Always Have a Backup Plan

AJ, AZ   High 81  Low 60

I have wanted to go to downtown Phoenix and explore Wesley Bolen Plaza and tour the capitol building for several years, so Saturday morning was the time. I figured there wouldn’t be a whole lot of traffic (there’s always a whole lot of traffic – just not as bad as rush hour) and that downtown would be mostly empty. Amazing how wrong I can be.

When we got down to the Plaza we discovered that all the streets were blocked off for some kind of fund raiser and there was no where to park. We drove around and around and finally decided we needed to go with Plan B.

There are some museums I have on my list to visit and I got out the GPS to figure out which ones were where. The only one close to us was the Phoenix Trolley Museum.

In 1887 the first mule-drawn streetcar rolled down Washington Street. At it’s peak in 1920, the system ran on over twenty miles of track on city streets. In 1947 a fire destroyed most of the streetcars and the city shifted to buses which ended the era of the Trolleys.

 

 

This is a photo of the car when it was running.

Car #116 was one of 18 built at a cost of $13,700 each. It has ten windows on each side and is 39 feet, 11 inches long and 40 reversible seats. Built in St. Louis and was wired for 600 volts DC electric current.

The volunteers had to restore Car #116 from top to bottom.  What a lot of work and love have gone into their work.

This gentlemen was our docent and happens to be the youngest of the volunteers at 63. He was wonderful and had so much passion for his Trolley. He is a carpenter and did all of the woodwork during the restoration. We thoroughly listening to him and learned a lot from him.

This museum is one of those that is run by volunteers on an almost non-existent budget. They only have two cars of which only one has been restored. They have also been told by the city of Phoenix that they have to relocate the museum by October of 2017 and are desperately trying to figure out what they are going to do.

I’m really glad we were able to visit while we still could.

Aunt Happy Fell

AJ, AZ   High 87  Low 63

I got to have lunch with Connie and Dianna last Friday. We all worked together at the IRS in Billings, MT and all of us agree that we don’t miss anything about that place.

Last night we met up with Jeri and Terry at Garcia’s for dinner. Sure was glad they could meet up with us. They are some of the busiest people I know. Safe travels as you head north for the summer.

Jim is out flying his airplane today. Been out fishing a couple of days and is feeling really good.

The news is not so good for Aunt Happy. However the good news is that she did not break any bones. I swear she has the hardest bones of any person anywhere. They took her to the hospital to make sure there were no broken bones and then moved her to a rehab center. We have been to visit her a couple of times and she is very weak. She also has problems finishing her thoughts when she’s talking to us. It is so hard to see this very vital woman becoming old before our eyes. I have been in contact with her niece, Bonnie, who lives in Missoula, MT and I told her that Happy can no longer live on her own. She is going to need constant care.

I took these pictures the last time we visited with Happy before she fell. They were having a party to celebrate all the March birthdays.

Bonnie is her POA and will be here next week to try and make some decisions as to where she needs to go. I am really impressed with where she is now – Good Samaritan/Good Shepherd in Mesa. They have a nursing home connected with their rehab facility so I told Bonnie that I hope Happy can stay there. She likes the people and the food and those are major pluses. She is no longer strong enough to walk so she’s been confined to a wheel chair. Hopefully all goes well next week.

These guys really aren’t very good but like Jim said, everybody is so hard of hearing that it really doesn’t matter. They were having fun.

Rod is at home and the last thing I heard was what his son posted on FB – he’s doing great. If you would like to send him a card, please either give me your e-mail or send me an e-mail and I can give you the address. Thanks.

The month of May is filled with doctor appointments. My hope is that our appointment with the Oncologist on the 24th goes well and we can be out of here on the 25th. At least those are my plans.

Finally–a little bit of Excitement

AJ, AZ   High 79  Low 53

I’m not sure I remember how to blog anymore. As we wave goodbye to everyone who is heading out, that old hitch itch raises it’s ugly head. However, we can’t leave here until the end of May so I spend time looking at places I’d like to check out.

Rod has moved to a rehab center so he can regain his strength before he begins his cancer treatments.

We went to lunch out in Glendale with good friends, Carol and Doug. I’m terrible about taking pictures anymore but we had a great visit with them. They are heading north the middle of April and we may just meet up again this summer.

Easter was a quiet day. We went to Church in the morning, took a nap in the afternoon, and then Jim grilled us a steak for dinner.

Monday we met up with friends for lunch at our new favorite BBQ place – Can’t Stop Smokin’ BBQ. Thank goodness Jeri and Jan took a picture for us. Just look at all that good food.

Dan, Kay, Me, Jim, Terry, Jeri, Jan and Bill

Now for the exciting part of our week. Jim and Marv went fishing last Thursday. Thursday night was the park’s going away party and Marv planned on going. That mean the guys were going to be home around 5:00. Well, 5:00 came and went. And those of you who know me, know that I can panic very easily. My mind immediately starts to think the worse – the boat sank and they drowned, there was a collision on the water or on the road from the lake,  one of them had a heart attack, and on and on. I tried to call Jim but it just went to voice mail. Turns out his phone had died.

I finally found Donna’s (Marv’s wife) phone number and she had gotten through to Marv. The guys were stranded in a cove on the lake with a boat that wouldn’t start. Eventually I got a text from Jim that said they were at the dock and headed home. Marv had finally found the problem – the battery cable had vibrated loose. Sure was glad to see him pull in.

The good news – Jim had a couple of fish to clean. After cleaning them on Friday he took them to our neighbors Bob and Donna who were really excited about having fish for dinner.

For those of you who are already heading north, safe travels.

Rod Update

 

Rod came through the surgery okay and had an uneventful night last night which is always a good thing. He’s in ICU and the family doesn’t have much news yet. Melissa said today was a better day and that Rod was smiling at his son who was asleep in the chair and snoring.

 

We had a hot dog roast and bonfire here in the park last Saturday. Had over 60 folks show up and so much good food.

Today after Jim’s doctor’s appointment we met up with my cousin Myrna, and Dianna for lunch. Good to see both of them again.

Skittlez is feeling much better and can even eat dry dog food now. However, those cooked carrots are so much better. Both she and Scooter love their carrots.

I’m surprised at the number of folks that have already headed north. Hope they have safe travels and no snow.

Rod, Skittlez and Nancy

AJ, AZ   High 89  Low 54

We’ve got a whole lot more gray on our feet and our muzzles but we still like turkey.

I’m sure most of you have seen Rod’s blog post telling us that his surgery is scheduled for Monday. I heard from his DIL and they really don’t know much at this point. They will need to wait for the pathology reports from the surgery as well as what the surgeon will find. Biscuit is being well taken care of and given lots of love.

Our poor Skittlez is not happy with us. She had to have five teeth pulled yesterday and was pretty miserable. She stayed plastered next to me in our chair for several hours and just slept. She could finally have some soft food about 7:00 last night. Boy did she enjoy that. Today she is back to normal. At least normal for her. She still has to eat soft food for about a week until her mouth heals but those canned carrots really went down well.

Jim has been working on his boat. The gel coat was coming off so he has been painting and sanding. Sure does look pretty now. Hopefully he can get it wet next week.

Hey Ray – have you ever done a 3-D quilt?

Look who’s back in blog land. Nancy hasn’t blogged in a long time but she has got herself a new trailer and is getting ready to venture out again. Go take a look at her pretty new rig at

Travels with Mr. Nimble and Nancy

Wiener Mania

Phoenix, AZ   High 77  Low 53

Saturday morning we had a patio sale here in the park but nobody came. In prior years there have been lots and lots of shoppers and lookers but not this year. And, of course, this was the year we had put out a few items. Oh well. Back into the shed they go.

We then headed out to Turf Paradise Race Track in northern Phoenix. The Arizona Adopt a Greyhound group was having a big fundraiser. This year their cosponsor was Happy Tails Dachshund Rescue which is the group I support as much as I can.

As strange as it sounds, the Greyhound Rescue group’s biggest event is the doxie races. Don’t know for sure what I was expecting, but I was definitely not expecting the thousands of folks who came out.

The doxie race track is in front of all these folks.

We were in dachshund heaven – surrounded by hundreds of doxies of every shape, size and color. And no – we did not take our girls with us. Skittlez would have been scared and traumatized and Scooter would have tried to be the boss of every other dog there. That would not have been fun for any of us.

I really didn’t get to see much racing. I’m too short and there were too many people. Jim could see a little bit and he took a couple of videos. I don’t know how to get a video into the blog so if you go to YouTube and search for wiener mania 2016 you can see a couple of videos that are posted there.

They are hysterical. Most of the dogs didn’t make it to the finish line. They came out of the gate and then turned around and wanted to go back. Or they wanted to play with the other doxies that were “racing”. Or there were all kinds of good smells on the grass to check out.

I sure hope they made lots of money for the dogs and that all of the doxies that Happy Tails brought with them all found wonderful furever homes.

Sunday night we went to Sweet Tomatoes with Paula. Love their salads and the brownie bites, of course.

Not Much

Apache Junction, AZ   High 81  Low 50

Been really quiet around our house this last week. I don’t have any news about Rod. He has an appointment with the neurosurgeon this week so hopefully we’ll hear more about that.

We haven’t even been out to eat with anybody. I’m going to try and rectify that issue next week.

Scooter is doing really good. Most of the time she is bouncing around and loves to chase rabbits. But occasionally she has a quiet, lay around day.                                                                                   

In the above picture the sun was shining through our burgundy blinds and made everything pink.

She loves to have the window down and hang her head out of the truck.

Jim and Marv went fishing. Jim caught a nice size bass but let it go because one fish really isn’t enough for a fish fry.

He took this picture out on the lake.

Noticed that Live Writer has spell check fixed. Thank goodness.

Like I said – not much. Hope all of our friends are safe with the horrible storms that the south and east are having.