Coyotes howl throughout the night. If you have not heard a pack howl, you are missing something. They are like a choir, singing in many different voices. At one time it seemed they were right under our camper. This morning, we saw one run through our campsite.
We are back in Mesa, at Usery Mountain Regional Park, in our favorite spot, number 20, getting ready to head out in a couple of days once again to unknown parts.
In the past three months we have driven from Whidbey Island to Utah, then to Colorado, to New Mexico, and to Arizona. We have taken four shuttle buses, rented one car, taken five airline flights, stored our camper twice, driven to and from (or had ourselves driven to and from) airports four times. We have also been in Oregon, Idaho, and Georgia. We have stayed in nine campgrounds.
We spent November back on Whidbey Island, visiting with family. We had hoped to see some friends, and more family, but the time and situations didn't allow. We also had a lot of business to take care of (roof, eye appointments, doctor appointments, bills, etc.).
And we missed Jack.
We spent a lot of time with grandchildren. We had hoped to see more of them, but it didn't work out.
We got to spend a couple of days with Ian and Adam.
Ian and I built a couple of model airplanes:
They love Vicky's granola on yogurt. So do I.
We had Stella and Marina out three times. Here is Marina helping me build a Lego house. She's good at it.
Then for an early Christmas we had them out for a shopping trip to get boots, and then to a dinner. They dressed up and were so cute:
Here they are showing me their new boots.
The girls dancing for us:
Vicky made a great Thanksgiving meal for Jessica, Jules, and the boys.
Our trip back to Mesa began with an early morning at the bus stop. We were carrying a LOT of stuff. Heavy stuff. We had taken things home we found we wouldn't use, but then brought back a lot of things we needed. There was a net gain of 20 pounds or so. After catching the bus, we caught the shuttle at Naomi's, which took us to the airport. We flew to Denver, rented a car, and drove to Fort Collins to see my mother, sister, brother-in-law, and niece.
We had a nice visit. We went to Colorado State University to the Statistics Department to see the Statistics Lab that is named for my father. Here we are in front of the plaque.
We also celebrated my mother's 90th birthday, which was three weeks earlier. She had a party at that time too. Vicky made her a red velvet cake. Yum.
We got to see my mother singing in the church choir, and Vicky helped her pick out dresses. I went along with them, and had a grand time giving thumbs up or down to the dresses she tried on.
The other place we visited was "Club Tico" which is a building at City Park where teens went for dances Friday and Saturday nights when I was in high school. It is where my high school band ("The Pryde") played. We couldn't get in, but it was clear that the place had been restored. I hadn't been there for almost 50 years. Next time I hope to find someone who will let us in and see the restoration. From photos we have, it looks like a good one. That pleases me.
We drove our rental car back to Denver and caught a flight to Mesa. Took another shuttle to the storage area where our camper was, and drove it to Usery Mountain. Took us a couple of days to get everything squared away, food purchased, etc. I've also been slowed up by a cold I've had for the past two weeks, or we would have done a short hike yesterday. Instead, we decided to take our 21-mile loop bike ride today.
That went well--a blown tire. Not a flat tire, a blown one. I put in another tube, and it blew again in 10 feet.
So we decided Vicky should ride the 9 miles back to the campground to get the pickup, and I would start walking. Within a few minutes, two great guys stopped by and gave me a ride--Thanks Eric and Nate. There wasn't much room in the small SUV for me, but I made do. Can you believe that Nate actually offered to ride back there instead of me and let me ride in the front seat, but I wouldn't hear of it.
Maybe this will go viral like the policeman who gave the homeless man boots. Hope so.
Tomorrow we are going to re-do the hike we did in October, 7.5 miles. And then, of all things, see Jules! He is in Phoenix for a day for work, so we will get to see him for a brief visit. How sweet is that!
Our time in Fort Collins included a visit to a Doc in the Box because we both had infections. Matching coats and masks.
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