Planes

There was just enough time after returning from our bike ride to dig Nolan's Radio Controlled plane from the hatch and go over to the Beale Blackbird RC club's airstrip. 

Nolan, Michael, Alex

We grilled burgers for dinner. Alex had requested this over a week ago and I had been waiting for a good night to grill to avoid frying in the Caboose.  We ate out and enjoyed a fire in the patio pit - no s'mores just the fire.  It was perfect.

All in all it was  a great day. Everyone turned in early - prepping for our early Sunday morning shuffle at the shower house. ::snort::

Epic Bike Ride

Today was supposed to be rainy....but it was beautiful. We finished school, Nolan finished Japanese, Nolan and I made a commissary run (he likes to drive me places) and we had an afternoon stretching before us. 

Michael proposed a bike ride. I headed off on a back road...there may have been some comment about seeing if the men's wimpy tires could handle this road.....maybe.....We road up a gravel road - and up and up....and then soared down a dirt/gravel road.....All tires did just fine. 

Photo session at the Upper Blackwelder Lake....next, we checked out some EOD disposal sites. Michael kept riding past the lake - the idea was to eventually meet up with the main road - until  we saw a promising side road and the plan changed.  I talked Stacia into stopping so I could get a photo of her with the cow. We thought it a bit odd there were cows here....but o.k.  I yelled, "Hey, Cow!" in true Gherkin fashion....and was surprised when I looked over my shoulder and saw 6 -8 cows running towards us. I told her to get on her bike and ride......

Ah - it appears as we circled around on back roads we ended up in the cow's pasture. 

We seem to run into barbed wire wherever we go out here. 

It was my turn to "hop over" after watching everyone else.  Michael said to put one leg on one rung and swing my leg over....didn't work quite that way.....proving once again I have the shortest legs in the family these days....but I got over...I was VERY happy the gate wasn't barbed wire.

It was an epic bike ride. We'll be doing more if the weather holds out. Some of us are paying a price for the fun - but it was worth it.

Sunny Day Projects

We have  been enjoying the sun! Stacia likes history much better in the sun. 

Michael took advantage of the sun to replace the heating element in our hot water heater! 

It was time.

See the legs sticking out of  the rear hatch? Tom and Sandy have been great neighbors while we've been stationary at Beale. Tom came over to help Michael.   

Everything is always cheerier with a touch of sun! 

Catching Up

I'm realizing anew the unique opportunity Michael and I had to serve a young congregation while he was in the Air Force chaplaincy..... somewhere along the line I made lots of "young" friends. I didn't realize how odd this was until the last few years when I realized most my friends were my daughter's ages. ::snort::  Funny how that works - we were all the same age at our first assignment. ::snort::

One such friend is Rachel and her husband Matt and children. It was a delight to be able to eat together tonight and connect in person.  These kids are my "first set of grand kids."  I was a bit worried Elli has entered the "stranger danger" phase since we last saw them.

WHO IS THAT MAN AND WOMAN?????

 I had no such concerns with Joy. She ran out to the driveway, "Grandma De'Etta and Stacia are here!" I'm sure she's thrilled to see the boys and Michael as well.

Joy & Stacia

Star Wars Risk...Nate, Zac and Seth prefer the boys company to mine. ::snort:: 

Melts my heart - Nate is a great big brother!

 Spending time with this family is a soothing balm to our hearts! We are blessed our stagnation has resulted in a few more visits. We are excited to see God confirming His call and plan in their lives.

And Elli? Yes, she warmed up to us. How do I know? Well - would one share her most impressive tricks with just ANYONE?????

I tried - I can't do this. 

 Seriously, she let me hold her, smiled for me, cooed...and this is all good because we're having a pizza game night with the kids next Friday so Rachel and Matt can go to a big shindig to honor Matt and the others receiving quarterly awards....it's a good thing she warmed back up to us.

I think she'll be an orator - look at those expressive eyes and gestures

Thanks, Matt and Rachel. We had a great evening!

"Sun" Day

My weather ap, installed for warnings while we travel, said Beale was supposed to get snow today! I uninstalled it.

There has been much rain in recent weeks. Today was sunny.  Michael and I chatted and decided we'd set aside plans for the day (school) and as soon we could we'd head out to explore the local area via geocaching.  He looked up coordinates for us to find and I finished baking bread. 

As soon as the bread came out of the oven, we left it cooling on the rack and headed out. 

Our first find was a "micro cache." I was a bit surprised when it took us right through a cattle corral.....it was titled. O.K. We figured we were in the right general area.

We climbed over the barbed wire and explored fence posts, river banks, around trees, up in trees......

Yuuki loves these days

 The clue was "hangar" - Michael checks out a hangar shaped wire hanging from the tree

We gave up. We climbed back over the barbed wire.  As we left, I spotted it. Can you? We wonder if someone moved it as it is NOT where the coordinates lead you and is out in the open. 

A little canister, covered in camo tape, attached by a clothes pin to the right corner of the fence thing

We kept reaching spots where the gps would say the cache was .28 miles directly right - across fields full of cows. Michael wondered if it was public land, but being respectful geocachers we skipped them. We finally ended up HERE - a familiar spot to us as we've cahced with the D family and tree cached here before.  We immediately knew were were looking for a micro cache - probably magnetic. It was fun to hug the rail when a car went by.

  Found! Unfortunately, we didn't realize the coordinates inside were part of a multi-cache. This means we need to go back and get those coordinates and go find the next one before we can count it as a find! But we did find it. LOL

The more we thought about it, the more we decided  the caches were planted inside the fields because we are allowed to be in there, it must be state land. This whole area seems to be part of the Spenceville Wildlife area.  We especially noted we are in the last few days of hunting season.

I so appreciated driving until we found a GATE this time. Barbed wire fences are not friends of those with short legs....which in our current family situation would mean me. LOL 

What fun! Miles of rolling pasture land...

Michael and I surmised the cache would be at this tree...it was the only thing for a long ways. 

Yep - pretty easy for four of us to spot it....Do you? 

Stacia was searching far and wide - we all finally congregated on the branches and she eventually came to explore....

Armed with the GPS, Stacia took the lead to find our next one....

  I thought it might be hidden at the bottom of this muck - it may be - we never found it

JUST like riding a horse - she tells me again she WILL have a horse when she grows up
on the farm, with the RV pad for Mom and Dad

This was also a multi cache. The first part over by the valve/pipe thing was a bust. When we got home and read the comments of others online, we see some say the coordinates are missing....but from the clue we headed to the burned out stump hoping to find something. We didn't.

We did, however, have a great day out roaming the hills and fields on Northern CA. Rain is predicted for Saturday - we'll catch up on school then.

Not one snowflake was seen.

Bella update

Yes, it IS, in fact time for our weekly Bella update! BreAnne is now 29 weeks pregnant. Bella is the size of a butternut squash and is gaining fat this week. Bre reports she moves a lot these days - and we are thankful.

Bre passed her glucose test.  This was a mild concern of mine as diabetes does run in our family and I had Gestational Diabetes....but she passed with flying colors. We are in awe of how this pregnancy is going.  We plan to be back in OR in early April to wait for face time with Bella.

Road Trip to the VA

What could be better on a Monday morning than a little road trip? The boys opted to stay at the Caboose and work on school. Michael, Stacia and I headed for Solano County.  It felt wonderful to be "on the road" and "going somewhere."  Was their a purpose for this road trip other than viewing this fantastic county office building? 

LOVED the windows and staring out of upper floor office windows

 Yes! We determined eBenefits was NOT going to be the best way for us to track this VA compensation claim. We had received a "nasty gram" from the VA and it took us two weeks to contact someone who could tell us what it meant - absolutely nothing they said. But, we were unsettled and not sure which of the three varying answers we received was MOST accurate. It was time to bring in outside help - either a Veteran's Service Organization (VSO) Rep or a lawyer specializing in VA compensation claims. Our budget led us to the first choice.  We visited a Veteran Services Organization and signed up a rep from American Legion - Bill Alcarez to represent us. He comes highly recommended and we really enjoyed talking with him.   He will be able to see much more than turns up on eBenefits and will help us navigate the craziness of VA Math. ::snort:: He is hopeful this will be settled in 9 - 12 months. He agreed we can begin traveling as soon as the initial intake appointments are done with the VA.  He'll track it and stay in contact with us.

Now, THIS looks like California! 

We jetted to Travis AFB to check out their AMC  terminal and their Fam Camp. We decided we like Beale's Fam Camp better....cheaper, surrounded by fields, larger spaces.....as opposed to pristine pavement and manicured grass - immediately off busy streets, surrounded by buildings and a school.

I fought a migraine all day and went directly to bed when we got home. The boys were on a trek to the library and Michael and Stacia went on a great sun-set walk. Photos will be forthcoming when "the man" selects the ones he wants to post.