THE SOUND OF FREEDOM

Goodyear AZ (Low 48 Sunny High 82)

As we sit here in Goodyear Arizona awaiting our repairs and making our final preparations for departure the jets of Luke Air Force Base are flying overhead in the bright blue skies. Unlike others we do not mind the noise and call it the sound of freedom.

Luke has a history dating back to World War II. Constructed in 1941 and named after the first airman to win the Medal of Honor Luke's mission was training fighter pilots and more than 12,000 graduated before the end of the war. Over the years the jets have changed, from F-16s in the 1990s to Luke's newest mission, training pilots on the new F-35 Lightning II. 

Luke is attractive for training in part to clear skies year round and its close proximity to the desolate Barry Goldwater Range where the pilots fly training missions.

We also look forward to 2 things upon our arrival to the southwest; our first saguaro sighting and the sound of freedom.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

A LITTLE BIT - ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS

Goodyear AZ (Low 49 Sunny High 80) 

Blogging funk :-( We've been doing more than we blogged about but it seems like the blogging has not flowed like it usually does. Let's hope that a change in scenery will help.
 

Where did the time go? We cannot believe how fast the last couple of weeks have gone, we swear we had another week to prepare for our departure. 

More mechanical issues :-( But just when we thought we were leaving we noticed a leak on our hydraulic automatic levelers and then our awning quit working. We will get these things looked at fixed as fast as possible and then head out, hopefully towards the end of next week.

NCAA Tourney! Here is an update on the NCAA tourney and Bob's bracket.

As mentioned before he went 13-3 on the first day and then 11-5 on the second, feeling pretty good about his bracket. When the Round of 32 finished he picked 10 of the 16 winners correctly. His Final 4 is still intact so we shall see how it goes in the Sweet 16. Speaking of the Sweet 16 Iowa State overcame an injury to one of their best players at the end of the first game and beat North Carolina on Sunday in one of the best games of the tourney so far to advance to the Sweet 16 against UConn. That game is later today. It has been a great tourney with a lot of exciting games.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

WELL THERE GOES A BILLION BUCKS

Goodyear AZ (Low 47 Partly Sunny High 82)

Bob was so close to a billion dollars he could taste it :-)

For those that don't know Warren Buffett and Quicken Loans are sponsoring a NCAA Tournament bracket challenge, if you pick all 63 games right you win a billion dollars. 

Bob entered his bracket and for awhile it was looking good, in fact he picked the first 9 games correctly. Sorry Weavers he picked Dayton over Ohio State. But then Bob was eliminated from the contest when he picked St. Joseph's over UConn. He ended the day 13-3 though so his bracket is still looking pretty good. Like the Cubs fans say there is always next year for the billion dollars.

The tourney continues today with 16 more games including Iowa State's first game. It will be tough to top yesterday's games as a new record was set with 4 overtime games which extended Bob's watching time to almost 14 hours.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

NCAA MARCH MADNESS BEGINS

Goodyear AZ (Low 46 Sunny High 82)

It's that time of year again, March Madness, NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tourneys. For the Men's March Madness Bob will be camped out in the recliner beginning today. All games are live but Thursday and Friday are the best days because there can sometimes be 4 games on at a time. The tourneys mean a little bit more this year as both the Iowa State Men (#3 Seed) and the Women (#7 Seed) are playing.

The nice thing about being in the valley of the sun is that we are not on daylight savings time so our time matches Pacific Daylight time. What that means is that the games start earlier (TruTV Tipoff Show at 8a and games begin 9a) and thusly end earlier.

Bob will do it all today, 16 men's games, and then again tomorrow with another 16 games! Jo will be using the Genie mini client and watching her shows, reading books, visiting friends, etc. She is a trooper to put up with Bob at this time of year, heck all of the year :-)

With 13-14 hours of basketball each day we will fall a little further behind in our blog reading and commenting :-)

Till next time,

Bob

YOU JUST HAVE TO BE FLEXIBLE

Goodyear AZ (Low 46 Sunny High 82)

We "planned" to go to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix with some friends recently on the free admission day. We wanted to see the Chiluhy Glass exhibit.

Glass sculptures like the above displayed throughout the park. Plus it was the beginning of wildflower season. The key words above were "planned" and "free". Seniors just love their free days, plus we didn't realize that it was also the week of spring break for some students in the area. Words cannot describe how busy it was, so busy in fact that there was a sign on the entrance and a guard there saying that it was temporarily closed.

So now what to do? The four of us had talked about visiting the IKEA store in Tempe since none of us had ever visited so we headed there.

This was quite an experience, two floors, 355,000 sq. ft. on 21 acres. You follow a serpentine path on both floors through a lot of exhibits. Plus at the end there is a grocery area. We enjoyed the tour and bought a couple of things and then it was time for lunch. Close to IKEA is Rudy's Country Store and BBQ.

Rudy's has very good Texas BBQ brisket, some of the moistest and tender brisket we have ever had and we are from the Kansas City area. What follows lunch is sometimes dessert. We had heard good things about pie at the Pecan Grove Restaurant & Pie Co. in Chandler. We had pecan, strawberry rhubarb ie, lemon cream, and german chocolate slices. We bonused because as we were sitting there the clock turned to 3p and on 3p on Tuesday it is 1/2 price whole pie. We went home with a peach pie for our friends and a strawberry rhubarb pie for us. We both agree it is very good pie.

Proves that when you are flexible there sometimes might be a reward.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

OUR TIME IS WINDING DOWN

Goodyear AZ (Low 47 Sunny and HOT High 86)

Our time here in the valley of the sun is winding down. One telltale sign is that we just had the last grapefruit from the tree next to our site.

With a couple of weeks to go we are making plans to eat at our favorite places one last time, saying our goodbyes to people already leaving, making plans to meet on the road somewhere, last minute doctor appointments, etc. Once we leave here it will be one week at each place so want to get a lot of stuff done here before we leave.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

FROZEN

Goodyear AZ (Low 48 Sunny High 82)

No we don't mean how frozen a lot of the country was this winter :-) We are done gloating about our nice winter here in Arizona.

We mean that we recently saw the Oscar winning best animated film, Frozen.

We have to admit we are suckers for animated films but have not like some of the recent ones so we were a little reluctant to see this one. Jo wanted to because she heard the music and singing was very good. When it won not only best animated picture and best song for "Let it Go" we decided to give it a try.

We are so glad that we did, this is a good old fashioned Disney animated film. Good story, based on the "Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson, incredible music and singing. "Let it Go" was our favorite of all the Oscar songs so we were kind of surprised when it won. Here is "Let it Go" from youtube.




A very good film, give it a try.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

SUMMER TRIP FROM NEWPORT TO DENVER

Goodyear AZ (Low 47 Partly Sunny High 79)

When last we left our intrepid travelers Bob and Jo they were in Newport OR. Here is what Bob has laid out from there to Denver.


View Larger Map


NOTE: Had some trouble getting the map to display. If you click "View Larger Map" just below the map and use the zoom + or - buttons on the upper left of the map the route should appear. Sorry for this, maybe just another Google issue.

We will be checking off a few more bucket list items; Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Rainier, Glacier National Park, etc.

Let us know what you think,

Bob and Jo

WE WON'T BE CHANGING OUR CLOCKS FOR AWHILE

Goodyear AZ (Low 48 Sunny High 82)

We won't be changing our clocks for awhile.

We are currently in Arizona which does not follow Daylight Savings Time. We remain in Mountain Standard Time (UTC-8 currently) and when we leave here we move into Pacific Daylight Time which will be the same time. We will remain at the same time until August when we cross into Mountain Daylight Time.

This may be the longest stretch we have had at the same time since we began full-timing in September 2009. A side note is that the clock that we had on our blog to show our current time is no longer supported by blogger so we are looking for a new one which we hope to have shortly.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

UPDATE ON OUR SUMMER PLANS

Goodyear AZ (Low 48 Sunny High 82)

Bob has completed planning the first part of the trip and we have reservations up to July 4th at the Port of Newport RV Park in Newport Oregon. Here is what the trip looks like with the markers being the parks we are staying at.


View Larger Map

Now Bob is working on the next leg, from Newport OR to Denver.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

LUAU

Goodyear AZ (Low 48 Partly Sunny High 80)

To all those having a horrible winter, we feel your pain. But having spent last winter in the Kansas City area we also feel that we can still gloat a little more this winter :-)

We recently had a Luau at our park. We sat outside in the sun in shorts and enjoyed the good weather and company. It was cloudy during the day but as soon as we got seated it cleared off. Floating in the pool is a centerpiece that a couple of very crafty ladies spent a few hours on.

Of course there was food

The dessert table was incredible, pineapple upside down cake that you could cover with fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate, etc.

After all that the floating centerpiece was lit 

and there was dancing to a live band.

Sorry couldn't resist,

This is us as the Luau was winding down,

This is those in cold country,

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

TEN REASONS TO RETIRE TO AN RV

Goodyear AZ (Low 51 Partial Sun High 77)

Got this in the January 2014 Newsletter from Air Safe Hitches and it does a great job of explaining why we chose this nomadic lifestyle.

Ten Reasons To Retire To An RV     

by RV Lifestyle Expert Author

Retirement is the time for a simpler life and the chance to do things you didn't have time for when working. Living the RV lifestyle in retirement has several advantages. Here are ten.

Ten more reasons to retire to an RV

1.   Live your retirement dreams.  Are there places you’ve wanted to visit but never took the time or perhaps didn’t have the money to do so? Now you can travel at your leisure and visit all those places. Whether it’s visiting national parks, following the Oregon Trail, playing at amusement parks or getting your fill of country western music, it’s all there for you.

2.   Take your house with you: Instead of having to pack and unpack and hassle with airports or schlepping luggage in and out of motels, everything is there. Some RVs come with air or pillow-top mattresses, or you can add your own. Instead of sleeping on a lumpy mattress or too hard one night, then too soft the next, enjoy your own. Your bathroom is clean and you can relax at night on your comfortable sofa or La-Z-Boy recliner.

3.   Zero yard work and cleaning house is a breeze: With only a couple of hundred square feet to clean, cleaning house takes just a few minutes. There is no lawn to mow or yard to maintain.

4.   Stay active: Most experts agree that staying active prolongs and improves quality of life. Living in an RV provides many ways to stay active physically and mentally. When traveling, you have to stay engaged with life!

5.   Live less expensively: An RV is much less expensive to maintain than a house. Nightly campground fees are normally less than property tax and maintenance expenses on a stick house. Many expenses in the RV lifestyle can be controlled so you can cut back in a budget category when needed.

6.  Meet new people and make new friends:  RVers are very friendly people. Opportunities are constant to meet new people. Get involved with an RV club or at an RV resort and find a whole new community. Working or volunteering as you travel is another way to meet people and make friends.

7.    One house, many views: When you get tired of one view, move on to the next. RVing is the ideal way to snowbird. Go where it is cool in the summer and where it is warm in the winter. Change your ocean view to a mountain view in a matter of a few hours.

8.    No property taxes: Enjoy home ownership (your RV) without property taxes. Rent an RV space for as long as you want, then move.

9.    Have many new experiences:  You can actively have so many new experiences and be part of them rather than experience them vicariously on the boob tube. Stand where Lewis and Clark stood on their Voyage of Discovery. Crew for a hot air balloon at Albuquerque. Kayak among whales in Glacier Bay. Hike part of the Appalachian Trail. Or visit historical monuments; an auto tour at Gettysburg makes you feel like you are part of the Civil War.

10.  Visit friends and relatives: Visiting friends and relatives in an RV makes visiting so much more fun. Even if you are parked in their driveway, you have your own space. Or, stay at a nearby RV park so you are not instant babysitters!

A pretty job of explaining full-timing, and adding to our list of things to do and places to visit.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

SAW "WINTER'S TALE"

Goodyear AZ (Low 54 Clouds and Sun High 70)

We saw the movie "Winter's Tale" recently.

It is kind of difficult to describe this movie except to say that we liked it, we actually liked it a lot. The makers of the film have this synopsis, "Set in a mythic New York City and spanning more than a century, the film is a story of miracle, crossed destinies, and the age-old battle between good and evil." 

Others have described it as part science fiction, part romance. We have to agree with all of that. Anytime you have animal spirit guides, demons, time travel, action and romance you pretty have us. Give this movie a try, we think you will like it.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER

Goodyear AZ (Low 59 Showers High 68)

There's been a change in the weather, there's been a change in us. It is amazing how fast you can adapt to the warmer temperatures. 68 degrees sounds wonderful to most of the country right now but with the rain and being cooler we hate to admit but we have noticed it, feeling a little chilly at 68 is pretty incredible.

But if we think we are bad we just have to listen to the locals on the news or in the stores, with all the whining you'd think they were having a body part removed. The nice thing about "bad" weather around here is that it usually only lasts a couple of days and at least this cold spell is bringing much need rain.

Here is a picture from our spring training visit to show just how nice the weather usually is.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo