Beating the heat!

Yesterday was Sunday and was definitely a day of rest for us. Max was happy to have us home for the day. He likes it when he doesn't have guard duty! We watched the Chula Vista team win the Little League World Series. What a game! They were great. I did feel a little sad for the Taiwan boys when they shed a few tears when they lost. But oh so happy for the team from Chula Vista!

Today in the interest of beating the heat, we headed to Valley View Casino. And if you believe it was only to beat the heat, I have a bridge you might be interested in! Anyway, we met our friends Jeri and Stach at the casino, had a great lunch and I did pretty well on the machines. Ted, not so good! So we left there and headed to Pala Casino. I have never been there before and it is pretty nice. This time I didn't do so well and Ted was a winner! I think a good time was had by all.

Beating the heat..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Jeri's Birthday!

Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of my friend Jeri! She decided to have a Mama Mia Party! There were lots to eat such as rolled tacos, sweet-sweet strawberries, veggie salsa, chips and dips, veggies & dip and more. The first couple of hours was social hour then we got down to the "Sing-Along Mama Mia" movie and popcorn in the back yard on a huge screen! Such a fun movie and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and even singing along. I tried to capture some memories for Jeri as follows:

There are a couple of members of Jeri's family, namely her husband Stan (Stach) and her son Tony that always love it when you take their pictures as you will notice in Collage 3:

Fun birthdays, funny guys..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sizzling Hot!

We arrived in Menifee at our Wilderness Lakes campground and it is HOT! Here's a whine warning : It has been in the high 100's every day we've been here. It is still in the high 90's when I walk Max at 6:30 or 7:00 at night! It gets to the high 80's inside because we can only use one air conditioner because they only have 30 amp power here which doesn't work well when it's really hot! Okay I'm done whining!

Yesterday I went to lunch at Berta's in Old Town with several ladies (and one husband) from Ted's high school. Driving down to San Diego I was thinking that I'm driving in air conditioning and I'll be eating in air conditioning - WRONG! They didn't have air conditioning but they did give us a fan so that helped. I will say that when it's not so hot it is a great restaurant. It is not a typical "Mexican" restaurant. They have a great menu, we had great service and the food was wonderful. I had a jickama and black bean salad that was yummy. Everyone at the table enjoyed their food and a good time was had by all!

The Attendees!

Then yesterday evening we met friends Bill & Jany Staley for dinner. Bill and I worked together for 18 years at the CPA firm with David Hawkins and have remained friends. We had dinner at Domenics in Poway and wow, another great restaurant. I was 2 for 2 today! This is a quaint little Italian restaurant. We had a fun waiter and again everyone was happy with their order. Ted enjoys lasagna and it really isn't easy to find a "good" lasagna and he said he would go back and have it again. Bill had asked us if we wanted to come by after dinner to see their recent "home improvements". He apparently forgot to tell Jany about asking us, but she was okay with us coming by. They are really doing a wonderful job on their house. It looks really great. We posed by the stair case which was redone and is really pretty. We had fun with Baxter and Brady the dogs! Baxter has a ball chasing after Brady and the cat, Madison, who declined to pose for the picture! Here's the Staley family:

Good friends, good food and puppies..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Moving on...

Last few days have been pretty restful. Ran a few errands, had lunch with our friend Peggy Price yesterday, had lunch today with our friend Jonathan Pullen, you know that kind of stuff!

Tomorrow we have to leave Jamul. Our Thousand Trails Campgrounds allow us to stay at each park 3 weeks and then be out for at least a week. We will be at Wilderness Lakes (good phone/internet service) in Menifee (by Hemet and Murietta) and return to Jamul (Pio Pico) on September 8th. We can't move back here during the holiday weekend, I think it's Rule # 3b.54.c219 (just kidding), but there is a rule about not coming in on a holiday day! So anyway, we'll be back on Tuesday the 8th!

Our dog Max will be quite happy about moving on down the road because we probably won't be gone so much and he'll have all new smells again!

Making the dog happy..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Jim & Della

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with Jim and Della. Della fixed a nice lunch and we had a fun time looking at reunion pictures, especially comparing people to their high school pictures!

Jim and Della picked out a Bonsai Bougainvillea plant on behalf of the RLS for me for the loss of my father. I have never seen such a beautiful plant (and it even has red lips!). It will be fun looking at it, watering, cutting and feeding it. So thoughtful of the RLS, thank you! They found the plant at a local Bonsai Nursery that they found quite entertaining! Along with Jim and Della, we are planning a trip to the nursery to look around.

Today is going to be a day of rest for Ted and me, as Sundays are meant to be! We are watching the ladies from the USA trying to beat the European ladies at golf and meanwhile I've been catching up on the computer! Max is happy to have us home and we'll just have to wait and see what the rest of today brings!

Thoughtful friends..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Tomatoes!

Thank you for the yummy home-grown tomatoes Larry Wallis!

Home grown tomatoes..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Visiting with friends!

Wednesday Ted and his friend Stach played golf at the Chula Vista golf course. Ted did better than last week so he was pretty happy about his game. In the afternoon we headed down to the pier again to visit with Jeri and Stach, their famiy and friends. They are cute cabins with a kitchen, living room, bedroom and a big patio area they can barbeque and relax and people watch on the beach! We went to dinner with Stach, Jeri and friends Bruce and Kittye Wallies at the Green Flash just down the beach from the pier. We watched the big orange sun setting but alas, no green flash! :(

Stach, Jeri & Ted on the patio in back of their cabin!

Yesterday Ted had lunch with his friend David Prime. When we are in town they try to get together for lunch a couple of times a month.

Last night we met friends Larry & Carol Wallis for dinner at Appleby's in Rancho San Diego, with Larry picking up the tab for dinner! After visiting for awhile, we headed to Sycuan Casino. Ted and I left a deposit and found Larry and Carol at the same machines they started at. Larry was up over $300 and Carol over $100! I think it was the good karma Larry got when he bought our dinner! LOL! Being the big winners, Larry & Carol sprang for icecream at ColdStone too!

Yummmmm!

Today Ted had lunch with (here we go eating again!) a group of co-workers from the County of San Diego. A few of them are still working and a few of them (like Ted) have retired. Meanwhile, back at the campground Max got a bath! That was fun! I put him in our shower with me and was able to give him a bath! I dried him with the hair dryer! He's so cute and poofie he looks like a Poodle! (He's a cocker spaniel)!

Tonight we headed down to the pier again for hamburgers and hotdogs (do we ever stop eating, I don't think so)! As we left the pier, Jeri & Stach's son and his friend were setting up their giant movie screen to show a movie. Last year they showed Pirates of the Carribean. This year the movie was Jaws! Very appropriate!

Visiting with friends and eating icecream..."Ain't Life Grand!"

A sad day

This is a hard blog for me to write, my Stepdad Hal (almost 88 yrs) passed away. He had cancer but refused any treatment. He lived with his son Ron and about a week ago he asked if he could go now and Ron told him it would be ok. He had stopped eating and drinking but was still somewhat aware of what was going on. On Sunday, his remaining 3 children (his oldest son passed away in May) and many grandchildren all visited with him and that night he went to sleep and didn't wake up. At least he's with my mom now. Ted thought it would be nice to put a picture of us in the blog from last April when we visited him in Texas. We had a very good visit with him. He will be missed...

District 9 Movie

On Monday we met our friend Peggy Price and had lunch and saw a movie. The movie was District 9. It got pretty good reviews (that should have told us something)! The three of us could not find much redeeming about the movie. There were a LOT of gross scenes, bad language and jumpy camera scenes! Anyway, that was our opinion!

Yesterday we met our friends Stach and Jeri at the Pacific Beach pier. They are spending a week there in one of the cabins on the pier. There son and daughter-in-law and some other friends also have cabins there. It was a beautiful afternoon and evening at the beach. Started getting chilly when the sun went down but still very pleasant. It was a carne asada/barbecue chicken evening and everything was great.

More good food..."Ain't Life Grand!"

The 4 days of Ted's 45th Reunion!

Sorry, this is a long one! Here goes:

Whew! We have been on a whirlwind of parties! On Thursday evening 8/13 Jim & Della Crownover invited a group of 15 to a spaghetti dinner! Yummmmm everything was delicious and a fun time was had by all. It was a fun afternoon/evening of talking, laughing and of course eating and drinking!


On Friday Ted and I joined the festivities at Jim and Della's at about noon! Of course we had to eat again and Judy Bingham had made Enchiladas for everyone (another yummmm)! Sorry, I didn't get many photo's because I had a bourbon lemon-aid tea sweet punch and had to have 3 cups of coffee and water to recover!

Bob and Duane had arrived on Friday and Bob had wanted an old fashioned "roller skate key"! You know the song "You've got a brand new pair of roller skates, I've got a brand new key"! Just be thankful I'm writing this and not singing it! Jim and Della were at a flea market in Montana and found the key and a pair of old fashioned clip on roller skates! Too much fun! These were presented to Bob! Don't ask about the dog collar! The host of the 45th class reunion was Dan Shinn. He stopped by with his friend Marty and his bright red Cobra! He took Brenda for the ride of her life! Last we saw of her she had both hands up in the air and was experiencing whip lash! Kidding!

Friday evening we got to eat again! The party was at Mike & Joe's Pizza in National City, California. Apparently this was one of the high school hangouts 45 years ago and they are still selling pizza & beer! I didn't think there should be any evidence of the evening so I left the camera behind but there was a great turnout and lots of laughing and talking going on!

Saturday morning (8/15) the reunion breakfast (eating again) was at 9:30 at the Red Sails Inn on Shelter Island. After we all had our wake up coffee or tea and breakfast, the talking and picture taking began! It was a fun morning and a little quieter than the pizza party!

Mayme Kline was the woman who got the ball rolling in 2001 for the 40th reunion. She got the emails flying and more and more people became involved in the reunion. She recruited Carol Monroe and Karen Royer to work the email web page and then a reunion board was established. There were many activities between the first pizza party at Mayme's and the 40th reunion in 2004! Ted and I hosted a wine tasting at our home. Anyway, Bob Beasly and Mayme became an item some time ago and at the breakfast on Saturday I captured the following pictures. Saturday evening at the Harbor Dinner Cruise (Ted and I didn't attend) Bob proposed to Mayme! We are all so happy for them and are looking forward to a big old "Su-Hi Wedding"! (No pressure Bob & Mayme but we are already planning your Red & Grey wedding gown - just kidding)!


Our famous host & hostess Jim & Della, decided they needed to feed a group of us again! They truly outdid themselves! After snacking on fabulous cheeses and fruits and a veggie salsa, they fed us barbecued boneless ribs, barbecued beer can chicken, turkey & dressing, baked beans, potato salad, and baked cream corn with some sort of topping (Julia Child I am not!). Everything was wonderful! Gil Silva and his wife brought two fabulous desserts from a bakery and we were all ready to pop! Jay and Sherry brought strawberries & cream vodka, wow was that good, sort of like Bailey's Irish Cream. All afternoon the story telling began and didn't end until we broke up in the evening! It had to be a healthy evening for us with all the laughter! There may be more pictures to come!

Today (Sunday 8/16) was the Picnic. There was a great turnout and guess what??? We got to eat again. The original Barbecue Pit in National City is still going strong and catered the picnic. We had yummy ribs, chicken and brisket, slaw, beans and potato salad & dinner rolls. More great food! I was rolling around so only took a few pictures but the weather was perfect, the water beautiful and the company great!


45th reunions..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Ted's 45th Class Reunion!

The partying started on Thursday and has been going ever since! Goes on until Sunday afternoon so there will be pictures and stories to follow...

Class reunions..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Julie & Julia Movie

The girls night out group met on Tuesday to see the movie Julie & Julia. It is very much a chick flick and is very entertaining! We all laughed and even shed a couple of tears. Very enjoyable, even for me the "non-cooker" of the group!

Yesterday Ted had lunch with his friend Jonathan Pullen who works at the County of San Diego where he and Ted met in the mid 80's and have been friends ever since. They had an enjoyable lunch catching up on the past few months. Then he met up with his friend Pete whom he's known since the mid 70's.

We are camped east of Otay Lake and Pete told him that a fisherman found an airplane in the lake recently with his fish finder and notified the Park Rangers. The Navy checked it out and found that it is a plane from WWII. The Navy (and several aerospace museums) are excited about the find because it is a Hellcat airplane and there is only one other on exhibit and it is in poor condition. They believe this airplane may be in good condition.

I've had my cell phone for several years so yesterday afternoon we went over to Verizon and I got an LG Envy. I wanted one with a qwerty keyboard, touch capabilities and GPS. GPS will be very helpful when we are in unfamiliar towns and want to, say, find a Starbucks! (That part thrills Ted)! Or when we've been exploring and want to find our way back to the campground! It has lots of cool features and I'm excited about it. Unfortunately, I can't use it here at the campground until the "Antenna Man" gets back and I can get a line to connect to the power booster!

New cool cell phone..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Ted's Golf Day!

Yesterday Ted got out and played golf with his friend and former co-worker, Larry Salus. They played in Chula Vista. Ted had not played in over a year but he made one par and only lost 3 or 4 balls, a good day! That's how you decide a good golf day or not! I hope to play a smaller course soon!

I stayed home and played games on the computer and got laundry done - whoohoo!

Last evening we met our friend Stach Gutowski for dinner. His wife Jeri is in Reno for a couple of days so we thought we'd help him keep out of trouble! We had dinner at D.Z. Akins (hopefully that is spelled correctly)! We had a great dinner and good conversation and headed home.

Day of golf and dinner..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Fun in San Diego!

We are happy to be back in San Diego and have been setting up appointments with friends!

Yesterday our friend Peggy Price came to dinner at our place so we could catch up on what's been happening in her life the last couple of months. She is one of my best friends so I talk to her regularly but it's fun to catch up in person.

Today we met friends Jim and Della Crownover (Ted's class of 1964) at the Chula Vista Lemon Festival! We had lunch at Fuddrucker's and then checked out the festival. I'm proud to say we didn't buy anything to have to find a place for! LOL! After lunch we went back to their house and played a game of Phase 10, a fun card game. And the winner is....ME! Usually Jim and Della beat the socks off us but today I wore flip flops and I won!

A day at the Lemon Festival..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Catch up Blog!

Haven't blogged for a couple of days. Last Sunday and Monday were days of rest and a few errands. Tuesday Ted and I hit golfballs at Menifee Golf Course. We got there about 8:30 a.m. and it was still hot hot hot! It was in the 100's most days we were there. Tuesday night was girls night out! I headed south to get my nails done, met friend Jeri for lunch and shopping and then girls night out where a good time was had by all! The six of us have been getting together the first Tuesday of the month for about six years. Tuesday we celebrated my birthday from end of July and Sue's birthday in August. The Marachis serenaded us and we received a flan dessert. There were also fun presents involved! There is always a lot of laughing going on so it's a very healthy get together!

On Wednesday we left Menifee area and went to San Marcos Camperland to get new tires on the 5th wheel. Max gets to go in the store (and doesn't have to get a haircut like at Petsmart) so he was excited. He got a lot of attention. From there we headed south to Jamul (pronounced Hamul) for non Californians! So here we are but unfortunately internet is sketchy and no cell service :(

Today we met Jeri, Stach, Trent and Mallorie for breakfast. We celebrated Mallorie's July 12th birthday,Trent's July 26th birthday and my July 27th birthday. Yipee more presents!

Being back in San Diego..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Busy Day!

Yesterday was a busy day. Max had a haircut, nail grinding, tooth cleaning appointment at 10:30. He wouldn't be ready until 2:30 so Ted and I had to find something to do. After hitting the bank we decided to go to a movie but couldn't find anything to see that would allow us to be done on time to pick up Max. We took a drive through old town Murrietta and had lunch. We went to a book store and found some used audio books, where they cost a lot less than new ones. One of them was a book that is just in stores! Then we went to Kohl's (with a whole lot of other people) where they apparently were having a huge sale. We were able to waste a lot of time there waiting in line to pay for the few things we bought! We then got groceries and picked up Max. See how cute he looks:

We got Max home, fed and walked him (pictures taken) and then took off to meet our friends in Palm Springs. Our friends Stach & Jeri, son Tony and his wife Gina, friends Jim & Kit (not pictured) were in Palm Springs and invited us to come over for the evening to go out to dinner. We are about an hour away. We met up with them and took the pictures below before heading out to dinner at the Casino Spa & Resort. Of course we had to see what the casino had to offer and then had dinner. After dinner we gambled a bit more. Ted and I didn't fare to well but Tony played Texas Holdem for the first time in a casino and came out a winner. Also, Ted and I were walking to the meeting place when we saw Kit. She waved us over, practically jumping out of her seat. She had put 90 cents in and it was still counting out her winnings. She won almost $900! She cashed out in a daze! The next day the guys were going golfing (at 7 a.m. because it get's pretty hot) and the ladies were going to head back to the casino!

A fun time was had by all and..."Ain't Life Grand!"