OUR MOTORCYCLE TRIP TO EAST COAST
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
We left for our motorcycle trip East this morning at 8:30. We traveled to Rt 80 East and connected to Rt 90 toward Cleveland. Traveling on Rt 90 brought back memories of the many trips we made to Cleveland when Taylor and Kyle lived there. I am so happy that they are now so close to us and we do not have this 9 hour trip to face each time we see them.
Things went well until we were coming into the Joliet area on Rt 55, when suddenly the spare tire from under the motorcycle trailer came loose and went flying by me at a very high speed. Thank God I was traveling far enough behind the trailer that the tire missed hitting me. It went past me and off into the ditch on the side of the road. I speeded up to catch Larry to let him know it came loose and he said we were not turning around to try to find it. I'm hoping we do not have a flat tire on the trailer now that we have no spare.
The weather was beautiful today, with the sun shinning bright and the temperatures around 80-85 degrees which is much better than the horrible temperatures of most our summer.
We traveled on Rt 90 and went through a couple of toll booth's and paid our tolls, which were somewhere around $3 each. The next toll booth we came to was a pretty long distance from the one prior and when I pulled up to pay, I found it was more than the money that I had in my tank bag. I told the lady I was going to have to get my purse out of the saddlebag and when I put the kick stand down on the motorcycle to get off, I was too close to the curb for the toll both that the stand did not lock. When I went to get off the motorcycle it fell with a crash to the pavement. It was so close to the curb, I could not get a good hold to pick it up. I was sooo- embarrassed and a lady in the car behind me came running up to try to help as well as the male toll clerk in the booth next to me. I was so upset by the time I got the motorcycle back up, I was shaking! I then had to further hold up traffic to dig out my purse for money. I paid the lady in the toll booth and she was so nice and kept telling me it was OK and to take my time and not worry about it. I finally got everything together and rode on up the road where Larry was waiting. I was still shaking and upset about the stupid mistake when I dropped the bike. These things happen so fast that there is no way to stop the downward motion when it happens. Oh well maybe that is out of the way for the rest of the trip.
We drove to within about 20 miles west of Cleveland where we stopped for the night. Not a bad day, mileage-wise, for the first day of travel. I was so tired when we stopped that I was ready to drop. I woke up this morning at 4:00am and could not sleep so was traveling today with very little sleep. I can say that at 64 years of age, motorcycle travel is not as easy as it once was. We both have a thousand different aches and pains while traveling. Hopefully, the more we travel, the less pain as we get conditioned again to riding.
Thursday April 23, 2012
I did not wake up this morning until almost 7:30, however that was Ohio time which is an hour ahead of home. I think I actually died when I went to sleep but I felt very refreshed when I got out of bed.
I showered and got ready and we went to the lobby of hotel for breakfast, included in room price. When we walked back to the motorcycles, a guy from one of the other rooms walked up and said he was in the lane next to me yesterday when I dropped my motorcycle. I told him how embarrassing it was and he said it happens to a lot of people. When he was leaving in his car he said to have a safe trip and I told him maybe he should follow us and pick up my bike when I dump it. He had a good laugh as he pulled away.
We left by 9:00 so even with the time change, we didn't leave much later than yesterday. Again, the weather is gorgeous! So far, it has been so enjoyable riding as there has been no humidity and in the low 80's. We are still traveling the toll road so I made sure I had plenty of cash where I could get to it for tolls. Don't feel like a repeat of yesterday!! The tolls are unbelievably high. Yesterday Larry paid $14 for one toll because of the motorcycle trailer. My toll for the same booth was $7.50. Seriously, even with the motorcycle trailer he has only four wheels on the highway so is this so different than a regular vehicle?? Even paying these fees, we drove in construction for a great portion of our toll road travels. Of course they also have a captive audience in the fact that everyone is forced to spend 20 cents a gal more for gas and eat their EXPENSIVE junk food offerings. We ran out of the toll road about 5 miles from Cleveland so was glad to get off of it for awhile.
From Cleveland we traveled across Pennsylvania and into New York. When we were getting near the New York state line, we started seeing massive areas of grape vineyards. We saw vineyards on both side of the road for probably 50 miles. There were many signs indicating various wineries and I had no idea that this area was such a wine producing area. We saw a few fields of corn but then it would turn back to vineyards.
We ran into another toll road when we got into New York. At the rate we are paying tolls, I hope we will have enough money left for tolls to get back home!
It appears Ohio and New York has had more rain than the Midwest as everything is very green. So refreshing to look at green grass and trees after the brown look of home.
We stopped for the night in Hamburg, NY which is about 20 miles west of Buffalo. Again, we are both wherry and very tired. Hopefully, a good night of rest will work it's magic for our ride tomorrow!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
March 07 - March 31 2012
It is such an inconvenience to post my blog since arriving in Mesa. This resort is so much nicer than the one in Yuma but has no WiFi at our site which requires us to make a trip to the club house to post. Therefore, I have not been updating the blog daily.
Wednesday March 7, we met Ken, Judy and Jan, our Canadian friends that we met in Yuma, for lunch. They are in Mesa for a week visiting Ken's aunt before traveling to Colorado to see Jan's son and family. They asked that we choose the restaurant so of course, we decided on The Native New Yorker since it has a variety of food as well as wonderful wings. We had such a wonderful visit with them and are sad to see them move on as we all enjoy each other so much. Jan and Judy were excited to show me their pedicure that they had here in Mesa. Jan also bought a hair piece while here and looked like a different person when we saw her. I teased her that she would have a new man by the time she arrived home. She has been divorced for many years and she told me she would never be that stupid again to get involved with a man which gave Judy and I a good laugh. We all had a last hug and goodbye and plan on seeing them next year in Yuma.
Thursday we left home to go to the flea market but found that the Mesa market is only open from Friday through Sunday. We drove over to Home Goods looked for bedding and rugs but didn't find much. We ended up stopping at Native New Yorker AGAIN for dinner as Thursday is 'wing night' and neither of us ordered wings at our lunch with the Jackson's on Wednesday. Seems we can only go so many days without our favored wings. On our way into the Native New Yorker, we ran into Patty Leafgren, her husband and some of their friends from Minnesota that are here visiting them. She is a friend from Silveridge whom I met through the painting class. She and I keep in touch through Facebook and I had told her earlier I needed the phone number for Pat who teaches our painting class,since I left my book with all my information at home. She was disappointed that I did not show up at painting today but told me that I should go to class on Tuesday as it was not as busy this year. I am going to try to get there next week as I miss seeing the gals from class.
When we came home, we sat outside and visited for a long time with Bill and Charlotte Turner, the neighbors parked behind us. They are from Michigan and are the couple with the little Chiwawa dogs. They are an interesting couple and Charlotte told me she is not thrilled with Arizona but they have a daughter who lives in Scotsdale, which is part of the reason for being here this year. They prefer Florida which does not appeal to either of us. I have a very hard time dealing with the humidity offered by the weather in Florida.
Friday morning we stopped at the resort clubhouse to use the WiFi. Not being familiar with this resort, we had a hard time finding a place to sit to log on to our PC's. We went into the library area which was not very large and had several people setting at a table with their PC's. Larry wanted to look at our banking and personal information so he left and tried to find a more private area to log on. I sat on the couch holding my PC on my lap to post my blog, which was not the most comfortable. I'm sure there must be a better place here in this large complex but everything is unfamiliar and I really miss Silveridge where we have stayed for the past 3 years. I love our neighbors here at The Resort but can't seem to familiarize myself with the facilities. I still hope to be able to go back to Silveridge next year, even though a lot of the residence are not as friendly.
We decided to drive over to Silveridge to visit with Paul and Laura Thompson who were our next door neighbors when we stayed there. When we got there, Paul was carving in his little building off the patio. He was so surprised to see us and he looked so healthy as always. He is 90 or 91 and looks and acts like he's 60. He told us he had to leave in about 30 minutes for his music lesson. He is still playing in the Silveridge Pop's as well as 2 other orchestras. What a ball of fire this man is!! We sat on the patio and Laura came sneaking out in her pajamas and robe. She loves to sleep late and lounge in the mornings and even though it was 10:30 she was still relaxing. I laugh thinking of the difference in these two but they have been married for something like 65 years. Laura is still a beautiful lady at 88, even in her pj's at 10:30 -- HA! We visited and Paul got his things together to leave and told me he had a carving on display in the clubhouse that he wanted me to stop in to see before we left. Later I found that the carving was one he did for me of a Chicago Cubs Pitcher. I had asked him last year if he had ever tried carving baseball figures and he told me he had not but might give it a try. I was surprised that he had actually taken time to do this for me and I told him I was ready to pay his fee but he said there was no money due and wanted us to go with them to the Outback for dinner before we leave. We visited with Laura a while longer and when we were leaving we saw Rod from S. Dakota who parks across the street from our normal RV site. Rod and Helen are nice people but they drive me crazy with their 'know it all' attitudes. They are a good example of what I do NOT miss about Silveridge. We walked over and talked before we drove up to the clubhouse to see Paul's carving.
When we found the display with the carvings, I was amazed at how great the baseball carving was. Paul is such a perfectionist and had even painted the Cub logo on the shirt of the pitcher. Paul also had another carving on display that was also very good. He told me they would be changing the display soon and when they do, he will get my baseball guy to me before we leave to go back home. What an amazing person this guy is and he just loves to be busy with something. He never seems to slow his pace. We all will be fortunate to live this long and be this active.
We drove over to the flea market and the traffic to turn into the market was backed up for 4 blocks. When we got there the people were so numerous, we could hardly walk the isles. We shopped for about an hour and decided to leave to get lunch. They have food courts at the flea market but serve mostly hot dogs. We decided to stop at Del Taco for a small lunch and get something better for dinner tonight. When we finished lunch we tried to find Marshall's to look at bedding again. We followed the GPS but when we found the area, it was a new stip mall still under development. We decided to drive over to the shopping area where Bass Pro is located and have dinner in the restaurant at Bass Pro later.
When we had dinner at Bass Pro, we were both a little disappointed not only because the prices were high but the food was just ok. We have dined there several times in the past and the food was wonderful. Nothing was really bad with the food but we felt it was very overpriced compared to our past visits.
On Saturday we drove down to Camping World to buy a microwave bowl that was in the sale flyer and that we have not found elsewhere. While there, we drove next door to LaMesa RV but because of the RV Show, the dealership was closed. We were in the area of Home Goods so stopped back there to look again at an area rug we saw earlier this week.
We stopped for a Sub Sandwich at Jersey Mike's and decided to go to the RV Show over in Glendale at the University of Arizona Stadium. On the drive over, I received a text message from Charlene, my childhood friend who lives in the historic district of Phoenix. We have been trying to find a good time to get together since we arrived in Mesa. We chatted via text message and she asked us to stop by her house on our way home from show.
We arrived at the stadium and when we went inside, we were in shock with the size of the place. It looks big from the outside but inside it is huge. We spent the next hour or more just going through the motor homes on display. We found nothing to compare to the Tiffin that we looked at several times at LaMesa RV. Most of the ones we looked at were cheaply constructed with dark wood and cluttered floor plans. We decided we had seen enough so we left and stopped at Walmart to buy some groceries. Charlene sent a message that she was home from doing errands and asked us to stop for dinner.
We drove back to Phoenix and found our way to Char's house. She was walking the dogs as we drove down her street. She has 2 white poodles and they are so loveable and provide her much companionship. We brought beer so we all sat and visited while snacking on cheese, crackers and apple and it got so late, we decided to forget cooking. We headed toward Mesa and stopped at In-and-Out for a quick hamburger before we came home.
The cats were glad to see us as they had been waiting since early this morning for us to come home. They get a little upset with us when they do not get their outside time during the day. I'm sure they get cabin fever at times when we are gone the entire day.
Today we decided to clean and pack up a few things that we are not using daily. We end up with more clutter than useable items after living in the RV for extended periods of time. I also did laundry as it has been almost a week again since I worked on it.
Monday morning I woke early as is my usual. The longer the day went on the more frusterated I became. Don't know why I'm in such a funk, guess I'm missing my family!
We went up to the antique shops on Main Street and spent the next 2 hours looking around. Larry found a picture last year that he wanted and didn't buy. We drove to the shop where he had seen it. When we got there, we found they still had the picture and it was half the price from last year. As is typical for my husband, he still could not break down and buy it. Maybe before we leave he will decide to buy. Looked at several milk bottles but there was nothing unusual so we didn't buy anything.
After leaving the Antique Shops, we stopped at Olive Garden for soup and salad. When we got home we let the cats outside and sat on the patio to enjoy the weather. It has warmed considerably the past 4 or 5 days with most days in the low to mid 80's. From everything we see on the weather, Illinois is enjoying almost the same temperatures currently. I'm really happy they have had a very mild winter. When I talked to Leslie, she is getting spring fever as she has been working on her garden spot and planting her vegatables in pots in the house. She asked me if I could paint her some garden stakes so I told her I'd probably wait till I got home to work on that project.
Taylor called tonight and said she had enough 'frequent flyer miles' for her and the girls to fly to Vegas. She has decided to go ahead and schedule their flights and will arrive at 11:45PM on Monday, April 2 and will fly out on Friday, April 6. Leslie and Pete are coming to Vegas on April 4 but will stay in a hotel on the 'strip' on the 4th and 5th and then stay with us the 6th and 7th so we should have plenty of room to accomodate everyone. I'm so excited to see them all I can hardly wait! I talked to Addison on the phone for a few minutes but her attention span is very short. I have not seen Taylor, Morgan or Addison since December, which is a very long time for me to be away from them. Hopefully my mood will change now that I know I have their visit to look forward to.
Friday morning we decided to go over to Silveridge for the painting class. Larry has been interested in painting this year and wanted to go to the class. When we arrived we saw Patty Leafgren and Patty Polous(the painting teacher) walking in. Patty Polous was so happy to see us and Patty Leafgren had told her we might come to the class today. The only people I knew at the class was Patty Leafgren, Merle and John who have all been regulars from years past. I didn't know the other ladies as I have never attended the Tuesday class before. We painted all day and I was surprised that Larry did so well on his painting. Seems the new painters always surprise everyone. My painting turned out pretty good but I never get much better, mainly because I start and stop so often I never develope any real talent.
We came home around 4:30 and let the animals outside for their daily fresh air time. Talked to Bill and Charlotte and had a beer to relax after a long day. We talked about cooking hamburgers on the grill but the final decision was to go for wing night at The Native New Yorker, which was a pretty easy decision!
Wednesday morning we ran errands and when we came home I decided to walk up to the pool for an afternoon of R & R. This is the first time I have been to the pool since we left home. Larry came up later and joined me but it was very warm today and we ended up coming home about 3:45 as we'd had enough sun. We let the cats outside and sat on Patio with Bill and Charlotte and had a few beer. Ed and Eva, the Canadian's parked next to us, came over and joined us. Ed went in and brought out some scotch for he and Larry to sample. They are leaving on Friday to join their son, for a week in Hawaii. We all sat and talked so late that we ended up just grilling brats for dinner.
Thursday I got my shower and went to Walmart for some groceries while Larry stayed home to take his walk. I was gone quite awhile as I was looking for something to use to make the garden stakes for Leslie. I didn't really come up with much. I thought I might ask Patty Polous, my painting teacher, if her husband Steve could make me some stakes at the woodshop at Silveridge. The guys are always looking for projects but it may be too late in the year for them to do as a lot of people will be leaving for home this month. If Steve does not want to do, I may buy myself a jigsaw and try my hand at cutting what I want myself. I have often thought I'd like to learn how to use the jigsaw as there are many projects I'd like to try.
During my shopping, I bought a few items for Leslie for her birthday on March 31. I messed around shopping so long I hated the thought of trying to get through the crowd at Walmart. Seems if you don't arrive before 9:00am it's impossible to weave your way through the mass of people. Today, however, was surprisingly pretty quiet so I was able to get in and out in a reasonable time.
Came home and hauled in the groceries and made myself a sandwich for lunch. Larry was gone when I got home so after eating I changed into swimsuit and headed to the pool. I laid in the sun most of the afternoon and about the time I felt I'd had enough, Larry came up to swim. It was very hot today laying by the pool and I spent a lot of time in the water. I finally felt I'd had enough sun so I left Larry there and walked home, took my shower and sat outside in the shade to try to cool down. When he came home we had a beer and Bill came over to talk for awhile. After dinner we took our coffee back outside and Bill joined us with a beer and we all talked, I came in about 8:30 and left Larry and Bill to talk. It was such a beautiful day but I was really zapped from the sun so ended up in bed by 9:00.
Friday was a beautiful day and would have been nice to go to the pool but I think I need a day or so out of the sun after the past 2 days at the pool. We didn't do much today other than go back to the flea market for awhile. Larry had some items he wanted to look for but didn't find. It doesn't take long for me to tire of shopping there unless there is something in particular I have in mind. The people are so numerous, I get impatient just trying to walk through the old folks! I guess I'm getting older but I just get crazy with them walking like snales and blocking the isles to have their conversations. It seems to be the same at the grocery store no matter when you go. In about another week, the snowbirds will start their trek home and will be a little more peaceful here. In a lot of ways I think the native Arizonians love to see the winter visitors leave but hate losing the revenue!
We cooked hamburgers out on the grill and kicked back at home tonight.
Saturday morning the sun was shinning brightly for about an hour and then the clouds moved in and the wind picked up. The forcast is calling for a cool down with some rain for the next 2 or 3 days. We are invited to Carol and Tom Sapp's for a St. Pat's party tonight so hope the weather holds out.
We sat outside for most of the morning talking with Bill and Charlotte. Today is Charlotte's birthday and she told me their youngest daughter, who lives in Scottsdale, is coming to take her shopping this afternoon.
While Bill and Charlotte were here, Larry got a call from Dan Scoles, who he went to school with. Dan and Jeanne are here for a few weeks from Jackson, Mississippi, mainly to attend the Good Sam Rally, which starts on Thursday here in Phoenix. Dan asked if we'd like to met them for lunch tomorrow so Larry told him we'd call them tomorrow morning.
After Bill and Charlotte left, I went over to Hobby Lobby and the Dollar Store to pick up a few things for the party tonight. Came home and made chilli cheese dip to take over and about 4:00 we hauled all of our items over to Carol an Tom's. There were tons of neighbors there and Ken and Linda Petro, who live in the park provided the music. They are both really great and mostly play country. They had the street blocked off and the Petro's were set up on Helen's patio, who lives across the street from Tom and Carol. Everyone brought dishes to share and we had many appetizers that we all enjoyed with our drinks and the music.
Tom cooked brats about 5:30 and Carol had made a huge pot of corn beef and cabbage, which was wonderful! We met so many of the neighbors that it was too hard to remember all their names but everyone was so friendly and really made us feel so welcome that we were so happy we attended. we really had a wonderful time. Tom and Carol asked us to go to the Hitching Post down by Apache Junction on Monday night with them to listen to Ken and Linda play. We are moving into our new motor home on Monday so I told Carol we might not get back to the resort in time but would let her know. Ken and Linda play every Monday night so if we don't make it this week we all plan to go next Monday. We had such a great time at the party and I was very tired when we came home.
Just after midnight, Sunday it started raining and rained all night and all day. The temperature dropped and it was just a very cold miserable day. I didn't sleep much at all during the night and even got up around 2:30 am and took a tyenol PM, thinking it would help me go to sleep but did nothing to help me sleep. I had such a horrible headache when I got up Sunday morning, it felt like a migraine. Larry called Dan Scoles and made plans to pick them up aroud 1:00 for lunch. They are in their 5th wheel parked at Apache Wells RV, which is about 8 or 10 miles from us. I took some medication for my headache and laid down for awhile before we met Dan and Jeanne. Nothing is helping my pounding head and by the time we drove to Dan's I felt sick from all the med's. We found their RV Site and visited for a while before going to lunch. I felt somewhat better after eating and I even drank a beer thinking it would relax me enough to ease the tension in my neck and shoulders, which did seem to help some. Dan said he would like to go to a Cub game while here so We plan to try to get tickets for the Cub games for all of us on Friday. Dan is a Cardinal Fan but Jeanne and their 2 son's are both Cub Fans.
We came back to Dan and Jeanne's and stayed for a short time before heading home. I still had a horrible headache when I finally gave up and went to bed.
Monday March 19, we got up early as we had be at LeMesa RV by 9:00 for our 'walk thru' on the new motor home. We arrived and they had everything set up and Garry Cotton, one of the service guys, spent the next hour and a half explaining the function of all the equipment.
We started moving around 1:00pm. What an ordeal to move from the old RV and organize it all into the new. We did this 2 years ago when we moved from the 5th wheel to the motor home but believe me, it is not any easier the 2nd time. Ferrell, one of our salesmens told us if we needed, we could stay the night at the dealership since they had us plugged in with plenty of water and propane. We worked until 7:00pm and both of us were so tired, we could hardly move. We decided to go ahead and drive back to The Resort instead of spending the night but soon found out when they closed the dealership, they also locked us in the parking area. There were 4 exits out of the dealership with each having a locked gate. So we spent the night, which worked fine as we had food and a bed and were both so exhausted we were happy to just kick back and stay.
Tuesday was mostly spent trying to put the remaining items in a resting place. We talked with many of the neighbors and said goodbye to Joan and Paul who are leaving to go home, back to Rockford, IL. Talked to Karen, next door, and she is leaving for a few days to visit her sister who is near Tuscon. All 3 of our neighbors on each side and behind are gone for a few days so things are pretty quiet. Bill and Charlotte are in Las Vegas and Eva and Ed are still in Hawaii until the end of the week.
Wednesday when we got up, I was smelling gas when I walked outside. Larry went out and decided it was our propane tank. Garry, our service man from LaMesa, had one of the guys change the hose on the propane on Monday and must not have got them connected correctly. Larry shut the propane off and called Lemesa who said they would send service out to repair.
We went by LaMesa to pick up some sewer caps that were left in the old motor home and had a free lunch while there. LaMesa has a caterer who serves lunch daily during the winter months. They have BBQ Pork, Beef and Chicken, baked beans and either slaw or potato salad. Not bad for a freebe and we have taken advantage of lunch several times both here and in Yuma. We stopped at Robert Crist RV to complete paperwork to get a refund on our extended warranty on the old RV and then went to Hohokam Park to check on Cub tickets for Friday. I guess I read the schedule wrong as they do not have a home game on Friday. Dan and Jeanne had wanted to go to the game with us Friday but when Larry talked to Dan, they decided against the game and made plans to meet them at the Good Sam's Rally on Friday instead. Dan and Jeanne moved their 5th wheel over to the Phoenix Raceway on Tuesday, which is where the Rally is held. After leaving the ballpark, We ran a lot of errands and since we were over near Native New Yorker, we stopped there for dinner before heading home.
Thursday I went to get a manicure and then ran errands. I was gone for most of the morning and Larry stayed around the RV to wait for the serviceman to fix the propane leak. When I came home, he left to go to the auto parts store for some items.
Carol Sapp came by to feed Eva and Ed's cat since they are still in Hawaii. She stopped by and we talked for a long time. She and Tom are very nice people and we enjoy visiting with them alot.
Friday Larry woke me up at 6:15am, which is very unusual since I am normally awake by 5:00. We were suspose to be at the Phoenix Raceway this morning around 8-8:30 to meet Dan and Jeanne. We both got showers and actually left by 7:30 but Larry thought he knew where he was going and ended up taking a loop all the way around through Chandler, which was totally out of our way. When I checked the navagitor, I found we could have gone straight through on RT 60. The raceway is on the far west side of Phoenix in Avondale and was about 30-40 miles over there. We ended up arriving around 9:00, Larry called Dan and he and Jeanne took the tram over to the show area to meet us.They had several items they wanted to look at as well as us so we decided to meet again at 1:00. We looked through the vendor tent and found a patio screen that we wanted. We did not know the measurements on the awning so we walked over to the LaMesa show area and checked on the measurements for our awning. While at the LaMesa area we meet Bob Tiffin, owner of the Tiffin Motorhome Factory in Red Bay, Al. What a great guy he was and he talked to us for a long time and never acted like he was in a hurry to walk away,
We went back to the vendor tent and bought the patio screen then met Dan and Jeanne. We all boarded the tram and rode to the camping area to their 5th wheel and had lunch. We stayed most of the afternoon visiting with them. They asked us to try to plan a trip down this fall to see them in Jackson, MS. I think it would be a very nice trip and they said there are many beautiful RV Parks near them.
When we left Dan and Jeanne's, we drove back on RT 10 and stopped at Sam's to pick up a few items and headed home. By the time we drove a few miles
Sunday I talked to Charlene, my childhood friend that lives in Phoenix and she asked us to go to breakfast. She just had all her floors redone so I wanted to see them before we leave for home. She was waiting for the repair service to work on her home phone so we went by the flea market before heading into Phoenix. Larry wanted to look for an adjustable hitch receiver for the tow dollie and he had talked to one of the vendors who thouht he had one to fit.
We arrived at Char's just after 10:00am and walked to a nearby restruraunt for breakfast. She lives in the historic district in downtown Phoenix and is close enough to walk to many places. We had a great breakfast and came back to Char's to visit for awhile before coming home. On the way home, we stopped several places to again look for a trailer hitch but so far have found nothing.
Linda and Ken Petro stopped in to see the motor home. They live just a couple of streets away, here in The Resort. We met them at Carol and Tom Sapp's St. Pat's party a few days ago. They are entertainers and play at The Hitching Post in Apache Junction while they are here for the winter. They also provided the entertainment for the St. Pat's party and we enjoyed listening to them very much. They are very nice people and we enjoyed visiting.
After the Petro's left, we sat outside and visited with Bill and Charlotte for a long time tonight. We ended up drinking beer and eating popcorn for our dinner--Great balanced meal!
Monday we had to go to LaMesa RV to sign some additional papers that they forgot for our motor home. We stopped at Camping World and bought a set of seat covers for the driver and passenger seats of the motor home. The cats love jumping up on the back of the seats and we are afraid they will rip the leather with their claws. The seat covers we found fit the seats but not sure we will keep them as I'm not sure I like the way they look on the seats.
Tom and Carol Sapp picked us up at 4:45 to go to the Hitching Post in Apache Junction. We went to listen to Linda and Ken Petro who sing there on Monday nights. Ken does most of the singing but Linda does several of the songs with him as well. We had wings and lots of beer and had such a wonderful time. Ken and Linda sing country music so the place was packed with the boot scootin country dancers and was like a big time 'honky tonk' bar. We had such a wonderful time watching everyone dance and listening to the music. The Hitching Post has a huge rooster statue standing on the patio area and before we left I pursuaded Carol to climb onto it for a picture. One of the other neighbor's, Joan and Paul deemed Carol the Rooster Lady. Everyone on our street have lighted Quail at their site so Carol bought a huge lighted Rooster for the front of their place. Joan jokingly told us that Carol had to have a rooster to control the 'hens' in the neighborhood. Joan and Paul are from Rockford, Il and left about a week ago for home so I plan to email her a picture of Carol on the Rooster. I'm sure it will make Joan's day as she is such a joker.
Tuesday morning I worked on laundry for awhile before we left to meet the painting class for our yearly lunchenon. We all met at O'Sullivans Restruraunt located on Superstition Springs Blvd, which is just a few miles from us. There were quite a group of us, probably around 30 people. Pat teaches on Tuesday and Thursday so most of the group came. I was sorry, however, that neither Dorthy or Audrey came,who I've painted with for the past 3 years. I have not had a chance to see either of them this year. Pat said they both had other things going on today that prevented them from coming.
We stopped at Fresh and Easy to pick up something to go with strawberry's. I want to have Paul and Lora come back to the motor home after we have dinner with them tonight. We are meeting them at the Outback for dinner later. We lived next door to the Thompson's at Silveridge and Paul carved me a baseball player last summer while at their home in Minnesota. We are meeting them tonight to buy their dinner as my 'thanks' for his carving.
We met Paul and Lora and had a wonderful visit over dinner. Paul is amazing and has such a vivid memory for being 90 year old. Lora, who is 88, carries on a great conversation and only stops occassionally to ask Paul such things as the ages of their grandchildren and great grandchildren. I sit with my mouth open as Paul tells her each of their birth dates! I can hardly remember the birthdays of my own family, let alone three generations. Paul is versed in most any subject that is discussed and remembers all the details. Lora is the cutest lady I know and loves to tell stories about her travels and family.
Paul gave me his carving and I handed over a 'thank you' card I had written for them with a Visa gift card enclosed. I told him I hoped I did not insult him with the amount of the gift card but meant it as my graditude for his thoughtful gift. He smiled and said that he really enjoyed carving the baseball figure for me and even decided to carve one for Lora as well. Of course he let me know that her carving was NOT a Chicago Cub but rather a Minnesota Twin! We laughed at him as last year when I asked him if he had ever carved a baseball figure, he told me no but he might try it but would have a VERY hard time painting it in Cub blue. He also told me later that the only time he enjoys carving is when it is specifically for someone and that he doesn't enjoy doing it without a purpose. He is truely unique!
Paul and Lora followed us over to the resort and stayed for a nice visit. They are leaving next Wednesday for Minnesota for the summer. He made us promise that we would call them as soon as we arrive in Mesa next year so we can spend more time together. What an amazing couple these two are and they have been married 65 wonderful years!
While we were visiting with Paul and Lora, Dan Scoles called Larry. He asked us to come down to Florence, AZ tomorrow night to have dinner with them. They moved their 5th wheel from the Good Sam Rally on Monday and moved to Florence as Jeanne has family that are meeting them there for a few days later in the week. We told Dan we would come down around 6:00 tomorrow. I believe Florence is about an hour drive from Mesa.
Wednesday March 28, 2012
I finished some laundry this morning and visited with Charlotte for awile. Bill went fishing today so she has the day to herself. Rhonda, their youngest daughter is a hairdresser in Scottsdale so Charlotte is going to get a haircut and go to lunch with her today.
I went to Hobby Lobby to look for a display case for my Cub carving that Paul gave me. They did not have anything big enough to fit the carving. Went to Frye's to pick up a few groceries and back home.
We left for Florence, Az around 4:30 and found the RV Park where Dan and Jeanne Scoles are parked. When we arrived Dan was busy cooking dinner. Jeanne told me he does most of the cooking and at one time thought he wanted to be a chef.
Dan cooked crusted talipa and placed it on a creamed spinach and had baked potatoes and beans. The fish was the best I think I have ever had. Of course Larry, is not a fan of spinach so he mainly ate the fish.
We had coffee and visited for awhile and then had dessert. I baked an apple pie today to take over, so we had the pie and then Dan had made a jello pudding that we also had. I was so full when we left, I felt I needed to be rolled to the car.
We got home around 9:30pm. Florence is less than an hour from Mesa and is a quick trip as the highway was not as busy as the roads around the Mesa area.
Bill and Charlotte came over and we visited for most of the morning. Later in the day Dan and Maggie, who live just around the corner came by and wanted to see the motor home so I took them through and they stayed awhile to visit. We met them at Carol and Tom's St. Pat's party and they both ride motorcycles, however, they only have Dan's Harley here with them. They bought a park model and Dan is not happy about living in it. They lease their home and live in their motor home all summer while home. They drove the motor home here this year and have it parked up in the storage area here at the park. Maggie said they have been trying to figure out how to get both motorcycles out here and we told them we had also ran several senero's around as to how to get our's here. They have a hydrolic bumper on their motor home for Dan's bike.
We went to The Native New Yorker tonight with Bill and Charlotte for wings. We had several beer while there and came home and sat outside visiting for a long time. We are going to miss our visits with Bill and Charlotte when we leave on Sunday.
Friday I cleaned the motor home which included mopping the floors and removing the dust that accumulates each day. I love the tile floors as they are so easy to clean. I hated the carpet in the other motor home as it seemed to always look dirty.
Larry went for a walk and was gone a long time and while I was finishing up on the cleaning, I realized I hadn't seen Tucker for awhile. I started looking for him inside but could not find him so went outside calling him with no luck. When I came back in, I heard a faint 'Meow' and kept trying to figure out where he was. Finally, I saw a flash of white and realized he was under the oven area of the stove. I began digging out the items in the lower cabinet, thinking he had gotten under the oven through an opening in the side of cabinet but could not find an open area. I looked and looked trying to find out how he got there, thinking I could get him out the same way he went in. I finally gave up and found a screw driver and removed the vent cover under the oven to let him out. I decided to wait for Larry to come home to let him replace the vent cover as I did not want to strip the screws trying to get it back together. Tucker acted like he was very relieved to be out of situation but was not 5 minutes until he was trying to get back in the same area. When Larry came home he and I both looked for quite sometime trying to figure out HOW he got under the oven but never found any place that we thought he could have gotten in. Who knows--Cats are such a mystery I don't even try to understand them.
I went to the grocery store to pick up items for dinner as Char is coming by after work to eat with us. When I came home I got most of the food prepared for dinner and sat outside for awhile to read. It is very hot today and each day seems to get a little warmer. I think it is in the high 80's and not much wind so that always makes it seem hot. We ended up turning the air conditioner on inside before it got too warm. We have run the air a few time in the past week so our electric bill will surely reflect this when we leave.
Leslie called and told us she was at Taylor's for the weekend. Tomorrow is Leslie's 33rd Birthday so her and Taylor are going for their favorite food --Shushi! They always treat each other to a night out for Shushi for their respective birthdays. Tonight Kyle is watching the girls so Taylor and Leslie can have some one-on-one time.
Char came around 4:00 and we sat around and had beer and wine and some snacks before dinner. I introduced her to Bill and Charlotte and she saw their chiwawa's. Char is an animal lover and took to the dogs right away. Larry cooked the fish on the grill while I finished the rest inside and we had dinner around 6:30. Charlene stayed until 8:30 and headed home. She has about a 45 minute drive back to Phoenix from the RV Park here in Mesa.
Bill and Charlotte moved their chairs over to our patio to talk. I had a New York Cheesecake and Strawbery's that I made for desert and ended up sending Charlene a piece home as we did not eat it after dinner. While we were visiting with Bill and Charlotte, I offered them desert and the four of us sat outside and had the cheesecake and coffee. It was almost 10:30 when we came inside and were both ready for bed. We are up by 5-5:30am everyday--or at least I am--so most days I'm beat by 10:30.
Wednesday March 7, we met Ken, Judy and Jan, our Canadian friends that we met in Yuma, for lunch. They are in Mesa for a week visiting Ken's aunt before traveling to Colorado to see Jan's son and family. They asked that we choose the restaurant so of course, we decided on The Native New Yorker since it has a variety of food as well as wonderful wings. We had such a wonderful visit with them and are sad to see them move on as we all enjoy each other so much. Jan and Judy were excited to show me their pedicure that they had here in Mesa. Jan also bought a hair piece while here and looked like a different person when we saw her. I teased her that she would have a new man by the time she arrived home. She has been divorced for many years and she told me she would never be that stupid again to get involved with a man which gave Judy and I a good laugh. We all had a last hug and goodbye and plan on seeing them next year in Yuma.
Thursday we left home to go to the flea market but found that the Mesa market is only open from Friday through Sunday. We drove over to Home Goods looked for bedding and rugs but didn't find much. We ended up stopping at Native New Yorker AGAIN for dinner as Thursday is 'wing night' and neither of us ordered wings at our lunch with the Jackson's on Wednesday. Seems we can only go so many days without our favored wings. On our way into the Native New Yorker, we ran into Patty Leafgren, her husband and some of their friends from Minnesota that are here visiting them. She is a friend from Silveridge whom I met through the painting class. She and I keep in touch through Facebook and I had told her earlier I needed the phone number for Pat who teaches our painting class,since I left my book with all my information at home. She was disappointed that I did not show up at painting today but told me that I should go to class on Tuesday as it was not as busy this year. I am going to try to get there next week as I miss seeing the gals from class.
When we came home, we sat outside and visited for a long time with Bill and Charlotte Turner, the neighbors parked behind us. They are from Michigan and are the couple with the little Chiwawa dogs. They are an interesting couple and Charlotte told me she is not thrilled with Arizona but they have a daughter who lives in Scotsdale, which is part of the reason for being here this year. They prefer Florida which does not appeal to either of us. I have a very hard time dealing with the humidity offered by the weather in Florida.
Friday morning we stopped at the resort clubhouse to use the WiFi. Not being familiar with this resort, we had a hard time finding a place to sit to log on to our PC's. We went into the library area which was not very large and had several people setting at a table with their PC's. Larry wanted to look at our banking and personal information so he left and tried to find a more private area to log on. I sat on the couch holding my PC on my lap to post my blog, which was not the most comfortable. I'm sure there must be a better place here in this large complex but everything is unfamiliar and I really miss Silveridge where we have stayed for the past 3 years. I love our neighbors here at The Resort but can't seem to familiarize myself with the facilities. I still hope to be able to go back to Silveridge next year, even though a lot of the residence are not as friendly.
We decided to drive over to Silveridge to visit with Paul and Laura Thompson who were our next door neighbors when we stayed there. When we got there, Paul was carving in his little building off the patio. He was so surprised to see us and he looked so healthy as always. He is 90 or 91 and looks and acts like he's 60. He told us he had to leave in about 30 minutes for his music lesson. He is still playing in the Silveridge Pop's as well as 2 other orchestras. What a ball of fire this man is!! We sat on the patio and Laura came sneaking out in her pajamas and robe. She loves to sleep late and lounge in the mornings and even though it was 10:30 she was still relaxing. I laugh thinking of the difference in these two but they have been married for something like 65 years. Laura is still a beautiful lady at 88, even in her pj's at 10:30 -- HA! We visited and Paul got his things together to leave and told me he had a carving on display in the clubhouse that he wanted me to stop in to see before we left. Later I found that the carving was one he did for me of a Chicago Cubs Pitcher. I had asked him last year if he had ever tried carving baseball figures and he told me he had not but might give it a try. I was surprised that he had actually taken time to do this for me and I told him I was ready to pay his fee but he said there was no money due and wanted us to go with them to the Outback for dinner before we leave. We visited with Laura a while longer and when we were leaving we saw Rod from S. Dakota who parks across the street from our normal RV site. Rod and Helen are nice people but they drive me crazy with their 'know it all' attitudes. They are a good example of what I do NOT miss about Silveridge. We walked over and talked before we drove up to the clubhouse to see Paul's carving.
When we found the display with the carvings, I was amazed at how great the baseball carving was. Paul is such a perfectionist and had even painted the Cub logo on the shirt of the pitcher. Paul also had another carving on display that was also very good. He told me they would be changing the display soon and when they do, he will get my baseball guy to me before we leave to go back home. What an amazing person this guy is and he just loves to be busy with something. He never seems to slow his pace. We all will be fortunate to live this long and be this active.
We drove over to the flea market and the traffic to turn into the market was backed up for 4 blocks. When we got there the people were so numerous, we could hardly walk the isles. We shopped for about an hour and decided to leave to get lunch. They have food courts at the flea market but serve mostly hot dogs. We decided to stop at Del Taco for a small lunch and get something better for dinner tonight. When we finished lunch we tried to find Marshall's to look at bedding again. We followed the GPS but when we found the area, it was a new stip mall still under development. We decided to drive over to the shopping area where Bass Pro is located and have dinner in the restaurant at Bass Pro later.
When we had dinner at Bass Pro, we were both a little disappointed not only because the prices were high but the food was just ok. We have dined there several times in the past and the food was wonderful. Nothing was really bad with the food but we felt it was very overpriced compared to our past visits.
On Saturday we drove down to Camping World to buy a microwave bowl that was in the sale flyer and that we have not found elsewhere. While there, we drove next door to LaMesa RV but because of the RV Show, the dealership was closed. We were in the area of Home Goods so stopped back there to look again at an area rug we saw earlier this week.
We stopped for a Sub Sandwich at Jersey Mike's and decided to go to the RV Show over in Glendale at the University of Arizona Stadium. On the drive over, I received a text message from Charlene, my childhood friend who lives in the historic district of Phoenix. We have been trying to find a good time to get together since we arrived in Mesa. We chatted via text message and she asked us to stop by her house on our way home from show.
We arrived at the stadium and when we went inside, we were in shock with the size of the place. It looks big from the outside but inside it is huge. We spent the next hour or more just going through the motor homes on display. We found nothing to compare to the Tiffin that we looked at several times at LaMesa RV. Most of the ones we looked at were cheaply constructed with dark wood and cluttered floor plans. We decided we had seen enough so we left and stopped at Walmart to buy some groceries. Charlene sent a message that she was home from doing errands and asked us to stop for dinner.
We drove back to Phoenix and found our way to Char's house. She was walking the dogs as we drove down her street. She has 2 white poodles and they are so loveable and provide her much companionship. We brought beer so we all sat and visited while snacking on cheese, crackers and apple and it got so late, we decided to forget cooking. We headed toward Mesa and stopped at In-and-Out for a quick hamburger before we came home.
The cats were glad to see us as they had been waiting since early this morning for us to come home. They get a little upset with us when they do not get their outside time during the day. I'm sure they get cabin fever at times when we are gone the entire day.
Today we decided to clean and pack up a few things that we are not using daily. We end up with more clutter than useable items after living in the RV for extended periods of time. I also did laundry as it has been almost a week again since I worked on it.
Monday morning I woke early as is my usual. The longer the day went on the more frusterated I became. Don't know why I'm in such a funk, guess I'm missing my family!
We went up to the antique shops on Main Street and spent the next 2 hours looking around. Larry found a picture last year that he wanted and didn't buy. We drove to the shop where he had seen it. When we got there, we found they still had the picture and it was half the price from last year. As is typical for my husband, he still could not break down and buy it. Maybe before we leave he will decide to buy. Looked at several milk bottles but there was nothing unusual so we didn't buy anything.
After leaving the Antique Shops, we stopped at Olive Garden for soup and salad. When we got home we let the cats outside and sat on the patio to enjoy the weather. It has warmed considerably the past 4 or 5 days with most days in the low to mid 80's. From everything we see on the weather, Illinois is enjoying almost the same temperatures currently. I'm really happy they have had a very mild winter. When I talked to Leslie, she is getting spring fever as she has been working on her garden spot and planting her vegatables in pots in the house. She asked me if I could paint her some garden stakes so I told her I'd probably wait till I got home to work on that project.
Taylor called tonight and said she had enough 'frequent flyer miles' for her and the girls to fly to Vegas. She has decided to go ahead and schedule their flights and will arrive at 11:45PM on Monday, April 2 and will fly out on Friday, April 6. Leslie and Pete are coming to Vegas on April 4 but will stay in a hotel on the 'strip' on the 4th and 5th and then stay with us the 6th and 7th so we should have plenty of room to accomodate everyone. I'm so excited to see them all I can hardly wait! I talked to Addison on the phone for a few minutes but her attention span is very short. I have not seen Taylor, Morgan or Addison since December, which is a very long time for me to be away from them. Hopefully my mood will change now that I know I have their visit to look forward to.
Friday morning we decided to go over to Silveridge for the painting class. Larry has been interested in painting this year and wanted to go to the class. When we arrived we saw Patty Leafgren and Patty Polous(the painting teacher) walking in. Patty Polous was so happy to see us and Patty Leafgren had told her we might come to the class today. The only people I knew at the class was Patty Leafgren, Merle and John who have all been regulars from years past. I didn't know the other ladies as I have never attended the Tuesday class before. We painted all day and I was surprised that Larry did so well on his painting. Seems the new painters always surprise everyone. My painting turned out pretty good but I never get much better, mainly because I start and stop so often I never develope any real talent.
We came home around 4:30 and let the animals outside for their daily fresh air time. Talked to Bill and Charlotte and had a beer to relax after a long day. We talked about cooking hamburgers on the grill but the final decision was to go for wing night at The Native New Yorker, which was a pretty easy decision!
Wednesday morning we ran errands and when we came home I decided to walk up to the pool for an afternoon of R & R. This is the first time I have been to the pool since we left home. Larry came up later and joined me but it was very warm today and we ended up coming home about 3:45 as we'd had enough sun. We let the cats outside and sat on Patio with Bill and Charlotte and had a few beer. Ed and Eva, the Canadian's parked next to us, came over and joined us. Ed went in and brought out some scotch for he and Larry to sample. They are leaving on Friday to join their son, for a week in Hawaii. We all sat and talked so late that we ended up just grilling brats for dinner.
Thursday I got my shower and went to Walmart for some groceries while Larry stayed home to take his walk. I was gone quite awhile as I was looking for something to use to make the garden stakes for Leslie. I didn't really come up with much. I thought I might ask Patty Polous, my painting teacher, if her husband Steve could make me some stakes at the woodshop at Silveridge. The guys are always looking for projects but it may be too late in the year for them to do as a lot of people will be leaving for home this month. If Steve does not want to do, I may buy myself a jigsaw and try my hand at cutting what I want myself. I have often thought I'd like to learn how to use the jigsaw as there are many projects I'd like to try.
During my shopping, I bought a few items for Leslie for her birthday on March 31. I messed around shopping so long I hated the thought of trying to get through the crowd at Walmart. Seems if you don't arrive before 9:00am it's impossible to weave your way through the mass of people. Today, however, was surprisingly pretty quiet so I was able to get in and out in a reasonable time.
Came home and hauled in the groceries and made myself a sandwich for lunch. Larry was gone when I got home so after eating I changed into swimsuit and headed to the pool. I laid in the sun most of the afternoon and about the time I felt I'd had enough, Larry came up to swim. It was very hot today laying by the pool and I spent a lot of time in the water. I finally felt I'd had enough sun so I left Larry there and walked home, took my shower and sat outside in the shade to try to cool down. When he came home we had a beer and Bill came over to talk for awhile. After dinner we took our coffee back outside and Bill joined us with a beer and we all talked, I came in about 8:30 and left Larry and Bill to talk. It was such a beautiful day but I was really zapped from the sun so ended up in bed by 9:00.
Friday was a beautiful day and would have been nice to go to the pool but I think I need a day or so out of the sun after the past 2 days at the pool. We didn't do much today other than go back to the flea market for awhile. Larry had some items he wanted to look for but didn't find. It doesn't take long for me to tire of shopping there unless there is something in particular I have in mind. The people are so numerous, I get impatient just trying to walk through the old folks! I guess I'm getting older but I just get crazy with them walking like snales and blocking the isles to have their conversations. It seems to be the same at the grocery store no matter when you go. In about another week, the snowbirds will start their trek home and will be a little more peaceful here. In a lot of ways I think the native Arizonians love to see the winter visitors leave but hate losing the revenue!
We cooked hamburgers out on the grill and kicked back at home tonight.
Saturday morning the sun was shinning brightly for about an hour and then the clouds moved in and the wind picked up. The forcast is calling for a cool down with some rain for the next 2 or 3 days. We are invited to Carol and Tom Sapp's for a St. Pat's party tonight so hope the weather holds out.
We sat outside for most of the morning talking with Bill and Charlotte. Today is Charlotte's birthday and she told me their youngest daughter, who lives in Scottsdale, is coming to take her shopping this afternoon.
While Bill and Charlotte were here, Larry got a call from Dan Scoles, who he went to school with. Dan and Jeanne are here for a few weeks from Jackson, Mississippi, mainly to attend the Good Sam Rally, which starts on Thursday here in Phoenix. Dan asked if we'd like to met them for lunch tomorrow so Larry told him we'd call them tomorrow morning.
After Bill and Charlotte left, I went over to Hobby Lobby and the Dollar Store to pick up a few things for the party tonight. Came home and made chilli cheese dip to take over and about 4:00 we hauled all of our items over to Carol an Tom's. There were tons of neighbors there and Ken and Linda Petro, who live in the park provided the music. They are both really great and mostly play country. They had the street blocked off and the Petro's were set up on Helen's patio, who lives across the street from Tom and Carol. Everyone brought dishes to share and we had many appetizers that we all enjoyed with our drinks and the music.
Tom cooked brats about 5:30 and Carol had made a huge pot of corn beef and cabbage, which was wonderful! We met so many of the neighbors that it was too hard to remember all their names but everyone was so friendly and really made us feel so welcome that we were so happy we attended. we really had a wonderful time. Tom and Carol asked us to go to the Hitching Post down by Apache Junction on Monday night with them to listen to Ken and Linda play. We are moving into our new motor home on Monday so I told Carol we might not get back to the resort in time but would let her know. Ken and Linda play every Monday night so if we don't make it this week we all plan to go next Monday. We had such a great time at the party and I was very tired when we came home.
Just after midnight, Sunday it started raining and rained all night and all day. The temperature dropped and it was just a very cold miserable day. I didn't sleep much at all during the night and even got up around 2:30 am and took a tyenol PM, thinking it would help me go to sleep but did nothing to help me sleep. I had such a horrible headache when I got up Sunday morning, it felt like a migraine. Larry called Dan Scoles and made plans to pick them up aroud 1:00 for lunch. They are in their 5th wheel parked at Apache Wells RV, which is about 8 or 10 miles from us. I took some medication for my headache and laid down for awhile before we met Dan and Jeanne. Nothing is helping my pounding head and by the time we drove to Dan's I felt sick from all the med's. We found their RV Site and visited for a while before going to lunch. I felt somewhat better after eating and I even drank a beer thinking it would relax me enough to ease the tension in my neck and shoulders, which did seem to help some. Dan said he would like to go to a Cub game while here so We plan to try to get tickets for the Cub games for all of us on Friday. Dan is a Cardinal Fan but Jeanne and their 2 son's are both Cub Fans.
We came back to Dan and Jeanne's and stayed for a short time before heading home. I still had a horrible headache when I finally gave up and went to bed.
Monday March 19, we got up early as we had be at LeMesa RV by 9:00 for our 'walk thru' on the new motor home. We arrived and they had everything set up and Garry Cotton, one of the service guys, spent the next hour and a half explaining the function of all the equipment.
We started moving around 1:00pm. What an ordeal to move from the old RV and organize it all into the new. We did this 2 years ago when we moved from the 5th wheel to the motor home but believe me, it is not any easier the 2nd time. Ferrell, one of our salesmens told us if we needed, we could stay the night at the dealership since they had us plugged in with plenty of water and propane. We worked until 7:00pm and both of us were so tired, we could hardly move. We decided to go ahead and drive back to The Resort instead of spending the night but soon found out when they closed the dealership, they also locked us in the parking area. There were 4 exits out of the dealership with each having a locked gate. So we spent the night, which worked fine as we had food and a bed and were both so exhausted we were happy to just kick back and stay.
Tuesday was mostly spent trying to put the remaining items in a resting place. We talked with many of the neighbors and said goodbye to Joan and Paul who are leaving to go home, back to Rockford, IL. Talked to Karen, next door, and she is leaving for a few days to visit her sister who is near Tuscon. All 3 of our neighbors on each side and behind are gone for a few days so things are pretty quiet. Bill and Charlotte are in Las Vegas and Eva and Ed are still in Hawaii until the end of the week.
Wednesday when we got up, I was smelling gas when I walked outside. Larry went out and decided it was our propane tank. Garry, our service man from LaMesa, had one of the guys change the hose on the propane on Monday and must not have got them connected correctly. Larry shut the propane off and called Lemesa who said they would send service out to repair.
We went by LaMesa to pick up some sewer caps that were left in the old motor home and had a free lunch while there. LaMesa has a caterer who serves lunch daily during the winter months. They have BBQ Pork, Beef and Chicken, baked beans and either slaw or potato salad. Not bad for a freebe and we have taken advantage of lunch several times both here and in Yuma. We stopped at Robert Crist RV to complete paperwork to get a refund on our extended warranty on the old RV and then went to Hohokam Park to check on Cub tickets for Friday. I guess I read the schedule wrong as they do not have a home game on Friday. Dan and Jeanne had wanted to go to the game with us Friday but when Larry talked to Dan, they decided against the game and made plans to meet them at the Good Sam's Rally on Friday instead. Dan and Jeanne moved their 5th wheel over to the Phoenix Raceway on Tuesday, which is where the Rally is held. After leaving the ballpark, We ran a lot of errands and since we were over near Native New Yorker, we stopped there for dinner before heading home.
Thursday I went to get a manicure and then ran errands. I was gone for most of the morning and Larry stayed around the RV to wait for the serviceman to fix the propane leak. When I came home, he left to go to the auto parts store for some items.
Carol Sapp came by to feed Eva and Ed's cat since they are still in Hawaii. She stopped by and we talked for a long time. She and Tom are very nice people and we enjoy visiting with them alot.
Friday Larry woke me up at 6:15am, which is very unusual since I am normally awake by 5:00. We were suspose to be at the Phoenix Raceway this morning around 8-8:30 to meet Dan and Jeanne. We both got showers and actually left by 7:30 but Larry thought he knew where he was going and ended up taking a loop all the way around through Chandler, which was totally out of our way. When I checked the navagitor, I found we could have gone straight through on RT 60. The raceway is on the far west side of Phoenix in Avondale and was about 30-40 miles over there. We ended up arriving around 9:00, Larry called Dan and he and Jeanne took the tram over to the show area to meet us.They had several items they wanted to look at as well as us so we decided to meet again at 1:00. We looked through the vendor tent and found a patio screen that we wanted. We did not know the measurements on the awning so we walked over to the LaMesa show area and checked on the measurements for our awning. While at the LaMesa area we meet Bob Tiffin, owner of the Tiffin Motorhome Factory in Red Bay, Al. What a great guy he was and he talked to us for a long time and never acted like he was in a hurry to walk away,
We went back to the vendor tent and bought the patio screen then met Dan and Jeanne. We all boarded the tram and rode to the camping area to their 5th wheel and had lunch. We stayed most of the afternoon visiting with them. They asked us to try to plan a trip down this fall to see them in Jackson, MS. I think it would be a very nice trip and they said there are many beautiful RV Parks near them.
When we left Dan and Jeanne's, we drove back on RT 10 and stopped at Sam's to pick up a few items and headed home. By the time we drove a few miles
Sunday I talked to Charlene, my childhood friend that lives in Phoenix and she asked us to go to breakfast. She just had all her floors redone so I wanted to see them before we leave for home. She was waiting for the repair service to work on her home phone so we went by the flea market before heading into Phoenix. Larry wanted to look for an adjustable hitch receiver for the tow dollie and he had talked to one of the vendors who thouht he had one to fit.
We arrived at Char's just after 10:00am and walked to a nearby restruraunt for breakfast. She lives in the historic district in downtown Phoenix and is close enough to walk to many places. We had a great breakfast and came back to Char's to visit for awhile before coming home. On the way home, we stopped several places to again look for a trailer hitch but so far have found nothing.
Linda and Ken Petro stopped in to see the motor home. They live just a couple of streets away, here in The Resort. We met them at Carol and Tom Sapp's St. Pat's party a few days ago. They are entertainers and play at The Hitching Post in Apache Junction while they are here for the winter. They also provided the entertainment for the St. Pat's party and we enjoyed listening to them very much. They are very nice people and we enjoyed visiting.
After the Petro's left, we sat outside and visited with Bill and Charlotte for a long time tonight. We ended up drinking beer and eating popcorn for our dinner--Great balanced meal!
Monday we had to go to LaMesa RV to sign some additional papers that they forgot for our motor home. We stopped at Camping World and bought a set of seat covers for the driver and passenger seats of the motor home. The cats love jumping up on the back of the seats and we are afraid they will rip the leather with their claws. The seat covers we found fit the seats but not sure we will keep them as I'm not sure I like the way they look on the seats.
Tom and Carol Sapp picked us up at 4:45 to go to the Hitching Post in Apache Junction. We went to listen to Linda and Ken Petro who sing there on Monday nights. Ken does most of the singing but Linda does several of the songs with him as well. We had wings and lots of beer and had such a wonderful time. Ken and Linda sing country music so the place was packed with the boot scootin country dancers and was like a big time 'honky tonk' bar. We had such a wonderful time watching everyone dance and listening to the music. The Hitching Post has a huge rooster statue standing on the patio area and before we left I pursuaded Carol to climb onto it for a picture. One of the other neighbor's, Joan and Paul deemed Carol the Rooster Lady. Everyone on our street have lighted Quail at their site so Carol bought a huge lighted Rooster for the front of their place. Joan jokingly told us that Carol had to have a rooster to control the 'hens' in the neighborhood. Joan and Paul are from Rockford, Il and left about a week ago for home so I plan to email her a picture of Carol on the Rooster. I'm sure it will make Joan's day as she is such a joker.
Tuesday morning I worked on laundry for awhile before we left to meet the painting class for our yearly lunchenon. We all met at O'Sullivans Restruraunt located on Superstition Springs Blvd, which is just a few miles from us. There were quite a group of us, probably around 30 people. Pat teaches on Tuesday and Thursday so most of the group came. I was sorry, however, that neither Dorthy or Audrey came,who I've painted with for the past 3 years. I have not had a chance to see either of them this year. Pat said they both had other things going on today that prevented them from coming.
We stopped at Fresh and Easy to pick up something to go with strawberry's. I want to have Paul and Lora come back to the motor home after we have dinner with them tonight. We are meeting them at the Outback for dinner later. We lived next door to the Thompson's at Silveridge and Paul carved me a baseball player last summer while at their home in Minnesota. We are meeting them tonight to buy their dinner as my 'thanks' for his carving.
We met Paul and Lora and had a wonderful visit over dinner. Paul is amazing and has such a vivid memory for being 90 year old. Lora, who is 88, carries on a great conversation and only stops occassionally to ask Paul such things as the ages of their grandchildren and great grandchildren. I sit with my mouth open as Paul tells her each of their birth dates! I can hardly remember the birthdays of my own family, let alone three generations. Paul is versed in most any subject that is discussed and remembers all the details. Lora is the cutest lady I know and loves to tell stories about her travels and family.
Paul gave me his carving and I handed over a 'thank you' card I had written for them with a Visa gift card enclosed. I told him I hoped I did not insult him with the amount of the gift card but meant it as my graditude for his thoughtful gift. He smiled and said that he really enjoyed carving the baseball figure for me and even decided to carve one for Lora as well. Of course he let me know that her carving was NOT a Chicago Cub but rather a Minnesota Twin! We laughed at him as last year when I asked him if he had ever carved a baseball figure, he told me no but he might try it but would have a VERY hard time painting it in Cub blue. He also told me later that the only time he enjoys carving is when it is specifically for someone and that he doesn't enjoy doing it without a purpose. He is truely unique!
Paul and Lora followed us over to the resort and stayed for a nice visit. They are leaving next Wednesday for Minnesota for the summer. He made us promise that we would call them as soon as we arrive in Mesa next year so we can spend more time together. What an amazing couple these two are and they have been married 65 wonderful years!
While we were visiting with Paul and Lora, Dan Scoles called Larry. He asked us to come down to Florence, AZ tomorrow night to have dinner with them. They moved their 5th wheel from the Good Sam Rally on Monday and moved to Florence as Jeanne has family that are meeting them there for a few days later in the week. We told Dan we would come down around 6:00 tomorrow. I believe Florence is about an hour drive from Mesa.
Wednesday March 28, 2012
I finished some laundry this morning and visited with Charlotte for awile. Bill went fishing today so she has the day to herself. Rhonda, their youngest daughter is a hairdresser in Scottsdale so Charlotte is going to get a haircut and go to lunch with her today.
I went to Hobby Lobby to look for a display case for my Cub carving that Paul gave me. They did not have anything big enough to fit the carving. Went to Frye's to pick up a few groceries and back home.
We left for Florence, Az around 4:30 and found the RV Park where Dan and Jeanne Scoles are parked. When we arrived Dan was busy cooking dinner. Jeanne told me he does most of the cooking and at one time thought he wanted to be a chef.
Dan cooked crusted talipa and placed it on a creamed spinach and had baked potatoes and beans. The fish was the best I think I have ever had. Of course Larry, is not a fan of spinach so he mainly ate the fish.
We had coffee and visited for awhile and then had dessert. I baked an apple pie today to take over, so we had the pie and then Dan had made a jello pudding that we also had. I was so full when we left, I felt I needed to be rolled to the car.
We got home around 9:30pm. Florence is less than an hour from Mesa and is a quick trip as the highway was not as busy as the roads around the Mesa area.
Bill and Charlotte came over and we visited for most of the morning. Later in the day Dan and Maggie, who live just around the corner came by and wanted to see the motor home so I took them through and they stayed awhile to visit. We met them at Carol and Tom's St. Pat's party and they both ride motorcycles, however, they only have Dan's Harley here with them. They bought a park model and Dan is not happy about living in it. They lease their home and live in their motor home all summer while home. They drove the motor home here this year and have it parked up in the storage area here at the park. Maggie said they have been trying to figure out how to get both motorcycles out here and we told them we had also ran several senero's around as to how to get our's here. They have a hydrolic bumper on their motor home for Dan's bike.
We went to The Native New Yorker tonight with Bill and Charlotte for wings. We had several beer while there and came home and sat outside visiting for a long time. We are going to miss our visits with Bill and Charlotte when we leave on Sunday.
Friday I cleaned the motor home which included mopping the floors and removing the dust that accumulates each day. I love the tile floors as they are so easy to clean. I hated the carpet in the other motor home as it seemed to always look dirty.
Larry went for a walk and was gone a long time and while I was finishing up on the cleaning, I realized I hadn't seen Tucker for awhile. I started looking for him inside but could not find him so went outside calling him with no luck. When I came back in, I heard a faint 'Meow' and kept trying to figure out where he was. Finally, I saw a flash of white and realized he was under the oven area of the stove. I began digging out the items in the lower cabinet, thinking he had gotten under the oven through an opening in the side of cabinet but could not find an open area. I looked and looked trying to find out how he got there, thinking I could get him out the same way he went in. I finally gave up and found a screw driver and removed the vent cover under the oven to let him out. I decided to wait for Larry to come home to let him replace the vent cover as I did not want to strip the screws trying to get it back together. Tucker acted like he was very relieved to be out of situation but was not 5 minutes until he was trying to get back in the same area. When Larry came home he and I both looked for quite sometime trying to figure out HOW he got under the oven but never found any place that we thought he could have gotten in. Who knows--Cats are such a mystery I don't even try to understand them.
I went to the grocery store to pick up items for dinner as Char is coming by after work to eat with us. When I came home I got most of the food prepared for dinner and sat outside for awhile to read. It is very hot today and each day seems to get a little warmer. I think it is in the high 80's and not much wind so that always makes it seem hot. We ended up turning the air conditioner on inside before it got too warm. We have run the air a few time in the past week so our electric bill will surely reflect this when we leave.
Leslie called and told us she was at Taylor's for the weekend. Tomorrow is Leslie's 33rd Birthday so her and Taylor are going for their favorite food --Shushi! They always treat each other to a night out for Shushi for their respective birthdays. Tonight Kyle is watching the girls so Taylor and Leslie can have some one-on-one time.
Char came around 4:00 and we sat around and had beer and wine and some snacks before dinner. I introduced her to Bill and Charlotte and she saw their chiwawa's. Char is an animal lover and took to the dogs right away. Larry cooked the fish on the grill while I finished the rest inside and we had dinner around 6:30. Charlene stayed until 8:30 and headed home. She has about a 45 minute drive back to Phoenix from the RV Park here in Mesa.
Bill and Charlotte moved their chairs over to our patio to talk. I had a New York Cheesecake and Strawbery's that I made for desert and ended up sending Charlene a piece home as we did not eat it after dinner. While we were visiting with Bill and Charlotte, I offered them desert and the four of us sat outside and had the cheesecake and coffee. It was almost 10:30 when we came inside and were both ready for bed. We are up by 5-5:30am everyday--or at least I am--so most days I'm beat by 10:30.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Wednesday February 29 to March 6, 2012
Wednesday February 29, 2012
Today is our last day in Yuma as we are heading to Mesa tomorrow for the month of March.
We didn't do much today other than pack them up for leaving. I planned on going to the farmer's market but Judy and Jan went for awhile and said they did not have Jicama's, which is what I wanted.
It seems our neighbor's are sad to see us leave as each of them have been over to talk today. Cynthia, our next door neighbor, came over to talk. I asked her to come inside as the wind was blowing and it was pretty cool. She told me to come over and sit in their screen room, out of the wind, to visit. She told me she is having many problems with her back and knee today so she didn't want to climb steps into the motor home. We talked for a long time and she said she needed to have Periodontal Cleaning so I gave her a card for Dr. Garcia as well as the other dentist we have seen in Los Algodones. I was surprised that they have lived her 8 years but neither of them have a passport. She seems so classy compared to her husband David, I wonder how they ended up together. We talked for a long time and she gave me her email address to keep in touch.
When I left Cynthia's, Judy came over to talk. They originally planned to go to Colorado to see Jan's son, wife and grand kids when they leave her tomorrow. Jan's son is out of town for a week so they have decided to go to Mesa to Ken's aunts before heading to Colorado. Ken is not happy about either of these trips as he wants to get home. They have been gone for 3 months and Ken wants to go home to start his spring planting. He loves to garden and they have a large green house that uses to start his plants.
Larry and I worked on putting our outside items away this afternoon. He drained the tanks and unhooked the sewer. We should be able to leave early tomorrow morning.
Linda and Doris who are both parked behind us stopped to talk during the afternoon. I really enjoy talking to Doris but never really got to know Linda too well. They both are very nice and said they hoped we return next year.
I cooked a roast and vegetables in the crock pot so we had a great meal tonight. After dinner Judy and Jan came back over and we sat outside tonight talking. Jan ordered another American Girl doll and it was delivered today so she brought it to show me. They both really love everything about American Girl and bought the dolls for themselves.
Thursday March 1, 2012
We took our showers and finished packing up and unhooking to leave for Mesa. I saw Patrick outside so I walked over to talk and found that the bag of grapefruit left outside our door a couple of days ago was a gift from him. I had asked most of our neighbors about them but no one had left them. He said he hoped to see us again next year as he will be located either at the Yuma or Mesa RV Dealer. He is the general manager for McMahon's RV who has multiple dealerships.
We pulled out of Los Quintas around 9:00am. Ken, Judy and Jan left about 15 minutes before us so we all had a last hug and goodbye. They said they would call during the week while in Mesa and we would all go out to eat one night.
We drove east out of Yuma and ended up passing them just before we got into the mountain pass. We drove another 20 minutes through the mountain and the winds were terrible. As we came around a curve suddenly the wind caught the awning and it deployed completely out to the side of the motor home. We were in a bad area of the highway with no where to pull over safely. We edged on around the curve and there was a short area of shoulder on the road where we pulled over. The winds were horrible and the awning was blowing so hard we were sure it was going to rip completely off. I called Good Sam's and Larry talked to them forever trying to explain our location and our need for emergency service. I was looking up the number for Arizona State Police when a patrol car pulled in behind us. I went back and explained our situation and the trooper was wonderful. He said he would stay until the road service arrived. He and I talked for a long time while Larry was still talking to the Good Sam help line.
We waited for another 30 minutes and two guys came to the door and said they came to fix our awning. I was in the motor home and didn't really hear what was going on but saw that one of the guys was on our ladder working on the awning. Larry climbed up on top of the motor home and was trying to help hold the awning while the other guy was taking it apart to work on it. I walked outside and saw a car parked behind the state trooper. My first thought was why they would come for a service call in a car without a ladder or for that matter tools as they were using our tools as well. I talked to the other guy that was basically just watching and he told me they were both customer reps for all the RV dealers. The guy working on the awning was previously a repairman for Colorado Shades, which is the brand of our awning. He told me they were on their way to Yuma to make customer calls when they saw the awning deployed and knew we must have problems, so they turned around and came back. The guy working on the awning removed the end cap on the motor side and switched it out with the one on the other end. He said the one on the motor end was worn and slipping preventing it to roll up. He told us that we could not order just the end cap replacement and the only way to get a new part was to order the entire motor. About the time he was finishing the repair, a truck pulled in and two more guys got out. They were the repair service from Sun Bum RV Repair in Yuma that got the call from Good Sam. All of the guys talked and the customer rep told the Sun Bum guy that he was not going to charge anything for his repair and that they could take care of charging for the repair. The repair guy said since they had not done the repair there would be no charge and that Good Sam would pay for the trip charge from Yuma. I could not believe what I was hearing! The customer rep said the awning was fixed and we could use it as normal and unless the motor started giving us problems, there was no need to do further repairs. I was shocked that we paid Ron's RV $175 just a couple of weeks ago and they did not repair it and we were lucky enough to have this guy show up and fix the problem in less than 45 minutes free of charge. The only thing the customer rep guy asked was that we send an email to his employer and Colorado Shades to tell them how he helped us. WOW--maybe our luck is changing after all!
During the time they were working on the awning I came back inside and saw that I had missed a call from Jan, from Canada. I called her back and she was very upset that they passed us by. She said there was no place to pull off and turn around to come back. This was true as it was a four lane highway in the mountains and they would have had to drive a very long distance to exit the highway. I told her what was going on and that they need not worry and that we appreciated their concern.
As we drove away, I kept thinking about this situation and could not believe things like this actually happen! We drove on toward Mesa and arrived at The Resort around 2:00 and were escorted to our RV Site. We parked and got set up and a couple of the neighbor's came by to introduce themselves. Ed and Eva next door are from Canada and Joan and her husband next to them are from Rockford, IL. This was surprising as we find few people in Arizona from Illinois, however Joan said there were about 7 or 8 others close by from Illinois. She told us just around the corner was a couple from Peoria. We later saw the park model she was referring to had a name plate in front with Tom Sapp on it. The name sounds familiar but will have to meet them later.
We sat outside and had a beer then decided to welcome ourselves to Mesa by going to The Native New Yorker, our favorite wing place. When we walked in it was very crowded as tonight is 'wing night'. We found a table in the bar and our favorite waitress from last year waited on us. She remembered us as she asked if we wanted MGD's. We were one of VERY few customers that drank MGD and that's how she remembered us. We explained that since we started following the South Beach Diet we had changed to Michelob Ultra. She laughed and left to get our drinks. We then ordered wings and a salad and were gorged by the time we left.
Friday March 2, 2012
When we got up we quickly showered and dressed to head to Fitch Park hoping to watch the Cubs in practice. When we arrived it was about 8:30 and found there were very few players around and none of them were on the practice field. We stood around talking to various people and were told by one guy that he heard they were having an inter squad game later today at Hohokam Park. We drove up to the main ball park and soon got the word that there was differently an inter squad game open to the public scheduled for 1:00pm. We bought tickets at the box office for Sunday, opening day and looked around in the Pro Shop for awhile. We met three people from Ladd, IL and spent some time talking to them. We decided to go over to Cindy's Restaurant for breakfast before the game. We have eaten at Cindy's several times in years past and the food is always good.
We came back to the ballpark around noon and found a seat to wait for the game. The teams took the field about 12:45 and we saw many new faces. There were several of the originals but so many new prospects. We soon saw there was a lot of new talent and watched Brett Jackson hit a grand slam. Junior Lake was also an impressive player and also an invitee for Spring Break. We watched various new and existing members in the game and came away with a small glimmer of hope for a better season if they decide to enlist a few of the prospects. During the game I walked out of the park and ran into a lady in the parking 'scalping' a couple of tickets for Tuesday's game. She dropped the original purchased price by $10 so I called Larry on cell to ask if he wanted me to buy them. They were great seats and I ended up buying them and hoped I would not be arrested for doing so. She said she bought the tickets and then realized she was scheduled to play golf on Tuesday so who knows if that was true. We are planning to return tomorrow as they have another inter squad game at 1:00.
We drove over to Camping World to check on a replacement for the sink in the RV. They said it had to be ordered but decided to check at Al's RV Repair first. Maybe we will check.
We ate dinner tonight at Fuddrucker's who mostly serve hamburgers. This is also one of our favorite's while in Mesa.
Saturday March 3, 2012
We got up early as we wanted to go back to Hohokam for the inter squad game at 1:00. I thought we could stop at Costco to activate our membership card that Kyle and Taylor bought us for Christmas but we ran out of time. When I walked outside to wait for Larry our neighbor Bill, started talking and when Larry came out we spent the next hour talking. We wanted to grab breakfast and went to IHOP first but it was packed with people. We drove over near the ball park and ended up eating again at Cindy's.
We arrived at the park about 12:30 and watched the game. The weather was perfect with the temperature around 73 degrees and the winds were calm today. Again we were treated to a home run by Brett Jackson. He is really a powerhouse hitter or so it seems. Also Tony Campana entertained us with his base stealing expertise!
We didn't get home until almost 6:00. I had a chicken in the crock pot so started finishing dinner. Joan, whom we met when we first got here told us about a neighbor that was from Peoria. While I was working on dinner the neighbor came buy to introduce herself. As it turned out, Larry knows her husband who owns an accounting firm in Bartonville. When they had the dairy stores they used the firm for their accounting. Their names are Tom and Carol Sapp and they also live in Bartonville. Carol said Tom flew home this week to work on taxes and will be gone a week. The more we travel, the more we find people we either know or have mutual friends. It is a very small world!
Sunday March 4, 2012
We woke up to another disaster this morning. When I got up at 5:15am I was welcomed to a floor full of water. Evidently when the shower was last used the faucet did not get totally shut off and it dripped all night, filled the holding tank and then began to spill over onto the floor. Luckily it only got into the carpet about a foot around the kitchen area. Larry opened the sewer line to drain the tank and we mopped the water from the hard services of the bath, hall and kitchen. We got dressed and went to Walmart and bought a small wet/dry vacuum to suck the remaining water out of the carpet area. It could have been so much worse so we were lucky to have found it early. This has definitely been the 'trip from Hell' as we have had so many problems.
We left for Hohokam Park around 10:45 for the opening day of Chicago Cubs Spring Training. We bought a couple of sweatshirts on Friday that ended up being too large so we needed to return. When we got to the club house it was standing room only so knew I was not standing in line at that point to make the return. We found our seats, which were in the second row directly behind home plate. What a wonderful view we had and I think these are the best seats we've had over the years coming to Spring Training. Most seats at Hohokam are good seats, even if they are in the upper deck as it is a very well laid out stadium.
We met Bev who holds a season ticket directly in front of our seats. She was a very interesting person and a true baseball fan. She said she has been coming to Spring Training for 35 years and she comes alone. Her husband is a golfer and many years ago she decided to start attending the games while he golfed and has attended faithfully each year. They split their time between North Dakota, their original home, and Mesa and they have a home both here and in North Dakota.
The Cubs played the Oakland A's today and our new favorite, Brett Jackson hit another home run. We left after the 8th inning and the score was tied 10 up. It was a beautiful day today with a temperature of 73 at game time. At times, however, it got very warm setting in the sun. They announced Chicago had a high temperature of 32 today, which the announcer always likes to brag about at each game.
I was planning to have hamburgers for dinner tonight but Larry wanted to go to Native New Yorker for wings. We saw Diane, our favorite waitress, and she gave me a hug and told me she was so happy we were back in Mesa for awhile. I told her at the rate we come in, she would be sick of seeing us by the time we left town.
We came home and Carol Sapp, our neighbor that is from Bartonville, had left an invitation to their St. Patty's Day Party on our patio table. We later saw her and talked to her for a while and she said her husband, Tom, would be home Sunday. She had told Tom we were here and he was surprised and said he wanted to see Larry as he has known him for quite awhile. Bill and Charlotte behind us put their dogs outside and it was the first time I had seen the dogs. They are chowawa's and the female (Sierra) weights 2.5 and the male (Jake) 3.5. They are so tiny but produce big attitudes as when they saw the cats they started growling like they were ready to take them on. Bill picked Sierra up and brought her over to see the cats and suddenly the fight went out of her as I think she realized how large they were. We visited with Eva, our Canadian neighbor next door and Joan and Paul who is next to Eva. This whole little neighborhood is so friendly. It is a much more welcoming place than Silveridge was. I think Silveridge has many more Canadians and the majority of them are basically unfriendly. A lot of the residence of Silveridge are unfriendly as well and only mingle with their own group so as a snowbird, it's hard to be accepted. I love the area we are in here at The Resort but wish our site was a little nicer. Most of the sites have concrete patios and drives and gravel filling in the rest of the space. Our site has a nice sized patio but the rest is pretty much basic dirt with little rock. I'd like to suggest a little improvement to this site for the future as they seem to have plenty of cash flow for other items. Another item that does not thrill us is that both our resort as well as Silveridge have no WiFi at our site. This means a trip to the clubhouse every time you need to get on Internet. It's strange they cannot not figure that issue out as every other RV Resort we have been has on-site WiFi. I expressed my displeasure last year to the man who owns both of these resorts about this issue and he argued that they had tried several times to resolve and could not because of all the metal in the park, which of course is BS! I think he is too cheap to put the money into it since the residents have accepted this arrangement.
Monday March 5, 2012
We did some running around today and stopped at Great Clips on Ellsworth for both of us to get a hair cut.
I emailed Stacy Coats, the Customer Rep who stopped to fix our awning on the way here from Yuma. I asked him for some names and email addresses for his management that we could send an email regarding his service. He sent me back the names and I sat down and composed an email to tell them how wonderful his services were. I copied Stacy and he sent me a 'Thank You' for sending the email. He seems like a very nice guy and obviously is because he went above and beyond to help us.
After dinner, I talked to Jan and Judy who are still here in Mesa. We tried to find a time to get together one more time before they leave on Thursday. Later in the evening Jan sent an email asking if we could meet them on Wednesday for lunch. I sent back an email saying we could meet so just need to decide on where we all want to go.
Tuesday March 6, 2012
We stopped at The Village Inn for breakfast before heading to Hohokam Park for the Cub Game. We were a little later arriving at the game today and had to park in the far back lot. The price of parking raised $2 this year to $7.00. I was counting the parked cars in just the one lot to the side of the stadium coming in and figured just for this small area, they collected in excess of $6,000. There are at least 4 or 5 other lots the same size or larger so work the numbers! By the time we purchase tickets, pay for parking and drink our beer, we have spent more than $100 for a day of Cubs Baseball. The new stadium which is planned for 2014 will no doubt be more expensive yet. May have to decide to give up a few of my much loved Cub games in the future.
The Cubs played the Colorado Rockies and beat them 11-4. This is their first win of the Spring Training season as they lost the first 2 games to the Oakland 'A's'. They do have some great looking prospects, however, so wishing for a much better season this year! Our chosen favorite from the 'invitee' group is still Brett Jackson. He is a strong hitter and a well rounded player. Alphonso Soriano whom no one likes, hit 2 home runs today so maybe since the Cubs have to pay him, he can produce something this year in return!!
We sat next to a couple from Ames, IA who were very friendly and Larry talked to them the entire game . The weather was beautiful today with a temperature of around 83 degrees. The forecast was for the winds to pick up early afternoon to around 40MPH but it did not get that windy which was a good thing.
We got home late again today and cooked brats on the grill for dinner. After we had dinner, I called to talk to the Jackson's from Canada about when and where they wanted to meet for dinner on Wednesday. Ken was the only one home at the time so he said Judy would call back.
Judy called about 9:30 and we decided to go to The Native New Yorker as Ken was in the mood for wings she said. We plan to meet them at 1:00 tomorrow. As I've told Larry a dozen times since meeting Judy, if I closed my eyes, I'd think I were talking to my dear friend Sandi from home. I love talking to Judy so much as she is such a character and onery, just like my friend Sandi whom I love so much!
Today is our last day in Yuma as we are heading to Mesa tomorrow for the month of March.
We didn't do much today other than pack them up for leaving. I planned on going to the farmer's market but Judy and Jan went for awhile and said they did not have Jicama's, which is what I wanted.
It seems our neighbor's are sad to see us leave as each of them have been over to talk today. Cynthia, our next door neighbor, came over to talk. I asked her to come inside as the wind was blowing and it was pretty cool. She told me to come over and sit in their screen room, out of the wind, to visit. She told me she is having many problems with her back and knee today so she didn't want to climb steps into the motor home. We talked for a long time and she said she needed to have Periodontal Cleaning so I gave her a card for Dr. Garcia as well as the other dentist we have seen in Los Algodones. I was surprised that they have lived her 8 years but neither of them have a passport. She seems so classy compared to her husband David, I wonder how they ended up together. We talked for a long time and she gave me her email address to keep in touch.
When I left Cynthia's, Judy came over to talk. They originally planned to go to Colorado to see Jan's son, wife and grand kids when they leave her tomorrow. Jan's son is out of town for a week so they have decided to go to Mesa to Ken's aunts before heading to Colorado. Ken is not happy about either of these trips as he wants to get home. They have been gone for 3 months and Ken wants to go home to start his spring planting. He loves to garden and they have a large green house that uses to start his plants.
Larry and I worked on putting our outside items away this afternoon. He drained the tanks and unhooked the sewer. We should be able to leave early tomorrow morning.
Linda and Doris who are both parked behind us stopped to talk during the afternoon. I really enjoy talking to Doris but never really got to know Linda too well. They both are very nice and said they hoped we return next year.
I cooked a roast and vegetables in the crock pot so we had a great meal tonight. After dinner Judy and Jan came back over and we sat outside tonight talking. Jan ordered another American Girl doll and it was delivered today so she brought it to show me. They both really love everything about American Girl and bought the dolls for themselves.
Thursday March 1, 2012
We took our showers and finished packing up and unhooking to leave for Mesa. I saw Patrick outside so I walked over to talk and found that the bag of grapefruit left outside our door a couple of days ago was a gift from him. I had asked most of our neighbors about them but no one had left them. He said he hoped to see us again next year as he will be located either at the Yuma or Mesa RV Dealer. He is the general manager for McMahon's RV who has multiple dealerships.
We pulled out of Los Quintas around 9:00am. Ken, Judy and Jan left about 15 minutes before us so we all had a last hug and goodbye. They said they would call during the week while in Mesa and we would all go out to eat one night.
We drove east out of Yuma and ended up passing them just before we got into the mountain pass. We drove another 20 minutes through the mountain and the winds were terrible. As we came around a curve suddenly the wind caught the awning and it deployed completely out to the side of the motor home. We were in a bad area of the highway with no where to pull over safely. We edged on around the curve and there was a short area of shoulder on the road where we pulled over. The winds were horrible and the awning was blowing so hard we were sure it was going to rip completely off. I called Good Sam's and Larry talked to them forever trying to explain our location and our need for emergency service. I was looking up the number for Arizona State Police when a patrol car pulled in behind us. I went back and explained our situation and the trooper was wonderful. He said he would stay until the road service arrived. He and I talked for a long time while Larry was still talking to the Good Sam help line.
We waited for another 30 minutes and two guys came to the door and said they came to fix our awning. I was in the motor home and didn't really hear what was going on but saw that one of the guys was on our ladder working on the awning. Larry climbed up on top of the motor home and was trying to help hold the awning while the other guy was taking it apart to work on it. I walked outside and saw a car parked behind the state trooper. My first thought was why they would come for a service call in a car without a ladder or for that matter tools as they were using our tools as well. I talked to the other guy that was basically just watching and he told me they were both customer reps for all the RV dealers. The guy working on the awning was previously a repairman for Colorado Shades, which is the brand of our awning. He told me they were on their way to Yuma to make customer calls when they saw the awning deployed and knew we must have problems, so they turned around and came back. The guy working on the awning removed the end cap on the motor side and switched it out with the one on the other end. He said the one on the motor end was worn and slipping preventing it to roll up. He told us that we could not order just the end cap replacement and the only way to get a new part was to order the entire motor. About the time he was finishing the repair, a truck pulled in and two more guys got out. They were the repair service from Sun Bum RV Repair in Yuma that got the call from Good Sam. All of the guys talked and the customer rep told the Sun Bum guy that he was not going to charge anything for his repair and that they could take care of charging for the repair. The repair guy said since they had not done the repair there would be no charge and that Good Sam would pay for the trip charge from Yuma. I could not believe what I was hearing! The customer rep said the awning was fixed and we could use it as normal and unless the motor started giving us problems, there was no need to do further repairs. I was shocked that we paid Ron's RV $175 just a couple of weeks ago and they did not repair it and we were lucky enough to have this guy show up and fix the problem in less than 45 minutes free of charge. The only thing the customer rep guy asked was that we send an email to his employer and Colorado Shades to tell them how he helped us. WOW--maybe our luck is changing after all!
During the time they were working on the awning I came back inside and saw that I had missed a call from Jan, from Canada. I called her back and she was very upset that they passed us by. She said there was no place to pull off and turn around to come back. This was true as it was a four lane highway in the mountains and they would have had to drive a very long distance to exit the highway. I told her what was going on and that they need not worry and that we appreciated their concern.
As we drove away, I kept thinking about this situation and could not believe things like this actually happen! We drove on toward Mesa and arrived at The Resort around 2:00 and were escorted to our RV Site. We parked and got set up and a couple of the neighbor's came by to introduce themselves. Ed and Eva next door are from Canada and Joan and her husband next to them are from Rockford, IL. This was surprising as we find few people in Arizona from Illinois, however Joan said there were about 7 or 8 others close by from Illinois. She told us just around the corner was a couple from Peoria. We later saw the park model she was referring to had a name plate in front with Tom Sapp on it. The name sounds familiar but will have to meet them later.
We sat outside and had a beer then decided to welcome ourselves to Mesa by going to The Native New Yorker, our favorite wing place. When we walked in it was very crowded as tonight is 'wing night'. We found a table in the bar and our favorite waitress from last year waited on us. She remembered us as she asked if we wanted MGD's. We were one of VERY few customers that drank MGD and that's how she remembered us. We explained that since we started following the South Beach Diet we had changed to Michelob Ultra. She laughed and left to get our drinks. We then ordered wings and a salad and were gorged by the time we left.
Friday March 2, 2012
When we got up we quickly showered and dressed to head to Fitch Park hoping to watch the Cubs in practice. When we arrived it was about 8:30 and found there were very few players around and none of them were on the practice field. We stood around talking to various people and were told by one guy that he heard they were having an inter squad game later today at Hohokam Park. We drove up to the main ball park and soon got the word that there was differently an inter squad game open to the public scheduled for 1:00pm. We bought tickets at the box office for Sunday, opening day and looked around in the Pro Shop for awhile. We met three people from Ladd, IL and spent some time talking to them. We decided to go over to Cindy's Restaurant for breakfast before the game. We have eaten at Cindy's several times in years past and the food is always good.
We came back to the ballpark around noon and found a seat to wait for the game. The teams took the field about 12:45 and we saw many new faces. There were several of the originals but so many new prospects. We soon saw there was a lot of new talent and watched Brett Jackson hit a grand slam. Junior Lake was also an impressive player and also an invitee for Spring Break. We watched various new and existing members in the game and came away with a small glimmer of hope for a better season if they decide to enlist a few of the prospects. During the game I walked out of the park and ran into a lady in the parking 'scalping' a couple of tickets for Tuesday's game. She dropped the original purchased price by $10 so I called Larry on cell to ask if he wanted me to buy them. They were great seats and I ended up buying them and hoped I would not be arrested for doing so. She said she bought the tickets and then realized she was scheduled to play golf on Tuesday so who knows if that was true. We are planning to return tomorrow as they have another inter squad game at 1:00.
We drove over to Camping World to check on a replacement for the sink in the RV. They said it had to be ordered but decided to check at Al's RV Repair first. Maybe we will check.
We ate dinner tonight at Fuddrucker's who mostly serve hamburgers. This is also one of our favorite's while in Mesa.
Saturday March 3, 2012
We got up early as we wanted to go back to Hohokam for the inter squad game at 1:00. I thought we could stop at Costco to activate our membership card that Kyle and Taylor bought us for Christmas but we ran out of time. When I walked outside to wait for Larry our neighbor Bill, started talking and when Larry came out we spent the next hour talking. We wanted to grab breakfast and went to IHOP first but it was packed with people. We drove over near the ball park and ended up eating again at Cindy's.
We arrived at the park about 12:30 and watched the game. The weather was perfect with the temperature around 73 degrees and the winds were calm today. Again we were treated to a home run by Brett Jackson. He is really a powerhouse hitter or so it seems. Also Tony Campana entertained us with his base stealing expertise!
We didn't get home until almost 6:00. I had a chicken in the crock pot so started finishing dinner. Joan, whom we met when we first got here told us about a neighbor that was from Peoria. While I was working on dinner the neighbor came buy to introduce herself. As it turned out, Larry knows her husband who owns an accounting firm in Bartonville. When they had the dairy stores they used the firm for their accounting. Their names are Tom and Carol Sapp and they also live in Bartonville. Carol said Tom flew home this week to work on taxes and will be gone a week. The more we travel, the more we find people we either know or have mutual friends. It is a very small world!
Sunday March 4, 2012
We woke up to another disaster this morning. When I got up at 5:15am I was welcomed to a floor full of water. Evidently when the shower was last used the faucet did not get totally shut off and it dripped all night, filled the holding tank and then began to spill over onto the floor. Luckily it only got into the carpet about a foot around the kitchen area. Larry opened the sewer line to drain the tank and we mopped the water from the hard services of the bath, hall and kitchen. We got dressed and went to Walmart and bought a small wet/dry vacuum to suck the remaining water out of the carpet area. It could have been so much worse so we were lucky to have found it early. This has definitely been the 'trip from Hell' as we have had so many problems.
We left for Hohokam Park around 10:45 for the opening day of Chicago Cubs Spring Training. We bought a couple of sweatshirts on Friday that ended up being too large so we needed to return. When we got to the club house it was standing room only so knew I was not standing in line at that point to make the return. We found our seats, which were in the second row directly behind home plate. What a wonderful view we had and I think these are the best seats we've had over the years coming to Spring Training. Most seats at Hohokam are good seats, even if they are in the upper deck as it is a very well laid out stadium.
We met Bev who holds a season ticket directly in front of our seats. She was a very interesting person and a true baseball fan. She said she has been coming to Spring Training for 35 years and she comes alone. Her husband is a golfer and many years ago she decided to start attending the games while he golfed and has attended faithfully each year. They split their time between North Dakota, their original home, and Mesa and they have a home both here and in North Dakota.
The Cubs played the Oakland A's today and our new favorite, Brett Jackson hit another home run. We left after the 8th inning and the score was tied 10 up. It was a beautiful day today with a temperature of 73 at game time. At times, however, it got very warm setting in the sun. They announced Chicago had a high temperature of 32 today, which the announcer always likes to brag about at each game.
I was planning to have hamburgers for dinner tonight but Larry wanted to go to Native New Yorker for wings. We saw Diane, our favorite waitress, and she gave me a hug and told me she was so happy we were back in Mesa for awhile. I told her at the rate we come in, she would be sick of seeing us by the time we left town.
We came home and Carol Sapp, our neighbor that is from Bartonville, had left an invitation to their St. Patty's Day Party on our patio table. We later saw her and talked to her for a while and she said her husband, Tom, would be home Sunday. She had told Tom we were here and he was surprised and said he wanted to see Larry as he has known him for quite awhile. Bill and Charlotte behind us put their dogs outside and it was the first time I had seen the dogs. They are chowawa's and the female (Sierra) weights 2.5 and the male (Jake) 3.5. They are so tiny but produce big attitudes as when they saw the cats they started growling like they were ready to take them on. Bill picked Sierra up and brought her over to see the cats and suddenly the fight went out of her as I think she realized how large they were. We visited with Eva, our Canadian neighbor next door and Joan and Paul who is next to Eva. This whole little neighborhood is so friendly. It is a much more welcoming place than Silveridge was. I think Silveridge has many more Canadians and the majority of them are basically unfriendly. A lot of the residence of Silveridge are unfriendly as well and only mingle with their own group so as a snowbird, it's hard to be accepted. I love the area we are in here at The Resort but wish our site was a little nicer. Most of the sites have concrete patios and drives and gravel filling in the rest of the space. Our site has a nice sized patio but the rest is pretty much basic dirt with little rock. I'd like to suggest a little improvement to this site for the future as they seem to have plenty of cash flow for other items. Another item that does not thrill us is that both our resort as well as Silveridge have no WiFi at our site. This means a trip to the clubhouse every time you need to get on Internet. It's strange they cannot not figure that issue out as every other RV Resort we have been has on-site WiFi. I expressed my displeasure last year to the man who owns both of these resorts about this issue and he argued that they had tried several times to resolve and could not because of all the metal in the park, which of course is BS! I think he is too cheap to put the money into it since the residents have accepted this arrangement.
Monday March 5, 2012
We did some running around today and stopped at Great Clips on Ellsworth for both of us to get a hair cut.
I emailed Stacy Coats, the Customer Rep who stopped to fix our awning on the way here from Yuma. I asked him for some names and email addresses for his management that we could send an email regarding his service. He sent me back the names and I sat down and composed an email to tell them how wonderful his services were. I copied Stacy and he sent me a 'Thank You' for sending the email. He seems like a very nice guy and obviously is because he went above and beyond to help us.
After dinner, I talked to Jan and Judy who are still here in Mesa. We tried to find a time to get together one more time before they leave on Thursday. Later in the evening Jan sent an email asking if we could meet them on Wednesday for lunch. I sent back an email saying we could meet so just need to decide on where we all want to go.
Tuesday March 6, 2012
We stopped at The Village Inn for breakfast before heading to Hohokam Park for the Cub Game. We were a little later arriving at the game today and had to park in the far back lot. The price of parking raised $2 this year to $7.00. I was counting the parked cars in just the one lot to the side of the stadium coming in and figured just for this small area, they collected in excess of $6,000. There are at least 4 or 5 other lots the same size or larger so work the numbers! By the time we purchase tickets, pay for parking and drink our beer, we have spent more than $100 for a day of Cubs Baseball. The new stadium which is planned for 2014 will no doubt be more expensive yet. May have to decide to give up a few of my much loved Cub games in the future.
The Cubs played the Colorado Rockies and beat them 11-4. This is their first win of the Spring Training season as they lost the first 2 games to the Oakland 'A's'. They do have some great looking prospects, however, so wishing for a much better season this year! Our chosen favorite from the 'invitee' group is still Brett Jackson. He is a strong hitter and a well rounded player. Alphonso Soriano whom no one likes, hit 2 home runs today so maybe since the Cubs have to pay him, he can produce something this year in return!!
We sat next to a couple from Ames, IA who were very friendly and Larry talked to them the entire game . The weather was beautiful today with a temperature of around 83 degrees. The forecast was for the winds to pick up early afternoon to around 40MPH but it did not get that windy which was a good thing.
We got home late again today and cooked brats on the grill for dinner. After we had dinner, I called to talk to the Jackson's from Canada about when and where they wanted to meet for dinner on Wednesday. Ken was the only one home at the time so he said Judy would call back.
Judy called about 9:30 and we decided to go to The Native New Yorker as Ken was in the mood for wings she said. We plan to meet them at 1:00 tomorrow. As I've told Larry a dozen times since meeting Judy, if I closed my eyes, I'd think I were talking to my dear friend Sandi from home. I love talking to Judy so much as she is such a character and onery, just like my friend Sandi whom I love so much!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday February 28, 2012
This morning Doris, who is parked behind us,came over. She just came back from a trip home to see her family. I told her about our awning issues and how we were ripped off by Ron's RV. She told me to check with Hilco in Yuma as she had them work on her awning last year. She said she thought they might have the part in stock. When we found Hilco they told us they do not work on power awnings and did not have the needed part. We also checked on a sink for bathroom but they did not have it either. A wasted trip but glad we checked anyway.
We decided to drive up to Martinez Lake which is located in the Yuma Proving Ground area. While we were on RT 95, we stopped at the vegetable market to buy Jicama's(pronounced Hih-kuh-muh). Last night after dinner Judy came over to bring us a sample of a Jicama and we both liked it a lot. It is a Mexican vegetable and has a taste like a mixture of a turnip, potato and a hint of apple. It is just a very unique flavor and is very low in calorie count. We looked around the market but they did not have any today. Tomorrow is the farmer's market located on the frontage road in the Foothills so will check there tomorrow.
Parchuters at Proving Grounds
We drove toward the proving ground and found the road to the lake. When we drove on this road we found it winds back behind the military base. While driving, we noticed a group of Army Paratroopers coming down so we stopped to watch them. There were about 25 of them and it was amazing to see them land without even a stumble.
Martinez Lake at Yuma Proving Grounds
Our Canadian Friends at Parrish's Bar from left: Al, Ken, Jan, Nellie, Judy, myself and Larry
Parchuters at Proving Grounds
We drove on and found the lake area. The area was like a small town and we were surprised that there were so many RV's parked in this area as well as several beautiful homes on the lakeside . Arizona obviously has no zoning code as there are million dollar homes interspersed with RV's everywhere! I would be pretty upset if I had an RV parked next door to a home of this value but it seems to be acceptable here. There was a building with a restaurant, bar and store that set on the lakeside. We stopped at the restaurant and had lunch which was pretty tasty.
We left town and found a road leading to a nature center. We stopped and looked at all the displays and information about the dessert plants and animals. We drove back to the main road and headed back to Yuma.
Our Canadian Friends at Parrish's Bar from left: Al, Ken, Jan, Nellie, Judy, myself and Larry
We met Ken, Judy, Jan and their friends from Canada, Nellie and Al at Parrish's for dinner. After dinner we all went to Nellie and Al's place as they are parked on a private lot in the Foothill's. We are trying to find a lot to rent next year rather than staying in a resort. The lots rent for about 1/3 the price of our site here in the resort. We really do not use any of the resort amenities so there is no reason to pay the price. Nellie and Al's lot is very nice with a lot of landscaping and is in a very quiet area. Los Quintas is a nice resort but we are very close to RT 8 with constant traffic noise so would like to be in a quieter area as well.
Monday February 27, 2012
I didn't even leave home today and basically finished the laundry and relaxed in the sun.
Larry went over to Al's RV to check on a new sink to replace the one in bathroom as I noticed it now has a crack in the bowl. Not sure how this happened but seems every day we have a new issue with something. While he was gone, Jan came over and was going to help me re pot my flowers but I realized Larry had my potting soil with him in the back of the car.
I walked over to look at the sewing project that Judy and Jan have been working on. Judy and Ken's son spent many years as a cub/boy/eagle scout and also has been a scout leader for a number of years. He has saved all of his badges and scarves from his scouting and they had been sewn on a campfire blanket. The blanket has been washed and used so much it is threadbare. They have been working on the new blanket since they have been here, removing all the badges and scarves and placing them onto the new blanket. The blanket is very colorful and they have put in a lot of effort re-making.
Larry came home and Jan came over to help me pot the plants. I got everything to help her and she insisted on doing it so Judy and I sat on the patio and watched Jan do the work. Jan loves to work in the garden when she is at home. Ken is also a great gardner and he is getting very anxious to get home to start his planting. They have a huge greenhouse on their property in Canada so he starts planting usually in February he says.
Jan split all of the flowers into the two pots and they look beautiful. When I bought the potting soil I also bought two solar lights so we placed them in the middle of each pot. I could not believe how many plants were stuck into the one pot that I bought when we arrived here. They diffently look better after being split.
I cooked a meatloaf in the crockpot today and we had potatoes, gravy and a vegetable for dinner tonight. I think I need to make more crockpot meals as it seems we wait so late to start dinner that we end up eating out way too much.
I didn't even leave home today and basically finished the laundry and relaxed in the sun.
Larry went over to Al's RV to check on a new sink to replace the one in bathroom as I noticed it now has a crack in the bowl. Not sure how this happened but seems every day we have a new issue with something. While he was gone, Jan came over and was going to help me re pot my flowers but I realized Larry had my potting soil with him in the back of the car.
I walked over to look at the sewing project that Judy and Jan have been working on. Judy and Ken's son spent many years as a cub/boy/eagle scout and also has been a scout leader for a number of years. He has saved all of his badges and scarves from his scouting and they had been sewn on a campfire blanket. The blanket has been washed and used so much it is threadbare. They have been working on the new blanket since they have been here, removing all the badges and scarves and placing them onto the new blanket. The blanket is very colorful and they have put in a lot of effort re-making.
Larry came home and Jan came over to help me pot the plants. I got everything to help her and she insisted on doing it so Judy and I sat on the patio and watched Jan do the work. Jan loves to work in the garden when she is at home. Ken is also a great gardner and he is getting very anxious to get home to start his planting. They have a huge greenhouse on their property in Canada so he starts planting usually in February he says.
Jan split all of the flowers into the two pots and they look beautiful. When I bought the potting soil I also bought two solar lights so we placed them in the middle of each pot. I could not believe how many plants were stuck into the one pot that I bought when we arrived here. They diffently look better after being split.
I cooked a meatloaf in the crockpot today and we had potatoes, gravy and a vegetable for dinner tonight. I think I need to make more crockpot meals as it seems we wait so late to start dinner that we end up eating out way too much.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday February 26, 2012
I started laundry this morning when we got up, showered and then we left for the flea market. We decided to return our RV patio mat and also wanted to buy a lighted palm tree before leaving Yuma as we have not been able to find them in Mesa.
We went to return the patio mat and found they have no cash refunds so we exchanged the mat for 2 new patio chairs. The fabric on our patio chairs are tearing as they are pretty old and have been setting in the Arizona sun for too many years.
We left the flea market and decided to stop for lunch at Burgers and Beer. We were told this is a great place to eat by several people. Ken, Judy and Jan ate there earlier this week and thought it was good food. When we walked in it was like a sports bar/restaurant with TV's everywhere and even had small TV's in each booth. Today was the Daytona Nascar Race so Larry wanted to catch up on it but we found it had been rained out.
We ordered a french dip to share and each had a salad. I'm assuming a hamburger would have been a better choice since that is their speciality. The french dip was fine just a disappointment after the one I had at Parishes Bar last night. While we were there, Terry from La Mesa RV called to find out if we were still interested in the motor home we talked to them about yesterday. Larry told him no because their price was too high.
When We left the restaurant we drove over to the Yuma Mall to look at the motor home again that we liked. When we got there it was gone from the lot so assumed it was sold. We tried to dodge the salesmen as we did not want to talk to them again. We looked at a couple of the other motor homes again but none of them were anything I felt was worth the price as the floor plans were the same as what we have.
We stopped at Walmart to pick up a few items and then drove to McMahon's RV. Guess we are still looking for a new motor home!!@! I was not in the mood to look and was pretty nasty with the salesman, which Larry apologized for. Oh well--If we aren't buying the one we like, what is the point of looking at the ones that look like what we have??? The salesman told us McMahon's is the 2nd largest RV Dealer in the U.S., which I found hard to believe because this dealership was small and looked rather shabby. The salesman said they carry the Tiffin RV, which is what we wanted, but just not at this dealership because La Mesa has the Tiffin contract for Yuma. We were told they have several dealerships in California and most of their motor homes were at a show in L.A. this week.
During the time we were looking our salesman brought out the sales manager, which just happened to be our neighbor from Los Quinta's Resort, where we are staying. He introduced himself as Patrick and we talked to him for a long time. He looked at his inventory sheet for motor homes that might interest us but even though the price was reasonable, they had nothing on the lot to look at. Patrick said they also have a dealership in Mesa so when we get there they should have more of a selection. He also guaranteed us they could give us a much better price than La Mesa. WHATEVER---!!
We came home and I started the laundry again and we sat out on patio, drank beer and read for awhile. I came in to change over laundry and Larry yelled to tell me that Judy was outside to see me. When I came out she had brought me a pack of cigarettes because she has bummed a few in the past couple of weeks. She quit smoking within the last year and I felt bad that I had been giving her cigarettes when she wanted but as her sister Jan said--she is a big girl so not to worry.
Judy stayed to talk and then Ken and Jan came over to visit. Ken brought his beer and Larry and I drank a few more with him. Patrick, from across the street, that we met at McMahon's today, came over and also drank beer with us. He told me earlier today that his wife has been in Tucson for the past week visiting their children and grandchildren. They own a home in Tucson and are here for a few months as Patrick is working the Yuma RV store. He told us his wife is a retired teacher and taught K-3rd grades in Tucson. Patrick talked to us a little more about the motor homes and told us there is a used one coming in tomorrow or Tuesday that he would like us to look at. When he described it I thought maybe we had looked at it today. He said it was a bath and a half and had the rear bathroom like the one we wanted. I told him I'm probably not rich enough to be so picky but every used motor home we have look at so far had been shabby and something I would not give up our RV for. He assured me this one was in very good shape and said when it comes in to dealership, he will let us know so we can look at it.
Jan is such a unique person and pretty laid back. She loves to garden and she loves animals. While we were visiting, I noticed she had Tucker on the leash walking him out in the street! We could not believe he was walking with her as all he does for us is lay down when we try to walk him on the leash. I jokingly called her the 'cat whisperer' as the cats love her. Maybe if we spent another couple of weeks here, she would have both of the cats walking for us.
We all sat on patio, talked and drank toooo-- much beer until around 7:45. We had a good time and a lot of good laughs.
I started laundry this morning when we got up, showered and then we left for the flea market. We decided to return our RV patio mat and also wanted to buy a lighted palm tree before leaving Yuma as we have not been able to find them in Mesa.
We went to return the patio mat and found they have no cash refunds so we exchanged the mat for 2 new patio chairs. The fabric on our patio chairs are tearing as they are pretty old and have been setting in the Arizona sun for too many years.
We left the flea market and decided to stop for lunch at Burgers and Beer. We were told this is a great place to eat by several people. Ken, Judy and Jan ate there earlier this week and thought it was good food. When we walked in it was like a sports bar/restaurant with TV's everywhere and even had small TV's in each booth. Today was the Daytona Nascar Race so Larry wanted to catch up on it but we found it had been rained out.
We ordered a french dip to share and each had a salad. I'm assuming a hamburger would have been a better choice since that is their speciality. The french dip was fine just a disappointment after the one I had at Parishes Bar last night. While we were there, Terry from La Mesa RV called to find out if we were still interested in the motor home we talked to them about yesterday. Larry told him no because their price was too high.
When We left the restaurant we drove over to the Yuma Mall to look at the motor home again that we liked. When we got there it was gone from the lot so assumed it was sold. We tried to dodge the salesmen as we did not want to talk to them again. We looked at a couple of the other motor homes again but none of them were anything I felt was worth the price as the floor plans were the same as what we have.
We stopped at Walmart to pick up a few items and then drove to McMahon's RV. Guess we are still looking for a new motor home!!@! I was not in the mood to look and was pretty nasty with the salesman, which Larry apologized for. Oh well--If we aren't buying the one we like, what is the point of looking at the ones that look like what we have??? The salesman told us McMahon's is the 2nd largest RV Dealer in the U.S., which I found hard to believe because this dealership was small and looked rather shabby. The salesman said they carry the Tiffin RV, which is what we wanted, but just not at this dealership because La Mesa has the Tiffin contract for Yuma. We were told they have several dealerships in California and most of their motor homes were at a show in L.A. this week.
During the time we were looking our salesman brought out the sales manager, which just happened to be our neighbor from Los Quinta's Resort, where we are staying. He introduced himself as Patrick and we talked to him for a long time. He looked at his inventory sheet for motor homes that might interest us but even though the price was reasonable, they had nothing on the lot to look at. Patrick said they also have a dealership in Mesa so when we get there they should have more of a selection. He also guaranteed us they could give us a much better price than La Mesa. WHATEVER---!!
We came home and I started the laundry again and we sat out on patio, drank beer and read for awhile. I came in to change over laundry and Larry yelled to tell me that Judy was outside to see me. When I came out she had brought me a pack of cigarettes because she has bummed a few in the past couple of weeks. She quit smoking within the last year and I felt bad that I had been giving her cigarettes when she wanted but as her sister Jan said--she is a big girl so not to worry.
Judy stayed to talk and then Ken and Jan came over to visit. Ken brought his beer and Larry and I drank a few more with him. Patrick, from across the street, that we met at McMahon's today, came over and also drank beer with us. He told me earlier today that his wife has been in Tucson for the past week visiting their children and grandchildren. They own a home in Tucson and are here for a few months as Patrick is working the Yuma RV store. He told us his wife is a retired teacher and taught K-3rd grades in Tucson. Patrick talked to us a little more about the motor homes and told us there is a used one coming in tomorrow or Tuesday that he would like us to look at. When he described it I thought maybe we had looked at it today. He said it was a bath and a half and had the rear bathroom like the one we wanted. I told him I'm probably not rich enough to be so picky but every used motor home we have look at so far had been shabby and something I would not give up our RV for. He assured me this one was in very good shape and said when it comes in to dealership, he will let us know so we can look at it.
Jan is such a unique person and pretty laid back. She loves to garden and she loves animals. While we were visiting, I noticed she had Tucker on the leash walking him out in the street! We could not believe he was walking with her as all he does for us is lay down when we try to walk him on the leash. I jokingly called her the 'cat whisperer' as the cats love her. Maybe if we spent another couple of weeks here, she would have both of the cats walking for us.
We all sat on patio, talked and drank toooo-- much beer until around 7:45. We had a good time and a lot of good laughs.
Thursday February 23, 2012
Nothing much happening today so we went to the flea market again to exchange our paperback books for something new to read. We looked for an new RV patio mat at the indoor market but they were out of the size and color we wanted. After we exchanged our books we drove over to the outdoor flea market and ended up buying our mat there.
We went to the food court again and had a beer and chili dog while we listened to the entertainment. The singer today was ok but not as good as last week so we didn't stay too long before heading home.
Ken, Judy and Jan came over to Happy Hour. Happy hour for Judy and Jan consists of Pepsi but Ken, Larry and I had our beer and all sat around and talked again for a long time. We really enjoy visiting with all of them and Judy keeps us all laughing.
Friday February 24, 2012
We drove into the Yuma Mall to look around for awhile and Le Mesa RV had a big show going on in the parking lot. Our first mistake was stopping in to look at the motor homes and of course, we found one right away that we both fell in love with. We talked to Robert, the salesman, for a long time about the motor home and were pretty disappointed when they threw out a figure they were willing to give us for our RV as a trade in. The motor home we looked at was made by Tiffin and the quality was unbelievable. All of the cabinets were solid wood and it had at least 2 times the storage of ours. It was a 40 ft bath and a half and was so much larger feeling than our RV. We finally left and Robert was suppose to call us later to talk to us more about the trade.
We came home and visited with our Canadian neighbors again and Judy and Jan asked me to go garage sale shopping tomorrow. I told them if I decide to go, I'd be at their place at 7:00.
We talked a lot about the motor home but at the end of the evening, my thoughts were that we would be crazy to pay what they were asking when we end up living in the RV 3 to 4 months out of the year. If we were full time RV'ers, I would not hesitate to make the trade.
Saturday February 25, 2012
I did not go with Judy and Jan this morning as I hardly slept last night. I hate it when I have these type of sleepless nights but don't know how to prevent them. I fell asleep just about 20 minutes before Larry got up and ended up awake again.
We talked to Ken this morning about Martinez Lake where they went on Thursday. We left the RV park with the idea of driving up to the lake and ended up at Le Mesa RV! Larry saw on their TV commercial that they advertised Fleetwood Motor Homes and wanted to stop in at the dealership to look. Of course, they were at the car before we even got out ready to talk business! We found they do not sell Fleetwood but they had another Tiffin similar to the one we looked at yesterday at the RV Show. Terry, who was the salesman showing us the motor home asked us to take it on a drive. When we got back to the dealership, we found the amount they seemed to be willing to give us on a trade today was even less than they had thrown out yesterday. We went through the next hour talking to Terry and then the the sales manager and were both so upset when we left, we didn't even want to hear anymore of their BS.
We went by Walmart to pick up some groceries and came back to the RV. Judy and Jan had gotten home with all their 'treasures' of their shopping trip and they bought me a flower pot to re pot my flowers. Yesterday the flowers were so wilted down when we came home they almost looked dead. Judy said they needed to be separated into two pots and more dirt put in them. Jan is going to help me re pot them tomorrow when I pick up some potting soil.
Ravens new glasses
Last night when we were talking to them, I told them I thought Raven, our cat, had a vision problem because it seems he cannot see anything close up. Today during their shopping spree, they found some tiny doll glasses that they bought for Raven. We had a good laugh when we put them on Raven and they took pictures. Raven was a little less than thrilled with our attention to put it mildly!
We decided to eat at Parish's Bar and Grill here in the Foothills tonight. Last week when we were at the Daybreaker Cafe we talked to a guy who told us Parish's was a good place to eat. When we arrived the parking lot was filled and when we went in the restaurant and bar area were very busy but we found a table in the bar right away. Larry ordered a steak sandwich and I ordered a french dip. I asked the waitress when I ordered if it was good and she said it was. I'm a little funny about ordering this anyplace I have not had as it can be very good or very bad. When our meal came my french dip was wonderful. Pretty close to being the best I've ever had. Larry sampled my sandwich and agreed it was the best.
We stopped on the way home and I bought potting soil so Jan and I can re pot my flowers tomorrow.
Nothing much happening today so we went to the flea market again to exchange our paperback books for something new to read. We looked for an new RV patio mat at the indoor market but they were out of the size and color we wanted. After we exchanged our books we drove over to the outdoor flea market and ended up buying our mat there.
We went to the food court again and had a beer and chili dog while we listened to the entertainment. The singer today was ok but not as good as last week so we didn't stay too long before heading home.
Ken, Judy and Jan came over to Happy Hour. Happy hour for Judy and Jan consists of Pepsi but Ken, Larry and I had our beer and all sat around and talked again for a long time. We really enjoy visiting with all of them and Judy keeps us all laughing.
Friday February 24, 2012
We drove into the Yuma Mall to look around for awhile and Le Mesa RV had a big show going on in the parking lot. Our first mistake was stopping in to look at the motor homes and of course, we found one right away that we both fell in love with. We talked to Robert, the salesman, for a long time about the motor home and were pretty disappointed when they threw out a figure they were willing to give us for our RV as a trade in. The motor home we looked at was made by Tiffin and the quality was unbelievable. All of the cabinets were solid wood and it had at least 2 times the storage of ours. It was a 40 ft bath and a half and was so much larger feeling than our RV. We finally left and Robert was suppose to call us later to talk to us more about the trade.
We came home and visited with our Canadian neighbors again and Judy and Jan asked me to go garage sale shopping tomorrow. I told them if I decide to go, I'd be at their place at 7:00.
We talked a lot about the motor home but at the end of the evening, my thoughts were that we would be crazy to pay what they were asking when we end up living in the RV 3 to 4 months out of the year. If we were full time RV'ers, I would not hesitate to make the trade.
Saturday February 25, 2012
I did not go with Judy and Jan this morning as I hardly slept last night. I hate it when I have these type of sleepless nights but don't know how to prevent them. I fell asleep just about 20 minutes before Larry got up and ended up awake again.
We talked to Ken this morning about Martinez Lake where they went on Thursday. We left the RV park with the idea of driving up to the lake and ended up at Le Mesa RV! Larry saw on their TV commercial that they advertised Fleetwood Motor Homes and wanted to stop in at the dealership to look. Of course, they were at the car before we even got out ready to talk business! We found they do not sell Fleetwood but they had another Tiffin similar to the one we looked at yesterday at the RV Show. Terry, who was the salesman showing us the motor home asked us to take it on a drive. When we got back to the dealership, we found the amount they seemed to be willing to give us on a trade today was even less than they had thrown out yesterday. We went through the next hour talking to Terry and then the the sales manager and were both so upset when we left, we didn't even want to hear anymore of their BS.
We went by Walmart to pick up some groceries and came back to the RV. Judy and Jan had gotten home with all their 'treasures' of their shopping trip and they bought me a flower pot to re pot my flowers. Yesterday the flowers were so wilted down when we came home they almost looked dead. Judy said they needed to be separated into two pots and more dirt put in them. Jan is going to help me re pot them tomorrow when I pick up some potting soil.
Last night when we were talking to them, I told them I thought Raven, our cat, had a vision problem because it seems he cannot see anything close up. Today during their shopping spree, they found some tiny doll glasses that they bought for Raven. We had a good laugh when we put them on Raven and they took pictures. Raven was a little less than thrilled with our attention to put it mildly!
We decided to eat at Parish's Bar and Grill here in the Foothills tonight. Last week when we were at the Daybreaker Cafe we talked to a guy who told us Parish's was a good place to eat. When we arrived the parking lot was filled and when we went in the restaurant and bar area were very busy but we found a table in the bar right away. Larry ordered a steak sandwich and I ordered a french dip. I asked the waitress when I ordered if it was good and she said it was. I'm a little funny about ordering this anyplace I have not had as it can be very good or very bad. When our meal came my french dip was wonderful. Pretty close to being the best I've ever had. Larry sampled my sandwich and agreed it was the best.
We stopped on the way home and I bought potting soil so Jan and I can re pot my flowers tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Sunday February 19, 2012
Our weekend was pretty relaxed and the only thing we did basically was go down to Yuma for the Mardi Gras Festival on Saturday. It was held in 'old town' on 4th Street and was pretty packed with people and vendors. We ended up eating again at Lutes Casino rather than eating outside at the food tents. We waited awhile to get into the casino but with only 2 of us, found a table in a reasonable amount of time. The food was good but as before, I would not give it rave reviews, such as others seem to say.
After we finished lunch, we sat outside and listened to some of the music. They had 3 stages with various performers playing throughout the day. We walked by one of the stage areas and the guy playing was really great. He went by the name of Cougar and he played everything from Jimmy Buffet to Johnny Cash. Pretty wide variety of music but he had a great range to his voice and was very entertaining. It was such a perfect weather day and We sat in the sun for a long time listening to him. A young man sat down next to Larry and started talking about how great the music was and as they talked he told us he was from London, Ontario. We told him that during our travels on the motorcycles, we have visited London several times. He told us he is here for 6 weeks at the Yuma Military Proving Grounds as a Data Technician. He is employed by a private firm and works on the machinery that is used in the field testing.
Sunday I decided to go into Walmart early to get a pedicure and manicure. Every time I walk by the nail salon it is absolutely packed with people. I had Larry take me and drop me off around 10:00am. Surprisingly, I was the first customer but that was only for about 10 minutes. By the time I finished my pedicure there were at least 10 people waiting for pedicures. I had my nails done with the gel polish, which takes extra time. I picked out a color when I first arrived and choose the coordinating color for my feet. When my pedicure was done I was very pleased with my choice but when she did my nails, she used a darker color and nothing matched. I told her one or the other had to be changed so she added a darker color on my toes. When I walked out I was less than happy with the result but since we don't speak the same language, I figured I'd leave it alone! I sometimes get very crazy trying to communicate with the Vietnamese -- who seem to have the 'edge' on the nail market! I will have to say---there is no one like Angel who does my nails in Peoria. She is absolutely a perfectionist when it comes to doing my nails.
We grabbed lunch after Larry picked me up from my appointment. I came home and spent the rest of the day on laundry. The laundry never lets up and always takes the majority of the day to complete.
Charlie has had a very bad weekend. Actually since we had him to the vet 3 weeks ago he has eaten very little. I have tried to feed him 2 to 3 times a day and have been giving him the kitten food the vet recommended. He is so week and very much out of the main stream. He has been howling and moaning non- stop all weekend. He has also been wanting outside, which Larry believes he wants to get away from us to just die. My heart is breaking for him.
Monday February 20, 2012
We made a decision to take Charlie back to the vet this morning. I knew in my heart this would probably be his last ride and I was very emotional when I got up this morning.
We called the vet and they told us to bring him in at 10:15 this morning. I picked Charlie up and we got in the car to drive over to clinic and he hardly moved on the ride over. We went into the clinic and it was packed with dogs and again, Charlie did not respond to all the dogs around us. I sat in the waiting room and could not hold back the tears as I am sure what we are about to hear from the doctor.
When they called us in, the assistant took Charlie to weigh him. He had lost another 1 1/2 lbs. since we were here 3 weeks ago. The doctor checked him over thoroughly and as suspected, she said she thought it was time to put him down. He laid on the exam table and hardly moved a muscle and I just felt we had lost our battle with his health. He is 19 years old and a very tired old man. It is impossible for me to face this without a well of emotion. We made the decision to put him to rest. He has fought for the past 6 months to a year and I felt it was the only humane thing to do. we become so close to our animals and it is so very difficult to make these decisions! I signed the forms and could not spend another minute in the office. Poor Larry was left to settle the remaining issues.
We left the clinic and my heart was breaking. We stopped at Daybreaker Cafe to have breakfast but I couldn't make myself eat. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it's like loosing one of the family and I'm just extremely sad.
We came home and decided we needed to do something to divert our thoughts from our sad morning. We drove to Wellton, about 12 miles east of Yuma. I had heard from several snowbirds that Wellton was a wonderful place to winter. We turned south off of RT 8 and found several nice RV Resorts and a beautiful golf course. Since neither of us golf anymore, I couldn't see a great appeal in this area. We then drove across to the North side of RT 8 and it was like the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. The North side was old and dirty and a very poor area. We drove back on a blacktop west toward Yuma and drove though Dome Valley. This area is surrounded by the mountain range, heavy in agriculture and was spotted with very nice homes, obviously owned by the land owners. As we continued driving we came to RT 95 and decided to drive back up to the Yuma Military Proving Grounds. A couple we talked to the last time we were there told us there is a private RV Resort located in the recreation area of the proving grounds.
We found the resort called Hidden Shores and the gate guard gave us a pass to drive through the resort. It is a beautiful place but highly populated. The guard had also given us a price sheet on the different sites within the resort. There was a large section of permanent park models, some single and others were double wide homes and all had a look of beach houses with large decks overlooking the water. The RV portion of the resort had sites both overlooking the water and those located several streets back. We stopped in the clubhouse and looked at the pool which was very nice. When we exited the resort we talked to one of the gate guards and he told us that in order to reserve a site he thought they required at least a 4 month reservation. I don't think we will be considering this resort as it is about 25 miles out of Yuma with few accommodations in the way of grocery's, etc.
Squaw Lake Yuma Proving Grounds
We pulled onto the main roadway and drove back to another park owned by the recreation area with an RV parking area. Basically it is a blacktopped parking lot that sets on the water's edge. The area is called Squaw Lake and was quite a pretty setting. I believe they allow you to stay 14 days for a minimal charge, however, this is strictly dry camping. They do have nice shower houses so would not be as bad as desert camping offered in the rest of the recreation area of the proving grounds.
We drove back out of the proving grounds and came in the back side of the Foothills. We decided to go to Applebee's for our very late lunch/dinner. We shared a hamburger, had a salad and a beer. I decided when we arrived home that my energy was spent with all of the emotions flowing through my system today. I watched 'The Voice' and headed to bed to read for awhile before calling it a day.
Tuesday February 21, 2012
Today I have another appointment with Dr. Garcia, the Periodontist that placed my implant last week. He is going to do a Periodontal Cleaning which I'm badly in need of. I originally planned to return to Dr. Juan to have a cleaning but opted to have a deep cleaning by Dr. Garcia instead. I see Dr.Cusak, the Periodontist, in Peoria every 6 months so can move my normal appointment with him up a few month. I should be having at least 3 Periodontal Cleanings but it has become so expensive at home, that I've cut my appointments to 2 a year with an additional 'Mexican' cleaning when here.
We arrived in Los Algodones around 10:15am and the parking area was already quite full. We walked over to Dr. Garcia's and there was another couple waiting in the office that told us the doctor had not yet arrived. We assumed he was not there because his big red SUV was not parked outside the office when we came in. We talked to the other couple for awhile and they said their appointment had been scheduled for 9:30am and they had another dental appointment for 10:30. The lady was not happy and went up to ask Monica, the office girl, when the doctor was due to arrive. Monica said he should be there soon but the couple ended up leaving before Dr. Garcia got there. I'm happy because that means I'm first in line now and we should be able to get back across the border before the crowd forms.
Dr. Garcia arrived and they called me into the operatory. He started my cleaning and was using an ultrasound instrument with water to scale my teeth. This is new to me as, Dr. Cusak at home. has his hygienist clean my teeth the old fashion way with hand tools. The ultrasound was somewhat uncomfortable because I have so many exposed roots and I knew every time he hit one! I'm thinking to myself that even this was more uncomfortable than my implant! He finished my cleaning and I was amazed at how clean my teeth felt. The charges were $45 and just about $100 cheaper than home. I'm so happy I choose to have Dr. Garcia do my cleaning over Dr. Juan and I only paid about $20 more for a wonderful cleaning.
We walked over to the border and the line was not too bad yet but we saw that the bicycle taxi line was also very short so we stopped there. The little Mexican guy who takes care of organizing the line and collecting the money said that the driver was not there yet. He left to call the driver and came back to say he'd be there soon. We waited about 15 minutes and the guy left again to call and when he came back I asked when he would arrive. The guy said he had not been able to contact the driver by phone yet! Well---why didn't he say this the first time I'm wondering! The line for the border was still fairly short so we decided to just walk across. We got in line and probably only waited 20 minutes to get through. While standing in line, I could see the bicycle taxi driver had still not arrived.
We drove back into Yuma and stopped at Kneader's, a restruraunt located within the Yuma Mall area. We had talked about trying it before so decided to do so today. When we walked in and read the menu, I could pretty much tell that it was like Panera's. Their sandwiches and soups were the same and they sold many bakery items as well. We shared a sandwich and each had a cup of broccoli soup and both were very good.
We drove back toward the Foothill's and stopped at an RV Parts Store. Larry wanted to check on a sunscreen for the inside windshield of motorhome. I waited in the car and when he came out he said it would have to be ordered, which I assumed would be true. We only have about 10 days left here in Yuma so would not have time to receive it before we leave.
Drove back to motor home and talked with our neighbor Ken for awhile. They left Sunday morning and drove to Las Vegas to meet Jan and Judy's nephew. They came home last night and Ken was telling us how much their meal cost on Sunday night, which we were not surprised. Last year when we met Pete and Leslie in Las Vegas, I felt we needed to rob a bank as everything is horribly expensive. We are meeting Leslie and Pete in Vegas again on April 4 on our way back to Illinois.
Larry noticed Walmart now has a 7 ft. ladder in stock so decided to return his 6 ft. to Home Depot. We loaded the ladder and made our way to Yuma to Home Depot. After returning the ladder, we drove over to Sam's to exchange some shorts that Larry bought earlier that were too big. I picked up some coffee and we made the exchange and headed back to Walmart for the much desired ladder!! We do need a taller ladder to reach the top of the RV Windshield. Since we purchased our sunscreens we will need the ladder to detach them for traveling.
Our weekend was pretty relaxed and the only thing we did basically was go down to Yuma for the Mardi Gras Festival on Saturday. It was held in 'old town' on 4th Street and was pretty packed with people and vendors. We ended up eating again at Lutes Casino rather than eating outside at the food tents. We waited awhile to get into the casino but with only 2 of us, found a table in a reasonable amount of time. The food was good but as before, I would not give it rave reviews, such as others seem to say.
After we finished lunch, we sat outside and listened to some of the music. They had 3 stages with various performers playing throughout the day. We walked by one of the stage areas and the guy playing was really great. He went by the name of Cougar and he played everything from Jimmy Buffet to Johnny Cash. Pretty wide variety of music but he had a great range to his voice and was very entertaining. It was such a perfect weather day and We sat in the sun for a long time listening to him. A young man sat down next to Larry and started talking about how great the music was and as they talked he told us he was from London, Ontario. We told him that during our travels on the motorcycles, we have visited London several times. He told us he is here for 6 weeks at the Yuma Military Proving Grounds as a Data Technician. He is employed by a private firm and works on the machinery that is used in the field testing.
Sunday I decided to go into Walmart early to get a pedicure and manicure. Every time I walk by the nail salon it is absolutely packed with people. I had Larry take me and drop me off around 10:00am. Surprisingly, I was the first customer but that was only for about 10 minutes. By the time I finished my pedicure there were at least 10 people waiting for pedicures. I had my nails done with the gel polish, which takes extra time. I picked out a color when I first arrived and choose the coordinating color for my feet. When my pedicure was done I was very pleased with my choice but when she did my nails, she used a darker color and nothing matched. I told her one or the other had to be changed so she added a darker color on my toes. When I walked out I was less than happy with the result but since we don't speak the same language, I figured I'd leave it alone! I sometimes get very crazy trying to communicate with the Vietnamese -- who seem to have the 'edge' on the nail market! I will have to say---there is no one like Angel who does my nails in Peoria. She is absolutely a perfectionist when it comes to doing my nails.
We grabbed lunch after Larry picked me up from my appointment. I came home and spent the rest of the day on laundry. The laundry never lets up and always takes the majority of the day to complete.
Charlie has had a very bad weekend. Actually since we had him to the vet 3 weeks ago he has eaten very little. I have tried to feed him 2 to 3 times a day and have been giving him the kitten food the vet recommended. He is so week and very much out of the main stream. He has been howling and moaning non- stop all weekend. He has also been wanting outside, which Larry believes he wants to get away from us to just die. My heart is breaking for him.
Monday February 20, 2012
We made a decision to take Charlie back to the vet this morning. I knew in my heart this would probably be his last ride and I was very emotional when I got up this morning.
We called the vet and they told us to bring him in at 10:15 this morning. I picked Charlie up and we got in the car to drive over to clinic and he hardly moved on the ride over. We went into the clinic and it was packed with dogs and again, Charlie did not respond to all the dogs around us. I sat in the waiting room and could not hold back the tears as I am sure what we are about to hear from the doctor.
When they called us in, the assistant took Charlie to weigh him. He had lost another 1 1/2 lbs. since we were here 3 weeks ago. The doctor checked him over thoroughly and as suspected, she said she thought it was time to put him down. He laid on the exam table and hardly moved a muscle and I just felt we had lost our battle with his health. He is 19 years old and a very tired old man. It is impossible for me to face this without a well of emotion. We made the decision to put him to rest. He has fought for the past 6 months to a year and I felt it was the only humane thing to do. we become so close to our animals and it is so very difficult to make these decisions! I signed the forms and could not spend another minute in the office. Poor Larry was left to settle the remaining issues.
We left the clinic and my heart was breaking. We stopped at Daybreaker Cafe to have breakfast but I couldn't make myself eat. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it's like loosing one of the family and I'm just extremely sad.
We came home and decided we needed to do something to divert our thoughts from our sad morning. We drove to Wellton, about 12 miles east of Yuma. I had heard from several snowbirds that Wellton was a wonderful place to winter. We turned south off of RT 8 and found several nice RV Resorts and a beautiful golf course. Since neither of us golf anymore, I couldn't see a great appeal in this area. We then drove across to the North side of RT 8 and it was like the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. The North side was old and dirty and a very poor area. We drove back on a blacktop west toward Yuma and drove though Dome Valley. This area is surrounded by the mountain range, heavy in agriculture and was spotted with very nice homes, obviously owned by the land owners. As we continued driving we came to RT 95 and decided to drive back up to the Yuma Military Proving Grounds. A couple we talked to the last time we were there told us there is a private RV Resort located in the recreation area of the proving grounds.
We found the resort called Hidden Shores and the gate guard gave us a pass to drive through the resort. It is a beautiful place but highly populated. The guard had also given us a price sheet on the different sites within the resort. There was a large section of permanent park models, some single and others were double wide homes and all had a look of beach houses with large decks overlooking the water. The RV portion of the resort had sites both overlooking the water and those located several streets back. We stopped in the clubhouse and looked at the pool which was very nice. When we exited the resort we talked to one of the gate guards and he told us that in order to reserve a site he thought they required at least a 4 month reservation. I don't think we will be considering this resort as it is about 25 miles out of Yuma with few accommodations in the way of grocery's, etc.
Squaw Lake Yuma Proving GroundsWe pulled onto the main roadway and drove back to another park owned by the recreation area with an RV parking area. Basically it is a blacktopped parking lot that sets on the water's edge. The area is called Squaw Lake and was quite a pretty setting. I believe they allow you to stay 14 days for a minimal charge, however, this is strictly dry camping. They do have nice shower houses so would not be as bad as desert camping offered in the rest of the recreation area of the proving grounds.
We drove back out of the proving grounds and came in the back side of the Foothills. We decided to go to Applebee's for our very late lunch/dinner. We shared a hamburger, had a salad and a beer. I decided when we arrived home that my energy was spent with all of the emotions flowing through my system today. I watched 'The Voice' and headed to bed to read for awhile before calling it a day.
Tuesday February 21, 2012
Today I have another appointment with Dr. Garcia, the Periodontist that placed my implant last week. He is going to do a Periodontal Cleaning which I'm badly in need of. I originally planned to return to Dr. Juan to have a cleaning but opted to have a deep cleaning by Dr. Garcia instead. I see Dr.Cusak, the Periodontist, in Peoria every 6 months so can move my normal appointment with him up a few month. I should be having at least 3 Periodontal Cleanings but it has become so expensive at home, that I've cut my appointments to 2 a year with an additional 'Mexican' cleaning when here.
We arrived in Los Algodones around 10:15am and the parking area was already quite full. We walked over to Dr. Garcia's and there was another couple waiting in the office that told us the doctor had not yet arrived. We assumed he was not there because his big red SUV was not parked outside the office when we came in. We talked to the other couple for awhile and they said their appointment had been scheduled for 9:30am and they had another dental appointment for 10:30. The lady was not happy and went up to ask Monica, the office girl, when the doctor was due to arrive. Monica said he should be there soon but the couple ended up leaving before Dr. Garcia got there. I'm happy because that means I'm first in line now and we should be able to get back across the border before the crowd forms.
Dr. Garcia arrived and they called me into the operatory. He started my cleaning and was using an ultrasound instrument with water to scale my teeth. This is new to me as, Dr. Cusak at home. has his hygienist clean my teeth the old fashion way with hand tools. The ultrasound was somewhat uncomfortable because I have so many exposed roots and I knew every time he hit one! I'm thinking to myself that even this was more uncomfortable than my implant! He finished my cleaning and I was amazed at how clean my teeth felt. The charges were $45 and just about $100 cheaper than home. I'm so happy I choose to have Dr. Garcia do my cleaning over Dr. Juan and I only paid about $20 more for a wonderful cleaning.
We walked over to the border and the line was not too bad yet but we saw that the bicycle taxi line was also very short so we stopped there. The little Mexican guy who takes care of organizing the line and collecting the money said that the driver was not there yet. He left to call the driver and came back to say he'd be there soon. We waited about 15 minutes and the guy left again to call and when he came back I asked when he would arrive. The guy said he had not been able to contact the driver by phone yet! Well---why didn't he say this the first time I'm wondering! The line for the border was still fairly short so we decided to just walk across. We got in line and probably only waited 20 minutes to get through. While standing in line, I could see the bicycle taxi driver had still not arrived.
We drove back into Yuma and stopped at Kneader's, a restruraunt located within the Yuma Mall area. We had talked about trying it before so decided to do so today. When we walked in and read the menu, I could pretty much tell that it was like Panera's. Their sandwiches and soups were the same and they sold many bakery items as well. We shared a sandwich and each had a cup of broccoli soup and both were very good.
We drove back toward the Foothill's and stopped at an RV Parts Store. Larry wanted to check on a sunscreen for the inside windshield of motorhome. I waited in the car and when he came out he said it would have to be ordered, which I assumed would be true. We only have about 10 days left here in Yuma so would not have time to receive it before we leave.
Drove back to motor home and talked with our neighbor Ken for awhile. They left Sunday morning and drove to Las Vegas to meet Jan and Judy's nephew. They came home last night and Ken was telling us how much their meal cost on Sunday night, which we were not surprised. Last year when we met Pete and Leslie in Las Vegas, I felt we needed to rob a bank as everything is horribly expensive. We are meeting Leslie and Pete in Vegas again on April 4 on our way back to Illinois.
Larry noticed Walmart now has a 7 ft. ladder in stock so decided to return his 6 ft. to Home Depot. We loaded the ladder and made our way to Yuma to Home Depot. After returning the ladder, we drove over to Sam's to exchange some shorts that Larry bought earlier that were too big. I picked up some coffee and we made the exchange and headed back to Walmart for the much desired ladder!! We do need a taller ladder to reach the top of the RV Windshield. Since we purchased our sunscreens we will need the ladder to detach them for traveling.
As always, a walk inside Walmart does not result in just 1 purchase! Larry went to find his ladder and I picked up a few needed grocery items as well as some chicken from the deli for dinner. When we got home we attempted to eat our chicken. Mine I was sure had been cooked sometime in the A.M.--hopefully today! What garbage it ended up being and so bad I could not even chew a couple of pieces. I cannot believe Walmart does not offer better quality, especially in the land of snowbirds! I am convienced that a trip to Frye's is far more desireable as their quality is 10 times better. As always--the longer you Live and more you (SHOULD) Learn!!
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