Apricity West 5

January 31, 2025 - Friday

Today was my last line dance at North Ranch. Kindhearted teacher, Cindy, arranged to end class a little early for a coconut cake, pound cake, fresh berries, and whipped cream send off! I started line dancing here 5 years ago and have learned so much and met so many terrific people.

Liz models her line dance t-shirt...

Went with Pat for a walk around the park. John and Geri came by to wish us well in our new chapter.

Later, we went to The Wild West Saloon at 4pm to meet up with this crew and have a bite to eat and drinks. Dave and Penny pulled in today for a brief time together before we leave. 

February 1, 2025 - Saturday

Beautiful sunrise on the first day of February. 

Day 126 of consecutive walks and WW tracking! I did gain a 1/2 pound this week, but, honestly, expected it to be worse! 

 

Started picking things up to get on the road Monday.  There are 21 rigs pulling in today; thankfully, they got the electricity corrected yesterday! Three 45-foot coaches pulled in together. All three of them were parked, leveled and settled within 10 minutes with their “toads” circled up like wagons in front of their appropriate owner. Amazing to watch. 

Picture 

 

Dave and Penny came over from across the street for an outdoor visit. The weather is warm this weekend - 60’s and up. 

Pat, Penny and I went for a walk around the park on a glorious sunny day. 

 

Ended up with a great gang for cocktail hour tonight. Thankfully, we were able to sit outside and discuss so many things... 

February 2, 2025 - Sunday

A simply gorgeous day with sunshine and 68 degrees. Went to online church and finished up my granny square aphgan so that I could press the seams so it lays flat. I will add a granny stitch border to give it a finishing touch. 

Gary and Kathy stopped by after church to say goodbye. He has helped both of us so much with our musical growth. 

Our last-hurrah gathering around for laughs, stories, and drinks - and a little spontaneous line dance on a loose gravelly slope. Brenda and Darren, Melissa and Jim, and Glenette stopped by to say goodbye. I missed getting action shots of some of our peeps, so here are ones they provided.

Dot and Harvey

Denny and Joanne

The view from our site..

February 3, 2025 - Monday

Last morning rise and shine to finish the process of storing and anchoring all moving parts before hitting the road. Penny, Dave and Pat came out for one final hug before we hit the road at 8am.

As we pull out with a tear in my eye, I try to take in everything around me. This RVing thing is a new 5-year adventure for me and I can’t express how exciting, thrilling and fulfilling it has been. I have learned so much, discovered so many new places/things, and met so many wonderful people. It was a long time dream of mine to retire, travel cross-country, interview people along the way and share their stories. Someone is definitely watching over me, because that is exactly what happened when I met Rich online. Not long after we started chatting, he said, “I’m going West - do you want to come?” I was working part time as a church administrator. When I told my pastor, she said, “Well, do you want to?” I said, “Yes.” She said, “Then go for it. Don’t worry about us here - you only have one chance to live out your dreams!” That was all I needed to hear... 

 

I also always wanted to write a book. So I ended up taking a course in self-publishing, and turning the first year of my blog into a book and publishing it through Kindle Direct Publishing. It is for sale on Amazon - Finding Love Again, A Pandemic Romance by Raymonda Driscoll.

 

This decor is at the gas station heading out of town. It is all rusted metal and a perfect depiction of the lifestyle of Wickenburg.

It was an easy ride to Crazy Horse RV Park in Tucson. After we got set up, I went for a swim in the small pool and did 15 minutes of laps since it was too hot to walk - over 80 degrees. My watch tells me I burned 224 calories so I’ll consider it as part of my walking streak. Then off to sister Terri and Jim’s to reconnect and sit in their beautiful courtyard, followed by a short drive to Transplant for delicious pizza. They split wings, fries and a salad. We will be eating pizza for the rest of the week I’m sure. 

February 4, 2025 - Tuesday

I need to create a route in this small park that will give me 1.66 miles or more, so I got to it before the heat set in. I’m not crazy about walking on gravel, but that is what it is until I venture outside the park and on to the bike path about 1/2 mile away. Also noted - there is no bench to rest like at the Saguaro Park with the view of Granite Mountain. Miss you Pat and Penny. We went to get pedicures and the route takes us by the Air Force Boneyard (decommissioned planes). If you’ve seen this picture before, I apologize, but we are blown away by the magnitude of them. A picture really can’t capture the depth of it - you have to zoom in to get it.

Next we put on the new seat covers for our dinette; anyone who has been inside our motorhome knows how worn the leather was getting.

Our patio area was next to get set up. We had this site last year because there was a mixup in our reservation. They had torn down an old building and created a new site. We liked it so much (a little palo verde and openness on the road side) that we requested it for this year. 

We miss our “regulars" who knew when it was cocktail hour!

 

February 5, 2025 - Wednesday

Warmer weather this week so I walk fairly early. Rich and I tore the camper apart looking for a gift bag we brought for Terri and Jim. Oh, the things we found! One thing I have been looking for since we got here is this knee brace...

Went over to Terri’s at 2pm and had a little jam of our own. She has been practicing piano/singing and really sounds great. I processed the laundry in between things. After cocktails in the courtyard, we had dinner - roasted veggies/yams and grilled chicken breast. 

February 6, 2025 - Thursday

Another glorious day here in Tucson. Took my walk at 9am - then we went to Super Cuts on 22nd Street for Rich’s walk-in haircut. There was a Fry’s in the same parking lot and we (and our pocketbook) were blown away by this Superstore. We walked the whole store and really like the layout, full shelves, cleanliness, and customer service. I was looking down an aisle and a clerk actually asked me if he could help me find something. Then when we checked out, a supervisor told Rich he could go in this lane. He said he doesn’t like scanning items. She said, I can do that for you and she did just that with striking precision and a succinct plan of how to bag things. She was reaching in all directions to put heavy unbagged items in the cart, cold items in bags on the spinner thingy, and dry items in bags on a tray in front of her. It was cool to watch, but it didn’t help bring down the amount it co$t! 

 

Got everything put away and sat outside in 82 degrees with a cool breeze. Of course, I miss not jamming today, but went for a swim instead. Did laps for 15 minutes - trying to make up for not dancing...

Miss Maci had her first surgery yesterday and the doctor is very pleased with post-op x-rays❤️‍🩹

Apricity West 5

January 24, 2025 - Friday

Danced at 9, walked at noon, laundry at 3, cocktails at 4 - call it a day...

 

January 25, 2025 - Saturday

Decided to weigh-in today before our lunch at Caballeros again - this time with John and Eileen. It will probably be the last time we see them before we leave for Tucson. The scale was good to me this week - phew. Still have a goal weight for when leave so need to hunker down the rest of the week. Still walked with Pat before lunch. Good thing - since we all took half of our meal home with us to save room for the complimentary cookie. Their special was a cup of seafood gumbo which John and I had with our meal - a Western Chicken Wrap. We said our goodbyes knowing that we will see each other again in June for their 60th wedding anniversary party at Lake George, NY.

Partially eaten gumbo! Looked so good, I forgot to get the picture...

January 26, 2025 - Sunday

Went to online church and a walk later in the day. We are now right next to the laundry so did more laundry before we leave. Finally changed over to our flannel sheets. Sunny today, but only in the 60’s. Cindy came with her cocktail in hand.

 

We finalized a life changing decision today. We will not be coming West next year for the winter. Instead, we will go to my condo in Florida where I have had a fantastic tenant since 2017. She has basically managed the property all these years - always there to oversee any projects I wanted/needed to take on; offering suggestions to make it a little more comfortable. This was the first and hardest step I had to take to put this plan in motion. I let her know we were THINKING about changing our plans last Sunday, but today I confirmed it. A lot of changing events led us to this decision:

• The RV park here is for sale, as are all of the SKP parks. One in Tennessee sold and they immediately doubled the rates and fired all existing employees. There is a lot of instability in the owners side of North Ranch too - nothing to do with us, but a lot of our friends will be affected. 
• It is a 6-day trip (2600 miles) out here costing a LOT for diesel fuel and nightly lodging. It is a 2-day trip to Florida in our little Chevy Spark (40 mpg).
• In case of events or emergencies, I can easily fly home in 3 hours. 
• We are getting older and so are family members (Mom will be a strong, healthy, a little feisty 95-year-old on 3/23/25). 
• My grandkids are in high school sports which is very important to me. We will not leave home until November so will watch football and soccer live. Basketball can be watched online. If they are in post season tournaments, it’s easier to go back to watch and cheer. 

This was not an easy decision as we will miss the desert terribly, but especially the people that we have come to know and love. 💕

We have had five terrific winter visits now with my sister and brother-in-law - the 2nd hardest step of this decision. When I started telling her, she stopped me and said, "We consider this a bonus year as we thought that last year was your final trip.” That took the pressure off indeed...

 

January 27, 2025 - Monday

Woke up to a light rain fall. Went to line dancing and walked between the showers with a little sunshine showing too. Got a haircut at 1pm and then went to Joanne’s to practice ukulele for tomorrow’s HUG group. 

 

January 28, 2025 - Tuesday

Woke up to frost on the pumpkin today.

Went into Wickenburg for my last ukulele group meeting 🥲 and Rich picked me up. Walked around the park as usual. 

 

Met up with Brenda and Darren to talk about their planned trip to New England next summer. They retired early (ages 64 and 63), sold everything and bought a gorgeous 40-foot 5th wheel which is set up much like their prior home - island counter, fire place, big TV, etc. They pull it easily with a F350 ton diesel truck; Darren was an excavator so he is a skilled driver. Their goal is to visit all 50 states - they have a cruise to Alaska planned the following year. 

 

Later, Cindy and Dee came over for cocktail hour.

January 29, 2025 - Wednesday

Danced in the morning and walked midday. Dot and Harvey invited us to dinner for burnt ends, broccoli, and roasted potatoes. We brought a Caesar Salad. I never heard of burnt ends (pieces of smoked meat that are usually cut from the fatty "point" end of a brisket) - it was all delicious! We had a great visit!

January 30, 2025 - Thursday

Walked earlier today before our last jam session. I have my song list all planned out for our swan song jam, including “After You've Gone” from the 1920’s - a real torch song. It went well…

Cocktails afterwards…

 

 

Apricity West 5

January 17, 2025 - Friday

Another cold day so danced and then walked later in the day. A do nothing day - couldn’t sit out as it was too windy and cold so I worked on assembling my granny square afghan. 

 

January 18, 2025 - Saturday

We decided to weigh in today as Cindy is making us dinner tonight for my birthday and our soon to be departure. Well the scale wouldn’t lie - I even had Rich change the battery! It was my 2nd BAD weigh in since I started this venture, the first being after Thanksgiving. 😔  I spent 3 hours this morning gathering, printing, organizing, and entering information on my tax report. Thank goodness for the digital world. I really needed a walk after all of that paperwork. 

 

We spent the rest of the day killing time waiting to go to Cindy’s - she is an excellent cook and baker. She missed her calling, although her career as a special education teacher was rewarding for her and her students. She worked magic in her tiny home on wheels (24 feet) - spinach, strawberry and pecan salad, chicken fried streak, her grandmother’s white gravy, mashed potatoes, green beens with real bacon bits...

Then a platter of cookies with delicious choices - lemon glaze and ginger snaps...

January 19, 2025 - Sunday

Walked after church when things warmed up a bit. Pat came over for a visit in the sun. She is doing an interesting exercise routine - walking 10 minutes every hour. She walks the last ten minutes of one hour and continues another ten into the next hour. She has done it religiously since she got back here. When you do the math and check your FitBit, she is walking at least twice as many steps a day as I am. Hmmmm. 

 

January 20, 2025 - Monday Happy Martin Luther King Day

Another cold night, so I stayed in my warm fleece jammies until an early afternoon walk. Cindy came for cocktail hour later.

 

January 21, 2025 - Tuesday

Last night temps went down to 31, so we left the faucet slightly open to drip. Got up early and went shopping before my ukulele group. When we got home, there was a sign on the door that management was aware of the power outage in our block of 16 rigs. I imagine a lot of electric heaters were in use during the night. It was very cold inside our rig so we turned the generator on and ran the propane furnace enough to take the chill off.

 

I went for my walk as it was a gorgeous, windless day and warmer out in the sun than inside. After a block or so I heard my name being called. It was Pat trying to catch up to join me. What a pleasure! We talked and caught up on lots of things. As a former WW leader, she was able to share tips and recipes that can help the cause. 

 

A residential electrician came and could not fix the power problem; he said to call a commercial electrician which won’t happen instantaneously, sooooo all 16 rigs were told the news and offered other sites with power. We were the first of 4 to move and went into the manager’s site as he is away managing Deming, NM SKP Park until after we leave. Rich was in this site for the years that he managed this park. I assume the other rigs have solar, generators or lots of propane. It is not an easy task to pick up and move about 50 yards across the road, but we were greeted by our new neighbors, Eddi and Pat. There are new views for us now...

January 22, 2025 - Wednesday

A cold 37 degrees here this morning, but better than -4 back home. Lenox is a neighboring town - they only had a 2-hour delay for school!

Danced at 9 and walked at noon with Pat. We (I) connected the dots about where our paths had crossed before - she was the manager in Deming when we were there in 2022. She led exercise classes and chair yoga in the clubhouse which I participated in. Pretty sure we put a few jigsaw puzzles together as well.

 

Rich and I invited Cindy to the Wild West Saloon for dinner and we were joined by a local cowboy roper - it’s an interesting story, but not mine to tell (yet)... 

 

January 23, 2025 - Thursday

The wind was whipping hard this morning - so hard that we pulled in the slide to save our slide awning from ripping off. Waited for them to subside before walking.

We had a really good jam with a new instrument - a flute played by Lynn was a wonderful addition. And Rich brought his case of harmonicas and played a solo to boot! He did very well. Next week is our last week 😔. We will miss it…

Apricity West 5

January 10, 2025 - Friday

Danced and walked this morning. While we were at Dot’s the other day, we talked about Gary H. and how beautiful his flute playing is. They have his CD, At Peace In The Redwoods, and listen to it at night falling asleep. Well he gave us this CD when he was over the other day. I mentioned that we couldn’t figure out how to use the CD player. Don asked if we had a remote - yes, we have several remotes that we don’t know for what. He gave us a few clues and offered to come over to check it out. Later, Rich tried a few different things and found a remote that worked on the player and voila, music to our ears. It is so soothing to listen to. 

So, we could play the music through the TV, but not through the radio/ceiling speakers. Don came over, stuck his head inside and figured out how to make that work as well!

 

January 11, 2025 - Saturday

Did the walking thing at 8:30 in 38 degree weather. We decided to weigh in today as we were going in to Surprise for lunch with John and Eileen at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria. We were so happy with the results - we each lost over 3 pounds!

I had picked out what I would order mid-week - a Lou Malnati’s Salad and a personal crustless pizza designed for gluten free and low carb diets. This is the salad after three of us were served a portion.

The pizza crust ended up to be a very large sausage patty with cheese and tomatoes on top. 

January 12, 2025 - Sunday

Brrr - 33 degrees this morning and only going up to 54! Good pajama day, but I still walked later in the day after starting year-end paperwork. Did a lot of business today and played some music too.  Dee came over for cocktail hour which started outside, but moved inside as the sun started setting.  

 

My mom had company today back in Lee - her great-grandson, Hannes, came for a visit. 

January 13, 2025 - Monday

Woke up to 34 degrees today so waited until after dance to do the walk. Cindy came over for cocktail hour. Quiet day...

My picture of the Full Wolf Moon...

Cindy’s picture...

January 14, 2025 - Tuesday HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I am so grateful to be alive, in good health and living the dream. Added a little color to the mix today...

Went to Wickenburg for ukulele group with Joanne. Then Rich picked me up for a surprise birthday lunch destination. Turns out it was the Club Grill de  los Caballeros - a golf club/dude ranch near Vulture Mine. 

We ate like royalty - mostly shrimp, which happens to be no points on WW, but we really like it. 

Thai Shrimp salad...

Asian Salad with shrimp and taco salad with shrimp...

Followed by a complimentary cookie with your meal… We both selected the lemon with white chocolate which was delicious!

On the way out, a couple was appoaching us on the stairs and had big smiles. They asked us how long we’ve been married - we said, we’re not! They laughed and said, that’s why you’re holding hands! Rich said it was our first date. They laughed and the woman said, no really, how long have you been together? We said 5 years and they said, you’re a cute couple! Sure made our day!

Don and Darice leave tomorrow, but found time to come by to "chew the fat,” bid us adieu, and share a “celebratory libation” with us and Cindy…  They will be missed.

We went inside after everyone left and decided to head up to The Depot for a nightcap. They were closed so we went to Nichol’s - had a lava cake a la mode. Don’t judge…it’s my birthday!

January 15, 2025 - Wednesday

Danced and then walked in the early afternoon. My butt is dragging today as I couldn’t breathe through my nose during the night. I have gone through half a box of lotion tissues today! Ridiculous! 

 

Cindy came for cocktails and stayed for a beef and broccoli stir fry Rich put together. Dee knocked on the door with a birthday gift for me - a bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay - she knows what I like!

 

My daughter, Shannon, is a Guidance Counselor at Lee High and Middle School. She took on the responsibility of being the handler of a comfort dog, Miss Maci. The family and the school fell in love with her. Sadly, she has a medical problem with her legs and if she doesn’t have 2 surgeries, they will have to euthanize her. I am very proud of Shannon’s efforts in her mission to save Miss Maci, so I put the video in the body of this email. 

 

January 16, 2025 - Thursday

Laundry day so I didn’t go to yoga (again). I did a combo of wash, walk, dry, fold…  Now to prepare my song list for the jam. 

Proud, grateful and hopeful now that the goal of $20,000 has been reached to save Miss Maci💕🙏

 

 

Apricity West 5

January 3, 2025 - Friday

The usual - dance, walk, eat and drink. Lunch at Sizzling Wok and no supper for us. 

 

Cindy got a great picture of the brilliant sunset.

January 4, 2025 - Saturday

Even though the allergies are really plugging me up, I did my walk with LOTS of tissues in my pocket. Worked on joining my granny squares - it is the perfect size for our queen bed. 

 

January 5, 2025 - Sunday

Weighed in and miraculously lost another pound! Walked in the cold air after online church. Sat out in the afternoon when the sun warmed things up. Cindy came over and joined us for drinks and shrimp cocktail. 

 

January 6, 2025 - Monday

Day 100 of WW tracking and walking! It was low 40’s, but as the day went on, it warmed up so that we could sit outside in the afternoon - Cindy came by too. 

 

January 7, 2025 - Tuesday

Got up and did my walk wearing the cowl scarf I made this summer. It helps keep my shoulders warm. Joanne and I went to ukulele group - I drove into Wickenburg Senior Center. It was a good session with several new songs challenging us. I only have 3 more weeks to play with this group before we move on to Tucson - I will miss it terribly. Need to start looking for a group in Tucson and back home - no luck last year. 

 

January 8, 2025 - Wednesday

Walked and then danced. It was cold again but I felt the best time of the day was early as the winds were picking up again later in the day. During the night we were rocking and rolling with gusting winds and a persistent branch scraping on the rig. We noticed the wind had taken off with our new Cuisinart grill cover. Rich rode around the general area looking under rigs and all over. No luck.

 

Cindy and I practiced a while for the jam tomorrow. 

 

Dot and Harvey had us over to dinner tonight with Don and Darice who are only here another week before heading back to Texas. They are longtime friends and some past relation to Dot. We met them last year at the Eclipse Party in Mason, TX and really enjoy their company. 

Delicious Lasagna soup…

I haven’t mentioned that I have been studying Spanish with the DuoLingo app for 24 consecutive days - my grandson challenged me because he has been doing it since September. I like it. I took Spanish in college 60 years ago, but have never used it much. Gotta keep the brain working. 

 

January 9, 2025 - Thursday 

A different approach today - we went into Safeway at 7:30 and Rich had a haircut appointment at 9am. After we got groceries put away, Don knocked on our door with our grill cover in hand. We told them about it and he figured it out to be headed in a certain direction given how the wind blew! Did I mention he is a retired airline pilot - probably knows a lot about wind and weather! He found it exactly where he thought it would be leaning up against a split-rail fence post. Today was the last day that they can come to the jam; they seem to enjoy it. 

 

The wind is still howling and my nose is just raw from the constant blowing. There was a medical emergency early this morning - the ambulance came into the park and a half hour later, a life flight helicopter tried to land 3 times. It is so dry and dusty in that field that they couldn’t land. The ambulance drove out and headed to Congress Fire Station where there is a heliport. 🙏

Temps got into the 50’s at 11am so I walked then. The hardest decision was what to wear - 3 layers of long sleeves and hooded sweatshirt with a ball cap. The winds were 20mph to my back when I started. Was worried about the return trip with it blowing in my face, but it wasn’t that bad after all. Glad I did it…

The jam was a success today - the bass player came and we had an almost full audience. Rich was his best yet on harmonica…

Buen dia, mi amigos!