ALWAYS SO SAD TO HAVE TO SAY GOOD-BYE

THE VERY MUCH MOST BESTEST OF PALS:))

Being our last full day here we had ourselves a busy morning.  Coach was needing a good clean-up and Kelly busied herself with that.  I dumped our gray and black tanks, cleaned some windows, topped up our fresh water tank, checked the tires and took care of half a dozen other little things.  JoAnn and Dave gave us a tour of the new house they just had built after designing it themselves.  Can’t even begin to describe how beautiful their house is inside with it’s high ceilings and open concept living.  Beautiful furnishings and paintings as well.  ‘WOW’ is all I can say.

THESE TWO WERE HAVING A GREAT TIME THIS AFTERNOON

Sally1340 left a 4 word note with a link in our Shout Box this morning saying “I am so sorry”.  And ‘so sorry’ it was alright.  They tore down Corner Gas Friday.  Long time readers know of my love for this Canadian made half hour TV sit-com which ran from 2004 to 2009.  One of the ‘must see’ stops for me on our journey to the Southwest back in early October of 2014 was Rouleau Saskatchewan where the episodes and final full length movie were filmed.  A sad day for Dog River indeed.  Click this link for the day Kelly and I stopped by the set of Corner Gas.  Even that day was a sad day for me.  I have watched all the re-runs of Corner Gas now for years never seeming to tire of the zany humor so cleverly written.  Unlike so many other TV sit-coms Corner Gas never used a phony ‘laugh track machine’ and that alone in my opinion set the half hour comedy well above most other TV sit-coms.  Peter has a good write-up about Corner Gas and the demise of the Dog River set. 

ALL WORRIED THAT WE WERE GOING TO LEAVE HER BEHIND AGAIN WHILE WE WENT FOR SUPPER BUT WE DIDN’T LEAVE HER THIS TIME

Under a clear blue sky temperatures rose quickly so we didn’t waste any time firing up our front A/C unit to keep the rig cool.  Headed off over to Aunt Jean’s about 1:30 and spent another enjoyably relaxing afternoon together. 

 

It was our last day together so around 3 Pheebs and I hopped into the Jeep and with Jean and Kelly following in the Speedy Gonzales mobile we convoyed up I-75 to our spot off Fruitville Road at JoAnn and Daves.  A tour of the Motorhome then it was outside for photos with JoAnn taking some really nice pics with her Samsung Smart Phone and Kelly’s Blackberry.

JEAN LIKED OUR MOTORHOME

AUNT JEAN AND JOANN, BEST OF FRIENDS FOR YEARS NOW

AS WE LEFT FOR KACEY’S SEAFOOD WE NOTICED PHEEBS ON THE RIG’S DASH WATCHING US LEAVE

Said our good-byes to JoAnn and leaving Pheebs in the rig Kelly, Jean and I headed off to Kacey's Seafood on Fruitville Road.  A real busy little place and we were lucky to get a table.  Aunt Jean had the Shrimp "Scargot" which consisted of ‘shrimp baked in garlic & herb butter and melted Swiss’.  Kelly had the ‘Captains Platter’ consisting of Cod, Clam and Shrimp.  Not having any part of that stuff I had me a big mess of ‘Fish n Chips’.  Food was excellent.

KACEY’S SEAFOOD

THE GAL’S HAD QUITE A TIME DECIDING WHAT TO ORDER

COMING OUT OF KACEY’S I THINK KELLY DID THE ‘TURKEY TROT’ ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE PARKING LOT BACK TO THE CAR

It was around 6 when we made it back to our rig where we spent some time talking before the inevitable sad time to say good-bye finally couldn’t be avoided any longer.  I have never been good at saying good-byes and tonight was no exception.  With Aunt Jean’s health slowly fading and being 89 years old we all understand the realities of aging and it’s inevitable consequences.  The great distances between us make visiting back and forth difficult so the time spent with Jean this past week has been very precious for us all.  If we sell our Congress house that will free us up to expand our travels in the future and another visit to see Aunt Jean will be possible.  We’ll see what this winter brings.  I watched Jean slowly drive out the winding driveway and saw her tail lights turn left and disappear on down the road.  I was overcome with a great sense of sadness.

No idea where my next blog post will be coming from except to say somewhere along I-10 possibly in the Florida panhandle somewhere.  Haven’t decided on an exact route yet but at some point we will be exiting I-10 and working our way northwest.  The avoidance of large cities is always a priority for us plus alternate routes have always taken us through a lot of backroads scenery we would otherwise have never seen.  Would you believe we once got lost in the Ozarks.  Yep we did.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  One day at a busy airport, the passengers on a commercial airliner are seated waiting for the pilot to show up so they can get under way. The pilot and copilot finally appear in the rear of the plane and begin walking up to the cockpit through the center aisle. Both appear to be blind; the pilot is using a white cane, bumping into passengers right and left as he stumbles down the aisle. The copilot is using a guide dog. Both have their eyes covered with sunglasses. At first, the passengers do not react thinking that it must be some sort of practical joke. After a few minutes though, the engines start revving, and the airplane begins moving down the runway. The passengers look at each other with some uneasiness. They start whispering among themselves and look desperately to the stewardesses for reassurance.
Yet, the plane starts accelerating rapidly, and people begin panicking. Some passengers are praying, and as the plane gets closer and closer to the end of the runway, the voices are becoming more and more hysterical.  When the plane has less than twenty feet of runway left, there is a sudden change in the pitch of the shouts as everyone screams at once. At the very last moment, the plane lifts off and is airborne.
Up in the cockpit, the copilot breathes a sigh of relief and tells the pilot: "You know, one of these days the passengers aren't going to scream, and we aren't going to know when to take off!"