Ah, the lazy, crazy days of winter

Thursday (Jan. 23)

When we last left off, we had just finished Bible study and putting together my wooden canvas for my first wood carving project. 

My wooden canvas

Joan was patiently waiting for me to return from the wood carvers class to do laundry, but things took longer, much longer, than I expected so we didn’t get to the laundry until nearly noon.

After finishing the laundry and Joan’s soap opera, “Days of our Lies,” we headed out to put some food in the trailer. Because of the lateness of our return from shopping Joan cooked us “tube steaks” for the second night in a row. No problem for me, because I would eat hot dogs just about every day if it were up to me.

While we were shopping we made a stop to the “Red Box” outside the grocery store and looked for a movie to watch. Unfortunately, the only thing available that was even remotely on our watch list was “The Butler.” I don’t usually watch movies with Hanoi Jane Fonda in them for personal reasons, but we took it anyway and it wasn’t a bad movie. 

A line from a car dealer’s commercial caught our attention tonight:  “Our dealership has more cars than the desert has dirt”

Friday (Jan. 24)

A vigorous 6 a.m. workout at the fitness center started my day.

Well, back the truck up, my day actually started with a rude awakening when gusty winds started rocking the trailer in the middle of the night. Joan, who said I slept through the early part of the wind storm, mentioned that she thought she heard our outdoor furniture playing tag.

A photo from my Box Canyon hike (below)

So I slipped on my slippers and headed out in my pajamas to secure the chairs and tables which were in fact doing a weird dance outside the trailer in the wind. Back inside the trailer we recalled other times when we had endured high winds inside our little rolling home.

After my workout we ate breakfast and then I headed back to the wood carving shop to continue working on my first project. There was plenty of sanding to do get my wooden canvas smooth and flawless so I can start carving it next week. My new found friend and wood carving mentor “Hap” has been more than gracious in helping me to get started.

In appreciation for his efforts I got him a small Home Depot gift card. Hap reminds me a lot of my late father-in-law Red Uleskey. He is very resourceful and uses scraps and bits of steel and other recycled items to make his tools and fill his workshop. He even made me a wood carving knife out of some scrap wood and some scalpel blades he has saved.

We’ve been her almost two weeks and Joan was eager to pay a visit to the local Native American cultural center so we headed to Casino del Sol to offer our reparations for the way the first Americans were treated. Fortunately for us we escaped after three hours of fun only $12 lighter.

An extra Whitewater Draw photo (see Saturday)

At home, Joan whipped up a great Shrimp Louis salad and then we headed over for tonight’s entertainment, ventriloquist Brad Cummings. Cummings has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and been an opening act for a number of big name comedians.

The show was very funny and by the first five minutes I was very glad we were not sitting in the front row and some poor guy named “Don” became the foil for nearly every one of Brad’s gags.

He played off the audience very well and was a very polished performer. And, surprise, surprise, you didn’t see his lips move.

Saturday (Jan. 25)

Joan watching the Sandhill Cranes

Last year we made a trip to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area with a group of park residents.  January is peak season for the migrating Sandhill Cranes to do the meet and greet with thousands of other Cranes at the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area.

In a matter of just a couple weeks the cranes will move on to better climes before the final trip back to the more fruitful food hunting areas in the north during late spring and summer.

The cranes at Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area come from as far away as Siberia and parts of North America, including Michigan. Actually it sounds like most of North America is pretty much the same as Siberia this year.

As I mentioned in an earlier post we met some nice neighbors here who are from Grand Rapids. So last week we invited Jim and Faye to travel with us to the Whitewater Draw area and Saturday was the day we were all free to make the trip.

The birds

Joan and I spent a little time cleaning the trailer Saturday morning and then welcomed our friends for the trip at 10 a.m. The drive to the wildlife area is through some beautiful country in Southern Arizona and includes a drive through Tombstone. The trip is about 90 minutes each way.

We arrived about 11:45 a.m. just in time to see waves of Sandhill Cranes beginning the return from morning foraging to the wildlife area. The birds make a strange kind of gargling sound both on the ground and in flight.

Watching the birds travel into a graceful flight pattern and then make a parachute type landing is pretty incredible to watch. We spent a couple hours moving around the wildlife park stopping and viewing the large gatherings of birds in different areas.

There was more water last year (Photo from 2013)

One thing we noticed this year was the extreme reduction in the amount of water in the area. I’m going to post a photo from last year to show you the difference.

We returned home to the resort by 4 p.m. Joan cooked up some tasty grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

After dinner we headed over to the ballroom for a night of dancing to the Renaissance Band, a group of musicians all made up of park residents played favorites from the 30s to the 60s. There were polkas, waltzes, rock and roll, cha cha and regular close dancing.

Sunday (Jan. 26)

Last Sunday at the resort church service they took up a collection for a local charity and we learned at church this morning that they raised $10,001.04 for the Primavera organization. In addition to our donation, another donor agreed to match it dollar for dollar so a total of $20,000 will go to the charity.

Joan at Sweetwater park

Church was great and the choir did a rendering of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” that was perhaps one of the best I ever heard.

It was also the Sunday they have the “roll call of the States and Provinces.”  They call out the states alphabetically and you stand when your state is called. Michigan was well represented with dozens of folks standing when the Wolverine State was announced. As you can imagine the representation was greatest from the states with the worst winter weather.

Before church I went to the fitness center for an early morning workout. The fitness center here is top drawer and if you get there early enough you don’t have to wait for the weights or treadmills.

More than half the states and several Canadian provinces were represented in the congregation. There were more than 400 people at church on Sunday.  They also post the American and Canadian flags before the service and sing the National Anthems of both countries. It was a very moving ceremony.

A turtle is wildlife isn't it?

After church Joan and I headed back to the Sweetlands park that I visited with the easy hike group this past Monday. We spied a number of bird species, perhaps the most unusual were several Cormorants  that were drying wings in the sunshine.

We took our lunch, a diet cookie and some fruit and nuts, and had a picnic lunch at the pavilion.

On the way home we went on the great Little Caesar’s pizza hunt. Joan, being the navigator was supposed to be looking out for a pizza place while I drove. I pointed to a strip mall that looked like a place that might house a Little Caesar’s.

Just as Joan was telling me there was no pizza place in the mall I spotted the Little Caesar’s sign in the mall. So I crossed several lanes of traffic and pulled in and we picked up a Meat Lover’s pizza for $8. Told Joan she was fired as a navigator for missing the pizza sign. She mentioned something about quitting as my cook if I fired her as a navigator. She has been rehired.

We arrived home in time to spend a little time outside reading and them went back inside the trailer and warmed up our cheap dinner in the microwave.

Monday (Jan. 27)

A beautiful Sycamore tree on the trail

The easy hike on Monday was through “Box Canyon” near Madera Canyon south of the resort. The drive was about 30 miles and I took four others with me in the Tahoe. It was what they call here a one-way hike which means you drop a car and all the hikers at one end of the hike. Drive to the end of the hike drop another car there and then reverse that when the hike is ended.  Lots more miles on the car than the people that way.

The hike was beautiful and followed a rough dirt road through the canyon for 2.6-miles. Some of the drop offs next to the road were several hundred feet straight down. We also encountered several cows roaming the area doing what cows always do, look for food.

A view from the trail

We arrived back at the resort about 2 p.m. and I offered Joan a chance to head to the movies. Mondays are senior citizens discount days at the movies around here and we found a theater that offers recent, but not the latest movies. Normally it is $3 a person, but on senior citizens day it is only $2.

“The Book Thief” is on our list of movies we want to see (we use our time in Arizona to catch up with all the movies we didn’t see while at home in Michigan) so we headed to the theater. Once there, Joan pointed out that also playing was “Captain Phillips” which is a movie I have wanted to see for a couple months.

So we made a quick course correction and decided to see that movie instead. We were not disappointed. Tom Hanks is one of our favorite actors and the story was one that we heard about on the news about five years ago.

Box Canyon from the trail

We very much enjoyed the film and headed home about 6 p.m. for a late dinner. Monday night TV is pretty thin for our tastes so we stopped at our new favorite place – The Red Box – and picked out a movie to watch in the trailer tonight.

The movie we selected was “2 Guns” with Joan’s favorite actor – Denzel Washington – and Mark Wahlberg who is one of my favorite actors. Wahlberg was also in the “Lone Survivor” so this week has been pretty much “Mark Wahlberg” week.

Tuesday (Jan. 28)

From here it is straight up

Usually I look forward to hiking, but I heard a lot of warnings about the Blackett’s Ridge hike planned for this day. The leaders of the hiking group warned that this was one of the season’s most difficult hikes because of a 1,800-foot rise in the trail in the space of about 1.3 miles. No matter how you look at it that’s a lot of “up.”

Once again I drove three of the folks in my car to the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area and we gathered in the parking lot to start the 6.2 round trip hike.

The first part of the trail is relatively flat with a couple generally moderate grades until you get to the fork where the Blackett’s Ridge Trail heads off. Almost immediately the trail goes up, and up, and up and up.

Some of the rock steps are very high which puts stress on aging knees (it’s even worse on the trip down). 

Looking back towards Tucson

There are several false summits as you head up which can be discouraging if you don’t know they are there. Just when you think you have reached the top, you see that there is another “top” yet to come. That happens about three times on this trail.

Because the ridge trail is high above both the Sabino Canyon and Bear Canyon you get wonderful views of both as well as tremendous views of the Tucson metropolitan area.

The group was smaller this week as some folks knew they would not be able to keep up with the rather strong pace that our leaders set even with a dramatic uphill climb.

The trail ends at a cliff

Because of the warnings I carried extra water, double what I usually carry, and plenty of snacks. The fluids and snacks were all gone when the hike was done. But I didn’t have any cramps and never felt really stressed. My son Tim has given me good advice over the years for what I need to do to hydrate and fuel while hiking.

The after a 2 ½-hour trip up you suddenly come to the end of the trail. The end of this trail is truly “the end.”  The trail stops at an abrupt rock overlook that is 1,800-feet above the canyon floor. We stopped and had lunch on the boulders at this spot. We took in the wonderful views and then too soon began the arduous trip down the mountain.

Just to prove I got to the top

My trekking poles really come in handy on these downhills as they keep me from lurching forward or falling flat on my face, which is something I have done before. It only took about 90 minutes to make the 3-mile trip down the hill and we were back in the park by 1:45 p.m.

Joan whipped up some of my favorite “Tuna Surprise” for the potluck tonight and we pigged out with a few dozen of our closest friends here in the park. After dinner we drove to return “2 Guns” to the “Red Box” machine and picked up another movie “Last Vegas” so we wouldn’t be stuck watching the State of the Union speech.

It has nothing to do with who is President either. I find a 45-minute speech, that includes a number of things that have not an never will happen, interrupted by 45 minutes of patronizing applause a waste of my time.

Hiker Jim enjoys his lunch and a bird's eye view

“Last Vegas” was funny and we enjoyed it very much. It also included a number of folks we also enjoy, including Morgan Freeman and Robert DeNiro.

If you want to see additional photos of the last couple hikes, simply scroll down and the post below will include a number of photos I took.

Photos from Blackett's Ridge hike

The group heads out on the trail

The bottom of the Blackett's Ridge trail

Looking down from the end of the trail into Sabino Canyon

Starting back down (Tucson in the distance)

Our final rest stop on the way down the trail

An unusual Saguaro cactus at the end of the trail

The Telephone Line Trail I took last year is way down there somewhere

This photo from 2013 looks back at the high ridge we climbed this year

Photos from Box Canyon hike

The "Fairydusters" are in bloom

Steep in places

The group gathers for the Box Canyon hike

Looking back up the canyon

Church, two hikes and songs from the 1960s

Sunday was all about church and football.

Church was wonderful and then we spent the afternoon watching hockey and NFL playoff football.

Because of our location we see a lot of Phoenix Coyotes games, but not so much of the Detroit Red Wings. But hey, it’s hockey and that’s good.  Besides, there is no pressure about who wins.

First time we have seen a cloud in the sky

We watched all of both NFL games and were pleased with the results of the first and I was disappointed that the Niners lost to the Seattle Seahawks. So I’ll be rooting for the Broncos in the Superbowl now.

I also learned a fact the hard way about my lovely bride. She likes peanuts. We’ve been married going on 15 years and I don’t think I ever saw her eat a peanut before. Cashews, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, but never peanuts.

How I learned this the hard way was on the way home from church here in the resort we stopped at the little market to buy a Sunday paper and I decided to get a small sleeve of salted peanuts.

While in the store, Joan suggested I buy two sleeves, but I told her I only wanted one. She had a puzzled look and we left the store with a newspaper and one sleeve of peanuts.

An easy hike in a wetlands area

Back at the trailer, I was kind of getting the cold shoulder. Every married man knows what I’m talking about. Not exactly the silent treatment, but the you-messed-up-big-time treatment.

Finally in a burst of honesty, Joan said “why can’t I have peanuts?”  Of course, that caught me off guard.

“You can have peanuts, but you don’t like peanuts,” I said.

“I like peanuts,” Joan said.

“I’ve never seen you even eat a peanut,” I said.

Suffice it to say I made a trip back to the store to purchase a second sleeve of peanuts.

For dinner we just had snacks. Cheese and crackers with salami and pepperoni took the place of what would have been a regular dinner. We always do that once a year for the Super Bowl, but this year we will be in Las Vegas with our friends Ed and Betty so we moved our annual “snack dinner” up to yesterday.

On Monday, I went on the ‘easy’ hike and by easy this one wasn’t really a hike at all. More like a walk in the park, but a very nice park for sure.

This is a part of Tucson that looks more like Florida

The Sweetwater Wetlands park is a manmade swamp which uses the water cleaned up at a local water treatment plant with plants and is a stopover for many migratory birds.

There were only six folks on the hike, but we had a short but good time walking around the park.

Prior to leaving for the hike this morning there was a moment of anxiety when I couldn’t find my wallet. I imagined leaving it behind in the shower, at the fitness center or any number of places. I started to panic just a little.

Joan and I went through every pair of pants I have worn the past two days (there were only two) with no luck. I went through the trailer several times without success.

Finally Joan, who is convinced a woman’s uterus has a special hormone that makes finding things easier, walked up and asked what the lump was in my lower thigh pocket of my hiking pants. You guessed it my wallet had been in my secondary pocket all the time.

Now I’m going to have to buy yet another sleeve of peanuts for Joan.

After my hike and lunch we headed to a local REI outlet to purchase Joan a good pair of hiking boots as she has proclaimed herself ready to hike some simple trails.

A turtle enjoying the sunshine

When we parked in the lot we parked next to a Michigan car that had a Spartan license plate and a bumper sticker that said: “Have you hit a Wolverine today?” Of course, my camera was back at the trailer, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

We saw a young lady get out of the car, but it wasn’t until we saw her again in the REI store that we learned she was an MSU student and that she lives in Lansing, Michigan. Kind of a small world, although there are plenty of Michigan folks here right now.

With our shopping complete we headed to the local theater (Monday is senior citizen day) and saw “Sole Survivor” which was a great movie, but left us both exhausted. The story is based on a true event and involves a SEAL mission that fell apart in Afghanistan.

It is hard to imagine the courage those sailors have.

After the movie we stopped at a local Red Lobster and cashed in a $4 off coupon and had dinner at the seafood restaurant. We are such seniors.

Another day, another hike only harder

Tuesday’s hike was a tough one. The 7-mile round trip include some very steep steps and an elevation change of 1,600 feet in just three miles. We ended up at 4,800-feet and what goes up must come down so it is almost as hard to go down 1,600 feet as it is to go up.

My knees are talking to me and what they are saying is probably not fit for a family newsletter.

The hike was beautiful and followed a ridge line that allowed wonderful views on both sides of the mountain. Once again, we had a large number of hikers so we split into two groups and I went with the first one.

On the way down, the weather considerably warmed and one man suffered debilitating cramps so we had to leave a couple folks behind to hydrate him until the cramps released and he was able to climb down the mountain. (To see more photos of the hike to to the entry below this one)

Me at the farthest end of the hike

Tonight is potluck Tuesday and Joan baked a pumpkin pie in our trailer oven, only the second time she has used the appliance for cooking. Although the pie came out a little softer than Joan wanted it still tasted pretty darn good. Heck pumpkin pudding is just as good as pumpkin pie.

 We continue to meet new folks and one of the men, “Hap”,  invited me to a wood carver’s class in the park so even though my talent for woodworking pretty much stops at the end of my fingers, I’m going to give it a try. If nothing else it will offer me an introduction to some new folks.

So next Christmas, you may be on my list for a wooden eagle carving, a carved Biblical saying or some other carved wooden trinket so get your orders in early. Then again I may be horrible at it and it will be a hobby that ends with this season.

First order of business was to go to the wood shop (different than wood carving) and make friends with one of the hobbyists there to cut up my block of wood into strips that could be glued together to form a canvas for wood carving project. I dropped $5 into the donation bucket and voila!  a nice man took care of my work on a band saw. I left with my cut up boards and all my fingers.

A Tucson sunrise Wednesday

Last year all we heard from the longtime residents of the resort were complaints about the new management here. Folks complained they were being nickled and dimed to death for stuff the original owner never charged for. Room rental fees and other annoying charges were creating a lot of discontent among the longtime permanent residents.

Fast forward to this year. All is quiet. Amazing what firing one guy will do. We learned that the park manager was fired by the corporation that owns the resort and the new guy has much enhanced people skills and has won over the vast majority of the folks we have talked with.

Why a company would put a guy who lacks people skills in charge of a resort that pretty much relies on goodwill and loyalty is beyond me. 

It’s much more pleasant not to hear all the griping about the park at least this year.

Wednesday was another busy day that started with a weight workout at the fitness center for me and some water aerobics for Joan. Later we went to “Market Days” which is a biweekly craft fair in the resort. There are lots of jewelry, craft and other vendors as well as a small farmer’s market where we bought some great apples.

Joan spending the kids' inheritance

Joan bought a few trinkets for some of the loved ones in our lives and then we hung out at the trailer for the afternoon. I was finishing up the study for the Bible Study that I was to lead Thursday morning. I also attended my first wood carving session and picked out a project and some wood to work on.

As the newcomer I got a little “carving up” but I had been warned so I accepted it in all good fun.

The concert Wednesday night was “Class of 64” and as you can imagine included all the great hits from that year.  So all the greats were there (not the artists, the songs) Beatles (“I Want to Hold Your Hand”), Louis Armstrong (“Hello Dolly!), Roy Orbison (“Oh, Pretty Woman”),  Mary Wells (“My Guy”), Gale Garnett (“We’ll Sing in the Sunshine”),  Barbara Streisand (“People”) and many, many more.

The show included great television ads from 1964 including Ford and Chevy ads that were really fun to watch. The woman singer in the show we saw last year when she starred in the “Do Wop Divas” show at the park. The Lonely Street Productions have always been great at the park.

We are at the shallow end of the pool age wise in the park, but many of the folks our age and older were up dancing and singing by the end of the show.

Lots of fun for sure.

On Thursday morning 12 men showed for Bible study and we had a lively and interesting hour of discussion about Revelations, the last book of the Bible.

After Bible Study I stopped by the wood carving class and “Hap” took me to his home in the park and we glued my strips together into a wooden canvas.

Photos from the Tanque Verde hike

Starting out with a big group

We were on the Tanque Verde Trail (only went a total of 7 miles)

Another view

We are passed by a mule

Tucson in the background

More Tucson

A rare crested Saguaro cactus

Another Jim at our lunch stop

Our vehicles are down there somewhere

The parking lot is far below in the photo

Heading down the mountain

A view from the lower trail

The Tucson fun continues

Last year we arrived in Tucson on Jan. 15. When we arrived here the area was experiencing record cold temperatures and eventually we had snow. Everyone was complaining that this weather was not typical for Tucson.

That's our forecast for the week.

On the first night here in 2013 we didn’t bother to de-winterize the trailer because we were concerned that lows predicted in the teens might freeze the rather delicate plumbing in the trailer.

Not so this year. We arrived here in the midst of some pretty incredible weather, which promises to persist for at least the next seven days and probably longer. A high pressure system over the west coast is to blame, or better yet, gets the credit for this wonderful weather.

No complaints from us.

So how did we spend Wednesday? Well, I got up early and headed to the gym and Joan got up early (for her) and headed to water aerobics.

Again we are still getting set up and spent a little time this afternoon doing our travel laundry and washing the bedding that was in the trailer when we left it.

We sat outside and read and I finished my second Charlie Leduff book “Work and Other Sins.” I also spent some time at the Internet café working on the study book on Revelations for the Men’s Bible Study. Tomorrow is my first meeting although it will be the third for the group. I’ve run into a couple of the men who I met last year and they were happy to see me back.

Joan cooked up some really good hamburgers for dinner, accompanied by some broccoli and salad. Nothing like ruining a good hamburger by serving broccoli with it, but I know she is looking out for my health. Seems to me French Fries are a better companion to a burger than broccoli. Of course, I consider a corn dog a vegetable.

The big red bus - Link Union

On Wednesday night we attended our first musical concert here at the resort. “Link Union” was great. They are a very talented family and they play dozens of instruments and sing a variety of blue grass, Celtic, gospel and a variety of other music. It was a really fun night.

Earlier today I saw a huge red bus pull in and it was the Link Union family of entertainers. They are spending the night in the resort and the bus is parked just a block away from us. If you want to see more about them you can go to their webpage at linkunion.org.

One of the more amusing and confusing news stories is the angst here over the fact that the reintroduction of Bighorn Sheep into the Catalina Mountains has resulted in some of those transplanted sheep becoming a midnight snack for the mountain lions that also live in the mountains.

Another view of the big red Link Union bus

Who would have thought that releasing yummy sheep into mountains where hungry mountain lions live would result in such an outcome. The folks in charge have responded by having sharpshooters take out a few of those hungry mountain lions.

It’s called nature folks. Release a tasty morsel into the wild and it will certainly attract the attention of a predator or two. Sheesh.

On Wednesday, the State released some Pronghorn Antelope into the mountains south of here. I’m guessing there are a few mountain lions licking their chops tonight in that region of Arizona.

So Thursday started with an early morning workout for me at the resort fitness center and then Men’s Bible study in the Mesquite Room. About a dozen guys showed up and I knew all of them from last year’s visit.

Somehow I couldn’t avoid the stare of this week’s study leader and ended up volunteering to do next week’s lesson. Should be fun.

We spent some time lounging around the trailer and then went for a little drive so Joan could get her fingernails prettied up. Because the nail salon was near the Fry’s Store (same as Kroger) we did a little shopping there and picked up a movie at the Red Box. Too bad I didn’t learn a little Vietnamese during my brief government sponsored visit there, it would have been entertaining to listen in on the worker’s conversations.

Our official resort badges with Joan's name misspelled

We also met our across-the-street-neighbors who are from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jim and Faye have been coming here for many years and are currently renting a small park model across from us while the home they own in “The Cove,” is undergoing repairs for water damage while they were gone. We hope to go out to dinner and a movie with them very soon. Jim is also in my Men’s Bible study.

Last night with nothing on television we watched the movie “Jobs,” which was an interesting look at part of the life of Steve Jobs, the Apple inventor and founder. If the movie is half true, it sounds like he was a complicated guy.

We are pleased to report that Joan is enjoying her stay her much better than last year when her right knee worked hard to spoil all her fun. She has been faithfully attending her aerobics class (Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings) and really enjoying it. Last year she remembered what a struggle it was. She pronounced herself ready for some short hikes, so that will be fun and something we can now do together. She is NOT yet ready for the Tuesday hikes that require a little more strenuous activity.

One thing I have noticed here is that while everyone comes here to escape the weather in the north they can’t escape talking endlessly about it. And they don’t talk about the weather in Tucson, they talk about the weather they are missing back home.

One of my best friends is named Kim Crawford

As for me, I am trying to live in the moment and not worry about the weather back home. Buuuuut, I did hear from John, our son at home, and a friend Brendan Thursday that the traffic on I-75 in Oakland County was terrible and that it took two hours to go just about 20 miles. Well, at least I’ll have something of my own to share about the weather when I go to the gym tomorrow.

Here’s a sign I saw at a Baskin & Robbins yesterday in the shopping center where Joan’s nail salon was: “Movie flavored buttered popcorn ice cream now available.” I’ve been trying to think of a worse combination for ice cream, but so far have only come up with “Brussel sprout  flavored ice cream” that would be a worse combo for me.

This afternoon I made a movie run to return “Jobs” to the Red Box machine and then came home and curled up in the sun with a good book.

On Friday night we went to the CD Dance with Delores Warren in the ballroom. It was a good test for Joan’s new knee and she passed with flying colors. While her knee was in good shape her ears were hurting a little as many of the dances were country and western music. One of the classics was “I’ve got a tear in my beer.”

But we had a good time wearing a hole in the dance floor and Joan felt frisky enough to join in on a couple of line dances.  When it comes to line dances I’m strictly a spectator, but I do like watching the folks dance to “Cotton Eye Joe.”

A guy can dream can't he? Look at that price tag!

With Saturday’s arrival we have now been here a full week. Joan wanted to go visit the RV show at the nearby Pima County Fairgrounds so after a quick workout this morning we got cleaned up and headed to the fairgrounds to look at the new RVs.

The also include king size beds, but would would cost a fortunate to drive and operate. 

We have been toying with the idea of buying a small travel trailer to take on long distance, but shorter length visits. We saw a couple trailers we liked, but to the chagrin of a very persistent sales associate we were just looking.

Finally after trailing us around the show for about 30 minutes, the guy said to me: “You’re not going to take advantage of our show specials are you?”

“Nope,” I said. He disappeared.

Nice!

We saw some beautiful rigs, but the only chance we would have to purchase one would be if Joan hit the lottery. They have Class A rigs (Those are the big bus like self-contained RVs) that now have dishwashers and two bathrooms.

It is fun to dream however.I also finished re-reading "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors," a dramatic and true story of one of the greatest and yet under told war stories of World War II. I am loaning it to our park neighbor who has an interest in World War II history.

Church tomorrow and then a couple football games. Go Niners!