John and Aileen sometimes on the road: AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

Saturday, November 30, 2013

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

We were invited to a wedding up at the clubhouse yesterday and what a hoot that was. The theme was Hawaiian and everyone was given a lei. It said on the invitation that it was never too late to get lei’d! Joanne was Aileen’s hairdresser in the park but has finally retired at 80. In fact, she and new husband Jim are both 80. The clubhouse was nearly full of well wishers and we had a great time.

The festivities did start off with a traditional wedding officiated by the winter minister in the park, then the Hawaiian show began. A troop of authentic Hawaiian dancers entertained us for most of an hour and the performances were very good. When audience participation started, it became hilarious. Immediately after supper dancing began and the DJs had some great music. Lots of the older people in the park are very good dancers and know how to have a good time.

Aileen and I drove down to Oro Valley, just north of Tucson, to the farmers market this morning. We didn’t buy anything but had a good look around. Mitzy received lots of attention. It would appear some people go to these things so they can meet and greet pets. We had a nice lunch at Olive Garden then wandered a few stores in the mall. Our day was mostly overcast which was a change from the beautiful clear sky day we had yesterday. Jim and I enjoyed that while geocaching on our ATVs a few miles north east of here. I was able to get my ATV belt replaced for a reasonable charge so it is back carrying me around the desert and mountains.

Jacquie and Jim have sold their lot and have to be off it on December 16. They may come back and rent for a couple months every winter. They will head over to Quartzsite on the 16^th and we plan to join them on December 17^th. Our “plan” is to stay in the Quartzsite-Bouse area until the fourth week of January when we’ll come back here. I will be scouting out some trails to take the club members on when they come to visit.

I saw in the Duncan, BC paper that my Mom’s Cousin Vi passed away a couple weeks ago at 87. That generation is dropping fast. Sister in law Sheila lost her Mom just last week. We continue to slog away on Mom’s diary. Aileen is well into 1998 while I’m still back in 1996 proofing and printing. Mom continued the diary pretty much until she went into care but we’re not sure how far we will continue to print, as her dementia was getting fairly advanced by then.

We walked a bit in the Parks then mostly in the desert on Thursday morning. Getting into the spirit of the American Thanksgiving, we had the turkey in the roaster at 7:55 and it was well done by noon. It was nice to have an excuse to have another turkey feast. We puttered at getting things organized and ready then Crutchfield’s and Jordan’s arrived bringing lots more food and dessert. We had a bountiful repast then Aileen suggested cards later. She regretted that as she ended up with a minus balance. Jacquie won. We had fun anyway!

We walk every morning before breakfast, even in the nasty wind and rain a few days ago and have only missed going to the pool once since we arrived. We’ve seen some nice sunrises while walking out in the desert behind the park but I seldom take my camera. I’m not the sharpest tack in the box first thing in the morning.

There was enough cake to feed twice as many people. Those table are 30 inches wide so you can see how big the six Hawaiian cakes were and we ate most of the wedding cake first.