This blog is no longer updated. Please visit our new blog, Our New Choice.blogspot.com
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Saturday, May 21, 2022
Sunday, May 01, 2022
The Next Chapter
One of the first places we went after going to our summer home in Lone Tree, Colorado, was to Castle Rock where Olinger Andrews Caldwell Gibson Funeral Home was celebrating the opening of their new facility.
There's a lot of back story here. In 1938 John's parents bought a funeral home in Castle Rock, naming it Andrews Funeral Home. In 1975 we bought the funeral home, owning and managing it until 1984. We raised our two boys there until we sold it in to the Caldwells. Last August we were invited by JR to tour the building before they tore it down. John's sister Cindy and our son Eric and wife Liz joined us that day.
Now that the new building is complete, we were glad to visit. This is the main chapel area.
The apartment is only slightly smaller than our Arizona home.
And we have our own washer and dryer.
Colorado is especially beautiful at this time of year. There is still snow on the higher mountain ranges but we don't have to worry about it.
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Turning the Page
We went on our first trip in an RV in 1988. We borrowed John's sister Cindy's popup tent trailer to take our son Eric to a Christian youth gathering--DC88-in Washington, D.C. That was it for a couple of years, but we had enjoyed it so much that, to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, we bought a Coleman popup tent trailer for ourselves.
We used that trailer for getaways on our days off and for traveling during our month-long summer vacation. One year we went to the Northwest and up into British Columbia. Then, in 1996 we bought a 1996 Komfort 5th-wheel trailer. Since then, we have owned two Montana 5thwheels and a Mobile Suites 5th wheel. Downsizing in 2016, we bought an Airstream travel trailer.
Fast forward to this year--we are aging and decided it was time to stop RVing. The parking area next to our winter home in Arizona no longer has a trailer parked there.
On April 18, it pulled out of our driveway without us!
We have so many wonderful memories of traveling in our trailers. Over those years, we have slept overnight in our trailer in all 49 of the continental United States. This year, we both turn 79. We have been there, done that. And decided it was time to change our lifestyle. To turn the page.
I began blogging about our life in 2006. In 2009, we moved out of our home in Centennial, Colorado, and began living in our trailer full-time. We have traveled; we have volunteered in national parks in Utah and Arkansas; we have volunteered in state parks in Utah and Colorado and in a private RV park in Montana. Then, in 2014, we bought a casita in Gold Canyon, Arizona, where we lived half the year, traveling the rest of the time. We haven't owned a 5th wheel trailer since 2016. The title "5thWheelWanderings" longer relevant.
Each year I have published my blog posts in a book. Look at the stack of books I have published!
It is time for a new blog. From now on, you can read about our life at: changingourfocus.blogspot.com.
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Thursday, April 07, 2022
Filling our time in the Arizona spring
The prickly pear cactus also blooms in the spring. This plant has bright red and yellow flowers. Others have pink flowers.
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Family and Good Food
Friday, March 18, 2022
Fun on the Lake
Tuesday we joined 28 of our neighbors for a boat ride on Canyon Lake. The lake was formed on the Salt River by the Mormon Flat Dam, completed in 1925.
In arid Arizona, people flock to water. This shows part of the marina on the lake.
Our group had rented three of these pontoon boats for the trip.
We saw some wildlife--several big horn sheep. Trust me, that is what that while figure is on the top of the rock.
On our boat, we kept the canopy up so part of our group--including John and me--were sitting in the shade. Here you see another part of our crew with their canopy down.
We enjoyed the scenery surrounding the lake.