Merry Christmas to All

What a week – Christmas week has been great fun as we enjoyed a variety of places with the kids.

The week was started as some of the group went to an NFL game – Arizona Cardinals vs Los Angeles Rams.  While the outcome was not as they had hoped, the venue and the atmosphere was top notch.  There was a discussion in the morning that since it was such a terrific day, the roof would be open.  It was disappointing that when they arrived, the roof was closed.  But wait, it soon opened to a clear blue sky. 

Since Camdyn and I thought that we wouldn't enjoy a football game very much, we chose to visit the Phoenix Zoo.  We saw the animals, visited the petting zoo, and had a great day!

The next evening we went back to the  zoo to see Zoolights.  This is a spectacular display of Christmas lights throughout a part of the zoo.  Some of the lights are placed out in a small lake and the changing colours are choreographed to music.

With some terrific weather for Christmas Day, the kids got to spend some time in the pool.  Even though it is winter, the temperatures were above normal, and with no wind and blue skies, swimming was a perfect pastime.

Then it was off to visit the wildlife zoo and park.  They really had a great variety of animals and birds and it is designed so the animals are generally visible which makes it very interesting.  And the aquarium has some fish that are amazing colours.

And when in this area, one has to go for pizza to the Organ Stop Pizza.  This is the home of the Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ.  This particular organ was from the Denver Theater and over the years rare pipework and percussions were acquired to make this the largest Wurlitzer pipe organ in the world.  It is on a stage which rises and rotates as an organist starts to play.

Then came the end of the week and the kids went back home.  It was sad to see them go as it has been great fun to have them here.  Have a great week.

Back to my Schedule!

I did post some info last week but apparently, I didn't post it properly.  Here is what I said at that time.

The past ten days seem to have flown without by and I haven’t written anything.  While there hasn’t been much interesting to write, we have managed to stay busy.

We left Yuma last Thursday and headed to Phoenix for Christmas.  We found what looked like a great place on some state trust land just east of the city so we went to check it out.  Well, it would have been great except it also has been used as a local garbage dump.  So off to plan B - a nearby casino since it was only for a couple of days.

We arrived at the casino and found it was near a huge outlet mall, plus a smaller mall across the street in easy walking distance. Of course we went in as we had to pay our rent.  It had to be the busiest, and noisiest we have ever been in.  That is likely why they are adding on a huge addition which will include a hotel and two parking garages.

This week is short, but I promise next week will be a bit longer with some photos of some interesting sites!  Until then, have a great rest of the week.

  Now, I’m back on track with my little story and this past week was full of activity.  We moved from the casino into and RV park in Mesa, Arizona.  At the casino there was a lovely, large building.  I asked a shuttle driver what it was.  Apparently, someone built it for the  purpose of cancer research.  It was determined that it wasn’t built according to code, but the money was all used and there were no funds to bring the standard up to the building code.  This building was never opened or used – what a shame!

We made the move, got set up, and replenished our groceries.  On Monday, Taryn and her family arrived – it was terrific to see them.  The weather co-operated and everyone thought it was great.  We are parked near Riverview Park which has the nicest playground I have ever seen and the kids sure to enjoy it.

Great climbing structure

Since the weather was nice, we decided that the first thing was to see the Grand Canyon so on Tuesday, we drove to Williams.  We had reservations for the train that goes from Williams to the Grand Canyon – no driving, just look and enjoy! It is a nice relaxing two hour trip. There is a variety of entertainment from musicians to local sheriff and law breakers.  There even was a robbery!  My only description of the Grand Canyon is breathless – the view is like none other, and any walking up and/or down just takes one’s breath away.

Here is the crew

On our way back to Mesa, we took a side trip to Sedona and Jerome.  Sedona is a beautiful town built in the midst of red rock. 

J
erome is an old mining town built in the mountains.  Many buildings are built with the front on the street and the bac is built on stilts.  I know that I would have a difficult time living there, especially when the building would creak!  The views, though, would be spectacular.

Santa came in riding on a motorbike

Since it is Christmas, we had to do some shopping.  As the song says “the traffic is terrific”, and so are the line ups at the checkout counter.

But one can’t help but enjoy this great weather – above average temps and sun.  The shortest day was exactly like this – sunny and fairly warm.

In closing I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and the best to everyone in the New Year.  I will see you next week. 

The Week in Yuma

We spent this past week in Yuma visiting and relaxing and enjoying ourselves.  It can be a bit difficult to not repeat myself when each day we relax so there is not a lot of change from day to day.

Three times a week I have been attending an exercise class.  While it is of fairly mild intensity, certainly know that I have done something.

Friday evening, we went to a cultural event - a ballet - The Nutcracker.  Other than three guest artists, all the performers are from the local ballet school and they do an incredible job.   I had been to The Nutcracker many years ago but Gerry had never been to one. It certainly was a truly enjoyable evening.

Our friends, Gary and Marleen at the ballet

It is now December so of course it's time to get in the Christmas spirit.  This afternoon the tree and decorations went up and this evening we toured 55th Street.  55th Street is one block that does the Night Before Christmas.  There are signs in front of each place that tell the story of the Night Before Christmas and of course, the decorations and lights are many.

Love the roller coaster

This snowman was made from tumbleweed

This evening as we were watching the news, it showed a group of folks who were chosen to see if they won a truck.  Well, last week, Gerry received a phone call from Big Dog radio station that he was one of 92 who were finalists in the contest to win a new Ram truck.  One hitch - you had to be present so unfortunately, he had to forfeit his spot  What a bummer as he couldn't be present and he couldn't send a proxy.  That was close!!

I hope every one had a great week and next week will be great as well.  Until next week...….

Now It's Yuma!

Here we are in Yuma for a few days having a great time visiting and having fun.  So far, the weather has been great - sunny and not too warm, but pleasant.

We started the week off by going for lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  We were a bit disappointed on the food - it must have been good enough to stuff ourselves, but it wasn't fantastic.  We did stop off at the fish store and of course, bought some shrimp.  Hopefully the price reflects the taste but currently they are in the freezer.  There we also a couple of rather interesting/unique buildings by the fish store.

On occasion, an unusual RV appears in the area.  There was one that was obviously brought from overseas - presumably Germany since that is what was written on the back.  Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to chat with them.

We did manage to catch a humming bird at our feeder.  There weren't a lot of them around but we did get to see a few.

The rest of our days out at Why were spent getting rested up for our big trip into Yuma (it was three hours after all).

We settled on our friend's lot and decided that we should go to Mexico while the entry at Algodones was not affected by the migrant caravan that has plagued other border entries.  While Algodones mainly caters to the snowbird crowd, the U.S. military were installing concertina wire on the top of the existing fence.  Several folks at the shops that we spoke to are hoping that their community will not be targeted.  While there are some vendors along the streets, there seem to be fewer and fewer every year.  But at the same time, new shops - dental, pharmacists, or optical - are being built and opened.  The town of years past is no longer.  And it is a great place to have an authentic Mexican meal at a very reasonable price.  Plus, one little shop sells an incredible macadamia liqueur that doesn't seem to be available anywhere else.

We ended the week by attending the huge Helping Hands Sale.  It is a fund raising event where they sell donated items.  Sometimes a real bargain can be found but when one doesn't need anything, bargains are much more elusive.

I hope everyone has a great week and I will be back next week.

Why - Why Not?

This week we are at Why, Arizona - a small community thirty miles north of the Mexican border.  Once again, we are on BLM land which simply means that it is owned by the government and folks are allowed to camp for free, which of course, is our style.  It isn't very crowded this time of year but I understand that it gets considerably more busy over the winter.

It was a week of doing a few chores, going on the occasional drive, and a whole lot of relaxation.  Half of the motorhome got waxes (have to wait until we turn around so the sun is on the other side) and I got half the inside cleaned (don't have to wait until the sun is on the other side).

We do go for our daily walks and particularly enjoy the flowers that are everywhere as a result of some rains a while back.  Mostly they are yellow - all the mesquite bushes are in full bloom as I had not seen before, and the ground is covered with clumps of pretty little yellow flowers.

  And we came across what we think is a small tarantula

plus a small area of some unusual caterpillars.  According to Google, they eventually become a tiger moth.

As we usual do in the desert, I hung a couple of hummingbird feeders.  While I haven't seen a lot of them, one of the feeders seemed to empty fairly quickly.  Well I did finally catch the "hummingbird" which actually was a Gila woodpecker - the rascal.

The other unusual bird is the Phainopepla which I had not seen before but other than the colour, it looks similar to cardinal but smaller.  It was difficult to get a good photo as they seem to be very skittish.

We went for a couple of drives - one to Organ Pipe National Monument.  There is a primitive campground in Alamo Canyon so we went to have a look at it.  We came across a rescue station, something that could easily save a life, but we have not  seen anything like that before.

This area is very beautiful with the heavy stands of cactus - mostly saguaro

As most of you have heard, the U.S. military have been installing concertina wire along the Mexican border.  We have seen military vehicles with spools of the wire heading south; however in the past couple of days, there have been a number of military vehicles heading north hauling heavy equipment.  We have not, and likely won't, take a drive to see what was built.

Until next week, I hope everyone have a terrific week!!