opinion, Paul Goldberg Blog

Not a Travel Post

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I have not written and posted a travel post for some time. We have not left Jojoba Hills other than our trip to Salt Lake City since we returned last Fall.  My activities have been almost entirely involved with the operations of Jojoba Hills SKP Resort as its president. This is boring to most people and frankly not pertinent to being “On the Move”.

I have been following the news rather more closely than some might consider healthy. In particular the news from Israel and the surrounding areas. Some personal background, Carol and I attended a Reform Synagogue from Kindergarten on.  That is where we met. Rather unusual for the Reform Movement in the 40’s and 50’s Temple B’rith Kodesh (hereafter TBK) was strongly Zionist as were my parents. Carol and I have visited Israel many times since our first in 1971. I am convinced that regardless of the current politics there the Jewish world needs a Jewish place to retreat to the next time the world community agrees to let some monster try to eliminate us once again.

In 1948, after the United Nations agreed to create a two state solution, the Arab world went to war to prevent the creation of the State of Israel. Somehow Israel prevailed over the massive war power of the Arabs and created the state. The Arab world was left with 700,000 refugees, most of whom were gathered into Refugee Camps and UNWRA (United Nations Works and Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees) was created to care for those refugees. In my years running various organizations I have learned one major thing, the first job of any organization leader is to ensure the survival of the organization. If the refugees were permitted to create new lives in new lands among their Arab brethren, there would be no need for UNWRA. There would not now be over 5 million Palestinians  with a large portion of them living in Refugee Camps that date back to 1948. 

Where else in the world have refugees been held in camps  for so long? Why is the UN continuing to govern and supply these camps with funds from the US Government and Western Europe. The Arab world apparently wants them to be as a force to remind the rest of the world that Israel is the bad guy. To be a festering wound. And most of all so that UNWRA has a reason to exist to live off the funds provided by the US and Western Europe. 

If the resources used to maintain these camps had been used to provide resettlement, there would be Palestinian Arabs living fruitful lives throughout the area. If the assets and intellectual resources Hamas has put into building massive fortifications and a major war machine had been put into developing Gaza into anything else it could be a vibrant community with tourism and other industries feeding the people. 

I have empathy for the people of Gaza, they needed to turn on Hamas and take over the government for their own benefit. I fear it is way too late for that. 

I am not addressing Israel’s position. If you are bullied from all sides for 70 years your response is likely to be seen as inappropriate.

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Travel Interruptus Continues

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We have mostly been in the apartment for the past month. Carol has  not been feeling well and is not comfortable going anyplace. Some friends have come by for a visit and Josh has been a regular presence. Rohma has been with her family so we haven’t seen as much of her as we would like. 

Today was to have been special since Dan and his family were flying in for the weekend. However they woke up with cold symptoms and chose to keep them to themselves and not share. They are rescheduling for next weekend. Rohma and Josh will be coming over to spend some time with us and have dinner. 

This is not my usual newsy post, just a simple report of what’s happening. 

That was 3 weeks ago.  Where did the time go? They did come in the following weekend . There were 4 of them plus Josh and Rohma for a total of 8 for meals in the apartment. But then our friend Leora from Las Cruces came in for her Brighton High Reunion and joined our gang for Friday night dinner in the apartment! As we settled down from that Pricilla Douglas our former neighbor from East Avenue arrived on Saturday for a planned visit and we had planned to have her join us for dinner so again we were 9 for dinner. We have done 13 in the motorhome a time or two so 9 in the apartment felt spacious for us. 

Since that visit we have been getting out more and not just for medical appointments for both of us, although there have been plenty of those. We have the luggage out to prepare for departure on Tuesday afternoon. and we are getting ready for Yom Kippur. I have been blowing shofar at every service for the holidays that it is called for and for a group in a senior living setting who gather regularly. 

Although we have no plans to give up our RV lifestyle we have moved up Plan B and put down a deposit for an existing facility as well as the new one that isn’t under construction yet. That is the future. For now I have 18 months left in my current term as Board member at Jojoba Hills SKP Resort. This gives me plenty to keep me busy between Bridge games. Carol is looking forward to her projects. She has another building renovation project to lead.

Paul Goldberg Blog

Travel Interruptus

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We never made it out of Rochester! Storms along the East Coast disrupted our flight plans and we were not prepared to deal with the ensuing chaos. It became clear we would not be able to join our planned river cruise any time soon. United offered us a flight to DC the next day with no onward connection to Nice, so we elected to stay in Rochester. That is where we are now. 

We have spent time with our grandson and will get to see some people here sooner than we had planned. This is not the first time in our travels that this has happened. The East Coast weather can wreak havoc on long planned flight schedules.

I got to participate in our Coop Board Meeting today, on Zoom. 

I’ll plan to post our activities a bit more often than I might have from France.

France, Paul Goldberg Blog

Traveling, Again

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It has been a confusing few days. We flew to Rochester leaving GeeWhiz in California and almost immediately drove to Hamilton, ON for Aunt Dorothy’s 100th birthday. While we were staying at Marilyn Foreman’s place (cousin) I started looking at the calendar for our trip to France OOOPS! We are flying out of Rochester on Monday not Tuesday as I thought all along. We have time and we have adjusted and we will be ready with everything, including far too many medications for youngsters like us. 

Aunt Dorothy has never liked to celebrate her birthday, she contends it is bad luck. My comment when she said that was what would bad luck look like, a 110th birthday party? The families were the Caplans, her parents side and many of the cousins; the Cohen’s her husband’s (Uncle Mel) and friends from the building where she has lived for many years. The families are so big and spread out that it turned out the caterer is a cousin. Dorothy, aka Dodo to the American family, enjoyed her party as much as everyone else. 

We drove back to Rochester determined to avoid the Thruway. On the way to Hamilton we let the GPS decide and we drove a route neither Carol nor I remember taking. For those who know western NY we took 31 which is a fairly direct route so long as you want to pass through every town between here and there. We returned taking 104 which is similar but a bit further north. Both are far more interesting than any Interstate which is clearly faster and more direct. I think it may have cost us 15 minutes on a 2 1/2 hour drive. The only reason I think we never took 31 is because it never occurred to us. 

I am not sure how I will be able to post on this trip. My tablet does not permit me to use the email group I am using to send this out. You have the option of figuring out how to subscribe so WordPress will notify you when I post, or just keeping an eye on Facebook where I will post links to this blog and maybe even the entire output. I know, some of us hate FB and won’t ever open it, I don’t blame you, but for some purposes it really is the best way to share. Of course the grandkids almost never use it anymore. 

After the trip I will send out links to anything I might have had to say. 

 

On the Road, Paul Goldberg Blog

Visit in SLC

We settled in to the Salt lake City KOA which we last stayed at in 2015. It hasn’t changed in the past eight years in any noticeable way. It is still close to the Temple District and it turns out to be very close to Azriel’s apartment, maybe 7 minutes away. 

I guess I’m not a great picture taker. Carol has many pictures and has posted them on Facebook. This was a special visit. He is our second grandson to get out on his own. He is much further from family than Josh and he is living in his own apartment with a job that is great for him maintaining regional jet aircraft. We had him at the coach two afternoons – he works 9 pm to 7 am 4 days a week – and had dinner with him before taking him back to his apartment to get ready for work. On Monday his girlfriend (I’m not sure anyone use that term today) came in by train from Grand Junction to spend the week before her class on diesel mechanics resumes in July.

We took a drive together to the Salt Lake State Park at the soouthern  end of the lake right next to a major copper concentrating plant. Then we went out to dinner at Laziz Kitchen. If you love Mediterranean food in a simple atmosphere, this is the place. I would love to go back and eat my way through the menu. I had a Mediterranean Salad plate with Kafta as an added protein. The salads were fresh and tasty –  but enough this is not a food blog.

Carol and I spent two two hour sessions with superb guidance in the Family History Library working through one brick wall I have run into in my geneology work. We know the family name was Sklarof (SP) before it was Goldberg. We know my grandfather’s mother came over as Mary Goldberg (or took that name upon arrival). There is a big space between saying “we know” and collecting documents to prove it. I’m closer, but not there yet. What I learned were techniques and the need for persistence. 

Today, Tuesday the 27th, we began our trek back to Jojoba Hills. We were on the road just about 5 hours and there were no events worth mentioning. We stopped for fuel, propane and lunch and to change drivers in Filmore and we are now at Temple View RV in St George UT. We have barely left the coach beyond the need to setup, it is HOT. I expect in the morning our prep for departure will also minimize time outdoors. The plan is to get to Barstow where we will stay at Slash X Cafe, a Harvest Host site. Supposedly they will be closed so we will just pull into their large yard and stay the night. It there is anything different I will report. 

On the Road, Paul Goldberg Blog

Salt Lake City

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Not your standard tourist stop for us. The primary reason for coming here was to spend some time with Azriel, our grandson, who has been working here for a couple of months. Since his normal hours are 9 PM to 7 AM Wednesday through Saturday (Sunday morning) we have been seeing him from about 4 PM to 7 PM. Carol is seeing to it that he is well fed. It is really great to have this uninterrupted time with him. So far he has come to the RV. It turns out that the SLC KOA is less than 10 minutes from his apartment. 

The other bucket list item for this trip was to take some time att the Family Research Library, a genealogy project of the LDS Church. I knew I needed a “brick wall” to bring to get some help. Tracing my paternal grandfather’s immigration and verifying which set of parents in Russia are his – my ggrandparents – has been a great exercise and a major learning experience for me.  Both experienced researchers gave me over an hour and plenty of new tools for me to work with. I have food for several hours of research on my own (more like days).

One other lesser goal was to replace a pair of very worn out shorts. I hate shopping and seldom ask Carol to do it for me. I found an REI not to far away and bought a new pair of shorts and new shirt.  

This is hardly the kind of exciting travel we are following with so many of our friends touring in Europe and other places far far away, but it is our travel for this part of the summer.

On the Road, Paul Goldberg Blog

59 and Counting

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We have been married 59 years, today.  An oft told story, my roommate Jon Kerner was supposed to be my Best Man, but he chose to marry Peggy on the very same day, 400 miles away. He is no longer with us but we cherish the memory and the continued connection to Peggy.

We celebrated last night, the 20th, in Las Vegas, maybe the last place we would choose, but there you have it. We decided to visit our grandson in Salt Lake City and the way the schedule worked a stop in Las Vegas made some sort of sense. We pulled into las Vegas midafternoon coming from Redlands Truck and Motorhome. It would have been an easy 4 hours were it not for some major construction which added at least 15 to 30 minutes. We set up and had a snack before calling for a Lyft to take us to NY NY for the show. It was an anniversary trip so I paid for front row VIP tickets. The stage is a thrust design so we were right next to a stair that the cast used to get on and off the stage and often to perform right there on the floor in front of us – not more than 2 feet away! It seemed that no one really escaped that kind of closeness as the entire hall seemed to be the stage. 

The comic, a throwback to the Catskills made his standup by picking out audience members. When he picked on Carol he got what he was looking for, a 59th anniversary and some fund stories. Some of his stuff does not bare repeating.  We loved the show and would certainly recommend it to anyone who has not seen 14 variants on Circe du Solei. We cabbed back to the coach and after a good nights sleep set off for Salt Lake City.

I misjudged and misread my mapping software. We were on the road for 8 hours and 7 hours was on the move. Mostly we were moving right along although naturally there were some construction slowdowns. We rolled into the SLC KOA at 7:30 Mountain Time. and  by 8:30 we were set up and had eaten something – peanut butter and jelly for me. 

We violated our drive time standard of  two 4 hour shifts and done. After each of us did 2 hours, I took the wheel for the what turned out to be 4 more hours. Somehow I was energized and did not fell exhausted as we pulled into the KOA.

Good Night

Jojoba Hills

Some Thoughts

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Some thoughts as we prepare for a short trip. 

The weather is fine today. Carol headed out to pull some weeds along the road from the office up the hill into the park. Neither of us seems to get enough volunteer work to do. I spent part of this morning tracing a broken phone line for a founder of the park. My work as President does not seem to stop. It seems to be Newtonian, every action generates a reaction. which requires a response. I do remember this from prior bouts as an officer of various organizations. 

While Carol was busy weeding, I stared at the two small Barrel Cactuses we bought at Home Depot the other day and decided they needed planting. But what to do for a shovel? Years ago when we outfitted the Rubicon for offroading I remembered buying a folding trenching tool. But where was it? After 10 or 15 minutes of searching the shed, the Jeep and finally a couple of different bins in the coach I found it “in the last place I looked” (why would I look anyplace else after I found it?)

Here is a picture of the new tiny Barrel Cactuses amidst the slightly more mature specimens in our garden. 

Also here is a lousy picture of a bird spotted in the park (Granite Loop for park members) Google Lens makes it a West of England Tumbler, not a bird found in my North American database. Alexander chime in if you know this bird.

Park wild life is enjoying the relative absence of people. Regular visitors are Bobcats and coyote and the rabbit population is setting the table for these predators. Extra snacks include California Quail which are mostly appetizers and ducklings, also mere appetizers. We have seen bobcats with grown ducks in their mouth headed off to the dinner table. Snakes just make walking an exercise in attention to footing, especially after dark. The nonvenomous varieties do a good job keeping down the vermin as do the owls.

The planned trip is to Salt lake City (hereafter SLC) to visit Azriel who moved there to take his first job in his dream career maintaining and repairing aircraft. We will stop in Redlands CA to get the coach serviced then two days to SLC. If the timing works we will celebrate our 59th anniversary in Las Vegas with a show we won’t book until we know the coach will be able to roll on Tuesday. We expect to be back in Jojoba Hills on the 28th. There are no further current travel plans before we leave for the East on August 2 by plane. However Hawaii keeps getting mentioned since Avi is there on Kona.

 

Jojoba Hills, Paul Goldberg Blog

Planning to Travel

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Finally! We have 4 planned trips for the summer and one of them will be on the motorhome. We are flying to Charlottesville on the 16th to celebrate Alexander’s graduation from UVa. We will be staying with Malena and Dan, along with the boys and Yechiel and Josh. sounds like a full house I will report with pictures at some point. 

We are back in Jojoba Hills SKP Resort from the 22nd of May until  June 1 when we will drive down the coast to San Diego, well actually Coronado. We met Beverly on our cruise in December and she invited us to stay so we will be staying for 3 nights with her before retuning to Jojoba Hills. We have a lot to see there, not least is Friday Night services at Ohr Shalom where the Rabbi we met on the cruise is the leader. 

We will stay put in Jojoba Hills until the 18th of June when we will stop in Redlands CA to have the coach serviced on our way to Salt Lake City where Azriel is working nights, servicing regional aircraft. We will return to Jojoba Hills before the 30th of June. We have no current travel plans for July.

No plans does not mean we are sitting still. I expect my duties as President will be rather light and we may take the coach out for another trip. On August 2 we fly to Rochester to pick up a rental car and drive  to Hamilton ON for Aunt Dorothy’s 100th Birthday. Dorothy is the last survivor of seven siblings including Carol’s mother. Our return to Rochester will be just in time to prepare for departure to France where we plan to embark on a river cruise on the Rhone ending with a three night extension in Paris. 

On our return to Rochester, our current plan is to stay there until the day after Yom Kippur when we will leap back into the fray in Jojoba Hills SKP Resort for the balance of my first term as president. 

I have refrained from blow by bloody blow of my term so far and will continue to do so. It would be of no interest to most of you anyhow and I am keeping a separate journal for my own amusement. When my term on the Board is over I will store it on the secure park server for the eyes of my successors only. 

Jojoba Hills, Paul Goldberg Blog

Nothing Much and Too Much

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Since mid March we have been mostly in recovery mode. Carol has been improving day by day and we have been entertaining and being entertained quite often. I have had my own medical scare. During an unrelated procedure a cancerous cell was noted in my bladder. There was a wait for the procedure  and then there was a wait for the biopsy report which came back negative. Someplace along the way, I chaired a board meeting wearing a catheter bag on my belt. I do not recommend this to most people. 

The support of our friends in the park has been wonderful. One couple, awaiting their own surgery, drove us to the hospital for my procedure and hung around for 4 hours until I had “recovered.” They used the time to shop for their planned event the next week. Naturally I have not been able to have any privacy, but in an elder community where the ambulances come and go and surgery and recovery is an ongoing happening it is rare to forgo the support of friends. We even had an emergency run on a Saturday and a good friend, Bo, drove us to the ER and waited for 4 hours until I was released

As the weather has warmed and the blossoms continue to advance from yellow to purple we are thinking about some travel, mostly by plane. Charlottesville May 16 to 21 for Alexander’s graduation. A drive in the coach to Salt lake City, timing to be determined, to visit Azriel who is working there. We have hints that we may have to go to Hawaii at some point and we have our trip to France in August with stops in Hamilton to celebrate 100th birthday with Aunt Dorothy and maybe a stay over in Rochester even. To be determined. 

Much is in a chaotic state of planning. Our Board will meet April 24 and May 24 before shutting down for the Summer. We will pursue our travel as we are able and tolerate more heat than we are used to here in Jojoba Hills SKP Resort home for active +55 years olds.

Seeing the World/Seeing North America