Saturday, February 12, 2022

Super Bowl LVI In Los Angeles

We are in LA….   

Super Bowl weekend, here we go!

Emotions are running higher than usual this week after the Rams won the NFC Championship and we knew they were going to the Super Bowl. There were lots of happy texts from family, friends and staff I used to work with. Joy even had friends from Tanzania and South Africa say they were rooting and will stream it. There are so many friends all over the country reaching out to us. We are trying to just keep in the moment and keep the outcomes in the hands of the players and coaches. Our hearts are more at peace this time. 

Our dogs, Phoebe and Willow must have known something was up, too. We were busy cutting nails and grooming them before we dropped them off at the dog sitters. (Shout out to our great neighbor Sylvia for watching Phebe and to Todd of Rover for watching Willow).  

We left SeaTac at 6 am and arrived in LA 9 ish. We Ubered to these hotel. We checked in and after a 4 hour nap and a late lunch we headed back to the hotel for another nap.



At around 6 we decided to go downstairs to the community area for the parents and family. 


 

While we were there we met the parents of Nick Scott who was a special teams player with Johnny that he had thrown a pass to during one of the games. He has become quite an accomplished defensive player on the team and is doing well. His parents were really wonderful people we had a lot in common had some laughs and lots of stories and ended up sharing information by the end of the night.


One of the highlights of the evening was watching, on the big screen TV that was in the room, the honors program on the NFL Network where Cooper Kupp got Offensive Player of the Year and wonderful Andrew Whitworth got the Walter Payton Man of the Year. Those are two of the most prestigious accomplishments in the NFL and it was exciting! The whole room erupted with people yelling and cheering and just having such a great time.



  




Thursday, September 16, 2021

Falling in love with travel...AGAIN!

 Faith, family, football we're back!

Aug 22 left in the RV for Utah to attend Willie’s memorial service.


Had all the good intentions to get an early start on the RV trip to Utah. Our brother-in-law Willie passed away last week after a very courageous 2 yr battle with Leukemia.

On a visit with Willie a few years ago he shared the song “Family” by Joe Walsh. As he explained the song to me I could see the tears well up in his eyes as he shared how meaningful the song was to him.

When we got the news that Willie had passed away his daughter asked if I could play the song “Family” at the memorial. I said, sure, technically I can figure it out but emotionally it will be a challenge. I spent the next couple days working on the song. Each time I practiced I kept seeing the tears in Willies eyes as he shared with me how special his family was to him. Needless to say I cried a few times while I practiced.

I wasn’t the best travel companion during the first day’s drive. I felt tense and edgy. Joy had a lot of grace for me as we drove through Washington into Idaho. We stayed the night at an RV park in  Mountain Home, Id. After we got the RV set up and had something to eat I told Joy I was sorry for not being good company as we started out. The next morning was much better. We had breakfast and got on the road.

We pulled in to Twin Falls for gas. On the way out I took the admiral and got a picture of him by the canyon and the bridge by Twin Falls. There were several people there. They told me I just missed seeing a couple of “Base Jumpers” go off the bridge down to the Snake River.





When we arrived at Ellen’s house they were sorting through tons of pictures of Willie. Like the song says, every picture tells a story. Cole’s mom was so nice and had dinner delivered to the house. Ellen and Rachael were putting together big picture boards for the memorial service.

 At the service, the pictures and comments were such a great tribute to a remarkable man. The whole family will dearly miss Willie as we continue to support and hold up his wife, two sons, and pregnant daughter and their families.

View: https://youtu.be/4RugJR2MDQs   "Family"

Aug 28 drove up to Eden, UT to visit Jeff and Debbie.

 

Jeff and Debbie were in our wedding party almost 40 years ago. Debbie and Joy were roommates back in the day. Jeff and I played music together. Their home in Eden is a beautiful log cabin with a short walk to a ski area. The cabin is so charming. Their back yard has daily deer visits. Debbie has a cool picture of a moose pressing his nose up against their bedroom window. Our dogs, Phebe and Willow, had to be close by our side so they didn’t chase or scare the wildlife. Jeff has a cool music room where we enjoyed playing guitar and singing.  
 
View: https://youtu.be/Tb6rnbdVUCY  "Peaceful Easy Feelin'"




 

Aug 29 meet up with Mike Iverson in Ogden.



 Knowing we were going to be in Utah I called Mike Iverson to see if he and his band were playing during the time we would be there. Mike and I were part of a trio that met at Weber State College just after I got out of the Air Force in 1979. We were not able to see Mike’s band but we did get to meet up with him and his wife, Shauna who plays upright bass. Sunday afternoon we had the best time just sitting in their living room catching up, talking about our families and of course playing music.

 My favorite cd by Blue Sage is “Live at the Junction Theater”. This afternoon I got an in depth study from Mike, about one of the songs I have been working to learn from off the CD titled “Ragtime Cowboy Joe”. After our visit I asked Mike if we could take a picture before we left. He said he’d been thinking about that since I called him; but not just any picture. Mike had a black and white picture someone took of us playing guitar and banjo on a bench at Weber State. He said he wanted to duplicate the picture. It was so fun to grab a couple of chairs, our instruments and head out to Mike’s front yard. Thanks to our wives for helping arrange and take the picture.


View:  https://youtu.be/107bGX1nFNU  "Glendale Train"


Aug 29 visited Terry VanVleet.

 After visiting Mike and Shauna we went to visit Joy’s brother, Terry. Terry had a stroke and is living at an assisted living home in Ogden. When we knocked on Terry’s door there was no answer. We knocked a couple more times but still no answer. I told a nurse that we knocked but Terry did not answer the door. The nurse knocked and then opened Terry’s door. No wonder he didn’t answer the door…he was watching golf, his favorite past time. He smiled when he saw his sister. It was neat to watch them together. Terry is nonverbal but communicates very well with his smile, a nod or a shake of his head and his sparkling eyes.

Aug 31. Leaving Utah we drove to toward Wy 

We went to visit Joy’s board member friend Melinda and Jason. We have known them a few years through Pure Desire Ministries. Melinda and Jason were very successful in the CA real estate development industry. We knew they had a vision and a burden to start a ministry for young women; which is what brought them to WY. Joy and I had the privilege to hear more of their story and to drive around the 600 acres they purchased for the women’s ministry. Wow, what a story of prayer and answered prayers. I hope we have the honor to visit the ministry when it is established and to share “The Coyote” song with everyone.


While in Wyoming we drove through Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. The air quality was pretty poor because of smoke blown in from wild fires. We could barely see the outline of the majestic mountains from all the smoke. We were still excited to see some wildlife like elk, deer and moose.

September 3. Drove through western Montana and into Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

We spent an extra night in Missoula so that we could go to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and experience the best grilled cheese sandwich ever. A guy we know has a sandwich shop called “Meltz Extreme Grilled Cheese”. Address1735 W Kathleen Ave, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 

Enticement for you foodies


 Holy smokes!  Was I blown away by the excellent sandwich I had. It was so big I could only eat half.  Joy had a Ruben sandwich that she said was the best she ever had, and that’s her favorite sandwich. We highly recommend that you try it!

We had planned to head over to North Spokane after lunch to visit an old neighbor who is building a home on ten acres. The cool part about being retired is that we can extend our travel plans if want to. During lunch Joy received a phone call from her nephew Steven who lives by WSU. He is a professor there and teaches all things related to soil. He has traveled around he world sharing his knowledge with farmers to help enrich their land production. Steven told us he and his brother, Joy's other nephew, David, were heading to Priest River which is just north of where we were having lunch.

The cool part about the phone call is Steven was calling to inquire about relatives in Priest River and had no idea we were in Idaho. The even cooler part of the phone call is that Joy was just telling me the day before that she wanted to visit her two nephews while we were on our trip.

 

I called my old neighbor and told him about our change of plans and that we’d see him on our way back from Priest River. The only problem was it was Labor Day weekend and there were no available RV sites in Priest River. Okay change of plans, again. I called my old neighbor back and told him we couldn’t find an available RV site in Priest River. He invited all of us to camp out on his property.

After a couple of phone calls we were all at our friend’s property that evening, set up and enjoying the great company. Now I don’t know if this part of the story can get any cooler but Joy’s nephew David used to be a general contractor and has a wealth of home building knowledge. It was exciting to see him jump in a ditch with our friend and offer assistance in laying some pipe. Steven also shared how to manage some weeds in the field as well as what type of grass would grow best there.

The next day David and his wife Tracy; Steven and his daughter Kaitlyn; and Joy and I carpooled up to Priest River to look around. Joy shared a few stories about some relatives who used to live there when she was a little girl. We visited an antique shop, a farmers market and local craft sale. At the craft sale we purchased a beautifully handmade pine bench as a thank you gift for our friends letting us stay at their property.

 

Dirty visit with the Nephews
Kaitlyn Steve Joy David Tracy Bob and Admiral 


The final stop with the Admiral. He wanted to see the beautiful Columbia Gorge at sunrise.


Thanks for reading....see you on the next adventure. Until then, " The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-27)
Grace and Peace, Bob

Saturday, November 7, 2020

WE RIDE AGAIN!

 On the eve of our 39th Wedding Anniversary here in the Admiral with my man we are taking off to Anacortes  Washington for 4 days.

The trees here are ablaze with color chroma enhanced by the approaching dusk.

We took off from our Monroe home at around 1:30 PM and did some last minute fill ups of gasoline (not the drinking kind) and propane for the rig. 

This has been a crazy year with Covid 19  hitting. February brought lockdowns and mask mandates and a lot of home time with all the kids being paranoid if we got Covid, we would die. We complied...mostly. Dog walks happened, outdoor time happened, and our friends were very careful. 

October we went to Blaine, WA to meet with some other musicians so Bob could Jam and I could just hang out. It was all friends over 60 who had been really careful. A young lady and family showed up (the third day of the jam she acknowledged that she was not feeling well) anyway, she ended up testing positive and gave the virus to most of the 18 musicians there. Bob and I and all our friends who were infected, suffered the flu without anyone being hospitalized for covid. Our experience was that it was a nasty flu but not the worst we have suffered, and that it had some odd symptoms. Bob lost taste and smell, and I did not. He had a cough and I did not, but a couple weeks and we did great. Food was an issue, we weren't hungry, but the kids help and encouragement went a long way. We feel great now.

Food must be an integral part of the family, today there was a long text message among the boys...sure keep the mom out of it. It was about eggs in the hole, and then turned to long discussions of what were familiar breakfasts among them, especially when mom was gone or working. 

Some famous offerings were, 

Eggs in a hole

Oh Boy Waffles

Saturday French Toast or German Pancakes

And a lengthly discussion of white sauce and its many presentations with tuna, peas, rice, ground beef, sausage, etc. etc. The outcome of the repartee was that if peas were added it was a dinner dish.

Family discussions are always fun and funny. It is remarkable what makes an impression in a kids mind. The Mr. Pancake Song is a good example. Ask Jett!

Tonight as a special treat for my love I made Masamum Curry and Jasmine rice with homemade molasses ginger cookies for dessert. It was so good, unfortunately Bob still can't taste or smell. It filled him up at least. 




We are planning a ride on our ebikes in a little while since the sun is out and the winds that are supposed to be approaching from the North with gale force are not here yet. We are all cozy in the admiral for the duration.

Phebe is such a good traveler now. She loves the interactions with other RV guests and their dogs. She even runs well along side the ebike on her leash. She has learned not to pull or run for something on the side and tip me over. Good Phebe! Some things you have to do by yourself. This year because of Covid we had pickle day beetween the two of us alone. We did 52 quarts of dill pickles. This tells you who did the lions share (I just cleaned cukes and stuffed jars)


Our oldest son Timothy has been going through some great changes and accomplishments in spite to all situations in the country. This guy has the greatest work ethic and loves fishing and the outdoors which he shares with his nephews and neices. Their families got one girl off to college in person and online. She found and a career and the folks bought and remodeled a whole condo for her. One daughter returned home to live from the big apple and is working, and the youngest daughter is learning to do online school and juggle all her friendships in the middle of a pandemic. She is a planner extroardinary and planned for a whole year for her big 13! Wow, what an event.


Joel and Catie and the five little Hekkers are doing so well. It helps to have Momma Catie be one of the best teachers around. Four boys and a girl, along with some of the neighborhood kids are doing school. She did the coolest thing for the elections, the kids took their stuffed animals and wrote a 'platform' and had a campaign for them to be president. The put up at poll and elected one of the animals. I tried to rig the campaign so it would look real, like the Democrats did. When we visit it like going to see their school. Full play area in the backyard complete with soccer goals, slack line, and trampoline. 

Judah married Teresa in a private alopement. It was lovely. They had their wedding scheduled for early summer and Covid messed everything up. They finally decided that being married was the most important thing and had a parents and children only invited wedding. Just two friends for witnesses stood for them. We will have a big celebration when things are all opened up again. Their kids were the ring bearer and flower girl.




Thank God electricians are considered essential workers. There are three in our family. They have had some down days but have kept up the work at the highest level they could. Having a trade takes dedication, smarts, training, and a great work ethic with perserverance. We are so happy and proud for these guys, and the choices they have made. 

Zach has been working hard on his career. His wife Stephanie also works at home with him on hers. They juggle covid, parenthood, schooling, Their daughter is learning in the best way she can, with the circumstances. She is so smart and fun and active and is excited for her new sister to come.

Our daughter-in-laws are the best. They are a spark to the guys, and a balance. Each of them have great abilities at planning and working with the dynamics of family. The men love adventure and play and hard, hard, work to make those things happen. They are all so smart and really like eachother. They speak to eachother more than the guys I think. Style, child rearing, the world and politics are all topics they work through being open with their ideas and ideals. 

Now for football....what a year.  We were planning to go back east to Johnny's away games, and Covid hit. We thought it would be gone by season, so in May we ordered our new Jerseys.

 They showed up yesterday. We are still excited but there have been so many occasions we wanted to wear them. Today it was funny, we both got dressed for the trip and ended up each wearing our St. Louis Rams Gateway to Victory t-shirts from 2012.. It has been the most amazing ride. Johnny has been in the league a long time and is starting his 9th season. He has been doing well and has many accolades and records. One came last week with NFL NFC Special Teams player of the Week, and then for the Month of October. He made the 2010-2020 NFL All Decade team as the NFC Punter. They choose one player for each position on each of the Conferences, AFC and NFC. That makes 52 players chosen out of the 32 teams of the NFL. Aaron Donald and Johnny Hekker were two players chosen for the Rams. 

He has a beautiful wife and just added the second child to his quiver. They live in two states and have two distinct lifestyles going in-season and out-of-season. It is a lot to shuffle.



I will not belabor family dynamics any more other than to say I am so excited for each year we make it through!

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

It is the journey that counts!

2018-2019 Recap of the Season and Family
Our Sons at the Superbowl

I know, I know...it has been a long time since I have uploaded to this blog...as our dear friends "The Pioneer Bros" have let me know. In looking back at our travels in 2017 it was mostly about the travels and what we did on our grand adventure and not a ton about the football stuff.

As you can see from the picture above, all the sons, three of the wives, Bob and I went to the Super Bowl in Atlanta. The outcome of the game was not what we wanted, but the adventure of the year was a great one. It was boys year together during football.