Thursday, March 31, 2016

Packing...

We will be moving tomorrow. Not very far, just across the road and down a couple of sites. We paid for another week. Hopefully, by that time, the weather on our way north will be a bit nicer.

Forry started packing up a couple of the outside chairs. He called me to come help him put them in the bags. Before we were finished, the neighbor was even over helping. With Jeff's help, we flipped them over and got them in the bags. We'll just carry the other two chairs over to the new site in the morning. We folded up the big outside rug and Forry stashed it in the back of the truck. The silver plate wind chimes and the metal birds joined it in the rig.

Tomorrow we'll have to remove the props under the passenger side slide; pull in the slides and drive over and back into the new site. I think we'll probably not worry about emptying the tanks until later in the week.

I did a few loads of laundry this afternoon. We had a container of ham and bean soup that Neighbor Mike brought over that Patti had made from a ham he smoked. It sure was good - and I didn't have to cook supper!

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Toes and Eyebrows

I wanted make one more trip to Fountain Hills Nails before we left the area to head north. My purple toenails were looking a bit sad and chipped. I made an appointment for one o'clock figuring that we would be back before Andrew and the boys got here to give Auntie Violet her bath. I called Andrew to let him know that we had closed all the windows and vents in case in case they got here before we got back. Turns out they probably wouldn't get to it until tomorrow anyway the ways things were going...

The Fountain Hills Nails shop is run by a large Vietnamese family. I went there the first time with my friend Colleen and have been there a couple more times since. I'm not sure how many people are involved, but I counted eight of them working today. And I didn't see a couple that I remembered from before. They are all beautiful, bi-lingual hard-working women who do a lovely job.

I went from a deep purple to pale lavender toenails today. Hopefully, that and my tidy eyebrows will last me for a several weeks.

We stopped by the office when we got back to Eagle View to pick up the box of mail from Daughter MM and to see if it would be possible for us to stay an extra week or so. We were planning to leave on the first, but the weather on our route north has been nasty with lots of wind predicted. We'll have to move over a few sites, but that will work for us.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

We Couldn't See the Mountains

It was grey and gloomy this morning - you couldn't see Four Peaks nor any of the other hills and mountains on the other side of the valley. The wind was still gusting and the sky was overcast. There was a lot of dust in the air and there were even a few rain drops in the mix. I gave Andrew and his crew a call and we decided to postpone Auntie Violet's bath for another day.

And wouldn't you know it, as the day went by the clouds, the fog\smog, the dust cleared away and we ended up with a nice, though chilly late afternoon. Oh well, they'll maybe get to it tomorrow afternoon late or else on Thursday.

It was a good chilly day to clean out the fridge and make stew. I found a bottle of nice Merlot when we were re-arranging stuff in the bathroom cupboard, so I had a good base. I found a package of stew meat in the freezer, thawed and browned it, then added carrots, an onion, some baby Yukon Gold potatoes and a sweet potato. It simmered all afternoon and we had good eats!

Monday, March 28, 2016

WInd!

It wasn't too bad early this morning, just breezy. As the day went on, it went to down right gusty. It was overcast early on and we had a variety of clouds all day. It's still blowing tonight.

Forry wasn't up for going to Peoria today to watch the Mariners, so we stayed here and watched the game on TV. After the game, we went for a walk down the fence. There's a great deal of dust in the air and it wasn't the pleasantest walk we've had. The grass on the other side of the fence has gotten sere and brown and we haven't seen any of the livestock lately.

The boys are supposed to come tomorrow afternoon to wash Auntie Violet and Toad II, so Forry took the wheel covers off and we packed them up and put them away. We'll fold the seats up in Toad II afterwards and pack the rest of the outside stuff away.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

A Long Day

We are still dealing with these nasty colds. It's not as bad as early in the week, but the cough keeps hanging on. Other than emptying the tanks early this morning I haven't done much. Again, like yesterday, Forry has napped most of the day.

We had tickets for this afternoon's Mariners game, but watched it on TV instead. I am hoping we will finally get over it!

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Grocery Run

We are about the same today. Some energy, but still fighting the cough. Forry wanted to go hunting again for oil, but I said I was only up for one trip, so getting groceries won. We drove in to Safeway, but took a small load of stuff to Goodwill. It is right beside the Safeway store, though the drop-off area is in the back. I had some clothes in the back of my closet that haven't seen the light of day for at least three years along with a coffee maker. We are down to less than two weeks before we start gradually heading north, so I am beginning to pack up.

Chatted with the neighbor today about their new puppy that we've been calling "Almost a Dog" as we've watched them walking it. It's supposed to be a Schnauser puppy, but it's really a tiny thing. She said it was eight weeks old and is supposed to become about ten pounds. It's got a long way to go!

I also talked with Andrew of ANS Detailing this morning about getting Auntie Violet and Toad II washed. We had them waxed last fall when we arrived, so they just need a bath. They've collected a lot of dust this winter. Looks like they'll be able to get it done early next week.


Wednesday, March 23, 2016

A Much Better Day

We are still not well, but we're sure a whole lot better. I woke up this morning with enough energy to put a load of clothes in the washer. I think I was up for almost an hour before I had my first fit of coughing. I ended up getting two more loads of laundry done while Forry felt ambitious enough to take the garbage out to the edge of the road for pickup.

We were planning to make a trip to Costco as we have had two dividend checks sitting on my desk that need to be cashed. But Forry checked the oil in Toad II before we left and discovered it was low. He thought he had some of his Schaeffer Oil in the lower bins, but not so. I checked for dealers on my iPad, found a dealer near Deer Valley and we headed over. Hindsight says we should have done some walking on the telephone first as it turns how the place we found no longer carried it. We found another place; called them; they had some, but were way on the other side of town, over an hour's drive away. By that time, it was already almost five pm, so we decided to give it up for today and headed home.

We stopped at Denny's on the way home so that I wouldn't have to cook. We even shared a banana split for dessert and still got home in time to watch the Mariners on TV.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

A Better Day?

I thought today was going to be another miserable one as that's the way it started out. But as the day went on, I actually started feeling better. I'm hoping that this will be the end of it. It's been a long week.

We laid low again today just resting. We visited by phone with Granddaughter Havelita and our Baby Kahlyn who turned 8 months old today. She's getting to be quite the chatterbox, giving her Mommy competition on the phone. We will see her in June when they come to Oregon for Granddaughter Kyra's graduation - I can hardly wait!

Talked with Sister Sherry later. She said it was very windy there after getting a half inch of rain last night. It got very windy here today as well. Only we've had no recent rain, so it was also very dusty. I guess it was bad enough in Utah they closed I-40 for a while.

I actually felt good enough this evening to make some stuffed peppers for supper. With the rice in the ground beef mixture, we used to call them porcupines.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Enough!

Whoever  is in charge of colds needs to take note: I have had enough already! Today was about as miserable a day as I've had in a long time. Between the running nose and the cough, it was awful. Even with cough medicine and anti-histamine, the cold was winning hands down!

We considered a trip to Costco to cash a couple of dividend checks and get another case of water, but it seemed like too much of an effort, so I took a nap instead.  I'm hoping that today's total rest will result in well people tomorrow.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Whining...

I am whinny today. I am crabby and very tired of this snotty nose and cough! I'm tired of missing baseball games - and of feeling miserable enough that I don't really care. Of not having enough energy to get anything done. Enough all ready!

I shouldn't complain too much as we've been relatively healthy this winter and this is the first cold we've had for more than a year...

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Darn Colds!

I mistakenly thought that we were on the downhill slide with these colds, but today was tough. My cough sounds more like a bark. Forry thinks he's feeling better, but if he says more than two sentences, he sounds really hoarse. (It was good that Gonzaga got and kept a good lead tonight so that he didn't have to do a whole lot of hollering!)

Not liking to drive at night any more than necessary, we decided we wouldn't go to the Mariners/Diamondback game tonight. I don't think we were feeling good enough to go anyway... And I sure wouldn't want to pass these colds on to anyone else.

I did take care of  some birthdays today. March is a busy month for our family. Granddaughter Havela turned twenty-one last week; Granddaughter Kyra will be eighteen in a few days; and Sister Dena has a birthday the end of the month. With our mobile lifestyle, I really appreciate the handiness of using the Send Out Cards app.


Friday, March 18, 2016

Recuperating?

We did our best today to lay low and try to shake these stupid colds. Forry is not nearly as hoarse as he was yesterday, so that gives me hope.

He walked over to the office to get the mail, then called me as he came back to come and help him carry it. There was a package of meds from the Group Health Pharmacy plus a couple of heavy boxes from Simply Human. I had ordered a supply of plastic bags for the garbage can in the kitchen in order  to stock up for when we don't have a local address.

I need to reorder some more olive oil from Queen Creek next week as well. I don't think there's anything else I need to order before we leave at the end of the month.

I was able to download a file; print it; get it signed; scan it; and send it off as an email file. So that means that at the moment, all is well with my laptop, the printer and the scanner. That itself is a really good thing!

Thursday, March 17, 2016

A Little Energy

We have both been fighting coughs and runny noses. Forry was insisting it was just allergies, but from the sound of our hoarse voices, I think we've moved beyond that. It might explain a bit of the lethargy around here the past couple of days.

We did get ambitious enough to go to the O'Reilly's Auto Shop just up a mile or so on Shea Boulevard. Forry wanted to get some degreaser to take some oil stains off of the asphalt where Toad II is parked. There's a bit of a shopping area there with a Target and a Frys Grocery, but more than half of the storefronts are empty.

There was a Starbucks there however. It was hot outside and frappacinos sounded good. I saw their poster for their new strawberry with white chocolate frappacino and it looked good, so that's what I ordered instead of our usual mocha (Forry) and my caramel. They looked a lot better in the picture than they tasted. We both thought they were pretty bland - but that could very well be the colds...

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The Computer Doc

Well, it wasn't the hard drive, but a secondary video drive that was causing my computer to not start. I was sure I was going to need to get a new computer, but I guess not. Scott, known as Techie4Hire, was able to do some repairs and replacing and we are back in business.  He had to reload everything from my Carbonite backup (it took almost 24 hours). Then there was all the fun of trying to find the license numbers, etc. in order re-install QuickBooks and Office and the other programs. Such fun!

Scott was here fairly early this morning and then off and on a good share of the day. I'm just hoping that the fix will be good enough with all the updates to get a couple more years out of my ASUS laptop.

It's been nice having a computer fix-it guy here in the RV park. I would hate to have to be trying to fix it with someone in town. I imagine we would have just given up and gone to Costco for a new one...

I tried oven roasting young carrots, little potatoes and an onion with balsamic vinegar and olive oil to go with our steak for dinner tonight. I probably should have parboiled the carrots as they weren't real tender, but they were nicely caramelized and sure were good!  I am just about out of my olive oil from the Queen Creek Olive Mill. I'll need to re-stock before we leave here.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Another Lazy Day

Not sure how it happened, but we laid low again today. Forry made a trip over to the office to get the mail, but that was about it. We are both coughing and sneezing - trying to decide whether we are coming down with colds or dealing with allergies. Not real sure which is worse. As Daughter MM says at least you know a cold will be over, but allergies can hang on a long time...

Our oldest Granddaughter Havela turned 21 today. I'm not sure how that happened either.


Monday, March 14, 2016

Lazy Day

True to what we decided yesterday, we laid low today. We slept in this morning, though I did do a couple loads of laundry - those sheets were long overdue for washing! That was about the extent of my ambition. I did spend some time with Forry's computer, trying to see if I could get it to print the paper our accountant needs, but no luck. I guess I'll have to wait for the computer doc to deal with mine tomorrow or the next day...

We did watch the baseball game today on ROOT sports.  I guess you could say we really are addicted. But, we did want to see Felix Hernandez pitch his first innings in Spring Training. We are gradually getting to know some of the many new faces in the Mariners line-up for this year.

I put some pork chops and Brussels sprouts in the oven for supper. I've adapted the recipe I tried earlier that uses a dry marinade on the meat, then uses the same dry ingredients with red wine vinegar  to marinate the vegetables as they bake. It's efinitely become a favorite as the pork is so tender and juicy.


Sunday, March 13, 2016

Can It Be?

We are both really tired tonight. As in feeling totally exhausted. The last week has just been a bit too much for a couple of old fogies! Between bull-riding, company, shopping and baseball games, we have been incredibly busy for the last two weeks. I was tired enough that this afternoon's game wasn't even fun.

On our way home from today's baseball game (Mariners lost to the Cincinatti Reds), we decided we just were not going to go to tomorrow's game. I was supposed to call Scott, the computer guy, when we got home from the game so that he could finish installing the backup on my computer, but we put that off until tomorrow as well. We even swung into a Denny's on the way home in order to get a quick comfort meal so I wouldn't have to cook. (And it wasn't even my idea!)

Part of it may be that we had such a quiet month of February. Other than groceries, we didn't even leave the house. We got pretty used to sleeping in and being VERY lazy.  Not that we're getting old or anything, but could it really be that there could be too many baseball games?

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Errands

Somewhere along the line, we decided we would not attend the Spring Training night games. Driving the forty miles home late at night is not our idea of fun. Since the Mariners were playing at 7 tonight, we stayed home and watched the game on TV.

So instead we ran some errands this morning. We went to the Post Office in Fountain Hills to pick up some Priority Mail envelopes so that I could send off Mariner shirts to the great nieces and nephews and our great-grand baby. It was a busy place today. The parking lot was full and there was a line out the lobby.

From there we went on to Safeway. I tried to stock the freezer with various frozen meals so that I would have something easy to fix when we return after ball games. I had stocked up with meat the last time we were at Costco, so there wasn't all that much room in our little freezer to begin with. Now it is crammed really full!

I had taken a steak out of the freezer this morning to thaw, so I grilled it this evening along with some potatoes I had baked. We've been enjoying some kohlrabi along with our evening meals. Safeway has gotten some of them in their produce department that are 3-4 inches across, but not woody. I always have to chuckle at the cashiers as they look for one of the number stickers on them - it's obvious they have no idea what they are. I bought some white carrots today. They threw the cashier for a loop as well...

Friday, March 11, 2016

Thank You, Facebook!

Thanks to a connection we made on Facebook, we had some lovely company today. Carole sent me a note on Messenger a couple of weeks ago and I connected with her and Verne on Facebook. Not only that, they were coming to Scottsdale from their winter home in Green Valley for the weekend. And, they were going to stop by to see us!

It's been many years since I have seen them. I'm sure it was before I retired. I'm sure that we have seen them - but maybe not together - since their wedding at the church nestled in downtown Olympia. I have some wonderful rural health memories with Verne who was one of our group of folks who changed the landscape of rural health so many years ago. We used to chuckle when we'd get together for dinner in DC or Kansas City or wherever conferences would take us, that we never had time in Washington State to just talk.

After running a couple of errands in Scottsdale, Verne and Carole drove on out here to Eagle View RV Resort to see where we were staying. We had a lovely visit!

It was hot again today, but we had a layer of clouds. I'm sure they're from that storm that's been causing rain in California.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Mariners Beat the Cubs

I am very used to having a family of Mariner fans. I have delighted in sending Mariner goodies to my great nieces and nephews. And now we have a Great-granddaughter to dress in Mariner garb. There's just one, albeit it minor, problem. They live in Illinois and her Daddy, along with his family, is an ardent Cubbie fan! We have already seen a picture of the poor babe in a Chicago Cubs onesie!

Poor little Kahlyn! As soon as we get to the Post Office, she'll have a REAL onesie. Her Mommy, who grew up watching Junior Griffey, can hardly wait.

Anyway, the Mariners played the Cubs today. It was a good game. The Ms started off in the lead, but after the big boys left, the Cubbies pulled ahead. But some bad luck for the Cubs pitching led to a series of walks with a run walked in. The Mariners ended up winning10-8.

It was a very hot day, lots of sunshine with absolutely no clouds. Our seats today were further down the first base side along the outfield. It's a lot harder to focus on the game from that much distance. You're not close enough to see facial expressions and it takes a lot more concentration to keep score.

One thing about it, we certainly added to our tans today!

Monday, March 7, 2016

Baseball!

Today we went to our first baseball game of the 2016 Spring Training season. Because we had tickets for the PBR Saturday and Sunday, we missed Opening Day, so today was our first game. The Mariners were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Mariners home field in Peoria.

I do have to admit I had sort of forgotten how far it was over to Peoria from our RV park. Maybe because I was still tired from the weekend, it seemed like the forty minute drive took a couple hours!

To make life a bit easier, we elected to get seats in the Handicapped area. They provide one space for a walker or a wheelchair, then a folding chair for a companion. This year the section has very nice padded folding chairs with armrests. Most people moved from their chairs or walkers to sit in the chairs. We were just to the left of home plate. It was sunny, but the shade moved over by mid-game. When the breeze came up, it was actually chilly.

There are many new faces playing for the Mariners as well a new manager, At Spring Training, the regulars only play the first four innings or so. Then they pick up their gear and head into the clubhouse. That leaves the new guys, the Minor League players and the wannabes to have their chance to shine.

Today Colleen and Dennis were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary. We made arrangements to meet them after the game at the Mall American Sports Grill in Fountain Hills and take them out to dinner. They are leaving Eagle View tomorrow for more shows. We'll not see them again until they are back in Washington, so it was nice to have an evening together.

Of course, we all had to get home in time to put our feet up and watch the Gonzaga basketball game!


Sunday, March 6, 2016

And Even More Bulls

It seemed like a pretty short night. I got up; drank my coffee; stuck some raspberry popovers into the oven to bake; took out the garbage and read the Sunday paper. By that time Forry was up and going and we were trying to decide when we had to leave for the Talking Stick Arena in downtown Phoenix.

We learned a couple things yesterday. One was to put our handicapped sticker on the mirror before we turned into the parking lot. That got us shuttled over to the reserved corner just catty-corner from the Arena. The second was to send Forry directly to our seats while I got us something to drink.

There was another full house crowd today. There were more family groups.  I quickly noticed that there were not any of the "skanky" girls hanging around like there were last night waiting to party. When the announcer asked how many were first-timers, not nearly as many replied as last night.

I'd say the bulls were ahead today. There were 11 rides against 20 buck-offs in the first round. Then in the Final, there were only three scores out of the fifteen bulls.

There was a really nasty accident in the last go-round. The bull Roy came out hard and fast and after quickly tossing his rider, went down on his front legs, breaking them. It was really hard to see. One of his owners was sitting just over in front of us. She was in tears as she hurriedly hastened to the back of the chutes.

We were home in time to watch tonight's broadcast on CBS Sports. Since we were sitting in front, it was fun to see ourselves several times on the broadcast (Our friend Leslie even sent me a screen shot!). I was wandering how they were going to handle it when the bull was injured. They just didn't show - or even mention that ride. Probably the wise thing to do.

It's been a great weekend. TV is a great medium, but it's even better in person.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Bulls, Bulls, and More Bulls

We drove into downtown Phoenix this evening to the Talking Stick Arena for the first night of the PBR in Phoenix. The Professional Bull Riders tour did not come to Arizona last year, so it's been a while since we've seen it live.

Since we are members of the PBR Fan Club, we had gotten a call with an opportunity to purchase tickets before they went on sale to the general public. We ended up with really good seats, down in front, right by the chutes. We were right behind one of the judges - who even gave me his re-ride flag to hold while he went to the rest room...

The bull riding was fun to watch in person. The bulls seem a lot bigger and tougher than they do on TV. As a bonus, we got to watch four young two year-old bulls were bucked (without riders) for 4 seconds each. There was also an interlude that featured three bull fighters. The bulls used for this are bred differently then the bucking bulls - they are mean! More like the bulls raised for bull fights we saw in Spain.

It was overcast most of the day today. It was still quite warm, in the 80s. I don't know if this is part of the California coastal storms, but so far there has been no rain.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Hot Today!

It was hot today and I guess we'd better have enjoyed it as the weather forecast says it's going to start cooling off tomorrow and we might even have some rain by Sunday.

We decided to get groceries earlier today. I was thinking we might be less exhausted if we didn't go so late in the day. We've been going in the late afternoon when it has cooled off a bit. Well, it was a good idea, but it didn't make much difference. By the time we got everything in the house and put away we were both pooped. Forry was sleeping in his chair, so I turned on the ceiling fan and napped in the bedroom. We probably should have turned on the A/C as even with the fan on, it was sweaty.

I bought as much frozen prepared food as I thought could fit into the freezer. Our Spring Training baseball tickets start next week and I was trying to think ahead about some easier to fix meals. Safeway has totally redone their produce department - can you say a produce department is gorgeous?! It looks almost like something you would see at Seattle's Pike Street Market!


Thursday, March 3, 2016

Gotta Love the Desert

The Verde Valley Railway excursion is a great way to see a variety of what Arizona has to offer. Arizona's desert is only a portion of the state. Yesterday's trip showed us juniper forest and colorful canyons. The colors of the rock formations vary from browns and blacks to brilliant reds and vermilions. In many places the route parallels the Verde River and various creeks. The many mesquite trees were still winter bare, but the sycamores and cottonwoods were leafing out and showing pale greens.

The tracks run along the side of the Valley, offtimes only inches from the canyon wall. A pair of Bald Eagles have nested and raised babies near enough the track to see the nest from the train. One of the pair was circling in the air - hunting according to the staff - and we could see the white head of the other sitting in the nest as we went by.

There was a hosted buffet at the end of the car with chicken wings, a veggie plate, sandwiches, olives and gjerkins along with coffee and bottles of water. There were also no-host bar drinks available and our attendant bragged about his killer Bloody Mary's and margaritas. They had soft drinks, wine and smoothies. It made for a very enjoyable trip.

There was No Smoking on the train, but when we stopped in Fredericksburg for the engines to swap ends to make the return trip, they brought buckets of sand to the open cars. People were told they could go smoke, but all ash and butts HAD to go into the buckets! Pleasantly enough, not too many people took them up on the offer.

Most people rotated between the cozy armchairs and the open cars, watching the scenery. I only heard one woman complaining that the scenery was "boring" and she slept all the way back!

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Verde Valley Railway

Well, we checked another item off our Bucket List today. We were up early and were out of the house by nine and over to pick up Colleen and Dennis. We took the two hour plus drive north on 17 to Clarkdale. Clarkdale is just a few miles up the road from the old town of Cottonwood. Clarkdale was a company town built around a copper smelter. There is still a mountain of slag outside the town.

After going to the depot to pick up our tickets for the Verde Valley Railway (actually, only a copy of the receipt), we sat outside on the patio next to the tracks awaiting our one o'clock departure. We were assigned to a car named Flagstaff. Instead of the usual train seats, the car had armchairs arranged in sets of four on the left side and pairs on the right. Between each set of chairs was a small table already set with bowls of potato chips and napkins. As we seated ourselves, the host came around with glasses of chapagne or sparkling cider for every one.

And so began our four hour round railway trip to the ghost town of Perkinsville and back. I'm tired tonight, so I'll write more tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Girl Time

It as nice to get up this morning and find Forry well again. He was out walking way down to the end of the fence and back, then brought in the rest of my Costco stuff from the car. This was good to see as we are planning a trip to ride the Verde Valley Railway tomorrow.

Dennis and Colleen moved their trailer to a different site today. Evidently, someone had reserved the site they were in by the fence for the month of March. They stopped by for a visit after they got resituated. Colleen and I made plans to run into town this afternoon. She had some containers to return to Costco (they were too tall).

We left for town about two-thirty. Our first stop was at a Walmart Super Store. I have not been inside of a Walmart for many years. This one was actually quite clean and uncrowded and I found some nice t-shirts. From there we went to the Costco over on Hayden. While Colleen was returning the containers, I got some Pepsi and Ice for Forry. Our last stop was at a Staples so that Colleen could pick up some tags and other office supplies.

It was nice to just spend some girl time. When you are with your spouse 24/7, it is nice sometimes to just have a breather...