Waze Craze and Stopped by a Cop

 

"The trouble with life in the fast lane is that you get to the other end in an awful hurry."

 

Christmas and New Years are now behind us. So, what's next?  We are certainly not going to sit still.  The weather should start improving in a few days and we're really looking forward to that.  Amazing how much better you feel when the sky is blue and the weather warm.

Tomorrow is moving day.  Actually, we're half moved.  We drove into the BIG CITY today with the Razor loaded on the trailer.  The idea was to mark our spot at our next RV park and then move the rest in the morning.  That we did so we're getting ready to itch that hitch and I'm so glad. 

We received a couple Olive Garden gift cards for Christmas.  On the way back to Casa Grande we figured it was a perfect time to stop for lunch.  Check out my plate ..... mussels, scallops and shrimp.  It was a meal made in Heaven!  Well ... kinda.

Mussels, shrimp and scallops …. 

We'll probably hang around the Phoenix area for another week.  That'll give us time to visit a little more with Terry's mom and stock up on supplies.  After that we're off to meet friends in Quartzsite for the biggest RV event of the year.  That’s about the time the Big Tent goes up and hundreds of thousands of other people converge on the little town. Fun, fun, fun. 

Have you been hooked with the Waze craze?  This is a fun app for your iPhone.  It's a navigation device and gives you real-time driving conditions where you are and where you're heading.  The idea is to outsmart the traffic, save time and gas money.  It's fun, fun, fun and it's free.  The app also notifies you of accidents, hazards and other events you see on the road.   Waze is hands-free and voice-operated. 

 --- Check it out here

Another great feature is being warned of  hidden police.  I know they say having police on the road is for safety.  I would definitely agree if they would actually patrol the roads and not hide where speeders and dangerous drivers can't see them.  Just being visible can prevent all kinds of highway calamities.  It's difficult to understand how their presence can be for safety when their hiding behind bushes or other contraptions.  Have you ever noticee how many actually drivers slow down and drive sane when a state patrol car is seen cruising down the highway?  Now that's  preventive and probably eliminates many accidents.

Speaking of police .....  I'm all in favor of having more police officers but not to fill the shoes of those hiding or harassing.  How many times have you or your family been stopped by the police?  If you live in a large town, maybe not at all because the odds are in your favor.  However, if you live in a small town, there aren't many other folks and the odds turn against you.     Our son and his family live in a town with a population of about 4,000.  Their family has been stopped about 8 times in the last two or three years.  Okay this might be an embellishment but not by much.   Out of those eight stops or so only two tickets were actually issued ... once for license tags that had been expired for about 18 days and the other time was when Jordan didn't make a complete stop at a stop sign.  The other few times no tickets were written .. of course.

Well, when I was with Sabrina over the holidays she got stopped .... again.  I didn't remember to post it because she wouldn't let me take a picture of her with the two cop cars and their lights flashing.  If I can't take a picture, I can't be responsible for remembering events.   I wanted that picture!!! 

The conversation began with the officers telling her they had seen us come into town on  a street we hadn't been on.  Not hardly as it would have been very much out of our way.  Supposedly their first issue was with that car ....  or was it just a ploy?  The next issue was her headlight.  After that came the tint on the car windows.  There was no after-market tint but they were so sure there was, they tested it.   It tested perfect.  She wasn't given a ticket.  There was nothing to give her a ticket for just like most other times their family had been stopped.    I'm all for having police officers and making our towns and streets safe but not like this.

Living in a small town definitely isn't like living in a large town.  In a large town there are lots of infractions and lots of people to keep the police busy.  In a small town ... not so much.  That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.  

Remember yesterday I made a comment that we're tired of pulling a trailer?  Well, we have a plan to eliminate that trailer!

‘Tis life on the road.

Wrapping and Wrestling

"A life that hasn't a definite plan is likely to become driftwood."

I left Arizona very early Thursday morning.  I consider pulling out of our RV park at 4:30 AM …. very early.  The windows had ice on them.  Thankfully it wasn’t a hard ice.  It was actually colder in the morning in Arizona than it was that morning in Washington.  However, as we descended through the clouds it was easy to see that even though it wasn’t as cold as Arizona had been, the weather was still pretty miserable.  The cloud cover was very thick and the plane jerked and jumped a tad as we plowed through it.  On the ground it was raining.  I’m going to guess that it’ll probably rain most of the time I’m here.

--- Delegating the wrapping of gifts

Ironically, Tammi was also arriving at the same time.  She was flying in from Spokane.  The timing wasn’t planned.  It just happened.  Even though Justin had originally planned to pick me up, this little stroke of luck saved him a 60 mile round trip.

Most important on my agenda for the day was to sort through the three boxes of Christmas gifts we had shipped via FedEx earlier this month.  Then, I was in charge of wrapping them.  However, I’m a strong believer in delegation.  I delegated the job.  As usual, we ran out of boxes so even though most of it has been finished, we still need to really finish it another day.

Justin came to watch cousin Sandi wrestle ---

Sandi had a wrestling meet that evening at the high school.  Wrestling is one sport that I really don’t like to watch one of my own in.  I cringe and then cringe some more.  It always looks like they’re going to get hurt but she didn’t and that was a good thing.

Friday we shopped and we shopped and we shopped. There's always last minute little gifts to even out the tree.  Then, instead of heading to south Portland and delivering groceries to my brother as a Christmas gift, I went to Winco for a gift card and then the post office.   Next, we were on our way to visit 93-year-old Aunt Jenny.  Santa was out waving at all the traffic.

We were just in time to join the Christmas Party at the memory care facility where Aunt Jenny now resides. Our timing was perfect as the group was opening gifts.  Thus, she was thrilled to have one more gift to open than all the rest of the folks there had. 

It certainly is a busy season.  Today I plan on getting this shopping behind me … just like thousands of other folks out there. First, Justin and I are going out to breakfast together.  He's been pretty busy while he's home on leave.  The day after Christmas he heads back to Norfolk.   After breakfast, I'm hoping to be off to check on our cabin.  Well, that’s after I make sure there’s no snow on the windy little roads first.  If there's time left in the day, I also want to go to the craft store for my own Christmas present to me.    I'd really like to visit the huge Fabric Outlet in Portland but time isn't on my side right now.  That will have to wait for the next trip!

UPDATE:  Not going to the cabin.  I just called and found out the main roads had been plowed but side roads had about 6 inches of slushy snow on them.  Aargh!

‘Tis life on the road.

Heading Out for the Holidays .. Maybe

"Life is a great bundle of little things."

Wednesday -

Today will be a very busy day.  Usually the day before travel it is.  When I’ve had my fill of coffee I’ll get to work getting ready for it.  Yesterday was busy too.  After a bit of running around and getting last minute items, we also had a “farewell” barbecue for IYQ at Toni’s place.  He’s pulling out this morning and heading back to his spot in California.  I guess farewell isn’t the right word since we’ll see him again in “Q” next month.  We’re already looking forward to heading that way again.  Seeing all the people and the activity they bring to that little oasis in the desert is certainly something to look forward to.

The temperature in the motorhome dipped down to 57 overnight.  Needless to say, on came the furnace and a heavy bathrobe.  I’m beginning to think Arizona just isn’t far enough south this time of year.  I wish they’d get going on that bridge from the west coast to Hawaii but am starting to think it won’t be completed in my lifetime.

This morning I’m going to print out all the non-stop flights on Alaska Airlines, Southwest and US Air from here to Portland.  Hopefully there will be one empty seat for me on one of those planes … hopefully.  If not, I might be at the airport all day long or worse yet …. Terry might have to drive back and pick me up late tomorrow night.  Just in case I’m also filling my iPad with books and movies.  I have a feeling it will be a very long day.  It’s not often I really want to be wrong.  However, this time I really want to be wrong.  Terry?  Well, he actually has a confirmed ticket on Sunday.  Let’s hope he doesn’t make it ahead of me.  After all, I have a little shopping to finish once I get up there, people to see and presents to wrap.

The good thing is I have only a couple small Christmas presents with me.  We shipped everything else so we wouldn’t have to worry about checking boxes and have them get lost …. been there, done that.

Daylight is starting to peak out.  That’s the signal to get myself dressed and sort laundry so I can get it ready and pack the few items I plan on taking.  Hopefully, my next blog will be written from the state of Washington. 

Thursday  Morning -

Our plan was to leave Casa Grande for the Phoenix airport about 4:30 AM.  That's what we did.  There was ice on the car windows and it was definitely chilly.  However, it was also a much easier day than expected.  An hour before flight time the first flight I tried to stand-by for had one empty seat.  I just knew I wouldn't get that one.  That doesn't happen unless I'm flying American.   I just knew all the employees from Southwest would rush to the gate in front of me.  Thus, just as I pulling up the internet on my iPhone to check on Alaska Airlines,  my name was called and I was given a ticket.  So much for all those books and movies I had loaded on my iPad.  I wouldn't need them this day.  Yipee!!  I have arrived now and the day is still young.
 



‘Tis life on the road.

Traveling with Trailers

"Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene."

It’s about time the sun is back to shining.  Over the last few days clouds and rain have covered the Arizona deserts.  We didn’t like it one bit.  Most of us travel south to get away from those exact things.  Some also run from the snow.  We don’t like that either.  We lived in the south for 20 years.  We certainly don’t want to spend our winter in the rain, the snow or even the ice.

Our first year was spent in a 5th wheel going back and forth between Arizona and Texas.  We mainly stayed at Thousand Trail parks  and also at COE (Corp of Engineer) parks. What we were doing and where we were going was new and exciting.  At that time we had a big contractor’s generator and definitely were not equipped for boondocking.  Heck!  We didn’t even know what that meant.

The next year we ventured to Alabama and Florida.  I think this year was the most fun for me because of all the new places we had stopped.  We have never started out trying to go to all 50 states like others do.  We’d already visited each and everyone of them.  We just wanted to go and enjoy and that we really did.  There were so many new experiences.

 

Eventually we had a brainstorm. We decided we wanted a couple ATVs.  It would be so much fun to ride them in the desert and on the trails.  That’s what we did and it was so much fun to ride them.  We rode them constantly in Arizona and Utah but they definitely limited our travel.  However, what we also discovered is that our summer place in Washington State was not ATV friendly.  Other than a couple rides the toys stayed pretty much on the trailer all summer long. Not fun.  So, what did we do?

We had another brainstorm.  We sold them, hauled the trailer south with us and bought a 2-seater RZR.  We were off to the BLM and more short-lived fun, fun, fun.  However, there is a huge downside on all this fun.  One of those downsides is we’re always hauling a trailer.  We can’t always get into every park we might like to stay at because there is no room for the trailer. 

We’re fueling up two vehicles instead of one.  Besides that we’ve only used the RZR a little less than 2 weeks because we are not in a park where we can ride it nor have we been most of the time.  Now we do know that we will probably have a good 4 weeks of using the RZR when we head back to Quartzsite.  We also know that once spring and summer come, there will be no riding at all.  There are lots of things to think about.

Here’s one more thing we’ve discussed …… leaving our motorhome in Arizona and not driving it back to Washington.  After all, we do have a place to stay there.  Do we really need to drive it back when we rarely use it there?  Do we really need to be in Washington from April to October?  Well, we'd certainly get a tongue lashing from Sabrina if we didn't.  Our daughter-in-law might be small but she sure is mighty!  Even we're afraid to cross her!  (That's a joke). 

Obviously, we have a dilemma.  We may just enjoy this toy this year and graduate into another toy that doesn’t require a trailer next year.  Kayaks anyone?  Only time will tell.  Thank goodness we don’t have to make a decision today.  Today?  We're packing for our Christmas adventure.

‘Tis life on the road.

Just One Night Along the Road

"If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it."

We’ve been in an established RV park for almost two weeks now.  It’s not often  we stay in a park this long unless it’s a Thousand Trails park or an RPI park.  This is a park where folks can stay if they have a membership in Escapees.  Most folks who spend the winter here are leaseholders of the lots so when they migrate south for the winter, the migration usually stops at the park and on their own site.  That’s quite different than the other membership parks we’ve stayed at.

  

-- Huge sites on the BLM

When we pull into one of our own membership parks we know most folks will only be around for two or three weeks.  After their short stay they move on to another park.  Many rotate back and forth between a couple parks all winter long.  By doing this their snow birding activities are extremely cheap.  Of course, membership fees have to be calculated into those fees but no matter, membership parks can save you money but only if you use them.  We haven’t been using ours as much as we should.  Maybe next year …………….

Packed in Elks Parking in California

At the park we are currently at we have watched RVs come and go over the last couple of weeks.  We’ve been amazed at how many people with huge RVs struggle getting into a site close to dusk and only for one night.  It can take quite a while to get a big rig into a site, get setup and unhooked too.   This isn’t a park with pull-thrus.  The site across from us has had several one night guests.  One motorhome I’m sure was 50’ long (okay I’m exaggerating).  It came in just before dark and pulled out early the next day.  Another extra long 5th wheel was there the next night.  Again, it arrived just before dark, struggled for a while and finally settled for one full day and two nights.  

Full 2nd Row ---- 

When we need a site on our way through, we stop where we don’t have to unhook.  Since we’ve been pulling a trailer for the last couple of years, we have made it a point to either stop where we can have a pull-thru or find a Wal-mart.  We certainly would not like to unhook at each and every stop.  To us it’s kind of like folks looking for a parking spot close to the door of the store they want to go into.  They’ll drive around and drive around waiting for a close site to become available.  Eventually, that will happen but when it does so much time has passed that they could have already been shopping. 

 

 

We also know many RVs aren’t really equipped for boondocking but that’s where Google Maps can help.

 

--- First row would be easier.

 

Google Maps give an idea of what the RV sites are like.

Different strokes for different folks.  Aren’t we glad not everyone likes the same things?

‘Tis life on the road.

Eyelashes and Eyeliner for Your RV?

"Happiness walks on busy feet."

Temperatures have really dipped in Arizona.  The rain moved in along with the clouds Thursday afternoon.  Since then the temperatures have dropped but the humidity increased making it feel a little warmer that it really was.   We’ve had off and on rain and off and on sunshine since then.  I’m thinking enough is enough.  It’s time for those clouds and that rain to keep on going east.  The little weatherman that stays in my phone is predicting only a high of 57 today and more rain.  He’s not always accurate and I’m  hoping this is the case today.  Only time will tell. 

 

In the meantime we’ll walk around the puddles and hope that Duchess decides not to walk right through a very muddy mud puddle on our way to the pet walk.  Of course, she likes the mud puddles best.  Don’t all dogs?  At least it’s a long enough walk back to the motorhome that there is a chance her feet will get cleaned off in a not so muddy puddle back.

 

Friday Terry and I headed to town.  There wasn’t too much on our list.  We were thankful for that because it took forever to do the little bit we had figured we’d do.  First of all, there was a stop at Joann’s … again.  They had McCall’s patterns on sale for $1.99.  Some of the ones I wanted were sold out but I picked up a few others.  That’s a great deal for craft patterns.  Some of the ones I purchased otherwise would have cost $18.95 each!!

$2.99 Unleaded Gas -----

Next stop was the hair cut place.  We both needed haircuts.  If you’re on the road, getting a consistent haircut rarely happens.  Every time you need a haircut you have to go to a new stylist or barber.  Sometimes you get a good job and other times you get chopped.  We stopped at three different places.  Two were packed with folks waiting for a cut.  The other place – Sassie’s –- argued with us about what we wanted, we left. Terry’s haircut was fine.  I got chopped but it grows back so not a big deal.  The worst part was that Friday was a busy day.  Everyone in town was getting a haircut.  We had to put our name on a list and then return about an hour later.

 

We followed this fellow into Auto Zone.  Every couple minutes he was pulling up his pants.  They kept falling to his knees.  What’s wrong with a belt these days?

One more stop at Auto Zone was needed.  My bicycle had a flat tire.  We had put air in it one day but the very next when I went to ride there was another flat.  Obviously, it has a slow leak.  We’re hoping the Slime we bought will take care of that until we can get it into a bike shop.  On our way through the store we saw some really cute car eyelashes and crystal eyeliners for your car.  We thought of Jordie.  What a cute gift that would be … as a little filler gift!  However, once we saw the price of $45 we decided it wasn’t a little gift at all so back it went on the rack.  Sorry, Jordie.  The eyelashes were hanging on a rack with a price tag of $7.99 above it.  For that price it would have been great.  However, we also figured they were so darned cute that they might not last long on her car as someone else might decide to “borrow” them.  You could also put the eyelashes and the crystal eyeliner on your motorhome!  Interested?

 

That was just about it for the day.  Not too much going on but just enough to keep us off the streets and out of trouble.

Justin arrived back in Washington last night.  He's on leave from the Navy over the holidays!

‘Tis life on the road.

What Day Is It?

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

I woke up this morning wondering what day it was?  Was it Thursday or was it Friday?  Sometimes my days go that way.  It’s not that they are extremely busy or extremely slow.  I just don’t keep track of the dates or even the days so much anymore.  My thought is why should I?  

 

Chefs at Arizona Casino buffet -- 

Then, I remembered.  After all, we had spent the day before at the Arizona Casino in Tempe shoving big bucks into those slot machines with Terry’s mom.  She loves going there so we pick her up and take her.  The hard part isn’t getting her into the casino.  It’s getting her out.   Needless to say, the machines kept the money and returned very little.  That casino is about the tightest one we have ever been to.  We’re trying  to convince Terry’s mother that there are others to go to.

Yesterday we took off to the little town of Casa Grande to finish up a little Christmas shopping.  We really don’t have much to do.  We’ve already bought some of the little filler gifts but still need to come up with a couple nice things for the kids.  We weren’t very successful but did more than we liked in looking.  People were everywhere.  The streets were packed with traffic.  Getting around was a pretty slow thing.

 

 

When we left the park the sun was shining and the wind was calm. That didn’t last forever.  By early afternoon the clouds started coming in and the wind started blowing.  We figured it was time to head back.

----- Picture borrowed from Sandie

The normally gorgeous blue skies had filled up with dark clouds.  Some pretty good gusts of wind were stirring up the dust and tipping the trees.  This was an Arizona winter storm.  The difference with the wintery storms in Arizona and the wintery storms in North Dakota is that one brings snow and other rarely does.  We are glad we’re in a place not likely to see much of that white stuff.

Yesterday we had another dinner get together.  It was so yucky out that we ate inside at Toni’s RV.  There were six of us and she had us all seated comfortably around her table enjoying a wonderful spaghetti feed.

Setting for dinner for 6 – there is room!  ------ 

During the night the rain started pounding on the roof.  It’s amazing how heavy those rain drops sound on the top of a motorhome.  The wind blew and the rains continued to pelt us.  As I’m looking out the windows this morning, I’m thinking today is going to be wet and cold.  The good thing is that once this storm passes, the motorhome will be cleaner outside and the temperatures will return to the 70’s.

What are we doing today?  Well, I’ve been doing a little sewing, Terry’s been playing WOW and Duchess has been doing what she does best too.  We might just do more of the same .... or, we might not.  It's too early to tell right now. 

In a few more days I’ll be heading to Washington and then a few days after that so will Terry.  Once there I’ll finish up the Christmas shopping, wrap the stuff we’ve already shipped and get ready for the best time of year …. that’s the time all the family gets together … all ten of us!  Even Justin will be there.  Having all ten of us together is the best Christmas present of all!

  ---  All of us!

‘Tis life on the road.

A Time and A Place

"Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once."

The one nice thing about being in an RV park --  big or small  --  with paved streets is that you can ride your bikes.  Where we landed last week, the lots are huge and the streets are paved.  There are no hills to ride up or down.  There isn’t much traffic and the riding is easy.  Even Terry has been out riding the bike every day. 

Toni and Doug are here and we had another friend show up a few days ago.  Linda is parked next to us in her new Mercedes Sportsmobile.  This super Class B is new to her.   It’s beautiful and I think she’s enjoying the fact that there is snow at her home in Minnesota but where she is there is only sunshine and lots of it.  We have one more  friend pulling in today.  Things are good!

It seems the longer we are on the road the more educated we become. Some of that education hits the pocketbook pretty hard. Other parts of it just includes more information added to our memory banks. I’ve always thought if we ever settled on a snowbird park that a small park would no doubt be better than the big ones. I figured it’d be easier to get to know fewer people than huge groups of people. Well, there is another side too. In a small park there’s fewer people to get to know so eventually everyone knows everyone. You can’t have a potluck or a barbecue for a few folks – common RV activities – without a possibility of making others feel slighted. I guess there are pros and cons no matter what type of RV park you choose.

We were invited with Toni and Doug to a barbecue the other night.  Toni and Doug have stayed in this small park for the last three years and they know absolutely everyone here.  Toni makes a point to know everyone no matter where she goes.  She’s definitely a very outgoing person but one who never wants to hurt anyone’s feelings.  There was a little concern at the time of the invite about the little get together being for just a few and others not being invited.

The very next night we did our own little potluck with us providing part of the meal, the Lairds bringing part and Linda adding some.  We even had another neighbor join us.  However, since we don’t know very  many folks here, hurting someone’s feelings by not being invited wasn’t an issue.

---- Small group gathering

Some snowbirds are just more comfortable returning to the same park year after  year.  It’s a comfort thing.  Once they find a park in a place they enjoy, that’s where they head.  In a large park there are lots people.  There are so many people that not everyone knows everyone else. Over time  they eventually meet others with similar interests. It’s like birds of a feather sticking together in their own little group. 

In a small park there are fewer people.  Thus, the groups overlap. Having a group barbecue means you have to pick and choose who to invite and who to leave out.  Well, that is if you don’t want to invite the whole park.  If you don’t invite everyone in the park, you take a chance of hurting feelings.  Word seems to pass along pretty fast in small parks because everyone soon gets to  know everyone else.

In larger parks there are activity directors who keep the active people active with new activities and gives residents a chance to meet others who enjoy the same thing..  Sometimes the smaller parks leave the activities up to those in the park.  New blood brings in new ideas.  Old blood doesn’t always want to change.   Needless to say, it can certainly be a tug of war.

Our own little potluck ----

Over the years we have stayed in both transient parks like our Thousand Trails membership provides for and stayed in parks with leaseholders.  We’ve also done quite a bit of boondocking which isn’t in a park at all.  We’ve discovered there definitely is a difference in the activities and in the people who choose these activities.  Is one better than another?  Absolutely not.  Sometimes we go to a park for the location and other times we go to enjoy the people.  There’s a time and place for everything.

Today …. we’re off to the casino with Terry’s mom.  Wish us luck!

PS - I thought I better post something before I heard from Sabrina.

‘Tis life on the road.

Eating Out On the Road

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home."

We eat out more than we should.  We especially like trying new restaurants but other times like going back to old favorites.  The little privately owned hole-in-the-walls with packed parking lots draw our attention.  We have been surprised more times than not with fantastic meals.  We’ve also learned there are other places we don’t like to go back to so much.   We used to think if we liked something at one well-known chain that we’d like it at the next chain.  Well, that’s not so much the truth.  After all, they have different managers and different chefs.  Even though the food is supposed to be standard, it isn’t so much.

Chinese Buffets have never been our favorites.  It’s not that we don’t like Chinese food, we do.  I think it’s because we’ve been to too many buffets where the food appeared to have sat there too long, the restaurant wasn’t clean or …. one of my pet peeves, the shrimp (or prawns)  not deveined.  Most shrimp or prawns are scavengers eating particles of whatever they can find.  If the vein isn’t removed, you could end up with gritty sand or who knows what else as part of your meal.  That’s definitely not appetizing to me.  Anytime I order shrimp and this vein hasn’t been removed, it goes back.  I’m actually amazed how many restaurants do not bother to remove the “poop chute”.  Chinese restaurants are the ones that seem to remove it less than others.

One place we were really looking forward to returning to though was a Chinese buffet in Mesa.  It was the No. 1 Eastern Super Buffet.   However, we won’t be eating there anytime soon …. if at all again.  Sandie sent me an article about this restaurant.  It had been shut down  by the Health Department for many reasons.  Some of those reasons weren’t as important to me as the one indicating a large population of roaches lived there including in the dishwasher.

Shrimp and prawns are similar but not the same.  Here is the difference.

The Health Department inspects restaurants all over.  In order to stay open restaurants are required to be up to certain health codes.  These inspections are public records.  Most of the reports can be found on the internet.   I checked out the report for the month of October in Phoenix.   Restaurant failures in Phoenix for October.

A couple of our favorite shows are Kitchen Nightmares and Restaurant Impossible.  We’re always amazed when the kitchens are discovered to be filthy but yet seem to have passed previous inspections.  Perhaps, some inspectors aren’t quite as thorough as others.  The restaurants on the shows are always independently owned and run by folks struggling for customers.  Does that mean the big chain and franchise restaurants are safer?  Not necessarily.  I noticed on some of the prior inspections that a few well-known restaurants were also temporarily shut down while they cleaned up too.

There is no way a restaurant will let you inspect the cleanliness of their kitchen before you order.  Wouldn’t it be fun if we could?

Terry loves going to Cracker Barrel.  He especially loves their dumplings.  Most of the time they are perfect.  However, on a recent visit at a new location for us, the dumplings were runny.  That was certainly enough to turn him off.

Another restaurant we visited a while back with my cousin was Coco’s.  They had a prime rib special.  That’s what we ordered.  The vegetables were cold and so was the prime rib.  However, the baked potato was piping hot.  How do you deal with this?  If the prime rib went back it would have come back hot but well-done instead of medium rare.  The bigger issue is that you know the food has been sitting back in the kitchen and the correct temperatures have not been maintained.

Here’s another one for you.  While in Scottsdale we visited JJ North’s Buffet.  It used to be part of the Hometown Buffet.  We now joke that if we want yesterday’s food today, that’s where we’ll go.  Much of the food looked as though it was already developing a crust from sitting out. However, when driving by the parking lot is always full at noon.  I guess that just goes to show that sometimes a full parking lot isn’t a good indicator of what we might like.  Just because someone else thinks it's great doesn’t necessarily mean we will.

I’ve mentioned some places we’ve gone where we haven’t been happy.  There really are places we love going to around Phoenix.  We really like Joes’ BBQ in Gilbert.  For steaks Texas Roadhouse is our absolute favorite.  The Elephant Bar not only has fantastic food but their service is out of this world.  Then, another recent favorite is Charleston's.  They have the most amazing glazed carrots served as an appetizer.

Now that I’ve done nothing but talk about food.  I think it’s time to fix something to eat.

‘Tis life on the road.

Being Scolded

"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

I received a scolding today.  The scolding was from DIL, Sabrina.  What was the scolding about?  Well, I hadn’t posted a blog in four days.  Can you see how she checks on me?  Well, she does.  I told her we’d been busy because it’s Christmas time.  However, that didn’t work … so here’s a blog just because she wouldn’t let me off the hook.

Not much has been happening around here for us.  It’s actually been quite nice. We’ve gone to the occasional store, occasionally met my cousin for dinner and spent occasional time with Terry’s mom. I’ve even been doing some occasional sewing. We also wrapped some packages and shipped two Christmas boxes.  I suppose it would be a mighty short blog to end there so I’ll elaborate just a tad.  I'm pretty good normally at elaborating.

Couple goes to Johnny Rockets at the Tempe Outlet Mall everyday.  They dance to the jukebox music!  We loved watching them as did many other patrons!

Terry’s been riding the little Trek bike I bought.  Now he’s thinking he wants one.  Well, he doesn’t just want one.  He wants THAT one.  It’s easy to ride and the height is perfect for him.   Since I took quite a spill on it, I’m thinking it’s more his height than mine.  He has neuropathy in his legs and would also like to add a little motor assist down the road …. maybe.  Sometimes the neuropathy bothers him a lot and other times not so much.  He seems to have more problems recently though than before.  So, we’ll see what we’re going to do about the bike and a possible little motor in the future …. we will see but that leaves me bike-less.  Yes.  That is a word because I just used it!

We’ve stayed at a lot Elks lodges.  Some have no hookups, others have partial and there are  those with full hookups.  They all have a set donation.    When we originally moved into the Scottsdale Elks we had no idea how long we would stay.   We didn’t think long because the RV sites didn’t have full hookups.  Not that that should really matter to us because we have only had full hookups for a couple days since we pulled out of our son’s driveway in October!!  

  

 < --- on the back of a car window  !

The daily “donation” at this Elks is $15 a night.  However, they do have a monthly rate and a 2-week rate.  We started off paying the daily rate and then the night bartender gave us a weekly rate of half of the 2 week rate.  What a deal!  However, when we went to pay this last time it wasn’t the same bartender.  Not only were we not going to get the rate …. a little argument ensued about how much we had been paying.  Receipts had to be checked and it wasn’t fun.  They did agree to give it after checking but Terry decided instead that it was time to hit the road.  We were really ready anyway. 

Update:  Remember the email issue I’ve had with ATT and Yahoo merged accounts preventing me from password changes?  Remember I had to close out my main email account which was suppose to make it possible to unmerge the accounts …. but didn’t ?  Well, since November 10th I’ve spent hours on the phone with both. Today a satisfactory work-around took place.  It’s not ideal but it will work.  I started to detail everything but that would turn a short blog into a very long blog.  I’m currently downloading all the folders and online files from my old email into outlook now.  I’ll never again save important information, serial numbers and contact information online.  What a zoo this has been.

 

Am I off the hook, Sabrina?  We do have some activities ahead of us though.  I just have to be better at staying current and taking pictures.  I haven’t been good at that at all.

Check out Southwest Airlines’ Christmas map?  Don’t you love it?

There is more coming ... more about our move, our great friends who will be watching Duchess for us over Christmas so we can fly the 3,000 round trip miles to spend the holidays with family instead of drive AND our trip to the Arizona Opry.  I'm just too lazy to write about it all now.

‘Tis life on the road.

Old Town Scottsdale

"You only live once but if you do it right, once is enough."

Scottsdale has a name that usually is associated with money.  It’s not a town that houses lots of housing projects.  Matter of fact, the homes in this town are at the opposite end of the big bucks.

         

Scottsdale is to Arizona what Palm Springs is to California.  Car dealers around here include not only the Benz and Beemer's but also the real cars – the Maserati's, Bentleys, Jaguars and the Ferraris.  It’s not a cheap place to live.  Just being in this established high end town, adds many dollars to the value of the home, the stores you shop, the places you eat.  It’s a prestigious address. 

Thus, since it was so prestigious we decided that’s exactly where we needed to stay.  Our temporary address was in Scottsdale.  It wasn't a high end park but it still was Scottsdale. We decided to hobnob with the other half for a while.  So, what was the name of the upscale resort with the prestigious address we decided to set our levelers down in?  It was the Scottsdale Elks.  All the premier shops are just a short drive away from the park.  Now the Elks  may not be high-end but we certainly had a high-end address. 

Wednesday was a really busy day.  Remember all the buying Terry had been doing recently for himself but yet saying it was for my birthday?  Remember those manly things?  Well, yesterday was my birthday so it was really my turn.  He offered to buy me a drill and this time I turned him down.  I absolutely have no desire for a drill or a hammer or a screwdriver or anything else he might want to buy me like that.  Instead ….  I bought myself a bike!

Now I had wrestled between two bikes.  I really, really wanted the red one because it was RED but the other one had everything I wanted on it including the 700cc tires and didn’t need to have a few of it’s parts replaced.  It was in near new condition.  I figured that would be the logical one.  Oh, we really looked at some fancy bikes but justifying one of them for me wasn’t going to happen.  I don’t plan on riding it in the desert or racing in a race or anything like that.   This little Trek is certainly much lighter than my Adventurer folding bike but not as light as a couple of the other ones I looked at.  I wanted a bike with suspension but I don’t know what the heck for.  I thought it looked pretty spiffy with it.  Besides if I ride along side Lee or Tammi with their bikes, my bike would look like it might fit in. That was important!  This baby has 24 gears ….. I’m thinking I’ll probably use 3 or 4 of them.

My folding bike is at the consignment shop in Quartzsite.  Feel free to walk in and buy it. I would like that.  Would I buy another folding bike?  Absolutely not.  There are definite advantages to them though.  Folding bikes will fit in smaller places easier.  However, they are usually heavier than a bike of the same size.  You also have to work harder to accomplish as much as a non-folding bike.  Unless you’re interested in a top-end folder, I’d definitely look at a non-folding one unless you only have a small space, don’t care about the weight or the extra workout. Of course, my knowledge of folding bikes is limited to the one I bought for $180 and know it’s pretty close to the bottom end of the market.  It had 20” tires which meant each rotation of that wheel put me down the road only about 58 1/2”.  A bike with 26” tires would have put me down the road about 81 1/2 inches.  My new bike has 700cc tires and each rotation of those tires gets me a little over 85 inches.  It’s amazing how much farther it seems I can even coast. 

Check out my new bling valve stems !

Tammi popped into Phoenix on business.  How about the timing on that one?  I took 3 pictures of her at dinner with my phone.  Two were fogged out and the third so dark I couldn’t see it so there you go with that one.  She finished up about 5:00 at work so we picked her up at the airport and headed to Cracker Barrel for my birthday dinner. .  We both had nummy catfish while Terry had his normal vegetable plate with dumplings.

Happy Birthday to me!  Buying birthday presents is over.  I’m going to buy like Shoeless Joe does now and start looking at Christmas presents.  For now on it's going to be Merry Christmas to me!

‘Tis life on the road.