Whew, what a busy week, and we’re supposed to be retired.
With ominous weather forecast for Sunday, we left Mountain View a day early to avoid driving in wind and rain, arriving home about lunch.  We unpacked, rested a bit, and drove back to Mountain View for the last performance of the Bluegrass Festival.  We heard two groups we really liked—Chasing Blue, and Sierra and Highway 111—and a another that was okay.  Both Chasing Blue (from Boston, MA) shown on the left, and Sierra/Highway 111 shown on the right are young, graduates of Berklee in Boston, MA, and quite talented on various instruments.  (Photos were taken from their respective websites.)  I particularly liked Sierra (shown in the photo) and her Highway 111 band, and for this gig she had two substitute band members—Justin Moses and Corey Walker—who were awesome in their own right.  Justin Moses was one of the best non-classical instrumentalists I’ve ever seen (he’s a regular member of Ricky Skagg’s band), and an outstanding vocalist as well.  Despite both these guys being substitutes, you’d never know it because of the seamlessness of their instrument playing and their vocal harmony.  Wow!  If you’re a bluegrass fan, you owe it to yourself to give a listen to these folks.  Daybreak was my favorite song of the festival, performed by Sierra, though there were several that I really liked.  Another group we really liked was Special Consensus, who performed on Friday.  The 2013 Mountain View Spring Bluegrass Festival is March 7-9, and will feature Monroe Crossing, Hickory Hill, The Gibson Brothers, Steele Drivers, Cedar Hill, Doyle Lawson & Quick Silver, LaTresa & The Signal, and Bucksnort HIll.
Back at home on Sunday, we barely got home from church, Sunday school, and grocery shopping before it began raining, and after all was said and done, we received 1 3/8 inches, and it provided some great down time for us after a busy week.
Mountain Home Glass called on Monday with news that the motorhome windshield had been delivered, and asked if we could bring it in immediately; we could and did.  They have been very accommodating in attempting to fix the leak after installing the first windshield; let’s hope this new one doesn’t leak!
Tuesday saw Kay drive to central Arkansas for a book club meeting, a trip to her hair stylist, and a visit with daughter and grandson since we’ll be gone for several weeks.  This means I can do what I want when I want while she’s away!
I had blood drawn for a PSA reading, an every 6-month necessity since the RRP for prostate cancer in December 2010.  My back has been hurting like crazy, and an acquaintance who had the same kind of surgery 10 years ago has been terminally diagnosed causing me to be on pins and needles.  I got the results back on Thursday and my PSA was undetectable—great news.
While Kay has been away, I’ve been watching countless offerings on You Tube relative to using a Canon T2i  digital single lens reflex camera and video seminars on using Lightroom, a photo filing and editing software package by Adobe.  It’s amazing what is available on You Tube, particularly with respect to instructional video, and I’m a visual learner.  However, after watching countless hours of instruction, I feel like my head is about to explode.  Also, while Kay has been away, I’ve been watching movies, mostly Westerns, via Amazon Prime on the iPad.  Awesome.  We pay $79 per year, get “free” 2-day shipping on orders from Amazon, and streaming of lots of free movies and TV shows.
Kay arrived back home on Friday, and I was so glad to see her—lucky in love.  We really enjoy our time together, and our brief times apart. With Kay’s help (and Wayne’s in getting the generator running; the generator powers the blower), I finished raking and blowing leaves off our porches, parking areas, and 500-foot driveway.  Late in the day, Mountain Home Glass called and said the motorhome was ready, so we hastily drove into town, picked it up, and returned home.  Now, with just a few more chores out of the way, we can start packing for our winter home.
With a new found energy, I put mandated “new” licenses on the Honda CR-V, cleaned the gutters of fallen leaves, and washed the motorhome.  The motorhome was dirty from top to bottom, and required some effort to wash and dry.  Late in the day, I applied Aquapel windshield glass treatment.  My good friend, John S. put me on this stuff several years ago, and though it is expensive (about $3 per applicator from Amazon, and one applicator will do an automobile windshield; 2 for a large motorhome windshield), it is a great product.  A single application of this patented hydrophobic glass treatment repels water for up to 6 months. Aquapel Glass Treatment bonds to the glass to dramatically improve drivers’ visibility. It makes the glass easier to clean, and I believe it helps reflect rocks. I used this on our other motorhome prior to the Alaska trip in 2009, and it was invaluable. 
It’s so good to have all these little jobs done.  That about wraps up this week.  Now, we can get serious about the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.