Decorating for Christmas

Our major project for yesterday was to get a handle on the Christmas decorating. We already had a few inside decorations set up, but we had nothing on the outside.

One of the decorations that Josie had been working on is a Christmas tree made out of wire, lights and some garland. She is very creative in the design and she almost got it completed yesterday, but needs more garland. Here she is working on the early stages of the project:

The tree will be made with a big tomato wire tower and a combination of clear and colored lights. She has the clear lights on top as the star, and  uses the color lights for the tree itself. It isn't finished yet, so we will have more pictures of the tree when she finishes. We also laid down some rope lights, strung some green lights around the trunk of our tree, and have more lights to go on the fence and gazebo. I tried to get a shot of our progress after dark last night, but the photos weren't real good, so I'll try again tonight.

Just about all the decorations are done inside, so we are almost ready for the season. Between watching some Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel on TV and all the decorations, we are into Christmas earlier this year.

We have also been trying to locate an ice bin for our freezer since ours broke yesterday. It's unbelievable that a replacement ice bin would cost around $40, but that is the best price I can find anywhere online. We will decide today whether to bite the bullet and buy a new one, or try to piece together and glue the old one.

Tomorrow is December Fools Day, so watch out everybody...

Thanksgiving Dinner

We spent most of the morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade before getting ready for our visit to Brian and Amy's for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Josie made a beautiful arrangement for the table to take to dinner:

Normally, on occasions like this, we take photos of everybody sitting around the table either before or after eating. Yesterday, we decided to get some other shots of everybody visiting in the different areas of the house. The girls were all in the kitchen visiting while the guys were outside on the patio visiting and watching the football game on TV. So, starting with the girls in the kitchen, here are Lois and Cheryl:

Taylor and Amy visiting while preparing for dinner:

and Debby sitting at the table outside for a visit with the guys:

I didn't realize until I started preparing the shots for today's entry that Josie wasn't in any of the shots that were taken with our cameras. She is in the shots that were taken by the other visitors, but I don't have access to those, so I apologize to Josie.

As mentioned, the guys were outside on the patio visiting:

while Brian was up and down and in and out of the house getting the turkeys ready:

There were two turkeys - one on the grill being roasted on a spit (above), and a second one being smoked in a smoker that they have outside on their patio:

I have never seen a smoker as complete or as nice as the one they used yesterday. I have only had experience smoking salmon in Washington with an old fashion, compact aluminum smoker that didn't have any of the nice features that Brian's has.

Just before going inside to go through the line to stack our plates with great food, we saw this balloon floating by outside:

It was very close to passing right over the house, so we were able to get that great shot.

Both turkeys turned out excellent, and the smoked turkey was a nice change for Thanksgiving dinner.

Everything was perfect, and the entire afternoon and evening was a great time visiting and celebrating Thanksgiving with family. The kids were all off doing their own fun things and we didn't see much of them as they were busy riding their bikes before dinner and playing video games in another part of the house following the meal. It was close to 8 PM by the time we left and we thank everybody for the great meal and the wonderful visit.

Next up is Christmas, and the fun begins today with Black Friday shopping. We don't expect to get caught up in any of that frenzy, but we know that the shopping centers and malls will be overflowing with people anxious to spend their money on the great deals that are out there. Good luck to them, as we plan to stay close to home and avoid the crowds...

Short Work Day

We thought that perhaps Josie would be working later yesterday because of the holiday. Wrong. She was sent home early along with another worker to get a head start on the holiday weekend. Business has not been what it used to be before the economical downturn. It was around 12:30 when she called to say she was on her way home.

Most of the afternoon was spent at the shopping center down the road where we went to Albertson's to stock up on some much needed groceries and to get a treat at the TCBY Yogurt shop that is there. It has become our substitute for DQ which is not as close to our area.

It became an afternoon of relaxation as we watched some recorded shows and did some more work on our craft projects. The sunset was again beautiful and here is a - what seems to be an almost daily occurrence - shot of the sunset at about 5:45 last night:

We never get tired of seeing that pretty view each night.

As Thanksgiving Day has arrived, we are looking forward to a nice dinner and good time at Brian and Amy's house today. The shopping season is in full swing and we get a laugh every time we see the "campers" who have been sitting outside some local stores, waiting for the sales to start today. It's hard to believe that people don't value their time any more than a $50 savings on an item they can't live without. Some people have been camped out in front of stores for several days. Whatever. :)

Enjoy the day everybody...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Another Housing Option

First of all, we seem to have the small flies problem under control. There were only a few more lingering in the fifth wheel last night but they are probably going to be around for another few days until we can get rid of all of them. What a nuisance.

We are always on the lookout for housing options. Even though we are pretty much set against investing in another home, we still like to keep up with options that are available in the various retirement communities across the country. Patty had recently gone to the Villages in Ocala, FL to visit with friends and she sent us a lot of info on that community which lies about an hour north of Orlando in north central Florida. It has been around for years and is the community that you probably have seen Arnold Palmer and Nancy Lopez (former pro golfers) push on TV all the time. It is also one of the largest and finest retirement communities in the country. We read through all the info from Patty and even found some good info online and from another friend that has relatives living there. Although much larger, it is similar to our retirement communities here in AZ and is probably comparable in costs to live there. We would still probably lean toward Sun City Grand, AZ,  as our favorite, based on cost of living and location. The Villages might be a bit too far north in FL to suit us, but would be a winner if we were to consider FL living as an option. We are really opposed to any location east of the Rockies as a permanent location based on weather considerations.

We broke through the 70 degrees barrier yesterday and it will continue to get warmer through tomorrow. It is close to Turkey Day - one more day - and Josie will work her last day of this week today. She will then have 4 days to enjoy before going back to work on Monday. Next on the schedule will be finishing up the Christmas decorations which we will do on the weekend...

Flies Attack

We aren't sure if the weather played a role in what we experienced last night, but we were inundated with what looks like fruit flies. It was tough watching TV last night while swatting these pests and it seemed the more we killed, the more showed up out of nowhere. We don't have any kind of pesticide to use against them - yet - but if the problem continues, we will probably "bomb" the fifth wheel to get rid of all that are left. The only conclusion we can make is that, somehow, the wet weather drove them in through cracks in the slideouts. There isn't any fruit sitting on the counter and the fruit we have in the frig wouldn't create this problem. We've never experienced this kind of invasion before, so I'm sure we will figure it out.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner - two days away - and we are excited about having dinner with everybody at Brian and Amy's house. Debby will be there visiting from CA and it's been been a long time since we last saw her and her kids. It should be a fun day.

Josie is plugging away at work and the volume of orders is growing. She sometimes gets frustrated with some of the procedures, but she is particular about how fresh flowers should be handled. I guess that once you have had your own floral business, it is tough to do things a different way. No matter what, she enjoys her job and the people she works with at the stores.

The temperatures are on their way up - 63 yesterday - and we will see the 70's again by Thanksgiving. It's nice to see the weather come back to Arizona "normal"...

Finally Some Sun

It was a very slow moving low pressure area that created all the rainfall we've had the last several days. It finally ended by late afternoon yesterday, and by 5 PM we could see shadows from the sun that has been missing for the last three days. We even saw the sun in all its glory:

The clouds cleared rapidly and by the time sunset arrived, the sky was almost totally clear as can be seen in this shot taken over the sailboat storage area behind our site:

The rest of the week is forecast to be nice with warming temperatures. The last three days we have had highs of 57, 57 and 56. Brrr! We are still happy to be here as Jackson had a high of 35 yesterday, and a low of 15!

We did travel to Surprise yesterday morning to fill the tank of the truck and to stop at our storage unit to pick up a couple items. Also, Josie wanted to pick up some yarn for a project she is working on so we stopped at the Walmart around the corner from storage. We then opened up the gazebo curtains again when we returned home and also checked out everything in our shed to make sure all was well - and dry.

This week - Thanksgiving week - is a short work week for Josie following her 6 days of working last week. She will work today through Wednesday and enjoy a four day weekend. The volume is increasing, rapidly, so she will be very busy on the three days she works this week. The big task for our Thanksgiving weekend will be to put up all the outside Christmas decorations and finish off the the inside of the fifth wheel with more Christmas items. It should be a nice week to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday...

Enough Already

Enough is enough. It rained again yesterday, off and on, the whole day and night. It is still raining this morning and today will be the fourth straight day with measurable rain. Even though there have not been many periods of heavy rain, the total so far is over 2 inches for the four days. The TV news indicated that we have gone from a deficit of 1.5 inches for the year to over 1 inch surplus for the annual rainfall. The good news is that this storm will be moving out today, and we will be back to warmer temperatures and clear skies for the rest of the week - including Thanksgiving Day. We were fortunate not to have any flooding as there were many areas that are still dealing with those problems.

I have done a lot of cross stitch and listening to music these last few days while Josie has been at work. I have also done a lot of computer research on different things, especially areas for work that we may be interested in. In fact, I received an email announcing the hiring process by Princess Cruises and Holland Cruises for Alaska employment opportunities. That is a very tempting option and one we have kicked around for a long time. Some of the jobs include an RV space, and others include lodging as part of the compensation. There are many cities in Alaska from which to choose, but the most appealing ones to us are the ones in Denali National Park where there are lodges and other cruise company locations to work. It may be worth further investigation so we will be talking about that some more. Our plans for going to Alaska have only been for pleasure, and not working opportunities. It may be a good chance for both.

As the clouds are still rolling through and the rain is in "spit" mode, we are probably not going to do much outside - this morning, at least. We do need to fill up the truck with gas and do some other shopping, so a trip somewhere will be in order later today. It's been a long time since we wished there would just be a little warmth and sunshine here in Arizona...

Still a Rain Story

There is absolutely nothing to say about yesterday except - rain. For the first time I can remember, we have had continuous rainfall for a full day. Usually, it rains for awhile and then clears, but this time the Pineapple Express from the Pacific Ocean is taking direct aim on us. The reports we see show a couple inches of rain in most of the areas around Phoenix, and we have had 1.91 inches so far here at Lake Pleasant. In fact, yesterday's total set a record for Phoenix. It doesn't seem like much when you consider that some areas of the country receive that amount in about an hour or two. For Arizona, who usually gets about 6 inches per year, it's a lot.

It's a good thing we had the shed up and filled with our outside stuff and we were able to keep the curtains closed on the gazebo. Everything in both those areas remained dry. The forecast is for more lingering showers today, and by the time it's all over, we will see some flooding in low lying areas. We have seen some of that already on the news. I hope it's better where you are, but we are going to just watch the rain again today...

Bring on the Rain

There was a brief moment yesterday when I thought I would not receive delivery of our shed. I had a phone call from the shipper at about 8:15 yesterday morning telling me that the shed could not be delivered until today (Friday) in the afternoon. I reminded her that Amazon committed the delivery for yesterday between 9 AM and noon, and that I would contact them to find out what has happened. The girl called back within 5 minutes of that call saying the tracking info has been updated, and the shed would be delivered as promised, between 9 AM and noon. It arrived at around 12:30, and I started right away on the assembly.

The instructions were terrific, and the material is top notch, so the assembly went very smooth. It only took about an hour and a half to put together, and all the pieces went together without a problem. The instructions said that it would require two individuals to assemble, but I was able to do it alone.  This is what it looked like at the conclusion of the assembly at 2 PM:

We may eventually move it slightly to allow for more room around it, but after Josie came home at 3 PM, we loaded all the cartons of decorations, the folding chairs and all the other stuff that we didn't want to get wet, and we were set to go. After placing a few stepping stones in the front, this is what it looks like in the rear of our space:

The timing was perfect as it started to rain at about 5 PM. It really started raining hard at bedtime, and so far, we have had almost .75" of rain. The forecast is for up to 2 inches, and I think we will easily make that projection. We closed the curtains on our gazebo to protect the furniture and the only thing left out in the elements is our patio table and chairs. Bring on the rain...

Wet Forecast

Probably, the most significant event to relate is the upcoming storm expected to arrive today. Phoenix (Sky Harbor Airport) has not had measurable rain for over two months. We have had some light showers here, but not much to talk about until today. The forecast indicates there may be as much as 2 inches of rain in some local areas and lots of snow up north. Since we are on the northern edge of Phoenix, and the storm is producing more moisture in the NW of AZ, we expect to get more rainfall than the city.

I just hope it holds off long enough for us to get our shed assembled and all set up today. Once the rain starts, it is predicted to last at least through Saturday. I received a confirmation phone call for the shed delivery, scheduled between 9 AM and noon today. Amazon has not missed a scheduled delivery since I started buying from them a couple years ago, so I'm sure it will happen.

The importance of setting up the shed before the storm arrives cannot be overemphasized. We brought home several containers of Christmas decorations and other items from our storage unit that we have temporarily stored under the fifth wheel. They will almost certainly get wet if the storm is as heavy as predicted. Oh well, whatever happens, happens, and is out of our control.

Josie is back to work this morning for what should have been her final day of the week. With the holiday next week, she will be working Friday and Saturday this week as extra days. It's a good thing she loves doing what she is doing...

Weather Change Ahead

After I finished the entry for yesterday, Josie took this shot of the sunrise - another terrific AZ sunrise:

There is a change due in the next couple days as rain is in the forecast for Thursday. It arrived a little early as we had a few light showers this morning and the temperature is heading down - 59 this morning.

We went to Home Depot last night to pick up a few cement squares to use in leveling the shed when it arrives tomorrow. I will be ready to put it together when it arrives, assuming the weather cooperates. From everything I read about this shed, it should be a fairly easy assembly. Right now, the biggest problem is deciding which way to place it in the space. Do we want the door facing the front, or the side of the space? I'm sure we could change it if whatever we decide doesn't work.

Josie got her schedule for the next two weeks. She will be working 6 days this week - thru Saturday - but she will have a 4 day weekend next week for Thanksgiving which is great for us.

The time is flying by as we are getting closer to the end of the year. I already have my tax software purchased and it is being sent to our FL address. That will arrive next week and then we start accumulating all the info we will need to do our taxes again. It doesn't seem like a year goes by between those efforts but the calendar doesn't lie...

New Shed Bought

After researching and reading reviews of all the sheds that are available - and satisfy our Resort rules - we ended up buying one from Amazon.com. The one we settled on is a Suncast, Glidetop Slide Lid Shed.

It is a 4 x 6 foot heavy resin shed that also satisfies the height requirements by not exceeding the height of the fence. It is a bit more money than we had planned to spend for a shed, but it will certainly survive the heat and storms of an AZ summer. Another reason for buying it from Amazon is that there are no shipping charges and for an item that weighs over 200 lbs, that is a significant savings. It will be delivered on Thursday (two day shipping) and I will be required to be here at the time of delivery between 9 AM and noon on Thursday. It sure beats ordering, paying sales tax and picking it up at a local merchant in the area at least a week from now. We really need the shed asap. Watch for the delivery and the start of assembly on Thursday.

We finally heard from the General Manager of Aramark about our Spring Training jobs. As expected, we won't have to do anything until probably late January or early February to do paperwork for this next season. He was happy that we are coming back.

Josie stopped at the storage unit on her way home from work yesterday to drop off the remaining containers of clothes that we are keeping. The storage unit is beginning to look a little more empty which is a step in the right direction. If we keep pecking away at the contents, we may be able to downsize it by the time we leave here in May of next year...

Storage Effort

As mentioned yesterday, we needed to go to our storage unit to locate the blower and possibly sort through some more boxes in our effort to reduce the size of storage. It was a very good effort, and resulted in two trips.

The first trip to storage had us there at the facility just before 10 AM - about 10 minutes before their scheduled opening on Sunday. We went down the street and had a cup of coffee instead of just sitting in the truck waiting for them to open. We found the blower - the main reason for the trip - and we also decided to bring back all of our storage containers of clothes to sort and consolidate.

We passed one of the regular hang-gliders that we often see while driving through this part of the desert:

Gliders and balloons are both very popular and we see them almost daily.

Anyway, we came home with all the clothing containers - and the blower. The blower worked great, and did the clearing on our site in no time. A much better solution over sweeping the space with a broom. We began sorting through all the clothes we had in the storage unit. There were some items that we felt had a sentimental value but know we will never wear again. We bit the bullet on those and put them in a box for Goodwill. We also placed many more of the items that are now too big for us and we filled two boxes for Goodwill with clothes that we felt have outlived their usefulness. This is what it looked like while we did the sorting outside:

Boxes were everywhere and between replacing clothes in the fifth wheel and filling up the containers with "keeper" clothes. we had piles in every available space. But, we finished the task and headed back to storage with half the number of clothes containers that we brought home. We also took the two large boxes to drop off at the Goodwill location that is near our storage unit.

Our plan was a good one until we were delayed at the Goodwill drop off location. It seemed like a woman purchased a small upright refrigerator that was being loaded into a small KIA that held up the line for about 15 minutes. First of all, we didn't see any signs that indicated that this "line" was also for loading items from the store. That 15 minute delay resulted in our arriving at the storage unit at about 4:05 PM - 5 minutes after they close on Sundays. So now, we have the clothes containers loaded in the truck and Josie goes to work this morning. She will drop those off at the storage unit after work today.

All of the above activity has pointed out the necessity for getting an on site storage unit that we planned to get anyway for our cushions, etc. to use while we are gone this next summer. We can use it now for storing things like garden tools, Christmas boxes of decorations that we are using for the season and will return to the regular storage unit following the holidays, and other things that we need room to store for short periods of time. That will be the next immediate task this week. The first look at availability for the storage units that we are looking for indicates that we will have to order one from one of the local stores for pickup. 

It turned out to be a productive day, even though we didn't complete the mission of returning the remaining containers to storage...

Truck Service

I checked the website for Sanderson Ford early in the morning and found that the Quick Lane service bay would be open from 7 AM until 3 PM on Saturday. We arrived at the service center at close to 8 AM for an oil change that was about 1500 miles overdue. No other problems were discovered during their multi-system checks and we were happy to get out of there in just over an hour with only the oil change charge of $100. It is definitely more money to get a diesel oil change than a gas engine equivalent. We're OK now for the next 6000 miles which will go on a lot faster than the last 6000 miles. Every time we think about getting a more economical, second vehicle again, we realize that we can buy a lot of gas for the car payment and insurance payment we don't have without the second vehicle. We'll stay with the truck right now as our only vehicle.

We made a rare stop at Denny's following our service appointment and had breakfast before making another stop at Costco to pick up some items we forgot to pick up last week. It's nice having that store so close for those kinds of visits.

Our main task for today is to return to our storage unit to try to locate our blower. The mess from the tree on our space is becoming a real nuisance with the winds we have been having. We are always sweeping the little "puff balls" that it sheds. The wind just blows them around the whole space and we're wondering when this shedding stops for the winter. While we are at the storage unit, we will probably also go through some more clothing and other items that we can drop off at the Goodwill center down the street. One of our goals is to downsize the storage unit before we head back to Wyoming for the summer.

It looks like the cold front has passed through (only a high of 70 yesterday) and we have clear skies again this morning. It is still rather cool - 54 degrees - but the trend is for warming and we are looking forward to that. The word from Jackson is that they are going down into the teens each night for the next week. Glad we're here...

Ballet Scheduled

It didn't take too long to research the best buy in tickets for The Nutcracker which is performed each year by the Phoenix Symphony at the Ballet in town. The best buy was through Ticketmaster which offered a senior discount and the ability to print my tickets right away. We have great seats - in row 14, center stage - and the tickets didn't break the bank. It's too bad that we couldn't go to the Andrea Bocelli concert on the same day, but we saved a trip to Fort Knox in order to do both. We're looking forward to December 8 when we will attend the show.

We escaped the lousy weather that was all around us yesterday. There was wind, dust and rain that seemed to be in nearby areas. The threat isn't over yet, but at least we missed the main front that went through yesterday. Our high was only 78 and the highest wind gust that we recorded was only 16 mph.

The big item on today's agenda is the oil change for the truck. We will take it to Sanderson Ford in Glendale which is where we purchased the truck back in October of 2007 and like to go for service. They have what is called a "Quick Lane" where you can take your vehicle without an appointment and they are open on Saturdays. Hopefully, the wait won't be too long and we will be set for another 6500 or so miles.

Since we are getting ready to leave for the dealership shortly, I'll end this entry. Josie is now off until Monday, so we will try to schedule some interesting stuff for the weekend...

Ticket Search

I read where Andrea Bocelli, our favorite classical artist, was going to be in Phoenix on December 8 at the US Airways Center. Josie and I love his music, so I jumped at the chance to buy tickets for this concert. Forget it folks. Unless we hit the lottery between now and then, we'll just continue to enjoy him through his recordings. The prices are outrageous. The cheapest tickets we could find were $125 - each - in the nose-bleed section in the rafters as far away from the stage as you can get. Tickets that are still available on the floor, center stage, are going for over $2,000! We went to a Keith Urban concert about 7 or 8 years ago and had seats about 3/4 of the way back in the bleachers and we felt cheated at that time - and, those tickets were gotten gratis from a radio station where we won them in a drawing. When you consider that you have to drive to downtown, park the car and get caught in a mass crowd of people - it isn't worth it. Especially if the featured entertainer is just a blur on a stage you can barely see from your seat. Listening to his music in a nice, soft, lounge chair at home while sipping some wine sounds like a much better deal.

We'll probably do another search today for tickets to a different show that we almost went to last year - The Nutcracker. Hopefully, we can find a better deal on tickets for that annual Christmas show. It looks like we have more choices for seating and there are many performances to choose from between December 6 and December 24. The Phoenix Symphony performs this show and the ticket prices range - from a preliminary search - from $69 to over $300 for center stage, floor tickets. We'll know more later today.

Josie has a longer work week this week as she will go in today for about 6 hours. So far, it is working out for her and the schedule is perfect with 6 hour days. We haven't gotten any indication yet on how her schedule will change for the holidays, but we do know the hours, if not the number of days, will be longer. It comes with the territory and is the nature of the business...

Maintaining

First of all, I wanted to say that we were happy to hear that Cheryl's gall bladder surgery went well yesterday and she is home recovering. Even though it was an outpatient procedure, you never know about those surgeries that used to require hospitalization. There were no complications and she also had an "egg size" stone removed which, I'm sure, is going to make a huge difference in how she feels going forward. Thanks to George for the update yesterday.

We are a little frustrated at our own physical progress as far as weight loss is concerned. We have been maintaining the same weight for about 5 months now, which probably is a good indication that we have changed our eating habits to the extent we will not gain back all that we have lost. I have lost 45 pounds this year - all in the first 5 months - and have been holding steady. Josie has lost 30 pounds and is also maintaining her weight. Both of us would like to lose a bit more, but with the holidays coming, I think we would be happy to stay where we are. We can always start again in the new year to lose the last 10 - 15 pounds that we need to lose to be at our target weight. Physical activity is a crucial part of any weight loss program, and both of us are in an environment now where we aren't getting as much.

This would normally be the last work day for Josie this week, but she will work tomorrow for a rare extra day. The holidays are approaching, so she will most likely see more hours anyway.

No word yet from Aramark, but my Wyoming Unemployment benefits are being deposited on schedule so I'm happy about that. That's not a bad deal - working Spring Training games, the Lodge in Jackson all summer and collecting Unemployment for several months each winter. I wonder how long I can keep up that schedule...

Research

I sent an email to our Aramark Manager from last year but didn't hear anything back as yet. There is lots of time between now and the start of Spring Training, so we aren't worried about making the connection.

Yesterday was spent mostly doing research on the Internet. I mentioned that we submitted our form for approval for additions we are planning on the site. I researched many options for 4' x 6' storage sheds and found out that there are not many options for that size, that are taller than just a few feet. We can go as high as our fence which is 74" high in the rear of our space. The sheds I found were all either 2 feet short, or a foot too tall. I have to keep checking on those until we find one.

I also searched for fence slats and that's a different story. There are so many options available and with many different color options. I was surprised to discover that placing slats in our side fence - 57 feet long and 5 feet high - will cost at least $200 to complete. Maybe we will wait on that for a while. It would sure be nice to get that done before we get a neighbor in that space next to us. On the other hand, maybe a neighbor would be interested in splitting the cost so we both can benefit from the slats.

The front skirt for our fifth wheel is best obtained from Camping World from what I discovered yesterday. The problem I'm having with that is that the reviews for the (ADCO) snap on cover aren't the greatest. I read where the snaps are not strong enough and they don't hold the skirt in heavy winds. Many of the reviews contained a trip to the hardware store by the purchaser to buy heavy duty snaps that would hold through windy days. That won't do for this area. We do need to get one eventually, but I guess I will continue research on that project.

I also checked into covers for our furniture that needs to stay here while we are gone next summer. Our cushions will go into whatever shed we end up with, but the chairs need to stay in the hot AZ sun all summer. They are actually very reasonable and we can satisfy those requirements for about $50 - $75 for each of the two covers we would need. There is also no rush to get those with lots of time remaining.

Amazing thing, that Internet. What did we ever do without it?

The most pressing detail that we need to take care of is getting an oil change for the truck. It is overdue by about 1500 miles, and I don't like to be too far behind schedule with those. It is complicated by the fact that Josie needs the truck for work and I don't know how long the wait would be if I did it on one of those days. I guess that will be done on Saturday morning when we can take it in for the service and not have to worry about the wait. We don't have to get the oil changes as often as with the Jeep, but they are more than twice the cost.

There isn't much else to report today, so have a nice day everybody...

High Winds Challenge

It was a gorgeous day yesterday with just a light breeze and a high of 91. Last night was a different story. The winds started up again and by 11 PM last night we started getting wind gusts of 25 mph. Josie put up our awning and the winds blew all night again. My wind gauge says the winds have averaged 13 mph which means there is a steady wind of that speed. The high gust has been close to 30 mph and we are wondering why there are such frequent high winds. We don't remember them being so frequent in the past so maybe this is just a period that is not normal. The problem resulting from the high winds is that all the "junk" from the tree on our site is blown all over our new furniture, carpets and artificial grass. It means a cleanup duty every time the wind blows. If that is the only problem we have, we'll take it.

I turned in our request form at the office for the next phase of our site improvement. We hope not to make the same mistake by performing site enhancements prior to receiving approval. Eventually, we will get slats for the fence on the side of our site, add a planter for Josie's potted plants, get a skirt for the front of our fifth wheel to use as additional storage in front of the rig and a storage shed that we will use this next summer to keep our cushions out of the extreme heat while we are gone. That should pretty much complete any requirements for approval.

This is a long week for Josie as she will work 5 days, including Friday. She is getting more time this year as they promised her. Obviously, she will work even more hours during the holiday periods. It appears that she will have to work on Thanksgiving Day, at least part of the day. It's a good thing that she loves the work the way she does.

Today, I hope to make contact with our manager from Aramark to let him know we will be available to work Spring Training games again this year during March. After hearing the horror stories about the stadium in Peoria, we will probably stay with the Surprise Stadium again this year. We'll have to see how that goes...

Walk to Lake Following Visit to Storage

A trip to our storage unit in Surprise was in order yesterday. We needed to pick up our Christmas decorations and to just check out everything. We did get the decorations, but we also went through some boxes and containers of clothes and added a trip to Goodwill to drop off lots of items. We decided that we could get the storage down to a manageable size by pecking away at the goods we have there. Maybe, by the end of the season, we can at least downsize to a smaller, less expensive space.

In the afternoon we took a nice walk down to the lake. There are often gliders flying overhead and we captured one yesterday while we were walking:

We had previously mentioned how low the water level is in the lake. It appeared yesterday that some  water has been added and the lake level looked a bit higher - at least looking out over the Marina:

Even though there were clouds in the sky, the air was clear and this shot of the hills is one example of how beautiful this area can be:

Our final shot for the day is of this gentleman that we saw fishing along the shore:

(Fisherman is in lower center)

We don't know how successful he was, but we know there are lots of fish in this lake and that he is probably in a good spot to catch them. We will be looking for good spots to fish from shore as we expect to try it out someday.

Josie goes back to work today following a great weekend of entertaining and just enjoying our revitalized site. Her week is a bit longer - 5 days - as she was asked to add Friday to her schedule this week.

Happy Veterans Day...

Hangin Out and Football

Following a week of very strenuous outside work, it was nice to spend a day just hanging out doing nothing. I watched the WMU football game against Eastern Michigan University (EMU) that started around noon our time. Josie went to the nails place to get a manicure and pedicure that she has wanted for months.

Austin's team had a bye last weekend, so I expected his team to be energized and ready to kick some butt. They played well for almost the entire game. They led 29-21 with less than a minute left in the game. EMU scored a touchdown and then was successful with a two point conversion to tie the game at 29 with just seconds remaining. The game went into overtime, and they lost 35-32. It's a shame that their defense tired and gave up some big plays to EMU. I'm sure it was an exceptionally long 4.5 hour drive home for Patty and Mark. There are only two more games left in the season, and I'm sure that Austin is already looking forward to next year.

The sunrise this morning was especially pretty outside our window to start the day:

We talked about making our first trip today to our storage unit since we arrived here. We will pick up some Christmas decorations and say hello to all our goods that are stored there. We also talked about taking a long bike ride but that will most likely happen on another day. We are really enjoying our outside area now, so whatever we do, it will be complemented by some quality time in our gazebo...

Nice Family Visit

The first real test for all our site improvements was, for the most part, very successful. It was a chance for us to have our family over for dinner to help make up for all the times we were invited to their homes and really didn't have the (real) ability to reciprocate - until now. Even though we spent the entire time outside in our new, renovated site, the weather cooperated and it was a perfect visit.

George and Cheryl arrived shortly after 3 PM and we sat around our new gazebo visiting and catching up on what everybody was doing:

 

Brian and his family didn't arrive until after 5 PM because they had to wait for the kids to come home from school. They all have such busy schedules that we were fortunate to catch them on a night that they were all free. It made for a nice visit and we sat and chatted for a while before I got dinner started on the grill. Here are  a couple shots of everybody sitting around in the gazebo:

We had placed lights around the inside of the gazebo and a light over the table and chairs.  The only thing that was lacking in all the enhancements was a light over the grill. As a result of that oversight, and my talking while cooking, the burgers took on a well done result. This was a first test of entertaining at night in our "new" yard , so I have a good excuse. The light over the table was a unique idea that we tried. It was a battery operated, portable light that attaches to the pole of the umbrella. It did provide sufficient light to eat, but was lacking a bit in intensity for good photos:

 

With the visit taking place mostly in darkness, Jason and Jesse were limited in what they could do outside. They spent much of the time inside the fifth wheel, playing games and watching TV:

 

They are two bright, well mannered children that should make Brian and Amy proud.

The visit came to a close near 8:30 last night as they all left for home and Josie and I finished up the outside tasks to close down the visit. We hope to see much more of everybody at our location here at Lake Pleasant where there is so much to do.

Austin and his WMU football game is in Ypsilanti, MI, tonight against Eastern Michigan University. We wish him success in that game today and I will be attempting to watch the game online on ESPN3 where all of his games are telecast. It would be nice to see them win another game. We're sure that Patty and Mark will be traveling there for the game, so we wish them safe travels...

Nixed the Fence

The more I thought about taking the fence sections out to remove and re-park the fifth wheel each time we leave or return, I thought we should rethink the fence installation. The folks that have the fences on their sites are the ones that have their rigs permanently set up on the site. The thought of running over one of the post anchors that would be sticking up about 4" out of the ground and damaging a tire made the decision final. So, it was back to Lowe's again after Josie returned home from work to return the fence and get our credit. Maybe sometime down the road we can get a fence installed, as they do add something pleasing to the site. For now, the project to enhance our site is complete.

The next item was filling the propane tank for our cookout tonight. We found a convenient location close to Lowe's and when the store clerk came out to fill the tank he noticed it was an old tank. Sure, I bought this one in 1985 when we bought the lot at Outdoor Resorts in Palm Springs. The clerk said he couldn't fill the tank because it was older than 12 years. Really. I guess he could get into trouble by filling it if something went wrong with the old valve or something. Anyway, we looked in Costco and Sam's Club and found that they only sell the larger tanks the size that you take back and exchange for a full tank. First of all, I don't need or want a big tank as my 2.5 gallon tank is perfect for grilling and doesn't take up as much room while we travel. Plus, it's lighter. I will try to get the tank filled by the mobile propane guy on Saturday. He comes through every Tuesday and Saturday to fill tanks here at the Resort. In the meantime, I'll just use one of the fifth wheel tanks for our barbecue.

There was another windy morning yesterday as we had gusts up to 20 mph before 9 AM. We hope it all settles down today as the forecast is for 84 degrees, light winds and clear skies...

Project Complete

The wind we had yesterday was about a 15 hour experience. The wind got even worse following my post of yesterday, and we had a high gust of 30 mph for the morning. The wind stopped around 10:30 so I got started on the outside project a little late. Even with the late start, I got all the grass put down and the project is done:

That is, the main part of the project is done as I still need to put in the fence. I'm not sure yet if the fence will be a "keeper" since we aren't sure yet how much trouble it will be to open a section of the fence to take out the fifth wheel. It should be easy, so we'll see about that part. I should get one final shot of the site with the fence included for tomorrow.

There is a slight breeze this morning and it is going to warm up again. We are hoping for a nice day Friday when we entertain our "local" family members for the first time this year. We won't have to worry about running out of propane for the grill as we ran out shortly after I started to cook our pork chops last night. I will refill the tank today after Josie comes home from work. So far, we are getting along fine with just the truck as our only transportation. It is getting some much needed miles on it and I think we are up to 37,000 miles. That's still pretty good for a truck that is 6 years old...

Dealing With Grass

Before giving an update on the site project, I wanted to mention the winds that we have had all night long. We know that this area does get some wind, but it is rare (that we can remember) when it blows so hard for so long. It started right after we went to bed last night and hasn't stopped yet. The high gusts are around 18 mph, but they are steady at 12-15 mph. We're hoping the wind stops before we go out to do more work on the grass.

The entire day yesterday was spent figuring how to get the maximum coverage from the two rolls of artificial grass we purchased from Lowe's. Plus, I had to figure out how to lay the grass with the least visible seams and keeping the "grain" going in the same direction. It's quite a bit more involved than just laying carpet. Then, attaching the grass to the ground was no small challenge. I finally got it all figured out and used the two rolls we bought. We went back to Lowe's after Josie came home from work and purchased one more roll to complete the project. The area looks pretty good with just a little more to do before completion:

The main thing today is to finish with the grass. We have a small fence (left in the above shot) that we will install when everything else is done. We can already see that the dirt and dust has been almost eliminated from the usable area on the site. The one problem remaining is the messy tree on the site, but there is nothing we can do about the shedding from that area. We keep the rear of the gazebo closed most of the time, and with the gazebo underneath the tree, we have minimized that impact.

We are getting our first visit to our new "digs" on Friday. George, Cheryl, Brian, Amy and the kids are coming for a visit, and possibly Cot and Lois if they aren't going to their cabin on Friday. We're ready, and it should be much more fun entertaining in this location than last year at Happy Trails. We have much more privacy and the Resort is much nicer with the Lake.

Josie doesn't start work until 11 AM this morning, so we hope to get some work done on the grass before she leaves. All we have left is an area on the side of the gazebo and to tack down some grass that I cut yesterday, but didn't attach. The end is in sight...

Unexpected Storm

I did some final work on the pavers yesterday and started to lay the artificial grass until I ran into a small problem. The flimsy "U" staples that they recommended to attach the grass to the surface wouldn't work. Our ground here is so full of rocks and just about every attempt to drive one into the carpet was met with a hard subsurface, and they would bend in half without attaching the carpet. I waited for Josie to come home so we could return those staples and buy some large galvanized nails that should penetrate this hard surface. We'll know today.

While cleaning up last night, Josie captured these neat photos of the sunset which occurred about an hour before a surprise storm:

The weather forecast indicated only a 20% chance of rain, but it should have been 100%. It started raining with some pretty strong winds at about 8 PM last night and I'm sure I will have a clean-up chore to perform before starting work outside. Our furniture under the gazebo should be fine, but the table and chairs that are in the open surely got drenched. My rain gauge showed a .15 " total of rainfall, but it seemed like a lot more.

I hope to get the grass done today along with placement of the fence, so we'll see if I can get all that done by the time Josie comes home from work at around 3 PM this afternoon...

Project Near Completion

The main accomplishment yesterday was that we completed the pavers phase of our project. The rules and regulations require that no digging or concrete could be used to lay pavers on a site. That made it somewhat easier as we leveled the area and used sand to hold the pavers. This is what it looks like:

Both of us have aching muscles from all the physical work. I even dropped one of the pavers on my right foot and they weigh about 35 pounds each.

We're nearing completion of the project as we only have the artificial grass and fencing (new addition to the plan) to add before ending the improvements. It is going to be a nice setting when all is said and done.

Josie is back to work this morning so any more work I do outside will be alone. I hope my body is up for some more physical work today...

Slow Progress

We discovered a defect on one of the chairs we purchased that are in the gazebo so it was back to Home Depot to have it exchanged for a new one. The plan was also to buy an umbrella for the table and chairs that are now out in the open since we returned the second gazebo. The chair exchange went according to plan. We also bought a huge umbrella - one that would cover the entire area over the table and chairs, similar to one we used to have over our swimming pool at our home years ago. The problem we had following assembly of the umbrella was that it involved too much interaction to open, close and store. It was also prone to falling over in winds, so it was back to Home Depot for a refund on the umbrella.

It seems like we should know the people that work the returns department at these stores since we have seen them so much recently. We don't feel bad though, since you expect to be 100 % satisfied with any purchase, and they accept the returns if you aren't happy. We ended up buying another, standard umbrella. Below is a partial shot of the site where you can see the new umbrella and table and chairs (and also Josie):

The other areas of the site project, namely the paving, will be shown when it is completed. It was like we were spinning our wheels yesterday as we expected to get more work done, but the trips to the store took up much of our time.

We also had a visit from the Manager at the office who stopped by to chat. She apologized for the gazebo issue and also told us about their plans to continue improving the Resort to the high standards they envision. She also indicated that our site would be used as a reference to other prospective annual site users that want to improve their sites. That's probably the best compliment we could receive for what we have done so far.

Our plan for the day is to complete the paving and also to buy the artificial grass necessary to complete this phase of the site improvements. It should be done today if there are no more unplanned trips to the store for returns...

Switching Gears

The first order of the day was to take down the smaller gazebo and return it to Home Depot. It was an easy project that we finished in less than an hour and had all the pieces organized and packaged in the plastic bags that I saved from the original packaging. The only thing we were missing was the box that it came in, but Home Depot didn't care and we got a full refund.

That meant that we had to modify our original plan for this area. We moved the larger gazebo back further in the space and set up the furniture. As this is a larger gazebo, the furniture we had wasn't enough, so we added another chair. The gazebo is complete, and we will be laying more pavers today to complete that phase, and then we only have the artificial grass to put down. Exact measurements for that will be taken today, and hopefully, we will finish the project by tomorrow. Without the second gazebo, we will need some kind of cover for the table and chairs we have in that area. An umbrella will most likely take care of that problem.

The Resort is beginning to fill up for the winter season as we see an increasing number of units checking in each day. While more folks are checking in each day, we lost our next door neighbor yesterday so we have an empty space next to us. That is a long story about the family that was staying there. The short of it is that they have two children, were moved to a couple of different sites during their 4 month stay, and had way too much clutter on their space and were probably asked to leave. It is another example of the management attempt to create a better (Resort) environment here.

The muscles are getting a little sore from all this physical work, so the end better come soon. It looks like the hard work and money spent will pay off though as we are pleased, so far, with the results...

Halloween and Glitch

This Halloween was very different from years past. First of all, I was always gone for this holiday for most of about 20 years before we went on the road as it always conflicted with hunting season. Josie always performed the Halloween duties with the kids during those years. Then, we rarely stayed anywhere that had enough kids to really celebrate the holiday. Last night, we both sat outside and handed out candy to about 20 kids before going inside for the night at around 7:30 PM. We have enough candy left over that we will have to fight temptation not to devour the high calorie remains.

Josie's second day at the store, and final work day of this week, went much better for her than the first. She will still be working at the Production Center as her main base of operations for this season. That means that she will be working at the Production Center entirely during holiday periods.

Now for the glitch. Our regulations for the Resort contain descriptions of site additions, rules for those, and generally, what is allowed and what needs approval from management. We have been sailing along with our site improvements and have followed the guidelines to the letter - except for one aspect of our additions. We purchased the second gazebo and began installation prior to gaining approval for the second one. That's a no-no. I received a call from the office informing me that the second gazebo was not approved because the rules do not allow it. What? The rules specifically state that only one car-canopy was permitted, but no mention was made of a restriction on the number of gazebos. I went to the office with rules and regulations in hand and respectfully asked them to show me where the rules limit the number of gazebos. They couldn't, and they admitted and agreed that the rules did not specify only one gazebo was permitted, but I agreed to remove one in the spirit of the rules that required me to obtain prior approval, which I did not. We submitted our request for the second one on the same day I began installation.

The management is attempting to truly create a Resort environment here, and they are strictly enforcing guidelines to try to get control of the poor management decisions of the past. We feel that the new approach is healthy for the Resort, and totally support them. We will take down the smaller of the gazebos and return it to Home Depot today. We will then continue with our improvements and additions with some modifications. I did get the pavers laid for the grill yesterday:

and the grill fits nicely on the new "patio":

Josie and I are probably going to carry those pavers over to the front steps of the fifth wheel, but that is not finalized.

We also received delivery of our new carpet for the larger gazebo which we are keeping:

The second carpet from the gazebo we are returning will be still be used for our planned eating area. Stay tuned for changes that will be made today as Josie is off from work and we hope to finish this phase of our additions by the time she returns to work on Monday..