Super Bowl Sunday

Juni invited us over to their RV this afternoon for dinner before the Super Bowl. Juni is a great cook. We had pork roast with mashed potatoes and gravy also with an interesting new version of red cabbage. The cabbage had Granny Smith apples and onions -- quite a good combination.

Since we are all westerners, we were rooting for the San Francisco 49ers. The first half and the first few minutes of the second were pretty scary. The 49ers came back after the power was restored (would you believe the power went out in the stadium during the game? -- they had a 34 minute delay!), but couldn't quite overcome the Baltimore Ravens. They sure came close though.

When you go to Tom and Juni's you get the additional advantage of getting a puppy fix. The poodle Tica, spent most of the game sprawled out sleeping on my lap --

The little Yorkie Cassie, curled up on a blanket on the driver's seat and slept most of the afternoon --

Then migrated over to Forry's lap where she wanted to share his popcorn! You can barely see the other Yorkie, Izzie, who is napping in her dog bed behind Forry's chair under the pink blanket.

It was a good game and a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. I think my favorite commercials were the one by Dodge with a description of a farmer by Paul Harvey; the Tide commercial; and of course, the best one of all was the Budweiser Clydesdale ad with the nine day old colt.

Just Ridin' Around the Park

As we ride around this Florida RV park, it's interesting to contrast it with the RV parks we have stayed at in Arizona the last couple of winters. The flowers here are more like what we might see in the summertime at home in the Northwest, lots of geraniums and impatiens.

There are lots of palm trees in parks in both states, but the juxtaposition with pine trees is unique to Florida. There are many Park Models here as well, but they seem to be older, smaller models.

Many of the plants we see are ones -- in much smaller versions -- that we might see potted in florist shops at home. This park model has poinsettias, crotons and mother-in-law tongues planted in the flower beds.

I had only seen crotons like this in pots and like a lot of nursery plants, shorter and more compact --

What you don't see here are cacti. It's more of tropical atmosphere rather then desert. There are lots of pots of colorful geraniums around the park --

I don't think they water the grass in any of the parks we've been in in Florida. Like most of the parks we've been in, this one has been here a while and the spaces are pretty tight.

Forry is settling in to watch the Super Bowl tonight. I'm usually interested in the commercials, but there have been so many "sneak" previews of them this year that I feel like I've already seen most of them. (At 3 1/2 million dollars an ad, I guess you want to make sure they get seen more then just the once during the game...)

We've been trying to eat a bit more healthily this year, but today I broke down and made a pan of walnut chocolate caramel brownies. I salved my conscience by telling Forry they were supper...! ;-)

My heart has been saddened this week by news of the death of a 90 year old family friend. One of the disadvantages of this life style is being so far away from friends and family in Washington State. I would love to be able to say "good-bye" to John this Tuesday; join in remembering this remarkable rancher's life; and give a big hug to Polly. RIP JJH

At Sun Seekers Adult RV Park

Today was a catch-up day here at Sun Seekers Adult RV Park. I did several loads of laundry -- after we finally got up and going this morning.

One of the things that still surprises me about the south is the number of evergreen trees. I had always envisioned this kind of tree as indigenous to the west -- to the Rockies and especially the Pacific Northwest. I was quite surprised to discover that lumber was one of the top cash crops in Mississippi. This campground in quite treed. We're not getting very good satellite reception on TV. We may try moving Auntie Violet forward a foot or two. After all, got to watch the Super Bowl commercials on Sunday!

This is what was happening today at the park. The gentleman on the left spent all day with a shovel, pickax and a pair of pruners digging a trench for a new sewer line for the sites on the edge of the park. (They do have a small backhoe on the back of that little tractor, but evidently the tree roots were more then it could handle.) The two gentlemen on the right were serving in a supervisory capacity. There was a pretty steady parade of retirees trading off on that important role all day today.

I spent almost two hours on the phone today in a conference call with other members of the Church Resources Committee to review the financials of Mennonite Church USA before our scheduled Board conference call this coming Saturday. After I got off the phone, Forry and I headed into town for a much needed stop at Winn-Dixie for groceries. We ended up at Taqueria Jalapena, a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican spot that turned out to have really good fajitas.

When we got home, we had a chance to talk on the telephone with Daughter Dawn who has just returned from a ten-day medical mission trip to Guatemala. Sounds like she had a wonderful time (though she's fighting a bug...) and was able to do some good work. We're so proud to her -- and a bit jealous if truth were known...