St. Augie with the Gals

YAY! It's "bucket filling" time of year. The time when I get together with my Atown homegirls. This year we picked St. Augustine, Florida - an ancient city on the Atlantic side of the state. We stayed in a lovely VRBO house right on the beach. There were seven of us. Such great light and views!

The town is filled with shopping, history, and restaurants, was located just a few miles away from our beach house. We drove in several times and parking in the main ramp. It was a perfect place. When not touristing, we were happy to hang out at our lovely home and did some touristy stuff:

Went to the visitor's center and an ancient Presbyterian Church and college campus
Attended a shell talk
Had supper at Beachcombers
Visited the Castillo de San Marcos - the oldest masonry fort in the US, and chowed at a great biscuit restaurant
Attended an art gallery and went to lunch

In between, we enjoyed our time at our beachy home! Of course, my gals are good cooks. I am on the cleanup crew!

I enjoy the delicious concoctions they come up with during our vacation. We have so many fabulous discussions about growing up, life at 62, work, retirement, health, fashion and more! We decided we should start a Pod-Cast! haha. When I wake up in the mornings - I do love listening to those girls chat as they start their days. 

I posted a few pics on Facebook and classmate Ted let me know that Roger and Connie were in the area too! So I texted him and we arranged an AHS gathering - impromptu in Florida. How cool is that? It was nice to see Rog and Connie. Small world!

All too soon it was time to leave. That's the sad part. It's such fun being with the girls and we text constantly.  But it's not like being together. Hearts across America!  Peace out to my GF!

Being Present

Have you tried Yoga or other types of exercise that require you to be "present" while you work up a sweat?

Action sports/team sports require more constant participation - so it's easier to pay attention to them. For example, when I learned to play the game of basketball in the 1970's Coach Allen taught us "plays". Mind blown! Who knew that it wasn't just about dribbling and making shots. The pick and roll even worked when players were limited to two dribbles - see articles about Iowa's Six on Six game played in the state until the early 1990s. Okay, as an outfielder in softball I may have had a few non-ball thoughts like, "what should Mona (Jones), Kristi (Davis), and I do tonight after the game?" So many decisions scooping the loops in Kristi's ancient Chevy - shifter on the column. Pizza Hut, Lally's, A&W. 

Fast forward (and it was fast), 46 years. When I attend water exercise three days a week, while I run through the exercises - stretches and aerobic routines, I feel like I have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). My mind wanders constantly! I am trying to change that.

It's not just while exercising either. Somewhere along the line, I started living less in the moment. 😕I particularly notice this during water classes and when I do yoga. Yoga classes can intimidate - especially when one is 62 years old with bad shoulders. So I work with my personal yogi Adriene from Austin. She's on my personal computer. When my downward dog collapses, she never freaks out.

I am trying to train my mind by fetching it back to the exercise at hand calling (internally) "Here, Here, Here". (I hope I'm not saying it out loud) haha.

Monday I found myself thinking about packing for my next trip (Thursday - Florida with my homegirls, reviewing my week's schedule, thinking about our children, and my funny Valentine - you get it. Distracto!)

So when the lap swimming guy goes by behind me - splashing me every 30 seconds, I must focus on jumping jacks, leapfrog and skiing - to the best of my ability! I need to get my heart rate up and concentrate on resistance to reduce flab. I don't want that underarm flab to paddle me away.

Past Homegirl gathering - 2018 Key West.

Paul with our kids Christmas 2018 - they're all doing fine. 

Even when exercising - Every Moment Matters! Be there! 

Heading South and then North

After visiting our friend Chris Watson, we went south from Scottsdale to visit more people we love who live in Arizona - some permanently and others as snowbirds. My Aunt Jean and Uncle Bruce (affectionately known as Bean and Juice to those of us in the family who follow the Dave Bullock method of using nicknames for all) moved to Green Valley, AZ (GV), south of Tucson sixteen years ago.

Sunny AZ photo with Al and Sharon in their yard

I can't believe it's been that long since they decided to leave the Denver area, their longtime home. They decided the city was getting a bit too big. The city and suburbs population was just over 500,000 in the 1960's - and grew to 1.5 million by 2000. Today, it's close to 3 million! We have many Denver/CO relatives including our baby girl Amy and husband Corey. So we get there a couple times a year. We're sad they aren't around there anymore - but have to admit, at this time of year, their home in GV was sure a warm place to visit.

As a bonus, our longtime Creston friends, Allan and Sharon Higgins are spending a couple months in GV this winter. On our way to Jean and Bruce's, we stopped at their temporary home- a small house with a great view of the mountain range. They showed us around the area and we went to lunch - no Italian this time. I had a great tamale! Fun catching up with Al and Sharon - we've missed them!

Wisdom Cafe with Jean and Bruce

That afternoon, we arrived at Jean and Bruce's home in the Quail Creek, a housing area that has lots of amenities including a golf course and a cool community building where people can do all sorts of things like pottery, woodworking (Paul drooled at the tools), glass, quilting and more. We had not seen Bruce and Jean since Amy and Corey's wedding.

Aunt Jean and her sister Aunt Marty, who lives in Denver. are my dad's sisters. They've always been close relatives - much loved and familiar as they traveled to Atlantic to see my grandparents and us throughout my childhood. And we'd visit Denver. I can't stress enough how important it is to me to spend "quality" time with friends and family, swapping stories and hugs.

On Saturday we drove south to the small artsy, shopping town called Tubac. We dined at the Wisdom Cafe - for the best Mexican Food of our trip. Plus a margarita! It was fun shopping with J&B who even knew some of the vendors in Tubac. That night we dined at their club - something small as we were all still full from lunch. It was a hopping place!

Bruce was very helpful when we planned our route home - introducing Paul to neighbor Jimmy, a Kansas University fan from the western part of that state. Jimmy told Paul about the Fairfield Inn at Tucumcari, NM. Bruce and Jean seem to know all the best stops and roads to take - especially if you're going to Denver.

We stayed in NM that night and made it all the way home on Day 2, beating a storm the was coming into Wichita and Oklahoma City. It was a long drive. Home was a welcome sight! As Dorothy says, "There's no place like home"

Beautiful sunrise leaving Arizona

This store looked cool! I love Neon.

It was Sunday night - so we couldn't get our kicks - on Route 66

West Texas and New Mexico

Connie Goldsmith - around 1975

My husband's sister Connie moved south to Carlsbad, NM right after she finished college to be a lab technician at the hospital. Connie liked horses (something we had in common) and warmer weather. Sadly, breast cancer took her life in 2007, after a long fight. I have always been sad that we never made it to NM to visit her. We had the "busy, kids" excuse and never made it. Since then that area has been on my bucket list - including the Carlsbad Caverns.

On our route there we drove through Texas mining country - there wasn't much else there besides wells and supporting infrastructure. No crops, no livestock. We booked a hotel in a little town called Pecos, where we found a little restaurant with cold beer and good fish tacos. The next morning we drove through Carlsbad to the Caverns National Park. I'm proud to report that I got my Lifetime senior national park pass for $80, which allowed both Paul and me into the cavern.

National Park - near cave opening

Paul's last chance before going in

Water, gas and time have created beautiful formations

Looking for elusive lint

We opted to walk down into the cavern to the bottom. It took about an hour. I was glad we had our hiking boots on and that these newfangled (it's an old folds term) cellphones have flashlights! Both of us are a little freaked out about being underground - so we didn't stay and admire the formations at the bottom once we arrived at the massive cavern.

Near the bottom, we met a crew of around 30 volunteers picking lint off of the stalagmites. They reported that lint damages the formations as it attracts moisture. I wouldn't mind volunteering in a national park someday - above ground! We took the elevator back up - 750 feet! The sun never looked so welcome (until a few days of gray skies back in Iowa).

After the Park visit, we traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico, which seemed like a nice little city. That night we ate Italian food, of course! The restaurant was right across the street from our motel and was delightful.

Scottsdale with Watson

Driving from Las Cruces to Scottsdale takes about six hours. We were on a mission to meet up with our pal Chris Watson for Old Town drinks and a meal. Paul and I had been there ten years ago when we visited for the ISU bowl game. It's a fun area and on a lovely warm evening, it was fun walking through the neighborhood.

We celebrated an early Happy Birthday to Chris. It was great catching up with her and hanging out. She's such an interesting person. I met Chris at Washington Elementary in Atlantic when she and her family moved in from Strawberry Point. Her dad was one of the many Walnut Grove guys. That company had such a huge impact on Atlantic throughout my childhood. We didn't really pal around through high school, but always got along because she is one of those "nice to everyone" people. Like with Paula, Chris and I reconnected when we all turned 50 and lost our friend, Theresa Faust, pushing the rest of us to get together. We can thank Theresa for our renewed friendship!

Like my mother, I'm an ocean person. That's why I like to go to sunny Florida in the winter. But I must admit Arizona is growing on me. Especially when it wassnowing daily in Iowa.

On to Texas

Statue of MLK on the day honoring him - University of Texas campus

When traveling, we try to visit people we know in the area. And no, it's not (just - haha) about free lodging. Visiting friends and family allows us a chance to have real conversations with them - beyond the usual "how are you?".

The rule is 2 days at the most. More than that can be overstaying one's welcome. Note - in some cases it can be 0 or 1 day - depending on if they are even comfortable hosting visitors. Know your host - don't put them or you in a bad spot. Consider their setup for visitors. Some people enjoy hosting guests - others prefer their guests sleep elsewhere. We have two spare bedrooms and enjoy having guests. But when the kids were still home it wasn't as easy as there was no real guest room. 

Paula's backyard - so lovely compared Iowa's snow

We arrived in Austin, Tex on Saturday afternoon (1/18). It's always fun staying with Paula in Austin. It's my third time. She insisted we stay for three nights - so she was probably ready to wave to us as we drove off armed with better than Google directions (provided by PJB) on getting out of town. 

If you are a longtime blog reader, you know that Paula is one of my Atlantic besties - from age 4 or so. We lost touch in our middlin' years but reconnected in our mature years. When we reconnected we discovered again how much we like each other! Now Paul too has gotten to know her too. She's lived in Austin for many years and has traveled quite a bit, so helpful advising us about the rest of our trip and other future trips.

When we arrived in Austin on Saturday, the three of us went out to an area restaurant. I told her I was up for some music so we then headed to hear some music! For live music, many think of Nashville, New Orleans, and Memphis - but Austin is a huge music city in its own right. The musicians are everywhere as we found out. Paula took us to Central Market - a grocery store that features live music. Picture HyVee with a dancefloor and band. People were shaking a leg to swing. Others like us Groups of people and families sat in the dining area outside the dance floor to listen - a great way for youngsters to experience live tunes!

Wild Basin was so pretty! Austin is hilly. 

Sunday
We hiked the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve - right in the city. Austin has waterfalls! It was a great workout and a beautiful hike.

Then we enjoyed the NFL games - except the Packers had no answer for the Giants. Paula cooked up some great game food - and even dessert! How about those Chiefs? They were my first ever fave football team - Len Dawson, Otis Taylor, Emmit Thomas, Willie Lanier, Bobbie Bell, Jan Stenerud - and later, our Atlantic hometown boy Ed Podolak! Even as a youngster, I always loved watching football. Mom and I watched Monday Night Football together with a bowl of popcorn.

Monday
Paula volunteers at the airport, staffing the Information Booth most weeks, so she knows her way around the joint. I had an appointment at the Austin Airport on 1/20 to interview for Global Entry - a US Customs and Border protection clearance program for low-risk (that's me!) travelers for expedited clearance when traveling, using kiosks. You have to book those appointments months in advance - and Iowa doesn't have the program! I was so fortunate to book that date in Austin on MLK day. Now I'm set for the Bullock sisters May France River cruise. More about that later. The appointment only took 10 minutes once my name was called.

Fountain and tower UT Campus

Later we visited the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) Library located near the University of Texas campus. It was my first presidential library - very interesting! I was a child during his presidency and only remember him peripherally - on black and white TV, during Viet Nam war clips. What an unsettling time in the US. I had no idea how much he influenced civil rights after the southern-born man spent years as a "separate but equal" believer. Later he changed his views to understand that integration was necessary. The library gave me a glimpse into the era and the man.

Paula and I are posing with Motown costumes - karaoke here we come! 

As a bonus, the LBJ Library was hosting a Motown Exhibit - featuring fabulous costumes and music from "back in the day". Were people really that little? I'm so glad activities guide Paula suggested the museum. From there we walked through the University of Texas (UT) campus and the surrounding area in search of good barbecue! Paul's fave brisket was yummy! We walked over 5 miles that day - good thing with all the food we had taken in by then. Another bad thing about vacation - overeating!

I had chicken - so delish! 

If you've never been to Austin, you should check it out. You can do the trip - Oklahoma City to Fort Worth to Waco to Austin. You can even continue to San Antonio! This great country has so many fab places to visit. Just check out the web before going to plan your visit. So much to do and see.

Next - on to western Texas and New Mexico.