Apricity West 3

October 28, 2022 - Friday

Steak night at the Elks tonight - always plentiful and delicious. 

October 29, 2022 - Saturday

First time this trip to see John (Rich’s cousin) and Eileen in Surprise. It was great to see them and catch up on stuff. We went to the Wolfhound for the guys’ Guinness and a huge amount of Guinness batter fried shrimp and onion rings... 

 

Interesting story came up on my Autio App - Flora Mae Statler named the town Surprise (1938) because “she would be surprised if anything ever came of the town.” She sure would be surprised to see this city today as it is growing leaps and bounds as retirees flock to Sun City Grand (where John and Eileen live) developed by the Del Webb firm! New homes and apartments are springing up where vegetables once grew. Golf, baseball, tennis and pickleball are the big attractions here. In 2010, the city found property records that Flora was the owner before meeting her husband, real estate developer and state legislator, Homer Ludden, who the town believed to be the owner. Initially, the one square mile of land was to be subdivided for inexpensive homes for agricultural workers and held only houses and a gas station.  

Interesting shop on the side of the road headed for Surprise.

October 30, 2022 - Sunday

Shopping at Safeway at 8am. Then laundry and puzzling. I met a new person at the puzzle - Eilee. That’s not a typo - her name is Eileen without the “n.” She has 5 kiddos (3 teens that are with her, plus her Mom) and works at Safeway in the Bakery as a packager. She and her husband sold their house and came down from Minnesota to get out of the cold. She jokes about how her kids tell her every day that she ruined their lives, but here they are here to stay. The school bus picks them up and drops them off from the small school here in Congress. They only have one friend each because the classes are so small. Love meeting people and hearing their stories...

Sunday Ice Cream Social was in the Activity Center this week. First time I’ve seen this facility due to COVID restrictions for the last 2 years. It is a great spot for gatherings…

October 31, 2022 - Monday

Happy Halloween 

Granddaughters, Leanna, Lily and Maci

Line danced and feeling better about my progress each time. Went to the post office today and picked up my new thumb ring to replace the one I had for decades but lost last year. I was sure I would find it in the motorhome or the bug when we unpacked in the Spring. NOT!

November 1, 2022 - Tuesday

Went swimming with Nancy and her daughter, Michelle. She and her husband just got in from Montana several days ago along with 4 horses and 4 dogs. They bought land up the road from here and will be riding and roping in the Wickenberg events. Played ukulele and went for a nice incident free bike ride today, too. This was the first real ride I’ve been on since breaking my fibula last year in Tucson when I hit loose gravel. 

 

I was told that 19 RV's were coming in today - 1st of November - a big month for snowbirds and ropers to arrive. 

 

November 2, 2022 - Wednesday

Good morning sunshine…

Line dancing, then lunch at the Elks Lodge. Then went to the post office to see if my absentee voting ballot had arrived - and it did! I sat right there and filled it out and popped it back in the mail. Congress, AZ (1887, population 1,811 in 2020) was once a gold-mining center for the Congress Mine and then a ghost town. Now it serves as a retirement and bedroom community for nearby Wickenberg. This does not include the hundreds of snowbirds who migrate here. It has a Dollar Store, gas station, post office, Fire & Rescue, 2 restaurants, 1 RV park (North Ranch), several horse ranches, and a ghost town. 

Downtown Congress…there is plenty of surrounding dry brush and sage for Fire & Rescue to watch over, but sadly, there is about one auto accident a day on the highways nearby. They are first responders AND are called if rattlesnakes are spotted. 

Just down the road a few miles is the thriving, ever growing 55+ Wickenberg Ranch with more than 2,800 homes by Trilogy. Only 370 homes remain on the market as of June 2022. 

Granddaughter Leanna informed me that she and her BFF got Student of the Month! Sooooo Proud of Her...

November 3, 2022 - Thursday

Rich goes to the Horseshoe for breakfast (biscuits and gravy) with the guys on Thursday mornings. Joanne and I practiced Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Livin’ On A Prayer and Rolling in the Deep today. Today we did more playing than talking. Afterward, stepped outside into rain and hail! Brrrrr…

 

Miss Ellie (92) played and sang at the jam today. She has a lovely voice - with attitude. 

Very chilly today - normally we are sitting outside most of the time, but Nancy came over to visit in the warmth of the electric heater this evening…

 

 

Apricity West 3

October 21, 2022 - Friday

Line dancing today was good - still making progress.

Put the top down to go into Wickenberg this afternoon to drop off Rich’s bike at Bike Shop, deliver more of his cards to Ruth’s Bunkhouse for consignment,

and lastly, to the Elks for their popular chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, salad and a roll. I brought half of mine home for tomorrow’s lunch.

The whole band was here tonight.

October 22, 2022 - Saturday

Happy 17th Anniversary to daughter, Shannon, and David Clark 💞

Went back into Wickenberg today for groceries - 8am is the perfect time to go as it is NOT busy at that hour. After putting it all away, I took a walk (stroll) with Lu. We did more talking than walking, but caught up on important stuff. 

Pomegranate tree in someone’s front yard…

Then took the laundry over to the clubhouse and worked on a jigsaw puzzle while waiting. Leftover lunch and then worked on Ancestry.com stuff. 

The wind is whipping about and the air is 10 degrees cooler than it has been. Lily is lazing about as I work on my laptop.

October 23, 2022 - Sunday

Nancy and I took a walk/talk around the neighborhood. The weather is much cooler here now - windy and 67 degrees. A lazy day indeed to lounge around until 4pm’s Sunday’s Ice Cream Social...

October 24, 2022 - Monday

Nancy joined us for line dancing and will stay on. It was her very first time trying it and she did just great! We had a last minute puppy break - male and female. Mom is a Toy Australian Shepherd and dad is a Shih Tzu - very cute offspring.

October 25, 2022 - Tuesday

Went swimming again and after warming up in the hot tub, we got in the lap pool and began one hour of water moves - Nancy swimming the entire time and me swimming, walking and squat walking! My goal was to keep moving the whole hour and I did! Here is a different shot of the pool area.

Rich and I went into town to pick up the repaired bike at Vultures Bicycle. Nice shop...

Very big bike with super FAT tires…

October 26, 2022 - Wednesday

Line danced, jigsaw puzzled, went to the Sizzling Wok for lunch, worked on Ancestry - have tracked down the Thurlows of Raymond, ME back to the 1500’s in England where I hit a brick wall. You have to $ubscribe to research foreign countries and I'm not doing that at this time.

October 27, 2022 - Thursday

Ukulele with Joanne in the morning and jam session in the afternoon. 

I am featuring Denny, Joanne’s husband, who plays the dobo (steel guitar).

He also edits the online service from their church back home in Michigan - it is broadcast around the entire world except for 2 islands that have no inhabitants.

When we came back to our site, we have 2 new neighbors (a motorhome and a fifth wheel) who are traveling together from Washington state. They are here until the first of the month next week. Always meeting new people…

Another gorgeous sunset / 💤 

Apricity West 3

October 14, 2022 - Friday

Line dancing - accomplished all Beginner dances plus 3 Intermediate dances. Success! Several of my fellow dancers are turning 80 this year! One is a young 82 years old… gotta keep up.

We got a new neighbor today - a youthful senior single woman, Nancy from Montana, in her van. She is not towing and is a small rig so a good neighbor to have. She has been camping in this van for 22 years and it looks like brand new. 

Went into Wickenberg Elks Lodge tonight for Fish-fry Friday. The evening meal is far better than the lunch - we had fried fish and baked potato. The Desert Heat band is still playing there, but the female lead is sick tonight. Sandi Dalton is the greeter tonight. 

October 15, 2022 - Saturday

Laundry day today and while processing, I enjoy working on the community jigsaw puzzle set up in the clubhouse. Volunteers are working on organizing the library and putting returned books away. In another room, two tables of bridge were going on.

 

It was a stormy day in the desert with thunder, black clouds, high winds, and occasional downpouring rain. Rich took the American flag in and put the lawn chairs under the rig. 

 

I finished listening to my book, American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (Oprah’s Book Club) recommended by Fran (thanks). It was a riveting story of a forced migration by the cartel from Acapulco, Mexico into Tucson, AZ. 

October 16, 2022 - Sunday

Went to online church today at First Congregational Church of Lee, MA. With a 3-hour time difference, it works out that I am just finishing my breakfast when the service starts (10:30EST). 

It was still cool from the rain all through the night, so I took a walk through the Cactus Garden again. Yellow Barrel Cactus still has moisture within its bright yellow thorns. 

 

Speaking of thorns, there is a plant thorn called a goat-head which is extremely hard, sharp and painful if stepped on. You can accidentally bring them into the rig on the bottoms of your shoes. 

October 17, 2022 - Monday

Keeping in step with the line dancing.

 

Went into Wickenberg today for lunch at the Elks and a stop at CVS. I got a spiral notebook to document what I am discovering about our family through Ancestry.com. Fascinating!

 

Practicing the ukulele with Bernadette on YouTube. I like her style of teaching. 

October 18, 2022 - Tuesday

Happy 37th Anniversary to sister Terri & Jim Parsons!

 

We exchanged cups of coffee with neighbor Nancy this morning. She brought over a cute little tin cup of espresso and Rich made her a French Roast. We had a great visit - she is from Whitefish, Montana and had lived in Big Sky as well. She is building a new home at Wickenberg Ranch - a huge community of new homes and forever growing. She has her membership card and goes over to swim in their luxury pool regularly. She invited me to join her some time which I will do for sure. Her daughter and son-in-law just bought 10 acres of land very near to this RV park - they have horses and ride in the roping contests, she is the header and he is the heeler. 

 

October 19, 2022 - Wednesday

Progressing nicely with line dancing - even taught a familiar dance today. Our Beginner’s teacher, Theresa, is asking dancers to teach on Wednesday’s as her knee is in a brace waiting for surgery. 

 

Went for a short bike ride as Rich’s gears weren’t working. Some wire must have jostled loose on the rack-ride here.

Went to Ramblin' Dan’s’ for dinner tonight. It’s a small bar in Congress where the cowboy music was blasting and a rodeo was on TV. We will definitely be going to the Two Man Roping again soon.  

October 20, 2022, Thursday

Full day today - ukulele practice with Joanne in the morning...

 

Took Nancy up on swimming invitation at Wickenberg Ranch… It was awesome to swim/walk laps there. She is amazing and swam 23 laps - no walking. 

Fire pit overlooking golf course.






Nancy’s home in progress…

Last book club meeting with Pastor Jay before dinner...

 

Beautiful end to a full day…

Author’s Note: This is the third year I have been traveling/blogging. Long time readers may notice repeat pictures or stories, but there are a fair amount of newbies on my distribution list and I want to bring them up to speed. Please remember to sign your name if you send Comments so I know who you are...