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.