Willy's Wonders 2008 edition

Per your comments, here are highlights of our 2008 journey!  Enjoy!!

Our 2008 started out in Oregon where is never got over 40 degrees.  But we were making trips to the University of Washington School of Dentistry to get the implants and tooth construction that Willy needed to replace his front bridge.  During surgery they discovered he needed bone graphing to support the implants. We were glad that this was the #1 dental school in the U.S.  Just a few days after his surgery, we needed to journey to Florida for their State Fair.

Once again it was wonderful to be around family.  Especially when we got the news that Willy's father lost his battle with leukemia.  The awesome people at the Florida State Fair gave him time off to fly back and be there for his Mom during the services. 

On our way to the California Mid-winter Fair in southern California, we stopped in Tucson with plans to visit one of our favorite restaurants:  Cafe Terra Cotta.  We got there just after they opened for dinner and sat at the bar.  We spoke to the group of people sitting next to us.  Donnis shared that she had been coming to the restaurant so long that they were in their old location.  The gentleman said, "Thank You".  Donnis asked, are you involved with restaurant.  "Yes" he said, my wife and I founded it in 1987.  WOW ... he said my wife created all the recipes.  She's was on vacation in Mexico and Don was their with his parents.  Donnis thanked him explaining that we travel all over the country and this restaurant was at the top of our list.  He talked about Donna being featured in a 1980 issue of Bon Appetit with her chocolate mousse cake.  And, its still on the menu so we took his suggestion and finished our wonderful dinner with a piece.  Three of the items we ate have been on the menu from the beginning:  garlic custard, stuffed poblano and relleno platter and chocolate mousse cake.  MMMMMmmmmmm good.  If you have the chance, treat yourself.   www.dineterracotta.com   

On our way to Florida, we stopped in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and spent a couple of days with our dear friends, Colleen and William .  They own Las Manos Bed and Breakfast in Buena Vista, Colorado.  If you ever need a great place to vacation where you get the BEST massages, this is the place.  We can't tell you how many times they have "saved" our lives, or, truthfully ... our bodies.  Colleen, William and Willy went to the caverns.  Unfortunately, Donnis had a horrible sinus infection and was to sick to go.  Willy was so thoughtful:  he bought her a video so they could all share their experiences that evening.

An exciting aspect of working in Florida is that Donnis gets to spend  more time with her family.  Most of them have never seen us perform and now they have the chance.  Her family has become so small ... they ALL LIVE in our hearts. 

We want to say a special thanks to her Aunt Ruby.  We spent most of our Florida time at her house.  We had a family dinner there, she cooked for us, she took us to restaurants so Larry could experience local cuisine, etc., etc.  She went to great lengths to make us feel totally at home.   While we were there we got to see the Barbara Shop Quartet she directs.  It brought tears to our eyes and filled our hearts with pride to watch her "work" the ladies and hear them sound so good.  Keep up the good work, Ruby!!!

Her step-Mother, Charlie and her son, Pat with his wife Jo, came to the fair on Saturday.  Then her sister Rhona with her kids and their kids plus her brother Glenn, his wife Peggy and their son Jeffrey came on Sunday.  It filled our hearts © with such joy to have them following Willy's Washboard Jamboree around as we strolled the Fair.

A wonderful relationship blossomed during this time too.  Donnis grew close to her cousin, Charlene.  There's only 4 years difference in their ages but consider = when Donnis was 12 Charlene was 16; then when Donnis was 16 Charlene was 20 and a young mother.  You get the picture.  Well they're both in their golden years and finally on an equal plan.  They had so much fun and even share a common interest in Yoga. 

And ... they have a beautiful piece of Florida paradise !!!  We parked our RV under the canopy of giant, moss filled oak trees.  Soaked each night in their hot tub ... yeah !!!  We had a traditional, southern fish fry.  We fried perch and shell cracker that Don and Charlene caught.  Plus we fried hush puppies (of course) and green tomatoes.  WOW!!! Willy had a great introduction into southern foods.  We had a family/friend pot luck another day with more great food.  It was a joy to visit with family and friends.

Our next event was in southern California so we journeyed across the country and back again.  On the return trip, we stopped just west of Tallahassee to visit old friends, Rusty and Carmel.  Rusty works as a park ranger and manages a couple of RV parks.  They took us to a local restaurant to experience the local fare.  We had fried catfish caught from the lake where the restaurant was on the shore .... mmmmm mmmmm good !!!

We got back in time to get settled in for our next 2 fairs:  Citrus County fair in Inverness and Clay County Fair in Green Cove Springs.  Had another wonderful people experience at Clay County Fair.  Donnis went to college in Jacksonville which is just a few minutes north.  She looked up her college professor's number and gave it a call.  Well ... it was so exciting to reconnect with Betsy and Branch.  They came to the fair and we had dinner, and then breakfast before we headed out and talked about how much fun it will be to see each other next year.

After the Florida Fairs convention, we headed to Sacramento, California, for the Jazz Jubilee.  We went thru Lafayette, Louisiana, and had great Cajun food on our way to Hot Springs Arkansas.  We have friends, Dan and Brenda that live in southern California that we met at Harvest Festivals.  Brenda is from Louisiana and gave us suggestions on places to eat.  More mmmmm mmmmm good, fried food!  We were ready for some soaking and relaxation.  We found a hotel that has the natural, hot mineral water in its hot tub.  We soaked and soaked and soaked.  What wonderful water!!!  It revived our tired bones.  We vowed to make this stop as often as we could as we travel coast to coast.  As we continued our travels, we stopped in Pratt, Kansas, and spent time with Mom and Dad.  Then Mom continued on with us to Colorado for more vacation.

We had reservations at the Las Manos Bed and Breakfast.  And, since the water at Hot Springs National Park felt so good, we all decided to go experience the local Hot Springs.  It had been 60 years since Mom had a swim suit, so we had to go shopping.  Also, Mom had never been in a hot springs.  We gently eased her into the warmth ... she started grinning from ear to ear.  Now she talks about going back next year.  We hated to leave ... but contracts needed to be filled.

Our doctors and dentist are in Steamboat Springs.  We decided to go north from Buena Vista thru Steamboat Springs to catch interstate 80 West.  We made dental appointments, doctor's appointments and put together a pot luck.  We got to spend precious time with our Steamboat family.  We are so blessed.

The doctor saw a "funny" mole on Donnis's back.  The biopsy showed "abnormal" and it was suggested that it should be removed.  Now fit that into a busy schedule.  We were heading to Oregon for the Portland Rose Festival after the Jazz Jubilee.  Our agent Tom's wife works for a plastic surgeon.  So we called and setup the appointment for removal of this funny mole.  The day before Rose Festival was to begin, it was removed.  Donnis spent a week with her arm in a sling so she wouldn't pull the stitches.  This was scary as malignant melanoma are not words you want to hear.  It seemed like forever for the results to arrive ... but it was good news:  no cancer of any kind !!! YEAH !!!  Thank You .

While we were in Oregon in January, we started working with a Weekend Warrior dealer to order a new RV.  We found a floor plan with a walk-around front bedroom.  We had decided we were tired of climbing up a 5' ladder to get into bed ... we aren't getting any younger.  With our schedule we only had a few open dates to pick up the new rig and move in.  The dealership in Oregon seemed to be dragging their feet and finally, the manufacturer's build date closed and we had no RV being built.  At the California Mid-Winter fair we saw a brand new FSWL model.  We figured out who owned it and asked it we could take a tour.  It was beautiful and exactly what we needed.  The dealer sticker was on the back with a phone number.  We needed to make a trip to San Diego anyway and Travelon RV, in Alpine was on the way.  What GREAT people.  Well, bottom line, they were able to help us and were able to place an order and get it delivered in the right time frame.  Another Blessing.  So in June, after the San Joaquin fair, we drove south to pick up our new "home"!!! Our old RV was already sold.  So we hustled our bustle and made the transition in the allotted time we had.  We are so happy in the new one.

Remember Lucky Joe?  Well this year at the Clackamas County Fair, he got to perform.  Oh My !!!  What a horse, and what a relationship between Dan and his four legged pal.   It took Donnis's breath away to watch.  

Remember Gypsy Blue Rose?  What a trooper !!!  She is such a joy.  We are really glad she decided to pick us as her family.   Thank you Gypsy.  And she has a people story, too.  Donnis has a friend that is a veterinarian and had been working at a practice in Ohio.  This past year, Nan decided to open a cat clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina.  While we were at the Cabarrus County Fair which is just south on Concord, she came to visit.  Then we took Gypsy to visit her and get current on her shots, etc.  It was wonderful to reconnect with Nan after many years of not seeing each other and having her be our vet.  She's one of the best vets I've ever seen and it really is a joy to have her back.

We left Canby and headed to Sandpoint, Idaho.  This was our first fair in Idaho.  We had another great time.  It was our 5th wedding anniversary.  There is a restaurant on the edge of a glacier lake named Lake Pend d'Oreille that was suggested as a good place to eat.  Well, it was.  We ate smoked Mackinaw ... a pink trout caught from the lake and smoked.  We had a glass of Bistro Rouge wine from Pend d'Oreille winery.  WOW !!!  The wine was so good that we went to the winery and bought more.  Bonner County Fair is so small that it doesn't even have a carnival.  The people were incredible ... we fell in LOVE both with the people and the area.

Next, we went to our second Idaho fair, Twin Falls County Fair in Filer.  I know this sounds like a broken record, but we had another great experience.  The people here were incredible too.  And, yes ... we fell in LOVE.  Our friends, Bonnie and Shadow shared their homegrown, longhorn beef with us.  Another FINE eating experience.

Our next stop was Cabarrus County Fair, North Carolina.  We'd been slammin, jammin for months without a break and were looking forward to spending a week after this fair on the Outer Banks.  We found a KOA 25 miles down Hatteras Island, a barrier island.  There was only a sand dune between us and the ocean.    We walked to the bench at the top of the dune to drink our morning coffee and watched local contractors at work.  We ate local seafood, went to Kittyhawk where Orville and Wilbur made their first flight, were on Roanoke Island where the lost colony was lost.  We were standing in places we read about in our history books.  We walked in a seashore preserve and stopped at a pond.  The sign read "Don't feed the animals" ... as we stood there, looking into the pond to see what we could see, from every direction came turtles.  It was obvious to us that other people did not heed the sign ... they were looking for food.  They presented us with great photo opts.      We were driving one evening near sunset and this cloud formation was beautiful    We were also going fishing with Barbara and Kelvin but the weather would not cooperate.  So they had us for dinner one night and we ate fish that they had caught the day before the weather turned bad.  It was just too windy to cast a line.  We decided to save fishing for next year !

We finished 2 more fairs in North Carolina before heading back to California.   During the North Carolina State Fair, Willy felt his front bridge move.   He was really careful while eating in the hopes it would stay in place until we could get to our dentist, Dr. David Banks, in Steamboat Springs.  Since we had to drive across county, we routed thru Steamboat.  The news wasn't good ... the bridge is over 4 teeth and the 2 end ones needed replaced.  That means implants ... cha ching !!!  Dr. Banks glued the bridge to the 2 good, middle teeth and sent us on our way.  The next job was to find someone that did "immediate loading protocol" implants.  Since it was in the front, we didn't have 3 months to heal after the extraction.  After many phone calls, we found Dr. Kronstrom at the University of Washington, Faculty Practice Clinic in Seattle.  Then we called Artie and Claudia to see if we could rent their floor ... of course !!!  One evening, Willy and Donnis filmed Artie as he prepared turkey enchiladas.  Check it out on www.youtube.com   Just search Artie Palm, the Animal in the Kitchen.

Once again, the IAFE convention was at the Paris in Las Vegas.  For the past 2 years, Washboard Willy has joined the Doo Wah Riders at their bar gig for an exciting evening of music and dancing.  This year, the National Finals Rodeo was a week later than the convention so it was just a little early to hire a country band in the bar ... so there was NO jam.  EXCEPT for the Showman's Ball = a private, by invitation only dinner and dance.  The band was going to be Doo Wah Riders.  After a couple secret meetings, Washboard Willy and Wishboard Wanda were invited to be special guests.  We knew many of the people attending and had a ball.  It was fun to dress up and not be in our everyday costumes!!!

We were able to do 4 Harvest Festivals this year.  While in Pomona, Nick and Rosalyn found us back stage.  We had lost each others phone number. The RV had to spend time in the manufacturer's to fix some things.  They offered us their guest house.  We had such fun.  And, Nick has started a new business.  He has designed and manufactures, beautiful hose hangers.  If you need one for your hose, check out www.allaboardamericaUSA.com 

Once again, we arrived in Hillsboro, Oregon, just before Christmas.  One of the first things we did is order our smoked turkey from Gartner's.  We spent one day with our friends, Drew and Kelly, touring the Pittock Mansion.  What a beautiful old home.  Its a good thing they didn't tear it down.  Locals rescued it just in time.  Then the city of Portland purchased it and renovated it so we could experience it's beauty.

With only a day til Christmas, we are busy finishing some personal projects.  Willy has his surgery on January 14.  Please keep us in your prayers as there is no time for error.  The temporary crowns will be placed on January 24.  On the 25th we have to start driving as we start the Florida State Fair on February 9. 

We wish you all Most Joyous and Happy Holidays and we hope to see you next year along this incredible journey called "Willy's Washboard Jamboree".  Safe Travels.    This is us having fun at the Washboard Concert at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee.

Rhythmically yours,

Washboard Willy and Wishboard Wanda