I'm Retired! - Monday, May 28, 2018

Yes, you heard me right, I'm retired from working as of April 26, 2018. The first thing I did was spend 2-1/2 weeks in Oregon with my mom. She was in an acute rehab center and we needed to find an apartment for her to move into for assisted living. She has moved into a one-bedroom apartment at Marquis Assisted Living in Tualatin. It's a beautiful place with activities, medication management, pain management, laundry service, housekeeping once per week, and other benefits.

My Mom, sister, brother, and I have been going through Mom's house to remove items she (or we) want to keep. The remaining items will be sold in an estate sale June 16-17. Once the house is empty, we will put it on the market. 

I was home from Oregon for two weeks. During that time, I did a number of Volksmarches and spent time with Bob and friends. 

The main thing I wanted to accomplish was to sign up for Social Security benefits, which I did. My first check will be in June. I am so happy that after all the years of work, I can finally collect the money that I've been putting away.

Today, my friend Susan and I drove from San Antonio, Texas, to Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico. We are here for a Volksmarching weekend which starts on Thursday. 

Walking weekend brochure

Tomorrow, Susan and I will be out on the trails marking one of the walks. I will mark the 5k walk and she will mark the 14k walk. On Wednesday and Thursday, we will mark the other trails. 

Any time May 30 to June 3, attendees can walk the Cedar Creek Recreation Trails which start behind the Smokey Bear Ranger Station. Altitude: 7,500' (so temperatures will be lovely as we walk through the pine forests).

Thursday night, May 31, there will be a Meet-n-Greet in the hotel lobby. 

Friday, June 1, the walk is in Cloudcroft on a Rails to Trails path which passes through pine forest and meadows, and Friday night we will go to a chuckwagon dinner with entertainment. Altitude: 8,500'.

Saturday, June 2, we will do the Mescalero Fitness Path on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. The trail has hills and wooded areas. Altitude: 7,000'. Saturday night we will have dinner at the Cattle Baron Restaurant. 

Sunday will be another walk at Ft. Stanton State Monument. Trails are on a sparsely wooded area of rolling hills. The Fort is one of the most intact historic posts in New Mexico, and served for over 150 years, including its being a POW camp during WW II. Altitude: 6,500'.

After the walks, Susan and I will pick up all the markings we placed on the trails, except Ft. Stanton. Someone else will pick those up so we can drive home on Monday, June 4.

I will be home until June 6, then Bob and I fly to Portland. Bob will be in Portland until Saturday afternoon. I will stay in Portland until June 20. 

Whoever said retirement meant staying home and cogitating? So far, that has not been my experience. My life has been non-stop, going hither and yon taking care of things. 

More trips are planned this summer. We'll be on a cruise to Alaska in August, and a West Texas Volksmarch walking weekend in early October. Stay tuned!

Two Very Different Walks, Part 2 - Sunday, April 22, 2018

I admit it, I am an adrenaline junkie. My addiction is roller coasters; the wilder, the better. Our second walk today was at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, a complete about-face from the nature walk earlier. 

After the 10k walk, I changed my clothes at the Comfort Inn from long jeans and hiking boots, to shorts and walking shoes. The windbreaker jacket stayed in the car.

We drove 1/2 hour to Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park where we have Season Passes and Dining Passes (Dining Pass = lunch, a snack, and dinner per person each time we go to Six Flags). I had my pass with me. Unfortunately, Bob left his pass at home. So, he dropped me off at the front gate of Six Flags and he made the one-hour round-trip drive home to get his Six Flags Park Pass. 

Meanwhile, I took photos, rode the Superman and Batman roller coasters, and rode the Sky Screamer (a drop tower) twice. 

Superman: the Ride

Superman: the Ride

Batman and The Hustler spin ride

Batman (up close!)

Sky Screamer

Then I got a text from Bob saying, "You will never believe this. I got my Good Sam card, not the Six Flags card. Headed back home. Talk to you in another hour."

Wow. He tried to use his Good Sam RV card to get into Six Flags. The guy at the entrance gate said, "What kind of card is that?"

I ate lunch because I was awfully hungry after walking 6.2 miles, and then almost another two miles around Six Flags. At Blues BBQ, a turkey leg was calling my name and I ate it. 

Bob still wasn't back, so I went on the BIGGEST coaster in the park, Iron Rattler, my favorite. It had been closed earlier for testing, but when I got there, the line wasn't very long. I figure they must have just reopened it. 

Fresh off the Iron Rattler coaster...all smiles!

When I got off the coaster, Bob texted and said he was in the park at our usual place to eat. I joined him at Blues BBQ just as he got in line. He got a pulled turkey sandwich and potato salad.

After Bob ate, we rode The Hustler (spinning ride), and Pandemonium (a roller coaster with cars that spin like teacups as they go along the track). Then, we went over to Hurricane Force 5. Bob sat that one out. 

Pandemonium coaster (cars spin)

Bob waiting in line for Pandemonium

Me in line for Pandemonium. Poltergeist coaster
is the blue one on the left behind me.

Hurricane Force 5 ride

We were going to go on the Scooby Doo Ghostbusters Blaster Ride, but it was all closed up. It looks like they're going to make a pirate-themed ride there instead. We'll see if they keep Scooby Doo and gang as characters.

The long-awaited Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster is built. The cars just arrived and are now on the tracks. The next two photos show the coaster. The train cars are single rider, with about 10 cars in a line. It should be interesting to ride this one!

Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster

Wonder Woman statue

 The park is decorated for their Mardi Gras Celebration which starts April 27. 

Rockville High School

Bob and I sat in one of the air-conditioned restaurants to cool off. He got his snack, a cinnamon cookie. Mmm. I ate a Magnum ice cream bar earlier in the afternoon. 

I wanted to go on the Poltergeist coaster. That's the one that shoots you out of the station at 70 mph, then you go through what looks like a tangle of tracks. At some points in the ride, you don't know which way is up. Crazy! Bob stayed in the restaurant and waited for me. When I got off the ride, I had a burger and fries for dinner in the restaurant. 

Then he had a turkey leg for dinner at Sanger Halle. While he ate, I went on the Goliath coaster. That's the one with tracks on the top where your legs dangle free. After that, we headed home to watch "60 Minutes" and "Instinct."

Today was quite a day!

I have four days left until I retire. Then I plan to go on Social Security. Wow, I never thought that day would arrive. Now I'm looking it in the face and I like it!

Time for me to get some sleep. Good night all.