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Since my last post

OK, so this is now a part 1 since I never posted it in July. I guess I got busy and forgot?
Yes it was another busy summer month and we did go on our vacation, but that will be part 2 with photos in a few days. Since this post is here I'll go ahead and post it because it does have some information in it.


The Ooma experience update

So, it's been several months now and I still feel the Ooma idea was a good one. The monthly bill is still the $4.24 a month for the state and local fees.
My number one favorite thing is still the ability to monitor calls from my cell phone or computer and I can still continue to add phone numbers to the reject list which is number 2 favorite thing.

With the old house phone number, really no one calls that number except for a very few people and places and we know them all. Stacy's father will not answer the phone so that makes it easier yet.
With our newer Ooma house number, yes you can have two numbers to a plan at no extra cost, I pretty quickly weeded out the telemarketers that had a hook on that phone number too since we haven't given out the Ooma number to anyone yet as we still use our cell phones for most things.

Lately be it cell or house number, what the telemarketers have been doing is using state or local numbers for those very annoying calls of "you've just won a trip!" And some companies I'm guessing are savvy to the fact that the phone number they used can be used to block their calls so we get some, but less now, calls with just a bunch of numbers where a phone number would be that I can't always block through Ooma because there's no 'phone number' listed.

Stacy and I have used the home Ooma phone for several calls now, some long ones too, and after some initial hiccups with echoing, things have been fine since. You wouldn't know the call is being made through the Internet instead of through physical lines.
A change might be in the works though, in our area the Frontier company has been busy upgrading our rural area by laying fiber optic cables all over the place. When done and ready for traffic we might switch back to Frontier for our Internet service if the service is less cost for better speed or it might make our WiMax Internet service better if people move over lessing the traffic.
The current service is still better than we've ever had it since moving up here but our rural area still has less data speed for more money than a larger city service has.

One year ago, it was HOT!

And that is because it was one year ago Stacy and I were in Northern California visiting daughter Sandy and family for about a week and a half. It was so hot then, and normally it is hot wherever we've lived this time of the year. Not this year in North Idaho though, after a few hot weeks the temps have cooled down to "below normal" which makes me happy and Stacy a little sad since it has been cold since our bodies had become accustom to those much warmer temps.
That is where Stacy and I differ, I'd rather wear a light jacket and be comfortable and Stacy, who usually wears a sweatshirt anyway, would still rather it was pushing 80 to be comfy.

In just a few days we're going on our 2016 trip, the Dinosaur Trail trip

The trailer is mostly packed, the truck too, the reservations made at all the campgrounds we are staying at and we very soon are on our way to various destinations to go on the "Dinosaur Trail" through Utah, Wyoming and Montana with a stop at Yellowstone. We will be picking up Sandy and grandkids from the airport and then be on our way for the adventure.
This trip, the theme and destinations, are supposedly for the grandkids, but honestly, it's for Sandy and the grandparents!
Justine and Natalie are almost 4 and almost 2 now and at their age they will probably care less and were it not for the photos and videos to be taken they will have very little or no memory of it!
But, we are really looking forward to it!! 
Stacy and I, mostly Stacy by the way, have set it up for generally short travel days, longest is not quite 400 miles with most in the 200 mile range so there will be time to actually stop and see things.
For Sandy, going to Vernal, Utah, will be her first time there, actually for me and Stacy too, since the motorcycle trip of 1991.
And our day and night at Cody, Wyoming?
The last time Sandy was in Cody was the summer of 1996 when we took our first RV trip in the 1979 Class C motorhome to see the 150th anniversary of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show at the Cody Rodeo grounds. They had the show for a few years afterward, but we were there for the first one!
Last time for Stacy and I was just passing through on what became our last long motorcycle trip in May 2006.

As this trip is taking place in the middle of summer, the peak tourista time, Stacy and I knew wherever we'd be going we must have reservations to help make sure we have a place to stay with hook ups, power and water at least, since it has the potential to be warm to hot and for this trip and I really didn't want to have to haul the larger generator that can run the RV AC unit.
It should be fun though.
Back when we traveled by motorcycle on our trips all those years ago it was usually seeing how far we could get away from California and how much we could see of the country which often meant a new town every night and a new circus to set up and take down daily.
Now I'm pushing for shorter days, I'm liking the "330 travel days" where it's 330 miles or 3:30 PM, whichever comes first to call it a day and be able to start enjoying the travel and even those destinations. We even have several destinations where we will be staying a couple of nights, a first for our travel if not going to a conference or motorcycle rally like the 'olden days'.
But I did NOT want to chance getting to a place to find no place to stay and have to 'camp' in a Walmart parking lot.
Yes we are self contained and can do that, however, we've been there and done that twice and it wasn't the greatest experience so just get the reservations unless traveling in the spring and fall.

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