GOODBYE 2012

In about 18 hours, 2012 will be history, and we'll make the transition into the new year of 2013.  Lots has happened during the last 12 months, and I think a few highlights are in order, as this year that was supposed to be the end of the world, comes to a quiet close.

We started the year as we have for many years, spending time at the Family Motor Coach Ass'n western RV rally in Indio, CA.  From there, the motor home took us to Quartzsite, AZ, where for about the 20th year, we parked in the desert, along with thousands of other RV'ers.  In February, I made a quick trip to Stockton, CA, where I attended the funeral of my Aunt Martha.  It was a trip that had been anticipated, but sadness at the passing of a family member was the dominant emotion.  In late February, we sold the official merchandise at the Tucson Rodeo, for the 7th year, and from there, we drove to Yuma, AZ.  We attended another RV rally, put on by our friends who publish the Gypsy Journal, Terry & Nick Russell.  We met our buddy Nancy Kissack in Yuma, and while there, she traded her 5th wheel for a brand new Tiffin Phaeton diesel pusher motor home.

In late March, we drove back to Tucson, where we picked up our Granddaughter Laila, then drove to the San Diego area where we spent the first week of April playing tourists.   In May, I took the motor home to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, where I started my second summer as a shuttle bus driver for the National Park Service.  Patty joined her brother Michael, and his partner Donald in San Francisco, where they all boarded a flight for Paris.  They spent 2 weeks in France, before Patty joined me at the Canyon, and started her second season working in the General Store.  The months of June, July, & August were 40+ hour work weeks, and by the time early September rolled around, we were both ready for a break from foreign tourists, and a little slower pace.

In August, Nancy drove her new motor home to the canyon, and stayed until we all left for a small RV rally, just down the road in Williams.  We met several of our friends from the Golden Spike RV Chapter, and rode the steam train from Williams back to the Grand Canyon.  From Williams, we drove to the Sedona area, spending a few days at the Thousand Trails RV park.  In late September, it was back to Lake Havasu where we started packing up our belongings.  While at the Canyon, we had made the decision to move to Tucson, and in late August, we purchased a 4 acre property in the small community of Vail, which is about 20 miles southeast of downtown Tucson.  After a few days of packing boxes, Nancy & Patty drove back to CA, where they boarded a flight to Hawaii.  While they spent two weeks at Nancy's condo in Maui, I took the motor home back to Tucson, and started working on the new homestead.  When Patty left Hawaii, she flew directly to Tucson, where, for the next month, we lived in the motor home while working on the house, and building a new garage.

In late November, it was back to Lake Havasu where we had a mover load everything up, and we left our home of 10 years for the last time.  We moved into the new place right before Christmas, and it's been a nonstop flurry of activity, trying to get everything unpacked and organized.

We're starting to get comfortable in our new home, and are happy to be much closer to our son Marc, his wife Chandra, and our Granddaughter Laila.  We will be ending the year with our little girl spending a few days with us, and it is our hope that the coming year is a happy, & prosperous one for everybody.  See ya next year!

ROCK CRAWLIN

After we made a quick trip to the bank, getting our signatures notarized on several escrow documents, Marc, and Laila came out to the ranch with their new Christmas toys.  They each got a remote controlled, 4 wheel drive jeep, and the story behind Marc's gift was a lengthy one.  Chandra came to me in mid November, asking if I would order this state of the art, R.C. rock crawler from EBAY, for Marc's birthday.   Well, to make a long story short, it didn't arrive for his birthday, and she had to call the company in CA to find out what was going on.  I guess there was some sort of west coast, longshoreman's strike, at least that was what she was told, and supposedly, that was causing the delay.  At the 11th hour, on Christmas Eve day, U.P.S. showed up with the package, averting a mini disaster.  Laila's jeep was a gift from Grandma & Grandpa, and due to it's much slower speed than Dad's, she's now lobbying for a faster one.  We'll see how that plays out.

 

Our property is the perfect place to play with these toys, as we've got lots of rocks, and lots of ups, and downs.  Like any hobby, there's all kinds of ways to invest more dollars in these machines, and Marc was already talking about a faster electric motor for his jeep.

I didn't get much work done in the garage, but did fire up the new BBQ, just as Marc and Laila were heading back to their house.  I filled up the grill with boneless chicken thighs, and we had BBQ'd chicken for dinner.  Oh yea, almost forgot.  My personal, electronic fixer, found the problem with the printer, and got it working.  Once again, operator error was the culprit!

Laila got a turn with Dad's jeep, which did nothing to diminish her desire for a faster one of her own.

A reluctant 7 year old model with Grandpa.

END OF ESCROW

I spent most of the morning dealing with a printer glitch, (never did solve the problem), while trying to print escrow documents on the new house printer.  I ended up going out to the motor home, using the laptop for email access, and then using the printer in the motor home.  By the time that was all done, it was time to take the docs to the bank, get them notarized, and fedex'd back to the title company in Lake Havasu. With all of that done, it was time to move on to other stuff, so, more tomorrow.......

GETTING ORGANIZED

For anyone who knows me, having all of my/our "stuff" scattered around the garage, has been a little more than a slight distraction.  I like things to be in their proper place, and even though some folks might call me "obsessive", knowing where everything is located, saves me a lot of  frustration.  When I'm looking for something, I usually don't have to waste any time, or energy, because everything has it's proper place.

Since taking a couple of days off from working in the garage, I was back at it yesterday, and the insulation & sheet rocking of the north wall is about 75% complete.  The walls in my workshop corner are finished, and I started getting that area organized. 
 

 

 I ran out of insulation again, so another run to Home Depot will be on the agenda today.  So far, I've used 702 feet of 15 inch wide, 6 inch thick, R19, Owens Corning fiberglass insulation, and by the time I'm done, that figure will be well over 1,000 feet.  Not sure what I'm going to do on the roof, but most likely, I'll keep with the D.I.Y. method, and use the same type of insulation between the rafters.  Sheet rocking the ceiling is not something I want to tackle myself, and if I go that route, I'll hire someone to do it. 

TWO DOGS & A CAT

These first pictures are of "Flash", Chandra's brother Vince's English Bulldog.  Flash is a walking, sometimes sleeping, almost continual photo op!  Patty's son David, also has an English Bulldog, and the faces on these critters is truly something to behold.  It's often said, that their faces are so ugly, they're just downright cute.  We watched Flash for two days, and the name doesn't exactly describe his ability to move from point A, to point B.   We often cracked up, when we would discover him asleep, sitting with his head against the wall, on the stairs, or, in this case, with his head on a stool.

During the Christmas Holidays, it's all about being together with family and friends.  These 4 legged critters are as much a part of the family as anyone else.   For those that care about animals like we do, these guys/girls are a part of our daily lives, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Flash provided all of us with more than a few chuckles, particularly when he was given a pair of new goggles for Christmas.  This last picture shows him kind of burying his face against Laila's new doll package.

The cat pictured is our beloved Gracie.  Like all animals, they each have a distinct personality, and this Snowshoe feline is no different.  She has become a mostly affectionate critter, who is quick to occupy any unused lap.  When Patty found her on an Internet rescue sight a few years ago, it was love at first sight, and she is solidly entrenched as part of our family.

Our old Beagle, Sami, just turned 15, and is really starting to show her age.  She and Gracie aren't exactly snuggle buddies, but they get along just fine, and are great travel animals when we're in the motor home.  Speaking of motor home, we'll be hitting the road in a little over a week, first for an RV rally in Indio, then, a week in Yuma, and finally, we'll wrap up this coming getaway, with about a week parked in the desert at Quartzsite.  Lots to do between now, and then.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

The phone call came from Marc, that Laila was up, and we better get back over to their house, or we would miss some of the early opening of presents.  Making a 7 year old wait for Grandma & Grandpa on Christmas morning, would be pretty close to torture.  So, we jumped in the Jeep, and arrived just as Laila started distributing, and opening presents.  The first picture shows Miss Laila displaying her role the eyes look, as she discovered one of her first presents was a remote control Jeep rock crawler.  When she discovered that Dad got an adult version of the same thing, and she had a chance to play with hers outside, then it became a pretty cool toy.

Christmas morning is magical for a young child, and Laila was no exception.  She was the focus of attention, as she peeled wrapping paper off the gifts faster than  you could say lickety split.   She got the usual stuff, like the latest and greatest doll, lots of clothes, new pink cowboy boots, but I think she was most excited about the gift card to Toys R Us, that came from Uncle Mike, and Aunt Amy.  Much of her delight & enthusiasm was infectious, as we all opened gifts.  We took a break in the action when Chandra fixed some breakfast, as we gathered up the mountain of gift wrapping and assorted empty boxes.

 Laila with her new doll.

 Dad, with his new remote control Jeep.

 Aunt Claudia and Chandra.

New cowboy boots.

 

After all of the morning action, Patty and I came back to the house for a few hours, then returned about mid afternoon.  Marc had the prime rib roast already on the BBQ, and a couple of hours later, we all enjoyed a feast for Christmas dinner.  Being much closer to part of our family is why we recently moved here to Tucson, and the past few days have been positive reinforcement for that decision.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 Left to Right - Patty Debbie, & Claudia

Spending time with family, and friends, is certainly one of the highlights of the Christmas Holiday season.   Yesterday afternoon, Patty and I loaded up the gifts, snacks, and a prime rib roast, before driving the 10 miles over to Marc, Chandra, & Laila's home.  Chandra's brother Vince, and his longtime partner Debbie, Marc's Aunt Claudia, and Uncle Marty, and family friend Sami, were all waiting for us.
 

   

Patty & Sam

After a few hours of socializing, Marc put some Tri-Tip on the BBQ that he inherited from Dad, and when that was done, we all sat down for dinner.  Marty and Claudia brought a  big batch of Dungeness Crab that provided a surf & turf feast for everyone.

 Marty, Marc, & Claudia preparing the crab on a bed of ice.

 Grandma with her favorite girl.

 Chandra, her brother Vince, and Sam.

 Seafood in Tucson.

Now that we are living close to Marc, Chandra, & Laila, we are grateful for the opportunity to spend time with them, and to be together with other family & friends.  The only circumstance that could be better, would be to have our other two boys David & Mike, & Mike's wife Amy with us.   Maybe someday down the road, we'll get all 3 of our boys, and their families together at the same time.  In the meantime, we wish Mike in Afghanistan, Amy in Georgia, and David in California, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy coming New Year.  The same wishes go out to everyone.

BUILDING A WORKSHOP

It's home improvement, installment 56 coming at ya.  No, I'm not Tim the tool man, but this alternate media device called a blog, has definitely been focused on fixing up the new homestead in the last couple of months.  It was early October when we took possession of the property, and for sure, improvements, and upgrades have been the name of the game.

Day before yesterday, after finishing the south "shelf wall", I focused my attention on the north east corner, where my work shop will be located.  Again, the first order of business was to insulate, and sheet rock the walls, before moving anything up against them.  In this corner, the drywall (sheet rock) is going half way (4 feet), and pegboard takes the wall up to 8 feet. 

By the time I ran out of insulation, and sheet rock for the second time, I had most of the corner done.  The first work bench is in place against the north wall, with my tool box next to it.  The last picture shows the second work bench in it's position, with one more bench yet to be built.  A quick trip to Home Depot replenished the supply of insulation and sheet rock.  By the time we got back home, and unloaded everything, it was time to quit for the day.  My body is ready for a break in the action, so with today being Christmas Eve, I think I'll tell the boss that I'm taking a couple of days off.  Wait a minute!  I am the boss.     

SHELVES ARE DONE

The south wall of the garage is just about done, with 35' of shelving, and one large cabinet in place.  With that side pretty much done,  I then moved over to the north east corner, and started to insulate, and sheet rock that area.  By 5pm, I was done for the day, and made a lot of progress.  Today, the first of my workbenches will go up, then, starting tomorrow, it'll be time for a Christmas break in the action.

We'll be spending Christmas Eve afternoon, and most of Christmas day with family and friends at Marc & Chandra's home.  Patty picked up a prime rib  roast yesterday, and that will be the main entree for Christmas day dinner. 

With all of the hustle and bustle of moving, trying to get boxes emptied, and lots of "have you seen such and such", we haven't taken much time for Christmas shopping.  Staying away from the hoards of shoppers, isn't exactly a bad thing for me.  If I were in charge, gift cards would be mandatory.  Let the recipient of the gift card decide what they want, and just do away with the long lines of people after Christmas, who are exchanging gifts for what they really desire.  The exception of course, is watching the faces of children light up, when they're opening the latest and greatest hot item toy.  With a house full of people, I have a feeling that our Granddaughter Laila's face will be well lit on Christmas morning! 

A NEW MEDICAL PROVIDER

As more shelving goes up, the pile of boxes is going down.  I took this picture to show that you can now actually walk between the boxes.  There's still a long way to go, but we're making progress.

On the way back from Ace Hardware yesterday, we stopped at a new community health clinic, just down the road from our property.  We both needed to schedule our annual health exams, and so we popped in to make an appointment.  Even though this is a new clinic, staffed by a Physician, Physicians Assistant, and a Nurse Practitioner, we were a bit surprised to learn that our exams could be scheduled that day, if we could come back after lunch.  Needless to say, we were back in an hour or so, and by late afternoon, we both had our exams, prescriptions refilled for the coming year, and an appointment to come back after Christmas for blood withdrawal, and subsequent lab work.  This re-establishment of medical care in our new area was a breeze, with no waiting, and very comprehensive exams.  My time with the Doc, & Patty's time with the N.P. was well over an hour, and we were both happy with the results. 

I didn't get any work done in the garage, but the medical appointments were high on the list of things to do, and it was important to get that out of the way.  Today, Patty picks up a Prime Rib roast for Christmas, and I'll play catch up in the garage.

COOKIES & AWNINGS

Patty and I are both pleased with the new awning, covering the new cement, in front of the new (to us) house.  Lots of "new things" around here, as we move forward on getting the new property to where we want it.  Still lots of new stuff to do!

Yesterday, another trip to Home Depot (I should buy stock), where I picked up the second batch of insulation, and drywall.  I'm within 10' of finishing the south wall of the garage, and today, I'll start insulating, and hanging sheet rock on the northeast corner, where my workbenches, and tools will eventually be located.

Marc and Laila came buy in the afternoon, and she and Grandma started some sort of cookie project, while Marc fine tuned the electronics under the new TV.  He installed a new cable, an FM antenna, and figured out why the bass speaker hasn't worked properly, in the  10 years that we've had the system.  Let's just say that there was nothing wrong with the equipment, that operator error, just might have been part of the equation.  Bottom line is that it now works, and after Marc transferred inputs from the Sanyo remote, to the DISH remote, the system is now running on all cylinders for the first time in a decade!

It looks like Gracie was somehow involved in the "cookie project"

The wind that has been blowing for the last 24 hours is supposed to die down today, with the temperature back up over 70 degrees tomorrow.  This is the time of year when I'm glad we're in Arizona, and not someplace where it's raining and/or snowing.

FRONT PATIO IS COVERED

From 9am to sundown, Mike, the owner of Creative Aluminum, and his helper Anthony, worked almost nonstop, finishing the front patio cover, and fixing the back cover.  The end result was an excellent job, and based on price, and quality of work, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Mike to anyone considering this type of job.  I'll take some photos of the finished product today.

We had a little bit of cold wind yesterday morning, and there was some concern with the initial framing, but it turned not to be an issue.  This type of awning is very common on manufactured homes, but the one difference with the way Mike does it, and all the others, is that he puts a large facia piece on the front, then paints it to match the trim of the house.  This one step adds a bunch to the overall appearance of the structure.

 
I tried to stay out of the way, spending most of the day in the garage, and made another pretty good dent in the emptying of boxes.  I have 21' of shelving up, and another 12' to go.  First, I need some more insulation, and sheet rock to finish the south wall. 

Today is a shopping day, with a run to Home Depot for more supplies, including some tall cabinets for stuff that can't go on the shelves.  When I get all of the walls sheet rocked, then I can concentrate on my work bench area, and get all of my tools and equipment organized.  One step at a time.

Now that the front of the house is shaded from most of the afternoon sun, the weather has turned cold.  It got down to the freezing threshold last night, but the days are still mostly sunny, with temps in the 60's.  The winter weather here in Tucson is comparable to Lake Havasu, and there are many days where it's a little bit warmer.  This morning, I could use a little bit warmer!

MORE CONSTRUCTION

The awning contractor arrived yesterday afternoon, and is still playing catch up after some bad weather, and a lot of promised jobs before Christmas.  We're having the entire front of the house covered with an aluminum awning, that will shade the direct afternoon sun.  In just a couple of hours, they got the rail attached to the facia board of the house, and built the support structure for the end of the awning that will be away from the house. They'll be back this morning, despite the rain that's falling as I write this.  Due to start a final job before Christmas tomorrow, they'll be working in  the rain if necessary, and must finish our job by the end of the day.

My initial diagnosis of a bad thermal couple in our gas house heater was correct, because after it was changed, we're back in business.  That's a good thing, because tonight, the temps are supposed to fall below freezing.

We've pretty much made the transition from living in the motor home, to living in the house.  I still don't know where anything is in the kitchen, and Patty's probably getting tired of me saying "where's the ___?  But, slowly, that will all come together, the longer we're inside.   Now, if I can just start to make a dent in all of the boxes on the floor of the garage.