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.

Mesa Natural History Museum

Shark teeth above a double door into the museum

Lots of dinosaur bones. The real things that were dug up in Arizona.

Wonder what kind of saddle you use on this guy? Then how do you get up on him? Can he cut?

Meet Kit Kat

     Our grandson Tate, Devon's youngest boy,  is a real animal person. He is the one who has always cuddled our dogs and was eager to ride and groom our horses. He has wanted a pet for a long time but his family's busy active life full of sports, travel, and not much time at home because of both parent's jobs as teachers was not a good environment for a dog or a cat. Knowing Tate's continued desire for a pet of his own to love and care for Devon and Nikki came up with the perfect solution, a guinea pig !

     Meet Kit Kat. In reading about guinea pigs I learned that they have individual personalities, develop a bond with their caretakers, communicate with squeaks, chirps and noises, and show affection. I got to listen to her talk to me on the phone. Kit Kat will be just right for Tate.
He informed us that PetCo had all kinds of things for Christmas presents for her but we had to be sure that they had a picture of a guinea pig on the label.  You can bet that she will be getting a few gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.
     I love this picture. One can tell that Tate is in  love with this little critter.  Good job Mom and Dad  in nurturing your son's heart.

Wii Bowling.

Tom and Al, the fellow in the Hawiian shirt are getting
really competitive about Wii bowling.

       We have been meeting people and getting started in some activities down here in Arizona but have not been doing anything that lends itself to photos. Guess I will have to get creative about some shots to post.
We play Wii golf every Monday at 10AM.
I'm getting better but I'm not consistant. Tom was always good at real bowling so he is getting quite good at Wii bowling.

       We enjoy riding our scooters around. It is a lot better than walking when we have to carry lots of stuff. We also take Gizzy for a walk around the perimeter of the park on most afternoons. There are several other Yorkies here (3 that we have seen) and they seem to know when one of their own comes to visit. There is another Gizmo Yorkie here too.
     Bob and Judy Lehrer have been coming to this park for siz years and invited us to go with them to the church that they go to while they are in Arizona. We went to Central Christian Church with them and really liked it. It is positive, upbeat and friendly.

Tom and Gizzy ride all over the park. How do you like Tom's new wheels?

Good Eats

Just about half a mile from the RV park we located a farmer's market. Yes the sign does say pomegranates for 59 cents each. Key Limes are 10 cents each etc. I think we will be shopping there a lot.

The Arizona and Canadian flags were practically ripped in half. The large American Flag at the entrance was shredded at the outer edge.

The roof came off of the Arizona room and the walls collapsed. The main roof peeled off like a sardine can lid.

Another carport gone with the wind.

Most damage was was minor by comparison.

I Love My Ducks and My Ducklings

It was game day this past Saturday, and since our daughter and son in law and their best friends Joe and Julie all graduated from University of Oregon, they and their kids, the ducklings, had a great party watching the Ducks smack Stanford.   Oh Bliss. 

Home Sweet Arizona Home

As you can see we are all set up and ready for a fun winter. BBQ, doggie playpen, bikes and scooters ( with my helmet at the ready), patio table and chairs (extra ones for visitors), awning out. We are watering the grapefruit tree twice a day and hope to watch the fruit that is now green and the size of tennis balls grow and turn yellow as the days pass.
This morning I went off to Tae Chi but the instructor wasn't there so I met a new couple. I thought she was about 70 but turns out she just had her 90th birthday.Wow! The people we are meeting here are so active that they keep on ticking. We did Wii bowling for about an hour and a half and are now back at the rig for lunch and to relax for the afternoon.  I could get to like this.

The Arches, Canyonlands, and Mesa Verde National Parks

We had a great time seeing the three National Parks on our way to Mesa. I will only post a few of my favorite pictures. I had packed a lunch and we sat under this arch and had a picnic.

The Arches National Park

     This place is more amazing than I thought It would be. The rock formations are HUGE. After seeing the first few formations of The Three Gossips and Sheep Rock we started seeing faces and figures everywhere. I wish that Darrell my brother in law were here to explain the geology of this whole place. We got a good understanding of it from touring the visitor's center. My connection is too slow to add pictures right now but I will return later to do it.

Arrived in Moab

Wow what a day. We finally arrived in Moab, UT after  having to pull off the road for half an hour with the other traffic to wait out a thunder and lightening, blinding rain and wind storm. Heard on the news later that it moved across the state from East to West. We are used to the weather moving West to East!  My friend Pat apparently has not published a post yet. I got her all set up to go but they are traveling with 6 other coaches to Branson, MO. Lots of time driving does not leave her much opportunity to figure out how to do the blog. I will wait to let you know when she has her first post published.

We have seen these flowers everywhere all along the roads wherever there is a vacant lot. ditch or field. I call them prairie sunflowers. I don't know what their real name is but they are such a bright splash of color that I had to cut some for the table.

We saw these wind turbines as we were leaving Provo. We came up close to them and there were only a few in this gap in the hills. The blades on them were huge and they were turning slowly.

It was too much mist in the air to see clearly but the hills have lots of vine maple that is turning red. I remember when I was a kid and about this time of year we would drive up the old McKenzie Highway and cut some branches of red vine maple. When we got them home we would stand them up in a pot in a corner and as they dried they would keep their red color as a wonderful sign that fall was really here. It was as traditional a sign of fall to our family as a pumpkin or corn stalks is to others.