BCS Big Game

We had the flag

We had the fans.

We had the big screen TV.

We just didn't quite have the best team.  But, what an awesome regular season the Ducks gave is with those twelve wins. Top of the PAC 10 and unbeaten.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  As a birthday surprise Tom flew Kim down for the weekend. Here we are at the New Year's Eve party. I was glad that my friends here got to meet my awesome daughter. 

Dancing the new year in.

Christmas Parade

     The Christmas parade here in the senior RV park was a hoot. Remember that most of the people that participate in this are year round residents and this is the high point of their year.
So here are some pictures.

Not bad - just wait......

The line dancers....line dancing down the street.

Since we don't have kids to throw candy to, they gave dog treats to people who had their doggies watching the parade... Gizzy got his.

That is our friend Judy holding Gizmo.

Not sure what group this was.

The floats made from golfcarts.

The tennis group.

This horse is 43 years old and still comes to be in the parades. The owner lives right beside the RV park and he is in the parade every year. He got this horse when it was 13 years old.

This is the kitchen band. They play Christmas carols using kitchen implements and are always in the Christmas parade.

5th Wheel Palace

It is not new but it is new to us. We found a 31 foot 1996 Alpenlite that some folks had to sell in two weeks because they were moving into a house. It is in excellent shape and was at a price that we couldn't refuse. Now if we had get the rig to haul it it would not have been a good deal. However, a friend towed it up to Mesa for us and it will stay in the site we come to each winter. We only pay site rental fees when we are here and the rest of the year we only pay a small storage fee.

We will drive the motor home back in April and then just take the car to Mesa each winter. That will take a lot less fuel and be a faster trip. The motor home will stay in Oregon for traveling with our RV club, The Rimrock Roamers and for taking outings with the grandkids.

These pictures were taken when we went to look at it in Casa Grande, about 50 miles South.

First Week of December

     Here we are in December and our weather is finally warming up again. We had the coldest Thanksgiving season here in Mesa since 1933. It was below freezing one night and people were warned to wrap up their plants and bring in the pets. Yesterday the weather broke and though it is still cool( 40s) at night it will be mid 70s during the days. That makes me smile again.:-) It is now 10:00 AM and the thermometer outside the window reads 56*F.  All last week I was saying, "I could have stayed home for this." We have a high thin layer of cloud today but it is supposed to get up to 76*F.

     Last night we went to Barleen's Arizona Opry for their their dinner and Christmas show. I was expecting something kind of corny on the order of Lawrence Welk, but it turned out to be really good entertainment. The show was almost two hours long with an intermission. The Master of ceremonies and main singer was the lead singer for the Tokens who recorded "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" back in the 50s. I always wonder what happened to people who made a big hit and this fellow kept on with his career in music and has done very well. His voice is still as good as it was when he was young.

     I have been able to get going on some quilting projects and meet with other quilting friends to "play with fabric" at least two mornings a week. Tom is playing on the softball team. They have won two and lost one game. Tom reconnected with several friends from high school last year at the 50 year celebration of the founding of his high school, Centennial, in Gresham, Oregon. He has gotten to golf with some of these friends three times since we arrived as some very nice courses. Tom and I took the training to be "Rangers" in the park. We help people find their sites and get settled when they arrive. Help them get oriented to the park, locate the post office, understand the garbage and recycle pick up, and tell them about upcoming activities for that week. Of course I am just doing it because they give us a cool hat and let us drive around in a golf cart! Pictures will follow.

Luau in November?

The Luau held by our friends was wonderful fun but a bit chilly after the sun started to go down. I think they should have one again in March when the temps start rising. Here are some pictures.

Grazing

Glo

With our hosts Bob and Elizabeth.

Judy Lehrer from LaPine

Tom is loving our time in Arizona

New Friends Mike and Terri from
Colorado. He is a hard core Parrot Head.

Shooters were the best!

Thank you notes written in the street.

NASCAR

     We experienced an new piece of American culture a week ago. Tom won four tickets to the NASCAR truck race at Phoenix International Raceway. I only with that these pictures could include the sound and the smell of racing.  It is loud, as in take out the hearing aides and put in earplugs loud and the smell is pure toxic exhaust that you can see in a haze floating up from the track. We were in the 35th row but still experienced the full "glory" of it all.
 It was fun and there were two spectacular crashes and a few blown up engines but no one got hurt.
       Quite a few of the fans were dressed in NASCAR gear with their jackets and hats covered with sponsor logos and their favorite driver's numbers. We ate tasty foot long hot dogs and visited with a lot of the people around us who are frequent attenders at the races.  Some fan's had brought their RVs and had camped together all week before the big races even started. I guess that is part of following the major races just like the football tail gaiters. Some of these fans follow their favorite drivers from race to race all over the country.
     I'm glad I went and I really enjoyed it, but I'm going to stick with horses instead of horse power. If I had the money to follow a sport, it would be to follow the cowboys racking up points at the major rodeos and heading for the National Finals. Spending a rodeo week there in my RV with my barn girl friends and some fine Pendelton evenings would be the best. Yep, you gals would all be invited.