December 1 to 29, 2014 Our time in Casa Grande, Arizona

Sorry it has been a while since I updated.  Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and are getting ready for the New Year.

Most of the time we spend here on our lot in Casa Grande is getting caught up on all our little projects around the motorhome and the lot as well as enjoying the park activities and getting caught up with folks we haven’t seen in a while.  And that is just what we have been doing for the past month.

On December 3rd, we had our rugs and captain’s chairs cleaned:

We used 5 Star out of Casa Grande and were very pleased with them.  Our rugs and chairs are much cleaner even though they are over 12 years old.  We will need to do something with them over the next few years without spending a fortune.

Every first Saturday in December in Casa Grande, there is an Electric Light Parade.  This year there were almost 100 floats and our park had one of those floats.  Andy and I volunteered to carry the banner and we had a BLAST!

Here we are:

Our “float” consisted of a motorcycle, then the banner, then this truck with the Escapee House, then two trikes, then another float with a Christmas tree, folks playing guitars (fake) and our theme song: “On the road again” by Willie Nelson.

We also had folks walking and giving out candy to the kids.  Here is Katy and Gary and Paula (in the white skirt behind Katy):

Here is Ruth:

What a great time –

On December 9th, four of us beaders did a road trip to Phoenix to the bead stores and lunch – a nice girls day out.  Carol made this poster and posted it - unbeknownst to us. Cute!

Left to Right is Paula, me, Gwynne, and Katy:

On December 20th was the park’s Christmas Party – another good time.  Guess who played Santa:

And I played Mrs. Claus.  There was also a park decorating contest and three of us won – Carol won 1st place, we won 3rd place, and Barbara won 2nd place.

Here were our decorations:

We also got our new dinette cushions with extra material so I could do the dinette frames.

Before:

After:

They have been totally replaced and I will probably sell the originals on Craig's List – cheap – rather than throwing them away.

We had Christmas Dinner here at the park.  This was the first in three years that Andy and I did not volunteer for anything – it was nice to sit and enjoy.  Jan and Ken came in to have dinner with us and then we visited afterwards.

At the end of that night, Andy took this picture of me sleeping with the two cats snuggled on me – HAHA!

We have been enjoying Rover’s Roost Social Hours – always a lot of fun – as well as lots of get togethers: Dinners, lunches, breakfasts, campfires, crafts with the girls (which is more like a chat session – love it!) and lunch with Escapees Chapter 45 where I met Jan.  Jan has been following our blog for a few years and it was great to meet her in person. I really do enjoy getting together in smaller groups or one on one because it gives me a chance to get caught up with folks and get to know them a little better.

On December 21st, I went up to Tempe to spend the day with my cousin Kris.  A great day getting caught up and seeing her new house.  We hope to see her again before we head east.

Some of our daily entertainment has been watching the beautiful hummingbirds and the cats watching the hummingbirds:

It is a daily occurrence and just fun to watch.

Our weather was beautiful (70’s days / 40’s nights) until this week where the temps have dropped to 50’s during the day and 20’s during the night.  Brrrr!  The cats are loving the heater.

And the prices of gasoline – WOW!!!  $1.92 at Sam’s Club on December 26th.  Hope it stays this low.

So that was our past month – .  No real travels or sightseeing but spending lots of time with friends –  .

Tomorrow we are heading to the Escape Park in Benson for a week so stay tuned and enjoy today.

November 21–30, 2014 Casa Grande

Friday morning we were up early and on our way to our lot in Casa Grande.

Up and over the mountains:

Into the valley:

And desert:

Back to where there are LOTS of saguaros:

We made a stop for fuel (WOW!, is it getting lower, makes my Andy happy).  Then into the park where we filled with propane.

Over the past week, we have been getting caught up with friends, doing a little beading, cleaning out the sheds, doing some chores that needed to be done, and just having a grand time.  Did I say we were blessed – .

The kitties have been enjoying watching the birds and bugs and sleeping, of course.

Thanksgiving was here at the clubhouse and Jan and Ken came up from Arizona City to join us.  The park supplied the turkey and gravy and everyone else supplied the rest of the food – It was yummy and we all had a good time.

The latest upgrade was the bathroom.  Andy installed a new fan and I added a new shower curtain.

We also removed the center back area of the theater seating and Andy added an outlet.  I am looking for a lamp to put behind the seats – checking the thrift shops first – .

We will be here for the next few weeks so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for the 21st:

Miles Traveled: 185 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona: E. County 17th Street; South Avenue 4E; E County 14th; SR-195; I-8; Thornton Road; SR-84; Montgomery Road

 

October 26 to November 20, 2014 Our Time in Yuma

First my apologies for not updating the blog.  So to get caught up, I will give you the highlights of our last few weeks.

Our Motorhome

One of the reasons we have come to Yuma was to do some upgrading to the motorhome.  Last season we saw some items we wanted to purchase and decided to do it this season.

First, we took out our couch and replaced it with theater seating.

Before:

After:

Andy put in the little table on the right.  It comes out when we travel.

So with the seating there, we moved the TV.  I do not have a before picture.  The cabinet is my thrift shop find this past summer:

Then I replaced all the curtains in the front and over the door.

Before:

After (as well as the pictures above with the TV):

Next was a dashboard cover for when we are parked.  We checked into a permanent one but it was over $400.00 and I was able to make one for less than $50.00.  I can live without the permanent one –

(It is a little messy in the above picture – sorry.)  But it does match the curtains.

We replaced our fan in the living area to a Fantastic Fan that pulls air out as well as in – Real Nice.  Another item was a water softening system – Very nice!

I did get two estimates for reupholstering our captains chairs – YIKEES!!  It is cheaper to buy new ones.  So not sure what I am going to do there.

We ordered new dinette cushions to arrive in Casa Grande sometime in December – will have pictures then.

And lastly, I am looking for a carpenter to build us wooden valences in the bedroom that I can paint.  I could reupholster the current ones we have but I have a cat that likes to climb them.  So wooden ones, painted, stenciled, and polyurethane may be better.  The carpenter in the park is busy until after the holidays so that won’t work.  Will try in Casa Grande.

I am still not sure what I am going to do with the flooring.  I put new carpeting in the bedroom in our other motorhome and will probably do the same here.  But in the living area, I do not want carpet and I am not sure how to do it with the slide.  Hmm, I will need to research.

KOFA COOP Escape Park

Another reason we came here is that we are number nine on the list for a lot.  We originally put our names on this list in 2010 because it was the warmest place in the U.S. that winter - every other place we visited was cold (for us).  Since we only stayed one night here in boondocking before this, we figured we better stay here a month to decide if we really want to take a lot.

Here is the lot we are renting:

Our neighbors, Fran and Bob, have adopted us and over the course of the month they introduced us to folks, invited us to sit with them at the potluck and socials, and told us about many of the things in the park.  Thank you, Fran and Bob.

There is a pool and hot tub here that we have enjoyed (Andy has used it more than me).  There is a coffee hour for the men early in the morning and that is where Andy went most every morning since he is an early riser.  They also have crafts six days a week in the afternoon and I was there a few times to meet the ladies and see what everyone was doing.  It is early in the season so many of the activities here do not start until mid November.

Yuma

Yuma offers a lot to the snowbirds and we have many friends who winter here every year.  So over the past month we got together with Nora (who we last saw in West Yellowstone), Della and Bob (who we last saw at Bead Week), Sandy and Raul (who we last saw in Washington), Larry and Peg (who we last saw in Oregon).  There are quite a few beading/polymer/resin groups here and Nora took me to a few of them where I visited with a number of the ladies from Bead Week (Thank you, Nora).   Sue and Bruce came thru on their way to California and it was great to get caught up with them.

We are so blessed with the friends we have –

Andy joined the local Amvets and we have been going there at least once a week.  He also helped them on Veteran’s Day, giving out poppies at the local Fry’s.  One of the days they had a meat draw and we had never been to one.  Frankly I didn’t even know what it was.  (For those who don’t know, you buy tickets and when your ticket is pulled, you win meat such as steak, chicken, bacon, etc.)  Our first one, we won chicken, steak, and a free lunch.  On the second week, we didn’t win anything – Oh well.

My Moose Lodge is also here in Yuma.  We only went there once but I learned that the Woman of the Moose Chapter in that lodge is very active so I will probably get involved there.

The weather, of course, is beautiful.  It was very warm during the day for our first two weeks here and then it cooled down and was very enjoyable.  There is the wind, although we only had bad wind one day. 

Looks like snow, doesn’t it:

Health

We did make our yearly trip to Mexico for dental.  It was great to see Dr. Roberto again.  We met him a few years ago and since then, he has married and now has two children.

Andy and I both came down with what I call “the Desert Crud”.  We always get sick the first month here and I am not sure if it is the desert dust or the amount of people in the stores and markets and we just get exposed to a new strain of germs.  I had a bad stomach virus right before and had started on antibiotics so my “cold” did not get as bad, although I was down and out for a little over a week.

Speaking of Healthcare – I am losing my healthcare as of December 31, 2014 so I have been spending some time going thru the maze of options – oh my – and it is a maze.  My application is done on healthcare.gov but I still need to get thru to the insurance companies.  I am sure it will all work out.

So that is our highlights for our month in Yuma.  We left for Casa Grande on November 21st which will be in our next blog.

Stay tuned and enjoy today.