Sad news. Whenever I see those two words I cringe before I head right to that section to find out what has happened. So I'll address this first.
Our good friends, Paul and Marti, informed us today that Paul's mother passed away overnight. It wasn't unexpected, but it's still a very difficult time for them. Terri and I are so saddened by the news. We've both been through the loss of our mothers, ourselves, and can understand what they're going through right now. We were amazed at how well they got through the day. Paul even participated in the RV Gadget/Toys Show and Tell and shared several useful, as well as comical, gadgets with everyone. True to form, he got a lot of laughs. And, of course, we all enjoyed the return of the toilet paper over/under gadget. It was bittersweet knowing how much his heart must be aching inside while many weren't yet aware of the sad news. They're planning an early departure Thursday morning for the almost eight hour trip home, and then another five or so hours up to New Jersey. Paul said they'll stop overnight somewhere along the way. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Paul and Marti, during this very difficult time. Peace be with you and your family.
The rally is in full swing now. We attended three seminars in the morning, and I attended the afternoon seminar (internet accessibility) by myself. Terri decided to leave that one for me. We attended all the seminars last year but are still learning, and we have a new perspective on things now that we're fulltime. I didn't really understand some of what they were talking about last year, but now that we've experienced some of this, it makes more sense. For me, going back to the seminars this year is sort of like a confirmation and review of what they're talking about and what we have and will experience. I'm glad that we've returned for another rally; it's definitely worthwhile. It's also fun catching up with friends from last year, meeting new friends, and learning from others.
Tonight's dinner was the chili cookoff, and I signed up to be one of the five judges.
There were 25 pots of chili, 10 of which were chosen by a lottery drawing to be judged. Terri made some delicious chili (not that I'm at all biased), but hers wasn't one of the 10 chosen to be judged. The judging criteria included aroma, consistency, and taste, and it's truly a subjective process. For instance, I'm not a big fan of green peppers, and at least one pot of chili contained green peppers. I tried to be unbiased and open-minded on my judgements. Overall, they were all quite tasty, and I was lucky enough to be able to taste some of them before everyone else. One final note. Each pot of chili had to be named, and there were some pretty creative names. A couple that I remember were "From our Can to Your Can Chili" and "RV Screams Chili." Terri named hers "Rootin' Tootin' Chili." I'll leave it to your imagination as to how she came up with that name, but I will say that it contained A LOT of beans.
After dinner, as mentioned above, there was an RV Gadget/Toys Show and Tell. Some things were very practical, and some things were just for fun. It was a lot of fun and quite interesting to see what kinds of things people brought to show off.
After the show, we headed back home for the evening with our bellies full of chili. Tomorrow will be more seminars and a potluck.
Thanks for your prayers and support, it means the world to us to have friends like you both. Sorry we had to leave but we look forward to getting together soon.
ReplyDeleteThe blog looks great and we're looking forward to more posts!