SharivilleLife stories from Shari

March 14, 2010  Sunday

Today we had a really fun and educational day.  We went to the Pima Air and Space Museum.  We had a guided tour to begin  with for the first hour and then we took an hour long tram ride out into the field to get the skinny on all the air craft outside of the buildings.   There were planes from all era’s from WW11 on to the present.  We got the lowdown on all the particulars.  There are some fab air craft at this museum…..There were a couple retired Air Force One’s.  One in particular was the plane that transported the Iranian prisoners home to the USA after 444 days in captivity. They were members of the American embassy, all 53 of them.   That started on Nov 4, 1979 until Jan 20, 1981. They were released from Iran just minutes before President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office.  Tell you anything? The flight home was designated as The Flight to Freedom.  It gave me goose bumps to hear that story told again, and to see the actual air craft that flew them home to freedom.  As an American I can remember how devastated I was to think that Iran had done this to Americans.

The plane that flew down to the antarctic and picked up the female scientist , who discovered she had cancer,  was on display.  It even had the ski’s under the plane, they flew in under extreme circumstances, weather wise  and flew out within minutes.

We also saw one of the planes that participated in the “ Berlin Air Lift,” that was another heart wrencher for me.  Seems like I have always been politically involved, with a true American heart.  America is everything to me, always has been.  I guess it reflects coming form a military family.  This museum made me so proud to be an American and to see the kind of power we have and the caliber of men and women who work with all their hearts  to keep us safe.  Stalin began the blockade in June of 1948 and lasted until Sept 1949.  It was the first confrontation of the “Cold War.”  It became a symbol against Communism.  It  was Russia’s attempt  to dominate the entire area.  It was a massive effort to supply 2 million people with food and fuel by the heroic efforts by the Americans and British.  277,000 flights were made, many at 3 min intervals.  By spring of 1949 an average of 8000 tons of food and fuel were being flown in daily. Then in 1987, there came the very famous speech by, once again,  President Ronald Reagan.  Mr Gorbachev, ” Tear Down This Wall.” Reuniting East and West Berlin.

We saw and heard about aircraft for Korea and Vietnam and the gulf wars and some planes currently being used.  Of course one of my favorite to see was the SR 71,” Blackbird.” The fastest plane ever used, that we know of.  Could fly across the USA in 63 minutes. Well hows that for a history lesson.  Hope you enjoyed it, I certainly did enjoy going to the museum and writing about it on my blog. 

When we left we went to a great Mexican restaurant for a combo plate and a dos XX  beer. Completing a really great day.

Hugs…….Shari and Jerry

Mar. 13, 2010  Saturday

Well here I sit, totally tired.  We started out the day attempting to go to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  We even got there before noon, which is pretty good for us.  The place was jammed. Even the overflow parking was being used.  There was a line a mile long just to get into the place.  So we decided to wait until Mon. as the weekend was here. With us we never pay attention to what day it is, that’s the beauty of retirement, until we are forced to as in today.  So we made other plans and went to Old Tucson.  What a great idea that was.  It was busy, but not like the museum.  Its also more money, we got a two for one ticket from the resort here for the museum,we will use it on Mon.

Old Tucson is actually an old movie studio lot.  It’s where many many westerns  were filmed.  So we spent the afternoon touring the place and found it to be fun, interesting and historical. All the tours and exhibits were included in the gate fee.  We ate lunch at Big Jakes BBQ . I had the best ribs, they were so tender they just fell off the bone, with cole slaw and beans and a biscuit and honey, Jerry had a pulled pork sandwich with beans and the best BBQ sauce.  From there it was over to see a film on remembering John Wayne.  It was nostalgic.  Then we took in a comedy stunt show, ” the Treasure of Santa Maria.” really funny. Then of course we had to hit the ice cream parlor, you know how it is, my favorite dessert and all.  I can’t believe they were out of Rocky Road my fav, so I settled for Cherry.  Jerry had his fav, chocolate.  Then another film, ” Where Legends Walk,’ all about some of the movies that were made there on the lot.  Between shows and events there were all sorts of western memorabilia to see all over the lot.  We took some picts and really enjoyed the 72 degree weather.  There was just enough breeze  to make it comfortable in the outdoor shows.  We took the historic tour of Old Tucson, the guide was very knowledgeable.  Some of the boo boos made in some of the movies were pointed out like the 8 communication towers on one of the mountains in the background of an old west western, or the Christmas lights they forget to take down on one of the main buildings in a certain 1800s movie. Funny funny.  We also went into The Grand Palace Saloon to see Miss Kitty’s Can-Can Revue.  That was really a nice show.  Jerry had his picture taken with a couple of the Can Can girls. He was pleased.  We ended the day with a “gunfight,” not a real one of course.  It was The Wild, Wild West-night of the Deadly Tycoon, very action packed and funny.  We were pooped.  Got our exercise today, and got some education too.

For the fans of John Wayne, and we are, did you know that 3 of his movies were made entirely right here in Tucson, at this very  lot we visited. He made over 150 movies as the star and did even more with bit parts.  It was a good feeling to walk the same area where he made, McLintock in 1963, and El Dorado in 1967, and Rio Lobo in 1071. There is a famous mountain here that is in many many movies done here not just westerns.  Its called golden Gate Peak, don’t know where they got that name for here.  All in all it was a very fine day, we didn’t get lost, and that’s always good.   More tomorrow.  Hugs, Shari and Jerry.

What is it for me about the” Desert  Southwest?” I have asked myself  often before, because it keeps drawing me back. I don’t believe I would want to live here full time, but time here is wonderful.  I have a real fondness for Death Valley, its serene, peaceful and spiritual, and it’s on the way from California to the Great Desert Southwest.  Here I get a feeling I cannot explain.

We spent time today in two of the five Mt ranges that surround Tucson.  First we drove over to the Rincon Mts. and then turned around and drove to the Tucson Mts. both ranges are part of the Saguaro Natl. Park.  Everyone knows my fondness for Natl Parks. I now have another one chalked up. Can you say ” sah….WAH….row?  That’s how the ranger told me this park is  pronounced.  Of course it’s all about the Saguaro Cactus and they are something to behold.  They only grow here and nowhere else in the world.  Here in the Sonoran Desert. They are a treasure. They are spellbindingly glorious.  I have seen these cactus’ before but never a forest of them.  Saguaro Natl Park is definitely one of “My America’s” precious sights to see.  This park was created in 1933, that was a good yr.  In 1976 Congress designated over 70 %  of the park as wilderness area, thus providing this area solitude and a place to renew your spirit.  I think that’s just what the desert does for me, it renews my spirit.  The park in the Tucson Mts. varies in elevation and those tall giants can be seen at all levels.  They say the Saguaro cactus can live, if it gets a good start, which is difficult, 175 to 200 yrs.  Can you imagine what these cactus could tell us esp about this area.  From the Apache Indians, the outlaws like Billy the Kid, the Earp brothers and the Clantons, they had to be all over this area. They really did witness the “Wild West ” at it’s glory.  Yet they stand quietly in their place, some with out stretched arms and are ever so silent.  If they could only talk.  but then that would take the mystery away, wouldn’t it?

These marvelous green giants grow ever so slowly.  In a yr a seedling may grow a quarter of an inch.  In 15 yrs it may reach 12 inches. At about 30 yrs it may flower and by 50 yrs it can reach 7 ft. tall.  The Saguaro’ that live to 150 yrs. can reach 50 ft.  After about 75 yrs into this they may sprout arms from small prickly nubs that will grow out and up.  There’s a rather big poaching problem with these guys.  People steal them for landscaping and that’s a definite No No!!!  These are the largest cacti in the U.S.

While I was tromping around in the desert, very carefully, to take pictures I kept an eye out for the various creatures the rangers advised about.  I was so fortunate not to see a Diamond Back Rattler, a Scorpion, or a Tarantula.  But I was looking.  We saw Quail and Roadrunners, cute little guys. But this park is not just about the fantastic green giants, this is the Sonoran Desert, and it supports untold mammals and reptiles and birds of several kinds.  I would love to have seen an Elf Owl.  They nest in the Saguaro’, or a Desert Tortoise. That would have been the icing on the cake.  Imagine this environment with about 12 inches of rain per yr?  And yet it’s a wonderful place to come to to renew your spirit.

The cactus’ are not in bloom yet, but there are so many different kinds of them.  They are all special in their own way.   I love the Ocotillo’. I have seen them in bloom and the flower is orange.  There is lots of Creosote Bush and Barrel Cactus.  We caught the movie at the visitors center and it just explained so much.  I have longed to visit Tucson for as long as I have been traveling and finally we are here.  Tomorrow will bring another wonderful day of adventures, so tune in again, it will be interesting, esp for those who have caught the travel bug.

Mar. 11, 2010, Thurs.

Hello from Tucson Arizona, its positively gorgeous here.  We arrived yesterday afternoon after just a short drive of about 240 miles.  We made our quota for the first time.  I have always wanted to explore Tucson.  There seems to be lots of things to see and do and the park we are at has room for 1100 RVers.  Its fairly full.  We got here and it was so nice that our original 2 day stop has morphed into 6. They had quite a time rearranging our RV space because we wanted to extend, but like all these parks they are so accommodating.  The weather is wonderful, no wind, a mild breeze and sunny clear blue sky’s.

Our main problem is Teddy.  He has decided that he will pee once a day and as far as the other that’s debatable too.  I’m worried he will ruin his kidneys.  Don’t know what the problem is. Sounds trivial but I just can’t figure it out. Jerry keeps parading him around the park but no dice. I think after this blog I will be caught up to date.  Don’t know what we will be doing today , but you can bet we will be doing something.  I’m up for a new adventure.  That’s the name of the game.  The adventures of Jerry and Shari.  Will keep you posted on the blog.  Hugs, S and J

Mar. 9, 2010. Tues.

Late start.  Well I needed awhile to get started, plus a couple cups of coffee.  Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not a morning person. We ate breakfast at the nearest Flying J at about 2 PM.  Being west of the Pecos by now is worse than being east of the Pecos. ( that’s pretty funny, esp my fondness for rivers, the Pecos River was about 3 feet wide,) but at least it had running water.  Probably rare out here in this area. Now being west of the Pecos there isn’t even cactus let alone anywhere to eat.  We were almost into El Paso before we got breakfast.   We drove thru El Paso, that city never ends, there’s houses from mountain to mountain all thru the valley between, as far as the eye can see.  I don’t think I would like to live in El Paso.

We drove on to Las Cruises,  New Mexico, and to Bev and Mike’s house.  ( Tommy’s mom and step dad.)  So I pulled a “Shari”. I had made reservations for the second and third day out.  Then I find that the place I thought was close to Bev’s is actually 50 miles away in Demming,  New Mexico.  Well OK, they looked closer on the map.  So we did a fast visit, I think we did a lot of visiting in 2 to 3 hours.  But we had 3 cats crated in the back seat and a puppy crated in the trailer, and had already driven 350 miles. That’s with a horrific head wind.  Vincent was home and he and Mike showed us their art work.  I’m impressed.  Mike does fantastic things with photos and Vince is into all forms of art work, doing great with mastering  Corel painting, and really doing wonders with photo restoration. They both sell their art work. Lucky me…… I came away with such a nice gift from each of them.  Mike gave me a matted print of an Indian Chief dancing in full regalia, very spiritual and gorgeous.  Vince gave me a print of his Fox Eye.  It was the abstract that was on face book.  He pointed out the various  animals and birds within the painting, sooo fascinating.  Wonderful gifts and  much appreciated .  Bev, bless her heart, since we couldn’t stay for dinner, she sent dinner with us.  Mike’s wonderful, and they were, Chile beans, and Bev made a macaroni salad and some fresh baked brownies,YUM!!

Well Bev, you will get a laugh out of this part.  Not only did I make reservations 50 miles away, but that turned into 72 miles from your house before we finally arrived at our destination at about 8 PM.  You see after we left Demming, it was 3 miles on one road and 3 miles on another and then 7.5 on a gravel road.  When Jerry found out about the gravel road, I thought his head would start spinning.  Jerry hates gravel roads, esp dragging this sled.  By now we had crossed multiple cattle guards, Angie loves those.  We has seen many signs stating Open Range.  At any moment I could picture a very large Brahma Bull  to appear in the headlights.  It was another ” Shari” moment.  It seems I had neglected to read the fine print about the RV Park, the part about the gravel road. Oh well, in trouble again. Of course by now its pitch black way out there in nowhere.  The wind was blowing 60 miles an hr.  and we are looking for Hidden Valley Ranch RV Park on a road clearly marked “dead end road.”  Well we finally came across it, thank heavens, my life was on the line by then.  They told us to just find a place and park it, very layed back they were.  An so you won’t believe it but the place was full of RVs?  Go figure.  A few minutes ago Jerry took Teddy out for a walk and it was snowing, almost like a blizzard with the wind still blowing a gale.  Snowing in March in New Mexico.  So here we are in the middle of nowhere and the phones don’t work and the air card don’t work and of course no satellite for another night.  I’m in big trouble.  Bev – the dinner was wonderful and esp for a snowy night.  Thank you, Thank you so much.

Mar. 8, 2010, Monday.

We got a late start out of the Metroplex, were hoping the rain would pass, finally figured we may wait forever.  After hitting interstate 20 it rained so hard and the wind blew with such fury the windshield wiper  couldn’t keep up. On down the road we drove into beautiful blue sky with fluffy marshmallow clouds.  Problem being we were in West Texas by then.  If you have never been to West Texas, its a treat.  The vegetation consists of muskeet, cactus and tumble weeds.  The landscaping is done with a bazillion plastic bags blowing and hanging off everything.  They will still be there in a hundred years. Damn litterbugs.

The wind increased and we went thru about 50 miles of dust storm, often pretty dense.  All along the highway were abandoned buildings of old business’ and long abandoned houses.  It gave me a sad  lonely feeling to think about the hard work that once went into all that.  I wondered where all those people have gone to. It has to be a challenge to try to eke out a living in West Texas.  Along the way were cotton fields with wisps of cotton still hanging on, waiting for a new season to plow the fields again.  I thought of my friends who talked about living in West Texas as children and working in the cotton fields and how difficult it was.  Along the highway were many oil wells, usually only pumping at about 50 %.  Makes me wonder why they all are not pumping full speed ahead?

After dark we found an RV park, few and far between. We had by then driven 400 miles, after promising ourselves we would only drive 250 to 300 miles a day.  Well no satellite tonight, Jerry really didn’t want to watch Fox News or the Weather Channel anyway.

You will notice these posts are not on time, because I have had quite a time finding a place my air card could connect me to the internet.

Now that we are short timers, soon to head out for the “Wild West,”  I  am thinking of all the wonderful things here in the DFW Metroplex that we will miss.  It has been a wonderful adventure, started out very scary but thanks to all the prayers and wonderful people and the extraordinary heart surgeon, Dr Michael Mack, the nurses at Baylor’s Heart Hospital , and the rehab nurses at Baylor’s Rehab Hospital, our newest adventure has been wonderful.  We have had the most special loving support from our kids, that really saw us thru.  We most of all will miss them, Tommy and Angie, and Felecia and Tyler.  The 4 legged family we will so miss too.  They have become like our own and I treat them so.  They have accepted us unconditionally, and I know they will miss us.  I know we will be in phone contact but it’s just not the same. Ruby won’t be able to tell me how she is, I can tell now by looking at her. Tommy will have to hook us up to the camera on our laptops.  It still wont  be the same.

We have been to so many restaurants, from the very high end, Texas de Brazil, to the many Mexican restaurants , “Rose’s, ” where they have the best taco’s and condiment bar,  and “ Mi Cocina,” where they have the wonderful Mambo Taxi’s   This is a frozen margarita type drink with secret ingredients, and believe me two is the max, or else you could be sorry. They are the best.  The fried pickles at Hooters are great, and Bone Daddy’s has good pulled pork sandwiches, both have scanty dressed , pretty girls to wait on you. . There is of course our good ole standby “ Joe’s,”  they have the best down home country cooking.  They also have a singing waitress that sings Happy Birthday to you on your birthday and she does it in a most unusual manner.  Sooo funny. This week end we are going to try “Babe’s,” a very popular place in Roanoke, a little town nearby.  They specialize in fried chicken and chicken fried steaks.  Guess you can tell we love to try all the different foods in all the areas, esp cultural foods.  We like gourmet restaurants, but who doesn’t and let me tell you Dallas, Fort Worth area is the place to be.  It’s definitely ” Happening Here.” Tommy and Angie have seen to it that we have been totally exposed to the very best of all  here.      And I will miss Sonic drive inn’s, ask Jerry, the best burgers.

I will miss the shopping here, there is everything a person could possibly need and more, esp lots of  speciality places. It’s all available and with same day delivery.  The one thing that really impresses me is the people around here.  Texas folks are wonderful, friendly and most helpful in any manor you need them to be.  They are just polite and accommodating.

Some odd things that I will miss……….like driving the 114 or the 121 after dark and watching the jumbo jets lining up to land at DFW airport. Often there are 5 and 6 coming in at various altitudes,  the landing gear is down and all the headlights are ablaze.,at the same time on the other side of the freeway are various planes departing and gaining altitude at various levels.  They fly right over the freeways and it seems like you could just reach up and touch them. I would not want to be a traffic controller here…….I will miss listening to 96.7 Platinum radio show..while driving anywhere…..I will miss the wonderful efficient health care here.  They have their system down pat. The hospitals are beautiful……..I will miss all the beautiful spectacular buildings  in the Metroplex.  It’s really an experience to drive in both cities.  Dallas is very sophisticated, while Forth Worth is laid back and country. I love both cities.  I will just flat miss TEXAS!!  Plain and simple….I will really miss Three Dog Bakery and so will Teddy…..speaking of Teddy his full name is,” Texas Teddy.” We are bringing home a genuine Texas cow dog.  Teddy is a georgous Red Heeler, and as smart as a whip.  His breed is one of the most intelligent dogs there is, really I didn’t just make that up. Teddy is a whole nother blog., soon to be included. He will always be our pride and joy from a Texas street corner.

The saving grace is, is that we will be back.  There is so much here for us and it will always be wonderful to spend time, lots of it here in The Metroplex. Our kids are here after all.

Both Jerry and my daughter Angie make use of the Veterans Administration health benefits, and are grateful that they are available.  Esp. in light of all these up and coming  problems with the traditional medical system. As a retired RN, I am totally impressed with the available facilities and the specialities in place. I am certain that Karen Statt, Jerry’s PA at our local VA facility in Chico Calif.   is absolutely thorough, dedicated to the vets and a source of   the best medical care available.  Jerry has a private cardiologist and family MD, but I can tell you that our local VA is absolutely the best.  The VA also has a low co-payment on some very expensive meds that Jerry takes, makes our life easier.

So, while here in Dallas I have had a couple of occasions to accompany Angie on her routine visits to the VA here. Now I am really impressed.  Dallas has the largest VA facility in the USA, next only to Long Beach Ca. Here it covers 86 acres, and believe me they have not wasted any space.  It’s an incredible, beautiful facility. It’s like a small city. They have every speciality and test facility available here. The inside is also to be proud of.  There is an abundance of seating, comfortable seating, and snack areas and vending machines and even a canteen  food court in the basement, a Bistro, Cafe VA, Starbucks and even a PX.  The busiest place tho is at the pop corn machine, my favorite snack ever, well ice cream too.  Anyway its here where  all the  social action takes place.  They sell the pop corn and have a condiment table so you can flavor the pop corn with many flavors, from cheddar cheese to parmesan to Chile powder , Cajun flavorings,my favorite, plus garlic powder.  Sounds trivial but sit there for awhile and watch the activity.  It’s run by volunteers and these guys know everyone  of the employees and some of the regular patients, and as they  pass by  never fail to call out greetings of some kind. A very social area.  Angie bought me a 10$ bag of pop corn, it didn’t cost that much of course, but Angie told the guy to add  the change to the money bucket, it’s for a good cause.

While sitting by the pop corn machine I felt certain that I would encounter some vets who would feel free to let me interview them.  I was interested in their feelings on this magnificant facility. In no time I had several Vets sitting aroung in wheel chairs or leaning on walkers or sitting beside me and we were deep into conversation by the time Angie had finished with her appt.   She came out and saw all the activity and wondered if I was being mobed.  You know me, I’m naturally friendly and people seem to like to talk to me.  I was lucky enough to be there on the day of the week that lots of vets meet there in a support group for each other.  They talked to me about various degrees of disability and both medical and psychological problems related to seeing active duty. All of the vets  that I talked to seemed to appreciate the benefits and care they were recieving.  The main complaint is that there are so many of them that need some kind of attention, therefore the waits can be long.  Also as with everything else everywhere in the civilian medical community the red tape and paperwork is tremendous. For some of the vets this is difficult to get it done and keep up with it.

This facility also has a domiciliary, social workers,  mental health inpatient units, psychology service , hospitalized patient units, med surg units, respiratory therapy , orthopedic surgical nursing unit, diabetes clinic, woman’s clinic and clinical research units. All medical specialities are in house.  These are among the many available options for these wonderful Americans who have given so much.   I love the saying,” If you can read, thank a teacher, if you can speak English thank a Veteran.”  It’s the least we can do for these dedicated men and women who have given us our way of life. God Bless one and all. I feel so privileged to have been able to see this place in action because it truly is unbelievable.