A Boring Week with Donna and Keith

Donna and I both came down with a bug late last week. We thought it was just a 1 or 2 day bug; we even soldiered through and hit the gym one of those mornings. We always take the weekend off, then hit the gym again on Monday morning, bright and early. But when we climbed out of bed Monday morning, we knew we weren't going anywhere. In fact, we've been pretty puny all week. As the weekend approached, we began feeling better, so I think we'll be back in the gym Monday morning. I hope we will. When you get used to exercise but aren't able to do it for one reason or another, you really miss it. Your day just feels incomplete without it.

Full moon in the late afternoon sky over our little community.

The first part of the week, we just stayed home and ate frozen dinners and things of that sort. It was pretty cold those 2 days, so we really didn't want to get out anyway. By Wednesday, we ventured out to pick up some groceries, run an errand or two, and eat out. I even got my hair cut that day. We also took a drive through the state park after lunch. It had been a month or so since our last visit. It's always nice for us to take a leisurely drive through the park, checking on the lake level (O C Fisher) and seeing what kind of visitors are camped in the park. We always enjoy seeing what kinds of RVs are out there.

View of O C Fisher dam from boat launch in the state park. The friendly little duck in lower left came to visit us for a spell.

Another view of O C Fisher Lake from same boat launch.

On Thursday, we stayed home again. Donna made a lo-cal pizza and we enjoyed that. On Friday, we got out again. We made a short stop at H.E.B., our favorite grocery market. Since the H.E.B. is about half a mile from our front gate, we brought the groceries home afterwards. We then went out again, this time stopping in Starbucks -- another stop just about half a mile from our front gate -- and bought some coffee. We then took our coffee and drove out to Lake Nasworthy and made the rounds. The lake was pretty calm, though a bit overcast. We saw some turkeys, but no other wild life to speak of. After our drive, we drove to our local Chili's. We both had their lunch chicken fajitas. Although the food was fine, we really didn't enjoy our meal for some reason. For one thing, we both felt we had eaten too much. We probably felt a bit guilty as well for eating such a large meal without exercising. We have come to believe over the years that we need to "earn" our nice meals out.

We're beginning to see some nice color in the area. During our drives around the neighborhood and town, we've seen daffodils, redbuds, and ornamental pear trees in bloom.  Spring is coming on. And with spring in West Texas, you have to expect the wind. Today (Saturday), the wind is really blowing. It is rattling the windows and garage doors. I heard it move in about 2:00 this morning, and it hasn't stopped since; it has only grown more intense. At least the temp is in the 60s and the sun is shining.

I snapped this picture of a young redbud tree in bloom on our way back from Lake Nasworthy. We're beginning to see some color in town.

The old girl and I hope to get back into our routines on Monday. I guess it's time for us to be thinking about our next trip. We do get restless, you know.

Oh, and we recently celebrated our 8th year of retirement. The time is certainly flying by, but we've had a good time.

Back to Normal

Well, things are back to normal following our latest trip to Laughlin. It takes us a while to get back in the swing of things. After a trip like that, it takes me about 2 days just to get rested and caught up.

It was a cold and dreary weekend when we returned; in fact, it misted on us as we drove home from the airport. That helped us to stay home and stay inside the next couple of days. And that helped us to get things done. Donna had laundry to do while I had bills to pay and other paperwork to check on.

But we're back to normal now.

Classic West Texas sunrise

That means we are back in the gym trying to keep in good health. We are now going on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. That gives us a solid day off in the middle of the week as well as the entire weekend. That way, if we want, we can take a hike at the park or do something else.

During the week, we ran several errands. I had prescriptions to pick up, for example, and Donna had her normal running around to do. We ate out several times this week -- nothing fancy, just good solid food. On Monday, we had a loaded baked potato at Bodacious BBQ. That tater was huge! We were stuffed after devouring that giant spud and half a pound of brisket. On Wednesday, we decided to eat more reasonably and enjoyed a salad at Rosa's. On Friday, we managed to overeat again when we visited the Original Henry's. They surely do TexMex right at that place!

Same sunrise, just a few seconds before the one above.

There was a community committee meeting on Friday. Although we are not on the community board, we like to attend the committee meetings from time to time to keep up with what is going on in the neighborhood.

The first of the week, the weather was a bit cool, in the 40s and 50s. As the week wore on, the temps warmed, but the wind picked up as well. By the weekend, we were enjoying temps in the 70s and 80s. I'm ready for spring! Sometimes I wish I had yard work to do. I really do miss it. I always found yard work -- and maintaining a vegetable garden -- to be relaxing and therapeutic. Maybe I should buy a few acres somewhere . . .

Old People Are Funny

The community where Donna and I live has about 300 housing units and about 450 to 500 people. All homes are considered "independent living." Most of us are still pretty fit and remain quite active. There are a few who receive some type of nursing care, but those are the rare few.

I enjoy our little community. And I enjoy watching how some of our older neighbors conduct themselves.

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I walk quit a bit, often early in the morning. Most days, the local paper has been delivered by the time I hit the streets, but sometimes the carrier is running late and I have to dodge him as he careens about the neighborhood, throwing papers and causing general havoc. I think the scamp has thrown a paper or two at me.

When he is running late and I see him make his rounds, almost immediately after he delivers a paper, I'll often see a porch light come on or a slowly moving figure appear holding a flashlight. The holder will hobble out, flashlight panning the driveway in search of the paper. After a moment, the paper is scooped up and the homeowner returns inside to read that paper.

Our mail is usually delivered sometime between noon and 2:00 PM. If I happen to be outside when the carrier makes his rounds, the street looks like a meerkat village. The very moment the carrier drives away from a group of mailboxes, here come the meerkats to collect the mail.

Old folks have their routines, and they don't like them disrupted at all. They expect their mail and paper to be delivered at the same time every day, and when they aren't, they get a bit antsy.

I'm glad Donna and I aren't like that!

Rollin' on the River

Donna and I just returned from a 4-night stay in one of our favorite places -- Laughlin, Nevada.

As part of the Total Rewards player's club, Donna and I get numerous offers from Harrah's casinos. For the past couple of years, we've been getting offers to fly on a casino junket to Harrah's in Laughlin. We finally decided take advantage of one of these.

Now, I don't like flying. The actual flight part of flying is not a problem. I don't have problems with takeoffs, landings, or even turbulence. I just don't like standing in long lines, waiting around to board, going through inspections, sitting in cramped seats on planes, and surrendering my freedom of movement. I prefer car travel. I like to come and go as I please and stay as long (or as short) as I like.

But I decided to give flying another chance. I did alright, but I still prefer car travel.

Our little airport only has 2 gates. I'm standing at Gate 1 and taking this picture of Gate 2. Now, big city folks might snicker at how small our airport is, but it is very nice and modern. We were through check-in and inspections very quickly. The TSA agents were all polite and professional. Parking is free at the airport. It is only a 10 or 15 minute drive to the airport, and we only pass through 3 or so traffic lights. Yeah, I'll take my little airport any day.

We flew out of our little airport in San Angelo last Tuesday. Our flight had already picked up a number of passengers in Abilene before collecting us. It was late in the day when we arrived at the airport in Bullhead City, just across the Colorado River from Laughlin. Two buses were waiting for us, and they drove us through a light drizzle across the river and to Harrah's, the southern-most casino in Laughlin. [Note: The Avi is farther south, but it is not technically within the Laughlin city limits.] We were met at the entrance of the casino with our room packets. We took our carry-on bags to our room, freshened up a bit, and then went downstairs to eat and play. Our large bag would be delivered to the room later.

During our stay, we divided our play between Harrah's and the Aquarius. I found the Harrah's casino to be very smoky and a bit grungy. There is a large non-smoking room in the casino, but the games there are not good, so we ended up doing most of our playing in the smoking section at the three 9/6 Jacks or Better machines (quarter denomination). We ate most of our meals at the Beach Cafe, and we enjoyed them for the most part. There is a Starbucks located there; I was thankful for this as the coffee in the Beach Cafe was terrible.

Early Wednesday morning, I stepped outside the room where I had been playing video poker onto a balcony to snap this picture. That is the dock for Harrah's bottom center. The opposite side of the river, of course, is Arizona (Bullhead City). We just love these views of the desert.

On Wednesday and Thursday mornings, Donna and I walked the 2 miles down Casino Blvd to the Aquarius. On the Wednesday morning walk, we took time to walk through each casino along the route to see if any changes had occurred since our last visit to the area about 3 years ago. On Thursday, we walked straight to the Aquarius. Both mornings were pretty cool, around 40 degrees or so, but the walk felt good.

On our walk to Aquarius on Wednesday, we stopped at the Golden Nugget casino to snap this photo of the river from Bubba Gumps.

Sign of the times. We passed this new shop while walking to the Aquarius.

Aquarius has always been our favorite place to play in Laughlin. There are still a good number of 9/6 Jacks or Better machines scattered around the casino; most of them are in one of the two non-smoking areas, and that is nice. On Wednesday, we enjoyed burgers at the Regency Casino next door. The burgers there have long been extremely popular with visitors to the area.

After our sessions at the Aquarius each day, we boarded a water taxi to return to Harrah's. We do love that beautiful river.

We caught a river taxi at Edgewater Casino to return to Harrah's on Wednesday. That is the Edgewater Casino in left center of picture. Tall building in center is its hotel. Aquarius twin hotel towers are just to the right of that, and Riverside hotel towers are farthest right. We had the taxi to ourselves.

Looking north on the Colorado River. Desert terrain is entirely in Arizona in this shot.

Colorado Belle Casino

The water of the river is really clear. This was taken from the dock of a water taxi. I would guess it is a depth of 2 feet or so. I do not know what the reddish object in center of picture is.

Terrain on the AZ side of the river.

Donna is a bit cool waiting on the dock for the next taxi. Edgewater is in background.

Bubba Gumps at Golden Nugget, with Pioneer and Colorado Belle farther right.

Another view of the Arizona side of the river. As the sun set each evening, those mountains would change colors as the shadows fell.

The dock at Harrah's

Harrah's is located on one of the best places on the river. There is a natural cove in the river there, with bluffs enclosing a private beach. But the casino is also isolated, and is the only Laughlin Casino other than the Tropicana that is not on the riverwalk. As a result, most travelers to Harrah's tend to stay there. The casino does a huge business with tours and casino junkets. The other casinos are grouped together and tend to share customers, and it is easy to walk from one casino to another to eat, play, or attend a concert. Not so with Harrah's.

This is the southern part of the cove where Harrah's is located. Note the bluff on right.

This is the northern part of the cove, with another bluff. While these bluffs add privacy to the beach at Harrah's, they also isolate the resort. There is no riverwalk extending to Harrah's, and walkers must take another route to get access to other casinos.

I'd like to go back, but I prefer to drive. We both regretted that we were unable to visit the Laughlin residential area during our visit, or to even drive over to Bullhead City.

I've written numerous times about our visits to Laughlin over the years. We've spent a great deal of time there, including 2 longer stays in our travel trailer. Links to some of those stays are below:

• Riverside RV Park (note pictures of beautiful sky)
• Horseshoe Trail: Davis Dam Overlook
• Davis Dam and Lake Mohave
• Christmas Tree Pass and Grapevine Canyon
• Riverwalk Exploration Trail
• Laughlin Nevada, 2014
• Light and Shadows (great picture of AZ mountains)
• Return to Laughlin. (This is the first of several postings; use menu bar at right to see following entries)
• Trip Report: Laughlin, NV

Feeling Pretty Old

Hanging out at the gym

It's our second week belonging to a local gym, and we're rather enjoying ourselves. I had some reservations about gym membership. I've always enjoyed being outside. Since I've hiked for years, I've always enjoyed walking to keep in shape. When walking, the view changes, you experience current weather -- both good and bad, you might get to see some critters, and in our neighborhood, you get to visit with friends. I thought I would miss that.

I do miss it some, but I'm really enjoying hanging out at the gym.

Donna and I seem to have found our favorite time at the gym. We now try to arrive about 6:30 and  we stay until at least 8:00. People who work tend to get there around 5:00 or so, work out for a while, then shower, dress, and head to work. Late sleepers tend to drift in around 8:30 or later. So, we squeeze in between these two groups. We also have started a routine of going to the gym on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. That gives us 4 days of good workouts.

I've developed a routine. I usually start of by walking a mile on our little track to just loosen up. Next, I do the first of two rounds of upper body workouts, using the various machines, such as Arm Curl, Back Extension, Chest Press, and various others. I currently have about 10 or 12 stations, and I do 10 or more reps on each machine. Following this, I go downstairs and climb on a recumbent bike for what is currently my favorite workout. I plug in my earphones, play some good music, start pedaling, and watch a virtual video tour of some beautiful trails and roads. Sometimes I plug in to the TV feature on the machine. These new exercise machines have all sorts of neat features.

Last Tuesday, for example, I started by touring a road circling a lake in the French countryside. The mountainous country was beautiful.

Please forgive the glare. My time is bottom center (0:50 seconds), and it shows I just started my tour of the French countryside. Mileage is to the right (0:16 mile), and calories (3) to the left.

Next, I was taken to Crater Lake in Oregon, where I walked around the lake. I did not take a picture of that screen. From there, I explored some canyons in Utah.

In a slot canyon at just over 12 minutes and 2½ miles.

I then took another jaunt around the French countryside before returning to a trail in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. All in all, it's a pleasant way to get in some exercise.

Near the end of my ride: almost 5 miles and just over 24 minutes.

At present, I ride the bike for 30 minutes and usually crank out about 6 to 7 miles, depending on the resistance level I set. The monitors on these machines also provide Netflix, television, and other forms of entertainment. Makes for a pleasant experience.

After my bike ride, I return upstairs for another walk and then another round of upper body conditioning. I finish my workout with some stair stepping. By the time I climb aboard the stair stepper, I don't have much left, so I don't last long on it.

I then hit the locker room, clean up, and head to the coffee room to wait for Donna to finish.

We both feel good about our workouts, and we feel this is something we should have been doing long before now. Walking is fine, but it simply isn't enough. As we get into better shape, we'll probably add on some other workouts. I'm looking forward to swimming laps in the pool, and Donna wants to do some group workouts. I'm also interested in yoga to help with my arthritis. I've done yoga on my own for years, but it will be nice to have a pro show me some things.

Super Bowl

I gave up watching football long, long ago. I used to spend entire weekends watching first college ball and then professional football. At some point I woke up and realized what a great waste of time it was for me. I was spending all of this time watching other people do things while I did nothing. So, I turned off the games, put on my hiking gear, and hit the trails. And when I wasn't hiking, I was working in my yard or doing something else productive.

I'm ready for the Super Bowl to be played. I'm ready to get past it. It seems to dominate the news and everything else. I just don't understand why we spend so much money and time watching grown men who are vastly overpaid play a game. And how many people will miss work on the Monday after?

Weather

We've been enjoying some pretty good weather lately. Oh, we've had some chilly nights, but the days have warmed up consistently into the 50s and 60s. The next week or so should be particularly nice, with highs in the 70s. Yeah, the wind blows a lot, but that is just a fact of life where we live.

Usually, by the end of February, I can feel a change. In good years, I might even start seeing some spring blooms by the end of the month. In East Texas, I would see daffodils in bloom late in the month. I look forward to warmer times. Donna and I just don't do cold very well anymore.

Napoli's

We enjoyed another good meal at Napoli's this week. This Italian restaurant is currently my favorite place to eat in town. The decor inside is bright and spacious, and the service is superb. Every part of the meal -- from bread and salad onward -- is great. This time Donna had the eggplant parmesan while I enjoyed the manicotti. We thoroughly cleaned our plates. I think I saw Donna licking hers.

Let's Rodeo

While the rest of the country is excited about the Super Bowl, folks around here are excited about the annual San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo. The big show here lasts slightly more than 2 weeks, and it dominates all local news. After all, San Angelo is the center of a vast ranching area. Heck, the city of Pecos, just a short 200 miles west of here, claims to be the home of the world's first rodeo (July 4, 1883). The rodeo culture is pretty strong in West Texas. This big show brings in lots of folks from our region, the state, and even other parts of the country. The local rodeo began in 1932, so it has been around quite a while.

Ending the week

We ended the week with an hour or so of geezer bingo. Wow, those old folks are surely competitive! It's kind of like commando bingo.

Biding Our Time

The old woman and I are just biding our time before the next trip. Seems that is what we do these days.

Fitting in with the geezers at RCW

Donna seems to be settling in at Rio Concho West better than I. She is becoming more and more involved with activities out here. We both attended our monthly home owner's committee meeting last week to see if anything is going on out here we should be aware of. There wasn't.

Saturday a week ago, Donna joined in with the weekly bingo match. She played hard but didn't win a single game.

Our landscaping man is leaving RCW this week, so the community gave him a going away party on Friday. We joined in and ate our share of goodies. We will miss James, and we wish him well in his new job.

On Friday, we boarded a packed bus for a run to the Manor for lunch. The old geezers like their fried catfish, and that is why so many made the trek. Donna and I were the last ones to board, and we were relegated to the rough back seat. With every bump, we'd fly up a few feet. Good times!

Trying to stay healthy

Those who have read my blog before know that Donna and I do try take of ourselves, at least to some degree.

We went to our local pharmacy to get shingles shots this past week, but there was no medicine available. They have put our request on order and should be receiving a shipment soon. We'll get that taken care of as soon as it arrives. Donna doesn't like shots, but she needs this one. And people don't like giving Donna shots; she bites and kicks really hard, and those ear-piercing shrieks are painful on everyone in close proximity.

We joined Community Health Club this past week as well. Of course, Donna and I are avid walkers, but we just don't feel that is enough. Now that I'm not taking care of a yard, I don't feel that I'm getting enough exercise with parts of my body other than my legs. So, we'll start going to the health club a few times each week. I'll concentrate on upper-body exercises, a little weight lifting, and swimming laps in the pool. I may even get on the stationary bikes and treadmills. Donna has other things in mind to do while there.

For those of you Medicare age, you should look into the Silver Sneakers program if you are interested in joining a gym. Depending on your location, you may be eligible for free gym memberships. Free is good in this case.

We made our first visit to the gym this past Thursday. We arrived just before 8:00 AM, and we stayed about an hour. It was a good time to visit, as there weren't that many people there. And that is what we were looking for. We know some folks will hit the gym really early, around 5:00 AM or so, to get in a workout before going to work. Most folks will wait until after work at the end of the day. I think we will probably find the time from 7:00 to 9:00 to be our favorite time. And we were surprised at the number of folks our age working out. That's great!

We quickly learned some things about ourselves. Even though we walk hundreds of miles each year, we are terribly out of shape. Since I no longer do my own yard, I get very little upper-body workout. So, I worked out on a few machines trying to give my arms and back some exercise. It was pitiful. People were pointing and laughing at me; I think I saw Donna among the jeering crowd, leading the assault. We also learned that we don't know how to use high-tech gym equipment. We came home sore and tired after that first day, but we felt pretty good about ourselves. We need this sort of workout regimen.

We turned right around and returned to the gym the very next day (Friday) and we both enjoyed a more challenging workout. It's simply a matter of finding the routine that works for you. I added a few more stations to my upper-body workout and worked a bit longer in this area. I would occasionally take a break from this routine and hop on a bicycle or other machine to give my legs a workout. I was pretty worn after this workout, and I experienced some good soreness later that day. And even though I walk a lot, I found that the workout I did today really challenged my legs, especially the stair stepper and bicycle.

Finishing the week

On weekends, the gym opens a bit later, so we will probably not visit it often on Saturday or Sunday. So yesterday (Saturday), we decided instead to use the exercise room at our clubhouse. First, we attended the weekly bingo session. Neither Donna nor I, nor anyone else at our table for that matter, had a bingo, but we had a good time. After bingo, Donna went into our little workout room. We don't have nearly as much equipment as our gym, but we climbed on a few of the machines for a decent workout. It was a good way to finish the week. We'll take today (Sunday) off, then hit the real gym early tomorrow.

A Casino Loop

Donna and I just returned from a short loop of a couple of Louisiana casinos. It's always good to get back home.

We started early last Saturday. After driving for 7 hours or so, we arrived in Livingston, Texas, where we stopped for a brief visit with Donna's brother-in-law. He has a nice place on the east side of Lake Livingston. After our visit, we drove on into Livingston and spent the night at the Holiday Inn. We walked next door to El Burrito and enjoyed nachos, queso dip, and more than one cold beer. It was a good way to end a long day of driving.

The next morning, we rose early to continue our trip east. A few miles east of Livingston, we made a brief detour into the Alabama-Coushatta reservation. Several years ago, the tribe opened a small casino on the reservation, but the casino was soon closed for legal reasons. I had noticed while doing research for our trip that the tribe now has a new casino, Naskila Gaming, so I thought we would just stop for a brief walk through.

It's a nice little casino. The largest part of the casino is smoke-free. Inside, a separate glass enclosed room makes up the smoking area. Drink stations are scattered about the small casino. I saw no video poker machines, which is the only game I play. We do not normally play at casinos that are unregulated, so I have no plans to play here, but I was curious about the place.

I'm not sure of the current legal status of the casino. And to be honest, since I don't intend to play there, I'm really not that interested. But there have been challenges by both state and federal officials to the legality of the casino.

Anyway, we returned to US 190 and continued our trek east. Our target now was Coushatta Casino Resort, located along US 165 between Kinder and Oberlin, LA. Donna's mother, aunts, and uncles used to play here from time to time. They seemed to enjoy it, so we wanted to visit the place. Of course, it had been several years since Donna's family had been here.

Personally, I didn't care for the place. I never felt comfortable there for some reason. And the service was severely lacking. It did not approach the level of service we receive at our favorite casinos. For example, upon arriving, we headed straight to the player's club to join. There was only 1 person working the desk when we arrived, and a line was forming. Eventually, another attendant arrived, but it took her well over 10 minutes before she was ready to "greet" her first customer. A suit arrived to watch things, and I was hopeful service would improve. Instead, he promptly asked the original working attendant to help him with something while customers were forced to wait. It took 35 minutes for us to join their club.

Things went downhill from there.

The rooms were okay, but the overall feel of the place -- at least to me -- was one of lack of pride. In eateries, tables were dirty and service slow; on the bright side, prices were high. I will admit that we did enjoy the play for the most part. Yeah, we lost, but not much, and both of us enjoyed some good runs on the machines we played. For those interested, we played quarter 9/5 Jacks or Better.

The casino does have a rather large non-smoking area, and that is always nice. However, you have to walk through a smoky casino to get to it. I like the setup at the Naskila Gaming near Livingston, where the smoking area is set off.

So, we were glad when our 2 nights were over. We left early Tuesday morning and headed north to Bossier City and the Horseshoe. The difference in the two casinos is night and day. Service at the 'Shoe is great. Yeah, prices are high at the eateries, but not any higher than at Coushatta. And the service and quality was much, much better.

We were only at the 'Shoe for 2 nights, so we just stayed there and did all of our eating. We left early Thursday and made the long trek home.

Rain continues to be plentiful, it seems, in the areas we visited. All of the rivers we crossed once we were past I-35 were full and flowing. Lakes seemed at capacity, and water was often standing in ditches and open fields. It has been a wet fall and winter in that part of the country.