December 2008

View Larger Map Notice the controls for this New Map on the left side, you can zoom into different areas of the map and see where we are. Wed. Dec 31st New Year's Eve Again nice and warmer 75f (24c) enjoy the weather and relax. New Years's Eve Dance at the clubhouse tonight, have to stay up to midnight, to ring in the New year. Good turn out for the dance about 1/3 rd from Canada. The band played a good variety of very danceable music considering the age group from 52 to 85 years old. Lots of food including ham, cheese, buns, deviled eggs, chips , dips, cake, cookies. We also had pop, coffee, jello shooters, champagne, and party favours. A good time was had by all. New Years Pics Tues. Dec. 3oth Weather today the same. Outside stuff to do, have an early supper and play darts at 5.30pm. Suzie & Joe came in first place and myself & Jim 3rd place. Another fun night. Mon. Dec. 29th Again warmer 72f (22c) no wind and no clouds in the sky and very warm in the sun. Shorts, t shirts, outside play a few games of crokinole and soak up the sun, winter is over !!!! pics Sun. Dec. 28th Bright sunny day about 60f (15c), We took a drive with Steve and Barb and gathered some pecans at the side of the road beside a farmer's field. Back home we got out our Dominoes and played Mexcian Train with Spud, a great way to spend a sunny afternoon. The sun set quickly behind Picacho Peak at 4.12pm and the temperature instantly dropped about 15degrees f , so it did not take us long to pack up the game and go inside, hot turkey sandwiches for supper. drying pecan pics Sat. Dec. 27th Cool overnight, 28f (-3c) and our water hose froze,but was thawed out by 8.00am, I will remember to leave a tap dripping tonight to prevent another freeze. It was a mostly sunny day, no wind but only about 50F(10c). Nice enough for a few walks and sitting outside for a while in the sun. Good weather for a home made soup lunch and chicken, scalloped potatoes and broccoli for supper. Fri. Dec. 26th Cooler today 48f (10c) and a bit of sun. It's a good day to make a big pot of ham and bean soup from the ham bone leftover from Christmas dinner. Then shared huge portions with our friends from Christmas. Yummy, will have lots more for tomorrow. Then dart night at the clubhouse 12 teams and myself and partner Frank came it 3rd place, we rich!! Thurs. Dec. 25th MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!! About 60f (15c). Christmas morning wake up with the Christmas lights on, the Yule Log on TV and Christmas Carols Playing. We chatted with family members on MSN, Skype, or telephone calls for most of the morning, really nice to keep in touch. I made a huge pot of Scalloped potatoes in the slow cooker and homemade sweet mustard. At about 3:00pm went to Spud's deck just as the wind picked up , we put up my tarp and secured it. As we were all eating at 4:oo on his deck. (11 of us, 6 from Ontario, 4 from Washington and 1 from Michigan). An awesome glazed Bone in Ham, scalloped potatoes. scalloped corn, cabbage roll casserole, tossed salad,buns, strawberry cheesecake and another cake for desert.A nice view from the deck and a rainbow to top it off. We enjoyed this get together for Christmas but it was only 63F (17c) with a very cold strong wind, so went home to stay out of the wind and relax after supper . Christmas pics Wed. Dec.24th Nice warm sunny day about 70f (21c), we enjoyed the afternoon in the warm sun and Christmas eve around a cozy porch heater with some neighbours. Tues. Dec. 23rd Cooler again about 60f (15c) with some sun and cloudy periods. Just do a bit more research, chat with the neighbors and play darts in the evening. Always a good time, my partner Margo and myself were tied for last place and had to playoff, well we finally won last place! No prize but we had fun. Mon.Dec. 22nd A drive to Eloy for some groceries, I love the small town IGA with a great meat counter, good prices and good selection of Mexican foods and spices. Back home did laundry and helped Spud download pictures to his computer. Later made an awesome Southwestern meatloaf for supper. Sun. Dec. 21st The shortest day of the year, first day of winter. Sunny warm about 80f (25c), I like this kind of winter, butterflies in the flowers.. Marlow drove about the campground telling us that Flynn was coming home from the hospital. He had major heart operation on Monday and recovery went so well they let him come home early, so a bunch of us waited by the entrance to welcome him home and wish him well. Then we walked back home and took a couple of pics of nice desert gardens. While riding my bike later I saw and heard the monster truck at the Ostrich Farm next door, the engine roaring and the kids screaming as they went over some dunes. Later Joe and Wilma from Winnipeg dropped by to chat a bit before supper. sun pics Sat. Dec. 20th Today is our park Christmas party at the Clubhouse. The park supplies ham, buns, cheese, pop, ice, and the band, we each bring a potluck dish to eat at 2.pm.This is run by the park managers Joe & Denise a really great couple. Over 60 attended (our group was 10) with lots of choices for food and desert, the band played, we danced then had a gift exchange at 4.00pm. we were required to bring a gift, minimum $10.00. My gift just happened to be a bottle of Tequila! After the festivities back home and sat around Spuds patio heater after I put up a tarp for a wind break. Toasty warm. party pics Fri. Dec. 19th Sunny day and six of us take a trip to the huge Mesa Flea Market/ swap meet. A nice drive about 90 minutes thru desert country. We can see the snow in the mountains. This is a huge market with over 1,600 booths. It took us about 3 hours to walk including a stop for lunch with live entertainment. Very reasonable prices on most items , but not much we needed. It is real nice to see huge signs about saying " Welcome Winter Visitors" . Then back home to sit in the sun for a bit before it goes behind the mountain and the temperature drops. Then make a nice home made schnitzel for super. Mesa Pics Thurs. Dec.18th More sun little cooler, but still nice. Relax, compute, ride around, read a bit another awesome day. Wed. Dec. 17th Sunny day today and not too cool, so off to Tucson and Old Tucson Studios. It's about a 1 hour drive east into Tucson Mountains with lots of beautiful cactus and desert scenery. We passed Mt. Lemmon on the interstate with an interesting mushroom cloud over the top, there is lots of snow up there at 7,000 ft elevation. The studios are really interesting with hundreds of movies that have been filmed here and we recognize quite a few sets. There is shows going on all day and we watched The Great Tucson Bank Robbery (gunfight) on the main street, Cowgirl Up! ( a country musical) in the Grand Palace Saloon (and one of the dancers got me up dancing!), A Comedy Stunt Show (on the mission set). The Old Reno locomotive, The High Chaparral Set, adobe buildings, Town Hall, and various old buildings and movie props. It was a very entertaining day and quite interesting to see the old movie sets. On the way home we drove into a subdivision with new expensive homes, very nice all pastel reds, and green stucco with red clay tile roofs, nicely graveled lawns and boulevards, no grass anywhere in the desert, even the desert plants and cactus have permanent watering systems, very low maintenance and no snow! Old Tucson Pics Tues.Dec. 16 th With temps around 60f (15c) overcast a bit and wind gusts we are pretty lucky compared to the very cold weather and major snow that most of the country is getting. I can put on socks, sweat pants and a sweater to deal with it. At least we don't have to shovel it. This afternoon we put up our Christmas tree ,decorations and played some Christmas carols on the local radio station. After a BBQ steak dinner we played darts at the clubhouse, and I was partnered with Steve, we tied for first place!! I won some money!! Wow really helping out our budget. Sun. Dec.14th I finished making a large pot of turkey noodle soup and shared with the 11 people that had the turkey dinner with us on friday, yummy on a cooler 55f (14c) day. Put a roast beef in the slow cooker for supper. And after visiting with some neighbours and a bike ride we had a nice tasty meal. Sat. Dec.13th Sunny off and on about 70F (22c) bit strange wind patterns. No wind for a bit then very strong gusts from the SW about 40mph (65kph) or stronger. Then it stops and next from the opposite direction. Looking out to the desert huge dust storms, then clear. We can even feel the gusts rocking our coach quite violently, then quiet. Blowing stuff around lawn chairs and large BBQ's etc... I prepared some turkey soup, to finish cooking on sunday. Also went to visit Flynn & Ginnie in the resort, he is going in for major heart operation on monday. Otherwise a nice quiet day . Fri. Dec 12th. Warm day about 75f (25c) but it feels cool??? Must be getting used to this climate. I cleaned the car today and walk and bike around a bit. After assembling cauliflower with cheese sauce in our slow cooker and turn on low for 8 hours. We are having a Turkey dinner at 4.00pm with our neighbours ( 11 people in all). We consumed Turkey, dressing, cauliflower, green beans, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, gravy and pumpkin pie, a real nice feast. Then we gathered around the campfire for a few hours, a few people drop by even the managers of the resort Denise & Joe ( a super couple), another great day. some pics Thurs. Dec. 11th Just a relaxing day a little shopping in Casa Grande, some computing and walk and ride about the resort, and chat with some neighbours. Don't know where the time goes. The internet is free for 2 weeks but they really restrict the usage by slowing you down with the more you upload and download, so its real slow for me right now. I cannot upload any pictures. Wed. Dec. 10th Still warm and sunny (after a cool night). I helped Jack and Gayle clean up their computers for a bit in the morning. Then after lunch we went to Eddies Place in Eloy to meet Steve after his round of golf. Celebrate Barb's Birthday today. We all returned home and had a nice campfire at Spud and Suzie's and enjoyed the fresh air. Tues. Dec.9th Sunny and bright as usual went for a bike ride around the park a few times. Then went for a free pizza lunch, just for listening to a 1o minute sales presentation about Sky Med, (medical evacuation insurance) for which we already had coverage. The pizza was nice thou. Later we enjoyed the afternoon sun after setting up Spuds computer for him, and Steve's digital converter box for his TV, had a bite to eat, then Darts in the clubhouse. A few nice things about Arizona are, no grass to cut, no snow to shovel, lots of sunshine, and awesome views. When the temperature here gets below 65f (18c) the local people here are cold, wearing gloves, winter coats boots etc... hmm never survive in Ontario. some pics Mon. Dec.8th A bit warmer today 70f (22c) and sunny again. Beaudry Rv dealer from Tucson brought 2 new coaches to the park to temp people into buying with free coffee and donuts and prizes to give away, we won a Ball cap (no new coach). Nice to be outside most of the day, but it cools down real quick when the sun goes behind Picacho Peak , about 4:20pm, so time to go inside cook dinner and relax for the evening. Sun. Dec.7th Cool overcast today about 60f (15c). I drove to Casa Grande about 1/2 hour away and picked up a few items, and back home to help Steve fix a few things on his computer. We cooked a nice roast pork for dinner and visited with Spud and Suzie for a bit after supper. Sat. Dec 6th A travel day today, taking our time we are on the road to Picacho Peak RV Resort only 1 & 1/2 hours west of here on I-10. Travelling thru the construction in Tucson about half the distance. We arrived at the Resort at noon, checked in and parked our coach by our friends Steve & Barb, Spud & Suzie, Jack & Gail. I was a year since we have seen 4 of them and it was a nice welcome with a lot of catching up for the rest of the day. And a dance at the clubhouse after supper. We will be here for a month enjoying some nice Arizona sunshine. Fri. Dec. 5th Again a nice day few items to take care of , laundry and vacuum our coach. That's enough "work" for one day. Walk about a bit and enjoy a magazine in the afternoon shade . Thurs. Dec. 4th Cooler today only 65f (18c) but mostly sunny. I was checking tire pressure on our coach when I noticed the inside right dual tire was only 50psi, (I always maintain 90psi for safety) . I checked with the campground office and they told me of Big Dave's Towing does tire work on trucks and Rv's about 1 mile away. I took our coach there and upon investigation the problem was found and the tire was removed, replaced the valve stem and remounted the wheels. This all took close to 1 hour and now we feel safe again, at a cost of only $25.00 including parts labour and taxes. While I was doing this Suzie did another trip to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to do some more Genealogy research. We love the broasted chicken available here and planned all day to have it for supper. I walked over at 4:30pm to order only to find out they were sold out until tomorrow. Very disappointing. So we discussed what to do and decided the Chinese restaurant in town was good a couple years ago, so off I go only to find out they are closed for renovations. Hhhhhmmmmmm,. Well I drove around a couple of blocks and saw G & F Pizza on 5th st went in checked out the menu and ordered a regular pizza 11 inch, well this was meant to be. It was without a doubt the best Pizza we have had in many years, since I made Pizza in my restaurant. A 6 slice pizza with 5 items we could only eat 2 slices each even thou we were quite hungry. Leftover pizza is always good. Wed. Dec. 3rd Another nice warm day, walked about enjoyng the scenery and then picked up a few groceries. After lunch I did some cleaning and waxing our coach, then I even went for a swim in the lovely heated outdoor pool and hot tub. The afternoon temperature was 79f (26c) quite comfortable with no humidity. Then relax in the shade and read a bit before it was time to make supper. Tues. Dec. 2nd Sunny and warm after the frost melted with the sun. I took our coach to get an oil change and Suzie went to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to do some Genealogy research. After a couple of hours she returned home with more leads to check out. She also observed some volunteers indexing the 1916 Canadian census to be launched in 2009 to the Family Search and Ancestry.ca organizations, quite interesting. She also saw a card for the Erb St. Mennonite Cemetery in Waterloo, Ontario. (and this is in Benson Arizona!). We returned home and enjoyed a beautiful warm sunny afternoon outside in the shade, watching the roadrunner zipping around, a nice BBQ steak dinner. Followed by colourful clouds and later the moon, venus and jupiter together in the clear nightime skies. Then the neighbours Christmas lights. Tues. PICS Mon. Dec.1st Another relaxing day after a very busy November. I made a couple bowls of chicken noodle soup for lunch from our leftover cornish hen. And I filled car with gas today only $1.76 gal (.60 cents a litre). We have had a roadrunner running around our site in the afternoons but too fast to take a picture of this large bird. While sitting outside in the shade (80f , 27c) a woman from British Columbia stopped by to see where were from in Ontario she use to live in Hamilton area for most of her life. We chatted for quite a while as she quizzed us about being full time rv'ers. As the sun set at 5.15pm I fired up the barbie for a couple of juicy chops.