On Thursday, March 2nd, we woke to about 2” of snow. Amazing. After packing up and saying our “See You Laters” we were off heading south to Casa Grande.
Although I took a lot of pictures, I cannot find them.. Darn, that never happened to me before…
We arrived on our lot in Casa Grande, set up, and took a walk around. I have not been here since 2016 so it was nice to see that some things remain the same and yet others change. Looking forward to reconnecting with friends and meeting new friends.
Miles Traveled: 132 Miles
Routes Traveled:
Arizona: AZ-89; US-93; AZ-303; I-10; AZ-202; I-10; AZ-387; W. Cottonwood Lane; Thornton Road; AZ-84; S. Montgomery Road
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On Friday , March 3rd, I started feeling a little under the weather so for the next few days, I avoided everyone. Said hello from my doorway – LOL!
I did take advantage of the downtime to organize and back up all my photos from the past 4 years. Still haven’t found the ones from 3/1. I probably thought that I had transferred them and then formatted the card. Oh well…
When I did start to feel better I also took the time to go thru the RV and get rid of things we have not used nor will use. Thank God for the Salvation Army and the Humane Society! I also know that there is a lot of items that I am leaving home next time. It is amazing to find out how much I do not need or can live without.
Andy has done a few bike rides in the desert and one day came upon this:
In 2014, we found a horse that was shot. Over the course of 2 years for me and quite a few more for Andy, we watched it deteriorate from flesh to bone. Not a pretty site. Here it is 9 years later and the bones are still there!
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Reconnecting.
It was so so good to see and reconnect with folks that I haven’t seen in a long time. And it has been nice to meet people that Andy talked about when he was here and I was home.
On Tuesday, we had dinner with Nora and Dennis who were here for doctor’s appointments in Phoenix. We last saw them in November in California. Many years ago, they had a lot here in Casa Grande. When they gave up their lot, we took it and are still here.
After dinner, we took a walk around to visit folks that we both knew – what a great time.
On Saturday, we went to Sky Dive Arizona (see below for pictures and information). Along with a few folks from the park (Gerry, John, Pam, Steve, and Amanda), we met up with our friends, Larry and Cheryl. We met Larry and Cheryl in 2009 in Alaska and have kept in touch every since. They are now living in Casa Grande and after the event, we went to their new house and got caught up. Hope to see them again before we leave Casa Grande and head east.
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On Saturday, 11th, there was a tag along to Sky Dive Arizona in Eloy.
Sky Dive Arizona is one of the largest areas in the world where people come to learn how to skydive. There is also an area for military training.
Spectators are allowed most days from October to March. Gerry’s one friend, Alice, was jumping that day and she arranged to have her talk with us on skydiving.
All I can say is that it was amazing! There were professional skydivers, amateur skydivers, and tandem skydivers. There was also military skydivers on the field next to us.
And the parachutes were colorful.
I loved watching them land. Some came in fast and skidded; some slowly and just walked the field; and still others just rolled.
This was Alice after one of her jumps:
Alice’s husband packing her chute. He is also a skydiver and the two of them met skydiving in the late 60’s. Cute story.
Alice explaining how she got into skydiving. She also explained the packing of the parachute. There are two chutes. The main one can be packed by anyone (they pack their own) but the second chute must be packed by a certified person. If they have not used the second chute in 6 months, it must be recertified before they can jump again. She did tell us about her husband – a few years ago his first chute failed, then his second chute failed. He broke quite a few bones. I cannot even imagine.
A group of 5 practicing maneuvers for their jump:
A group of 8 practicing maneuvers for their jump:
We stayed for both the 5 member group and the 8 member group. However, we did not see their maneuvers since we did not have super powerful binoculars. But as they released their chutes, it was like they magically appeared in the sky. They are the dots in the photo. It was really cool.
After that jump, 7 of us headed over to the Bent Prop Saloon for lunch – it was Yummy!
After lunch Pam, Steve, Andy and I headed over to Sky Venture to watch. This is a huge wind tunnel that produces wind speeds of up to 160 mph and is used to train skydivers (or for anyone to just try it out!)
We watched this guy do a lot of acrobats and a couple just trying it out.
I would be willing to try this out with a coach. If I were younger, I might try the tandem skydive but I break bones now… hmmm.. in my next life.. LOL!
From there we spent the rest of the afternoon with Larry and Cheryl at their new home. Hope to see them again before we head east.
What a nice day.
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My kitties
This is what happens every morning with Gray:
He has become my Velcro cat. Bella is just lost. Dusty and her were a bonded pair and she is really missing him. She has started to lose her hair on her legs and I am sure losing Dusty might be part of it. So we are watching her at this point.
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So that is the end of our first week here. Stay tuned for week 2 and enjoy today!
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