November 14 - 17 Not Much Happening In Tucson

Everyone was up early today. The patch on the mattress didn’t do its thing. Carole said she had to pump up the bed every 3 hours. Guess that’s something else I need to work on!

This is how close I had to
get to the fence

Driving Day! Another only short drive though. I drew a crowd when I was hooking up the RV and getting ready to leave. Even Carole and Herb were waiting to see how I was going to get out of our skinny space without hitting the palm tree on the right and the awning on the left and the people’s yard across from us. It was more difficult to get the truck squeezed in across the street to hitch than it was it getting the RV out. The guy across the street was out on his patio making sure I didn’t take out his shrubbery, 2 guys walking and drinking their morning coffee stopped when they saw a woman driving and waited to see if I could get out and Carole and Herb were watching and waiting to head home. It was no show at all. I pulled forward as far as I could and made a sharp left and was clear on both sides to the disappointment of some of our spectators.

This is how narrow our parking
site is

Out on the road Carole and Herb had to stop for gas and said they’d catch up with us. We took the 202 loop around Phoenix to I-10 and headed straight for Tucson. Although it’s was a boring ride, we saw an accident remains. Traffic slowed just north of Tucson and as we passed we saw what looked like a one car crash. A red sporty looking car was smashed and on the side and lots of cars stopped but so far no emergency vehicle. Carole told us later when they had passed they had just gotten a small child out and maybe there was still an adult in there. It didn’t look good.

Getting to Rincon East RV Resort was no problem. It’s only 2 miles down the road from Carole and Herb’s subdivision. The resort is gated and luckily we were able to follow in behind someone. The office was closed on Sunday so Bill called and the camp host couple came up and partially checked us in. The husband was supposedly directing me into our back in space but he was horrible. I think I could have fared better with Bill. He kept having me turn the wheel the wrong way and go back and forth. Finally I got backed in and the space was not very long so we were kinda stuffed into the space. There’s a concrete pad with a nice patio table and 2 benches and space to park the truck. Well, then the fun began! We blocked up the RV and raised the front end and could not unhitch. We kept trying to jiggle the hitch with no luck. The problem was the front end of the truck was so much lower than the rear due to the slant of the driveway that we could not unhitch. I told Bill to put 2 inch boards under the front truck tires but that still didn’t work so we went up to 4 inches and it unhitched like it was nothing. The concern now is how we’ll get hitched back up in 2 weeks! While trying to level the RV we noticed it sounded like the front jacks were slipping so we left it a little lower than it should be. We decided we need to call mobile service tomorrow.

We are lucky to have empty lots on each side of us. Two spaces down are a couple from England who retired this year also. They bought their RV earlier this year and leave it when they go back to England. Very nice couple. We finally got to have lunch at 2:00 after our “short” drive from Apache Junction. I made an apple cake to take to Carole’s for dinner. We got set up and went to Carole’s. Xena was happy to go along and spend some time in the back yard. We stayed a while and then headed home where we watched some TV.

November 15 – It was nice to sleep in today. Not that I slept late, but since we didn’t have any plans or anyplace we had to go to, we could just relax some. I made Bill eggs with ham and cheese since we didn’t get to have our regular Sunday breakfast before leaving yesterday. I then got started on laundry. With the 10 gallon water heater we have to pace ourselves. I did a load of wash, then Bill showered, then I did another load of wash, then I showered, and then I did the last load of wash. The bathhouse is available but Bill has opted to use the RV instead.

Bill did some “stuff’ outside and Carole called with the name and number of a mobile RV guy so Bill called him and set up for him to come tomorrow. We had a late lunch and then stopped by Carole and Herb’s to get some directions before heading on our errand run. We were looking for a new satellite dish in addition to stopping at the grocery and getting some WD40. Carole invited us to dinner but I had taken out some buffalo brats to that that we had gotten in Kremmling. After dinner we did go over for dessert and watched TV for a while. At home we watched more TV and read.

November 16 – This morning was beautiful out. No wind today and the sun was out so went for a walk around the park before breakfast. I had read that today was a garage sale in the park but didn’t remember to bring money. We stopped at several on our walk and I did buy a colander since I don’t have one in the RV. Then we moved the generators from the RV to the back of the RV and clean out the storage in case the repair guy needed to get in there. He was due at 10 to see what is what. We didn’t have breakfast til 9 and the RV guy got here just as Bill was getting out of the shower. He said the gears were stripped and that he would order the parts and let us know when he would be back. He also checked our propane lines and there were several leaks so he’s getting the parts for that too. Luckily we have a maintenance policy and the jacks are covered and there’s no deductible so that part should not cost us anything. Whew! He called later in the day and said he’d be here Monday or Tuesday, depending when the parts actually arrive.

It was a cooking day. Just what I like. I made homemade chicken soup for dinner, sugar cookie dough so I can bake some Thanksgiving cookies, a small pound cake and for dinner I made cornbread. We invited Carole and Herb over. In between I made phones calls to CIGNA and to the manufacturer of the air mattress. Finally got someone and they’re sending a patch kit, so will see if that cures the problem. Then Bill and I shared calls about the darn dish. You can’t just go someplace and buy one. We figure no one ever has storm damage or anything to cause them to need a replacement. Finally someone at Direct TV gave us the name and number of a place in Tucson and they said they could check ours out and they have them to sell. Then the other place called and said they are bumping us up to Direct TV to send someone to check it here and replace if need be. So who knows.

Bill and Xena took a board over to Carole’s to cut and they stayed a while to visit. I took a walk around the park after I got my shower and went over to visit our neighbors a while. Just before dinner time I made a nice fruit salad so when our guests arrived all was ready but the cornbread and it was in the oven. Everyone seemed to enjoy dinner. Not a heavy meal but homey and hit the spot. We all watched TV and visited and made some tentative plans for tomorrow. We’re going to The Good Egg for breakfast, as Carole has free coupons. Who can pass up on that? They went home to watch Dancing With The Stars and I caught up on my journal, Bill went to bed to read and now I’m going to read for a while too.

November 17 – We picked Carole and Herb up at 9 to go to breakfast. Bill could not believe how many choices were on the menu at The Good Egg. Their food is very good and everyone was stuffed when we left. We headed on down the road to have our satellite dish checked. They guy gave us a new cord and said it was probably not going to work with the dents in the side but to check it using the cord. From there we stopped at the Tucson Mall. Carole had to go to Sears and Bill ended up getting new sneakers and I got some insulated winter shoes in case I end up in Colorado again some time or if I get to NY this winter. We checked out the section of shops that were Arizona “stuff”, like souvenirs and southwest décor and jewelry. We stopped by Penneys on the way out since I had a coupon for there and Carole and I both got jackets on sale and then with my extra 15% off. The new jacket will look good when I’m strolling down the streets of NY!

Heading back towards our side of town, we stopped at Mac’s Jewelry as I had 3 pieces I needed to get repaired. I can’t find anyone at home that works on silver like they do here. On the way down the street I spotted a place that sells rock for floors and walls and whatever. I wanted a piece that could have our name on it to put out camping when we can’t put our other one in the ground. Carole is going to paint on it for us. We found a really neat one that already had a kokopelli engraved in it and came with a stand. Carole found one with a painted on kokopelli for she and Herb. Lucky stop! Then Bill dropped me at Fry’s Grocery for a couple of things while he filled up the truck. We dropped Carole and Herb off at home and headed to the RV. We weren’t really hungry so had a light snack since it was after 2.

We tried again with the dish but couldn’t get channel 3 to come in on the TV to get the Direct TV box to work, so we gave up. I was going to do some fix it’s but didn’t have the right size drill bits so will get those in the next day or so. We ended up watching a show on PBS and I did the ironing I had. We left about 5:30 to go to Carole’s for dinner. She fixed Bill’s favorite, meatloaf with mashed potatoes, salad and veggies. She even sent meatloaf home for him a sandwich. It was a good dinner and then we all watched TV til 9. Back at the RV Bill and I watched another show and now he’s in bed and I will read for a while.