to the Ozark Mountains and back

Mountains?...Well, to those of us in the west, they're hills! But the Ozarks are nothing but rock covered with a thin layer of soil that supports scrub oaks and other decidious trees and shrubs. I guess because they're mostly rock that makes them mountains. And the Ozarks are old mountains well eroded by time.

With Marian n Earl, our good-time traveling pals, we recently got back from a fun trip to Branson, MO. We had a good flight with just one connection both ways out of Eugene, well, except for our seats on one plane too close to the bathroom...sheesh, stinky!

We kept busy the whole time we were there...so many shows...so little time...going from morning to night. The Irish Tenors were good, but I really would have liked to have heard a little more of the lilting melodies of Ireland. Although the blonde kid 'really from Ireland' was easy to watch...SIX was the biggest kick in the pants! They had no band backing up their singing, but made all the music (sounds) with their voices...Andy Williams was the smooth, elegant veteran we expected...Shoji Tabuchi's show was full of high energy. What a great violinist he is! We also really enjoyed the presentation by the Chinese drums (worth close to $1 million, by the way)...No Dolly Parton at her Dixie Stampede. But the North won the Civil War again thanks to the pigs and ostriches that raced. The stampede by the long horn cattle was funny; they didn't, stampede that is...lol...then before leaving town for the Springfield airport, we took in the Red Skelton Tribute show. The fellow wasn't as good as the original, but we still got plenty of belly laughs.

So, what else did we do? Oh, LOTS!...The Titannic Museum was packed with artifacts from the ship and passengers and lots of original stories from survivors. We had our pictures taken in front of the rendition of the Grand Staircase. We each received a boarding pass for a different person and discovered just before leaving the museum whether we had survived or not...We attended an IMAX movie "Ozarks, Legends and Legacy" telling the stories of the area. Thought we would be the only ones in the theater, but a few other tourists joined us just before the show began...I loved the Five & Dime at Branson Landing. It had all kinds of joke gifts, popguns, whoopee cushions, candy, mugs and cheap t-shirts. It didn't take any of us long to go through the Bass Pro Shop. Well, truthfully, Marian and I barely made it in the door. But lunch along the waterfront in the sunshine during a lazer light, fire & water fountain show to the National Anthem was spectacular!

Marian and I spent some time at an outlet mall. We found a few good buys and a lot of empty shops. Hmmm, economy is suffering everywhere....Meanwhile, Norman and Earl did a little drive around the countryside of northern Arkansas. They really enjoyed seeing the beautiful green farmlands.

We spent some time at Silver Dollar City including attending the old time show at the saloon. It was Fall Harvest time and the decorations were beautiful. There were many, many craftspeople throughout the complex, but not enough time to see everything...darn. Norman and I did take a 2 minutes 16 seconds ride on the Wildfire roller coaster that drops 15 stories, travels at up to 66 mph through a half-loop/half-roll, a full loop, a cobra roll with 2 back-to-back inversions, a corkscrew and a high-speed spiral. FUN!!!

The fun slowed down as we headed to Springfield airport with a lunchstop at Lambert's Cafe in Ozark, MO, "the home of the throwed rolls". Yep, rolls come sailing across the room to your table, whenever you want one, and the kid has good aim. We ordered what we thought was plenty to eat (each dinner arrived in a frying pan), but then we discovered people going around the room dishing out macaroni & tomatoes, fried okra and fried potatoes to anyone wanting them. We were so full after lunch we rolled out the door.

Our conclusion about Branson? A fun place to visit, especially during the off season...it's not cheap...sort of a mini-Las Vegas without the lights, liquor and gambling. But we did it up in style, and we probably won't go back. After all...TOO MANY MORE PLACES TO SEE IN THIS UNITED STATES!

Heading for the Barn

Last post for this trip, we're heading home this morning...sigh...We'll be hanging around Bob's until about 9 or 9:30am hoping, that most of the morning rush hour traffic is over.

The last couple days...no pictures...were fun. I said in my last post, "I wanted to go to the Glass Museum". That didn't happen. Kicking around with a couple guys nixed that idea, and also going to the Weyerhauser Business and seeing the bonsai collection. Saturday I called the local Honda dealer and spoke with Cindylu. She promised their dealership had 2009 Honda CRV's in stock. So, that's where we spent some of the afternoon. Between Bob n I and our crazy antics (he doesn't fit well in the little Honda sports car with the seat all the way forward), and sweet little Cindylu from Texas, it was a pretty good time...The Honda CRV? It sure isn't as comfy as the Avalon, but rides pretty nice and is much quieter...And despite my best efforts and sunny smile, I was unable to get Bob a date with the Honda receptionist.

Oh yeah, our Saturday also included a trip to a Jeep parts dealer for a new shock for Bob's Jeep. And it was on the way home he discovered the dingle balls on the rollbar and the boobies on the antenna. Guys are really different! No woman would have driven out of her garage let alone miles before discovering something different hanging over her head...hee-hee!

Saturday ended up with the three of us watching a "guy" movie...Stealth. It's a good one, but not two times around.

Yesterday we watched my Seahawks win!!!! And during the commercials we watched the Mariners lose. The evening was topped with a rousing game of Mexican Train.

Now it's off to my hot cocoa and a little TV before I begin putting things away for the drive home.

Bob's birthday day

Yesterday...well, OK...guess I should start with the day we arrived, Wednesday. We didn't have a birthday gift for my brother. After setting up in front of his house, we walked to Value Village (second hand stuff) and Lowe's. I found a neat stuffed teddy bear dressed in red, white and blue (a year 2000 bear) that played God Bless America or something???? Then at Lowe's we picked up contractor's flags and spelled "happy birthday" on them.

Now then...yesterday we put the flags in Bob's front yard and added some balloons. Then we headed downtown to find the Democrat and Republican headquarters for buttons to put on the bear. Sadly...they weren't open....We thoroughly enjoyed the farmer's market in the area, and especially the great eats we had for lunch. I had a blintz with nutella, strawberries, blueberries and topped with whip cream! Oh, was it ever yummy!...But back to the buttons for the bear...the political headquarters still weren't open after we ate. The bear gift was still a hit.

This is Chihuly's (sp?) Bridge of Glass. Ain't it imaginative?! I'm hoping we get to go to the Glass Museum before we head out of town.

In the evening we took Bob n Judy to Red Robin for drinks n dinner. Bob's request was a good hamburger and a chocolate milkshake to which he added a Margarita. They sang "Happy Birthday" and gave him balloons and a nummy sundae, which I only got 3 bites. Thank-you very much, Boo. Then as we were leaving, Bob tied the balloons to his ballcap. That was OK, but they got caught-up in the overhead fan. Pretty funny...and we got him some more balloons before we left.

It was a fun evening!

And Bob has yet to find the dingle balls attached to his rollbar in the Jeep OR the little pink breasts on his antenna...lol!!

Mossyrock Campground @ Riffe Lake

On the 13th we headed a little further up I-5 and then east for a few days. Now, a word of advice, when it's been hot, and you're traveling on Saturday without a reservation...it's really difficult to find a place!...But we stuck to it and, after a wrong turn or two, finally found a beautiful campground run by the Tacoma Power company. And by Sunday afternoon nearly had the whole place to ourselves except for the mosquitoes...

On the hottest day there we hiked over to the dam and came back to camp via the shoreline...took us a couple hours to come back...hopping logs...sinking in muck...balancing on rolling rocks...hot...but fun!

One day we did a drive up over the White Pass towards Yakima, looped around through the Canyon and Cayuse Passes, Rainier National Park and back. It was a beautiful day...saw some stunning scenery...and shared some laughs...

Yep...constructions delays on all the roads...but aren't the flowers in the upper meadows by Paradise on Rainier lovely?!

Camp Kalama...September 9

Hmmm, Camp Kalama...what can I say? It's a fisherman's camp along the Kalama River and I-5. It's a fairly nice campground and convenient to visiting with our friends in the area, but, boy-oh-boy, fisherman are a dirty lot. And after they cleaned and filleted their salmon, the guts and heads were thrown back in the river...nasty!

But we spent some wonderful times with our friends. Don & Jeanine, who are old school friends of Norman's, treated us to fresh caught salmon out of the Columbia River BBQed. Then we sat on their porch high on a hill and watched the Columbia roll by as the lights of Portland and the smaller communities along the river came on at dusk. It was spectacular!...We did a few estate sales in the area (Longview to Ranier) with Tom & Cheryl. Bought a few things doncha know...a brass pineapple clock for the bathroom...picture that! And before we left them we gorged on homemade rhubarb and apple pies from fruit right in their yard.

I should say...we did watch several nice salmon or steelhead...whatever...hauled in the few days we were there, but no one offered us one...drat!

Tualatin and around...Sepember 7 & 8

By noon Sunday we had moved to the RV Park of Portland. It was a beautiful park along the Tualatin River right off the freeway and so convenient to visiting with family.

We spent the afternoon at Anne's home with Anne and Nancy. She's really fixed up the house and yard nicely. The yard is mostly in tropical plants with a few orange and red flowers sprinkled here and there. I wish I had gotten a picture...but didn't. BBQ hot dogs and all the trimmings...a walk around the neighborhood to see the house my mom grew up in that Grandpa built...and a couple games of Yahtzee.

Barbara (Coyle side of the fam), Nancy & Anne
The next day Nancy picked us up and off we went to visit my Aunts Jeanette and Elly. At Jeanettes we met a distant cousin from the Brice side of the family. It was a memorable moment in family history. Seems many years ago when our Great Aunt Ola died there was a family dispute and the older relatives quit speaking to my parents...oh, the problems a little money can cause...Any-the-way, we had a great time visiting with the ladies and hearing some of the old stories. I made lots of notes for my family genealogy, which a couple I'm hoping Nancy remembers better than me...lol.

Oh...we took Aunt Elly to the Swan Island Dahlia farm in Canby. They had so many gorgeous dahlias of every color, shape and size. I have a list of about 2 dozen I want in my yard, but first I have to get my yard cleaned up and come up with the money.

The WEDDING

It was be-u-tiii-fullll! Deniece didn't marry Denephew...oh, thank goodness. She found the "man of her dreams" in Tim...The minister broke out in loud, not to be stifled, sobs right at the get-go. What is that????...The minister's wife told stories about their relationship (commitment), which added up to "more than any of us wanted to know". I mean, do we really want to know she massages his head, when she's done something wrong. That is opposed to "washing his feet" as Jesus did???...lol...The food was excellent. We weren't too thrilled with the beer, but after the first one, who cared?!...Saw some family we haven't seen in a long time...and the RV was parked in the bride and grooms backyard with the mother and father-in-law's...A wonderful time...

The next morning we were looking forward to another helping of the wedding cake (marionberry cobbler...YUM) for breakfast. But, no, Deniece fetched donuts and apple fritters from the store. I think she was hoping to save the cobbler until all us family had left...I would have...hee-hee

Puerto Penasco

Our group from 55th Drive...

The only ones on the whole bus who danced slow n easy...waltzed...polka-ed...chicken dance...congo line...electric slide...macarena...we did it!

Within two minutes of checking into our rooms, drinks were mixed and we were around the pool overlooking the bay, the sandy beach and the Malecon of Puerto Penasco.

We shopped, this is the main street of the Malecon (restaurants and shrimp on one side shopping on the other)...we ate (four meals the first day)...we walked the beach...we lazed...

AND

we drank

This is a Miami Vice...strawberry daiquiri on the bottom, pina colada on top...the girls of Spring Break from ASU taught us about this one...the boys of Spring Break from UofA offered us their beer bong.

OUR NEW TOY!

a 2007 Polaris 800...used a little

and, yes, we did ride it around the area and through the big wash dressed just like this...and no tools...just a couple little bottles of water...

And in a few days we'll be acting out a scene from 'Dumb and Dumber' as we try to load it into our pickup. Yes, we got ramps, but the problem is...big toolbox in back that takes up the room we need for the quad. Everyone is offering their ideas...we'll see what works...hee-hee.

Cactus R Bloomin'

Saw it on our bicyle ride yesterday...ain't it boo-ti-ful?!

Mesa

Spent the last few days in Mesa visiting Di. It was another great time! It's working so much better staying closeby, and during her days off. We walked, shopped for a 'mother of the bride' dress, played games and talked our fool heads off. Fun...fun...fun... Didn't buy a dress...but took these great pics...lol...DRESS SHOPPING, eh, not a priority, yet...

Our greatest thrill was attending the Seattle Mariner's Spring Training game!!! Super Seats just a few rows off the third base line. We had such fun...ate hot dogs...drank beer...learned how to howl "Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuullllll", when he came up to bat...Di bought a Mariner visor, I bought a t-shirt...We're ready for another game next winter...GO MARINERS!

A "New Yorker" (how do you type that with their funny accent?) sat in seat number 1 next to us. He told us (as he pointed to his Yankee ballcap) he was numero uno. GADS, they are so high and mighty. But I was good; I didn't tell him what I thought of his Yankees; although I did mention something about the Brooklyn Dodgers. And I didn't make fun of how he said Ichiro...boy, did he massacur his name. And Ichiro was the only reason the New Yorker was at the game.

Ichiro? Well, he was at, well not quite "at", his finest. He hit the ball every time he was at bat, but he never made first base. I dunno...I guess I need to watch more games, he just never seems to do much except swing at everything that comes by, so he gets hits. But, dang, he doesn't seem to get on base much. Of course, his RBI record is really good.

Great mid-week fun!

Ramblings...

Quiet day today...the wind is really blowing. We had to put up all our awnings, lay down all the lawn chairs and put the plants in a protected place, because they kept being blown over. Within a block or two we can see the sand blowing. It's pretty strong, especially the gusts...

It's been really warm, up to 89 degrees the other day. I put up my new awning lights (seashells); they are beautiful. And since the big awning was up, I had to hang some of the windsocks. The windsocks are hung on the awning arms to remind us to DUCK!

The geraniums I trimmed back and brought from home are blooming now...

Peggy and Bill had biscuits and gravy for a bunch of their Eugene neighbors and we were included. Boy, they were really good! Norman, who doesn't usually eat biscuits and gravy, had two helpings. I bought a whole pineapple and took it after peeling and slicing it, of course. It was so very sweet...yum.

Our rent was up on the first, so since we'll only be here a couple more weeks, we've moved back across the street to Boo n Ethel's place. And we have new neighbors here...

Don't you just love 'em

Just so's ya know...we do the mundane things too...read the Sunday paper, did my toenails, got mail ready to go to the g'kids, did the dishes and the laundry, took a nap...

THE Border Fence

Went for a walk into the desert, more than once. It's only a couple blocks away.The area we walk in is full of trails people have taken with their vehicles to park and walk their dogs or unload their quads to ride. It's quiet...full of bunny (jack rabbit) holes and flowering now with low-growing purple verbena and white mallow or desert lily.

At the end of Foothills Road, which we take from the freeway to get to our place, the road enters the Barry Goldwater Firing Range. We're not allowed to enter this area unless we have a permit and make a phone call on the day we want to go in.

At the beginning of the desert road is the equipment to install the border fence. We stopped one day and took a look at the materials. It would be impossible to climb the expanded metal unless you had three Mexicans and a rope...hee-hee. But it is easy to see through when a person stands a few feet away from it.

We've been told conflicting stories about driving out to see the actual fence. One was that everyone was doing it...the other is it is in forbidden territory and you can only get within seven miles. We won't be finding out this year. Not too many days until we leave; not enough time to bother getting the permit this year.

But this is a picture of the fencing material. Standing with me is our neighbor Joel and his dog

Penney.

MCAS...Marine Corp Air Show

Yesterday was the FREE air show on the Marine base. This was our third time going; we really enjoy it. Yesterday morning about 8:30 we left with our neighbor in the pickup, took the 6 mile shortcut through the desert to be one of the first to enter the base. There is always a big crowd. The lines on the two streets used to get to there are always a mile or more long. Then the young Marines drive shuttle buses from the parking lots to the show alongside the airfield.

There are all kinds of aircraft to look at...a B-52 bomber, a huge cargo plane (it has six wheels on each side...whew), a F-16, a F-18 Hornet, a F-5 (made like a Soviet fighter), a Blackhawk helicopter, oh dear, and many more planes and helicopters which are either on display or can be walked through. Some of the planes did flybys for us. A fuel plane did a flyby with a Harrier and a F-18 attached to the fuel lines. Darnit...I missed this demo because I had just sat down in the 'blue boy' and couldn't get up at that moment...lol. But, WE STAYED TO THE VERY END TO SEE MY FAVORITE PLANE, THE HARRIER do a flyby, land and take off like a helicopter and fly sideways.

We also got to watch several stunt planes do all kinds of tricks. Two of my favorite tricks are the hammerhead (they fly straight up until the motor stalls) and when they go straight up and fall end over end. We even got to watch a wingwalker stand on the upper wing of a stunt bi-plane. As the plane did loops and flew upside down, she would wave to us. Now I don't think I would be comfortable doing that even though there was something holding her on.

Oh...then there were all the vendors. I tried to win a t-shirt from an Indian casino nearby, but just got a little purple sack of freebies. And I got some free wings to send to our grandkids. And I had a lady take my picture behind this cardboard cutout with my cellphone (forgot the camera).

KOFA (King of Arizona) Wilderness

I'm creating a new song..."OH, I got desert pin stripes, desert pin stripes on my truck..." That is creosote brush beside the truck. It almost grows in the road in some places scratching the truck on both sides, as we did about 35 miles of 4X4 road through the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful drive! The desert is really greening up. The creosote brush is fully leaved out as are the ocotillo (walking stick cactus). The cholla and another small cactus is budding and will be in bloom soon. The saquaro didn't appear to have any buds, but I did notice some small new arms forming on a few.

This was a stunning view across the King Valley with the Kofa Mountains in the distance. We did some exciting 4-wheeling sections over rocks and up some steep but short climbs. And laughed about the cars that had tried to make the road and found it necessary to turn around. One followed us quite a ways.

We stopped several times and poked around looking at rocks, cactus and a tiny lizard, the only wildlife we saw other than birds. We found a huge (three foot across?) obsidian boulder, which surprised us. Most of the rocks do not look like the volcanic type to us. We're told this whole part of the desert was once a huge sea, and shells or shell fossils can be found. But we found none.

We began our trek at the Dome Valley museum/ghost town. It's the re-created town of Dome Valley that served the hundreds of mines/miners in the area in the late 1800's and early 1900's. At one time it was bigger than Yuma. It was a fun stop and worth the fee. An easy drive for cars over a well-graded dirt road.

This was a great day that began with me waking up grumpy "wanting to go home, NOW".

it's not just the BINGO!

OK...played again last night and still didn't win...BUT...it's not just the BINGO! It's the friendships, the laughter, keeping my brain young and active...hee-hee..., the snacks and the laughter, again.

These are some of my bingo gals...we all have bingo pins or earrings. I was going to have earrings until Peggy found out I didn't have pierced ears. Then they all threatened to pierce them...NOT! So now I have one earring, which I wear as a pin.

"keeping my brain young and active"...omigosh, Tuesday we played some really tough games. There was 'small h' which could only be in the B, I & N rows. Then there was 'picnic table' (straight across the top and an X). We have highlighter pens to mark the card with whatever that game is, if we think we'll get lost. A fun bingo game, which we play each night, is the Texas Blackout. We mark either all the odd or even numbers on our cards, then the caller calls only the opposite numbers. Last night one of the gals only had six numbers to be called to win after marking all the odd ones. Did she win? Nah, she still had three open when someone won...whaddadeal!

OH...and last night we played easy games...one bingo any way, two bingos the hard way (no free spot allowed), picture frame, nice easy ones to mark.

A fun weekend, followed by Monday, of course...lol

Saturday began with a bike ride in the warm sunshine at 9:30am; we didn't even need jackets! Joel joined us for the trip down by Ma Fajitas to watch the Hank Day parade. Hank is the guy who made the really big bucks buying up all the desert real estate around here. And then re-selling most of it to the snowbirds. Everyone thought he was nuts...I should be so NUTS! The parade is just a small one but a lot of fun with bunches of candy all the old farts (including us) were picking up all over the street...lol. Norman even got a booby hug from one of the crazy Red Hat ladies going by. Well, alrighty, it was Margo...hee-hee.

Then we had a nummy bbq tri-tip steak lunch put on by the Kiwanis of the area and enjoyed the classic cars on display. The ride home was pretty easy, even though it was uphill nearly all the way. I guess our legs are getting stronger.

The rest of the weekend?...Guess it's a blur of fun...I sure don't remember what we did. Norman watched the Nascar race on Sunday. I did grocery shopping and the laundry and sewed some on the quilt. Hmmm...well, some of the weekend was fun!

Oh yeah...we joined Joel last night and went to a country-western concert at one of the RV parks. It was pretty good. Only problem, since it was Sunday night the park agreed to let them do an almost complete gospel show, which we didn't know about. The whole audience seemed to know all the songs except for us three. It would have been fun to sing along, but we didn't know the words to any of the songs.

Jill's folks parked next to us this morning. They were a pleasant surprise. It didn't take them long to get into the Yuma spirit, as this pic shows. And Penny, the neighbor's dog, adopted them right away...

And we got a pretty good picture of the four of us for Jo and Cole...

Good morning

Third day in a row the coach has been torn up with the broken washing machine at the middle. We've called in a repairman, a retired fellow from a couple blocks over. I hope he can fix it. It's really nice to not have to go to the laundromat except for once in a while.

It's been a quiet couple days. I lost at bingo again the other night. We've been dog-sitting Penny, while Joel has had his brother visiting. She is beginning to think this is her second home. A nice doggie...but sure big. Penny takes up a lot of room when she's inside.

Went to a movie last night. We saw "Fool's Gold" with that cutie, what's his name, and Goldie Hawn's daughter, what's her name. Gees, another senior moment...hee-hee.

We're going to the Elk's tonight for dinner with some of our Eugene friends. It will be our Valentine's celebration. Hmmm, could be the first time we've ever celebrated it!

NOT a Maytag moment...

Dang washer quit spinning the clothes yesterday right in the middle of washday! I had to take them outside in the Tupperware popcorn bowl (the only thing I had big enough for soppy wet clothes) and wring them by hand. Then I set-up the folding ladder, got some hangers and hung them all over that ladder in the sun to dry. Today Norman gets to figure out what's wrong with the spinning part, while Margo and I play in Mexico (well, we're getting our $5 haircuts...lol).

Speaking of "spinning"...Joel ran over and asked how we managed to shake his coach as our washer was spinning. We didn't! At 11:30am we had our third earthquake in three days! We just thought it was the washer too. Then just after we went to bed last night, the coach shook again for another couple minutes. That makes two in one day!

Looked on the internet this morning, we're on the Algodones and Imperial faults, AND the San Andreas fault is just a hop, skip and a jump away.

Boy, earthquakes are really a weird creepy thing...I felt like a little kid last night, hanging on to the edge of the bed and wanting Norman to stop the shaking.

Sunday evening

Chrissy passed away last night just after dinner. Everyone was home; we all knew she would pass on yesterday. The signs were there...

Hospice came and did their thing...then Norman and another RVer had to help carry her out of the RV on a sheet. Pretty upsetting for Norman, but I guess he's old enough to learn to deal with death.

Penney, Chrissy's dog, knew she had passed. It was nearly impossible to quiet her down. She paced from one coach to another. I took her for a walk while Chrissy was taken away. That seemed to settle her a little.

Today will be a long day for Joel...

A Typical Sunday?

Here I am back from our morning walk...notice the long shadow...it's early and warm. Mmmmm, I like that part of being here. I'm doing the 'typical g'morning wave', that we snowbirds give each other. There are so many out walking, I've thought of recording my voice saying "good morning". Then I would just have to hit a button instead of saying it over and over.

The owner of this lot thought she wanted some aloe vera plants, but didn't want to buy them until next winter. She doesn't know much about plants and what needs watering and what doesn't. This morning we found four bags of aloe plants hanging on a fence for "free". We brought two of them back and planted them on the outside of the fence. That's where we've planted other "free" plants we've gotten. Donzelle can move them or toss them next year when she gets around to landscaping. The front of the fence looks pretty good now...awfully bare before.

After a quick breakfast we ran down to Ron and Margo's place. They live in one of the hundred or more RV parks in the area. Many of the folks have bought 'park models' and no longer drive their RVs to Yuma. Margo and Ron bought an older park model with tip-outs. It's not much bigger than our RV. There are quite a few couples from their part of Eugene that live in this park and many Canadians. The advantage of the parks are the many activities that bring the residents together into close-knit communities. This is where I go to play bingo. But the parks have rules, and many of us don't want more rules in our lives...hee-hee...

Norman spent a couple hours helping Ron install new flooring and a beautiful toilet, while Margo and I ran around in her golf cart and sat in the sun and gabbed.

The rest of Sunday was pretty quiet...read the paper...chatted with the neighbors...a bike ride...watched a little of the Pro-Bowl game...