"Personal battles are won

in the heart of the person"

 Latest News for the Month of

March 2006

     OK, I am a little ahead of schedule and it isn't quite March yet, but I thought I would get a jump on this months news since I have been tardy in the past ( and a few of you let me know about it. :)

 We are still in Chula Vista, CA but will be packing things up this week and getting ready for our departure this coming Sunday. Plans are to head north a little to Pismo Beach which is in the Santa Barbara, CA area. We have reserved a spot on the ocean there at another resort and will sit and veg out for approximately 2 weeks before heading onward. I will provide more pictures for ya'll and keep you posted.

I just happened to think, its tax time, the time of year when some people cannot get their refund checks quick enough while others cringe when they think they may have to send in a check to Uncle Sam. As for me I believe it will be time to send in the forms for an extension as we simply wont have the time to get our taxes done.

On the health front, I seem to be doing fine. I stayed on my Interferon injections and am now taking 2,000 mg of Milk Thistle. I will know in about three more weeks when I have a repeat liver enzyme test to know if its helping or not. Other then that I remain tired allot from the INF/chemo injections and am currently into a good batch of the stuff. I haven't figured out why one batch is so much stronger then another and creates much worse side effects. :(

I did want to apologize to those I haven't e-mailed lately. I simply have become a lazy retiree......:) But actually I haven't been to good lately in the e-mail department. Sometimes it takes just enough brain power to get this site updated.

I just wanted to give you a quick update and let you know I am still among the living, still harassing the seniors at this resort and I am still trying to bring a few smiles to them that I happen to meet here. Life remains great and I remain happy. How about you ? Drop me a line and let me know.

Hi Gang ! Yes I am still alive and living among the Californians. I wont go into detail as to where we are at as you can read that story by clicking on the link below. I first want to say that I was blown away by the number of people who have visited this web site. Good Golly Miss Molly ! I just happened to get curious the other night and looked up the the statistics for this web site and was amazed - over 2,000 separate visits and over 52,000 hits since January. Now here is the big surprise, the visits came from people in 17 different countries. The 4 largest visitors were from the USA, Australia, the Netherlands and Great Britain but Portugal, Poland, Germany, Belgium, France, Canada, Mexico and Japan all deserve recognition as they also registered numerous hits on this site. While I do understand a few of these visits were done by robotic search engines, the page visit statistics show that this site gets a great deal of individual visits.

So how does this make me feel ? Extremely humbled as well as a bit scared. :) Scared from the standpoint that maybe I better start watching what I say on here...:) The point of bringing all this to you is that I obviously have a great deal of people who care about me and also find this web site entertaining, even if half the people visit here out of boredom and words could never explain just how great it makes me feel inside. Let me now take the time to say thank you to each and every one of the people who do visit this site. THANK YOU !! from the bottom of my heart. Your the greatest.

Before I get started on my latest news I wanted to update all of you on my Mom's condition. I got an e-mail asking what was going on with my Mom and thought I better bring you all up to date. For those of you who may not know, she was diagnosed with CLL ( Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia ) late last year. I am very pleased to say she is doing well. She has her days that she gets very tired and weak, but she seems to bounce right back a day or so later and is out and about. Overall her blood counts look very good considering the disease she has. Turning 75 in December, she still is driving and lives on her own in a beautiful apartment. I don't think you could ask for much more considering the disease and aches and pains she battles everyday. I will keep you posted on further updates in regards to her and I apologize for not doing that sooner.

Rain, Rain Go Away. Since our move up the coast to Pismo Beach we have experienced a great deal of rain and colder then expected temperatures. I believe this is my payback for teasing all of you about your cold winter temperatures for the last couple months. As for being stuck up here in the rain and cold I think it maybe easier to blame this also on my dear wife who " wanted " to come up here. It isn't a total washout or waste of time as the coastal area here is beautiful. During the sunnier moments I have actually walked the beach, enjoyed the ocean and yes nearly repeated my feat from a year ago when I got knocked on my butt by the surf on Cape Fear. Ally was watching and waiting  ( and laughing ) as I lost my balance to a wave and current that came in behind me. Her comment was, " don't worry, I wouldn't have let you drown ". Yeah right dear.....but how can I be sure ? :)

On the health front lets just say I am being a good boy and injecting the Interferon like I am supposed to but I have been a bad boy by not staying current on my weekly blood tests. I am planning on having all the tests done when we get to Las Vegas so I can see where my blood levels are at. During our stay at Chula Vista Ally did do a phlebotomy on me and was right on the mark. She hit the vein the first time and it was a painless procedure. She did great and removed a full pint of blood from me. I have to thank Ally's buddies at the hospital for making sure she had all the supplies to do this on the road. Overall I have been feeling decent, weak at times and a lack of energy on some days, but I am doing well so I am not about to complain. Besides, everyday above ground is a Good Thing !

While in Chula Vista we met a great couple there and became fast friends. People like Nancy and Paul Engman just make your RV'ing experience so much better. We shared a great deal of laughs, dinner and they took time from their day to take us on a tour of the Point Loma area. We had such a great time together and we can see they will be lifelong friends. What is even nicer about this new found friendship is that they just closed on a house in Knoxville, TN so they will be living close to us which will allow us to get together more often then if they stayed in Los Angeles.

 I am going to do something that may make Paul want to strangle me later but I am going to give you his professional website address here. If you get the chance, please do visit it and listen to the amazing voice of this man. What's hilarious is that Ally and I both listened to it and both of us said " Oh My God "... I have heard his National commercials many times before. I am including this info on here simply because I feel he is one of the best voiceover artists I have ever heard and I am sure it will blow you away as well. Besides, I make it a point to be proud of my friends and their accomplishments. I sometimes seem to be their biggest fan and I truly believe that supporting your friends and their career is what friendship is all about. Check out the link to his site located at the bottom of this page. You will be amazed and will probably say the same thing we did

" Dang, I have heard that commercial and his voice before."

Speaking of celebrities, we also had William Golden and his wife Brenda and son Solomon parked behind us at Chula Vista. They pulled in on a 3 day layover before William's  performance in El Cajon, CA. I had the opportunity to chat quite a bit with William and Brenda and their down home and warm personality. His wife Brenda is an absolute sweetheart  ( a Texan BTW ) and both are loving parents and people. They invited us to their farm in Nashville this summer and we plan on making the trip to see this 200 year old plantation farm/home of theirs that William talked to me about. Besides, Solomon still owes us a Violin concert. :) Now your probably wondering who the heck is William Golden ? He is one of the singers of the famous Oak Ridge Boys. ( I put a link to their site below as well ). If you get a chance, catch one of their shows if they are in your area. These old boys can still carry a tune and will provide you with an awesome night of entertainment. ( These guys, even at their age are still doing 160 dates a year. Wow....)

It's amazing the wonderful people you meet in some of these resorts.

Opp's, I just realized I never updated the " Where are They " map. Ya know it just goes to show you how lazy retiree's can be. I updated that as well.  I hope that this recent update is finding all of you happy, smiling and laughing your heads off and just generally enjoying life. Remember the alternative to life is a real bummer. :)

Well here we are in Las Vegas ( Lost wages, Elvis town, etc. ). The trip over from Pismo Beach was pretty much uneventful except for some sleet that we hit in the mountains by Bakersfield. It was a strange occurrence as we headed up in elevation and then drove right into a front that included snow and sleet. The mountains were covered with snow and I stopped to get out to take a picture only to find out the stuff coming down from the sky was a freezing sleet mixture. Needless to say I got back in the coach and got off the top of the mountain. Now the strange part was that in about 10 minutes time we came down off the mountain and right into the Mojave desert where the sun was shinning and the temperature much warmer. I have never went through such a drastic climate change before and the change in scenery was amazing.

We are currently staying at a lovely RV Resort called the Oasis. It is very nice, has high security and the grounds are well manicured. I did manage to get my fat butt into the hot tub and the warm water felt great on the old bones. I plan on adding pictures of the resort soon here on the website.

Ingrid's Mum arrived from Australia and they had a happy reunion. She is such an easy person to live with and is a joy to have around. I am truly blessed with a great Mother in Law as she treats me like one of her own.

The three of us drove down to the Tropicana and had dinner and looked around. Being the big spender I am I lost 3 dollars in a nickel slot machine. I admit I am not a gambler and cannot stand losing money. I also have a great deal of control and can easily get up and walk away from a machine. I am just not a Casino junkie I guess. :)

I will be writing one more update before we pack up and head for home ( Bristol ). We haven't been home since December so I nearly forgot we had a home. :) I will be sure and write more later and will update you on the latest along with adding a few pictures. By the way, I did go back and fixed the photo links at the recent photo additions so they now work. Opp's, sorry about that....:)

Until later, be good, take good care and continue to enjoy life.

Hi Gang. It's Sunday, March 26th and we are getting ready to disconnect here at the resort in Las Vegas and head for home Where ever home is at ). I needed to get the map software going in order to find Bristol its been so long since we have been there. :) We had a great time here and I finally got to see the Hoover Dam. What an amazing piece of engineering it is. I still cannot believe this thing was designed back in the 1920's. Simply amazing and it leaves you in awe.

Yes folks we headed to the Vegas strip. Seen all the hotels, witnessed some more amazing engineering and architecture and then got the heck out. ( click here for the Vegas pic's )   The traffic is bumper to bumper on the strip and then once parked it's wall to wall people. It just is NOT my idea of fun and I was glad o get off the strip and back to the resort. Some people thrive on this kind of atmosphere, but I am not one of them. When we leave Las Vegas I can honestly say I will have left 10 dollars behind in the slot machines. Big spender huh ? :) I have a theory though and that's " casinos are large and extravagant for a reason. The odd's are always in their favor and they WILL get your money ".

For those of you who will be tracking our route home we will be heading down highway 93, across the Hoover Dam and then down to Kingston, AZ where we will pick up I-40. From there its a straight shot across the USA to Bristol. We plan on overnight stops in Gallup, NM - Amarillo, TX - Sallisaw, OK - Jackson, TN and finally Bristol. Since we are not on a tight schedule we will be taking our time and adjusting our schedule as we go. Right now there looks like there is a major storm front that will be moving along with us so we may delay our trip one day to allow the storm front to pass by us. I will check the front once more before we leave and then make a decision.

While we are traveling back home, internet access will be spotty so if you do e-mail me, don't expect a speedy reply. Till later, enjoy your week, behave yourselves and don't forget to laugh everyday. Laughter is the best medicine God can provide us. 

This is just a quick update. We are currently in a campground located in Sallisaw, Oklahoma and will be driving through Arkansas today on our way home. We plan on being home sometime Friday and I will be posting more about our adventures then. Besides some very windy weather and some rain, the trip home has been uneventful. We have seen some gorgeous scenery and I will be posting pictures of those sites in a week or two. Included in those photos is the breathtaking views of the Grand Canyon. I did manage to post a few new pictures of Ella. She just celebrated her 2nd birthday in fashion with a party at a petting zoo. She had a great B-Day and I am sorry I missed it. It wont be long before I get the chance to grab that little girl and give her a big hug and kiss. I have missed her a great deal. Check out the latest photos page to see how she has grown. ( click here for the photos ).

Will write more soon once we get home. Until then take care and keep enjoying.

All my best to each and everyone of you,

Chris

Click Here for our latest personal pictures

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Click Here for the "Where Are They Map"

Click Here for the Oak Ridge Boys Web Site

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