2011 Blog 1

Week 1. April 21, 2011
Today we started out from Newport Beach arriving at Avondale, just outside of Phoenix, AZ. Stayed the night at Walmart. Gotta love Walmart! Seth and Lyss are with us for the trip to Orlando. They will be flying home from there sometime in May.
We have decided that we will allow Serendipity (our RV’s name) to take us where it wants. But we have agreed to do interesting, yet off the beaten path activities. So, we found where Seth lived with his family in Tempe when he was in 4th and 5th grade. It was great seeing his old house and hearing him reminisce about his old memories. Went to the park up the road from his home.
While we were at the old house, a gentleman on an electric bike rode up to us with a friendly greeting. Our huge rolling home caught his attention. Not only was his bike electric, so was his personality. Somehow I could feel Serendipity’s voice calling us. We told him why we were there, and asked if he was a neighbor. He responded jovially with, “no, I live across town, I’m just on a mission of mercy. I’m 82 years old. My wife has just had breast cancer surgery and I’m out here painting addresses on the curbs for donations so I can pay for the cost of her co-pay that wasn’t covered by insurance.” He was quite a friendly and engaging gentleman. We wished him luck and went on our way, rounding the corner. We got about a block away, when we knew that we needed to help him out even though we had no curb for him to paint. As he caught up to us, he pulled up, and I handed him our donation and wished him well. He was overly grateful and insisted that he do something in return. At which point he said that he entertains the “Old folks” at the senior center every week and could he tell us a story. Of course, we obliged, and so did he. Here is his story:
“A man is on his death bed and his wife is sitting by his side. He reaches out and takes her hand, and says, ‘do you remember when we first started dating and I bought a brand new car and I crashed it on the way home’? You were there. Then when the floods came and washed away everything we owned, I was devastated, you were there. Then, remember when our house burnt down? Complete tragedy. You were there. After 67 years of marriage, and here I am about to draw my last breath. . . and again, you are here. . . . . . . . . I’m beginning to think you’re bad luck!’ ” ahh. . . . .Serendipity.
Tombstone, Arizona. Sight of the gunfight at the OK Corral. Apparently this was a street fight that has been romanticized by Hollywood. It lasted less than 30 seconds, 32 shots fired, 3 dead. There are still questions as to who the villains were. Boot Hill is quite a sight. No more boots, but some of the markers tell quite a story! Highlight? The Ghost Tour at the Birdcage Theater. This is reputed to be one of the most haunted buildings in the U.S. Lyss and Seth felt and heard strange experiences. Normie and I did not. We all heard some unexplained “clicks”, though. The girl next to me found that her shoe was untied! She was visibly shaken, and swore that it was fine when the lights went out!!! However, I took a pic of Normie and Lyss in the lobby in front of the bar and purposely lowered my camera below bar level to avoid any flash effect on my photo. See the photo and tell me what you think. (by the way, the lens had no dust or spots on it, I checked!) Onward to Texas. . . .
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