Karla's Kronicles #14

The Karla Kronicles #14 - Washington to Florida Travels 2008, Part 1
Greetings Kronicle Readers! (Note: Larger and More Detailed Photos are in the Photo Albums Located HERE.)
Well, Hello There Everyone! Did you think maybe we had fallen off Planet Earth after getting back from Alaska and writing Kronicles #13 with the final installment of our Trip? Well, we are still around and hopefully, this new series of 4 Kronicle's will catch everyone up with our news of the past 15 months and then you'll all be able to write us for the Holidays (which are right around the corner!). As I begin to write this, it is the afternoon of November 3, 2008, and we are at our 1000 Trails Orlando Florida Preserve and having a bit of a mini-vacation from the House. Yes, we did buy a home in Florida, closing the deal in March 2008. Built in 1997, our new home is located in Lecanto, FL. (Click MAP for our location in Florida) More on the House in Kronicles #16, Part 3 of this Series to get caught back up... I'm going to go back in time to where I left off our Kronicles #13....
	Yes, Kronicles #13 was our last installment of the Alaska journey. We had just arrived at the Birch Bay 1000 Trails in Blaine, Washington. Our Tucson buddy, Phil (from the Grand Canyon Hike & Raytheon co-worker), just happened to be arriving in the Seattle area to participate in the Seattle to Vancouver (Canada) bike ride in August 2007 about the time we arrived back in the lower 48. Phil drove all the way up to Birch Bay from his Brother's house in Seattle to have dinner and visit with us. We tried to convince him to sleep over, but he needed to get his bike prepped for the big ride. It was a great to see Phil, even for the short visit and we appreciated his efforts to meet up with us!
For a long time now, we had been trying to get over to Center Island to see Lee and Kathe Brissey's cabin (Cabin? - it's a gorgeous home!!!). The timing just never worked out; but when we transitioned from the Birch Bay 1000 Trails to the LaConner 1000 Trails we were so near Anacortes and the Marina where Lee and Kathe have their boat, that we finally made it happen! What a special treat that was!!! It made us realize that you don't have to travel all the way to Alaska for beautiful scenery.
	Kia is holding up part of our dinner. The Crab Pots went out and we had quite a catch to clean and eat for dinner. We dined in fine style that weekend on Surf and Turf! The Brissey's friends, Frank and Shanna, were also with us and Frank is quite a gourmet cook and we all got some pointers.
Frank and Shanna take the Kayak out for some paddle time around the island.
	Remember Lee - A Watched Pot Never Boils (but it DID) Lee cooked up those crab! And then we shelled the crab and then we got to eat the crab. It was oohhh so very good!
Grandson Riley has his own project collecting tiny snail shells with the neighboring children.
After the Center Island adventure, we had a few more days in LaConner and we had lots of visitors come by to say "Hi"...
Les and Carole (Full-time 1000 Trails members, like us) have stayed in touch since October 2005 when we first met in Verde Valley AZ. They happened to be up in Washington for a family wedding and met up with us at the LaConner Preserve. Their Labradoodle, Mimi, is a real character!
	Alaska-traveling companions and former Mukilteo neighbors, Larry and Carol Wade hopped on their other preferred mode of transportation, their Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and came up during an afternoon ride for a visit! Don't they look great on those bikes!
Linda Realander came to visit, too, with son Kevin and her Fiance, Andy! I am happy to report that Linda and Andy were married on July 19, 2008 at a small ceremony. Unfortunately, we were unable to attend but here is a photo from their wedding for those of you Kronicle Readers that have known Linda for as long or longer than I have (and that goes back a few decades!).
From LaConner, we headed over Steven's Pass (Hwy. 2) to the Leavenworth 1000 Trails. We had been wanting to get over to this Preserve for a long time. The icing on the cake was getting in touch with Mike and Joan Fager and getting to see their "cabin" - Hah! Another incredibly beautiful home in a beautiful setting along the Wenatchee River! Another great dinner and visit, too! Unfortunately, we don't have any photos to document our evening with the Fagers, but we did finally get to meet some of their children and grands! Below are a couple of Photos of the Leavenworth Preserve...
This shows how wooded the sites are...in order to get both TV and Internet, Larry had to set up a tri-pod and dish (seen behind the truck in the shadows) for our Internet connection; the rooftop mount was pointed for TV reception. Sometimes you have to work around Mother Nature.
	Hiking trails lead to this overlook near Boy Scout Flats.
All trails lead to Boy Scout Flats
	Don't look now but I think we are being watched...
Before leaving Leavenworth, we did get to have lunch in town with a few friends who drove over from Chelan for the day. Thanks for making the drive Nicky & Clyde and Sue. Joan and her Granddaughter also joined us for a mini-reunion and again, I don't seem to have any photos of our lunchtime get-together. I do remember the hostess at the restaurant telling us we were having entirely TOO MUCH FUN before she sat down and joined us. Seems we always have loads of laughter when we get together with the old gang!
On our next stop, we dropped in on Larry and Shirley Kottke in Odessa Washington for a couple of nights. We refer to this place as Kottke Resort Northwest, as the Kottke's have also given us refuge in Kottke Resort Southwest in Yuma AZ.
From Odessa, it was a hop, skip and jump into my home town of Walla Walla. The main purpose of the Walla Walla stop is to have some Mom time - especially with our move to Florida. This visit had a bonus, though, as we were joined by Jeff and Penny Scott, Pat and Trisha Kelly, and Chuck and Crystal Anderson. The couples had corresponded with each other and us to coordinate meeting up in Walla Walla. The Fairway Campground is new in Walla Walla, and borders a Golf Course. Of course, if you don't Golf, you can always visit the over 100 new wineries that have popped up in the area. I'm so grateful we had a chance to see each other and visit...but I was already getting homesick and we hadn't even left the state yet and the time visiting went WAY too fast. Mom really enjoyed their visit, too; she has known Jeff and Penny for many years from when they came with us to Italian Heritage Festivals, so she was glad to see them again and meet the Kelly's and Anderson's. This photo was taken inside our 5th wheel with Crystal's Camera...THANKS CRYSTAL..It's a great photo and I cropped out Mom's picture to use as her Skype I.D.
As a side note, at the time of this visit, we did not realize that Jeff would be undergoing a very serious medical problem. A discovered lump in his Breast turned out to be Malignant Cancer (less than 1% of men get breast cancer, and with Jeff's permission, I am writing this to get more of our family and friends to be very aware and DO NOT ignore lumps in the breast - men and women alike). We were so relieved when we found out that Jeff's cancer was contained, so following his surgery, he didn't go through radiation or chemotherapy treatments. But because of his experience, Jeff has become involved with the Breast Cancer Navigator Program. His own Navigator introduced him to the DEFEAT Cancer Program, an empowerment program focusing on nutrition, physical activity, education and inspiration. Jeff is now on their Advisory Board and helping run the program. He also has volunteered for and has trained to be a Cancer Support Volunteer for the Cancer Hope Network, a National program providing one-on-one support to people in cancer treatment & their families. Here are two websites Jeff would like to invite everyone to visit: www.DefeatCancer.info and www.cancerhopenetwork.org. As of this writing Jeff is a 1-year Survivor and my Mom is a 10-year Survivor!!! So, Jeff, Hat's Off to You with Heartfelt Congratulations on your Recovery and Special Thanks for your volunteer work and involvement in helping others!
Leaving Walla Walla, we drove West on I-84, which follows the Columbia River to Portland, then connecting to Hwy 26 to Seaside, Oregon and another one of our favorite 1000 Trails Preserves and to see Ranger Bill and Marjorie!! Mom hated to see us leave; but she didn't know I had a little scheme going. Since we had 2 vehicles with us, I left Seaside a day later and made a dash back into Portland, collected my sister, Karen, then off we went to Walla Walla.. Mom was sure surprised getting a call that Kay and I were making a quick dash back into Walla Walla for an overnight visit with her.
Our next stop was in Manteca CA. A 1000 Trails Preserve purchased from Leisure Time Resorts. You all know how much I like our 1000 Trails Membership; this place was a horrible disappointment. It's called "Turtle Beach Fish Camp" and it was very run down. Of course, it didn't help that as we were backing into our campsite, the brake hose wore through and suddenly Larry had no brakes! DRATS! The damage was traced to the installation of our Banks Power System by Camping World. It wasn't routed properly to avoid contact with the brake line, so eventually, it wore through. Just moments before, we had exited off I-5 onto an off-ramp undergoing construction. The exit was very narrow with concrete dividers. If the brakes had failed during that exit, I may not be writing these Kronicles. We had a Guardian Angel with us that day! Of course, the truck was totally undriveable and all we wanted to do was not be at this Preserve. We got towed in for service the next day and left as soon as we could. Not easy for me to criticize one of our Preserves, but this place is not up to the standards we are use to seeing. Very sub-standard indeed!
By now it's late September 2007 and we are now at the Soledad Canyon 1000 Trails in Acton, CA. We've always enjoyed this Preserve; it's very large and one of the camp areas on a bit of a plateau that overlooks a valley and bordered by some nice rock formations. You really start to feel like you are getting into the Southwest area of the country at this point.
And finally, on September 28, we are back in Arizona. We stayed at Ridgeview Resort, taking advantage of our Resorts of Distinction program that is optional with 1000 Trails.. The Resort overlooked the Colorado River and the city of Laughlin, Nevada. We are not gamblers and did not take in any of the shows, but the walk along the Colorado in Laughlin was really nice.
So now that we have made our way into the Southwest and have lots of things planned in September and October, I'll close Part 1. Part 2 covers October 2007 in Tucson and our arrival in Florida...and journalizes those adventures along the way. Til' next time...stay happy and healthy and....
We want to hear from you too! What's new in your lives? Travel...family...just what you've been up to? More later...Karla and Larry

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