Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Great Day For Geocaching

We didn't have anything specific planned for the day so I suggested we go geocaching in the area.  Over 200 geocaches have been placed during the past year and we thought we'd pick up some of them.

The green boxes on the map below are geocaches that we haven't found and the smiley faces are ones we have found.  I captured a picture of the caches before and after we went looking for them.

Before picture
 We went out after lunch for a couple hours and found 16 caches in short order.  I thought there wouldn't be much traffic along the road but I was wrong.  It was quite busy and parking was tight, but we made it.

After picture
 As you can tell, it doesn't take much to entertain us and we had a great time in the lovely 70 degree weather here in Tucson.

Gerry was successful in finding this cache after looking for a while.  It was windy and she was trying to keep her hair looking great but the wind was playing havoc with it.

 

By the time we were finished playing it was time to head to Rancho Rustico for dinner.  We arrived early and were seated quickly.  Since it was Monday, I didn't think they would be that busy.  Wrong again, the place filled up very quickly and there weren't many tables free when we left.  As usual we had a great meal and the waitress did a great job.  They do serve large portions and the 22 oz Dos XX settled in fine.  Then it was time to head back to the motorhome and relax and let the food settle in. 

Gerry spent 30 minutes picking thorns out of her shoes and then we watched "The Butterfly Effect" movie that was quite strange to say the least.  Gerry is still thinking about whether she liked the movie.  I didn't care for it at all.  Not my cup of tea.


College student Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) is afflicted with headaches so painful that he frequently blacks out. While unconscious, Evan is able to travel back in time to difficult moments in his childhood. He can also alter the past for friends, like Kayleigh (Amy Smart), who was molested by her father (Eric Stoltz). But changing the past can drastically alter the present, and Evan finds himself in nightmarish alternate realities, including one where he's locked away in prison.
Release date: January 23, 2004 (USA)

That was our day, how was yours?

Monday, February 26, 2018

Gaslight Theater - The Lone Stranger

Gerry did play the powerball on Saturday and wound up winning again.  She had 3 of the winning numbers and wound up with $7.00 in her pocketbook.  Now that doesn't sound like a lot, but it is the first time we've had more than 2 of the winning numbers.  She's on a roll.

Gerry and I along with a number of rvers from Cactus Country RV Resort attended the Gaslight Theater Sunday's showing of "The Lone Stranger".  My memory must be slipping but we saw the same show around 10 years ago and it took me a while to realize that.  I checked back through our photos and came across this one with Gerry, me, Ron & Dee attending "The Lone Stranger" in 2008.



The same two actors were featured a couple years ago in the same play and were great again.


 Little Anthony's diner is part of the theater complex and many people enjoyed having lunch there.  We had a small lunch before we arrived at the theater, so we passed this time.


The seats weren't reserved buy number and it was first come first served.  Gerry and I were first in line and snared a nice table with the aisle in front of us.  We had a great view and also a lot of room to spread out.
 
They have small tables bunched together in the theater.  You could order drinks, meals, etc to enjoy during the performance.  Free popcorn was on all the tables.  The stage is quite small and they use some imaginative props to get their message across.  The piano player, guitarist and drummer sit to the side of the stage and provide the background music, along with playing country songs and some oldies but goodies during intermission.



We started off with a beer and a glass of wine to go with the popcorn.  Later we ordered nachos and tried to eat them in the dark.  I won't go into detail how that went over.


 We enjoyed the play and had a lot of laughs.  The actors played to the crowd and encouraged audience participation.  They had a simple story line but the actors did a great job pulling it off.


 After the play was over the actors came back and sang a number of songs.  The lead singer and actor had a great voice and sang songs made famous by Merle Haggard, Garth Brooks and others.


 Most of the cast came out and performed some dancing and singing featuring the girl in the middle.  She had a nice voice and the other two were great also.


 Out came Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson and they did a great job.  Willie sounded a lot like the real Willie Nelson and I don't know much about Merle Haggard so can't comment on how they compared but he sounded great.



We enjoyed the show very much and are looking forward to attending another show later in March.  


 That was our day, how was yours?

Friday, February 23, 2018

Grand Prize Winner

There was a Tiffin Rally at the Pima County Fairgrounds this week with 300 motorhomes of Tiffin Allegro Club members who attended.  We are located about 2 miles from the fairgrounds and decided to check it out on Wednesday.  

Most Rallys have a number of vendors hawking their products and services.  The vendors were not allowed to camp in the fairgrounds and many of them were parked here at Cactus Country RV Resort.  Our neighbor was a vendor for Fantasy Tours and we got to talking. He said we should come over and see what was there.  There were only a few booths that interested us and we lucked out and were there when the Tiffin attendees were in sessions and it was easy to walk around.

Gerry stopped at the Adventure Caravan Tours booth and started chatting with a lady there.  She gave Gerry a low key sales pitch and asked if she wanted to enter the drawing for the Grand Prize.  Gerry loves to enter these drawings and filled out the form and all I could think of was that we would be bombarded by emails and literature telling us how great they were.  The thought of winning did not enter my mind.

Well, Gerry got a phone call last night informing that she was the Grand Prize winner! She couldn't believe it.  The lady calling assured her it was real and she would drop by with the prize today.  True to her word she showed up with a $2000 coupon for one of their tours.  The tour to Albuquerque for the 2018 Balloon Fiesta was on the list and now we have to figure out how we can get there in October.  We were surprised to see what was included in the package; very impressed.  

The lady presenting the certificate expressed her delight at a Tiffin motorhome owner won the grand prize since it was a Tiffin rally.  What a pleasant addition to a warm, sunny day that was!

  
There are other tours that are interesting so we will have to see if any of them fit into our schedule.  We are planning on finding a home in the Charlotte, NC area this summer and will have to plan around that.

I think she should have bought a Powerball ticket on Wednesday and used her luck on that.  Since she is on a roll, I can see more Powerball purchases in the future.

That was our day, how was yours?

Monday, February 12, 2018

Happy Birthday President Abraham Lincoln

 President Lincoln was born February 12, 1809,  died April 15,1865.

 


Gerry and I grew up in Illinois just south of Springfield and remember celebrating his birthday every year.  Our history lessons featured him and President Washington as leading figures in our history.  I hope that schools have continued to teach about him and all his accomplishments.

 

Top 10 Abraham Lincoln facts

1. He was the only president to have a patent: Lincoln invented a device to free steamboats that ran aground.

2. He practiced law without a degree. Lincoln had about 18 months of formal schooling.

3. He wanted women to have the vote in 1836. The future president was a suffragette before it became fashionable.

4. He was a big animal lover, but he wouldn’t hunt or fish. If he were alive today, Lincoln would be running an animal shelter.

5. He really was a wrestler. Lincoln was documented as taking part in wrestling bouts. We don’t think he wore a mask or had a manager.

6. He lost in his first bid for a presidential ticket. The unknown Lincoln was an unsuccessful vice presidential candidate in 1856 at the Republican convention.

7. He never belonged to an organized church. Lincoln read the Bible daily, but he never joined an organized church in his lifetime.

8. He didn’t drink, smoke, or chew. Lincoln was a simple man of tastes, and he never drank in the White House.

9. He didn’t have a middle name. Lincoln went through his life with two names.

10. He hated being called Abe. Apparently, he preferred being called by his last name.

40 more Lincoln facts

11. Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

12. He was the first president born outside of the 13 original states.

13. Lincoln loved to eat oysters.

14. Lincoln’s cat ate at the White House dinner table.

15. His dog was named Fido.

16. His cat was named Tabby.

17. His favorite food was fruit.

18. He was also a big fan of chicken casserole.

19. Lincoln was the first president to use the telegraph.

20. He used the telegraph like email to communicate with generals.

21. Lincoln’s mother was killed by poisoned milk.

22. Lincoln’s life was saved twice when he was young.

23. Grave robbers were foiled in 1876 when they tried to steal Lincoln’s body.

24. He was the first president with a beard.

25. Lincoln argued a case before the Supreme Court in 1849 and lost.

26. Lincoln failed in his first business.

27. Lincoln’s shoe size was between 12 and 14.

28. His coffin has been opened five times.

29. Lincoln was estranged from his father and didn’t attend his funeral.

30. Lincoln didn’t play musical instruments.

31. Lincoln served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

32. He ran for the U.S. Senate twice and lost.

33. Lincoln won the popular vote in Senate campaign against Douglas but lost the election.

34. Lincoln was shot on Good Friday.

35. Lincoln was photographed with John Wilkes Booth at his second inauguration.

36. There are no direct living descendants of Abraham Lincoln.

37. Booth’s brother saved the life of Lincoln’s son on a New Jersey train platform.

38. Lincoln was part of séances after his son died in the White House.

39. Lincoln’s animals also died in a White House stable fire.

40. Someone shot at Lincoln in 1864 and put a hole in his stovepipe hat.

41. Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated.

42. He was a judge on the circuit court in Illinois.

43. Lincoln defended the son of his most famous wrestling opponent from murder charges.

44. Lincoln battled depression for much of his life.

45. Lincoln was seemingly obsessed with cats.

46. He was set to take part in a duel, but it was cancelled at the last second.

47. Lincoln kept his important documents inside his hat.

48. Lincoln’s dog Fido was killed by a drunken assailant a year after Lincoln died.

49. Lincoln’s suit was made by Brooks Brothers.

50. Lincoln’s guest at Ford’s Theater was Ulysses S. Grant, who cancelled at the last second.