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| Mark in his uniform. You can see the tower from the theme park in the background. |
We are alive and well.
Mark is working his little heart out in Altoona, Iowa, making waffle cones for the Adventureland Amusement Park, and I am playing granny-nanny to Sophie in Nampa, Idaho.
We are winding up the summer and getting ready to blend back together in a few weeks.
It's been a different sort of summer for both of us.
Mark has been working four or five days a week earning some extra money for us. Those funds will pay for the unexpected coach repairs that came up at the beginning of the year, and give us a little left over to do something fun. We're planning a Southern Caribbean cruise -- probably our last one, but you never know.
I have been enjoying my time hanging out with Katie and Sophie.
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| Sophie, Brent, and Katie at the "Cherry Festival" |
Sharing space with a seven year old has been interesting. One never knows when one might be accosted by a stuffed animal, all of which have names and personalities of their own. The life of a child is filled with games. "Pass The Pig" is a favorite game where one rolls two tiny rubber pigs like dice and gains points depending on the position in which the pigs land. "Chutes and Ladders" and "Aggravation" are two favorite board games. And for a while, we were playing "Go Fish" cards just about every day.
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| Hanging out in my room during "off" time. |
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| Like my new glasses?? |
When I'm not "on duty," I spend my time on a few crochet projects. I have two blankets-- one for Katie...
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| A Christmas blanket for the sofa |
and one for Liz...
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| Crazy spirals...don't get dizzy |
When I'm not crocheting, I'm putting together jigsaw puzzles-- my newest obsession.
I discovered a jigsaw subscription company, called Completing The Puzzle, that rents puzzles to you. It's rather like Netflix used to be when the videos came in the mail. (Welcome to the Great Reset, where you own nothing and rent everything.) Living in a motorhome with limited space, this service is actually kind of nice, though it's a bit more expensive than I'd like. Still, I'll probably keep it up for at least a little while.
With the summer winding down, we'll be working on our travel plan for next year. One of the problem areas we've been working through is what to do about next summer. Katie desperately wants me back for the summer to look after Sophie, but Mark and I don't really want to part company for ten weeks again next year. So that means finding a campground in the Nampa area where we can stay without breaking the bank-- a surprisingly difficult venture. Half of California has decided to move to the Boise/Nampa area, and not only is reasonably priced housing almost impossible to find, but reasonably priced camping as well. There are waiting lists for summer 2024 in every campground in a twenty mile radius of the cities. Nevertheless, God saved us a spot at the Snake River RV Park, which is only about a 35 minute drive to Katie's, in a little town called Homedale. We booked it today.
I've got about two weeks left here in Nampa. Josh (my son) will be picking me up and taking me back to his place in Spokane where I'll spend a week hanging out with him and Liz. Then it's off to the airport and back to Des Moines and home.
That's all for now. Wishing you all the best. Try to stay cool!
God bless & safe travels!
