We got Grannie for Christmas.

On Wednesday Tonya's mother and cousin, Becky, flew in to stay through Christmas. We rented a park model unit for them to stay in while they are here. That makes them official renters so they can participate in any of the activities in the park they would like.

Here's Grannie and I cutting a rug at the Sock Hop on Thursday night. We got two eights and a nine.



On Friday Grannie joined the weekly double deck Pinochle game. Becky was wandering around taking pictures, found another amateur photographer and spent over an hour at his house talking shop.

We went to Karaoke on Friday night. This is my Uncle Jim and Aunt Ruthie singing a duet. They had been coming here for several years when we got MoMance and are why we came to this park in the first place. They now live here full time and just put a beautiful new home on their lot.



Here we are at the tables.






and Here is a Jim singing.


No, he wasn't laying down. You'll have to turn your computer sideways since I didn't realize you can't rotate a video.

On Saturday I dropped Grannie and Becky off at the local flea market at 9:30 am. They called me to pick them up at 4:00 pm. They were only half way through but it was closing, good thing, or I might have had to get them with a stretcher. We went back to our house where Tonya cooked a delicious spaghetti dinner for everyone. Tonya stayed home to do dishes and rest up, but Granny and Becky were still going strong, so we went to the Country and Western dance where I taught them all I remembered from last years two step lessons (quick quick, slow slow, in a straight line).

Will have to update you later, it's Sunday morning, time to get Grannie to church, then go places and do things.

Fun in the Sun has begun.

After a cool, rainy, and windy first day the sun is back just like we remembered it. Here is our home setup for the next few months (notice the sky in the pictures, that is what it usually looks like). Will have some pictures of the park in future posts.



Tonya just missed a playoff for first in the mixed doubles pool tournament on Wednesday and my (blind draw) partner and I went 6 and 0 yesterday to win the Friday men's pool tournament. Today is the monthly park "Walk and Shop", what you call a yard sale when you have no yard. Then it's off to the local flea market. Pool tournaments on Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday night, Friday afternoon, Sunday afternoon, and Monday night. Three cushion billiard play every morning. Poker games on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday nights and Thursday afternoon. Some difficult choices will have to be made.

The Eagle has Landed.

At 3:18 pm on December 7 the sunseeker module "MoMance" touched down successfully at 5707 E. 32nd St. Lot 1028, Yuma, Arizona 85365, in an area on planet Earth known as the Imperial Valley. Disembarking from the tow vehicle was one small step for man, one pretty big step for an old man. For the next 5 months from this base there will be many "land walks" and excursions with the 4 wheel rover in order to determine if this area has the climate necessary for maximum fun. Results from this study will be reported here. The first day was rainy and windy, very unusual. Check back later to see if conditions change.

Made it to Arizona

We left Midland on Saturday and are at home in Benson, AZ tonight. If we get started fairly early tomorrow we will make the 300 miles to Yuma tomorrow afternoon. If we are delayed will stop early and make it Tuesday morning.

Snowbound in Midland.

It rained all day Tuesday so we didn't leave San Antonio that day as planned. We took off Wednesday and made a slight jog to Midland yesterday to visit friends Jim and Nita Evans (in Texas anything within a hundred miles of your route is considered "on the way"). Jim and I started working for Sonat about the same time and worked together for 20 years. I haven't seen him in several years but their move to Midland recently put them right in our path to Yuma. We had a great visit and dinner at their house last night. This morning there is a couple of inches of snow on the ground here and the forecast says it isn't going to warm up much until tomorrow. Interstate 20 is about a block away and from here looks like a parking lot. There are some sites to see in Midland and we think today would be a perfect time to check them out. I've already reupped for another night here so we won't be heading west until at least tomorrow.

New Running Gear for MoMance

We got to San Antonio TX Sunday afternoon, rode the city bus downtown and took a stroll along the riverwalk. We ate at an one of the hundreds of restaraunts there then spent about an hour at the dueling piano bar "Howl at the Moon". Even though at 7:30 on Sunday night there were only about six people in the joint the piano players were still asking for requests, so you know I made one. What I found out is, out of three piano players not one new how to play Bumble Boogie. Anybody can play an Elton John song, only real piano players know Bumble Boogie by B. Bumble and the Stingers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvGNBTosRAs"

We had a great evening and got home early.

Yesterday morning we had an appointment with Southwest Wheel to do some work on MoMance. They converted the brake system from electric drum to electric/hydraulic disc. While they were doing that we had them replace all the leaf springs and shocks. Now we have all new brakes, bearings, springs, and shocks and figure we are good for the next 100,000 miles. One guy, Reuben, started the job, at about lunch time when I could tell he wouldn't get done I told him we would be getting a motel. He said he had things to do the next day and had to get done so he had recruited two other guys to help him. All three of them were humped up like cut worms all afternoon to get done by 5:00. They made it so we were home again last night.

We spent the night just a couple of miles down the road. Will be easing our way west today, getting the brakes broke in and checking for boogers.

Head em up...

We haven't posted in a couple of weeks so I thought I had better get caught up since things are about to change. We are still in Whitehouse, TX where we have been visiting friends and Leah's family. I have been hanging out at Clicks, the local pool hall, and Tonya has been trying to pick up all the trash in Whitehouse. We also managed to sell and give away at least some of the stuff in our storage unit.

We decided the new paint job on the repair to MoMance didn't match as well as it should so we had to take it back in. The repair shop repainted it for us with a very good match this time.

We joined the kids at James' parents house for a great Thanksgiving dinner and also went to Bob and Kathy's for extra dessert with them and the Gill's.

We are getting ready to pull out today, headed for Yuma, AZ. It will take several days to get there with a couple of things planned along the way. We'll keep you posted as we go.

Move em out.