Arizona Sunset

Our Thanksgiving was different than our traditional weekend of family camping and a huge dinner with lots of desserts and enough food for 2 weeks.  I have to admit I was not looking forward to Thanksgiving without family and our tradition but we had a great dinner with friends and our families had dinner together without us. 

Christmas is just around the corner and you can see it here in our little community; there are lots of lights and cactus trees with lights on them.  The RV park has put up lots of lights and decorations so it looks very festive.  I have not done any shopping or decorating but I did get some outdoor lights so hopefully we get those up in the next few days! 

Today we took a little drive out into the mountains and found two towns,  Superior & Miami that both looked like ghosts towns.  It was Saturday afternoon and in the Town of Superior there were only a few stores and a couple of Bars and they were all closed or boarded up!  I don’t know if it is the economy or seasonal but it was pretty erie driving down the street and not a soul around.  We stopped in the town of Globe which is much larger although it still seemed pretty tiny but they did have a Walmart and a Big O Tire Store.  Paul took the opportunity to get the tires rotated which didn’t turn out so good as they found our shocks are bad and then they didn’t get the tires balanced correctly and now the car shakes at 65 miles per hour – we just drive 70!  Another day for maintenance.

We drove through some amazing mountainscape although pictures would not do justice so I chose to just look.  We came across the Biosphere 2 project by the University of Arizona.  It was closed so we will definitely go back.  We got a late start to our day so we got to drive in the desert in the dark – those cactus’ get scary looking when you are the only ones out there and all the light available is your headlights and the moon!

Mountains & Blue Sky near Globe Arizona

Entrance to Biosphere 2

Christmas is only 28 days away and we leave for California in 21 days!  Can you tell I am homesick?

I have never played Wii bowling but yesterday Paul and I signed up to Wii Bowl for Turkeys and I won!  Now what do I do with a 14 lb turkey?  My score for 2 games was 382.  I have never bowled over a 160 ever and have not even bowled in probably 10 years.  We just might have to get one of these Wii things.

Today Paul and I helped with the Thanksgiving Dinner – washing dishes for 100+ people is something that I had never experienced and maybe I won’t again.  We washed for about 2 hours and there were 10 of us washing!  After we played bingo and I won one time but so did 5 other people so I got a whooping 75 cents.  It didn’t even pay for the cards but at least I got to call BINGO one time.

Yuma Balloon Festival

Friday we took our friends, Mike & Claudia to Yuma to the Balloon Festival and to enjoy the weekend in Yuma.  We spent Friday afternoon in Mexico again and got 2 more bottles of the cheap liquor.  I found out the booze in Mexico is not as potent but it is still a good deal.   The four of us came  through customs and I am the only one that gets the drill!  I guess I just look innocent enough to give away our purchases.  I made it through and didn’t have to give back my bottle of Tequilla.

We got up at the crack of dawn (5 am!), actually it was still dark when we arrived at the park where the festival was going to be happening.  The balloons fly at sunrise as the weather is best then.  Paul figured out how to get picked to help with a crew and he and Mike went off to see what they could dig up.  The were invited to work on the chase crew for a really beautiful balloon.

Timepeace

Paul & Mike worked with Balloon owners Gary & Diana of Wanderlust Balloons.  They go all over the world flying their balloons.  The guys helped inflate the balloon and then they hoped into the chase car and followed the balloons to a lettuce field several miles away to pick the balloon up when it landed.

Paul assisting Gary in inflating the balloon

Paul relaying directions to Mike

Mike held the crown rope that is attached to the top of the balloon to control the balloon as the balloon becomes upright.

Mike, dont' let go!

Preparing to fly

Timepeace in Flight

The Chase team - Diana, Mike & Paul

Inflight over Yuma

Close to the roof tops

Closing in on the lettuce fields for landing

Mike walking the timeline of the prison

Claudia finding out what it takes to be a prisoner!

Paul assisting with the inflation for the Glow

The beginning of the glow

Checking the balloon for the Glow

As the night sky darkens

Glowing

Timepeace

We are getting settled in at the resort where we are going to be staying until April.  This resort has everything you can think of to do and you can not be outside without saying hi!  They just don’t let you.  Today I was riding my bike and even the hispanic gardeners were stopping to wave and say HI!!!   It took some getting use to but I found myself greeting everyone I saw this afternoon while walking Duke in the park.

The park has everything;  Exercise classes, water exercises, bike riding, tennis, golf, pickle ball, bocce ball, horseshoes, miniture golf, 4 pools, 2 pool halls, library, woodworking shop, rock shop, computer lab, quilting room where you can use all their stuff, donuts & coffee (FREE), music on the patio with Rum punch for $1 each! (Tasty), dances, card clubs & charity groups.  I am sure I left something out but you get the idea!  Bored is not something they like to hear.   I am not sure when Paul is going to find the time to work with the dealers in the area.   It just might be time to really retire and get on with the second 1/2 of our lives!

For my Square Dancing friends: (the rest of you can read too!)

Square Dancing is pretty big here in the winter.  You can dance all day starting about 9 am until 10 pm every night of the week; from beginner lessons to C-4b (whatever that is!)  Tonight there was an A-1 advanced group dancing in our park so we walked over to check them out.  I had no intention of dancing since we have not Advanced danced in over 2 years.  It was a small group and several had just learned A-1 so they promised me they moved slow.  The caller made several accomodations for us in the first set but we did pretty good and most of it came back!  The first time I heard “Cast a shadow” I had no idea!  Then a few people had been to other dances and were learning “Motivate” so of course the caller could not be outdone so we learned Motivate.  Good thing he didn’t just call it.  It is amazing how much you can remember when the caller is talking you through and your corner knows what he is doing and knows you are lost!!!  We had a good time and will probably find an A-1, A-2 refresher class. 

I am off to bed so I can get up and go again tomorrow morning.

We returned from Mexico to Yuma about 3:30 Saturday afternoon looking forward to a quiet evening watching the sun set and listening to the quiet at my parents pad when Paul received a phone call from our friends Mike & Claudia.  They are in Mesa working at another RV Resort and somehow they received 4 FREE tickets to the Arizona Cardinals game on Sunday!  Did we want to go?  Could we be in Mesa by 1 pm Sunday?  It is 200 miles from Yuma to Mesa and it isn’t an easy task getting the house ready to travel again, and I had laundry on the clothesline!  Well that is what this little adventure Paul and I are on is all about, living in the moment.  We loaded everything up, skipped dinner and got on our way across the dessert about 5 pm, just before dark.  We arrived at our new park about 10 pm.

This morning we got up and off to the game we went.  The Cardinals were awful in the first half and I thought Seattle was definitely the better team but as football goes, the second half is a whole different game!  We enjoyed the $6 beers and $5 hot dogs and then we had to have some Chili Cheese Fries!  $6.25 definitely the best deal as one order is enough for 4 except we bought 2 orders!  Claudia left the cheese off hers cause it is fattening!!!  Going to the game was lots of fun and the stadium is beautiful and very loud when the crowd gets excited.

Opening Ceremony

Guess we might have to get the shirts and be Cardinal Fans since we are spending so much time here! 

Go Cardinals – 31-20