Beautiful Hurricane, Utah

This morning we left windy Las Vegas and are now in Hurricane, Utah for 5 days. I took some pictures on the drive here because the landscape is just beautiful. The rock colors and formations are stunning. Near our campground there is a lake that is a beautiful shade of aqua but shows up as blue on my camera. It looked pretty low.

We took a drive over to the golf course that Ted played at a few years ago when the guys did a golfing trip to Mesquite, Nevada and St. George, Utah. The course rates at the Coral Ridge Golf Club go up October 1st (of course) when the higher peak season rates take effect. It is pretty expensive so we looked around and found a municipal course that is beautiful and about half the price of the other club's afternoon rates! The picture of Ted in the collage is at the course. We have a tee-time tomorrow morning and we'll try and take more picures. I only hope the town isn't named Hurricane because it is really windy all of the time! I'm not a good golfer without the wind!

We also went into the town of Hurricane and had dinner at a local diner. It's a really nice little town. They must have a lot of water because everything is very green even though the lake was very low.

Playing golf on a beautiful course..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Winner Winner Winner!

Yes, Ted was a huge winner today! We went over to Boulder Station Casino this morning for breakfast and a "little" gambling. We tried a few machines not doing so well when Ted sat down at a "Jaws" machine. I walk up and he has a bonus but he's not quite sure what is happening when it says he won "$322.00". WOW, we couldn't believe it! He cashed out his ticket and played another $5.00 and got up. He then played the machine I had played and had gotten nothing and he won over $500.00 more! That's the most either of us have ever won! We were so excited. We played until lunch time, had lunch and played a little longer and came home with all his winnings! I made a deposit but didn't even care!

We came home to take Max out to do his business and then ran some errands. Ted bought a couple of new belts, went to Camper World and Radio Shack.

Hitting it big..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Las Vegas Baby!

Today we left San Diego :( It's sad to leave friends, but a new adventure lies ahead! We arrived in Las Vegas around 5:30 p.m. We reached temps of 107 degrees on the way here. At 9:15 the temperature is a nice 84 degrees! It is supposed to cool down to the 70's on Wednesday when we leave for St. George, Utah. I was looking ahead at the weather for St. George and it will be in the 70's when we arrive and maybe some rain. Looking forward to cooler days!

As they say; "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"..."Ain't Life Grand!"

GNO CHARGER FOOTBALL!

Today the flip flop/GirlsNightOut ladies got together for the Charger game at Armando and Marcella's house. Armando, Ted and Jake (Sue's husband) watched the game on the patio while the girls stayed inside! We had great football food throughout the game and the dessert Peggy made was decadent! It was so yummy words can't describe it. It was a trifle with banana's and banana pudding and peanut butter lady fingers (I can't remember what Peggy called them) with chocolate and a homemade creamy carmel cool whip. OMG! Anyway the girls cheered (with Adma leading the referees) and the guys watched and a great time was had!

Marcella's dogs are so sweet and gentle. Bochy and Ted were really discussing the game while Logan napped!

A Charger's win..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Cruisin' Mexico

This past week I have been cruising with friends Jeri & Sheri! Sheri had never cruised before and wanted to do a cruise with Jeri and surprised Jeri by inviting me along! They have been friends for 50 years so we celebrated aboard the Carnival Elation. We got on the ship in San Diego on Monday the 21st and got off this morning, Saturday the 26th. We've had a great week.

We spent time on the fantail of the ship on the adult deck. We've eaten ourselves silly - what else is a cruise for??? We went to some of the shows, visited the casinos, and had afternoon tea. They did "American Idol" and we went to see the five finalists. We thought they were better than most of the entertainers on the ship. We did open seating dining so we could dine whenever we wanted and ate later than any of us usually do. We tried to get the same waiter and asst. waitress when we could because they were so cute and fun! At 9:30 the dinning room staff would dance or sing a song for us and I'm not sure who had more fun!

The ship was in Cabo on Wednesday. We were anchored right across from the Riu Santa Fe, which we visited with the Red Lip Society in December 2007. Sheri and I took the tender to go ashore but it was so hot we only lasted about 1/2 hour. Jeri, the smart one, stayed behind and got a massage! On Friday we docked in Ensenada. We made it down to the dock and did some shopping on the pier.

We stayed up late and slept in (when we could)! One night it was so foggy, the ship had to blow the horn every five minutes so we wouldn't run into anyone! Didn't get much sleep that night! We got in some reading time and lots of talking! That about sums up the week. We just had fun!

If you have cruised before you know they have towel art aboard cruise ships. I thought you might enjoy our towel art and may even have a suggestion about what a couple of them were!

Teddy was a real trouper and stayed home and took care of Max. He had lunch or dinner plans with friends Stan (Jeri's husband), Rusty and Jonathan. He even took the time to track down an old friend Jeff Goodhartz from Reynard Arms, the apartment complex he lived in back in the early 70's for 3-5 years.

Cruisin' with girlfriends..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Weekends!

Saturday was another soccer game for Trent Gutowski, and his team won again! After the game Ted and I had lunch with his Mom, Sister and Nana. After lunch we took Trent home with us to save him from a shopping trip with the aforementioned ladies, especially since they were searching for a homecoming dance dress for his sister's first dance! Trent is doing baseball and soccer so he wasn't interested in swimming or being outside in the heat so we watched some TV, had a Slurpee and relaxed. We headed for his Nana's (Jeri & Stach's) house for a little get together to celebrate Ted's upcoming October birthday. We aren't going to be around in October so we had some tacos, presents, cake and ice cream for Ted.

Today I went with Jeri to celebrate her cousin's 80th birthday! Jeri's cousin Marion planned a surprise get together on the Lord Hornblower for her husband Bill. The weather was perfect for a harbor cruise, the food delicious and everyone had a great time.

80th birthdays..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Survivor's back!

Yesterday the show Survivor started again in Samoa. Our friend Peggy came over to have dinner and watch the show with us. We usually make a bet to see who can pick the winner. Can't remember if any of us ever picked the right person but we have fun rooting them on!

If you know me very well, you know I don't cook well (that's probably an understatement)! But you don't have to feel sorry for Ted because I go to dinner places (which I've mentioned before) where you make up 12 meals which will actually give us 18 meals for the month. That way I don't have to be too imaginative each month between some old standbys and eating out. We tried a new place this month, Dinner Studio. When we got there yesterday, the meals were already made up for us! The process usually takes 1-2 hours for me to do so that was a nice surprise. Unfortunately since I didn't know this, I didn't tell them that I am a spice wimp! If it's hotter than ketchup it's probably too hot! So they remade them without spices like cayenne and Ted picked them up today when he met his friend David Prime for lunch! Will keep you posted on how we like them!

Also yesterday we picked up our truck from the Ford Service Center in Poway. They cleaned the turbo so hopefully that will work better, changed the oil and tried to find out why there was some vibration in the engine. Of course it isn't a simple problem so we have to watch it and see what happens. And, of course, what they think is the problem won't be covered under the drive train warranty and will cost $1800-$2000 to fix! We'll just have to wait and see if it gets worse.

Meals prepared for me..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Susan's Pamper Day!

Yesterday was a pamper day for Susan. My chauffeur (Ted) drove me to Mimi's in Mission Valley to meet Jennifer and Paula for lunch. I worked with Jennifer at Ideal, she is still there in the accounting department. She is a great co-worker, love her to death! Paula is a CPA and Ideal is one of her clients. Paula was a great help to me when I first came to work at Ideal and the years I worked there. The three of us used to meet for lunch every summer so this was like old times except I didn't have to hurry back to work! Did I mention I love being retired????

Jennifer Susan Paula

After lunch Ted took me to see Kim for a manicure and pedicure(ahhh). Kim is the best manicurist/pedicurist anywhere! I never have any trouble with my nails when she does them. When we are traveling I have all sorts of trouble. I keep trying to figure a way to sneak her into the RV and bring her on the road with us, I think her family might object however! I've been going to Kim for over 12 years. Her shop is Millicent & Co. in La Mesa if anyone would like to try her out!

Lunch, manicure & pedicure..."Ain't Life Grand!"

The truck is in the shop AGAIN!

Sunday was a great day. We did some cleaning (Ted even scrubbed the floor) and laundry and even found some time to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine while watching the world go by!

Yesterday Ted took the truck to a Poway Ford Dealer for service. We started noticing the turbo not kicking in, sort of feels like it's missing but it shouldn't do that since it's a diesel! After Ted was there the entire day (8 to 5) they gave him a loaner and kept the truck. What's fun is that I have a couple of appointments today and I'm not listed as a driver because I wasn't there, so today I will have a chauffeur! Hopefully they will have it fixed soon.

Looking at the bright side: saving gas with the loaner..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Having too much fun!

It has been a busy week! Today will be a catch up day at home; laundry, cleaning & blogging (first of course)!

Thursday was hair cut day and then dinner plans for the evening with Ted's Friends (and wives) from the Su-Hi Swim Team. We try to get together a few times a year for dinner to catch up on what everyone's doing. We met at Marie Callenders. The guys were all swimming on City teams because there was no swim team at Sweetwater High School. Ted and Steve started a petition at school to get a high school team and were successful. So in their senior year they were all able to swim for the high school. It was fun catching up on what everyone was doing.

Sorry the picture is dark, it was taken with my cell phone and lighting in restaurant wasn't great for picture taking!

Friday I had a doctor's appointment, we had breakfast at Country Comfort, an appointment at the bank and then we met our friend Peggy Price at the Greek Sombrero in Jamul for dinner. The restaurant has a lively bar and does serve Greek and Mexican food! We all chose Mexican and had a great meal and conversation!

Saturday morning we were up and out early for our nephew (by Ted's prior marriage) Trent Gutowski's soccer game. He's the grandson of our friends Jeri & Stach. He's played football, several seasons of baseball which he is also going to play and now decided to try soccer. They only have had 3 practices but their team won! Trent did well for his first match and loved it!




After the game and brunch with Trent's Nana (Jeri), we hurried home, took Max for a walk, got cleaned up and came back to Clairemont to attend "A Night On Broadway" at our friend's Bruce & Kittye Wallies' church with my friend Jeri and her grandaughter Mallorie. Kittye and Bruce's grandaughter Kassandra was one of the singers. And what a beautiful voice she has. It was a really great program of popular muscial songs and was very well done. I really enjoyed the concert. I forgot my camera but I may add some pictures later when Jeri sends them to me!

After the concert Jeri, Mallorie and I met up with Ted and Stach and Mallorie's Mom Gina and Dad Tony and Trent for dinner at Boomerang's in Clairemont. They have great "create your own" hamburgers. I had a turkey burger mixed with bacon, tomatoes and yellow peppers. Ted had a hamburger mixed with bacon, pineapple and roasted garlic. It's a fun restaurant with good food. We had a good time!

A busy week and a stay at home Sunday..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back down in Pio Pico!

On Tuesday we came back down to Pio Pico (Jamul) from Menifee (Wilderness Lakes). It only takes a couple of hours and then an hour or so to set up the RV. We only partially set up because we knew Wednesday morning we had a 8:00 am appointment to take the RV to the shop!

So Ted, Max and I got up and out at 7:30 on Wednesday to get to the RV Shop in Lakeside. They needed to check out the roof for a leak, put in new rain gutters and fix my pots and pans drawer. So we dropped off the RV, unhooked the truck and then what do we do for the day! First we went to breakfast. Poor Max had to stay in the truck but it was still relatively cool but he did get a bite of bacon. Then we headed to Ideal Plumbing, my former employers. We had gotten some Huckleberry Jam for Melissa Teemsma, one of the owners and our property manager. It was great to visit the friends I used to work with there. We also purchased a new faucet for the RV there.

From there we went to Coldstone for a little desert for lunch and Max enjoyed a bite of ice cream as well! Then we went to Granite Hills High School to find a guy Ted used to know that was a teacher there except he retired last year! We went to the park in Lakeside and went to a little cafe where we sat outside so Max could sit with us and generally kept ourselves out of trouble for the day! 38 tubes of caulking and a lot of bucks later we were back on the road to the campground!

More later on Thursday and today...

Ice cream for lunch..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Labor Day afternoon at Sally's!

We spent Labor Day afternoon at Sally Black's! She had a few friends over for an end of summer barbecue. However, I'm not sure summer will ever end this year! It was only 51 degrees this morning and I loved it, but it will heat up soon. Anyway, we had barbecued chicken and bratwurst, veggies, potato salad, chips & dips, cheese & crackers and more. There was also a little wine, both red and white! Lots of conversation with new friends and lots of stories with and about old friends. A great way to spend Labor Day!

Safe and happy Labor Day..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Old Town Temecula

The campground is very busy over Labor Day Weekend! There are people (especially children) everywhere! So Ted and I took off for Old Town Temecula for lunch and a little walk-a-bout! We had lunch at Texas Lil's. I had barbecued riblets and Ted had the barbecued Tri-tip sandwich. We enjoyed lunch. Texas Lil's is an interesting place!




After lunch we went to Jack's Nuts "The Hottest Nuts in Town"! No comment needed! Obviously it's a nut shop and we bought some roasted almonds for me and corn nuts for Ted.

It was nice, cool and quiet this morning at 6:30 when I walked Max, about 56 degrees! Loved it. But now it's 9:30, 82 degrees and the natives are getting restless on their last day of the holiday weekend. And now it's time for me to get off the computer and get busy!

WISHING EVERYONE A SAFE AND HAPPY LABOR DAY..."AIN'T LIFE GRAND!"

Eating out AGAIN!

You know it's really hard to try and diet when you are eating out every night, but it is also toooo HOT to cook!

Friday night we met friends Pam & Jon Pullen at Island's in Temecula. Ted and Jon worked together at the County of San Diego. Jon is still there. Everything was delicious and service was great! It was fun to get together with Pam and Jon to catch up. Ted and Jon have lunch together every other week when we are in town.

Speaking of catching up, we had dinner last night with Rusty Coole. Rusty and Ted were in the same class in the 3rd & 5th grades and then back together again at Sweetwater High School (Class of '64). So they really had some catching up to do. Rusty is a retired school teacher (Kindergarten and 1st Graders) and is working at Hallmark part time to keep him out of trouble! We went to Filippe's in Escondido and had yummy pizza and antipasto salad (always eating, eating, eating!). Ted and Rusty were able to catch up on families, work histories, reunions and more. While we were eating a couple came up to Rusty and said their daughter had been in Rusty's kindargarten class. Rusty remembered them both and their daughter (who is now in college). They told him he was one of their favorite teachers! I think this happens to Rusty alot!

Reunions with friends..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Short work day!

We are still in Hemet area but driving to San Diego most days. Guess that is because we are making appointments for things like dentists and doctors and trying to get together with friends since we will only be in the area for two months. Like yesterday, a trip to the dentist for both Ted and I and dinner with friends Jeri & Stach! We went over to the Mexican Restaurant by Montgomery Field Airport. They have good food and the guys enjoy the air activity!

Today was a trip to San Diego for my nail appointment. I sure wish I could bring Kim (who does my nails) along with us on the road. She is great and I have terrible luck with my nails on the road!Ted and Max came along and ran errands. They went to the RV shop, the Ford dealer and got fuel for the truck. Max was happy to be included.

Getting things done..."Ain't Life Grand!"