Good Sam Rally at Phoenix International Raceway

We knew we would be busy, but this rally exceeded all expectations. We gave 4 different seminars and each was scheduled twice. People like that because there are so many activities vying for your attention at a rally, they can't always get to the sessions they want - this gave them two opportunities. Our past experience has been that we have much smaller audiences the second time a topic is scheduled, but that didn't happen here. We had standing room only for every seminar except the Facebook ones.

We taught our Picasa seminar twice and every time we we end by making a collage and uploading it to our web albums. That gives me something to post here! We saw lots of new faces, but sure loved seeing the familiar ones as well. Bill and Kris Osborne, and Steve and Karen Fischer were welcomed smiling faces in the front row!

By the end of the rally, we gained 144 new members for Geeks on Tour! We were happy and EXHAUSTED.
And, somehow during that week, I found time to put together our monthly newsletter too.

---

Further your computer education**Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletters**

Watch our Weekly Online Show on Learning Smartphones and Tablets!

What Does This Button Do?

Geek Week at Palm Creek

I just love how that all rhymes!
Sue Hepler is the one who made this all happen. I sure wish we could have her come with us everywhere we go! She could be our 'advance-person' promoter, and documenter!  Thanks so much Sue!
Check out this post Sue made in her PalmCreekUpdate.blogspot.com blog:

We hold class, even when we're out to dinner!  Here we are having fun with Sue and Don and Panorama mode on their phones.

---

Further your computer education**Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletters**

Watch our Weekly Online Show on Learning Smartphones and Tablets!

What Does This Button Do?

Visiting Mom in Florida

I haven't seen Mom since our Florida visit in October, and it's going to be a few more months till we're back there again, so I figured it was time for a visit. With her Alzheimer's I'm afraid if I go too long, she'll forget who I am. Actually, I suppose she'll forget - or not - whether I see her every day, or not for a year. But, I need to see her and give her a hug. So, Jim dropped me off at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix while he stayed with the RV at Leaf Verde RV park on the west side of town.

The first thing that struck me is how much I enjoy seeing blue water and green landscape! The Arizona Sonoran desert is interesting, but I gotta say, I like Florida better. I'm a water baby, I love the ocean.

I had a really nice visit with Mom. She recognized me instantly from across the room as soon as I walked in! That felt good. I got there right at the end of her lunch time, gave her a big hug and sat down at the table with her for a few minutes till she was finished. Then we got up and went out in the courtyard for a little walk and she asked, "So are we going to eat something? I haven't eaten anything all day." I've been dealing with this disease of hers for over 6 years now and I still am flabbergasted by what it's done to her.
She's physically healthy though, and she truly seems to be happy. The assisted living facility she is in now is just the right size for her. Small enough that there are always eyes on her, but big enough that she can feel somewhat independent. And, it's so great that she has the beautiful courtyard to go for walks without leaving the facility.
A few days later, it worked out that she was with me and Dee when we needed to go back to the townhouse and pick up something. We decided to see if Mom recognized anything about the place where she lived for over 20 years.
Nope. Nada. Blank. Once inside, she did look around and said, "This is such a nice place!" "Is this your place" she asked me. "No," I said, "It's Dee's."
Yikes.
But, look at that smile on her face - both at the dining table in the facility with her new buddy, Carol - and out in the park.

---

Further your computer education**Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletters**

Watch our Weekly Online Show on Learning Smartphones and Tablets!

What Does This Button Do?

Leaving Quartzsite

We actually had a couple days to explore, visit, and catch up on some office work before leaving Q.
We moved from the RV park where we gave our Geek Week, to a private lot where Butch and Fonda Williams were parked. They told us there was one space available, if we could squeeze in. You can't really see it in this picture ... the tight spot was on the other side, we had to get another RV to move back a couple feet before we could fit.

With only one day to go of our Quartzsite stay, we just had to go and climb "our" hill. The one that we hiked to most every day when we stayed there back in 2004-5.   I grabbed this picture from Jim's facebook page, cuz it's cool to see the comments too.

And, here's a screenshot from my phone. You can see that I'm using Skype and seeing Mom and Dee in Florida, how they're seeing me is in the corner. What a great way to communicate. 

Notice the comment from Bill Osborne about Flying today?  That prompted our next visit. Bill and Kris were parked out in the desert, with the Boomerville folks from Escapees. He also has a quadcopter and he and Jim have been wanting to get together.

Boys and their Toys!

Of course, we really came to visit with Winston - Bill and Kris's dog! I just love this little animated .gif that Google+ photos made with the Auto-Awesome feature.



We also got to visit with another friend in the desert. Don Bradner, and his Bluebird group have been meeting here for 12 or 13 years! See Jim's video in the previous post.

So, that's it for Quartzsite. We did one more What Does This Button Do? show, and then we hit the road.

I'm writing these blog posts well after the fact ... been TOO busy to keep up! So, I know I left out a bunch of stuff. There's more pictures on our monthly web album on Google+ Photos: http://goo.gl/qAii8S

---

Further your computer education**Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletters**

Watch our Weekly Online Show on Learning Smartphones and Tablets!

What Does This Button Do?

Lake Havasu Balloons

After our Sunday What Does This Button Do? Show, we like to do something fun and special. Thanks to an email from a Geeks on Tour member, Fred Sowerby, we knew about this Balloon Festival just up the road in Lake Havasu city. It was a beautiful day, so we turned off our computers and got in the car. I'm so glad we did!

We saw LOTS of VW buses headed towards Quartzsite - they must be having some kind of rally. Felt like we were being transported back to the 60s!




Here is the first view, from the highway of the Balloon Festival grounds at Lake Havasu City

This is a cool picture that Google+ Photos "Auto-Awesome" feature put together for me. I took 4 or 5 original photos and it created this animated GIF.

Jim even got some cool aerial video using his Quad Copter. He put together a great little video of the whole day and put it on youtube ... http://youtu.be/wqw6bwx-Qg4


0

---

Further your computer education**Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletters**

Watch our Weekly Online Show on Learning Smartphones and Tablets!

What Does This Button Do?