Blast from the past...

Some of the images from yesterday's post.

My first guitar...

1963.  I was pretty sure that John and Paul were going to ask me to be a "Junior Beatle."  ;-) 

Yes, I have come full circle, back to acoustic.  But, 1964 brought my first electric guitar...

A Recco guitar... Recco is Japanese for: this will make your fingers bleed.  In 1966, I got my first nice guitar, a Gibson ES-335-TDC; still have it.  A few years down the road...

That is a hairy boy.  Want to see really hairy?

Back to rock 'n roll...

Fun to look through some of those old photos.  I thought these were lost.  Maybe I can find some of that hair?  ;-)

Memories, light the corners of my mind...

... misty, water-colored memories... of the way we...

Corners of my mind?  Pretty sure I have some dead ends, but I'm not aware of any corners.

Several years ago, when we emptied out a storage unit in Texas, we put a bunch of photos at Steph and Dan's house.  They were very gracious about allowing us some space in the garage and a closet.  You know how it is with photos: "Who is that person?"

"I have no idea.  But, we better not throw it away."

It is hard to get rid of photos.  When my sister and Mother passed, we added more photos to the "collection."

Today, after getting some home repairs done at their house, we started going through photos.  There were a lot of "Oh, remember this?"... and, "I was really skinny back then!"... and, "What were you thinking with that hair-do??"... and, "Oh, look at this photo of _________ (insert the name of every childhood pet)"... not to mention: "Your report card from 4th grade - look what your teacher wrote about you!"... and the obligatory Steph question: "Are you sure about your parentage?"

Plenty of professional family images... we had an in.  ;-)  I'll try to get some of these copied to digital.  For now.

Bingo!

We had a fun evening with the 4 of us at the local Bingo hall.  Not sure why this has become "a thing" when we're here, 'cause we don't play Bingo any other time.  It's a pretty casual atmosphere: you can bring in refreshments, and they have food and ice cream for sale, as well.

I think there were 18 games we played... on the third game in, Dan won the $75 pot.  Pays for their cost to play, plus he bought us all ice cream at intermission.  I mentioned it was my turn to win, since the other 3 have all won in the past... apparently, I had unlisted numbers on my bingo cards... again.

Well, for full disclosure, I did get one Bingo!  It was on a blackout 50/50 game... and all but 2 numbers had been called.  The lady called the number, and I hollered, "Bingo!"... along with Joan, Steph, Dan, and another 33 of our best friends.  Kinda funny, actually.  Since it was a 50/50 game, and not part of the "regular" bingo cards, the payoff is based on how many people participate in that particular game... the winnings turned out to be a whole dollar for each of the 37 winners.  Most of the pots are $75 to $150, with two big pots of $1,000.  Here are our winning cards...

I did get close a couple times.  That pays... nothing. 

One stinkin' number.  For the last $1,000 jackpot, I was two numbers away for about 15 calls before someone else got the Bingo.

I think I understand the whole premise of Bingo: one person calls out numbers, until another person in the group calls out "Bingo!", at which point the other participants all say, "Awwwwwwww!"  I think it should be called, "Awwwwwww!"

It was a fun evening.  And, did I mention: ice cream?  Oh, and the air conditioning was good, too.

They're everywhere!

Yesterday, we took Dan to lunch - Steph had another day of training.  Today, we took Stephanie to lunch - Dan had to work.

It is hot... last time I checked today, it was 113º.  If someone says, "Yeah, but it's a dry heat," I am going to punch them in the throat.

We did some moving of stuff from the CRV to the cargo trailer this morning, before cleaning up... it was already 91º at 9:00.

Before picking Steph up for lunch, we made a trip to the grocery store - starting our stocking up, with things that won't spoil in this heat.  When we came out to our car, there were 6 CR-Vs in the immediate vicinity in the parking lot, two more in line with ours...

Since getting ours, I learned it is "the number one selling SUV in the US."  We certainly see them frequently, being towed behind motorhomes.

Our for lunch at Tailgaters... the home of the best deep fried cheese curds I've ever had.  Oh, and we had other food, too.

Then, a couple shopping stops - the first for me: I wanted some armored mesh pants to wear on the scoot... cool, but protective, with armor in the knees and hips, and a denier fabric in other strategic places.  Joan found a mesh jacket with armor... in pink.  It is WAY too hot to even consider getting the scoots out here, but this gear will be good to have when we can ride again.

From there, it was off to Home Depot to pick up some stuff for Steph and Dan's house.  We'll have a couple projects to do before we head out.

In honor of National Donut Day, we stopped at Krispy Kreme, because I am patriotic like that... Joan and I waited in the car while Steph went inside.  Imagine my disappointment when she came out empty handed... "There are 22 people ahead of me in line.  Nope."

We dropped her off at home, then back to the motorhome.  Mostly to check on Izzy in this heat - all is good; the a/c is working its heart out to keep up.

I don't know if it was Joan or Steph's idea, but we are playing BINGO tonight.  Pretty sure it is "my turn" to win something.  Hope their air conditioning is working.

Hitchin' up...

We picked up the Honda this morning... took the motorhome and cargo trailer to the service place, to make sure it all "plays nice" together.

The first step was dropping the cargo trailer and hooking the Honda up to the Aspect.  Things have changed a lot since we last towed an SUV behind a motorhome... there are a lot of things to hook-up.  It looks like a very nice installation.  We tested the lights - all good - and went for a test ride to see how the Honda does behind the motorhome.  Again, all good.  The brake controller is interesting: it uses a combination of electrics (from the brake lights) and inertia (where it senses you are slowing) to apply the brakes in the towed vehicle (the CR-V).  There is a potentiometer that allows you to adjust the sensitivity of the inertia.  Sounds complicated, but seems to work slick.

Then, back to the service lot, where we hooked up the cargo trailer behind the Honda, which is behind the motorhome...

The service guy said, "You have quite a wagon train here!"

It seems like a lot, but the length is actually a bit shorter than the truck/5th wheel/cargo trailer set up we used to use.

There was a small glitch when hooking up the cargo trailer, but a quick trace showed it to be the connector on the trailer, not anything related to the work the service place did.  The service guy, cleaned the connection, put a dab of dielectric grease on it, and we were good to go.  Well, we assume we are - it isn't legal to double tow in Arizona unless the middle conveyance is a 5th wheel.  So, when we get to Nevada, we'll know for sure.

We had to add a hitch riser to the coach and the Honda, to keep things level.  We have a LOT more locks and keys now.  And hitch pins.  And connectors.

The rear view camera on the Aspect is going to get more use.

Things that go "BOOM" in the night...

I was up shortly after 5 this morning.  (Yeah, still haven't settled in with the time difference.)

When I turned on the TV, the local news was talking about the meteor that passed over Phoenix around 3:50 this morning... "The contrail from the meteor is still visible currently..."

Thought I'd take a look...

Yep...

There was some talk about: "Could it have been a UFO?"

Probably not... unless they were visiting from the sun... "Hey, this place reminds me of home!"

;-)

You may want to divert your eyes...

Over 100º today.  The next 4 days are predicted to be "record breaking heat."  Swell.

Steph and Dan had school meetings again today.  We did go to their house - laundry, haircut, and pool time.  With the heat, I expected the water to be quite warm... it was cooler than I expected.  You can try to "sneak" in, but "the boys" know the cold water is rising as you move down the steps.  Once in, it was refreshing...

Steph and Dan were out before 4:00, we we all got together for an early supper out.

I called to check on the tow bar and braking system install for the Honda... "They are just finishing it, but I don't have the final paperwork, yet."  We agreed to pick it up tomorrow - he wouldn't have to stay late, and we wouldn't have to rush to get the coach unhooked and driven to the service place.  Yes, we have to take the motorhome there, to make sure everything works, lights, and brakes like it is supposed to.

I'll be anxious to have the CR-V back.