March in the Desert 2018

March is in full swing out here in the desert.
The amount of rain we have had since we got here in October could be put into a thimble and you would barely see it.
It is dry!!!!
But of course we are in the desert!

We have met some really nice people that are renting a lot across from us.
They are from our neck of the woods sort of!
They are from Missouri....close enough.
Heike and Pat are a wonderful addition to this group of hooligans!
In fact he calls our little row "The Outlaws"...LOL














We found out that Pat has been in charge of a lot of the mines out here in Arizona several years back, and he is the man with the knowledge to tell us all about them.
In fact, we take a little Jeep ride down Florence Kelvin Highway and make our way to Globe, AZ and we have lunch at one of their favorite spots, "Irene's Real Mexican Restaurant".
The food was great, and of course the company of our great friends was even better.
A trip to Globe always has to be followed by a visit to The Pickle Barrel, so we girls can get out shopping fix for the day!
Great day with Jerry, Konni, Ida, Steve, Heike and Pat.

Taco Tuesday has really become a "thing" to do on Tuesdays.
Our local LB's Cantina is just about the best place around.
We are so lucky to have such a great turn out of people.
Guess margaritas and tacos for two is just too good  to resist.












The corn hole games have been mainly just the usual group, until a few streets over wanted to have a get together and play a big ole game with our group.
March 7th, the vacant lot of Al's was turned into the Corn Hole Competition lot!
We all drew numbers which designated our partners and we played a round.


Jerry brought his "official" score board with him to keep score.
We really had a good turn out.









We knew that Pat and Heike would be leaving tomorrow, so we planned an evening at the local "Riverbottom Bar & Grill.
The live music even got a few up on the dance floor.
Another fun filled evening.
































March 11th, our weather station showed we got some rain....LOL
I say that only because it registered .02"
Like I said earlier, not even enough to get the rigs dirty!












March 12th
Sitting on the patio this evening, we had a visitor to the area.
A coyote was standing out there just looking back at us.
Funny thing, Bronco didn't even know he was there.














Ida wants to make another trip to the quarry to get some rocks, so we head out on March 14th and do just that.
We got out fairly early as the sun is really beginning to heat up rather quickly during the day.
This is not a bad thing, as the evening still are dropping into the high 50's.
It is just about perfect!






March 17th we go to the activity center to partake in a bit of the Irish festivities.
We really didn't stay that long, but at least I got pics of a few of us wearing the green hats that were supplied on the tables.

March 19th, we decide to take a drive to Tubac, AZ.
Ida, Steve and Benji tag along in their Jeep.

















We had a nice lunch and checked out all the Mexican pottery at Tubac.
It was a fun get away.















March 20th another Taco Tuesday has rolled around and we had a good group to share tacos with this evening.















March 21st.....Chuck's Birthday  :)
We had a little get together this evening to celebrate the boy getting a year older.













I had bought him his very own Corn Hole game.
The shop in Florence sells them.
They are kind of unique I think as the prisoners over in the prisons build them.
They paint them as well in all different themes.
I think the group that came for the party had a good time playing.














Heck we played until way after dark.....made for an interesting game for sure.


















March 24th.
One of our newly planted cacti has decided to show off a bit and bloom.
It is an "Organ Pipe Cacti".
The bloom only last a day, but I sure did enjoy seeing it.
There are more to come as there are buds popping out all over it.















March 25-26-27
Ida decided to order blinds for her trailer from me.
They are due in any time and she has also decided to recover her cornices in the trailer.
We have set up an upholstery shop in her shed.
This was quite an undertaking, and with the help of Steve (he took off the old fabric) Ida and I were able to get the cornices done before the blinds show up.





The blinds are here and the fun begins.
Chuck and Steve have their work cut out for them installing the new blinds and cornices.
I am happy to report that they are all in and I think the finished product look wonderful.
I think Ida was very pleased with the outcome.









If you didn't know it, the guys have been playing Disc Golf.
They even come up with a name for their group...."The Cholla Chunkers"....since they are always flying the disc into the dreaded Cholla!
I contacted our son with Pro Line Designs and had some shirts made for the guys.
They showed up just in time for the guys to debut them on one of their recent games.
Pretty spiffy if I say so myself.






Our last Taco Tuesday for us was quite a big get together.
Our friends Lesa and Larry joined us as well.





It was a nice evening seeing them before we start packing up to head back to Oklahoma.















Hopefully we will see them next season.






















March 30th.
It has come to our attention that our rig is in violation of a rule in the park.
This rule has not ever been discussed until someone decided they needed to stick their nose in other peoples business.
You see we have a toy hauler....and the back opens to make a patio.
We have designed our beautiful lot to accommodate our rig as it sits.
The powers that be have decided that our "patio" area is sticking over into the "common area" by 27" and we have to move it forward or close it.
Funny how this hasn't been an issue until this year.
It isn't a permanent structure and can be raised at any time.
When we purchased our lot we discussed with the developer this exact thing.
He assured us since it wasn't a permanent structure, there would be no problem.
Well, guess what!


I will not bore you with the details of this little ongoing argument, but it looks like we would have to move the rig forward and by doing this, all our patio pavers won't line up with our rig and our outdoor TV will no longer be able to be viewed from sitting on the patio.  Instead, one would be back in the unlevel driveway gravel.
This is just not how it was designed to be used.
It is at this point in the game just that....The point.
We have done nothing wrong.  It is actually a new rule that the newly elected board of directors have chosen to accept.
All our plans for our lot were given to the appropriate people and signed off on 2-3 years ago.
Now because someone has decided to worry about our 27" of air that we are intruding on the common ground instead of worrying about some of the real issues in our park we have decided that we will not be coming back to Desert Gardens for the next season.
In fact, we will be selling our lot.
It is not fair to have floating rules that are made and taken away in a whim.
I guess this is part of being in a Co-op, and not being one of the "big wigs" that make the rules.
I am totally sick over this whole mess.
We aren't the only ones they have picked on, but we are the ones that will not tolerate it and will do something about it.
You can't fight city hall and you know life is just too short to sweat the small stuff.
March has really ended up to be a very sad month for us.
Chuck and I have some things we have to decide on and let this part of our life go.
More to come on this in April.








March 31st.
We attended the "Pre Country Thunder" that is held on the main street of Florence, AZ.


















This is a warm up to the Country Thunder that will be happening the first week in April.
I guess it is quite a big thing here in Arizona.









It was fun to get out and enjoy some local music with some of our friends from the park.
Pretty much our last hooray for the season.









April begins tomorrow and we start packing away everything and prepare to go head back to Oklahoma.
Bittersweet right now, but we do what we have to do!!! 

October 2017

October means it is time to head to our "other" home and we are very excited to be doing just that.
It is a little different this year as I am following the Taj-mah-hauler in the Jeep.

October 15th we pull the Taj-mah-hauler out of her barn and hitch up and start west to Arizona.

Bronco is helping her dad drive in Big Bertha.
Chuck had planned for us to spend the night in Santa Rosa, NM. and we did just that.










The Albuquerque Balloon Festival was just ending so I called the RV site in the afternoon as I was concerned about getting a spot.
I am glad I did, as it really did fill up for the evening.

We hadn't eaten at Joseph's in a long time so I really wanted to go there.
Well, the service was terrible....and it was kinda funny when the waiter asked us if we were ready to order, and he had already taken our order not 5 minutes before.....it was a sign for sure.
It even became an issue to pay!
Sadly, we probably won't go back next time.




October 16th
On to Holbrook AZ.
We have reservations for a couple of nights at the OK RV Park.
The park is quite large and have very long sites, so the length of your rig isn't an issue here at all!












As you can see the site can accommodate any size rig  :)














Our first night we ate at a little place called Tom & Susie's.
As we sat and ate our food a gentleman that was sitting in a booth across from us commented on my turquoise ring.
Funny thing was I had noticed his beautiful bracelet he was wearing.

He was a very interesting man, and we were sworn to secrecy as he told us he was known as the "Turquoise Mafia Dog".
He apparently has several  stores in and around the area.
We enjoyed talking to him about the general area of Holbrook.






When we got back to the trailer the sun was setting and it was an interesting sky due to the large fires that were out west.










October 17th

The reason we spent an extra day in Holbrook was to go to the Petrified Forest.


I had never been there, and since we drive that way every season, Chuck wanted for me to be able to mark it off the bucket list.  LOL






He had been there as a child and as he tells me, he didn't really find it spectacular then.

I would love to say it was the best thing I had seen in a long time, but it was a bit disappointing to me.




Chuck even remarked that it was very picked over.




Don't get me wrong, I am glad I got to see it, but it just wasn't what I expected!



























We drove to Winslow, AZ for a "not" disappointing lunch.
As we stood on the corner of Winslow, AZ and of course got our picture taken, we noticed a cute little place to eat just down the way.

The one thing we noticed was that there were a few outdoor seating areas, and since we had Bronco with us, it looked like the perfect place for lunch.

So glad we stopped there.
Our waitress brought out a small bowl of water for Miss Bronco and got us hooked up to the Taco Tuesday Special.
The little place was called RelicRoad Brewing Company and I would highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in Winslow.
We also were entertained by the people stopping and getting their moment of "standing on the corner of Winslow Arizona".
One couple that had been eating when we walked up, finished and got onto their Indian Motorcycle with a side car.
The lady had a selfie stick and she videoed their moment of driving to the corner.




We return to our trailer and enjoy another beautiful sunset.
I was trying to get a good pic so we walked over to an open area.
We met a very nice lady that  was doing the same thing and she tells us she
had been traveling for about 6 weeks.
She was by herself (so impressed) and she had been traveling around seeing friends, and was on her way back to California.
You can sure meet some interesting people as you travel.







October 18th
So excited to make it to Florence, AZ today.
We actually have a new stop light on the main drag...times are changing  :)
I couldn't believe how different Dessert Garden's looks this season due to all the new park models that have already been brought into the park for this season.
So nice to see our next door neighbors Ken and Bev as we drive up to our lot.

The trailer is parked and now begins the unpacking of it.
We were loaded pretty heavy with the 20 or so bags of clothing that we brought.
These aren't to wear, but to take to the local consignment shop and sell.
The Jeep had a few pieces of furniture that I had decided to get rid of as well.

We accomplished a lot today, and I have to say we are both worn out this evening.
It was 96 today feels pretty toasty for sure.
Seems it has been unseasonably warm in Arizona this year.
So nice to be back...can't wait until everyone else shows up.

My mission on October 19th is to get the bags of clothing and the furniture taken to Kim and her mom and get them out of my hair!
By 1pm, that was all done  :)
It is another hot day so we worked outside getting all our stuff out of the shed and getting things set up until it got too warm.
We chilled inside with the air running full blast until around 5pm.
It starts to cool down quite nicely after that.
So nice to be in the dessert.

With things fairly set up it is time to check out the plants that made and didn't make it this season.
Due to the lack of rain this year, a lot of the small plants didn't survive.
It is just a survival of the fittest around here.
My bougainvillea didn't survive, but I will be replacing it as I enjoy the pop of color they add to the beige landscape.

Jerry and Konni had one of our cacti they babysat, and I am told by Jerry that it did survive and grew quite a bit.

Things are pretty much set up outside, so it is time to move inside to the cool and get the rest of the things set up in the trailer.
The changes to the back part of the rig have been great.
I am so glad that we have been able to turn the toy box area into a working area for us.

We had never really used to toy box area as part of the living space, and now it just feels like it is supposed to be used.
Having an area for the computers and all that stuff that goes with them is great.





The coffee bar is set up back there as well, and the Berkey has a home with the Keurig.









10-28-17
Bev and I went to a craft show that our friend Martha was participating in.
It was so much fun running around with Bev....sure we had no idea where we were going, but we figured it out.

It was fun to walk around the craft show and see what they had to sell.
I made a couple of purchases and just love my cactus leggings I got.
I think if someone was trying to follow us on a GPS they would see that we probably made a big ole circle and ended up back where we started...but it was so much fun!

We even stopped at Moody's Nursery to check out some plants.
Truly had no idea that the plants were so expensive there.
It was a real eye opener to us for sure.
The guy told us that some people have to have a helicopter transport their plants to their homes....well, we didn't have the heart to tell the guy that we lived in a trailer park out in the middle of the dessert...LOL
It didn't take us long to get in the vehicle and head to Home Depot.
It was where we were headed when we took the detour...LOL
Now these plants are more our price range, and we don't even need a helicopter to get them home.
They fit fine in the Jeep.

10-29-17
We had a fun happy hour this evening and we got to meet some of the new neighbors.
I think Ryaan and Carol are a great addition to our little neighborhood.

It was also our first Ice Cream Social of the season.
It was fine but our new activities director decided to sing a few songs which I think ruined to social part of the afternoon.
It is just my opinion but I thought we were all getting together to chat and meet others.
Can't do that when someone is up there singing....




10-30-17

Our new neighbors Ryaan and Carol had mentioned riding somewhere today, and we met them and did just that.
Ryaan lead us to Mt. Lemmon.
This had been something we had wanted to do last season, but didn't get around to it, so we were excited to go on this venture with them.











The ride up the mountain was very pretty.
It is amazing how large of area this mountain range occupies on this earth.
We were really enjoying it all until all of a sudden we top a hill and there is a county sheriff  waving for us to pull over.
Ryaan is lead bike so we follow him and pull into a parking area.
The sheriff comes briskly walking towards us and asks Ryaan if he knew how fast he was going.
Ryaan tells the officer he really had no idea....and then the large officer starts ranting about his speed.

Long story short of this little incident was that the officer spoke to us and acted very unprofessional in my opinion.
The officer went back to his car and ran Ryaan's drivers license, and some fellow officers had pulled up to talk to him as well.
He sure wasn't in any hurry to get this thing over....so we waited.
The officer finally came back and somewhat apologized for how he had come on to us.
But no sooner than he gets the words out of his mouth and he is spouting stuff at us again.
I have never in my life felt like an officer would talk and act like this.
His ego was reallllllly big is all I can say.
Finally he lets us go, and doesn't even ask for Chuck's information.
What a strange encounter with an officer of the law.




OK....take a deep breath and proceed to find someplace to park and eat.
Believe it or not, but during one of the kinder moments the officer told us that the Sawmill just down the road was a nice place to eat....so we took him at his word and pulled in.

We sit down and talk about the experience we just encountered.
Sadly Ryaan did get a ticket.
The speed that the officer said he was going seemed in excess to us, but hey, we weren't going to argue with the guy....he had told us he could take us to jail....during one of his moments....so looks like Ryaan will be paying a fairly hefty fine for what was to this point a lovely day!






Our ride down the mountain was ever so slow, and we made sure we didn't even go 2 miles over the posted speed limit.
Have to say that it made a lot of people quite upset with us....but they had not just been through what we had experienced.
The pulled pork chili was a nice warm meal to chase the chill away from the high elevation temperature change.
Although our day plans didn't include a grumpy Sheriff we made the best of it and had a truly nice ride with some of our newest neighbors.
I am sure there will be many more rides in the future.
Sorry Ryaan got the booby prize and got the ticket, but he handled it quite well.













We finish the month of October with a get together at the park.
October 31st we all meet at the activities center and we were supposed to bring either beans or dessert.
The hamburgers were being cooked as a welcome back to the park.
Our table was filled with our friends and we enjoyed the get together.
Lots of different kinds of beans were there to try...and yes.....so was the desserts.




We have enjoyed the last two weeks in the park and it is so nice to see most of our friends back and ready for a fun season.
Time to close the books on October 2017 and move on to November.