Odessa, WA June 19, 2001
We can say for sure that our name 'Wroamin' fits us perfectly! It seems that is all we do anymore. Our suitcases sure have gotten a workout lately, and it doesn't look like they are going to get any rest for a while!
After we got home to Odessa and unloaded the trailer last month, we promptly took off for a round of Dr. and Dentist visits, plus children and grandchildren and friends in Seattle. We also flew to Kansas City, MO to make sure our grandson graduated from Pleasant Hill High School (he did!!). We spent a nice weekend in KC; only the last night there a storm blew in and we thought for sure we were in middle of a tornado (but wait, we couldn't be, we didn't have our tornado magnet with us!!). We finally got back to Odessa May 22. We dug in and started cleaning the dust and spider webs out of the house and the weeds out of the yard and drive. Sure wish our flowers and tomatoes would grow like the weeds do! ;-)
The weather in Odessa was pretty hot for a week, then the Memorial Day weekend arrived and it got cold in a hurry. The day of the service at the cemetery the wind was blowing so hard and it was so cold we wondered if it was February and was it going to snow (anything can happen with weather anymore we have decided!) We enjoyed the family get together in Irby on Memorial Day and seeing the Wraspir/Totusek families.
June finally got here and the weather was still cold (June or January??) -- Jo's cousin Ted and wife Shirley from Colorado Springs arrived here June 6. We packed up the truck and hooked on to the boat and went to Newport, Oregon on the Oregon coast for a week at our timeshare. Friends Jack and Sue Waddick from Arizona met us there and the six of us had a great week. However, the weather didn't exactly cooperate...had 2 days of rain, 2 days of cold and gray and 2 days of sun! We made the best of it though. Al had brought the crab pots, so we did get some wonderful dungeness crab. And we all decided that Sue is a crabbing fool! She had never crabbed before and she had a blast pulling crab pots, baiting them, cleaning and cooking the crab, and of course we all enjoyed eating them! We did get the boat out once the whole time we were there. The weather was just too windy and conditions too rough to go out except for the one day. But we love the Oregon coast and enjoy going there every year at least once! The trailer gets some rest and we go enjoy our timeshare.
Leaving Newport last Friday, we stopped in Portland for an overnight with Ron, Melanie and the grandchildren. Had a quick, but very enjoyable visit with the kids who have just moved into a house in the country...which gives them enough space to grow a garden and for the kids and dog to run! Saturday through Monday we spent in Seattle, visiting with our kids there and having dinner with some friends on Saturday and Monday nights. Father's Day was spent with 2 of Al's sons and families and Jennifer and Sherrie -- and our wonderful, beautiful, perfect, great-granddaughter, Natasha. She is 21 months old already -- and she is so fun to be around. She has a good disposition and happy and always busy!
We are back in Odessa now, but not for long. We are getting ready to head to Las Vegas for our Saudi Arabia Reunion July 1-3; then we will go on to our house in Tucson for a week or so. We are towing a U-haul trailer down with a load of 'Stuff' from here, so we can spread our 'stuff' out over two states! So the next few days we will be busy sorting and packing our 'stuff' for the trip. We are taking two of our grandchildren, Ashley and Cammie with us on this adventure. We always like our trips with our grandchildren -- they get to know us better and we have the pleasure of having them around for a few weeks scans parents! (That way we can spoil them more without the evil looks from Mom and Dad!!)
So, as you can see, we haven't quit wroamin' -- just our trailer is sitting still for a while. We will give it a rest until late August when we take off again on another adventure! This life of being retired is great! We don't know how we had time to work and sure don't want to remember how to work! This is too much fun! We are thankful that our health is good enough for us to be able to travel like we do -- and hope we can continue for a long time! We recently lost a dear friend to cancer and we are thankful everyday that we are still healthy.
On that note, we will end the saga and say 'Adios' for now...we hope you are all happy and healthy and enjoying your life. Until the next time.............
Al, Jo and Cats
The Wroamin' Wraspirs
GO MARINERS! Sodo Mojo!