Saturday, March 16 to Sunday, March 31, 2024: Pickleball, Preparing to Depart Casa Grande, and Easter Sunday

On my first walk of the dogs, there was a hot air balloon over our trailer.

It snowed in Williams yesterday. The dogs and I enjoyed a beautiful day in Casa Grande and walked the loop by the 10th hole.

Monday evening, SpaceX Falcon rocket was launched at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Monday, March 18 was my grandnephew's 2nd month birthday. Colter is such a happy baby.

On Tuesday, Tom and I went to Angry Crab Shack for dinner. We had cocktails before being seated.

The bar had a wonderful open window. There was a nice breeze.

Jon joined us for dinner. We all had the soft shell crab entree. It was delicious! It is always so nice when we see Jon.

We somehow lost the remote for our electric fireplace. We looked everywhere. No luck. Fortunately, Amazon has a replacement remote for only $20.00.

On Wednesday, a couple from the north end of Palm Creek came by our trailer on their bikes. They have been here since January and have one four year old Dalmatian named Ares and one three-legged dog, Annie, who is one-half Dalmatian. So, Kelsey and Jamie are no longer the only Dalmatians at Palm Creek Resort.

Donna and David are now back in California. They posted a photo of the two of them in San Diego.

Kelsey and Jamie posed for a photo at the screen door of our trailer.

On Thursday, pickleball friend Gina Porter --- from Alberta, Canada --- joined me in drilling for an hour. Gina drills several times a week. That is something I need to do, too!

Jim, the 82 year old mobile RV repairman came back to our trailer. Norris RV Supplies was contacted that the peddle to our toilet was not working. The peddle was working before Jim repaired the toilet a week prior. It turns out that Jim did not assemble the peddle correctly. Fortunately, he corrected the problem.

Donna and David celebrated their one year anniversary for becoming full-time RVers. Congratulations to them!

Our neighbors, Ron and Merilee McCartney, have a beautiful flowering cactus. Lovely!

Saturday morning, I had an appointment to give blood at Vitalent. The appointment is here in Palm Creek. Unfortunately, my iron level was below their acceptance level. So, I was not able to give blood. This is the second time this happened this year. I may have to stop donating. I'll talk to my doctor in May. I take an iron supplement and I ate a good dinner the night before.

That evening, Tom and I went to a Dance Party at the Two Palms Ballroom. The band was "Come Back Buddy", a group we really liked last year. They did not disappoint! The music is rock and roll from the 1950's.

  

At the end of the evening, I even got a photo with me, the lead singer and his wife.

At Palm Creek, all of the RV sites have a white brick with the site number painted in black. Our 924 brick was very faded. I bought a black marker and brightened up the number. Since I had the marking pen, I volunteered to freshen some of my neighbor's bricks. This was a work in progress brick.

Sunday, March 24, a number of my family members met in San Gabriel, California, for brunch. It was great getting a photo of the gathering!

Another winter storm swept through my town of Williams. It is nice having cameras set-up to capture the event. The snowfall was 3-5 inches.

Monday morning, Kathy and Mike Hartigan came to our trailer site. They are going to watch and care for our trailer while we are not at Palm Creek. They were referred to me by one of my Canadian pickleball friends. Kathy and Mike take care of eight or nine park model homes in Palm Creek. We will be their first RV site, but they own a 38' travel trailer --- so are very familiar with its workings.

The monthly fee for this service is $30.00. It is a nominal amount for the security of knowing that everything is okay.

Donna and David posted a photo on Instagram. They purchased a blow-up kayak.

I played Mentored Mixed 3.75 Pickleball Round Robin at noon on Tuesday. Afterwards, I had a very nice massage with Veronica.

Wednesday morning, David's RV Wash came to our trailer around 9:00 a.m. Tom was already on his way to Tucson. Jon had a 10:45 a.m. appointment at the V.A. for his first colonoscopy. Dave had a crew of four --- not including himself.

It took the team of five about an hour to wash and wax our RV. David said that my rig is starting to oxidize. He said that the next time they come to wash and wax, he would add an oxidation service before waxing.

Donna and David took their new kayak out on the water in San Diego.

Barbara Coad was on a Mexican Riviera cruise with her friend Paula. Barbara met up with our mutual friends, Gilly and John Foy, in Puerto Vallarta. Nice!

Friday morning, Tom and I made inserts for the trailer windows. Earlier in the month, we bought two rolls of insulation from Amazon. These inserts will help protect the trailer by deflecting some of the rays of sun.

At noon, I had an appointment with Dr. Jeffers, my optometrist. My eyesight is starting to be impacted by cataracts. I currently have 30/20 vision. At some point, I will need to have the cataracts removed. Dr. Jeffers will continue monitoring the situation.

Later in the afternoon, I participated in Cardio Pickleball. It is a great way to drill. There were sixteen of us and two coaches. We split up onto two courts. And drilled for several hours.

Saturday morning, Tom and I drove 30 miles to the city of Florence. We had lunch at the River Bottom Grill.

We dined at this restaurant last year too. I had the Old Blue Burger and Tom had a Cheese Burger.
I also enjoyed a Bloody Mary.

It was a very beautiful day --- low 80 degrees.

After lunch, Tom and I found four caches in Florence. The first one was "Yummmy." It was located near a fast food restaurant.

The second one was "What the HECK Time is it anyway."

With these four caches found today, I now have 260 finds! Florence has a very cute historic downtown. Florence is also the county seat of Pinal County.

 

Easter Sunday was early this year --- March 31. It was a rainy day in Casa Grande.

My Italian son Francesco and his partner, Thomas, are in Egypt. They sent Easter wishes to me from Giza.

My sister Wendy enjoyed Easter with her adorable granddaughter, Lily. She is such a happy baby!

Friday, March 1 through Friday, March 15, 2024: Membership Pickleball Tournament, Dog Medical Updates, Tom's 77th Birthday, and Life in Casa Grande

This year, I am going to file my income taxes before April 15. This will be a first in over thirty years! I got all of the tax documents organized, copied, and placed in an envelop to Ken Bachman, my accountant. I drove to the Casa Grande Post Office and there was a line of people all the way to the entrance door!

I decided to take advantage of the self-service kiosk in the outer lobby.

Saturday, Tom and I went to the pickleball courts to watch Jon play in the Palm Creek Members Pickleball Tournament. His 5.0 mixed partner was Debbie from Colorado.

Jon and Debbie lost their first match. It turns out that this couple that they played earned Gold Medal for the day.

Jon and Debbie lost their second match, so they were done for the day.

 

Sunday, I took Jamie and Kelsey on a walk to the pond and beyond.

The second day of tournament pickleball play for Jon started at 9:30 a.m.  Before Jon's first match, I had a bystander take a photo of the three of us.

Jon's doubles partner was Grant from Toronto, Canada.

Jon and Grant lost their first match.

They moved to the Loser's bracket and won the next match.

In between matches, Jon snapped a photo of me and Tom.

Jon and Grant won their third match.

Unfortunately, they lost their fourth match and were done for the day.

Interesting enough, Jon and Grant were playing in the 35-49 age bracket. Since they were the only doubles players in this age bracket, they won Gold Medal.

Later that afternoon, I walked the outside perimeter of Palm Creek. A segment of this walk was along a field of dormant cotton.

Monday morning, Jamie and Kelsey had their monthly Librela injection at Casa Grand Animal Hospital.

That afternoon, Tom and I met Jon on the pickleball courts and we drilled for an hour. Jon was coaching Tom.

This was the first time this year that Tom and I were together on a pickleball court.

Tuesday morning, I caught Jamie and Kelsey sleeping together on the same dog bed.

Later in the morning, I walked the dogs to a dog groomer who was set up in the park. Jamie and Kelsey had their nails trimmed. Long over due!

 

 

Wednesday, Tom and I began to focus on what we need to do to prepare the trailer for summer. We ordered some new covers for the two air conditioners. The two we had for this past summer lost the strings to tighten the fit. We also ordered some thermal bubble roll to put in the windows. Our neighbor up the street showed us what they use.

On Thursday, I was flushing the toilet and my thick sandal slipped and I broke the waste ball arm that opens and closes the toilet ball. The next morning I used the internet to research replacement parts. There is a wast ball drive arm kit. I called Norris RV Supplies in Casa Grande. They have the part, but a technician is not able to come until next Wednesday morning. We'll just have to make due.

Friday, it rained. It is always a challenge when it rains --- taking the dogs out for walks and potty stops. Fortunately, Tom has a nice big red and white golf umbrella. I also have rain ponchos to wear.

Saturday morning, I took Jamie and Kelsey by the 7th hole pond.

This day, March 9, is Tom's 77th birthday. When I drove over to BoSa Donuts, a hot air balloon was taking off in the field across from out Palm Creek entrance.

Before we went to dinner, Tom and I visited with Palm Creek resident, Taylor Baumgarten. We met Taylor at the pickleball tournament. She was interested in hearing our story about work camping.

Taylor sold her home in Palm Creek. She will be moving to Tucson where her son lives or she will move to Minnesota where one of her daughters lives.

 

Tom, Jon, and I had 6:00 p.m. reservations at BeDillons Restaurant & Cactus Garden. We reserved a table outdoors in the cactus garden. All three of us had prime rib for dinner.

Sunday is busy day for hot air ballooning.

Monday, I attended a Dylan Frazier Pickleball Clinic. Dylan is a 22 year old pickleball professional. He is #3 in the world in men's doubles. 

There were seven people attending the clinic. Dylan's friend, Doug (or Chief), also helped conduct the session.

It was an excellent clinic. I now understand how important it is to drill several times a week.

 

My sister Wendy and her girlfriend, Beverly Nickerson, were at a marketplace event in Pasadena. They ran into our old San Marino neighbors, Laurie Sams and her mother Darlene Lloyd. Darlene is an amazing 96 years old. She is as sharp as a tack!

Wednesday morning, an RV technician contracted with Norris RV Supplies arrived to repair the waste ball drive arm. Jim is 82 years old and he has been an RV repair professional for 40 years.

 

On Thursday, March 14, I drove to Chandler for a facial appointment with Heather Liston. Tom went to a presentation in the Palm Creek ballroom. The Palm Creek Sewing Club made nine quilts that were handed out to nine Palm Creek residents who are veterans. Jon received one for his service in the Air Force.

Of course, Jon was the only recipient who had his Dad in attendance.

Friday, March 15, Williams received several inches of new snow. My Blink cameras were able to capture some photos.