Celebrating Life at 90!

 Celebrating someone's birthday is celebrating life itself - not only the fact that they were born, but all the wonderful times shared together.  

Depending how old someone is, the celebration takes on a different meaning.  My oldest sister, now my last sibling, is turning 90 at the end of September.  She's healthy, has a bright mind and still a delight, so having a celebration was a "no brainer" as the saying goes.  

Her children jumped right into action, planning, making all the necessary reservations, contacting caterers, musicians, printing invitations (save the date and the invitations), making various decorations, ordering her a special dress, etc.  They made the date a little earlier than her actual birthday for relatives coming in from out of town, so the weather would be better for travel.  

She has a large family, with 4 children, all with children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of their own.  Additionally, we have nieces and nephews and their children as well.  Add friends to all that, and you have a party large enough to fill a barn...which she did!!

 We decided to come three weeks early and spend some time with her and the family prior to the "big event".  I knew it would be chaotic the days before, so wanted to spend some quality time with her alone before that, which we were able to do.  They were just quiet days of playing cards and sharing stories, going out to lunch and cooking together.  Sister stuff. 

She wanted to host a "Thank you brunch" for all the out of town guests the day before the big party so that she could spend more time visiting with each of them, knowing she wouldn't get a lot of time at the actual party.  As usual, she had been pre-cooking and baking for days to put on her usual spread!  It's what makes her happy.  

That Saturday, all the nieces and nephews, along with myself and Jack came over to a wonderful spread of 3 kinds of quiches, 4 kinds of sweet breads, a large ham, brats, 2 fruit bowls, along with a variety of drinks!  Each of us got a "thank you present" of 3 handmade crochet covered hangers. That's my sister! 

The next day was The Big Celebration!  You would never know that lady was 90!  She was all smiles and ready to party!  The place was FULL, she was beaming, people were happy, food was great, music was playing, place looked wonderful and the drinks were flowing.  We even got her up to dance!  I made a short speech, tried not to cry...don't remember much of it,..forgot a lot of what I wanted to say, but I'm sure it didn't matter. She knows I love her.  To say the party was a success, would be an understatement...

When I reflect about this, I think about all birthdays...and how all of us should celebrate every one of them! So much better to celebrate life, than to talk about it afterwards at a funeral...

...on the road again, Marie

Heading Home...

Our island adventures were done, and now it was all sea time to head home.  We had a little over a week's time to be back in Los Angeles.  

For me, that week started off with a celebration (or two)!  It was my 78th Birthday and my husband (and it seemed the crew) made sure it was going to be "extra special".  To begin with, Princess Cruise Lines has a very large (TV) screen at almost every elevator hub.  It shows you where the ship is at, at any given moment (latitude and longitude) and where it's heading - but, whenever I was near it (wearing my medallion, which we wear for identification) the screen would change and show birthday balloons, a cake with candles and a banner saying "Happy Birthday Marie B"!  It was such a hoot!  

 

On the night of my birthday which coincided (with "formal night" so we got to dress up too), Jack made reservations at one of the special restaurants on board, The Steakhouse.  Wow, what an experience!  We've been to wonderful restaurants in our travels, but I must say this was above and beyond anything we've ever experienced.  Of course they ended the evening with the staff coming over with a most decadent dessert (chocolate, of course) and sang to me.  I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures...

The funny thing was, and so very special, was that the following night, when we returned to our regular table, our wait staff immediately said "you weren't here last night for your birthday!"  I shared with them where we were, and Kwanravee said "well, we are just going to pretend that tonight is your birthday anyway!" So they did!  After they served me my cake and sang, I told them "well, if it makes you feel any better, you all sing better than the other restaurant staff!"  I told them although I love the dessert, I was just to full to eat it...she said "no problem, we will just have it delivered to your room for later".  When we returned to our room, it was there, along with a Happy Birthday banner across the wall that our room steward Danio had pinned up. They all made me feel so special.  

The Cruise Director and his assistance made sure there were plenty of things going on and entertainment for us to watch for those eight days and nights.  Of course they had a different show each night for us, everything from singers to acrobatics to instrumentalist, to piano to dancers.  Towards the end, they brought in the Culinary Team and showed us who they were and what they all do!  They read off some of the "amounts" of food items we consumed while on board - oh my!  

 

Another fun thing was two "recitals".  All during our cruise there were two classes passengers could take, hula and ukulele.  They met several times a week to practice with our Island Hosts.  We had seen a number of passengers walking around with their ukulele, some with their own that they brought with then, some belonging to the host's.  We spoke to one of the passengers once and asked her about the class and she shared that she had started taking a class on a previous cruise and got hooked and then bought her own ukulele and kept up the lessons.  She said it's harder than one thinks, but she enjoys it and always takes it with her now on cruises.  A few days before the end of the cruise, they gave us a recital!  I was surprised at how large the classes were. They sure looked like they were having fun, and we all enjoyed watching them too! 

Before we knew it, it was time to start packing up and getting ourselves ready to disembark!  32 days seemed like a long time, buy honestly, it flew by!  It was great being "unplugged" from emails, phone calls, texts, etc. and just relaxing.  However I have to confess, the  "no cooking (or planning), cleaning, gardening", was really the BEST part!  I am still missing Martin, Servio, Kwanravee and Danio! They truly spoiled us...

...and in no time, it's back to Arizona and our wonderful life here!

Marie

So long 2018!

This was a short, fast, odd kind of year for us!  One, along with many, it seems,  that we are glad to be done with!  So much seemed to happen, and not happen for us...

The happen...was we changed our status!  From the beginning we have been "full timers" - on the road constantly, moving from one campground to another, without really having any home base except a long stop-over in Washington to renew our licenses and see family and doctors.  This year, however, we decided that after 6 years it was time to slow down a bit and get a "home base".  We are not ready to quit...just ready to stay put for a few months now instead of traveling all 12 months.  For us, that's a big change...and a fun one.  Another adventure, if you will.  That change took months to do, to buy, to move in, etc. and in truth, it's still taking us time to unpack!

Another thing that happened was that one of my sweet sisters passed away while we were in Texas.  It wasn't totally unexpected, just earlier than expected, and never news one wants to get, no matter when or where you are.  That news changed our direction and our summer.  The one thing that being RV'ers are good at.








We were also able to take our "vacation" this year.  Something we like to do, but can't always do.  This year we were able to take some friends with us, and show them "our favorite island", Maui!  They had never been, and it was such a joy to show them Hawaii and to celebrate Jack's 75th birthday in style.  After such a hectic time, this was a nice relief.  Especially knowing that we were coming back to a house full of boxes to unpack!

What didn't happen...was a lot less camping.  We only camped from June to October, which is a really short time for us.  We left late due to first the house buying, then because I broke a molar and had to have it fixed before hitting the road.  Then, we had to be back by October because of our reservations for Hawaii.  Oh well, like I said, a strange year...

Here are our stats...

We stayed in 22 campgrounds for a total of 70 nights  (we stayed with family all the other nights)

Total campground fees $2,030.67  (that averages about $29. a night, which is a little less than last year's)

Mileage for the RV:  6,254
Mileage for the Toad: 9,005

Gas for the RV:  $2,865
Gas for the Toad: $1,143

Propane: $82

Maintenance for the RV:  $7,958
Maintenance for the Toad: $1,161

Both vehicles reached their "over 100,000 mile" mark and needed the full work up, so got it from front to back...ouch!

Next year's plan?  ...to be on the road more than this year, that's for sure!  ;-)  But as to "where"?  That's a good question..one we keep asking ourselves...with what all the bad storms and fires did to this country, we just may head to Canada!  We shall just see...

...sitting back in Arizona,  Marie

Vacation!

Yes, even people who spend their time “leasurely traveling” around need a vacation!  For us, it means getting away from the RV and camping - so we hop on a plane and stay in one of our time share places.  This time, it was a week in Maui. 

A week isn’t very long (for us) but we took some friends along with us, and booked two suites.  Our friends had never been to the islands before, and when we heard that, we couldn’t resist taking them along!  It’s so much more fun to share the adventure with others.  It was also Jack’s 75th birthday, so that added to the celebration.

Having been before, we were excited to show John and Delores all around.  The weather was glorious, and we didn’t waste a moment after we arrived.  First stop, downtown Lahaina!  Lunch at Bubba Gump’s for fresh sea food and a “toast” to celebrate our stay.  A nice walk around town, taking in all the lovely views.  It didn’t take Delores long to buy her first souvenir either!

High on our list of “to do’s” was a luau, and that was booked before we left.  I had talked with someone from the time share and set it all up and got us VIP seating for the best one on the island, The Old Lahaina Luau.   I had read about it, and was excited to see it.  We had done one in Kauai, but not in Maui, so this would be new for us as well.

The night of the luau, our hosts met us and we all got our pictures taken, then were escorted to the luau and were greeted with orchid leis and cocktails.  We had our own server throughout the evening that never left our side.  Our seats were the BEST!  The only ones in front of us, were the ones sitting on the floor (no thanks, to old for that!).  The entertainment, the food, the drinks, the atmosphere, everything, was just wonderful.  We really lucked out on the weather too, as it was right on the beach, and we didn’t even need our light sweaters we brought.  Such a great night.

The following day, we took them on the road to Hana.  I don’t think they liked it as much as we did.  Delores isn’t much for winding roads - even if the scenery is beautiful.  I thought that if we took it slow, and stopped a lot, she would be okay, but, not really.  Oh well…we still loved seeing it (again).  It’s some of the prettiest part of the island, I think.   We did stop at one new place this time, and that was at MauiWine.  Delores, John and I did wine tasting.  We all agreed…pineapple wine is not for us.  Oh well, it was fun trying it.

Jack wanted to celebrate his birthday at Slappy Cakes a pancake house.  So, that’s what we did!  It’s a unique restaurant where you can make your own pancakes on a griddle in the middle of the table and/or order pancakes as you do at other places.  While we ordered ours, Jack made his.  He had fun playing with the shapes of his pancakes, making faces, and his “age”, etc.  He may be 75, but he’s still a kid at heart!

The week went by way to fast.  Beautiful days with lovely sunrises and sunsets and even a rainbow or two.  But, all good things have to come to an end (or so they say)…so on the plane we came home, once again. 

We are now back in Arizona, nose deep in settling in to this new tiny house of ours.  Still finding things we’d forgotten we had, wondering where we are going to put it now, or do we get rid of it…and in between it all, planning our next adventure!


…kicking back in Arizona,  Marie


If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/