October 2018 - Sun City Arizona

We spent 3 months at Paradise RV Resort in Sun City Arizona.  This is a phenomenal RV park.....friendly people and great facilities:

ACTIVITIES - what to do - what to do.   Swimming pool, water aerobics, yoga, woodworking, ceramics, stained glass, shuffle board, lawn bowling, billiards.   And you can't forget Canasta, bunco, pokeno, and mah jong.     Plus add all the people you meet from Canada and the US....it's exhausting being retired.

FAMILY -  Lucky for us, Tom's niece Robyn and her family (Ryan, Cameron, Peyton)  live in the area.   We had instant pot cooking lessons, card making (yes, Peyton is now a card making addict) and were able to see the fantastic Christmas Light show.   I know everyone was disappointed we didn't have the top off our jeep going thru the Christmas Light show....but it was COLD.  It has to be a little warmer and less rain for the top to pop off the Jeep.
We were able to watch Cameron play football for the Liberty Lions High School team.  He is a great running back.   This was our first high school football game in over 50 yers ( how time flies).  Liberty Lions Homecoming game was a nail biter.  The Lions did win in the last few seconds.  I'm sure that Robyns skills with the air horn and cow bells pushed the team to a win.  Also was able to visit with Nancy (Robyn's mom) and Joe - who we haven't seen in years

WEATHER - This was the wettest year in the history of Arizona.   Luckily after the downpours, the sun came out and weather was warm.

NEW CHURCH - We attended Willowbrook Methodist Church in Sun City.  The 11 o'clock service is a "Mosaic" service - combines art, music to support the sermon.  Pastor Steve is an accomplished graphic artist and amazed us with his art work and sermons.

NEW RV - While in Sun City we sold our 5th wheel and truck.  It was too long to travel with (39 feet - with the truck 5- feet).  It didn't allow many spontaneous side trips.  We are now the happy owners of a 2005 -  36 feet Country Coach and Jeep tow vehicle.  The coach only had 24000 miles on it.  Unfortunately, when a unit is not used a lot there can be issues.  In this case our power steering and a recall part needed to be replaced.  Luckily we assumed an extended warranty which covered the repairs and we also still had our 5th wheel to live in.  On the down side it did take 7 weeks for parts and repairs.

Overall an awesome Arizona trip and can't wait to go back



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seldovia

Image
A MUST boat charter from Homer.  Take a boat to Seldovia.  We took the Central Charters and Tours, the Rainbow boat II.   Typically the trip is 2 1/2 hours over, but our captain was fantastic.  She spent at least 3 hours "slowing" and "showing" us the local bird/sea life. Gull Island has a multitude of Alaska birds - our favorite being the Puffin and of course the Bald Eagle.  The sea life was very cooperative and our captain kept moving the boat to follow any sightings.    While in the bay we were able to see otters, orcas and even humpback whales.  But, your iPhone won't do the trick.  Be sure to bring a camera with telescopic lens and binoculars. The Athebasken Indians and Autiiq Eskimos were the original inhabitants.  In 1787-8, a Russian fur trade post was established here.  The Russians originally named the town Seldevoy which means "herring bay". Seldovia has some amazing wood carvings, our favorite was the crab...very detailed and a littl
Read more

Valdez

Image
When most people think of Valdez, they think of the Exon Valdez Oil Spill of 1989.   This tragic spill occurred when the Exon Valdez oil tanker struck the Bligh reef 25 miles outside of the town...causing the biggest oil spill in North America.  There is that Alaska is bigger theme again. When visiting we learned that town of Valdez was moved after the Earthquake of 1964.  This 9.2 quake caused major damage.  The city fathers decided to move the town 4 miles away to a safer area. Only the foundations of the original town remain....as any remaining old town structures were burned (by fire department) to prevent anyone from living there. We went to Valdez as we have family history here.  My husbands Great Grandfather was a marshall in Valdez in the early 1900's.  In 1907, nine companies fought to take advantage of the short route from the coast to the Copper Mines at Kennecott.  The railroads hired marshals to protect their interests, as the locals wanted rights to the pass.  A b
Read more

Glacier National Park August 2019

Image
FLATHEAD LAKE & BIGFORK: On the way to Glacier, drove mourned the eastern side of Flathead Lake.  It is the largest natural fresh water lake west of the Mississippi in the lower 48.  It has 200 square miles of water and 185 miles of shoreline.  We were hoping to kayak in Flathead Lake, by the weather turned cold and the water choppy. We were able to walk around the village of Bigfork, a cute town on the east side of Flathead Lake.   Really nice art galleries and of course, no one starves.  A myriad of restaurants to choose from.  We had to take the iconic photo with the Big Fork. We were lucky to find some fresh fruits and vegetables here in Big Fork.   Flathead Lake Cherries are sold all along the road side.  This growing area has perfect weather for growing cherries.  We of course stopped and bought the sweetest Ranier Cherries we have ever eaten.  The growing season is July and early August so we lucked out. Further up the road we found a Hutterite vegetable stan
Read more