New Year's in Clyde

We loaded up and drove to Clyde on New Year's Eve to spend a few days with Susan, Corey and kids.  Susan and Corey had previously made plans to get together with friends so we were going to keep the grandkids. When we arrived, Corey said they weren't going out after all because he was going to have to work, but he had time to go to dinner with all of us and Karen first.

 Karen and me

 Susan and Aidan

 Corey and Susan

Ally and Grandpa

As it turned out, Corey's job got cancelled so the kids went out after dinner and we went back to the house with the grandkids to enjoy reading books out loud, playing many games of "Sorry," "Jenga," and "Connect Four" and chatting about life. Rich also found a cool puzzle game for his iPad called "Monument Valley" and the kids loved working on it.  Aidan and Ally are both super sweet and fun to be with, and  they still don't mind hanging out with their grandparents, thankfully!  We managed to stay up for the ball drop in NYC and just like that, it's 2016!

 "Sorry!"

"Monument Valley"

The next day we hung out at the house for the most part and then drove into Abilene in the early evening to take the kids to see the Chipmunk movie, not my first choice, but there weren't too many kid friendly movies showing. Imagine our surprise when we arrived and found it to be sold out!  Aidan and Ally weren't that upset but, oh my goodness, you should have seen the other little kids sobbing when their parents told them they wouldn't be able to go!  It was sad and funny all at the same time.  :)

So we went to get something to eat, wandered the mall briefly, and on the way out stopped at Books a Million to see if we could find a different board game.  I'd meant to bring our "Mexican Train" game with us but had forgotten it at Sarah's so I was going to look for it but the store didn't have any.  We settled on one called "Rack-o," which I'd never heard of, but the box said it was "family fun for the last 50 years!" and Rich recalled that they had the game when he was a kid.  Stopped at the store for ice cream and made our way back home for a fun night of snacks and "Rack-o," which the kids ended up loving and wanting to play over and over.  Oh, yeah, while we were at the theater we'd gone ahead and bought tickets for the following morning's showing of the Chipmunk movie.

"Rack-o"

 Ally and me

Susan bundled up!

Susan had to work Saturday morning so we took the kids and met her at the theater after her shift.  I can't say I was especially enthralled with the Chipmunks but the kids seemed to enjoy it and laughed throughout, so that made it worthwhile.  Plus I got to have popcorn.

At the movie

As we were getting into the car, my friend Jim texted to see what we were up to and said he'd just made a pitcher of tea if we wanted to come by.  Susan and Corey ran some errands and went home while we took  Aidan and Ally with us to visit Jim.  I failed to get a pic but we had a nice visit getting filled in on the latest news.

Back home for more games, then out to dinner with Karen.  We had a full weekend and a very quick trip, leaving Sunday morning to drive back to Dallas.  I'm glad we now live close enough that we can pop in and visit when we want!

 Early morning snuggles before we went home.  Love and miss these sweeties!

Day Trip to Duncan, OK

We met our friends from California, Linda and Martin,  on the cruise we took to Australia several years ago and we've stayed in touch ever since. They came to see us once in San Francisco and we had a lot of fun hanging out there.  Linda messaged me and asked if we were going to be in Amarillo on a certain date,  as they were traveling through.  We weren't going to be able to go to Amarillo but as we chatted back and forth, I realized that they would actually be closer to us when they got to Oklahoma, where they were visiting Martin's daughter and fiancé.  We decided to take a quick little road trip to Duncan and meet them for the day.

We had a nice lunch at a barbecue place where Martin's daughter and her fiancé both work, and caught up on news.

There's not a lot to do in Duncan!  We wandered the main street and learned lots of trivia about the town from these tiles in the sidewalk.  Did you know "Ronnie" Howard was born there?  :)

We stepped into this used bookstore and browsed for awhile. It was quite a mess with shelves stacked high with books crammed together!  We talked with the owner for a few minutes, who told us that a friend had owned it for many years but had died and the store had sat empty for about three years.  He was living in CA but decided to come home and do something he felt good about.  I asked him if he could make a living at it and he said "I eat."  I would think it would be tough in a small town, and we were definitely the only people there.  We bought some books to support an independent seller and wished him well.

 The "oldest escalator in Oklahoma" is in an antique shop downtown.  But it doesn't work.  :)

 Martin found the Village People.

The "world's largest pig show" was going on so we went to check it out.  Apparently all of these pigs were for sale and we couldn't get too close because the farmers thought we were interested in buying. One guy told me, "Your pig is right here!   You just have to point it out to me!"   Linda and I felt bad for the pigs and wanted to let them loose.  I said I wondered how quickly someone would pull out a gun and start shooting at us if we did!

I guess it's an expensive hobby/profession!

After the pig show, we said our goodbyes and began the drive back to Dallas. It's only about three hours and we talked and played music along the way so it wasn't bad.  Well, not till we got to  Dallas, and the traffic was really backed up. We decided to get off the highway at not our usual exit and later wished we hadn't!  Oh, I never mentioned that one of our first purchases when we moved to Dallas was to get both of us new smart phones.  I have to say we love the GPS and it's helping us learn our way around Dallas as well as making travel easier!

It was great to see Linda and Martin again--they are both really nice people and we always have a lot to talk about.  I hope we we get to see them again soon!

More Fun with Family and Friends

Susan, Corey and kids came to visit a couple of weekends later.  I'd bought tickets for "us gals" to see a live performance of "The Sound of Music" so we got dressed up and went to the theater!

 Susan and Ally, me,  Sarah and Elle

After the performance.  I had kinda forgotten about some of the story line of the musical but the more serious business about Nazis and WWII largely went over the kids' heads.  They loved the singing and especially all of the children in the show!

The next morning, Mom arrived for a little visit.  It was great that it worked out that Susan and her family were here for part of the same time and got to see her.  Three generations: Mom, me and Susan.

 With Susan, Corey and Aidan

Four generations

Then Beck had his fifth birthday party at an indoor swimming pool.  Jack was sick so I just went to the party for a few minutes while Rich and Mom stayed with Jack, and then I went back to take care of him.  Susan and Corey and kids got to go to the party and then headed home.  We'll see them soon, though!

Then our friends Ingrid and Kyle came through town and spent the night with us.  Ingrid's mom was flying in from France for their wedding, so they came the night before and we went out for a fabulous dinner and fun time visiting with them.  This was the next day, when we took Mom with us and did some running around and stopped for a coffee/tea before they left for the airport.  Now they are married and living in France!  Isn't life grand?!

The two chefs, talking about food, as always. LOL

Farewell, Unalaska

Our last few days were pretty crazy!  My friend Charlene stopped over to say goodbye--she is my workout idol.  I wish I had the determination and stamina that she does!  My former student Yumiko came back to Unalaska the day before we left and also came to visit, but I failed to get a photo.  It was great to see her again after many months in Japan.  AND my former student Magda spent a couple of hours helping us clean our house.  Whew! Moving is hard work!

Then off to the Post Office to mail several boxes of stuff that we didn't manage to get into the totes going on the boat.  I thought we were going to be so organized and that did not prove to be true at all!  Here's Jennifer, our favorite postal worker, taking care of business with Rich.  I'm gonna miss chatting with her!

 I swung by the office one last time to complete my final paperwork and say some tearful goodbyes to my awesome coworkers.  Above, our bookkeeper Billie Jo and the best boss ever, Lauren.  I couldn't have asked for a better person to work for.

Our visiting reporters John and Greta were lots of fun and I enjoyed working with them for a short time.

Pipa, TV producer, volunteer coordinator, and so much more. We had many good times and deep conversations.  She and Lauren and I had been there together the longest and worked really well together.

That's Chrissy up front, our brand new arts and culture producer.  I only got to work with her for a couple of weeks but I loved her already. So much fun and willing to pitch in and help with anything needed.  She's gonna be a good one for the station and I am glad she's there!

 Tammy and Jack took us out for one last dinner

 It was pretty surreal spending one last night in our house and getting up the next morning to head to the airport knowing it was our last time to fly out of Unalaska.  I definitely got choked up driving over to the radio station and then again driving to the airport. So many memories of 11 plus years on our little island in the Bering Sea.  I am so glad I took such a big leap of faith and moved to the end of the world to begin a new life.  Although I didn't love every single minute of it and sometimes (especially the last few years) I was totally dying to leave, it was still a fabulous experience.

 Elaine and Tammy came to see us off

 along with my sweet friend Kathy, with whom I worked at the Wellness Center years ago.

 Getting ready to board our last flight out

We've stood in front of this window many times over the years, watching for planes to come in or take off.

One last hug for my dear friend Tammy--I can't even put into words how much I will miss this one!  But we will not be too sad because we have plans to get together "down south" in the future.

 There's our plane

 Look! A rainbow for our departure

 Taking off on Pen Air one last time

 Goodbye to our beautiful island home

Poor Ajax and Kali had to endure two flights before getting out of their kennels for an overnight in Seattle.  We reserved a pet friendly hotel room and let them out to roam a bit but they were pretty traumatized, bless their little hearts.

Next morning, another flight and finally we're in Dallas!  Another new start and another new phase of life ahead of us.  Looking forward to new adventures!