It was a nice day, we got all packed up at the rv park & I use that term loosely so we could drive in to Edmonton and visit with mother. Drove the m'home to the Mohawk truck stop in Acheson rather than drive it through the city and try to find parking there. We got to Millers Crossing early enough that mom was still having breakfast. Visited with her until she finished and then went to her room when brother Jim stopped in. Mother was in good spirits, but challenged to keep up the conversation, but did a good job participating when she wanted to. Finished up just before noon and left for home.
Lunch was back at the Mohawk, pretty good food and lots of it being a truck stop. Filled up with fuel one last time and then it was on the road one last time. Most expensive fuel I have bought in a long time, makes me wonder where it comes from -- oh yeh, right here. Wind blew all day and the sun shone. Roads were dry and bare, although there was lots of snow in places, especially around Fox Creek.
Got home around 5PM and had no sooner pulled on the driveway than Haylee stopped by. She helped us unload and joined us for some take out DQ. By then others started to arrive. Vanessa & Daniel stopped in and then Bill & Patti with Paige & Kassidy and finally Kennedy with some friends stopped by. Got most everything out of the rv and winterized it as the temp is forecast to go down do minus 10 tonight and that would be a problem with the water in it.
That is all there is to this winter blog. Thank you for allowing us to share our winter activities with you. This will be the final post until next winter when we will once again share our journey and life in the sunny south living the snowbird lifestyle.
Friday 11 April 2014
Wednesday 9 April 2014
April 9th, Crossing the border.
We were up and about at a decent hour. No matter how early you get on the road there will always be someone ahead of you. I swear some of these old guys must leave in the dark.
Anyway it was a pleasant enough day in Great Falls, but the wind blew most of the day. We got away with very light traffic, I think some of the people were waiting for the weather up north to clear. The first bit was fine, but about a half hour out it started to rain and then sleet came down for a while. It was pretty chilly by the time I got to Shelby where we stopped in and filled with fuel. While it was still about 20 miles to the border, it is the last place of any size. Have stopped there many times in the past.
We got to the border about 10AM and the lines were short, I think we were about #5 in the line we were in. We got alarmed as it seemed they were pulling over a lot of people or at least giving them a ticket to go inside and settle up duty on their purchases. In fact it seemed they were only sending on about a third or quarter of the vehicles with no consequences. Our biggest concern was the set of tires I had to put on the car last week. We had a nice young fellow and Marg had listed all the alcohol in the unit. I had 2 bottles of scotch, but she had one of tequila, wine & then we had the part bottles, including one of rum that only had about 2 drinks out of it and 9 cans of beer. The guy started to write us up to go in and pay the duty on our overage and then said, this is more hassle for you than it's worth, but gave us a lecture about only being entitled to 40 ounces each. We thanked him and left with a big smile, but no thanks to all our friends who didn't drink up. LOL
Funny thing about the weather, as soon as we got a mile over the border, the sun came out and it was clear skies. By then the unit and the car were filthy from the wet roads, but nice to be in the clear. We just drove straight thru Lethbridge even though it was quite nice there. Stopped in Red Deer at Costco for fuel, only $1.15 per litre. I say only because that is 8 cents less than Calgary or Edm, but still a lot more than Montana.
Got to Glowing Embers for the night. This campground is really turning into an undesirable location, its muddy and lots of trashy looking rv's that seem to have been here all winter. Oh well, its the only one open all year round, so I guess I should just suck it up.
Anyway it was a pleasant enough day in Great Falls, but the wind blew most of the day. We got away with very light traffic, I think some of the people were waiting for the weather up north to clear. The first bit was fine, but about a half hour out it started to rain and then sleet came down for a while. It was pretty chilly by the time I got to Shelby where we stopped in and filled with fuel. While it was still about 20 miles to the border, it is the last place of any size. Have stopped there many times in the past.
We got to the border about 10AM and the lines were short, I think we were about #5 in the line we were in. We got alarmed as it seemed they were pulling over a lot of people or at least giving them a ticket to go inside and settle up duty on their purchases. In fact it seemed they were only sending on about a third or quarter of the vehicles with no consequences. Our biggest concern was the set of tires I had to put on the car last week. We had a nice young fellow and Marg had listed all the alcohol in the unit. I had 2 bottles of scotch, but she had one of tequila, wine & then we had the part bottles, including one of rum that only had about 2 drinks out of it and 9 cans of beer. The guy started to write us up to go in and pay the duty on our overage and then said, this is more hassle for you than it's worth, but gave us a lecture about only being entitled to 40 ounces each. We thanked him and left with a big smile, but no thanks to all our friends who didn't drink up. LOL
Funny thing about the weather, as soon as we got a mile over the border, the sun came out and it was clear skies. By then the unit and the car were filthy from the wet roads, but nice to be in the clear. We just drove straight thru Lethbridge even though it was quite nice there. Stopped in Red Deer at Costco for fuel, only $1.15 per litre. I say only because that is 8 cents less than Calgary or Edm, but still a lot more than Montana.
Got to Glowing Embers for the night. This campground is really turning into an undesirable location, its muddy and lots of trashy looking rv's that seem to have been here all winter. Oh well, its the only one open all year round, so I guess I should just suck it up.
Tuesday 8 April 2014
April 8th, a Tuesday
Happy birthday Vanessa. Sorry we could not be there with you, love you and look forward to seeing you in a few days.
We got away from Ogden in good time, the traffic was light and before we knew it we were in Idaho, climbing the Malad summit. Having filled up last night, made a difference on how quickly we were able to be on the road. It was a bright sunny day and the temp actually warmed up quite a bit as the day wore on. Our objective today was to position ourselves so that the border was within an easy distance in case there were delays. All these Alberta, Saskatchewan & BC license plates have go to be heading for a border crossing and Sweetgrass is the biggest one. Hope we are not going to have another one of those 4 1/2 hour lines to customs. Last time that happened I told Marg to put a sign in the window -- bathroom break $5, so all those ladies in cars and trucks would have an option. LOL To this end lunch was a moving feast again today, so we could make miles. Marg makes a sandwich and I make sure we are moving. Hey I could be a poet, well maybe not.
The day was one of the most scenic on our route and we went through Butte this time to stay on the 4 lane interstate. Returning snowbirds were without doubt most of the traffic. In the farm area of Idaho before the Monida pass they were seeding and spraying, so they are at least a month ahead of Peace country farmers. We saw snow in the high country in the Monida and Elk Park passes. Traffic through Helena was pretty light as well.
We got through Helena and pulled into an rv park on Lincoln road that we had used previously, but they had a sign out that their water was frozen, so just power was available. There were lots of folks in the park, but others like us turned around and headed further north. If we are going to dry camp [without services], then why pay for it when you can just stay in a truck stop parking area for free. That would have been our default position, but we were really looking for a park. When we got to Great Falls we found a spot in a park we have previously stayed in with all the services, so here we are. We are about 125 miles from the border, so will likely cross the same day as we did last year on the 9th.
Listening to the radio today, we learned that Great Falls [where we are] is one of the 3 large sites used by the American military as a base for ICBM's and will be in the reductions that are to be de-commissioned in the agreement with Russia. Apparently the 3 sites have 450 combined, so there must be quite a number somewhere around here.
Supper was in the m'home. We had a bunch of sushi that Marg picked up yesterday, so that was our main course. Pretty good stuff, but the wasabi wasn't strong enough to clear my sinus. My father-in-law used to say he could see China when he had really strong horse radish, well this would have disappointed him, couldn't have seen the four mile corner.
Oh yes I had to give up the short pants this morning and stuck with them thru the day. Marg stuck with shorts and will no doubt be posting pics of the contrast. LOL
We got away from Ogden in good time, the traffic was light and before we knew it we were in Idaho, climbing the Malad summit. Having filled up last night, made a difference on how quickly we were able to be on the road. It was a bright sunny day and the temp actually warmed up quite a bit as the day wore on. Our objective today was to position ourselves so that the border was within an easy distance in case there were delays. All these Alberta, Saskatchewan & BC license plates have go to be heading for a border crossing and Sweetgrass is the biggest one. Hope we are not going to have another one of those 4 1/2 hour lines to customs. Last time that happened I told Marg to put a sign in the window -- bathroom break $5, so all those ladies in cars and trucks would have an option. LOL To this end lunch was a moving feast again today, so we could make miles. Marg makes a sandwich and I make sure we are moving. Hey I could be a poet, well maybe not.
The day was one of the most scenic on our route and we went through Butte this time to stay on the 4 lane interstate. Returning snowbirds were without doubt most of the traffic. In the farm area of Idaho before the Monida pass they were seeding and spraying, so they are at least a month ahead of Peace country farmers. We saw snow in the high country in the Monida and Elk Park passes. Traffic through Helena was pretty light as well.
We got through Helena and pulled into an rv park on Lincoln road that we had used previously, but they had a sign out that their water was frozen, so just power was available. There were lots of folks in the park, but others like us turned around and headed further north. If we are going to dry camp [without services], then why pay for it when you can just stay in a truck stop parking area for free. That would have been our default position, but we were really looking for a park. When we got to Great Falls we found a spot in a park we have previously stayed in with all the services, so here we are. We are about 125 miles from the border, so will likely cross the same day as we did last year on the 9th.
Listening to the radio today, we learned that Great Falls [where we are] is one of the 3 large sites used by the American military as a base for ICBM's and will be in the reductions that are to be de-commissioned in the agreement with Russia. Apparently the 3 sites have 450 combined, so there must be quite a number somewhere around here.
Supper was in the m'home. We had a bunch of sushi that Marg picked up yesterday, so that was our main course. Pretty good stuff, but the wasabi wasn't strong enough to clear my sinus. My father-in-law used to say he could see China when he had really strong horse radish, well this would have disappointed him, couldn't have seen the four mile corner.
Oh yes I had to give up the short pants this morning and stuck with them thru the day. Marg stuck with shorts and will no doubt be posting pics of the contrast. LOL
Monday 7 April 2014
Monday
Another good travel day, except for the wind we fought all day. Got on the road early and stopped at Smith's for fuel in Mesquite. It was a warm night, a nice change from the cool nights in the desert.
Our day was pretty uneventful. Saw lots of Canadian license plates on the road as we get passed lots. I set the cruise on 65mph and that's where we are except on the steep grades. Funny thing is lots of those people pass us 2, 3 or even 4 times because we don't stop and they need meals and bathroom breaks. Lots of police on the road and quite a few people pulled over for speed & the limit in Utah is 80 mph.
We made it through Salt Lake City in good shape. We got the south edge of the group of cities [I think Spanish Fork is the furthest south] about 2:30 and it took an hour an a half to get to Ogden, which is on the northern edge, well technically we are in West Have. By the time I got fuel and propane it was time to check in, so we went back to Century RV park, where we have stayed numerous times in the past. Funny thing is we got the stall next to the one we got last fall. Well even funnier was our stall number in Mesquite was the same as our site number in Carefree.
Got hooked up with one minor hiccup. A new sewer hose I connected with had a hole in it and I don't think it's ever been used before. Never discovered the hole until I opened the valve, arghhhhhh. Never will buy the black hose again. After hook up we went over to Costco and picked up a few things, then looked around for a place to eat. We found a nice pizzeria and it was good. came back to the park and re-connected the car and we are set for tomorrow.
Our day was pretty uneventful. Saw lots of Canadian license plates on the road as we get passed lots. I set the cruise on 65mph and that's where we are except on the steep grades. Funny thing is lots of those people pass us 2, 3 or even 4 times because we don't stop and they need meals and bathroom breaks. Lots of police on the road and quite a few people pulled over for speed & the limit in Utah is 80 mph.
We made it through Salt Lake City in good shape. We got the south edge of the group of cities [I think Spanish Fork is the furthest south] about 2:30 and it took an hour an a half to get to Ogden, which is on the northern edge, well technically we are in West Have. By the time I got fuel and propane it was time to check in, so we went back to Century RV park, where we have stayed numerous times in the past. Funny thing is we got the stall next to the one we got last fall. Well even funnier was our stall number in Mesquite was the same as our site number in Carefree.
Got hooked up with one minor hiccup. A new sewer hose I connected with had a hole in it and I don't think it's ever been used before. Never discovered the hole until I opened the valve, arghhhhhh. Never will buy the black hose again. After hook up we went over to Costco and picked up a few things, then looked around for a place to eat. We found a nice pizzeria and it was good. came back to the park and re-connected the car and we are set for tomorrow.
Sunday 6 April 2014
April 6th [Sunny Sunday]
On the road again....
Got up early as we always seem to do when it is a travel day. Got ourselves on the road by a few minutes before 8AM even with meeting a few people we had to exchange farewells with.
Took the 202 up to the 101 and stopped at the cave creek Costco for fuel. A mere $178 and we were on the road, traffic was light and I think we were past the last set of traffic lights in the west end about an hour and 10 or so minutes later. Forgot to lock the awning in place, so stopped just outside of the city to do that. When I opened the bin a can of coke fell out and started spraying everywhere. Fortunately that was the only problem. Traffic on the highway up thru Wickenburg all the way to Kingman was fairly busy. It always seems to be the case when you are on the 2 lane sections and we fought a headwind all day long. As a consequence the fuel economy will probably not be the best we have ever had. Lots of Alberta license plates on the road, so it appears we did not outlast everyone else. LOL
Stopped for lunch about half way between Kingman and Las Vegas pretty close to 1:00 and then on to Las Vegas. Traffic heavy over the new bridge at the Hoover dam, lots trying to see over the sides, but they never had the advantage of our elevated view. The only pics today were on Marg's ipad, so they will be on FB. Got through Las Vegas without a hitch, we have done that enough now to know which lanes are the best and traffic again was pretty light.
Made it to Mesquite, Nv where we got a spot in the rv park operated by the Casablanca hotel. We have stayed here quite a few times in the past, so know the drill pretty well. I guess that half of the campers were from Alberta, so we have not missed the migrating herd at all. For supper we went up to the Virgin River casino. Marg didn't fare too well on the slots, but I made a very small gain on my investment at the black jack table. Supper at the buffet was great, especially the bread pudding.
No wifi in the park, so sitting here in MacDonalds where they have free wifi and pretty good service too, with a coffee. Fuel is pretty pricey here, but we are low enough that it doesn't matter and will get topped up in the morning.
Should make it to someplace around Salt Lake City tomorrow, or if we make good time to infinity and beyond -- stay tuned.
Got up early as we always seem to do when it is a travel day. Got ourselves on the road by a few minutes before 8AM even with meeting a few people we had to exchange farewells with.
Took the 202 up to the 101 and stopped at the cave creek Costco for fuel. A mere $178 and we were on the road, traffic was light and I think we were past the last set of traffic lights in the west end about an hour and 10 or so minutes later. Forgot to lock the awning in place, so stopped just outside of the city to do that. When I opened the bin a can of coke fell out and started spraying everywhere. Fortunately that was the only problem. Traffic on the highway up thru Wickenburg all the way to Kingman was fairly busy. It always seems to be the case when you are on the 2 lane sections and we fought a headwind all day long. As a consequence the fuel economy will probably not be the best we have ever had. Lots of Alberta license plates on the road, so it appears we did not outlast everyone else. LOL
Stopped for lunch about half way between Kingman and Las Vegas pretty close to 1:00 and then on to Las Vegas. Traffic heavy over the new bridge at the Hoover dam, lots trying to see over the sides, but they never had the advantage of our elevated view. The only pics today were on Marg's ipad, so they will be on FB. Got through Las Vegas without a hitch, we have done that enough now to know which lanes are the best and traffic again was pretty light.
Made it to Mesquite, Nv where we got a spot in the rv park operated by the Casablanca hotel. We have stayed here quite a few times in the past, so know the drill pretty well. I guess that half of the campers were from Alberta, so we have not missed the migrating herd at all. For supper we went up to the Virgin River casino. Marg didn't fare too well on the slots, but I made a very small gain on my investment at the black jack table. Supper at the buffet was great, especially the bread pudding.
No wifi in the park, so sitting here in MacDonalds where they have free wifi and pretty good service too, with a coffee. Fuel is pretty pricey here, but we are low enough that it doesn't matter and will get topped up in the morning.
Should make it to someplace around Salt Lake City tomorrow, or if we make good time to infinity and beyond -- stay tuned.
Saturday 5 April 2014
Saturday, April 6th
As Elmer Fudd says in Looney Toons at the end of the show --- ahbee ahbee, that's all folks!
Our last day in the sunny south today. Went up the park model and finished summarizing it. Put 5 gal pails of water out with small holes to slow the evaporation. Put zip lock bags full of water in the toilet & on the drains. Shut off water and power to the hot water heater. Put everything away. Gave the mail service our change of address. Probably forgot something.
This will be our last day in site #58, after we got the best site in the park, now we have to give it up. Probably the motorhome's last time in Carefree Manor as we will drive a vehicle after this winter.
Went over to Dardie & Blackie's to drop off a photo album she had left in the m'home when they were here. Had a short visit and said our farewells.
My view from the cockpit tomorrow morning as we set out on the 2,000 mile journey north. This
was different, we are usually one of the first of our friends to leave for home, this year one of the last. We went for happy hour to Bud & Lynette's and it was farewells all round at the end. Emotional moment for the gals. After we went to the Chinese buffet and forgot to wear the buffet pants. Last one of them for a while.
Saw several other couples and the park managers came by to say farewell. Nice people!
Did some of the pack up stuff with the coach, like took off the wheel covers, put away the sewer line to simplify leaving tomorrow. Plan is to stop at Costco on the 101 for fuel and then head out through Wickenburg up through Las Vegas and probably overnight in Mesquite, Nevada. If not there, then we will go on to Utah and probably someplace like Leeds. We are hoping for light traffic leaving on a Sunday morning. The weather should be nice, it is forecast to start getting up into the 90's in the next few days, but shouldn't be too hot tomorrow.
Red sky at night!
All closed up!
Our last day in the sunny south today. Went up the park model and finished summarizing it. Put 5 gal pails of water out with small holes to slow the evaporation. Put zip lock bags full of water in the toilet & on the drains. Shut off water and power to the hot water heater. Put everything away. Gave the mail service our change of address. Probably forgot something.
Went over to Dardie & Blackie's to drop off a photo album she had left in the m'home when they were here. Had a short visit and said our farewells.
My view from the cockpit tomorrow morning as we set out on the 2,000 mile journey north. This
Saw several other couples and the park managers came by to say farewell. Nice people!
Did some of the pack up stuff with the coach, like took off the wheel covers, put away the sewer line to simplify leaving tomorrow. Plan is to stop at Costco on the 101 for fuel and then head out through Wickenburg up through Las Vegas and probably overnight in Mesquite, Nevada. If not there, then we will go on to Utah and probably someplace like Leeds. We are hoping for light traffic leaving on a Sunday morning. The weather should be nice, it is forecast to start getting up into the 90's in the next few days, but shouldn't be too hot tomorrow.
All closed up!Friday 4 April 2014
Friday
A beautiful day in the Valley of the Sun. Got some stuff done early in the morning, washed windows on the m'home, flushed the sewer system, you know real fun stuff.
Brad & Julie Emond from GP had called yesterday saying they were in the area, so we invited them to stop in. Apparently they had left their camper in Queen Creek after a lengthy trip and just came back to pick it up, just arriving here from GP. We took them to the big Mesa market and gave them a chance to look it over as they had never been there before. Not sure what they thought about it, but they know where it is in case they want to return. After we toured about half of it, we left for lunch. As no one seemed to have an opinion or preference, it was left to me and that generally means Ihop. I think they were fine with it, I sure was. LOL
On the way back Marg spotted a sign that said huge sale. They commented on how good her eyesight is, well I agree it is for some things anyway. As it turns out the sale was not all that huge, and they just had a bunch of junk; what a surprise. Returned to Carefree and gave them a chance to see our park model and get a feel for how cold the fridge keeps beer. Turns out they seemed to like it, although Julie and Marg had margaritas, also good I guess.
Got a few more loose ends tied up after they left, took some more stuff to the m'home to make the journey up north with us. Brad said he didn't think there was any point in hurrying home as there was still way too much snow, even though they met and passed an unbelievable number of rv's heading north. The big Sky Harbour airport reported they were having 100,000 daily flying out of the airport. Funny Bill had said something like that earlier in the week when I spoke with him. But ... 'The time has come, the walrus said, to think of many things...." [Carroll], and so it is with us leaving here. Everyone is leaving and we don't want to be the ones left to turn out the lights, LOL!
After we went up to Ron & Sue's for a bite to eat. They had a bunch of perch [apparently from Canada] and were cooking it up, along with a bunch of other yummy stuff. It was quite good, we were glad they invited us. They had quite a bunch gathered on their patio. Nice to see they had a good turn-out as they went to lots of bother.
Brad & Julie Emond from GP had called yesterday saying they were in the area, so we invited them to stop in. Apparently they had left their camper in Queen Creek after a lengthy trip and just came back to pick it up, just arriving here from GP. We took them to the big Mesa market and gave them a chance to look it over as they had never been there before. Not sure what they thought about it, but they know where it is in case they want to return. After we toured about half of it, we left for lunch. As no one seemed to have an opinion or preference, it was left to me and that generally means Ihop. I think they were fine with it, I sure was. LOL
On the way back Marg spotted a sign that said huge sale. They commented on how good her eyesight is, well I agree it is for some things anyway. As it turns out the sale was not all that huge, and they just had a bunch of junk; what a surprise. Returned to Carefree and gave them a chance to see our park model and get a feel for how cold the fridge keeps beer. Turns out they seemed to like it, although Julie and Marg had margaritas, also good I guess.
Got a few more loose ends tied up after they left, took some more stuff to the m'home to make the journey up north with us. Brad said he didn't think there was any point in hurrying home as there was still way too much snow, even though they met and passed an unbelievable number of rv's heading north. The big Sky Harbour airport reported they were having 100,000 daily flying out of the airport. Funny Bill had said something like that earlier in the week when I spoke with him. But ... 'The time has come, the walrus said, to think of many things...." [Carroll], and so it is with us leaving here. Everyone is leaving and we don't want to be the ones left to turn out the lights, LOL!
After we went up to Ron & Sue's for a bite to eat. They had a bunch of perch [apparently from Canada] and were cooking it up, along with a bunch of other yummy stuff. It was quite good, we were glad they invited us. They had quite a bunch gathered on their patio. Nice to see they had a good turn-out as they went to lots of bother.
Thursday 3 April 2014
Thursday, April 3rd
The day started out very chilly, I think it was only about 52 when I left to take back the Mediacom stuff for the television and internet connections. It was a good thing I had the installer note that some of the things were missing as they were getting all excited about it until I brought out the installation order. That meant going to the park for internet, which was easy enough to get, but it has also high-lighted how much better the other service was. Stopped on the way back and filled the car for Marg and the gamblin' gals.
One last trip out for the gamblin' gals and they went to Globe today. They were a bit late getting away waiting for Lynette's appointment, but then all I could see was taillights. They had a great day, lots of laughs, but didn't need the armored car service to bring the loot home.
I worked on some last minute stuff at the park model. There was some silicone to apply in a few places. Then I drilled some holes in the lids for 2 - 5 gallon water pails. These will be placed inside to help keep some humidity in the unit throughout the summer, when temps reach into 40C plus. Then I dug out all the insulated window coverings and did lots of repairs on them. I got them all installed, except the ones for the patio door. I didn't like the way he had them fabricated, so I put some grommets in and cup hooks on the wall, so now they are easy/peasy to install. I think it will be pretty good and I have a pretty good start on shutting the place down - summarizing it. Getting lots of advice on how to do this, most of it conflicting or the opposite of what others say. It simply leads me to the conclusion that there is no ONE WAY to do it.
Had a call from Brad & Julie from home today. They stored their camper in Queen creek, which is just up Ironwood from us. They will be coming by tomorrow morning and we will go to the big Mesa market and then to lunch. We wanted to go there one last time and as Emond's have not seen it, this will be a good opportunity to spend some time with them.
By then Marg showed up and I stopped to take a shower. Do that in the new place as it is so much more convenient than the m'home shower. By the end of the day we were back to having a very pleasant day, in the 70's, I believe. It was still a short pants day anyway.
We had agreed to go to dinner with the park managers, Curt & Aggie. They picked us up at 5:30 and it was off to Cracker Barrel, one of our fav's. Thanks Char, Phil, Katie, it was great. I had the Thursday special, turkey and Marg had the chicken fried chicken. Both were very good and then Marg & Aggie did a bit of shopping in the lobby. A fun evening.
One last trip out for the gamblin' gals and they went to Globe today. They were a bit late getting away waiting for Lynette's appointment, but then all I could see was taillights. They had a great day, lots of laughs, but didn't need the armored car service to bring the loot home.
I worked on some last minute stuff at the park model. There was some silicone to apply in a few places. Then I drilled some holes in the lids for 2 - 5 gallon water pails. These will be placed inside to help keep some humidity in the unit throughout the summer, when temps reach into 40C plus. Then I dug out all the insulated window coverings and did lots of repairs on them. I got them all installed, except the ones for the patio door. I didn't like the way he had them fabricated, so I put some grommets in and cup hooks on the wall, so now they are easy/peasy to install. I think it will be pretty good and I have a pretty good start on shutting the place down - summarizing it. Getting lots of advice on how to do this, most of it conflicting or the opposite of what others say. It simply leads me to the conclusion that there is no ONE WAY to do it.
Had a call from Brad & Julie from home today. They stored their camper in Queen creek, which is just up Ironwood from us. They will be coming by tomorrow morning and we will go to the big Mesa market and then to lunch. We wanted to go there one last time and as Emond's have not seen it, this will be a good opportunity to spend some time with them.
By then Marg showed up and I stopped to take a shower. Do that in the new place as it is so much more convenient than the m'home shower. By the end of the day we were back to having a very pleasant day, in the 70's, I believe. It was still a short pants day anyway.
We had agreed to go to dinner with the park managers, Curt & Aggie. They picked us up at 5:30 and it was off to Cracker Barrel, one of our fav's. Thanks Char, Phil, Katie, it was great. I had the Thursday special, turkey and Marg had the chicken fried chicken. Both were very good and then Marg & Aggie did a bit of shopping in the lobby. A fun evening.
Wednesday 2 April 2014
April 2nd
How can it be April already and the weather around GP is winter-like. The weather here today was cool, I don't think it got above 60 or 65F today and the wind was chilly. In fact it sort of rained today. By that I mean we have about 40 rain drops on the road out front.
I went golfing with 2 other guys from the rv park and when we got there only 2 from the other park showed up, so we played as 5. There was no group either in front or behind us, but it played fast today, well under 2 hours for 9 holes. We played skins and the only one to not win one was yours truly, so I paid everyone. Oh well, it was fun day with 2 pars and in spite of 2 lost ball & 2 more unplayable lie penalties I was 46, could have been a great round. LOL
Marg went out this AM and picked up food for the happy hour tonight. We both spent most of the afternoon getting things ready as happy hour starts at 4 pm here. We had about 20 invited, but a couple had problems and weren't able to be there. It was Kenny & Doris' last night, they leave for Kansas tomorrow. Marg had so much food and some of the others brought stuff, so it was pretty much supper as well. She had cocktail wieners, sausage, chicken wings, orange chicken, nachos, cheese , crackers, watermelon, strawberries, etc. But the highlight this evening was her margarita offering. She had traditional ones that were good and popular, but when she started making mango ones, the girls really kicked it up a notch. I think she went through 2 or 3 bottles of Jose Cuervo & 2 or 3 limes. The gals were right in to party mode by the end of the evening. I am sure the laughter made people wonder what was going on as it got pretty loud at times. Everyone loved the renovations on our unit, they even had a toast to us in our new place. Very nice to spend some time with good friends before leaving for home. Funny, 5 years ago we hardly knew these people, now they are important in our lives.
Got it all cleaned up and called it a day, it's only 9:30 & need sleep. LOL
I went golfing with 2 other guys from the rv park and when we got there only 2 from the other park showed up, so we played as 5. There was no group either in front or behind us, but it played fast today, well under 2 hours for 9 holes. We played skins and the only one to not win one was yours truly, so I paid everyone. Oh well, it was fun day with 2 pars and in spite of 2 lost ball & 2 more unplayable lie penalties I was 46, could have been a great round. LOL
Marg went out this AM and picked up food for the happy hour tonight. We both spent most of the afternoon getting things ready as happy hour starts at 4 pm here. We had about 20 invited, but a couple had problems and weren't able to be there. It was Kenny & Doris' last night, they leave for Kansas tomorrow. Marg had so much food and some of the others brought stuff, so it was pretty much supper as well. She had cocktail wieners, sausage, chicken wings, orange chicken, nachos, cheese , crackers, watermelon, strawberries, etc. But the highlight this evening was her margarita offering. She had traditional ones that were good and popular, but when she started making mango ones, the girls really kicked it up a notch. I think she went through 2 or 3 bottles of Jose Cuervo & 2 or 3 limes. The gals were right in to party mode by the end of the evening. I am sure the laughter made people wonder what was going on as it got pretty loud at times. Everyone loved the renovations on our unit, they even had a toast to us in our new place. Very nice to spend some time with good friends before leaving for home. Funny, 5 years ago we hardly knew these people, now they are important in our lives.
Got it all cleaned up and called it a day, it's only 9:30 & need sleep. LOL
April fools!
My April 1st joke is a late post, so here it is.
Happy birthday Phil, sorry we could not be there to share your day. Sounds like it was a good day, all the best.
We did a bit of running around looking for parts for the screen door, but had to hurry back as Marg went to splash & thrash and then after took a bunch of stuff over to the park model. Mostly bedding and stuff that we don't need on the m'home. We should have lots of room going home with her unloading this stuff. I went over and installed the accordion door on the closet in the bathroom. It previously had a poorly fitting bifold and this is much better. After I went back to the place where the guys bought the screen door, but no luck for parts there either.
After lunch I spent much of the afternoon working on the screen door. I managed to get both the adjuster & two rollers working much better. This is the best the doggone thing has ever worked and hopefully it will be fine like this. If it works out, I will invest in new material and replace the screen on it. They guys who found it will be glad to see it working fine and no doubt feel vindicated in their decision to get it.
After we went back to the m'home where Marg prepared a roast pork [on the bbq with a glaze]and a coleslaw as well as bringing buns. It was for the dinner at Clyde & Anne's. He is quite a cook and had made a pork roast with a sausage stuffed through the middle of it. There must have been 25 or more and it was a great dinner, lots of food. There were 3 pork roasts and I may be prejudiced but Marg's was the best one. After I helped bring the chairs and tables back to the hall.
After we went out and bought some cleaner, push broom and a garden hose. The driveway pad at the unit had some stains on it and we wanted to see if they would come out. I think the cleaner was purple power and it appeared to work pretty well. I say appeared as it was dark by this time. There is pretty much no twilight here, it's either light or dark and nothing in between & 7 PM is about when its dark. We are getting ready for our first patio party tomorrow.
Just as we were finishing some people who just came into the park in an rv stopped by looking for a guy. Apparently he has Alzheimer's and just wandered off. About 20 people in the park were out looking for him. We took the car and did a canvas of the area around the park. We took my really bright flashlight that Bill gave me because we wanted to look into some of the bushy areas. While driving along at low speeds Marg was shining the light in yards an such. I got alarmed as some people may have thought we were burglars and with the gun laws here, well anyway you know what I mean. Short story is they found the guy and he got back to the rv safely.
Happy birthday Phil, sorry we could not be there to share your day. Sounds like it was a good day, all the best.
We did a bit of running around looking for parts for the screen door, but had to hurry back as Marg went to splash & thrash and then after took a bunch of stuff over to the park model. Mostly bedding and stuff that we don't need on the m'home. We should have lots of room going home with her unloading this stuff. I went over and installed the accordion door on the closet in the bathroom. It previously had a poorly fitting bifold and this is much better. After I went back to the place where the guys bought the screen door, but no luck for parts there either.
After lunch I spent much of the afternoon working on the screen door. I managed to get both the adjuster & two rollers working much better. This is the best the doggone thing has ever worked and hopefully it will be fine like this. If it works out, I will invest in new material and replace the screen on it. They guys who found it will be glad to see it working fine and no doubt feel vindicated in their decision to get it.
After we went back to the m'home where Marg prepared a roast pork [on the bbq with a glaze]and a coleslaw as well as bringing buns. It was for the dinner at Clyde & Anne's. He is quite a cook and had made a pork roast with a sausage stuffed through the middle of it. There must have been 25 or more and it was a great dinner, lots of food. There were 3 pork roasts and I may be prejudiced but Marg's was the best one. After I helped bring the chairs and tables back to the hall.
After we went out and bought some cleaner, push broom and a garden hose. The driveway pad at the unit had some stains on it and we wanted to see if they would come out. I think the cleaner was purple power and it appeared to work pretty well. I say appeared as it was dark by this time. There is pretty much no twilight here, it's either light or dark and nothing in between & 7 PM is about when its dark. We are getting ready for our first patio party tomorrow.
Just as we were finishing some people who just came into the park in an rv stopped by looking for a guy. Apparently he has Alzheimer's and just wandered off. About 20 people in the park were out looking for him. We took the car and did a canvas of the area around the park. We took my really bright flashlight that Bill gave me because we wanted to look into some of the bushy areas. While driving along at low speeds Marg was shining the light in yards an such. I got alarmed as some people may have thought we were burglars and with the gun laws here, well anyway you know what I mean. Short story is they found the guy and he got back to the rv safely.
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