Do we have to come home??

This is a picture of the camping area - or at least it shows the steps up and down the mtn side - they lead up to the club house and swimming pool area. We had a wonderful week there.

Ed and I finally drug in on Sunday afternoon about 3:00 after a week of fun and sun and four wheeling and visiting with fun people - laying around the pool and watching movies. We had a wonderful time and it was so very relaxing.

We went four wheeling almost every day - we discovered a beautiful little valley that we went back to a couple of times. It was just about 2o minutes from our camp and it was totally isolated. The first time we found it we ate our lunch and laid out in the sun and just enjoyed the green beauty. When we went back, we took a blanket and laid it out in the shade and ate our lunch and had a nice nap. And again, enjoyed the quiet serenity. I should have taken my camera but I didn't so I don't have pictures of it.

The day that we went to Placerville was another hot beautiful summer day - blue skies, not a cloud anywhere. We got up and got going early enough that most of the trip was completed before the heat of the afternoon sun got too uncomfortable. It was pretty easy riding most of the way - lots of gorgeous green mountains and tumbling rivers and streams. Alot of the country there have year round homes but it is ALL accessed by dirt roads... Placerville is a little mountain village that had its start in the 1869 gold rush of Idaho and now it is home to probably 150 people - nice village square and old museums that sadly enough were closed (they open for the tourists on weekends). We had lunch in the village square and wandered around looking in the windows. We followed the road signs up to the old cemetery. That is a favorite pasttime of ours - wandering through old cemeteries! They liked to build wrought iron fences around the family plots.


We met lots of new people at the campground this year and lots of old favorites. Some of these same people go to Quartzsite each winter and so we get to renew old acquaintences.This is a view out of my bedroom window of our trailer. I took it early one morning as the sun shone down on the flowers. The mountain is beautiful. You can see Larry's trailer just above where our trailer sat. They have terraced the side of the mountain to allow full access to it for all of the campers. Some of us are visitors, some lease their lots and some own their lots outright. But it is a pleasant and friendly group of people from Washington state, Idaho and Utah.

There are wild turkeys that claim the area as their own. I'm not sure if they can be considered wild anymore...I swear Ed carried on a conversation with one of them over the type of crackers he was tossing out to them. They really liked the whole wheat ritz crackers!! Weren't too impressed with either the popcorn or the cheddar cheese crackers! FUN!! I need to get Ed's pictures and download them onto my computer so I can add them to this post.

They play a movie each saturday night at the club house and both were fun. They set the screen out on the patio and everyone brings their popcorn, their jackets and own chairs. The first weekend was Young Frankenstein...what a hoot. The second week was "The Bucket List" and I would recommend that movie to anyone.

Its good to be back home - now that I have caught up on everything. Monday I did wash all day and cleaned my house. Tuesday I spent it running from Rocky Mtn to Grandpa's house and completing all sorts of things on my to do list. Today I cleaned the front part of the trailer till is shined. The bikes are still in there and so I will have to dust and mop the back out when Ed gets home this weekend and moves them.This is a picture of the view around our trailer. There is a nice redwood deck - the couple that own this individual campsite have built the deck to sit on and enjoy. After breakfast and after supper it is the nicest place to sit and relax and read a book.

It was a great week and I know we will go back again and again - our only complaint is that it is sooooo far away!

I took the morning off!

Ed and I made a quick dash to Boise on Friday, coming home on Sunday afternoon. As you know we have gone up to the mtns outside of Boise the last couple of summers with friends and have thoroughly enjoyed the private campground there on Robie Creek. We plan on going again in July but this weekend they were 'opening up the mountain' and so we went up and helped. We didn't camp thank goodness - too far to drag our trailer for two nights. Ed just traded in his Hilton Honors points from all his traveling with MTC and we camped out at a nice Hampton Inn on the East side of Boise near the airport. (The soft beds and nice bathtub really felt good after a day of hard work Saturday night!) From the hotel it was about a 30 minute drive up the mtn to the campground. So I spent about four hours on Saturday and about two hours on Sunday raking pine needles off the mtn side behind the clubhouse. It was hard work but what was nice was that I could do it without feeling like I was being stabbed by my mesh insides!! I guess where I was moving in several directions it kept it from hurting me - just good hard sweat and sore muscles. I can see why the insurance companies like mtn homes to be cleared of burnables ... the pine needles were 9 inches deep in most of the area that I was raking!! It hadn't been raked that well before - That would make fantastic fuel for any forest fire!

There were a couple dozen people there clearing mountain sides and brush and old pine needles and burning all the trash. Ed cut down dead trees near where I was working and then went up and helped with the swimming pool - they have a nice solar panel system set up to warm up the water that comes right out of the mtn - good COLD spring water. They also had a propane heating system donated to the club to help warm it up even more. Ed and Gary and Larry worked for hours on that system.

We all broke for potluck lunch and then went back to work until about 2 - and then we all went out and layed out around the pool just visiting with one another. It was a lot of fun and Saturday was a beautiful warm day. We all dared each other to jump in the water but the propane system wasn't hooked up yet and they had just barely got the solar panels set up so it was pretty cold water - bunch of sissies - no one took the dare!

That night we walked across the street from the hotel to a brand new Applebees and had a nummy dinner.

Sunday we got up there and I went back to finish my mtn side while Ed went to help the guys with some other chores. We had talked about staying longer so we could enjoy the poolside with the others (we were going to call Jamie and Kelly and offer them 'big bucks' to babysit at South Weber) but it was a cooler day and a storm was moving in, so we headed for home about 1:30. It was the same cold front that hit here in the middle of the night last night.

So I spent my mother's day hard at work with a rake in hand but it was a nice day anyway. I got home and dumped out the dirty clothes and repacked my suitcase, took a quick bath. I got a beautiful Mother's Day card from Ed and one in the mail from Melinda. I told Ed we had a break in cause there was a card from Kelly and Jamie sitting on the table along with my movie "Enchanted" that I had loaned to Jamie. Then I headed up to Shawn and Kris's house. Kris had sent me a Mother's Day card earlier in the month with some $$ that I used to buy me some comfy "Mushrooms" (sandals) at Mervyns with. When I got to their house there sits a gorgeous bouquet of flowers for ME!! from Shawn and Kris and kids!! Bless you Kristanne!

I love those kids - they are all such cuties. Cade and Makae met me at the door telling me that their mom didn't care at all if they stayed up till 9:30 each night since it was still light outside. I told them grandma wasn't born yesterday and that sounded like a tall tale to me!! Then Makae and Cade and I had a fun time just talking to each other while Ethan and Jace played outside till almost bedtime. Of course they headed off to bed at 8:30 and I didn't hear another peep out of any of them until the next morning. I tried to go to be at 11 - then 12 and I think I finally fell asleep about 1 am waking up with itchy achy feet at 2 - that lasted till three am and I dreaded 6 am. I woke up at 6:45 and there wasn't any movement going on in the house at all! I woke up all four kids!!!! They actually slept in. Cade and Mickey immediately got dressed, Ethan took a bath and Jace burrowed back under the covers and went back to sleep.

Makae and Cade fixed their breakfast and Ethan came downstairs and gave me a big hug and we talked about his fun field trip on Wednesday. I found out that he DOESN"T like to have his feet tickled...I thought all Willden's did! But he says his Crittendon roots are showing there. All three of them warned me that I would have to drag Jace out of bed and he would really be ornery... when all of a sudden, about 7:15 here he comes, all dressed with his hair combed and a big grin on his face.

So at 8:30 am Jace and Ethan head out the door to catch their bus and Grandma goes BACK TO BED!!! I slept for a couple of hours, read my book and took a bath and another nap!! I took the morning off!!

Jace just came in the door from school and said that he 'forgot his homework' - I am going to go through his backpack and see if there is a book for him to practice reading.

I am looking forward to this week - I've had all my fun visits with Melinda to get to know Benji, now it is time to enjoy Cade, Makae, Ethan and Jace.

Mauri - when are you and Ira going to go on a trip and let me come play with your kids.

By the way Marz, We would love to have cousins over this week - several times if you want, while you sleep. Wednesday for example you could bring the boys over early, and then Adrie and Jerod later that day. Jace will be home (no school for him due to testing week) on Tuesday and Wednesday...Thursday morning he has his test at 8:30 am....but after that we would enjoy the twins. Friday is out, it will be my day to go get my nails done and do some errands as Jace is going on a field trip all day on Friday - but mid week lets get together. I'll call you tonight and we will figure best times out.