I HATE FLYING

And I’m not even the one who is flying this year. It’s Jim. He needed to go back to Billings, MT for a couple of doctor appointments. Nothing serious – just that the doctor wants to see him more than once a year. And we haven’t taken the time to find a doctor here in AZ. I can guarantee you that after today we will be finding that doctor real quick.

I took Jim to the Mesa airport at 3:00 cause his flight was supposed to leave at 4:20. When we got there the line was miles long and after we had been in it about ten minutes they announced they wanted all Billings passengers to the front of the line. We get Jim checked in and I walk with him down to security. At that point, I left to go back home and wait for him to call me from Billings about 6:30.

About 5:15 my phone rings and he tells me that they are just getting ready to take off. Not sure why the plane was late but he’s headed out to the plane. Okay – he’ll call me about 7:30 when he gets to Billings. About 7:00 the phone rings. He’s landed – in MESA!!!!Something about too much fog in Billings to land. Not sure what they are going to do. Are they going to cancel the flight or try again? About 7:40 I get another call. Looks like they are going to try again to get to Billings.

If they can’t get to Billings they will divert to someplace else in MT. The problem with that is MT is huge and getting from anyplace else back to Billings in the winter could be a real headache. But he can always come back to Mesa. So they took off about 8:00 and hopefully I’ll hear from him from Billings about 10:00. I’ll let you know.

10:22 p.m. Jim just called and this time he actually made it to Billings. No fog that he can see. I’m just glad he’s there and now I can go to bed and get some sleep.

Goodnight everyone.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

I drug Jim out about 7:30 this morning to do some shopping with me. I’m trying to find something for my aunt. She loves jewelry and she loves pink.

Do you know how hard it is to find clip on earrings anymore? We finally found her a bracelet that I think she’ll like. It’s gold – because she doesn’t like silver. And I ordered her a pair of gold and pearl earrings that I found on line. She really has very strong opinions about what she likes and doesn’t like. But I think I did pretty good. Now if I could just find her a pastel colored sweater preferably with some pink in it. I’ll keep looking.

On our way home we saw a sign for a remote control airplane event. We certainly can’t pass that up. Jim had fun watching the planes and talking to some of the guys.

I watched the planes and was ready to go home. This probably would be a good hobby for Jim to get involved with. Not sure where we could put the plane if he decided to get one.

I’m hoping maybe tonight we can drive around and look at some Christmas lights.

These are the some of the lights in our RV Park.

Thanks for dropping by.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

We had planned on resting a couple of weeks after covering over 19,000 miles in the last year and those are just the miles on the motor home. Jim was tired of driving and believe it or not, I was tired of sight seeing.

However, since we’ve been back here in Apache Junction we have been on the go constantly. My Aunt, who is 97, fell two days before Thanksgiving and we have been keeping an eye on her, taking her to doctor appointments, picking up medication, and just doing whatever she needs to have done. She is doing great. Stiff and sore but nothing broken which is a blessing.

She had plans for Thanksgiving and no fall was going to stop her. She also had dinner plans with the girls. And Bingo to play and the “horse races” to attend. Age is not going to keep her from doing things.

For Thanksgiving I fixed a turkey breast for Jim and I. We could have gone to the pot luck here at the park but I wanted left overs. We’ve also got me a new smart phone (which is a whole different topic) and a new camera for Jim.

The girls had to be taken to the groomers for baths and nail trims. We needed to find a new Christmas tree because the one we tried to use last year was much too large. And I had forgotten how long it takes to go shopping this time of year in a large city.

That brings us up to tonight. Jim is asleep in his recliner, I’m working on the blog and watching Monk. The dishes are waiting for me. The Christmas tree is lit. And the girls are doing what they do best – sleeping.

SANTA FE RV PARK

These are the Superstition Mountains which I love.

Judy wanted me to post a few pictures of our site here in Apache Junction. So please enjoy.

We stayed at several RV parks in this area trying to find one that we felt comfortable in. We came into this park because it is Passport America. Most of the parks in Mesa (which is closer to my sister and my aunt) are huge resort type parks. Not what we are looking for.

Santa Fe has 110 spaces, a clubhouse, a pool, a hot tub, and a laundry. Everything we could want. The sites are large. We have our motor home, our boat and our truck parked here with room to spare. They are pet friendly which is really important. Those of us with pets are in the back of the park with easy access to the street behind the park for walking the girls. Lots of rabbits for them to chase.

The people are friendly. Most of them are snowbirds and I don’t consider myself a snowbird. My definition of a snowbird is someone who spends six months here in AZ and six months back in their home state in their house there. Anyhow, snowbirds tend to create a community that is a lot like what I left behind when we left the sticks and bricks.

I love the full time life style and also the people we have met who also enjoy this life style. Once again, I need to give you my definition of a full-timer. You live in an RV and spend most of the year exploring the USA. Even though we have this site by the year, we come and go throughout the winter. I guess what I’m trying to say, I don’t want to become “planted” somewhere for several months. At least not yet. I’m sure that will happen as time goes on but hopefully later than sooner.

We are also close to three lakes which is of major importance to Jim. That is why we have a boat here in AZ and one in Montana. He needs to be able to fish and fish often.

BACK IN APACHE JUNCTION

We are now back in our site in Apache Junction. We only spend about three months here off and on throughout the winter months, but it’s nice to know that our spot is waiting for us.

This sunset greeted us the first night we were back.

Scooter sure is happy.

I don’t know how often I’ll be posting now that we’re sitting still through the Holidays but I will be keeping you updated on our activities.

BIOSPHERE2

On Monday morning, Jeri and Terry and Jim and I headed out to take a tour of Biosphere2. Jeri was driving and it still took us almost an hour to get there because of traffic and traffic lights. We knew we had to be back by 1:00 to meet up with Toni and Doug for lunch so we were on a tight schedule.

We finally got to Biosphere and then we found out that the next tour wasn’t until 11:00 and to do the entire tour takes about 3 1/2 hours. There is also a great deal of walking and climbing stairs and of the four of us, Jeri is the only one who was in good enough shape to do that. We would also have the honor of paying them $20 to do this.

We watched their movie explaining what they were doing at Biosphere2 and how they were trying to accomplish their goal. Took a couple of pictures and then decided we were going to pass on the tour.

I didn’t understand a lot of what was being explained but it was interesting.

Biosphere2 derives from the idea that it is modeled on Earth, the first biosphere. I remember in the early 1990’s when several scientists were sealed inside the glass enclosure for two years to determine how well they could survive in this environment. They no longer seal people inside the building but continue to perform numerous experiments to determine how to protect our precious water source.

We made it back in time to walk the girls before we met up with Toni and Doug for lunch. They were on their way to Casa Grande and we found a truck stop that was an easy on and off the interstate.

VOTE FOR ZOEY