by the by

Mike thank you for the fresh veggies delicious!!!and so there is no confusion Karen is actually spelled Karyn..........its a family K thing.I love your home and your friendship!!

Oregon bound

Hello!
we left Redding Monday morning-Oregon bound.
Spent one night-after a long day of driving for Mike-in Eugene.A beautiful park-like the one in Redding-well kept and breakfast and a newspaper on the porch in the morning. We took of Tuesday morning for Gresham Oregon,with plans to see an RV dealer in Sandy the next day. - Mike called Karen(Jess' Mom) we were not sure where in Oregon she and her Mike were living-but it turned out they were really close to the park we had reservations at for Tues. and Wed. night. Karen met us at a KMart parking lot-lots of room to park out in the back forty- she drove us out to their gorgeous home and property in BeaverCreek-hope the spelling is right- Karen you can correct me! Their property is right out of the pages of Country living and architectural Digest-gardens full of huge pumpkins and tomatoes and anything else you would want-a beautiful pond full of waterlilies-flowers of every color. There is even a special garden just for little Kaley. Mike and I suggested they(Mike and Karen) go to Europe for a few month and we would house-sit. I cannot ever imagine being tired of the yards and views there-truly wonderful! I wish I had taken more pics-but I will post one of their beautiful Victorian style home. Mike and Karen took us out for lunch, then it was time to get back to camp. we had a great afternoon! In the morning we went to the RV dealer in Sandy-met Mike the satellite tech(and our new best friend) he fixed the satellite-and a few other little things that needed working on-and Mike was able to watch Gunsmoke and-just a few other westerns-for the first time since we left Lake Elsinore. Mike is a very happy camper!!
Today it is Thursday-we arrived this afternoon in Gig Harbor-wow-really really beautiful. Huge trees everywhere-it is a cool 65-but no rain-yet. I will take pics of the park tomorrow-when hopefully, the sun will come out! We both are wearing sweats and our Uggs-I love August in Wash! oh, and on the way up here- in Toutle-we stopped at a rest stop-beautiful rest-stop as they all are here- there were people there serving free coffee and home-made cookies. I knew we were not in California any longer-so many of the rest stops we passed in Calif. were not only not serving refreshments-they were closed.
Tonight we are just chilling and enjoying the park-Ginger and I took a long walk-she chased some squirrels and I found blackberries! Tomorrow we will adventure out to Gig harbor and see what there is to see here. I am looking forward to seeing my dad and Brother and his wife Sheryl tomorrow eve. we miss you all-but we are having a great adventure so far. Met some people in the last park that gave us some great ideas for when we leave Washington-more about that later-but it involves a jet boat and some pretty good rapids-eek!! ps-Carol mentioned that there have been no pics of me-so here is one for you my brown eyed girl-friend!!

....And a good time was had by all.

When they say-one picture is worth...well you know the saying. this last Redding pic says it all. goodnight!

party pics

for anyone who has not recieved the site to view all of our pics-
you can go to www.flickr.com/photos/mikejangin/
everything is there whenever you want to see something!

mre pics-McCloud Fowler Falls

hello to all!
today-actually this evening-is our last night in Redding. Everyone just left to go back home-we were given a great send-off-thank you!!
I left off with Mike and I leaving for McCloud for the day-that was Thurs.
well, McCloud-a beautiful little town-we drove around and checked it out-great B&B.s
Fowlerfalls was simply beautiful-the temp was about 72-really felt good after all of the heat- the water was so pretty-a great place to spend the day with someone you love-oh, and your dog. Friday, we were scheduled as I have said to ride the segways at Turtle bay. We all got there-ready for the thrill of a lifetime-and it all was looking pretty good-that is until the owner of the place-the "segway nazi" asked me how tall I was.-well, it turns out that there is a height min for these machines of 5 ft. so, I was not allowed to join the group for the journey. Mike decided to stay behind with me-I was ok with just walking around for an hour-but we know Mike. so, we walked accross the sundial bridge-really beautiful-then left to do a little shopping-then home and a bloody mary. Its really hard-this retired life.
Later that day-Denise called and invited us over to swim and just hang out.
it turned out to be a great day for us to visit with Chris and Dani-not sure how you are spelling your name,darlin'-so I'll say Daniele-it was so relaxing out by the pool-then we had a good little supper when Pat and Denise came home from their running around.
Sat-the day of the big party. It turned out to be a combination retirement and bon voyage party. Chris is heading up to Wash. on Monday-he is joining Americore-again I am not sure of the name or spelling-but I think you all should know what I am talking about. He will be working with young kids and literacy-he will be great with the kids. Mike and I will have Chris to a bbq at Gig Harbor one night next week.
so, the party was a great success-the house and yard dec. to the hilt-yes, there are pics. the food was all so good-and I think I am finally inspired to do a cookbook-more to follow. the kids had a great day-spending really most all the time in the pool. Ginger kept up with them-she was so worn out today she can hardly get up.
we met some friends of Chris(by the way,Chris is Mikes Nephew-Denise's son)as you will see-by the end of the party-even the most fun loving decoration had had it.
Today-sunday, we are ready to take off for Eugene-and new adventures.
Everyone in Redding-and Arbucke-took such good care of us-and made our stay really special. we love you!!
so long for now-more to come so check back-and make comments too!

more travels with John pics

good evening from Redding!
it has been a busy week,but we have been having fun catching up with family.
Mike and I have had some great times just hanging out with Pat and Denise-their pool has been most refreshing-the first few days here the temps were way over 100-so nothing felt better than to just swim and chill. it has cooled down to the mid 80's and is perfect. they say the heat will be back this weekend-but not so high as before. Mike spent one afternoon with his Newphew-Clint- out in his boat on the Sacramento River-he had a fly fishing lesson, and a really nice relaxing day. they caught no fish, but enjoyed just visiting with each other-and the river,of course!
today we all went to Turtle Bay-a beautiful park,somewhat like the Wild Animal Park in San Diego-but with some different exhibits, beautiful grounds. We went in the bird exhibit-you just walk in and there are hundreds of birds-everywhere-all kinds from parrots and cockatiels to parakeets-they are on branches over-head-which is great-but then all of a sudden they decide to all fly over-head at once-eek! the children thought it was great-and I think they though I was nuts trying to hide behind their parents. next was the butterfly exhibit-way more my speed-beautiful and quiet-and no flurry of wings to be heard. I could have spent all day in there-but we kept going-and it was a great day. tonight we are just home in our pretty park-we took Ginger for a long walk-she finally ate some dinner-after I mixed in some steamed rice-so all is good with the world. Tomorrow Mike and I (and Ginger) are taking an excursion to McCloud-about an hour north of here-we are taking a hike up to some falls and just spending the day exploring this old logging town. Friday we will do the river trail on segways(spelling?) the wierd balance things that will surely make for some interesting pics. Me ,being the non-bicycle rider that I am , could spoil the whole thing for everyone by taking a header of the thing-but hey, last night I ate grilled okra(courtesy of Clint) and today the bird thing-so who knows! so, I am going to end this and see if I can add some pics for you all to enjoy. John has been having a good time with us-as you will hopefully be able to see.
we love you-and miss you too!!!!
Mike,Jan and GInger-and John

Thursday,Aug. 14,2008

Hello All!
Mike and I (and of course, Ginger too!) left our "home" in Lake Elsinore on Tues. morning to begin our adventure. Our neighbors-and good friends for the past 3 years gave us a wonderful,loving-and teary eyed-send off. We drove to Kingsburg and spent the night at our familiar camp on the road-Riverland. We have stayed there a few times before-and have always been so happy to be there. this time,however-we had a fun surprise. While getting settled in for the evening-here comes a big red Ford truck-and the driver was none less than our former Lake Elsinore neighbor-and friend, AJ. He is working in the area, and he and Cathy and Kona have been staying at Riverland for the past few weeks. We had a good visit-this is truly a small world-and it was so nice to see them. pictures to follow as soon as I can figure out how to post them.
Wed. morning we took off again and landed in Arbuckle-home to my Aunt and Uncle-MaryLou and Leo Howe. We parked our huge home on their street-and were told it was the largest thing ever to be parked on King St. We caught up on family news, then went out to dinner in downtown Arbuckle-had a good mexican dinner, then a tour of the old and new Arbuckle-it has grown so much over the years and it was fun seeing everything thru the eyes of my Aunt and Uncle. We got up this morning and drove to Redding for a day of chilling and-well-blogging and catching up on stuff for the week. We are camped right on the Sacramento river and Ginger is so excited to see ducks and geese right outside in her "yard".
We are looking forward to seeing everyone up here,and maybe getting in some fishing too!
This great adventure-journey-is just getting started-we are so excited to be able to do this-and share it with you all too!
Ginger says hey, and we send our love!
Mike,Jan and Ginger

retirement

we are getting closer to "the big day"
Nolan has set us up with this blog so everyone who wishes can follow along on our most excellent adventure!
more soon.....