Jan. 4 to 7 - Sticky Buns and Neocitrin – Together Again
What a difference a snowstorm makes! Even when it happens on the other side of the country! More on this in my Sunday update.
Saturday, January 4
This was a most depressing day because we had to do laundry, clean the trailer, pack, and sort out the trailer for any potential buyers – what we would leave, and what we would take to our new-for-us park model. Phew! For supper we cleaned out the fridge and part of the freezer. It was an “interesting” meal.
But nothing could dissuade us from going to the Seniors CD Dance at the “club house.” (The club house is not fancy but there is always something going on there.) We waltzed and danced around for an hour and a bit and then tucked in for two more hours of Longmire. We went to bed early. I can’t sleep very well if I know I have to get up early the next day. Fortunately Laur can and he is the driver.
Sunday, January 5
Up at 6 am to leave at 7 am and do the final touches for both closing our trailer and keeping it showable. MacDonald’s coffee on the way out of town. Gah! I fell asleep in the car and woke myself up snoring!
Phoenix is a 2 hour (and a bit) drive from Green Valley and we made it to the airport in Phoenix in plenty of time. Laur said, “I can’t believe how well this is going!” I obviously didn’t knock wood fast enough. We then got on the wrong shuttle for our terminal, waiting around for Air Canada to open their gates before realizing we were flying United Airlines. Oops. Back into the shuttle and across the airport.
Eegads! We didn’t even know how to get into the line, it was so long. We finally found the tail of it and it was just not moving at all, so we starting asking questions. Pretty much every flight going east was cancelled because of weather. Everyone had to be rebooked – late Tuesday evening was the earliest for most. It was at least two and a half hours in the line. I’m just not used to this sort of thing – in fact, it’s never happened to us before.
No surprise, after I got over my immediate internal temper tantrum, I started talking to people. The young couple in front of us were both in the Army – very kissy and cuddly. I asked why they didn’t take advantage of the express line up – because military people get advanced service. They said they couldn’t if they weren’t wearing their uniforms and they don’t like wearing their uniforms in the airports because some people aren’t very nice to them when they do. That was truly a surprise to me.
Finally we got to a United Airlines service rep and SHE WAS GREAT! Had a sense of humour in spite of the fact that lots of folks weren’t being very nice AND were making their case why they should get priority service. (I think we were nice and we were happy to get anything.) So both good and bad news – we get three more days in Arizona. (Two really.) But, Laur misses classes and we had many things to reorganize.
We went for a beverage and a snack and wrote down a list of the eight people and places we had to contact immediately. Then we both got on our computers and Skype, and did the deeds. Man, we truly need to get an American cell phone. We looked like lunatics yelling into our computers getting the hotel agent and my mom to hear us. (At separate times, of course.) Using our AARP membership we were able to get a car rental at Payless for half of what we’d been paying at Hertz. Grrr... Oh well, live and learn.
Truly, if we were going home to an apartment, condo or teeny tiny house – and Laur was retired and we didn’t have some residual clean up from a pipe bursting and we didn’t have a stack of mail and phone messages waiting for us – I wouldn’t much care. But that’s still a year and a half away. Good problems to have, I know. Having a taste of minimalist retirement living makes me a glutton for more of it.
It was funny arriving back. At first our friends and companions thought they were hallucinating and then they told us stories of family and friends who have been stuck in various airports for days. If wild weather swings are going to be the way of the future, we have to choose our connecting airport more carefully and arrange to arrive in Tucson, not Phoenix (one hour away vs. two and a half.) Note that I am not we are going to stop traveling. Me bad, I know.
Monday, January 6
It was truly wonderful to wake up in AZ and go to Senior Stretch and enjoy a few walks around the park. In the afternoon we went to the theatre next door to see “Saving Mr. Banks” and it was wonderfully done. It is a Disney movie so it may not square up to what other folks have written about this situation, but I wept happy, healthy tears in certain parts. I truly loved the movie Mary Poppins – seeing it with my Dad at the Park Theatre in Belleville when I was about age 10.
Tuesday, January 7
I woke up with a rotten cold but nothing was going to keep me from “Sticky Bun” Tuesday breakfast. I normally don’t eat sweets but one GVRV Park bun would add up to a week of regular sweet eating.
In the afternoon Laur marked, and I sneezed and coughed my way through two documentaries – “The Trials of Henry Kitzinger” and “Noam and Chomsky on War and Terror.” I highly recommend them.
We had our last “happy hour” (neocitrin hour) with our neighbours and some friends. I will miss these folks lots and lots.
Then we went out for our “last supper” at La Placita and I knew I was sick when I couldn’t eat my meal and went to bed without our evening walk. Gah. I think my body was conspiring against me – in order to continue to get the glorious natural vitamin D from the sun.
Saturday, January 4
This was a most depressing day because we had to do laundry, clean the trailer, pack, and sort out the trailer for any potential buyers – what we would leave, and what we would take to our new-for-us park model. Phew! For supper we cleaned out the fridge and part of the freezer. It was an “interesting” meal.
But nothing could dissuade us from going to the Seniors CD Dance at the “club house.” (The club house is not fancy but there is always something going on there.) We waltzed and danced around for an hour and a bit and then tucked in for two more hours of Longmire. We went to bed early. I can’t sleep very well if I know I have to get up early the next day. Fortunately Laur can and he is the driver.
Sunday, January 5
Up at 6 am to leave at 7 am and do the final touches for both closing our trailer and keeping it showable. MacDonald’s coffee on the way out of town. Gah! I fell asleep in the car and woke myself up snoring!
Phoenix is a 2 hour (and a bit) drive from Green Valley and we made it to the airport in Phoenix in plenty of time. Laur said, “I can’t believe how well this is going!” I obviously didn’t knock wood fast enough. We then got on the wrong shuttle for our terminal, waiting around for Air Canada to open their gates before realizing we were flying United Airlines. Oops. Back into the shuttle and across the airport.
Eegads! We didn’t even know how to get into the line, it was so long. We finally found the tail of it and it was just not moving at all, so we starting asking questions. Pretty much every flight going east was cancelled because of weather. Everyone had to be rebooked – late Tuesday evening was the earliest for most. It was at least two and a half hours in the line. I’m just not used to this sort of thing – in fact, it’s never happened to us before.
No surprise, after I got over my immediate internal temper tantrum, I started talking to people. The young couple in front of us were both in the Army – very kissy and cuddly. I asked why they didn’t take advantage of the express line up – because military people get advanced service. They said they couldn’t if they weren’t wearing their uniforms and they don’t like wearing their uniforms in the airports because some people aren’t very nice to them when they do. That was truly a surprise to me.
Finally we got to a United Airlines service rep and SHE WAS GREAT! Had a sense of humour in spite of the fact that lots of folks weren’t being very nice AND were making their case why they should get priority service. (I think we were nice and we were happy to get anything.) So both good and bad news – we get three more days in Arizona. (Two really.) But, Laur misses classes and we had many things to reorganize.
We went for a beverage and a snack and wrote down a list of the eight people and places we had to contact immediately. Then we both got on our computers and Skype, and did the deeds. Man, we truly need to get an American cell phone. We looked like lunatics yelling into our computers getting the hotel agent and my mom to hear us. (At separate times, of course.) Using our AARP membership we were able to get a car rental at Payless for half of what we’d been paying at Hertz. Grrr... Oh well, live and learn.
Truly, if we were going home to an apartment, condo or teeny tiny house – and Laur was retired and we didn’t have some residual clean up from a pipe bursting and we didn’t have a stack of mail and phone messages waiting for us – I wouldn’t much care. But that’s still a year and a half away. Good problems to have, I know. Having a taste of minimalist retirement living makes me a glutton for more of it.
It was funny arriving back. At first our friends and companions thought they were hallucinating and then they told us stories of family and friends who have been stuck in various airports for days. If wild weather swings are going to be the way of the future, we have to choose our connecting airport more carefully and arrange to arrive in Tucson, not Phoenix (one hour away vs. two and a half.) Note that I am not we are going to stop traveling. Me bad, I know.
Monday, January 6
It was truly wonderful to wake up in AZ and go to Senior Stretch and enjoy a few walks around the park. In the afternoon we went to the theatre next door to see “Saving Mr. Banks” and it was wonderfully done. It is a Disney movie so it may not square up to what other folks have written about this situation, but I wept happy, healthy tears in certain parts. I truly loved the movie Mary Poppins – seeing it with my Dad at the Park Theatre in Belleville when I was about age 10.
Tuesday, January 7
I woke up with a rotten cold but nothing was going to keep me from “Sticky Bun” Tuesday breakfast. I normally don’t eat sweets but one GVRV Park bun would add up to a week of regular sweet eating.
In the afternoon Laur marked, and I sneezed and coughed my way through two documentaries – “The Trials of Henry Kitzinger” and “Noam and Chomsky on War and Terror.” I highly recommend them.
We had our last “happy hour” (neocitrin hour) with our neighbours and some friends. I will miss these folks lots and lots.
Then we went out for our “last supper” at La Placita and I knew I was sick when I couldn’t eat my meal and went to bed without our evening walk. Gah. I think my body was conspiring against me – in order to continue to get the glorious natural vitamin D from the sun.