Friends and Trains - Movie Day - A Close Shave

(Raleigh, NC)   Hi 91 Lo 75 -- We’re having a great time mostly visiting old friends while here in Raleigh.

I mentioned several times our Friday night dinner group from our days living in this area. We've had dinner together twice so far, and will meet up one more time tomorrow (Thursday) night.

Here's four of the five: Jeff, Bobbie, Cyndi and Gary


The fifth member of the group is Jerry.



Jerry and Cyndi met up with us during our travels out west last summer. Jerry is a train enthusiast and has a huge model train layout in his basement. He had us over on Monday to check out some of the changes he's made since our last visit.

He designed and built this control panel that keeps the trains running on the correct tracks.


This is the front and back sides of one of the control boards. It has hundreds of tiny yellow wires, which you can see better if you click on the photos to enlarge them. Jerry hand-wired all of them.


Here are some views of the layout.






Jerry designed the entire layout to be a replica of a real train line out in California where Jerry grew up, including all the small towns.




The stores, shops, and vehicles are very detailed.






This reminds us of Florida orange groves.




I had two great jobs while in Raleigh and I got to meet up with both of my former bosses this week. Gary and Chrissa run a civil engineering firm. I was their office manager for the four years before we went full time. They treated me like a member of their family, and we continue to stay in touch.

Gary and Chrissa


My other job was for a small shipping company run by our good friends Jim and Clara. They had us over today for lunch and to see their new (to them) Class B Chinook RV. They plan to do some part-time traveling this summer, and may come down to Florida to see us this winter.

My Jim, Jim and Clara


Thanks everyone, it was great to see you all again.

Yesterday morning Jim did something he's always wanted to do. He got a traditional straight razor shave at a barbershop. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole process, from the pre-lotions, to the hot towel, to the shave itself, ending up with a nice after shave lotion. He said it was like a "spa day" for a guy, and thinks every man should try it at least once. I know he looked great and smelled wonderful when he got home! :)

We had a free movie pass that Jim got from his Regal Cinemas loyalty card, so yesterday afternoon we went to see the movie "Avengers, Age of Ultron".

It was a fun movie, but frankly we're both getting a little bored with all the super hero movies that seem to come out every month. The only one we really, really liked was one that came out with little fanfare last year, "Guardians of the Galaxy". That movie was a hoot, and we urge you to check it out on Netflix or Redbox.

I’ve been crocheting more little critters this week. Here's a hummingbird I made.


And a little seal pup.


We’re leaving Friday morning for the RV-Dreams Reunion Rally in Marion, NC. Our next post will be from there.