My family decided to have weekly conference calls to discuss tasks related to John's Celebration of Life event on February 23rd. The first one was over the weekend. I have been working on John's bio and the service program.
I was also assigned to determine an appropriate charity for those that want to donate on behalf of John. John loved to surf, so we wanted a charity with that theme. Operation Amped is a local 501(c)(3) that uses the healing potential of surfing for the benefit of seriously ill, injured, or disabled U.S. military veterans and their families. I talked to the organization and drafted a recommendation that was later approved unanimously.
The rest of the week was getting us ready to go to Las Vegas and then Los Angeles. Originally, we were going to take the trailer to Thousand Trails in Palm Desert for ten days. But, Tom decided that he wanted to take a quick trip to visit his mother in Indiana. I needed to go to Los Angeles and attend my Organization of Women Executive's retreat at Terrenea Resort in Palos Verdes. I made arrangements to have the dogs boarded at Cinder Hills Kennel. On Thursday, I drove Tom to Las Vegas and we spent the night near the airport. He had an early morning flight and took the complimentary shuttle.
Dinner in Las Vegas was at Robert Irvine's Pub Food Restaurant. It was an easy walk from our motel. Tom had a delicious pastrami sandwich. I had a large wedge salad. Yummy!
I drove to Los Angeles and spent the night with my brother Peter and his wife Terry. The next morning, I drove to Honoria Vivell's home in San Marino. We carpooled to Terrenea Resort. It was rainy, but we had a great ocean view room.
We had lunch with all the Organization of Women Executive ladies. Instead of enjoying a spa treatment, I made arrangements to visit with my sorority sister Pam Brown. She lives in Palos Verdes. We had coffee and a nice visit at a local restaurant and then we enjoyed a nearby boutique.
That evening, I joined the Organization of Women Executives for cocktail hour and dinner at the resort. It was nice getting a photo with Honoria!
We have been roommates at this event for many years.
Superbowl Sunday is always fun. I was back at Peter and Terry's home in San Gabriel. Only six of us watched the game. I was secretly rooting for the New England Patriots. The others were LA Rams fans. Tom and I texted each other during the game. He is also a New England Patriots fan.
It was a very slow game. The Patriots won. Tom was watching the game at an Applebee's Restaurant near Indianapolis.
Monday morning, I left Southern California at about 6:15 a.m. Tom's flight was arriving in Las Vegas at around 8:00 a.m. There was no way that I would get there that early, so he chilled out and had breakfast at the airport.
I arrived at the Las Vegas airport around 10:15 a.m. I texted Tom and he met me in front of his terminal. It was an easy drive back to Williams. I was glad we arrived home Monday night, as we got several inches of snow the next morning. For the first time this winter, I had to get the snowblower out!
After the driveway was clear, it was time to go pick-up Libby and Kelsey at Cinder Hills Kennel. We were leaving Ramsey there for another week.
It was time to get the trailer ready for a four-night visit to Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Golf Club. Because of the snow and the cold temperatures, we packed the trailer while it was still parked in the RV barn. Thursday morning, my 4x4 truck beautifully backed up the snow-packed driveway to pick up the trailer.
We were only going to the Phoenix area, about a three hour drive. So, we met friends Priscilla and Roger Lasch in Dewey for lunch at the Blue Hills Cafe. The parking situation was perfect for pulling the trailer. The four of us worked together at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2006.
We had a nice lunch and visit. At about 1:30 pm, it was time to head further south. We arrived at El Mirage RV Resort a little after 3:00 pm. The man in the golf cart took us to our reserved site, 1173. Tom set up the trailer while Libby, Kelsey, and I went to the registration office to pay the balance of our site fees.
Originally, these four days were going to be the tail end of a week in Palm Desert. One of my good Thousand Trails/Pickleball friends, Linda Ostiguy, is in the area. She and her husband bought a place in at Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise. Linda is a great pickleball player and teacher. She and her visiting son, Chris, came over to Pueblo El Mirage on Friday afternoon. We played pickleball for three hours.
Linda also spent some time working with Tom. She has some great drills for improving the game of pickleball.
Richard and I used to stay at this RV Resort. Some of our friends --- the Wheelers, the Van Dusens, and the MacQuestens --- worked at the resort in 2013. Our site was a nice pull-thru, over by the larger dog park.
Our Williams neighbors, Connie and Jay Leadabrand, rented a site here for three months. They came by to say hello --- on their 49th wedding anniversary! The next day, Tom and I visited them. They recently traded in their large 5th wheel and truck for a Jayco motorhome.
The motorhome has three slide-outs and is 37 feet long. Very nice!
On Saturday, Tom and I went to play pickleball at Happy Trails. We met up with Linda, Mark, Chris, and Linda's brother and sister-in-law.
Linda had reserved two pickleball courts from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Several of the players were 4.0 players, so there was some challenging play.
Sunday night, we had dinner at the El Mirage Golf Club. Tom was delighted with the night's special --- liver, onions, and bacon!
Monday, we drove back to Williams. It had snowed Sunday night. So, we pulled up to the house and emptied the trailer before putting it back in the RV barn.
Once again, I loved how the new truck maneuvered the trailer with the four wheel drive on the snow!
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