Mostly hanging out!

September 30 – Happy Anniversary Karen and David! 

After breakfast we headed to the RV to get some clothes, our dirty clothes and things from the fridge that might go bad.  I checked with the front desk if they had a tracking number on the radiator and she does not.  She said the latest receipt date is Friday.  It “could” come in Wednesday or Thursday, but the way our luck is running it will be Friday.

Then we headed over to Carole’s with all our dirty laundry and things to go in her fridge.  I did 1 big load, 1 medium load and 1 small load.  We’re good for a while!  We decided to go out to lunch and on the way back to pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner. 

We had lunch at Brushfire.  I finally got to have my pork belly sandwich.  It was sooo good!  I don’t even know what Bill and Carole had!  Carole only ate half of hers so she’s got lunch for tomorrow.  Next door is Dollar Tree so Carole and I had to do a walk though in case we needed anything.  I got more than she did!

Then we went to Beall’s Outlet.  They did have some Baggalini purses but they were all black and I passed.  I didn’t find a top to match my pants but we each got a box of Anastasia coconut bars on clearance!

We had passed a Goodwill so of course on the way back we stopped there.  Bill got a book, Carole got 2 books and I got some stocking stuffers.  They had a large section of new items that I had to check out.

Our last stop was Fry’s Grocery.  Carole got the chicken and a couple other things while Bill found the Snapple and I got a tub of cool whip

.

I put together a raspberry jello pie and then finished up my laundry.  Wish I had thought to bring my plastic hangers!  I had it all dry and folded before dinner.

Carole cut up the chicken, I made a small Waldorf salad, put together a kale bag salad and got out the leftover potato salad I brought over.  It was a nice meal and once Bill cleared the table he served up the pie and a Chocolate Bomb for each of us.  Yum!

We watched a bit of TV but headed home in time to get things put away before it was time for “Bull” to come on.  We had a great day with Carole as usual!

Arrived in Tucson

September 15 – Since we were able to get to the park and do the tour yesterday afternoon we took our time this morning and finally got on the road around 10.  The drive into Tucson was flat straight and boring.  Once again there were MANY border patrol cars and we had to pass through and stop at a check point. 

All by ourselves....

When we arrived at Rincon East RV Resort Bill asked if we could move closer to the front as they had us almost all the way in the back where most of the spaces are permanent.  So we ended up in the very front all by our selves.  When we were here before we were parked across the street and down just a couple of spaces.  That was in November and the park was pretty full.

We arrived by lunchtime and I had put a bison roast in the crock pot with carrots and potatoes before we left this morning so it was cooking away.  We called Bill’s sister Carole and her husband Herb to let them know we made it and we’d be bringing dinner over later.

I went to  Walmart after  lunch  for a few  things  but it  was a  small  Walmart and they didn’t have everything on my list.   I also  stopped at ACE  for 2 brackets  to  stabilize  my over the door rack.   I put a  blueberry crisp in  the oven when I got home and we both showered and headed over to Carole’s about 6.   We visited  for quite a while and eventually made our way to the table and had our  dinner and dessert.  We stayed until around 9 then headed back to the RV where we watched some TV and read.

November 24 - November 28 Final Days in Tucson

After our walk and breakfast, Gene Kelley the RV mechanic came about 10:30 and got started on replacing our front legs. He had a terrible time getting them out due to the construction of the RV. At the end of the day he said he’d have to come back on Friday to finish. We were concerned about our bill going up but I guess he’s going to try and get more money from the service contract we have as he only charged what he originally told us he would charge.

Carole and Herb dropped off the valance. They picked it up when they picked up their chair. After they left and we had lunch we hung the valance but decided we wanted to secure it better than with only 3 screws into the ceiling paneling.

Airplane gravelard in Tucson on the
Davis Monathan Air Force Base

I did one load of wash and once that was drying we left. We visited 2 other RV parks so we’d have some idea of what else is available next time we’re in Tucson. We went to 2 used bookstores and Bill cleaned up. I think he found 11 books, so that should keep him for a while. I found 2 and a cookbook. We made a quick stop at Ace to get some panel nails to fix a piece of trim and paneling in the RV and L brackets to better secure the valance. When we got home I made risotto to take to dinner at Carole’s and did my trim and paneling repairs.

When we got to Carole’s, she and Janet were still out shopping. They ended up only being a few minutes behind us and the meatballs were in the crockpot and ready so dinner was quickly on the table. We all watched a sow Bill wanted to see and then we headed back to the RV where we watched a couple of shows, I cook my sweet potatoes for tomorrow then I read on my book for an hour.

November 25 – We slept in today and got a late start on our walk. I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and we did some “chores” before getting started on my sweet potato casserole to take for lunch. We were eating at 2 so we had some time. We left the RV at about 12:45 for Carole and Herb’s. Everyone was there and bustling around in the kitchen. I stayed clear as there were too many cooks in the kitchen for my comfort level. Everyone had their assigned jobs.

Xena and her blanket at Carole's

We had quite a spread of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, rutabaga, 2 kinds of cranberries, gravy, rolls, olives, stuffed celery and green bean casserole. I think everyone was full to the gills when we left the table. We didn’t get into the pies until much later. After lunch some took naps, some watched TV and football and some went over the Black Friday ads before we made it back to the kitchen for pie. There was pumpkin, apple and razzleberry with your choice of ice cream or whipped topping. I can only vouch for the razzleberry and it was sooo good.

Bill and I went home at 6 to feed the girls and take Xena out. They each had special Thanksgiving food too. Xena always eats hers but Molly didn’t care for the turkey at all. She would only lick the broth off so I gave the turkey leftovers to Xena and gave Molly some salmon and rice and she chowed down on that. Not much on TV for specials and reruns. We both went to bed at 10 since I had to get up at 4:40 to go shopping.

November 26 – From 2 AM on I kept checking the clock to make sure it went off and I didn’t miss my 4:40 AM wake up call. I made it up, dressed, made a cup of tea to go, ate a banana and did a couple of emails before my ride arrived. First stop was El Con Mall to the JC Penney and Target. I did some great shopping at Penney’s and got some super deals and another 15% off with a coupon from Carole. Didn’t buy much at Target but sure enjoyed my Gingerbread Latte at the Starbucks there.

Then we stopped at Michaels and I only got a couple of stocking stuffers there too. Saw a saguaro cactus that lights up that I’d like but they didn’t have any more, only a display one that was made into a big floral arrangement thing. We will check again on Sunday to see if they get more in, but I think they won’t get another truck until next week.

The ladies met up with the guys at McDonald’s at about 9:30 so Carole and Herb could visit with their bus driver retiree friends. Since all I’d had was a banana and a latte I was ready for something more substantial. Carole had coupons so Bill and I got a buy one get one breakfast sandwich. We visited with everyone til almost 11 as the RV guy was to be back at 11 to replace the parts on the gas tanks and finish something on the level legs. He arrived right on time and in addition to completing his tasks, he gave us some good tips on RV products and suggestions on better ways to do things.

The latest family photo

After he was finished we headed over to Carole’s to visit and for dinner. Tera and JD had left about 15 minutes before we got there, so Xena got to go too. JD had to work on Saturday and they weren’t sure what traffic would be like. We had leftovers for dinner and that was fine as everyone was tired from the early start today. After dinner Bryan and Carole set up the living room for a family photo shoot. We haven’t all been together in probably 4 years so they wanted an updated photo of the 6 of us. We laughed and laughed at Carole trying to set her timer and Bryan trying to use his remote and of course generally harassing each other. We had our healthy dose of laughter, that’s for sure.

Then we left before 9 so we could see Blue Bloods at the Rv. Ended up being a repeat so we read instead.

November 27 – Bryan and Janet wanted to leave around 9:30 so we got up early enough to have our walk, breakfast, showers and get to Carole’s at about 9:15. They had their truck loaded and were pretty much ready to go when we arrived. We visited a few minutes before the good-byes. We invited them to come to Florida for a visit, told them what a good visit we had and had our good bye hugs. They were going to stop in Phoenix for a bit more shopping, then lunch before getting back to Camp Verde.

Once they left, Carole, Herb and us loaded in the truck and went out to Camping World. They were looking for an end table for their RV and we were looking for the parts to use our RV propane to fuel our grill and eliminate carrying the extra tank. We also got some new kind of stuff to use in our black water tank. Then we went to check out a couple of RV parks again. One was not an RV park but a park model place and the other was huge, about 1,000 spaces. Most were park models but they had 2 large sections for RV’s that were pet friendly also. A lot were pull thrus and Bill was pleased with that. At least now we have 3 places we’ve checked out for the next time we are here and we know more about what they all have and don’t have.

Xena and Kelly in the
recliner

We dropped Carole and Herb off, then we made a quick stop at the grocery for out trip home. Since we won’t be unhooking until we get to MS, it will be tough getting into a grocery store. We went home for lunch, took Xena for a walk, and visited with our neighbor who had a 2007 Cedar Creek. Bill cleaned what he could reach of the front of the RV and then I got on the roof and did down as far as I could reach and lubricated the antenna. We called Carole and told them we’d be over around 5:45 to go out to dinner. We decided to go to Texas Roadhouse. There was a 20-30 minute wait but a woman gave us her wait ticket as she gave up so we got in pretty much on time. Everyone was stuffed when we left. Those peanuts and rolls will do it.

We stayed a while and watched TV and then we headed home to take Xena out and ended up reading. Most of the shows over the holiday weekend are repeats so not much of interest on the TV.

November 28 – Sunday morning and our last day to sleep in for the next week! I finally got up at 8:30. Then we went for our morning walk and it was nice out. As the day progressed it got colder out. I made bacon, fruit, toast and eggs for Bill and fruit, bacon and a bagel for me. Then we finally got dressed and went over to pick up Carole and Herb. They went with us to Trader Joes. I wanted to get more orange chicken to take home and a few bottles of wine that I tried and liked. We dropped them off and went to fill our empty propane tank and fill up the truck for our getaway tomorrow.

When we got back to the RV is when it started getting colder. I made lunch while Bill started putting our outdoor things away. After lunch we put the stand in the back of the truck for Xena and Molly and I put some things away inside. It’s been nice to be in one spot for 2 weeks. I think we’ll start spending a minimum of 4-5 days at places on our next trip and most we’ll stay a week or more. We were concerned that a 5th wheel was going to park across from us, creating a bit of a problem for us to get hitched in the AM, but they ended up one space further over, so we were relieved. We left at 3:30 to go back to Carole’s so I could put a venison roast in the oven. A nice one pot meal will be easy to put on the table.

When we arrived in Tucson the weather was awesome. Capri daytime weather and chilly nights. Now it’s gotten cold during the day so you need long pants and jackets and in the high 30’s at night. Glad we got in for the good stuff!

My right knee gave out on me twice today and I was down. It happened going down our few little steps. I have felt some twinges the last few days but this was the first that it gave out on me and is hurting with any twist of my knee. Bill is worried I won’t be able to drive home.

While dinner cooked, Bill and Herb watched football and Carole read the paper and I caught up on my journal and talked with Carole. We ate at 6:30 and everyone was pleased with dinner. I made gravy too and we all filled up. There were enough leftovers for Bill and I to take home so we would have a ready made dinner tomorrow night on the road. We had a teary goodbye when we left at 8. We always have such a good time with Carole and Herb, whether it’s sitting and watching TV or being out and about during the day. It’s always hard to say goodbye.

November 19 - 23 What is Happening in Tucson

Santa Catalina Mountains and
Sonoran Desert

Carole and Herb picked us up at 8:45 to go with them to McDonalds where they go every Friday morning for coffee and/or breakfast with their fellow bus driver retirees and their spouses. We had eaten breakfast but tagged along to meet their friends and then the 4 of us were going to run some errands. They had a nice crowd over in their regular corner of the place and such a nice group of people.

From there we went across the street to Big Lots, but we didn’t buy much, just some odds n ends. Then we made quick stops at Home Depot, JoAnns and Micheals and a long stop at Sunflower Market. Those are really great grocery stores. They remind me of Whole Foods at home but have some bulk food items, which is nice. I picked up some stuffed chicken breasts for my turn to cook dinner on Saturday night and some bulk items I will probably take home.


Rincon Mountains

After they dropped us off we had lunch and did some duties around the RV. We picked them up at 4 to go to the swap meet that is from 3 to 11 on Friday nights and we thought that would be less crowded than going on Saturday or Sunday. It was really disappointing. During the 23 years that I have come to Tucson with Bill and gone there we have always had fun looking in the silver shops, the Mexican import shops, and of course the various clothing and “junk” shops. Well I guess this was the last time we will go back. There must have been 15 – 20 candy shops catering to the Hispanics along with produce stands and stands selling Mexican chips and snacks. There was only 1 remaining import shop and a handful of jewelry places. The orientals have started setting up their $1 items like at the Webster Flea Market at home and there were lots of clothing that was catered to young people. So no more Swap Meet for us in Tucson. Bill and I spent a whopping $4.50 on a bottle of Avon powder and 2 bungee cords.

The plan was Mexican dinner at Casa del Rio which is pretty much just up the road from the RV and their house. We only had a short wait for a Friday night, which was nice since the parking lot was packed and the place was full. I had the best tortilla soup and a green corn tamale which I never see at home. Herb and I shared a ½ liter of sangria too, so for me it was a great meal! We dropped them off and headed home to some TV and reading.

November 20 – One of our propane tanks was empty this morning so after breakfast Bill loaded it in the truck and we headed out on more errands. The furthest away was Mac’s Silver shop to pick up the items I had dropped off earlier in the week for repairs. Bill looked at some things but what he liked was not his size so he left empty handed but did find they could repair a couple of his silver items so we’ll ship them when we get home. We stopped at Trader Joes and got Cindy 2 bags of orange chicken until I see how much room I’ll have in the freezer. Got some wine to try also. They even had a dornfelder that was really reasonable so will give it a try.

Barrel cactus

We stopped and got the tank filled and then a quick stop at Fry’s for the last items I need for my part of the Thanksgiving meal. We were home in time for lunch. I did a load of wash and put some of the medallions on our walking sticks but it was getting really windy outside and so I put it away for another day. I put the I-hooks in and we adjusted the new bungee cords to them so maybe now the TV won’t be on the bed when stop at the end of our travel days. Luckily it hasn’t gotten damaged so far.

I got busy and made a blackberry crisp for dinner then when it was time I put the stuffed chicken breasts in the oven and snapped my green beans for lemon dilled beans and made a dill krauter with my only cucumber. Carole really likes it so thought it would be a nice addition. Didn’t make a starch tonight since we’re having dessert. They arrived a little early and I put out some goat cheese with pepper jelly and crackers. Herb and I tried the dornfelder and it was yummy! Will be getting a couple more bottles to take home on my next trip to Trader Joe’s.

We all decided to go to the movies to see “Morning Glory”. It was slow starting in my opinion but once it got going it was really funny. Everyone really enjoyed the movie so it was a good night. They drove so they dropped us off and headed home. No TV tonight, just some reading and lights out.

Sonoran Desert

November 21 – When I got up and awake we dressed to go for our morning walk around the park. We critique the various park model trailers and how the tiny yards are done and the size of the lots. We bid “good morning” to all the other walkers as we pass. Bill would like to spend a winter in a place like this and make friends and socialize with everyone, but when we already live in Florida it would be crazy to spend the money and winter here. When we got back I made Bill’s Sunday special breakfast. I had my tiny bagel with leftover goat cheese and pepper jelly, 2 pieces of turkey bacon and my bowl of fruit. The plan was to wash the front of the RV but it was overcast first and then when the sun came out the wind really picked up so Bill did what he could reach from the ground. I baked 6 ½ dozen sugar cookies for Thanksgiving week for everyone and put more medallions on the walking sticks until I got tired of the wind again.

We had a light lunch since we were going to dinner with friends of Bill’s in Green Valley tonight. Then we met the challenge of taking down the window dressing over the dining table that was coming apart. We took a while getting all the staples out and Bill suggested I see if there is an upholsterer that would staple it back instead of buying a staple gun and the sizes of staples. Good idea, so it’s ready to go. Then putting it back up all in one piece will be fun, since we took it down in one piece. I called Carole and asked her to look up upholsters in the phone book and she has a chair she wants to get done so tomorrow we will try to kill 2 birds with one stone.

Jumping Cholla Cactus

On our way to Green Valley we dropped Xena off over at Carole’s. They enjoy having her and she loves their back yard. Poor Molly, home alone again. We drove to Ed and Mary’s and visited at their home for almost an hour before heading to the Desert Diamond Casino for dinner. They have a nice sit down restaurant right in the lobby area. We ate with them there the last time we were here. The food is very good. The service was a bit slow but worked out well for us since we wanted to visit anyway. Bill and Ed coached together back in Ohio when Bill was just starting out. Since the casino is between Tucson and Green Valley we followed them there and left for home from the casino. Actually we stopped very briefly to pick up Xena then came home. There was a Sherlock Holmes show on at 9:30 that Bill wanted to watch and I was 3 days behind on my journal. I made Bill and hot chocolate and I had a cappuccino. He had crisp and a cookie and I just had 2 cookies. I was good at dinner so that was my reward.

Bill went to bed since he’s taking the truck in to get the valve stems replaced in the morning. Time for me to follow!

Prickley Pear or Paddle Cactus

November 22 – Bill left at 8:15 to take the truck in to have the valve stems all changed on the truck. I made a bunch of phone calls. I found someone to repair the valance Bill and I took done at the table and he can do it over night so we can put it back up before we head home. I was just finishing my calls when Bill got back. I finished washing up the dishes and then we went for our walk. Then Xena wanted to go so we took her for a long walk. I put a load of wash in. Carole finally called and once we all had lunch they picked us up to go to the upholsterer. They have a chair they wanted redone so it was a good time to take both items. Once Carole picked a fabric for her chair and discussed if they could do it by Wednesday, we headed to the mall to the movies. We went to see Harry Potter. There were hardly any people there for the 2:20 show. The movie was good. A bit darker than the last one but left us all waiting for the final chapter in July.

Carole and Herb dropped us off to take Xena for her walk and I put the clothes in the dryer and Bill feed Molly, then we went to Carole’s for dinner. She made the famous orange chicken from Trader Joes. It was really good. We had spaghetti squash and a mixed vegetable dish with mushrooms and pearl onions that was really good too. There were cookies for dessert. Then we went our separate ways to watch TV. I was in the computer room, Bill and Herb in the living room and Carole at the bar in the kitchen. After our shows Carole and I went through her paints to pick some for her to do our kokopelli stone with our names on it. Then we came home and watched Hawaii 5-0 then read.

Saguaro, the big boy cactus

November 23 – Bill left at 6:30 to take the truck in for an oil change and to check for a noise in the front end, but they found nothing wrong. He was gone 4 hours! While he was gone I did 2 loads of wash, spot cleaned some of the carpet, took Xena for a walk, did the dishes, did some email and made a couple more phone calls. Once he finally returned we went for a walk around the park. The mobile RV guy, Gene Kelley, finally called and said only one of our parts came in yesterday and he should have the other today and would call and let us know. So we made our plans for the day.

After lunch we drove out to Saguaro National Monument. There are 2, an east and a west. The east is only 8 miles or so. They have a loop drive that’s 8 miles with lots of turnouts along the way and several hiking trails. We hadn’t been there in 22 years and it looked so sparse compared to the number of cacti back then. We did a very short hike, more of a nature walk and stopped several times for photos. The highlight of the day was a stop at Javalina Rock. First we were just taking a look but then I saw there were people up on the rock, so of course I had to be on top of the rock. It seems like it took me forever to make it around and back and forth to get up on top. I was too short to get up where everyone else was climbing so I went a little further around and found some foot holes in the rocks that would get me up. Then to get down I was the last person up there and I couldn’t go back down the way I came so I had jump down where everyone else had and I had to push away from the rock to keep from scraping my back. Well, these old knees don’t have any spring left and I got down OK but fell backwards on my butt. The only injury was to my dignity! I did brush against several cacti going up and back down and the rest of the day I was picking the stickers out of my clothes.

Javalina Rock

From the park we went to Wal-Mart to pick up my prescription. Then we stopped at the gas station that sells propane and got our tank filled. It’s been cold here at night and we forgot to turn on the spare tank and we ran out of gas during the night so it was cold in here this morning. I needed a couple of last minute items at Fry’s so once we made that stop we headed home.

I made a blackberry crisp from the last of the berries I brought to take to dinner over at Carole’s. Bryan and Janet got there before noon and Janet and Carole were going shopping for the after-noon and we were invited to dinner. We took Xena over with us and Carole had fixed a pork tenderloin, scalloped potatoes and mixed vegetables. After dinner we all watched NCIS, then they were going to watch Dancing With the Stars so we came home to was NCIS Los Angeles. Bill went to bed and I watched The Good Wife. About time for me to head in too.

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.