Hanging Out Around Apache Junction

By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.

 

We’ve been a little busy the last few days.  We weren’t really doing a heck of a lot but it always seems we’ve got something going on or something that needs to be done. 

One thing we wanted to do on one of those busy days was return to the huge Mesa Swap Meet but it’s only open on the weekends. I bought some material there a week ago and wanted more of it before they ran out.  Since this place is so big and we really didn’t want to stroll all the way through it again, we decided just to walk the outside loop.  That’s where the quilt shop was and that’s where we also found little flags for our quads.  Why is it that all the really cute flags are taller than wider?  We needed the wider ones for the ATV poles.  They were only $3 each so we bought a few.  Of course, once we got them back to the RV, we discovered they needed to be adjusted so the pole could slide through and my sewing machine is still in the shop.  We also bought our first Christmas present.  Or, was it our second or third?  Ugh!

Another stop was made so we could get a license plate for our ATV.  We figured if we didn’t do it soon, our luck might run out and we’d get stopped.  It didn’t take long.  The hard part was finding a place open on Saturday to get the title transferred and the plates.  We had made a stop at the DMV on Friday but then realized it was a holiday and no one was working.  One thing about licensing the Arctic Cat in Arizona is that there is no sales tax if purchased from a private party and Arizona licensed the quad for road use.  There are so many snowbirds in the area that they are used to out-of-staters using the address of their RV parks for the title.  However, the title is just printed at the time of transfer.  Actually two stickers are required.  One is for OHV (off highway use) and the other is for normal travel on the road.  No matter what state the quad is licensed in an OHV sticker is required on it.

Bass Pro Shop is located in Tempe.  One more stop just because we had to.  That’s such a fun store to walk around.  You find all these neat little toys you didn’t know you had to have.  Terry found a few.  We also looked at trail GPS units that might be good for finding our way back.  I’ve watched too many of the “I shouldn’t be alive” shows where the problem was in getting back where they came from, I guess.  Even though we already have two GPS units, they aren’t the ones that are good for trails or atvs.  It’s not that we know much about the waypoints on a trail one because we don’t. 

On the way back to the RV we made a stop at the Arizona Casino.  It wasn't really on the way but kind of it was.   We didn’t go to gamble.  We went to donate a few bucks and that’s just what we did.  There’s no gamble about it at all. 

Later in the day when we got back to the corral, we saddled up our horses and hit the trail again.  This time I wanted to try my little video camera on the front of it to see if I could get videos of our rides.  I had ordered a tripod mount and used it on my other quad but it never seemed to tighten up.  These bars were a tad bigger.  I figured it might work.  It did!!  The camera didn’t tip over.  The only problem you have with using a video camera on a trail is that the pictures bounce all over.  There’s absolutely no way to get a nice smooth ride let alone a nice even video.  At least I have no clue how to do it with a tripod mounted on the machine.

We weren’t through yet.  We had been wanting to go back to de la Cruz, a Mexican restaurant in Gold Canyon since we had been here.  We visited in October when we flew down to check out the RV park and liked it then.  Saturday night was no exception.  It’s a great little Mexican restaurant.

Sunday morning we found  an eTrex Legend CX GPS unit on Craigslist.  The unit was in nearly new condition. We walked away with it for $80. I thought it was quite a deal.  Figuring out and following waypoints is a lot different than following roads and highways.  Now we need to figure out how to use it.  There are maps online we can load on it.  However, most of them aren't places we intend to be.

In the afternoon we ended up going back to the Mesa Swap Meet to get a bid for some welding work.  We were loaded with pictures of our trailer since it now needs to be enlarged by about 3 inches to fit the Arctic Cat.  When we bought the trailer we had the smaller Suzuki.  This last ATV is just a few inches too long to fit.  Now to wait for his cost estimate.  Ugh!

Then, of course, we again met Sandie and Jim for a late lunch in Apache Junction.  We also got to stop by and check out their new 5th wheel.  Since Jim is a fisherman (what a fisherman he is!!) their whole place is fishy.  Well, it’s not that it smells fishy.  It’s decorated to make Jim really feel at home.  The theme is fishing.  Really cute ….

One of the downsides we discovered of being this far out in our RV is  ….. it’s a long ways out!  The nearest grocery store is nearly 7 miles.  If we need to go anyplace for anything else, it’s a good 15 miles at least.  We’re not liking that part of being so far from every place.  However, only time will tell what we do about it.