Report from Dave Sutton and Terry & Barb

For our Quail Run friends....

Dave Wrote:
Got this from Terry this morning and thought you would be interested in the update from them. We had some showers and wind (San Antonio) in the night but nothing serious. Had a nice chat with Joyce last night. We spent the day shopping for new clothes and the afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. Darlene will send more information later on that. Hope you and Don are good. D&D.

Terry wrote:
HEY HEY
We're home now- dodged wild fires, floods, endless rain & tornados. Had to drive thru flooded ramps off x-ways in south Mo. Won't be much farming done in that part of the country this year. Spent big $$$ for diesel. Some days we drove against 40 mph+ headwinds. A few side trips, mountain passes, & 8.3 mpg sure adds up!!!! Barb feels good after her surgery. Trying to get things squared away here at home, so we can start planing for next years road trip-LOL. We have a new home land line # 734-391-8602. Hope you are all safe & having a good time-
Love us- Barb & Terry
PS- grand baby coming any day now!!!!

Now if we could just hear from Linda and Ray, our day would be complete. Hint, Hint.

Dave & Darlene Report & Waco - Day 5 & 6

Received this email from Darlene & Dave this morning. It's always wonderful to hear from them.


They wrote:


Good Morning,


How are you both? I guess that is a dumb question, huh? All I have to do is read your blog and I know that you are very happy to be back with your family. And they look happy to have you, too. They are adorable.


We are in still in Kerrville but will be leaving later this morning. Wanted to wait till the Final Four games were over before heading into San Antonio. Thanks to Chuck & Janet Carstensen for the heads up about Buckhorn Lake RV Resort, it is really nice. Enjoyed Fredericksburg too.


We are heading to Admiralty RV Park where Joyce Cooley from Quail Run is now workamping. Will be fun to see a familiar face. Our weather has been great and we are thankful for that. Also, no more problems with either the fifth wheel or truck. Our thoughts go out to those that are having mechanical or weather related problems. Hope they are all taken care of soon.


Will close for now, take care and keep in touch,


Love, Darlene & Dave


We, also, have a good friend, Yvonne Rominger, workamping in the office at Admiralty RV Park. We met Yvonne in Branson last summer and I worked with her in the office there. Yvonne and Joyce have met. She's a sweetheart, too. Those office girls are just the best, eh Barb? :-)


Yes, we are very happy to be here. The kiddos are so adorable and fun to be with. Pray for Leslie, Khalil and the kids, though, being away from Daddy is very hard on all of them.


YEAH! 100 feet of coaxial and $40 later, we finally have TV! We missed the OT of the basketball last night, so Don quit messing around with it and he got the dish set properly and WA-LA. We know what to do from now on, wherever we are.


Also, please pray for Don. Wouldn't you know it, we leave the dry air and he gets a cold. Says he feels a little better than yesterday. He's been sweating a lot while outside getting the dish adjusted and adding the extra cable, so maybe he's sweating the cold out of his system.


Two days in a row now, I've been up early to help Leslie out with the kids. 5:30 a.m. Yea, you heard me. I know you don't believe it, but it's true. The sacrifices we make for our kids. Not the helping with the kids part, but the getting up early part... really not a big sacrifice, but you all know that. Diesel was so cute when I picked him up. He saw me through the window and ran to try to open the door for me. He's such a sweet boy. A big bruiser, but still sweet and loving. And Pook was all smiles when she saw me, "Nonnie!!" She's very liberal with the "I Love You"'s and I love it. Such a brilliant four year old. A cute thing she says when she's eaten and is full, "My waist hurts." Too cute. Here she is in the truck before getting out at school yesterday.
And here's Diesel this morning. He was wanting to watch the birds on the lawn and I kept getting in the way.
After Les left for work this morning at 6:45, Pook and I went back to sleep on the couch until it was time to get ready for school. Diesel had a rough time last night going to sleep; he didn't see his mom all day yesterday and she had to be gone this morning before he was up. The project her office has been working on is finished as of about 11:00 and the kids will be so happy to see her. She called me and said she was going home to crash until it's time to pick up Pook at school. Pray that I will be able to help her get the house organized and ready to put on the market. It's also threatening rain here and her lawn needs mowed and groomed. So much to do. She still has to pick out carpet and finish painting, etc, etc. The new garage door and opener was installed yesterday. Looks good. New kitchen counter top and appliances were installed last week. They look great. Pray it all comes together quickly so she can get it on the market, get it sold and move to Corpus Christi with hubby and daddy. If it sounds overwhelming, you should be here. It is, but all things are possible through Jesus Christ, who gives us strength.


Just had to post this video of Diesel "going places."

Casa Grande Mountains petroglyphs and more goodbyes

We were up early today due to a phone call from our youngest daughter, LaNae, telling us that she has an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon today at 2:45pm regarding her broken elbow. After our devotional time, praying for the safety of those who are leaving the park today and thanking God for the blessing of getting to know these wonderful folks, we headed down the street to say goodbye to Cathy, Jack and Brandy Montgomery. Brandy, sweetie, you are getting a little heavy for mommy to hold. Next, we said goodbye to Gail and Dutch Angus from Michigan. I'm a little upset that I just met this good people today. I believe they were in church yesterday, but I didn't get around to meet them and for that I apologize. Our friend and personal hair stylist, Linda Poyer, is in the middle here. Ray Poyer helps Terry McLain get his and Barb's rig hooked up for going off down the highway. We sure are going to miss them and hope to meet up with them again down the road.

Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of a rock surfaces by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. There are a quite a few of these sightings all over Arizona. This morning, Don and I rode with Dave and Darlene Sutton out to the Casa Grande Mountains just a few miles from our "house" to take these pictures of the petroglyphs there.

We also found the round pestle & mortar looking holes in these rocks probably uses for grinding corn, wheat and other grains. Here's Don looking for more petroglyphs and anything else he can discover. Oh, goody! Another very, very dead tree! Dave said someone told him that this tree has been here in this condition for over 5 years, being burned a little more each year. Cool, huh, Snookie? The irrigation system here in Arizona is amazing and we learned the other day that the natives here centuries ago had a similar irrigation system from the rivers dug by hand and engineered incredibly. (remember you may click on these pics and see the enlarged version) This afternoon, Don was very busy getting new tires put on the pickup, going to the doctor to get his bp checked and getting more meds, giving the old tires to Tim Pruit.

Barb and Darrell Howard should be back in the park by now. Hope we get to see them tomorrow. It will be a busy day for us, so I'm off to Z-land. God bless everyone and enjoy this:

block parties and reflections

This afternoon, we went to a party for all the workampers given by the park manager, Jeannie Budd. A meal of sloppy joes, baked beans, chips and ice cream was served.

We were exhausted from being at the airport all day waiting for Snookie's turn to skydive, so we came home after a bit and Don watched more March Madness while resting. I got a little rest and then headed for the cantina to get started making the breakfast casserole for the brunch tomorrow after church. Sharon, Wendy, Barb & Arlen, Elizabeth, and Nancy all pitched in and we got the task accomplished in no time at all. Nancy will go in early in the morning to turn on the oven and put the first pan in. Linda Poyer and Margie Cartwright are each making an extra casserole at their houses to bring in the morning. While we were all together, I asked them a question regarding a subject that came to my mind last night while I was washing dishes. Did your mothers teach you a specific order in which to wash the dishes? I was kind of surprised that we all learned the same way: glasses first; then flatware; next plates, saucers, cups, bowls; followed by all the serving bowls & dishes; and last the pots and pans. Since the dishwasher, I had not given this much thought until we moved into the 5th wheel and it doesn't have a dishwasher. I had gotten out of the habit of washing dishes in this order and really don't know why I even thought of it, but I did. All this led to thoughts of my mom and remembering what a wonderful housewife and mama she was. She took pride in cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening, canning and freezing the fruit of her efforts. And she always helped outside with the cows, building fence or anything else that needed done. When I was nine years old, we were still washing clothes in a washtub with a rub board and rinsing in another tub. That's where she and I were one Monday in early summmer, outside by the cistern washing clothes when I told her I wanted to be a member of God's family. My granddad was a preacher so I knew God loved me and I knew He was tugging at my heart. Mama asked me if I understood about being a sinner and I understood, because I knew I was not always a sweet and good little girl that I wanted to be. I prayed and asked God to forgive me and thanked Jesus for dying for my sins. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and live with me forever making me a member of God's family. My mama and I cried together and laughed together. Wish I could say that from that day until now, I never disappointed my sweet mama or grieved the Holy Spirit within me, but I have. It's part of the process of becoming the person God designed me to be and the process will continue until He calls me Home to Heaven, except I pray I'm learning to be more and more obedient to my Lord and His Word. All that from washing dishes. Who knew? ha ha

Sharon offered me a ride to my "house" and the block party was beginning to wind down on our street. Snookie hollered at me to come watch the video of her sky jump. It's awesome. Then I had to hear the song Wilf wrote and sang about Don Walrath and another song he wrote when it looked like cancer would get him. Wilf is from Canada and lives two "houses" down from us.

This has been a very eventful Saturday and tomorrow is Easter. Over two thousand years ago, Jesus overcame sin, death and the devil when He gloriously was resurrected from the tomb everyone thought he was so secured in. I'm looking forward to the message God has given Don for us tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I must get the bulletins prepared.

St. Patrick's Day

I was so afraid I was going to miss saying goodbye to the Millers this morning, but I made it outside just in time. Don's in the truck and ready to go... now where are those girls?? Pam carried their mailbox key back to the office. She's had a ball here, playing games, swimming, line dancing, sightseeing, shopping, going to concerts, going to church. (did I leave anything out, Pam?) We're sure going to miss her. Billie says goodbye to JoAnne. Brake lights: check. Have a safe trip to Nebraska and enjoy two more months of winter. Just joking! We sure have enjoyed getting to know the Millers. What a blessing they were to us here and we look forward to staying in touch with them.

QUAIL SIGHTING at QUAIL RUN The clouds were most interesting today. Looked like we could reach up and touch them. OK, so there wasn't much going on today. We had the "house" washed.. getting ready to leave in two weeks. Snookie came over and looked at our Aqua Fria pictures. She called them my "dead trees and dirt roads" pictures. Dave & Darlene were planning to leave in the morning for the Grand Canyon, but more snow is predicted tonight for that area and we certainly don't want them to be in harm's way. (Guess everyone has heard about the 100-car pile up on I-40 west of Flagstaff.) So they came over and looked at our Grand Canyon pictures, just in case they don't get a chance to go. They're planning to go next Monday, so we are praying for nice, warm weather for them. Tonight, the Activities group did it again. A successful St. Patrick's day dinner & dance, complete with lepracaun Wilf. The dinner was a delicious traditional St. Patty's day fare: corned beef, cabbage, potatoes & carrots... very very good. Bob & Barb weren't back from Apache Junction when we left for dinner at 5:00 so we left the party to check if they were back yet. They were, so after checking on Mel & Vi, we went over to Bob and Barb's to hear about their visit with Charles & Linda Shockley, chaplain at a park in Apache Junction.

Congratulations to daughter, LaNae & hubby Mike. Ten years ago tonight, they met at O'Connell's, an Irish grill & pub on campus at Oklahoma University.

Saturday, March 15

Cleaned house today then took a break to hang out with my buddies Snookie, Billie, Nancy and Darlene. I missed saying goodbye to Carol and Steve. I don't like goodbyes. Hey, Don, did you lose your name tag? It was unanimous... we have the best street in the park. Even Nancy thinks so and she doesn't even live on our street, but we've adopted her. Who wouldn't want to rub shoulders with the ping pong "killer" champion?

Don Walrath (in the white hat)invited me to go with all the girls to watch the guys trap shoot. I rode with Dave & Darlene to watch the trap shooters. I'm quite proud of this shot of Dave... I caught his target just as his shell made contact... see, it's in two pieces (and orange in color) to the left of the picture. Don stayed home to watch the Sooners get beat by the Longhorns. He wasn't very happy with the boys when I got home.

Worked on Facebook adding our trip pictures there.

Bob & Barb Ruesch, CRM Directors, arrived about 4:00 PM. I (yes, I) fixed taco salad for dinner and had them over. It's great to see them again.

Quail Run Luau Party

I received a phone call from youngest daughter, LaNae, this afternoon. She has a friend that is going through a divorce and said friend has four young sons. It's a dreadful situation and LaNae is being such a good friend and support, helping out with the boys and supporting her in every way. Please pray for this family's safety and for the Lord's intervention.


Also, had the best conversation with granddaughter, Lydia, 10 years old... the one who sells Christian lemonade. She's taking golf lessons, being the only girl in the class. She's driving the ball 200 yards. That's two football field lengths, for those of you trying to imagine how far that is. I don't much about golf, but I think that's pretty good. She said there was only one boy in the class who hit the ball further than 200 yards. Do you think it's too soon for me to start calling her "Tiger?


The Quail Run Luau Party started at 4:30 this afternoon and was a huge success. Once again, the Activities Department did a fantastic job. They were at work all day, preparying food, decorating, setting up tables in the Carnaval Room and around the pool.DeAnn & Bruce, you would have been so proud of the Activities Teams. We were met at the entrance by Elizabeth and Bob as they presented us with a lei for me and a shell necklace for Don.Some folks sat outside around the pool others sat inside the Carnaval Room... closer to the food.
Tonight, Darlene & I graciously lost two games of Spades to Don & Dave. The guys were very humble winners, which means they had rather not talk about their win, lest they be accused of gloating.

Blogger is not cooperating with me tonight, so more pics tomorrow, hopefully.

Terrific Tuesday

Remember little Anna from a few Sunday's ago? We accepted invitations from her grandparents, Margie & John, today. Sharon, JoAnne and I went over to Margie Cartwright's for coffee or tea, cinnamon coffee cake and prayer, this morning. Thank you, Margie, for having us over. We enjoyed seeing your home and we certainly enjoyed the fellowship. Sharon especially wanted to learn more about the orphanage in Mexico that you visit each month. It was nice to see Cheryl again, too. Our time together was very encouraging to me, too. So many wonderful people, too little time.
John Cartwright invited Don and I for lunch today. John surprised Don with all the fried catfish & hush puppies he could eat. Don has been looking for a good fried catfish meal since we got to Arizona, but finally gave up after being disappointed several times. Now, John grew up in Georgia and they know how to fry catfish! Yummmm-eeeeeeee! And the best hush puppies we've ever eaten. Also, must give equal time to Margie's delicious cabbage salad. She even gave us the salad dressing recipe. Can you tell that Don and I enjoyed the meal very much. Don finally got his fried catfish itch scratched.

Can you believe it? I left my camera at home. Margie loaned me hers and she's going to email me the pictures I took today at their house. So check back later and hopefully there will be pics.

Aunt Nella called this afternoon. She took Mom to the doctor this morning. Report: Mom's doing good, blood pressure is good, blood oxygen level is good. It's just going to take her some time to get her energy back and start feeling good again. Aunt Nella is taking really good care of her and I am incredibly grateful that she is there.

Don and I took a stroll around the park this afternoon. Wouldn't you know it, I found some more scavenger hunt items, but it's too late now. Love walking around and stopping to chat with others who are out.

Brother, Jon, is alright, I think. We are still waiting to hear that he's arrived back in Guam.

How Observant Are You? scavenger hunt

The cool air is back this morning. But we met with Dave & Darlene to participate in the Quail Run "How Observant Are You?" scavenger hunt. Coordinator is Snookie Quinn and she has worked very hard taking over 100 pictures all over the park, getting the pictures printed, cataloging them, putting them in booklets and preparing answer sheets. Every picture is a different item within the park that can be seen from the street without getting onto anyone's site, or in the common areas. Each booklet contains 20 pictures. Each team of 4 is given two booklets and has one hour to find as many of the picture subjects as possible. Dave & Don went one way with a booklet and answer sheet and Darlene & I went the other direction. All the teams have until next Saturday to complete their hunt. That's all I'm going to say about how we did until after the winners have been awarded the prize with a value of $100. It was a lot of fun and a very good way to do a scavenger hunt AND get in an hour long walk.

It was grocery day and laundry day. Finished up about 8:00 p.m.

Another blogger has joined the ranks of those who are recording their journey's adventures online. Welcome to Cathy Montgomery of Monty's Adventures. You're in good company, Cathy! Darlene and I met Jack Montgomery and Brandi out this morning while we were looking for Snookie.

very windy sunday

Sunday already. March 2nd already. My how time flies when you enjoy what you're doing and you're meeting wonderful people.


Our printer decided to take a rest, so we had no bulletins at church this morning. But guess what? Worship service went off without a hitch. Quite a few folks have left the park, but we still had a nice group. Even two couples from outside the park were in attendance. They were friends/relatives of park residents. In keeping with the Olympic theme from yesterday's competition, Don's text was Philippians 3:12-14.


After church, we drove by Tom & Sharon's to ask them to go to lunch with us. We went to Mimi's and had a delicious lunch after a 45 minute wait. While waiting we met a couple from Oklahoma who now live Casa Grande. Enjoyed interesting conversation with them. We always have such a good time visiting with Tom & Sharon.


Just before we left for lunch, we had our first Quail Run quail siting. It was a pair. I got a picture of the male, but not very close up. They are really quite shy. Dave said there is a family of eight here in the park that have been seen. If you look closely, you can see the top-knot on his head. We don't have this type of quail in Oklahoma and Texas... we have the Bobwhite quail.
Naps were the order this afternoon. Mama called to report that she's feeling some better; still no energy and she still sounds pretty bad. I glad that my aunt is back from her trip to Arkansas and is there with Mom now. We're praying that she doesn't get sick.

Tonight, we had a good time playing spades with Dave & Darlene. Tomorrow, the four of us will participate in the "How Observant Are You?" scavenger hunt. That should be fun.

Sweet story:
Granddaughter, Lydia, 10 years old, had a friend sleep-over Friday night. Saturday morning, they wanted to set up a lemonade stand out on the sidewalk, so LaNae helped them get set up. When LaNae & neighbor left for the mall, Lydia and friend were at the stand hawking: "Christian lemonade, get your Christian lemonade right here" to passers-by. Neighbor thought that was too cute and couldn't resist purchasing. Later, Mike called LaNae and reported that neighbor was the only customer they had had, so the girls were "now praying for customers." I dearly love the innocent, pure faith of children. May they always know that God is interested in every detail of their lives, regardless of how small it may seem.

Quail Run Winter Olympics...

... was too much fun. My first event was Darts... got all 3 darts on the board! Next was the Basketball Shoot... made 3 out of 6 and tied 5 ways for 1st. When I shot to playoff the tie, I wasted 2 shots warming up and only made 2 shots out of 6 during "regulation" shooting. My "Mr. Basketball hubby was quite proud of me, but I sure wanted to win a medal for him. It seems that Donna O'Neil is haunting me... she won the Silver with 3 out of 6 and Marlene Ream grabbed the Gold with 4 out of 6. Here's Ginny Dexter taking her turn. Next was the bean bag toss. I did ok, but didn't place here either. Then I went to the ladder golf area and didn't have much success there either. However, Snookie did really well. At the Medal Ceremony this afternoon, she was announced as the GOLD MEDAL WINNER! And she didn't even know she had won. It was so funny... she kept saying "I didn't even know" and "I won!" We were all so proud of her and very entertained. She had great form.









At the lunch of delicious taco salad, Gary & Frieda from Oklahoma, helped serve. To kick off the Medal Ceremony was a hilarious skit that had everyone rolling with laughter. That's Don Walrath in the karate outfit. Pat Turner has beautiful flowers at her park model. Pat uses fake snakes to keep the bunny rabbits out of her flowers. We found this dove sitting on her nest in the rafters of the breezeway. Click on the picture for a larger view.






Pam Miller came over to show us her Medal received for the Basketball Shoot. Pam is a very competitive athlete and participated in several events. Pam's mom, JoAnne, told us that Pam has a trophy case full of trophies back home in Nebraska. Snookie has worn her Gold Medal all day and this afternoon she asked if it would be inappropriate for her to wear it tomorrow? I laughed and said, "I'll be disappointed if you don't wear it until we leave this park!" Dave came over this afternoon and installed the door latch Bob Quinn had given Don. Thanks guys! Now our door won't blow shut on windy days.