Liberty Park and Garden of Sculptures

We were so busy getting in shape with the Wii on Friday that we didn’t leave the house in time to follow our schedule which included some photo ops. So, these were rolled into Saturday.

Saturday was quite chilly but it wasn’t raining. The temperature wasn't bad but the wind could really cut to the bone. However, the chill in the air didn’t detour us from our outing. Our first stop was at Liberty Park. It’s a great place to go in New Jersey to view the skyline of New York City and Ellis Island without really going into the city. A couple years ago we took the ferry on a very snowy cold day from this same spot. We weren’t going to do it this time. It’s amazing though that there is a bridge from the park to the back of Ellis Island. If they opened it up, tourists wouldn’t have to take the ferry but then again maybe they’d lose a lot of revenue. Only authorized vehicles can drive on the bridge. and that doesn't include any tourists. Even the Statue of Liberty is visible from the Jersey side. It’s a great place to just take a look or take a few pictures which is what we did.

Ellis Island

Our next stop was down to Trenton. It was about an hour and a half drive but I didn’t have to drive so not too bad. We were heading to the Garden of Sculptures. The kids know how much I love photography so that’s where we went. The garden was absolutely amazing. Some of the statues made you wonder what they were and why? Others we could tell or had guessed. We all loved it. And, of course, it gave me an opportunity to “play” more with the HDR technique. I think I created a monster with my daughter. It was her first exposure to HDR and after I set her camera the first time she was hooked. I love looking at HDR photos. Anyone have some I could browse through? They remind me a little of Norman Rockwell paintings. Some of his drawings were based off of photographs.

The area I liked the most was around the pond with a small bridge across it. It was called Monet's Bridge. The bridge was a replica of the one at Claude Monet's place in Giverny, France and the background for many of his paintings. A replica of the boat “Lily” was also in the pond as were the water lillies. Several years ago I made a trip to Monet’s home just to visit and photograph. I suppose I could hunt through all my pictures and find the ones I took but that would take forever.

Revisiting Monet’s Garden and spending a holiday with one of my kids made me do some thinking. It’s back to the age-old question of “What do I want to do in my life”. Am I happy wondering around aimlessly in a motorhome? I’m not so sure. I need a challenge or something to focus on. Maybe I need a job or maybe I just need to revisit Claude's place.

Tammi's HDR of her Christmas tree with some "embellishment" added through the window. I thought it was super! It's almost Christmas card material. The Christmas tree is one that my folks used many, many years ago. Then, we used it for our family and now Tammi uses it.

Distracted by Food Network Shows

Television offers so many types of shows to watch. There are those who watch the news much of the time like Terry and those who watch everything else including reality, games, sports and movies. One of the channels I like is the Food Network. Well, Terry likes it too and so do our kids and their spouses . Maybe it’s because we all like to eat.

I got some TV watching in on my recent trip to New Jersey. We watched several segments of Cake Boss. Then, we actually went there. We had high hopes of being able to go check out Carlos’ Bakery in Hoboken. This is where the master baker owns his featured bakery and is the Cake Boss. We did get to drive by it and actually stand in front of the bakery. No way were we going to stand in line though. The line must have been at least two blocks long and when we peeked in the window, the shop was packed too. However, there was a”help wanted” sign posted on the door if anyone is interested. Oh well, it was a great adventure and look at the money we saved by not going in. The baked items there aren't cheap but they are certainly decorated fancy.

We also went to Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace for hamburgers. The hamburgers were good and not terribly expensive.

The Food Network wasn’t the only thing on the television set. We got hooked on “What Not to Wear” on TLC and realized we’re both disasters. We need folks to nominate us so we can go on the show and get the $5,000 card to go shopping for new wardrobes. And, YES, we’ll shop like Stacy and Clinton want us to.

The Wii was also taken out of mothballs. We bowled a little, played tennis, baseball and a little golf. You know how it goes. In addition, we all tested ourselves daily on what our Wii age was. After many strenuous games, this was my Wii age. I refuse to be tested again. Other than using the Wii balance board for scales and to play a game or two of bowling with Sandie, I haven't been using it as much as I should. Maybe it's time to get it back out and practice again.

Actually, we goofed around so much that our planned activities to Liberty Park and the Garden of Sculptures had to be put off for another day. It was good though. We had a great time and were certainly full of turkey leftovers.

Another great part about this trip is that every night I got to unwrap a gift. It started on Wednesday with a birthday present. Then, on Thursday a Christmas present. The same thing happened on Friday and Saturday. When the gifts stopped I figured it was time to leave! Well, not really but it was fun. I like gifts and especially when they are to me.

Black Friday

When you finally go back to your old home, you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood.

Thanksgiving is now over for 2010 and Christmas is just around the corner. The stores have been decorating for the next holiday for a while now. Trees were up in some stores when they should have been decorating for Halloween. I remember when the official day for all the Christmas decorations to come out was what is now Black Friday.

--- They rake leaves in New Jersey

We used to be big shoppers on Black Friday. There were so many bargains at the store. If you wanted any of the real good ones, you needed to be in the line out front by 3 AM. We did that several times but not anymore. Actually Tammi and Sabrina were the instigators. Part of the ritual on Thanksgiving included scanning all the ads and usually it started at Toys R Us. Now the kids are older and the toys they want don’t come from Toys R Us.

I hung around the east coast for a few days. This morning it was time to head to the airport for the trip back to Tucson. I was actually quite surprised that the screening out of Tucson and Newark wasn’t any different than it had been before all the hype this last week about the new see-all airport scanners and too-familiar pat-downs. Everything was pretty much as before. However, I had nothing on that set off the alarms. Besides that the two airports hadn’t yet installed the new scanners. In my book that was really, really good.

Sandi modeling --

Currently I’m on my way to Dallas and hoping the next flight has available seating for me. There used to be a time when we refused to fly on the Sunday after Thanksgiving because we knew everyone would be heading home after the holiday. Can’t believe that the airports aren’t just packed and seats are actually available. Layover at Dallas is about an hour and half unless I can make an earlier flight. Heck I just hope I make a flight!

We were very busy and I have lots of pictures to sort.

Happy Birthday to me .... I actually got a first class ticket out of Dallas! Yippee!

Why keep aspirin by your bedside?

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.

Most of you know that I will be in New Jersey over the Thanksgiving holiday. Obviously, I had to come up with something to post while I was gone. This is one of them. You may have already received this information via email. If you have, it’s just another reminder. I rarely forward jokes on because I don’t like spam. However, every once in a while I get a good one from folks but I’ve already sent my two this month so decided to share it this way because this is kind of important.

Did you know that you should not lie down while waiting for the EMT if you think you may be experiencing a heart attack? I didn’t know that. Bayer has come out with a new type of aspirin that is a crystal aspirin. It dissolves under the tongue to work much faster than regular coated aspirin. Purchase a box, keep it in your car, your purse and by your bed. It just may save a life. We’re off to pick up a couple boxes of this today. I don’t even care if this information was originally sent from Bayer. It still sounds like a good idea.

There are other symptoms of an heart attack besides the pain on the left arm. One must also be aware of an intense pain on the chin, as well as nausea and lots of sweating, however these symptoms may also occur less frequently. Note: There may be NO pain in the chest during a heart attack. However, if it occurs, the chest pain may wake you up from your deep sleep.

If you feel you may be experiencing a heart attack, immediately dissolve two aspirins in your mouth and swallow them with a bit of water.
Afterwards:
CALL 911
- say "heart attack!"
- say that you have taken 2 aspirins..
- phone a neighbor or a family member who lives very close by
- take a seat on a chair or sofa near the door, and wait for their arrival and...
~ DO NOT lie down ~

A Cardiologist stated that if each person shared this information, a life may be saved. I have already shared the information- - What about you?

Happy Thanksgiving

There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American. - O.Henry

Thanksgiving rolls around every year. It is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November. It is the day of a big feast and celebration. It is a day to be thankful for the many things in your life. The first Thanksgiving began years ago with the Pilgrims. What were they thankful for? Like us, they were thankful for many things. They were thankful for the possibilities of religious freedom and thankful for the beginning of their dreams. Even though they did not have much, they were thankful for what they had.

I’m thankful for many things. My list would go on and on so I’ll just list a few things I’m thankful for. First of all, I’m thankful for God and for the wonderful family I have. Those are my top two things I am thankful for. However, I have many more reasons to be thankful. Here are just a few. I’m thankful to be able to have food to eat, water to drink, a warm place to sleep, transportation to take us where we want to go, eyes to see, ears to hear …. you know the rest there. I’m thankful to be able to read and write and think. I’m thankful for many good friends and for being in the United States of America. I’m thankful to be able to enjoy this life as an RVer.

I’m thankful I have you …. and the list goes on for the many things I’m thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, America!

Biosphere 2, Friends and Flight

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Tucson can get a little chilly in the evenings during the late fall and winter. It’s been doing just that. We had some pretty good winds the last couple of days. The winds brought in a front that cooled off the area. However, by late Monday most of the winds were gone but the cool weather will probably hang around for a few more days before it moves back up to the 70’s again. The high 60’s aren’t so bad but a few degrees warmer would be much better.

Monday we decided to go to the Biosphere 2 in the town of Oracle. This was about 40 miles away but took us about an hour and a half to get there. Well, maybe if we hadn’t stopped at McDonalds for breakfast and maybe if we didn’t get so many red lights, it would have been faster but it was a long 40 miles. We actually didn’t know what we were off to see. Jim and Sandie went along and none of us did any research on it before we went. It was one of those things that we’d been told we needed to see so we did. Now we can say we Kind of saw it. We had to be back to meet Toni and Doug at 1:00 for lunch. They were traveling through Tucson on their way to Casa Grande and we hadn’t seen them for many months.

The “kind of” means we got to see the outside of the Biosphere. When we arrived we discovered that the tour started 45 minutes later, required a good hour to do but we really needed to plan on a total of 3 hours to see it all! Obviously, that didn’t work considering we even had to plan an additional hour plus just for the return travel. So, it didn’t work out at all. Sandie watched the movie and I took pictures. Then, it was time to leave. Here’s the link if anyone is interested.

We did make lunch as planned. All six of us actually arrived just a little before 1:00. We reminisced and had a good time. The waitress took a couple pictures of our group. However, they were so blurry that we could hardly recognize the people in them. So here's five of the group.

After lunch we also got to see Parker again. They don’t allow dogs in the restaurant so we had to wait to give his head a pat or two.

Later in the day the boys took a nap and Sandie and I went bowling …. Wii bowling that is.

Wednesday will be a very early day. I have a plane to catch and want to beat all the protestors who will no doubt cause lines and delays getting the TSA body massage. I’ll need to submit myself to invasive airport screening. So, in the meantime I’ve got to be sure nothing on me will ring off the alarm so I don't get the intimate pat-down too. Oh well … Sandie told me to be sure I wasn’t wearing an underwire bra … just in case. I’ll certainly oblige her. And, no doubt, you’ll get my opinion on it in a few days.

Super Steaks on the Grill

I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.

Sunday wasn’t a busy day. Sometimes the days that aren’t busy are best. Either way we certainly need them every once in a while. You could certainly tell the weather was changing and a cooler front was moving in. It was actually quite cool in the evening. Had the wind been calm we probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Duchess was introduced to a new doggie run. It was huge with all kinds of wonderful smells and toys for her to check out. It’s actually the biggest and best dog run we had ever seen.

Sandie and I made a trip to the local Costco and picked up some fabulous steaks for dinner. At Costco you can almost always count on finding thick choice steaks. That was our mission. We did some sampling of food through the store when it was offered, grabbed the steaks and headed to check out an area our friends, Toni and Doug, could park while on their way through on Monday. The Camping World we had told them we would meet at wasn’t as easy as we thought so we had to find a new place for them to park their rig. It took a while to locate a place since not all exits have places to park an RV right off the freeway. Oh well ... what we don't do for friends!

Jim and Sandie’s friend, Paul, showed up just in time for dinner. Steaks were perfect and company great. Other than talking, eating and talking some more, it wasn’t a very busy day. Monday’s going to be another thing though.

Goodbye Mesa, Hello Tucson

The average tourist wants to go to places where there are no tourists.

We had extended our stay in Mesa a couple extra days to reunite with my cousins from Portland, Oregon. Now that we had toured with them, it was time to hit the trail again. We were certainly looking forward to doing that. Even though Val Vista Villages offers just about everything anyone could possibly want, it just wasn’t our type of park. We enjoy the RVers and the RVing atmosphere so much more than the permanent neighborhoods. Half of the appeal of any park is the people who go there. Many folks are very nice at the Villages but it’s just not for us. RVers are a special breed in our book. However, we’re still on the search for the perfect place to spend the winter. We just haven’t found it yet. .

Sandie taking pictures of our rigs and the sunset --

-

High winds were predicted for Saturday afternoon. We planned to be at our next destination before they blew into the area. I just didn’t plan on being there so early. If you’ve been reading my blogs, you know I’m the early bird around here. Terry and Duchess rarely get up and going before 8:00 --- rarely. Well, Saturday morning rolled around and Terry was actually out of bed by 5:45 AM!! He was up before I was. By 6:15 we were on the road and heading to Tucson. Now who would think there would be much traffic on the freeways around town especially early AM on a Saturday? The freeways were packed. Where were folks going? We had no clue. It was a zoo finally getting on I-10 and beyond Riggs Road.

The trip was uneventful. We like uneventful trips. We were parked in our new slot in Tucson less than 3 hours later. It was only a 130 mile trip but getting out of town and our rendezvous with fueling up took some time. We stopped at the Love’s station south of Casa Grande. It doesn’t seem to matter where you travel, there are always those who try to beat you even in the fueling lines. It took a while to get an empty lane without someone trying to merge in front of us but we finally made it and were back on the road again.

--- Sunset at the park

By noon we even greeted our good friends, Jim and Sandie. We’re going to party together for the next few days. Actually, we had to twist Jim’s arm and bribed him with a hookup to our cable just so he could watch the NASCAR races on Sunday. We have two leads to our satellite and had one ready and waiting for him.

Saturday we got caught up on all the latest travels and ended up at a great eatery for dinner. We went out to Green Choice for salads. It's not just any salad. At the entrance you are given a card to check off all the items you want in your own personalized special salad. It was fantastic and it was huge! We even had to get boxes to take leftovers home.

Isn’t it fun to meet up with friends on the road? We’ve made and met so many. You just never know who will be waiting for you around the next bend in the road.

We have quite a few things on our agenda for this area. Terry went to high school here but high school kids rarely take time out to tour. He remembers some places so we’ll revisit those and then head out to all the other places we want to see. Like I said, we have quite a list starting with the Biosphere 2 and ending up in Tombstone. There’s a lot in between. For now we’re going to visit with Jim and Sandie.

Playing Tour Guide

We are all born into the world with nothing. Everything we acquire after that is profit.

Wow! Have we ever been busy! My cousins arrived in town and we were off showing them every single place we had visited ourselves earlier in the week. They had never been to Arizona and wanted to see it all in just three days. We were the guides for one day. We really had a blast but we were certainly tired when we crawled into bed Friday night. No. We weren’t just tired. We were exhausted!

We always have such a grand time with them. After all we all rhyme …. Terry, Jeri, Larry and Carrie. How about that? Well, her name is really Judy Carrie but we thought the middle name fit best for this occasion.

Friday morning the first stop on our itinerary was a stop at the Apache Junction Swap Meet. Just like I mentioned last weekend, that place is huge. We knew we were limited to about 5 hours since Duchess was back in the motorhome. We wanted to make as much count as we could in that 5 hours. After about an hour at the swap meet and hardly making a dent in it, we took them to the Goldfield Ghost Town. This is a great place to take visitors. It gives them a taste of what they usually expect the Wild West to have been. And, of course, we made the same little stop at the Superstition Mountains Museum. We took dozens and dozens of pictures.

We were only about 14 miles from Canyon Lake at this point and definitely wanted to take them there. The view is fantastic and the cactus that swarm the area offer an opportunity to take the perfect picture. However, those 14 miles take about 30 minutes to travel due to the curves and narrow roads. So, we thought we should probably walk Duchess before we headed in that direction. We dropped them back off at the swap meet again while we did our duty. It also gave them more time to buy more souvenirs.

Our new motorhome ?? --

About an hour later we were again on our way to Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flat. It really is a nice drive. At least this time I did get pictures of the inside of the restaurant at Tortilla Flats. This is the one with the dollar bills all over the walls. It’s like wallpaper. Their customers leave the dollar bills to be pasted on the walls. Notice the saddles that are used for seats at the bar.

We made it back to civilization before dark. Our destination for dinner was Famous Dave’s. It’s a barbecue chain that we’ve always enjoyed. However, since they hadn’t been there we thought a great place to introduce them to. Dinner was fabulous and we had lots of leftovers to take home with us.

It was a long day but a lot of fun. The next morning was to be an early one. We were moving to Tucson – 130 miles away. With high winds in the forecast for the afternoon, we need to get going early.

Fiddling Around Mesa

If I'd observed all the rules, I'd never have got anywhere. – Marilyn Monroe

We discovered a few little things around the area on Wednesday. First of all there is a great little market just around the corner on Broadway. It is the Superstition Ranch Market. Fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and a few other locally canned items were available. Prices were fantastic. We had to stop and make a few purchases.

We went down the road a little more and parked halfway between Beall’s Outlet and the Goodwill. I ran to Beall’s and Terry wandered down to the Goodwill. He always thinks he’ll find some treasure as he mulls through the hardware and stuff. Neither one of us made a purchase.

Lunch was at the Wild Berry Diner. The building wasn’t anything special but the food and wait staff were fantastic. It was a great little place for lunch and probably would be for dinner too.. There was even a gathering of Red Hat Ladies at the table behind us. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a group of women actually getting together all with red hats. I guess there’s more to it than what I knew. Does anyone know exactly what they do or get together for? Is it just to dress in purple and wear red hats?

Other than that we stopped at a car wash. Our vehicle was still carrying the dust from the road. It’s amazing the nice people you can meet at the car wash. We met more Canadians and agreed to meet in Yuma in January for a meal or two.

We also washed the windows inside and out on the RV. It wasn’t that we were overly ambitious. It’s just that we had white spots on them left over from the Blue Beacon’s wash job.

A perfect time to head for the swimming pool is about 6:00 around here. We headed that direction and spent an hour swimming and then relaxing in the hot tub. We had them both all to ourselves. Everyone else was eating dinner probably. We got back to the motorhome just in time to watch Hell’s Kitchen.

That was it. We didn’t wander around much but the day was full and the weather gorgeous.

Isn’t life grand?

Visiting Canyon Lake and Tortilla Campground

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Tuesday we made a return trip to Canyon Lake. It’s just a nice drive. We were going for the drive. Terry and my brother, Marv, had spent two weeks at the campground at Tortilla a couple years ago. It’s actually part of the Tonto National Forest. When staying here you can buy park passes using one for each night. They paid $3.00 a night with their federal park pass. It’s an absolutely gorgeous park loaded with native cactus including huge saguaros. The sites are large with water and sewer hookups but no electricity. Getting by without the electricity wouldn’t be difficult but getting by without cell phone and internet is the hard part. The park sits in an area with mountains all around. Thus, no cell signal. There are signs warning that when the weather gets hot the rattlesnakes come out. Thus, the campground is closed during the summer.

The area around Canyon Lake is a motorcycle paradise. At least that’s what it appears to be on the weekends. Tortilla Flats is pretty well known in the area. It’s not a large area but the restaurant sure pulls the crowds. It wasn’t so busy when we were there but then again, it wasn’t a weekend. On the weekends the restaurant lights the barbecue pit and throws a feast. If you walk inside, you'll notice dollar bills all over the walls. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone who visited you left money just because they could?

On the way in we noticed a helicopter that appeared to be lowering something to the ground. It was a mountain goat! Not sure what they were doing but it appeared they were picking the goats up from someplace in the canyons, delivering them to a parking lot where they were loaded into transport vehicles. It was definitely interesting to watch.

The Dolly Steamboat is located on Canyon Lake. Many snowbirds were lining up to take the lunch cruise around the lake. We didn’t take the cruise or eat in the restaurant or go out in a boat or even go fishing like so many others were. The facilities are there to do it all but we were just enjoying the drive.

Afterwards, we decided we needed some nourishment. We were hungry for really good barbecue and we knew just the place. Joe’s Real BBQ is in Gilbert and serves fantastic brisket.This place certainly serves food worth going for.

Then, I took a nap … a long, long nap. What a day this was. The problem is when I take a nap, I don't sleep well at night. I didn't. Today is another day. I have no idea what's on the agenda.

Lost Dutchman State Park and Goldfield Ghost Town

All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.

Monday was an interesting day. It was also one of those days that we didn’t get moving very fast. Some days are just like that. We also were due to pay for our site. The office staff doesn’t work on the weekends so when you come in the rangers put you in the site that has been assigned and you pay on Monday. I wonder if anyone tries to sneak out. I also wonder how they justify not renting additional sites on the weekend. I would think they are losing an opportunity to earn a few more coins by having someone available in the office but what do I know. And, I certainly don’t want the job.

We went back to the Goldfield Ghost Town and also stopped at the Superstition Mountains Museum. Just like most tourist attractions and museums, there’s a charge to walk through and learn about the history of the area. I suppose that’s how they can afford to keep up the grounds and staff the museum. The fee was pretty inexpensive at $5.00 for adults or $4.00 for seniors.

We had been to the Goldfield Ghost Town many times but it’s still fun to visit, walk through the shops and eat at the Mammoth Restaurant. & Saloon. The restaurant has actually been in existence since the late 1800’s. I’m sure it’s been remodeled a bunch of times. The weather was gorgeous so we sat on the outside porch with the Superstition Mountains in view. Check out the picture of the hanging boots and cowboy hats inside the saloon.

We had never been on the mine tour so wanted to see if it was a real mine tour or not. So many attractions are replicas of the real thing. Guess what? This was a replica so we didn’t go. There are several signs for mine tours along Apache Trail and most of them are bogus. You certainly aren’t going to be able to tour the Lost Dutchman Mine because it’s “lost”. Maybe If you find it, you could start your own tour of a real gold mine.

About a mile down the road was the Lost Dutchman State Park. In the past all the camping spots were without hookups. Currently, one section is closed due to construction. The construction includes putting in hookups. Most of the sites are good sized and include barbecue grills. Some are huge half circles or drive-thrus. Once the hookups are operational, I bet this place fills up fast. The sites with no hookups are currently rented at $15 per night. There is also a day use area and lots of trails. I’d just watch the critters if you plan to camp during the warmer season. It’s definitely a beautiful area.

We also drove around the Apache Junction and Mesa area. It’s amazing how many facilities there are for active adults. That’s what they call all these parks for 55+ inidividuals. Most of the parks were probably mobile home parks at one time and as people moved out or units were updated, casitas or park models were moved in. In between all the little semi-permanent residents are usually areas for traveling RV’ers or winter RV’ers. Eventually, we may even decide to have one place we prefer over another for the winter and decide to make it a semi-permanent winter home. We haven’t done that yet and we'd definitely want it much, much smaller.

The park we are in right now (Val Vista Village) is fabulous …. just fabulous. As I mentioned yesterday, it offers all the amenities one could ever offer. However, we tend to prefer places to stay where there aren’t so many “permanents”. It’s like moving into a very established neighborhood. Many of these people have never been RV'ers and permanents aren't quite the same (in our personal opinion). Some are super nice though and some are territorial just like a neighborhood full of stix and bricks. The problem is finding the perfect place in the perfect location with the perfect amenities, the perfect people and allow perfect dogs. Sounds like Eden to me. Anyone know where it's at?

Another day trip we wanted to take was to Canyon Lake, Tortilla Flats and on to Roosevelt Lake via Apache Lake. However, we noticed a road sign indicating the highway to Apache Lake was closed and indicated Hwy 188 as an alternate route instead. We did this trip a couple years ago and having been there we’re hoping that the work being done is improving the road beyond Canyon Lake.

Oh well, this is another day so we’ll see what it brings. We know the weather will be gorgeous.

Mesa RV Park & Superstition Mountains

Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.

We stuck to our original plans and moved the few miles to the RV park in Mesa. Once settled in Terry said he was going to

put on his brakes and stay there all winter. In other words, he’s thrilled we moved. When you move from a situation you really don’t care for, it’s not hard to pleased on the next move. This park has it all though. It has several pools both indoor and outdoor. In addition, it has several hot tubs both indoor and outdoor. There are several club houses, several laundry rooms, pool tables, lots of things to do including wood shop, cooking lessons, an exercise room and the list goes on and on and on. If we were going to be here for quite a while, we’d probably be interested in a lot of the activities. We have so many things on our agenda that I don’t know that we’ll have time to add to our list while we’re here. There are so many huge RV parks in the Mesa and Apache Junction.

It didn’t take Duchess long to have the route to the dog run down. Now if you head that way, it’s like she’s on a mission. She’s the one pulling you. She even got to play this afternoon with another Doberman. This morning it was a poodle.

Since we moved early we had lots of time to spare and did make the short trip to the swap meet in Apache Junction. This place is just huge. Terry found a Buck knife but that was about the extent of the purchase. We really didn’t stay long but headed out to view the Superstition Mountains. The mountains are so beautiful. The Miner’s Camp Restaurant is close to the Goldfield Ghost Town. If you’ve not been to that restaurant, I would suggest you try it at least once. We went there for the first time many, many years ago. Terry’s folks took us and we’ve been back many times since. It’s like a mining camp and you’re served family style on tin plates. We also noticed a new Superstition Mountain Museum that we hadn’t been to before. However, by the time we arrived they were just getting ready to close for the day. We walked around the little church which is in the same parking area. It looks like typical western town and my camera was snapping. Monday’s destination will probably be the museum and the Goldfield Ghost town. We have quite a list of things we want to do but we might as well start there. Anyone been to the Arizona Opry? We haven’t but want to do that this week.

We ended the day by jumping in the swimming pool and then relaxing in the hot tub which is just about across the street from our site. We’re happy.

Yippee!! We’re Moving to Mesa.

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

Sunday finally arrived and it’s moving day …. again. When we don’t move, I want to move. When we do move, I feel we’re moving too soon. Well, many times that’s what I feel. However, this time I was ready to go. Where we are at isn’t really a park. It’s just some place to pull of the road for a day or two in a really great location. We didn’t put out the awning or even take our chairs out. I guess we knew all along we’d want to leave soon. It’s not really less expensive than others but it’s convenient.

Our move is just a short distance since we are moving into Mesa for a week before we go on to Apache Junction … maybe. Two moves and total mileage about 28 miles. That’s a far cry from the 600 plus miles we did last year about this time as we left the state of Florida and arrived in Texas on a one day jaunt along the southern Gulf coast. We’ll be in a larger park than I normally like but we’ve been here before and the park has just about everything anyone could possibly want. Our site is even across from the hot tub and swimming pool. The road is paved which is perfect for bike riding.

Apache Junction has a swap meet over the weekends just like they do in Yuma. It’s a fun place to spend a couple hours and get a little exercise as you walk through checking out all the sales. Places like this carry a little bit of everything. You just never know what you might find. That’s the destination for Terry after we get setup.

I haven’t taken any pictures because we haven’t gone any place interesting. We’re going to but just haven’t yet. The only picture I’m posting is of our little group map. It’s fun to watch it. The little pegs represent RV’ers who started out on their adventure in either 2008 or 2009. In the summer all the little pegs were along the northern part of the U.S. Now the little pegs are moving farther and farther south. It looks like we’re getting ready to close in on others we either know or need to meet. Sounds like good times ahead. Oh ... we do have some folks that forget to move their peg.

Hello Phoenix-Metro

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

The weather forecast can’t always be trusted. Many times clear skies are predicted and it does nothing but rain. However, when the weatherman predicts windy conditions, we listen. The last place we want to be is on the road when the gusts are high. Windy was just the prediction for a few days this last week including Thursday. Thus, our departure date became Wednesday. We were going to be out of Lake Havasu City by 7:00 am. That’s just exactly what we were going to do. Well, that’s not exactly what happened though. We did get out of the park by 8:00 but left the town closer to 8:30. Okay, so we weren’t timely but actually does it really matter?

We were also going to bypass Quartzsite and take Hwy 72 to I-10 which was a little shortcut saving us about 10 miles. However, there was a construction sign just before the turnoff indicating part of the road to I-10 was closed. Oops! We changed our mind and rerouted through Quartzite. There probably wouldn’t have been a problem since it was a major route to Phoenix but we didn’t know and certainly didn’t want to take a chance for just 10 miles.

Our first planned stop was at exit 138 …. the Blue Beacon. Our coach needed a good bath. We had stopped there before but now they have a competitor right around the corner so they were a little edgy. Danny’s Truck Wash is the new kid on the block and offers a free wax with the wash. Of course, we didn’t see that in time. Blue Beacon management was a little paranoid that I took a couple pictures of their sign and was very fast to see what I was up to with those pictures. I guess competition can be pretty rough in this economy and they were afraid I might be competition.

With the Willy Wagon still dripping wet (they wanted $25 to dry it off) we headed through Phoenix. Traffic was really pretty good but we don’t stay on I-10 going through the town. We often opt to take I-17 south which is the truck route and bypasses the center of Phoenix. It normally has a lot less traffic. Five miles on the other side of town the two highways reconnect.

The Tempe Elks is almost in the center of Tempe and that was our destination. The location can’t be beat. Sites were available and this is where we figured we’d be for about four days. In the past we’ve parked in the back of the RV area but the fence is next to an animal hospital and dog kennel. This time we thought we were lucky enough to be able to get the end site next to the building. The end borders a little driveway that is used for delivering supplies to the clubhouse. We didn’t think it would be used and we really didn’t think the dumpsters would be a problem. I guess we just didn’t think.

It just so happened that our first night was the night before the big Veteran’s luncheon. Pickup trucks and trailers started arriving before daylight the next morning. It wasn’t that the trucks were so noisy. It was the people in the trucks. I’m not sure what the reason was for showing up before daylight other than maybe they had a real job to go to afterwards. My guess is the unloading started about 5:30 …. 5:30 in the morning!! Over the next couple hours the unloading of the trucks continued and so did the loud conversations right below our windows. When Terry crawls out of bed before 6:00 AM you certainly know something is up.

We held our breath Friday morning but were thankful there were no deliveries. However, that's the day the early morning garbage trucks arrive. We used to think freeways and trains were bad. We’ve also learned not to park near the dumpster. It's amazing what we continue to learn. Countdown …. two more nights.

Later in the day we dropped my bike off at the bike shop. This time we’re having a reinforced tube put in the back tire. Let’s see if that helps on the gravel and sharp rocks. The bike tire wasn’t the only tire we needed to replace. The Jeep also had a bad tire on it and since the Goodyear dealer was right down the block, we figured we might as well get that taken care of too.

Several restaurants offered free or discounted meals on Veteran's Day. We didn’t search one out because we were looking forward to Texas Roadhouse. There are many different roadhouse restaurants around the country but we’ve never found a better one than the one located in Mesa. The steaks are usually perfect and the wait staff fabulous. They didn’t disappoint us. On top of that, Terry even got an unexpected 50% off of his meal. We were stuffed and we were happy. Even Duchess was pleased with the leftovers.

One last thing was to get the appointment set up for the Ready Brute & Brake system. We previously had the Blue Ox tow bar with a different braking system. This one is all integrated in a single tow bar. Once installed we'll put our Blue Ox tow bar on Craigslist.

Life sure is busy.