2024: 18-Chino Valley May June

May 9th thru May 28th

So this stop included quite the variety of things that happened. We celebrated birthdays, went to graduations and graduation parties. We went to splash pools with grandkids, saw Cindy's sister and nephew and went completely bonkers when our dog Chloe passed. With all of the different things that we experienced with just this one travel stop the emotions have run the gamut. From ecstatic to bone deep sorrow, we experienced all of them. Getting the chance to celebrate birthdays with the grandkids cannot be overstated, for all of the joy and memories that it brings. Plus the added bonus of being able to spend time with our kids is fantastic.

May 9: 1. So we got the trailer all hooked up in the morning for moving. After saying our goodbyes, we got on the road headed over here to Chino from the Verde Valley. When we arrived here at Aaron‘s, we had to move Alicia‘s black Ranger pick up , as well as Aaron small trailer prior to being able to set our trailer in place. We had a bit of a challenge this time when we tried to set our trailer up, as we both forgot to put chocks under the wheels prior to disconnecting. This allowed the trailer to roll backwards and get stuck on the hitch of the pick up, which created quite the battle for us to get unhitched and set the trailer up level. However we did get that done, got all set up and then enjoyed visiting with Miss Alicia. Miss Haley came by Alicia‘s house after she got home from work and also visited with all of us. Other than the trailer fiasco it was a very good day.

May 10: 1. So today, Alicia had to run down and see her attorney and a follow up doctor for her knee, which allowed us to babysit little Miss Ava for the day. We had a good time with the young lady, she sure has loads of energy, and whole Lotta sass like her daddy. Haley ended up oversleeping this morning, and was late getting on her way to get Bowen picked up from school. However, after she got back with Mr. Bowen, we had a good time hanging out with him and he sure loves his grandma. Grandma made supper for Miss Ava and Mr. Bowen plus myself and her, and after finishing that, we went down and hung out at Aaron’s house for a little bit before calling it an evening. Cindy and I have been watching the series Billy the Kid. It’s kind of a fantasy world of what Billy. The kid would’ve been like if he hadn’t gone down the bad path.

May 11: We got a chance to hang out with Alicia, Ava, Bowen, Aaron and Haley. Bowen and Aaron were working on cleaning up the yard so watched them and let Chloe run about and have a good time. She actually seemed to be having a really good day her movement was good.

May 12: Today was Mother’s Day, so Cindy and Alicia went out for breakfast in Prescott Valley with Brandon‘s mother going along as well. I just stayed here at the trailer kind of relaxed a little bit and got Chloe out into the yard so she could run around again. In the evening, we all went down to a pizza joint there in Prescott Valley, Arizona for dinner which Aaron treated everybody to. Got home and watch some TV before going to bed.

May 13: Today was a extremely tough day. Cindy woke me up about 3:30 in the morning due to Chloe having some type of physical issues. I got up and she wasn’t able to stand up very well on her own. We got her moved over onto her bed and settled in and throughout the morning, she just continued to go downhill to the point that she was puking blood. We were able to get a hold of the vet so that someone could show up around 8:30 in the morning.

The vet got here and examined her and we all made the sad decision that we were going to have to put Chloe down. She came back about 1230 and we did the dirty deed. I obviously am not as strong and tough as I thought I was as I cried like a schoolgirl. We took her into Prescott Valley to a place to have her remains taken care of with cremation, and we will get the ashes back probably on Friday from them. it was a really tough day. We finally got back home. I guess it must’ve been around 730. We had dinner with Alicia and Ava and then came home and watch TV till we passed out.

I am really gonna miss my Chloe, whom I have had in my life since she was six weeks old. Considering she was pushing 17 years old she’s been with me a long time.

May 14: No journal entry for today

May 15: No journal entry for today

May 16: Today was Austin‘s graduation from high school. We headed over the hill at about 4 o’clock after visiting with family here in Chino. We arrived at the field in time to get some seats and watch the proceedings overall it was a nice ceremony that they did for the graduates, and we were able to get some pictures with Austin in his cap and gown.

May 17: Headed back over the mountain in time to go to Austin‘s graduation party which started at 4 PM. We stayed there until 5 o’clock before heading in for Tyce‘s graduation. After the completion of Tyce’s graduation and getting pictures, we headed back to Austin‘s graduation party. Brent and Gaylene were here so we got a chance to visit with them as well as Larry and Patty at Austin‘s graduation party. We headed home and arrive back at the house at around midnight and called it a day.

We also picked up Chloe’s remains prior to going over to the Verde Valley. So we do have Chloe with us just not the way we would like to have her with us.

>May 18; Today was birthday celebration for a little Ava. Cindy and I were on the hook to run down to Prescott and Costco to pick up the pizza for the party. We also did a little bit of shopping for ourselves. We got back to the trailer and the party at around 1:45 PM. By then everybody was playing in the splash slide and having a great time. Everyone else finally got out of here around 6 o’clock and we visited until around 9 PM before heading off to bed.

May 19: We started the day off visiting with everyone here in Chino Valley. Headed over to the Verde Valley for Maylyns birthday party at around noon and got over there at approximately 1:30 after having stopped and done a little bit of birthday shopping for her. We enjoyed her birthday party and visiting with family and friends. We said our goodbyes for the spring prior to leaving there as we won’t get to see most of them until next fall.

May 20: Bryan and Elizabeth took off this morning so we got our goodbye said before they headed out. After they took off, we continued work on getting the trailer arranged for the summer. We pretty much have our loadout for the summer.

May 21: I worked on some of my website pages this morning. Brandon and Alicia wanted to run into a restaurant in Prescott that serves really weird food. After lunch was completed, we ran back to the house and relaxed as much as possible while Cindy continues to fight whatever respiratory junk she has caught.

This evening we ran over to see Erika and Corey, so that we could show them the website and set them up as editors so that they may continue working on the site.

May 22: Aaron and Haley were back today from their trip to see Hayleys folks and pickup the handwashing trailer that Aaron will be putting out on fires. We enjoyed visiting with them plus watching Aaron run his equipment around the yard. We had dinner with Brandon and Alicia before calling it a day. We also went into Prescott for lunch at the smash burger place, bringing Brandon back to the house with us while Alicia took Ava to see the dentist for a checkup.

May 23: So today was Bowen’s day to hang out with grandpa and grandma. We made our first stop of the day at sonic for a quick lunch. Then we ran into Prescott Valley to the batting cages as well as the many small games that they have for children to play. Cindy ended up purchasing $50 worth of tokens for Bowen to use up. Bowen had a good time, playing all the different games, jumping on the trampoline and doing backflips as well as partaking of the batting cage. After we got done at the batting cages, we ran over to Walmart on the hill, where grandma grabbed a few items for the trailer as well as letting Bowen pick out a toy that he would enjoy.

Overall, we had a great day out on the town. Upon our arrival back at the house, Bowen unpacked his toy to go out and play with. We went into Brandon and Alicia‘s house to discuss with them how their househunting went today. Brandon and I ran out for a beer and wings at Insurgent Brewing here in Chino Valley. Came back for a bit more visiting then off to bed.

May 24: Today is officially Ava‘s birthday, so the plan is to go into Prescott this afternoon and let her play in the splash pad as well as grab a couple of beers from the Founding Fathers that Brandon belongs to. Also hope to be able to get little Miss Ava some ice cream.

I started off this morning working on my website pages for 2021. Went in and said good morning to everyone at the main house, and came back here and checked email plus caught up this Journal.

We went into the splash pad and Ava and Bowen had fun playing on the jungle gym that is there. Brandon and I had a beer before we headed back. Dinner was at Aaron’s house of some really good ribs, plus we all worked on the puzzle they had going.

May 25: We stayed here at Aaron’s place and had a fairly quiet day. We had dinner at Casa Grande Mexican restaurant here in Chino Valley with Brandon’s mom plus the kids. Came back and made an early night of it. I worked on getting a few more pages done for our website. Chatted with Ben on the phone for a little bit this evening.

May 26: Went with Brandon this morning and picked up some material that he had cut for a job of his then had a couple of street tacos before heading back to the house. Alicia made a casserole for dinner that was really tasty. Had a few drinks during the evening plus assisted Brandon loading his truck for Tuesday. Watched a movie this evening after we got back to the trailer and then went to bed.

May 27: Today is our last day here before heading up to Williams tomorrow. Spent a few hours this morning getting 3 more pages done for our website. Took a shower and Cindy did some laundry getting all the laundry caught up plus cleaning the sheets. I did a majority of the loading for pulling out in the morning. Gathered up some pecan wood chunks for BBQing that Aaron said I could grab. Cindy said that we are going to run over to Becky and Davids this afternoon. I also caught up this journal this morning.

May 28: So we got up and getting ready to move around 6:30am this morning. Took us until around 8:30am to get hooked up and ready to move up to Williams plus say our goodbye’s for this stop. I had to empty black and grey tanks plus fill the fresh water and fill 3 jugs with water for extra capacity for next stay. After leaving kids house we went down to Olsons and filled propane, then we headed out on the short drive up to Williams. Pulled into Williams camping area where Bryan and Elizabeth are parked and got setup. We had lunch then chatted with Elizabeth and Bryan the rest of the afternoon. I went for a walk up the road from where we are camped and checked out some of the other available campsites plus took some photos of flowers and such. Cindy and Bryan drove into Williams to grab some chips and such during the period I was out walking. After dinner had a campfire and visited and Dan came down and joined us. It appears that they are doing ok and getting ready to sell their place and relocate down to Florida. Called it a night around 9:30pm and came back to trailer and off to bed.

For more details about our adventures click on the links at the top of the page.