January, 2004
We
greeted the New Year 2004 in the Toledo area. Our hosts, Kathy and
Dennie served us a great breakfast and we shared our hopes and dreams for the
year to come. Later in the day we had a delicious New Year's Dinner
of pork and sauerkraut with Tom's sister and brother-in-law, Judy and Ron
Kaminski. Again, we had a great visit
Friday,
January 2 we did our "last minute" shopping and errands in the Toledo area, then
headed to Kenton, OH where we met Ann, Matt and the girls for dinner at Henry's
Restaurant. The girls enjoyed being "all dressed up" for a dinner
out. And we got our last chance at hugs and kisses for a
while.
We were back in the friendly skies on Saturday and
back home in Palm Creek late in the evening. Our flights went well, but we
had to wait at the airport for fellow Palm Creek residents whose plane was
several hours delayed. On Sunday we were back at our hard work
routine of tennis, golf and bridge.
Our routine didn't last long, however. On
Tuesday, Jan 13 we drove the Dutch Star to Quartzsite, AZ., traveling with
friends Terry and Charlotte Eicher. We met Terry and Char here at Palm
Creek and discovered that they are former Toledoans and also new Dutch Star
owners. Quite a coincidence!!! In Quartzsite we gathered together
with 450 other Newmar owners for a "Kountry Klub Regional Rally." It was
quite an affair! We were parked on BLM land six miles south of town - out
in the desert. The host group was well organized and had several days of
activities, seminars, entertainment and meals all planned for us. We also
ventured into town to the "Big Tent/Main Event" and toured the booths, displays
and flea market. For those of you that are not familiar with
Quartzsite....its a town of 1500 in the summer that swells to hundreds of
thousands in the winter when everybody drives their RV to the desert and
parks. Our rally was only a "drop in the bucket" of the
population. The rally was great fun and the weather was perfect -
as all our activities were outside. The food was delicious and
the caterer did a fantastic job without full facilities. (None of
those sagebrush bushes had water or electricity hookups!)
We
were back at Palm Creek again on Sunday, January 18. On Monday we had some
nice sunshine, but the rest of the week turned cool and wet. We did manage
to get in a little golf and tennis, but much of the week was spent inside away
from the "unusual Arizona weather." We made two "road trips" into the
Phoenix area...once to pick up Tom's newest technology toy...digital hearing
aids, and a second trip to attend a "Fulltimers Seminar" held by our friends
Barb and Ron Hofmeister who had been fulltimers for 14 years until they bought a
home in the Phoenix area last year. We had met them in Toledo several
years ago as they stopped to visit Ron's mother. Since then we've
seen them several times in various parts of the country. At the seminar
this time we were privileged to sell the book they have written to the people
attending the seminar. After the seminar Barb and Ron invited us to their
home for a visit.....and what a nice place they have in the "Mountainbrook" area
east of Mesa.
More
Toledo friends visited us on Sunday, January 25. Rex and Nancy Wilsen have
a winter home "just up the road" from us in Sun Lakes and their good friend,
Jean Emery was visiting them for a few days. On their way to tour the
"Biosphere," they stopped by to see our new home and we all went to lunch at
Chili's. We're sorry that Jean had to experience our damp and cool
weather!
We
finished out the month of January with our typical Palm Creek activities.
We still had some cold mornings- golf was delayed because of frost - but the
afternoons were pleasant. We were just grateful to not be back in Ohio at
the time. We're looking forward to February with some visits with family
and old friends and some different activities.
Merrick, Coffey and Close...all dressed up and ready for
dinner.
The
view from our rig across the desert at the Newmar Kountry Klub Rally in
Quartzsite.
Tom
sharing "Happy Hour" with Char and Terry Eicher at our dinner table in the
desert.
Char
(and Molly) with Tom and Mary enjoying our favorite vendor at the "Main Event"
in Quartzsite
Barb
and Ron Hofmeister in Gold Canyon, AZ
Rex
and Nancy Wilsen and Jean Emery visiting us at Palm Creek.
Tom
with Judy and Ron
