Duluth, Minnesota

Spent most of the day in and around Duluth, MN. sightseeing and checking out a golf course. The place has some mighty fine old homes, or should I say mansions up on the hill sides of Duluth. Yes Duluth reminded me at times today of San Francisco with the steep hills going up from down town and away from the Lake (Lake Superior). There were many very large homes on these hill sizes that all looked to have 4-5 baths, 6-8 bedrooms, that kind of large and of big old stone and brick some incredibly layered shake roofs. Superior is much smaller and more old town looking and right now undergoing some down town development and remodeling and refurbishing....................... Even being where we are on Lake Superior, the far western finger of the lake and on the tip of that finger it's still looks very large. Looking at the map Superior looks to be the biggest of the Great Lakes, it's very large that's for sure. Speaking of fingers we ate lunch at a place called Pickwick's on the Lake or overlooking the lake near down town Duluth. For an app we had deep fried Walleye Fingers with a wasabi sauce with just the right amount of spice. Walleye seems to be the fish of choice in the area, fingers were great but I never ordered Walleye because I thought they were so full of bones and I hate boney fish. The fillet fingers were just right in by book................ Might play nine tomorrow morning, Bev feels up to it and we're not playing with Allan and Kathy until Tuesday or Wednesday so the practice would do Bev good. No executive course's in the Midwest I guess, couldn't find one in Iowa and asked at the pro shop today and they said none that they knew of in the area here. I guess out there in Arizona where all us old folks and executives live they have a lot of them because we need a quick round now and again and a short course............................. They have a casino in down town Duluth, yes right smack dab down town in an old 3 story building and you know us we just had to give it a look see. Good thing we did, after a rough start Bev ended up winning right at $100 and Mikey won $525 so the kitty grows and that's a good thing. In and out and take the winnings is our new motto, don't wait until you give it all back, stick and move! It's been a real good trip in that respect so far, knock on wood so I did.

Back on the road again

We left Des Moines yesterday oh around noon by the time we had a late breakfast with Bev's brother Mark and filled the tank and finally hit the road. The wind was a real SOB, it threw the motor home around like a pinata at a Mexican birthday party. My arms were so tired by 2:00 p.m. from fighting the steering wheel we pulled over after just a few hours, somewhere just north of Storm Lake, Iowa. Just happen to be a casino nearby called Diamond Jo Casino and it's a very nice place and served some great dinner. We set up the motor home in a parking area along with 6 or 8 other motor homes for the evening and then out of nowhere the freaking rains come again. The wind subsided for just a few minutes while the rain poured and then the wind came back and we had literally sheets of rain rolling across the parking lot, holy mackerel Andy! Looks very cloudy this morning and dark grey but the wind seems to be down somewhat so hopefully we have better travel conditions, if not we stop and wait for a nice day, oh well that's being retired............................ We had another great visit with our family in Des Moines and so glad we rescheduled a bit to be there for my brother-in-laws retirement party, it was a wonderful evening filled with honors and well deserved honors for someone who has given so much for conservation and the state of Iowa through the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. A couple of rounds of golf, some great dinners with family and a couple of rewarding trips to Prairie Meadows made it all the better, yep made a few bucks thanks to that casino......................... Should make Minneapolis/St. Paul early today and maybe Superior by evening if I shut this computer off and get behind the wheel soon, kind of a lazy morning for both of us. Went to bed very early last night, like 10 p.m. and up at 5:30 a.m. and now it's going on 7:00 and time to get going. Hopefully more interesting stuff tonight!

Wednesday a.m.

In a way I'm kind of glad at this time we are under some very large trees in the Adventureland RV park and my satellite can't get a signal. Sure I miss the news, I mean real and in depth news and what you get on local network channels via antenna is very very limited and not in depth at all. FOX News or even CNN News would sure be nice on a day like today this being yet another in a string of sad days in America over the past 3 or 4 years, and let me just leave it at that on this 2013 journey in the motor home. As a Christian I deeply sadden for this corrupt world we live in................................ On a brighter note we had another wonderful meal last night with Mark and Susan (Bev's brother and his wife)and much conversation into the bedtime hour. There was a lot of common ground in our conversations and that was a good thing, naturally we stayed far away from politics so as to make the evening that much more enjoyable. Once again we had rhubarb pie and ice cream for desert and I can say this is something I could get used to, a real Midwest treat if I do say so! One Midwest treat I'm really getting tired of is the gloomy skies and rain and storms, at times all these can really be a bummer let me tell you. You do realize very soon how much "Sun Shine" each morning is something glorious to wake up to and blue skies 98% of your days is so taken for granted. I really in a way don't see what all the crap is about some temps in the 100's, what's the difference if you sit in the air conditioned house and go to the air conditioned car and back to avoid the heat? Here in this you sit in the house and run the air because it's so freaking humid and run to the car getting soaked by the rain and back into the house to get out of the rain once more...The difference is I'm not soaking wet, muddy, and in the dark! We all have our good and bad weather days no matter where we're at, but I sure feel better waking up to sun shine each day especially for 325 plus days out of the year........................................ You may have wondered why I started putting in all these periods (.) in like I have been lately, well for some reason in doing this blog even when and if I separate the paragraphs when it's finished and published it all runs together and no paragraph breaks. Now I've decided to put in a string of (.'s) to denote a paragraph or change of subject and hope it's not too confusing because as you know if you follow or read much of my stuff on FB etc. I notoriously us a sting of .... probably too often and where they shouldn't be used.....that's just me!.................... Another lazy day for me, thought maybe we'd be golfing today but shit the rest of the world has to work during the week and can't always take off to joint me on the links. Beverly has been busy and in some ways (financially for sure) that's a good thing, but I'm sure she's getting anxious to get out on the golf course once more. We will be doing some of that when we get to Superior, WI. for sure and that's just a few days away after tomorrow. On tap for tonight is a what I believe is going to be a traditional Japaneses dinner prepared in front of us, this is in combinations with and for Mason's birthday party (Bob and Jill's son). The next two nights will be with the whole Des Moines family, the dinner tonight and then the BIG and it's going to be just that I hear 190 guest retirement party for Mark. It will surely be a very proud moment for his family and a wonderful tribute and send off into retirement to a hardworking, dedicated, conservationist in the State of Iowa. I can see already this will be a very hard thing for him to leave and give up completely, Mark may never really be retired!

Sunday, golf for the boys...painting for the gals

Saturday was laundry day and we have nice facilities right here at Adventureland RV park so it was close and quick. Started reading the book Bev got me, The Duck Commander Family and it's pretty good if you like Willie and the boys. After a pretty lazy afternoon we met Bob and Jill and the kids for an evening of horse racing at Prairie Meadows race track and Casino. I used to spend weekends at Turf Paradise in Phoenix as most of you know but pretty much gave it up in the past few years except for the big triple crown or breeders cup races. Why you ask, because I stopped winning. I used to win at least now and again but then it got to where I couldn't pick my nose let alone a winning horse. Well the same held true this night, not one ticket cashed and I don't believe I ever had so many of my choices finish last or next to last. Unfortunately if went that way for all of us and we did not leave there winners by any means. Bev came close on one race but played it wrong, Matt had been texting and messaging back and forth on FB etc. with Jill and Bev and he said to bet the 7 horse in the next race. We no one wanted to take him up on his long shot pick until I told Bev "hell go put a couple of buck on his selection" so she did. The horse went off at 43-1 and finished 2nd, too bad Bev only bet to win and not across the board since it paid $88 to win! Can you say "Captain colors"?................ Sunday was golf for the guys and painting for the gals, only problem it was raining like hell when we woke up and poured right up until we got to the golf course at 10:00 a.m. The was just fine through the round of golf and into the late evening hours, the course was very nice and I enjoyed the round of golf even though I didn't worth damn. The gals went to this place call Social painting where you pay $35 and drink wine and paint a picture on your canvas, it was the second in a series for all but Bev who was doing her first attempt a this sort of thing. She loved it and painted a picture surely worth hanging in our home, very nice job Beverly!................ The day ended with a fantastic dinner at Steve and Christiana's which included homemade ice cream and homemade rhubarb pie's which Susan brought, all in all a fine day with our family in Des Moines............... Mark gets in town tonight and tomorrow it's a cook-out at Bob and Jill's and we'll get to visit with Mark starting tomorrow and then Tuesday dinner at Mark and Susan's and maybe another round of golf somewhere, hope the body is up for it. Things will start winding down here and after Tuesdays big retirement party we hit the road for who knows exactly where? We need some good weather and a bunch less humidity soon!

Des Moines

We arrived in Des Moines Thursday afternoon, got all set up at Adventureland RV park and then ended up going to our second "concert in the park" so to speak. Our nieces and nephews invited up to Jasper county winery for this annual outdoors concert, some wine, some beer, some pork sandwiches and some good music was just right for our first get together with family. Bev worked today since for some reason she's been busy as hell ever since we hit the road, it's a good thing we have a "office on wheels" with all she needs to conduct business. Busy is a good thing because busy means paychecks and we do like to get those. While she worked I did some shopping for a golf visor with Callaway on it and found one at Golf Headquarters (formally Nevada Bobs) in Des Moines............... After that I got a haircut at Marty's Barber shop 30th and Walnut across from the Iowa State Fairgrounds. I heard about this one man operation from Bob Carico last year when we were here and decided to go back and see if the old boy remembered me and our conversations, sure enough he did. It wasn't the fact that I was from Arizona but the fact that I was from Arizona and formerly from Davenport when things clicked for him. No shit he remember stuff and the conversation continued, no just for the 15 to 20 minutes for a haircut but I sat in the chair over 1 1/2 hours! Where all the topics came from or started I have no idea but the gambit was huge, I'll name a few of the subjects. Iowa Hawkeyes(naturally, baseball, Joe Montana, Hayden Frye, Kirk Farenz, Bill Cosby, Zig Zigler, windmills, the grid, Albuquerque MN, Las Vegas, NM, Camping World both Mesa and Albuquerque,motor homes, riding lawnmowers, Lute Olsen, UofA and how much we both despise the joint and their fans, the I-club, the Izaak Walton league, corn feeds and smelt fry's, Marks retirement party, and probably needing a haircut next year about this time! I think that was about all and I can't believe I even remember all these topics of discussion................ Tonight if was Jake's and Jethro's BBQ across the street from the resort and then bet a few horses at Prairie Meadows, what a nice track and clean mutual areas, the place should be one of the best one day because it sure has the facilities for the horseman and their animals,..............Back to the motor home shortly after the races ended and taking care of FB updates and the blog. Tomorrow is another day, we called Susan about going to the farmers market in the morning, but her message indicated having some other plans so we'll be sleeping in and hopefully see Susan after Mark returns from his travels Sunday night. Really looking forward to golf with Steve and Bob on Sunday, Panarma I believe is where we'll be teeing off, new Callaway visor, balls, 3 wood, lets get it on!

Last day in the Quad Cities for this year

We spent a great night last night with good friends Dave and Marilyn Naab. We started off with Gyro's for dinner and then a nice evening in Lincoln Park for the Rock Island concert in the park series. The night culminated with a long few hours of discussions on just about everything under the sun or stars as in this case. We always have great conversations with Dave and Marilyn, it seems we're all usually on the same page for the most part. Plenty of laughs and few problems solved but ideas abound! It was either leave when we did or get the bacon and eggs out for breakfast............... We have a dinner scheduled with nieces and nephews I think for tonight, Beverly will be finalizing the plans this morning I guess. Tonight will be our first Mexican food dinner since leaving Arizona, we did have a Mexican breakfast Sunday but it's been a welcome break from Mexican food so far for Mike................... This will be our last night in Davenport for another year, it's been another good time with family and friends and we'll miss them for another year. In saying that I can't help but feel we live in just a God awful place, Phoenix Arizona that is, because since we moved to Phoenix 29 years ago I can count on my two hands how many times friends and family from here have come visiting. Hell we owned a one acre resort with all the amenities including pool with water fall, BBQ area with wet bar, sun deck with gas fire pit, spare rooms including quest house(RV) but don't get me wrong we owned this for ourselves and family not just to lure visitors! Maybe just a touch of sour grapes on my part, I guess we just miss our families and friends while living so far from all of them. We're fortunate we can travel like this and spend the time with them and will continue to do so. By the way over and above those two handfuls would not include the yearly visits from Russ and Cheryl who have visited at least once a year ever since 1985 whether it be just up the road in Laughlin, NV or Las Vegas or our home in Phoenix........ I was going to wash more of the motor home this morning, I did about 1/3 of it the other day and the wheels and tires yesterday but feeling a bit lazy and my back is really hurting. I need to rest my back so I'm reading to do some golfing when we get to Des Moines, look our boys! All in all we had another good time here and enjoyed so many visits with my Mom and spending time with her and my brother and sister. I know she won't remember probably none of the visits or the lunches but I will, it was good seeing her. I so wish she didn't need so much care so I could have her out our way for a couple of months like she used to do in the past. I worry about her care if she was to visit us, if I could afford it I'd hire a full-time nurse/care giver to accompany her but I can't. When Nancy retires we'll have to have her and Mom out for a winter visit maybe, that would be nice. I know now she realizes something is wrong, it scares her at times not knowing what's happening to her. You can explain to her she's losing her memory but then she doesn't remember even talking about losing her memory, sad and I can understand her being scared. Even that all being said the visits were good and the time was in the moment and that was good, we're fortunate she still remembers some long term and names and faces of family and friends. I will miss her when we leave but will continue to call her weekly or close to it.

Rock Island Arsenal

Went golfing today even though my back was killing me, pain bills kind of worked. Scott DeMeyer made the tee time at the Rock Island Arsenal golf club for brother Russ, Scott and myself. The Rock Island Arsenal comprises 946 acres (383 ha), located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in 1816, with the building of Fort Armstrong. It is now the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States.[3] It has been an active manufacturer of military equipment and ordnance since the 1880s. In 1919-20 100 of the Anglo-American or Liberty Mark VIII tanks were manufactured, although too late for World War I. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark. Established as both an arsenal and a center for the manufacture of leather accoutrements and field gear, today it provides manufacturing, logistics, and base support services for the Armed Forces. The Arsenal is the only active U.S. Army foundry, and manufactures ordnance and equipment, including artillery, gun mounts, recoil mechanisms, small arms, aircraft weapons sub-systems, grenade launchers, weapons simulators, and a host of associated components.[4] Some of the Arsenal's most successful products include the M198 and M119 towed howitzers, and the M1A1 gun mount. The Golf club on the island was always a private club until September 2010 when it was opened to the public in order to avoid bankruptcy since it had been going down hill. Right now I'd consider it a diamond in the rough as far as it is in great shape as golf courses go and still not known to a lot of the public so it's not all that busy. There are four bridges between Davenport/Bettendorf (the Iowa part of the Quad Cities) and Rock Island/Moline/East Moline (the Illinois part of the Quad Cities). There is the Centennial bridge, the Bettendorf I-74 Bridge, the I-280 bridge and then the Government bridge which connects Davenport and the Island over the Locks on the river, lock and Dam #15. The easiest and quickest way to the Arsenal golf club from Davenport is the Government bridge so naturally that's the way Russ and I went to meet Scott at the course. Yep....it was time for a barge and tug to go through the locks and Dam so the bridge actually swings open while the tug pushes the barges through and then shuts once the barge has cleared. We were only a few minutes late for our tee time and it ended up not being a problem for my very first trip onto the Arsenal Island and the golf club there. I remember after 9/11 the security across the nation really tightened up and I'm sure it did on Arsenal Island since it had always been one of the top 13 places in the United States as far as targets for terrorist and enemies of our country. Where I'm from it was the Hoover Dam that really tightened up security with check points before and after with vehicle checks and searches etc. but I was really amazed at the lack of security getting onto the island. Yes there was regular military type guard shack but manned by "Arsenal Police" and not military and all they did was scan my drivers license and didn't ask even to see Russ's or cared that he was even in the car along. All I'm saying is it seemed to me to be too easy to get on and off the Arsenal Island especially it being a military base and ordinance facility. I enjoyed the round of golf, it was a long challenging course with one hell of a lot of trees, big trees for this desert dwelling golfer! Yes I hit a few of those trees with some good bounces and some not so good ricochets so to speak. Dinner with Russ and Cheryl, lunch with my Mom, sister and brother tomorrow and a concert in the park in Rock Island with friends Dave and Marilyn Naab tomorrow night and I'm sure some very good conversation. Thinking about it, it had been quite a few years since I golfed on a military facility, Keesler AFB in Mississippi and/or Malmstrom AFB in Montana...........ironic, Keesler in Mississippi and the Arsenal on the Mississippi.

Saturday's ending.

After lunch Nancy took Mom home and we went over to her house, we got an invite for Sunday (Fathers Day) and were happy to accept. I miss the kids and wondered what I'd be doing on Fathers Day and my Sis comes through with an invite. I know John and Kathy will be there with their kids and Mike and Teresa are going to be there also, it will be nice to be around family. Mom will be there also and that too is good, since we've been here 8 days now I've got to visit with Mom 4 times and tomorrow will be 5 and that's a good thing. I thank Russ and Nancy for picking her up and taking her back home for our visits, except for Tuesday when I visited her at Mandy's. It's too bad the situation with Dave and Mandy is what it is, but it's their call in my opinion. OK I've got yet another bitch.........who in the sam hell pours the concrete for the streets around here? There is not more than two streets in all of Davenport that isn't like a washboard, 110th where the West Lake Park is has to be the smoothest of all the streets around here. You take Locust street east from West Lake and your freaking guts are shaken to the point of being in major pain! If you can make a street like 110th be so smooth and pleasant to drive on, why not the rest of the town's streets? I'm sure it snows on 110th street so don't give me that freeze thaw crap get someone in this department that knows how to pour concrete or spread blacktop! Someone has stock in the shock absorber companies, has to be the reason!

Triathlon outside my window

Sitting here watching the triathletes run/walk by the motor home on the road outside the park. They've locked us in from 6 am to 10:30 am so these folks don't get run over or anything. Rained in the earlier morning hours and has subsided to a drizzle now, wondering if these folks like it better being wet from a little rain or from sweating in all this humidity? We have a water station right here not more that 20 paces from my window and it amazes me how they get their cup of water and run/walk by the giant barrel/basket for the empty cups and only one in about 10 hits the barrel. It looks like they feel I'm beat someone else can pick up my trash......and that's a full time job for this guy at the watering hole! NO...now I'm thinking they drop those cups purposely 5 to 10 feet short of getting to the barrel......oh the little things that bother me! Had dinner with brother Russ and Cheryl last night at the Texas Roadhouse, good steaks good conversation and an early evening for a change. We made it back to the park before the gates locked at 10:30 pm, which makes not much difference this year since we're parked right up front near the entrance so the walk to the coach is just a few steps, Went to our nieces son's baseball game last night, Hunter Demeyer, before dinner with the brother and on the way made a quick call to my Mother just to say hi and remind her we'd be having lunch together on Saturday. As was said in the movie Pretty Woman....."Mistake, Big Mistake"! Mom called me back 12 times before I finally quit answering the phone, if you don't know she has a touch of the Dementia/Alzheimer and struggles with short term memory and knowing exactly where she's at and why. Being miles away for most of the year living in Arizona I'm beginning to understand more what my family here goes through being so close to Mom. I try and call her each week from Arizona and do for the most part and we seem to have a good but short conversation, she does call back once in a while but nothing like my family here tells me happens more often than not to them. This is sad to watch and was always one of my Mothers biggest fears for years and years. It did her no good to work all those crossword puzzles, take all that gingko crap, and all the other stuff she did in order to not "lose her mind" as she always put it. Looking forward to what lunch brings, maybe a good story or two for tomorrow. Tonight is open so far, not sure what is on tap but I know one thing this is too long to stay in Davenport when you're on a trip like we are. It's time to thing about getting the hell out of Dodge!

A first...a nice day weather wise in Davenport.

Sun shine, light breeze, temps in the low 80's with lower humidity.....now that's more like it. Did some cleaning around the coach today after sleeping in until about 9:30, windows open air off and the breeze feels good. Bev finished a little work and we headed for a little golf at Duck Creek golf course, this is more to Bev's liking as far as the distance goes. All the rain made for a very green course but the rough was kind of like U.S.Open rough if you know what I mean. After the round with Russ and Scott at Emeis Monday even though I couldn't hit my #3 wood and chucked it during my last round in Phoenix, I missed having something to hit the second (and sometimes third) shot into the green. I bought the new 3 wood (metal) and gave it a go today............wow it works and pretty good too, can't wait to hit it again. A big no no was stopping at the Pizza Ranch for an early dinner before meeting up with Dave and Marilyn, the place is great but not for someone trying to lose a few pounds. This is one restaurant we don't need in Phoenix unless I owned the franchise, it would be a big hit and produce a whole lot of fat folks! Dave and Marilyn feed the poor folks each Thursday night and then hit the boat for an hour or so, yep we met them at about 6:30 for an hour of so and was down a few bucks when they had to leave. On the way out I grabbed the free money of my players card ($20) and put in a $1 poker machine, hit four 6's for $250 and then changed to .50 shock wave and hit four a kind for $62.50 and then another four of a kind in shock wave mode for $2000...........the kitty is back to a tidy some once more. Already thinking of how much I'll miss the kids on Fathers Day, we'll face-time but it won't be the same. I miss my family in Phoenix. Need to take Mom out for lunch or something, having a hard time getting to see her as much as I should.

A couple of uneventful days

Can't believe I've skipped the blog for a couple of days, can't say it's because I was too bushed at the end of the day. Tuesday I visited Mom and spent an hour or so with her. Russ was there and so was Noah, didn't get to see Mandy while I was there I think she just left us alone or enjoyed a little while away from Mom. It can be trying and tiring constantly answering the same questions and/or explaining the same things over and over again all day, and Mandy and Noah are truly troopers when it comes to this. Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Memory loss is an example. Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia. This pretty much sums up Mom at least for the short term, long term memory isn't quite as bad and she still recognizes everyone by sight and even voice on the phone. I think, no I know she gets scared now and again and talking to her Tuesday she knows something is wrong with her mind but doesn't understand it. It's not good to watch and sad in so many ways and we're lucky to have a family member with the skills and willingness to take care of her. We visited with our good friends Dave and Marilyn Tuesday evening and night, had a little dinner a lot of conversation lost a couple of bucks at the boat and are looking forward to our next visit.........no boat just dinner and a lot of good conversation. Wednesday was laundry day, about every two weeks on the road it's that time. Wednesday was a good day it seems, we were the only ones in the laundromat and it went quick. We had a few items we normally hang dry and brought those back to the motor home, there was a breeze so I hung them outside and an hour later they still were wet......humidity! For example in Phoenix hanging those same items outside to dry would take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to dry if that, here after an hour still wet so we brought them in to day overnight. We went to our Godson's son's pony league game last night, it was a make-up game from an earlier rain-out. I guess they have many games to make-up because of weeks of rain before we arrived, and it's not over yet. Anyway Ryan was pitching last night and after 3 innings had a 5-1 lead and an RBI to his credit when the ump seen lightning and that was that, game was called. A major storm was rolling through the Midwest and fortunately skirted the Quad Cites for the most part, we had some of the winds but according to the radar some folks northeast of here really got hammered, we thought we saw a funnel on the ride back to the motor home and prayed it was still upright! No plans today except a trip to Wal-Mart for some curtains for a couple of our windows and then maybe some cleaning of the basements and outside of the coach. Hope someone invites us to dinner soon...................

Started the day off by finding I left my phone in the Jeep overnight and Russ had called last night and twice this morning letting me know him and Scott had a tee time at Emis golf course for 8:00 a.m. and it's 8:15 when I find it. As I look down at it Russ calls once more and clues me in on the situation and I'm totally unprepared, wearing jeans and a long sleeve sweater type shirt. It was freaking cold this morning and that's how I was dressed when he called, I said that I was in jeans and he said it was OK to wear jeans so off I went. I felt warm since it was so cold (to me anyway these dudes all wore shorts and T-shirts) but I felt like a slob and not a golfer in this get-up, we couldn't wear T-shirts and jeans in Phoenix to golf. Anyway it remained chilly in my opinion until about the 13th or 14th hole when the sun made an appearance between all the clouds and warmed it up a bit along with a touch of humidity. All in all it was fun because golfing is always better than working or chores but I remained uncomfortable in my attire and it showed in my game....did not score well at all. Got back to the RV park and decided to move the motor home because in the site we were at the ground was soft and I couldn't get the rig leveled to my liking. We ended up moving to what Cousin Robin and Johnny called the "Bettendorf annex" and I'm guessing for those back in Arizona this could only mean or be compared to us calling something the "Scottsdale annex". I think folks consider Bettendorf the Scottsdale of the Quad Cities made up of snooty folks or something like that, I disagree as far as comparing Bettendorf to Scottsdale it's just a suburb of Davenport and always will be. I did do a lot of hanging out there when in High school and beyond due to the fact that my girl friend at the time lived there and I hung out there most of the time. Called my good friend and buddy Dave Naab about hooking up a few times while we're here, Dave and Marilyn are very good friends and we enjoy our visits with them. Hopefully Marilyn is feeling better soon so we can get together, she's been under the weather for a few days now. We ended the night with a trip to BAM (a book store in an old Borders location) so Bev could pick up a couple of books to read and then made a brief stop at the Isle of Capri river boat to play a bit, not much luck and prefer Jumers because that's were Bob plays! It was too late to eat anything if we were sticking to our weight loss program, but a Maid-Rite sounded tasty so we thought we stop and have one on the way home............Wrong! We discovered once more that the majority of these types of things upon many others close very early compared to what we're used to. Maid-Rite closed at 9:00 p.m. but we did find a Steak N Shake up all night long for us night owls and were bad, very bad by having a double with cheese and a bowl of chili......yummy! Tomorrow going to see Mom again with Russ, still not sure about our standing with our niece Mandy and that situation. We were hoping to see her at lunch Friday with Mom but she decided not to come, really this whole thing needs to be resolved because life's too short. It's unfortunate but I'm already trying to figure out what to do for two weeks here, going to have to play more golf and we're praying for more sunshine. Need that sunshine in the morning to get that uplifting start to the day like we're used to!

Rainy reunion day #2

We woke up to dark and very overcast skies this morning and that threat of rain for the Ackelson reunion. Yep it rained but it did wait until after we ate but the very small group that attended didn't stick around long after we ate. This was probably the smallest showing yet for this reunion and we discussed ways to get those who continually skip this old fashion gathering to start attending in the future. Lets hope something is done before this family tradition is lost forever, and that would be too bad for the younger generations in my opinion. The eats at Russ' BBQ which took place after the Anderson reunion yesterday in the evening were outstanding, beer brats and burgers didn't help me and my weight loss program but a cheat now and then isn't too bad is it? It was good to see Holly and Scott their children and James and Andrea, some good conversation and the girls even played some spades after dinner. Pictures on FB. If the freaking rain doesn't stop soon we're going to wonder why we decided to spend two weeks here. Home town or not these are the reasons we moved to Gods Country............no don't give me that "is this heaven" crap, we don't feel this is our heaven anyway. We're just hoping to get a few rounds of golf in and not sure if that will even happen, might try tomorrow in the a.m. before the rains start again with Russ and Scott. We've even talked about a day or two trip up to Chicago and this is starting to sound better each time we discuss it, hell mayb e a day at Arlington park wouldn't be a bad idea! Bev's brother Mark stopped by the motor home before heading back to Des Moines, we had a nice chat for an hour or so but then he had to head back home. Susan our sister-in-law is dealing with some issues with her mother and couldn't make the trip or the reunion, we hope and pray things work out for her, her mother and the family. Sure is nice Bev has been a bit lucky at the casino when we've stopped in, helps with the boredom and helps with the gas and expenses too. Normally I have most the luck and usually win a few bucks but so far this trip it's been just the opposite, but when needed I'll be there. Hmmmm wonder what we should do tonight?

Lazy, do nothing day.

Today was kind of a slow, lazy start to a couple of weeks in Davenport. Got together with my brother Russ, sister Nancy, sister-in-law Cheryl and Beverly..........oh yes and my Mother! It was good seeing them all, especially my Mother who's been having short term memory problems now for a couple of years and not getting any better. I guess we're lucky she has her health and still knows everyone by sight and voice even at 89 years old. Anyway we all met at this pizza joint they like called Happy Joe's and as far as my family is concerned it's the taco pizza that makes it worth eating there, for me it's not really that big of a deal. We had a nice chat for about an hour and a half and discussed the next days reunion and who all we might see there and not see there and just some catching up talk. Nancy had to go to work, and Bev and I had to go to the market for a few things and items to prepare for both Saturday and Sunday's reunions. Exciting day so far don't you agree? After the market we just sat around the motor home while Bev did a little work and I paid a couple of bills (on-line) and before you know it 5:00 p.m. rolled around with a knock on the door. Bev's cousin Olin and wife Cheryl stopped by and while we were chatting there was another knock on the door...........holy shit it's cousin Darilyn and Ed from Tennessee! This was a big surprise because they hadn't planned on coming but at the last minute hoped in the car and hit the road for a 12 hour drive to the Quads for the reunion. Very happy they made the trip because even though it's been many years with only the visit a couple of years ago here and at their place in Bristol, TN. we sure to enjoy being with them. We do have to make the trek to Bristol for the NASCAR race real soon, they party hardy for a week up to and including race day and I'm we'd enjoy hanging around the camp with them and their friends. After everyone took of I told Bev about "Gumbo ya-yah" down at what the call the "District" in down town Rock Island, Ill. just across the river. New Orleans music, New Orleans food, drinks abounding, and some crazy folks dressed for the occasion it real goth/voodoo garb even vampire looking at times. I just love a good gumbo so I tried some from two different booths in the food area of this festival, and the first was by far the best, not just the best but real top notch stuff......I loved it and was very disappointed with the stuff from the vender across the street. We met a couple of sisters from Chicago who come down each year for this festival, we had a nice chat about a number of things and parted way. Since we were so close to Jumer's (We all know that's where Bob plays) we decided to give them a few bucks but as it turned out Bev was hot once more and we walked out replenishing the gaming kitty with another net $800......now if we could only win together! Once again we had to sneak in the exit between the gate and the fence with the Jeep which just barely fits since they lock the main gate at 10 p.m. Bev and I just can't seem to make that at anytime or at any night while visiting on these trips to Davenport, other wise it would be a walk in the dark from the outer parking area to the motor home. For our ages we really are a couple of night owls that's for sure! Tomorrow is the first of the two reunions, we have things ready and look forward to a lot of catching up and then Sunday the reunion for Bev's side of the family. I'll be taking the ipad so we can facetime with the kids back in Phoenix and share them with some of our family here.

Finally arrived at out first destination on the trek

Sorry for the absence yesterday but things got a little hectic at times. Between the wind, rain, lousy weather all around we made it to Council Bluffs at about 7:30 p.m. and set up for a short evening. I say short because with the need to get to our home for the next couple of weeks, West Lake park, we needed to get up early and bust ass to Davenport in the morning. We had heard from a few folks that were already at the park that it was filling up fast and the place takes no reservations to camp or hook-up. We called an old friend(Wally Branquist who worked for me at Dal-Tile about 25 years ago)that lives in Council Bluffs, he had just finished his golf league play so we met for a quick dinner. Last year we stayed a day or so and played some golf with Wally but this year the damn schedule kept us from that form of leisure we so longed for. I had planned on getting up at about 3:00 a.m. and hitting the road, but when the alarm went off Bev didn't have the heart to wake be beings I was so freaking tired.....thanks for the extra hour and a half Bev. We ended up hitting the road about 6:00 a.m. and had coffee and an egg sandwich on road, thanks again "B"! We filled up a Flying J on the way out of Council Bluffs and actually beat the semi's on the road, the rest area's were packed as we drove by each until about 7:00 a.m. We ended up having a call from two different cousins with reference to the sites at West Lake due to our concerns with making it there in time to land one of those remaining sites, they figured arriving before noon would help. All turned out just fine and we thank God for that. After the first hour of setting things up, hooking things up, and cleaning things up(I've been told I'm a bit annal that way)we were pretty much set my about noon. I showed, and didn't even get dressed, just hoped into the bed and took a much needed nap for about two hours..........yes I miss my naps when on the road. Woke up fresh made a couple of calls while Bev prepared a good dinner and now catching up here, it will be a quit night, but called Mom and will be picking her up for lunch tomorrow. We're sorry we couldn't at least stop in Des Moines on the way through to Davenport, but we'll see them on Sunday at the reunion and then after this time in Davenport we have a week or so planned for out time in Des Moines with our family there. We had company tonight, Robin and Johnny(cousins)stopped by to welcome us and we chatted for a couple of hours. Their camping across the way for the weekend and to be here for the reunion this weekend. It will be nice to see what family decides to attend, hopefully we have a great turn out and the weather turns for the better. By the way I'm hoping and praying I can maintain the weight loss program I've been on, trips like this where there is a lot of eating out with friends and family can be brutal on these sorts of things. So far so good but I'm sure there will be prices to bay especially at "pot luck" family reunions!

Denver Sucks!

Today was a bitch in many ways, but productive as far a miles traveled and days almost caught up after delays in Albuquerque. We ended the day up in Fort Morgan, Colorado about 73 miles north east of Denver, that would be 551 miles traveled and a 13 hour day. Things were going well but running low on gas so I usually top off around a half a tank and no less than a 1/4, unlike my family who all seem to enjoy testing the gauge and seeing how long they can go on the "E". We us a Pilot/Flying J card when traveling because of it ties to Good Sam and discounts on gas and most any item you can buy there. Not only that but they have separate pumps for trucks and RV's so we don't have to try and jockey around the pumps for auto's, very convenient that's for sure. Well I totally went against everything I'm made of and figured I'd try and make a Flying J just outside of Denver since the on board computer indicated I had the miles left in the tank to make it with 50 miles to spare. Bev looks up the Flying J and puts it in the GPS and Sammy is going to take us there. It's not only a bad idea but it's 5:00 p.m. in Denver and the freeway is a parking lot, Mike get frustrated, pissed, and believes we'll run out of gas in the middle of this mess and goes into panic mode (the kids can just picture this I'm sure). I'm following the GPS turn for turn and it's looking more and more like this station is going to be right smack dab in the middle of down town Denver, and the more I drive and the more the computer is telling be "low on fuel"......."low on fuel" the more panic stricken I become. Shit who wants to run out of gas let alone right down town Denver during rush hour? As it turns out I had the GPS set earlier for just Denver and when Bev plugged in the Flying J to make it a via point something went wrong and it kept the destination as Denver! Yep we're thinking we are heading to a Flying J and instead we're being taken right in the middle of down town Denver and no stations in sight! After a bit of the blame game back and forth we finally get to a station (the only one in down town) and have a bitch of a time just getting to the pumps but finally fill that bad boy up and head out of town ASAP! All turned out well I guess but it could have been a whole lot worse that's for sure.......even in between my potty mouth here and there the good Lord must have been watching over us, thank you Jesus! Best news that came out of the ordeal was by traveling like the tortoise by that I mean nice and steady at between 55 and 60 mph we managed 7.45 mpg on that tank of gas. Towing the Jeep and getting 7.5 mpg is a record I believe, but tomorrow I'm trying 65 mph and seeing we get with that speed. First tank (mountains and hills) we got 5 mpg and slight hills and flat land we got 7.5 mpg, looking forward to Nebraska and Iowa a couple of pretty flat places. On a totally different subject, I was thinking about thumbs today earlier. Watching Bev sit in the co-pilots seat and working on her phone in e-mail and texting I notice it's the thumbs doing all the work. Before these phones and hand help items like the ipad etc. the thumbs were pretty much useless, oh sure they were used to hitch-hike back in the day, used to stick into a pie usually plum, and even sucked on by some. We used to hunt and peck (I still do because I have a dump phone yet and pecking is easier for me on the ipad) but other than giving your critique on a movie with one or two up or down what the hell were they good for before texting? Now the thumb is probably the most important and most used digit folks have these days, the younger generation would be lost and confused without a thumb. Hell they don't even know what the hell "hitch hiking is" or what the word critique means............their all thumbs if you ask me. By the way the folks in Denver are the rudest, selfish, bad driving folks I've ever ran into on the road. They worry about themselves and nothing else when driving these inadequate streets and freeways, just plain rude.

Monday, June 3rd and stuck in Albuquerque, NM

Well thanks to Olivia(service tech that helped us)at Camping World in Albuquerque the motor home is being taken care of. A black water tank flush, replace one of the A/C units on the roof that has a bad compressor, and fixed short in wire for bedroom reading lights and closets. A/C unit falls under extended warranty but $500 deductible still hurts, bill was right at $1400 and ended up costing us $885...........my fault on the black water tank so my bad on that $119. I still learn something everyday and sometimes that learning experience cost in more ways than one! It was 5:20 p.m. before we departed Camping World with the motor home and Jeep in tow, decided just to spend the night here in Albuquerque and get a start in the morning. We now have 3 days to get to Davenport and hopefully can get a good spot at West Lake to park for a couple of weeks, got some driving to do the next few days. The winnings from the first Casino stop took care of the $885 that was are share of the ticket for the repairs, so thank God we had that so the Ouch wasn't as bad as it could have been. Won't be making too many more casino stops now that we're virtually a good day and a half behind schedule or at least what was kind of our schedule. I'm not too keen on driving this rig at night anymore, not like it was "back in the day" when I could drive all day and night if need be..no can't do that anymore. God willing and the creek don't rise we'll have smooth sailing from here on out and no problems, I love my motor home and enjoy the hell out of it but this kind of shit makes one wonder if it's all worth it. Let me answer that question right now, you bet it's worth it, we really enjoy this life and style of traveling. By the way a lot of hills and mountains getting to this point, I've topped off the tank twice not and the first yielded 5 mpg and a bit flatter since entering NM and the second was 6.5 and that's towing the Jeep...we'll be back up to 7 or 7.5 before too long especially going through Nebraska and Iowa. It's late and we have an early morning, life is good and tomorrow will be a better day!

Not too far today.

Woke up this morning started unhooking and dumping the grey and black water and oh my God the black water didn't drain.....why I have no idea. We found a Camping World just outside of Albuquerque, NM and by the time we got there they were close.....after all it is Sunday. We should have been further along but the only reason to spend anytime in New Mexico is a stop at Sky City so we did. If there was a way to not go through New Mexico when heading east or northeast from Phoenix that would be great, the place has not much to offer in the way of travel scenery! Anyway we've parked at Camping World and are waiting for the morning when they open at 8:00 a.m. and hoping they can fix the black water problem and then look at a couple of things the Camping World in Phoenix supposedly fixed but didn't get it right in my opinion. A fuse for the bedroom reading lights, and the breaker on the generator tripping when the front A/C is turned on while using the generator. So we will be a day behind and that's if they can get us in tomorrow morning and get these items taken care of. Oh well it's this first part of our summer journey that has a time schedule to meet with the reunions on the 8th and 9th, heck after that we come and go as we please when we please with no set time to be anywhere. Albuquerque lights up the night sky so beautifully, coming into town off the little mountain or hillside is an awesome sight to me each time I see it. I guess seeing that takes away all the crappy scenery an the way into the city. Way too many casino's in New Mexico, never thought we'd drive by so many but we're still was ahead after a few stops here and there. Here's hoping they can get us in first thing in the morning and we can be back on the road tomorrow at a decent hour. Weather is nice and cool tonight, will be great sleeping.

Day one on the road

As has been the custom with these road trip or journeys for the summer our first day doesn't even get us out of Arizona. We left 8:00 a.m. and made our first stop the new Twin Arrows Navajo casino 20 miles east of Flagstaff. Yes we're like the vast majority of retired folks and spend a few hours here and there visiting casino's, we usually don't get hurt and actually have made a lot of money at this one of our favorite pass-times. Anyway the new Twin Arrows is one of the finest Indian casino's we've frequented and we ended up spending about 5 hours there and had a great lunch. We ended up winning $840 so that will be a few tanks of gas and is the start of our gaming kitty! We left there and drove about 30 miles and filled up at Flying J and drove another 20 about to Joseph City, AZ. population 500 but a nice little RV park with full hook-up for $15 a night......won't find another that cheap the remainder of our 3 months on the road. All in all day one not too eventful and not too productive as far as distance traveled, but hey it's 5 more days until we need to be in Davenport. By the way Bentley has finally settled in after 12 hours of not knowing exactly what the hell is going on!