Monday, December 29th
Well, there went christmas.Does everyone feel the speed of passing time?Must be that extra second there adjusting for on new years eve.We like the "build up" to Christmas after Thanksgiving.We did get tired of hearing Burl Ives' Holly, Jolly, Christmas.Never heard our favorite "Snoopy & The Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen.We did enjoy Christmas eve with our canadian friends from BC and two american couples.A very interesting conversation with Bob (pictured here) about his seven years at the Hanoi Hilton and flying.He's one great man.
Christmas day found us in Tucson after an easy 75 mile drive.Our Wolfeboro neighbors have a home they spend winter at to escape the cold.We had a great meal prepared by Lindy.Betty and Jack are in their 80's so they liked not having to cook.Daisy was along and enjoyed her day too.A pleasant relaxing day for everyone.We left just as the sun set trying to avoid driving in the darkness.The speed limit on two lane I-10 is 75.So you can cruise at 55-60 as I would like.Makes night driving a lot harder at that speed.We got home with time enough to watch the tube and almost got to see our video of the best christmas movie ever, The March of the Wooden Soldiers.Laurel& Hardy at their best.We fell asleep before I could start the movie.Channel surfing!It's a guy thing.Anyhow we watched it last night.Can't believe it doesn't even get a mention among all the trash christmas movies out there.We have pretty much decided to spend next christmas in Wolfeboro and leave for winter after new years eve.We just can't travel out west that late because of nasty weather.So we'll go south to Georgia, South Carolina or the old standby, Florida.Maybe do out west every other year.We certainly enjoy the motorhome lifestyle either way.
On friday after christmas, the three of us drove up to Deer Valley airport north side of Phoenix.I had a phone conversation last summer with a tech rep for Shell Oil.Turns out he has a Bell47 like mine and has operated it ten years.We arranged to meet at his hangar to see the aircraft and pick his brain on maintenance issues since he maintains the machine with a little help.I got an awful lot out of that meeting.We also decided that the general Phoenix area was more desireable to live with access to lots of stores and services.In general some nice neighborhoods.After we left the hangar, we were starving.We stopped at the airport terminal and were pleasantly surprised to have a terrific dinner.Wish this airport was closer to NH!Another 75 mile drive and we were back at base.The next day was a do nothing, nada, day to recover from 300 miles of travel on the previous two days.Fully recovered and ready to go, the three of us drove up to Mesa for the big indoor flea market there.It was OK but not as good as we expected from all the folks who recommended it.We saw it all in about two and a half hours.Daisy got some good sleep in the truck and we got about a hundred bucks of stuff.I guess our "stuff" low level light was flickering.
Today, Jack & Betty drove up from Tucson.They loved the coach and were enthralled with the size.They saw it back in Wolfeboro when we first got it but it had all four slides retracted since it was in a "travel" mode.They had a class C motorhome so I think they were remembering its' size in their mind.We took them to the Olive garden, Jack's favorite restaurant.As usual they prepared a nice meal.The weather has been real nice with tomorrow expected to be 70 degrees with bright sunshine.That is forcast all week.So we had great weather the first and now, last week here.With fairly good weather the rest of the time save for those three or four days along the way of showers and wind.We'll be on the move New Years day to Palm Springs.Hopefully all the drinkers will be home recovering and the rest of the folks watching football, leaving the roads clear to travel.Happy, safe & healthy new year to all and God Bless Us Everyone....................................