One Week Back

First, and foremost.  I want to thank God, in public, for saving us from all the storms.  We're all complaining about the rain and cold weather but it is nothing like the storms the people in the South are experiencing.  And, yes, I have thanked Him daily for His grace.
Glad to hear from our friends, Gerry and Larry, who are returning to the East coast after a winter in Tucson via the southern route.  They're still far enough south to be safe from the recent wave of storms.  They did hit some high winds and hail stones big enough to damage their motorhome farther back west.  It appears that Spring is not the greatest time of year to be traveling across the South and lower Midwest.
One week back and we've spent a small fortune stocking the shelves but I think we can live comfortably without going to the store for anything but bread and milk and maybe eggs.  Ron is outside seeing if he can mow the lawn this morning.  The Spring Green guy was here yesterday fertilizing to make it grow.
Going to start making those dreaded doctor's appointments for the yearly checkups.  We need to get doctors in Tucson.  The dentist we found, thanks to our friend, Marcia, is great but we need an MD and maybe an eye doctor just in case.   Since we currently have two different insurance carriers to deal with we'll try to get ones who take both Medicare and BCBS plus is an DO.
The sun is shinning and the rain hasn't came.  It's a good day.

Easter Monday

I didn't blog yesterday because it was a full fun day and I just wanted to enjoy the memories for awhile.  I got the ham in the oven about noon and started on the deviled eggs and Ron's potato salad.  Ron likes dill flavoring and me and the kids like sweet pickle flavor.  So, Ron got dill potato salad and we got pasta salad.  I shouldn't say we since I only got to taste it as I was making it.  The rest got eaten at dinner or taken home to enjoy at a later date.  With the potato and pasta salad done and deviled eggs ready I decided to take a break.  Cleaned the parsnips and brussel sprouts and got the lima beans out of the freezer, set up the pans for boiling and sat down on my front porch swing to relax and await our family.  In the meantime, Eric, our second grandchild called to ask if it was ok he came over to see us since we were back home.  I put another plate on the table and went back to my swing.  Betsy and Alan were first (surprise) bringing an Easter Lily.  What a surprise, they don't usually bring Easter gifts.  Next came Bob with an Easter Lily, again surprise.  Eric showed up last bearing no gifts.
Finishing dinner with Betsy's help went smooth and we all sat down around 4 pm, as planned.  The food and conversation went fast and funny.  We always seem to laugh a lot when we get together.  I forced a piece of double chocolate or lemon crunch bunt cake on everyone plus any leftovers they would eat and we talked and laughed some more.
Ron did his usual clean up duty efficiently so he didn't even miss out on anything.  Some really old pictures were passed around and enjoyed a good laugh.  It was a great day, if I do say so myself.  Thanks kids.

Weekend

Saturday in Illinois, the land of enchantment. Ron mowed the lawn and it needed it.  It seems when we get back we both are in a cleaning out mood.  The poor shredder gets a workout.  As hard as we try to go paperless it seems to mount up.  My venture into disposing of unwanted paper turned up some interesting "things".  A picture of me and the used bookstore owner in Quartzite, AZ.  An extended service agreement for an ice maker we no longer own because it broke and we couldn't find the service agreement papers.  At that point I decided it was time to take a different turn in my cleaning direction.  Now I'm looking on my pc for the master of the card I printed about 5 years ago when we decided to return to AZ for the winter.  Need to modify and make some more.  I'm still working on that project, just put it on pause for the evening.

Good Friday

If my memory serves me right, Good Friday is usually a problem weather day.  Well it is this year.  I don't have a thing to wear in the rain.  Rain coat, you say?  I remember  them from when I wore galoshes to school.  They still make those?  WOW  And it still rains where you actually purchase them and wear them?  OK  Guess I'll have to adapt and over come.  After all, I'm a USMC wife, mother and grandmother.  I can do anything with nothing except weld the crack of dawn.
Today is finish putting things away and a trip to Costco for supplies.  Wish I could find some real fresh asparagus   for Easter dinner.  Miss that old pig pen in Missouri where it grew wild and all I had to do was go pick some and Mom would cook it for me.  I'd be willing to cook it for myself if I could find some.
Hope everyone has a Blessed Easter filled with the Hope of the real reason for the season.  He arose.

Home Sweet Home

We got a good night's sleep, woke up at 20 min to 8 am.  Got dressed and headed for the free breakfast.  Glad we took the time to go.  It was by the pool but the chlorine smell wasn't bad at all.  They had scrambled and boiled eggs, sausage patties, biscuits and gravy, french toast and all the cold cereal, bagels, English muffins and toast plus juice and coffee and milk.  We ate well and checked out with a 20% reduction in our bill because of a non working TV in the living area.  The one in the bedroom worked fine.
The trip thru Iowa into IL went well despite an 18 mile oops and we arrived home late lunch time.  Ron unloaded the car and I tried to put things away.  Got to change the system next time.  Leave everything downstairs at first and then bring stuff upstairs as it's determined that's where it goes.  Coats and dirty clothes got brought upstairs by mistake.  The cranberries didn't fare to well in the electric cooler and leaked all over everything underneath them (they were on top) but it was all glass jars except for the butter.  Any one like cranberry butter?
After the car was unloaded and put back in order we took out for Kohls and Ordmans.  Kohls had the duplicate coffee pot of the one in Tucson so that was quick and to the point.  Ordmans was closed.  Looked like there was "stuff" inside but it was dark and NO cars parked outside.  I gave in and said Jewel.  Didn't feel like dealing with Wal Mart or Aldi's.  Jewel worked out well, they had parsnips and ham that wasn't boneless or spiral cut.  When we went to check out the checker asked if we had the ham coupon.  I guess the glassy stare gave her the answer so she reached in a drawer and pulled one out.  $9.00 dollars off the ham.  Until today I had not set foot in Lockport Jewel in over two years, with Ordman's closed, maybe I will again.
It was a great time in Tucson and we miss everyone but are glad to be home and looking forward to November.

Day 5, Iowa City, IA

Quiet day.  Short Day.  Boring Day.  We went from the lesser Best Western Motel we stayed at on our trip to one of the two nicest.  Suite with two rooms and two TVs and one fireplace, wet bar and king size bed.  Ron has decided there's more space here than our 5th wheel and he's probably right.  Shhhh, don't tell him I said so.

Day 4 Kearney, NB

We got up early again this morning, ate some breakfast and headed out.  It seemed like it took forever to get out of Colorado but we made it to Kearney, NB today.  An early stop but we had a nice leisurely dinner and are back in our room for the evening.
We're glad to be back in the central time zone and that all our clocks adjusted by themselves except for Ron's watch.  Guess it's time for a change of watches.
Tomorrow thru NB and some of Iowa to leave a short drive home on Thursday.  Got to spend Friday shopping for Easter Dinner.  Looking forward to ham and all the fixings but I do need requests from the attendees.

Day 3 Colorado Springs, CO

What a day.  A wonderful day.  We started out at 6:30 am rising and then breakfast on the motel,  Armed with directions from the night clerk, GPS and State highway markers we took off for Cog Railway for a trip up to Pikes Peak.  We got to the station without a bit of problems and early enough to get a great FREE parking place and good seats on the train.
The trip up took over an hour to the top but the train moved slow enough so we were able to enjoy the view out the large windows along with the conductor's narrative pointing out places of interest on the way.
What a surprise when we reached the top and stepped out of our nice warm train car.   It was cooold and winnnddy we made it to the gift shop/restaurant and bought a couple things.  Time up there was limited to about 20 minutes so we headed outside to check out the view and take some pictures,  We took our M&M coats and they worked perfect and I took gloves which I used as ear muffs cauce we forgot that.  Pictures will have to come later.  On the trip down the conductor informed us the temperature at the top was 15 degrees with winds at 80 MPH so, yes it was cold up there.  Saw more interesting things on the way down.  It was a great trip and I'm so glad my friend Pat M mentioned it when I was talking to her.
The rest of the day was anticlimactic but we did stop at the Cliff Dwellings and Garden of the Gods.  Back to the motel and a walk to Village Inn for dinner and pie.

Day 2 Going East

Another beautiful day traveling.  I drove for awhile and it happened to be the leg of the journey where we crossed from New Mexico into Colorado.  They tell me it's a beautiful sight but I was deeply concentrating on the hills, mountains, construction and curves.  I did manage to see a herd of young deer of some kind but only because it was straight in front of me for an instant before the road curved but I did manage to yell at and point so Ron got to see them, too.   After we got out into the open area we got our first look at the Rocky Mountains and their snow capped peaks.  Unfortunately, neither of us has a camera that takes good distance pictures.
We're in Colorado Springs, CO for the night.  Depending on the weather in the morning, we may stay another day and go to Pike's Peak in the morning and some other of the tempting attractions in the area afterwards.
We had some pretty high wind gusts but still made pretty good mileage, 25 + mpg.  New van is doing good. We did see several historical markers marking the Santa Fe Trail and The Little Sisters of the Poor.

Heading to IL

Day started out good, up early and finishing packing the car.  The people who were left stopped by to say farewell for the season.  We got a 10 am start and made good time.  Stopped at a rest area just between Lordsberg and Deming, NM for a lunch of fried egg sandwiches with bacon. Not far down the road, almost to Deming we spotted black smoke ahead of us.  We took a few pictures as we were approaching but ended up stopping about a quarter mile before the fire.  It seemed like it took forever before the fire department and police to arrived.  An hour and a half later as we passed the semi trailer 3/4 gone and still smoldering, I could tell it had been carrying mattresses.  The trip north to Socorro, NM where we're spending the night, went without a hitch.

Dentist Update

Ron kept his dentist's appointment this morning.  Don't know why.  Maybe he wanted to get away from me for awhile?  Who knows?  He hasn't had any trouble with his new teeth and he says they're perfect (for false teeth).
To celebrate the end of the dentist detail I took him out to eat, Montgomery's was the place, to try out those new choppers.  He managed to devour a Ruben sandwich and fries and wash it down with a XX.
They still weren't as good as they used to be, it's still lunch meat corned beef but it was warm and had some kraut on it.  We're really disappointed in the quality of the potato salad too but the waitress warned us that there had been three different changes in the recipe in the past year.
Tomorrow is the day we'll be finishing up the packing.  This afternoon we cut and placed the rest of the aluminum over the windows to keep out the sun and some of the heat.  After Ron talked to Dan, the manager, this morning we'll have less work to do before we leave.  Since we're in the front row he wants it to look like someone lives here.  We will unplug the electricity and water but the rest will stay attached.

Dentist Day

Well today is the day Ron's been waiting for for over 3 weeks.  At 3 pm this afternoon he'll be setting in the chair, waiting for that pretty smile to just pop into his mouth.   We all wish him luck.

Oh well

I'm trying this again.  I had this almost done when I hit a key and it all disappeared.  So here we go again.  Had two pieces of chocolate so I'm ready to type non stop.
Since there is nothing going on at the park and we're just waiting for the dentist we decided to do some sight seeing.
Yesterday started out around 11 am after Ron dropped off his library books at the bookmobile.  First it was south to Tubac, 60 km north of Mexico.  I know that cause that's what's on the road sign.  That's how the road signs are marked down there.
Ron got his AZ red dirt dyed tee shirts and I picked up a bracelet.  If you've never been there it's a very nice artist colony with different levels of artisans on display.  Then on south to the spice store south of Tumacacori but, not being a spice authority I didn't know what to buy but they did have a hot sauce Ron likes but he figured we could get it cheaper in Tucson.
Then to Bon Wit women's dress store in Green Valley.  They had some beautiful tops and peddle pushers that would have been perfect BUT they didn't have a shirt the correct size for me.  Plenty of bottoms but no tops.  What a bummer, I was prepared to let Ron buy.  Oh Well, There will be another time.  On to WalMart to pick up some things we need to summerize the RV and then to Manuels for a nice Mexican meal.  We hadn't been there in quite awhile.  Our last trip wasn't up to their usual standards.  This time was better.
Today was a late start because I woke up not feeling well but it did pass and off we went to the Mission San Xavier del bac for the only time this season.  In spite of the heavy winds and dust clouds the Mission was still beautiful.  The inside of the church has had more restoration work done since last year and the colors on the ceiling are gorgeous,  we can't imagine the time and work put into such beauty originally.

After a quick trip to the gift shop and sales tax free purchases off we went for more adventures.
A stop at Fry's on Irvington for Ron's special hot sauce was without fruitation.  We couldn't believe there wasn't any so now we have to decide if we're going back to the spice store.  Thanks to our GPS we ventured farther north to Park Place Mall and a stop at Coach for a new summer purse, a coke and french fries at the food court plus a stop at Verizon for a quick lesson on how to make the time appear on the front of our phones.  Next stop north to the Catalina Mtns and Williams Sonoma.  After a quick purchase of an omelet pan we saw on email this morning a nice slow relaxing walk around the rest of the mall.  It's a beautiful outdoor mall with grass and trees in the center court.  Even saw an orange tree.  Walked by Tiffany's, Brooks Bros, Coach, Coldwater Creek and a number of other stores that didn't make an impression on old me.
Came back home and tried out the omelet pan for supper.  It works just like it's supposed to and made excellent omelets for us both.
Looking forward to cooler weather, rain and maybe snow in the mountains tonight and tomorrow.  Stay tuned to see if we're snowed in.

Still Counting

It's an unusual day here.  Nice breeze but cloudy.  Feels like rain but the chance is slim.  11:30 am and 79 degrees outside.  We have a fan going inside so it's not to bad.
More and more people are leaving so the park is pretty quiet except for the maintenance  staff going about their everyday chores.  This morning they are driving around turning on the water under the trees.
As we progress towards heading back to the Midwest, today is my "final" day at the dentist's office.  I'm due to pick up my new partial at 3 pm .  Hoping the tech at the lab is as good as he appears to be and that the two hours I sat in the chair and bite down pays off with a perfect fit.
Still need to fulfill some dinners with people still here but it's going to be close.  It's been difficult to do with Ron not able to bite, just cut with a knife and fork and chew.