Cheers!

One of the great aspects of RV living is the people whom we meet. The age range stretches from infants to the elderly (even older than we are!), and the interests vary from knitting to motorcycle riding and hunting (neither of which we have pursued). No where has this been more fully demonstrated than at the River Rock Saloon, where many come to congregate, sip something from root beer to Margaritas, eat heartily quite often, and just enjoy each other's company. This Friday night, the first TGIF of the new year, was no exception. The food for the evening was chicken and dumpling soup, complemented by cheese, olives, finger sandwiches, and crackers, all at no cost. The drinks, from pop to liquor, ranged from $2 to $3, with Don frequently offering a drink on the house. The juke box played country all evening, and under heat lamps, many were out dancing on the open air patio. The shuffleboard table stayed busy with contenders all evening, as well. (I played with Byron as a partner and REALLY lost.) However, it was the people who made the party such fun.

One of the delights about being here is getting to know the work-campers, all of whom are delightful and a great deal of fun. Since we have been staying here for a while, we have also gotten to know Don and Jeanne, the owner/managers, and we are pretty much grouped with the work-campers as far as being included in everything going on. We particularly realized that when we were welcomed back most heartily on New Year's Eve! Tonight we met a couple from Hastings, NE, who have kids in Omaha and Lincoln, and who know our former financial planner in Hastings. Lo and behold, they are card players and enjoy playing Pitch and Pinochle! So we have set up a card night on Monday night to learn their version of Pitch! (We'll let you know, Anne, Rachael, and Dennis!) We also met another financial planner who sounds interesting and promising, and we are planning to talk with her soon.

One of the fun aspects of the evening was talking with Suzie (pictured with a work-camper, Mark), a fascinating character. Her husband was a career Marine officer, who had also been a pro football player, and who died from Alzheimer's about 18 months ago. She has been trying to recover from the long years of tending to his health and subsequent death. Although she is 70, she looks a great deal younger and is quite interesting. She led a cattle drive from Bandera to Wichita on horseback not too long ago, and she has great stories to tell about it. She even wore her spurs on her boots to the New Year's Eve party. Suzie's news tonight was particularly fun. She was chosen to be in a play here, almost at random when the director saw her an at art events and thought she'd be perfect for the role of a former movie star being fought over by two older gentlemen. She is thrilled to be doing the play, and of course, we will all turn out to see it in February and give her a standing ovation!

When we left the Saloon to return to our wee housie some 150 yards away, everyone was saying goodbye, from our "old" (23) buddy Sam (Symmantha the bartender), to our Guadalupe friends old and new. At that point I mentioned to 1HW that I felt like we were in "Cheers," a place where everyone knows your name and everyone's glad you came. That makes this a pretty good neighborhood to live in! I hope your neighborhoods are happy, too! Happy New Year!