Year – 4

Fall visits

  • Visited our eldest son and his fiance in Seattle to celebrate their engagement – Graham flew up to help us celebrate
  • Visited with friends and family as we drove down to Arizona for our 2nd trip to Puerto Penasco
  • Enjoyed our 2nd visit to PR – had our mail ballots forwarded to Ajo – able to explore the area since Rio was better this trip
  • Visited our friends in Tucson and picked our stuff up from June & Larry’s trailer – canceled Suzanne’s hip surgery
  • Fun Thanksgiving visit with Graham in Phoenix and Sedona areas
  • Great to be back in Borrego Springs – dropped off RV in storage for a few weeks during christmas
  • Drove the jeep with Rio and Felix to Reno for Christmas (taking 395) – rescheduled Suzanne’s hip surgery to February
  • Enjoyed Christmas with family in Reno – Cameron flew down from Seattle
  • Drove back to Borrego Springs with Graham – dropped off his car in Richmond – horrible drive SB to LA – had to stay overnight due to heavy traffic

Drive SB thru Canada

  • Top of the World to Dawson City, via Chicken, was worth the adventure
  • Road SB on the Alcan was somewhat long and boring
  • Spent a couple of weeks in Edmonton – Suzanne flew home to see her parents
  • Really hot – front AC stopped working – challenge getting replacement
  • Fire NE of Jasper made the region very smokey
  • Enjoyed our short visit in Jasper until we were forced to re-located due to the fire – beautiful area
  • Drive from Jasper, especially the glaciers, were beautiful – need to spend more time next visit
  • Great to see Banff in the summer, but the smoke somewhat diminished the experience. Saw black bear and elk on the golf course
  • Heard from our eldest son that he just became engaged
  • Climbed up a somewhat strenuous trail to have tea and pastries
  • Got our fill of cheese and chocolate fondues during our visit
  • Visited another 3 NPs
  • Really enjoyed the drive from Revelstoke down to Osoyoos where we visited with June & Larry in their new condo

Alaska

  • Lost Lila to cancer. Took us by surprise how quickly the cancer returned and how fast it appeared. Lila’s passing will be a bittersweet memory of our trip, but her 4-years with us in the RV really made the journey special. We love her and will miss her.
  • Hyder – too early for the season. Missed the bears and eagles
  • Skagway and Juneau – loved Haines. Beautiful drive into Skagway. Too early for the eagles and bears
  • Really enjoyed Wrangell St Elias NP – McCarthy and Kennicott were very interesting. The plane ride was fantastic.
  • Really enjoyed Valdez – beautiful drive. Almost saw the Columbia Glacier, but did see the Worthington Glacier.
  • Really liked Homer and Seward. The Kenai Peninsula was great. Went fishing for trout and salmon on the Kenai and Kasiloff rivers. Deep sea fishing for Halibut.
  • Took boat to see bears on the Lake Clark NP beach
  • Denali was beautiful – got to see the infamous mountain by bus as well as plane. Adventurous white water rafting trip – froze our butts off
  • Have seen Moose, black wolf, gray wolf, brown & black bears, lynx, orcas, whales, sea otters, porpoise, harbor seals, sea lions, bald eagles

Drive NB thru Canada

  • Settled down for start of trip to Alaska – Surrey BC
  • Snafu with Canadian government over covid test
  • Celebrated Larry’s birthday as well as June and Larry’s RVing anniversary
  • Lots of quicks visits and long drives thru BC and Yukon
  • Beautiful mountains along the coastal range
  • Saw caribou, black bears, swans, geese, porcupines
  • Roads from Whitehorse to US customs were pretty bad

Drive up to Canada (April to May)

  • Visited Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Pinnacles National Parks
  • Visited friends in the South Bay – Jimmie, Cat, Mike, Marsha and Jerry
  • Visited Suzanne’s parents as well as our youngest son Graham – Cameron surprised us with a visit for Easter!
  • Visited friends in Sutherlin and Sherwood (Lake Oswego got covid) – had a great visit
  • Visited Cameron, Meghan and Lulu for Mother’s Day – Graham flew up to Seattle to join us. Great family visit.

Tucson (for 2-months)

  • Lots of activities available this year – June and Larry still in Hawaii till end of February
  • Met Greg and Trisha and Bob and Sue. And several other couples.
  • Played Bocce Ball, Shuffle Board and Pickle Ball. Suzanne also swam and did pool aerobics.
  • John also learned to wood carve and to make bowls on a lathe and cutting boards as well – will miss the wood shop.
  • Celebrated June’s birthday.
  • Did not participate much with live music due to indoor venues.
  • Once again loved the food and drinks of Tucson.

Borrego Springs (for a month)

  • After picking up the Vista in Las Vegas, we all headed to the Springs at Borrego for a month; Graham joined us for a few days and left on New Years Day
  • Really enjoyed our stay at the Springs; booked site 801 for Jan, Feb and Mar for 2024
  • Met several nice couples (Ann and Tom, Krista and Brent, Beth and Steve)
  • Suzanne drove to Sierra Vista Arizona (6-hours drive each way) for Lila’s leg surgery – she has been getting stronger every week
  • Took Lila to see Dr Clark in Indio to remove Lila’s stitches – also took Rio for UTI