Tuesday, May 24, through Monday, May 30, 2016: Back to Reality:

First thing on Tuesday, Becky took the dogs for a walk while I had another great massage from Natanya Nagy in her "Healing Hands" shop.  Otherwise, Tuesday was devoted to getting re-settled in our house and clearing out the RV.  Naturally, Becky did the lion's share of the work, and it was an early evening crash for both of us.

I had an appointment in Flagstaff on Wednesday with my urologist, Dr. Benson.  He is very satisfied with the apparent remission from prostate cancer that resulted from the radiation and drugs we started in 2013.  After seeing him, we stopped at the I Do I Do wedding clothing place and I arranged to rent an outfit for the Buckelew wedding in July.  The invitation called for "semi-formal" attire and I don't even own a suit, so this was a necessity.  I saw no reason to buy a suit I would never wear again. 

On the way home, we picked up a Pablo Picasso Mexican Salad at Oregano's, only half of which we had for an early dinner Tuesday evening.  After watching the very bittersweet redbox movie involving cancer, Miss You Already, starring Drew Barrymore and Toni Colette, we hit the sack.

Thursday, we finished preparing the rig for its re-entry into the barn, which we accomplished with some unexpected ease.  We tried not adjusting the height of the hitch on the truck, which we have thought we had to do in the past, and the home on wheels went into the barn without a scratch.  That saved a lot of time, energy, and bruised knuckles. 

On Friday, Dr. Boettcher decided the "stuff" we'd been using to close the tiny hole in my scalp had stopped working, so we scheduled for June 9 a different procedure---that required a brief outpatient visit to the Flagstaff Medical Center.  On the way home, we stopped at I Do I Do again, this time to actually fit my suit (and its accessories) for the Buckelew wedding. 

Cindy was very professional and I'm confident I will be dazzling.  (Although there was a family in there that didn't seem to be willing to be happy no matter what Cindy did for them.  I think it was nerves.)

Saturday was another wedding clothes day.  Becky had ordered a dress from Macy's on the Internet and it was time to decide whether to keep it.  I didn't care for it and my clothes sense controls---so back it goes!

Sunday we started receiving daily emails from our granddaughter Meghan who is touring Israel with her parents and sister.  Meghan and Emily were there last year as students; this year they went as adults.  Meghan is in charge of reporting their activities.  It's early in the trip but all indications are that they are having a marvelous time.  It's easy to understand how visiting the Holy Land could make a deep impression on Jews (which the four of them are, of course) so I am not only not surprised that they are having a rewarding experience, but I'm glad that they have made such detailed plans for the trip so they can squeeze such great experiences from it.  I only fear that the occasional Middle East terrorism events will not interrupt their joyful time.

As odd as it may seem, Becky and I have been invited to a reunion of the extended family of my first wife, Shirley.  My daughter and Shirley's sister, both named Donna, are in charge.  (Shirley passed away several years ago.)  In anticipation of the reunion, we made reservations on Sunday for hotel rooms in Beaver, Utah, and Kanab, Utah, through which we will pass on the way to Park City and then back to Williams.

Due to communication failures, Becky had to cancel a Sunday hiking trip in Sedona with Laura Dillon, a former Xanterra associate.

Monday was Memorial Day, of course, and we planned to celebrate it in our usual way.  We bought a couple of tabloids (e.g., National Enquirer) and planned to take them and a couple of nice wines and a bunch of cheese and crackers to our back yard---to catch up on the important news while picnicking.  The weather intervened, though, and we ended up having our picnic at our dining room table instead.  It was just fine.

Earlier in the day, Becky had gone to the Shane Knight Gallery in Williams to pick up four framed "horse" pictures from Canyon de Chelles (in Arizona) to complete a collage on one of the walls in our dining area.  We had ordered them a couple of weeks ago.  We are very pleased with the outcome.

  

Friday, May 13, through Monday, May 23, 2016: The California Adventure:

Early Friday morning, the pack of deer that live in the nearby forest did their adorable walk through the vacant lot next door to our house---on their way to the golf course. 

We finished loading the rig and closing the house, and headed for El Mirage, a suburb of Phoenix, for the first leg (176 miles) of our California trip.  We arrived at the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort without incident (other than nearly overheating on one of the several loooong uphill climbs between Williams and Phoenix),

and pulled into the assigned site---the same one we had used in previous visits to this park.  We had anticipated the heat (over 100 degrees) but it was still difficult on us and the dogs.  One of the reasons we like Williams is that it doesn’t get that hot.

I had previously contacted DirecTV to turn on the DVRs in the rig, so we settled into our normal routine right after a quick dinner that Becky prepared.  On travel days we and the dogs are usually tired, so we all faded earlier than usual.

Saturday morning, after topping off the engine coolant,

we packed up and headed for Ehrenberg, Arizona, and the Arizona Oasis RV Park, a trip of 140 easy miles. Ehrenberg is across the Colorado River from Blythe.  Again, we’ve been to this RV park before and got a nice site in our usual area.  It was even hotter there than in El Mirage, but we survived, and spent a casual evening there.

 

Sunday was the last leg of the journey to California.  Before leaving Ehrenberg, Becky took the dogs down to the river to cool them off and then crossed into California so Libby could “experience” California for what we assume was the first time in her life. 

But for the sandstorm going through the Palm Springs area, it was an easy 176 miles to the Pechanga RV Resort in Temecula.  Pechanga is one of those fancy Indian casino places, and the RV park was no exception.  Very nice. 

After setting up, we made specific plans for our time in Temecula.  The first order on Monday was running over to Aguanga (a nothing little town) and the Jojoba Hills Escapee RV park, where the Wheelers are now permanently residing.  We hadn’t seen them in more than a year---since they stayed at our home in Williams in April, 2015.  They have a nice site for their RV in a nice park, and they are very comfortable being essentially off the road after (I believe) 15 years.  We had a great time getting up to date with them. 

We followed up by meeting them at the Maurice Car'rie Winery in Temecula on Tuesday for a lunch consisting of one of the winery’s sourdough bread loaves stuffed with brie.  Terrible for anyone’s diet but as tasty as can be.  Again, being with the Wheelers is always fun.  

Wednesday, we had lunch with Beverly Newhouse at the Applebee’s in Menifee, after visiting with her for a while in her new apartment.  (We had initially chosen the Texas Roadhouse, but it’s only open for dinner. My taste buds were very unhappy---but only for a while.)  Bev has just downsized from a big house in Murietta, and is recovering from that major undertaking. 

It’s always great to see Bev and this was no exception.  Visiting Bev was after Becky took the dogs on a long walk through “old town” Temecula, after which Ramsey sat down in protest and I had to go pick them all up.  

Thursday was Becky’s 64^th birthday, which we celebrated at dinner (with the Wheelers, again) at the Claim Jumper restaurant in Temecula. We had last been there in November of 2002, when we joined the Wheelers there and announced to them that we were going to follow their example and take to the road and become full-time RVers.  We had a great time with the Wheelers and the wait staff at the Claim Jumper.  It was a nice ending to our little vacation. 

Now we just had to get back to Williams. 

We had planned to leave Temecula on Friday, but there were wind warnings relating to the areas we would go through to get to Barstow, our planned first stop.  Taking our rig through big winds is not recommended.  We decided to delay our departure for a day.  Pechanga had only one site available for our extra day, and it was not a pull-thru.  After 13 years of RVing, we still are not comfortable backing into sites, so we had to find an alternative to Pechanga.  We opted for the Golden Village Palms RV Resort in Hemet, only 27 miles away.  After Becky made a Costco run, we leisurely packed up and headed to Hemet, where we relaxed.  The Friday Netflix “movie” was three episodes from the first season of The Americans.  We had been told it was a good show, and we agreed.  I slept in Saturday morning.  The Golden Village Palms was a lovely place and it was hard to leave. 

But the change in plans turned out to be lucky for two reasons. 

First, we had none of the horrendous weekday traffic on I-15, and second, we were able to meet up with our daughter, Donna, and our granddaughter Emily in Barstow.  Emily had just finished her sophomore year at Chapman University in Orange and the two of them were driving back home to Park City, Utah.  Their timing and ours coincided and we spent a fun hour chatting at the In-N-Out Burger place. 

We hadn’t seen them since last July.  They then went North on I-15 and we headed East on I-40.  

After completing the 118-mile drive to Barstow, we ended up at the Barstow/Calico KOA Kampground.  It was not a good day for them:  Their computer system was down and their Wi-Fi did not work.  Neither problem affected us, and we had a nice, relaxing stay. 

The redbox movie was Adventureland, with Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart.  I thought it was awful and Becky sort of liked it---though she fell asleep rather quickly.  She watched the rest of it Sunday morning and decided I was right.  

 

Sunday involved an easy 210-mile haul to the Fort Beale RV Park in Kingman, Arizona.  We got our usual site and basically just crashed. 

There’s nothing for us to do in Kingman but walk the dogs, which Becky did, of course.  Monday morning, she took them through the “historic” old town area before we headed for Williams---114 miles away. 

We arrived at our house in early afternoon and parked the rig in our driveway.  Becky then started moving stuff from the rig to the house.  She kept a log of what had been moved to the rig so it was easy to figure out what to take back to the house.  She’s so organized.  Our California adventure was over.   

Friday, May 6, through Thursday, May 12, 2016: Barbara and the Rig:

Friday morning, Becky went to Flagstaff to have her hair cut, leaving the dogs with me.  As usual, they slept the entire time she was gone. 

After she returned, I took the truck to the repair shop to have the new bumper installed.  All went well, and you can hardly tell (from a distance) that I had hit the tree.  That night's TV was three more episodes (from Netflix) of the second season of True Detective.  It's starting to drag a bit, but I'm sure we'll watch the whole season, eventually.

Barbara's train showed up only 13 minutes late, at 3:58 in the morning.  She took the shuttle to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, where Becky picked her up. 

After we said our hellos and had the appropriate hugs, we all went back to bed for a few hours.  Barbara had brought a jigsaw puzzle for a diversion, and the ladies attacked it with vigor.  Saturday afternoon, the three of us went to the Shane Knight Gallery in Williams to see what to do about a large nearly empty wall space in our dining area.  Surprise:  The solution was more pictures! 

After selecting four prints to add to the one we already hang there, we came home and had dinner (Filets Mignon and Baked Potatoes) and the ladies went back to the jigsaw puzzle while I did crossword puzzles.

Sunday was a day for Becky and Barbara to take a field trip to Sedona.  The weather did not cooperate, but they had a good time anyway. 

They had Prickly Pear Margaritas and Tapas at the El Rincon Restaurant before heading home to a dinner of just snacks.  (I had eaten a late lunch, so I joined in the snacks.)  After some work on the jigsaw puzzle, we watched The Immigrant from Netflix after dinner.  I thought it was dreary; the ladies liked it.

Monday the ladies toured Bearizona.  Becky has a season pass, so it was free.  Hooray!  Apparently, the staff was not attentive enough to their stated mission to prevent bears from getting pregnant and there was a new, tiny, adorable, baby bear on display.

The three of us then went to the Historic Brewing Company in Williams for a quick drink and snack.  The place is brand new (forget the "historic") and is owned by the same people who owned the Mexican restaurant that was in the same space as the brewing company for many years.  The joint is fun, and the food we had (stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto) was very good.  We must go back.

Becky prepared nice pasta for dinner, after which I read while the ladies finished the jigsaw puzzle Barbara had brought.

Barbara's train was scheduled for 9:33 pm and was several minutes late (it starts in Chicago and has many opportunities to get sidetracked for a while), and I dropped her off a little after 9:00 at the GC Railway Hotel to get on the shuttle to the spot in the middle of the forest where the train stops.  It was the end of a terrific weekend with her.  We thoroughly enjoyed her visit.

Tuesday morning I had a wonderful massage at Natanya Nagy's "Healing Hands" place in Williams.  Becky had seen her 10 days ago and recommended her highly.  While I was getting massaged, Becky and the dogs walked to the Santa Fe Dam, one of the water sources for Williams.

Wednesday, we took the RV out of the barn and started getting it ready for the trip we were planning to start on Friday.  Getting it ready involves moving a bunch of stuff (clothes, kitchen items, etc.) from the house to the rig.  Becky did the lion's share of the work, of course, over the next 2+ days.  Making sure all mechanical systems were in good working order was my job.  

Wednesday also involved a little shopping in Flagstaff, where I got a haircut, followed by getting the new bumper on the truck---back in Williams.  Talon did a good job, and afterwards, Becky and I decided the body damage was not too visible and it probably was not worth the hassle to get it fixed.  Besides, while the visible damage was slight, the cost to fix it would be huge, and result in a large insurance claim. I called the adjuster and withdrew the claim.

Thursday's highlight was Becky having dinner at the Crazy Thai in Williams with Danielle Worthington and Carmen Rice.  It was Danielle's treat in honor of Becky and Carmen's birthdays---the following Thursday.  Earlier, Becky had taken the dogs to the fire hydrant at the Visitor Center for the typical picture.  It was to match the picture taken last year of just the two dogs (i.e., before we got Libby).

And I took the truck back to Talon for some small adjustments to the new bumper.         

Friday, April 22, through Thursday, May 5, 2016: The Saga Continues:

Becky had a facial in Flagstaff  Friday afternoon.  She wore out the dogs in the morning, so the four of us spent a very quiet few hours while Becky was gone.  After she returned, she tried another reset of our spa, but it still is not heating up.  The Friday movie, recorded from HBO, was Confirmation, about the fiasco surrounding the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court in 1991. 

I remember the event vividly, but it was interesting to see the stuff that happened in the background, which was not on TV.  Of course, the movie was slanted against Justice Thomas, but it was still watchable.

Saturday morning, we decided to take a short trip with our RV in May.  I tried the website of the Pechanga RV Resort in Temecula, and was frustrated by the mechanics, so I reverted to the old way---and called them on the phone.  It took only two minutes to make the necessary reservation. 
Saturday afternoon we watched a Netflix documentary about Joan Rivers called A Piece Of Work that covered only one year of her life.  Very interesting.  She was quite the complicated person, mostly insecure.

Sunday was a glorious Spring day in Williams.  It seemed as if Becky and the dogs were gone the whole day.  They spent part of it touring nearby Kaibab Lake.

After a delicious pasta dinner, the redbox movie we watched was The Lady In The Van, a delightfully odd British film starring Maggie Smith. 

We woke up to another dusting of snow Monday, but it melted fairly quickly.  Late in the day, the Summit Spas fellow arrived to fix our hot tub.  It turned out the pump that simply circulates the water through the filters had gone bad. 

By chance (?) he had another one with him, saving a second trip.  That meant the cost was only prohibitive, not astronomical.  There are four other pumps in the thing,.  I wonder when they'll start failing.

Tuesday involved a visit to Flagstaff to see Dr. Mathern.  All seems to be well.  The Tuesday night movie from Netflix was the first three episodes of the second season of Boss.  It's still fascinating. 

I saw Dr. Boettcher on Wednesday.  He applies another bunch of the magic stuff that is slowly closing the tiny hole in my scalp.  The redbox movie that evening was The Walk, a regular movie version of the documentary we watched a few weeks ago of the wire walk that Philippe Petit took between the Twin Towers in the 1970s.  It starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the fellow who played the kid in the Third Rock From The Sun TV show a few years back.  He did a terrific job.

Thursday was another day of a little snow, and a walk through the slush with the dogs at Buckskinner Park.  After that, Becky got a massage from Natanya Nagy, her new best friend.  That night's Netflix movie was The Grifters, a favorite of mine from 1995. 

On Friday (the 29th) we had some morning snow, then Becky took the dogs to the Grand Canyon Railway as part of their big walk. 

She dropped them off at home while she then went to the Grand Hotel in Tusayan to visit Shannon Baas, a former co-worker at the Bright Angel Lodge at the canyon.  They hadn't seen each other since 2009, and they had a nice reunion.

Our next-door neighbors, Jay and Connie, brought home a new dog, a border collie named Bear. 

The Friday "movie" was three more episodes from the second season of Fargo.  Still good.

Safeway, our local market, has been issuing tickets to pay Monopoly, a sweepstakes-type game being offered by Safeway and a number of its related companies over the past few months.  Becky took it up a few weeks ago, spending about five minutes a day opening and matching the tickets.  The game is coming to an end soon and Safeway has a large number of undistributed tickets.  So on Saturday Safeway began giving away ten at a time (per dollar spent) instead of one at a time---just to get rid of them.  Some of the tickets award more tickets by themselves. 

The two of us spent several hours on Saturday opening more than five hundred tickets, matching them to the game  board, and going back to Safeway to exchange "winners" for more tickets.  It was exhausting.  But it was a good way to while away the day since we had a little snow to deter us from doing anything outdoors.  The final result of all the work was nothing (!!!) except a bunch of discount vouchers for 25 cents off a lot of food items we rarely buy.

On Sunday the dogs spent most of the day sleeping, and I finally finished Liberty And Tyranny, and began re-reading Dennis Prager's Think A Second Time.  I read it ten years ago when it was first published. 

That night we watched (from Netflix) Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino's first movie as a director.  Very nasty.  Not great, in my opinion.

On Monday we got back on track with the medical team.  I went to Flagstaff by myself for a follow-up echocardiogram, to see if the cancer medicine was negatively affecting my heart (one of the possible side effects).  It turned out it was not.  Yea.  We celebrated with dinner from Pato Thai, which I picked up on my way home.

My cardiologist, Dr. Cohen, had moved to a new location (and a new group) and I was unfamiliar with his parking lot.  I backed into a tree---and ruined my bumper while also re-arranging a little of the nearby fender.  I've hit other things in the more than 13 years we've had the truck, but this was the first time the damage was enough to have fixed. 

On Tuesday, I took the truck to Custom Designs Auto, which is one of the few repair shops in Williams, and had a conversation with Talon, the owner.  He will replace the bumper on Friday so the truck looks only barely damaged; we'll then decide whether to attack the sheet metal at a later time when we can leave the truck with him for a week.  My insurance company (Progressive) is standing by for my decision.

Also on Tuesday, we had visitors.  Carl and Salli Middleton, long-time friends (Salli was a sorority sister of Becky's at UC Santa Barbara) stopped by on their way from "the Valley" to Las Vegas.  The Middletons live in Seattle, and are on a vacation loop through the Southwest.  We haven't seen them in four years.  It was a lot of fun catching up.  Becky made a tasty chicken curry salad for lunch.

The Tuesday night redbox movie was Remember, starring Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau.  Excellent movie with an interesting twist.  Well worth seeing.

Wednesday was a day for visits to Dr. Mathern and Dr. Boettcher in Flagstaff.  Both reports were positive.  Thursday we were back to the regular routine of reading (me) walking dogs (Becky) and watching TV (both of us).  We also tidied up more than usual, since our friend, Barbara Coad is due to visit us starting Saturday.  Because it was Cinco de Mayo, though, we had to have Enchiladas (made by Becky) and Margaritas (made by Jose Cuervo) for dinner.  Delicious!


            

Friday, April 15, through Thursday, April 21, 2016: Now It's Really Tax Time:

Friday boded strange weather, but we decided to take a field trip anyway---to Cottonwood.  We hadn't been there since 2013,  It was an easy less-than-two-hour trip.  Our GPS actually took us on a route we've never taken for the last 10 miles or so.  It took us through the hills to the North of town.  A nice diversion.  We drove though historic old town, and it was nice. 

There were some new galleries and restaurants.  Becky took the dogs on a half-hour walk through town while I killed the time by reading.  (I'm still in Liberty And Tyranny.)  Then we visited the Thousand Trails preserve in Cottonwood.  We spent two months there at the end of 2013.  It's been one of our favorite parks. 

They had a few electrical storms recently that wrecked some of their equipment, so they've had to shut down a large number of sites while they do the repairs.  The place is not "jumping" in the usual way, therefore, and it's kind of depressing.

We had lunch at the La Fonda Restaurant in nearby Camp Verde.  Mexican food is usually delicious, and this was no exception.

During the 190-mile round trip we had blue skies, very gray skies, and some drizzle.  But we got back to Williams without incident and settled in for a quiet evening.  We awoke Saturday morning to a thin layer of snow everywhere. 

As in the recent past, it sneaked in overnight and melted quickly.  I guess Spring isn't quite here in full force yet.  The rest of the day was bright sun. 

For the past few days we've been waiting expectantly for the Shelton Trust income tax returns to come (via email).  The deadline for filing taxes (in our case, extensions, as always) this year is Monday, the 18th.  The accountant, Dan Floyd, promised that drafts of the returns would be sent to the Trustees by Friday night.  It didn't happen.  Once the drafts of the returns have been reviewed and approved by the Trustees, the actual returns will be filed electronically---to avoid the hassle of getting the necessary Trustee signatures.

Saturday night's Netflix movie was the classic, To Kill A Mockingbird, which I'd never seen. 

It was an excellent film, of course, and it justly won a lot of awards.  It's hard to believe we were that backward as late as the 1930s.  Later movies show we were that backward as late as the 1950s, though, so I shouldn't be surprised.

Sunday was a relaxing day, with just the first three episodes of the second season of Fargo to watch.  It's still weird and fun. 

Becky saw Dr. Knutson Monday morning for her annual full body check.  Everything was OK.  She had the dogs with her, and they went to Buffalo Park in Flagstaff.

We still hadn't received the Shelton Trust return drafts by late Monday morning.  We mailed our extension request based on just the information we knew.  It may be way off.  Disappointing.  Late Monday afternoon, we received estimated tax information from Dan, but since we had already mailed our extension request it didn't matter.

Monday's redbox movie was Concussion, which I gave up on half-way through.  Becky stuck with it to the end and liked it.

On Tuesday Becky took the dogs by the Williams Visitor Center to have their picture taken with Smoky The Bear.  Becky and the dogs have become quite a fixture in "downtown" now.  Since there are three of them, they are even more noticeable than before.

Tuesday's redbox movie was Black Mass, with Johnny Depp.  It's a very tough film about the Boston mobster Whitey Bulger.  I'm not a big fan of Depp, but he did a good job. 

Wednesday morning I had my now-weekly appointment with Dr. Boettcher in Flagstaff.  The new stuff didn't quite close the tiny hole in my scalp, so the doctor applied another treatment of it.  Maybe it will be closed by next week. 

Wednesday night we watched the first three episodes from the second season of True Detective.  It had a different cast and a totally different feel from the first season.  But it's still watchable.

Ramsey has had some slight medical problems lately, and Becky took him to the vet Thursday morning.  He had to be anesthetized, so he couldn't eat until after he came home.  In late afternoon, he was still woozy when he came home, but everything now seems to be OK.

Thursday we had a power outage that lasted for one minute, but the heater in our spa is now not working.  I tried a "reset" that failed.  We'll need to have the Summit people come out to fix it.