Apricity West 4

January 26, 2024 - Friday Happy 70th Birthday sister, Leslie

Dot and Harvey were kind enough to drive us into Surprise to pick up Shadow with her new grill (tow package). We went to Pei-Wei for lunch. It is a spinoff of PF Changs, but split out on their own. They have 119 locations in the United States. It was great to have them meet John and Eileen who joined us for lunch.

Afterwards, John & Eileen took us back to their house to hang out for a while and then over to the Hitchman later in the afternoon. It sure is good to have a vehicle again. 

 

January 27, 2024 - Saturday

We went into Safeway this morning for the last time. Then to Sadie’s Hot Dawg wagon to say goodbye to Mike (and have a hotdog). 

 

Lu and I went for a walk and stopped to visit Joanne at her greenhouse. She has a large amount of lettuce and peas, along with okra, cilantro, and other greens. She gave us a couple of bags to pick up some FREE lemons down the street for Lu.

 

John and Geri fulfilled their promise and stopped by for a visit. He has been working on this ’54 Buick and took it for a spin today. They will be showing it at the Goldrush Days in Wickenburg next month. It was a magnet for passers-by to stop and investigate.

He boasts that he could fill this trunk with 4 people to sneak them into the drive-in movies. Remember those days?

Cindy, Heather, and Dee came for a 3:30 Margarita party in the brightly shining sun. It has been a while since it has shown, so it felt great to be outside. Carol (from dance class) and Steve stopped by and lo and behold, they are both authors. She was a middle school teacher, then special ed for pre-school. These are the books they wrote and published on Amazon. 

January 28, 2024 - Sunday

Laundry in the morning and line dancing for beginners in the afternoon. Then went to the Wild West Saloon with Mark and Regina for their delicious wings and great conversation. 

 

January 29, 2024 - Monday

There was a teacher appreciation luncheon at the Activity Center today after line dance class. Most of the dancers and their significant others were there. They had 4 banquet tables full of food from Safeway - fruit trays, veggie trays, salads (pasta and green), cold cuts, cheeses, rolls, condiments, avocado and a separate table for cookies. Roger cooked a delicious piece of ham and sliced it too. We didn’t eat supper - I watched granddaughter Leanna play basketball on my phone with a magnifying glass.

January 30, 2024 - Tuesday

Today was Wickenburg appointment day - pedicure for me, haircut for Rich. Afterwards, we went to the Elks for lunch and sad farewells to Karen and Marybeth. I haven’t been to a clothing store since before we got here in October, so stopped in to check out Cowgirl Bling Bling. Tammy, the owner for 15 years, was  very helpful. I ended up purchasing 2 items on sale for $15 each - a skirt and a pair of pants. 

Wickenburg street art near shop.

When I got back to the park, Lu, Heather, and I went for a 1.74 mile walk around.

Then Rich and I started preparing to leave - cleaning the cab, windows, and dash. It is a stressful time as we are leaving so many dear friends and have a bunch of work to do before we pull up stakes. I felt the need to go over to the lady next door to apologize for a few swear words blurted and she giggled. She was sitting at her picnic tables working on a jigsaw puzzle so I chatted with her briefly. Her name is Maggie, and her dog is Charlie. She retired 7 years ago from nursing (2 years before Covid) where she had worked in just about every field you can imagine. She is from Omaha, Nebraska and travels alone in her Class A motorhome that sleeps 4, unless she has lady friends who are free to join her. Because she is from a family of 10, she always has someone to stop and visit. She wouldn’t travel alone without a dog, and always has a jigsaw puzzle stored in a cool wooden tray with 4 quarter trays that slide in like drawers underneath. Of course, she got it at Amazon!

Given the gorgeous sunny, calm, mid-70’s weather, we had an impromptu “last chance” cocktail hour at 3:30 with Heather, Cindy, Dee, Lu and Roger. We will truly miss our fun-time neighbors.

 

January 31, 2024 - Wednesday

Last dance class! 

Last visit with Nancy!

Last walk through Saguaro Park! 

Last household jam! Duane joined us today. 

Thanks Joanne and Denny for hosting. And for the travel bag of Snicker-doodles! Daughter, Kristin, teaches creative writing and has published a book on Amazon as well.

February 1, 2024 - Thursday

Rise and shine; unplug outlets along side the bed to pull the slide in; stow away all counter, sink, bathroom containers; give Cindy hugs and thank her for her dance step sheet for me to teach💕; start up the engine; have a lightning fast cup of coffee a la Lu; fill propane at 8:20am; give hugs to Dee who drove her truck up to say goodbye; drive the 2 vehicles to top off gas; meet Genny UPS 💕to hand deliver my Amazon package which was delayed; drive to Hitchmans in Surprise to have wire installed on the motorhome to finalize the tow installation. 

We are truly grateful for our treasured friends at North Ranch and all they did for us/with us since October. Fun times! 

Arrived at Hitchman at 10am to find out we have to wait 2 hours! Really wanted to be on the road as they are forecasting 35 mph winds in Tucson at 2pm. It is a 2-hour ride from here. 

Our Shadow in the rear view! 

Cardinals’ Stadium in Phoenix!

Arrived at Crazy Horse RV Park in Tuscon at 4pm

after a gusty ride. The gal who took our reservation and didn’t change the date from original res is no longer working here! Thankfully, they had one spot left and it’s the first time anyone has been in this site! There was a rundown building here last year. We love it as we have no site next to us on our door side, but have 2 small trees to shade us… 

Let the games begin!