February 2019 The Quest To Find a Casita in Yuma, AZ.

Today is the first day of February and we are
saying goodbye to Diana & Chris.
They are going to head back to the frozen tundra of Oklahoma.
Although I hate for them to leave I think I am glad we are staying in the warmth just a little bit longer.







Chuck and I have been in contact with our realtor and she is going to show us a few places in the Foothills that we think might be something we might want to purchase.
We look at several and think we will keep looking for the time being.

As we leave a place Chuck turns down a street we hadn't explored and there is a place for sale that peeks our interest.
Long story short, Deena meets us later that day and we are really really interested.

By February 3rd, we have found our winter home, we hope.
A little negotiating with the owners and it looks like we have a deal.
Wow, that was fast!
We are going to be the proud owners of a 460 square foot Casita and double car garage.


It's kinda funny because the garage has more square footage
than our living quarters.
It is pretty exciting to see a lemon tree and an orange tree on the lot.
We even have palm trees....never in my mind would I ever think we would own palms.

The next few days are spent driving over to the property and getting the paperwork done so we can close in a couple of weeks.
No kidding we have gone over and stood at the property hoping to see neighbors moving around so we can get the feel of the neighborhood.
We have seen no one.
Sure hope they are our kind of people....LOL

We had the guy come and do a home inspection and while he was there, we actually meet some of our neighbors.
The couple on the corner that are starting to build a new home came by.
We meet Jay and his wife Pat.
They inform us of a couple of things that they thought we should know about the property.
We already knew the things they were telling us.
I told Chuck I wasn't sure if they were trying to warn us on our behalf, or trying to scare us away from the place...LOL

Everything is in order and we will be making a trip back to Oklahoma to celebrate our grandsons 8th birthday, and then turn back around and close on our new Casita!





February 9th we pull out from Sans End RV Resort and head back to Oklahoma.
Bronco was excited to be on another trip.
She is quite the travel dog.









Our first night is in Deming NM.
Chuck tries to find us a spot to park at the Walmart there, but there were just too many big trucks and trailers around there for me.
You know how it is when you are driving thru a Walmart parking lot....well, think what it's like pulling a 43' trailer behind you.
I was a nervous wreck.
Plan B goes into action and we pull out of the parking lot and go right next door to an old K-Mart parking lot.
Oh my, so much better.

We find a spot to pull in and call it a day!


The following night we roll into Sweetwater, TX. and again pull into a Walmart parking lot.
I go inside to make sure it is OK for us to park out there, and I am talking to this lady explaining what we are doing, and this lady speaks up and says, "she doesn't speak English, but I work here as well, and you guys are fine to park where you are at".
At this point in our travels, we are just glad to be able to sit down and rest especially since it has gotten colder and it is now raining.
There is road construction on the frontage road and a few times during the night we heard crashing and banging going on.
Nothing ever hit us so it looks like we have survived the night at Sweetwater. 




Traveling in February is always a bit tricky since you never know if you are going to get caught in a snow storm or even a wind event.

So far Chuck has been able to get us where we need to be and we should get back to Oklahoma without any issues.

Once home we start packing the Taj-mah-hauler full of the "stuff" we brought back from Arizona last season.
Looks like we will have a place to put all those talavera pots and solar lights we bought for our other lot.

















I don't even want to mention that it is COLD in Oklahoma and the weather is really not cooperating to well with us. 
We are having quite a bit of wet stuff coming from the sky.

 We celebrate Cash's birthday a day early this year.
What can I say about this grandson of ours.

He is absolutely the cutest guy I have ever seen.
He is sporting a few less teeth in the front and when he smiles it makes you laugh.
Cash is growing up way too quickly....but that is what they are supposed to do, right!











Cooper seemed to like the necklace that we had made for her in Mexico. 
So wonderful to see her smiling face.
Thankful to know that she is healing inside and out from the bus crash. 
Time heals all wounds 








The reason we celebrated his birthday a day early was so we could get back on the road and try to beat some of the weather that is looking pretty bad for travel.
We will be taking what Chuck calls the "southern" route back to Yuma.







I can truly say driving thru El Paso, TX was interesting.
I am being nice to say "interesting".....so many people...going the same direction as us...and driving like crazy!
We just held steady in the middle lane and Big Bertha and Chuck maneuvered their way thru all the construction and masses of vehicles.
I guess I never realized how close the Mexican border was to El Paso.
Upon looking at the map, I realize it now!








We stop for the night at a KOA just outside of El Paso...it is actually in the town of Anthony, TX.
This place is really nice for big rigs.
Every site is a pull through and you have so much room between each site.
The lot was pretty empty where we parked.
There are some full time residence in an upper area, but where we parked, it was pretty empty.
I guess it wasn't quite empty enough for our next door neighbor, because when we pulled in they scampered to put their cat back in their rig and that was about the only time we saw them.
The gentlemans scowling face said pretty much everything as we maneuvered to get into the site.
I guess he thought he was going to be the only person here tonight.

It was so nice to be stopped and set up by 3pm.
We unhook and drive to fuel Big Bertha so we can make some miles tomorrow.

2-19-19
We are up and on our way by 8:30am as there is snow in the forecast and we would like to get through the area before it gets bad.
I had no idea that we were so close to New Mexico....Anthony is right on the border!
You now know why I don't navigate these trips, I am just along for the ride....and sometimes a few directions  :)

We are about an hour and a half along on our trip today and we find snow.
The flakes are pretty large and it is coming down like crazy.
The wind is bad as well, so today may be an interesting day for sure.







The snow lets up before we get to Deming, NM. but the aftermath of the snow they have been having is showing on the mountains.




Did I ever mention that it is COLD!!!!
My gosh this has been an interesting trip....from warm to cold a few times now.




We hit another band of snow along the way today as well.




By the time we make it to Willcox, AZ. the skies are clearing and it looks like we made it through the "weather" event we were dreading.







Our plan is to boondock in the town of Eloy, AZ.
It is outside of  Tucson and will be a good stopping point for the night.
Our friends Joe and Ernie live very close to our stop and we have been in contact with them and it looks like we will get to see them this evening.
Another couple, Danny and Linda will be joining us as well.
I love it when these impromptus come together.

We park in the gas station that just so happens to have a Dairy Queen in it.
Our friends come by around 5 and pick us up and we go over to the Denny's for some dinner.
It was a really nice evening getting caught up on every ones lives.
We ended up back at the 5th wheel and had a margarita or two while sitting in the middle of the parking lot. 

We are hopeful that they will come and see us in Yuma once we get our Casita set up!





The final leg of our travel goes very well.
I have talked to our realtor and the owners of the Casita have given us permission to park on the lot.
In fact we are getting there early enough that we can go to the title company and sign our documents and get this transaction completed today.





I had no idea that in Arizona, you don't get the keys to your new property upon closing...you have to wait for them to have the documents recorded....so it looks like we will be staying on our lot this evening, but will not be able to take possession until possibly tomorrow. :(
Deena felt it was OK for us to unload the Taj and put the stuff in the garage, so we made it happen.

The title company let us know that we could have our keys today.
What an exciting day!
Deena meets us over at the Casita and we officially have keys to our new to us property.

We have even met our next door neighbors, Cathy & Don and feel we are going to fit in nicely with this little group of misfits....LOL





Now the fun begins.
Doesn't take us long to decide to rip out the oak long piece of cabinets that line the walls as you enter the Casita.
I think it just dates it so much.
Yes, we will have something else there, but not a ten foot long cabinet!
Poor Chuck!

We found a really cool dining table that is pub height for the area that had the very long cabinet.
Oh, by the way, we just moved the oak cabinets to the garage, so we repurposed them quite nicely.













During the past few days we have scoped out some stuff we think we need so we make a run to the local furniture store and pick up some "tiny house" recliners.
They should fit perfectly.
Bronco isn't sure what the heck is going on.
The doors are wide open to the Casita and she can sit inside or out and see everything that is going on.
I think she approves of our new little abode.














It didn't take me long to realize I can't live with the white walls in the Casita.
Since we have a strange greenish colored tile with grey grout, I think a gray color for the walls will work.
A trip to Lowe's to pick up color samples and it didn't take me long to pick one out.
Greyrock Inn from Glidden is the color we went with.
It is amazing what a little paint can do to update a place.
I think the walls were very thirsty as well, because the one gallon of paint was completely used on the main area of the Casita.
I bought a couple of gallons with the intent to paint the bathroom as well, but I am going to save that for a later date.



Chuck and I ventured out and had lunch at Wheezy's one afternoon.
The food and the service was great and I think we will be back here for future meals.
Our waitress had a cute and sassy haircut so I asked her who cut it.
She gave me the girls name, so I will be looking into this in a few weeks when my hair is due to be cut.



I woke up with an idea to put the peel and stick wallpaper on the insides of the barn doors.
Of course I had a roll in the trailer, so I was able to get one door done.


It really looks great, so I ran to Walmart and picked up another roll and got both doors done.
I am not sure how the paper will hold up on the doors while we are not here in the Summers but I can always come up with another idea if it doesn't work out.







February is coming to a close and I think at this point it has been a very productive month.
We are now officially land owners in Yuma, AZ....actually we are in The Foothills....found out that is what you tell people....LOL
We are quite happy with our purchase at this point.
Our next door neighbors invited us over for a Happy Hour so we could meet some other folks.
Wow, I think we hit the mother load on good people....I think we are going to fit in with this group quite nicely.
Time to settle in and enjoy our place and our new neighbors.
I got a text from Diana & Chris and it looks like they are coming back out to Yuma to see us.
She asked if they could squat on the property.
Surely by now she knows they are always welcome anytime and anyplace.
They will be driving out, so I told her to bring an air mattress and head this way.
Now I am excited...we officially have our first guest coming to stay with us.
Goodbye February....hello March!