There’s no place like home.. And it’s not where you think!
No blog post last week, as I spent the past 10 days away from Coach Addy, visiting family and friends in Southern California. I had a wonderful time and yes, it was great seeing everyone, BUT I have to admit about half way through my visit, I found myself missing Coach Addy and our life “On the Great Open Road.” On more than one occasion I felt like Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz; I just wanted to click my heels three times and be “back home” in Coach Addy! I so missed the calmness, the quiet and the simplicity of the life that Peder and I are enjoying traveling this great country of ours.
Hot Tip #1: 12 days is too long to be away from my Charlie, Peder and my new home away from home.
So…needless to say I am thrilled to be writing to you from the dining room table of Coach Addy in Apache Junction, Arizona. Peder and Betina made the trek from Boerne, Texas to Arizona in Coach Addy and I drove from San Diego and met them here on Thursday, February 23, just in time for the Opening Game of Padres Spring training on Friday! (I should add that both of our travels were accompanied by weather conditions and changes to plans and routes, but we have gotten used to that!)
Hot Tip #2: Morecast is a great website to use when you will be traveling where weather could be a problem. You type in your starting and ending locations and it will warn you of severe weather and even reroute you. I was able to save a lot of time and travel a safer route through Palm Springs as opposed to traveling on Hwy 8 through Alpine.
Peder, Charlie and I will call Arizona home for the next 6 weeks, visiting a number of different baseball stadiums and embarking on new and wonderful adventures, including a day of NASCAR racing with Kris and Bill, our daughter Jamie’s in-laws. We have lots of friends and family visiting the area over the next few weeks and look forward to seeing them and enjoying this adventure with each of them. Let us know if you want to take in a ballgame with us!
I arrived in Apache Junction just in time for dinner. Betina had picked a great restaurant, Handlebar Pub and Grill not too far from the RV Resort. The restaurant boasts having over 900 beer handles hanging from the ceiling! We enjoyed a nice evening together sharing stories of our separate travels and celebrating our time together for the past month. Betina returned to Texas on Friday and we probably won’t see her for a few months. What a gift for Betina and Peder (and me too) to have had this quality time together. We loved Boerne and can see why Butch and Betina wanted to make The Great State of Texas their home!
Hot Tip #3-It’s always good to have family located in various parts of the country so you can visit and “moochdock” off of them! Our next moochdocking opportunity will be in June when we visit Peder’s sister Hanne and her family in Idaho.
PLAY BALL
Opening Day of Spring Training was AWESOME!! Baseball Spring Training has been on our bucket list for quite a few years, and we really didn’t know what to expect. The experience exceeded our expectations and we can hardly wait to visit other stadiums and root on our World Series bound San Diego Padres! Peoria Stadium is the perfect size, about 12,000 seats. We sat up a couple sections and right behind home plate. What a view, you are so close to the field and we were in one of the top levels. We even got to watch Manny make baseball history…being the first player to commit a pitch clock violation and have a called strike for not being ready to hit the ball within 8 seconds of entering the batter’s box! Let’s just say that this new rule is going to make for some interesting at bats. Let’s hope these boys can adjust their routines during Spring Training and not have this new rule be an issue during the season. One of the best parts of the game was meeting up with my dear friend Melani, her husband Chris and their nephew Evan at the game. What a great way to celebrate Melani’s birthday, including dinner at a very cool spot called Culinary Dropout in Phoenix!
Hot Tip #4: Although I wouldn’t have wanted to change a thing on my trip home, I might rethink how many different places I go next time I come home to visit. I was in 7 different beds/locations during my visit! Sounds like I sleep around, but that’s another story…
Saturday brought the opportunity to settle into our new space and relax! And boy was I ready for that! The past 2 weeks have been jam packed. I was able to spend a couple of days with my dad in Glendora (loved returning to Maria’s a small Mexican restaurant that we went to while I was growing up-The 3T’s special was just as good as I remembered!); had a very special day with my dearest girlfriend, Leela, enjoying the beautiful LA Arboretum and a perfect dinner at Nick’s in Pasadena; a couple of nights with Jake-man and his wife including dinner at Campfire and the play The Ferryman at New Village Arts-shout out to NVA and our friend Kyle who is in the play; two nights with Jamie and Brent where I learned how to play Mexican Train Dominoes-a big thank you to Bill and Kris for letting me crash at their home and invite myself to NASCAR when they are in Arizona; had lots of walks, lunches and dinners with friends in San Diego and even got to visit Herons’ House a couple of times, including an epic SuperBowl party with Abner and Jake's friends-thank you Abner for putting up with me! A great trip, but as I stated at the beginning, it’s great to be “home” again.
Lesson Learned:
I’m reminded of the saying that “Home is Where the Heart is”, and I now truly know what that means. Home is not a place, it’s a feeling. It’s where you feel peace, love, joy and in our case a sense of adventure. Although Herons' House is my brick and mortar home, it is not where my heart is right now. My heart is with Peder, Charlie and Coach Addy. Home for me at the moment, is on the road embracing the adventure and seizing every opportunity to make precious memories as we visit new places, see new things and find joy in the simple things.
Bummer of the Week:
Have I mentioned that we have not had the best weather on this adventure? Well that continued to be the case in San Diego when I was there and certainly as I made my way to Arizona, heavy rains, snow on the ground and gusty winds. That being said, it’s Saturday and I am sitting here in Apache Junction enjoying 72 degree weather today! Let’s hope that the weather is a changin’!
Highlight(s) of the Week:
Reconnecting with my family and friends back in California. I loved catching up with each of you and hearing about your life and sharing my crazy life. AND returning home to Coach Addy and seeing giving Peder and Charlie a big hug!
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