Thursday, January 19 through Sunday, February 5, 2023: Taking Care of Becky, Concerts, Pickleball and Life in Casa Grande

Every morning, Tom and I read the weather reports about Williams. We also saw Facebook posts. Winter weather advisories have been very prevalent. The most recent storm left another two feet of snow. Tom and I are happy with the weather in Casa Grande!

Thursday, I had a facial appointment in Chandler, Arizona. Heather Liston is a friend of my Flagstaff facial person, Amy Aranda. It was an easy 40 minute drive. Heather did a great job and I made another appointment with her in February.

At noon on Friday, I played in a 3.5 Women's Round Robin. I then drove my truck to a hair cut and color appointment. It was an eight minute commute. My appointment was at Bloom Salon with Miranda. I had already given them my Schwarzkopf hair color formula. I really liked Miranda. She did a very nice job. I'll be seeing her two other times before leaving Casa Grande.

Saturday night, Tom and I had tickets for music and dancing to Campbells Band, a musical group from Phoenix. We arrived 30 minutes before the event was to start and had great seats.

The band played country music --- which we both enjoy. Tom helped me better learn the two step. There was a lot of fun dancing.

The Campbells Band is a six piece group. They were excellent!.

Sunday, Jon and I played in the 3.5-4.0 Partners Competitive/FUN pickleball at 10:00 a.m. There were some good games.

Our Highland Meadows neighbor, Jan Chumley, texted me that our house in Williams was buried. I asked her to send me some photos. And, she did!

Northern Arizona is getting hammered by winter storms. Tom, Jon, and I are happy to be in Casa Grande. The weather here is colder than usual --- frost warnings --- but no snow 😊😊😊

 

Tuesday, I cancelled a Palm 3.5 Round Robin at  2:00 p.m. The Palm Creek property had an afternoon concert. There were eight food trucks that opened at 1:00 p.m. Tom and I arrived at the food truck court at 1:20 a.m. There were long lines at the food trucks with Mexican food, Asian food, and Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches.

The concert was a tribute to Garth Brooks. The lead singer looked like Garth --- black cowboy hat and all.

It was a large crowd of Palm Creek residences. Several thousand people attended the 2:30 p.m. concert.

The music was good, but not great. The Garth singer did not have the best voice. But, I like Garth Brooks songs and he played the best ones.

 

Wednesday morning, I walked the dogs on a new path I found --- by the 10th hole tee. It was a beautiful day.

That afternoon, I saw Jon playing Challenge Court pickleball. Jon plays for hours --- every single day.

Our friend and former Williams resident, Chris Peterson, came to visit on Thursday. She is currently at Voyager RV Resort in Tucson. We enjoyed playing pickleball with her.

In the early afternoon, we went to Anaya's Mexican Restaurant for lunch.

As always, the food was excellent. On Friday, Freedom RV in Tucson began a weekend RV show. Tom and I went to look at some 5th Wheels. Our current trailer is design well, but with the dogs, it does not give Tom enough space. We met with salespeople Giovani and Lexie. They had a nice 2022 5th wheel with "reduced pricing."

Later in the day, a balloon was getting ready to be launched on the vacant lot across from the main entrance.

Over the weekend, we also looked at a "for sale by owner" 5th wheel.

Palm Creek has a Member's Pickleball Tournament in February. I went online and found a fellow who was looking for a 3.5 woman to play in mixed doubles. Paul Hartkopf is 72 years of age and is from Wisconsin. We met and played a few games.

Palm Creek Resort advertised a special RV promotion for new members. It was a program to lease a RV lot for three years for around $5,000 a year. Since the RV sites are $1,500 a month, this was a good deal. I found a site on Emerald Lane --- site 924.

The lot is smaller than the one we are on now, but it is not adjacent to a busy Casa Grande street. It is one RV site out of four on Emerald Lane. The rest of the street has Park Models. We completed the paperwork on Monday, January 30. That evening, our current neighbors, Nina and Jim, invited us for cocktails in their Park Model.

The next morning, we signed the lease paperwork. Our move date was this day --- January 31. Tom did a great job --- with the help of Ranger Don --- getting our trailer into the site.

That afternoon, Jon, Roland, and Robbie and Steve Miller came by to say hello and see our new site.

The next day, Robbie and Steve played pickleball with us. The Millers spend the summers in Williams. That is how we got to know them. During the winter, they are in an RV park in Anthem.

That evening, the five of us went to Anaya's Mexican Restaurant for dinner. I ordered the Anaya's Margarita --- just a little bigger than Tom's regular one! 😊😊😊

The next day, Robbie and Steve played pickleball in the morning and headed back to Anthem. I was able to get one quick photo with the two of them. It turns out that we share friendships with David and Carolyn Cole. I worked with David and Carolyn at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. David and Carolyn live in the same Anthem RV Park as Steve and Robbie. Small world!!!

Palm Creek Resort dedicated a weekend for Cancer Awareness --- Friday, February 3- Saturday, February 4. There was an afternoon parade through part of the resort highlighting those who have survived cancer. A local high school marching band lead the parade.

Later in the evening, eight hot air balloons held a Balloon Glow event. It was beautiful!

There was a full moon, in all of its glory.

The next morning, Tom and I and the dogs were going to watch the hot air balloons take off at sunrise.

Unfortunately, the balloons didn't take off on time. So, we went back to our RV and had breakfast. The launch was several hours later.

At noon on Saturday, I signed up for a one hour pickleball clinic called "Foursome with Linda Shuford." Linda worked with us on some advanced pickleball techniques. 

There will be a second clinic next Saturday. That evening, Tom and I went to a dance with "Come Back Buddy" band. Most of the songs were representative of Buddy Holly.

Tom and I enjoyed dancing together.

On Sunday, I had a Partners 3.5 Competitive/FUN pickleball event. I linked up with Paul Hartkopf who is my mixed doubles partner for the Palm Creek Members Pickleball Tournament in several weeks. While playing, I met a couple from Bullhead City. Liz and Tim Eiland know some Bullhead City folks that I know from summer pickleball play in Williams.

That evening, Tom barbecued dinner for us. Yummy!!!

Monday, December 26, 2022 through Wednesday, January 18, 2023: Northern Arizona, New Year's Day Snow, and Palm Creek RV Resort in Casa Grande

The Monday after Christmas, I took Kelsey to her monthly acupuncture appointment at Canyon Pet Hospital in Flagstaff.

The next day, Kelsey and Jamie had appointments in Williams to have their nails clipped.

On Thursday, I donated blood to Vitalent in Flagstaff.

I also had a hair appointment with Shawna at Wildflower Salon. On New Year's Day, we received nine inches of snow. Tom was a trooper and snowplowed the driveway.

Monday morning, I had a 90 minute massage appointment with Emily at Northern Arizona Massage Therapy. Fortunately, the roads were clear for me to make it to Flagstaff. The next two days, Tom and I prepared for our two-month stay at Palm Creek RV Resort in Casa Grande. We were watching the weather. We received another three inches of snow. Jon brought his travel trailer to our house. We now had an accumulation of a foot of snow.

Jon came over to the house on Tuesday, January 3. The three of us shoveled snow on the RV driveway to make room for Tom to use my truck to get Jon's travel trailer out of the back yard.

Wednesday morning, Tom and I got up early to finish loading our travel trailer. There was a break in the winter storm and we wanted to get out and on the road to Casa Grande.

It was an easy 200 mile drive to Palm Creek Resort in Casa Grande. What a difference 70 degrees makes! 😄😄😄

Thursday morning, we had a nice sunrise.

After walking the dogs and eating breakfast, Tom and I went to the Palm Creek office to register, get a car pass, and have our photos taken for our badges. I also joined the Palm Creek Pickleball Club.

Palm Creek Resort has 32 pickleball courts with daily round robins and challenge play. At 2:00 p.m., I went to the Pickleball Pavilion. They have a pickleball assessment clinic. I played several games and was assessed to be a high level 3.5 player.

As I was walking from our RV site to the Pickleball complex, I noticed a sign by the side of the road.

I know Oland and Cathy from Palm Springs Thousand Trails! I knew that they lived at Palm Creek Resort during the winter, but with 2,374 lots --- what are the chances of walking right by their home! It turns out that Oland and Cathy have been at Palm Creek for ten years. The next day, Cathy was out sunning herself and Oland came out to say hello.

 

They winter in Casa Grande and summer in Show Low. It was nice reconnecting with them. Our friend Roland Manahan stopped by our site to see how we were doing.

He brought his dog Pepper.

Later in the afternoon, I walked out of the park to locate a nearby cache. It was hidden near a bridge.

I took the cache up on the bridge to sign the log. It was a clever cache, but an easy find.

That evening was a full moon.

On Sunday, Jon and I played in a Round Robin. It was 3.5-4.0 Partners Competitive/FUN play.

In the afternoon, I rode my e-bike to find a few more caches. I did find one --- a devious one.

Tuesday, Jon, Tom and I had lunch at the Palm Creek Fireside Patio Bistro.

I had a delicious egg salad sandwich. Tom had a prime rib entree. Jon had a chicken salad sandwich. At 2:00 p.m., I played in a Palm 3.5 Round Robin. The play was very good. I started to meet some of the Palm 3.5 women like Jean, Reta, and Gail.

Wednesday, I had a video conference with my sleep doctor, Dr. El-Harakeh.

He was pleased with my C-PAP sleep scores. I won't have to see him again until August. That evening we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Kelsey and Jamie are adjusting well to life in the travel trailer. They started out sleeping on two dog beds.

Or, sharing one bed.

Unfortunately, Kelsey's arthritis acted up and she was not comfortable on a dog bed. So, I made space for her between the two rocker chairs.

Friday, at noon, I played in another Women's Palm 3.5 Round Robin. At 2:00 p.m., Tom went out to the Pickleball courts to be assessed for play. I went to watch. It was nice seeing him back on a pickleball court. He hasn't played in six months.

Across from the main entrance to Palm Creek Resort is a large empty lot. Every Saturday, a hot air balloon company launches balloon trips.

Granddaughter Meghan posted some Social Media photos of the Bernstein family in Hawaii.

On Saturday, Tom had a two-hour slot for pickleball play with an instructor. There were three other players and Kip.

I listened to what Kip had to say and found the tips very helpful. I hope that before we leave in March that there is an opportunity to sign up for two sessions.

Sunday was a rainy day. All of the pickleball Round Robins were cancelled. Tom, Jon, and I went to the historic part of Casa Grande and had breakfast at the Big House Cafe.

The food was excellent! It was also fun walking up and down several of the streets.

After breakfast, we drove to Francisco Grand Resort. Richard and I visited this place ten years ago. The resort was built by the owner of the San Francisco Giants. It was used for spring training in the 1980s. The pool is in the shape of a baseball bat and the hotel roof looks like a baseball cap.

Unfortunately, the property has lost its glow. I was told that the couple divorced and the wife got the property. She lives in Florida and most of the guests are members of youth soccer clubs from all over the world. The property is rundown --- tattered carpets, chipped paint, broken furniture, dull floors. Too bad.

Monday afternoon, Tom, Jon, and I drove to the city of Maricopa. We had been told that it was a newer, very nice city.  Frankly, we were not terribly impressed. Because it is new, there is no historic part of town. We ended up driving back to Casa Grande and had an early dinner at Hideout Steakhouse.

Tom, Jon, and I participated in their happy hour drinks and appetizers. Back at the RV site, Kelsey and Jamie were able to hang out in the trailer.

Of course, I had to take them out for bathroom breaks. I lucked out, as there were times when the rain subsided.

 

Tuesday afternoon, the skies cleared up and I had a 3.5 Women's Round Robin at 2:00 p.m. Surprisingly, I was on the winning side of all six games. After we concluded play, I asked one of the women to take a photo of one of my partners, Cindy.

Wednesday morning, I played in the Women's 3.5 Ladder. It was similar to the Round Robin game, but you play each game until a bell in wrung. It was a faster pace, but I didn't play as well as the day before. In the afternoon, I had a nail and pedicure appointment at a place called NailOlogy. It was the usual staff of Vietnamese technicians. Ryan did my nails. He has been in Casa Grande for ten years.