Year end greetings

This year has been an emotional roller coaster ride for Nancy and I starting with a great trip to Baja California and then the passing of our oldest son, Tony. A trip to Ohio to visit with old friends and Nancy's late brother's wife and relatives. A fabulous RV trip to the Northwestern states, and breaking down on the way. Life always throws a curve ball when you think things are going well. BUT, we are still thankful for all of our blessings. Family, friends, our health and much, much more. So with that, just a quick note... have yourselves a VERY Merry Christmas and Happy safe New Year.

2015 Northwest States Summer RV trip

We pulled out of the Valley in the middle of June through central California heading North to (hopefully) cooler weather. A few stops before we arrived in McMinnville Oregon to visit with old friend from our Turkey trip.

We went to the Evergreen Air Museum to see the Spruce Goose and the other planes they display. Man is that thing HUGE!Rand and Amy were great to let us camp in the yard, well, driveway, and out of their way. Next stop was to meet-up with some other friends in Washington State. We spent 12 days with our good friends Dick and Linda, who are full-time RVers. Together we saw Mt. St. Helen, Mt. Rainer, went Orca whale watching, hiked through the thick forests,went antiquing, toured the Public Market in Seattle and more. But the best was just hanging out with them, and for a few days, their granddaughter. Cute kid.

From upper central Washington, we head East toward Idaho. The forest fires were everywhere in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. You could not escape the smoke. Everything looked hazy in the distances. And the worst part was, not rain in sight. We stopped to see a nighttime laser light show at the Grand Coulee dam, camped next to the Snake River, and hiked on the same trail the Lewis and Clark took in the early 1800s. While at the Idaho and Washington border, a fellow firefighter called and told me about a fire truck for sale on the other side of Idaho. The next day, after we got set-up at another retired firefighters house, him and I drove North to see this fire truck. It was in great shape and the price was right, SO...I bought it. Yep, I bought a full size fire truck. Now to get it home. I could not drive it home and drive the truck and fifth wheel too. Nancy was not going to either. So I found a transporter and it was delivered a few days after we got home.

I did not buy the truck as another vehicle to add to mine others. I bought it for dedicated funeral truck for any fallen firefighter in Arizona. I call it a "Caisson". I will keep you posted on the progress. Heading home now from McCall Idaho, we stopped in Ely Nevada to visit the Northern Nevada Railroad Museum and take a ride on their steam engine train. What a hoot! We have done these before, but never seen the behind the scenes of maintenance shops etc. VERY interesting.

Our last night on the road was at Jacob Lake on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I love that place and finally, it was cool. But that would stop the next day when we arrived home after 33 days and over 4600 miles, That's OK. We had a ball, visited with good friends, and saw some amazing country. The new fifth wheel we bought in January was wonderful and very comfortable. Thank you friend for letting us stay or camp on your property. It was awesome visiting with you all. Next time, our treat at our place.

Life goes on

The temps are getting higher, the flowers have blossomed, and the birds are singing. Spring is here. Spring is a time of rebirth and rejuvenation for plants or a refreshing of the seasons. People shed their winter clothes and spend more time outdoors. We all just take our activities from indoor to the outdoors. Even in a forest fire, a few days afterwards, plants start pushing through the ashes, and life continues. This is much like losing a family member, your life must move on. It's not easy, it's actually very hard but necessary to move on. Certain things bring back the pain and harsh feelings. You cry and go on. Just remember the good times. I miss you Tony...SO damn much.

We celebrate his life

Today, friends and especially family will meet to celebrate Anthony James Pelopida's (Tony) life. It is suppose to be a day we tell funny stories and remember the good times, but I am sure there will be tears shed.

His family, his dog Chopper, and the Dallas Cowboys was everything to Tony. We will miss your humor, your kidding, and your devilish smile. I will miss our time in the shop working on cars together and the talks we had laying under them. I love you Tony.

Our oldest son

It was 1977 when I married Nancy and took responsibility of raising her children Tony(7)and Tina(6). Tony was a challenge so we butted heads often. He had to do things his way and would not listen to reason most of the time. I thought, well, I was like that sometimes too. Tony loved sports, especially football and quickly fell in love with the Dallas Cowboys. His all time favorite was Emmett Smith. Tony wear the number 80 all through Pop Warner and high school football. He was a tough competitor playing offense and defense in many games. After high school, Tony tried to get on the Phoenix Fire Department, but no luck. He took a job at a small family owned production company and met his future wife Gail. They got married in our backyard in 1999. A few years later in 2004, they adopted and baby daughter and named her Nicole. All was well except Tony's beer drinking habit. We all warned him that excess would cause him a lot of problems, but Tony did not listen. Over the following years, his health started deteriorating. Tony passed away Sunday the 22nd at 11:02AM after fighting a hard battle that was staked against him. It is said, "Children are not suppose to die before their parents". I never realized how true that is. Our hearts are broke, but his humor and joking will live on in our memories forever. Tony loved to joke around with you. He made me laugh and proud of him for his love for his daughter and ever faithful wife. They made him a man, father and husband. Rest in peace son...I love you deeply... sleep now... you are in good company with Uncle John and Charlie. I'll be there later and we'll play catch.

The First Trip of 2015

Nancy and I both love whales. We have gone on "whale watching" cruises before. MAYBE we would see one whale about 2 miles away in an eight hour cruise. VERY disappointing! So when she showed me an ad about a whale watching trip, I was not really excited... but I was wrong. WOW! This was more than we could have ever imagined. On the Pacific side of Baja California there three bays/lagoons that gray whale swim down from Alaska each year to give birth to their calves or mate. They have been doing this for centuries. We would see two of the three bays which are halfway from the tip of Baja. The bays are shallow and warm waters. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of whales in the bays during this short time in the first months of the year, each year. But I am getting ahead of myself. Nancy and I drove to San Diego from Phoenix to join the tour. Our first day was in San Diego to the Scripps Institution and Aquarium in La Jolla and starting to get a feel of the Chicano community around San Diego.

The next day we crossed the border at Tijuana and began our adventure. We were 24 people (from all over the US and one from Canada) on a good sized bus with our female guide Luka, her female assistant Mimiam and our male driver Manual. Down Hwy 1 we went, stopping at several places to see plants, museums, eating, and stopping for potty breaks. Our hosts did a great job telling us about Baja California, the people, customs, foods, traditions and making sure there was NO lack of food.

OK, now I am rushing to get to the best part. After a couple days of traveling, and our butts flat from seating, we arrived at our hotel close to the bay. We were anixous and hoping we would not be disappointed. WELL, we were not! There we were ten miles out into the bays and whales all around us. They were SO gentle with an occasional bump of our 20 feet boats. They would stick their heads right up to us so we could scratch their nose, or as some did, lean over and give them a kiss. They were curious and most of the Moms would push their calves to us. Trusting Moms. We did this for three days, going from one bays to the other. We were all on a "Whale High". Looking into a whale's eye is an experience you can not explain. These monmouth animals could easily crush us, or at least toss our boat, but they were so gentle and curious of us small little humans, compared to a female whale bigger than a school bus. The couple days drive back to San Diego were anti-climatic, as we were all bragged about our encounters and became closer to each other. Our crew did a great job keeping occupied with different things, like movies about the region, food, songs,food, visiting a middle school, food and just joking. Did I mention FOOD. Just kidding. They were great. All in all, I am glad Nancy convinced me to go on this trip. I totally enjoyed the experience, the people, the region and the whales. NEXT? A couple RV trips, stay tuned.