granddaughter coraline

granddaughter coraline

grandson mason

grandson mason

grandson jaxson

grandson jaxson

Monday, April 30, 2012

01-30APR12 - Sultan, WA (more unpacking, now home improvements)

The start of April was spent emptying the last few boxes & the rest of the month was spent trying to figure out where everything is to be placed! Of course rather than putting our nose to the grindstone, we allowed ourselves to get side tracked by other “projects” that probably could have waited a little:

>painting the great room & master bedroom
>landscaping
>finishing garage insulation & installing shelving
>installing cabinet & drawer hardware in the kitchen & bathrooms
>improving driveway
>adding a 30 amp RV plug & 50 amp RV plug outside the garage

  

 

Although this has been the third wettest winter in the area, we have been fortunate that every weekend in April was good weather. In fact on Saturday, 07APR, Dan took a break & went skiing with cousin Sheila at Stevens Pass (see below BLOG link about Dan & son Joe’s ski trip with Sheila back in FEB). It was great weather with excellent conditions.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2012/02/26jan-04feb12-sultan-wa-skiing-boarding.html

  



On Friday, 20APR, Dan headed over to Camano Island to help cousin Mike Kiesel complete his move from Montana back to WA state. Mike is the older brother of Dan’s cousin Steve Kiesel who lives in Kittitas, WA; where we usually visit in the RV a couple of times a year. Mike has been living for several decades in Montana. Now that he is retired, he has decided to move back to WA to be near his children & family.

On 28APR, Saturday, we headed over to brother Shawn’s & Cindie’s to visit & BBQ. Also there was his daughter Alexandra (who we haven’t seen in over 20 years) & her daughter (eg Shawn’s grand daughter) Aleah(sp?). We were also joined by Aleah’s dad Taylor; & Cindie’s sister Kimberlie. It is always great to reconnect with family or friends, especially with Cindie serving up some excellent grilled steak, grilled asparagus, & fresh potato salad. We returned the favor by inviting Shawn & Cindie over to our place to visit us the next day. Sunday afternoon they showed up along with Cindie’s daughter, Shannon; & we enjoyed more time reminiscing, followed by a spaghetti dinner.



Also during the month we finally bought a mattress for our bed frame. When we place our furniture in storage, we decided to get rid of all our mattresses & box springs. Dan decided that since the mattress in the RV was over ten years old, why not get something that can be transported back & forth from house to RV & vice versa? So that pretty much limited our choices to a Sleep Number mattress system. The Sleep Number system is basically two heavy duty air mattresses contained in a custom mattress cover, along with several foam “framing” pieces, & other items that make it virtually impossible to tell the difference from a “real” mattress. We are not sure how “easy” it will be to move back-and-forth, but we are definitely impressed with its comfort!