Catch up time and big brother arrives

This is catch up time from the last time I wrote the blog.  Saturday & Sunday was taken up with NFL playoffs and I was 1-3 for the teams I picked.  The only team left that I wanted to win is Denver and I'm more a fan of Peyton Manning (QB) than I am of the team.

My brother & Sue left Illinois on Saturday and drove the 1500 miles to Tucson in three days.  They arrived on Monday afternoon and we showed them the way to their home for the next three weeks.  It's a very nice condo in Green Valley, AZ and I hope they like it as much as we do.  It's not real large, but it is all on one floor and they have a nice courtyard with lounge chairs and tables.  Nice to sit outside in the warm Arizona sun and relax.

Living room & bedroom behind wall with king size bed.

Kitchen & eating area.

Courtyard with table & chairs

More courtyard

  The condo comes with a really nice heated pool and hot tub.  It would be nice to jump in the heated pool and let the nice warm water soak into these old bones.

We had dinner at the Arizona American Family restaurant and had a pleasant meal and it gave them a little time to unwind from the long drive.  After dinner we went back to the condo and visited with them and decided to call it an early night.  The condo is about 28 miles from us and we took the back roads home and made good time.  We did see a well fed coyote that decided to run across the road just as we got near it.  

Tuesday was a busy day for us with me having a dentist appointment, attending a memorial service for a friend who passed away and then going back to Green Valley and meeting Dick & Sue for dinner at Pizza Hut.  We chose that place since it was easy to find for them and fairly close to their condo.  We had intended to order the special two pan pasta meal, but wound up ordering a Pizza Supreme that filled us up.  Sue had the spaghetti dinner and couldn't finish it since there was so much food.  The happy diners are shown below.

Today I had PT in the morning and then met Dick, Sue and Gerry at the Hotrods Cafe near the RV park.  Gerry was on a tight schedule and the restaurant is notorious for it's slow service.  She ordered right away and even at that, it was some time before her meal arrived.  She barely had time to eat half her sandwich and leave for her card crafting class back at the RV park.

Nice Model T at Hotrods

 On our way out of Hotrods I took Dick & Sue up to the lounge so they could get a bird's eye view of the area including our RV park in the distance.  The lounge was closed, but there was a man behind the counter and he was weighing bottles of liquor and automatically entering the weight into a computer.  I asked him what he was doing and he said he worked for a company that audits liquor sales at bars and restaurants.  They weight the bottles and can tell how many ounces are in each bottle and then they compare the usage versus what is billed to the customers.  It was a neat program and he showed us how you could spot misuse and cheating very easily.  It even keeps track of how much beer is used in a keg and compares that to what is billed.  It must be a nightmare to cheating bartenders and it looks like it would be very difficult to beat.  Glad I am not a  bartender and working with a program like this one in place.

The three of us took a quick trip to Costco and Walgreen's and then back to the RV where we visited for a while.  Dick doesn't like to drive late at night so we went to Panda Express for dinner and were surprised at how busy the restaurant was.  It was non stop people coming in the door and mostly ordering takeout.  We all managed to stuff ourselves again and decided to call it a night.  

I've heard from a few readers asking if I was all right and why wasn't I writing more often.  The simple answer is that I didn't think anyone would be interested in our day to day routine life when we weren't doing any touring or interesting things.  I hope I haven't bored you all with the above, but sometimes even when you live in a motor home, life isn't that exciting.

One thing of interest is that my right knee has progressed better than I expected and I'm walking without a cane for the past week or so.  I'm pleased with that and also that the pain at night has mostly gone away and I can sleep a little better.  Sometimes when I toss and turn the wrong way I turn it the wrong way and it wakes me up.  Rarely now, so that is good.  No more pain pills either for the last couple weeks and I feel a lot better about that.

For those who have read this far, I thank you.  So, that was our happenings the last 5 days.  

Thursday we plan on going to Bisbee and checking it out.  We always enjoy the Bisbee trip and expect Dick and Sue will as well.  More on that later.

Pizza Time

One of the events at the park is an all you can eat pizza night.  All the pizza is made here at the rec center by one person who brings in 5-6 pizza ovens.  They run on electric and I can't imagine how many amps they draw, but evidently the power supply is adequate to handle it.

The previous person who had the business used to prepare the pizza dough onto trays and then add the toppings as he went along and he kept up with the demand for the pizza.  I understand he has sold the business and the new person was a little slower, but still turned out enough pizzas for everyone to get their fill.  She must use the same recipe since the pizzas were quite similar to the ones in the past.

The calendar said the pizza party was going to start at 6:30pm and we talked our neighbors Frank & Jan into going with us.  We headed out around 6:20.  Imagine our surprise when we arrived and everyone had their first serving of pizza finished and some were coming back for seconds!  Somewhere along the line the start time had been backed up to 6pm but it wasn't a problem since there were pizzas leftover at the end. 

Getting a place to sit was a little dicey, but Ron K had saved us two spots and we managed to find two more spaces for Frank & Jan.  Later arrivals had to scurry around to find seating and it looked like the rec center was full of contented pizza eaters.  We enjoyed chatting with Frank & Jan and the others at our table and time flew by quickly.  Then it was back to the RV and some relaxation.

I managed to break another tooth eating the pizza, so this may be one of the more expensive pizza parties we have attended.  I will have to wait until Monday and try to get an emergency appt with our dentist out here.  There isn't any pain associated with the break but I have decided that sweets will not be part of my diet for the next few days.  

I had PT yesterday and Kari beat me with a pipe.  Yes, that is correct.  Well, actually she had a foot long piece of PVC pipe and rolled it on my upper leg muscles.  The muscles have been tight and sore lately and when I mentioned this to her she grabbed the pipe.  She used it much like a rolling pin and boy did I feel it.  Since the Dr. had to realign my right knee, the muscles were a little out of alignment.  She explained what was going on and how rolling the pipe helped break up fluid and such.  Anyway, it sure seemed to help and now Gerry is going to take the rolling pin to me on Sunday.

With shopping (where Gerry's found something, possible big purchase), lunch at Panera Bread, PT and Pizza it was a typical day around here.  Now for a day of rest and watching some NFL football playoff games.  I need it.

That was our day, how was yours?   

Company is coming

My brother retired a number of years ago and became bored without anything to do, so he decided to become a over the road truck driver and bought a tractor trailer truck and flatbed.  He preferred to drive west of the Mississippi River and loved to come out west.  That worked for us the last 8 years since he would stop in Tucson 3-4 times a year and we got to visit with him during his layovers. 

He has always loved the Southwest and California and has planned on spending some time here during the winter months.  He recently sold his trucks and decided with the temps around -15 in Illinois and drifting snow that it was time to make the trip.  Gerry and I, along with niece Shelly started looking for someplace for he and Sue to spend some time in the Tucson area.  That turned out to be easier said than done.  We checked www.vrbo.com to see what was available in his price range and the pickings were slim, but we finally found a place in Green Valley, AZ that was available. 

They should be arriving this weekend for 3 weeks and will take it from there.  If they like it, then it will be time to search for someplace during Feb.  Of course the GEM show, Rodeo, and all the fun snowbird stuff will be going on.  We will address that at the proper time.

Green Valley is about 28 miles from us and very easy to drive there.  We can take a nice backroad and avoid the interstates and that traffic.  There are a number of restaurants in Green Valley and they cater to the older crowd and snowbirds.  We are looking forward to seeing them and checking out the sights in the area.  More to follow on the next few weeks on this.

Gerry and I went over to Ron & Dee C last night to watch the College National Football Championship game last night between the Auburn Tigers and Florida State Seminoles.   FSU was the favorite and was having a difficult time with Auburn.  They came back from 18pts down and won the game with 13 seconds left.  It was one of the better championship games I've seen for a long time.  It was enjoyable watching the game and discussing it as it went on.

The park is finally filling up and there are fewer open spaces around, but it's not as full as in the past.  Maybe in a couple weeks and closer to the GEM show it will be full, but I doubt it.  

Cousin Sharon & Al are camped near Yorkville, IL in their 5th wheel in -15 degree weather.  They have an electric water hose that failed the other night and have a couple other problems, but they are hanging in there.  I can't imagine what their propane and electric costs are keeping the 5th wheel warm enough to stay in.  They sure come from sturdy stock.  I hope it warms up for them real soon.  

The snowbirds are arriving

It has been a quiet December for arrival of snowbirds in the park.  Now it has picked up somewhat and we've had a number of snowbirds from the past arrive at the park.

We now have neighbors on both sides of us with Frank & Jan arriving yesterday from Pennsylvania.  They packed the unit a few days ago and hit the road with stopovers in FlyingJ stations for the night.  Basically they just drove all day, slept and repeated the process the next day.   It is about 2,400 miles from Tucson and that's the same distance we drive, but we take a week or so for the trip and they made it in 4 days.  Frank set up the motorhome here, said hello and went to bed.

We visited with some friends, watched TV on New Year's Day and just chilled out.  The weather has been fantastic and we took a short drive around the immediate area just to get outside and enjoy the nice weather.  

Today was my 4 week appointment with Dr. Dixon and they took X-Rays of my knee to see how everything was progressing.  It was interesting seeing the X-Rays and how much space the knee replacement parts took up.  He explained each piece and what it did for me.  My knee was so badly out of shape that he shaved 8mm of bone off trying to get it straight.  That wasn't enough and he shaved another 2mm off the bone and then inserted all the parts.  That was the big reason it took an additional hour for the operation.  Of course, I slept through it all and didn't have any idea what was going on.  Thank goodness, since I have a weak stomach.

Dr. Dixon said I was doing fine and actually better than my first knee replacement.  I have more mobility and have progressed very well.  Part of the progression may be that I am carrying less weight around since I haven't been that hungry this past month and have lost 20lbs so far.  Now that is a hard way to lose weight and I don't recommend it to anyone else.

I've cut back on the pain pills and hope to been off them very soon.  I can drive the car when I'm off the pill or if it has been 6 hours since I've had a pill.  The sooner the better as far as I am concerned.  
I have a few more PT sessions, an appointment in 6 weeks and all this should be behind me.  I am looking forward to walking without knee pain and getting out geocaching and walking more.   Also, there will be some bicycle riding in the near future and that will help with the recovery.

I just finished watching Oklahoma beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.  Alabama was considered unbeatable a couple games ago and then Auburn beat them in a wild game and eliminated the Tide from National Championship consideration.  Oklahoma had an up and down season and finally got their act together late in the season, but were 14 point underdogs in this game.  They sure didn't look like it from the final score of 45-31.  Alabama turned the ball over 5 times and that was their downfall.  Great game from a fan's point of view, unless you were from Alabama.

Now we have the NFL playoff games this weekend so I should get my fix of football Saturday & Sunday.  I don't think I will watch all of the games since they are calling for nice weather and I hate to be inside all day.

Speaking of weather.  I was talking with family members in Illinois today and they have some brutal cold weather heading their way along with snow.  Plus, cousin Sharon & Al are in Northern Illinois in their 5th wheel and they are calling for even colder sub zero weather up there.  Time for them to get out of the 5th wheel and into someplace warmer.  We also saw that Cleveland received almost eight inches of snow.  Gerry's cousin and her family live in the suburbs, so they are most likely affected as well.  Good luck to all of you back there.  Stay warm and safe.

 

 

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all our family and friends out there.  Gerry and I hope this will be a fantastic year for all of us and we will look back on it with a great fondness.

Our good friend Ron K is celebrating his birthday January 1 and we wish him a happy birthday and hope 2014 will be a great year for him.  Happy Birthday Ron.