November and December 2013 Our Time in Casa Grande, AZ (Part 1)

I hope you all had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I cannot believe how long it has been since I blogged – Sorry.  So I am going to try to get caught up here – hopefully shortened version.

Coming back to our lot in Casa Grande is like coming home – it is our downtime from playing tourist.  That doesn’t mean we were not busy.  We spent our time visiting and getting caught up with friends; enjoying social hour at the clubhouse; enjoying the park activities – crafts, beading, cards, and helping out when we can; cleaning out our motorhome and shed (what I call – if we haven’t used it in a while, out it goes) and giving items to the club, the mission, and the dumpster; and reorganizing the shed and motorhome – lots of space now (for more “stuff” – LOL!).

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the clubhouse.  I went on a dessert cooking tangent and made four different desserts.  We were able to sample it all and then give it away – desserts are not a good thing to have near us –   .

Our first two weeks in December were busy with VA appointments for Andy and Vet appointments for the kitties.  One of the appointments for the cats was to get their teeth cleaned and have them chipped. Since Bella got outside when we were in Elkhart, Indiana, I knew I had to have some identification for them.  I thought the teeth cleaning would be easy and for Dusty it was.  Bella, on the other hand, had a few problems.  Apparently her jaw on the one side was deformed (either from birth or abuse) and she had to have some teeth extracted.  Poor baby.   But she is healed up now and has changed a little – becoming a lap cat.  Interesting!

On December 5th, Andy and I finally upgraded our computer – to computers!.  He got a small net book and I got a new laptop.  Both have touch screens and Windows 8.1 – what a learning curve for us.  But we have muddled through and can now get around and not get lost in the new Windows.  (I figure it was good for us to get those brain cells working again – HAHA!)

On December 13th, I met up with my cousin Kris and had a great time seeing her new shop, having lunch, and talking and talking.  Always good to see her.

On December 14th, Nora and I co-hosted the park Christmas Party where we all had a great time – lots of laughs, lots of food, and good fellowship.

We have also been trying to walk every day.  Andy has been much more faithful than me but I will get there.  Most of those walks have been in the desert with Bill and Shelly.

In late November, we had a LOT of rain here and a good portion of the desert was like a lake.  Seeing the desert after the water receded reminded me of Mother Nature washing her floor and making everything clean again.

Some pictures from our walks:

These looked like brown flower petals and when they were really dry, they lifted from the floor and curled:

Smooth and clean:

Just taking a stole through the mud:

Just taking a drive through the mud:

The desert is more than just sand:

The area to the east and south of the park has a number of canals as well as survey markers.  These canals have not been used in a long time:

Some have been broken up and filled in with dirt/sand:

In some of them, the desert is taking over:

Many ant’s nests – wonder how they survived the rain:

A really BIG nest:

Miles (Shelly and Bill’s dog) enjoying himself:

I wrote about these markers in this blog: http://thehitzels.blogspot.com/2012/12/november-28-2012-december-5-2012-our.html

And, yes, I still find them interesting:

Our park in the distance:

One of the days, our large saguaro committed suicide – and took out a shed on the way down:

We are glad that an RV wasn’t there – can you imagine the damage?

So that is the end of Part 1 – stay tuned for Part 2.

One last picture of a cacti in the park:

Enjoy today!