Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Casino del Sol RV Park

Oct 31, 2019

Temperature 74 degrees

A Rewarding Experience

Travel Day

Today it was time to say to all our new friends We’ll see you on down the road.  Yes, we’re moving on.  On to new experiences, new sights and sounds, and on to new adventures.

The last three weeks have been intense, tiring, exhausting but so very fulfilling and rewarding.  I would like to believe that through our efforts others will be helped in a positive way.  One thing we learned the hard way and are just now realizing, never ever in the future plan back to back NOMAD Projects like we have done!  Sure we could cancel the next two months but we are not about to.  What’s the old saying in for a penny in for a pound. We’ll give it our all the next two months and then just sleep our way through the month of January – until that is we start all over again with another NOMADS project!

Our team was the greatest.  Each and every member was so special in their own way.  Each has enriched our lives in immeasurable ways.  We learned a lot, we grew a lot, we had a wonderful time working side by side with them.  I’m sure somewhere down the road we may work with them again.  It would be an honor and a privilege to do so.

Today we rolled a little further down The Road of Retirement.  We didn’t have far to go and we couldn’t check in until 11:30 am so there was absolutely no rush to get out.  We took our time and finally got on the road around 11 am.   Thirty minutes later we were at our new home – Casino del Sol RV Park.  For many, many, many years you were able to park for free in the Casino parking lot.  No more.  It’s the RV Park now or not at all.  I guess they also ticked off a number of people who used to come here for free because though this park has 73 sites there are only 15 rigs here.  Remember, this is high season.

About the RV Park.  Look at their web site and you go Wow!  You look and you say what a beautiful park with shade trees and shrubs between each site.  Well, reality is a bit different.  Let’s just say the artist had an over-active imagination.  This is the reality, if you can find a tree or a shrub anywhere you’ve got better eyes than me!

That’s not to say it’s a bad place to let one’s jacks down.  It’s just not what you are led to expect.  Registration is on the left as you enter.  Too bad there is no place to park why you go into the office.  You just leave it in the road and hope no one runs in to it.  Registration is also an interesting experience.  This is their first year and they don’t quite have it all together yet.

Here is our site, it’s a paved pull through but just long enough for the rig.  The car has to go across the front. Our orientation is not perfect since we’ll have the sun on the refrigerator during the morning.  At least it is only the morning when it is usually fairly cool.  Forget using the awning, not with the winds around here.

 Thankfully, our site is level and all utilities are convenient to the utility bay.  Gertrude (see her in the back)  is happy since there is not a leaf in sight to obstruct her view of the Southern Sky.  Within minutes we had her set up and were pulling in all of our favorite TV channels.

Now the view?  Once again we are surrounded by beautiful and majestic mountains.  I never tire looking at them.  I keep saying, someday in someway I’d like to go to the top of them.

So here we are for the next couple of days.  Tomorrow we have sight seeing planned.  Saturday we leave for Phoenix for our next NOMADS Project.  As for today, we’re just hanging around the homestead letting our sore muscles relax.  I wonder, if I ever get a new rig can I get one with a hot tub in it?

That was our day on Road of Retirement.  An easy travel day and a day of rest and relaxation.  Yeah!  We continue to take each day as it comes and each day we give thanks to the good Lord for every minute of every one that we are given to live to the fullest.

Thanks for checking in with us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you again tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Tucson Metropolitan Ministries Family Services

Oct 30, 2019

Temperature 71 degrees

Farewell TMM Family Services

Southern Arizona Transportation Museum – The Museum

First NOMADS Project is finished.  It seems like only yesterday that we were backing in and getting ready for yet another new chapter in our lives.  Its been an intense but rewarding three weeks.  Time has really flown by.  Now we need to move on.  So we shall to yet another NOMADS project.

This is our complete team gathered for a farewell luncheon given in our honor as a way of saying thanks for all the work we accomplished.  In the back the men:  myself, Ken, Scott, Carl.  In the front the ladies:  Hedi, Barbara, Cheryl, Teresa.

Gathered in the conference room for lunch

Sandwiches and Salad.

Time now to clean up and pack up.  Glad I’m not Ken, he’s got a few things to put away.

Before we call it a night, let’s spend a few minutes together at The Southern Arizona Transportation Museum.

Entering the foyer you see this sign.  In reality this is what this Museum is all about, it documents how the railroad changed the city of Tucson.

In the beginning travel in the southwest was by stagecoach.

Wagon roads crisscrossed the Arizona territory.

Then came the railroad.

Now came a new problem, how to move from the train station to the rest of town.

For many years Tucson depended on its cotton crops and the ore from its mines to support its economy.  But when both fell on hard times Tucson turned to something new

Yet, unfortunately all good things sometimes do come to an end.

Additional competition came from new intercity bus lines.

Today is a time of transition for Tucson.

Today questions remain that need to be answered for the future of Tucson.

Let’s finish our tour of Tucson and its railroads by taking a look at the evolution of its railroad station.

That is the story of the railroad and Tucson.  We’re glad we had the opportunity to visit this fascinating museum which gave us the opportunity to learn more about Tucson.  It’s places like this that absolutely delight us because they give us the opportunity to discover and learn more about an area we are in.

That was our day today on The Road of Retirement.  Time now to go pack myself.  Tomorrow is a travel day, a really long travel day – can you believe all of 30 minutes!  Just a stop over before we leave for Phoenix.  We can’t arrive there any earlier than Saturday so we found a place to hang out for two days.

Thanks for coming along with us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Tucson Metropolitan Ministries Family Services

Oct 29, 2019

Temperature 78 degrees

Fifth Project – Studio Apartment, Finished

Southern Arizona Transportation Museum

We did it!  We cleaned the yard of one house and painted a total of five apartments.  We also completed numerous other repairs to each apartment.  In addition we replaced one backboard on the basketball court and did other odds and ends around the TMM campus.  To say the least, it has been an exhausting week.  Yet, in the end it has also been a very fulfilling and rewarding week.  I would like to think that we, indeed, have made a difference in the lives of numerous individuals.

Barbara and I were also able to do some sightseeing during our time here in Tucson.  Tonight I want to share with your our trip to the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum.

Follow me now to the Earp and Holiday Statue.   For some reason I always believed that the shootout occurred in Tombstone.  Truth be known it actually took place here in Tucson.

Moving on we come to

As to how it was moved to this location, take a look

 

Here are the various parts of the locomotive.

See how many of the above you can find.  Do you see the pilot?  It’s also known as a cowcatcher, cattle catcher or cow plow and is the device mounted at the front to deflect objects on the track that might derail the train.

Now about that thing called a cylinder.  The cylinder is the power-producing element of the locomotive.  The cylinder is made pressure-tight with end covers and pistons; a valve distributes the steam to the ends of the cylinder which in turn powers the pistons which in turn drives the wheels.  Now how about that!

Do you see the smoke box?  It’s below the white stack below.  It’s where the steam from the cylinders and the smoke from the firebox come together to escape from the locomotive. through the smoke stack (which is in white in the picture below).

By the way you might be wondering what is a sand dome?  Steam engines used high-grade silica sand for traction on the rails. Sand was stored in a dome (front black dome in the picture below) on top of the engine and, as the train traveled the tracks, the sand would be sprinkled down pipes to land on the tracks in front of the wheels. This would aid the wheels in gripping the tracks, especially when the rails were wet.  Look close and you can see the pipe leading from the sand dome down along the engine to the driving wheels.

As for the steam dome. It is a vessel fitted to the top of the boiler of a steam locomotive. It contains the opening to the main steam pipe and its purpose is to allow this opening to be kept well above the water level in the boiler.  This arrangement acts as a simple steam separator (collector) and minimizes the risk that water will be carried over to the where it might cause a hydraulic lock.

Here is a diagram of how a steam locomotive actually works.

The engineer’s office.

Ever wonder what the engineer would see when either looking out the window in front of him, or when leaning out and looking forward?  Sort of like this

Here is the tender that holds the oil and water for the locomotive.

So that is Steam Locomotive 1673.  We have yet to visit the museum, but that’s for tomorrow.  Before we go, however, take a look at the miniature village displayed along the tracks beneath the locomotive.

Our day on The Road of Retirement has come to an end.  We have some chilly nights ahead, down in the 40 degree range.  Nothing we can’t handle.  Just a bit unusual inasmuch as we have been used to nights in the 60 degree range.  Looks as if winter is settling in here in the Southwest.  Time to get some sleep, have a good night.

Thanks again for keeping up with us.  We appreciate your company and your comments.  Have a good night.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Tucson Metropolitan Ministries Family Services

Oct 28, 2019

Temperature 76 degrees

Prayers For Mom and the Family Please

Fourth Project – Apartment 8101, Finished

Please remember Mom and our family in your prayers.  Test results are back and it looks like Mom has just weeks left.  We’re hoping she will rally but its not looking good.  So grateful we had the two weeks with her this past summer.  We had a fantastic time with her and we will always remember those days with love.

We’re wrapping things up here in Tucson and making plans to travel north to my sisters house where my mom will be staying.

Today we finished up Apartment 8101 which leaves us will just one more apartment to paint.

The kitchen and the dining room are finished.

hallway is done

so are the bedrooms and all holes in walls and doors have been patched.  We’re done.

 

We’re now in our last apartment and it is just a studio so we’ll finish it up tomorrow.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Not the kind of day we thought it would be.  Yet, as I sit and write I’m reminded of this poem

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”

And before I go a big shout out to my wife.  I couldn’t make it without you sweetheart.  And my kids – I love you one and all and thank you so much for your love and support during this time.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!