12/31/2012

December 6, to December 31, 2012 Casa Grande Part 2

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas and are enjoying this New Year’s Eve.

I cannot believe it has been almost a month since I updated – WOW!  Where does the time go? 

So what have we been up to?  Well (and I will try to keep this short – :-)):

We have been reconnecting with friends we have met over the years and are enjoying getting caught up and spending time with them.

In the park, Andy and I volunteered to help out with a couple of the activities.  One of those for me has been teaching a beading class and that has been a lot of fun.  I did the activity calendar for January and enjoyed it.  The past two years there has not been an activity leader and I think if I spent a few months here, I would enjoy doing that job.  (But, alas, I start to get hitch itch after a few weeks and need to move on.)

Our Motor Home refrigerator now has a new cooling unit.  We have the 4 door Norcold that was on the recall list.  We had one fix, that failed and then the second failed so Norcold would not give us another.  So instead of getting a new refrigerator, we got an Amish Cooling Unit – so far so good.

Both of our cats, Dusty and Bella, had their appointments with a new vet that we all liked.  All is good except our Dusty has to lose some weight (like Andy and I – LOL) plus he will need some dental work in the near future.

Andy continues to have all his checkups at the VA – so far so good.  The final ones are over the next week.

I spent a wonderful day with my cousin Kris who has moved into an incredible complex.  Check out those front doors:

12-14-12 Kris at home 001

It was great to spend the day with her – Thanks Kris!

A group of us made our annual trip to Organ Stop Pizza.  I won’t go into the details since they were posted here:

http://thehitzels.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-14-21-2011-organ-pipe-pizza.html

But I do have videos:

 

 

 

From there we went to the Mormon Temple to enjoy their incredible lights:

12-13-12 B Mormon Lights in Mesa 031

12-13-12 B Mormon Lights in Mesa 010

12-13-12 B Mormon Lights in Mesa 011

12-13-12 B Mormon Lights in Mesa 023 

 

 

Enjoying the lights – me, Andy, Keith, and Michelle:

12-13-12 B Mormon Lights in Mesa 009

Our weather has been beautiful although we have had more clouds than normal.  And of course those clouds make such awesome sunsets:

   12-18-12 Casa Grande 008

12-18-12 Casa Grande 006

12-18-12 Casa Grande 005

12-18-12 Casa Grande 009

WOW!

And as 2012 ends, Andy and I have decided to have a quiet night at home.  Both of us were sick and do not have our energy back yet.  To be honest, it is nice to just kick back and enjoy some TV.

We are thankful for being able to enjoy the life we do and count our many friends and family as blessings in our lives.

We wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2013:

484104_492127957505183_1807550623_n

702521_296268923826781_2112570133_n

Click here- A Brand New Year

Enjoy today!

Click here- A Brand New Year

12/06/2012

November 28, 2012 – December 5, 2012 – Our time in Casa Grande – Part 1

Oh my, can’t believe it has been over a week since I have updated.   So what have we been up to???

Well, here goes… socializing and getting caught up with friends, line dancing, crafts, walking, socializing, getting our lot set up, shopping, celebrating Steve’s birthday, socializing, Friday night at our local Moose Lodge, Saturday night at the Elks, daily Happy Hours (I even MC’d one of them), watching movies (Shelly and I are doing the Twilight series), helping out in the park and did I say socializing – yes we are having fun.

Andy and Bill have been doing walks in the desert and one of the days Shelly and I went with them and took my camera.

This is Miles – Bill and Shelly’s pup:

 12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 006

Running after the guys:

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 009

There are a couple of these in this part of the desert west of Casa Grande.  They were built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1966 and used as calibration targets for the Corona spy satellites.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/mysterious-structures-in-chinese-desert.html

 12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 014

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 015

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 018

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 013

We found pipes – not sure what they are:

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 020

Footprints that go on forever:

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 021

And lots of deep holes:

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 023

Fire tower – with a fence around it:

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 024

Some sort of lost building – in some areas it was charred so fire???:

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 025

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 026

Neat flowers:

12-01-12 A Walk in the Desert 028

On December 1, 2012, Casa Grande had an Electric Light Parade.  We came into town early and here is our group by the Elks Lodge – from left to right, Brenda, Michelle, Shelly, Keith, Andy, Leland, and Bill:

 

12-01-12 X CG Electric Light Parade 001

Once the main street shut down, we were entertained by this gentleman:

12-01-12 X CG Electric Light Parade 004

Florence Avenue – with the sunset:

12-01-12 X CG Electric Light Parade 005

And the Parade Begins:

12-01-12 X CG Electric Light Parade 020

12-01-12 X CG Electric Light Parade 021

12-01-12 X CG Electric Light Parade 025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a really nice parade!  Afterwards we decided to stop into the Elks until the parking lot cleared – and had another great time – :-)):

12-01-12 X CG Electric Light Parade 026

12-01-12 X CG Electric Light Parade 027

So that is what we have been up to - Open-mouthed.   Stay tuned for our next adventures and enjoy today.

Sayings (7)

11/27/2012

November 27, 2012 – Travel to Casa Grande, Arizona

Our final long travel day took us thru:

 11-27-12 A Travel on US-70 003

11-27-12 A Travel on US-70 005

11-27-12 A Travel on US-70 007

11-27-12 A Travel on US-70 017

 

Into the town of Organ and Las Cruces:

11-27-12 A Travel on US-70 023

And back to the interstate (1-10) where we saw lots of these signs – LOL:

11-27-12 B Travel on I-10 005

I HAVE to see this THING one day:

11-27-12 B Travel on I-10 006

OH-OH:

11-27-12 B Travel on I-10 020

Cool town:

11-27-12 B Travel on I-10 026

Neat rocks:

11-27-12 B Travel on I-10 027

Our second home place – Open-mouthed

11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 003

PECANS, WALNUTS, AND WINE – OH MY! -  What more could I ask for – LOL:

11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 005

Scenes from the road:

11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 007

11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 009

 

11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 015

  11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 017

11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 018

SAGUAROS!!

11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 023

Our second home street – :-))

11-27-12 C Travel on I-10 029

We set up on our lot at the Escapee Park in Casa Grande – Rover’s Roost and it was like coming home again – great to see so many friends.  We will be here for the next 5-6 weeks – I may not be blogging every day but will keep you updated on what we are doing…

Until next time – enjoy today!

 

 

 

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 417 Miles

Routes Traveled:

New Mexico: Florida Avenue; First Street; US-54; US-70; I-10;

Arizona: I-10; I-8: Montgomery Road

Sayings (16)