Where Are The Murrays

PICTURES

2008-08-21T23:50:00.029-05:00

BIRTHDAY, PUPPY, DUMB ASS ATTACKS, NEW CAMPER, VEGGIE BALL, & NEW RESIDENCE

2008-08-21T22:35:00.007-05:00

August 21, 2008

Ah, let us begin with the first “dumb ass” attack. That would be my charming husband, Mike. I bet you thought it would be me. Ha, ha,very funny. Anyway, it was soon after the first of the year. Mike had bragged to both his sons over the holiday, that you actually could replace the battery in the Sonicare toothbrush. He stated that one only need to pry it apart, take out the old battery, insert the new one, and close it. In theory, it sounds quite routine. In actuality, not so much.

Mike was sitting at the desk using a flathead screwdriver to pry apart the toothbrush when it slipped out of the groove and the screwdriver stabbed him in the opposite hand. “Not too bright,” you say? You’d be correct. So, off to the emergency room we trekked and got him a tetanus shot and three stitches. As for the toothbrush? Into the trash, and replaced with a new one.

Not long after that “attack,” the dumb ass syndrome once again bit Mike. This time, the sweetheart was helping me cut vegetables for our dinner. He loves gadgets, and suggested he use the mandolin. For those of you not in the know, it is not a musical instrument. It’s a gizmo for slicing and shredding that stands on the counter top and you run the vegetables across a very sharp blade. All was going well until he started to slice a potato. As he was stroking the potato across the blade with potato juice spitting all over the kitchen, when the potato jammed. The potato stopped in its tracks, but Mike’s stroking action continued on with him slicing a tiny piece of his right thumb off. Not so bad we had to go to the ER again, but bad enough that there was blood mixed in with the spitting juice. Did I mention that the mandolin has a very sharp blade? Thought I did. We didn’t go to the ER for fear they would report domestic violence or suicide attempts. Poor guy.

After the dubious start to 2008, things sort of straightened out and went quite smoothly. We continued practicing and playing tennis. Last year, I informed Mike that it was time for him to throw me a birthday party. March 1st, I would turn 60, and I wanted a party. I don’t think that was asking for too much after 40 years of marriage. He acquiesced and said he would.

Well, after that point, he never really said much about the party, so I made arrangements to pick-up Coldstone Creamery Ice Cream Cakes, and invited nearly 80 people to stop by and help celebrate on my birthday on Saturday, March 1st. On the Thursday before, I was returning from tennis practice and came around the corner of our friend’s motor home to join everyone for happy hour. I was blown away! Our wonderful friends, the Carters, the Chambers, the Kelleys, and the Camaishes, along with Mike, had put together a surprise dinner in my honor. It was wonderful. I know Mike could not have done it without their planning and fantastic cooking skills. There were balloons, and flowers and desserts. A truly amazing spread.

The only strange thing about the whole thing, was that everyone and everything was positioned farther back from the road than usual. As I was standing dumbfounded, near the road, everyone motioned for me to come on back to the group and celebrate. Being the goofball that I am, I said, “Why, do you want to spank me?” I then proceeded back to the group while shaking my booty for the anticipated spanking. As I looked around and was laughing, I noticed a guy sitting half hidden in a chair with a canopy. I noticed he had dark hair and thought he must be someone new to the resort. No one in our group has really dark hair anymore, so, I bent down for a closer look and did about a 3-second pause before I yelled, “It’s Kirk!” Our younger son had flown out to surprise me, and surprised I was. I could not think of a better birthday present. I admit though, I was a bit embarrassed to have shaken my booty in front of my son.

A month or so before my birthday, I was busy surfing the net for my birthday present. Since our dog Blizz cuddles only when she wants, and Mike only cuddles when he wants, I decided I needed a puppy. I know, what was I thinking? On the Friday before my birthday, Mike, Kirk, and I went to the Phoenix airport to pick-up our 8-week-old miniature long haired dachshund. She was so cute! She’s a piebald, and has the most amazing colors. She’s white, black, and tan. Her coloring is very much like an Australian Shepard, and she loves to cuddle. We call her a scud missile, because when you open up her kennel to let her out, she comes running like a maniac and dives right into your face. Her name is Pebbles, and she’s a real joy.

I forgot to mention another exciting event. We drove down to my cousin Michael’s place in Tucson and got reacquainted with two cousins that I had not seen in 45 years. What a hoot. It was like we were teenagers all over again. The two sisters had flown in from California. I had reunited with Michael’s sister the year before in Tucson.

We finished up with tennis the end of March, and headed East the first of April. Our initial plan was to drive through Colorado, but weather was iffy, so we decided to go the southern route and stop in Santa Fe for a couple.e of days to see the area, and visit with our daughter-in-law’s mother.

As soon as we left Mesa, we ran into cold and rainy weather. It did not change once we made it to Santa Fe. We hooked up with Kristin the next day. She was a great hostess. She took us to a wonderful area called El Santuario De Chimayo. It’s a small village with a tiny chapel that a local man believed he was directed to build, through a vision, in 1813. He built it over a natural spring that he believed was blessed with the healing powers of the soil. When you enter the chapel, it will most likely be filled with folks deep in prayer. You quietly pass through to a tiny room that is filled with crutches, votives, rosaries and photos of those who have sought the healing power. In the center of the room, you will find a hole in the floor with a small shovel. People come from everywhere to scoop the soil and rub it over their ailing body parts in hopes of benefiting from the healing powers. Some even take a small sample with them. It was like stepping back in time. The quaintness and the solemnity were quite amazing.

The next day, Mike and I did some exploring on our own before hooking up with Kristin again. We thoroughly enjoyed roaming the streets of Santa Fe, and especially the art galleries. We visited what is believed to be the oldest church in the U.S. It is San Miguel Mission, which was built by Tlaxcalan Indians in the 1600’s. Naturally, it has gone through many changes through the centuries. It is not terribly large, but a definite attraction if you are ever there.
Right down the street from the oldest chapel, is the oldest house in the U.S. It was built in 1646 by Europeans, and has survived through many different governments. We actually enjoyed touring the house with various artifacts more than the tour of the chapel. It was well worth the $2 entry fee.

Since Santa Fe is the oldest capital in the U.S., it is teeming with history, and takes a lot more time than we had, to enjoy it all. We did take in the Loretto Chapel. Hands down, our favorite tour. The chapel was completed in 1873. It boasts a beautifully ornate stained glass window above the choir loft, and beautifully simple design at the altar. However, the most spectacular part of this tiny chapel is the beautiful staircase that ascends to the choir loft. It is referred to as the St. Joseph Staircase and has two complete 360-degree turns, stands 20 feet, and has no visible center support. It was constructed within a 6 month period from an extinct wood, and nothing but square pegs. No glue or nails. The only supports are at the base and against the choir loft. All 33 stairs are exactly the same height. I cannot begin to do it justice with my description. Instead, you should either travel to Santa Fe and see it for yourself, or look up its history on the Internet.

I did notice a big modern steel support that had been added to the structure, and queried the guide as to its purpose. He said that it was placed to preserve the staircase against the constant vibrations from traffic. He said that the vibrations had broken a previous support, but that the stairs never suffered any damage. Truly astounding!

Kristin was unable to meet us after all that final evening, so Mike and I just walked around exploring more shops. I did purchase a couple of really nice pieces of pottery. We definitely hope to get back there in the future.

With the weather still pretty chilly and damp, we headed to Amarillo, TX. Since weather reports weren’t great, we decided to stay several days in Amarillo and just rest and do some sightseeing. Upon recommendation, we took the free limo to the Big Texan Steakhouse down the road. It boasts that if you can eat the 72 ounce steak dinner, all the sides, and a drink in less than an hour, it is free. We were not disappointed because there was a gentleman from the Netherlands that was about to take the challenge. It’s not bad enough that you have to gorge yourself, but you have to do it on a raised platform that is lit like a Las Vegas stage. Talk about pressure.

Mike went up to the gentleman and asked him if he thought he could do it. He replied, “No, but I can brag to my friends back home.” Needless to say, he had a big doggie bag to take with him. (BTW - the record is under 9 minutes!) The food wasn’t great, but it certainly was good, and the experience was priceless.

One day, we decided to check-out Palo Duro Canyon State Park which claims to be the second largest canyon in the country after the Grand. Upon entering the park, I got to see my first two Texas Longhorns up close and personal. At first, I walked up to the fence thinking it was a statue. I was looking for a way to get past the fence when one of the two moved. I’m not kidding, those cattle are HUGE!! Pretty cool in my book.

The park turned out to be amazingly beautiful. It does not have the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, but it was just as unexpected to traverse along flat land and suddenly come across a huge hole in the earth. It gave one pause to wonder how the first settlers took it all in. Maybe that’s how Amarillo became a settlement. Rather than turn around and go back, or try and figure out a way to get across, they just said, “The heck with this, I’m not going any further.” At least, that’s what I would have done.

Other than the Palo Duro, the topography of Amarillo is rather bland. It rained the majority of the time we were there. One highlight was the fresh pullet eggs we were given by one of the locals. If the yolk were your favorite part of the egg, you would have loved them. They were small, but the majority of the egg was a rich, orange, tasty yolk. You can’t beat fresh, can you?

We next headed for Northwest Arkansas. We decided we’d go ahead and checkout the area that had been one of our choices for a retirement home before we fell in love with Fairfield Glade, TN. Arkansas is quite lovely, but we did not connect with the area like we had with Tennessee. They are both beautiful areas nonetheless.
Again, the whole time we were in Arkansas, it was chilly and rainy. We only had one day without some amount of rain. Out of boredom, we started looking at new fifth wheels. We checked out a few in the area, and then when we hit the road to head to Iowa, we stopped at a couple more places. It was fun to have something to do in the cold rain. Bad move.

When we arrived in Iowa City to visit with Kirk and his family, we continued to look at fifth wheels. We opted to upgrade for more comfort, larger refrigerator (hooray), and a larger cargo area. At least that’s what we told each other. Anyway, we picked up our new Montana Big Sky on May 1st. Oh boy, what a job to transfer all our belongings from one camper to another, with completely different storage configurations. I had a minor meltdown over the whole experience. I had five young men bringing things from the old camper to the new, and only myself trying to organize. It doesn’t work. We worked our tails off to get it organized enough to move it to the campground. I think a couple of those young men learned some new words from me. Tee hee.

When we left Iowa, we headed backwards to Lincoln, NE to help Mike’s mother with a garage sale. Not one of our favorite activities, but it worked out pretty well, and the weather cooperated. Mike’s sister and her husband had come from Oregon to help. The sale went quite well, and we actually got to squeeze in a much too short visit with our older son, Kevin.

Our next destination was Bloomington, IN to visit my folks. We arrived at the campground in the waning afternoon hours of May 13th. As we entered, we read the signs to figure out which way we were supposed to enter. The signs were a bit ambiguous, and there was no one in the kiosk to give directions, so Mike opted to enter between the two kiosks. BIG MISTAKE. Another dumb ass attack! Neither of us noticed the huge oak beam connecting the two kiosks, and the small rusty sign that read, “Caution. 11’6”. Yep, the camper is over 12’6" high. The camper came to a big noisy halt as the bedroom air conditioner struck the beam. Mike backed up, and got out to assess the damage. I wisely kept my mouth shut as he got back into the truck and pulled around the kiosks.

As soon as Mike parked the camper, he climbed on the roof to see how bad the damage actually was. The air conditioner was ripped from its mounts, and the roof was torn back. To top it off, the clouds were gathering and it was ready to rain again. I took pictures of the inside and the air conditioner cover that lay on the ground while Mike furiously used super roofing tape to seal the roof. It was then time to call the insurance company.

The ceiling in our bedroom was sagging considerably when we got ready for bed. There was no fear of anything falling on us, so we bedded down for the night. At 2:00 a.m., I nudged Mike awake and told him I was getting wet. Yep, the roof was leaking. We hurriedly placed large plastic containers on the bed and set up the sofa bed for the rest of the night. Mike climbed up on the roof and covered the damage the best he could, with a small tarp. There was nothing else we could do until daylight.

The next morning, we dumped over 5 gallons of water out of the containers. Mike climbed back up on the roof and saw where the rainwater had pooled and then leaked into the camper. He went in search of a much bigger tarp to cover it. He got lucky and found bait and boat shop a few miles down the road that carried big tarps. Once again, he climbed onto the roof and covered half the camper with the new tarp.

The camper was 12 days old and badly damaged. Mike went ahead to his yearly hamfest in Dayton Ohio while the dogs and I stayed and visited with my folks. When Mike returned, we stayed another couple of days and got a break in the weather so we could head for the Kentucky/Indiana border where we could get the camper repaired. As it turned out, it was going to take a while to repair, and we needed to be in Georgia by June 2nd for doctor appointments. We left Indiana and headed back to Iowa to mooch off our son and his family for 8 more days.

The camper was not fixed when we headed to Georgia from Iowa. We have wonderful friends in Georgia who opened their home to two pitifully homeless people. We spent two nights at a motel, then dropped the dogs at the kennel before I went for my endoscopy on June 2nd (our 41st anniversary too). After my exam, we headed for Bud & Terri’s home.

Interestingly, my ulcers that were discovered the year before were all healed, but I had a tennis ball size mass of undigested raw vegetables in my stomach. Weird, isn’t it? The prescription to take care of it was to drink two regular Cokes, twice a day, for two weeks. It seemed to do the trick. I have since found out that the condition is common with vegetarians, and for people with connective tissue disease like I have. Since then, I try and watch eating the raw vegetables.

We left Georgia on June 11th after a wonderful stay with our friends. We can’t imagine any 5 star hotel treating you as well as Bud and Terri did. They are such wonderfully generous people, and we’re so glad they are our friends. Our next stop was to pick-up our camper in Indiana and head to Tennessee.

We arrived in Tennessee on June 12th with the idea to stay put for four months. Since the real estate market has been so bad, we decided to look for a bargain home instead of waiting and building on the lot we bought last year. On July 14th, we closed on a new1710 sq. ft. house that had not sold in a year and a half. We were able to purchase it for $35K less than originally listed. We felt we could not build for the price, and the lot comes close to being like the one we bought. On July 16th, the moving van arrived with our things from storage.

We kept the campsite because it was paid through the 12th of August. We worked at the house every day, and slept at the camper every evening. On July 20th, Mike flew to Nebraska to help his mother move from her home to an apartment. I worked steadily while he was gone, and got everything put away, except for the things in Mike’s office. Mike was originally going to stay in Nebraska for two weeks, but was able to get an earlier flight back on the 29th.

We continued to work at the house and stay at the campground when Kirk and his family arrived for a visit on the evening of August 4th. Kirk and Wim stayed at the house while Kate and Atticus stayed at the campground with Mike and me. Atticus only stayed one night, and decided he wanted to stay at the house with his mom and dad. We had a great visit with the four of them, regardless of how hectic things were. We went to a facility that has go-carts, and let Kate and Atticus drive the small ones by themselves. Atticus gave up fairly early, because it scared him and bit. The poor little guy was so disappointed when he said, “I can’t drive.” This is someone who has loved cars since he was old enough to walk. Kate toughed it out and drove all by herself. The look of determination on her face, mixed with a bit of fear was priceless. After that, Poppy and Daddy each took them for a ride in the bigger ones. We think they had a great time.

The day before they left, we rented a pontoon boat for a couple of hours and went out on one of the lakes here. We stopped so the kids could try their hand at fishing, but neither seemed to be very interested. Mike was glad he hadn’t gone ahead and purchased some poles so he could, “teach them to fish.” Kirk had a good time landing a baby bass, though. Sadly, they packed up and left on the 8th.

Well, they left on the 8th, and we rented a trailer and left on the 15th and headed to Nebraska again, to pick-up some things that Mike’s mom was giving to us. We drove straight there, spent the next day loading up things from his mom, and things that Kevin had stored for us. That evening, we took Mike’s mom and Kevin out to celebrate each one’s birthday. The next day, we drove to Kirk’s place in Iowa to pick-up Mike’s woodworking equipment that they were storing for us. We spent that evening and one full day at their place. We headed home on the 19th.

Whew! We are now going to stay here until we head back to Mesa in October. I still have a lot of pictures to hang, and a lot of yard work ahead of us, but no big rush. We are not abandoning our fifth wheel. We had started out with our adventure knowing that I wanted a home base. We have met wonderful people, have played some tennis and golf and feel very much at home.

From April – October, our address is: 133 Springdale Drive/Crossville, TN 38558

From mid October – mid April, our address is: 1101 S. Ellsworth Rd. #299/Mesa, AZ 85208

More adventures to come, and hopefully, less traumas and changes. Love to all!

Where Oh Where Have I Been?!!

2008-01-24T21:46:00.000-05:00

January 24, 2008

You’d think I’d learn…the longer I wait to do an update, the harder it is to conjure up memories. Well, no one said I was the brightest bulb in the refrigerator. Anyway, I’ll give it a try. Firstly, I must tell you of another couple that joined us at Zane Grey Campground. That would be Paul and Donna Chambers who have been lifelong friends of the Carters. We met them last year in Mesa, and had arranged to meet up with us.

I left off with the anticipation of Sedona, AZ. Some of you may know the reputation of Sedona. I was expecting to find the, "beautiful and absolutely wonderful Sedona." Personally, I wasn’t that blown away. That’s not to say it wasn’t beautiful, because it was, including a great hike we took while there.

I believe most people love all the shopping that exists in downtown Sedona. I guess I’ve outgrown my shopping days, so it was no big deal. It was fun to check out several different shops, and I did especially like the doggie store. In there, I found some wonderful drops to add to Blizzard’s food to help control her "doggie breath." It actually works. Our friend Jalene bought a cute tee shirt from the same shop stating that she loved dirty dogs. You have to understand that Jalene and Glenn’s dog, Angus, a white Westie, does not stay clean more than 2 days after a bath. Anyway, the shirt was quite appropriate. I found a great sweatshirt, and we liked getting our exercise walking around, but that was about the extent of it.

Personally, Mike and I both enjoyed Jerome, AZ much more.
Jerome is an old copper mining town that had once been the 4th largest city in Arizona back in the 1920’s. Like so many other places during the Depression, Jerome’s peak population of 15,000 began to decline. After the demand for copper diminished after WWII, it continued to decline and had only about 100 people living there who promoted the town as a Historical Ghost Town. Around 1967, it was declared a Nation Historical District, and has thrived as a tourist mecca ever since.

Jerome has done a great job of preserving its original buildings along with its charm. Granted, most buildings house different shops, but we found them more fun and fascinating than Sedona’s. We spent an hour or so walking around and stopping in various shops to check out the local artisan’s creations. We decided to have lunch at this great place. Jerome Palace – Haunted Hamber sits high atop a hill, well actually, everything in Jerome is high atop one steep hill or another. They don’t call it the mile high city for no reason…duh! Anyway, we had a great view, great food and atmosphere, and were well worth the wait to be seated, plus the hike up the steep hill.

After lunch, we checked out the Douglas Memorial Mining Museum, Jerome State Park. Once again, we were pleased with the value of our $6 entry fee. This beautiful mansion sits atop a hill that is situated below the town itself, and provides a great perspective of how the town of Jerome almost teeters on the side of a hill. It becomes quite obvious why so many buildings, including the original jail, slid off their foundations. It also provides a view of some of what remains of the abandoned copper mines, along with a magnificent view of several canyons and mountains.
The mansion itself belonged to the Douglas family who founded and operated the mines. The mansion and its grounds, including a magnificent stone wall, have been restored and preserved by the State Park Service. It is immediately apparent how magnificent and grand the home had once been. A 25-minute film of the history of Jerome proved to be quite entertaining. One of the most fascinating factors, to me, was how wonderful and modern the bathroom had been. I hope to go back to Jerome and try to absorb a bit more of the history and its beauty.

Our next big adventure was taking a ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad. We paid the extra for "first class" seats on the vintage train that took us on a four-hour ride through the Verde Canyon. It was a slow 2 hour ride each direction, with us returning to the station right at sunset. UNBELIEVABLE!

Our biggest hope on the train excursion was that we would get to see some interesting wildlife. We were told that the day before (naturally) that a mountain lion was sighted just a few yards from the train. Also, there was reported to be javelinas in the areas along the tracks, and bald eagles. Well, as we all know how my luck runs, we saw no mountain lion, no javelinas, BUT old eagle eyed Mike spotted a bald eagle off in the distance and we did get to witness that magnificent bird in flight. Unfortunately, the pictures that Mike took did not capture the wonder, as it was too far in the distance. Regardless, we all absolutely loved the ride.
Well, I realize this is the Reader’s Digest version, but I’m approaching the end of this update. After the train ride, we all packed up and headed to Mesa, arriving here on October 26th. As anticipated, we immediately got involved in the tennis league again. We’ve had many a gathering with friends, but have not planned any trips as of yet. Mike’s sister and her husbancd will be coming here in March so hopefully we’ll get some fun things squeezed in between the tennis tournaments.

We hope everyone had as wonderful a holiday as we did with our kids and grandkids in Iowa. Only the love for all of them would get us to the bitter cold and snow of Iowa in December. I most likely will not do anymore updates until I have something really interesting to report. Keep the faith, and I’ll be back with more before too long.

UTAH SPEED TRAPS

2007-11-05T23:23:00.000-05:00

UTAH’S SPEED TRAPS

Can you believe it, I’m actually doing another update on the same day. First, I need to explain my heading for this update. We discovered that Utah, being a large state with a LOT of unpopulated area, has a very unique (well, at least to me) way of controlling speeders. More than once we encountered a squad car sitting in a conspicuous area. Granted, since we could spot it quite easily, Mike doublechecked to make certain he was not speeding. As we approached the car we noticed that the officer sitting behind the wheel was not moving. No wonder, he was a dummy. We laughed so hard, we couldn't resist capturing one of them on film. Hey! That was clever, wasn’t it…”capturing.” Sometimes I just can’t help myself.

From the beginning of this journey it has been my hope that we would encounter all sorts of wildlife. Granted, spotting the bighorn sheep ranks at the top of my excitement chart, but I must admit that for the most part I have been disappointed. The most abundant wildlife we've seen has been the darned raven. They are EVERYWHERE. No wonder old Edgar Allan was afraid of them. They must have scared off all the other wildlife. We did manage to see a few mule deer (whooppee!), chipmunks (another whooppee!), and jackrabbits (oh yeah, BIG whooppee!). Oh yes, I almost forgot, we saw cows too. Need I say more?

Ok, a highlight. Mike, Glenn, Jalene, and I set out on a “strenuous” hike in Zion National Park one day. I figured as long as we went at a steady pace I should be able to manage it. Well, strenuous is not quite the right adjective to describe our precipitous ascent up the mountain (850 feet). The trail kept getting narrrower, rockier, and steeper, but we trekked on. I could handle the rock steps, the extremely narrow area that could handle only one person at a time, and even the area that was one step away from the edge and you had to hug the rock and hang onto a chain, but when the needlelike path continued on around a bend without a chain, I turned to Mike and said, "I've seen enough." We turned and headed back down, but the Carters showed us up and continued on. Well, Mike and I enjoyed our lunch on a nice overlook on the way back down, thank you very much.

While in Zion, I had read about Grafton, a ghost town where they had filmed the bicycling scene for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The book in which I had read about Grafton painted a wonderful picture of traveling for 9 miles on a byway (dirt road) and viewing a rock formation that was not seen from other roadways (as in paved). Well, we set out, never found the rock formation, and almost went right by the ghost town (road signs were not a big factor in this adventure), and the town was somewhat of a disappointment. Sadly, funds for restoring must have run out long ago. However, getting to walk into a home that was over 100 years old was sort of cool.

Our next stop along the way was a small town by the name of Kanab, UT. We only stayed a couple of days but managed a couple of road trips. One was along some back roads where we happened upon an adorable donkey who must spend his days standing by the fence waiting for people to notice how cute he is, stop, feed, and pet him. I'll post a picture of him. Our other road trip was to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. WOW!!

Mike nor I had ever seen THE CANYON, except from an airplane. What an experience. There are not enough superlatives to describe the vastness and beauty of it all. If you’ve been there, you know exactly what I’m talking about. We spent the day just driving and stopping along the way to enjoy the view. We were lucky enough to be able to tour the lodge also, as they had closed for the season the day before, but were there cleaning. It is quite magnificent with all the beautiful old log construction. It all made for a perfect day topped off with a small snow storm as we left the park.

From Kanab, we headed to Page, AZ for three days. I hate repeating myself, but once again everything we had heard about Page and Lake Powell lived up to its reputation. The lake is the most amazing blue I’ve ever seen, and with the surrounding rocks, and mountains, it’s indescribable.

We toured Glen Canyon Dam, which is the second largest in America, with Hoover being the largest. We’ve never been to Hoover Dam, but we were certainly impressed with Glen Canyon. Once again, the enormity of such an undertaking back in 1956 is mind boggling. Of course, OSHA wasn’t founded until 1970, so maybe the safety restrictions being more lax makes it even more of an amazing accomplishment. We lucked out with our guide, Rachel. She made the tour a lot more interesting than it may have been otherwise. She was quite knowledgeable and articulate. We were so mpressed with her, we decided to submit a critique of her skills to management in hopes of getting her a raise, or at least a bonus.

I’ll wrap this blog up with a brief description of our raft tour of Glen Canyon. Again, we ended up with a fantastic guide. Because Papa John truly loved his job, he made our 4 hour ride on the Colorado River enjoyable and memorable. This was not a “white water” trip, but more like a float down the river and around mesmerizing bends. One of the more interesting highlights was rafting around Horseshoe Bend, which we had happened to hike from the top the day before. If our backs and rears hadn’t gotten so numb, we could have stayed on the raft indefinitely. Magnificent!

Next stop, Sedona, AZ…

Happy Halloween!!

2007-11-05T11:07:00.000-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Yep, it’s October 31st, and I’m finally getting around to titillating you with more exciting adventures. If you recall, the last update left you anticipating an offroad trip. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

We did all pile into Glenn’s Jeep another day with the express purpose of offroading along Schafer Trail in Dead Horse Canyon. Before starting out on Schafer Trail, we stopped at the visitor center and enjoyed the spectacular views of the canyon. Never having seen the Grand Canyon, Mike and I were pretty amazed at the enormity of Dead Horse Canyon. While gazing out, we noticed a dirt road winding down the canyon. Yep, that was to be our trail. Actually, it didn’t look all that precipitous, especially when we spotted a Chrysler Grand Caravan trekking along it without difficulty. It would be a piece of cake in Glenn’s Jeep. Hah! Note: The previous journey had started from the bottom, the new journey would be starting at the top!

As anticipated, it didn’t start out too badly. The road itself was a bit bumpy, and filled with potholes, and the view out over the edge was pretty dramatic, but the road itself seemed pretty wide. Remember that old saying about “luring one into a false sense of security?” Well, that was what we did. The farther along we got, the narrower the cowpath became (that’s right, it’s no longer a road). Then we started the “switchbacks”. Holy cow! Why in the world would someone make a road with curves that come back almost 180 degrees on themselves? It makes no sense to me. And to top it all off, it’s on a narrow bit of real estate thousands of feet above a big hole in the ground. Then, just when you don’t think it can get any worse, some jerk comes tooling up the path from the other direction, and you have to look way ahead to find a point that you can pull over so the inconsiderate tourist can pass you. Actually, the stop was a nice respite from the jarring of your brains and body as the jeep bumps, jumps, rattles, and jostles along the way.

As you have undoubtedly figured out, we made it safely down the entire Schafer Trail. It took several hours, but it was quite a ride. We even passed the huge boulder we had seen on the previous attempt. We did all wonder how in the world the Grand Caravan we had seen was capable of traversing the entire trail. You definitely needed a high riding vehicle and four-wheel drive. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to get any photos while on the trail, but the memories are indelible.

We spent a full week in Moab, hiking, touring, biking, and enjoying all that it has to offer. The town of Moab itself is unique, and walking around and enjoying all the shops was a lot of fun. They even have a farmers market every Saturday morning, so we made certain that we partook in the homegrown fare.

Our next stop was Zion National Park. We were fortunate enough to get a campsite within walking and shuttle distance of the park, so we didn’t have to use our vehicles. The park itself decided to stop personal vehicle travel to almost the entire park a few years ago, and started using propane powered shuttles. Talk about a great plan. This not only alleviated traffic back-ups for miles and hours, but also cut way back on pollution. The frequency of the shuttles keeps everything moving smoothly.

Once again, we were mesmerized by all the different topography. The many different layers of sandstone, limestone, etc. and the different formations never failed to inspire awe. We took advantage of the shuttle and road the complete route the first day, stopping at the museum, watching a brief history, and walking different trails as we felt like it. But wait until you hear about our second day there.

The four of us piled into our truck and headed out through Zion for a drive to Bryce Canyon. We originally thought we’d stay a few days there, but the weather was going to be a bit cooler there, so we decided on a day trip instead. To reach Bryce, we passed through a tunnel that had been blasted through the mountain decades before, without all the modern technology of today. Quite a fete. As we exited the tunnel, we noticed some people out of their vehicles and pointing to the side of the road. As we looked, we caught sight of some bighorn sheep. Naturally, we found the first safe place to stop ourselves.

As we were walking along the road, we signaled to another person as he was going past us. He stopped and took up a spot and started taking pics with some very sophisticated camera equipment. We held lenses, etc. for him, and helped him as much as we could. He was so appreciative of our having signaled him and helping him, that he sent us his website (http://tbmoniz.zenfolio.com/). When you go through the pics that are marked "recently added," start on page 12, and you'll see the bighorn sheep. This guy is pretty talented, and I think you'll enjoy a lot of his pics. I asked him if he was a professional, and he said, “a serious amateur.” Seeing those magnificent animals was truly a highlight of our trip.

Bryce Canyon itself was all that everyone had said it would be, and more. Certainly, just more red mountains with varied striations in both color and structure, but still unique and different at the same time. I wish I was poetic or intelligent enough to explain the complexities of beauty found around every bend, but I can’t. These are nature’s masterpieces that need to be seen, appreciated, and interpreted by each individual lucky enough to experience it in person.

Well, I’m behind again (November 5th), so I’ll just post this much and add some more later. Love to all!!

…to be continued

OMG !!!

2007-10-17T22:23:00.000-05:00

OMG!!!

October 17, 2007

OMG!!! That was what we both thought yesterday, when we saw the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. More on that later. First, I need to bring you up-to-date.

We left Crossville, TN on September 10th as planned. Our first stop was in Bloomington, IN to visit my folks for a couple of days, then on to Iowa City to play with the grandkids and their parents. The next stop along the way was Lincoln, NE to see our older son Kevin, and Mike’s mother. After enjoying visits with all, we headed West.

Early evening, on September 24th, we rolled into Moab, Utah. We had not planned on arriving there until the next day, but after driving through the mountains outside of Denver, there wasn’t really much to see along the way, so we kept on trucking. Lots of vast emptiness until we got close to Moab, and then we started seeing dramatic changes in the terrain. Where there had been nothing but flat nothingness, there were suddenly large red rock formations.

Since we had traveled so hard the day before, our first full day in Moab was spent just getting the camper set up, doing laundry, and driving around. We had been blessed with a Harvest Moon on our drive into Moab, so the next evening we headed out away from the lights of the city to enjoy the sheer beauty of it. We were not disappointed. It was a genuine Kodak – National Geographic moment. Any pictures one may have seen of a full moon set against rock formations could not hold a candle to witnessing it firsthand. All that was missing was the coyote baying at it off in the distance. We took a couple of pictures, but due to the simplicity of our camera, that magnificent moon looks like a distant dot. I’ll post a couple of the pictures, but you’ll definitely not be impressed.

Glenn and Jalene Carter joined us at our campground on the 26th. They too had traveled two long hard days to get to Moab. Glenn and Jalene are more experienced at full-time rving, and are superb at planning activities, so we just followed their leads and suggestions. Our first adventure was going to be exploring the Arches National Park. NOTE: If you are 62 or older, and do any sort of traveling, be sure and get your permanent senior pass to our nation’s national parks. It gets you into all of them for free, and gets discounts on campgrounds. Well worth your $10

On Friday, we all went out to the Moab Airport for their fourth annual skydiving show. The skies were clear, the temperature was warm, and the wind was mild when we arrived. Talk about a counter-culture. It reminded me of the kyakers we had encountered in North Carolina a few years before. They definitely walk to a different beat, but fascinating! We got to talk to a few of them, and we even watched them packing parachutes. Some skydivers packed their own chutes, but there were a couple of guys from Iowa who were there specifically to get paid to pack chutes. We watched a few group jumps, and even a few tandem jumps. For one brief moment, I almost talked myself into trying a tandem jump. I had erased it from my “list of things to do before I die,” a few years back, and the excitement of the moment almost made me put it back on the list, but good sense prevailed. I almost thought we could convince Glenn to try it, but he too opted out. The mother of one of the owners tried to convince us that it was a safe sport, and that, “rafters have had deaths, but we have not had a single accident.” Oops, wrong thing to say, because the last day of the show, one diver’s chute failed to open and he perished. I think that is permanently off my list. There’s a message there.

We did several different hikes in the Arches, but especially loved our guided hike to the Firey Furnace. You may think, “big deal, a bunch of big red rocks with holes in them,” but it was much more. The hike took us about a mile and a half into the rocks, with some true scrambling, and some rock hugging through narrow slots along the way. Our guide was terrific. He asked if our group would mind spending a little more time than scheduled, and go on a little side trip. Of course, we all agreed to go along. Boy were we glad we did. This young man trekked us through another narrow formation into a magnificent canyon amphitheater that rose high above. He asked that we all just find a place to sit and be silent for a few minutes. Just sitting there, you could take in the grandeur and serenity of it all. It was truly a spiritual moment.

Another day, we all piled into Glenn’s four-wheel drive Jeep and headed into Dead Horse Canyon. Our intention was to go offroad for some fun. Before we actually got offroad, we got to see some crazy high wall climbers, and some great petroglyphs. When we did get off the main road, we bounced along a bumpy dirt road. As we progressed, we noticed some clouds forming and thought it best to not go too far and get caught on a dirt road that could suddenly become a red, soggy, and possibly flooded road. Just before we decided to turn around, we happened upon a huge precariously balanced boulder that seemed to defy gravity. We did manage to get a great picture of Mike trying to hold it up. The offroad trip was postponed for a while.

…to be continued

One more pic...

2007-08-29T18:47:00.001-05:00

Here's a pic I've been trying to get included, and keep having problems. It's our son Kevin with his mom. Enjoy!

MORE PICS!

2007-08-29T18:27:00.000-05:00

The pics on the previous post are from Savannah, Hilton Head,our new lot (sorry duplicate)our grandkids, Kate & Atticus, our lovely tennis courts at our campground in Crossville. Enjoy!!!

TIME FOR A SEPARATION?!

2007-08-29T18:07:00.000-05:00

August 29, 2007

TIME FOR A SEPARATION?!

We were getting sick of each other, so I checked into the hospital for four days to get a break. Just kidding about being sick of each other, but not about being sick. I’ll elaborate.

As mentioned previously, we were staying here in Crossville, TN until August 15th, and then heading back to Gainesville, GA to follow-up with my gastroenterologist regarding the ulcers he found. Well, we headed back on the 14th, leaving at 5:00 a.m. in order for me to see our Internist, as I had been feeling really lousy, and was not getting any better. In a nutshell, I had been fighting a recurring infection that just wasn’t responding to antibiotics. Saw the PA that morning, got yet another Rx for antibiotics, and was scheduled to see a urologist the following Tuesday. When I went to the gastroenterologist two days later, I was even worse, and he asked if I wanted to be admitted to the hospital and find out what was going on. I said, “yes.”

Long and short of it, I was put on fluids and intravenous antibiotics, had myriad blood tests, and a c-scan. Nothing other than the infection was detected, I finally started feeling human again, and I was released. That first night back home, our wonderful friends, Donnie and Garnett Smith, had us over for dinner with their family. The company was wonderful, with my getting to play with Smith, their 4 month-old grandson, and the food was delicious, especially after the lengthy, lousy, liquid diet in the hospital.

Sitting around the table talking with Garnie and her family was truly cathartic and rehabilitative. I promised her daughter Natalie that I would remark in my blog about Garnett having a recipe for this amazing salad printed on the back of a funeral home fan. It may not seem that funny to others, but we certainly got a good laugh. Mike and I can’t thank them enough for their generous hospitality. By the time we got back home, I was exhausted.

We more or less spent the week just relaxing and hanging out at the camper. We did get over to the clubhouse for lunch a couple of days and saw more of our golf buddies, but other than that, I really wasn’t up for much else. I did get treated to a round of golf with another wonderful friend, Terri Chandler, on Sunday, our last day in Gainesville. I didn’t play very well, but it was good to be out doing what I love. It was wonderful to spend the day with such a dear friend. Mikey could have played too, but he opted to stay at home. Needless to say, I slept the sleep of the dead that night, and arose Monday morning feeling well rested and healthier.

We took off on Monday and drove straight back to Crossville. As of today, we are now officially landowners in Fairfield Glade, TN. We signed all the papers today, then quickly went over to the tennis center to sign-up for lessons tomorrow morning. We will be here until September 10th, and hope to take advantage of all the facilities available to us as members of the community.

For all our tennis buddies in Arizona, by taking lessons, we’re hoping to be in much better form for the winter season than when we left in March. I’m still nursing a pulled hamstring, but I’m hoping the lessons will help regardless. Mike and I are trying to walk down to the tennis courts here in the campground each morning and hit the ball back and forth for about 45 minutes. It’s rather difficult to truly practice good tennis as the cracks have not disappeared from the courts, nor have the weeds. It’s probably futile, but it does give us a little workout. I’m sure Mike will be happy to have someone other than me to whom he can hit the ball.

As of September 10th, we will start making our way to Utah. We plan to meet up with our friends, the Carters, and explore different parks in Utah with them during the month of October. We will then make our way back to Mesa, AZ the first of November. We will stop in Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska to see family along the way in September. It’s truly amazing how fast the year is passing.

Hopefully the next update will be more exciting. I WILL get some pictures downloaded too. Take care, and love to all!!

….to be continued

Pictures!!!!

2007-08-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

YOU WENT AND BOUGHT WHAT!!??

2007-08-03T20:37:00.000-05:00

August 3, 2007

Ok, a quick update, and another attempt to download some pictures. Well, I believe I told you how much we've fallen in love with this area, and especially Fairfield Glade. We've been here two and a half weeks and have spent the majority of our time looking at lots and homes. Well, we made an offer on a lot, and it was accepted. If the pictures get downloaded, it's the picture of nothing but trees on a cul-de-sac. It's a good sized lot that goes back about 250' and backs up to a wooded common area. Nothing but trees, trees, trees. We plan to clear as few trees as possible to allow some grass in the front and a little in the back. The rest will be left to nature.

We won't start building until sometime next year. No definite plans yet. Among the pictures (hopefully) you'll notice a picture of one of our neighbors we had for a couple of nights here in our campground. I named him Mad Max for obvious reasons. The gentleman turned out to be quite interesting. He did build it all himself, and it's actually a toy hauler so he can haul his vintage 1948 Austin that he drag races. They were from Virginia, and were here for the big Hwy 127 Yard Sale.

Well, I'm going to try and load some pictures. We will be here for another couple of weeks. Take care and be well. Love to all!!

...to be continued

All I wanted was a stupid haircut.

2007-07-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

July 28, 2007

This is my last attempt to add some pictures. I had a new blog all typed up and saved, but now it has gone off into the great beyond. I won't try the pictures again until Mikey has checked out why this is happening.

My lost blog had a complete explanation of my journey to try and find Great Clips so I could get a haircut. That was two days ago, and that was not what one would call a really lucky day.

I got on the internet and found the address for Great Clips. I remembered passing by one the first week here, but I couldn't remember exactly where that was, so I counted on the internet.

I got into the truck and entered the street name in the GPS, and took off. About 20 minutes later I'm on the phone to Mike asking for his help because I was hopelessly lost. The GPS had taken me to a gravel road. He got online and said, "I don't know where the hell you got that street address...," so he gave me another road and said that it was located in a shopping center called, "The Xing." So off I went.

To make this long story shorter, I couldn't find a shopping center called, "The Xing," so I pulled into a tiny strip mall, parked, got out and asked. The first response to the shopping center name was, "Never heard of it." This was not a good sign. Frustrated, I asked if they knew where Great Clips was located. Bingo, they knew where that was...on the other side of Wal-Mart from where I was. So, I thanked them and got in the truck to head over there. Not so good.

As I tried to pull out of my parking space, there was another car coming towards me and insisted I go ahead, so I turned a little too sharp and clipped the car next to me. No damage to the truck other than breaking the hubcap, but I scrunched her front bumper. Called insurance company, got everything taken care of and finally took off for the beauty shop.

Well, I've had pretty good luck so far in our travels, in getting a good haircut at Great Clips. By the time I left the one in Crossville, I felt I had been butchered. When I finally got back home, what should have taken about one hour in total, had taken over hours!!! Decided I was having such good luck that I'd stop and get a lottery ticket. Don't hold your breath, I'm sure my luck will continue. Anyway, luckily after I washed my hair and worked with it, it's not so bad. Thankfully, it grows quickly.

I'll keep updating the adventures, and misadventures of the Murrays. Love to all!!

...to be continued

Howdy, y'all.

2007-07-25T13:35:00.000-05:00

July 18, 2007

Well folks, I’m going to attempt a rapid fast forward to try and get caught up on this blog before my memory completely fails. Hopefully, it will still be scintillating.

Let’s see, we left Baker City, OR and headed East to stop in Lincoln, NE, Iowa City, IA, and Bloomington, IN to check-in on family before heading back to Georgia. The drive through Idaho, Utah and Wyoming was pretty, but not spectacular, as most of it was high desert. We did see a fair amount of prong-horned antelope in Wyoming, but other than the mountains in the background, that was the extent of the scenery.

We arrived in Georgia the end of May and set up camp at River Forks Park in Gainesville. River Forks is a great little private campground that is affiliated with the Corps of Engineers, so you can only stay for 2 weeks straight. The first two weeks there were spent visiting various doctors for our annual exams, and visiting with friends and playing golf. Well, Mike played once, and I played as often as I could. We celebrated our 40th anniversary on June 2nd with wonderful friends, then turned around the next week and helped them celebrate their 18th anniversary.

The next two weeks we stayed at Duckett Mill, another Corps of Engineers’ park. Both parks are absolutely beautiful and all sites back up to Lake Lanier. The weekends were naturally filled to capacity, but during the week we practically had the park to ourselves. While at Duckett Mill, we did have one very interesting incident. Remember that honey pot?

Now, the only drawback to both parks is that neither one has sewer hook-ups, so Mike had the duty of draining our tanks into the honey pot and attaching it to the trailer hitch on the truck and hauling it up to the dump station. It’s not as bad as you would think, but he did have to do it once a day if I had done laundry, or every other day if I hadn’t. Granted, it’s not necessarily a pleasant job, but he’s gotten really good at handling it. He did wait too long the first time while we were at River Forks, and the honey pot sort of splashed out when he hit a bump on the way to the dump site, but he quickly learned not to postpone it. Luckily, the contents were from the shower and sinks, so there was not any black tank contents that splashed out (aren’t you glad I shared THAT bit of information with you?).

Now, the trip to the dumpsite at Duckett Mill was shorter, but straight up a hill. Mike filled the honey pot, hooked it to the trailer hitch and headed up the hill. When he arrived at the dump site, he discovered that the honey pot was missing. He jumped back in the truck and headed back to the campsite. No honey pot. Now remember, this is a hillier campground, and our site is uphill from the lake. Mike frantically looked around and finally spotted the honey pot halfway down the hill and headed towards the lake. Luckily, it had gotten snagged on a sapling and stopped. Can you picture it? Mike in a Keystone Kop uniform and frantically running down the hill chasing a loaded honey pot. LOL. Another lesson learned…Mike now secures the honey pot handle to the hitch rather than just hooking it over the hitch.

After the two weeks at Duckett Mill, we went back to River Forks for the final two weeks. While at River Forks the first stay, we had scoped out a site that was more private and a lot bigger than the first site, so we were able to reserve it for the second stay. It was a great choice. We could sit out under the canopy and listen to and watch the waves hit the shore. Not as spectacular as Winchester Bay in Oregon, but a close second for serenity and beauty.

We had a great time the month and half we were in Georgia. It was so great to see old friends and the old neighborhood. We even went back to our home and got to see all the changes the new owners had made. The interior decorating was beautiful. We regret that we didn’t get to see the family that we lived across the street from, and our apologies go out to them, but circumstances didn’t allow it. Hopefully we can stop and say hello the next trip. We do have to go back for a doctor follow-up the 16th of August, so we’ll try and stop by then.

We left Gainesville and went to Skidaway Island in Savannah for five days. The weather was oppressively hot and humid. Even I complained about it. We did manage a riverboat tour of the Savannah River, and walked the River Walk for almost 5 hours our first day. Savannah is still a wonderful place to visit and tour. Unfortunately, I managed to get a bad case of chiggers while down at the River Walk. I have no idea where I got them. It definitely had to have been while down at the River Walk that first day. Oddly, we were never in the grass. I think it was either from sitting on the outdoor bench, or from the barstool in the seedy bar we were in. By seedy, I mean dark, sticky, smelly, filthy, etc., but when you’re hot and thirsty you go into the closest and cheapest place you can find. If those weren’t chiggers I got there, I don’t want to know what they are!!

Our last day in Savannah, we went to the Old Roundhouse. If you’re a movie buff, part of the movie “Glory” was filmed there. It’s an old railroad roundhouse that has been, and is still being restored. We got to watch them bring out an old steam locomotive to move a railroad car and another engine using the roundhouse mechanism. We highly recommend it if you happen to be in Savannah. It was really fascinating, though acridly smokey. I guess you could call that “atmosphere.” Regardless, it is a great piece of history.

July 25, 2007

So much for “fast forward.” I really did have good intentios. Yes, I know, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I just felt it needed a new coating. Regardless, here we go.

After five days in Savannah, we went to Hilton Head for three days. Kirk, Wim, Kate, and Atticus, and Wim’s family were there for a week, and invited us to come and join them. They were staying in a beautiful condo in Harbor Town, and we were camped at the only rv resort on Hilton Head. They are very particular on Hilton Head (descriminating?), and the previous time we had joined the kids 3 years ago, we had was our pop-up A-Liner, which was not allowed on the island. So, I guess you’d say we have stepped up our image a notch. Anyway, it is a very nice resort right on the bay, and about 15 minutes drive to where Kirk and his family were.

The weather was still oppressively hot and humid, but we had a great time. Kirk and I got in a round of golf, and Mike and Kirk went deep sea fishing with Wim’s brothers and nephews. The catch of the day was less than impressive – three small fish, but the guys got to see dolphins up close and personal. They were a bit disappointed, and not sure they got their money’s worth, but the 4-hour boat ride was fun.

As always, it was great fun being with family, and I even bit the bullet, decided I didn’t know anyone there, (and hopefully would never see any of them again), and I pulled on my 25 + year-old bathing suit and went swimming with my grandkids. Luckily, the darned thing didn’t disinigrate, which probably would have been a blessing, and I had great fun splashing around with Kate and Atticus.

We left the ongoing sauna in Georgia, and headed to Hendersonville, NC. What an amazing difference. Temperatures in the70’s during the day, and into the 50’s at night. We actually got to turn off the air conditioner in the camper, and enjoy fresh air and the beautiful view of the mountains. Blizzard was thrilled to be able to go for walks again.

One day we decided to take Blizzard and hike to Chimney Rock. The fee to get into the park was a bit steep ($14/ea), so I was determined we would get our money’s worth. You were shuttled part way, and then you could catch the shuttle back to the parking area after descending. Well, since we paid so darned much to get in, we were going to walk back down a trail to get to our truck instead of taking the shuttle.

At Chimney Rock Park, hey have an elevator you can ride to the top, but since no pets were allowed on the elevator, our fate was sealed. We were hiking. Seriously, Mike and I enjoy hiking, but that usually doesn’t include stairs. There were so blasted many steps up to the pinnacle, I lost count. We would much rather hike a trail upward, than stairs. They do begin to take their toll early on, but remember, I was determined to get my money’s worth no matter what. So, Mike, Blizzard, and I forged on and finally reached the top. It was a beautiful and spectacular view, and yes, worth the trek. After a brief break, we started back down. Going down stairs is not much fun, but we finally made it back to the elevator level where we could have caught a shuttle back to the truck, but we still had about $7.50 each to justify. Before starting back down to the parking lot, we hiked another trail to see the waterfalls. Once again, it took longer than anticipated, but was worth the effort. Unfortunately, to begin our hike back to the truck, we had to reverse the trail we had just taken. Hey! That cut the amount to $3.75 each for justification. Three quarters of the way back from the falls, we came across the trail to head down to the parking lot. Holy cow!!! More steps straight down. Oh well, off we went. Thankfully, the number of stairs was minimal, though steep, and the rest of the hike was more like a normal trail.

After a total of five hours at Chimney Rock we arrived back at the truck. I figured the park owed us about $12 each after that. It was a great day of exercise and beautiful scenery, so I guess I really can’t complain. The day took it’s toll on us for a day or so, but we would do it all over again. Afterall, isn’t that what this whole new life is about? Adventure?

We spent another day touring downtown Hendersonville, which I absolutely fell in love with. It is a beautiful and quaint town nestled in the mountains. Some might call it “artsy-fartsy,” but I loved it. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and a lot of the shops were closed, but enough were open to make it a fun outing. If there had been a retirement community there, we would have most certainly considered it. Since they were calling for rain, we decided to head out the next day to Crossville, TN.

Crossville was the first stop we planned for checking out retirement areas. After having been in Hendersonville, NC and loving the quaintness and beauty of the area, Crossville was a bit of a disappointment. Crossville is in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. The area is beautiful in that it is surrounded by mountains and hills and lots of trees, but it lacks the sophistication that Hendersonville has. Since I was a bit disappointed, I was not overly thrilled to check out Fairfield Glade, which is the actual area we would consider. Boy was I surprised.

Fairfield Glade is a HUGE retirement area with 11 lakes, marinas, 5 golf courses, 8 tennis courts, a post office and small mall, swimming pools, crafts, etc. All of which is heavily wooded. It is very “country” which Mike and I love. You can check out the area at www.fairfieldglade.org and see for yourselves. Needless to say, we have been truly amazed. We’ve done a lot of looking and comparison to other areas, but think that this may be the area. There is no state income tax, the property taxes are LOW, the cost of living is low, and the weather is quite conducive to our wants and needs. The sales tax here is high, but they have to get it somewhere I guess.

The activites are “pay as you play” which is quite attractive. You can play any of four of the most gorgeous courses for $20 (incl. Cart). There is no membership fees, and a monthly fee for the community of $30. See what I mean about being so attractive? We will be here a full month, and have already been doing a lot of looking and exploring of the surrounding areas. It is definitely out in the country, so if you are a serious shopper, you have to drive to Nashville, or Koxville, or Chattanooga. The town of Cookeville is only about 30 miles away, and has quite a bit more to offer than Crossville; however, if you want to buy liquor by the bottle, you have to go about 25 miles or more. Minor inconveniences as far as we can tell.

So my friends, I have gotten you caught up for a while. We will be here until August 15th. I’ll try and updaye a bit more often. Take care, and love to all.

To be continued…..

What Happened After The Chai Tea?

2007-06-17T11:09:00.000-05:00

(June 17, 2007) Happy Father’s Day !

Ok, we left off with that great cup of Chai tea at Winchester Bay, Oregon. We rode our bikes back to the campsite and decided to get in the truck and do a bit of exploring along the dunes. I remember seeing the dunes in Indiana when I was a kid, but I don’t recall them being as large as the ones in Oregon, nor covering such a vast area. They look like the ones you see in the movies with all the camels, etc., but these were dotted with people on ATVs. I’m no good at judging distance and height, but these dunes were taller than most the big hills in Iowa (I know, most of you think ‘big whip,’ but trust me, there ARE a few big hills in Iowa). We were half tempted to rent some ATVs ourselves and give it a try, but common sense prevailed. I figured I’d get way up on the top of one of the dunes and have engine trouble and have to walk all the way back down to get help, and then my allotted time would have expired. It did look like a lot of fun though.

We then headed up to the Umpqua River Lighthouse. It’s at the entrance to Winchester Bay, and sits on a hill 100 feet above sea level on the mouth of the Umpqua River. The first lighthouse in Oregon was erected on the opposite side of the river in 1857, but fell into the swollen river seven years later when the sand eroded during a storm. The one we visited was started in 1890 and officially lit in 1894. It is one of five still operating on the Oregon coast, and is the only one with a red light. The really cool part was looking out over the bay hoping to spot whales. Yep, we did just that. Mike spotted the first one, then we noticed that there were two more. We believe the two that stuck close together and seemed to be playing were a mother and calf. Another one stayed a close distance away. With the naked eye you could see the water blow when they came up for air, but the best view was through binoculars. Too cool!!!

Our last evening at Winchester Bay was spent walking along the bay and listening to the breakers. Blizzard couldn’t figure out that the “barking” we were hearing wasn’t from dogs, but from seals out in the bay. We could not have found a better campground. Everything was picturesque and peaceful. The weather was sunny and slightly cool, and the evening skies were filled with stars. We were most fortunate to have experienced such clear weather. One local told us that they had not seen the sun for quite some time until we arrived, and then the clouds rolled back in the morning we left. Timing is everything.

Our next destination would be Salem, Oregon to visit with Mike’s sister Pat and her family. The scenery along the way continued to be spectacularly beautiful. One area we passed looked like one of Tom Mangleson’s pictures…a beautiful valley with nothing but yellow flowers blanketing the valley and hills. Naturally, the camera was not at the ready. We did see more, and I tried to take some pictures from the moving vehicle, but that one valley will stay in my memory a long time. It was spectacular!

April 5th…arrive in Salem, OR

We spent almost 10 days with Pat and Terry, and had a great time visiting and siteseeing. We had a fantastic Easter dinner with a group of their friends and family, and ate way too much. We met our adorable sixteen-month-old grand neice, Macy, for the first time, and got to visit with her parents and her uncle for a while. It’s always wonderful to visit family and catch-up on each other’s lives.

Pat and Terry are great hosts. They took us to the Mission Mill Museum in Salem. We toured homes from the 1840’s, and the 1898 woolen mill itself. We literally had the mill to ourselves, and were able to tour without any guide or restrictions. It was fascinating to see the myriad processes the wool undergoes before the finished product. We were able to touch a lot of things that ordinarily were not allowed during a guided tour. The mill produced a lot of military blankets during the war, and still produces a few items from its tours. In fact, one could purchase a Pendleton blanket made right there, if one were so inclined…we weren’t.

One day, we all headed to the Evergreen Aviation Museum, or better known as the Spruce Goose Museum, in McMinnville, Oregon. What an amazing place. The museum was built specifically to house and preserve the HK-1 aircraft built by Howard Hughes. Like the redwoods, the Spruce Goose is something you have to see in person in order to appreciate the magnitude and beauty of the thing. It is ENORMOUS. It’s a testament to one man’s dream and determination. All the other aircraft housed there were equally fascinating, and the volunteer guides, of whom many were Air Force veterans, were well informed and helpful. I just couldn’t leave the museum without buying a bomber jacket for our grandson Atticus’ birthday.

Another day, Pat and I drove out to the country to a tulip farm. Again, we got lucky with the weather. It had rained the day before, and was threatening rain again, but we were able to get out and walk the beautiful fields without getting mired in mud. I can remember going to the tulip festival in Holland, Michigan when I was a kid, but I didn’t remember all the different colors and varieties of tulips. It was truly beautiful with the mountains as a backdrop. Great girl fun!

While we girls were touring the tulip farm, Mike and Terry were having good ole boy fun touring some wineries. They did a little “tasting”, and then some more “tasting,” then bought a few bottles and made their way back home.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We had the truck repaired while we were in Oregon. What, you may ask, had the truck repaired? That’s right, I forgot to mention that before we ever left our neighborhood, Mike had a little mishap. He pulled the camper up our street to the cul-de-sac to turn it around. Now, he had done this a few times before without incident. Well, this time some rude person had the audacity to park his vehicle on the cul-de-sac and Mike misjudged how sharp a turn he needed to make. There is a special attachment thingy to the hitch that can be manually disengaged so you can make an almost 90 degree turn without causing the camper to turn into the back window of the truck. Yep, Mike didn’t disengage it and the camper turned into the truck. Luckily, it didn’t break the back window, but it did scrunch the truck along side the window. That’s the repair we had done in Salem.

April 20th…bid adieu to family

We left Salem and headed north to Portland to catch the route east. We deliberately stopped at Camping World outside of Portland with the express purpose to purchase a “honey pot.” To you less informed individuals, a “honey pot” is a tote that can be used to empty our sink and sewage tanks into and use to haul to a dump station within a campground, when we do not have full hook-ups. I call it a “honey pot” in respect to “honey dippers” who go around and clean out septic tanks and outhouses. Lovely, don’t you think?

We knew we could use one when we got back to Georgia, because we would not have full hook-ups at the campgrounds. We wanted to purchase it in Oregon, because there is no sales tax, and that would save us a few bucks. So, we stopped and puchased one, took it out of the box and placed it in the back of the truck and headed down the road. We also planned to stop on I-84 to see the Multnomah Falls. These gorgeous Columbia River falls can be seen directly from the interstate, or you can stop and walk beneath the road and experience them up close, as we did. Again, the pulchritude was breathtaking (like that big word?!). We took Blizzard with us and walked under the roadway and up to the falls. Mike was reticent about our trying to walk the trail right up to and beneath the falls because it was pretty chilly and I do get cold quite easily. Regardless, it was worth the stop just to see them and take some pictures. We spent approximately 30 minutes there, and then got back in the truck and headed east.

About an hour down the road from the falls, we stopped to get fuel and stretch our legs. After Mike came back to the truck he said, “Where’s the honey pot?” I turned around and looked in the back of the truck and discovered it was no longer there…someone had stolen the thing! It must have been taken while we were observing the falls. So much for saving money on sales tax. We were now going to have to spend another $200. Too bad we hadn’t used it, maybe then no one would have stolen it. While trying to track down a place to purchase another one in Oregon, one gentleman told me that people steal them to sell for meth. You have to laugh at the luck of the Murrays.

Our next planned stop was Baker City, Oregon to visit the Oregon Trail Regional Museum. We found a good campground nestled between the mountains. Blizzard was in dog heaven because there was a field fenced off for a dog run. For the first time in her life, she was able to run free. She especially liked running after the magpies that would fly up out of the bushes. We settled down for the first night with plans to head to the museum the next morning.

The museum was just a short drive from where we were camped. We got there and toured the covered wagons outside and the great displays inside. It has always amazed me to think about all the brave people who traversed across this wonderful country of ours, and without all the conveniences, machinery, and knowledge that we enjoy. What kept them going? Why didn’t they look at the vast nothingness and say, “To heck with it, I’m not going any further?” Granted, free land was an incentive, but the hardships they endured hardly seemed reward enough. The museum did a great job of depicting and catalogueing the journey along the Oregon Trail. Those people suffered greatly, and a vast majority never made it.

We had learned that you could walk 1.2 miles down the hill to see the original wagon ruts, and I was totally up for it. It was once again a cool overcast day, but we figured we HAD to make the best of the opportunity. They had a paved walkway that zig-zagged all the way down the hill so you didn’t have such a steep descent. As you descended, you could look out over the arid high desert of Oregon. Not particularly pretty, but certainly fascinating when you put your mindset in that of the pioneers. Again, I marveled at their fortitude. Seeing the actual wagon ruts brought it all clearly to mind.

When we reached the bottom, we found another trail we could take to head back to the parking lot. It was more of a straight ascent, and unpaved, but it was MUCH faster. We got a good workout that day. Comically, and in the Murray luck, as we were driving back we stopped at a marker and parking area along the road. We stopped to read it only to find out that we could have walked directly to the wagon ruts from the road without any hill climbing.

We originally planned to leave Baker City the next day, but Mike discovered that not much farther down the road from the museum, was Hell’s Canyon, so we decided to stay another night and explore the canyon the next day.

Hell’s Canyon, with the Snake River flowing through, is deeper than the Grand Canyon, though not as wide. It was going to be a 60 mile drive to get to one of the best vantage points. Little did we know that it was going to be 6 ½ hours before we got back to the camper.

The drive was beautiful, because it took us up out of the high desert and into the mountains. There were beautiful views all around. The higher we got, the more snow we began to see. Snow, from a warm vehicle is quite pretty. Though it was supposed to be a 60 mile drive, that drive was extremely winding. We finally approached a turn-off we were to take, and chuckled at the sign that read, “Warning Road Not Maintained For Public Travel October 15 – June 15.” What the heck, we were on an adventure, we had 4-wheel drive. That wasn’t going to stop us.

As we got higher, we came across a tree that had fallen across the road, but someone had kindly cut and cleared. We kept seeing more and more snow, some of it across the roadway. No problem, we had 4 wheel drive remember? More trees across the road, more snow. Finally, about 5 miles from our destination we came across a big pile of snow across the road. Mike put the truck into 4 wheel drive and we cautiously started across. Hmm, pretty deep, stop! We had no cell service, no traffic other than us, a big drop off the road if we slid, and no way to get out if we got stuck. The risk outweighed the reward, so Mike backed down the road for about half a mile to where he could safely turn around, and we headed back. We never got to see the optimum view of the canyon. We did enjoy pretty scenery, but could not believe that we had spent 6 ½ hours driving. Boy were our butts sore!

To be continued….

A Few Pictures

2007-04-25T10:41:00.000-05:00

So Where The Heck ARE The Murrays?

2007-04-25T10:25:00.000-05:00

April 21, 2007

Wow, I haven’t updated this darned blog since January 28, 2007. I know I don’t need to tell all of you, as you’ve been faithfully checking the site every week since. Yeah, I bet. Regardless, I apologize for the delay. Well, a lot has happened since January, so I hope I can both entertain and inform to bring you up-to-date. Hope it doesn’t get too wordy either. A shot of caffeine might help you get through it.

The Indian Hoop Dance contest I mentioned earlier was a lot of fun. The weather cooperated and we enjoyed watching the participants parade around the grounds of the museum before competing for the final day. The costumes were really something. A myriad of colors and textures and designs reflecting the different tribes and individuals. There were contestants from the age of five on up. Unfortunately, we only got to see the youngest ones in the parade because they had competed the day before. They were absolutely adorable. The dance itself is a mixture of dancing, athletics, and stamina with something resembling a hoola hoop. The only difference being that the hoops may vary in number and size. While the contestants perform, there are Native American drummers and chanters. I must admit, after watching about six performers, it does become monotonous. This is not to say we didn’t enjoy it, or that we wouldn’t recommend it. We did, and we do. It’s always worth seeing anything that perpetuates a tradition and history. Trust me, it was fun.

We didn’t get to hike up Superstition Mountain, as something else came up for us to do. We did work security at the FBR golf tournament. Talk about an experience! We have never seen so many drunken individuals in our lives. The FBR is a big party. People gather at the 16th green, drink gallons, and cheer and boo the golfers. We can see why so many of the Pros opt out of the tournament. It’s not about golf. It’s about getting drunk. We did see VJ Sing, Seve Ballisteros, Mark Calvecchia, and a few others. We were positioned right before the 17th green, and got to see amazing shots. It’s a par 4, and several players either drove the green or came really close.

Mike and I arose one morning at 5:00 and drove to Fountain Hills, AZ. There was an art fair going on, and by rising so early we hoped to arrive in time to see the hot air balloonists take off at sunrise. We were not disappointed. It was a bit chilly that early, but the flip side was getting to see the balloons being readied to take off across the lake with a beautiful sunrise in the background. A few didn’t quite judge right, and their baskets skimmed across the lake before rising. In all, there were twelve to fifteen multi-colored balloons that participated. Well worth the early drive. The art fair itself was a lot of fun too.

Annually, the Heard Museum hosts an art fair of exclusively Native American artisans. Our friends, the Carters, had told us about it, so the four of us made plans to attend the first weekend in March. Hands down, the best art fair we’ve ever attended. Row upon row displaying phenomenal artistry from carving, jewelry, woodworking, painting, etc., by amazingly talented people. It’s a good thing we don’t currently have a home because we certainly saw several pieces we would love to own. That doesn’t mean we walked away empty-handed. Mike did buy a beautiful ring and a pair of silver earrings for me. We will definitely attend again next year.

So far, I’ve avoided mentioning tennis. Tennis took over, and controlled our lives from the time we arrived in Arizona in January, until March 27th. I kid you not. We both had regular practice every Monday morning, then a match on Thursday. In between, we both practiced with the 2.0 groups (we were 1.5 players), and then played in their matches on Wednesdays. In the meantime, we practiced to improve our game before the big end-of-the-year weeklong tournaments in March. I played in doubles matches with a new friend, and Mike played in the men’s with another friend. Then, Mike and I played in the mixed-doubles matches. Mike and his partner did well and won their first match and progressed forward from there. Unfortunately, they lost the next match and were out of the tournament. The day before my partner and I competed, I pulled a hamstring. I played anyway, and we lost our fist round, which placed us in the consolation round. We won the next match, but lost the one after. Mike and I did well in the mixed doubles, winning our first match and lost the second when I re-pulled the hamstring. It was disappointing, because we were playing well, but that’s the way the old body crumbles. Mike played extremely well the whole season and moved up to the 2.0 players for next year. I improved and also moved up, but I don’t play quite as well as Mike. He’s really good!!! Plus, he loves it.

After tennis, we took some time to see some sights. One day we took Blizz and went to the Arboretum for a two hour walking tour. It was fascinating to see the different flora, and actually beautiful in spite of the fact that cactus is not my favorite plant life. We learned about the Cholla cactus, which is also known as “jumping cactus”. Chollas appear to “jump” onto anything that gets a bit too close. The removal of said cactus is quite difficult because it imbeds itself with tiny barbs. One should NEVER try and remove them with bare hands. Supposedly, a comb is one of the better ways to remove them. Better yet, don’t get near one.

Next, we took a beautiful ride up to Tortilla Flats, population 7. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful drive to this tiny little area with a restaurant and shops, and nothing else except the panoramic view. They do boast a man 7’4” tall, and the restaurant is completely papered inside with donated dollar bills. Upon inquiring, I was told that there are two layers of the bills on the walls totalling about $90,000. Food was good, and the waitress was a hoot. When I asked if I could have lime with my cola, she proceeded to bring me a whole lime with my drink. We had a great time ribbing each other. Next year we hope to go up there again, and drive beyond onto rougher roads. We understand the views are even more spectacular.

We said good-bye to Arizona the first of April, and headed towards Salem, OR. We took the route over to California, and drove Hwy 101. What a view! It runs right along the Pacific coastline. I have never been to California, and was really looking forward to the entire drive. Little did I know.

Mike was concerned about the traffic around Los Angeles, so there was no plan to stop until we circumvented that area. Well, the roads were horrendous. You’d swear they had freezin and thawing problems there with all the bumps and holes. When we finally did stop, we found that the television had fallen and cabinets had come open and contents were spilled. We were not happy campers. Luckily, nothing broke, and Mike installed the childproof locks on the cabinets, that he had meant to do sometime before, to hopefully avoid a similar problem later. The next leg of the trip in California was just as speedy. Mike wanted to hurry and get past San Francisco and all it’s traffic. Unfortunately, Hwy 101 goes directly down through downtown San Francisco and onto the Golden Gate Bridge. Fortunately, I can say I saw San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, albeit out of the corner of my eye. I must admit, this was the only time so far, that I wanted to pull to the side of the road, get out of the truck, place a “for sale” sign on the truck and camper, and another sign saying, “no charge for husband.” All our plans to take our time and enjoy life and our surroundings seemed to disappear. California dreaming had become a nightmare.

After that fiasco, we decided we would get back on track and take our time more. We found a great campsite at the beginning of the Giant Redwoods. We were amazed at the grandeur and beauty of those amazing trees. At first, I thought, “Ok, they’re big, but I guess I was expecting more.” Well, then I walked away from Mike and turned around and looked at him standing beneath one and was amazed at the comparison. They are unbelievable. They are majestic testaments to time and nature. Pecularly, while walking among them, you see no wildlife or birds. The beauty and serenity of it all humbled me. Apparently, most of the wildlife is at the canopy.

The campsite we chose in Winchester Bay, Oregon made up for everything. Our campsite backed up to the bay. The entire campground was paved and landscaped. We went into the little village for dinner our first night and had fresh seafood with a beautiful view. The next day, we rode our bikes into town and checked out the shops. One shop roasted its own coffee with an old fashioned roaster. Mike enjoyed a fresh cup of coffee, and I had a great Chai tea.

……to be continued.

Finally!!!

2007-01-28T18:23:00.000-05:00

At last! We are experiencing a true winter in Arizona. Low's in the evenings in the mid to upper 40's, and mid 60's to 70's during the day with wonderful sunshine. If this is what it's all about, then we can certainly tolerate winters here.

We have experienced just about every kind of weather here...rain, snow, wind, cold, warm, sunny, earthquake. What?! Yeah, earthquake that registered a 3.2 on the Richter scale. Oh no, that's right, that wasn't a true earthquake. It was me hitting the ground on the tennis court. Not a pretty sight at all. Luckily, I do bounce quite well. It wasn't easy explaining to the residents that it was not a true earthquake, and that the hole in the court would be fixed in no time.

Our new life is pretty darned good. I liken it to when we were newlyweds without all the heavy breathing. But seriously, it's just the two of us and the dog in a small living space, and we are adjusting much as we did 40 years ago in our first apartment. Actually, the first apartment was a bit bigger, except the kitchen in the apartment was a converted closet and you had to stand at the side to open the oven, but it too was cozy. Mike and I work together fixing meals and cleaning up. No dishwasher, but washing and drying of the dishes is as minimal as possible. That's not to say we don't fix nice meals, or that I don't bake anymore, because we do. We also get to do whatever we want whenever we want. We highly recommend it to anyone who wants to reconnect in their marriage.

Mike and I participated in a tennis invitational with another resort. It was strictly for fun, and lasted the entire day. Good fun, tennis, and sun. Then last night we were included in a "block" party. About 26 of us gathered with our chairs in the street around a propane powered fire pit. One neighbor cooked the hot dogs and the rest of us brought a dish. What fun!!

We're hoping to plan a hike up part of Superstition Mountain this week. We'll find out how much hiking and climbing I can tolerate. We plan to carry a lunch with us and just take our time and see how far we can go. Saturday, we are both volunteers for the FDR Golf Tournament. Can you imagine, we are part of "security". Woo hoo. Mike's hoping we get to carry firearms. We will be on the 17th green, and have no idea all that we are required to do. Should be great fun, plus maybe we'll get to see some famous golfers up close and personal. Then on Sunday, we are hoping to attend the National Hoop Dancing contest at the Heard Museum of the America Arts. It will be a chance to see a lot of Native American activities and art. I have to thank my baby brother Phil for telling us about it.

That's about it for now. Hope you are all tolerating the winter as well as we. Spring is just around the corner. Take care and drop an email once in a while.

Love, Mike & Sandy

Sunny Arizona??

2007-01-15T22:59:00.000-05:00

We have been in Mesa for almost two weeks now, and the temperature has done nothing but decline. It has been freak'n cold here...23, 26, and a high of 45 or 55! Can you believe it? Yeah, but it's a dry cold. Anyway you look at it, it's COLD. We are so pleased to have been here for history...the coldest temps in over 20 years. We are blessed.

Cold weather aside, we are enjoying our new life. In fact, we are enjoying it so much that we reserved a site again, starting in November. That's usually when tennis begins, and we're hoping to be able to actually "volley" by then. We've had two practice sessions, followed by a true match. Mike and his partner lost a good tie breaking game, and my partner and I won our tie breaker. A crazy miracle if you ask me. Actually, I think we won because we could move a little faster than the opponents.

We either walk or ride our bikes to any and all activities. I've joined a quilter's group that meets once a week, and Mike is thinking about joining a poker group and an 8 ball group. There's plenty to choose from, and no pressure to join.

As you can see from the attached picture, Blizz has found her throne to the world. She was used to peering out the windows from our house, as they were low and easily accessible. In the camper, she has to perch atop the sofa to see what's going on out there. As before, she's the queen of the house.

Mike and our friend Glenn went to the Barrett-Jackson auto auction in Scottsdale today. For those of you not in the know, that's the HUGE antique and classic auto auction that is held in Scottsdale every year. They saw some amazing cars, and had some amazing fantasies.

Now that we are getting more organized, in spite of the fact there are several things we swear we brought with us, but can't locate, we are hoping to start planning short excursions to explore the country around us. I'm sure we'll have more entertaining stories as time passes. Until then, love to all.

WE MADE IT!!!

2007-01-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

We arrived safely in Mesa, AZ last evening after driving all day after we said goodbye to El Paso and it's early morning greeting of rain and snow mix. We got here around 6:30. We drove up to our reserved site to park the camper only to find that someone else was in our spot. Why would we expect otherwise? I mean, has much else gone completely without a glitch? Of course not! We called our friends the Carters, and they came out, along with several neighbors and helped us pick out another spot to park for the night. We hooked up, chatted a while, walked the dog and went to bed.

We checked with the office this morning and were assigned a completely different site that luckily backs up to the Carters. Bad luck turned to good. We watched our friends play in their tennis tournaments this a.m. (tennis is BIG here), then they drove us around to see the area. Happy hour commences at 4:00 on our block, and everybody gathers in front of someone's camper/mobile home/motorhome and brings their own drinks and a snack, and sit and visit until about 5:30.

So far, everyone we've met has been extremely friendly. The area in which we are parked is known as the "doggie area" for obvious reasons. You are greeted by friendly people who seem to always have a doggie treat in their pockets, and a friendly dog on a leash. Blizzard has never had her backside checked out so many times in one day before. Sure glad it's only the dogs that are doing that!

Mike and I are going to attend a meeting tomorrow morning to see about joining the beginning tennis group. I had originally not considered playing because I figured my muscle problems would not allow me to do the necessary running, but after watching others play, I decided there is not all that much running to be done. Playing doubles helps, so I'm going to give it a try. We haven't played in over 30 years. This should be interesting, but fun. They have all kinds of tennis tournaments and matches going on all the time with other clubs, and within different skill levels.

This truly is an amazing place with tons of activities going on. If you'd like to check it out, you can go to www.resortrvpark.com. I think we're going to enjoy ourselves quite a lot. We plan on exploring surrounding areas, playing golf, try and play tennis, and any and all other activities we choose. Right now, it's good to be in one spot for a while. Please keep in touch!!!

High Ho, High Ho, it's off...

2006-12-31T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well, we officially hit the road on Friday, December 29th, after departing Lincoln, NE in the rain. I think we actually saw the sun twice while in Lincoln, and it didn't look too promising when we set out. As our luck would have it, it rained the entire time we were on the road, and while we set up camp in Oklahoma City for the night.

We set out the next day for Texas. At least the sun decided to shine for a change. We did notice that the terrain doesn't change much from state to state. It's pretty much one straight line through Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma (oops! Did manage to see the one mountain range in Oklahoma), and Texas. There's approximately 12 telephone posts between mile markers. That is, if the little markers I saw were actually mile markers. Who knows? We did get excited when we spotted 3 rises in the distant terrain while traveling through Texas. It's amazing what little thing you'll try and focus on. Anyway, as we got closer to the 3 rises, they began to move...they were not hills, or mounds, but 3 dromedaries. I kid you not! There standing in the corner of the fenced area were 3 camel want-to-bes, and not a Bedouin in sight. Unbelievable.

We stopped at a KOA in Abilene, dropped anchor and decided we'd stay here for a full day and get refreshed and rested. Found a hole-in-the-wall steakhouse for dinner that doubles as an aviation museum. It ended up being quite fascinating to tour the back rooms with all the war and airplane artifacts. It turns out the owner is a good friend of Gen. Chuck Yeager, and that he used to stop in once a year. The walls in the back room are priceless, as they are filled with signatures of people who served with Yeager, and others. Pretty cool.

Well, I can't have an update without some mishap, right. We decided to initiate the new washer/dryer all-in-one. It was working great until we noticed the floor was flooding. Managed to get it all cleaned up in record time with the huge bag of old towels we'd saved. Seems one should not run the washer without having the sewer line hooked up. LOL Mike was going to wait and hook-up the sewer today, but we both forgot about it and started up the washer. Glad it was nothing critical...just stupidity once again.

We hope you all have a great New Year's Eve celebration, and a Happy New Year. We'll try and keep entertaining you.

The Dog Ate The WHAT!?

2006-12-23T11:07:00.000-05:00

"Holy Orthodontist, Batman, the Murray's dog ate Mike's retainer."
"So what's the problem, Robin?"
"Mike's dental mold is packed somewhere...probably in storage, and no orthodontist in Bloomington, Indiana would help him out."
"Holy dental floss. What did they do?"
"Bam, splash, hooray, their old dentist in Omaha, NE helped them out."

Yep, the trials and trevails continue. We managed to see Kirk and his family in Iowa City for a day and a half. We arrived the evening of the 19th after picking up the repaired camper in Clarksville, IN. We found what we thought was a rather nice campsite about 15 miles from where the kids live. It rained the entire day and night on the 20th, which made for some nice mud. That wasn't bad enough, the campground has about a thousand Canada geese. Yep, lots of goose poop outside, inside, and all around the campsite. I now know why the Germans invented the "goose step." I was not the happiesst of campers...pun intended.

Kate stayed two nights in the camper with us, so we did manage to have some fun at the campsite, and loads of fun with the family. We had to head out on the 21st to Lincoln, NE so we could get up early and be in Omaha at the dentist's by 10:30. Dr. Skradski is a doll. We loved him when we lived in Omaha, and feel even stronger about him now. He worked us in, took the mold, and the retainer was being mailed to Mike's mom's house the same day. He's a terrific dentist and a great guy.

We will spend Christmas with our son, Kevin, and Mike's mom here in Lincoln, and hope to start heading south towards Arizona on Thursday, the 28th. We wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and a most remarkable New Year.

Is this what we dreamed about??!!

2006-12-17T15:36:00.000-05:00

Well, we finally did it...we left the house behind on Friday, at 8:20 p.m. Of course, we had "planned" to be on the road by noon, but oh well. After throwing out a few more items, we crammed (and I mean crammed) the rest into the camper. We drove until 1:30 a.m. and camped at a KOA outside of Murfreesboro, TN. Dogged tired and generally in ill sorts, we crawled over boxes of stuff, made the bed, and crashed for a few hours of sleep. We had to hustle to get going so we could be in Clarksville, IN by 1:00 p.m. where we had an appointment to get something added to the trailer hitch.

We arrived at our destination around 1:40 p.m., waited 2 1/2 hours, threw the old truck tailgate into the back seat with Blizz (Mike bought a lighter one designed for 5th wheels), and started off towards Bloomington, IN.

Well, we got half a block and had to turn around and go back because the new hitch part, which was supposed to make for smoother hauling, started bucking like a bronco and sounded as though it would rip the camper in two. I won't bore you with too many details, but suffice it to say the "fix" didn't work and we left the camper in Clarksville, and drove to Bloomington sans our new home.

So far, the dream of our lives is a nightmare. It took longer to pack and clean the house than anticipated, we didn't downsize nearly enough for the camper, so it is as stuffed as a Christmas turkey, and we don't even have the darned thing to start getting it organized and living the dream. Aaargh!! BUT, we're still smiling and haven't contacted individual lawyers yet,so keep checking in. More fun on the way!

In the beginning?

2006-12-06T18:00:00.000-05:00

Wait a minute...in the beginning chaos? It's been chaos for 40 years, why should this be different? The only difference is we are tripping over boxes, dog, each other, towels that are protecting the carpets, garbage to take to the dump, stuff to take to Goodwill, etc., etc., etc.. If we can survive the transition, we'll be tough enough to walk on hot coals and not break a sweat.

We are getting closer to our goal of hitting the road by the end of next week. We have yet to load up the camper, so we don't know if all we plan to take will fit or not. Imagine that! If it doesn't, it will either be stuffed into a last minute packing box, or be thrown out. I think that's how most homeless people handle their belongings that they tote around in the shopping cart, don't they? After 40 years of marriage, most women get a great big diamond ring. Not I ! I get a home smaller than our first apartment, but with a bigger bed and wheels. Just kidding. We are both quite excited. It's like when we first got married. We have no idea what we're doing, but we know we'll make it work.

Keep in touch! Love to all. Sandy

In the Beginning - Chaos!

2006-12-04T22:03:00.000-05:00

The stick house is sold as of 12/8/06 and we're outta here as of 12/15/06 (assuming we finish all of the packing, furniture selling, etc, etc). First stop will be Bloomington, IN to see Sandy's folks followed by a short stop in Iowa City, IA to see the grandkids. Next is Xmas in Lincoln, NE with Mike's mom and son Kevin followed by a direct southerly route to warmer climates. The first winter will be spent in Mesa, AZ (maybe lots of future winters???) with good friends Glenn and Jalene Carter. Spring will see a trip to Mike's sister in Salem, OR and then on to Dayton, OH for the annual gathering of ham geeks at the Dayton Hamvention.

Who knows after that? Plans are to visit a number of areas in search of retirement Utopia, but who knows how long that will take or where we'll wind up?