Val Vista Villages, Mesa, AZ

So here, I am driving down the road with my right middle finger in a splint and I have my right hand on top of the steering wheel. Get the picture? I figure I am ripe for any wacko who does not see the splint and is in a foul mood to do me in, so I drive with my right hand at my side. I was finally release to go back to work last Tuesday, Sarah is so glad because she wanted me working, go figure.

Wow, I looked back and it has been a while since I last blogged. Here it is in a nutshell, we ate, we visited, we worked, end of story. I suppose the kids will like that but for you more serious readers I will now go into more detail.

Cerreta Candy, http://www.cerreta.com/, I did not know it existed until I read an article in the Sunday paper about their Valentine's Day candies. So Sarah and I took a drive over to the factory, it was not as big as I imagined. They were running all the machines, they have one like the machine used in the I Love Lucy show where Lucy and Ethel are trying to keep up with the candy on the conveyor. Of course, we bought some of their candies and I will admit they were good, but not as good as See's Candies.

Saturday found us having dinner with Nikki, Jack and Meredith; I also bought some Girl Scout Cookies from Meredith so she was delivering them. We met at Sweet Tomatoes' restaurant, http://www.sweettomatoes.com/, for those of you up north, there are no stores there, it is mainly a big salad bar but they do have pizza, pasta, soups, breads and ice cream. We had a great time with Nikki and family, Meredith keeps her folks on their toes.

Sunday found us at Roy Ertz's house, Roy is a high school classmate and a cousin, Mike Tiemier another classmate of ours was at Roy's. We sat around and visited all afternoon. Roy has a nice home; I believe he has been in the Phoenix area for twenty plus years. Sarah took some lemons from one of his trees.

Cynthia, Sarah's sister, came to visit on the twentieth, she stayed with us. It was good to have her here even for only a few days, she left Des Moines in the cold and ended here in the warm seventies. On Friday we met my sister Colleen at the Phoenix Premium Outlet Mall and did some shopping, I even bought a new wallet, I buy one only when the one I have is in bad condition or Sarah is constantly saying I need a new wallet.

Saturday Roy came over and we went out to the Commerative Air force Museum, http://www.azcaf.org/, I like this museum. They have some very nicely maintained aircraft most of it owned by members or flight enthusiasts who leave there plan on display but do fly it occasionally.

Cynthia left on Monday for Tucson, but not before, she went to several dances. One of them she went with a couple we work with, Bob and Bobbie, thank you for taking her with you. She went to Tucson to visit Deb, Colleen's sister in law. Cynthia said she had a great time; they shopped and hiked tow of her favorite things to do. She left for Des Moines on Wednesday late and arrived in Des Moines to cold temperatures and a cold car covered in ice. Maybe she will stay longer next year.

When we were at Roy's, Mike extended an invitation to ride with him to Mexico, he goes there a couple times a year for medicines, we said yes it was on our list of things we wanted to do. We wanted to leave a nine in the morning so I told Sarah for us to get to Mike's by nine we needed to leave between seven thirty and eight. I am glad we left early because the traffic here is horrendous. We did not encounter any accidents just slowwwwwww traffic. We had a great trip beautiful scenery the entire way over, we went to Algodones, http://losalgodones.com/, which is a few miles west of Yuma, AZ. It is quite a place, when you cross over the border, it is just a turnstile you go through but you better have your passport with you before you go through it because there is no going back at this point. We only went down a couple streets but they are inhabited by at least eighty percent dentists, and eye doctor offices, they maybe twenty percent stores and restaurants. I liked the sidewalk vendors, they have everything you never wanted or needed in your life but listening to them, you wonder how you did without their items. We did buy a few things. Mike had one of the vendors trying to sell him a gold chain for a hundred dollars, Mike said no, by the time they were done Mike had six of seven gold and silver chains for around twenty dollars. The same guy wanted me to buy a chain(s) and kept putting them on my hand, I had four or five and then Sarah said she wanted the ring she had been admiring, the guy wanted thirty-five dollars, I said no, he hung another chain on my hand and we bought everything for forty dollars. The fun part of all this for me is the going back and forth about the price, I enjoyed it. So we made it to Mexico and got to use our passports for the first time, evidently they must be ok because they let us back into the country. We did have an hour wait in line to go through the border.

Last Thursday, Sarah and I went to Colleen and Darrius' for lunch and then over to the Mall for some more shopping. Sarah bought a nice looking pant and top outfit that looks very nice on her.

We also went out with two couples we work with, Rick and Pam, and Ward and Vickie, we went out to eat and then over to the Wrigley Mansion to listen to their jazz group and visit. Pam ordered hot olives for something to munch on, if you have never had hot olives they are very good, I do not know what kind of olives they were but they were good. I ordered cheesecake, Ricotta cheesecake, I have never had cheesecake made with Ricotta cheese before but it was very good, it had a lemon sauce on the side and a slight lemon flavor in the cheesecake.

Yesterday I started to clean the outside of the camper, this sucker is big, it took all the energy I could muster to get one side done. Today I cleaned the other side. Who wanted this big of a camper? I also got underneath and greased the suspension system, I hope I get enough grease in the system, I may have to take it to a truck shop and have them do it with their pressure grease guns, at there is some grease in them. I put up the ladders, secured them, and then realized I had not cleaned the back of the camper, well guess what the back is not going to get cleaned until we get back north.

A flight of seventeen WWII aircraft just flew over the camper, they must be congregating for the air show at Luke AF base next weekend, really cool to see.

That is all for now, remember - Dreams Do Come True

Val Vista Village, Mesa, AZ

I don’t know where the time goes but it has passed faster than I could ever imagine. We have six weeks left here and then we head north to the frozen tundra. I do hope Des Moines has thawed out by then.

Here is a recap of what we have been doing since the last post.

January 24 the park had the fifth and last of their manager’s meetings welcoming everyone to Val Vista. I didn’t want to go but Sarah dragged kicking, screaming, to the event and me. I won a door prize, a nice blanket; Sarah quickly took it from me. It wasn’t a bad meeting we sat with friends which helped me get through the bad music and having two brownies, the person next to me didn’t show up, helped also.

We went to the Lost Dutchman mine, with Steve and Teresa, to see a Native American dance show and see what they had there. The dancers were very good, the rest of the offerings were ok, mostly vendors selling items you could buy elsewhere a bit cheaper. We stopped at one of the many orange grove stands and bought some delicious oranges. In all it was a fun day.

Steve and Teresa invited us over for dinner one night. Steve is a very good cook. The meal was delicious and we enjoyed being with them for the evening.

Bob and Judy Dumcum, they work the morning shift on the Décor Team, invited us to go with them to see a free concert at the Mesa Art Museum. The Burchfield Brothers were playing, I had never heard of them before but they were excellent. I bought several of their CDs and we listen to them in the car. We had a great time.

Rick Klingburg and Pam Hamilton, Rick works the afternoon shift with me, asked us to go to the Wrigley Mansion Club, http://www.wrigleymansionclub.com/, with them for lunch and tour of the club. It is quite a place, the view is great and you can see for miles. We stayed until sunset and it was spectacular. The food is very good and the portion size is good, it is all ala carte and pricey. We are hoping to go back to listen to jazz on Thursday or Friday nights.

February 1 found us at Kathy and John Evans place in Casa Grande. We had wanted to get down to see them since we arrived here. John showed us a cane he made and was going to enter it into a competition here in the Phoenix area, we haven't heard how he did but it was a beautiful cane so in my mind he should win first place. We also went to the airport in Eloy, AZ to watch the skydivers, http://www.skydiveaz.com/. They tell me there is a 225 lb limit for tandem skydives, so I don't have to worry about anyone talking me into trying it. I don't believe there is enough money to get me to try it, well maybe there is. As always it was good to see John and Kathy, we will see them again in April in Des Moines, hopefully without the cold and the snow.

On the sixth we headed south to visit Debbie Baker, my brother in law Darrius' sister, she has a townhome in Tucson. We arrived before lunch; she had hot beef sandwiches with au jus, very good. We then headed over to Lazydays RV, http://www.lazydays.com/; they have many new and used rvs. We looked at some used motor homes, nothing we really liked that we could afford. FYI Lazydays in Tucson has sold their campground to KOA.

Friday the 7th, my birthday, we went to Tubac, AZ, http://www.tubacaz.com/, to their annual Arts Festival, it was big, lots of people, and everything was overpriced, Sarah and the others loved it. We went with Debbie and two of her friends Al and Elaine, I believe were their names, I apologize if I got them wrong. It was interesting seeing the different displays but as I said there wasn't anything, I couldn't live without.

That night we met Delaney, Kendall and Kiley, great nieces who are attending the University of Arizona, http://www.arizona.edu/, a very nice school. I love the campus but then any campus you can walk and not freeze you tootsies off is a good one. Anyway, we had dinner at the Congress Hotel, http://hotelcongress.com/, we sat outside. Now I thought it would be to cold but the restaurant put out heaters that did a great job of keeping me warm, I don't know about anyone else but I was warm. The food was great, Sarah and I shared a steak, it was done perfectly, the fish and chips were very good and the other dish we had was clams and sausage. The meal was just great and the company was even better. The three girls really have their act together; they are enjoying the college life and are still able to be honor students. I guess maybe I should have spent more time studying when I was in college; just maybe, it would not have taken me over forty years to get my degree. It was great to see them. We spent two great nights with Debbie and enjoyed every minute of it.

Saturday we went to see Sarah's brother Bob's widow Judy, she has a park model at one of the many parks in Tucson. We visited her and Bob there a couple of years ago. We had a nice visit, went to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, stopped at Wal-Mart to get a few things I did get to help Judy with a couple things on her new IPad, before we headed back to Mesa. We had a nice visit.

Last Tuesday at work we were picking up a wooden trellis, it was located in our storage compound with some another trellis and wooden structure thingies. We got one out and I was standing there waiting to put the tarp back on the remaining pieces when the other trellis fell and hit me on my right hand. It hurt like h--- and I couldn't move my fingers. The middle finger swelled up and I couldn't bend it so I told Mikki our boss and she had me go get it checked out. I didn't understand totally what the doctor said except he didn't see any broken bones, so they splinted it and said put ice on it and come back to see them in a week or sooner if it seems to be getting better. It is better today, I have put ice on it and will keep it splinted until tomorrow, and we'll see how it is then. Sarah says she is not going to work for me again so I guess I had better heal quickly.

That is all for now, until later,

Dreams Do Come True

Val Vista Village, Mesa, AZ

Those of you who know me, know I have the zero mechanical skills. The toilet began leaking and my back was hurting so I called Gene’s RV Service. Gene came out and we found out what the problem was, called the warranty company and by golly they paid the bill, minus the deductible, now the toilet words great, no leaks.

Since my back was hurting I went to Dr Kuhn DC, and he took care of the back problem, well it never really goes away but he made it more manageable.

We went to Teresa & Steve’s for dinner, not going to tell  you what we had, you would get jealous, but it was great. Then we played Rummikub, I don’t believe I have ever played it before but we had a great time. Tomorrow we are going to the Mystery Mansion with them, it should be interesting, I have never been there but it will be fun.

I finally went to the doctor about my hernia. Well guess what, a miracle happened because I do not have a hernia. The doctor said, from my symptoms, I probably had an episode of pinched nerve in my back. So I will return to work on Monday, Sarah is happy about that. I did get 8 books read while I was off work.

Yesterday we drove over to Quartzsite, AZ, this is the place over a hundred thousand RVers go each winter. I wanted to see what it was like and they have an RV show going on now and a big tent where you can buy just about anything to do with Rving. Well, we went, we saw, we won’t be going back. It is nothing but a big flea market as far as I can see. Also, dry camping in the desert holds no allure for me. It was dusty and dirty and I can’t see the appeal of it all. But we had a nice day of it and enjoyed the drive.

That’s about it for now, until later.

Dreams Do Come True.

Val Vista Village, Mesa, AZ

We are enjoying the weather here especially in light of what the Midwest has been going through the last week or so. We have not been doing much of interest but I will bring you up to date.

We have not been able to use our inverter for quite some time and I was mentioning that to one of our fellow workampers, Rick. He knows a bit about electricity, I know less than nothing about electricity, he said he would come by and take a look. He did and found a couple of things, the least of which was a blown in line fuse on the inverter, I had no clue there was a fuse let alone it was an in line fuse. The worst part was he found the batteries hooked up improperly. I have two batteries in the fifth wheel, they had a positive wire going to a negative post, and vice versa, Rick said something to the effect he was surprised the batteries were even charging. I had to order the fuse from Camping World, after Rick and I had tried four or five other places. He put the fuse in, we have not had a problem since, and when we turn off the shore power, I am happy to say we still have electricity through the inverter. Thank you Rick.

Then the toilet began to leak, everything happens in threes, you know. So I contacted a repair tech, recommended to us by our boss, and he came out and fixed it, our third party warranty even paid for the repair minus our deductible. So hopefully we will not have any more trouble with the camper or truck, the truck was the first of the threes.

January first I woke up with a pain in my left groin that just would not go away, so I went out to the VA Clinic here in Mesa, on the second, to see if I get someone could tell me what was wrong. I saw a nurse practioner who said I had an inguinal hernia. He said I could let it go or have surgery, I told him I would rather get it fixed than have it get worse. He put me into the computer to have a surgical consult and if I did not hear from them in a week to call him. A week later, having heard nothing from the VA, I called him. I was told he was out east and the person I talked with said I had to contact my home doctor to get the test order etc. I called the Omaha VA and talked with my doctor’s nurse and she told me they could not do anything because I was down here. Then I called the VA in Phoenix and talked to a nurse, he said since I am a traveling veteran everything has to go through my home doctor, but he looked and since I was already in the computer for a surgical consult I was good to go. I asked how long it might be before they would call me; he said weeks, I asked how long before surgery after that, he said weeks; general surgery is backed up for weeks. My cousin Roy said a friend of his waited seven months to some shrapnel removed from his hand. So I have now called a civilian surgeon, he is my boss’ surgeon, and will see him on the 22nd to get the hernia diagnosis validated or a release to go back to work. If he says I do have a hernia and it can wait until I get back home I will do that. In the meantime, though Sarah is working our twenty-four hours a week so we can keep our site.

We did go see the movie Last Vegas, we thought it was funny, the critics did not like it but when the critics do not like a movie, I generally do like it. It is a fun movie you do not have to think too much just enjoy.

Nothing else going on so until later

Dreams Do Come True

Val Vista RV Resort, Mesa, AZ

 

We returned from our trip north on Dec 7, it was a sad trip to attend Sarah's brother Bob's funeral but it did give us the opportunity to see a lot of people we haven't seen for quite a while. Sarah was able to visit with her aunt Helen; she was not in the best of health and passed away last week. So it was a blessing she was able to see her before she died. We also made a point to see Tiffany, Robert and Daniel and families. We had a very enjoyable time with all of them. Cynthia graciously let us stay at her place, thank you. We got to see Cairo's and had lunch with them, but I ran out of time and wasn't able to see all the people we wanted to see in Des Moines. So Russ, Candi, Laurie, Marci, Mike and Smokey D's we will have to wait to visit with you all in April. We did manage to put 1300 miles in the rental car before we left Saturday Dec 7. We flew Southwest and had good flights both ways, I don't really like to fly much anymore, but I will try to fly Southwest again, they were very friendly and on time.

Since we got back we have been working very hard in the Decor team for Cal-Am. Actually, I believe the job is a bit more organized this time because quite a bit of the decorations etc. are in a warehouse setting and we aren't moving things around like we did two years ago. We also don't have to do any demolition, which is a time saver and is a better utilization of workers. Again, this year we have a great bunch of people working in the team. I don't know how Mikki knows a couple will fit when, for most of them, she just talks to them on the phone, but she does a great job of getting the right mix and we do have fun.

Steve & Teresa had us over for dinner Dec 8, Steve fixed vegetable soup, Steve is a very good cook and the soup was delicious. They invited another couple Chief, he is a full blood Iroquois I believe and I apologize but I don't remember his wife's name. It was a great evening.

Sarah got a new pair of glasses at Costco after we arrived here to replace the ones she broke in her fall in Kansas. After we got back from Iowa, she was still having issues with them so we went back to Costco and the technician did some adjusting and so far, she hasn't complained about them, so hopefully the glasses are fixed and she can again enjoy reading.

I got my flu shot the week before Christmas. I had called the VA Clinic here and asked if it was possible to get the shot and they said come in whenever I could, so we headed out to the clinic. I put the address into the car's gps and away we go. I am not sure what the gps was thinking but it took us out to the east Deseret and took us to a dead end road. I took out my phone and looked up the address on Google maps and we were ten miles or so to far east, so we headed back and found the clinic. I had to register with the clinic and can use it for medical needs other than annual physical or to refill prescriptions, this is fine with me, so I am classified with them as a traveling veteran, which I am.

This past week and next week we work Mon, Thurs and Fri because of Christmas and New Years day. We were invited to my sister Colleen's for Christmas; it is always fun going to their home. Darrius' sister Debbie came up from Tucson and was staying there also. Colleen, Sarah and I went to mass Christmas Eve, the mass started at four but we got to the church a few minutes after three to be able to get a seat. There were well over a thousand people there with a couple hundred standing in the back. Christmas day we went over to my niece Angela and husband Tyler's house to be there when Delaney, Kendall and Kylie, great nieces, opened their gifts. They are attending the University of Arizona in Tucson, http://www.arizona.edu/ it has a great campus. The girls received quite a few gifts mostly clothes but all befitting a college girl. Delaney graduates next May from the nursing program and has applied for graduate school in nursing. Kendall and Kylie are in their first year but are either considered sophomores or juniors, I do know they will graduate in three or three and a half years in the majors of engineering, IT and marketing, I don't remember which one is in what major. I do know they are graduating a lot faster than I did, forty years faster. Anyway, they are very smart and beautiful young women who have a great future ahead of them.

Christmas afternoon the gang came over to Colleen and Darrius' for dinner. Darrius put a prime rib on the grill and it was absolutely one of the best prime ribs I have ever had, and there was salad and mashed potatoes, green beans and a couple bottles of very good wine. The meal was exquisite. Tyler's folks Linda and Stan Stratton from Burlington were there also. I found out Linda was related to Jones the barber, my dad used to take us kids there to get our hair cut and she was related to Francis Jones who lived next door to the house I grew up in. What a small world we had a great visit. Stan and Linda are a fun couple, they bought a house somewhere in the Mesa area so we will get together with them again.

I probably forgot something, so until later

Dreams Do Come True

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I will write a new blog after the holidays but in the meantime:


MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR


Sarah & Ken

Mesa, AZ

We spent Thanksgiving at Colleen and Darrius’, we had a great time and the food was fabulous. Angela & Tyler, Tyler’s folks, and Delaney, Kendall and Kylie, I don’t remember the dog’s name but she was there also. Debbie, Darrius’ sister, was there from Tuscan. We had a great visit even though we received some bad news.

Sarah’s brother, Bob Cain, passed away Thanksgiving day. I was thinking about driving when everyone made me see the error of my thinking. Darrius got online and did some research, he is very good at that, and found Southwest had a good rate on plane tickets to Des Moines. I had never flown on Southwest before but we had great flights both ways.

We arrived in Des Moines at 4:30 on Saturday the 30th, Cynthia picked us up at the airport and we stayed with her that night. The next day, Sunday, we had rented a car at the airport so Cynthia and Sarah dropped me off there to get the car and we headed for Galesburg, IL. Cynthia and Sarah rode together; Cynthia needed her car because we were not going back to Des Moines right away. The viewing was from 3-5 in that afternoon, we arrived before two. We spent the rest of the day at the funeral home.

After the viewing, we went to John’s Taco Hideout for dinner. Carl went to school with John and they did a great job of keeping everyone fed. All of the Cain family and Judy, Bob’s wife, and two of her daughters were all there. One thing I found very nice, Bob retired as a Galesburg firefighter, there were two firefighters, one at each end of the casket, they stood at attention for twenty-minute intervals for the entire two hours of the viewing. I liked that.

The next day, Monday, was the funeral service at the funeral home, it was very nice. When they took the casket, out to the hearse there were firefighters in two rows and the casket passed between them. Two fire trucks led the hearse to the edge of town with their sirens and horns blaring, very nice. Burial was in the Historical Myers Cemetery in Pontoosuc, Illinois.

After the internment, I went to my brother’s in Burlington, Sarah and I stayed there Monday night, Sarah went to see her aunt Helen, she rode with her brother Bill.

Went out to eat Monday night with Larry & Kathy Hoenig, Cynthia Cain, Bill & Mable Cain and Chuck Cain, Bill & Mable’s son. We ate at Gator’s in Burlington, as always the food was good.

Tuesday, everyone left and Sarah and I headed to Wisconsin to see Robert, Sarah, Mason and Madyson. It was foggy the entire trip to Wisconsin but we made it without too much trouble. We spent a great four hours with the kids. Robert made a delicious chili for supper and we enjoyed being with them even if it was only for just a few hours.

Wednesday morning Sarah and I headed back to Iowa, we did stop in Coralville, IA and had lunch with Carl & Merilee and then on to Ankeny, IA to meet Tiffany, Matt and Alexa for dinner. They met us at Outback Steakhouse; Bryon was working so he wasn’t able to be there. We had a good time visiting with them and the food was good.

After dinner we headed for Cynthia’s, we stayed there until Saturday, thank you Cynthia.

Thursday Sarah and I headed west to Omaha to see Daniel, Marie, Emily, Isabel and Eli. We had a great visit with them also; it is always fun to see the grandkids.

I did accomplish one thing; we gave the kids their Christmas gifts so I saved on postage.

Friday I went out to Mike Cord’s house, a friend of ours, to print off our boarding passes for our flight to Phoenix on Saturday; it was good to see Mike. Then Sarah and I went to Norma and Orren Cairo’s for lunch. Norma had a chicken pie and a homemade coconut cream pie, delicious.

Cynthia made chili for supper Friday night with apple crisp for desert another great and delicious meal.

Saturday morning with a temperature of a minus one degree, we headed for the airport and our trip home. We got home around four thirty Saturday afternoon.

It was great to see the kids and everyone else but we wish it had been under different circumstances.

Sarah’s brother was a unique individual and will be sorely missed by Judy, his wife, his children, Carl, Cheryl, Fred and Allen, and by his brother and sisters, Bill, Cynthia and Sarah. The nephews, nieces and grandchildren are too numerous to mention but I am sure they will miss being around Bob.

Monday it is back to our normal routing, until later

Dreams Do Come True