The End - of February

  The last day of February, where does the time go?  It was a beautiful day, the temp got up to 84F/29C but there was a breeze that made it pleasant.
  Got out and worked on the place in the morning.  Did some rebuilding on one of the walls and sanded & worked all the patches I put on yesterday.  Did some work on patching the floor and I think I am done with that now.  Unpacked my new power saw and went around the park borrowing tools, skill saw, drill, level, etc.  Marg cleaned the driveway with the vacuum as there was lots of stuff from the carpet and underlay.  Then she cleaned the floor in the place, the little shop vac I bought is getting a good workout.  Probably had a dozen visitors today checking the job out.  One lady I didn't even know, she just wanted to see what you get for the price we paid.  I told her this is probably the lowest priced unit that will sell this year.  Then she told me how great some other parks are & I felt like saying - why are you here?
  Marg went to water aerobics at 11 & they had their regular bunch out doing the thrash & splash.  After that she brought me lunch to the job site.  Nice sandwiches. 
  In the afternoon I cut some plywood and put in the first piece of underlay.  By that time is was mid afternoon and I decided to quit.  Had lots of tool problems today, some of the tools people lent me, well I'll just say I wouldn't own them if they were free.  Marg brought me some things and I had my first shower in the unit today.  Works just fine, better than in the motorhome.
  Got back to the rv in time for a beer and bbq'ed the sausage.  Marg's water group had a pool party

later in the afternoon and as with all things here it included food.  She took the sausage all chopped into pieces in the slow cooker and made some ham thing on mini-toast with either gherkins or olives in the center, oh yeh cheese sprinkled on.  There were a couple dozen people there as spouses were included.  A couple of ladies who are real characters showed up as Amigos and created quite a stir, lots of laughs.  Some great food and a couple of husbands had a margarita machine that they poured very freely from.
  Barely got done there and we had to go to the animal races.  Oh yeh, the elephant finally won one.  We are exhausted, going to bed early!
 

Thursday

Back on the tools today.
  Spent the day in the unit fixing up the problems in the walls.  It turns out one of the doors looks like it was in a war, but tried some wood filler on it and will see how it turns out tomorrow.  Fixed the hole in the floor with a piece of plywood.  Then had to pull out the fridge to cut a hole in the wall to repair a hole in the hallway wall.  I put on a few trim pieces that were either missing or were needed after some of the changes we made.  Took down all the masking tape and plastic.  Then Kenny & I measured up the floor for the underlay we will be installing. 
  We had lots of company again, so Marg between washing the walls down conducted some more tours.  She went over to talk with the neighbours across the street.  It seems the prior owners allowed them to park on the drive under the carport and Chris asked if he could do that in the summer.  Marg agreed to this and Miranda offered to look in on the place if we would like.  It will be of some comfort knowing they will keep an eye on things.  From talking to friends, it seems most people summarize their places here.  They block off the drains and leave pails of water in the unit to help with the intense heat.  The water evaporates so quickly that they put small holes in the lids or use large bottles so the small neck area slows down the evaporation.  Apparently it is helpful to have someone refill the buckets.  Kind of the opposite of what we are accustomed to when we have to winterize our stuff in GP.
  After lunch we went out and rented a truck.  $20 a day, pretty good day rate.  Anyway we got a brand new Ford, 3,000 miles on it.  We went out and ordered our laminate flooring and picked up the plywood as well as a few more tools.  One of the tools is a 10" power sliding mitre saw, now this will be cool.  Used my coupon for it and the price was great, also used a second coupon and got another free gift, this time a pair of work gloves.  For a skill saw and jig saw I am just using Kenny's and then several other peoples drills.  I plan to screw the floor down and with no Robertson screws here, the choices are Phillips or some other multi-point screw head that I have not seen before.  Took all the stuff back to the rv park and then used the truck to hall all the garbage [carpet & underlay mostly] to the dumpster.  This attracted lots of attention, the truck had UHaul and advertising all over it, including a big $19.95/day sign.  Some of our questionable friends gave us a hard time about the truck, even if it was new, saying they thought we would rent a high dollar unit.  I think when all was said and done we put about 17 miles on the truck.  The standing joke is that us Canadians have lots of money, but I just tell them we have to come here because stuff is so much cheaper that it keeps us from eating cat food.  LOL  Another joke I heard is that there are so many Albertans down here, that they need to spray for them.
  Supper tonight was bbq, but no happy hour.  What happened to our lifestyle?  Wait there is a party tomorrow!
  Will try to get some pictures to liven things up a bit, maybe one of the new power saw.  Almost forgot about those as well.

Wednesday - Feb 26th

What a fabulous day, it started out nice and just kept getting better.  I say the temp at 80F at one point, but not certain what it got to.
  In the morning Marg left with the gamblin' gals and spent the day at the fort.  They had lots of laughs, but never scored big.  She said she was one number lots of times and some old gal won a big game that paid her $12,000 at one of those times.
  Me I went to work today, you know, the nine hole turf inspection.  What a great day for golf with just a bit of a breeze.  Had a great game, for me anyway and played with 3 fun guys and scored well with 2 pars.  I was lucky because Pat have offered me a ride, without which I would not have been able to go.  The car was in at the dealership for the problems I reported on yesterday.
  I got back and went to look at the job at the park model.  Just got started and Kenny showed up to go over the plan for the screen door.  I set it aside as I am running the risk of losing focus here and really need to work on the unit.  I wanted to have an in-depth look at the flooring issues and come up with a solution.  I think I will be putting down a layer of plywood on the existing floor.  It will give the floor more strength and a level surface to ensure the laminate installs OK.  It will add quite a bit to the cost, but I don't think I will be happy with the result otherwise.
  Just got started and the dealership called to say the car was ready.  They sent a courtesy car and gave me a ride back, it's quite a hike from here, about 5 miles, I guess.  It turned out to be an electrical problem with a fault in a wiring harness that was at the root of all the problems.  The unit had to be replaced and re-wired.  IT runs fine now and the wallet is lighter by $500.  I also picked up the $15 part that I originally went there for and installed it when I got home.  It was a bit of a challenge, so took lots of time.
  By then Marg was home and it was happy hour, so we went.  At the end she had told the others that it was my turn to cook and we were going to Ihop.  The Bingers & Blanke's came with us and we had one of my favourite meals.  We had to hurry to get back as Smitty was making desert in the dutch ovens.  He made a peach cobbler and a pineapple dumpling.  He had 3 of these stacked up on a charcoal bbq.  They are to die for, so you never miss the opportunity to attend.  Then it was off to poker, we had 11 players tonight, so 2 tables.  I don't usually say much, but I cleaned up pretty good tonight.  When I got home I dumped out the change from my poker money and it turns out I had $63.  That's a lot of nickels and dimes.  Best of all I had a lot of laughs while I was accumulating it.
  Oh, must get back on track with the job.

Tuesday Feb 25th

Nice day today.  The temp said it was hot, but it felt much milder, just like a nice summer day back in GP. 
  We did some running around to get some supplies.  Went to Harbor Freight and got a shop vac, a step stool and a pair of saw horses.  We split the order so each got a free gift with my coupons plus I used a 25% off coupon for the shop vac.  My free gift was a 25 ft tape measure and Marg got a multi meter.  Then it was on to Home Depot where we got supplies to fill cracks and holes.  Also got some trim pieces and other odds and ends, well $85 worth.
  We got back to the park model late morning and there were people cruising by looking for an opportunity to help.  I pulled the carpet out and then the underlay.  It was in pretty good condition actually and it is still laying on the driveway.  Curtis and the guys from the park stopped by to get the hide-a-bed and Marg convinced them to take the 2 recliner chairs and the 4 kitchen chairs.  Gary said something like I sure must be glad I bought the place furnished, or at least everyone else is.  Pretty funny anyway.  Marg & Linda pulled staples left from the underlay, most of the rest of the time, while I took out the gripper edge.  The shop vac got a good workout.  We had a few more visitors and tours to conduct again today.  We knew the floor was soft in one area and when we got the carpet out found a few nasty surprises in the floor that will take some extra time to deal with.  While this was happening Kenny & Jerry went to a recycle place and got a screen door for the patio door set.  I had mention that we were missing the screen and would need to find one.  I had called a supplier and he was set to make us one for $220, but I wanted to look around a bit; well it's not a problem any longer.  At lunch time Kenny & Doris called us over, they had picked up Dairy Queen, so the 3 of us joined them for burgers, fries and sundaes.  When I tried to pay him, Kenny just said that we were going to get some help and better get used to the idea.  Good friends.
  Marg went out to get a broom and other things she needed and the Chevrolet dealer called to say our part was in.  The tension bar in the trunk broke and we had to order one, it makes the trunk feel light and keeps it from falling on your head when its open.  Got away late in the afternoon and on the way to the dealership the car started acting up.  Not entirely sure what the problem is, but I suspect something serious.  Anyway it was really bad by the time we  got to the dealership, so we left the car and they gave us a ride back to the rv park.  This is almost one of those perfect storm things, the car sensed we were on the way to the car hospital, so got sick.  Can hardly wait to hear the diagnosis, I' certain they will say - just bring the cheque book.  Sure hope the car isn't tied up too many days as we really need it right now.  Oh well tomorrow Marg is with the gamblin' gals [one has a daughter here from Michigan] and I have golf and best of all we both have rides.
  Got several invitations today, an open house party, a dutch oven desert party, a pool party [water aerobics couples], all this week I think.  Speed bumps on my work plan, perhaps.  My wife is pretty popular in the park.
  Went to bingo tonight and Marg had a win, so the day ended on a positive note.

Monday - Feb 24th

Hot one today, I think it was 80F or around there.  It is supposed to stay above average until the weekend and then drop down about 10 degrees with the possibility of some rain.
  We got a good start on the park model today.  I painted all of the ceilings in the unit and they look pretty good.  All day long there were visitors, so Marg conducted tours while I painted.  Well all day long was really just the morning, we finished in time for a bit of a late lunch.  Everyone seemed to like the unit, some even asked us to find one just like it for them.  I had a couple of offers to sell it, but one said not to be too hasty and make the decision when the painting is done.  HaHa!  The paint covered very well and seems one coat will do it.

  Marg took all the switch plates off and put them in a pail of detergent to see if they will clean up.  Failing that I guess the plan will for new ones.  I think she has given away almost all of the furniture,  I am sure glad we bought it furnished, LOL!  I think we are keeping the table, but not the chairs and a stool as well as the bed for the Az room.  She just has a couple of recliners or rockers to give away, as she got rid of the hide-a-bed today.  She even gave some valances out of the bedroom away to the gal across the road.  It was mostly ladies coming for tours and a few of them commented on how nice our carpet its, seemingly it is better than what they have in their units.  Yes that will be going too.  After lunch one of her buddies saw me sitting and asked when I was going back to work.  I have to keep telling these people, hey, I'm retired.  The other interesting thing is there are some folks in the park who fancy themselves as handymen and want to do the reno's for us, but we are staying shy of them.
  Supper tonight was the potato bake.  They make the biggest baked potatoes I have ever seen and then have all kinds of toppings out. You really can make a meal of one potato, some people even take half home for a later meal.  It's all I can eat to get through one of them.  They also offer sloppy joes or chili by the bowl to go along with it.  It was well attended and in fact they ran out at 100, leaving a handful of disappointed people.
  Poker tonight.  We have started playing on Monday nights as well as Wednesday.  I did OK, I think I have been pretty much break-even the last few games.  I don't count it because I really just play for the fun and camaraderie.  We had a surprise tonight, Gerry Mc came to play, he used to be a resident here, then for the last year or two always came back here just to play.  He moved parks to be closer to his cancer doc and is doing pretty well with his treatments.  For those of us who have been around here for a while, it sure made our hearts glad.  Not having heard from him for a while, we were very concerned.
 
 
 

Sunday

Well our vendors pulled out early.  I think her sister left on a 6:30AM flight, so they had to get her to the airport an hour before that and were to leave from the airport.
  I think Marg was up at the proverbial Crack of Dawn and ready to rock & roll by the time I got out of the feathers.  Had a good breakfast then went down to check on the place.  It was cleaned right out and left much as we expected.  There were some surprises in finding some damage to the walls & cupboard doors that we never saw at first visit.  These will mean a bit of extra work, but nothing we can't handle.  We also have some questions about the floor, as it may need some leveling before putting the laminate in, but will not be able to tell until we take the carpet out.  That will likely happen in the next day or two.  So we took some measurements, then off to Home Depot to pick up paint and paint supplies.
  Back at the trailer, we had lots of company.  I tried to work while Marg gave the guided tours.  I was masking and prepping to paint the ceiling.  We were concerned where to put the television and she came up with a plan to remove part of the cabinets to make an empty wall space.  This idea gained favour among the viewing public, so I said she needed to decide as it affected the painting of the ceiling.  The next thing I was doing was to take the cabinet out.
  In the end we got ourselves ready to paint and that will be the agenda for tomorrow.
  Finished up for supper, well went to happy hour for a half hour, then the ice cream social.  All the while responding to many questions about our project and status.

Saturday, Feb 22nd

Another gorgeous day in the sun.  It got pretty warm today, I think around 78F.  The temps this year are averaging about 10 degrees above average and there has been no rain this year.  They are not too happy about the lack of rain here, but for us tourists, it works just fine.
  We got an early start as it was a big garage or park sale day.  Marg had found info on several she wanted to go to including a big parking lot yard sale at Ft McDowell.  Linda W went with us, she loves rummage sales and casino's and is one of Marg's buddies.  The first sale was in a large park just south of us and the girls found lots of stuff they liked.  Not sure what all they bought, but I was pressing the trunk release almost every time they returned to the car.  Marg got a set of dishes, a silverware set [Rogers, same as her mother had] and a bunch of other stuff.  Linda had just as much or more, I believe.  She even bought a cactus arrangement, geez there are cactus everywhere around here, oh well.  I even got something, 4 wrenches, all good quality ones at 50 cents each.
 

 

  After the park sales in the area around us we went to Fort McDowell where they had a huge parking lot area filled with vendors selling their garage sale items.  I think they pay something like $10 a table and there were probably 100 vendors.  There were some you could tell did this as a business, but many were just selling stuff out of their homes or yards.  The girls didn't buy anything here, but I got a few old Canadian coins, the oldest 1933.

  By this time it was lunch, so we ate in the café in the casino.  We have eaten there in prior years and it's always pretty good.  I think the girls may have plugged a few slots, but not sure.  This is where Marg and the gamblin' gals go on their Wednesday outings. 

The palm trees here are date palms and they form pods at the top which open to produce dates.  Not all the trees produce dates, some are just to pollinate the others.  This just started to happen this week and the bees are around them by the dozens.  There is a sweet sap on then when the pods open and the bees will pretty much be in there daily until it ends.  By doing this the bees carry the pollen back and forth between the trees.  This one is probably 15 feet high.
  At the end of the day Ralph & Lorraine stopped by to say they are leaving tomorrow after dropping her sister at the airport, so the park model will be ours to do with as we wish by the time we get up in the morning.  Is Marg excited, well duh!  Will get lots of pictures for tomorrow's post.

Friday

It was a bit cool when we got up but by noon the sun was out and the temp was up in the high 70's.
  Got Jerry B to drive me to the Walmart on the trail this morning where I picked up a new bbq or grill as it is most often called here and a new propane tank. It was already assembled, so needed a truck to get it back here.  Now that we will have a shed at the park model we can store it here year round and I won't have to make do with the compact one that fits in the storage bin on the motorhome.  Just like anything in the park, everyone knew about it within 15 minutes of the transaction, LOL.  We had lots of offers to attend the inaugural use of it.  I just told everyone they and their steaks were always welcome.
    Marg went to splash and thrash this morning.  I guess they had a smaller group, 9 I believe, but still managed to get the pool well churned up.
  We went out to pay for the cable vision only to find out the bill was not due for another month.  Good thing we went in to the office as the bill was somewhat confusing about the time it was for and when the payment was due.  Speaking of bills, got the Aquatera bill in the mail today, $49 for the month, with zero water usage and zero sewer usage.  The only one of our utilities that does not offer a no payment required option while on vacation.
  After lunch Marg made up a pasta salad that included a bunch of stuff like: ham, cheese, broccoli,

etc. for the block party.  This is the third one this winter and everyone brings something as well as chairs and drinks.  It was well attended [there must have been more than 100 there] and there was lots of good food.  One fellow here makes all his contributions in a dutch oven and today made two with cobblers.  Let me tell you, they were great.  There is one more party scheduled, on Happy Hour lane, which will be our new address.
  In the evening, it was the animal races.  We had our share of wins tonight, we each had 4.  Well Marg usually wins lots, me not so much. We have developed some friendly rivalry about who wins and how often; that really adds to the fun. We do happy dances when we win to celebrate and generally have a good time.  There is a bit of a lull between betting and the race so they can calculate the payouts for each animal in case they win and during that time one of the organizers or sometimes the audience tell jokes.  It's a hoot!

Thursday

  Well a remarkable day, Marg got up early and went to coffee & donuts in the rec center with me.  There were no real surprises, but it was the last day for nominations for any of the executive positions in the tenants association in the park, so we wanted to see if there would be any.  The incumbents were all acclaimed for another term, so it was anti-climatic.
  My gout was acting up, so I wasn't keen on walking around and just sat and visited with people.  Almyra showed us the little plants growing off of her century plant and offered one for our new place.  It's the plant I put a pic of on here yesterday.  We also learned the spike could grow as tall as 26 feet, so will likely be awhile before it flowers.  Then Marg went down to see the Ralph & Lorraine, who told her their plans would see them leaving on Monday and giving us keys to the park model on Sunday after her sister leaves.  I guess her sister said not to worry about the condition of the place as Lorraine was the fussiest housekeeper she knew.  From our two visits to the place we were of the impression that they looked after things they owned very well.
  Marg went to splash & thrash again, so that took in the balance of the morning.  She was so busy she almost missed it.

  We had lunch plans and went out with Blanke's & Hanner's to Garcia's in Mesa.  We all rode in Kenny's vehicle, so Marg thought she should get a picture of the view from the last seat.

  The restaurant is Mexican and the décor was pretty neat.  The food was great.  I had a burrito & tostado combination that came with Spanish rice and refried beans. 
Marg had a chimichanga dish.

The girls went all out having Margaritas with their lunch.  I must say Marg was surprised at the size of them and I hear they were yummy!

Then it was off to pick up Kenny's guitar.  He bought a Martin & had always wanted one, so took it in for new strings and some adjustments.  I imagine he is pickin' as we are doing this.  On the way back we came by the Johnson Ranch area that has a water feature at the rear of the homes and everyone has either a pontoon boat or a smaller paddle boat tied up at their rear fence.  Pretty neat for a place in the desert.

  After it was home for a light and quite late supper.  We don't usually eat a lunch as large as we did today, so were not very hungry even when we did eat.  Well we did have apple pie & ice cream, as we were the only ones who never had dessert at lunch.

 

Wednesday

Early morning start for both of us.  It was a great day, very pleasant, but not as hot as the last few days and a slight breezed most of the day.  Just a perfect day for anything outdoors.
  Marg went with the gamblin' gals to the Fort for the day.  Apparently she never lost, but never won. A unique concept perhaps, but she seemed happy with the outcome.  Brenda won at bingo and Nancy won at the slots, so they were all happy when they got back.
  I went out to Apache Sun with the group from our park to play golf at our regular T time.  Played with 3 guys from our park, two of whom are hilarious, so it was a fun round.  Pat was one of the group and he won the long putt on hole #4.  Another one of our guys had the closest to the pin on #6, but he got beat out.  I hit the ball well and had a reasonably good round and score, well for me anyway. I never lost a ball, which is one of my criteria for success, although I did have one really bad hole.
  When I got back I did some repairs in the motorhome.  I had some issues with the counter top and fixed it with super glue.  Then I went to the post office to buy some stamps and mail some thank you cards to the guys in St George who helped us so much with our window replacement.  While I was out, I went to the local Walmart to see if they have the bbq we want, which they did.  Now I just need to convince one of the guys with trucks to give me a hand to get it.
  Got back in time to play a few rounds of pool.  Not many guys are playing this year and the tournament is tomorrow.  Not certain yet what I am doing.
  Dinner tonight was a big salad, well honestly that's what Marg called it.  I think it must have been the other stuff around it that made it qualify as big, like the cold cuts, or hard boiled eggs.  Something like that.  It made me think of the Seinfeld episode on the big salad anyway.  So it turns out we have our own version of it.
  Then after dinner, Marg did laundry, I played poker.  We both fared well, so we have clean clothes to wear and I never lost any money either.  Had one new guy, well for this year anyway as he was here in prior years.  Some of our regulars were not there, but we had more than enough players. 
  Some days we are too busy, today was one of them.  We never even had time for happy hour.

Tuesday

As it turns out, yesterday was a record high at 88F. Today, very nice I think 86 tying the record, but it is set to cool off by the end of the week and by that I mean 75F/24C, still very nice.
  Had the rv washed today.  I was waiting until the new window was installed and then the guy that does it is booked about a week in advance.  He is the same fellow we have had for about 4 years now and does very good work.  One of the issues here is the water leaving watermarks and he eliminates that by bringing his own treated water.  He also has a liquid wax in it and the unit fairly shines when he is done.  They also do the tires and wheel discs so they look like new.  They splashed the neighbours vehicle and washed that, then did our car as well.  He showed up with 2 other fellows, and sprayed the roof and awning tops.  After they washed the sides with soapy brushes, rinsed it off and then wiped it all down, including windows.  All of this for $75!  Marg gave them all a can of soda pop and a $5 tip each.  In the end we were happy and it was great value.  One of the issues that arises is that they do such a good job, there are always other people in the park asking to get their units done, this year there were 4 or 5 of them.
  Marg went to thrash and splash again this morning, you know already - water aerobics.  The weather was so nice they had a pool full of ladies flailing about.
  After the guys left, I washed the mat, the patio and the driveway off.  The place is spic & span now.
  We intended to go out and see if we could get some stuff sorted out, but Marg had visitors on the patio most of the afternoon.  With our site here at the entrance to the park we almost feel like the Walmart greeters and lots of people walking by or going for mail stop to chat.  It was a particularly chatty morning.  We never got away until after 3, so just went to the Superstition farmers market where we picked up some fresh vegetables & oranges.  This stuff down here is so good, so much better than what we get at home and reasonable.  How reasonable, well for example the cucumbers were 10 cents each and they are very large.  The oranges are nothing like the ones we get in GP, they actually taste like fresh fruit.
  We barely had time for that and it was happy hour.  This is pretty funny, but place we most often go is on Happy Hour lane and that is the road our park model is on.  Kind of suits us, it seems.  Marg was late getting there as she was preparing the fresh vegetables and potatoes for roasting with the marinated chicken so I could just pop in on the bbq when we got back. 
  Bingo tonight and there were 2 winners at our table, sadly neither of us, but one was one of the gamblin' gals.
 

  I took a picture of Almyra's century plant this evening.  It is getting ready to bloom, that's why the huge spear is growing out of it's center and should get much taller then will eventually have a flower.  This spire grew almost overnight.  Apparently this plant only blooms once and then dies.  Will keep an eye on it and photo it when that happens.

 

Monday

Happy birthday Kennedy.
  It was a hot day, I think it got to 84 or 85.  I went for an early morning bike ride and it was great.  There was a nice breeze to keep it from being too hot, although that made riding uphill into it a little more challenging. Saw the guys heading out for a day in the desert, sure hated to miss out on that.
   After I got back we went for a walk and Mayva's sister had made the mini donuts and was passing them around.  They were great.  Stopped and talked to a few people, one who wanted our pictures from the sock hop, even offering to pay for them.  LOL  Marg joked about it being my first paying gig as a photographer.  I don't think she was willing to pay the kind of money someone like Karsch would get.
  The gals all went out for lunch,  They went to Los Gringos Loco, a pretty good Mexican eatery.  It seems they had not only great food, but lots of laughs and shopping.  Marg seized the opportunity when Linda was buying something to pay for it, to thank her for finding the park model deal and putting us in the loop on it as soon as she did.  Also got a new bedding set for the park model.  It seems we needed this to help us decide on paint colors.
  I went golfing with Gary and Gene to San Marco.  It is the oldest course in Phoenix and has been allowed to become a bit tired as they are going to totally redo the course.  A group of investors bought the resort and now that it is finished are focusing on the course.  It was so hot that I found myself failing a bit on the last 3 holes.  I only lost one ball today, put it into someone's back yard, but my score was 4 strokes better than I last game there.  Gene had a hole in one on #8, a 144 yard par 3.  It was my first ace, by that I mean the first one I have been present for and actually seen.  We were whooping it up pretty good when it happened and at the end of the round he had us sign the card. 
  Got home and had a quick bite to eat as we had poker tonight.  This is a first, poker on Monday night and we had 10 players, so 2 table's.  I think I came out a bit ahead

Sunday

Another great day in AJ, I think the high was 85F today.  There was a bit of a breeze & it was a bit overcast, making for a great day, hot but not too hot.
  I went for a bike ride early in the morning and returned while it was still very pleasant in the morning.  With the wind out of the east & that direction being uphill, it was a good workout on the way out, but the ride back was in my top gear at a pretty good pace.  When I got back Ralph walked by and said his company would be leaving on the 23rd, so they would pack Feb 24th and probably get a good sleep and leave at 4AM, so that would give us possession of the park model on Feb 25th.  I thought to myself -- good sleep?  How is that possible leaving in the middle of the night?  He had earlier explained that being a truck driver he preferred to drive at night & I have heard that from others in the past.  A couple of ladies stopped in to look at Marg's flooring samples and Ron came by with a bunch of paint samples.  He does a lot of painting and I had asked him for input on what he thought would be required to cover where we want to paint.
  Marg made grilled bacon & eggers for a late breakfast/early lunch.  Whoever came up with that idea should have got a medal, or maybe it's just the way she makes them. 
  This was good news, so we went out to look for a new BBQ.  We found one we really like, but the box was so big it would not fit in the car trunk.  It was pretty funny, I left my golf clubs out and just on the floor inside the motorhome. Marg must have been really excited to get at it to say just lay them on the floor and lets' get going.  LOL  Now we just need to get one of our truck owning friends to go with us for a bbq.  Also looked at some patio furniture, some that appealed to us, but we think this will probably wait until next year.  The bbq we will use this year, but probably not the patio stuff.
  Stopped at a few stores to look at bedding and at Total Wine to look at more interesting stuff.  I bought a bottle of scotch that Marg found to try; it is new to me.  What really sold me is the clerk said it was popular, but just buy it and if you don't like it, bring it back.  Never heard of that before.  A 12 yr. old single malt [of course] produced by The Grangestone from Ayrshire.  Had a wee dram & it is quite nice.  Then I stopped at Fry's and filled out my rain check for Crown Royal @ $13 a bottle.  What is neat, they still all come with the purple bag here, at home it seems most do not.
   Got back just in time for happy hour.  Marg had picked up some croissants and sliced them to take.  She had a jar of Saskatoon jam from home to put on them.  Last year she learned that no one here had ever heard of saskatoons, so she decided to bring it and give them a taste. It was unanimous, everyone loved it.
  Supper tonight we bbq'd the steaks we took out 2 days ago.  It seemed something came up everyday and we ended up going out for dinner.  So with baked potatoes and vegetables, supper was great.  No desert as it was ice cream social tonight.  They always give you cake with the ice cream, but I hardly ever take it.  If I have that much capacity I would rather have the banana split.  Alas that was not to be tonight.
 

Saturday Feb 15th

Oops, never got to do a post yesterday.  We were busy.
  The day started with a bike ride for me and water aerobics for Marg.  Our blues brothers group had a second rehearsal in the late morning, we were better than the earlier one, but still a bit of a train wreck.  In the meantime, Marg had been to see the Aho's and arranged to go over the park model with them.  So we had a quick lunch and then down to the park model for 1:00PM.  They went all over the various things they thought we needed to know and showed us the $60 receipt for something 4 years ago & the 2 TV's that came over on the Mayflower.  We also talked about their intentions and travel plans.  While the place is supposed to be furnished, it looks like they will take everything that fits in the truck.  Not a problem for us as Marg wants her own stuff anyway and told them to take whatever they want.  Most of these places change hands with the sellers taking their clothes and walking away, but ours will probably not be like that.  It also gave us an opportunity to look the place over and while I thought it is fine as is, it seems painting, new floors and a new bed are high on the list.
  By now it was 2:30 and we had to do the prep work for breakfast Saturday morning.  We got the sausage & bacon on trays and in the fridge and all the other stuff set out.  This took about an hour, so then it was happy hour.  We went to Pat & Diane's where there was finger food and 2 other couples, guys that I golf with & the gal that found the park model and got Marg involved.  Just getting into it and it was time to get to the rec center so that we could sell the 50/50 tickets at the door.  Pretty good result and then the sock hop started.  We had a pretty good turn-out and Marg & I made a few turns on the floor.  It was hilarious from the start, with the park manager, Curtis

 showing up as a bad biker on a little girls bike.
 At the mid-point the 4 other guys & I did the blues brothers routine to the song - my girl by the temptations.  It was hilarious, we pulled it off pretty good.  Again Curtis, the park manager had a big butt strapped on under his sport coat.  The other members were: Malcolm [singer], Clyde & Kenny.  It was well documented with video and posted on facebook.
  After they had some fun stuff, like the person who stuffs the most marshmallows in their mouth, whistling after eating crackers, you know the stuff you don't do everyday.

  Then after a bit of dancing, out came the limbo stick.  Marg used to do this quite a bit when she was much younger, but hadn't done it for many years.  Well she was up and at it.  I'm not certain, but her and Sherri and Doris were well into the wine.  Anyway Marg was the last person to clear the bar, frankly I was glad to see her get to the end and win it without getting hurt.  LOL  As luck would have it one of her buddies, Sue, took a video and posted it on FB.  By the time we got back to the rv and had a coffee, it was time for bed.  Just can't twist the night away like we used to.

  Saturday morning it was 6:30AM and off to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for 75 park residents.  Marg did the scrambled eggs and I did pancakes as per our jobs last year.  We think it came off pretty good, but with the clean up after, it's a lot of work.

  After we went out looking around at paint, flooring and tools.  With the work we are looking at, I don't think my Leatherman and pocket knife will be adequate.  We can't really do a lot until possession as we need to takes some measurements.  Saw some nice stuff and we are pretty sure the floors will be laminate.  By that time it was happy hour, so went to the Johnson's.  It was here I got in trouble, nothing new for me.  I had forgot that we were to go into the desert on Monday and agreed to golf with Gene & Gary.  When I agreed to golf, I knew there was something on Monday, but having a senior moment, could not think of it.  I think the gals mainly re-hashed the sock hop and watched the video Marg took.

  Went to dinner with Kenny & Doris and Norm & Mavis.  It was a place we had never been, but as luck would have it we had a coupon in our book for it.  Food was pretty good and we had lots of laughs.

  So busy I forgot to report on the weather.  It is HOT, I think it was 82F on Friday and today got up to 85 or 87, about as good as it gets on a summer day in GP.  Oh yeh, we are definitely sleeping in tomorrow morning.

Thursday - Feb 13th

A great day in the sun, the temp got up to about 82F/28C today, not a cloud in the sky.
  Got the day off to a start at the coffee & donuts this AM, Marg opted out.  I sat with the table that was chosen first, as it turns out it was Bob's birthday and his daughter Chris paid in celebration.
  Marg went to water aerobics.  Told her to take it easy today, she has been over-doing it a bit and experiencing some muscle soreness.  It's not like we think we are athletes, but just trying to get the most out of these things, I guess.  She said they had some new couple show up and she joined the group.  He husband [wearing a speedo] waited around sunbathing until they finished.  The story I got was that the girls didn't think it flattered him all that much.  Went for a bike ride with Jerry B right after.  Didn't want to ride in the heat of the day, so have to do it early.  Made a few miles and probably worked off most of the donut from the morning.  Have not been as diligent about the bike this year and need to make it a higher priority.  Seems to work better when I go out with someone else, so that may be the answer.
  Got back just in time for a quick sandwich and then off to pool.  It was the inter-park tournament today and they were short of players.  I think this is only the 2nd time I have played in the tournament.  We were only 6 players, so each pair had to play twice.  I was fortunate to be paired with Luther and we won our first three games fairly handily.  For our second set of 3 games, we ended up matched against 2 guys who are probably the best two in the other park.  They really kicked our butt the first game, then scratched on the 8 ball in the second and we won the third, giving us 2 wins, so we turned in 5 wins out of our six games.
  When I got back, Marg was visiting with a couple of ladies. She had bbq'd some pork roast and put it in the slow cooker with potatoes and veg for supper.  Smelled good already by that time.  Lots of that goes on here.  Shortly after that it was happy hour.  It was a much smaller group today, four couples I think.  Everyone was saying how much nicer it is when everyone isn't talking at once.  Gee they wouldn't fit in at a Gourlay get together now would they?  Larry had me try some new rye whiskey and it was pretty darn good, although he had it well chilled with ice. Marg was into her Bud Light Lime-a-rita.  She thinks they are lip smacking good, me well, not so much.  They sell beer with all kinds of stuff in it here.  You beer and clam drinkers would love it.
  After supper we went over to Blanke's for coffee &; pie.  Doris is a great pie maker and it was coconut cream with a whipped topping, very nice.
 

Wednesday

What a great day, it started out nice and just got better.  Was it hot, absolutely!
  I left with the guys for golf this AM.  Rode with Pat who also took Gene & Gary, making it 2 Americans & 2 Canadians.  One retired scientist, one retire accountant, one semi-retired golf pro, and one retired but back to work engineer.  I had a good game [for me anyway] and thought I had the prize money on closest tee shot to the pin on #6, but Gary edged me out.  I did however par the hole, the only one today.  In fairness he is a good golfer, for an engineer, LOL.  I was able to redeem myself from last week, improving by 4 strokes.  Three of us in the truck finished with the same score and one was lower, you can probably guess which one by the professions I gave above.  I didn't golf with any of these guys, rather 2 brothers-in-law who are hilarious and a lady from the other park who can be as well.  We had lots of chuckles with the comments flying around, like what's the view like in the bush there.  Every so often Jim or Gary would say - hey, I'm golfing here.
  Marg went with the gamblin' gals today and had a good time.  They always have lots of laughs and celebrate each others' success.  Two of them were winners, with Marg being the most successful with her $300 win.  She is having a good winter this year.  I can't imagine Ft McDowell is ever the same when these gals get through with it.
  Had to make my own lunch again, although we made a late night run to Fry's to get some groceries last night; essentially so I would have good lunch stuff.  I went to Fry's to get the whisky that was on sale.  The sale was yesterday, but they gave me a rain check as they were out.  They only had 4 bottles of  Crown Royal, so I bought all they had and they let me keep the rain check so I can get more.  Well after all $13 per bottle is a pretty good deal & it was a one day special. After I spent much of the afternoon visiting to ensure I was up to date on the park info.  It turns out I learned some new stuff while at Bob's office.  Checked the mail, turns out the only thing of value was a t-4 from the bank at home.  Then I managed to get in a few games of 8 ball.  Played pretty good until I had to play Dick one-on-one.  He is the ranked player and although I did win twice, I think he was easing off -- lots.
  Went to happy hour, there was a pretty good sized group today, although somewhat short of ladies because of the trip Marg & the gals went on.  One of the good news things out of it was some planning for a trip into the desert on Monday.  This will be the first one this year, so I hope it goes ahead.  Norm and Bud have the route all planned out and it will be interesting as I have not been where they are planning on going.  The gamblin' gals pulled up just as the happy hour got going - Nancy drove today and the party was at her place.
  Marg & I went out for supper as we had too many other commitments to make it tonight.  Marg must really have been trying to get on my best side as we went to Ihop.  Supper was good and we were able to get out in time.  Marg had the all-you-can-eat fish, me not so much.  What were the commitments we had, well Marg was doing laundry and I was playing poker.  Well it is Wednesday, the day Marg calls D Day - Dave's day, what did you expect?
 

Tuesday

Another gorgeous day and with our forecast for the coming week, you will be hearing this more.
 

 Went for an early morning bike ride with Jerry B.  I really need to do this more.  We never went far as he is having some back problems and I haven't been, well you know. When I got back I took a few pictures around the rv park and put them on FB.

  Our group had our rehearsal today, it won't be the blues brothers, instead it will be the temptations [you know their big song].  The routine is coming along, but needs work, we are like a group of penguins trying to two-step.  LOL  On the positive side, my fancy sport coat from Goodwill really fits in.  It's kind of funny, because I think I actually owned one just like it at some point.  To keep out of sight we were in the park managers house, for about an hour.  Rumour has it there will be lots of laughs.  Kind of reminds me of my time as Elmer Fudd.  Oh well, this too shall pass.
  Marg went for water aerobics.  It was a perfect day for time in the pool and they had a pretty good turn-out.  I think they were in there much longer than usual, or perhaps this will be the new norm as the weather warms up.

  After lunch we went out.  I needed a haircut, so went to the same Mexican guy that has been cutting it for a while now.  Apparently this cut passed inspection, much better than the last one.  Marg gets more concerned about it than me, I figure there is only a week or so difference between a good hair cut and a bad one.  Marg was looking around at some furniture options and bbq's in the plaza around there.  I guess our vendor stopped by to tell Marg he cancelled his insurance on the park model and left happy that we already bought insurance.
  We got back early enough to have company on the patio.  Then it was over to happy hour.  Weren't there long as we had to get supper on the bbq.  It was roast potatoes & vegetables with brats.  It was really good, we will have to do that again.
  After supper it was bingo in the park.  Marg was really close, but alas success eluded us, so we were donors.

Monday

What a great day in the sun, I think it got to about 75F today.  This is going to be a great week, they are saying we may break the record high of 90F for Saturday. 
  Got up and about early today.  Had to go with Ralph to get the title for the park model in our name.  Oh yeh, also had to pay for it today.  We sure know how to pick our times for things like this, the exchange rate here is about as bad as it has ever been in the 6 years we have been coming here.  We paid almost $900 to exchange from Cdn to US dollars.   The whole process here is quite different, there is a title for everything, so we had to get the one for the park model transferred to us.  They issue this official looking document ;and you have to produce it to sell the unit.  It only cost $7 but the process was different.  First we had to stand in a long line to get a number.  That took about 20 or 30 minutes.  Then we sat in the waiting area for about a half hour.  There is a huge computer display that both calls your number and service counter out.  The service counter has a digital read-out that also displays the number called.  When you pay the fee, she gives you the title document right on the spot.
  Marg in the meantime went to water aerobics.  With the weather turning, she said the pool was like a warm bath.  It had been cold for a few days, so there were none held until the morning temp was at least 60F.  She said it was almost like the first time with the absence and she was quite stiff for much of the day after.
  When I got back I picked up Kenny and we went to Red Mountain Ins agency where he has his.  They had a calendar handout with old cars and as he has 6 or 8 of them, he was glad to get one.  I also took one because they have Bill's '67 Camaro on one of the month's.  The insurance wasn't too bad for cost and it covers not only the unit, but the outbuildings, contents and a $100,000 liability policy.  With this litigious society, that is really a good thing to have.
  After lunch I played some pool.  Played with Don & Luther, so we had lots of laughs.  Everyone won their fair share of games, so it was all good.
  Marg & I went for a walk around the park, but that is almost impossible.  Everyone is looking for updates on what is happening with our new digs, so lots of stopping and starting.  The most common question is - when are we moving in.  The second most common is - what all is included in the purchase.  Our answers are vague, as we have told Ralph & Lorraine to stay as long as they need the place.  They have company coming this week and her sister is coming on the 16th for a week after which they plan on leaving.  Also they said they were taking the TV their son gave them, so Marg said they should take anything they really want.  This is uncommon, as most places come with everything: furniture, dishes, linens, etc.  With the unknowns, we can't really shop for anything, so a word to the wise, this approach has had many unexpected benefits.
  Happy hour tonight there were only 4 couples.  Everyone seemed to have something going on today.  They guys talked about going into the desert tomorrow, but that's not going to work for me.  I have a commitment re the blues bro's at the sock hop for Saturday night.  Then it was the spaghetti dinner tonight for the park.  This includes meatballs, salad, rye bread.  We sat with the usual group and were probably the only group for which it also included wine, well in my case beer.  There were quite a few people there, but it seemed not as busy as prior years. 
  Will try and get some pictures in the next day or two.
 

Sunday

What a great day, the sun had us back up to 78F and it was beautiful out.
  Had to go out to Goodwill & St Vincent de Paul stores today.  I was looking for a sport coat and found one there.  Pattie told me the other day that at the sock hop on Saturday night I would be one of the blues brothers, so...  Anyway I think I am ready, except for the rehearsal on Tuesday.  Didn't really want to do it, but us guys are so used to doing what women tell us; I guess that must be it.  Her & Gary do so much in the park that it's pretty hard to turn them down.  Oh well, by next year no one will remember who made a fool of himself this year.  Stopped at Ace hardware to look for a few things.  Marg picked up some paint color samples.  I think we have plans to paint when we take possession.  We also looked at new bbq's as we will have more room for a full size one in the new place.  I suspect Marg also looked at lots of other stuff.
  Tried to go for a walk around the park today, but that is a wasted effort.  We really need to go outside the park fence if we really want to walk, especially with the news about our new place.  We are still getting lots of hugs and congrats in the park.  The most common question is whether we will be bringing the motorhome next year and whether we will sell it.  The answer to the former is no, the latter is we're not sure as we use it quite a bit in the summer.  The second most asked question is when we get possession & the answer is probably by the end of the month.  Pretty funny, Wink is convinced we will need a golf cart and my answer was I will not be buying one.  Doris piped up that we have had several and I never bought them, so we will see.  This park isn't that large though, so well, oh who knows!
  I played pool for awhile with Bob today.  I played well and was winning handily.  I slacked off a bit and then he got the momentum and it seemed I was on the ropes all the time.  Anyway we had a few laughs and that is why we are here.
  Went to happy hour at the Johnson's and the group was small today.  Five couples I believe.  Not sure what the women talked about, but for the guys it was cars we had and which were the good ones, the fast ones, the expensive one; you know the important stuff.  The gals likely talked about chic stuff, you know, or maybe you're like me and don't know, LOL!
  Supper tonight was a stir fry, but no desert.  It was after ice cream social, so Marg had cake & ice cream, me a banana split.
  Hey all you Albertans, I forgot to mention the forecast is for temps in the 80's by the end of the week, so if you are going south you may want to consider this info.  If you wait until we get to the 100's, it's too hot to golf.

Saturday Feb 8th

Happy birthday to Lyzi, who we understand is celebrating in Brighton.  Happy birthday to Bill who is celebrating in Edmonton.  Sorry we could not be there to celebrate with you.
  The weather has really started to improve, it was sunny and hot today, we are back in the 70's and wearing short pants.  Got up early enough to go for breakfast in the hall.  They had one of my fav's today, french toast, so you know what I had with my bacon & eggs.  Stopped by to tell Ralph & Lorraine that our money is in at the local bank and agreed to get together Monday to do the title transfer on the park model.
  After breakfast we went out to a few yard sales.  There was a whole neighborhood west of us where they were having an area sale.  It was OK, but nothing to get excited about.  Then Silverado were having a park-wide sale, so we stopped in there as well.  Not certain, but don't believe we bought anything.  There were sure lots of people looking.  It's interesting to see the different people, there was one group of Mexicans pulling a big trailer and they were intent on filling it, probably re-selling it someplace.
  Been having some problems with one of the cell phones, so went to Walmart to get a replacement.  Get this - a flip phone for $16.  It seems Trac Phone were having lots of problems with there system, so it took me an hour to get the minutes switched over to the new one.  I bought exactly the same phone as we had, so there was no learning curve.  LOL.  Last time we did this it only took minutes to switch the phone, so this was rather painful today.
  Marg vacuumed the rv and then I got out my compressor to clean the canister and filled my bike tires while I was at it.  It is one of those small noisy, irritating ones, so don't use it too often.  Washed the car on the driveway and then sat around a bit in the afternoon.  Smitty stopped by and chatted, he is from Washington state.  We have several sets of Smith's in the rv park here, but the Smith's we would really like to spend time with are all in England.  By then it was time for an early dinner, which was bbq steak accompanied by potatoes and vegetables roasted on the bbq.
 

 We had to eat early because Kenny was picking us up at 5:30 to go to the legends show.  I think it was Ozark something, country music anyway.  It was good, some pretty good entertainers and went on for a couple of hours to a packed house.

 

Friday Feb 7th

Happy birthday Daniel, our special 11 year old, we miss you and hope you had a great birthday.
  The day started off early for Marg as she volunteered to help with the bake sale and kitchen.  It was the annual park-wide sale where everyone puts out stuff they no longer have use for.  There is a big raffle anyone can buy tickets on and this year they had 60+ prizes.  Ladies donate baking, some of which is sold and the pies are sold by the piece.  They also make sloppy joes and sell them for lunch.  Marg ends up in the thick of all this kitchen activity.  Me - not so much.

  I was prowling around looking for deals, well I was visiting with Ron D anyway, when Bud pulled up with Linda on his golf cart.  An unusual combination, well not this AM.  Linda grabbed me by the arm saying Marg was looking at a trailer that I needed to see and she had been sent to fetch me.  With most people this would be unusual, but not with Linda; so coffee cup in had I jumped on with them.  It turns out a couple had decided not to return and put a for sale sign on the park model in site #86, that's on Happy Hour Lane.  This just happens to be the lane the gamblin' gals live on, the one we go to happy hour on, the one several of our friends are on.  The park model was in very nice condition and has been kept up by the owners [from Minnesota].  It has an Arizona room, a nice concrete drive, and car port as well as a shed on the patio in the rear.  It is an older model, but an affordable price, so Marg was fairly jumping up and down.  We ended up purchasing it, well agreeing to purchase it as I had to call the banker to send more money.  I jokingly told the owners that we had only brought $3,000 with us as I only bring what I expect my wife to spend.  They have paid the rent on the lot up until November and will be leaving all the furnishings, dishes, etc.  Marg told her to take anything she wants out of it.  We have to complete the deal, likely next week.  The owners plan on returning to Minn. by the end of the month, so we should get possession on March 1st.  Lots of stuff to do, like a title transfer, insurance, etc.

 People were saying they didn't know this park model was for sale, but this park is so popular, you have to be a bit lucky to get something.  In fact when Marg went to give them the deposit cheque, another rv'er in the park was trying to make a deal on the unit we were dealing on.  Pretty much a sellers market.

  It was so nice to see how many people were happy that we purchased a place.  Marg said she has never been hugged so much.  Word spread through the park like wildfire.  Kenny said he heard in the bathroom.  Most often comment I heard was that people weren't aware we were looking for a park model; to which I replied, "Neither was I!"
  Oh yeh, got some tools, good deals too.  Everyone was joking about getting enough for the tool shed.  Bought most from a lady whose husband died last year and she was clearing them out.
  Went to the hall for the aforementioned sloppy joe and pie.  Sat with a bunch of friends who were all questions about our plans, both for the park model and motorhome. My answer, don't know this is all new, so we need time to make some decisions.  At the end of the lunch they held the drawings for all the raffle prizes.  Marg actually won two, but only kept the first, telling them to re-draw on the second one.  Most people keep everything they win, but Marg has done this in prior years when she had multiple wins.  Kenny was trying to claim our prize having had the site were are in for 15 years before turning it over to us.

  The day flew by and before we knew, it was time to go for happy hour.  Lots of laughs and kidding about the amount of money the Canadians have.  My reply was that I bought this with 88 cent dollars and paid almost a thousand dollars in exchange on the money I transferred.  Yeh, the bank had the money in our account in AJ within 2 hours of my phone call.  Pretty impressive.
  Had to limit myself to one beer for happy hour.  You just don't take a chance on DUI here as there is a mandatory 2 weeks in jail on top of the fines and everything else and we had to go out for supper.  Being busy, Marg never had a chance to prepare for supper and it was a bit of a celebration day.  Blanke's & Bingers went with us to the Village Inn and being as we were there before 6 PM, we qualified for the early bird special.  This meant a good price on dinner plus free pie, which we got to-go.
  Got back in time for the animal races.  When we were late getting there, someone told a joke about the Gourlay's being too broke to attend.  The animals were not kind to us tonight, but we had fun.  Had a piece of pie with coffee when I got back to the rv, making it 2 pieces of pie today.  Now that was a good day!

Thursday Feb 6th

Ooops, missed posting yesterday.  It was a bit of a rushed day with us.  I went with Gene in the morning and played golf.  It was a cooler day, but just right for golf.  I didn't have the game I had last week, rather one more like my regular game, but it was good.  Marg went with the gamblin' gals to Ft McDowell, but same with her, she never repeated the big successes she had the week prior.
  By the time she got back, the hamburger fry was on, so we went for burgers and fries.  Gary's crew always does a great job with them.  The remaining time we had, we spent packing stuff away and getting the motorhome road ready for Thursday.  That may not sound like much, but we get pretty spread out when we are parked for a while and you can't have a lot of stuff loose and rolling around when this unit is on the road.  One of the early stuff put away was the wifi unit, so no blog.
  Got up this morning and finished the packing in time to be on the road for 10AM.  It's about 15 or more miles to Camping World and the freeway is pretty busy in the area we end up on.  With the broken window and difficulty seeing through it, I wanted to travel mid-morning so the traffic would be light.  Got there fine and left them the unit.  I also had them check the genset to see why it doesn't start.
  We went for lunch to the 5 & Diner.  It's always good there & we both ordered off the seniors menu today.  Hey maybe that's why I have lost some weight, smaller quantities on the sr's menu.  After Marg went to Burlington Coat to kill some time and wouldn't you know it, she found some good deals, so a successful trip. 
  Picked up the motorhome and CW did an excellent job on installing the new window.  Now hopefully the jerk who broke it has paid them, so I don't ever have to deal with him again.  The genset, well it has hardly been used since new and that is the problem.  The carb is all plugged and they don't rebuild them anymore.  The quote to replace it, just over $600.  If they had at least included the diagnostic in that amount, I might have proceeded.  Well it's not happening here.  Add to that the exchange we are paying now, makes it pretty expensive.  With the exchange rate and then the bank pound of flesh, we are paying about 12 cents on the dollar now.  Didn't get out of there without a purchase, bought a new water pump for the coach as the old one is leaking.
  Got back in good time & set up again.  Then installed the new water pump.  By that time it was happy hour, so over to Larry & Nancy's place.    Oh yeh, then over to Kenny's to pick up the bike, I had stored it there, because I normally lock it to the motorhome ladder and didn't want to risk forgetting it and dragging it down the freeway, LOL!  Could happen!
 

Tuesday, Feb 4th

Happy birthday Anna, hope your day was special!
  It was a sunny day, but the temp only made it to a high of around 60
  Our cable guys got here today, this was the 5th visit, different crew every time.  These guys got the cable connected, so we have both it and wifi from Mediacom working in our unit.  We never connected the device that would give us the music channels, nor the one that gives us movie channels as they are so huge and required all of our cables to be re-routed, so it didn't seem worthwhile.
  Richard and Evelyn got here late in the morning, so we visited with them for a while as we waited.  Then Marg made Reuben sandwiches for lunch in the rv.
  After lunch we went for a drive down to Florence.  It is an old town out of the wild west and they had a fire on the old part of the town, so there were lots of media vehicles on-site.  The pics of the fire have been all over the media because it is the county elections office.  The town is also known for the prisons, there are some massive ones on the edge of town.  Pretty scary looking places with the razor wire and guard towers with capacity of handling a lot of bad people.  There are some neat old buildings, all related to the history of the area.



The old courthouse is a show piece in the center of the historic area of town. 
  When we got back we had happy hour, just one mind you.  We are all concerned with the DUI laws here.  If you get picked up for being over the legal limit, there is mandatory 2 week jail sentence, plus all the other fines and stuff.  After seeing the prisons today, the jail idea was definitely out for us. 
  Then off to the Golden Corral, as Richard & Evelyn haven't been to a buffet here yet.  They are scheduled to fly home tomorrow, so we were really glad to have a chance to spend the day with them.  Unfortunately my cousin Barb was in the area, but we had already made commitments to the Proulx's, hopefully we will see Barb another day.

Monday - Feb 3rd

A cooler day, I think the high was 60F/15C, well that feels chilly to us snowbirds.  No short pants today.
  Went out to the post office this AM & Marg complained about the line up.  Seems everyone mails off their packages on Monday morning.  Then to the bank after that and the place was packed.  Everyone must bank on Mondays. Marg said the line ups in there were long.  Well maybe it was the folks got a package of money from home and then went to the bank - could be, well for some anyway.
  Then it was Walmart for some groceries.  Marg found the lime/beer combo that she had a Tortilla flats & got a dozen, so it looks like the gals will be party hardy again.  While we were in there we came across a couple from Ohio down here, the lady is a friend from a while back.  The result was we went out to lunch with them.  Went to hackers and the food was pretty darn good.  It was our first time there this winter, but it had been pretty good in previous years.
  In the afternoon I played some pool.  Have not been playing much and it showed.  They took it easy on me, so we had fun.  One of the guys is from Minnesota & we always have a few laughs.  It was the first time I played him as he has been having problems with his shoulder.  One of the other guys is a rated player, level 7 I think, but he goes pretty easy on us.
  When I got back, the Mediacom guys were stringing some cable, so who knows we may get cable tv before too much longer.  I think they must have got their act together because Marg tore them a new one after we sat around all day Saturday and they never showed.  Marg had gone to the Superstition famers market for a few things.  We buy most of our fruit and vegetables there, as it is so much fresher and cost less.  The oranges there are just like they are fresh off the tree & lettuce so firm she says it is more like cabbage.  Anyway all she could carry for $8.
  Supper was cooked by my charming wife and was very good.  A pasta & meatball dish. 

Superbowl Sunday

The day was a bit cooler, I think the high was about 60F, but still quite pleasant in the sun.
  Went for a bike ride this AM.  The wind was blowing a pretty good chill, but I have not been riding enough, so went out with the windbreaker.
  Marg went for a ladies lunch, actually it was a groundhog day lunch hosted by Pattie C.  The food was great, they had slush and the tables were decorated in a Polynesian theme.  They had two tables of ladies & looking at the pictures, I think they were selected for the willingness to party.  They had some especially prepared groundhog related songs/jokes and generally lots of laughs.
  Me well, not so much, a cheese sandwich.
  After lunch we had some visitors on the patio.  Well that almost qualifies as a recreational activity for us in this location.  We are the first lot in the RV park, so we are the local equivalent of Walmart greeters, waving and smiling many times a day.
  It was Superbowl Sunday and we were invited to a party of Seahawk supporters up one road, a party

of Bronco supporters up another and in the rec hall there was a drop in group watching the big game.  We are not really football fans, Marg wanted to go to the party where they were going to play cards either before or after, maybe even during the game.  LOL Well we had friends in all 3 places, but opted to go to Jerry & Pattie B's place.  It was the Bronco party, so we felt obliged to align our support with our Colorado friends.  From the opening play safety, it went downhill & very quickly turned into the Denver wake.  The food was great and the beer/wine plentiful, so we had a good time anyway.  Best of all we had bought squares in the lottery here in the park & I won the cash for the final score.  Hooray for our side!

Saturday Feb 1st

It was a nice day, by Canadian standards anyway.  The high temp got into the 60's, or about 17 or 18C today.  The weather seems to be building as there were some large puffy clouds along the mountains for most of the day.  In fact it sprinkled a bit this AM, probably got about 25 or 30 rain drops.  No I'm serious, that is all the rain there was.
  Marg had a coupon for Kohl's, one of her fav's down here.  She has quite a few places she puts on this list.  LOL  I had to wait for the cable guy, so she went out and came back with a nice top and cute pair of floods.  Well if she rolls the cuffs down, then they would be jeans & I guess they can go either way.
  Last week I had picked up a spray can for treating the rubber seals on rv slides, so that is what I amused my self with.  Then when Marg got back we wandered about the park a bit.  One of the residents had drawn a couple of Seattle Seahawk logos with driveway chalk.  I never realized what a great hand she had at this kind of thing.  The Denver fans thought there should have been a horse pooping on it, so we have fans from both sides for the Superbowl tomorrow.  There are several parties going on in the park tomorrow and we are committed to watch the game at one.  Marg wanted to go to the one where they will play cards, LOL.
  Spent way too much time trying to post a picture on the FB page for the tenants association here at Carefree Manor.  Finally had to take a pic with my camera, then get the picture off the hard drive.  My tech gap was really showing today.  For supper we had the dish Marg had prepared in the slow cooker on Friday.  There was so much food at happy hour that we never ate supper, so put it in the fridge.  Made for an easy supper tonight anyway. 
  The cable guy from Mediacom, after we sat around waiting for him all day was a no-show.  Now we know why they tell jokes about these guys.