Saturday, April 25, 2009

Las Vegas, St. George, Washington State, Myeloma Checkup

April has been a busy but enjoyable month for us. We drove to Las Vegas where we met and picked up Kandra and Jared (and of course Gavin) at the airport. They had come to find a house to live in before they move out from Ohio next month. After crisscrossing the city many times and checking out hundreds of places, they settled on a very nice house in the Summerlin area (check out her blog for more details). We all stayed at South Point, a very nice resort a few miles south of the strip. Jared had found a smokin' deal on the room rates (thanks)! We had an enjoyable time eating and visiting with our oldest grand daughter, Summer (who is living there) one evening. After K & J found the home they wanted (no gang graffiti on the walls!) we went to St. George and spent a couple days celebrating Easter with Lance and family and Kristal et al. The weather had turned somewhat cold but nevertheless we had an enjoyable time together. Sunday afternoon we took Kandra and Jared back to LV where they caught their plane back to Ohio.
The next morning Frank and I flew to Seattle and then on to Bellingham, Washington. We rented a car there and drove to Birch Bay where we stayed a week at a lovely Worldmark condominium there. We explored the area that I had lived in for 14 months when I was a child--very scenic. I was able to locate the actual site where our home was on South Pass Road though the house was no longer standing--it was old when my family lived in it 50+ years ago!
Frank and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary while in Washington--hurray!
Worldmark Resort with gorgeous blooming trees and flowers.

Birch Bay across the street from the resort.

Dusk at Discovery Bay and receding tide.


Golf course behind the resort where I enjoyed early morning walks.

This church building in Everson is 3-4 years old and 2 wards meet there. When we lived in the area no one had even heard of the church! There are also several others in the area now.

The beautiful valley near Mt. Baker where our home was located.

We saw many fields which looked like this. After examining the vines closely, I found they are raspberry vines which are trained in this fashion, several canes are tied together and then as they grow taller they are bent over and tied into the next bundle--apparently to make harvesting easier.

Friends we met on a cruise a few years ago drove up from Seattle on the weekend and we had a wonderful time together. A highlight was driving down to Skagit Valley where some of the world's largest growers of tulips and other flowers are grown--fields and fields of them. It was totally amazing.

Field of tulips in Skagit Valley.

Beauty everywhere! I was really envious of the tall stems and unbelievably huge blooms on all the tulips. Pictures don't do them justice. At home my tulips grow to about 5 or 6" tall and the flowers are small--totally stunted by our cold windy weather. Sixty-70 mph winds at home were one thing we were glad we missed while we were gone.



There were thousands of people everywhere in the fields (some even coming in tour buses) to view the tulip gardens.

Some of the families brought very colorful kites to fly.

Waves and waves of beautifully color-coordinated flowers in park-like settings.

A colorful windmill gave the atmosphere of being in Holland.

Rows and Rows of many colored tulips.

Purple tulips in a tub.



On our last day in Washington we traveled to British Columbia before heading to the Bellingham airport. This is the famous Peace Arch between the two friendly countries.

The city of White Rock sits by the ocean with lovely beach and many birds on one side of the highway and row after row of condos and apartments rising up the hill on the other side, very scenic.
BTW, forgot to mention that Frank had gone into Bellingham to a Labcorp to have vials of blood drawn while we were there so that the results would be ready when he went in for a checkup with his oncologist in Arizona the day we returned. Some of them still weren't back yet but his white blood cell count which is the one the doctor has been most worried about had risen again, from 3.2 to 4.1--the highest its been in several years!!! He has an immune system again! Though we had gone prepared with an antibiotic just in case, he hasn't needed one for 2 1/2 months. Yippee :) The doctor said things looked great, that what we are doing is apparently working and to not come back for 2 months. GREAT news!

9 comments:

Kristal said...

Those pictures of the tulips are amazing! I bet it was so beautiful! I'm so glad dad's WBC is going up! Keep up the good work you two!

Erica said...

Looks like fun. I bet you guys are excited to have Kendra closer. I am so glad to hear Frank is doing a little better. We pray for him every night! Thank you for your kind words on our blog. See you soon. Erica

THE MORRIS FAMILY said...

What beautiful pictures...I want to live at Mt. Baker:)

So glad to Hear that Mr. Greer is doing well...I hope that continues!! You are amazing to study & know about all the meds & such he is doing..WOW!!

Skousen Seven said...

So glad you had a restful vacation!! Happy anniversary too. The tulips are so beautiful, I bet you were in heaven there!!! Love ya

DeAnne Baum said...

Those tulips are so pretty! Love all the pictures. Happy late anniversary!

Unknown said...

Amazing pictures I love the tulips. Hope you get feeling better, having Kristal around will make anyone feel better.
oxox Terina

KaNdRa and JaReD said...

It looks like a whole other world up there. It is beautiful! You weren't kidding when you said there were a lot of tulips. I would have LOVED to see it. I'm glad you had a good time!

Nikki Hernandez said...

The tulips are beautiful. I went to the Keukenhof gardens in Holland. For some reason tulips thrive in the cold winters and cool springs over there.

Living Lavallee said...

What a fantastic trip! The flowers are beautiful. Glad that Frank's immunity is getting better!