Desert View - Day 81 - El Doctor

5:53 am - Tuesday - January 30th - Grand Canyon - 29º F, 49% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the south......partly cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 59º F.

Monday, Monday, so good to me (Mamas and Papas)......and that is all the lyric that really applies to this blog post about Monday.  Monday began slowly, continued to be slow and ended slowly.  I think between TLE and I we deposited less than $200 cash for the entire day.  That's not a bad thing for us.....it's nice to have a very, very slow day once and a while.

Most of our days the past month have been pretty generic, and there is not much to write about lately.  My lengthiest blog posts are about our days off work when we are actually doing something different, or interesting so I guess it's only natural that we wish we had more off days.  However, it is what it is, and so we meander on day by day.  Life isn't always exciting, and we aren't on vacation.....we're just living our lives day by day as vagabonds.  Being a vagabond is a lot like living in a 'sticks and bricks' home, except for the fact that we change our view on a regular basis.....we just don't live in the same place for years at a time.  Sometimes we spend 4-5 months in one place...sometimes just a few days, or weeks.  And that is probably why some of you read our blog to find out what our version of living the vagabond life looks like.  No two of us do it exactly the same.

Monday morning a female customer approached me to ask questions about my job, how I got it, and how I like it.  The conversation evolved into one about living in an RV full time, and moving from job to job.  She is near retirement and is seriously considering selling her home and moving about the country in an RV.  The longer we talked the more excited she became.  As I reflect back on our time here I realize how often that conversation has happened.  I would say I am approached at least once, or twice a week at a minimum by people interested in our lifestyle, and seasonal jobs.  They are often surprised to find out that there is a whole sub culture of people who have chosen the vagabond life, and are moving about the country living their lives more deliberately and simply.

TLE arrived just before 12 pm as she always does.....she is really, really enjoying being able to sleep in every single day, not just on our 'weekend'.  I'm enjoying being home before 1 pm every day.  She likes having time in the morning to prepare special dinners, to read, and just relax before she goes to work.

On this particular Monday I had another doctor's appointment over at the Grand Canyon Clinic.  This was a followup visit to check on my progress under my medication regime.  I have been keeping a record of my daily blood pressure readings for the past month, which he asked to review.  He was immediately impressed with my readings, and recommended no changes.  In fact, he said I would not need to return for 90 days.....well, I won't be here in 90 days and related to him that we are working a seasonal job.  He reminded me again that I basically won the lottery with such a minor stroke, and no after effects......many are not so lucky.  His office personnel will prepare copies of my records to transfer to my doctor in SoCal.  After my appointment I refilled my monthly prescription and headed over to the Marketplace to pick up a few necessities (vino, peanut butter, raisins, vodka, grapes, cheese, etc.) before heading back to Desert View.  I was home a little after 4 pm.

So, here I am 5 weeks post stroke feeling really good with ALL symptoms gone like the wind.  It could have been so much worse, and every single day I thank God that it was not worse.  Our lives could have changed dramatically that day, but it ended up just being a minor 'bump in the road'.....a wake up call, if you will.

Since I had the VW I drove over to the store a little after 5 pm to bring TLE home.....life is good!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

Desert View - Day 80 - I love you.....

5:47 am - Monday - January 29th - Grand Canyon - 39º F, 38% humidity, wind 9 mph out of the east by southeast (feels CALM).....forecast is for sunny skies with a high of 57º F.....BP 128/84.

Sunday morning in the General Store was a typical post holidays morning.....I didn't have my first customer until 9:45 am.  I spent most of the morning dusting, cleaning glass, straightening t-shirts, mopping, checking date codes on perishable items, fronting, cleaning the picnic tables outside the front doors, sweeping the front sidewalks....you know, busy work.

Gradually business picked up and by the end of my shift I deposited $135.....much better than the $14 and change I had deposited the day before.  TLE reported that she deposited over $400 cash so it was a pretty busy afternoon.  I was on my way walking home by 12:25 pm looking forward to a nice afternoon reading, napping and possibly riding my stationary bike for 30 minutes.   As I walked I could not help but appreciate the quiet of the forest, and the smell of the trees.  We've been here now for 80 days, and it feels as if we have been here much longer....it feels comfortable....it feels right.  We are in a good rhythm....

I have only ridden my stationary bike one time since I had my stroke.....shortly after that I got sick, and have not really felt ready to ride it again until Sunday.  Finally, around 3 pm I got dressed in my workout clothes and went out to ride the bike......it really felt good to get on the bike and just spin for 30 minutes.  As I spun, I watched Super Bowl highlights from past Super Bowls on my trailer TV, which made the time pass quickly.

Once again TLE was home just before 5:30.....I hear the door on the VW shut as she exits the car and I walk to the door to greet her......I see her round the back of the trailer and smile that wonderful smile.......we hug, and exchange "I love you's"......life is good, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

Desert View - Day 79 - Aftermath.....

(CLICK ON PIX TO MAKE THEM BIGGER!)

5:48 am - Sunday - January 28th - Grand Canyon - 27º F, humidity 43%, wind 3 mph out of the southeast.....forecast for today is sunny skies with a high of 54º F.  Over the next two weeks we will have 12 days in the 60's, and some nights with lows only in the 30's!  I keep joking about how winter will never arrive here for more than a day, or two, and it looks like that may be prophetic......in a few days we will be in February and still no real substantial winter weather.

After two days of touring the Grand Canyon with our daughter we were both tired and get this......ready to go back to work.  From this point on I have nothing but 'open' shifts meaning I will be off around 12:30 pm every day.  TLE will have all 'close' shifts.  Now, there will be an occasion where we are both needed to work a full 9, or 10 hour shift as we are still short on cashiers, but within a couple of weeks we will be hiring more cashiers.

For a Saturday it was slower than normal....I didn't process my first customer until 10:12 am.  My total cash deposit after 4.5 hours of work was $14.74.....TLE reported she dropped around $300 so the afternoon picked up at lot.

Our daughter, Meredith, decided to drive out of the park through Desert View so she stopped by the General Store around noon time, just as I was pulling my cash drawer, to say her 'until next times', and since she was there she gave me a ride home.  My first thought after getting home was "I need a nap", so that is what I did.....take a nap.  In fact I napped most of the afternoon.  We had spent the prior night at Meredith's hotel in her room, which was a very nice suite with a separate bedroom, and two baths, but the hideabed couch was TERRIBLE, and as a result neither of us got a very good night's sleep, hence the need for a long nap Saturday.

TLE was home by 5:30......another day spent in paradise.....thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

Desert View - Day 78 - Meredith, day two.....

(CLICK ON PIX TO MAKE THEM BIGGER!)

5:46 am - Saturday - January 27th - Grand Canyon - 24º F, 40% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the northeast......forecast high for  today is 45º F with sunny skies....we're in a warming trend....by Monday we will have 12 days of temp in the 50's again.

We had originally planned to do some hiking with our daughter Meredith on Friday, but she had arrived at the Grand Canyon congested, so we opted for a more sedate activity on Friday.....ride the Grand Canyon Railway!

We were up by 6 am Friday as we needed to be on the road driving to Williams, AZ where the Grand Canyon Railway originates.  During the winter they run one train which leaves Williams at 9:30 am arriving at the El Tovar Hotel by 11:45 am.  We ended up leaving Tusayan from Meredith's hotel around 7:45 am, and arrived in Williams by 8:35 am.  We quickly found a small cafe where we ordered some coffee and pastry to hold us over until lunch.

From there we drove a short city block over to the train station, parked the car and went into the depot to pick up our tickets.  They have several packages they sell ranging from about $90 person round trip for 'Coach', $170 round trip for 'First Class', and 'Dome Class' for about $200 round per person.....we chose the 'Coach Class'.  Dome class has you riding in one of several observation cars......

 Getting ready to board

.....we had a lovely time talking and enjoying the scenery on the way up to the Grand Canyon.  The train gets up to about 45 mph during the 65 mile trip, but goes much slower in areas where the train is climbing......

.....we actually arrived at the Grand Canyon train depot (located adjacent to the El Tovar Hotel) about 11:35 am, and were in the dinning room of the El Tovar Hotel ordering lunch by 11:50 am......

.....ever since we visited the El Tovar a few weeks ago when we were walking the rim trail I have wanted to go back to have lunch....this was the perfect opportunity.  So while the most of our fellow passengers took tours, we enjoyed the ambiance of the El Tovar dinning room for about 90 minutes.....

.....regrettably the food did not live up to the excellent ambiance and above average service.  It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't that exceptional.......however, the draft beer was excellent!

.....after lunch we basically spent time visiting some of the local attractions.....the Hopi House (designed by Mary Colter), Kolb Studios (built by the famous Kolb brothers who photographed much of the Grand Canyon), Lookout Studios (designed by Mary Colter), and the Verkamp Visitor's Center all the while walking along the Rim Trail......

 Just outside Lookout Studios

 The grand El Tovar Hotel from a distance

 Lookout Studios

.....in all it was another lovely day spent with out daughter.  We arrived back at the train depot about 3 pm to board the train, which was scheduled to depart for the return trip back to Williams at 3:30 pm.....

One of the retired Grand Canyon Railway engines

.....the train left right on time, and within 15 minutes we were in the 'Cafe Car' enjoying a glass of wine, and talking about our day.  The train, again, arrived in Williams a little earlier than the advertised 5:45 pm, and we were in Meredith's car driving back to Tusayan by 6 pm.  

We were all tired after our day of adventure, so when we arrived back at Meredith's hotel about 6:50 pm we quickly bid her adieu, got in our car and were back at Desert View by 7:30 pm.  We will see Meredith again on Saturday afternoon as she makes here way back to Phoenix, AZ for her 9 pm flight back to SoCal.

Well, we've checked off another bucket list item.....ride the Grand Canyon Railway.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and well worth the price of admission.  We would highly recommend it to anyone!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

Desert View - Day 77 - The day of Meredith

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO MAKE THEM BIGGER)

6:23 am - Friday - January 26th - Grand Canyon - 24 degrees F, 58% humidity, wind - CALM.....forecast is for clear skies with a high of 42 degrees F.

We were out of the 'house' by 10:15 am and on our way to meet our daughter Meredith at the South Rim Village Visitors Center at 11 am.  She staying at a hotel in Tusayan just outside the west entrance to the park.  We made the 25 mile drive over in about 35 minutes, and Meredith was there by 11:05.  We headed out to walk over to Mather Point, and then walk the .6 miles over to the Yavapai Geology Museum.....

......from there we took the shuttle bus back to the Visitors Center to pick up our cars and head over to the Marketplace to get lunch before heading back to the Tusayan Museum and Ruins site out near Desert View......

.....from there we drove back to the west end of the park to Hermit's Rest where TLE and I have been previously.......

......we ordered three Mochas and three chocolate chip cookes then sat down by the fireplace to enjoy the ambiance..........

....around 4:15 we headed back to the Marketplace to ordere a 16" Supreme Pizza for dinner, then then headed over the the IMAX Theater in Tusayan to view the 34 minute Hidden Secrets of the Grand Canyon......

.....we made it in time for the 5:30 pm showing (it runs every 60 minutes beginning at 9:30 am each day with the last showing at 6:30 pm.  We had decided to spend the night with Meredith at her hotel (she had a suite with a separate bedroom, and two bathrooms, plus a hideabed).  We arrived there a little after 6 pm and began consuming the pizza we had just bought.....there was a little Bulleit Bourbon on the side.

It was a perfect day, which just kind of evolved.  At some point in the afternoon we decided we would purchase tickets to ride the Grand Canyon Railway on Friday.  We will drive down to Wiliams, AZ where the train originates, and take the trip up the the Grand Canyon where we will spend 4 hours, then take the return trip to Williams at 3:30 pm arriving back in Williams around 5:45 pm.......so looking forward to that!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

Desert View - Day 76 - A big end of day

7:47 am - Thursday - January 25th - Grand Canyon - 33º F, 29% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the south.....forecast is partly cloudy with a high of 51º F.  I could hear the wind blowing all night long, and as I write it is still blustery.  The forecast for today also includes winds in the 20-30 mph range.....should be an interesting day.

Wednesday was our second full day shift in as many days......I worked the 'open/close' shift (10 hours) at the General Store and TLE worked the 'open/close' shift (9 hours) at the Trading Post.  The day began as most do here at Desert View in late January.....very slow.  By the time I finished opening the store, dry mopping the entire retail store, then wet mopping the same floor it was after 9 am and I had not had a customer.  Finally at 9:30 I had my first customer, but by 11:30 I had only had 3 customers.  Then the roof fell in......over the last 5 hours of my shift I did almost $500 in cash sales, with many of them coming in the last hour......we closed the doors at 5 pm, but the last customer did not pass through the checkout lane until 5:10 pm.  Our manager, Dakota, was there at the end running the second register to help process all the customers, otherwise it would have been 5:30 before we cleared the store.

Around noon time my oldest daughter, Meredith, arrived at the General Store after driving over from her hotel in Tusayan.  There is still a lot of ice  from our last storm on the road that connects us with South Rim Village, so it was slow going for her in some sections.  We talked for a while before she walked down to see her mother at the Trading Post, then paid an obligatory visit to the Watchtower before heading back to Tusayan.  We will be off Thursday and Friday and be spending both days with her giving her a tour of our favorite places.

Around 5:30 pm TLE I clocked out of the General Store and drove over to the South Rim Village to meet Meredith for dinner at the Yavapai Tavern.  On our drive over we got to see first hand how icy the road is....there are probably about 8 miles where you can only drive about 25-30 mph.

We had a delightful dinner with Meredith....we all had the BLT, which is my favorite, and spent the entire time moving from one topic to another.  We always thoroughly enjoy our time with Meredith, and are so looking forward to Thursday and Friday.  Our drive back home to Desert View took a little over 40 minutes due to the ice, but we arrived home around 8:15 pm.  I was totally drained after 10 hours of work and then the drive to and from the South Rim Village.  Looking forward to a more relaxed time the next two days!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

The day before.....

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

6:11 am (PCT) - Saturday - October 7th - 63º F, humidity 21%, wind 3 mph out of the east by northeast.....it will be sunny, and it will be hot.....forecast high for Saturday is 98º F.......yikes!

I was up relatively early, and TLE was not far behind.....we had a busy morning with many things to be accomplished.  I asked the front desk for, and received a late check out time of 1 pm.  We were in our rental Toyota Corolla by 9 am heading into Rancho Cucamonga to see our son, Chris, and his daughter, Cynthia, at his insurance office, and to pick up some mail.....the renewal license tags for the Newell and a new plastic door shelf for our Dometic refrigerator.  Thankfully, both items had arrived via the USPS within the past few days!

From there we headed over to one of our favorite Goodwill stores just a few blocks away where TLE managed to find a couple of pair of khaki pants which she will need for our next job at the Delaware North General Store at the Grand Canyon.....I am still looking.  From the Goodwill we made our way over to the local Rite Aid drug store to pick up some more cigars for me, and a few other necessaries, including a new curling iron for TLE.

Next up was a visit to the local Men's Warehouse to buy a new white, long sleeve dress shirt.  I found exactly the shirt I wanted, with the collar style I like, in the correct neck size on the 50% off rack......that never, ever happens to me.  Within minutes TLE found a new tie that would go with her dress and after transferring about $90 to Men's Warehouse we were on our way to COSTCO to pick up a couple of things and then we were on our way back to Riverside shortly after 12 pm.  We retrieved our luggage from our Marriott room, and checked out just before 1 pm......

In my 'sweet' spot at Simple Simon's

.....next up was lunch at one of our favorite local bistros.....Simple Simon's (still 4 stars on Yelp on almost 900 reviews!).  I had a chicken caesar salad, and TLE had a fruit plate.....we sat outside in the shade enjoying the still coolish air.  I had called the Mission Inn earlier to see if our room would be ready earlier than the normal 4 pm check in time, and was told to check with the front desk about 2 pm to see if the room was ready.  By the time we finished lunch it was about 1:45 so we walked across the street to accomplish the final pre-wedding task.....get a new battery in my gold Seiko dress watch.  By the time the new battery was installed it was just after 2 pm so we walked across the street to the Mission Inn to check on our room status.....it was ready!  We retrieved our key, walked back to the parking structure to retrieve our car, left it with the Valet service, and then went up to our third floor room where we will be living for the next two days.

From this point on things got really hectic.....we (those in the wedding party) were all to meet in the lobby at 2:30 and then be escorted to the chapel for the wedding rehearsal which was to begin at 3pm, then retreat to our rooms around 4:15 to dress for the rehearsal dinner which was scheduled to begin at 5:30......

.....there is a chapel in the Mission Inn where the intimate wedding will be held, and this is my first time seeing it......it is spectacular.....

 The wedding party

........the rehearsal dinner was in one of the Mission Inn restaurants called Bella Trattoria where we dined alfresco.........

......my sister, Hilary, had just arrived shortly before the dinner so she joined us.......of course a picture of two of our youngest grand children (Jolene and Brayden), and our first great grand child (Daniel) was in order.......

Left to right: Nick with Jolene, Sharon with Brayden, and Cynthia with Daniel......makes me happy!

Each male member of the wedding party received a very nice gift......

.....a flask with our first initial engraved upon it, a cigar cutter, and a cigar holder with a cigar inside.......very, very nice, and very, very unexpected.

Any gathering involving Laila's family and ours is quite noisy and raucous.....I wouldn't have it any other way!  By 7:30 the party was beginning to break up so we headed back to our room where we changed into more comfortable clothing and began to watch my Dodgers play the Diamondbacks in game one of their best of five series.....the Dodgers prevailed 9-5.

Now on to the wedding day festivities......by 5:30, or 6 pm I will have a new daughter.......so, "...the day before" festivities are in the books.......

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

Flying south with the geese.......

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

7:07 am (PCT) - Riverside, CA - Friday - October 6th - 59º F, humidity 40%, wind 3 mph out of northeast......clear blue skies with a forecast high of 97º F!  Sitting here at the Civic Center Marriott in Riverside, CA composing today's missive.

Our flight out of Billings, MT was at 1:30 pm so since we had a 120 mile drive to the airport we left a little after 9 am to be sure that even if 'Murhpy's Law' attempted to intervene we might have time to recover from his efforts.  Trying to figure out what to wear for a flight which originates in, what seems to be, the polar regions, and terminates in SoCal where it was forecast to be in the 90's is challenging.  I opted to wear my cargo shorts, long sleeve Under Armor shirt, socks, shoes, and a flannel shirt.  I added a short sleeve t-shirt to my carry on bag to change into when we hit SoCal.

We arrived at Logan International Airport, unscathed by Mr. Murphy, around 11:15 which gave us over two hours until our flight departed......perfect.  By the time we checked in, got our boarding passes, and passed through the TSA security station it was closing in on noon so we both purchased salads for lunch.  Soon we were hearing the call to begin boarding our flight south to Denver, CO and shortly after that we were hurtling southward at 30,000+ feet.  Our scheduled landing time in Denver was about 2:40 pm, and our connecting flight to John Wayne International Airport in SoCal began boarding around 3:15, so we had, as they say, a tight connection.  The United Airlines flight attendants knew there were about 20 folks on our flight (including ourselves) with very tight connections so upon landing they requested that we all be allowed to deplane first......very, very nice.  We had to essentially cover about one half of the entire concourse to get to gate B49, but we made it with a few minutes to spare, even with a quick bathroom stop along the way.......

Waiting in the 'Group 5' economy lane to board our second flight of the day....I've already shed my flannel shirt

........we arrived in time to get in boarding 'Group 5', and within minutes we were on board for second leg of our journey to SoCal.  This flight had TV screens for DirecTV, so I paid my $5.99 to watch the Boston Red Sox play the Houston Astros in the first game of their 'Best of 5' series.......

.......between that and keeping up with social media on my Samsung Note 5 phone the time passed quickly.  We actually arrived at John Wayne International about 20 minutes early (4:45 pm).  Of course, for anyone who is familiar with SoCal knows that this is right in the middle of the afternoon 'Rush Hour', so we were not optimistic about how long it would take us to drive up to our son's home in Ontario, CA.  Nonetheless, whilst I retrieved our luggage TLE secured our reserved rental car from the Alamo desk, then returned to wait with me for the tardy luggage to arrived at baggage claim #4.  After about 35 minutes it came down the conveyor belt, and we were off......we were merging on to the Newport Freeway (55) about 5:30 pm in bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic.  We estimated it would take us 2 hours to cover the 40+ miles to Ontario.......it's nice to be wrong about something like this once and a while.  Even with the terrible rush hour traffic we managed to arrived at my son's home in one hour and 20 minutes......not too bad!

Tim and Laila (Tim's fiance) graciously hosted a dinner for us with my daughter, Kate, and her family (Nick, Charlie and Jolene), who live in the same neighborhood.  What a wonderful time we had.....many, many hugs were exchanged.......

.......by 9 pm TLE and I were 'toast' from a long day of traveling so we bid adieu to our kids and headed out to Riverside (about 13 miles away) to check into the Marriott for the night.  We were in our room by 9:30 relaxing and thinking about all the fun we will have the next few days......caught this great view of the morning moon over Mt. Rubidoux this morning.....

....so that was our Thursday......time to get dressed and live Friday!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.