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.