It’s been a long time since we posted a blog, and my only excuse is I just didn’t feel like it! We of course worked, picking up garbage, leaves, repairing broken power/water pedestals, transplanting cactus and yucca, replacing thermostats, chasing down propane smells and burning brush what ever happened to come up. A couple times we even took Bailey with us to supervise. We basked in the California sun and ate ripe oranges off of Megann’s Grandma’s tree. We did some RV maintenance consisting of a deep clean of the heat pump coils because they were starting to smell like mildew (after removing the bed assembly) and removed/installed a window to fix the seal.

Jana, Justin and JJ came all the way down from Washington to see us for Christmas! We hung out at the RV park around the fire pit, went to Napa to try some wine and check out downtown, had Christmas with Megann’s mom and Grandma and went to San Francisco. In San Francisco we did a Seahawks photo shoot in front of the Golden Gate Bridge (ha-ha), took in the waterfront, Pier 39, seals, Fisherman’s Wharf, drove through Chinatown, and stopped on our way back to watch some horse races. It was great to have family in town camped right next to us!

We took a trip over to Lake Tahoe and Carson City. We drove all the way around the lake to see all the neighborhoods and views of the lake, stopped at Harrah’s to watch a Seahawks game then drove up to Donner pass and the memorial museum which was really cool! The lake and all surrounding areas were beautiful but the Tahoe areas seem pretty expensive. The only bad part about the trip was that the dogs broke in to and ate all of Bailey’s thyroid/arthritis medication and we had to go to the emergency vet. 😦

We drove to Washington for Meg’s brothers wedding at the Alexander Country Inn in Ashford, WA on the West side of Mt. Rainier. It was a beautiful wedding at the Alexander Inn with a small intimate wedding party. It was a really good time and we were so happy to be able to make it. While we were in Washington we took care of a couple medical things. Bailey had to have a couple small tumors removed which she recovered from quickly. Meg also saw the surgeon who did her hernia repair because she was having some issues and had a CT scan.

Shortly after arriving back in California we learned Megann would have to have a second hernia repair so we made arrangements for our last day of work and celebrated the Seahawks amazing NFC championship game in the lodge. After preparing the RV for temporary storage we made the trek back to Washington for Meg’s surgery with two people, two dogs and a cat in a 2-door jeep Wrangler if you can imagine. On the way we stayed over night in Bend, OR. We decided to pay a visit to the High Desert Museum which we’ve passed several times but had yet to stop. It was an awesome museum with a wide variety of exhibits including flora, fauna, and an interesting array of artifacts. It’s well worth a stop for anyone traveling highway 97 through Oregon.

Megann’s surgery was pretty involved and she ended up staying in the hospital for 3 nights, 4 days. The repair was quite large and the patch had to cover the original and new repair area so there were a lot of sutures internally. Her transition to solid food and off the IV pain meds took a while and I’m glad we didn’t wait any longer for her to get it taken care of! Upon arriving home at Dad’s again Boris was glued to her like a veil of protective fur. As I type this she’s almost entirely off her pain medication and feeling a lot better but it will be a while before she’s back to normal.

We are gleefully approaching the most exciting part of our expedition yet. We will be totally unemployed and free to roam between now and May 1^st when we report for duty at Yellowstone Holiday RV Resort on Lake Hebgen just outside of West Yellowstone. During this time we plan to visit all that South Eastern California, Arizona and Utah have to offer. We expect our minds to be blown by the unique landscapes and breathtaking views. We will probably make blog posts based on location rather than by week so we’ll see how that goes!