Preston really enjoys all of the grass around Palm Creek. The fountains are nice as well.
Preston and I walked by my friend Oland Durst. He and his dog Chuy are going to leave the park for good on December 11.
My sister's friend Betsy Scherr from Bend had a happy hour by her RV. Preston met several dogs. I met folks from Colorado, Oregon, and Canada.
On Tuesday, I had a ninety minute massage with Heather in downtown Casa Grande. She was referred to me by a former massage therapist Veronica.
Later in the day, there was a nice sunset.
Wednesday, the 3.75 Women's Round Robin is at 2:00 p.m. It is a little warm for this time of year, but I was fortunate to get a photo with my friend Aimee Braun.
Preston has a nice set-up for his Muddy Mat dog bed.
Our Williams friend, Alie Rico, posted a nice photo of her and her three family members. Merry Christmas Rico family!
Thursday morning, there was a craft fair in the ballroom. Two of my friends, Merilee and Sue, were in attendance.
In the afternoon, Preston and I walked near the 10th hole.
Later, I drove Preston to the large agility dog park. He met Lacey, a Weimaraner, and her mom Jan Miller.
Tom had a telemed appointment with the Flagstaff Cardiology nurse, Summer Johnson. Tom's lab work was excellent. He doesn't need a follow-up appointment for several years. Yes!
Sun Resorts has subcontracted out the care and maintenance of the grass and flowers throughout the resort. I have never seen the grass so green and lush.
Our home in Williams had a dusting of snow on December 4. It is nice to have cameras to capture this.
Friday, Tom and I went to lunch at Artistic Cafe. We each had a bowl of New England Clam Chowder and a half of an egg salad sandwich.
Since it is December, I put up some colored lights by our lighted palm tree.
Our trailer is settled in for a nice evening.
My girlfriend and massage therapist, Cathy Kelly, flew to Las Vegas to see her newest grandson. What a cute photo of the two of them!
Kathy and Mike Hartigan came by to say hello. They are the couple who cared for our trailer this summer. In July, we also saw them in Williams too.
Sunday was a beautiful day.
Preston enjoyed sitting outside.
I took one final photo of Oland and Chuy. They were walking on Cole Circle.
I placed some ashes of Kelsey and Jamie by the solar flowers and the two stones with their names painted on them.
With Christmas coming, I decided that it was time to get the Christmas decorations out from under the trailer,
For my last walk with Preston, we visited some of the homes and areas that decorate nicely for the Christmas season.
There are also some homes along the golf course.
My brother Peter shared photos of a Christmas gathering with his family. One photo was naughty.
One photo was nice.
My sister Wendy shared a photo of her oldest granddaughter Lily by a Christmas tree.
On Wednesday, December 10, the Williams Highland Meadows Ladies went to lunch at Little America in Flagstaff. It was a festive group of nine.
On a neighborhood walk with Preston, we passed by Jon's lot #854. He purchased this lot with improvements in the spring. His trailer is parked on the lot. But, he has a large studio casita with a full bath to enjoy.
Another part of the walk was taking in the fountains along the 9th hole.
In the afternoon, Jon conducted a two hour drill session with some of my 3.75 pickleball associates --- Joan, Irene, and Aimee.
Tom put out a "For Sale" sign in front of our travel trailer. He is also advertising our unit on social media like Facebook Marketplace.
I met Betsy Scherr at the challenge pickleball courts at 10:00 a.m. She has been nursing a pulled muscle/hurt leg. We played four games before she injured it again. Darn!
I took Preston's "tug of war" rope toy on a walk with us. Again, Preston loves all the grass at Palm Creek.
Friday evening, Tom and I went to the Bistro for dinner and music by Silver Scorpions. The Bistro was not prepared for all of the people who came to eat and listen to good music. There were long lines and confusion in the Bistro. But, the Silver Scorpions are a great band!
My favorite pickleball round robin is the 3.75 Mixed Round Robin at 8:00 a.m. Saturday mornings.
On my way to the pickleball courts, there was a "drop dead" sunrise.
In order to get the best line-up of players, I discovered that I need to be at the Pickleball sign-in kiosk at 7:15 a..m. This allows me to be on the first sheet.
I made a Saturday afternoon appointment for Preston to have a photo taken with Santa Claus at PetSmart.
Tom and I joined Preston and Santa Claus too. It was a fun time!
On Sunday, Preston and I had a "meet and greet" outing with Weimaraner Lacey and Pointer Gertie.
Sunday, December 14, was Jon's birthday. He turned 49 --- his final year in his 40s. While we are formally celebrating his birthday tomorrow, Tom and I did get together with Jon for adult beverages.
We had Panda Express for dinner under Jon's pergola.
The next day, Tom, Jon, and I drove to Florence to have lunch at Mt Athos Restaurant & Cafe. Tom and Jon had dined at this Greek restaurant. It was a first visit for me.
On Monday, I also left some of Kelsey's and Jamie's ashes by the fountain edge that they loved to walk by. The two of them were here at Palm Creek for three seasons.
Tom had a procedure scheduled for his right eye in Mesa, Arizona. He had to be at the East Valley Peaks Surgery Center at 1:30 p.m. At noon, Tom and I dropped Preston off at Paw Ranch Pet Resort. Before leaving, Lou allowed me to leave some of Kelsey and Jamie ashes by the Paw Ranch sign.
Preston will be a resident there for two nights.
Tom and I arrived at the Surgery Center at the appropriate time.
While Tom was having the eye procedure performed by Dr. Christine Funke, I ran errands. The Surgery Center called me when Tom was ready to go home. He had a patch on his right eye.
On our way home, Tom and I stopped at McDonald's. Tom had not eaten all day and he wanted a McFlurry ice cream with M&M's candies. We also stopped at the Safeway Pharmacy in Casa Grande to pickup two prescriptions that were called in for him for "post op" treatment.
We had dinner at the Angry Crab Shack. Unfortunately, they were out of raw oysters. The manager, Wendy, came by to apologize. Currently, there only weekly delivery is on Fridays.
I decided to enjoy some Queen Crab Legs. They were $42 a pound. The King Crab Legs were almost twice that amount!
After dinner, I went to Home Goods. I bought two hand towels to place on the back of each recliner. I also bought a snow globe to replace the one that got damaged spending the summer in Casa Grande.
This new snow globe has AA batteries. I am able to turn it on and the snow swirls. It can also play music.
Fernando texted me a photo of Preston enjoying one of the court yards at Paw Ranch.
The next morning, I had a facial with Ana at Revive Spa.
Then, a hair appointment with Miranda. It was certainly a day of beauty! At noon the next morning, I picked Preston up at Paw Ranch. We were treated to a beautiful sunset that evening.
My nephew Blake and his wife Nicole love to travel the world. This time, they are in Switzerland.
On Thursday, Palm Creek Resort had a park-wide party celebrating the holidays. Tom and I had a photo taken over an arch.
There was a parade of decorated golf carts and live music.
On Friday, Handyman Jon Baker came to work on several projects. The most important one was to seal some of the trailer roof skylights.
Jon charges a reasonable $20 per hour. He and his wife live full-time in the park. Jon shared with us that the skylight above the shower was damaged and had to be replaced. Jon was going to purchase the part and return the next week.
Later in the afternoon, Tom and I went to Sundance RV Resort to meet Roland Manahan and tour the resort. Roland's wife Kristine works at the resort as the Activities Director.
Tom and Jon visited Sundance last season. For me, there is not enough shade to walk dogs. But, it was nice to see Roland. He did a great job showing us the park. That evening, I was able to take a great photo of the fountain with sunset.
On Saturday, December 20, I went to the 8:00 a.m. pickleball play. Afterwards, I walked Preston. We met us with Betsy Scherr in the dog park near the Tennis Courts.
I drove to Chandler to meet Laura Dillion for a festive holiday lunch at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse.
That evening, the sunset did not disappoint!
My Italian son Francesco Giganti and his spouse Thomas Gobbeti are skiing for the holidays.
I took Preston to the 3:00 p.m. Agility Park gathering of dogs for the first time on Tuesday, December 23. He really enjoyed it. Preston did very well.
Later in the evening, Tom and I met Tom's nephew, Nate O'Dell, for dinner at the Francisco Grande. Nate lives in Indiana. Tom and I went early and enjoyed an adult beverage in Duke's Bar.
There were seven of us for dinner --- Nate, his wife Kim, her two son's Thai and Isiah, and Thai's girlfriend Madison. Thai and Madison now live in Phoenix. It was a very nice gathering.
After dinner, Thai showed us his Tesla Cybertruck.
It is Christmas Eve. Tom was cooking steak. He didn't realize that the glass cover over the stove burners were not opened. When we tried to correct this error, half the glass shattered. Darn, darn, darn.
It was a big mess to clean-up. I'm not sure that there is a secondary market for a replacement part. We may just have to leave the burners open --- without a glass cover. Other than that, the living room is nicely decorated.
Ah, Christmas. Family members shared photos of the celebration. Carrie and Brent went to a Christmas Eve service in Bend.
My brother Peter texted photos of his San Gabriel gathering.
Tom, Jon, and I attended a Christmas Day Buffet dinner at Francisco Grande Resort.
It was a very nice event and the food was excellent. Can you say RARE prime rib!?!
Jon enjoyed all of the festivity and buffet as well.
If I am going to take Preston to any Palm Creek dog park on a regular basis, I need an easy way to transport him. I looked into renting a golf cart at $300 per month. Then, Tom was kind enough to volunteer the back-back of his Subaru. Thank you, Tom!
In the afternoon of Christmas Day, Preston and I went to the very large Agility Park. He enjoyed playing with Fred.
Friday morning, Handyman Jon Baker came to replace the skylight over the shower.
I also received a phone call that my new glasses were ready to be picked up. I used my optical insurance plan and this back-up pair of glasses only cost me $150.00. Awesome!
That evening, Tom and I played cribbage.
Tom's sister Pat sent Tom a very nice gift. It was an ornament linking sister Pat and brother Tom with their mother Mary --- who died November 1, 2000.
Early morning on Saturday, December 27, I played pickleball in a round robin with a mixed group of 3.75 rated players. Fred and Andy are some of my favorites.
Later, I took Preston with me to do some laundry at the South Pavilion. He was a good boy and waited patiently for me.
That evening, Tom and I went to dinner at Taco Giro Mexican Grill and Seafood Restaurant. We enjoyed margaritas and a platter of seafood.
My sister Carrie and her husband Brent flew to Georgia on Christmas Day. They want to celebrate extended days of Christmas with children and grandchild. The first stop was Lauren, Cody, and Colter.
The next visit is the addition of Nicole and Blake.
The Sheltons and the Kuwatas celebrated Christmas on December 28. It was also a 61st birthday gathering for my sister Kim.
I had an appointment in Williams on Monday, December 29. The Insurance Adjuster, Ray Simmons, was scheduled to look at the mold issue in the attic above the garage. Preston and I drove the 3 1/2 hours --- 212 miles --- to Williams. Preston and I arrived at the house around 3:00 p.m. We enjoyed a very nice sunset.
I had take-away dinner from El Comedor Mexican Food and Cantina.
Ray came to my home early Monday morning. He went up into the attack and took photos to share with my insurance company, Travelers.
Preston and I were on the road back to Casa Grande at about 10:00 a.m. We got back to Palm Creek in time for the 3:00 p.m. Agility Park gathering. There were about 17 dogs in the park!
That evening, Tom and I went to Mi Amigo Ricardo for dinner. Our favorite place, Su Casa Grande, was closed for the holidays.
On New Year's Eve, Tom and I went to a low key potluck dinner in the San Tan Room at Palm Creek Resort. Jon had been invited to attend this party and he included the two of us. We headed back to our RV at around 8:00 p.m.
We opened a bottle of sparkling wine and toasted 2026.
