March 7th, 2010
Spring training has begun here in the desert and everyone talks baseball. Paul & I found ourselves a job working at the Tempe Diablo Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
We work in the consession stands where I sell beer and hot dogs and Paul got promoted to Supervisor so he watches people sell beer and hot dogs and gets them more when they run low! I was a bit nervous when we first got the gig cause I hadn’t worked a beer tap in a long time. No worries, in Arizona you have to go to a 3 hour training course and get certified on how to sell beer! I didn’t see any classes for drinking beer? I passed the test and now I can sell beer (only 32 oz. per person per transaction!) That does pose a problem with some of the fans but I stand strong.
My first day on the job I carded a 50 year old woman who didn’t have her ID and then I couldn’t serve her and I refused to serve a really stoned dude that proceeded to flip me off as he left the stand! Today I went all the way to the park only to watch the cooks fill the hot dog warmers, ready the pretzels and cheese sauce and fill all the condiment trays and then the game was canceled 30 minutes before game time because someone forgot to tell God that it never rains in Arizona during Spring Training!
We will work 16 games in 29 days along with our already busy schedule of workamping in the RV park and I am still working 1 day a week for HR Block. I thought we retired!!!!!!
Posted in March | No Comments »
March 6th, 2010
Remember when you were a kid and the movie projector would shine on the screen and the teacher wasn’t looking? Paul had one of those moments this week and Duke was the subject of our laugh for the day!
Duke was not sure what his dad was doing or why I was taking a photo of him. He is such a good dog. Duke provides us comfort, love, company and sometime a bit of entertainment! He got an extra treat today
Posted in March | No Comments »
March 1st, 2010
The power that we have over our men! I got Paul to take me to the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix just to walk around and check it out!
This hotel was designed by Albert Chase McArthur who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago. The hotel is first class and the grounds are beautiful. It was a bit chilly as the rain had just let up so none of the pools were being used however we did find the swim-up bar where the US – Canada Hockey game was underway. We had a seat until the US tied the game and sent it into overtime!
This is definitely a 5 star hotel that also appeared quite comfortable.
Posted in March | No Comments »
February 28th, 2010
We have had so much rain here in Mesa that the desert looks like the hills around San Jose in the Springtime. Trying to capture a great sunset this week we went out into the desert and it is beautiful. There are so many grasses sprouting; cacti with buds; and little blooms everywhere.
Glowing Cacti
The new growth on this Cacti against the sunset looked radioactive.
Redblooms. All was brown just a month ago
We have the perfect spot to capture the sunset against the desert and the mountains. Only a 20 minute hike and we have this beautiful vista; Hills behind us, the desert floor in front and then the Red Mountains. Today wasn’t the best sunset but it is still good to be out in the desert and watching the sun. Today we were not alone. Shortly after we got settled and looked for a good photo frame a family climbed the hill to share the sunset. The kids, a boy and a girl were quite shy and when Duke greeted them with his bark the girl picked up a rock the size of a tennis ball and tossed it at him! Scared him and he ran away with his tail tucked. The good news is after some coaching she was prepared to pet him and as dogs are so forgiving he gave her a lick!
Luke, please don't throw rocks!!!
Thankfully Luke was not as afraid of Duke as his treasures were pretty large! Duke is such a good dog and just patiently waited until both kids were ready to pet him and share their cookies.
We did finally get to see the sunset; not a spectacular one, maybe next week.
and the sun goes down
The sunset makes a beautiful backdrop for the desert plants
aahhhh!
Posted in February | No Comments »
February 22nd, 2010
Our Arizona sunshine has vanished and we are starting to get a bit stir crazy! This morning, being tired of 3 days of mostly rain we decided we should go out for a movie. Paul caves in for a movie theater about once a year so it is a big deal which movie we are going to see. It has to be one we think would be great on the big screen, something we both want to see and we always get the big bag of popcorn and the extra large soda! A $25 date.
Today’s choice was Crazy Heart.
We arrive at the 25 movie plex and since we were running a little late and it is pouring so Paul drops me to get the tickets; as I am stepping up to the window I realize that Crazy Heart is not showing (not sure how that happened!) so I quickly choose another movie that we had talked about and I thought we would both enjoy, Shutter Island with Leonardo DiCaprio.
It starts out with these stunning views of this island and I am quickly trying to guess where it is being shot. From there the movie gets very complicated as we did not read the trailers so we didn’t know the punchline!
Paul really didn’t like it as he says he didn’t get it. I heard another patron say he didn’t like it either. I cannot say I didn’t like it but it was not a favorite! Next time I will choose much more carefully.
It was a perfect day for a movie as it has rained all day – this little house is getting really small!
Posted in February | No Comments »
February 16th, 2010
This week is why everyone wants to come to Mesa in February. There is not a cloud in the sky and the sun feels oh so great. We are a bit in vacation mode this week as our friends Tex & Candy Tyner are visiting. We are trying to give them a little taste of what we get to do everyday.
They arrived on Saturday and we have not stopped enjoying the sunshine since.
Wish you all could be here!
Taking a break from the sun
Sometimes you have to take a nap
Life here is not just playing in the sun, sometimes we take a break and do some sightseeing. We took our friends to see Roosevelt Dam which is at the end of Apache Trail, approximately 20 miles on a dirt road through canyons and amazing vistas.
Fine friends, great views
The end of the trail, Roosevelt Dam
A quick stop to the ladies room!
Yes, we are enjoying our time here in Mesa and we especially enjoy having our friends coming to remind us what a paradise this truly is. Looking forward to tomorrow and more fun here in the sun.
Posted in February | 1 Comment »
February 10th, 2010
I am talking about the song from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I remember buying this album in 1970 because I believe it was the first album I purchased and the beginning of my vinyl collection that someone else is probably trying to sell on Ebay today.
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
The album cost me about $3.00 and I knew nothing about BJ Thomas other than the song was a hit and I had just seen the movie at the drive-in with my family! I do remember listening to every song and learning the words so I could sing along. It is a good thing I learned all those words because last night we saw BJ Thomas in concert along with Gary Puckett who I knew nothing about after all I am a child of the 70’s not the 60’s! However I did know most of the songs that both entertainers sang because they have been very popular over the years.
The concert was really good; both men are still great entertainers. The difference was they had water to drink on stage instead of ???, their costumes were dress shirts buttoned up and jackets, and there were as many men in the audience accompaning screaming women! Yep, even old ladies can get excited although it is from the memories and not necessarily the vision on stage!!
Posted in February | No Comments »
February 5th, 2010
The view from our living room
I wonder if the sunrises are as beautiful as the sunsets here in the dessert? I guess I will just have to be happy with the view from my living room most days about 5:30 PM!
The days are starting to run together with working, playing pickleball, listening to great music in the park, learning to country two-step, meeting new friends and trying new things.
Cal-Am Champions
You never know what you might get yourself into; Paul mentioned he likes softball and got into a tournament today with a team of guys that play regularly. They played 3 games TODAY! and won the tournament. It is amazing what competition will do to your brain – there were 70 year old men diving after fly balls and getting them. Paul played catcher which is the easiest job on the field but amazingly caught two pop-fly’s in one game! He also got a couple base hits and a couple hits that should never had been caught by some guy who should never have dived like that!
Just before a great hit!
The victory walk
I am surprised they could walk off the field after 3 long games in one day.
Someone help him up!
I don’t think any of them could help him! They barely got themselves up off the ground after the photo. It is a good thing they did not have to play extra innings.
No beer & pizza after the game for this crew – they all met at the HOT TUB!
Posted in February | No Comments »
February 1st, 2010
During the week we spend a lot of time in the park visiting our neighbors, playing pickle-ball, cards and enjoying the free entertainment but on the weekends I like to get out of the park and see some of the desert landscape. When we are in town, Mesa feels just like our home in San Jose, Costco is 2 miles away, there are 3 grocery stores within 2 miles, Walmart is everywhere, along with Starbucks and any number of fast food joints. But when you leave our park and drive only 3 miles away from town you end up here!
Saturday’s I get itchy feet to get out and get away from the everyday and this week we ended up near Red Mountain. The mountain is really red and juts out of the desert floor where the Salt River runs through. We found a nice place to stop and take a short hike, only about 1 mile round trip but we found a spectacular place to sit and watch the desert – next time we are bringing a blanket so we can sit and watch the sunset!
There are so many cacti in the desert around Mesa and they are so interesting to look at.
Sunday we took a drive with our neighbors, Joan & Stephen out to Scottsdale to Greasewood Flats. Definitely not the typical establishment for Scottsdale but such a fun place to go. The sign on the entrance says “Sorry we are Open!” It is very popular with the Sunday Biker crowd along with the Limo driven crowds! Great music, good food and there is no indoors – it is all picnic style on a dirt patio!
Fountain Hills is a very upscale town with lots of golf courses and mansion type homes in the foothills near Scottsdale where they are known for the fountain in the middle of town. We stopped on our way to Greasewood to see the fountain spray.
On our way to Greasewood we stopped at Reata Pass Steakhouse, another fine dining joint in Scottsdale and had a beer while inspecting all the dollar bills stuck to the ceiling and avoiding the pet rattlesnake in the glass case in the sitting room! - oh and we found a chair just Paul’s size!
Posted in February | No Comments »
January 24th, 2010
The storms are over and we are back to blue skies and beautiful sunsets. Saturday morning we woke to very cloudy skies and the rain had done its damage. This storm has definitely got people talking; there were tornado warnings and some thought their homes were going to flip.
Horseshoes anyone!
Across the street from our current home is the horseshoe, tennis, basketball and dog run which also serves as the catchment basin for the park! It flooded twice this past week. A little hard to take the dog to the proper area – no problem for Duke but some dogs were really miffed by not being able to get down the ramp. We made it through with only one small leak and a little claustrophobia! Three days inside 350 square feet. Saturday when I saw the sun I was ready to hit the outdoors! Paul also had a little claustrophobia but his was more the leave me alone in the house type! And I thought I was so easy to get along with!! Anyway I took a little trip on my own TaliesinWest, the Frank Lloyd Wright home, school in Scottsdale. Paul really didn’t want to go there so I saved $32 on his admission. Everyone got what they wanted!
I have been wanting to see Frank Lloyd Wrights work for a long time and Taliesin West is pretty amazing; an accredited college for only 32 hand picked students who study Wright’s teachings of Organic Architecture for about 30k per year over 3 years! That sounds cheap to me because they live and work at their school. I know nothing about architecture but I find this man and his ideas remarkable and so beautiful. The foundation runs the school and tours today and the guides who are not architects have an amazing amount of information about his life, teachings and career.
Fitting into the landscape
The front - but then it was the back!
View from the pool
Looking back to the house from the valley
A gate?
Sometimes Wright seems a bit eccentric like here when he decided that instead of walking into his wife’s private garden from inside her room they should be able to enter it from the patio off the living room. He built a gate in the wall that you would have to almost crawl through!
Below the Wright property is the town of Scottsdale which is known as very exclusive, with lots of signature golf courses and estate type homes. I found something else when I drove through the town – these people like their horses! One side of the street is for pedestrians and the other has a gravel trail for horses! And yes, they use it. This was not out in the country, it is in the middle of million dollar homes. A few of the homes had property for horses but it is definitely a residential area.
Now that is my kind of town!
I loved my day and so did Paul – I didn’t ask but I could tell cause when I got home he was in his chair, TV on, computer doing something and a bowl of popcorn in hand! Today we played golf. Played is the key here! I think I am going backwards but who cares – next week I think I will practice.
Posted in January | No Comments »
