Here it is, Spring, 2017. Where does the time go? Although I know that the pace of the Atomic Clock has not changed, I still feel that somehow the Fourth Dimension has undergone a radical increase in speed! I suppose it falls into the same category as "How did we get so much laundry?"
After our return home to NorCal last October, we enjoyed a long week of camping with our special friends, Steve and Suzi, at their ranch in the Mojave Desert. Donna and Suzi needed a dune buggy fix, and this was it!
Yeah, you just gotta love those desert skies!
Yeah....we drove 400 miles north for a few days, then drove 400 miles south for a week, then drove 400 miles back home! Exxon Mobil's stock value is on the rise....Our annual "Desert Trip" was very enjoyable, with the possible exception of continuing malfunctions with Donna's dune buggy. For the third straight year, her buggy has broken during the trip, so she decided to pass it along to a new owner (after considerable repair) and look to getting a new one (you know...faster, cleaner, etc, etc.) That should happen later this Spring, when the weather improves. She has already picked out a new name.....stay tuned!
In November, our daughter Teresa and son-in-law Monte graciously hosted a "Friendsgiving" Celebration just before Thanksgiving. Neighbors, friends, and family attended, and we all relished a catered dinner outside in the warm Fall weather. Midway through the evening, Monte, raised a toast to our 50th Wedding Anniversary! Yeah, D and I have been together for forever! Our son, Jeff, and his wife Jamie recreated our wedding cake and framed the newspaper story about our wedding. In the style of the day, it was quite a write-up! Must have been a slow news day! A few days after Friendsgiving, Donna and I rode Amtrak from Sacramento, over the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains, and into Reno. It was a leisurely and beautiful trip on the train and a quiet few days in a resort hotel.
The train ride was the focus of our trip, since we have never been on a train other than short excursion rides. It was quite an adventure! The scenery from the observation car was wonderful!
In Reno we stayed at the El Dorado Hotel, which was all decorated for Christmas.
We managed to take a long walk along the Truckee River just before a storm rolled in.
The train trip home was relaxing and enjoyable. The recent snowstorm had left a delightful covering on the pine trees.
The Holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, were, as usual, a whirlwind of activity. Enjoyable, but stressful. Co-ordinating the activities of multiple households is difficult at times, but we thoroughly enjoyed the company of our family, including our son Jeff, his wife Jamie, and their children, Hanna and Devan.
Sasha loved the Christmas presents from her long distance friend Max and his family, Debbie and Larry!
They had made arrangements for a suite in the Venetian Resort Hotel, and it was indeed fancy!
The decor was phenomenal. This is the 10th floor lobby, near the elevators!
The Venetian is spread out over several acres of land where the Sands Hotel used to be. One can get lost very easily in all the areas of the hotel, particularly large rooms devoted to shopping like this one!
Of course, it's the Venetian.....
Brightly decorated for the Chinese Year of the Rooster:
Our gift included two tickets to a Willie Nelson concert! Wow!
The show was spectacular! Willie was recovering from a cold, and cut the show a bit short, but it was great nevertheless! Willie and his family put on a great and memorable concert! At 83, he's still The Man.
After a night at the concert, we got up early, grabbed a cup of coffee and a roll at the Coffee Bean and Tea and checked out of the Venetian at 3:30 am.....
So we could catch an early bird flight back home.
What a great time!
In mid-January, Donna and I ran away from home. A few days later we ended up in Quartzsite, AZ, just in time for the Big RV Show. Thousands of rv'ers gather in the desert to spend a bit of time, with our mobile lifestyle the major topic of conversation. In the Big Tent, we soon tired of salesmen and vendors selling special, one of a kind knives, that slice, dice, chop, puree, and then wash themselves, all to the sound of amplified headsets. Must have been hundreds of pounds of cucumbers that gave their lives in the demonstrations!
Just before the first of February, we stopped by an authorized Newmar motorhome dealer and repair facility to have our bedroom slide repaired. It has been non-op since August of last year, and we were unable to find a qualified shop to work on it. Freedom RV in Tucson quickly diagnosed the problem as faulty parts and less than stellar workmanship from the first time the slide was repaired. Parts were ordered and installed, and the slide is now pronounced healed. Yay! Now we're in conversation with the shop in Tennessee that originally attempted the repair to obtain reimbursement of a few hundred dollars of deductible expense. We'll see how that works out.....Just updated...Lee-Smith in Chattanooga has refused to take responsibility for their work last year and has refused a request for a good faith compromise. To whomever may read this: avoid Lee-Smith in Chattanooga for rv repairs at all costs (pun intended), there are other shops in the area.
Since arriving in Tucson, we've renewed our friendship with Ted and Phyllis, whom we met several years ago. They winter in Tucson, and know the area intimately, particularly good restaurants! We've met some new friends in the park, our "snowbird" home, and have shared laughs with them. It seems that our site is located in a thicket of Canadians, so we've learned a great deal about the upcoming 150th celebration of the beginning of the country. We have been considering a short trip into Canada this year, and the info we've received has solidified that. We'll see about that one, also....
For now, we're enjoying warm weather and calm breezes, and getting a few long-delayed chores done. Alejandro and Jose are waxing the motorhome as I write this, and we have interior woodwork to clean, tile grout to scrub...oh, you know, all the standard stuff that needs to be done periodically. We hope to relax in the sun for a few more weeks, so we're spreading the work out...don't want to run out of things to do! We have a few day trips planned and some tourist activities, so we'll keep you posted!
