When Frank & I made the decision to live our dream to travel & reside full-time in an RV, consequently, it meant we would be leaving so much we truly valued--family, friends, jobs, our church & community. Keeping those connections from the road can at times be very difficult, but it has remained a major goal & priority. For us we want it all--travel, exploring the USA, living our dream, meeting & staying connected with new friends, but foremost important to us, is maintaining our long time relationships--which include family & friends from our former life. We are so thankful that those relationships remain supportive, strong & vital.
On our return to the NW we spend as much time as possible with family & friends. So as always it is with much anticipation that Dianne looks forward to her time away with her special friends.
Lisa is one of those friends and Dianne is more than happy when they are able to plan a time away during our returns to the NW. They met almost 30 years ago when their lives joined via adoption. Throughout their friendship they worked together, traveled together, played together and their children became friends & grew up together. Dianne & Lisa shared lives as mothers, wives, career women, as well as working through the struggles that bind us all. So each year on our return Dianne & Lisa make sure they carve out a "girls" time away. This year was a special treat, as they "retreated" to the
Gruelle's motor home which Frank parked at the
Columbia Riverfront RV park in Woodland, WA and then left returning to a son's house for a time away from his spouse (a rare occurrence when when lives 7/24 in a RV). The view for Dianne & Lisa was the Columbia River as the many barges, sailboats, and recreational boaters passed in front of the
RV's window. It proved to be a beautiful, peaceful & perfect setting for both Dianne & Lisa to unwind and reconnect. The weekend was full with quiet time, deep conversations, sunset viewing, eating, a visit to a localfarmers market and enjoying the
Kalama Heritage Days which included a delightful Hawaiian display
of music, dance & crafts. It is so great to be able to be with dear friends--thanks Lisa for adding to the memories!!
She was one very excited little girl. She was beaming.
girlfriends.
our oldest daughter holds her friend's little girl, Carmen.
indulged her by wearing a crown also.
daughter 
and her son, as well as good friends Lisa & Larry were able to join us part of the time. Making the nightly conversations around the firepit that much more enjoyable. There were oysters to BBQ, crabs to crack,
clams to fry
and old histories to unfold as were to soon find out.
good food and great friend, there were surprises as well.Friends of Sue & Bruce, Julie & Mike,
have a great also have a wonderful piece of property in Long Beach the lends itself well to group get togethers.
We've been to their place before, spent a few times in conversation over at Bruce and Sue's, never realizing Bruce, Frank & I shared a past with Mike. We accidently discovered on this last outing that the 4 of us all attended Centennial High School in Gresham, OR and were all in the same class of 67! It was so werid to find our paths again crossing 
40+ years later and retelling our memories and percipitions of that time long ago.
Lisa is one of those friends and Dianne is more than happy when they are able to plan a time away during our returns to the NW. They met almost 30 years ago when their lives joined via adoption. Throughout their friendship they worked together, traveled together, played together and their children became friends & grew up together. Dianne & Lisa shared lives as mothers, wives, career women, as well as working through the struggles that bind us all. So each year on our return Dianne & Lisa make sure they carve out a "girls" time away. This year was a special treat, as they "retreated" to the Gruelle's motor home which Frank parked at the 
Columbia Riverfront RV park in Woodland, WA and then left returning to a son's house for a time away from his spouse (a rare occurrence when when lives 7/24 in a RV). The view for Dianne & Lisa was the Columbia River as the many barges, sailboats, and recreational boaters passed in front of the RV's window. It proved to be a beautiful, peaceful & perfect setting for both Dianne & Lisa to unwind and reconnect. The weekend was full with quiet time, deep conversations, sunset viewing, eating, a visit to a localfarmers market and enjoying the Kalama Heritage Days which included a delightful Hawaiian display 
of music, dance & crafts. It is so great to be able to be with dear friends--thanks Lisa for adding to the memories!!