Oh my goodness, time certainly has a way of slipping by before you know it here in retirement land.

Before I bring you up to date, I must relate a little incident that occured at our Fiesta Progressive Dinner on Saturday, March 11.  The group intitally gathered for appetizers at one site where each couple introduced themselves.  After about 45 minutes we all gathered up our chairs and beverages and headed to the host site for the Soup/Salad course and continued conversations.   Most of us were perched in our chairs chatting away with new acquaintances and chowing down on some great food, when the host's old canine, Henry, decided to join us.  Heaven knows what was going on in his little Shizu head, but he sauntered right over to me, raised his leg and whizzed right on my foot!!!!!!!!!!   I heard a few gasps about the same time I felt my toes getting wet and warm!  Oh yuck, what does one say or do now.  You'll be proud to know that I kept my cool (actually I was so flabberghasted I couldn't say a thing) and kind of laughed it off.  Henry's mortified mom, Judy, ran out with a bowl of sudsy water and a towel, gushing numerous apologies.  Oh well, there was no harm done, my feet got nice and clean, and it certainly gave us all something to remember!

Another funny moment occurred several days later, when Corky met up with Henry's dad, Doug, while walking with Gus and Woody.  After a few moments of small talk, Doug (with a straight face, mind you) asks Corky if he's ever been told he looked like "Larry the Cable Guy"!!!  Ha, ha, ha.  Guess we'll have to start ripping the sleeves off Corky's shirts from now on.  Git 'er done!

On Sunday, March 12 Lane and Corky drove to Chandler to meet buddies Steve Hansen and Tony Carrow for lunch.  I followed in my car to Chandler, but diverted to Steve's and Kimm's house.  While Kimm was out of town for the week and Steve was working, I was going to do a little grandmothering with Haley and Jenna.  Our week went by quickly--we went to area playgrounds, ate ice cream at a local eatery, went to the Phoenix Zoo, read books, practiced math, took naps, watched movies--we generally had a real good time!  Here are a few photos:

Flying Steve's RC helicopter

Sitting on the roof--with Dad's permission, of course!

Waiting for the Train ride to begin.

At the youngsters play area.

Little 3-day old ducklings stole the show at the zoo--all the kiddies wanted to touch them--it took a little talking, but Jenna was finally convinced that Momma Duck did not want kiddie hands on her little ducklings!

As a present to me, Jenna meticulously painted my tonails--three different shades of pink!

 I bid adieu to the girls and Steve about 5 p.m. on Friday and headed south toward Palm Creek.  Woody had been rather forlorn all week--although he'd been with me, his good buddy Gus had stayed with Corky.  Apparently, Gus had really missed Woody, too.  Normally, a fairly obedient, well mannered dog, Gus became nervous and would not tolerate being left alone in his own kennel.  If Corky had to leave him at home, Gus would patiently claw at the zipper on his kennel until he had succeeded in unzipping the kennel flap and freeing himself.   When Corky thought he had outsmarted the dog by using twist-ties to secure the zipper of the kennel, Gus proved him wrong by simply gnawing through the fabric mesh to freedom.  Oh boy.  Now it seems, even though the pups are back together, the kennel is NOT to their liking any more.  What was once a safe haven is now a jail to them (or so it seems).  They broke out of jail on their first night back together in the coach, surprising both Corky and me when they leaped up onto the bed in the middle of the night.  They escaped again when we left for a short shopping trip!  Gus is probably teaching Woody how to emulate Houdini each time we leave them alone.  Perhaps when we get home to DL they will feel more relaxed.

Speaking of DL, the weather at home has been warmer than what we are experiencing in ARIZONA!!!!!  For the past week or two, night time temps here have hovered in the mid-high 30's and daytime temps have just begun to return to the 70s, while DL has been enjoying 60-70s on a regular basis.  What is wrong with this picture?????  We will leave Arizona the first week in April.  It is my fervent hope that the early warm spring will continue in the midwest.

All for now.  Later.

It's been a while since I last posted, so thought I'd better bring you all up to date.

The week beginning on March 5 was spent mostly doing little errands (specifically spending an excessive amount of time dealing with the local pharmacy trying to transfer Corky's medications from Detroit Lakes drug store to this CVS); doing laundry; grocery shopping and preparing for our guest, Lane Bouman from Oregon.  Lane was Corky's supervisor at BLM back in the 70s & 80s and they have maintained a close relationship all these years.  On his way to see his son in southwest Arizona, Lane stopped to see friends in Palm Desert, CA and will stay with us from March 10 thru 17.

Here are a couple of shots of Lane with some mutual friends.

Tony Carrow, Lane & Steve Hanson

Corky, Lane & Steve Hanson

As for me, I'll be spending the week in Chandler getting some Grandma time with Jenna and Haley.  Kimm must go to Florida and Rhode Island for work and I will be staying with the girls while Steve is working.  I'll post photos of our week later.

As it is getting late into the season and people are starting to leave Palm Creek Resort, a couple of guys from our new neighborhood decided to organize a "Fiesta Progressive Dinner" for  Coyote Moon and Desert Sands streets before many of us head back to our respective homes.  Participants signed up for appetizers, soup/salad, main course and desserts; on Saturday March 10, about 28 people milled about the two streets for about 4 hours gorging ourselves on wonderful mexican fare.  I forgot to take my camera until dessert time, so I missed getting some good shots during the daylight.  Some of our new friends hail from Canada, Michigan, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Virginia!

Later.

It was rather chilly Sunday morning, but by 11 a.m. the temperature had risen to the upper 60's.   No plans for today; Corky plans to watch the NASCAR race which coincidently is being run in Phoenix;  guess he could have gone to the race, but the view is much better from the comfort of his own easy chair.  I enjoy watching the race too, but the beautiful afternoon enticed me to climb on the Schwinn and pedal around the Park.  I stopped by one of the ponds to look at the fish and decided to snap a few photos of the area.

Part of the Golf Course lies just beyond this sculpture.  

I was especially pleased at the lack of auto traffic while riding around the Park.  Then I remembered that the Park was hosting a Pickle Ball Tournament.  Folks were at the Courts taking in the games.  What's Pickle Ball you ask?  Pickleball is a fun game that is played on a badminton court with the net lowered to 34 inches at the center. It is played with a perforated plastic baseball (similar to a whiffle ball) and wood or composite paddles. It is easy for beginners to learn, but can develop into a quick, fast-paced, competitive game for experienced players.   Wikipedia explains the game better than I can: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickleball 

Here are shots from the Palm Creek's Pickle Ball tournament:

Woman at right is getting ready to serve the ball.

You can barely make out the ball just above the net; the woman in yellow on this side of net is getting ready to return the volley. 

Men were playing as well, but on the other side of the courts where maneuvering my bike was not so easy.  Hence you only see the women playing in my pics.  Pickle Ball looks like it could be fun and good exercise.  Maybe we'll try playing next season if the pros are willing to teach the greenhorns.


All for now.

It's Saturday morning 3/3 and the wind is whipping the decorative flags around and making the wind chimes clang noisily.  The temperature is only in the high 50s, too; feels rather chilly.

In our current location, we are just across the street from the most popular/convenient Bark Parks.  Most mornings there are at least two other dogs taking care of business when we arrive and this morning was no exception.  Gus and a Staffordshire terrier romped for quite a while while Woody stalked the doves that lit on the fence surrounding the park.

I visited with Gail for a bit yesterday to get an update on Hank's condition.  As sometimes happens, his initial diagnosis of pneumonia was premature; after more tests, the doctors discovered blockage in his bile ducts which had lead to the high fever and malaise.  They've inserted a stent to open the duct and alleviate the pressure;  hopefully the blockage will slowly dissolve or pass.   Gail has been able to stay in the room with Hank during most procedures with the doctors explaining/showing her their findings right on the spot.  She said if they had been in Canada, Hank would have been whisked away and she would have had to bide her time biting her nails in a waiting room until some one summoned her.  Gail said Hank is feeling so much better now and both of them are very pleased with the quality of care he's received.  We are all very happy to hear he is on the mend.

Tonight we're going to dinner with Jan & Del.  We are motoring to Eloy (about 5 miles) to the Robson Ranch Community's Grill.  They tout their prime rib special on Saturday night as nothing short of spectacular.  We shall see.  We figured if it was THAT good, then perhaps we should make reservations as their brochure recommended.  When Corky called to do so, he was told by the hostess that they did not take reservations and furthermore, if diners wanted to ensure a prime rib dinner, they should arrive no later than 5 p.m.!  I know we are among the "early bird dinner" crowd, but come on!

All for now.

Good news, not so good news.  It looks like Hank has pneumonia!  At least that's a treatable condition, but they haven't given him any idea of when he'll be discharged.  Hopefully, he'll be back at his coach taking it easy by the weekend.

We moved this morning from site 1236 Shimmering Sands Lane to site 1635 Coyote Moon Lane.  

Moving to our new location

Hey, where's our great big kennel?

Setting up.

This little guy tried to jump our claim on this site; that's a no-no here in the wild wild west;
so he's no longer with us!

Jan brought Rusty and Charlie to our new site for a visit.

After setting up, we biked over to the main area to walk around thePalm Creek Arts & Crafters Expo, the Photography Show and the Wood Carvers Show where residents displayed and sold some of their beautiful creations. There are some very talented folks here.  Shown below is our neighbor, Del Pigg from Wisconsin, with some of his meticulously hand-carved pieces.

We had dinner with Del & Jan at a local restaurant on Thursday evening.  Nice meal, great company.  

Been a big day, going to bed.  Later.

Wednesday night   2/29/12

Wow, it's the end of the February!  Hard to believe we’ve been in Arizona for almost 3 months already.  Tomorrow we must move.   Rather than making the decision to stay in Palm Creek for a 4-month duration back in December when we arrived, we made that decision on a month-by-month basis.  Since we’ve just decided to stay through the month of March, we must move from our current site to another about 3 blocks away.  We are looking at the move as an opportunity to experience a new area of the Park and to meet some new friends.  On the plus side, we will be only one block from the swimming pool and one of the most popular Bark Parks.  Everybody’s happy!

Hank & Gail at one of our happy hours

As we were preparing for bed, a rather unnerving thing happened.  Unusually loud engine noises coming from the street caused Corky to open the Coach’s window shade and to witness the local Rescue Squad entering a neighboring coach.  Evidently our neighbor Hank, who had been feeling ill with a high fever, aches, and chills, was now so ill that his wife Gail called 911.  As I write this, Corky and our next coach neighbor Richard accompanied Gail to the hospital.  Del & Jan will care for Charlie, Gail & Hank’s pup. And neighbor Patricia offered to stay with Gail at the hospital until Hank’s condition is determined.  It’s quite heartwarming to see the support and camaraderie here in this community.   Gail & Hank are from Canada, Richard from Texas, Patricia from Washington, Del & Jan from Wisconsin.  Most of these people meet for the first time when they arrive in Palm Creek in December or January and immediately form a “neighborhood.”   It’s a comfortable feeling. 

Stay tuned for update on our move and Hank’s condition