More Preparation

When we acquired all the outside furniture, artificial grass and blocks for the site, we also purchased a fence. We returned the fence thinking that the post holders would interfere with the taking in and out of the fifth wheel. We didn't want to puncture a tire by running over a buried stake. Now that we are planning to leave, we are concerned about the privacy ( and security) of our site while we are gone. We had heard from our neighbor that there were folks walking in and out of our site the week we were in Surprise getting service done on the rig. They would walk in, look at the site - sometimes with children and dogs - and our neighbors chased them away. With the fence in place, we could discourage any traffic coming onto the space. So, we are rethinking the fence and I went to Home Depot yesterday to check out the options. We will most likely end up with another fence, but we need to do some recalculations on what exactly is required. We will also still have our neighbor keep an eye on things while we are gone, but they both work during the day.

We received our cord to re-string the two remaining shades that need to be done. I will start those today. I also received the leather conditioner that was ordered from the King Ranch Saddle Shop. The leather seats in the truck have never been conditioned since we purchased it in October 2007. I did get one seat done yesterday to try out the product, and was amazed at how much improvement it makes. Here is a shot of the seat that has not been done as yet:

and this is how the seat looks that was completed yesterday:

Wow. It makes them look and smell like new again. I wish I had done this earlier as the seats are getting scratched and losing their softness and smooth appearance. Hopefully, they will all look new again by the time I finish them today.

Today is expected to be another day of completing prep work, so I hope we can cross off some more of the items on our to-do list...

Windiest Month

It was another night of rockin'-and-rollin' with the wind. There were steady winds over 20 mph the whole night and we had gusts in the 30-35 mph range. I still have not been able to figure out why this area has so much wind. The month of April, with just today and tomorrow to go, has been the windiest month of the year for us. There were no days at all during the month, for the first time, where we had winds under 10 mph for an entire day. There were 5 days where we had steady winds over 20 mph. Maybe it's the time of the year, but it is something we don't remember ever experiencing in all the time we have stayed here over the years. We get trash blown into our space from all over, including cigarette butts which we know aren't ours.

The only problem we have as a result of these high winds is that another of our topper awnings is torn enough to require replacement. The new one we put on the bedroom slide is terrific and is quiet. The one on our kitchen slide is tearing a little more with each windy day and will be replaced, for sure, when we return here in October. It should hold up until then. The third topper awning over our living room slide is holding up fine, even though that material is also beginning to show its age and will need to be replaced within the next year. It's a lot like any other home - there are always things to replace and/or fix over time.

This week can probably be called the calm before the storm. Josie hasn't gotten real busy yet at her shop, but the containers for the specials for the Mother's Day rush are beginning to show up. I am also accumulating all papers that we can so that I can use them for deliveries. I need them to pack around the arrangements so they don't shift while driving. That is a real challenge this year as we don't subscribe to the newspaper, but get the news online now. At least the temperatures haven't cracked the 100 degree mark yet...

More Packing

The wild weather of Saturday left both our vehicles with lots of dirt spots that had to be removed. We took them one at a time over to the vehicle wash area in the resort and wet them down and brought them back to the site for a wipe-down. We aren't allowed to wash vehicles on our spaces, so this is the best way to get it done without going to a car wash.

While wiping down the truck, I came across these long bolts that were sitting on the truck side rails, tucked into the brackets:

I suspect that these were part of the repairs to the truck that were recently made at the dealership in Glendale. I hope they were just misplaced by the service tech and replaced with new ones when he reassembled the vehicle. Now I'm curious about them and will take them back to the dealership to make sure. I wouldn't want to be tooling down the road, towing the fifth wheel, and have something fall apart. Sheesh!

We decided to begin the gazebo take-down yesterday. The lights were the first to go since we felt they wouldn't be used between now and the time we leave. They are white lights that we use to light up the entire gazebo at night while in use:

The rest of the fabric will be taken down in the next week or so.

I had mentioned that Josie was pumping out doll hats and scarves over the weekend. Here is a shot of those projects, and also one of the afghans that she finished:

She really does nice work and they will most likely be given away to either family or friends at some point.

Today starts another work week and it will probably be a little slow leading up to the weekend when Josie's shop begins production work for Mother's Day arrangements. It is next week that will be busy, and I will also deliver for her shop for the few days leading up to Mather's Day. It's getting close to the time when we need to have everything ready to go...

Serious Weather

We had the highest, steady winds, that we have had all year. The morning was actually pretty nice until about 9 AM when the winds picked up and we had steady 20-25 mph wind with gusts exceeding 40 mph. That lasted most of the day and we even had some rain thrown in. The rain wasn't even measurable, but was enough to spot our vehicles. With the dust blowing everywhere, the rain just created a mess on everything. At one point, I went out and brought in some of our pillows and cushions from the furniture. I even lowered the satellite dish as I didn't want to chance a broken dish during this storm. Thankfully, it is all gone and is once again nice outside this morning.

The weather threw a curve into our day's schedule of activities. We did go the store for some groceries in the afternoon, but aside from that, we stuck close to home and did inside stuff most of the day. Josie is pumping out doll hats and scarves with her leftover pieces of yarn and I did some cross stitch while we both watched some of our recorded shows on TV.

Today will involve some cleanup on the vehicles and who knows what else. Stay tuned...

Basement Organized

The main task for yesterday was to empty, sort, consolidate and repack the basement. Following a short trip to Michael's to pick up some yarn for Josie's new project, we began the outside work. Before emptying the basement, we had noticed - over the months - that our tree was getting some low hanging branches that needed to be removed before they punctured our gazebo roof or created a problem around our shed. We both got our chance at cutting those down:

It now looks good again and all the threatening branches have been removed. I'm sure there will be more work required on this tree when we return next October, but we'll cross that bridge when the time comes.

 

The basement project was then started, and we had everything spread all over the site to sort and consolidate:

 

 

It didn't take all that long to finish as I had already emptied and cleaned the basement when we had the mobile tech out to try adjustments on our bedroom slide. We did gather some stuff to take to our main storage in Surprise which we may do today. Along with some more books that were removed from a bedroom closet, we should be down to a weight that should provide some improvement in gas mileage for our return trip to Jackson. Not to mention that it will be safer to travel with less weight.

 

Today we will get two of our propane tanks refilled - one of our main large tanks, and the new one we purchased with the grill recently. That one needs to have the air purged before filling. We have gone the entire stay this winter on just one of our main propane tanks which is terrific. Then, a trip to our storage unit in Surprise may be in order...

 

 

Stretch Run

Yesterday was the final day for Josie to work at the shop on 19th Ave for Phoenix Flower Shops. The rest of her time, until we leave following Mother's Day, will be spent at the production location on Union Hills Drive in Sun City. They brought in lunch for her and the General Manager of the company was also there to say goodbye for the summer. The GM was very complimentary and wants her to return again next season. He pointed out what we already know - Josie is a terrific, experienced and dependable employee that they are getting without paying company benefits and are getting relatively cheap. Josie may be asking for an increase in pay for next year. :)

This weekend will include our going through the basement of our rig to make sure we aren't traveling with items that we won't need this summer. We have already lightened the load somewhat, but can take out even more weight to leave behind. With all the problems we've had with our hydraulics and the bedroom slide, it is getting to the point where we are overly cautious about what we include in our travels. Extra weight is an enemy, and we have been lucky so far as we have been relatively problem free since we started traveling six years ago.

Most of the sorting is done and our stretch run over the next couple weeks should be concentrating on getting everything ready outside - taking all the the cloth off the gazebo, packing the cushions from the furniture and making sure the covers are enough to protect the furniture through the hot summer. We are, I believe, well prepared for the summer...

Our New Schedule

Just about all of the changes are made to our original trip plan to Jackson in May. We will now make the trip in a more direct and shorter time frame. Instead of leaving on Tuesday the 13th of May, we now leave on Friday, the 16th. We have eliminated all the stops at Monument Valley, Moab and Flaming Gorge, and will drive through familiar locations. We will drive to Las Vegas on Friday and stay at the Thousand Trails Preserve in that city. It is still up in the air whether we will spend two nights there. The reason for the question mark is that by staying two nights, we would drive almost 400 miles to the next stop in Heber, UT, at the Deer Creek State Park. If we break up the drive on that leg, we could stay at an identified park in Beaver, UT, which splits the drive into 225 mile and 175 mile legs. Either way, we now arrive in Jackson one day earlier - on the 19th instead of the 20th - than the original schedule. We'll have to do the fun trip some other time, although Vegas is always fun.

Josie had an extra long day yesterday as it was Secretary's Day. We forgot about that special day. It should be back to normal today which is her final day for this week. It is also the last weekend that she will have off until we leave in Mid May. It promises to be a busy weekend getting our final projects completed before the trip...

Change in Schedule

The news from yesterday is that we will most likely have to alter our plans slightly for our trip north. Josie's manager indicated that they really needed her to work on the Monday and Tuesday following Mother's Day as there will be many orders that didn't make it on Mother's Day and there will be replacements that need to be done. Also, at her doctor's appointment yesterday, she found out that the earliest she could get her Endoscopy done is May 15. So, our plan to leave on Tuesday the 13th is out the window. It looks like I will need to plan a new schedule that has us leaving on the 16th and will have to eliminate some, if not all, of our planned stops at some nice areas we haven't previously visited. More on that in the next day or so.

No matter when we leave, we still only have about three weeks left to get everything done. Actually, we have most of the sorting done, but will have to make at least one more trip to our primary storage unit in Surprise. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to get ready.

I suspect that the extra days will be spent in really hot temperatures. The heat will definitely be here in mid May and we expect 100+ degrees every day leading up to the time we leave. It will be nice to get out of town and into the cooler north...

Easter Carryover

We are both paying a short term price for our Easter food consumption. There is a spike in our weight, as expected, but it sure was enjoyable. :)

The good news is that, so far, we are maintaining our weight from the first of the year. We still have a goal to lose 20 or so pounds this year, so we will have to make it happen in Jackson. It should be a lot easier there, as there are lots of ways to burn energy and calories by hiking and biking. We also don't eat as much when we work the evening shift at the Lodge. Time will tell.

We tried out our new tabletop grill last night to make sure everything was OK. It was terrific and is something we should have purchased a long time ago. The weight is less than half of the grill we have been traveling with the last six years. We will leave the larger grill here in our shed while in Jackson. There are still some items that we can leave behind and will sort those out from the basement in the next week or so.

I received a call from Josie's shop yesterday finalizing the delivery schedule for Mother's Day. It looks like I will be on-call for Thursday the 8th of May, and will drive on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Mother's Day). That is always good for a few extra dollars to use on our trip north. With both vehicles going again, it will surely help.

We are following the landslide news from Jackson. It is very close to the Lodge and is really only about a block away and across the street. We will be anxious to see the activity when we arrive in Jackson and will get some photos for the blog. We feel sorry for the folks that are affected by the slide and are losing their homes. We are sure there will be an impact on the summer traffic through that part of town. Let's hope it all gets settled by then...

Easter Sunday

Our Easter Sunday was a long, but fun day. We left the fifth wheel at about 7:20 AM to meet George and Cheryl to go to their church in Sun City. Josie had made deviled eggs for our dinner later in the day at Brian and Amy's home and we had to leave those in the frig while we went to church.

The church was huge, and very nice inside. Below are a couple shots of the inside of the church where the stained glass windows made for a nice and bright chapel:

The service was beautiful with the large choir singing the Hallelujah chorus and other hymns along with a very nice message given by the Pastor. We would like to return to this church for another visit sometime in the future.

We all then went to brunch at Jimichael's restaurant in Sun City and had  a great breakfast. This was after we stopped at a couple other restaurants that were closed on Easter Sunday. The choice was a good one though, and here is a shot of George and Cheryl following our meal:

Our plans were to visit the new models at Trilogy where they live in Peoria, but again our plan had to be changed when we discovered that the models were closed for Easter. So, we had a nice visit at their house before heading to Brian and Amy's at around 1:30.

Our afternoon was wonderful as we visited with Brian's family and Amy's parents who were here from IL for several months this winter. Josie and I took several shots during the afternoon but weren't able to get everybody in any one shot. These are just a few. Starting with some of the family gathered around the "snack" table:

and one of Traeger, their new - 6 months old now - Labrador Retriever. This shot was taken in the park behind Brian's home where the Easter egg hunt was held for all the neighborhood kids. Traeger had a chance to play with her sister who was purchased at the same time by one of Brian's neighbors:

This final shot is of the nice backyard containing the pool:

We left at around 7 PM following a delicious ham dinner and dessert.

We aren't sure if we will get to see everybody again before we leave for WY, but it was a nice way to spend this Easter Sunday...

Break in Schedule

After having such a full day on Friday, we decided to do some different things for a change yesterday. Each day that we went to work at the stadium in March for the spring training games, we would pass the Park Place condominiums in Surprise. We watched these condos being built in 2007, and at the time they were completed, they were selling for $200K - $400K for a one to three bedroom plan. They had town homes that were also part of the complex that had similar price tags. When we viewed the models in 2007, almost all of the units had been pre-sold before they were even completed. Then the bubble burst, and the housing market went south. Many of these units were foreclosed during the housing crisis and several were sold on short sale contracts. Today, they are selling these same units for $84K - $150K, and some are available on a lease basis. This is a shot of the complex from in front of the sales office:

There are too many negatives for us to consider something like this, but they are a great buy and are slowly coming back like the rest of the housing market.

We then scheduled a visit with our friend, Carole Cole, who lost her husband (Dick) a couple years ago and is now living in Happy Trails with her daughter Janice. She has recently gone through Chemo treatments for breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. She looks fabulous and is very happy in her new Happy Trails home:

It was a very nice visit and we look forward to seeing her again next year when we return to this area.

As today is Easter Sunday, we plan to go to church with George and Cheryl at their church in Peoria, and then go to brunch. We will then return to their home before heading to Brian and Amy's home at 3 PM for Easter dinner with them and Amy's folks who are visiting from IL. We wish we had our family here for Easter - the holidays always make us miss them more than at any other time. Maybe someday we can all be together to share holidays.

HAPPY EASTER !!

Miscellaneous Chores

We used the day yesterday to get some of the chores done that we still have on our to-do list. The first stop was at Home Depot where we picked up the locks we need for our shed. Our shed requires two locks - one for the doors, and one for the sliding top. We wanted to find two locks that use the same key. Done.

The next stop was at Walmart where we picked up a couple shelves for our closets in the bedroom. It really helps to better organize things when you have extra shelving. Done.

We then stopped by Josie's shop in Sun City and picked up her paycheck. We weren't sure if the banks would be open on Good Friday, but discovered that they were, so we deposited her check prior to going to Mario's for our haircuts in Surprise. We use the same hairdresser and she was working yesterday. Done.

Our day ended back at home right at 5 PM and allowed us to pick up our mail which was a package containing some RV light bulbs that we ordered from Amazon.com to replace burned out bulbs in the rig. Done.

Prior to leaving for our chores, I ordered more chord for our two remaining day-night shades to be restrung. They are ordered from a company in Indiana that manufactures the pleated day-night shades that we use in our fifth wheel. That is a fairly easy project that we will complete sometime in the next week or so after the chord arrives.

It was a good day as far as getting things done and we hope to follow that with another day (today) of prep for our trip in about three weeks...

Carpets and Wax

The folks from 4Seasons Carpet Cleaning and Detail were late arriving for our 10 AM appointment. It was actually 11:15 by the time they arrived. They had to travel from Mesa, and evidently, the restaurant where they had breakfast had their computers down so it took much longer to finish their meal (?). The owner - who is one half of the crew - said that when he has a big job like ours, he only schedules one job for the day. They took almost the whole day to do the carpets and wax and buff the entire fifth wheel.

Just about everything they carry in their van was emptied and they had hoses, towels, ladders, fans, buffers and just about everything else you can think of scattered about our site. Here are a couple shots of their van and all the equipment:

They cleaned the carpets first and set up the fans to dry the floor:

They completed the carpets in about an hour and then spent the rest of the day up to 4:30 PM waxing and buffing the exterior of the fifth wheel. We still can see a couple spots on the carpet but for the most part, it looks great. This is the first time since we purchased the rig 6 years ago that the carpets have been cleaned. The job that they did on the exterior is excellent, and we are set to go now as far as getting the rig ready for travel. That is, except for some last minute prep work on the inside which is standard for all travel, including just overnight trips.

Our weekend begins today with Josie having the next three days off. We plan to go to Surprise today for haircuts and to pick up her paycheck. We need to make one more stop at Costco to stock up on things we will need while in Jackson, but that can be done later before we leave.

As this Sunday is Easter, we plan to attend church in the morning and have been invited to dinner at Brian and Amy's home. Amy's mother is visiting and we also expect to see George and Cheryl. So, we look forward to a nice Easter weekend which includes saying our goodbyes to the part of our family that lives in the Phoenix area...

Good Progress

I made some good progress yesterday by sorting and eliminating lots of papers and magazines that have a tendency to add clutter to our fifth wheel. There are many magazines that we receive each month - most of which are lifetime subscriptions that we otherwise would most likely not subscribe to. Others are magazines that are part of annual memberships. The problem is that unless they are read immediately when we receive them, they pile up and become added weight that we need to eliminate. I sat outside following all the sorting and read as many as I could yesterday before throwing them away. At least we have it down to a manageable number now.

We both began the prepping for today's big activity - cleaning the carpets and waxing and buffing the exterior of the rig. We have not had the carpets cleaned at all before as we don't wear shoes inside. They are still spotted and need cleaning as a result of all the dirt and sand that somehow finds it way inside from the winds. The job will most likely consume several hours today so I will have to find some location or activity to keep me busy while all this is taking place. We will empty out the living area and bedroom as best we can prior to their arrival at 10 AM this morning.

Another change for our upcoming season in Jackson is that we will not carry the heavy grill we bought when we arrived here in October. Even though it is portable and folds up, it is still heavier and more bulky than a table top grill. There was also a problem with our small propane tank that we use with the grill - it is so old that it cannot be refilled any longer unless we update the valve. When we discovered that the valve change-out would be almost as much as a new small tank, we purchased a new tank. So now, we have a much more compact and lighter grill to travel with:

and a small, up to date propane tank:

 

 

The larger and heavier grill that we have will fit nicely in our storage shed here and be ready to use when we return next October. The tank is light and holds one gallon of propane.

Today is also Josie's final work day for the week, so we expect to get a lot more done over the next few days...

Lull

It was a day of little activity yesterday. Josie worked at the production center in Sun City and is getting ready for Easter which is not anywhere near the activity she will get for Mother's Day. I worked on some computer stuff and did some catch-up reading of materials we received over the last month. Maybe it is the calm before the storm for activity.

The last two days have been very windy which is not unusual for this area, but tends to keep us indoors. I checked back over the last few years to see where we were and what we doing on the same days. Last year, of course, we were in WA at this time and we had just relocated to the Thousand Trails preserve in La Conner, WA, which was not one of the best sites we have stayed. Two years ago we were in our "floating" mode at the Holiday Retirement communities and had been working at Bridgecreek in LA for a week. Three years ago we were in the Florida Keys working at Big Pine Key. It is hard to believe how fast time goes by.

Today appears to be lining up much like yesterday, with not much going on. I need to sort through some papers and create some new files while Josie switches over to the shop on 19th Ave for the next couple days. Our big activity for this week occurs tomorrow when we get our carpets cleaned and the fifth wheel will be buffed and waxed. Other than that, it is business as usual at Lake Pleasant...

Lunar Eclipse

It was a normal day - Josie was at work, I did some work on fixing a few nuisance problems in the rig and also did some research on the computer. The main activity for the day occurred at midnight last night when we had an opportunity to see our first full Lunar Eclipse. It was tough taking pictures of the moon in the black sky, but we did get a couple of decent shots. This first one shows the progression of the eclipse through all of the stages:

This second one shows the full eclipse a bit closer:

Although this is referred to as the "Blood Moon", it never appeared to us as being totally red. It was still a rare occasion and one that was worth getting up at midnight to witness.

There are more small projects that need to be completed inside the fifth wheel in the next week or so. There are some trim repairs inside and some re-staining of a couple areas on wood that has been slightly damaged as a result of our refrigerator problem a year or so ago. That caused some water to leak from the refrigerator that resulted in some trim being discolored. It seems that more things are going wrong now that we have lived in the rig for almost 6 years. It is probably no different than any home where maintenance issues always occur over time...

Consolidating

We got almost all of the sorting and consolidating done yesterday. The first order of business was to install the canvas shoe rack we bought from the couple in Mesa which was easy:

We then started with under the bed storage and got a little sidetracked as I discovered that the bed frame was beginning to separate from the slide frame:

There were a couple screws missing and several that were very loose. I tightened everything and did the best I could with replacing the missing screws. I suspect that this has probably led to some of the problems we've had recently with the bedroom slide. I plan to send the picture and a description of our recent problems to Doubletree RV who manufactured our rig. They have a very responsive service department and I hope to get some suggestions from them about how to proceed with fixing the problem of the slide not opening completely.

We completed the consolidation of our closet space, under bed storage and the outside shed. This created several containers that needed to be taken to our main storage unit in Surprise. It was around 3:30 by the time everything was done so I could then watch the conclusion of the Masters Tournament. I was happy to see Bubba Watson win the tournament for the second time in the last three years.

There is now less than one month before we hit the road again for Jackson. There are still some things we need to get done, including another doctor appointment for Josie, and time is running out. When the end of April rolls around, I think Josie will be working most days for the rest of the way, and probably some long hours the last week. I will drive for the shop the final few days before Mother's Day, so we definitely need to wrap up things before the end of April...

Sidetracked

We started out with fairly clear objectives yesterday - clean out the closets, sort and organize the storage under our bed and sort and organize our outdoor storage areas in the basement and in the shed. We got as far as cleaning out Josie's closet when she asked me if I had ordered her canvas shoe pockets from Camping World. That is a shoe rack made of canvas, attaches to the bed frame and provides a convenient way to store shoes along the base of the bed. I hadn't ordered it yet, and when I went to order it, the price went from about $25 to $40 by the time I added the sales tax and shipping. I decided to search for a better price online thinking even Amazon would have a better price. Amazon didn't have the item, but I located one on Craig's List at a home in Mesa. The price was $15, but we would have to drive to Mesa to pick it up. That was really a no-brainer, as the difference in cost would be worth the trip.

The folks that had the ad were an older couple that has lived in Mesa, in the same house, for 26 years in an area we didn't even know existed. They had many other RV related items and she said we should come and look at everything which would make the trip worthwhile. We decided to go, and it was one hour, exactly, from door to door - 52 miles. We spent about an hour talking with this nice couple and went through all of their items that were stored in their garage and back yard. It was an unplanned visit with a wonderful couple and we even found another item to buy - very cheap - that I had been thinking about buying. We had to get a picture of this nice home to show what we stumbled on:

By the time we left Mesa and stopped at the store to pick up some groceries it was 3 PM when we arrived back home. It was then time to watch the third round of the Masters Tournament. That pretty much changed the plan for the day and we will have to finish the sorting and organizing today. There will be lots of stuff to take to our storage unit in Surprise when it is all done. This year, we have vowed to take only what we believe we will need for the summer to lighten the load...

Busy Start to Weekend

We started pretty early yesterday to get our scheduled chores done before going to Sun City to visit our friends. Both of us worked to install the new topper awning - finally - and it went without a hitch. You've already seen the picture of the ragged, old awning, and here is the photo of the new one following installation:

Josie helped get the fabric in place and then went to do laundry. I did the final adjustments to the awning and Josie finished up the laundry by noon.

We had a very nice visit with our friends Jo (also named Josephine) and Tom, who purchased a condo in the original section of Sun City about two years ago. They bought it when real estate was close to rock bottom, and only paid slightly more than $30K for this 1200 sf condo that is on the golf course and only a block from a newly renovated recreation center. It was a steal for them. They have a main home on a lake in Michigan and only come here for about 4 or 5 months in the winter, and were leaving today to return to Michigan. They took us to the renovated rec center where they gave us a tour and we were impressed with the state of the art facilities. Sun City is going through a transition now where the original home owners of the 1960's are dying off and being replaced with new seniors in the 55- 65 age range. It has gone full circle and there are now some terrific buys in that city.

Following our visit in Sun City, we stopped and had dinner at the Chipotle Mexican Grill in Peoria and followed that with some ice cream next door at the Stone Cold Creamery. It was a full day and lots of fun.

Our plan for today is to empty the storage we have under our bed, sort, and organize everything. We also plan to empty our outside storage as part of the reorganization and get it ready for the cushions and other outdoor items we will leave here until we return in October. We hope to end up with items that we can take to our main storage in Surprise. Throw in some Masters viewing, and it should be another full day...

Sticking Around

The weather report from yesterday was that it reached 98 in Phoenix. We only got to 94, so it is a few degrees cooler here than in the city. Actually, it didn't seem that hot unless you stood in the sun for awhile. I sat in our gazebo for some time and it was actually pleasant with a nice breeze. It is expected to cool down for the next several days and then get back into the 90's again next week.

We decided to stay close to home this weekend. With the visit we have scheduled this afternoon with our friends from Michigan and the fact we have so much to do here to get ready for our trip, it makes a lot of sense to get that stuff out of the way. We need to organize our outside storage plus our basement. There are certainly items that we will take to our main storage in Surprise and that has to be done sooner rather than later. This morning we will install the new awning on our bedroom slide and I hope that goes smoothly. It shouldn't be a problem with both of us doing the job. I hope to have a photo of that for tomorrow's entry.

The other exciting activity for this weekend is the Masters golf tournament that represents the first major tournament of 2014. It is exciting for me to watch even though Josie could take it or leave it. She will get a chance to catch up on her crocheting and she is close to finishing another afghan to add to her collection. It should be a quiet weekend...

Finalizing Trip Arrangements

Our dates are pretty well finalized for our trip to Jackson and starting work at the Virginian Lodge. We agreed that our start date would be May 24 this year. That gives us plenty of time to make a leisurely trip north and stop at a few places we have never been before.

The start of our trip will be Tuesday, May 13, and we will stay at the Camp Verde Thousand Trails preserve for one night. That gives us a short drive for the first day as we may need the extra hours in the AM to make sure everything is packed and secure in our on-site storage unit. It will also allow us to have one last shot at the Cliff Castle Casino before beginning the summer.

We will then travel about 235 miles to Gouldings Campground in Monument Valley, UT, and stay there for two nights. We have been looking forward to seeing this area for many years as we have seen most of the westerns made here that were produced and directed by John Ford.

The next leg is a short one - 150 miles - to Moab, UT, where we will spend another two nights exploring the Arches National Park, Canyonlands and other famous parks in that area. We could probably spend a lot more time there, but this will give us an introduction to the area.

On May 18 and 19, we will be in Vernal Utah - 218 miles north of Moab - and will see the Dinosaur National Monument and Fossil National Park. We will also be traveling through the Flaming Gorge area which is on the border of Utah and Wyoming.

Our final day is the longest for traveling - 284 miles - and we will arrive in Jackson on the 20th of May to give us time to settle in and acclimate to the area before starting work on the 24th. Of course, all of this is subject to change, but at least we have a plan to follow and a target to look forward to.

Josie had her doctor's appointment yesterday for her bone density exam and is almost done with her planned doctor visits. We also received a call from a couple we worked the spring training games with that asked us to come visit them before they head back to their home in Michigan this weekend. That visit will be Friday afternoon, and that about wraps it up for now...

Connecting With Jackson

The decision was made to wait until Friday to install the new awning on our bedroom slide. Josie thought it would be better if we did that activity in the morning when it would be cooler. With temps going into the high 90's today and tomorrow, it is probably a good idea. It was 93 yesterday when she came home from work.

We had an email from our manager in Jackson checking to make sure we are still planning to return this year and to indicate that she could schedule us to begin work on or about May 19th. That is earlier than we have started the last two years, but is probably going to work for us. We had wanted to stop along the way to visit Monument Valley and Arches National Park, but I guess we could consider doing those in early October when we finish in Jackson and begin our trip back to AZ The only consideration for doing it in October is the threat of bad weather - similar to what we ran into on our way south last year when we narrowly missed a snow storm in Utah. We will figure it out in the next day or so. We would leave here on the 13th of May and have to be in Jackson no later than the 18th which is doable. It doesn't leave any time to explore the area and acclimate to the elevation, but I'm sure we could do it if we had to.

Josie has another doctor appointment today to have a bone density test performed. She will leave work a little early, but with her schedule she has to take the appointments when she can get them. I will probably find activities to keep me busy inside while the sun heats up the outside. It isn't getting to the point where we need the A/C all day and all night, but we are running it during the day now. That is a sure sign that summer is not far behind...

Awning Removed

I finally removed our topper awning on our bedroom slide that has seen its useful life:

The fabric begins to disintegrate over time, and this particular awning was further damaged by the winds. Once I found the right tools, it came off very easily. Our replacement awning arrived yesterday and I will install that when Josie gets home from work as it takes two people.

I made a trip to Home Depot before removing the awning so that I could pick up some silicone spray to use on the awning tracks and also to use on the rubber gasket around the slide. They need to be lubricated occasionally to prevent them from drying out. With the awning removed, I can reach the part of the rubber gasket that is under the fabric.

The weather forecast has us reaching the 90's today for the first time this year. It will reach 94 today and 97 by Thursday. The 100's can't be far away. It seems like once we hit 90 in this area, we go right to the 100's within a week or so. It is nice though, that the days are getting longer and we have daylight until after 7:30 PM.

We are thinking about taking a drive to the Green Valley area south of Tucson either this weekend or next. There are several 55 communities in that area that we've heard about and would like to see. We have also received some inviting deals from the casino hotels in Laughlin, and we certainly need to take advantage of those at least once before we leave. There are some signs that we are going through casino withdrawal, so we will take care of that situation...

Castle Hot Springs

It was just too nice a day to stay home and do any kind of chores or work. We decided to take a drive to a place not too far from us that we haven't seen in about 12 or so years - the Cowtown western village. That was a small, and old, western town that was used for filming some low budget western films years ago. It was down the dirt road portion of the old Carefree highway. It is behind the Glider Port and Flying School just off the main Carefree Highway:

and is also the spot where the Canyon Motocross speedway is located  and also a paintball course that have been there for years. We never made it to the old town as an older gentleman intercepted our car to tell us that it no longer existed as a filming location, but was now being used as a sniper firing range by the US government. What a surprise - and disappointment. He also told us a little bit about the history of the place and related a couple stories of old films that were made there that featured Johnny Depp, Clark Gable Jr, and a few other stars. Those films never made the big time.

We decided to take another drive that we last took about 12 years ago - to the Castle Hot Springs. It is located on the western side of Lake Pleasant past the Regional Park. It is a terrific drive through some beautiful desert country. This first shot is the scene as we left the road along the Lake Pleasant Regional Park to go through the desert mountains on the way to the Hot Springs Resort:

There were beautiful cactus plants in bloom along the entire drive and we stopped on several occasions to get pictures of some of these plants that were beginning to bloom. Starting with this shot of a Hedgehog cactus:

and these prickly pear cactus:

The Resort at the Hot Springs hasn't changed very much as we remembered it, but we had forgotten how beautiful this complex is and always wonder how it must have been in its hey-day when all the famous stars and politicians used to come here. This is the way it looks today:

Amazing - in the middle of nowhere.

The total drive on this dirt road through the hills and desert is about 30 miles. We covered the road in about 3 hours and towards the end of the road we came across these cattle that weren't concerned about anything:

As we came out at the end of the road, we were close to the town of Wickenburg, so we went into town and had an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant - El Ranchero - that was very good. Of course, we had to have a margarita to go along with the meal.

The day didn't turn out to be as we had originally planned, but with the weather being so perfect, it was a wonderful way to spend one of the rare days off that Josie has had over the last month. There are so many of these out-of-the-way places to visit that are convenient to us that we have to take advantage of them while we can.

Today, it is back to normal as Josie will work at the flower shop and I will attempt to remove the topper awning in preparation for our replacement that is due to arrive today...

Housewarming Party

We did a lot of work around the fifth wheel yesterday before heading out to the housewarming party in Sun City. The main thing to get done was to clean up our space using the blower and a rake. If we don't keep up with this chore, the space fills up with the leaves and debris from the occasional winds we get. The tree on our site is a messy one anyway, and there isn't any time of the year when it doesn't shed something.

The housewarming party at one of Josie's co-workers' - Joyce - didn't start until 4 PM. We left early - before 3 pm - so that Josie could help her with any preparations. The party was attended by all of the staff that she works with and dinner was a conglomeration of all the dishes brought by the guests. We had chicken and spare ribs from the grill, salad, green beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, rolls and dessert. We did fine until the desserts were brought out and we took one of each of the three different cakes and pie. A good time was had by all and we left shortly after 7 PM to head home. All of the staff from the shop showed up and enjoyed the occasion. Josie took several shots at the party, but none were really suitable for posting. Either people had food in their mouths, were moving around or were blurred in the photo, so we passed on the pictures of the gathering.

The house where the party was held is in Sun City and Joyce made a great find. It is a 1700 square foot home that was almost entirely updated and she is renting for $700 per month! For anyone who has driven through these old Del Webb neighborhoods, you know that there are some nice areas even though the homes are old. There are some good buys if you know what to look for and want to be convenient to lots of shopping and great medical facilities. For about $50K - $100K, you can find a nice place to use seasonally, and be able to justify spending only five or six months a year living there. We were so impressed with the home that Joyce found, that it started us thinking about the possibilities of options down the road. We have lots of time to think about those options.

We are now in the mode of getting things done before leaving for the summer. Today we will attempt to remove the old topper awning on our bedroom slideout to prepare it for the new fabric which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow...

Errands and Walk

It was a busy morning for us. Starting with Josie's Mammogram at the Del Webb Women's Center which was then followed with a trip to her shop to pick up her paycheck and then going to the bank. Josie needed some yarn for an afghan, so we stopped at Joann's in Peoria. It was lunch time by then, so we stopped at Jersey Mike's and had a sub and cheese steak. Dessert was on our minds so we then made a stop at the DQ on Lake Pleasant Rd and then Walmart next to DQ to pick up some items. One of the items we purchased was a Presto popcorn popper that we have been talking about trying for quite awhile. That about wrapped up our outing for the day.

We wanted to take a walk along the lake in the late afternoon, so we set out at around 6:30 PM to catch the changes in the desert plants that were now beginning to show their spring colors. The marina looked quiet as we walked down the hillside toward the lake:

The cactus were starting to bloom and we got some shots of the buckhorn cactus which were just starting to bloom:

Even though the saguaro were not yet in bloom, we could see the tops were getting very white and soon would be bursting with white blossoms. The concentration of saguaro's at this part of the lake is large:

 and they will be beautiful when they begin to blossom in about a month.

The ocotillo were in bloom and we got a couple shots of those:

Aside from getting some exercise on our walk, we enjoyed the start of spring on the lake with all the blooming plants. The day ended with trying out our new popcorn popper and enjoyed some fresh popcorn before turning in for the night.

We have a visit scheduled today to one of Josie's co-worker's place in Sun City. She recently moved into a new home and is having a housewarming party late this afternoon. That's about it on the schedule for today except for maybe some organizing around the rig...

Hydraulic Issue Resolved

I hope I don't regret making this statement, but it appears that our hydraulics problem is finally fixed. The mobile tech arrived a half hour earlier than his appointment and worked for 3 hours to make sure everything worked properly. His boss, and owner of the company, showed up after about an hour and a half and assisted in diagnosing the problem and installing all the lines so that none of them interfered with the in-and-out motion of the bedroom slideout. They installed the new pump assembly that I purchased, and they didn't charge a cent for completing the job. They did an excellent job in cleaning up the compartment that was sprayed with the hydraulics fluid during the failure of the system. It says a lot about a company that the owner himself is available to assist in solving problems.

We made an appointment with another company - 4 Seasons - to come out on the 17th of April to clean our carpets and to buff and wax the entire rig. That would remove another "to-do" from our list. The covers for our outdoor furniture arrived yesterday, so that also eliminates another item from the list. I'm expecting the replacement fabric for our topper awning in a couple days, and with the hydraulics being fixed, I can now open and close the slide to replace the fabric. Slowly, we are getting all things done that we targeted before we leave.

Josie has an appointment today to get a Mammogram which will be her first one in about 5 years. Now that she has Medicare and a good insurance plan, she can follow up with all the medical appointments she needs and it won't drive us to the poorhouse (hopefully). She is now back on her schedule of having Friday through Sunday off every week in April until the Mother's Day crunch arrives the first of May.

I'm starting to plan our trip north and we would like to include, if possible, stops in Monument Valley on the AZ/UT border and at Arches National Park in Moab UT. If we take a week to drive to Jackson, we should arrive around the 20th of May which gives us a chance to acclimate to the elevation and all the changes that may have been made while we were gone for the winter. They had an especially harsh winter, so seeing us arrive is a sure sign that the good weather is about to arrive...

Rain and Chill

The day started very nice yesterday but began to cool down and get windy in the early afternoon. We had wind gusts near 30 mph and the high for the day only reached 65. With all of the 80+ degree days we have been having, it was a stay inside kind of day. We did get a small amount of rain in the afternoon and early evening, but it only totaled about .1 inch. The forecast is for climbing temperatures again, and I saw where they are forecasting the first 90+ degree day next week. Oh, no.

We have a busy day scheduled today. Josie, of course, will work at the flower shop, but I will go to pick up our final paychecks for spring training at the Surprise stadium. Then, we have a visit scheduled by the mobile tech between 2-3 PM to do the work on our hydraulics. I hope to be able to take down the topper awning that we have on the bedroom slideout after that work is completed. I have ordered the replacement and I received an email yesterday stating that it would arrive on April 7. We are anxious to get that replaced as the winds make the awning flap and makes it tough to sleep - for Josie, that is. I don't hear anything after I take out my hearing aids and go to bed at night. :)

This time last year we were on our way to WA to visit our family there. This year, the commitment that Josie made to the shop to work through Mother's Day prevents any visit before driving to Jackson. We also will miss the visit to Patty's in early May for the same reason. Somehow, we need to squeeze in visits to those areas as we do miss seeing everybody...

Prep Started

I measured the table and chairs of the outdoor furniture - both sets - and ordered the covers we will use to protect the furniture this summer. We will be removing the cushions before we leave here and storing them in the small shed we have on our site. Since we are returning to this site in October, it will be convenient to leave everything on site, and protected. Our plan is to also place the fabric from our gazebo in the shed, the umbrella from the table, and other tools that we may not use in Jackson into the shed and lock it up for the summer. The management and security here at the resort will be watching the site while we are gone for five months. I still need to pick up a couple locks for the shed and reorganize the inside before we leave.

Josie will be ordering the flowers this morning for Carlos' service which will be held in Jackson, NJ today. He will be buried on Thursday in the cemetery where Josie's mother is buried and where the family has several plots. He will be missed.

The repair work on our hydraulics is now scheduled for Thursday when we hope to finally get things right with our pump. This will be our last chance to reroute any hydraulic lines that interfere with the opening-closing of the bedroom slide. I already purchased the new pump, and the mobile tech has agreed to install it with no additional charges. This is another example of not planning properly to get things done while staying here this season. We have had enough time to get all these things done with time to spare. There are still some items on our to-do list that must be completed this month. We have vowed to get an earlier start next winter...

Extended Stay This Year

I like to check back on blog entries from the previous year and I discovered that it was exactly one year ago yesterday that we visited Josie's brother Louie, and discovered that her brother in law, Carlos had liver cancer. It didn't seem that long ago when we found out about it, so time does fly. It was also one year ago today that we left for WA to visit our family there for the month of April. This year, Josie had made the commitment to Phoenix Flower Shops to work through Mother's Day which will extend our stay to our expected departure on May 13. We are sure to be leaving in the early heat of the summer here in AZ. We just hope it doesn't come any earlier than May.

As expected, the time has flown by and we are trying to squeeze in activities and events that we should have planned for earlier in our stay. The main problem now is that Josie is trying to schedule doctor appointments that should have been started in November. Some of the appointments will just have to wait until we return in October, as some of these offices are booked right up to early May which will be impossible for her to break away from work. She did see our physician in Surprise and had her physical, but any follow up work will have to wait. Fortunately, she only has high cholesterol which is something that can easily be controlled. We were afraid that she had Diabetes as she has complained of foot pain, especially in her toes. It appears that those symptoms are a result of her nerves being pinched in her back. She also has cataracts, and that doctor's visit is what she has tried to schedule before we leave. We now know that we need to begin scheduling these things earlier in our stay.

Folks are beginning to leave the resort in great numbers. April 1st is the date that most of them leave the area for their summer homes and destinations. Pretty soon, all that will be left are those that live here year round, and those numbers are shrinking as the management here at the resort is trying to reduce the number of annual residents that spend the entire year here. The amount of electricity used by those people is huge, and there is no meter on any of the sites to be able to charge for that utility. It is a good direction for them, as the more electricity that can be saved, the lower the rate of increases in the rent for the future. We are in favor of that.

As today is April Fools Day, be on the alert for "tricks" by your friends and family...