CHOCOLATE!!!!

The Smothers Brothers (if you're too young to know who they are, I'm sorry for you.  I'm sure you could see some of their fine work on You Tube.) did a song where Tommy, the funny one, would sing,
"Oh I fell into a big vat of chocolate."
"Oh I fell into a big vat of chocolate", then Dick, the straight man, would sing,
"What did you say when you fell into the chocolate?"
"What did you say when you fell into the chocolate?"
Tommy would reply,
"I yelled Fire! when I fell into the chocolate."
"I yelled Fire! when I fell into the chocolate."
Dick:
"Why did you yell fire when you fell into the chocolate?"
"Why did you yell fire when you fell into the chocolate?"
Tommy: not singing would shout, "Cause nobody would come if I yelled, CHOCOLATE!!!!!"

Since we're camped in York, PA we had to make a trip to Hershey, PA to tour the chocolate factory. So, here we are surrounded by chocolate; Hershey bars, Whoppers, Rollos, Peppermint Patty's, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Twizzlers and all combinations of chocolate, peanuts, caramel.

 
 













Where else can you find streets named Chocolate Ave. and Sweet St.?

We even did the chocolate tasting where we got to sample 4 different kinds of chocolate, from very dark to the world famous Hershey's milk chocolate.

 

 

And of course, we didn't get out of the gift shop without bringing home some edible "souvenirs".

 

While we were driving to Hershey Park, we noticed the marquis at the events center said the circus was in town, so we didn't have anything else to do that night and since we're not very spontaneous (selling the house and moving into an RV when we've never even slept in one is not considered spontaneous, that's more in the category of insane.) we went and had a great time.

 

 

Then, on to D.C. for our trip to Nationals Park and the game between the Nationals and Cardinals. We parked at a Park & Ride lot outside the city and took the Metro to the city for a little sightseeing.  (We're getting so good at this mass transit stuff.)

 

This is at the WWII Memorial with Washington Monument in the background.

 

 I'm sure you recognize this as the place from which Forest Gump made his ill-fated speech and found "Jen-nay".

 "And that's all I have to say about that."

We went to the Lincoln Memorial, "Uh-gan."

And we couldn't leave out Jefferson.

Then, it was on to the game (we were ready to sit down after about 5 miles of walking).

 

Nationals Park opened in 2008 and it's a really nice park, but the surprise was that the Cardinals fans almost outnumbered the Nationals fans.  The cheers for the Cards were almost as loud as those for the home team.  One thing I have to say about the Nationals Park is that it didn't seem to have anything unique about it to set it apart from other stadiums and without the history of great players to memorialize, it wasn't particularly memorable.

 

Then, we went to Camden Yards for the Orioles and Red Sox on Memorial Day and had an absolutely great time.  Camden Yards had everything lacking in D.C. 

 

Championships and great players to celebrate, the warehouse behind right field with offices and restaurants,

                                                                                                  Cal Ripkin

 

 

and I thought Eutaw street was really cool.  That's the area out past the right field bleachers, but in front of the warehouse.  They have plaques to commemorate where home run balls landed.  It tells who hit it and when and how far it traveled.

Here's one Josh hit back in 2012, 425 feet!                                       







          And here's one Ken Griffey, Jr. hit off the wall of the warehouse during the home run derby, 465 feet!!!

 

We sat in the middle of group of Red Sox fans and they had a great time watching their team win.

 

Now, it's on to Ohio and a Rangers game in Cleveland, then a game in Pittsburgh.

 

OK, totally random......I have one more thing to say about New Jersey.  It is against the law to pump your own gas in New Jersey.  We stopped to fill up the truck and here came a guy to do it for us.  And the fuel was just as cheap as anywhere else.   So, there you go.  New Jersey had some things we haven't found anywhere else. 

Play Ball !!!

 

 

 

We've started our 2016 quest to attend  a game at 10 major league baseball parks.  We found a camp ground in NJ, half way between NY and Philadelphia. On Saturday, we went to see the Mets at Citi Field in New York.  For folks who grew up in the wide open spaces of the Midwest and Texas, the skyline of New York can be an intimidating sight.  There was no way I was going to drive our 1-ton dually into NY City and try to find a parking place, so we stopped at a park & ride in NJ and took the train to Penn station.  Then, we transferred to a train that took us to Citi Field.  It was an adventure in itself.

The Mets have a really nice ballpark and a huge variety of things you can get at the concession stands, like a grilled cheese sandwich for $12.00!!!  But as you can see, it's the ULTIMATE grilled cheese sandwich, "Well, in that case, give me two."  I'll have one bronzed.

One thing I have to say about Citi Field that was a letdown, was the home run celebration.  Now, you have to understand, the first time I went to Rangers Ballpark and one of the Rangers hit a home run, the fireworks went off, the theme from "The Natural" was played over the PA system and it gave me goose bumps.  And 22 years later, it's still exciting to me.  The Mets leadoff hitter launched a home run to start the game . . .  and an apple came up out of the center field area beyond the fence for about 10 seconds and then disappeared back into the ground.  That was it.  Come on NY, you can do better.

 On Sunday, we went to a game in Philadelphia, to see the Phillies. Or I should say, we tried to go to the Phillies game.  We tried to use the train system again to avoid driving in Philadelphia.  But this time we weren't as successful.  It took 4 and a half hours to get to the stadium.  The game was in the top of the 6th when we finally got to our seats, which gave us a great view of downtown Philly, which we thought was pretty cool.  They also have a really nice stadium. 

Not knowing the train schedules and where to go to transfer cost us a couple hours.  I got us on the wrong train at one point and we had to call Uber to get us back to the train station so we could get on the right train. 





Next up Yankee Stadium, the new one, of course.
As much as I dislike the Yankees, this was the most impressive park we've been to.  While Miami's new stadium might be a bit newer and visually stunning, Yankee stadium is almost as incredible AND when you visit Monument Park in center field and see all the tributes to the greatest baseball players who played on the best teams in baseball history, well it's unmatched.

Do I

 look tired?  Theres' a reason for that! (Jane)

 
 

 

There are photos inside and outside the stadium of all the greats in Yankees history.  Still, I can't help feeling a little disappointed that I didn't get to attend a game at the old stadium.  It would be great to look down on the field where Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris and Berra played.

Now that we're experienced train and subway riders, we figured out how to get to the game and back for less than $50.  We thought briefly about trying to go see the 9/11 memorial, but we're not THAT experienced at riding the trains.  And if we had, we might still be trying to figure out how to get back.  BUT we did manage to sneak in a visit to New York's most famous department store.

One other truly NY experience, on the subway going home a group of about 6 teenage African American boys got on our train with much fanfare (noise).  We, being tourists, immediately thought we were going to be mugged.  Instead, we were treated to a show of athletic skill and strength that had everyone on the train pulling out their cell phones and recording it. It was dancing complete with music and wild moves.  When they were finished, they passed the hat and at the next stop, went to the next car and performed again.  I tried to include my video, but I guess the file was too big.   What made it even more impressive was that they did their handstands, backflips and other gyrations on a moving, shaking, bouncing subway car.

I (Jane)  have a couple of things to say about New Jersey.  First, I had never heard anything good about New Jersey.  Have you?  My only Jersey experience was a trip to Atlantic City with Jim on a business trip once.  On this trip, we camped in rural New Jersey.....Jackson, to be exact....and it was beautiful.  Nice, two-story houses with wrap-around porches on nice lots.  Trees, trees, and more trees.  The campground smelled like the great outdoors instead of the toxic waste dump I expected Jersey to be.  Second, on the main streets through town, there would be a sign when approaching an intersection that said "U and left turns from right lane".  What??  Upon reaching the intersection, there would be a sign that said "No Turns".  What??  After passing through the intersection, there would be a sign for an exit to take for all turns.  So the exit made a little loop and what would have been a left turn is now straight ahead and what would have been a U turn is now a left turn.  I suppose they want to keep traffic from backing up for left turns on the main street.

As Jim said, the train system was NOT fun.  There was NJ Transit, Long Island Railroad, Southern Pennsylvania Transit, Amtrac, New York Subway, New York Trains, some with tokens, some with travel cards, some with tickets, and only one friendly person who was very helpful.  Directions from other people turned out to be a little fuzzy and assumed that we knew more about this than we really did.  On one train, as we sat comfortably in the rear of the train, the ticket-taker said, "Oh you're going to Hamilton.  This is Hamilton and only two doors open for this stop.  You have to go to the other end of the train to get off."  So we sprinted through eight train cars to get to the door, against the flow of people getting on.  Being polite was not an option, so we had to push and shove to get to the doors.

And then there were the signs along the highways that were warnings that the trees had been sprayed with  "noxious sprays".  Interesting. 

We went to Panera Bread for lunch one day and the young man taking the orders and running the register was not moving very fast.  So a member of management came up to the front to open another register.  When he took my order he said "apple, bread or chips" so fast that I had no idea what he had said.  When I said  "I beg your pardon" he started spinning his hand in the air as if to tell me to hurry, and then asked again just as fast.  So I started spinning my hand at him and said "apple" as fast as I could.  Yankees! What're ya gonna do?

Our trip from Virginia to NJ was fraught with tolls ---every few miles someone else wanted $12.00 or $24.00 or $16.00.  We will try to avoid the NJ Turnpike from now on.  (Jim again, yeah when you come up to the Northeast, bring your wallet.  It might be the birthplace of independence, but it's also the birthplace of the toll road, the subway and anything else you can charge a fee for.)

But we wouldn't have started this lifestyle if we didn't want adventure and it seems to find us at every turn!  Onward!

On The Road Again

We ended our winter in Ruskin with one final event, Fun Day.  There was corn hole, Pickleball, horseshoes and the Bozo Bike.  The Bozo Bike is an adult sized tricycle that goes the opposite way you turn it.  You have to navigate around a series of cones and then make a straight path back to the finish line. 

                                                       Tina did better with her eyes closed.

They timed everyone who attempted to get through the course and although I went home with the trophy, I crashed crossing the finish line and went sprawling on the pavement, so I wasn't in too much of a bragging mood.  But no serious injuries and a lot of fun.  The video Lani took was too big to send, sorry.  We also tied for first in the three-legged race.  Because we are old, it was supposed to be a "walk race".   But Jim kept saying "faster, faster" so we weren't exactly walking by the end.  They had a season-ending dance on Saturday night and we said good-bye to a lot of great friends.

After 4 months of being on the same camp site, it was a little scary to start out again and hit the road.  I was afraid we might have forgotten everything we learned in our first year and a little concerned that the house would fall apart when we took off down the road.

We then started our east coast swing but, first had to spend two weeks in Kissimmee while I worked the trade show in Orlando, then it was on to Walterboro, SC.  Work started getting busy, but we still managed a trip to Charleston on Sunday and spent a half day in Savannah.

                                                                                                 

   Ft. Sumpter is a must for first time visitors to Charleston.





The boat trip out to Ft. Sumpter goes right past the WWII aircraft carrier Yorktown.





                        

   Forest Gump got on our bus in Savannah!                            Jane in front of the Pineapple Fountain




Then, it was on to Raleigh, NC where we met the Burton family, new friends of Chris and Angie.  They run the New Life Camp in Raleigh.  They have all kinds of activities for kids; basketball leagues and sports camps as well as classes and sports leagues for kids who home-school.  It's an amazing place run by an amazing family: Greg and Brittany along with their 5 wonderful kiddos, Johanna, Lydia, Bryce, Chloe and Camille.

The swimming hole; canoe, zip line and just plain fun pond at New Life Camp.








They graciously let us leave our house parked on the grounds there while we went to London for two weeks. 

And for a couple of days, we had a gym and a pool in our "back yard".

Then, it was off to London for our long-awaited visit.


The first week in London was cold and rainy but that didn't keep us from doing things. 

Like a trip to Five Guys.










The second week was warm and we even saw some sunshine.  It got into the upper 70s and the Brits were dying, except for the ones sunbathing in the park in their Speedos.  Not a visual I wanted to remember.

Ice cream tastes better when you get it on your face

We celebrated Angie's thirty-something birthday, played with the grands, Jim and Chris played golf, and on Mother's Day, we spent time at a park where we hadn't been before, had a picnic, and later in the day, Angie and I went to a movie.  Caleb showed us his great dance moves and Hannah did her best to copy every move he made. Because of the busy time at work, Jim worked some every day we were on "vacation".  Phone calls came at some pretty weird hours because of the time difference. 



One day we took Hannah on the "tube" to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs.

                               This is always my favorite part of the trip










We had lunch at a pub with Angie and a British friend of hers whom we met on our last trip.  While talking with her, we learned a British saying we had not heard before.  It's equates to our "light bulb moment" or "aha" or "then he saw the light".  Anyway, it is "and then the penny dropped".  I'd like to know the origin of that one.  But my favorite was when she was talking about the high cost of horseback riding lessons for her daughter.  "It was fifty quid a go!"  Something about the completely British way she said it.....

Leaving is always the hardest part and Hannah's great hugs at the airport made it even harder. 

The day after arriving back in North Carolina, we left for Las Vegas for a trade show.  I had brought a cold and some sinus congestion back from London and spent almost the whole time we were in Vegas in bed.  Jim worked the show and we left Vegas at 1:00 AM Sunday, (that's right AM) short layover in Charlotte and a 26 minute flight to Raleigh/Durham and.......back where we started. 

One the road again the next day.  Instead of going straight to New Jersey, we opted for a four day stay in Virginia, near Richmond.  Hoping to soak up some history but, of course, we arrived during one of the coldest and wettest Mays on record. 

So this weekend we begin attending baseball games for this season.  Starting with the Mets.  We are hoping the people at the RV park in New Jersey can tell us an easy way to get to the ballpark on public transportation.  We don't want to drive our one ton dually to Queens.  Probably start a few hours early and allow time for whatever happens. 

Snowbirds

If there is anyone out there who actually reads these updates, we’re sorry for the lapse in communication.

After finally arriving December 13, we settled in to enjoy the warm Florida weather.  I guess we’ve officially joined the ranks of “snowbirds” who arrive between Nov & Jan.

Brian flew in on Christmas Day and we went straight to Jimmie & Ed’s to celebrate.  The following day Ed, Brian and I played golf while Jane and Jimmie went shopping. 

We hung our stockings by the chimney with care.

No matter how small our space is, Jane can find a way to decorate for Christmas, it's what she does.
 

Weather in Dallas caused Brian’s flight to be cancelled, which gave us an extra day together and an opportunity to introduce him to Pickleball.  It didn't take long before he was whipping the old man.  We also had a chance to play mini golf here at the park.

 

We’ve gotten into the swing of things here at the RV park.  Jane goes to line dancing classes, I work and play Pickleball when I can.  I’ve played golf with Ed a couple times and played with the guys from the RV park once.

The park has a large hall where they hold dances every other Saturday night.  On New Year's Eve they had a big party.

We’ve been going to those and now Jane has gotten me to go to the couples line dancing class.

  Every other Friday night is Cornhole.  Partners are randomly assigned and tonight my partner (Dave) and I were the undefeated champions. 

                                                                        What form!  (What form?)

There are pot luck dinners and ladies luncheons and next week there is a “ladies night”, the poster for which says “just bring a fun attitude”.  That should be interesting.  We haven’t been in the pool yet.  It is heated but the air outside the pool hasn’t been.  It has been a bit chilly for swimming.

The El Nino weather has brought more rain than normal for this time of year and we’ve had some pretty chilly weather, relatively speaking.

I signed up to play in two Pickleball tournaments, one outdoor and one indoor, but 3 days before the first tournament, I pulled a calf muscle practicing.  It takes a while to recover from a muscle pull and I’ll probably miss the second tournament which is in 4 days.  So, the official start to my Pickleball career is on hold.  (Yep, missed 'em both)

Jim can walk now without limping, but he has to take small steps and he looks like the character Tim Conway used to play who would shuffle his feet and call for "Misses-a-Wiggins" on the Carol Burnet show.

We went with Jimmie & Ed to the Sarasota Circus and had quite a good time.  I liked the 4 Italian "brothers" who did some pretty amazing displays of strength and balance.  Like this:

There are so many great people at this park.  The park is not like the corporately owned parks where we have stayed.  It is owned by a guy who named the streets after family members and who comes to some of the functions and stays involved.  In fact, we just went to a ceremony for 5 couples in the park who are celebrating their 50^th Wedding Anniversary this year and he was there. 

The 5 couples having their 50th Anniversary this year.

Our friends Del & Lani  Lampert - Grand Junction, CO

(One of the couples being celebrated)

 

It was really nice.   It seems more like a small town than an RV park.  We like that and have made some good friends with whom we play cards and dominoes and stop and talk to on our walks.   They are nice people even if they do come from north of the Mason Dixon Line. haha!

Today we took a Segway Tour of Sarasota with Jimmie and had a really fun time.  Jane was afraid she'd fall off and break something, but within a couple minutes, she was a Segway superstar.

                                                               Look Ma, no hands!!!

Last night we had a dance with a Kentucky Derby theme.  (We have to do some things early before the "Season" ends and everyone goes back up north)  The ladies wore their Kentucky Derby style hats and I'm biased, but I thought Jane was the belle of the ball.  Our line dancing teacher and her husband said Jane looked "saucy".

My "saucy" date for the Kentucky Derby dance.

Where are the Mint Juleps?

("I had me about 15 Dr. Peppers")

Bonnie, Jane and Margie, more wonderful people and great friends we've made here at Manatee RV Park.

I’ve laid out an aggressive travel schedule this year and if the good Lord is willing and the creek don’t rise, as Tennessee Ernie Ford used to say, we’ll visit 11 major league baseball parks this year.  There’s a chance we might be in a city near you, so here’s our schedule in case you want to say howdy.

April 2 – 15 Kissimmee, FL (Trade Show) I still have that job thing. (Thank goodness!)

April 16 -22 Walterboro, SC (just because we’ve never been to SC)

April 23 – Arrive in Durham, NC (as above)

April 25 – May 10 Go to London to see the grandbabies – haven’t seen them since September- yikes!

May 11 – 15 I’ll fly to Las Vegas for a trade show while Jane stays in Durham.

May 16 – 24 Jackson, NJ (Mets, Phillies, Yankees)

May 25 – 30 York, PA (Nationals, Orioles)

May 31 – June 3 Lake Milton, OH (Indians, Pirates)

June 4 – 8 Niles, MI (White Sox)

June 9 – 10 Stoughton, WI (Brewers)

June 11 – 13 Savage, MN (Twins)

We haven’t decided yet where we’re going from Minneapolis.  We have 3 weeks before we need to be in Arkansas.

July 5 – Aug 13 Mountain Home, AR, Lake Norfork, quality time with the boat and family.

Aug 14 – Sep 9 D/FW See Brian and as many long-time friends as possible, along with Dr. and dentist appointments, truck registration, etc.  (Gotta get to an Astros game sometime in there)

Sep 11 – 18 Santa Fe?

Oct – Tucson, AZ

Nov – Feb ‘17  El Centro, CA

Mar – Phoenix for Rangers Spring Training

April – May- West Coast Baseball Parks- That will complete our quest, almost.  We haven’t been to Fenway Park.  Jane has and she rubs it in whenever we watch the Rangers play the Red Sox in Boston.  She’ll elbow me and say, “I’ve been there.”  And, oddly enough, we haven't been to the Astros park in Houston.

The Dark Side of Living in an RV

Our adventure this past year has been tremendous.  We took on a life-changing challenge and have thoroughly enjoyed the places we’ve been, the great people we’ve met and the new experiences we’ve had, but it hasn’t all been without it’s frustrations.  Every story needs balance.  It’s not sunshine and lollipops every day, so let me tell you about the other side of the coin without being too much of a downer.  Just a reality check.

The man who sold us our RV told us, “You will have things go wrong.  It’s just a fact of life when you own an RV and drive it or pull it down the road.  It’s like going through a hurricane and an earthquake.”

Most earthquakes only last a minute or two.  Ours can last 6-8 hours.

We left Tucson and made the longest drive so far, 600+ miles to Midland, TX where we spent the night. We made it to Denton the next day and made arrangements to drop our house off at the dealership the next day for more warranty work.  By this time, we have now been back to the dealership 9 times in less than a year.  Interestingly, none of the issues we’ve had have kept us from occupying our house or pulling it down the road.  It’s just a never-ending list of things that keep failing.

As Jane pointed out to the service writer at the dealership, “In the almost one year that we’ve had our Redwood, there has not been one single day that something didn’t need to be fixed.”

We picked up our rolling estate Friday at 5 and went to a local campground to spend the night before heading to Arkansas where we planned to spend two weeks, including Thanksgiving, with family.

When we got to the campground our bedroom slide would not slide out more than two inches before stopping.  I did everything I knew to do and gave up.  We slept in tight quarters and the next day headed for a Camping World up the road because I knew there were no techs at the dealership on Saturday.

They thought a slide motor had failed, but couldn’t work on it until after the holidays.  Yes plural, like after New Year’s day.

OK, we kept going and got to Arkansas that night.  We checked with a local RV dealer and he also thought it might be a slide motor, but had the same issue, booked for weeks.  During the next two weeks, at least 3 other problems developed on top of having a bedroom that was smaller than usual.

Special thanks to my sister Kathy for loaning her car to Jane while I had to go to Baltimore for a trade show.

So, we changed our plan, which was to go directly to Florida from Arkansas and drove back to Denton to the dealership, a 700 mile detour.  We left our unit with them and Jane went with me to San Antonio where I had a work assignment for the week.

We got back on Friday and went to the dealership to get our house and head for Florida.  Everything had been fixed, they said, and showed me each repaired item.  “As soon as we get her buttoned back up, you’ll be ready to go.”, said the service writer.

But, the bedroom slide would not go in!  Previously, it wouldn’t go out, now it wouldn’t go in.

The tech messed with it for 45 minutes and couldn’t solve the problem.

Praise the Lord for our friends Vicki and Dale Revercomb.  They were away on vacation, in Florida of all places, and told us we could stay at their house while ours was being fixed.  So we did.  Expecting to be ready to go by Tue/Wed, we didn’t pick up our house until Friday.

It was such a blessing to be able to stay in comfortable quarters and not a hotel room. I made a great friend with their dog, Gentry, and we watched the Cowboys beat the Redskins in an amazing comeback win on Monday Night Football.  So, a special shout out to our friends Dave and Becky Mead who are the most loyal, rabid, crazy Cowboys fans we know.  Who else takes his girl for a tour of Texas Stadium and then gets down on one knee (ON THE STAR AT MIDFIELD) to propose?  Better times are ahead Cowboys fans, hang in there.

We took off from Denton and about 30 miles down the road, I started getting a low tire pressure alert on my TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System).  After stopping three times to put air in one of the trailer tires and even changing out the core of the valve stem, I was still having problems.  The next day I took it to a tire store in Natchitoches, LA where they discovered a faulty valve stem.  We got that fixed and headed down the road.

Another blessing came along when we reached Gulf Shores, AL, that night and were able to spend the evening with Vicki and Dale and their daughter, Jennifer, and her girls in Perdido Key, FL , just 15 miles away.

Well, we made it to Florida and we’re back at Manatee RV Resort, where we spent last March.  More good news, they just put in a new Pickle Ball court two weeks ago!!! Woo hoo! And a thank you goes to Jane’s sister, Jimmie, for loaning Jane her bike while we’re here.

About the RV, we’ve written a nasty email to the manufacturer and we’re in the market for a good Lemon Law attorney. J

But, what I’ve chosen to take away from all this is that we’ve had family and friends to stand by us during the frustration and utter exasperation.

We’re too stubborn to give up (44 years of marriage should be proof of that) and we look forward to the day when everything is repaired or replaced. 

We’ll be here in Ruskin, FL until the end of March.  We’re enjoying the 70-80 degree temps.

And on that note………..Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Tucson, AZ

We arrived at Voyager RV Resort in Tucson, elevation 2800+ ft., and the first thing we saw was the sign proclaiming that it was voted the best in America.  We checked in and were led to our site which was a back-in spot (have I ever mentioned how much I love pull through sites? 'Cuz I really do!)  and it became clear immediately that this was going to be a very, very tight fit. 

(We've been in tighter spots)

The people on the next site were sitting outside and had to move their truck so we could get in.  The man who led us in was giving Jim directions so I finally sat down with the couple next door and got acquainted and tried not to watch the proceedings until the backing was done.  Then we set up housekeeping for a month in Tucson.

The park really is great. It is exclusively for people over 55.  During "season", there are 300 different activities in which to participate.  We got here on October 8 - a bit early for most things to be going on but we found things to do.  I have been taking a water exercise class.  We went to a baked potato/salad lunch.  We attended a church service followed by a covered dish lunch.  AND here is the biggee!  Jim left one day telling me he was going to watch some pickleball and see what it was all about.  I thought "right, he's going to watch".....when was the last time Jim watched any sporting activity without participating?  Well, he played that Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday, etc.  The next Monday, he bought his own paddle and he is totally hooked.  Now he is wondering how he will cope with leaving here and not being able to play. 

So the couple next to us - the wife is from Scotland- and the couple across from us -the wife is from Germany- have been great.  We have become friends and we all met( on the new deck the couple across the street just had built) for coffee/tea yesterday afternoon.  The German lady, whose name is Angie, by the way, made incredible pastries to go with the tea.  It was great to sit and visit with people who have done so many different things and been so many different places. 

Jim says he could imagine retiring here someday.  Many people have said they get bored in retirement......well.......as someone told me soon after we got here, "If you get bored here, it is because you are boring".   I would love to try out the ceramics class, the ballroom dancing class and the stained glass making class and Jim would play pickleball till he drops.  So we will keep that in mind for the future. 

One of our trips from here was to Tombstone. Tombstone is still a functioning city.  People live and work there.  We visited the site of the Gunfight at the OK Corral.  A small area and the shootout itself lasted about 30 seconds.  Not exactly as depicted in the movies.  Then we went to the Boot Hill cemetery where some of the victims were buried, along with quite a few others.  Sometimes the markers are poetic and some tell a story.  There are many that just say "Unknown".

We visited Old Tucson one Saturday.  It was where MANY old westerns were filmed as well as "newer" films like The Three Amigos and several years of Little House on the Prairie.  In fact, it was built specifically for the purpose of luring film companies to the desert to make movies.  Then we went to the Desert Museum.  Sounds a little weird, but it was great.  Animals, plants, acres of desert life on display.  Speaking of the desert...in its own way, it is really beautiful.  And the mountains, well I never knew I liked mountains so much.  Now I wonder how I went so long without them being around.  They're gorgeous and fascinating.  We also went to the Saguaro National Park in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains.  The park is named for the saguaro cactus.  OK, we didn't do any real hiking there since the brochure mentioned the three kinds of rattlesnakes, mountain lions, bears, and killer bees in residence.  We stopped a few times and walked a short way into the cactus, but didn't go far from the truck. 

Here comes the noon stage.

Hop on the 3:10 to Yuma

The 3 Amigos was filmed here








We met a man here who full-timed in an RV for awhile and, once again, we were able to get helpful advice about living this lifestyle.  I don't remember if I have ever mentioned the type of RV we have.  It is a fifth wheel, Redwood, model 38GK.    We tow it behind a Ford F-350 super duty pickup.
The trailer is 41 feet 5 inches long and looks even bigger when we are hauling it down the road.  It is a residential model----made to be lived in.  We have a full sized fridge rather that one of those RV refrigerators.  I have two large pantries with pull-out shelves and a dishwasher.  We have two TVs inside and one outside.  We have central heat and air as well as a heat pump and a fake fireplace that puts out heat.  The microwave oven is also a convection oven and I am learning to cook with the convection.  We got a Dish Tailgater so we have satellite TV everywhere we go.  So we are not exactly roughing it. Right now we are sitting in our recliners watching a movie after having dinner at the park's restaurant. 
 .

Jane is the one wearing the yellow shirt (doing her cactus imitation) at the national park.

They call this the cactus forest.







We leave Thursday for the long trip back to Texas (briefly) and then on to Arkansas for Thanksgiving.  Brian is taking a vacation with friends for Thanksgiving then coming to Florida to spend Christmas with us.  It can get cold here in the desert and we are looking forward to the warmth of the gulf shore of Florida.