Joan on the Road...of Life

Renee and Tom invited us to join them at the Redlands Bowl in Redlands, CA for a free evening concert of patriotic music. So we packed up our cooler with wine, sandwiches and snacks and headed out at the end of a hot day.

I would guess there were a few thousand people there sitting in the bowl or on the lawn listening to the Air Force Goldenwest Band. It was really very good. I wished I'd taken a few pictures of the aging docents playing traffic cop. We sat behind a guy who was at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. His ship went down but, lucky for him, he had spent the night ashore on another assignment. We enjoyed chatting with him and his wife.

When we got home it was still 80 outside. It's funny to look at the Hemet forecast. Bright sunny days with the temperature going up about one degree a day. By the end of this week we'll be over 100 I'm sure.

We're off today to join in the Demolition Derby at Party Central (that's Renee and Tom's house.) They are tearing out the kitchen to begin the remodel. We are going to miss having the expert remodelers (Laura and Steve) there. So more on the demolition later. Jim is taking his new cordless screwdriver and his ax...wonder which one will get more use :)

Posted by Joan at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not much has been happening for us since the big graduation day. Laura is safely back in Montana; Renee stopped over Saturday to spend time with me at the pool. I'm not thrilled with being here in this hot (95 degree) weather. So I tend to retire to the cool motorhome. That gets kind of boring. Renee tried to encourage me to use some of the beautiful facilities here at GVP. OK...I'll try :)

One thing we can do in the heat is shop and dine! So yesterday I met my friend Vickie for lunch and conversation. I quickly reverted to my career coaching days as we talked about how she can expand her business. It was fun and satisfying, especially when she said I still had what it takes :)

Today I think we'll head down to Temecula and see if we can find our home grown tomato guy. I'm longing for really good BLTs and store bought tomatoes just don't cut it.

In case any of you want to relive our graduation day with Bryan and see lots of good family photos, check out the pix at www.wiseguyimages.com where our photographer grandson Jimbo posted his shots. Thanks and congrats to Jimbo for capturing this specail day so well.

Posted by Joan at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Need I say more?! These are happy kids :) (and Dads) These are the smiles we stayed in CA to see :)

Half the family went to Bryan's (and girl friend, Shana's) graduation in Mira Loma and half went to Ryan's graduation in Garden Grove. SoCal graduations are usually held outside, early evening, lots of flowers, balloons and fun. No need to worry about rain.

Wish we could have been at both ceremonies but wouldn't you know...same day, same time and 40 miles apart! But we had a great party afterward at Party Central again.

We sure enjoyed having our daughter, Laura (aka Dooney) here. It's a real treat to get our three kids together. Only thing better would be having my Mom and Dad and Laura's hubby Steve with us too.

Baby Evan is trying to keep eveyone straight and it's pretty funny. 3 of 5 Grandpas were present and he called them all "Papa". Grandma Renee is "Momoo" or something like that and I'm becoming "Nana"; Laura is "Dooey" and son Jim is "Uncle". Evan has about 15 people to keep straight and he's pretty good if you ask him to give something to a certain person.

Evan was hard pressed to be good during the graduation but by playing "pass-the-baby" we kept him occupied for four hours! He had on new cargo shorts and spent lots of time putting things in and out of the pockets.

We ate a lot, played 70's music to sing-a-long, played bocce ball under the lights, took an evening swim and watched the space station and shuttle zoom overhead. An eclectic evening filled with family fun. The boys each got a new laptop to get them started off in college. It was a wonderful day and a great celebration for our two graduates.

Posted by Joan at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our Sunday celebration of Dad's Day was for these four guys. The "Dad of Dad's" is on the right :) Nest to him is son Jim, then grandson (in-law) Brad and son-in-law Tom.

We had a lot of things going on at "party central" as Renee likes to call their newly remodeled yard and house. We gave lots of hugs to daughter, Laura, who's in from Montana for Graduation Week. Two Grandsons, Bryan and Ryan, graduate from High School. Graduation is Wednesday evening. I didn't take a lot of picture because I found myself just wanting to absorb the presence of all my peeps (well almost all).

We had swimming, horseshoes, bocce ball, darts, basketball (knockout), video games, golden oldie tunes and good food. Baby Evan is turning out to be a water baby and budding ball player. With floaties on his arms he laughed and splashed his way around the pool. After he dried off from that he was hitting balls off the T with his plastic bat. He provided us with lots of entertainment. Bet he slept good last night!

As you can tell we're very proud of our kids and grandkids. The four guys above had a lot to do with that!

Posted by Joan at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there, especially our four generations, Harry, Jim, Jim, Tom and Brad.

I think it's tough being a Dad today. What should you be? A buddy, tough, best pal, stern disciplinarian, touchy-feely and sensitive? I imagine it's a mix of all these things and it's also setting a good example. It is amazing to see how much a son will unconsciously be like his father....or consciously, the exaxt opposite!

Men get to be Dad's in all kinds of ways. They marry the hot chick they love and nature takes it's course. They get the hot chick pregnant and then decide to be responsible and get married. They marry into a ready made bunch of kids and try to shepard the flock :) They marry the hot chick and it goes sour so they raise the kids alone or try to be a Dad on the weekend.

None of these scenarios are easy. But I guess, like being a Mom, being a Dad has many rewarding and fun times. And like being a Mom, you don't really know what it's like until you stand in the "Dad shoes".

So to all you Dads who try to set the good example, do the right thing, provide a good home, be a good friend and teacher....Happy Father's Day! We love you!

Posted by Joan at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Up at 5:30 AM to take Mr. Blue in for maintenance...oil change, new hoses and belts...a day long procedure. So what to do with ourselves again? We headed for Redlands to check out a couple of campgrounds (no go), spent a couple of hours at Camping World picking up this and that then had lunch at one of our faves...Olive Garden.

We had a big lunch so I wouldn't have to fix dinner. Then we made the mistake of stopping in at Best Buy and foolishly bought another new printer. I know...we just bought one a few months ago. Big mistake. The printer is going back and Jim is still strying to get our old stuff to work. The HP Software is a nightmare. I'm sure he'll get it sorted out but it will include a lot of under the breath words :(.

We then spent the afternoon at the library reading and dozing (me). It looked to me like others at the library were in the same boat. Finally we got to pick up Mr. Blue and head for home. As we were parking Jim was having a hard time hearing me using the walkie-talkies. So we ended up hollering at each other. I guess we got kind of loud because the guy across the way came over and volunteered his walkie-talkies :) He probably thought he was going to save a marriage! I pretty much snapped at him and he went home.

Problem is...it was about 98 degrees and I don't do well in the heat. And the walkie-talkie batteries were dying. So finally the day was over, we were parked, the AC was cooling us and we could relax. But then the new printer nightmare started. Oh well, it's not the worst thing in the world and I'm sure it will get resolved.

Along the way yesterday, Jim left his credit card at the Olive Garden and one of the old valve extenders started to leak on a new tire. But it's not a tire problem...so he'll get that resolved too.

On the positive side my brain is functioning very well :) I finished my third Sudoku book and graduated into the Diabolical book :) I think I have this thing mastered. The last 20 or so puzzles I have solved with pure logic and no guessing. Maybe I'm a Vulcan :)

Tech Note: Using our Retrospect backup software Jim restored his computer to 7 AM yesterday morning, prior to the printer / scanner nightmare. Voila! He is back in business with old printer and old scanner. Yeah!

Posted by Joan at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jim has been stressing and studying about getting new tires for Mr. Blue for about a year. He read up on RV tires and all the advice on the RV forums. He's always been a bit paranoid about maintaining correct tire pressure and checking tire wear. So far that's worked for us. But as the mileage hit 40,000 and the tread depth approached the limits we decided to go for new ones even though the 7-yr. old tires looked great. He selected Goodyear RV tires because they are specially designed for RV needs. Total cost $2237 for six tires.

So today was tire day. After visiting 3 dealers he settled on Allen Tire here in Hemet because they were willing to order tires with no downpayment and with new manufacturing dates....and they are just a few blocks down the street :) We didn't want tires made a few years ago or with mixed dates. (You know the mfg. date is stamped on the tire.)

We got Mr. Blue over to the tire dealer by 8 AM and then picked up some Krispy Kremes, took them to Starbucks and had breakfast outside. Then we set off to scope out a few other RV campground/resorts here in Hemet just to see if we could get anything cheaper. Well...

Don't ever head for Hemet Valley RV Park. Yikes! This is your worst nightmare of trailer trash AND it's a Passport America park. Reflection Lake is not much better but it does have a little muddy pond for ambiance :) We never did find Mountain Shadows because the road is closed. I have a feeling that a lot of the older, trashy parks in Hemet will give way to new housing communities because this area is exploding. We smiled when we drove into our Golden Village Palms with the beautiful flowers, 3 lovely pools, wide paved streets and flowering shrubs dividing most sites.

Any day that Mr. Blue is in the shop becomes a bit expensive because what are we to do without a house? We have to shop! Today we solved the "music outside" problem. We found an Ipod/MP3 player by Polk Audio at Radio Shack on sale for $129 ($50 off for Father's Day). It sounds very nice, even at low volume, it's compact, tough and simple....so we bought it. (Polk is pretty good. We bought stereo speakers decades ago and they are still working.)

On the way out of the mall Jim spotted a "toolbox" of BBQ utensils by Totes. He had to have those to go with the Weber Baby Q Grill. I said "Happy Father's Day" and we headed home.

We had to setup in the hot noonday sun so after that was done we listened to some music outside while relaxing with a beer, then I turned on the AC and took a nap. Getting up at 6 AM screws up my beauty sleep.

Posted by Joan at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The whole famdamily attended Bryan's All Star game on Wednesday. They played under the lights at the Quakes Stadium (Angels Single A team) in Rancho Cucamonga. We took up a couple of rows and with people posted at each end we were able to let baby Evan wander around, getting snacks from everyone and entertaining us. Here's part of the lineup on the field. Bryan is the guy in the middle in black. He pitched two innings and the team won.

We traveled so much this week that it was a joy to sleep in and do nothing on Thursday and Friday. The weather is lovely, we picked up a few more books and just sat around enjoying life, reading and relaxing.

Friday night Naomi and Evan came to visit. We took Evan to the playground where he really enjoyed sliding on his tummy. He wasn't too happy when we pulled him away to eat some KFC but then he got into the eating and was happy. After a little more playtime we headed back to the MH and sat outside.

Now we don't have too many things for a little guy to do but he is into keys and pockets...and rocks. So he kept pretty occupied picking up rocks from the driveway, counting them, trying to put them in his pockets and then using Grandpa's keys to unlock the storage compartment. As he bent over to unlock the cabinet he noticed that there was a big tire there and when he looked up, suddenly realized that the MH is a "car". This is Evan discovering the Big Car.

The temperatures here in Hemet are slowling moving up. This coming week we'll get into the 90's...naturally on the day when we have to take the MH (Mr. Blue) out to get New Tires. This will be an adventure. Fortunately it's only supposed to take 1/2 a day.

Today I think I'll kick back and enjoy the Angels vs the Cardinals. Some of my favorite Angels are now in St. Louis so it's fun to watch. If that get's boring I have a new stack of books from the exchange library to read. What a life!

Posted by Joan at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seems like everything we do in SoCal is fifty or more miles away! Monday we were back in Irvine for dental check-ups (no cavities again, thank you Dessert Esssence toothpaste and SonicCare toothbrush :). We took the opportunity to drive by the old house (still looks the same), buy a 3-pack of Irvine strawberries (better than ever) and eat dinner at Tustin Market. We were so fortunate to live in Irvine for 27 years. It's a beautiful town.

Last night we were on the road to Anaheim to see the Angels play the Twins. What a wonderful treat! My business partners hold a share in four field level (as in row 12) seats so we were up close and personal, almost like spring training. We hadn't been to the Big A for years and were awed by the "eye candy" that Arte Moreno has put into the stadium. There's always something going on. But the best was seeing Kotchman hit a home run and watching the fireworks go off. The Angels are pretty hot right now so it was a pleasure to see a well played winning game. I took a few pix but was really so entranced with the game and surroundings that I just put my camera away and enjoyed the show.

Here's the entrance to the stadium and then me with a couple of my training buddies.

I enjoyed hearing about the success of our training business but sure am glad I'm retired and out of the daily grind. The guys had to be up and on the road at 6 AM while I slept in 'til 9 and enjoyed my coffee time. Lucky me!

Posted by Joan at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sometimes the RV fulltime life is more about "life" than "RV". That's what the past few weeks have been. Here are some of the reasons we spend a bit of time in Hemet. Missing from this pix are grandkids Hilly and Jimbo, both of them hard at work college kids.

We celebrated Jim's birthday at Renee and Tom's on Memorial Day. Son Jim treated us to a steak and roasted veggie dinner. Wow! He is sure a good cook and we all enjoyed this delicious dinner. Tom brought out a new croquet game and we played until it got too dark. Plus the family really enjoyed their new pool. We closed out the evening with a little backyard fire and s'mores.

Monday was actually Jim's special day so we started with mimosas and Marilyn Monroes (two poached eggs on rye toast). After brunch we had a couple of Fat Tire beers for lunch and then it was martini time. Well....a little too much drinking for us! I think I had ice cream for dinner while watching the Angel's game which Jim slept through. But it was a good day:)

We had several doctor checkups this week...all with clean bills of health we are happy to announce. So our problems from 2004-05 are nothing to worry about anymore. Lucky us!

Wednesday we visited the Desert Outlet Stores at Cabazon. We made one big purchase...a jar of Onion Blossom and Horseradish Dip that I love on steak. We're looking for something to plug our Zen MP3 player into so that we can enjoy music outside. We've yet to find a good solution. Maybe we're not supposed to because we tend to like our music loud and you know what that is like in a campground. Better we should just enjoy our Bose 123 inside :)

Speaking of music I got a new CD by George Jones and Merle Haggard. I think my Auntie Alice recommended this one and it's really pretty good.The title is Kickin' Out the Footlights. Both old guys sound great. So we'll rip that into our Musicmatch library on the computer and the neighbors will be glad we don't have outdoor speakers.

Thursday night we enjoyed another family outing to hear Zachary's choir concert at Jurupa High School. Zach's Concert Choir was very good and the closing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus was wonderful...all the choirs plus alumni joined in. I'm always encouraged about the state of the younger generation when we attend one of these high shool events because, for the most part, the kids are well behaved. I especially enjoy it when the music groups perform some old standard songs. Some things, like Cole Porter music, are part of our culture that I'd hate to see lost.

Here's the star of this evening, our youngest grandchild, Zachary. I think I snapped this pix when he was showing us the clapping routine for one of the songs.

I hope Zach won't mind if I share a bit about him. We are so proud of this young man. He was diagnosed with diabetes at age 7. Not an easy thing for a kid to live with. Then at 10 he was hit with leukemia. What a blow! I will never forget sitting with his parents and the doctor, hearing that verdict and then having to tell Zacky.

But he came through it all with an amazing spirit and positive attitude. The doctors at Loma Linda Hospital started him on a chemo protocol that put him into remission after a few months although the therapy, medications, clinic visits and crappy side effects continued for years.

But today he is a healthy, 6'4", musically talented 15 year old with a bright future. We wear yellow "LiveStrong" bracelets in his honor to remind us that whatever we may be going through it's nothing compared to what Zach lived through. We love you Zacky!

Yesterday we were in Irvine for one of our checkups so we lunched at our old fave, The Pleasant Peasant. We had carrot soup and Beef Wellington (there goes dinner!) I couldn't resist dessert because they have an outrageious chocolate sauce served over poached pear and vanilla ice cream...Poire Belle l'Laine. We shopped some more for an outside speaker solution and then started for home.

While waiting at a red light we noticed a young man running after a bus and the driver completely ignored him. The kid plopped down on the sidewalk nearby, obviously distressed. I said, "Shall we give him a ride?" So we pulled over and offered him a ride to try to catch the bus but quickly decided to take him to work. We had nothing better to do as we faced a two hour drive in rush hour traffic to get back to Hemet. So we took Austin, a high school junior, to his job at the amusement park, stopped and bought a 3-pack of Irvine strawberries and headed home. Austin thanked us profusely and we just said...pay it forward :) 'Course his Mom may not have thought this was a smart thing for him to do!

Dinner was white wine and strawberries with a little "moose munch" (that's caramel and chocolate covered popcorn) from Harry and David thrown in while we watched "The Sopranos" from NetFlix. Life is tough :)

Posted by Joan at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)