bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday- We had a group breakfast of Oatmeal and fruit. It was very good! We sat out talking, walked the dogs, then went to the Big Tent to look at “everything we never knew we needed! “  We could not find free parking, so we ended up parking in a $5 lot. We did not purchase anything, we just looked today. We stopped at McDonalds for the 2 for $5 lunch. We returned to our parking area.

We had a quiet afternoon, taking a nice nap. Then we had social hour at 5 PM with lots of goodies. We returned and watched some TV in the evening. We run the generator in the morning for 2 hours and the evening for 2 hours.

Sunday- We had doughnuts and fruit for breakfast this morning. We sat out at the campfire and drank our coffee. The ladies met to discuss what we are going to be doing. There are two crafts scheduled, but they use our hands a lot and my left thumb has been bothering me. I have just gotten it to the point it is not throbbing, so I don’t want to aggravate it.  We returned and did our usual Sunday tasks. The internet is slow and iffy here, so I did not post the blog and we did not do a lot today.

Here is the craft that they did. It is making a little wire tree.

Several couples left and went to the Desert Bar for dancing. After lunch, I went over to Donna’s and played Maj with her and Linda Venable. We had a nice time. Bob did some tasks around the rig.  Then we cooked some items in the Instapot, some tri-tip, hardboiled eggs, and glazed carrots to go with the potato bake.

We went over, ate dinner, and returned to retrieve the dogs. All the dogs are running loose here and having a great time. The rule is, if you have a dog, you must pick up any poop that you find. Even if it is not your dogs poop. Makes sense, as the dogs may be out of sight and do their business. You may not know it, but it will be removed. So far, it is working. Plus the dogs are all really happy, playing and hanging out.

Tonight was the Blood Red Wolf moon. Unfortunately, here in the ‘no light pollution’ desert, it was cloudy. So we were unable to see the moon.

Monday- Shower day. We have to conserve water, so showers every 3 days. We had the pancake breakfast today, with bacon and fruit. There were three types of pancakes. Gluten free, Beer Batter, and Blueberry. I had the blueberry as I can’t do the beer batter and did not want the gluten free. Bob had the beer batter pancakes.

At 9:15, Bob went back to the campfire to meet up with John Kurz who was driving his 4 wheel drive jeep on the back country trip to Dripping Springs. There are 5 Jeeps going on the the trip and everyone of them are full. I chose not to go.

A Petroglyph

This is the actual springs, there is not much water to see…

I worked on the blog, and ran in to town to go to an area at the end of Main Street. I arrived to find no vendors there anymore. Odd, as there had been a lot of them in the past. I returned to the rig. There was a lot of traffic today at it is the MLK holiday.

At 5, we had social hour with lots of goodies. We returned to the rig and watched TV.

Tuesday- This morning was Danish and fruit for breakfast.  We decided to go to the Big Tent to make the purchases that we had decided upon. We left around 10:30 to to go and there was no traffic. We easily found a parking place (free) and went into the tent. We purchased, from Leisure Coach Works ( the Alfa go to) 5 LED light bulbs. They are so bright that when Bob installed them, he only put one bulb in each light, except for the one light in the kitchen, where he put two of them.

Anyway, we stopped at another vendor and purchased a new water filter for under the kitchen sink. We stopped at the tire monitor table and purchased one new tire monitor for one of the tires, as that one did not seem to be working correctly. We have found that the battery is not working well in the actual monitor, but we can keep that plugged in, so it is not an issue. We cannot change the battery in it as it is welded in…

We went outside to the area around the tent, on the same side of the road,. We knew which vendor we were looking for, and went immediately to them. We were looking for hooks to put on the main awning so that we can put a shade hanging from it. We have wanted a shade, but were told that we could not have one by the manufacturer.

Some of our Roadrunner friends have found some “light clips” that we can put thru a tunnel in the electric awning. The reason that the company says that you cannot use a shade, is that the awning has no leg supports. So we can add them when we use the shade, which is what they have done. So we purchased the clips, as they are hard to find. Then we will start looking for a shade.

We stopped at the discount grocery store, then returned to the car with our purchases. We went to lunch at Sweet Darlene’s. Our kind of place, as a nice little hometown restaurant. We left and checked out the Chevron to see how the diesel set up was, as it is 10 cents cheaper per gallon, than everywhere else. When you purchase 100 gallons, that makes a big difference!

We returned in time to cook our Tequila Lime wings to take to the heavy hor’d’oeuvres this evening. I heated them up in the Breville and we kept them warm in the crock pot. The wind has been howling, so everyone was standing up eating and staying close to the rig where the food was located. The rig slightly blocked the wind.  Then we all scattered back to our rigs and out of the horrible winds.

Wednesday-The winds have calmed down but it remains cold, with temps in the low 40’s, and a breeze. At least in the rig it was in the 50’s until we turned on the generator and we had the heat going. We even put the dogs in their sweaters!

The breakfast this morning was biscuits and gravy. I was tasked with cooking biscuits so I started the Breville at 6:45 and started cooking them. I put them in the warm crock pot. We took them over at 7:45. They plugged in the crock pot to keep them warm. I had kept back two biscuits for me, and ate them with butter. Bob went over for the biscuits and gravy. There was a lot left over, as I think most of the women did not eat the biscuits and gravy.

The gal from SkyMed came to give a talk about their program. We have heard it before so we skipped it. We went back over around 10. She was till talking. Once that was over, we found that everyone disappeared, so no women’s group or tech talk. Three cars had left for a day trip, which was going to be about 300 miles, so we did not go…

We left and went to Tyson Wells. It is across the road from the Big Tent. We had a lot of trouble getting a parking place. Right when we gave up, we found one. We wandered through the vendors, but only stopped at the Two Crazy Ladies booth to purchase name tags for Square Dancing. The ladies were not there. They had, years ago, had the business up for sale. I asked the gal there if she had purchased the business. She said no, she was just covering. She said one of the ladies was in heaven and the other was in the hospital. We have to return tomorrow to pick up the name tags.

We went to Burger King for lunch. The place was mobbed. There seemed to be a bit more traffic today. We returned to the rig and took a nap. At 4:30 I whipped up some guacamole and we went over just before 5. There were not a lot of people there, as the traveling group had not returned yet. Paula and Charlie both have the flu and are staying in their rig. Diane Johnston also has the flu, and she stayed inside.

We ate the snacks for dinner, returned to the rig and watched TV.

Thursday-  Shower day. Breakfast was Danish and fruit. We ate our breakfast and then a guy from FMCA ( Family Motor Coach Assoc.) came to speak with us. We had let our membership drop years ago, but we listened to see what was new. Since we dropped our membership, they had started allowing trailers to belong. They had been really “snooty” about non-motor homes. They have tire plans, various insurances, and internet/cell discounts.

The ladies then had a show and tell. We discussed various issues. Linda Venable, who sells NuWex, gave a presentation. I left and returned to the rig. A little later, Dale Prichard knocked on the door and said the dogs were lost and wanted to come home. Karlie had gone to him and let him know she had an issue. So he walked her to the rig and she came inside. I went out, closed the door and went to find Roxie. I called to her and she came running, as fast as she could! She was so glad to see me!

Bob had seen both of them over near me, and had gone for a walk in the desert, thinking I knew to watch the dogs. I did not realize he had left. So I had returned without them. They have been off leash and inspecting the campfire area. The poor girls were pitiful!

At about 11, Bob and I left to go and pick up our name tags, then we went to the Laundromat with our sheets, towels, and clothes. The place was mobbed. We managed to find 7 washers and started washing. 30 minutes, then 4 dryers to dry the stuff. We had to add money to two of them.

Connected to the Laundromat was a Restaurant, so I went in and ordered a club sandwich for the two of us. It only took a few minutes to make, and I walked back in. Bob and I shared the sandwich.

We hung up some clothes, then took them on hangers to the car, then we folded more and more. We packed up and returned to the rig. We unloaded and hung up the wet stuff to dry and put away the rest.

When Bob took the dogs out, off leash, they were not obeying him, so they have now lost their off leash privileges!

I fell asleep in the recliner with the dogs on my lap. Bob started playing with the new “toy”( a Blue Fire) which connects to the rig with Blue Tooth. He has it plugged into the rig and is checking to see if we have any issues. Allen had found this nifty tech item and negotiated a group discount. The original price was $189. The group purchased 10 of them, and it cost us each $134. 

We had to quickly make the Chili for the Chili cookoff.  I always make chili for these events, as that way we know there is one that Bob can eat. I also cooked cornbread, as there were a number of us who had volunteered to cook the cornbread. It came out perfect from the Breville. When we arrived I saw others which looked really white. I think the convection oven made a difference.

At 5, we had to be dressed in our red shirts and over at the Alfa sign for a group picture. The Alfa sign had been totally destroyed since last year, so the group re-built it just before we arrived. We took the dogs with us, as I had left the cornbread on top of the Breville so that it would stay warm, and I did not want little nibblers!

It was a good thing we took the dogs, as those of us with dogs were asked to sit together in the front row. Numerous treats went up and down the line, so the dogs were very happy! We are in the center of the front row!

We returned and finished cooking the chili, then took the crockpot and cornbread over to the campfire area. They judged the chili’s and we won the award for the best white chili. Of course, we were the only ones in the category, so it was a given. Here is the ribbon…

We ate dinner and Jon from Leisure Coach Works spoke and had a drawing for free services. We did not win. There were 5 winners!.

We ate dinner and returned to the rig. We cleaned up then watched some TV. Bob left at 9 to go over to Dave Volker’s rig for star watching. He stayed until about 9:45. It was a clear night with temps in the low 40’s. The wind seems to be temporarily gone…

Friday- We went to breakfast, which was Spangles this morning. That is bagels with ham and cheese. They were good. We talked with various people. Today was a busy day!

We were asked to go check on new members, Jim and Judy,  as the Judy had  something fall from one of the storage places above her head. She had a scalp wound. She had put a cover on it. I looked at it and it had no signs of infection. While we were at their rig, which they had just purchased, we went over it with them. We taught them how to get out of the rig’s bedroom in a fire, and checked to make sure that the emergency exit worked.

We walked around the rig and showed them their awnings and their blisters. They thought they did not have them, but they had a few small ones. We returned to our rig at about 12:45.

There was  ice cream and cake at 1,(birthday celebrations) right after there was supposed to be  a Veteran/DOD meeting with members and spouses. Bob went over and no one showed up.  Then at 3 we had the Coach Walk, where we can visit other coaches to see what people have done. We are not having our coach open this year.

Judy and Jim followed me back to our rig and I went over the changes that we have made. Then we went to Karen and John’s rig, and they went over their changes. From there we went to the coaches that the owners had open to view. We found that Lea and John had redone their pantry, and I took pictures.

Then we went to Sharon and Dwight’s rig. Brian Hood calls it the Tahj Mahal! It really is gorgeous. Dwight had re-done all of the cabinet doors with Hickory wood and a bright finish. He is a wood sculpture, and his work is beautiful.

Sharon had placed these on her mirror over the bed. I liked the look and am thinking about doing the same thing…

At that point, I took Bob back to Lea and John’s rig to look at the pantry. This is something we are going to work on when we return to Sun City.

They have also put lights on the ceiling and covered the carpeting with vinyl. It is very different. They also put in a bowl sink in their bath area. They have a different floor plan than we have, so their sink is not in the bathroom.

I texted Bob to come to their rig because I really liked that they had painted their dash area. It really brightened the area. I don’t know that we will do it, but we are considering it. They also added carpet to the dash which looked really nice.

We continued on to the various rigs. Rudy had removed the bottom of the kitchen cabinet to be able to get to the light and switch’s below, so Bob checked that. Evidently he and Rudy had been working on how to do that. Rudy and Beth also had this map that they had covered and put on their table to chart their trips…

I toured the first Alfa off the assembly line. It is different from ours and was built in 2002. Then I toured one with a fireplace. This looked so interesting! They have a 50 inch TV behind the fireplace, which goes up and down via a switch.

At first glance, the wood actually looks real!

We also toured an Alfa 5th wheel. Alfa is known for their great floor plans. I liked some of the 5th wheel, but not other parts of it. You have to have the bedroom slide out to be able to use the bed. I did not like that. It also had a king size bed, and they had added a California King sleep number mattress to it, so it hung over the end of the bed.

We had nothing this evening, so we cooked a real dinner and ate at home. There were some folks out at the campfire, but it was chilly, so we stayed in…

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