December 6-12 , 2011 – A Great Time in Casa Grande

Here is our spot at the SKP Park:

 

We have been having a great time here – mostly socializing – :-)).

On Tuesday afternoon, there was a knock on the door and it was Lynne.  She and Fred were on their way to Tucson and decided to stay here for two nights.  Great to see them and we enjoyed getting caught up and having a shared supper.

On Wednesday morning, we got a call from our friends, Bill and Shelly, who we last saw in Albuquerque.  They were on their way and came in that afternoon in their beautiful, new to them, motorhome.   We got together with them and Lynne and Fred and had another great time getting caught up and having pizza.

On Thursday, Lynne and Fred moved east – we will see them later this month.  Thursday evening, Bill, Andy, Shelly and I headed over to Arizona City to the Moose Lodge.  This is Andy’s home lodge – very nice.  We hope to visit more and get more involved.

On Friday, Shelly and I went to line dancing in the morning.  What a hoot and the folks were just wonderful teaching us.  They have it three times a week and we hope to continue to go.  It was a nice little workout for my body as well as my brain – trying to remember the steps.  Then we did a girls day of shopping – what fun.  Here we are goofing off at Happy Hour:

On Saturday, the four of us headed to Mesa to the Mesa Marketplace and Swap Meet.  It is HUGE!  They were having a car show, which the guys enjoyed.  Another great time.

On Sunday, Bill and Shelly invited us for dinner – it was wonderful.  And we finished the evening at the Club’s Ice Cream Social – Yum!

On Monday morning, Shelly and I were back at Line Dancing – we are having a great time and learning more – :-))).

 

I think this is probably one of the most friendliest CO-OPs in the park.  Monday thru Friday they have a Happy Hour that is attended by most of the park.  This is where many announcements are made, new people are welcomed and goodbyes are said to those leaving.  They also have birthday and anniversary announcements.  And the “Moron Tabanapple” Choirs sings – How funny.   Here  are two clips from one of those sing-along's:

 

 

 

Yep, lots of noise – what a hoot – :-)))!

We are currently number 12 on the list.  And from what we were told, there are a number of lots up for sale so who knows, maybe we will have one at the end of this season.

 

One of the reasons we are staying here for the month is to get some things done on the motorhome.  First on the list is the day/night shades.  Two of the small ones ripped so we replaced them with mini-blinds.  The cord on one of the larger ones frayed and we could not move it.   We took it down, tried to fix it and the cord broke.  So our dilemma was whether we wanted to restring or put up mini-blinds.   And the final decision was mini-blinds that we got from Home-Depot.   Here is the replacement.

 

In this photo the day shade is on the left and the new mini-blinds on the right – what do you think?

 

Another item on our list is my computer.  Those who have followed my blog for a long time know the issues I have had which Dell did fix.  However it is now out of warranty and even though it is the same issue, I am on my own.  It has not failed yet but I am slowly preparing for the day.     We have been doing some research and trying to decide what to do.  Some of our options:

- Update Andy’s computer to Windows 7 and get a keyboard/docking station for the tablet.

- Get another computer when mine goes.

- Do nothing.

Right now I am heading towards doing nothing. (In short, make the move to Andy’s computer and see how it goes.)  So stay tuned for that one.

And that brings us to today – Monday.   We were up early this morning to take our little Bella to the vet to be spayed and we pick her up at 4 so stay tuned.  They told us that she has to wear a collar for 10 days..This will be an adventure.

Enjoy today.

 

October 8, 2009 – Computer

Today we got caught up with things around the motor home and I had hoped to get my computer fixed.

I received a call from Dell saying that my part would not be available until 11/7.  THIS is the same part that they returned because they could not wait for me so NOW I have to wait for them.  After talking with MANY technicians and explaining my situation (living in a motor home), I am still in the same place – no computer fix until THEY are ready – Customer Service, my ----!!!  (Can you feel my frustration?)   So for now as we move, I will tell them where I am and I was PROMISED (HA!) that the parts will find me when they come in (HA- we will see).

One thing I did find out was that the Bios on my computer may have been causing the failures.  According to them I SHOULD have gone to the support site and downloaded the appropriate upgrades for my computer.  (Didn’t know that and was not told that on the first failure in March nor all the other phone calls with this failure – and not really sure why!).  So if you have a Dell, you need to go to Support.Dell.com, go to drivers and downloads, put in your computer code – from the tag on the bottom, and then figure out what ones you need.  I am in the middle of that right now for the new computer.  You know, there has to be an easier way – if there is, please let me know!

Enough!!

September 26, 2009 - The Grove of the Patriarchs (And My Computer)

I woke this morning, turned on the computer, had lines all over the place, and after the intro screen – nothing!!  So I went thru the diagnostics which told me it was the video card.  Now I just had this card replaced in April so you know I was not a happy camper.  I called Dell and was on the phone for two hours.  The first technician told me it wasn’t the video card but a software issue and I would need to restore it to the original (2006!!!).  I was not willing to do that since I was sure it was the video card so he put me on hold and disappeared.  After 20 minutes, I called again, went thru everything AGAIN (why don’t they believe me??) and he says it is the software.  I totally disagree but at this time, MAYBE, they might be right.  So EVERYTHING is WIPED off my hard drive and we do a restore from 2006 (we did earlier restores and that did not work so he wanted me back to the beginning).  After we do all that and do the start up again, SAME THING HAPPENS.  So now, the technician feels it is the VIDEO CARD – NO S—T!   And now I have a computer that is not working with a bad video card and I am back to the original software from 2006 when I first got it…  All my programs and settings – GONE – because I (and the computer diagnostics which ALSO said it was the Video Card) was not believed – can you tell I am TICKED!!!

Now here is the situation with Dell.  They will come and fix and they tell you it will be within 5 days.  When this happened before, we were traveling and when we got to Everett, I called with the case number, etc.  and had to go thru EVERYTHING again and THEN had to wait over two weeks for a part.  So I told them I was in Everett and hopefully the part will be there when I get back.

Enough!

After I calmed down and had lunch, we traveled to Mount Rainier National Park and did The Grove of the Patriarchs Trail – wait until you see these trees.

 

This area is also part rainforest and we saw moss growing on many of the trees and bushes – not only here but in the National Forest.  How about this moss:

Andy on the trail.  We took pictures of each other just to show how large the trees are:

One of the rivers – in the deeper area, the water is a turquoise blue:

I am standing by the root of a downed tree:

Andy on the trail:

Look at how small I am – LOL:

Andy in front of those two Douglas firs.

This is a cedar and it is HUGH!!!

One of the downed trees.  Here is where one of the branches was cut – interesting design:

It was an amazing trail!!

This is our last night here and we had our final campfire and were joined by our neighbors – what a nice time!!

March 13, 2009 – Computer and Beading

Today was one of those uneventful days – I so needed it!!!

I am almost done loading what I need on my new computer – what a pain. My old computer had everything I needed at my fingertips plus it was XP. This one is Vista so not only did I have to reload everything but learn Vista also. It is going to be a fun month coming up...

Since I no longer have access to Microsoft Office, I downloaded Open Office – great program! It is very similar to Word and Excel. It also has some other programs that I have not tried yet but I am happy!!! Vista does not support Outlook Express for Mail so I am using Microsoft Mail (not Windows Live Mail) and it is not bad, once I figured it out. So far so good!!

If you have sent me an email and are waiting for an answer, please resend the email. I am not sure how much was lost when it crashed.

I did get to beading class today and learned more – I am having a great time learning more stitches and designs. And meeting all the ladies who are just wonderful. In three weeks, they are having “Bead Week” which is an intense week of beading. Not sure if we will be here but you know I would love to be.

They also have Woodcarvers Week the week before Bead Week. So many activities here, I just love it.

Andy and Elliot had a great day today and that makes me feel good.

We are hoping to do some sightseeing in the next week so stay tuned for pictures and our adventures.