Week of February 16 thru February 22, 2011

Marlon Byrd signing baseballs


The BIG 'Queen' sucking down the Margueritas


Reed Johnson and Marlon Byrd

Wednesday February 16, 2011
Left early this morning to head to Fitch Park again to watch the Cubs practice. We ran into a guy from Elk Grove, IA that we met yesterday. He is a fun guy and today he had his neighbor with him also from Iowa. They are Dodger fans but the Dodgers do not start practicing until tomorrow.

We mostly watched Dempster, Marshall, Marmol, Soto and Hill practice. I talked to Soto a little and later, he threw me a ball over the fence. I then had them sign the ball. I also talked to Billy Williams, who is a great guy. He also signed the ball.

As we were leaving the park, Larry stopped to buy a hat and I talked to a guy who is a pilot for the MBA. He flies different MBA teams all over the US and he was in Phoenix waiting to fly the Utah Jazz back home tonight. Sounded like a very interesting job!

We had a light lunch, stopped at Walmart for a few items and came home. It was such a beautiful day and we let the cats out to enjoy the afternoon for awhile. We get to feeling guilty that we are gone every day and the cats are stuck in the motor home. It's a little tighter quarters than being at home. They have all been troopers about all this traveling business.

We met Georgia Goodabill, Larry's cousin that lives in Apache Junction, and her husband Joe for dinner. Georgia is a half sister to Ed Stafford from Carlsbad, NM. Ellis Edward Stafford, Ed's father is also Georgia's father. Georgia told us the story about how her mother got pregnant by Ellis and they were married but never lived together. She was in the 3rd grade in Bartonville, when one of her classmates told her that the man she thought was her father was not her real father. She asked her mother about it but her mother would not tell her anything other than the girl was just being mean. She said she always had a feeling that there was more about her that she did not know and when she was in 8th grade, her mother came to her and showed her baby book to her where it had Ellis as the father. She told her a very brief story and told Georgia she never wanted her to mention her father again. Later when Georgia was about 17 she went to the old dairy on Farmington Road and knocked on the door and she could not remember who answered but she told them who she was. They took her to meet her grandmother(Ellis's mother) and Georgia talked for a long time with her. Later she met Lena who was a sister to Ellis and Art Stafford and through the years she kept in touch with Lena until Lena's death. She said she was probably 29 and pregnant with one of her daughter's when Ellis, his wife, Ed and LaDell came to see her while she was living in Pekin. From that day on, her and Ed kept in touch and throughout the following years she would have contact with Ellis, never letting her mother know she was seeing her father. It was a pretty interesting story. She later lived in Bartonville and her children went to Limestone High School but to Larry's knowledge, no one ever mentioned her. She was a nice person and appears to have done well financially for herself. Georgia and Joe have only been married since last July but have known each other for several years. She owns a home in Apache Junction and Joe has a home in South Carolina so they spend six months at each. We visited with them for quite awhile over dinner and we really enjoyed talking to them. They have several different groups coming to visit over the next month, so I don't know if we will have another chance to see them before we leave.

Thursday February 17, 2011

I am a TRUE BLUE CUB! I skipped my painting class today to go back to Fitch Park to see my cubbies practice. Had a lot of new guys come in today. Marlin Bird and Jeff Baker both showed up for the first time. I tried to get both of their autographs but Jeff Baker disappeared and never did walk through the crowd. He appears to be a jerk as he did not talk to any of the spectators like most of the guys normally do. Marlin Bird came off the field early and I caught him as asked for autograph but he was rushing to do something so he put his arm around my shoulder and told me he was sorry but would sign tomorrow. He was very nice to everyone. I did get Mike Quade's autograph and Darwin Barney's. I waved and spoke to Billy Williams again today. Yesterday, Williams told me he remembered me from last year but I think that was just a PR plot. He's a nice guy. I stood over at the field that Big Z, Smardja, Gozman and several regular releif pitchers were practicing. As soon as I saw they were getting ready to leave I went over to the fence where they walk by and yelled at all of them and they all totally ignored the crowd. I'm sure Big Z is not GIVING away his autograph. He probably figures everyone should pay for it. I'm not sure his 'anger management' class has helped him a lot. He still has 'an attitude' watching his body language on the field.

We saw Chuck Buescher from Peoria. He was the Central High School Basketball Coach and just retired. He was the Bradley Coach prior to Central. He is really a nice guy and he, Larry and I all talked for a long time. He is staying somewhere near Scottsdale for three months.

We left the park and drove back to Tempe to the Catcus Sport Shop to exchange Larry's Spring Training shirt. I saw Troy, the owner, again. He is a very nice guy. After that we stopped at Logan's for lunch, came back to Mesa to Buell's and then home. Let the guys(cats) outside again and sat outside and read for awhile. Today was a little cooler but at the ball park, the sun got pretty hot before we left.

Received an email from Ed Stafford today saying that his allergies are so bad, he has been seeing the doctor every day for shots. He and LaDell have cancelled their trip to Texas. I was sorry to hear they would not be going as I think they both were looking forward to it. They just got back from a 10 day cruise to Hawaii and Ed said his allergies were really bad during the cruise.

Talked to Char, my friend from Phoenix, last night and we talked about getting together on Saturday. She sent me an email today inviting us to dinner Saturday night. Will be nice to see her as I have only seen her once since we got here.

We are leaving early tomorrow morning for Los Algodones, Mexico. We both have dental appointments for a check up and cleaning at Dr. Castro's office.

Friday February 18, 2011

Left Silveridge at 7:15am for Los Algodones. The traffic on 202 going toward Chandler, AZ is horrible early in the morning. Each time we have traveled that way early it has been really heavy. Once we got through the rush hour it was pretty relaxed driving and we barely made it for our 11:30 appointment. The line to go back across the border must have been 7 blocks long when we walked in. We checked in and really only had to wait about 20 minutes to see the dentist. We did not see Dr Castro but one of her associates, which I believe his name was Dr. Ramariz --Probably Aramis Ramirez's relation--HA! He was nice, spoke good English and did a nice job of cleaning my teeth. Larry also saw the same dentist after my appointment. Actually we only spent about two hours getting our cleanings and then we went to the Cantina for margaritas. They are to die for and they are HUGE! We each had two and a huge plate of nachos. When we left, I felt like I was pretty close to having my limit. Since we had to drive three hours home, decided we had enough. It was pretty cool today but setting outside drinking our margaritas was a very nice afternoon. They had a Mexican band and they played American music--go figure--gotta cater to the snowbirds!! We left there and went to the pharmacy to pick up some medication and walked over to get in the line to cross the border. It was almost 3:30pm and the line was somewhat shorter than when we arrived but still probably four blocks long. We did move quickly it seemed and were in the car to leave by 4:15. There are times it takes almost two hours to get across the border but today was pretty fast.

We drove back to Mesa and it was almost 8:00pm when we arrived. It is about 220 miles down but the highway goes through the desert where there is nothing for miles so the speed limit is 70 mph. Of course that means the majority of people drive 80 mph so cuts the miles off fast.

Saturday February 19, 2011

What a miserable day! It rained all day and at times it really came down in sheets. The wind was pretty bad and it was also very cool as well. Char called and asked if we'd like to come over around 4:30 or 5:00 for 'Happy Hour' before we eat. Happy Hour to her is a half glass of wine!!! Ha! She is not much of a drinker but of course, I make up for that. Larry and I took fresh asparagus, two bottles of 'two buck chuck', some cheese for munching and a berry pie we bought from Village Inn. They have pie's that are soooo-- wonderful. Oh yes and we took ice cream for our pie. We sat and talked and had our drinks and munched on several snack items and by the time we eat, we were all feeling pretty full already. Char baked Cod, cauliflower, broccoli and we had the asparagus that I had baked with Parmesan cheese. Everything was very good. We stayed until about 10:30 and left for home. By the time we drove home, it had quit raining but just damp and cool.

Sunday February 20, 2011

Raining again this morning and cool. The wind has died down somewhat so doesn't feel quite so cool. I have been working on catching up the laundry since yesterday so finished it this afternoon. We watched the Daytona 500--or at least Larry did. I read for a long time and took a siesta, which I seem to work in to a day when I read. We did nothing much all day other than watch it rain. I was going to fix pork chops for dinner but Larry wanted to get out for awhile. We went over to the Native New Yorker--our favorite beer drinking place. We ordered a small pizza and then had a few wings and SEVERAL beer. It all tasted so great and was good to get out of the house for awhile.

Pete and Leslie drove to Elgin this morning to pick up their new Whippet Puppy that they bought. Leslie said she is so sweet and was really good while they drove back home. They think they are going to name her Ava. I'm sure the dog will be spoiled beyond imagination living with Pete and Leslie.

Monday February 21, 2011
Leslie called early this morning to say Ava slept all night in her crate and Pete took her out today for a walk. She seems to be house broke and has not made a mess yet. The pictures Leslie sent us of the dog are so cute.

We got ready and drove back to Fitch Park this morning. It was really very cool but they were all there practicing. We saw all of the team today. Ramirez, Soriano, Marlin Bird, Fukudome, and of course many, many 'invitees'. There were so many guys today that they filled all four practice fields. They practiced longer today and basically we just got tired of standing around watching and there were so many more spectators there today that it would have been hard to get autographs anyway. We ran into Chuck Buescher again today and talked to him several times. He introduced me to his two friends from Peoria, whom I have no idea who he said they were. Larry said one of them was a 'SOMEBODY' but he couldn't think of his name and since he was not there when they were introduced to me ---who knows WHO they were. We ended up leaving about 11:30 and stopped at Cindy's Restaurant---one of our favorite places to eat--and had breakfast.
The weather is somewhat warmer this afternoon and the sun is shinning so makes it feel warmer. I think it is to be cool all week this week and possibly more rain by the weekend.
Tuesday February 22, 2011

When I checked my email this morning, I had a sad note from Ed Stafford in Carlsbad about his sister, Georgia. He forwarded a note she had sent him about her grandson killing himself. He was in the Air Force, I believe. I think Georgia had told us he was 20 or 21. Her oldest grandson was killed crossing the road out by Kickapoo when he was 8 years old so this was the next oldest grandson. How terribly sad for her!

Went over to Queen Creek today which is only 15 miles from Mesa. We visited the Olive Mill which is an Olive grove where they press their own olive oil. It was basically set up like a wine vineard with outdoor dining and had a big gift shop that had many olive oils and olive relishes, etc. that was made there.

We stopped in Queen Creek and shopped some and then headed back to Mesa. Queen Creek is not a large area but has a lot of development going on.

Larry saw an RV Dealer last week that had Birkshire Motor Homes on their lot so he wanted to stop in and talk to them about our motor home. While he did that I shopped awhile at Buell's.
Basically the salesmen at the RV Dealer told Larry he needed to get an attorney and file a suit against Forrest River. The guy said it may cost you $10,000 for an attorney but you will probably get a settlement from the factory. WELLLLL---for 10,000, I think we could almost buy a new engine for the motor home!!! I doubt we will head in that direction right away. I think we are going to go ahead and file claims with the Attorney General of Illinois, Indiana and Arizona, which are the the states involved with Forrest River.

We decided to drive over to a place called Power Square, which had about three antique stores. On the way there, we passed a place called Marketplace and under the name it had Walmart. We stopped in and found this is basically a grocery store and is operated by Walmart. It was really a nice store and only carried grocery items and liquor. They told us there were four of these stores in the Phoenix area. Guess Walmart does not want to miss out on one prospective customer! I assume this must be a test market for them and eventually they will be everywhere.

We went on to Power Square and along with the antique shops, which were very up class, It also had a lot of outlet shops. We looked around for awhile and headed home to check on the animals. We changed cloths and went to Native New Yorker for 'wing night'. Even though the wings are $.39 we seem to spend many times that amount on beer! They have cold beer and goes down nicely!!

We came home and chilled on the couch in front of the 'boob tube'!! God I hate TV unless it is one or two of the shows I enjoy. Most of the time Larry has some stupid political documentary babbling which drives me crazy. I normally go to the bedroom and read because I cannot stand listening to the same depressing crap told 150 ways on each of these various channels!!!

Well this is again the exciting news from the week. As snowbirds, our lives are on a pretty slow pace so everyday is 'not a bowl of cherries'!! Besides, I am getting so lazy, I hate coming to the club house to post my blog so each weeks contains another day or so.