Our park has construction going on right behind our rig.
As a result, we have quite a bit of dust getting into our home.
Today, Teresa told me to get the heck outta her way, 'cause she was a cleanin'.
So I decided to try out the pool in our resort. I grabbed a book and a jug of water, and headed out.
The water was warm, but not too warm.
As you can see, I basically had the pool to myself. I would spend half an hour at a time in the water, then come out and read in the sun.
I am sure I nodded off a couple of times in there as well.
The hot tub was just the icing on the cake.
By the time I got home it was almost supper time.
When I walked into the rig, I practically had to put on sunglasses, it was just that bright and shiny.
Something tells me Teresa might have a little pool time coming her way, while I am busy washing and waxing the rig next time !!
Teresa and I had a busy day today.
Let's see if I can remember what we did, and in what order.
First, coffee in bed. ( What can I say ? )
Then we checked out a couple of RV parks.
First was Mesa Regal. Wow, this is a very nice park, but it is so large !! This was like a small town, with tons of activities, some shops, and a bar and grill. We can see why people return here year after year.
Next was Valle del Oro. Also a Cal-Am park. Not quite as large, but still gigantic. And there was a real buzz around the resort today, because Rich Little was performing in a few hours. Again, a ton of activities and very friendly residents.
Our third park was more a fluke. We were driving down Main St. when I saw a park a co-worker of mine has a mobile home in.
Unfortunately, she was not there, but we met her better half, who was a most gracious host, and gave us some great tips on the area.
Next, we found Costco, where we picked up some great deals on coffee and wine, and a few other staples.
Last was a trip to Trader Joe's. This was only our second TJ's, and we love it more and more. As a bonus, they even had a wine tasting today.
We picked up some prepared meals, and of course, a few more bottles of wine.
By that time it was supper. Easy one today, as Teresa threw a lasagna from TJ's in the microwave.
Voila, supper is ready, hun !!
I don't suppose any of our astute readers can guess what we washed it down with can you ??
We have a new favourite restaurant !!
It is called the Melting Pot, and our daughter insisted that we give it a try.
Jackpot !!
This is a very classy fondue style restaurant. Because we had no idea of what to order, we relied heavily on our superb waiter Sean for advice.
He was great, and guided us to culinary perfection ... lol.
We were celebrating Teresa's birthday from yesterday, and she could not have been happier.
By the way, Teresa is a softy, and she was very touched by all the emails and comments that she received on her special day.
Everything about our meal was perfect, and the melted chocolate dessert lingered on our lips for the entire drive home.
We recommend everyone try this great place, and we suggest you do not eat anything else the entire day before your meal.
You will leave very, very satisfied !!
I have been mistakenly calling the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet a flea market all this time ... sorry 'bout that !!
We had no idea how large this place is. Over 55 acres with over 1600 vendors.
The parking lot was a zoo ! Once inside we began browsing the many shops.
One thing we noticed right away was there are a number of vendors selling the same kind of merchandise.
We made our way through the crowds, and bought a few items, including a very nice wind chime for our motorhome.
We spent almost 3 hours there, and by the end I was completely shopped out, and began losing interest rapidly.
I think Teresa could sense that, and she suggested we come back some other time. Alrighty then.
We arrived back at the resort, just in time for the Super Bowl party.
The resort provided free beer and wine, and some appies, and the bowling team was selling hotdogs for a dollar.
My bride and I are not big NFL'ers, but we got to meet some friendly folks and we really enjoyed ourselves.
Today is Teresa's birthday, but we decided to celebrate it tomorrow, because everything was busy for the big game.
We are going to check out some other parks in the area, then we will enjoy a restaurant meal together.
Should be lots of fun !!
We had another great sleep last night. It really cools down after sunset, which contributes to a wonderful snooze.
We enjoyed our coffee in bed, then headed out for a couple laps around the park, which takes about 45 minutes.
We have been looking forward to this day since we arrived in this area. We used to follow a Canadian couple who were new to the fulltiming lifestyle.
Knowing that they loved the Apache Junction area, I took a long-shot and emailed them to see if they were still around here.
Yes, indeed they were, and they extended an invitation to us to meet up at their park for a visit today.
Teresa put a cheese and cracker and pickle platter together, and I grabbed a couple of drinks as we headed out to find them.
We instantly felt comfortable meeting Dave and Lise, and I am afraid we bombarded them with questions about this lifestyle.
They patiently answered all our questions, and gave us helpful advice on a variety of subjects.
We had a great time visiting with this wonderful couple, and I can say for sure we will be meeting up with them again.
On the way home from our too short visit, Teresa kept saying what a good time she had, and how much she enjoyed herself. Great, because I did too.
We have plans to visit the Mesa Flea Market tomorrow, plus our resort is putting on a Super Bowl party, including free drinks.
Let the game begin !!
Wow, what a great day we had today.
We had heard of a scenic drive only a few miles away, that also included a stop for a hike.
We easily found the Apache Trail, and our first stop was at the Lost Dutchman State Park.
We decided to try the Siphon Draw Trail, as it leads up into the Superstition Mountains towards the Flatiron.
We had on our sunscreen, and were equipped with lots of water, so off we headed.
Whew, it was all uphill, and soon the sweat was forming. I think I was a little more winded than Teresa, but hey, I weigh almost fifty pounds more.
The view from the basin was worth the hard work.
Downhill was a little quicker, but you really had to watch your footing, because of loose rocks everywhere.
Once back to our car, we headed out again further along the Apache Trail.
Our next stop was Canyon Lake. This is a man made lake formed when a dam was built in the 1920's.
It was a real treat to see water in the middle of the desert. We saw boaters and fishermen, all enjoying the wonderful weather.
Back in the car, we found ourselves on one of the twistiest highways ever. Some of the turns were true hairpins, where we would have to slow down to 15 mph.
The views were amazing, although my eyes were glued to the road.
Our last stop on this road was the famous Tortilla Flats tourist stop.
We spent some time looking around and shopping at the gift shop, before heading to the saloon.
Yep, those are saddles that you sit on at the bar, and yep, those are dollar bills stuck on the wall.
In fact our server said they have 100,000 bills on those walls.
Well, now they can say 100,001 bills !
After a great meal ( we recommend the chili burger ), and a couple of cold ones on tap, we headed for home.
Just our luck, we got back to the resort in time for happy hour, including a free drink each.
We will remember this day for a long time.
This morning after our coffee time, Teresa suggested we start going for some brisk walks, to help with our tight fitting clothes.
This resort is quite large, and it takes a little over 20 minutes to walk the perimeter, which we did twice.
After that 40 minute workout, we grabbed another coffee each, and relaxed in our favorite loungers on our patio.
We decided we needed to buy a few things, so we headed out after lunch.
I think we probably stopped at a half dozen or so stores, and we never got home until supper.
One of our best purchases, was a digital antenna for "over the air" TV. The park we are in does not have cable for anything less than a monthly stay.
I was very skeptical that an antenna would work for us, since we are in a rural area.
Imagine my surprise when we discovered we could get nearly 30 channels, in brilliant digital quality. Amazing ...
Now, if only there was something good to watch ... lol.
