Nov 21st to 25th - Mesa

Nov 21st – Sun – Mesa
We tried a “play & eat” special at Sunland Village GC with Neil & Robin. For $25 a person, you get breakfast or lunch, 18 hole green fee and a cart. After we arrived shortly after 11 and checked in at the pro shop, the restaurant was very full – not with golfers but with people living or staying in the Sunland Village RV park. Our server didn’t know anything about the special but eventually Terry & I ordered breakfast and Neil & Robin ordered a burger & a sandwich to go since they had eaten breakfast this morning and you couldn’t order lunch before 12! The rain clouds were threatening as we waited for their lunches and it was sprinkling as we set out. By the time we got on the first green, it was pouring so we left our balls on the green and sheltered under a tree in our carts while it passed over. We continued to get showers on & off for a lot of the game but it wasn’t too cold. It is a short course with a par of 62 and plays between houses which Terry just loves!
I barely had time to get my hair back into shape before Bill & Lauri picked us up to go to the Organ Stop Pizza with Larry & Julie and Terry & Tina. Tina was blown away by the pipe organ as she plays several instruments and appreciates talent & music.

Nov 22nd – Mon – Mesa
There were 21 people on the bike ride this morning. Terry had to pump up his front tire before we left and hoped it would be OK. We rode 9 miles to the Sunland Village Golf Course where we ate & played yesterday. One very efficient waitress looked after the entire group at one large table and did a good job. Terry’s tire was quite flat when we got to the restaurant so he borrowed Dennis’ air pump. As usual, we took a more direct route back and ended up riding a total of just over 12 miles. Terry’s tire was just fine when we got back.
We visited with neighbors for a while which required moving in & out of the sun to keep warm & cool enough. I worked on the computer while Terry made several trips to a nearby RV dealer trying to find out why the remote control for the 5th wheel is not working. After 4 trips, the remote got a new battery, was reprogrammed and now works.
We had an early dinner of steak on the BBQ and a lazy evening.

Nov 23rd – Tues – Mesa
We picked up Neil & Robin at 11 to go golfing at Kokopelli GC. We planned on eating lunch first and stopped at 5 Guys for a hamburger. We have not eaten in this chain previously but Neil said they make a good hamburger and great fries – today from Idaho potatoes. The hamburger was good but Neil & Terry’s doubles were pretty greasy.
The weather was cool but the guys wore short sleeves and I went back & forth with a light jacket. The golf course is very pretty with a lot of mounds in the fairways. The carts have GPS systems which is nice on a new course. We all did fairly well on the front nine – actually, I did really well for me and got the lowest score. Too bad I fell apart on the back nine! Oh well, we had a good time and finished in 4 hours.
We were going to stop for a drink with Neil & Robin until we remembered that we had line dancing so had to go home to make dinner first. Robin also came to the line dancing class where we reviewed 2 dances and learned a new one.

Nov 24th – Wed – Mesa
The Thanksgiving dinner here this year is a friendship dinner where you sign up for a table and everyone brings part of the meal. The park sets up big round tables that seat 8 and provides a raw turkey for each table. There is a white tablecloth and a small table nearby to place food. Since our group includes Terry & Tina right now, we filled a table.
We picked up the turkey for our table for tomorrow’s dinner. We also borrowed an electric roaster as our ovens are a bit small. Turns out my oven would have been big enough as the turkey for 8 people was only 10 ½ pounds. Terry decided it was much too small and would not provide leftovers. We had to pick up a few items at the grocery store anyhow so we looked for a turkey breast to augment the small turkey. A turkey breast was $15 and we could get a 20 lb turkey (smallest available) for $5.80 so you can guess what we bought. Of course the next obstacle was to get it thawed by tomorrow morning. We took a large storage box, filled it with cold water, put the turkey in and crossed our fingers.
At 3, we went next door to Dennis & Gloria’s to celebrate Dennis & Bill’s birthdays – both which are today. There was a large circle of guests, 22 in all I think, so we met quite a few new people. There were 2 tables of snacky foods, we brought out our buddy burner after some of the people had left and had a good time.
We changed the water on the turkey, watched TV, had dinner and Terry fell asleep. I brought in the turkey and put it in water in the sink and we went to bed.

Nov 25th – HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
We both were wide awake at 1 and I was worried that the turkey would not be thawed and would take too long to cook based on the “20 minutes per pound” estimate. After a bit, I decided to clean the turkey and put it in the roaster so I wouldn’t have to worry about it not being done. After it cooked a bit, I checked and turned the heat down to 250 as it was cooking quite well. Of course, all this activity really woke us up so Terry watched TV for a while and I finally quit reading about 4:30 but still couldn’t go to sleep for a long time. At 7:30, I checked the turkey and it was severely overcooked. I had placed the breast down and it looked like it exploded with leg & wing bones exposed. I lifted it out in pieces and then put in the small turkey as it was totally thawed.
We went to the ballroom to set & decorate our table about 10. One table had so much stuff on it that there was no room for food. I was doing gravy and stuffing in addition to the turkey so had it easy – except for cleaning the roaster.
At 1, Bill & Lauri stopped by in their car so we didn’t have to carry all our food & wine and we even got a parking spot near the ballroom. All the food was wonderful and we all maintained the Thanksgiving tradition and ate too much including a choice of pumpkin or apple pie. We used my plates & wine glasses so I brought home some other dishes that needed washing as well, got them all cleaned up and crashed on the couch to read.
Right now (6:23) I can’t imagine wanting any dinner but who knows!