Hello from sunny, windy and 70 degrees-- Yuma

We have had a pretty laidback week playing lots of pickleball (Terry) and bridge (Lola) and getting to know our neighbors. About 90% of our neighbors here at Westwind are from 3 provinces of Canada: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta --all huge in land mass but sparsely populated. Mostly they have been farmers but we have met a few that had careers in the military and services. All very nice and complimentary of Nashville, they say all Canadians love Nashville and most have traveled there. Almost all the women I play bridge with have been teachers in schools that are K-12 with combined classes (for example: 6th low +4th high?!?). They do not like basketball (go Vols--we may be no. 1 in the nation before the week is out), have a passing interest in football (go Chiefs and Saints), hockey is the one sport we have in common--they love P.K. Suban and know he is a Pred. The sport they LOVE? Curling (Terry and I thought it was purely an Olympic sport). They have the National Curling Finals is in Las Vegas this week and some have gone, all here are watching on TV.


Our cute neighbors across the street are from Saskatchewan,
Clare and Pat have come here for 26 years play cards and board games almost every night

Food--Dates are a big crop here in Yuma. Martha's Date Farm is where you can go have a tour of the date farm and history. We showed up about 15 minutes before the tour started and it was full. It has a palm tree farm that you drive through so I am hoping that the 1 1/2 hour tour will be worthy. We will go back but for now we tried their much lauded date milk shake--very good.

The date shake was really good

Martha's Date Farm

 Lettuce is the main use of the farmland and the different green fields between romaine, iceberg, kale, spinach etc., are very picturesque. The cost of lettuce in the grocery stores is the same as in Nashville though. Duros are hard apricot colored discs that you pop for a minute into the microwave and they puff out to make for something to eat with dips. NOT tasty but interesting. Peanuts are also a big cash crop and they are tasty.

Dates, Peanuts and Duros (and puffed Duros)
I thought the hard duros were pieces of apricots because they sold in bulk in the fresh produce dept. and told Fitz that in the grocery where a nice man stopped and explained --not worth the calories but different



Joshua Tree National Park/Palm Springs/Indio Field Trip

Yuma is the second most populated city in Arizona (Phoenix being the biggest) yet it seems like a small town.  If you are native you are a Yuman, the high school sports nickname is The Criminals (first school was in a building attached to the prison) and the main busy street we use is 32nd Street (which intersects with  Interstate 8 at 9 1/2 Avenue). The RV park offers the best entertainment so far here sooo…. We took a field trip this week for an overnight to Joshua Tree National Park (about 3 hours NW into California) timing was for good weather--70 degrees highs-- and an FMCA Rally at nearby Indio, CA.  The fact that historic Palm Springs was in between the 2 was an added bonus.

Every Saturday night there is a Tribute band that performs here at Westwind--
this week it was George Strait tribute band called Troubadour --pretty good

On Wednesday's they have a jam session with musicians from Westwind--
I swear an aging Tanya Tucker is here and sang Delta Dawn--impressive

Home for a couple of months

The skies at sunset are spectacular

  Joshua Tree was, as the other National Parks have been, awesome.  It is very desert, rocky and pretty.  The Pinto Rock formations are a dark, rich brown to contrast with the desert sand color and makes for an artists delight.  We saw NO wildlife but chalked that up to the time of year.

The Joshua Tree is an odd combination of Palm Tree and Yucca grass,
there are no rings to show age--just height. 

Beautiful Cholla Cactus



This is representative of the whole park.  Huge rock piles dotted with Joshua trees and Cholla

We found a pretty petrified tree to sit on

   We moved on to Indio where we caught up with the FMCA RV'ers having their west coast rally.  There were 100's of RVs at the Riverside County Fairgrounds and we have found these gatherings are instructional, have a good trade show and a lot of new and used RV's to go through.  This one did not disappoint. 

The San Andrius Fault lies in the valley below Joshua Tree

A Joshua Tree Grove

Palm Springs sports a lot of big wind mills



Indio Rally was picturesque with the RV's under the Palms

Week 1 in our Winter Home --Westwind RV Resort, Yuma Arizona

The sun is out this morning. That is more than can be said for the past week. Within the Resort we can play pickleball and cards (our passions) in addition one can play golf, go to jewelry making and wood working sessions, bible study, bingo, and weekly dances. There is a hot tub (my fav), a swimming pool, a good restaurant, and a bar with daily happy hour (25 cents off drinks from 4-6). Every Saturday night there is a show by various "tribute" groups. Last night a George Strait tribute band called Troubadour performed and it was very worthy. For Christmas, I got a new toy--an InstaPot--a combination pressure cooker, cook top, slow cooker (Fettucine Alfredo in 10 minutes, pot roast in 1 hour-- all in 1 pot, easy cleanup if not fast cooking). Last Sunday, I went to get it out of the basement and pulled my back in the process. This made for a rough/slow week but allowed us the time for my recovery (I now can bend down and put on socks), meeting the neighbors, reading, watching sports on TV, and looking over the park and the town of Yuma for future possibilities. Results: Neighbors are very nice, mostly from Canada and over 80. Clare and Pat Phillips are across the street and from Saskatchewan, Canada. They have invited us to enjoy Happy Hour with them every afternoon at 3PM?! We went one day and were in bed that night by 8PM. Can't do that often but it was fun and informational.  I finished book 8 of the Outlander Series and am sad that I will have to wait until this summer for book 9 and probably 3 years after for book 10. But I did get Charles Krauthammer's last book--The Point of it All and this is a wonderful read. An insight into the mind of a truly brilliant man who can simplify an important issue for the mere mortal. Vols Basketball (girls but especially boys) is very entertaining, Alabama is in the college football championship and even though the Titans are out of the NFL playoff picture Eric Berry and Alvin Kamara (former Vols) are still playing. Yuma has the biggest, busiest Goodwill store I have ever seen and the grocery store is Fry's--this is what they call their Kroger's here (I can even use my Kroger card here) . It was a calm, information gathering week but just as the sun is out and the weathermen are predicting 70 degrees,  we will continue to explore the great Southwest going forward.

2019 On the Road Again--Let's go to Arizona for the Winter and see the southwest

Shannon was a very nice salesperson and loved this model as
much as we did.

When we looked at going west in late December and early January, Fitz insisted that weather would be a big worry--we had not left Nashville this late in the winter before but we were going so far that the cost of flying home for Christmas and the thought of missing Christmas in Nashville were unacceptable so we took the chance. The day after Christmas we took off for the great adventure west--it was cold but not raining so we felt lucky. First stop was Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Walmart, then on to Fort Worth, Tx. In Fort Worth, we went to look at the RV of our dreams which offered bunk beds, an additional slide and an upgrade all the way around. Right now we are fine traveling in our present RV--it is really perfect for the 2 of us but after this year we hope to travel more with family and friends and it would sure be nice to have guest accommodations.


An RV with bunkbeds and an extra slide--not sure it will fit in the driveway--we dream.

Leaving out of Fort Worth, a check of the weather had a severe cold front moving through so we sorta slow walked the rest of the way to Yuma to avoid rain and SNOW!!! We spent the night in an RV park in Abilene, then Van Horn (3 days just to cross Texas). Then we stayed at Walmart in Tucson before coming into Westwind RV in Yuma midday on New Years Eve. It is cold (much to disgust of Fitz) but the people of Yuma (by those who decree such) promise that this cold spell is an anomaly --as a matter of fact Yuma is said to be the sunniest town in America. We shall see.

We have finally found the cactus that are in the movies!

Our home base for a couple of months

Fall and the Holidays in Nashville 2018

Home for the fall in Nashville and we had temperate weather, reconnected with our friends and family and it made for a very fun time. There is something to be said for old friends. These are the people who helped us raise our kids, in Fitz's case it is the people he grew up with, and these were the people we worked and played with for the past 40 years. We worked in a trip the last week of September to Knoxville for a horrible football game against Florida (but fun tailgating with the Knoxville clan) and on to Charlotte for a NASCAR race. We chose to go to the ROVAL in Charlotte for the NASCAR race because it was the first of its kind. Both of us have lost our favorite drivers to retirement in the past couple of years so we were going more for the atmosphere and the unique race rather than supporting a driver. It was a cut race for the championship, meaning all the top drivers would be racing at their best-it did not disappoint. The track itself was modified to have the usual oval but in the middle they worked in a road track--just to make it more of a challenge. Sally and Steve Gilliam met us on Wed. before the race and we did all the usual tourist tours and since the RV park was right outside the main gate we could come and go as we felt. 

At least the tailgate was fun

At the race, Germain Racing (Ty Dillion's team) served as our hosts

Great seats
 



We certainly were winners

Hendricks Motors had a great shop to go through (We had a Chad Knaus sighting as a bonus)

The NASCAR Hall of Fame was interesting (for Sally and me for about 20 minutes)

Marion and David Greenlee are our new neighbors at home and while we didn't get together for a meal or happy hour like we wanted, we did become co-parents of our new favorite cat. Iris is a pretty little black cat and has 3 brothers and sisters at home so while she sleeps and eats at the Greenlee's, first thing in the morning she would show up at the back door and demand entry. She would stay until dark or until we threw her out because we were leaving. What a great way to have a pet!!

Chris Petty and Blair Bramlett got married in Oxford, MS--beautiful MOG



The reception in Oxford was a wonderful party

Then the party in Nashville for the newly weds was really nice
 

Iris is a great cat (now a part of the family) and the kids love her

We had Thanksgiving at home for the first time in 6 years. I cooked a huge turkey and the Norris's and Nick came over to spend the day. We taught Leeton how to play the Leeton family card game-Idiots- and found her to be a natural (and the luckiest human alive). December saw Julie O'Donnell retire (must party with the newest inductee to our laidback group), KC and Ashton Fitzpatrick got married so they and their son, Tucker, came to the Fitzpatrick Christmas at Marie's along with, the rest of the Mississippi clan. The Leeton Christmas was the usual weekend event at Nancy's, our house. Christmas Eve at the Barksdales was the best! We haven't missed this party in 35 years and always a highlight of the holiday. Cookeville for Christmas morning where we were relieved to find that Santa had come to obviously VERY good children. What a great Christmas.

Long time friends celebrate Julie's retirement and the SEC Championship game
(Georgia gave Alabama a good game)

The Fitzpatrick Clan doesn't get together enough--they are so fun

Jimmy Patton was a great host at the Fitzpatrick Christmas gathering

Holden and Rae are big buddies

 Leeton and Rae

Nancy was a wonderful hostess for the Leeton gathering--we missed Tommy and Marge terribly

Brooke and Carson

Myles and Abby Smith helped make the Leeton gathering complete

Leeton has really had a big year

Nick and his buds

The Barksdales piñata was especially easy to break this year

Best friends forever

The Gilliam Clan

Katie and her longtime friends

We only see the Gabberts at Christmas

Laidback Christmas at the Norris's

Nick has become a big Preds fan