It was a dark and stormy night

31 Dec, 2018; RoVers Roost Skp RV Coop, Casa Grande, AZ

with apologies to Edward Lytton, Lytton BC (for the worst opening sentence in history) . . . 

The day started gray and rainy and is now cold, dark, and rainy.  Phoebe, the chihuahua mix, is not impressed.

Mostly, stayed inside today with large mugs of hot tea.  

What NOT to do on New Years Eve

My friends and I decided to go out for an early pizza - sounded like a good idea at the time.  We got to the pizza place early.  45 minutes later I got my pizza; after more than an HOUR, my friends got their pizzas.  The dining room was less than a third full the whole time.  But, we watched folks leaving at regular intervals with large take out orders.  Large - like 4-8 large pizzas at a time!!  Apparently, it's a thing to order out pizza for your NY Eve party.   

Who knew?  We do now.  Note to self - do something different next NY eve.

At least the pizza, when we finally got it, was hot and yummy (of course, by that time, dried out gas station sandwiches probably would have tasted OK).

The turn of the year is always an optimistic time for me

Despite my griping here about cold and rainy weather and delayed pizzas, I'm really happy to look forward to the new year and what adventures await.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Christmas potluck

25 Dec, 2018; RoVers Roost Skp RV Coop, Casa Grande, AZ

The Clubhouse is looking very holiday-like

We have a Christmas tree, a fake yule log fire, and all the tables are decorated for the big potluck.  A few skilled volunteers have been baking turkeys and ham, smoking turkey and making gravy. The rest of us are bringing appetizers, vegetables, potatoes and dressing, and, of course, desserts!

Not every sunset is spectacular

I so enjoyed watching folks arrive with their potluck dishes, the rising chatter and laughter, the comparative quiet as everyone enjoyed a truly delicious meal and the companionship on this special day of the year.

Watching people falling out of the sky (sky-diving)

21 Dec, 2018; RoVers Roost Skp RV Coop, Casa Grande, AZ

Eloy, AZ Airport has a skydiving facility

A few days ago, a bunch of folks from the RV park and I trekked over to Eloy to watch teams of skydivers preparing for a competition.  There were even teams from West Point (they look SO young!).  From packing chutes, to practicing the departure from the plane, thru diving and landing - it's all open to visitors to watch.

Practicing 'jumping' out of the plane is especially important if a group is going to attempt to join up and do some patterns or tricks before they all separate to open their chutes.

Getting ready to enter, then 'jump' out of the practice plane door.

and then down they come; lots of maneuverability with this type of parachute.

a bunch of us lookey-loos!

And what is that big thing in the background?  Read on . . .

 Wind tunnel training is available right next to the landing field

Anyone can rent some time with a trainer in the wind tunnel - if you'd like to gain some experience before flinging yourself out of a perfectly good airplane, or it you'd just like to experience weightlessness for a couple of minutes.

The wind tunnel is blowing about 100mph - so getting airborne is not difficult.  Controlling what happens next is not so easy, and kind of hilarious to watch!

These people are experienced!

All together a very fun day.  

One sour note

We had lunch at the Bentprop Cookery.  The food looked really tasty.  I wouldn't know for sure because they got backed up on the daily special I ordered and, after 30 minutes of waiting (all my friends had finished eating), I asked for my money back.  Eventually, after another wait, they not so graciously gave me my money back (no apology, no 'how can we make this up to you' ).  The restaurant was half-empty when we ordered, so I don't know how they got 'backed up' - I really think that they just misplaced the order.  So, not good customer service, but if you want to take a chance, you might luck out.  

I have a functioning screen door again!

18 Dec, 2018; RoVer's Roost SKP Coop; Casa Grande, AZ

Phoebe broke my screen door latch

In early September, just a couple of weeks after adopting Phoebe, we were visiting a friend in Sisters, OR.  Thinking Phoebe would be fine in the trailer alone for a few minutes, I walked up to my friend's house - where I found Phoebe waiting on the porch.  Hmmmm . . . .  I turned around to see my screen door partially demolished where Phoebe had just run through it.  

No pictures of the screen door fiasco - so last nights sunset will have to do.

She had ripped the screen out of the runner (it's a retractable, roll-up door) and  broken the latch.  It wasn't too hard to push the screen back into the runner - but the latch was totally busted.  

Ever since then I've been looking online and in hardware stores for a replacement latch - with no luck.  Finally, I emailed the Escape Trailer factory and asked if they had a part number and/or a supplier for a replacement latch.  I wasn't terribly hopeful, since they stopped using my type of screen door a couple of years ago.

Escape customer service comes to the rescue again . . . .

Fortunately, being a company with consistently superb customer service, they had both a part number and a link to their supplier.  I jumped on this and found the part.  Since shipping costs were double what the part was going to cost, I ordered 2 (after all, I'm not betting that Phoebe learned her lesson - I'll be more careful, but I suspect she may run through the screen again). 

On checkout, I notice that some of the information is not in English - rather Japanese characters.  Oh Oh - I hope the part doesn't have to come all the way from Japan!!   For the next week, I worry that the part won't come until after I've left the park in January.  I imagine all sorts of problems with getting the part forwarded to wherever I end up.

In a rare stroke of luck, the part was actually shipped from someplace in California (right next door!!) and I received it just a couple of days ago.  It was easy to install and now I can use my screen door!  

Yay!!  This is especially nice as there is an invasion of black flies in Casa Grande just now and leaving one's door open without a screen is definitely NOT an option.

Hopefully, Phoebe will learn about the screen door without running through it again.

A trip to the Food City Grocery is like a mini-vacation to Mexico!

17 Dec, 2018; RoVer's Roost SKP RV Coop, Casa Grande, AZ

How many grocery stores have their own tortilla maker?!

Food City grocery stores in Arizona seem to cater to the hispanic/Indian population.  I always find amazing food there.  The one in Casa Grande has it's own tortilla machine!  As I was looking at the huge (like almost an entire aisle) selection of tortillas, another shopper walked by, pointed at the store made tortillas and said "get these; I told my husband I wasn't making tortillas anymore; these are as good as mine."  Sure enough, she had several big packages in her basket.

I bought some - they are good!

Lot's of different brands of tortillas, and tortilla baskets

Even the bakery has different pastries than I'm used to (along with all the usual donuts).

The sunset tonight came with about 30 minutes of choreographed flying.

I've mentioned the thousands of birds that live in the big Oleander hedge along the southern boundary of the park.  They sing, they russle the Oleander leaves when disturbed in the night, and tonight, I got some shots of the choreographed flights they do every evening.

MC for the daily Meet-and-Greet

14 Dec, 2018; RoVers Roost RV Coop Park, Casa Grande, AZ

This is a very friendly park

Every day there is a meet-and-greet in the community hall to greet newcomers to the park, hear announcements, and share a few jokes.  The MC's are volunteers, or, in my case, newcomers who are arm-twisted and guilted into "volunteering".  It really was pretty easy - there is a script, the sound system is excellent and since everyone knows the routine, you really can't go wrong.

So, everything was fine until I had to find some one to MC for tomorrow.  Then I remember that statistically, people are more afraid of talking in front of groups than many other, really scary things.  I forget this and it was not easy finding a volunteer.  Finally, one of the old-timers (meaning, in this case, folks that have been at the park a long time and volunteer a lot) rescued me by volunteering to MC the next day.

A sure sign of Christmas

One of my childhood treats around the holidays was a segment of a 'chocolate orange'.  My Mom would ration out segments a tiny wedge at a time - I looked forward to them so much!  Now, they come in many flavors - but I still like the orange ones.

The part where you 'whack' the ball on the table to loosen up all the wedges reminds me of another childhood favorite - MacIntosh Toffee Bars - their tag line was to 'whack a Mac'.  Since we were in Canada, they were usually cold enough that a solid whack would fracture the bar into bite-sized pieces - way easier on one's teeth than trying to bite through the thick bar.  This picture shows new packaging.  It used to come in a box instead of a wrapper.  Nestle bought out the brand and there were a few years when they weren't made.  But, public demand eventually brought the tasty, but teeth endangering candy back to the market.

Amped up Desert Golf

13 Dec, 2018; RoVers Roost RV Coop, Casa Grande, AZ

As if Desert Golf isn't funny enough . . . 

Yesterday, there was a desert golf tournament just outside the park - instead of golf balls, they used marshmallows!  Yes, seriously, Marshmallow Desert Golf.  Later, there was a Hot Dog dinner and S'mores - I was assured that the marshmallows weren't left over from marshmallow golf.

No holes - just get it in the circle!

A full 18 hole course - in between par 3 and putting green size.

Relaxing later at the hot dog / s'mores roast 

Ed, the fire master

Some of the murals on sheds and outbuildings

I see something different every time I take Phoebe for a walk.  I'll have to ask - but it does look like the work of the same painter,  I wonder if it's someone in the park.

Walking with Phoebe

12 Dec, 2018; RoVer's Roost SKP Co-op RV Park, Casa Grande, AZ

Folks here have more freedom to use their creativity than in some communities

Some parks with HOA's are very restrictive on types of plants, colors, types of structures, etc.  I don't know where RoVer's Roost falls on the spectrum - but I notice a lot more individuality here than SMR, (where I just spent a couple of months).  I like it!

Does BigFoot live here?

Love these faces!

Most lots have sheds; they are often painted really nicely (anything other than white is fine by me!).  Some of the sheds are painted with murals.

I especially like the pattern on this walk-way

Everyone needs a little help now and then

I've heard that Saguaro cactus that are leaning off vertical will grow arms on the opposite side of the lean!  Personal observation seems to confirm that theory - but apparently, sometimes, that isn't enough and a cactus needs some help to stay upright.

Phoebe meets a tarantula

Last night on our bedtime walk, Phoebe was sniffing something that I realized was moving!  Sure enough, it was (I think) a small Arizona Blonde Tarantula.  They are docile - they must be to put up with a wet doggy nose all up in their business!  I love seeing them.

Maybe 3-4" including legs

Walking late at night is very quiet - unless we walk in the most logical place - a road and wide gravel area next to a huge, very tall Oleander hedge.  Thousands of birds spend the night in the hedge; around dusk, the bird song is so loud you can barely hear yourself think.  After dark, walking along the hedge disturbs the birds and they scare Phoebe with the flutter of hundreds of wings in the leaves.  I think it's kind of cool.

I have no idea what this beetle-like thing is - but, it's huge!!!

Sunsets are 360; like being in an incredibly colorful snowglobe

I can not even begin to describe how powerfully I am affected by sunsets and sunrises.  In all directions and overhead, for 20-30 minutes, the sky can simply be astonishing!!  Pictures can only, at best, capture a small sliver of the reality.

Tonight's sunset was another really great one!  The kind where I stand in the desert and just turn in circles for 20 minutes looking at the sky, and saying "ooooh"  and "aaahhhh".

The photos are, unfortunately, only a small, much duller, representation of the magical sunset I experienced.  

Phoebe could have cared less. . . . .

Decorating for the holidays!

11 Dec, 2018; RoVer's Roost SKP Coop, Casa Grande, AZ

I love Lights!

The days are short; the nights are long and ever-so-dark.  I need lots and lots of lights!!  I settle for 3 small battery operated lights that I put on the valences around the dinette - I think it's very festive. 

 No space for a tree, but I have a Christmas placemat, my favorite trailer ornament and a cactus ornament, a couple of snowman t-lights and, of course, a stocking!  I did have a small Radio Shack Xmas Tree that I welded together a couple of years ago - but it didn't survive jouncing around in the trailer.

This year, I even sprang for a live wreath!

I looked at some fake wreaths that were really decorated and pretty - but I don't have the storage space.  The real one can be tossed at the end of the season.  The bow and tiny, battery operated light-string will fit in my one shoe-box sized holiday decorations box.  Won't win the park decoration contest (that will go to the couple with 12 (TWELVE) lighted Xmas trees; or the lot with more lights than most international airports - but I like my holiday display and I'm now officially humming Xmas tunes until New Years.

Washed out - but the light-string has little beads of red all