Wind Returns

I hate to beat a dead horse, but the winds have returned after only one day of relative calm. I got up in the middle of the night to raise our awning again and we are now receiving 14-17 mph steady winds with gusts to 26-28. It's hard to believe that such a change could occur after having a couple months of just occasional winds. There appears to be some strange and unusual weather patterns everywhere, so this is probably just a freak. I hope so. We (Josie) did get another nice shot of the sunset last night:

There are errands to run today as the main activity. When Josie is working so many hours, it's tough to get a lot done during the week. We will make a trip to the grocery store along with a stop at the bank. One thing we miss while in Jackson is a local Bank of America which we have here just down the street. There are none at all in Wyoming which makes one wonder why Bank of America doesn't want to do business there. We also will stop at the post office to pick up Priority Mail envelopes and a couple boxes. Hopefully, all the Christmas presents will be sent today.

If the winds stop for an extended period this weekend, we may even get a bike ride in at a local trail that we have been wanting to travel. Brian told us about a bike trail that begins in his area and goes to Carefree, AZ which is a nice, long ride. We hope to give it a try...

Holiday Plans

After talking about options for taking a short trip over the holidays, we settled on a trip that will take us to western AZ over New Year's. There are a couple of RV Resorts that we want to check out. One is in Yuma - actually, a small town just east of Yuma called Wellton. The other one is in Lake Havasu City which is north of Yuma on the way to - yes, Laughlin. We will stay one night (December 28) in Yuma at the Best Western Hotel, one night in Parker, which is about half way to Laughlin, on December 29 at the Bluewater Resort and Casino on the Colorado River, and finally, arrive in Laughlin on the 30th and spend New Year's Eve at the Aquarius Hotel and Casino. It's been awhile since we've been to any casino, so the trip should be a fun one.

One of the options we have considered for the future, when we don't want to travel in the RV, is locating a Resort where we can place the fifth wheel to use as a permanent location and as a home base. An important aspect of any RV Resort is that we own the space and don't pay a monthly fee to live there. The two that we will be looking at - Copper Ridge near Yuma, and  Havasu RV Resort - both satisfy that requirement and are reasonably priced. Since they are not too far from Laughlin, and we haven't visited there for about a year, it made sense for us to spend the New Year at a familiar location. The town will be jumping that weekend and we are looking forward to a great time.

Josie is plugging away with her long days and she still has found time to finish up a Christmas present that she made for our grand daughter - Harmony. It is a scarf and hat that she crocheted and we will send it to her this weekend:

It turned out great, and we think Harmony will love it as they are done in her favorite colors.

TGIF and it is the final work day this week for Josie. We have some local errands to run this weekend and maybe we will be able to throw in some exercise, so we are ready for the nice weather that is in the forecast for the weekend...

Coping

The day started for Josie by snapping this photo of our beautiful sunrise yesterday morning as she was leaving the resort:

Her days are getting longer as she worked from 8 AM until almost 5:30 last night and the same hours are expected today and tomorrow before getting the weekend off for some rest. Starting Monday, she will be working those hours every day until Christmas Eve.

It has been a real challenge the last four days to cope with the winds that are still blowing. There was a period yesterday - between about 2 PM and 4 PM when it was basically calm, but the winds started up again at dinner time. My weather station records the average winds each day. We've had only two days since we arrived in October where the average hit 4 mph for a day, and the normal is between 1-3 mph. For the last four days, the averages have been 7.7, 4.4, 4.6 and 7.1. That translates to extended periods of high wind gusts and I am at a loss as to why. We have had several changes in air pressure - from low to high and high to low - so there are more things happening than just the air pressure changes. According to the material I read the other day, it only occurs when air pressure goes from high to low. The barometer has shown steady air pressure for the last two days. I give up.

We're still not sure what our plans will be for the holidays, but we already have invitations from George to have Christmas Dinner with his family at their house and to join them again on New Years Eve for dinner at a yet to be named restaurant. We would like to go somewhere for some of the time between Christmas and New Year, so those plans will be made soon...

Researching Wind

It was such an unusual occurrence (for us) to have such high winds for such a long time - over 30 hours. I did some research yesterday on the causes of wind and really didn't find out much more than I suspected before. It is a confusing phenomena that is a combination of : air pressure changes, friction on the earth's surface and the rotation of the earth. After trying to discover the reasons for getting more winds here at Lake Pleasant, I just concluded that there aren't any buildings or trees to help block the wind and the area is located on higher ground. We'll just deal with it the best we can.

The winds stopped for a few hours in the afternoon and I was able to set up the space again. I opened the gazebo, reset the tree that Josie made, set out the poinsettias again, placed the plants back in their locations and attached the water lines back in the plant containers. I'm not sure if I didn't jump the gun as the winds picked up again during the night and we are seeing more steady and fairly strong winds at the moment. No matter what the scientific explanation is for these winds, we seem to be getting a lot more than any of the surrounding areas.

It's nice to see the temperatures warming up again. Maybe, if we can get rid of the winds, we can sit outside again and enjoy some activities outdoors.

It appears that the twins' football season has come to an end in FL. They lost in the National Championship series and will play on Friday for third place honors. That is still a terrific accomplishment and we are very proud that they made it to FL to defend their Championship from last year...

Blowing Away

The winds started shortly after we got up yesterday morning and they haven't stopped. That makes about 24 hours of non-stop winds, gusting to 30 mph, but blowing at a steady 15-20 mph. We cannot recall any 24 hour period that was so windy without even a break. The real problem is that none of the TV forecasts called for wind which makes it difficult to prepare for extended periods of windy weather. We know that Lake Pleasant gets more winds, but not to this extent. I will study my material from Davis to see if there might be a way to forecast the winds from my own weather station. It has been a solid performer for over 5 years that I've used the equipment. I'm sure there is a way and that will be a to-do project for today.

We were expecting a freeze last night so we moved all our plants into the gazebo again and closed it up for the night. The low was only 44 last night, so I'm not sure who is developing these forecasts from the NBC network. The Weather Channel also said there would be very low temperatures last night, so I'm not sure where anybody gets the information they broadcast. I guess the way it will happen is that a forecast will be made for normal temperatures and it will go below freezing by surprise to everyone.

Josie is working full days and when she works at the production center there is no heat. She came home last night, tired and cold, even after wearing about 3 layers of clothing. The forecasts, for whatever they are worth, indicate a warming trend so we are keeping our fingers crossed that they may be right.

It's still dark outside as I write this entry, so I am waiting for daylight to discover any (unexpected) results from the winds of the last 24 hours...

The Nutcracker

We left on schedule yesterday morning at 11:30 AM to catch The Nutcracker matinee at the Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix. The drive was only 35 minutes which surprised us. Our concern the whole way down was about finding a suitable parking space for our huge F450 Ford Dually pickup truck. We passed on the first parking garage as the sign indicated that parking was for low profile vehicles - probably not us. The second one, about 2 blocks from the Symphony Hall seemed OK with a sign stating the clearance was 6'8". Josie kept saying "Oh My Gosh, we  are going to hit the ceiling". We took off the antenna which was hitting every beam in the parking garage, but we made it to a nice wide space - with about 4" clearance to the top of the truck.

The Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix is a beautiful building:

When we entered the building off of 2nd Street, we were in the very huge Atrium. or lobby of the building that was nicely decorated with Christmas trees and lights:

There were several stands selling drinks and snacks and this one particular stand that carried all kinds of nutcrackers:

An announcement was made before the start of the show that no cameras or electrical devices of any kind could be used during the presentation. Bummer. I did capture a couple shots though. This one is taken from our seats (about 10 minutes before the show) that were on the 14th row facing the center of the stage:

The only shot I was able to take of the show was at the end when all the performers were taking their bows:

The show was terrific and the music was outstanding. Our seats were great and we had the perfect position to watch the show. We are so happy that we went this year after talking about going for the last several years. As you can see in the first shot of the stage above, there were lots of children in the audience and we presumed they were ballet students from local schools.

Following the show at 3 PM, we walked across the street to Majerle's Sports Bar and Grill:

For those that don't know about Dan Majerle, he was a basketball star for the Phoenix Suns in the 80's and 90's and has opened 5 of these Sports Bars in AZ. The place was crowded - as expected - and we located a couple seats at the bar when we walked in:

Of course, all the TV's were tuned-in to the NFL games being telecast. We ordered a draft each, and then located a table and ordered our dinner. We each had a salad that was outstanding and we felt it was a great ending to a perfect day in Phoenix.

While driving home last night, we caught this hot air balloon about to land off of the highway before we exited the freeway:

We arrived home at around 5:15 and yes, we got home in time to capture another beautiful sunset on camera:

A perfect ending to a perfect day...

Shopping Done

Our Christmas shopping was all done yesterday. We went to several stores and threw in a treat at the DQ near Glendale. Actually, our shopping is simplified since we went to gift cards and checks several years ago. Sometimes, we feel like we are not getting something that the kids or the grandkids will like, but this way there are no wrong sizes, wrong colors or trips back to stores to get a different style. Doing it this way almost assures us that the recipient will get something they really want. Plus, money goes a lot further following Christmas with all the sales at the department stores. It isn't like Christmas was many years ago when we spent the day opening presents, putting together toys and items, cooking a huge holiday meal and playing games that were given to the kids. The spirit is still there and as long as everybody stays healthy and happy, it is reward enough.

The big game last night was a disappointment - for all ASU fans. They played a game that was similar to the one against Stanford earlier in the year - the defense couldn't stop the Stanford offense as Stanford rolled to a 38-14 victory and earned a trip to the Rose Bowl - for the second straight year. Our twin grandsons are playing for the national championship (again) in Florida, and we are hoping for a repeat of their results from last year - undefeated and champions. We should hear about their games very soon.

We were happy to see the rain pass us by last night. Although we were prepared for the storm, it never materialized and the temperatures are warming once again. Our big event for today is a trip to Phoenix to see the Phoenix Ballet perform The Nutcracker. We will leave around 11:30 for the matinee showing that begins at 1 PM. It's been awhile since we were downtown, so we are hoping that we can park and find the theater okay. It should be a fun time and we are looking forward to the experience...