The Move -- and Opening Day!

This is site 153. It's to the north of where we have been and way across the campground. We drove by this morning to see if the people that were there had left. They were gone and the site was empty. It's another short one sitting on a corner on the end of a row. We dropped off the geranium plants and a bit of the other outside stuff like the little hummingbird feeders and the iron road runner.

It's a given that any day you are planning to move, it will be sunny and HOT!  I put the big hummingbird feeder and the parts for the crow wind gidget and the bird waterer in the basket on the trike. We loaded the car with one of the loungers, the jack pads, and one of the chairs. I drove over in the car while Forry drove Auntie Violet. I parked and guided him as he backed into the site. He makes it look so easy! You can't beat that farm training with big rigs.

We made one more trip over to the old site with the car. We folded up the big rug and loaded it into the back. The second lounger and chair went into the back seat. One last sweep of the area to make sure we hadn't left anything behind and that it was cleaner than when we arrived last October (at least there are now no more cigarette butts laying around!).  While we were cleaning up, the hummingbirds kept flying by looking for the feeders. Poor things -- I wonder how long it will take them to find them in the new place? Forry rode the trike with its basketful over to the new site while I followed him with the Toad -- wanted to make sure he didn't lose anything.

By the time we got the electricity hooked up along with the water and everything moved, we were pooped. Did I mention it was HOT?! There was a nice breeze, so we sat outside in the shade with something to drink -- I think Forry even took a nap!

We do not have awnings on the windows of the driver's side of the coach. It has not been a problem this winter as we were parked on and east/west line and the direct sun in the evening was in back of us. This new site is on the north/south line, so the sun shines directly into those driver side windows in the late afternoon. I ended up pulling the shade on that side until after sunset. That worked, but it sure cut down the breeze through the coach.

Today was OPENING DAY! There has been a move afoot to attempt to make baseball's Opening Day a national holiday -- I do like the idea of that! The Mariners are over in Anaheim playing the Angels tonight with Felix Hernandez pitching. It should be a great game! We'll be watching it on ROOT Sports NW.

More of the Same...

We continued with the packing up and putting away process today. I suggested to Forry earlier this morning that we should think about removing some of the almost empty bins in the bays, consolidating or giving away what's in some of them (For example, we have a bin that is full of games, dominoes and cards that, except for the cards once, has not been used in the eight years we have been RVing.). That way we would have room to store the canopy, rather then bringing it inside and stashing it in the bedroom, which had been his original idea.

Forry thought about it for a while, then went out to take some measurements and look at what was in the bays. It turns out that the canopy in its case is too long by about eight inches to fit in a bay. I suggested what about putting it catiewumpus (at an angle)? We did some moving around, using the packaged rug that had been under the canopy to balance the canopy in its bag, but we got it to fit.

My stack of stuff to take to Goodwill keeps getting larger. There is now a big bag of connectors and wires for various electronic stuff we have had in the past. We've never used any of them (I think we may have had some back in our days in the house...) and I sincerely doubt we'll be needing them now. But I can remember some of my college students talking about rummaging through Goodwill boxes of wiring as they built and rebuilt some of their electronic stuff.

Tomorrow, we shall keep on eye on the new site and as soon as the people who are presently there leave, we will start taking stuff over. I can hand-carry my geraniums over as well as the chairs. We will have to bring in the slides and take up the jacks, then Forry can just drive on over.

Packin' Up

I think anyone who RVs will tell you that the longer you stay in one campsite, the harder it is to get everything packed up and put away. We've been here at Eagle View RV Park since mid-October of last year. It's actually the longest we've ever stayed in one place!

We've started the packing up process. Forry has picked up the light strings that we had along and under the sides of Auntie Violet, rolled them up and put them away in the electrical bay. He's taken down the barbed wire lights on the front as well and we've bagged them and put them away.

This afternoon  we started on putting the canopy away. I actually woke up in the middle of the night last night worrying about it... Since we have never taken it down, I think I was unsure how it would go (we bought it earlier this spring). I found the direction sheet nicely filed away under "Household Stuff," not under "RV Stuff" where I first looked. The first thing we were supposed to do was lower it down and unfasten all of the hooks holding the top flaps.

Believe it or not, it actually folded down into this size --

The stakes that hold up the canopy sides are lying on the big rug along with the rug and the tables that were all under the canopy --

It took some squeezing and shaking, but we managed to get it back into the carry-bag. I really did not think we would be able to, but it went in nicely.

I think we will walk the chairs and ride the trike over to the new site (it's not that far away) rather than packing them all up and into Toad II. The next task will be to start putting away some of the stuff inside Auntie Violet.

Figuring Out What's Next

I had talked to Ron in the office here at Eagle View RV Park a couple of weeks ago about staying on here for another ten days after our original April 1 departure date. He told me not to worry about it or paying for it until the 1st as the Park would be emptying out and it wouldn't be an issue. So we stopped by again the first part of the week to pay for the extra days. Ron had trouble with the computer and told us to stop by later when things were working correctly and pay him.

Then on Tuesday when we were on our way to town, Ron called and said there was a problem. It seems that Sandy, the other office person, had rented our space starting on the first for some people who were planning to stay for a year! He hadn't told her we were planning to stay -- and she hadn't told him she had rented the space. And that's why the computer was giving him trouble when he tried to extend our stay.

After we talked it over and looked at various travel options, we decided we would go ahead and stay here the extra ten days, even if we had to move. We went over to the office today and Ron found us a fairly decent site on the other side of the park. I'm not real happy about it and I suppose we could have a fit about it, but things happen. We'll most likely start putting stuff away gradually and take the canopy down, but not set it up at the new site.

Our Last Day at Spring Training

Yesterday the Mariners played the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The town is proud that the Rangers and the Kansas City Royals call Surprise home. These banners cheering on both teams line the streets on the way to the ball field.

 We had good seats, about eight rows up and just behind home plate in the midst of a bunch of Mariners fans. That's my favorite guy, Justin Smoak, up at bat, batting left-handed today. I took this just before he hit a home run!

Though it's one of the older parks, Surprise Stadium is really nice. There is no charge for parking and all of the workers in the stands are volunteers from the community.

He looks pretty somber, but he was actually quite happy as Four Peaks Kiltlifter was on-tap at the park --

It wasn't a sell-out crowd (7621), but the game was well attended. The Mariners struck first with Smoak's 2-run homer, but the Rangers ended up winning 5-3.

It's always hard to tell what it's going to be like in the regular season as many of the players start having substitutes as early as the 2nd or 3rd inning. The Mariners usually waited until the fourth, but you can tell they are anxious to let many of the young guys have a chance to strut their stuff. Erasmo Ramirez pitched  a solid five innings and we heard later that he will be second in the pitching rotation behind Hernandez.

It's hard to see Spring Training come to an end. The Mariners have two more games this week before they head to Anaheim on Saturday. We've made an effort to see most of the ballparks in the Cactus League this spring. We didn't get to the stadium in Maryvale nor the Municipal one in Phoenix (which will no longer host a Cactus League team, but will instead host one of the Arizona colleges.).

There was a wide variation in prices. I think we paid twelve dollars for the cheapest and twenty-eight dollars for the highest. I'm not sure which park is the favorite, but the newly remodeled Peoria and Salt River are definitely near the top of the list.

Short Blog Tonight

It was a long day with a good game. More tomorrow!

Inverter Problems and Funny Weather?

Not sure what was going on today. We were up early as the repair guy from Gene's RV and AC Repair called and asked if it was okay if he came this morning instead of this afternoon. It was a gorgeous warm clear blue sky morning.

Our inverter* had quit working just before we arrived at Eagle View RV Resort last October. We haven't done anything about it as we have been on shore power and didn't need it. But since winter is officially over and we will be leaving here in a couple of weeks, we thought we'd best get it tended to. The inverter had originally kicked out when Forry started to bring up the jacks without bringing in the slides first. I stopped him - as we usually do the slides first and then the jacks. Evidently stopping the process midway kicked out a switch on the inverter.

The repair fellow who was here was very cautious checking out the electrical system. He cleaned off the top of the inverter box in one of the back bays and then pressed a reset button for the system. That didn't do it, so next he tried the inverter reset, and VIOLA! we had power without being hooked up to shore power -- and the "fault" light went off on the inverter panel inside the coach. The nicest thing about the whole situation was  the bill for $151.00 when I had been expecting to have to replace the inverter at $3000+ !

By the time the repair guy left a little before noon, you could see cumulonimbus clouds building behind the line of mountains to the south. As we watched them, some of them 'anvilled" out. Later, a skiff of clouds came across the campground. Then we watched more cumulonimbus clouds build over on the northern hills!

About four o'clock both of our phones went off with active weather warnings -- they were warning of a severe dust storm that was supposed to hit about 5 PM. It stated DO NOT DRIVE! We had gone over the the office to extend our stay until the tenth of April and we could see the dust over the southern hills. It was coming our way fast! I had laundry hanging outside, so we hurried back so that I could bring it in AND to bring the awning in before the storm hit.

It was a bit of an anti-climax when it finally arrived. It had pretty well dissipated by the time it hit the RV Park. We got a few gusts of wind and then all was quiet again -- and the sky was blue.

*Inverters are used to provide 120 volt electrical power to an RV from the batteries when the unit is not connected to outside power.

Selfies?

I'm not sure if it's we're just too old or we haven't quite figured it out yet, but the "selfies" we took at the ball game the other day just didn't come out that great... I guess we needed Granddaughter Havela to help!

The second one we tried was a little better, but that guy behind us now looks like he's growing out of my head!

I guess there's a good reason that there are not a lot of pictures of me on the blog. I do much better behind the camera than in front of it!

It was another warm, sunny day today. I did a couple loads of laundry and Forry emptied both the gray and black water tanks. I came up blank when I was trying to think of what to fix for supper, so I scrounged through the freezer and the refrigerator. Finally found a package of bacon (which was no comparison to that which we get at the Mennonite Auction!), some eggs and a couple of bagels that needed to be eaten.

Dinner actually turned out pretty well. I finished off a carton of cream cheese I found in the frig and topped it off with raspberry jam on the toasted bagels. With the bacon and eggs it was that breakfast supper that always tastes so good.

The Gila Woodpeckers Are Back

It had been quiet at the bird feeder lately. The hummingbirds make a bit of noise with the whirring of their wings and low-pitched chirps, but overall we don't hear them unless we are outside.

Last evening we heard some shrill cries that we haven't heard for a month or so. When I looked out the window I saw the female Gila Woodpecker sitting by the feeder calling for her mate. It wasn't long before he showed up as well (he's the one with the red spot on his head). The feeder was almost empty when they came with only about a half inch of sugar water left.

By the time they left, you couldn't see any liquid in the bottom at all...

Forry brought the feeders in this morning and I scrubbed and refilled them. I haven't seen anything but the hummingbirds using them today. Maybe the Gilas were just passing through.

We watched a lot of bull-riding today. CBS Sports replayed last night's coverage, then moved right into Sunday's Day 3 event in the Pit at Albuquerque. Bushwacker (the bull) is making his Farewell Retirement Tour and did his usual quick job of disposing of his rider. He is an amazing athlete!

It's half-time of the Gonzaga/Arizona game at the NCAA March Madness tournament. Right now, it doesn't look very good. Gonzaga is down by 15 points... ;-(

Back to Salt River Fields

We've been to so many ball parks this Spring. We couldn't remember how long it took to get to Salt River Fields, so we left at eleven and were here pretty early. In fact, so early that the ground crew was still mowing the field! It's fun to watch how their mower has both blades and rollers so that they can lay down all those fancy stripes you see. It was early enough that the paint crew still had to paint the batting boxes and the first and third base lines. They have forms for the boxes and use cans of white spray paint.

The Mariners had a split squad today. They played the Colorado Rockies here at Salt River Fields while another portion of the squad played the Oakland A's at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. This was
the last game at the Muni as the A's will be moving next Spring to Hohokum Park in Mesa. Neither portion of the Mariners fared well today. The Rockies came back with a run in the ninth to win that game 4-3 and the A's took their contest 6-5.

This is a shot of the center field area between the grassy areas. They have planted it with beautiful saguaros and other cacti. Can you visualize what it will look like in several more years. Forgive the grid -- we were sitting behind the home plate screen. Great seats!

What a Difference a Day Makes

We are watching the Mariners game on ROOT Sports NW tonight. They are playing the Padres at the home field, Peoria, of both teams (they share the facility). The Padres at this point -- the 6th inning -- are cleaning house on the Mariners. The score is 6-2 and it looks like it is going to get worse. Okay, it's Spring Training and you never know. But right now, it doesn't look good.

What a contrast to yesterday's 3-0 shutout game against the Cubs. We have tickets for the Mariners game with the Colorado Rockies tomorrow. Maybe they'll do better when we're in house to cheer them on...

Earlier this afternoon we watched our first of the NCAA March Madness games as our home town Gonzaga University of Spokane was playing heavily favored Oklahoma. I haven't watched a college game for quite awhile and I was quite taken aback by all of the whistles. I think the final count was something like 56 fouls called during the game. Most were for something they are calling "hand pushing." supposedly designed to give the offense an advantage. It sure seemed to me that it disrupted the flow of the game immensely. It wasn't a very fun game to watch, even though Gonzaga won.

It was another beautiful WARM day in Arizona today. If it gets too much warmer, we'll have to start thinking about turning on the air conditioners. I really don't like AC. I much prefer open windows with the fans on. There's usually enough of a breeze to keep comfortable.

Cubs Park

We've been waiting all season for the game at Cubs Park, the newest ballpark in the Cactus League system. There has been a great deal of publicity about it in the newspaper and on Facebook. The park is only about sixteen miles from Eagle View RV Park and is on the border of Mesa and Tempe. It's actually where Loop 101 and Loop 202 intersect on the site of the old Riverview Golf Course.

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We parked on a grass field just behind the Center Field Gate. It was a l - o - n - g walk around the park to our seats on the other side of the outfield (we should have gone left instead of right when we entered) .

This is Erasmo Ramirez warming up. He is trying to crack the starting pitching rotation. He pitched 6 scoreless innings to lead the Mariners to a 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.

This is a shot of the Mariners crew just messing around with their warmups before the game. That's Cano (22) on the left, the heavily-bearded one is Dustin Ackley, and Justin Smoak (17) is on the right.

They were announcing that the game was a sell-out on signs as we approached on the highway. I guess they are trying to discourage people without tickets from proceeding...

This picture is of the grass seating on either side. The crowd was announced at 15,243, a new record.

 

 
This is where we were sitting. It's a long way to the infield and you really had to focus to keep track of what was happening. The rail for me was right at eye level and I had to peer under or over that top rail to see the scoreboard or what was happening in the outfield. The Cub organization brags that there is not a bad seat in the house -- the people around us definitely did not agree!

There was a light cirrus cloud cover overhead most of the day. The temperature was 78 degrees at game time, so the cloud cover was very welcome.

Shopping Expedition

We bit the bullet this afternoon and went out to do our shopping. Our first stop was at the Costco store on Hayden Avenue in Scottsdale. We've been there before, so have figured out the best way to get into the parking lot. It's a busy store, even mid-week like this.

I had a fairly short list, mostly for vitamins, so we didn't stay long. I always stop and check the men's shirts on the off chance they might have knit shirts with pockets for Forry. Today they did and I found an electric blue shirt for him that will make his eyes pop.

From Costco, we backtracked to Fountain Hills and went to Safeway. That was a longer excursion. We usually try to pick up groceries for a couple of weeks at a time -- mainly because I hate to shop -- and dislike putting groceries even more. When I was a kid, the grocers in our little town of Ritzville still delivered. Mom would call the store and a couple of hours later someone -- often the owner himself -- from the grocery store would be at the back door with a box of groceries.

Later, by the time we had moved to the ranch and as soon as Sister Sherry and I were old enough to drive. we were given the grocery buying chores. Even though my mother didn't like to shop herself, it didn't stop her from being extremely critical of what I bought. Hmm, I wonder if that's why I don't find shopping enjoyable?

We were trying to decide what to have for dinner tonight. Forry is never very creative about food decisions and his usual response to what he'd like is something "whatever you fix is fine." For some reason tonight, I tossed out the idea of grilled cheese sandwiches. That's something I haven't made since we've been in the RV. They turned out to be really good!

Another Day of Rest

We seriously thought about going to the grocery store today and we also are due to make a Costco run, but we decided that we could survive another day without it. Neither one of us has a great deal of energy, so we spent another day being extremely lazy.

I did wash the sheets today and hung them out to dry, but haven't put them back on the bed yet. There was just enough of a breeze to dry them quickly. In spite of the rain a couple of weeks ago, it has gotten pretty dusty again.

All of a sudden, there are a lot of kids in the park. We went all winter without having any little ones around, now there are lots. You have to really watch out as they are out on scooters, bikes and just running. There are a couple of families just down the row from us.

Definitely a Rest Day

Today was definitely a rest day. We got up fairly late and really didn't do much of anything. Well, that's not exactly true. I finally caught Sister Sherry indoors and had a nice chat with her. Forry and I spent a bit of time checking out the Xantrex inverter control panel, but all we could come up with was Error Code F023. (The inverter stopped working last fall just before we got here, but since we've been hooked up to shore power, it really didn't matter.) Now that we are beginning to think about our travels back to the Northwest in another month, it's time to get it fixed.

Forry did go over to the office and checked with them about someone in the area that they might recommend to work on it and got a couple of leads. He'll check them out tomorrow.

This is a picture I took yesterday with my cell phone at the grand entrance to the Tempe Diablo Stadium.

It's an interesting older stadium built in the middle of town. It is comparatively small compared to some of the newer ballparks, but it is gorgeous in its own way.

First the Airport, then Tempe Diablo Stadium

My, oh my, 3 AM is EARLY! We were out the door and heading for the airport by 3:15, only to discover that the built-in GPS in the Suzuki was NOT working. No matter what I did, the screen remained dark! I quickly went back into the RV and grabbed the big Magellen unit off of the dash and off we went again. It was awkward to use as it is too big for the dash, but it got the job done and we made it to Terminal 2 at Skyways International Airport in good time.

Granddaughter Havela took her bag and her backpack and disappeared into the terminal. It was sad to see her leave, but it's been a wonderful week. We are so happy that she was able to spend her Spring Break with us in Arizona before she went back to the snow in Hesston, Kansas and the last semester of her freshman year. Forry took the wheel and we headed back to Eagle View RV Park and immediately back to bed!

We were up again by ten, eating breakfast and getting our stuff together to head for Tempe Diablo Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Los Angeles Angels. The first place we attempted to park was full by the time we got to the parking area, so we were told to make a U-turn and head back down the street. It looked like it was going to be a long walk from the dirt lot we were directed to, but there were two-person pedicabs giving rides to the stadium.

We had good seats behind the third base dugout, but definitely in the sun. It was a very warm day! The Mariners won a hard fought game 5-3. The Angels used some of their best players, but the boys won through. It was another sold-out game. The stadium is smaller than some of the others with the total crowd being only 9628. The seats were really close together -- you had to stand up in order to let anyone else pass as your knees were touching the seat back in front of you. We took the same pedicab back to the parking lot and came home in time for another nap!

Nineteen Today!

Granddaughter Havela had a fairly quiet 19th birthday today. We went for a swim late this afternoon; sat in the hot tub a bit; and took a walk around to where the roadrunner is nesting in the saguaro cactus and spotted her still patiently sitting there. Havela had a long telephone chat with her mother this morning. I downloaded and printed her boarding passes for tomorrow and that was about it.

This evening we headed over to Waldo's in Mesa. We haven't been there for barbeque at all this year, so a visit was long overdue. Forry and Havela each enjoyed a half rack of spare ribs while I settled for a pulled pork sandwich -- so good!

We are going to have to get up and going early as Havela's flight back to Kansas and school boards at 5:08 tomorrow morning! It's going to be an early-to-bed night for all of us!

Friends

Our friend Colleen send me a message that they were going to be setting up their Recycled Spoon booth at Frontier Town in Cave Creek this weekend and wanted to know if we wanted to meet for dinner one of the nights. We really like the drive from Eagle View to Cave Creek -- they call it the Arizona Desert Scenic Highway -- so we were glad to drive over to join them this afternoon.

Besides, I thought it would give Granddaughter Havela a chance to do some shopping and maybe find something for a birthday gift for her. It was cloudy and the closer we got to Cave Creek, the darker the clouds got. We even had some drops of rain on the windshield. It was a small fair with maybe only a dozen or so vendors. Some of them were buttoning up when we arrived due to the rain drops, but the storm blew on by and the sun came out -- and so did the vendors.

Dennis and Colleen said they had done well before we arrived (which meant they had sold enough to be in the black, having earned enough to pay the booth fee and their motel). Then Forry found a bracelet he really liked (what's with him and bracelets lately?)
 

 and Havela found a sterling ring that had her name on it.

Havela and I walked around the booths and she was able to find a couple of items for her Sister Kyra's birthday present. There wasn't a whole lot of booths, but I did manage to find a pair of earrings that called out to me.

Friday night in Cave Creek is wild. We went to a steak place called Harold's Cave Creek Corral for dinner. The parking lot, although huge, was pretty full. There was a fellow on horseback who was directing cars and getting them parked. Luckily for us, Colleen and Dennis had gotten there first and had a table for us. Forry had his usual hamburger and I had a 1/2 rack of spare ribs, but Havela had a 22 ounce bone-in rib steak and ate every bit of it! My granddaughter is most definitely a carnivore, but I don't know where she puts it in that tiny body of hers!

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick

Another day, another ball park. This time the Mariners were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. We have been at this park before -- it's a beautiful one.

Talking Stick is the Spring Training facility for the Arizona Diamondbacks as well as the Colorado Rockies.

It was a good game. The Mariners started off with Endy Chavez's walk which he turned into two more bases with his stealing proclivities. He ended up coming home on Rob Cano's sacrifice. The second inning saw three more runs.

We got an extra ticket when we knew Granddaughter Havela was coming, so Forry didn't get to sit with us. He brought his walker and was one section over from us in the "assisted" section. I brought him a beer, then later Havela did the hot dog run.

The xeroscaping at Salt River has come a long way since we were here last year. It's a great example of what can be done with small amounts of water.

Spring baseball is doing well in the Valley. Today's game was another sell-out with 12,611 in attendance. And of course, having the Mariners win 6-3 made the day even better!

Toes!

We were going to go grocery shopping yesterday after we ate dinner, but decided we would save it for another day. I have been needing a pedicure for quite some time and Granddaughter Havela said she had only had one once. So we decided that she and I would head into Fountain Hills and get that taken care of...



I called Sofrita's (where we ate last night) to find out the name of the nail place that was right next door to them. Then I called Newly Nails and made an appointment for the two of us at 2:45 this afternoon. Like every other nail salon I've seen across the country, this one was run by a Vietnamese couple. According to an article I recently read in the Washington Post, the Vietnamese seem to have found their niche in the nail business. Havela picked out an almost black blue, while I settled on a purple --

From the nail shop we went to Safeway. We picked up a few groceries, stopped by Starbucks, then headed back to Eagle View RV Resort. I stuck a rack of ribs and a couple of sweet potatoes in the oven. Now it's time to settle in and watch Nashville on TV.

A Hair Cut and Dinner

Granddaughter Havela wanted her hair trimmed -- she needed her split ends cut off. We went into Fountain Hills and took her to a Fantastic Sam's. While she was there, Forry and I went to an auto supply store and got him a new battery filler. His had given up the ghost when he went to use it this afternoon.

Daughter Mary Mae had given us gift cards for Sofrita's for Christmas, so we went there for dinner. Havela and I split a pork pernil (a 12 hour roasted pork shoulder)  while Forry had the shrimp street tacos. The food was good, but the services was s - l - o - w.

They were short of servers tonight, and it showed. The pork dish was very juicy in a thin tomato sauce served with corn tortillas. It was extremely tender and more than enough for two people. Forry's three shrimp tacos must have been very good as he made no effort to share them!

Pool Time

I think we were all extremely tired this  morning. None of us were awake before eleven! I had gone to bed early - for me - last night, so I guess I slept around the clock. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny, hot day. We had pulled the awning in yesterday due to the wind, so the living room was quite warm this morning when we finally got up.

I took my cup of coffee and went outside with the newspaper while Forry and Granddaughter Havela got their own breakfasts. Forry even brought me out a breakfast sandwich (I didn't think I was that cranky, but I didn't turn it down...). Havela came out and sat with me for a while and worked on her homework. We were watching the hummingbirds coming into eat, then spotted a roadrunner on the other side of the fence. It had a big bug in its mouth. I wonder if it was taking it down to the roadrunner we've been watching in her cactus nest down the line?

Later this afternoon, Havela and I went over to the pool and swam and sun-bathed for a while. There was a pretty steady parade of people in and out of the pool. Most of them would lie on the lounges for a short while, then head out. The sun was just too intense for many of them.

Tonight was t-bone steaks for my granddaughter. She just loves them. I had to chat with the butcher at Safeway in order to get a couple -- they just don't put out bone-in steaks much anymore. Some baked potatoes and peas made for a feast.

PBR in Phoenix!

The Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series was in Phoenix at the US Airways Center downtown. I had gotten tickets for Forry and I last month, so when we found out Granddaughter Havela was going to be here, I went online and got another ticket. The closest I could get for the new ticket was two rows away in Row 8, so we let Forry sit there and Havela and I sat in Row 10.

We had really good tickets, not that far away from the chutes. Except for the guy in front of us with the big black hat that he never took off, we had a good view of the action.

It was a fun-filled afternoon of bull-riding. It was especially so when we got to see the 2013 PBR Champion JB Mauney win! I had printed off a copy of the Day Sheet from the PBR website this morning, so Havela was giving me a bad time about keeping statistics again. But, just like at the ball games, after a while the fellow next to us kept borrowing my sheet so that he could see what the scoring was!

It was sort of fun to come home and watch the Bull Riding in Phoenix on TV. You get an entirely different perspective than you do at the arena. It's interesting to compare how they edit the finals so that the riders come right one after the other. In actuality, the time span is longer and the clown entertains the crowd in between.

Scottsdale Stadium -- and the Airport!

Scottsdale Stadium is the home of the San Francisco Giants. Located right in the midst of downtown Scottsdale (close to Old Town), the stadium has a very intimate feel. I could not get any tickets other than in the bleachers a month ahead of time. There was actually a sell-out crowd today of more than 12,000. We went early to make sure we could park close, but there is no stadium parking for the public. Instead you are directed to a free public parking garage about two blocks away.

The only seats we were able to get at this stadium were in the bleachers (they have a very loyal season ticket holder base), but at least they were up on top where we at least lean on the back fence... This is what it looked like when we arrived, but the empty seats didn't last long...

The stadium was packed, but I think a good part of the crowd -- at least where we were sitting -- was there to party, not to watch the game. There was a group of fourteen guys a couple rows ahead of us, all in matching green shirts. Turns out they were part of a Bachelor Party and had flown into Phoenix for the weekend from New York!

These next two pictures are of the grassy areas (the cheap seats, comparatively anyway) that were packed solid with people sitting on the grass.

The San Francisco Giants were not real happy -- the game turned out to be a blow-out win by the Mariners 16-3. And most of the Mariners were our second squad!

We had to leave the game at the end of the 8th inning in order to get over to the airport by 4:30. It turned out that Granddaughter Havela's plane arrived a bit early (they had a tail-wind from Minneapolis.) and she was on her way downstairs when we got there. She was hungry, so we headed over to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Tia Rosa's for dinner.

 

We were appalled to find out when we got there that they had had a fire last Sunday and were closed "for investigation." We ended up going to their second restaurant over in Gilbert. We had almost an hour wait, but the food was great.

A Very Busy Day

I didn't realize it until I sat down this evening to write that I hadn't left the motor home all day! I wasn't moving too fast this morning as I hadn't slept real well. The long walk yesterday made for leg cramps during the night. But once I got going, I managed to get a lot done. I started in the bathroom. It's been a while since I cleaned off the counter. I don't know where all the stuff comes from that stacks up there. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that neither one of us is very good at putting things back when we get done using them?

From the bathroom I moved on to the kitchen. There is a counter next to stove that has our Keurig coffee maker and our Foreman grill. Neither one of them had been moved for a while. That's one of the problems with staying in one place rather than moving every other day or so. Things tend to stay put. I spent some time not only cleaning the counter, but since I had moved off the coffee maker and the grill in order to do it, it made sense to clean them as well.

Next it was the stove top. The gas burners weren't too bad as they tend to get wiped down on a pretty regular basis when I do the dishes. The other counter on the left of the sink has the dishwasher and a small space where the toaster and some of the canisters are. That section of the kitchen went fast. It was definitely time for feet up and a can of lemonade!

I did whine on Facebook about the broken promises of the fifties. I can remember all of the talk of the future at the Seattle World's Fair. How we would have robots by the Year 2000 that would do all of the cleaning for us. A couple of people reminded me that there are floor cleaning robots out there that guide themselves around. I'm not sure how well one of them would work in the confined space of the RV? But somebody still has to pick up and sort through and throw or put away. It really doesn't take too long to thoroughly clean Auntie Violet, but it's definitely not my favorite way to spend a day.

Camelback Ranch Glendale Ballpark

It was another long drive today. The ballpark at Camelback Ranch in Glendale is as far west as the Goodyear Park we went to last Sunday, only further to the north. It is a beautiful park, but it has a shitty parking setup.

It may have been that the parking attendant who should have been at the entry had stepped away for some reason and put up a barricade at his entry, but we found out later we wouldn't have had to park as far away as we were sent. There is a parking area on the far side of the park, behind center field. We parked there and then had to walk all the way around the park from the Center Field Entrance. It's not a direct route either. The path takes you past the practice fields, the batting cages and the practice pitching mounds. It's sort of interesting, but it's a long walk!

Our seats were way across the field, just 8 rows behind the dugout on the first base side. Sweet!

The Mariners were playing the White Sox today with their second squad. They did a really nice job, ending up winning 6-4. It was a perfect day for baseball. 77 degrees at game time with a light overcast. I think this ballpark is the prettiest one we've been at so far.

I'm not sure what some people think. Or maybe they don't think at all! There was a woman sitting in front of us with her adult son and his girlfriend. The girlfriend's nose was running constantly and she kept tossing her soiled tissues on the ground. THEN, she commented to the woman that she had thought she had a cold, but went to an Urgent Care Center this morning and was given Tamiflu for her flu! She said she had taken a pill before the game, so she was sure she wasn't contagious...! If we get sick, I am going to be so MAD! We quickly moved to some empty seats across the aisle, but by the time she made her little confession, the game was half over.

We stopped by the shopping strip mall on our way home and ordered pizza at a place called New York First Night. We had thought we'd get salads to go with a small pizza, but the salads were huge! Neither one of us could finish them and we didn't eat all of the pizza either. Don't think we'll go there again.

Stocking Up

Not sure what was going on this morning. I got up, walked out to the front room, laid down on the couch and slept for another two hours! Forry said he tip-toed around trying to keep from waking me up for an awfully long time...

But, once I was once again awake, I did get a few things done. The hummingbirds had drained all of the feeders, so they had to be scrubbed out and refilled. I started the laundry and hung three loads outside to dry. It's so nice when the first load is dry by the time the third one is done.

We headed into Fountain Hills in the late afternoon to stock up on groceries. I should have texted Granddaughter Havela before we left to find out what she was hungry for. I did buy her some Dr. Pepper, but I'm not sure whether she's the one who likes it or her mother is. I did stock up on Hershey bars for her.

We drove back to Eagle View, watching the sun set as we went.

But, darn! No one had showed up to put my groceries away for me...

Cleaning Up

The sun was out today. The clouds were gone. We spent some time putting our "outdoor living space" back together. We had lowered the canopy to its lowest level and folded up the chairs, loungers and tables and laid them under the canopy. It actually weathered the storm and the rain pretty well. But there was a great deal of small debris on both of the rugs. We picked them both up and shook them out, then laid them back down. I still need to go out and wipe the dirt off the tables (there was a lot of dust in that first rain.)

I was not wanting to walk today, but Forry rode the trike over to the office to check for mail, so I figured I'd better get my exercise in as well. I walked the outside perimeter of the RV park going outside the fence along the road. When I got to the end, I decided I might as well walk on around to the back side by the river as well. I was not real impressed by the garbage on the north edge of the park. I don't know whether the rigs on that side of the park are especially tacky or whether the wind had blown trash outside.

The east side of the park is on the Verde River side of the park and is bounded by a split rail fence (unlike the metal rebar fence on the road side). It's a nice walk around that side, though it's very rough ground. It's quite evident that the Open Space horses and cows frequent that area. You really can't see the actual river. The water level is low and the river bed sprawls widely. The banks have been undercut over the years and there are caution warning signs all over. I saw quite a few birds. We will have a space on that side of the park next year. I think it's going to be nice.

I reached the far end of the fence and figured I could walk around the south side and then back to the RV via the road. But, evidently no one walks that way. The brush was way too thick and had so much cacti interspersed that it would have not been a great idea -- especially in shorts! So I walked back down the fence until I found a spot about halfway back that I could crawl through, then cut through the park to Auntie Violet.

Monday Again

It is amazing how quickly a week goes by. I think I've told it before how my Mother-in-law always talked about how every year the days, weeks and months went by faster and faster. I always chuckled when she said that. Now I know what she meant. She always wondered about that "old lady" she kept seeing in the mirror as well. I know now what she meant about that too.

Today was a rest-up down day. We were both tired after our busy day yesterday, but Forry seems to have gotten his second wind. He was up and out early taking the garbage out and draining the black and gray tanks. He even vacuumed this afternoon!,

On the other hand, I have a singular lack of ambition. The most I did today was take the response letter about the Menno Church addition proposal over to the office to be mailed. (After what seems like YEARS of talking, there are finally hard plans to add on an addition with a real kitchen and accessible restrooms.) I walked back through the desert area behind the office area and saw that the Roadrunner -- I presume the female -- was still firmly sitting in her nest in the saguaro. After all the rain and wind we've had the last few days, I was glad to see she was okay.

It seems strange to look around the RV park and see it almost full again. It emptied out like crazy on the 28th and the 1st. I think for a lot of snowbirds, the first of March was their time to head back north. I don't know though, it's still awfully cold up there! But, for some reason, there are lots of people moving in. I don't know whether they had been somewhere further south and are now gradually heading north or ?

Goodyear Ballpark

It's a long way from Fort McDowell to Goodyear, Arizona. We figured it would take us two hours to go the 42 miles from our RV Park to the Mariners game at Goodyear Ballpark. As we got closer to the turn to Goodyear, we started to see all kinds of airplane tails sticking up in the distance. It is a VERY strange sight to see.

This is one of the airplane "boneyards" that we have all heard or read about. The Goodyear Airport is home to thousands of outdated aircraft that have been parked in the (usually) dry desert air to await either recall or use as parts or?

Within sight of the aircraft is the Goodyear Ballpark. Built only six years ago by the City of Goodyear, it is a gem in the desert. It is home to both the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians.

I usually like to get tickets on the First Base side of the field, but there were no tickets available on that side (sold evidently to season tickets holders), so we ended up behind the third base dugout amongst a whole crew of Mariner fans.

It was still a bit damp from all the rain yesterday, especially for those folks sitting out on the grass beams. We were each given a nice fleece Spring Training blanket as we entered as the Park's Opening Day giveaways --

The rain had been pretty hard on the Ballpark's designs. A crew was still working on touching up the paint on the grass when we arrived (It hadn't taken nearly as long as we had thought.)

The first crew of the Mariners did well. Dustin Ackley hit a home run and they left with the score 3-0.

Unfortunately, the second crew couldn't hold on and the final score was 6-3 Indians. It was good to see Randy Wolf pitch 2 scoreless innings, his first after the successful TommyJohn surgery on his elbow.

We made it home in time to watch the last half of the Iron Man Bull Riding competition. It was a very good day!