What happened to posting weekly? Well we have been kinda busy but there is much to report so hang on.

I retired on Friday April 10th and started my new life. Luckily I did not receive a watch but had some cake. Being a son of a watch maker I need another watch like I need another ache in this old body.

As always played golf Saturday morning with my golf buddies. This would be the last time with this gang until after Christmas. Going to miss them and their money. Well maybe they will miss my money. Sunday morning we had our house washed.  They did a great job.

In the afternoon we went to a cook out with one of my golf buddies Bill and his wife Sunny and their son Eli.

So on Monday morning I started the job of putting a protective coating on our rubber roof and then waxing the house.  Lots of surface area to keep me out of trouble.  I enjoy doing this type of work but did I tell you it was a lot of surface area?

Look at that intense attention to detail!

Also washed and waxed the BAT.  Big Axx Truck.  That took a lot less work then our home.

On Wednesday the 15th I finished our taxes.  I always hated doing our taxes and knew this year we would owe both Federal and state.  In prior years our Federal refund covered what we owed Cali but without a large mortgage interest deduction we owed Uncle Sam and Uncle Brown. But we are good with that.  It is much cheaper to live without the mortgage payment.

I have not adapted to getting up later since I am retired.  I am working on it but I still wake up about 5 am and Thursday morning was no difference.  Usually just turn on the TV, check emails or read a book as long as the dogs are not bugging me to take them out.  Well the 16th was a little different.  A good buddy from Lancaster called me at about 5 am or so.  Now usually this is a “butt call”.   This where he calls me by mistake by having his phone in his pocket.   I answered and he was on the line and asked if I was awake.  I knew right away something was wrong if he is calling me for real at this time.  He was calling be to let me know his son passed away the night before.  It was a difficult phone conversation to say the least.  So Vicki and I had some decisions to make.

Are we going back home for the services?  Of course, how could we not?  When were we going back?  Decided to fly home late Wednesday and then fly home on Sunday.  The first decision was easy.  We wanted to, it was the right thing to do, we had the ability and he and his wife where there big time when we suffered the same loss nine years ago.  The second one took some thought and planning since we were in the middle of moving from Chowchilla, CA to Likely, CA.

Well come Friday morning we were all packed up and ready to move out. First stop was a tire shop in Chowchilla to put on our new wheels and tires.   In a prior post I reported the tires that are put on a trailer are just not adequate for traveling full time.   I had one blow out about 4 years ago and do not want a repeat of that especially since this is our home.

So we drove to Reno, NV with two rest stops along the way to let the mutts stretch their legs and to retork the lug nuts.  Friday and Saturday night we stayed at Bordertown RV Park and Casino.  Nice park but spaces very close together.  Friday night we just vegged out.  Saturday we visited Carson City and did a little walking tour of Nevada’s capital city.  Saw the house that was in John Wayne’s last movie “The Shootist” and also toured the Nevada State Railroad Museum.  It was a nice day.

Sunday the 19th we were on the road again on our way to Likely.  We arrived before noon met my summer boss and set up the Forrey Summer Camp 2015.

Monday took a tour of the course of the facility and golf course with Dennis, my boss and owner.  Basically I will have four main duties.  Marshall the course, weed the sand traps, pick up range balls AND on two greens they have goose “problems”.  So the first thing in the morning I get to pick up the goose poop.  For some reason my friends think this is funny…….

Buster thinks this is swell.

Tuesday we wanted to check out the kennel for Sadie and Buster while we are back east.  If Likely is in the middle of nowhere the kennel is even back in further.  Looked like a good place for the mutts to hang out for a  few days.

So on Wednesday we started our trek back home.  Left Likely at 7:30 to drop off Sadie and Buster, then started to Reno to get a 2 pm flight back home.  A long but uneventful day.  We stayed with Vicki’s mother who lives at Willow Valley just south of Lancaster, PA.  The last thing I remember on that travel day was seeing  4 am on the alarm clock.

On Thursday we ran some errors around town and went to our friends’ son’s services Thursday night.  It was a very nice service with lots of people.  Afterwards our friends had a get together at their home.  Great to see lot of old friends but a very sad occasion.

Friday morning we had breakfast with my cousins on my mothers side of the family.  Always good  to see them.  We also had a nice visit with Vicki’s sister and her husband.  They were on their way to TN for a RV fulltimers rally .  They are also getting into the fulltime RV life.  Friday night we went to a high school baseball game to watch my cousins’ grandson play.  It was very windy .  Friday night we went out to eat at the Iron Hill  Brewery.  Again good times with family again: cousins Keith and Dori, SIL and BIL Lynn and Jim and MIL Barbara.

Saturday I drove Vicki nuts driving around our old areas and then we went over to our friends house to help them eat and drink the left overs from Thursday night.  We had a great time with our “old gang” with two other couples and reliving old times.

Sunday we flew home and  did some shoe shopping at the shoe tree.

Picked the dogs up Monday and did some food shopping in the big town of Alturas on the way home.  I HAD to play some golf so I walked the front nine.  Man with an elevation of 4,600 feet and some big walks from green to tee I was beat.  I started out with Buster walking with me and Vicki took Sadie for a walk.  As I was hitting into the 2nd green Buster saw Vicki and Sadie and took off.  I played the rest of the round by myself and Vicki had the mutts.

Tuesday was a lazy day just puttering around the house and took a short walk.   Saw lots of jacket rabbits and a few cotton tails.

That’s all from us in the north country.  See ya in the Funny Papers.