Christmas Pot Luck Dinner

We decided to stay at the resort for the holidays. This was prompted in part by G's accident, which has grounded her. It's not safe to drive one-handed and there are so many things one cannot do when their hand is in a cast. The healing process can be painful and those three pins are uncomfortable. In addition we need to return to the doctor's about every other week for splint or cast changes as well as X-rays and so on. Then there was the well meaning but dumb guy who saw her hand and grabbed her thumb. He said "How's your hand doing" or something to that affect, as he tugged on it. G said she saw stars for a few seconds.

So we participated in the pot luck dinners. These are popular at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tables of 16 are arranged, the leader of each is given a turkey or ham to cook and the others prepare the salads, vegetables, condiments, and desserts. For Thanksgiving I prepared fresh brussel sprouts with buttered bread crumbs and as a second vegetable I prepared fresh carrots. For Christmas I prepared two types of whole cranberry sauce; one was plain and the other had a touch of orange. G set out a tray of dried cranberries and pecans.

Thanks to Margo for coordinating our Christmas group and preparing the turkey. It and the gravy were delicious. Thanks also to the Christmas elves who arranged the table decorations. Thanks to all the chefs in our group for a memorable dinner.

The meal was delicious. Afterwards G and I returned to our abode and she took a brief nap. It takes time to recover from a concussion and all of that good food put us into a very mellow mood.

Snow in the Mountains

We had a chilly Christmas, and the snow descended to about 4000 feet. Today there was snow in the mountains.

Full Time RVing

Ah, the wonderful freedom of being unfettered. Travel wherever and whenever we wish. Hmmmm.

Well, we could live 24/7 in our Roadtrek and we've done so for up to 110 days. However, when we purchased it, living in it for months on end was not the designated purpose.

We purchased it to explore, and to find places we would really want to live for months on end when we weren't trekking. That was our decision in December 2013. We decided on the 210P after careful evaluation of our needs, wants and desires, and the ability of RVs to meet our requirements. We haven't been disappointed.

Since then we've trekked about 22,000 miles, spent up to 110 continuous days in the Roadtrek and we've found several wonderful places to plant our heels. One is on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The other is in Arizona. These are convenient to our purpose and get us where we want to go. They also put  us in the climates we prefer.

We do have our "sticks and bricks" condo in Illinois, and it is currently empty. It would have been sold had we be been able to clean it out in 2016. G is also somewhat reticent about giving up some of the detritus of our lives. I do understand. But 2017 will be the next step.

We found a wonderful community in AZ and so, we jumped in, after a two week trial in 2014. Our method was straightforward. This locale is great for anyone with RA in the winter, it is convenient to the national parks in Utah, and one can head east on I-10 and get all the way to the Florida Keys.  In fact, the full time residents appreciate people like us. That's completely opposite to our experiences east of the Hudson River. So we planted our feet and put a 5th wheel here. If we decide otherwise, we'll move the 5th wheel to a new location. But for now we are "here" and we tend to make somewhat firm 5-year plans.

So this will be our "home base" for the winter of 2016-2017. By Spring of 2017 we'll head to Florida and from there, via the Roadtrek we'll head back to Illinois.

As of May we'll be in our Michigan TT.

What about the condo? Well, if we don't sell it, we'll rent it.

After summering in or around MI, as of November 2017 we'll  be headed back to our winter base.

Of course, the route from MI to AZ is flexible, I'll probably retire in 2017 after working full time for 53 years. In fact, I will have been in the work force and paying taxes for more than 54 years.

Time to let the Bernie group pay their own way. I do realize that wasn't their plan. They expected Bernie to take the money from taxpayers like me and use it to pay for their sometimes useless college education, But that didn't happen. Too bad. "Suck it up" is the popular refrain.

Another beautiful sunset

Another beautiful day. High was about 77F, and tomorrow is to be even warmer. Each day brings a lovely sunset.

Settling In - A six week adjustment period

Well, after G's surgery and the insertion of three pins in her hand to facilitate healing of that broken thumb, it seems she will be grounded from many activities. No bicycle riding, writing, painting or ukelele playing is difficult to impossible. Even typing and texting is mostly a left handed thing,

This has altered our plans. Healing is estimated to require six weeks. However, now that she's on lighter pain meds she could probably drive a car. The stuff they gave her was described as a "narcotic." Definitely not safe to operate machinery when on such medicines.

The splints were replaced with a cast. This does provide better mobility for four fingers.

We hope to get back to sight seeing in the Roadtrek next week. To that end we've constructed a list of things we'd like to do in the area. However, because we need to be at the doctor's on the 20th and because of the need to be in the area until all casts are removed, we will not be trekking very far from this Home Base.

It could be worse. This is one nice place to convalesce. One of the neighborhood children summed it up, thusly:

As I write this it is sunny and the outside temperature is 75.4F, but Weather Underground says it feels like 76F!

This was the sunset two nights ago: