Friends, Memories and Journeys

Happy Dachshund Day. Today is the summer solstice and longest day of the year. 91 degrees when I got up at 4:45 am. We need to be very grateful for Willis Carrier, the Father of Air Conditioning.  

Got a text from a friend that I haven't seen for about three plus years. Key was going to be in AJ for a night so we got to go to dinner. He was headed to Las Vegas to deal some poker. Really good to see him again. 

 

The brain is really amazing. Just a quick glimpse of something can make memories come pouring back. I was watching NCIS and the camera panned the Mall in Washington D.C. very quickly. In that brief moment my brain brought back so many memories. 

 I worked on the 7th floor of this building.

Jim was born in Washington D.C. (That caused us a lot of grief when filling out legal documents because they all wanted the state you were born in.) I actually worked right on the Mall on Constitution Avenue at the Internal Revenue Service. Both Jim and I were living in Northern Virginia when he asked me to dance.  

4th of July celebrations on the Mall, concerts and plays at the Kennedy Center, lighting of the Christmas Tree, watching the Senate in session (not near as tense as it is now), touring the White House, watching Ronald Reagan's inauguration, the Redskins (now known as the Commanders) parade down Pennsylvania Avenue after winning the Super Bowl. 

It was so much fun sitting here watching those memories roll through my head. I hope all of you have a chance to sit back and let the memories roll. 

Daisy passed all her tests (she's my car) and has got the okay for another trip to Montana. The guys at the shop I take her too are such great guys. Totally honest. And they are amazed at what good shape my 16 year old car is in.  

Got my new glasses. Amazing how much clearer the world is. Now if my eye will just stabilize so I don't need new glasses in six months again.

I'm into route planning mode for my journey north this year. I love the journey part of the trip. Seeing people at the destinations is wonderful and my whole purpose for the journey, but being able to just stop and visit and explore what you want is amazing. Of course, exploring could possibly be hampered by the weather.

Monsoon season has arrived but that does not mean we will be having much rain. It does mean, however, that our humidity is on the rise. Nothing like so many of you experience but for us desert dwellers, it's stifling. Thanks to New Mexico we have had one haboob go through. The wind got it started in NM and just kept blowing that dirt and dust right on over to us. The sky was so hazy I could barely see the Superstitions. A day to stay inside.

So how about that first haircut.

And a reward afterwards.

Stay safe everyone.
 

A Solution (hopefully) and an Update

 AJ, AZ  HOT HOT HOT

My last post I was in a quandary about what to do since Blog2Print was closing down and would no longer be available to turn my blog into a book. That was really hard for me because I have turned my blog into a book every year since I started blogging.

I received an e-mail from them letting me know that they are referring all their customers to https://intorealpages.com/. I went to their website and it appears to be very compatible with the way I made my books. I won't be using them until the end of the year, but I will give you a review at that time.

It's way too early for these temperatures. July and August will probably be really beastly. I know I'm not alone in suffering through this heat. The heat dome stretches over most of the western US. I'm hopefully going to be on my way to Montana by the middle of July. 

Haven't been doing much. Staying inside and trying to stay cool. I definitely don't want to see my power bill this summer. 

They (weather folks) are saying we may have a dryer monsoon this year. I sure hope we get rain. We can do without the storms but we need rain. Lots of fires showing up all over the state which means we will probably have a really bad fire season. 

We don't often have beautiful sunrises or sunsets during the summer because we have no clouds. But we have had a couple of really nice ones and I was lucky enough to see them before they quickly disappeared.

Sunset

Sunrise

We had one last potluck with about 20 people in attendance. Per usual, we had enough food to feed about triple that number but we sure had a good time. 

Those of us left get together on Tuesday mornings for a homemade treat and a chance to check in with everybody.

I've been having some issues with my right eye. Things look blurry through that eye even with glasses. I had a laser treatment on it a couple of days ago and have an appointment with the doctor next Tuesday. Hopefully that will make the difference and he can find a prescription that will work for me.

June is a wonderful month for my family. We have birthdays - Michaela, my brother-in-law Don, Sons Steve, David, and Todd.

We also have wedding anniversaries - Jimmy and Jenetta, Steve and Jen, Todd and Michaela. 

I am really looking forward to getting to Montana to see my sister and her hubby and hopefully other family members and lots of friends. I will also be glad to see Todd and Michaela, but this cutie has my heart.

Just a few more pictures. 😍

At the Renaissance Fair

 

Stay safe if you're under the heat dome.