....and then the phone rang.

The phone rang this afternoon. Not unusual. Lots of people want us to vote for them. Others want to sell us new windows, security systems, credit cards and other stuff we don't listen to.
But this was Heath. From Skagway. He is the new owner of Southeast Tours who almost had us going to Skagway in June.
When last we spoke, I agreed that if he found a new bus in the lower 48 and needed it, I would drive it up there for him. He called to see if I would still do that. After talking to me, he spent the day on-line and on the phone, trying to find a desirable bus in Arizona. No dice. But he will keep on looking. If he finds one in the next month, he still wants me to bring it up. Then he wants both Peggie and I to agree to come work for him in 2013.
So, I hope he finds a bus. That will be a fun adventure driving it up there.
He has been having a good season, and expects next year to grow even more. I think he will. He is eager, hard-working and imaginative.
So we are still heading for the hills tomorrow, and staying flexible.

Head fer the hills!!

In response to my critic:
Yes, I admit to not posting for a week. But, nothing was happening!
We went the entire time with no adventures of any kind.
Peggie is having a wonderful time experimenting with all kinds of creative ideas. But I have not tried to do anything that could turn adventurous. I haven't been on the roof, haven't used any power tools, haven't driven anywhere, and haven't attempted any home projects.
Tomorrow we will return to the White Mountains. We will try to be adventureless. Casey will join us over the weekend, maybe she will provide blog fodder. We have selected a spot that, while slightly more accessible, is still remote enough to be peaceful.
We will be back in town mid September. Pesky appointments!

World's laziest Grandpa

Grandparents have unlimited rights to brag on their offsprings' offspring.
So, I refer all to the GaT blog. Read the entry from Aug. 25 and look at as many videos as you can. Specifically, the piano and "guiter" performances.
If this isn't the laziest way to brag, you tell me what is.

A welcome change in perspective

We have been catching up on some TV shows recorded while we were out of town. Some of the ads we fast-forward through are for upcoming new fall shows. Last night, for the first time, I realized that Sept. is right around the corner. By the time we return from our next mountain retreat, the new shows will be starting.
The new perspective? Summer will FINALLY be over!
For what seems like forever, summer was always over WAY too soon. You just get your classroom cleaned up and ready for summer, you spend a few days catching your breath, you attend a workshop or take a class, you take a trip, you read something for pleasure, and then you go to your classroom to prepare for a new group. Summer was ALREADY over!
While we were spending the summers working in Skagway, the season went from May through September. Five whole months. The final month was lo-o-o-ong. This is the first summer since '08 that we have endured the (dry) HEAT!!! The last ten days have been so lo-o-o-ong. (that stretched word is pronounced HOT)
All of our still-teaching friends have been back at work so long that their lunch room conversations no longer mention what they did in June or July. Their summer is already over. They are deep into routine and are anticipating fall break.

Peggie and I are definitely enjoying the view from our new perspective.

Happy Birthday, Bill

I woke up this morning and already had an email greeting from Margie and a blog greeting from Greg and Ariana in Germany. Today is supposed to only be in the 90's, so it will be a "cool" one.

We don't even have to leave home.....

Usually we think we are going for adventures when we leave home. But, sometimes adventures come to us.
Maybe you remember the time lightning struck the tree that used to be in our front yard.
Well, last night we were enjoying the closing ceremonies from the London Olympics when electrical power was lost. We checked outside to see if it was just us. Strangely, only 13 houses on our street were affected. Everybody else still had power. There were no electrical storms in the area. No cars had crashed into any thing. We called TEP and reported the outage via an automated system. At 5 am we were awakened by truck noise. TEP had a crew at a transformer two houses down from us. Our utilities are all underground, and they were digging with a backhoe. At about 6 am power was restored. Shortly thereafter we received a phone call from the automated system informing us that power had been restored. Just in time to make coffee.
The silver lining is that since we had no TV, we were not annoyed when NBC cut away from the ceremony to air the premiere of a new show that we are not going to be watching. Did they learn nothing from the Superbowl/Heidi fiasco?
We had to go to Scottsdale today for some doctor appointments. It was 111 degrees there. That temperature is "in the shade" in a specially constructed box at the airport. We spent all of our outside time "in the sun" walking on asphalt. I think they should report those temperatures.

Back in Tucson, for a while

We have appointments and stuff to do. Even in retirement.
So we are in Tucson for as long as we can stand it. The heat, that is.
Since I have access to the computer, I posted the last two entries which were written the old-fashioned way (pen and paper) while we were sitting in the cool pine country.
I am sweating away at the keyboard this evening because, once again, the A/C is on the blink.
When we started hitting the outskirts of Tucson, we had to stop twice for school buses discharging children.
We are soooo happy not to be back in the classroom.