Catching Up with Ken and Sue

It's been awhile since I have blogged. They were going to "destroy" my site if I didn't get back on. So I am here, and will catch you up on our happenings.
SHORT TRAVELS,  TENNIS, GOLF, PICKLEBALL,PING PONG,  and VOLUNTEERING, and GRANDKID SITTING, along with helping Julia out around the home with SHOPPING, CHORES, and RELAXING in the POOL and JACUZZI.     I'd say we have the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.

I'll post a few recent pictures of our activities.

Preparing for Dust Storm

Ken went without Sue in 2011. He had some visitors who paid "rent" to have an RV to use. It paid for his gas there. But these visitors were not RVers, and they ran him out of WATER in less than 3 days. Water is the golden commodity at BMan. so he had to resort to no showers for rest of trip, and used up his bottled water supply for drinking and cooking. Now he sure wished Sue had been with him. She knows how to conserve!  Sure hope we can find an extra ticket this year.

50,000 vehicles follow the trail into Burning Man. It's takes a good 12 hrs to get them all in. Once in, they do not drive around. Only ART CARS are allowed to move about the PLAYA.  

2011 Art Exhibit at Burning Man

This is the ART structure that Ken worked on during the year. they trucked it off to Burning Man and on Thursday night it was burned to the ground with ceremony.  He is already working on a lovely carissal  for 2012 event. He has his ticket, but Sue didn't get picked from the lottery of tickets. Ken may be going alone again this year. this lottery business isn't working so well for couples who want to go together.






Sue has been busy playing golf and tennis and Pickleball.  After a bad fall during a tennis tournament, she has slowed down with her tennis games and is playing more Pickleball instead.  Less running, and less chances of falling down.  Sue's golf game is getting better since the course has become a par 3. It's not a big challenge like the huge courses, but it's a fun short game.  Sue gets more exercise with Ping Pong along with walking around the park. Although it's hard to keep walking as it's fun to stop and visit the neighbors who are also out and about.

 Sue sometimes gets out her hula hoop and does a few rounds for fun mostly, although it's good exercise too.    Below is the serve "before the fall".  my opponent hit my serve back, and in my determination to return it, I had to back up to reach it, and I stumbled over my own feet , fell backward in a heap, and rebounded with my head hitting the cement. I had to be guided off the court, put on bench with ice pack, and later in the day visited the ER for possible concussion. It really scared me, and now I am double careful not to try too hard to return those errant returns.

My fun shoes help me play better! 

 Pretty fancy golf shoes were a gift from my son Patrick. He has enhanced my chances to do well by providing me with fun shoes.

Kayaking out of Sausalito Bay. Going after a Geocache that could only be reached by water. 

BELOW are some of our Pickleball players. We are just getting it started here at Rancho Carlsbad. Most have a learning curve, but we have several players that are good enough to tutor them into becoming better players. Everyone is having a good time learning.  

Playing games is fun, but we do spend our time in other hobbies.  Ken is a docent at Leo Carrillo and gives folks tours of the property that includes museum of LC, and has adobe homes, bat filled barns, and yards filled with peacocks.  Ken gives 4 graders tours every year, and senior tours on weekends.  He has learned all the history of Leo Carrillo and can give a great running rendition of it's history.  Sue volunteers at the local Woman's Resource Center, for battered women.  The Thrift shop is her favorite to spend her volunteer hours in.  She has now recruited her BOOMER friend Gretchen 2, into working/volunteering there too. Sorting the donations, tagging them with prices and getting them out on the shelves for sale is fun. We see some most unusual items come in the back door, and sell from the front. Some days the items aren't on the shelves more than an hour before they are sold, bagged and out the front door.  It's for a good cause and it's fun to participate in the volunteering there. 

Our RV trips so far in 2012 have been short ones.  We of course went to our favorite Quartzsite in Jan. and spent 2 weeks with the BOOMERS our in "Boomerville", and then a week out on Pulmosa Rd, Quartzsite with the SKP Geocachers.  In Feb. we attended the Gypsy Journal Rally in Yuma AZ. It's always a fun 5 day rally. In April, we went to LODI, CA to spend 5 days at WARE a western area chapter rally for the Escapee RV Club.  It was a first time rally and hopefully won't be the last. Everyone had a good time.

Ken spent about 5 days after Lodi, up in Sausalito taking care of granddaughter Talia. The two had a great time together, as it's always a highlight of Ken's day when he can spend time with her. 

So, time is special for the PACES, and we love every aspect of our lives. We are blessed and we value this.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE