Just Checking In

Well we had a wonderful trip to Arizona. The weather was bad when we arrived but other than that it was wonderful. Mary Ann actually worked Friday and Saturday. She stayed on the payroll at Nursing Solutions as she has some patients she is very attached to and it enables her to keep in touch. Friday morning I had a great visit at the Reservation Center. We went to our young German friend's (Diane Hansen's foreign exchange student) graduation party Friday night and had a great time and got to meet her parents. On Saturday I played golf with my daughter's boyfriend and the weather cooperated although my score did not and he beat me. On Sunday we got together with friends and then had dinner with my daughter that night. On Monday we drove to Tucson to visit friends and had a wonderful meal on their patio overlooking the golf course and then went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. We returned home Tuesday. Boy this retirement life is rough. Tonight we have the Cancer Relay for Life. My cousin's team has raised $41,052 so far and is the #1 fundraising team this year for the second year in a row. I probably will be returning to Arizona about the 8th or 9th of June as I have a dental appointment there on 10 June

Back In Arizona

We arrived back in Arizona today. The weather is not what we were expecting. It had been over 100 but the high today was in the 70's and it was raining and yucky. I'm hoping that it clears up by Saturday as I am playing golf. We will probably stay until next week sometime and then go back to Virginia for a while.

Condo is looking good

Well, I haven't written anything lately so I thought I would do a quick post. Mary Ann has the condo looking really good. All the appliances were pretty old so we have replaced the washer, dryer, refrigerator, and stove. They are coming to today to replace the dishwasher and install it and we have a microwave sitting on the floor in the dining area we need to install over the stove. Boy, the people at East Coast Appliance love us. We have been working hard to get the condo in shape but finally took time to go out to eat last night. We are still working on our schedule for the next 2 months before we go to Yellowstone but have not finalized it yet. We may go to Arizona next week.

Ron

Arrived and Unpacked

Well we arrived safely in Virginia Monday about 11 AM. Everything was offloaded from the truck by late afternoon but you could hardly walk thru the condo. Tuesday afternoon we went and purchased 2 new T.V.'s and had the cable and internet hooked up in the afternoon so life is good. Mary Ann has worked very hard and the condo is starting to look organized. This retirement is not all its cracked up to be so far. I have worked as hard as ever getting moved and settled in here but I know I will eventually get to rest.

Ron

Still Traveling and a Day of Rest

We drove from Shawnee, OK on Thursday and had an easy day. We stopped in Jackson, TN at 5:30 in the evening. We had a wonderful meal and just enough beer to celebrate my first official day of retirement. The restaurant was called Logan's Roadhouse and was very similar to Texas Roadhouse. Our waiter Ryan was very personable and even though Happy Hour was over he told us his girlfriend was the bartender and as long as we were there it was Happy Hour. Then he brought me a beer and said I was so nice it was free. I then met Jeremy the manager and put in a good word for Ryan who it turned out was an aspiring musician. Boy did I tip Ryan good. We only drove about 2 hours Friday before arriving at Mary Ann Mom's house in Nashville at noon. Today we have had a relaxing day and are going to a movie this afternoon with some of Mary Ann's family before we get on the road tomorrow. Also I found out that Donna found the note I left in the gas cap. I had taped a note with $20 saying to take her and Cindi to lunch. That was fun. I will sign off until later

On the Road

On Tuesday I had a wonderful farewell lunch at Durant's with Steve Flynn, some of the CSL's and all the staff April PED's in Phoenix and Mary Ann had a great get together with friends at the Farm. After our lunches we left town and ended up driving 345 miles and spent the night in Gallup, NM. The owner of the Quality Inn Suites we stayed at was a veteran so because I was military retired they upgraded us to a mini suite which was nice. We left at 8:30 the next morning not sure how far we would drive. We ended up driving 720 miles and are spending the night in Shawnee,OK. which is 30 miles past Oklahoma City.

Retirement Letter

This is a copy of the retirement Letter I sent to the staff at work:

As Mary Ann and I get ready to start our retirement journey, I wanted to take this opportunity to say my goodbyes. I have really enjoyed my time with Southwest and especially the almost 11 years at PRC. It is funny but when I applied at Southwest 12 years ago I wanted to work OPS and only put Reservations down as a second choice because I thought it might be easier to get into Reservations. They called me almost immediately and offered me a job in Res which I of course accepted. It was really different for me to go from a job where women were not allowed because it was considered a combat job to a job that was 90% women. Boy was I in for a cultural shock. Over the last 11 ½ years I have learned, discussed and heard things I thought I would never do. Ladies, it has been an eye opening experience. Anway, Mary Ann and I will miss you guys but with our daughter here in Phoenix, you can bet we will be making return visits. Best of luck to all of you. For the ones who are staying, I hope the future is bright and all goes well. I would like to close by listing some favorite moments from my tenure at PRC. I will leave it up to you to decide who each saying refers to.
1. Where are the sidewalks that roll up at night??
2. You have to do disgusting things to get diamonds
3. Of course I got lost. You drew me a map to get there but not to get back. Say What!
4. The smoke alarm went off. Your dinner is ready
5. Your dog bit a lawyer?
6. The ladies bathroom has had problems with drainage. Finally after about a year, a Plumber is called and they found a badge was the culprit. Did she get her money back for the lost badge??
7. What Sup paged herself??
8. I'll bet you hate the Dentist as you really like to talk to people. Oh, I take a pen and paper so I can write notes
9. Oh, I don't pay any attention to those closed freeway entrance signs. There is nobody working that early in the morning so I just go around them.
10. I can't drink this coffee. Its old. I'm a princess.
I know that I have picked on and harassed you guys over the last 11 years. It was always in good fun and hope you took it as such. Remember, you really pick on people you like. For anyone who wants to keep in touch I have some business cards in my cubby. Our email addresses and cell phone remain the same. Our new address is: 518 Willow Green Ct., Chesapeake, Va 23320. Lots of luck finding us there. Also, we started a blog on our travels. The address is http://www.chastainstravels.blogspot.com/ . You can log on and watch our adventure unfold. Good Bye and Good Luck.