New Year's Eve Party

We went to the New Year's Eve party at the rec center this evening and had a great time.  There was some confusion about when the party was to start, so we split the difference and went at 7:30pm.  Steve, Judy, Ron K, Gerry and I arrived and were lucky enough to find 5 seats at the same table.  All the other tables were full or almost full, so we had good fortune finding room.

Each person was asked to bring some finger food and the tables were full of delicious food.  There was such a variety that it was impossible to try everything.  I settled for some great beef rollups that Gerry prepared and some chips and dip.  OK, I snuck some other items also, but don't tell Gerry.

There was a lot of music and dancing and everyone seemed to have a great time.  As usual at these parties, it started winding down after they showed the Times Square countdown of the ball falling.  This year the ball didn't fall as much as they showed a digital clock counting down the time.  After about 30 minutes the hall had cleared out except for some diehards, like Gerry, Judy, Kim and some other dancers.  Finally, we convinced them it was time to go and the crew was able to clean up the tables.

We went over to Judy & Steve's 5th wheel and waited for the actual time here in Tucson to strike the magic hour.  We watched a program from Las Vegas and enjoyed the sense of humor of the MC who was very funny.  Finally it was time go back to our motorhome and get ready for bed.

We managed to talk to Larry Jr, Barbara & Cassie and wish them a happy new year.  It is tradition for us to call on new year's eve and since we were 2 hours behind them, they called at their local time.  I can't imagine why they don't call us at our midnight time.  They are much younger than we are and full of energy.  That is, except for Henry who was already in bed at 10pm his local time.  What a party pooper.

I did want to take the time to:

W i s h   E v e r y one

  a

H a p p y  N e w  Y e a r

Warm weather returns

This has been an interesting month of December here in Tucson with the weather.  Last year there were 20 days of 70+ degree days in December and this year there were 2 days at the same point in time.  The last few days have been the kind of days that we love to see here in December.  Today it was in the high 70s and they are forecasting 80s form Sunday to start off the new year.

We didn't do anything interesting today and straightened up around the motor home.   The preparations for Christmas took a lot of time and we neglected some chores around here.  It doesn't take long for a motor home to look cluttered if you don't stay with keeping it neat and shipshape.  

We were worn out from the trip yesterday and were moving slowly.  Larry, Jane and Grant sent us a surprise Christmas pickle ornament to hang on our tree.  I don't think I ever saw a pickle ornament, but we now have one.  They said the trick is to hide the ornament on the tree and have the children look for it and whoever finds the ornament gets a treat.  You learn something new every day.

Some days in a motor home are just like days in a regular house.  Nothing much worth writing about other than the weather.  This was one of those days.

Douglas, Sierra Vista, Tombstone and Benadryl

Gerry and I have been wintering in Tucson for the past 5 years and have thought about going to Douglas, AZ to check it out for a long time. We finally decided to make that trip today and Judy & Steve went along with us. Actually, we went with them since they were driving and I had the opportunity to ride along and sightsee.

We left the park around 9am for the 240 mile round trip up there and back. The first stop was in Sierra Vista at the Farmers Market to pick up some homemade salsa and vegetables. The market opened at 10am and we were among the first customers of the day. It wasn't as large as I thought it would be, but more vendors were coming in as we left Sierra Vista.  The picture to the right was taken through the back window of a van parked in front of me.  I thought it turned out very good.

It was a beautiful day and warm enough to travel with the windows down on the truck. Steve headed for Bisbee and then on to Douglas for our visit. Once we got past Bisbee the land leveled out and it looked like it may have been a huge lake bed at one time. There was a huge cloud along the Mexican border that looked like dust or fog, but since it was dry as a bone out there, it must have been dust or smoke.

Douglas was larger than I thought it would be with 14,000 residents and more homes and buildings than it looked like on the map. We drove up and down some of the main streets and then stopped at the Gadsden Hotel for lunch. What a marvelous old hotel and it was in great shape for being 83 years old. The original hotel was built in 1907 and burned in 1928 and then rebuilt into the present hotel. The owner was in the lobby and filled us in on the history of the hotel. He said when they rebuilt it they used metal studs between the rooms to make it more firesafe. Evidently they did the job very well, since it is still standing.

The elevator in the hotel is manually run by an operator, rather than by individuals. It dates back to 1928 and has been in use daily since that time. It has the old hand crank to operate the door and which floor to stop. I think the last time I saw an elevator like this was at the old State Dept Bldg in Washington, DC.  

The lobby was beautiful and very spacious with stuffed chairs spaced out in a sitting area. The chair sort of reached out and grabbed you and made it difficult to get up from it.  The lobby is majestically set with a solid white Italian marble staircase and 4 soaring columns.  Each column is decorated with 14K gold leaf worth $20,000 in 1929.

We had lunch in their restaurant and the meal was great. Judy & Steve really enjoyed their meals and said it was one of the best they have had out here in the Southwest. I had my usual Club Sandwich and it was very good also with a lot of bacon on it. Gerry had a shredded beef enchilada and thought it was great also.

We left there and headed up to Elfrida and then on to the ghost town of Gleeson. It was a mining town that died out when the ore played out. We saw a few old buildings, old mines on the hillside and not much else. There were some geocaches along the way and we stopped along the way to pick them up. Steve found his first one and Judy found her first find at the next stop. I think they enjoyed the geocaching part of the trip. 

Since we were so close to Tombstone, we kept driving on the dirt road until Tombstone appeared on the horizon. Judy and Steve suggested we stop for a beer and headed for the 4 Deuces bar on main street and sat outside drinking a few brews. There were two horses tied up outside the bar and a number of the patrons were dressed in old west outfits. I think they work in Tombstone as performers and were enjoying a beer at the end of a long day.

It was getting late and we started the long drive back to the park. Hunger pangs overtook us and we stopped at Montgomerys restaurant in Vail for dinner. We missed happy hour by 3 minutes and they have strict cutoff times, so we settled for water. We all enjoyed our meal there and finally headed for home. It was a 10+ hour trip from start to finish and we were all tired out. At least I was very tired out and happy to get home.

When we went through Benson we waved to Jerry & Suzy, Our Life on Wheels, but they didn't respond. The thought went through our mind to stop there for a beer, but we came to our senses and just waved. You lucked out today Jerry, but we still want to get together for lunch one of these days.

To cap off this interesting day I managed to break out in hives about 30 minutes after we got home. There must have been something in the weeds or bushes to set me off. Since this happens every so often, I recognized the symptoms and immediately took two Benadryl pills and jumped into the shower. They started to clear up a couple hours later and I am almost back to normal.

Good night.

The Rvs are a moving

I can see I-10 from our campsite and there were a lot of RVs on the road today.  I guess a lot of them were waiting for Christmas celebrations to end before they hit the road.  There were a number of RVs that came into the park today also, so I guess it will begin to fill up in the next week or so.  It will be nice to see some of the people from last season arrive and join in the activities.

The vegetable lady stopped by our MH today and delivered some tomatoes and peppers.  Gerry made a batch of pico de gallo that was delicious and we demolished it before dinner.  She had a number of eggplants but Gerry doesn't like eggplant so she doesn't prepare meals using them.  The vegetable lady also dropped off some apple strudel for us.  Thank you kind lady, you know who you are. 

It was up in the 70s again today and very enjoyable weather.  What a nice change from previous days this month.  We are looking forward to many more nice days in the weeks ahead.  It's about time.

Sean & Taylor (grandson & wife) called this evening to chat for a while.  They were tired out from staying out late the night before since they attended the North Carolina St vs Louisville football game in Charlotte, NC.  Sean is a graduate of NC State and really loves his sports and was happy to see his team win the Bowl game.  They did say it was very cold up there in the nose bleed section of the stadium, but it was worth it.  Way to go Wolfpack.  It was very nice talking to them and getting caught up on what they have been doing.  They are a great couple.

P.S.  Dee was the vegetable lady and was kind enough to not only share the vegetables, but to deliver them.  Good luck at bingo tonight.

LazyDays and Coyotes

Today was sewing, quilting day for Gerry and she got there late, but they didn't dock her any salary.  The park ladies meet every Tuesday morning at 1030 AM to do what they do quilting.  As you may have guessed, I don't have a clue what they actually do there, but it keeps them out of trouble.

I had ordered some parts for the motorhome from LazyDays and they called to tell me they were here.  Ron and I went up there to pick up the parts and see the new parts center.  They have a small room with a lot of RV products like water hoses, sewer pipes, etc.  They aren't nearly as complete as the Camping World nearby, but handy if you are there for something else and don't want to bother going to CW.  The lady running the parts center there was very friendly and helpful and seemed to enjoy her job and giving good service.  Great!

Ron and I then went to Costco to pick up a few items for him and he walked up and down the aisles checking out the place.  I got my items and then checked out while he looked around some more.  

We got back to the park in time to pick up Gerry at the rec center and help her bring all her sewing stuff back to the MH.  She said they had a nice turnout there and she had a good time.

Cousin Al called to tell me that the coyotes were right outside the door to his 5th wheel at the Pima County Fairgrounds.  He was taking some photographs and if I can get a copy of them, I will include them in this blog.  ** Note, these are Al's photos **  I think the coyotes smell their cats and are grocery shopping.  They do love their cat treats.

Steve and Judy came by and we planned a trip to Douglas and Gleeson, AZ for Thursday.  We will stop in Sierra Vista at the Farmers Market and then continue on to Douglas.  Douglas is an old mining town on the US/Mexico border that mined ore from 1900-1980.  The town is hanging on and we want to see what it looks like.  The famous Slaughter Ranch of 100000 acres was in this area and the house is still there about 15 miles east of Douglas.  

Gleeson is a ghost town or nearly a ghost town and is on the way back so we will swing by there and see what is left.  It will be about a 220 mile roundtrip but that isn't so far out here in the open spaces.

We picked Thursday since the next week or so the temps will be in the 70s, sunny and clear.  Perfect weather to see the countryside around here.

Day of Rest

It doesn't seem possible that Christmas is over already.  We were so busy getting out here and getting setup that it snuck up on us and was over before we realized it.  We have been staying at this park for 6 years and have spent Christmas here each year, but it didn't seem like a real Christmas this year.  I don't know if it was the weather, the hurry up and rush or what, but it was different.

We were tired of not getting out much so we went for a drive this afternoon.  We drove through some new neighborhoods and were amazed to see so many new homes being built, while at the same time others aren't selling and are being foreclosed.  There are still a lot of bank owned or foreclosed homes in the Tucson area and there are some great buys out there.  It sure is tempting.

I wanted to check out an area with some new geo caches that were placed on 11-11-11 and there were 11 caches in a large rectangle area.  We drove down a dirt road for about 4 miles and it steadily got rougher and narrower until we decided to turn around and head back.  The area was better suited for a 4-wheel drive vehicle and not so good for our Saturn Vue.  I'm not so sure that it would have been a good idea to search for the caches even if we could have gotten to them due to the remoteness of them.  Maybe another time.

It sure was nice to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.  It was up around 65 and a nice day with no wind at all.  The forecast is for really nice weather by Wednesday and even nicer for the days following that.  Now that is the kind of weather we have been waiting for.

I had an amusing run in with some guy today at the grocery store.  He was buying some bagels just ahead of me and started yakking about the bagels at Fry's grocery store and how good they were.  They weren't as dry as others in the area and he was an expert on bagels since he was from New York.  I knew I was in for a long lecture on bagels, organic food and politics from the git go.  He was friendly and not a problem, but he did hold me up from getting my bagels and I finally had to nudge him out of the way so I could pick out mine.  All in all, I found it very amusing how fast he talked and with such wisdom and authority.  

I watched Drew Brees, the QB of the New Orleans Saints break Dan Marino's total passing yardage record for a season this evening.  His final pass of the evening was for 9 yards and a touchdown and it set the record.  It was a good game for 2 1/2 quarters and then became a rout for the Saints.  I am looking forward to them playing the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs this year.  It should be a great offensive game for both teams.

Christmas Day

We got up early today so Gerry could fix the food for the potluck dinner at the recreation center today.  After that we went to Mass and enjoyed the nice view on the way there.  Since we were running a little late, we tried a shortcut and missed our turn and wound up taking longer to get to the church.  It was a childrens mass and the priest was great with all the kids.  We enjoyed seeing all those little kids and their bright faces.

After church it was home again and then getting the final preparations for the dinner at the center.  Cousin Sharon and her husband Al came by and joined us there, along with friends Steve and Judy.  The park provided the ham, potatoes and soft drinks and others brought the sides to the meal.  There were about 100 people there for the dinner and everything moved pretty well.  We were about the 6th table called to get in line and the food tables were full of delicious and tempting dishes.  I couldn't even sample all of them and settled for more food than I could eat.  

We sat around and visited a while longer at the rec center and listened to three songbirds belt out a special request for Carl.  It was a song that he loved and hadn't heard for a while.  They have a karaoke setup and they used the music from that as the background.  They did a great job of singing and we all enjoyed it, but Carl liked it even more.

After that we came back to the motorhome and Sharon, Al, Judy and Steve joined us there.  We were all too stuffed to have dessert and couldn't even down any more beverages.  Al & Sharon had a beer and the rest of us couldn't take another sip.  We had a nice visit and finally called it a night.

The kids all called us and I didn't get a chance to talk to them since we had company.  Later on we did talk to Cassie  & Jack for a while and Cassie was having an asthma attack and couldn't say much, but she did listen.  It was great talking to them and hopefully she will feel better soon and we can chat some more.

We called our friends Judy & Herb in Arlington, TX and chatted with them for 45 minutes and caught up on what they have been doing since we last saw them.  Judy got bored with retirement and took a part time job, and Herb has been working in the cigar shop lately.  Some retirement for them.  They do seem to enjoy the work and seeing people so it works for them.

That was our Christmas Day out here in the desert.  We would have loved to be with our children and family, but it didn't work out this year.  Maybe next year we can make plans on being together once again at Christmas.  Henry said no more parties at his house for 5 years, so we will have to look at alternate places to meet.  

Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas Eve

M e r r y

C h r i s t ma s

It is that joyous time of the year again and we are ready to enjoy the Christmas celebration.  We will go to Christmas mass on Sunday and then relax the remainder of the day.

Our house was the center of Christmas celebrations in the past and since we are out here in the desert once again the family is spread apart.  I've included some pictures from past years.

2001 Tree

2003 White Christmas and snow in our backyard.

Short blog today since everyone is busy with their Christmas preparations and time to read this blog is limited. 

Update:  We each had a piece of pie; mincemeat for me and pumpkin for Gerry.  As usual, it was superb.  It was difficult sitting here and smelling the pies in the oven without snitching a piece early.  I've been know to do that in the past.

Merry Christmas to all from Gerry & Larry.

TTT and Smoke

It was very cold last night and when we woke up this morning it was down to 50 degrees in the motorhome.  It usually is around 55 degrees at the lowest so this was unusual.

We decided to go to the Tucson Truck Terminal (TTT) for breakfast this morning and warm up.  The breakfasts there are huge and if you go away hungry, it is your own fault.  We both ordered the same thing, chorizo con huevos (sausage and eggs) and hashbrown potatoes.  The meal was a little spicy but tasty.  Lots of coffee helped warm us up and also fill our bellys. 

The TTT is usually very busy at breakfast time, but today it wasn't even half full.  I guess all the over the road truckers are heading home for the holidays and trying to get unloaded today at the latest.  One trucker was talking on the phone and said he was 4 hours away, however I-10 was closed from the Arizona stateline all the way into to Las Cruces.  I-25 was closed from Truth or Consequences  north.  They had a major snowfall and the roads were impassable for anything less than a 4 wheel drive.

We went to Costco to see if they had any electric heaters and they were sold out of them.  There must have been a big rush on heaters the last couple days due to the cold snap we are going through.  It's pretty bad when it is so cold in the desert that you run out of heaters.

On the way back to the RV park we saw a huge column of smoke rising from the area near the Air Force base here.  We feared that there was a plane crash and went near the area to check it out.  The smoke was coming from a recycle plant that had piles of ground up tires and plastic stuff on the ground.  Somehow it had caught fire and was spewing columns of black smoke in the area.  At least it wasn't caused by a plane crash or anything like that.  There were about 7 fire trucks in the area, but none of them were working on stopping the blaze.  I think they were working on figuring out what to do.  They finally got the blaze out sometime later in the day.

Cousin Al came by and visited for a while and filled us in on what's been going on over at their campground.  Al bought a new computer and has been working on it trying to get the feel for it.  He loves it so far and is very happy with the increased speed of the computer.

We delivered a few small gifts to friends at the park and visited a short while with them.  At the last minute we decided to go to a local Italian restaurant and Judy and Steve joined us there.  For a change we didn't have to wait and were seated quickly and the meals came right away.  We all enjoyed a nice meal and went back to our motor home and chatted for a while. 

It is getting colder again with the clear skies and should be down around the high 20s tonight.  I may have to shut the water off if it gets any colder.  So far it hasn't dropped enough to be worried.

Powerball Winner (almost) & Mincemeat Pie

Tonight was the drawing for the Arizona Powerball lottery and we were almost a winner.  Well, we had two numbers right out of the 6 numbers so that is a big improvement over previous purchases.  Now we are encouraged to play and get the remaining 4 numbers.   We remain optimistic and think this can be done if we keep playing.  What do you think?   LOL

Gerry baked cookies and bread all day and put a big dent in the preparations for Christmas.  I went outside and brought our Christmas decorations in and took them out of the wrapping and boxes.  We have very few decorations due to limited storage in the MH so it isn't that hard to decorate.  The bulk of the them are on the dash and we have garland and cards strung over the sofa and dinette. I will put up the outside lights on Thursday and that will be our decorations.  Not a lot, but we do have a lot of Christmas spirit.

It isn't supposed to get much above the mid 50s tomorrow, but that is fine with us.  Gerry still has more baking to do and that heats up the MH real well.  Plus I get to enjoy the great smells that come out of the oven.  Saturday, the best smell coming out of the oven will be the mincemeat pie she is making for me.  It is my favorite pie and since Gerry doesn't care for it, I have to eat it by myself.  I will be up to the task as proven by prior year events.  What is your favorite pie?


Macy's had a big Christmas sale going on ( surprise ) and Gerry saw something she was interested in.  We hopped in the car and went down there so she could buy it.  I was surprised how little traffic there was on the road, but the parking lot was full.  I dropped Gerry off and she ran into the fray to get her item.  2nd surprise, they were sold out of that special, but had other nice things there to consider.  Struck out.


We left there and stopped at a Radio Shack store to buy a new set of external speakers for our computers.  We picked up the last set they had and lucked out on that one.  Once again, not many people shopping there and we got in and out quickly.  They did have a lot of nice gadgets on sale and I think another trip there to check them out further is in order.


We stopped by the Village Inn for a late lunch since it was free pie Wednesday there.  They give you a free slice of pie with your meal and their cherry pie is excellent.  We were stuffed from the lunch and brought the pie home for a snack later in the day.  As it turns out, we had the pie and Chai tea for a late dinner.  Yep, that is all we had as we were still full from the lunch.

Busy day for us

We went to the dog and pony show at the Rec Center today for coffee and donuts. Various RV dealers in Tucson provide the coffee and donuts and give us a little sales pitch. Today, it was Lazy Days RV of Tucson who showed up. They bought the old Beaudry RV facilities and it sounds like they rehired many of the old employees. The service center has been open for a while and now they are getting in more RVs for sale. So far, it seems like the bulk of their stock in motor homes is “pre-owned” which seems to be the case with many dealers. I guess they don't want to be stuck with a large new inventory in case the industry tanks again.

They brought two units here for us to checkout; a 5^th wheel and a Holiday Vacationeer motor home. The 5^th wheel had 5 slide outs, but it wasn't something we would be interested in. The MH was nice, but there wasn't room for a washer/dryer and the living room/kitchen area only had two electrical outlets. I can't imagine having a MH without more electrical outlets since we have two pcs, picture frames, phone chargers, coffee pot, etc and two outlets would be impossible to work around.

Lazy Days also took over the campground and it is open, even though they have few campers there lately. As a matter of fact, many of the campgrounds in the area seem to have fewer customers at this time. Maybe they are waiting for the first of the year to make the long drives out here. It will be interesting to see if the business does pick up or if the economy and other factors are taking their toll on the campgrounds.

They had a lucky buck drawing and we didn't win that, but Gerry did win a bottle of Sangria wine. An occasional sangria drink is nice, so I am sure we will enjoy it very much. Lazy Days has you fill out a card with your name, address, etc on it and draws the cards out for door prizes. Today they were giving out free dinner at their restaurant, The Florazona at the campground. We didn't win any of the free dinners, but I am sure we will try the restaurant out in the future.

We finished getting all our Christmas cards in the mail along with a package. I sure am glad that chore is finished for another year. We took them to a local contract post office which is in the office of a storage unit facility. We've used them in the past and have always gotten excellent service from them and they didn't fail us today. In and out quickly and great service. The local USPS office is very good also, but they have more business and there is always a line.

We went grocery shopping and picked up some needed items at Fry's and then later at Safeway. Fry's had me walking the aisles, but I decided to guard the car at Safeway and let Gerry shop by herself. She did a fine job if I do say so myself.

Ron & Dee K stopped by later in the day and invited us to join them at Montgomerys in Vail. It is a sports bar, but they have good sandwiches and a limited main menu. We weren't that hungry so we shared a Supreme Nacho platter. Whew, it was a lot of food and filled us up to the brim. Ron & Dee had sandwiches and said they were great. We all waddled out of there and weren't the least bit hungry.

Now it is time to sit back, relax and take it easy for the remainder of the night. It was a busy day, but we got a lot accomplished.

Coyotes & Navy Bean Soup + Curry Hammock State Park

My cousin Sharon and her hubby Allen are staying at the Pima County Fairground RV park nearby and they invited us over for dinner.  They had prepared some Navy bean soup and cornbread for dinner and it was very tasty.  I had two bowls of the soup and enjoyed it very much.  

We were serenaded by coyotes while we had dinner.  There are a number of coyotes just outside the fence surrounding the fairgrounds, but the coyotes have managed to dig holes under the fence and roam the area.  They have found the coyotes right outside the entrance door to the 5th wheel and just sitting there looking around.  That is too close for comfort for me, especially since they have two cats.  

The weather still hasn't been that great around here with highs in the 50s and lows in the high 30s.  At least the rain seems to have moved through the area and they are calling for clear weather in the days ahead.  This has been the coldest December we have experienced in the 6 years we have been here and I am tired of it.  It is past time for some nice sunny and dry days here.

We worked on finishing the Christmas cards and only have a couple more to go and should finish them up by Tuesday morning, or afternoon if we go to coffee and donuts in the morning.  It looks like I may be the one to finish them up and mail them if Gerry goes to sewing group after the coffee and donuts.

While it is cool here, at least we have some great memories of camping in the Florida Keys.  We camped at the Curry Hammock State Park in Feb 2006 just before we sold our home in Maryland.  The nice part about camping in Curry Hammock SP was being right on the beach and watching the sunrise and then later in the evening watching the sunset.  The Key was narrow there and easy see the Atlantic Ocean and then a 1/2 mile away see the sunset on the Gulf of Mexico.   They also had some great Tiki bars down there and great fresh seafood.  Yes, we do miss it.

 

Goodnight all...

Upset Sunday

Well, it looks like the pro football teams have to play the game, not take anything for granted.  The last undefeated team ( GB Packers lost; 13-1 record) and the last winless team ( Indianapolis Colts won; 1-13 record).  The Washington Redskins beat the New York Giants for the second time this season.  What a weekend!

I found out about the power of the press today in a big way.  Al, of the Bayfield Bunch, mentioned my blog in his blog today and my hits increased by 150.  His blog is very popular and he has more than 400 followers, which is a lot of people who regularly read his blog.  Thanks Al, for the plug.

It has been raining hard all day and is quite cool which is unusual for Tucson this time of year.  We must have gotten 3/4 inch of rain at least.  We came here for the sunshine and nice temps.  Maybe we will get a Christmas gift of nice weather for the remainder of the winter.  Fat chance!


We usually go to a morning mass, but today it worked out better to attend the 5pm mass.  What a change.  Short sermon and we were out of there in 45 minutes.  I even lucked out and got a handicapped parking space near the church doors which was great since it was raining hard.  The church was less than half full and that was a surprise.  

We stopped by Panda Express for a carryout dinner so we could get home in time to watch the final Survivor of the season.  It is neck and neck at the present time for the final challenge.  See ya later, have to watch this.  Well, there is a winner of Survivor challenge.  I won't tell you who won, but they would not have gotten my vote.

Craft show and computers

The park sponsored a craft show today at the Rec Center and Gerry went up there to check it out.  They had a lot of crafts that Gerry makes herself and she decided that she didn't need more of the stuff.  Whew, I dodged a bullet this time.

Allen B came over with his new Toshiba laptop and I transferred his data to the new computer.  I also set it up and downloaded AVG anti-virus software.  My new toy that I purchased in Arlington, TX came in handy again.  I took his hard drive out of the old laptop and inserted it in the docking station and then was able to attach it to his new computer as an external disk drive.  It was simple to transfer the files and it went off very well.  Money well spent.

It started out windy and then was  sunny and nice for the most part until the clouds moved in.  The wind had died down a bit so overall it was a nice day out here in the desert.

Just another day in paradise.  We used to hear that on the radio in the Florida Keys about 20 times a day when we stayed there in the winter.   Now paradise is so expensive that it would be prohibitive to spend 3-4 months down there.  It was nice while it lasted.

Ron & Dee K came by this afternoon for a visit and Gerry chatted with them while I worked on the computer.  They had a nice visit and left just ahead of Allen, so it was back to working on the Christmas cards.  Hopefully we can get them in the mail on Sunday.

Guadalajara Cafe & Friends

One of our favorite places to eat in Tucson is the Guadalajara Cafe on Kolb Rd.  It is part of a small chain, but seems like a stand alone restaurant.  Ron & Dee C, along with Judy & Steve and Gerry and I all made the trek down there for happy hour and dinner.  The mariachi bands were playing and stopped by our table. 

We like to get there early and then order appetizers rather than full meals since the meals are so large and filling.  Even though we had two appetizers we couldn't finish both of them.  The 22 oz Dos Equis beer was nice and cold and Gerry enjoyed her margaritas.  They have a server that prepares salsa to your order at your table and can make it mild, medium or flaming hot.  The medium is too hot for me, so you know I didn't try the hot.  

We all enjoyed our meals and left stuffed to the gills.  

On our way back we stopped to see the house that had all the Christmas decorations outside and enjoyed all the work the homeowner put into the display.

Visitors

The day started off simple enough with coffee and breakfast and it took off.  We have been having problems with the furnace in the motor home and saw a mobile RV technician drive by after breakfast.  I got in the car and tracked him & her down to see if they could work on the furnace.  They didn't have the parts needed, so I am going to buy the parts and then give them a call to finish  the job.

I stopped by Ron C's rv space on the way back and chatted for a while.  He bought a new Ford F-150 truck with all the bells and whistles and he showed it off to me.  It looks more like a luxury car than a pickup and I'm sure he will make good use of it.

Ron C came by later to visit and deliver the newspaper.  He subscribes to the paper and drops it by when he is finished reading it.  We chewed the fat for a while and he said he had chores to do and had to hit the road.  


Gerry was working on making Christmas cards and I updated the address list with my automated address book.  There were a few address changes to make and a few new ones to include.  

While I was working on this task Judy & Steve stopped by to visit for a while.  Then Ron & Dee K stopped by and met Judy & Steve and visited for a short time.  Dee had just driven down from Show Low, AZ and was worn out.  It was great seeing her again since it has been almost a year since we last saw her.

Linda & Sherwin stopped by to visit and also met Judy & Steve and filled us in on the rental house they are in this year.  They sold their 5th wheel and truck and bought a smaller truck.  They got tired of hauling the 5th wheel out every year and love the house they are renting.  They are close enough to CCRV so they can visit and take part in the activities here if they choose to do so.

We went over to Judy & Steve's unit and had a very nice dinner with them.  Judy had prepared it earlier in the day and just had to heat it up and we were digging in.  After dinner chatted and watched TV with them for a while and then went back to our unit to get some work done.

Not every day is like this, but you never know what is in store for you here at the park.  We enjoyed seeing every one and wished we had a larger MH or 5th wheel.  

We are looking forward to the greening of the desert and hope some flowers pop up real soon.   That was our day here, how did yours go?

Excitement in the neighborhood

Saturday a man tried to abduct a female runner about 7 miles from where we are staying.  The image of his truck was captured on a security camera but he managed to get away.  Tonight the truck was spotted and the police gave chase and this time he jumped out of the truck and ran.  They have closed down the neighborhood where he was last seen and have tracking dogs searching for him along with helicopters with searchlights.  Hopefully he will be caught and get his due.  

We are far enough away from the incident and are safe in our motorhome.  It seems there is always something going on around here, good and bad.  

Ron K, Gerry and I went to a local bar/restaurant for lunch today.  Just our luck to be between lunch specials and happy hour, but we managed to enjoy a great meal there.  After the lunch we went to the local Dairy Queen to take advantage of  Gerry's free coupon for a medium blizzard.  

Early this morning a small helicopter flew very low over the park and the engine sounded funny.  It startled us but we put it out of our thoughts until later in the day when we heard a helicopter went down a few miles from here.  I don't now if it was the same helicopter, but the timing was the same for both events.  We do have A-10s and other military aircraft flying over the park all the time and this just sounded like another one of those planes.

That was enough excitement for one day for us. 

Costco Run

Gerry went to the sewing club at the Rec Center this morning and had a chance to visit with the "girls" and catch up on what everyone has been doing since last spring.  A few of the old timers didn't return to CCRV this year, but there were some who don't stay at CCRV who did show it.  There were about 12 in the group and once we get past Christmas more will show up.

It has been raining all day and temps are in the mid 40s so it was a great day to go shopping at Costco.  We figured with the rain there wouldn't be that many shoppers there.  Wrong!   As we were entering the front door entrance we saw these two shoppers loading up their pickup trucks.  Do you think they came there for a few items and all of a sudden they had over $100 in their basket(s)?  I would hate to see what their bill was for the items they had purchased.  They may have been together and if so, they bought enough to keep a small store in business for a month.

The new store layout in Tucson is the same as the store in Arlington, TX and has all the food samples in the back of the store.  That way you have to walk all through the store to get to the samples.  We arrived right after lunch and hadn't had lunch so we sampled just about everything.  Now I hope it all doesn't hit my stomach like a rock.  So far, so good.

There is a blog that I check every so often called the  Bayfield Bunch  who love to boondock in the desert all winter.  They avoid private campgrounds like the plague, but had some problem with their toilet in the MH and had to have it replaced.  They picked the Camping World to purchase the toilet and had it installed by them.  He bought one with an elevated throne and didn't take into consideration the toilet was already on a platform.  Good luck with that.  We were at Camping World and saw his unit parked in the Lazy Days parking lot.  There didn't seem to be anyone around so we didn't stop, but did take a picture of their MH.  He writes a very nice blog and if you are interested in the Southwest, check his blog.  Great pictures and a well written blog. 

It was a record setting day in Tucson for rainfall with a total of 1.07 inches today alone.  This also was the wettest December since 1997 in Tucson.  I think we brought this weather with us from the East.  Hope we don't get run out of town by the snowbirds.

Rainy day & The Help

We woke up to a nice morning and then the clouds moved in around 10 AM and it rained on and off all day.  They are calling for rain until Wednesday morning and then clearing.  The mountains north of us are covered with snow and they are calling for up to a foot or more of the white stuff.  It sure does look beautiful to see the mountains covered in the white stuff, as long as we don't have to be in it.

Judy and Steve came by today for a visit.  We downed a drink or two and then they invited us over to see their new 5th wheel unit.  It is a 37ft Cedar Creek unit and is beautiful.  Lots of room and a great floor plan.  We visited with them there and then it was time to go back home for a BBQ dinner and to give Gerry a chance to get ready for her big night out.

Gerry is going up to the Rec Center to watch the movie "The Help" this evening.  It sounds too much like a "chick flick" to me so I will have to watch the football game by myself.  I know it is a tough job, but I think I am up to the challenge.  

We got a great buy on Chateau Ste. Michelle chardonnay wine last night at Safeway, so I went back for 6 more bottles.  When I went to check out it didn't honor the advertised price.  An assistant manager came by and said the sale ad should have said Riesling and they wouldn't honor the price.  Well, at least we did get 6 bottles at the advertised price last night.


Not much else is going on around here with the rain keeping most people indoors trying to keep warm and dry.  There are days like this while RVing and you just go with the flow. 

It's beginning to look like Christmas

Ron K came over for a visit and we chatted for a while and then headed up to the Rec center for the Ice Cream social.  They went through the ice cream very fast and we hung around and watched the Green Bay-Oakland football game.  

We drove over to visit with Cousin Sharon & Al at their campground.  They are staying at the Pima County Fairgrounds for the winter and love it over there.  They are at the end of a row and don't have any neighbors to the south of their unit, which gives them a great view of the mountains.  At night they can hear the coyotes howl and see them around the fence at various times.  

We had some shopping to take care of and left early enough to get the shopping finished and still have a few minutes to spare to watch the final episode of "The Amazing Race" which is one of our favorite shows.  The couple that we like the least of the final three won the race and the $1,000,000 first prize.  Not bad for a months work and the opportunity to travel around the world.

After the race was over we chatted with our son Larry Jr. for a while and then left to see some Christmas lights on the houses in the area.  Many houses are decorated very nicely and one has an especially nice display in their front yard.  Last year they were giving out hot chocolate on Christmas Eve and had lots of takers.  

It was another nice day in the low 70s and we enjoyed it very much, including taking a short bike ride.  The forecast for the next 5 days isn't so great with rain in the forecast for the next couple days and then cooler after that with temps in the high 50s.  They need rain out here so bad that we can't really complain if it does rain.  Costco has a roof over it, so we can stay dry shopping there.
 

Quiet day

It was a quiet day here at CCRV and we straightened up the MH a bit and settled in.   Our personal paper delivery person (Ron) stopped by with the paper and visited for a while.  He finally had to get going and do some chores.  It was nice chatting with him and getting caught up on some things going on around here.

They had a spaghetti dinner at the Rec center tonight and Ron K joined us for the dinner.  For some reason the attendance was way down from past years and less than half of the hall was filled up.  It was a more relaxed meal and people actually stayed around after the meal and socialized for a while.  In the past as soon as the dinner was served, everyone was shooed out of the center and they cleaned the tables and turned off the lights.  Much better this year.

It was another bright and sunny day here with a high in the upper 60s or low 70s.  Just about perfect weather for this time of the year.  It's around 10pm and we don't have the heat on yet, so that is great also.

I had the Kentucky-Indiana basketball game on TV and was halfway watching it.  Indiana had a large lead and Kentucky came back and went ahead by a point with 6 seconds to go.  Indiana didn't have a timeout and rushed the ball up court and made a 3 point shot with about .4 seconds left on the clock.  Time expired with the shot and they won by 1 point.  What a finish to a great game.  I love how excited and into the game the fans and players get in a college game.  

I worked for the Navy for 9 years and root for Navy in the Army-Navy football game.  Navy won again for the 10th straight year in a close game.  I feel sorry for Army losing all those games but they were good sports in the end.   

So much for the sports wrap up.

Cactus Country RV Resort

We left South Mountain, PA on November 8th to begin our trip out here to Tucson.  We had stops along the way in Concord, NC to visit with family and Arlington, TX to visit with friends.  It has been a 2500 mile drive through rain, snow, sleet, high winds and nice weather.  It was a great ride and we are glad to be here in Tucson.

Friends Ron & Dee greeted us while we were signing in, Cousin Al stopped by for a visit and the Ron K visited for a while.  Then Judy and Steve stopped by to catch up on events in our lives and fill us in on what they have been doing since last spring.  We chatted with Dan & Kim for a while in the office and are now fully hooked up, TV going, free wifi, on our old spot and life is good.

It was sunny and warm today and a welcome relief from the weather the past week or so.  I am sitting next to an open window typing this at 8pm and it is very comfortable.  Cold weather is on the way as expected, but nice now. 

Oh, Dee reminded me that the paper boy left today's paper on our picnic table.  Now that is what I call service beyond the call of duty.  Thanks, I am reading the paper now.

Moving West

It was colder last night than any other night on this trip.  Van Horn is higher up than you would think and it does get very cold.  We woke up this morning to a frozen hose and water spigot.  I knew it was going to be cold and should have disconnected the water hose, but laziness prevented me from doing it.  As they say, "no harm, no foul" and I was able to disconnect the hose.  The spigot thawed out about the time we were leaving.

It was another long day and we drove 390 miles, but it was a relatively easy day.  There wasn't much wind, so that was good and traffic was light once we got through El Paso.   There was a lot of snow along the roadside until we were about 80 miles west of Las Cruces.  They must have had a lot of snow there the past week or so.
 
We managed to purchase gas for $2.929/gallon at the FlyingJ in El Paso.  They have the RV island in a strange place and I drove past it and had to turn around in the truck parking lot.  We took on 65 gallons at a cost of $192.45.  How would you like to fill up your vehicle a couple times a week at that cost?  That was enough gas to get us all the way to Tucson and have some leftover.

We are stopped for the night in Benson, AZ and will go into Tucson on Friday morning. 

Pearl Harbor & Van Horn, TX

It was 70 years ago that Japan pulled off their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and pushed the U.S. into WWII.  As everyone knows there were around 2400 casualties that day along with a number of ships sunk.  They didn't bomb the oil storage tanks or the drydocks where the ships were eventually repaired and that was a big mistake for them.  They also bombed on a Sunday morning and many of the servicemen were on shore leave and didn't perish with those on duty. 

When I worked for the Naval ASW Data Center I went on a TDY to Hawaii and was working on Ford Island which was in the center of the action in 1941.  The movie Tora Tora was being shot in the area at that time and we could see Japanese Zero aircraft flying all over the place.  It sure gave me a funny feeling to see them shoot the film.

We left Arlington today at 9am after all the traffic had cleared up on the interstate and had clear sailing to Van Horn, TX.   The living room slide topper had a ton of ice on it and it fell off when we brought the slide in.  It was quite cold last night and must have gotten down to around 22-24 degrees.  I did turn off the water and disconnected the hose to keep it from freezing. 

We drove 493 miles in 8 1/2 hours and had an easy time of it.  There isn't much traffic on I-20 west of Ft Worth, however it is a long boring drive without much interesting scenery.  

We arrived here in Van Horn around 630 pm and got setup and ordered two dinners from the cafe here at the KOA.  We stopped here last fall and appreciated having a meal prepared for us after a long drive.

The only interesting thing that happened today was seeing the Davis Mountains covered in snow and climbing to over 4300 ft on I-10.  See, we do live an exciting life.

Early to bed tonight and leave in the morning for Benson, AZ.  We like to stop there and catch our breath before arriving at CCRV.  We are looking forward to seeing all you guys & dolls sometime Friday.  

Brrrrrrrr - it's cold out there

It looks like we overstayed our welcome here in Arlington, TX.  The price of gas at Costco went up 10 cents a gallon and it has turned very cold.  The forecast for tonight is around 27 degrees and it was 31 degrees and windy at 5pm.  We are fine and I will disconnect the water hose before we go to bed tonight and just use the water in the fresh water tank.  

We had a late lunch with Judy and Herb and she fixed a pork roast for the lunch, along with scallop potatoes and scallop corn.  The beer batter bread she baked was extremely good and I could have just eaten it as a meal.  It was a very nice feast and we were just expecting some ham sandwiches.   I think we will move in with them and enjoy her cooking.

After lunch we visited some more and made plans to see them in Ruidoso, NM in March 2012 if the weather holds out.  It can be quite cold and snowy there that time of the year.  

After saying our goodbyes we stopped by Costco for a few items for the road and filled up the gas tank on the car.  I like to travel with a full tank when we are traveling through West Texas since there are so many open spaces with few towns.

We video chatted with Gloria & Doug for a while and had to listen to them give their temperature in Melbourne Beach, FL at 70 degrees.  It was around 30 here, windy and damp to go with it.  Maybe we should have headed south instead of west.  Next year.

This will be an early to bed night so we can get on the road around 9am and make the 500 mile drive to Van Horn, TX.  That is the plan, subject to change as events may dictate otherwise.  I hope to at least get to Odessa, TX by the evening, but Van Horn would be better.

Good night all and I hope you have a nice day on Wednesday and think of us as we tool down the road.

7 Degree night

No, not for us.  I was chatting with a RV friend in the Albuquerque, NM area and that is the forecast for them tonight.  I don't think our motor home could survive anything that cold unless we drained all the water and winterized the unit.  We don't have a good enough furnace to heat the basement area and I don't think the unit was designed for that.  I wish Karen & Russell well and hope it warms up soon for them.

The cold and lousy weather is all over the Southwest this December and it seems to be an unusual event according to reports.  I wonder if this is a part of the Global Warming that we have to be concerned about.  I think the weather is changing, but it doesn't look like it is headed for warmer weather.  The winds have been terrible in the SW already this year with 90mph winds in Los Angeles.   That is something else I like to avoid in the MH.   South Florida is looking better and better for next year.  

We joined Herb & Judy and Paul & Susan at the Spring Creek BBQ restaurant for dinner tonight.  The restaurant donates 20% of the check to their church so we are going to do our part to help out. We enjoyed the meal very much and also the company.  The two Pastors of the church was walking around passing out warm rolls that were very tasty.  We were too full to have any dessert so we made it an early evening.


When we walked out of the restaurant it felt like old man winter snuck up on us.  It was very damp and cold and I think this may be a cold night.  The furnace is running along with the electric heater so we should be in good shape.

Weather Delay

We had plans to leave here on Monday, however the weather down the road doesn't look too good for MH travel.  Windy and cold on tap for the next two days, so we decided to hang around here until Wednesday and strike out for Van Horn, TX and spend the night there.  From there we hope to drive to Willcox, AZ and stop for the night.  We can avoid 30-40 mph winds on Tuesday and temps down around 13 at night.

We joined Judy & Herb for brunch today at their house and had a nice meal and great company.  The girls left for some important shopping and Herb and I watched some football and chatted nonstop on a variety of subjects.  We almost solved all the world problems before the girls came home.  I got by easy today on purchases by Gerry.  Whew!!

We left early enough to watch The Amazing Race and take it easy this evening.  It has been raining all day and cooled off a lot so there isn't much incentive to go out in this weather.  

Quiet day visiting friends. 

Visit with Nephew and family

Gerry's nephew Jerry and family came by today for a visit.  They have two beautiful daughters, Kayleen & Kaitlyn who were a pleasure to talk to.  It is nice to see such well behaved and nice children.  Jerry and Rose are doing a great job of raising them to be nice young ladies.

We visited with them in the motor home for most of the afternoon and caught up on a lot of family matters.  Jerry works for a radio station and has been in the business for a number of years.  Rose works for a Televangelical Ministry and loves her work.  It was great seeing them again since it was in 2007 that we last saw them.   We hope it isn't that long before we see them again.

We had made plans to go over to Judy & Herbs house for dinner and had a nice time.  Herb fixed some brats on the grill and sauerkraut and we brought coleslaw and potato salad to complement the meal.  We all managed to stuff ourselves and had to sit a while to let the food find all the small places in our stomachs.  Whew.  We were almost too full to eat dessert, but we managed to finish it off.

Later on Cassie and I chatted on the internet for an hour or so and I finally hit the hay around midnight.   

Watching the weather & Tiger Direct

We had planned on departing Arlington, TX on Monday and head west on I-20 toward El Paso, TX.   The weather forecast has me thinking that might not be a good idea.  They are calling for ice pellets and cold weather along the way.  I am not sure what ice pellets are, but I don't think it is a good thing to be in driving a motor home.  We will have to keep a close watch on the weather to see what develops in the next couple days.

I was talking to my brother who is in Amarillo this afternoon heading for Las Vegas, NV and he has some bad weather ahead of him.  I-40 has ice on spots, snow in others and bad weather advisories in other places in New Mexico and Arizona.  It is going to be dicey for him traveling in that weather.  Hope he stays safe and pulls off the road if it gets too bad.  A tractor trailer truck with 48,000 lbs on the trailer isn't that good of a snowmobile.

Gerry and Judy went shopping this morning and we met for lunch and they continued shopping after that.  It is now 5pm and they are still out shopping.  I gave her an extra $5 to spend this morning and I think it may be gone along with a few more $5 bills.  I am almost afraid to see what this little shopping trip is going to cost me.  

Herb and I went shopping at Compuserve USA which is part of Tiger Direct and I picked up a USB docking station for my PC.  It will read either 2.5" or 3.5" hard drives and I have one of each with me.  They both came from PCs and I tried to buy a case for each to make them external drives, but the cost of the cases was more expensive than the docking station.  I tried it out and it worked like a charm.  My friend Mann bought one last spring and I tried his out on my computer and was impressed how well it worked.

It sounds like our friends in Tucson are having some bad weather with wind, rain and cold weather.  I guess it isn't that important to get there to join them in those conditions.  I checked the road conditions on the New Mexico DOT and they had an advisory for I-10 around Lordsburg, NM.  Ouch!   We have to travel that road in a few days and I hope the bad weather doesn't linger in the area.

Treetops RV Resort - Arlington, TX

It was an interesting night in Shreveport, LA at the RV park with the trains running, dogs barking, police sirens and street noise.  It is a well laid out park with concrete parking, picnic table, wifi,  and cable tv.  Lots of good points, but the noise out ways them.  I don't think we will be stopping there again soon.

It was an easy 210 mile drive to Arlington and we saw a lot of burned out pine trees along the side of the road for miles.  I guess it is a result of the fires they had here last summer.  Some of the trees were burnt right up to trailer parks and homes along the way.  It must have been a frightening time for those living close to the fires.

We arrived at the Treetops RV park without any incidents or problems.  That isn't always the case when you drive I-20 south of Dallas and Arlington.  In the past we have run across some very aggressive and reckless drivers in the area.  Today was a piece of cake.  The price of a site here has gone up considerably since we were here last and we only stopped here because of the 50% discount for one day because of Passport America.  If they give you that discount, they won't honor any other discounts for the remaining days of your stay here.  Looks like the local county park will be our choice next visit.

We are getting ready to go over to Judy & Herb's house for dinner and to visit with them.  We haven't seen them since last March when we visited with them in their Ruidoso, NM home.  Nice to have wealthy friends who can afford two homes.