In February, we went to Las Vegas for my brother's wedding. And it's about time, too. Actually, we're glad Richard waited, Linda found a wonderful woman.
It was also great to see several people that we hadn't seen for quite some time. My father's cousin, Mary, and her husband, Guy, were there. We hadn't seen them since our wedding, 15 years ago. They are a couple of the neatest people you could come across, and they haven't changed a bit. I also saw one of my best friends, Leslie, whom I hadn't seen for seven years.
In early April, we took a trip around the Cascade Loop, with a couple of detours. If
you ever get the chance to take the Cascade Loop, do it. It's beautiful. Unfortunately, Washington Pass was still closed, due
to the late snow fall, forcing us to back track a bit.
Our first stop was Lake Chelan, where we spent two nights. Our plan was to take a boat trip up to the northern end of the lake. At that time of the year they only offered one trip, which we missed. So, we spent the day at a farm, where the kids had a great time feeding and chasing around farm animals. We had a very quiet, pleasant, relaxing stay at Lake Chelan.
After Lake Chelan was our first detour from the Loop, to Grand Coulee Dam.
Unfortunately, because of the 9/11 attacks, visitors were not allowed to tour the dam. Also, we were one week too early to
view the laser show. The dam, itself, is used for the screen of the laser show. We still enjoyed the visit to the visitor
center, where we learned quite a bit.
From there it was off to Winthrop for one night. Winthrop is built to look like an old west town. They have rodeos two times a year, once during the Memorial Day weekend, and again during the Labor Day weekend.
Since we had to back track at this point, we spent the next night in Mukilteo so that we could catch a ferry the next morning to Whidby Island, where we visited Fort Casey, an old artillary installation. The view across the sound to the Olympic Peninsula was fantastic.
From Fort Casey, we caught another ferry, which took us over to the peninsula, and headed on down to Poulsbo for the night. This was our second detour from the Loop. The next morning we proceeded to Tacoma to visit The Point Defiance Zoo before heading back up to Redmond. I love that zoo, and I'm going to miss it.
The first of May we moved out of house into an apartment. The week after we moved our house was packed up and moved into storage. That took about a week, 3 days to pack, and 2 to tranfser to storage (20,000 lbs.). Then the painters came in. That took about a week and a half. After that, it was the carpet layers, then the hardwood floor guys. In all, it took the whole month of May to pack up and fix up our house.
Unbeknownst to us, the person who was supposed to buy our other house, decided not to. This left us with yet another house to get ready for sale, much to our real estate person's delight. With the help of a lot of friends, we managed to get that done.
We were able to get both houses fixed up, on the market, and sold, all in two months.
The next night, July fourth, was spent in the rip roaring town of Needles, Ca. The exit we took into town was also the same one took out of town. We did not happen to see Snoopy's brother, Spike, this time.
We arrived in Tucson on July fifth. We found a house almost immediately. The neighborhood is laid out to try to keep as much of the natural desert as possible. The grounds of the house are beautifully landscaped. It was kept natural in front of the family room. There's a low window in the family room from which we can watch quail and other birds, rabbits,javelinas, and lizards. We've also seen a few coyotes and road runners in the neighborhood.
Robert started the fourth grade this year. It's his first time in a public school, first time we don't have to drive him to school and first time he rides his bike to school. Wow, a lot of firsts.
Kelly is enjoying, actually loving, preschool two mornings a week. It\'s an inclusive preschool, so she gets to go to school with "typical" children. She also gets the benifit of having all her therapies (physical, speech, occupational) done while at school.
Glen has been staying at home with Kelly, trying to get all our systems and gadgets working.
I've have been enjoying my return to the University of Arizona. The Geoscience department is wonderful, very laid back. They
are more concerned with having us learn than getting things in at an exact time. The students have been a lot of fun, too.
I've been surprised at how many of us are in this department for a change of carreers, and how many of us have families.
Although, quite a few of my friends are 22.
I\'m looking forward to a new semester in the Geoscience department, and I'll also be taking some planetary science courses.
We would love to have any friends or family come visit. We now have a guest house. There is plenty to see and do here in Tucson, especially for kids, and we'd love to show you around. Tucson is also supposed to be a golf mecca, but you probably already know that if you enjoy golf.
We miss Washington, somewhat. But, we\'re glad to be here in Tucson. I guess we needed the change.
Link to Glen's Video Rocket web page.
Here's link to our current photos, including a recent
trip to Germany for a Formula 1 race.
PS Unfortunately the author of this page, Peggy, passed away in 2010. It may change or go away, I haven't decided yet.