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Winter Gold

3/28/2015

Our time at Sandpipers is winding down quickly. It’s hard to believe we’ve been here for 5 months. Since our last blog, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our routine of exercise and relaxation with our extended family. The weather has definitely started to get much warmer so we can tell that spring is here and summer is on the way. The highlight of the past month has been the annual Sandpiper Olympics that took place over the past couple of weeks. During that time there were 37 events with 280 medals given out to 90 different Olympians. Claudia and I participated in most of those events and between us we accumulated 13 medals including 6 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. The following is a summary of our medal winnings:

GOLD                                                    SILVER                                                BRONZE
Co-Ed Water Volleyball – Ed                Softball Toss – Claudia                        Men’s Water Volleyball - Ed
Football Toss – Claudia                         Shark & Friends – Ed                           Pickle Ball - Claudia
Shot Put – Ed                                         Softball Distance Throw – Ed              Bean Bag Toss - Ed
Charmin Plunge – Ed & Claudia           Basketball - Ed
Decathlon – Ed

For those that are really curious about what some of these events consist of, just send us a message and we’ll be glad to explain. The truth is, we just had so much fun from the opening ceremonies until the closing. My personal highlight was winning the coveted gold medal for the decathlon. Now it’s time to start our preparations for getting back on the road. We’re saying goodbye to many of our friends as they begin to leave. In just over 2 weeks it’ll be our turn. As hard as it is to leave, we’re excited about the places we plan to see in April through July as well as our return to family and friends in August. We’re also excited about the thought of enjoying our new motor home in some remote locations for the first time. Once we hit the road, stay tuned for regular updates and photos. We’ll do our best to keep this site up to date.

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Our First Winter in Texas

3/2/2015

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It’s hard to believe that it’s March already and Christmas has come and gone months ago. Since our last blog entry back in December, our daily activities have been anything but routine. We were able to enjoy some family time over the holidays via web chat beginning on the Saturday before Christmas while most our family were at my mom’s Christmas party. On Christmas Eve we attended a party put on by the owners of our resort. They put on such an awesome spread. It included some great beverages including some of the best homemade beer I’ve had in a long while. There were also so many delicious appetizers it was more than enough for a meal and we were able to enjoy time with so many of our new friends. On Christmas day, before we even got out of bed, we received a video chat request from my daughter Melissa so we were able to interact with our grandkids as they opened the gifts we got for them. What a treat that was. During the day we enjoyed phone calls with all of our other grandkids as well completing our wish list for what we wanted for Christmas. Later, we enjoyed a fabulous Christmas dinner with about 50 of our park neighbors and friends. The turkeys and ham were provided by the resort while everyone brought side dishes to share. Once again we had more than enough to eat and everything was delicious. Then, a week later we headed up to the pavilion for some live music and dancing as we celebrated New Year’s Eve Eve. That’s right, New Year’s Eve Eve. One party wasn’t enough for us. The next night we returned for a New Year’s Eve party where we enjoyed more beverages, appetizers, some music with a DJ and more dancing. We headed back to the motorhome early however and enjoyed watching the ball drop in Times Square together. Since the New Year began, Claudia shined while performing in a Burlesque Show, put on by many of our members here at Sandpipers. The show was great and Claudia was awesome in both the opening dance number as well as a featured Can-Can dance number with 2 other women. My plan on Super Bowl Sunday was to watch the first few minutes of the game at the dining hall with a bunch of our friends following an awesome pre-game Super Bowl Party. At the first break I planned to head back to the motorhome to watch the rest of the game in private. The group at the party was so awesome however that I decided to stay and watch the rest of the game there with everyone else. What a great game, a great party and a great finish!! I was clearly the main Pats fan there but I had a small following that joined me in my celebrations throughout the game, especially in the final seconds when I of course went crazy. Next, it was time for Claudia to hit the stage once again, this time to perform in a dance number with 5 other women titled the “Black & White Dance”. They performed as part of a musical showcase that was held here and in my opinion was the highlight of the show. It’s quite the optical illusion. You can see the dance performed by another group on YouTube if you take the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP16ZvkOkXo. I think our girls did an even better job. While doing all this I’ve grown a fondness for karaoke and have been enjoying singing a few tunes on karaoke nights. And if you think that’s it as far as our on stage performances go, we have more news. Claudia and I both performed in a play titled “Southern Discomfort”. This was a series of vignettes showcasing a variety of southern stories. Claudia had a major part playing a southern belle telling the story of how her mother always told her not to slow dance with a stranger. She was quite funny and did a great job. I had a much smaller part since they really had to beg me to get on stage in the first place. My role was to sit on stage with my back to the audience; never speaking and drinking a beer while listening to an “older” woman tell me why she wanted to seduce me. I of course played a much “younger” guy who turns out to be a gigolo. Afterwards we enjoyed quite the cast dinner and cast party to celebrate our work with all the other cast members and stage crew. This might be a small park in Texas but we’re loaded with talent and can put on a mean show. We have of course continued with tennis, water volleyball, Zumba, water aerobics, bowling, grill nights, pub nights and daily happy hours just to mention a few of our activities. We’ve also enjoyed Mardi gras and toga parties that were loads of fun. We have our own band now that came together this year that have turned out to be excellent and quite entertaining during our dances and pub nights. All along we’ve been watching all the weather news from up north and have been extremely happy not to be up there moving all that snow. We have less than two months before hitting the road again however and although we’re enjoying every minute of being here, we’re looking forward to our travels once again beginning on 4/14. We have a great itinerary ahead of us and so much to see. Until then, still so much to do right here. And of course, we’re still loving every day!!

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Winter Gold

Our First Winter in Texas

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