A picture is worth a thousand words.

Or at least that is what some would have you believe. So, here is a picture.

I am inclined to believe there is more to it than that. I suppose it has to be a compelling picture to reach the lofty word total.

Sometimes a thousand words is worth a picture. So, here is a picture.

Do you notice the difference? Meh, probably not a thousand words worth of difference.

And now for the rest of the story...............

The new board, the second picture, replaces the old board, the first picture, in our household in honor of Joyce's and my 1000th recorded match together. But here is the story that neither of the pictures can tell at first look:

We have actually been playing scrabble against each other for over 20 years. The recorded matches only take into account the last 10 years or so.

It is usually how we start our day. Some people read a newspaper. Some people do a crossword. Some people go for a walk. We start our day with a relaxing game of Scrabble. The key word in that last sentence is relaxing. Yes, each of us would like to beat the other. Yes, we try our hardest. But, in the end, it is the time spent together, relaxing, chatting about the plan of the day, and basking in the appreciation of each other's "intelligent" side that helps to start the day off right. 

One of the greatest things I have realized about Joyce over the years is that she does not give up. She may be over 100 points behind in a game, but she always has the capacity to come from behind to snatch victory from defeat. And she has on many many occasions.

Just an aside, as far as the scoring is concerned. We feel good when we score around 350 points in a game. That is our average. Yes, you read that right. That is OUR average. As of this writing Joyce's average is 355.86. Gary's average is 355.56. 

There are times, like now where Joyce reigns supreme. And there are times when Gary shows moments of brilliance. And there are times, 7 in fact over this time period, where we have been dead even in average score.

So, I guess a picture could be worth a thousand words if you know the back story that goes along with it. Heck, this is already at about 500 words and I did not even fully describe the sunrises we experience together,

 or nature rousing from its slumber,

or how incredibly grateful I am to be a life partner with Joyce.

I suppose that will mean more pictures need to be taken.  

For now, the pictures in my mind's eye will have to suffice. And all of those pictures will give me the thousands of words I will need to be a better opponent for Joyce.  

Well, that was a little more work than I expected it to be.

a couple of years ago Cole and Sharon invited me to help take down a tree in their back yard. It was a fun project, no utilities were destroyed and there were, thankfully, no injuries to report. Perhaps a few nervous moments, but no injuries. And at the end, I told them that whenever they decided what they wanted done with the stump they should let me know.

Now, I have taken out a few stumps in the last 8 or 10 years. I love the process. Some people will use explosives, not me. Some people will put a stump dissolver in the wood, not me. Nope, I am a stump man of the earth. And up until a few years ago, the only tools I used were a shovel, an adz, and an axe.

Ironwood trees, no problem. Maple trees, no problem. Oak trees, no problem. Poplar trees, well then it gets a little more involved. The root systems on those are little more obstinate. I did have one at the bottom of the driveway that took about three days to finally finish.

I do not know what kind of tree it is/was that was in Cole's and Sharon's back yard. I do know that it was not any of the ones I had listed above. I also know it was one that did not want to be displaced. I guess I should have been a little suspicious when I started the removal project and discovered that one of the first roots I encountered was bigger than some of the trees I had removed at Peaceful Pines.

Well, to make a long story shorter to keep your attention, it turns out that this was a 6 day project that not only took my regular tools, but also needed the help of a sawzall,

block and tackle, 

and a tractor equipped with a front end loader.

It may be that I am getting older. However, the final roots that needed to be cut that were situated in the middle of the underside of the root ball still had a diameter of 4 inches. There were two of them.

But, through all of that, I realized that I still love the challenge. I love getting down and digging with my bare hands to feel the cool soil. The smell of fresh turned dirt harkens to a simpler life.

Of course, I am thinking I will turn down any more invitations to remove another stump of whatever that species was. But I do have my sights set on a couple back here at Peaceful Pines.

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT......

and some creatures wonder what the bumps in the night are. In this case the thing that goes bump in the night is named "The Dude." His actual (;-)) name is Jeffrey Lebowski. At least that is the word we get from Garrison. 

How would he know, you might ask. Well, The Dude, is his dog. We have been asked to take The Dude in as a foster care dog. The apartment complex in which Garrison is living in at this time does not allow pet dogs. And while he had made arrangements for The Dude, to have a place to stay, those arrangements changed and The Dude was no longer able to stay there.

The Dude is a survivor of animal abuse and is what is called a rescued dog. He still exhibits behaviors that lead one to believe the first owner was not a nice person at all. However, from the first time we met The Dude until now, which is about three years, a lot of his anxiety has dissipated.

He lived in a house with about 10 other rescued dogs and is making the adjustment to being the only animal around. At first I don't think he knew what to do with himself, but now he is catching on to the idea that he is no more than a couple of strides away from a personal massager/petter. It has only been about a week and he is becoming more comfortable all the time. The other day he actually went belly up, for his petting.

It turns out that he is not a barker, which makes life a lot easier for us. It turns out he in not causing an allergic reaction from Joyce, which makes life a lot easier for me.

So, after almost 16 years since Petunia was put down, we are slowly getting back into pet management mode.

I believe Garrison nailed it with the Jeffrey Lebowski name. I looked it up on google to make sure it was spelled correctly and the short description mentioned that he was an out of work slacker. What better temporary gift to give to two retired people than a lazy dog who wants attention from people who are more than willing to give it to him.

Half price tickets, you say?

And then there was the Home and Garden Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I think I have the Groupon bug. I hope it is short term. We could end up spending quite a bit of money if we don’t watch out. 

It was actually a nice little Fri-Sat getaway. I noticed 1//2 price tickets on Groupon and mentioned it to Joyce. Right away she said she would be interested. We don’t really have any home improvement plans coming up, but we did remember the last time we were there. We had enjoyed all the garden suggestions we saw. It turns out that it was a bit of a let down. There was a ratio of 90 to 1 home to garden information. We were expecting more of a practical live view of what something might look like if it was put together to look like a custom landscape. 

On the plus side, because we agreed to walk every aisle and look at every display, we clocked 4 miles on our walk log app on the iPhone. 

The picture represents our trail from the Hilton Hotel to the convention center and back again. 

The highlight of the day actually turned out to be the cooking competition at the kitchen stage. We started relatively early and finished our walking by 4PM. We (I) decided that it would be okay to just sit and listen to all the cooking demonstrations for the balance of the day. It turned out that if a person were to sit around there all day they probably would not have to visit any concession stands for food. The first show was about “rocky mountain caviar.” Which turned out to be a black bean corn salsa. 

The second show was given by a relatively well known chef in the Twin Cities area. It was a jerusalem artichoke soup that was really quite good. I have the recipe and am going to try to replicate it. The fun part about the demonstration was that if the chef caught you clapping or laughing at one of his jokes he would throw a tin of his special Tagine spice. 

It has a bold smokey aroma.

Then, the actual reason we stayed was to see the food contest among three of the WCCO personalities. It was a chili cooking competition. They offered three very distinct flavors. We actually got to have seconds of the finished products if we wanted. 

When we first arrived at the show, we asked if the tickets were good for the weekend. They were not. So, we decided that since we were “relatively” close to the Ikea store, that is where we decided to do breakfast the next day. Oh, by the way, did I mention that we were able to get a great rate at the downtown Hilton in Minneapolis. The room was very comfortable, but we kind of felt out of our element in the swanky digs.

At Ikea, we were able to find a few of the items that Cole had requested and, of course, we managed to find a few things for ourselves. Breakfast was eggs, sausage and crepes and lingonberry for Gary and eggs, sausage and french toast for Joyce.

And, of course, if one is at Ikea, one is also next to the Mall of America. Yes, we decided to head over there. We thought we could get a few more miles in walking the loops. We did manage to get 3+ miles in for the day.

Joyce also suggested we stop and listen to Dr. Oz. He was there to give a health pep talk to the people in the rotunda. It was a great suggestion. It was very informational and entertaining. 

We did take the opportunity to purchase our first new scrabble board in about 36 years. It is in anticipation of our 1000th head to head match. That will be a future post.

Joyce was very very close to completing our Twin Cities adventure by agreeing to take the zip line at the lego land amusement center. 

We almost made it. The crowds got bigger and the lines got longer by the time we made our way there.

So, we decided that we would have a DQ cone instead.

We have decided that the zip line will have to wait for an early morning middle of the week adventure. But, then again, being (R)etired has that advantage.

Now, where did I put the Groupon app………… 

Guess who discovered Groupon

So many good deals, so little time in my life for so many massages, breweries and bistros. But, a person has to try, right?

As it happens, the one item that caught my eye was the discount for the night lighting of the Minnesota Model RR Association. 

It is an offering from the group that happens during the winter months. Some of you may know that I do like model trains and when I retired I planned and still do plan on setting up a display downstairs. Of course that was before I took all my tools down there and kind of left too little space for a display that would fit my "vision."

Oh, yeah, I was talking about Groupon, wasn't I. It is surprising what a 50% off coupon will drive a person to do. And speaking of driving, that is what we did. After all, what is a mere 80 miles to go see a bunch of "toy trains" right? It happens the model train museum is in Saint Paul. the viewing started at 6PM. But, I will get back to that in a while.

I have learned over time that our trips need to have an actual plan about them before we go. So, parts of the plan included a place to stay, a place to shop, places to eat, and places to rest. It seems like the resting places are becoming more important as we age.

the Holiday Inn Express in Roseville was gifted with our presence this time. 

It will be gifted with our presence in the future as well. A friendly staff, clean rooms, AYCE breakfast and good "age related" discounts combined to make this a great place to stay. And the bonus was that it was centrally located to all of our adventure spots.

The Friday night portion included a stop at the Roseville Mall. One might wonder why we (I) would choose the Roseville Mall. It might have had something to do with the Apple Store there. Of course there are many other stores there, but don't ask me to name any of them. Joyce might remember, but for me the rest of the mall was just a blur.

It takes a bit of creativity to figure out what to do from the check out time of 11AM until the Model show 6PM. We decided to go back bit in our history and visit places we had not been in a while. But, first, even though Joyce does not enjoy surprises, I thought if it involved chocolate, it would be okay. Just Truffles.

You may have heard of the place. This was the place that was tasked with providing one of the gifts for the Grammy's. And as the name suggests the specialty is truffles. Joyce chose the apricot brandy, I chose the key lime and we both agreed on the double chocolate.

The young woman asked if we wanted them gift wrapped, to which Joyce replied, no they are not going to last long after we get back to the car. The double chocolate never had a chance. We no sooner had our seatbelts on and it was history.

Recently the primate exhibit at Como Park and Zoo had a newborn orangutan. 

It had been quite a few years since we had been there. We were pleasantly surprised with all the improvements that had taken place. Inexpensive entertainment is a key drawing point. Free if you want it to be, and recommended donations of $3 for adults. With that a person can enjoy a really well maintained zoo and a really really maintained arboretum.

 

It is easy to spend hours there.

Did I mention that we were actually there to see model railroads. It did not disappoint. In the daylight, what has been done with the displays is amazing. Many of the historic landmarks are incorporated in the main layout, which is huge by the way. One of the architectural elements was a very realistic replica of the building in which were standing. But, when the sun goes down and the lights turn on, there is a totally different feel.

Oh, and Liam, Thomas the engine, invited me to fire him up and let him travel the tracks for a while. As a matter of fact, there were quite a few chances to run model trains around the tracks.

And to think, it was a chance encounter with the Groupon Fairy that lead us to a great couple of days away from Peaceful Pines. Now, did I see a groupon for hot rock massages.................... 

At least we made it home safely.

I suppose it is always better to start at the beginning. The lead sentence, " at least we made it home safely," makes it sound a bit more dramatic than it really was. But, I suppose, for a couple of "aging" travelers it was a trip that did not have to have quite as many "moments" to make us wonder if we had made the right decision to make our trip to visit Roxanne in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

So, let's back up a bit. Roxanne was a bit surprised that when I suggested I would help her install a router to give her wireless access for her laptop, I would be doing it in person.

After a bit of discussion, Joyce and I decided the Buick was the car of choice for the trip. It can hold more stuff and it is more comfortable than the pickup would have been.

In the end we did need space and we did need the slumber comfort since it turns out 800 miles seems longer than it used to in the past.

Our trip west was quite uneventful. Our original plan was to drive about eight hours and find a place for the night.

It turns out that Rosebud, South Dakota was the place to stay over night. It just happens to have a casino with a motel attached.

Our room was quite comfortable and Gary's luck in the casino garnered a $45 profit.

Our next stop was Fort Collins, Colorado. I know, you may be thinking, "I thought you were only going to Cheyenne." Yes, that was the plan. There were no good reviews for the motels in Cheyenne. As it turned out, it was a blessing in disguise (more on that later). We booked the Cambria Suites for our stay. It had the best reviews and was relatively affordable.

Our first day visiting Roxanne went well. We visited with her church group and from there went to her house.

 I was able to install her router without too many issues. Mission accomplished and knowing Roxanne had to get to bed for her work shift, we headed out for the rest of the afternoon.

We decided to visit was the flower displays at The Gardens at Spring Park.

It was alive with innovative displays. 

And here our adventure really begins. As we were taking our self guided tour the person in charge approached and informed us that we were almost locked in for the evening. They had done the security check moments before we arrived and thought that the area we were in was empty of visitors. She was very nice about it and we were invited to return the next day for a more complete tour.

Well, as it turned out that was not going to happen. In an empty parking lot, our car would not start. "No problem," I thought. In the past it was just a case of a vapor lock in the fuel line. 45 minutes later, I was guessing a bad fuel pump. 

1 1/2 hours later we were being towed to Houska Automotive where the car would rest until the next day. Oh, by the way, did I mention this occurred on a Sunday evening when no garages were open? Our tow truck driver was very helpful and even went out of his way to take us back to our motel. And that was it for our "adventure" of the day.

Monday started out a bit iffy. I called the garage to see if they had looked at our car and was told there were already 25 cars that already had appointments to be looked at, but they would see if they could free up a mechanic to see what was wrong with it. Yes, it was a fuel pump. The good news was that they would be able to work on it. The discouraging news was that it would not be ready for at least 8 hours. So, what does a couple do stranded in an unfamiliar town waiting? Of course the answer is always go shopping.

We were also able to catch up on our reading, take a nap, watch television, read the newspaper, take a two mile hike.........

The other good news is that the Buick did get fixed. 

I highly recommend Houska Automotive if you are ever in need of service in Fort Collins.

We altered our schedule a bit and made the decision that after our 2nd visit with Roxanne, from there we would head home. during our visit we had a nice time chatting. I was able to get her new printer up and running as well. And when it was time to head out Joyce and I agreed that we might just try to drive straight through and only stop if both of us were too tired to drive.

Our luck ran positive in Rosebud again. We pulled in there to get gas and we were informed that they were celebrating their 20 year anniversary. Gas was being discounted to $3 a gallon. Did I mention that we were going to try to drive straight through? That means, of course, that there would be some night driving. Of course that means that we were relying on our car to have headlights that stay on in the dark. I am sure you get the drift of where I am going here. 3:30 am is not a good time to lose the lights.

Luckily, Clara City has a cozy little rest area where one can park and sleep until daylight.

I am of the opinion that the trip was very successful. First and foremost, we were able to visit with Roxanne. We were able to get her technologically updated a bit. We met some wonderful, helpful people. We saw a lot of beautiful scenery. I got to drive a lot. The Buick averaged 30 mpg throughout the trip. We discovered that Fort Collins is a very friendly place to visit with many things to do.

And, in the end, the dysfunctional Buick is being set aside for a newer ride. While it has served us well, Joyce is okay with finding it a new owner.

Oh, did I mention we discovered that the rear wheel wells had rusted through and now we know how the pool of water was able to form in the trunk when we drove in the rain?