Friends and Food

Apache Junction, AZ  High 88  Low 61

We’re continuing to go to doctor appointments with good results. The big test is the PET scan in a couple of weeks. Once we get those results we can start seriously thinking about getting out of here.

Have had a couple of really great breaks from the routine. And like all good things about RVing, these breaks include friends and food.

Got an e-mail from Larry and Gerry of Clark Rambling  wanting to know how far away we were. They were in El Mirage needing some work done on their rig before they start on their summer travels. Just so happened we had to be in Scottsdale for a test for the Cardiologist as well as an appointment with his internist.

I found a place called the Naked BBQ that is on Bell just off of I-17 and asked them if they could meet us for lunch. They said yes and off we went. Like Larry said – it just felt like we had known them forever. Larry even wore his Redskins shirt which just sealed the deal.

Gerry, Larry, Me and Jim

Sure hope we run into these guys again this summer. And the food was pretty good also.

Then I got a message from Paula - Shadowmoss  and she wanted to know if we could meet for dinner one night. She works nights so her schedule can be grueling. At least it would be for me. We made arrangements to meet at Joe’s Farm Grill and rounded up Paul to go with us. Had a great time and I’m hoping we can do dinner one more time before we hit the road. No picture – didn’t think about it because we were doing too much visiting.

Then today we met up with Jan and Bill for lunch at Red Robin. Jan had a doctor’s appointment in Chandler and that made it an easy meet up. I’m absolutely amazed at how well she is walking on her broken foot. She doesn’t limp near as bad as I thought she would . Still has several months of healing ahead of her but she is doing fantastic. So good to see these dear friends of ours. Once again, no picture.

Jim is doing some repairs around the rig. The vent cover in the bathroom disintegrated and needed to be replaced. Turned into an all day chore. While he was on the roof he found that the sewer caps needed to be replaced. Then our fantastic fan wall control decided to die. Jim found one on a close out at RV Traders so now that is working again.

Just odds and ends of things.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Apache Junction, AZ  High 84  Low 58

I’m still having internet issues so we are using the libraries wifi. Thanks Toni for that suggestion. Their wifi is lightning fast compared to the internet we have at home when we have it.

I’m never going to be able to catch up so I hope life is going along smoothly for all of you. We have started into all of Jim’s doctor appointments before we can leave the Valley. One down, seven to go. So far, so good.

Other than that we are just enjoying the beautiful weather we’re having. Paul joined us for Easter dinner. We met up with Carol and Doug at Tom’s BBQ for dinner one night. We’ve been to visit Aunt Happy a few times.

Been too breezy for Jim to do any fishing this last week. Hopefully next week looks better. In his down time he put new seats and backs on our camp chairs. Now we don’t have to worry about anyone falling through the bottom. I should have taken pictures but I didn’t.

With so many folks already heading north we no longer play cribbage or poker during the week.

And that’s really about it from here. Just wanted to pop in and say hi to everybody. Miss you.

Salt River Canyon

Apache Junction, AZ  High 90  Low 63

Since we didn’t have any internet to keep us entertained, I asked Jim if he wanted to take all his girls for a ride. Little did he know that ride would end up being over 300 miles.

We hitched up the girls in the backseat and filled up a cooler with water and ice and headed out about 7:15.

I wanted to see what the drive through Salt River Canyon between Globe and Show Low was like. It is beautiful. You drive all the way down one side of the canyon to the river below and then climb back up on the other side.

After driving this beautiful, winding road, we made the decision that we will not going this way when we head north. We did see several rigs towing their way through the canyon but we’ll take the easier way north through Polson.

After reaching Show Low we headed over to Payson for lunch and then back down to Miami cruising by an extremely low Roosevelt Lake. We arrived back in AJ about 4:00 and the girls were certainly ready for dinner.

Still having internet issues. Maybe someday I’ll be back to reading blogs again. Fingers crossed.

Back On Line

Apache Junction, AZ   High 95  Low 64

Haven’t had any internet for what seems like forever. My withdrawal symptoms were getting pretty bad but I survived. (Barely)

So now it’s time to catch up.

Meet the Meandering Maddox’s – Jim and Judy.

Jim left a comment on my blog that said they were in Apache Junction and wanted to meet. We met for lunch at the Handlebar and I am so glad we did. What a wonderful couple. We really enjoyed visiting with them and we’re hoping they change their plans for going to Florida and come back to Arizona next winter so we can spend more time together.

We also had a storm roll through. I love clouds and these were spectacular.

Jim finished making our Convoy game board and it really turned out great. We took the board down to Marv and Donna’s and the women proceeded to tromp the guys. They are now looking for revenge.

Jim and Marv got some catching time.

We (Jim) got the carpet shampooed. It really needed it after all of Skittlez’s problems with diarrhea.

 

Lots of folks are starting to head north already. Not us. We’re planning on leaving about the middle of May depending on all of Jim’s doctor appointments.

Skittlez Update

Apache Junction, AZ  High 88  Low 60

Sure is quiet around here without Todd and Michaela. It only took us about three days to finally catch up on sleep and energy. I don’t think that’s too bad. LOL

Skittlez is doing really good. Last Saturday we picked up an antihistamine from the vet and they told us that there were very few dogs who had any side effects from the medication. Well, Skitz was one of those very few. Her system just couldn’t handle it and gave her bloody diarrhea. And that was after only half of a pill. We immediately stopped the pills. Back to the vet on Tuesday after we took the kids to the airport.

The vet wanted to see a stool sample and check Skitz out. After all the checking out, we decided the next thing we would use is Temaril-P which is a combination of antihistamine and corticosteroid. This was definitely the answer for us.

We gave her 1/2 pill the first day and it started to work almost immediately. The difference in her scratching was incredible. I was concerned because it does have an antihistamine in it but she has not had any reaction to it at all. Almost all of her sores are healed and it doesn’t make her all dopey. We will continue to give her Temaril-P until about the middle of April and hopefully by then we will be out of pollen season.

We have now returned to our ordinary everyday lives.

The Last Day

Apache Junction, AZ  High 91  Low 63

Scooter was so happy to see Todd.

Skittlez was excited because there might be food.

The Desert Belle on Saguaro Lake. Dianna was on this cruise but they didn’t get close enough to holler hi.

Monday was time to fish. Michaela loves to fish and everybody was excited about getting out on the lake. Made sure everybody had lots of sun block and off they went to Saguaro Lake. I stayed home with the girls again.

They had a great boat ride but no luck with catching fish. Todd hooked a couple of fish but they escaped before making it into the boat.

One other thing we accomplished was to get Todd a Slurpee from 7-Eleven. When he was little his favorite treat was a Slurpee and there aren’t any 7-Elevens in Montana anymore.

Before we went to dinner we needed to do one more photo shoot. You really do need a picture of a Saguaro cactus before you leave Arizona. While we were taking these pictures, the park police drove by and said - “You guys aren’t from here, are you?” and then laughed.

We went to Los Gringo Locos for Mexican for their last dinner in town. I can’t believe it’s time for them to leave already. They just got here.

Tuesday morning we were up at 5:00 a.m.!!! in order to get them to the airport for a 7:00 flight.

This is what exhaustion looks like.

We kept the kids so busy they didn’t even get a chance to use the pool or hot tub. Maybe next time.

Jim and I wanted to take the rest of the day off but we had to take Skittlez back to the vet’s. I’ll make another post to tell you about how she’s doing.

More High Octane

Apache Junction, AZ   High 90  Low 63

 

Not quite such an early morning today. Kids arrived for breakfast about 8:15 and then Jim, Todd and Michaela headed out for Phoenix International Raceway over in Avondale.

Pre-race activities

I stayed home with the girls and enjoyed some peace and quiet. Put a roast into the crockpot for dinner and watched the race on TV.

This was the first time Michaela had been to a race and she was really excited. Todd had gone to a race in Las Vegas with us previously but it’s been many years.

Even though it was really hot there was enough of a breeze they weren’t too miserable. Everyone had a really great time even if Dale Jr. was out of the race early because of a blown tire and he hit the wall.

Everybody was starved and glad for air conditioning by the time they got home.