Odds n Ends

Our canopy is put up towards the back of our RV site, off of the pavement and on the gravel. Forry has been picking up fragments of glass ever since we set it up. It's sort of funny, he thinks he has picked it all up and the next day, he finds a bunch more. This is yesterday's haul --

Fortunately most of it has been in the gravel long enough, it isn't very sharp. It's hard to tell if people were just that careless with broken glass or whether it came in with the gravel.

This is one of the little landscaped corners in the RV resort. One of the nice things about Eagle View is that not every corner is crammed full of RVs like many of the places we've been. There are several of these little gardens scattered about.

We are noticing that traffic into the park has picked up now that the holidays have passed. There were these two rigs coming in as we were out walking yesterday and we saw several more today. But, at the same time there are still lots of people leaving and heading further south...

We made a trip into Fountain Hills today to the Safeway store and stocked up on groceries again. We also made a stop at Walgreens to pick up batteries for our glucose meters. We went over the Park Office and reserved our site for next year. That has to be done, even though you might like a different site. The chance to reserve a different site will happen on the 15th. That way they know how many sites are already spoken for...

January 1, 2014

 

 

 

The End of Another Year

Last year at this time, we were in staying at Valle del Oro in Mesa, a huge 2000 plus RV -- mostly park models -- site. While we were there last spring, we did some driving around, more and more on the outskirts of the Phoenix metropolitan area, looking for a spot we might like a bit better. Valle del Oro is larger than Ritzville, the town where Forry and I both went to school. We both like the country and we were hoping to find something a little more rural, somewhere we could actually see a bit of desert.

We left Phoenix in mid-April, finally making that jaunt to the Meteor Crater that Forry has been wanting to return to since he was a little boy. We spent a night in Gallup, New Mexico on our way to spend time with our good friends Tom and Juni in Albuquerque. As usual, we had only planned to stay a couple of days, but ending up spending two lovely weeks with them. Their two little Yorkies, Idgie and Cassie and their very dignified Toy Poodle Tica are special little dogs.

Our next stop was to spend a couple of days with my friend Tina and her daughter Delcherie and Granddaughter Kaili near Farmington, New Mexico. Tina serves on the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board with me and her family has become some of my favorite people.

We worked our way north through Utah and Idaho, finally spending a couple of nights in mid-May at Wildhorse Resort Casino in order to sneak in a quick visit with Sister Sherry and the slobbery dogs. We ended up at Uhlmann's RV in Chehalis for another repair of those damned hydraulic hoses and got in a few days mooching off of Sister Roxy and Rich.

We spent most of June in Dawn and Todd's driveway while we helped prepare for Granddaughter Havela's high school graduation and celebration and family time, then helped pack moving boxes for their more to Keizer, Oregon. From there it was to Daughter Mary Mae and Scott's for a month of NW Shakespeare and Claire's rehearsal for Pan, the Musical along with more family time.

We spent the last part of September taking care of doctor and dentist appointments in Spokane and Moses Lake, visiting with Son Sean, getting in a visit with our friend Mary, catching up with Brother Pat and his fast-growing grands and the annual AHEC reunion. We spent another week and a half with Sister Sherry getting to watch Keiko San win his Chanpion points. Then back to Chehalis again for another hydraulic hose replacement and a new set of tires for Auntie Violet in Woodburn.

We worked at the Mennonite Country Auction the first Saturday in October, then started heading our way south again. We made a stop at Seven Feathers in Canyonville, then down through California to Mojave, then to Kingman, Arizona, and finally to Fort McDowell. We are definitely out in the country and can here coyotes howling most nights. There are no park models in this park and it has less then a two hundred sites. We'll spend the rest of the winter here at Eagles View, then once again head north.

Almost the End of 2013

We spent out for most of the afternoon enjoying the warmth, sitting out under the canopy. It was comfortable watching the hummingbirds squabble. There is one of them which chases off another one that tries to even drink from one from the feeders. There was also a very noisy Gila woodpecker who flicks around around the mesquite tree. We watched it go from there towards the large saquaro down a bit along the fence. I think there may have another one, but they both flew on down the road.

I think we saw a vulture across the valley, but didn't get a really good look at it. It just seems like there aren't many around as there were the last couple of years. Last year we saw them all the time. I read something about in the paper about them being further south, but it hasn't been any colder then before. Forry likes to watch them, but we haven't seen but one or two this year.

It was another quiet day. We watched RVs leave and we saw other RVs come it. We watched multiple dogs lead their owners around. We heard coyotes yapping outside the RV Park teasing the dogs inside  the RV Park. We watched the grackles fly in and land as a flock on the tree across the road. We saw couples walking around and around the park. We saw bicyclists riding around and around as well. 

Another Lazy Sunday

We stayed up very late last night -- actually watched a movie. I couldn't tell you the name of it, but it was funny and light. But, since we stayed up so late, we sure didn't get up very early this morning. It was quiet around the park as well. I sliced some thick slices off of the last slab of Mennonite bacon I bought at the auction, fixed some waffles and eggs. Add a little maple syrup and we were good

One of the things we really like about Eagle View is the absence of park models. Everyone here has an RV of some sort: a trailer, a fifth-wheel or a motor home. This is in contrast to most of the RV parks in Arizona, especially the bigger ones, where maybe one out of ten or so sites has an RV, all the rest are park models. Many of these are filled with seniors who fly or drive in from somewhere up north, then stay in their mini-houses for 2 to 3 months. We even talked with a few folks last year who had been driven down by family who would then return to pick them up in the Spring.
 We found the park model owners to be rather a cliquish bunch. After all, many of them had lived side by side with the same neighbors for many years. We even met one older lady who said she lived on the same site as her parents had -- only with a much nicer park model! Unlike most RVers, they did not have many "travelin" tales to share.

It was another very warm, very nice day today. I spent some time this afternoon putting together a chicken pot pie. I've been "tasting" various versions ever since we had that absolutely delicious one that we bought in New England, but none of them seemed to be as anywhere near as good. So this afternoon, I stripped the meat, especially the dark meat, left from the chicken I roasted a couple of days ago. I had parsnips, celery and half an onion in the refrigerator, so they went into a roux with the chicken. All that went into a pie shell, covered with a crust and baked for an hour. It turned out very well. It really could have used some peas, but it was pretty tasty. We have half a pie left for tomorrow, so it should be an easy day.

Laundry and ?

Not too much happening here at Auntie Violet's today. It was another gorgeous day with lots of sunshine and very little wind. The RV Resort here at Eagle View is filling up as many Snowbirds wait until after Christmas to head south. I'm sure that by next week, it will be almost entirely full.

The fellow who washed and waxed our rig when we arrived seem to keep constantly busy. It seems that almost every rig that comes in is ready to get cleaned up. They seem to do at least one every day, sometimes two. I watch them polishing the wax jobs and can just imagine how muscular they must be.

We again walked the perimeter of the park today. Rather Forry rode and I walked... I would like to take a survey to see how many of the rigs have dogs. And for some reason, this park seems to be attractive to people with big dogs. And of course, you've got to have two of them. I've even seen a pair of mastiffs being walked. Today we met a man with what he said was an Italian Grayhound. It looked a lot like a whippet with the most delicate leg bones. The owner said it is the smallest of the greyhound breed.


I did do three loads of laundry today. I hadn't done any since the week before Christmas, so I guess it was about time. Other than that, it was a quiet day. I fixed potato soup for supper and that was about it.

Another Sunny Day

We enjoyed another beautiful sunny day today. Forry and I pretty much walked -- well, I walked and he rode the trike -- the perimeter of the park this afternoon. The back side of the park is bordered by a rail fence. I like that every so often there is one of these "pick it up" stations on a fence post.

On the other side of the fence is the Verde River. It's pretty overgrown with brush and you really can't see much of it...

You have to admire the saquaro cactus. They take an incredible beating, but still hang on and even put out new "babies." I've heard they are at least one hundred years old before they start sending out new branches.

Another glimpse of the Verde River. You can see a bit of water to the right of that front bush...

This is one of the many mesquite trees that grace the desert --

Most people seem to have the urge to decorate or differentiate their sites. These folks have a set of metal horse cut-outs. Not sure how they store them when they travel...

This little path connects the two portions of the resort. It goes through a grove of mesquite trees and creosote bushes. Notice how the grass has sprouted since we had those rains a couple of weeks ago.

I had finally filled the big hummingbird feeder and we sat it on top of the cable box alongside Auntie Violet. The sugar water level has gone down considerably. When we came home from our walk, this little fellow was busy getting a drink.

I met some dressing this afternoon and roasted a chicken for supper. I think the dressing turned out better than the chicken. Oh well, I'll have some good stuff for soup tomorrow.

The Day After...

It was another beautiful, sunshiny day here at Eagle View. We are especially thankful when we watch the news on TV and see all of the ice and snow around the country. Many are in places we can visualize as they are places we visited when we were doing our 49 state odyssey a couple of years ago.

The pictures of the ice reminded us of the huge ice storm we had in Spokane, the year after we moved to the city. The storm came a week or so before Thanksgiving. The icy rain settled on the trees and broke limbs, which in turn brought down power lines all over town. We were without power for eleven days. We had to tell all of our new neighbors that we had never been without power for more than two days when we lived on our ranch twenty miles from the nearest town! Then we moved to the city...

We hung blankets over the doorway into our little TV room that had a wood stove and slept in sleeping bags there on the floor. (Though we didn't spend more than a couple of nights at home as we were kept busy managing shelters for the Red Cross.) We did have hot water however. We had gotten a new hot water heater when we moved into the house that had an old fashioned pilot light instead of an electronic starter. I do remember that we barbecued a duck for Thanksgiving dinner on the gas barbecue outside.

We made a quick trip into Fountain Hills for groceries this afternoon. I wanted to get the ingredients needed for crab cocktails as we still had crab left from our Christmas Eve feast. After we heard Daughter MM talking about her husband Scott cleaning leftover crab for cocktails yesterday, we knew what we wanted to do with ours.

And a Very Merry Christmas To All!

 

We welcomed Christmas Day either very early this morning as we stayed up until 2 AM or very late when we finally got up around nine this morning. I guess it's all in how you look at it! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra had two very different, very good musical programs last night and we watched both of them. We watched Christmas in New York which was a very energetic contemporary African American musical presentation.

We also watched the Christmas Mass from Rome. What a difference from last year with Pope Benedict so frail and this year with the new Pope Francis so energetic. His homily was excellent no matter what religious persuasion you might -- or might not -- be.

I had a wonderful bowl of Dungeness crab left over from our dinner last night. Combined with some lovely Chevre goat cheese, we had scrumptious omelets for brunch. I made toast with what was left of that loaf of bread from last night and we had another feast!

I have been tantalized by a large package from Sister Sherry. When we finally opened it, we found this pretty bird waterer:

I'm sure our feathered visitors are going to be enjoying it in this dry country. As I sat outside this afternoon (82 degrees) reading my book on my iPad, I could see the hummingbirds squabbling over the front feeder. We're thinking they may have a nest in the tree across the from Auntie Violet.

We had a chance to talk on the telephone with both of our daughters and the families and also with Son Sean today. Forry had a telephone chat with his brother-in-law Les. The one thing I do not like about our full-time RV status is missing family and friends on holidays.

It's Christmas Eve

This is looking east from where Auntie Violet is parked. I took the picture just as the sun was starting to set. I love the way the tops of the mountains are reflected in the sunlight as the rest of the countryside starts to turn dark.

As the sun sinks further, the reflection of the sunset is only in the sky --

The pink only last a few minutes, then the dark totally descends...

Over the years we've spent Christmas Eve in many places. Christmas Eve dinner has always been special. For many years, it meant fresh Dungeness crab to crack and feast upon. I can remember trips out to Bow with Son-in-law Scott to buy fresh ones. Some years it has meant fresh tamales as our Son-in-law Todd has a deft hand with masa harina.

I can remember one night when we visited Daughter Dawn and Todd in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Dawn and I had made and baked sugar cookies that she wanted to share with her neighbors. Due to the humidity, the pink frosting we made just didn't want to set up and we ended up with very sticky cookies. Her neighbors, who weren't used to home baked treats, seem to enjoy them greatly anyway.

The last few years we've been in the South -- either in Arizona or Florida -- and we've gotten together with friends to go to Joe's Crab Shack for a crab meal. It's been good, but they serve it hot...

Since this year none of our friends are with us, I tried to find seafood shops in the area on the internet. I called a couple I found, but none had Dungeness crab. (King, snow or softshell crabs are just NOT the same to a Northwesterner!) We decided to take a chance, and headed for Costco in hopes they had gotten in more (I'd seen some a couple of weeks ago when we were there.).

Sure enough, they had some, frozen solid from Alaska. I bought two and we headed home. We made a stop at a Basha's bakery to pick up a crusty loaf of bread on the way. Once home, I put the crabs in cold water to start thawing them, cleaning the shells, gills and innards off in the process.

I made a couple of small green salads; sliced and buttered the bread; and we feasted. There is more then enough crab left for omelets for Christmas morning breakfast. Life is very good.