April 25 From The Banks of the Colorado River

We are not due in Tucson until May 1st so we are spending some warm, sunny days in Needles California not far from where Arizona, California and Nevada meet together.

We are parking in an older RV park overlooking the raging river below us. It is very picturesque and fun to watch the boat traffic up and down the river. Lots of jet skis, powerful jet powered boats and a few tour boats. There have been a couple swimmers across the river from us but the current is too strong to make it very popular. The dam up above us releases water quite frequently in the evening and the river level comes up a full 4 feet or more. Sounds like we are bored…but actually we are just taking time to “smell the roses” so to speak. We are staying here for 8 nights before we move south to Tucson.

Just 20 miles north of us is the town of Laughlin, Nevada who has their big “River Run” starting tomorrow. This is a convergence of tens of thousands of motorcyclists, mostly Harley, for lots of fun events. The “roar” has already begun with Harleys arriving from all directions. The vendors are setting up their tents, polishing the chrome and dusting off the leather.

Yesterday we drove north to the small old mining town of Oatman (let’s see was that Nevada, Arizona or California ?). It is really in the middle of nothing and very old and rustic. They have done a good job of fixing things up but not making them look new by any means. The stores are all very interesting but the best part was the “wild” burros wandering the streets begging for carrots to eat. They are really used to being around people and will come right over to check out anything you are carrying to make sure it is not edible.

Today we drove about 20 miles north to Bull head city for the big purchase of a ladder. We have wanted one to be able to reach the windows and such for cleaning from time to time. Got one that folds up small enough to fit in the back of our Tracker…don’t like the looks of people strapping them on the back ladder of their motor home. Surprised to find a big Home Depot store out here but it was nice to have the selection and lower prices.

I am really anxious to move on to our volunteer work with TOP in Tucson but am making good use of these relaxing days to catch up a bit on my sleep. Naps are a real luxury at home but here they are pretty standard…too hot to do anything in the mid afternoon and I have finally given myself “permission” to not have to always be busy. Not having a readily accessible internet wi fi connection keeps me off the computer as much. Only way I get a connection here is to drive a mile down the road to a fancy motel and sit in their parking lot to pick up their signal. Then I am limited to less than an hour online because my laptop battery only lasts that long…and guess where my cigarette lighter power connection is?,..yep, at home. Oh well, had not ever had occasion to use it traveling in the motor home and did not thing of doing computer this way in the car…next trip I will have it.

My group of ladies working on the leprosy bandages continues to grow. I work on them as well while I watch TV or a movie at night but so nice to know there are many more hands out there working as well.

Nuff for tonight…everyone take care and enjoy each day.

Linda

Barely Home A Month

After getting so homesick on our Baja trip and feeling so relieved to finally get back home...one month later...here we are getting ready to leave again.

I remember how I used to tease a friend back in Port Angeles saying she would do anything...for a charitable cause near and dear to her heart. Well we are headed to Tucson to work for 4 or 5 weeks with our dear friend Jess at TOP (Tours of Peace) Vietnam Veterans. He does so much for Vietnam Veterans and the people of Vietnam and at this time in particular he and the TOP projects are in need of our help.

Hey we weren't doing much here anyway. We were home long enough for some much needed medical appointments and prescription renewals, water aerobics classes (for me), acupuncture treatments (for Gary), paid a few bills, did our taxes, disturbed the cobwebs and chased the dust bunnies in the house, reintroduced ourselves to our neighbors, had more accessories put on the motorhome, and even hunted Easter eggs with the grandkids in Vancouver today.

So now we are anxious to go out and burn up some of that $3 a gallon diesel and try out our newly beefed up steering and suspension on the coach. If all goes well we will check out a BIG Harley rally in Laughlin and then visit friends and siblings in the Phoenix area before we arrive in Tucson May 1st.

Stay tuned and we will keep posting for any who are following us or just happen to "drop by" to see what crazy things we are up to now. Just had an e-mail tonight from Port Angeles friends who said "You guy's are having too much fun!". Yep, we are!

Leprosy Bandages for Vietnamese Leper Villages

These people had open sores and greatly needed the bandages which TOP was able to deliver to them. A big thank you to all who worked on these. The need continues and I have lots of the cotton "thread" available for anyone who wants to busy their hands for this good cause...just let me know !

Linda

Wheelchair delivery in Hue

The smiles on these faces are truely priceless !

Blessings in Vietnam - one year after our trip

TOP (Tours of Peace) Vietnam Veterans goes to Vietnam every March. Hard to believe that it has been a full year since Gary and I went over with them. It was with great interest that we followed the progress of the group preparing to leave this year. They left (for their two week trip) on March 4th taking a number of items we had the privilege to help with.

• Daughter Cindy had collected and sent to the group beanie babies and ball caps for the kids. She knows from my stories last year what a hit these are and how they facilitate interaction between the participants and the kids.
• Gary had worked hard to rally support and sponsorship for the special wheelchairs that TOP has built in Vietnam out of bicycle parts (for a remarkable $110 each). I will post pictures to share the delivery of these items with you. Daughter Cindy and her family raised and contributed their own funds to sponsor one. Our group, Oregon Coast Veterans Association, sponsored 5 of them. A number of neighbors and several other friends stepped forward with checks. Gary and I gave each other wheel chair sponsorships for Christmas this past year. All in all Gary was responsible for getting 13 chairs sponsored.
• I was very slow at my leprosy bandage knitting but was able to convince a number of friends to work on them as well...including one lady (in England) who I have only met via the internet. Not sure of the final count on bandages but you will see in the pictures that there were quite a pile of them...but all very much needed.
• Based on our success at matching retrieved dogtags with the families of veterans, TOP rescued another batch of tags (about 350 as I remembered). We will now begin processing those and working to reunite our dogtag "inventory" (now nearly 1500) with their families.

Now we move forward with tenative plans for a return trip to Vietnam in March 2007. This time Gary will take daughter Cindy to this magical land of blessings. It will be my pleasure to spend two weeks of quality time with my three grandkids and son-in-law...now where did I leave those tranquilizers...and do I give them to the kids or take them myself ???

March 9th...Yes, We did get home

I am embarrassed to pull up this blog and realize I was so tired at the end of our Baja trip that I did not report in that we got home. It was an exciting trip home as it was right after a big weather front came in and dropped lots of snow, even along the coast...unusual for our area and not what we wanted to drive in. We went up Highway 101 but still could not avoid the white stuff.

Here is a picture taken on our drive home.