Happy New Year!!

Dear Family and Friends,

To you have been following us this year, this will be the last blog from 2014. I have been half-heartedly adding to the blog throughout December but need a break. We will probably start a new one for 2015 once we start traveling again in April and will notify you when that comes to pass.

In the meantime we will be in Mesa, Arizona at Good Life Resort. We would love to have company and have plenty of room so come on over. As I write this, we are still in Texas waiting for the weather to clear. We have become Texans this week in order for me to obtain  health insurance that will cover me all over the country. We should be back in Arizona by the first of the year so. Thanks for all your support and comments of our vagabond life. Keep in touch and have a wonderful 2015.

  

December 1, 2014

We moved today to our permanent address for the next four months at Good Life Resort in Mesa, Arizona. After getting our name tags and a packet of information (and paying) we got into our site and set up. We sat out on the patio and could hear the music and disc jockey from the patio party. We are in sight of the central activity area which is amazing considering how big this place is. There are over eleven hundred RVs and park models in the park with the preponderance of units being the park models.

Sunset at Good Life RV Site 1909

 We hadn't had lunch due to the move so I made a turkey pie from leftovers and we had an early dinner. After dinner, we walked over to listen to the music and even danced a dance. Most of the people were line dancing which we may just have to learn as these patio parties happen at least a couple times a week. We wandered around the complex and then walked to the far end of the park and looped around the back to return to our site. They are giving prizes to the best decorated park model, RV and street so it was fun to look at all the Christmas decorations already up. 

Our neighbors across the street came and introduced themselves. We have found people to be very friendly and everyone we have met have been here years and have great things to say about the place. There are activities going on all the time and we will be busy this winter.

December 2, 2014

Ted went to the Tuesday morning coffee and donuts meeting where they talk about the activities coming up. When he got back, I wanted to walk down and see what the water aerobics looked like. We were checking out the wall long bulletin board of activities when Ted spotted Mah Jongg which was not on the list of activities they gave us. It meets Tuesday morning at 9:30 and it was about 9:35. We hunted for the Saguaro Room and when we found it, there was one woman teaching three others and an empty seat for me so I played until noon with them and will start playing every Tuesday once we get back from Lake Havasu City next week. Yay, my first foray into park activities.

Ted was washing the motorhome when I got back at noon. After lunch, I defrosted the freezer, a job I hate and had been putting off. Prudy, the WOW person (Welcome to Our World) brought a welcome gift bag with a bottle of Chardonnay, two wine glasses, jalapeno popcorn, salsa and an starter package of enchilada soup. There was also an invitation to a meet and greet reception for new guests. Ted went shopping and I dug out what Christmas decorations we have. It is a really overcast day, the first in a long time and I think I heard a few sprinkles which had been forecast. 

December 26, 2014

It has been weeks since I have written in this blog. After a three day return trip to Lake Havasu City to get the large slide on our motorhome fixed, we have settled in to life at Good Life RV Resort. There are numerous activities at the park and we have joined in some of them.

Sunset over Lake Havasu

Ted has played Bocce with the Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning group and he and I have played several times in the afternoon, once with our new friends, Colleen and Larry, from Iowa.  Ted has joined the woodworking shop, the cleanest wood shop he has ever seen, and has done several small projects including saw horses that come apart for storage. He has used the saw horses to refinish his kayak which he has put three new coats of varnish on after filling gouges we made in rivers this summer. He started playing pickle ball but threw his back out and will need to get that healed before he tries again.

Filling Scratches with Epoxy.

I was doing laps in the pool while Ted played Bocce but it has been so cold here that I will wait until warmer weather before starting again. In the Mah Jongg group, most are just beginning but it is great just to be playing again. I have made three quilted wall/window hangings for the coming seasons and am trying to use up some of the great stash of fabric I have. 

There Are Two Pools and Two Hot Tubs

The Wreath is the December Quilt

We walk and ride our bikes around the park. They had a contest to see who had the best Christmas decorations so walking around the park at night is magical with over a thousand units having sparkling lights. We are really near the activity center and can hear the music when they have their weekly patio parties which we have attended a couple of times. They have different groups play, karaoke, or just a disc jockey but it is all music aimed at our age group. We even sang "Goodnight Sweetheart" with a group at karaoke. Thankfully, it was the last song and almost every one had already left the area.

We have attended two lovely Christmas programs in the park as well as a wonderful Christmas dinner last night. The park furnishes refreshments for big events and furnished the turkeys and stuffing for dinner. You signed up for a certain table that held sixteen to eighteen people and each person at the table signed up for and donated part of the meal. We all were able to take home leftovers when it was done. I have been forgetting to take my camera or phone with me so have no photos of the events and very few of the park. After dinner we went over to Colleen and Larry's to play cards. Despite being so far from family and friends back east, we had a nice Christmas and Ted's birthday.

Christmas Party

One of the things that has taken a great deal of our time has been finding health insurance for me (Sheila). Under the Affordable Care Act, my insurance company in South Dakota (it is mandatory to get health insurance in your state of residence) notified me that they would no longer cover me after December 31, 2014. Of the three companies still offering insurance in SoDak (that for Peaches and Harold!), two will not insure full-time RVers and the other has such a small network of only the states surrounding SoDak. So......as I am writing this, we are on our way to Livingston, Texas, north of Houston, to set up residence there with the Escapee RV Club. It is a long expensive trip to make but without doing that, I will either have to pay for health insurance that doesn't cover anything or pay a fine of 2% of our income and go without. In the meantime, I have picked up a short-term policy that isn't covered under the ACA and is basically for catastrophic health care and doesn't cover any pre-existing conditions. We have learned way more about insurance than we ever hoped to learn. I hate to wish the time away but will be glad when I am old enough for medicare.

We left Mesa this morning about 8:30 with frost on the car. As we drove through southern Arizona and New Mexico, we were lucky if the temperatures were in the forties. From Mesa, we drove US 60 up into the beautiful mountains to Globe, Arizona where we picked up US 70 which took us into New Mexico. On I-10 in New Mexico, there were snow  covered mountains far to the south of us. It is a mostly sunny, if cold, day and the scenery is beautiful. It will be at least two days of I-10 driving in Texas to get to our destination.

We arrived in Texas and drove through El Paso just as the sun was setting and a light rain began. There had been fog around all the hills, buttes and mountains for quite awhile. We found a campground southeast of the city and huddled down for the night.

December 27, 2014

Because of the rain in the night and the freezing temperatures, we waited until after nine to get on the road. We had patches of dry pavement and stretches of rain before we started seeing snow beside the road. The further we drove, the more snow. In one section by the border patrol check station, there was about two inches of snow on and beside the road. Several cars were pulled over to the side and kids and adults alike were making snowballs and playing in the snow. There were several hundreds of miles ahead of us for our planned destination with no campgrounds along the way so we decided to quit early and get off the road. We were near Balmorhea State Park where we had spent a few days in May 2012 so went there to spend the night. Because we stopped early and I had the time, I made a big turkey soup from the remains of the Thanksgiving turkey broth and Christmas turkey. It simmered all afternoon and was yummy and just the thing for a cold evening.

Border Patrol Checkpoint

I-10 East of El Paso.....Unexpected

December 28, 2014

We were on the road early to try and make up some of the time we lost yesterday. We had a sunny start but we soon caught up to the clouds. When I put in the slides before starting out, I heard a crash and stopped to see what had happened. A sheet of ice fell off the top of each slide as it came in. That was certainly a first for us. The trees along the highway sparkled with the snow and ice first thing but as the sun warmed up the ice and snow disappeared from beside the highway.

Once off I-10, we drove through Fredericksburg, a pretty town with a strong German influence. We were almost through town when I noticed a museum that looked familiar and realized we had been there two years ago. We decided that things definitely look different from up high in the motorhome. US 290 that we were now on passes through Fredericksburg and on to Johnson City where the boyhood home of Lyndon Baines Johnson stands. Halfway between the two towns is the LBJ National Historic Site where we toured his ranch and the Texas White House in 2012.

Other than a couple of gas and bathroom breaks, we drove straight through to Elgin, Texas which is just east of Austin. Today we (I should say Ted) drove 434 miles which is a really long day for us. 

December 29, 2014

We arrived in Livingston and got our new mailing address. Ted went to get the car inspected and find where we needed to go tomorrow while I finished digging out all the paperwork we will need.

December 30, 2014

It took us all day but we got the motorhome inspected, both vehicles registered, registered to vote and got drivers licenses. We waited for our drivers licenses from 1:15 to 4:40 and were the last ones served for the day. We were exhausted by the time we were through and went out for dinner to celebrate...Mexican, of course.

December 31, 2014

We started back toward Arizona but managed to get a campground in Frederickburg, TX for the night. Freezing rain had caused dozens of accidents on I-10 and we were lucky to find a spot before we got on the highway. It was a pretty anti-climatic New Year's Eve.

Lost Dutchman State Park, Apache Junction AZ

November 23, 2015

We drove from Prescot at an elevation of about 5600 feet to Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction with an elevation of about 2000 feet. We were on four lane roads most of the way and some of them were pretty steep and curvy. My knuckles turned white in a few places but Ted is a good driver and knows how to set the tow haul and cruise control so he doesn't have to ride the brake. It is a pretty ride down through the hills with periods of flat grassland. It took about three and a half hours to reach our destination and when we did, Kathy and Mary Lou were at the ranger station.

They weren't happy with their site which had no bathroom facilities anywhere near it and were there to see if there was anything else available. The ranger said there was a hundred foot pull-through site in another loop that was reserved for a volunteer who wouldn't be here until December and we could look at it if we wanted. We left the motorhome and our attached car and drove with them to check out the site which we was great. We were also able to get it through the weekend instead of having to move off the reserved site on Friday. Instead of being in the middle of a loop like being in a goldfish bowl, we were at the edge of the desert with almost no one near us. Both RVs and both cars fit easily on the site and we had enough extension cords and hoses so we could both hook up to the power and water. The views were spectacular with the Superstition Mountains on one side and the desert on the other.

View of the Mountains From Our Site

Four Vehicles on One Site

After we got set up we visited for awhile before a great meal of Mary Lou's chili and Kathy's cornbread. The nights are cold but the sunsets are spectacular. Years ago we had orange and black curtains with a desert and mountain motif to go with our orange shag carpet (I can hear people laughing as they read this!) and that is what the sunsets look like. Once the sunset died away to dark, we could see the twinkling city lights of Phoenix in the distance across the desert. It is amazing how far we can see here.

November 24, 2014

Kathy said she was watching people walk and drive by this morning and the looks we were getting with the big and little RVs on the same site. There is quite a size difference but their little Casita is cozy and fine for the two of them as well as being much easier to manage than a bigger rig.

Mid morning we started up the Siphon Draw Trail toward the Basin. The trail is pretty much uphill all the way and rises a little over a thousand feet in two miles.  It was a beautiful hike but Ted and I were both puffing compared to Kathy and Mary Lou as we don't do nearly as much hiking as they do. Kathy is like a mountain goat climbing without a hiking stick and would have been way ahead if she hadn't stopped to wait for us. It was good to stop and rest, though, as it gave us the opportunity to look around at the amazing view and to take photos to remember it by.

Once we reached the overlook into the basin, we started back down until we found a spot to stop and eat lunch. We sat and watched a couple of hawks spiral up on the thermals. The hike back down was much easier than the uphill climb and my new hiking shoes gripped the rocky ledges and gravelly terrain without crunching my toes in the process. They are so comfortable and my feet were happy the whole way.

Back at the campsite, it was time for an early happy hour to replenish our fluids. We sat out until it was time to make the dough for pizza. I laid out a bunch of ingredients and each person made their own quarter of the pizza to their liking. We sat at the table for quite awhile again enjoying the spectacular sunset.

Mary Lou, Kathy and Ted

Looking Back at the Campground

We Were Going Up Between the Peaks

When the Mountains are Pink, Its Time to Drink

November 25, 2014

It took us awhile to get going today. We just putzed around until afternoon when we went in to Apache Junction to a Fry's grocery store. We had planned to roast a turkey breast and leg for Thanksgiving but there were no legs available. Ted really likes the dark meat so we looked around and found the smallest fresh turkey we could find. At a little over thirteen and a half pounds, we hoped it would fit in the oven in our motorhome.

Back at the campground, I made a tortellini soup recipe that I had seen on Facebook. It said it was better to let it set so the plan was to save it for the next day. For dinner we went back into Apache Junction to the Handle Bar Pub and Grill that Mary Lou had found online. From the outside, it didn't look like much and there was only one car in front but we went in anyway. I'm not sure where all the people came from (I guess there was a parking lot out back), but there were a lot of people there and it just got busier as the evening went on. 

They had a long list of beers and ales on tap, many of them local Arizona brews. They also had a wish list board which we had never seen before. I think that when one of the tanks of beer was emptied, they replaced it with the wish list beer that had the most votes. Between the rafters on the ceiling were dozens of tap handles from beers from all over the world. It was pretty interesting. We sat on high stools and after trying some samples, ordered our brews and some food. The food was good and the company great so we had a nice evening out on the town.

November 26, 2014

Today we drove back up to Canyon Lake that we had visited when we were in Apache Junction looking at perspective places to spend the winter. We launched our kayaks at the picnic area and crossed the slightly windy lake to the other side. We paddled along the opposite shore toward the dam and turned up into the Salt River. Once into the river, the water was calmer and the high cliffs on either side of us protected us from the wind and the sun.

Not far up the river, Kathy spotted a bald eagle enjoying lunch up on a cliff overlook. While we sat and watched it, we noticed another on sitting higher up on the cliffs. I had just got my camera zoomed and focused when they flew off but someone got a good picture of one of them.

We continued up the river a couple of miles poking into nooks and crannies and enjoying the plants that grow out of any little niche in the rocks. There were caves in the rocks that we could see from below and even some that we could paddle into. In one carved our area, the sun reflecting off the water made a great light show on the cave walls. For the most part, the cliffs towered straight up from the water but occasionally there would be an area where the tumbled rocks rose more gradually toward the beautiful, clear blue sky.

When we got to the final bend in the river that we had planned to reach, the Dolly, an old paddle wheel boat tour boat went by taking people further up the river than we planned to paddle. There was only one place all along the way that we could get out to stretch our legs so we headed back to that low spot to sit and eat our lunch. There was a primitive campsite there and lots of beach glass but most of it too fresh to keep. 

On our way down the river and not far from where we had seen the eagles, Kathy again spotted the best of the day. There were what at first appeared to be two male longhorn sheep high up on the edge of the cliff. When Kathy let me use her binoculars to see, it appeared that one of the sheep had too many legs and before long another sheep stepped out from behind. In all we saw four sheep silhouetted against the sky hundreds of feet above our heads. What a treat to see these elusive animals in the wild.

The lake was calmer that in the morning when we paddled back across. We loaded up and then drove the two miles further up the road to Tortilla Flat where we each had an ice cream cone to hold up off until we returned to the state park and got cleaned up. Happy hour outside again and then before dinner. I made rolls for dinner tomorrow which seemed a little heavy. I can't quite get used to cooking in the varying altitudes, I guess. The tortellini soup I had made, which had lots of veggies and a chicken stock base, was delicious and a recipe I will keep for future use. We chatted awhile after dinner and made an early night of it. Not to be redundant but the sunset is gorgeous every night here. We will miss that when we are in the middle of a park with over a thousand park models and RVs around us this winter.

Canyon Lake Overlook

Launching at Canyon Lake

A Little Rough But No Problem

Looking Toward the Dam

There were 2 Bald Eagles, This One Sentry, the Other Was Eating

Another Paddler in Front of Massive Cliff Wall

Kathy and Mary Lou Look Pretty Small Next to the Cliffs

Some of the Caves

Ted in a Hole

Looks Like a Hanging Basket

Sun's Reflection Off the Water

Ted in the Light Show

Many Saguaros 

Cactus Garden on the Cliffs

The Dolly Heading Upriver

Captain Talking About Folklore

Sometimes Difficult to See the Opening

Burst of Bright Green

Big Horn Sheep

November 27, 2014  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ted and I got up and stuffed the turkey and put it in about eight thirty hoping to eat about one. We sat outside and visited and late morning came in to peel potatoes and squash. I kept checking the turkey to see if it was ready but it was taking longer than we had expected to cook. My thermometer didn't seem to be getting any higher and the things that are supposed to pop up in the turkey didn't look like they were budging so I finally turned up the oven and got out a second meat thermometer that registered twenty degrees hotter in the same place in the bird. I don't use my gas oven that much so decided the temperature wasn't very accurate and will need to check it out and that the first thermometer needed to go.

While waiting for the turkey to finally be done, Kathy and Mary Lou brought out a bottle of champagne. I only have two champagne glasses but wine glasses sufficed for us to celebrate a great friendship of forty-five years and the opportunity to share this holiday together. Also we talked about what we were thankful for on this holiday. When the turkey was finally done about two hours late, we prepared the veggies and gravy while Ted carved the bird. Kathy had made cranberry sauce and we decided except for the homemade sour pickles and stuffed celery we had everything that a New England Thanksgiving dinner consisted of.

Kathy and Mary Lou did the dishes for us which was a welcome relief and I put away the leftovers for another day. If we couldn't be with family, what a great way to spend this day that was always my favorite holiday.

Before the Turkey Was Added

Ted Carving the Turkey

Patiently Waiting

Looks Good Enough to Eat

Got This Idea From John Wakeman

Thanksgiving Sunset

November 28, 2014

When Kathy and Mary Lou were almost packed and ready to go, we drove over to Goldfields, an old ghost town that was once the second largest town in Arizona. It was only surpassed by Prescott which was the capital city at the time. This area was one of the richest mining areas in the country with a higher concentration of gold per ton of ore than almost anywhere else. We can see the buildings from our campsite and could hear the old train as well as hear the shootouts that they have in the street every hour in the afternoons.

The buildings are all original to the old town but have been commercialized with various shops, and a restaurant. It is free to enter the town which in one street extending up a hill with the train station at the bottom and a church at the far end. The fanciest building is the bordello. We wandered around looking into various shops. There were lots of things to spend money on such as a buggy ride, horse ride, tour of the bordello, a zip line, and a tour down into the old mine shaft. Kathy had done the mine shaft years ago in an mine elevator and said they turn out all the lights once down there to show how dark it is. I have been in caves where they do that and don't need to be hanging in a vertical mine shaft to get the same effect. They bought a ceramic wind chime and we bought a big pot of small cacti to put out as decoration at our soon to be winter home.

We Can See Goldfields from the Campground

Great Seats and Comfortable

Kathy, MaryLou, and Ted

Caged

Main Street

Upstairs Establishment

Casita Pulling Out

When we got back to the campground, I heated up turkey and gravy which we put over left over mashed potatoes and had with the rest of the left overs. Yum!! My favorite meal, I think.  Once they finished eating, they had to leave. We had such a great time with them, we hated to have them go but we are close enough that we will see them again this winter. Once they were gone, we settled down to catch up on email and Facebook. We even watched some TV which we haven't done much of since leaving Florida in April. Another cold evening with spectacular sunset.

November 29, 2014

Ted rode his bicycle around all the loops in the campground this morning and then drove in to Fry's for some milk. While he was gone, I hiked in the other direction on Siphon Draw from where went the other day and then around the campground. It is one of the most confusing campgrounds I have been in. One would think that out in the desert without many trees, it wouldn't be easy to lose your way. The mesquite and paloverdes are just tall enough along with the contours of the land so you can't see from site to site to tell what loop you are in. I was listening to the audiobook "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed and wasn't paying much attention but wasn't worried that I would never see my home again since I was on paved roads. When I returned, I sat outside most of the afternoon listening to the book that I wanted to finish before the movie comes out. Ted sat inside to watch football on TV and when I came in, he went out and watched on the outside TV. Sometimes we just need a little separation.

November 30, 2014

I spent most of the day typing this blog. We talked about kayaking but it is fairly windy so we decided to continue catching up on things we needed to do and stayed around instead. Most of the weekend campers have gone and it is quiet and peaceful here. When I am finished adding pictures, it will be time for happy hour and then more turkey leftovers. Yum again!

Nasty Looking Guy Along the Trail

Looking At the Mountains From a Different Angle

I Found My Way Home

Cactus Garden From Goldfields Ghost Town