End of the Year Update

Monday December 26:  Monday was "what needs to be fixed day".  As I posted in a earlier blog, just after leaving Del Rio, TX, Ann noticed the body panel right behind the passenger side front tire had come lose, and was flopping in the breeze.  My temporary fix was to place a bungee cord around it.

The problem, it turns out was that there are supposed to be two screws through a bracket attached to the back side of the panel to hold the front in place, but they had never been installed, and the vertical section on the rear of the panel, and well as the top of the panel were glued in place.  Without the screws, the panel just worked it's way lose over the years, and we didnt notice till it got bad enough that Ann could see it in the rear view mirror.  Looks like I need to get some glue, and screws for this repair.

The second repair job was to reglue the bottom of the weather stripping between the windshield sections.  This came lose sometime ago, but only is a problem when we drive in a strong crosswind.

Looks like a pretty easy fix with the right type of glue.

Then there is the lawn chair.  When I went to set it up for Happy Hour on Saturday, it didnt look or feel right.  Upon further review, I noticed that a part had come out, and the chair sagged to one side.

I think the "repair" for this is to "replace".  These are nice chairs, and they have served us well!  Thanks, again Shanda and Matt for giving them to us a few years ago.

After Happy Hour on Monday we went along with two other couples to the nearby Olive Garden for dinner.  The food was great and the conversation even better.  Hearing of other's travels and adventures is most interesting!


Tuesday December 28:  Tuesday morning we awoke to a mostly clear sunny day, except is was cold enough during the night to leave frost on Ann's car.

I also got a few pics of the first rays of the morning light coming over the Catalina Mountains.

While I was out there I also got a pic of our Wilson Trucker antenna on top of a 10' pole, which is part of our amplification system we need here to get a good signal on our Virgin Mobile usb modem.

The major task for today was to get to the Main Post Office in Tucson to pick up our mail that we had forwarded from Iowa.



The trip down was pretty easy, and I found the place with no problem.  However, the window clerk said there was no mail for us today. MMMMM  We were quite sure it would be able to get from Iowa to Tucson in four days, even with a holiday in between, but oh well, what can you do but wait.  Looking on the bright side, at least I knew where the place was and coming back tomorrow would be easier.

The trip back was a piece of cake and is stopped to buy some glue for the windshield, and an extra power strip(cant have too many of them), but was unable to find a suitable glue for the side panel.

We did have a Happy Hour on Tuesday despite it being a little chilly, but nothing like the weather back in Iowa, and other places up north.

After dinner I settled in to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes defeat a very good Missouri team with a late interception, and run back for a touchdown.  I hope the Hawkeyes get their act together for next year, In the mean time Ann worked diligently on her Facebook games.


Wednesday December 29:  Happy Ninth Anniversary to us!  Doesnt seem like nine years since Lyle Lovett(inside joke) married us at the chapel in Bally's Casino in Las Vegas!  Time flies when you are having fun!

Even though it was our anniversary, Ann still had lots of work to do, and I needed to make another trip to the post office hoping our mail would be here today.  I got to the post office a little after 10:00AM.  General Delivery mail is supposed to be ready by 9:30AM.  After waiting in shorter line than yesterday, I asked for our mail.   Sorry, no mail for you today.  Somewhat puzzled by the fact that our mail wasnt there, and being a former postal employee, who knows that the post office never makes a mistake or mishandles mail, I decided to call the Postmaster who forwarded our mail.  After a brief discussion with her, I realized that I had not given her the correct address for General Delivery mail.  Oops, so it was back to talk to the clerk to see where our mail might be.  After a discussion with another clerk, the clerk waiting on me went to look for our mail, and in a couple minutes, lo and behold, here he comes carrying our mail!  I knew I could count on the USPS to go above and beyond the call of duty for a customer!  I owe them a big thanks for not returning our mail back to Iowa!

Then it was back home go through three weeks mail to see what to keep, and what to pitch.  The process looks like this.

We received some very nice Christmas cards, which we appreciate, along with a couple of family letters from Ann's Mom, and one of her aunts.  It is nice to hear what has gone on in others lives this year, even though, not all of it was good news.

For our anniversary dinner we picked a place called Amarsi just a couple miles from here.  It is an Italian place, and Ann loves Italian food.  When I went to get my coat before leaving, I remembered that I had left at the Olive Garden, when we had dinner there on Monday.  Glad I brought two coats!

The place was not all that big, nor that busy, but it is nice.  I had spaghetti with a Bolognese sauce, which I thought was pretty average, and Ann had veal picatta, which thought was great!

Thursday December 30:  The last day of work for Ann for the year!  This after noon many in the group were planning on taking an evening guided tour of the Saguaro National Forest, with an early dinner before hand.  We were not able to go as Ann had to work later than their departure time.

The weather today was not normal Arizona weather; rain and snow is better left up north, however, I did get a couple of nice pics.

 After Ann got done working for the year, we ran some errands;  I did some clothes shopping, Ann bought a Glee dvd, and we exchanged an empty propane bottle for a full one.

The sun did come out later and so I took more pics of the snow on the mountains.

When we finished our errands, we went to Taste of Chicago for dinner.

This place was recommended by our friends Randy and Deb.  Randy is from Chicago, and recommended the "Chicago Dog", which I ordered, and Ann had a delicious looking pizza.

 Once again after dinner there was football to watch as Nebraska was playing Washington in the Holiday Bowl.  I felt bad for Nebraska as they were not the same team that had trounced Washington earlier in the year.  Martinez, the quarterback looked like is was about 30% compared to his play before injuring his ankle, and it was his speed and quickness that made Nebraska so good earlier in the year.


Ann went off to bed about 10:00PM, and I missed the last couple minutes of the game when I hit the sack about 11:00PM.  Tomorrow is the last day of the year, gotta get ready for the New Years Party with the RVForum gang!

Friday December31:  Except for being the last day of the year, it is a pretty average day.  This morning it was cold, with a few flurries.  Is this Arizona?  Oh well, at least we dont have to scoop it!

About 10:00AM this morning Ann went up the street to one of the other coaches to see when one of the ladies in the group was going to Trader Joes.  They left about noon and returned just before 3:00, with some goodies for tonight's party. While Ann I was gone, and after she returned, I worked on the blog.  It takes a while to remember and organize what you did all week.  The rest of the after noon was taken up with resting for tonight's festivities.

While sitting in my recliner and playing on the computer, I looked our outside window, and decided the view was worth of a pic.

If the pic looks a little fuzzy it is because I bumped the settings wheel on the camera, but I hope you get the idea.

About 5:00 Ann made us a light dinner of brats and mac and cheese.  We didnt want to eat a lot, as there will no doubt be lots of hors d'ourvres later in the evening.  During dinner I noticed the sun shining on the mountains, as it was setting, so I had to get a pic of the last sunset of 2010.

We hope everyone has a better year next year!  We will see you then!

Paul & Ann

Time for a Weekly Update

Another week has passed since my last update.  It seems that there are two reasons I dont post more often: either nothing is going on, or there is so much going on that I dont have time to post. That is the way this week has been, anyway.

Monday December 20:  The day started with a decent sized buck wandering through our campsite, and Ann got a few pics of him.  This one turned out the best.  There are lots of deer that come into the park every evening about sundown to eat.  The deer here are not very big and they are not too afraid of people.

Other that the deer in the yard, it was just another day of routine work and chores.

Tuesday December 21:  I cant recall anything from Tuesday that wouldnt be a repeat, so I will just leave  it at that.  We were looking forward to traveling on Friday, even though this is a nice place, and we like the area.  If we were the type who traveled to one place, and stayed there most of the winter, we would have no problem staying here.

Wednesday December 22:  Wednesday started with another delicious breakfast in the Rec Center, served by Dan, the park manager, and Dwayne, who organizes the breakfasts.  The crowd was kind of small, but a a few people showed up from other campgrounds in the area.

Wednesday night is game night.  Usually the game is bingo, but tonight we played an interesting, and complicated dice game called "Spicy Farkel".  Sue, in the blue top, brought the game, and explained the rules.

It didnt take long for the rest of us to catch on, and we had some good conversation getting to know the other players.  Eventually by a huge stroke of luck, Rachael, in pink, won the game with a come from behind victory!

The other players in the game were Ralph, Rachael's husband, and Eileen.  I am not much of a game player, but the conversation was great!

Thursday December 23: Things began to pick up today in preparation of our departure on Friday.  We(Ann) had been wanting to have the windows in the motorhome washed since we got here, but we(me) hadnt got around to it.  So while Ann washed the windows, I checked the pressure in tires on the dolly, and the motorhome, and added air to those that needed it with my Sears air compressor.

Since it was to be out last night in the area, we decided to try out another restaurant.  Wrights Steakhouse was just down the road a couple of miles, and we had heard some good things about it.  The parking lot was pretty full when we got there, but we got seated right away.  Then the wait began.  After about twenty minutes, I finally went to the bar to get us a couple of beverages, but the bartender said that there were three drink orders ahead of ours.  I didnt say anything, but wondered, if you already have three drink orders, why are you not working on them?  We finally got our drinks in a couple of minutes, but our server hadnt been around yet, but the girl bussing tables did bring us some water.  In defense of our server, the place was packed, and we only saw three servers.  Eventually we ordered, and were surprised how quickly our order came out, even though our server forgot to bring our bread as she had promised when serving us our steaks.  The steaks were excellent!  The bake potato average, and average describes the salad bar, but they did have a choice of three soups, and they looked real good.

After dinner we decided to make a return trip to Larina's Cantina so Ann could sing some more karaoke before we left town.

The evening was fun, as there were some good singers, but the DJ quit at 11:00.  It seemed early, but probably not a bad idea, as Friday we plan on being on the road relatively early.



Friday December 24:  We got up at a decent time, but but by time we had finished packing things away, loading the car, filling up with propane, and saying goodbyes to Dan and Pat, the campground managers, and not to forget Dan's dog, it was 10:00AM.

The trip west on Texas state highway 90 was one of changing scenery, it is just that the scenery doesnt change very often.  Once on the road we decided that our destination for today was to get to Dream Catcher RV Park in Deming, New Mexico.  Here is our route.

Heading west this was the first of many places they cut through the bedrock to cut down on the ups and downs of this part of Texas.

Here we are crossing the Pecos River.  At coffee one morning we discussed what the first people traveling west through here must have thought when they got to this river with its steep banks, and wide river.

We arrived in Sanderson about noon, and not having breakfast yet, we decided to stop at Dairy King for lunch.  the place had been there for a while, and obviously been remodeled a few times over the years.

 The inside was nice, the wait staff was pleasant, and recommended the "Eagle burger" which is a half pound cheeseburger.  Ann chose that, and I had beef enchiladas.  The meal was tasty and needless to say in Ann's case, very filling! 

Here is a pic of the kitchen that Ann took.

I took a few more pics of the main street, including a hotel, and a  gas station.  That price on gas would look pretty good some miles later.

 Here is a view of the countryside between Sanderson and Fort Stockton, where we picked up Interstate 10, and continued west.

 Once passed Fort Stockton and checking the gas gauge, we had been fighting a headwind all day, and the mileage wasnt looking good,  I began to think about getting some gas, so we would be sure and have enough to get to the Flying J in El Paso.  Just west of where Interstate 10, and Interstate 20 meet, there was an Exxon station.  Looked like a pretty good place to fill up until we saw the price.  Needless to say we didnt buy a whole lot there!

As we continued on the terrain was a lot flatter and we could roll along pretty good.  In the pic below you can see our Microsoft Streets and Trips software running on our Dell mini laptop.  If you notice the speed on the left side, you might think I was speeding, until you see the speed limit sign in the pic below.

 We made it to the Flying J at mile marker 37 about 4:00PM Mountain Time, where I filled up with gas, checked the oil, did a walk around of the rig, while Ann went inside and bought us drinks and lottery tickets.  Our luck with the lottery tickets was not a good as my luck was the night we played bingo back at the campground in Del Rio. :(

 We continued west, driving through downtown El Paso just as the sun was setting.  I hate it when I have to pay that close attention to my driving!  Once out of El Paso the drive was pretty nice to Las Cruces, New Mexico, and then west again to Deming where we arrived at the campground about 7:00PM.  We werent quite sure of the check in procedure, and which site would work best for us, so we went and parked in a site that would accommodate our rig without having to unhook the car.

Ann made us a dinner of shrimp and angel hair pasta, and after a little computer time we were both ready for bed, after covering over 500 miles for the day.

Saturday December 25:  We awoke to a day of bright sunshine albeit a cold one, as it got down to about 25 the previous night.

We didnt waste much time getting ready to leave as the cold weather is what we have been trying to escape for a month now.  After paying for our night's stay, we continued west toward our goal today of Catalina State Park  just north of Tucson Arizona.  The drive today was pretty easy as the wind had subsided and after crossing The Continental Divide at 4558 feet, it was mostly down hill from there.  We crossed into Arizona about noon, and shortly thereafter we happen to see an eastbound AMTRAK train.

Shortly after that we caught up to a guy on a motorcycle who seemed to be dressed for the cool temps.

Then we drive by this huge farm of pecan and walnut trees, and grapevines.

Then it was on through Benson, then to Tucson.  We had to get a pic of this exit sign on the south side of Tucson.  Sometimes there are reminders other than dimes.
 

We arrived at the park about 2:30 and were promptly met by Randy and Deb, friends we had made in Quartzsite, Arizona last January.  We chatted for a bit,  then they let us get set up and registered.  Once that was done, it was about time for Happy Hour, where we met some new people, and reacquainted ourselves with some others of our RVForum group, that we had met in Quartzsite last January.

Here is a couple of the pics that one of the member took and posted on the RVForum site.  I hope it is ok with Ken to use them here.

After Happy Hour we returned to our motorhome where Ann made us a nice dinner of roasted chicken, stuffing, and some our home canned frozen sweet corn.  Very good!

Later in the evening, after watching and old Lawrence Welk show, we went over to Randy and Deb's coach to give them some of our home canned  frozen sweet corn. I doubt they have ever got a Christmas present like that before!  Randy had a great Eric Clapton video on the TV, and with his awesome sound system, made it just that much better!  By the way, Ann like this music much better than Lawrence Welk. :)  The Clapton video was followed up by a Roy Orbison video with several other outstanding artists including Bruce Springstein, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J. D. Souther, Bonnie Rait, K. D. Lang, and couple of others I have forgotten.  I was really great listening to the music and visiting,  What a great life we are living!  But all to soon it was time to return to our house on wheels, and after a few minutes of computer time, another Christmas day was in the books.  I hope everyone had a great a Christmas as we did!

Sunday December 26:  Here is a pic I took pretty early this morning as the sun was coming up over the mountains.

  

And here is one of our rig here at Catalina State Park.

This morning, as you might be able to tell, was spent catching up on the blog.  It is about 1:00 PM here, and Ann has just returned from a bike ride around the park.  So now it is off to find a grocery store so we can restock the larder(pantry for you young whipper snappers)  Maybe I will post more later today.

Until then.

Paul