Nov 5th to 9th - Mesa & Surprise AZ

Nov 5th - Thurs - Mesa
Happy Anniversary to Us!
Enjoyed our coffee & breakfast outside this morning. Billy had his car & motor home washed before we were finished eating! Terry H figured he needed to clean up his rigs also so Judy, Terry & I headed to a new casino. Turned out that the casino existed as another name and at a different location so Terry & I did not get the free play on a new player card. It was only $5 and did not do Judy much good.
The casino was busy but we were able to find enough empty machines to lose some money in a hurry. Judy was gradually going up. We decided to increase our “allowance” a bit and I finally hit a machine that paid enough for us to end up only $30 down. Unfortunately, Judy’s winnings had dwindled away but she was only $5 down. Not bad for several hours of entertainment.
After gathering for a couple of drinks, we all went for dinner at the great Chinese buffet (Eastern Super Buffet) near here. Lauri’s niece came to visit them so she and her son joined us as well. Everyone agreed that it was one of the best buffets they have tasted. Chris & Sonja did not join us as she was not feeling well today.

Nov 6th - Fri - Mesa
Got going fairly early this morning to get some laundry done before “the group” headed to the swap meet. We all had breakfast there before wandering all the aisles. A stop for Judy at WalMart and our one loaf of bread in the grocery section turned into several items - as usual.
I made bacon & tomato sandwiches for a late lunch and then we went bike riding. It is 2 miles around the perimeter of this park. Visited the library to exchange a book and then it was time to pack up some booze and head to happy hour by the pool. Another good singer from 4 to 6 and we even danced. A little tricky in sandals, especially since mine were slip-ons. And another “small world” event when Terry & Judy bumped into a couple that they know from Canada and have not seen for a couple of years.
When we got back, we sat out in the lovely evening. Our neighbor, Carol, from across the street asked if she and her neighbor Don could join us. Carol’s husband Dick had hip replacement surgery on Tuesday and will be in rehab for 4 weeks. We enjoyed chatting with them for quite a while. Carol is hearing impaired and has a hard time conversing when it is dark but she was having some wine and relaxing after getting Dick settled in a really nice rehab facility so she needed some company. We did just fine with the guys at one end and Judy, Carol & I at the other so Carol only had one person to listen to at a time.

Nov 7th - Sat - Mesa
Our neighbors Chris & Sonja did not have personal cards so Terry said WE would “whip some out” for them. We took some pictures of them in front of their motor home and finally came up with a format that we - and they - liked. We had quite a bit of card stock so we printed some out. Then they called from Staples to see what they should buy to replace the cards - there were just too many choices! I printed some more cards with the new stock which was very nice.
We made a trip to Hobby Lobby to buy some wax for our buddy burners. The cashier rang it up as a candle which made it 50% off so we bought a second slab. They also had some round tins at 50% off so we picked up one for us and one for Chris. He & Terry made a buddy burner for him.
“The group” sat around having drinks & snacks until it was time to finish cooking for a shared dinner with us, Terry & Judy and Billy & Lauri. I had a large roast with gravy that was in the crock pot all day, T & J made potatoes & dessert and Lauri made salad. We set up tables and ate outside - Yum!!
We had sort of planned to go to a dance tonight but we all got too lazy & relaxed after dinner.

Nov 8th - Sun - to Surprise AZ
Terry & Judy left this morning for Tucson to meet with friends and then head to Mexico for the winter. Billy & Lauri will be staying one more day and then following us. We left for Surprise which is NW of Phoenix. Just an hour drive to Sunflower RV park.
The short term visitors here are put in side-by-side sites on the very corner of the RV park. Cement patios and the rest a dirt/gravel mix - not very appealing. Our truck is parked behind the 5th wheel and right beside the neighbors patio, just at their car is parked right next to our patio. Might be OK for friends camped together.
We spent some time looking for somewhere else to go and then went out for fuel. I was lazy and decided that we should get some General Tsao chicken from the WalMart just up the road. This area of Arizona has a lot of 55+ housing areas and I think a lot of the residents work at WalMart. It took us ½ hour to get JUST the chicken from the deli counter and get checked out. Terry is really wanting to leave here tomorrow!

Nov 9th - Mon - back to Mesa
Terry could not get packed and get out of Surprise fast enough this morning. He just really disliked the RV park and the surrounding area - what we saw & experienced of it.
We are in Mesa Regal RV with Billy & Lauri again. It is one of the biggest parks in Mesa - 2005 sites - and we stayed here 3 years ago when we first started traveling.
I made lunch after we set up and then we all went on an exploration bike ride. We checked out some park model models, then changed and headed to the pool. The park is so large that it has 2 community areas. The one closest to us is the smaller but has a pool, hot tub, meeting rooms and a library.
Got back in time for a drink before dinner on the BBQ. Then we all decided to return to Valle del Oro (park we just left in Mesa) to play bingo. We did not realize that it was hard cards with sliders to cover the numbers and was very inexpensive which meant the winner of each game only got $12. They play some really weird patterns. None of us won. Oh well!!