and this little piggy went home.

Wow, talk about being late to update this bloggy thing.!!!!!!
I left Corvallis Oregon May 11th and went to Marysville Washington where I spent a great week visiting Carri, Nathan, Kirsten, and Ryan.

Just after arriving I was invited to a family BBQ with Nathans family to celebrate his grandma's 90th birthday.
As you can see there were a lot of friendly people and some amazing food.

We feasted on everything from Venison, fish, to chicken, and fajitas, even salads and pasta for the omnivores.

Bt whether a carnivore like me or an omnivore like the few everyone left stuffed, happy, and tired oh yeah and after all that we had Birthday Cake and Ice Cream. I had a great time meeting the other side of Carri's family.

We went to a mall and walked around. Being from Juneau where a "mall" was a small collection of stores under the same roof this one was impressive. The were a lot of interesting stores and even more interesting people.

Kirsten was happy to see Jimmy again. He spent most of the visit in her room. He wouldn't even come out to the RV until we left LOL

She was not happy that she had to go to school while I was there.

We also went to Costco to get some water for me and I ran into Chumley. I invited him to come travel with Jimmy and I and be navigator so after we got him some Cheetos he said ok.



I spent a week hanging out with them and doing a lot of, well, hanging out. I had only rented my space for a week and couldn't extend it even though I wanted to so on May  17th Jimmy, I, and our new navigator Chumley headed East.

Arriving in Spokane I spent a week hanging out with Dale. Now Dale is a really good guy I had met in Arizona. In fact he was camped right behind me and is as big a "goof" as I am. He was the reason I was indoctrinated into the B.S.'ers club and the reason I enjoyed my visit there as much as I did.

He had invited me to visit but cautioned me that he didnt do anything but sit. So, I arrived planning on having a relaxing do nothing week and thats what I got. He would routinely have the coffee on early, then I would buy breakfast and we would sit around and B.S. then he would grill dinner.

His grandaughter who is 17 drives a dragster and i was hoping to watch he race but arrived on a weekend between races.

One day I watched him mow his grass. A really relaxing week and a great visit. I left there May 24 with my internal batteries completely recharged and anxious to get to Missoula to spend a week with Amanda, Jason, Samantha, and Taylor.

The drive across Idaho was uneventfull, which is a good thing when your driving an RV and towing a Jeep and listening to Jimmy and Chumley argue over directions. Its funny Jimmy never showed any interest in navigating before I let Chumley do it now ,,,,,,, go figure huh. The scenery was as gorgeous as last fall when I last traveled through there. The new RV pulled the hills as easily as the old one and the mileage was about the same even though this one is 6 feet longer and thus heavier.

Abutting Amanda's rear fence are some stables where I had made arrangements to park the RV. We got to meet the new (2 day old) Palamino Colt and watch her nurse a bit. It was a great situation as I was less than 100 feet from Amanda's front door, the cost was $10 a month (to include the time I was going home and leaving the RV and Jeep) and though I was not in a "campsite" the RV is completely self-contained. Samantha even spent one night in it and was the first and only person to bunk on the fold out couch. She claimed that it was a comfy sleep 8)

The following day Jessica, Ashleigh, and Ruby arrived from Alaska for a week. As much as I love my daughters I do not understand the need to "shop" at stores all the time. But it was a great visit. Jason cooked some great meals and everyone got along. The weather even cooperated in that it wasnt to hot nor cold. As Goldilocks said it was just right.

I enjoyed pushing the kids on the swings.

Samantha and Jessica tossed a football around. She actually throws a "proper" spiral and has a good arm. Gonna be another Jessica it seems, another sports nut. LOL

All-n-all a great visit playing and enjoying the weather.

We did go to an indoor Aquatic Center which was a great time in itself. The weather was cool making the indoor part that much better. On this trip I had finally purchased a camera so I could take better pictures than with the iphone. It is pretty cool and was advertised as shockproof, dustproof, and waterproof. In fact the instructions say to clean it soak it in a bowl of water for 10 min.

So, I decided to test it. I threw it into the pool for Jessica to take some pics of everyone swimming. I intentionally threw it "short" causing it to land in the water and sink to the bottom. I dont know which was better the look of shock on the girls faces or the look on the lifeguards face who watched me do it. LOL

So, here's an underwater picture taken by Jessica. The flash worked and we even did video and the camera did great.

After a great time swimming, and because 3 buses of  pre-teens showed up we decided to leave.

I spent an afternoon with Samantha at her school which is always fun. Her teacher and classmates remembered me from last trip which even made it better.

Here is Sammy in a play that she wrote and they performed for her class.

If you know my full name and where it came from you'll understand this picture. 8)

I must go find that sign. LOL

The morning of June 1 I arose early. I had packed the evening before but still needed to get the RV ready for a few months in storage. Even though it wasnt moving I needed to drain some tanks, close it up, eat all the perishable foods, and empty the fridge, etc.. 

About 5 I headed, suitcases in hand, through the barbedwire fence, across the field, up the drive, to Amanda's front door where I waited until the sleepy heads got up.

Seems the kids had also gotten up though they said goodby last night because they could not go to the airport without taking two vehicles. Jason stayed home with them and went to work late so Amanda could take everyone in one trip.

I for one was happy Samantha and Taylor was up as I got to hug them again. 

Then off to the airport we went.

And back home I headed.