Tuesday after pickleball, Tom and I took the dogs and the travel trailer to nearby Kaibab Lake Campground. It is about a ten minute drive! We fell in love with campsite #28 in June. So, our reservations was back at the same site.
At this campground, the sites are not close together. So, we have plenty of privacy and views of the lake and forest.
Since we are only camping for three nights, we brought easy dinners with us. The first night was green enchiladas with chicken. We had prepared the meal in advance.
The next morning, I got up early and walked the dogs. We were out and about before the sun!
It is so very peaceful here. There are no hook-ups, so we brought our own water and conserved energy. The first night was quite chilly --- 48 degrees. We did not turn on the propane heater. The heater drains the trailer battery. So Wednesday morning, Tom made arrangements to borrow a generator.
The generator recharges the trailer battery, so we can use the propane heater if necessary. Tom owns a generator, but it is at a Flagstaff shop being fixed.
I brought my dear Libby's remaining ashes. So, I placed the rest of her ashes on a tree stub near the lake.
Libby always loved walking at Kaibab Lake. It will be a nice memory. Kelsey and Jamie enjoy walking around Kaibab Lake too.
That afternoon, Jesse from Atomic Pest Control was scheduled to begin his service. He called 30 minutes out and Tom and I met him at the house around 3:30 pm.
Initially, we will have the pest control service scheduled every other month. We will see if we need it more frequently.
The trail around the lake is about three miles. So on Thursday, I walked in one direction around the lake.
After my hike, we packed up the trailer and left Kaibab Lake. Such an easy 5 mile drive! We parked the trailer in front of the house. It look less than an hour to take everything out of the trailer.
Tom then capably backed the trailer into the RV Barn. That night, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the Grand Canyon Brewery. We sat outside and there was a nice half moon.
Tom and I got into our home routine. I walked the dogs and made my Fitbit celebrate daily. Tom played Word with Friends with his sister, commandeered games on his Kindle, and read some books on loan from the Williams Library. At 5:00 pm, we set aside time together on the back patio for some Amazon music and adult beverages. Saturday night, there was a very nice Arizona sunset.
The next morning, I took an early walk in the neighborhood. There was a delightful sunrise!
Even though it was a Sunday, we were able to scrounge up enough people to play pickleball.
Monday, I took an early walk to nearby Cataract Lake. I enjoyed seeing a heron wading near the shore.
I wrote a letter to our city Mayor, asking if perhaps we could have permanent lines painted in the Rodeo Barn. It was wishful thinking, but worth a try.
My home mortgage is interest only for seven years. It then become a 30 year jumbo mortgage. The seven years is up October, 2021. The 30 year jumbo mortgage has an interest rate cap of 8%. With this low interest rate environment, I decided that I need to refinance my home. I talked with son Rick who is in the mortgage business. He is not licensed in the state of Arizona, but Rick put me in touch with a highly recommended gentleman in the Phoenix area. I contacted Bob Gillespie and the refinancing process has begun!
On Tuesday September 29, I was expecting the arrival of Connie and Ramon Young. Connie and I used to work together at Union Bank in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Connie and Ray have retired. They turned in a Lance travel trailer for a large 5th wheel. They were on their first "other than weekends" 5th wheel adventure. It was fun having them hook-up their 5th wheel alongside our home.
The debate was disappointing, but we had a good dinner and we drank some nice wine! Fortunately, Connie and Ray shared our Republican/conservative values!
We had a lazy Wednesday morning and then I took Connie and Ray to Bearizona. We arrived at about 3pm. The timing was good. Most of the animals in the drive-thru park were active. Of course, we needed a photo of the three of us by the bear.
That evening, the four of us met for adult beverages at 5pm. But, we went our respective ways for dinner.
The next day, we had scheduled a trip to the Grand Canyon. Connie and Ray boarded their King Charles Cavalier dog, Chloe, at the Grand Canyon Railway Kennel. We got to the Canyon just after 10 am. First stop was the Rim Trail --- a walk from Bright Angel Lodge to the El Tovar Hotel.
This was the first visit to the Grand Canyon for both Connie and Ray! Both of them knew of the female architect, Mary Jane Coulter, as they had lunch recently in Winslow at La Posada. So, it was fun showing them some of her other works --- Bright Angel Lodge, Lookout Studio, and the Hopi House. We had a very nice lunch at the El Tovar Hotel.
Before leaving the South Rim Village, I asked Ray to take a photo of me and Connie.
Early Thursday morning, I took an early walk to nearby Cataract Lake. There, I found a number of Trump/Pence Keep America Great signs tossed into the lake. Two signs were still standing.
A neighbor was walking her dog at the lake. She told me that four teenage girls had been caught stealing Trump signs and disposing of them. I knew that my neighbor, Gus Beatty, was a victim. I walked back home, got into my truck, and went back to the lake to salvage some of the signs. Several were too far in the lake to be rescued.
I had made arrangements with handyman, Ron Cook, to have the shale rock on the front of my house re-grouted. An appointment was set up Friday for this to happen. One of Ron's associates did the task!
We had 6:30 pm dinner reservations at the Red Raven Restaurant. After arriving at the restaurant, a couple sat down at a table kitty corner from our table. It was my sister-in-law's brother and his wife!
Howdy Doan, and his wife Colleen, have a second home in Pagosa Springs. They were going back to Southern California from Colorado and stopped in Williams for a night. What a chance meet-up!
The dinner at the Red Raven with Connie and Ray was a lot of fun. Tom and I were actually treated to the meal --- as a thank-you for their stay at Casa Ebbert RV Park.
Later that afternoon, I found Tom absorbed in a project of getting the pine needles off of the roof and out of the gutters.
Tuesday, I thought it would be fun for the two of us, Tom and me, to go on a trip "out in the woods." That afternoon, we drove out Devil Dog Road to find a place called Devil's Hole. Tom's son Jon has mentioned it before. We parked the car in an area that appeared close to where we could walk to Devil's Hole.
We walked about a mile and one-half --- to the edge of the forest. We saw some beautiful vistas.
Wednesday, our cleaning lady Colleen came to service the house.
Friday, October 9, was a scheduled power outage for our town. The Arizona Power Service (APS) was substantially upgrading the electrical system in our Highland Meadows community.
Tom and I took this opportunity to go "leaf peeping" near Mt. Humphreys. On the way out of town, we stopped by the Gateway Sandwich Company for picnic sandwiches.
Deciding to bypass Flagstaff, we took a longer route back home. We arrived home at about 5:00 p.m. The power was still off. I walked the dogs around the block and found out by several neighbors that their electricity had been back on for several hours. Then, I noticed a gaggle of electric company workers focused on one box.
