Mini-Misawa Reunion

Colorado Springs is full of both active duty and retired military. Tonight, we got to connect with a dear family we met during our Misawa, Japan assignment. They are not military, but do work with the government in conjunction with the military.  

But FIRST - we had to retrieve Yuuki from the neighbor's home. 

Yep, Marvie IS the shortest one in the crowd. Stacia passe her up. 

It didn't take the kids long to recover their past friendships

Alex (front), Stacia, Ashley and Nolan

Michael and Jim visited and grilled yummy salmon

The whole group 

Jim and Marvie are soon moving to another state. We are blessed to have been able to catch up with them before the move.  It was inspiring to hear all they did to their house to make it a home - makes me think we may be able to make a house a home at some point.  I missed seeing Alex, their son, but we got to catch up with him last year at JaRissa's wedding.

Pacing off 5 Acres

This posts serves a few purposes....it's fun to see how beautiful it is here at Earl and Mary's. We've been looking at property online and I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around how big an acre, 3 acres, 5 acres and 10 acres may be. Earl told us they have 5 acres - and it's squared. We paced it - follow the red dots.

Front - barn and house in the background 

Looking from the back to the front of the property

Looking across - the barn up to the right

Back of the property 

I think this will help us all keep in mind how much area is covered by an acre.  

Catching Up With Friends

Tom and Michael were both in the flight program at their high school in Northern CA. After the earthquake in Japan, the local paper interviewed Michael. We were stationed in Japan. Tom, and his family were in Colorado Springs. He had access to "The Global" and was able to find a work email for Michael. They got in touch and determined if we were back in the Springs, visiting family, we would look them up. Today, we had lunch with Tom, Yelina and his children, Anthony and Michael.  Anthony was cramming for college finals. Michael is an 8th grader and he and the kids had fun playing games, while we adults caught up.

Nolan, Michael, Alex and Stacia

I had a lovely time getting to know Yelina, who is from the Ukraine. Her story was fascinating. The kids had fun with Michael. The meal was yummy and I KNOW Michael and Tom had fun telling old stories back and forth and catching up.  I'm glad Tom looked Michael up and that this meeting happened.

We have two sets of friends from our assignment in 2002-2005. Our Alaskan assignment. It worked for all us to meet at Ken and Lynn's. We got to their house in time to Facetime with their son Matt, who is in Germany. Wow - these kids have grown up in 15 years.

Ken and Michael catching up 

 Katrina and Rachel were friends of the older three/four in Club Beyond during our Elmendorf years. 

Now they have husbands and LUCIA

Alex was 1-3 and Nolan was 3- 5 @ EAFG....Stacia was in my tummy when we left AK. Frances was Nolan's pre-school teacher at chapel. There were no kids their age at this gathering - but they have learned to bring some cards and settle in wherever we are. LOL 

Lynn brought out the photo album we'd compiled for her when she left Alaska. It was very odd how we've all aged, except for Frances. LOL

Lynn, Frances and Me

Oscar, Michael and Ken 

The three again. 

Renewing friendships from years past reminds me again how truly blessed we were to minister in the Air Force. If we weren't going to Alaska, I'd be sorely tempted to retire in Colorado Springs.  

Family Fun

We need not let a little spring snow storm keep us from meeting at John and Jenny's for family time. 

Mary (SIL) and me

 John made some great chicken for dinner. 

John - niece Jenny's husband

 John and Jenny added Hannah to the family. This was our first time to meet her. 

Hanna is a doll! 

Serious business in the kitchen.

Jerome (Nephew) and John 

Earl - Michael's brother

 The dinner table

Mising Michael and Dom 

After dinner we enjoyed a few rounds of Mafia at Jerome's prodding. 

Remind Me Again....

We woke to THIS - and were glad not to be driving. 

#ViewFromMyWindshield

This is me saying, "Remind me again, WHY we are moving to Alaska?" 

It has become a joke how the cold weather follows us around the states. LOL  This is supposed to stay on the ground a day or two and blow away.

Sheltering from the Storm

We raced the storm home to Earl and Mary's. Earl was busy cooking dinner. Jerome stopped by and then John, Jenny and Hannah. It was fun spending time with them. We don't see them often enough. 

Jerome and the Gherkins got in a game of Dominion

Jerome, Nolan, Stacia, Alex 

 Fun to see Jenny with her daughter. Hannah is a doll! 

We watched the snow come down and were happy to be warm and snug with family.

Note: More #WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) entries can be seen at the above tab under the blog header.

Free "Camping" in the 21st Century

You'd like to camp for free? In an RV or trailer?  RV Love has a great article with 29 Tips for Successful Boondocking. 

Big Flat Campground - USDA site in Klamath National Forest

Boondocking is camping off the grid - no electricity, water, sewer. THIS is how we used to camp in the 1980's and 1990's.  It's currently a bit more challenging to boondock - but there are still lots of spots where one can go to "unplug." Most often these are BLM (Bureau of Land Management) sites,  USFS (US Forest Service) / USDA sites or a variety of other federal and state lands.  RV-camping.org provides a lot of info on boondocking. Free Campsites.net hosts a map with a variety of free camping listed.  Simply googling "free camping" or "camping" on BLM and USFS sites will find spots. We found some great sites on USFS lands around Crescent City, CA.

Urban-docking in ID

We have spent nights in rest areas, truck stops and retail parking lots while traveling from one state to another.  We've heard many churches and some clubs (like Rotary, BPW etc) will let you stay if  you are members. Call ahead. We call this Urban-Docking and we stay for ONE NIGHT in these locations.

Our favorite Urban-docking site is Jordan Creek Rest Area, outside of Canyonville, OR.

First "boondocking" experience we had @ Jordan Creek Rest Area

We like the aps RV Parky and Allstays for finding these spots. In these areas you are usually dry camping - still off the grid.  We always confirm with managers before staying in retail spots. We obey any signs we see instructing no over-night parking.  A note - if you do this - please be considerate, clean up after yourself, buy your groceries where you park, don't lower hydraulic jacks on hot asphalt etc.

We have noted truck stops to be NOISEY. Our original thought was to shower at a truck stop/stay free, while purchasing propane and diesel.....we quickly discovered showers are expensive these days. It is cheaper for our family of 5 to stay in a RV park with a full hookup, than to pay the price of showers for 5 at most trucks stops where we've stayed. In Idaho they wanted $65 for our family to shower - we passed.   We don't like to drive with lots of water weight on board to take our own showers...and so we tend to alternate urban-docking with a campground as we travel.

Mooch-docking in Crescent City, CA

Mooch-docking is when one stays in someone's driveway - always invited, of course! 😉 If electricity or water is provided, I would assume one is no longer "boondocking".....A level spot one can get into, possibly water and electricity - and you're good to go. Friends and family often offer showers and laundry services.  If you've followed our travels you know we mooch-dock whenever possible - not because it is free (and we always try to leave $ for electricity and water), BUT it allows us to visit easily with friends and family. We've stayed in Krista's driveway, John and Nadine's driveway, Joe's RV spot, Dennis & Susie's driveway, Will & Sherri's driveway, and we're spending this week mooch-docking at Earl and Mary's  (Michael's brother and wife).

There is a great network of RVers across America and Canada who offer sites for free at their homes - Boondockers Welcome.   This is a site we plan to use as the need and opportunity arises. I've noted some spots up the AlCan Hwy that look promising.  We are considering becoming hosts when we settle in a location.

There are also MANY opportunities to volunteer in exchange for a site. WWOOF is one several we know have utilized. I need to do some research to find the URLS for farms and orchards which allow you to spend a night in exchange for a purchase or a day of work. I can't seem to locate it right now. Hmmm....

Tents for Troops is not "docking" of any sort. However, if you are ACTIVE DUTY, member campgrounds will allow you to stay free for two nights - full hook ups. We've done this at a few locations whilst active duty and all of our stays were enjoyable.  The two that stand out in my memory are Toutle River RV Resort near Mt. Saint Helens, and Lone Mountain RV Resort in Obrien OR on the way to the Redwoods and more.