Monday, December 17, 2012

We were off this morning to Golden Corral for Breakfast which is one of my favorite places while we are here in Casa Grande.  We called Jayce Dale yesterday to see if she wanted to meet us but she didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the idea, so we’ll stop over to her place after we’re done.

We also needed to run by the Verizon store to get some answers about our service, and the one we want to use for this winter.  We need a way to get Sharon’s Nook online while we’re on the road.  And it looks like the Mi-Fi through Verizon is the only answer.  It apparently won’t cost us any more than what we’re paying now.

We stopped after Breakfast and got the Verizon thing straightened out and after a quick pit stop back at the motorhome, went over to Jayce’s.  We visited for about 45 minutes and saw her “new” 5th wheel for the first time.  Her and Rodney had just gotten it about two weeks before.  They had gotten a very nice deal on a unit that seemed to be very well taken care of.  Rodney works for the park so they get their rent and utilities paid for by his labor.

We came back home and got a call from Mary Milan to see if we wanted to get together today, possibly for Dinner tonight.  She was planning to come over to our place and then we would go out for Dinner afterwards.

Later on this afternoon we did exactly that, and went to Mimi’s Café for Dinner tonight.  We ended up having a very nice visit with Mary and a delicious Dinner.

We came back home and camped out in front of the Telly for the rest of the night.  I taped our usual shows, so we wouldn’t miss them tonight, and we could watch them when we got home.  They kept us up until about 10:30 tonight before we called it a day.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Today will be our last day here even though we are only moving a short distance, about 45 miles, to Mesa tomorrow.

Sharon went for her walk the first thing this morning and when she got back she announced that she was going shopping today.  “Shopping” would be more or less a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few items for the next few days.  She asked if I wanted to go, but I opted out.

Before she left she threw a Pork Loin in the crock pot to cook up for pulled pork sandwiches.  Although a pork loin won’t pull apart like a pork shoulder will, we’ll still have BBQ pork sandwiches as a result.

We sat around this afternoon with not much to do so Sharon spent most of the day on the Nook hooked up to the internet for free.  She managed to find someone who doesn’t have security on their connection.

We had Rigatoni and Meatballs for supper tonight and it was quite good indeed.  Along with a salad and garlic bread we had a very nice Dinner.

We settled in for TV for the rest of the night.  We had a couple of good programs that we usually watch on tonight and also a two hour episode of “Mankind: The Story of All of Us.”  We lasted until 11 tonight before we finally took leave of the TV and headed out.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

We got a very leisurely start this morning not wanting to get to the Phoenix area too early and encounter the early morning traffic.  We also knew that where we were going we would experience some traffic since we would be going toward the downtown of Mesa.

It only took us just over an hour to reach our campground, Sun Life RV Resort in Mesa.  We were quickly shown our site and we got settled without a problem.  When we went to the office to register, we realized what a truly beautiful resort this place is.  While we probably won’t use half the amenities here, it’s nice to know that our Coast to Coast membership got us in here for $22 a day.  We’ll only be here for a week.

After we got set up Sharon gave Dennis and Mary Ceshker a call to let them know that we were here and settled in.  They told us that they would be over later this afternoon.

We had egg salad sandwiches for lunch today and then got our Christmas stuff out to decorate the motorhome.  It took about an hour or so to get all decorated inside and out, and then we got to sit down and relax and wait for Dennis and Mary.

It wasn’t long before they showed up on our doorstep.  We sat and talked for most of the afternoon.  Sharon and Mary usually carry most of the conversation, and Dennis and I just sit and listen.  This was a side trip for them as they were on their way to church this evening.  They left about Dinnertime and we arranged to meet them on Friday for the Arizona Opry.

We sat down tonight for leftover Rigatoni and Meatballs and it was still quite good.

After Dinner we camped out in front of the TV for the night.  As we sat watching TV it was quite festive in here with the Christmas lights twinkling all around us.  Sharon caved early tonight but I hung in there until 10:45 before I called it a day.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

We had a plan today to go to Sun City West and visit our friends Bill and Jan Dieckman for a couple of hours.  They left home in the fall and have been here ever since.  They purchased a permanent home and will probably eventually move out here on a yearly basis.

We left Mesa about 9:30 hoping to avoid the traffic that always accompanies people going to work in the morning.  We actually outsmarted ourselves when we ran into a jam because of an auto accident about a half hour after we got on the road.  Our GPS drove us right into it.  We only got held up about 10 minutes but it seemed like a half hour.  We arrived in Sun City right at 11 AM.  Our GPS was flashing that it was going dead about 15 minutes before we arrived.  We forgot to bring the cord to plug it in, but we actually made it into the “window” that we told them we would be here.

We sat around just talking for about 90 minutes before we decided to do lunch.  We hemmed and hawed about where to go, and then finally settled on Olive Garden for the Soup and Salad lunch.  It’s quite a deal for $6.95.

After lunch and a quick pit stop we decided that we would start to head back and try to avoid some of the late afternoon traffic.  Our GPS threatened to turn off on the way home also but lasted all the way.  It also decided to take us home a different way than we went on the way over.  We finally made it to the streets we recognized before it farted and fell.  We also forgot to bring a back-up map in case we got lost along the way.

For the rest of the night we just parked in front of the TV.  We had a couple of regular shows on tonight, although they were repeats, and then they had a CMA Christmas show on tonight.  The Christmas show wasn’t that good but it took up space until bedtime.  By 10 o’clock we were both spent anyway.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Sharon went for her walk this morning and then came back and took the car to see how far she had gone.  3 miles.  She was quite happy with herself.

The weather was also going to deal us a good hand today and it is expected to get up around 70 degrees for a high.

Sharon had some stuff to pick up at the grocery store for the next couple of days and as luck would have it there’s a Wal-Mart right across the street from the resort.  When she got back from shopping she said it was a Wal-Mart Marketplace.  It was only a grocery store.  We had never seen one of those before.

After she came back we sat outside and read the free paper that the guy next door was providing to us, until it got a little windy out.  We came back inside and watched TV until about 4:30 when it was off to meet Dennis and Mary Ceshker and go to the Arizona Opry.  The Barleen Family show that is very popular here and located in Apache Junction.  Dennis and Mary got us tickets about a month ago after we had decided that we were traveling this way, this year.  It was a “Dinner” show and we got there at 5:30.

We had a Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potato, vegetable medley and Chocolate Cake meal along with about 2½ hours of the best Christmas/Country/Comedy music we’ve ever heard.  It was a very talented group and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

We left the theater about 10 and got back home about 10:30 after dropping Dennis and Mary off at home.   Most of the time we also visit again in the Spring on our return trip. We had been spent and went immediately to the rack and a good night’s sleep.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

We were up at a reasonable time this morning because we wanted to take in the Flea Market known as the Mesa Marketplace.  We thoroughly enjoy at least one visit there every year.  Most of the time we also stop on our return through here in the Spring time.

We left “home” about 9:30 which is late for us but we didn’t have the hour long drive from Casa Grande today so we arrived in about 15 minutes.  It was also nice knowing that we wouldn’t have the long drive back home either.

We arrived at the Marketplace and immediately found a parking place near the scooter rental place which has moved again this year.  They don’t seem to be happy about where they’re located each year.  We rented the scooter and got going almost immediately.  The temp inside the market is usually cool, in fact Sharon bought a jacket one year.  But today it was rather nice in the covered shopping area.  It also takes us less time to get through every year.  Today it was and hour and 40 minutes from start to finish.  We even bought a few things along the way.

When we got finished we decided to have a sandwich  at In-N-Out Burger instead of eating at the market, which we usually do.

By 12:30 we were on our way back home in plenty of time for Sharon to take in church this afternoon instead of tomorrow.  I, on the other hand, was perfectly content to sit and catch up on the programs that were on tape for the last couple of days.

When Sharon got back she reheated the BBQued Pork she made up the other day in the crockpot for supper.  We each had a sandwich and it was quite good.  It was a tenderloin so it didn’t pull-apart like a pork shoulder would have.  So she had sliced it up instead.

Tonight would be another lame night for TV.  I did have a couple of shows on tape for tonight and then we watched Lockup on Msnbc until bedtime.  We folded our tents about 10:15 tonight.  I guess I was ready for bed tonight and Sharon wasn’t.  She stayed up a while after I caved.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Packer Sunday today and we would be going to Dennis and Mary’s to watch the game today since they have the NFL Ticket on DirecTV.  We can’t get the game on our DirecTV so we need to adapt.

We were planning on being at their house at 11, when the game started, but we decided we were going to have Egg McMuffins this morning for Breakfast.  We decided on Breakfast late so we didn’t get  to the Ceshker’s until 11:10 and Green Bay was already 7 points ahead.  For the remainder of the game Green Bay kept scoring until they got to 55.  At that point with a little over a minute left in the game, Tennessee scored a touchdown and finished up at 55-7.  It was a very good day.

Mary had made Sloppy Joe’s, Potato Salad and Cole Slaw for Dinner this afternoon which was very good.  We sat down and ate just before the Chicago Bear game started.  Dennis is a Bear fan so we watched that game after we ate.

After we were all comfortably seated watching the game, Mary appeared with a slice of Apple Pie for everyone.  We raved about the pie until Mary finally admitted it was a Marie Callendar that she had bought.  It was very good anyway.

Sharon and I left for home about halftime, and came home and I promptly took a little snooze for myself.  Sharon tried too but I was more successful at it.

We planted ourselves in front of the TV for the rest of the night even though the shows were repeats except for Lockup on Msnbc.  We watched that for the last hour and then headed off for the padded room and the warmth of a comforter.  We had had it for the day.