Tombstone Fun

We were on the road to Tombstone before 9:30 AM yesterday. After a couple stops along the way, we arrived at our first destination at 12:30 which was one of two properties we wanted to check out. This one was a large home on 30 acres and had a nice, detached garage and workshop. We couldn't get very close to it though, as there were locked gates and lots of dirt road. It would be tough to haul our RV to this property:

The views were spectacular and it was convenient to town, but the roads would eliminate it from any consideration by us.

The second stop was at another property south of town. This one is on 5.5 acres and has a drop-dead view of all of Tombstone:

It has three bedrooms - two of which are master suites, one of those has another small kitchen making a nice mother-in-law arrangement - but is only around 1200 S.F. The house is being sold furnished with some very nice furniture. Josie fell in love with this place and I think it would an excellent home for us. We are getting more information from the Realtor and may schedule another trip back to Tombstone to go through the inside (we only peeked through the windows). There is a lot of room for the RV and the roads are all paved until you get to the driveway. It is located only about 10 miles from Sierra Vista and two miles from downtown Tombstone.

Our next stop was at the hotel. We checked into our room at this very nice and relatively new hotel - The Tombstone Grand Hotel. It is on the edge of town about 1/2 mile from the Boothill Grave Yard. It turned out to be an excellent choice and we would definitely recommend it. Following our check-in at the hotel, we drove to town with a stop at the Boothill Grave Yard. What a fascinating place. There are over 300 people buried in this cemetery, many of whom are famous old-west outlaws:

The downtown area is another experience that every fan of western lore needs to see. There are so many famous landmarks and locations, you would have to visit yourself in order to appreciate the history. One of the more significant ones is the Bird Cage Theatre:

The downtown area still has much of the boardwalk and shops from the old days:

We had dinner at the Crystal Palace Saloon and had a great burger while watching the Orange Bowl on the TV:

After leaving the Saloon, Josie took this final shot of the street:

What a terrific and fun day we had. This town is one that we can easily fall in love with and spend some quality time.

The football results for the day were also perfect. The Fiesta bowl - U of WA vs Penn State was a hard fought battle won by Penn State and the Orange bowl was won by Wisconsin. Troy Fumagalli played (hurt) and I haven't seen the stats yet from the game, but I'm sure he didn't hurt his chances for the NFL draft.

It is back home again today to bring in the new year. What a great ending to 2017...

Football Frenzy

This is a terrific weekend for football - both college and pro. Starting with today's bowl games, Penn State plays U of WA in the Fiesta Bowl and Wisconsin plays Miami in the Orange Bowl. There is a chance that Troy Fumagalli may not play today for Wisconsin as he is nursing a rib problem and he doesn't want to jeopardize his NFL position by causing further injury. Patty said that Austin's conversations with him point to a "game time" decision.

On the pro side, the big game for us to watch is the Cardinals playing the Seahawks in Seattle tomorrow. The Seahawks need a win to have a chance for the playoffs.

Our VCR will be busy taping games today and tomorrow. We leave soon for our trip to Tombstone where we expect to get a fill of the old west. It will be nice to spend a couple days away again before Josie begins working in the new year. Also on tap at the start of the new year is the activity with our home in Glendale. It sure would be nice if we could kick off the new year with a quick sale so that we can move forward with our plans - whatever they turn out to be...

Different Agenda This Year

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time we were in Dallas (Arlington, TX) for the Cotton Bowl to cheer for Austin and his Western Michigan Broncos football team. That was one of the most unforgettable and happy experiences we have ever had. Every time we think about that trip we are thankful for family and the opportunity to spend proud moments with them.

This year, we will be traveling to Tombstone, AZ, to spend some time in what is one of the most storied areas in the west. Checking out the OK Coral and Boot Hill will be an exciting reminder of how it was in the old west and provide some reality to the great western shows with the Earps and Clantons. Of course, Doc Holiday was there too. It is such a significant part of the old west history. We are anxious to go and enjoy a couple days in a different - and fun - environment.

Today is Josie's final work day in 2017 - amen for that. There is much happening to close out the year. The issues with the house and tenants, the listing and sale of the home, the planning for the next summer season - all of these things will be a big part of our early activities in the new year. The most important aspect of the new year is that we are thankful that we are still healthy enough to enjoy life to the fullest.

This just in this morning - a shot of downtown Jackson WY as I write this:

Life is good!

Planning Final 2017 Weekend

Josie found out that she had Saturday through Monday off this weekend so we made our plans for the final weekend in 2017. The plan is now to leave early Saturday morning and drive to Tombstone. That is a place we visited many years ago and still talk about as one of our favorites. It isn't a big town - only about 2K people - but it is one of the remaining, truly western towns in the state. It is also listed as one of the best small towns in Arizona to live.

As expected, the flower shop was totally dead yesterday. It isn't expected to get too busy at any time before the first of the year either. This is a time when most businesses experience some down time as we approach the new year. Vacations have a lot to do with that as this is a popular week for employees to take time to spend with families. The schedule for football games also isn't too shabby this week. There are some great matchups in the bowl games and the NFL has several playoff spots up for grabs. I expect to watch some of those games, and tape some others.

It's shaping up to be a nice finish to 2017...

Free Day

Since we came home early from Laughlin, yesterday became a nice day to relax before Josie returns to work today. We are trying to get things organized in the RV so that we can begin 2018 with a clean and fresh look. The next big chore will be to pack up Christmas and take it back to our storage unit. Part of the organization process is to make sure the files are in order so that the tax season goes smoothly. My goal for the week is to make sure that happens.

We got through the Thanksgiving holiday without too much damage to our weight control. December has not been kind to us. Both of us have pretty much ignored the calories this month with all the cookies, egg nog, chocolates and other high carb foods. Our challenge now is to put the brakes on the binges and start another program of healthy eating beginning next week. It is near impossible to make it through the Christmas season without enjoying the "fruits" of the season. Who wants to anyway as the Christmas season is traditionally the time for this kind of enjoyment.

This is the final week for the tenants in our home. The fun begins next week as we ready the house for the market and officially make it available for sale. We hope it all goes smoothly without any hitches...

Last Minute Change

We were all set to attack the slots yesterday AM at the Riverside Hotel and Casino. The day before was a roller coaster ride as we won, lost, won and lost again. The net of the day (Sunday) was that we were getting painfully close to falling back to where we were before arriving. Our goal was to get back on the winning trail and have another fun day.

One decision we made after starting out on the losing track in the morning was to play at another Casino where we have had some very good days on the slots - The Golden Nugget.  They are also known by their very different and beautiful entryway to the Casino:

We played some different machines with spotty success. Eventually, we lost all that we gained and we were at the point where we had to quit - something we always do when we lose our original stake. So, we got in the car and drove to Bullhead City where the Sam's Club is located - of course, it was closed on Christmas Day - and to the Walmart - also closed on Christmas Day. As every business was closed on Christmas Day with the exception of the Casinos, we were facing the rest of the day in our room which would be no fun at all. As we were not paying for the room anyway, we made the decision to leave early and drive home. We packed up and were on the road home by mid afternoon. There were lots of things that we wanted to do at the RV, so the decision made sense. We arrived home last night by around 6 PM. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. We are always disappointed when we lose, but we never confuse the outcome with the fun we have playing. It was still a fun trip and we always enjoy going there.

We do have another "comp" offer from one of the other Casinos - the Aquarius - that must be used in January, so we may decide to return for a couple days sometime in January if we can swing some time off for Josie. We anticipate a busy January though, as our home will be on the market and who knows what events (good ones, we hope) will come out of that activity...

First Day in Laughlin

Merry Christmas!!!

It was just after 9 AM when we finally pulled out of the RV park on our way to Laughlin for two days. We took our time and made several stops  - for gas, potty breaks and a quick McDonalds breakfast. One of the landmarks that we always look for on this trip to Laughlin is what we call "finger rock" LOL as you leave Kingman and begin the downhill drive into Bullhead City and Laughlin:

With the one hour time change when we crossed the River into Laughlin from Bullhead City, it was 12:30 when we arrived at the Riverside Hotel & Casino. Our room was not ready for check-in quite yet, so we started our exciting afternoon at the slots. Josie got hot right off the bat and won a couple nice jackpots totaling about $350 and then hit another one on a different machine for around $210. Of course, we immediately got excited over this "hot" beginning. As all casinos go, you ride the roller coaster. We were up and down the rest of the afternoon and finished the (gambling) day at just below our initial stake for the trip.

We took a walk to the Aquarius Casino next store and tried our luck there. It wasn't as good as the Riverside, so we came back to our room which we had not yet settled into. We did get a nice shot of Bullhead City and the mountains while on this walk:

The room is being "comped" for us, and we can see why. There are little to no amenities, no desk , poor toiletries, dirty carpet and pretty much your "basic" room. I did call before we left home to make sure we had a coffeemaker, hair dryer and refrigerator (which was brought into our room after we requested one). We are getting about what we paid for but will take the free room anytime.

Our original plan was to attend a Christmas Eve church service in Bullhead City but we were too tired at the end of our day to go anywhere.

Today, we plan to drive down the street to the Golden Nugget where we have stayed before and like their casino. Hopefully, we can "get it right" today and close out our casino play on the positive side. It is always a happy occasion to be here in one of our favorite locations...

Nice End to the Week

As the flower shop was all caught up with orders and deliveries, Josie was able to leave a bit early and arrived home at around 4 PM. That kicks off our mini vacation and our extended weekend in Laughlin for Christmas as she was also given tomorrow off from work. Our scheduled dinner with George and Cheryl at the Shanghai Club in Anthem was excellent and we will certainly return there at some point for a lunch or another dinner. I remembered to take this photo as we were completing our dinner:

During the day, I did another drive-by of one of the suggested homes that our property manager suggested we view. It s located in Surprise, and is a very nice property. These photos show a little of the home that I was able to see without going inside. Starting with the front exterior of the property which sits on almost 1.5 acres and had plenty of room for the RV in addition to a two car garage:

The rear was outstanding and included an area that is perfect for entertaining:

and also a separate workshop at the rear of the property that added a nice touch:

The only negative that I could see was that it was a bit far for a commute to Josie's shop. It is definitely one to consider should that be the direction we decide to take.

On the way back from the drive-by, I noticed the decorations (Luminarias) that were placed all along the drive into our Resort:

They will all be lit on Christmas Eve and I suspect it will be a pretty sight.

To make the day even better, I baked cookies in the afternoon. Yes, you read it correctly - I made cookies. They turned out great and we will take some to Laughlin with us today. We also have some egg nog and wine to take, so we are ready. Let the fun begin!!...

Mysterious Light in Sky

We were watching TV last night and received a knock on our door at around 6:30 PM. A neighbor asked us to come outside and see the mysterious light in the sky that was very bright and moving. I took these shots of the light in the western sky:

As you can see, it would make a believer out of anybody that there are aliens from another planet in our area, It turned out to be a rocket launch by the SPACEX organization in California. As reported on the news, it could be seen as far away as New Mexico. It sure caused a stir.

We are down to the last full work day for Josie at the flower shop. She hopes to get off early - at around 4:30 PM - so we can met George and Cheryl at 5 PM at the restaurant in Anthem. She said that the shop was in good shape - they had 161 deliveries yesterday - and all the orders are done that were scheduled for today. Of course, they get orders all day long and the challenge is to remain current with the flow. New orders should slow down as the day progresses.

It looks like a nice day in the forecast for Christmas - 75. It has been cold in the mornings, but it is nice to see the warming temperatures for the daytime. It should also be near 75 in Laughlin as we are looking forward to our trip...

TGIF

Thank goodness it's Friday. There has been a noticeable increase in the traffic on the freeways the last few days as Josie has taken longer to go back and forth to work. The prediction is for a record number of travelers this year, and I believe the forecast is correct. We hope that our drive to Laughlin on Sunday does not get impacted - too much - by the increase.

Speaking of our trip to Laughlin - I will do some shopping today to pick up a few items to take on our trip to use in our room. We like to have some food and drinks when we go to Laughlin so that we don't have to spend a lot of time and money eating in the restaurants. The only "for sure" meal we will eat out is the breakfast buffet that the Aquarius Hotel has each day. It is the best deal in town and the best spread anywhere in Laughlin that we have found. I believe that our promotion at the Riverside also includes some dinner discounts at that hotel.

We are also looking forward to our planned dinner with George and Cheryl tomorrow night. We will meet them at a Chinese restaurant in Anthem at 5 PM after Josie gets off work. It has been a long time since we have had Chinese which is a favorite of ours.

Our Christmas holiday is taking shape and we just need to push through these next couple of work days to be able to enjoy the season...

Grinding Through the Week

It has been a rough time for Josie at work as she is very busy and the work is very physical. She has been struggling with her back pain and it makes it difficult to sleep as well as stand for any length of time. Evidently, the shot she received a couple weeks ago has had little benefit. There are only 3 1/2 days to go before she can rest and take a couple days off during Christmas. Both of us are looking very forward to heading to Laughlin on Sunday afternoon.

I had to visit my Audiologist again yesterday with a problem in the plastic/wire connecting the receiver to the earpiece. The plastic separated and exposed the wire. I had to have another impression taken of the ear and the Audiologist sent it off to have a new wire and earpiece made. In the meantime, she taped the separation in the existing earpiece and I hope it lasts until the new one arrives sometime within the next week.

No more word on the home front. We are still waiting to hear about the plan for the changeover from the tenants to us. It seems that the tenants will spend the holiday - Christmas, at least - in the house. They still must be out by December 31, so things should start happening soon...

iPod Rescue

I wanted to place some Christmas music on my IPod last week so I downloaded several albums from my Mp3 Rocket software into my iTunes library on the computer. I updated my iTunes version last week and was ready to copy the Christmas music to my iPod, which I did before the weekend. Mistake! The new version of iTunes wouldn't recognize my old music that I had on the iPod because it is not purchased through Apple. To make the long story short, everything I had on my iPod was erased and replaced with just the latest Christmas music. Yesterday, I discovered that I could restore my iPod with the old music from my previous computer which had the "good" version of iTunes. I am back in business now with my favorite music on the iPod. I'm so glad I still have my old computer.

We have done some research on small towns in Arizona to see if there are some (or one) that we should be looking at for spending a couple years before Patty relocates to AZ. Several of them are towns that we like and have spent some time visiting. Most of them are too pricey - i.e.Sedona - for us to spend any amount of time, but others have us looking more closely. Prescott, Williams and Tombstone are a few that stand out. There are some good bargains that we have seen with our initial look at those towns. It is food for thought as we investigate all options.

We are almost halfway through the busy week and Josie is really looking forward to the weekend. The shop has been busy and the orders are flowing so it looks like a pretty good year for the shop. We will be glad to finally see the week end so Josie can get some relaxation before the end of the year...

Getting Approved

As we still don't know what option we will pursue regarding the housing issue, we are proceeding to get a letter from our mortgage company that pre-approves us for another mortgage. That would last us for 90 days which should be enough time for us to figure out the direction we will take and make an offer on a home if that is the solution. Our mortgage company will be sending us that letter this week.

January is suppose to be the start of the best time to list and sell property. We will give it a test. Our hope is that the market is near what it was when we purchased the home in early 2015. Our house didn't last more than one day on the market when we purchased, and there wasn't even time to install a sign on the property when we made our accepted offer. A repeat would be wonderful.

We are getting some nice listings from Realtor.com along with listings from our property manager. It is going to be a difficult decision for us. Whatever we decide, it will not be a permanent arrangement as we plan to move close to Patty and her family when they relocate here from Illinois in a couple of years. We hope all that comes together and we can be close again...

Cookies and Football

It amounted to a typical day in December leading up to Christmas. Baking cookies and watching football. The only good part of the day, as it turned out, was that the cookies are delicious. The football stunk - royally. The Cardinals were eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to the Redskins and the Seahawks were blown out by a hungry LA Rams team and are facing a tough finish in order to make the playoffs. It could be a very disappointing season all around for our team favorites.

With less than a week to go before Christmas, we are anxious for the week to pass quickly. Josie will work every day and I will do a lot of organizing to prepare for the new year. We also have the housing issues to deal with and that is pretty much an unknown event - or, events. All of the options we looked at are still on the table, so we are unsure how all of this will turn out.

This is just another chapter playing out in our lives. It has been an exciting trip so far, good and not so good, and we hope to keep adding to the story and produce a happy ending. I must say, there is very little boredom in our lives...

Graduation Day

After 4 1/2 years of hard work and lots of excitement on the football fields, our grandson Austin graduated from WMU. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments and that he is such an outstanding example of a good human being. He has a wonderful future to look forward to.

Below are some of the photos taken by Patty during and after the ceremony:

and this shot with the twins and Austin:

It was a proud day! Congratulations Austin!!!

There wasn't much else happening on the home front. I took this shot of a balloon passing overhead as I grilled some salmon outside:

They turned the burner on and rose rapidly above the desert.

Today is Josie's only remaining day off before Christmas Eve so we plan to do some relaxing along with - maybe - baking a cookie or two and watching some football...

Final Rent Payment

I received the notice that our final rent payment went into the bank yesterday for deposit into our account. We are getting down to the end of our association with the property managers and with the very good tenants we have had for almost two years. All that is left now is to get the keys at the end of the month, change the locks, do the inspection and return any deposit money that is left to the tenants. We then place the home on the market and keep our fingers crossed that the sale cycle is a short one.

We still are looking at our options for "post sale" direction. It really depends on how quickly the home sells, how much money is received and when the home closes. In the meantime, we will stay here and keep looking.

With one final week remaining until Christmas, it promises to be a busy week for Josie. I will begin the computer push to organize our records for next year, including our tax data. Nobody knows what the final outcome will be with the proposed tax law changes, but whatever happens, I'm sure that the TurboTax software will be able to handle them. I have had excellent experience with that method for doing our taxes and see no reason to worry about it for this year. The timing is good for our rental to end at the end of this year as we will not have to deal with those tax implications next year...

Revisit to Doctor Office

We started the day yesterday with an unscheduled visit to Josie's doctor to get a new schedule for her shots. Her back has not been responding too well to the first shot, and she has had a problem connecting with the staff at the doctor's office to discuss the problem as a result of her working schedule. The best way to connect was to physically go to the office and talk about the problem. She scheduled a consultation with the doctor and we hope to get some results very soon.

The plan was to bake cookies yesterday and to get the final Christmas cards mailed. The cookie project was derailed as a result of problems with ingredients and some cookie press equipment. That project will wait until she has more time. The Christmas mailing is done so we are now ready for the holiday.

The marathon schedule at Josie's work begins today as the holiday nears. This is always a tough time but the light at the end of the tunnel is bright...

Echo Dot

This past Monday was Green Monday and a time when many great deals could be available for the final time before Christmas. I saw that Amazon was offering their popular "Echo Dot" for only $29.99 which is 40% off. I ordered one for us for Christmas and it arrived yesterday. What a terrific device. It is connected through your phone and the internet which allows you to do almost anything by asking "Alexa" to perform the task, hands free. I set it up and have only begun to see the real effectiveness of this powerful device. No more searching the internet on our computer or on the phone to find answers to any question. Alexa will do it, instantly. There's so much more that we will be discovering as we become more familiar with its capabilities. It's worth checking out.

Josie is off today for the final time until Christmas Eve. It will be a day of catching up on final Christmas duties such as mailing gifts and cards. Yes, I know it's late for that, but we have been busy doing other chores in the limited time off together. When Josie gets home from work, it is usually time to just relax, have dinner, watch a little TV and go to bed.

We have scheduled a dinner with George and Cheryl for Saturday night the 23rd. By that time, we are hoping that things will be enough under control at the flowers shop that she will be able to leave a bit early. That would be the day before we head to Laughlin and her final full day, so it should be a nice start to Christmas...

Prescription Confusion

During my physical exam the other day, my doctor asked if I wanted him to assume the control of my only prescription. Right now, I take a drug prescribed by my Gastroenterologist to control my Colitis which hasn't bothered me in over 20 years. I will be on that medication for as long as I live. Anyway, I agreed to the transfer. What I didn't know was that he went ahead and ordered another refill which I don't yet need . The whole process is a mess now as the company - OptumRx - that handles that prescription has sent the (unnecessary) refill, to the wrong address and charged the wrong credit card. Sheesh! I should have left everything alone.

Josie will have Thursday off this week - as her extra off day - so that she can work this Saturday. The Christmas work schedule will throw out the regular schedules for all the employees. Let's just say that she will be busy and is looking forward to her Christmas break.

I see where the candidate that Trump heavily supported in Alabama lost his Senate bid to his Democratic opponent. That leaves only a majority by one seat in the Senate for the Republicans. I don't normally comment on political issues, but it appears to me that Trumps is in for a long road to "right" the ship that appears to be sinking. Oh, well, have a great day...

Physical OK

Everything checked out OK yesterday with my annual physical. Except for a slightly high cholesterol number, all of my other lab results were within the normal range. The only complaint I had was with the sore muscle that I have been suffering with since my flu shot in October. The indication was that it will eventually go away on its own. I hope he's right. The other point of discussion was the Lipoma that I discovered while in Jackson and didn't get removed because the procedure was out of my insurance network. My doctor will connect me with one locally that will be in network.

Josie will get one extra day off this week - between now and the weekend - since she will have to work Saturday to kick off the Christmas week. Her schedule for the season will be finalized today, but we do know she will have two days off sometime during the week.

We are so happy that our grandson Austin will be graduating this week (Saturday) from Western Michigan University. What an exciting four years! We are very proud of him and wish we could be there for his big day...

Shopping Done

Here is an update on the nice village that Josie bought at Sam's Club and we showed in yesterday's entry. The occupants came home and turned on the lights:

It looks a bit nicer now.

The day was a mixed one on the football field. The Cardinals played a very good game and won 12-7 - without scoring a touchdown - over the Titans. There is little or no chance that they will make the playoffs. The Seahawks, on the other hand, shot themselves in the foot against the Jaguars and lost 30-24. Their playoff hopes remain in the picture. We are getting into the "must win" time of the year when each game could make or break a team's chances for the playoffs.

I have my annual physical exam today and don't anticipate any problems. I don't like getting lectures from the doctor, so we'll see how that goes.

We completed our Christmas shopping yesterday and hope to get everything in the mail this week. I am also going to return Josie's Instant Pot to Amazon as it is too big and too heavy. We will replace it with a smaller model sometime after the Christmas season. The 8 quart model was too much for us and would be a great appliance if we had a large family living at home. The next model down - the 6 quart model - will do just fine. All of the attempts to cook our meals for two people revealed that the model we had was overkill and we have no room in the RV to store it when not in use. It is still a wonderful appliance and one that every family should have.

Other than that, it looks like a normal week ahead for us as we get closer to Christmas...

More on Christmas

We did a drive by on one of the lots that was listed in New River that seemed like a great deal. It was one that was nearby the house I drove by the other day. That still remains an option, but there has to be some criteria for any lot, and that is: power cannot be too far away to bring in, water must be readily available through a shared well or drilling, there can be no construction restrictions and it must be on (or near) a paved road. Oh, and it must be affordable. Sounds reasonable, right?

While out and about, we stopped at Sam's Club to pick up a few items and Josie expanded her collection of Christmas decorations for the RV. This village has found a spot on our entertainment center:

Also, we received a notice a few days ago from our Players Club at the Riverside Resort in Laughlin. It offered two free nights of accommodations, Sundays through Thursdays, from now until December 28. Josie found out that her shop will close on Sunday, December 24 at 1 PM and remain closed through December 26, so we booked a room for two nights - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - to take advantage of her days off by having a mini-vacation over the holidays. Our first choice for the holidays was to visit Patty and her family in Naperville, but Josie couldn't get enough time off to make it worthwhile. We also considered a mini-vacation to Rocky Point, Mexico, but that was too far to go and too expensive for just a couple nights. We are happy with the "free" room arrangement in one of our favorite locations. We will most likely stay close to home for New Year's, but that can also change if Josie's schedule suddenly changes...

Cold Like Jackson

It is 32 degrees outside as I write this entry - pretty similar to Jackson when we left the first part of October. The difference is that we don't have any snow and we are grateful for that. Not too long ago I was complaining that summer just wouldn't let go here in the Phoenix area. It has let go with a vengeance. I guess I won't complain anymore.

I took another drive-by yesterday of a home in New River that just had a $10K price reduction and looked promising. It sits on a couple acres on top of a hill with gorgeous views all around. The problem that I saw - and it is a big one - is that the dirt road you need to take to get there is fairly steep and there are no alternate routes. That would not work for our big fifth wheel. The area though, is very nice and I caught this big doe walking along with her two fawns as I was leaving the house:

The second fawn is not in view, but you can see that it is a nice area. There are lots of saguaros and cactus growing here that make the land more valuable. The views aren't bad either. There were several nice lots available in the area (down from the steep hill) which may also be another option for us. New River has many vacant lots in the 1 to 5 acre range, that are affordable. We will do more research on those.

I spoke with our property manager yesterday about the schedule for the house activities. It will be busy from about the 20th of December through the first couple weeks in January. We are ready for the effort to begin and hope it all goes smoothly...

Wildfires the Big Story

It is absolutely incredible watching the wildfires spread in southern California. Those firefighters are helpless in preventing any spread with the relentless winds gusting to over 50 mph. I heard this morning that over 500 buildings have been destroyed and that 23,000 homes are threatened. There are now six fires that are being fought. I don't think there is any relief from the winds in the forecast before late today or tomorrow. At least the winds have died down this morning in our area. God be with those folks in southern California.

I had my bloodwork done yesterday AM in preparation for my physical exam on Monday. I arrived at about 8:10 AM at the office (Lab) and there were already six people ahead of me. You really need to get there before 8 AM, as I know from the past. It took almost 1.5 hours before I had my turn and to get back on the road to home. The only complaint I have going into my physical is a pain in my left arm that I have had since I got my flu shot almost two months ago. I believe that one of the side affects from the shot is muscle ache where the injection was made, but this seems like an unusual amount of time to have that reaction. I guess I'll find out on Monday...

Scheduling More Appointments

The calendar is filling up rapidly. Beginning with today, I have to get bloodwork done for my annual Physical which is scheduled for Monday. I received a schedule of appointments - nine - for my cataract surgery. These appointments begin on January 17 with pre-op procedures, have one eye done on February 1, the second one done on February 15, and several scans and post operation appointments in between and following the procedures. Josie will be having similar appointments with doctors for her back and also for her eyes early in the new year. It's all part of the plan to create the "Six Million Dollar Man" and "Wonder Woman".

While all of those appointments are to be fulfilled, we have the issues with the house to resolve. Our property manager indicated yesterday that the keys to the house will be turned over by January 2 (allowing for the New year's Day holiday) and then walk-through's and repairs, if needed, will be completed. We are still hoping for a fast sale and closing on the house so that we can move forward with the next phase - whatever that turns out to be. We have decided that renting a home is probably out of the picture. There are just too many things that we would have to do to any house to make it work for us and you can't do those things to a rental. So, it seems like we will take whatever time is required to locate the "right" home for us to buy and just continue renting our RV space here at Pioneer until that happens...

Renewing Driver's License

One day about a month ago, I realized that my driver's license would expire on my birthday in January. I took care of that issue yesterday and I am legal for another five years.

The Motor Vehicle Department has changed their way of moving customers through the facility. It used to be that you received a number and sat and waited until you were called. Some days, you would sit forever until called. Now, they give you a number, but you wait in line and they take customers on a first come, first served basis. I was there for less than a half hour and had my license renewed. Of course, they don't give you your new license right away, but rather mail it to you in about 8-10 days. They issue a "temporary" license until mailing the new one.

We see that California is on fire again. Ventura County is being leveled by a fast moving fire (actually four fires) that has spread quickly as a result of the Santa Ana Winds fanning the flames. We also get a version of those winds - and have for the last two days - which makes it difficult to do anything outside. Hopefully, they will die down soon and give the fire fighters a chance to make some progress in California. There have been hundreds of homes destroyed and the end is not in sight. Our nephew, Brian, has spent a lot of time recently in northern California handling insurance claims for State Farm from previous, recent fires. Our guess is that he will most likely move on to southern California now to take care of business from these latest destructive fires. It is not a pleasant task, we're sure...

Decorating Our Home

We have everything done as far as decorating the inside of our RV for Christmas. There are some new decorations, but they are mostly the old standbys. Here are some shots of the main areas:

Oops! That last one isn't a decoration!

So far, there are no decorations on the outside as the site is bare and I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to make things look nice without the gravel base. It also gets dusty when the wind blows - like this morning - and the lights and decorations would get full of the stuff. The jury is still out for whether or not to install any or part of those decorations. Other than that, we are ready for the holiday - except to get all of the family gifts in the mail.

Yesterday, we received a notice that the monthly rate at our storage unit will rise again - what else is new - on the 4th of January. It is a shame that we cannot find a way to get rid of that expense now. Short of moving into a house, we will be forced to continue with that expense until we do. Renting our space here at the Resort is still a lot cheaper than paying a  mortgage plus all the associated home expenses (or renting a home) just to save the storage fee. Someday - and maybe fairly soon - that will happen anyway as we are getting lonesome for our possessions...

Supermoon

First of all, there were mixed results from the big games yesterday. The Cardinals did not surprise in losing to the LA Rams, 32-16 in the game at the Phoenix Stadium. The big surprise was the game between the Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles - won by the Seahawks in spectacular fashion, 24-10. The Eagles lost for only the second time this year and ended a nine game winning streak. That win indicates that the Seahawks may not roll over as their key defensive players are out with injuries leading into the playoff season. Great game!

There was a rare "supermoon" last night as it appeared larger than normal. Occasionally, the moon passes closer to earth and creates an enlarged view as it rises. We took these shots, which aren't the best view, but is all we could get with our cameras:

I did hear that we will again see this kind of view in January.

Shortly after watching the moon rise, we heard a banging noise outside of our RV like there was someone knocking on the rear of the unit. It turned out to be two javelinas that got too close to our rig and made a nuisance of themselves. We chased them off by banging a pot with a wooden spoon. Good defense.

Only 21 days until Christmas, so get your shopping done...

Looking at Homes

First of all, it was a very disappointing outcome of the Big 10 Championship game last night. Wisconsin just could not get in sync and Ohio State won, 27-21. Although he made a few nice catches, Troy Fumagalli was not a factor as the quarterback threw several key passes to him that were poor throws and not catchable. It will be interesting now to see where each team ends up in the bowls.

We did a drive by on three homes yesterday. All three seemed like good possibilities for us, but are eliminated from consideration for different reasons. All three of them would be convenient to Josie's work, with two of them being located only blocks away from her shop on 19th Ave.

The first home was small and backed to a busy street (Thunderbird) and was not a consideration:

The second home was a very nice, although older home. It was located on the end of cul-de-sac that bordered on a huge common area. It was in a terrific location, was large enough, but didn't have a pool and needed some updating. The RV parking situation was excellent and actually had hookups on the one side:

We could not see the interior but have the information about the listing agent if we wanted to pursue this one, which we probably won't.

The third one was a very close fit to what we want. The owner happened to be taking some things out of the garage and allowed us to walk through the home and ask questions. We took these photos of the exterior but didn't get any of the nice pool or the inside:

The RV storage area was excellent and the home included top-of-the-line Samsung appliances - refrigerator, washer and dryer. It was reasonably priced, but the timing is not right as this home will receive multiple offers and sell before we are ready to move on anything. It was just listed a couple days ago and is receiving good traffic. The location was very close to the Arrowhead Mall area and in a very nice neighborhood. It is a good example of what we are looking for should we decide to go the way of purchasing another home. At the present time, we need to wait to see how quickly our current home sells and then closes.

Today will be a day for baking cookies and trying out our new Instant Pot with some spare ribs that we picked up at the grocery store last night. We'll get some photos of that activity to show tomorrow...

Facing the Weekend

Not much happened yesterday as we approach the first weekend in December. Josie is now in the swing of things again at the 19th Ave location of Phoenix Flower Shops and I did more research of homes and other "first of the month" duties on the computer. The story now is the great weekend of football games ahead.

The main game (among others) for us to watch today is the Big 10 Championship game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Ohio State Buckeyes. The game will be televised on FOX TV at 6 PM (8 PM EST). Go Wisconsin!

The next big games are on tomorrow between the Cardinals and Rams and the Seahawks and Eagles. Both of those games will be fun to watch and both have a significant impact on who makes it to the playoffs, and the rankings within the playoffs. It is now that time of the year when the football games all mean so much.

Oh, and we will be doing a few drive-by's today at some homes that are a potential fit for us.

Enjoy your weekend everyone...

All is Well

Josie's return to Phoenix Flower Shops was very pleasant and productive. She has her Mon-Fri schedule back - at the one store - and she is content with the arrangement. It looks like she is good to go for the foreseeable future. Cactus Flower now appears to be history - forever. We were hoping to get enough time off over the holidays to visit Patty and her family between Christmas and New Year's, but she will only be able to get, at best, a couple days off which would not be enough to justify the trip to Chicago. Maybe we can "steal" a couple days to do something special during that week.

It appears that Wisconsin has a chance to go to the Rose Bowl - if they can beat Ohio State for the Big 10 Championship. If that happens, there is a chance that Austin would come out to LA for the game to spend some time with his best friend (and Cotton Bowl MVP in 2017) Troy Fumagalli, who is expected to be the top NFL draft choice for Tight Ends in 2018. Along the same lines, his other friend - and former roommate - Corey Davis (who now plays for the Tennessee Titans in the NFL) will be signing Titans' Jerseys and sending them to Austin for Christmas. As he graduates from Western Michigan University in a couple weeks, it should be a wonderful Christmas season for Austin this year.

We have a few more houses that we want to do a drive-by on this weekend. Our options are still open although, at this point, we are leaning toward staying here at Pioneer RV Resort for at least the next year or so. The picture may be become more clear after this weekend...

Back to Better Working Conditions

The drama over the new job will end today. Josie returns to Phoenix Flower Shops today and is very happy that the outcome is a satisfying one and that the attempt to change was a short one. It is good to see her happy again about going to work.

She also had her back injection yesterday which went well. It took a lot longer than I expected as we arrived at the clinic at around 9 AM and she wasn't done until around 11 AM. That seemed like a long time for only an injection, but the prep and recovery time from the anesthetic made it a longer procedure. She says that her back is already feeling better this morning, so she is ready to go now.

Time is marching on as we enter December tomorrow. It is the final month before putting our house on the market. Our understanding is that the market is good now for selling a home. It would really be nice if it sells as quickly as when we purchased it three years ago. At that time, the home was on the market for only one day when we made our offer and was accepted. December will certainly be a busy month...

An Obvious Home Option

While looking at all the options available to us on the housing issue, there has been an increasing frustration level with what is available in the marketplace that satisfies our requirements. After doing drive-by's on several homes that seemed like a good fit for us - both rentals and purchases - none resulted in a clear solution. Also, none of the options are clearly pointing the way for us.

One option that we haven't seriously considered, until now, is to do nothing. That is, stay where we are and not buy or rent anything. Yesterday, we went into the office and talked to the staff about options for moving to a site in the resort that would be a good option for staying on an annual arrangement. They gave us about a dozen site options to check out, so we drove around the park to check them. One of them appeared to be a nice option as it backs to a wash and is in a decent area. We made a (cancellable) reservation to hold that space for us until January when we would make a change. The more we think about it, staying here is probably the best option for the near term. It is a lot less expensive and we would still remain mobile for any future changes. It doesn't address eliminating our storage unit, but, with no housing costs, the storage unit is easier to justify on a continuing arrangement. Anyway, remaining here has now become a real possibility and an attractive option that we will continue to investigate

Today, Josie has to get her epidural injection at 9:30 AM. We are hoping that the procedure will help with her back pain and provide some relief for her while standing all day at the shop.

We have been shocked this morning with the breaking news about NBC Today Show host Matt Lauer being fired over sexual misconduct in the workplace. Wow. This is becoming an epidemic...

Getting Ready for Christmas

All of the gifts that were ordered on Black Friday arrived yesterday. The main one, is an Instant Pot that I got for Josie:

I'm sure you all have heard about them. I did a lot of research on them before ordering this and the reviews are excellent. It is a new technology pressure cooker that will also replace the crock pot and create options for other food preparations. The only negative that I can see so far is the size of this unit which is big for an RV. We have to figure out where to store it when not in use.

We spent most of the day decorating the interior of our RV to get ready for Christmas. Most of the decorations we have used for the RV are all placed around the unit and ready to enjoy. There are a few items we passed on this year as the site is not graveled and we didn't want our outside decorations to get full of dust and dirt. So far, it appears that all our neighbors are in the Scrooge category with no visible decorations - yet.

Today will be a day of rest for Josie before she goes for her back injection tomorrow and then to work again on Thursday. We talked to Patty over the weekend and she would like us to come to Naperville for the holidays which would be terrific. Josie needs to talk to her manager about that possibility so we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to put that together...

Righting the Ship

First of all, We watched the Cardinals win a great game against a good team yesterday. They beat a favored Jacksonville Jaguars team 27-24 with some clutch plays and determination. There may be some hope yet for them to salvage a good season if they can keep up the intensity and keep their mistakes to a minimum.

The Seahawks also won their game against a lousy San Francisco 49er team, 24-13. Everybody beats the 49er's, so no surprise there. The rest of the way for the Seahawks will be interesting with all their injuries and having to play against some of the best teams in the league over the next three weeks.

Josie's frustration and stress with her new job at Cactus Flower ended yesterday. She called her manager and told her it wasn't working for her and that she would not be back. We had already stopped at her old shop at 19th Ave on Saturday where she visited with her manager about a possible return. They are accepting her back with open arms and are delighted that she will return this week. She will begin work again at the 19th Ave location on Thursday. Hopefully, she can look forward to some stress free work with familiar faces in a familiar location with a familiar company. I'm so happy that she is happy...

More on Housing

We drove around an area in North Phoenix yesterday that was full of homes with lots of RV's parked outside and obviously had no HOA rules. The area was not far from the Arrowhead Mall area and had some nice properties. Some were on lots that exceeded one acre and would not be affordable for what we want to accomplish. It's nice to know that there are some properties out there that would work for us. All we have to do now is to find the winning ticket in the lottery.

It is nearing the start of December which is the final month that our tenant will be in our house. Decisions need to be made fairly soon on the direction we plan to take.

While we were out, we stopped at our storage unit and picked up the Christmas decorations that will be used this year. Today, we will do what we need to do to get everything set up for another Christmas. We aren't as excited about decorating this year as our site is not as nice as we have had the last two years. Having all dirt on the site and no gravel, it makes for a dusty base for our outdoor decorations. For that reason, we will not have our reindeer or lit trees placed outside. We do have plenty of inside items that will add cheer to our Christmas season.

Also today, Josie will decide on a course of action she will take regarding her employment. We will keep you posted on those developments...

Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday every year when you "supposedly" should be able to get the best deals on just about anything. I did a lot of surfing on the web while Josie had to struggle through another day at work. There were a couple items that I wanted to get - one for Josie for Christmas, and the other item was for our computer.

I had no problem with Josie's item which I found on Amazon at the best price I've seen anywhere. The item that I was looking for to be used on our computer system was a Western Digital high capacity hard drive (4TB) to keep our backups, documents and photos on in case of another internal hard drive failure. I found the best deal on that one at Best Buy where they beat the next best price by almost $30. You wouldn't believe what I went through to discover that Best Buy had none of those items in stock - anywhere. I could not even have one shipped, let alone pick up one at any store. I was on a chat with the Best Buy representative that informed me that there were none in stock, anywhere. They didn't even offer to provide a "rain check" to me so I could get the item sometime later. It was hard for me to understand why a company would advertise an item at such a great price without having any product to sell and provide such poor customer service on top of that - on Black Friday! I ended up getting that item from Amazon also, but at the next best price. At least I didn't have to discover that fact while driving all around to the local Best Buy stores in this area.

Josie is doing some hard thinking about her job change as this first week was very difficult for her. She is looking at options now, and will decide on a course to take by Monday.

We expect to drive around a couple neighborhoods today to look at homes that might satisfy our needs for either rental or purchase. Following that, we will stop at our storage unit and get our Christmas decorations and spend the rest of the weekend setting up for the Christmas Holiday...

Nice Thanksgiving

We arrived at the "Reeds" home shortly after 2 PM yesterday for our traditional Thanksgiving Day gathering. The weather was perfect and the food was delicious. There was plenty of conversation and catching up with what everybody has been doing since Thanksgiving of last year. Our family friends, Cot and Lois, were there as usual, and it has been exactly one year since we last saw them. We took several shots of the day, the best of which are below:

Starting with the group sitting around the table on the patio outside:

and then, checking out the spread just before going through the line to fill our plates:

Finally, a pretty good shot of "The Reeds":

Jason and Jesse are growing so fast now that it must be tough keeping them in clothes that fit. What a great looking family.

The football games on TV were so-so, but the food was terrific!

The attention now shifts to the Christmas season. We expect a busy, and noteworthy December leading up to Christmas, and we will be making plans for the holiday fairly soon.

Have a great "Black Friday" today...