SEVENTY SEVEN DEGREES AND LOVING IT!

January 7-14

We traveled to Buckeye, AZ on Jan 7th.  Buckeye is a suburb west of Phoenix.  Came here to visit family and friends.  When we got here it was 77 degrees. Felt SO GOOD, we just sat out in our chairs drinking it all in.  This is what snowbirding in the winter is all about-sunshine and warm weather. 

Our campsite. Our first time to really sit in the sun and for Denny to grill our dinner. Notice the barbecue under the RV to the right of the palm tree. First time we have had it out. This is living!

We went to visit Judy, Denny's first cousin. She lives in a park model at an RV park.  Most people here stay  here for the entire winter. There are 1100 spots.  Happy Hour at the Tiki Hut.  Band is at the back. Seniors know how to party and dance.  It was very crowded. This happens every night.

Then we visited some friends in another RV Park,  Happy Trails.  It is huge, over 2000 spots. Again, most people stay the winter.  We first met our friends in Casa Grande, in southern AZ, then Palm  Springs. They finally decided to stop traveling and stay in one spot.  They have been full timing since 1992.  We will certainly miss them in Palm Springs.  Have seen them for the last 4 years. 

First time we have ever seen a cell tower disguised as a Palm tree.  This is a very expensive park, so they probably didn't want to see an ugly cell tower.

Orange trees everywhere in the park

There are alot of singles traveling in RVs. We don't think either one of us would do it. We saw this sign across from us in Cottonwood. Good way to start conversations. He drives a motorcycle. 

This has been our 10th area  we have stopped at  to visit relatives.  Most have been on my Dad's side, one on my Mom, and one of Denny's.  It has been fun getting to know them all on a one on one basis, instead of just at reunions. Our next stop, at Parker, AZ will be our last place to see relatives, a first cousin of Denny's. 

We like this area so much that we are going to check out staying here a month next year. This time, only a week.  

IT'S A WINTER WONDERLAND

Jan 1, 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR GREETINGS from Cottonwood, AZ. Yesterday it stated snowing before we got up,  didn't completely stop until late afternoon.  Sometimes huge flakes, other times, tiny.  I think we got at least 4".  It  was beautiful  to watch with us warmly sitting in the RV.  Luckily we had planned on staying in.  We couldn't have gone anywhere anyway because the hill going into the campground is very steep and curvy.

There was an RV that was in the space behind the picnic table. When it left right after we got up, it left a large space with no snow. As you can see, it's completely filled in. Didn't take long. 

Obviously we didn't sit outside yesterday. A few days ago, we had been sitting in the bright blue sky with the sun shinning. What a difference a few days make

We had planned on going to Jerome in a few days but I don't think so.  Jerome had 8" of snow and it isn't going to warm up enough to melt.  Jerome is always a fun little town to go to, it is built on top of an old mine. Because of all the tunnels underground, the town is  slowly sliding downhill.  It has turned into an old, artsy, creative town with lots of shops and wineries. Always on our list of places to go, but maybe next year. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEAR

Dec 27th

We want to wish all of our family and friends  Merry Christmas  and Happy New Year  from Cottonwood, AZ.  It has been a sad, but good year for us. Sad  that my Dad passed away last March.  Good in that both of us are healthy and having a good time traveling. 

This is our first year without either of my parents, Mom passed away Sept. 5, 2012 and  Dad March 15, 2013.   Been thinking about that alot. In a strange way, it is comforting to know that we are now in one of their favorite campgrounds in Northern AZ.  The last one we were at in Southern AZ was also a favorite of theirs.  In a few days, Dec 29th, it  was the beginning of the end for my Dad.  We all thought he was fine at Christmas, but by Dec 29th, he was back in the hospital with the first of many infections.  He only came home for 1 week during that whole time. He went from the  hospital to rehab and back 3 times  until he passed away March 15th. 

Cottonwood is about 100 miles north of Phoenix.  It is also one of our favorites and we always stop here. We are in the mountains at 3000', so we are a little colder than Phoenix. Our highs are the mid 50's with the lows in the mid 20's.  It is cold, but bright sunshine during the day, no clouds in sight.  It is a Thousand  Trails park with lots of activities.   The best part (for me) is that there is a restaurant open  all day Wed thru Sunday, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We had very good fish and chips last night. We are going to prime rib tonight.  Love that!  Lots of beautiful scenery and history here.  We are a little south of Sedona  and west of Jerome, a funky little artist ghost  town, always interesting to go to.

Have  to mention that we have been carrying little critters all the way from Tuscola, IL. We were there from Oct 20th to the 24th.  We were infested with  ladybugs, but these are not the cute variety. Not sure what kind they are, but they smell when you kill them.  We had hundreds in our RV.  Denny vacuumed a few times and we thought we were done with them.  BUT, OH NO,  they still come out. We kill a few everyday. getting kind of tired of them. Surprised they have lived so long after leaving Tuscola.

We were also infested with sugar ants in  southern AZ. The park warned us to put out powder around all  the openings going into the RV. We did, but I  guess, not enough. Killed hundreds every day. Since we left there Dec 24th, we still have them, but not many.  At least they are going away, unlike the ladybugs

GOOD LUCK, BAD LUCK, ALL IN ONE DAY

Dec 19th

A few days ago, I plugged my phone in to charge it.  My brother called, it only rang once. When I went to answer it, the screen went black except for a little circle that looked like it was searching  for something. Then  that disappeared and everything was black. Wouldn't turn on, wouldn't do anything.  I left it plugged into the charger all night, hoping that maybe I hadn't had the plug in just right.  In the  morning,  the phone was still black, wouldn't do a thing. I was afraid my phone had died and I would have to buy another one. OH NO!  Phones aren't cheap.  I have an extra charger so tired it.  It worked, it was only my charger that had quit.  I never would have thought about that except that I had  one to try. If I hadn't, I would have just gone out and bought another phone.  First Good Luck for the day!

I had taken my rings off my ring finger and put them on the end table between us.  The next day, I looked and they were gone. It was my wedding ring and the original wedding set my parents had when they married in 1943.  I can always buy a new wedding ring, but my parents set was irrareplacable. The end table is over a hot air vent, so I moved the table and saw my rings. My ring  was still on the carpet, very close to the edge. My parents set was in the vent.  It had landed on a flat area within a inch of the opening.  Denny opened up the vent cover and carefully got my parents set. I was so lucky, another inch and it would have been gone. Second good luck

NOW COMES THE BAD LUCK1

That night we were watching TV and I heard a noise. When I got up to go to the kitchen, I saw water dripping onto our dining room table.  We had thought there was a small leak somewhere because we had noticed a darkening of the fabric above the table in the last few years. We would clean it and it would come back. It was so small that Denny could never find it.  There was so much water that it was also dripping from the edge of the cabinets and light fixtures. It had been raining for 2 days, but we have had alot of rain before.  I guess it finally got big enough for water to get thru. We filled a  bucket twice  with water. My computer got wet. It still works, but the inside of the screen got wet. Very blotchy. Hopefully it will dry. It looks better than it did 2 days ago.  Denny finally found the trouble. The slide out has sagged little at one point on the roof.  When the slide is in the out position, there is a small gap between the roof and the rubber that is suppose to seal it off.  Since it is all movable, Denny hasn't quite figured out what to do.  I'm sure he will, but is quite stumped  for  now. This is the first major problem we have had with the RV since we bought it. 

Have to mention one thing that we have noticed in all the states we have been in. There is very little, if any, recycling.  Some places only do plastic bottles, some do cans only, most do nothing.   We rarely drink pop so we don't have many cans and refill our plastic water bottles.  In Texas, there was absolutely no recycling. The worst part is that the well in the park we stayed at  wasn't up to the city standards, so they were giving out cases of water to drink and cook with.   In the 2 weeks we were there, we used almost 4 cases. Every single plastic bottle went in the trash. Seemed sacrilegious to us, but no choice.  The park was full of alot of oil workers living there full time. Just think of all the plastic going to a landfill.   My cousin, Denise, said that the city had tried recycling, but it didn't last long. No one would do it.  What a waste.

4TH AVE WINTER FESTIVAL, TUCSON

Dec 13th,

Sunday I went with the ladies next to us  to the 4th ave Winter  Festival  in Tucson.  Denny stayed home to watch  football, more his style.  Lots of fun just people watching.  Bought a few things, ate too much and had a great time.

There was a man selling recycled license plates.  One of the patterns was all the football  teams. They spelled your team with the logo. The only one they were sold out of was the SEAHAWKS.  Amazing to see in Dallas of all places. 

This is a business on the same street as the fair

She was the balloon lady. Quite the character. I saw alot of people  dressed this way, but  had a dead battery in my camera

Neighbors Christmas decoration

Decoration in RV park in Dallas

Have to mention something  we saw in Texas.  Parents raise kids in Texas a little differently. My cousin's twin boys never answered us without saying yes,  mamam, no mamam.  Very polite.  At my Aunt's garage sale, I heard more yes, mamam, no mamam's from adults than I had ever heard.  They certainly were raised with more manners than I had seen in a long time, if ever.  Nice  to hear

FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF SNOWBIRDING

We traveled thru the Northern States at a fairly fast pace to get ahead of the fall/winter weather.  Glad we did because several places that we have visited have lots of snow. Also  visiting lots of relatives along the way.  Arizona is our 14th state in about 3.5 months. We usually don't move that fast and we are exhausted.  We plan to stay in St David, AZ for 2 weeks just to relax, recoup and catch up on things.  This is our 3rd time in the area so we have seen most of all there is to see.  Perfect place to relax. St. David is about 50 miles south of Tucson.  Can't  tell you  how wonderful it is too know we aren't moving in a few days.  From now on, we will stay in places 2 to 3 weeks at a time.  We are finally stating our usual snowbird winter travels.

Christmas has finally come to the RV.  I usually decorate Thanksgiving weekend, but I was busy with the garage sale. Because you are limited in space in an RV, I didn't want to take up too much of it for things we only display for about a month.  Would like to have more, but  can't.  Everything we have is unbreakable.  I did buy one new thing this year, can you see Betty Boop at the top of the tree?  She is my favorite character

We have made friends with the couple next to us. They invited us to go to the local Benson Christmas parade last night.  Nothing like a small town Christmas parade to get you in the spirit.  Fun time. Today the ladies have asked us  to go along to see the Christmas Street fair at Tucson.  I'm going, but Denny is going to stay home and watch the Seahawks.  Street fairs aren't really his thing.

Catching up on my journal, decorating and my blog. Only thing left is Christmas cards.  Yahoo!

THANKSGIVING AT ODESSA, TEXAS

Nov 25th - Dec 7th

Been so busy I haven't been able to update my blog.  We came here to spend Thanksgiving with my Aunt Laura and  my cousins. Laura is my Dad's younger sister ( 90 yrs old)

Dinner at Denise's home. 

Denise, Richard and their 2 twin boys, Clayton and Garrett. Richard should get son in law of the year award. . He bought  Laura a new house so she could be closer to them.  She  now lives just around the block

Laura with her 2 daughters, Carla and Denise plus me. Carla lives in Dallas, but was here for Thanksgiving and to help with garage sale

I keep seeing this guy every where I go,  so decided to let him tag along

West Texas is the biggest oil producer in the state. . Refineries and oil wells as far as you could see

 These tile pictures are typical in any Texas rest stop

We stayed 2 weeks to help with Laura's garage sale at her old house.  She had 90 pairs of shoes for sale, alot which had never been worn. Also lots of clothes and handbags. . It looked like a department store.  

I have really enjoyed visiting all my 1st cousins along the way on our travels.  Had a lot of one on one conversations that are hard to do at reunions. Reunions are too hectic to have long  conversations.  Also loved getting to know the husbands more.  This has been our 8th stop to visit relatives.