Happy New Year

Well, we had a different New Year celebration this year.  there was a get together here in the park.  we had a few drinks with our next door neighbor and his girlfriend before the get together.  They were very nice.  We all agreed later that we would have had a better time if the four of us had just stayed together.  but we went to the get together.  I must admit that I had very little in common with anyone that I talked to there.  Bob called them red necks, but I am not sure that is what the problem was.  Anyway, I stayed a while and tried to talk to the couple sitting next to me.  Bob couldn't take it any more and he left.  I am not sure why, but whatever they said, I could not think of anything to add.  So, after finishing my glass of wine and eating lots more food than I should have, I went back to the RV.

On New Year's day, We had thought that we would go spend the day with my nephew, but it turns out that Cathie was sick.  So we decided to take a drive.  We drove about 200 miles west and north to Lake Havasu, on the Colorado River.  It is very much a resort community.  the lake itself was pretty ordinary for a man made lake.  There were lots of rv parks and resorts.  The scenery along the way was so stark that it was beautiful.  We lunched in Parker, Arizona, in a very small casino.  Then we drove to the London Bridge.  Apparently someone tore down the actual London Bridge, brick by brick and put it up exactly in a shopping mall at Lake Havasu.  It was interesting.  Most of the shops in the immediate area had an English flavor, but they were mostly closed.  I did buy a new wind chime to hang on the rv, but that was about it.

At that point it was too late to drive all the way home.  I would have had to drive too much in the dark.  So we got a room at the casino.  We gambled, had a great dinner at the steak house there.  In the morning, breakfast, a little more gambling, and then a leisurely drive home.  as Bob noted, one of the problems with traveling here right now is that we have to go back the same way we came.  Which we did.  What always amazes me is how different things looks when you came at them from the opposite direction.  It was an interesting drive. 

When we got home, Bob decided to get on the computer and do his year end financial recap.  at first it all went well.  Then he started having troubles.  For some reason the program wouldn't work right.  He was getting more and more frustrated.  So, instead of fixing dinner, we went out to eat.  We ate out so much, that I was not surprised the next morning to find that I had put on 3 pounds in four days.  So back on the diet.

I have found some great exercise classes here.  The one on Saturday morning is fantastic.  the hour goes by so quickly and I get a really good work out.  I want to take that instructor back to Portland with me.  There is also one on Monday and Thursday who does a weight lifting class which is so good for my core.  I wonder why they are better classes than in Portland?  Certainly the folks who take the classes are younger than in Portland.  I looks around in the class and see very very few people my age.

In the meantime, Bob is still improving.  It is harder to describe because the changes are not so dramatic.  But he had not had pain medication for two weeks.  He can walk around the entire park with just a few stops to rest.  He can actually lift a few light things with his left hand.  He says that he generally has no more pain.  Yeah.  One day at a time. 

Tomorrow there is a pot luck breakfast here in the park.  They have a lot more social activities here than last time we were here.  If it is the same folks who were at the New Year's Eve get together, I will just have to sop attending the events.  Hopefully we will meet some more interesting people. 

We spend more of our time reading and playing games.  No television (except for NCIS on Tuesday).  We get out news from the internet.  It is all we need.  a very simple basic existence for now.