Semi-annual trip to Tucson
Part 2 - the visit

Day 5: Wednesday Dec 23

First things first. Dad needs a PS2 mouse for his computer so he email people and play his slot machine game. They went to Radio Shack but decided that $30 was too much for a mouse. The clerk told my mother that she wouldn't be able to find one cheaper. So It's off to WalMart.

WalMart did not have ANY PS2 mice, so we headed over the Goodwill store, but fortunately there was a Big Lots in the way. They had a PS2 mouse for $4. I bought two so my mother could take one to Radio Shack to show off to the clerk.

We stopped for lunch at the best restaurant ever. It's called Sunny Daze. It's at the corner of S. Campbell and Irvington. Great food, service and prices. I had the steak and eggs. Yum yum yum.

Whenever I go to Tucson I have to go to the used book store. They are kind of expensive but sometimes have good finds. This time I got two Tony Hillerman books that I hadn't read yet. Score!

Sitting around watching TV, and I don't remember how it came up, my mother quoted some as saying, "The house is ruled by its sickest member.” I thought about it and decided that it was true. It made me a little sad.

Day 6: Thursday Dec 24

Lazy day. Lots of sitting around. Took Mom and Dad to Sunny Daze for lunch.

Somewhere along the line someone put a bunch of plastic flowers in the back of my father's little pickup truck. The discussion of who might have left them quickly evolved into what should be done with them. They decided to plop them into an empty flower pot at the neighbors and were on the floor laughing at the neighbor's reaction to the mystery flowers.

The rest of the afternoon was spent moving the flowers when the neighbors weren't looking followed by more rounds of laughter.

Day 7: Friday Dec 25

Merry Christmas. Pat is sick. Opening presents was fun.

Surprisingly many people pulled into the RV park today. I thought people would be where they were going by Christmas day. I was wrong.

Our immediate neighbors were a fun bunch. They were arguing the whole time that they were pulling in and hooking up. Then they raided the fruit trees. To be honest, I had already checked out the fruit trees and found nothing ripe or not damaged by the cold. These people were less picky about what they picked and collected four canvas shopping bags full of fruit.

Day 8: Saturday Dec 26

Pat's in a lot of pain and spent much of the day alone in the RV. I went out shopping for the new desk chair that I promised her for Christmas. Aren't I romantic? I had way not any luck. At one place I went in and they had no furniture on display at all. The man at the counter offered to show me the catalog and said he could order anything in it for me. He also said that anything special ordered would be non-returnable. I passed.

Day 9: Sunday Dec 27

Pat is still in pain, but late in the day we discovered why. The pain patch she put on three days earlier still had the plastic covering stuck to it so she had been getting no medicine for three days.

We had lunch at Sunny Daze.

Day 10: Monday Dec 28

An RV that pulled into the next spot down had the biggest dog I had ever seen. It looked prehistoric. It looked like a cross between a Newfoundlander and a Ridgeback. Then on the news that night I saw a story about the official biggest dog in the world and our neighbor's wasn't even close.

Aside from the monster dog our new neighbors had a drawing of the Golden Gate Bridge on their side so that became our kitchen window view. Nine hundred miles from home and we're looking at a bridge that's three miles from our house.

The fruit hoarders pulled out this morning and apparently they got around to tasting their bounty because I found all four bags of their fruit in the dumpster.

Lunch at Sunny Daze. Pat snuck back in when we were done and got Mom and Dad a gift certificate. Funny, I knew what she was doing without her having to tell me.

Trip to Walmart for a few things. It's been days.

Day 11: Tuesday Dec 29

Trip to Walmart for the stuff we forgot to get yesterday. Spent much of the day reinforcing the floor at the doorway to my parent's trailer. Not a professional job but should hold for a while.

Spent the evening watch the Kennedy Honors on PBS. It was fun. My favorite moment was watch the look of horror on Bruce Springsteen's face as John Melencamp butchered Born in the USA.