Traveling with Brothers

We left Palmdale last Sunday, March 1 and have made our way to Arizona. We spent 2 nights in Fredericksburg, TX at the Lady Bird Johnson RV Resort. Tuesday we toured the LBJ ranch, did some wine tasting and had dinner at a microbrewery. Ludwig and Dick have been traveling along with us. Wednesday we spent the night in Van Horn, and finally made it out of Texas yesterday. We are now at the Lifestyle RV Resort in Wilcox, AZ. Tomorrow, Tucson for 5 days at the Escapade… Escapees RV Club’s annual RV rally. There we will go to seminars on subjects interesting to people who live like we do. We managed to miss most of the miserable winter weather though it did get down to 22 degrees in Van Horn. Had to disconnect water and all that. It is windy and cool though sunny and dry here in the desert. Dick now has over 3000 miles on his brand new car and he is a very long way from home.

Ludwig and Dick came expecting warm weather for walking on the beach and having beers on the patio in front of the camper. It hasn’t exactly worked out that way. It hasn’t been warm enough yet for Dick to shed his long johns. We had one sunny day in Texas in which we did our deep sea fishing.

It wasn’t a really warm day as you can tell from the picture. But it was a great trip. Friends Lee, Max, Ray and Cindy joined us for a fish fry on Saturday before we left. Fortunately, there was nothing planned in the rec room that day so we were able to move the fish fry in there as it was cold and rainy outside. We ate some of that red snapper and some trout that Ray and Lee caught off the jetty the same day that we were out. We ended the evening with a rousing game of Apples to Apples.

Palmdale friends showed up to give us a great send off on Sunday. Amazing how quickly friendships form in a setting like that. We have our own cards now and exchanged cards and hugs with several friends and talked about coming back next year. I miss the ease and familiarity of that place. Time kind of stopped while we were there. But now we are back to the adventure of discovering new places and going where we haven’t been before. We’ll be in Arizona for at least the next 3 weeks… Kelly will be joining us in Phoenix on March 18.

Now, I’m sitting here watching as new RV’s pull into this campground wondering if they are on their way to Tucson, too. Don and “the boys” (I’ve caught myself referring to Ludwig and Dick as the boys) went out to see a monument of some sort. I chose to stay here and get some things done. Writing this blog constitutes getting something done.

Traveling with Ludwig and Dick has been thoroughly enjoyable. I’ve switched out with them riding in Dick’s car giving them each a chance to ride “shot-gun” in the camper. Family gatherings never really give the opportunity to spend time together like this kind of travel does. Tomorrow they will start to head north again.  It will be good to have the camper to ourselves again but I would not trade this time that we’ve shared for anything in the world. 

Preparing for Departure

Our time here at Palmdale is coming to an end, for now. We will be pulling up our jacks and heading west next Sunday, March 1. Brothers Ludwig and Dick are making the trip to Texas in the next couple of days and they will follow us around for a while. That should be fun. We have a deep sea fishing experience lined up for them on Thursday. Our anti-nausea prescription patches are waiting for us at Walgreens. According to our friends who have experience with this kind of thing, this will improve our chances of having an enjoyable day. They put it this way…. “we will have more time fishing and less time chumming the waters.” We are arriving early so that we can get a place at the back of the boat which is a better place for either activity.

After we return from the fishing trip, we have Irish night in the rec room. The same entertainer who was here for New Year’s Eve will provide some good dancing. Line dancers are planning to add to the show during his intermission. Hopefully we will return home in enough time and I will have the energy to participate in that. We have a full week ahead of us.

In preparation for our departure we have decided to get this rig ship-shape. For this reason, we have had to recover some of our former industriousness… not without some griping and whining, however. We paid someone to wash the thing but took on the task of hand waxing which took 2 days and 4 whine bottles of water, but it’s done. We loved all of the solid wood cabinetry until we decided that it too needs maintenance and started wiping on Liquid Gold. We are mostly done with that task. We’ve cleaned out half of the basement bays and still have some cleaning and rearranging of storage to get done. Don changed the oil on the generator and we’ll take it in for service on the way out of town. According to Don the lube and oil job will be the cost of a small car. Speaking of small cars, ours got its 10,000 mile preventive maintenance at Toyota last week. That should do it for a year or so.

Even with all of that, we still find time for regular Winter Texan activities. On Wednesday we went to Mexico with friends Peter and Peggy (known as Wisconsin to us) who are also full timers. We went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned while they did some shopping. Amazingly, the dentist found that we each needed 3 little fillings. Neither of us has had new fillings in 5 or 6 years of routine dental care. We decided to forego having our teeth drilled on and paid for the cleaning which seemed pretty good. We had a good lunch and came back with a new drum for Edie which I plan to have Ludwig deliver to her since it would cost more to ship than it is worth.

Thursday was the annual hog roast here at Palmdale. This is a benefit for a local charity that is put on by the resident’s association. They packed 200 people into the rec room and fed us some really good beans and pulled pork with coleslaw and homemade desserts. It continues to amaze me to look around a room and see such a homogeneous group of people (of European descent, over 60, married, remarried or shacking up, from the Midwest or Canada). Now I can stop commenting on that… it just goes without saying.

Also on Thursday, I finally took my bike off of the back of the camper, put some oil on the chain, inflated the tires and went for a bike ride with friends Karen and Sharon. We started at the Palo Alto Battle field and rode about 15 miles around the Resaca in Brownsville. Don was out golfing that day. Karen made one of the desserts for the hog roast, Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing. Don wants me to get the recipe. I think I need to add a tab on this blog for recipes once I learn how to add a tab.

On Friday, friends Cindy, Max and I went with the Red Hat ladies for a tour of the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle - National Shrine (www.olsjbasilica.org). I had not read the brochure very well and had expected to be touring a historical relic of some kind. I was pleasantly surprised to come to a place with historical significance but still very much alive and serving the RGV community as a parish church as well as being a pilgrimage destination for Catholics all over the world. While we were on our tour, a priest started the Holy Rosary with a few worshipers in the pews while young and old people came just to say prayers in front of the statues of various saints or the statue of the Virgin. One thing that impressed me the most is the ministry the Basilica provides for blessing Migrant workers as they set out on their rounds and the fiesta they give at the end of the growing season.

I am taking a break from reading for a few days. Since I left Minnesota I’ve lost count of the books that I’ve read. I think I’ve averaged 2 or 3 a week. Most have been mystery or suspense novels though occasionally I take a break and read something from Rosamund Pilcher. The best books I’ve read include one recommended by Dick, Morgan’s Run by Colleen McCoulough, The Sheen on the Silk by Anne Perry, Elaine’s recommendations, The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcox, and The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morgan while I was in Minnesota. I tend to avoid non-fiction.

I designed some cards to share with friends and had our picture taken to put on it. I've added the picture to the blog.

Will and Jacks Burger Shack

I talked to my Wisconsin neighbor, Peter and learned that his daily routine includes writing every day. I’ve been informed that people who are truly writers have discipline about their writing and write every day. So far I have not become a true writer, I guess because I can’t bring myself to make it part of my everyday routine. Peter has a blog, too, ppazucha.wordpress.com. His is open to search engines so I’m sure he won’t mind if I put his blog address here on my blog. So far, I haven’t read his blog but maybe since I am at my computer, I will check it out and see what real writers write about.

Here at Palmdale, days follow days. I keep track of the day of the week depending on what activity is happening that day. Monday is pot luck, Tuesday line dancing, Thursday 500 and so on. Last week was chilly and rainy and people were a little cross. We finally got some sunny days beginning last Friday so the general mood is more upbeat. We have less than 3 weeks until we leave here. I have mixed feelings. We’ve made some friends here and have enjoyed the soft life of the Winter Texan. I will miss this place when we leave. However, I’m excited to start moving again and see more places that I’ve never been to. Don has gone fishing for the second day in a row out on the gulf. Yesterday, he stepped out lower than he intended at the same time a big wave came up and filled his new waders. He spent the rest of the excursion soaking in salt water though he wasn’t pickled when he came home. We do have some fresh fish in the refrigerator for dinner tonight.

Peggy and Greg very generously gave us some gift certificates for Christmas. One was for a Dolphin Watch cruise out on the bay and the other was for Will and Jack’s Burger Shack & Beer Garden. Sunday we went with friends Ray and Cindy on a very windy and sunny boat ride to see some dolphins. I like boat rides and any reason is good enough for me. We cruised the bay between South Padre Island and Port Isabel and did see some dolphins who came to swim with our boat for a while. After the boat ride, we went to Will and Jacks who pride themselves on having the best hamburgers in South Texas. The hamburgers were good  and the venue was very unique. They advertise their business hours, ”We’re open every day about 11 am. Occasionally as early as 10:30, but some days as late as 11:30. We’re closed about 8:30 or 9:00 pm. Occasionally as early as 6 or 7, but sometimes as late as 11 or 12. Some afternoons we aren't here at all, especially when the weather is bad. Lately, we've been here just about all the time.” The front of the building appears to be indeed a shack with weathered boards and faded out signs. When we arrived, a young woman who was sitting at a table on the sidewalk visiting with friends, got up and welcomed us to the restaurant. She led us through the open door out of the bright sunshine into a small dark room that has a counter behind,which, is the kitchen. I explained that we had a gift certificate and she enveloped me with a big hug and said she was glad that we came. It took a minute for our eyes to adjust. There was no seating in this building but we were directed out the back door, also open, to outdoor seating behind which is another building with indoor seating. We never saw the interior of that building. Next to that were some larger tables made of plywood circles painted in bright primary colors, and we sat at one of those. Once we had stabilized the table with wadded up napkins, it worked pretty well.  Around to the side of the shack and open to the back are several small shops selling a variety of jewelry, beads, rocks, etc.  Those buildings had doors on the front out towards the street. There appear to be no boundaries between one business and the other. The buildings all appear to be ramshackle and run down though the merchandise looked fine. Palm trees provided some shade and splashes of sunshine gave the place a nice ambience. The young man who waited on us was from Chaska, Minnesota and he stated that he would rather be in Chaska though he appeared to be acclimated to the culture of the Burger Shack. Service was laid back and minimal. We had to ask for the napkins (paper towels) and condiments. Speaking of condiments, the mustard bottle had a loose lid and fortunately when Ray shook it up he put it down by his side and most of the mustard went on the floor though Don got a smattering on his pants and socks. When our waiter brought the check, he handed it to Don and just stood there. Don asked him if we paid him. The young man stood there and Don set the check on the table. The waiter then picked up the check and said that he couldn't just leave the check until he got the money because he had to make sure all the checks and the money matched. So he stood there while Don and Ray figured out what we needed to pay that wasn't covered by the gift certificate. As we were leaving, I noticed a small building with a window and a sign stating that it was a hot dog stand. There were not many customers around but then it was early, before 5:00…definitely business hours.

Don gave me some feedback that he thought this post was a complaint about the experience. I want to clarify that far from being negative, I thoroughly enjoyed the day. We were windblown from our boat ride and were able to relax in the outdoor seating that was sheltered from the wind. We were hungry and thoroughly enjoyed the food and drink at Will and Jacks. We enjoyed much laughter this day and wouldn't change anything. Thank you Peggy and Greg.

Pool Culture

Finally, this week the sun is shining and temperature is getting near 80 degrees. So, on Monday while Don was golfing, I put on my suit, packed a towel, stopped at the library for a book to read and headed to the pool. Speaking of that, I think I will do that again and come back to writing when it starts to rain.

I’m back.. a little browner and further into the book. I’m getting to know my next door neighbor, Max who is also a pool-side mystery reader. The ritual is to set up in a chaise with a bottle of water, sun screen, a novel and a big towel. After about 30 minutes of sun exposure, slather yourself with sunscreen. Surprisingly, sunscreen with SPF ratings of 10 and 15 are not unusual. We still fancy ourselves looking lovely and tan. When you get too warm, get in the pool and hang out and listen to gossip. I learned the first day that this is the place to air any grievances you have with the way Palmdale is managed. There are problems getting them to keep the pool warm enough or the hot tub cool enough. There is a serious problem around the dumpsters that has been going on for a very long time and it never gets fixed. The improvements on one of the roads that was started a few weeks ago is a problem and there is no reason that they can’t be out there fixing it. There are people who don’t want the association to front the cost of the pork butts for the barbecue in February and there isn’t any reason not to do that because the association gets paid back when tickets are sold. There are also people who are crazy enough to believe that the association has a secret $30,000 CD which is crazy because the only income the association has comes from 50/50 drawings at various events around here. I also heard a snide remark one person made about another who had just left. Junior High is never really over. So even at Palmdale, things are rough.

Line Dancing

I never thought that I would take up line dancing being as it doesn’t fit with my yogi, educated and liberal self image but then I came here to Palmdale and I saw how much fun it is. Many of the French speaking Canadians are into line dancing. Besides looking like fun, my boring, educated, yogi self reminded me that learning a new skill especially to music is very good for brain health. At our age, brain health is now as important as heart health and bone health. Since I need all three of those, that was a good excuse to go. So on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9:00 AM you can find me at line dance class. The teacher still keeps me in the front row so I’m definitely not one of the advanced dancers or even intermediate. Some of the steps are similar to the old step-aerobics class that I used to take like the grapevine, step-touch, step kick, but then there are other dance steps like the shuffle, jazz box, waltz, twinkle, etc. I think now that I’m in step with the class somewhere over 80% of the time on most dances. So now I’m a line dancer and today we were told that we will have an opportunity to dance during the intermission at an event being planned for February 26. I think I need to do better than 80% for that. I really don’t care about all the health benefits now. I just like to dance.

Edie's Birthday Week

I have been absent from Palmdale for the last 10 days so I have no news from here except that during my absence, Don has taken up salt-water fishing in the gulf and also playing golf on senior discount day at the golf course. This morning it is sunny outside, Don is off fishing and I've turned off the heated floor because the sun is beginning to warm up the place. Presumably, it is also warming up outside but I'm still in my pajamas enjoying the solitude.

My trip to Minnesota was not without it's challenges as I couch-surfed between Son Greg's and Sister Elaine's houses. They have surprisingly similar couches and it only took me a day or two to figure out how to make up the bed to keep me warm. That little crack between the cushions on the couch lets in enough cold air so you never get warm unless it is covered with a thick comforter. That is the secret to winter couch surfing in Minnesota. Despite the sub-zero temperatures and the canceled birthday party due to the flu-infected Barbis/Ruff household, it turned out to be a very enjoyable trip for me.

Wednesday, January 7 commenced Edie's Birthday Week so I was free to give her gifts every day that I was there. It was easy since she is in her Princess phase now and dress up clothes are on her Christmas list which is still relevant. She loved her long skirt that I made from a scarf purchased at the flea market. She wore it all of the time and quickly learned how to pick up the long skirt so as not to trip going up stairs.

I had hours of good play time with Edie and Greg and was able to spend time with Elaine and her family. Elaine and I took a trip to Brainerd to have lunch with Bob, Jean, Dick, and Mark and deliver a shirt to Bob. Don found a shirt at the flea market sporting the message, "I'm retired and now I work part time as a pain in the butt." and I was instructed to deliver it to Bob.

Greg and I took Edie to the Mall of America a couple of times, rode the carousel and had lunch.I began to appreciate what a great indoor space this mall provides to Minnesota on cold winter days. My trip was completed with an excursion to the Como Park Conservatory in St. Paul. What a wonderful indoor tropical space for walking and enjoying a humid warm atmosphere. Greg and Peggy's Christmas present was dinner out with free babysitting. I enjoyed a dinner out with Sister Kay and Cousin Nancy at the French Meadow Restaurant in St. Paul one night. By the time I boarded my plane for the return trip, the "January Thaw" had commenced. Snow was getting soft and wet.

I learned that during my absence it was chilly and rainy most of the time. It is a toss up as to whether that weather is any more comfortable than what I found in Minnesota. Now the sun is out and I can get back to my life as a Winter Texan.

New Year's Eve ala Palmdale RV Resort

“The Office” is the building at the center of Palmdale. It consists of a small lobby with the business office to the right. On the other side is a small library with a jigsaw puzzle on a table, shelves of books and the mail boxes. A short hallway leads to the “poker room” on one side and the rec room to the left. The poker room is somewhat of a mystery. It appears to be the inner sanctum for men playing serious card games. One woman reported being yelled at when she attempted to return her seat cushion to the cushion cabinet that is in the back of the room. I have never seen anything taking place there any of the times in which I have picked up or returned a seat cushion. The rec room is the heart of the park. It resembles fellowship halls that exist in most churches. About 20 rectangular tables with chairs are set up down both sides of the room with a wide center aisle that provides enough room for 30 couples to comfortably dance. A large kitchen to the side has the equipment needed to prepare and serve large groups. Having never actually been in the kitchen, I can’t say much about it. On one end of the room is a stage with a big screen television on the wall and a screen that can be pulled down to project movies. The other end of the room has a lighted Christmas tree that continuously revolves next to the bingo board. Presumably, the tree will be taken down soon. This room provides the setting for line dancing, aerobics, bingo games, card games, potlucks, regular movie showings, the holiday celebrations and whatever else takes place. On one wall is a large white board on with the regular weekly schedule. The windows at the back of the building overlook a large swimming pool, a hot tub, shuffle board and a large barbeque grill. So far we haven’t had many activities centered there. I hope that changes when we get some warm sunny days.

How do you keep a bunch of old people awake and ready to welcome in the new year complete with party hats, noise makers and champagne at midnight. When the evening started I could not imagine that we would still be there let alone our 80+ year old friends, but we were all there along with about 80 out of the 120 or so that started the evening. The secret was our entertainment for the night, a man named Ralph Kuster. He appeared to be in his late 50’s. He is a pretty good singer and had a stereo system in which he played recorded music to accompany his voice with periods of time when he functioned as a dee-jay. He started singing ballads at about 6:30 PM shortly and continued until 1:00 AM. Dinner was served at 6:30 with a salad we served ourselves. After the salad, plates were assembled in the kitchen and we each went to the window to pick up our meal, chicken cordon bleu, twice baked potato and mixed vegetables. After the tables were mostly cleared we were served a piece of angel food cake with raspberry sauce, fresh strawberries, blueberries with whipped cream. When dinner was finished, Mr. Kuster took a short break and put on some recorded music to dance to. He had a mixture of old rock and roll along with country. He changed to a red dinner jacket and continued himself singing some of the time. We have some pretty good dancers who stay here and I love watching old couples who have danced together for years and are good at it. I am a little jealous because I wish we could do that. We did join them for several dances. At about 10:30, Don suggested that we might go home. Thank goodness I told him I wanted to stay a little longer. Eventually, he decided to make the treacherous walk through huge puddles in cold rain to get some beer for himself and our friend Ray. I managed to make one bottle of wine last most of the night even sharing a couple of glasses. At about that time our entertainment made some changes – I think to keep us all awake. He had a variety of dance contests in which he selected a winning couple for a prize. He gave our old friends their choice of a CD for being married the longest – 63 years. They are still “full-timing” spending half the year here and the other half up in northern Minnesota. Later our host had a twist contest – which I joined but didn’t win. I didn’t see the winner but Don said she was the most intoxicated. It could be that she was least inhibited though I didn’t see very much intoxication or inhibition in anyone. I thought the winner should have been the woman next to me who twisted like she was still 16 years old. She could “go round and around and up and down and go again…like she did last summer.” Later our host switched to an Elvis jacket and came out into the audience and sang to different women who played their part wonderfully making everyone laugh and before you knew it a table full of hats and noisemakers appeared and we all picked out whatever we wanted. Champagne came out and was in the process of being distributed when the countdown to 2015 commenced. Everyone made blew their horns, rattled their noise-makers, hugged, kissed and celebrated another year in which to play.

I think here we can play with the innocence of children but with the wisdom from having lived a long time. That is what makes these kinds of communities special. It feels like a safe place where a person can just be themselves. I hadn’t expected this.