November 12 - 18, 2018, AZ

Thursday, November 15. Another week with little to write about.  We are falling into our 'landed' lifestyle; my cleaning jobs, grocery shopping, laundry, errands, etc.  We haven't even been walking much other than to walk the dog and take him to the dog park here in the park - and a very nice space it is with plenty of room for the dogs to run, a comfortable bench to sit on and a supply of doodoo bags and plenty of water.

We did take a walk through the desert on Tuesday afternoon.  You can park along the road and enter through access points in the fences ('V' shaped cutouts for horses and people).  We managed to follow a horse path that meandered along, resulting in a walk of almost 2 miles.

Yesterday, I went to Val Vista Village and met up with Patty. We walked to the activity building where we attended a Celebration of Life for Nancy Anderson who found out that she was full of cancer while on her summer travels to Canada.  She died shortly after her diagnosis. Nancy's husband Richard is a guy that I knew from Stoughton and has some family connections along the way - it's a long story.

This morning, we set the alarm and got up in time to have coffee and donuts at the clubhouse, some good conversation, and we heard the news of upcoming events and activities - well worth the early wake-up.

I went shopping with Rhonda (our next door neighbor) for clothes at Beall's.  She liked the store and found 3 new outfits and I found a pair of jeans.  She treated me to lunch at McDonalds for going with her and introducing her to Beall's.

Sunday, November 18.  Pat and Roger came over for a drink on Friday afternoon and then we went to the Dog Run Saloon for their fish fry. The drinks, food, service, and company were all good. 

Saturday night's highlight was our community's welcome back dinner for residents. They had a Beerfest, complete with free beer, bratwurst, green beans with bacon, red cabbage and apple cake. A polka band provided us with music, although 3 hours of that was a bit much, so we left around 8:00.

Sunday was a good day to hang around the house, take a nap, and just take it easy.

November 5 - 11, 2018. AZ

TThursday, November 8. My lovable brother-in-law, Dan, who passed away in 2013, would be turning 69 years old today. I hope you're dancing in the sky, Dan!

There isn't much to write about this week.  My cleaning job for Jim and Shirley started up on Tuesday again and it was nice to see them.

Tom and I went to Little Dealer Little Prices (where he bought his Wildwood) and looked at comparable travel trailers - he is considering an upgrade to one with a slide-out that would give us a little more room. 

We hung out at the pool this afternoon - a good thing since a cool down is predicted over the next few days.  It got real windy this evening.

Sunday, November 11.  We were unable to participate in any of the Veteran's Day events because they were running new wifi through the park and we had to be here for it.  We actually met one of the park owners yesterday as she was touching base with the folks in each site who were getting the new wifi.  This was new for us, as the owners/managers of Highlands were never available and didn't participate in any f the park activities.  

For years the park has had Tengo Wireless provided at no cost (common in many RV Parks, although there is usually a fee for the service), but it is no longer meeting the needs of the residents, so they are updating the service. Now, each site will have its own hard-wired hookup and modem and speedy wifi will be furnished to each site at no cost. Occupants are required to put a $75 deposit on the modem and the check is held at the office and returned when you turn the modem back in when you depart the park.  

We took Manuel and Linda out for dinner at La Casa de Juana tonight and it was a good time and nice to see them again.  We really like the place, had dinner there twice last year and wanted to return.  They serve a Mexican rice that is green and has corn, peas, and bits of onion in it - delicious!

    Our site - I love our view of the Superstitions!

November 1 - 4, 2018, AZ

Sunday, November 4.  Thursday was anothet early day, starting with coffee and doughnuts at the clubhouse at 8:00 am - a weekly activity to keep everyone informed of the news of the park.  After that, we did laundry, opting for a nearby laundromat rather than the park laundry - multiple back and forth trips between our site and the laundry, versus getting everything done at once and costing less.  The laundromat is spotlessly clean and has multiple options for both washing and drying - all very efficient. We were out of there in an hour and even did some browsing at the St. Vincent de Paul store next door.  

On Friday, we both went in different directions to run errands, me for some shopping and a touchup on my recent haircut and Tom to see his chiropractor.  While shopping at Beall's Outlet, I found a very expensive $168 swimsuit on the rack for $30 - and it fit well and felt real comfortable.  A bargain, for sure.

We met Pat and Roger at Tom's BBQ for dinner and we all had their tasty fish fry - ample portions and some of the best fish fry in the area. The manager stopped by to say hello and told us that he goes through 80 cases of fish on Fridays, compared to 10 or 20 on all of the other days of the week combined.  It was great to see them again. After dinner, we followed them back to their motorhome at Val Vista Village for a nightcap and more good conversation.

We slept in on Saturday morning - the first time in days and it sure felt good!  After breakfast,Tom helped his son move some things and I went to an estate sale and a few garage sales.  When I got back home, there wasn't much to do, so I washed down 3 sides of the trailer. It is pretty grubby from weeks on the road.

I learned that my cousin, Larry Ganshert passed away this morning, another one who lost the battle with cancer.  The poor guy had been through 5 cancers over the last several years and his odds of getting through this one were good too.  Unfortunately, he had a very strong reaction to his first chemotherapy treatment and his body couldn't fight it off, even after 2 weeks in ICU. He was admitted to hospice about a week ago.  

Larry and I grew up together and we spent a lot of time together.  As cousins, we were best of friends. We even got married to each other in a pretend wedding when we were kids. Mike and I went to his graduation from the Navy boot camp at San Diego.  Later in years when our kids were older, we would go out for dinner with him and Sue. He was one of those really nice guys who never hurt a soul in his life. He would go out of his way to help a friend, family, or neighbor.  He stood by his family no matter what.  He will be missed by many.  

Larry's daughter posted this:

Thank you to our friends and family that have reached out to us these past few days. I never imagined all of your kind words and remembrances would comfort us the way that they have. Many of you have been asking for details. We tentatively are planning on Saturday  November 10th at Christ Lutheran Church, with visitation from 10-11 and service at 11. Confirmation of the funeral will be posted in Wednesdays obituary. The following is the most important information that we pass on.

Dad loved dessert and usually ordered it first. At hospice he only ordered the dessert of the day and maybe some fruit. Funerals were hard for Dad. He told us his request for his day, but if you knew my Dad, they were clearly rules to be followed. 

"Rules"  were : 

1 picture. Funeral Pictures are sad, and sometimes the memories are overwelming.

2 songs must be played at the visitation (What a wonderful world and Running on empty), you pick the rest, but dont make em all sad. Play the songs that remind you of me.

Be comfortable, wear your Best blue Jean's and polish your boots., 

DONT make it all sad. This is hard enough. 

And then he said, are you going to have a luncheon? & we asked if he wanted us to, he shrugged his shoulders and said up to you.  His evening tray came in & it was just dessert.  I said, how about a luncheon, with just dessert. and he chuckled and said, "yes. Add it to the list."

Due to flower allergies, and Dads giving personality, we request that in leiu of flowers you bring  a "Dory Bear" to his service. This is any teddy bear, new with tags, 10" or larger to be donated to Agrace. His Grandchildren each were given 1 to hold and cry into and remind them of their Papa. He would be honored to repay the favor of that comfort to other families.

Thank you again for all your love and support for the loss of one of the Greatest Men we have ever known.

                                              ************

When Tom got back home later in the afternoon, we had cocktails and dinner and nonstop talking until bedtime. Whew! What happened?

This morning, the alarm went off early again so we could meet up with Manuel and Linda for some 4-wheeling around Saguaro Lake.  We got to their house and Linda had a delicious biscuit and gravy breakfast ready for us.  They have 2 Jeep Cherokees, so Tom and I were in one and they in the other and we set out after breakfast, down Bush Highway to the Butcher Jones recreation area of the Tonto National Forest where we turned off onto the 4-wheel drive trail.

The roads were sandy, hilly, rocky, and meandered through the desert to a cove on the north side of Saguaro Lake where we stopped for a break. And then we meandered some more, heading off to another cove where we put out chairs and had a bite to eat.  On the way back, we encountered a few steep hills that we had to climb and almost got stuck a couple of times. Tom did a great job of getting us through.  The drive totaled 10.5 miles and we saw some beautiful scenery along the way.

    Four Peaks

   Manny and Linda leading the way.

   Our first stop on the shore of Saguaro Lake

   The peak in the background is Weaver's Needle

   Linda is directing us on what path to take. The hill we came down was more rocky.

   A gnarly old Saguaro.

October 29 - 31, 2018, AZ

Wednesday, October 31.  Our week has been quite busy. My cleaning jobs started uphe first one on Monday at Karen's house back at Highlands at Brentwood.  It took me a half-hour longer than usual, as there was much more dust than usual. She was gone all summer too and you just can't avoid the dust seeping in. It was nice to see her again too.

When I left there, I stopped by to say hello to Arlene and to wish her a Happy Birthday, and get a hug. Again, it felt really good to see her again.

Back home, it was relax and recovery mode - hanging out at the pool and enjoying the warmth of the hot tubas taking a little nap..

On Tuesday, we went on a hike to the Meridian Saddle with the park's hiking group, only 2 couples this time - Jim and Rejane and Ray and Vi from Alberta.  The hike was considered 'easy', was a total of about 3.5 miles and it took us about 4 hours to do it.  The reward came at the top of the saddle where we stopped for a break and you could look out at Apache Junction to the south and Fort McDowell to the north.  The route back was a path not often  traveled, a bit rocky in parts, skirting a few spiny trees, and much of it was through a dry wash - that meant soft sand and a good workout for the legs.

    The Meridian Saddle

   My Guy

Needless to say, the hot tub and a nap were our afternoon's activities.

Today, we made adjustments to our Halloween costumes and went to the 'Monster Bash' this evening. We met so many people that I don't know if I will ever remember names, especially since many were in costume. As we came into the clubhouse, a couple that looked homeless sat in front of the building with a sign that said "Coachless' 'Need $$$ for a Prevost'.  There were some other good costumes too - the winners were Lady Godiva and her horse, Mr Bug, and a bloody guy with a sword in his hat.  A couple came as an electric outlet - she was the wall outlet and he was the plug, a good cowboy, a geisha girl and laundry guy, a couple of good witches and a wizard, and one gal wore a shirt saying 'The Best Dog Sitter' but carried a Lost Dog poster and her dog was pinned to the butt of her pants.  I thought they were all pretty creative.

Dinner was BBQ ribs, beans, potato salad, and dessert. That was followed by a dance with the band, "Tombstone Renegades". They played a nice assortment of old rock and roll tunes.

   The Bridge Girls - Glenda the Good Witch, Mommy Kitty, Bat, and Bad Witch

October 22 - 28, 2018, AZ

Monday, October 22. This morning, after hooking up and heading out, we drove the 90 or so miles to the Valley and to our destination of the Shiprock RV Resort in Apache Junction where we will be planted for the next 5 months.  The manager was not available, so Sid got us settled in our site - a nice one on the back wall of the park and if we walk just a few feet, we can see the Superstition Mountains not too far to the east.

The drive was nice and I watched the thermometer go from 54 degrees at the top of the mountain to 84 when we got down in the Valley. It felt good to see the old familiar landmarks of the Four Peaks, Weaver's Needle, and Red Mountain as we neared Mesa. The last stretch of the drive was along Bush Highway and I hoped to spot some of the Salt River Wild horses along the way, but no such luck.

Thursday, October 25.  We have spent the week getting settled in our new digs, meeting a few people, getting Frisco familiar with the potty areas, and running a few areas.  The park has a very nice dog run that is shaded and clean.

We spent some time at the pool yesterday, the temperature was nice and the hot tub was bubbly and warm.  The pool and clubhouse are a short walk along a pathway just across from our site, in fact we can see it from our site.  More than once, we have said to each other that we have a good feeling about this place - it is small and has all of the amenities that we might want.

I desperately needed a haircut, so got in to see Kelli today and I went short, short, short again.  I'm not 100% satisfied because it is much shorter than what I asked for, but the good thing about hair is that it grows fast.

 

Sunday, October 28.  The highlights of the last 2 days were the Halloween Party at Highlands and breakfast this morning with Tom's former coworkers.

It was nice to see old friends with Highlands and, in spite of our costume and face masks, we were identified immediately. That was good, because we really didn't want to wear the masks for long.  The band was good and played lots of rocking songs and we danced quite a few. It was a bit strange coming back home having to drive for 12 miles rather than walk 2 blocks. Since we are still members of the social club, we can continue to attend their parties - lots of friends to see.

And, it was nice to see Manuel and Linda and Ron and Mary for breakfast at Biscuits, we had good conversation and good laughs. 

We did a bit of shopping on the way home and are settled in with Tom reading the newspaper and me catching up on phone calls and writing.  I spoke with my brother, Russ for the first time in many, many months.  He has been struggling for several years with homelessness followed by incarceration for an offense in Iowa.  He is no longer incarcerated, recently moved into his own place, has a job that he likes and gets paid well, and most important, he is sober - and I'm hoping that this continues.

October 15 - 21, 2018, AZ

Monday, October 15.  The alarm went off at 7:30, we got up, got ready to roll, and headed west on I-40 by 9:30. There was some of that ugly white stuff coming out of the sky as we prepared to leave. Predictions were bad if we were heading to the east, but fortunately we were going west and the temps hit above 40 degrees once we got into Arizona.  By the time we got to our destination, Verde River RV Resort in Camp Verde, it was 65 degrees and sunny. Yippee!

We have both wanted to come here, as we had each been here in the past and they have spent the last year and a half doing a major reconstruction from the roads to the sites with new mechanicals,  the new pool, clubhouse, and fitness center, and several rental cottages.  During the reconstruction, they were able to retain almost all of the mature trees in the park.  As I sat outside enjoy not the sunshine, I remembered that it was one of our membership parks when Mike and I were here back in 2008.  

The wifi sucks and I'm not getting much of a cell signal either.

Wednesday, October 17. Yesterday was another rainy day, so we decided to take care of errands. Cottonwood, is about 15 miles away from here and has more amenities. We got groceries at Fry's for the first time in over 6 months and spent enough that Tom can get $.10 off/ gallon of gas at their station.  We also stopped to get a Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner, it's been several weeks and we were both kind of missing it.  The final stop was at CVS for my prescriptions. I was hoping to get a flu and the final shingles vaccines, but the lines were long and they didn't have the shingles shot.

When I got back home, I realized that I filled the wrong prescription, so ordered it and headed there this morning to pick it up. Once again, I thought I might get the flu shot but the lines were long again.  They are recommending that people get it ASAP as there are already more cases reported than at this time last year.

Saturday, October 20. Well. We have gotten 2 nice hikes in this week. On Thursday, we hiked almost 2 miles on a trail on the Copper Canyon Trail, a multi-use area, but we saw only 2 ATVers and 2 hikers while we were there.  The trail was level, a bit rocky, but nice and enjoyable.  

Today's hike was a bit longer and it was in a more scenic area.  We started out at Montezuma's Well - an oasis in the desert, unlike any other on earth. The area receIves less that 13 inches of rainfall a year, yet, the well holds more than 15 million gallons of water. It all started from snow melt more than 10,000 years ago. Every day, the water flows, it is replenished by 1.5 million gallons of new water daily. The water actually contains arsenic, so it supports only rare species of life - a water scorpion and a shrimp-like anthropod and leaches that feed on them. No species of fish can survive there - weird, huh?  Surrounding the well is evidence of ancient people's living quarter in the caves-like dwelling surrounding the well.  Because of the arsenic, it is believed that the people lived much shorter lives, as they weren't aware of the damaging effects of the water.

From there, we headed out on Forest Road 119, then FR 618 to the trailhead for the Bell Trail - that trail roughly followed the Wet Beaver Creek out through a canyon that was quite beautiful with bright red rock outcroppings, evergreen covered hills on one side and prickly pear covered hills on the other.  No wonder I like hiking around her so much, the terrain is endlessly changing and is always a wonder to see.  A couple that we passed told us that there was creek Access about a mile ahead, but we Nevada it that far. We hiked about 2 miles to the point where the White Mesa Trail intersected and then turned back.  We did find a trail that led down to the river and Frisco was able to take a dip and a big drink - good the night because we didn't bring enough water with us. All in all, a 4.4 mile hike in beautiful country.

   We let Frisco have a drink from this pool of rain water on top of the rock and he wanted to lay in it.

The manager of this park recommended La Casita restaurant in town for good Mexican food, so we went there tonight for dinner. We timed it so we would be gone for the park's Trick or Treating event - are we bad? The food was delicious and we both ate too much - imagine that.

Friday was also a very nice day, as we explored the historic mining town (copper, gold, silver,  lead, zinc) of Jerome.  In its heyday, the town had 14,000 residents but today, the population is 450ish.  We browsed some of the art galleries, checked out historic artifacts along the roads, buildings, and had a nice late breakfast at the Mine Cafe.  The scenic drive over the Mingus Mountains on the return trip was beautiful, we looped over to Prescott Valley and back home to Camp Verde.  Another pleasant day exploring this part of Arizona.

October 8 - 14, 2018, CO, NM

Monday, October 8.  On the road again...  We unhooked, hugged our wonderful hosts, and were on the road by 9:30.  The weather was not nice, a cold, misty 33 degrees, although it was no longer foggy.  We headed south on I-25 and once we turned west on US-160, we skirted the southern Rockies and the scenery became quite beautiful, except for a very long stretch of road where a forest fire had destroyed many of the beautiful trees.  The Aspens were in full fall color and contrasted with the evergreens, rocks, rippling rivers, and snow topped mountains, it all provided some beautiful views.

In Alamosa, we turned south on US 285 and then continued south on CO17 to Chama, NM.  Again, the scenery was gorgeous - complete with snow covered hillsides and clinging to the evergreen trees.  As we pulled into Chama at 7,000 feet there was snow hitting our windshields.  We settled in at the Twin Rivers RV Park ($25/night) for the next few days.

Wednesday, October 10.  What an adventure today was for us, starting with an alarm going off at 6:15 this morning. We scurried to have breakfast, walk and feed Frisco, and get to the  Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad station by 8:30.  We boarded a tour bus that took us on the same route to Antonito that we drove on Monday, although in the opposite direction. Only this time, we could enjoy the scenery in comfort with someone else doing the driving.  

The route is about 60 miles and as we went up in elevation, the temperatures went down and the roads started to get covered in snow.  On top of the mountain in the La Monga Pass, we came to a stop, with a bit of fish tailing before the complete stop. Our driver, who had driven in snow, but not since last year, assessed the situation and decided that he needed to put chains on, but he had no experience in doing so.  Several passengers got out to help and we were back on the road in about an hour.  The chains were only needed for about 2 miles, so we stopped again and they were removed.  We arrived in Antonito where there was no snow, an hour late but our train back to Chama was waiting for us.  

The train itself is considered to be America's longest and highest narrow gauge train, is designated as a National and State Registered Historic Site and a National Civil Engineering Landmark.

I don't think we could have gotten much more enjoyment from $100 than we did today. The train chugged, steamed, and tooted as we worked our way through valleys, around curves, over trestles, through tunnels, over gorges, up mountains, and across rivers with gorgeous tree lined hills and valleys to view.  Sometimes it was sunny, other times it was snowing like crazy and the ground and trees were covered in white.  The Aspens were colorful - from greens to yellow to gold and some were brown or naked.  We climbed about 2,000 feet and the highest point we reached was in Cumbres at 10,015 feet.

About half way through the route, we made a stop at Osier for lunch. It was well organized as individual orders were taken when we boarded the train and the options were for Soup and Salad, a complete turkey dinner (Tom's choice), or a complete meatloaf dinner (my choice). Tom and I were the first off our car and the first in line for our meal. It was all made from scratch and included beverages and dessert.  The break was only an hour because of our getting off to a late start.

The last half of the trip was a steep climb into snow covered Rocky Mountains with beautiful views of the Rio de Los Pinos river flowing through the valley below.  Some of the points of interest were:  Tanglefoot Curve, Cumbres, Windy Point, and the Lobato

Trestle before we approached Chama.  There was no longer snow on the ground, the skies were blue and the sun was shining.  It was 5:15 when we landed and we hurried him me to let Frisco out - the poor dog was inside for 10 hours - and there were no surprises when we arrived.  What a great and easy dog he is to have around.

Friday, October 12.  Not much to write about Thursday, as it was a cold, wet, gloomy day - all day long.  We did get a walk in and we went to the High Country Restaurant for dinner. I had a yummy cup of Green Chili Stew and some chicken wings and Tom opted for a burger smothered in green chili sauce.

Friday was the day to move on. The sun was out and the 38 degrees seemed much warmer than it actually was - and we were heading to Gallup, NM where it is expected to be a bit warmer.  We even had to run our cars with the defrost on, as our windshields were frozen.  We were hooked up and on the road by 9:30.

Heading straight west on US-64 to Farmington, the very scenic route took us through parts of the Carson National Forest.  We gassed up and then headed south on NM-371 and there wasn't much 'scenic' about it - a 100 mile stretch of nothing but high desert.  As we came through the town of Thoreau, we were right in the midst of the high school homecoming parade with folks lined up along both sides of the street.  I did get a glimpse of a guy being wrestled into a police car by 2 cops, while another guy was being held down on the ground by a cop.  Who knows what the story behind that was?

We arrived at our destination, the USA RV Park ($35/night) in Gallup, NM where we will stay until Monday - the 3-day hop continues. This park is so nice with spacious, level sites, friendly staff, nice facilities and to top it off - a yummy pulled pork sandwich and bag of chips for $5 - no wonder we keep coming back here.

Saturday, October 13.  Today begins the 2nd year of our relationship - it all started when we were settled in at Joyce and Burrall's Shady Rest a year ago today.  I have to admit that it has been a roller coaster ride at times but we are both willing to hold on and enjoy  and to make it a good life for each other. 

Tom did some research and found a nice hike for us today at Red Rock State Park.  We parked the car and headed out on the Church Rock Trail and it ended up being 2.5 miles out and back. The trail was rugged, sometimes quite narrow, with some steps constructed out of beams and some were carved out right in the rockstar it wound and twisted along a canyon. The final part of the trail that got close to the featured rock formation was a bit sketchy, Frisco was slipping a bit, and we decided not to risk it and turned back.   We took the dry riverbed that paralleled the trail for part of the return trip.  We both imagined how nasty it would be if the ground was wet.

We also went to the Gallup Flea Market and found lots of junk - cheap jewelry, blankets, auto parts, tools, some produce, Native American foods (fry bread, mutton, green chiles, pine nuts), and there was even hay and feed for cattle across the street. 

Tonight, we went out for a Mexican dinner, starting at El Charrito, but we left there when we learned that we couldn't have a Cerveza or Margarita with our dinner. A bit closer to home and 4.1 stars was Virgie Restaurant and Lounge and we were glad that we ended up there.  Early on, we had a bit of reservation about going there because it is located in between an adult book store and a Chinese massage joint.

Our waitress was friendly, drinks were good, and the food was delicious - what more could you ask for?  The only negative was vendors coming to the table to sell their cheap jewelry - it gave me an uncomfortable feeling and I didn't feel it was appropriate to interrupt my dinner experience with a sales pitch.  One little girl (about 8 years old) told us that she wanted to earn some money so she could shop at the new Hobby Lobby store in town.