Pensacola FL and Cincinnati OH

We took a little airplane ride out to Pensacola about 3 weeks ago. John had some VA appointments, and we had a little business to take care of.

It was cooler than we had been in Arizona. David graciously provided us a car to drive and a house to stay in. The house was pretty bare - Bed, Yard Chair, Refrigerator and Microwave. It was all we really needed. Sure wouldn't mind not having the option if they could sell or rent the house. Know anyone looking for a water side 4 br house with a great pool in Milton Fl? I'll bet they will make you a great deal - probably would even pay a finder's fee!

Then we took another little ride up to Cincinnati OH. Yes, we were asking ourselves why we left Arizona for Ohio in February. We probably wouldn't have made the trip except it was for an engagement party for David and Jessica. Now, we fly on Dave's nickel since he works for ASA. The downside is that we can easily get bumped off a flight if they have a paying customer. And bumped we were. The party was on Saturday evening and we had planned to arrive on Friday. The weather had changed a lot of flights around so we ended up bumped on Friday. Got a flight from Atlanta to Orlando then to Cincinnati and didn't get in until about 10 pm on Saturday.

Obviously we missed the party. So Mary Ann (Jessica's grandmother), just had another one on Sunday evening. Great food and so glad to meet some of our new in-laws. We couldn't ask for nicer folks and look forward to getting to know them better.

I picked up a cold during the Pensacola visit and took it to Cincinnati with me. I just hope I didn't pass it on to everyone there. Dave and Jessica ended up taking me to a walk-in clinic one night. Antibiotics are great things, but this bug was tough. I'm still fighting the sore throat and sinus stuff after 2 weeks.

We really got the top notch tour. There was some snow, but it wasn't bad. We were treated to a couple of good ice cream stores, a trip to Jungle Jim's store http://www.junglejims.com, dinners, and some sight-seeing.

Jungle Jim's started out as a fruit and vegetable stand and has been growing ever since. It is huge! If there is a food item, they probably have it. And everyone HAS to check out the Jungle Johns! I won't spoil the story...just check it out.

Graeter's Ice Cream was a unique treat. Fantastic ice cream and candies. Best semi-sweet chocolate sauce ever.

United Dairy Farmers stores dot the Cincinnati landscape. It was a neighborhood convenience store with an ice cream store inside.

We went to the Bier House restaurant for dinner one night. Gigantic portions of unusual food. I had a Chicken Pecan dinner. It was the double chicken breast seasoned and grilled with a pecan pralines sauce. Never had anything like it, but it was excellent. We made arrangements to have a dinner there on the Wedding Eve.

We stayed in Dave's new house. The house has tremendous potential, but Dave & Jessica will have a bit of work to do remodeling. The wedding will be in the back yard so they have a tight timetable. We got away before the big snow storm last week.

Caught a flight direct into Phoenix and picked up the car. We'd left the motor home at the Pinal County Fair Grounds while we were gone. Nice people there. We'd planned a week at the Fiesta Grande RV Resort in Casa Grande to get ourselves ready to travel. Laundry and cleaning all the dirt out of the house. The Southwest is famous for its dust storms and we were privileged to enjoy one in Casa Grande. Finally got most of it out of the house before we left. Got to El Paso and got another dose. Winds have been at the 40-50 mph range and gusts up to 70 mph. If we weren't sitting here waiting for repairs, we would be sitting somewhere else waiting for the winds to end. Especially since it would be a head wind. Talk about mileage in the tank.

It's off to bed time here. Hope everyone is having a great week. Easter is coming soon.