Max Heat

Actually, there hasn't been much of anything to report the last couple of days. The heat is excessive and every time I try to do something around the house, I have to quit because I perspire so much. That's even with the A/C on. Once I sit down and drink some water, I'm OK again. I'm sure everybody is going through the same problem. The sad part is that we have this nice, new house on the golf course and the high heat has prevented our sitting outside on the patio to enjoy it. We can't wait for Fall.

We have to keep up with the watering of our plants that aren't on the sprinkler system and our bird bath totally evaporates every day during these high temperatures. Most of our plants are doing well except for a few of the cactus plants that are showing the effects of the heat. That is surprising to us as they are plants that should thrive in this weather.

We expect to see a little relief in the temperatures beginning on Monday...

AT&T Disappointments

We were a bit concerned about six weeks ago when we made the switch from Verizon phone service to AT&T. The promotions were too good to overlook and the savings - with both DirecTV and phone service - were too much to ignore. So far, we have been disappointed with AT&T - not for the  service, but for the handling of the transfer. We received another bill from Verizon with a huge outstanding balance that is suppose to be paid by AT&T. Also, they haven't yet credited us for Josie's new phone which is suppose to be a free upgrade for switching. We are running out of time to get these balances corrected before we begin to think about credit "dings" as a result of not paying the balances. I have lit a fire under the rep that sold us the new package, so we will give him some time to fix the issues. Sheesh!

Our landscaper didn't stop by yesterday to pick up his check for the work he did on Tuesday while we were gone. Hmm. Maybe he doesn't need the money (Ha Ha).

We arrived home from Show Low just in time to enjoy the hottest days of the year so far. It was 114 yesterday, will be 113 today and 112 on Saturday. I received our second electric bill yesterday. The first one we received for the first month was only $107. The one we received yesterday which was for the first full month was only $147. We must be doing something right with the A/C and fans combinations...

Nice Stay in Show Low

Our short stay in Show Low ended with some better luck and a nice surprise from the Casino. Josie and I both enjoyed some better luck at the slots and we played for several hours before the Casino accepted our final donation at around noon. We had a nice buffet breakfast at the Casino restaurant (before hitting the slots) that only amounted to $20 for both of us. The nicest surprise was a 4th of July gift to each Casino player that had a certain number of points for the day. Josie and I each qualified for one of the holiday folding chairs:

It was a nice touch to a fun stay.

As the previous day's exercise of looking at ownership RV spaces was a disappointment, we were hoping for a better experience at the second stop on the way home which was Juniper Ridge RV Resort that is located between Snowflake and Show Low:

This was a much more attractive option for what we were looking at to keep our fifth wheel at a nice, cool location during the hot Arizona summers. The spaces were large and it was a complete resort with all the amenities. The prices were not out of line for the properties, but had a couple drawbacks. The big one was that there is an annual charge of $2200 for the HOA. That is almost a curse word in our language. We don't want anymore experience with an HOA. The second problem was that there were no hard covers allowed for motorhomes or RV's on the spaces. That was a killer for us as we would want to have our fifth wheel covered, especially during the monsoon season. Most of the owners leave during the winter months, but we would want to have the option to keep our RV there for the entire year. A cover in the winter would prevent any snow from accumulating on the RV. Anyway, we passed on that one. We will probably limit our searches to lots that might be available in the desired areas that have utilities to the lot line and go from there.

The landscaping work was completed while we were gone and I will have a check ready for our landscaper to pick up sometime today. It's back to a normal (?) schedule again...

Arrival in Show Low

First of all, our landscaper showed up just as we were getting ready to leave for Show Low. He was given his instructions and told that he would be paid for the repair work when we returned on Thursday. He will not get paid for finishing the work on the palm trees as that was suppose to have been done when he originally trimmed them. We'll see how he did later today when we get home.

The drive to Show Low was very nice, as usual. We took the Beeline Highway to Payson and then Route 260 to Show Low. Prior to checking into the hotel, we stopped at an ownership RV park to check out the options. We could have skipped that stop as the spaces were not very large - although in the woods - and there was only one space remaining for sale which was way too small for us. There is another ownership park that we will investigate today on the way out of Show Low.

The Hon-Dah Casino and Resort was just about as we remembered it several years ago. I took these shots to show how it looks.

Starting with the entrance:

And then the foyer and stairway to the rooms:

They had done a very good job modernizing the rooms and stocking them with nice amenities. These shots show our room:

The Casino was much as we remembered except that the play was not quite the same. We played for a long time, winning some small jackpots, but ultimately the Casino got our stake for the night. We saved some money to try again this morning before we leave, but we never confuse the casino play with pressure to win - we play for the enjoyment, and not to get rich (although that would be a nice effect).

Our plan is to leave around noon today and head back to Sun City. We are really happy that we took the time to enjoy this little vacation and step away from our stressful routine over the last several months...

Off to Show Low

It was a quiet day yesterday. The landscaper missed his scheduled appointment - again - and has now scheduled his repairs to take place today. Of course, we will be gone, so he will have to wait to get paid - if he even shows up. It is frustrating dealing with these landscapers. They are all Mexican, and they are, for the most part, unreliable and undependable. I wish we could find a good, honest landscaper that has some values and takes pride in doing his work - on time and with good quality results. Fortunately, we should not need their services too much while living here.

We are preparing for our trip to Show Low today and look forward to a nice change in our routine. I'll get some shots along the way and hope to have some good ones for tomorrow....

Planned Trip

We made reservations yesterday for one night - Tuesday - at the Hon-Dah Casino and Hotel in Show Low, AZ. Since Josie had to work today, it kind of spoiled the holiday week as far as taking a longer trip. That will be a nice break for both of us from all the stress and hard work relating to our move into the house. That is, as you may recall, an old favorite of ours from when we first moved to AZ in the early 2000's. We used to go there for our anniversary celebration to see the fall colors in the white Mountains along with having some good fun in the casino. This trip, we will also be looking around at potential sites to keep our RV where we may be able to enjoy some summer weekends in the future. It is a beautiful area and we also have our good friends (Caroline and George) in Snowflake - up the road from Show Low - whom we visited earlier this year. We are definitely looking forward to this trip.

Speaking of travel, Patty has made her arrangements to visit us - along with Debby - the last week of July. That's another visit that we are looking forward to. We expect to have lots of fun going to different places and enjoying some time at the pool at our rec center.

Our landscaper is expected this morning to complete the repairs on our water line. He also needs to finish up on some "missed" trimming on the palm trees. I will be glad to get the water line fixed so that I can stop the manual watering program...

Still Hot and Dry

I just know that once the monsoon rains and severe storms arrive I am going to wish they would stop. We so desperately need some rain, but the storms that accompany the rain can cause some serious damage. The latest word is that the monsoon rains are moving into southeastern Arizona and there is a slight chance we will get some rain by the end of this week. The other part of that equation is the temperature. The last couple days have been reasonable - 104-106 - but the dangerous heat - 110-112 - is also expected to return by the end of the week. At any rate, I snapped another photo of the early morning view of the moon while enjoying our coffee outside:

The landscaper did not show up yesterday to fix our sprinkler problem - no surprise there. As a result, I have to continue to do the watering manually which is already getting old. He is now expected tomorrow AM to perform the work.

We have been trying to put together a mini trip (or vacation) for the holiday but Josie has to work on Monday - right in the middle of her days off. We may still find some short trip to take somewhere, so stay tuned for that...