Friend Passes Away

It was just a couple weeks ago (July 17) when I mentioned that our friend from Happy Trails, Dick Cole, was placed in an assisted living facility when it was discovered he had cancer. We were informed yesterday that he passed away. The folks that purchased Dick and Carole's space in Happy Trails and now own the space that we rented for one year sent us an email with the bad news. Carole will travel with her daughter from their home in Michigan to Surprise to clear out their storage shed that was on the property and then drive the vehicle back to Michigan that they always left parked on the space over the summers. We also learned that Carole will return to Happy Trails - alone - sometime during the winter and rent a park model to stay in while there. We hope to see her sometime during the winter if we get an opportunity to spend some of the winter in Happy Trails.

We turned the calendar to August this morning and now have only 2 months to go for our stay in Jackson. Our plans for the months immediately following our time here are still in flux. Tentatively, we will travel south, but do not have any plans except to spend up to a week in Laughlin, NV, at the RV Resort at the Riverside Hotel and Casino. We are attempting to line up another work assignment somewhere in AZ, and Josie is also sending emails to her former contacts at the flower shops to see if they may need some seasonal help. Arizona is our targeted destination, but we will also look in southern Utah, New Mexico and perhaps even Texas for winter opportunities. Those are places we would like to spend additional time that have some appeal.

The other activity that we have going right now is the truck repair which we hope to have an update on sometime today or tomorrow. We plan to drive to Afton, WY - tentatively on Friday - to pick up the truck and drive it home. That, of course, will be after we drop a cool $1700 for the privilege of driving it home.

We will be researching other hiking possibilities and getting out to do more of that very soon. Also, another return to Yellowstone is in the near future, so we are excited about the prospects of spending some quality time on our days off in the next 2 months...