Small World in Casa Grande

I am a little behind in posting again. We went to Casa Grande last Sunday. We were only there for 5 days. The Internet was down in the whole park the entire time we were there.

Small World: We went to a US Bank to get quarters (for laundry) and the teller was from Renton. She went to high school at Kentridge.

We went to a farmers market in the historic district of Casa Grande. I like to go to get a good feel of what the locals are really like. Good coffee has been hard to get on our travels. We are spoiled in the Seattle area. Bought some local gourmet coffee. The seller moved to Casa Grande a year ago. She is from Shoreline, just north of Seattle. When I lived in Seattle, I lived on the borderline of Seattle/Shoreline. She was used to good coffee so she decided to open a business here. It is very good. We went to another farmers market in Palm Springs and bought some local gourmet coffee. It was awful. Just because it is gourmet doesn't mean it will be good.

We went to the Casa Grande Ruins. The buildings were built in 1350. Amazing how much is still standing. They were built by the Hohokam Indians. By 1600, they were totally wiped out. A mystery.

We are very lucky in the Northwest to have such good water. Ever since we got to Az. on January 14th, we have had to buy water. You don't realize how much you use for cooking and drinking until you have to buy it. We go thru abut 1 gallon a day. Except for Yuma, it is 25 cents a gallon. There are dispensers in front of all the stores and at the parks. You use your own gallon jugs. In Yuma, it was 10 cents per gallon. What a deal. Even tho we have a filter on the RV, the water still does a number on your hair. Yikes! Makes it very unmanageable!

Had to get my first haircut since traveling. I usually get it cut every 6 weeks and it had been 2 and 1/2 months. Most woman will agree it is kind of scary to go to someone new. I was going to just go to the first one I saw in town. In an RV 2 spots down from us was a traveling beauty shop. Great! The man did the men and the woman did the ladies. She did a good job, a little shorter than I wanted, but I was glad to get the frizzy ends off. One thing about hair, it will always grow.

Still having a good time.

Hall of Flame

Went to the Hall of Flame Museum. It is the largest fire engine museum in the world. It was very interesting. Some of these pictures are blurry, I know not why. Sometimes my hand is a little shaky. I still wanted to show you the pictures. Amazing to see them and wonder how they fought the fires with what they had.

This is one of the fire engines that fought the Chicago Fire that burned the town down. It was started by a cow that turned over a gasoline latern.

This is from 1725, the oldest in the museum. All from this era are black, not red.

This one is from Norfolk, Nebraska, about 50 miles from where Denny grew up. We had never seen a white one.

Also had never seen a blue one. This one was pulled by horses.

Not sure if you can tell by the picture, but this is the smallest typewriter I have ever seen.

Look how small it is next to the phone. This was a typical desk in the firehouse, where the calls came to.

There were so many old and interesting fire engines from 1725 to 1960.

Tomorrow we leave for a new adventure in Casa Grande.

Mystery Castle

In south Phoenix, we discovered the Mystery Castle. It has a long, but fascinating history. The short version is there was a man in Seattle that was diagnosed with TB. He left his family because he thought he was going to die in 6 months. Went to Az. and built this house. He used all stone, glass, rocks and anything else he could find. He died at the age of 63. His daughter inherited the house and moved in when she was 19. She still lives in the house and she is 85 years old. In fact, she was in the living room when we took the tour.

This is an outdoor barbecue pit he built. He put in a hole looking due north. If you look thru it today, downtown Phoenix is centered in the middle. He built this many years before downtown Phoenix was there.

This is the view thru the hole.

This is the dog and cat house he built

This is an overview of the Mystery Castle. I took so many pictures that I can't put them all in. There are so many nooks and cranny's and hidden areas that he built in. Amazing that the daughter still lives there. The kitchen was probbly built around 1910 and has never been updated. She is very frail and has a live in caregiver.

Greetings from Apache Junction

We got to Apache Junction last Sat. I am a little lazy getting on the computer when I have to go to another building to do it. Apache Junction is about 20 miles east of Phoenix. It is at the base of Superstition Mountain. There was a lot of gold mining in the area. In fact, people are still looking for a lost gold mine in the area. The location died with the miner, but people are still looking for it, even today.

This mountain is the start of the Apache Trail. The brochures call it the most scenic drive in Az., so of course, we had to go. WRONG! Off we go onto the WORST road in America. All is fine for awhile, then it says the next 22 miles are gravel. The road is wide so we figure we'll go for it, how bad could it be. After a while it goes into a one lane road, but cars are still coming the other way. It is very, very rough with hairpin curves. You can't see if there is a car coming your way around the curve. One neighbor in the next Rv to us, said he actually got out of his truck and walked around the curve to see if anyone was coming. Very, very scary. One side of the hill is a steep drop off. Last month the rains were so bad that they closed the road. I'm sure some of it had washed away because you took your life in your hands when you had to get over as far as possible for another car. I really thought we were going down a few times. It is very scenic, but Denny couldn't really take it in because he couldn't take his eyes off the road. Eventho I was the passenger, I had my brakes on the entire time. We were never so glad when the 22 miles ended. Took forever. The regular road started again at the Roosevelt Dam. Theodore Roosevelt made the dam that created Lake Roosevelt. President Roosevelt considered this his 2nd best accomplishment behind the Panama Canal. The Lake is the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. Of course, I didn't get a picture, but there is always next year.

I mentioned to my folks that they never told us about the gravel, rough hairpin curves and they just started laughing. Dad said they forgot. Of course, they haven't been on it in 25 years. I'm sure it was much worse now. He said he remembers only one bad stretch of road. Hah! The whole 22 miles was one bad stretch of road.

Superstition Mountain

I never realised that there are so many varieties of cactus. There are over a 100. There are 3 in this picture. The short ones in front look very soft, but if you happen to get the spines on you, it takes a pliers to get them out. That happened to my Dad.

This is my friend Vicki and her husband Dave. We went to high school together. She is the main reason we came to the area. They winter down here in Surprise, Az. for about 7 months every year. They live in the most beautiful parks we have ever seen.

This is the entrance to our park. It is very, very nice.

Gila Bend

It has been awhile since I posted so I'll do a little catch up

On the way to Apache Junction, we stopped for one night at Gila Bend. It is an Indian name so it is pronounced HeLa Bend. All G's are pronounced as H's. There were some very old writings on rocks that I wanted to see in Gila Bend. I really can't remember how to spell the name. They were done thousands of years ago .I read on the plaque how long ago, but didn't write it down. Thought I could remember, but that was a joke. My memory lasts about a minute. I love history. What I didn't expect to see were the Egret birds in the picture below. I associate these birds with water.

Amazing how time changes things. In 1880, a wagon train went thru this area. There was a 20 ft river with such a thick forest that the wagon trains couldn't get thru. Look at it now, 200 years later.

These are the carvings I went to see. Historians can only guess on what the figures mean.

My parents lived in Gila Bend before my brother was born. My dad was a pilot in the war and he flew out of the Air Force range close by. Can't imagine what people do for a living in the area if they aren't military. It is a very small desert town in the middle of nowhere.

Sand Dunes, but Where o Where are the camels

One thing that I didn't expect to see here were huge sand dunes. They are west of Yuma, in California. Yuma is right on the Az and Ca border. When I saw them, I felt like I was in the middle east. They were just like the pictures you see. So much so that I expected to see camels coming over the ridge. No camels, but lots of ATV's. Looked like a lot of fun.

Yesterday we had an anniversary. We have been on the road for 2 months. Doesn't seem like it. We are still speaking to each other and having lots of fun. A lot of people can't be together 24/7, but it hasn't bothered us at all.

We are leaving tomorrow for Apache Junction, east of Phoenix. The main reason we are going there is to see a good friend of mine that winters in Phoenix. We probably will be able to see her only once because she still isn't doing well after breaking her leg a few months ago. She doesn't have a lot of stamina and has to ice her leg a lot. She fell out of a golf cart and rolled away 25'.

We are ready to go to our next adventure. We like to travel vs staying in one place too long. A lot of people go to one spot for the winter, but that isn't us. The road calls. We wouldn't have stayed in Yuma for so long, but we are visiting Larry and Joyce. Larry is Denny's first cousin. They grew up in Nebraska together but both live in the Seattle area. They are also snowbirds, but they are staying here until the end of March. This is the most time they have spent together since childhood. Reconnecting with relatives is a good thing.

Must close and get my laundry. There is free WiFi while you do your laundry.

See you in Apache Junction.

Going topless and other adventures

That title probably got your attention, so I had better explain. We went to a flea market and I found these bizarre looking sandals. I couldn't resist. I had seen these in Sun Valley many years ago. I didn't buy them and regretted it ever since. I hadn't seen them again. The bottom sole is sticky. If they get dirty and lose the stickiness, just wash with soap and water and it comes back. They really do work pretty well.

We went to a car show in Yuma. Denny drove a car just like this when he moved out to Kent from Nebraska in 1956. It is a 1950 Ford Coupe.

This is a cell at the Yuma Territorial Prison. It is 9 x 12 and held 6 prisoners. You can see the 3 tier bunk bed on each side. Can you imagine how miserable that would be in 105 degree temps. No thank you.

We aren't in a park in Yuma. This is a residential neighborhood. Some lots have RV hookups that you can rent. It is so much quieter than in a park, where sometimes you are so close to your neighbor. In the park we first went to in Yuma, our slide outs were only abut a foot a part. Way to close to be comfortable. We are on the left.

We also went to a Renaissance Fair. It was a lot more fun than we thought it would be. There were jugglers, swordsman, musicians and more. We were at the magic show and the magician wanted Denny to come on stage. You all know Denny is very quiet and shy in crowds. This was certainly out of his comfort zone. He didn't want to go, but didn't have much choice. The magician tied 2 scarves together and put it in the collar of his sweatshirt. Then he did the same and put it in the top of his pants. He held out a silk scarf, said a few words and pulled on the scarves. They all came out tied together, with a bra and ladies thong underwear in between the scarves. It was hilarious. Denny even laughed out loud, which he doesn't do very often.

It has been in the mid 60's to 70 degrees. Beautiful, but I hear you guys are having the mildest and warmest winter yet. It would happen when we are gone, but I still like 70 better.

We are leaving this Saturday. We are making one stop at Gila bend to see some sights and then on to Apache Junction. It is east of Phoenix. Couldn't get any closer. We plan to be there a week then on to Casa Grande and beyond.

Greetings from Yuma

We got to Yuma last Thursday, Jan 28th. Denny has a first cousin, Larry Frink, that is also here snowbirding. He is going to stay until the end of March, but we are only staying for 2 weeks. We first went to an Rv park in east Yuma until we could find out where Larry was. It is a little different situation here. He is in a residential neighborhood. The houses are 1 story adobe or stationary RV's. They all have RV hookups that they rent out to people. We looked around the neighborhood and found a lot with 2 Rv full hookups. There is someone from Illinois in the other. It is a lot nicer than in the parks around town. In Yuma, the spaces are so close together you can't even sit outside sometimes. We are on a huge lot with lots of space. There are flower bushes and lots of birds that sing to us in the morning. The only drawback is there is no WiFi and laundry. Found a laundromat that has free WiFi, if you do your laundry. I wasn't planning on it, but I gathered up a couple of loads. First time I'm doing WiFi with my computer on my lap. A little awkward, but doable.

Probably wouldn't be staying for 2 weeks except to visit with Larry and Joyce. Not a whole lot to see around here. We forgot to bring our passports, so we can't go to Mexico.

The weather is beautiful. Most of the time it is around 70 degrees. Loving that!

Since WiFi is a little hard to get around here, I probably won't be updating until we get to Surprise, Az. That is west of Phoenix. One of my best friends is there for the winter. There are several things we want to see around the area and then on to Casa Grande.