Archive for February, 2011

Spring Training

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

Saturday was opening day for the California Angels at Diablo Tempe Stadium here in Tempe.  I am in the same hot dog stand as last year and Paul is still the Event Supervisor!  Not the most exciting game but the beer sales are always fun!  Arizona has this crazy rule that you can only have 32 oz of beer per person at one time so we can only sell them one 24 oz at a time!  Seems kind of weird that you can carry a gun but you can only have 32 oz of beer in Arizona!!! One of my customers made that connection.

15 more games in March and we will get to see the San Francisco Giants play on March 23rd!  That should be exciting.

More company and meeting up with People

Monday, February 21st, 2011

Stephanie arrived Friday night and I am so HAPPY!  Living in our RV has its advantages and I love being on the road meeting people and enjoying life but I do miss being with my girls!  We only had 3 days and it rained 2 of them but we made the most of it.  We took her to Filly’s which is a bar/restaurant where the cowboys ride in and tie their horses to the post while they come in for refreshments and a dance or two.  The band is always good.  Stephanie learned to play Pickleball and had a pancake breakfast here at the retirement home!  What a good sport.  She even went with her dad to play Pinochle this afternoon while I enjoyed some sunshine! FINALLY!!!

Duke loves company!

Meeting people is something Paul and I really enjoy and Saturday we met up with some people I had met while serving them wine in the tasting room in New York.  They own a Wine Bar in Fountain Valley which is only about 30 minutes from where we are here in Mesa.  I didn’t know their names nor the name of their Bar but I did know it was in Fountain Hills near the fountain.  Google did the rest!  It was very cool and we got to chat.   Dave and Diane were very surprised that I looked them up.  They summer near Old Forge and just happened to be in the tasting room the day I was working.  Grapeables is the name of their place.  It is very cute and in a great location near the fountain.  We enjoyed some wine from Argentina, New Zealand, California and Spain I think!  Very nice Boutique wines.

Horse of many metals

This statue was outside the wine bar and if it was made of metal it was on this horse.  It was cold outside but this worth taking a few minutes to see what was where!

Good Bye, Safe travels

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Saturday morning our friends left to head back to California  and Oregon.  We have been traveling with them since January 4 where we met up in Calistoga California.  Ed & Peggy were the first couple to join us in Calistoga and guess what they are the last couple standing!  Both couples pulled out of the park about 9 am and before 10 am we get a call from Eddie.  They lost a tire on the interstate and need to find a repair place.  So Ed and Peggy are staying in Mesa a few more days!  The good news is they were able to drive their trailer to Camping World where they spent the weekend and on Monday were given an estimate to get it fixed on Tuesday.

During this trip everyone seemed to get sick at some point and Paul and I were the last to be sick.  So Saturday we were ready to just sleep and sleep we did.  Both Saturday and Sunday we slept and our friends Ed & Peggy spent time in the camping world parking lot in Mesa.  But on Monday we made them come back and we enjoyed a wonderful Valentines dinner complete with Steak Diane!  The flaming sauce was really good!

Tuesday evening we got a message from Ed & Peggy that they made it to Indio, CA so now everyone is on their way home!  Kip & Pat took a detour on their way back to the snow of Pioneer, CA and are enjoying the Arizona sunshine in Lake Havasu.  Maybe they are getting the travel bug like Paul and I?

This journey was filled with great friends, adventures, enlightenment and lots of Alcohol.  Having friends to share our adventures was so much fun and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.  Thank you all for putting up with us for so long and I can’t wait for our next adventure.  See you all in Washington in September!!!  THANK YOU FOR BEING OUR FRIENDS AND SAFE TRAVELS.

Loving the good weather

Saturday, February 12th, 2011

 We arrived at Val Vista Village (all three Rigs) about noon and I was out riding my bike before 1 pm.  I love being able to ride around the neighborhood, seeing familiar faces and there is always something to do.  The Garvey’s and Tennant’s are new to resort life and will be here only 1 week so we will try to squeeze as much in as we can in 7 short days.

Organ Pipe Pizza Lunch

Organist's CD

This Organ is pretty amazing and the guy playing it is exceptional.  Eddie enjoyed it so much he bought the CD and got the artist to sign it! 

Being the tour guides, Paul insisted we take Eddie to Heart Attack Grill.  Always great tasting burgers and the guys always enjoy the service!

Eddie, Can you at least SMILE?

One evening we took to group (those that chose the challenge!) to our little discovery in the desert.   It is a short hike to the top of a small mountain with amazing vista’s and we usually time it to enjoy the sunset.

Paul, Eddie & Peggy making their way

Marking our expedition

Too much blue sky

The sunset wasn’t the best but we did enjoy sharing our COOL spot with friends.  It is always hard to decide which days to climb the mountain.  The good news is Peggy made it to the top and back to the bottom without falling!

Next stop on the tour train was the Apache Trail to Canyon Lake and to Tortilla Flat for lunch.  At Canyon Lake we took the Dolly Steamboat ride up the canyon where we had beautiful views of the desert, canyons and the lake.  We did see some Longhorn Sheep of some type!  Mostly what you saw was some white dots that were their butts!  With binnoculars you could actually see the sheep after you figured out how to operate them.

What a group!

Last stop for the day was Tortilla Flat where you can get a burger on the patio and listen to some local music.  Tortilla Flat is where the pavement ends, the creek runs across the road and life is pretty simple.  Today the creek wasn’t flowing as there just hasn’t been any rain here in the desert. After listening to the music for a bit we all starting wandering about, some of us shopping, some eating prickly pear ice cream (everyone should try it once!), some of us sitting on a bench watching the tourists flood into this place, and of course some of us using the facilities!

Peggy?

Nice legs Pat!

We also enjoyed a lunch at the park where the Chef taught us all about heart health and how to keep your sex life alive!  Who knew Steak was so good for your heart!  We were treated to Steak Diane among other great foods and we got to take the recipe home. 

A week is not enough time to really show all that we enjoy here in the desert in the winter but we did a great job of trying to do as much as possible.  The weather wasn’t the best but we did get to the hot tub a few times and of course happy hour outside on the patio.

Gone to Mexico

Friday, February 4th, 2011

We have been really busy here in Yuma visiting friends and seeing my parents and then there is the trips to Mexico!  Ed and Peggy decided to get their passports sent from home since they were going to be so close to Mexico and hopes of savings on the usual; medications, tequila, eyeglasses and Dentistry.

Newcombers to Algodones, Mexico

Knowing that this is peak season for all snowbirds to get their annual checkups here we arrived in Algodones by 9 am and were checking out Tequila by 10am!!! No margaritas until noon as Peggy checked into a dentist and got an appointment for 2 crown replacements.  While Peggy sat in a dentist’s chair, Paul, Eddie and I shopped, bartered and had some outstanding shrimp tacos with all the trimmings for $1.50 each!  Algodones is a mecca of retired Americans trying to save a few bucks.  The services they provide here are not lush or pampering by any means but they are extremely professional and any office we have been in has been very clean.  Peggy had to return the following day to receive her crown and all is well with the patient.  The same day Peggy returned for her follow-up I went with my mom and dad to Algodones for my dad to pick up his new hearing aid!  FINALLY!  He can actually hear now and of course his first complaint was I talk to LOUD!  Ok, I will work on that.  His hearing aid cost about $1800 and his quote from the US was over $5000.  That is a big savings for the same product. 

The only thing I got from Mexico was some awesome tacos and a new shoulder purse. 

We left Yuma early Saturday morning and since we are an hour ahead here we got to see the sunrise at 7:35 am!

Sunrise! Yikes!

Off to Mesa, our final destination for the winter!