Changes...

After over six years of being on the road full time, and fending off the constant question of "have you found a place to call home yet?"  We can now answer with a resounding "yes, we have!"

We have camped in all the lower 48 states and visited in the other 2, so we have more that accomplished what we set out to do.  Are we done traveling?  No!  It's just time for a change...time to slow it down a bit.  Driving and moving from campground to campground every week or two, for a whole year has gotten a little less appealing.  I found that I was beginning to miss doing other things. 

Three years ago we started visiting our friends living in Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise Arizona.  The first year we stayed the month of January.  It seemed nice and we met some of their friends.  The next year we decided to come back and stay 3 months.  During that time we got to know the place and the people.  Involved ourselves with the activities, Jack with the wood shop and I was going to do some sewing, until I broke my wrist while bicycling.  We met a lot of people and enjoyed all the neighborhood parties. 

When we came back this year, again for 3 months, we decided that after seeing the country and checking out so many other places, this place was really the best one for us to have as a "home base".  It really has all that one could ask for as far as activities, location and style of homes.  I wanted a "real home" to put our stuff into (out of storage) along with an RV pad and some sort of a yard, and this has it.  The HOA is very reasonable and with a gated security we feel safe leaving here for 5-6 months at a time.  Additionally, our friends live here full-time and would keep an eye on the place (and on us when we are here too!). 

People are another factor...you couldn't ask for a nicer,  friendlier group of folks than the ones who live here.  At each location that we've stayed here, the neighbors have always welcomed us and chatted.  When I fell and broke my wrist one came running to my rescue and has since stayed our friend.  Several brought food over while I was recovering, always checking on us.  The other day, my friends gave me a surprise birthday party and so many came (all that hadn't left for the summer!).  Since we moved into our new home, tons of people have stopped by and welcomed us to the neighborhood.  Many still come by and stop and chat with us while we are outside working on the boxes. 

Having our things finally out of storage is a blessing and a curse.  It's nice not having to worry about them or to pay the storage fee any longer.  When we put our things into storage we thought we would only be on the road about a year or so, then possibly move into a small (2 bedroom/2 bath?) home with a small yard...maybe in Oregon?  That was the idea, anyway.  Well, here we are, in a very tiny 1 bedroom/1 bath, almost no yard home.  So, to say the least, we have more "things" than space!  Ugh.  Trying to sort through it all, while surrounded by lots & lots of boxes is not an easy task!  Good thing our shed is a 2-story and can hold a lot of storage upstairs!  ;-)  We will be at this for awhile...

We had planned out being out of here by now, coming back in the fall and continuing the unpacking then...but...I broke one of my molars.  Darn.  So, now I'm off to see an oral surgeon.  Not sure how long all this will take.  The "heat of the summer has started" and as soon as we can, we are out of here...boxes or no boxes! 

...unpacking in Arizona,  Marie

Parties, parties, parties...

Our winter stay here at Happy Trails is slowly coming to an end.  Looking back over the last three months, it seems like it’s been “one party after another”!  Here I thought I would have an opportunity to loose a couple of pounds…ha!  With all the potlucks, I’m lucky to still fit in my cloths! 

The friendliness of everyone here is one of the reasons I like this place so much.  It only takes an evening’s chatting with someone to get to know them well enough to get an invite to the next party!  Next thing you know, your headed down the street to another happy hour, or game night and meeting even more people! 

We’ve had Birthday Parties, Holiday Parties, Fish Fries, Mardi Gras, Happy Hours, Game Nights, Jazz Bash Block Parties, Rib Fest and Ice Cream Socials.  All this on top of what the Happy Trails Social Clubs offer…Bingo Nights and the best yet, the Theater Group’s Musical Show!

Throughout all that, I did manage to get a couple of crafts done, phew!  I joined the Stained Glass Class and made my son a kaleidoscope.  It turned out pretty good, and a whole lot of fun too.  I’ll do another one next year for one of my grandsons.  Jack and I did a dual project of making hand mirrors for all of my granddaughters.  He cut the wood out for me, and I painted them and lacquered them.  My painting wasn’t perfect, but all in all, I’m happy with them.  They will make nice Christmas presents I think.  That was a fun project too, for both of us.  We also managed to read a ton of books…our favorite thing!  ;-)

One of the big things I did this year…was to commit to the Theater Group for next year!  Yep, I’m going to “go on stage”!  After seeing how much fun they were having, and “lip-singing” all my favorite songs, the ones I sing to all the time anyway, I thought I just had to join them!  So, I did!  What a great group!  When my daughter was growing up, she went to the school of performing arts and we always had a house full of kids singing and dancing.  I loved it and miss that wonderful energy.  “These are my kind of people!”  I’m really looking forward to spending time with them, getting to know them, rehearsing together, and partying together!  They keep reminding me it’s also “hard work”, but, it’s also my kind of work, so, I’m looking forward to it…

I’ve also been looking at a few churches.  I’ve been in Science of Mind for many years, so that’s where I started.  There is one about 40 minutes from here.  We also went to a Unity of Surprise that is only about 15 minutes from here that I really liked.  The minister looked (and her name sounded) very familiar.  She said the same thing to me when we met…but neither of us could place each other…odd, huh?  Anyway, it was nice to “be back in church”, it’s been a long time.  Being on the road full time hasn’t lent itself to making it easy for that.  Nice people, nice place.  They had a wonderful Easter Service that included a 15 piece jazz orchestra that really added to the service too!  That, and a full pot luck buffet afterward, what more can a person want?  ;-) 

The temperatures are still hovering around the mid 80's for the most part, so it's still lovely here, while many states are still suffering cold, rain and snow, so the folks are slow to exit this year.  Many that normally leave by the first of April and now pushing it back to almost May...so, a "few more parties yet"?  We shall see...

...kicking back in Arizona,  Marie

Fun Visits!

We are "wintering" at Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise Arizona again this year for about three months.  I say "about", because we haven't quite decided if we are staying an extra month not just quite yet or not...we shall see.

In the mean time, as we sit back and relax, we've done a few (very few, actually) fun visits!

The first was to a wonderful Art Fair in Scottsdale.  The artists there put on a great show, displaying some very creative works.  We had a nice long chat with metal artists Jackie and Charles Nipper who make some really incredible statues and wall art from found pieces and weld them together to make flowers, horse heads, hearts, crosses, just all kinds of wondrous things.

Another fun artist was a lady who gathers together candy wrappers along with clock works and other bits and makes super-fun art works!  I was mesmerized by them!  So clever.  Don't you just love it when people come up with new ideas?  It was such a fun-filled day.

We always take a few days and travel to San Diego to have our annual dental check-ups and Jack's heart doc. appointment, along with the Toyota's checked.  We have dear friends who have a lovely guest house at their home in Escondido that often offer it to us, as they did this time as well.  It's pure luxury, especially after living in our RV all the time!

On the day that Jack took the Toyota in for it's check-up, it was going to be an "all-day affair".  He offered me the option of going with him and sitting in the service waiting area & joining him and his friends for lunch, or staying at the Guest House.  I told him I had a better idea...he could drop me off at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park for the day!  When he was done, just come back and pick me up; me and my camera would have a wonderful time just wandering around.  I still have a couple of friends who work there and if I play my cards right, I just might have a lunch date too!  ;-)  

The day was wonderful!  Being on my own at the Park was just lovely.  No one to please or or show something to, I could just wander willy-nilly wherever my feet just led me to.  No agenda, no time restraints.  Nice.  The weather couldn't have been better.  I did manage to meet up with my friends (I worked for the Zoo for over 20 years) and it was great spending a little time with them.  I even got to see a rare "duel" cheetah run that they decided to try, very cool.  Being in the middle of the week, the Park wasn't very busy, so that was nice for me as well, and made picture taking easy.   We ended our day by having a wonderful dinner with some friends at a nearby restaurant.

The following day, we met up with Jack's blacksmith buddy,  They have expanded the Wheelwright shop so they can make more than just wagon wheels.  They completed a full-on 1800's wagon, now they were finishing up an early buggy.   After a nice lunch, and a big bag of fresh oranges, we said our "good-byes" and headed back to pack up to head back to Arizona.

The rest of our time here has been attending wonderful dinners and spending time with friends.  We both caught colds, mine has lasted longer than Jack's, but I'm letting the sun "cook it out of me" while I read one book after another!  I'm not getting done all the projects I had on my "to do" list, but I'm still enjoying myself, and I guess that's what it's really all about anyway!

...kicking back in Arizona,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Good times with friends...

As I've shared before...we did something different this year, we "settled in" at one place for 3 months.  If you've followed my blog at all, you know that's not something we do!  Staying anywhere longer than a week is rare for us.

We have one set of long-time friends who live at Happy Trails Resort in Surprise, Arizona full time and another set who live there part time.  Last year we stayed there for a month visiting with them while we waited for the rest of the country to "warm up".  This year we were talked into doing it for 3 months. With the crazy weather the way it's been...it was a good idea!

When we planned this trip, I had all kinds of things I wanted to do during our stay, knowing that Happy Trails has lots of shops (sewing, crafts, wood, etc) and classes (dance, computer, photography, etc).  With all the wonderful sunshine I envisioned I would get all this great exorcise in riding my bike everywhere, swimming in the pool and (re) learning line dancing!  Then at the end of the the 3 months I would be 20 pounds lighter!  Wouldn't that be a fun way to loose the weight?   ;-) 

Well...of course we all know that didn't happen!  One broken wrist later, and I spent the next 3 months going to doctors and physical therapists!  So, no sewing, crafts, dancing, swimming or (more) biking for me!  ;-(

What I did do though (besides all those "appointments"), is read a lot and meet a lot of nice people!  Being in one place for that long of time affords you the time to get to know the people around you. 

Our friends like to have people over, and several nights a week John & Dolores "were cooking" and/or "having drinks" at their site.  It was not uncommon for there to be 8 to 10 of us there several nights a week.  They loved it, and we all loved being there! 

I might not have been able to do much, but Jack kept busy.  Besides taking care of me, which at the beginning of my injury was pretty "full time", he got involved in the wood shop.  We have a game board called Aggravation that we enjoy playing that we learned from my family in Washington.  I thought it would be nice for him to make my two sisters each a board for Christmas this year.  We found some great wood on sale and he had fun creating some nice designs for them.  They turned out wonderful!  I'm glad someone got something done here! 

Just before we left, I was (finally) able to hold my heavy camera a bit, and went around the resort and took a few pictures.  The cactus are starting to bloom and many are just about bursting with flowers!  I could hardly contain myself!  Here are a couple of snaps of a few of them.  In another week or two this place will be a blaze of color tho...

We also got our RV washed and polished.  It's quite a job, since she's 10 years old and gets oxidized pretty badly.  It took 3 guys all day long, but they made her shine like new again!  Yea!  ;-) 

The last week of March seems to be the "end of the season" for many as well, because the parties were hopping!  Several nightly!  Some even had block parties with a live band!  Food, fun, lots of laughter and camaraderie was everywhere!  We almost hated to leave...

But leave we must...as that's what we do!  Places to see, adventures to experience...and onward to new roads!

...on the road in Arizona,  Marie