March 2019: April 2015

Sunday, April 26, 2015

04 April 2015

Back in Idaho and enjoying a slow start to spring. The weather in Idaho this winter was remarkably warm and with very little snow. The first two weeks while we were back from Arizona were rather cold and windy. There is evidence of spring but mixed with the possibilities of continued winter.

Woody has resurrected the green house and Julia and I supplied it with newly planted garden starts we purchased from the garden center. Within one week the 6” potted plants were frost bit and many of the peppers, tomatoes and flowers did not survive.

Dawn and I were welcomed back into the ward by Bishop Ziel and immediately called to be nursery leaders with Sister Loper. This was an adjustment from our regular tasks in the church. However, we have enjoyed working with the little ones in the ward family.

Hazel Cummings is a sister in the ward whom we home taught before leaving for Arizona. She had a serious back surgery and has been convalescing at a center here in Idaho Falls. We have taken it upon ourselves to help her through this tough time of recovery and are now called to be her home teachers.

I have had back issues as well. It began with a serious spinal nerve pinch in the lubo-sacral joint. Dr. Livingston has been working with me to realign the spine and sacrum. I am still sore but improved over the acute pain of a pinched nerve.

We (Dawn and I) to exercise regularly and I have seen great gains as a result of the medication to support growth of muscle and strength. Ben (my son) and I are both taking enhancement meds to put on muscle. It has been remarkable how much muscle I have gained and how much fat I have lost.

I suppose the most remarkable event of this month has been the “ Front Runner” bicycle ride we finished in Utah. Dawn and I both signed up for the 100K ride from SLC to Ogden supported by the Utah Transit Association. We started at 7:30am from the UTA station downtown SLC. Then we followed a course on my cell phone GPS coursing west and north through many communities riding midway through Layton, Utah right in front of my son’s (Josh) home. After 5 ½ hours riding we rolled into the UTA station in Ogden, Utah. My bike registered 64 miles by the time you include the distance traveled to and from the hotel we stayed in SLC.

Now we can enjoy the flowers and trees blooming throughout the valley. On the few nice days we did have in April we golfed. Woody and Val have been gone most of the month to Washington this month visiting their son Ben and family. So Julia, Dawn and I have golfed in Heise and Shelley.

This week Dawn and I and Christine (Dawn’s sister) leave for Vancouver, WA to visit her family. Also, we plan to visit Harry and Connie Hunziker in Cottonwood, CA before coming back to Idaho. The trip will be reported in the May blog.

Dawn up ahead jogging the Green Belt

Spring along the Green Belt

Snow in April

Julia putting seed in the feeder

Tulips starting to flower

Golf at Heise

Walking the Green Belt in April still need to dress warm

Nurser Leaders 3rd Ward

Biking the "Front Runner"

Dawn at the finish line

Happy to finish after a long ride

Starting to look like spring at the convalescent center

Changes in my body from exercise

Thursday, April 2, 2015

03 March 2015

Out with the old and in with the new! The last of the Bullhead City, AZ adventure and back to Idaho Falls, ID at the end of the month.

There were two short trips we made in this month one to Needles, CA (very close to Bullhead City) and one to Peach Springs, AZ (Grand Canyon Caverns). The Needles trip was to satisfy our curiosity of travel in the sixties on route 66. The town has since dried up and has just old reminders of those days when car travel took them through Needles on the way to Chicago, ILL.

We did a day trip to Grand Canyon Caverns, another rout 66 stop. Along the route past Peach Springs is the largest dry cavern in the US. We were taken down 11 stories into the earth which was discovered in the 1850s. Inside the cavern was a giant ground sloth trapped thousands of years before. Also one dead and dried up bob cat whose misfortune was to fall in to the cavern without a way out.

Our last month in Arizona proved to be an exciting time with family and friends. We visited our family in Glendale, AZ before packing up to leave. The ER Williams family invited us to their home and meet with the Miners and Cartwright family members. Julia, Woody, Val and Brad met Dawn and I at their home in Scottsdale, AZ. Dick and Devona Dudgen, Larry and Sharon Miner, Jay and Linda Miner, Steve and Patty Miner and the Williams (Pat, ER and Erin) had a wonderful day visiting and eating a most delightful meal.

Dawn and I also visited with the Mariners for the last time before leaving Arizona. We will miss Burton and Roxy. They are such wonderful grand kids. We have invited the Mariners to join us in Santa Cruz this summer for the Wharf to Wharf 10K.

Fortunately, we had visitors before we left Arizona. Dennis and Dorothy Croft drove their RV to Bullhead City and we had three days of fun. We visited the Davis Dam along the Colorado River by hiking along the well-developed trail. The next day we went to Spirit Mountain to look at petroglyphs the on to Oatman, AZ along the route 66. The mining town is crowded with burrows wandering around the town. That evening we had dinner on the Centennial river boat out of Laughlin. That evening we went to the movies. So good to see these fine people.

The next week Connie and Harry Hunziker visited us for two days. Our time was well spent by staying with them at the Harrah’s hotel in Laughlin, CA. Back to Oatman and then dinner and cards at our home in Bullhead City, it was so great seeing our old friends once again.

Our last few days were spent golfing at Chaparral Golf Course. Finally we cleaned our home thoroughly and left for Yuma, AZ on our way to Imperial Beach, CA.

While we were in Yuma, AZ , Dawn and I had a wonderful bike ride along the Colorado River. Woody and Val joined us as we visited the Territorial Prison in Yuma, AZ. Our travel to Imperial Beach, CA was uneventful across the dessert of southern California.

The trip to Imperial Beach, CA was planned by Robyn and Wayne Lau. We stayed at a condo rented from a dentist known by Robyn. While we were there Wayne and Kesler surfed for three days. We jogged along the beach to the borders of Mexico. Dawn and I had fun with Indy swimming in the condo pool. Woody, Val, Robyn, Indy and Dawn and I spent one day at the San Diego Zoo. It was wonderful seeing all the animals and exhibits. Just before we left the zoo Woody had chest pain and was taken to the San Diego University Med Cen for observation. He was able to come home that evening.

The day before we traveled home we went to Lego Land. After such a wonderful time with the Laus we drove to Las Vegas and on the next day we stayed with the Nebekers in St. George, Utah. Dawn and I did golf at the Southgate Golf course.

Our trip home through Utah allowed us to stay with Holly and Jon in Salt Lake City. We also spent one day in Layton, Utah with Josh and Danielle Russell. We played golf at Swan Lake Golf Course while in Layton. The grand kids were happy to see their grandma and grandpa.

Now that we are back in Idaho Falls we were able to make contact with our ward members at church. We are staying with Julia until we go to our mission to Nauvoo, Illinois.