Our First Week at John Wayne RV Ranch

 On Sunday we made plans to visit my sister, Mary, who was visiting at the home of her daughter and son in law in Glendale.  We didnt get too early a start, and we stopped at a nice breakfast place in Maricopa called The Sunrise Cafe, and had a very filling meal.

 
The drive to Glendale was about an hour and uneventful.  Ann's navigating with her Blackberry was spot on, and we found the house with no trouble.  We were glad there was no game at University of Phoenix stadium, as our route had us going right by the stadium, which looks like the side walls are made of duct tape.

It was a nice visit as we hadnt yet met my sisters son in law, and hadnt seen her daughter in several years.  They are a nice younger couple with a most excellent pool.  It would be a great place to spend the warm summer evenings.  We only stayed a few hours, and then headed back to the park arriving not too long after dark.

Monday was back to work for Ann and despite a less than ideal internet and phone connections she is able to get her work done, albeit, there is an occasional hiccup in the system.  After she finished her work for the day, we noticed some people at the community center.  We stopped by to see what was going on and even though there is no scheduled  "Happy Hour" at this park, they were having there own "Happy Hour", and invited us to join them.  There are eight people in the group, with most of them being from North Dakota, and one couple grom Cleveland Ohio.  They sure are a fun bunch and on Tuesday's meeting they invited us to join them in playing  a card game called "Sequence".  It is always played with the men against the women, and is a lot of fun.  I think that over the week the score is about even.

The highlight of Tuesday was going into Stanfield to mail a couple of letters, and get a couple things at the store.  It is a town of about 1,000 people, and was expected to rapidly until the recession hit and all new building stopped.  I took a couple of pics with my Samsung SCH i-760 cell phone.

I had a nice chat with the Postmaster who told me she is from South Dakota, and that her daughter and son in law live in Creston, Iowa which is about thirty miles from our hometown.  Another example of how small the world is.  While I was gone Ann noticed a road runner outside our window and too a pic, but she didnt see Wyle Coyote.

Wednesday was our last "Happy Hour" meeting in the community room for a few days, as a group of FMCA members are coming here for a few days, before heading to Indio, California for the Western Area Rally, and they want the room for themselves.  The group started filtering in before noon, and by evening there were probably about twenty or so of them.

Thursday was just another day in the life.  Ann working, me playing on the computer, eating and resting in between.  Tonight the "fun people" we have been enjoying "Happy Hour" with invited us over to a campfire.  They had procured some wood and a fire ring.  It was a little chilly, but the fire was nice, the beverages were great, and the conversation awesome, as we took turns relating some of things each of us had done in our younger days, that was great fun at the time, but looking back, we were grateful we didnt get hurt or worse with these youthful antics.

Friday arrived with Ann looking forward to the weekend after a couple of long days of work.  We decided after she was finished with work to go to the Harrah's Ak-Shin Casino, donate a few bucks to the cause, and partake in their buffet, and then go into Maricopa to the "Taste of New York" so Ann could sing some karaoke.  For me the "donating to the cause" at the casino went fairly quickly, however, Ann actually had come out a few bucks ahead.

Then it was off to the buffet.  As I had picked up a players card, and Ann had renewed her Harrah's card, we both received a coupon for a free buffet.  Not bad as the regular price of the buffet is $21.99 per person.  I doubt we would have gone, had we had to pay for the meal from our pocket.  The buffet was less than average for the price, which didnt surprise me, as I had already learned that the slot machines paid out less than average.

The trip to Taste of New York was about two miles, and even though the parking lot looked pretty empty, the place was pretty full.  The karaoke had already started, but it was an odd in that the singer had to read the words off the screen while they had their back to the audience, unless you went back toward the bar, or to the far side of the room.  Anyway, Ann made it work for her and sang some songs that the mostly younger audience really liked.

While sitting at the bar we noticed a girl with an Iowa State sweatshirt on.  She is married to an Iowa State alum from Urbandale, Iowa, and is a local cop.  Another example of how small the world is.

Midnight came all too soon, and it was time to head back, thus ending another great day on the road!  Just as we pulled into the park, a coyote crossed in front of us.  Could that have been Wyle Coyote? I doubt it, as he was not carrying any ACME products with him.

Sunday is just another lazy weekend day.  Not much going on.  Most of the FMCA people have left.  Maybe we can have the community room back for "Happy Hour" tonight!  We have spent most of the day watching the update on the tragic situation in Tucson, and watching football.   BTW, the site of the shooting in Tucson was a couple of miles south of the Catalina State Park we stayed in last week, and we drove by the Safeway a few times in our comings and goings during the week.

After I finish this blog update, and the outcome of the Packers/Eagles game is evident, we are planning on heading into Maricopa for some dinner and some grocery shopping, so we can avoid starving to death for another week!

One thing I havent mentioned about Maricopa is that the town was in the news recently when
Bristol Palin bought a house here.  This town, like Stanfield, was seeing exponential growth until the recession.  Now I have heard that there are 1,100 houses in foreclosure in Maricopa, which is a town of about 40,000 people.

Take care all.

Paul