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Yep. Today is the last day of work before tomorrow's takeoff on an adventure in Paris. Not that I am excited but....YAY!!

It's been a hard week at work, and moving the motorhome and our "stuff" to the new park didn't help. My trainer will have his hands full today getting me loosened up. Hamstrings are tight, low back is tight, mid back is tight. LOL.

We are almost packed. We really only want to take 2 rolling cases so we have to cut a bit of stuff. Tonight will tell if we have to take an extra case. I hope not. We will only be gone 8 days including travel days. We'll see.

Many friends have been helpful, giving me things to do like museums, restaurants, galleries. It promises to be a busy but enjoyable time. The weather looks mixed. It may rain parts of 3 days on us but only one day of storm. Good day for museums.

I didn't sleep well last night. A diesel truck parked out on the street and idled for 1/2 hour at 3:00 AM. I couldn't really get back to deep sleep after that. There are an amazing amount of nighttime noises. So I'm starting a long hard work day tired.

I guess I will sleep well tonight.

It's been a busy and interesting time. I haven't been writing because I have been in the trap of Facebook. No excuse, just a different adventure for a while. I hope I can get back to this page more often. Since we are going to Paris in a week, and you know how I like to bore you all with our travel adventures I'm sure I will get better with the writing habit.

This week has been busy. Monday we took Marcy, our neighbor three houses down, to dinner at Roscoe's. I had been wanting to get to know her for the three years we have lived here but finally we got together. We had fun too. She is a very progressive woman, a cougar for sure. Her husband of 34 years is 15 years her junior. But not in spirit. She is great. We'll do more dinners and cocktails.

Tuesday was our usual cheap spagetti night at Urban Mo's and our chance to see, hug, and check up on our friend Taj. A great guy, waiter and DJ. It's alway fun at Mo's and good to see Taj.

Wednesday we had tickets to see Robin and The Seven Hoods at the Old Globe Theater. What a great show. I hadn't seen dancing like that in years. The leads were all great, the dancers incredible, the sets and costumes were just amazing. We both had a smile on our faces the entire evening. I just wished I had my tap shoes on the way out.

Thursday was The Gathering as usual. We have to have our old neighborhood fix and see Jack and Wendy. Love them. And we get to see other of our friends from the old 'hood.

Friday we took Mother and another friend Judy to see Michael Feinstein with the San Diego Symphony at the Pops concert on the bay. It was a chilly evening but a great show. They did all songs by Frank Sinatra. Some wonderful music in a beautiful venue.

Now we are back in Palm Springs for our last weekend before leaving next Saturday for a week in Paris. Yes, the one in France. Lots of sorting and remembering to do. If we leave anything in the desert that we wanted to take, it's just too bad. So we have to think about stuff.

It looks like we will get to have the palm trees at the back of the property trimmed finally. Things are coming together to finally get rid of the flowers and seeds that fall in our pool and that last year did about $2k in damages to our pool, filters, fountain and gravel. I am really looking forward to getting this done before the damage this year.

We are off to Brunch with friends this morning so I had better sign off and get ready. Can't go like THIS. Lol.

I'll try to be more attentive to this blog and get off of the very addicting Facebook. Not easy.

Many things have been happening. Summer heat, palm tree frustrations, reconnection with old friends, and friends moving on.

Of course the heat has been amazing, but no worse than other years. It's just never comfortable at 112 to 117. We deal with it, and the air conditioning keeps the house comfortable. But try getting into the car. Lol. Oh well. It's only temporary.

Trying to find someone to trim the neighbors palm trees is unbelievable. Respectable tree trimmers, arborists, don't return phone calls. Even Facebook pleadings for suggestions didn't help. I'm about to rent a cherry picker and do it myself. Arrggghhh.

We had company couple of weeks ago that made me very happy. My best friend from my two middle high school years in the Sacramento area and his wife came to Palm Springs for a visit. It has been 42 years between time spent together. I had a conversation in the street by my nieces house last year with Bob after he found me on Facebook, but other than that we had gone out separate ways and lived our lives. It was so good to reconnect and realize that we are still the same kids we were, but with years and experiences under our belts. I love him like I did when we were kids. It was very cathartic. And I really enjoyed his wonderful wife Marian. We had a bunch of fun.

Then there are things that are not so good in ones life. A chunk of our life said goodbye tonight.

We had our last dinner with Scotty. Sunday he leaves San Diego for Austin, Texas. While I totally support his decision, and understand all the reasons why he is moving - I hate it. He has become our little brother. It's a big loss for us, even though it is a great gain for him in the move. We got so used to him as part of our family. Goodbye is really hard for me.

But things change. Life happens.

Scott will be better off for the move and we will be happy for him. For us, not so much.

Well, summer has arrived. We never had the spring we usually enjoy. The winds were present so much of April and May that the temperatures were up to 27 degrees below normal. I didn't mind the lower temps too much, but there was no warm up to help get used to the heat we are now having.

It is still wonderful and the pool makes life wonderful.

Buster had his surgery right after we got back from our trip up the coast. He had torn his crutient ligament in his right rear leg jumping up on a foot stool in the RV. It's hard to see the little guy in pain, but we managed it with Tramadol and Rimadyl. Finally he just refused pain meds. He is still limping and putting very little weight on it, but he's making progress.

Our friend Judy and her two sisters came to the desert for a day trip on Sunday. We went to the Riviera Hotel for brunch and they continued on from there to Palm Desert for a shopping foray, It was a fun time at brunch and it is always fun to see people's reaction to the renovations at the hotel. It's really quite glitzy. Like Old Palm Springs got hit up the side of the head by Las Vegas.

We didn't get to see all of our friends this weekend, but we did get together with Christopher, and Mark and Craig and Chuck for a dinner at The Tropicale. It's always fun to see Mark and Craig, and a loving time with Christopher. Chuck is a very big part of our life and a treat.

Next weekend we hope to see those we didn't get to see this week. We miss our friends, but there is only to much time on the weekends. And of course we had to have some pool time! It's a blessing to have so many friends. Again, we are so spoiled.

Last night, back here in San Diego, we went to Mo's for dinner with Scott and his friend Victoria. It was spagetti and showtunes night. We got to see our friend/server Taj but couldn't sit in his section. We had a nice time and got home at a decent hour. That's a good thing when I'm about to start a busy workweek. I don't like to start tired.

So here we go again. Back to work.

We got up early and started getting the rigs ready for the road home. We knew it would be a long drive. After all, it was three hours to Ventura from San Diego, with no traffic, and two and a half more on up to Pismo Beach. It would take a while to get home.

We headed out at 9:20. I figured we would make it to San Diego around 3:00. And we would have except for another adventure and a lot of traffic.

I got on my GPS in my phone to find the gas station in Santa Barbara where we stopped on the way up. It said to take exit 95 and so we did. After full committment to the exit we saw the sign. No Trucks. Overhead height - 12.0'. We are over 13'. We wouldn't fit. Now what.

We had no choice. We had to get Chris to back up the Flair as far as he could, unhook the car from the TropiCal and back it up, then back up the TropiCal. Fun. Not really. A lot of folks had to drive around us to take that exit. Too bad the height wasn't marked before the actual exit. I'll bet we aren't the only ones that had this happen.

But we made it. Steve finally found a space in traffic and we all got back on the freeway. Steve pulled over at Santa Clause Lane to get the car rehooked to the rig and off we went.

I found another diesel gas station south of Ventura. We made it off, and back on the freeway with no trouble and we were back on the road. Traffic wasn't too bad until San Fernando Valley. It stopped and started all the way to the 405 cutoff, about 25 miles.

The 405 wasn't bad for a change. It cruised all the way to the 73, which always cruises. It didn't disappoint. Then onto the 5 South. Lots of stopping and starting. Then cruising for a mile or so, then stopping again. This happened all the way to just south of Oceanside before it opened up.

All in all it took seven and a half hours to get back to San Diego. We were both pretty tired. If I was tired Steve had to be exhausted from all that driving in traffic.

It was smooth from there to Mission Bay Park where where we met up to unhook the car again and get the rigs ready to put back in their respective places.

Chris called for a ride and got his belongings together as Steve and I unhooked the car. After Chris hugged us and headed for wherever he was going, I drove to the park where we live to clear the way to put the coach back in it's spot. I moved my car and Steve arrived with the coach, backed it in, adjusted the placement a bit, and got it level again.

Then we went back to get the Flair to put it back in storage. It took a few minutes, but Steve got it back in place and we headed for the park to set up the TropiCal.

It was then I realized I wasn't just tired. It was my turn with the bug! Damn. I promised Steve that I would work hard when we got home to put things in place, like hookups. And I told him I would drive to Palm Springs tonight.

I did my best. But he realized how sick I had gotten. Poor guy. As tired as he was, Steve had to put things back in order. I did help with the hook ups and the levelling, and did a few things inside, but I wasn't much help. My fever was raging and I had no energy left. I was lucky in that I had none of the real problems that both Chris and Steve suffered with. But my brain just wasn' working.

We decided to leave for Palm Springs in the morning. Good thing.

My fever broke about 3:30 in the morning. I started feeling better. Still weak, but better!

Friday was a beautiful day again. We were supposed to get wind today, but then we were supposed to get it yesterday and we didn't. Maybe we wouldn't today either.

Steve was feeling a bit better, Chris was too.

It was time to do some laundry so Chris and I took our bundles to the park's laundry room. After and hour and a half, it was finally done.

The bois didn't have a lot of energy but were game to at least take a drive and I needed to do something. I hate wasting vacation time. Plus I needed to go to San Luis Obispo to find a Union Bank so I could make a deposit.

We headed up the 101 North once again. I made the deposit and we cruised around the very cute town of SLO. The town is old with picturesque buildings and tree lined downtown streets, but because it is a college town ( Cal Poly) all the shops are hip, trendy, and lots of coffee bars and hangout places. Really cool.

The bois didn't feel like walking around so we headed back south.

I decided to take a few side roads so we ended up first in Avila Beach. My impression was that if you didn't have a bunch of money you should leave. So we did.

Next was Shell Beach. It had some great expensive homes, but also some great mid range homes, all with views and beach access. I liked that area.

Further south we got to the northern part of Pismo Beach. That's where all the wealthier people in Pismo Beach live. I had never seen it before. Nothing but nice big houses and beautiful big resorts perched on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. Ahhh....

The road took us right back into town, where the bois decided they needed to get something to eat. We headed downtown and ended up at Brads Cafe. Chris and Steve had Clam Chowder and I had another Tri Tip sandwich. What can I say. I like TriTip and I never get it around home.

We walked a bit more around the streets looking at the shops and then headed back to the rig. On the way we took a car tour through Pismo Coast Village RV Resort, just to see it. It's a very nice RV resort. It was my first choice to book up here, but they couldn't take us on all three nights we needed. Too bad. Great location.

For dinner we went back to Mo's, since I was the only one who had experienced their food. I was fine as there were many things on the menu. I ended up with too many baby back ribs, Steve with a Tri Tip sandwich and Chris had, gee, I forget what he had.

It was a really easy pleasant day. And I'm glad the bois are feeling better.

It's Thursday already. Time does go fast when you are enjoying your time away. And today we started the day with sunshine. Not a cloud in sight!

We decided to go into town for breakfast and to roam around. Steve stopped at the True Value hardware store to buy some TV cable and asked where we could get a good breakfast. We were directed to Penny's American Cafe.

It was a real red, white and blue place. The menu was all American, with eggs and sausages and bacon (but it did have French Toast). Chris and I opted for the Sunrise Sandwich, and egg, bacon and cheese sandwich. Yum. Steve had ham and eggs.

We wandered a bit through town. Chris had to stop ot The Old West Cinnamon Roll shop, forcing us to partake of a bit of his indulgence. Steve ran away, but my arm got twisted just enough to help reduce his exposure to the toxic little fat pill he purchased. Oh well. It is vacation.

We walked down to the waterfront, stopping for an after breakfast cocktail at Harry's, and checking out the restaurants for later on the way. We walked out to the end of the pier, watching the surfers and taking in the views back at the town and up and down the coast. It was a beautiful day, with a bit of a breeze. Nice.

Steve was getting tired and his back and hips were bothering him from walking so we headed back to the coach. Steve worked on the TV's in the Flair to get them working, and finally got the plugs wired correctly.

Then it hit.

Steve had come down with an intestinal virus that put him out of commission. He laid on the sofa for the rest of the day, with short exceptions. He retained nothing.

I headed back to Arroyo Grande to the Von's to get some Gator Aid to keep him hydrated and his electrolytes at a decent level.

I told Chris that we were on our own for dinner and he begged off. It seems he wasn't feeling to well either, all of a sudden. Uh oh. Two of them. I put it on Facebook that they were down, and I got a call from Scott. He had gotten sick upon arriving back in San Diego Wednesday evening. I just hoped I wasn't next.

I tried to make sure that Chris and Steve were situated and I headed to town for dinner. I went through Arroyo Grande thinking I would just get some fast food, but nothing looked good so I headed for one of the restaurants I had seen during our foray into town this morning.

It's called Mo's Barbeque. It was pretty busy but I got there just in time to order and get a seat before the crowd piled in. I had a TriTip sandwich with some beans and a beer and I was happy!
I went home to nurse the sick. Not that there was much I could do but sympathize.

The rest of the evening was snoozing in front of the TV. Exciting night.

Scotty had to leave today to get back to work at the Orange big box store. We all hated to see him leave as much as he hated to go.

But he did have four days off in a row for a change, and a chance to get away from the pressure of his job. It was also a chance to get back to a regular sleep schedule after two weeks of graveyard shift.

It was hard to see him drive off.

After he left we headed into town to get on the 101 North. After two wrong turns we took an exit off the 33 which was an adventure. A tractor trailer with a huge tractor on the back had stalled at the bottom of the ramp. Not on the side, but right in the middle. The driver was hostile when I asked what was going on, screaming like a banshee at me, like it was my fault. I just walked away, assessed the situation, flagged the backup of cars around him on the shoulder, then guided Steve and Christopher around him as best we could on the right. It was a game of inches. Between side mirrors and stop signs, it was close.

Of course as soon as we got the TropiCal around and the Flair was almost by, and a CHP showed up, the asshole got his rig started and drove around all of us. If I could have, I would have yelled back at him at that point. What a butt.

We got onto the 101 North and headed up the highway. We stopped in Santa Barbara to fill up and the next stop was Pismo Sands RV Resort in Oceano. It is a very nice RV park in a real low rent area. It's quite near the beach, but we never ventured out that way.

I encountered a slight, fixable problem while hooking up. The park only had 30 Amp service and we are a 50 Amp coach. I had a 30 to 50 Amp connection left over from the Flair, but didn't have a reducer from 50 to 30 Amp. I went to the office and they directed me into Arrow Grande to the RV supply store where I got what I needed.

We got situated, asked in the office for a recommendation on a nice restaurant, and headed to town to find Rosa's Ristaurante.

Rosa's was a nice find after being on the road. It was only a two and a half hour drive, even with the adventure on the offramp. But we really didn't want to cook or clean up.

Chris had a veal chop, I had Cannelloni and Steve had Eggplant Parmesan. Wonderful food, and really cute waiter and busboy. A nice evening.

And the drive and hookups were done!! We miss Scott already though.

We decided that today we would go to Ojai, which we found out means Valley of the Moon. Neither Scott nor Christopher had been there and it is an easy pretty drive from the coast. There's not too much to see but a bunch of galleries and restaurants. One of my favorite galleries is on the main drag.

Of course it turned out that my favorite gallery is closed on Tuesday. Go figure. It is the gallery where I got a painting called "Angels of Mercy". The painting has an abstract figure with words that say "Most people don't know that there are angels whose only job is to keep you from getting to comfortable and falling asleep and missing your life." Mine has been working overtime the last two days. LOL.

We did find a great gallery with really fabulous paintings, furniture, glass and jewelry. Everything in there was quite amazing.

Then we found a cute little cafe with a rainbow sticker in the window and decided to stop for a bite. We had a wonderful light lunch. Some of us had the white bean soup (great) and Steve had a salad. We had assorted sandwiches and fries and other no no's, including a devilish chocolate desert that Christopher just had to make us share. Tsk Tsk. Yum.

We headed back to the coast and achieved sunshine! It was clearing a bit when we left for Ojai but it was much more clear and beautiful when we came back. I was so glad that Chris and Scott got to see it in the sun.

We either laid around or did things like a run to the store for the rest of the day.
Dinner was at Scott's place tonight. We had Chicken Asada, a great chicken salad, tortillas and black beans. Great dinner. Yay.

After dinner we played a game called Sequence, which Steve and I were not familiar. Beginners luck, we won like 5 out of 7 games. We completely work Chris out and he stumbled back to his rig for the night. We retired shortly thereafter.

It was a fun day. And the sun came out!!!

Well, we did get some new batteries. We couldn't find any Trojan's like we have always bought, but we got some U.S. Batteries, a newer company that has supposedly given Trojan a run for their money, and cost a bit less. And they weren't Interstate! (We won't buy Interstate because of their anti gay positions.)

Scott and I (mostly Scott) installed them and immediately some problems no longer existed. The furnace worked, the hot water heater worked, the lights were bright. Ta Da!

The fridge....not so much. Still can't figure the problem. I may have to call John M and see what he knows. He's a great resource for fixit stuff. Smart man. Just wish he and Derek were out here too.

The day was otherwise lazy. We hung out and did some little projects. I found the flag pole I had been searching the rig for, so I put up one of our banners. Scott put his lights up his flag pole. It's always so festive to see a string of colored lights going 30' in the air!

We wandered through town and hit some of the shops, including Urban Outfitters where we bought a few little things we didn't need, then came home and Steve fixed us some sandwiches while the batteries got installed.

Naps were taken and then we started on dinner. Scott made a great salad that could have been the meal. Yum. But we had gotten some beautiful New York steaks in town so Steve grilled those while I heated up the prepared mashed potatoes we bought, and cooked the asparagus.

We had to eat in the Flair, because we didn't know that Christopher is highly allergic to cats, and of course Namale travels with us. We just took all of the flatware, dishes and stuff over there and had a great time in the old coach. Especially now that the heater worked.

After dinner we fired up the little propane Fire Dancer fireplace, sat out and watched the flames and listened to the waves as we chatted about old Sci Fi TV shows and movies, and watched some home-done fireworks down the beach.

It was a wonderful evening at the end of a wonderfully productive day. Thanks all.

We are on the road again. Hurray! We are on the beach just north of Ventura, CA at Rincon Parkway. It's been since Quartzsite in January that we have been out in the rig. Yes we live in it when we are in San Diego, but that is not the same. The journey, and different surroundings. That's the RV life.

Chuck and Walt, old friends of ours, first turned us on to Rincon Parkway when we had our first rig back in the eighties. It's been one of our favorite camping places ever since.

Although Chuck couldn't make it this time, we have friends with us. Scott is here in his rig for three days. He just finished 2 weeks of graveyard shift at the home improvement store where he works. Wednesday he has to return to San Diego and go back to work. At least he got a few days off together for a change.

And Christopher is here too. He was planning on bringing the rig he owned with his ex, but at the last minute it wouldn't start. So we suggested he take our older coach, the Flair, as it needed to be used and he decided that would be great.

Interesting the things that can go wrong on a road trip with three rigs.

We are still getting used to the new systems on the TropiCal and so we ended up with less water than we started with, but no worries. We had enough. Then when we arrived here at Rincon, we found out that the car batteries in the tow car we brought, Steve's Suzuki, were dead. As we were unhooking the tow car he put it in park and put the parking brake on as usual.The other thing we found out is that without battery power you can't take the car out of park.

So with the help of our trusty RV wizard Scott, we jumped the car off of the Flair and got things rolling again.

Then we find out that somehow the house batteries were low in the Flair. Steve had just started the Flair and the generator to check that the day before, but now the generator won't start to charge those batteries. So RV Wizard Scott hooks up a charger to the TropiCal, we turn our generator on and charge those batteries. Whew. Of course, the hot water heater nor the furnace would work on such low batteries so - no heat, no hot water.

And on top of this, for some reason the refrigerator won't light. Scott blew it out to clean the burner and the gas jet things, but to no avail. Another trip to repair for the Flair. Luckily we have enough space in ours to accomodate everything.

All of this is a learning experience for us. And now we know the problems with the coach so we can fix them before a potential buyer points them out!

I don't know what we would have done had Scott not been here. I guess we would have called Good Sam or something. Oh well. The trip was saved. Again.

For the first time in all the years we have been coming to Rincon Parkway, there are spaces available. We have always had to arrive early on a Sunday morning and wait till someone left to leap quickly into their space before someone else got it. This time we found two together and one four spaces away. Not bad. We thought it would be impossible to be right together,

Then the folks in front of us moved, Scott moved up and we are now all three in a line. Unbelievable.

As we went into town last night for a cheap, but good, rib dinner we noticed there were large gaps of as many as six open spaces together, and many more single openings along the Parkway. Never have we seen anything like this. I counted 64 open sites between town and our sites. And the rigs that are here are higher end rigs, not the campers and trailers that are normally along this beach. I think it says a lot about the economy. Sad.

The weather is overcast and bit breezy and cold. That's the way it can be here on the coast. But this is the only place we know in California where you can have your rig right next to the beach. When the sun comes out it is gorgeous. It's still a great place to just relax and watch the pods of dolphin go by.

We don't know what today will bring, other than the batteries in the Flair were down again this morning and Chris was cold from no heat. Maybe buying batteries is on the agenda......

But we sure miss you here Chuck.

Today is our 32nd Anniversary. Tomorrow is the17th anniversary of our comittment ceremony. June 17th is our 2nd wedding anniversary. Confusing, yes? I know. It's a lot to remember. Lol.

It's a work day and I have no idea what we will do tonight, but tomorrow we will be in Palm Springs and have reservations at Tropicale. We will have a great time and Mother will be with us for the Mothers Day weekend.

Anyway, Happy Anniversary Stevie.

We have lots planned for her such as brunch at the Riviera by the pool on Sunday, shopping on El Paseo and then a special event. We have been invited by friends to join their table at a fundraiser by Le Dames Du Soliel on Sunday evening. She will have a good time at that for sure.

The weather is supposed to be in the mid 80's so it should be perfect for al fresco dining, shopping and the pool.

I can't believe April is almost over. It's been busy, but slipped by quickly.I guess I celebrated my birthday for most of it thanks to my friends and family.

Steve is busy building the bar for the bar room in Palm Springs. He designed it and I think it should be really great. It will be nice to have another project done.

The pool calls everyday we are there and we are starting to get that Palm Springs color. We spend as much time as we can with friends. Dinner and drinks, brunch and drinks, etc. You get the picture.

And then there are the things that have to get done with the house. The air conditioning people who have to certify the AC to keep our home policy in effect. We have to get the hedges trimmed. Stuff. Just stuff.

Mother's day is coming and I want things right for my mom. We are bringing her over for the weekend. There will be brunch and dinner and entertainment, etc. She will have a great time.

We miss Dave and Mitch already. They went home to Iowa for a couple of months. Soon Chuck will be gone to Coarse Gold, CA , close to Yosemite, to do his work camping. Robb will be in Seattle for the summer, which will leave only a few playmates. Christopher will be here most of the summer and Mike and Gary will be here working on their wonderful house. We can still find mischief to get into.

The restaurant people appreciate those of us who stay the summer. They get to know us during the slow time. I won't say we get preferencial treatment, but they do remember us with friendly service.

It's stormy and cold here in San Diego tonight. The wind is blowing and the rain and hail come in waves. There is snow in the local mountains.

HEY! It's damn near May!!!

So far this has been a wonderful birthday. 62 or not.

On Wednesday we picked up Mother and met Scotty at the Inn At The Park for dinner. A wonderful meal. After we dined we went to the bar and listened to Andy Anderson and Nathan Frye, two of our favorite singers at the piano bar. It was a delicious evening.

On Thursday, April 1, I woke up. That was a good start. I went to the computer and found many good wishes from friends on Facebook. I went to the Farmville application to find that Bob Dreyer, an old high school friend from Sacramento, had toilet papered my barn. I had to laugh. Virtual toilet papering. What next.

Steve got up and gave me my present, a new 12.1 megapixel Canon digital camera! What a nice gift that was. I had an older camera, 6 megapixels, but the lens had gotten dust behind it and it showed in all my pictures. Now I will have very clear sharp photos to post. I love it.

At work the kids had posted a Happy Birthday banner over my station and had all signed a card. There were presents from clients and a never ending stream of calls from friends and family. At noon we had ribs and chicken from Phil's Barbeque brought in for lunch. We had the obligatory beans and cole slaw. It was fabulous. Wini had baked my favorite cake, Spice cakewith cream cheese frosting. It was really great. All day long it was just a happy day for me.

In the afternoon Steve had to take Buster in to the vet to have a growth taken off of his front paw. The doctor also put him on a diet. Whoops. He gain yet another pound. He's up to 20.7 lbs. Round like the rest of us in the house.

After work Steve and I went to the Gathering for a drink and dinner. We had the wonderful chicken pot pie in a bread bowl. Jack and Wendy insisted that I have a piece of Key Lime Pie afterward. Let me help you twist my arm. It was a nice place to spend my birthday. A couple of vodkas and we were set.

There are more plans for dinner and a family birthday gathering next week, so I can drag this on forever it seems. What's a little food, a little drink, and a few laughs between friends.

I am soooo spoiled.

I can't believe I'm going to be 62 years old. I realize that I have had a lot of fun in this life, probably more than my share. And I must tell you that I have no plans of stopping. It just seems like maybe 40 years have gone by. Not 62.

I'm not complaining, as I lost so many of my friends early in their lives. I have been fortunate to have avoided, or survived situations that could have or should have taken mine. My twenties and thirties were a caution! Disco's, drugs and all kinds of sordid behavior.

And the subsequent time has been blessed with a great, loving relationship, relatively good health, and a reasonably successful business. I couldn't possibly complain.

And then there are the adventures. The incredible vacations. Europe, Africa, diving in Fiji, the Caribbean and Hawaii. So far so fun. Again, no plans to stop.

I'm just amused when I look back and realize all that I have done in my life.

But 62???