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Monday, November 14, 2011

Mesa Regal RV Resort

We have completed our first week of workamping and it will be good. Mikki, our coordinator, says it will get quite busy the weeks before Christmas and New Year’s but we can handle it. The team gets together every Thursday after work to have a drink or two and get to know each other better. Sarah and I worked Weds, Thurs and Fri last week and scheduled for the same this week. We will work 4 hours each afternoon.

Last Monday as I stated in my last blog we moved the camper into a good site. Here are a couple of pictures:

IMG_9084This is our site. We are backed up to University Ave, a fairly busy street, but the noise is not bad and it doesn’t seem to bother us.

IMG_9085It was a straight back in from the street, I loved it.

IMG_9087The row we are on has all campers at this end. We are on what they call pet row because it is one of the streets pets are allowed to walk on. If you have a pet and live on a street not designated for pets you have to carry the pet to a street where you can let them walk.

I will put more pictures at the end of the blog.

Our job is with the décor team, we manage, maintain, deliver and pick up the props and costumes for parties and events at the nice resorts. It isn’t difficult work but they do keep you hopping. Sarah and Teresa have been working on organizing etc. the costumes. All of our items are kept in old park models which have been gutted and we use them for storage until the park wants to get rid of them, then we move everything to a new storage unit. I have been driving the truck with Steve and we have moved water bottles, props, cabinets etc. taken out of a unit and other misc. items needing picked up and moved. Mikki is a delight to work for and does a good job of keeping everything going in the right direction.

Last Friday, Veteran’s Day, Sarah and I went to Applebee’s with Steve and Teresa, one of the other workamper couples we work with and had a free dinner. It was a good time. We had to wait about forty five minutes but I got to visit with some other veterans waiting in line and that was fun too.

Not much going on over the weekend except for Sunday night. Nikki Becker Albert use to work with me at Ruan in Madison, WI, she lives here in Tempe, AZ and so we met them for dinner last night. Nikki & Jack’s daughter Meredith is in first grade and reminds us a lot of grandson Mason. She is a bundle of energy and smart as a whip. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with them and hope to see them again before we leave.

Today, Monday, we went to the post office, Wal Mart and drove around a bit to get our bearings. This afternoon we walked to the entrance of the park, about a mile, because I wanted to get some pictures to put in the blog. So here they are;

IMG_9089Looking down the street from the front of our camper.

IMG_9090This is one of two heated swimming pools.IMG_9091This building contains, among other things, a library and laundry facility.IMG_9092Bocce ball courts and a patio area where groups can have parties or just an informal get together.

IMG_9093Shuffle board and tennis courts.

IMG_9094Looking out the front entrance.

IMG_9095This is the main entrance and sign you first see as you approach the resort.

IMG_9096Looking down the main street from the sign, American and Canadian flags line the street.

IMG_9097Cal-Am also sells park models if you want a new one, although there are quite a few used ones for sale in the park. Our neighbors have a forty foot motor home and they bought a park model which was for sale by owner.

IMG_9098I had to take this picture of this beautiful woman crossing the street.

IMG_9101IMG_9102IMG_9103IMG_9104IMG_9105IMG_9106IMG_9107IMG_9108IMG_9109The landscaping is taken care of by volunteers who don’t get paid but they do get their site free just like we do.

IMG_9110This is the area where you have the mail boxes and some offices.IMG_9112IMG_9113The Cactus Ranch House Grill, it is also the bar area, plus the other heated pool is here.

IMG_9114They post all of the events for the month on this wall buy category.

IMG_9115Looking down one of the streets.

IMG_9116This is a typical park model, about 400 sq. ft..

IMG_9117This is what I was trying to back the camper into. The problem was the site was only a bit wider than the camper and I couldn’t jack knife the truck and trailer enough to get it to go in straight and then have room to straighten out the truck. Our current site is much better.

Well that does it for this blog. I will try to have more for next week but we’ll see.

Dreams Do Come True

Monday, November 7, 2011

On the Road to Mesa

We left Centerville, IA on Saturday morning about 7:30, I knew it would be a long drive, in order to get to the Excel service center by mid to late afternoon, we arrived at four. We had an enjoyable drive, the weather was nice and the roads were good. We traveled mostly two lane roads, a short distance was on I 35 going to Cameron, MO where we picked up US 36 into Smith Center.

Sunday we went to church and then out to the Geographical Center of the USA. There wasn’t a lot there but we got pictures of all of it.

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Monday was spent meeting and getting to know the other folks who were at the service center to have work done on their units. Jerry & Ann are from O’Fallon, MO, Bill & Ludella are from Olathe, KS, DSCN3997 great folks and we hope to see Jerry & Ann in AZ this winter. You see Bill & Ludella are sitting in the site just behind us in Guymon, OK. They are on the way to Mesa also.

Ted was our technician and he accomplished everything we wanted done to the camper in one day. He managed to get the sofa moved to the area where the recliners were and got it secured so it won’t interfere with the slides going in and out. Ted also showed me the technique they use in the plant to caulk the campers. I will try it in AZ and see how long it takes me to get it right. I also had to buy two batteries because the two we had went kaput. I neglected to check them often enough so now I will add that to my lists of checks each month.

Monday night six of us went to dinner at Pooches Bar & Grill, it was very good food and reasonably priced. I had a pork chop that was an inch thick and six by four, done just right and juicy, I could cut it with a fork.

We stayed Monday night at the service center, free no $$, which is a great thing they do for the Excel owners. We were up early Tuesday morning and I headed in to see if I could get a propane tank filled, I forgot about it on Monday. Jack, the manager of the center, said no problem. I took the tank out of the camper and put it on the scale and headed back inside to wait for it to be filled. Fifteen minutes or so later I moved the truck to the camper to get ready to hook up and dawg gone if the tank wasn’t filled and put back in the camper. You can’t ask for better service than that.

Our goal for the day’s drive was Guymon, OK and as I mentioned above we made it. We arrived at Corral Drive In RV Park, this park has a drive in theater associated with it.

Tuesday night we went to Caktus Jack’s for dinner, Sarah and I split a hamburger, it was huge and very good.

I checked the weather and what to my surprise snow was forecasted along with winds of 30-35 mph gusting to 55+. I told Bill we were going to spend Wednesday at the campground and leave on Thursday. He was fine with that. The snow came down in big huge flakes and was quite pretty but it didn’t stay on the ground. The wind was blowing pretty good all day long and that reinforced my decision of not getting on the road. That night we went to the Pizza Hut to eat.

Thursday we took off about nine and headed for Santa Rosa, NM and the Santa Rosa Campground. It was an easy drive and we arrived early afternoon. DSCN3781DSCN3784DSCN3785DSCN3786We got checked in quickly and after a trip to put fuel in the truck we relaxed the rest of the afternoon. The campground had a restaurant that would deliver to your camper but we elected to eat at the restaurant. The food was ok, my steak was a bit chewy but we had a good time with Bill & Ludella.

Friday was going to be a bit of a drive so we left shortly after eight. I tried to set the GPS to route us through certain towns but I didn’t trust it. We went west on I 40 to Moriarty, NM and then south on route 41 to route 60 over to I 25. We were on route 60 and this guy was walking toward us on the side of the road so I moved over as I passed him and gave us the middle finger salute. Not sure what his problem was but something was bothering him.

I 25 was a good drive there were a couple of good pulls and the truck performed admirably. We arrived in Deming, NM about four and after unhooking and setting up I went to fuel the truck. Then it was time for dinner, Sarah had asked the lady in the office for a good place to eat. She said The Rancher’s Grill was good, well I have to say it wasn’t . I had the 8 oz. rib eye steak, so did Bill, mine was ok but not that good, Bill’s was so tough he couldn’t eat it. I will say they have a very good salad bar. Now in there favor there was a pretty good crowd eating so evidently the locales like the restaurant.

Saturday was going to be another long drive so we left early again. It was raining and windy when we started but as the day went on it cleared up. We drove I40 to route 70 to route 60 at Globe, AZ. Most of the drive was plain but when we left Globe the scenery was incredible. Going up the mountain was quite interesting but going down was an experience in both the drive and the scenery. Here are a couple of pictures.

DSCN4034DSCN4035DSCN4036DSCN4037DSCN4038DSCN4039DSCN4040DSCN4041DSCN4042DSCN4043DSCN4044DSCN4045DSCN4046DSCN4047DSCN4048DSCN4049DSCN4050 Most of the down hill was a 6% grade with one 7% grade in the mix. There was also a tunnel, not very long, but a nice change of pace.

We made it to Mesa Regal RV Resort about two in the afternoon. We checked in and were shown to our site. Then the fun began, the site was quite small and it was impossible to get in to it. I was able to miss the park model on one side of the site but the grapefruit tree kept getting in the way. So Sarah went to the office and they gave us a different site, it was bigger than the other one. It took me 30-40 minutes to get the camper situated the way I wanted it. Then the lady who showed us the site came back and said she wasn’t sure we could stay in that site and to check with the office on Monday. Needless to say I wasn’t very happy, so we only hooked up the water and electric.

Sunday was a good day with church and shopping at Wal Mart, Camping World and Fry’s Marketplace. The rest of the day I spent watching football.

Today we were in the customer service office right at eight, I wanted to make sure we were there before anyone else. A nice lady named Melanie helped us with our problem. She verified we could not stay in the site we were currently in so she gave us three sites to look at. The first two were small and would give us the same problems we had already been through. The third site was the one, it was a back in and all I had to do was line up in the street and back straight into the site. We have more room than any of the other sites so this is the one. We got set up and met the neighbors and all is well in the world.

We begin our work this Wednesday, they are short help not everyone is here yet, we have met a couple of the other workers and I believe we will really enjoy this gig.

Remember – Dreams Do Come True.