Last night will forever remain in my mind as the “Night of the Restless Dog Syndrome”. The puppies were up and down and each time they jumped down the thud resounded Through the RV. Each time they jumped up, they had to greet each other. To their credit, they both slept in until a little after seven.

We left Caldwell just around 11 O:Clock Mountain time, lunched in Baker, Oregon at noon, Pacific time, and arrived in the beautiful little town of LaGrande in late afternoon.

The park is a delight! The dogs have grass to roll in and shade for their pen. There is a cool breeze and the promise of an even cooler evening.

As soon as we were set up, we called Dawn to let her know we were in town and she and Jade were here within the hour. Oh, some hugs are better than others and the memory of the welcoming hugs from these two were memory makers.

Jade couldn’t wait to give me my Mother’s Day gift, belated but well worth the wait. The Ruby cut glass vase will be a beautiful addition to my antique collection. I have already decided that it will replace the clear glass vase in the center of my dining room table.

A first evening picnic was in order, so Dawn, Jade and I headed into the Safeway to pick up ribs, potato salad, and chips. By the time, we headed back to the RV Park, the temperature had dropped and the wind was blowing a little more. Bless Bob, he realized it would uncomfortable eating at the picnic table and he had readied the table inside and put up the extra portable table as well. This made for a very cozy and warm dinnertime.

After dinner, I brought out the Memory Book that I had made of the Cruise that the four of us had taken last November for Jade’s birthday. All of my efforts were well worth it as I listened to Jade read the titles and captions. We laughed and laughed as we reminisced.

Funny about parrots, but Josephine who only sees Dawn every few years, remembers her voice and immediately wants Dawn to rub her head. I think given time, Tweetie would also respond positively to Dawn.

Soon it was time for a stroll around the park. With three dogs in tow, we walked and talked and then it was time for Dawn and Jade to head back home. They promised to be back in the morning in time for that first cup of coffee.

Today was our longest day on the road about 235 miles. We woke early and began getting ready for hours on the road. We found our Freeway rather easily and for hours we saw the simple beauty of Nevada and Idaho. We postponed having lunch on the road because we were surely going to be at the RV Park a little after noon.

Not so, we arrived at Caldwell, but the park alluded us. We were so close but yet so far away and at this point both of us were tired and the pets restless. Did we stop for directions. No, of course not and thus begins the tale of the bridge.

Oh the thrill of it all. When you are driving an RV and pulling a car, you cannot back up. I am guilty of reminding (nagging?) Bob about this all the time or ever since we were about to park at the Elks and he forgot he had a car attached and put the RV in reverse and then remembered just in time. Now in his favor, this was the first or maybe second time we had taken the RV out with the car attached, but it turned a paranoid wife a little more so.

All of this leads up to our wrong turn and a one-way antiquated bridge that crosses the Immigrant River. If I wasn’t so worried about our plight, I would have loved to photograph the bridge. We couldn’t back up and the bridge was very narrow. At the last moment, we saw a road that went along side the river so we took that.

The best way to describe this river road is to compare it to the Kern River Road on the way to Bakersfield. Again, no time to enjoy the beauty as we wound around rambling curves. Finally, a promising farm road loomed ahead and we turned away from the river toward a wide road and a gas station where Bob relented and asked for directions. We were told to take the Freeway to exit 29 and a few miles later, we arrived at the Ambassador RV Park.

It was two in the afternoon by the time we hooked up and fixed sandwiches, walked dogs, and settled in to rest for awhile. My rest was short-lived however because laundry had to be done. So while I went up to the laundry, Bob hooked us up to WiFi and checked emails.

Now it is evening. I have called Dawn to tell her we will be in LaGrande with her and Jade sometime tomorrow. They will drive out to the RV Park when she gets off work. By that time, we will be hooked up, relaxed and ready for a long week-end with the Daughter of my heart, and my beautiful and talented grand daughter.

Lucky has become almost as good an alarm clock as his sister, so I know the two of them will get us up early tomorrow. Thought you might enjoy these photos of our sleeping arrangement. LuAnn always sleeps by my side and Lucky parks himself somewhere between my knees and ankles. Sammi is under the blanket to my left and completely out of sight.

I hated to leave the beauty of the mountains this morning, but it was time to head on to Winnemucca, Nevada. The trip was long and made longer by road work. We did notice the highways improved significantly when we left the California State line and crossed over into Nevada.

Yaaaay!!! Finally a park with WiFi that works. There is nothing sadder than a husband who is having web withdrawals or speaking for myself, a wife who can’t post on her blog.

So here we are at the High Desert RV Park and relaxing before fixing dinner. Actually, I just made a tomato salad for tomorrow’s lunch and had a glass of wine.

This place is a far cry from the beauty of Truckee, but it does have free shuttle service to the Casinos. However, we have already opted to not go to the Casinos. Shucks, we are tiiiired after the drive. One of the things that I have learned is that traveling every day is not worth it. So the next time out we will plan two days at each stop. We will be back at this park however, after LaGrande and probably will check out those casinos then.

The RV Park is a mixture of overnighters and long-timers. It has a swimming pool and two fenced in doggie runs. Lucky, LuAnn, and Sammi think that this is the cat’s meow and are enjoying the chance to run free in a fenced enclosure. There is a bench there for the humans to rest while watching the dogs. Bob and I appreciate this a lot. I snapped this photo of Bob and the puppies at the doggie park. I wish more parks had this run-free type enclosure for pets.

Tomorrow we will head up to Caldwell, Idaho. This will be our longest day on the road. From there to LaGrande, where we will spend a few days with Dawn and Jade, is a mere walk in the park.

We made it to Truckee and the most beautiful RV Park tucked in among the tall pines.

The trip which was to be about three hours turned out to be more like four and a half with road construction delays and traffic near Sacramento. . . not to mention the slow pace across the marshlands. Anyway, we are here and have half-ass-ed WiFi. It comes and goes which is better than Santa Rosa where it never worked.

It seems hours and hours since we left Santa Rosa heading toward Truckee. We left around ten o’clock this morning. The trip which was to be about three hours turned out to be more like five with road construction, a tortoise crawl across the marshlands, followed by more road construction delays just outside of Truckee.

We were tired and hungry. The dogs were restless in their crates, but nothing seems to phase the parrots. They simply talked and made noises and enjoyed the unbelievably slow ride.

All of our travel irritability melted away the moment we drove through Truckee and found our Coachland RV Park. It is a beautiful park tucked in among the tall pines. Coachland is a rather large park with many non-mobile units that are here year around. Like our other parks, it has the friendliest people and as always everyone wants to see the parrots and pet the dogs.

Lunch was at 3:30 so by the time evening arrived a decision to skip dinner and just have smoothies was made. So at this point, we have had our drinks and walked the puppies. Tweetie is calling out “Beddy Bye” and Bob is busy with his computer. Suddenly, I am so tired that I think I will put down the bed and call it a day. Tomorrow we leave for Winnemucca, Nevada although I wish we could stay at this lovely place for a week or two

I wrote this for Sally’s retirement, but there were so many wonderful accolades and speeches already, that I decided to tell a story about an incident at school instead. So not to let writing go unread, I am posting this in Sally’s honor because an excellent teacher like her, deserves the recognition of a posting.

The first time I met Sally it was at a Desert Area Teachers Association meeting. Sally stood up to speak and as I listened, I thought, “Okay, just another young teacher who thinks she has all the right ideas.” Well, I was middle-aged at the time and had been around teaching for enough years to be a little jaded. What I discovered as time went on was that indeed she did have the right ideas, both where the Teachers Organization was concerned and evenly more importantly when teaching itself was involved.

I remember our times in the School Improvement Program (SIP) and what a dynamic drive she was particularly for turning large SIP plans into smaller, more easily followed ones. Once again, she was able to see the entire idea clearly, while I struggled writing out every little minute detail.

Over the years, our teaching paths crossed and we attended conferences and meetings at the same time, but it was not until the late 80’s that we actually taught together. Those were our Las Flores years where Sally was more than willing to run off to Carls Jr with me for a lunch away from our fourth grade classes. And those were some the classes! Both Sally and I were jumping through educational hoops, working with challenging classes, and a rather competitive faculty. Our friendship really strengthened at that time and I felt blessed to have a colleague who viewed the whole picture with humor and understanding. The two of us spent a lot of time commiserating and maybe even plotting a little faculty revenge - just for the fun of it.

When Gateway Elementary, a new school in our district, was built, both Sally and I transferred. What a joyful and exciting time. I don’t really remember meetings every being fun, but those planning meetings for Gateway remain so in my mind. The opportunity to be part of a great team working to shape a new educational program was a highlight for all who were part of that first faculty and staff. Sally was definitely a driving force and a leader in this effort.

Sally was always willing to share her ideas. She was an excellent sounding board for all of us and always willing to listen and to help solve a problem whether it be a student, a fellow teacher, or a parrot who chewed the rubber off the map cabinet. (Josephine was the culprit.)

It was a sad day when our valley lost Jerry and Sally to Northern California, but distance cannot keep friends apart, and I treasure the visits we have had with them.
Sally is a major commenter on my blogs I love the support she gives my writing and it encourages me to continue posting.

The dedication and creativity with which Sally has graced the educational system will be greatly missed. However, retirement will be the beginning of a new and exciting adventure which I hope will include a weblog of her own. If Sally becomes a blogger, I know I will be there, reading and commenting.