Bruce b'day, Don & Zola, Dan & Nora

We got together with Don & Zola, our good friends from Michigan who winter in Gulf Shores for lunch and a stop at Camping World then the girls went shopping. We get to see each other quite often as they are only 4 miles away. Jody had Tuesday afternoon off so she and Bruce came out, they brought their dog so we went to the local dog walk so she could play. Sunday was Bruce's 38th birthday so they returned after church and we all went out for lunch then played euchre and had pumpkin and pecan pie to celebrate.
We also got together (the picture of the 4 of us) with Dan & Nora Berkery from Virginia, they are fellow HitchHikers staying nearby. We had a nice visit and had a shrimp meal at the Sea & Suds.
And of course....Roscoe. Our neighbors tinny dog. I finally got to dog sit one day when Jack & Lucy (from Tipton, MI) went to the dog track and abandoned Roscoe so I could spend some time with him.

Fairhope, AL

We finished the AARP drives ed program this morning and then drove down the east shore of Mobile Bay. You can see the tall buildings of downtown Mobile across the bay in the picture. We had lunch (shrimp) at the Oar House in Foley and did a little shopping before returning home mid afternoon so we can rest before tonight's euchre games. We recorded the inauguration and will watch it tonight.

I think it's winter in south AL as it didn't make it to 50 today. Cold, sunny & windy. But spring has sprung as I saw my first robin this week, the tulips are growing & we saw a red bud tree blooming. The forecast is 70 later this week but we are keeping the heaters fired up for now.

MLK Day; Robert E Lee & Stonwall Jackson Day

Judy has been doing real good at euchre. She won $18 Tuesday and came in fourth Sunday for twelve bucks. Good thing she continues to afford her trophy husband. Sunday was our neighbors birthday so Jack (birthday boy) and Lucy went out along with Don & Zola and us to the Longhorn before playing euchre. Saturday Judy & I went to see Bruce & Jody, we started to reupholster my parents old platform rocker. We have had a couple cold nights (30 degrees) but it's warming up, it was mid 60s today and all sunshine after some early morning rain.
Today is a big day down here in addition to MLK Day......Robert E Lee & Stonewall Jackson Day. You are celebrating up north too aren't ya? Today we started the AARP Drivers Reeducation course for old farts. We'll finish it tomorrow and I hope we can get an insurance discount. After the 1/2 day course we picked up a bookcase Jody & Bruce bought yesterday and trucked it to their place and assembled it. Judy also finished reupholstering the platform rocker my mom did 30 years ago. We'll see if it lasts as long.

Judy's home!

Jody & Judy arrived back in Gulf Shores about 4pm yesterday. I had spent the day cleaning up and making home sweet home presentable. I did make a trip to Lowe's for some

fluorescent light tubes, had lunch and stopped to visit with Don & Zola. Today Judy led her water aerobics class while I visited with some of the guys. This afternoon we took Don and Zola with us to luch at the Road Kill Cafe. We arrived and they were closed. Seems they make so much food for lunch and when it's gone they close. We'll get there earlier next time. We went on to Pensacola (after lunch at a Mexican resturant) and returned the rental car. We stopped at Styx River CG to check it out for some friends and possibly us in the future. We returned home on the back roads in time to catch sunset at the beach. Tonight at euchre Judy came in first and won $18. Good job Charlie!!!

Batching it......

Tuesday and Wednesday nights we played euchre, Wednesday it was with Don & Zola at the local American Legion. Thursday Judy organized a group of 8 of us going for lunch in Florida at the Crazy Horse. Everyone except me had a full order of ribs, I went for chicken pot pie only because they were out of liver & onions. After that we went to the Pensacola airport to pick up a rental car for Judy & Jody's trip to see Margaret in St Augustine. Jody drove over here Friday morning and the ladies left for Margarete's about 9am. I played poker in the afternoon and easily lost six bucks, that evening I went to the Oyster House with 4 other couples from the park for supper. This weekend I managed to wash Jody's car, inside and out; my laundry; repair a couple flaky ceiling lights; open a can for a soup lunch; make a sandwich for supper; won $4 playing euchre Sunday evening; and surfed the web.
The weather has been in the 70s the last couple weeks but it turned cold today with a high of 56 and now (10:30pm) its 46. I talked with Bev and Randy back in Michigan & they were both delighted with the snowy weekend. D was happy it snowed on the weekend so she wouldn't miss any school.......GREAT granddaughter!
Thanks for the mail Kristy, it arrived Friday. She had an interesting week. Mustang 0, deer 0.
New Charger 1. There is one less deer in Michigan now, we are very glad no one but the deer was injured.

Mobile with Ray & Barb

When I let the blog go for several days I forget what we have been up to. We have washed the trailer so it once again shines. One evening we went to Papa Roccos with Don & Zola for pizza and the played euchre. We played euchre tonight but neither of us did very well. We did go to Mobile with Ray & Barb to store our Christmas stuff in their shed. We stopped in downtown Mobile and on the way home stopped at the Escapee Rainbow Plantation and at the Fish River where the Union army crossed for the Battle of Mobile. The weather has been great, mid 70s daytime and 60s nighttime but we've had a fair amount of rain and wind. The forecast is for cooling temps closer to the norm.

I have noticed some of the locals get extra use from their Christmas trees. They remove the Christmas decorations and put up purple, green & yellow Mardi Gras lights and bulbs and a jokers hat on the top. The Mardi Gras season has started.

Happy New Year!

Since my last post Judy has won $32 playing bingo Monday night. We did one of my favorites....

shoe shopping. While at the mall I made an observation. Seems every teenage girl must have gotten a cell phone for Christmas as 80% of them were walking around talking on one. Another observation, they like to wear boots and shorts. Why boots? There's no snow down here and it's not raining? I played poker a couple time and lost a pound or pound & a half, of nickles & dimes. Spent time cleaning the truck and polishing the wheels. We also cleaned out and organized the basement. Jody and Bruce arrived (with their dog) about 8:30am today to drop off the dog while they spent the day at Baldwin Hospital. Jody is considering starting a clinic associated with the hospital after her residency is completed in the summer of 2010. She got her Step 3 US Medical License Exam exam results back just before Christmas and she easily passed the final exam. Good job Jody!!! I easily understand why doctors made the money they do and do not begrudge them that. If you consider 4 years of college for a Bachelors, 4 years of medical school, at least 3 years of residency as slave labor, racking of $250K of expenses (this is not counting the 4 years for a Bachelors degree!!), and the stress......who the heck would want to go through that?????

Don & Zola arrived early this afternoon, it's Zola's 39th birthday. All six of us went to the Shrimp Basket at 5pm for supper. We all had shrimp except Zola had oysters. It was a pleasant evening and we ate outside. There was a looong line waiting to get in when we left. We returned to our place and played cards. It was nice watching the Times Square New Years celebration at 11pm and going to bed before midnight our time. We heard lots of fireworks at midnight as we tried to sleep. In the morning none of us will have a hangover!