Apricity West 5

November 22, 2024 - Friday

Walked, danced and visited Lu. It turns out, they were having their rig cleaned by a young man whose wife runs a bakery in Yarnell, Shira Pioneer Donuts, which we have heard about from others in the park. He had a box of individual brown bags with one donut and the donut hole smeared with chocolate. The recipe was her grandmother’s and is 100 years old - the cost was $3 a donut. It was sooooooo worth it! Keep in mind I just got through walking and dancing, but I could not resist. I tracked a lot of points for my indiscretion. We also ordered an apple pie to bring to John and Eileen’s for Thanksgiving. They will deliver it to us as they will be going by on Wednesday. 

 

Heather decided to pull up stakes and stay in a hotel in Surprise tonight. She invited us to lunch and we all agreed on the Sizzling Wok for a 2-hour long rich conversation over soup, Chinese entrees, fried rice, and Fortune Cookies. We learned a lot about each other - she has truly blossomed over the last year driving a tour bus at "The Canyon.” 

 

We didn’t bother with a real supper - just a few zero point items for me. 

 

November 23, 2024 - Saturday

Lu and I went for a walk around the park in the reverse direction that I usually do. It was more like a stroll as she is still on the mend, but we had a great conversation. Rich and I spent the afternoon messing with our new banjolele - it was really difficult to tune and stay tuned. Also, the strings were not nylon and the frets were not consistent in length because the neck was so short. Sooooooo, we decided to return it and try another with all of the options we prefer. We boxed up this one and will drop it off on Monday at a UPS drop box. 

 

November 24, 2024 - Sunday

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that my weigh-in this week went UP for the first time in 8 solid weeks. And now Thanksgiving is in view. Well, I still walked with Lu again this morning and did laundry too. Then we picked Dave and Penny up to take them to Jake’s Spoon, the restaurant at Wickenburg Ranch, for a nice brunch. 

Right - more food, but I am counting everything as best I can. 

The Bloody Marys were adorned with celery, olives, lemon, lime and a slice of crisp peppered bacon. The horseradish was a bit strong for me, but I just sipped water after each sip of it.  

Penny and I had Blue Crab Lump Benedict and the boys had Huevos Rancheros which they thought was the best they have had. 

It was such a gorgeous sunny day with a slight breeze that we found comfy lounge chairs to sit and visit for an hour while looking out over the golf course. Sure will miss them when they leave this Sunday...

November 25, 2024 - Monday

Walked, danced, and went into Wickenburg to pick a FEW things at Safeway and drop off the banjolele return package. Went to lunch at the Elks - me again with the turkey wrap (no sauce) and Rich with the French Dip.

 

Workers plugging Christmas lights in on Locomotive #761 & Tender and the Drover Caboose.

Went to a Cocktail Party at Dot and Harvey’s - Darice and Don, John and Geri, and Tonya, Dot’s daughter, were there. Dot had put together a beautiful board of assorted cheeses, crackers, grapes, apple and pear slices, celery, broccoli, carrots, peppers, dip and chips that tasted like stuffing! So many zero point choices, but I confess I went for the cheese, salty crackers and chips. 

November 26, 2024 - Tuesday

Walked and then drove all by myself into Wickenburg Senior Center to practice with the ukulele group. Denny and Joanne are in California for Thanksgiving and beyond. Rich stayed home waiting for Patrick to install our new microwave/convection oven. This guy is one strong dude! He climbed up and down the stairs lugging the old one out and the new one in with the greatest of ease. We highly recommend him, Rags for Riches RV Service 623-707-7677, if you have any needs. He also brought us each a delicious cinnamon roll from a bakery he is promoting. Sooooo, I went for another walk around the park with Lu and adjusted my point intake for the rest of the day. Cindy joined us for dinner - she had both the flu and Covid vaccines and was feeling slightly feverish. She researched and found Patrick for her issues in the first place, so it was a great find. 

 

November 27, 2024 - Wednesday

The usual walk and dance in the morning, then did some cleaning of the rig. Suggested that Penny and Dave stop at our humble abode for a cocktail this afternoon. That turned into a dinner invitation from them for shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta. Rich cooked more of the huge brussels we had left. It was a delicious meal.

November 28, 2024 - Thursday

Lu and I walked before all of the festivities began. Then Rich and I drove into Surprise for another spectacular feast at John and Eileen’s with Matt, Sue, Pat, Bob, Jerry, Steve and Rob. Trust me these folks know how to put on a feast...

 

Appetizers at 1pm…

Kitchen prep - these two are great at co-creating culinary magic…

Rich carving John’s “best yet” brine smoked turkey…

Dinner served at 4pm…

Ready to dive in - the hostess with the mostest is hiding in the background…

Followed by desserts! 

Oops! Forgot to take a picture, but trust me, the apple pie, pecan pie, and apple pizza were wonderful! 

 

Needless to say, there was NO WW POINT TRACKING for me today. I ate to my heart’s content and my stomach was maxed out. 

 

Another Thanksgiving behind us...