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Callum and Augusta wake me up early for a video chat. Callum is silly and chatty and worried about the firetruck he sees in his book. Not much disturbs that boy but a fire siren is one of those things that is distressing to him. Video chats are pretty incredible for grandparents who are far away. Rudy has breakfast and leaves for golf. I get my walking shoes on head out the door. But not before I have downloaded a podcast on my phone. I need a little something to get me mulling over some new ideas. This podcast is by This American Life and is called Is That What I Look Like? It explores the ideas that even if we think we know ourselves really well we are often surprised by other’s observations. It can be superficial (our physical looks) but perhaps more jolting is when how we perceive ourselves (character and actions) is completely different when viewed by someone else. Certainly this is food for thought and worth mulling over. But also frustrating as I think about the number of people I know and how they might each be able to make an observation about something about me that I am totally in the dark about. Do I need to start quizzing people? Is there any purpose to that? I guess that these observations might help me make changes but to be at the whim of everyone’s observations seems tiring and might knock the ground out from under me. I am tired even thinking about this. Perhaps I will go to the pool for a swim or maybe ride my bike. The observations needed when doing these activities involve watching for cars (biking) and taking note of the concrete edge of the pool when swimming. Yup. That’s what I’ll do.

These posts may get a little boring for the reader. Please feel free to make a wide pass. Rudy says that it probably only important to us so as we have a record of what is happening. Frankly I would just as soon cut and paste the same information each day, perhaps rotating the use of pictures, and mixing up the paragraphs. I wonder how long it would take Rudy before he realized. I think he has quit reading them himself. And if he reviews them any time in the future it might just be a joke he can appreciate.

Well something slightly different did happen today. At least for me. Rudy and I went down to the small par 3 golf course just a ways from our place. It has a driving range but we went straight to the 9 hole course. I feel like I have gotten way better and had a lot of fun whacking the ball. I actually can hit balls straight and am getting pretty acceptable with my driver off the tee. I even did some okay shots with the 7 iron. I had loads of trouble in the sand trap that I managed to get myself into. But all in all I deemed it acceptable. When asked if he had fun golfing, Rudy responded noncommittally, “Hmmm, okay.” So I had to rephrase it.  “Did you have fun with ME?” His answer was more positive so, although he wasn’t jumping up and down, I take it as a win.

After golf, I went for a swim and a hot tub. Rudy joined. And then I went off on my bike to the store to get some groceries for supper (stir fry) and to find some golf shorts for Rudy. You can really tell that nothing is pressing on my schedule when I have time to dawdle through stores. And suddenly the light  starts to go. The sun goes down early especially with the mountains surrounding the city. So I headed home, cooked supper, and we settled in for the evening.

 

Rudy’s tee time is at 6:40 this morning. In my subconscious I register the fact that Rudy is up early but I really only wake at 7. This is much too late for a phone call to Ana so instead I relax and drink tea and have breakfast. Yum, real bread, packed with nasty gluten and smothered in peanut butter is delicious. I know I don’t have to eat the same things as Rudy but so far it has been much easier to do that. After a slow start with a couple of cups of tea I go out and get 2 golf clubs from Alex’s bag and bungie cord them on to may bike. I cycle down to the driving range not too far away and get a large bucket of balls to whack at. I situate myself between an older gentleman who has a chair set up nearby to take breaks and a younger man who is whacking furiously without a break. Initially I feel self conscious but as time goes by I just settle into my own little world. I don’t have great success with the 7 iron but manage a few good hits. I have way better luck with the driver and after all is done, I am satisfied and also a little stiff. Back on my bike I head home and then decide to go the long way around just to get more exercise.

Rudy comes home after lunch. Has all the work been done for the day? Perhaps. I spend some pool time, read some of my book, catch up on some phone calls to family, and do a bunch of nothing.

Daylight savings time or just the excitement of being here or perhaps the habit I have of talking on the phone with Anastasia on her way to school causes me to wake up early. Today it was 4:40 when my eyes opened and there was no sleep after that. So I puttered around until it was time to call Ana and had a great chat. Rio said to his mom in the course of the morning, “Don’t embarrass me, Momma.” Yikes, kids are like sponges and repeat a lot of stuff. I guess he is just trying out some phrases that he can use in his teenage years.

Rudy and I take our morning walk around the area. What can I say other than it is great as usual. So beautiful and peaceful. Breakfast is crepes (gluten free of course) with fruit. Rudy is listening to a new Bruce Cockburn album which I find somewhat tedious for the most part. At one point during a 9 and a half minute song I mention how I am not so fond of it. It is basically mumble mumble in a minor key for a looooonnnnnng time. Rudy rebuffs this by saying how great a resolve it has. Listen to this he says. It switches to a major key with horns and harmony and is quite lovely. All this to say that it is nice to live with someone who has a greater understanding and appreciation of music than me and although I certainly have not been convinced to like the mumble chanting, I can appreciate some of the other stuff once Rudy paints a picture of what is great about it.

After this we pack up our golf clubs and head to the driving range just up the street at the College of the Desert. The sun is high by now and by the time we have finished I am hot and sweaty. But it is a whole pile of fun and I actually make some good shots. I enjoy a good activity and if I can figure out a bit how to tweak things to get better, I am totally satisfied.

Rudy and I spend some time at the pool and then in the hot tub and then mix up some gluten free pizza dough. I lie on the couch and fall asleep and when I wake Rudy has continued on with the pizza project and we have supper. Rudy pronounces the gluten free crust acceptable. I am not so excited about it but it fills the stomach.

In the evening we watch a couple of episodes of the Netflix special, All The Light You Cannot See” based on the book by Anthony Doerr. It is good and the actress who plays Marie is incredible especially since it is her first time acting.

We are off to bed fairly early as Rudy has a 6:40 tee time in the morning. Yikes!

It’s Monday and the week stretches out in front of me. Rudy is off golfing this morning and so I have a whole day to myself. I can hardly settle on what I will do first. I take the garbage to the curb, have a cup of tea and sit down to write this blog! But I can’t stand the fact that I could be doing so many things. I am thinking of starting a sewing/crafting project …. but no I will first go for a walk….oh yeah I want to cycle down to one of the mountain walks on the edge of town …. but maybe a sudoko to begin the day. What shall I do first?

Well I first take a walk around the neighbourhood. I marvel at how beautiful it all is. No matter which direction I go on the winding streets I always have the beautiful mountains right on the edge of town to look at. Not to mention the palm trees, grapefruit, lemon, and orange trees, and the beautiful bouganvilla and other flowering shrubs and vines. It is beautiful, cool in the shade and hot in the sun.

After this I head out for a number of hours of cycling. The are many cycling paths that are so safe. There are dedicated lanes with a curb between me and the traffic. And when there aren’t any like this the sideways are wide for pedestrians, golf carts, and bikes. It is just lovely being out in the warm summer air. I get home after one, have some lunch and lie in the cool of the house.

Rudy arrives home after a morning of golf with some old Steinbachers (Robert D., Ken K., Darrel P.). He is smiling so it means, that despite not having golfed for a month, he must have done okay.

He has taken the van into the Honda garage and gets a ride back here. He hasn’t been home very long when they phone rings with some good and bad news. The good news is  that the Old Blue Lady is not ready for the junk heap yet. It is not the transmission but something else much more manageable. The bad news is the price tag for the repairs. But Rudy has a thought. He just phones Katherina at his local garage in Steinbach and she crunches numbers and consults with the mechanic and the result is that Rudy will just drive carefully and then get the work done at home at a fraction of the cost. He is relieved. At this point Ingrid arrives to pick me up for a shopping expedition and she agrees to drive Rudy back to pick up the van before we (Ingrid and I) go shopping. I have nothing to shop for (except a few groceries) but that doesn’t stop me from perusing the baby section of each store we go to. I am super excited as I am expecting 3 new grandchildren (one in January, one in April, and one in May) so the grandma urges are huge and it means I get so much pleasure looking at small outfits. Ingrid smiles politely when I show her some stuff (she is shopping for her grandchildren as well) but moves me on as the items are not on sale. She is a more proficient shopper than me and it turns out she is right. One must look for the sale racks and she knows where to find them. I pick out a few little outfits and buy them.

By this time we need to rush off to meet Rudy for supper. We get to the restaurant and Ingrid knows all the gluten free options. I am the odd person out in this group. But I have basically been eating gluten free with Rudy for the last while so we order a combination of dishes that all of us can eat. Restaurants have changed a lot in the last number of years and there is always something for people who can’t eat wheat. Rudy has been doing so much better since he switched over so he is getting pretty religious about the whole thing. And I am glad he is feeling better. We have a nice time even though we miss Reg. (Ingrid especially, of course)

 

It is Sunday and time to relax for the day. You never know what our busy schedule will look like this next week. I say this all with tongue in cheek as I know for sure that Rudy will golf and I will swim, and bike and explore. But today is a day of rest. For Rudy that means football (watching it that is). For me the usual. Now that I am settled in one place I have a least one phone call to a family member of friend. And today is no exception. But first we do our morning  walk.  Then Rudy watches more football…. games and games of it. I swim, read, chat, putter. A great day, all and all.

 

Today is Leif’s 15th birthday.  It is sad not to see him or talk to him but after many attempts at a phone call I finally have to give up and will try to contact him tomorrow. Rudy and I do a morning walk and I am happy to say that my bad hip is getting better all the time. And then I basically spend the day fretting and worrying and researching stuff about a house that I think I want to buy in Winnipeg. Ana does a walk through a real estate guy and there are many things that I like about it. But it doesn’t check all the boxes. It needs new windows and is a litter smaller than I would like. I think and plan and replan and spend the whole day with it. I don’t even go to the pool.

But we have planned to go out for dinner with Robert and Arlene so that is a great distraction. They come over for drinks before we go out. It is great to see some old Steinbach friends and we discuss what all old people do: aches and pains.  And of course other things too. We head to Fresh Agave, a Mexican restaurant.  The food is fabulous: rice, beans, guacamole, tortillas, shrimp fried with onions and peppers.

 

I wake up very early. Is it because of the excitement of finally being here and not having to think about moving on to a new location tonight. We are 2 hours ahead of Manitoba time and so after a few hours being awake I can still phone Ana on her way to work as I sip my second cup of tea. The sun is shining in the patio window by the time I call her and the day begins so pleasantly. Rudy finally wakes up and we head out for a morning walk. It is cool in the shade but when we walk through the sun it is beautiful. It feels like the beginning of a new holiday.

In the afternoon Rudy takes his van to the car doctor. He has been worried periodically during the trip. The old lady shutters between 30 and 50 mph (you Canadians may have to translate that into kms). She also has begun to grind a bit when Rudy turns the steering wheel. She isn’t a spring chicken any more but Rudy is super fond of her and doesn’t want to start writing the obituary right away. So he takes her to a transmission guy who Carlo, the maintenance man who keeps the yard, etc. in good condition, recommends. The transmission guy says it could be a transmission problem and that if transmission fluid doesn’t work, a transmission replacement is not feasible due to the big price tag. She just isn’t worth it. Rudy sighs and starts to look online for what he might be able to buy. It all seems discouraging. He books an appointment at the Honda dealer for Monday to get a prognosis and crosses his fingers. I guess we will know early next week whether we might have to look for a place to bury her.

While Rudy deals with van issues I spend time at the pool. I swim some laps and sit in the hot tub. Nothing sad for me doing what I love to do. Swimming!

We are on our way to our permanent digs today. And we are ready for it. Palm Desert here we come. It is just over a 4 hour drive so it is not a long day. The road is hammered out by trucks and that, combined with the busyness of the highway, makes the driving not ideal. But Rudy is cheerful and happy to be getting to his home away from home. He will be in Palm Dessert until the beginning of January. I will stay until November 23.

We arrive early afternoon and start to unpack. There are loads of things to organize and after a month on the road we are happy to do some nesting. Once everything (clothes, groceries, and miscellaneous) are put away I start to dream about cooking supper. I can tell I have been away from this for a while because I can usually think of a whole list of things I would rather do than cook. But I am gungho. I search for recipes and make a list and then head off on my bike to Albertsons. Rudy wonders whether I need more than my large backpack but I say that my list is small. Famous last words. Once I get there I have loads more ideas for other meals and by the time I have shopped and crammed everything into my backpack it weighs a ton. I manage to slip it up on my shoulders and ride home. But it isn’t easy. I have to be careful that I am not thrown off balance and shoot off into the busy street. I manage to make it home. And I cook and cook, not letting Rudy into the kitchen at all. It is a big mess once I am done and Rudy is starving. We feast on mashed potatoes and creamy parmesan chicken with a delicious broccoli salad. Doesn’t sound too gourmet, you say? Well maybe not but you can’t find that on the McDonalds menu.  We have not had any regular home cooked meal for so long that we think we have died and gone to heaven. What a perfect way to spend the first day at our place.

 

This is a day I have been looking forward to since before the trip began. When we initially decided to do a road trip we immediately checked to see what kind of concerts we might find along the way. Of course many of the artists we checked on were touring in Great Britain, or Australia, or, even if they were in the US, they were in totally different states than those we were travelling through. But Rodney Crowell, someone I have wanted to see for a long time, is actually playing on our route at a time we will be there for.

We are just marking time today until the concert starts so we decide to shop for groceries for our stay in Palm Dessert. We make a HUGE list and head to the local grocery store to pick up everything from toilet paper to corn tortillas. It’s a big load but we manage to squeeze it into the van. The perishables we stash in our hotel fridge to keep cold until tomorrow when we drive the last stretch to Palm Desert.

The concert in the evening is in the Performing Arts Centre attached to the local high school in Wickenburg, Arizona. It is a fabulous facility and anywhere a person might sit is a good seat. But we have great seats, right in the centre just 3 rows from the stage. There is no warm up band, just Rodney Crowell and 2 others. They walk on stage with no fanfare and start to play. It is low key. The music floats out into the auditorium. It is so different from the Jason Isbell concert we saw in Nashville that was loud with a light show and lots of musicians. This feels like Rodney Crowell is in my own living room with a couple of friends. He plays old songs and songs from his new album. The concert lasts for 2 hours. For last song that he plays he gets the audience to sing along with the chorus. And then it is done. No big encore. Just the end of the concert with the sound of all of us singing together sending us out to the parking lot and back to our hotel for the night.