Where is the summer going?!?!?!?!
Where is the year going for that matter?!
As most of you know, our little family has spent more time “There”
than “Here” of late ~ actually we are writing from “There” instead of “Here” (Which would
be home!) if you can believe it.
Garrett and I (Shari) have been in the fabulous Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
since July 1st and will be here until the 28th staying with mom and dad Sloane, as well as visiting brother Scott and family.
Walter was with us July 1-5th before returning to San Antonio to manage
his ever-increasing projects and workload at USAA. We miss him terribly in between runs to Silverwood and Boulder Beach –
the local theme and water park, the mountains, the campfires, the river, the restaurants and, well, you get the idea!
We enjoyed our "Annual" family reunion with the Montgomery clan a few hours south and were, as
always, treated most royally!
We fished, did a float trip down the river, rode ATV's and had our usual dutch oven
campfire and marshmallow roast!
We got to meet some cousins we'd never met before and a great time was had by all!
Amazing that Uncle Dave and Aunt Lynn, Uncle Dee and Aunt Nancy built a house that could hold
28 with no problem and still have room for more!
Are you all tired of us yet?!?!?
We love it up here….perfect summer weather (Highs in the 80’s
and lows in the 50’s with NO humidity!) and great, mountainous surroundings….. If we could figure out how to pull
it off we just might move up here.
We have decided that we do want to retire here some day at the very least.
Things are going well with our weekly commutes back and forth (When we’re
at home) to San Antonio and we sure are racking up those frequent flier tickets!!! Garrett has become quite the frequent flier
and has his own little routine now. He runs onto the plane when we pre-board, hands the flight attendant his sippy cup and
says “Juice Meeese” with a flirtatious grin before heading to his seat in the front by the window!
Needless to say, the word for the summer is “Me-Me” which in
Garrett speak (Don’t ask me how he got that one) means “Airplane”.
He is officially airplane and helicopter crazy and can’t resist pointing
out every single one with great exhuberance! Our days our filled with “Me-Me, Me-Me sky, Me-Me-Da-Da and Me-Me-FAAAAST!”
He is also excited by Trucks, Fire trucks and police cars also known as
“Woo-woo’s” (The sound the sirens make) and a word that I can’t put down without being accused of
speaking a rather vile form of French! :OD
As stated, Walter and I (And Garrett) are holding up rather well considering
we only see each other four days a week – not bad under the circumstances. It gives us each individual time to “Download”
after busy days and lots of time for fun on the “Away” weekends.
By the time we get home in August poor Walter won’t have seen home
for six weeks!
All of this travel is being made possible in part by our wonderful house-sitter
Teresa (aka Charlie) with whom we cannot live without and her brother James that takes care of our lawn and garden needs!
Charlie is perfect and a great foster mom to all the dogs and menagerie
alike! We consider her part of our family.
As mentioned in our last update, we were thinking of buying an RV which
we did not long after….. a 30 foot, $6000 trade-in, in GREAT shape which was purchased before the prior owners had even
dropped it from their truck onto the lot! It’s a 1990 – very clean and sleeps six. There is the pink mini-blinds
however….. :OD
Walter was lucky enough to get a spot in the RV park directly across the
street from his work and is enjoying the low fuel costs and complementary exercise!
We bought season passes to Sea World and have enjoyed both the theme and
water-parks several times now, as well as a trip to the beach at South Padre Island where Shari’s sister Teri always
rolls out the red carpet.
Garrett was so cute here…..when he saw the waves for the first time
he held out both hands in the “Stop” position and cried “No! No!” trying to keep them from coming
in! Too funny!
We have also made several other day trips back to Wimberly and other surrounding
areas, where there was much fun to be had.
Shari's dear best friend Janet Planet came to visit in June from Utah and we had a week of west
and wewaxation!
August will take Shari and Garrett to Las Vegas/Southern Utah to visit best
friend Norma and growing family for a week, (Is that baby here yet Norma?!?!?), September and Labor day it looks like will
be spent close to home….Thanksgiving in L.A. and a week-long friend and family cruise (I am SOOOO ready Pam!!!) to the
Western Caribbean January 1-5 after New Years Eve on Galveston island.
Are you tired yet because we are!!!
The more we travel the more our idea of vacation is going nowhere and doing
nothing! (Or is that old age setting in?!)
I will be hard pressed to leave the boat and/or the massage table in January…..then
again there is Christmas in the hot tub!!!
For those of you that didn’t hear, June was really hairy around our
cabin as over 15 inches of rain fell at our house within a week-long period.
Shari, Garrett and doggies had the honor of being the only evacuees in our
county……not sure if our home was going to be washed away or not!
If you didn’t know we live at the base of a flood control lake and
dam and the spillway also discharges onto our property and into the creek behind our home. Surprisingly, we were the only
people in our neighborhood with flood insurance. It was very scary as the lake was in the home of several neighbors with the
neighboring park under water……and this when they were calling for five additional inches.
We got to watch our own Niagra Falls as a 40 foot by 5 foot tall wall of
water came down the spillway and over the bank into our pond and creek – already at the top of it’s banks and
in the back yard. There is nothing but a crater where the falls were…..all of the trees and brush washed away. We were
very fortunate that no water actually got in our home and the house was still standing at the end!
We sure do miss all of you and as usual would like to know what’s
going on in your world(s)…..
All of you California folk….try to keep your calendars open the week
of Thanksgiving (Before the holiday) as we are liable to be in your neck of the woods. Anyone wanting to come to San Antonio
for a weekend at Sea World or whatever – “C’mon down”!
The same goes for anyone wanting to spend time at a cabin in the woods complete
with hot tub under the stars.
Our schedule takes a little organizing these days but we can always work
it out with a little notice!
We love you all and we are still here in case you think we fell off the
earth.
We are just getting older and slower!
Hugs, Walter, Shari and Garrett
PS Don't forget to check out Garrett's updated page !!!
