THE FUTURE GENERATION

Jim's grandson Eric, turned thirteen, on the eleventh. The mighty "Casey" couldn't blow his candles out. (Eric is an avid ball player and fan.) Of course, some of the candles were the type that don't go out, a set-up by Mom, Wendy.
We helped him celebrate by having dinner earlier in the evening at Harbor Seal, then home for cake, ice cream and presents. Typical, I suspect. Some things never seem to change.

Sports items dominated the scene, with this grand Mets sweatshirt, official baseball shoes, and shorts. The Mets happen to be his favorite team.

The kids are wonderful together, loving and playful with each other. They all appear to be best friends. Its nice to see and feel your future is in good hands with the next generation coming up...except...its hard to understand how tied they are to their phones, like the device is a body part.

  Jaime had on her two inch heels for the evening and stood up to brother Eric, and measured. You see that cord hanging from his ear? I think its music and phone all tied in together. Parents have to say, "...text you'll contact her later..."  SOME things do change.
I guess we used to scare our parents into thinking the world was coming to an end with our music and dance and cigarettes and haircuts. And, we turned out pretty well.

Yesterday was a work day. Jaime had never been for a ride in a motor home, so she went with us to get propane, empty the tanks and fill with water. All a bit of a revelation to her, as we prepare to leave Ivoryton. Jocelyn and I picked berries a couple days ago, so Jaime and I decided to go for a pick-your-own peaches, but the trees were practically stripped. What we bought was quite luscious though, a variety I'd never heard of and promptly forgot. Then we went to the recycling center.

 Then later, since the weather was blessedly cool, we went for a nice bike ride to town and back.

While downtown we checked out this clever sculpture. Its a face entirely made up from numbers one through ten.

There aren't many places to shop in Ivoryton for a kid, but Jaime likes Gathers, an antique store that also has candy and ice cream. She got her candy bar and we called it a day.

FRONT ROYAL AND A FAMILY VISIT

 Front Royal has signs downtown for the Civil War Trail that leads to 10 points of interest during Stonewall Jackson's Campaign in 1862. Plus there are two Civil War Museums to visit, the Belle Boyd Cottage and the Warren Rifles Confederate Museum.  Battlefields and cemeteries are all over the state of Virginia.
 With one day to spend, it was my plan to concentrate on a family get-together with Glen and Karen Littlefield.

 As it turned out, Front Royal was celebrating crafts and wine and I was celebrating seeing my "adopted" daughter, Karen, after a separation of six years. Glen, their daughter, Sherry Lynn, and granddaughter, pretty Penny, arrived in the new touring car, a Mini Cooper.

Grandpa patiently removed and adjusted the car seat for Penny, who adores her grandfather. 

Downtown was mobbed;  the locals were having a good time. The food booths enticed us with crab cakes and chicken on a stick, but no one was hungry just then.

I loved these shirts but knew I'd never wear one.

The Get The Hell Up coffee gets to the point and made us chuckle.

There were games of chance and drawings and a couple of good bands playing music.

The sun was bright but two year old Penny was a trouper all day.

We repaired back to the Moose Club for a long lunch and played catch up with each others lives. The quilts we haven't finished. The braided rugs we both made.  A dream coming true for them, working toward building a new log house on their lot. The joy of grandchildren. Looking forward to retirement and travel. And, all to soon, we had to say goodbye with regrets that we see the people we love not often enough. We took pictures. Karen and I,  with me squinting against the bright afternoon sun.

Sherry and her mom. Sherry's sister, Kelly, was unable to make the trip with her two year old son, Adam. Having two so close in age is like babysitting twins, Karen quipped.

Jim took a group shot and then everyone piled into the Mini Cooper and returned to Bristow.

QUARTZSITE ARIZONA AND A BOOK SIGNING

Jim is in Quartzsite today for his talk on Central America and a book signing. It will no doubt be a full day. Now that I have my camera back, I can share this picture of him doing his commercial for this event.
On the way to Quartzsite, we stopped to see this beautiful bridge fashioned after the Golden Gate. It crossed the once mighty Gila River. The river is now a trickle so this "bridge to nowhere" sits decaying over a vacant wash. The road to Quartzsite was relocated and only the curious view it.
Speaking of viewing, I just discovered it you click on a photo on a blog, it will enlarge and be much more visable than the small photos posted. Some enlarge to full screen size. Hey, hey!
Have a good day.

NUDE BOOKSTORE OWNER, QUARTZITE, WOE, LOST CAMERA

Hey, folks, it may surprise or shock you what this ole' grandma is doing in the desert at Quartzite... frolicking with a nudist! Paul Weiner is a nudist and he has owned the Book Oasis for twenty years. He has had his picture taken with 1000's of customers. The people of Quartzite accept him as he is, a browned, tan man, who by law has to wear a thong during business hours. When we arrived he was clad in a sweater plus the thong because it was a chilly morning. Before we left the book store he had shed his sweater. I took a picture of him on my camera, but then lost my camera. O, woe. The cat is Paul's. We went for the day so Jim could do the commercial for his speaking engagement at the Library on Jan. 29th. He gives a talk and has a book signing there on his latest book about RVing through Central America, about which he is an expert. He is also an expert on Central American History.
This gathering in Quartzite is the largest RV show in the world. The local paper estimated that 750,000 people attend this event with two million RV's puling into Quartzite each year.
We parked on a knoll and as far as the eye could see was a desert full of RVers. We visited several of Jim's friends, who are parked in a Singles Area. Different groups claim their spot and tend to return to the same area year after year. There is a Nudist Area; an area of Gays and Lesbians; Senior RVing Clubs both single and married. Other RV groups are defined by activities, such as kayaking or hiking. Other attendees are individuals with no connections. It is quite a gathering in any case. We walked through the vendors tent and my Birkenstock sandal came undone and one vendor gave us a free roll of Rescue Tape, which is a NASA product and very effective on high pressure leaks. Amazing stuff. Tomorrow, I'll include Jim's commercial that I caught on his cell phone.
Adios, Amigos

Hitchhiking Refrigerators and Tupperware

Its a sunny Nov. 30th in Pio Pico, an RV Thousand Trails Park in Jamul. Jim likens the comings and goings in the park to a ballet as one rig leaves and another enters. His stress free philosophy takes hold and I'm enjoying the idea of mucho free reading time, not that I've done much reading-YET.
He is puzzling over his overloaded refrigerator.
Lets see...does that resonate with anyone? At home there are times when I cannot remove an ancient jar of pickle relish from the back of the frig because it is GLUED to the glass shelf.
Daughter Kristanne once claimed that little tupperware dishes were made to allow the leftovers to mold so you could throw them out. Oh, where did I go wrong? In her refrigerator foods are color coded, which reminds me of a fun book entitled "Hitchhiking Across Ireland With A Refrigerator." In the leftover haven was the lovely remnants of Thanksgiving dinner spent with daughter Kristanne and family. What a feast. Two different types of turkey, one smoked. Juicy and delish. The best dessert in the world via daughter Virginia, lets see, pears poached in white wine then baked on a short buttery crust spread with marzipan. Oh, my! Calorie City.

Maybe an ax murderer?

My journey with "The Ramblin Man" began Nov. 21st. Before I signed up as a blogger, I kept a journal, thus several entries follow. Hopefully daily entries hence.

With butterflies in my stomach, I left all that is familiar, house, yardwork, responsibilities (great) wonderful neighbors and friends, familiar surroundings, (not so great), to take off with a STRANGER!!! Egads! What's to become of one such as me to place life and limb into the hands of a stranger? Well, he did tell me to check him out with the penal authorities....hmmm! He spent two weeks on my driveway in his RV and all the neighbor dogs liked him. The neighbors too. I went for it!!