Sunday, November 14, 2010

Cheryl's Bingo Update

Of all things, she actually won the 1st game last night. $50. But,Mesa Spirit announced that starting next week, only "residents" can play. Guests are not allowed. It's good that she won last night since she can't play there anymore.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Weekly Happenings

The weather turned a little cooler, but it's still better than the cold and drizzle at home. The Wednesday potlucks are a hit. There were around 100 attending this last week and the Friday happy hour at the pool are fun. This week we had 50 ane 60s music and many different types of finger foods. This morning was the 1st Saturday breakfast of the year. And, we are meeting so many new friends as well as seeing friends from the past couple of years.
I managed to do a little geocaching this week. Not as much as I would have liked, but was able to get out and find a few. Today, Cheryl, Keith and Caroline went with me and I tried to show Keith and Caroline what geocaching was all about. A couple of the caches involved nice walks out in the desert instead of wandering around the Apache Junction area. None of us were really equipped for the desert, but no stinging nasty things appeared. So far so good with the desert wandering. Cheryl is back at Mesa Spirit tonight attempting to win at BINGO. You notice, I said attempting. So far, she hasn't had much luck the past couple of years and I doubt if this year is much better.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

I'm Not Ready

I wanted to enjoy the extreme warmth, but the cooler winter weather is on the way. After a week of days in the 90s, now we're looking at highs in the low to mid 70s. What's up with that??? Today, I get kicked out of the coach. Cheryl is going to do a thorough cleaning -so the dogs and I will be put out in the cold.
So far, we're real happy with our choice of parks for the winter. Friendly people and activities that appeal to us. Yesterday we went to the "ice cream social" and they even had the sugar free ice cream that some of us have to eat.
I've done a little geocaching, but hope to do some today while I'm "homeless".
As soon as I have time (LOL) I'll get some pictures of the park put on the blog.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Pizza Time

Last night we picked up Dutch and Tony Ball (friends from Sioux City) and we went out to dinner at Casanova Brothers Pizza. When we walked in Luigi (the counterman) looked over and said Bruce - Cheryl - Tony and where is Dutch. Now, it's been 7 months since we were there last and he remembered our names. Either we went there too much or he has a great memory. And of course, the pizza was fantastic.
I haven't figured out what to do today since we did find a patio set (table - 4 chairs and an umbrella) so we do have manufactured shade now. Maybe, it's just time to sit back and enjoy the day.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

And It's Starting

My sister and her husband showed up yesterday afternoon and I got a call from our friends from Sioux City and they will be coming in today for a couple of days. They bought a house in Mesa, but they have their motorhome and need a place to park it for a couple of days until they get their house set up. We stopped by our old park a couple of days ago and some of our winter friends are already there. OLD HOME WEEK.
I still haven't figured out the manufactured shade problem yet, so will head to Camping World today and see what they have.
Last night we went to the first function here. It was a crock pot pot luck and met a lot of really friendly people. So far -good.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

All Set Up (Sort Of)

Other than "manufactured shade", we're set for the winter. The palm tree is up, the rope lights are out as well as the solar lights. Tonight is the 1st function of the park. It's a crock pot - pot luck. Beer will be furnished by the park so if the food ain't great, the drinks will be. We've only been here a couple of days, but we've met more people in these few days than we ever did at Mesa Spirit. From the manager on down to the guests, everyone greets you when they walk by.

I'll report on the pot luck tomorrow. Now, it's time to take the car and see if we can find a patio table and umbrella so we can have a bit of shade during the heat of the day.

Stay tuned for further developments.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Parked For The Winter

The coach may be parked, but I haven't been in too much of a "toot" to get everything set up. I did manage to get the windows washed and the sunscreens put on as well as the tire covers. That's about as far as I have gone with the winter setup. We had a minor change of plans. We didn't inquire and the park didn't say, but we're not allowed to put up dining canopies due to abuse of the privelege several years ago. Now, we're looking at finding a cheap table and chairs that has an umbrella so we can manufacture some afternoon shade.
We did go back to Mesa Spirit today to pick up our bikes that we left there in the spring. They survived the micro-burst and mini tornado that went thru the park last month. I just need to pump up the tires. I'll put that on the "to do" list for later on in the week. The rope light palmtree is still in the box. Maybe I'll save that for next week. I don't want to get everything done all at once. I need to space things out some.

That's the latest update -stay tuned for more.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Leaving Yuma Today


We spent the last 5 days in Yuma relaxing and enjoying the warm and sunny weather. While here, we did a little geocaching as well as making the obligatory trip over the border to Los Algodones, Mexico. We didn't do a lot of shopping, but always enjoy the sights and sounds of the little "tourist town" across the border. We'll leave this morning and go to Apache Junction, Az - where we will spend the duration of the winter. This will be our 1st time at this RV Park, so we don't know exactly what to expect. We are looking forward to seeing many of our old friends and Rim Rock Roamers that have made the trip south and look forward to meeting and making new friends as well. I do need to make a trip to the store for a better type of sunscreen.




Stay tuned for further updates.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

California Has A Monopoly

I do believe that California has a monopoly on the worst roads in the nation. We left Pahrump and headed towards Yuma, Az. US95 in California is probably on the top 10 list of worst roads to travel. Not only is it narrow, full of dips (California doesn't believe in culverts, so they just have ups and downs) it was falling apart . We had to stop for road construction ( I know it's hard to believe that they were actually working on it) and I stepped out of the motorhome and you could actually pick up chunks of asphalt 6 ianches square from the road.

But now on the brighter news. We're in Yuma, Arizona for the next 5 days or so. We'll go to Algodones, Mexico a couple of times for the food, and of course bargain shopping. Other than that, we'll just sit back and play it by ear. The long pants have been put in the laundry hamper and the short pants are back out.

We haven't noticed any more "signs" in the coach, so we think that our hitchhiker was a single, but we're not letting our guard down. Peppermint oil on cotton balls in all the cupboards and drawers. The coach smells like Christmas Candy.

More later.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

On Our Rumps In Pahrump

We're spending 3 days in Pahrump, Nv visiting with friends from Redmond and doing a little geocaching while here. We've been to this park before and it really is quite nice. Of course, there is a casino on site, so the Misses is quite happy about it.
Somewhere along the way, we picked up a little hitchhiker and we were'nt very enthused about him tagging along, so we bought sticky mouse traps as well as several of the "live trap" ones too. I didn't much care whether he was caught alive or dead, just caught. They have been out for several days now and this morning, there was the little furry creature squeaking on one of the sticky traps. Now, if he didn't have a friend traveling with him, then we are mouse free. Now, we need to get Bounce dryer sheets and place them in all the drawers, cupboards and bays. I guess the little suckers don't like the smell. We'll do anything to keep them from invading us again.
Tomorrow, we're off towards Yuma. How far we'll get - who knows. Stay tuned.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Death Valley





























Our second day in Beatty was mainly so we could take the Honda and the "babies" and head into Death Valley for the day. We started our day with a stop in Rhyolite, Az. Supossedly, it is the most photographed ghost town in Az. From there we went on to Furnace Creek, Ca. It's not at all what we expected. It was a regular resort. But, a 4 slice pack of bologna was $5.25 and a gallon of Diesel was $4.88 We ventured on to Badwater, which is the lowest point in the US and is 282 Feet below sea level. I'm glad the dam holding the ocean back didn't break. On our way back, we took a side trip though Artists Drive. It's really a must see and pictures don't do it words. From there back through Furnace Creek and up to Stovepipe Wells and back to Beatty. There is much more to see and we will make another stop on our way back north in the spring.

Friday, October 22, 2010

A Fairly Exciting Day

The travel wasn't bad. We only drove from Hawthorne, Nv to Beatty, Nv and the distance traveled was 93 miles. It's too bad Oregon and California can't take highway maintenance like Nevada does. Highway 95 is a wonderful 2 lane highway and for the most part smooth as glass. The only exciting part of the trip came 20 miles from Beatty. It seemed that the driver needed to make a pit stop and the co-pilot found a wide spot off the highway. While the driver was pitting, the co-pilot ventured out to have a quick smoke. For once, she actually looked down before she stepped to far from the coach. Can you say "sidewinder rattlesnake" about 5 feet from her feet? Yep, when I went out, there it was sidewinder slithering away. Those little things move really fast. We watched it until it crawled up into some scrub brush. We are spending tonight and probably tomorrow in Beatty at the www.beattyrvpark.com . We went out and did a couple of geocaches before dinner and tomorrow we will take the Honda and make a nice little side trip into Death Valley and visit Furnace Creek, Rhyolite, Stovepipe Wells and Scotty's Castle.
Stay tuned for further adventures.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

It's Taking Forever

We left Fallon this morning and headed down 95 towards Beatty (which was to be our stop for the night. Didn't make it. We stopped in Hawthorne, Nv to do a little geocaching and as we finished up, we looked at the sky and say the ominous rain clouds so we scurried back to motorhome and headed over to the Whiskey Flats RV park and are staying the night. Tomorrow we will venture on down to Beatty. I don't know how you can beat $21 per night for a nice park with full hookups as well as cable TV. www.whiskeyflats.net is their webpace.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Out of California and into Nevada

We left Corning, Ca this morning enroute to Fallon, Nv. After leaving the armpit of Northern, Ca (Corning - Orland - Chico) we meandered thru the countryside on county roads and headed towards Grass Valley, Ca. Although the road was narrow, twisty and ups and downs, it was a beautiful drive until the time we merged onto I80. What a piece of garbage that highway is. It looks like there are earthquake fault lines running down the middle of the highway and rutty to boot. Driving it was a handful. Nevada was a welcome sight as the road was wonderful - except for 18 miles of road construction and traffic running on a narrow single lane with the cones on one side and a Jersey barrier on the other side. We are spending the night in Fallon, Nv at the Fallon RV Park. Not a place for long term stays, but adequate for overnighters. Depending on the thunderstorm activity tomorrow, we may only go as far as Hawthorne or on to Beatty. Stay tuned.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Slightly Longer Drive

We left Canyonville around 9:30 in the morning and drove I5 through Oregon and into California arriving at the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning around 3. Have I ever mentioned just how much I hate driving over the Siskiyou summit????? Long pulls uphill at 35 mph and then using the exhaust brake coming down at 55 mph.
Now, this RV park is something to behold. Self service check in and parking. Full hookups at $25 per night. Use your credit card and the little machine prints out your receipt and you put it in a little holder by the end of your space. We may just stay here another day or so.
When we left this morning, it was long pants and sweatshirt weather and the furnace was running. Now, the Air conditioner is running and we're in shorts and sandals. 87 degrees and bright sunshine. We were planning on heading towards Reno in the morning, but the weather forcast for Reno is rain. Sunny beats rainy any day. Stay tuned for the latest.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Long Days Drive

120 miles. WHEW!!!!!!!!! We left Florence this morning and drove to Canyonville, Oregon. It was a beautiful, but real twisty and turny drive along the Umpqua river. The fall colors were changing and with the bright sun shining on the river, it was gorgeous. We're spending the night and maybe tomorrow here before we head towards Susanville, Ca. I really don't want to drive down I5 again so we'll cut across and go towards Reno and then points south. Stay tuned.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

On The Road (Finally)

We left the Deschutes county RV park this morning and had a nice leisurely drive over the mountains as we headed to the coast for a couple of days. We stopped in Veneta Oregon and had lunch with a friend that we met last winter in Arizona. Anne came by herself since Maury was having an attack of OCD (they have tradesmen laying a new bamboo floor) and he had to supervise. We're spending a couple of days in Florence, Oregon at www.hecetabeachrv.com and then will head down the coast and visit other friends that we met last winter before continuing our journey south.
It's typical coast weather. Cool, damp and foggy. Cheryl likes it and I can do without it.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Out Of The Repair Shop

We're finally out of Coachmaster's repair lot. We spent 3 weeks living in the motorhome while the rear end damage was being repaired. Twas a mite inconvenient, but we made the best of it. The coach looks good and after spending today and tomorrow at the Deschutes County fairgrounds RV park so we can catch up on the laundry and clean the inside of the coach, we will really start our "fulltimer" adventure. Where the 1st stop will be, we don't know yet and probably won't know until we stop for the night. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Time For An Update

Where has the time gone???????? We've attended several club motorhome rallys this summer as well as the FMCA convention at the fairgrounds here. Our club staged 3 miles from the fairground so we could caravan in together. Unfortunately, when I stopped for traffic, the coach behind me didn't and did considerable damage to our coach.
When the rally ended, we took the coach to Coachmasters in Bend to see about repairs and it was temporarily fixed so we could use it until all the parts and pieces come in. During all this, we moved out of our home and rented our house out for the next year or so and now we are "fulltime" RVers. Our 1st trip was a long one. 4.5 miles to the RV park at the fairgrounds. We'll be staying here until the 14th and then head to Baker City, Or for a club rally and return back on the 20th. On the 21st, we take the coach back to Bend to the repair facility and will spend the next 2 1/2 - 3 weeks staying in the coach at night, but vacating during the day so the repairs can be made. Once everything is done, we'll start our journey south.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Florence Oregon RV Rally





We spent 7 days in Florence, Oregon. The first 4 days were spent relaxing and preparing for the Rim Rock Roamers FMCA rally. Of course it rained. It was the Oregon coast afterall. We had 21 coaches attending and only 19 reserved spaces, so our first challenge was parking. We wound up doubling several of the smaller coaches on one spot and it all worked out well. We were co-hosts on this rally along with Pete and Debbie Ribble. Our job was to prepare meals for the attendees. No stove, oven, refrigerator or water was available to us in our meeting building, so we improvised with propane grills, turkey cookers, griddles and extension cords running to every available outlet. We set up 2 dining canopies to cook under and pulled it off. The activites we planned for everyone went out the window due to the rain, but everyone seemed to find ways to occupy their time. It was great to see many of our RV friends again and looking forward to the next rally we will attend.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Done Wandering (For Awhile Anyway)

We arrived back in Redmond late Thursday after spending the past 5 months in the warmer climates of Arizona. We did take a little detour on the way home to Pahrump, Nevada. We had heard from several of our "motorhome buddies" about this park called Terribles Lakeside RV Resort and wanted to take a looksee. What a great surprise that turned out to be. A nice, lush 35 acre resort with a 7 acre lake stocked with fish. Fishing is free, but it's all catch and release. We spent a day listening to the ducks and geese and generally relaxing before the long journey north. The next day, we drove to Reno and spent the night and then drove back to Redmond the following day. The coach is pretty much unloaded now, but the inside is not cleaned out. Several pictures of the resort will be posted later, after I find the camera.

We will be home for the next several weeks before the coach starts wandering around again. Our first rally with the FMCA Rim Rock Roamers will be on the 21st of May, but we will head out early and spend 4 or 5 days at the beach before the rest of the group shows up.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Easter Pageant

The LDS church in Mesa puts on a non-denominational Easter Pageant every year. They set up 10,000 folding chairs on the Temple grounds. The stage takes 1 month to erect and is 4 stories tall. There are over 450 cast members that start rehearsing 4 nights per week a month before Easter The program itself was absolutely AWESOME.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A Single Bypass






No, not what you think. Last night a group of us went to the Heart Attack Grill for dinner. Upon arrival, you are put into a hospital gown, fitted with a wristband and the attending nurse fills in your chart. I had "flatliner fries" (cooked in pure lard) and a single bypass (a burger with 1/2 lb of meat and 3 types of cheese) and to drink, a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Nothing healthy about this place, but the food and atmosphere was "to die for". If, and I say if, you can eat the quadruple bypass, you are wheeled out of diner in a wheelchair. Healty - no / fun - yes.

Just A Catchup




The coach still hasn't moved, but we did take the car and go to Jerome, Az last week. What a fun little town. Now, it's just a tourist attraction with cute little shops and eateries. Once is was a thriving mining town, then it was abandoned, next it was home to the hippies and artists (still quite a few living in the 60s and 70s) and now it's just a fun place to visit.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Survived Another Year

Eight of us went to the Arizona Opry (http://www.azopry.com/) last night for my Birthday dinner. This is the second time this year that we have gone and ejnoyed this performance as much as the first. It's a family operated BRANSON like dinner show. The lead performer and music director (George Staerkel) married into the family and is terribly talented. In his earlier life, he was the lead singer for a group called The Tokens. He was best know for his lead vocals in the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. He's not lost any range of vocals over the years. He also plays over 55 musical instruments. I'll have to give this show a thumbs up.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The Winnebago Hasn't Wandered

The coach stayed in Mesa but we took the PT and went to Las Vegas for a 4 day NASCAR weekend. Friday's practice and qualifying was cold and windy and Saturday's Nationwide race was not only cold and windy, but we had rain and the race was delayed a couple of hours. But then on Sunday, the weather was perfect for short sleeves. Cheryl went to her first race on Saturday and wasn't that thrilled. She said it was OK, but doesn't care to go again.
Now, the gambling part of the trip wasn't profitable at all, but had a good time non the less.
Now, we're back in Mesa for the duration of the winter, except for a few side trips with the PT. The weather has finally started to warm up so it will be "pool" time in the afternoons.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Rain and Wind Times 3

We have been inundated with rain and wind for the past week. And I mean RAIN and WIND. Yesterday we semi-survived the 60+ MPH winds and 3.54 inches of rain. The dining canopy bit the dust but everything else more or less survived. I have 2 of my wheel covers under the motorhome and as soon as it dries out, I will crawl underneath and retrieve them. The dining canopy was another story. During one extreme gust, it picked up and flew into the dog run. Twas a sight to see. Upon landing, it folded up like an accordian. The cover went into the trash today, and the metal framework went into a recycle bin.
There were several motorhomes that sank into the sand and are being towed out as I write this. Ours isn't one of them. I put pads under the jacks when we arrived and it helped. I will have to raise the jacks and reposition the pads, but that isn't a big deal. We had at least 4 tall palm trees that I know of that have toppled over. Thankfully, no RVs were damaged by them. Hopefully, the storm due late today and into tomorrow will be the last for awhile.
On the plus side, this area got their entire yearly rainfall in 3 days. There isn't any drought now.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Rim Rock Roamer Snowbird Potluck



Just a couple of pictures of the 1st annual RimRock Roamer Snowbird winter gathering in Mesa Arizona. We had 7 coaches represented, but there were several that were just a little too far away to make it for lunch. The weather was superb and as usual the potluck was wonderful.
After the potluck, we toured Val Vista Village with Bob and Judy to see if it was somewhere we might want to winter next year. It's another "mega park" and although the price is right, we're just not sure if we want another large park or if we want something a little smaller. The beauty is that we don't have to decide right now.

Friday, January 1, 2010

New Years Day


Another first today. New Years Day in a swimming pool. Now that's an interesting concept. It really wasn't a "Polar Bear" swim. The water was a cool 85 degrees, and the hot tub was a warm 102.