Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Sixteenth Retirement Anniversary

Sixteen years ago, I pulled the plug on being employed. At first, it doesn’t quite feel like it has been that long, but again, so much has happened in the last 16 years that, when you think about it, the time seems to fill in with life’s events. Here’s a brief synopsis of a few of life’s milestones:

  • 2009 Retirement
  • 2010 Bought property in Arizona and started building our desert home
  • 2011 Moved physically into the Arizona home
  • 2012 Began retirement travels – viewed annular solar eclipse from Page AZ
  • 2013 Bob’s Mom relocates from California to nearby retirement home
  • 2014 First great grandson born in California. Acquired travel trailer to facilitate more travel plans to see family
  • 2015 Completed the RV Drive around the house with full trailer hookups
  • 2016 Many trips to various places of interest throughout the west
  • 2017 Travel to Wyoming and beyond to see the total eclipse with new class A RV
  • 2018 First great granddaughter born in California – trips of course
  • 2019 Second great grandson born in California – more trips
  • 2020 Second great granddaughter born in California – trips pending
  • 2021 A relatively uneventful year save for hernia surgery
  • 2022 Lost Beethoven, our red Min Pin – gained Tucker, a long-haired Chihuahua mix
  • 2023 Discovered a leak in the water line between bathroom and kitchen requiring a complete overhaul of bathroom and kitchen cabinets
  • 2024 Travel to Waco, TX to observe total eclipse of the sun. Visited other interesting places in the RV before and after the eclipse
  • 2025 Travel in the RV to visit birthplaces and residences of ancestors in the eastern and southern U.S.

So, as we continue our retirement, we will keep our heads on a swivel, given the multiple left-wing groups out to get their perceived enemies. And, then, there is the crime epidemic, thanks to president autopen, et al. We are fortunate that The Lord brought us to this tranquil place in the desert, generally away from all that malfeasance, but we never know when that might break down.

Y’all stay safe!

01 Oct 2025 by Aerospace Notions Retirement

CB&D 20th Blogiversary

At the close of the second decade for this blog, we look back on the previous year and see that we have posted approximately 1.2 times per week. The actual count is 63 posts since the last anniversary. Each year we seem to assert that we will be posting more often in the coming year, but somehow, life events and other interruptions prevail to deflect our original intentions. So, during this next year, we intend to blog some more, but no guarantees.

The last year has been an eventful one, from the election of DJT 47 in November, to the assassination of Charlie Kirk 12 days ago. If you know our political leanings, you may assume our feelings toward both events.

The year also saw another RV excursion in 2025, covering a lot more territory than in the previous year on the eclipse excursion. The (clickable) map below summarizes our 2025 travels. See the previous entry for a list of places visited and routes taken here.

Map created with MAPCHART.NET

As is sometimes the case, the Blog Anniversary falls on the Equinox which is the end of summer, but not necessarily the end of quite warm days here in this part of Arizona. We have had some clouds and showers, but the forecast is to get up to over 100 during the coming week. It will tail off as September ends and getting into October when real autumn desert days will be upon us.

So, have a wonderful Autumn, wherever you may be.

22 Sep 2025 by Arizona Blogosphere Notions Politics Religion Wanderlust

27th Wedding Anniversary

While the 27th anniversary is a significant milestone, our actual 45 years together speak to a deep, enduring love. This photo of us posing with our wedding cake at the Blue Parrot Restaurant in Avalon, Catalina Island, California, captures a special moment that holds a lot of meaning for us. It’s a reminder of the joy and celebration that marked the beginning of our wedded journey together — and the many more years of love, laughter, and shared memories that have followed.

What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. – Mark 10:9.

12 Sep 2025 by Family Nostalgia

Patriot Day 2025

We haven’t forgotten our “Never Forget” day, just late posting due to other matters. Thursday is our day for grocery shopping and we were also distracted by the news coverage of the assassination of Charlie Kirk yesterday – perhaps that’s another post entirely.

Meanwhile, we’re directing our thoughts and prayers to the matter of remembering those lost in the brutal attacks on America 24 years ago. Nearly a quarter-century has passed since those events and the memory is still vivid as we recall seeing them unfold. We will Never Forget!

Clickable Image above (courtesy Damsel) – Patriot Day American flags align some of the main drags in Wickenburg in honor of the memory of 9-11-2001.

11 Sep 2025 by Islamic Terrorism Never Forget Patriotism

Sunday Dinner

Damsel has a recipe for our Sunday Dinner consisting of Shrimp, Alfredo Sauce and Spaghetti Squash. I doodled the notion of such a meal into the Google Gemini AI image generator on my smart phone, and it produced the (clickable) image shown above. It looks very appetizing for an AI-generated (i.e. “Fake”) photo.

Gemini is a Google AI platform that enables image generation and editing. It uses multimodal input, enhanced reasoning, and natural language understanding to create images. With Gemini, you can generate images with a single model, such as Gemini 2.0 Flash, which combines text and image generation.

Gemini 2.0 Flash can be used for various tasks, including generating stories with consistent illustrations, conversational image editing, and creating detailed imagery with world knowledge
1. It also excels in rendering long sequences of text, making it suitable for creating advertisements, social posts, or invitations
2. Gemini 2.5 Flash Image is another state-of-the-art image model that benefits from Gemini’s world knowledge, enabling new use cases. It can generate images with a wide range of styles and subjects, and it is available via the Gemini API and Google AI Studio
3. To use Gemini for image generation, you can use specific prompts to achieve consistent characters, precise edits, and blended images
4. The platform is actively being improved, and Google is committed to making it more accessible and user-friendly.

Gemini is also integrated with other Google services, such as Google AI Studio, Vertex AI, and the Gemini app, making it a powerful tool for developers and users alike.

Anyhow, the actual meal will be posted on our food blog sometime late Sunday, 09/07/2025, after dinner.

06 Sep 2025 by Arizona Food & Dining Notions Retirement Technobabble

Labor Day 2025

These AI-generated images sort of reflect our activities on this Labor Day. The theme is (of course) grilling filet mignon steaks in a desert backyard, which is what we’re doing today. I also got the AI to summarize the traditions and history of the celebration.

Happy Labor Day to you and yours. Many countries around the world celebrate Labor Day on this day to honor the contributions and achievements of workers. Here’s a brief overview of the day:

Labor Day History

  • Labor Day originated in the United States in the late 19th century.
  • It was first celebrated on September 5, 1882, in New York City.
  • The holiday was created to recognize the struggles and sacrifices of workers in the face of long working hours, low wages, and poor working conditions.

Traditions and Celebrations

  • Labor Day is often marked with parades, barbecues, and other outdoor events.
  • Many people take the day off work to spend time with family and friends.
  • Some countries also observe Labor Day with strikes, protests, or other forms of activism to advocate for workers’ rights.

So here’s hoping that everyone had a good holiday and God Bless.

01 Sep 2025 by Arizona Food & Dining Holidays

Vacation Summary

Here’s the rundown of the summer 2025 excursion; we traveled through twenty-one of the of the forty-eight contiguous states and camped in all but four of them (Illinois, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas). We enjoyed much scenery, local culture, oddities, skyscapes and other interesting landmarks. The map below shows the states in which we traveled and/or camped.

Clickable map created with MAPCHART.NET

We won’t get into all of the details about the numerous places visited and all that, but will summarize by saying that we visited the resting places of several ancestors and visited the birthplaces of some of them and their ancestors. We were gratified to enjoy the changes in climate, vegetation, livestock and other interesting flora and fauna along the way.

Here’s the specific itinerary of each leg of the trip; not mentioned is the duration of each stop, but you will get the idea of the magnitude of our travels on this trip. We left home on July 8th and returned on August 12th, a total of five weeks.

  1. Wickenburg to Monument Valley, Utah
  2. Monument Valley to Grand Junction, Colorado
  3. Grand Junction to Cañon City, Colorado
  4. Cañon City to Limon, Colorado
  5. Limon to WaKeeney, Kansas
  6. WaKeeney to Lawrence, Kansas
  7. Lawrence to Poplar Bluff, Missouri
  8. Poplar Bluff to Paducah, Kentucky
  9. Paducah to Salt Lick, Kentucky
  10. Salt Lick to Sutton, West Virginia
  11. Sutton to Morgantown, West Virginia
  12. Morgantown to Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
  13. Shenandoah Valley to Greensboro, North Carolina
  14. Greensboro to Wilmington, North Carolina
  15. Wilmington to Charleston, South Carolina
  16. Charleston to Kingsland, Georgia
  17. Kingsland to Tallahassee, Florida
  18. Tallahassee to Montgomery, Alabama
  19. Montgomery to Starkville, Mississippi
  20. Starkville to West Memphis, Arkansas
  21. West Memphis to Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas
  22. Horseshoe Bend to Eureka Springs, Arkansas
  23. Eureka Springs to Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma
  24. Lake Eufaula, to Elk City, Oklahoma
  25. Elk City to Tucumcari, New Mexico
  26. Tucumcari to Albuquerque, New Mexico
  27. Albuquerque to Holbrook, Arizona
  28. Holbrook to Wickenburg, Arizona

Even though we have most of the comforts of home in our motorhome, there is something to be said about being at home and enjoying the good retirement life without the chores of setting up and tearing down while on the road and the sometimes tedious driving between campsites in the various weather conditions. It’s good to be home.

15 Aug 2025 by Ancestors Notions Retirement Wanderlust

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