New England- PATRIOTS (09-09-19)

Our stay in Boston was short, but exciting (for me, anyway).  Our first day or so was spent unwinding, and unpacking back into the truck camper, while it was at my brother's house.  Two days later we moved it to a campground.

We had lunch with my brothers and sisters and spent as much time as possible with our son Stephen, who is quite camera shy.

A couple of months ago I realized that we would be in Boston for the New England Patriots season opener. I looked for tickets- they are sold out-so all tickets are re-sale ones.  After gasping at the price, I put the idea of attending on the back burner.  For a week or so.  Then I decided that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to see the Pats, and Tom Brady, in person. So I closed my eyes and bought the tickets- 3 of them because when I asked Stephen if he wanted to go, "Hell Yeah" was the response.

Having never been to a professional football game, I didn't know when we should get there and what to expect, so I reached out to a cousin who has season tickets.  He put me in touch with his brother, who would be attending the game, and who happens to have a parking spot within walking distance of the stadium. People who live near there rent out their lawns for parking.  That made such a huge difference- close parking and someone who knew the ropes!

I realized after I got the tickets that they would be revealing the 2018 Super Bowl banner before the game, so it made it even more special.

The Reveal included live music accompanied by a synchronized light show from bracelets worn by the audience. Past players were brought onto the field, including Rob Gronkowski, who retired last year.

Our seats were exceptional, as we were able to watch the players on the sidelines.

We could see the entire field, although we had to stand most of the night because everyone in front of us was standing.

I really enjoy watching the game on TV and was nervous that being at a game in person might be a let down, but I worried for nothing.

Many times the action was right in front of us, and we could hear the players yelling (when the crowd wasn't going nuts).  The game sounds completely different in person than on the TV.

To say I thoroughly enjoyed myself would be a gross understatement.  I had so much fun, it went from "Once in a lifetime" to "When can we go again?".

The icing on the cake was that The Patriots beat the Steelers 33-3.

Being in Boston for such a short time, we didn't have much time to visit, but we did squeeze in a pot luck dinner with my childhood friends. We have known each other since we were 2-3 years old, and we all grew up in the same neighborhood.

The only one of us not in this picture is Sharon, probably because as she likes to point out nowadays, she is the youngest of us!

The Rest of May (06-02-2019)

Paul and I both like Zydeco music, but he has been really enjoying it more lately. His brother and sister-in-law attend a Zydeco festival in San Diego every year, and this time, we joined them.  They have a new Class A motor home, and we took our truck camper, and met up at the RV park closest to the festival. Tom and Sue were also in the company of some of their friends.
It was Tom's birthday that weekend, so we celebrated with dinner and dessert- but not cake.
The whole weekend was great-and we really enjoyed the festival.

They had 6 stages set up, all with some kind of music playing, all day long.

 Several of the stages had large dance floors that were very crowded all day long.














Rather than bringing food, we ate at the festival. Paul and I decided to try East African food, and we were both impressed!  Of course there were plenty of Cajun options as well.  No need for anyone to go hungry.










We were back home barely in time for my actual birthday.  Our daughter Jess was able to come for the weekend and although Stephen tried, he couldn't make it- but he did send a package full of T-Mobile stuff (his employer) and lots of New England Patriots things.



Jess paid me back for all the treasure hunts I made her go through when she was young, and at the end, was a giant Jenga game for the yard.

What a perfect gift.

To make it even better, she left us with the wood engraver, so our guests can engrave a block to say "I was here".

Of course, she and I found plenty of errands to do while she was here!

Before we knew it, she was gone and we had a few days before Memorial Day weekend.









  We made an effort to use the boat and jet ski, since the weather was finally good enough to get out on the lake.














I guess the ducks enjoyed the better weather too.












Our 4th annual Memorial Day weekend get together with my cousin Linda and her friends was, as usual, a great time.













They bring everything they need for the weekend, including a boat. We did use our boat one day, and one day we all went on their boat, which is nice for Paul because then he has no responsibilities.










In between boating the guys used their mountain bikes, and the women did some hiking. We all did some eating.










 And of course, we spent plenty of time in the pool and hot tub.

The end of Memorial Day weekend is our cue to start packing.  Usually by early June the temperature starts reaching 110 degrees. This year it didn't, but we still had plans to leave.  The yard looks so empty when it's prepped for the summer!

Massachusetts (07-27-18)

Our two weeks in Massachusetts were a flurry of activity.  It started the morning after we arrived, when we saw a lady sitting at our picnic table, with her back to us. We speculated that perhaps she was lost, since she had a map and was using her phone. Two seconds later I got a message from my cousin Robbin, asking if I was up.  She had been passing by the campground and decided to stop in. I had great fun catching up on all her news!

With Facebook a “thing”, many people knew we were in town and reached out. We had dinner with my brother and his wife Dawn one night, and another night we met up with an old next door neighbor, Maryellen.

Soon after we arrived, our daughter Jess flew in from CA for a few days.  She spent a couple of days with friends before being dropped off at our place so she could visit family. She hasn’t been to MA in 5 years.

We spent one awesome day at the beach with my family.

(pictured from L-R: Jess, me, my sister Deb and brother Ray)

We all love the water and had a great time playing in the waves.

On the way home we stopped at Hampton Beach, played in the arcade for a while and had an awesome dinner. (Jess in the foreground, L-R: Ray, Paul, Debbie, Richie, me)

Paul had his first of many lobsters.

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We were lucky enough to see our son Stephen quite a bit, and even got the kids together for dinner before Jess left.  Of course, I forgot to get pictures so I had to steal the goofy one they took together.

There are 4 women I have known since I was about 4 years old. We try to get together whenever I get back to town and I managed to see them twice while we were in MA. One of them turned 60 and her daughters threw her a surprise party- a 3 hour lunch cruise on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Not only did she not know about the cruise- one of our friends came all the way from California to be there-surprise! Rita and her husband Ed just bought a teardrop camper and raced across the country to get here in time.

-From old friends to new: I had lunch- twice, with some new found relatives. The woman in the middle, Elaine, is my 2nd/3rd cousin. She was adopted and isn’t sure who her biological father is. I was the first person she ever met who was biologically related to her. Really cool! She brought her daughter Michele with her. We also had lunch with a man named Ed, who is my 3rd cousin.  We all met thru Ancestry, and exchange information when we find it.

I managed to see my aunt Tish twice while I was in town. She and I have been friends for a very long time. She was married to my uncle until he passed away in May.  Paul and I dropped by with Jess on the way to the airport- Tish and Jess hadn’t seen each other in about 10 years and had lots of catching up to do. Tish babysits for her grandkids, so all catching up takes a back seat to little kids climbing everywhere!

Just because we aren’t at the house, doesn’t mean we don’t have projects!  While we were in Massachusetts, we ordered two new things for the camper- A slide topper for the slide was first to arrive. It was a little tricky because it’s so big- 12 ft long and we had to make arrangements to get it since the delivery company couldn’t get into the campground. Paul is very happy that he doesn’t have to go on the roof to  brush the slide off every time we move!

We also had to borrow a ladder and a step stool from my brother to put it on!

Being somewhat spoiled, we also replaced the so-so Fantastic Vent with one that is thermostat controlled, and rain sensitive, so we can “set it and forget it”. If we leave for the day, and it rains, the vent will close,until it senses no moisture, then it will re-open and pull air through it again.

We don’t need it in places where we run the AC, but it comes in very handy if we have no hook-up and have to leave the cat in the camper.











Although we didn’t get there as often as I would have liked, we did get to the gym a couple of times before we left town.  This is the original gym I joined two years ago when we were in Massachusetts.

April and May, 2018

First of all, I guess I should answer the question I posed in my last blog post- what happens when people get bored? They go shopping.  And boy, did Paul and I go shopping.

Our first major purchase was a new truck camper. We spent a fair amount of time looking at campers, and even toured the Lance Camper factory in California.  One of our favorite brands was the Host Camper but in the end we decided it was too big and too heavy for what we wanted.  We ended up with an Arctic Fox 1150- slightly smaller and much lighter than the Lance we were giving up.

I didn’t take the time to do some nice, staged pictures, so these will have to do.  The bedroom area has a ton of storage.

Overall the floor space feels much larger than in the Lance, but I did have to buy a step stool, and I am not all that vertically challenged.

Looking back towards the rear of the camper, the bathroom is on the right, and the dinette on the left.  The bathroom was our biggest compromise.  Its not exactly big, and has taken some getting used to- but we are managing, and we really like the feel of the lighter camper, going down the road.






Over the last two months we have taken it on two test runs- one to a nearby state park, towing the jet ski, and another to Fresno CA to see friends, towing the Jeep. Based on those trips, we have made some modifications and additions, to make it better suited to our needs.


The annual boat show in Havasu occurs in April and Paul and I made the “mistake” of going to it.  We have been sort of thinking about a boat, and renting one for a day in March made us more antsy to own one.  Boating, after all, is the main reason we built a house in Havasu.  So off to the boat show we went, thinking we would look at deck boats- maybe a bow rider.



The first booth we came to was Avalon pontoon boats. We had no desire for a pontoon boat but they were giving free demo rides. Uh oh.

Avalon advertises that “this is not your Grandpa’s pontoon boat”. And they aren’t kidding.  This boat cruises at 45 mph. 

Although we investigated all other options (spending 8 hours looking at boats, with temps of 100 degrees), in the end, we bought the boat that we took for the demo ride.

We have already gotten a lot of use out of it, and even took it for a sunset/stargazing cruise (not pictured).

Oh, we also bought a sign for over the sliding glass door-

Although April and May were quieter months, we still had visitors, including our daughter, and took several trips with the camper.


Memorial Day weekend is typically our last “hurrah” before we take off for the summer.  This year, as usual, my cousin Linda brought her friends for a fun filled, crazy weekend.











They brought a boat with them but on Friday we all piled in our pontoon and headed up the lake.












The weather was perfect for a trip through Topock Gorge to one of the restaurants on the water.















Saturday was too windy for boating, but we all managed to have a great time anyway.











Sunday we were back on the lake, using their boat, and our jet ski.  Perfect weather.

Unfortunately I found out over the weekend that my favorite uncle had passed away, so I flew out on Sunday evening, headed to Boston to attend his funeral.

As soon as I got back to Havasu, we pushed hard to pack up to leave for the summer.