Sept 22nd to 24th - Mesa

Sept 22nd – Thurs –Mesa
We started the day with the coffee & doughnuts manager’s meeting in the ballroom. Then I finally figured out who to contact (Winegard, the dish manufacturer) to get Direct TV in our rig and talked to a very helpful lady. In a home setting, you just call one of the many DirecTV 800 numbers and they will set you up and send out an installer with the equipment. Obviously, this does not work with RVs. We went to Camping World after talking to Winegard and made an appointment to take our rig in next Thursday to have the dish installed. They also have the receivers and get a code from Winegard so Camping World is paid by Winegard for the receivers that we get for free for signing a 2 year contract. Now you see what we have been going through!
We didn’t have lunch and had a couple of coupons so we went to Fat Willy’s for wings & beer. We could only use one coupon at a time but we were there at happy hour so 2 orders of 10 wings, an order of nachos and two 25 oz beers only cost $14 – and we were both stuffed.
As soon as the sun went down, we went for a bike ride around the park. Near the end of the ride we stopped to chat a bit with Larry & Julie and ended up riding 4 miles.

Sept 23rd – Fri – Mesa
We lazed around this morning and then took our sewing machine and tool box to Larry & Julie’s. First I cut out and sewed a round tablecloth which Julie finished by running elastic through a casing to pull the tablecloth under the edge of the small dining table. Then we tried to figure out how to cut two round table cloths out of a king size sheet that Julie discovered was the right color for side tables in her outdoor seating area. Terry & I thought we had it figured out and ended up with one huge circle – don’t even ask how we did it! We cut two smaller circles out if it which was the best we could do even from the start. I zigzagged the edges and they are fine even thought they don’t go right to the floor. We sat down to admire our work and I noticed a runner on the table that was too long so had to shorten that as well. Actually, I shortened it twice as I didn’t check to make sure both sides were the same length to start with.
While Julie & I were sewing, Terry was helping Larry put a new seat on his bicycle. It is an old bicycle and the seat is too high for Larry but the seat post is rusted in place so even Terry’s best efforts could not move it. Terry also worked on some motion sensor lights that have minds of their own.
We were outside and were all very hot so Terry suggested going for banana splits and Wanda found us a Dairy Queen. Julie is not a big eater but she finished her banana split. We continued on to Total Wine to restock the liquor cabinet and stopped to introduce Julie to Hobby Lobby.
Back at the park, we dropped off Larry & Julie and then all met at the pool shortly after. When we were walking back about 4:30, Neil & Robin (met here last year, they stopped to see us in Spokane) were driving in to see us. They are looking for a 5th wheel to park here so they aren’t staying in the park yet. We were chatting & having drinks when Julie & Larry came by after having a couple of drinks at the pool. As it got later, I put out a few snacks to soak up some alcohol. When everyone left about 8, I made hamburgers that I had already thawed and then we crashed.

Sept 24th – Sat – Mesa
Knowing it would be hot again, we got up reasonably early and went to the Mesa Marketplace. About half the vendors were not there or not open so it only took us about 1 ½ hours to wander through and buy a decorative bowl for the dining table. One the way back, we stopped at Safeway for the baby back ribs that were on sale and bought a couple of whole chickens in the clearance bin. Pat, you would have loved the final price of 49 cents a pound!
Back at the rig, I stuffed the ribs into the freezer and put most of the 2 chickens in the crock pot. Then it was time for breakfast-for-lunch.
The late afternoon sun comes right under our north facing awning so Terry figured we needed an 8 foot curtain rod and some shade cloth. We went first to Big Lots and discovered that the longest curtain rods were 7 feet and too heavy anyhow. We carried on to Home Depot for shade cloth but they only had pre-packaged lengths so we went to Lowe’s where we found rolls of fabric and bought only as much as we needed. As we walked into Lowe’s, I saw a guy checking out with a tall, green “stick” so Terry asked him where he found it. It turned out to be a plastic stake for gardening which was 8 feet long, sturdy and lightweight – perfect for our needs. We made another stop at Fry’s for some groceries that I didn’t want to buy at Safeway.
I got out my sewing machine and we made the sun screen which was a bit of a challenge as it starts in the triangular space between the awning and the awning arm. I sewed a rod pocket along the top and then doubled the top portion by sewing on the triangle that we cut off. Now we want to add another removable section as the sun is still hot when it comes under the bottom.
We put on our suits and went to see if Julie & Larry were going to the pool. Julie was not feeling too well today (she blames us for how much she drank!!) so we went and cooled off by ourselves. I made good chimichangas with the tender chicken from the crock pot.