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Saturday, December 28, 2013

Val Vista RV Resort, Mesa, AZ

 

We returned from our trip north on Dec 7, it was a sad trip to attend Sarah's brother Bob's funeral but it did give us the opportunity to see a lot of people we haven't seen for quite a while. Sarah was able to visit with her aunt Helen; she was not in the best of health and passed away last week. So it was a blessing she was able to see her before she died. We also made a point to see Tiffany, Robert and Daniel and families. We had a very enjoyable time with all of them. Cynthia graciously let us stay at her place, thank you. We got to see Cairo's and had lunch with them, but I ran out of time and wasn't able to see all the people we wanted to see in Des Moines. So Russ, Candi, Laurie, Marci, Mike and Smokey D's we will have to wait to visit with you all in April. We did manage to put 1300 miles in the rental car before we left Saturday Dec 7. We flew Southwest and had good flights both ways, I don't really like to fly much anymore, but I will try to fly Southwest again, they were very friendly and on time.

Since we got back we have been working very hard in the Decor team for Cal-Am. Actually, I believe the job is a bit more organized this time because quite a bit of the decorations etc. are in a warehouse setting and we aren't moving things around like we did two years ago. We also don't have to do any demolition, which is a time saver and is a better utilization of workers. Again, this year we have a great bunch of people working in the team. I don't know how Mikki knows a couple will fit when, for most of them, she just talks to them on the phone, but she does a great job of getting the right mix and we do have fun.

Steve & Teresa had us over for dinner Dec 8, Steve fixed vegetable soup, Steve is a very good cook and the soup was delicious. They invited another couple Chief, he is a full blood Iroquois I believe and I apologize but I don't remember his wife's name. It was a great evening.

Sarah got a new pair of glasses at Costco after we arrived here to replace the ones she broke in her fall in Kansas. After we got back from Iowa, she was still having issues with them so we went back to Costco and the technician did some adjusting and so far, she hasn't complained about them, so hopefully the glasses are fixed and she can again enjoy reading.

I got my flu shot the week before Christmas. I had called the VA Clinic here and asked if it was possible to get the shot and they said come in whenever I could, so we headed out to the clinic. I put the address into the car's gps and away we go. I am not sure what the gps was thinking but it took us out to the east Deseret and took us to a dead end road. I took out my phone and looked up the address on Google maps and we were ten miles or so to far east, so we headed back and found the clinic. I had to register with the clinic and can use it for medical needs other than annual physical or to refill prescriptions, this is fine with me, so I am classified with them as a traveling veteran, which I am.

This past week and next week we work Mon, Thurs and Fri because of Christmas and New Years day. We were invited to my sister Colleen's for Christmas; it is always fun going to their home. Darrius' sister Debbie came up from Tucson and was staying there also. Colleen, Sarah and I went to mass Christmas Eve, the mass started at four but we got to the church a few minutes after three to be able to get a seat. There were well over a thousand people there with a couple hundred standing in the back. Christmas day we went over to my niece Angela and husband Tyler's house to be there when Delaney, Kendall and Kylie, great nieces, opened their gifts. They are attending the University of Arizona in Tucson, http://www.arizona.edu/ it has a great campus. The girls received quite a few gifts mostly clothes but all befitting a college girl. Delaney graduates next May from the nursing program and has applied for graduate school in nursing. Kendall and Kylie are in their first year but are either considered sophomores or juniors, I do know they will graduate in three or three and a half years in the majors of engineering, IT and marketing, I don't remember which one is in what major. I do know they are graduating a lot faster than I did, forty years faster. Anyway, they are very smart and beautiful young women who have a great future ahead of them.

Christmas afternoon the gang came over to Colleen and Darrius' for dinner. Darrius put a prime rib on the grill and it was absolutely one of the best prime ribs I have ever had, and there was salad and mashed potatoes, green beans and a couple bottles of very good wine. The meal was exquisite. Tyler's folks Linda and Stan Stratton from Burlington were there also. I found out Linda was related to Jones the barber, my dad used to take us kids there to get our hair cut and she was related to Francis Jones who lived next door to the house I grew up in. What a small world we had a great visit. Stan and Linda are a fun couple, they bought a house somewhere in the Mesa area so we will get together with them again.

I probably forgot something, so until later

Dreams Do Come True

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I will write a new blog after the holidays but in the meantime:


MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR


Sarah & Ken

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Mesa, AZ

We spent Thanksgiving at Colleen and Darrius’, we had a great time and the food was fabulous. Angela & Tyler, Tyler’s folks, and Delaney, Kendall and Kylie, I don’t remember the dog’s name but she was there also. Debbie, Darrius’ sister, was there from Tuscan. We had a great visit even though we received some bad news.

Sarah’s brother, Bob Cain, passed away Thanksgiving day. I was thinking about driving when everyone made me see the error of my thinking. Darrius got online and did some research, he is very good at that, and found Southwest had a good rate on plane tickets to Des Moines. I had never flown on Southwest before but we had great flights both ways.

We arrived in Des Moines at 4:30 on Saturday the 30th, Cynthia picked us up at the airport and we stayed with her that night. The next day, Sunday, we had rented a car at the airport so Cynthia and Sarah dropped me off there to get the car and we headed for Galesburg, IL. Cynthia and Sarah rode together; Cynthia needed her car because we were not going back to Des Moines right away. The viewing was from 3-5 in that afternoon, we arrived before two. We spent the rest of the day at the funeral home.

After the viewing, we went to John’s Taco Hideout for dinner. Carl went to school with John and they did a great job of keeping everyone fed. All of the Cain family and Judy, Bob’s wife, and two of her daughters were all there. One thing I found very nice, Bob retired as a Galesburg firefighter, there were two firefighters, one at each end of the casket, they stood at attention for twenty-minute intervals for the entire two hours of the viewing. I liked that.

The next day, Monday, was the funeral service at the funeral home, it was very nice. When they took the casket, out to the hearse there were firefighters in two rows and the casket passed between them. Two fire trucks led the hearse to the edge of town with their sirens and horns blaring, very nice. Burial was in the Historical Myers Cemetery in Pontoosuc, Illinois.

After the internment, I went to my brother’s in Burlington, Sarah and I stayed there Monday night, Sarah went to see her aunt Helen, she rode with her brother Bill.

Went out to eat Monday night with Larry & Kathy Hoenig, Cynthia Cain, Bill & Mable Cain and Chuck Cain, Bill & Mable’s son. We ate at Gator’s in Burlington, as always the food was good.

Tuesday, everyone left and Sarah and I headed to Wisconsin to see Robert, Sarah, Mason and Madyson. It was foggy the entire trip to Wisconsin but we made it without too much trouble. We spent a great four hours with the kids. Robert made a delicious chili for supper and we enjoyed being with them even if it was only for just a few hours.

Wednesday morning Sarah and I headed back to Iowa, we did stop in Coralville, IA and had lunch with Carl & Merilee and then on to Ankeny, IA to meet Tiffany, Matt and Alexa for dinner. They met us at Outback Steakhouse; Bryon was working so he wasn’t able to be there. We had a good time visiting with them and the food was good.

After dinner we headed for Cynthia’s, we stayed there until Saturday, thank you Cynthia.

Thursday Sarah and I headed west to Omaha to see Daniel, Marie, Emily, Isabel and Eli. We had a great visit with them also; it is always fun to see the grandkids.

I did accomplish one thing; we gave the kids their Christmas gifts so I saved on postage.

Friday I went out to Mike Cord’s house, a friend of ours, to print off our boarding passes for our flight to Phoenix on Saturday; it was good to see Mike. Then Sarah and I went to Norma and Orren Cairo’s for lunch. Norma had a chicken pie and a homemade coconut cream pie, delicious.

Cynthia made chili for supper Friday night with apple crisp for desert another great and delicious meal.

Saturday morning with a temperature of a minus one degree, we headed for the airport and our trip home. We got home around four thirty Saturday afternoon.

It was great to see the kids and everyone else but we wish it had been under different circumstances.

Sarah’s brother was a unique individual and will be sorely missed by Judy, his wife, his children, Carl, Cheryl, Fred and Allen, and by his brother and sisters, Bill, Cynthia and Sarah. The nephews, nieces and grandchildren are too numerous to mention but I am sure they will miss being around Bob.

Monday it is back to our normal routing, until later

Dreams Do Come True

Friday, November 15, 2013

Val Vista RV Resort, Mesa, AZ

We have been here for over two weeks and enjoying every minute of it.

Our first week here we reconnected with folks we knew from our previous stay here, did some shopping and reacquainting ourselves of the area. We also made a visit to the doctor to have Sarah’s knee checked out, she had fallen and it still hurt. It is getting progressively better so she is mending well.

Work is exactly as we expected. Sarah is working in the costume shop, which has been enlarged but is still too small, I doubt they could have a big enough space. I am working on the truck and enjoying it. Cal-Am bought a strip mall just outside the entrance to Mesa Regal RV Resort and this has given the décor team, which we are, part of, the opportunity to consolidate a lot of the decorations and props. Again, there isn’t enough space here to consolidate all but we are getting many of the items in the building, the excise will be housed in three storage containers.

Mikki, our boss, does a good job of hiring people to work on the team. We have another good group this year. Tonight is the welcoming party for team members, I am glad we all have name tags, at my brain age is old and I have a tough time remembering everyone’s name, although by April I have mastered most of them.

I am trying to decide whether to try to hook up with a local TV and internet service or keep what we have. Our internet service is through Mellincom.com it is a monthly, no contract, service. I can cancel and restart anytime I want without a big penalty, a $19 restart fee is all I pay. I get 20 GB per month for $70; the service is through a Verizon Mifi unit at 4G. It is a good deal for us because I can start or stop the service on the first of any month. We will have to see what I can find if anything with a good deal.

Bill & Ludella, friends from our last stay here, called last week and wanted to know if we wanted to go look at motor homes, so we did.

Now, as expected, this area is loaded with camper sales lots. We managed to look at three different lots and did see a couple of units we thought would work for us. I still want to look at more lots because the selection is enormous and there will be a bigger selection in Feb and Mar. So, if we find something we like we may trade or may stay with what we have for a while.

Here is a picture of our site:

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We fit everything onto the site, I wish they would get rid of the tree, there is no fruit on it, I think it is an orange tree. I have asked that it be trimmed but that hasn’t happened yet.

Veteran’s Day is always a good day and this year it was no different. The day before Veteran’s Day Sarah and I went to have a free lunch, for me a veteran, at Bar Louie in Tempe, AZ. We both had hamburgers and they were very good. I had expected a long line etc. and there were maybe ten people in the whole place. So we had an enjoyable meal.

Next, we went to the Verizon so I could have them fax the paperwork needed to validate my discount. Let me begin at the beginning. I received a letter from Verizon in September saying I had until Oct 21 to validate my employment. Since I am not employed anymore I called them and said as such, I told them I have a veteran’s discount and since I was validated as a veteran once why do I need to do that again, since once a veteran always a veteran. They said I still needed to do it. After four attempts of trying to validate my status, I get someone who tells me the owner of the account is a Mark User. Who is Mark User, I asked? I had no idea and neither did Verizon. So the person at Verizon changed the name of the owner to my name and I figured that would be the end of it. Not quite, I checked the status a couple days later and the account still wasn’t validated. I talked with a supervisor in the validation department and she said to get it all corrected she needed to create a new account record, I said ok, so she asked me some questions and then she said I would have to fax my discharge papers to her to validate the account, that is how we ended up at the Verizon store. This did end on a good note, the supervisor called me the account had been validated and because I am a veteran, I would not have to validate again.

I understand validating those who are working or not a veteran because employment status can change and a person may or may not be eligible for a discount. As for retirees, there are other discounts available to them. Anyway, it took a month and a half but I succeeded.

So we are settled in for the next five months and we are going to enjoy the sites of the area and visit some of the places we didn’t see the last time we were here.

Take care and Dreams Do Come True

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Timing

 

Do you believe in Fate, Karma, Coincidences, Grace of God or Guardian Angels? I do and I believe yesterday is positive proof of them being in our lives. It happened yesterday and the more I think about it the more I know it to be true.

We left Deming, NM earlier than we usually leave a place heading to our next destination. We stopped twice at rest areas for a break before getting into Tucson. Deb Baker had told us the night before there was construction on interstate ten and to expect delays. So I wanted to get through Tucson before mid afternoon and the rush hour. I had forgotten Arizona does not do daylight saving time so we would not have had a problem even if we left Deming later than usual.

We got through Tucson without any problem; some slow down due to the construction but nothing significant. We were around Picacho Peak when I could see a dust cloud just blowing across the interstate. There was a freight train running alongside us and I was watching it, but when I saw the dust cloud I radioed back to Sarah, she was following me in the car, and asked if she saw the dust. She said she did. I was concerned but I also saw it was going to be across the road before we got to it, so I was not too worried.

It was not more than five minutes when I heard and saw a state trooper heading the other direction with lights and siren on; I counted four of them within a few minutes of each other. I thought to myself there must have been a bad accident; I did not even thinking about a dust storm causing it, http://azstarnet.com/news/local/dead-in--vehicle-pileup-on-i--near-picacho/article_8c66c1e4-91c3-51e5-b0cb-488425a55b50.html.

If you cannot link to story here it is:

"3 dead in 19-vehicle pileup on I-10 near Picacho Peak

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I-10 Picacho Accident

Photos by Ron Medvescek / Arizona Daily Star

A crash investigator — one of many at the scene — checks one of the heavily damaged cars caught in the pileup on Interstate 10 near Picacho Peak. As many as seven tractor-trailers also were involved in the chain-reaction crash at midday.

2013-10-30T00:00:00Z 3 dead in 19-vehicle pileup on I-10 near Picacho PeakBy Carmen Duarte Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star

6 hours ago  •  By Carmen Duarte Arizona Daily Star

0

Three people were killed in a 19-vehicle pileup on Interstate 10 near Picacho Peak on Tuesday after a swift moving dust storm passed through the area, authorities said.

The chain-reaction crash north of Tucson involved up to seven tractor-trailer rigs, and the rest were passenger vehicles, said Bart Graves, a Department of Public Safety spokesman.

The interstate was shut down for hours.

The pileup was reminiscent of a crash along the same stretch of highway in October 2011 that killed one man and injured 15.

In Tuesday’s pileup, “there were crunched vehicles between semis, and you can’t tell they were vehicles,” Graves said.

“Vehicles rolled onto the side of the highway following the impact of the crash,” he said.

The pileup occurred at 12:30 p.m. when a dust storm moved in. It subsided about 15 minutes later, said Graves.

“Winds were at 29 mph, and there was zero visibility,” Graves said.

Dozens of DPS officers were called to the crash site and closed the interstate’s westbound and eastbound lanes in order to get officers and medical crews to the scene.

Three helicopters took patients to the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson, and Phoenix’s St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, and Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center.

At least 12 were injured, according to The Associated Press. Graves could not confirm how many were injured. He did say the injuries ranged from serious to critical.

One of the dead was identified as Gordon Lee Smith, 76, of Mead, Wash., Graves said. He said the identities and hometowns of the other two may be released today.

“We are trying to piece together the actual chain of events that caused this crash,” said Graves.

The interstate had up to six miles of backed-up traffic through the afternoon into Tuesday night as DPS officers investigated the pileup.

The Picacho Peak area is prone to dust storms that develop suddenly and can quickly reduce visibility to zero for drivers.

The area has farms and ranches, and agriculture is a factor in dust pollution.

The National Weather Service had issued a blowing-dust advisory shortly before the pileup, with wind gusts of up to 30 mph reported in the area.

DPS officials recommend that motorists caught in dust storms slow down, exit the highway at the nearest off-ramp and get as far away from the road as possible.

Motorists should turn off their vehicles’ lights and remain in the vehicle with seat belts fastened.

Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at cduarte@azstarnet.com or 573-4104."

If we had been five to ten minutes later we could have been in the wreck or at the very least been sitting on the road for hours. We watched the local news at nine last night and the westbound lanes were still not open.

So, bottom line I believe our guardian angels were working overtime making sure we were through the area before this dust storm caused its mayhem. We are very thankful we made it safely to Mesa.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Val Vista RV Resort, Mesa, AZ

We made it. We arrived at Val Vista around two this afternoon, took a couple of hours to get set up and then relax time. We did go over to see our boss Mikki and to see the new décor team digs. We will work Mon, Tues, and Weds, noon to four.

We have a nice spot, we back up to University Ave and it was an easy back in for me. There is enough room on the site for the truck and car and enough area to sit outside.

Remember the couple Ron & Romona who we saw in Santa Rosa? They left Santa Rosa at least an hour before we did and when we pulled into our site at Deming, NM they were in the site behind us. We hadn’t told them what campground we were going to be in either. Nice couple, we had dinner with them and enjoyed visiting with them.

Well that is about all for now.

Dreams Do Come True

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Santa Rosa RV Park, Santa Rosa, NM

We are in Santa Rosa, NM, we have been here before on our first trip to Mesa we stayed here. It is a nice campground, I don’t believe I would want to spend the winter here but for a couple days it is nice. One of the few parks we have been at where the Wi-Fi is very good.

As I said in my last blog the truck was having some problems. The sound of the engine change to a high pitch and black smoke was coming out of the exhaust. The biggest change was it had no power.

We called the Ford dealer in Salina, KS and they said they could get it in on Thursday, so we left Smith Center about three and arrived at the Salina KOA about six. First thing Thursday we dropped the truck off at the Ford dealer, they called about noon and said it had dropped two injectors, the emission control valve and a couple other things needed replacing. Of course I told them to fix it, about two thousand in repair cost. Fortunately we have an engine warranty on it, so it picked up almost fifteen hundred of the cost. I was happy about that.

We left Salina, yesterday morning and headed down Hwy 135 to KS 61 to Hwy 54 and into Guymon, OK, getting there about two thirty. We got all set up then went to Wal-Mart and put fuel in the truck. Then church and put gas in the car. It was 34 degrees this morning but we got out of Guymon at eight forty-five this morning and arrived here in Santa Rosa, NM about one thirty mountain time.

Tomorrow we are heading south on Hwy 54 to Hwy 70 through Las Cruces, NM and interstate 10 into Deming to stay tomorrow night. Tuesday into Tucson for the night to see Debbie Baker and Wednesday into Mesa on Weds.

So far it has been an interesting and trying trip at times, but enjoyable.

Now I have to apologize for not remembering to mention having dinner with Merilee, we got to see her a couple different times and as always had a good time with her.

Sarah is doing a great job of following me in the car, I do miss her riding with me but I know we will enjoy having the car with us in AZ.

When we were in Salina I was sitting in the camper and noticed a Alfa motorhome pulling a trailer go past us on its way to a site. When we got our site at Guymon I noticed a Alfa motorhome with a trailer and then this morning as they were leaving I waved to them. We left within a few minutes of them. We stopped at a Flying J at Tucumcari, NM for a break. When we came out of the building a guy was standing there smoking and asked me if I was driving the fifth wheel, I said yes. Long story short, it was the same Alfa we saw in Salina and Guymon. They are now parked here in Santa Rosa RV Park the same as we are. Ron & Ramona started there adventure this year, they are nice people. Sarah & I wish them safe travels and hope to see them again down the road.

Till Later – Dreams Do Come True

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Smith Center, KS

We are at the Excel Service Center to have the technicians fix a couple of minor things on the camper. Hopefully they will be able to do it all tomorrow and we can get back on the road Thursday.

Coming over today we had a 20-30 mph head wind and the truck was struggling, no power and blowing black smoke at times. So either the wind was tough on it or we have a problem with the truck. We will see what happens Thursday.

We left the Kansas City area this morning, we had a great time there.

Last Weds we met Lindsay & Vince and their baby Sophie. I held Sophie for a long time and she didn’t complain a bit, she has good taste in men. It was great to see Lindsay & Vince also but Sophie was the center of attention. Hopefully we won’t wait until she is a teenager to see her again.

We spent lots of time with Steve, Lynne and the kids, watched a movie with Nick, Pacific something, it had great computer animation in it. I may have to watch it again.

Lost out on seeing Zach perform in the band at a football game due to rain, darn. I promise Zach sometime before you graduate from HS we will make an effort to attend one of your events.

We had a great visit in Kansas City with everyone. Now it is on the road and hopefully we will make it to Mesa without any further truck problems, I hope it is dirty injectors, I put some cleaner in the fuel so we will see if that does any good.

Till later,

Dreams Do Come True

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Griff’s Valley View RV Park, Altoona, IA

What great weather we have been having, aside from one storm, it has been beautiful here.

Sarah has finally been to her last doctor appointment today, all of them gave here glowing reports. She is FREE of cancer and we have been given permission to head south for the winter. So on behalf of Sarah I want to thank everyone for your positive thoughts, prayers and encouragement you have given her this past year. Sarah is looking good, feeling great and has her orneriness back. Life is good.

We have done our fair share of eating out this past week but in deference to our kids I will not elaborate except to tell who we ate with, Mike & Sheri, Cynthia, Tiffany & Matt, Bryon and Alexa, Laurie and Marci, Russ & Candi and Orren & Norma. We enjoyed every minute with each of them and the food was always great.

Today Sarah had her last doctor appt and like I said she got a good report and so she is walking the mall with her friend Gail. Gail and her husband Joe are moving to Clear Lake, we wish them the best.

Tomorrow we are heading to Omaha, just with the car, so Sarah can attend eight hours of classes so she will be able to renew her cosmotologist license next year. It cost a bit but we do save enough on the products she buys to pay for fees.

We are coming back to the camper Saturday night. Sunday we want to spend some time with Cynthia, on Monday Sarah has an appointment with a lymphedema therapist to help her with some exercises to forestall any onset of lymphedema.

Tuesday we head for Kansas City, we are staying at the KOA in Oak Grove, MO. I  picked this because there are not very many campgrounds in the area with full hookups and it is close to the Truman Library, which I want to go see, if is open by then.

We family in the area, Steve and Lynne and kids, and my niece Lindsay and her husband Vince. We hope to see Lindsay & Vince so we can take a look at the new great niece Sophie. We haven’t been able to get hold of Lindsay & Vince so we will have to see what happens.

After KC we head over to Smith Center, KS the the Excel service center for some minor work on the camper. Our plan is to be in Mesa on or before November 1.

Today was the culmination of a busy year with the best news ever, Sarah is cancer free and can get her life back to normal, we are very thankful for God’s grace and blessing on her and all the thoughts and prayers sent her way. Again thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

I believe that wraps it up for now, I probably won’t write anything again until we are in AZ, so stay safe.

Dreams Do Come True

Monday, September 30, 2013

Time to Say Good-Bye

Before I forget Emily, Isabel and Eli got a cat, well a kitten really, if it lives to be a cat it will be because of its ability to find hiding places. Have you ever seen kids carrying a cat. It is draped over their arm and looks like it will be squeezed to death. The kids seem to like it so I guess it will be ok. Emily does clean the litter box so that is a plus.

Well we didn’t buy a motor home last week in our trip to Lincoln but we did find one we liked a lot. It was new so now I have to find a used one with similar floor plan and one we can afford.

Sarah had a tooth bothering her, she just had them cleaned earlier in the month, the dentist put something on the tooth and said it would be fine. The best part is there was no charge. I guess I will have to go to them for my dental work, that is as long as they give me the happy gas, I have to have the gas or I can’t do it, I tell them up front I am a BIG BABY when it comes to the dentist.

We met our realtor Bob Pew and his wife Laurie at Paradise Bakery for lunch on Thursday. They are great people, I have some concerns about the closing on the house when we are gone but he says not to worry, it a can be done. I believe him.

Friday was spent with the kids at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch, http://www.valaspumpkinpatch.com/, this is the third or fourth year we have gone, the kids like it so it is an annual event.

Saturday no soccer but Marie & Daniel took part in a church sponsored event to help the poor in downtown Omaha, so we babysat the kids with Eddy & Elia. It was a “Convoy of Hope” event, they are “one of the world's finest disaster relief organizations, we will provide groceries, shoes, haircuts, a health fair, family portraits, live entertainment, lunch and prayer to thousands of neighbors”. There were people standing in line, in the rain, at 7:30 am and the event didn’t start until 10 am. This just goes to show even though the government has said for years they are taking care of the poor, it doesn’t seem like they are doing a very good job of it.

Sunday was a afternoon full of softball. Isabel had a game at 12:50 pm, followed by Emily’s double hitter. We finished about 4:45, what a great time watching the little ones play softball.

We were all invited over to Marie’s parents home, Eddy & Elia, for dinner. What great parents, the food was great and before long it was time to say good-bye. I hope we will see them when we drive back to Omaha on Oct 11 for Sarah to attend a day long session of classes on the 12th to be able to renew her beautician’s license.

Today I have removed the branches from the top of the slides, aired up the tires, and dumped the black tank. I did find out I have a problem with my air compressor, it leaks air when it gets to 100# of pressure, so I have something amiss with the compressor. I may wait until we get to AZ to get it fixed, we’ll see.

We finally made it to Gerda’s German restaurant. Last Wednesday we went to Gerda's with Ernie & Shirley’s and it was great.  We each had something different and for dessert I had German Chocolate cake, it was absolutely fantastic. So I guess the third time is a charm.

Tomorrow we leave for Griff’s RV park and we will be there until the 15th.

So until later – Dreams Do Come True.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Last Days in Gretna

I have been told that I have not posted a blog for a while, in fact I thought I had, but in checking it appears I have been remiss in my blogging duties. So here goes a catch up of sorts.

We have been to the soccer games for all three grandkids, Emily, Isabel and Eli. They aren’t actually games as instructional sessions to learn how to play soccer. I especially like to watch Eli, at three he is a hoot to watch. He’ll stand around and watch the other kids and then all of a sudden he is doing everything the other kids are doing. I guess he wants to make sure he gets it correct. Isabel is like a gazelle; she can outrun her older sister and holds her own in the soccer arena once she gets going. Emily is going to be tall, she is skinny as a rail and I believe will be quite a bit taller than Marie. Se we spend Saturday mornings at soccer and most of Sundays at softball.

Eli isn’t playing softball yet he just walks around eating apple slices his grandmother Elia brings for him. Emily and Isabel play, they are on different teams, because of age, and they plan at different times, all games are on Sunday, so it is a day of softball. I get a kick out of watching them; there are times they are very attentive to what is going on in the game and other times when they aren’t paying any attention at all. Of course, this is true with most of the members of both teams. I remember coaching this age for one year only, I didn’t have the patience with the kids. So I am a good spectator, just as at Mason and Madyson’s games I don’t yell any more. I figure I embarrassed their dads so I can be quiet now.

I know most of you don’t want to hear about our eating out but I am going to tell you anyway.

Saturday, the seventh, we went John & Cyndi Cline’s house and then over to Leach RV and Camping World. I believe I have mentioned we are looking at motor homes to see if we want to move into one of them. Anyway, Leach RV was having an open house with free hotdogs, who can say no to free hotdogs? I offered to buy but John wouldn’t see it so he bought. I didn’t argue I was getting a free meal, life is good isn’t it.

Even though we didn’t find an RV we wanted to buy we had a great time with John and Cyndi.

I had my annual physical at the VA here in Omaha; I transferred my records to the VA here from Des Moines. I got a clean bill of health, other than the annual reminder to lose weight. I keep trying and I would lose weight if it wasn’t for food.

Tuesday, the 10th, we met our realtor, Bob Pew, at the townhome builder’s model home and had a visit with the builder’s agent. Long story short our place won’t be finished until at least December. Oh well, at least we have a place to stay.

We went out to eat with my aunt and uncle, Ernie and Shirley Ertz, we wanted to go to Greda’s German restaurant, we had gone there to eat on our last visit and the place was closed so we figured we would try again. I checked their website for their times etc and knew they should be open. We get there and pull up in front and there is a sign on the door saying On Vacation, Gone Fishing. I hadn’t thought of that, should have called first. Oh well, we found another place to eat and then had desert at Whitefield’s, it is a bakery/restaurant, the bakery items are out of this world. We are going to try the German place one more time before we leave next week.

We met Rusty Cain, great nephew, for lunch at Whole Foods store. The food was very good, a little expensive but good. I did try to find Russ & Frank’s BBQ sauce but they didn’t have any on the shelf. So I asked a couple of guys working there about it and they said we have ordered it but haven’t received the product, so maybe they will have it in the near future. (Russ, I will need to get a mild and medium when we see you in a week or so.)

Saturday was Eli’s third birthday so he had a nice party with cake and ice cream. I don’t know how many were at his party but there were a bunch of kids. We had a lot of fun.

Today, Cyndi and John picked us up and we went to Leach RV in Lincoln to look at motor homes. They have a nice inventory; of course, we were looking at new ones. We found a Georgetown, 2013, with a floor plan we both liked but the price was more than we want to pay, so now I will see if that floor plan is in older units. We had lunch and then went looking for the Licorice International store in the Haymarket area of Lincoln. This store, www.licoriceinternational.com, has licorice from all over the world. Of course, I had to buy some; I bought from Germany and Britain.

Then it was back home and a bit of rest.

We leave here Oct 1 and go to Griff’s RV Park in Des Moines. Sarah has doctor appointments and with a clean bill of health we will be heading south on the 15th. We plan to spend a few days in the Kansas City area to visit Steve, Lynne and family. Then to the Excel service center for some minor adjustments on the camper and then head south. Our plan is to be in Mesa on or before Nov 1.

That about raps it up for this post, remember

Dreams Do Come True.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

West Omaha KOA, Gretna, NE

We left Wisconsin on Tuesday and made our way to West Omaha KOA. It was a long trip, 481 miles and as full timer knows that is a full day. We don’t like more than 250-300 miles in a given day and that is only when necessary. I like to start out about 8:30 and arrive no later than 3:30 pm; most of our trips are in that category. Anyway, we arrived safely and totally set up within an hour, then it was time to relax and that is what I did.

We had a great time in Wisconsin, we got to see a lot of the folks we knew when we lived there and we missed a few but we will try to see them next year.

Here is a recap of what we did the last couple of weeks we were in Wisconsin.

August 20, we met Betty, Linda, Jane, Jenny, Judy and their husbands, for lunch, these ladies worked for us when we owned Mason de Ville Beauty Salon in Sun Prairie, the salon is no longer there but these women meet regularly and asked Sarah and I to join them. We have met Betty & Glen each year for the past three, I believe, and this year the others joined us.

At the risk of hearing from my kids concerning my always talking about food, we ate at a very good restaurant, 1855 Saloon and Grill, http://1855saloongrill.com/, in Cottage Grove, WI.

That night Mason had a football game so we had to go see him play, he did very well. He plays the right tackle position, although I believe a week later he may have been at the guard position, I forgot to ask.

August 22, we met Robert, Sarah, Mason and Madyson for lunch at Red Robin, Robert was there on his lunch hour. Robert went back to work and the rest of us went to the supply store, Sarah Ann stocks up on the family’s shampoo etc. The grandkids and I went down to the bird store, they sell bird supplies, stands feeders etc., we didn’t buy anything but had fun looking.

That night we met Joyce and Wayne Knapton at 1855 Saloon and Grill for dinner. I had written 5:30 for our time and it should have been 5:00, my apologizes. We had a great time catching up on kids etc. We have met Joyce the last couple of years for lunch in Madison but Wayne was never able to join us, this year he could and it was great seeing him and Joyce.

August 24, spent time at Robert and Sarah Ann’s, didn’t do much but it was fun being around the kids.

August 26, we met Lan and Gail Waddell at Paddy Coughlin Pub in Ft Atkinson, WI for dinner. It had been eight years or more since we had seen them, it was great to see them. The food here was great and the conversation was even better.

August 27 we got to see Dick and Teri, Sarah Ann's parents, we were all going to Mason's football game but it was canceled due to it being too hot outside. It is always good to see them, Dick was in the Air Force and went to Vietnam the same as I did. The conversation is always interesting when we get together.

August 26, 28, 29, 30, we spent part or most of the day with Mason and Madyson. Some days Sarah Ann worked the full day others not or Robert came home early or worked from home. We did this last year also, Sarah Ann is a teacher and she has to get her classroom ready for her first graders so we stay with Mason and Madyson. We enjoy it and it gives Sarah Ann the time she needs to get things ready for the school year.

It is interesting to me to see how much the grandkids change each time we see them. All of them from the 21 year old to the 3 year old, they all change from year to year and it is fun and interesting to see the growth and development of their personalities and intellect.

So, we are now in Omaha and our sports plate is full again with softball and soccer. I am looking forward to seeing all of it, Emily is playing softball again this year and Isabel is playing softball for the first time this year, should be fun. Eli is going to play soccer; he is or will be three so that will really be fun to watch.

Update on the house, we are meeting with the builder’s agent next week to make sure we get some of the things we want done to it done, it won’t be finished until December at the earliest, it actually makes no difference to us because we won’t be here anyway so the longer it takes now the better. I do want it done before April 1, 2014. Sarah and I went out to look at what has been done so far and as with all buildings, the foundation looks smaller than the end product will be but it does make you want to go, “Wait a minute this isn’t as big as we want”, it is, the finished product will be good.

I finished a book last week, don’t remember the name of it, it was about this librarian in MN who had two cats follow her home and they had “special powers”, it was a fun book and the ending was a bit different than I expected.

Currently I am reading “Driving Loyalty” by Kirk Kazanjian, it is about Enterprise Rent a Car company, I received the book free when I was driving for them. It is interesting and would be even more interesting or maybe pertinent if I was still working but a good read never the less.

That is it for now, until next time,

Dreams Do Come True.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Hidden Valley RV Resort, Milton, WI

We have had a great time so far here in Wisconsin, the weather has been fabulous. When compared to last year where it was at or close to 100 almost every day in August we are enjoying low seventies to mid eighties and in the fifties at night. It is great.

Ok, we are done with baseball and into football now. Mason is playing football, this is full contact football, and they have the pads, helmets everything. We have seen a scrimmage but tomorrow night it is a game, it should be fun. Tonight the league has a fundraiser at the local Culver’s restaurant, the kids are going to be the servers, it should be fun, I love the turtle sundaes.

We took care of the kids last Friday while their folks went out to dinner. It was fun and we get to do it again this Thursday for the day and then next week for a few days, it is the reason we are here and we are enjoying every minute of it

We met the kids for dinner Saturday night and Madyson had her IPod and was playing Candy Crush but I don’t think she was getting anywhere so she asked me to play for her. Now if you have never played the game or know anything about it, be warned it is highly addictive and will take up all your time if you let it. I enjoy playing it, it is very frustrating at some levels, but I also lay off it for a while,   sometimes. Anyway, Madyson wanted me to play for her, but she would watch and every now and then, she would jump in and move a piece which most of the time negated a plan of moves I was forming in my head. I would look at her, she would just smile, and we would move on to the next screen.

Mason has an IPod also and he plays a game that is similar to the Sims City game, I don’t remember the name even though he has told me many times. (I guess my Luminosity training isn’t doing very well, more on that later.) I tried to understand the game but I guess it is over my head.

We went and saw the movie Despicable Me 2, I loved it. I guess I am into movies where you don’t have to think too much and just sit back and enjoy it. I would like to see the animated movie Airplanes but I am waiting for the right opportunity.

Just finished a book by W.E.B Griffin, Black Ops, I liked it. Sarah is going to try reading it now, so we will see how she likes it. I started one today titled “Driving Loyalty” it is about Enterprise Car Rental and their business philosophy. I have only read a couple chapters but it is interesting.

We have seen a lot of friends since we have been here. Jim & Jo, they live in the Milwaukee area. Jim works as a guide at the Harley Davidson museum. They just bought a new home, it is beautiful. Jim showed me his Harley memorabilia collection and I must say I was in awe; a lot of it is autographed. It was fun spending the day with them.

Last Thursday we headed to New Lenox, IL, it is by Chicago to visit Tom & Cathy Gerdes. Tom looks great in spite of all the things he has been through and of course, Cathy looks fabulous in spite of putting up with Tom, she is an angel. We had a great day visiting and unsuccessfully trying to call a couple of old coworkers who evidently have caller ID and saw who was calling and didn’t answer their phones or call us back. Oh well, Tom we didn’t really need to talk with them anyway. We went to lunch at an Italian restaurant, I think it was Gatto’s Restaurant and Bar, great food. I had enough for two or more people the servings were huge. I love calamari, we ordered the small order and it was more than enough for four people. We had a great time.

I took my IPad with me to babysit last Friday and I saw on Facebook that Howard & Linda Payne, www.RV-Dreams.com, where in Rockford. We have know them for several years, they are partially responsible for us doing what we do today, full time RV. I called Howard and set a time to visit with them and have lunch. We ate at Granite City in Rockford, good food and the company was great. Our paths don’t cross that often so it was really good to see them.

Yesterday we went to Madison to see Debbie & Roger Mason, Roger and I worked together at Ruan many years ago. We watched the water skiers on the lake and had a great dinner at a Japanese restaurant, the name of which I don’t remember think was Muramoto. I love sushi and they had great sushi there. Our meals were very good, I had scallops, which I dearly love, and these were some of the best I have ever had. Thank you guys for a great time.

We are scheduled to head south Oct 14, I want to go to Truman’s library in Independence, MO, to the Eisenhower library in Abilene, KS, to Roswell, NM to see the aliens and Benson, AZ so Sarah can see a bead store she has heard a lot about. In all of that, we are scheduled into the Excel Service Center to get a slide adjusted. In addition, while in MO we want to see Steve & Lynne and family and see my newest great-niece Sophia Ross. I hope that we will be able to get all of this done over a two-week period. If not I can always see Roswell on the way back next spring.

I guess that is about all for now until next time;

Dreams Do Come True

Friday, August 2, 2013

Hidden Valley RV Resort, Milton, WI

We arrived here a week ago Weds, this is a very nice park, I think I reviewed it before. It is a bit pricey, I believe, but the park caters to the weekender and a lot of Illinois people. For the price, $799/mon, the Wi-Fi should be free and a lot better than what it is. I paid for a week and had difficulty connecting and the speed was horrible. In fact our IPhones and tablets would not connect. I finally called Millenicom and bought into their hotspot program for 20GB a month. I believe it should do the trick for us.

Baseball, I love baseball and we have seen a lot of it this past week, in fact it began the day we arrived. Mason was playing on three different teams, each a different level, and Madyson was playing on one team. Tournament time was beginning when we arrived, this is the reason we are here at this time, and we have not been disappointed. It is fun to watch the enthusiasm of the kids and to see them grow in the game each time they get on the field. You also see which kids really have no interest in playing baseball, but that is the reason for these leagues, not just to train the kids in the sport but to help all of them decide is this the game for me, it is not for all kids.

I remember when the kids were young, they played in a lot of different sports, the only one not liked was when Robert tried wrestling and quit after one match, it wasn’t his cup of tea. Tiffany tried basketball and volleyball, I don’t remember if she completed a season or not in those sports. Daniel never played basketball, I believe he would have been good at it, he did play football and baseball. Robert played football and baseball also, he also threw the shot in track, I believe. I don’t remember Tiffany or Daniel in track at all.

Back to Mason and Madyson, after many close games Mason won his first championship on Monday night, then on Weds night his other team won their championship. I told him he needed a shelf to put his trophies on and he informed me his other grandpa was making him a shelf to put the trophies on. 1013261_10201620388248699_299224688_n

On Weds night also, Madyson had her championship game, it was a close one going into the fourth inning, they only play four innings, Madyson’s team was ahead by three, I believe. Each team is allowed a maximum of four runs per inning and so Madyson’s would have the last bat since they were the home team. So the top of the fourth the visiting team scored two runs. There were runners on 1st & 2nd, the next batter popped out to the first baseman, he tagged first to get the runner, then he threw to second and got that runner, a triple play to end the game and Madyson’s team won their championship. 1080373_10201619976238399_252864764_n

Mason now plays on his third team, the Bombers, this weekend and I believe it is some type of tournament also. If I understand correctly this is a traveling team, they go to other towns in the area to play baseball mostly on weekends I would assume. I love this time of year. On Monday Mason begins football practice, full pads for 8 year olds. That will be fun to watch.

Other than baseball and visiting with the kids we haven’t been doing much. Jack & Bel, friends from our days in Marshall, came down and we had lunch and a great visit.

I am getting to the end of a good book, “Ike’s Bluff”, it is about Eisenhower’s time as president. I am enjoying the book and since he is the first president I remember in office it is interesting to read about what was going on at the time that I didn’t care anything about. What is really interesting is the shenanigans that went on in Washington at that time and how similar they are to what is going on today.

I saw where my Millenicom device is out for delivery so it is getting to be the time mail is delivered to the office, I best be getting up there to see if my package has arrived.

Dreams Do Come True

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Hidden Valley RV Resort, Milton, WI

I was a bit panicky when I found out we couldn’t stay at the West Omaha KOA because they were full until Labor Day. As luck would have it though, good friends Dave & Sheri were able to get us into Crossroads RV Park in Mt. Pleasant, IA, thank you Dave & Sheri. We arrived at Crossroads on the 16th got settled and visited with Dave & Sheri for a while. Happy Hour began at six when Dave closed the office. We had a few drinks and then I was getting a might bit hungry, Dave & Sheri had plans, so Sarah and I went to the Press Box in Mt Pleasant. I like to try a hamburger in the different places we eat and this was one of the best I have ever had. It consisted of a 1/3 lb. burger, nacho cheese, mushrooms and bacon, it was fabulous.

Wednesday, 17th,  We drove down to Elvaston, Il to visit Sarah's aunt Helen, we had a very nice visit with her. She still lives in her own home but does have help come in each day to cook, clean, etc.

On our way home we stopped at two cemeteries, where Sarah’s folks are buried and the one where her sister Alice and husband Frank are buried. We had flowers for each grave and Sarah made them look nice. We always put flowers on the graves even though I am positive we could go back and the flowers will be gone, people go out and steal these artificial flowers to make other decorations  with them, they don’t want to spend the money buy their own. Oh well if a person is that desperate I am happy to help them.

Thursday, we drove to Peoria IL to see Sarah’s brother Bob and his wife Judi. Bob called us and said he was going to the hospital to get a pint of blood; he needs this ever so often. We told him not to worry we would go by the house and get Judi, we did. He was in Proctor Hospital in Peoria. So no one misses out we did eat lunch there in the snack bar and it was very good. We had a great visit with Bob & Judi; we even got to see their garden which was bigger than anything I would want to tend to.

On our way home we called my brother Larry to see if they were home they were and we did. We had a nice visit but again I was hungry, I get hungry at least once a day. So Larry, Kathy, Sarah and I headed off to Applebee’s. (This is Burlington, IA there are not a lot of home spun eateries in town)

Friday was a trip to North Liberty, IA to visit Carl & Merilee. Carl had eye surgery a couple weeks ago for something in the eye that was detached and they had to drain the fluid from the eyeball and put in a balloon to hold everything in place until it all heals. Talked with him today and all is healing well.

Saturday was a trip to Burlington to visit my aunt’s Millie & Marcella, but first it we visited two cemeteries, the first is where my daughter Shayla is buried and the second was for my folks and sister and grandmother are buried, again we put flowers on the graves and they looked nice when we were done. Then I went looking for my mom’s dad’s grave, I didn’t find it but I found my dad’s mom’s grave and her parents grave sites. Then it was off to visit my aunts. We told them we would get lunch, they are both in their 80’s and don’t go out anymore than necessary. They had a coupon for Happy Joe’s Pizza so that is what we had for lunch. We had a great visit with them. We then went over to Larry & Kathy’s visited more and Kathy fixed dinner, it was very good.

Sunday we went to church in Mt Pleasant and spent the rest of the day at the camper. For dinner Sarah made a crock pot of green beans, ham, onion and little red potatoes, one of my favorite dishes. We went to the clubhouse and Dave & Sheri and some friends of theirs, Waverly & Delores joined us. We had a great time visiting and enjoying some good food with homemade ice cream, thanks Dave for slaving over the ice cream maker.

Monday, Larry & Kathy came out to the park; Dave said he heard of a good restaurant in Lockridge, IA, Four Corners Restaurant. So we took off to find this place, they are open for lunch only except for Fri & Sat nights. Well let me tell you the food is great. If you go away hungry it is your own fault.

Tuesday, Sarah and I went into Burlington to visit Joe Fleming, long time friend and HS classmate. Other than a few ailments Joe is the same as he has always been, ornery and a great sense of humor. Actually I got to see two classmates that day as Joe married Patty forty some years ago, congratulations, I don’t remember the exact number of years but Patty bless you. The time went by to fast we will see you next summer. Tuesday night Dave grilled steaks for Ron & Vi, friends from Burlington. Dave you are a master griller. I have never had a steak cooked as well as you cooked them. We had a great time visiting and having a few drinks; I didn’t drink much because we're leaving the next morning.

Wednesday we were rolling down the road about 8:30 am, other that I80 being busier than I have ever remember it being we had an uneventful trip and pulled into Hidden Valley RV Resort in Milton, WI about two that afternoon. We were able to watch Mason, grandson, play baseball last night, played in two games and finished a lightening delayed game. He was asked to play for a team one step above his level, he catches for them. I was very proud of the job he did for his age he is playing very well and does a great job in the catching position. We get to watch Madyson, granddaughter, play tonight.

Another classmate and long time friend Mark Steingraber had a heart attack last Saturday. His wife, Beth, took him straight to the hospital when he began complaining of severe pain radiating across his chest and down his arms. Some call it luck I prefer Divine Intervention, our guardian angel putting in overtime, when Mark and Beth got to the emergency room a cardiologist was on call and diagnosed the problem immediately and Mark was taken into surgery to have the problem taken care of immediately. As if that wasn’t enough they found a brain aneurism. He was sent to University Hospitals in Iowa City and they were able to fix the problem. I talked to him this morning and he is doing well. Again a beautiful angel, Beth, looks after him. We are here for the next five weeks or so, we will leave for Omaha on Labor Day.

Until then, Dreams Do Come True  

















Wednesday, July 17, 2013

On the Move

We left Gretna yesterday and traveled 281miles east to Crossroads RV Park, Mt Pleasant, IA. We were orphans until Dave & Sheri said there was space at their park; they are the camp hosts and long time friends. The KOA is full the rest of the summer and so we needed to find a place to stay until we can get into the park we are going to in WI on the 24th.

Crossroads is a very nice park, great for overnights or longer term if you are exploring SE Iowa. The free WIFI is the best we have seen in a long time.

We had a great time in Omaha, it was good to be with the kids, they are growing so fast. In a week we will get to see Mason & Madyson and in Oct we will see Alexa, life is good.

Sarah is doing better each day, her hair is growing and she is giving me suggestions each day, she isn’t telling me what to do she suggests it. I love seeing her getting better each day. She has doctor visits the first of Oct so we find out then if all the cancer is gone.

The townhouse has finally been started or at least the cement work. They have poured the footings and hopefully will start framing this week or next. Either way we aren’t moving into it this year, if fact the closing may have to take place without us being present.

Monday was my last day driving for Enterprise until Sept. I enjoyed the work; it really wasn’t much work it was more a time consuming hobby. Driving is not work to me I enjoy it too much but it was nice to have the little bit of income it produced. It is always nice to get paid for doing something you enjoy. Since leaving Ruan I haven’t really enjoyed anything I did that much. I miss the people more than the jobs. It is difficult to find something you have a passion for doing and be paid for it as well; I never found that, I suppose my jobs at Ruan come as close to filling that passion as any. Although I did enjoy driving OTR buses.

Oh well, I am old now and I guess my new found passion is making sure I wake up each morning and I don’t believe we have a whole lot of control over that.

That’s it for now. Remember Dreams Do Come True

Monday, July 1, 2013

West Omaha KOA, Gretna, NE

 

Have you missed me? I have been remiss in my posting so I better get caught up.

Most important is Sarah is doing GREAT. She is beginning to tell me to bug off, so I know she is feeling better.

We have met with our friends Cindi & John Cline, we worked with them in Mesa a couple of years ago, had lunch at Tanner’s Bar & Grille, it was a nice place and the food was good.

Got myself signed into the VA in Omaha, I need to get a physical before we head south and so I can get my prescriptions set for the next year. I was amazed at the size of the place, it will take a bit of wandering and asking questions to find my way around the place.

Merilee stopped by to see Rusty, their son he is an OR nurse at the Univ of Omaha Medical Center. We had dinner with them at Mimi’s restaurant.

We went to Wisconsin to see Robert, Sarah Ann, Mason & Madyson. We left here on June 21, Sarah had an appointment with the radiologist in Des Moines and we met Cynthia for lunch before heading on. Our purpose for the trip was to watch Madyson in a dance recital. I must admit I was apprehensive about sitting there for two or more hours but it was fun watching everyone and especially Madyson, she is very good. The other purpose for the trip was to watch Mason play baseball. He has really improved since last year, he played second base and the outfield this time and did well at both positions.

He is switching over to the catcher position, his dad played that position, so when we go back later this month I will get to see him catch. I am looking forward to that.

We stopped for the night at Carl & Merilee’s, waited up until Carl got home from work at midnight or there abouts. The next morning we all went for breakfast and then we headed west.

Sarah’s big day was Sunday, her birthday. We celebrated with Daniel, his birthday is Jul 2. He and I went to Costco and bought some ribs he wanted to try out his new smoker, the ribs were great. We had a house full, Marie, and the kids, Emily, Isabel and Eli, also Ernie & Shirley, my aunt & uncle, Eddie & Elia, Marie’s parents and Rusty. Marie thank you for letting us all invade your house.

Today I cleaned the car and exercised the truck. Now I am going to read for a while.

One more thing, as most of you know I drive for Enterprise car rental, shuttleing cars to dealers and branch offices etc. One day last week we were returning from Des Moines and stopped at the rest area, IA mile marker 20 and I saw this sign

photoNow does anyone believe a sign was necessary, well maybe for some people. We stopped there again and a new urinal was installed, but come on…really a sign?

Dreams Do Come True

Monday, June 10, 2013

Gretna, NE

Sarah is continuing to improve more and more with each day, in fact she now has more hair than I do and even had to have it trimmed. We are very thankful each day.

Friday, May 31, we met Norma & Orren at Smokey D’s, my favorite BBQ place in Des Moines, there isn’t one here in Omaha so I will have to find a favorite BBQ place over here. Anyway we had a great meal, Norma ordered the tenderloin, it is homemade and very good.

We are the West Omaha KOA in Gretna, NE, this is our home when in the Omaha area, they have full hookups and are the only ones in the area with full hookups, but then I have told you all of this stuff before. We arrived here a week ago last Saturday from Des Moines. It had threatened to rain that day so I did some prep work to get ready to leave the day before but then it turned out to be a nice day for traveling. It was only a two and a half hour drive so not bad, the weather was good when we arrived and we were set up in a relatively short time. We are in the same site we have been in for the last three years with one exception; it is a back in site. For those who live this way, you know there are times when you hit it just right and you are in the site in just a couple tries and other times it seemingly takes forever and then it isn’t just right but you let it be anyway. I hit it with three tries, I felt good about that.

It is good to see the grandkids and be around them more. Daniel and family are all moved into their new home and getting adjusted to the new surroundings. I haven’t been able to talk him into giving me a corner of the garage for the stuff we have in storage but I am still working on it.

When we got the camper out of storage, everything worked great except we were not getting hot water out of the water heater, not to my liking anyway. So I called John’s Mobile RV Service he was listed at the office and in the campground brochure. He came out and adjusted a valve, I would have never thought of it, to increase the hot water flow from the water heater and now we have hot water, live and learn. That is the neat thing about living in an RV you learn something new every day.

Last Wednesday I cleaned the car with my DriWash product; it really did a nice job of cleaning it up. On Thursday, I took the car into the dealer to get the oil changed because we were heading out to Colorado.

A few months ago, we received an invitation to Marie’s brother’s wedding in Colorado. At the time we declined not knowing if Sarah would be feeling up to making the drive. Last Monday Sarah found out the grandkids were going to be in the wedding and that did it, we were going if there was room for us at the wedding. After some phone calls Larry & Kayla, the bride and groom, said they would love for us to come out. Then I scrambled to find a room, we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Ft Collins, Colo, a nice hotel if you ever find yourself needing a room in Ft. Collins, Colo.

We had a great time visiting with everyone, some of the folks we haven’t seen since Daniel & Marie’s wedding.

Anyway, the wedding took place at the Tapestry House, once owned by a couple from Iowa, www.TapestryHouse.com . In 1875, their son Eli Asbury purchased land just north of LaPorte and named it Hawkeye Ranch in honor of his family's Iowa roots!” If you go to the website, it will give more history of the house. My one mention of food this time will be the caterer Larry & Kayla had for both Friday night and the reception. It was Main Street Catering, Ken Rosander, Chef/Owner; he did a fantastic job for both meals, www.mainstreetcateringco.com. Of course, I ate too much so the weight I lost has most likely returned I am afraid to get on the scales.

We had a great drive over, $4.699 per gallon for gas, I burn premium in the car, that is the most I have ever paid for gas. We pulled into a station in Ogalla, NE and they told us there pumps weren’t working, their gas price was $4.399, so we went next door and hit the $4.699, I believe they were in cahoots and splitting the difference.

Long drive but we had a very enjoyable time and appreciate being able to be a part of Larry & Kayla’s special day.

When we parked the first night at the Hampton Inn, I didn’t pay much attention to where I was parking and the next morning the car was covered with tree sap. So this morning I get out my Quick Mist from DriWash and clean the car, the sap came off with little or no rubbing, the bugs required a bit more elbow grease but not much. So now, the car looks great again. However, when I was cleaning the car I noticed a piece of the roof rack gone, it looked like h--- so we went to the dealer and $87 later we have a new piece and all is looking good.

I wasn’t called into work today, I am going to drive for Enterprise here in Omaha, but I expect to be called in tomorrow. I know it doesn’t pay much but I enjoy it and it keeps me out of trouble.

The house hasn’t been started yet maybe this week, I told Sarah we won’t buy furniture this year we will wait until next year when we get back, and then we can go shopping.

Last night after we unpacked etc., I was sitting in my chair reading the paper; I always buy the Sunday paper no matter where we are, except on time we were in a town where they had no Sunday paper. Anyway, I was reading and heard this knocking on the camper and I thought maybe something was lose on the ladders or bikes so raised the shades on the back window and here was a Robin pecking at the window. Now the bird must be retarded because he kept it up until dark and was back again this morning. I am sure he sees his reflection in the window and can’t understand why the bird he is looking at seems familiar. I taped some ads from the paper on the inside of the window thinking he would stop, he did for a bit, but I believe he didn’t like what he read and went back to pecking at the window. I don’t mind the pecking, although it is terribly annoying, Ok I don’t like it a bit, but the biggest problem with all this is the dang bird thinks the ledge is his private privy. What a mess, I will have to take some time and clean the camper now. The joys of living with nature.

We are here until July 16, the campground is full then so we are heading over to Crossroads RV Park, in Mt Pleasant, IA where Dave & Sheri are camp hosting again this year. Then it is off to Wisconsin on July 24 and we will stay there until September 2 when we will head back to Omaha and the KOA. October 1 will find us heading for Des Moines and doctor appts for Sarah before we head for Louisiana and Sarah’s brother Bill’s. We are to be in Mesa on Nov 1 and I want to stop in Houston to see my friends Sylvester and Air Force buddy and Jose a college buddy. All of this is planned in Jell-O to make it easier to adjust as needed.

That is all for now remember, Dreams Do Come True.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

ALL DONE

Sarah is all DONE with her cancer treatments. It began September 25 last year and finally she finished yesterday, May 29. She is cancer free. It has been a long journey but it was made less stressful by all the wonderful friends we have and their thoughts and prayers for Sarah. A BIG THANK YOU.

I will bring this blog up to date with all those we have seen and been with; if I forget someone, I apologize now.

Sarah had radiation each day, the procedure only took a half hour but with the drive etc., it was an hour. I worked two to three days a week so on the days I worked, she took me to work and then was able to go to Cynthia’s to visit and have breakfast. She would leave about nine to go to her radiation, so she and Cynthia were able to spend time together.

Tuesday, 21st, Sarah had lunch with Linda, Viola and Norma all worked or are working at Holmes Murphy where Sarah worked.

Wednesday, the 22nd, we had dinner with Russ & Candi at one of our favorite restaurants, Smoky D’s, http://www.smokeydsbbq.com/. This is a great place to eat when you are in Des Moines.

Friday we went over to Norma and Orren’s to visit. Orren is still recovering from surgery and coming along good according to his doctor. We went out for dinner at Jethro’s BBQ, the food wasn’t too bad but I still like Smokey D’s better.

Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we headed east, with Cynthia in tow, to Carl & Merilee’s house to visit for the day, Amy, Clancy and the kids were in town for a visit. It was good to see all of them.

Sunday we met Steve, Lynne, and kids for dinner at Chips in Ankeny. The food is good; we had their Hawaiian pizza, not bad.

Monday we went to Ames and had lunch with Tiffany & Matt and kids. It was a fun time and the food was good. Alexa is making bracelets with her dad and Bryon, how cool is that.

Tuesday, 28th, Sarah took me to work and went to breakfast with Cynthia at Perkins Restaurant.

Wednesday, 29th, I worked and Sarah had her LAST radiation treatment. She picked me up at work and we went to her appt with her surgeon and all was well, he said she is healing up nicely from the surgery. She also scheduled appts for October before we head south. Then it was time to celebrate her finishing the cancer treatments so we went to Outback Steakhouse and ate too much, but it was fun.

Today we are doing laundry then tonight we are meeting Mike & Sheri for dinner at the Chicken Coop. Mike gave me a bunch of books to read, I finished half the bunch and am returning all but two, will have to get those to him later.

Tomorrow we are heading east to Newton with John & Kathy and Loretta; she was here in the park when we first got here three years ago. Loretta’s husband Larry passed away last year and she now lives west of here, I don’t remember the town, but it will good to see her. Anyway we are going to Newton to have lunch with Dick & Judi who are camp hosting at the KOA in Newton. It will be good to see them.

Saturday, June 1, we hook up and head for Gretna, NE to the KOA we always stay at when we are in the Omaha area.

As far as I know, they still have not started the townhouse yet which isn’t a big issue because we do have a place to live. I do hope they finish it before we head south in October.

That about wraps it up for now, remember,

Dreams Do Come True

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Nine to Go

Sarah is down to nine radiation treatments left. She is tolerating the treatments well, the only side effect so far is the reddening of the skin, the radiation burns the skin, and the itching causes some discomfort but she hasn’t had any other problems.

She had a PET scan before she began the treatments and there was a shadow on the liver, so they repeated the scan yesterday and all is well, it was just a shadow. Thank the Lord for that.

Friday night we went to Prairie Meadows, the local Casino/Racetrack, with Mike & Sheri Cord, to bet on the ponies. There were nine races in all and we didn’t lose all of the money we took but we didn’t come out a head either. My luck isn’t any better at the track than it is in playing the lottery. In one race there were seven horses and the horse I bet on came in eighth, no luck at all.

Saturday we had lunch with Matt, Tiffany, Bryon and Alexa. It was good to see them, all are well and Bryon and Alexa are doing well in school. We had a good visit with them and will most likely see them again in Sept or Oct.

Sunday we didn’t go anywhere or do anything. Kathy & John stopped by the camper today to visit. They brought us a couple pieces of Chocolate Mousse Cake from Costco, it is delicious, the calories will probably kill you but the cake was great.

Yesterday and today I worked and may work tomorrow, if not then, on Thursday.

Sarah is going in to a cancer support group meeting tonight; I am staying home and watching my NCIS shows.

I am cutting this short because I don’t know how long it will take to load with the slow wifi we have here in the park.

Until Later, Dreams Do Come True.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Is it Winter or Spring??

Ok, what happened to Spring? We have thirty-degree temperatures in the middle of the day and about 4 inches of wet, heavy snow on the ground. This is my truck, photo I looked at the weather forecasts and the temperatures will begin rising tonight so at seven am it will be forty. What happened to global warming?

As stated before we are moved back into the camper, we did find a spoon we accidently brought from the apartment so Sarah dropped it off after one of her radiation treatments. The manager was glad to see Sarah but was a bit surprised we just wanted to drop off a spoon.

Everything has worked in the camper except the leak in the toilet and the water heater isn’t heating as hot as it should. I suppose I could try to fix but I am not as flexible as I use to be so I am going to get hold of a mobile repair guy and have him fix the problems. We are very pleased and thankful we have no other problems with the camper. We have been nice and warm and comfortable here, I did refill the propane tanks, one when we got here and one today, so we have used one tank of propane to stay warm so far.

Last Friday I stopped at Verizon to see about an alternative Wi-Fi program for us, the Wi-Fi at the campground is not good so I am looking for alternatives to the contract type. I have a MBR95 router and USB stick for Verizon but I don’t want to sign up for two years to use it. They weren’t much help in that I can’t use the equipment have, I have to go with something new and of course you have to buy it. So I am still looking.

We met Laurie Robinette and Marci Mallot; I worked with them at Marsh, for lunch. It was great to see them, we had a great lunch.

Saturday, my brother Larry and his wife Kathy were in town to watch their granddaughter, Megan, play volleyball. Carl & Merilee brought their camper over for the weekend so the four of us went to see the volleyball game. It was fun watching, this was a group of fifteen year old girls who had played two games already by the time we saw them, they looked very tired and got beat but it was still fun to see them. Megan’s parents, Andy & Christine, were there so we got to see them also.

Later in the day we went to Cynthia’s where her and Sarah’s brother Bill & wife Mable had just arrived and were going to be in town for the weekend. We went to the Machine Shed for dinner and had a great time. Sarah and I split the stuffed pork chop, this turned out to be the best thing to do because it was the size of two, maybe three, chops anywhere else.

Sunday noon, we met Mark & Sharon Brueck at Culver’s in Ankeny; they were on their way back to South Dakota where they will be working this summer at Sheridan Lakes campground. It is always good to see them.

We had a packed weekend but a great one.

I drove Mon, Tues & Weds, made four trips to Omaha and a couple of local shuttles, about twenty-four hours, it doesn’t pay much but it is fun.

We have a quiet weekend ahead, we were going to the Berkshire-Hathaway stockholders meeting in Omaha and see the kids as well, but Daniel & Marie are going to Lincoln to be in some sort of race so we wouldn’t be able to spend any time with them. We decided to wait; we will be moving the camper to the West Omaha KOA come June 1 anyway, so we’ll wait to see them then.

That’s all I have for now, oh if you are one of the brilliant people playing Candy Crush on Facebook, send me a note; I need lives, lots of lives, thanks.

Dreams Do Come True

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Alleluia

The second of three events has now taken place: event one Sarah finishes her chemo, event two we have moved back into the camper, one more to go and we will be off again. Well, actually many people say I am off anyway but that is beside the point.

We pulled the camper out of storage last Saturday and hooked it up, except for the sewer hose, I could not find the elbow that goes into the ground and attaches to the hose, and I looked everywhere and could not find it. I went to four different dealers here in the area to find one and finally found one. So we got all hooked up and we have only one minor problem a very small leak in the bathroom. I don’t know if I will be able to fix it but may try or get someone to do it for me, we’ll have to see how that goes.

It is really nice to be able to sit here in our home and look out the windows at the other campers and the pastures for the cows and horses. We are here until June 1 and then we are off to Omaha area to stay at the KOA until the house is ready. We are going to Mesa this winter, if all goes well, and still travel as much as we can.

The GOOD news is Sarah is progressing nicely, the radiation doesn’t seem to bother her much, they tell her about the third week she will begin feeling tired but it shouldn’t keep her down like the chemo did.

It got down to 29 degrees last night, I let the water dribble a bit to keep the water line coming into the camper from freezing, you folks know what I mean. Tonight it isn’t suppose to go below 32 so no need to dribble again.

The apartment was a Godsend for us and I probably wouldn’t have thought of it if our friends Norma & Orren hadn’t told us about it. I thought it was still assisted living but Orren knew it had been converted to regular apartments; it worked out great for us. It goes to show if you have Faith and good friends, you can accomplish anything.

I took the week off from driving to accomplish all of this and go to my dental appointment tomorrow. The dentist office called to remind me of my appointment, I said I would be there but I would not have bells on, I don’t like going to the dentist. I hope I can find a good dentist in Omaha, one that will give me gas when cleaning my teeth; I cannot have my teeth cleaned without it. I know I am a BIG baby but that is the way it is.

Nothing else going on in our exciting lives, I am beat from all this moving. I have the backseat of the truck loaded with stuff that came from the camper but there is no place to put it now, either the camper shrunk or we accumulated more stuff. Oh well, that’s life I guess.

Later.

Dreams Do Come True

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Halleluiah

Halleluiah – it is done, Sarah had her final chemo treatment today. She has an appointment to see the radiologist next Monday and also will have the port removed Monday. The worse is behind her and we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you, everyone, for your prayers, thoughts and the positive thought patterns you have been sending her. It has helped her get through this, believe me.

Not much else to report, but I am working too much. I worked a whole three days this week, all of them in a row. On top of that, I have the added pressure of keeping up with my brother on the slots and trying to outdo everyone else on Candy Crush. (If you are on Candy Crush friend me on Facebook so I can get lives from you, I need all the help I can get.)

I am in the process of reading some books Mike Cord gave me, he wants them back, so I want to get them all read before we leave Des Moines June 1.

We have Robert, Daniel and Tiffany and their families coming to visit the weekend and Steve and family from KC are coming in also. In addition, Rusty, Carl and Merilee are coming, so it will be a lot of fun. Sarah usually has good days on Sat and Sun so she should be ok with them all here.

Next week will be a rest for her from any form of treatment. We will have to impress on the doctor Sarah has to be done with radiation by May 31 because we don’t have a place to park the camper here in Des Moines after that. I was able to get us into the KOA in Omaha for June so we do have a place there.

We were informed our townhouse hasn’t been started yet so the completion date has been moved to July 1. We don’t mind that because it will give us a chance to observe some of the construction and give us the opportunity to look for furniture.

I am still looking at going from a fifth wheel camper to a motorhome it will depend on what I can find and the cost. It may take a while but I am sure we can find what we want out there somewhere.

That’s all for now – Dreams Do Come True.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Two More to Go

Two more to go and Sarah will be done with the chemo part of her treatment. We will find out next week when she begins her radiation treatments. I cannot say enough about the folks at the Stoddard Cancer Center at Methodist hospital here in Des Moines, we are so glad we stayed to have Sarah take the treatments here. These folks are wonderful, considerate and bend over backwards to make the patient feel comfortable.

We haven’t been doing too much, it has been cold. I am told yesterday a year ago, it was in the eighties here and yesterday the temperature didn’t get above thirty and it was eleven above this morning. I apologized for not being AZ so it would have been warmer here.

Speaking of AZ we are going to be in Mesa next winter, the Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we have been graciously accepted back into the fold of the Décor Team. We are looking forward to it and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again.

I have been working very hard at Enterprise Car Rental moving cars here and there. To show you have difficult this job is, yesterday we had to take three new, no miles on them, Kia Sorrento from the office to the airport, twenty miles, then the three of us got into another car and rode all the way to Davenport, IA, a hundred fifty or so miles. I finished a book I was reading on the way over, it was pure torture to sit there and ride all that way. When we got to Davenport I got in a 2013 Ford Explorer, two miles on it, and took it to the airport in Des Moines, then we all hopped into the car and rode to the office. I am telling you it is just plain hard work. Actually, I love it, I like to drive and sometimes I get to just ride and read. It doesn’t pay much but it almost buys the groceries.

Last night we met Norma & Orren for dinner at a Mexican restaurant here in town. We had a good time and the food was good.

I am on the slots on Facebook so if any of you are also playing them, send me coins or spins. Also, I need lives on the addictive Candy Crush game, I am stuck on 38 but I’ll get off it eventually, most of it is luck but some strategy is involved also.

I am reading a book by Lee Childs, seems like it will be a good one. Just finished one by the same author that had an ending I didn’t see coming. Mike Cord gave me ten or so books to read; most of them are Clive Cussler but a couple also from Lee Childs and Vince Flynn. I had never heard of Vince Flynn until a couple of years ago I was standing in line at Wal-Mart in Branson, MO, I was looking at some paperback books and a lady behind me asked if I had ever read any of Vince Flynn’s books, I said no and she told me I should. I found one in the library here at the apartment building, read it and enjoyed it so I will read more of his writings.

NCAA wrestling tournament begins today here in Des Moines. The media is saying 25,000 people will descend on this town over the next couple days and dump many millions of dollars on the local economy. I never liked wrestling, I think because I never understood it and I really didn’t want to spend all day at a meet. Our oldest son Robert tried it one year in high school, it didn’t last very long, I hope it wasn’t because I wasn’t as gung ho about it as I was other sports. I do know this it is a HUGE sport here in Iowa and it was in Wisconsin.

That is all for now, not much happening.

Till Later – Dreams Do Come True

Monday, March 11, 2013

FOUR More To Go

Confession time, I had good intentions of writing before now but I have become addicted to the slot games on Facebook. My brother and I send coins back and forth to each other; sometimes I include others if I know they are playing these stupid games also. We talked this morning and he asked me not to send him any coins for awhile because he get booted out of his current game. It is fun, time consuming, mindless game but I enjoy it while listening to music. However, it has wormed its way into my reading time; I have to get back to the reading. I also have another game I play, frustrating as it is, Candy Crush or something like that. I have reached an area where the only way to clear it is by dumb luck, so we’ll see if I can be dumb enough for it. It seems to me the only purpose for these games is not for the enjoyment of the players but to try to entice you to buy more lives, levels or coins. As I have said before anyone who pays for the coins or lives, is nuts, I haven’t reached the level of having to pay to continue playing, we’ll see what happens then. Of course, I have bought games before and I guess this is the new way of buying games.

Sarah is down to FOUR more chemo treatments and then no more chemo, she is thrilled about that as am I, I don’t like to see her have to go through the after effects of the treatments. She has tolerated this whole affair much better than I would have been able to do.

We have decided to get the camper out of storage on April 20 and begin moving our stuff back to it. We don’t have to vacate the apartment until the last day of April but I want to take my time moving and be able to test everything in the camper before moving back in. It will be nice to get back in the camper, this apartment is ok and has been a Godsend but I want my home back.

I am currently reading a couple of books one is an old one by Andy Rooney, he was on “CBS 60 Minutes”, on Sunday night, it is called “Pieces of My Mind”, it is a collection of his columns and writings he would give on TV. They are old enough to bring back memories of when I was young. One of them was about the media, of which he was a part, in their reporting of a story. He said the reporter’s obligation is to report what is factual; the reporter’s obligation is to investigate the story to make sure what they are being told is in fact the truth. The reporter should not just take as fact what the subject tells them but to research and tell the truth and keep bias out of the story. What I found interesting about the piece is even though it was written twenty odd years ago, it applies to everything today. My greatest fear is the younger generation is not learning history and will not learn from it.

The other day there was a piece on the radio about the New York school system, 80% of the students graduating and going to junior college are illiterate, 80% of them. What I am wondering is, http://www.caliteracy.org/rates/, this piece gives some troubling data. It seems to me all the government wants to do is throw money at the problem instead of finding the cause of the problem. I know many people think they know the cause but really don’t. I believe the powers to be need to ask the front line troops, the teachers, what they consider the cause. I don’t mean the teachers who are the union reps or the administrators I mean the ones doing the actual teaching. Then instead of taking the money to pay admin salaries put the money where it is most needed at the classroom level. I don’t have an answer for the cause of illiteracy but I would bet it could be identified, if it hasn’t already been, and corrected.

I love reading, I go nowhere without a book. It used to be more difficult but with the advent of eBooks, I always have one available on my IPhone. I have both the Nook and Kindle apps on the phone so my choice of books is endless. If you have kids or grandkids buy them a book and get the interested in reading. Just to be clear I don’t own any stock in a book company.

We are almost to spring; I am looking forward to no more snow. It is suppose to snow more today, I guess we received a couple inches of snow last night but it seems to be melting faster, good sign.

We were invited to Candi & Russ’ for dinner yesterday, it was great. Candi made a strawberry, rhubarb, apple pie, I loved it. We had a great visit and we thank them. Candi is a cancer survivor, twice, and doing well.

We need to go to the store today, I hate grocery shopping now, not that I liked it before, but the cost of food has risen dramatically in that past few months. I have trouble finding enough food to buy on a hundred dollar budget. I guess I will have to give up my ice cream and M&M’s.

I guess I will call it quits for now, it is time to eat.

Till later – Dreams Do Come True

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Five to Go

It is March already, although when we first moved into the apartment I didn’t think March would ever get here, but here we are. I didn’t need the calendar to tell me because the girl’s High School basketball tournaments are this week and I can see all the cars parked for the games and we have had SNOW. The weather people called for one to two inches and we received over ten inches, so much for their computer models.

Well, it has been awhile since I wrote so here goes with the update.

Sarah is doing GREAT, she has some tingling and numbness in her fingers and toes so the doctor has been adjusting the dosage each time and she has less tingling so that is a blessing for her. Her attitude is still great but she can’t wait for this all to be in the past.

Monday, February 11, we went out to eat with Russ and Candi, one of our favorite places Smokey D’s. If you like BBQ and you are in Des Moines or just passing through, they are at the 2nd Ave exit on I80-35, great food and plenty of it.

Wednesday, February 13, we went out to eat with Mike and Shari to the buffet at Prairie Meadows. Of course I had to play the slots for a few minutes, didn’t win anything. If any of you see my Facebook page, you will see I have taken up playing slots on the computer, doesn’t cost me anything. My brother Larry got me going on these games, some are fun others not so much. I will play until I have no more credits and then wait for someone to send me credits or the game gives me free credits. Now I suppose there are a lot of people who pay money for the credits, they are constantly asking you to buy credits, but I guess I’m not into it that much. Actually, I can’t see where it is to my advantage to buy them, it doesn’t make sense, but someone must be paying for credits or they wouldn’t be asking for them.

Sunday, February 17, we went to Orren and Norma’s, we took a couple of Papa Murphy’s pizzas and had lunch with them. Orren has been recovering from a bad case of pneumonia but seems to be getting better daily, it will take some time for him to get his strength back. We are planning to go over again tomorrow afternoon to see them. Norma is putting together a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle, I think she started it in 1982, not really but the pieces are too small for me, I won’t touch it.

I have been getting two to three days work in at Enterprise, it is not much but enough for me. As I have said before the work isn’t hard, where else can I get paid for driving a car from point A to point B, or better still ride one way and read a book the whole time. There have been a couple of times where it has been a bit stressful the past couple of weeks due to the snow and the idiot drivers out there. According to the state of Iowa you aren’t suppose to be texting while driving. Ask me how that is working. It AIN’T. I had someone the other day just about get me because they weren’t paying attention to their driving. Then you get the ejit sitting at the stop light and it turns green, do they go, NO, they are sitting there catching up on the texts or emails.

Next week the boy’s are in town for the state High School basketball tournament. Again, they are calling for snow on Monday and Tuesday. I will be happy when April arrives, not to say we can’t get snow in April, but it is less likely to happen. Besides we have plans to move the camper out of storage and into the campground on April 20, so hopefully all the cold weather and snow will be gone by then. I was going to take the camper to the dealer who winterized it and have them dewinterize it but I decided if there are any leaks I will deal with it instead of paying the dealer to tell me there are leaks and then charge me to fix them also. Anyway hopeful everything will be good. We have gone out to the camper a couple of times and it seems to be OK, I guess we will know when we move back into it.

I found a great way to get magazines without buying them. No, I don’t take them from the doctor’s office. I got a library card and get them from the library electronically on my IPad. I download most all of them, then go through them, and read what I want, with the IPad it is almost the same as having the magazine. The other thing I did, which I said I wouldn’t do, was sign up for Netflix, I watch movies and TV shows on the IPad, of course, you have to have a good WIFI connection, which we normally have. There have been two instances where Mediacom, the local cable/internet provider, screwed up the billing and payment for this apartment and we were without for a couple days, but when it is working, I love it. I am listening to satellite radio on my laptop as I am typing this.

I don’t know if we are going back to Mesa, AZ next winter or not. I have written Mikki, our boss at Cal-AM, but haven’t heard from her. I suppose I should call, I’ll try to do that next week. If we can go back and work, we will go back to Mesa, if we can’t work, we will most likely go to FL for a couple of months. Even though we have bought a townhouse, we probably won’t be there that much, because I still want to travel and see a few places in this great country while I still have the ability. The townhouse will be a good place to come back to especially if one of us gets sick or disabled.

I think I have said we are looking at the possibility of trading for a motor home, still looking but we haven’t found anything to our liking. Well that isn’t quite true I did find one but by the time I inquired about it the dealer had sold it. Oh well, if we are to have one we’ll find it.

That’s about it for now; hopefully I won’t wait so long to write again.

Dreams Do Come True