Dec,Jan,Feb,Mar. Preparing to move to Arizona

    We returned from our Southwest trip and rushed around in one and one half days to have a yard sale, then moved lots of books and shelves to a mini storage, finished staging the home, had Christmas in Idaho with the kids and put the house on the market Dec. 27.  It sold in 3 weeks! and closed 7 weeks after listing it!
    We moved into our travel trailer in Richland.  Tom flew to Iowa to be with his brothers, one of whom has cancer.  The next weekend Ev flew to Denver to be with her sisters and to put on a birthday party for her mom's 86th.
    Tom picked me up at the airport on March 7th and we drove into the evening through Oregon and Idaho.  We were pulling a big U-Haul trailer with various items to store in Vail and had a meeting set with the builder there.
    We had to wait 2 hours past when we were ready to leave Twin Falls, Id. because the interstate had been closed all night and early morning because of blowing snow and high winds.  The scenery was very pretty because the mountains were snow-covered, but we were happy it was high.  Seemed strange that it had only been 3 months since we had driven this highway.  It is 1520 miles from Richland, WA. to our new home in Vail.  We'll drive it again in 4 weeks, that time with Tom pulling the RV and me driving the SUV.  Gas is higher this time than on our last trip and is expected to go up a lot more in the next months.
    We kept seeing signs for the Virgin River casino in Mesquite, NV. so called ahead and reserved a room at $29.99 that included one free bkfst.  Our dinner that night was excellent.  Deals like this help even out the cost of traveling.
    We enjoy seeing the Joshua trees and having warmer temps as we proceed south.  You go through a tiny corner of AZ and then back into NV.  I-15 is called the Veterans Memorial Highway.  We traveled 6 miles downhill through the Virgin River Gorge - on either side there are tall plateaus and mountains reflecting many layers of the millions of years it took to form them.  The whole area was probably under water at one time - is beautiful.
    March 9 -     Driving through Las Vegas and by the dam - over the new bridge.  After 9-11 the public is not allowed to drive over our dams, so this new bridge opened in 2010.  DOT is getting ready to widen the 2 lane road between Kingman and Phoenix - it will definitely be an improvement.  I-10 is called the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway.  We arrived on base and were given a nice suite in the base motel (Tom's rank has privileges!)
    March 10 - Breakfast at the base golf course and headed to Vail.  Took a lot of small items out of the truck to put in the shed, opened our P.O. Box, and visited the small gunstore.  It's a good thing because he is closing Mar. 31 so Tom wouldn't have been able to give him his cards so he can refer people to him who want what Tom collects.
    March 11 - Since we had the morning to kill we decided to go to the Nursery where the developer gets all the stuff for the yards.  A very helpful employee helped us pick our our trees, shrubs and cacti according to when they'll bloom (we don't want them prettiest when we are spending time in WA. during the summers), whether they have pods or leaves that will make a mess on the ground etc.   We had a meeting with the builder and spent some time at the model like ours-making us even more anxious for ours to be completed.
The BX had a bedroom set we really liked so ordered it. Luckily our shed will have enough room for all the boxes it will come in.  We've never had a new set in 42 years of marriage.
    March 12-13  Stayed with family in Phoenix area and then headed to Tom's mom's in Montana for 5 days.  We left in the morning and that night and the next morning 12" of snow fell.  Sure glad we were ahead of it on the Interstate and the 5 mountain passes we had to drive over.
    Rest of March - spent 3 days with friends in the mountains.  On the way home there was snow and ice on the road and it was snowing in the White Pass.  Tom said "This may be the last snowstorm I ever have to drive in!" We enjoyed several dinners and get togethers with friends.

Waiting to Exhale - March 30, 2010

Tom packed the Spokane Gun Show stuff in the truck on Monday because it was sunny and warm then.  It was forecast to rain the rest of the week - as its doing in Spokane.  We leave for Spokane tomorrow morning to set up for the spring 3-day gun show, Tom's last big show there.  He'll be surrounded by friends from over 20+ years of gunshows there.  His friend Mark is planning a big party Saturday night for a big send-off.

We're just sort of treading water today since the truck is loaded.  We're going to visit some old neighbors today, lunch (probably for the last time at our favorite Chinese restaurant), then Tom will go to a retirement dinner for former co-workers. 

Although we're looking forward to the big show this weekend, we're also really antsy to get on the road.  We'll get back from Spokane late Sunday evening.  Monday morning we'll get disconnected from our campspot here at "Moon River RV Park" and move the RV to a "quick getaway" spot for Tuesday morning.  Monday evening we're having a farewell party for those that can attend at Tony Roma's from 5-7pm.  We'll probably be up early Tuesday morning due to the anticipation of leaving.  Not sure what time we'll get on the road but intend to put on some miles early and drive to where ever we get to, probably someplace in Idaho or maybe even into Utah. 

Be sure to check back here later.  We were unable to recover our other blogspot with the summer RV trip, the trip to China, and our trip to Arizona over Thanksgiving.  We've had to create this new spot with a different name.  We'll notify our followers of the new blogspot via email later today.  Ev wants to update the spot with a report on our last trip down there earlier this month and our return trip through Montana to mom's on the way back.