Nov 16th to 20th - Mesa

Nov 16th – Tues – Mesa
I was too lazy to go to the gym this morning. At 9, I got a haircut at the salon here in the park and was riding my bike back when Terry came looking for me to say that Claude & Val were ready to leave. They are going to Yuma for a bit so they can go to the dentist in Algodones and then they will go to Mexico.
After breakfast, we did a bit of shopping – Costco, Walmart & a Chev dealer for diesel exhaust fluid as our warning system says we have 800 miles to go and Terry definitely does not want to wait until the last minute and be looking for the stuff when we are towing the 5th wheel somewhere.
Friends (Gary & Diane) of Dennis & Gloria arrived today so they asked us over to meet them and have a beer. After dinner we went to advanced (!) line dancing lessons. We learned – or tried to learn – three dances which was one too many. I was doing OK with the first 2.

Nov 17th – Wed – Mesa
I finally got back to the gym this morning and then to water exercises which have been changed to 10 o’clock due to another scheduled group using the pool at 9 a couple days a week. It is actually nice to go later when the weather cools down at night so it isn’t so cold when you get out of the pool – but it sure takes up the whole morning.
Terry wanted to go for a drive somewhere so once I was ready, we went to IHop for a late breakfast and then to a store called Total Wine that Dennis & Gloria told us about. It is a huge wine & liquor store in SanTan Village which is an enormous shopping center. It is like a small village with smaller stores lining streets and pedestrian malls and bigger stores on the outer edges. We went to a couple of other stores and then to the Lone Butte casino which ate our reduced allowance pretty quickly.
Shortly after we returned, we packed up our happy hour bag and went to an afternoon dance from 4 to 6 that is called a Watering Hole. A couple named “Road Runner” played rock ‘n roll music from different eras – very easy to listen to but we didn’t dance as much as usual. We both did one line dance and then I joined in the tail end of a second when the instructor saw me and said to get up there. Dinner & TV finished the day.

Nov 18th – Thurs – Mesa
I woke too late to go to the gym before coffee & doughnuts but I did go to water exercises after the meeting. I worked on the computer and did some housecleaning while Terry went to WalMart to return an item and get some rear, blinking lights for our bikes.
We joined Dennis & Gloria at “Music in the Courtyard” from 3 to 5.
After dinner, we went to beginners’ line dance lessons. They always start with the Electric Slide for 15 minutes and then did Waltz Across Texas again. They are trying to get a group together to do that dance in the Christmas parade in the park on Dec 3rd.

Nov 19th – Fri – Mesa
I made it to the gym today but skipped water exercises as we went to play (learn) bocce ball. There are artificial grass playing courts that have a lip on the edges so you can bank the balls. It is a very different game from what we have played on bumpy “cow pastures” at RV parks.
We went for a drive and browsed through my favorite Big Lots and then Kmart. We stopped at Home Depot to get some glue for our “bargain” patio chairs as I am afraid someone will crash if a cracked leg gives way. I worked on the chairs later and it looks like it will hold.
Terry played Texas Hold ‘Em this evening and I finished a puzzle in the puzzle room.

Nov 20th – Sat – Mesa
We spent the whole morning riding our bikes around the park to check out the patio sales as this was the day they were originally meant to be before the newspaper messed up the ad. It took us a while as we kept seeing people that we knew either having sales or crisscrossing our path going to sales. Terry bought 4 better looking plastic patio chairs for $1 each and gave my newly glued chairs to Larry & Julie.
Then we went to some grocery stores – the first for groceries, the second for some chicken for lunch and the third for jicima (sp?) that was awful at the first 2 stores. After lunch we went to see Neil & Robin to set up a tee time. We ended up staying for a strawberry daiquiri. Next it was over to Larry & Julie’s for HH & dinner. Their friends Terry & Tina arrived today for a week’s visit. We had to eat & run as we had tickets for a dance here in the park. We were pretty much done-in by the time the dance ended at 10.