August-September: Our RV site in Pacific Shores

At last we made it to Newport, Oregon where we have an RV site at Pacific Shores Motorcoach Resort. We purchased this site about 2 years ago and this will be our second year spending the summer here.

View through the screen.

 The resort is right on the coast with beach access.  Our site has a view of the Pacific Ocean in addition to having the common area with grass and trees right in front of us.  So Bailey absolutely loves running in the grass and we love all of it.





We spent time this year working on the landscaping that is on our site.  This year's project was to remove all of the rocks, lay a second layer of black weed protection, and then replace the rocks. 

After all of that we were exhausted so David who works on our landscaping when we are not here, helped us move more rocks to that we could add them to areas that had none.

The original pile of rocks was twice this size.

BEFORE

                        











AFTER

August 1: Crater Lake

After the Bar Mitzvah, we headed back to Apache Junction, picked up the motorhome and left the 110+ temperatures of Arizona.  We headed north to Oregon.  Our route included stopping at as many casinos as we could.  We headed up Hwy 99 and stopped at about 5 casinos along the way. 

We also stopped in the Fresno area to visit with Marilyn and Don.  Unfortunately we did not take any photos of them.

After all of the casinos with Barb getting her fill of poker playing, it was time for Linda to have a day with nature.  So we headed to Crater Lake in Oregon.  We had never been there, but had heard from so many people how beautiful it was and how blue the water was. 

We stayed an RV park that was just down the road from the main entrance to the park.
A river ran behind us.

July 7: Zachary's Bar Mitzvah

The main reason we stayed in Arizona until July was to go to San Antonio for our grandson Zack's Bar Mitzvah.  We left the motorhome in SMR in the 110+ tempertures and drove by car to San Antonio. 

 

Zachary was absolutely marvelous during the two days of his Bar Mitzvah and did a superb job reading his prayers.  We are so very proud of him.













 Robyn did a wonderful job planning the weekend.  Barb and I arrived in town about 4 days early to help her get everything all set up.  Our most difficult project which involved creativity was to figure out what to use for center pieces for the tables.  We spent one whole day going from craft store to craft store to wherever, to find just the right center piece.  We were so proud of ourselves, when we figured out a way to make the center piece.  After purchases at three different stores, we created a "masterpiece'.  It was a fun day!

The occasion was a wonderful reason for a family reunion. 

Linda with her girls, Susan and Robyn

Linda and Barb with grandkids: Zack, Ashley, Caroline, Nicolas

Back row:  the Rabbi, Linda, Barb, Susan
Front Row:  Janice and Mitch (cousins), Larry (Linda's brother)

Caroline and Ashley had a great time playing together.  They do not see each other very often so it was nice to see them re-connect.



June 12: Linda visits Susan, Nicolas, and Caroline

After all of our visiting in Cottonwood and ShowLow, we returned to SMR for another couple of weeks.  During that time, Linda flew to Wichita to visit her kids.

Caroline, Susan and I went to a Jazz Festival in one of the local parks.

 

I spent time going to Caroline and Nicolas's activities for the summer.

Caroline played on a softball team

Nicolas's summer job was as a referee for softball leagues in the area. 

May 19-June 14: Jerome, Cottonwood, ShowLow

We left Apache Junction for a month to get away from the heat.  During that time we stayed in Cottonwood, AZ touring Jerome, the Lapitka Ruins, and visiting with friends.  We then went to ShowLow, AZ to see our friends who spend the summer months in the White Mountain area.

 

Jerome was a prosperus mining town in the early 1900's. The town was built on the side of the mountain about 10 miles from Cottonwood. It flourished for a number of years until the mine closed and it became a ghost town.  Today it is an artist community with many stores, art galleries, and restuarants.  A fun place to spend the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While in Cottonwood, we toured the Lapitka Ruins where the early Ancients made their home.

 

 

From Cottonwood we drove to ShowLow.  
We were there for the weekend of the annual Native American PowWow. 

 The dress and feathers and colors were simply awesome.

 

 

While in ShowLow Barb and I took a walk around WoodLake Park.  We saw many bird species and I had a great time trying to get good photos of them.  Many would not cooperate and would fly off just as I had my camera set up and ready to shoot.