a busy week.

Good morning.
I've just returned from my morning walk. It takes me about 40-45 minutes to do my usual loop around our community.

The above pic is an aerial shot of our community, the golf club, and the casino. Our house is where the black dot is. The red dots represent the route I take on my morning walks. Now sometimes, I alter the walk and will use different streets, but this route is a nice big 'circle'.
And here's a few pics of my walks this week....

There was a full moon and it was just next to the mountain above the trees near the right side of the pic.

And the sun playing on the clouds in the morning. We tend to have some clouds in the morning, but usually the dissipate during the day.
I've also been busy online looking for new auto insurance. We currently have The Hartford for the house and 2 cars, and this year, our premium went up over $300 for the year. So I've been looking around, and think we'll go with Esurance for nearly $600 less. They say you should look around every 3 years or so, and I'm finding that to be true. Companies are always changing rates up and down.
Yesterday, we took our cars in for a smog check. Have to do this every year when we renew the registration. Only takes about 5 minutes. They have these little stand alone kiosk places that do the approx. 5 minute test. You then get a form that you mail in with the registration.  So we got that taken care of yesterday.
We also went to Taco Tuesday at Salted Lime in our casino with a neighbor. Good food and good prices! $4 jumbo Margaritas, $1.50 Street tacos, and .80 wings.
Well that's it for now....

trip details

Good afternoon.
More on our trip......
After 4 days on the road, we arrived in Muskegon on the 5th. I cut Mom's hair, then we went to Red Lobster for lunch. Mom likes the stuffed mushrooms and the biscuits.  I like everything, so I was happy too!   :-)
After that, we headed over to the VFW for a drink and pull-tabs. We never seem to do very good with them.

It was great seeing Mom again after a year!.
She looked good. She seemed to be handling Lupus okay.
After dropping her off at her apartment, we headed to Lansing where we spent 4 nights at a Ramada near the highway on the side of town where were worked. Got real good rates. Since I'm a Wyndham member, and stay almost exclusively at Wyndham hotels, I had enough points to offset our room rates. With points, it only cost us $45 per night.
While in Lansing, we saw friends and former co-workers.

Had way too much rain while we were there, just reinforcing our decision for moving to Las Vegas.
After our stay in Lansing, we drove back to Muskegon for another visit with Mom. This time taking her to Whitlows for a perch dinner.  Then back to the VFW for a drink and more pull-tabs again.... no luck.
After that, we drove down to Benton harbor for the night.
The next day took us to Normal Illinois, where one of our neighbors lives in the summer.

Had a very nice visit with them and spent the night at a local hotel.
Then it was back to Vegas, stopping at each town we hit coming out.

We enjoyed the scenery on the trip. Although it was a l-o-n-g drive there and back.
And not a lot of pics either.
But, as I always say, we got there safe, back safe, no issues........It was a good trip!

a 14 day road trip

Good morning.
We've just returned from a 14 day road trip that took us from Las Vegas all the way back to Michigan.
 Here's a few pics of our drive through Utah and Colorado.

Sure is some pretty scenery!
We decided to do a shorter trip this year compared to the 19 day road trip we took last year. We decided 19 days in hotels and on the road was a little too much!
So we broke the days into mostly 6-7 hour drives. And that was a much nicer way to go. Had plenty of time each day after we got to our hotel to relax and eat.
So our itinerary was as such.....
Las Vegas to Grand Junction Co. Then to Ogallala Neb. Then on to Des Moines Iowa. To Stevensville Michigan, and after a day stop in Muskegon to see my Mom, we spent 4 nights in Lansing.  Leaving Lansing, we again stopped in Muskegon before spending the night in Benton Harbor MI. Then it was on to Normal Illinois, back to Des Moines Iowa and the rest of the trip in reverse. I'll post more pics of the trip maybe tomorrow. Have a lot to catch up on at the moment.

a little this and that

Good morning.
Just got back from my walk.
No pics today. Haven't done anything pic worthy.   :-)
We gave ourselves haircuts yesterday. Craig went back to the dermatologist to have a spot on his nose froze. I'm currently picking up mail for 3 neighbors.
Had one neighbor call a few days ago. He's gone for the summer, but got his water bill and it showed no usage. But we all have drip systems, so even when your gone, there is water used. I said that since they only bill in 1000 increments, it was most likely you were just under for the month. But I went over and checked his system out to make sure. He didn't want to come back to a yard full of dead plants. So I checked his system. Everything looked okay, and I noted the time it comes on. Went back and saw the drips were working. And all his plants and trees looked good. Sent him a text to let him know. He has a 5th wheel and spends the summers going all over the country. He was in Wisconsin when he called.
Another neighbor asked me to keep a lookout for a package she was expecting. She won't be back until the end of the month.  I saw it yesterday by her front door and picked it up and added it to her mail pile.
Going to the fitness center later today as we have been doing 3 days a week.
So, that's what I've been doing.

a foodie post

Good afternoon.
Another beautiful day here in the valley!
I've been walking every morning, and going to the fitness center 3 times a week.
Trying to get in decent shape for the big road trip back to Michigan. I know I won't eat good during that stretch.   :-)
And speaking of eating good, Here's a pic of a breakfast casserole I made a couple of days ago.....

This was really good! Here's a link to the recipe....    breakfast casserole
We got a big package of eggs from a neighbor when they left Friday for several weeks. I needed something to do with a bunch of them. And like I said, this was really good!
Here's a pic of Craig working in the kitchen.... 

He was making this delicious dish yesterday.....

Mexican pizza! We have this fairly often and I posted this link... Mexican pizza
back in 2013. It's that good! And now you know why I walk every day and go to the fitness center 3 times a week! Even with Craig's low fat modifications, it's still a lot of food!
And today, he's making his cheese stuffed meatloaf! Apparently I haven't posted that recipe in Cooking with Craig. I'll try to remember to take pics and get that in there. It's another good dish!
So with the meatloaf, Mexican pizza, and breakfast casserole, we'll have enough leftovers to last the entire week! And fortunately, we both love leftovers.
That's it for today....

update #2159

Good morning.
I've just returned from my walk.
I organized another cabinet in the garage.
I have one section for yard stuff and all my drip irrigation supplies and parts were scattered over 2 shelves. I found this kind of tackle box in the craft section of Walmart that was just perfect!

It's big enough to hold everything I have/need to repair or add to my drip irrigation system.

And it fits on one side of a shelf, so more storage room in the cabinet.   :-)
Here's a couple flower pics....

Vinca seems to really like the heat. And my little crape Myrtle is blooming well.

The yesterday, one of those big 4 engine planes flew over quite low.

They are really big! And they look like they are going to slow to stay in the sky!
We also went to the fitness center yesterday. I did 32 minutes on the elliptical, and Craig worked on the machines. So far, we've been going every Mon. Wed. and Fri.
Took a couple of neighbors to the 3100 grill at our golf course for lunch on Tuesday. They hadn't been there before. I had the Avocado BLT, Craig had Nachos, and they both had the Ham Panini.
Everything was good. Craig and I eat there about once a month.
Did our free senior slot tournament on Wed. No luck this week . Will be going to our Aliante Casino on Fri. Craig has $5 in slot play each week this month, and I have a neighbor's money to spend to keep her account active.
I guess that's it for now.