Hot Day

What a nice summer day, oops, almost forgot it's winter. Temp got up to 87F and there we were working our tails off to get ready to leave. Didn't even golf today, but by noon we were in pretty good shape, so I played pool & Marg swam in the pool. Settled up the electric account and got assurance that this space is ours for next year. Spent lots of time saying farewells to all of the nice people in the park. Lots of people leaving tomorrow & Friday as well as next week. All of the activities pretty much cease this week. It's funny, the year round people complain about the impact of the snowbirds, but they sure miss us when we all leave and the place is like a ghost town. This change is the same in every park. Went for dinner to Los Gringos Loco with Betty, Ron & Sue. Food was good as usual & Marg got a take-away container of their salsa, that she loves. I played my last poker game tonight & my streak is broken. They had me on the ropes, I don't think I had a winning hand for the first hour, but I bounced back and ended up losing 45 cents. In the morning it will be disconnect the water & cable and hit the road. Not sure what our internet access will be as we are planning to stay in Mesquite for 2 or 3 nights. There is no internet connection in that park, so we will need to go to MacDonalds for wifi. If you don't hear from us stay tuned, we will eventually find a connection. The weather in Montana around Butte is bad on the weekend & that is where the passses are, so we will hold up until it clears. We will likely go north into Utah & clear Salt Lake City on Saturday or Sunday which will put us in reach of the border for Monday. I heard from Dave Trout today and they are leaving tomorrow and plan on being in St George, so about an hour apart. We will likely try to get together. Oh yeh, almost forgot, the owls have had their young and today for the first time, some people here saw them, there are 3 babies. We saw one this evening, they are all fuzzy yet, but growing very fast.

March 28

What a hot day, I think it was 89F/31C today. We got on the road early and drove in to Arizona Mills. Now there is an outlet mall, people go there just to mall-walk because it's a mile around the inside. Some pretty high end as well as bargain stuff. There was a Saxs & a Nieman Marcus as well as Eddie Bauer, etc. Too many to mention. It's quite a hike from here, almost all the way to the office in Phoenix I go to for meetings. On the way back we stopped in at Costco and bought some whiskey - Crown Royal and had lunch. Get this, a foot long beef hot dog and a soda for $1.50. The place was full of geezers having lunch, LOL. These stores are all the same, but this one had the largest food area I have ever seen. I bet there were tables and seating for over 100. Had to stop for windshield wipers for the car as they are badly past their useful life and got one for $2 at Walmart. By the time we got back to the park it was too hot to do much, so I played pool and Marg went for a pedicure/manicure & a stop at the post office. Not sure what it cost but her toes are red & nails are pinky. Played well, but still got beat a bit. Will miss these guys when I go home as they are a lot of laughs. After pool I started packing some things up as our time here is short. We bbq'd for dinner and then Carol stopped by to go to bingo with Marg. Being bored, I went to bingo too, but I sat with Ron while Marg sat with her hen party. She & Carol won, but had to split it. Me on the other hand also won, but got to keep it all - $25 big ones. It was my first time at bingo & got lots of verbal abuse after, but a couple did say being as we are leaving this week I probably needed the money for gas. LOL

Off road demo

They had an area laid out that had hills and huge boulders. This is the kind rugged terrain the off-roaders here deal with and they had a bunch of drivers working their way over the obstacles, pretty interesting stuff.

Ridin' & ropin'

At the event today there were competitions for riding & shooting. The contestants were in western attire, some in old style cavalry uniforms. They would ride into the arena & from horseback they would try to burst 5 balloons with a handgun & 5 with a rifle. It was a timed event and the best time we saw was 14 seconds & he shot out all 10 ballloons. There was also a trick rider/roper who could spin a lariat and jump through it while standing on a horse. The guy had a bunch of tricks he and the horse performed, it was pretty amazing.

Shooters

There were guys & gals trying out sidearms from half a dozen manufacturers. One of the coolest booths was the Gatling gun one where they had an old antique hand crank model and they had new versions, one mounted on a tripod, the other on the roof of an SUV. They also had a bunch of other fully auto stuff & you could fire any of it for a buck a bullet. We saw a girl fire the old hand crank one, way cool.

Outdoor day

Fun day, we went to the Az fish & game event north of the city. It was a huge outdoor expo with booths of vendors and activities. It was so large they had buses & stops throughout the various parts of the event. There were horses, cowboys, hunting & fishing stuff, boats, ATV's. Can't even think of all the neat stuff we saw. What was unique was this site is a firing range and they had all kinds of live firing opportunities. Most firearm manufacturers had booths and you could test fire many of their handguns or long guns. There were archery ranges where you could shoot at decoy type targets. There was a huge tank, where about 50 kids at a time could catch fish. This was one of the great aspects of the event, it was really family oriented. All day long you could hear the constant pop pop pop of firearms discharging either at the demo areas or at shooting events. Texas has nothing on Arizona, you could see people in the crowd wearing holsters with sidearms in them. Lots of booths to get food and drinks. We had curly fries and catfish/shrimp for lunch. For $6 you got more curly fries than one person could eat. There was this cute little boy playing in a mud puddle, I can only imagine what his mother thought when she saw him - LOL! Finished the day off back at the park with cocktail hour with the neighbours, they are pulling out tomorrow.

TGIF

Tough week, NOT, that's too much like a work type comment for Az - LOL! It was nice and sunny although not as hot as it could be. Went to the Mesa market to exchange pocket books. I had one she didn't want to buy from me this week, too many by that author on the shelf. That happens from time to time and I just bring them back and put them in the library here in the park. Got back in time for pool, but it was small group, there were only 4 today, but that was enough. Funny thing Char called from England while I was playing, so I had to put the phone down to take my turns. I had to rush my shots as we pay the phone by the minute, so missed a couple of easy shots - had to blame it on something, LOL. Barely got done in time to put the swiss steak on the bbq, just on the top shelf so it would sort of stew. The reason for the rush was we had to be at the neighbours for cocktails at 4. They are leaving on Sunday, so wanted to drink up some of their wine. They are good folks [from Kansas] and we will miss them when we all return home. They had finger food as well, which included the small cocktail sausages. I was eating mine plain which caused Doris to question why I wasn't putting any sauce on my little weiner. Took a while for the laughter to die down. Some of these oldies have good hearing when it counts. If the picture looks odd, they have a kind of add-a-room they attach to their awning. Took Kenny & Doris to the Village Inn for pie, it's a popular item among the grey panthers here. Marg had coconut cream, strawberry & rhubarb for me. I told Kenny I would drive so we don't get in a car wreck. Oh; you don't know the history behind that. The other day he backed up in Walmart & touched a womans bumper. After getting out to see the damage, the agreed to let it go - her bumper was already a mess. As he told it, they both parked & he missed park & put his in reverse, so it backed up and hit her again. She jumped out of her car screaming get the police, he's drunk, he's drunk. He's hit me twice already and is going to kill someone. With his southern drawl Kenny had us all rolling on the ground while he was telling the story. With all the people leaving in the next few days, we are going to have to hold our own clean up party soon so we can get to a manageable level for crossing the border.

Gausthaus anyone?

Nice day, it has been nice to see the weather return to the mid 70's from the rain & cooler weather on the weekend. Marg went shopping to a new market in an rv park on Ellsworth that was apparently very busy & good. It only runs on Thursday mornings. Anyway she managed to come back with a bunch of stuff we just found out we needed. LOL After lunch I played pool in the inter-park tourney. Tough competition today, we lost 11 games to 7 and that's pretty good for us against Eastgate. It was funny, I was paired with Walter today and had not played with him in a tourney before. If he isn't the oldest guy in the group, he has to be 2nd. He always tells you how good he was in his youth & he still is pretty darn good at making shots. The only problem is he forgets which balls are his & sometimes will sink the opposition balls, so not only putting their ball down, but bringing one of his up as a penalty. His partner has to keep an eye out for this & in the 3 games, I had to tell him 3 times which balls were ours, LOL. You just have to watch how he is lining up and if it looks bad then remind him. Anyway we managed to win 2 of our 3 games, so did as well as any of our teams. Today marked the end of the winter pool league & the summer league starts shortly for all the year-round residents. Lots of players leaving, we lost a couple this week, one today in fact & as well as us about 4 others are leaving next week. Most are going home to much better weather than us & can't believe we are prepared to go. Marg spent the afternoon in the swimming pool & soaked up the sun & later had a nice chat with Haylee on FB. Went to a nice German restaraunt for dinner with Ron & Sue. The food was real traditional German fare and was very good & reasonable. It was a small place, but packed with people waiting out in the parking lot for an open table. Most of the table space was very long tables in the middle of the room where you just get a spot and end up dining with whomever comes along & gets seated by you. The waiter was in leather pants & the frau/waitress, well interesting even by German standards. Fun evening.

March 23rd

Day started off a little cool, but warmed up quickly. Marg calls Wednesday DDay - Dave's day because of my commitments. Had a meeting last week, so was glad to get back on track with the fun stuff. Almost wore long pants to golf this AM, but by 9AM we had the jackets off and were glad we had shorts on. Really funny, there us northerners were in shorts & short sleeves. The mexicans on the mowers were in hoodies with the hoods pulled up, gloves on. They must really be thin-blooded. Gerry came and we played with Pat from Sask. I played well, for the me, but had the inevitable crash on a couple of holes, like a 4 put on a par 3 & a ball in the water, ending with a 46. That is great for me, so happy day. Oh well, that is why I never played for a living - Hah! Make a note, use old ball on water hole next time. Marg went to coffee & amazing cinnamon rolls at Aggies, with a bunch of friends. She & Curtis are the park managers. Now I am left wondering, just how good were those rolls - couldn't she have brought one home. After lunch played pool with a good group. That will be the last time I play Bob until next year as they are leaving for home in Ohio tomorrow. Marg got us volunteered for the hamburger fry tonight that the park put on, at the coffee - you know, the one with the supposedly great rolls. The group doing it were short, so the volunteer queen stepped right in and brought her court jester [me] with her. LOL. My job, you're going to laugh - to sit at a table and take in the $3 per person for the hamburgers/chili/etc. That's right I've gravitated to a high finance role here in AJ. Pretty funny, Gary asked if I was capable of handling US money. I told him that wasn't real money & I went and got some Canadian money to show them. This will crack you up, but about half of them had never seen Cdn money & I don't think any had seen a loonie or toonie. Anyway good burgers , so that was our supper. After, Doris had made a banana cream pie. She is an awesome pie builder and we were complaining that we had not had a single bite of one of her pies this year. I guess that's how to get pie & coffee. Sitting there enjoying life in general and Ron came looking for me, somehow I was late for poker. Anyway we were 6 for poker tonight and I came away $3.05 wealthier. Getting a little concerned, all that change I have been winning is liable to weigh so much it will cut down our fuel efficiency. There isn't much room for it to get less. LOL. 7 days left here, but who's counting :-(

The other day

The other day we ate a the 5 & Diner, but never had our camera. They have an old Ford truck out front that is the same year as our old red '58 that everyone called the Sandford & Son truck. Pretty cool place, real 50's decor.

March 22nd

These days remind me of the old adage - Time flies when you are having fun! That is exactly what is happening here. Whenever you meet someone, the topic of conversation gets around to - So when are you leaving?

Kind of a miserable day yesterday. It rained off & on all day and the temperature never got about about 55F. Most people just stayed indoors and that was pretty much our day. We did go out to Costco, then stopped at a sporting goods store and had lunch at Appleby's. I guess the rain is needed, but we don't have to like it ;>) Got back in time to play some pool with a couple of real characters & we had lots of laughs. Much better day today, although not hot it was a pleasant day. I think we must have been in the mid-70's, just nice. The rain caused a real mess and the motorhome was covered with a combination of the red sand & water. It was all spotted, so I washed the roof, then the awnings and sides. By the time I was done, I was soaked to the skin, LOL. We were looking for a few things today, so we went to Chandler [28 miles from here] to find a Nordstroms dept store, where Marg heard they carried the brand we sought. It was a first for me and now I know why, they're a little pricey. I never saw a shirt under $100, in fact I saw a t-shirt for $135, other shirts for as much as $200 & $600 shoes. Not everyone is living on a pension - LOL! There was also an outlet type mall there and Marg said it was her best shopping day this winter, i.e: she has a new favourite store. It included a second Nordstoms - an outlet. Had lunch at a micro brewery called BJ's and both the food and beer were excellent. So busy I never played pool today.

March 19th

Happy Birthday Marg. The weather continues to be excellent, but a few degrees cooler, only in the low 80's now, just right. Friday we went to the Mesa market to exchange pocket books. Also went to the optical store and returned my glasses. Can't believe the difficulty I have had getting the prescription right. The glasses were clear & good for distance, but the bifocal position was causing problems. All I had to was wear them & I would never need whiskey again to make me unsteady. LOL. In the afternoon I played pool and then joined Marg in the pool to cool off. She has a whole group of pool buddies, while it was only my 2nd time in the water in 3 months, I was like the new kid on the block. In the evening we watered plants for some of our friends that went to Boulder City on the bus tour. This was the tour that they all were trying to get us to sign up for: return bus from here to Boulder, 2 nites hotel, 2 dinner buffets, a day in Vegas on Freemont st, all for $79 each. Today we heard from them and the hotel rooms are gross & in the middle of nowhere. Duh, I am surprised weren't complaining about the buffets as well - LOL! Will be interesting to hear their stories when they return. Good friends & they were concerned about missing Marg's birthday. In the morning there were b'day cards on the step & under the windshield wipers on the car. Pretty cute. Today, went to breakfast in the hall, it was good, but everytime I have to answer everyone's - Where is Marg. The answer, as you all know is - she doesn't do breakfast, she has a yogurt at 10AM. After breakfast I fixed the last of the wobbly chairs in the pool hall. Too many of us fat old guys sitting around while waiting for our turn, hah. Had to do some running around, our time here is short now, so lots of stuff to do. One of the things we needed was a new bathing suit for me now that I am using it twice a year. After lunch I played some pool, then we went out. We went to the Talking Stick resrot/casino. They had a wonderful buffet where we had dinner. The food was great, the desserts were spectacular. No Charlene, there was no cake, your mommy insisted this was better. Marg played some slots, I played some blackjack. While we were both up at one point, neither of us was too lucky, but our losses were minimal & we just consider the entertainment value ;>). It was a fun evening! The only hitch was getting home after dark. While we have driven that part of the loop quite a bit, at night it's different. The street lighting here is minimal, but the make up for it with reflectors in the roadway. It just makes the exits a little trickier. Life in geezer city here, nobody out after dark -- LOL.

St Patrick's day

Another warm one, 95F in the shade and there isn't any - LOL. It would be hard to describe this heat, you have to experience it. Yet a night it cools right down, almost to a chilly level. Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone who sent them on FB. Busy day, Marg running around for some stuff for a party, me I played pool in the inter-park tourney. We got beat pretty soundly today at Mountain View, I think we won 6 or 7 games of the 18. May partner & I won 2 of 3 and tha was our best effort. Told the association pres & vp that we needed money to invest in pool lessons for our players - alas I don't think they took me seriously. For dinner we went to the corned beef & cabbage dinner in the hall. It was great, the food was good and plentiful and there were over 100 people in attendance. The desert, although simple, was great. Vanilla ice cream with green creme de menthe to pour over it - yum. Pretty funny because Ron announced my birthday and they all sang, then he asked me to share an Irish story. I told the one about the Irishman drowning in a vat while working at the brewery in spite of being pulled out 3 times & got a laugh. After supper Marg had invited a bunch over for cake & an apertif which lasted about 3 hours. They gave me some funny cards and we swapped lies and shared lots of laughs. Oh yeh, some more yellow chicks, that may well be my legacy - LOL. The cakes were unique, she found them at some Mexican shop bakery in Mesa & everyone raved how good they were & they all wanted to know where the shop was.

March 16th

What a great day, sunny & hot. Had to work today, yes you heard correct, so no golf today. One of the boards I sit on met today and they arranged for me to participate via conference call from Phoenix. Had to drive in to the Stantec office for 9AM. You Canucks changed your time on Sunday & Az never, so my 10AM meeting in Edm was an hour earlier here. Very successful outcome of our first phase on the project that will provide housing opportunities for over 2,000 people. In the process I got to drive in the bumper to bumper X 4-6 lanes at 65mph for 40 miles into Phoenix. In the morning Marg got together with her pool group and spent some time in the old swimmin' hole. Later she cleaned the motorhome, it seems to be dusty all the time around here. Got back after lunch in time for pool & played with some fun guys. After we went for supper with Ron & Sue at Los Gringos Loco, good meal. Marg had to run out after for a few essentials while I stayed at the park and played poker. Made about $3 tonight, that makes about 4 consecutive weeks with a win. Good bunch that we play with and it is just nickles & dimes, but we have lots of laughs. I think they are on to my bluffing as I got caught about 4 times tonight. I thought it was hot just after noon, so took a pic of the temp, but when we went out for dinner thought I would take a pic of the readout on the car. Put them on here so you can see how hot it is. They sell lots of shirts down here with a pic of a skeleton in the desert & a saying like - But its a Dry Heat. BTW 98F is about 37C.

The road to Saguaro lake

Fountain Hills art

The iron horse is apparently local art ;>)

Saguaro Lake

Nice day 86F/30C today. Went to Saguaro [sah-ware-ooh] lake with Ron & Sue for lunch. A nice drive up through the pass and great scenery. The lake is 10 miles long, full of fish and has a real nice marina. Food was good at the marina restaurant & we had lots of laughs. From the highway on the way we saw water shooting in the air about 15 miles away; so went over to check it out. Turns out it is a fountain in the town centre at Fountain Hills. Gee I wonder how they thought of that name. It turns out that Fountain Hills is a trendy/artsy place even more so than Scottsdale and the fountain was spectacular. Nice area, but some of the homes are still pretty pricey, saw several listed for over $1 million. After getting back, quick cocktails at Kenny & Doris' place, BBQ steaks for dinner and then Marg was off to bingo. She scored a win, so her lucky streak is intact.

Monday - Mar 14th

Nice day 84F/29C in the sun & there was lots of sun. Yesterday I told you about my gift of a chick, so have found a place for it, but no name yet. Went looking for the hardware piece I couldn't find yesterday, no luck & ran out of time. Had to go pick up new specs, they seem pretty good; I'm not getting dizzy nor falling down yet, so they may be OK. After lunch I played some pool. Every time I missed a shot, the opposition praised the new glasses, nice bunch of guys. Elmer always calls the opposition the enemy. With friends like the pool guys, I don't need enemies. LOL Helped Elmer & Mike clean the tables, they sure needed it. Marg had invited a bunch for cocktail hour, so arrived back at the RV to find a party going on, everyone trying to find some shade from Kenny's rv. Her specialty tonite was mojito's, although I think I have Kenny converted to beer. She was serving everyone drinks & the guys were saying it was just she was back in her A&W days working as a carhop. I think they were not on their first drink when I got there. Most of these people are going to Boulder City/Las Vegas on Friday and for the last week have been trying to get us to go because they want more fun people on the bus. Supper was in the hall, it was a park sponsored sloppy joe night. It was well attended, they were good but sloppy - LOL. Whenever we go for sloppy joes, Marg always asks if it reminds me of high school. The cafeteria at Queen Elizabeth Comp was the first place I ever saw them & at the time thought they were the ultimate. After dinner went to Ron & Mary's for apple pie & ice cream. It was goooood. But we had to hurry it up to go listen to the Sweet Adelines [there are about 40 of them]. One of the ladies on our kitchen team sings in the group & is all alone, so a bunch of us went as her park family. It was very entertaining, great if you like 4 part harmony or barber shop singing. Some of those old gals have quite a sense of humour. Bet you can all hardly wait for tomorrow, remember Julius Ceasar -Beware the Ides of March!

Sunday Mar 13th

Another sunny day in AJ, temperatures were in the 80's. Went out to Mickey D's for breakfast. Marg had an omelet & I had the french toast, not as good as Marg makes, but it was good. Stopped at Ace hardware on the way home to look for some hardware to make a repair, they have an awesome selection. No success, so will try another tomorrow. Marg did laundry, but had to wait until evening to steam it because of the mid-day heat. Stopped at Walmart for a few things. Interesting phenomenon here, but the handicap stalls are the first to fill up and there are never any spare power chairs [or whatever you call them] because of the senior crowd. I spent part of the afternoon in Bob's office. He has a covered breezeway and it is kind of a gathering spot for guys to swap lies. Both he & Rita have hummingbird feeders and get them all the time. Before we go, I have to take the camera over and get some pics of the little guys at the feeder. Shrimps on the barbie for supper tonight, rice in the rice cooker. Very nice. After supper we had our last ice cream social. Kenny & Doris did a little thank you presentation to each of the crew and gave a little explanation of the logic to each. They gave Marg a hula hoop & told the crowd it she was because she was a hula hoop champ in an earlier life. Me they gave a little yellow easter chick & explained it was because of the accident I had when I was younger. For those who don't know, I hit a car that had been at the hatchery & when the door opened, the chicks came streaming out into traffic. Anyway we had a free night and gave out all the remaining ice cream & cake. We had enough accessories to make sundaes & whipped cream, syrup, etc. to add some zest to the dish. We had about 60 or 70 and heard comments that it was a shame this was the last one. That's a good thing, leave them wanting more. It's hard to believe we are only 2 weeks away from going home & a lot of the activities this week and next will be because of the Arizona exodus at the end of March.

Saturday

Nice day, about 86F/30C. Went to the airconditioned mall to see if my glasses are ready. That's a pun - hah! Probably Mon or Tues. Marg drove, although she doesn't drive a lot of places out of AJ, she had no trouble getting to the big mall. Kind of like a homing instinct, other migrating birds have - get it - snowbirds? Got some new shorts, wear them so much down here that they are wearing out. Marg got a new purse, pretty major decision for her, I think that makes the 3rd one [both major decision & purse] since arriving here. Lots of sales on right now. I think they are trying to make certain the snowbirds don't leave with any loose change, LOL. Lunch was at Barro, nice pizza. Picked up a few other things we need, including a nice 15 yr single malt that was aged in oak, very nice. BTW, yesterday we saw a new golf cart all tricked out for the rural crowd, the green ones anyway. It could work for the Irish on St Paddy's day as well. After we got back to the park, we had cocktails over at Pat & Diane's. They are the Saskatchewan couple whose kitchen team we are on. It's kind of a standing joke about who is the leader on the kitchen team, we know it isn't us though. Too many appetizers, so we had a light dinner, rushed I might add as we had to hustle to make cards. Played some golf & 31 with Ron & Sue. Don't laugh we play for quarters & that is big stakes down here. I believe we came out on the short end, but it was fun. Too busy to even play pool today. This retirement can be hectic, note to self - need to slow down .

Friday, Mar 11th

Another hot one, I think it must have been about 90F today, but never really checked. Went to the flea market in Mesa to exchange my pocket books and bought additional ones from another dealer. Selection not as good today, they seem to be working their inventory down. Also saw some sales, like 25% off in some booths, we have heard they really wind it down at the end of March and that seems to be what is happpening. By the middle of the morning it was getting too hot to do too much, so we came back to the park for lunch. I played some pool and Marg hung out in the pool with others in the park. She said the temperature in the swimming pool was in the high 80's, almost too warm, but it was relaxing. Margie Greschener & Trevor stopped in for a visit, he is down for a winter break with grandma. Nice to see a young man like that make time for his grandmother. They were off to Tortilla Flats for some sight seeing and an ice cream. BBQ for supper tonight. It was so hot we had the A/C on in the motorhome for supper. Need to go for bottled water tomorrow, with this heat we go through a half a dozen bottles a day. Visited our way around the park after supper, hard to walk very far without stopping - LOL.

Hot child in the City

That was us today as the temp reached 93F/34C. What a great day, but that is about as hot as I like it. Marg was right in her element. Went to coffee & donuts this AM & they tried something new, had a few people tell jokes; so, yes I was asked to tell one. Had to clean it up a bit and got a few laughs, so I guess it was OK. As I was telling it the MC said to Marg, I wonder how he is going to clean this one up enough for this audience, but was pleasantly surprised. Went to the post office and then I got a haircut, in fact, got all of them cut. LOL After lunch Marg went to the pool & I played pool. Inter-park tourney today and my partner & I won 3 of 3 and overall our group won. After pool I washed the car on the driveway here, got about a dozen offers from people who were willing to let me hone my skills on their car. Supper tonight was at Los Gringos Locos & the food was excellent.

The ultimate salvage yard

The number of aircraft for salvage is hard to describe.

Boneyard

Just across from the museum at Davis Monahan field is the famous aircraft boneyard. Aircraft are sent here either for parts salvage, for storage, or resale. The number of aircraft is amazing, something like 4,600 military aircraft & a few civilian ones. There was an entire field of Hercules and big areas of: fighters, refuelers, bombers, trainers, helicopters, etc. The B-1's are impressive, built at a cost of $385 million each. The B-52's both for storage & salvage. The row upon row of fighters at about $25-$30 million each. The tour guide said the parts inventory was valued at $5Billion.

Blackbird

One of the coolest planes in the museum, with a honking big jet engine. This is the same plane that Powers was shot down in by the Russians. It goes over 2,200 mph [3 times the speed of sound] at 85,000 feet. The plane weighs 60,000 lbs and carries 80,000 lbs of fuel, totally made of titanium, it gets so hot in flight that the plane gets from 9 to 12 inches longer due to heat expansion.

Tucson - Pima Air Space Museum

Nice day, but windy. So much wind there were dust storms in the area. We drove down to Tucson this morning and got there in time for lunch. Stopped in at Cracker Barrel for lunch, food is always good there. How do you know you have been here too long - well - for lunch Marg had biscuits & gravy and an order of grits. Not my cup of tea, but then I had french toast. Went to the museum, a great collection of aircraft. Some great iron there, right from the Wright Bros kittyhawk to the modern aircraft and well displayed with very informative tours. Even had a nice Sabre Jet from the RCAF from the Korean war, an old Airforce One, B-52's you name it. Marg's fav was the beechcraft that was used in the first flight over the Atlantic, by a female, not to be confused with Lindburg.

Hot Sunday

Well we finally broke 80, in fact 82F/28C today & sunny. Went to the big sporting goods store down by the mall & got a few things, among them a chipper. Will see if that helps on Wednesday in an area where I tend to take a lot of strokes. Went to a neat diner for lunch called the 5 & Diner, but alas forgot to take the camera. It is very deja-vu in a 60's atmosphere, complete with chrome chairs stools, juke box selectors at the counter & music from the era playing. The waitresses were in period dresses, they even had an old Ford truck out front, just like the old red '58 we had when the kids were small. We sat at the lunch counter and had a great lunch. After we went back to Camping World to pick up a bike rack for the ladder on the back of the RV. Really wishing we had brought bicycles, will fix that next year with this nifty little item. BBQ some steaks for supper with baked potatoes. Ice cream social tonight, so we were scooping & serving as usual. Banana splits were the special, so Marg & the ladies were very busy adding the strawberries, chocolate sauce, pineapple, whipped cream & cherry. Entertainment tonight with the Minnesotians [something like that] played after ice cream, some real old stuff - not just the guys, LOL. Almost like the music we were accustomed to at Ukrainian weddings, so before leaving Marg & I danced a polka. Man am I out of shape, thought I was going to have the big one. Fun day.

Saturday Mar 6th

Happy Birthday Brennan, wow 16 today, wish we could be with you to celebrate. Another nice day in AJ, 78F/26C in the sun. An early start to the day as it was our crew making breakfast, so we were in the kitchen at 6:45. Marg did the scrambled eggs, I did the pancakes. Pat did the bacon in the convection oven today & it was nice & crispy. Ham & sausage links, oh yes and the infamous biscuits & gravy. We fed 70+ this morning and it went pretty well. Alan had a new way of cleaning the grill and it worked much better. Had lots of laughs with the group, fun bunch. At the end I had a bunch of pancake batter, so made a huge pancake; it wouldn't even fit on a plate. Anyway Virginia, the park sheriff, was still in the dining room, so I took it out to her saying I heard she wanted one more & this would be the new standard. She's quite a bit older than me [I know that really is old] anyway one of us is always giving the other a hard time. It was hilarious; cracked the place up. Well, I guess you had to be there. Marg went for a haircut today & you all know how traumatic that is, but it turned out well; as it always does. Went in and exchanged my books at the Mesa market. I think it is winding down, at the end of March they really cut back when the snowbirds migrate north. Speaking of books, I started reading one of the 3 Ma gave me. She said they were westerns, but definitely not my kind - chick books. Read about 100 pages: no one got shot, nothing got robbed, lots of issues around romance & relationships. She's a nice lady, so I tried reading them, but now they will be going back first thing tomorrow. The big news today was that we got a mail box. Up till now Curtis just brought the mail around or left it on the table in the mail area because there were no free boxes. So we are almost permanent residents now, quite a status symbol. Beautiful sunset to wrap up the day.