Update Dec. 23

Kirkland says I need to update this Blog, so here goes. My last post is about our White Sulphur Springs visit. After we left that area in Montana we headed for Rapid City, SD. We stopped off in Sheridon, WY for the night. By noon the next day we were at Heart Ranch just south of Rapid City. While there we visited Badlands National Park. YouTube of Badlands National Park
Other places we visited:  Mt. Rushmore
Crazy Horse   Pictures of Crazy Horse Memorial
Deadwood   Deadwood pictures
We were going to visit the Cave of the Winds, but when they said we'd have to brave 300 step stairs, I said I'd wait in the car. So we took another road trip instead.

One day we went to a recording studio and made a CD of Willard's songs. It was a great experience.

After two weeks in Rapid City, we headed for Mitchel, SD. On the way we stopped off at Wall Drugstore http://www.wall-badlands.com/. We spent the night at Mitchel then moved on to Yankton to do some genealogy work in the area. Jean's great-grandparents (Madara & Hixson) homestead in Clay County near Spirit Mound  Spirit Mound. Her maternal grandparents (Madara) were born there, living there until they moved to Alvin, Texas in 1909.

We met Arlo and Polly at Vermillion, SD for lunch. They were on their way to Sioux Falls to renew their driver's license.

We soon packed it up and moved on to Wamego, KS Pictures to visit with some North Ranch friends, Charlie, Graceann, Charles & Jan. We spent the week doing all the tourist stuff and enjoying their company, before moving on to Sedalia, MO to the Escapade Pictures at Escapade. We left early and moved on to Branson, MO. We enjoyed the Lake Cruise . After a few days of site seeing we moved on to Ashdown, AK where we spent a few days doing some genealogy. Jean's paternal grandparents lived and worked in the DeQueen, AK area. Her dad was born in Ultama Thule, a place on the OK and AK border which doesn't exist today.

Our next stop was at Carl and Aimee's home in Streetman, Texas. We had a wonderful visit with them for a few days before heading for Alamogardo, NM to visit Tayna, our granddaughter who is in the Air Force and stationed there. On the way we spent the night near Mineral Wells where we visited Jerri and Shorty. The next day we traveled through a gosh awful rain storm to Pacos, Texas. The next day we made it to Alamogardo. Robbie and Haunani were there and we had a  wonderful visit with them and Tayna. We took a road trip to Ruidoso Pictures around Ruidoso . We also had a wonderful visit with Edris & Melanie, Willard's cousins, who live near Cloudcroft.  Cloud Croft web cam

After the great visits, we moved on to North Ranch where we began our busy lives there.

Thanksgiving came quick. We celebrated it with our North Ranch family. Soon after Robbie and Haunani came for a quick visit. We took a road trip to Cedar City. We had some great quality time with them before they had to head back to Austin, TX.

Today we are at Joey and Beth's for Christmas. It will be a white one for us this year. We have really enjoyed being with family at this blessed time of the year. It was great to see our Ogden family again (Melissa, Brendon, Jason, Sara, Vincent, and Aundre, Sara's brother) We will head back to North Ranch for the New Year's Eve Dance at North Ranch were Willard and Charlie will DJ and Graceann and Jean will dance the night away.


 

White Sulphur Springs, Montana

Leaving Missoula

We had a wonderful time in Missoula. Willard and Charles golfed, and golfed, and golfed. We met with Brandy and Alisha for breakfast two weekends. Charles prepared some great meals that we all enjoyed. We toured the Smokejumper's Museum and took a tour. And Charles asked if we would like to entertain at the Manor. Of course we said yes. It was a great experience. The residents said they really enjoyed our music. We even had a chance to have dinner with our 2005 Fulltimer's friends, Smokey Joe and Pam who were workcamper at the KOA Campground. We always enjoy visiting and we hated to leave, but it was time to move on down the road. So we left early Wed. morning.

 

Conestoga Campground

http://www.ccmemberships.com/05-pages/04-news.html 

The office at Conestoga Campground

We arrived at Conestoga Campground in White Sulphur Springs about noon on August 1. The farming and agricultural community has a population of about 900. There are several large cattle ranches in the area. And it's a favorite place for the sportsman for hunting and fishing.

One of the Ringling brothers moved here during WWI and went into the wheat and dairy business. The Ringlings at one time owned over 100,000 acres in the area and at one time contemplated establishing a circus headquarters here.

The Castle Museum

We first visited the Castle up on the hill. It was a wonderful tour. There's a nice slide show on their web page.http://centralmontana.com/listings/102.htm

 Arrowhead Meadows

Willard golfed at Arrowhead Meadows 9 hole golf course several times while here.


One day we hiked up to Memorial Falls.  It was an excellent one hour round-trip hike with 0.5 mile walk to two scenic falls just off Highway 89. The trail followed the creek.Check it out at http://giltphoto.com/MemorialFalls-w.htm We only hiked to the lower falls.

Fort Logan

We  visited Fort Logan. There wasn't much there, but it was a nice afternoon country drive in the big sky country.

Hot Springs

I love the Hot Springs here in town. They have three pools, each one a different degrees (98*, 102* and 105*).



Native Americans traveling through this valley were the first to discover and make use of these Hot Springs. 

They felt the hot mineral water had a strong medicinal effect, healing the body and strengthening the spirit. 

They called these springs the "Wampum Waters." Wampum translates roughly as "good" or "beneficial."

Many tribes, including the Flathead, Blackfeet and Crow, came here to use these waters to heal

their sick. Since some were warring tribes, a truce had to be worked out and this valley became neutral

ground; a Valley of Peace. It was permissible to kill your enemy on the other side of the mountains, but

not here. Here you had to co-exist, be peaceful and share the waters.

Shopping Trip

We also went to Helena for some shopping. It was a beautiful drive through the canyon.

Playing Music

The campground has an Ice cream Social each Wed. and Sat. We entertained at one of the events. They seemed to enjoy our music.We sit outside and play most afternoons. This evening several more musicians showed up and we had a nice little Jam Session.

We arrived at Charlie and Nancy's home in Missoula about 1:00. We had a wonderful drive up Hwy 93 along the Salmon River. Not sure we'll come this way again though because of the slow drive on a road with no shoulder. Thank goodness there wasn't much traffic. We all went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I scheduled a perm for tomorrow.Life is good                                                                                                

Challis, Idaho

July 17, 18 - We have found a most delightful RV park,
 
The Challis Valley RV Park. We found it in our Passport America book. The owners are the most friendly we have met since living on the road. And they are so accommodating. They bought the park two years ago and are trying to bring it back to life. The sites have full hook-ups, level, and extra big. The bathrooms and laundry room are clean. Check out their web page: http://www.challisvalleyrvresort.com/Home.php We arrived about 11:00 and spent the afternoon checking out the community. They have a nice golf course, hot springs pools, and scenic drives. After supper we played our music outside our rig. One of the RVers came over and listened to us. He loved the songs Willard wrote. He suggested that we try to get an artist to listen to them. Maybe we'll do just that. We're thinking of coming back next year and staying about 2 months gold prospecting, fishing, golfing, site seeing, and playing music.

Another 6 months has come and went....

I have attempted to bring you up to date with this post.

July 16 - Monday: We slept late then moved on to Arco, ID and stayed at a mom and pop RV park named Mountain View. They had a little restaurant and we had a great dinner there. We met two couples traveling together from California. They asked us a lot of questions about Fulltiming in our motorhome. One question was, "What do you do about buying groceries?" "I shop about once a week in a supermarket!" I replied. I can't imagine what she thought I did. All in all, it was a good stop. Check it out at: http://mountainviewrvarco.com/


July 15 - Sunday: We parked at the Cactus Pete Casino in Jackpot, NV. It was a good stop. We enjoyed the hot tub and had dessert in the cafe. Willard won enough money to pay for our meals, our parking space and gas for our Ford Escape.Nice RV park.


 July 14: We made it to Ely, NV. The RV park at the Prospector's Casino. The RV park left a lot to be desired, but it was okay for an overnight stay. The restaurant was wonderful. The hot tub had too much chlorine in it, so passed up a warm soak.


July 2012: I had my last eye appointment with Dr. Faber in Cedar City. He said I was good to go and he'd see me in a year. That was on July 13. We left Cedar City on the 14th and headed for Missoula, MT. to see Charlie.

View from the back yard.

April - June 2012: While in Cedar City we worked on the Bass Homestead. We (Dan, Trevor, Dave, Willard and I) mended fences, cross fenced the place, put a floor in the shop at the barn, ran water to the barn, added to the automatic sprinkling system, wired the barn for electricity, hauled gravel for the calf stalls, planted 8 fruit trees, hauled off trash, put in and fenced a garden, bought two calves to raise for beef, and worked on the front and back yards.
 

The calves in the barn

View from the barn.

The Garden

Cottonwood tree in the back yard.

The calves and Willard in the pasture.

Jessica, Tyler, and Mckinna came for a short visit. It was great seeing them again. Wish we would have had more time together. Dan took them to the pond for a swim twice and camping up at Three Peaks. We stayed home and fed the calves, which was just fine with us. They were visiting Al and Shanna when we left, so didn't get to say goodby. Won't see them again until next year. :(

And life goes on........

I finished this watercolor.

Trevor graduated from High School then enlisted in the Army.

The kids came for the graduation. Mckinna couldn't make it. It was great seeing them all again. Tyler, Trevor, Dan, Cassi, Kourtney, &Jessica. The picture was taken in the new shop. 

 

The Chapter 32 Rally

One of the dinners we provided.

Entertainment: Jean, Willard, Charlie, Jan & Charlie

We left for the Chapter 32 Rally in Parker, AZ on March 10. We had to get there early since we and the Carters were the Chapter Hosts. That means were were in charge of scheduling the events, parking the guests, in charge of the food, etc. It turned out to be a great success.

After the Rally we left for St. George, UT to have a visit with Dr. Faber. It seems the buckle he put around my eye ball to help hold my retina in place was coming loose. We decided to remove it, so we set up an appointment for the next week in Salt Lake City for the surgery. So off we went to Ogden, UT to visit with Joey and family and for the surgery on the 29th. After the surgery we moved to Cedar City to recoup.

March 2012: On Friday the 2nd "The Bass Band" played for the La Fiesta dance at North Ranch. Members of the band were Paul, Janice, Charlie, Willard, and I. It was a lot of fun. We'd never played music for a dance. The only problem I had was that I while I loved watching the dancers, it was cause me to lose my place in the music. I don't think any listeners noticed though. I was also in the parade on Sat. morning and we entertained at the bonfire that evening. See photos below:
At the Bonfire -

Willard, Harvey, and Dianne at the bonfire.

Jean and Charlie at the bonfire

At the parade stopping off to dance. I'm third back on the left.

February 2012: Busy as ever back at North Ranch. We started the month off by entertaining at a Church Cook-Out. That was quite the experience. On Valentines Day we had the Missionaries over for Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, white gravy, and green beans. I gave them each a homemade valentine. It was a good evening.  On the 19th I worked at Gold Rush Days in Wickenburg. I was a relief worker for the artist's booths at the Art Show. It gives me a chance to get to know some of the artists and admire their talents. On the 21st Alice, Carol, Millie, and I went on a Girl's Trip to Phoenix for 3 days. Besides shopping, eating, and just enjoying each other's company we attended the play, Wicked. It was my second time to see it. The first time was in New York on Broadway several years ago. I enjoyed it both times.

Catching Up

It's been six months since I've recorded anything on this Blog. Where has the time gone? Let's see if I can remember the highlights. We left North Ranch in June and headed for Joey's and Beth's in Ogden. The boys fished and golfed while Sara and I made a baby blanket. We enjoyed the hot springs in Honeyville twice, once with Joey, Beth, Jason, Sara, and us. The next time we took Jason and Sara. It was a great day. In August we traded our Tacoma in for a Ford Escape. Then we had Charlie's put a tow package on it.

That done we headed for Dan's in Cedar City. While in Cedar Willard golfed with his old golfing buddies, we worked on the fence and barn at Dan's. We also had our Alfa recarpted. I had a lovely lunch with teacher friends, Linda and Mona.

We got back to North Ranch around October, when the weather is ideal. It was great getting back into our life here at the Ranch.

On Oct. 26 we moved on to Parker, AZ for the Fall Alfa Rally for a week. It was a great Rally. We got to know some new people, visited the Desert Bar, Bobby Dee's Diner, The Casino for dinner, road trip to Parker Dam, and a Platoon Boat trip on the Colorado River.

We then moved on over to the Chapter 32 Escapees Rally in Laughlin, NV. We entertained with our music, played games, visited with RV friends, visited a gold mine in Oatman, AZ, visited a World War II Museum, had a pedicure.
 
We moved back to North Ranch on November 6th. We caught up on our physicals, donated blood, resumed line dancing and beading, golfing, and gold prospecting. We had Thanksgiving Dinner here at North Ranch with about 200 of our RV friends.

December was another busy month with baking, candy making, meetings, and more Dr. Apts. We had Christmas Dinner here at North Ranch, too. On New Year's Eve Willard and Charlie were the DJs at our Dance. We celebrate New Year's at NY time. When it is 12:00 in NY and 10:00 here at North Ranch we bring the New Year in with music and lots of hugs. We were home by 11:00 so I could watch New Year's Celebrations on TV.

On Jan. 3 I had a tumor removed from my lower leg. I had to stay put for about 2 weeks with my leg elevated. And on January 17 we moved over to Quartzsite for the Escapees Happy Hour where we entertained a group of about 300 with our music on the 18th (My Birthday). We went with a big group of SKPS (Special Kind of People) to Silly Al's where we ate Pizza and listed to Karaoke. Willard sang one song. It was a fun evening.

On Thursday we moved over to the Annual Alfa Rally at La Posa North. On Friday we went to Algodonos, Mexico to have some dental work done and get some meds. That took most of the day. Back at Quartzsite we joined in at the Rally. We had a Hobo Stew Dinner and sat around the campfire and visited. I have to admit it was awfully cold when the sun went down. The next day we went to Parker and goofed around and got back to the Rally in time for Happy Hour. It was cold and windy and I wasn't feeling very well.  On Monday we visited the RV Show and toured the flea markets. We went to Quail Mountain Restaurant for Chicken Fried Steak dinner. It was still cold and windy and cloudy. It rained some.

I was still not feeling very well, so we decided to go back to North Ranch for me to recoup. This is a sample of our weekly schedule: (1)Sunday is Church in a.m. and Ice Cream Social in late afternoon, (2) line dancing on Mon. Wed. and Fri.(3) Beading on Tues. & Friday, (4) Golf on Tues. and Fri., (5) Breakfast at the Club House on Sat., (6) Jam session on Thurs, meetings, dinners, and, of course, Dr. Apts. Now to do Taxes.......it never ends.

Our Dream Unfolds

In 2002 we reached a point in our lives where a chapter closed. We needed to open a new chapter, a chapter I like to call Freedom. We had spent over 40 years earning a living, raising a family, growing, and becoming. We acquired things, created technicolor memories, and adored our growing family. But, in retirement we yearned for our independence and freedom. We wanted the magic of seeing new places, experiencing new things, meeting new people and stumbling into great adventures. We wanted the utter freedom we had never felt. We looked at our stuff and realized it was all replaceable. Only our photo albums and a few mementos were unique. The rest was meaningless, manufactured and aging. We wanted to wake up when our bodies decided it was time, to read when a good book beckoned. We realized that as long as we lived in a community surrounded by people engaged in today's frenzied lifestyle, we would feel their pressure. So, we bought a Class C motorhome and began our travels. We soon realized that we were gone more than we were at home. So we bought a bigger motorhome which would become our home and put the house up for sale. It sold in a few weeks. We called the kids and told them to come get what they wanted, had a yard sale, and gave away or tossed the rest of our stuff. We were finally free! What a blessing.

But, it was not financially prudent. Many of our friends are building up significantly larger retirements and will enjoy far more security in old age.  I fear that for each year a dream is postponed, the risk of it never happening jumps exponentially. We have met many people who say they wanted to travel but waited too long. Either poor health or the death of their spouse stopped that dream. Either you stay home and wring your hands while you worry and watch from your arm chair, or you get out there and live your dream as long as you can. Life is just too short for that.

That was 10 years ago. We are still living our dream. We have the freedom we wanted, seen many wonderful places, made lasting friendships, met interesting people, and had more memorable experiences than we can count. This summer we plan on visiting with family while traveling through Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. What I love the most is all the new experiences we will have along the way. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Another Update - Feb - April

February: We stayed put for a month at North Ranch. There's lots to do here. Never a boring moment: line dancing, beading, jam sessions, breakfast in the park on Sat., ice-cream social on Sun., dinner and karaoke in Yarnell on Fri, and visiting with friends at happy hour. The last week of Feb. Lila and I went to Las Vegas to paint for a week at the Creative Painting Convention. I started 9 paintings and finished some. Here are copies of my favorite ones:

Arches National Park
Oil painting - Jean Bass 2011

Watercolor - Jean Bass 2011

March: March started off with a bang. We had a big celebration at North Ranch. It's called La Fiesta to celebrate finally getting the deeds to our lots in the development. We celebrated with a big bon-fire, a parade the next morning, lunch, and games. We played our music at the bon-fire:

At the bon-fire.

L to R: Charlie, Jean, Willard, Rick

Getting ready to perform

The parade:

Jean in car on right.

Line dancing before the parade.

Line dancers - Jean is in the back row and far right.

After La Fiesta we packed it up and went to Tuscon for the Chapter 32 Rally for a week. We had about 40 rigs there. Some of the activities were: eating, playing music, campfire, card making, silent auction, eating, used book sale, eating, games, eating, touring the area, eating. We had so much fun I forgot to take any pictures.

Then we headed back to North Ranch.

April: We worked in our small yard. Here are some of the pictures of our results:

Our storage trailer - Willard works his jigsaw
puzzles in there. We now have baby birds
in the window box.

Our bird bath for the many birds
in the area in the Spring.

This is where I love to relax with a book,
reflecting, visiting, meditating.

The Sage by our door.

My little veg. garden: squash, green beans,

potatoes, onions, eggplant, radishes, lettuce, carrots, basil, and cucumbers.

Several weeks ago I (Jean) had a mini-stroke. We made it to the stroke center at Del Web hospital in Surprise within the 3 hour window when they can reverse the effects of the stroke. I was in the hospital for several days. And thanks to the doctors and Heavenly Father I am in full recovery. It was indeed a wake-up call.

Our plans are to stay at North Ranch this summer. Of course, you never know. We might get hitch-up itch and move on down the road. Better keep the light on for us.