Take It Easy On The Corner

Winslow, AZ – High 100  Low 55 – Not sure when we’ll get out of the heat.

We pulled out of Apache Junction at 7:00 a.m. on June 3. Climbed up the mountain out of the valley to Payson and then continued on further north to Homolovi State Park just outside of Winslow. There are some ruins in this park but because of the heat and the fact that it required walking, we didn’t go check them out. Maybe if it was cooler.

This is a really nice campground with electric hookups. Lots of room between sites and a dump station. And since it is 100 here today, that electric hookup is a necessity. We would definitely stay here again. You can reserve a site but we got here early enough and there were several sites available. The campground does fill up by late afternoon.

That’s the Bungalow in the middle of the picture.

Can you believe that in the ten years that we have been coming to Arizona, we have never Stood on the Corner in Winslow. We finally crossed that one off our bucket list this morning.

Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey wrote the song “Take It Easy” which was recorded by the Eagles in 1972. the song includes the lines - "Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me."

The statue of Glenn Frey was added in 2016.

We didn’t spend a lot of time walking about because it was in the 90s and we had the old dogs with us. However, we did find a root beer float at Darrel’s Root Beer. Homemade root beer that was delicious.

We also found a Peter Wolf Toth “Whispering Giant”. He has carved these giants in all 50 states. This one is 40 feet tall and is made out of Ponderosa Pine.

How about a cowboy in a bathtub on the roof of a building.

The school mascot

Anybody familiar with a Crosley? Jim recognized it immediately.

And last but not least, the sunset from our campsite.

Aunt Happy

Norma E. Mercer

August 23, 1913 – May 28, 2018

It seems really strange to know that we won’t be making a weekly trip to Mesa to visit with Aunt Happy again. But I know she was ready to leave this mortal existence and I’m sure she had a joyful reunion with Uncle Don.

Love you Aunt Happy. You will be missed.

Getting Ready to Go

AJ, AZ – Actually the weather has really been cooperating. It’s been in the 90s for most of this month with the nights in the 60s which makes for good sleeping. However – starting later this week, we’re headed to the triple digits again. Definitely time to leave.

Jim had his second eye done and this eye healed even faster than the first one did. He is really glad he had the cataracts removed. His far vision is great and even though he may need a prescription for reading glasses, he is doing just fine with the ones from the dollar store. That means that I have set the date for our departure from the valley as June 3. His final eye appointment is May 31.

We said our goodbyes to Aunt Happy. She will be 105 in August and her doctor is amazed at how healthy she is. Her hearing is terrible but we’re still able to talk to her. She is now the oldest resident in her Senior Living complex.

UPDATE: I got a call from the hospital that Aunt Happy had become very dehydrated and they admitted her. They also found she had a blood clot in her lung. After talking with the nurse this morning (Happy is the oldest patient she has ever taken care of in over 20 years of nursing), she is on a heparin drip and responding well. 

One of the best things about being here in AJ so late in the season is the fact that everyone is gone. You can find a place to park at Walmart and there are no lines at the restaurants. We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast on our 32nd anniversary. We’ve also been out to dinner with friends a couple of times. No crowds. Love it.

Seems so strange to see him without glasses.

Can you see the cougar in the picture below? This is a picture of the Superstition Mountains taken when we were coming home from Church on Brown Road. Seeing the shadow only happens a few times a year. There have been other pictures of this on FB that are much better than mine. Just Google Superstition Mountains Shadow

Jim and Rocky took the boat out for one last fishing trip. The boat is now tucked away for the summer. Jim’s list is all ticked off except for the things that have to be done at the last minute.

Up on the Roof

AJ, AZ – Yesterday was beautiful – only 72 but the temps are headed up and up and up and the weatherperson says 107 on Sunday. I’m really not ready for that but here it comes.

Can you tell that Jim’s week of restrictions is over with? At least til next week.

We ordered some fan vent covers and Jim was anxious to get them installed. So up he went with assistance from Ginny in getting his tools down again. I stood watching – ready to dial 911.

Of course, nothing goes quite as planned so he had to go back up and adjust one of the covers so the fan would close completely.

Being up on the roof doesn’t bother Jim but I get really nervous when he’s up there.

According to Jim the roof was really really dirty so early the next morning (because the heat is coming) he hauled the hose up and washed it down along with the rest of the rig.

Not a cloud in the sky.

Hopefully we can now put the ladder away and stay off the roof.

We took a break from all the work and went to the Rockin’ R Ranch in Mesa. It’s a western town set with a chuckwagon dinner and show.

The entrance to the ranch.

The Ponderosa Saloon

Jim bellying up to the bar for an Italian Soda.

It is the end of the season for them so most of the buildings were closed and the performers were down to just a few. In fact, there were only 14 of us attending the dinner and show.

During the height of the season they can probably feed 500 people in a very short period of time. The food was good. We had a combo ticket which meant we got both chicken and beef along with a huge baked potato, applesauce, cowboy beans, biscuit, and a crumb cake dessert. And since there were so few of us it was all you could eat. Several people went back for seconds.

After eating they put on a show with a lot of country music and some corny comedy. The two female singers are mother and daughter and own the Ranch. The fiddle player performs with the Phoenix Symphony and was really really good.

One of the most touching moments happened when the mother brought her youngest daughter up on stage to perform. She has Down Syndrome but man could she twirl that rope. Jim got a video that he posted on facebook but I don’t have a picture of her. She was also the Homecoming Queen for her high school. Just a really sweet and friendly young lady.

There was a gun fight in the streets after the show but we didn’t stick around for that. There are a few animals – a couple of pigs, a bunch of birds, a pony, and some goats.

It was an enjoyable evening but I was happy we had a groupon which meant we only paid half price. If we didn’t have the groupon, the cost would have been $80. We felt it was worth the $20 per person we spent. The place looks quite rundown and could really use some TLC.

Boatport, Dinner, and Cataract Surgery

AJ, AZ  High 98  Low 71

The list is getting smaller and I’m not adding to it so Jim is happy.

The boatport is up and we love it. Previously we parked our boat in somebody else’s carport during the summer. That meant that we needed to time our return to the valley so that we could move the boat before the carport owner’s returned. Now we can wander as late into the Autumn as we want to.

We had dinner one night with our good friends, Nan and John. They were camped out at Lost Dutchman State Park. So good to be able to visit with them for a short time.

Jim is now minus one cataract. He had it removed on Wednesday. Had kind of a rough day but by Thursday morning he was feeling much better. His vision on Wednesday after the surgery was really tilted and blurry. Today it is just blurry as he waits for the swelling to go down. We had this procedure done at Barnet-Delaney-Perkins Eye Center and they use a new type of medicated drop during the surgery which eliminates the necessity for any eye drops prior to or following surgery. Sure makes it a lot simpler.

Lesson learned – Jim was not allowed to eat for 8 hours prior to his surgery. Being diabetic that means that his blood sugar is going to drop and drop it did. It was only 67 when he got out of surgery. They gave him some juice but that wasn’t enough. We hadn’t come prepared for this but as soon as I got him home, I got some food in him. Next time I’m taking some orange juice and a cookie with us.

Do you have any idea how many times a day you bend down, especially if you have two small dogs who refuse to go out at the same time? Jim usually hooks the dogs up and takes them out but since he can’t bend over until next week, I am doing the bending. Had no idea how often he had to do this. You also have to bend over to pick up their dishes and put them back down when it’s time to eat. Good grief.

He will have the left cataract removed on May 9, which means I’ll be doing the bending again. It really is good exercise but I’ll glad turn it back over to Jim.

Rocky also had his eye checkup. Some wonderful lady had paid for him to have cataract surgery before we adopted him. He requires eye drops every day and once a year we see his eye doctor. His eyes are perfect so he’s good for another year.

List, What List???

AJ, AZ   High 82  Low 60 – it’s been really windy but the temperatures have been nice. Next week we’re back into the high 90’s.

As if Jim didn’t already have a to-do list that is a mile long, I decided to add something new to it. I have fallen in love with our convection oven in the Cottage. So we decided we needed to replace the microwave in the Bungalow with a combination micro/convection. Nothing ever goes as easily as you think it will and Jim had to almost rebuild the cabinet for it to fit in. But I love it. Now Jim won’t have to get down on his knees in order to light the oven for me.

Then we have a day like yesterday. Jim has ten appointments with the eye doctor regarding his cataract surgery. Yesterday was appointment number three – the pre-op appointment. Got in the truck and it was deader than a door nail. I am so grateful that our neighbors, Ginny and Mickey, are still here because they let us take their truck so we could keep the appointment.

We were at the doctor’s office for 2 1/2 hours – at least two hours of it spent waiting in order to see the doctor for less than five minutes. I was beyond frustrated. And once again very grateful that Ginny was willing to take the pups out for us.

We finally got home and Jim took off to get new truck batteries. The last time we needed truck batteries we were parked outside of Yuma in the desert. That time Bill and Jan came to our rescue. What would we do without such wonderful friends.

We also got a call from Absolute Steel and they have our boat carport ready to put up. They will be here early this morning. We didn’t expect them for another couple of weeks so that meant the boat had to be moved.

None of this is on his list. However, he did get the Bungalow hitch lubed which is on the list. Progress.

Jim’s right eye cataract will be done next Wednesday. For a week after surgery he cannot bend over or lift anything that weighs more than 20 pounds. The left eye will be done May 10. We’re still hoping to leave here the first part of June. Maybe.

Keeping Jim Busy

AJ, AZ – High 95  Low 71 (a cold front is coming through this week-end and the high will be 79 – but back up in the 90’s by next week)

I’ve been keeping Jim busy with all kinds of jobs while we wait for his cataract surgery.

We are going to have a carport put up to park the boat under while we’re gone for the summer. We also bought a boot for the boat trailer to hopefully discourage thieves.

In order to install the carport, Jim had to move our storage shed over two feet. That meant moving everything out of it.

Some of the guys came over to help him move the shed. Sure do appreciate all the help we get when things need to be done.

This was the perfect time for Jim to organize the shed and he found a few items that he wanted to sell. We listed those items on Craigslist and have sold everything but the cargo carrier.

We’ve had a couple of check engine lights on the truck. That means that Jim has spent a lot of time under the truck replacing a glow plug and a tire speed sensor. As you all know, these projects always take longer than you think they will.

He built a box to cover our soft water tank.

He’s also fixed some earrings for Aunt Happy and we’ve been to visit her a couple of times.

Our park is starting to get really empty. I don’t envy those people who are already heading north with all the winter weather still hanging around up there. We’ve had dinner parties to say goodbye to friends and our final campfire and hot dog roast.

Skittlez cracks us up. She inhales her dinner and then she stands behind Rocky like a vulture waiting for him to eat so she can lick his plate clean.

She’s also very good at relaxing.

I still have a really long list of things for Jim to get done before we leave. My job is to supervise and entertain the dogs.