Southern Classic Tournament

Arrived at the RV park for Harrah's Casino near Tunica, MS Thursday evening.  Here all week to watch the pros play pool and may even participate in one of the amateur events.  One thing I like about these events is I don't have to watch the best players in the world with binoculars from the cheap seats.  Just milling around the tournament room I have already been listening in as "Toupee Jay" Helfert and Freddy "The Beard" were telling stories about incredible shots they had seen Ronnie Allen, "Jersey Red", and Efren "The Magician" make in earlier years.  Last night Earl "The Pearl" Strickland was lecturing me and anyone else standing nearby about defective measle cue balls and the disastrous affect humidity has on the playing conditions of the pool tables.  If only they would get the tables dry his game would be unbeatable.  He was appalled when someone reminded him he was standing on a boat with water just below him.  While he was talking he was attempting what I thought was an impossible stroke shot on one of the 10' tables (he made it on the 5th try).  He finally announced that we were all too dumb to comprehend his brilliant observations and gave up trying to convince us. 

If you are not a pool player you won't understand any of the above, if you are you will realize this is the place to be for the next week.  Will post some pictures soon.

4th of July

Our kids and grand kids came by train and plane from Texas and my sister, nephew and step mother drove from central Illinois to Grannie's place for a few days over the the 4th of July holiday.  Ella is the newest addition so she of course gets the most attention.

                                                       
                                                                  Grannie and Ella

                                                    Grandma Bonnie and Ella

                                                           
                                                                   Nana and Ella

                                                
                                                                Aunt Sonja and Ella

                                                    
                                                            Papa and grand kids

                                                 
                                                            Zack, Megan, and Paige

                                             Zack saying goodbye to cousin Christian

                                        
                                             Grannie with grand and great grandkids

We went to the St. Louis City Museum one day. Among many activities available for kids it is basically a 4 story indoor/outdoor jungle gym made entirely out of recycled materials. If you are ever in St. Louis it is definitely something to do.

                                                Paige climbing from one floor to the next.

                                           

                                               Zack and Megan in one of the rebar tubes

We were glad everyone made the trip and had a great time despite the fact the daily temperatures were 105 to 110 degrees. We will be staying here a few more days before heading to Tunica, Mississippi.

Back at the Track

After spending some time visiting family near Normal, IL we are back at the fairgrounds horse track in Carrollton, IL. Visiting Granny and waiting the arrival of our kids on July 4th.

Northern Indiana

Still making our way back to Illinois from New York. Have spent a few extra days near Elkhart and Valparaiso, Indiana, getting levelers repaired and checking out Classy Chassis, a fancy RV Tow Truck modifier. Theirs' are nice but may be a little pricey for me. If you want to buy or have anything done to an RV, this area is the best place to do it. We've been here several times over the last 10 years. Heading to El Paso, Illinois today.

The Wedding

Here are some pictures of Sarah and Renee's wedding, Tim and Jesse Gill produced a beautiful and fun event.

Us

Proud Papa

Renee

Sarah

Sarah's recently ordained brother, Chris, did a fine job of officiating.

Let's Paaaartee!

Guests came from Sacramento, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Atlanta, GA, Wilmington, NC, Carrollton, IL, several places in Texas, and two were actually from Ithaca, NY. It was worth the trip.

Ithaca, NY

We have made it to Ithaca, NY. I think Ithaca is Indian for "Land of the steep hills". I thought we would be roughing it while we are here, which means there are too many trees to get a DirecTV satellite signal. Just regular antennae reception, no recording shows on DVR and no fast forwarding through the commercials. How in the world did we do it back in the old days? But, as luck would have it, a couple of DirecTV service guys were in the park. I flagged them down and for some lunch money they used their super satellite finder to figure out that by putting the dish on the roof we could get reception. It was a close call but it looks like we won't have to endure regular TV for the next few days. Going to meet Jesse & Tim and Kathy & Bob, our friends from Whitehouse, TX for lunch.

Indy 500

We got to do some visiting my family and are now headed to a wedding in Ithaca, NY.  Just so happened we were going through Indianapolis on the way, the Indianapolis 500 was happening, and my friends that go every year had an extra ticket, so we stayed in Crawfordsville and they picked me up on their way to the race.  Nothing like dropping in on the Indy 500 on the way to somewhere else. 

                                                          Getting to our seats.

                                                   Last parade lap before start of race.

We are staying tonight just north of Columbus, OH.  We didn't realize when we stopped here that the 450 sites this campground has are all dedicated to trapshooters.  Fortunately they don't show up until tomorrow so we got to stay tonight.  If we didn't have somewhere to go we would love to stay and see the trapshooting event that will be going on all this week.

Mission Accomplished

Grannie decided she shouldn't move back to Carrollton to live by herself but should stay at the supported living apartment she was in. We have spent the last two weeks getting what she had left in her Carrollton apartment packed up and put in to storage. She has a great time at her new place, playing pinocle, bingo, dominoes, and all sorts of other activities, as well as getting good food. We are very relieved she is somewhere safe. On the Friday before Mother's Day they had a family night honoring the mothers. Here are pictures of Grannie's family and friends that showed up.

We stayed at the Greene County Fairgrounds. We were the only RV there and were parked right next to the horse track so we got to watch harness racers exercise their horses every morning.

We have moved a couple of hours up the road to Bloomington, IL to visit family and friends.

End of the Road.....For now

Arrived in Carrollton, IL this evening. Ready to commence with our mission tomorrow.

Amarillo, TX

And Tonya complains about my parking. I bet this guy's wife is really upset.

Tonight our heads will hit the pillow in Amarillo.

Grants, NM

Headed to Illinois.  When we stopped for fuel in Grants, New Mexico I discovered the trailer brakes weren't working.  Found a cracked fitting in the hydraulic lines.  By the time I got it replaced the wind was blowing 40 mph so we stopped for the night.  Good thing, the local news reported even higher winds to the east including a 75 mph gust in Albequerque.

I know I haven't posted anything since we were on our way to Yuma.  We are still here but getting ready to hit the road again.  I could have filled up the blog with all the things we do while we are here, but we are so busy doing stuff that I don't have time to post it.  One of the entertainers that performed at our park was amazed at how active everyone was.  He remarked "And all your kids wonder what in the world you could possibly be doing all winter in Yuma, Arizona.  They think you're sitting in a dark trailer putting together six piece puzzles and spending their inheritance."  Other than the "spending their inheritance" part that's not exactly how it goes.
As the president of the Billiard Club I write an article every month for the Courier, a  park newsletter.  This usually consists of news about the club's activities for the month and upcoming events.  The article for the April edition was more general and, I think, best expresses how our life has been the last few months, so here it is.

Country Roads/Courier/Billiard Club News/April 2012

What is happening?  I see people and rigs leaving the park, the billiard room isn’t as busy as it was just a few days ago and things seem to be slowing down.  It can’t be the end of the season, can it?  I distinctly remember the agonizingly slow trip across the desert to get here, including a 4-day stop in the middle of nowhere to get a 3-hour repair done on the truck.  I remember finally coming through the pass and looking down at the Foothills.  I remember pulling up to the gate where the security guard said, “Welcome home”.  That was surely just a few weeks ago.  How can it be April already?  There can only be one explanation.  Apparently when we came through the gate we crossed over “into another dimension of time and space”.  A “worm hole” in the universe, where everything moves at warp speed.  A dimension where pool games, pool tournaments, holidays, spaghetti dinners, dances and shows are all like blurry scenes passing by at an incredible rate.  A dimension where everyone walking, riding bicycles and golf carts looks like they are in a Charlie Chaplin movie, but we don’t realize it because we are all going at the same speed.  Occasionally we glance over the wall and see the others in the outside world plodding along at the “normal” speed at which the rest of the world operates.  How do they get anything done at that rate?  We might ponder that question if we had time, but we’ve always got to get to the next activity that fills our schedule.  As we go through the gate for the last time of the season we might not realize it, but, just as Einstein predicted, we have aged a little less than the people who have been traveling at less than the speed of light for the last several months.  Have a safe summer; see you next winter.

That pretty well sums it up.  I'll start keeping you updated on our travels, at least until we get back here and start putting our puzzles together again.

Made It

We arrived in Yuma on Sunday afternoon. Raining all day today (We thought this was the desert!). Traveling is over for a while, next posts will be from here.

Escape From Ozona

We Finally were able to escape from Ozona (aka middle of nowhere). Finding the damaged fuel line and replacing it took about 3 hours, add a day lost for the weekend, half a day lost having the part shipped from civilization, a day lost because the wrong part was sent, a day lost because the repair shop manager forgot to reorder it, and half a day lost because after getting repaired and going 25 miles down the road the alternator went out and we had to go back and have that replaced. At least that only took about an hour. I am sure the alternator problem was partially caused by the other work, but it was also 12 years old.
If you do the math you can see it takes 4 days to do 4 hours worth of repairs in Ozona. At least I wasn't doing it, the mechanic was working outdoors in about 30 degree weather. We were staying in their lot so the rent was free. As nice a vacation spot as Ozona is, we left without looking back on Thursday morning.
We are now in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Tonya's cousin Marcus (and his wife Yvonne) live here so we stopped to visit. They had plans tonight so we are going to breakfast with them in the morning before continuing west.

Slight Trip Delay

While driving along I-10 yesterday afternoon diesel fuel started dumping from the engine compartment, I suspect from a fuel line failure. Only 250,000+ miles on the truck, guess they don't make them like they used to. Got off the hwy and towed a few miles to Ozona, TX where we are set up at a diesel repair "shop" (looks like they do all there work outdoors). We didn't want to pay the mechanics time and a half so they won't look at it until tomorrow. I am confident that it is not a major job and we will only be delayed a couple of days. Meanwhile we are plugged in to their power and water and will be home till then.

Ella Kay Has Arrived

Ella Kay Stavinoha made her debut to the world at 3:11 pm on November 28th.
Weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz you can see from the pictures she is obviously the cutest baby on the planet.

Nana and Ella at the hospital.

An angel even when she cries.

Big brother Zack, Carrie and Ella.


Our work here is done. We're heading to Yuma.

New Granddaughter Arriving Soon.

We have been staying near Carrie's house in Pearland, TX for a couple of weeks. She was due to have a baby girl a week ago but, as these things go, it hasn't happened yet. In the meantime Leah and her family came down for the last few days so we have had a great Thanksgiving with everyone. Carrie is scheduled to get induced tomorrow if she doesn't go in to labor today, it won't be long now.

Went to the local park yesterday. Megan and Paige on the swings.

Megan, Zack and a ladybug.

Nanna has taught them how to "trash".

Grannie's New Digs

We are now back in Whitehouse, TX after staying a little longer than planned in Illinois. It took some persuading by Tonya but she convinced her mother, "Grannie", to move in to a supportive living apartment for at least three months to give it a try. We hope she finds out most of her preconceptions about the place are wrong and realizes it is where she can get the most enjoyment out of the years of life she has left. She has her own furniture in a one bedroom apartment that has a small kitchen with a refrigerator and microwave. There is a main dining room in the complex where meals are provided. Various activities are scheduled every day so there is plenty of opportunity to interact with other residents, as well as assistance if needed from the staff. House cleaning and laundry services are provided if requested. There is also transportation to doctors, church, shopping etc. provided, although in Grannie's case she has her car there and can come and go whenever she wants. We bought her a new Bedspread and TV as house warming gifts. The place has just been open since August so you can see it is a nice, brand new facility.

Greene County Fairgrounds

After a year and a half of not posting I have decided to start again and see if I can stay with it, so here goes.

We have been in Illinois since August, mostly in Carrollton visiting Tonya's mother. Tonya is trying to convince her to move in to a supported living apartment 15 miles away. She has been interviewed by a social worker to confirm that she qualifies and has put money down to hold one of the apartments there until the first of November, but every other day says she is not going. In the meantime Tonya is going through all of her old copies of bills etc. sorting, organizing, and shredding as needed. We have found all the documents she'll need if and when she decides to move. We think she is ready for supported living, which is not a nursing home but a place where meals, cleaning services, organized activities and other minimal support are provided to people with similar needs. All we can do at this point is get everything ready and encourage her to move.

We have spent some time visiting my family that lives about 2 1/2 hours north of here. While there I went to a high school class reunion and a memorial service for my aunt. I saw a lot of classmates I only see every 5 years, if I make it to the reunion, and relatives I haven't seen in 20 years or more, including some I have never met. Because I have been giving updates to so many people about how our family is doing a new "Moserism" occurred to me. "If bragging about your kids is a sin, I'm going to Hell."






We have been staying at the Greene County Fairgrounds, about a mile from Tonya's mom's house. It only has one 50 amp plug and we are the only RV here. The fairgrounds has a track for harness racing just behind us. Every morning several cart drivers exercise there horses around the track.

International Cue Collector's Show

There was an International Cue Collector's show in St. Louis last weekend. Several famous pool cue makers were there with there latest cue designs. These are not your every day playing cues but one of a kind. functional works of art that sell for thousands of dollars each. One of the cue makers there was Bill Schick from Shreveport, LA. He is in the cue makers Hall of Fame and made a cue for me in 1983 and one for Tonya in 1984 (these were the every day playing variety). He still remembered us, mainly because we brought him our own ideas for the design and Tonya wanted mauve colored highlights in the points. He said he didn't have a clue what "mauve" was at the time but didn't let on. We suspect he found out from his wife, at any rate Tonya has been playing with a beautiful cue with mauve highlights and her signature duplicated in a gold inlay on the butt for the past 27 years. I still have mine, one of a kind with my initials in gold on the butt, but have been using a different cue for the last several years.










Also at the show were several collectors of high end and famous old cues. The collectors came from all over the country and Japan to show off their collections and see what the cue makers have made that they may want to buy before the other guy gets it. I have included some pictures that do not really do justice to the craftsmanship required but may give an idea about the artistic ability necessary to come up with the designs. The cues are made of various exotic woods and the designs are inlaid wood, metal, ivory etc. some with scrimshawed engravings.