January 14-22, 2015 (Yuma, AZ)

We are winding down our time here in Yuma.  The last couple of weeks were just more of the same, exercising in the morning, taking Gracie for walks, reading, just the normal relaxing routine we've been enjoying the last couple of months.  We did tackle waxing the pickup and the 5er.  Waxing the 5er is a BIG job but one that we have taken on every six months.  Down here, you can purchase a wax job for around $150 for your RV,and it looks like they do an OK job, but we still choose to do it ourselves.

We did do a bit of visiting.  Our daughter-in-law's parents winter down in here in Yuma and we were invited to dinner one night.  We had a very enjoyable visit and enjoyed the tour that they gave us of their RV park.  Their park is right next to the Mexican border and the Colorado River and has it's own golf course. 

Neil, Janette & Kelly standing at the 18th hole

Here is the "mighty" Colorado River as it gets ready to enter into Mexico.  This picture is taken at the Cocopah RV & Golf Resort.  The river is very shallow here.

  

Rich's sister Madeline and her friend Roger came from Palm Desert for a visit.  Unfortunately we forgot to take any pictures.  The day they came for a visit was a very windy day, though it was still warm outside.  We were eating taco soup sitting outside and the wind would blow our tortilla chips out of the soup.  We really enjoyed our visit, we just sat around and visited for hours.  We did take them for a little tour of our park but other than that we just sat around and chatted. 

We have really enjoyed our time here at The Palms.  It truly is a very nice park with lots of amenities and activities.  It will be fun to see some other parts of Arizona.  The one thing we won't miss in the Yuma area is the occasional sewer smell.  Apparently the area has grown so fast and depending on the wind direction, you get a sewer smell from the sewer holding ponds or whatever they are called. 

Our next post will be from Catalina State Park in the north Tucson area.  Until then.......

January 2-13, 2015 (Yuma & Tucson, AZ)

We've had a pretty relaxing and laid back couple of weeks.  Pretty much just the normal every day stuff that we find ourselves doing down here:  exercising in the morning, walking around the park, chores around the 5er, etc.  The weather has been cooler, so I haven't been spending time at the pool.  We did take a couple excursions which I will highlight in this post.

The first one was a drive out to Lake Martinez which is about 30 minutes from the RV resort.  It was a pretty day for a drive and it was fun to see some new country.  There was a little community along the lake with vacation type houses and some dry camping along the lake.  We checked out the visitor center which had some interesting displays. 

View from a viewing tower at the visitor center - Lake Martinez in the background. 

Gracie and me "chillin" on one of the docks around the lake.

Some of the nicer vacation houses around the lake.

There are a couple of nice hikes in the Lake Martinez area so we will probably take another trip back and check out a trail or two.  We weren't prepared to do much hiking the day we were there.

The other fun adventure we had was we took another "mini" vacation over to the Tucson area and stayed at our favorite resort community of Saddlebrooke Ranch by Robson Resort Community.  If you've been following our blog for awhile, you will remember that last year we visited a couple of their communities and Saddlebrooke Ranch was our favorite and still is. 

Last Thursday Rich checked with the sales rep we've worked with in the past to see if they had any special pricing on their guest stays and found out that they had an opening for a 4 day/3night stay starting on Friday.  So we took them up on it and packed up our bags and drove the 3.5 hours to North Tucson.  We left the 5er here in Yuma which was nice because last year we had it with us and they let us park it behind their construction office.  The only problem with that was there was no power available so we had to pack up the refrigerator/freezer.  On our drive to Saddlebrooke Ranch we took a different route than last year because we didn't have the 5er and came across this beautiful area once we left I-10 about 15 minutes from the resort.  This is one reason we enjoy the Tucson area, it is much prettier and has more "greenery" than the Lake Havasu and Yuma area deserts.

Isn't this a cool looking cactus?

Look at all the different types of cactus - it is unusual to see this many together

this poor cactus had toppled over but was still blooming. 

We really enjoyed our stay at Saddlebrooke Ranch, it really is a lovely community and the people are so very friendly.  It makes it very tempting to consider buying a home in the southwest.  Part of the guest stay requires you to tour their model homes which are very well done.  When we were there last year they were opening up a new section of their resort and we couldn't believe how many new homes they had already built since last April.  You also have the use of all the amenities, they have an amazing clubhouse and a beautiful outdoor swimming pool which for several weeks in January they don't heat because of the cooler temps, so no outdoor swimming.  They also have a nice indoor lap pool, an amazing fitness center with modern up to date equipment, I could go on and on but just suffice it to say, they have wonderful amenities which also includes a championship 18 hole golf course. 

They put you up in one of the actual homes within the community so you get a feel of what it would really be like if you purchased a home.  We actually got to stay in the same home that we were in last year which was fun.  They also send you out to dinner on their dime and they have another couple from the community as your hosts.  We had a lovely dinner with our host couple:  Gary & Mary.  They were originally from Orange County, CA and answered a lot of questions about the community.  We think the hosted dinner is a really good idea as it lets you ask questions without feeling like you are being pressured to purchase.  Which I have to say, our sales rep has been wonderful and never makes us feel pressured.  She doesn't have to since the houses and community seem to sell themselves.  This year our hosted dinner was at the Preserve clubhouse, which is situated at the base of the Santa Catalina mountains and has an amazing view.  The food was so very good, Rich had beef medallions and I had scallops....yummy. 

On Sunday after attending a small church in the area, we drove down the road and checked out the Catalina State Park.  The camping area was booked full, they have a section with electric and water hookups that the 5er would fit in, looks like a place we should check out.  They also have some hiking trails in the area.  After our stay in Yuma we will have to come back and check out the camping/hiking. 

We really enjoyed our stay and can't say enough good things about the community.  If you were interested in living in the southwest, we would highly recommend this community.  Here are some pics from our trip.

Catalina State Park view

Gracie & Me chilling out in the living room of our guest stay house at Saddlebrooke Ranch

View off the patio of our guest stay house - the 11th hole tee box is the patch of green.

Gracie & Me enjoying some sunshine on the patio

Monday, we had to pack up and head back to Yuma, our mini vacation was over.  We had a nice drive back to Yuma.  We did stop in Dateland for one of their famous date shakes.  This is just a small town along the freeway out in the middle of the desert - not much around except for a date orchard.  I have to say that so far I think the date shakes at Martha's Garden here in Yuma tasted better, but these were still very yummy.

Today we checked out a local breakfast place that we've been hearing about....Daybreakers.  It's a truck stop cafe and we were told it's the place to go for a good breakfast.  We enjoyed our breakfast, but I think the little breakfast cafes we liked in Lake Havasu and Lyons had better food.  It was still fun to check it out though. 

Here at the resort they had an "open house" for one of their new homes they just finished building and during breakfast Rich got a call on his cell inviting us to attend so of course we had to go take a look.  This particular model was a 2 story with an outdoor spiral staircase up to the second floor where there was a guest bedroom, outdoor kitchen and patio area.  The main floor had a nice living space but the master bedroom seemed a little on the small side.  I'm not sure in a retirement community of 55+ that the spiral staircase to the second floor was a good idea and that seemed to be the comment of several of the other attendees also.  I like the look of spiral staircases, but this one was pretty tight and I'm not sure how easy it would be to haul your groceries up the stairs to utilize the outdoor kitchen.  Also when you compare what they were asking for this house compared to what you could get in Saddlebrooke Ranch, in our book there was no comparison - Saddlebrooke Ranch wins hands down.  As we were leaving the open house, this lady stopped us and said they were selling their house did we want to come and look.  Well why not.....so off we went.  It was a very nice house, much bigger than it appeared from the street and was a very good value since they were selling it with most the furnishings.  They were a very nice couple and come to find out also own a lot and casita at Lake Havasu at the same resort where we spent last winter.  We enjoyed visiting with them and viewing their home.

Well that wraps up our adventures over the last couple of weeks.  We'll see what the next couple of weeks brings.  Until then......

December 4 - January 1, 2015 (Yuma, OR, WA)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I can't hardly believe that a month has gone by since I've posted to our blog and now it is January 1, 2015.  Time does have a way of passing by doesn't it?  Since it's been a month since I've posted, I'll just recap some highlights of the last month.

This was a visitor to our 5er one sunny day.  Gracie so wanted to go over to it and play, but we were more interested in getting a picture before it decided to leave....

Roadrunner...I always thought they would be a bigger bird...I guess from my childhood cartoon days of Wiley Coyote and the roadrunner.

A picture of one of the many beautiful sunsets we see down here in Arizona.





The Palms is a very pet friendly RV park.  They have two very nice off leash dog parks as well as some other green space for your pets.  They also host a Christmas Pet Parade so of course we had to dress Gracie up in her Christmas dress and join the parade.

Gracie in the center of the pic saying hi to several dogs her size

Gracie with Santa, she wasn't cooperating for a good photo oportunity, she was too busy checking everything out

Gracie and me walking in the parade around the park

Group photo, we are at the end.  I included this photo even though it doesn't show all the dogs because Rich liked the husky that was next to us.

The Palms also has a Christmas light decorating contest and people here take it quite seriously.  It was amazing the amount of work that some people went to...of course the seasons worth of free concert tickets might have been part of the incentive.  We enjoyed walking around in the evenings checking out all the pretty lights.  It really was quite lovely and festive.  Though there were quite a few inflatable Christmas decorations which really surprised me.  Since we are not a fan of the inflatables we didn't include any of those in our pictures.   

 



This was the view out the back of our 5er window

 





 

On the 16th of December we headed out on a road trip back to Oregon and Washington to celebrate Christmas with family and help Jessica and Garry move into their new home.  Because of the falling fuel prices we penciled out renting a car vs. driving up in the dually and decided to go with the rental car.  We left early in the morning  to time our travel to miss the commute traffic in the LA area.  Our 2 day journey took us up I-5 with a nights stay north of Sacramento in Williams, CA.  Boy Rich and I both got a lesson in California freeway driving.  The drivers are so very rude and they drive so fast and close to your bumper, it was awful, we just couldn't get over how unsafe and rude they were. 

 

We made it safe and sound to my mom's and spent several days enjoying visiting my mom and other family.  The Pacific Northwest had experienced quite a bit of rain, so the creek was pretty high for this time of year, but it sure was pretty.

 

We also got to spend some time with our new grandson Elijah.  Amber and Norm and Elijhah came up to mom's for pizza one night and then mom and I got to babysit Elijah one day. 

Great Grandma with Elijah....love those smiles.  =)

Great Grandma doing what Grandma's do best...reading stories.  Cookie and Misty (her two puppies) are wondering why they aren't sitting on mom's lap, their normal spot when she is sitting in her chair.

Grandma and Elijah

After several days at mom's we hit the road to head to Washington to visit with more family and celebrate another grandsons birthday, celebrate Christmas and help Jessica and Garry move.  We didn't do very well with taking pictures while we were in Washington. 

 

Cameron with his Seattle Seahawks cake pops birthday cake, he turned 11.  His younger brother, Calvin is standing behind him. 

Cameron was born on Christmas eve so after his birthday party, we got to attend Christmas eve church service at Tidelands, the church that Brandon pastors.  It was a beautiful candlelit service and we are glad we got to be part of it.  We  We spent Christmas morning with Jessica and Garry and then we all went up to Brandon & Kris' house for Christmas dinner.  Kris' parents were also there, so we got to spend time getting to know them better.  They also spend the winters in Yuma, so were sharing some pointers on the area.  We had a lovely prime rib dinner.  It was a very enjoyable Christmas and we felt blessed to be able to share it with family. 

After Christmas, it was time to get Jessica and Garry moved into their new home.  They had been renting a home just down the street from the one they just purchased, so the move distance was very short.  The home they purchased is very lovely and I'm sorry we didn't get any pictures except the one below.  The first day moving, I spent priming and painting the bedroom wall while Rich and Garry moved alot of the furniture.  The second day we had some of Jessica and Garry's friends and neighbors helping.  So after only two days, they were completely moved out of their rental home and into their new home.  We also were able to get the rental home all cleaned on the second day.  Now their work begins, putting everything away.  =)

Me on ladder and Jessica prepping the wall for a new coat of paint.  I can't believe we didn't get a picture of the new paint color - it was teal and turned out very pretty.

Since the house move went so well and the weather report was changing with some snow forecast for the mountains, we decided to head back to Yuma a day early.  We hit the road for a 3 day road trip back to Yuma.  Our first day was the shortest because we stopped and spent the night at mom's so it wasn't a full travel day.  The next two days, were both long and stressful because we were back to those rude California drivers.  We decided to cut over to Bakersfield on the way down and bypass the LA traffic.  I'm happy to report that we made it back to Yuma all in one piece.  We were very glad to be back to our little home after living out of a suitcase for a couple weeks.  It sure felt good to sleep in our own bed. 

 

Because we were back a day early, we checked on getting tickets to the New Years Eve party that The Palms hosts and were told they were sold out but they would take our name and if there were any cancellations they would let us know.  We no sooner got back to the 5er and got a call that 2 tickets were just turned in....yahoo, that worked out well for us. This was the first year that they did an actual dinner we found out, and we thought they did a very fine job.  They had a nice prime rib and lemon chicken buffet.  The food was quite good.  For dessert they had a chocolate fondue fountain that you could dip rice krispy treats or marshmellows or strawberries.  They also had chocolate chip cookies.  Very yummy.  The band for the dancing played some good dancing music and the musicians/singers were quite good.   We had a very enjoyable evening eating and dancing and getting to know some of the couples in the park.  The Palms has a high percentage of Canadians so we were surprised that the couples seated at our table were all from the states.  We had a couple from Virginia, a couple from northern Idaho, a couple from Seattle area and a couple from Utah.  So after spending about 3 hours dancing, we rang in the New Year with the traditional noise makers and balloons and all the hoopla that goes along with reaching the New Year. 

 

 

Rich and Kelly in their New Year finery....

 

Today, January 1st is a nice relaxing day at home.  We had a leisurely morning with a nice walk around the park with Gracie.  It's very cold here today, and we noticed that some of the bushes/flowers in the park were nipped by frost last night, including my pot of geraniums that I just hauled up north and back so they wouldn't die while we were gone...sigh.  Hopefully they will recover.  Rich is watching the Rose Bowl with the Oregon Ducks and Florida State....go Ducks! and I'm catching the blog up. 

 

We both wish you all a very Happy and Blessed 2015. 

 

November 28 - December 3, 2014 (Yuma, AZ)

Here's a recap of our last week here in Yuma.  We've done a bit of exploring other RV parks here in the Yuma area and so far, The Palms beats the other parks hands down, though you do pay for the nicer amenities.   Since we didn't find another park to our liking, we went ahead and booked another week here at The Palms.  

While we were out exploring, we went by several citrus fields that were being harvested.  

Grapefruit trees


In addition to RV parks, we checked out the Arizona Marketplace which is just down the road aways.  This is like a huge swap meet type of event that takes up approximately 7 open air buildings.  It took us two days to walk through the place, though the second day we came back we were only there less than an hour.  They have a used book booth that we wanted to check out and see if we could exchange some of our books.  Looks like they will take books in on trade, so we were happy about that since we do so much reading while we are down here. 

Last year when we were in the area we attended Stone Ridge Church, so that was our choice again this year.  We really enjoyed the service, they had a great worship band and the pastor gave a good sermon on God's relentless love for us.  We definitely will attend again for as long as we are in the area.

One day we spent just doing chores around the 5er, see you have chores even when you are traveling on the road.  =)  One of the things that we do when we are in this dry climate is to oil all the wood inside the 5er, which there is LOTS.  Rich also replaced some caulking on one of our roof seams.  All pretty boring stuff, but important to keep the 5er in good shape.

On Tuesday, the local Yuma Farmers market started in the historic downtown part of Yuma so we were excited to attend.  Wow....what a disappointment.  We expected tons of stands with all sorts of fresh veggies and citrus, well there was only one vendor with veggies/citrus and I didn't think their produce looked all that nice.  Especially since here at The Palms, a small vendor comes in on Tuesday with fresh veggies and they looked way more appealing.  Since the Farmers market was such a disappointment, we decided to visit a fruit stand we saw when we were coming into town.  On the way, we saw this cotton field.  Cotton is one crop that we are not familiar with, so we had to jump out and grab a couple of pictures.  I'm sure the locals thought we were nuts.....

I'm happy to report that we were successful at the fruit stand and came away with some nice veggies and a big papaya.  While we are here and have access to some different types of fruit and veggies, I want to try and incorporate them into our diet.  We typically don't buy papaya's and after cutting into this one, I can see for our taste buds, that eating it just sliced plain, it's just OK.  I can see we might enjoy it more combined with other fruits or dishes. 

We did make it out to Martha's Garden for one of their wonderful thick date shakes.  They are so yummy.  I know a date shake doesn't sound that tasty, but boy if you haven't tried one and you get the chance, you should. 

One day when we were driving around, we had two Harrier jets fly right over us and they were down low....boy that was something, I was a ducking my head and wondering what on earth was coming crashing down on us...good thing I wasn't the one driving.  Rich knew right away what they were as they went speeding by.  There is a big military base here in Yuma and we hear quite a few military jets fly over.  Rich loves planes so he enjoys watching them and usually knows what kind they are which is fascinating to me since they all pretty much look the same to me. 

One of the main reasons we came down to Yuma was to go across the border to Los Algadones to visit the dentist for a teeth cleaning and for some new glasses.  That was our adventure today and I'm happy to report that we had a very successful day.  We left the 5er around 7:30 p.m. for the short drive to the border.  We were parked and across the border by 8:00 a.m.  Our eye appointments weren't until 8:30 so we had a few minutes to walk around and check out some of the vendors since the office didn't even open until 8:30.  Our eye appointments went very well and we are back home this afternoon with our new glasses.   One thing that I really like is that they will let you reuse your old frames.  I had a very nice expensive pair of glasses a couple years back that I was still packing around with me, so I took those frames and had my updated lenses put in them today.  Rich did the same thing with some older frames.  So we walked away with two pair of updated glasses and one pair of updated sunglasses for about what one pair would cost us in the states. 

Then it was on to the dentist office for our teeth cleaning.  Again, very reasonable and we were both happy with the dental work. 

After our dentist appointment we had a couple of hours to pass the time while we were waiting for our new eyeglasses, so we visited some vendors.  Today's weather was not the best, it actually rained on us and the vendors had to cover up their wares. 

Notice the plastic draped over the outside of the booths

We took refuge from the rain inside this restaurant.  They have a beautiful outdoor seating area but because of the rain, people were inside.

This vendor was right outside the door of the eye doctor.


We were on a hunt for a nice piece of stained glass so visited several vendors and went back and forth before we finally settled on a piece we both liked.  Last year I bought a nice ring from a vendor and after a couple months, the weld where they sized the ring came apart, so I was looking to see if I could get it fixed for a reasonable price.  We found a vendor who had a pair of earings that I liked and asked if we bought the earings, would he fix the ring......so after haggling on the price of the earings we finally came to a deal where we both were happy.  He made a sale and I got my ring fixed and a pair of earings all for the price of $10.00. 
Then it was time to head home to let Gracie out to go potty and we both were ready, a person can only take so much of telling most of the vendors you walk by that you aren't interested. 

Because of the rain, the line at the border crossing was very small which made for a quick and easy crossing.  Last year we had to wait in line for awhile before we slowly made it past the border crossing guards.  They don't allow you to take pictures, or we would have one here of the two Federales standing there with their guns outside the crossing.  I have to say that the gentleman that passed me through was very nice and just waved me on through with a compliment on my nice smile....he must be working with one of the dentists.  =)

That's pretty much been our excitement over the last week, we of course are still doing the Walk Away the Lbs during the week, except for today.  Yesterday after our Walk Away the Lbs class I decided to try a Zumba class......hmmmm that was definitely interesting.  I don't think I have enough Latin blood in me to make some of those hip and tummy moves and I was lost on most of the dance steps.  People say that the more you do it the more you will catch on but I'm not sure it will be for me.  I'm glad I tried it though.

Until next week.....

November 24-27, 2014 (Yuma, AZ)

Monday

It was time to hit the road and head to Yuma this morning.  We got everything all packed up and were on the road by 9:15 a.m., pretty good for us.  We traveled south with a nice light north wind pushing us along which was nice.  We had a nice uneventful drive to Yuma and arrived around 12:30 p.m.  I wish I would have had my camera ready once we got into Yuma because we passed a lettuce field that was being harvested, it was really interesting to watch. 

We got setup at our site in The Palms.  Rich did a great job maneuvering around a telephone box while backing into our site.  Too bad when you are picking out a site at the office that they don't clue you in to these little obstacles.  I guess if they did, they wouldn't get the site rented out as often.  =)  We did our regular walk around the park and found it to be very empty compared to when we were here last March.  I guess a lot of their visitors must come after the holidays.

The rest of the day was pretty low key, just hanging around relaxing in the sun.

Tuesday

We got up and went to the Walk Away the Lbs class they have here.  It's nice that they start the class an hour earlier than they did at Lake Havasu.  After we were finished with the class and had our showers we headed out to the local Fry's grocery store to get our turkey and other thanksgiving dinner trimmings.  We have invited my nephew and his little boy down to share Thanksgiving with us. 

After our shopping trip, we did a little walk in the park so Gracie could get her exercise and then spent the rest of the afternoon in our lounge chairs enjoying the nice warm weather.  After dinner, I updated our blog with our adventures from Lake Havasu.  It always feels good to get that completed. 

Wednesday

Walk Away the Lbs was the first thing on our agenda today and with that out of the way it was time to start baking the traditional pumpkin pie.  Our propane oven does not cook real evenly and I have burned several items in the past so was a little leary about trying to bake the pies in it today.  Our microwave also has a combination convection and "speed cook" setting so I've been experimenting with that lately and decided to try the pies that way.  The "speed cook uses a combination of the upper and lower lamps in addition to the microwave and convection functions.  I'm happy to report that the pumpkin and the berry pies turned out.  I made a loaf of banana bread and it was a little soft in the middle but still edible.  You get very creative when trying to bake/cook in a small space.

While I was making a mess in the kitchen, Rich ran some errands and picked up a few more items from the store.  After I got my mess cleaned up, I headed to the pool for a couple hours of sun bathing and swimming.

Our nephew Taylor and Jayden were scheduled to arrive around 5 p.m. and they showed up right on time.  Wow, has little Jayden grown since last year when we saw him and he was talking up a storm.  Rich BBQ'd us some burgers for dinner and we sat around catching up on each others lives and being entertained by little Jayden, he was quite the character and so cute.....

Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! 

We woke up early because Rich needed to get the turkey in the oven.  Taylor and Jayden spent the night on our hide a bed couch and we hated to disturb them, but you know little ones, they wake up pretty early and Jayden was no exception.  So Rich was able to get the stuffing put together and the turkey stuffed and in the oven by 8:30 a.m. 

After breakfast and watching little Jayden who is into his "Power Rangers" and liked to act out different scenarios.  He also is a big spiderman fan, so between those super hero's had quite a show going on.  Little kids have so much energy, it's amazing.  Rich and I both had good visits with Taylor, he's a very responsible young father and he does really well with Jayden who was actually quite well behaved for a 3 year old.  =)  It was good to visit with Taylor (his dad, my brother, passed away last January) and see how well he's doing though he misses his dad a lot. 

Finally the turkey was ready and we were ready for our feast.  We got to eat our Thanksgiving dinner outside in the nice warm sunshine.  And was it ever a yummy feast.  Rich brines the turkey ahead of time which makes an amazingly flavorful and tender turkey and I love his stuffing, which is so delicious.  I really am blessed with an amazing husband and I'm very thankful for him and not just because he is a good cook!  =)

We really enjoyed our visit with Taylor and Jayden and are so glad they made the 2.5 hour drive to come down to Yuma to spend Thanksgiving with us.  It is nice to be able to spend the holiday with family.  

 

Taylor & Jayden

Me, Jayden & Taylor (you can tell the locals vs us winter visitors, the locals are in long sleeves and the winter visitors are in shorts and tank tops.  =)

This hug from Jayden is for you Great Grandma!

 

November 13 - 23, 2014 (Lake Havasu City, AZ)

Thursday

The forecast was for wind and yes, it was very windy today and the wind was not blowing in our favor...rats.  We left Pahrump around 10:00 am and arrived at Lake Havasu RV Resort by 2:30 pm (with a time change to Mountain time zone).  We made it safe and sound, but it was probably our worst travel day to date and needless to say our fuel economy was not good.  Oh well, I guess you have to expect sometime to encounter less than optimal travel days.

We were excited to be back at Havasu RV Resort.  We forgot how nice the resort really is.  It was also nice to see some familiar faces. 




Our pull thru site at Havasu RV (notice the flag at the top of our rv - you can see that the wind is still pretty strong)

While we were doing our traditional walk around the rv park, we walked by our neighbors from last year, Toni & Bob who invited us to stop and have a drink and catch up on news from the last year.  We had a very enjoyable visit, I'm glad we stopped. 

 

Friday

 

We were excited to be able to start our Walk Away the Lbs. exercise class that they have here at this resort.  Boy, we could sure tell that we hadn't done this sort of exercise for awhile, we were out of shape.  It's a very good cardio workout and I guess our work this summer was not so much cardio as maybe weight training.  It sure felt good to work up a good sweat.

 

Another thing we were looking forward to was visiting one of our favorite used bookstores that we've run across in our travels.  I came away with 3 book series from Dee Henderson focusing on different military branches and Rich came away with a bunch of Max Brand (western) books.  We were both very happy with our purchases.  We plan to do a lot of reading the next couple of months. 

 

Every other Friday night, the resort hosts a social hour from 5-7 where everyone brings their own drinks and an appetizer to share and they have taped music that folks can line dance too.  My friend from last year, Marie invited us to join their table.  We spent a nice couple of hours catching up.  I didn't attempt any line dances since I seem to have forgotten everything I learned last year.  Oh well, I will take a couple classes during the week we are here.

 

Saturday

 

Last year our favorite place to eat breakfast was at a little hole in the wall type cafe called:  "Uncle Kenny's".  Well we had to go and try it out again this year.  I'm happy to report that we were pleased with our meal.  Rich said the chicken fried steak was one of the best he's had. 

 

After breakfast we did some chores around the 5er and then I headed off to the pool with one of my new books.  It felt good to sunbath and I even took my first swim of the "winter".  The water was nice and I had a nice visit with Donna who I had met last year.  She and her husband bought a lot at the resort and he is building a casita on their lot.  Sounds like a lot of work but I'm sure it will be beautiful when it's complete. 

 

We had a nice BBQ for dinner.  This site is nice because it has a cement table and benches for eating meals outdoors and enjoying the beautiful sunsets.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday

 

The forecast today was for a lot of wind and again the forecasters were correct.  We had winds in the 20-25 mph range with gusts as high up to 50 mph.  You really notice the wind when you are in a 5er, especially if you have slide toppers over your slides, which we do.  Last year when we were in Lake Havasu, Rich came up with this neat idea to keep the slide toppers from flapping in the wind so much, so out his invention came and it really does help. 

 

 

After visiting our favorite church in Lake Havasu, we decided with the cooler weather and the wind that it would be nice to take in a movie.  They have very nice movie theaters here and the tickets are very reasonable.  We chose to see Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey which we enjoyed immensely.  The popcorn wasn't bad either.  =)

 

 

After our movie, the wind was still blowing but it wasn't nearly as strong as it had been so we were able to take Gracie for a walk around the park.  And then we spent a relaxing evening with our books and some tv.

 

 

Monday

 

We were back to our Walk Away the Lbs class which seemed a lot easier than the class on Friday which was a relief.  I didn't want to think I was really that out of shape.  =)  The rest of the day was pretty much spent doing some bookwork and a nice walk.  Nothing too exciting to report.

 

Tuesday

 

I started the day out with my line dancing class - it was fun to see a lot of the ladies from last year as well as some new faces.  And I am happy to report, that once our instructor started reviewing the steps of the 3 dances she taught us that day, that I was able to remember the steps.  That was a pleasant surprise. 

 

Rich did the walk away the lbs class and said it was another good workout.  So after our exercise for the day, we just ran a couple of errands and had a relaxing day around the 5er. 

 

Wednesday

 

We both went to our Walk Away the Lbs. class and because we've been doing so well with our exercises, decided to splurge on lunch out at the local In N Out burger.  If you've never eaten at an In N Out, I highly recommend you try it (though they don't have them in Oregon yet).  After lunch, we stopped at the local RV dealer for a quick little tour of some rv's.....it's always fun to look and it made us appreciate our Mobile Suites even more.  On our way home, we stopped at the state park to see if Dave and Diane were around (this is the couple we met in Pahrump) for a quick visit.  They weren't, so we just left a note. 

 

Once we got back to the 5er, I spent some time sunbathing and reading.  We took Gracie for a nice walk around the park and then stopped and toured Hugh & Linda's new 2015 Mobile Suites.  We met Hugh and Linda last year at the resort and enjoyed our visit and tour.  

 

Thursday

 

Again, the morning started with me line dancing and Rich attending Walk Away the Lbs.  After class we got a call from Dave & Diane and arranged to get together this afternoon.  So we had a quick lunch and tidied up a bit before our visitors arrived.  We had a lovely visit sitting outside in the nice warm sunshine.  It was fun getting to know them on a little deeper level than just our brief conversations at Pahrump.  They confirmed my earlier observations that they are very nice and friendly folks.  It was fun to find out that Diane likes plants and collects rocks too.  Finally it was time to say our "see you laters".   This is one couple that we hope our paths cross again.  I can't believe we let them leave without remembering to take their picture. 

 

Friday

 

Today was our last day of doing Walk Away the Lbs at this resort and we ended strong with a 4 mile workout.  The rest of the day was pretty much a repeat of previous days, relaxing by the pool with a book as well as a few chores around the 5er....well truth be told, I did the relaxing and Rich did most the chores.  We did take Gracie for her walk around the park.  She just loves meeting all the other little dogs out on her walks.

 

Saturday

 

We decided to repeat breakfast at Uncle Kenny's again and again came away satisfied and happy. It was a beautiful day, so we decided that we needed to ride the ferry across the lake just so we could get out on the water.

 

 

 

 

 We just rode the ferry over, and then jumped back on and rode back.  They have a casino that most people visit, but we weren't in to a smokey casino on such a lovely day.  Once we got back we were walking under the bridge and heard the most beautiful music being played.  I can't begin to describe how hauntingly beautiful it sounded echoing off the bridge.  We stopped and chatted with the musician for awhile and asked about his instrument as it was one we didn't recognize.  It turned out it was a Soprano Saxaphone made in 1932 and according to this gentleman there were only a few made and he was playing one of them.  The gentleman said he loves coming and playing under the bridge because the acoustics are amazing and can't be replicated even in a recording studio.  He donates any money he makes to Toys for Tots and just enjoys playing, which was very apparent. 

 

 

 

 



 After our chat with the Soprano Saxophone player, we headed back to the 5er.  We had another nice walk in the park with Gracie, stopped to visit with our friends Marie and Everett and see their new to them 5th wheel.  Then it was just another relaxing evening.

Sunday

Today is our last day here at Havasu RV Resort before we head down the road and guess what.....it was windy again.  Don't know what it is about Sunday's, but the last two have been very windy.  Oh well, it can't be all blue sky and sunshine.  =) 

We attended church at Hilltop again, and boy it was really crowded today, there must have been some extra winter "birds" attending today.  That's what the locals here call their winter visitors....birds, not snowbirds, just birds (maybe because some of the visitors come from states that don't get snow???)

After church we were back at the 5er having lunch and Marie and Everett stopped by to check out Rich's slide topper invention.  They have slide toppers on their 5er and I was telling Marie about Rich's invention because she had mentioned how aggravating the wind was on their slide toppers.  Maybe Rich ought to patent his idea......it really does work well.  Everett thought he would give it a try, we'll have to touch bases with them in a couple weeks and see what he thinks.

After our lunch and visit we took Gracie on her last walk around the park.  It really is a nice resort and if we decide we don't like Yuma which is our next destination, we may find ourselves back here.  We've had a really nice relaxing time and are glad we stopped here again.  It was good catching up with a few of the folks we met last year but it's time to hit the road again.  Our next post will be from Yuma, AZ.