Phoenix and Tucson May 2010

After a few days in Seattle, we flew to Phoenix to visit Joan’s niece and family and also to meet Andy and Winnie and family who drove down from Seattle so grandson Clayton could compete in the International Tuba Competition. We drove down to Tucson Monday for the competition and stayed a night at a hotel (via Hotwire) after Clayton qualified for the finals the next morning. The Youth Division was for players up through age 19. Clayton won 3rd place (he’s 13)! It was very exciting and you can see how they were having fun.

We stayed at Scottsdale Camelback Resort with an exchange from Platinum Interchange. It was beautiful with so many gardens to walk through. It was the first timeshare we’ve been to that had bird feeders all around the grounds. I couldn’t help but take so many picture of the cactus gardens. See photos at
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4131015009/a=22435551_22435551/
Our son and family stayed at a http://www.vrbo.com/ condo in Tucson so they could go to the Tuba and Euphonium Convention activities all week. We flew back to Seattle on Sunday, May 30th and they drove back.

To Ohio and then Illinois then Seattle May 2010

On then to Xenia, Ohio where we stay with our great friend Quinn. As well as seeing doctors and doing all the other “errands” there, we loaded up a trailer from our storeroom in Springfield Ohio, to take to our son Keenan’s house in Springfield, IL to store some things in his basement to reduce the number of items in the Ohio storage unit. Of course, on the day we reserved the trailer to load, it poured rain all day!

Ron is a good packer and the trailer and Excursion van were full!

We took the grandfather clock that Ron’s father built to Keenan and also Joan brought the complete set of Elsie Dinsmore books that her grandmother gave to her when she was 12. Our granddaughter there is 12!


We drove back to Ohio, left our van with Quinn, and flew out to Seattle on May 19th

Returning North, Spring 2010

We began our trip north to stay for a while in Ohio in order to see our doctors, renew Ron’s drivers’ license, visit old friends and for Joan to meet with Yellow Springs Schools and write an annual report for them, the one she has done for over 10 years.

On the way we stayed at Wyndham Plantation near Atlanta, one of our favorite places. The décor is very gorgeous, and right on the lake. We have great friends near there and always try to stop few days on the way to or from Florida. See resort photos at
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3940896009/a=22435551_22435551/
We then drove up to Knoxville area where Ron’s brother Merlyn is building a house. We stayed at the new Wyndham Great Smokies Lodge in Sevierville for a few days. It is really a place for families who are interested in a water park. They did not even have a regular swimming pool! See photos at http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4482471009/a=22435551_22435551/
But we were there to visit and were able to have nice visits with his brother and wife.

April at the Beach, New Friends and Old

We returned to Daytona in April, staying at the Tropic Sun Towers, in Ormond Beach, a 3 week exchange with RCI. While there, Ron saw an Excursion van parked right next to ours with an Army symbol on it. Anxious to meet the owner, he saw him at the pool with a military hat on and spoke, and he had been looking for Ron, too, to meet! Hal and Kathie have become good friends, and they live in Fairfax, VA – they want us to visit during the next National Trumpet Competition!
We were also able to see our great friend, Buzz, who lives in Daytona, from whom we bought our first St Augustine timeshare.
We LOVED the Tropic Sun Towers. We had a small 1 BD but right on the 1st floor, our request, so as to be able to walk right out to the pool and beach. See photos at
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3941188009/a=22435551_22435551/

In the middle of our stay in Daytona, we went to Orlando for 2 nights to see the Epcot Flower Show with our friends George and Judy, who live in Melbourne, whom we had met at the Mayan Palace 2 years ago at the Mayan Riviera. We stayed at Star Island with Wyndham points. We had a great fun time and loved the flowers. Cinderella is Joan's favorite princess.