Did you think that we’d forgotten you? I’d like to post about our awesome travels, but we just haven’t had any. Lol. What we did have was our longest moochdock ever. We arrived at Rian’s new house in Sacramento on Feb 5th and did not leave until March 15th. What were we up to all that time? More home improvement and maintenance projects than you want to know about, that I can promise you!
I won’t bore you with a
detailed list, but highlights include installing kitchen cabinets, repairing
and painting siding, minor roof repairs, lots of interior painting, cleaning the
windows and sills, installing a new kitchen exhaust fan and ductwork, installing
light fixtures, a pet door, and window blinds, repairing the porch support
posts, fixing the rain gutters, several plumbing projects, lots of yard work
and innumerable trips to the local Ace Hardware and Home Depot. To quote
the infomercials, “But that’s not all folks!” Of course, we also helped with
the move and unpacking too. Whew!
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| Cabinets, paint, light fixtures, plumbing upgrades.... it's a functional kitchen now! |
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| Window sills - Before and After. I swear you could have planted potatoes in there! |
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| Taking a well deserved break. |
Our stay wasn’t all work and
no play. We thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine and 70-degree weather. We had a few
days of rain and one crazy weather day with the full-meal deal: sun, rain, thunder,
lighting, and hail with a rainbow for dessert. The area Rian moved to has lots
of great restaurants, so we indulged in take-out several nights sampling Middle
Eastern, Mexican, Thai, pizza, and Nashville Hot Chicken. Rian and I hit the
monthly antique fair twice, plus some thrifting and estate sales. Rian wanted a
Japanese maple for the front, so a trip to the nursery was in order. All fun
stuff.
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| Rog enjoys some sunshine with Riley and Floyd. |
Crazy weather day!
Floyd hangs out in a sunbeam waiting
for his Mommy to get home from work.
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| New Japanese maple for the front. Looking forward to seeing this little guy grow. |
We also took an overnight trip to Redding with Rian to visit Roger’s Mom and Grandma Ardys. They had completed their vaccines and Grandma was able to visit for the day without being quarantined when she returned to her apartment at the assisted living facility. It was a lovely visit and things felt, dare I say it, almost normal. We are looking forward to getting our own vaccines and being able to do more without worrying so much about Covid.
Kings in the Corner.
At 97, Grandma Ardy's is still kicking our butts!
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| Riley offers to help clean up any leftovers. |
While no home is ever “finished”, we felt the critical repairs and upgrades were completed and, after nearly six weeks, it was time to hit the road and give Rian and her roommate, Kelsey, a chance to settle in without Mom and Dad hanging around. We loaded up and kissed our girl goodbye and left our comfy Sacramento moochdocking spot on Monday, 3/15, for another one in Redding with Rog’s Mom.
Our stay in Redding was much shorter, although we did get to visit again with Grandma Ardys. We also had dinner out at a restaurant, only our second dine-in experience since the pandemic began! It felt a little weird, but I’ll be happy to repeat as needed until it feels normal again!
The Usual Suspects.
Grandma Ardys, Rog and his mom, Barb.
Grandma gives a thumbs up to Rian's decor.
Many items came from Grandma's house in St. Helena and
she's happy to see them in use.
Unfortunately, we left the sunshine and 70’s behind in Sacramento and our more typical Northwest wet found us in Redding. The forecast was for high winds and rain all day Thursday, so we delayed our departure one day to avoid driving through that mess. It was a good call. We left Friday morning, 3/19, and had mostly sunny skies the whole day. We typically stay at Valley of the Rogue State Park, but it was completely booked so we opted to spend the night at the Jordan Creek Rest Stop in Canyonville, OR. That got us through all the passes and we could rest easy if the temps fell and the precipitation turned fluffy in the higher elevations.
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| One very bored puppy surveys the contents of his toy box. |
Our second night, Saturday
3/20, was spent at another favorite rest stop, French Prairie in Aurora, OR. Both rest stops have lots of space far enough away from I-5 that
there’s barely any road noise. We had a bit more rain our second day but missed
the heavy squalls. Unfortunately, we did get caught in the back-up that
resulted from a 21-car pile up just north of our destination. It took us over
an hour to go the final 2-miles to our rest stop. Argh! An inconvenience to be
sure, but still much better than all those poor folks involved in the accident whose
day really sucked. Luckily, there were only minor injuries, but it took more than
two hours after the accident was cleared for traffic to finally get moving. We
were happy to be parked and out of it. Riley got several walks around the rest
stop, there’s a huge wooded area where he even got a little off leash sniff
time.
Pretty awesome spot for a rest stop!
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| Lovely clouds and golden evening light. |
We made it home Sunday afternoon and immediately set to work unloading the rig and getting the laundry going. We cleaned the interior, washed the exterior and then tucked it under cover until our next trip. Speaking of trips, while much depends on when we can get vaccinated, we do have reservations for a 4th of July trip to Glacier National Park. We’ll keep you posted!!
