Home sweet Lapeer!

Indiana

The trip home from Saint Clair, Missouri was uneventful. Joan failed to spy even one camel today so that was good. We started the day at 54 degrees and it just got better and better after that.

As I mentioned yesterday we were very pleased with “Budget Lodging” and will plan to stop there in both directions again next year.

Because Joan has a bladder the size of a nickel we are able to pass everything on the road except a rest area. There was at least one RV unit that I passed and re-passed three times today because of our frequent pee stops.

On the way home we listened to 15 of the 18 discs of the Jeff Shaara book "Chain of Thunder" a historical novel about the siege of Vicksburg during the Civil War. It was very good and we plan on sitting in the driveway to finish the audio book during the next week. Just kididng, we'll finish the book on our various upcoming trips. Our thanks to my sister Pam for the book. It helps make the time go much faster.

Even with all the stops we were able to make the 600-mile plus trip in just nine hours. Once at home we found the house in good order and this year I didn’t arrive home to a pile of dirt and rocks in the front yard, the results of a broken well pipe last year.

Back home in Michigan at 2:09 p.m.

We celebrated with an EG’s Pizza and Joan has promised to go shopping soon so we can get into our normal routine. The fine weather at home – temperature was 68 degrees in Lapeer when we arrived home – made the return that much easier.

So as we close this chapter of our winter adventures we sincerely thank you for your interest in our travels and now close this down until the next great adventure.

Mileage out: 18608

Time out: 7:14 a.m.

Mileage in: 19227

Time in: 5:15 p.m. 

The long slog home is nearly complete

Hooked and ready to fly

The long slog home is nearly over. But not before a little work and fun was completed at The Voyager. As I promised in my last post I spent nearly six hours washing and waxing the 33-foot trailer. By the end of the work my arms felt like two dead logs.

But the trailer looks good and it was ready for storage. After returning the rented ladder (the one I used to risk life and limb on the trailer roof) I cleaned up and we attended our last Tuesday potluck at the resort.  Still a lot of folks on hand and we said our good byes to the pot luck crowd until next year.

On Wednesday, I returned our mailbox key, settled up our utility account and then began the final process of readying the trailer for towing. At 3 p.m. I backed up the Tahoe and hooked up the trailer in preparation for a really, really early departure from Tucson.

Our last Voyager supper for this year

Before that we attended “Mary’s Spaghetti Dinner” in the Voyager ballroom, which is the season ending event for most folks. It works on a couple levels because the dinner is good and Joan doesn’t have to cook or clean up on our last night at the resort.

We returned to the trailer which was only connected to the electric service. I had removed the water supply and sewer connection before hooking up the trailer. After we finished watching our Wednesday TV lineup I went outside and disconnected our cable line.

We turned in early and the alarm woke us up at 2:50 a.m. We quickly brushed our teeth got dressed and unhooked the electric service before sneaking out of the park.

This has to be a crappy job

The travel was easy, the air was cool and we arrived into Flagstaff about 8 a.m. well early for our 9 a.m. winterization appointment at Camping World down the street from our storage facility. In preparing the trailer at the resort I noticed that two of the trailer tires are starting to crack (probably from the heat and the fact the tires are 8 years old). So before we left Camping World we set up the process for putting on new tires when we return next winter. It was 51 degrees when we left Tucson and only 35 degrees when we arrived in Flagstaff.

Michael's resting place

During out gas stop in Phoenix I noticed a car painted with a Poop911.com logo which struck us funny as Joan’s mother was always fixated on people’s regularity. The company apparently provides a service of coming to your house to pick up dog and cat poop if for some inexplicable reason you’re unable to perform that service for yourself.

After the service on the trailer was complete we drove the ¼-mile to the storage facility and backed the trailer into spot 157 and began the long trek home. First we had to off load all the luggage, souvenirs and leftover non-perishable foods from the trailer into the car. Each year it seems we bring home more and more stuff. If this continues we’ll have to tow the trailer with a 26-foot box truck.

Joan at the Canyon

Before the actual start home we made a 197-mile detour to the Grand Canyon to pay our last respects to my brother Mike. In accordance with Grand Canyon policy we found an appropriate spot to spread his ashes and said a few words. My brother worked at the Watchtower gift shop many, many years ago and it was a place with special meaning to him.

The weather was perfect, the sky was perfect and the Canyon, as always was stunningly beautiful.

After saying good-bye to Mike we completed the circle around the mountain range near Flagstaff and started the real trip home. We cruised through Gallup, New Mexico and arrived at our first overnight stop The Route 66 Hotel and Casino near Albuquerque.

Sign at rest stop

Let’s just say we had a fruitful stop there and Joan and I won enough money to pay for the night’s lodging with about $100 left over. (We ended up giving back about $50 of that at a brief stop at the Buffalo Run Casino near the border of Oklahoma and Missouri two days later.

Day 1 Home:

Mileage out: 16830

Time out: 3:14 a.m.

Mileage in (Flagstaff storage) 17127

Time in (storage) 8:05 a.m.

Mileage in: (Route 66 Casino) 17589

Time in: (casino hotel) 7:20 p.m. (MDT)

Our first night stay

Anyway, we headed for our next stop in Oklahoma City after the night at The Route 66 hotel. We always stay at Governor’s Suites on S. Meridian in Oklahoma City and eat at the Texas Roadhouse nearby when we pass through. Because of our late arrival we had a wait about 20 minutes for a table on Friday night.

While enroute we passed a little black Chevrolet Spark and Joan thought it was funny when I was side-by-side with it and mentioned that “it looks like our Tahoe had a baby.”

Just before crossing into Texas we stopped at Russell’s Truck & Travel Center which we have always passed before. They advertise a “Free Car Museum” so we needed a break from driving so we decided to check it out.

1955 Chevrolet Corvette at Russell's Truck Stop

They had a pretty nice collection of vehicles but the one I was most interested in was a 1955 Chevrolet Corvette that was identical to the one my father owned back in the day. I took way more photos that I can post here, but I’m sure my Dad will appreciate the fact that there are still examples of this fine ride around.

We had some exciting moments as a crop dusting airplane soared back and forth across the freeway spreading something on the fields on both sides of the freeway. The pilot dove and then soared up and over the freeway traffic and then dipped right back down. The pilot banked sharply and did this several times before he flew directly over our Tahoe.

Mileage out: 17589

Time out: 9:34 a.m. (MDT)

Welcome to New Mexico

Mileage in: 18148

Time in: 7:15 p.m. (CDT)

We had a quiet night in Oklahoma City and woke up to thunder and lightning, but the storm moved through quickly and we only drove in the rain for about an hour before it cleared up.

Now here’s a story that has nothing to do with our trip home or anything else for that matter, but it was something I forgot to write about previously.

One morning while working out on the treadmill at the resort during our last two weeks a nice man joined me on the adjoining treadmill and because the televisions weren’t working we struck up a conversation. He mentioned that he had been in Detroit recently because his son is directing a movie and they were shooting it there.

Welcome to Texas

Turns out his son is Zach Snyder, who directed the movie “300” and is currently directing the major motion picture “Batman and Superman.” His father lives at the Voyager. So that was pretty cool.

OK, back to our trip home. While crossing Missouri on Saturday afternoon Joan claims (I didn’t witness this myself) she saw two camels in a field along I-44. I will say in her defense that she saw them before she had a couple of glasses of wine for dinner so it is possible that she did see them.

On Saturday night we stayed in a new city, one about an hour closer to home that where we usually stay. I was worried about the hotel – It is called “Budget Lodging” – but the hotel is nice, the people who run it are nicer and there is a nice little family restaurant about ½-mile down the road. We may make this a regular stop on our way to and from Tucson. The price isn’t bad either.

Welcome to Oklahoma

One more day of traveling and we will be back home in Michigan.

Mileage out: 18148

Time out: 8:55 a.m. (CDT)

Mileage in: 18608

Time in: 6 p.m. (CDT)

One more post before we leave Tucson

Spartan fans in the desert

OK, so I lied. This will likely be the last post before we head home to Michigan. The work of preparation to put the trailer in storage is underway and our Thursday getaway day is approaching quickly.

Since the last post we have been busy with friends and activities so I thought I would update things pending our imminent departure.

On Monday, March 30, we invited our friend Walt, a widower from the Men’s Bible Study, to go to dinner with us before he departed from the Voyager on April 2. He suggested we try the Silver Saddle, a steak house in Tucson, which is a place we had not eaten at before. It was very nice, but the company was even better.

Walt’s son arrived in Tucson on Wednesday and they left together on Thursday for Minnesota.

Another glorious sunset

In the past ten days we have attended another concert on Wednesday, April 8 – the Arizona Symphonic Winds – which we attended last year and which we equally enjoyed this year. I went on my favorite hike into the Chirachua Mountains on Tuesday, March 31.

We had a smaller hiking group than normal as many folks in the park have already started the trek home but the folks that showed up were a lot of fun and the hike was simply great. The drive there and back is long but the incredible views from the hike are well worth the long drive.

Thursday night we attended Maundy Thursday worship services in the ballroom and then on Friday we attended Good Friday services in the Catalina Room. The darkening service was very moving.

And now it's just us!

Also on Friday, April 3 – which just happened to be our 16^th wedding anniversary – we joined some friends at their home in The Cove – which is the home section of the Voyager park – for a wonderful dinner and social time with some of the friends we have made here.

Darcel and Barry were the hosts and they are the same friends who accompany us each year on our wine tasting trip. They just purchased a small motorhome for shorter trips while they are here or back home in Idaho.

Then on Saturday some other friends – Jerry and Marcia who are fellow Spartan rooters – invited us to a MSU Alumni Association basketball playoff viewing party at the nearby Radisson Hotel. We joined about 60 other Spartans to watch our team get manhandled by the Duke Blue Devils.

Despite the loss we all agreed the team exceeded all expectations and we enjoyed the company of like minded folks.

Me at "Inspiration Point"

After the viewing party we joined some folks who are friends of Marcia and Jerry at a sports bar restaurant for a Wisconsin viewing. The four people who joined us are from Vancouver, Canada and we enjoyed a raucous fun time learning about each other and telling funny stories.

On Sunday we attended Easter worship services in the park and then after returning to the trailer we watched a little NHL and I started the process of preparing the trailer for storage. I crawled under the trailer and lubricated the slide-out portion and removed the tire covers from the east side of the trailer and torqued the lug nuts on the trailer wheels.

On Monday I will pick up a ladder so I can get on the trailer roof on Tuesday so I can scrub down and clean the roof and maintain the seals. Following that I will wash and wax the trailer so it can be put into storage in Flagstaff on Thursday.

Big Balanced Rock

You are all allowed to pray for me while I work on the roof of the trailer. Two years ago a man fell while cleaning his roof and he died. I know this because every time I get on the roof every Tom, Dick and Mary who walk by my trailer when I am on the roof let me know.

I know a number of you follow our blog and we appreciate your interest in our travels. I will likely post a couple times on our way home from Tucson so stay tuned. We have been treated to some of the finest sunsets since we have been here in the past two weeks.

If you scroll down you can see some additional photos from the Chirachua hike.

More hike photos

Just one of the many beautiful vistas

My last hike this year with "Jim"

News from the visit of the in-laws and one bad outlaw (a Dillinger reference)

Jeff looking up at the B-29 tail gunner's spot

If we have learned anything from our trips to Arizona is that the clock spins much faster when we have company. At our age, time is speeded up anyway, but when we have friends or family here it seems like the clock is spinning out of control.

We sister Pam and my brother-in-law Jeff flew in on Tuesday, March 17^th for a week’s stay with us. Hard to believe but yesterday they flew home after an 8-day stay in Arizona that flew by at NASCAR speed.

Because we have done many of the tourist things already we don’t do much touring in between the visits of friends and relatives so our activity level increases considerably when we have company. It helps that we have some of the best friends and family on the planet.

After picking Pam and Jeff up at the airport we headed back to the resort to check them into their rental Casita. Unfortunately there was a mix up on the reservation and the Casita Pam and Jeff had rented, which happens to be directly across the street from our space was not available.

A Tucson sunset in the park

They were moved to a Casita a block away, but after my sister worked her magic at the front desk with the manager she scored a $350 savings to make up for the inconvenience created by the resort’s error. The huge savings left my sister and brother-in-law with a good feeling.

We did a little walking tour of the resort and then we all went to the Tuesday potluck with a couple pies put together by Joan in advance. My sister and brother-in-law are friendly people are folks warmed up to them right away with another couple who had lived in West Virginia previously sitting with us and talking everything “West “by God” Virginia.”

During our walking resort tour, Jeff spotted three javelinas playing in the water hazard at the little golf course here at the resort. I’ve heard of javelinas in the park, but this is the first time I witnessed it with my own eyes. Jeff witnessed it again later and took photos.

Javelinas in the park (Jeff photo)

On Wednesday, Joan and Pam went to Aquacise and then we headed up to Sabino Canyon for lunch and a walk. The weather was warm, but we had some drizzly rain, which is good for Arizona but not nice for someone who has come a long way to get out of bad weather. The rain didn’t dampen our day or restrict us in any way. One special moment was when the driver of the tour dram spotted a gila monster crossing the road in front of our tram and we got to see it crawling across the road.

Gila monsters are incredible vicious when approached (which we didn’t) and have a nasty, venomous bite. This is the first time we have seen one in the wild.

Jeff and Pam in Sabino Canyon

After Sabino Canyon we went to Trader Joe’s to pick up supplies for Pam and Jeff’s Casita and returned to a dinner of Pawley’s Island Shrimp in the trailer. After that we went to the “Salute to Sun Records” concert in the ballroom. The show was a sell out and we had a rockin’ good time.

Thursday brought more cloudy skies, but the rain held out long enough for us to make a trip to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, after my morning Bible class, where we caught the animal show in the auditorium and the free raptor flight show outdoors. The cooler temperatures brought out the coyotes, javelinas, and other critters we often don’t see at the museum.

We did dodge a pretty good rainstorm which hit just after we left the park about 4 p.m.  Some of the photos that Jeff and Pam took with the storm in the background are spectacular. I will post some of them in a separate post below this one in the coming days.

After arriving back at the resort we attended the resort’s end of the year luau and barely got there in time to get what little food was left for sale in the ballroom. We were waiting in the pulled pork sandwich line when that offering ran out, we moved to the hamburger line and barely got one of those.

A raptor with a desert storm in the distance

We enjoyed a root beer float and then an evening of dancing to the music of “Two’s Company” a local couple who play instruments and provide good dance music. I got to dance with my sister for only the second time in our lives (the first was at her wedding 16 years ago).

Friday morning broke bright and early and Jeff and I headed to the Pima Air and Space Museum while the ladies when to the Aquacise class in the pool. Jeff made an amazing discovery about his father’s aircraft while we were there, but I’m letting him share the surprise with others before I recount the blessing here. Jeff’s father was a tail gunner on a B-29 out of Guam at the end of World War II and was on the very last bombing mission over Japan when the Japanese surrender was announced.

Jeff is about to get buzzed by a Harris hawk

Jeff brought his Dad’s log book with him to the museum and captivated a couple docents with his father’s entries, including the last one which said “The War is Over.” After our trip to the museum we returned to the resort, picked up the ladies and headed to the Fourth Avenue Craft Fair in downtown Tucson.

Joan and I eat our diet cookies for breakfast and lunch, but Pam and Jeff took advantage of some of the roach coaches that were on hand for the fair and had some of the local fair. Some of those botulism wagons cook up some pretty good food.

After lunch Joan and Pam spotted an “adult” store and while Jeff and I sheepishly remained outside the two of them went inside to check it out. Fortunately, the didn’t buy anything inside the store.

Not going in there

We walked around the fair for a few hours and then returned back to the resort where we had a delicious crock pot chicken dinner. We watched a beautiful sunset and turned in early as Saturday was planned as an early start.

Pam’s friend Becky lives in the Tucson area and had invited us down for breakfast in Bisbee and to a local street fair there. This is the first year of the Americana street fair in Lowell, which is next door to Bisbee and Becky and her husband, Pete, live near there in Sierra Vista.

After a great breakfast (we were also joined by friends of Becky and Pete’s) a retired Army colonel and his wife and son who is undergoing Army officer training at Fort Huachuca.

The Bisbee bunch in downtown Lowell

We walked up and down the street looking at the old cars and then headed back to Bisbee where Pete gave us the grand tour of the town. Pete lived in Bisbee during his formative school years and knows the ins and outs of this historic old copper mining town which is just about 15 minutes north of the Mexican border.

After returning to the resort we enjoyed a wonderful prime rib dinner at the Bar and Grill.  After dinner we went to the free Pickleball dance in the ballroom Saturday night. My sister got to dance with her husband twice during her visit here.

On Sunday we attended the resort worship services with Pam and Jeff and then while they sat around the pool for a couple hours Joan and I watched Michigan State finish off a big win against Virginia in the NCAA basketball tournament and then watch the Detroit Red Wings defeat the St. Louis Blues in overtime in the nationally televised hockey game. Now that’s a good start for a day.

The Bisbee bunch in Bisbee

After that we went to the Mexican league baseball game and Pam and Jeff can now confirm that the only English word we could understand was “Budweiser.”  It was a fun afternoon with great weather. On the way home we stopped at Costco (Pam and Jeff are members) and purchased four thick, juicy steaks and brought them home and grilled them outdoors for dinner. We watched another beautiful sunset and visited on our patio.

Joan and Pam went to aquacise on Monday morning and then we headed to Catalina State Park in the afternoon for a hike. We did a one-mile birding trail and then a .75-mile ruins trail on a pretty warm afternoon. We spotted a horned toad, some quail and I briefly spotted a long snake moving across the trail in front of us. That is the first snake I have seen in Arizona in the wild since I’ve been hiking here.

A friendly horned toad on the ruins trail

The ruins of the Hohokam tribe were interesting. That was a first for all of us.

After touring we returned to the resort had dinner in the Bar and Grill again and then took in the “Broadway Magic” show in the ballroom. The resort women’s choir and men’s chorus did a number of tunes from Broadway plays and the bell choir entertained just before and just after intermission.

The evening ended with all of the crowd singing “76 Trombones” and we ended the evening by walking home to our residences from the concert. It is very convenient to live in a place where you can walk to everything.

A ceremony for Mike was here

Jeff and Pam spent Tuesday morning at the pool soaking up as much sunshine and pool time as they could before heading home to the chilly temperatures of West Virginia. In the afternoon we headed up towards Mt. Lemmon and at a beautiful spot we had a short ceremony for my late brother. We spread some ashes and I will always have a spot to remember him here in Tucson.

After our short ceremony we headed to the hotel where Pam and Jeff were staying near the airport and then went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens where we toured the gardens for about two hours before heading to dinner at Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson.

Hotel Congress is famous because the infamous gangster John Dillinger stayed there one weekend while on the run from the law. We had a wonderful dinner at Cup Café, which was a new experience for all of us. That one brief visit by Dillinger has turned into a cottage industry and an annual weekend festival for the City of Tucson. So far our visits here have not created anything like that buzz.

After dinner, and not quite ready to say good bye, we headed to a Dairy Queen where we enjoyed a tasty cold treat before heading back to the hotel where we said our farewells and left Pam and Jeff so they could get a good night’s sleep before their flight back to civilization.

That is a tall cactus

I watched Wednesday morning as Pam and Jeff’s flight flew by the resort on its way to Dallas and the connecting flight to Baltimore and felt let down that our company was gone. I waved at the plane, but I later learned they didn’t see me.  I got in a workout, we went to the last Market Days of the season and then later that evening we went to “American Made,” another Lonely Street Production. This show was a tribute to the Statler Brothers and the Oakridge Boys and included some great gospel singing as well.

The arc of our trip is increasingly bending towards departure and we both have much to do before that time comes in a couple weeks.

In thinking about Pam and Jeff’s visit we are thankful that we have both friends and relatives who are so easy to entertain and be with. They say you can’t pick your relatives, but we decided even if we had to pick we would be very happy choosing the relatives that we have.

On Thursday, I attended both the Men’s Bible Study in the morning and then the coed Bible Study that night. I have made some very good friends through these studies. The weather has turned hot here and the 94 on Friday nearly set an all-time high mark for the city. More hot weather is on tap, but things cool rapidly in the evening and we went to a dance Friday night with Albert Galli – the last dance of the season.

Hotel Congress - where Dillinger stayed

As much as we enjoy our time here we are starting to feel the gravitational pull of Michigan. This will likely be the last post until we start home on April 9, but that could change. If you scroll down from this post over the next couple days I will add some photos that Pam and Jeff forwarded to me. They are much better photogs than I am so you may appreciate those. I’ll put one photo in there right now to hold a space so I can add the rest after I resize them so I can download them.

Peace all and Go State!

More photos from Pam and Jeff's visit

If only Elin had been here

Harris hawks flying over our head

On the birding trail

My sister on the hike

Flowers in Sabino Canyon

Jeff, Pam and Joan at the Mexican League game

A hummingbird on a nest at the Sonora Desert Museum

Someone in Bisbee really wants Hillary to be President

A Tucson Dillinger t-shirt

Our hike brought us to the Hohokam ruins in Catalina State Park

Dinner at the resort bar & grill

The bar at the Hotel Congress

Take me out to the "Beisbol" game

These homeless "coffins" will no longer be downtown

The arc of winter is slowly, but inevitably moving towards the time we return to Michigan. It is with mixed feelings that we come to the end of another Tucson winter. We have made so many good friends down here that is hard to say good bye, but on the other hand we look forward to seeing our very good friends back home again.

I’ve already made reservations to have the trailer winterized in Flagstaff and our storage space is waiting for us there as well.

There is news from the downtown Tucson homeless battle. A local judge ruled that the "homeless pods," I call them "coffins" can be removed by the city and the homeless must move elsewhere so they are not blocking the sidewalk and creating a health nuisance. Did I mention the park has become a open air potty for the homeless? So as of last Friday the pods have been removed and they are seeking some open land for the homeless to live in.

Play ball!

But there is still plenty of time and fun on tap for us here in Tucson before we make the trip home. On Wednesday we attended our latest concert – The Luck of The Irish – which is a Lonely Street Production and they kept up the record of very good musical offerings.

There was “Danny Boy,” of course, but a lot of traditional Irish music and a young woman who did a fine job of Irish dancing along with many of the tunes. A good time was had by all.

Earlier in the day we attended “Market Days,” which is the second to the last of that event before we leave. The last one is March 25 and usually there are some pretty good prices as the vendors know we won’t be back for nine months.

We also got our allergy shots at the Voyager health clinic and we rebooked for next year at our same spot, so it looks like Tucson Winter Escape 2016 is a done deal.

"Booo" is the same in Spanish as English

On Thursday we attended the last 2015 lecture which was on the Mirror Lab. The Mirror Lab is one of our favorite tourist destinations and the speaker gave us some information that we missed on our previous two tours.

Following the lecture we packed up and headed for a “free” night at the Casino Del Sol where Joan had earned us another free night’s stay. We also had a coupon for a buy-one, get-one-free buffet at the casino. Since it was seafood night it was fun just watching people stack up piles of crab legs and shrimp.

I’ll have to admit that I took advantage of the shrimp table, putting a pretty good dent in the fresh cooked shrimp.

On Friday we returned home to the resort and then headed to the Hiker-Biker potluck party on the patio about 5 p.m. This is the season ending event for both the hikers and bikers here at the park and the food was good and plentiful. No “all-you-can-eat crab legs” but good nonetheless.

"Jose" can you see the dawn's....

Saturday brought more good weather and we made a mid-course correction late in the morning and decided to go catch the first game of a day-night doubleheader at the Kino Memorial Sports Stadium. In town are several Mexican professional baseball teams from a league south of the border who are holding spring training here in Tucson.

These are minor league teams with some connections to the American baseball teams. The day was beautiful and the “beisbol” wasn’t bad either. All the announcing was done in Spanish so the only word I could consistently identify was “Budweiser.”

If I  was a drinking person I could have taken advantage of the Tequila bar, but instead I bought a bag of peanuts in the shell and made a big mess in Section 117 just behind the third base dugout.

They spelled "Tigers" wrong

Although most of the players were of Hispanic origin there was the occasional Edwin Wilson and C.J. Retherford on the roster which indicates that perhaps an American player found his way onto the team.

Just to be complete the Toros de Tijuana (Tijuana Bulls) defeated the Piratas de Campeche (Campeche Pirates) by a 7-1 score. We cheered for both teams so the fans around us probably wondered what was wrong with us.

We looked at some uniforms shirts, but instead of Mexican prices they were pretty much priced like sports shirts at any American stadium, so we left empty-handed.

Once home we finished up some leftovers and settled in for an evening of TV.

Church started us out on Sunday (after I returned from my fitness center workout) and then we came home and watched the Red Wings plaster the stinkin’ Pittsburgh Penguins and then watched the Michigan State Spartans throw away a pretty good effort in the Big Ten Championship game.

The Red Wings game almost made up for the pathetic effort of a week prior.

Joan also did our laundry as we have guests coming on Tuesday. My sister Pam and my brother-in-law Jeff arrive here Tuesday afternoon for an 8-day stay so there probably won’t be much posting here until they leave for home.

On Monday, a former work colleague and photographer – Jane – and her husband are meeting us at the Voyager for dinner and a tour. They are here on family business, but when I saw her post on Facebook indicating she was in town we hooked up by phone and made arrangements for tonight’s dinner.

I’ll post a photo here later as I am posting this before they arrive for dinner.