. I know she is where she wants to be and I am happy for her. I am also sad. Not because she has passed but because we have all gotten so old. Talking with my sisters and my cousins and everyone today...I think how nice it would be to go back and we could all sit around the table and play games again and have grandpas ice cream. I can close my eyes and see, smell and feel her home.. so many smells of everything cooking... people laughing.. and arguing... and it is too warm.. it was always Hot at grandmas. That was what I was sad for... and well.. one can not go back..... but... I look around my life... and there is so much grandma in my every day happenings. I have a house full of kids who love to sit around and play games.. we still play all the games we used to play with grandma.. aggravation.. and zilch and skippo.. those are some of our favorite games. I look through my cooking blog and I see her recipes... cookies and grandpas ice cream.. .. I also have a pitcher of her favorite juice, lemonade and grape juice made together.. in my fridge every summer. I look over to the basket by my bedroom door... full of yarn and knitting and crochet hooks.. and her crochet bag she gave me is sitting in it. Every time a flower blooms in the spring I think of her and of the time I spent helping in her garden. We don't have to go back in time... I am taking her with me... every time we share in something that she shared with us. She will always be here not only in my memories but in my every day life... in the things I do and my kids do :)

I love you the mostest grandma and hey.. can you give grandpa a hug for me :)

~Shelly

Weight Loss Wednesday

Well I am sort of cheating but we will call it learning something new. I am writing this on Tuesday afternoon. I am hoping I have set this up to post on Wednesday morning but we shall see if I have done it right.

I woke up this morning knowing I would be super busy tomorrow so I got on the scale and did my weigh in a day early. I am happy to report that I am down a pound.. almost two. I walked a lot this last week on the treadmill and I also was just very very busy with not a lot of time to sit still. We had a lot of things to do to get ready for vacation, like cleaning the motor home and the house. I hate coming home to a dirty house. Plus with someone here I wanted to make sure it was all clean and all they would need to do is pick up after themselves :) *fingers crossed* We also washed the jeeps and everything... it is so much more relaxing on vacation to know when you get home the house is clean and the cars are ready for work on Monday. Besides the little odd ball things that have to be loaded and then our personal bags.. we are set to go.

My goal on vacation is to walk a lot... and to be aware of what I am eating and how much I am eating. I will also be drinking a lot of water.. everyone will be. It is vacation and I plan on having an awesome time.. but I also know that a lot of that will involve food. lol starting it off well with a big thanksgiving dinner tonight for sons birthday dinner... you know the son in December loves to have a BBQ on his birthday... go figure! We are bringing lots of healthier snacks and buckets of water... so that will help.

I am not sure how often I will be blogging from vacation... the plan is to be online a bunch... and yet.. it was last year and then it did not happen... just depends on how much down time we end up with... most often we are running from first light to last and past :)

~Michelle