Silent Valley is Still Home for Us

Good Morning Dear Friends,

We thought we had come up here to get some rest and relaxation, but somehow that seems to have escaped us!  LOL.  I'm not complaining mind you.......we've been having a great time, most of the time.  First the sad news.  As many of you heard, by email, our very dear friend Wendy Miller passed away this past week from cancer.  We are very glad to know her suffering is over, and we know without a single doubt that she IS in the loving arms of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.  Still it was very sad for US and for her large and loving family to not have her here anymore.

Here is Wendy last April (2015) sitting in our RV, trying to figure out how to teach US to use the tablet we got in March at the Escapees rally in Tucson, AZ.  She was always ready to help anyone who needed her help.  She had a heart as big as all outdoors, and was loved, and admired, and respected by everyone who knew her.  She could be out-spoken when she needed to be, but most of the time, she was kind and soft spoken.  She was never too busy to help someone in need.  And she always had a smile for others.

This next picture is, of course her loving husband Ric.  They were an amazing couple, and welcomed us into their church family the very first day we came to a service at their church.  Last year, when we visited them on our way back to California, they took us to a couple amazing places.

 As you can see, this is the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.  Inside the visitor center there is an amazing wildlife diorama that we took many pictures of.  If anyone wants to see all those pictures, let me know, and I can try to send you the folder with them in it.

Here are just a few pictures of the birds we saw there.  Some of the time Wendy was too winded to walk, so Ric drove us through the wet lands to let us see as much as possible.  They also took us to an interesting former military base near there, but I can't seem to find those pictures.  Our pictures, and our memories of Wendy will have to be our tribute of honor to a beautiful lady, who was an inspiration to ALL who knew her.  Farewell Wendy, you will never be forgotten.

On Monday we had Bennett (I don't know his last name) of Bennett Mobile RV Repair Service coming up to see why our water  heater was not lighting most of the time.   He found (and showed Jim) that he needed to replace the igniter ......of which he had a few in his truck, but of course, not the one we needed.  He promised to come back Tuesday around 3 pm to do the job, which he did, and now we again have a wonderful, and working water heater.  I'm sorry I don't have a picture of Bennett, but if you are camping up here at Silent Valley and need RV service, he is GREAT, and his prices are better than most!!!!!

Tuesday we met Ray & Carol in Banning for lunch at the Pizza Hut.....thanks again for the nice treat Ray!  We had a great time catching up, as we have talked often, but had not seen them since January of 2015, before we began our very long trip east.  Ray used to have an older Caddie for driving around in (not the car he tows behind his motorhome).  He decided it was time for something newer and, I suspect, more reliable. 

 Here they are outside Pizza Hut with their almost new, and very beautiful Ford Taurus.  I doubt if you can tell from this picture, but it has metallic flecks in the paint, and is very classy looking.
Sure hope they will get many wonderful years of travel in that fantastic car!

Wednesday we had to take Millie back to the vet in Menifee to have her bandage/cast removed from her right front foot.  Her foot looks great and is healing wonderfully.  We stopped to see our friends Almita and Rueben who had arrived a day or two before at Wilderness Lakes.  They had found a wonderful site next to one of the channels with a nice shade tree beside them.  We got to watch some of the water birds while we chatted.  After a while we left and came back to Banning and up the hill to Silent Valley again.  It's nice to find the temperature a little cooler up here.

I'm not sure what we did on Thursday, senior moment, but on Friday we drove to the Camping World store in San Bernardino as they were having a huge sale in celebration of the 50 years of Good Sam and of Camping World.  We bought a really neat folding table to use for many purposes, including for when we set up to sell our magnetic jewelry.  We also bought a protector cover for our loveseat.  Our loveseat is upholstered in leather, and we have always worried that the furry kids might tear it up with their claws, so we have tried to cover the seat with one blanket and the back with another.  You've seen it in many of the pictures taken on the "couch".  When we got it home, we found it was MUCH too short, from arm to arm.   But before that, we stopped at Wal-Mart for a few things I had forgotten to get earlier this week.  I found a nice shady spot to park under a tree (those are few and far between) so Jim and the kids could keep the windows open while I was inside the store.  I also got us an EZ Up 10' by 10' shade canopy we can use for picnics with family or to shade us when we set up in the park at Wilderness Lakes to sell jewelry. On the way into the store I spotted this and had to take some pictures.

As you can see, this car has a Purple Heart on the rear bumper and on the driver's door.  I don't know if this means he earned more than one, but even I know it means he was wounded in the service of our country.

This plaque was on the front of his car.  I didn't see the driver, but while I was in the store, Jim did see him drive out.


Getting back to the loveseat/couch cover, yesterday we drove back to Camping World yet again to get one in the "sofa" size.  It's a little too big, but we can make it work.....and the kids like it.  We also needed to replace the lovely quilt we had on our bed, as the dogs claws had done quite a number on it.  We found what we wanted online, but none of the local Wal-Mart stores had it in stock, so we ordered it online Friday, and after going to Camping World, we drove down to the Hemet Wal-Mart store where it could be delivered in one day.  I don't know why it couldn't have been sent to the store in Beaumont.............but that would have supposedly taken a week!  We, of course got the matching pillow shams, and are very happy with this too.

As you might be able to see, it also goes well with the darker blue valances on the two windows in the bedroom.  Our friend Mary made them for us from the bed skirt that went with a previous comforter we had.  That's all the pictures and news for today except that Jim is shampooing the carpets in here today, so I need to take the furry kids outside for a while.......soon.

Just one more thing I would like to talk about.  Many of the area shelters and having "Clear the Shelter" Days this week and next.....and we are VERY much in favor of adopting shelter pets, but we do feel we should mention one more thing about adopting pets.  Adopting is wonderful, and I believe you would never regret doing it.  But please remember that this is meant to put an animal into a loving FOREVER home.  Please do NOT adopt a pet unless you are prepared to commit to this.  It would be cruel to adopt a pet, and then decide you can't keep him.  Many shelter animals have been abused and have NEVER known a loving home, so it will take time, and in many cases, some extra effort on your part to teach this animal that you will never hurt him or abandon him again.  I can assure you, it IS worth the effort.  I sincerely hope some of you WILL adopt a shelter animal, but I want you to do it for the right reasons, and above all else, with the willingness to make it work for both you and your new four legged family member.

Stay well, and enjoy America!!!!  Bye for now.