Oct 6th to 9th - Mesa

Oct 6th – Wed – Mesa
I skipped the gym this morning and took a bike ride with Terry all around the park to check on storm damage. One park model lost the carport and the entire roof from the Arizona room, part of which went over their house and onto the house next door. Parts of other awnings, skirting and window shades were blown away or damaged by hail. A lot of tree branches came down, some on RVs and vehicles. It was sunny and still somewhat cool when we were riding so there were lots of people out cleaning up the mess. During the day today, tornadoes hit the Flagstaff area north of here and caused a lot of damage including 30 RVs at Camping World RV Sales that were pretty much demolished with parts of them tossed onto I40. As I said before, the intensity of these storms is very unusual for this area and we hope they are done for the year.
Terry cleaned a large part of the 5th wheel with some cleaner (Purple Slice) that he got from the guy who did Bill’s wheel skirts. It is a waterless cleaner and did a good job of removing bugs and leaves a very nice shine. I worked on the blog, sorted clothes for the laundry and made breakfast.
We both went to do the laundry and when we were done, Bill & Lauri and Larry & Julie were back from the pool. So instead of going to the pool, we had lunch and then went to return an item to a store and get a few groceries. We also dropped off some clothes at Goodwill as we had to make room for the new clothes.
We went to Bill & Lauri’s for Happy Hour(s) until the sun crept around their rig and then we moved to our patio as it was now in the shade and we could watch the evening news outside on TV. Then a quiet evening of TV & reading.

Oct 7th – Thurs – Mesa
Terry & I went for coffee & doughnuts at the courtyard this morning – yes, I did go to the gym first! The calendar said 8:30 and when we arrived at 8:25 we got the last of the coffee & a seat in the sun as everyone was already there. Seems like you get there earlier and at 8:30 the manager & activities director do little updates & reports.
It had to happen – Terry got restless so we headed to Casino Arizona. We weren’t there very long when we both remembered why we didn’t like it. There are very few 1 cent machines for smaller gamblers like us and none seem to pay out enough to keep you going for a while. We had some points on our cards from previous visits so we were able to have an inexpensive buffet lunch.
When we had lunch, we kind of forgot that we were going to a steak fry for dinner here at the park so when we went to the pool I did a lot of paddling - rather than floating – to work up an appetite. About 160 people had signed up so the ballroom was full of tables. There were huge barbeques outside. As each table number was called, you paid & got your plate, went outside by one door, picked up your steak, went back in by another door and past a huge table with all the other “fixins” – salad, cooked vegetable medley, baked potatoes, rolls, corn on the cob and brownies & cookies for dessert. There was a very good singer (Rick Jones) for entertainment and we even danced a bit in small areas not covered with tables.

Oct 8th – Fri – Mesa
Terry cleaned more of the 5th wheel this morning. We went for a drive and then to Camping World for a couple of items. After lunch, we joined everyone at the pool – except for Julie as she was cooking. Turns out she was making stuffed peppers and had us and Bill & Lauri over for dinner. Their motor home faces the opposite way from us so they get shade all day except late in the afternoon. So I got our large tablecloth and some clothespins to block the sun for about 45 minutes until it went behind buildings.

Oct 9th – Sat – Mesa
We picked up Larry & Julie and Lauri to go to the flea market this morning. Bill was at a completion shoot. First we all went and had breakfast, then Julie had a pair of shoes to exchange and then we all wandered the aisles and each bought something of course. Larry & Julie got an ice maker as none of the Target stores here have any in stock.
After we dropped everyone off and hung up our new wall art, we went to Trader Joe’s for some bruschetta mix and then found a Big Lots that finally had the Anna’s cookies that we have been looking for. We had a snack when we got back and then just kicked back and watched TV.
The weather has cooled off a lot so once our patio was shaded by the neighbor’s house, we sat outside to boil ribs, watch TV and eat dinner.