January, 2026

 Happy New Year! 🥳

Greetings from Borrego! It’s been about 7 months since my last post. Looking back it seems like all I’ve done is go from one hospital to the next. This fall, after a nerve study, I had 4 more surgeries on my hands, wrists and elbow. Everything went well and I hope those nerve issues are all behind me. Counting the trigger finger surgery the fall of 2024, I’ve had 5 procedures, 2 trigger finger release surgeries, two carpal tunnel surgeries and a cupital (elbow) surgery. Things feel good, I went back to playing golf in Spokane before leaving for Borrego in October. 

We had a nice trip back down to Borrego, we have decided to wall in our screen porch, making a craft room for Chris. As I write this, construction is underway. A local carpenter was recommended and he’s doing a nice job. You learn to be patient here, we’ve been under construction now for nearly a month and there is still plenty to do. 

Back to my hospital stories, right after spending Thanksgiving with the boys, I started experiencing shortness of breath. It went on for about three weeks, not feeling right, overly sweaty and tired after golf. After a round, I bent down to change out of my golf shoes and wham! The world started spinning, I felt awful and I headed for home. All other shortness of breath episodes ended when I could sit down and relax. This time was different, I couldn’t recover. I had a friend (retired nurse) take my blood pressure and she recommended I go get checked out. Tried to take Murph for a walk the next morning and I almost didn’t make it back.

We went into Palm Springs, Eisenhower Urgency Care, after their evaluation, they immediately loaded me in an ambulance and took me to Desert Regional Medical Center. After another battery of tests, it was determined that I had a pulmonary embolism, a very serious condition, a blood clot from my right leg had worked its way into my lung and I had surgery to extract the blood clot. I was released after a 4 day stay and now I’m taking antibiotics and blood thinners to treat the clots still in my leg. I feel good and blessed that we went in when we did. Otherwise I might not be writing this post!

To catch up on other family happenings…The boys sold their Mesquite house and have moved into a wonderful new place in downtown Palm Springs. An older but larger home nestled in one of the finest communities in old Palm Springs, of course, Ben is busy updating and improving both the inside and outside of the home.

Jake and Em bought a new car and now Grace is riding in style. It was time, Em’s old car had its engine quit and even though they got a new engine on warranty, the rest of the car was still in rough shape. Jake’s been looking after our Spokane house, he likes using the hot tub and I like the fact that it looks like someone is there.

This is a big weekend for the Seahawks, surprisingly they have had an excellent year under a new coach and Sunday will play for the right to go to their 3rd Super Bowl! After an amazing Mariner season where they were just a few outs from making it to their first World Series. Pretty good sports year!! It’s now the middle of April, we are getting ready to go back to Spokane. An update from where I started this posting, the Seahawks WON the Super Bowl - Amazing!

Christals new sewing room is now complete, she really likes it. We’ve had an unusually hot start to spring down here, weeks of 100 + degree weather. It gets really hot in the new room so Chris hasn’t been able to use it as much as she would like. We might look into a portable air conditioner in the fall when we return.

I had trouble downloading photos. Need to complete this post. We are back in Spokane. Nice to be back, it’s not been a month yet but we’ve made good progress getting the yard and our planters ready for the spring. We’ve already been to three softball games and a volleyball game, how fun and Grace is really excelling. I just finished planning and making reservations for our July trip to Banff and Winnipeg, looking forward to that. I’ll cover that experience in my next post. 

Spring 2025

 Just got back from our three day trip from Borrego to Spokane. Our new home here still feels new, probably because we are only here for 6 months. It’s been quite a whirlwind from the summer of 23 till now. Selling our dream home, moving to Spokane, losing my sister, losing Riley, selling our 184 home in Borrego and buying our 254 home there. It’s been fun, it’s been stressful, definitely some tears shed but not for one second do I not feel blessed. 

We had a good winter, we have made so many good friends in Borrego, we stay plenty busy between golf and social activities. With all the changes, we didn’t get out much at all with our e-bikes. I hope that’ll change this coming season. I think we have the 254 house just about the way we like, some painting to be done, maybe some landscaping, that will be it. Looking forward to a less hectic summer here in Spokane and back in Borrego.

We got back just in time to see Grace play a softball game. The family is good, both Jake and Trav work for US Foods. Trav works inside the production plant and Jake is in training to be an outside sales rep here in Spokane. Not sure that is in his best interest, I feel he is at his best when he’s challenged and there’s more direct supervision. I’m sure he’ll prove me wrong.  Grace is great, she’s now 10 and will turn 11 this summer. I was delighted to have her ask me if our Friday night “date night” is still on. Nana and I get Grace on Friday nights, allowing Jake an Em some quality time together. We play games, make her favorite meals, take a hot tub or two, light a fire in the fire pit and makes s’mores and watch movies. It’s everything we moved over here for, I’m glad we get another summer of her company.

Now back in Spokane we are settled in. I’ve planted many new perennials this spring. In general, the yard is pretty easy to maintain and I enjoy tweaking the variety of plants. Many of the plants won’t contribute to the backyard landscape until next spring.

It’s been a different start to our summer. No golf for me as my hands and left arm continue to give me problems. I just got back from the doctors office this morning. I’m lined up to have carpal tunnel surgery on my left wrist and also have surgery on my ulnar nerve at the elbow. After that we’ll shift over to the right hand for CPT surgery and trigger finger release. I’ll be a mess for probably 6 or 7 weeks but I hope this eliminates my issues and allows me to gain my strength back in my left hand.

Grace has kept us busy following all her activities. We have one more softball game on Wednesday, we watched a spring choir and orchestra concerts at school. Nana and I get her every Friday night to give Em a brake and to give us very valuable one on one time with Grace, such a delight. Tomorrow is her 11th birthday, we’ve been invited to the birthday dinner, we are taking her to get her nails done Friday, she has a sleepover with her buddies Saturday night. Well let her choose but we’ll also take her out Friday for dinner. It’s either Red Robbin or Varcotto’s (Mexican). 

To add on, it’s now August and I’m starting to play golf again. I’m starting PT today, trying to restore some strength on my left side. Grace is about to finish up her second softball season this summer, it’s been so much fun to watch her.  If I haven’t complained about it enough, it’s really hot here in Spokane. The 10 degrees difference between the east side of the state and the west side mean average temperatures in the 90’s.

Chris is beginning to prepare for her overseas trip in September, I’m in better spirits because the Mariners are winning and it’s now football season, my favorite time of the year. In another month I’ll start getting ready to head back down to Borrego, we’ll plan to be there no later than Halloween, it’s just so much fun to see the joy & happiness of the kids who go full costume and many times mom & dad do too.

 Our winter in Borrego

Our normal relaxed Borrego winter was filled with change. We got here as planned on the day before Halloween. Halloween here in the Roadrunner club is special. It’s all about the kids who come by the truckloads to parade around our streets. We got the new golf cart down here in one piece and Chris really likes it. We play golf about 3 times a week, I hit the spa 3 or 4 times a week and our weather has been exceptional.

We have lived in our place about 9 years and it’s quite comfy, our yard and our setting is very nice. We began to explore looking for another golf course location with more room, updated baths, etc. We didn’t look very hard, we were shown a couple of places but nothing really caught our eye. Prices here have really increased but when the realtor told us what our home would probably sell for, it opened our eyes to some real opportunities.

 We knew a couple that purchased a home and completely remodeled it just a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, health issues were going to force them to sell, they needed better medical services and they wanted to be close to their kids. Having this insider information, we were able to view the home. They did such a nice job remodeling, sparing no expense. New furnishings, window covers, flooring, paint both inside and out. They gutted the kitchen and master bath and put in beautiful new appliances, countertops, cabinets. It was a very unique opportunity and we made the decision to make an offer. Our neighbors were the contact people for the owners and through them we managed to put together a sales and purchase agreement that was accepted! 

Of course that meant we had to sell our place. We decided to for go the realtor and put a for sale by owner sign out front and in the back along with a sales flyer we created.  It took about 4 or 5 weeks with plenty of showings but we did it. Managed to get close to asking price, we should close on our 184 house this week!

We are very happy with the new place, we love the house and all the upgrades, we even like the backyard and the orientation of home on the golf course with the mountains as a backdrop. I’ve got the shed almost done and Chris has the master walk-in closet to paint. For the difference we paid to buy 254 vs what we sold 184 for, we thrilled with the value.

 Leaving for Borrego!

Summer is over and we are days away from heading south once again to Borrego. It’s been a busy summer highlighted by our trip to England, Scotland and Ireland. I was very nervous about the travel but it really wasn’t that bad, a little taxing getting over there compounded by some miscommunication from Go-Ahead but all in all the travel was fine. We had a wonderful trip, saw some beautiful country. We started in London, made our way to Edinburgh, Scotland then two stops in Ireland. While the group was exploring the Edinburgh castle, I took advantage of my proximity to St Andrew’s and spent a once in a lifetime day on the old course and in the world famous pubs surrounding the golf course. 

I could fill 20 pages with pictures from the trip but I’ll stop here.

Back from the trip we finished our summer enjoying a very warm temperatures. Grace was back at it playing softball and her team was quite good. I had promised Chris a new golf cart once we got back to Borrego but we ran into a good deal locally and decided to buy one here. We’re going to trailer it down to Borrego, probably the 4th time I’ve towed something down there. 

Murphy enjoyed the new backyard, perfect hangout for a lazy lab. He did have to patrol the back to make sure there weren’t squirrels or bunnies on the property. Most of the time he was as the photo shows, taking it easy 

Chris did a lot of work inside the house, patching holes and painting. I did some trimming outside. I’ve got a couple more ideas for next summer.

Travis changed jobs and so did Jacob, they both went to work for US Foods, Trav works in their warehouse and Jacob is in training for an outside sales position. Both seem happy with the change.

That’s about it for now, I’m sure I forgot to include something so I won’t close this post for a bit. Looking forward to getting back to Borrego!

 July 7th

Hello from Spokane! Chris and I are settled into our new home, our new neighborhood and our new city. In a large way, it doesn’t feel like home yet. My guess is when we return from Borrego next spring, I’ll be more comfortable calling Spokane home. We’ve been busy, I’ve been working in the yard and getting the garage organized to my liking. Chris has been doing the same inside the house. It’ll never feel like our Hoodsport home but it doesn’t have to. The home is comfortable, I’m very happy to have turned the upstairs into Christal’s “girl cave”. Chris has been sewing and enjoying the mornings and early afternoons upstairs. It gets warm up there, especially in the summer. It was quite a job to disassemble her ikea sewing tables in the garage then put ‘em back together upstairs but we got it done.

The yard is easy to mow, the beds have very little weeds, it’s nice to have a nice looking yard. I’ve spent a lot of time in the back, getting things the way I want. Cut down some tree’s and replaced the spots with a Japanese lace maple and a contorted filbert, a little touch of our Hoodsport home. 

My neighbor across the street has been kind enough to include me in his golfing group. They all went to school together in Coulee and made their way over here. It’s not the same as Lake Cushman or Borrego golf but it’s nice to get out. I try to get out at least once a week. The courses here are longer, I’ve struggled a bit but of late I’m starting to play better.

There has been at least two real pluses moving here, one was expected, one was a surprise. We have spent quite a bit of time centered around Grace. We just finished a softball season, watched her perform in a school concert, right before graduating from the 4th grade. We also had fun at her birthday party at a trampoline center. We have also had extra time to spend with Travis and Anne. Travis just changed jobs which he’s very excited about. He has been very helpful, willing to move some heavy things around here. It’s been fun to reconnect. I’m starting to do that with Jacob also. We have worked on a couple projects at his house, he is really making an effort to pay more attention to his home, surroundings and family. Even he would admit, he’s a work in progress. I’m glad we are close buy to help whenever they need us to. We’ve been watching Grace on Friday evenings so Jake and Em can have some one-on-one time with each other. The other plus is just how convenient everything is from this house. Lowe’s, Freddie’s, Ace Hardware, Safeway, Starbucks, doctor offices, restaurants and of course our kids. Didn’t know I would enjoy that as much as I do. We’re use to 45 min to Olympia or 1 1/2 hrs to Palm Springs, it’s been nice.

Chris and I are getting ready for our big trip overseas. England, Ireland and Scotland. I’m sure Chris doesn’t know or care but we will be in Ireland during the Open Championship! I don’t have have any golf planned, too much hassle to try and pull that off with a tour group. I’m just hoping the travel back and forth won’t cause me too much discomfort. I’m sure it’ll be fun once we are on the ground.

Murphy has adjust well over here, we have a nice little lake here with about a 1 3/4 hiking trail around it. Em, Grace an Jake were coming over to do the walk and they were taking Murphy. It’s gotten warm, they haven’t been over for the walk so it’s me and Murph doing our best to get around the lake. There is a little waterfall that has a small pond attached that Murphy loves to plop into. 

 Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll try another posting from Borrego where I’ll talk about our trip.

April 2024

 Hello once again,

Entering our last week in Borrego. Chris and I are excited to start our new adventure at our new home in Spokane. We have had a good winter, weather was good, not great. We got quite a bit accomplished, we opened up the sunroom side of the yard so that Chris can drive her golf cart out the front. That will really come in handy when we come back this fall, the green belt and golf course will be closed and having access out the front will be a blessing.

We also decided to get our place painted, it’s been 8 years since we purchased and had the home painted. Changed the color, I really like it.

Had a mild fender bender down here. Young man, no insurance, no license, rear ended me at the traffic light in Mecca. He paid cash for our repairs and our rental. Seems like everything is fine with the truck.

We met Jacob, Em and Grace for three nights at Disneyland. We had a blast. We went to Disneyland (Anaheim) first then Universal Studios (Hollywood) the next day. Pretty proud of myself for doing all the rides, didn’t get too tired but I was glad when each day was finished. 

 We spent our last night in Palm Springs with Ben and Matt. Their place made for a perfect layover. 

Our golf season is also winding down. I ran the Coyotes again, we had consistently large groups of 30+ guys each week. It’s a great group and I have developed some very good friendships there. 

We have a new neighbor here in the roadrunner, Merle and Donna bought a place here about 10 houses down from us. They’ve already done a lot to their place. I think their plan for the fall is to leave the coach at home, drive the truck down so that Merle can bring some tools from home. Donna seems very excited, Merle is starting to warm up to the idea.

I think that’s enough of an update, I’ll submit another post in late July or early August about our first summer in Spokane and our trip to Ireland!

Winter 2023

 Hello from Borrego!

So many things to share. Because of many factors, Chris and I decided to pursue homes in Spokane just for our family. I won’t get into too much detail but the housing market is not good, high interest rates are stopping sellers from listing their homes and homes that are available that are nice are being snapped up by people like us who are ready to buy. We did not want to wait until the spring to try and find a home which will end up being a bidding war. Carol’s house wasn’t getting any interest, we just decided that we can’t wait. 

We told Carole of our plan and of course she was disappointed. I hope this doesn’t ruin their friendship but  it’s not good which is very hard on Chris. There was one home in particular in a small community in Blanchard, Id that Chris really liked. We weren’t able to make an offer before it was sold. While on the golf course, I got a call from the Blanchard realtor that the deal fell through on the home Chris liked. We decided to take action. We identified a couple of other homes in Blanchard as well as two or three homes in Spokane and decided to fly up to Spokane, have an early Christmas with Jake, Em and Grace and spend one morning in Blanchard and one morning in Spokane looking at 5 or 6 places. Our flight into Spokane included a stop in Salt Lake. While having lunch in Salt Lake, I saw a new listing in the Spokane Valley area. We looked it over pretty good (almost too good as we damn near missed our connecting flight), we called Jim and asked him if we could see this new listing first thing in the morning.

Well we did and 

Chis loved the place, it was well taken care of, fit all our needs, and was close to the kids. We made an offer that morning and it was accepted. 

We close on Feb 6th. Not sure yet but if the weather is good enough, Chris will fly back up and I’ll arrange for the movers to meet her at our new place and move our things from storage into the new house.

We had a blast the rest of the trip. With no more houses to look at we got more time to spend with the kids. We spent Monday night watching Seahawk football with Travis & Anne. The remainder of the time we spent with Jacob, Em & of course, Grace. There is no more joy in this world than watching a child get excited for Christmas. It was a nice early Christmas present to ourselves. Chris developed a head cold and wasn’t feeling great. Jim, our realtor called and told us that his wife had Covid. Chris did a test and sure enough, she tested positive too. That forced us to cancel our Christmas with Ben and Matt. We had to reschedule for the MLK 3 day holiday weekend in January. Looking forward to that.

Here in Borrego, both of us have been playing golf, taking in the spa and pool and riding our e-bikes. Decembers weather has been pleasant. Should just get nicer and nicer as we roll into 2024. Not sure if our stay will be cut short. As it worked out, Carole got an offer on her home and despite us going our own way, she accepted a contingent offer. If she closes before we plan to go back, we’ll need to cut our stay in Borrego short to get Christal’s car and my boat out of her motor home garage. More to come.

September 2023

 Hello,

 It’s been an absolute crazy summer. So many subjects to cover, I didn’t want to wait until later in the year.

From the highs of selling our place 

to the lows of sudden loss. We lost Riley this summer, he was having such a difficult time just getting himself up. His hips that have bothered him since he was a pup, finally got to a point that his hips didn’t allow him to function. I miss him still to this day, such a wonderful happy dog and a loyal companion. Of course it’s not just me that misses him, Murphy lost his best friend. No thought of another dog, way to much chaos in our life to have to deal with a puppy. Goodbye Riley! 

Jacob also lost Tucker, a great dog and the absolute best retriever and catcher of a ball I have ever witnessed.

On a more serious note, I just lost my sister, Annie. She died of lung cancer, it came on quickly and she died peacefully on September 12. Although we didn’t see too much of each other, we had a bond between us that started along time ago when I helped watch after her two sons, Brian and Shad. both Brian and Shad were there at the hospital on her last day. I wish I had a picture to share, shame on me. She loved animals, always made a special effort to find abandoned pets a new home. She loved to paint and was quite good. Her favorite place on earth was the beach. I hope the boys chose to spread her ashes at the beach, goodbye sis!

I’ve got to admit, I’m feeling a little empty as Annie was my last sibling. An uneasiness creeps over me that mom, dad, JoLynn, Greg and now Annie are all gone. I’m so grateful for my family and look forward to spending more time with Jake, Em and Grace & Travis in Spokane during the spring and summer and Ben & Matt down in Palm Springs in the fall and winter.

On a completely and more uplifting note, things have worked out well here at Carole’s. It’s very nice of her we to offer her home to us. I like to think we have helped each other. I am looking forward to returning to our place in Borrego.

 The results of my shoulder replacement surgery could not have gotten any better. I’m now just over 3 months post op and at my last post op appointment, my surgeon called me a “rock star” because I have regained such good mobility, so quickly. I’m even starting to play some golf, I’m not as strong as I will be and I’m plenty rusty but it’s fun to get back out. I hope by the next post we’ll have sold Carole’s home and have our sights on a new home in Spokane.

Summer 2023

    Hello again, summer is here in the Pacific NW. A lot to discuss on this posting! I’ll begin with an updated medical, I am 5 weeks post op with my new shoulder. I can’t imagine the procedure going any better than it has, Chris has been wonderful, with my arm in a sling 24/7, she has had to shoulder (sorry for the pun) much of the responsibilities around the house and yard.. Don’t exactly know what’s ahead of me with regards to PT and continuing to strengthen my right arm, hopefully, I’ll get to abandon the sling! 

   It has been a very busy spring. As I mentioned in the last posting, we have put the house up for sale, we listed the house with Matt’s aunt, Roberta, she has been fantastic. Roberta and Kim staged the house for us and took some amazing photo’s for our listing page. I’ll include a picture of the for sale sign in the yard! Of course the real estate market is not good, interest rate are over 6% which affects the amount of buyers. To our advantage, it also affects the number of listings available because people don’t want to sell their place only to deal with high interests rates on a new home. We had 1000’s of people review the listing on line but only a couple of iffy possible buyers until we got a call from Roberta regarding a couple from Seattle. We knew right away there was some genuine interest, they drove over here from Seattle during the busy 4th of July weekend holiday just for a drive by. We went down to Carole’s as they ended up spending 4 or 5 hrs carefully looking at the property which concluded with Merle escorting them inside the house. They came back 5 days later with Roberta for another lengthy visit and then right after the 4th of July, we received an offer and we have accepted!

Now comes the hard work of saying goodbye to this beautiful home with all the wonderful memories here. So many memories of friends over for drinks and dinners. so many family visits, many of them on long holiday weekends. We know we will never replace this house, but we’ll create new memories in Spokane. Chris and Carole leave for Spokane tomorrow. It’ll be Christal’s 3rd trip over and Carole’s first. Jim will show them 7 homes over two 1/2 days, I’m hopeful they’ll see something they both like. Meanwhile back home, more packing and cleaning. It’s a good time to consolidate, we’ve donated a lot to Habitat for Humanity and made several dump runs. Movers come Aug 17, closing date is Aug 25. We’ve made a lot of progress, I think we’ll be ready!

Family is doing good. Ben and Matt are busy making improvements to their new Palm Springs home. Ben is getting ready to run a marathon in San Francisco this coming weekend the day before his birthday! There could be a major change at work for Ben, that will have to wait for the next blog. Travis is hanging in there, working at Amazon and hoping to find a small place of his own. Jake, Em & Grace are great, they are excited for us to move over although Grace is not happy about me selling the tractor. On her summer break now, Grace will be going into the 4th grade this fall. On a very sad note they had to put Tucker down. That’s always so hard, this is Jakes first dog he owned. Tucker was a great dog, best catcher of a ball I have ever seen. He lived a long and happy life but he’ll be missed!

Well that’s enough for now. It’s going to be an early trip down to Borrego. Right now, the plan is for Riley, Murphy and I to head down on Sept 9, right after my last post op visit. Chris will stay here in Hoodsport with Carole until they leave either at the end of October or first of November. I’ll keep in touch.

Winter 2022

 Hello from Borrego, I’m a little under the weather this week, I’ve managed to catch a nasty head cold. With Covid still a very strong virus, I was naturally concerned but I’ve tested negative twice. We had a nice Christmas, low keyed but went to three parties at Jeff’s, Carole’s & Don’s.  Chris & I spent a couple days with Ben & Matt, wonderful food, plenty to drink and a nice pool/spa to enjoy. Murphy and Riley got to spend a couple days at the Grand Paw, where they played hard, got bathed and got their nails trimmed.

There is news to report…Matt has been appointed to be a judge! With the appointment he was also able to pick a location to serve. He could have stayed in Seattle but he and Ben love Palm Springs, so they have moved. As I’m wring this they are taking ownership of their new house. They are so excited.

Because they have moved, leaving us with no immediate family near Hoodsport, Chris and I are going to list our home when we get back with the hope of moving closer to Jacob, Em and of course Grace.

Travis and Anne are also over in Spokane, so it just makes getting together easier. We really want to spend our time up north watching Grace grow up. It will be hard to sell that home, it was our dream to have a custom built house and it is so beautiful there. It is not a favorable real estate market, interest rates have really increased. The nice thing is we don’t have to sell, if we don’t get fair market value, we’re both good with staying there. It will be interesting at this time, next year to see where we are. 

On top of all that, I will be going through shoulder replacement surgery when we get back (probably) in early May. Recovery time is 4-6 months, it could come right as we are trying to move.

Mom and I have gotten very comfortable with streaming (hard to believe). We do it both in Hoodsport and here in Borrego. We really enjoy the variety of shows we can watch, many of them we watch together.

In order to get “in shape” for this upcoming surgery, mom and Ben helped me to order an e Bike. I can’t walk much anymore, I’m hoping I’ll enjoy this and lose some lbs to get my bmi down where my surgeon recommends, that probably means 15 lbs or more in the 4 months we have left here. More to come on that!

We’ll, time to feed the boys, I’m starting to get some evil stares as the clock hits 4:30.

Bye for now!

Spring of 2022

 Hello again, I always take such a long time between posts. From the fall of 2020 through all of 2021 the country suffered through the Covid 19 and all the preceding variants. We are far from normal but in a much better place now. Vaccines are now common place, there are still those that refuse to be vaccinated and there are still deaths associated with this virus. Masks are voluntary many people still mask up, especially in public places.

As I write this, we are still in Borrego but only for a few more weeks. It’s been a nice winter and we spent 4 days or so with both Ben & Matt in Palm Springs and Jake, ‘Em & Grace here in Borrego, we really enjoyed both visits. This past summer we spent 4 days with Jake & family on the Oregon coast, really had fun (Jake needs a mini-van)! We had several great visits with Ben and Matt (yummy food) and even had Travis & Anne spend a few days with us. One of the highlights last summer was learning how to grow sunflowers, we really enjoyed them out our bedroom window, Ben has already planted 36 new starts for more sunflowers (and maybe some sunflower seeds) this summer. 

Chris finally retired last fall and by now is getting comfortable in retirement, that just isn’t as easy as one might imagine. It’s hard to let go, its hard to see the money stop coming in and it takes time getting comfortable with how to spend the time. Chris is very involved in the ladies golf here at the Roadrunner. While she isn’t a big golf fan, her responsibilities have helped keep her busy and she has met a lot of ladies. 

I continue to run the men’s group (Coyotes) here in Borrego and I also enjoy that responsibility. My golf game is good, not great but I do have my moments. On Dec 13th I shot a 70! That’s the lowest score I’ve ever shot. I’ve never even shot par before let alone shoot 2 under.

Murphy is now almost 3 and still a handful. Riley keeps hanging in there, he’s 10 now, not in great shape but still good enough to go for an occasional walk. Both the boys will enjoy coming home and having their back yard and freedom to roam around.

After the major kitchen project last season, we’ve not done much in the way of improvements down here. Back in Hoodsport, I spearheaded a fiber-optic cable install in our development. 

As a result, we now have high-speed internet both at home and here in Borrego. We have officially cut the cord. We have purchased smart tv’s for both places and we now are “streamers”.

Ben and Matt set everything up for us back home. In addition to new tv’s and new sound, they installed programmable light switches and thermostats that will allow us to program lights and temperatures remotely, sounds cool, hope Chris & I can figure it out!

Another change, I traded in my truck. Much harder than it should have been. With Covid, many things like computer chips coming from China were in short supply, this really affected the auto industry. Love the new truck, I’m still trying to get use to the RED! 

 As far as our family goes, not much change. Travis and Ann are living in Spokane and seem happy, they both recently started working for Amazon. Jake & family are also doing well, Grace is great!!! As she gets older she still keeping her charm but we are having even more fun now with her. She recently taught me how to talk to her via our apple watches (walkie talkie). She continues to be very active in sports and school activities.

Looking forward to returning home, temps are in the mid 90’s here (hotter than normal). Maybe I’ll try another post in the fall.

Our past winter down in Borrego

 Hello again, we had a nice winter down in Borrego. We are still subject to the affect of Covid 19. Masks are required in any business and its become the norm to wash and sanitize after any outdoor exposure. I have to give San Diego County and the state of California credit for their organization and distribution of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. Chris and I were vaccinated in March with the Moderna.

We managed to finish our kitchen (thanks to Jeff) and we redid all the floors. It really looks nice and we are very happy with the finished look.

We didn’t do to much outside but we did manage to plant an orange tree and 3 plants in the backyard. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to enjoy oranges when we return next season.

The dogs are good, Murphy is still a pain as he is working through his “puppy” stage. In February we were invited to spend 4 days with Ben & Matt in Palm Springs, we had a blast, it was a nice getaway from Borrego.

We did some FaceTime with Jake, Em & Grace but not nearly enough to satisfy the need to see them in person. Now fully vaccinated and back home, we are hoping to see them in the next couple of weeks. Grace played her first t-ball game last night, she was awesome, - go Dodgers!

Not sure if I mentioned this on my last posting, a friend Jay was moving away from his Lake Cushman home and I bought his small aluminum boat. If I can figure out how to tow it and run it I’m looking forward to enjoying some lake time with Chris. Might even drop a line or two in the water. Jay gave us quite a bit of fishing gear!  

We also got the house painted before we left. We made a slight change in the color, opting for a slightly darker Reddish/Brown. It turned out great and quite happy with how the house looks. 

Well, that’s about it, I always forget something but I think I’ve hit the high spots.

   

The spring, summer and now fall with Covid 19

 Greetings from Hoodsport,

With out a doubt the biggest story and impact on us is dealing with a new virus transported into the US from China. I’m not going to get into too much detail but this virus has forced everyone to stay close to home, wear masks and sanitize everything. It also forced all the trips we had scheduled to be cancelled. Chris and I had a trip planned to Scotland, she had another trip planned this fall to Greece with Carole and it appears that her planned trip to Australia next spring will also be cancelled.

Murphy and Riley are now buddies. Murphy like most puppies has provided quite a challenge, chewing up our bushes and tearing into the yard. Overall he is a good dog and a welcomed member of our family.

One of the highlights of the summer was adding an outdoor kitchen.

We have already had a lot of fun cooking outdoors both Matt and Jacob have taken turns with the BBQ & Komodo. Speaking of Jake, we had Jake, Em and Grace over for the 4th of July and had a blast (literally)!

Not being able to travel has forced us (me) to focus on the yard and I’m pleased with how things look. We still have two large projects left, hopefully, the house will get painted next week and then in a few weeks after that, our roof will get some attention.

Ben and Matt came over a couple of times and while it’s a little different this year to have guests, we had a good time and as always treated to the best food. Ben was commissioned to create a painting by a sister of one of his good friends, she is moving into a new house and this painting will certainly be a focal point. I have a picture of the painting but can’t pull it up.

I played plenty of golf, my game could be better. It was a slow start to good weather here in Hoodsport but he summer was dry and warm.

Well its time to begin planning for Borrego. Before leaving Borrego in the spring, we began to start remodeling the kitchen in our little place. My friend Jeff Johnson volunteered to take charge, unfortunately when the Covid struck, Jeff had to pull back from the project due to his pre-existing condition that made him vulnerable to Covid. Thank god for Merle, he jumped in and we got half of the kitchen finished. Jeff has called me a couple of times this summer and he’s ready to start again this fall. It may all culminate with a new floor as well since the new cabinets don’t cover all of the existing flooring and Murphy managed to eat a couple of sections of the exposed floor. 

                                                           

I’ll post another update sometime from Borrego.

Winter 2019

Hi again, typing this from my new I-Pad Pro. It is December 28th, yesterday was birthday #65. I’m officially an old geezer. A lot of changes since my last post. I’m now retired. Management wanted me to manage the parks in addition to the golf course as a “recreation manager”. It would have meant a full-time position giving up my winters down in Borrego and it just wasn’t that important for me.
   We lost Cooper this past summer, it was hard to have him put down, many things were still working but he had stability issues and his quality of life just quickly deteriorated.

Of course we will miss him, Riley naturally was depressed and doing nothing without his buddy. Chris accidentally ran across a cute picture on a Facebook website and after following up, we purchased our next family member, Murphy.

 Chris had a particularly tough summer, she did an amazing job caring for her mom. We were hopeful that we could bring her to Hoodsport to live with us and although we tried, it became clear that she was more comfortable in Vancouver where her friends and medical care was.  We lost grandma this fall. We did get the opportunity to have most of our family up for a weekend with Luella, she enjoyed the chance to visit with everyone. I’m glad that happened. 

Grace started school this year, amazing! 

Travis left Wisconsin and now lives in Spokane, he’s enjoying being closer to family and see’s Jacob from time to time.  

Ben and Matt had great years and love living downtown Seattle. Ben had a very interesting work year from filming two commercials (New York & Los Angeles) to opening up new Reserves in New York & Chicago. We just spent Christmas with them and Matt’s family in Palm Springs.

Almost forgot, I won the club Championship at Lake Cushman, something I never thought would happen. What’s special about that is the championship is gross, no handicap involved. Pretty Cool.

I think that is it, Obviously got more pictures to download, maybe I’ll try to do this more than once a year.

Spring 2019

Hi from Borrego, we are entering our last few weeks down here, in fact Chris will be back this Saturday. A cooler/wetter winter down here, still miles better than home. It’s nice now with temps in the mid 80’s. Played a lot of golf, worked one day to get my golf free at The Springs. Played several times at the resort and was a fill-in Marshall at Rams Hill.

I ran the men’s club (coyotes) this season, it’s a great group and we had a great season.

Riley & Carter are both still with us, they have issues but they enjoy it down here.

One of the tough sacrifices we make coming down is not getting to see Grace. She’s amazing, so smart and just a joy.

 This is a picture from a park on my visit to Spokane on my way down to Borrego.

I did retire from Lake Cushman. Officially on the payroll through the end of the year but was done at the end of September. It’ll be interesting when I get back to Hoodsport to see if I miss work.

 Ben & Matt came down twice, we spent Christmas together at the ole DeAnza house.

Memorial Day

It’s been a while since I’ve Posted anything. Still working at the golf course and it seems the new GM & I are getting along. Weather has been great and Chris is doing a nice job with the flower pots & weeding. I’m beat from the holiday work but I’m excited about driving over to Spokane with Chris to celebrate Gracie’s 4th birthday.

I’m annoyed that I can’t access my photos to the blog page. One of the reasons I haven’t been blogging.

We had a great 5 months in Borrego. We didn’t do to much to the place, we built a privacy fence that turned out great. Played a lot of golf and enjoyed the weather.

Another update, it’s now July 8th, another long but prosperous holiday week is finished. That means only one more holiday (Labor Day) until I head back to Borrego. Will I go down as golf course manager or newly retired guy?

The boys & I are relaxing out back. It’s warm but not too hot. The big surprise this summer is how well the mariners are playing. As of this post they are 23 games over 500, pretty amazing!


We had Marvin paint our exterior doors and the shakes this summer, had the doors painted white after the clear transparent finish has lifted and peeled in the direct sunlight.

Time to catch up on the family...Grace turned 4, we went over for her birthday party and really enjoyed ourselves. Ben & Matt bought a new condo right down in pioneer square, across the parking lot from the “Clink”. We just had Grandma Stanley here for a week. Chris has several “girl trips” planned with Carole this fall including another trip to Italy, she’ll be busy.
The dogs are getting older, Carter just turned 12 but are in good spirits. I’m not sure if they like it here in Hoodsport better than Borrego?

Labor Day Weekend

   Ben and Matt are in Palm Springs with friends this weekend. They don't let any moss grow under their feet! Tomorrow morning is our fantasy draft, I don't know how many years we've been doing this, maybe 5 or 6 years. Travis is the commissioner, I think he enjoys organizing it. It's an all family affair, 10 of us, Jake, Em, her dad Chris, Travis, Dillon, Jeff G., the Bonds & me.

                                                                    

   Greetings from the patio. I'm here with Riley & Carter. Beautiful evening, working the last of my holiday weekends at the golf course. Before I know it, we'll be packing up for Borrego. Lots to do before then. I've got budgets, cart path & parking lot paving projects to complete plus a variety of fall projects. Looks like I'm going back for a 6th year.


   Our dogwood is in full bloom this fall. Didn't bloom much in the spring. It must like hot weather because it's been a very nice summer and we still scheduled to get temps in the 90's next week!
 
    Even though I didn't get to Jake & Em's much I miss them being so far away. They really seem to be liking it in E. WA and Jake seems to be in his element as a sales rep. I am heading to Spokane in a couple of weeks to see Gracie and of course, the new digs. Looking forward to some time off, haven't taken any time since coming back to work.

    Chris & Carole are in Italy, they've been there several times. Probably revisiting their favorite places. Think they are taking a cooking class.

    Only five weeks to go before we leave, right in the middle of our paving project. Things seems to be going real good. Budgets pretty much done, inventory complete and we got the greens artifice. Just got to get through the clubhouse opening and most of the heavy lifting is done.

Always like to include photos but I can't get them to load.