SUNFLOWER RV PARK

Jan 24

Traveled to Surprise, AZ to visit friends, relatives and do some geocaching.  This is our most expensive park, but decided to stay here because it was close to everybody. Could have stayed at a cheaper park further away, but would have spent more on diesel and our time to get here.

Two nice things are  that we don't have to buy water and the park recycles everything. So nice not to throw so much away.  There are two pools, a spa and a tiki bar that has live music every night.  

Even tho our weather is better than most places, we are getting tired of it being so cold. Haven't been able to wear 90% of the clothing I brought.  The temps are about 15-20 degrees cooler than normal. Our next park is even colder. We were going to Cottonwood, AZ about 100 north of Phoenix. It is a much higher elevation so it is only in the mid 50's. We decided to go to Yuma, AZ instead. it is about 20 degrees warmer, in fact, it has more days of sunshine than any other place in the world.  Seems strange, but very true. We will finally be getting into the mid to high 70's. YAHOO! can't wait.

There is also a big geocaching Mega Event there at the same time. What a coincidence! HA. We have some friends that been wanting us to go, but I knew Denny wouldn't go unless it was cold up in Cottonwood.  Smiling about that😀😁

The park has a lot of entertainment. last night they had Dancing with the Sunflower Stars. It had  professional  dancers helping 6 seniors learn to dance and then you voted on the best.  Felt like the tv show, but not quite as good. It was fun. They even have lot of famous singing groups from the past come here.   Most people live here the entire winter. 

The park has a covered wagon in the front, thought it was great, so had to share

LEAVING PARKER/EARP

JAN 15, 2017

Tomorrow we are leaving to go to Surprise, AZ.  Just wanted to say a few thoughts about this area.

There is no recycling whatsoever here. It feels very strange to throw everything away, almost sacrilege.  Seems like such a waste. Our last park in Menifee, CA recycled everything. Went from one extreme to the other. Hopefully our next park will at least recycle something.

We have had to buy our water here.  It is cheap, only 25 cents a gal. We carry one gal jugs. All of the parks and fronts of businesses have  dispensers.  You don't realize how much water you use until you have to buy it. Between the coffeepot, free standing ice maker, cooking and drinking, we fill the jugs every few days.  I filled a glass and it was actually cloudy. Yuck! You have to buy water in several places in AZ, but on this trip, this is the only area. 

Because of the weather and sickness, we haven't done a lot this month. We have only been geocaching 5 times, which is VERY unusual for us.  Also we have only been to the hot tub 3 times. We usually plan our day to be home for a hot tub during happy hour. 

A few days ago, Denny was feeling better so we went to the movies. We saw Star Wars: Rogue One. Seniors get into the matinee for only $5.00. Can't beat that. 

We had to move to another park for a week. We were still able to have a view of the water.

Arizona does have beautiful sunsets

Lake Havasu

The heavy rains have finally stopped. I had to show you this picture. This is in the ladies room. Notice the white areas  in the ceiling are showing some dark. There was some  damage to the ceiling from the rain.  We have been coming here since 2009. This happens in the same spot every year. Don't you think they would fix the roof before they fix the interior????  Seems logical to me. Right after they started the patches, it rained again, hence the dark areas.  Plus, a whole new spot where the rain is coming thru. The paint is straining to stay up, but it looks like it will break thru any minute. The sheet rock and tape are loose.  It has looked like this for days. Since we haven't had more rain, the loose area is shrinking, but still there.  Poor maintenance. I bet this will happen again next year.

On to Surprise........

RENAISSANCE FAIR

JAN 15, 2017

A few day ago, Our friends, Colleen and Mark, and I went to the Renaissance Fair in Lake Havasu City. Denny had a cold so he stayed home. It was a bit chilly. There really wasn't much there, but I enjoyed looking at all the costumes. Performing at these fairs is how a lot of the people make their money, showing juggling, archery, sword fighting and singing.  Amazing how serious these people are about all the period  costumes.  Reminds me of the Civil War Reenactments.

Never seen a traveling beer truck with taps

Playing the Dulcimer

This is their idea of giving pony rides

This guy was the strangest of all. He  had a black face mask, looked like  the angel of death

NEW YEARS EVE

JAN 7, 2017

On New years Eve, the park had a dinner and dance. The band played the oldies from the 60's and 70's. The food and the band were  good, we even danced a little.

I have to tell you about a couple of feisty, full of life seniors.  The first one, a single lady, I didn't met, but she was pointed out to me. She is 95 years old, but an amazing lady. She was in a black dress, very blingy, but on her it looked perfect. She danced all night. I was told that last year she was even riding in a skidoo on  the water.  What a lady. I certainly hope that I look and act like that when I am 95.

The other is a couple that sat at our table. She is 76 and he is 83. They met on a 30 day cruise thru the Panama Canal in 2009.  Since they were single, they were seated at the same table. She lives in Hoodsport, Washington and he lives in Canada. They both have adult children that live close and eventho  they love each other,  neither one wants to move.  She did, tho, jokingly consider it after the election results!  In the winter, they live here in her RV.  During the rest of the year, they take 30 day cruises all over the world plus visiting each others homes.  They are devoted to each other. They also danced all night.  She is very independent and says she loves him dearly, but after the time here together, she is ready to go home, kick her feet up and eat P & J sandwiches for dinner if she wants. They were both a kick to talk to. 

These 3 people certainly show that seniors are certainly not old  fuddy duddies like a lot of people think!  The one couple show that it is never too late to find love. 

 GO SENIORS

WILD DONKEYS EVERYWHERE

Jan 7, 2017

On the Parker Strip, where our campground is, you see wild donkeys everywhere. You aren't suppose to feed them, but a lot of people do. You have to be careful driving because they might be, very slowly, crossing the road. They even come into the campgrounds. Last night we were watching TV and the signal was gong in and out. Went out to investigate and there were 2 donkeys right in front of the Directv dome.  As soon as they moved on, our TV went back to normal. Sometimes we lose our Directv  feed from wind or heavy clouds, but never before from  a donkey. This morning, we had to be very careful just stepping out of our RV.  During the night, they left their droppings everywhere.  

These pictures were taken a few years ago. 

Eventho I said earlier that we were in Parker, AZ, we are actually in Earp, CA. The only thing separating the 2 is the Colorado River.  Earp is named after Wyatt Earp. He lived in this area for several years. In fact, this area is the only place he ever owned a house.  Earp only has a post office and a convince store, not even up to the caliber of a 7-11 or a Circle K (those stores might be only in WA), not sure. The only other places  are mobile homes or RV parks. You have to go to Parker for anything.  That's why I always say Parker.  Parker is a town of a couple thousand people with only a Walmart, 2 grocery stores, one pharmacy and  a few restaurants and gas stations.  Arizona  is in another time zone, but because Earp and the Parker strip are so close and you have to go into Parker for everything,   this area is on Arizona time. Since my phone is locked into GPS,  every time I go back and forth, the time on my phone changes one hour forward or back. Can be confusing sometimes

Denny came down with a cold a few days ago. The people from Canada that we are visiting have been sick for about a month. Another couple we know  that just came  into the park (from WA)  are also sick. Of the six, I am the only healthy one (knock on wood).  All this sickness is really cutting into my geocaching time!

Before we leave,  it is hard to decide what clothes to take. This time, I took more hot weather clothes, big mistake. So far, I have been in jeans, sweatshirts,  shoes and socks. There has been only one time I wore capri's, flip flops and a t shirt.  I usually take more cold weather clothes, so thought I'd be smarter this time. HA.  When I pack, it is cold. It is  hard to get in the hot weather vibe is  why I usually take more clothes for cold weather.  I'll get it right sometime.  Of course, I know I shouldn't  complain compared to the weather back home.  It is COLD, COLD, COLD with snow sometimes.